So, I didn't update much in 2011. I attribute this to having worked all year (yay!) and therefore I did not have large blocks of time in which to blog nor did I have too many catastrophes to blog about. This is both good and bad. Good that I didn't have catastrophes, bad that it caused me to neglect posting to my blog.
So, my resolution for this year is to get a post in at least once a week. I also want to do more connecting with other bloggers and get to reading more blogs. To that end, I will try to visit the blog of anyone who comments on my blog as, really, that is the polite thing to do and I need to be much better about doing it.
I hope that everyone had a Happy and Safe New Year celebration. Are we all ready to get to work now? While I would like a few more days off, I am ready to get back to work, too.
Wish me luck on avoiding career catastrophes for another year! See you soon!
Monday, January 2, 2012
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Sunday Thoughts...
For those who were curious, Thanksgiving ended up being just fine. A tich awkward, but fine.
I have already signed up for some seminars for 2012. I have one per month so far. I figure that continuing education makes me more marketable and while I do not anticipate NEEDING to be marketable, the reality is that you should always be on your toes and ready to give your elevator speech. Still, I like it where I am and I would like to stay with a job for 3-5 years before I even think about moving on again. Of course, the clock is ticking as far as being an "older" employee and I know that my age will work against me more and more as the years pass. So, I am also hoping that some of the seminars I am taking will help me be a more marketable freelancer if it comes to that.
On the down side, I can pretty much rest assured that there will be no holiday bonus this year and that the 1st quarter of 2012 will be as stressful as the last quarter of 2011 is proving to be.
Still, I like what I do and I am still learning new things at work, so I can't complain!
I have already signed up for some seminars for 2012. I have one per month so far. I figure that continuing education makes me more marketable and while I do not anticipate NEEDING to be marketable, the reality is that you should always be on your toes and ready to give your elevator speech. Still, I like it where I am and I would like to stay with a job for 3-5 years before I even think about moving on again. Of course, the clock is ticking as far as being an "older" employee and I know that my age will work against me more and more as the years pass. So, I am also hoping that some of the seminars I am taking will help me be a more marketable freelancer if it comes to that.
On the down side, I can pretty much rest assured that there will be no holiday bonus this year and that the 1st quarter of 2012 will be as stressful as the last quarter of 2011 is proving to be.
Still, I like what I do and I am still learning new things at work, so I can't complain!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Unexpected Holiday Dinner
You might not think that a holiday dinner has anything to do with the workplace. And in most cases, you would be correct, which is why the two of those things converging for me this year makes my Thanksgiving plans a bit surreal.
I was at work yesterday, entering deposits. The phone rang and it was the owner's wife. Not unusual, she calls sometimes. But today she didn't want to talk to him. She had called for me. She was calling to invite me to Thanksgiving dinner. At their house. I think I was too surprised to say much more than "ok"... as she rattled off directions to their home.
After I hung up the phone, I sat for a minute reflecting on what had just happened. In a minute's time I had gone from sitting home and probably having Chex Mix for my grand Thanksgiving Feast to being invited to the very posh home of one of the owners of the company I work for. I quickly realized that there was no way I could get a manicure or liposuction done on Thanksgiving and the panic set in. And although I had thought to ask what I could bring (and was told "nothing") I also realized that to go without a hostess gift would surely be a fatal faux pas.
Now, I was not born in a barn and am far from uncultured. I spent three years at boarding school with the sons and daughters of some of the world's elite families. But the last couple of decades of my life I've pretty much lived in urban settings that are, ummm, well let's just say "less than posh".
As tempting as it was to do something like bring a dessert, I figured that the other attendees of this meal are all going to be of the "you can never be too rich or too thin" mindset. I can't afford a $ 70 bottle of wine and have no idea if they are red wine or white wine drinkers. And I almost think bringing the wrong wine is as bad as not bringing a gift at all. I am sure that WHATEVER I bring, it will be likely stowed in the back of a cabinet somewhere or brought out to be served to a business associate that Mrs. Owner does not particularly care for.
Don't get me wrong, I LIKE Mr. Owner and I've only met Mrs. Owner a couple of times. Enough to know that I respect and admire her and that she and I are NOT in the same league from a socio-economic point of view and I am a little (ok, a LOT) intimidated by her.
