Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
My editorial for the day.
I once got an email from a place I used to work at that started with this research factoid:
"Tardiness costs U.S. businesses more than $3 billion each year in lost productivity. The effect on the bottom line of the average business is significant: An employee who is late 10 minutes each day has, by the end of the year, taken the equivalent of a week's paid vacation." (source: HR Magazine, Nov. 2005, by Dianna DeLonzor)
Awesome.
Got anything about Saturdays?
And then the email went on to say that tardiness and leaving early were becoming an increasing problem in the company and restated the normal working hours. At this point my coworker and I had been busting our behinds, working long hours, all with a paycut in hand. To say we were insulted by this email would be an understatement. And here is the issue we had with the email.
Being the fantastic market researchers that we were and still are, this research has a flaw. It is not telling the whole story (and it's very outdated, but we'll ignore that). How many weeks of unpaid vacation are employees getting for all of the extra time they put in? What is the counter-effect? Is the reason these employees are coming in 15 minutes late each day because they are staying an hour or two after work each day? Or possibly working into the wee hours of the Tonight Show? How much time are they giving without being paid?
My coworker put together the best email in response to the email that we got. Of course it didn't get sent to anyone but it sure made us feel good. It's hanging on my wall and always puts a smile on my face.
"Working overtime and being extremely busy every day can cause an employee to hate their job, cause depression, cause lack of sleep, cause frustration, and cause medical issues. This has and will continue to be a problem for the market research department So, our normal working hours are 8:30 to 4:15. You do not need to work overtime because we don't want you to be late for the next day because you were up til midnight working and only spending one hour with your family. (Source, {an awesome friend who will kill me for posting this but I'm keeping it anonymous so I think it's okay, okay?})"
And that pretty much sums up what happened after the whole company got this email. People stopped working extra hours. They worked during the regular business hours and were not tardy but did not stay late. It was the start of the Disgruntled Club.
Not to mention a complete backfire on the company's part. One of many that would follow.
Have I mentioned how much I love my NEW job? Don't get me wrong, there are many days when I work after hours. But that is okay. That is normal, especially if you take pride in your job. Here there is no reason for the Club. They are successful and are busting out of their office space (no pun intended) (okay, intended) seams but so far nobody has been moved to Storage Room B and we all get to keep our staplers. The thing that I love is that this company is so, well, normal. And totally awesome. And there is a completely mutual level of trust and respect. They don't send out emails about old research cited from HR Magazine because they know that we all work our tails off and hours (although we have them - don't get me wrong) are honestly pointless as long as the work is being done to its fullest. And being a market research company they would probably laugh at that research too.
I am so very very thankful for my new job is all I'm saying here folks.
"Tardiness costs U.S. businesses more than $3 billion each year in lost productivity. The effect on the bottom line of the average business is significant: An employee who is late 10 minutes each day has, by the end of the year, taken the equivalent of a week's paid vacation." (source: HR Magazine, Nov. 2005, by Dianna DeLonzor)
Awesome.
Got anything about Saturdays?
And then the email went on to say that tardiness and leaving early were becoming an increasing problem in the company and restated the normal working hours. At this point my coworker and I had been busting our behinds, working long hours, all with a paycut in hand. To say we were insulted by this email would be an understatement. And here is the issue we had with the email.
Being the fantastic market researchers that we were and still are, this research has a flaw. It is not telling the whole story (and it's very outdated, but we'll ignore that). How many weeks of unpaid vacation are employees getting for all of the extra time they put in? What is the counter-effect? Is the reason these employees are coming in 15 minutes late each day because they are staying an hour or two after work each day? Or possibly working into the wee hours of the Tonight Show? How much time are they giving without being paid?
My coworker put together the best email in response to the email that we got. Of course it didn't get sent to anyone but it sure made us feel good. It's hanging on my wall and always puts a smile on my face.
"Working overtime and being extremely busy every day can cause an employee to hate their job, cause depression, cause lack of sleep, cause frustration, and cause medical issues. This has and will continue to be a problem for the market research department So, our normal working hours are 8:30 to 4:15. You do not need to work overtime because we don't want you to be late for the next day because you were up til midnight working and only spending one hour with your family. (Source, {an awesome friend who will kill me for posting this but I'm keeping it anonymous so I think it's okay, okay?})"
And that pretty much sums up what happened after the whole company got this email. People stopped working extra hours. They worked during the regular business hours and were not tardy but did not stay late. It was the start of the Disgruntled Club.
Not to mention a complete backfire on the company's part. One of many that would follow.
