Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity.

I have to change things up once in a while.

First of all, I want to say thanks for the words of support via email and your comments in regards to the lack of equality displayed when it comes to Earl and me sharing health benefits. There is a bright side to the story; the company that Earl currently works for is merging with a bigger company, which has a much more equal benefits package available. In fact, the new company gets high marks on the Human Rights Campaign’s ratings of these sort of things, so we are going to make out just fine. It is quite sad, though, that his current company chooses to look for loopholes so that they can remain ignorantly in the dark ages when it comes to these things.

As I mentioned in the first sentence of this blog entry, I have to change things up once in a while. The Big Project at work has been getting me down and I am finding myself in a rut. Sleep, eat, go to work, Dunkin’ Donuts iced tea, work, drive home, wave to the occupants of the buggy, eat and sleep. Enjoy an opportunity of hanky panky when the big climax isn’t a snore (sorry about that, sweetheart). The lack of light when I get up in the morning, coupled with the increasing stresses of work has put me into a funk that I need to find my way out of. To foster this growth, I change a few little things here and there to make life seem a little more interesting in my own eccentric way. For example, I did not go to my usual Dunkin’ Donuts today for lunch. I made my way to the next town over and went to that one and then I went into that restaurant for the first time instead of barking into the speaker from the driver’s seat. This particular Dunkin’ Donuts is an old bank and still has that basic layout (I think they make the donuts in the old vault, but I can’t be certain). I kind of wish that they would use both lanes of the drive thru so I could see my iced tea woosh down through one of the tube-transport devices that have always fascinated me, but they only opt for lane 1 where the drawer has been replaced by a typical drive thru window.

This morning I kicked off my day by drinking a strawberry Slim-Fast shake instead of going for my usual Wednesday morning breakfast of dry waffles. Calories balanced out for the most part but can I tell you that not only do I dislike strawberry Slim-Fast shakes, but I fucking dislike the strawberry flavor. Pink liquid as a beverage is just weird to me. With the stress of work has come stress eating, a habit that I am not proud of, so I thought that I should shake shake shake some Slim-Fast and remind my body as to who is boss. I guess the McRib I alluded to yesterday will have to wait until the weekend.

I have a few more changes planned in the near future and it is these things that excite me and make me take interest in what’s passing itself off as life. One of the ironies about the Big Project at work is that it is changing every single process, tool and way of doing things that we do at work, but I don’t particularly agree with this so that change isn’t giving me the pep that I need to cope with making the change.

It’s better to start with the little things.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Last night Earl and I went to “the Loud House”, the Carrier Dome in Syracuse to watch the Orange take on West Virginia. It was an excellent game… the guys played well and we trounced West Virginia 49-23.

When we got to the game, along with 147 (at that time)¹ other people, I checked into Foursquare. The latest version of Foursquare lets you check into a particular event (like a game or a movie or a Broadway show). Near the end of the game, I got this email:

Now, many would find this creepy but remember I checked into Foursquare so they had a definitive way of knowing I was there. I understand that it’s a marketing tool and nothing more, but nonetheless I was happy to see this email. It made me feel part of something. And that’s how good marketing is suppose to work: not overly intrusive, make the user feel good and make the user feel like they belong.

I love with when marketing organizations ‘get it’ when it comes to technology.

¹ The official attendance at the Dome last night was 45,285. Earl and I bonded even more with the fellow season ticket holders around us. Go ‘Cuse!

I grew up in a retail environment. One side of the family owned a hardware store/lumber yard/contracting business and for the most part it was family that worked at the business. I started slinging lumber at 14 and then made my way into the office area along my grandparents, dad and later my aunt. It was this environment that piqued my interest in computers because the lack thereof; it was a good opportunity to learn how things work instead of “just making it work” through computer use.

However, even though this retail environment fostered my geekiness, there was actually something much more important that I learned during this time that has stuck with me all these years. It is the concept of “I”.

When a customer entered the store and approached, they were asked a simple question. “What can we do for you today?” The question was asked with enthusiasm and naturally implied that there was a team of folks hidden in the walls of that old mill that were anxious to help the customer. I remember my grandfather sitting me down one time when I asked, “Can I help you?” instead of “What can we do for you today?” It was one of a handful of times that I can remember that he wasn’t yelling or ranting about something to me; instead he calmly explained the difference between “I” and “we”, especially when it came to teamwork in a retail environment. “You don’t own the store. You don’t own the sale. Many people will have contributed to getting the customer what he wants. You don’t help the customer, WE do.”

That’s what has stuck with me ever since.

I bristle when I hear someone run contrary to this concept. It makes me doubt their sincerity. For example, Earl and I recently asked about a dessert menu at a local restaurant. The reply was, “I have coconut cream pie, apple pie, ice cream”, the list went on but I tuned her out a little bit. I wanted to ask if she had baked the pies herself. Had she picked the apples? Did she buy the coconuts?

As part of a growing team at work, I get irked by the same thing. “I told him that I could get that done for him.” I wanted to reply, “if you can get that done, then why are you coming to me to build the database for you?” I might be a little cantankerous but I believe that if you say that _you_ can do it, then go ahead and do it. Plus, as I mentioned before it flakes out my trust in the situation just a little bit. It’s a personal thing, but I think it’s important. That’s why it’s stuck with me all these years.

Once in a while I find myself thinking along the lines of “I” instead of “we” in various team environments at work. I then remember the talk I had with my grandfather about it and try to get back on track before he starts hollering from the other side. After all, I wouldn’t be worth much at work if I wasn’t part of a bigger team and lord knows I don’t want Gramps yelling from the great beyond.

I want him to snicker instead. Snickering was good.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad