With the turn of the new year, a crazy realization set in: I've been working in my field as a professional for fifteen years. Whoa! I feel old. Or should I say experienced?
People usually assume that my profession is staid and boring. It's not, and can be full of surprisingly bizarre situations.
For example, no one in grad school told me that I would have to write an email to a vendor as
such:
"We received a box of [products you sent us] in very damaged condition; the post
office had taped it back together and some [products] inside were damaged. We
also believe that some are missing but unfortunately can't tell because
the packing slip is gone too.
Strangely enough, there were cans of
blood sausage, black licorice, and Hello Kitty pencils in the box! That is totally bizarre and I don't imagine
that you sent us them; our guess is that someone else's
box fell apart and they didn't know where to put the food items so they
included them in the wrapped-up box of our items. So, I am
sending you the mailing label on the box. Could you please provide us
the packing slip for this box so we can tell you what was missing?"
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Friday, October 14, 2016
Moo insists on a sick day
I got sick this week, following a trip, and talked to my boss to get caught up on what I missed at work. During the phone call, Moo tried to hang up on him and then he also mooed right into the phone speaker. I guess Moo was upset that I was working a bit while I was sick?
Thursday, June 9, 2016
My week: May 29 ed.
Our work project was supposed to wrap up this week and we were working like crazy. We put everything into order that we could, ran through our lists, and stayed late. I didn't schedule anything other than my regular tandem meeting with my friend. The night that the changes were supposed to happen, I received a text from coworker who said that the software changes we made had generated too many failures. That was a feeling of dread for all of us; we weren't sure where the errors had occurred and then we wondered if the project was going to be in serious trouble. Later in the week, we held a meeting and found out that we could redo some of the steps and change some settings to counteract the failures. Phew!
During the weekend, I drove some friends to a campout offered by a world-wide group in which I had participated in the US. It's a quirky bunch of people who tend to be friendly and open. My friends were new to this group but really enjoyed the vibe as we met people from all over (but mostly Dutch and German ;)
I get such a kick out of Dutch people. I like listening to Dutch; I think of it as a happy-go-lucky-sounding cousin of German. I put my German to use a bit too; when the Dutch people couldn't think of a word in English, I said the German version and we were all on track.
When I arrived home on Sunday, I was in for an unpleasant surprise: what had been a general rainstorm where I was had turned into crazy weather in Kaiserslautern. Apparently several roads through town morphed into rivers as the rain deluged. My own basement must have flooded; there was dirt from the backyard everywhere. Oh, joy! Just what I wanted to clean up, even as my camping stuff was all wet. I laid the equipment out in my apartment and decided to tackle the basement the next day. Despite that, I was glowing with happiness from the weekend.
During the weekend, I drove some friends to a campout offered by a world-wide group in which I had participated in the US. It's a quirky bunch of people who tend to be friendly and open. My friends were new to this group but really enjoyed the vibe as we met people from all over (but mostly Dutch and German ;)
I get such a kick out of Dutch people. I like listening to Dutch; I think of it as a happy-go-lucky-sounding cousin of German. I put my German to use a bit too; when the Dutch people couldn't think of a word in English, I said the German version and we were all on track.
When I arrived home on Sunday, I was in for an unpleasant surprise: what had been a general rainstorm where I was had turned into crazy weather in Kaiserslautern. Apparently several roads through town morphed into rivers as the rain deluged. My own basement must have flooded; there was dirt from the backyard everywhere. Oh, joy! Just what I wanted to clean up, even as my camping stuff was all wet. I laid the equipment out in my apartment and decided to tackle the basement the next day. Despite that, I was glowing with happiness from the weekend.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
The bothering gnome
Some of my family members keep track of my adventures and wonder if I ever work. Indeed, I work full-time, yet it doesn't feel like a chore. I'm also lucky that I thoroughly enjoy my job, my coworkers, and our customers.
We mainly support our internal customers; that is, our colleagues who provide service to our target population. This is very enjoyable; our colleagues are fun, smart, and service-oriented. Some of them call us quite a bit, mostly because they're very engaged in our processes.
S calls us often; he's always on the ball with our initiatives. He's a good egg and I always enjoy our conversations. One time I mentioned how I talk to our customers when they do something that doesn't fit in with our organization's rules. I always talk about the situation in the passive voice. While it's not exactly good style, it helps diffuse a situation with customers and it avoids the accusatory "YOU did X wrong" since that is not a positive experience for anyone. I pretend that it's little invisible gnomes who did the misdeed and concentrate on solving the situation. Obviously I don't tell the customer that as it would probably sound a bit insane.
S thought this was funny and somehow he decided he's a bothering gnome. Since he's German it seems to work. Now, every time he calls, he chuckles and says that the bothering gnome is on the phone. This stemmed from his call where he had a lot of questions. He had promised me that he'd only ask 3 questions. Those questions multiplied so I teased him and said he was only entitled to 3 questions. He's a quick one so he asked, "per day or per phone call? What about if I have my staff members call? Do they get 3 more questions?" From that time, he identifies himself as the bothering gnome when calls. I'm happy to answer the gnome phone.
We mainly support our internal customers; that is, our colleagues who provide service to our target population. This is very enjoyable; our colleagues are fun, smart, and service-oriented. Some of them call us quite a bit, mostly because they're very engaged in our processes.
S calls us often; he's always on the ball with our initiatives. He's a good egg and I always enjoy our conversations. One time I mentioned how I talk to our customers when they do something that doesn't fit in with our organization's rules. I always talk about the situation in the passive voice. While it's not exactly good style, it helps diffuse a situation with customers and it avoids the accusatory "YOU did X wrong" since that is not a positive experience for anyone. I pretend that it's little invisible gnomes who did the misdeed and concentrate on solving the situation. Obviously I don't tell the customer that as it would probably sound a bit insane.
S thought this was funny and somehow he decided he's a bothering gnome. Since he's German it seems to work. Now, every time he calls, he chuckles and says that the bothering gnome is on the phone. This stemmed from his call where he had a lot of questions. He had promised me that he'd only ask 3 questions. Those questions multiplied so I teased him and said he was only entitled to 3 questions. He's a quick one so he asked, "per day or per phone call? What about if I have my staff members call? Do they get 3 more questions?" From that time, he identifies himself as the bothering gnome when calls. I'm happy to answer the gnome phone.
Friday, January 1, 2016
My 2015, a year in review
As the new year has come, it's not uncommon to see people reflecting on the past year, whether it's on Facebook, in blog posts, or, heaven forbid, actually in person. I guess I'll jump on that bandwagon. I have a particular interest in this practice; as of tomorrow, it will have been three years (!) since I've moved to Germany and up-heaved my life (albeit in a way that I feel has been very positive).
