Andrew

Well, Andrew Prisk is leaving Marshall University. Andrew is my co-worker, has been for several years. I mean, I have known him since we both started about 8 years ago, but we have worked in tandem for the last 4 years. I am one of the only people that he trusts and speaks with candidly.

You would have to know Andrew to see whay that is such a big deal...he has a rough demeanor at times. We have had our share of irritations with one another, but, when it comes down to it, I will miss him.

He is a bit of a blowhard, certainly fabricating most of his stories for his benefit, to make himself look better than he really is, in his mind. you might understand that if you knew his background like I did. It frustrated me, and I would call him on it from time to time, but still, I suppose we were close to brothers in the work sense of things. He had a penchant for dropping F-bombs, as often as possible, to show off or take people aback.

He was also one of the most technically astute employees Marshall has. However, that caustic personality with others has burned way too many bridges. It was getting worse, and something was going to happen. So, it did. There will be many memories that I will keep from Andrew.

- Pug Ball: We acquired an inflatable beach ball and began a volleyball game in our old office. This evolved into a ball fight, trying to knock the crap out of each other, hence the name "Pugnacious Ball". Highlights include busting his ear, watching him topple trying to get at a ball more than once, playing "suicide", where we just sit and took the hardest shots from each other. I actually busted a coworkers glasses and knocked his ballcap off of his head in one shot. This lasted until our neighboring coworkers had taken so much of our tomfoolery that we were forced to stop.

- Swords: We acquired several protest sign poles of wood,and with packing tape, created wooden broadswords and battled until the sticks became splinters. A good experience in case I ever try to join the cast of "Conan" the musical.

- Discussions: At times, we were, along with a few others, Seinfeldian in our breaking down of the banality of office life.

- Christmas: Andrew and I were the single driving force to have a redenck Chrismas decoration frenzy that began just after Thanksgiving and lasted through til January. In our first office, the enclosed office with a locking door, we raised the mean temp to, I would say 80 degrees. I wore short sleeves to work in those days, with 70's era outdoor lights inside. Last year was the best...it was everywhere. Duct tape ruled, with every bad light available.

- Ball Fights: See here

One time, our friend Vince had an old, non working internal CD drive and was offering the opportunity to punch it. Well, I took first shot, a cautious shot that put a small dent in the case. Andrew, well he had to do better. He hit the heck out of it and nearly scalped his knuckle in the process. A good amount of blood and laughter followed that one.

I also recall the time that, after acquiring a teen photo of me in my mulleted teens, he made an oversize printout of it, cut it onto cardboard, glued it on and proceeded to take "me" around campus, shooting pics of me in various locations with various people. He made a website of it just for me. Very nice. The head of that cutout resides in George's office to this day.

There were so many other memories that I am not listing, things that were single occurences, things that left me in stitches. I will just say, there are not many like Andrew, and I will miss him.