An open letter to my coworkers:
16 Jun 2011 1 Comment
in Office Games, Ranting, Uncategorized
I will preface this entry by making the following points:
* This is not pointed any any specific person or job. These are just things that happen in companies that drive me UP THE WALL.
* I’m feeling a little stabby today, so I may rant a bit. If you don’t want to hear it, just skip this post and we’ll be back to knitting and spinning soon!
—
Dear COWORKERS:
If I may, there are two things in this world that drive me crazier than anything else. And since they keep coming up across all the jobs I will just take a moment to tell you what they are so that we can get along peacefully in the future.
1. Tell me what you would like, and how you would like it.
If there’s a certain way you would like something done, please tell me that. If you need something, please just ask. I’m friendly and I don’t bite (much) and as long as it’s a request that is respectfully made, I am more than happy to do my best. HOWEVER, please don’t ASSUME that I know how to do it if we’ve never discussed it. I know most people are doing it the way you want it. I also know that I routinely get omitted from those emails so I don’t always get the message. If I’ve been doing something wrong for (eeps!) 6 months we’ll both be better served if we have a conversation about it than if you rant and rave about how terrible I am until another of our coworkers suggests you just talk to me about it since she’s never had to ask me to do anything more than once. And maybe, just MAYBE, you could give me the benefit of a doubt since I’m generally pretty dependable and more than willing to fix my mistakes.
2. Will you show me how to do this?
What I say: Will you show me how to do this?
What they hear: Will you do this for me?
I can’t tell you how many times I have asked someone to show me how to do something, to have them treat me like I just sent them outside to pick up dog droppings. When I don’t know how to do something, I ask. When you explain how to do it, I take notes so that I don’t have to ask you again. IF I have to ask you more than once I am personally mortified that I didn’t get it the first time. BUT this doesn’t mean I want you to do it for me. If I wanted you to do it for me, I might ask you to do it for me. But I meant what I said and I said what I meant (and an elephant’s faithful 100 percent!).
With all due respect,
the feisty yarn pirate
A page from my father.
15 Nov 2010 2 Comments
in Knitting Content Ahead, Ranting
One of the things my father is known for in my family is his writing skill. He is a published author, a grammarian, and an enthusiastic writer of letters to the editor. I think I took a page from him this morning.
In my previous post, I explained all about NaKniSweMo. You can imagine my surprise when I saw this article in the New York Times on Saturday the 13th.
Let me excerpt.
November is National Novel Writing Month. Perhaps you know that already. Perhaps you’re trying to reach word 23,338 by night’s end. If you don’t know NaNoWriMo, think of it as a literary marathon with nearly 200,000 mostly amateur writers. The goal? To write a 50,000-word “novel” in 30 days.
“Novel,” in NaNoWriMo-speak, means “laughably awful yet lengthy prose.” What began in 1999 with 21 friends has grown into a nonprofit called the Office of Letters and Light, whose purpose is to get people to throw their literary inhibitions aside, work within a communal deadline, and have fun.
Imagine, a contest called NaSweKniMo — National Sweater Knitting Month — in which first-time knitters knit their hearts out. In many cases that would be a total waste of wool.
I don’t know what disappoints me more. I’m used to the slightly mocking tone, although I don’t really appreciate it or the “waste of wool” comment. But the editor can’t even be bothered to Google the notion before he hits publish.
I stewed about this for a few days, and then this morning wrote the following letter to the editor.
To Whom it May Concern:
I am writing to notify you of an error in your Editorial ””Word After Word After Word” which appeared on November 13, 2010.
In the article, the editor is discussing National Novel Writing Month. He/she makes a tongue in cheek comment:
“Imagine, a contest called NaSweKniMo — National Sweater Knitting Month — in which first-time knitters knit their hearts out. In many cases that would be a total waste of wool.”
Such an endeavor does indeed exist and has since November 2006. NaKniSweMo (National Knit a Sweater Month) is the brainchild of editor and knitting author Shannon Oakey and was first brought to life on her blog in 2006.
I just wanted to say that I’m surprised and disappointed by your article – both that the editor feels the need to call what we do a “waste of wool” and that he/she can’t be bothered to do basic research on Google (when I enter “nasweknimo” in the search box I get no less than 198 results).
I don’t expect a response, but I feel better now.
Dear Pizza Guy
06 Dec 2009 1 Comment
in Ranting
Dear Pizza Guy:
In case it might have escaped your notice this evening, I ordered a pizza (and breadsticks) and not a sermon.
The fact that you waited until the transaction was concluded, your tip was received and the pizza was in my hands to ask if I believed in Jesus and God and if I wanted to discuss the word of both might count as smart in your book, but it will make me stingier with the tip next time.
Here’s a real tip for you: It is never appropriate to show up on someone’s doorstep and discuss your religion. I respect your religion and I don’t show up at your house to tell you what I do and don’t believe in. Respect my right to my own religion and to eat my pizza in peace.
I have been fuming for almost an hour now and I have decided I will not call the store and try to get you fired. I have left a complaint in the feedback section of your website, and I hope you get a good talking to rather than the axe. Next time, I hope you deliver a little less Jesus with the pizza.
