mmm....donuts....
There's a disclaimer that says the contents on the box cover are not representative of what is inside the box:
Thank you come again!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Gainful employment!!
Hurray!! The drought has finally been lifted!!! It is truly a work orchestrated by God that brought me to where I am today! On Monday, I start as a full employ where I am at. No more feeling slightly ostracized (of course, only in my head) because of my different badge. No more wondering what will happen. And no more overtime! Okay, maybe that last one was actually kind of good to have.
I know many of you have heard my sad tales throughout this past year. Trying to figure out what to do with my career. Where to work? What to do? When will I find the "right" job?? Well, here is how it all unfolded with a brief recap!
After I moved up here, I got in touch with an old friend of mine. We weren't bosom buddies or anything, but he always seemed like a big brother. Or rather, though he would never say, I was just probably a pesty little sister to him. My friend, was kind enough to recommend me for a project position as a paralegal. Got to get in to the company on that and helped out as much as I could. My contract was initially for 2 months. Then one day...Surprise! I get an email saying that my contract had been extended for one month! woohoo! but then...here is where God comes in and how His timing and His working in people are so awesome.
While I was puttering away doing what I was suppose to do and trying to meet and accost people for lunch...someone in my department had given her notice to quit. She happened to be under my same boss. She happened to be doing something that, in my eyes, was not too difficult for me to pick up. She was doing something, in my boss' eyes, I was overqualified to do. Lo and behold, my boss approached me to see if I was interested in moving into that position!! and of course, i said "OF COURSE!" haha. maybe much too eagerly. so with all companies there is some bureaucracy. after sometime, the position was opened, i went through some interviews, and my boss approved me to move over into the position!!!
In a time where there was no hiring b/c there was some recent lay offs and headcount was frozen and budget belts were being tightened....God brought me to a place and the right time to be able to get to know people and do good work for things to be set up just perfectly when a full time position in the company opened up. I could not have thought it to work out any better! i don't have to move groups, i don't have to move cubes, and i'm just sliding over to doing something much more substantive than what i was doing before. And i get to stay working under the same boss who is really really great.
I'm really excited about all the new opportunities. I get to work on a much more cross-functional basis. I get to still do legal analysis and recommendations. It is very interesting to meet and work with new people. I cannot believe how big my working world is from what it used to be. Still quite an adjustment. and lots of work to be done. not only the day to day...but there is anticipated process overhaul that i get to be a part of! it's really awesome!! i can't believe how fortunate it is for me to have this opportunity. I am very thankful to God and to all those people who helped make this happen.
Tomorrow is my last day as a contractor! Come Monday...hello full time employee who has access to the gym and remote access from home!! Now the questions remains, should I get a company blackberry???
Hurray!! The drought has finally been lifted!!! It is truly a work orchestrated by God that brought me to where I am today! On Monday, I start as a full employ where I am at. No more feeling slightly ostracized (of course, only in my head) because of my different badge. No more wondering what will happen. And no more overtime! Okay, maybe that last one was actually kind of good to have.
I know many of you have heard my sad tales throughout this past year. Trying to figure out what to do with my career. Where to work? What to do? When will I find the "right" job?? Well, here is how it all unfolded with a brief recap!
After I moved up here, I got in touch with an old friend of mine. We weren't bosom buddies or anything, but he always seemed like a big brother. Or rather, though he would never say, I was just probably a pesty little sister to him. My friend, was kind enough to recommend me for a project position as a paralegal. Got to get in to the company on that and helped out as much as I could. My contract was initially for 2 months. Then one day...Surprise! I get an email saying that my contract had been extended for one month! woohoo! but then...here is where God comes in and how His timing and His working in people are so awesome.
