Greener Grass

I think I’ve mentioned that due to Hurricane Sandy, my work location has been up in the air. My team can work between 2 locations or stay at home. One location leaves much to be desired because it’s dark and there is a lot of noise around the area. The group next to ours completely lacks work etiquette. Aside from having to hear the ipod shuffle of a person 2 row from me, I’ve also had the honor of listening into a girl’s SKYPE conversation with her mom and niece. I got to a point where nothing amazed me anymore. 

Then I ended up going to visit my old team when they were all in town for a group meeting. They were having their meeting in a conference center. Because I wasn’t part of the meeting (just visiting), I had to sit in the room next to theirs. And the room I sat in was just baffling.

There were 4 rows along this particular space and on both sides of those rows were monitors. Imagine a bunch of long banquet tables were people face each other, only to be blocked off by computer monitors for each guest. They call this the trading floor. I call it hell in an office building. The whole time I was there, I could see and hear every person in front of me, to an angle from me and to the side of me. I even got the residual noise from the people in the row behind me - not to mention the sniffing, snorting, coughing and nose blowing of the people in my arm's length. It was an extremely joyous and productive occasion (and if you can’t sense the sarcasm, I need to work on my writing)!

I don’t think I got a single thing done in the time I was there. Just after 12, I stopped in to say hi to my old team and decided to leave. I had so much to do and there was just not much of a chance of my getting it done in the environment. 

It was horrible and I can’t understand the thought process behind that configuration (except cost saving but even then, how much of a saving is it when no one is productive!). It made me really thankful for the situation I am in. Despite having to split my time between two locations, both of them now looked like a Caribbean work beach compared to that set up. It’s important to see something else from time to time because we often do think the grass is greener on the other side. Until the other side is filled with people taping away at computers, listening to conference calls on speaker phone right in front of you and a plethora of other annoying work activities! Then you realize maybe you didn’t have it too bad. 

Little Things

People have often said it's difficult to buy me gifts. While they may think that's true, I disagree. I am pretty vocal about the things I like and don't like. If people pay attention to that alone, I think they are off to a good start.

I enjoy paper and pens immensely. I do have a lot of them but they do give me an inordinate amount of pleasure. I am a big believer of correspondence. I have a few good friends with whom I still correspond with either exclusively or occasionally. It gives me great joy to get letters from these people even if it's a short note or a card. These papers and pens and cards come in handy when I write to these people! So that's why I also like them.

On the subject of cards, a really thoughtful and sentimental card goes a long way with me. If there is a personal note to go along with it, that's an even bigger plus. I love books and I will never turn down chocolate, even white chocolate! (which is admittedly my least favorite of the types of chocolate.) I thoroughly enjoy tea and coffee too.

Gift cards are also a very personal thing for me. A lot of people find that they are impersonal. But I think that if you get someone a gift card to a place you know they love, what's better than letting them choose something for themselves? I'm weird that way, I guess.

It really is at times the little things that make a big deal. Case in point, more than a month ago it was my birthday. I admit it was crushing when some people I thought very highly of, who meant a lot to me,  completely forgot about it. Life is hectic and people are busy; I understand these facts.  However one friend got me a bunch of very cute little gifts - one of which filled me with a lot of glee. It was a miniature stationery kit. In it there were small pieces of paper, small envelopes, a small pencil and a pencil sharpener. For added cuteness, there were even little stickers. The moment I received this gift, I used it to send a letter to the person who sent me the gift. Then I used another 3 pieces of papers and envelopes to send 3 other letters within the next few days. I just thought it was the most adorable and sweet gift! And it was a little gift, literally.

I know I am a complicated person. I love to discuss difficult subjects at large, especially in French. I read all types of weird books, although mostly I read fiction. I'm intrigued by ideas and what makes people tick. When it comes down to it though, I'm not that hard to please. Say what you mean, mean what you say, actions speak louder than words, dogs and babied make my day and chocolate makes the world go round.

Daily Puppy

I’ve been visiting the website ‘The Daily Puppy’ for years. I first heard about it from a co-worker who is equally smitten with dogs as I am. Every day we would check the site and then meet at each other’s cubicle and discuss how cute the dog of the day was.

Even though I no longer work with this person, I have kept up the semi-daily viewing of the website. I mostly discuss the cuteness, squishiness or adorableness of the quotidian canine with my sister or a few of my friends. What I have found in doing this is that it brings a smile to my face.

When work gets boring, annoying or stressful, I like to check into this site to put a smile on my face. (I also do this with pictures of my daughter now.) Now as scientific studies have proven, seeing or being around dogs help bring blood pressure down. I can say that I sincerely have noticed this over the years. I am always calmer (even if momentarily) after I look at the puppies on the site, or if I see pictures of my own pooches.

