pinko

You are a Social Liberal (61% permissive) and an… Economic Liberal (8% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating

ongoing sickness

I can’t seem to focus very well today. My head feels like it’s enshrouded in a fog. My hearing feels muffled. My eyes feel like they are going out of focus on their own. The coughing and sneezing is down to a minimum. The aches are far less, but I feel constantly out of breath and weak. I’m having less trouble with the hot/cold fluctuations I was having the last few days, but I am still breaking out in random sweats and chills during the day, albeit less pronounced then before.

I tried to have a couple of work discussions today and they all went nowhere. It was obvious to my coworkers that I am having trouble concentrating and they all thought I should go home. I almost went home this morning, but I went in anyway because I was already closer to work by the time I seriously started going back home.

I’ve just taken some pain reducer/fever reliever, so I am going to sit around a little for it to kick in (which will hopefully mean lessened dizziness, which is the thing that worries me the most), then get to Seppo’s work so we can go home. I feel bad about making him leave so early, but I’m really close to literally crawling under my desk and putting my head down on the floor with my hands over my ears (when not sounding muffled, people talking around me is making me dizzy).

how to be a good coworker

A typical email I might get from a coworker might go like this:

Hi [my name spelled wrong],

Can you tell me about [some feature or bug]? It is really important.

[name of coworker I’ve never met]

This is the kind of email that will raise my ire. Now, I will present to you an email that will get you both a quick response to let you know I’m going to help you, followed by a detailed email that gives you precisely what you want to know:

Hi [my name spelled correctly with hyphen and capitals all done properly],

My name is [your name] and I am a [your position name] in [department/group]. [name of referrer] told me that you might be a good person to ask about [thing you want to know]. I am currently working on [project or problem you want to solve] and would appreciate your input. If I should be asking someone else about this particular issue, it would be great if you could tell me who to speak with.

Can you tell me about [some feature or bug]? My interest in it is [whatever] and my timeline is [something]. More specifically, [specific & detailed question(s)]? [Add any special circumstances or details here.] This has been flagged as a [high|normal|low] priority item by [exec/management/support/escalations/project manager/etc]. I would appreciate it if it would be possible to get back to me within [a day|week|whenever]. I understand that you are busy so I really appreciate any help.

Thank you,
[your name]

If I could force everyone at my company (and any other company I ever work at) to follow this format, I would be so happy. If I ever work in management, I will drill new employees with the importance of being polite, detailed, and appreciative of their coworkers. It just gets things done faster and makes people feel better about their working environment.

I think this goes back to the issue of communication. The first email example doesn’t do its part to communicate crucial information to me. It forces me to ask all the questions to fill in the blanks. I’m perfectly willing to do that, but it wastes an email cycle, when it could have been made clear from the start. It wastes my time, and because it irks me and doesn’t tell me how urgent it is (and who thinks it’s urgent), I generally assume that what I am already working on is more important/urgent, because I know my schedule in general is fairly tight. Come on people, do your half of the work. Since I’m gonna be giving you all the answers you need, just get off your butts and ask the right questions and give the right context.

i ::heart:: clinton

Clinton launches withering attack on Bush on Iraq, Katrina, budget.

Nerd stays home.

This is what happens. Don’t let this happen to you.

P.S. Leave him a bone! Hee.

the world is really turning into The Onion

Gillette unveils 5-bladed razor.

See, that’s just insane. The world has officially gone completely bonkers. Nuts, I say!

ETA: Did this Onion feature really come out in February of last year? Five blades with two aloe strips… Terrifying.

commitment

Nothing says commitment like a non-refundable deposit.

– Me joking to Seppo at 10am this morning.

😀 Yay! Now we have a date and place. I called my mom to let her know.

’cause i’m twelve

Caption: “U.S. President George W. Bush writes a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Security Council meeting at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14, 2005. World leaders are exploring ways to revitalize the United Nations at a summit on Wednesday but their blueprint falls short of Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s vision of freedom from want, persecution and war.”

He’s gotta pee. I point and laugh because people having to pee makes me giggle.

scary!

I just called and made an appointment to put down a non-refundable deposit for a ceremony/reception venue. And my heart has been beating like a jack rabbit’s ever since. Eek. Since it’s non-refundable, I am going to have to crunch through our data (number of guests, fees, date — what if we change the date?!?!) like a mofo before the appointment to make sure we really can go with this place/day. We really like it though, so let’s hope the answer is yes. Because I am afraid of chickening out, we won’t say where it is. Eeek. Man, I am jittery right now.

ETA a mere 20 minutes later: GACK! There was indeed error in my spreadsheet — the same one I had been using for the last month or so — as I feared! It’s not too bad, but it was pretty damn stupid.

foodstuff

Seppo and I had another car discussion *shock* about the hurricane and emergency supplies. We were trying to figure out (without looking anything up, as we were in the car at the time) what types of food you’d try to acquire if you wanted to do only the most mininal stocking (or looting, as circumstances may call for), aside from water.

I said I’d go for beef jerky, nuts, canned tuna, and shelf-stable boxed tofu, maybe a couple of Power Bars or other food bars.

What would you get? *scurries off to google for emergency food supplies*

ETA: Looks like beef jerky is a bad idea because it is very salty and would require you to drink a lot more water than usual.