Let's take a look back at the blog. Many of my 2015 blog entries were reviews of my week versus in-depth entries on living here. I also created fewer entries than I have in the past year, not that it really matters; after all, this is blog is not a work of "great social and political import"(to co-opt a Janis Joplin quote).
It's been a bit of a funky year, overall. I started 2015 strong, planning a lot of events with my social groups, taking German lessons, and hiking. Then I got sick with a nasty sinus infection in February and it put me in a tailspin. I missed a week of work and was so sick that I could barely leave bed to get a drink of water. It took about six weeks to recover from that and I basically was a hermit for a while afterward because I had no energy to do anything other than work and go to class. I was rather miserable in class, for that matter!
I was sick of getting so sick and visited the doctor to get my allergy situation under control. He ordered further allergy testing and I found out that I'm slightly allergic to wheat. Finally I had an explanation for those weird, seemingly random sinus headaches/congestion. I also started actually following the regime of using some of the other allergy control methods he had suggested. It was awesome: I had no further big illnesses in 2015! Usually I get about 4-5 sinus infections a year so I was thrilled. I definitely struggled a bit during ragweed season but I kept from getting sick so it was awesome.
In April, I started getting back into the social circle again and threw myself a birthday party, complete with homemade pinata and a super exciting birthday cake made by my lovely coworker. We all acted like a bunch of weirdos, laughed, and enjoyed ourselves. That's my favorite type of party!
It's a good thing I got some socializing in because between May and June, my friends and I had such busy schedules that we didn't get to see one another often. I had four German lessons a week (back to back two evenings a week) and a meeting with my tandem partner. I also was gone every weekend.
By the time I was down to two classes a week, it was July and the summer was ridiculously hot. We had several weeks that were in the high 90s-100 degrees and it was miserable. I mostly sat around, directly under a fan. I didn't want to do anything, including blogging. July and August were mostly miserably hot and without air conditioning, I felt like a slug.
I also felt consumed by work projects. I was charged with creating our in-person training for staff. I've never had to deal with government bureaucracy like this before; to host two, week-long training sessions it took six months, a legal review, a signed letter of permission from a Very Important Person, conversations with several levels of managers and financial experts from almost all of our locations, coordination with religious personnel (even though my organization has nothing to do with religion; this is how overarching this whole thing is!) and facility managers, international labor coordination, and so on. I swear, I think it's easier to sign a treaty with another country than it is to bring in staff for training, and what we do isn't even something that is sensitive!
By no means am I complaining; even though at some point I think I was grinding my teeth from the frustration of bureaucracy, I did enjoy the challenge. I learned a TON and met (via phone call) the leadership of our colleagues at other locations. Our staff reacted positively to the training and I was thrilled to hear that they felt that they were "very well taken care of" because of the thought I put into the arrangements. Another cool thing is that one of the budget people I had worked with on attendee vouchers became a customer of my organization and has really been happy with our services. Plus, I was able to get presenters from another organization with whom we had really been wanting to partner. Overall, it was totally worth it!
This wasn't the only big work project. We are also merging our database with the rest of the organization's, and will be then upgrading the software. This is a major project and while I'm not the lead on it, I'm helping in various areas and will be tasked with writing the documentation and creating the training when everything is ready to go live. In November, my colleague and I were sent to the US to work with our colleagues there on the project. I was thrilled; I so rarely travel for work (even though our "customers" are all remote) and it was great to see our colleagues in person. Plus, my good friend C, who used to work in our office and was my main travel partner, was now in the US office.
Even better yet was I got to see my other good friend C and former colleague J, who had also moved there. What the heck is it with people moving to Texas? In addition, I met yet another person named C, a new friend of original friend C and J. We hung out after work, almost fell in the San Antonio river, and caught up.
In addition to a lot of productive work related to the project and catching up with former colleagues and friends from Germany, I also took the opportunity of the trip's travel plan to stage a layover in Chicago and take a week of vacation that routed me back to Michigan. It's the first time in almost 3 years that I spent a holiday at home and saw my nieces and nephew. I had a jam-packed week; I spent two days in the town where I used to work, three days in my hometown, and two days in the metro Detroit area before returning to Chicago to fly back to Germany. Man, that was an awesome experience and I was stuck by the kindness and affection that my family, friends, and former coworkers showed me.
In looking back over this year, I'd say that I mostly focused on work and learning German. Until my huge trip home, I had only taken two vacation days - but those were definitely awesome since they were used to spend time with my brother and sister-in-law when they stopped by for a few days. However, I don't regret any of this; I pulled off two successful staff training sessions and learned a ton. The vacation time I did take was with people who are important to me and we spent quality time together. As far as speaking German goes, I can now have somewhat deep conversations and keep up for an extended period of time. This year didn't go as I had envisioned it since I didn't travel much outside the big trip, yet I'm content with how it played out.
Let's take a look back at the blog. Many of my 2015 blog entries were reviews of my week versus in-depth entries on living here. I also created fewer entries than I have in the past year, not that it really matters; after all, this is blog is not a work of "great social and political import"(to co-opt a Janis Joplin quote).
It's been a bit of a funky year, overall. I started 2015 strong, planning a lot of events with my social groups, taking German lessons, and hiking. Then I got sick with a nasty sinus infection in February and it put me in a tailspin. I missed a week of work and was so sick that I could barely leave bed to get a drink of water. It took about six weeks to recover from that and I basically was a hermit for a while afterward because I had no energy to do anything other than work and go to class. I was rather miserable in class, for that matter!
I was sick of getting so sick and visited the doctor to get my allergy situation under control. He ordered further allergy testing and I found out that I'm slightly allergic to wheat. Finally I had an explanation for those weird, seemingly random sinus headaches/congestion. I also started actually following the regime of using some of the other allergy control methods he had suggested. It was awesome: I had no further big illnesses in 2015! Usually I get about 4-5 sinus infections a year so I was thrilled. I definitely struggled a bit during ragweed season but I kept from getting sick so it was awesome.
In April, I started getting back into the social circle again and threw myself a birthday party, complete with homemade pinata and a super exciting birthday cake made by my lovely coworker. We all acted like a bunch of weirdos, laughed, and enjoyed ourselves. That's my favorite type of party!
It's a good thing I got some socializing in because between May and June, my friends and I had such busy schedules that we didn't get to see one another often. I had four German lessons a week (back to back two evenings a week) and a meeting with my tandem partner. I also was gone every weekend.
By the time I was down to two classes a week, it was July and the summer was ridiculously hot. We had several weeks that were in the high 90s-100 degrees and it was miserable. I mostly sat around, directly under a fan. I didn't want to do anything, including blogging. July and August were mostly miserably hot and without air conditioning, I felt like a slug.
