Category: work

Sheepish

Owing to my good Catholic upbringing, it takes very little to toss me to the throes of guilt.

And I have it, baby! Catholic guilt, that is.

And owing to my good Catholic upbringing (tho currently quite non-practicing), confession is good for the soul, right?

Here it is:

Yesterday…I got a speeding ticket. *gasp!*

Yep, I’ve been having crap commutes lately. Yesterday morning my thirty-minute commute took seventy. The night before, stop and go and stop and go and…well, you get the idea.

So I took off early yesterday to 1) avoid the commute and 2) spend more time with The Cute Boy™. So gleeful was I that I guess I put my leaden foot a little too hard on the gas. I say “I guess” because I don’t know for sure, but I do know that a CHP pulled my arse over (and they are NOT as cool as Ponch and John, let me tell you).

The officer glared at me, I guess he has to. God knows what they come up on during traffic stops. He took my license, my registration, my insurance card and wrote up a ticket.

I’ve never gotten a ticket in California. I guess ten years is a pretty good run, eh? My last ticket was in 1994 in New Mexico. I glanced at the ticket to see how much I’d have to pay. It doesn’t work quite that easy here, you get a ticket with a “notice to appear” then I guess they send you a letter where you can either pay some money or go to court.

The nice CHP gentleman did not say he used a radar, so I *could* try to go to court to fight it. A quick Google of the officer’s name turned up that he’s a quite well respected member of the force, and had a nice write up in a local paper for his hard work.

Yeah, I don’t think I’d stand a chance in court.

I found the California fine schedule online. Let’s just say the fine is ouch-worthy. I shall pay the fine and be a lot more cautious about the needle on the ol’ speedometer.

Ok, I guess today I’ll go do an act of contrition or something to help me find my penance (in addition to the pain of writing a check to a state that already way overtaxes me).

My first act of penance was to ride CalTrain to work……..I gave myself a vehicular time out.

Do you think Governor Arnold will grant me absolution?

The silver lining is maybe riding the commuter rail will give me some good blogging ideas……

Edit: Oh no! It’s a conspiracy! The Man trying to bring down the displaced New Mexicans!!!

(image via)

The Results Are In

It’s that time of year again. Chile roasting outside grocery stores. Hot air balloons hanging in the sky. Frosty nights and crunchy leaves.

And at work, that annual tradition known as performance reviews.

Now, I hate performance reviews. I know we have to. It’s a whole human resources thang. I get it. But I hate them. I hate giving them. I hate receiving mine. I just hate the whole process.

I got them done for my staff a couple weeks back. Got them done without incident, which was nice. It helped I had some new folks that were too new to review, so I was able to struggle through the few I had and get them completed.

My Lady Boss, on the other hand, has an inordinate amount of employees so it’s taken her longer. Yesterday was the last day to get ’em done, and we squeaked it in under the wire.

As usual, I walked in knowing I worked my arse off this year, and yet was scared. This happens every year. I somehow always think there’s something I’m missing. Something I failed to do. Something I did wrong and didn’t know it. So with shaking legs I sat down and took my medicine.

Like usual, it was fine. She had many nice things to say. My Lady Boss is fairly new to the department and I still don’t quite have a read on her, but now I got my report card. Now I know the teacher thinks I’m doing ok. (The best compliment was regarding the kick ass job my team did this year. They did all the work and it’s not fair I get the credit, but I’m proud as hell of each and every one of them.)

She had a couple items for “development” that were spot on, and I appreciate her feedback. She then would up the review by reminding me that in 2008 I shouldn’t argue so vocally and vehemently with (her boss) my Vice President. (I actually did this. I was angry. It was deserved. I don’t regret it. But her point was well taken. I *could* have presented my case a bit better…..)

I got a better than average rating and a slightly better than average raise. However, “slightly better than average” at this company means “just slightly above the CPI”. It’s true, I checked. But you know what? I’ll take it. My friend who also works here got NO raise. Yep. Zip, zero, zilch, nada. And he worked hard this year. So my meager increase is something. With that, I’ll get back to work and rest easy for another year, at least on that front.

Ever forward, back into battle.

It’s a short walk from me to thee

Often when I’m bored at work or killing time until my next meeting (too many of those today), I like to look at the “odd news” on Yahoo. I mean, I LOVE weird-ass stories. But inevitably, I find one story that makes me uncomfortable. One of those “wow, with a slightly different set of circumstances, that could be me.”

