So happy you are here.
I wouldn’t even mind being a DMV employee. Sure, I wouldn’t get paid, but furlough Friday sounds not so bad.
Oh, and also, rain, rain, go away. Unless you live in Bolinas. Then bring a gully washer.
Mainly. I’m happy for the weekend. Happy Friday to you, wherever you are.
I went to an “all hands” meeting at work today with the CFO of my company. They had some corporate news and business to discuss so we all dutifully showed up.
Our CFO is a pretty well known guy in the industry. Incredibly smart and articulate. Laid back in his khakis and blue button down. Comfortable in his own skin. Has been with the company since he came out of college so knows our business well. Been here just about fifteen years all in.
Successful C-level officer of a thriving multi-national company.
And he’s exactly one year younger than me.
I wonder, sometimes, if I had worked harder or was more focused on my job or if I actually even made being an executive part of my game plan if I could have gotten there, too?
There was a time, in my twenties, when I was set and determined on rising to the top, or as far as I could get. It seemed that getting ahead was what I was about, so I worked my tookus off, and yes, had some good success.
Then somewhere around age thirty I started to realize that maybe just going to work, doing a decent job, then coming home and having a genuine life were more important.
I look at the CFO, the Boy Wonder, and think “Yeah, he makes a lot of money and has a lot of power…but his life is his job.”
I don’t want my life to be my job.
This is not the most popular outlook given the very success driven area where I live. Actually, the expectation of my former employer that everything you did, you did for the company was part of the reason it was time to leave.
Funny how time mellows my mind.
So maybe I’m not CFO of my employer, but I’m Chief Food Officer for my feline and Chief Administrator of the Smooch to my husband and Chief Artist in Residence at our home.
Heck, for a troubled little girl from Albuquerque, that’s some damn fine success, if you ask me.
Though I’m still negotiating compensation…..*grin*
Seems the shoe throwing way of expressing dissent has found itself a new audience in China.
From the BBC, the Chinese Prime Minister was giving a talk when an athletic shoe came soaring his way, but a bit offline, landing about a meter away.
At least the guy in Iraq had some arm on him, eh?
Anyhow, don’t let my employees know that this is in style. Some of the ladies on my team wear these tall clunky heels. That would cause bosslike hematomas and such. Ouch.
So is this now a trend? A latest fad? If so we’re all going to need helmets. ugh!
First of all, to all the good folks, including both mom and mom-in-law, who are concerned about the posts related to my troubles at work, thank you for being concerned. This week has turned out a bit better.
Also, I got paid today, and that always helps improve the outlook.
I imagine I’ll survive this. Or I won’t. Either way, the sun will come up again tomorrow and I’ll have to face another day. And I’ll have to face myself in the mirror. The way I do that is by knowing I did my best, worked my hardest and did so with humility.
Onward.
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Next…thanks to the gentleman driving the Explorer in the lane next to me on Wednesday morning. I was running late for work (overslept the alarm, snarf!) and I was, yes, speeding. But so were you. Thanks to your slower response time, I was able to take my foot off the gas first, you shot past me, and that nice CHP officer paid you a visit instead of me.
Whew. I have two months left on the eighteen months since my last ticket (you can only mask one traffic violation every 18 months), so you really saved me there!
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Don’t know if you are experiencing the same thing where you’re at, but to me, it’s like everyone in society is moving along in a fog. Making bonehead moves on the road. Bumping into me at the grocery. Looking at me blankly when I ask a question.
So, a nod to The Good Man for best summing up society’s recent weirdness:
(paraphrased)
“We had the buildup from the campaign, then the excitement of the election, anticipation of the new president and then finally the climax of the inauguration. It’s like the whole country just needs a cigarette.”
And a salty snack.
Indeed.
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Speaking of salty snacks…am I going to be the only person in the US not watching the Superbowl this weekend?
Because, really, Pittsburgh vs Arizona?
Sure, I know that AZ is the Cinderella story. Whatever. I could care less.
And Pittsburgh. Do we really need to see them win again?
I might whip up a batch of salty snacks, however, and watch Season 2 of The Muppet Show. I found it at the library and it’s providing much singing along and childish giggles from TGM and me.
Best thing to watch after a rough day at work, I’ll tell you THAT.
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Or maybe I should just have a cheese sandwich.
Been watching cheese sandwich-gate in the ABQjournal with interest. Oh Fair New Mexico, you still do scandal in a fun way.
Love it. And from what I’m reading, the press coverage has brought in quite a bit of the delinquent money! Nice.
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Lastly, the weather is messin’ with my head. Sunny and 70’s. Rainy and cold. Then just clear and cold. And today, back to the 70’s.
Mother Nature, you are FREAKING me out, maaahn.
But I’m not complaining about the sun. I’ll take it.
That is all.
Happy Weekend!
So, really, this new job is blowing my mind. I knew that changing jobs after almost ten years at a rather quirky company would be difficult. Challenging. Would test my bounds.
It’s been all of that and more.
I’ve been here two months and I’m still struggling. They promised the learning curve here is at least six months, but me, being both impatient and a chronic overachiever, feel like I should be up and running fast. Contributing to the work. Being useful and value added.
So far I’ve been mostly a bump on a log that asks a LOT of questions and says, “Are you sure?” upon hearing the mind-blowing responses. Oh, yes, this is a very backwards organization.
Last week I sort of had a breaking point. I wasn’t feeling great physically and I had my second “called into the principal’s office” to be told “what you did wasn’t *wrong*, it just wasn’t The Company way.”
You know the drill, you are right but you are still wrong. Won the battle but lost the war. And other platitudes.
I went home demoralized, a new hole punched in my self-esteem. I cried on The Good Man’s shoulder. Considered packing it in. Wondered how I could have had a successful fifteen year career in my chosen field and still can’t get it right in this two-bit flea circus.
So the weekend came and went. I got some sleep. My immune system kicked in, and I started feeling better, physically at least.
I made my way to work Monday, and it wasn’t so bad. Tuesday came and went. That brings us to today, Wednesday.
Starting my day, I was reading the headlines and saw the latest report on the doings of our new President. The story was about Obama needling the Washingtonians for shutting down schools due to ice. Said that his Chicago daughters play outside in that kind of weather.
It was a fun, humanizing story. But it also made me think.
This guy’s got a new job, too.
And if he makes a misstep, it’s not only reported to the world, it impacts the world.
He doesn’t just get called into the boss lady’s office for a talking to, he’s got real issues.
So maybe, for as freaked out and demoralized I am about this new gig, it could, definitely be worse.
I mean my coworkers both in my own organization and across the board, including my predecessor, want me to succeed. Everyone is trying to help me get acclimated. I don’t have to take the slings and arrows of Congress, snotty media and opposing party’s interests. I don’t have to remember what I promised last year during the interview and then deliver.
No one is watching my first 100 days, other than my immediate manager.
I don’t live under the hot fire of the magnifying glass.
Then again, Obama’s also got a horde of advisors. Maybe I need more advisors.
Hmm…
