Well-meaning but completely incompetent and oblivious people organising work unit retreats. 4 hours of Lego [of which I have vented before] and 45 minutes planning for next year. Clear what the priorities are.
And there is to be a gratitude wall in which one must pluck a name from a hat and offer up thanks for what they do via post-it note. Dear God.
Damn right. Four hours isn't nearly long enough for a decent Lego project. It's a riot waiting to happen when they call time.
As for the gratitude wall: "Thanks to X for eventually giving me that last six by two brick I needed for my icebreaker* and I hope the bruises fade soon" should work for any X with suitable adjustment of brick size, provided you can get a proper Lego feeding frenzy going.
Exactly. I'm always careful not to get into the express lanes with too many items. And I often voluntarily let a person with very few items go before me in line. But that is my call, not the employee's.
I have on two occasions (once in a drug store, once at a grocery store) left all of my intended purchases on the belt or counter and walked out when the cashier took someone ahead of me.
Damn. I just started reading a Famous Book That I’ve Managed Never to Read (or see the film). I had a vague idea what it was about but not the big reveal. What with it being Famous™ the edition I am reading has an introduction by Someone Else Famous. Who gives away the whole plot in the introduction including the big twist that I didn’t know about and wanted to learn by reading the actual book. I am Annoyed.
Then have a glass or two of WINE (for medicinal porpoises only, of course),
Meanwhile, TICTH BT Yahoo's ridiculous email provision, which no longer allows me to stay logged in. WTF? Why faff about with what's working OK? If it ain't broke, don't fix it......
IJ
Okay, Kaiser. Get over here. Can't call you down because I'm not down where you belong for this stunt.
You've had my name and address and phone number for a few years now. The care's actually been good.
And you were there when I needed it - ER visit, broken neck, all that stuff.
But you managed to send the ER bill to the wrong address, or something like that. Apparently it came back to you.
Remember that you've got my phone number? When the ER bill came back, you could have picked up the phone and called me.
Sending me directly to fucking collections was well worthy of a hell call.
Oh, medical accountants, that hive of empathy and competence.
This summer I got an automated reminder from [hospital where the care was irreproachable, and the staff excellent, highly trained and very compassionate people, and… but wait for the next bit]. Says we owe them fifteen euros. We have no idea what this corresponds to, so phone up the accounts department, having no intention of paying like schmucks unless we actually know what it’s for.
Oh, sorry about that, says the person on the phone. It’s a mistake. I’m cancelling it straight away. You still have that other bill outstanding though, you know, the one for €7500. We were, shall I say, mildly surprised, what with being unaware of the existence of said bill for said mahoosive amount of money. Turns out someone hadn’t registered our insurance document in our records, and there were planning to bill us for the whole amount that should have gone straight to the insurer. I’m only glad we phoned about the other thing before the bill turned up in our letterbox.
Basso, back when I was in treatment for the Big Cancer (six months of chemo, surgery, more than a month of radiation), and handling all the bills and whatnot by myself, just as usual, I somehow overlooked a bill for under $25. I was calling in to pay things as the bills rolled in, but no one ever said, "By the way, would you like to pay this one, too?" (Every bills gets its own account number, inexplicably.) So they sent it to a collection agency. Now, I'm always careful to ask if I owe them anything else, so they can look me up.
I have given all of my doctors both of my insurance cards photo copied front and back several times. The way it works is insurance A pays 80% and then automatically notifies insurance B who pays the rest. Never any problem in 5 years. This last year new billing company took over. Insurance A paid and then billing sent us a bill for the rest. Called explained to wait for B. "Of course," they said then sent me to collection. This happened three times, even after my doctor's office again sent them insurance information. It took over a year before it was finally straightened out. Gone are they days when doctors did their own billing.
Meanwhile I'm in a cycle where LargeConglomerate tells me every freaking time we go to the doctor that we owe money and insists on payment upfront, only to refund said money six weeks later... I think I've had three or four cycles like this in this year.
Hang on a minute - isn't France supposed to have Proper Healthcare™, sort of like the UK but better?
Yes but only if they get all your paperwork. Essentially the Social Security pays 70 percent and your insurance pays the rest*.
Had they registered the insurance document they never would have thought of sending a bill.
*I have no idea exactly how much baby en rouge has cost the French taxpayer but it's reasonable to assume it runs into the hundreds of thousands. The 7500 was very very far from the whole bill.