Still, I will go to dinner and hope that I don't do anything stupid. And then I will come home and breathe a huge sigh of relief. And probably have a good, stiff drink.
Hope everyone who celebrates has a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I was at work yesterday, entering deposits. The phone rang and it was the owner's wife. Not unusual, she calls sometimes. But today she didn't want to talk to him. She had called for me. She was calling to invite me to Thanksgiving dinner. At their house. I think I was too surprised to say much more than "ok"... as she rattled off directions to their home.
After I hung up the phone, I sat for a minute reflecting on what had just happened. In a minute's time I had gone from sitting home and probably having Chex Mix for my grand Thanksgiving Feast to being invited to the very posh home of one of the owners of the company I work for. I quickly realized that there was no way I could get a manicure or liposuction done on Thanksgiving and the panic set in. And although I had thought to ask what I could bring (and was told "nothing") I also realized that to go without a hostess gift would surely be a fatal faux pas.
Now, I was not born in a barn and am far from uncultured. I spent three years at boarding school with the sons and daughters of some of the world's elite families. But the last couple of decades of my life I've pretty much lived in urban settings that are, ummm, well let's just say "less than posh".
As tempting as it was to do something like bring a dessert, I figured that the other attendees of this meal are all going to be of the "you can never be too rich or too thin" mindset. I can't afford a $ 70 bottle of wine and have no idea if they are red wine or white wine drinkers. And I almost think bringing the wrong wine is as bad as not bringing a gift at all. I am sure that WHATEVER I bring, it will be likely stowed in the back of a cabinet somewhere or brought out to be served to a business associate that Mrs. Owner does not particularly care for.
Don't get me wrong, I LIKE Mr. Owner and I've only met Mrs. Owner a couple of times. Enough to know that I respect and admire her and that she and I are NOT in the same league from a socio-economic point of view and I am a little (ok, a LOT) intimidated by her.
Still, I will go to dinner and hope that I don't do anything stupid. And then I will come home and breathe a huge sigh of relief. And probably have a good, stiff drink.
Hope everyone who celebrates has a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Anniversary
Nov. 1 was my one year anniversary where I work. Technically, I started as "just a temp" and my REAL anniversary is December 27th, but this way I get to celebrate twice, which is pretty awesome!
I still like the job and am still very happy to be working there. I'm still learning things, too. I figure that's a positive because it indicates that I am willing to keep my mind and options open.
One of my co-workers brought me a rose for my anniversary. I love getting flowers and almost never get them, so that was really cool.
This is a busy weekend. I'm not accomplishing everything I had hoped, but the weekend isn't over yet. Speaking of which, I should get back to work!
I still like the job and am still very happy to be working there. I'm still learning things, too. I figure that's a positive because it indicates that I am willing to keep my mind and options open.
One of my co-workers brought me a rose for my anniversary. I love getting flowers and almost never get them, so that was really cool.
This is a busy weekend. I'm not accomplishing everything I had hoped, but the weekend isn't over yet. Speaking of which, I should get back to work!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Hang it up, Telemarketers!
I have to confess that in my younger days, I did work as a telemarketer very briefly. In spite of having a good phone voice, I wasn't very good at getting people to buy things that they didn't want to buy and so my career as a telemarketer was very short-lived. Even though I got paid per time I was able to finish my whole script, I was never pushy if someone said they weren't interested (probably part of the reason why I didn't last long in the job).
Where I work now, the telemarketers are relentless. Sometimes they will call EVERY DAY for a month at time and my boss doesn't want to talk to them so it's my job to screen them out and for the most part that's pretty easy because they either mispronounce his name or use the long form of his name when he uses the diminutive with anyone who knows him. But these folks can be VERY rude and I've had them cuss at me and really, if you want my boss to buy something from you and you cuss at me, it isn't going to happen. I don't care if you have a Platinum Deluxe Ball Buffer Pro that you're selling, if you cuss at me when I try to screen your call, your balls are going to be in the wringer, buddy.
The other thing that happens time and time again is that we get people who call for boss #1, make their pitch, get rejected, hang up and then seconds later, they call for boss # 2 and get rejected, hang up and then they want to talk to Office Manager... and yes, rejection AGAIN. One company has called twice a day each day this week and I try to be polite when they do this but eventually I get very firm with them, even when they don't want to hear it.