I think that if you like dogs (or even cats because there is a daily kitty site), it would do the whole world a brief bit of good to check out the website when you aren’t feeling at your best. Enjoy!!

Little Meatball

Every language I know has its affectionate terms for people. In French, your loved one could be ‘a little cabbage’ or ‘my little louse’.  In English someone could be your ‘cookie’, ‘cupcake’ or even ‘sweetheart’. Spanish has too many to even name here but I don’t think that they are food related.

In Italian you’ll often hear someone being called a meatball. It makes sense to some degree. Meatballs are very important to Italian cuisine and it’s meant to refer to a little something that comforting and special. (Although I’ve also heard it refer to someone who is fat and dumb but that’s neither here nor there.) My daughter actually will be christened ‘little meatball’ not so much because she tastes good or is yummy with pasta but because of a couple of events around meatballs themselves.

In introducing her to adult food, she wasn’t very fond of chicken,meat or ham. She just thought they were weird. She had no real issues with veggies and some fruits she ended up enjoying after the second try. However, the proteins have been hard. So one day I said, maybe she just needs a little something extra with the meats to make them interesting. So I thought meatballs might just be the trick.

We started first with chicken meatballs in broth. Before even giving them to her, she decided to make a little pool in one of her high chair compartments with her water. This happened mostly because she turned her sippy cup upside down. Then I cut up some chicken meatballs to give to her. She took one and put it in her mouth. She was a little skeptical of the taste. But she eventually ate the small piece. She then swept the other pieces into the water with her hand. She moved the meatball morsels around in the water and then one by one ate the bits. I guess she thought they needed to be sanitized before she could chew on them. Regardless, it was cute and she ate them and it was the validation I needed that perhaps now she would eat some protein.

A few days later I decided to make beef meatballs with some pasta. This would be the first time she would eat pasta too so it was another big milestone. I decided to make fusilli/corkscrew pasta because I could cut it small enough for her to get little bites. I gave her some of the meatballs first which she enjoyed. Then I gave her pieces of the pasta which she took in her fingers and inspected. She looked at the first piece in front of her eyes and made a face like ‘I’ve never seen you’ and she then quickly put it in her mouth. However her mouth was still full of some meatballs. So she couldn’t quite make out the taste of the pasta so she spit everything out. The gnawed piece of pasta and little bits of the meatballs fell on her bib. She then reached down with her mouth and tongue to the bib and ate the pasta piece only. She chewed it and seemed happy with its flavor. Now that she had the essence of it without it being tarnished by the meatball, she was content. She mixed together some meatballs and pasta as she completed her meal.  Finally we were eating a real meal together as a family.

Her playfulness and then acceptance of meatballs made me very happy. Up until that point, I was cooking food for the adults and mashing up food for her or giving her purees of food. We weren’t eating the exact same things. Now she was having adult food in baby sizes. And because she’s small and special and cute when she eats, she will now be christened my little meatball (although I will still call her a munchkin and a pumpkin and a number of other names). 

Feedback

Around this time of year many companies begin to do their mid-year reviews. Employees are asked to self-assess their performance and to write up their accomplishments so far. I think the whole thing is hokey but nonetheless, I do it. It’s a good time to reflect on what you have done, what else needs to be done and why you aren’t doing certain things. I get the point of it but it’s still one of those administrative things full of sound and fury signifying nothing.


In my company we have to list about our 3 strengths and opportunities (they are trying to be politically correct and not say weaknesses but I think we all know what opportunities mean) in our assessment as well. A number of years ago a manager listed one of my opportunities as needing to speak more. This wasn’t to say I was mute; she just felt that I had lots of good ideas but that I wouldn’t share them. (The real reason I didn’t speak up is actually another story which I will have to discuss in another entry.)

After getting that comment, I did begin to speak up more in meetings and on conference calls but not to the point where I took over the conversation (mostly because that’s just not my style). I enjoy listening to what other people say over listening to myself speak. But I’m probably a rarity in my field.

For instance there was one person on my extended team a couple of months ago, who just sat on my nerves and plucked at them. He had to talk and talk in every meeting. At least 15 minutes of every meeting was filled with him chattering on. I really wanted to inflict pain on myself whenever he talked just to have a legitimate excuse to leave the room or the call so I wouldn’t have to hear him. After weeks of this incessant blabbering, I actually asked my boss if mr. blabber would be given an opportunity of ‘learning when to shut his trap’ on his mid-year review. Of course my boss laughed but defended him in saying “he has a lot of good things to say”. I told my boss that the emphasis should be on ‘a lot’. I thought we were being rated on concise speech? If a woman had spoken this much, I’m sure someone would have pulled her aside and told her to shut up. I was pretty sure that this guy would never hear that his useless drivel (because really a lot of it was hot air) was literally making people’s ears bleed.

