The weekend is here!
Thank goodness. I had a semi-annoying day with semi-annoying salesperson (I say semi because things have been better since we had our little "talk"), but it's now coming to a close. And my favorite time of week is here--Friday evening, with 2 days full of possibility ahead of me. And the promise of a good message on Sunday to reenergize me for the next week.
I was reading the blog of a friend of a friend of a friend, and one of the authors (bloggers? posters?) posted how annoying it is that people think they're cool when they link to "other i-want-to-be-cool-and-emerging-altenative-christian bloggers that they have never met or had any kind of ongoing conversation with." And, well, I don't link to other blogs, but I have been reading these people's blog for the past couple of weeks even though I have no idea who they are. I don't know...they just interest me. But I wouldn't say I know them. And anyway, this blog (mine) is not meant to be a forum to show how cool I am. I mean, sometimes I wish no one had the URL to my blog because it's just for me to keep an account of what's been going on, how I've been feeling. A place to rant if needed. (And well, I might as well say it, I think you're the only one who reads this blog, Ashley, but I don't mind that you do at all. Heck, I created it because you asked.) So I guess I'm saying that I don't think I'm one of those i-want-to-be-cool-and-emerging-alternative-christian bloggers. I think I'm one of those i-hope-you're-only-reading-my-blog-if-you-know-me-but-don't-judge-me-by-this-because-I-don't-write-anything-philosophical bloggers.
Friday, April 30, 2004
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Monday, April 26, 2004
I read this post today on a blog belonging to someone I don't know. It has put a whole new perspective on things going on in my life and how I treat those close to me. It also makes me miss my family, though they're only a phone call away. But even more immediate, it has made me think about how I'm thinking about (not even talking to or treating--that stuff on the outside has been OK) the people I see every day (morning and night) right now. I would have to live with a lot of guilt if something happened to one of them and I had to remember the bad things I thought about them. I love them, but do I show them that? Or do I just show them the absolute minimum amount of courtesy that is necessary for the situation? I could definitely be doing better at being Christ-like right now!
We had a nice weekend here full of glorious weather! The weather prompted me to get some plants at Home Depot on Sunday (though I went to the Silvercreek Nursery close to our house first; it was the second time I've been there and the second time they've had cruddy customer service, so I left). I spent a couple of hours pulling out some old, overgrown stuff in the bed at our back patio (up against the house, in between the sliding glass door and the door into the garage) and planting the new cyclamen and begonia. It all looks so pretty now! I'm no green thumb, but it was still fun.
The rest of the weekend was mostly spent hanging out with Scott and Kim. Kim and Sierra had been gone for over a month (to Ohio to visit Kim's sister, who had her first baby). Overall, it was a nice, relaxing weekend.
Oh, and Jon told me what we're doing for our 2-year anniversary! On Saturday, May 30, we'll drive up to Solvang and stay there Saturday night and Sunday night (I have Monday off work since it's Memorial Day). It's going to be so wonderful--I'm really looking forward to spending the whole weekend together.
The rest of the weekend was mostly spent hanging out with Scott and Kim. Kim and Sierra had been gone for over a month (to Ohio to visit Kim's sister, who had her first baby). Overall, it was a nice, relaxing weekend.
Oh, and Jon told me what we're doing for our 2-year anniversary! On Saturday, May 30, we'll drive up to Solvang and stay there Saturday night and Sunday night (I have Monday off work since it's Memorial Day). It's going to be so wonderful--I'm really looking forward to spending the whole weekend together.
| Which Strong Bad Character Are You? Strong Bad You are so....Strong Bad-ish.
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| Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests. |
Thursday, April 22, 2004
OK so I've been reading through other blogs of random people I don't know (linked from blogs belonging to friends of friends, etc.), and I'm noticing how dull I am! At least how many dull things I have to say...nothing witty, nothing enlightening. No cool title of my blog. But, well, nothing out of the ordinary or exciting really happens in my life (I'm not in college or Scotland or living on my own or having poop fill up my garage). Well, that's it for today. ~K
| Which poem are you? Sonnet 17 by Pablo Neruda Aw, you're a romantic. You believe in true love and all that sort of stuff. How cute are you? To you, love is incredible and amazing.
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| Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests. |
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Well, things have calmed down at work, and I have much more time now to post. And I have a personal/work victory to report: last week, I scheduled a meeting with annoying salesperson Kate for this past Monday. In the meeting request, I wrote that we should meet to discuss "some ways we can improve how we work together"--so she expected something. I wrote out the 3 main issues I needed to discuss (I have to write these things out or else I become flustered and usually start crying), and off I went on Monday morning! Things went VERY well! Here's what I came away with (these are the notes I brought over to Kate's office but now with post-meeting additions; Kate asked that I send her a copy of this so that she could remember):
Multiple drafts
▪ Sending multiple proposal drafts back and forth is not the most efficient use of our time. When you send me a draft that is not as updated as the one I’m working on, I have to go back and forth between documents and try to update from one to the other.
