Being sick anytime of the year sucks, but I always seem to get sick just as I get to take some well-deserved time off.
I came down with a nasty bug last Wednesday, and finally I am feeling back in top form. Though, go figure, I Wednesday was also my last day at work prior to me getting holiday time.
So, my first couple of days of vacation, I spent wheezing, hacking and coughing up a lung.
It wasn’t that bad, but it felt it.
I had a runny nose, a sore throat and an annoying cough. Thankfully, Contact C works wonders – I highly recommend it over other medications, as my cold is no more. Specifically, I got the Contact C Complete Cold and Flu stuff – and now I’m better.
I think.
I still have an annoying little cough, but no more runny nose and I don’t sound like I’m going through puberty.
Now I can enjoy my holidays in peace and quiet.
What concerns me, is where did I catch this cold? I’ve been trying to figure it out. Most likely places, work and the grocery store.
Some people were sick at the office, but not many. It is hard to tell if people were sick at the grocery store, when I did a grocery store shop earlier this week. People who work in and around food and consumables shouldn’t be working if they are sick.
But with those low paying jobs, often they only pay you if you work. So those that are sick may in fact be working.
I also had my annual flu shot earlier this month, but that was weeks ago. Still, my flu shot should have minimized my chances of catching a flu.
The mystery of where the bug continues. . .
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Going Green at the Grocery Store
Plastic or paper?
That’s what some stores were asking in the eighties. It was a time when the environmental movement was getting positive media coverage – instead of being linked to free-loving, unemployable, drug-using hippies as they were in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Times have changed – but the environment is still in the media’s golden eye.
These days, instead of plastic or paper, it’s cloth. Recently I went grocery shopping, and instead of letting the grocery clerk just put everything into plastic bags, I purchased several cloth bags.
The cloth bags cost me $1.99 each, and they have the grocery store’s corporate logo smeared all over it – but hey every bit helps the environment.
And it saves space. For years I’ve been storing plastic bags in my linen closet. My linen closet constantly overflows, to the point where I end up throwing out a lot of those plastic bags.
Instead of wasting plastic bags, I’ll bring with me the cloth grocery store bags.
They are nice bags, and they provide better protection of my new purchases than plastic, and far better protection than paper.
Paper bags get wet, and break. Plastic bags stretch and rip. Cloth bags – well so far they stand up to the pressures of my massive grocery shopping sprees.
Cloth shopping bags are good for the environment, great for me, and provide some free advertising for the store. It is a win-win situation. And a green one at that.
One day, maybe they won’t charge for the cloth bags – maybe they’ll charge for the use of plastic or paper bags? Then we’ll have moved forward.
That’s what some stores were asking in the eighties. It was a time when the environmental movement was getting positive media coverage – instead of being linked to free-loving, unemployable, drug-using hippies as they were in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Times have changed – but the environment is still in the media’s golden eye.
These days, instead of plastic or paper, it’s cloth. Recently I went grocery shopping, and instead of letting the grocery clerk just put everything into plastic bags, I purchased several cloth bags.
The cloth bags cost me $1.99 each, and they have the grocery store’s corporate logo smeared all over it – but hey every bit helps the environment.
And it saves space. For years I’ve been storing plastic bags in my linen closet. My linen closet constantly overflows, to the point where I end up throwing out a lot of those plastic bags.
Instead of wasting plastic bags, I’ll bring with me the cloth grocery store bags.
They are nice bags, and they provide better protection of my new purchases than plastic, and far better protection than paper.
Paper bags get wet, and break. Plastic bags stretch and rip. Cloth bags – well so far they stand up to the pressures of my massive grocery shopping sprees.
Cloth shopping bags are good for the environment, great for me, and provide some free advertising for the store. It is a win-win situation. And a green one at that.
One day, maybe they won’t charge for the cloth bags – maybe they’ll charge for the use of plastic or paper bags? Then we’ll have moved forward.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
It's Almost Vacation Time!
I need a vacation. Actually, this has been the most stressful contract I have ever had. There is no project management, and there is a lack of any real management at all levels, making working at this company very hard.
Everyone is really nice – they’d make excellent friends. However, when it comes to work place standards, practices, policies and procedures – they are decades behind the competition.
People come and go as they see fit – they have the most flexible “flex” hours I have ever seen. Most don’t put in a full working day – coming in around 10:00am and leaving at 5:00pm or sooner.
When they are at the office, they yak your ear off about their lives, and they want you to tell them all about yours. They spend hours surfing the net for things which aren’t work related, and they often spend hours chatting on the phone with relatives and friends about things which have nothing to do with the office.
Things get done, usually – no ALWAYS – rushed and last minute. Nothing is ever planned organized in a consistently professional manner.
I joke that it’s as if the executives sit around their “planning” meetings, brainstorm great ideas, and without taking the time to think about how and who they need on these projects, they just say “let’s do it” and expect it done.
That’s why there is one fire of a project after another – often the one I’m working on gets dropped or rushed to completion, so that the new firestorm can be worked on. This complete disregard for resources usually bankrupts most companies, or at best, causes high turnover of employees.
Surprisingly, the majority of the staff have stuck it out and remained – the average lifespan is well over a decade for most people. The national average for employees staying at any one company is usually between three to five-years.
But I’ve noticed a distressing thing – the reason people stay isn’t because they agree with or enjoy the lack of any sort of real management. It is because they are lazy, and they know the lack of management is due to lazy bodies occupying senior roles.
Often, the argument why some companies are more heavily managed than others is based on creativity. Creative people, so the argument goes, tend to be poor planners, and need that creative freedom to do what it is they do, in their own creative way.
I don’t know about that argument, I’ve worked for many creative individuals, and they all had far better management structures in place. I think in the case of where I work now, that’s simply an excuse for a deeper rooted problem – apathy and laziness.
Planning – good planning – takes time, energy and effort. To plan is to think – to create a blueprint for success, and a backup in case of failure.
To create a blueprint, you have to take into consideration all the elements which you need to build the projects you want. This takes effort and effort requires people have enough energy to get off their lazy butts, and actually do the work behind the planning.
I see a significant lack of work in the planning area of the company. It isn’t because they don’t know how to plan, and it certainly isn’t because they are the highly creative types. I’ve worked with the highly creative types that lack the planning gene – they still have the energy and the wisdom to get someone else on the team that can do the planning for them.
What it comes down to is laziness. And that brings me to my initial point – why people have been here so long.
If the leaders are lazy, then the workers need to be lazy too, otherwise they don’t fit in. They stand out like a sore thumb, and you don’t want to stand out in this way. People that aren’t in the same mindset and business class as those they work with, either get handed all the work, or they get so frustrated with the lack of anything getting done at a professional level, they become disengaged from the rest of their team, and eventually either get fired or simply quit.
We all want to do a good job – but it is hard to do a good job when those leading you don’t put in the effort to do one in the first place. If everything is done last minute, rushed, and then has to be re-done to correct the mistakes made during the rush – which happens all too often where I am – then it becomes hard to do a quality job yourself.
But that’s the whole reason why people have been here so long – like attracts like. Lazy people are attracted to lazy leaders, because they can get away with being lazy. That’s why people that are supposed to be in from 8:30am to 4:30pm meander in around 9:30am and leave at 4:30pm. That’s why you have managers coming in at 1:00pm and leaving at 3:00pm for a “smoke break” – but then you never see that person for the rest of the day. That’s why people spend hours chatting instead of doing real work. And that’s why it is so very stressful when things need to get done, because they are left to the last minute, rushed through errors and all – only to have to be redone later on a second, and even possibly a third or more time.
Laziness attracts laziness. I’m not a lazy person, so I get dumped on – because people know they can count on me. Problem is, I’m tired of being the first one in the office, the last one to leave, and the one that everyone comes to, to get the job done. I’m not making millions of dollars, I’m not getting a share in everyone else’s salaries, and I’m certainly not getting all the overtime off which I put in.
Hopefully, there are still companies with a real vision, a real drive, and real leadership.
And now I’m off, to my vacation.
Everyone is really nice – they’d make excellent friends. However, when it comes to work place standards, practices, policies and procedures – they are decades behind the competition.
People come and go as they see fit – they have the most flexible “flex” hours I have ever seen. Most don’t put in a full working day – coming in around 10:00am and leaving at 5:00pm or sooner.
When they are at the office, they yak your ear off about their lives, and they want you to tell them all about yours. They spend hours surfing the net for things which aren’t work related, and they often spend hours chatting on the phone with relatives and friends about things which have nothing to do with the office.
Things get done, usually – no ALWAYS – rushed and last minute. Nothing is ever planned organized in a consistently professional manner.
I joke that it’s as if the executives sit around their “planning” meetings, brainstorm great ideas, and without taking the time to think about how and who they need on these projects, they just say “let’s do it” and expect it done.
That’s why there is one fire of a project after another – often the one I’m working on gets dropped or rushed to completion, so that the new firestorm can be worked on. This complete disregard for resources usually bankrupts most companies, or at best, causes high turnover of employees.
Surprisingly, the majority of the staff have stuck it out and remained – the average lifespan is well over a decade for most people. The national average for employees staying at any one company is usually between three to five-years.
But I’ve noticed a distressing thing – the reason people stay isn’t because they agree with or enjoy the lack of any sort of real management. It is because they are lazy, and they know the lack of management is due to lazy bodies occupying senior roles.
Often, the argument why some companies are more heavily managed than others is based on creativity. Creative people, so the argument goes, tend to be poor planners, and need that creative freedom to do what it is they do, in their own creative way.
I don’t know about that argument, I’ve worked for many creative individuals, and they all had far better management structures in place. I think in the case of where I work now, that’s simply an excuse for a deeper rooted problem – apathy and laziness.
Planning – good planning – takes time, energy and effort. To plan is to think – to create a blueprint for success, and a backup in case of failure.
To create a blueprint, you have to take into consideration all the elements which you need to build the projects you want. This takes effort and effort requires people have enough energy to get off their lazy butts, and actually do the work behind the planning.
I see a significant lack of work in the planning area of the company. It isn’t because they don’t know how to plan, and it certainly isn’t because they are the highly creative types. I’ve worked with the highly creative types that lack the planning gene – they still have the energy and the wisdom to get someone else on the team that can do the planning for them.
What it comes down to is laziness. And that brings me to my initial point – why people have been here so long.
If the leaders are lazy, then the workers need to be lazy too, otherwise they don’t fit in. They stand out like a sore thumb, and you don’t want to stand out in this way. People that aren’t in the same mindset and business class as those they work with, either get handed all the work, or they get so frustrated with the lack of anything getting done at a professional level, they become disengaged from the rest of their team, and eventually either get fired or simply quit.
