So, we enter the Christmas season and the peak season for our business. This will make my 17th year in the crazy shipping industry. Some years, the hours have been crazy and I have cursed the holiday itself. Other years, the holidays have been wonderful! The kids took me off the road, but not away from some of the stresses of the business. They have added joy and excitement to the season, especially now that they are a little older and have an understanding of what is to come.
One thing I can not get into is decorating! We put a real tree up every year and have stories of trees of old that we laugh about. (The one brought home from the cut your own place in Patrick's old Mitsubishi Eclipse with the dog on top of it and 1/2 of it dragging on the road. Or the one that we had to cut almost 3 feet off of because high ceilings in our old house did not exist after we moved, but traditions were set.) The husband and I rotate who is in charge of the exterior decorating each year. I am more of a traditional person and he is all out who gives a flying f if it matches. He has lights of every shape, size, and color all going at once. I enjoy traditional live greens and wreaths with white lights. We have worked out a deal where when it is his turn, he can add to his display with the $$$ I didn't spend on the greens. Seems fair. Over the years, though, his collection is growing. To drag all that shit out, set it up, look at the power bill, then pack it all back up is a huge pain in the ass! I can't imagine doing it for every room in my house. I love going to other people's homes and seeing these displays, but I don't have the time or passion for the holidays to make it happen.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
I would be in the same spot as Cain....
I am not saying I am a Herman Cain supporter, but I am saying that if I were to run for President, I would be in the same spot he's in. What spot is that? The one where people come out of the woodwork about your past. How can so much be recalled from one's past and how can one's story be so believed if some of the context comes from retaliation? If you are lost, let me tell you a story from my past:
I was training newly hired managers for the big box company in Chicago. We had a class of 20 proactive hires that knew nothing about the company and were being housed in a nice hotel in a nice part of town and being trained in a state-of-the-art new facility, also in a nice part of town. This is not reality. Most of the big box buildings are in places where land is cheap and tax breaks are given and public transportation is readily available. My home facility was in a BAD part of town. I made reference to this and also said something like the women of the night that hung out on the corner at all hours of the day give you the idea about where I usually work. Training continues.....AND a primary election is 2 days away. One of the new hires approaches us about missing class for a day to drive home (3 hours away) to vote. Um....NO! You failed to plan knowing well in advance you would be here at this time. If it was so important, you should have filed to vote via absentee ballot, as I did. Now there is a pissed off new hire. Training continues.....I draw a picture of FL to demonstrate a triangle run. Training continues.....Managers are put in trailers to load, because if you expect it of your people, you better be able to do it, too! I made a comment about loading being an art. Training continues.....We play big box company Jeopardy and Hollywood Squares (power point games I helped create for a little training help fun). The people in the squares were part of a presentation that I found on-line and tailored to our needs. One of the characters is a weird looking cartoon person. I cannot remember his name, but it was also something goofy.
Now, what do you think came out of the above events? YEP>>>>Sexual Harassment claims filed by the student I would not let leave class for a day to vote! He took notes on all of the items and found it all VERY offensive personally since he was a gay black male. The women of the night, FL, something being an art, and some goofy cartoon character were all harassing? Who knew?!?!? I almost lost my job over this and the amount of time spent to investigate it let alone the changes on policy were crazy! It is one of the reasons I decided not to take a further promotion and instead left the company to work for my husband instead of moving and running my own big box building as a top manager. I feel for Herman Cain as people come out of the cracks and re-hash pasts that might have been similar to this. Similar to what really is nothing at all!
I was training newly hired managers for the big box company in Chicago. We had a class of 20 proactive hires that knew nothing about the company and were being housed in a nice hotel in a nice part of town and being trained in a state-of-the-art new facility, also in a nice part of town. This is not reality. Most of the big box buildings are in places where land is cheap and tax breaks are given and public transportation is readily available. My home facility was in a BAD part of town. I made reference to this and also said something like the women of the night that hung out on the corner at all hours of the day give you the idea about where I usually work. Training continues.....AND a primary election is 2 days away. One of the new hires approaches us about missing class for a day to drive home (3 hours away) to vote. Um....NO! You failed to plan knowing well in advance you would be here at this time. If it was so important, you should have filed to vote via absentee ballot, as I did. Now there is a pissed off new hire. Training continues.....I draw a picture of FL to demonstrate a triangle run. Training continues.....Managers are put in trailers to load, because if you expect it of your people, you better be able to do it, too! I made a comment about loading being an art. Training continues.....We play big box company Jeopardy and Hollywood Squares (power point games I helped create for a little training help fun). The people in the squares were part of a presentation that I found on-line and tailored to our needs. One of the characters is a weird looking cartoon person. I cannot remember his name, but it was also something goofy.
Now, what do you think came out of the above events? YEP>>>>Sexual Harassment claims filed by the student I would not let leave class for a day to vote! He took notes on all of the items and found it all VERY offensive personally since he was a gay black male. The women of the night, FL, something being an art, and some goofy cartoon character were all harassing? Who knew?!?!? I almost lost my job over this and the amount of time spent to investigate it let alone the changes on policy were crazy! It is one of the reasons I decided not to take a further promotion and instead left the company to work for my husband instead of moving and running my own big box building as a top manager. I feel for Herman Cain as people come out of the cracks and re-hash pasts that might have been similar to this. Similar to what really is nothing at all!
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