My new pad in Cville

My new pad in Cville

Monday, January 24, 2011

I survived!

Not sure that anyone is actually reading this anymore... haven't updated it in forever.  Sorry, I just couldn't get it all to work.  But maybe I will be better about it.  I shall try :)

So what's new... hmm

I survived my first peak at Amazon.  It is so hard to describe.  It's so many things all at once, but I can't sum it all up.  All of our project work ends around Thanksgiving and it's just about executing peak.  Literally, we kind of wait for things to happen to deal with and we support operations in the meantime.  But it's the scale of the operation that is just mind boggling.  You've never seen so many boxes in your life.  You've never seen so many..everywhere.  But it's fun and I like it.

And since peak, we have been so busy at work I can't even see straight.  With our team traveling all the time, I've been putting in more hours now.  So busy.  It's ridiculous. It's like we publish the list of projects and we try to get everything done in the first two months.  Oh well.  We'll see how my last four months play out.

I'm scheduled to start in Seattle the first week of June.  I. can't. wait.  I need to get out of this town.  Yes, I did well for awhile, but I'm done now.  I'm kind of done with the smalltown with not so much to do.  I need just a little bit more.  Am debating taking a class in another town so that I can get out and do something.

Ok, that's all I have for now... Need to get back into the groove of writing about life. Toodles!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

I is alive!

Hello my friends.  I'm sorry that I abandoned you for awhile.  It's been pretty chaotic with weekend travel and  such... have recently changed my work schedule. I feel like I am working in retail again with my noon to 10pm shift.  Of course, I go in early and stay til 11:30, but details details.

Work is picking up quite a bit.  We officially hit our peak in about a week.  then things just hit the fan and we hope we make it out ok.  All I can say is if you are shopping on Amazon - please order early!  It will be a long 6 weeks for us, but I'm still excited for it.  Then I will sleep.

Other than that, I feel pretty good.  Been working out more than I have in awhile and have tried to watch what I eat.  I went down to Nashville for the night to celebrate my 30th birthday - holy wow!  Can't believe that I am 30... not sure what that means for me yet.  But I do have to thank all my friends and family for the outpouring of love.  I am truly blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.

So yes, in a way my birthday made me kind of sad.  It's hard to build relationships with people down here because I work with half the town.  I'm generally a private person and I don't like people up in my business but down here that's all that they are.  It's just hard to have the kind of relationship that I have when you see someone everyday and work in the environment that we do.  I just don't have the history, the trust, the similarities and the differences that I am used to having. I'm feeling slightly off-balance in that regard.  Just having a funky day, I guess.  So yes, I miss all of you. 

It's looking like I may get to go home for Christmas, but I'm not sure yet.  Should figure all that out this week or next.  Am truly looking forward to spending some time at home when I don't have a thousand commitments and can just sit back and watch a movie or hang out without feeling the need to pick up and drive somewhere else to see someone else.  Plus I will be needing to catch up on sleep as well!

Alright, I'll stop babbling.  Going to go to bed now I think.. it's about that time.  Hope ya'll are doing well.  Bless you!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

ta-da! It's me!

So I didn't forget, I swear.  It's just been chaos all around. 

The picnic went well.  The morning was beautiful and sunny, until 3 pm.  Naturally the picnic was supposed to start at 3pm and naturally employees started showing up at 1:30pm.  At 3pm a monsoon erupted in the skies of KY.  All dark, windy, and downpour rain for about 45 minutes.  It was absolutely insane.  So between running between tents to save our prizes - which were plasma tvs, blue rays, and camping gear - and making sure that our tents didn't blow away.  Shortly after the rain storm, I went home to dry out.  Over 9 hours at the picnic was more than enough.

Then there was Seattle.  Seafood, sunshine and fresh air.  Awesome.  I think I walked five miles a day and didn't really take a cab anywhere.  It was wonderful.  Spent a great weekend with some peeps from Portland - the Jones' - and a day with my bro and his lady.  The first week was an international conference for HR Business Partners and the second week was new manager training. Met a lot of really great people and learned a lot about myself.  I returned to Cville invigorated and ready to take on Christmas. :) or something like that.