Have I mentioned how much I love my NEW job? Don't get me wrong, there are many days when I work after hours. But that is okay. That is normal, especially if you take pride in your job. Here there is no reason for the Club. They are successful and are busting out of their office space (no pun intended) (okay, intended) seams but so far nobody has been moved to Storage Room B and we all get to keep our staplers. The thing that I love is that this company is so, well, normal. And totally awesome. And there is a completely mutual level of trust and respect. They don't send out emails about old research cited from HR Magazine because they know that we all work our tails off and hours (although we have them - don't get me wrong) are honestly pointless as long as the work is being done to its fullest. And being a market research company they would probably laugh at that research too.
I am so very very thankful for my new job is all I'm saying here folks.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
You Still Color My World
So I thought I was done making Valentines after that 2nd batch for Elisabeth.
I lied, okay?
Besides, Sydney needs Valentines to share too...
Besides, Sydney needs Valentines to share too...
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
You Color My World
Alternately titled: Reduce Reuse Recycle. I couldn't decide, so you get both. You're welcome.
Elisabeth and I worked hard to make her Valentines by hand this year. We made 23 of them, and we didn't purchase a single item! We have world's largest bag of crayons in our house -- it's where all of our crayons go when they enter our house because I could no longer stand having 13 opened boxes laying around. It works well and it shows us what a ridiculous number of crayons we own so that I don't get tempted to buy any.
So, we decided to Go Green for Valentine's day and Reduce those crayons, Reusing them by turning them into wonderfully unique pieces of art that could be shared with Elisabeth's friends. And although there was none involved in this project, we Recycle every day!
I think they turned out pretty darn cute, don't you? Of course I can't take the credit for the project, it came from Disney's Family Fun magazine.
Here's how we did it.
Peel the wrappers off your broken (or not) crayons. FYI, the cheapies that you get at the restaurants are MUCH easier to peel. Less glue.
If they aren't already, break up the crayons into little pieces. A meat mallet works wonders and gets a good deal of frustration out!
Put the pieces into tiny heart shaped muffin tins. Ours is a silicone Wilton 24ct pan. Fill it up, because they're going to melt down more than you think they will.
Bake at 250 for 10 to 15 minutes. We needed the full 15 but that's because of the silicone pan. I think.
When they are melted take 'em out of the oven and let cool. Then pop them out! If you have a hard time getting them out, place the pan in the freezer for a few minutes and they will slide right out. This is a good tip for candles, too.
Write out your favorite punny saying on circles of paper - we chose You Color My World - in fun colors. We discovered as we went along that the ones written in multiple colors were the coolest. Make sure to leave room in the center for the heart. Have your child sign their name on the back. Make sure you do this before the next step!
Attach some thick foam tape to the back of the heart and place in the center of your circle.
Voila!
It took us more time than it would take to buy, say, Pixy Stix Valentines and sign them, but I think these are super cute. And it was a good lesson about saving our planet, too. Oh -- and best of all, it was a great bonding experience!
I just found out tonight that Elisabeth needs another 25 Valentines for her daycare party as well. YIKES! So excuse me, I'm going to go peel some more crayons.
Elisabeth and I worked hard to make her Valentines by hand this year. We made 23 of them, and we didn't purchase a single item! We have world's largest bag of crayons in our house -- it's where all of our crayons go when they enter our house because I could no longer stand having 13 opened boxes laying around. It works well and it shows us what a ridiculous number of crayons we own so that I don't get tempted to buy any.
So, we decided to Go Green for Valentine's day and Reduce those crayons, Reusing them by turning them into wonderfully unique pieces of art that could be shared with Elisabeth's friends. And although there was none involved in this project, we Recycle every day!
I think they turned out pretty darn cute, don't you? Of course I can't take the credit for the project, it came from Disney's Family Fun magazine.
Here's how we did it.
Peel the wrappers off your broken (or not) crayons. FYI, the cheapies that you get at the restaurants are MUCH easier to peel. Less glue.
If they aren't already, break up the crayons into little pieces. A meat mallet works wonders and gets a good deal of frustration out!
Put the pieces into tiny heart shaped muffin tins. Ours is a silicone Wilton 24ct pan. Fill it up, because they're going to melt down more than you think they will.
Bake at 250 for 10 to 15 minutes. We needed the full 15 but that's because of the silicone pan. I think.
When they are melted take 'em out of the oven and let cool. Then pop them out! If you have a hard time getting them out, place the pan in the freezer for a few minutes and they will slide right out. This is a good tip for candles, too.
