Hey, I interviewed today for a promotion at work. The interview went well, the interviewers were polite and gave the appearance of being interested in what I had to say for myself. Now, bear in mind that I really did not think I had a real chance to get the promotion when I applied because I am aware of the political aspects of job promotions. I have never been good at the playing the political part of the job world. I have a bad habit of speaking my mind and then everything goes south. (sigh) But I applied because I figure it is good training for actually getting a promotion somewhere along the line. It would also serve to sharpen my interview skills as well and let me know what kind of questions they like to ask at this place.
But what if I actually got the promotion? That would be so cool. It would be about a $15,000 promotion too! Ooh, I like the sound of that! There were a lot of people from my section interviewing for these 8 slots; people who I know and also know that they are good candidates as well. I would genuinely be happy for almost any one of them if they were promoted (even over me). But tonight, I dare to dream. Sure would like that promotion!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sunday, August 9, 2009
WTF?
Did you ever sit back and say WTF? I trust I do not have to define WTF because it is an acronym for a common expletive.
I am referring to situations that occur in life, when a series of events in your life begin to make no sense at all so you are driven to to say WTF? Now these events can be spontaneous happenings that when they occur in rather immediate succession, you want to say WTF? Largely, this response is because you are taken aback at how so many goofy events can stack up in a row, in rapid succession.
But the events that drive you to say WTF can be driven by the actions of other human beings. I would say that the majority of WTF situations are directly caused by human beings and are not spontaneous in any way or are matters of any happenstance.
Now, anyone who has had the "pleasure" of reading any of my drivel, would be well aware of my disdain for human stupidity (among other things that drive me crazy).
My latest WTF moment occurred this week at my work. Yes, it was human borne! Oh, and it also was the edicts of the "management" of the organization. So, let me tell you about it. Please.
Now, without going into detail which would serve no purpose, suffice it to say that my work involves people who apply for benefits. There are several different "categories" that the applications fall into. They are received in a rather constant manner, depending upon such idiosyncrasies as the time of the month and the time of the year. For some reason, we receive a boom of claims near the end of the month (actually, I know the reason but it is not necessary for this discussion). So, the number of applications received are reasonably predictable. Today's economy has driven that number up a little.
My logic says that if you have applications coming in the door at a relatively constant rate, and you have a certain number of people to process those claims and get them out the door, you can predict how many claims will be completed over a period of time. Wow, it's a thing called "capacity" to handle claims. If you do not have enough capacity to handle the influx of claims you have two choices, you can add more individuals to process claims, thus increasing your capacity, or you can accept the fact that your backlog of claims will be increasing. I suppose you could limit the claims you will accept but that would be nonsense, because people who are eligible to apply for benefits are entitled to do so.
So, what made me say WTF this week? I'm glad you asked? You didn't? I'll tell you anyway.
Our management team is very "reactive" rather than "proactive." This means they react to situations and move accordingly. They do not plan for production; they react to numbers of claims in any particular category. They are concerned at how the station will appear to the central office when they view the numbers of pending claims. Thus, they are constantly changing they type of claims they want us to concentrate on. THEY CHANGED THAT EMPHASIS EVERY DAY THIS PAST WEEK! They are dancing around like marionettes on a string! Thus, everyone processing claims are dancing like marionettes. WTF? Cooler heads need to prevail. By the end of the week I decided I need to concentrate my energy on those things that reflect directly on myself first and then I will work on their goals. I refuse to be a marionette!
I am referring to situations that occur in life, when a series of events in your life begin to make no sense at all so you are driven to to say WTF? Now these events can be spontaneous happenings that when they occur in rather immediate succession, you want to say WTF? Largely, this response is because you are taken aback at how so many goofy events can stack up in a row, in rapid succession.
But the events that drive you to say WTF can be driven by the actions of other human beings. I would say that the majority of WTF situations are directly caused by human beings and are not spontaneous in any way or are matters of any happenstance.
