#505 The last couple hours before the weekend

Neil Pasricha

This is known as The Funrise.

Chatty buzz fills office cubicles, laughs echo down high school halls, and the clock ticks a little bit faster as we all smile and get ready for a couple big days of

AWESOME!

— Email message —

“Hey Neil, your blog and The Book of Awesome make me appreciate the little things which is hard most of the times. I live in Australia and couldn’t wait until the book comes out here so I made my order online and it said it would take 2 weeks to be delivered. Well, I wasn’t expecting it until next week but I woke up this morning to the sound of knocking on my front door. I came downstairs and no one was there… but I found a surprise package instead! I ripped the wrapping straight away and read the beginning of the book. It was an awesome start to my day!” – Derrintia

Photos from: here

— Email message —

“Hey Neil, your blog and <em><a href=”http://1000awesomethings.com/book” target=”_self”>The Book of Awesome</a> </em>make me appreciate the little things which is hard most of the times. I live in Australia and couldn’t wait until the book comes out here so I made my order online and it said it would take 2 weeks to be delivered. Well, I wasn’t expecting it until next week but I woke up this morning to the sound of knocking on my front door. I came downstairs and no one was there… but I found a surprise package instead! I ripped the wrapping straight away and read the beginning of the book. It was an awesome start to my day!” – Derrintia
<p style=”text-align: right;”><a href=”http://1000awesomethings.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/derrintia-australia.jpg”><img class=”aligncenter wp-image-9837″ style=”border: 0 none; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;” title=”Derrintia – Australia” src=”http://1000awesomethings.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/derrintia-australia.jpg” alt=”” width=”195″ height=”260″ /></a><span style=”color: #c0c0c0;”>

84 thoughts to “#505 The last couple hours before the weekend”

  1. I’ve loved this since elementary school!

    Something about the atmosphere changes on a Friday afternoon … people get friendlier or something. I love it.

    Good one, as usual :D

    1. Fridays were the days for parties and movies in school. The teachers didn’t really want to teach and none of the kids wanted to really learn. Throw in a movie and everyone is happy. This happened more often in high school.

      1. I always felt sorry for our DT teacher for our GCSEs.

        He had us first thing on a Monday morning for two hours (when we were barely awake and couldn’t be bothered) and last two hours on a Friday (when we were buzzing and read for the weekend.)

        He eventually said to us “Right, I know fine well I’m not going to get four hours work out of you given when these lessons are, so if you work properly for the second hour on a Monday and first hour on a Friday I’ll let you relax a bit more for the other two.”

        AWESOME.

        It worked as well. You’d happily get your head down on Friday afternoon when you knew the last hour would be more social than educational.

    2. Agreed about the change in atmosphere. It always makes the office a much happier place.

      The other change? My productivity slows to a crawl.. unless you count spending the last three hours of each week staring at the clock waiting for it to hit 5:00 pm “being productive” of course..

  2. These past few semesters I’ve been lucky enough to have one class on Friday, if I have any at all.

    Logically, my weekend often started on a Thursday evening. How sweet it is to have that buzz come just a little bit earlier…

    But hey! I’m done with finals! It’s over! Summertiiiiiiiime! And the living is eeeeeaaaassyyy!

    1. Yeah, I haven’t had a Friday class in like three years. Getting a “real” job is going to be a slap in the face, though. Haha.

      CONGRATS on being finished with finals! Great feeling, huh? :)

  3. thats the feeling ive got right now :)
    3 hours till 5 o’clock &&& pure freedom :)
    and i live in australia too :)
    when is the book coming here?????

      1. Over here, it’s 6 am and I’m exhausted. Stupid time zones. But hey, Friday wouldn’t mean anything if the weekend just came when you called it.

  4. Pingback: TGIF « in other words

  5. It’s still 9.50 am here in Portugal! It should be 5 pm already! :P But it’s awesome to read this blog in the morning – even if i’m already at the office and there are a few more hours to go until another free perfect weekend :D

    I’ll have to order the book too – sooner of latter!

    * have an AWESOME weekend everybody!

