Lots of people blog about their jobs, so I decided to join in the fun despite having a home office and working remotely. Sure, I miss out on department outings, but there is one advantage: I have a corner office.

And just because I'm remote doesn't mean that I don't have co-workers. These are the folks I interact with, also known as the cast of characters:

• Pancho Villa, Regional Canned Foods Advocate: The always well-groomed office prankster. He is also a cat.
• Leviathan Placo, Personnel Liaison: Soft-spoken and seldomly social, no one knows too much about him. One thing we do know: he is a large freshwater fish.
• Haim Corydoras, Lead Division Sales Associate: Athletic and charismatic, he's always on the move. He is a small catfish.
• Feldman Corydoras, Division Sales Associate: Recently lost a promotion to his brother because he refused to trim his mustache. He is also a small catfish.
• OZ, Code Monkey: A goofy programmer who works on fridge-sized computers. This is me. Despite my title, I am a human being.

We had a Halloween office party yesterday. Wow, was that a good time!

Pancho won the costume party. He brought an oversized acorn and dyed his hair red. Giant squirrel or Pancho Villa? After a few cups of my special punch, you couldn't tell.

Speaking of which, there was an ugly scene between the Corydoras brothers. Haim was telling Leviathan about the premium algae tablets he'd recently purchased when Feldman, obviously drunk, stumbled through the door and started shouting mild obscenities. Leviathan was spooked and quickly hid under his desk, as he is known to do when someone unexpectedly enters the room.

Feldman was still bitter about being passed up for the promotion and my special punch didn't help. At one point, Feldman even took a swing at Haim but missed and fell over, knocking over a can of mixed nuts. Pancho, staying true to costume, quickly grabbed up the spilled nuts and buried them in the potted plant I keep near a window.

The Corydoras brothers then went into a conference room and walked out fifteen minutes later the best of friends. The entire office seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as the tension melted away. The party continued at full strength and a good time was had by all.

Well, almost. Leviathan was still under his desk this morning when I came in.

WINNER!

Today is "Papo's Birthday!" Happy Birthday!!