Now, anyone who has had the "pleasure" of reading any of my drivel, would be well aware of my disdain for human stupidity (among other things that drive me crazy).
My latest WTF moment occurred this week at my work. Yes, it was human borne! Oh, and it also was the edicts of the "management" of the organization. So, let me tell you about it. Please.
Now, without going into detail which would serve no purpose, suffice it to say that my work involves people who apply for benefits. There are several different "categories" that the applications fall into. They are received in a rather constant manner, depending upon such idiosyncrasies as the time of the month and the time of the year. For some reason, we receive a boom of claims near the end of the month (actually, I know the reason but it is not necessary for this discussion). So, the number of applications received are reasonably predictable. Today's economy has driven that number up a little.
My logic says that if you have applications coming in the door at a relatively constant rate, and you have a certain number of people to process those claims and get them out the door, you can predict how many claims will be completed over a period of time. Wow, it's a thing called "capacity" to handle claims. If you do not have enough capacity to handle the influx of claims you have two choices, you can add more individuals to process claims, thus increasing your capacity, or you can accept the fact that your backlog of claims will be increasing. I suppose you could limit the claims you will accept but that would be nonsense, because people who are eligible to apply for benefits are entitled to do so.
So, what made me say WTF this week? I'm glad you asked? You didn't? I'll tell you anyway.
Our management team is very "reactive" rather than "proactive." This means they react to situations and move accordingly. They do not plan for production; they react to numbers of claims in any particular category. They are concerned at how the station will appear to the central office when they view the numbers of pending claims. Thus, they are constantly changing they type of claims they want us to concentrate on. THEY CHANGED THAT EMPHASIS EVERY DAY THIS PAST WEEK! They are dancing around like marionettes on a string! Thus, everyone processing claims are dancing like marionettes. WTF? Cooler heads need to prevail. By the end of the week I decided I need to concentrate my energy on those things that reflect directly on myself first and then I will work on their goals. I refuse to be a marionette!
Friday, June 8, 2007
Who's right?
Human beings. A somewhat social bunch of creatures with an antisocial side. We live with each other and find living with each other impossible! Yet, we do not want to stop living with each other because it is lonely living alone. So we continue to live with each other for whatever reason and continue to get on each other's nerves.
I like to have my world organized and predictable. Now this does not in any way mean that I am organized and predictable! But I would like my world to be. I want my house neat and tidy. I want my clothes clean, folded and put neatly in their proper place. I want the dishes clean and placed in an organized fashion in their proper place. I want the towels clean and folded and placed in a neat stack in the linen closet. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that I want to be able to find things in my world when I want them and I don't want to stumble over things all the time because the place is cluttered.
I like to use objects that I purchase for my world in the manner to which they were intended. If I wanted to use them any other way, I would not have purchased the darn thing in the first place. Case in point: the dish drainer. Dish drainers are made to hold the plates and bowls vertical so that the water drains off from them and minimizes water spots. The flatware have a location designed to keep them vertical as well and keeps them from falling back into the sink or on the floor. Cups, pots and pans, etcetera, can be placed pretty much how they will fit because with space available, you have to be resourceful. What drives me literally CRAZY, is when another person occupying my space, piles the dishes willy nilly along with flatware and everything else in a heap and expects everything to stay put without something ending up on the floor.
Now the tension brought about by my wants for my world to be organized and the carrying out of another person being very willy nilly, if not an outright slob, can be overwhelming! This will lead to my pointing out how I would appreciate a little better cleanliness and organization, which leads to retort how I should be happy with any cleanliness at all (a defense mechanism, I'm sure). At this point, murder begins to take on the aire of being a viable option!
So who is right? Should I demand that all humans who occupy my space work toward my common goal? Mind you, I am cognizant that my organization is not perfect, rather a goal that I aim toward. Or should I be accepting of people how they are even though it drives me CRAZY and builds up gradually over time and causes an eruption similar to Old Faithful? Should I give up and live alone? ( I don't like that option very much.) I would really like to know how to handle this. I am basically a logical thinker but there seems to be no logic in this one. So who is right?
