The Shakedown

Recently a group of our employees was presented the company's highest award for their work in planning our company's upcoming facility expansion. This award comes with a rather sizable check. After the ceremony, one of the winners corralled three of the other winners, two of whom are his direct reports. He noted that another key person on the team did not receive the award (she was the nominator). He told them "I'm going to give Jane X of my bonus (half the amount) and I want you to each give her some". One of them came to my coworker unofficially and said "What I am supposed to say? He's my boss". Another went, again unofficially, to my boss. Apparently when the asker approached another awardee, she actually started screaming at him in her displeasure . Eventually, someone who wasn't one of the award winners told the intended target of this beneficence what was going on. She said "I'll take care of it. I don't want their money". And trust me, she meant both statements.

I didn't find out about this until much after it happened. I thought ARE YOU SERIOUS? You have the gall to tell other people what to do with their own money? I was floored that he would even think to do this. This person is a senior member of management and should obviously know better. As my boss said "If you want to give part of your money that's fine". But if it's not your money, it's not your business.

There Are Better Ways To Moonlight

We all know that times are tough. Many people are working more than 1 job to make ends meet. This guy was actually performing two money making activities at once, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Some Things Are Meant To Be

About two months ago my mom lost the diamond from her wedding band set at work. She had been breaking down some cardboard boxes, looked down, saw one of the prongs was broken, and the stone was missing. She looked all over and couldn't find it. She asked the cleaning person to keep an eye out for it that night, but she didn't find it either. My mom decided she didn't want to replace the stone as she doesn't wear the ring that much anymore, so she sold it for the gold. She said it made her kind of sad to know it was going to be melted down after she'd worn it for 36 years.

Low and behold, about a month later my mom walks into her office one morning and sitting on her desk is THE DIAMOND. The cleaning person found it in one of the rooms in her department in a corner on the floor. My mom is going to have it put in some other piece of jewelry.

This is actually the 2nd time she has lost and found the diamond. A couple years ago she lost it while working an event at a golf course. Miraculously she found it then too.

I think my mom said it best in the e-mail she sent out when the diamond was found:

"Amazing, this diamond has had several lives... It was meant for me to keep it"

File This Under "You Should Know Better"

Link

Enough said I think.

Low Speed Doesn't Mean Low Excitement

I saw an article about this incident in Wednesday's paper. Someone from work found the videos on YouTube and showed them to me on her phone (it's blocked on our computers at work). I didn't link them from here because they are full of shall we say lots of words I don't want my niece ever using. The article noted that charges are also being considered against the filmer. He's already had nearly 50,000 views on YouTube. He actually predicts as he's taping it that it will be a YouTube hit.

Jerry Springer Would Be Proud

Last week I went to get our company's mail from the letter carrier. I asked her how she was doing, and she said "I've got drama". I said "We've all got drama". She then told me this story, and yes, she has drama.

"Baby momma and baby daddy are in jail, and the other grandma's got the baby and she won't let me have him. I'm going to have to call my lawyer".  She also stated that the other grandma's nuts, the parents don't take the kid there much, but they were there with the baby when whatever caused the arrests went down.

Yes, can't you see this as an episode of Jerry Springer? Because that's what immediately came to my mind.

I saw her a couple of days later, and I asked how things were. She said they were better as Baby Momma was out of jail and had the baby. Baby Daddy (aka her son) was going to be in jail for awhile as he resisted arrested and ended up getting Tased. She of course said it was stupid of him to resist.

Appreciate your own life right about now?

Interesting Article on Covert Recording

My friend sent me this article about smartphones making it much easier to surreptitiously record conversations in the workplace. It was very interesting. Let's face it, I'm sure we've all had times where we'd have loved to record a conversation and play it back. It's much easier to prove that you've been lied to for example.

I told my friend that I enjoyed the article. She then asked if it was legal in our state. I didn't know, but my friend Google helped me find the answer right away.

I found that our state is a "one party state" as defined below, as are a majority of states:

One Party States

• One party to the conversation must have knowledge and give their consent to the recording of the conversation. In the most simple terms, this means that if you were having a conversation with another person and you "secretly" recorded that conversation, since "one party," (you) were aware that the recording was being done, no law was being violated. In the event the party you had the conversation with later changes what they told you, the tape could be used as rebuttal. This does not mean, nor does it imply that it is "legal" to tape conversations that you are not a party to and without question, that would be an invasion of privacy and a state and federal crime.

So yes, absent a company policy to the contrary, you are good to go. This has made me tempted to see how much a small recording device would run as I am too cheap to have a smart phone. It would also behoove people to remember not to say anything they wouldn't want quoted on the front page of the newpaper, the headline page of CNN, or a billboard on the busiest highway in town.