We all want to do a good job – but it is hard to do a good job when those leading you don’t put in the effort to do one in the first place. If everything is done last minute, rushed, and then has to be re-done to correct the mistakes made during the rush – which happens all too often where I am – then it becomes hard to do a quality job yourself.
But that’s the whole reason why people have been here so long – like attracts like. Lazy people are attracted to lazy leaders, because they can get away with being lazy. That’s why people that are supposed to be in from 8:30am to 4:30pm meander in around 9:30am and leave at 4:30pm. That’s why you have managers coming in at 1:00pm and leaving at 3:00pm for a “smoke break” – but then you never see that person for the rest of the day. That’s why people spend hours chatting instead of doing real work. And that’s why it is so very stressful when things need to get done, because they are left to the last minute, rushed through errors and all – only to have to be redone later on a second, and even possibly a third or more time.
Laziness attracts laziness. I’m not a lazy person, so I get dumped on – because people know they can count on me. Problem is, I’m tired of being the first one in the office, the last one to leave, and the one that everyone comes to, to get the job done. I’m not making millions of dollars, I’m not getting a share in everyone else’s salaries, and I’m certainly not getting all the overtime off which I put in.
Hopefully, there are still companies with a real vision, a real drive, and real leadership.
And now I’m off, to my vacation.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The Scary Neighbour Saga Continues
For the most part, the people in my apartment building are great. Most of them are very nice, friendly, honest, and hard working members of the community.
Then there is scary dude across the hall.
He’s really creepy.
He never seems to have a job, always lingers in the hallways, and tries to make friends with everyone, so that he can later mooch off of them.
He tried that approach with me, and for the past year, I’ve just ignored him.
Recently, I have had the odd encounter or two with him. We live on the same floor, and a few times I’ve been waiting for the elevator, when he comes out and waits for the elevator as well.
We just stand there, not quite sure what to say to each other. Actually, I have nothing to say to this creep. I stopped talking to him as soon as he started begging for money months ago. I did this, because I knew if I gave him cash, he’d keep asking for more. Also, he just seemed odd – he has some weird habits.
Like today – he came out in his PJs. I don’t know where he was going, but even if it is just around the building, you should be properly dressed. I don’t walk down to the recycling bins naked. I expect if I did, I’d be arrested for indecent exposure.
Last time I had the misfortune to get on an elevator with creepy dude, he stared at me the whole way down. I don’t even think he blinked. No wonder he seems odd and just not normal.
So this time around, the elevator came up, and he got on. I waited for the next one – took a little longer, but at least I wouldn’t have to wonder what psychotic episode the creepy dude staring at me was running through his perverted, twisted and sick little mind.
I have never said or done anything to harm or in anyway negate this guy. I just stopped talking to him. This was many months ago – if not a whole year ago – yet he seems to act like it was yesterday.
It’s sad when people have so little in their lives, they hold grudges against those they hardly knew in the first place, for so long. This creepy dude must have nothing in his life. No work, no friends, no family, no nothing – what a shame.
He could have more in his life, if only he stopped contemplating the past and moved on with his life. If he took the time to look for other things to occupy his time, he’d probably find them.
There is so much more out there, than holding grudges against those you hardly know.
Still, it does had to some excitement in my life, when the creepy dude makes an appearance. I have so very few creepy dudes in my life, it makes for interesting blogs.
I write the blog, and then move on with my life. If only creepy dude knew how to write.
Then there is scary dude across the hall.
He’s really creepy.
He never seems to have a job, always lingers in the hallways, and tries to make friends with everyone, so that he can later mooch off of them.
He tried that approach with me, and for the past year, I’ve just ignored him.
Recently, I have had the odd encounter or two with him. We live on the same floor, and a few times I’ve been waiting for the elevator, when he comes out and waits for the elevator as well.
We just stand there, not quite sure what to say to each other. Actually, I have nothing to say to this creep. I stopped talking to him as soon as he started begging for money months ago. I did this, because I knew if I gave him cash, he’d keep asking for more. Also, he just seemed odd – he has some weird habits.
Like today – he came out in his PJs. I don’t know where he was going, but even if it is just around the building, you should be properly dressed. I don’t walk down to the recycling bins naked. I expect if I did, I’d be arrested for indecent exposure.
Last time I had the misfortune to get on an elevator with creepy dude, he stared at me the whole way down. I don’t even think he blinked. No wonder he seems odd and just not normal.
So this time around, the elevator came up, and he got on. I waited for the next one – took a little longer, but at least I wouldn’t have to wonder what psychotic episode the creepy dude staring at me was running through his perverted, twisted and sick little mind.
I have never said or done anything to harm or in anyway negate this guy. I just stopped talking to him. This was many months ago – if not a whole year ago – yet he seems to act like it was yesterday.
It’s sad when people have so little in their lives, they hold grudges against those they hardly knew in the first place, for so long. This creepy dude must have nothing in his life. No work, no friends, no family, no nothing – what a shame.
He could have more in his life, if only he stopped contemplating the past and moved on with his life. If he took the time to look for other things to occupy his time, he’d probably find them.
There is so much more out there, than holding grudges against those you hardly know.
Still, it does had to some excitement in my life, when the creepy dude makes an appearance. I have so very few creepy dudes in my life, it makes for interesting blogs.
I write the blog, and then move on with my life. If only creepy dude knew how to write.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Character Is Everything
Experts agree that you make up your mind about whether you like someone or don’t within the very first 15-30 seconds of meeting them.
Whether we care to admit it or not, we all judge the book by its cover, and once we’ve made up our minds, it is pretty hard to change them.
That’s why when someone gets off on the wrong foot with us, chances are they will most likely remain there unless they somehow manage to WOW us.
But it also works the other way too – if someone starts off on the wrong foot and continues to live up to that negative image, then they did themselves a deeper hole, so to speak.
Take the Marketing Manager where I work. She started on the wrong foot with me right from the start. She seems to think she is special, and has these executive banker type hours – or less. Actually, most of the marketing department has screwy hours – no one ever knows if they are working, or when they are working.
For the past two-weeks, the marketing manager has been out of the office – supposedly because her husband is very ill.
Now, normally if someone says their spouse or a loved one is very ill, you take their word for it and give them all the personal time they require to deal with the situation.
But this goes back to the first impressions the marketing manager has made on me – and most others in the office. Because those very first impressions were negative ones, that she is a slacker, that does whatever she can to avoid working at any cost, most doubt the authenticity of her sick husband claim.
It wouldn’t surprise me if her hubby is actually quite well, and she’s been vacationing with him in her personal time – instead of having to deal with a sick person.
She doesn’t respond to emails or meeting requests – I had sent her three meeting requests earlier, and she only turned one down. She never responded to the others. Then, she is like that even when her hubby is supposedly healthy.
First impressions come out of character. We all judge people based on the character or lack of character they embody. In a professional office environment, if someone carries the title of “marketing manager” I expect them to have a certain degree of character which fits with that high level title. Just as if someone is a stock person, I expect them to have a certain level of character for their job.
I’m not talking qualifications or expertise – that’s a given. I’m talking about CHARACTER – how they present themselves, how they handle business and personal situations, how they go about interacting with their colleagues and external parties in their work.
If someone lacks the level of characteristics that they should have for a specific role – then they will never be taken seriously.
Few take our marketing manager – or the whole department for that matter – seriously. Sadly, the whole department requires a major housecleaning. I’ve mentioned this countless times, and many agree – still nothing is done.
Everything comes from the top-down. If the managers are permitted to act like lazy-ass slackers, than guess what – so too will everyone else.
But hey, maybe the top brass like to slack off – takes less effort and energy than actually working for a living.
Whether we care to admit it or not, we all judge the book by its cover, and once we’ve made up our minds, it is pretty hard to change them.
That’s why when someone gets off on the wrong foot with us, chances are they will most likely remain there unless they somehow manage to WOW us.
But it also works the other way too – if someone starts off on the wrong foot and continues to live up to that negative image, then they did themselves a deeper hole, so to speak.
Take the Marketing Manager where I work. She started on the wrong foot with me right from the start. She seems to think she is special, and has these executive banker type hours – or less. Actually, most of the marketing department has screwy hours – no one ever knows if they are working, or when they are working.
For the past two-weeks, the marketing manager has been out of the office – supposedly because her husband is very ill.
Now, normally if someone says their spouse or a loved one is very ill, you take their word for it and give them all the personal time they require to deal with the situation.
But this goes back to the first impressions the marketing manager has made on me – and most others in the office. Because those very first impressions were negative ones, that she is a slacker, that does whatever she can to avoid working at any cost, most doubt the authenticity of her sick husband claim.
It wouldn’t surprise me if her hubby is actually quite well, and she’s been vacationing with him in her personal time – instead of having to deal with a sick person.
She doesn’t respond to emails or meeting requests – I had sent her three meeting requests earlier, and she only turned one down. She never responded to the others. Then, she is like that even when her hubby is supposedly healthy.
First impressions come out of character. We all judge people based on the character or lack of character they embody. In a professional office environment, if someone carries the title of “marketing manager” I expect them to have a certain degree of character which fits with that high level title. Just as if someone is a stock person, I expect them to have a certain level of character for their job.
I’m not talking qualifications or expertise – that’s a given. I’m talking about CHARACTER – how they present themselves, how they handle business and personal situations, how they go about interacting with their colleagues and external parties in their work.
If someone lacks the level of characteristics that they should have for a specific role – then they will never be taken seriously.
Few take our marketing manager – or the whole department for that matter – seriously. Sadly, the whole department requires a major housecleaning. I’ve mentioned this countless times, and many agree – still nothing is done.
Everything comes from the top-down. If the managers are permitted to act like lazy-ass slackers, than guess what – so too will everyone else.
But hey, maybe the top brass like to slack off – takes less effort and energy than actually working for a living.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Let It Snow, Let It Snow
We’ve been hit with what could be the worst one-day winter storm in over 60-years here. It has been a pure blizzard since yesterday afternoon – and it is still snowing.
The weather stations are all predicting total accumulations of between 20 to 30cm – all in the span of 24-hours!
The roads are pure white – you can’t tell where the roads begin and the sidewalks end. Police are advising people that if they don’t have to go out – stay home.
Still, there are always idiots out there that just continue as if this were the norm.
Some have to go to work, others may have to run out and get supplies. Though the later is just a form of idiot too – we were warned well in advance of the winter storm, so those people should have did what I did yesterday.
