So This Is Education...

So, it is that wonderful time of year where report cards are sent home and you are invited to meet with the teachers.  We call them Parent/Teacher Conferences.  I attended this the other day with my son.  What can I say other then this was a very interesting experience once again. 

Unfortunately I am unable to say I am satisfied with the education system.  Actually, let me be honest, I didn’t think it could get much worse when I was in high school... I was wrong, and I continue to be amazed at the efficiency at which policy makers are able to put into place backwards and ineffective practices to set our children up with failure!

Further, to the above, I continue to be ever so satisfied with the choices and rights parents have in regards to their children’s educations.

The goal setting portion was a special process.  You see, the major complaint from staff is that my son is a very “bright boy” but that he often spends his time focused on things unrelated to his studies and would much prefer acting out or by putting little effort into his school work.  My major complaint is that certain subjects say “Needs Improvement” on the report card under “Effort”.  Now I can accept any grade my child brings home as long as they have tried their hardest.  However, “Needs Improvement” suggests that the low grade can be improved by trying harder.  Call me crazy, but would it not make sense at that point to put in a “Goal” to see an improvement in effort through staying on task and producing quality work within the instruction and guidelines of the teacher?

My son is in a class designed to meet the “learning challenges” associated with his “personality disorders”.  This translates to a class which is designed to hand hold and coddle my son ensuring the over development of his self esteem and self entitlement and the under development of his actual academics and life skills.

I would like to see my son in a regular class room which does not revolve around him.  I would like to see him have a teacher who does not have time to listen, justify, accept and negotiate my son’s excuses for everything he may not want to do.  I would like to see my son in a class room where if he does not take responsibility for himself, his behaviour and his performance he will simply receive natural consequences of failure.  Do I believe it is valuable for the school to offer supports for his achievement in his studies? Of course I do.  Do I think it is valuable to allow my son to continue believing that life is so nice that all you have to do is pretend to try??? NO!  The way the schools go about teaching children success and self esteem these days is atrocious.  And I do understand that the staffs within the school are limited within the means of their directives provided by policy makers.  However if you want me to believe that test scores are down because our kids are not getting enough hugs versus getting enough discipline you are going to have a hard time.

What I have been witnessing the last few years is a gross misunderstanding of the definition of discipline.  So to be clear, let’s clear this up...

dis·ci·pline

  [dis-uh-plin] noun, verb, -plined, -plin·ing.

noun

1. Training to act in accordance with rules; drill: militarydiscipline.

2.  Activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training: A daily stint at the typewriter is excellent discipline for a writer.

3. Punishment inflicted by way of correction and training.

4. The rigor or training effect of experience, adversity, etc.: theharsh discipline of poverty.

5. Behaviour in accord with rules of conduct; behaviour and order maintained by training and control: good discipline in an army.

6. A set or system of rules and regulations.

7. Ecclesiastical. The system of government regulating thepractice of a church as distinguished from its doctrine.

8. An instrument of punishment, especially a whip or scourge, used in the practice of self-mortification or as an instrumentof chastisement in certain religious communities.

9. A branch of instruction or learning: the disciplines of history and economics.

I may be not reading properly but I am failing to see where it says that discipline means to congratulate and reward completion of half a task and request a “positive choice” in the future rather than a “bad choice”.

But what do I know?  I’m Just Some Girl.

55 Mins To Kill!

55 Minutes is how long it takes to back up Simply Accounting.  During this time there is very little I can do! BUT... If I'm typing it looks and sounds like I am working very very hard!  So... We are typing!


First of all, the new job isn't bad.  It has taken some adjustment to having a boss who is just as cynical and dark as I am, possibly a little darker!  But now that I have figured out not to take him seriously with his little comments I think we are getting along fine.

Once this back up is completed of my data I will be able to say that I have made some significant process into creating current AND accurate reports for this company which is really nice.

Lets see... on the personal front.  Well it seems my ex-husband is a drama queen (go figure).  He apparently is going to take me to court for dating someone.  Yep.. jealous much?  I don't know.  I am really looking forward to him actually filing the papers and serving me.  From what I have put together... he is full of smoke and mirrors.  I don't think he actually knows anything.  I also think that he has no grounds on which to take me to court.

