I Don't Post on Saturdays

So what the heck am I doing here now?

I thought I would share another work adventure with you. I already told my pal, Gary, but what the heck... why not tell all my friends?

My company provides contract workers for various clients. Many of which are very professional - these are not contract blue collar positiions, but white collar.

We keep trying to find that "just right" person on Long Island. Now, you would think there are tons to choose from. Our screening process is pretty tough and once they get through it, we make a decision. I am on my third one for a particular client! I don't know how many more times we can go through this.

Yesterday, this gentleman, who had been a previous employee of the client (so he already knew how the work was to be done) and a licensed New York Appraiser, decided to TAKE HIS SHOES OFF in the middle of the office, walk around in his socks, and talk extremely loudly on the cell phone. Bad enough that I received emails regarding this.

I don't want to call a grown man over the age of 50 and ask him why he didn't keep the shoes on his feet.

Another guy decided to sit down in the client's office in front of a TV and FELL ASLEEP. At work!

What is wrong with these people?? I don't know how many more of those emails I can get.

I need to find two decent, hard-working, fairly intelligent people on Long Island.

What's up with that?

Friday Wrap-Up

The week has gone so quickly for me. We've had drama (read: daughter has been skipping school), resolution (read: got caught by the assistant principal), consequences (read: in-school suspension today along with some grounding and removal of privileges by mom and dad), and hopefully we're on our way to a peaceful weekend.

On top of all that, I've been training a new employee, Wendy, all week. She has had to sit right next to me - that doesn't bother me at all - but, with the school calling, etc... it has been a bit uncomfortable. Wendy doesn't work Fridays so I feel a bit more free. I sure am grateful to have her as our business has tripled in the last three months.

When I first started here in May, I thought I would go bonkers because it was so slow, but they kept telling me to just wait - it would get busier. They were right! But, none of us knew we would be THIS busy.

Fortunately for us, when the economy is bad, we're doing great! Unfortunately, that means many others aren't doing well. I hope we come to a healthy balance soon.

So far, we have no plans for the weekend. It's supposed to be absolutely gorgeous weather. See?

It's hard to get used how early darkness falls, but I like it...it feels like Christmas is coming!

What one word describes how you feel right this moment?

Rearranged, Old Friends, and Dog Parks

I rearranged my office. Oh, I already told you guys that, didn't I? Sheesh. Well, I am back to work (which is when I have time to post - lol) and the Colonel hasn't arrived yet.

Good news! I am going to have another coworker and she starts on Monday, November 3rd. This is SO good because it will let there be another personality other than mine and the Colonel's in here. Plus, we worked together in the past. For about 10 years or more.

This will interesting, though. She was always my boss. Now I am hers. It's not too freaky, though, because we always just worked as a team, but when push came to shove, I deferred to her "rank." I guess it's my turn now.

Jerry and I took our dogs to the dog park yesterday and they had big, big fun! It was rather warm, but they loved it. Georgi took off swimming in the pond. Gordy just drank out of it. There were lots of people there and even more dogs of every sort. It's a very nice park - about 900+ acres and divided into a section for large dogs and small dogs. Each has a pond and agility equipment. Our little Georgi loves agility and is amazingly good at it.

Oh, oh, the Colonel just arrived - he overslept. Crazy, huh? Not.

Guess I better actually DO something.

I'm In Charge

Yikes! I have never REALLY been in charge at work before and after lunch today, I'm "the boss." (I am always subliminally in charge)

The owner and VP of my company are out of the country. The "other" VP (my direct boss) is leaving for a conference, and my contemporary (hate to say the word, "equal") is on vacation. That leaves ME in charge.

Now, that wouldn't be so daunting except the you-know-what has hit the fan. We're having to find people to cover some positions nationwide and we're out of people! Our company has a practice of never saying we cannot fulfill a request.

I am hating that I will have to be the one to do that, but if everything falls into place as expected, they'll just have to get a "no" for an answer.

Maybe things will fall out of place.

Sublime!

The Tables Turned

The company I now work for does contract work for my previous employer (gee, guess how I got THIS job??). Now, I don't work contract as I am actually hired by the company as a "senior" supervisor.

Quite frankly, I am not sure if the senior remark is due to my age or experience, but I am one with both - lol - so I can deal with this.

Okay.. back on track. A great majority of our contract workers are retired from the previous employer. Many were high-powered managers looking for supplemental income and way to remain a presence in the industry. They are valued employees and excellent workers. I continually learn from their wealth of experience.

Here comes the big "however." Ready? However, now I, their former underling, am the boss. Oh, how good it feels. Not enough to show, but enough to feel when I come home and post on my blog.