Yesterday I went grocery shopping. I was planning on doing that anyway – I was running low on food stuffs and felt it was time to do some grocery shopping. Still, I had my choice this weekend of doing my grocery shopping on Saturday or Sunday – and with the storm approaching, and all the media telling us about it – I chose Saturday.
Then there are those freaks of nature that drive like maniacs, despite the roads being in horrible shape. There is probably a good foot of snow on most roads – even the major highways are covered.
The blows and salters are out, but with the blizzard being so vigorous, the moment they clear the snow, it just reappears.
Last night, I was watching the accidents occur – you can always tell the idiots from the rest. They are the ones usually causing the accidents by going to fast, not using their wipers, or worse – not having proper snow tires on their cars.
I was watching cars skidding and slipping all over the place. It was like watching the bumper cars at a fall fair – only these weren’t bumper cars, and no one was happy with the damage they inflicted on the other.
As for me – I’m taking it easy. Doing my chores, watching TV, maybe a good movie . . .
Yeah – that’s what a good snow day is for – watching a good movie, curled up on the couch, munching on some goodies.
Good thing I did my shopping yesterday!
The weather stations are all predicting total accumulations of between 20 to 30cm – all in the span of 24-hours!
The roads are pure white – you can’t tell where the roads begin and the sidewalks end. Police are advising people that if they don’t have to go out – stay home.
Still, there are always idiots out there that just continue as if this were the norm.
Some have to go to work, others may have to run out and get supplies. Though the later is just a form of idiot too – we were warned well in advance of the winter storm, so those people should have did what I did yesterday.
Yesterday I went grocery shopping. I was planning on doing that anyway – I was running low on food stuffs and felt it was time to do some grocery shopping. Still, I had my choice this weekend of doing my grocery shopping on Saturday or Sunday – and with the storm approaching, and all the media telling us about it – I chose Saturday.
Then there are those freaks of nature that drive like maniacs, despite the roads being in horrible shape. There is probably a good foot of snow on most roads – even the major highways are covered.
The blows and salters are out, but with the blizzard being so vigorous, the moment they clear the snow, it just reappears.
Last night, I was watching the accidents occur – you can always tell the idiots from the rest. They are the ones usually causing the accidents by going to fast, not using their wipers, or worse – not having proper snow tires on their cars.
I was watching cars skidding and slipping all over the place. It was like watching the bumper cars at a fall fair – only these weren’t bumper cars, and no one was happy with the damage they inflicted on the other.
As for me – I’m taking it easy. Doing my chores, watching TV, maybe a good movie . . .
Yeah – that’s what a good snow day is for – watching a good movie, curled up on the couch, munching on some goodies.
Good thing I did my shopping yesterday!
Saturday, December 08, 2007
The Joys of ZZZZZZZZzzzz
Sleep is one of the most important things we never seem to get enough of. We work eight or more hours a day, then need to spend time watching television, talking with friends, even just plain ‘ol eating, to unwind.
By the time we finally hit the sack, we’re more than sacked. But by this time, it is only a mere few hours until we have to wake up and do the morning rituals of getting ready for another day.
Is it any wonder then, why so many people go through the day angry, tired, frustrated and just not fully awake and alert.
There are more car crashes, pedestrian accidents, and even just plain stupid work related accidents these days than in the past. People simply aren’t getting enough sleep to be safe.
On weekends, we proudly rejoice in the right to sleep in. But here lies part of the problem. After sleeping in on a Saturday and Sunday, your body has adopted and is expecting this same time cycle. Come Monday morning, when you wake up earlier than the previous two days, your body goes “what the f*ck!” and keeps you drowsy, because it is expecting you’ll go back to sleep.
That’s why Mondays feel more stressful than other days of the week for most – we’re still in weekend sleep mode.
Of course, going out and partying on a Friday or Saturday night doesn’t help – again you’re changing your sleep cycle, and your body will compensate – thinking sleeping in and staying up late are the norm.
This means Monday morning you will be extra sleepy, and have trouble waking up. While Monday night, you’ll be wired and unable to fall asleep at your normal rate.
But hey, if life didn’t have those late night parties and those weekend sleep ins, it wouldn’t be very fun. It would be dull, dreary, and too commonplace.
I’ll stick to my Monday’s of stress – bring on the Friday night party!
By the time we finally hit the sack, we’re more than sacked. But by this time, it is only a mere few hours until we have to wake up and do the morning rituals of getting ready for another day.
Is it any wonder then, why so many people go through the day angry, tired, frustrated and just not fully awake and alert.
There are more car crashes, pedestrian accidents, and even just plain stupid work related accidents these days than in the past. People simply aren’t getting enough sleep to be safe.
On weekends, we proudly rejoice in the right to sleep in. But here lies part of the problem. After sleeping in on a Saturday and Sunday, your body has adopted and is expecting this same time cycle. Come Monday morning, when you wake up earlier than the previous two days, your body goes “what the f*ck!” and keeps you drowsy, because it is expecting you’ll go back to sleep.
That’s why Mondays feel more stressful than other days of the week for most – we’re still in weekend sleep mode.
Of course, going out and partying on a Friday or Saturday night doesn’t help – again you’re changing your sleep cycle, and your body will compensate – thinking sleeping in and staying up late are the norm.
This means Monday morning you will be extra sleepy, and have trouble waking up. While Monday night, you’ll be wired and unable to fall asleep at your normal rate.
But hey, if life didn’t have those late night parties and those weekend sleep ins, it wouldn’t be very fun. It would be dull, dreary, and too commonplace.
I’ll stick to my Monday’s of stress – bring on the Friday night party!
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Money Doesn't Matter -- Yeah Right
As the end of another year approaches, so too does my contract with my current employer. They have been talking big all year about how wonderful I am to the organization.
My manager is always giving me tonnes of compliments on my work, and tells me all the compliments she receives from other managers and executives about my work. I am personally thanked and complimented by other managers, directors and other executives too, for my hard work, dedication, and overall high quality.
My manager has been dropping not so subtle hints all year that she wants me to stay on. She insists she doesn’t want to lose me. She even asked me a couple of times, if they were to offer me a permanent staff gig, if I’d be interested.
I told her what every other client who has asked me – I’d consider it.
And I would – who wouldn’t consider an offer of employment?
I have bitched and moaned all year about a lot of the inadequacies and ineptitudes where I work. There are some serious problems there, and it makes the work environment less than ideal. However, I suppose that is the case at any office – if you stick around long enough anywhere you’re bound to find things you don’t like.
There are of course, things that I do enjoy where I work as well. And these make my concluding contract sad in some ways.
But what it really boils down to is money. Money makes the world go around. Compliments are always welcome, and sadly not often given in most circumstances. People will always chime in when they upset, but rarely do they speak up for no reason other than to say “thank you.”
So I am honoured and thrilled that I receive so many complements and words of praise – from managers, fellow staff, even the president thanked me recently – which surprised even me.
But complements don’t pay for a roof overhead, food in my stomach or clothes on my back. They don’t go very far in the world of work – and that’s the world I am in when I’m negotiating my next gig.
My manager recently gave me a performance review for the year just past. This was filled with exceptional complements and wonderful words of praise. But I’ve been on permanent staff before, I’ve had numerous performance reviews in the past – I know how these things work.
Most companies – including the one I’m currently on contract with – link the annual performance review to money. These performance reviews are used to determine everything dollars and cents – from the annual holiday bonus, to whether you get a raise and if you do, by how much.
Because performance reviews are linked so strongly to money, they intentionally make it impossible to achieve perfect. See, if people were getting perfect, or even near perfect, then the company would go belly up, as they’d have to continuously pay out large sums of money.
I know I’m not perfect, and I did very well on my performance review. But even I could see a pattern in terms of the rankings. If I scored high in one area, the next area was not so high. If I scored not so high in one area, then again, the next area was high. It was like looking at a multiple-choice score card, and looking for a picture among the answers. 
I discussed at my review what the ratings would translate too in terms of dollars. She gave me general estimates. However, I was already starting to wonder if all those wonderful nice things people say about me are true.
It is amazing – no, it is awesome – to receive positive feedback. As I said, it is a rare occurrence to receive any feedback, unless it is negative these days. So to not only receive positive feedback, but to receive lots of it, that is exceptional.
But if that positive feedback doesn’t translate into dollars and cents in the end, I’ll move on to my next gig elsewhere.
Something a lot of companies fail to recognize for some reason come contract close outs – I’m a contractor, so I don’t have to fall in line with their small annual pay increases based on some annual performance review. Just because their ratings system says I qualify for a meagre raise, doesn’t mean I have to accept it. Unlike someone on permanent staff, if they don’t have my signature on something saying I’m continuing working for them, then once my contract ends, it ends.
One thing many an independent contractor has learned over the years, once you get a permanent job, you are tied to whatever salary increases they offer, if any at all. You lose your bargaining room, as you already are expected back in the New Year, regardless of whether they offer you more money or not.
But as an independent contractor, you have the ability to negotiate for something better. Just because they dragged you into a performance meeting, and told you this is where you stand, doesn’t mean you have to accept it.
All that is tying you and your employer together, is a thin piece of paper, with an expiry date. When that expiry date happens, you leave, unless everyone agrees about the terms and conditions of continuing.
Contract negotiations are never easy. People often assume when you turn down a contract it is because you personally don’t like them or their organization – even if you tell them it isn’t about them or the company, it’s about the terms of the agreement.
So, hopefully, when they do come to me with an offer, it will be one which I can accept right away. However, I seriously doubt it – they are stuck in a certain frame of mind, which is limited towards a certain line of thinking.
That line of thinking is all too common and goes something like this:
- Jobs aren’t easy to come by – especially good ones in your field of expertise.
- So, any offer of employment will automatically be accepted, unquestioned, because . . .
- Jobs aren’t easy to come by.
Jobs are not easy to come by – but they are out there. It just requires some digging, a lot of interviewing and running around to potential employers. And above all else – it takes initiative.
Initiative to seriously look for the right fit, at the right price. Most people lack initiative. We are creatures of comfort. We like to take the easy road, and are often too willing to accept anything that comes our way, even, if it isn’t really what we want.
We’ll see how much initiative my current client has in offering me something of actual value to me.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Ho Ho Hold the Office Party Time
It’s that time of year again – time to go dress up, slack off and have a drink or two with the boss.
Office parties are very common this time of year. This week, we had our department party – well if you can call it that. We all met up in a board room and were treated to Swiss Chalet.
Swiss Chalet is nice – but it’s more up-scale fast food.
I’ve been to some pretty snazzy department parties over the years. When I worked at IBM many eons ago, the whole department was taken out to a nice formal turkey dinner with all the trimmings.