I like to have my world organized and predictable. Now this does not in any way mean that I am organized and predictable! But I would like my world to be. I want my house neat and tidy. I want my clothes clean, folded and put neatly in their proper place. I want the dishes clean and placed in an organized fashion in their proper place. I want the towels clean and folded and placed in a neat stack in the linen closet. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that I want to be able to find things in my world when I want them and I don't want to stumble over things all the time because the place is cluttered.
I like to use objects that I purchase for my world in the manner to which they were intended. If I wanted to use them any other way, I would not have purchased the darn thing in the first place. Case in point: the dish drainer. Dish drainers are made to hold the plates and bowls vertical so that the water drains off from them and minimizes water spots. The flatware have a location designed to keep them vertical as well and keeps them from falling back into the sink or on the floor. Cups, pots and pans, etcetera, can be placed pretty much how they will fit because with space available, you have to be resourceful. What drives me literally CRAZY, is when another person occupying my space, piles the dishes willy nilly along with flatware and everything else in a heap and expects everything to stay put without something ending up on the floor.
Now the tension brought about by my wants for my world to be organized and the carrying out of another person being very willy nilly, if not an outright slob, can be overwhelming! This will lead to my pointing out how I would appreciate a little better cleanliness and organization, which leads to retort how I should be happy with any cleanliness at all (a defense mechanism, I'm sure). At this point, murder begins to take on the aire of being a viable option!
So who is right? Should I demand that all humans who occupy my space work toward my common goal? Mind you, I am cognizant that my organization is not perfect, rather a goal that I aim toward. Or should I be accepting of people how they are even though it drives me CRAZY and builds up gradually over time and causes an eruption similar to Old Faithful? Should I give up and live alone? ( I don't like that option very much.) I would really like to know how to handle this. I am basically a logical thinker but there seems to be no logic in this one. So who is right?
Monday, June 4, 2007
New York Times and George W. Bush
Yesterday was a very annoying day for me. The details are not important when it comes to this post so suffice it to say, yesterday was very annoying and I'm still mad as hell!
But in the course of the day, I was reading a copy of the New York Times and came accross an article that analyzed George W. Bush and drew some comparisons to Richard M. Nixon. Now I recall Mr. Nixon being in the Whitehouse very well. I was in high school when he was first elected in 1968. He was ever present as I finished high school and entered the military. Yes, you may extrapolate from that that I am a Vietnam Era Veteran. Vietnam Era I said, not Vietnam Veteran - the war ended while I was in basic training but the era continued for about 2 1/2 more years, so that makes me "of the era." Now I was never a big fan of Mr. Nixon and as his troubles grew larger from his involvement in the Watergate break-in, I was not unhappy to see him leave office! But I always maintained over the years, that Mr. Nixon, the "crook" he was, was not really all that bad for the United States of America. He opened doors to China, he drew down Vietnam, he at least tried to do something about inflation by ordering a freeze on prices for a length of time, and didn't make any BIG mistakes, save for his blunder and insecurity over being reelected. But as was pointed out in the article in the New York Times, he was very cognizant of his blunder. Mr. Nixon did not come from wealth so he was not a priveledged child.
Now take George W. Bush on the other hand; this guy is anything but good for the United States of America! And the problem is that he comes from priveledge and is probably too stupid to ever realize just the awful things he has done! He single handedly started an endless war over trumped up reasoning that was more self-serving than anything. Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney have gotten very rich over this war. Mr. Bush has made a target of the USA and injured our credibility abroad. He took a balanced budget with a surplus that was paying down the national debt and created the most enormous deficit in history! I could go on, but it is painfully obvious that this guy is NOT a good guy! What is even more difficult to swallow is that he THINKS he has devine guidance and is working as a hand of God! This is idiocy!
Anyone who lived through the times of Richard M. Nixon and saw the change to Gerald Ford, heard the chatter of how Ford was a Ford and not a Lincoln. The obvious parody, he being his own man and not Honest Abe while drawing from the automobile company names. I recall how there was further chatter in hope that he wasn't an Edsel! Well, time has been fairly good to Mr. Ford as was evidenced by the accolades he received in his recent death.
But then we have George W. Bush! Republicans and Democrats alike are distancing themselves from him........and with good reason. Nobody in their right mind would want to associate themselves with his policies. He has the lowest rating in history! 72 percent of Americans polled said they wish his presidency was over. We need someone new to clean up the mess. Even an old used Hoover would do! Here here! As much as I like that last line, it is not mine but of the author in the New York Times.
But in the course of the day, I was reading a copy of the New York Times and came accross an article that analyzed George W. Bush and drew some comparisons to Richard M. Nixon. Now I recall Mr. Nixon being in the Whitehouse very well. I was in high school when he was first elected in 1968. He was ever present as I finished high school and entered the military. Yes, you may extrapolate from that that I am a Vietnam Era Veteran. Vietnam Era I said, not Vietnam Veteran - the war ended while I was in basic training but the era continued for about 2 1/2 more years, so that makes me "of the era." Now I was never a big fan of Mr. Nixon and as his troubles grew larger from his involvement in the Watergate break-in, I was not unhappy to see him leave office! But I always maintained over the years, that Mr. Nixon, the "crook" he was, was not really all that bad for the United States of America. He opened doors to China, he drew down Vietnam, he at least tried to do something about inflation by ordering a freeze on prices for a length of time, and didn't make any BIG mistakes, save for his blunder and insecurity over being reelected. But as was pointed out in the article in the New York Times, he was very cognizant of his blunder. Mr. Nixon did not come from wealth so he was not a priveledged child.
Now take George W. Bush on the other hand; this guy is anything but good for the United States of America! And the problem is that he comes from priveledge and is probably too stupid to ever realize just the awful things he has done! He single handedly started an endless war over trumped up reasoning that was more self-serving than anything. Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney have gotten very rich over this war. Mr. Bush has made a target of the USA and injured our credibility abroad. He took a balanced budget with a surplus that was paying down the national debt and created the most enormous deficit in history! I could go on, but it is painfully obvious that this guy is NOT a good guy! What is even more difficult to swallow is that he THINKS he has devine guidance and is working as a hand of God! This is idiocy!
Anyone who lived through the times of Richard M. Nixon and saw the change to Gerald Ford, heard the chatter of how Ford was a Ford and not a Lincoln. The obvious parody, he being his own man and not Honest Abe while drawing from the automobile company names. I recall how there was further chatter in hope that he wasn't an Edsel! Well, time has been fairly good to Mr. Ford as was evidenced by the accolades he received in his recent death.
But then we have George W. Bush! Republicans and Democrats alike are distancing themselves from him........and with good reason. Nobody in their right mind would want to associate themselves with his policies. He has the lowest rating in history! 72 percent of Americans polled said they wish his presidency was over. We need someone new to clean up the mess. Even an old used Hoover would do! Here here! As much as I like that last line, it is not mine but of the author in the New York Times.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Unintelligent President
It seems to me...........
I don't know if there is such a word as unintelligent. But it seems apt for describing George W. Bush. Daily there are examples to illustrate this thought.
George W. Bush said today that Iraq is at the center of terrorism. Young people would respond with "duh!" But the problem here is that he is the one that caused this! This guy destablilized Iraq. Yes, I know that Saddam Hussein was a nasty guy. But there are a lot of nasty guys in Iraq and accross the middle east. Osama Bin Laden is a nasty guy. They all have a lot of nasty friends. They all act in the name of Islam. If you remove 100 nasty guys from the area, there are still millions left! It is the middle eastern mentality. So go figure, terrorism is only under control when a dominant nasty guy is at the helm.
I have noticed that George W. Bush repeats the same thing over and over, even when it has been proven to not be true. Does he think if he repeats it enough times, people will believe him? I think this only proves the unintelligence of George W. Bush!
