April 25, 2010
It’s meant to be my supremely lazy Sunday by which the following are banned from my list of Things To Do: no cooking, cleaning, laundry or other chores.
Instead, SO kindly scribed the following stress-free suggestions for consideration:
– Buy a cardigan for the office; these bones would greatly appreciate extra warmth, p’rhaps a parka?
– Go out for brunch; there are a few folks about the area I coulda shoulda called up
– Massage; medical necessity, actually
– Reconnoiter the local garage sales on Craigslist
– Check out the Martin and Osa sales online
– Use the BOGO coupon at Jamba Juice
It’s a cute idea, but right now my idea of destressing actually includes: not spending money, not leaving the apartment, and catching up on work. Taking out all the housework is splendid though I will pay for it later.
It seems nonsensical, but hear me out. At least one-third of my stress is powered up by the knowledge that I have a million things to do and bills to pay. The balancing act of living frugally and earning “enough” is precarious and altogether draining. As it is, just not pre-cooking for the week would have me in knots if I weren’t at least well ahead of the game on one freelance project after logging hours yesterday evening.
Thanks in no small part to rising early (another abnormality when I’ve got any choice about it), today has been both semi-productive yet restful. There’s a banana nut cake with extra walnuts cooling on the stove, some leftover Indian food warming in the oven, and not an unmanageable amount of work slated for today.
I haven’t watched any TV yet (Serenity! Battlestar Galactica! Dr. Who! White Collar! Bones!) this weekend, but if I wrap up at least another project by mid-afternoon, I could still squeeze in a geekfest. After I defrost the chicken, that is. A girl has got to eat something, sometime this week.
Bonus Question: should I trek out for this week’s coupons and a few bags of Trader Joe’s pretzels for work? I need carbs to get through the day.
April 19, 2010
It just seems better.
Days gone by, I liked BART just fine because it does the job but in comparison to Caltrain it’s kind of grubby and a kick in the wallet.
Caltrain’s cheaper for my purposes because they offer a variety of ticket options. Daily or round trips are most costly; the 8-trip and monthly passes bring the daily round trip cost down by 75 cents or $2, respectively. BART has no such options. BART offers a piddling discount off the total price when you buy “high-value” tickets which are just cash-value tickets. The cost of the trips remain the same.
I’ve paid $5 for a one-day round trip ticket, or $17 for an 8-trip pass, that gets me to walking distance of my destination on Caltrain. I would pay $3.25 each way on BART and have to take a bus at both ends for about $2 each trip.
Sadly, while I still haven’t decided about driving into the city for the longer commute in a few months, my only transit option will soon be BART because Caltrain doesn’t go my way.
April 15, 2010
As a supervisor one of the responsibilities I’ve got on my plate is approving the staff timesheets. When I was a non-exempt (hourly) employee, I was always on a biweekly system which meant you were paid the week following the pay period closing date. If your work week ended on Friday the ninth, that’s when your pay period ended. Your timesheets were due the next day, and you were paid the following week.
My employees are turning in timesheets in the middle of their pay period. For example, they submit on the 8th for days 1st-15th. As hourly workers, how does that make sense? If they’re out sick or have to take some time off unexpectedly during the latter half of that pay period and the timesheets are already signed, approved and submitted for processing, then you can’t very well charge their sick or vacation time appropriately, can you?
As far as I can recall, California labor law is extremely strict about accurate reporting and timesheets so I’m a little surprised that this is the payroll method used.
Does anyone have experience with the twice monthly method? Am I missing something here?
April 2, 2010
Whoo! Reacclimating to the early morning and long day thing has been … well, rough!
I’m very glad that I started late in the week because the amount of work, meetings, and gaping void of leadership that had to be addressed. My boss isn’t even here for part of this month so I’ve really been operating from a bit of a blind spot, but I’m proud to have smoothly handled three slightly sticky HR problems, taken the staff out for a lunch and rotated so that I had alone time with each of them, and pulled them into an impromptu Q&A session that seemed to release the tension I’d observed over the past two days.
Apparently, they hadn’t been explicitly informed that I was their new boss and supervisor.
