Hello!
I have been keeping notes on little insights to my *Cube Life* that I find interesting and humorous. My last blog with these had tons of feedback!
For those of you whom have never worked in this atmosphere, I am telling you.....it is very different! The entire energy is different, the attitudes of people are different....not necessarily good/bad/better/worse....just totally different.
THE COMMON AREA FRIDGES:
Our location has about 100 employees. The break room is nice, actually. 2 microwaves, industrial coffee machine (weakest taste on Earth!), filtered water, a few vending machine and 2 pretty basic refrigerators.
Both are COMPLETELY packed with the most random food and bev items you could ever imagine! What I don't get is that they are full 24/7! Take a look at 8am or 5pm and there isn't room for a snack pack. Some take the time to *sharpie* their water bottles or items. There are the fancy Thermos brand lunch buckets and then the standard Wal-Mart bags full of random items.
When you peruse the fridge, you get a feel for the balance of the healthy eaters vs. the junk monsters.
The best is 11:45 am when there is a scramble of 10-12 employees all bumping into each other and fighting for microwave-time.
MY BADGE AND ME:
In typical big-office fashion, we all have the belt-clip rectangle plastic badges / door keys. My picture hasn't come in yet, so it is blank, but pretty much everyone has their pic on their card key. Not many actually clip their badge to their pants, actually. I do, but that is because if I don't I KNOW I will lose it!
When I arrive in the morning, I already have it clipped to me. It is on this clip with a cord that comes out - spring loaded. Sweet, because you can just grab it, use it and it retracts right back to your belt - out of the way.
The bad part is that sometimes if I am in a hurry to get in the door (hands are full or I am just damn cold!) I pull the cord quick in order to waive the card in front of the door sensor.....then I, without thinking, simply let go of the card key. The cord retracts really fast and the damn plastic key slaps me straight in the nuts! F! What a great way to start the damn day! Ouch.
REAR VIEW MIRRORS:
Each cube is laid out so that the employee faces the corner of the cube and, therefore, has their back to the cube's *entrance*. I can express to you, enough, how much I do NOT like this setup. I have ALWAYS arranged my desk, at each previous job, to face OUT. I am totally paranoid about people walking up behind me - freaks me out BIG time! Anyway, apparently I am not the only one who feels this way. Several employees have mounted little mirrors on the cubicle walls or on top of their computers so that they can see people coming. One dude has an ACTUAL concave rear-view mirror! ...somewhat over the top, if you ask me.
The problem is that it is kind of freaky as the person walking by! Think about it....you are walking back to your desk after going to grab some water and you walk through the little cubicle hallways and EVERYONE'S back is to you. However, as you walk by and look into a person's cube, your eyes catch the mirror....AND THEY ARE LOOKING RIGHT BACK AT YOU! AAAAAAAHHHH! Seriously, it is freaky, Dude! All you see is the back of their head and then their EYES looking at you. Not cool. No WONDER why so many people just stare at the floor as they shuffle from point A to B!
I have to add that there IS a conspiracy theory by some staff that the purpose of the mirrors is to know when someone is coming so that they can close a window that has non-work activity. These people sure love their Solitaire! Cracks me up when I catch them!
MY PARANOIA:
I confess that I totally am paranoid about little things in CubeVille:
1) Is someone going to do me like that ESPN commercial when dude took Labron James's chair? I would totally lose it....seriously! Whenever I see a broken chair in the conference room I freak that someone is going to punk me and take my chair. It JUST started conforming to my fat ass - please don't F with me!
2) Leaving water bottles on my desk: Can't do it. I am totally paranoid someone is going to spit or piss in ANYTHING I would leave, overnight. If I leave it, I throw it away.
3) Money and personal items: No locks on the drawers means someone WILL snoop and WILL steal my shit! No way - never leaving ANYTHING of value over $1. You want my green tea bags? Fine. Take 'em. I thought about bringing in my own keyboard and mouse, but there is no way it would last a week, I fear. I even take home my leather binder and fancy pen, each night. Beyond that, I leave the standard issue pens out in the open as a decoy to the good stuff in my drawer.
In addition, I KNOW something will disappear and I will have to go on a rant. It will be my stapler (yes, it IS a Swingline) or my calculator or something I will just happen to need that day.
That's enough for today...I have more, and they keep coming! ;)
See you at Shenanigan's on St. Patty's Day!
Cheers!
Robb
12 March 2009
02 March 2009
Response to BHO's speech Feb 24, 2009
Hello, all!
I have had several people ask me why I didn't post a blog following BHO's speech, last week. The main reason why is because I thought it was a joke of a speech and it frustrated me. There was very little detail to his words and such vague promises I had no idea what the topic was! The part that came out clear was that he was going to spend a LOT of U.S. tax dollars as his plan to fix the economy. Sad.
Simple. Building a bigger Government is not the answer. That model has failed over and over. That plan will NOT help stimulate the economy, will NOT create private sector business and job growth and will surely only make the weak weaker.
There are some readers who give me a hard time about my sources of information - often I am accused of simply regurgitating what is reported by Fox News. Not true at all. I dig into several sources for information and have shared those sources with you, in the past. It is true that my opinion about CNN and MSNBC is that it is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for those 2 networks to conduct an unbiased interview. However, I do force my self (eyes burning and ears bleeding) to spend some time watching interviews on those networks as much as I can stand to.
