A Gentle Correction

I am experienced enough to understand that no job truly ‘loves’ you. Employers have certainly fooled me in the past. I have certainly fallen in love with my job, but these kinds of relationships are always destined to end badly.

You find out that the love you were receiving from the job had a price tag attached after all. You find out that all the love in the world doesn’t keep the relationship afloat if the company isn’t selling enough widgets. Sometimes the company just turns out to be a bitch and you really can’t love them any more. All of these endings turn out to be at least minimally brain damaging. My current company is different.

We get periodic (twice a month, roughly) little head-slaps to remind us to not fall in love with the organization. Some examples:

• 2 weeks vacation for all employees until you have over 5 years with the company. No exceptions! (slap!)
  
  
• Unpaid leave is no longer allowed. (pop!)
  
  
• You must take a 1 hour lunch break and work 8 hours a day, every day. No comp time. (bip!)
  
  
• You must keep your desk clean and professional looking. No personal items save 1 photo of family or pet. (crack!)
  

You get my drift. Just as soon as you might start to feel the love that might prompt you to want to work a little extra time, to really go out of your way to improve the process, or to go over the top and sweat a little blood for the organization. You get another gentle reminder (“if you don’t file your timecard on time, you don’t get paid” -- pow!) that this is just a job and your family needs to be your top priority.

I like it. I won’t be brain damaged. I won’t be tempted to sacrifice for artificial goals. I can easily look at the contribution I am considering and make a fairly easy judgment call. I know where I stand. (whap!)

Joining the protest

Stolen directly from The Fishwagon:


I am an American citizen. I am not an advocate for terrorism. If called upon by my country, I would gladly defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Inclusion of the following list of terms in this personal web log represents my opposition to the President's domestic spy program as well as my belief in the Bill of Rights and my 1st Amendment rights of free speech.

Al Qaeda, Taliban, Iraq, assassinate, 9/11, bomb, plutonium, George W. Bush, POTUS, uranium, target, airplane, train, bridge, tunnel, ship, building, kidnap, Afghanistan, explosives, C4, nuclear, infidel, Allah, Satan, suicide bomber, echelon, New York, Washington DC, White House, Congress, Senate, satellite, Army, Navy, soldier, insurgent, Osama bin Laden, jihad, police, Secret Service, FBI, National Security Agency, wiretap, surveillance, and Carnivore …

A Death Close to Home

We had some bad news this week. My wife’s best friend died. There was much crying and gnashing of teeth. Everyone I speak to extend their condolence. Many are sad, myself included.

Her friend wasn’t all that old. Many people would consider her friend just a baby. Her friend didn’t have near the lifespan anyone would have projected. An early death is always a sad one.

But I guess like Indiana Jones says, “it ain’t the years, it’s the mileage”. And so it is in this case. My wife’s friend’s life was spent running. My wife’s friend was always serving others. Never once before this time did my wife’s best friend ever need anything beyond my wife’s attention and occasionally mine or our daughter’s.

And reliability was, until now, never an issue. If my wife and I had a fight, her friend was there for her. Whenever things got tough at work her friend was there. But her friend was there for the good times too. Her friend was with us when my wife and I have had some of our best times. Her friend was a main attraction at our most successful get-togethers. My wife’s best friend has even been there for me in the few times my wife has been unable to spend time with me.

We will the friend. Goodbye old friend. You lived well, but far too short. You’d think a 52” rear projection TV would last longer than the 3 years we had her. So yesterday, the wife and I went out and bought a new best friend: 42” plasma screen. We certainly were charmed by the new friend, but can you really ever replace the bond?