Well my beloved co-buyer came back today!!! I have written how strong her personality is and now I can prove it. The doctor told her she should stay home another week and not drive for three more. She somehow convinced him (I have no idea how) not only to allow her to come back to work but she drove even though she was in pain. She refused to take any pain medicine because (I heard her tell our boss) it makes her tired, so I am assuming she was in pain all day.
The atmosphere of the office is back to it's usual. No laughter today at all and everyone is on edge because we have no idea how much she will tolerate.
So it's back to the usual. What a lovely 3 week work vacation I had.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Politics and people and other general gripes
It's been a very interesting American political week and even though I have tried not to make comments, I just can't seem to help myself.
Coming from Canada where the Prime Minister announces when elections will be held without any fanfare or a year's notice, I just can't seem to grasp the American way of choosing a President. Everyone insults the competition for over a year and once the elections are over, they are expected to get along and work smoothly together.
This week alone, Geraldine Farraro - who was working with Hillary insulted Obama about having a chance to win because of his color and one of Obama's people called Hillary a monster. Both comments were complete uncessary and in very poor taste. Of course both Hillary and Obama denounced both these people and had them removed from their staff, but the damage is done and continues more of the insults and dirt which they have been slinging since Iowa voted in January. Do I have faith that between now and the November elections things will improve, heck no. It will only get worse as the counts of delegates are taken and by convention time this summer when it's realized that neither Hillary nor Obaba have a clear majority, it should really get very ugly. I can't wait to see which Democrat is the one the convention chooses and wonder what happens to the loser since both Hillary and Obama have very strong personalities and I don't see either losing with a lot of grace.
The other thing which blows me away is the downfall of Eliot Spitzer, the Governor of New York who was elected based on his cleaning up the corruption on Wall Street and the prostitute business. Turns out he is not as pure as we were lead to believe and now has become the brunt of late night jokes. I find it ironic that he was caught by the same IRS wiretap which he himself created to catch the ones he set out to catch while he was Attorney Gereral. Call me a simpleton but I absolutely cannot believe anyone can have such an inflated ego as to believe they are better than the American people they serve, but apparently such a person is Eliot and I have to admit I have enjoyed watching the bugger squirm all week. I sure hope he enjoyed his time with his high price hooker because it will be paying for his pleasure for a long time to come. I know we do end up forgiving our politicians (Teddy Kennedy, Gary hart and Bill Clinton come to mind immediately) but in the meantime, it gives me pleasure to watch the unravelling of such a man. The ones I feel sorry for are his wife and kids who must suffer in front of the media with a stiff upper lip. If I were a friend of his wife, I would suggest she give him a stiff upper lip and a black eye to go with it.
I am also confused as to why the Government is rightly going after banks to reduce their interest rates and refinance the home loans so that good folks won't lose them BUT the same Government NEVER goes after the OIL companies who make and announce $15 billion dollars profit every quarter to lower their prices. I just don't understand the difference.
Anyway, back to the national Election. We have almost 5 more months for the Democrats to insult each other before their convention, plus 3 months of both parties insulting their opponents then we will vote and whoever becomes President will come out and tell all of us how wonderful the opposing party is and well both parties will work together to give us Americans the great things we deserve because we are after all the greatest country in the world. Seems like we are set to hear a lot of nonsense for the next 9 months and probably longer when it would be so much wiser to take all the money spent this past year for the election and give it to schools and social programs across the country.
I am guessing that by March, of next year, we should start hearing names being brought up as possible candidates for the year 2012. Now how stupid is that??
I was too young to vote when I left Canada, but I have to believe that it's got to be much easier to choose the Canadian (and for that matter most other countries') leader than the way we do it here!!
Coming from Canada where the Prime Minister announces when elections will be held without any fanfare or a year's notice, I just can't seem to grasp the American way of choosing a President. Everyone insults the competition for over a year and once the elections are over, they are expected to get along and work smoothly together.
This week alone, Geraldine Farraro - who was working with Hillary insulted Obama about having a chance to win because of his color and one of Obama's people called Hillary a monster. Both comments were complete uncessary and in very poor taste. Of course both Hillary and Obama denounced both these people and had them removed from their staff, but the damage is done and continues more of the insults and dirt which they have been slinging since Iowa voted in January. Do I have faith that between now and the November elections things will improve, heck no. It will only get worse as the counts of delegates are taken and by convention time this summer when it's realized that neither Hillary nor Obaba have a clear majority, it should really get very ugly. I can't wait to see which Democrat is the one the convention chooses and wonder what happens to the loser since both Hillary and Obama have very strong personalities and I don't see either losing with a lot of grace.