While I was puttering away doing what I was suppose to do and trying to meet and accost people for lunch...someone in my department had given her notice to quit. She happened to be under my same boss. She happened to be doing something that, in my eyes, was not too difficult for me to pick up. She was doing something, in my boss' eyes, I was overqualified to do. Lo and behold, my boss approached me to see if I was interested in moving into that position!! and of course, i said "OF COURSE!" haha. maybe much too eagerly. so with all companies there is some bureaucracy. after sometime, the position was opened, i went through some interviews, and my boss approved me to move over into the position!!!
In a time where there was no hiring b/c there was some recent lay offs and headcount was frozen and budget belts were being tightened....God brought me to a place and the right time to be able to get to know people and do good work for things to be set up just perfectly when a full time position in the company opened up. I could not have thought it to work out any better! i don't have to move groups, i don't have to move cubes, and i'm just sliding over to doing something much more substantive than what i was doing before. And i get to stay working under the same boss who is really really great.
I'm really excited about all the new opportunities. I get to work on a much more cross-functional basis. I get to still do legal analysis and recommendations. It is very interesting to meet and work with new people. I cannot believe how big my working world is from what it used to be. Still quite an adjustment. and lots of work to be done. not only the day to day...but there is anticipated process overhaul that i get to be a part of! it's really awesome!! i can't believe how fortunate it is for me to have this opportunity. I am very thankful to God and to all those people who helped make this happen.
Tomorrow is my last day as a contractor! Come Monday...hello full time employee who has access to the gym and remote access from home!! Now the questions remains, should I get a company blackberry???
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Breaking up is hard to do... (me and my CC company)
We all have credit cards. I happen to be in the process of activating one of mine and closing another one of mine. No particular reasons. Other than the one I was reactivating I have had for a very long time but only use as my emergency card. I'm not too sure what happened to it in the interim, but I ended up opening another account when I moved. Weird. I'm only in the habit of having and using one card. and then having a back up one for emergencies. so i ended up having two for emergencies. weird.
anyhow, as i was trying to activate my old card, i ended up being on hold for the longest time!!! i couldn't to the automatic activate as i was not calling from a landline that was linked to my account. Thus the inevitable music and hold. i tried twice! was on hold for over 10 minutes each time. I know, it's only 10 minutes...but it seemed like forever to be on hold! so anyways, i wasn't too happy with that level of service given that i was trying to ACTIVATE my account so i could start USING it. but alas...i was calling at midnight saturday night...so maybe they were not as well staffed as I had hoped or expected. Lo and behold, the next day my 3rd attempt was golden and i successfully activated my credit card and got an increase in limit! awesome. and yes...only for emergencies.
having done that, i proceeded to cancel and close my other account. reasons why: b/c i just opened the account last year, don't really use them and simply wanted to stay with the card I had had for longer. the customer service number gave me no option to auto cancel my account. and here's the reason why...the "what can we do to keep you" tactic. i had to talk to my account rep and there was the tenacious effort to convince me not to close my account. and i remind you, there was not compelling reason for me to do so. simply put...i had too many credit cards and wanted to close one of them. then came the barrage of questions. some appropriate, others, i thought, very inappropriate, and all in all a bit annoying. here's my paraphrase of the questions:
Why do you want to close your account?
Is there anything we can do to make this card work better for you?
Do you have other credit cards?
Do you other credit cards give you rewards or incentives to use them?
How are we different from your other cards?
Why are you choosing to stay with them and not us?
Do you have a balance on your other cards?
Are interests rates important to you?
After the third time I had to say "i just want to close my account" I was getting a little peeved. why can't i just want to do something for no reason that is any of your business?!! i know, they are just doing their jobs...but seriously...i just want to close my account. if i had a problem with the card and with the services, then i'd say something. but really...i just have one card too many and i'm sorry...but yours gets closed. *sigh* i think i said "I just want to close my account" ten times and i was almost to the point where i wanted to say "i love my other card, i have used the 2nd emergency card before so i know them...I have never used you and don't know you so let me just close my account!!!!" After the 10th time, the rep quickly stated: "ok, your account is cancelled." almost in a manner so i wouldn' t hear it. and when i asked for confirmation of the closing, he seemed very reluctant. not such a great tactic to set things up for eventually trying to lure me back, i should say. if it's that hard to close up, i don't have a very good impression of them overall. just cut me loose. i'm not a money maker for them anyways.