▪ Solution: one draft. That is, we have an initial meeting to go over what needs to be done on the proposal, including reports to request, people in other departments to go to, etc. (I will schedule this meeting on our calendars within 1-2 days of receipt of the proposal.) Then I work on the proposal (with input from you as necessary question-by-question) and send you my final draft when I’m done—with plenty of lead time for you. Then you work on your input/changes and get your final draft, including executive summary, cover letter, etc. to me at least one day before the proposal needs to be mailed. No more changes should be made after this. This will give me time to make edits, ensure that the proposal follows our department style guide, add in formatting and page breaks, and print and bind the proposal.
- The edits are very important to me. Proposal writers get audited each month on at least one RFP each, and the last RFP of mine that got audited was one you and I did together; because of all the typos and small errors (which, for the most part, were entered last minute), I got docked enough points that my proposal fell below the department standard. This reflects poorly on both of us.
- We will consider our “due date” of the proposal one day before mailing, so that we can work with that as our deadline.
Telephone & time management
▪ It’s a waste of both your time and mine for you to be typing on your computer/doing other things while I’m on the phone with you.
- I could be working on things I still need to get done for you or other salespeople.
▪ It is not necessary to call immediately after you send me an e-mail. I will read the e-mail immediately. Say anything you need to tell me in the text of the e-mail. Calling me just wastes more time.
- You are concerned that I will make assumptions or inferences. Solution: I will always reply to those e-mails and reword what it is I think you want me to do. If I’m wrong, then we should talk on the phone.
Duties that are not the proposal writer’s
▪ Making copies, printing non-proposal documents, training on computer programs
- While I am happy to help, the proposal writer is not the one who should be doing these things. It wastes my time and takes time away from proposals for other salespeople or from your own proposals.
- Solution: Tiffany. From now on, I will copy Tiff on the proposal files we send out, so that she can keep the files on her computer. I will help her if necessary when she needs to print/bind extra copies of things.
Things I (Katie Varela) will keep in mind and work on:
▪ Not making assumptions
- I will think outside the box and not assume that, just because we don’t have data “available,” I can’t get it somewhere. I will identify data that doesn’t seem to “fit” exactly what we want and either find out if we can get the right data or get a good explanation about why we can’t.
▪ Being proactive
- I will be more proactive at the beginning of the proposal process about going to outside departments and subject matter experts (SMEs) to get data reports and answers to other questions.
So I will report back here on whatever progress is made! :)
Multiple drafts
▪ Sending multiple proposal drafts back and forth is not the most efficient use of our time. When you send me a draft that is not as updated as the one I’m working on, I have to go back and forth between documents and try to update from one to the other.
▪ Solution: one draft. That is, we have an initial meeting to go over what needs to be done on the proposal, including reports to request, people in other departments to go to, etc. (I will schedule this meeting on our calendars within 1-2 days of receipt of the proposal.) Then I work on the proposal (with input from you as necessary question-by-question) and send you my final draft when I’m done—with plenty of lead time for you. Then you work on your input/changes and get your final draft, including executive summary, cover letter, etc. to me at least one day before the proposal needs to be mailed. No more changes should be made after this. This will give me time to make edits, ensure that the proposal follows our department style guide, add in formatting and page breaks, and print and bind the proposal.
- The edits are very important to me. Proposal writers get audited each month on at least one RFP each, and the last RFP of mine that got audited was one you and I did together; because of all the typos and small errors (which, for the most part, were entered last minute), I got docked enough points that my proposal fell below the department standard. This reflects poorly on both of us.
- We will consider our “due date” of the proposal one day before mailing, so that we can work with that as our deadline.
Telephone & time management
▪ It’s a waste of both your time and mine for you to be typing on your computer/doing other things while I’m on the phone with you.
- I could be working on things I still need to get done for you or other salespeople.
▪ It is not necessary to call immediately after you send me an e-mail. I will read the e-mail immediately. Say anything you need to tell me in the text of the e-mail. Calling me just wastes more time.
- You are concerned that I will make assumptions or inferences. Solution: I will always reply to those e-mails and reword what it is I think you want me to do. If I’m wrong, then we should talk on the phone.
Duties that are not the proposal writer’s
▪ Making copies, printing non-proposal documents, training on computer programs
- While I am happy to help, the proposal writer is not the one who should be doing these things. It wastes my time and takes time away from proposals for other salespeople or from your own proposals.