The other thing which blows me away is the downfall of Eliot Spitzer, the Governor of New York who was elected based on his cleaning up the corruption on Wall Street and the prostitute business. Turns out he is not as pure as we were lead to believe and now has become the brunt of late night jokes. I find it ironic that he was caught by the same IRS wiretap which he himself created to catch the ones he set out to catch while he was Attorney Gereral. Call me a simpleton but I absolutely cannot believe anyone can have such an inflated ego as to believe they are better than the American people they serve, but apparently such a person is Eliot and I have to admit I have enjoyed watching the bugger squirm all week. I sure hope he enjoyed his time with his high price hooker because it will be paying for his pleasure for a long time to come. I know we do end up forgiving our politicians (Teddy Kennedy, Gary hart and Bill Clinton come to mind immediately) but in the meantime, it gives me pleasure to watch the unravelling of such a man. The ones I feel sorry for are his wife and kids who must suffer in front of the media with a stiff upper lip. If I were a friend of his wife, I would suggest she give him a stiff upper lip and a black eye to go with it.
I am also confused as to why the Government is rightly going after banks to reduce their interest rates and refinance the home loans so that good folks won't lose them BUT the same Government NEVER goes after the OIL companies who make and announce $15 billion dollars profit every quarter to lower their prices. I just don't understand the difference.
Anyway, back to the national Election. We have almost 5 more months for the Democrats to insult each other before their convention, plus 3 months of both parties insulting their opponents then we will vote and whoever becomes President will come out and tell all of us how wonderful the opposing party is and well both parties will work together to give us Americans the great things we deserve because we are after all the greatest country in the world. Seems like we are set to hear a lot of nonsense for the next 9 months and probably longer when it would be so much wiser to take all the money spent this past year for the election and give it to schools and social programs across the country.
I am guessing that by March, of next year, we should start hearing names being brought up as possible candidates for the year 2012. Now how stupid is that??
I was too young to vote when I left Canada, but I have to believe that it's got to be much easier to choose the Canadian (and for that matter most other countries') leader than the way we do it here!!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
I think I heard a laugh...
It's been almost a week since my co-buyer went out for surgery. She will be out for 3 weeks. I wrote about her a couple of blogs ago and hoped that while she was out, the demeanor of the department would relax and it has quite a bit. There is more interaction between us buyers, more verbal discussions about work (usually we just e-mail so that we don't make any noise) and other co-workers who don't work in this department seem to be coming down more often to chat which absolutely facinates me since our boss is still here, within hearing range and one would think that if the department head were out people would be more relaxed but it seems to be our co-buyer being out which has made everyone more friendly.
This morning, for the first time in as long as I can remember, I actually heard laughter coming down the hall. I am not just talking a minor chuckle but a regular "I think this is funny" laughter from one of the guys. I am sure it probably really doesn't have anything to do with the fact that my co-buyer isn't here, but it also seems more than a co-incidence and it was really quite a refreshing sound. How sad that I even have to think this way.
We have two and a half more weeks. It will be interesting to see what the rest of her time out from the office brings and even more interesting to see if we revert back to our old stoic, silent, grumpy selves once she returns. Stay tuned for further reports!!!
This morning, for the first time in as long as I can remember, I actually heard laughter coming down the hall. I am not just talking a minor chuckle but a regular "I think this is funny" laughter from one of the guys. I am sure it probably really doesn't have anything to do with the fact that my co-buyer isn't here, but it also seems more than a co-incidence and it was really quite a refreshing sound. How sad that I even have to think this way.
We have two and a half more weeks. It will be interesting to see what the rest of her time out from the office brings and even more interesting to see if we revert back to our old stoic, silent, grumpy selves once she returns. Stay tuned for further reports!!!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
A Very Sad Week for Our Moose Family Center
Our Moose Family Center is relatively young compared to most of the others in the country. The lodge is 23 years old but actually we have only had a facility to meet, eat and spend time at for 17 years. When we moved into our first very small facility (850 sq ft) we lovingly called The Palace, all our members learned to work together in very close confines. We had only one 3 ft x 3 ft bathroom, and our kitchen was only 6 ft long by 4 ft wide yet we still served complete meals. Both the men and women who became officers of this tiny lodge had a goal to succeed (well maybe the word should be survive) and even though most of us didn't know each other before we joined the Moose, by working together that close in the tiny wooden building, we became more like brothers and sisters than Moose members.
Over the years, as our membrship has grown and we moved into a much larger facility (also more beautiful and plush), those of us who worked together the first 12 years building our fraternity from a Moose Lodge into a Moose Family Center, have remained very close.
