mosaic effect

interesting exercise to describe oneself anonymously (user profile on wikipedia), and then to decide whether to cross-reference yourself in your blog, considering that accelerates the aggregation of information that will eventually reveal your "secret" identity.

what kind of disclaimer is this?

Seen briefly at the bottom of a TV ad:
"monetary exchange is required for the use of this product"

I wouldn't mind living in a place where that kind of disclaimer is necessary. At least, it would satisfy my curiosity.

on vacation

This is the first time we both take off completely between xmas and new year. Kinda nice to be able to drive around at the speed limit, and watch everybody else whoosh past me for a change, thinking somewhat gleefully they must be awfully busier than me. Is this what retirement feels like?

green bins

I like our city's new green bin program.
Now, the only things that we throw out in the regular trash seem to be plastic overwrap, bits tubs and bags that can't be recycled, diapers, broken dishes, and the orgy of one-time-use christmas wrap and associated paraphenalia. Pity more people aren't (re)using gift bags.

Could this be your rebox Christmas?

http://www.sustainablelifemedia.com/content/column/design/could_this_be_your_rebox_christmas

...the creativity and variety of these Afrigadgets truly inspired me. I also realized that North Americans really weren't giving their 'reduce reuse recycle' brains much exercise.

Hmm. If necessity is the mother of invention, what does abundance breed?

supervisor vs mentor

called a meeting with my supervisor today. she clarified a few things (things I didn't but should know) and I explained a few things to her about her "management" style. She didn't see how respecting each others' jurisdictions and responsibilities might be necessary or even conducive to good working relations, but she could take into consideration.
why am i (the underling) coaching/mentoring a supervisor in management approaches... it's a question of survival, I guess, to make my day to day work (for her) less painful, but it's not giving me any sense of fulfillment.

the cultural divide

Was just downstairs in the caf. The lunchlady asked if I wanted onions in my salad to which I replied no thanks (I don't particularly like onions). A rather large man of questionable hygiene behind me said "non, ca fait siffler" (course not, it makes you whistle) and chuckled. It must have been obvious that I didn't understand at first, so both he and the lunchlady repeated it until I figured out that "siffler" might be a euphemism for fart. I really didn't care to eat my lunch at all after that. Even half an hour later I was still unable to shake that vision as I leaned over my takeout container. I wonder that was part of an experiment to test a new commercial diet plan?

grr

conflicting management styles/expectations suck.
professional self-restraint against blogging what's pissing me off sucks even more.
my only outlet/digestive aid is to email myself I guess.

another day...

I'm still reeling from a discussion I had at work today. I blogged (but haven't published) the anonymous details of the disturbingly ignorant response I was given to why we shouldn't be implementing a collaborative workspace to capture, standardize and improve upon our team's role in a complex government decision-making process. I won't be publishing the details here (or anywhere), but I am finding the inane stupidity and desperate shortsightedness of the control-freakish response profoundly disturbing, and I am not sure I'm going to continue enjoying working under that.

Coincidentally, yesterday's Dilbert:

disturbingly stupid

In the vein of stupid manager comments, this one still has me reeling.

Context: a group of approx 15 young (and youngish) professionals managing projects, each lasting over 3 years with new ones launched every quarter. Although nearly identical in process, they vary greatly in scope, and the number of stakeholders/interrelationships, statutory time constraints, and potential economic impacts makes them quite complex. There is also a very strong reliance on other teams contributing and participating (it is government, after all), and some of these other groups have complained that our mini-projects are all being managed differently. Mistakes are being made, over and again.

If you've ever heard of iso9000 or six sigma (or been around one long enough), that ought to raise a sympathetic smile as you recognize the desperate need for some process/policy/decision-making/guidance/aide-memoire/SOMETHING documentation and share it with our sister team to provide a more standard and professional service.

So, I proposed (again) a collaborative tool (e.g., wiki) to capture and build upon lessons learned, checklists, resource descriptions, templates, best practices, tips and tricks, etc., with all the obvious associated benefits. The supervisor shot it down (again), this time with the following arguments:

training you guys is my job

I've been through it once and I know what you need to do

all the things you need to do are in the schedule (indeed, the deliverables and approvals are identified...)

everything's been done before, just grab any existing file and use it as example (and repeat the same mistakes with the same stakeholders? no thanks)

you are all professionals, professionals don't need to follow a standard/accepted process (what?)

as professionals, you should already know what resources are available and how to use the various tools, even if parachuting in from another department (double what?)

furthermore, the (sister team's) manager doesn't agree that we should be doing things this way and if she wants to do it her (lazy) way when it's her turn, well she'll just have to learn from her own mistakes. (triple-salko what?)