I also felt consumed by work projects. I was charged with creating our in-person training for staff. I've never had to deal with government bureaucracy like this before; to host two, week-long training sessions it took six months, a legal review, a signed letter of permission from a Very Important Person, conversations with several levels of managers and financial experts from almost all of our locations, coordination with religious personnel (even though my organization has nothing to do with religion; this is how overarching this whole thing is!) and facility managers, international labor coordination, and so on. I swear, I think it's easier to sign a treaty with another country than it is to bring in staff for training, and what we do isn't even something that is sensitive!
By no means am I complaining; even though at some point I think I was grinding my teeth from the frustration of bureaucracy, I did enjoy the challenge. I learned a TON and met (via phone call) the leadership of our colleagues at other locations. Our staff reacted positively to the training and I was thrilled to hear that they felt that they were "very well taken care of" because of the thought I put into the arrangements. Another cool thing is that one of the budget people I had worked with on attendee vouchers became a customer of my organization and has really been happy with our services. Plus, I was able to get presenters from another organization with whom we had really been wanting to partner. Overall, it was totally worth it!
This wasn't the only big work project. We are also merging our database with the rest of the organization's, and will be then upgrading the software. This is a major project and while I'm not the lead on it, I'm helping in various areas and will be tasked with writing the documentation and creating the training when everything is ready to go live. In November, my colleague and I were sent to the US to work with our colleagues there on the project. I was thrilled; I so rarely travel for work (even though our "customers" are all remote) and it was great to see our colleagues in person. Plus, my good friend C, who used to work in our office and was my main travel partner, was now in the US office.
Even better yet was I got to see my other good friend C and former colleague J, who had also moved there. What the heck is it with people moving to Texas? In addition, I met yet another person named C, a new friend of original friend C and J. We hung out after work, almost fell in the San Antonio river, and caught up.
In addition to a lot of productive work related to the project and catching up with former colleagues and friends from Germany, I also took the opportunity of the trip's travel plan to stage a layover in Chicago and take a week of vacation that routed me back to Michigan. It's the first time in almost 3 years that I spent a holiday at home and saw my nieces and nephew. I had a jam-packed week; I spent two days in the town where I used to work, three days in my hometown, and two days in the metro Detroit area before returning to Chicago to fly back to Germany. Man, that was an awesome experience and I was stuck by the kindness and affection that my family, friends, and former coworkers showed me.
In looking back over this year, I'd say that I mostly focused on work and learning German. Until my huge trip home, I had only taken two vacation days - but those were definitely awesome since they were used to spend time with my brother and sister-in-law when they stopped by for a few days. However, I don't regret any of this; I pulled off two successful staff training sessions and learned a ton. The vacation time I did take was with people who are important to me and we spent quality time together. As far as speaking German goes, I can now have somewhat deep conversations and keep up for an extended period of time. This year didn't go as I had envisioned it since I didn't travel much outside the big trip, yet I'm content with how it played out.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
My week: August 9 ed.
Whew! That was one heck of a week. I was responsible for a training event at work for our staff members from all over. I coordinated more than 12 different speakers for the event, found us a free place to have it, made the arrangements for everyone's travel documents and lodging, and basically took care of everything. The hardest thing about this wasn't any of that, though: it was the bureaucracy of just getting the event approved. I have been working on this for six months; no joke! It was astounding how many layers of requirements that must be met to pull this off. We even had the person in charge of our entire program worldwide come in for the training. Everyone was really happy with it; I am both relieved, pleased, and exhausted.
-I took our visiting colleague to Heidelberg this weekend and saw the castle ruins for the fifth time. It was too dang hot and I was still tired from the training so I tried not to droop too much. It's easy for me to take people to Heidelberg because I know the city well and it's atmospheric. I have to giggle, though; people who visit from the US talk about it reverently and get so excited about visiting it. For me, it's just where C lived and I like visiting it in an everyday type of way.
After our jaunt in Heidelberg, we met up with my friends C+K (a different C from the Heidelberg one) in Neustadt on the way home for dinner together. My colleague really enjoyed meeting them and commented on just how lovely they are. It's true; they're so sweet!
-On Sunday, I met up with C+K in Dahn for a hike along southern Germany, about 20 miles from the French border. It's a beautiful part of the Wasgau area with trails through the forest with random large sandstone formations jutting up. Along the way, we stopped at Burgruine Altdahn, the castle ruins. We climbed up the crumbling former castle as lizards scampered ahead of us.
The day was rather humid and as we completed the last third of the hike, things started to heat up. I usually don't have a problem keeping up but I was lagging that day with the heat and lots of ascents. Seeing the parking lot at the end was a relief!
We followed up the hike with Flammkuchen at Brauhaus Ehrstein in Hinterweidenthal and had a view of the Teufelstisch, which is a rock formation named for a "devil's table." I look forward to that hike in the future.
-I took our visiting colleague to Heidelberg this weekend and saw the castle ruins for the fifth time. It was too dang hot and I was still tired from the training so I tried not to droop too much. It's easy for me to take people to Heidelberg because I know the city well and it's atmospheric. I have to giggle, though; people who visit from the US talk about it reverently and get so excited about visiting it. For me, it's just where C lived and I like visiting it in an everyday type of way.
After our jaunt in Heidelberg, we met up with my friends C+K (a different C from the Heidelberg one) in Neustadt on the way home for dinner together. My colleague really enjoyed meeting them and commented on just how lovely they are. It's true; they're so sweet!
-On Sunday, I met up with C+K in Dahn for a hike along southern Germany, about 20 miles from the French border. It's a beautiful part of the Wasgau area with trails through the forest with random large sandstone formations jutting up. Along the way, we stopped at Burgruine Altdahn, the castle ruins. We climbed up the crumbling former castle as lizards scampered ahead of us.
The day was rather humid and as we completed the last third of the hike, things started to heat up. I usually don't have a problem keeping up but I was lagging that day with the heat and lots of ascents. Seeing the parking lot at the end was a relief!
We followed up the hike with Flammkuchen at Brauhaus Ehrstein in Hinterweidenthal and had a view of the Teufelstisch, which is a rock formation named for a "devil's table." I look forward to that hike in the future.
Friday, June 5, 2015
The Java alarm, dinner for four, and more
It's not the day for my weekly update yet, but I will admit early: this week has me running out of steam. Then again, I've been running around like crazy and getting maybe 6 hours of sleep a night when I'm more of a 9 hours type person so it's not such a big surprise, I guess.
Some of our technology isn't functioning as it should at work so my coworkers and I have been trying to wrangle everything. We have a really good rapport and work well together so it's a great thing to be part of that team. I hope not to sound too much like one of those stock photo teamwork posters.