lesson learned: the credit card company offers you a whole bunch (of what could be nothing) if you call them and tell them you want to close your account. too bad in this situation, i just wanted to close. nothing they said could have kept me. hehe..unless they paid me to keep it open. haha.
i must say though...i LOVE my credit card that i use all the time. they are so ON. even when it's me that using my card, they will stop transactions when they suspect something is not normal. awesome. not an annoyance at all. i'm very grateful for them doing so and they are really nice about things. emergency card has been good too. way to make me feel good to increase my limit upon my activation of my new card. yes...i know they are trying to sucker me into to using more and owing them. but alas! touche! i'm not going to!
We all have credit cards. I happen to be in the process of activating one of mine and closing another one of mine. No particular reasons. Other than the one I was reactivating I have had for a very long time but only use as my emergency card. I'm not too sure what happened to it in the interim, but I ended up opening another account when I moved. Weird. I'm only in the habit of having and using one card. and then having a back up one for emergencies. so i ended up having two for emergencies. weird.
anyhow, as i was trying to activate my old card, i ended up being on hold for the longest time!!! i couldn't to the automatic activate as i was not calling from a landline that was linked to my account. Thus the inevitable music and hold. i tried twice! was on hold for over 10 minutes each time. I know, it's only 10 minutes...but it seemed like forever to be on hold! so anyways, i wasn't too happy with that level of service given that i was trying to ACTIVATE my account so i could start USING it. but alas...i was calling at midnight saturday night...so maybe they were not as well staffed as I had hoped or expected. Lo and behold, the next day my 3rd attempt was golden and i successfully activated my credit card and got an increase in limit! awesome. and yes...only for emergencies.
having done that, i proceeded to cancel and close my other account. reasons why: b/c i just opened the account last year, don't really use them and simply wanted to stay with the card I had had for longer. the customer service number gave me no option to auto cancel my account. and here's the reason why...the "what can we do to keep you" tactic. i had to talk to my account rep and there was the tenacious effort to convince me not to close my account. and i remind you, there was not compelling reason for me to do so. simply put...i had too many credit cards and wanted to close one of them. then came the barrage of questions. some appropriate, others, i thought, very inappropriate, and all in all a bit annoying. here's my paraphrase of the questions:
Why do you want to close your account?
Is there anything we can do to make this card work better for you?
Do you have other credit cards?
Do you other credit cards give you rewards or incentives to use them?
How are we different from your other cards?
Why are you choosing to stay with them and not us?
Do you have a balance on your other cards?
Are interests rates important to you?
After the third time I had to say "i just want to close my account" I was getting a little peeved. why can't i just want to do something for no reason that is any of your business?!! i know, they are just doing their jobs...but seriously...i just want to close my account. if i had a problem with the card and with the services, then i'd say something. but really...i just have one card too many and i'm sorry...but yours gets closed. *sigh* i think i said "I just want to close my account" ten times and i was almost to the point where i wanted to say "i love my other card, i have used the 2nd emergency card before so i know them...I have never used you and don't know you so let me just close my account!!!!" After the 10th time, the rep quickly stated: "ok, your account is cancelled." almost in a manner so i wouldn' t hear it. and when i asked for confirmation of the closing, he seemed very reluctant. not such a great tactic to set things up for eventually trying to lure me back, i should say. if it's that hard to close up, i don't have a very good impression of them overall. just cut me loose. i'm not a money maker for them anyways.
lesson learned: the credit card company offers you a whole bunch (of what could be nothing) if you call them and tell them you want to close your account. too bad in this situation, i just wanted to close. nothing they said could have kept me. hehe..unless they paid me to keep it open. haha.
