One year ago today I lost one of my best friends.
It still makes me incredibly sad but at least I can look at his pictures or talk about him with a smile as I remember how much happiness he brought to my life. But today is a little rough. Or rrrruufffff as he would have said…
I miss you Angelus.
Much has been made by Yahoo’s decision to pull the plug on remote employees last week. I was surprised by the decision since a lot of Bay Area companies have been allowing this for awhile now and it’s been gaining traction as a good way to attract employees. But I also understand why a company would make that decision.
I read a LOT of con articles, a few Pro and listening to pro and con on CNBC. I honestly wanted to smack a lot of the writers of the con articles, especially when they morphed into saying Yahoo was against women and mothers. And draconian. Give me a break.
I work from home. But I work for my own company so I get to make those rules. And if I don’t get my work done, I can fire myself with very little fanfare, threat of lawsuits or fear of taking to the internet with my gripes….against myself.
But I didn’t always work for myself (well…was still partially my company but totally different.) I was HR. And did receive requests for work from home policies. And we said no repeatedly for years. Not one single executive actually wanted it. Some said it would make some employees happy and they would live with it if the company established a policy, but none really wanted it. There are a lot of reasons for that. And some of those are the exact reasons Yahoo laid out as to why they were stopping their remote policy.
I get that, especially in the bay area, you can spend a fair amount of time on the road because you live far away due to housing costs or choosing to live away from the hectic business areas, near better schools, etc. Plus traffic is hellish. But that’s the way the bay area has been for years and years so it’s no surprise to anyone.
And I also get that, as a parent you want to spend more time at home with your kids. But that’s the exact reason I don’t think you are working as much as you should be if not in the office.
Face it – not every job can be done as well remotely. And really face it – not every employee can be trusted to work as efficiently when not in a work/office environment. And there are a lot of administrative reasons to not want employees working away from home – confidential/proprietary information worries, workers comp and labor law BS, etc. I was 100% against it as HR. Most of those things are never thought of by the complaining employees. Or reporters.
And frankly, the employees that we eventually allowed to work from home didn’t seem as part of the team. This includes me! When I changed my schedule to work from home part-time (before transitioning out completely), I noticed how I felt less like part of the team. And I didn’t have a department to miss – I simply reported to the CEO.
It all of a sudden becomes harder to get those employees to Team Events (even a dang holiday party for fun!), to team building things, company meetings, team lunches, department meetings, etc.
I know at least some of these employees at Yahoo took the job after being told they could work remotely. And yes that does stink. But company policies can change. And you have the option to change with them or not. But to cry and complain that you have to GO to work in order to keep your job is a bit ridiculous.
It’s not the job of a company or a CEO to make all decisions to make life easiest for the employees. It’s the goal of the company to create excellent products that keep customers happy and make money for their investors and shareholders (some of which are probably employees via options and stock plans!) And make money for the company. And a lot of this money is then spent on salaries, bonuses, benefits, perks, etc FOR the employees.
It is a job. You are employed. And if the company thinks they can get more and better work product out of their staff by having them work together and not apart, then that’s what the company should do. And you can feel free to quit and work elsewhere. I can pretty much guarantee that your job will be filled pretty quickly.
Received a phone call around 1pm from the town electric/water company that my usage shot up over night and has stayed up all morning. I’ve been in the bay area this week so away from my house. The guy at the water company said there has been a lot of burst pipes today due to the intense cold for the past couple weeks and then it finally warmed up to above freezing (in the afternoon) for the first time yesterday. Great…
Got a hold of a General Contractor that has done some work on the house and asked if he could drive over sometime today and check it out. He said no problem, he’d go right now since if a burst pipe inside it would be very bad.
20 minutes later he called back saying yes, a pipe had burst but in the garage (it’s for the outside spigot.) He turned it off at the source. Said the garage floor was wet along with some of the stuff (toolbox, cabinet, snow blower, few empty boxes) in the garage but most of the water had run outside. There was some dry wall damage by the area of burst but nothing major.
He offered some of his crew to come over after their job today to get the damaged dry wall out of there so the interior wall could dry out. He’d call one of his plumber contacts to get out there tomorrow to replace the pipe and then he’d get his crew to replace the drywall.
So thanks to the water company for noticing this and alerting me to it and a local GC who takes care of his customers (past and present!), no major damage and it will be fixed quickly.
I can assure you this would NOT have happened so quickly or seamlessly in the Bay Area. Pretty sure the water company here could care less about your usage unless you don’t pay for it. And good luck finding a GC who would go out of his way to check for you and then react that quickly unless he was actively working on your house, and that’s even questionable.
Score yet another giant point for small town living in my mind.
All I’ve heard out of Obama/Washington is raise taxes, pay your fair share, the rich need to pay MOAR!!! But this post is not about that as that gets my BLOOD BOILING (look at my tax bill – I pay a LOT!)
No, this is about the attention NOW being given to the 2% FICA (that’s your Social Security) payroll tax “holiday” that was allowed to expire along with the other tax hikes on those “rich people”. This 2% change effected every single person who collects a pay check. So everyone had a tax hike. I won’t get into the lies Obama told about not taxing the poor and middle class blah blah blah. ALL politicians lie so it’s not like this is something original.
What I will say about it is GOOD. That 2% should be paid by everyone. These same everyones that plan on collecting social security, should have to pay for it. The company match didn’t go down at all. Companies still had to contribute the full 6% of gross payroll for YOUR social security. But you didn’t – YAY. Wait…what?
When the 2% tax “holiday” went into effect, I sent an email out to all employees at our company letting them know and pointing out that it was a good time to start contributing to a 401k or increase their contribution with this additional 2% in their pockets before they got comfortable with spending it and it was absorbed into their daily spending mindset. Time to start saving for their own retirement and not depend on social security which is a joke.
You know how many people did that? 0. Zero. Nada. Now, a few people already contributed the max for the year so they couldn’t do anything. But the rest? Well, apparently they are independently wealthy and don’t need to think about a retirement savings….
I know that not everyone can contribute the max per year. And that people have kids and budgets and emergencies come up yada yada. BUT – savings should BE part of your budget. What will you live on??? And I know what everyone made at work so not one person can cry poor to me. These weren’t minimum wage workers at a fast food chain supporting a family of 6. You can afford even a small savings budget. It adds up over time.
And when I see people walking around with the newest iGadgets, designer shoes & bags, new cars, vacations, going out all the time – but with NO savings? You are part of the problem. Did your parents or other guardian not teach you anything? Failed basic math? Planning on dying young?
So any cries about your first check of 2013 being smaller because of the tax “hike”…no. I reject this as whining. Not a tax hike anyway. Simply went back to the same rate as it was 2 years ago (after all, the Dems keep saying that about the tax brackets going back to Clinton era ranges…) It’s enforced savings. Do I think SS is a good plan. No. But that’s a whole other blog/rant.
Now, if you are in your 20s-50s right now, will you be able to collect any of that Social Security when you retire? I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you. Start saving ON YOUR OWN. Because if even if you can collect some SS, it will NOT be enough to live on.
The government should not be responsible for you. The rich are not responsible for you. I am not responsible for you. You, and only, are responsible for you. Start acting that way.
Happy Thanksgiving!!! I am very thankful for a lot of things in life and won’t list them here. And even though I lost Angelus this year, I have to remember to be thankful for all of the smiles he brought me every single day for 11.5 years. And Storm is still happy and relatively healthy (his arthritis bugs him but he still motors around.)
I was not in the mood to cook a turkey or even the fixins’ (OK, I do want a vat of mashed potatoes and gravy but I almost always want that!) I saw an ad that AMC was going to run The Godfather all day so I decided on an Italian Thanksgiving! I am making a yummy bolognese:
https://a99kitten.com/?p=2029
In the Sierras with some red wine, some Corelones, maybe some Dean Martin later (but NOT his Christmas music – that’s tomorrow!)
All good :)
“Why are you bothering me?”
Two years ago today my little brother died unexpectedly. He was 27. I took him off life support on the 9th, but he died on the 7th.
Last year on this day, I hiked his ashes up to the top of Hawk’s Peak and let the wind take them. We had an early snow that week too.
Today is also Angelus’ birthday. Was I guess.
I’ve tried to suck it up today and think I’ve done a decent job. But I’m still not a fan of this day. I love and still miss them both terribly.
I know several people who say they aren’t voting. The common theme is “oh, my vote doesn’t really count where I live anyway” and “I protest the entire corrupt 2 party system.” Uh-huh.
