2/12/2015
There are some new television shows that have just made their appearance, or will be premiering very soon. As you know, I love watching television, but no longer wish to be horrified or scared. I know that shows like "Green Acres" and "Laugh In" have left the building, and that's a shame.
Some of the new shows that I'm probably not even going to watch once, partly because of their title are: Slap, Secrets and Lies, Weird Loners, World's Funniest Fails and Dig. I used to watch Blacklist but I ended up having almost nightmares from the horrible things done to people on that show.
I know that Mom and Apple pie are no longer "in vogue" for shows or movies, but it seems like every new show has some element of evil and/or danger. Folks when I sit down to watch television, I want to be entertained. I want to laugh or cry if it's a sappy Hallmark movie. I don't want zombies or vampires in my list of shows to watch.
I suppose some would say that television today merely mirrors what is going on in the world, and to some extent I would have to agree. But, it's a sad statement to make.
P
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Mastiffs Need Rescusing
2/10/15
Our son, Scott and his wife are the happy parents of three Mastiffs that they have rescued. The Mastiff looks like a small pony, is loyal and protective. Regardless of the breed, rescued dogs generally come with their own baggage.
When we rescued Sam our Westie, he was seven years old and could go from cuddly to biting in a New York minute. Yet, we kept him, he's now fourteen and most of the "bite" has now been reduced to just noise, which we all ignore. Because of his age, he spends most of his days sleeping on a blanket, pillow or feet - he's not choosy.
Our daughter-in-law posted a picture of this Mastiff that is in need of a home.
Mastiffs to Mutts is an all breed dog rescue that focuses on the rescue of mastiffs & mastiff mixes in shelters. This organization operates in the mid-Atlantic region of the US; Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia & New Jersey. If you check out their site, there are a number of dogs hoping for their forever home.
P
Our son, Scott and his wife are the happy parents of three Mastiffs that they have rescued. The Mastiff looks like a small pony, is loyal and protective. Regardless of the breed, rescued dogs generally come with their own baggage.
When we rescued Sam our Westie, he was seven years old and could go from cuddly to biting in a New York minute. Yet, we kept him, he's now fourteen and most of the "bite" has now been reduced to just noise, which we all ignore. Because of his age, he spends most of his days sleeping on a blanket, pillow or feet - he's not choosy.
Our daughter-in-law posted a picture of this Mastiff that is in need of a home.
Mastiffs to Mutts is an all breed dog rescue that focuses on the rescue of mastiffs & mastiff mixes in shelters. This organization operates in the mid-Atlantic region of the US; Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia & New Jersey. If you check out their site, there are a number of dogs hoping for their forever home.
P
Monday, February 9, 2015
Spam
2/9/2015
When I was a child, Spam was something my mother sliced, fried and served for dinner, and it was awful.
But in today's day and age, Spam means something all together different. I have received over 100 emails from strangers regarding a mailing list coming from something called LBPH. I never open attachments from people or companies that I don't know. Jeff is going to clean up my Spam folder, but if the hundreds of people who are outraged at this intrusion, would stop sending emails asking to be removed from the list - and then, of course, copying that message to the entire rest of the world, which just adds to the problem.
As Mr. Wonderful says on Shark Tank - Stop The Madness!
I don't know who started this lovely email and I personally don't know how to stop it, but these emails are almost as annoying as the unwanted soliciting calls for products that you don't want.
Sometimes I wish we were back in the "old" days, before hackers knew how to screw with our devices.
P
When I was a child, Spam was something my mother sliced, fried and served for dinner, and it was awful.
But in today's day and age, Spam means something all together different. I have received over 100 emails from strangers regarding a mailing list coming from something called LBPH. I never open attachments from people or companies that I don't know. Jeff is going to clean up my Spam folder, but if the hundreds of people who are outraged at this intrusion, would stop sending emails asking to be removed from the list - and then, of course, copying that message to the entire rest of the world, which just adds to the problem.
