Productivity buster alert

It's a rare article or story that absolutely crushes any momentum or productivity at work. Usually I will print it and get to it later, or bookmark it, or simply forget it. During lunch, I meandered over to Rob Neyer's blog on ESPN and after seeing a nice link to friend Shysterball (on an issue I feel strongly about and noted so in his comments sections; I do wish Neyer would swing by my blog one day), I came across this article, a must read per Rob. UNREAL doesn't do it justice. Rob, many, many thanks for sending us to this one.

This is a put-down-the-pencil, step-away-from-the-spreadsheet read. Or print it out and bring it with you when you hit the, um, library, as the admin in my Dad's old office would tell me where he was when not at his desk or at an appointment. Or the perfect read over a lunch break, as I just found out.

We all know Jose Canseco is a walking, talking caricature, but this doozy by Pat Jordan totally puts it all into perspective, with a tidy little bow.

Here are just a few, since I could simply blockquote the whole thing, it's that good of a read. Warning: contains profanity:

All those needles and vials of performance enhancing drugs around the house which his woman of the moment must learn to differentiate, winstrol from deca-durabolin from HGH, and then draw the proper amount of fluid into each syringe and inject that needle and its fluid into Jose's buttocks. All those variations of his moods from steroid-fueled anger to steroid-withdrawal depression. All those startling changes in his genitalia, his penis swelling with steroid use at the same time his testicles are shrinking from steroid use. All those strange women's messages on Jose's cell phone. All those trips to the gynecologist to cure the STDs Jose brought back with him from one of his road trips. And, finally, most depressing of all, all those perfunctory sex acts with Jose, doggy style in front of a mirror so Jose can watch himself perform, his chest muscles and biceps twitching as he works. Which is why Jose's first two wives, Miss Miami, and Miss Fitness America, divorced him.
......
When Rob was defending Jose and his twin brother Ozzie a few years ago in a civil suit brought against the two brothers by a man they had beat up in a Miami bar, he told Jose to keep a low profile and not buy anything because Rob planned on pointing out to the court that Jose was broke. A week before the trail began, Jose leased a $300,000 Rolls Royce and bought a $2.6 million house, in addition to the $1.7 million house he already owned in Encino.
......
After the trial, Jose put his $2.6 million house in South Florida up for sale. He had several offers on it, but decided to take the offer of over $2 million in Mexican telephone stock, which he was prohibited from selling for two years, at which time, the buyer guaranteed him, the stock would be worth $5 million. Two years later, Jose sold the stock for $15,000. Over the last few years, Rob has negotiated prospective deals for Jose worth almost $2 million.

Rob got Taco Bell to ante up $25,000, plus residuals, for Jose to star in a TV commercial in which Jose would hold up a huge burrito and say, "This thing's gotta be on something." Jose demanded $50,000 instead and Taco Bell walked. Rob also got Jose an offer of $100,000 from GoldenPalace.com, which would require Jose simply to wear that company's t-shirt and cap whenever he was on TV. Jose demanded $200,000 and Golden Palace walked. Then, Rob got Jose an offer of $75,000 from a reality TV show that wanted to film Jose in a wheelchair for thirty days. Jose demanded more, and the TV show vanished. Finally, Rob got Jose an offer of $500,000 for a movie based on his life, but Jose demanded $1.5 million and the offer vanished.

Go read it, then come back and tell me what you think.