I can't believe that telemarketers actually sell enough to make their continued existence worthwhile, but apparently they do or I wouldn't have to put up with them calling the office every day. Some days I feel like answering the phone and saying "if you are selling something, we don't want it, please state your message at the tone and A GOOD DAY TO YOU!"
Where I work now, the telemarketers are relentless. Sometimes they will call EVERY DAY for a month at time and my boss doesn't want to talk to them so it's my job to screen them out and for the most part that's pretty easy because they either mispronounce his name or use the long form of his name when he uses the diminutive with anyone who knows him. But these folks can be VERY rude and I've had them cuss at me and really, if you want my boss to buy something from you and you cuss at me, it isn't going to happen. I don't care if you have a Platinum Deluxe Ball Buffer Pro that you're selling, if you cuss at me when I try to screen your call, your balls are going to be in the wringer, buddy.
The other thing that happens time and time again is that we get people who call for boss #1, make their pitch, get rejected, hang up and then seconds later, they call for boss # 2 and get rejected, hang up and then they want to talk to Office Manager... and yes, rejection AGAIN. One company has called twice a day each day this week and I try to be polite when they do this but eventually I get very firm with them, even when they don't want to hear it.
I can't believe that telemarketers actually sell enough to make their continued existence worthwhile, but apparently they do or I wouldn't have to put up with them calling the office every day. Some days I feel like answering the phone and saying "if you are selling something, we don't want it, please state your message at the tone and A GOOD DAY TO YOU!"
Thursday, October 13, 2011
October already?
I can hardly believe that it is October already and that as of November 1, I will have a whole year in at my present job. I am still learning new things all the time and have got some tasks down really well, still working on completely mastering others. Given that this is an entirely new industry for me and focuses much more on skills that had been a smaller part of previous jobs, I think I'm doing pretty well.
I feel pretty fortunate to even have a job and even more fortunate to have a job I like. Sure, there are some days it gets frustrating but overall, I do enjoy my job. It's much harder for many people that I know to find work that they can even tolerate, let alone like.
Lots of big changes on the homefront lately, too. By and large, it's been pretty positive for me. I am managing to get things done that need to be done. On the down side, finances are tighter and I have a bigger workload now. Speaking of which, I need to get some dishes done.
I feel pretty fortunate to even have a job and even more fortunate to have a job I like. Sure, there are some days it gets frustrating but overall, I do enjoy my job. It's much harder for many people that I know to find work that they can even tolerate, let alone like.
Lots of big changes on the homefront lately, too. By and large, it's been pretty positive for me. I am managing to get things done that need to be done. On the down side, finances are tighter and I have a bigger workload now. Speaking of which, I need to get some dishes done.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Fuzzy Focus
I've had a hard time focusing lately. I feel like I am being pulled in multiple directions and I'm just not sure how to get on track. There is so much going on in my life.... so much going on in my head. I just want (need) things to calm down.
I have a contract to negotiate soon. It's not related to my day job and it's something I do annually but I get really worked up about having to do it every year. I am just hoping that the negotiation goes smoothly, that I'm not going to have to make too many compromises and that I can just get it done and get on with my life.
I am also thinking that between now and the end of the year, I need to get myself a makeover (a new look and a new outlook) and maybe make some decisions about what I want to be when I grow up. I still like my job, but I don't feel invaluable and feel like it is my job to make myself invaluable. I have been taking in some seminars/classes to expand my skills & knowledge but I just feel like there is something else I need to/should be doing with my life.
I am also thinking of writing some bits here that may eventually get put together into a book. But I probably won't get to that until 2012, there are just too many other things going on.
I have a contract to negotiate soon. It's not related to my day job and it's something I do annually but I get really worked up about having to do it every year. I am just hoping that the negotiation goes smoothly, that I'm not going to have to make too many compromises and that I can just get it done and get on with my life.
I am also thinking that between now and the end of the year, I need to get myself a makeover (a new look and a new outlook) and maybe make some decisions about what I want to be when I grow up. I still like my job, but I don't feel invaluable and feel like it is my job to make myself invaluable. I have been taking in some seminars/classes to expand my skills & knowledge but I just feel like there is something else I need to/should be doing with my life.
I am also thinking of writing some bits here that may eventually get put together into a book. But I probably won't get to that until 2012, there are just too many other things going on.
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