The point in my bringing this up is that if you aren’t really going to give people constructive criticism, what’s the point in all this silly feedback formality. I could not have been the only one who complained about this guy talking people to death. Obviously if my boss laughed at it, there had to be truth in my comment. But where I was being told to speak up, I wonder if anyone was telling him to speak down!

Luckily I don’t have to listen to him anymore. Otherwise, I’d have a special set of noise canceling ear plugs made to shut out his ridiculous clamoring.

Squeaky Wheel

My office building was flooded during Hurricane Sandy. It is still not open. My team has been displaced and working between two different locations. Honestly this doesn’t bother me too much. I’ve gotten to meet people on my team that I probably wouldn’t have met otherwise.


What has been interesting is how things were handled through this whole displacement. We were not allowed to go in and get our desk contents or anything like that. Normally that wouldn’t bother me if I knew we’d be going to back to that building. Recently the items in our desks were sent to us, which led me to believe that we weren’t going to be returning to our old building. However no one was communicating the details of what was happening. We were notified only that we would be getting our desk contents shipped to us at our current locations and nothing else.

A few weeks ago I received 3 boxes and I went through the items. 99% of my things were there (my shoes weren’t lacking – see blog entry “Shoe Fetish”) so I wasn’t going to complain. (The 1% I honestly wasn’t sure was in my desk so there was no point in complaining about it.) Without a desk to call my own now (our team has to grab the first desk available at either of the locations we’re using) and nowhere to put these items now, I had to bring them home.

My husband and daughter drove out to my office building so they could transport my stuff home. Before meeting them I loaded a card that had a squeaky wheel. This damaged wheel made me laugh for a number of reasons.

1) It reminded me how ridiculous this whole displacement situation has been

2) It made me think about how people who complain a lot are named a ‘squeaky wheel’ yet are the ones who get what they want

3) I began to wonder if I shouldn’t be a squeaky wheel more myself.

A number of years ago I worked for a totally ridiculous woman who did nothing but complain. She was the epitome of the squeaky wheel. Yet the more she complained, the more attention she got as well as everything to solve her complaints. This cart set off a thought process in me that I never imagined. I decided that I needed to speak up more often. It really seemed that the squeaky wheel did get all the oil and being quiet wasn’t getting me anywhere.

Of course, the more I became vocal about things that didn’t work or that were upsetting me, I found I wasn’t getting what I wanted. More often it led me to believe that it only works for some people. It’s the tone that I use or the way I say things. I guess I’m not that annoying in certain situations (at least not at work) because I definitely was annoying my husband with my complaining. I never thought complaining was a skill! But somehow my old boss used it to her advantage. Maybe I’m not complaining to the right people? Well, it has now become another item in my arsenal of perplexing things. How does a squeaky wheel type person get their voice heard? How can I learn to get this annoying habit to work for me? Perhaps with time, the truth will be revealed to me.

Tasteless

The title of this entry would suggest that I am going to rant about the horrible fashion trends that I notice but that will actually have to wait for another entry. Today I’m going to talk about sinus infections. I’m sure most of you will turn away now.


I am unblessed with seasonal allergies. Every year as the blooms bud and the flowers appear, I am reeling in pressure headaches, watery eyes and sneezing. I don’t usually mind because I take medication to control the symptoms. But this year when I thought that my medication was working, it wasn’t helping me clear out the fun stuff that accumulates in my nasal passages.

I am plagued with a sinus infection. I tend to get one every year for different reasons but it’s usually in the summer when I’m around air conditioning. This time around my symptoms were a little different; I ran a fever and had chills. My head felt like it was simultaneously a hot air balloon that was being squeezed into a vise, which is the normal feeling. This time around dizziness settled in as well. If it weren’t for my head, you’d think I was fine. I still had pep and vigor to clean and cook but I was just a little delayed due to blowing my nose and needed to breathe.

Luckily I feel better now except that I can’t taste anything and I can’t smell. It’s actually gotten worse in the last few days instead of better. I had coffee with hazelnut syrup yesterday and all I could taste was what seemed like warm water. All my flavored teas seemed like warm sock water. Iced drinks were the same. My spicy food doesn’t seem spicy even though my lips are still burning so it’s good to know some things are working. Wasabi didn’t give me my usual brain kick but it did make my nose run. So maybe this isn’t too bad in practice.

