My sister and I were emailing today and bemoaning the fact that we hadn't had a really good long phone conversation or, better yet, a good gossipy meal together in ages. Suddenly we were hit by the thought: Why not? So we had dinner this very night after we both got off work. It's always good when we get together, and it did me even more good because of all the stress at work lately.
We talked and talked and talked. We talked about work (hers), our family, work (mine), the news in general, work (both), clothes, the afterlife, real estate, work... in other words, it was a pretty standard line of conversation for us when we get together.
We also ate and ate well, down to and including dessert. I actually couldn't finish my dessert which was a shame because it was a very decadent strawberry shortcake.
We just about closed the place down. They stopped serving at 10:00 and when we left at about 9:45, there was just one table and they were just then ordering, from the same waiter we'd had, poor guy. Yes, we did leave him a very good tip since we took up the table for so long. Hopefully that other table treated him even better.
Then, in the parking lot, I was about 4 steps away from walking across a little grassy median thing when suddenly the sprinklers in it came on. Close call, and a giggly epilogue to a nice evening.
I have The Best Sister. What neither of us understands is why we don't do this more often!
What's your favorite Michael Jackson song? Bonus points if you share the video.
Hands-down: "Man in the Mirror" which surprisingly (to me) has barely been mentioned in the constant press coverage lately. The message of the song was very powerful, the song very sing-able and memorable, and it had that great mid-song modulation that really got to me.
Is it tacky of me that I can't help but think that this song would be very appropriate to President Obama's call to volunteer service?
Right? Maybe not now... or maybe...?I'm starting with the man in the mirror,
I'm asking him to change his ways,
And no message could have been any clearer:
If you wanna make the world a better place,
Take a look at yourself and then make that change...
I was never a big fan, so don't know if there even was a video for "Man in the Mirror". All I could find on YouTube were a couple of low-quality copies of live performances of it with still photos interspersed.
We've known for several weeks that it was coming but today it's happening. The people I work with who have been laid off have been packing up their stuff, turning in their issued equipment, and going around saying goodbye. A lot of us have been on the verge of tears all day. Some of us have gone past the verge.
Across the agency, 79 people are losing their jobs effective tomorrow, and a little more than 20% of them work in our division.
Quite a few of my co-workers -- and they still are that, till this time tomorrow -- have found other work. Some found work at comparable pay, and some took jobs paying a lot less money just to be able to have a salary and benefits of some kind. There are also some who haven't found anything yet. They're all good workers, down to a man, who would make excellent employees, but no one is hiring in their fields.
God, this is so awful.
I haven't felt like this in many many years. MANY years. Back then, that first time, there was only one cure for . . . :
HOUSE-BUYING FEVER!
And I fear that may still be the only way to make this itch go away this time. But I don't want to buy a house. I don't. I do not want to buy a house. I do not want to owe someone money for the rest of my life. I was a home owner for a while and even did the fixer-upper thing, and was even a landlord for a while. I really thought I got that out of my system forever.
For a lot of years, I've liked being a renter. I like that, if the HVAC unit goes belly up, all I have to do is call the landlord. I love that, if neighbors from hell move in next door, I'm not anchored to the place where I live and I can get away easily. What if I someday need to move into an assisted living place when I'm older, but before a mortgage is paid off? How would I be able to afford that?
And in the much nearer term, what if I jump up and buy a house and then lose my job?? That's a very real possibility. My employer let 200 people go this year, and 79 more positions are going away as of this Wednesday. If my job gets tagged, not only would I lose the house and all the money I'd have put into it to that point, but my credit would then be shot too, meaning that this is probably my only chance for a very very long time to do it right, IF I'm going to do it at all.
And in the nearest possible term, I like the place I'm renting now. I've been here 5 years. I feel very much at home here, in the house and in the neighborhood. The rent is very reasonable and I make sure I am never ever late with it -- usually early.
On the other hand (as I suddenly find myself thinking), as a renter, I'm subject to places being sold out from under me (which has happened once in a "I knew this was too good to last" situation) and I'm limited as to what I can do with the place.
Prices are so low now that I've found myself trolling the real estate listings and tonight, for the first time, I saw two that actually have me wondering, "maybe... what if...".
Crap. I guess there may not be anything for it except a discreet visit with a banker or a mortgage broker to find out how much I'd qualify for and go from there... if I go at all.
If anyone has a clear-cut answer, I'd love to have one.
In May, I responded to an ad by someone looking for help transcribing audio files -- podcasts, conference calls, focus groups, etc. I was liking the idea of earning a little more money to throw at my bills, doing something I could do from home. She hired me.
She said she always paid on Mondays. Fine. My first payday Monday came ... and went. No payday. She volunteered that she was waiting on payment from a client, and sure enough, a few days later I got paid (PayPal by mutual agreement). She continued to send me files which I continued to transcribe and send back.
