A day at the office

Today I got a refresher course in business ethics and office conduct. Here are my findings/reminders:

1. a) Craving a drink @ 10.30 am is not a good sign.
b) Chances are, it will only get worse with every passing hour.

2. I don't care what Ms. Manners says, some emails must remain ignored and unanswered. Or printed out and burned. But still unanswered.

3. a) Getting into a fight with your boss is not a good career move.
b) Winning said fight is even worse.
c) Letting your boss walk all over you is not good for your career either.
d) Whatever you decide, you are screwed.

4. a) Spitting in your adversary's coffee, no matter how justified, is not considered professional conduct.
b) Too bad.

5. a) When it comes to work, have no loyalties except to yourself.
b) Because your "teammate" can turn on you in a matter of seconds for reasons known only to him.

6. a) Venting feels good.
b) Unless your boss overhears you venting.
c) About him.

7. Being "proactive" and "thinking outside of the box" are concepts for department meetings/pep talk only. When it comes to actual work, doing it SALY is encouraged, preferred and expected.

8. a) Learning to know when to shut up is priceless.
b) Never learning it is more entertaining.

9. Remember, you are an accountant, not a brain surgeon. Don't take your work so seriously. Nobody outside of accounting department does any way.

10. a) If you want that drink - 10.30 or not - just get it.
b) Those who say 10.30 am is too early for a drink must have never had a bad day at the office.

You can't always get what you want

There are times when one wants something very, very much. It seems good, right and almost perfect. And then it doesn't work out. For days, months and sometimes even years, one might wonder why that thing never materialized. And while one will never know the real reason for why, at times G-d in his mercy gives one a glimpse of what would have happened had that thing ever come into being. And then one sighs a deep sigh of relief, counts one's blessings and murmurs to oneself, "That was a close one."

Today I got one of these glimpses into the possible present/future. So now I feel a huge surge of gratitude because:
1. If I got what I wanted then, it more likely than not would've made me very, very miserable. For a very, very long time.
2. I could've been left guessing about "what if" and "if only's" for the rest of my life - but I wasn't. That chapter is closed. I am extremely grateful for the sense of closure.
3. Hopefully, when next time I won't get what I really, really want, remembering this will soften the sting of disappointment.

Die, spam, die!!!

So after getting quite a few spam comments, I caved in and did something I absolutely hate doing to those few who leave comments on my blog. I find it very annoying to have to enter word verification when I leave a comment on other blogs. However, I felt I had no choice as spam was starting to get out of hand. Well, to make long story short, it didn't help.

I keep on getting spam comments. Sigh. It looks like the only options left are either ignoring spam or moderating the comments. Moderating I like even less than word verification because I can only moderate late nights from home, which kills discussions of any sort. (Though those haven't been happening lately, hmmm....)

Any ideas out there? Any preferences from my 4 loyal readers? Please leave a comment though you'll brave the word verification for that, which is still on.

You just can't win.

So there I was thinking that I am doing this great thing for my family by force feeding them fruits and vegetables. Turns out - I was stuffing them with pesticides. If you are too lazy busy to check out the link, here's the list of the produce containing the largest amount of pesticides:

Celery

Peaches

Strawberries

Apples

Domestic blueberries

Nectarines

Sweet bell peppers

Spinach, kale and collard greens

Cherries

Potatoes

Imported grapes

Lettuce

Incidentally, this so-called dirty dozen represents about 90-95% of all produce that we buy. I remembered reading somewhere that farmers' market produce, even if non-organic, is usually lower in pesticides, so I visited one such market. I did expect the prices to be higher, but didn't expect them to be that high. Given that we already spend significant amount of money on this on a weekly basis, I just can't afford to triple that amount. And if I go organic - forget it, I just can't. So what do I do? Stick to avocados and grapefruit? Or do I still serve this chemical laden stuff?

Ugh!!!!

Equality, my aunt Fanny

It occurred to me recently that if I were a man, I would make a darn good husband. I make a decent living (not great, but decent), am not obsessed with my career and value family time much more than earning points with my bosses. In addition I do 99% grocery shopping, 90% of the cooking and laundry, 100% of getting up to the kids in the middle of the night, do fun stuff with children, pay the bills, get kids ready for school in the morning, set up all appointments, talk to the teachers... I even clean sometimes! Yes, there's an issue of not being able to use any tools or fix anything in the house, but I think the above qualities would more than make up for this shortcoming. Any woman would want to marry me!

While as a wife I am very much mediocre, if not worse. My cooking and baking are decent, but nothing out of the ordinary, my organizational skills are sub-par and my housekeeping skills could make a grown man cry. And I don't make up for these shortcomings with good looks or sunny personality. I am lucky SubHub puts up with me.

Sometimes life just doesn't seem fair, does it?