From blowing my nose, I blew out an ear and can’t hear too well. Every time I blow my nose now, that same ear makes a beeping noise. My nostrils are sore and peeling and aside from the fact that I’ll definitely win Miss America from present appearance, I’m doing better. Thanks for asking.

The best part of not being able to smell is that I don’t have to really worry when my husband warns me to not go to the bathroom after he’s gone. Usually I hold off but since I am not phased in this regard, I don’t have die by making my bladder explode.

Thieves

I discovered this morning that in the span of 2 days ticket prices for a specific time frame went up 100 dollars. I understand that ticket prices are subject to change. But it seems a bit much in the span of 2 days. Not to mention that airlines give you absolutely nothing for these prices anymore. You can’t bring all the bags you want. You don’t get even get meals anymore. Almost all the seats are booked and sometimes even overbooked. It is criminal.


Lately a lot of things get on my nerves and mostly they are big institutions such as the airline industry. Apart from this insane bump of prices, there are the insane prices of flights that are prevailing. I was looking for tickets to go to either France or Italy from anytime between April and November and I have seen nothing less than 1000 per ticket. This just seems astounding to me for a few reasons (only because that’s all I can think of this morning):

1) As I mentioned before, you don’t get anything for these prices (you are charged for bags, get no meals, the flights are overbooked and/or crowded)

2) Airlines are supposed to be providing a service but lately flying is more an inconvenience than anything else. There are delays and flights are cancelled without notification. They can leave you stranded in some boondocks town spending more money for a hotel (Yet another expense) because you’ve been bumped off a flight or the flight no longer exists.

What makes me laugh even more by their tactics is how I get emails saying “discounted travel” or “sale fares” from these airlines. And when I go and look at the cost of these rates, they seem just as expensive as their ‘regular’ prices.

I remember a time when I could get a ticket to Europe for 500 bucks, which is still kind of pricey to me but far more reasonable than now-a-days. Those days, I’d get a meal, I could check in 2 bags, the flight was on time and it was relaxing. Now in order to pay that price to get to Europe, I have to go to Russia before I can even get half-way to my desired destinations in Western Europe. This is ridiculous because it’s wasting more fuel and everyone’s time.

Shoe Fetish

Almost every woman I know loves shoes. I am no different. Through the years the type of shoe has changed but still, I have a collection of them. I am fully aware of lust but never more so than earlier this week.


My office building was flooded due to Hurricane Sandy. It has since been closed but the contents of all of our desks were sent to us this week. I knew I had a lot of stuff in my old drawers and cabinets so when I saw three boxes I wasn’t surprised. I was surprised when I opened one of the boxes to find a LOT of shoes.

I used to go to the gym every day before work so I’d walk into the office with my sneakers. I’d change into shoes that coordinated with my outfit as I got into work. I didn’t think I had so many different outfits since I try to wear neutral colors but I had a pair of winter shoes and summer shoes for almost every basic color imaginable.

I decided free myself of some of the shoes because I’d have to bring all the contents of these boxes home. And home isn’t shoe free, I might add. I didn’t do as well as I wanted but I did toss out 3 pairs of shoes because they were worn down or I knew they would now be uncomfortable (Pregnancy really does change your foot as do electrical blackouts but that’s another blog entry).

Oddly in this same week, I also got a couple of packages because (that darn department store) Macy’s is having a shoe sale. It’s funny because I tend to see myself as a full-time sneaker wearer. Obviously the contents of my shoe closet say otherwise. The worse part is that if a particular pair is really comfortable, I crucify them through over usage. I guess that’s better than not using them at all, right? Please tell me this is a bad thing. I can’t tell by the way my husband looks away whenever I talk about shoes so maybe you can help me.

9 Months

Pregnancy is often referred to as 9 months. It’s actually 10 months but for some women who go into labor, it’s less than that. It’s probably been referred to as 9 months because most women don’t realize they are pregnant until a whole month has gone by. But I’m hazarding a guess.


What this entry refers to is actually the point in time when I realized my daughter will no longer be a baby. And it’s not that she’s actually 9 months old right now. It occurred to me as I was looking for footsie pajamas. When they are young, almost everything is a footsie pajama. Let me tell you a good pair of footsie pajamas are very hard to find after a certain age. They just aren’t as adorable as they are that young age

My daughter is growing every day and I can tell this because her clothes don’t fit her anymore or her diapers are getting tighter. As she develops and grows, I am simultaneously happy and sad. She’s healthy, happy and edible. The fact that she’s growing means time is going by quickly and I can’t contain her in this particular stage (and this is an adorable stage!).

As I look at pictures and see newborns in the neighborhood, I remember her at those ages with such fondness. But it wasn’t even that long ago! Now I just take in as much of my time with her as I can. Because it will only go faster, I fear.