2013: The Year in Review

As 2013 draws to a close, I was thinking about what 2013 was to me. The answers came pretty quickly.

1. The Year of Deliverance

After a long time job searching I was finally able to leave the job that I hated. Oh happy day!

Lesson for 2013 and beyond: Life is too short to put up with a job that makes you unhappy. If you don't like what you do, start making plans to get out.

2. The Year of Car Repairs

Here is a list of things I got to fix on my vehicles this year:

Sports Car
- new front brakes (thank you little bro!)
- new water pump (thank you little bro!)
- repaint missing paint on front quarter panel (body shop work- not cheap!)
- repaint faded scoop on hood (body shop work- not cheap!)

Tracker
- new front brakes (yes, it was the year for brakes)
- new clutch, input shaft, pilot bearings, u joints, and a strut (had to go to a transmission shop- almost fell over at bill)

Total for both vehicles: A whole lot of money

Lesson for 2013 and beyond: 2014 had best be far less expensive in the auto repair category! This illustrates to me yet again why you always have to have some money saved. In reality, except for the paint issues, all of these are things that will eventually have to be done as they are consumable parts. They just all happened to go in the same year. Did I mention that the water pump on my sports car started seriously failing at the same time the clutch went out in my Tracker? I'm also very thankful my brother is car knowledgeable and can give me good advice of what to do. He can also fix a lot of things. I am very blessed in that regard.

3. The year of vacations
2013 was an excellent year for travel. I took 5 trips of 3 nights or more away from home. In order they were:

- St. Louis
- New Orleans
- San Antonio
- South Carolina
- Florida

Lesson for 2013 and beyond: I hope this trend continues! I love to travel, and I greatly enjoyed all these trips.

Merry Christmas

As you celebrate the birth of our Savior, may you create happy new memories with family and friends and take time for fond remembrances of those no longer with us.

Merriest Christmas wishes to all.

Great Customer Service Matters

Friday night I was ready to try my new KitchenAid Black Friday Bargain mixer. I wanted to make a recipe for Andes Mints cookies that I planned to take to a family gathering on Saturday. I hit a small nag in my plan when I was unable to get the beater adjusted to the correct height despite explicitly following the directions in the owner's manual. I decided I'd have to call for help. I had low expectations. It was 6:30 pm on a Friday. I was pleasantly surprised when I immediately reached a native English speaker in Michigan. She was able to immediately help me. It seems the instructions in the book aren't exactly correct. She also gave me a helpful hint so I would know exactly when the height was right. Of course, it worked like a dream.

Many companies put so little into their customer service programs that it's a joke. Not KitchenAid. I was so impressed with the service I received. I would highly recommend their products.

And how were the cookies you may be wondering? They were a hit.

Just Wait Until Your Manager Gets Home

The article below recently appeared in a local business journal. It is reprinted here in its entirety with permission from the author.

Improvising Business

by

Stevie Ray

October 11, 2013

Column 256

Just Wait Until Your Manager Gets Home

I remember watching the show Leave it To Beaver on a black and white TV set as a kid. I loved hearing the mother, June Cleaver, say the immortal phrase, “You just wait until your father comes home!” When my siblings or I got into trouble, we didn’t have to wait for dad to get home; we had an equal fear of both mother and father. Nowadays parents on talk shows lament the fact that their children are borderline criminals and “There is nothing I can do. I’ve tried everything.” The host asks, “Have you tried punishing the child?” The answer is usually, “I want to, but I just can’t.” Apparently, “trying everything” stops just short of trying anything.

I ran into an old acquaintance recently. He had his two young children with him, and throughout our entire conversation the children waited politely. I said to him, “Your kids are very well behaved.” He replied, “It’s not an option.” It’s not an option. I have started to use that phrase in my workshops. Just like bad parents have no idea why their unwillingness to enforce discipline has caused a disruptive child, bad managers have no idea why their employees act out. America has lost some healthy fear. My siblings and I were never afraid of our parents, but we have always been afraid of their disapproval. This taught us to us fear disappointing co-workers, clients, and colleagues. As adults, this fear keeps us focused on doing our best; not because of the reward of doing good or the reprisal of failure, but because proper behavior is simply not optional.

I was conducting a workshop recently in which the company leaders were rolling out new standards for conduct; how to treat co-workers and customers better, and how to do their best work every day. There was concern among the directors, managers, and supervisors about how the new standards would be received. They were worried that the staff wouldn’t like the new standards. They were anxious about what to do if the staff resisted implementing the practices. One of the managers asked me my opinion and I said, “Since when is it an option to follow the directives of the company? My parents didn’t say, ‘Do your homework, unless you don’t feel like doing it.’”

I certainly don’t advocate leading with a “Do it or you’re fired” approach. I do, however, believe in an atmosphere of expectations. A leader’s job is to provide vision; a future for the company that others might not see. In order to get to that future the leader has to lay out the path, and then hold people accountable for their behavior.

I don’t like the threat of firing someone, but it is fine to ask the question, “Given that you don’t want to do the things the company is asking you to do, why do you still want to stay here?” If the answer is “To keep getting a paycheck” or “I want to stay and do things the way I did when I first started here years ago” then there is a problem. How many times have you seen bad behavior and hoped that the universe would take care of that person for you?

Parents who request that their children behave get what they deserve, and they can’t blame TV, the school system, or society for the outcome. They have created an atmosphere in which the children are not afraid of the parent’s disapproval. So the kids will grow up not afraid of anyone else’s disapproval. The next time you turn a blind eye to inappropriate behavior, or make following your directions optional, get ready to appear on a TV talk show and say, “I don’t know what to do about my employee. I’ve tried everything (except be the one in charge).”

Stevie Ray is a nationally recognized corporate speaker and trainer, helping companies improve communication skills, customer service, leadership, and team management.  He can be reached at www.stevierays.org or stevie@stevierays.org.

This should be a required reading for managers and parents. I saw this so often when I worked in HR. Managers and supervisors wouldn't like what their employees were doing, but they failed to do anything meaningful about it. It was also a problem among the managers themselves as they had no real accountability, and as my coworker was fond of saying "the ship is adrift ." Each area did what it felt like without a cohesive focus of what was best for the organization.

I would hear managers whine about some of the things they were supposed to do. I often wanted to tell them "THAT is why we pay you all that money, not to sit around and look cute". Yes, being a manager can be more difficult than being a regular worker bee. But, it also pays much more. As the saying goes "to whom much is given, much will be required." If you don't want that responsibility, I understand. But you need to give up the pay that comes with it. You're either in or you out, and your actions show others which category applies to you.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Browned Butter Sauce

Several weeks ago I purchased some pumpkin ravioli at the grocery store. The recommended sauce was a brown butter sauce. This recipe sounded good, so I tried it last week. How was it you ask? I'll answer that with a question- how can you go wrong with butter, brown sugar, balsamic vinaigrette, and pecans?