The hypothetical...
Lets say HYPOTHETICALLY I am dating someone.  Lets say that I see that person once a week for "date night" at which time my kids are at home with a babysitter.  I don't see anything wrong or unusual... and especially illegal with that scenario so far.  The only other time I Hypothetically get to see the guy that I'm "dating" would be on the weekends that I don't have the kids which is approximately 69.33/hrs per month.  Yes that number includes sleep time as well!

The Difference Between Knowing What You Are Doing and NOT!

So, at my new job.  Just by looking at the books, I can tell when someone qualified was in my position and when they were not...  Actually from an accounting perspective its not a hard thing to see since us accountants have a very specific way of doing things and 99% of us speak the same language.

Really, Up until April 1 this year, the books are wrapped up pretty neat and tidy.  I like that.  The downfall, I have reconciliations to do going back as far as April 1, 2011.  Now the practice around here (which yes will be changing very soon) is that there is a list of invoice numbers, when one gets used it gets noted.  Sooo.... we are running an accounting program for pretty much no reason as all of our information is duplicated from Excel sheets.  My problem... I don't trust the Data, and here is why.

For example, I took the "Invoice List" and compared it to Simply Accounting for the year so far.  I cam across at least 30 Invoices that have not been posted, or are not within the system at all.  How do I know if we made money on these jobs?  Or have been paid for these jobs?  Or how about if the customer has actually received the invoice?  I don't.

How do I fix this, well, I am going to print out each and every "Invoice" on the list, match them up to Simply for accuracy (as I found one so far that is one invoice number but another invoices information) and then make any necessary adjustments.   This is time consuming yes, but at least I will be able to say it is right! RIGHT??

Once I get this all straightened out we will be discussing the idea or Work Orders vs Floating Invoices.  But I'm Just Some Girl.... let see if I'm wrong here too!

OH NO! Reality Just Set In!

So… reality just set in.  What in the world am I going to do with all my spare time when I’m free of the drama around here?  My new job doesn’t have pre-set drama.  It also doesn’t have a requirement of working evenings, weekends or generally whenever anyone decides I’m going to work…

Will I actually be able to be one of the mom’s who takes her kids to the park in the evenings?  Or plans on taking her kids on picnic’s on the weekends?  Maybe I’ll even have time to focus on my own company and see about generating some business for that???  Oh my! The possabilities….

One thing I can tell you… Right now!  I am going to decide that my new found time and possible boredom is not going to be translated into a new relationship.  If I start talking of stupid ideas of such things please someone, any loyal reader… or not so loyal… comment, cyber smack me back to reality. 

I have always worked as often and as much as I do just to avoid such situations.  The only way I’m interested is if he is perfect and rich.  Not one, not the other but both!

As for the office today… I’m watching TV…. But I’m Just Some Girl anyways, and the phone isn’t ringing…Go figure!

It Is All About Knowing Where You Stand

Let’s start with the happy dance!  I know it’s been a few days since my last posting, sorry about that but I have been a bit busy.  Busy with keeping this office operating, guiding management in the direction of their job, deadlines and cut offs, oh and tying up all loose ends since I gave my notice on Tuesday!

So Tuesday morning I accepted a position doing what I’m supposed to be doing, for about the same pay in a much smaller and quieter office.  YAY! I am looking forward to the change of pace.  Now with that, I also had to come into my current employer and provide notice to them.

So, I sat down with one of the owners and (the person who originally hired me) explained to him that I would be leaving.  Although he is sad to see me go he does understand my reasons.  He also expressed to me that although he can’t speak directly about it he agrees with everything I brought up as my reasons.  Now I have given some wonky notice to accommodate my new employer.

After that meeting I proceed with my actual letter of resignation to my “Manager” you know that guy that keeps asking me what his job is and how to do it… Well he is not impressed that I’m only meeting the minimal requirements of notice (1 week) and offering to accommodate them with half days next week as well as two full days at the end of the month to allow for training of payroll.  He then tells me, two weeks would have been nice.  I told him that in the event he has issue with my resignation he should discuss it with the owner.  He then proceeds to tell me in not so many words that the timing of this sucks as they were hoping to get another 6-9 months out of me before replacing me.