So now here I am back in Cville doing the work thing... so far so good.  Been really busy this week and will be the rest of the week.  How many more weeks until Christmas??? 

Wow, so I'm watching Glee and they are doing a Britney special.  They just did a commercial for her new fragrance - it is the worst commercial I have ever seen.  She goes to the psychic and is asked if she wants to know her future.  She response "No thanks, I control my own destiny".  Well of course you do Brit Brit.  You shaved your head, popped out two kiddos, and blew up your career all on your own. Clearly this woman should be the driver of destinies.  I personally think she should have consulted with the psychic and potentially avoided some of those moments.

I'll put a plug out there - if anyone knows any early-in-their career ops peoples let me know.  We are looking for area managers :)

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Homeward bound

Tomorrow I get to pack to come home.  I never thought I would be so excited to get home.  Of course, I will have to log on and probably do some work at some point, but it will be nice to be in my surroundings again.

I do have to say that despite my ability to identify chickens from roosters (but isn't a rooster technically a chicken? i didn't call it a hen, but maybe a rooster is only a rooster and not a chicken?) and my limited vocabulary to C'ville slang, I'm adjusting pretty well.  I am no longer running from T-Bone the pitbull across the street - we are friends now.  AND I have eaten fried green tomatoes.  That has to count for something!  I will admit that when one of our employees came in yesterday I could not understand a darn word he said.  Thankfully my office mate was there for the assist and, though a Baltimore native, has adopted the local dialect.

I went to a local restaurant on Saturday that is apparently a big favorite.  This place was unlike anywhere I had ever been.  It was like Mardi Gras, the flea market, a garage, a toy store, and a farm spawn of a restaurant.  First off, it's in the middle of nowhere.  No, seriously.  You have to drive a good 25 minutes from my house to get there and through a series of farms that all kind of look alike.  There are teeny little signs along the way that were so covered by weeds that I missed half of them.  Thankfully I was not driving.  It looks like a little ranch house...maybe like a little antique store that you would pass in a quaint little neighborhood in the burbs.... until you walk in.  The women that own this place are collectors - all kinds of knick nacky stuff.  Some of it is old and handmade - stuff that my mom would want to save and I would want to throw away because it's just not practical.  Wooden boxes, handmade signs, figurines, dried flowers.  Just stuff.  Then you walk in to the dining room.  And look up.  The ceilings are high and on each rafter is hanging so much crap that it should be a fire hazard.  We're talking dolls, stuffed animals, inflatables, sports flags, hats, sports equipment, mardi gras beads, pictures, albums, streamers, holla hoops.  Anything.  You name it.   Will post the picture next time.  It's amazing.

Despite it's appearance, the place cooks up a good meal.  Lots of deep fried stuff, but some basics too and even something different.  It's good, well priced, and the atmosphere is fun.  Oh, and it's out of the county so you can have a drink with your meal :)

As I am sitting on my bed typing, I can see my shoe rack.  It certainly has filled itself up despite my bad feet.  A sense of accomplishment of finding so many normal shoes has overtaken me.  Ahhhh.   Nice work, Nik.  Go me!

Today I expanded my visual communication project and redid the forms in our HR office.   Clearly another strategic initiative...haha.  But I'd be lying if I said I didn't like a little arts and crafts project.  We color blocked the forms by group and bought some tropical fish folders to hold the forms.  It's bright and cheery.  Does it really matter?  Probably not.  But it's done.  Check check.  Next I get to worry about 5s.. for all you non manufacturer/distribution peeps that means putting tape on the floor.  Well, it is more than that and it is important, but man... no one wants to actually put the tape down.  Not fun.  Oh well.

Oh so get this - our company picnic is next week.  1500 ppl plus.  Should be fun.  Apparently they do volleyball, cornhole, giant inflatable jumpy things, and all kinds of other stuff.  They have a hard time keeping tabs on who brings who and how many people get to come.  It's the biggest event in C'ville other than the parade.  However, I won't be dressing up in any kind of crazy outfit.