  6. I would have to disagree the time does not move faster for me at least but its still awesome friday afternoons

  7. I couldn’t tell ya the last time I stayed the entire time at work on a Friday. I always get excited to start the weekend that I leave a few hours early. Today, I think I’m gonna leave around noon. I have a few things I need to take care of…….

    1. That makes 2 of us…only been in the office for 20 minutes and am already done with my work…going to be hard to make it lunch. But its only 5 hours I think I can do it.

      1. Well…today I am overly anxious for lunch to come and then I’m heading off for home. I’m going to get a blood test done to see if I’m pregnant. I did an at home test and it was positive, so I’m just doing the blood test to make double sure. I think I should have just taken the day off.

          2. extrememly anxious………
            don’t really know which way I’m hoping for………………
            Either way I will be happy………………..
            Either way I’m gonna cry………………

            1. Well, ALL the best to you, whatever happens! Glad you will be happy either way. :)

            2. Ack! We’ll be thinking of you! I can imagine that this makes waiting until lunch even more difficult than normal!

              Keep us posted, and best of luck!

              1. ………………………….it was positive!! I’m going home so I can make some phone calls and freak out in the privacy of my own home. Have a good day and weekend, everyone!!

                1. CONGRATS!!! I know we’ve never met, but I’m so excited for you!! Seeing that positive pregnancy test (when it’s welcome news) = the best kind of AWESOME I’ve ever felt!!! And sharing the news is just as awesome!!

                2. Congrats, Bekah! Amazing news!

                  I guess your “last couple hours before the weekend” were more eventful than most.

                  Enjoy your weekend of freaking out! We’ll see you again on Monday. :)

                  1. last couple hours before the weekend was CRAZY!! I doubt I will ever have another start to a weekend like that!

                3. Wow! Congratulations, Bekah!

                  This is officially the first baby announcement on 1000 Awesome Things!

    1. That looks like a familiar name! Any chance you’re related to me?

      Hey! You got a cooler square than me! Neon green pinwheel is pretty cool. :)

      1. Yes on both counts, bro! Neon green pinwheel is more awesome than poo brown square… ;)

        Maybe I’ll change my morning sunrise photo series to a Friday (or in my case, Saturday) afternoon “Funrise” photo series!
        :)

        1. Aw, Karine, are you Freddo’s sister?!

          btw, I laughed at your first comment. Good one!

          1. Yup – Karine is one of my (two) sisters. To date, she’s most well known for her treatise praising Nutella in all its forms from one of the early contest comment threads.

            Glad to see she’s come out of her commenting shell. Let’s see if we can’t convince her to join the conversation more often! :)

            1. BTW – I figured out why my Nutella treatise didn’t win the contest… Neil is clearly saving it for next Feb. 5th when he can post it in honor of “World Nutella Day”!

              Thanks for the compliment, jdurley. I don’t have Freddo’s quick wit, which is why I don’t comment that much – but have a few softspots that elicit a reaction – primarily nutella, sunrises and weekends…
              :)

              1. I think you certainly have your fair share of wit; Freddo once directed me to your Nutella comment and I’ll be honest. I laughed … a lot. I don’t think you’re limited to just those things, either.

                Also:

                1. I love Nutella, too. And none of my friends do, which is so sad (tragic, even).
                2. I had no idea there was a World Nutella Day!

                1. I don’t think I understand – NONE of your friends love Nutella??!?! I am speechless… and sad. Not only do you need new friends, Laura, but your so-called-friends are missing out on a world of happiness.

                  1. yumm :) nutella is theeeee best :):):)

                    i personally like to enjoy it 1. straight from the jar
                    2. with popcorn (yumm)
                    3. peanut butter & nutella sandwiches :)

                    +++ many more.. :)

                    && i had no idea either about a world nutella day!!!

              2. Karine – I hate to break it to you, but Feb 5, 2011 is going to be a Saturday, so there won’t be an Awesome thing to commemorate it.

                Unless of course Neil gets us pumped up for the big event a day early, so we can go into the weekend jazzed up on chocolatey-hazelnutty goodness!