As Mr. Wonderful says on Shark Tank - Stop The Madness!
I don't know who started this lovely email and I personally don't know how to stop it, but these emails are almost as annoying as the unwanted soliciting calls for products that you don't want.
Sometimes I wish we were back in the "old" days, before hackers knew how to screw with our devices.
P
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Valentine's Day
2/7/2014
Okay gentlemen, it's time for you to start your watches on a countdown for the 14th. I know that for most of you men, this is possibly overrated occasion. But, I assure you that your loved one feels differently.
You can send flowers (roses, obviously), buy candy, jewelry and/or take her out to dinner. Please don't forget to buy one of those mushy cards - we women love them!
When the boys were young, I received lovely sentiment cards from them, with the help from Dad.
So what's on my agenda for the 14th? Dinner out - absolutely not - restaurants will be packed. I don't want flowers because they are expensive and die. I don't need jewelry, but a gal can never have enough, particularly if we're talking about diamonds.
I'm likely to just ask Jeff to take me to McDonald's for an ice cream cone. Talk about a cheap date! I happen to love their ice cream and the price is certainly fair.
When I was a young girl, Mom bought my sister and I chocolates, but we were almost more excited over the box! This picture isn't a complete replica of what Mom bought for us, but it's a pretty good representation. Sometimes the packaging is more important than what's inside!
It probably doesn't matter what you do on Valentine's Day, just do something.
P
Okay gentlemen, it's time for you to start your watches on a countdown for the 14th. I know that for most of you men, this is possibly overrated occasion. But, I assure you that your loved one feels differently.
You can send flowers (roses, obviously), buy candy, jewelry and/or take her out to dinner. Please don't forget to buy one of those mushy cards - we women love them!
When the boys were young, I received lovely sentiment cards from them, with the help from Dad.
So what's on my agenda for the 14th? Dinner out - absolutely not - restaurants will be packed. I don't want flowers because they are expensive and die. I don't need jewelry, but a gal can never have enough, particularly if we're talking about diamonds.
I'm likely to just ask Jeff to take me to McDonald's for an ice cream cone. Talk about a cheap date! I happen to love their ice cream and the price is certainly fair.
When I was a young girl, Mom bought my sister and I chocolates, but we were almost more excited over the box! This picture isn't a complete replica of what Mom bought for us, but it's a pretty good representation. Sometimes the packaging is more important than what's inside!
It probably doesn't matter what you do on Valentine's Day, just do something.
P
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Waiting for an Operator
2/5/2015
I know you've been there, because everybody has been on the receiving end of elevator music. After a period of time, which depends on how antsy you are, you begin to think about hanging up. But, what if you're the next caller? Goodness such decisions. If you hang up, you'll lose your place in line, so to speak.
So you sit at your desk, strumming your fingers or maybe you have enough time to work a crossword puzzle (if you're good at puzzles). I decided to do some research, because obviously I have oodles of spare time.
For one company a 40 minute wait is the norm. Yet another company's wait is 18 minutes, which is better than the 40 minute wait, but it's still a long time. According to the Huntington Post on 12/21/2012, the longest phone call with customer service was 10 hours and 29 minutes at Zappos! The employee was allowed to even take breaks! Apparently, the employee and the customer were engaged in conversations, like they were friends. But, at the end of the call the customer did buy a pair of Uggs, so I guess the time wasn't really wasted.
When did we as consumers began to become complaisant about waiting for a customer service representative. If you work in an office, and you're trying to conduct personal business on the company's time, and you are responsible for answering incoming phone calls, then it's unlikely that you'll be able to remain on hold for long periods of time.
Remember when every call to every company reached a live person! In some ways, we have given up so much in the name of progress?!
P
I know you've been there, because everybody has been on the receiving end of elevator music. After a period of time, which depends on how antsy you are, you begin to think about hanging up. But, what if you're the next caller? Goodness such decisions. If you hang up, you'll lose your place in line, so to speak.