We had an utterly hilarious moment during a slew of frustration: my coworker (IT guy) was installing Java on my computer because I need it for some training I'm managing. We were talking about how I thought Java was blocked. Just as I said that, an alarm went off. Our other coworker (legitimately) asked if it was an alarm because of installing Java. Deadpan, coworker 1 said yes, it was. Coworker 2 believed him for a beat. We burst out laughing. I said that the guys use the coffee machine in their office as the Java alarm.
Since I'm worn out and don't have much oomph after spending 15 hours a day away/doing things and all I want to do is to laze around, I thought it would be a great idea for this weekend to...
...invite three friends over for a dinner of Lebanese food, made from scratch, then host one of the friends since she lives in a different town and we'll make plans for the next day too.
I'm not Lebanese.
I am seriously deficient at being domestic so I can't make up from myself not being Lebanese in the sense of preparing authentic Lebanese food.
I really didn't want to go to the store to pick up things but I've gone twice so far.
My house is in quite a state and needs a good cleaning and tidying.
It makes perfect sense to do this, right? Well, I have hardly seen some of my friends lately from being so busy so I think it'll be worth it. I did show a small amount of intelligence and didn't attempt to make homemade falafel because I haven't been successful with that before. I picked up a bag of frozen patties from Vitamingarten. Some good company should perk me up a bit.
Some of our technology isn't functioning as it should at work so my coworkers and I have been trying to wrangle everything. We have a really good rapport and work well together so it's a great thing to be part of that team. I hope not to sound too much like one of those stock photo teamwork posters.
We had an utterly hilarious moment during a slew of frustration: my coworker (IT guy) was installing Java on my computer because I need it for some training I'm managing. We were talking about how I thought Java was blocked. Just as I said that, an alarm went off. Our other coworker (legitimately) asked if it was an alarm because of installing Java. Deadpan, coworker 1 said yes, it was. Coworker 2 believed him for a beat. We burst out laughing. I said that the guys use the coffee machine in their office as the Java alarm.
Since I'm worn out and don't have much oomph after spending 15 hours a day away/doing things and all I want to do is to laze around, I thought it would be a great idea for this weekend to...
...invite three friends over for a dinner of Lebanese food, made from scratch, then host one of the friends since she lives in a different town and we'll make plans for the next day too.
I'm not Lebanese.
I am seriously deficient at being domestic so I can't make up from myself not being Lebanese in the sense of preparing authentic Lebanese food.
I really didn't want to go to the store to pick up things but I've gone twice so far.
My house is in quite a state and needs a good cleaning and tidying.
It makes perfect sense to do this, right? Well, I have hardly seen some of my friends lately from being so busy so I think it'll be worth it. I did show a small amount of intelligence and didn't attempt to make homemade falafel because I haven't been successful with that before. I picked up a bag of frozen patties from Vitamingarten. Some good company should perk me up a bit.
Saturday, April 18, 2015
The Most Exciting Cake Ever: Or, Why My Coworkers Are the Best
It's my birthday soon and I wanted to have a few (well, maybe 15-20 or so) friends over for a party. The last few years I've had lower-key birthdays but this year I wanted something a little bigger, especially since I know more people now and it's always fun to party!
My coworkers are awesome. S asked me if I'd like a cake and offered to make carrot cake. That sounded awesome so I took her up on it, finding out that she made a Bundt cake. Of course that prompted us to watch the scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the main character's non-Greek future in-laws bring a Bundt cake to her Greek family, with hilarious results. We were in hysterics.
S decorated the cake in the style of the movie's cake but made it even ever so much better. I just about died of delight when I saw it. It's the most exciting cake I've ever seen! I love all the little chocolate bugs around it with the unsettling, anthropomorphic faces. The bunch of lollipops with happy birthday candles shooting out is very lively. She even wrote multiple letter As around the cake. There's so much going on with this over-the-top cake that it is beyond fantastic.
Best. Cake. Ever. Thanks, S! It is such a treat to work with such awesome, thoughtful (and funny!) coworkers.
My coworkers are awesome. S asked me if I'd like a cake and offered to make carrot cake. That sounded awesome so I took her up on it, finding out that she made a Bundt cake. Of course that prompted us to watch the scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding where the main character's non-Greek future in-laws bring a Bundt cake to her Greek family, with hilarious results. We were in hysterics.
S decorated the cake in the style of the movie's cake but made it even ever so much better. I just about died of delight when I saw it. It's the most exciting cake I've ever seen! I love all the little chocolate bugs around it with the unsettling, anthropomorphic faces. The bunch of lollipops with happy birthday candles shooting out is very lively. She even wrote multiple letter As around the cake. There's so much going on with this over-the-top cake that it is beyond fantastic.
Best. Cake. Ever. Thanks, S! It is such a treat to work with such awesome, thoughtful (and funny!) coworkers.
 |
| Is this not exciting? |
 |
| Don't squash me! I have a human face! says the chocolate bug. |
Monday, August 19, 2013
ATW is around home again, only to bike away
I spent last week in Berlin for a field study class. It was absolutely wonderful! I'll have some entries to post from it, for sure. However, it may take a bit of time because I came home from that trip with a couple class assignments, one day off, and my new university class has already started and I'll probably be taking another local German class starting soon (in addition to the current, more basic one I'm already taking). In other words, it's a bit busy around here juggling all of this with work and travel, but it'll all get sorted out eventually.
On Sunday, since my internet was dead at home (thanks to a naughty Moo), a friend accompanied me on a trial bike ride to work. I would really enjoy the fitness and environmental benefits of ditching my car. I don't live super close to work but I also don't live super far, either. Ever since the 20 mile ride I biked a couple weeks ago, I feel emboldened and feel it's possible to bike to work. It's a wonderful feeling!
My friend D. went with me. He's very physically active and bikes to work himself. However, he has a much shorter ride than I would have, and I reminded him constantly about that. He reminded me constantly that he also goes to the gym for an hour a day in addition to the biking. Touché.
I really appreciated his company; he's really upbeat and a bit goofy. However, we were tackling some nasty hills, I was huffing and puffing like I'd blow someone's house down, and I didn't like the drill Sargent and Rocky motivation he was trying to give so I told him I'd punch him if he didn't cut it out. He told me if I caught up I could punch him. I almost fell off the bike laughing (when I could gasp enough air). Plus, I don't really know how to punch anyway.
I was very pleased that besides a stiff neck that was probably unrelated, I wasn't feeling pain today. In fact, I felt quite good! Either way, biking to work is very possible and I'm considering it once I make some adjustments on my bike, get some more safety gear, and find some clothes that work better.