I am bright enough to know that those very same tables will turn again one day, but for this moment, I am enjoying a ride on the Lazy Susan.

Whew!

Man, leave your office two days and does the work pile up! It's not supposed to be like that right before a three-day weekend, but it is.

That's okay - five o'clock is within reason now, so I don't guess I'll die.

I was talking to one of my coworkers today - it seems we may have an assignment in Hawaii and one in Alaska. I, of course, volunteered for both.

Now, forget that we have people in California and Washington who could reach these destinations much more quickly than I can. The real issue here is air fare. Who knows? It's possible flights from Houston are more reasonable. Sure, it might require several layovers and long hours, but I am willing to sacrifice myself for the good of the company.

Truthfully, for work, I would rather go to Alaska. I have never been I think it would be the better venue for working than a tropical island. Plus, after my last post from Hell, someplace cold, even cold, sounds g-r-e-a-t!

Sleep Deprivation and Being A Rat

Weird subject, huh? It's mostly to remind myself about what I wanted to post today.

We'll start with sleep deprivation due to the OLYMPICS! (read that previous sentence in the same voice Forrest Gump used when he was letting Jenny's hippy boyfriend know she should go home to GREENBOW, ALABAMA!) I know I keep talking about the Olympics, but they have me completely sucked in. And, they wait until I know I should be in bed before Michael Phelps swims, but what do you do when Michael Phelps is swimming - watch, of course! Then, they go and show "women's" gymnastics.



There is absolutely no way all the Chinese "women" are 16. Have you seen the little one? She looks 10 (and that's being generous!). I have a 16 year old in my house. That child is not 16. Even Bela Karolyi thinks so and says so. It's a sad state to see a country go so far to win.



Look for yourselves:



And:

Do they look even in the same age range to you???

Okay, so what's up with being a rat? (sigh) My boss called me yesterday...mind you, I am in Texas and my employer is in another state. It's just me and one other person in my office. He kind of wanted me to rat out my office mate.

It was deserved and needed to be said, but it still feels creepy doing it. Yet, things cannot be addressed if they aren't known. I just wish I wasn't the one to do the telling.

I did it. One thing I need to "say" out loud is our boss is fair and kind. This needed to be done. I just would've prefered not to do it. Oh well, it's over and maybe it will make a positive difference - that's what I am believing will happen.

If I find out, I'll let you know.

But STILL - are those girls SIXTEEN????

Pandora

Here I am at work listening to Pandora on my computer. By the way, have you tried Pandora? It takes a while to find your perfect combination.

If you're not familiar with this site, it's like your own radio station. I have selected various artists to create stations. Say you choose Hall & Oates, they create a Hall & Oates radio station and it plays songs of that type. It doesn't mean you'll get only H & O tunes. So, you create numerous "stations" and select Quick Mix. Pandora then plays random selections from each of your stations.

It takes a while to find that perfect combo.

So, where was I? Oh yeah, at work! It's possible I should be DOING something. I'm on it.

I Work In A Movie

Sure, you think. How can that be? She just wants a catchy title for another post. No, no, no.... something is going on in the area in which I work. Today, I went to my office, got there on time, went on up to the 6th floor, entered the office and commenced working. Nothing unusual here - this is NORMAL.

At 11:00am I went to lunch with friend and upon returning. (Ok... I am going to stop here and set up the scene. My building is a six-story glass building. The front of the building faces a vacant lot and a post office directly across the street. The street has road bumps to keep people from driving too fast as there are schools further up the road. Okay, and behind the lot and post office is a large, well-maintained cemetery. Actually, it's the "happening" cemetery right now. You know how they wax and wane over the years, right? Alrighty...keep going further out past the cemetery, you have one of the most "happening" streets in Houston. Oh yeah, I am in the 4th largest city in America, so it's not like we just stepped into an episode of Northern Exposure)

Upon returning, I entered the building via the back entrance and walked to the elevators, which are right up front. Like I said, this is a glass building... immediately out the front doors, on the steps, is a woman, who looks incredibly like a man dancing. Not in a cute, Ellen Degeneres kind of way, just dancing. No iPod, nothing. Just dancing.

Okay, now on the edge of vacant lot across the street and facing the post office is a young man juggling three lime green juggling jugs - what do you call those bowling pin juggling things? He's really good!

Some sort of water line has broken and water is spewing out of the corner between the lot and post office (it was still flowing when I left at 5pm).

So, I looked to the right, and from up the street, comes a very large one-legged woman in a wheelchair scooting towards the post office. She was just going over a speed bump when I saw her. She wasn't wheeling the chair - she COULD - I saw her do it, but she was just pulling herself along with her whole leg.

What happened in that one hour?