i must say though...i LOVE my credit card that i use all the time. they are so ON. even when it's me that using my card, they will stop transactions when they suspect something is not normal. awesome. not an annoyance at all. i'm very grateful for them doing so and they are really nice about things. emergency card has been good too. way to make me feel good to increase my limit upon my activation of my new card. yes...i know they are trying to sucker me into to using more and owing them. but alas! touche! i'm not going to!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
As there is No Cable
So many of you might not know...but we have been living without cable tv for quite a while now. No matter...we were plenty busy with the internet and the tv shows you watch online. I have to say, I went a little crazy with the shows and ended up watching almost every conceiveable show there was to watch online. I found great shows like "brothers and sisters" on abc...to not as great shows like "search for the next pussycat doll." but hey...at that time i wasn't working. and i do love my tv.
but now that it's rerun time...no shows to watch. so we've once again, resorted to dvds. tho i have been know to gether dvds here and there...i don't think i've bought a new dvd in about a year. so we've been having some fun watching the same dvds over and over again.
this week's hit of the household: O Brother Where Art Thou. what a wonderful movie! george clooney like you've never seen him before (unless you saw him on the Facts of Life). far from debonair, but nonethless, enthralling to watch. this movie is so great! loads of great quotes and facial expressions. lots of allegory. i can only wish there was some insightful commentary by the directors or the writers of the movie. but alas, we are left to interpret it on our own. the images are quite stunning. and it's so fun to watch!!! i might start getting tired of it in a few days. but for now....i'll leave you with our favorite quotes from the movie:
vince: "Ohhh... mercy yes...we got to beat that competition."
judy: "...and stay out of the Woolsworth!"
So many of you might not know...but we have been living without cable tv for quite a while now. No matter...we were plenty busy with the internet and the tv shows you watch online. I have to say, I went a little crazy with the shows and ended up watching almost every conceiveable show there was to watch online. I found great shows like "brothers and sisters" on abc...to not as great shows like "search for the next pussycat doll." but hey...at that time i wasn't working. and i do love my tv.
but now that it's rerun time...no shows to watch. so we've once again, resorted to dvds. tho i have been know to gether dvds here and there...i don't think i've bought a new dvd in about a year. so we've been having some fun watching the same dvds over and over again.
this week's hit of the household: O Brother Where Art Thou. what a wonderful movie! george clooney like you've never seen him before (unless you saw him on the Facts of Life). far from debonair, but nonethless, enthralling to watch. this movie is so great! loads of great quotes and facial expressions. lots of allegory. i can only wish there was some insightful commentary by the directors or the writers of the movie. but alas, we are left to interpret it on our own. the images are quite stunning. and it's so fun to watch!!! i might start getting tired of it in a few days. but for now....i'll leave you with our favorite quotes from the movie:
vince: "Ohhh... mercy yes...we got to beat that competition."
judy: "...and stay out of the Woolsworth!"
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Down Time
So I finally have stolen away some down time to blog. I know you all must have forgotten about me and thought I may have fell off the face of the earth. Nope. Still here. Vince is sleeping so it's just me. I thought I would turn off the TV (I think I've watched all my dvds a gazillion times anyways) and thought about turning off the computer but took a moment to touch base with my blog.
Since I wrote last time lots of things, of course, have happened. In no particular order...went to a wedding which was loads of fun! Of course, most of the fun was watching the groom and his deteriorating but fun behavior due to alcohol consumption. By the end of the night, which by the way was only 11pm, he needed two guys to prop him up and take him up to the couch. Where he lay with a half smile on his face and making weird poses with his arms as they were the only parts of his body not being supported by the couch. He was such fun and a great cooperative drunk. He even made his 6am flight out the next morning! If only I could be cooperative when I'm that gone...
Still working. I may have an update on that soon. But I really am enjoying where I am working, what I am doing, the people that I work with and, surprisingly, am very eager for more. I used to think I didn't care about what I did. But being in an entirely different industry makes me realize that there are some things on which I would rather spend my work day doing. And it is really great to be surrounded by people who strive to be on the cutting edge of what they do. Not only is the subject matter of what I do quite interesting and novel to me, even the workplace itself is pretty awesome.