There was something else I meant to write about but I can't think of it.  Hmmm.  I will think about it with my eyes closed as I lay in bed.  Good night!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Friday Eve

I'm not sure where the days go, but did you know that next week is September????  CRAZY!  I can't believe I'm nearing my 3 month mark.  Strange.  The good news is that it has finally begun to cool off and it's actually quite pleasant out.  I had dinner outside today and didn't glisten through it.  The simple pleasures.

I have fallen terribly behind on email, so my apologies if I owe you something. I will get on it this weekend.  Have been trying to keep myself busy with trips out of town and activities.  Will be posting State Fair pics today.  And Lily - I didn't even see the Crispy Creme Burger and I'm pretty sure that I'm ok with that! :)

 So one of my projects has been Visual Management of our office and breakrooms. This doesn't necessarily mean creating the actual communications as much as it mean printing, laminating and using velcro dots to hang things.  If you have never used a velcro dot, I think my company owns stock in them.  We have them EVERYWHERE and we use them on EVERYTHING.  The stick unlike anything I have ever seen.  In fact, that's how we got Abe's beard to stick to his face for the parade.  He had little circles on his face afterward.  But anyway... so it's really a bizarre, not very exciting project that I am not enjoying in the slightest but my boss is extremely passionate about.  It drives my bonkers every day.  Point of the story - he gave my officemate a super hero doll of Elastagirl from the Incredibles.  I believe this was her name - the mom in the movie. Anyone?  I think that's what it is.  Anyways, we were joking that my superhero name would be Laminator Girl.  Little does anyone know that I am the WORST laminator ever.  I can't seem to line it up very well and that part doesn't get laminated, so I just trim it down til it fits.  I can cut a straight line :)

We are thinking of going to the Rascall Flats concert this weekend at the Fair.  If we do, it will be Sunday night.  Tickets are pretty expensive.  I'm indifferent if we go or not, but I do want to wear my cowboy hat at some point. 

The countdown has officially begun to go home. I'm soooooo excited to be going home for the weekend.   I half have it in my mind to go back Thursday night.  Then the week after I get back I head to Seattle for two weeks.  Should be a fun month.  Then it's nose to the ground time.  Cuz clearly I've just been screwing around the whole time I've been here.

I learned a new term today.  Honeywagon.  Anyone know what it means?  We were talking about our Kampers - our retired population that lives in RVs all year and travel for hourly work - and somehow Honeywagon came up.  It's the truck that apparently clears out all of the sewage.  Amazing.

Oh - and I'm also taking suggestions for Halloween costumes.  I'm requiring people to dress up at work to humor me for my birthday.  Alas, if I live down here I may as well make my own fun!  I need to think of something fun.  It is, afterall, the big 3-0 and I will be spending it down here. 

Ok - it's past my bedtime.  I will try to post again this weekend.  Hopefully something post worthy will happen over the next few days.  Take care, be safe.


This little guy had a cool haircut.  Who knew there were such hip chickens?

Unique animals - like the PUPPY
OINK!
This was adorable - the ducks would run up, grab food, fall into the water and run back around again to climb the ramp.  The busiest exhibit at the entire Fair.
Cake decorating contest.
Woaaaaah balloon art!
Biggest cow ever - in my books, that is
And what Fair would be complete without the Grand Prize baked ham!
there were a lot of pigeons - and rabbits too - but this one had cool shoes.  clearly my favorite
tobacco. arguably the biggest cash crop in the state other than marijuana.
the classic chicken

Monday, August 23, 2010

Oh the joys

I went to the State Fair this weekend and all I can say is wow.  Will post pictures...  I have never seen so many giant cows, goats, rabbits, chickens, and PIGEONS.  Why are there pigeons and rabbits at the fair?  I don't get it.  Pretty sure it's not a great talent to breed rabbits.  I mean, really.  Come on now. 

There was also an entire room dedicated to tobacco at various stages of the growing/drying process.  I understand that some may find this interesting, however, I am not one of these individuals. I do think the plants themselves are unique and pretty and would probably look pretty cool in a flower bed, but alas, they would probably get stolen around here.