So, now, he expects me to work for the next week with a pleasant team attitude.  Furthermore he keeps coming up to me and asking about this or that and if I could show someone else how to do it.   

NEWS FLASH: I ALREADY HAVE TRAINED ALTERNATES ON THIS STUFF AS I FIGURED TWO WEEKS AGO IT WEOULD BE IMPORTANT FOR SOMEONE TO KNOW AS IM WILLING TO WALK OUT AT ANY MOMENT.  But thank you for the directive.

I have to say, I am going to miss the one owner, and the majority of my staff from here.  And I will visit on a regular basis.  It has been very rare in my career where I have actually gained friends in my place of employment rather than just colleagues.  But that’s what Twitter and Facebook are for.

In the event that I am right, and there will be a few more following me from here, I would suggest that management here take a look in the mirror at themselves and maybe wonder if it is a them problem and not an us problem!  But I’m Just Some Girl…

Whatever happened to...

Honesty-Integrity-Respect

I’m the type of person who is honest... possibly to a fault.  If I think something I obviously tell you, good or bad.  I choose to live my life with honesty each day.  I don’t lie every.  I may omit something for reasons related to ethics or etiquette, but that is a very rare occurrence and special situation.  So I want to know what the hell has happened to our society, where we went wrong in parenting and education systems to create a society of liars.

If you look around in your life at all the unneeded and unwanted drama and really dig into it what is the route of it all?  I got to thinking, for 1200 km’s this last weekend about this question.  I came to some conclusions that apply to my life, and I think that it is so simple that it most likely applies to everyone’s lives.

Drama usually begins when there is a miss communications or complete breakdown/lack of communication.  What is the reason to not communicate?  Because you have something you are hiding or are trying to pull over on someone else.  Now, do we do this because we care about people in our lives and are trying to protect them from ourselves?  Or is it because we are scared of being judged by them?  Or (and this is my choice of an answer) are we simply just too selfish to care how our decisions, secrets or lies will inconvenience or affect them.

I’m also the type of person who has integrity... If I say I am going to do something I will do it, if I say I will do it at a specific time, it will be done at that time.  Why?  Because if I don’t then my decision to not do as I say or promise can and most likely will affect someone else.  How so?  Well, if you have told someone you will do something, or have plans with that person, they now are depending on you for something intertwined in their life, ergo, and your decision to shit the bed (so to speak) will affect the other person’s bed.

 So now, with the lack of honesty the drama has started with the lack/breakdown of the communication, but shyt happens and there are always reasons someone may not be able to get a hold of you (although I agree that in today’s age of technology there is next to no excuse why) so that person assumes (should there be an understanding of benefit of the doubt) that things are still all good and continues with plans.  But now, with the lack of integrity of one party, the innocent party is now completely uninformed and miss informed about the situation.  So not only are they spinning with insecurity due to lack of communication, but they are going out of their way to maintain their integrity for absolutely no reason.

That leaves us with respect! I’m the type of person that has respect for me and others.  Even if I don’t particularly like you (or at this point, think you lack all qualities of a decent human being) I will still give you the respect and decency of a human being.  If I’m not going to talk to you I tell you so, that way you are not wondering WTF and lets continue with honesty here... you will have no reason to bother me further.  I’m also the type of person however, that if you have a lack of respect for me, I will just write you off until you choose to inform me I shouldn’t.  Simple.

So finally, with the lack of honesty and integrity the drama has become full force, it is now a time consuming thought process of WTF for the innocent party.  Add in the lack of respect and we are left with a situation of hurt feels or anger... or most likely both.

Let’s explore the reason that the non-innocent party has become this way... 600 km’s later I came to a simple conclusion, which can be summed up with a few words.  A person who lacks Honesty, Integrity, and Respect for others or self is simply Immature, Selfish and Self-absorbed!.  So I’m putting this out here... how do people who are immature, selfish and self-absorbed expect to be treated with honesty, integrity and respect if they don’t have those qualities for themselves?