We've done everything via email. I have two or three messages from her telling me how great I am, how wonderful my work is, how her proofreader complains that looking for errors in my work is boring, etc.
Time passes. It gets to be earlier this week, and I've never been paid again. She says it's because of one client who hasn't paid -- she's waiting to pay me until all the clients I've transcribed for have paid her, unwilling to even pay me for the stuff SHE's already been paid for, because ONE client is dragging his/her feet. Then she keeps sending me stuff to do!
...the hell? What kind of business model is that??? I have a Master's degree in Management, and I don't remember that one from any of my classes.
Things seem to have come to a head. Wednesday (as in day before yesterday), she asked me if I was done with a file she'd never even sent me. I replied that I never received a file by that name and that, also, since it had been nearly three weeks since I'd been paid, I think it would better if I didn't take on any more work for her until the payroll situation gets resolved. I haven't heard one single word from her since that.
I've checked PayPal a few times each day since then -- no deposits. I've checked my email religiously -- no explanation, or even a "go to hell" note. I'm starting to think I just got hosed out of two and a half weeks' worth of work, and all because she feels like it's easier for her not to pay at all until all the clients pay.
I hope it gets resolved and soon. The work is okay and I even enjoyed it in a way, but the whole point was to bring in a little extra gelt, not donate my time to growing someone else's business. If she totally flakes on it, I won't be out so much money that would be actionable or even anywhere close, but it's a little chunk of change I could use.
After 10 years, my clothes dryer is apparently now enchanted.
A few days ago I did a regular load of laundry and, as I was taking things out of the dryer, out popped a $20 bill! I gaped at it, then squinted at it as if it were a wallet on string in a practical joke. Since there was no one around except me and the cats, I decided it was okay to pick it up. Twenty dollars -- EXCELLENT!!
Then, five or six items later, another $20 bill fluttered out!! I grabbed this one up quickly without any of the previous analysis.
For so many years I was in uniform and got used to carrying all the important stuff on me -- keys, cash, and in the later years, cell phone, etc. Even though it's been a bunch of years since I've been in uniform, and have since gone back to carrying a purse, I still keep all the important stuff on me. My cash is folded in one of my pockets (I try to only buy slacks that do have pockets.)
So, when the dryer started bestowing gifts that night, I went to check the top of the dresser, and yes, there was the folded cash where it was supposed to be. I really couldn't think when or how or why I would have acquired $40 and put it in the wrong pocket and then forgot all about it, but that was the only explanation.
I decided to be grateful and not beat my head against a wall trying to figure out what had happened.
Then, tonight, doing the laundry, taking the clothes out of the dryer, here came a $10 bill!!
I'm thinking of renting out load time on my dryer. No guarantees, but a pretty good track record over the past two weeks!
When I got my own office last year, I splurged on a little ego and got a second copy of my Master's diploma to hang on the wall. (The original is on the wall in my office at home, along with the disturbingly old BA diploma.)
I know, I know, but this is not a whole big vanity wall. I used to have one of those many many years ago. You know the type -- every certificate, plaque, commendation, etc., you get goes up on the vanity wall. All that stuff is packed away now, but I got to thinking about it and decided that I'd worked hard for that degree and was going to display it.
I just put it in a nice black frame with a single mat. Understated, just quietly hanging on the wall. Also on my walls, I have a nice "visual vacation" which is a pretty framed beach print directly across from my desk, a framed print of a favorite cartoon signed by the cartoonist, a corkboard with various flotsam and jetsom from my professional life so far, and the requisite whiteboard.
So the diploma. After it had been hanging there for months, one day about three weeks ago, as I was heading out -- and I have no idea why not until that time -- I suddenly noticed something about the diploma that I'd never seen before. My last name was SPELLED WRONG. My last name has a U in it. It is a single U, not UU, which is how they had it.
The only other person I've ever heard of with two consecutive Us in her last name is Anne Uumellmahaye, so I guess I was in good enough company, but I prefer the correct spelling.
I stood there, staring at it, transfixed, as if it were just a blip in time and would momentarily fix itself, because it couldn't have ALWAYS been like that... right? I mean, I'd have noticed... right? Especially when I handled it to put it in the frame... right?
WRONG. It just stayed like that, mocking me in its Olde English font which had disguised the extra letter with all its ruffles and flourishes.
I have gotten it replaced with a new one from the school with everything spelled right this time. Squinting at it now on the wall, it may not be perfectly aligned in the frame, but I'm leaving well enough alone for the time being.
Apologies in advance that this post is a little lengthy, but, as you'll see in a second, it reads very fast since most of it is a series of short emails. Normally I don't reprint articles I see on other web pages. If I think people might enjoy them or be otherwise interested, I just post a teaser and the link. This one, though, warrants the whole-article approach because I know you're more likely to read it if you don't have to click to it. (By the way, the title of this post is a quote from Stewie Griffin of "Family Guy" -- it leapt unbidden into my head when I read this story.)