Other places department parties have been at posh eateries, one was at a night club, complete with live entertainment.
Company parties are usually bigger and more extravagant.
A few years ago, the company I was with took everyone out to Alice Fazzoolies, and they served us very well. It was a very informal dinner right after work, but it was a very nice dinner. They just kept bringing out trays of food, and we just kept eating them. The open bar was a nice touch too.
That same company also had a more official holiday party at Wayne Gretzkey’s Restaurant, and then we went next door to Second City to enjoy some live improve. It was pretty good.
Then there are the formal banquet, at big halls in the middle of nowhere. These places are far, located in the middle of some Boreal forest hidden from the rest of the world, but they serve exceptional food, and usually have very posh atmospheres. Usually these are strictly suit and tie affairs, with lots of drawn out speeches by the executives, followed by the usual suspects getting toasted.
That’s another thing that happens this year – those whoops moments.
A whoops moment is one where you do it once, but WHOOPS it’s so idiotic that everyone remembers it forever. And we do mean FOREVER.
People that get drunk once at corporate event, are automatically labelled the company drunk. And people will remember you every time they see you at a corporate function – in fact they probably place bets on you to see how many drinks you’ll have before you have another whoops moment.
I’ve never actually had a whoops moment myself, but I have seen enough of them to be weary and limit my drinking to generally two drinks for the whole event. This way, I’m not the whoops poster boy for my stay at the company.
I’ve seen some pretty nasty whoops moments. I’ve seen managers walking with open bottles of wine down the hall, obviously quite tipsy, to people getting up on the dance floor, only to fall down and have to be taken off the dance floor, to people trying to pick up a vice-president’s wife, to people just falling asleep while eating.
Whoops moments make a corporate party more entertaining – they take away some of the boredom from all those long, drawn out speeches, toasts, and awards to those with no lives who have had perfect attendance and never taken a day off in their 40-years at the company. Forty-years and no days off?!?!? Sheesh – someone should check that person for a pulse.
I’ve got some time off soon too – so I won’t be winning that award – thankfully!
Office parties are very common this time of year. This week, we had our department party – well if you can call it that. We all met up in a board room and were treated to Swiss Chalet.
Swiss Chalet is nice – but it’s more up-scale fast food.
I’ve been to some pretty snazzy department parties over the years. When I worked at IBM many eons ago, the whole department was taken out to a nice formal turkey dinner with all the trimmings.
Other places department parties have been at posh eateries, one was at a night club, complete with live entertainment.
Company parties are usually bigger and more extravagant.
A few years ago, the company I was with took everyone out to Alice Fazzoolies, and they served us very well. It was a very informal dinner right after work, but it was a very nice dinner. They just kept bringing out trays of food, and we just kept eating them. The open bar was a nice touch too.
That same company also had a more official holiday party at Wayne Gretzkey’s Restaurant, and then we went next door to Second City to enjoy some live improve. It was pretty good.
Then there are the formal banquet, at big halls in the middle of nowhere. These places are far, located in the middle of some Boreal forest hidden from the rest of the world, but they serve exceptional food, and usually have very posh atmospheres. Usually these are strictly suit and tie affairs, with lots of drawn out speeches by the executives, followed by the usual suspects getting toasted.
That’s another thing that happens this year – those whoops moments.
A whoops moment is one where you do it once, but WHOOPS it’s so idiotic that everyone remembers it forever. And we do mean FOREVER.
People that get drunk once at corporate event, are automatically labelled the company drunk. And people will remember you every time they see you at a corporate function – in fact they probably place bets on you to see how many drinks you’ll have before you have another whoops moment.
I’ve never actually had a whoops moment myself, but I have seen enough of them to be weary and limit my drinking to generally two drinks for the whole event. This way, I’m not the whoops poster boy for my stay at the company.
I’ve seen some pretty nasty whoops moments. I’ve seen managers walking with open bottles of wine down the hall, obviously quite tipsy, to people getting up on the dance floor, only to fall down and have to be taken off the dance floor, to people trying to pick up a vice-president’s wife, to people just falling asleep while eating.
Whoops moments make a corporate party more entertaining – they take away some of the boredom from all those long, drawn out speeches, toasts, and awards to those with no lives who have had perfect attendance and never taken a day off in their 40-years at the company. Forty-years and no days off?!?!? Sheesh – someone should check that person for a pulse.
I’ve got some time off soon too – so I won’t be winning that award – thankfully!
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Eye Opening Experiences
On the weekend, my glasses broke – right at the sauder point, where the frame meets the nose piece. Instead of walking around with a big piece of white tape holding my glasses together like some nerd, I just popped on my backup glasses.
Always have a backup – always. Not just for computer hard drive failures, but also for bare essentials – like glasses. Without glasses, it ain’t all the easy to see – and seeing is living.
I can work with my spare glasses for a while. They aren’t as fashionable or as comfortable as my regular pair, but they are the exact same prescription, so they will do.
But I did go to the local mall and scout around the eye glass places to start looking into getting a new pair.
What an eye opening experience. Eye glasses are not like just any every day purchase. Where you get your glasses is important, as you want to ensure they provide exceptional quality lenses and frames, and just as exceptional service. Your vision is important – and when things go wrong you want to know you can count on the place you paid good money for them to make it right.
I was astonished to find that most of the eye glass stores don’t provide very good customer service.
First I went to Sears, and there they did have great customer service. When looking for glasses, you need to feel warm, welcome and be able to try on as many pairs as you want. That’s the whole point of trying on glasses – to see what looks best and what fits right. The sales staff at Sears were very helpful, and not too pushy. They made me feel welcome and I was glad I went there.
Then I went to Lens Crafters – a big chain which has major advertising on television, radio, newspapers and just about anywhere else. I figured they’d have just as good service, as they are so well promoted.
How wrong I was – one person said hi as we walked in, but didn’t get off his lazy butt to offer assistance. Most of their frames were behind locked glass displays, so I had to ask someone to unlock the display. While I was looking, instead of offering assistance, she just stood there, jiggling her keys as if to say “hurry up, I’ve got better things to do than help customers.”
I tried on a few pairs of glasses at Lens Crafters, but didn’t feel comfortable enough to really try on enough. And they didn’t provide the level of service I require to go back – so they lost my business.
Then we went over to a smaller store, with mostly high fashion designer frames. Almost all the frames were in glass cases, and all the sales staff were busy with other customers. No one even said they’d be with us in a moment – or even indicated we were welcome in their store.
Funny, I thought I looked like a regular customer that could spend money on their products – maybe I didn’t look rich enough to afford their time?
We walked around for a bit, then left the store.
I went to the Bay next, and they had closed early. Their hours were pretty short – although it was a Monday night, the mall was still open. The Bay was still open, so how come the Bay Optical wasn’t open?
My search for the right frames continues, but so far, I’ve only been to one store where I’d actually go back – and that doesn’t say much for a purchase that will easily cost me over $500.
I don’t go around dropping hundreds of dollars on a regular basis, so when I do, I expect the best service possible. I was only able to get excellent service at one shop – and that doesn’t bode well for an industry people depend on to do their daily living.
Hopefully the mall employees were just having a bad day – because my search for a place to get my next vision solution is turning into one big blur.
Always have a backup – always. Not just for computer hard drive failures, but also for bare essentials – like glasses. Without glasses, it ain’t all the easy to see – and seeing is living.
I can work with my spare glasses for a while. They aren’t as fashionable or as comfortable as my regular pair, but they are the exact same prescription, so they will do.
But I did go to the local mall and scout around the eye glass places to start looking into getting a new pair.
What an eye opening experience. Eye glasses are not like just any every day purchase. Where you get your glasses is important, as you want to ensure they provide exceptional quality lenses and frames, and just as exceptional service. Your vision is important – and when things go wrong you want to know you can count on the place you paid good money for them to make it right.
I was astonished to find that most of the eye glass stores don’t provide very good customer service.
First I went to Sears, and there they did have great customer service. When looking for glasses, you need to feel warm, welcome and be able to try on as many pairs as you want. That’s the whole point of trying on glasses – to see what looks best and what fits right. The sales staff at Sears were very helpful, and not too pushy. They made me feel welcome and I was glad I went there.
Then I went to Lens Crafters – a big chain which has major advertising on television, radio, newspapers and just about anywhere else. I figured they’d have just as good service, as they are so well promoted.
How wrong I was – one person said hi as we walked in, but didn’t get off his lazy butt to offer assistance. Most of their frames were behind locked glass displays, so I had to ask someone to unlock the display. While I was looking, instead of offering assistance, she just stood there, jiggling her keys as if to say “hurry up, I’ve got better things to do than help customers.”
I tried on a few pairs of glasses at Lens Crafters, but didn’t feel comfortable enough to really try on enough. And they didn’t provide the level of service I require to go back – so they lost my business.
Then we went over to a smaller store, with mostly high fashion designer frames. Almost all the frames were in glass cases, and all the sales staff were busy with other customers. No one even said they’d be with us in a moment – or even indicated we were welcome in their store.
Funny, I thought I looked like a regular customer that could spend money on their products – maybe I didn’t look rich enough to afford their time?
We walked around for a bit, then left the store.
I went to the Bay next, and they had closed early. Their hours were pretty short – although it was a Monday night, the mall was still open. The Bay was still open, so how come the Bay Optical wasn’t open?
My search for the right frames continues, but so far, I’ve only been to one store where I’d actually go back – and that doesn’t say much for a purchase that will easily cost me over $500.
I don’t go around dropping hundreds of dollars on a regular basis, so when I do, I expect the best service possible. I was only able to get excellent service at one shop – and that doesn’t bode well for an industry people depend on to do their daily living.
Hopefully the mall employees were just having a bad day – because my search for a place to get my next vision solution is turning into one big blur.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Snow Days Minus the Snow
We had a major blast of winter over the weekend. Come Monday morning, the roads were icy – but passable. Actually, most of the roads were clear and free by mid-morning, so it would be understandable for those in far off lands to be late – but to not come in at all is just plain lazy.
Still, surprise – surprise – many people decided to take an extra long weekend and “work” from home.
Working from home is okay if you really do work from home. Most don’t – instead they fake it.
How do you work from home without actually working from home?
Just send a few emails every couple of hours, make a few phone calls to those poor victims actually working in the office, and occasionally send out a memo.
Today, the whole marketing department was no where to be found. They were all “working” from home – though I seriously doubt anyone got any work done. Though much of the time, they don’t get any work done while they are in the office – so I guess that’s okay.