Worth Every Penny

Around six weeks ago I had major automotive trauma. I was driving home from work when all of a sudden my Tracker would not shift gears. At all. This is somewhat scary and dangerous when you are in traffic. Thankfully I was able to limp it home safely. As you may have guessed, the clutch had gone out. The bill for that was enough. However, it also ended up needing u-joints, a strut, an input shaft and a pilot bearing. I almost passed out when I heard how much the total bill was going to be. I'll just say it was a HUGE amount of money. I gave serious thought to not fixing it as it is not worth much. However, after talking to some wise family members and sleeping on it, I decided to fix it.

Fast forward to today. For the first time in the 3 winters I've owned the Tracker, we had winter weather that really impacted driving conditions. As I was driving home at 30 mph, I was so thankful I'd fixed it. I would have paid what I did just for the ride home today. While I did have some brief slides, it was no big deal. Mind you, I didn't even turn on the 4 wheel drive. This was just with the standard rear two wheel drive. The same trip in my sports car would have been treacherous and miserable, if not next to impossible. It was worth every penny to travel home in relative ease and not have to worry about the road conditions. I was so glad that I had an uneventful trip home. I celebrated with my tradition of having some hot cocoa while watching it snow. I added some candy canes for a seasonal twist.

Yes, that car repair was worth every penny.

Starting the work week off right

One of my first activities this morning at work was to cut off two more noncompliant customers (cue "Another One Bites the Dust"). Later in the morning one of my previous noncompliant customers turned in her overdue paperwork and her sheet for this week, the latter 2 days early. It seems her unemployment got cut off, and that prompted her to catch up. Funny how that works. She asked how soon her payments would be taken off suspension. I told her I'd e-mail the unemployment team as soon as she left, but I was unsure how long it would take for them to remove the hold. I found out later that it's nearly immediate. What I don't think she fully grasps is if she already got paid for the two weeks where her paperwork was late (and I think she did), she'll have to pay that back. It was a good start to the week.

Black Friday Bargains

While I love a good bargain, I am not a Black Friday shopper. I passionately dislike crowds, waiting in line, and being up way too early or late. However, this year I ended up doing some in a very sane manner. Here are my bargains from this weekend.

O'Reilly

This item was a complete surprise. I needed to top off the coolant in my car (HUGE thank you to my brother for replacing the water pump in it for me recently). When I checked out I got a free Duck Dynasty bottle opener keychain.

It seems the first 25 customers in the store on Friday got one.

Rite Aid

Rite Aid had some great deals in their ad. Since it's a small store and close to my house, I decide to give it shot. I figured everything I wanted would be gone by the time I got there (around 9). Not only was I the only customer in the store, they had almost all the items on my list as you can see for the picture below.

Here's a list of my haul
- 6 pairs of tights for $1.99 each (regularly $5.99 each). When I explained how great a deal this was, the female employees started buying them, and one of the male employees called his daughter to tell her about them!
- 1 bag each of almonds and cashews, free after reward coupon on next purchase (ARC)
- Nail polish kit: 3 magnetic polishes, 2 packages of nail polish strips, and a nail file. $2.99 ARC (regularly $10)
- 3 Carmex lip balms- free ARC
- 6 Nivea tins, 3/$0.99 (regularly $0.99/each)
- 2 rolls of tape, free ARC
- 4 bags of M&M's, on sale 2/$4, $2/bag ARC, plus I had 2 $1 coupons, so total price was 4 bags for $2

I paid $34.68 for 26 items. I have $13.50 in free merchandise coupons on my next purchase, so really paid $21.18 including tax. I also got some additional coupons. You can see that it was a LONG receipt.

Kohl's

This is really what got me to go Black Friday shopping. I had a $10 off $10, a $10 off $30, and a 15% coupon, all combinable. I got to the store around 10:30. There was plenty of parking, but no carts. Not a problem for me. There was no line for the dressing rooms either. There was however a 20 person deep line to check out. Grr. However, I spied that they were doing checkout at the jewelry counter. I waited behind one person, and I was homeward bound. After coupons, I paid $12.69 for all this.

Sam's Club

The one Black Friday item that intrigued me was a Professional HD KitchenAid mixer at Sam's Club. It was on sale for $249 (regularly $299) and had a $50 mail in rebate. I checked online, and that was a good price. Even better, you could order online and have it shipped to your house for free. I looked at the website Thursday, and I decided to sleep on it as that is still a lot of money. When I went to order it Friday, the only color they had left was red which would completely clash with my kitchen. I figured it was a sign I didn't need it. Well, yesterday my mom and I went to Sam's Club to buy a few things. As we walked through the aisle, we saw the mixers in more colors. We then went down another aisle and found more colors, including the color I had wanted all along- copper pearl. Needless to say, it's now in my house.

I was very pleased with my Black Friday shopping. I got some excellent deals, and it wasn't stressful. That's my kind of shopping.

Another customer cut off

Earlier this week I wrote about how "S/he who writes the checks makes the rules". I had yet another customer this week who did not get that. She is part of the same intensive program as the person mentioned in my last post. Every two weeks they have to turn in a log showing 3 work searches for each week (this is something they have to report for their unemployment claim each week anyway) plus two activities of their choice such as reading an article about job searching, etc. No, not overly burdensome. Also, this is purely a pencil whipping exercise. All we do with it is make sure it's done, note it in our software system, then file the hard copy. We don't check it at all. It's theoretically auditable, but the odds of that are minuscule.

The customer's log was due on Wednesday of last week. They technically have 48 hours before it's considered late. I called her first thing Friday morning as her first meeting didn't include my current speech telling them that I'll just report them as noncompliant instead of calling them. She said "I've been sick. I just got out of the hospital. I'll bring it today". Some of you are feeling sorry for her right now. You are not me. People who hear this where I work don't think "oh, you poor thing." Nope, we immediately go to "If you're sick, you're not "able and available to work", and thus you aren't eligible for unemployment for last week anyway". Yes, it's a different mindset, and you develop it quite quickly (I've worked there less than 2 months).

Well, Friday comes and goes, and as of 4:30 when we closed I'd received nothing. I put a note with the customer's name on my monitor so that I'd remember to report her to unemployment first thing Monday if her log wasn't there. Of course, it wasn't. I e-mailed unemployment with the notes in the system I put in Friday saying she was supposed to drop it off then and also today's saying she hadn't. I also noted her illness and probable lack of being "able and available" to work. She will not receive any unemployment benefits for the last two weeks. She can appeal this later, but I was told she will lose the appeal. Apparently the customer stopped by to see me Monday while I was at lunch. Oh drat I missed her. She'll figure out sooner or later (say when she gets no benefits for two weeks) that "S/he who writes the checks makes the rules."