You’re on notice dude.
-The Stashbuckler
Things that piss me off…. today.
19 Feb 2009 Leave a Comment
in Ranting
1. Octo-mom. No one has business bringing 8 children into the world when he/she cannot support them. And by support I don’t mean “depend on others to pay you money to keep your children fed and clothed” – I mean YOU make/have enough money to take care of their needs.
2. Guvernator Schwarzenegger. You got elected because you said you were better than the “girly men” in government and you would balance the budget. Well here it is 2009 and you’ve done a damn crappy job. In fact, now in addition to furloughing employees and cutting their already scarce paychecks, you’re going to send out 20K pink slips. Do you have a tumor or something?
3. Law suits against tobacco companies. Don’t get me wrong – I think what the tobacco companies did for years was despicable. But seriously… no one FORCED people to go buy cigarettes and smoke them. So when your relatives file a lawsuit, and the tobacco company gets forced to pay out 8 or 10 million dollars, all I can think of right now is how many mortgage payments that would make for people who can’t pay their bills because they got laid off (by the Guvernator and the like).
4. Madoff and his cronies. Like the world isn’t a hard enough place to live in now that the bottom has fallen out of the market and people don’t know how they’re going to manage to eat and keep a roof over their heads. I don’t really believe in hell, but if I did, there’s a special place in hell for people like that. Ditto for Stanford, the Enron folks, and anyone else who has reaped huge profits from intentionally duping the average American.
5. The peanut thing. I almost don’t have words for this. Despite numerous health code violations and POSITIVE SALMONELLA TESTS, one company knowingly shipped tainted and unsanitary products. This is a lesson in ripple effects. Not only did the company have to close it’s doors and layoff employees, OTHER companies are now going bankrupt trying to recall their products (that used the tainted products in some way), and keep consumers safe. Please send these folks to the same place that Madoff goes.
6. The general state of the world. I am INCREDIBLY lucky right now to have a job, a home and a wonderful spouse. But it pisses me off that we all live in a world where people who could afford to retire last year now have to work longer, where those of us who made the time and financial investment in education are working low paying jobs and forced to be grateful for them, and where hard-working people in all stages of their careers are getting laid off left and right. I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s a very long tunnel.
/rant
Check back for knitting content tomorrow.
Letters to the Editor
30 Nov 2008 Leave a Comment
in Fabulous Friends, Family, Funny, Ranting, Weekend Update
Dear California:
Thank you for the lovely weather during the Thanksgiving holiday. Although some folks like their Thanksgivings to be nippy, I loved our long walk through 70 degree sunshine on Thursday afternoon.
I also have to thank you for your lack of traffic during the holiday weekend. Other than getting in and out of the airport you were an absolute delight. Let’s see more of that m’kay?
Love,
The Little Devil
*****
Dear Kansas -
You were lovely when we left – 50s and 60s and sunny. WHAT happened? Now you’re spitting snow upon us. I hope you know that I’m not planning to leave my house until you get a better attitude. No matter how long it takes.
Icily yours,
The Little Devil
*****
Dear Smoking Man -
When I arrived home from Thanksgiving week last night, fresh from beautiful sunny California to snowy, icy Kansas, I was already a little disappointed in my homecoming. Add to that the fact that it was midnight, I had no heavy coat with me (please see letter to Kansas above for reasons) and that the Blue Bus took over a half an hour to arrive. So please understand me when I say I really didn’t need you to chain smoke through the waiting period and hack that terrible cough in my ear forcing me to HAVE to take an extra shower at 2am just so I could go to sleep without smelling like your ash tray. You could learn a bit of common courtesy about standing away from crowds of people when you feel the need to indulge in your disgusting habit. Because really, if I ever see you again, I’m going to have to resist the impulse not to ash directly on you.
-The LD
*****
Dear Family and Friends:
Thanks for the fabulous time. I miss you all and enjoyed seeing you and sharing wonderful meals. Photographic evidence is below.
Denied?
23 Jul 2008 2 Comments
in Political Statements, Ranting
When I made the decision to quit my job in Los Angeles and relocate to the Midwest, I knew certain things wouldn’t be easy. Since starting work after college, I hadn’t given much thought to what it actually takes to get medical insurance coverage, since I was always eligible for the group plan at the company for which I worked.
I’ve made no secret on here of the fact that I struggle with anxiety, and sometimes a bit of depression. I was diagnosed in college and have spent a lot of years working with some great health care professionals to the point that I’m not constantly in therapy any more and my medication is simple and consistent. For the most part I don’t wake up every day (or go to bed every night) really even thinking that I have a problem.
But try and apply for individual medical insurance these days, and it’s a problem. When I quit my job in January I immediately went to apply for coverage at a large, well-known insurance company, which promised great individual coverage. Now I’m a moderately fit young woman. I fit into my weight percentile, I exercise a little (ok not enough, but I have no physical limitations), my blood pressure is normal and I don’t smoke, use illegal substances or drink to excess. I’m young and healthy and you would think that I’d be an insurance company’s dream.