The president of the company came by earlier today, and asked where everyone was in marketing. I told him they were working from home. I thought about making those fake quotation mark gestures with my hands – but decided not too. He knows all too well how little the marketing department actually does. Which is surprising, seeing as they have done little to improve the department – other than sack the director. That whole department needs to be cleaned from top to bottom if they are to get back on track.
But back to the issue at hand – “working” with the fake quotation marks for emphasis – actually causes more problems than it cures.
For starters, you can never really ever reach anyone working from home. Funny how that is – when someone is in the office chugging away, you can almost always find them. But when they “work” from home, it is as if they enter this giant cone of silence and all you get is voice-mail.
But by calling them and leaving a message you give them the perfect opportunity to prove they are “working” – now when they return your call, you feel complete, like you’re not the only sucker working, because they must be working as they returned your call.
How much effort does it take to return a voice-mail?
Exactly.
You are still a sucker. And they are still “working” from home – comfy in their PJs, watching their favourite shows on television, while sipping their favourite beverages.
You on the other hand, are tackling your work, and probably some of their work too – because they aren’t around and things need to get done.
That’s another “benefit” of working from home. Things need to get done, so those in the office do them – while those out of the office “working” from home get to relax, and come back to a nice clean desk.
Though for some reason, my honest work ethic somehow lands me in the role of office cleaner, as I more often than not get stuck doing other people’s gigs when they “work” from home.
“So and so isn’t here, can you do it?”
F*ck!
More work on top of an endless stream of overwork and underpay.
They never pay me the other person’s salary for doing their job, they just tell me how wonderful I am for doing it.
Nice.
I’ll try that next time my bills come due. You’re wonderful for providing phone service – but sorry, no money this month. Maybe next time – but did I mention how good the phone service you provide is?
Yeah – that’ll work.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll work from home.
Still, surprise – surprise – many people decided to take an extra long weekend and “work” from home.
Working from home is okay if you really do work from home. Most don’t – instead they fake it.
How do you work from home without actually working from home?
Just send a few emails every couple of hours, make a few phone calls to those poor victims actually working in the office, and occasionally send out a memo.
Today, the whole marketing department was no where to be found. They were all “working” from home – though I seriously doubt anyone got any work done. Though much of the time, they don’t get any work done while they are in the office – so I guess that’s okay.
The president of the company came by earlier today, and asked where everyone was in marketing. I told him they were working from home. I thought about making those fake quotation mark gestures with my hands – but decided not too. He knows all too well how little the marketing department actually does. Which is surprising, seeing as they have done little to improve the department – other than sack the director. That whole department needs to be cleaned from top to bottom if they are to get back on track.
But back to the issue at hand – “working” with the fake quotation marks for emphasis – actually causes more problems than it cures.
For starters, you can never really ever reach anyone working from home. Funny how that is – when someone is in the office chugging away, you can almost always find them. But when they “work” from home, it is as if they enter this giant cone of silence and all you get is voice-mail.
But by calling them and leaving a message you give them the perfect opportunity to prove they are “working” – now when they return your call, you feel complete, like you’re not the only sucker working, because they must be working as they returned your call.
How much effort does it take to return a voice-mail?
Exactly.
You are still a sucker. And they are still “working” from home – comfy in their PJs, watching their favourite shows on television, while sipping their favourite beverages.
You on the other hand, are tackling your work, and probably some of their work too – because they aren’t around and things need to get done.
That’s another “benefit” of working from home. Things need to get done, so those in the office do them – while those out of the office “working” from home get to relax, and come back to a nice clean desk.
Though for some reason, my honest work ethic somehow lands me in the role of office cleaner, as I more often than not get stuck doing other people’s gigs when they “work” from home.
“So and so isn’t here, can you do it?”
F*ck!
More work on top of an endless stream of overwork and underpay.
They never pay me the other person’s salary for doing their job, they just tell me how wonderful I am for doing it.
Nice.
I’ll try that next time my bills come due. You’re wonderful for providing phone service – but sorry, no money this month. Maybe next time – but did I mention how good the phone service you provide is?
Yeah – that’ll work.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll work from home.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Party Planning Joys and Sorrows
This is the time of year where friends and families get together to celebrate the holidays. Christmas, New Year’s, even Boxing Day for us Canadians is a celebration of sorts.
But it is also a trying time, for those that have to plan and orchestrate these parties.
Who do you invite? Where do you go? How long in advance to you make reservations? What about those that you invite that never show up?
Planning a party can be fun, but I’ve done it in the past couple years and I’ve grown tired of it.
What really annoys me, is when you invite a bunch of people, and the same people you invite every year bail out on you and your party at the last minute.
That’s not only rude, but disrespectful.
So this year, I think I’ll leave the planning to someone else. Or at the very least, who says you can’t enjoy the holidays alone, with a good bottle of wine, and unlimited choices of movies on the movie networks?
I love a good party as much as anyone else. But I hate having to organize the food, the drink, the list of attendees. Especially when many of those attendees decide at the last minute to do something else.
SO – this year will be different.
Where’s my wine?
But it is also a trying time, for those that have to plan and orchestrate these parties.
Who do you invite? Where do you go? How long in advance to you make reservations? What about those that you invite that never show up?
Planning a party can be fun, but I’ve done it in the past couple years and I’ve grown tired of it.
What really annoys me, is when you invite a bunch of people, and the same people you invite every year bail out on you and your party at the last minute.
That’s not only rude, but disrespectful.
So this year, I think I’ll leave the planning to someone else. Or at the very least, who says you can’t enjoy the holidays alone, with a good bottle of wine, and unlimited choices of movies on the movie networks?
I love a good party as much as anyone else. But I hate having to organize the food, the drink, the list of attendees. Especially when many of those attendees decide at the last minute to do something else.
SO – this year will be different.
Where’s my wine?
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Time Is Money – Except When In Lue
I’ve worked an excessive amount of overtime on my current contract. Usually I don’t mind too much, as I get paid by the hour. So the more I work, the more I make.
On my current contract I don’t get overtime pay. I did my usual objection to this when I first signed, but they assured me there wouldn’t be any need to worry – there isn’t that much overtime required.
Yeah right. The cheap bastards ripped me off.
When I get paid hourly, the more I work, the more I make – but also the more the client pays. It works to my advantage not just in more cash in my pocket, but as an incentive not to overwork me – because it’ll cost the client more.
Instead of overtime pay, I get time in lue. Time in lue is supposed to allow for every hour I work overtime, I get another hour paid off.
I’ve taken a few days in lue so far, because of the excessive overtime due to mis-management, or in most cases no management whatsoever.
Problem with lue time, is it is hard to take with this client, as nothing is managed, so everything is always rushed. As everything is always rushed, I find it hard to take time out from the busy day to take the time I am owed back by the company.
Also, without any form of incentive to keep their costs down, they just keep piling on the work.
Bad management and time in lue make a deadly combination. It makes for overworked, undervalued employees, that have excessive stress due to excessive overtime, and not enough time off.
I’ve done the occasional contract with time in lue – usually it works out okay. Although I don’t get paid for overtime, the amount of time spent above and beyond my normal working day is minimal.
But all it takes is one bad apple to sour the batch. Thanks to my current client, I will never do a time in lue arrangement ever again. If anyone is unwilling to properly compensate me for my time – which is anytime above and beyond a normal working day – than I will simply refuse to work for that company.
As it is now, I will no longer put in overtime on my current contract – regardless of what comes down the pipe. I’ve worked long and hard and have learned the hard way that this client has taken advantage of my diligence and strong work ethic.
They have imposed themselves on my personal time, and I don’t believe I will ever fully make up the time I’ve spent working overtime. I am even debating shortening my hours at the office, to make up for the excessive overtime.
Either that or send them a bill for my time. My time is valuable to me. My time is when I get to be with friends and family, do my housework, or simply rest and relax. When I don’t get my time, I get very annoyed, and the less time I have to myself, the more burnt out I become.
A burnt out employee is not a good employee, as you make more mistakes when you are tired. Also, the more time you are expected to work, the less time you want to spend doing a good job, so you quickly lose interest in your employer and the tasks at hand.
Lue time is not the wave of the future – at least not for me.
On my current contract I don’t get overtime pay. I did my usual objection to this when I first signed, but they assured me there wouldn’t be any need to worry – there isn’t that much overtime required.
Yeah right. The cheap bastards ripped me off.
When I get paid hourly, the more I work, the more I make – but also the more the client pays. It works to my advantage not just in more cash in my pocket, but as an incentive not to overwork me – because it’ll cost the client more.
Instead of overtime pay, I get time in lue. Time in lue is supposed to allow for every hour I work overtime, I get another hour paid off.
I’ve taken a few days in lue so far, because of the excessive overtime due to mis-management, or in most cases no management whatsoever.
Problem with lue time, is it is hard to take with this client, as nothing is managed, so everything is always rushed. As everything is always rushed, I find it hard to take time out from the busy day to take the time I am owed back by the company.
Also, without any form of incentive to keep their costs down, they just keep piling on the work.
Bad management and time in lue make a deadly combination. It makes for overworked, undervalued employees, that have excessive stress due to excessive overtime, and not enough time off.
I’ve done the occasional contract with time in lue – usually it works out okay. Although I don’t get paid for overtime, the amount of time spent above and beyond my normal working day is minimal.
But all it takes is one bad apple to sour the batch. Thanks to my current client, I will never do a time in lue arrangement ever again. If anyone is unwilling to properly compensate me for my time – which is anytime above and beyond a normal working day – than I will simply refuse to work for that company.
As it is now, I will no longer put in overtime on my current contract – regardless of what comes down the pipe. I’ve worked long and hard and have learned the hard way that this client has taken advantage of my diligence and strong work ethic.
They have imposed themselves on my personal time, and I don’t believe I will ever fully make up the time I’ve spent working overtime. I am even debating shortening my hours at the office, to make up for the excessive overtime.
Either that or send them a bill for my time. My time is valuable to me. My time is when I get to be with friends and family, do my housework, or simply rest and relax. When I don’t get my time, I get very annoyed, and the less time I have to myself, the more burnt out I become.
A burnt out employee is not a good employee, as you make more mistakes when you are tired. Also, the more time you are expected to work, the less time you want to spend doing a good job, so you quickly lose interest in your employer and the tasks at hand.
Lue time is not the wave of the future – at least not for me.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Relaxation By Chore
There is something strangely relaxing about housework. Washing the floors, dusting, vacuuming, even doing laundry have a certain calming effect on me.