So this afternoon, exhausted from the day, I took a peek at the latest crop of weird news. And here it is, the story that “but for the grace of < fill in all seeing entity of your choice >, that could be me.”

From the Associated Press on Friday.

Basically, a guy got drunk and then angrily attacked the Halloween display at a woman’s house. Guy went flailing after inflatable ghosts and a pumpkin. The owner reported “she heard hollering and swearing and looked outside to see Odee struggling with the giant pumpkin.” When she yelled at him, he then smashed his head through a window.

The police were called and “after a brief struggle” he was arrested.

I dunno, it sounds wacky, but didja ever get so mad you wanted to punch one of those cutsey ghouls populated on someone’s front lawn? Or wanted to kick the fun animated light up reindeer that it seems everyone has each year? Or thought you’d feel better if you dropped your aged vehicle into four wheel drive and ran asunder over someone’s *fabulous* holiday display?

No?

Oh, it’s just me, then.

Go on about your business…..

When it’s time to put your electronic device down

Had a pretty good laugh today reading an AP story about cell phone users feeling “phantom vibrations”.

The Cute Boy™ and I have talked about this one before. My life, unfortunately, revolves around the wireless industry, and I’m constantly surrounded by < obscenity deleted >* cell phones.

If you have to be tethered to one of the damn things like I do, then you’ve probably had this phenomenon. Or….if you’ve ever had a hot date and you are waiting desperately for them to call, that’s also a fine time for you to lunge for your pocket only to realize it wasn’t your phone, it was you.

Lately I’m also getting phantom ringing. There are so many ding dang devices in the world, and they all beep, whine, tweet, chirp and whatever, that I think it must be my phone. I mean, the galdurn thing has a bunch of functions I don’t even know how to use. A few weeks back, The Cute Boy™ and I were in the car. A new chirp emitted from somewhere in the car. It was an unfamiliar sound. We looked at each other. “What was that?” I asked. “I don’t know,” he replied.

I mean….how bad is it when there are so many electronic sounds in the air that you can no longer accurately identify the source?

It makes it worse that here at work all employees now carry the same phone. Which means they make the same set of noises. It’s kind of funny in a crowded meeting when one phone chirps and twenty people lunge for it. Funny in a “holy crap is this what we’ve become” kind of not-so-funny way.

So, yes, I admit it, I’m a “phantom vibrate” person**…and a phantom ring too. Today I took off for a meeting across campus at work and (*gasp*), forgot my phone back in the office. And while in the meeting, someone’s phone rang. And even though I KNEW I didn’t have my phone, I still reached into my pocket…to find, my keys. Well there you have it, the downfall of civilization.

By the by…does anyone else have a microwave that nudges you when it’s done? I mean, I can pop a bowl of soup in there for a couple minutes, then be doing something else. I *hear* the end beep. Then every minute or so, it beeps again. I really, really hate that. My life…managed by a microwave…and an iPhone…and the beeps and bells in my car…and let’s not even start on the strange noises my computer makes.

Remember when a phone just rang, and made that “shuk-shuk-shuk” noise when you dialed?

*Self censored in the interest of keeping this blog to a reasonable length. The string of curse words that I use to describe cell phones is both lengthy and sufficiently blue enough to make a sailor blush.

**Heh..when I first wrote that sentence, I said “I’m a ‘phantom vibrator’…” That’s a WHOLE other blog, no?

Proud

Oh Fair New Mexico, how great thou art. Once again my home state is contributing to not only the economy of the world, but to our overall wellbeing.

Those hard working researchers at University of New Mexico have been selflessly spending hours upon grueling hours in strip clubs conducting an in depth and meaningful analysis. The purpose of all this hard work is to determine at which point in a woman’s monthly cycle does she earn the most money (in the form of tips).

That’s right, ladies! Turn on the charm when you are ovulating and you too can rake in the cash! But look out when Aunt Flo is about…you’ll not be making the dough. Oh, also, if you are on the pill, apparently you send out an “early pregnancy” vibe (cuz the pill tricks your body) and the boys won’t throw as much cash your way.

“Miller suggests scheduling more shifts for the phase right before ovulation: ‘It might help to know about this so that you can exploit these effects.'”

Now THIS is science!

(source and via)