1. STEPHEN COLBERT: Happy 'You' Day, Mr. Colbert. Don't make a special trip to Oshawa just because our Mayor is hosting a day at our brand new entertainment centre just for you as a show of good faith after losing a bet. We're not that important, after all...
2. MY JOB: Many of the temporary staff we work with are by and large humongous losers and trailer park bottom feeders that have no integrity or character whatsoever, and I am embarrassed to say that I grew up in the same town they did.
3. QUEBEC MUSLIMS: Look...if you don't like pork, don't have the frikkin' beans!!! Bring your own Halal foods and eat that instead! No one is saying you aren't welcome to take part in the festivities, but the beans are made with salt pork and that is the tradition...period. If you have a problem with this just don't go to the Sugar Shack at all and spare everyone the drama. We have bent over backwards trying to accommodate your every little rule. Now it's just getting ridiculous. Get over it already.
4. MY JOB: Job candidates - don't worry about reading the ads that we post on our website in full. Just click APPLY on any and all job ads that you think 'might' be of interest to you, and allow me to spend hours prescreening you over the phone and explaining to you what the ad actually says. I have lots of time in a day and live to talk to people on the phone who really aren't suited to the jobs I am looking to fill.
5. NELLIE FURTADO: The boys on the Dean Blundell Show call her "Smelly Fur Taco". She certainly is taking this "I-know-I'm-a-mom-but-I'm-still-hot-OK-so-I'm-gonna-act-like -a-hooch-now-to-prove-it" act to the furthest possible limit. Give it up Smelly. You're almost as ridiculous as the Quebec Muslims.
6. MY JOB: Temps - by all means, don't feel that you have to actually COMMIT to the jobs to which we assign you. We are just your Plan B in case something better doesn't come along. If something better does come along, please pull off our assignment at the last possible minute, and don't give us a chance to replace you...we are here because we owe YOU a living...not for any other purpose. We love having to call the customers back and tell them that we actually DON'T have temp help for them after all. It keeps us on our toes trying to salvage our company's integrity.
7. C.U.P.E: Unions had their place in the 1920's and 1930's, but now you exist only because greed is alive and well in the blue collar sector. Everyone makes a stupid amount of money and can screw up on the job seventeen ways from Sunday and they are protected as if they were an endangered species. It enrages me beyond belief how many union workers just rape the system silly.
8. MY JOB: Yes Mr. Customer - go ahead and take our employees and call them into work for you without involving us. We are just whores for you to take advantage of. We have no purpose other than to stand on our heads and spit nickels for you. Our rules and policies mean nothing, and you don't need to pay any attention to them. In fact we'll give you the lowest bill rate possible so that we don't make a dime on doing business with you. We will continue to work our asses off to service your company for free.
Mar 21, 2007
Mar 11, 2007
Tickled pink to be in the black
You may remember the scare I had with Magnus at the end of November. He suddenly became quite ill and had to be hospitalized while we investigated his bizarre health issue. Almost $3000 later he was home and on the mend. I put every penny I had into fixing my beloved kitty, and even though it came close to devastating me financially, I still don't regret it for a second.
As a result, for the first time since I can remember, I became seriously broke. I could barely afford to pay my bills, and had to rely on my $1000 overdraft safety net I had with my bank. The holidays were sadly low-key, as my kids, who usually welcomed Christmas morning with a tree smothered in gifts, found only a few presents for themselves. They handled it very well, mind you, insisting that they just wanted Kitty to get better. I did very little grocery shopping, if any, and found myself taking donations from my mother's pantry, and eating at her place a lot. I am still living off mac & cheese for the most part. Pleasure spending was not even a remote possibility, and I did not go out much and had to watch how much gas I was using. Occasionally, not being accustomed to being so busted, I would make commitments to do things that cost money, forgetting that I couldn't afford it,and had to try to talk my way out of it. It has been a very difficult time.
So imagine my delight when today, while balancing my bank accounts and budgeting for upcoming payments, I discover that when all is said and done by the end of the month I will actually have $800 left over!!! I crunched and re-crunched the numbers just to be sure. After FOUR MONTHS of financial hardship resulting from Magnus' illness I can finally say I have moved from the red to the black.
I am not resting on my laurels at this point, however, as I do have some significant maintenance jobs that have to be done on my house PRONTO following the water damage from almost two months ago. I will need to continue to be frugal with my bean-counting probably for the next couple of months. I have to have my attic ventilated and re-insulated, and my chimney needs re-pointing. I am looking a some pretty hefty bills for that, but I am confident I'll be able to navigate my way through that minefield, and it's only going to increase the value of my home.
The good news is that the vermiculite they found in my attic is NOT contaminated with asbestos, so the few thousand dollars it could have cost to make that problem go away is no longer a worry.
It can only go up from here!