It is a lot of bending, stretching, getting wet and soapy, and dusty. But the satisfaction of a job well done, a nice sparkling shiny home – that’s the ultimate reward.
I enjoy taking down my recycling, dusting the furniture, and vacuuming the floors. Then I typically wash the floors and clean out the bathroom.
You can learn a lot about a person by how clean they keep their bathroom. A bathroom which is filthy says a lot about the living habits of the person. So too, does a clean and shiny bathroom.
But there is more to it than personal pride – there’s relaxation.
It really is soothing to not have to think, not have to type, not have write. There are no emails to go through, no meetings to sit through, and no piles of paper to read.
Doing housework is mindless work, and I think that’s why it doesn’t appear to be work to me. It is like down time for my brain. It allows me to just focus on shining up the sink, or shaking out the dust in my area rugs.
I think I even clean my place better when I am really stressed at my job, because this isn’t my job. It’s housework – which has to be done. But it isn’t like work where you have unrealistic deadlines, set by non-thinking managers that don’t really know anything about management.
I think I’ll go clean out my tub now. . .
It is a lot of bending, stretching, getting wet and soapy, and dusty. But the satisfaction of a job well done, a nice sparkling shiny home – that’s the ultimate reward.
I enjoy taking down my recycling, dusting the furniture, and vacuuming the floors. Then I typically wash the floors and clean out the bathroom.
You can learn a lot about a person by how clean they keep their bathroom. A bathroom which is filthy says a lot about the living habits of the person. So too, does a clean and shiny bathroom.
But there is more to it than personal pride – there’s relaxation.
It really is soothing to not have to think, not have to type, not have write. There are no emails to go through, no meetings to sit through, and no piles of paper to read.
Doing housework is mindless work, and I think that’s why it doesn’t appear to be work to me. It is like down time for my brain. It allows me to just focus on shining up the sink, or shaking out the dust in my area rugs.
I think I even clean my place better when I am really stressed at my job, because this isn’t my job. It’s housework – which has to be done. But it isn’t like work where you have unrealistic deadlines, set by non-thinking managers that don’t really know anything about management.
I think I’ll go clean out my tub now. . .
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Adjusting to Change or Just Being Lazy?
I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to the ideals, values and workplace methodologies at my current gig.
My contract ends in a couple of months, and I know they are leaning towards keeping me on past my current contract.
Problem is – I don’t feel that confident in the company to continue beyond my current contract.
Finally, after months of my nagging and complaining about the lack of project management, management is starting to admit to me that there is no project management at the company.
Usually when I nagged or complained about the lack of project management, management would always shoot me down with a snarky – we’re working on improving it, or in the case of the top dog, the president actually named someone in the call centre as being in charge of managing projects.
Funny though, when I asked the president why then, have I never seen a project plan, he simply refuted back that none of the projects I’ve worked on have been under project management.
My manager says I can adapt to this lack of project management system they have in place. She even claims she has books which discuss it.
That really surprised me, because most MBAs would tell you project management is the only acceptable way to run an effective and efficient business. Without project management, you have – well – you have what I experience every day.
Chaos. Confusion. Frustration. Exceptionally high levels of stress – and a never ending pile of work which just gets dumped in your lap, despite already being overloaded with more work than one person should be reasonably expected to complete.
So, one of the big questions I have been exploring is this – is it possible to adapt to a chaotic, unmanaged system of running a business, or is just those that choose to work under such a system have other reasons to give up the methods used in most successful businesses?
Why would someone give up something which is known to work better, in place of a less effective system?
I know most of the employees have been around forever. For many of the staff, this is the only job they have ever known. Right out of school, for the past decade or more, in terms of employers, my current employer is all they have ever worked for.
For the “old schoolers” as they have become known at the company, it is understandable that they adapted to this chaotic system. They have never experienced the efficiencies provided by a properly project managed system, so they think all offices work as scatter-brained as this one.
But then there are others who have worked elsewhere, most likely some of these people have seen the light, and know there is a far better way to run the shop. Why are these people here.
I’m starting to wonder if these people haven’t so much adapted to a less effective system, but instead just gave up trying to find something better.
Looking for work isn’t always easy. With more people than there are good jobs, it is easier to just toss in the towel and take whatever you can find, regardless of how stressful it really is.
And working under a chaotic system is very stressful. In all my working life – which is probably well over 15 or more years – this contract has been the most stress-filled experience I have ever endured. It may even be the most stressful thing I have ever lived through in my whole life – and that says a lot, because I’m not exactly a spring chicken.
People who give up and just accept where they are, regardless of whether it is the best practice (and project management is a best practice) probably aren’t very good at what they do. Getting another job isn’t easy, but if you’re that concerned about finding work that you’re willing to work someplace which one day may cause you a heart attack or a stroke, chances are you know you’re not very good at what you do.
There’s another possibility – pure and simple laziness. Managing anything takes energy and effort. It requires work. People that are lazy will find every reason in the book – and some that aren’t in the book – to avoid doing more than they absolutely have to, to get the job done. It may be done quickly, and it will be a shoddy job – but it will be done.
That’s pretty much how all projects are “managed” where I am now. They just happen, as fast as can be completed, and usually are full of errors, bugs and noticeable problems, that would have been caught had the project not been rushed, but properly managed from the beginning.
I think I’ve discovered the fatal flaw of this company – laziness. People don’t adapt to something of lesser value, they see their leaders slacking off and do the same.
So, now the real question – do I continue past my contract with a bunch of slackers?
Stay tuned . . .
My contract ends in a couple of months, and I know they are leaning towards keeping me on past my current contract.
Problem is – I don’t feel that confident in the company to continue beyond my current contract.
Finally, after months of my nagging and complaining about the lack of project management, management is starting to admit to me that there is no project management at the company.
Usually when I nagged or complained about the lack of project management, management would always shoot me down with a snarky – we’re working on improving it, or in the case of the top dog, the president actually named someone in the call centre as being in charge of managing projects.
Funny though, when I asked the president why then, have I never seen a project plan, he simply refuted back that none of the projects I’ve worked on have been under project management.
My manager says I can adapt to this lack of project management system they have in place. She even claims she has books which discuss it.
That really surprised me, because most MBAs would tell you project management is the only acceptable way to run an effective and efficient business. Without project management, you have – well – you have what I experience every day.
Chaos. Confusion. Frustration. Exceptionally high levels of stress – and a never ending pile of work which just gets dumped in your lap, despite already being overloaded with more work than one person should be reasonably expected to complete.
So, one of the big questions I have been exploring is this – is it possible to adapt to a chaotic, unmanaged system of running a business, or is just those that choose to work under such a system have other reasons to give up the methods used in most successful businesses?
Why would someone give up something which is known to work better, in place of a less effective system?
I know most of the employees have been around forever. For many of the staff, this is the only job they have ever known. Right out of school, for the past decade or more, in terms of employers, my current employer is all they have ever worked for.
For the “old schoolers” as they have become known at the company, it is understandable that they adapted to this chaotic system. They have never experienced the efficiencies provided by a properly project managed system, so they think all offices work as scatter-brained as this one.
But then there are others who have worked elsewhere, most likely some of these people have seen the light, and know there is a far better way to run the shop. Why are these people here.
I’m starting to wonder if these people haven’t so much adapted to a less effective system, but instead just gave up trying to find something better.
Looking for work isn’t always easy. With more people than there are good jobs, it is easier to just toss in the towel and take whatever you can find, regardless of how stressful it really is.
And working under a chaotic system is very stressful. In all my working life – which is probably well over 15 or more years – this contract has been the most stress-filled experience I have ever endured. It may even be the most stressful thing I have ever lived through in my whole life – and that says a lot, because I’m not exactly a spring chicken.
People who give up and just accept where they are, regardless of whether it is the best practice (and project management is a best practice) probably aren’t very good at what they do. Getting another job isn’t easy, but if you’re that concerned about finding work that you’re willing to work someplace which one day may cause you a heart attack or a stroke, chances are you know you’re not very good at what you do.
There’s another possibility – pure and simple laziness. Managing anything takes energy and effort. It requires work. People that are lazy will find every reason in the book – and some that aren’t in the book – to avoid doing more than they absolutely have to, to get the job done. It may be done quickly, and it will be a shoddy job – but it will be done.
That’s pretty much how all projects are “managed” where I am now. They just happen, as fast as can be completed, and usually are full of errors, bugs and noticeable problems, that would have been caught had the project not been rushed, but properly managed from the beginning.
I think I’ve discovered the fatal flaw of this company – laziness. People don’t adapt to something of lesser value, they see their leaders slacking off and do the same.
So, now the real question – do I continue past my contract with a bunch of slackers?
Stay tuned . . .
Saturday, November 17, 2007
She’s Got A Great Personality
Funny how whenever someone tells me some woman they are trying to fix me up with, as soon as I hear them say “she’s got a nice personality,” then I know she’s got little else.
Personality is an important thing – it’s part of what makes us who we are. But when a guy tells another guy she’s got a great personality, usually it means she’s not pretty, she may not even be smart, and she may have other fatal flaws.
The same can be said for workplaces.
Everyone at my work is really, really nice. Doesn’t mean it is a great place to work, just means the people are very nice.
When I hear everyone tell me how nice everyone is at the office, it is the same thing as someone telling me a person has a great personality.
I’ve figured that out after living the experience – as we often do. The people at my work are really nice – but the work environment itself is not.
There is no management of any real kind – no project management, little to no executive leadership and although the managers are really really nice, they don’t really lead their teams all that well either.
Leadership comes from the top down in any company. Without it, you won’t have any leadership at the rest of the levels, and you certainly won’t keep the top performing employees on your pay roll – we notice these things.
Although everyone is really really nice, without any leadership, there isn’t enough to keep me at this gig longer than my contract allows. My contract ends in less than 90-days, and I’m already looking forward to moving on.
Though the people are really really nice – that won’t keep me there.
Why?
Well, here’s a good example – the other day we had an executive meeting for a conference we’re putting together. The conference was a week away (or less actually by a day or two) and everyone should be ready – especially the president and CEO.
He admitted the night before the meeting, that although he knows the importance of this conference, which is less than a week away – he still hadn’t written his speech.
Wait a sec – you’re the leader – the TOP leader – the big fish leading all the other smaller fish, and you can’t be bothered to lead by example and have your speech ready on time?
We’re all busting our buns to get this conference going without any problems and you don’t have the decency to get your stuff together at the very least?
I’ve been working outrageously excessive hours for the past month trying to get my stuff done for conference on time – what’s your excuse?
When your employees put in 12-hour days, to be ready, but you don’t – that’s not leadership. That’s dropping the eight ball and hoping it doesn’t make a lot of noise when it come crashing down the hole.
