Stepping into the way back machine....

A high schooler??? We have a high schooler in the house??? You've got to be kidding! It's kind of odd thinking of it that way...it seems like yesterday he was walking off to elementary school! Not only is he a high school freshman (in 2 weeks) but he is attending the very same school I went to. We went to his freshman orientation the other afternoon so he can get the lay of the land (there are about 1900 students at Stadium High after all...) and I have to tell you...the memories came flooding back!

Yes, the school has changed...a major renovation a few years back updated things and moved others around but it was just like walking in there over 20 years ago. I could still point out my old Chemistry class and my Civics classroom...walking through the courtyard where my friends and I use to eat at lunch...I was almost expecting to turn a corner and run into my old friends. So many memories came rushing back and also one big regret...I wish I would have been more involved. The principal spoke to the incoming freshmen and one of the things she mentioned is that you should become involved in something....anything during high school. It doesn't matter if it is a sport or a club...whatever...it will always be something that you look back on fondly...something that you'll never forget. It will be a bond that you have with a certain group of people that you might never have become friends with otherwise.

I have a great group of friends from high shcool....and earlier, and I wish we spent more time being in touch. We all have families and while some live close by, others are far away. All I know is that our freshman told us yesterday that he didn't want to become involved...but he is...he will...it is far too important of a thing to just let pass by...these are 4 very formative years lying in front of him and I don't want him to look back on those years and say, "...I wonder....."

Why oh why do they waste our time??

Meetings...I'm sure that just reading that word sent a chill down some of your spines while others had to resist the urge to run screaming from the room. What kind of sick people created these monumental wastes of time??

O.k. I am sure that some meetings that are held actually have some merit. There was actually a thought process put behind the planning and execution of it. But honestly...how often is this the case. Just this morning I attended our weekly "production" meeting. It was again one of those not-to-rare instances when I walked back to my desk muttering, "well, there's another hour of my life I won't get back." I don't know how many times we have to sit through these things when the subject matter pertains to only two people in the room.....hmmm...here's a concept...why don't those two people get together and have this discussion instead of bringing a whole room of people in to bore them to death.

Please...don't get me started on the people who have meetings just to have meetings. I actually worked with a person who once told me that she loves to have meetings...just to have them! What kind of asylum was she raised in?? Let's just waste EVERYONE'S time...it's not like we're actually trying to get work done...

If I had to do it all over again.....

....I think I just might have changed my major in college to something a bit more useful. I don't know about your workplace but at mine there seems to be an underlying theme: pass the buck! Can you imagine if this were an actual major...what would you minor in, throwing people under the bus??

It seems like so long ago (or maybe I'm just getting older) that people were not only held accountable for their actions but they accepted responsibility for them as well! All I seem to hear throughout the day...no matter what the subject is...is that, "it wasn't my responsibility...so and so said they were taking care of it...I don't recall that...etc". What happened to owning up to your mistakes?? Maybe I just belong to a small community that still has a sense of moral responsibility and common sense attached to it.

I may catch flak for owning up to what I did incorrectly...incur the occasional ass-chewing but at least I can sleep at night. Actually, some of the "people" I work with who seem to hold a masters (maybe a doctorate) in deflecting blame probably sleep like babies at night as they seem to have no conscience at all...good luck to them...I hear karma is a bitch!

Is cloning of humans legal yet???

It seems to me that my boss really wants to clone me...I mean he expects me to be in 3 places & doing 3 different jobs all at once?? I guess my real question here is if I was cloned...and I was able to jump through every hoop placed in front of me would I get multiple paychecks?? If so...SIGN ME UP!!!!

Welcome to the 2009 workplace everyone!

How am I still sane????

Why do so many people thrive on dysfunction??? Is working or living within a dysfunctional society that much fun?? I'm guessing that I missed the boat on that one...no worries though...I am surrounded by it all through the work week...YAY ME!!!!!

