who tears up over WORK?

Last week was rough. In a good way. We had a new employee start as our admin/receptionist…and it’s been a while since I had this kind of support, or someone to look after, so it’s taking a bit of adjustment to make sure she has enough to do, understands what needs to be done, etc.

In addition to that, we had a ‘team-building’ meeting on Thursday/Friday. I’ll spare you the details, but will just say that it was VERY important to me that it go well and that everyone there walked away feeling like they had invested the time there rather than spent it. Turns out…it DID go really well, and I think many of our folks were surprised by how it came together.

As things were winding down, the meeting facilitator asked us all to share something positive that we are each taking away from the meeting…and EVERYONE had really sincere and meaningful positive feedback to give. Then, as our leader was making some closing comments, he said “I think that in six months, we’ll be able to look back on this meeting and say it was a pivotal moment for this team.” That was all it took.

It was all I could do to keep the tears from slipping down my cheeks! I’m not sure why it strikes me as odd that I’m so passionate about my job. I guess I get concerned that it might become my ‘idol’ or the place where I find my significance…but I really don’t think it is. And here’s why: I’d drop it ALL in a HEARTBEAT for the whole “husband, kids, white picket fence” thing…and I share the dream of chucking it all for seminary with a few very good friends, but that’s not where God has me right now.

So, since I believe that I should pursue whatever path God sets me on with passion…I have a deep passion for my job. I think it’s a special company, and I know God put me there (believe me, that’s a whole story in and of itself), and I feel like I’m getting a unique opportunity to play a part in a MAJOR change as it grows from a home-town success to a multi-national competitor in the market. This is SO not who I would have thought God chose me to be…even if it is only for a season.

Now, I’m sure most of the people reading this don’t tear up over their jobs…especially the guys…but I’m sure everyone has a story about unexpected passion that you KNOW God has planted in your heart for something ‘non-spiritual’.

proof

This was the view of the back seat (Basim's side) from the front passenger seat on that trip from the airport I posted about a few days ago.

See, people...I don't lie!!

"speaking of me being right!"

So, I have a few guy friends who I who I would put in the category of "UBERsmart" (either in various or highly technical topics). I'm in a constant competition to 'beat them' at something...I mean, it's just SO gratifying to actually KNOW something they don't, or catch them in a rare 'brain fog' storm. I don't think they know that I'm always looking for a chance to be right about something. It's not really that I WANT them to be wrong, per se...it's just that I enjoy the feeling of being right once in a blue moon. Surely that makes sense to someone out there!

A few weeks ago, I was hanging out with one of these guys recently (he's a doctor...pretty smart guy), and somehow I managed to beat him in a bit of MEDICAL trivia. Let me just say that it was a EUPHORIC moment...and I still enjoy it. Unfortunately, the only possible witness of this event would be one of the Starbucks baristas, but I don't think they were paying attention to us.

Last week, two more of the aforementioned guys were visiting me in London (along with my best friend, so this time I had a witness)...and some similar situation occurred, and in the midst of my selfish and verbal enjoyment...I blurted out something like "SPEAKING of me being right..." which I planned to immediately follow up with the story above...but that's about as far as I got, because we all absolutely LOST IT laughing about how utterly arrogant it sounded!

Truly, I was just trying to bask in my few joys in that area...but honestly, I really sounded like the biggest snob in the known universe! For the rest of the week, anytime any one of us wanted a good laugh, we just blurted out "SPEAKING of me being right..." and we were all done for.

In case anyone's wondering...this is one of the episodes BOTSO is talking about on his recent post. I can't remember most of the others...but they were similarly funny.

over-loading stella

So...to those of you out there who are actually CRAVING content from my little corner of the Internet, a very sincere apology for the 'radio silence' the past few days. In my defense, it hasn't been without reason.

• Feb 09 was spent in massive house-cleaning efforts in preparation for my current visitors.
• Feb 10 was spent with some new local friends playing pub Scrabble (more on that in an upcoming post).
• Feb 11 was spent on the M25, picking up my visitors.
• Feb 12 was spent with said visitors.
• Feb 13-14 were spent in Aberdeen, sans Internet connectivity.
• And suddenly here we are a Feb 15!

ANYWAY, back to the topic at hand. Stella. My poor little Nissan Micra. You can see that she's not very big from the example below (think Mini Cooper, but smaller on the inside, and note that my Stella is NOT blue).