This is just one of far too many examples of the lack of leadership at this company. It is going to be hard to leave in some ways, because the people are really nice. But I’d rather work with assholes that got the job done, than nice people that don’t do shit all.
Personality is an important thing – it’s part of what makes us who we are. But when a guy tells another guy she’s got a great personality, usually it means she’s not pretty, she may not even be smart, and she may have other fatal flaws.
The same can be said for workplaces.
Everyone at my work is really, really nice. Doesn’t mean it is a great place to work, just means the people are very nice.
When I hear everyone tell me how nice everyone is at the office, it is the same thing as someone telling me a person has a great personality.
I’ve figured that out after living the experience – as we often do. The people at my work are really nice – but the work environment itself is not.
There is no management of any real kind – no project management, little to no executive leadership and although the managers are really really nice, they don’t really lead their teams all that well either.
Leadership comes from the top down in any company. Without it, you won’t have any leadership at the rest of the levels, and you certainly won’t keep the top performing employees on your pay roll – we notice these things.
Although everyone is really really nice, without any leadership, there isn’t enough to keep me at this gig longer than my contract allows. My contract ends in less than 90-days, and I’m already looking forward to moving on.
Though the people are really really nice – that won’t keep me there.
Why?
Well, here’s a good example – the other day we had an executive meeting for a conference we’re putting together. The conference was a week away (or less actually by a day or two) and everyone should be ready – especially the president and CEO.
He admitted the night before the meeting, that although he knows the importance of this conference, which is less than a week away – he still hadn’t written his speech.
Wait a sec – you’re the leader – the TOP leader – the big fish leading all the other smaller fish, and you can’t be bothered to lead by example and have your speech ready on time?
We’re all busting our buns to get this conference going without any problems and you don’t have the decency to get your stuff together at the very least?
I’ve been working outrageously excessive hours for the past month trying to get my stuff done for conference on time – what’s your excuse?
When your employees put in 12-hour days, to be ready, but you don’t – that’s not leadership. That’s dropping the eight ball and hoping it doesn’t make a lot of noise when it come crashing down the hole.
This is just one of far too many examples of the lack of leadership at this company. It is going to be hard to leave in some ways, because the people are really nice. But I’d rather work with assholes that got the job done, than nice people that don’t do shit all.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Why Home Made Burgers Rock
I love to cook – it’s a great stress reliever and is healthier than buying crap made in China. Actually, doing it yourself is a lot better than anything made in China these days.
I made some of my world famous home made burgers today.
The secret to a good burger is the stuff you mix with the meat.
First, nothing forms the basis for my home made burgers other than pure, extra lean Grade AAA beef.
I occasionally make chicken burgers, beef and veal burgers (yum!) but those are special. When I’m making traditional hamburger patties, nothing but pure beef. No fillers here.
Some people swear by bread crumbs. Filler – if I wanted bread in my burger, I wouldn’t need a bun!
Once I get all the beef in one bowl, I then add all the dry ingredients. Salt, pepper, and other spices.
I shred – shred, NOT chop – shred a sweet onion and toss it in. By shredding it you get a finer consistency and you also get more onion juice – which mixes better than if you chopped, diced or just sliced up an onion.
I love bad breath – I chop up a handful of green onions too. Can’t have too much onion!
Garlic rounds out the dry ingredients, then I go for the wet.
Some liquid eggs go in (to keep the meat solid on the grill), some teriyaki sauce for flavour, and then some olive oil.
Olive oil? In burgers?
Yeppers – the olive oil does a few things. Here’s cooking science 101 . . .
Olive oil has a lower flash point than many other oils. That means it heats up faster than other oils. It can burn faster too, but inside a burger, we’re going for the heat. So the olive oil will actually help the burgers cook faster, because they get hotter inside and out quicker.
Olive oil is also a great lubricant. It keeps the burgers from sticking to the grill – which is important as we want to eventually get them off the grill to consume.
And, Olive oil helps lower cholesterol, so it is actually good for you. That and it adds some flavour too.
Olive oil is a great thing to add to burgers.
Now comes the fun part – getting dirty. Roll up your sleeves and dig in – it is time to mix all this stuff together, by hand! No mix-masters or other kitchen gadgets here – just my two hands.
The feeling of the ingredients at first is somewhat slimy, but after getting used to it, you actually start to get into it. And that leads to the best part of all. . .(other than actually eating the burgers) . . .
POUNDING THEM!
Nothing gets out my frustrations from work more, than moulding, shaping and pounding out round beef patties. It’s a great way to beat out the anger built up over years of pain, anger and . . .
HEY!
You’re not my therapist!
Bashing burgers creates a uniform – or somewhat uniform – shape, while releasing tensions from life.
Then it’s off to the grill, for some fire. Fire makes everything better – just ask any arsonist.
Okay, maybe not – but unless you like your burgers raw, I’d suggest a good BBQ. You can bake burgers, or pan fry them – but nothing tastes better than a home made burger freshly BBQed off a hot grill.
Mmmmmmmm burgers!
I made some of my world famous home made burgers today.
The secret to a good burger is the stuff you mix with the meat.
First, nothing forms the basis for my home made burgers other than pure, extra lean Grade AAA beef.
I occasionally make chicken burgers, beef and veal burgers (yum!) but those are special. When I’m making traditional hamburger patties, nothing but pure beef. No fillers here.
Some people swear by bread crumbs. Filler – if I wanted bread in my burger, I wouldn’t need a bun!
Once I get all the beef in one bowl, I then add all the dry ingredients. Salt, pepper, and other spices.
I shred – shred, NOT chop – shred a sweet onion and toss it in. By shredding it you get a finer consistency and you also get more onion juice – which mixes better than if you chopped, diced or just sliced up an onion.
I love bad breath – I chop up a handful of green onions too. Can’t have too much onion!
Garlic rounds out the dry ingredients, then I go for the wet.
Some liquid eggs go in (to keep the meat solid on the grill), some teriyaki sauce for flavour, and then some olive oil.
Olive oil? In burgers?
Yeppers – the olive oil does a few things. Here’s cooking science 101 . . .
Olive oil has a lower flash point than many other oils. That means it heats up faster than other oils. It can burn faster too, but inside a burger, we’re going for the heat. So the olive oil will actually help the burgers cook faster, because they get hotter inside and out quicker.
Olive oil is also a great lubricant. It keeps the burgers from sticking to the grill – which is important as we want to eventually get them off the grill to consume.
And, Olive oil helps lower cholesterol, so it is actually good for you. That and it adds some flavour too.
Olive oil is a great thing to add to burgers.
Now comes the fun part – getting dirty. Roll up your sleeves and dig in – it is time to mix all this stuff together, by hand! No mix-masters or other kitchen gadgets here – just my two hands.
The feeling of the ingredients at first is somewhat slimy, but after getting used to it, you actually start to get into it. And that leads to the best part of all. . .(other than actually eating the burgers) . . .
POUNDING THEM!
Nothing gets out my frustrations from work more, than moulding, shaping and pounding out round beef patties. It’s a great way to beat out the anger built up over years of pain, anger and . . .
HEY!
You’re not my therapist!
Bashing burgers creates a uniform – or somewhat uniform – shape, while releasing tensions from life.
Then it’s off to the grill, for some fire. Fire makes everything better – just ask any arsonist.
Okay, maybe not – but unless you like your burgers raw, I’d suggest a good BBQ. You can bake burgers, or pan fry them – but nothing tastes better than a home made burger freshly BBQed off a hot grill.
Mmmmmmmm burgers!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Xmas Shopping Already?
I enjoy shopping for typical guy things – computers, stereos, and other electronics. But it seems every year the malls put out their Christmas decorations out earlier and earlier.
Already, most malls and their stores have the fake snow, the Santa dolls, and posters with elves out.
I enjoy the holidays – it means time off work and with friends and family. But every time I go into a mall and hear that Xmas music ---arrrgh!
It’s too soon.
I feel sorry for those that work in the mall and have to listen to it every day, all day. Imagine listening to “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” all day? I’d go mad!
Which is probably what some mall employees do – because working under those conditions isn’t the best. Sure it is fun, and it is a nice time of year. Everyone is supposed to be nicer to each other, and the holidays make people feel better.
But what often happens is you get people so frustrated, they aren’t nice at all. They push and shove there way through crowds, to get those holiday gifts.
I remember way back in the 1980s when Cabbage Patch Kids were all the rage. There were riots by grown adults (mostly women) fighting to get the specific Cabbage Patch Kid that their kid had requested.
It was on all the news programs of the day – I still remember the images to this day, of parents kicking and screaming over some dolls for their kids.
These types of silly riots still occur, just the toys are different. These days, the latest “in” toy is Tickle Me Elmo.
I don’t know about you, but Elmo isn’t worth dying over.
Already, most malls and their stores have the fake snow, the Santa dolls, and posters with elves out.
I enjoy the holidays – it means time off work and with friends and family. But every time I go into a mall and hear that Xmas music ---arrrgh!
It’s too soon.
I feel sorry for those that work in the mall and have to listen to it every day, all day. Imagine listening to “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” all day? I’d go mad!
Which is probably what some mall employees do – because working under those conditions isn’t the best. Sure it is fun, and it is a nice time of year. Everyone is supposed to be nicer to each other, and the holidays make people feel better.
But what often happens is you get people so frustrated, they aren’t nice at all. They push and shove there way through crowds, to get those holiday gifts.
I remember way back in the 1980s when Cabbage Patch Kids were all the rage. There were riots by grown adults (mostly women) fighting to get the specific Cabbage Patch Kid that their kid had requested.
It was on all the news programs of the day – I still remember the images to this day, of parents kicking and screaming over some dolls for their kids.
These types of silly riots still occur, just the toys are different. These days, the latest “in” toy is Tickle Me Elmo.
I don’t know about you, but Elmo isn’t worth dying over.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Two-Week’s Notice Guy
We all want to be two-week’s notice guy from time to time. When work gets you down, and there is no end in sight, sometimes I just want to go into my manager’s office and say:
“F*ck it! I QUIT!”
And then I’d swiftly walk out, never to return.
Two-week’s notice guy probably would do it better. He probably has thousands of exciting, interesting and fun ways to leave our places of work. He’s probably scribbling innovative ways to tell the boss where to go as we speak.
I wish I was two-week’s notice guy. I’ve got big issues with where I work.
Actually, I’ve had big issues for a while now, but thought I could somehow manage to fit in – just as others are doing.