S/he Who Writes The Checks Makes The Rules

Part of my new job is working with our state's intensive service program for the unemployed. Everyone who's been unemployed for 4 weeks has to participate in this if they wish to continue receiving unemployment. Partially it's an early intervention to get people back to work ASAP. We the staff also think it's to make drawing unemployment less pleasant so people want to go back to work. The program is not that burdensome either. But it wouldn't matter if it was because since the state is paying the benefits, it sets the conditions under which it will pay. I had my first non complaint customer recently. I had told him previously that he must do "x" to receive benefits for the last two weeks. This is something everyone in the program must do, and it is a very easy, fast task. He didn't do it, so I told left him a message stating I was reporting him and did.  He called me back within half an hour saying he had never heard that not doing "x" would make him non complaint. It was over for him at that point. I have discretion not to report him if circumstances warrant. Not a chance. I cannot stand it when people lie. His benefits for the last two weeks are currently on hold per my coworker in unemployment services. Always keep in mind that s/he writes the checks makes the rules. You have a choice as to whether or not you comply, but that also serves as a determination of whether you continue to receive the funds.

Baking Bonanza

Ever since the time changed and the days got colder, it's like a switch has been flipped. I suddenly am in the humor to bake all kinds of things. Since such impulses rarely strike me, I've learned to take advantage of them while they last. Here's what I've made so far, all from scratch.

Home made pizza crust- easy no-knead recipe

Hawaiian Bread

Nutella Brownies- yes, they taste as good as they sound

Pumpkin Muffins

It has been very tasty at my house lately.

You Know It's Bad When... (Part Three)

You realize how glaringly obvious the dysfunction was/is at your former employer when you run into a vendor you knew from that job who tells you "I don't you stayed as long as you did. And that's just what I saw from the outside looking in." Yep, pretty bad.

The Human Tornado

I started working at the permanent location for my new job on October 14th. The first thing I noticed was my desk area was a disaster. It was piled up with random stuff, tons of old paperwork that should have been shredded, and just general disarray everywhere. I grabbed the Clorox wipes and went after it. After lots of degerming and shredding (that part took me a couple days as the shredder kept overheating), my desk space was what I would consider usable. I've already gotten compliments on how nice it looks, with one person saying "I've never seen it look that good." My only regret is that I didn't take before and after pictures. Words don't do the transformation justice.

Once my immediate area was acceptable, I started looking around. I saw a divider that blocked off a small hallway as soon as you walk in the office.

 I'm a naturally curious person, so I had to know what was back there. I understood why curiosity can kill the cat after I saw what was behind it.

Yes, a huge pile of JUNK. It was mostly empty boxes that "some lazy slob" (one of my dad's favorite phrases) was too lazy to break down and get rid of. This just would not do. I broke down all the boxes and took them to the recycling center on my way home, threw away lots junk, put other items into proper storage areas, and appropriately recycled an old fax machine & printer (They're e-waste. You shouldn't throw them in regular trash).  I also found a bulletin board and literature sorter we don't use, and I got permission to get rid of those. I offered them for free to the other agencies in our building. Apparently there was a fight over them while I was off on vacation. Here's how it looks now:

This area had been known among some of the staff from other offices as "the graveyard" for pretty obvious reasons. When I asked my coworker how it got to be like this, she said "I don't know. I've never looked back there". She's been at this office for 2 years! I was flabbergasted.

I do believe my coworker might be slightly intimated of me by now. She probably thinks a human tornado has come to her office.

Mayhaps it's time for some heat

One of my goals is to not use my furnace until at least November 1. When I got home from vacation on October 26th of this year, here is what I saw:

The number on the bottom was the temperature inside my apartment. Needless to say, the furnace went on right then.

You Know It's Bad When... (Part Two)

You know that your present and former coworkers aren't/weren't as pleasant as they could be when a person from another agency in your building tells you after meeting you: "You may be the answer to my prayers. I prayed for someone nice and helpful to work with."

I told her "I try."

It's nice to be appreciated. :)

Nothing like waiting until the last minute

On October 15th we had a customer come into our office at 12:35 PM requesting tax return data for 2010, 2011, & 2012. She needed this for a 1:00 appointment with her tax person who is located 20 minutes away. Yes, cutting it down the wire don't you think? Oh, but it gets better. We can't print these in our office. We have to fax the request to another office, and they'll process it in around an hour. But wait, there's more. The data for 2012 can only be mailed to the person's home address. Oops. The customer was getting a bit frantic because that day was the last day of the extension to file taxes. To summarize, she waited to get data she needed until 25 minutes before her appointment which was 20 minutes away by car on the very last day to file 3 years of taxes. This is definitely a case of waiting until the last minute.

Your Tax Dollars at Waste

You might wonder if my life as a state employee has given me insight into whether or not your tax dollars are being wasted. The answers are yes and yes. Case in point: all the offices of my division open at 8. My office however, is located in a building that opens at 8:30. Some of you already get it. For those of you who don't, here goes: No customers can get in before 8:30. Our staff is let in at 8. Thus, for the first half hour of the day we are guaranteed no walk-ins. Very few people call before then either, so we essentially get paid to chill. Life is hard.

Thank you dear taxpayers for this paid break every day.

You Know It's Bad When...

You know you aren't the only one who thought your former employer was bad when you get an e-mail like this:

Hi [me],
I was surprised to learn from [President of former employer] (then [my former boss]) that you had left. I understand. Please keep in touch. I periodically come to [my area].
[former coworker]

This person quit not long before I did. My favorite part of his e-mail? The "I understand" part. I love it.

Great quote on finances- UPDATE

I contacted the journal that published the article which I referenced in my last blog post telling them how much I liked the article, mentioned that I would have liked to have posted a link to the article on my blog, and asked them to relay my compliments to the author. I got an e-mail from the author thanking me for my comments, and he gave me a link to a free site where his article is posted. Enjoy!

Great quote on finances

I recently read an article about personal finance by Dan Cupkovic in a local business journal. Unfortunately I can't post the link since it's exclusive content for subscribers. What I will share are his three main points: patience, perseverance, & frugality; and the last sentence, a quote that resonated with me "Becoming wealthy is a psychological commitment, first and foremost." I will be the first to say that I am completely against the accumulation of wealth for its own sake. But I do believe that being good stewards of what we have puts us in the position to do great things to improve the lives of others and gives us more options in our personal lives.

I am always horrified when I hear people say "I'll always be poor" or "I'll never have money." You are sealing your own fate at that point. You say it, and you set yourself up to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I don't believe that if I say "there will be $10 million on my front porch when I get home from work tomorrow" that suddenly it will happen, but I also know it's not impossible (improbable yes). When you set your mind that you will be better off financially than you are today, your open your mind, eyes, and ears to the possibilities you encounter that can help you make that goal a reality.

Say yes to the dress(up)

One of the things that strikes me when I look at old pictures is the dress. A local paper recently ran a picture that was from the 50's or earlier. The women were wearing dresses and the men were wearing suits. At a county fair. Contrast that with today where people can't be bothered to change out of their pajama pants to go to the grocery. A couple years ago a former coworker of mine saw a lady in line at Best Buy wearing a bath robe. Crazy.

