Monday, December 20, 2010

Adventures in Shopping

I did some shopping this weekend, only within walking distance and more of it was for me than anything else. (Not so much presents, but not quite necessities.)
The interesting thing about shopping in the space of a few blocks, is that you run into some of the same people again.
-One woman was shopping with what I'm guessing were her grandkids' parents. I saw her getting frustrated after she asked the guy to go check if they had something. It looked like he was asking if she knew where they kept it. She was frustrated that he wouldn't just know to go ask a store employee. (Later she was trying to get a particular amount of change from the cashier and the cashier politely tried to clarify and got nowhere.)
-There are a lot of dog toys with squeaks. Do dogs care? I feel sure dog owners care.
-I headed towards checkout and then stopped to examine all the trinkets stored near checkout, during which time a guy cruised by. When I arrived at the end of the line he offered to let me go first since I had been there first. I demurred, agreeing that I had stopped to essentially continue shopping.
-Saw an exchange where someone who had visited a shop where another person worked recognized them and politely introduced himself and told her how much they had enjoyed visiting the shop and that they would be back.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Linkety Link

Here is a link list of things I am too lazy (busy, tired) to talk much about.
A fascinating look at the depiction of relationships in "Twilight: Eclipse". (It applies to the movie version, but since I've only read the book, I found it still very applicable.)

One person ponders about the increasing suckage in sports broadcasting.

Some interesting links about "Black Swan" - one wondering why that type of horror gets Oscar buzz, and one wondering if it somehow has a larger than normal age gap in viewers.

And have you ever wondered how law might apply to things like resurrection if superheroes turn out to be real. There's a blog for that.

H/T to the Monkey See blog for the "Black Swan" and sports links. And H/T to the nice person who pointed me to the "Eclipse" link. H/T to ALOTT5MA for the comics law link.

Monday, December 13, 2010

7 (or More) Things: When the Stars Go Blue

1. This is the book I heard an excerpt from at Cherry Con.
2. The excerpt was excellent and I was dying to read the rest right away.
3. I had already read _Adios to My Old Life_ by that point.
4. I told Caridad* Ferrer that she made me cry in Starbucks.
5. I read _It’s All About the Accent_ almost entirely on my couch, which is just as well because it made me cry too.
6. I flirted with danger and read parts of _When the Stars Go Blue_ in Starbucks. (And on the bus, and metro and of course, my couch.)
7. Just in case it wasn’t clear, _Stars_ made me cry too.
8. Books making me cry happens less often than you might think.
9. I feel I should clarify, this is not a sad story, there are just some heartbreaking moments. Totally a worthy journey.
10. I know that the wait for _Stars_ isn’t the longest wait ever for a book.
11. It did kinda feel like it though.
12. It was totally worth it.
13. Yes, I am making this list longer by making each entry only a sentence or two.
14. I confess most of my familiarity with “Carmen” was the year both Debi Thomas and Katarina Witt performed pieces from it in figure skating. (I was team Thomas, and not just because she was American.)
15. For all the talk of _Twilight_, _Harry Potter_ and _Hunger Games_ (not that there’s anything wrong with any of these), for non-dystopian, non-paranormal - which is to say contemporary young adult romance - this is the stuff. (Yes, there is other stuff too.)
16. I expect great things to happen with this book. (Hear me, Universe?)
17. I want more. (Hear me, Caridad?)

*Yes, I know her name is Barbara.

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

7 Things: When to Quit

So, the joy of working in benefits is that fall is what we call our busy season. We used to have training sessions on how to warn your family not to expect to see you and generally try to not go crazy this time of year. (We still have extra stress relieving sessions this time of year.) I realize that benefits is not the only job that gets nutty this time of year. And let’s face it, piling shorter daylight hours and family and holiday stress plus flu season, people are often a tad touchier this time of year. So, I get it.
However, sometimes that job stress is really a sign that this is no longer the career for you. So, in honor of a certain football player, let’s looks at some signs that you have the wrong job or career.
1. You don’t want to show up at work. Let’s face it, it’s not uncommon to wish that your job called for you to be at a beach or mountain or even couch rather than wherever your job asks you to be on a given day. But if every single day, you would rather be somewhere else, it is time to figure out how to be somewhere else.
2. You want to make your own hours. Now certainly there are jobs where this is allowed. But if you do not work at such a job, let’s say you work at The Bagel Shop but you think that you should decide what days you show up and for how long and that no one else needs to know this in advance. Except that that doesn’t work when they need someone to open The Bagel Shop tomorrow morning.
3. You show up, but not in work mode. There was a series of workplace modules based on the fish market in Seattle and one of the rules was “Be There”. Simple but true, showing up is only part of the battle, you need to be in work mode. If you’re just going through the motions you are no use to anyone.
4. You only want to do part of your job. We all have parts of our jobs we love more than others. And you can try and see if you can mold your job to fit your favorite bits. But if, for example you are a typist who has decided that you don’t like vowels, well, gd lck wth tht.
5. You talk crap about work. Now sure, you want to vent to your buddies, go for it. Unless of course your buddies are reporters. Or you are communicating via video camera or radio talk show. If you talk trash about your employer in the press, don’t be surprised when your paycheck stops.
6. You don’t talk to your employer or coworkers. Seriously, no one said you had to be buddies with your boss or your co-workers. But you do have to be willing to talk to them. Just about work. But not speaking to them is not an option.
7. You think you are different. The reality is that all workplaces need rules. If you think the rules need changing, well, then feel free to try to change them. If you think the rules simply don’t apply to you because you are so freaking special, well, again, don’t be surprised to find your job has stopped.