The problem is, there isn’t any form of project management at all. There doesn’t appear to be any management of any kind on any real level. They do have an executive level and a managerial level – what exactly these people do I often wonder, because it certainly isn’t “management” as I’ve experienced it at other companies.
One day my manager tells me project X is the priority and to focus on that. They very next day, she gives me a completely different priority, knowing full well she told me to already focus on something else.
I tell her the previous priority won’t get done, can’t work on it, if while I am working on her new project. She tells me she knows this already – just do it.
I shift gears, only to be tossed around to other priorities as they pop-up. Nothing really ever gets done until the very last minute. And because everything gets done at the very last minute, there is always something shoddy about it. It is never correct the first time around, simply because everyone is rushing around like their lives depend on it – so mistakes happen. Always. And everyone sees these mistakes, and accepts them as just part of the normal way business is done.
This has been going on since I started at this place several months ago. I’ve discussed project management with managers, executives and staff. They all tell me different things – but no one really knows what I’m talking about.
Turns out, the company (which has been around since the 1960s) has had most of the same staff since it began. And, this company has always done things the same way, forever. So, those working at the company don’t know any other way of doing anything. They think the “just drop everything and do it” approach is how all companies operate.
But many executives have supposedly come from other companies, where they do have sophisticated project management systems in place.
What’s there excuse?
I think I’ve figured it out – it’s their style.
Some people feel restricted under the riggers of good, solid project management. They know it is a necessary evil, because without it, the whole works falls apart.
But, when you go into a company where the majority of the worker-bees don’t know any better, you have an “a-ha” moment and realize that at very last, you can get away without letting on your knowledge about how to do things better. You can finally work under the style which you’ve always wanted to, even though you know it isn’t very effective.
A lot of very creative people hate being managed. But they know it is better to have some form of official management in place, to provide structured substance to the creative process. Without this process, things fall through the cracks, and you end up with burnt out employees, rushing around to get things done, producing shoddy projects, where everyone can see the mistakes.
I wonder what excuse two-weeks notice guy has to get out of this mess?
I’m highly creative, but I know the benefits – hell it is a necessity as far as I’m concerned” to have a formal project management structure in place. I’m looking to get out of this mess, so that I can breathe, and once again enjoy doing my work – without the heart attack never ending rush of priority one assignments.
“F*ck it! I QUIT!”
And then I’d swiftly walk out, never to return.
Two-week’s notice guy probably would do it better. He probably has thousands of exciting, interesting and fun ways to leave our places of work. He’s probably scribbling innovative ways to tell the boss where to go as we speak.
I wish I was two-week’s notice guy. I’ve got big issues with where I work.
Actually, I’ve had big issues for a while now, but thought I could somehow manage to fit in – just as others are doing.
The problem is, there isn’t any form of project management at all. There doesn’t appear to be any management of any kind on any real level. They do have an executive level and a managerial level – what exactly these people do I often wonder, because it certainly isn’t “management” as I’ve experienced it at other companies.
One day my manager tells me project X is the priority and to focus on that. They very next day, she gives me a completely different priority, knowing full well she told me to already focus on something else.
I tell her the previous priority won’t get done, can’t work on it, if while I am working on her new project. She tells me she knows this already – just do it.
I shift gears, only to be tossed around to other priorities as they pop-up. Nothing really ever gets done until the very last minute. And because everything gets done at the very last minute, there is always something shoddy about it. It is never correct the first time around, simply because everyone is rushing around like their lives depend on it – so mistakes happen. Always. And everyone sees these mistakes, and accepts them as just part of the normal way business is done.
This has been going on since I started at this place several months ago. I’ve discussed project management with managers, executives and staff. They all tell me different things – but no one really knows what I’m talking about.
Turns out, the company (which has been around since the 1960s) has had most of the same staff since it began. And, this company has always done things the same way, forever. So, those working at the company don’t know any other way of doing anything. They think the “just drop everything and do it” approach is how all companies operate.
But many executives have supposedly come from other companies, where they do have sophisticated project management systems in place.
What’s there excuse?
I think I’ve figured it out – it’s their style.
Some people feel restricted under the riggers of good, solid project management. They know it is a necessary evil, because without it, the whole works falls apart.
But, when you go into a company where the majority of the worker-bees don’t know any better, you have an “a-ha” moment and realize that at very last, you can get away without letting on your knowledge about how to do things better. You can finally work under the style which you’ve always wanted to, even though you know it isn’t very effective.
A lot of very creative people hate being managed. But they know it is better to have some form of official management in place, to provide structured substance to the creative process. Without this process, things fall through the cracks, and you end up with burnt out employees, rushing around to get things done, producing shoddy projects, where everyone can see the mistakes.
I wonder what excuse two-weeks notice guy has to get out of this mess?
I’m highly creative, but I know the benefits – hell it is a necessity as far as I’m concerned” to have a formal project management structure in place. I’m looking to get out of this mess, so that I can breathe, and once again enjoy doing my work – without the heart attack never ending rush of priority one assignments.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Rude and Ruthless – The New Canadian Way
People are so rude these days – when I’m walking from point A to B, if someone is in front of me, I don’t push them out of the way to get past.
Yet that happens all to often these days when I’m walking down the street, entering or leaving a building or any of a zillion other things I do daily.
People used to say “excuse me” or even “sorry” when they stepped on your feet. These days, they look at you like it is your fault for being in the wrong place at the wrong time – even though you may have just been standing still.
We’ve all heard about road rage, where people lose control and get into fist fights because someone cut them off on the highway.
Now we have sidewalk rage, where people get into fist fights for stepping on someone else’s toes.
Our society isn’t what it used to be – and it is very sad to have lost the innocence of being Canadian. Canadian’s used to be known as the world’s ambassadors, the most polite people anywhere.
Thanks to over-immigration from countries with far lesser values, our society has changed for the worse. Instead of saying “excuse me” or “sorry” people swear, threaten violence, or even just take matters into their own hands and punch, kick and even bite.
What kind of country have we become, when we allow biters in to our mists?
In order to fit into our narrowing and less welcoming society, good ‘ol Canadians who used to be polite, now have to be just as verbally abusive and violent as those we let into our once happy land.
If you’re not strong enough to be aggressive, you’ll be eaten alive – thanks to our changing society and its twisted values.
It would be nice to be able to go back to a more peaceful time, one where people held the door for you, instead of letting it slam behind them. A time where people were nice to each other, instead of mean, rotten to the core and potentially dangerous to one’s being.
But we’ll never be able to go back, so long as we continue to let the world’s rejects come and call our once peace-loving land home.
Immigration is good in controlled numbers, from selected sources. But when we let drug dealers, terrorists, and other rift-raft into this country as we have been, we lose our way and become no better than the rift-raft.
I remember a time not that long ago when it was very safe to go for a walk after dark in the city. These days, if you do that, you stand a very good chance of not returning home in one piece – if at all.
We never had sporadic gang shootings in the streets, guns in schools, drug loads buying up luxurious houses in well-to-do areas to grow their crap, and terrorists plotting their next strike, from the house next door.
Nope – those are all new “benefits” of our new society, where if you have a pulse, you’re welcome here.
Maybe we need to re-think that policy.
Funny, people come here from other countries to live in a better, safer, cleaner and more profitable place where they can actually have lives. But these very same people give a big F U to our Canadian values system, and continue to live their lives just as they did back home. This tarnishes our Canadian values, and makes the whole reason of their being here pointless – why live in another country, if you’re just going to do exactly what you did in your native land?
That’s why we see more guns – some countries, even kids as young as 10 carry concealed fire arms. That’s why we see more drugs – some countries, drugs are the easiest and quickest way for the poor and starving to make enough for basic food and shelter. That’s why we see more crime – in many of the poorer countries of the world, people are so desperate they will do anything to survive.
Because we let in anyone these days, they do whatever they want – and make it hard for good, honest, hard working Canadians to survive.
Yet that happens all to often these days when I’m walking down the street, entering or leaving a building or any of a zillion other things I do daily.
People used to say “excuse me” or even “sorry” when they stepped on your feet. These days, they look at you like it is your fault for being in the wrong place at the wrong time – even though you may have just been standing still.
We’ve all heard about road rage, where people lose control and get into fist fights because someone cut them off on the highway.
Now we have sidewalk rage, where people get into fist fights for stepping on someone else’s toes.
Our society isn’t what it used to be – and it is very sad to have lost the innocence of being Canadian. Canadian’s used to be known as the world’s ambassadors, the most polite people anywhere.
Thanks to over-immigration from countries with far lesser values, our society has changed for the worse. Instead of saying “excuse me” or “sorry” people swear, threaten violence, or even just take matters into their own hands and punch, kick and even bite.
What kind of country have we become, when we allow biters in to our mists?
In order to fit into our narrowing and less welcoming society, good ‘ol Canadians who used to be polite, now have to be just as verbally abusive and violent as those we let into our once happy land.
If you’re not strong enough to be aggressive, you’ll be eaten alive – thanks to our changing society and its twisted values.
It would be nice to be able to go back to a more peaceful time, one where people held the door for you, instead of letting it slam behind them. A time where people were nice to each other, instead of mean, rotten to the core and potentially dangerous to one’s being.
But we’ll never be able to go back, so long as we continue to let the world’s rejects come and call our once peace-loving land home.
Immigration is good in controlled numbers, from selected sources. But when we let drug dealers, terrorists, and other rift-raft into this country as we have been, we lose our way and become no better than the rift-raft.
I remember a time not that long ago when it was very safe to go for a walk after dark in the city. These days, if you do that, you stand a very good chance of not returning home in one piece – if at all.
We never had sporadic gang shootings in the streets, guns in schools, drug loads buying up luxurious houses in well-to-do areas to grow their crap, and terrorists plotting their next strike, from the house next door.
Nope – those are all new “benefits” of our new society, where if you have a pulse, you’re welcome here.
Maybe we need to re-think that policy.
Funny, people come here from other countries to live in a better, safer, cleaner and more profitable place where they can actually have lives. But these very same people give a big F U to our Canadian values system, and continue to live their lives just as they did back home. This tarnishes our Canadian values, and makes the whole reason of their being here pointless – why live in another country, if you’re just going to do exactly what you did in your native land?
That’s why we see more guns – some countries, even kids as young as 10 carry concealed fire arms. That’s why we see more drugs – some countries, drugs are the easiest and quickest way for the poor and starving to make enough for basic food and shelter. That’s why we see more crime – in many of the poorer countries of the world, people are so desperate they will do anything to survive.
Because we let in anyone these days, they do whatever they want – and make it hard for good, honest, hard working Canadians to survive.
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