Month: January 2011

It was a weird day at work because I screwed something up but it was something there was no way I could have known how to do it right and no way I could have known it was wrong. It seemed ok to me, I had done it the way I’d done it last month (it’s a monthly task) and had been told that I’d done it correctly last month (it was wrong last month, too… sigh…)

Corrections will have to be made and now I know how to do it right and there shouldn’t be any issues going forward and it’s not the part of my job that is my strong point so while I do feel bad that there will have to be corrections made, I am not beating myself up about it too much because, like I said, I had no way of knowing that what I was doing wasn’t correct.

Still, I am a perfectionist and having to admit to clients that I screwed up won’t be easy and it’s not as if I can actually say to clients that I had no way of knowing it was wrong…

Once we get into second quarter, things should be better. And by then I’ll have a better handle on things. At least, that’s what I am hoping. I feel like my inbox is always overflowing and my out box doesn’t see much completed work…

And I somehow managed to both receive and lose my copy of “The Art of War” today.

Today’s mission at work was to find a restaurant that could accommodate a party of 16 on a Saturday night. You would think that in a large metropolitan area, this would be easy and I would say to you “nay, nay dear reader”… Indeed, the metropolitan area is large but apparently a party of 16 is a humongous undertaking. Oddly enough, when I lived in a smallish rural area and had a group of 30 people to accommodate, there was no problem at all. SEVERAL venues didn’t even blink at the request and there was no shoving me off on the “private dining” overlord who started talking about 3 course dinners with 3 choices… nope, 30 people were seated in a main dining area and ordered off of the regular menu. Sure, I DID call ahead and let them know the party would be coming but they didn’t require a deposit or anything as the party of 16 did ($500 deposit… holy cats!)

I did finally find a restaurant that was suitably “upscale” that could work with a party of 16 on a Saturday night at 6PM. The deposit is holding the reservation. The cool part of this is that I am actually invited to this soiree and will get to go to a restaurant that I could not normally even DREAM of affording (which is no reflection on the salary I am paid, this is just one of those ultra-pricey venues).

So, I hope that the experience is a good one and that the server doesn’t implode or something serving this HUGE party. You know, for a city that hosts huge conventions, I am a little stunned that a relatively small party of 16 seems to be such a huge undertaking.

I’ll let you know how it goes after it’s over (in a couple of weeks).

It always amazes me that I can be so organized at my job and my home can be so chaotic. I TRY to keep things organized at home but time and time again, things just spiral completely out of control. What’s the most frustrating, though, is that I haven’t quite been able to put my finger on what is so different at home that I can’t seem to get a handle on things and keep them from being chaotic.

There are probably several factors that lead home to be chaos….

– No well-defined “work” space
– Not enough storage space
– No audits or overseers to make sure things are in order
– Trying to relax at home

And, I suppose that you could successfully argue that any/all of those things are just excuses. And you would, perhaps, be correct… at least to some extent.

So, I will be spending at least part of the weekend organizing the chaos that is my home/home life. Wish me luck!

It came up again today in conversation… should women over 30 cut their hair short? (The reasoning being that long hair is more a “young person” thing and as an older, more mature professional, long hair is just unseemly).

I’ve heard similar discussion about whether overweight women should keep their hair short (I’m a tich more vague as to what the actual reasoning is here…)

My own stance on this is that one of the few actual “perks” of being a grown up is that no one can dictate to you how you should wear your hair. If you’re 40 and want to rock braids, more power to you. Fifty and want to die your hair neon green? As long as you won’t get fired for it, what the hell? Does anyone remember Granny from the Tweety & Sylvester cartoons? Her hair was always in a bun. And you can’t very well make a bun from short hair.

As long as it is clean and styled nicely, a “professional woman” should be allowed to have hair of any length she wants and not be considered less of a professional. Hell, most of the over 40 IT dudes I know have ponytails (we won’t talk about their lack of hair on top of their heads).

Another nightmare for professional women is going gray… while gray hair allegedly makes men look “more distinguished” it can work against a woman. For the most part older women are generally viewed as less attractive and less productive than their younger colleagues. I’ve noticed in interviews that I am often the oldest person in the room by 15-20 years. I have noticed in “cattle call” type interview situations where a bunch of people show up for the interview equivalent of speed dating, that women who LOOK older (either evidenced by gray or salt-and-pepper hair or perhaps more than just a few facial wrinkles) always seem quickly eliminated. While it is certainly possible that they didn’t have the qualifications, it is more likely that they weren’t the “image” the employer was looking for (young, vital, perhaps “eye candy”?)

To sum up.. the colour and length of one’s hair should be a matter of personal preference. We should be looking beyond what is on the outside and focusing on what skills people bring to the table. Which may be solely my opinion… and that’s the long and the short of it.

Despite what many people think, “tax time” begins way before April 15th. Especially when you own/work for a small business. At the end of the year, beginning of a new year, there are reconciliations to do, documents to gather and files to audit. All of which I am working on at my new job.

I have to say, the new job keeps me very busy. Which I like. It also makes me worn out by the end of the day and I have to say my housework hasn’t been done in AGES because I am just way too exhausted by the workday.

Still, I enjoy the job, so I am not complaining. It’s probably a good thing I’m not married because my husband would probably be pretty ticked off right about now… (then again, if he was married to me, he’d be used to cooking his own dinner and washing his own clothes so maybe it wouldn’t be an issue… or maybe I’d find a man who thought maid service was a good idea (and if I were married, there would be no “servicing” of the maid by my husband!

But, I’m not married so there is no ticked off husband AND no maid service. Such is life in the world of MsCleanslate.

I suppose I should head to bed so I can be productive tomorrow. No rest for the wicked and all that!