No, this is not about any socially important issue. There's no call to action or anything like that. It's just good for a big ol' dose of "oh, good lord." Someone needs to get over herself in a big way. Someone needs to put on her big-girl panties. Someone doesn't have enough going on in her life or career if this is what sets her off. And that someone's name is ELIZABETH. All nine letters, dammit! Unless you want to go with E-EFFING-LIZABETH.
From the Shenanigans page at Politico.com (I omitted some of the lead-in text, so there's the link if you want to see it):
By Anne Schroeder Mullins - June 17, 2009
If you want to score a meeting with Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), know this: His scheduler/office manager, Elizabeth Becton, is to be addressed by her full name — not Liz or any other variant.
An executive assistant at McBee Strategic recently learned this the hard way. A few weeks ago, the assistant e-mailed Becton seeking a meeting with McDermott and a client, JPMorgan Chase. Days later, the assistant checked back in and unfortunately began the e-mail with “Hi Liz.”
Becton curtly replied, “Who is Liz?”
When the assistant wrote back with an apology, Becton turned up the heat. “I do not go by Liz. Where did you get your information?” she asked.
The back-and-forth went on for 19 e-mails, with the assistant apologizing six times if she had “offended” Becton, while Becton lectured about name-calling.
McDermott spokesman Mike DeCesare told us Tuesday, “An apology is being issued as we speak,” adding, “This isn’t reflective of the way we do business in this office.”
Around the end of March, my employer announced that we would have layoffs for FY09-10. Around the end of May, they identified the positions that are going away. I seem to be safe for another year, but about 15 people I work with got caught in the net.
One in particular bothered me a lot. M is a guy who just came to work for us last spring, so almost no seniority. He doesn't work FOR me exactly, but a lot of the work he does is to assist me. He's one of these people here who wears multiple hats. Although he doesn't present himself as well as some others might, it didn't take long to realize what an asset he is.
This guy can learn stuff so fast. One thing he does for me, I expected to have to monitor him (anyone) for 2-4 weeks after training them. M was doing it independently after only a week. And do you want to talk about reliable? When M says he will get something done, it gets done. Correctly. On time.
See why I didn't want to see him go? The first thing I did was try to see if there was ANY way we could keep him, as much for our benefit as his. We came up with several scenarios but all required extremely unlikely events to bring them about, so I began to accept we were losing him.
Then, over time, it became clear there was nothing for me to do but put on my big-girl panties and deal with it. So I asked M if he could use a letter of reference. He said yes, so I wrote one that practically sparkles, and every word is true. He came and got it from me last week.
This afternoon he came in to tell me he'd gotten another job. Essentially the same pay, same benefits, same hours, and frankly, will look better on his resume than the job he's losing will.
He wins. His new employer wins. We lose. Damn recession.
I've lived where I am now for almost five years. The neighborhood's nice but everyone kind of keeps to themselves, and I'm as guilty as the next person.
This evening as I was pulling into my driveway, I saw a lady I didn't recognize walking around my next-door neighbor's house, clearly searching. She was probably in her 40s or so, was talking on a cell phone, and had a worried look on her face. "Oh, no," I thought, "she's lost a pet."
As I was getting out of my car, she approached me and introduced herself as G. She hadn't lost a pet. She'd lost her mother-in-law, D.
It turns out D, who lives two doors down from me and with whom I've exchanged occasional smiles and waves but not much more, has dementia that is apparently getting worse. G and other members of the family live in the next two places down, and apparently moved D into that one next to them when it came open last year. Evidently this isn't the first time she's wandered away without telling anyone but it does seem to be a new thing they're dealing with.
I got D's description - clothes, etc. - from G, so I could keep my eyes open for her, and strongly encouraged her to call the police right away. As we parted, G called me to the back of my house where my crawlspace door was standing wide open, and I always leave it closed. She called into the crawlspace for D but got no answer and said she didn't think D would go in there.
I came into my house and realized immediately I couldn't just sit and hope for the best. So I put my stuff down and went back out. I wanted to find out where people were already looking so I could go look in other places. The sun was going to go down in about an hour and the idea of her being out there alone and confused and helpless in the dark was something I had to do more than just shake my head about, but I wanted someone's phone number so I could call if I found her.
As I was knocking on the door, J, another family member I know now, came from the direction of my house and said they'd found her and she (J) had been looking for me to tell me. D had found an open back door on the house between hers and mine, and had let herself in and was pushing furniture around, which is something she apparently does a good bit of. Not violent, probably more like, "This chair doesn't belong over here." Those folks didn't happen to be home at the time (I bet they close and lock their back door more regularly from now on), so G was going to write them a note.
So, happy ending to what could have been a really bad situation. And now I know my neighbors. Plus, now I know to keep an eye out if I see D walking up her driveway away from her house.