On Sunday, since my internet was dead at home (thanks to a naughty Moo), a friend accompanied me on a trial bike ride to work. I would really enjoy the fitness and environmental benefits of ditching my car. I don't live super close to work but I also don't live super far, either. Ever since the 20 mile ride I biked a couple weeks ago, I feel emboldened and feel it's possible to bike to work. It's a wonderful feeling!
My friend D. went with me. He's very physically active and bikes to work himself. However, he has a much shorter ride than I would have, and I reminded him constantly about that. He reminded me constantly that he also goes to the gym for an hour a day in addition to the biking. Touché.
I really appreciated his company; he's really upbeat and a bit goofy. However, we were tackling some nasty hills, I was huffing and puffing like I'd blow someone's house down, and I didn't like the drill Sargent and Rocky motivation he was trying to give so I told him I'd punch him if he didn't cut it out. He told me if I caught up I could punch him. I almost fell off the bike laughing (when I could gasp enough air). Plus, I don't really know how to punch anyway.
I was very pleased that besides a stiff neck that was probably unrelated, I wasn't feeling pain today. In fact, I felt quite good! Either way, biking to work is very possible and I'm considering it once I make some adjustments on my bike, get some more safety gear, and find some clothes that work better.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
In my head, none of this makes sense
I had a horrible headache last week; seriously, by
the time it was over, I was physically exhausted and felt as if I'd
been through the wringer. During the headache from Hades, a German worker came in and was looking for
the other department. He asked us something and I was incredibly
confused. It kind of was English, then kind of...wasn't. My head hurt so
much that I thought I wasn't hearing correctly until I asked my
coworker about it later and she told me that it was a mix of German and English. Phew! I
thought I was losing it.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
What I have learned about getting things done on base
When one becomes involved with a military base, whether to work there, live there, or whatever, there are many official "chores," so to speak, that must be completed. These chores include getting one's ID card, receiving a background check if working there, etc.
What I have learned in the last month from completing these chores is this:
-it is generally not straightforward nor excessively easy to get many of them done;
-it is not uncommon to have a difficult time finding the correct office to visit, either because it's been moved, closed, or consolidated in one fashion or another;
-offices might be closed for US or local holidays;
-staff might not know the correct office to visit so you'll have to talk to multiple people/departments;
-you might be told different things by different staff and those things may be in conflict and have to explore all options to find out what is the correct way of accomplishing your chore.
Here are some hints for dealing with these problems:
-always call the office you want to visit before you go there to make sure that they're open/available to help you when you plan to be there and take note of their closures for lunch breaks;
-make sure that you are prepared and have all necessary documentation for what you are trying to accomplish; check both online and ask people working there when you call to check the hours (and if the two sources conflict, err on the side of caution and bring everything that both sources recommend);
-write down the dates, times, and names of the employee you talk with regarding your situation;
-don't be shy about POLITELY explaining to a staff member what you've heard from a conflicting source and quote it if it's official to work through the problem;
-approach the chores with a hopeful attitude that things will go smoothly but with the realistic thought that they probably won't and have a back-up plan;
-don't abuse the staff working at the offices; there is a good chance that they are just as frustrated as you are but their hands are often tied because of staff cuts or administrative requirements -- being nice to them might just help you get some extra help or consideration; and
-bring something to amuse yourself while you wait...and wait...and wait in the office for your appointment; also bring your cell phone in case you need to call someone to confirm information during the meeting (i.e., calling your sponsor to ask what your official department is, etc.).
Here is an example of trying to do one simple thing that turned into a major chore: I was trying to find out where to pick up my ration card, which I am entitled to as a civilian employee. I looked online and noted that the office was at a particular building. However, upon talking to people within my own department, I learned that it probably had moved. I called someone in another department. He gave me information about what I had to do to get the ration card, but he also didn't know the new location of the department (which is very odd because he deals a lot with that department). He asked me to update him when I found out where it is (which I did, after this ordeal). We finally heard through word of mouth the possible location of it. When we showed up to the base and building where it was supposed to be, it wasn't there. We asked one office and they had no clue. We stopped by another office and they said that it was in the first location, where we had unsuccessfully already visited. After some conversation with staff in that office, we realized that we all knew a mutual acquaintance who had just received his ration card, so the staff there was kind enough to call him for us and ask the correct building number. The ironic thing is that this person works in the same building that we do, but we hadn't run into him to ask him ahead of time. He gave us the correct building number and once we arrived I had my ration card within a few minutes. The ridiculous thing was that we spent probably about 45 minutes trying to figure out where to go.
What I have learned in the last month from completing these chores is this:
-it is generally not straightforward nor excessively easy to get many of them done;
-it is not uncommon to have a difficult time finding the correct office to visit, either because it's been moved, closed, or consolidated in one fashion or another;
-offices might be closed for US or local holidays;
-staff might not know the correct office to visit so you'll have to talk to multiple people/departments;
-you might be told different things by different staff and those things may be in conflict and have to explore all options to find out what is the correct way of accomplishing your chore.
Here are some hints for dealing with these problems:
-always call the office you want to visit before you go there to make sure that they're open/available to help you when you plan to be there and take note of their closures for lunch breaks;
-make sure that you are prepared and have all necessary documentation for what you are trying to accomplish; check both online and ask people working there when you call to check the hours (and if the two sources conflict, err on the side of caution and bring everything that both sources recommend);
-write down the dates, times, and names of the employee you talk with regarding your situation;
-don't be shy about POLITELY explaining to a staff member what you've heard from a conflicting source and quote it if it's official to work through the problem;
-approach the chores with a hopeful attitude that things will go smoothly but with the realistic thought that they probably won't and have a back-up plan;
-don't abuse the staff working at the offices; there is a good chance that they are just as frustrated as you are but their hands are often tied because of staff cuts or administrative requirements -- being nice to them might just help you get some extra help or consideration; and
-bring something to amuse yourself while you wait...and wait...and wait in the office for your appointment; also bring your cell phone in case you need to call someone to confirm information during the meeting (i.e., calling your sponsor to ask what your official department is, etc.).
Here is an example of trying to do one simple thing that turned into a major chore: I was trying to find out where to pick up my ration card, which I am entitled to as a civilian employee. I looked online and noted that the office was at a particular building. However, upon talking to people within my own department, I learned that it probably had moved. I called someone in another department. He gave me information about what I had to do to get the ration card, but he also didn't know the new location of the department (which is very odd because he deals a lot with that department). He asked me to update him when I found out where it is (which I did, after this ordeal). We finally heard through word of mouth the possible location of it. When we showed up to the base and building where it was supposed to be, it wasn't there. We asked one office and they had no clue. We stopped by another office and they said that it was in the first location, where we had unsuccessfully already visited. After some conversation with staff in that office, we realized that we all knew a mutual acquaintance who had just received his ration card, so the staff there was kind enough to call him for us and ask the correct building number. The ironic thing is that this person works in the same building that we do, but we hadn't run into him to ask him ahead of time. He gave us the correct building number and once we arrived I had my ration card within a few minutes. The ridiculous thing was that we spent probably about 45 minutes trying to figure out where to go.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Working for the military vs. working for other employers
With my new job, I am finding a totally different experience from working for educational or local government employers. Some ways that working for the military is different from my previous job:
-I have to not only watch out for cars when I go walking around my office, but for tanks also.