If you didn't know, I came from a wonderful small law firm atmosphere that thoroughly enjoyed. But being in a big corporation with all these differently trained people and lots of hoops to jump through, is quite an experience. I didn't not know I would have to be so interactive and so nice. I mean, I am nice. and I still think I'm an extrovert...but working with others sometimes takes a lot of effort. Some of my thoughts during the day: "Why is it that I have to say the same thing over and over again? Why is it that even though I say something multiple times in multiple ways, you still don't get it? Am I speaking English?" Okay, that last one is actually a legitimate inquiry because sometimes I'm communicating with international people.
And speaking of international, I discovered (new to me that is) a new island! The island of Mauritius is my new favorite place to talk about! We all know that the island of Madagascar is off the coast of Africa, right? But did we all know that the island of Mauritius is off the coast of Madagascar?!? Not I! I keep telling people that I need to go visit some of our international entities to make sure they are in compliance. :) But alas, my suggestions have fallen on deaf ears. So one revelation of mine...I'm not as culturally correct as I thought myself to be. I am soo western-centric it's amazing. My apologies to all you internationals out there. I will try to be more sensitive to the world cultures. I still have a lot of learning to do.
Anyhow, I think I puked into this blog way to much. I will try to be better at being more consistent.
So I finally have stolen away some down time to blog. I know you all must have forgotten about me and thought I may have fell off the face of the earth. Nope. Still here. Vince is sleeping so it's just me. I thought I would turn off the TV (I think I've watched all my dvds a gazillion times anyways) and thought about turning off the computer but took a moment to touch base with my blog.
Since I wrote last time lots of things, of course, have happened. In no particular order...went to a wedding which was loads of fun! Of course, most of the fun was watching the groom and his deteriorating but fun behavior due to alcohol consumption. By the end of the night, which by the way was only 11pm, he needed two guys to prop him up and take him up to the couch. Where he lay with a half smile on his face and making weird poses with his arms as they were the only parts of his body not being supported by the couch. He was such fun and a great cooperative drunk. He even made his 6am flight out the next morning! If only I could be cooperative when I'm that gone...
Still working. I may have an update on that soon. But I really am enjoying where I am working, what I am doing, the people that I work with and, surprisingly, am very eager for more. I used to think I didn't care about what I did. But being in an entirely different industry makes me realize that there are some things on which I would rather spend my work day doing. And it is really great to be surrounded by people who strive to be on the cutting edge of what they do. Not only is the subject matter of what I do quite interesting and novel to me, even the workplace itself is pretty awesome.
If you didn't know, I came from a wonderful small law firm atmosphere that thoroughly enjoyed. But being in a big corporation with all these differently trained people and lots of hoops to jump through, is quite an experience. I didn't not know I would have to be so interactive and so nice. I mean, I am nice. and I still think I'm an extrovert...but working with others sometimes takes a lot of effort. Some of my thoughts during the day: "Why is it that I have to say the same thing over and over again? Why is it that even though I say something multiple times in multiple ways, you still don't get it? Am I speaking English?" Okay, that last one is actually a legitimate inquiry because sometimes I'm communicating with international people.
And speaking of international, I discovered (new to me that is) a new island! The island of Mauritius is my new favorite place to talk about! We all know that the island of Madagascar is off the coast of Africa, right? But did we all know that the island of Mauritius is off the coast of Madagascar?!? Not I! I keep telling people that I need to go visit some of our international entities to make sure they are in compliance. :) But alas, my suggestions have fallen on deaf ears. So one revelation of mine...I'm not as culturally correct as I thought myself to be. I am soo western-centric it's amazing. My apologies to all you internationals out there. I will try to be more sensitive to the world cultures. I still have a lot of learning to do.
Anyhow, I think I puked into this blog way to much. I will try to be better at being more consistent.
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