We judge others by what they wear and vice versa. It's not always a conscious process. But it's real. When I worked in HR at my last job, I always had high expectations for candidates. If you don't care enough to look professional to interview, you don't want the job very much. Whom do you want to assist you when you are at the bank- someone nicely groomed with neat, clean clothes or someone who looks like they just dragged themselves in off a bender? They may be equally competent, but that's probably not the judgement you'd make based on their attire. Since impressions matter, why not make the most of them?

Does that mean you need to wear a suit to gas up your car? No. But dressing up a bit goes a long way. My last job had casual day on Friday. Most people wore jeans. Me? I usually wore a dress of some kind. I got many compliments on my outfits. Were they expensive? No. I'm a very hard core bargain shopper. Also, I was probably more comfortable in my clothes than they were in pants. My dresses felt like I was wearing pajamas to work but were much classier looking (and met the dress code).

Try a little experiment sometime. Dress just a bit above how you normally do. See if and how people treat you differently. You'll probably see why I say "Yes to the Dressup".

Like waving a flag in front of a bull

Several Mondays ago at my old job, it was announced in our daily company wide meeting that the lead person for our contract security company was no longer on site. I found that odd since I'd seen him on Friday, and he hadn't said anything about it. We got along well and shared a common love of pool side life. Being the inquisitive little person that I am, I started asking around as to why he was gone. When my own boss started to give me his answer, I told him to stop because I could tell he knew more than what he was telling me. Now, the game was on. Knowing something and not telling me is like waving a flag in front of a bull. I was now bound and determined to find out. And of course, I did.

I knew it was a doozy when my usual sources all were mum. However, the company thrives on gossip, so I was able to piece enough together in a small amount of time. When I told my boss what I knew, he gave up the rest since I was already almost there, and he knew I wasn't going to give up. He swore our whole group to secrecy (yes, imagine 4 people in a room raising their right hands and promising not to tell. Wonder how that looked as others walked by the meeting room?), and out came the full scoop. I can share it here because A. I'm not naming names and B. Other people gave me the same information when they told me what they knew or suspected while unsuccessfully trying to get me to do the same.

It seems the guard and one of our associates knew each other from way back. They were texting back and forth in ways that were either flirtatious and not that bad (according to someone hadn't seen them) or pretty bad (according to someone who had). Note though, that while maybe not the smartest move (Doing things you shouldn't do Rule #1- leave no written evidence), it's definitely not sexual harassment because both were willing and apparently eager participants. The problem arose when the associate's serious relationship person found out. His actions got the guard removed.

I was really shocked because the guard had never said anything the slightest bit inappropriate to me. When I said that to someone who worked with the guard, the person said "that's because we warned him. We told him if he talked to you like that he'd been gone the same day". True words. Nothing like having your reputation precede you. :)

I have to say I enjoyed my investigation of this episode immensely. I love a challenge, and as I told someone, "the gossip mill may not always be accurate, but it will usually point you in the right direction". Also, always remember that things are never as secret as you think they are. Word does get out, especially if it's a juicy morsel.

What's old is new again

I had to laugh when I saw Kraft advertising the "new" pour control top on their salad dressings. If you've ever bought dressing, you know this used to part of the bottle. I think getting rid of it was a revenue driven decision. First, not having it decreased the cost of each bottle. Second, dressing poured out at a much faster pace, meaning consumers emptied their bottles sooner, then had to buy more. I'm not sure whose idea it was to bring it back, but I'm glad. I  just think it's crazy to call it new.

Car Care Clinic

One of my original plans for today was to wash my Tracker. However, with a 40% chance of rain, I decided postpone that activity until tomorrow. Instead, I did what I like to call car care clinic. I checked the air in all tires on both vehicles and added as needed. I topped off the windshield washer fluid in both rides. Care car tip #1- Prestone De-icer is THE best. I use it year round. The cheap blue stuff you buy or that car service places use is just that- cheap. It freezes on contact in winter, and it doesn't clean that well. Prestone melts frost and does a great job of cleaning. No, they aren't paying me to say it, but I'd definitely take a couple free bottles for this plug.

I also did my pre-winter ritual of using silicone spray on the seals of my sports car. This was a trick my dad taught me. It really does keep your doors and trunk from freezing shut. Car car tip #2- if you don't take this advice and your doors do freeze, DO NOT pull on them as hard as you can to open them. You can break off your door handle and still not get in your car. First, try opening another door. Often times the other side of the car will open fine. If that doesn't work, find the least stuck door. Pull gently until you feel resistance. Then push the door back toward the card. Repeat. This back and forth motion will often rock the door loose.

Finally, I cleaned the inside of my Tracker. I could almost hear it saying "Oh boy, oh boy" when I walked toward it with the cleaning products. Let's just say it had been a while, and the fruits of my labors were immediately noticeable.

Tomorrow's plan is to wash the Tracker, Armor-all the top, and silicone all seals. Cars feel loved when you take care of them. I think both mine feel pretty good right now.

River Glass

Monday I took a walk along the river near where I live. As I walked I thought "I wonder if there is any river glass here?" This is the same concept as sea glass and lake glass. The basic formula is

glass+rocks+waves+time= really smooth glass

Sure enough, one section of the bank was rocky, and here's what I found:

I was amazed. As you'll see, the predominant colors are white, green, and brown. Those are the most common colors of glass bottles made. Other colors are much more rare. I was tickled to find not one but two pieces of blue. I also found pieces of what was most likely pottery in green and white.

There is a lady I met in Maine who makes the most beautiful jewelry with sea glass. I hope to someday learn to transform what I've found into something similar. Until then, I'm enjoying the joy of the find.

The Kindness of Others (or Not Everyone I Worked With Is An Evil Wretch)

If you been reading my blog very long, you've probably picked up that I'm an extremely disgruntled employee. Not any more! I start my new job on 9/30. My last day at the old place (aka jail) was Friday. How sweet freedom is.

In case you didn't know, your last two weeks of work are quite wonderful. The end is in sight, and since you're leaving, no one has any leverage left, a fact I almost had to remind someone of. You hold all the cards. Another fun thing is all the dirt you'll hear. I was in HR, so I was usually one of the last ones to find out the juicy stuff. However, once word spread that I was leaving the evil empire, lips loosened. For example, I learned Friday that one of our former employees was actively dealing drugs from his forklift and that he had a number of clients at work, some of whom where "people you'd never suspect". Unfortunately, he hasn't shared any names, but I'm hopeful that at some point he will.

The most striking thing to me was the pure kindness so many people expressed to me before I left. I got many calls, e-mails, and in person visits of people telling me how much they had enjoyed working with me, how helpful I'd been to them, and how much they'd missed me. The president of the company himself called me to thank me for my service and wish me well. People even brought me gifts, something I never expected. It started with a coworker who'd mentioned she was having lunch with her husband. When he picked her up she came in carrying flowers. Her husband has sent flowers many times. I asked "oh, did he get get you flowers?", but they were for me!

Gorgeous huh? Roses are my favorite flower, and purple is my favorite color. Her husband gets her these every year for their anniversary, and I'm always threatening to keep them for myself. I was floored. A member of Japanese senior management had given me some chopsticks and a Japanese towel for which I was very appreciative. When I got home later that evening I found out he had also given me a card with a very heartfelt message and a very large gift card. Color me flabbergasted. There were gifts waiting for me on my desk when I arrived Friday morning. Again, I was in overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness and kindness.

