Professional Organization Recommendations

I joined one because it has some great resources that I need when I need it. Like all things you join, you get on a mailing list for updates. As these updates are not high priority reads, they go into the "To Read Email Pile And May Get Deleted If It's There Too Long". I decided to open the latest one instead of just letting it grow mold. It's book recommendations and some of it tickles my funny bone. I generally don't read any additional work material than I need to, but I might hunt some of them down if I remember when I'm at the library.

HRs Best Sellers:

A Survival Guide to Managing Employees from Hell: Drawing from real-life stories, this helpful and humorous guide provides readers with practical advice for handling a wide range of difficult types.

Eat That Frog: is a high content fast-read that synthesizes and distills the very best ideas and insights on time management into 21 logical, immediately applicable steps.

180 Ways to Spread Contagious Enthusiasm: gives you 180 morale-boosting ideas to help you bring more caring, communication, respect and appreciation to the workplace.

Working with You Is Killing Me: This is an authoritative manual that provides valuable insights for turning conflicts in the workplace into productive working relationships.

Crucial Conversations: offers readers a proven 7-point strategy for achieving their goals in all those emotionally, psychologically, or legally charged situations that can arise in their professional and personal lives. The authors of this book also have this as a training course. My work thought we would all benefit from this. I took it. It's an okay course. Some of it I do already. Some of it you really need to practice. Some of it you need to be brave enough to confront. So I actually own a copy of this book and it's nifty extras. Have I opened it since I return from the course? Nope.

Featured books this week:

Snakes in Suits

My Secret Life on the McJob

Internet Explorer vs. Firefox

My primary computer uses Internet Explorer 6. As the 'puter is not mine, I'm not permitted to put any other surfin' software -- not even MicroSoft's brand spanking IE 7. I've done all my MySpace decorating using this 'puter. If I say so myself, it looks beautiful to me. I'm very proud of myself.

I just saw my page using my sister's 'puter who happens to use Firefox. It's so yucky. My own Contact Table and Extended Network replacements are not showing. The changes I made to About Me and Interests are missing. The new table entry I added is smashing into My Friends. Plus, the Friends Comment box is smaller here than it is when viewed through IE.

To my friends who do not use IE, I apologize for the mess you see. I guess my next adventure is to see how to adjust my code so it's at least decent from a Firefox viewpoint. I'm going to be dual 'puter for a bit.

*AARRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH*

Macy*s Thanksgiving Parade

Thursday weather was great for going to see the Macy*s Thanksgiving Parade live and in person. Weather is really odd since there was snow on Monday and Thursday it was going to be in the low 60's. The rain held off until after the parade.

The plan was to get up early on Thursday to head into the city to get a great spot. Well, my sister and her two little ones were going to join us but had to decline as they were still running amok at 11:30pm -- waaayyyy past their bedtime.

Got up 5:20am. Waited to see if Pointy was going to say "I don't want to get up." Got out of the house a little after 6am. Came out of the tunnel at 6:30am. Got a parking space at 6:45am *crossing fingers that parking restrictions were lifted for the holiday* Scoped out B'way between 55the and 56th. Got a corner but the cops said we could no longer stand there because of the traffic light overhead. They had a fear about the light collapsing on heads if a balloon accidentally hits the pole.

We wound up about the same spot we had three years ago. Parade got to our spot on the route at 9:24am. It finished at 11:00am.

We did see the following but don't know who they are: Anika Noni Rose, Ashley Tinsdale, Corbin Bleu, Good Charlotte, Lifehouse, Kay Hanley, Lea Michele & Jonathan Groff from Spring Awakening so the people on some of the floats are nameless. If you know, drop me a line.

Click on Super Cute Hello Kitty or the Energizer Bunny if interested in checking out my photos, 97 of them, taken by both camera and phone *Pointy forgot to recharge battery in camera* from my perspective


Slideshow, where the picture may be bigger than your screen (at least mine)

Or, at your own pace and where the picture is smaller than your screen (at least mine)

The Client

Remember the one I love... well at the moment that is as each one has good and bad -- the client that is.

Well, I'm out in LA working in one of their subsidiaries to help them out. This is the second time I've visited this location. The office just blows my mind away.

It's not your normal brick and mortar building. I don't think there's a brick anywhere. They've taken a warehouse, you know like a Home Depot or wholesale club or even a Walmart. Using plywood and 2x4s, they've built their office walls and cubicles and bookshelves. You can see the duct work for the airconditioning. They have a sandy plot with some small trees. They have a car of two sitting inside, a highway billboard sitting atop one of the offices, two huge cardboard dogs placed in strategic spots at a 2nd floor level to stare down at you below. Surfboard counters for a coffee station. They've used other materials to cordon off areas -- chain link fence, joust boards, white parachute material. There's even a basketball court. You do not enter from a first floor door but walk up to a 2nd floor lobby offshoot to the main building. The lobby has two walkways to the main building -- one descends to the bottom/1st floor and the other walkway acts as a bridge to the 2nd level.

You may have read about an office or two that is kind of laid out like this -- Microsoft, Pixar, Google, Yahoo. I just never thought I would get to experience one. Got to get the creative juices going to get the next great idea which will be the moneymaker for the company.

Oh, this location permits employees to bring in their well-behaved dogs to work. This is the 2nd client I've worked at that allows this. So far, I've not seen anyone bring in their cats.

Unlike the main location I work at, this one does not provide free lunch. They offer free each morning a breakfast item -- today was a variety of bagel. Tomorrow may be sliced fruit.