But I knew it the minute I hit that part of the application: “Have you ever been treated for mental illness? If yes, please give us some additional information.” My application came back denied. No rider, no offers of a different plan, nothing. DENIED.
It was then I learned why so much of America is not insured. It doesn’t matter if you have money to pay the premiums (which is saying a lot since the premiums are VERY high). It doesn’t matter if you’re sick and need treatment and are willing to pay extra for that – in fact, it makes you worse off. You just can’t get covered.
Now don’t go thinking that I’ve not been covered by insurance for the last 6 months. I went ahead and enrolled in what I could: a catastrophic policy through my alumni association. It won’t cover anything, unless I fall victim to a bus crash or a magician’s slicing trick that goes awry, but I’m covered. Sort of.
But that policy is now coming to an end, and I find myself in a weird place again. I have no permanent employment yet, and though I’m getting married next month and the coverage on my fiance’s insurance could be retroactive, it would appear I have a few months before I can reliably give a sigh of relief at being covered again.
So today I filled out another application for health coverage. I filled out the application completely, even though I know that the section on Mental Illness is once again going to be my doom. So here I sit, waiting again to be denied.
Way to piss me off #13
18 Dec 2007 Leave a Comment
in Office Games, Ranting
Ask me the exact same question you have asked me every day for a week and haven’t listened to the answer any time I’ve told you, even though it’s the same answer every single time.
Thank god there are only 12 working days of this insanity left.
That really chaps my hide.
13 Dec 2007 Leave a Comment
in Ranting, The Boob Tube
Lately I’ve been watching quite a bit of the Discovery channel and I’ve gotten hooked on Everest: Beyond the Limit 2007. This is a TV series that follows an expedition of mountain climbers and guides as they attempt to summit beautiful, awesome and deadly Mt. Everest.
Tonight I watched my dvr’d Episode 7 to see Summit Day for Team 1. I have to say, I have traversed a wide spectrum of emotions while watching Everest this season: amazement, horror, awe and many others. I have watched, literally sick to my stomach or breathless in anticipation of the next step. Tonight, however, was ruined for me in watching Tim Medvetz climb the mountain. Tim has become something of a hero in the series, rallying from a motorcycle accident and a failed attempt last season, to summit this season. Early on Summit Day, Tim falls and breaks his hand in two places. However, he chooses not to tell the guides and to soldier on. Some praise him for a his true grit, others for his bravery in the face of danger and his strength at summiting with a virtually unusable hand. For me, the excitement of the climb is ruined by his actions. What I watched tonight was a selfish foolhardy man who let his desire to summit Everest get in the way of what was safest for the whole group. On the return down the mountain, Tim is so injured that the Woody, the guide has to help him every step of the way. In continuing up the mountain Tim puts his own life at risk, but worse, he puts his team members at risk as well. Because of the happy outcome (Tim makes it down the mountain with no other major injuries to himself or anyone else) he receives a hero’s welcome, but the potential for this situation to have been so much worse is huge.
It is this cavalier attitude that causes so many accidents on Everest. After reading Into Thin Air and many other accounts of disasters on Everest, I simply cannot applaud a man who knowingly does something so selfish.
So that’s my two cents this episode.
How they suck you in.
30 Oct 2007 Leave a Comment
in Ranting
I recently placed a large order with Bath & Body Works for some yummy lotions and shower gels for Christmas and Channukah gifts (it involves a crafting project too!) When the order arrived it came with some sundry samples one of which was Frederic Fekkai’s Gloss shampoo. WOWEE this stuff is amazing. It smells good and it makes my hair feel great. I just used the sample packet tonight and I’m still amazed at how nice and shiny my hair looks and how good it feels. So I thought I’d see what it would take to procure a bottle of the miracle stuff. This is how they suck you in.
Living in a censored state.
24 Oct 2007 Leave a Comment
in Political Statements, Ranting
I don’t know about you, but this article made me angry…really angry. No matter what side of the climate debate you’re on, the idea of the White House editing what experts have to say makes me feel like we’re living in a censored state.
White House edits CDC climate testimony
WASHINGTON – The White House severely edited congressional testimony given Tuesday by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the impact of climate change on health, removing specific scientific references to potential health risks, according to two sources familiar with the documents.
Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Atlanta-based CDC, the government’s premier disease monitoring agency, told a Senate hearing that climate change “is anticipated to have a broad range of impacts on the health of Americans.”
But her prepared testimony was devoted almost entirely to the CDC’s preparation, with few details on what effects climate change could have on the spread of disease. Only during questioning did she describe some specific diseases that likely would be affected, again without elaboration.
Her testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee had much less information on health risks than a much longer draft version Gerberding submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review in advance of her appearance.
“It was eviscerated,” said a CDC official, familiar with both versions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the review process.
The official said that while it is customary for testimony to be changed in a White House review, these changes were particularly “heavy-handed,” with the document cut from its original 14 pages to four. It was six pages as presented to the Senate committee.