We do the right thing because it is the right thing, it's what we'd want done to us, and we want to hear "well done, good and faithful servant". If no one ever in this life ever recognizes it, that's fine. But it is so encouraging knowing that others have seen you do it, appreciate that you did and, and will miss you. It was clearly illustrated to me that not everyone I worked with was an evil wretch. There were definitely some who were, and I'm not sure how they look themselves in the mirror every day, let along what their plan is for judgment day. But there were many other who made me feel so appreciated. It was wonderful.

Paying Attention Pays

My trip to Kroger today gave me two illustrations of why it pays to pay attention.

#1
I saw that bell peppers were on sale for $1 each. This is a good price, but I know that Aldi normally has them 3 for $2, so I passed. At the back of the produce department was marked down produce bin. The price said $0.99. There were 3 peppers per bag. I asked an employee "This may be a stupid question, but is it really $0.99 for 3 peppers?" She said yes. Score! She said they've always had a marked down produce been, but it's been in an obscure area. They've now moved it into a more visible locale. The items may have come from a bag that broke or might be slightly bruised. I bought 2 bags. That's 6 peppers for the price of 2.

#2
I bought a box of candy that was signed $1. It rang up $1.19. I verified the signage, then took my receipt to customer service. The store policy is if it rings up higher than the actual price and the item is less than $5, you get it free. The clerk immediately gave me a cash refund, no hassle.

These aren't huge savings, but every little bit helps. It took only a small of effort on my part. Paying attention pays.

Not the brightest criminal

You may have heard last week about the guy from Detroit who escaped from police custody, stole a deputy's shirt, and then carjacked a minivan. But did you know while he was on the lam he told people who he was and asked them for directions? Not surprisingly, he was caught hours later. He is now facing an additional slew of charges. Not the brightest criminal ever.

Deja vu

I wrote about the flat tire I had on Labor Day weekend last year. Well, when I got home from vacation on Saturday night, what did I find? My Tracker had a completely flat rear tire. I called AAA the next morning, and they promptly came and put on the spare. I took it in yesterday for repair, and they were able to fix it. Thankfully no new tire was required this year. It was definitely deja vu in action.

The food bandit strikes again

Here is a message that was recently sent out to everyone who works at my location (roughly 85 people):

Subject: Missing Food

It has been brought to my attention that there have been multiple, recent incidents where food has been stolen from Company refrigerators.  In several cases associates had written their names on the food containers, so the person(s) taking the food obviously knew that he/she was stealing someone else’s property.  In one case, the associate’s food box was returned with the chicken missing, but the green beans were still in the box.  In another case, what was a complete pizza was returned with only two pieces in the box.  We have even had one associate’s already partially eaten food nibbled on by someone else.  This is unacceptable behavior.  We should not have to remind associates that stealing is a “Category 1” offense and can result in discipline up to and including termination.  Supervisors are asked to announce to their teams that taking another person’s food is wrong, and one could be risking his/her employment by doing so.  Also, associates who place food containers in refrigerators are reminded to write their names on the containers so there will be no doubt as to whose food is in the container.

(Head of HR)

This is not a new thing. It seems like every 6 months we go through this. Here are a few of my thoughts.

1. Gross. This person is obviously not the germ phobe that I am. 

2. I'd be cranky if my chicken or pizza went missing. I was the one whose partially eaten food was nibbled on. That was several years ago, but I was grossed out AND mad.

3. I hate theft in any form. If you steal something small, you'll steal something big.

4. Multiple people tried to blame 3rd shift. Mighty convenient when they aren't there to defend themselves. Also, several people wanted to throw the cleaning people or the guards under the bus (both of contractors). I'm telling you, this is one of our employees.

My suggested solution? Install cameras in the break areas. The theft will either stop, or we'll ID and fire the thief. Of
course, my solution was far too practical and hasn't went anywhere yet. Hope you enjoyed this installment of "the food bandit".

It's the simple things

Isn't amazing how small things can make us so happy at times? A few examples:

1. Yesterday I put on a pair of shorts that were a tad snug the last time I wore them. This time, they were baggy. YES!

2. We gave away free candy at work a few times last week. Some of it was gifts from our office supply company, and some of it was some supposedly stale stuff my coworkers unearthed in our stash (they'd been noshing on it quite a bit I think). People flocked like vultures, and they were happy little peeps.

3. I found a dime while I was out walking yesterday. Yes, ten whole cents. But who doesn't like to find unexpected money in any amount?

4. One of my favorite things to do in the whole world is to sit on my porch and read a good book. Low in cost, but highly enjoyable.

Yes, I'd love to find $10 million on my doorstep the next time I come home, but little things can bring great joy too.

Enhancing your job search- tips for employers

Last week I talked about ways candidates can improve their chances of getting hired. This week I'm turning the tables and giving advice to employers. My job search has shown me there is definitely room for improvement on this end.

A. Give candidates enough information to know if they even want to apply
Wherever you post a job, you need to display this information:
1. Job description
- This needs to accurately reflect what you need the candidate to do. If you're not sure, you aren't ready to hire anyone.
2. The work hours, especially if they aren't standard for the type of position
- I recently went to an interview where no one had mentioned the job required lots of evenings and weekends. This is very outside the norm for my field. The interview ended after less than 5 minutes. This was a complete waste of the interviewing company's time and mine
3. Location
- Candidates can rule out areas that aren't commutable for them
4. Pay
- Yes, I know employers hate this. But candidates hate having to guess. At least give a minimum. This saves you and the candidate time if the pay doesn't meet their requirements

B. Make it easy for candidates to apply
Your online application takes an hour to complete and is very difficult to use? Wave good-bye to qualified candidates. You've never tried the application yourself, HR person? Shame on you! Do that right now, and recruit a few other people to do it too. It may be eye opening. If candidates can submit resumes directly without the application process, all the better

C. Respect candidates' time
Personal pet peeve here
1. Give reasonable notice to set up interviews.
- The next day is not reasonable. Aim for at least a week.
2. Have decent interview times available.
- To catch the good fish, you may have to come to the pond early or stay late.
3. Provide any paperwork you need the candidates to do well before the interview.
- This way they can bring it completed to the interview.
4.  Start and end the interviews on time

D. Communicate with the candidates after the interview
At the end of the interview, provide candidates with a timeline of when you'll communicate with them and STICK TO IT. They have taken time from their busy day to interview. You OWE this to them. I have considered sending a bill for 8 hours of vacation to one company. I took the day off to interview. I never heard any from them, even after I left a voicemail AND sent an e-mail. How unprofessional!

These tips will help your company make a better impression on your potential future employees.

Enhancing your job search- tips for candidates

During a job interview I had last week (yes, interview! Woo-hoo!!), one of the questions I was given is "What advice would you give to someone looking for a job?" Well, of course, being the HR pro that I am, I was all over that. As I reflected later, I realized my answers could be helpful to others, so I'll share them with you.

A. Tell everyone you know you're looking for a job

Networking is where it's at. Here are 3 reasons why.

1. When you think of how many people you know and how many people they in turn know, you see what a huge job search resource this truly is.

2. Many jobs are never advertised. They are filled solely through word of mouth. This saves companies tons of money in ads, recruiter fees, etc.

3. A recommendation from an employee is a huge leg up.  Many companies have a formal referral program that financially rewards employees who successfully recommend candidates. This has nothing to do with altruism. Companies know that referrals save them money for the same reasons listed in #2, plus referrals tend to have a higher success ratio than non-referrals. In my company, we don't have a referral program, but anyone recommended by an employee is pretty much an automatic interview

B. Get the basics right
This should be obvious, but from my experience, it's not. Have a resume (you laugh, I've seen it). Your resume needs to be current (this doesn't mean to cross out old info with a pen and hand write the corrections) and error free. Confession: my resume had a typo in it until recently, and I'm a good proofer. Other people had read it and never seen it either. My sister found it straight off. Lesson learned: it's hard to check your own work. Instead have several people read over it.

c. It's always an interview
I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating. Every interaction is part of the hiring process. Yes, everything. Responding to the ad (Do you include all the data requested?, Are your spelling and grammar good?, Do you have a professional e-mail address?), how you park your car in the lot (yes, we check this out), how do you treat the receptionist, etc. I would go so far as to tell you if you have a phone interview, wear formal interview clothes, even if it's not a video interview. It's all about being in the right mindset.

I hope this is information that is helpful to you and anyone you know doing a job search.

Sometimes silence is the only safe answer

Our contractor orientation video at work is overseen by three departments (yes, a camel is a horse designed by a committee). One department wanted some changes made, so they were supposed to head up the project. Over six months went by. When someone finally asked about the status, the manager said she was "too busy" to do it. In my company that's code for "I don't want to to do it". Somehow it then became my department's project for reasons I still do not understand. Well,of course, the project is now nearly complete with only a little time invested. Today was our final meeting to review the content before it went live. I scheduled the meeting for 2 PM, invited the 2 other involved departments plus our IT person. The consultant arrived at 1:45, and she and I discussed life in general for a bit (she's a former employee). At 2 o'clock I said to start. My meetings start on time, even if no one else is there. My department was present as was IT. The 2nd involved department showed up 10 minutes late or so (and no, we didn't start over). The 3rd department, the one who wanted all the changes, never showed.  As we left the meeting at 2:40, the 3rd department was walking toward the conference room. I told them "we're done". She got indignant and said "I thought the meeting was at 2:30. No one called me." Here's some of what I was thinking:

1. Can you not read an Outlook Calendar appointment like everyone else?
2. No, no one called you. You're a manager. We expect you to show up when the meeting started.
3. If you thought the meeting started at 2:30, why are you just now strolling in at 2:40?

And what did I say to her? NOTHING. I just kept walking to my desk. Everything I was thinking was true, but there was no win in it for me if I said it. I did tell my boss about it, and she said "no, we aren't calling her". Hehe. Silence is sometimes the best answer.

That's one way to keep your job- UPDATE

It seems there is a limit to even how much being the boss's drug dealer can protect your job. I was informed this week that Associate X is no longer employed by the company.

This is not how it's supposed to work

Recently I needed a for new battery one of my vehicles. Normally this involves a ten minute visit to the auto parts store, and then you are on your way as good as new. My experience did not go like that. Below is the e-mail I sent to the auto parts store expressing my displeasure:

I am writing to tell you of my recent disappointing and frustrating interactions with your (store in my town). On June 8th I visited this store to have a battery replaced in my (SUV). When I arrived, the employee (his name began with a “Q”) was unsure if they even had a battery that would fit it. I left without a battery.

I then called my brother, who works at (another store in the chain). He assured me the battery the person in (my town) had mentioned would fit. I returned to the (my town) store the next day. The same employee was working. I told him what battery I needed. He came out to my car with a wrench and one socket. He said this was not the right socket. He went back into the store for another socket and returned a long time later with one more socket. It wasn't right either. After another long trip into the store he announced that they didn't have the correct size socket to remove the battery. I asked what my options were. He said they could use vise grips to get it out. I immediately vetoed this idea and asked what it was going to take to get this battery changed. He suggested I got to a mechanic shop. I then left again, still with no battery.

I was incensed that I had not been able to accomplish the simple task of getting a new battery. I again contacted my brother at (his) store. He said each store has a cart used to change batteries that has everything you need, including a wide variety of sockets. He also informed me that if by chance they don't have the right socket, they can pull one off the shelf. After all, it's an auto parts store.

I was very angry that I had wasted all this time at the (my town). I had my brother purchase the battery at his store, and he was able to install it at my sister's house in under five minutes using his own basic tools that he keeps in his truck.

I am very displeased by the lack of service received from the (my town) store. I had a very routine need, and they were unable to take care of it. This is simply unacceptable. I hope you will look into this matter and implement appropriate corrective action so that other customers do not have the nightmare of an experience that I did.

Here is the company's response:

Please accept our sincere apology for the poor service and rude treatment you received at our store located in (your town).The actions of our employee, as described in your e-mail, are unacceptable and we will move to correct this immediately. A copy of your e-mail and this response has been forwarded to the store's District and Regional Managers for review and corrective action at the store. We truly appreciate your business and it is our sincere hope you will continue to choose  (our company) for your future automotive needs. If we may be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Hopefully they do improve because as my niece would say it was "a disaster".

Cooking & Baking; Art versus Science

It recently dawned on me that the difference between cooking and baking is really art versus science. I found it interesting to see Jen Lancaster essentially make the same point in her new book "The Tao of Martha: My Year of LIVING; Or, Why I'm Never Getting All The Glitter Off of the Dog". With baking, as long as you combine the right ingredients in the right amounts and bake for the right amount of time, the odds are good that you'll have success. Cooking is much more about finesse and feel. The instructions are more like general guidelines, and you have to be more aware and willing to makes changes as the situation dictates. Given my personality, baking tends to be more my preference. A & B + C =D. I've heard Rachael Ray is not a fan of baking as she dislikes the regimentedness of it, preferring the creative approach to cooking instead. Each undertaking has its upsides, by which of course I mean yummy outputs. The journey to each is just a bit different.

Note for book lovers: The premise of "The Tao of Martha" is that the author spends her year trying to organize her life like Martha Stewart would. Hilarity ensues. I was literally laughing out loud as I read about the trip to the craft store to procure glitter. I'd highly recommend getting a copy from your local library to enjoy.

Too much of a good thing

My Introduction to Psychology professor used to say "In psychology, the extremes are seldom healthy". This is very true. I think you can replace "psychology" with "life" and have another important lesson. I was reminded of this recently by something I did.

