Strategies for Getting Out of Work to Watch the NCAA Tourney

Michael Venture has a nice article on MSNBC about how to get away with skipping work to watch basketball during the NCAA tournament.

Far be it from me to be at all deceptive, but my evil twin seems to think he's on to something.

Tuesday:
If you produce more work than usual in an effort to compensate for an expected lack of production later in the week, the boss or bosses may realize that you’ve been slacking off the whole time you’ve been with the company. That would be extremely dangerous, because it might impact your performance in next year’s NCAA tournament pool.

Wednesday:
On the way to work, stop off at the drug store and get a big bottle of Nyquil, a pain reliever like Aleve or Tylenol, a box of tissues, and a container of lozenges and keep them on your desk in plain view.

Thursday:
Call in sick. Obviously the preference is to leave a voice-mail message rather than speaking directly to a supervisor, but either way, make sure you have prepared a convincing "sick" voice. Ideally, it should be raspy and weak, with intermittent moans and whimpers.

Now that you are home for the day, it’s time to switch medications. Beer has been known to possess special healing properties. Ditto for pork rinds, buffalo wings, hot dogs and nachos.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm starting to feel a little under the weather.