Organizational Politics

Organizational politics make my head hurt. And my stomach. Somehow, though, I always seem to end up in the middle. Everyone knows I don't play politics, so they all come to me for a "neutral" opinion. sigh Life as a hockey puck...

That is all...

It's a Bouncing Baby Fridge!

I moved into my condo in 1982, and my vanilla top-freezer fridge was there at the time. Over the years it's been very little trouble. The icemaker broke a couple of times; the second time I decided to live without it, and have muddled along fairly well. Thursday, it gasped its last. With 60lbs of frozen lamb in it (currently vacationing in my neighbor's freezer, bless her). I didn't realize, at the time, that the fridge portion had joined the suicide pact until it was too late to save most of the food in it. I saved the margaritas - there's enough alcohol in the bottle that it wouldn't dare spoil!

I thank $deity that I had just paid off my Sears card, so that I was able to take advantage of the current sale (pay it off by Nov 2008 and no interest).

Friday I measured the old fridge (and the opening) and went to sears.com to shop. I spent a couple of hours comparing features and prices and reading customer reviews, and made my selection - a White Kenmore 21.8 cu. ft. Side-By-Side Refrigerator with PuR® Ultimate II Water Filtration. I've always wanted a side-by-side with ice and water in the door. I placed my order, and selected delivery on Monday, confident that Sears would never let me down.

Monday... I never got a confirmation email, or a delivery appointment call, so I phoned Sears customer support. Not that they make that easy... after half an hour on hold, my first "helper" spoke English very poorly (and quietly), with a thick Hindustani accent, and told me "there is glitch in computer - order not processed". Her supervisor confirmed that there was nothing they could do to dislodge my order, and that she would cancel it. And then the phone disconnected.

Again I called, getting someone else, this time with more understandable speech. She offered to place another order... but the deal would be a little different. Instead of $150 off, there would be a rebate form, but in the end there'd be $250 off. And they'd comp my $75 delivery fee. Okay, okay... she placed the order, placed me on hold, and, yes, again I was disconnected. Terrible phone service they have at Sears customer support.

Two and a half hours on the phone, and I had a maybe-order. When it didn't show up online, I called them yet again. It would be, they informed me (I'm not even going to discover the number of transfers and retelling of my story this took) that it would be a minimum of 42 hours before they could even begin to schedule delivery.

Frustrated and desperate, I said: "What if I just cancel the online order and go into the store - do you think I could get a fridge sooner than two more days?". $deity was with me, for the perky phone person agreed that could be done, and even connected me with my local Sears. In 10 minutes I had placed my order with a friendly (commission paid) salesman Jimmy, with a promise that I'd have a call to schedule delivery the same day.

The machine called last night, and there is now a nice white fridge humming away in my kitchen.

It'll be a little longer before I have ice and water in the door, though. I have to get a plumber in to do that, so it'll have to wait till I can save up $100 or so to get the water hooked up. The plastic tube that the old fridge used (fed up from the basement) is, not unlike everything else in this place, not up to code. (The prior owner was a contractor and did things in his own idiosyncratic way.)

I don't care. I've been without an icemaker for 5 years; a few weeks or even months won't make a difference. I can refrigerate food and beverage again, and fetch my lamb back from my neighbor. Wheee!

Friday Philosophy

In my blog-reading rounds at lunch, I came across what I can only see as very good advice for living a good life.

From True (http://glass.typepad.com/journal/2007/06/making_happy.html) via Rob Donoghue

• Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.
• Thinking life will be better in the future is stupid. I have to live now.
• Being not truthful works against me.
• Helping other people helps me.
• Organizing a charity group is surprisingly easy.
• Everything I do always comes back to me.
• Money does not make me happy.
• Traveling alone is helpful for a new perspective on life.
• Assuming is stifling.
• Keeping a diary supports my personal development.
• Trying to look good limits my life.
• Worrying solves nothing.
• Material luxuries are best enjoyed in small doses.
• Having guts always works out for me.

And... to put it really simply...

The Irony - It Burns!

It seems the Westboro Baptist Church is going to picket Jerry Fallwell's funeral. No lie. Those lovely, compassionate supposed Christians who picket the funerals of dead soldiers and dead gays are going to picket the funeral of one of the great anti-everyone haters.

It takes a lot to render me speechless, but this might do it...

Warm Fuzzies

I got the nicest warm fuzzy from my boss yesterday...

On his way out of town for a conference, he left off a card for "Administrative Professionals Day" (yet another Hallmark Holiday^TM). It says: "To the truly amazing... from the truly amazed". It's really fabulous to have a job where you're appreciated to this degree.

I'm almost to the end of my six-month new employee probation, and I don't have any concern at all that I won't pass. My team leader gives me warm fuzzies, and my office supervisor has repeatedly pronounced herself to be very satisfied.

I haven't posted in a while because March was a very, very bad health month. I started by tripping over the edge of a sidewalk and face-planting full-length on the concrete. It took a week or so for the fallout to hit, but it ended up throwing my back out badly enough to kick me to pain level 9 (cannot sustain a train of thought, whimpering, can't sleep, etc.). This forced me to finally choose a medical provider, which has led to a lengthy series of tests and treatments for the various things that have been lurking untreated for the last six years. I'm sorry to say that they didn't do anything at all for the back pain (not even pain medication) for several days, and when they finally prescribed something, it was the mildest possible pain reliever and didn't do much to help. I may end up changing providers...

The pain was unbearable, so I got a recommendation for a chiropractor. Wow. It's my first experience with chiropractic, and it's somewhat expensive (I paid a year in advance), but my back/neck/etc. complex feels better than it ever has. Ever.