Write out your favorite punny saying on circles of paper - we chose You Color My World - in fun colors. We discovered as we went along that the ones written in multiple colors were the coolest. Make sure to leave room in the center for the heart. Have your child sign their name on the back. Make sure you do this before the next step!
Attach some thick foam tape to the back of the heart and place in the center of your circle.
Voila!
It took us more time than it would take to buy, say, Pixy Stix Valentines and sign them, but I think these are super cute. And it was a good lesson about saving our planet, too. Oh -- and best of all, it was a great bonding experience!
I just found out tonight that Elisabeth needs another 25 Valentines for her daycare party as well. YIKES! So excuse me, I'm going to go peel some more crayons.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Fun Fair: Microphones and Moxy
We went to Elisabeth's school's Fun Fair today. Have you ever heard of that? I hadn't. It's basically an indoor fair at school that's fun. Shocking, I know!
(It's also a haven for lice -- we hung onto our coats and hats and hugged nobody.)
We had so much fun at the fair. Elisabeth had fun playing the games and we had fun watching Elisabeth in her element. Of course many of her classmates were also at the fun fair, and even some neighbors!
We played lots of games that payed out big. We're stocked now in green rubber witchy fingers, marbles, tiny plastic airplanes that don't fly, tic-tac-toe boards and rubber bouncy balls. Oh and four inflatable microphones. That's right, four. All paid out at the same time. The same time. They gave us 4 inflatable microphones. For losing the game. Four. At the same time. I wonder what we would have received had we won?
Elisabeth ran into Addy, who she used to be good friends with at daycare and now shares a locker with but never sees because Addy is in AM Kindergarten and Elisabeth is in PM. The fun fair was like a reunion for them, and it was obvious that their feelings for each other hadn't changed a bit.
(Notice inflatable microphone number 1 in the photo above.)
Elisabeth and Addy didn't waste any time and jumped straight into the Karaoke line.
Holy cuteness.
When Elisabeth and Addy were up, they chose a classic Karaoke tune: B-I-N-G-O.
They had the whole cafeteria clapping along! Mostly because they didn't realize they were supposed to clap for the silent letters, I suppose, but that's such a minutely small detail -- I mean, these kids have way more moxy than I'll ever have.
They even had groupies!
Seriously, 6 year olds and karaoke are quite possibly the best mix. They have no inhibitions. And as a parent, watching from the tiny cafeteria tables where you once sat 30 years ago, you can almost fast-forward 10 years and see who your child will be. It's moments like this when they just seem so grown up and the pride flows from you.
Until you try and take a picture of your child watching her crush sing and she gets embarrassed. Then you're brought back to reality.
=)
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
It's all about the chase, people.
Did you catch the wolf moon last weekend? We did -- it was AMAZING! We were driving through the country, and there was this ginormous red ball of fire set behind a farm. It took me a while to figure out what it was until we got closer to the barn and the red ball moved and suddenly had a familiar face.
(Really? Can they really call it a camera if that's what it captures?)
I'm telling you, that moon was huge - why does it look like a speck of dust - or maybe even a louse if you look carefully - more than it does the giant moon that stood right in front of us?
And it was SO worth the chase!
WOW!
So I made Mark pull over so I could take a picture and capture the moment.
FYI, the picture above is NOT mine. It came from someone much more prepared than me at flickr. I have no idea who they are but their picture is amazing, and pretty much captures what we saw.
THIS my friends, this little beauty is what I captured via my fancy Crackberry phone:
So I made Mark pull over so I could take a picture and capture the moment.
FYI, the picture above is NOT mine. It came from someone much more prepared than me at flickr. I have no idea who they are but their picture is amazing, and pretty much captures what we saw.
THIS my friends, this little beauty is what I captured via my fancy Crackberry phone:
(Really? Can they really call it a camera if that's what it captures?)
I'm telling you, that moon was huge - why does it look like a speck of dust - or maybe even a louse if you look carefully - more than it does the giant moon that stood right in front of us?
I was bummed that I didn't have a better camera with me because I'm suuuuuure I'd be able to capture the same beauty* that my flickr friend did so beautifully. Sigh. If only I had brought my equipment, the picture would have been as breathtaking as the actual moment was.
*totally joking. there is no way I could replicate that kind of picture - it's awesome!
The next night after dinner we bundled up and headed out the door in hopes of finding the same beautiful blazing red wolf moon again, except it was cloudy and snowy. We tried. We tried hard. We drove and drove and drove. And somehow our car and my fantastic full-moon-finding-inner-gps-skills led us straight to another beautiful spot.
And it was SO worth the chase!
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