Yeah.
That definitely was tension I was feeling in between my meetings.
The absence of the boss during this time will actually work for me as I clearly demonstrate my intention and ability to manage and support them within the organization so that they feel their contributions are not just expected, but their voices are heard and teach them how to speak up in a professional manner.
Meantime, I’m going to work on a weekly menu so that I bring my lunch everyday, and eat dinner in at least 5 times a week; eating out around the workplace seems to run between $10-15 which is way too much for a single daily meal. Simple and healthy recipes are always appreciated!
March 4, 2010
I had to double-check the publication date on this article (sorry, original article is gone) after I read it through the first time. Though some of the information about how Millennials work and play is still valid, does this advice to employers on how to woo new Millennial grads, whose market this clearly is, still make sense?
……Shake your head if you wish, but this Millennial generation listens to their parents, and so have learned the lessons inflicted upon their parents. Both generations have learned that employers have little to no loyalty to their employees so they respond by showing little to no loyalty back. We may grumble and complain about Millennials being job hoppers, but let’s be honest: most of us would lay them off the first chance we got if our profits took a substantial downturn. They know that and act accordingly. If they are not treated well and offered the opportunities that the employer across the street is willing to offer them, then they will leave you before you have the opportunity to lay them off. So treat them like we should have been treating our employees all along.
Considering the recession, the astounding number of long-term unemployed, and the difficulty in getting a callback for one of dozens of deployed resumes even in a targeted search, this concluding paragraph to employers is at best misleading for current job seekers who might happen across it:
The Millennial generation is probably the most sought after, highly skilled, ready to hit the ground running generation ever to enter our workforce. We are counting on them despite their vastly smaller numbers to replace the productivity of the massive Baby Boomer generation. I believe that they stand an excellent chance of doing so because of the tools and talents they possess. But should they fail, I believe it will be due to the failure of Gen X’ers and Baby Boomers to adapt to the very different needs and wants of this remarkable generation.
It’s the employer’s prerogative to cater to the young’uns? Coming out of the recession or not, employment is a lagging indicator and has a long ways yet to recover. In the meantime, I’m pretty sure any employers reading this would simply nod while reaching for the next 4,000 resumes electronically stacked for their two positions currently open.
February 25, 2010
WiseBread’s Job-Search Romance post made me laugh.
No small feat considering how fraught with stress the job-hunt life tends to be, but the timing was just right as I’d just likened the post-interview process to dating in a private conversation:
If I call them before it’s “late,” when they were clear about their response timeline, I destabilize the dynamics. Post (what seemed like) a strong interview, they’ve got to make up their minds to want me. And if they want me, they’ll come calling, not just leave me hanging. If I have to beg them to want me, the chemistry wasn’t there and, by Jove, neither will it be in my favor for negotiations!
As Julie notes, “Often, there is little you can do to make the employer love you if you’re not the one.”
At the end of the day, do you want to have spent your time slaving for the affections of the one who just kind-of, sort-of liked you? Or do you want to have a dynamic, thriving relationship based on mutual goals and admiration?
Idealistic? Absolutely.
WellHeeled rightly points out, “a romance isn’t responsible for PAYING THE BILLS.” Of all people, I know that. But there’s at least a little room for idealism in the world. And there’s still some room in my budget to pursue a combination of that hope and my normal brand of pragmatism.
After all, if I don’t value myself as the proven high-performer that I have been, why should they?
Of course I want a job, but I don’t want just any job, I need a job that wants and values me/my work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edited to add a link to a Forbes article: Why Job-Seeking is just like Dating
January 9, 2010
My best bud, Robin, was up for a promotion at work. But he’s not getting it.
They’re considering sending him to another level over the one he was proposing!
This new promotion’s gone through most of the C-level execs for review and approval and it’s awaiting final approval and parameter-setting.
I’m so proud of him! He took the initiative, wrote a proposal, and he took a risk in sending it off without consulting his current manager. It was such a good proposal that upper management recognized that he was proposing great ideas, and told his current manager that his proposal saves the company at least $25,000 which makes that manager look *really* good.
Please cross your fingers for Robin! 🙂