The Bureau Of Bureaucracy

I work for a large company full time and wanted to add a few weekend shifts at a different location than my normal office in order to make a few extra bucks.  In a perfect world this is what would've happened: I would have expressed interest in the opportunity and since I'm already known to the company I would be allowed to pick up shifts in a few weeks, if not instantly.  Instead, below is what actually happened.

I applied for the job and after a few months of delays I finally met the director and got the ball rolling.  I then filled out countless amounts of paperwork explaining who I was and what I was applying for and why I was qualified (I already work for the company, mind you...).  The powers to be only meet periodically to review such applications so a few months later that part of the process was complete.  Then I was scheduled for orientation, more than 6 months after I applied for the job.  I just completed 16 hours of orientation, only 3 of which were useful.  The other 13 hours either covered stuff that I already know since I already work for the company (I know who the CEO is...) or covered complete bullshit like how to introduce yourself properly or how you should wash your hands.  This is all for an occasional weekend job for a company I already work for.  I try to keep a smile through all of it but honestly there were times during the process where I thought about telling them to just forget it because all of the hassle isn't worth it.

I would like to know how long education on how to be polite has been going on in new employee orientations.  Is that a new thing or has that been going on for years?  Don't get me wrong, I know exactly why they do it.  They do it because there are enough idiots out there to screw up something as simple as introducing yourself politely.  But when you are a professional the whole thing is a bit insulting and quite honestly is a waste of my time.

Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad

I try to predict who will be on the cover of this issue each year.  I knew they wouldn't put Kate Upton on the cover for the third year in a row (though she did manage to get the newly created "back cover").  Nina Agdal was my top prediction for this year's issue and Chrissy Teigen was my back-up pick.  Both of them have been big in the issue the past few years and have become somewhat more recognizable in pop culture (Nina was in a Hardee's commercial for instance.).  But Lily Aldridge?  I really didn't see that one coming at all.  As far as I know she's never even been in the issue before so to get a cover is pretty surprising.  As a side note she is married to Kings of Leon lead singer Caleb Followill, and while Pitchfork doesn't care for their music I rather enjoy it.

This all stems back from a little competition between BoilerPip and I back in high school where we would try to guess who would be on the cover of the weekly Sports Illustrated issue.  Turns out it is a much harder thing to predict than one might imagine.  If one of us would get a couple of covers correct per school year that would be considered a good score.  It's generally easier to predict the cover of the swimsuit issue.

Damn Deer

My car seems to attract body damage.  I've had it in the shop more than any other car I've ever owned and so far none of the accidents have been my fault.  I work late on Wednesday evenings and on my way home I decided to take a different route in order to stop at a gas station to fuel up.  Afterwords I was headed north out of the city on my way home, and right as I left a heavily developed area and transitioned into a more wooded area a deer ran out in front of my car.  I saw the deer with enough time to decrease my speed from 55 MPH to around 30-35 MPH, I'm sure saving my car from a lot of damage, but I still drilled the animal with the center of my car, causing minor cosmetic damage.  I took it to the body shop last week and got an estimate of $2,000 for repairs.  My insurance should cover the price with just a $100 deductible, and though it could've been a lot worse it is still annoying.  This car can't catch a break.

Finally A Refund!

For the past several years we have left the accountant's office owing both for their services and for taxes due.  I always left feeling like I got screwed because invariably I would see commercials or here co-workers discussing how they were going to spend their refunds.  This year we got a refund.  Finally!  It was a large one too (in my opinion). 

We had a couple of things going for us this year.  One is that we had not one but two kids.  The other is that we bought a house.  I know that getting a refund just means I over payed throughout the year but it still feels nice to join the conversation about what I'm gonna do with my refund.  Plus I pay a lot in federal taxes each year so I feel like I deserve a refund.  I was in a much better mood this year after leaving the accountant's office.

The Dunk Contest Was Awful

I've had a few posts recently titled "...Was Awful" and I'm not trying to start a new theme but I thought while I was at it I would complain about the dunk contest as well.  It was awful.  I gave up on almost all professional sports all star games once I became an adult because they are mostly worthless and meaningless games.  The NBA All Star weekend is no exception.  However, I watched it this year to see Paul George of the Pacers dunk.

First off, the whole telecast was so bad and annoying I had to stop watching live and switch to the Olympics (which featured downhill skiing, an awesome event in my opinion).  I recorded the dunk contest so I could fast forward through all of the unnecessary and just bad fan fair surrounding the actual contest. 

Secondly, the new format was confusing.  The team aspect completely took away from the one player versus all format that promotes the best dunk winning.  The judges only had to say which dunk of two was the better, not rate against all other dunks.  The players only had an opportunity for a minimal amount of dunks and thus didn't get to showcase their arsenal of dunks.  And worse of all, the contest ended so abruptly that it was surprising to all.  Everyone expected the three winners in the head to head portion to compete against each other which didn't happen.  Instead, a final overall winner was selected seemingly last minute by fan votes.  The whole purpose was to find out who the best dunker was and instead of going head to head they settled it by a fan vote that seemed to be an added-on feature.  None of this was entertaining, and I didn't see a single dunk as good as the one Paul let loose against the Clippers earlier this year.

This Winter Weather Is Awful

The weather this winter has been terrible.  From multiple days with extreme sub-zero temperatures to record breaking snow fall amounts (51.6"), it has been one thing after another, making for a very long winter.  We got more than anticipated snowfall this past Friday.  It took me over an hour to get home and interfered with our travel plans to our home town this weekend (sorry grandparents and aunt Liz).  Not only have we had a lot of snowfall, the snow has lingered (versus melting and then re-falling) resulting in snow on top of snow.  It all feels very Erie-esque, which isn't a good thing (though according to NOAA.gov Erie has received over 94 inches of snow this year).

I Hate Mollies

Sarah and I spent Thursday afternoon hanging curtains around our house.  This is attempt number two at this project.  I feel kind of dumb admitting this as I am sure this is a basic task, but I for the life of me cannot figure out how to hang stuff up using wall anchors.  I have tried several times and failed.  I drill with the size bit suggested in the instructions but I can never get the anchor to fit into the hole properly.  It's quite frustrating cause usually what I end up doing is drilling directly into the drywall.  Sometimes I hit a stud, sometimes I don't.  Obviously this is a much less secure way of hanging things to a wall.  Today we hung curtains in three rooms, two of which had bay windows.  I only had a couple of hooks that didn't securely fasten to the wall, requiring me to move them over just a bit, enough to cover the newly created holes but also enough to give me room to make a new hole in the wall.  That aspect can be frustrating but overall I think the project went well and it definitely makes the house look nicer.