I swear that the majority of conversations around my little cubicle (it has been dubbed Switzerland by the way) can't take place without at least one of the following requirements:

1) yelling at the top of your lungs to ensure that even the dead can hear you
2) using your favorite swear word repeatedly and in all forms and tenses (for those of you that know Mike, ask him for a copy of, "the F Word"...sums this requirement up nicely)
3) assume that your conversation is the most important one going on at the moment and make sure that anyone around you can't carry on a telephone conversation
and...
4) make sure that you are right...even if you don't have any idea what you are talking about

I am afraid to even think about how many times I have been on the phone leaving a voicemail with the chants of motherf&*$er, a*$)ole, s&)#head, etc... in the background. At least I make all personal phone calls that I possibly can on my cell phone away from my desk...

These are some of the people sitting in my little part of the work world:

A guy who is so frustrated that he constantly yells at the top of his lungs...at himself most of the time. I have warned him that if he has a stroke (self induced or not) he is on his own. There will be no attempts to revive him on my part...

Two guys who have flatulence wars who do absolutely nothing all day long...one of which has such an extensive music library that he plays the same 4 awful country songs constantly...mixed in with the occasional Kid Rock hillbilly song...the other is apparently made out of some super industrial strength teflon because he accepts no responsibility for anything

My boss...I am tempted to have a sign made up for his area that proclaims, "CONTAINS MSG!" The man ingests so much sodium and nicotine that he has to be preserved into the next millennium. My daily sodium levels elevate dramatically when I walk by him...counter that with a personality that makes you wish spontaneous public beatings were not considered taboo by the majority of society.

I am continually amazed by the simple fact that I am still sane...or at least what we consider sanity to be. I am sure (and have heard stories) that the faint of heart have run screaming like banshees from this company...unfortunately I have to say that I am thankful to get to come here 5 times a week........

Just some observations...

Well...here goes nothing as they say...

I figured that since most of the world is blogging that I may as well start it up too! I really don't expect that anything I write will be earth shattering or that it will make anyone's life feel more complete. I think this will be a fun way to share things that I see in life...opinions on certain subjects...maybe even a way to vent frustrations at times!

So, we pack up the family a couple of Saturday's ago to attend the end of the year BBQ for the youngest. It had been a pretty miserable baseball season and I think the last thing any of us wanted to do was go and waste away a Saturday afternoon but we were troopers and attended. The "highlight" of the BBQ was a parent vs. kids baseball game. All right...I assumed that this would be a fun way for everyone to get together one last time and have a little fun against our 11 & 12 year olds...right?!? Nope!!!! Here come all of the older brothers that play baseball and take over the team. Now most of the kids who we are holding this "game" for are relegated to either the bench or right field...not exactly getting the warm fuzzies from this one...let me tell you.

Most of the parents begin to show no mercy against the kids...smashing the ball all over the place and introducing a dose of humility. I must say that some of us took it easy (especially when it came to the actual kids on the team). As we were nearing the end of this short game, things really started to go downhill. The parents had some base runners and then came an incident so amazing (and not in a good way) that brought this whole blogging idea into focus for me. The starting catcher for our little league baseball team hunkered down behind the plate...tired..frustrated and pretty much wanting nothing more to do with anything that was going on. It just so happened that his dad was on second base....and the batter hit a shot to the outfield. I still shake my head in amazement at what happened next...here comes good 'ol dad rounding third base and he starts screaming at his son that, "he's coming in.....!!!!" Here is this poor 12 year old (who is taller than most everyone that I know but skinny as a rail) fielding the ball and turning to see his dad barrelling into him at home plate like he is going to score the winning run in the deciding game of the World Series!

Have things gotten so bad for us as parents that the only people we have to show up (or attempt to at least) are our own kids?? I admit...I have been guilty of it, albeit it on a much lesser scale (usually relegated to video games or when they decide they have become kung fu masters). Ironically poor 'ol dad, who just thought he had something to prove, completely whiffed on his kid at the plate and bounced off the ground and into the backstop...I just remember standing there watching this all unfold thinking, "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy....."

I can't promise how often I'll post...usually when I have something to say...or share. Please feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think. Hopefully these will improve over time...baby steps everyone!!!!!!!