Empty Chairs And Empty Tables...

Work has had me in a funk lately. Of course, I'm happy to have six more months of employment in my future, but things just haven't been the same around here. The changes that occurred with our most recent round of layoffs led to the management of the museum gift shop being outsourced, and as a result, my friend Natasha lost her job. Furthermore, my friend Mireya landed a full-time position at the Field Museum, and while I'm ecstatic for her, these two developments mean that I am down to one friendly colleague at work, Irene. Irene, however, only works part time coordinating school-group visits, so she isn't here much in the summer. As a result, I have nobody left to eat lunch with, nobody to visit for a quick chat when I need a break from my desk, and nobody to feed me gossip from other departments. My work days have become immeasurably long and tedious. I miss my friends...