                (See what I did there? Dropped some more “day-of-the-week” knowledge on y’all? Take that, Heather Reisman! Who needs to get a life now!?! *pause* Oh.. it’s still me? Crap.)

                /grabs his excel spreadsheets and sulks off home.

                1. Freddo – Your excel-spreadsheet- formulating, day-of-the-week-calculating nerdiness is AWESOME! I wish I could compete – but instead I bow to the master. Keep it up.
                  PS – Heather Reisman can kiss my @$$!

  11. I only have two classes today and they are in a row. Cannot wait to be finished with them!

    Also, I despise school in the summer, who invented this silly, silly notion? I have the rest of my life to work summers, must I start now?

  12. Hi Neil,

    We have 35 minutes left at school and we are checking out your blog in the library with Ms. Richardson. We just wanted to say hello and tell you that we love your blog. Its very AWESOME!

    We were talking about other awesome things like
    – you
    – the smell of Canadian Tire
    – Ribs
    – the smell of gasoline
    – when you make the soccer team
    – when you wait in line forever at a cafeteria and then you get it and it was freshly made
    – the feeling of getting an A on a test
    – finding spare change inbetween the couch cushions
    – when you successfully avoid someone you don’t want to run into
    – when you find $10 on the floor
    – when you finish a ketchup bottle (and you really needed the last drop)
    – when you have an itch on your back and someone helps you scratch it
    – when you’re talking with your friends and then they all go silent as you say something weird
    – you say something stupid and no one hears
    – when you correct your teacher

    Its been great talking to you Neil. You can use our comments – that would be “awesome”.

    – 8B

    p.s. we know we still owe you a picture!

    1. 8B, those are truly awesome suggestions!

      I totally agree with all of them, but the one that stuck out at me was the successful avoidance of someone you don’t want to run in to.

      Oh no! *ducks behind bushes*
      Did they see me? *peeks out*
      They didn’t see me! Whew! *scurries away in opposite direction*
      AWESOME!!

      1. Successful avoidance is one of the best things. I think I have mastered the skill of the duck, cover, peek and run.

  13. Watching babies dance to “Friday I’m in Love” by The Cure. Awesome!

    (witnessing it in a cafe right now)

  15. Hi Neil, my favourite bookstore Blackberry Books just called, and I have your book in my hand. You’ve inspired me to start a journal with my tutoring students “The Book of Awesomeness.” It’s a group effort, so far we have, finding a garter snake, farting in the bathtub, watching squirrels on telelphone lines, and todays-TGIF. thanks for adding spark to my lesson and encouraging writers!

    2. Oh, Neil! Did you see this?? FARTING?? In the BATHTUB!!??

      *pen poised to make a tick*

  16. That picture says it all. The teachers in grade school probably saw about 20 eyes glued to a clock like that on Friday afternoons.

  19. i love reading through these! I find myself going. Oh yea that is awesome. Really makes a person stop and think about how great life CAN be sometimes. Thanks

  20. Just stumbled upon your blog. And to my delight you have a new book out. Awesome!
    Even more awesome…I just received an iPad for Mother’s Day and decided to download my first book today. Guess which title I chose. That’s right. The Book of Awesome. Thank you!

  22. While your funny posts are awesome, the ones about life and love always bring a tear to my eye. I love the way you write; a lot of people have a better day because of what you do.

    Thank you.

  23. oooh! I love this time of the week – the countdown. It makes me want to go back to a regular work situation, just to enjoy that again. (now I work from home as a consultant)

    I started getting the Friday feeling on Thursday afternoon!

  25. Pingback: That Friday Feeling: Freedom « Girl from the Hills Blog

  26. LOL me and my friend are doing this right now…spending the last hours reading 100awesome things :DDDDD FTWW.

  27. I’ve been wondering what word would summarize the feeling I sense; the buzz and happy hummm… weekday evenings around the world, at least 1 hour and building, buildING, BUILDING, right before you hit your magic button- send…
    IT’S FUNRISE!

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