****Imagine this: you're a high level executive at a major corporation. You've just sent your top performing salesperson named Laticia Johnson to make a presentation for a customer who is considering signing a contract worth $5 million. After the meeting, the customer calls you and says he doesn't want Laticia because she's a black woman. You tell him to fuck off and take his bigoted attitude elsewhere. Did you handle the situation properly? NO. At least that is what the correct answer was during the "diversity" training class I had at work today. How WOULD one handle that situation according to the class? Well, one would approach the situation with diplomacy and try to work out a deal that would be beneficial to both parties. Yeah, I was pretty surprised by that as well!! I ended up telling the instructor that one of the main reasons why racism is still around in the 21st century is because of people enabling behavior such as that just to make some money. I'd not make a good CEO of a major company because I'm not willing to sacrifice my morals and ethics for a quick buck.

*****Do you all remember me talking about Sally Stupid a while back while I was in the training class at work? She's the one who had no idea what a desktop on a computer is or how to answer the phone when it is ringing. Anyway, today marks exactly one month since that training class ended and Sally STILL has NO idea what in the hell she's doing!! I'm not saying that she's still having to struggle in the job.....THAT would at least be understandable because our operating system AND the job itself CAN be confusing at first. The powers that be know that and they are only too happy to make help readily available for anyone who needs it. Sally is STILL at the point where she can't even access the window in the program that lets her see the appointments that need to be scheduled for her area!! Folks, accessing that screen is done like this:

• double click the "logon" icon on your desktop;
• when the SAP program opens, enter your user ID and password and then press the "ENTER" key;
• from the menu that opens up, double click on the word "ZMON";
• on the next screen, go to the field that says "open variant" and enter the area you are working in (i.e. 13, 22, etc.....)
• click on the "execute" icon at the top left corner of the page

It is NOT complicated at ALL. Today Sally asked her supervisor, "what is a variant?"

*****>>>

Well, that's all I've got for now. Only two more days and I'm free for the weekend!! :-)

I've had one of those days that just would not let up....

It started last night. I woke up several times from a dream that I was having about my mother. It was one of those weird dreams where if you wake up during the middle of it you pick up where you left off when you do go back to sleep. In the dream, my mother was still alive but I hadn't seen her in over two years. My sister and I were going to her house to help her out because she'd been very sick....when we got there we were shocked at how messy the house was (mom never WAS a great housekeeper!) and why she hadn't called for help before then. Stranger yet was the fact that mom seemed to be slipping in and out of a catatonic state. Another thing that was strange was the fact that my father was still alive as well, but he and my mom were divorced and hadn't seen each other in a few years. About mid-way through the dream, it dawned on me that BOTH of my parents are dead and have been for many years....I don't recall a whole lot after that, but I woke up feeling like I hadn't slept a wink all night!! I've heard at times that those who have gone to "the other side" can communicate with us in our dreams.....and if that IS the case here then I'm going to scold my mom for keeping me up all night!! 

 Over the years since my parents have been gone, I've had really odd dreams about them. In one version, my mother is alive but only because it was discovered that she really WASN'T dead after all and was dug up from her grave and saved in the nick of time. In the dream though all of that had taken place a few years prior, so it wasn't a huge issue for us now. In another dream, my dad is also alive but for some reason lives in the cemetary. Yeah, I'm figuring that even after all of these years I'm still not past the fact that both of my parents are gone.....?! 

------------------------------------------------------------------

Other stuff:

**I've come to the conclusion that I'm about to embark on a period in my life that is going to be filled with very unusual events. Having dreams about my parents has always been the trigger in the past. It's sort of hard to explain the "events" that happen because they're not always what they appear to be. If that makes any sense??!! What's most disturbing when this cycle happens (it happens every couple of years or so) I'm filled with a very profound sense of doom. No matter WHAT I do, the feeling doesn't go away for a while. Yeah, I'm weird.

**Work was about the same as it has been the last several weeks. Every time that I start to do something, my freakin' phone starts ringing off the hook...on BOTH lines. I have one line for business and the other is my personal line.....unfortunately for me, I've given out my number to a few hospital administrators who feel that instead of calling the regular 800 number for service they'll just call me instead! Of course just as I'm getting on ONE line, the OTHER one starts to ring!! All I can say is "thank GOD for voice mail"!!!!

**Only another 11 days until my birthday!! I've come to the conclusion that THIS year, it's going to be a "leap year" for me. Instead of turning 38 in a little over a week, I'll now be turning 20. That was a pretty good age for me: my family was intact, I didn't have to worry about a mortgage, and "Dallas" was still on the air!!

Well, that's all I've got for now.....

Happy Hump Day tomorrow!! 

 

 

 