-There are budget cutbacks, so many of the sidewalks and parking lots had not been cleared of snow which has devolved into ice. It's almost safer to walk in the road and just dodge tanks than it is to walk on the sidewalks.
-I can buy groceries (American products at American prices with American dollars), get my hair cut, workout, open a bank account, and even eat some German food (if I wanted to) all within a short (ish) walk from my office, which is, from what I understand, considered American soil (on top of the German, or at least, that's my own belief ;)
-I have a background investigation being done on me just so I can use the computers at work.
-Armed guards greet me (and my ID) with a smile every morning.
-We receive handy magazines at work that detail how to fix our tanks and HUMVEEs (though our office doesn't have any of those)/
-Recycling is no joke; there is not much that we throw away vs. recycle (this is more a function of working in Germany than it is working for the military).
-There are many acronyms here; half the time, I don't know if I want to be a SME or something else. I petitioned to be called a SQUEEGEE but I think we need to move it up the COC for that one.
-When I send work emails, the subject lines automatically get the annotation "Unclassified" added to the subject lines.
-Bad Things Will Happen to Me if I try to plug in an MP3 player or flash drive in my computer at work. It is verboten.
-The scenery on base is fantastic, and I ain't talkin' about the woods here, folks.
-I have to not only watch out for cars when I go walking around my office, but for tanks also.
-There are budget cutbacks, so many of the sidewalks and parking lots had not been cleared of snow which has devolved into ice. It's almost safer to walk in the road and just dodge tanks than it is to walk on the sidewalks.
-I can buy groceries (American products at American prices with American dollars), get my hair cut, workout, open a bank account, and even eat some German food (if I wanted to) all within a short (ish) walk from my office, which is, from what I understand, considered American soil (on top of the German, or at least, that's my own belief ;)
-I have a background investigation being done on me just so I can use the computers at work.
-Armed guards greet me (and my ID) with a smile every morning.
-We receive handy magazines at work that detail how to fix our tanks and HUMVEEs (though our office doesn't have any of those)/
-Recycling is no joke; there is not much that we throw away vs. recycle (this is more a function of working in Germany than it is working for the military).
-There are many acronyms here; half the time, I don't know if I want to be a SME or something else. I petitioned to be called a SQUEEGEE but I think we need to move it up the COC for that one.
-When I send work emails, the subject lines automatically get the annotation "Unclassified" added to the subject lines.
-Bad Things Will Happen to Me if I try to plug in an MP3 player or flash drive in my computer at work. It is verboten.
-The scenery on base is fantastic, and I ain't talkin' about the woods here, folks.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
In Which the Author Does Not Have an ID and Therefore Cannot Do Anything
For people who are stationed at or are an employee of, the bases here, the ID card (or as it is called, the Common Access Card or CAC card) is very important. It's mandatory for so many things, from entering the base, to shopping at most of the stores on base, to even using one's work computer. It's very difficult, if not impossible, to do anything without the ID.
Guess who doesn't have her ID yet? Yep, that would be me. I arrived Thursday and as far as I know, I'm not even in the system yet so I can't even make an appointment to get the ID. In fact, I cannot even seem to get an answer if I'm in the system or not; I called the office three times today to ask if I'm in it and I was asked to call back later each time to find out.
My coworkers must sign me in each time we go to a base, which has been a lot lately. I can't sign up for the work email for my institution. That email is required to access many of the mandatory training modules I must complete. I can't do any work, period, on my computer. I can't buy items at the commissary on my own, but at least I am very lucky and have kind coworkers who take me over to buy things.
It can take a week to 10 days to get the card. I'm not sure why, but my guess would be it's because there are so many people in-processing through here (there are about 50,000 of us in the area) and many of the offices here seem short-staffed. I will be very thankful when I have the ID, that's for sure!
Guess who doesn't have her ID yet? Yep, that would be me. I arrived Thursday and as far as I know, I'm not even in the system yet so I can't even make an appointment to get the ID. In fact, I cannot even seem to get an answer if I'm in the system or not; I called the office three times today to ask if I'm in it and I was asked to call back later each time to find out.
My coworkers must sign me in each time we go to a base, which has been a lot lately. I can't sign up for the work email for my institution. That email is required to access many of the mandatory training modules I must complete. I can't do any work, period, on my computer. I can't buy items at the commissary on my own, but at least I am very lucky and have kind coworkers who take me over to buy things.
It can take a week to 10 days to get the card. I'm not sure why, but my guess would be it's because there are so many people in-processing through here (there are about 50,000 of us in the area) and many of the offices here seem short-staffed. I will be very thankful when I have the ID, that's for sure!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Adventure Level Rating: Moderate
When I announced that I was moving to Germany, many folks commented on how adventurous they felt that the feat would be. Sure, there's always adventure in moving somewhere new, even if it's to a new town in one's own country, and a bit more so when moving abroad.
However, I feel as if I need to give this disclaimer on my move to Kaiserslautern area: please know that on the adventure scale, it's totally cheating to be here :) I don't personally have to go through any of the German red tape for residency status since my job is taking care of that; I have great coworkers who are taking me to work and official appointments (and they even made the appointments for me!); I have a database of approved rentals to consult; I can shop at the Commissary and buy American products at American prices (basically) if I want; and I have spoken very little German since I've gotten here (but will continue to work on that one).
Heck, looking at the broader picture, I can say that I'm even spoiled because it is a very Western culture here with very few major culture shocks. Some people might say, hey, having to be a good citizen and sorting my trash correctly IS a culture shock, but be realistic. Things are not hugely different here; we share the same alphabet (basically) and some of the same cultural norms. It's not as if I moved to an Asian country, for example, where there would be a different alphabet and I'd be the tallest person for miles (unless there were other foreigners around).
Having said that, though, I do have to make clear that I hope to experience the adventures that DO await here and enjoy (and yes, I will admit, be occasionally frustrated by) the differences here.
However, I feel as if I need to give this disclaimer on my move to Kaiserslautern area: please know that on the adventure scale, it's totally cheating to be here :) I don't personally have to go through any of the German red tape for residency status since my job is taking care of that; I have great coworkers who are taking me to work and official appointments (and they even made the appointments for me!); I have a database of approved rentals to consult; I can shop at the Commissary and buy American products at American prices (basically) if I want; and I have spoken very little German since I've gotten here (but will continue to work on that one).