I don't know if there is such a word as unintelligent. But it seems apt for describing George W. Bush. Daily there are examples to illustrate this thought.
George W. Bush said today that Iraq is at the center of terrorism. Young people would respond with "duh!" But the problem here is that he is the one that caused this! This guy destablilized Iraq. Yes, I know that Saddam Hussein was a nasty guy. But there are a lot of nasty guys in Iraq and accross the middle east. Osama Bin Laden is a nasty guy. They all have a lot of nasty friends. They all act in the name of Islam. If you remove 100 nasty guys from the area, there are still millions left! It is the middle eastern mentality. So go figure, terrorism is only under control when a dominant nasty guy is at the helm.
I have noticed that George W. Bush repeats the same thing over and over, even when it has been proven to not be true. Does he think if he repeats it enough times, people will believe him? I think this only proves the unintelligence of George W. Bush!
Monday, May 21, 2007
President Jimmie Carter
Jimmie Carter has gone on record in saying that the George W. Bush presidency may be the worst ever! This was followed up by the Bush administration replying that President Carter is becoming increasingly irrelevant!
President Carter has withstood the test of time. He has become a respected statesman and has worked for peace and tolerance in the world. He has forged peace agreements between warring nations (Egypt and Israel), he has served on election oversight panels, and has worked to spread democracy.
George W. Bush has created unending war and created instability all over the middle east. Fuel prices have skyrocked. He took a budget surplus and created the greatest deficit in history.
Who would expect anything else from this administration but to cast aside the words of Jimmie Carter as being irrelevant? This from an administration that grows more stupid with each passing day.
President Carter has withstood the test of time. He has become a respected statesman and has worked for peace and tolerance in the world. He has forged peace agreements between warring nations (Egypt and Israel), he has served on election oversight panels, and has worked to spread democracy.
George W. Bush has created unending war and created instability all over the middle east. Fuel prices have skyrocked. He took a budget surplus and created the greatest deficit in history.
Who would expect anything else from this administration but to cast aside the words of Jimmie Carter as being irrelevant? This from an administration that grows more stupid with each passing day.
Friday, May 18, 2007
War and Politics
It seems to me............
It seems to me that George W. Bush just doesn't get it! Congress passed legislation that set a timetable for the return of our troops from Iraq. Bush vetoed it.......surprise surprise! So then he said he looked forward to working with congress to draft a bill he could sign. Okay, so congress made some concessions, dropping the timeline and placed that before him. No deal. Is this guy stupid or does he just act like it? When will he get it that this war thing is going nowhere and American lives are going down the drain left and right? Not only are our people dying daily, the surviving soldiers are being left physically and emotionally scared beyond recognition!
Someone needs to sit accross from him.........may as well put Cheney next to him.....and drive it into his skull that the American people are sick to death of their stupidity!
As I drove past the gas stations, I see the price of gas is at $3.45 today. Good God! What has happened to this country? We will be paralized soon because we will be driven into depression because inflation will skyrocket. Things do not bode well for America as this insanity prevails!
It seems to me that George W. Bush just doesn't get it! Congress passed legislation that set a timetable for the return of our troops from Iraq. Bush vetoed it.......surprise surprise! So then he said he looked forward to working with congress to draft a bill he could sign. Okay, so congress made some concessions, dropping the timeline and placed that before him. No deal. Is this guy stupid or does he just act like it? When will he get it that this war thing is going nowhere and American lives are going down the drain left and right? Not only are our people dying daily, the surviving soldiers are being left physically and emotionally scared beyond recognition!
Someone needs to sit accross from him.........may as well put Cheney next to him.....and drive it into his skull that the American people are sick to death of their stupidity!
As I drove past the gas stations, I see the price of gas is at $3.45 today. Good God! What has happened to this country? We will be paralized soon because we will be driven into depression because inflation will skyrocket. Things do not bode well for America as this insanity prevails!
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