On Saturday, I picked up Basim (and his two bags) at Gatwick and then we headed immediately to Heathrow to pick up Danny and Steffanie (and their 5 bags). So, for the ride home, Stella was carting:

• 4 adults
• 1 very large suitcase
• 2 medium suitcases
• 1 large duffel bag
• 2 backpacks
• 1 VERY large 'handbag'

The phrase that should come to mind here is: "packed in like sardines". Let me just say that EVERY person in the car (except me) had a bag either under their feet or in their lap or both. AND everyone got to participate in the 'driving' effort because I could not see anything but luggage in the rear-view mirror nor the side windows.

I'm SURE this is what we looked like:



Don't even try to tell yourself that I'm just exaggerating...people were actually pointing and laughing as they passed us on the M25. And yes, THEY were mostly passing US, because Stella's little heart could barely handle the strain and we were in the GRANNY LANE!!!

for dennis

INTJ

Until recently, I tested as an INFJ. I was always borderline F/J, but the last time I took the test...the results were inTj for the first time. I wrestled with this result, because although I felt like a 'typical girl' when I was testing as an F, suddenly...I felt very UNFEELING to test as a T. (How typically girly of me, right?)

(For the record...most women test as an F.)

After much discussion with the facilitator of this particular installment of the test, I conceded that I am, in fact, a T. I'm still borderline, but most of my DAILY decisions are made from a position of logic rather than feeling. I still can't help but feel a bit mean (somehow) for that...but I appreciate it at the same time.

However, what I have noticed is that although my preference is to do the logical thing, I *always* find myself thinking about how others will perceive the action...so I work to find the best way to do the logical thing and help people understand why it's the best thing, even though it may be hard to take (from a feelings perspective).

I think my cross-over to the J side (did anyone else hear Darth Vadar's voice just then?) has a lot to do with my friends and the people I have looked up to (many of them are Js, and even the ones that aren't have encouraged that part of me) AND working in corporate America (well...and corporate England as well).

I recently read that some experts believe that if a woman tests at 55% F, she could still be described as a T. Maybe there's something to that.

multiple personalities

There are jingles of personality tests and profiles out there, but one that seems to be well developed and widely used is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). In this profile, your personal tendencies are measured along 4 different continua:

Extrovert (E) - - - - - Introvert (I)
Intuitive (N) - - - - - - Sensory (S)
Thinking (T) - - - - - Feeling (F)
Judging (J) - - - - - - Perceiving (P)

The 'results' of the MBTI are a 4-letter profile, which indicates where you TEND to fall on each continuum. Nobody is a robot...so even the most extreme T can do something that would be very F at times. But it can be helpful to know how any one person would typically respond in a given situation or to any given task at hand. For example, a job that would be BLISSFUL to an NT might be TORTUROUS for an SF.

So, who knows their MBTI?

And who thinks it's a load of hogwash?? (There are some folks who I find resistant to the thinking that this sort of thing is worth the time of day...so stand up and be heard!)

what the $%@#??

This is just a test, b/c my blog is acting dodgy today...

outing all you IT folks

For the benefit of one of my lurkers…

I’m the administrator for a sales tracking system at work. In our set-up, this means that I’m the go-between for the users and the programmers…which puts me in that unfortunate position of knowing just enough about the technical side to sometimes feel a bit full of myself when the users just don’t get it.

When I was complaining one day about one of our less-savvy users, a programmer friend shared a little IT secret and said “You should tell him he’s having an ID10T error”. Apparently, this is one of several common jokes that IT folks enjoy playing on the inept (and therefore usually unsuspecting) user. Just a few examples, for fun:

ID10T error: [Synonym for PEBKAC, e.g. “The user is being an idiot”] Tech-support people passing a problem report to someone higher up the food chain (and presumably better equipped to deal with idiots) may ask the user to convey that there seems to be an I-D-ten-T error. Users never twig.

PEBKAC: [Abbrev., “Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair”] Used by support people, particularly at call centers and help desks. Not used with the public. Denotes pilot error as the cause of the crash. Very derogatory.

UBD: [Abbrev., “User Brain Damage”] An abbreviation used to close out trouble reports obviously due to utter cluelessness on the user's part.