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Monday 18 June 2012

Skiving, work stress, laziness and a sense of "money for nothing"

Skiving, is French for esquiver or “slink away,” is an English slang term for activity engaged in during time when one is supposed to be working.


Accomplished skivers, devising elaborate diversions that fill the interstices of their work day
with idle pleasures and pursuits, especially porn and online shopping!

Originally, watch companies made watches for diving. But who dives with solid gold watches?
Or diamond ones?

Today, I think SEIKO has again got it right. The diver's watch must be made for a sense of humour...for desk diving...also included as "skiving".

The SEIKO professional skiver is hand made, precious croco strap, not cheaper alligator, and elaborate design..luminous so you can see in dark, under the table...or in storeroom with girl friend.

It must have all the needed markings to remind you when boss is coming back.

Skiving watches are much more practical than diving watches, we use them everyday...and money well spent!


The SEIKO sbla professional skiver...very rare and very hard to come by.

It is the watch for CHAMPIONS of not working.

Cool white dial, totally hand assembled!

Can you see the doctor?

He is under the table...skiving watches must have the Galante design...to protect against scratches.

Skiving is an illicit activity that is not openlyacknowledged by one’s boss.
This apparent idleness, gives working classess, wherever men were NOT in control of their working lives, a chance to retaliate against authority, hence it is GOOD for mental health and stress relief!

Good skivers, deep water skivers, always get their work done, and know how NOT to get more work piled onto them!

This way, no harm is done to the employer, and all is win win!


We might even say that, now that time is money and linked to salvation, snatching a sneaky game, or a cigarette break from under the employer’s nose had taken on a more devilish thrill.

Faced with deeper moral and economic "rules" touting the preposterous idea of working continuously without indulging in silliness of any sort, the art of skiving is an impressive skill, and demands an exacting timepiece!


In most cases the fun of skiving comes from strenuousefforts to conceal it.

The use of a computer “rear-view mirror” to spot an approaching supervisor or story to having taken the rest of the afternoon off after a short meeting.

Stolen work-time has a heightened value and excitement. It is like shop lifting, but with more intellect. PS I don't endorse crime.

But skiving also begs the
question, why are we at work if there isn’t really that much work to be done?

early professional skiving watches were the solid gold Bulgari or Rolex as seen hee:



This Bulgari is one from 2006. it is so well preserved!

No one will dive with this watch!

And it is also a chick magnet of the old days:


Two developments in working life need to be considered here.

First, the shorter working week has not materialised and we are working longer
hours than ever with increases in stress-related illness brought on by overwork.


Second, workplaces have become, arguably, more flexible and tolerant of unpurposive activity.

Skiving is an important means of shielding our private and creative selves from WORK and BOSS's encroachments.
Skiving does make work more fun and, arguably, is a compromise that absorbs our frustrations.

Skiving is a protest against the banality of much of white-collar work. And it expresses disdain for the interminable meetings, phone calls, and presentations of our workday.

SKIVE carefully, and live with less stress...and it will also lift frustrations if you were passed over for a promotion...you already won!

The KING of all skivers is the Rolex solid white gold "diving" watch, or rather, the GMT master...all in jewels! It is designed to protect against any knocks and scuffs, with diamonds and jewels!

6 comments:

  1. Hi Bernard,

    The SBLA shown in the picture is amazing!!

    By the way how many Galanta do you have, because you are showing a different one everytime!

    Have a nice day

    Giancarlo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello hello!!!
      I like the same Galante. Do you know that it is due to be launched in July?
      The watch is super funny.
      It is totally made for surviving 200m.
      BUT...yet..it is too strange a design to dive with...it is a fun and humorous way of the Japanese culture, and I understand.
      It is done with the same fun as a Harry Winston platinum diamonds diver!

      Delete
  2. Skiving can be done when working for someone else, when you have a boss or a manager but can we continue to call this act of "disobedience" skiving when you are your own boss?

    By the way, divers watches are made to make the owner feel an emotion, allowing him to think that he COULD go if he WANTED under those 200 or 2000 meters under the water.
    It is all about emotion not actually doing it. It is just like training for a sport after work, you know that you will not compete in the Olympics (unfortunately!) but you still train because it triggers an emotion of accomplishment and happiness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Marc,
      I agree with you. This post is meant to poke a bit of fun at ourselves.
      BTW..being one own's boss is not really a way to escape skiving. Too many people make requests of us "bosses", including empoyees.
      Call us cowards. But to avoid some employees who always waste 2 hours of my time, I do hide...behind trips to Zurich or Tokyo.
      Still, it is not any different from hiding under my own desk.
      Also to escape board meetings...very boring for some. Not me, I love board meetings, I cause the most trouble!
      I am the guy who people hide from.
      Best wishes and thanks for the comment Marc!

      Delete
  3. BTW...today..I love the SARU Rolex.
    I can recall how I wrote a envious and very unfair article about it.
    Today, I learn that we all change with age...and with money.

    ReplyDelete
  4. If i had that whimsical Galante second hand i could watch it all day without even thinking of new terminology in my idle mind.

    ReplyDelete