- Solution: Tiffany. From now on, I will copy Tiff on the proposal files we send out, so that she can keep the files on her computer. I will help her if necessary when she needs to print/bind extra copies of things.
Things I (Katie Varela) will keep in mind and work on:
▪ Not making assumptions
- I will think outside the box and not assume that, just because we don’t have data “available,” I can’t get it somewhere. I will identify data that doesn’t seem to “fit” exactly what we want and either find out if we can get the right data or get a good explanation about why we can’t.
▪ Being proactive
- I will be more proactive at the beginning of the proposal process about going to outside departments and subject matter experts (SMEs) to get data reports and answers to other questions.
So I will report back here on whatever progress is made! :)
Friday, April 16, 2004
Thursday, April 08, 2004
Easter is here already! I don't even know what we're doing on Sunday. Everything is kind of in disarray as far as family goes... Ray and Colleen will be basically homeless 2 days after Easter, so they're packing like mad and definitely won't be having Easter dinner at their place. It looks like it will fall on us, which I would be excited about if I had had time to plan. I'm sure we'll just do something easy, but "easy" means not very Easter-y. I've heard the Costco hams are good.
BUT, regardless, the real reason for Easter is what is important, and no matter where (or if) we eat, we will all be rejoicing in Christ's resurrection.
BUT, regardless, the real reason for Easter is what is important, and no matter where (or if) we eat, we will all be rejoicing in Christ's resurrection.
Monday, April 05, 2004
This weekend was uneventful but nice. I'm here at work with a frustrating keyboard--the space bar keeps sticking, and I have to backspace and fix it at least once a sentence! I won't fix it anymore. We'll just have a continuousstreamofonewordfortherestofthispost. Just kidding.
Jon had to work late on Friday, so we missed our Bible study, but it was nice to relax at home anyway. Scott came over and we watched Open Range, which I bought for Jon on DVD as a surprise with a Costco coupon.
On Saturday, Jon also had to work (his company and the one that owns it just moved into the new building, and Jon and one other guy did all the computers and networking), so I did things around the house like laundry and cleaning. But that night we went to Macaroni Grill (the insalata rossa is my favorite!!!! And the bread there is to die for) and to a movie. We saw Tom Hanks' Ladykillers and were a bit disappointed. The 100+ times that the f-word was said were absolutely unnecessary, and that alone ruined the movie for me. Hanks' character is funny and interesting, but not enough to redeem the film. We hadn't realized it was by the Coen brothers... Anyway, we won't be buying this DVD. ;)
On Sunday, we went to church and heard another great message from Arch and went to the food court for lunch with friends. Then it was off to the big sale at Old Navy! I got 2 new shirts, and Jon got about 8 or 10 new shirts--all for $10 each or less. After we headed home with our booty, we helped Jon's parents pack and move for a little while before Jon had his basketball game. Despite their efforts to prosecute their landlord for not reimbursing them for the $8,000+ they have put into their rented house, Ray and Colleen (and Jennifer) have been ordered to move from their house by April 12. This couldn't have come at a worse time!--Janel is coming for a week with baby Seth to visit April 13. I'm not sure what's going to happen with that, but even more important in everyone's mind is where the Varelas are going to move to. I think someone at church has already offered an "extra place," so we'll see.
Jon had to work late on Friday, so we missed our Bible study, but it was nice to relax at home anyway. Scott came over and we watched Open Range, which I bought for Jon on DVD as a surprise with a Costco coupon.
On Saturday, Jon also had to work (his company and the one that owns it just moved into the new building, and Jon and one other guy did all the computers and networking), so I did things around the house like laundry and cleaning. But that night we went to Macaroni Grill (the insalata rossa is my favorite!!!! And the bread there is to die for) and to a movie. We saw Tom Hanks' Ladykillers and were a bit disappointed. The 100+ times that the f-word was said were absolutely unnecessary, and that alone ruined the movie for me. Hanks' character is funny and interesting, but not enough to redeem the film. We hadn't realized it was by the Coen brothers... Anyway, we won't be buying this DVD. ;)
On Sunday, we went to church and heard another great message from Arch and went to the food court for lunch with friends. Then it was off to the big sale at Old Navy! I got 2 new shirts, and Jon got about 8 or 10 new shirts--all for $10 each or less. After we headed home with our booty, we helped Jon's parents pack and move for a little while before Jon had his basketball game. Despite their efforts to prosecute their landlord for not reimbursing them for the $8,000+ they have put into their rented house, Ray and Colleen (and Jennifer) have been ordered to move from their house by April 12. This couldn't have come at a worse time!--Janel is coming for a week with baby Seth to visit April 13. I'm not sure what's going to happen with that, but even more important in everyone's mind is where the Varelas are going to move to. I think someone at church has already offered an "extra place," so we'll see.
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