So you sit at your desk, strumming your fingers or maybe you have enough time to work a crossword puzzle (if you're good at puzzles). I decided to do some research, because obviously I have oodles of spare time.
For one company a 40 minute wait is the norm. Yet another company's wait is 18 minutes, which is better than the 40 minute wait, but it's still a long time. According to the Huntington Post on 12/21/2012, the longest phone call with customer service was 10 hours and 29 minutes at Zappos! The employee was allowed to even take breaks! Apparently, the employee and the customer were engaged in conversations, like they were friends. But, at the end of the call the customer did buy a pair of Uggs, so I guess the time wasn't really wasted.
When did we as consumers began to become complaisant about waiting for a customer service representative. If you work in an office, and you're trying to conduct personal business on the company's time, and you are responsible for answering incoming phone calls, then it's unlikely that you'll be able to remain on hold for long periods of time.
Remember when every call to every company reached a live person! In some ways, we have given up so much in the name of progress?!
P
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
A Secretary is a Secretary ALWAYS!
2/3/2015
I have been a secretary, legal secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, typist and any other titles you can think of relating to office work.
I had my first job in 1968 working for a CPA firm. In those days, office ladies wore dresses always, stockings and heels. Oh and not only did we have to type like the wind on the typewriter, but take shorthand as well. My shorthand, even fresh from a college class, relied on memory (mine), because the dictator would be talking faster than I could recommend the strokes for each word. Needless to say, I hated shorthand.
My next job was with a Title company where I typed legal descriptions on punched tape all day long. If you have had to type up legal descriptions of land, you will know that the description can be quite lengthy. The tape looked like this and fixing a typo was a nightmare. Luckily, I've lived long enough that I can't remember what the nightmare looked like!
I have been a secretary, legal secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, typist and any other titles you can think of relating to office work.
I had my first job in 1968 working for a CPA firm. In those days, office ladies wore dresses always, stockings and heels. Oh and not only did we have to type like the wind on the typewriter, but take shorthand as well. My shorthand, even fresh from a college class, relied on memory (mine), because the dictator would be talking faster than I could recommend the strokes for each word. Needless to say, I hated shorthand.
My next job was with a Title company where I typed legal descriptions on punched tape all day long. If you have had to type up legal descriptions of land, you will know that the description can be quite lengthy. The tape looked like this and fixing a typo was a nightmare. Luckily, I've lived long enough that I can't remember what the nightmare looked like!
A boon to secretaries everywhere was the invention of the Selectric Typewriter. It weighed enough to be also used as a boat anchor, but it made work much easier. In the beginning, if you made a typo, you had to insert special paper (think similar to white out), and type the word(s) that you had put in incorrectly.
Eventually, IBM put a correction ribbon (I guess that's what you could call it), and fixing mistakes was so simple. Of course the goal was to not make mistakes in the first place! As with all thing technical, IBM finally redid the Selectric and made it very light. Though it could no longer anchor a boat, it was still a magnificent machine
In my early days as a secretary, there was always a typing test. I was annoyed with these tests because I would always reach the end of the page and have to take the paper out and turn it around, costing me time. I was, and still am, a good typist - even though that's not what clerical women are called anymore. It wasn't uncommon for a boss to dictate a letter, etc. to me while I typed - a very efficient use of time.
Here's one of the things I learned from 40 plus years in an office, is how to pronounce and spell my name when making a call to a company, or a doctor's office. Doing this one simple thing is beneficial to the person answering the phone! I volunteered briefly for a non-profit company and the people who would call in might as well have been speaking Greek, they were that hard to understand.
Since I still remember what it was like to take a call and be unable to understand the person's name. Lawyers, and I suspect doctors, like to know who is calling them. So, this old dog may not remember what I had for breakfast, but I do remember how to make other people's jobs easier.