I purchased a daybed for my guest room. My neighbor helped me get it home. I then put it together by myself. Now, if I was an octopus this wouldn't have been so bad, but I'm not. As I sat there sweating on the floor (because I was too cheap to turn on the air conditioning for the hour I was home), I thought how much easier this would have been if I'd have asked for help. I knew my neighbor would have gladly assisted me, a fact he confirmed when I told him my story later. I am very independent, sometimes to a fault as this scenario illustrates. Being indepedent is good, but being too independent can just make things harder than they have to be.

A real nightmare

Saturday night I had a nightmare. In it I bought a new car. You may be thinking "Now why is that so scary?". It was TERRIBLE. I had bought a brand new model of my sports car, so I now had three cars. Even worse was that I had financed the whole thing, and the price had doubled since I bought the one I had. I was so stressed out in the dream trying to figure out why I had purchased this, how could I get out of it, etc. Freaked out does not even begin to describe it. I was so happy when I woke up and realized that I still only have my two paid for cars. Phew.

When I have crazy dreams like this, I try to figure out what may have caused them. In this case, I think it's the fact that I have spent quite a bit of money lately going on multiple vacations, buying some new clothes, etc. I can afford all these things, but sometimes our subconscious doesn't process things as our rational mind does. Hopefully my subconsious mind is now at ease after I've written about it. I don't want another nightmare!

A beautiful display on a special day

Saturday was a big day in my family. My grandma turned 78 and my nephew had his first birthday. I thought it was especially appropriate that I saw this double rainbow on their double birthday.

 As I told my family, this is just further proof that God shows us his love in ways both big and small.

That's one way to keep your job

My friends hosted a cookout at their house on Saturday. While we were there, one of them was telling about his coworker. This guy is a disaster. His write up history is a mile long, he's messed up loading lots of customer orders, and most recently he took out a light pole in the parking lot the employer shares with another company, then LAUGHED about it. During one of the times he had to drug test, he claimed he had to run home and get his wife first so she could drive his car to work. When he got back from the drug test, she was still in the car with him. Can you say falsifying your drug test? We asked why this guy still has a job. The current theory is he's the drug dealer for one of the bosses. That's certainly one way to keep your job when you definitely should lose it.

I'm thankful I have a car

Sometimes situations in life make you extremely thankful for what you have. I had just such an experience last week. My mom and I took the city bus to get to a tourist attraction while we were on vacation. Getting there was great. We went to the stop, waited a bit, and rode to our destination. Coming back was another story. We arrived at the bus stop about 4. The bus was to pick up at 4:08. Nothing. 4:20. Nothing. 4:30. Nothing. Finally at 4:45 (the time the bus AFTER the 4:08 should have arrived) we got picked up. We ended up talking to some local people who were also waiting for the bus, and one of them mentioned that long delays on this route had become more common.

My mom and I talked later about how trying it would be to have this be your primary mode of transportation. Imagine trying to make it to work, a doctor appointment, etc. on time. It would be stressful and at times impossible. I am SO thankful I have my own car, actually 2 of them.

Car ownership does have its challenges of course. In the span of a month I had to buy new front brakes & rotors for car #1 and dealt with simultaneous power steering fluid & coolant leaks in my other (thankfully the appropriate stop leak for each fluid fixed those). When my mom and I got home from another vacation 2 weeks ago my car battery was dead in car #1 and I had to get jumped. I'm getting a new battery for it this week after 2 unsuccessful trips to the auto supply store. However, despite the frustration in dealing with all of these issues (and I was so frustrated at one point that I told my brother "I'm TIRED of all this. I just want to put gas in my car and go. That's it."), I am very, very grateful I have my cars and can come and go on my schedule, not the whims of unpredictable public transportation.

It's ALWAYS an interview

Two of the positions were are trying to fill at my company require candidates to take an Excel test. We had one candidate who showed up wearing a t shirt of the local NFL team and blue jeans. REALLY? I of course pointed this out to many people. My boss (the head of HR) was trying to help the candidate out and said "well, it's not an interview". I said "it's ALWAYS an interview". And it is. Every contact you have with the company, from sending in your resume, parking your car in the parking lot, or saying hi to someone you pass in the hall is part of your effort to get the position. You need to act (and dress) accordingly.

Things not to do at your next interview

In the spirit of helpfulness, please learn from the example of one of our recent interviewees and don't do these things at your next interview:

1. Have visible trouble deciding where to park when the visitor lot is EMPTY.
2. Gripe about the company's sign in policy. Yes, ours is a total pain, but suck it up already.
3. Wear an overpowering amount of perfume or cologne
4. When the VP tells you about reviewing your resume an hour before the interview, tell her "you should have planned better".

Yes, one candidate did all these. She was certainly not the one, but she did provide us with lots of laughs.

More companies should do this

Recently I called Southwest to make a change to a flight on an upcoming trip (yes, another vacation. Life is HARD). When I called, I got the usual "your estimated wait time is X minutes" message. However, what happened next was great. You have the option for them to call you back when a rep is available. No more being on hold with stupid hold music? Yes, please! You put in your phone number, record your name, and boom, it's done. More companies should do this. I don't know what it costs, but from a customer satisfaction standpoint, it's a home run.

Not a great advertisement for your services

Recently, the coworker of a friend received an e-mail whose title was as follows:

(Jane) Your Invited to ELCE 2013

The 1st line was

(Jane) Your Invited to the Enterprise Learning! Conference & Expo 2013

Now the grammar fiends among you already see the issue. It should be YOU'RE, not YOUR.

Jane's comments were great. I've included them below.
 

OK, so this email is supposed to be for a LEARNING conference, EDUCATIONAL opportunity, etc etc... and the subject line AND first sentence in the body of the email says "YOUR invited to..."!!! Seriously?! Did they not pass grade school grammar?!? Oh my... what has this world come to when your EDUCATIONAL opportunity mass marketing email has simple grammar mistakes!!! How embarrassing for them!

(My Friend) - Definitely for (me)!! =)

How right she is. Typos drive me bananas. I always have someone proof my presentations, etc. Once I find a typo in something, it's all I focus on. Hope you enjoyed her submission. I surely did.

No Shame To Her Game

One of my coworkers likes to say "there's no shame to my game". Here's an example of someone who should have been ashamed, but clearly wasn't.

Last week a local doctor had her license revoked in a neighboring state. This was due to her license being suspended in my state (my state will decide next month whether to revoke her license here as well). She is accused of running a pill mill. The data presented does tend to support that:
- Last year she allegedly wrote more than 8,000 prescriptions for 3489 patients
- 95% of those patients received oxycodone
- The business was cash only, no insurance accepted

Now, this looked bad enough. However, my favorite part? The vanity plate on her car reads "Pill Queen" in Latin. One of the local news stations was nice enough to show a picture of it. There certainly appears to be no shame to her game.

Patience Pays Off

Waiting is not fun. Patience has never been on of my favorite things, but sometimes it is a necessary part of life. When we use it properly, it can pay great rewards.