As a result, for the first time since I can remember, I became seriously broke. I could barely afford to pay my bills, and had to rely on my $1000 overdraft safety net I had with my bank. The holidays were sadly low-key, as my kids, who usually welcomed Christmas morning with a tree smothered in gifts, found only a few presents for themselves. They handled it very well, mind you, insisting that they just wanted Kitty to get better. I did very little grocery shopping, if any, and found myself taking donations from my mother's pantry, and eating at her place a lot. I am still living off mac & cheese for the most part. Pleasure spending was not even a remote possibility, and I did not go out much and had to watch how much gas I was using. Occasionally, not being accustomed to being so busted, I would make commitments to do things that cost money, forgetting that I couldn't afford it,and had to try to talk my way out of it. It has been a very difficult time.
So imagine my delight when today, while balancing my bank accounts and budgeting for upcoming payments, I discover that when all is said and done by the end of the month I will actually have $800 left over!!! I crunched and re-crunched the numbers just to be sure. After FOUR MONTHS of financial hardship resulting from Magnus' illness I can finally say I have moved from the red to the black.
I am not resting on my laurels at this point, however, as I do have some significant maintenance jobs that have to be done on my house PRONTO following the water damage from almost two months ago. I will need to continue to be frugal with my bean-counting probably for the next couple of months. I have to have my attic ventilated and re-insulated, and my chimney needs re-pointing. I am looking a some pretty hefty bills for that, but I am confident I'll be able to navigate my way through that minefield, and it's only going to increase the value of my home.
The good news is that the vermiculite they found in my attic is NOT contaminated with asbestos, so the few thousand dollars it could have cost to make that problem go away is no longer a worry.
It can only go up from here!
Mar 10, 2007
Work to Live vs. Live to Work
Is it really possible?
Could it be that there is actually a job out there that I would love so much I would do it for free?
We've all heard of the concept, yet for many of us this is little more than an unrealistic pipe dream. We toil away at jobs that we hate because we feel that we have no other choice. We have bills to pay, debt we are carrying and lifestyles to which we are accustomed. To just walk away from a less-than-ideal job in pursuit of something that perhaps doesn't exist in the hopes of finding not only the perfect occupation for us, but one that is going to pay us well just isn't a practical notion.
Take myself for example. Recent events have caused me to take a long, hard look at my current employment situation and ask myself some tough questions. A networking meeting I had with someone the other day whom I have only known for a couple of weeks has resulted in a significant epiphany: I am a right-brain person in a left-brain job. No wonder I am miserable!
My job is heavily administrative in a medium- to high-pressure environment, and has little room for creativity and innovation. It is grossly low-paid and is virtually devoid of opportunity for advancement. Fortunately, I work with some wonderful people and am able to enjoy the relationships I have built with my coworkers and customers, however it can be a real struggle to get through a day with my sanity intact. My adult attention deficit issues make it difficult for me to focus in the hurricane of activity that surrounds me at the office, and has proven to be a real challenge in adapting to an environment where multitasking is the #1 required skill to have in your arsenal. However I am proud to say that I have made significant strides in overcoming these Achilles' Heels of mine thanks to my own determination and stubbornness. I realize with great chagrin that my left-brained team is often frustrated and bewildered at my inability to do what they find ridiculously easy.
However this recent turning point has me very excited about my future. My brain is bursting with ideas and thoughts right now, and I need to find a way to organize them all and put them into action. Speaking on the phone to one of my sisters today, who was very encouraging and enthusiastic about it all, has me wanting to explore things further. For the first time I am actually entertaining the thought of abandoning my HR studies altogether and going in a completely different direction.
Stay tuned to see what happens next!
Could it be that there is actually a job out there that I would love so much I would do it for free?
We've all heard of the concept, yet for many of us this is little more than an unrealistic pipe dream. We toil away at jobs that we hate because we feel that we have no other choice. We have bills to pay, debt we are carrying and lifestyles to which we are accustomed. To just walk away from a less-than-ideal job in pursuit of something that perhaps doesn't exist in the hopes of finding not only the perfect occupation for us, but one that is going to pay us well just isn't a practical notion.
Take myself for example. Recent events have caused me to take a long, hard look at my current employment situation and ask myself some tough questions. A networking meeting I had with someone the other day whom I have only known for a couple of weeks has resulted in a significant epiphany: I am a right-brain person in a left-brain job. No wonder I am miserable!
My job is heavily administrative in a medium- to high-pressure environment, and has little room for creativity and innovation. It is grossly low-paid and is virtually devoid of opportunity for advancement. Fortunately, I work with some wonderful people and am able to enjoy the relationships I have built with my coworkers and customers, however it can be a real struggle to get through a day with my sanity intact. My adult attention deficit issues make it difficult for me to focus in the hurricane of activity that surrounds me at the office, and has proven to be a real challenge in adapting to an environment where multitasking is the #1 required skill to have in your arsenal. However I am proud to say that I have made significant strides in overcoming these Achilles' Heels of mine thanks to my own determination and stubbornness. I realize with great chagrin that my left-brained team is often frustrated and bewildered at my inability to do what they find ridiculously easy.
However this recent turning point has me very excited about my future. My brain is bursting with ideas and thoughts right now, and I need to find a way to organize them all and put them into action. Speaking on the phone to one of my sisters today, who was very encouraging and enthusiastic about it all, has me wanting to explore things further. For the first time I am actually entertaining the thought of abandoning my HR studies altogether and going in a completely different direction.
Stay tuned to see what happens next!
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