P
Monday, February 2, 2015
Day One Without Jeff
2/2/2015
Don't panic. I meant day one with Jeff working all day. Since I returned from Chicago in 2013, Jeff has been home, 99% of the time during the week. On weekends, he heads off to help either Scott or Andrew with work at their houses.
Today feels different. Jeff's working is a good thing obviously for the salary, if nothing else. It will also put purpose back into his life. When IBM was through with him, Jeff wasn't ready to retire and did attempt to find a job many times since 2013. They all boiled down to some anxious recruiter who just loved Jeff's skills, but nothing ever happened after the initial call.
Until now that is. Jeff talked with a recruiter, then to someone at the company, had an interview and a job offer a day later. This company needs Jeff's skills and is ready to pay for them. Bummer part is that it's not a remote position and the job is about 30 miles away.
When we lived in California, Jeff commuted every day into a LA suburb as well as some business travel. Of course there were a few things that were different back then. One difference is the commute itself. In California, you deal with traffic, and lots of it, but little or no weather. Most days in Southern California are mild and you certainly don't have to deal with ice or snow.
Another big difference in his California commute to the one he is doing today is the drivers. You may be shaking your head, but in California drivers really do know when and how to merge. A lot of the on ramps on California highways, are downhill and yYou can gather up a lot of speed by the time you reach the end of the ramp.
I'm proud of Jeff and all of his successes in his career. I'm thankful for this current opportunity because let's face it making money is more advantageous than just spending money! While Jeff won't be as available to the boys during the week as he has been, they will survive.
And in case you're wondering, I'll survive as well. The house this morning is quiet. I've read the paper, both dogs are already taking their first of many naps today and all I really need to do today is clean up the kitchen and fix dinner.
I have made myself a promise that I must do one thing every day. Clean out the junk drawer, file paperwork, continue working on my blog book project. Stuff like that. It's dreary out today and I'm glad I have no place to go. I'll spend sometime this morning with my "SAD" light which really adds sunshine to even the grayest of days.
P
P
Don't panic. I meant day one with Jeff working all day. Since I returned from Chicago in 2013, Jeff has been home, 99% of the time during the week. On weekends, he heads off to help either Scott or Andrew with work at their houses.
Today feels different. Jeff's working is a good thing obviously for the salary, if nothing else. It will also put purpose back into his life. When IBM was through with him, Jeff wasn't ready to retire and did attempt to find a job many times since 2013. They all boiled down to some anxious recruiter who just loved Jeff's skills, but nothing ever happened after the initial call.
Until now that is. Jeff talked with a recruiter, then to someone at the company, had an interview and a job offer a day later. This company needs Jeff's skills and is ready to pay for them. Bummer part is that it's not a remote position and the job is about 30 miles away.
When we lived in California, Jeff commuted every day into a LA suburb as well as some business travel. Of course there were a few things that were different back then. One difference is the commute itself. In California, you deal with traffic, and lots of it, but little or no weather. Most days in Southern California are mild and you certainly don't have to deal with ice or snow.
Another big difference in his California commute to the one he is doing today is the drivers. You may be shaking your head, but in California drivers really do know when and how to merge. A lot of the on ramps on California highways, are downhill and yYou can gather up a lot of speed by the time you reach the end of the ramp.
I'm proud of Jeff and all of his successes in his career. I'm thankful for this current opportunity because let's face it making money is more advantageous than just spending money! While Jeff won't be as available to the boys during the week as he has been, they will survive.
And in case you're wondering, I'll survive as well. The house this morning is quiet. I've read the paper, both dogs are already taking their first of many naps today and all I really need to do today is clean up the kitchen and fix dinner.
I have made myself a promise that I must do one thing every day. Clean out the junk drawer, file paperwork, continue working on my blog book project. Stuff like that. It's dreary out today and I'm glad I have no place to go. I'll spend sometime this morning with my "SAD" light which really adds sunshine to even the grayest of days.
P
P
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