Heck, looking at the broader picture, I can say that I'm even spoiled because it is a very Western culture here with very few major culture shocks. Some people might say, hey, having to be a good citizen and sorting my trash correctly IS a culture shock, but be realistic. Things are not hugely different here; we share the same alphabet (basically) and some of the same cultural norms. It's not as if I moved to an Asian country, for example, where there would be a different alphabet and I'd be the tallest person for miles (unless there were other foreigners around).
Having said that, though, I do have to make clear that I hope to experience the adventures that DO await here and enjoy (and yes, I will admit, be occasionally frustrated by) the differences here.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Some last hurrahs: nachos, great family & friends, and even some bacon
It's been a very busy December as I've wrapped things up in the US and prepared for my move to Germany. Also, it's been a very fun December with lots of parties and well wishes.
Some folks don't want a fuss made over them and would decline having a going away party. I love festivities and enjoy the company of people who are important to me, so I didn't shy away from the parties. I hope that people don't think I'm an attention hog but it's great to celebrate and enjoy positivity; we don't do that nearly often enough in life!
At our work holiday party, my boss gave a very nice farewell speech. I was surprised because I was just planning for a holiday party (heck, I helped PLAN the holiday party itself!). I teased her as she began the speech and told her I hoped it wouldn't be a roast because I didn't bring a spit. It was such a nice speech and she said many kind things. I'm glad that I avoided crying, but just barely. It has been enjoyable working with her and we've had a great partnership at work.
My coworkers at the office threw a really fun potluck lunch for me. Many people find it funny (for some reason - I don't get it!) that I am usually vegan, sometimes vegetarian, and even more seldomly, horrible, and I will eat bacon, which is probably one of the most unhealthful meats out there. The coworkers are no exception and threw me a bacon-centric party. There was delicious homemade BLT pizza, 5 cheese macaroni and cheese with bacon, hummus and vegetables (another favorite!), salad, and of course, a basket o' bacon to add to any of the dishes. The basket o' bacon was from my coworker's husband, which was very sweet of him. There was even a cookie bar dessert. I half expected to see some bacon on it, but the cook did exercise some restraint on that one :) To top it off, we had diet A&W root beer, which is my favorite.
I even was presented by a prestigious award! I was presented with the Golden Star Award for Knowing Things as well as a gold star pin to proudly wear. I laughed so hard. It's a long story, but basically, folks I work with think that I "know things" and often ask me questions about strange topics. Why they think I'd know the answer is beyond me, but it's funny. It was awesome that they put a lot of work and thought into the party and we had a good time with a lot of laughter. It definitely made me feel special.
On my last day of work, my coworkers also brought some root beer floats for us to enjoy. How sweet!
To round out the celebrations, I booked a dinner at the local Mexican restaurant in town. Some of my local friends had wanted to get together so I thought it would be a good way to do so. I called the party "The Last Hurrah...and Some Nachos." About 18 people came out, including coworkers, local friends, my cousins (how sweet - they drove 1.5 hours each way!), a family friend whom I call my "non-blood sister" and her family, as well as my parents and brother. They even brought Arnie's cake from my hometown! We had a lot of laughs and well wishes and guests ate many nachos. It was fantastic!
After the party, my mom commented that she couldn't believe how many animal lovers were there. In fact, everyone had at least one pet and many guests had multiple pets, including horses, dogs, cats, etc. I come from a family of animal lovers and find that I have the most in common with other people who love animals, too -- especially horses. There's something very positive that can be said for people who have compassion for animals.
Following all that partying, I am definitely pounds heavier from bacon, nachos, and root beer floats, but I'm also so happy to have spent time with people I care about. They were so kind to send me off the way they did. I'll definitely miss them!
Some folks don't want a fuss made over them and would decline having a going away party. I love festivities and enjoy the company of people who are important to me, so I didn't shy away from the parties. I hope that people don't think I'm an attention hog but it's great to celebrate and enjoy positivity; we don't do that nearly often enough in life!
At our work holiday party, my boss gave a very nice farewell speech. I was surprised because I was just planning for a holiday party (heck, I helped PLAN the holiday party itself!). I teased her as she began the speech and told her I hoped it wouldn't be a roast because I didn't bring a spit. It was such a nice speech and she said many kind things. I'm glad that I avoided crying, but just barely. It has been enjoyable working with her and we've had a great partnership at work.
My coworkers at the office threw a really fun potluck lunch for me. Many people find it funny (for some reason - I don't get it!) that I am usually vegan, sometimes vegetarian, and even more seldomly, horrible, and I will eat bacon, which is probably one of the most unhealthful meats out there. The coworkers are no exception and threw me a bacon-centric party. There was delicious homemade BLT pizza, 5 cheese macaroni and cheese with bacon, hummus and vegetables (another favorite!), salad, and of course, a basket o' bacon to add to any of the dishes. The basket o' bacon was from my coworker's husband, which was very sweet of him. There was even a cookie bar dessert. I half expected to see some bacon on it, but the cook did exercise some restraint on that one :) To top it off, we had diet A&W root beer, which is my favorite.
I even was presented by a prestigious award! I was presented with the Golden Star Award for Knowing Things as well as a gold star pin to proudly wear. I laughed so hard. It's a long story, but basically, folks I work with think that I "know things" and often ask me questions about strange topics. Why they think I'd know the answer is beyond me, but it's funny. It was awesome that they put a lot of work and thought into the party and we had a good time with a lot of laughter. It definitely made me feel special.
On my last day of work, my coworkers also brought some root beer floats for us to enjoy. How sweet!
To round out the celebrations, I booked a dinner at the local Mexican restaurant in town. Some of my local friends had wanted to get together so I thought it would be a good way to do so. I called the party "The Last Hurrah...and Some Nachos." About 18 people came out, including coworkers, local friends, my cousins (how sweet - they drove 1.5 hours each way!), a family friend whom I call my "non-blood sister" and her family, as well as my parents and brother. They even brought Arnie's cake from my hometown! We had a lot of laughs and well wishes and guests ate many nachos. It was fantastic!
After the party, my mom commented that she couldn't believe how many animal lovers were there. In fact, everyone had at least one pet and many guests had multiple pets, including horses, dogs, cats, etc. I come from a family of animal lovers and find that I have the most in common with other people who love animals, too -- especially horses. There's something very positive that can be said for people who have compassion for animals.
Following all that partying, I am definitely pounds heavier from bacon, nachos, and root beer floats, but I'm also so happy to have spent time with people I care about. They were so kind to send me off the way they did. I'll definitely miss them!
