Middle Management, Living the Dream

There’s no inconspicuous way to work on your resume when you’re running a conference.

• Work is heavy today.  A lot of little issue, little problems, and a long to do list.  It’s getting done, but more work is already coming in.
• Yesterday was supposed to be a quiet day for me.  I had no meetings scheduled (crazy!), so I decided to work from home.  I thought I’d relax, write some documents up, ease through the day, close up at a normal time.  Nope.  Everything went sideways, and I was emailing and calling people all day, trying to put out little work fires.  All ended well, but still.  Not fun.
• I helped some friends move some furniture yesterday, and I think I pulled a muscle in my right hand or wrist.  I can’t get a solid grip on anything today.  It’s feeling a bit better this afternoon, but as it’s my dominant hand, it’s been a bit harder to hold my cup of coffee, or type.  Or write (my handwriting sucked before, so no big loss).
• I really want to try Middle Manager of Justice, but I can wait until an Android version is released.  I checked their forums, and Double Fine said they’d work on a port if the iOS version does well enough.  Here’s to hoping.  It really looks fun!
• Speaking of Android, I think I’m going to do a factory reset on my phone.  Right now, Dr. Baffled is rolling his eyes and cursing at this blog post.  This is because I wind up bitching about glitches or issues with any phone I have within weeks of getting it.  It usually means I do a factory reset and restore about once every 6 months.  It’s a bit of a song and dance backing up all of my data, and it means having to beat Plants vs Zombies again, but I get a phone that’s lean, fast, and like new.  For a little while, anyway.

Okay, the assault of meetings continues.  Good luck everyone else.

letmecrmthat:

My calendar is COMPLETELY empty today.

No meetings. No to-do reminders. No “catch ups”.

Nothing.

Could it be? Yes, it could.
Something’s coming, something good..,

A day without meetings for me is like a Monday Weekend Vacation Day Holiday goddamn Snuffaluffagus. 

Despite the fact the last speaker of the morning seemed to ramble on without point, direction, or intent to ever stop talking ever, we ended the morning session early. I took the opportunity to wander around outside in the nice weather. I kinda wished I didn’t have to go back in for the afternoon, but I do, so I did.

I checked my with email, which was a two-fold mistake. 1. I just shouldn’t be checking email on what is essentially a day off, and 2. I had to log in with my vpn from my phone, which isn’t really supported, so little things like composing emails, or replying, are not possible. So all i could do was sit back, read emails, and get angry at how bad people are fucking up things while I’m out of the office for a while day. Holy shit. It’s amazing how far off the rails people will go.

I can’t wait to get to work tomorrow. It’s going to be just great. I can feel it.

gingeredjess:

I don’t do conference calls often. I’m stuck on one now.

No one knows what a mute button is.

What is that shuffling/scratchy sound? Are you rubbing the phone on your face? Jesus, you need to shave. Wait, is that a guy or a girl? Are you just furry?

Ugh. This is ridiculous.

If it’s a web-based conference call, most software lets the host mute individual attendees.  That is a freaking fantastic feature.  If you’re the host, you need to know how to do that.  

If it’s not a webmeeting, or if you’re not the host, just brace for impact.  

Suggestions:

• If possible, turn the volume down on your phone so the ambient face noises don’t overwhelm you with a need to punch.  Most voices should carry well enough to be heard
• Focus on reading (and rereading) any materials that were sent out for the conference call.  
• If it is a webmeeting and someone is showing a powerpoint where they just slapped all their content on a slide versus carefully sculpting bullet points that foster discussion, just read the powerpoint with your phone volume turned all the way down.

If you’re presenting… well, muscle through.  Sometimes you need to just make sure you are as prepared for the content as can be, and try not to suffer fools as you speak.  

After the call, apply alcohol liberally.  

Good luck

It’s Saturday, 8am, and I’m sitting at the service shop for my car.  It’s fine, just an oil change and a possible AC recharge.  I brought my laptop with me because they have wifi here, and I have a to-do list for work.  

I don’t mind it, really.  It’s almost relaxing to get work done and know that no one else is going to be calling/emailing/IMing me from work while I try to get shit done.

It’s just a quiet moment for me to work, while people with actual trade jobs that yield tangible results work on my car.

Good morning, Internet.  You look nice today.