But then again, I’m Just Some Girl... who apparently thinks way too much!

I Know Nothing!

So I just had a meeting with my Manager regarding a few fires that have been smoking around here.  He was nice enough to keep me informed this time regarding decisions that have been made, and more specifically providing me with a directive that "I know nothing" attitude is perfectly acceptable with staff regarding the matter.  

Now, Question 1! If I am "Human Resources" would it not be my responsibility to know about new employees being hired, also the policies and standards of the company regarding HR processes, or how about a directive from management/directors of how they want these things buffered with staff and then enforced.

Answer= Human Resources is actually a very liberal term around here for glorified receptionist.  No I do not need to know when new people are hired as it is now the responsibility of the Manager who hires the person to ensure they receive the necessary paperwork that is locked in my desk.  No I do not need to know the policies and standards of the company regarding HR process as once again the Manager responsible for hiring the new employee will enforce and educate said employee of this information.  Directive had been provided as “What is perfectly acceptable for you to inform staff who come to you with “these types” of questions is that you know nothing and to speak with Manager X, Y or Z”

Question 2!  What is my scope of work, position, title, general job?

Answer= “If you could put together a detailed list kind of depicting what you have done in the realm of each of your days for the last couple weeks that would be great!  Moving forward we will be looking into what each employee actually does do and making detailed scopes of who does what and co-ordinates with who.”

Question 3!  What the hell is going on?

Answer= Uneducated management teams put all together to let staff provide them with information regarding positions and work flow is a dangerous combination.  I know from experience since I hired one of my bosses simply because I didn’t want the blood on my hands from that department any longer.  Now I understand that they are at a point where they don’t even know what is going on so they need us to tell them what is going on in order for them to even come close to being able to restructure and manage a work flow.  But when you have two micro-managers who are naturally control freaks involved in this process this is never going to happen.  There is no team in CONTROL FREAK.  You can never have a functioning team with control freaks involved.  Now what should happen here is A) start with management sitting down and deciding what their jobs and purposes and scopes are.  B) Get the list from employees of what they are handling and hope nothing is forgotten C) then management needs to decide from there what each staff member is to be doing and who they report too.  D) Unveil this new structure and work flow to staff.  From there, guess what you will be able to see!  Who is on bored, who is not on bored, where the short falls and who will be able to pick up what is dropped.

Question 4! Is it wrong to leave out half of the very important but small things I do around here which ensure that nothing gets dropped by operations or accounting as I know I will be leaving sooner than later?

Answer= “I don’t know”… I’m Just Some Girl!

Standards... I can always do better!

Work Place Standards… Whatever happened to those?

This entire entry is going to be about what is wrong with where I work.  I need to vent!

Started working here in 2009 in a building that should have been condemned (has since been torn down). We moved operations to this new place where I was promised A/C… I don’t have A/C.  It’s currently 24.5 degrees in my office.  This should not be legal.  Alternately, in the winter my office gets really cold!

SIDENOTE- I think my co-worker beside me just passed out, she was typing and all of a sudden her head is on her desk... Not the first time so I’ll give her ten to come back I poke her…

Ergonomics is standard in every other office I have worked in.  It is actually part of OH&S programs as prevention of long term injury or pain in office staff.  Since I have started working here I can tell you that my pain has gotten much worse simply due to improper phone mounts, lack of headsets (I have requested a headset a few times and never received authorization for the expense).  My keyboard is not properly mounted; my chair is pretty, but not supportive.  I don’t think I need to go on for this one.

Electricity… now this is something you would assume all offices would require to operate.  You would also think that ensuring you had adequate electricity to operate would be a priority.  Well for almost two years now, my office has been running off of extension cords and UPS’s in order to ensure that the printer, computers and TV’s all can run.

Tripping hazards!  The extension cords in the office are tripping hazards, so are the mats in the traffic areas that move nonstop!  I have nearly fell flat on my face many days due to these mats… Maybe I should just fall… it will even be on video!  Try fighting that LTD claim!

But I don’t have an expensive piece of paper stating I know my head from my ass on these matters… Thank god I have a good attorney should I ever choose to pursue my options.  But what do I know?  I’m Just Some Girl!