Work is busy.  I went in at 4am today to do locker searches and we found NOTHING!  But, I did win the award for the most random thing found - a pair of boxer briefs.  I had tech gloves on, but I just poked them with a box knife to be on the safe side.  An important lesson learned from the morning - at 3:45am McDonalds is still serving the Late Night menu and there is not a chance of getting an egg mcmuffin.  Clearly I didn't plan accordingly.  Then again, who knows the last time I saw 3am.

We are working 12 hour days every day and I'm even taking work home with me.  There are so many changes being rolled out, so many projects, and then the daily complaints and employee relations issues that come up.  I always said that I didn't want to be generalist and now I know why :)  At least I know what I like.  But I am learning a lot, especially about communication and feedback.  I do get to work with the operations groups in a way that is new for me, but it's still intense.  We are constantly going back and forth and I'm sure the end product is better, but man it's exhausting. 

Sorry, I try not to talk about work stuff...just hard not to on some days.

So I have attempted my first batch of gumbo.  Why you may ask?  Well, let me tell you!  Southerns LOVE okra.  Not just like, but LOVE okra.  They prefer to dip it in some buttermilk and roll it around in some cornmeal before throwing into a fryer.  Healthy, right?  I am now getting a weekly bunch of veggies from the local farmers market and got a bunch of okra.  In an attempt to make it semi-healthy, I made gumbo.  Still haven't tasted it... haa but it is a lot of work!  There's a lot in it and it took about 3 hours to make.  By that point I had killed half a brick of peanut butter/chocolate fudge and was not hungry for gumbo.  Go figure. 

Ok I promise to post fair pictures soon.  Hang in there kids!

Friday, August 13, 2010

2 in one week!

Don't fall of your chairs!  I'm pretty peppy this morning.  Perhaps it's the convo with my parents last night that perked me up or maybe it is the fact that it is Friday and I only have 2 meetings today - so far :)

So we played with Skype last night. It was pretty entertaining.  I gave my dad a tour of my place.  Good times.  Everyone should download it.

Why on earth are they talking about Lindsey Lohan on the Today show this morning? I hear it in the background in the other room and I have to pause and consider the credibility of US news.  Really?  My goodness.  Sometimes it is nice living in the middle of nowhere and being so far away from all of that.

Instead, I will choose to focus on the upcoming State Fair.  They have every kind of animal you can imagine, including pigeons.  I'm not quite sure what these birds will do at the fair, but I will capture it on camera - whatever it is.  They were talking about all the fried food that will be there - sounds like a death wish.  The most amazing may be the Krispy Creme Cheeseburger.  Yes, you read that right.  Instead of a nice kaiser roll, there will be doughnuts.  Healthy, right?  That's how we roll down here.

Tomorrow I get to pick up my first farm share.  A guy that I work with transferred to North Dakota and gave me his food share.  So every weekend I get to go to the farmers market and pick up a half a basket of veggies. I did something similar last year (City Fresh for all you Clevelanders) and loved it.  It challenged me to cook all kinds of things and it supported the local farmers, mostly Amish.  Plus it was organic and fresh and CHEAP!  Can't beat it.  Win win win situation. :)

they are still talking about Lindsey on the 'news'. 

This weekend I am also going to a managers bowling event.  It is for managers and their families.  There will be food.  No alcohol.  No beer.  Yes, you read that right. I'm sure there are people that bowl without a frosty mug in their hands, however, I would offer that I am not one of those people.  It's like hops flavored soda.  What's the problem?  If it is too family friendly and I start getting looks that imply pity for the old maid with cats, I'm hightailing it out the door.  I have yet to meet anyone over the age of 23 who is not divorced with children.  Some days I feel like I belong in the C'ville version of Ripley's Believe It or Not.  I just made myself laugh :)

Alright, time to go to work.  For my fellow HR gurus - I'll be  mapping out the Workers Comp process and Long Term Accommodation practice for my site.  Then there will be a couple interviews and wrapping up and starting another investigation.  It amazes me the things people say to each other... but we will save that for next weeks blog.

Have a great weekend!