I started a new job in April.  Still with the same company, but there is an entirely different vibe.  The job itself is intense.  So much so that the training lasted for 9 weeks, and we still didn’t cover everything.

During the eighth week of training, I and my 5 training team mates learned who would be our new manager.  Up to this point I had very mixed feelings.  Two of those managers had sat in on the training.  That said, I knew my new manager, before I knew he would be my new manager.

I wish I had a photo to post here.

It turns out that he is quite a character.  Yesterday he announced that he would be leaving the office at noon.  I was busy, but heard him say something about his son’s soccer practice.  I think.

This morning he did his typical walk through, stopping at everyone’s desk to ask how we are doing.  At the end of this daily practice he had something important to share.  He stood at the end of the cubicle trail and told a story that absolutely captured my attention.  I won’t be able to do it justice, but I’ll give it my best shot.

On Thursday afternoon he was standing at a food truck, waiting for the meal he had just ordered.  He was standing there alone for a short time until a man, whom he does not know begins to approach him.  The man had exited his vehicle, walked across a ‘ditch’, stopped in front of my manager and said, “I am going to faint”.  My manager, not knowing why he responded this way, said to the man, “just fall into my arms”.

This is exactly what happened.

The stranger passed out cold and was unconscious for “at least a minute”.  My manager said that he thought the man had possibly experienced a heat stroke, which would make perfect sense on a July afternoon in Florida.  Another man approached, and my manager appealed to him to call 911.  Shortly thereafter the unconscious man regained consciousness and did so with a scream.  He did not know where he was or what has happened.  When he finally composed himself he did not want rescue to come, nor did he want anyone to drive him home.  The man called his wife, who arrived within minutes, did not get out of her car, but instead simply followed her husband home.  Weird.  It took my manager 10 or 15 minutes to share this story, and he did it much more justice than I.  CLEARLY he had been traumatized by the event that left him dazed and confused as he watched the man who caused the scene drive away unscathed, followed by a dispassionate wife.

I gained a new appreciation for my manager today.  He is a kind and caring individual.

I hope he never has to fire me.

LOL

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Happy Tuesday…

Sort of

After 3 years of working from home, I was ordered to return to the office.  It takes me about 35 minutes to drive there if traffic is agreeable.  Today I left an hour before log in time… just in case.

Wouldn’t you know it, there was an incident on the Buckman bridge.  A bad incident.  I have nothing to complain about in comparison.

58 minutes after I left the house, I arrived at the office.

My badge didn’t work (long sigh).

I climbed the stairs and immediately tried to turn down the wrong hall.  Luckily Gary was there to correct me.  My area is empty as the members of my team have greater seniority than I and get to stay home until later this week. My desk was set up with new monitors and a new phone system.  I had to have a quick lesson on how to log in.

Then I unlocked my drawers.  The first thing I noticed was a can of mixed nuts.  They were stuck to the bottom of the drawer.

Thinking back to March 2020, it was assumed by all that we would be returning within a few weeks… you know… long enough to flatten the curve.  A few weeks may have been fine to stash items I left in my office drawers, but a few years was just a bit too long.  Like the 12 oz. can of soda.  I’m not sure why I saved it.  It was a freebie and not my type.  Maybe someone would need it someday [yes, I am one of those people who save things because someone might need it someday].

That can of soda was still unopened but had somehow found a way to leak out over time.  Everything was stuck to the bottom of that drawer.  And Everything was sticky.  I threw most of it away, then spent time trying to clean up the sticky mess.  When I checked my progress, I found everything was still sticky.  I let it all dry and wiped it again several times.  But every time I touch something at my desk, I feel like Clark Griswold trying to enjoy his evening after he put up his sappy Griswold Family Christmas tree

By 10AM I was back in business with work…  and thinking about finding a new job LOL (I’ve applied for 2 in the last week)

😊

The company has decided it would be nice to have lunch catered as we each return.  Since today was my day to return, I enjoyed a great big chicken Caesar salad from Panera. With the salad was a bottle of water, an oatmeal cookie, and an apple.  LB will appreciate the cookie.

It was a long day, and I suppose I’ll do it again tomorrow.SO here we are – back to the old normal –  Except I’ve been STICKY all day!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Unlike my Daddy, who only worked for one company all his life, and eventually advanced to the top, I have worked at many places.  Thanks to him, my first job was at

First Guaranty Bank

as a proof operator and later a teller.  I worked there from 1984 until 1985.

First Guaranty hired me again in 1989 and I eventually moved from the teller department to the loan department.  I stayed with that bank until 1998 when I took an offer from another bank.

I didn’t know how good I had it.

I worked a few months at Bank of America and then took another offer from SouthTrust, at the Gulf life tower. It was official… I was a banker just like my daddy, except different.  I was with SouthTrust until 2000.

After this I became a home school

Teacher

I think it was 2002 when I figured out that I couldn’t teach Algebra and needed help.  I enrolled in a class at FCCJ which lead me down the road to finishing college.  There was absolutely nothing I wanted “to be when I grew up”, but interior design sounded fun, so I enrolled in the program.  It was during this time that I accepted an internship with Liberty Furniture.  I was there until the Obama economic decline impacted the company in 2010.

In 2011 I was hired by a communications company.  I’ll typically refer to it as

“the company”

in my blog posts.

I started by assisting customers in the call center.  In 2016 I was invited to become a member of the customer advocacy group [CAG] working hard-to-resolve issues, and assisting customers who had reached out to the company’s office of the president.  And that is what I am currently doing.

In 2020 the company made the decision to have my department begin working from home.  I published several blog posts about that adventure here and here.

Although today is Sunday, and I’m not at “the office” it is my work anniversary.  I have actually made it to ten years with the company.  It is unbelievable that I have held out so long and it has NOT BEEN EASY!

If you know me, you know what company I’m referring to.  If you don’t know me well, I can tell you that it is a well-known communications company whose name I do not mention in my blog, just in case I happen to inadvertently say the wrong thing.  Who knows when a Google search may reveal my little blog, and someone may take offense at something I say.  I’ll make the announcement some day, but not yet.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.