Friday, April 6, 2012
Um, no, and no
From August 19, 2009
My co-worker and I were talking about the joys of working with the public. The weirdest stuff happens, I tell you.
Just a few days ago, a guy poked his head in the front door and hollered to her, "Hi! I don't have a shirt on. Can I come in and use the bathroom?" (we work in a public environment in which business is conducted).
She coughed, thought about it, and said no. WTH. Seriously.
Just a few days ago, a guy poked his head in the front door and hollered to her, "Hi! I don't have a shirt on. Can I come in and use the bathroom?" (we work in a public environment in which business is conducted).
She coughed, thought about it, and said no. WTH. Seriously.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Call 911!
From Oct 14, 2008
I was at a meeting and was told, "Oh, by the way, I did call 911 the other day."
Me: Um, okay.
Her: Yeah, there was a rabid raccoon outside the building.
Me: Oh.
Her: Some kids were poking it with a stick. I told them to get away from it because it was rabid, but they thought it was just friendly.
Me: [Trying to keep a straight face]
Her: They got it with one of those dog catcher loop things. Boy, was it mad!
Me: Well, thank you for telling me about that.
Me: Um, okay.
Her: Yeah, there was a rabid raccoon outside the building.
Me: Oh.
Her: Some kids were poking it with a stick. I told them to get away from it because it was rabid, but they thought it was just friendly.
Me: [Trying to keep a straight face]
Her: They got it with one of those dog catcher loop things. Boy, was it mad!
Me: Well, thank you for telling me about that.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Fuego in the pyramid: a work hazard
From Aug 19, 2009
There are many lines written about how one's education doesn't always give one a practical knowledge base for work. I have found a few holes in my education.
For example, this week, I was in hysterics when our pyramid-shaped cigarette butt receptacle caught on fire at work. I was discussing this with a co-worker and was trying to find the right word to describe the situation: was it a paradox or an oxymoron, or just plain old irony that the receptacle meant to extinguish cigarette butts caught on fire?
I was by the front with another co-worker, wiping tears away from my eyes and trying to compose myself, as my counterpart retrieved water from the goldfish bowl and put out the fire. She then proceeded to spray Glade air freshener in the lobby because the smoke had snuck in from the front door. The Glade made me laugh even harder.
There are many lines written about how one's education doesn't always give one a practical knowledge base for work. I have found a few holes in my education.
For example, this week, I was in hysterics when our pyramid-shaped cigarette butt receptacle caught on fire at work. I was discussing this with a co-worker and was trying to find the right word to describe the situation: was it a paradox or an oxymoron, or just plain old irony that the receptacle meant to extinguish cigarette butts caught on fire?
I was by the front with another co-worker, wiping tears away from my eyes and trying to compose myself, as my counterpart retrieved water from the goldfish bowl and put out the fire. She then proceeded to spray Glade air freshener in the lobby because the smoke had snuck in from the front door. The Glade made me laugh even harder.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
I love my job, but sometimes it gets weird
From Nov 20, 2009
I feel rather lucky to be employed in a profession that is intellectual, offbeat, and rewarding (at least to me it is). However, I have experienced some job duties that are have been very random, odd, or a combination of the two. I've had to stumble through crazy translations and transliterations of Hindi and Tagalog (while my coworker breezed through Russian, Polish, German, French, and Hebrew works; she's absolutely awesome). I've met with IRS agents as well as a Census Bureau agent. I've been asked to babysit random strangers' children (I don't think the owners of said children would be pleased with the prices I would quote for such services). I've been asked to write grants and conduct legal research for people during off-work hours (no thank you, very much at all; sorry folks, I'm not that nice to do it for free and plus it would be no fun and the last time I checked, I wasn't a paralegal).
One of the more squeamish events happened yesterday, however. To solve a work-related problem, I found myself watching After the Kill, a DVD about processing deer in the field, in my house before I left for work. The video was hosted by characters with semi-mullets, handlebar mustaches, and an obedient housewife who would cook up the varmints they done killed. Here's the problem though: I don't generally eat meat and think that dead animals are gross (I'm not entirely sure I how I sliced and diced a cat in high school anatomy class). Duty called, though, so I listened to clips from the DVD and tried my best not to watch. I guess maybe it's not much weirder than all the emerald ash borer information I had to sift through once (Don't Move Firewood; It Bugs Me!), but to me, it was definitely more disgusting.
I feel rather lucky to be employed in a profession that is intellectual, offbeat, and rewarding (at least to me it is). However, I have experienced some job duties that are have been very random, odd, or a combination of the two. I've had to stumble through crazy translations and transliterations of Hindi and Tagalog (while my coworker breezed through Russian, Polish, German, French, and Hebrew works; she's absolutely awesome). I've met with IRS agents as well as a Census Bureau agent. I've been asked to babysit random strangers' children (I don't think the owners of said children would be pleased with the prices I would quote for such services). I've been asked to write grants and conduct legal research for people during off-work hours (no thank you, very much at all; sorry folks, I'm not that nice to do it for free and plus it would be no fun and the last time I checked, I wasn't a paralegal).
One of the more squeamish events happened yesterday, however. To solve a work-related problem, I found myself watching After the Kill, a DVD about processing deer in the field, in my house before I left for work. The video was hosted by characters with semi-mullets, handlebar mustaches, and an obedient housewife who would cook up the varmints they done killed. Here's the problem though: I don't generally eat meat and think that dead animals are gross (I'm not entirely sure I how I sliced and diced a cat in high school anatomy class). Duty called, though, so I listened to clips from the DVD and tried my best not to watch. I guess maybe it's not much weirder than all the emerald ash borer information I had to sift through once (Don't Move Firewood; It Bugs Me!), but to me, it was definitely more disgusting.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
"Free" pamphlets, get your "free" pamphlets
From Jan 5, 2010
At work, one of the regulars* was talking to my boss. I was engrossed in a project so I wasn't really paying attention. After the regular left, my boss showed me the business card the regular had given him. Apparently he's some sort of "motivational" speaker for those who don't like to pay taxes (or at least that's the impression I got). We checked out his most awesomely done website, replete with American flags, tiled, for your enjoyment.The gentleman offers "free" pamphlets for the low cost of...$2. See, you must send two $1 bills to this gentleman; one bill is for postage and printing and the other bill is for advertising costs.** But quick! Order now! These "free" pamphlets won't be around for long.
We also were really impressed because the pamphlet was full of "facts"*** that you, too, can verify on the internet; it even suggests that you should. You know, because the internet is such an authoritative and reliable source ALL THE TIME.
*I almost want to call them irregulars because of the odd things they do ;-)
**Since I sometimes feel very evil, I almost wanted to scrounge up a $2 bill to send to him just to rock his little world.
***Ouch, this has been an "overload."
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