At the same time, I developed a vile cough, which rapidly turned into a nasty upper respiratory bug. Usually these things start in the head and move to my chest -- this one started in my chest as full-blown bronchitis. There's nothing quite to compare with a body-wracking cough when your back is already out... Four people in my office got the bug, and it went on for weeks. One of the other symptoms was bone-deep exhaustion, so I pretty much missed the entire month of March. The last weekend of March, I actually canceled a sold-out Call of Cthulhu game I was scheduled to run and skipped the home game that night. I've run with pneumonia in the past - to cancel a game for the club is an indicator of being really, really sick. I probably should have gone to the hospital, but six years without health insurance have conditioned me to just go to bed when I'm really sick and hope that I won't die.

Now I'm down to my spring allergy cough (and am seeing an allergist/taking new medications), and I not only think I will live, but I want to live! There were stretches of time during March where all I wanted was no more pain or coughing.

As I told them at the office, Perky Jae is back!

All Sheep Must Be Shot On Sight

A frequent topic of my nightmares are the premillennial dispensationalists. These wacky fun folks have their tentacles in far too many high government places, and they scare me. Lots. I'm terrified and appalled that something along the lines of the Left Behind series is not only wildly popular, but taken as fact by something like 29% of the public.

The quote in the title is from The Slactivist's extensive analysis of the Left Behind series. To wit:

They've gotten so caught up in guarding against wolves in sheep's clothing that anything in sheep's clothing is viewed as the enemy. So all sheep must be shot on sight.

Ayup... that's what scares me about these people. That, and the disproportionate political and economical power they wield. They're even scaring other religious people.

I really don't want them bringing about global warfare and disaster just to bring on the End Times they believe are just around the corner. My world too, you wingnuts!

St. Patrick's Day Wish

May there always be work for your hands to do;
May your purse always hold a coin or two;
May the sun always shine on your windowpane;
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;
May the hand of a friend always be near you;
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

Which Hero am I?

Hee hee! I love this! Heroes is my current favorite show... okay, maybe second to Battlestar Galactica.

Hiro Nakamura
You scored 58 Idealism, 75 Nonconformity, 50 Nerdiness
YATTA!
Congratulations, you're Hiro Nakamura! You're a high-minded idealist, a huge nerd, and you enjoy being a unique and special person. Your combination of positive personality traits makes you impossibly lovable, and your energy and enthusiasm are absolutely infectious. Your dedication to any mission you take on, in addition to your cheerful sense of humor, are qualities anyone should be proud to have.
Your best quality: Spunk
Your worst quality: You are too cute. Some people may not be able to handle it.

Link: The Heroes Personality Test written by freedomdegrees on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Ahhhhh... Coffee

If it ain't good enough to drink black, it ain't good enough to drink...

I share the following paean, cribbed from Making Light (all proper credit at the end).

Sweet Black Coffee Blues

I can drink it in the morning
I can drink it late at night
Your sweet black coffee, baby
Sure does taste just right

I can drink it in the bathtub
I can drink it on the Stairs
Your sweet black coffee, baby
I can drink it anywhere

Sweet Black Coffee, Sweet Black Coffee
I got the Sweet Black Coffee Blues

Well, you can keep your herbal teas
Your milkshakes and colas, too
The only beverage that I'll drink
Is sweet black coffee made by you

Well I like to sip it real slow
And roll it round my tongue
And when I've finished drinking
I've got to get me another one

Sweet Black Coffee, Sweet Black Coffee
I got the Sweet Black Coffee Blues

Your sweet black coffee, baby
It don't taste like any other
Even though you know I know
You got that recipe from your mother

Well I can drink it from a mug
Well I can drink it from a cup
I'll drink it off your body, baby
That coffee really gets me up

Sweet Black Coffee, Sweet Black Coffee
I got the Sweet Black Coffee Blues

You can cover it in whipped cream, baby
You can sprinkle on Chocolate too
I'll just spoon them out the way
To get to the coffee made by you

I drink it all the time girl
I can drink it by the pot
But if you ever run out, baby
I'll find someone else who serves it hot

Sweet Black Coffee, Sweet Black Coffee
I got the Sweet Black Coffee Blues


By: Paul Herzberg http://pherzb.blogspot.com/

It is a radical act to be fat and happy

Working for the Michigan Nutrition Network, I find myself surrounded by the social attitude regarding obesity. Not that my co-workers treat me badly, but there's this focus on "curing obesity" that is like a high-pitched whine in the background. Not debilitating, but irritating.

I spoke up today, asking that they all consider "fit at any size" rather than "don't be fat" as a message. I thought that they were receptive, so maybe I've done a little good. To be fair, most of the material is focused on proper nutrition and adequate exercise, which is important and useful no matter what your weight or body type.

I need to quote from Shakespeare's Sister, a feminist blog that I read daily. This really nails it...

It remains a radical act to be fat and happy in America, especially if you’re a woman (for whom “jolly” fatness isn’t an option). If you’re fat, you’re not only meant to be unhappy, but deeply ashamed of yourself, projecting at all times an apologetic nature, indicative of your everlasting remorse for having wrought your monstrous self upon the world. You are certainly not meant to be bold, or assertive, or confident—and should you manage to overcome the constant drumbeat of messages that you are ugly and unsexy and have earned equally society’s disdain and your own self-hatred, should you forget your place and walk into the world one day with your head held high, you are to be reminded by the cow-calls and contemptuous looks of perfect strangers that you are not supposed to have self-esteem; you don’t deserve it. Being publicly fat and happy is hard; being publicly, shamelessly, unshakably fat and happy is an act of both will and bravery.

I certainly feel the societally required self-loathing. If someone is ever attracted to me, I'll probably miss the signals, because no one could be attracted to someone as old and fat as I am. Everything I see and hear reminds me.