But it really feels strange.

There’s an overpowering stillness in the office when it’s just you at your desk.

The only buzz of activity is the air conditioning, or the cleaners.

Everything’s as it is normally should be, it’s just different.

And it doesn’t feel right.

BECAUSE YOU SHOULD BE ANYWHERE ELSE, LIKE YOUR COLLEAGUES.

Just a little something to remember for next year. ;)

See you next Wednesday.*

*Over late December and January, we’ve changed the strip schedule to once a week (on Wednesdays). If you’re still jonesing for a Daily Grind hit, check out the archive by hitting the back arrow, or clicking on ‘archive’ at the top right of the page.

Is that what Christmas is all about?

Sorry, we may have lied a little on Tuesday.

We did mean to give you a strip that was less wordy. It just didn’t work out that way.

Besides, despite the business rationale outlined above, we still think it’s better to give than to receive.

Having said that, of course, we love feedback. And people looking at the strip. New, and repeat offenders. ;)

So, thanks for checking the Daily Grind out over the last six months.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll only be updating on Wednesdays.

We hope you have a good break (if you’re gettting one) and a good Christmas etc.

See you Wednesday.

So, do you feel any different?

It’s funny how a promotion at work can just happen.

One day you’re toiling away bored and sick of the routine. The next, you’ve got to learn a new routine and face the congratulations, envy and mild interest of your co-workers.

Of course, they all assume you’ve got a payrise to go with it.

And now you have to go to that weekly meeting that everyone bitches about.

But it’s a good thing. It means you’re growing as an employee and the company recognises it can better use your skills.

Or someone left in disgust and they need a cog for the machine.

See you Thursday… with a less wordier strip that’s the last before Christmas.

When you front work after the Christmas party.

Sure, you vomited in a plant. And that was you who had to be dragged away from the karaoke machine, still wearing your santa hat.

But so long as you can walk to your desk with your head held high, it’ll be fine.

The gleeful ‘do you remember doing this?’ conversations will sting a little, but at the end of the day you can go home.

And sleep.

Because after your performance at the Christmas Party’s open bar, not vomiting and sleeping for a long time are all you are probably capable of caring about.

Just make sure you don’t end up featuring on Texts from Last Night.

See you next week.

The work Christmas Party.

It’s where legends are born and lawsuits founded.

Whether it’s a boring standaround bbq on a balcony or a glitzy affair at a ballroom, the rule’s the same.

The lower you are on the totem pole, the more you abuse the freebies.

Everyone will tell you it’s in your best interests not to over indulge around your work colleagues. For those people, we here at the Daily Grind have two words.

‘Doggy bag’.

Because you deserve it. And the really boring people will leave early…

See you Thursday.

You don’t get the days off.

Not everyone takes leave over Christmas.

For thousands of shop assistants and hospitality workers it’s the busiest and most frantic time of year.

The calls keep coming in the call centre too.

Many offices shut down between Christmas and New Year. But for those that don’t, a skeleton staff has to keep things ticking over.

For the staff who forgot to put their leave forms in early,  it can be a mundane and agonisingly slow week. With nothing to do, the hours can just drag by.

If you’re any one of these, we sympathise. But we’ll still enjoy our time off.

See you next week.

Than someone messing with your desk.

You spend a large part of your working life at your desk. It’s your home away from home. Your own personal space.

So, it’s ok to feel like you’ve been robbed, or violated when someone messes with it.

And at this time of year, there’s no greater violation than christmas decorations.

See you Thursday.

You’ve got more hope getting a payrise.

The IT guy strides in purposefully, his arms embracing a big new ‘box’.

Five minutes of scrabbling around unplugging and plugging in cords, a quick turn on and log-in and he’s gone.

In his wake, you’re left with a brand spanking new computer. It effortlessly starts up. Programs open in a fraction of the time it used to take.

You can almost forget about the agonising months of hinting, pleading, cajoling and arguing that it took to convince your boss to get this wonderful machine.

Take a moment to remember, as you make the first of many calls to IT to find out why your email isn’t working.

See you next week.

Just stay professional.

A slightly late strip today. Not a good look if you’re trying to be ‘professional’.

It doesn’t matter what sort of office you work in, they all subscribe to the mantra of professionalism. To demonstrating the work practices and knowledge of an expert in their field. It’s fine if the parameters are well defined, as for a lawyer, a doctor, or an accountant.

But for general office staff, ‘professionalism’ (like beauty) can be in the eye of the beholder. Or in this case, the boss.

The accusation of ‘it’s unprofessional’ appears to be one of those ‘fix all’ justifications for something the boss doesn’t like but doesn’t have a reasoned argument to back if up if challenged.

However, it’s not just the boss that can play at that game…

See you Thursday.

Technical difficulties…

So today we present an old strip from 2008 which we hope many of our newer readers won’t have seen.

But in an office, and a callcentre even, poor morale is timeless.

As is finding someone to blame. And today, we’re blaming the Daily Grind’s helpdesk.

It’s what they’re there for. ;)

See you next week.