I live in the Bay Area of California. Blue State Central. But I still proudly cast my VERY red votes whenever given the opportunity. But you know what else I do? Vote on Statewide propositions and state and local elections where 1 or 2 votes CAN make the difference.
So if you are sitting there smugly not voting for whatever dumb reason you’ve made up in your head as a valid one, think about the many countries where people have fought (and were killed) for the right to vote. Or think about 15th Amendment which finally granted black males the right to vote (in 1870 I think). Or think about the 19th Amendment (1920) which also ***finally*** gave women the right to vote. Think about what these people, who battled for the right to vote, would think about your lame ass excuse.
And whatever you do, do NOT complain about anything. Because you did nothing to try and change it.
Don’t make someone a priority in your life when you’re only an option in theirs. Ever (I added that.)
Also – why dogs rule.
Already seeing the typical Labor Day tweets and Facebook posts from people saying how you can thank Big Labor and unions for your day off. Or to feel free to work on Labor Day if you are against unions.
You know who Big Labor can thank though? The entrepreneurs who starts companies that grow and employ a lot of people. Or maybe just 5 at your local corner store. Or the CEOs and executives who make sure employees receive good benefits, salaries and a good work environment. But you never see anyone thanking them. IN FACT, the current administration wants you to not like them at all. After all, they didn’t build anything anyway.
I’ve worked for myself or for a company that I’ve been part owner of, since 1999. Before then, I worked for a family-owned and run hedge fund that rewarded their employees greatly whenever they could. Grossly so really. And grew up with my father owning his own business and always bonusing out to employees whenever it could be afforded. But they are evil in today’s climate. Undoubtedly cheating on their taxes and ruining the lives of their employees or cheating them in some way.
I worked yesterday. I have worked today and will do more later. And I will also work tomorrow. But I would not have it any other way. Have I thought how nice it would be to never have to think about work when I left my desk at 5pm? Sure. Absolutely. But in the end – not me.
So no – I do not thank big labor for anything. Or unions. Or Obama. Or the government. I thank the people I have worked for. And myself. For working hard. And that’s it.
(That title is SO ridiculously Carrie Bradshaw but seemed to fit…)
Yesterday a friend of mine posted her engagement pictures on Facebook and changed her relationship status to Engaged. This is how we spread the news now, right? And watch as everyone on your timeline comments (or sometimes just to themselves. Or talks behind your back about it.)
I am very happy for her. I’ve known her since when she was married to a very nice guy who I am also friends with. But they weren’t happy together. They had been together since high school. You change a lot as you grow up. And sometimes you don’t change the same way together. It happens.
When they separated I was sad, since I knew that meant she’d move. It’s not like we were bast pals but we had gotten closer as friends so I knew I’d see her less with her moving away. And I ended up hearing a lot more of the guy’s side of the separation via my husband who would talk to him. But I know in cases like this there are always 2 sides. And always pointed that out to husband. And frankly, I saw her FB updates daily and she seemed really damn happy.
The rather funny thing is the guy she just got engaged to is a friend of my husband’s. We went to a Porsche event at Laguna Seca with him last fall. That was the first time I had met him and he was an incredibly sweet guy. My husband mentioned that my girlfriend was really into cars and would probably have fun at an event like this and semi introduced them via FB. And then…the rest was history. I think husband felt guilty in that he didn’t do it as a “get them together” thing and now felt he “betrayed” his other friend whose now ex-wife he just set up.
Yesterday at dinner, another couple was talking about it and I said “I know! I’m so happy for them!” And both that couple and my husband were like “oh, it’s only been 10 months of dating, it’s so soon, I don’t know.” I responded who are we to judge how they feel about each other? And how do you determine how much time of dating is “enough”? Well, maybe you realize just how much you like someone and don’t want to ever be without them or let them go? And that they are The One? And maybe that hits you 2 months in, 4 months in or 10 months in? And really, just maybe, if you need 3 years of dating and living together to figure it out, and you are still not sure, it’s likely NOT The One.
I don’t mean to say at 16 you should marry the boy you like after dating for the summer. But as you grow up, you (hopefully) mature. And you realize what you like about people, and what you like about yourself when you are with those people.
After I pointed that out, the other couple agreed and said they did seem really happy. And that is what really matters. Husband still said they should have dated longer but maybe they will have a long engagement.
I tell ya, when I’m the voice of romance and true love in the room, makes me realize I hang out with some really cynical people. But honestly, I could not be happier for my 2 friends.