I've been looking for a pair of tall black leather boots for over two years (yes, I know all the guys stopped reading right there.) I refuse to pay lots of money for them, and that has definitely made it more challenging. I've looked at several, but none has ever been "it."

And then a week ago Saturday the sky parted. I was in Dillard's since they were having an "extra 30% off" sale on their marked down items. I saw a pair of Eccos (super nice, super expensive brand) that looked promising. They were a bit more than I wanted to pay, but I know they are well made. There were none in my size, but the salesperson mentioned she had similar pair by Nurture I might like. I LOVE this brand, and I have several pairs of shoes from them (all bought on markdown of course). She looked, and the only pair left in the entire store was my size AND they were $66. I tried them on, and they were perfect. See how gorgeous they are:

 

 

But wait, it gets better. At the register they rung up for $46! The $66 she had quoted was the price before the additional 30% off. Oh yes, happy dance. When I looked at the box, the original price was $189. What a deal.

 

 

While I did not enjoy the process of waiting to purchase these boots, I am very pleased with the end result.

 





Further Proof That Moms Know Stuff

A couple weeks ago I had the worst case of chapped lips ever (more specifically, the skin around my lips). It was terrible. No matter what I tried, I could not get them to heal. When I mentioned this to my mom, she asked if I'd been using a new toothpaste recently. She'd had a similar incidence once, and her dermatologist ID'd it as a reaction to her toothpaste. I'd told my mom I wasn't using a new toothpaste, so that wasn't it. However, later that evening I realized that while I wasn't using a new toothpaste, I've never used this toothpaste for this long. It's a sample tube, and I used it before while traveling, but that's only for a few days.

That night I started using a different toothpaste. Problem solved. It made perfect sense in retrospect as my lips were worst when I woke up. They'd been exposed to the toothpaste all night since I usually brush my teeth for the last time right before I go to bed. My lips are much happier, and this is yet more proof that moms know stuff.

Surprise!

Friday I asked my coworker what he was doing this weekend. After he told me, he added "I guess you've heard the news". I had no idea what he was talking about so I said "no". He announced "I'm going to be a dad again." He (age 42) and his wife (age 44) have kids who are 21, 15, & 13. Obviously, this was quite a surprise. He seemed to be taking it well, and he said the kids are excited. I was so shocked it took me while to process. I've told several people, and I had to call one of my coworkers who was on vacation because I knew she'd want to know. This was the talk of the office for quite a while.

I've Got Nothing

My boss gave me a card for Administrative Professional's Day on Wednesday. Here's what the front said along with my thoughts as I read it:

The only thing more important than liking your work (nope, I don't have that)
is liking the people you're working with (nope, I don't have that either)

Bottom line: I've got nothing

Are you listening to what you're saying?- UPDATE

Recently I saw what appeared to be coworker Q getting into a new car. When I asked her about it later, she confirmed that she has purchased a new car. She said "I was so nervous when I bought it. I prayed "God, please help me make these car payments.""

This is a type of prayer I think we often pray- "Dear God, please bless this decision I made without asking you for input."

We'd be far better of with this prayer "Dear God, please help me to make the right decision about this." I think my worker would have been wiser to ask if she should buy a car rather than to request assistance with payments.

Favorite Work Phrase #8 in action- UPDATE

Here's more on the person who hung up on my boss situation:

From: (My boss)
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2013 11:33 AM
To: R
Subject: RE: Meeting

Thanks R. I truly appreciate your apology.

(My boss)

 

From: R
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2013 7:58 AM
To: (My boss)
Subject: Meeting

(My boss),

When you get a free moment, I would like to meet with you to apologize for Thursday personally.

R

 

 

 

 

Yes, they really did have a meeting, and I guess she really did apologize. I have to wonder whether this was entirely her idea, or if her boss "helped" her. Either way, it was a wise move.

Favorite Work Phrase #8 in action

Today I witnessed a classic example of Favorite Work Phrase #8.

First, some backstory:  associate "R" has had issues with the amount of vacation time we have on record for her. My coworker tried explaining it to her. When that didn't work, my coworker asked me to look at it. I agreed with our records. Finally, my coworker handed it off to our boss. He called her yesterday to try to talk her through it. Apparently, she was in one of her well known riled up moods. My boss is normally very calm, extremely anticonfrontational, and rarely raises his voice. However, at least once I heard him say in a very firm voice "No, R, you need to listen to me." I suppose she didn't like the conversation, SO SHE HUNG UP ON HIM. Yes, a manager hung up on the senior manager (aka a level above her) of HR.  Wow, my team was in shock. I was waiting for R to come in the office and start screaming. Fortunately for all, that didn't occur.

My boss rarely shows it when he's mad, but he was as red as Rudolph's nose, and he wasn't talking when I left.  I could hear him typing away though, so I figured a good message was in progress. I was not disappointed. Here's the message that was sent:


From: (My boss)
Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2013 5:42 PM
To: (R)
Cc: (R's Boss)
Subject: R's Vacation Balance

Dear R,

Since you hung up on me, I wanted to formally respond in writing. What I was trying to explain to you is that you and (your boss) verified in writing that you carried over 4 days (32 hours) from 2012 into 2013. The max is 5 days, but you only had 4 days per your record which you signed off on during the audit. I am sorry if you are upset with me, but if you will not sit down with us and let us explain to you what the record shows, it is impossible to really help you. Thus, you have 160 hours (20 days) + 32 hours (4 days carry over) or a grand total of 192 hours (24 days) to start in 2013. We do not carry over Personal Days for exempt associates. That is the bottom line--192 hours (24 days) to start on 1/1/13. You said something about 2011--I have no idea what that was about as we cannot go back in past history. You have taken vacation on 1/2/13, 1/3/13, 1/4/13 and 3/28/13. You also requested 1/21/13 as a vacation day, but you told (my coworker) you did not take that date. I need you to initial the form I placed in your box cancelling that date so that we can credit it back to you. If you prefer, you can send me an e-mail or give me a note--whatever is easiest for you. We have asked other associates to give written verification that they did not take a vacation day so that we can have proper documentation (in fact, we had one today in LA). Thus, 192 hours (24 days) - 32 hours (4 days) will give you a total of 160 hours (20 days) balance versus 19 days if 1/21/13 is not charged.

I hope you realize that we accrue vacation pay outs, and the Finance Team and my Team audit the records very carefully. Further, we send the results to managers and their associates to further verify. The records are what they are. I cannot just start adding days without some documentation to back it up. Thanks.

(My boss)


I have a feeling R "pressed enter" when she read this if she hadn't already, because here is her response:


From: R
Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2013 6:20 PM
To: (My boss)
Cc: (R's boss).
Subject: Re: R's Vacation Balance

Ok (my boss), I understand. Sorry about cutting you off. I had people on my back about a blend but that is no excuse. I apologize for the craziness. I understand what you saying. Thanks for taking the time to write it down so I could focus on what you were saying now that I have the time to deal with it.

Have a great weekend and once again I apologize for any inconvenience

R

Oh yes, I think she realized she might have went a tad over the edge. "Enter" has indeed been pressed.