This week, we lost two of our brothers. Both had been Past Governors. Jim, who passed away last Monday was Governor the year I was Senior Regent. We had a wonderful year and worked like partners the entire year. We continued to be close friends after our year was over. Mal who passed away Sunday was Governor the year after Jim and I. Both men passed away after being ill. Both were taken from us much too early.
These are the first two out of the 17 men and 17 women, who have been Governors and Senior Regents from the Palace forward, to be taken from us. The pictures of all the Past Governors and Senior Regents are up on a wall so members will always see them up there. What's unfortuate is that the essence of who they were and what they meant to the Moose can't be taken from the pictures and members who join from now on will never know how much these men contributed to our wonderful Family Center.
Those who had the opportunity to work with these men will have memories for a very long time. Sometimes we argued like siblings if we felt our ideals were being compromised but we always managed to work everything out. We will miss these brothers, but we will always be thankful for the opportunity to share the Moose experience with them.
Over the years, as our membrship has grown and we moved into a much larger facility (also more beautiful and plush), those of us who worked together the first 12 years building our fraternity from a Moose Lodge into a Moose Family Center, have remained very close.
This week, we lost two of our brothers. Both had been Past Governors. Jim, who passed away last Monday was Governor the year I was Senior Regent. We had a wonderful year and worked like partners the entire year. We continued to be close friends after our year was over. Mal who passed away Sunday was Governor the year after Jim and I. Both men passed away after being ill. Both were taken from us much too early.
These are the first two out of the 17 men and 17 women, who have been Governors and Senior Regents from the Palace forward, to be taken from us. The pictures of all the Past Governors and Senior Regents are up on a wall so members will always see them up there. What's unfortuate is that the essence of who they were and what they meant to the Moose can't be taken from the pictures and members who join from now on will never know how much these men contributed to our wonderful Family Center.
Those who had the opportunity to work with these men will have memories for a very long time. Sometimes we argued like siblings if we felt our ideals were being compromised but we always managed to work everything out. We will miss these brothers, but we will always be thankful for the opportunity to share the Moose experience with them.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Exactly how wicked am I??
I have written about one of my co-buyers in the past. I have worked at my present job for almost 5 years. This co-buyer has not been the nicest person to work with every day. In fact she has never been nice to me and most often whatever she does say to me has been mostly sarcastic comments. I believe it stems from the fact that she had another person in mind for my job, and has never accepted the fact that I was the person hired without anyone else being interviewed. It's been difficult, but I have managed to ignore her, knowing that I have only a couple of years to retirement, and outside of this particular person, the comany is a wonderful place to work and the rest of my co-workers are super.
Starting yesterday, this person is out on medical leave for at least three weeks. She has to have some sort of surgery and to be honest, I have no idea what the surgery is for. As I said, we do not speak so she hasn't told me and I haven't bothered to ask anyone because if the truth be told, I really don't care.
What I feel kind of wicked about is instead of being concerned about her surgery, I am very pleased that she will be out of the office. When she is gone for any length of time, the entire demeanor of the office changes to a more relaxed atmosphere. This co-buyer has a very strong negative personality, and even though she speaks with the others, her negative personality still permeates the department with everyone wondering what will set her off next. I have to tell you, it's tough being good all the time. I think I can count on one hand the times anyone in our department has had a good belly laugh out loud.
So I plan on enjoying the next three weeks, almost free of the guilt I should be feeling. It will kind of be a vacation from stress even though I will be at work.
I really kind of wish her well and hope that her surgery is successful but in the meantime I plan on enjoying the freedom and maybe we can be relaxed enough to get some humor circulating.
Starting yesterday, this person is out on medical leave for at least three weeks. She has to have some sort of surgery and to be honest, I have no idea what the surgery is for. As I said, we do not speak so she hasn't told me and I haven't bothered to ask anyone because if the truth be told, I really don't care.
What I feel kind of wicked about is instead of being concerned about her surgery, I am very pleased that she will be out of the office. When she is gone for any length of time, the entire demeanor of the office changes to a more relaxed atmosphere. This co-buyer has a very strong negative personality, and even though she speaks with the others, her negative personality still permeates the department with everyone wondering what will set her off next. I have to tell you, it's tough being good all the time. I think I can count on one hand the times anyone in our department has had a good belly laugh out loud.
So I plan on enjoying the next three weeks, almost free of the guilt I should be feeling. It will kind of be a vacation from stress even though I will be at work.
I really kind of wish her well and hope that her surgery is successful but in the meantime I plan on enjoying the freedom and maybe we can be relaxed enough to get some humor circulating.
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