Please pardon me for a moment before I begin tonight’s post. GGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Ok, I’m feeling a little better now. Last year around this same time I lost my job and I STILL had a better day than I did today!! When I left work Thursday afternoon, I was feeling pretty good about the fact that I’d gotten caught up to a point where I could actually see some light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, being the Mr Gloom & Doom that I am, I just KNEW that by the time that I got back to the office on Monday morning the entire universe as we know it would have collapsed around everyone in my office. Sure enough…… My barrel of sunshine day began when I opened my email. My inbox had FINALLY been clear on Thursday afternoon for the first time since I took this position back in early September, but since Friday had ballooned up to FORTY emails!! Even still, I wasn’t all THAT shocked because being out for one day does cause a mad rush on my email. I was prepared for that. What I was NOT prepared for was an email from the BIG boss who is in charge of the whole building that I’m in. Apparently she’d been contacted by one of the whining field managers about some appointments that were SUPPOSEDLY not assigned or completed for the month of November. Let me just tell you all about this “BIG BOSS”…..she is EXCEPTIONALLY nice, a great motivator, and will do just about anything to keep a high morale in the building. Seriously! I have never seen anyone in as high of a position as hers that runs an office as well as she does! That having been said though, she has the potential to NOT be a very nice person when she gets dragged into the middle of what she would deem ‘trivial’ matters…..such as the one that she got dragged into while I was out of the office on Friday. Needless to say, the wording of the email was professional, but was very direct about her concerns about the “missed” appointments. Naturally, I went into pre-panic mode and started desperately trying to figure out what had happened: This is where it gets good. EVERY single appointment that had been brought to her attention had already been completed a couple of WEEKS ago!! I was SO upset that my hands were literally shaking. I was THISCLOSE to having a complete meltdown right there in the office!! Now if THAT wasn’t enough, one of the hens that sits across from me decides that she is going to attempt to rake me over the coals because there was this one function that according to her was not done on Friday. I remind her that I wasn’t at work on Friday and her response was that I should have done this on Thursday. That was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. I sent an email to my supervisor and told him that we needed to have a meeting ASAP. I then started to work ATTEMPTING to make some more headway. Then about half an hour later, here’s my boss coming to get me for this meeting I’d requested. So we go into the conference room and I laid it out on the table to him about how close I was to just throwing my hands up and giving up. And then the MOST amazing thing happened. He tells me that he is VERY happy with the work that I’ve been doing and that while he knows that I’ve been bombarded and raked over the coals lately that I should not worry about it because I’ve been proactive enough to handle the situation in a very good way. You see, I’m not at ALL used to a supervisor like THAT!! In fact, at the last office job that I had I had to constantly WORRY about my boss finding yet another way to stab me in the back on a daily basis. And people wonder why I left that job after 5 years!! At any rate, I felt SOOOOOO much better after our talk and I headed back to my desk. WELL…..later this afternoon I’m told that I’m needed on a conference call. Oh brother. NOT again. So we’re on this call and it’s the same old thing that I’ve heard for the last month or so, but we DID actually manage to accomplish a few things….very IMPORTANT things such as his directing his guys in the field to start doing their fair share of the setting of the appointments instead of bitching about them every day. He ALSO acknowledged that I was indeed making great progress in a very short amount of time. If I EVER……EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER have another day like today I’m going to go and check myself into the nut house for sure!! That’s all I’ve got for now. How was YOUR day??

GADZOOKS! I hadn't realized that I hadn't posted anything here since Thursday! Yes, I am very ashamed of myself! It's been an eventful weekend. I've now done a little MORE Christmas shopping. I have my sister, Chris, and Eli taken care of. That's 3 out of about 1 million!! The rotten part about this whole Christmas thing is that unfortunately all of the bills still show up and expect to be paid in a timely manner regardless of how many people are on your shopping list. I am NOT going to bitch though because I at least have a JOB this year, unlike LAST year when I was wondering how I was going to afford FOOD, much less Christmas gifts! I was just chock full of Bah-Humbug last year! Cindy had Chris and I over for dinner last night. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, broccoli (my favorite veggie) and then chocolate pie for dessert. I was SOOOOOO stuffed after dinner that I thought I was going to explode! I've also spent some time working on my website this weekend. The only thing I don't like about making a website is that I don't yet have a clear picture of whether or not anyone is visiting it. I have the counter and all that stuff, but a blog is SO much more immediate when it comes to feedback I guess. Oh well, at least I'm having a wee bit of fun building it. Only 13 more days before I turn 38....YUCK!! That means I'm just that much closer to the dreaded 40!!! I'm sensing a mid-life crisis coming on! Although on second thought, a "mid life" crisis would be indicative of the impression that I'm going to live to be 80....which is in itself a scary thought! I don't think I want to live to be that old to be honest! I can only imagine how I'd be as an old man.... My family history being what it is though, I doubt that I'll have to worry about it...in fact, I'll be lucky to make it to my 50s!! Well, that's about it for now...it's time to go to Pizza Hut and pick up dinner for this evening. Apparently they have some new double topping thing and Chris' mom wants to try some, so off I go! Hope everyone has a good week ahead!

Being the jolly type of soul that I am, I thought it'd be fun to do some damage to a rather well known yet annoying song always heard this time of the year.....

The Twelve Days of Christmas, with commentary by BryM:

On the first day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree. ....oh my cat would just LOVE that!!

On the second day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree. ....great--just what i needed--MORE bird shit around the house!

On the third day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree. ...what the hell?? have you got some kind of foul fetish??

On the fourth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree. ....ENOUGH with the BIRDS already!!

On the fifth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree. ....gee thanks--i had to pawn the rings to pay for the veterinarian bills for all those damn birds!

On the sixth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree. ....looks like i'm going to be serving up some golden fried goose for dinner!

On the seventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree. ........GAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!! Not the birds AGAIN!!!

On the eighth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree. ....yeah those bitching maids a milking sued me for sexual harrassment!

On the ninth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree. ....it was pretty ugly when the dancing ladies starting bitch slapping the maids-a-milking!

On the tenth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree. ...yeah those lords leapt right on over to the dancing ladies--and the term 'maids-a-milking' took on a whole NEW meaning!!

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree. ...um, those 'pipers piping' were hitting the crack PIPE!!

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree! .....and my HOA sued me for violating the noise ordinance!!

------------------------------------------------------

So now that I've officially ruined a Christmas song that's been a tradition for 100 years, I'll bid you all a good night!

Oh by the way, I updated the blog on my website. It's a completely different subject, so head on over there when you feel like another round of my adventures at work.....