This brings me to an interview on CNN with John McCain commenting on BHO's speech on Feb 24, 2009 and providing his take on the stimulus plan.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2009/02/25/am.mccain.obama.speech.cnn?iref=videosearch
John McCain tried to give an excellent interview, but of course the dumb reporter kept trying to interrupt him - that is because John McCain was making a great point and the Liberal CNN Producer had to blow it up before YOU as viewers actually starting getting proper insight to what is really going on.
Points that I hope stuck with you:
1) BHO promising to end earmarks, but the next DAY he had a bill in front of him w/ over 9,000 of them. Apparently his Liberal buddies think they have exemption?
2) McCain's comments on the math of spending and yet claiming to have a goal of cutting the deficit in half during his term. Uhhhhhh....how?
3) Who is this plan helping and who is it hurting?
Let me be clear that I am not hoping for failure of this plan. I must point out that now that the plan has been passed, BHO now OWNS this economic state. He was able to persuade a majority of Senators and Congress members to join him in creating this plan with their agenda. Because BHO and the Liberal members excluded the GOP, most Republicans voted against it. They made the right choice by not voting for legislation they had no say in and legislation they didn't believe in!
What has been the result so far? Well....nothing. Nothing is changing. What is worse is that there are no indicators of potential growth. Roger is going to ask for proof....this one is easy. Look at the Stock Market. Regular daily drops of 200 points or more. Another indicator? BHO's approval rating is now down to near 50% in many polls and has been on a continual slide since the innaguration.
Why would BHO, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Harry Reid and the rest of these high profile Liberals continue to back a bad plan? If history says it is wrong, why are they doing it? If it isn't going to help, why did it pass and why is it moving forward? What is their ultimate agenda? To these questions I am torn. Either these *leaders* are completely clueless and have motivations that are clouding their judgement so bad they don't realize that the plan is horrible. Or, there is a power trip going on with the Liberal movement. If the plan goes as predicted - creating bigger government and making millions more Americans dependent on the governement for their livelihood - the Liberal politicians have more relevence and longer tenure. It is evil, it is bad and it is dangerous for America. I can't believe I almost hope these leaders are simply clueless.
Stay educated, everyone!
Cheers!
Robb
I have had several people ask me why I didn't post a blog following BHO's speech, last week. The main reason why is because I thought it was a joke of a speech and it frustrated me. There was very little detail to his words and such vague promises I had no idea what the topic was! The part that came out clear was that he was going to spend a LOT of U.S. tax dollars as his plan to fix the economy. Sad.
Simple. Building a bigger Government is not the answer. That model has failed over and over. That plan will NOT help stimulate the economy, will NOT create private sector business and job growth and will surely only make the weak weaker.
There are some readers who give me a hard time about my sources of information - often I am accused of simply regurgitating what is reported by Fox News. Not true at all. I dig into several sources for information and have shared those sources with you, in the past. It is true that my opinion about CNN and MSNBC is that it is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE for those 2 networks to conduct an unbiased interview. However, I do force my self (eyes burning and ears bleeding) to spend some time watching interviews on those networks as much as I can stand to.
This brings me to an interview on CNN with John McCain commenting on BHO's speech on Feb 24, 2009 and providing his take on the stimulus plan.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2009/02/25/am.mccain.obama.speech.cnn?iref=videosearch
John McCain tried to give an excellent interview, but of course the dumb reporter kept trying to interrupt him - that is because John McCain was making a great point and the Liberal CNN Producer had to blow it up before YOU as viewers actually starting getting proper insight to what is really going on.
Points that I hope stuck with you:
1) BHO promising to end earmarks, but the next DAY he had a bill in front of him w/ over 9,000 of them. Apparently his Liberal buddies think they have exemption?
2) McCain's comments on the math of spending and yet claiming to have a goal of cutting the deficit in half during his term. Uhhhhhh....how?
3) Who is this plan helping and who is it hurting?
Let me be clear that I am not hoping for failure of this plan. I must point out that now that the plan has been passed, BHO now OWNS this economic state. He was able to persuade a majority of Senators and Congress members to join him in creating this plan with their agenda. Because BHO and the Liberal members excluded the GOP, most Republicans voted against it. They made the right choice by not voting for legislation they had no say in and legislation they didn't believe in!
What has been the result so far? Well....nothing. Nothing is changing. What is worse is that there are no indicators of potential growth. Roger is going to ask for proof....this one is easy. Look at the Stock Market. Regular daily drops of 200 points or more. Another indicator? BHO's approval rating is now down to near 50% in many polls and has been on a continual slide since the innaguration.
Why would BHO, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Harry Reid and the rest of these high profile Liberals continue to back a bad plan? If history says it is wrong, why are they doing it? If it isn't going to help, why did it pass and why is it moving forward? What is their ultimate agenda? To these questions I am torn. Either these *leaders* are completely clueless and have motivations that are clouding their judgement so bad they don't realize that the plan is horrible. Or, there is a power trip going on with the Liberal movement. If the plan goes as predicted - creating bigger government and making millions more Americans dependent on the governement for their livelihood - the Liberal politicians have more relevence and longer tenure. It is evil, it is bad and it is dangerous for America. I can't believe I almost hope these leaders are simply clueless.
Stay educated, everyone!
Cheers!
Robb
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