I was stunned, but still strong enough to counter that as professionals we SHOULD absolutely be following a standard/accepted process, work out the solutions to the little things ourselves, capture and share them with each other (you know, "professional development"?), so that she could focus on making sure we have the resources we need to do the job on time and intervene only for the problems (unfortunately managing by exception seemed to be a completely foreign concept). "We can do that with a wiki," I added.

That seemed to push her over the edge. Increasingly impatient, she blurted out, with some degree of desperation:

"If you want a wiki, I'll be your wiki. I am your wiki!"

I'm still reeling from this exchange, increasingly unsure I'll be able to continue enjoying work with her around.

clarification

the other day i commented that i was more intelligent than most.
i forgot to specify "in some areas only" cuz in others, I'm as helpless as birdshit on a windshield. so i guess it all averages out. except it doesn't make me any happier. oh well.

From boreal forest to, well... see for yourself

overperfection

Not me: "On things like these, I get a little too perfectionist."

Me (sympathetic as usual): "Does it bother you when you realize you're being overly perfectionist, I mean, the fact that you're not just "optimally" perfectionist?" (speaking from experience...)

great day of small frustrations

we biked to a splashpad this morning, only to find it hasn't been built yet (we kept going and had a great afternoon at a friends house instead).
we rushed halfway across the city to a particular store, only to find it had closed early on account of the long weekend (we spent the next hour or so watching ducks, canada geese and ringed gulls (aka sh*thawks) fight for breadcrumbs in a river in a nice park).
we packed the camera and pulled it out on the riverbank, only to find I forgot to put the memory card back in.
we drove to Dow's Lake to have supper and watch the mini flotilla of illuminated RC boats, only to wait another 1.5hrs to find out it was going to be another hour before they started (we returned home instead).
we then got everything ready (and little one to bed early) to drive to my office to watch the fireworks, only to find out they had started half an hour earlier (thankfully I thought of confirming the time before leaving the house).

on the bright side, summer is finally here! amazing how a little blue sky can go a long way at helping you get over such (admittedly minor) disappointments. :)

clarification

Clarification on my earlier statement that I was "more intelligent than most" - or something to that effect.
What I really meant was "I can figure things out way better than most". I did not mean to appear as though I might be actually believe I was any good at understanding people at all, at least (a) not in any way that matters any, and/or (b) not when it might be important.
(sigh) That's one of the things I'm learning as a parent (and I suspect, nay - hope, that there'll be many more such lessons).

reorgs

the whole division is in upheaval with the creation of two new sections and restructuring and people moving around to fill new positions and the domino effect that usually ensues (well, granted may not be so usual in the private sector). anyway, when i heard my supervisor was taking a management position, at least temporarily, I said i thought it was too early for me (being rather new to the department) to backfill his position; he said he thought our new manager should make his new team.
Yesterday, I revised my position to say I would consider it. I still feel I don't have enough "time in".
Today the director general put on a video "so you think you want to be an executive" . a short while later, in our unit meeting, he announced officially he was leaving (temporarily) and I felt the leaving manager's eyes on me but I didn't say anything.  New baby on the way, I'll be away for 9 months.  Timing just isn't right.

(still) life imitating art

We all know what cherry-flavoured cough syrup tastes like. But eating cherries that taste like cough-syrup is a bizarre experience.

professional introspection & resistance to change

I'm beginning to realize that I am slightly more competitive, ambitious, enthusiastic, conscientious and intelligent than most in the workplace. which also makes me more resented than most by some in the workplace. (it's only taken me, oh, 30-odd years to figure this out, which i suppose also makes me more naive than most.) not realizing my "superiority" in that regard has made me expect others be just as capable as me; naturally, those expectations don't do anything to alleviate the aforementioned resentment.
Now, if only i could figure a way to get the senior members of the section (same age, but who've been there for 8-10 years compared to my 7 months) to recognize that some of the things they have been doing "forever" desperately need to be modernized...

almost making the world a better place

Can you imagine how much better the world would be if only engineers knew how to talk so people understand?

who watches the watchmen?

the answering machine at the bank just warned me that my call would be recorded for quality purposes - twice in a row - which leads me to wonder, who assures quality assurance?