The local library person who buys the large print books and seems to believe that the only thing people who check out large print books want to read are trash romance novels. Yes I complained and was told they are very popular. I think popular perhaps because the people who like them are the only people borrowing large print books. The rest of us have gone to downloading reading on line. Graven Image who still likes holding a book.
Smoke detectors that keep you awake all night bleeping bcause the battery is about to run out - then you spend half the day tring to change the battery because the casing is hard to remove.
Or smoke detectors which go off in the night and share you sh+tless, just because a tiny speck of dust has lodged inside. (Or go off whenever you're making toast).
Or smoke detectors which go off in the night and share you sh+tless, just because a tiny speck of dust has lodged inside. (Or go off whenever you're making toast).
That sounds like mine. If I think it will burst into life because of what I am cooking, I open frontand balcony doors before I start. Even in winter. Naturally, this limits what I cook. Grills are mostly out. Turn fan on in rangehood. I am hoping to leave this problem behind when I move shortly. As the rest of the family already there have made no complaints, it seems as if all will be well.
Worse than mine are the alarms on the walkways, one to every two apartments. A spider tiptoeing over the casing can set them off for hours. This place is well set up for alarms and firefighting equipment. It was one of the things I checked when I bought and there is a statutory inspection every year. Reassuring actually, but dreadful when one does start.
No, because (a) we don't have a toaster but make toast in the grill; and (b) said toast was only the teeniest bit brownish and not anywhere near burning! (Smoke alarm is in the hall, outside the kitchen, by the way).
As is mine. Kitchens are not the best place for them. Down here hallways outside bedrooms are recommended and mine is so noisy it would wake the dead, let alone someone just sleeping. I wear hearing aids and mine has woken me. I take aids out to sleep.
I have removed my smoke detector for this very reason. I know I should have one, and I will probably get another one at some point, but I've not had one for several years now, and it is so nice not to have that awful piercing noise scaring me to death whenever I cook! Maybe I'll get a flashing one that doesn't make a noise - there must be alternatives like that.
That would be illegal down here. There are still some places without them, but Fire Brigade run s regular publicity about them, also about replacing batteries annually whether needed right at that time or not. Any house which comes up for sale must have them fitted. https://fire.nsw.gov.au/page.php?id=439
Any place where people sleep must have them fitted , they must be kept operational and be fitted on all levels of the building
My smoke detector is in the hall outside the kitchen. When it goes off, I close the door between the kitchen and the hall, and turn on the exhaust fan. That takes care of the problem pretty quick.
My smoke alarm is triggered by steam: my daughter having a hot bath and opening the door after steaming up the bathroom will do it, or cooking pasta without a lid, as well as grilling sausages. It's in the hall, away from the kitchen.
Ours is in the hall outside the kitchen (there's one on the landing too) and sets off as soon as you start cooking. One of us has to run out with a tea towel and give it a wave offering.
My smoke detector is in the hall outside the kitchen. When it goes off, I close the door between the kitchen and the hall, and turn on the exhaust fan. That takes care of the problem pretty quick.
Yes, that's what I do. Actually, our smoke detector is mains operated. This is now a legal requirement for all new-build houses in Wales, although ours is a bit older.
Heh - I think I would see it as a day off work to play with lego, so I'd just be focused on the lego and not the questions. I've only ever been to one team-building away day in my life, and I have happy memories of it, but all I really remember is that we got to sit around and relax all day, and got nice food and played games. I'm sure some writing was involved too though.
I like the idea of Lego play on its own, but these questions seem strange and we need to talk to our creations afterwards as well. So I need to do something. A friend did suggest for What is the type of leadership I prefer that I do absolutely nothing and leave a blank space, which I liked.
I like the sound of your retreat. I've been on good ones. I'm just not sure how building a structure that shows how I keep motivated helps me. But I may be a grump. With no artistic talent whatsoever.
I'm not sure how I would use Lego for any of those exercises, personally. I could possibly invent something tenuous, but they don't obviously relate.
My daughter has a story of a Lego building exercise like this at a conference. It was a compulsory exercise for all, mixing administrators with engineers, discussing how to communicate with each other, including the use of social media.
The engineers across all the groups started discussing a recent paper, up on several tables on iPads. Two groups from different research groups that do not usually communicate realised that they both had half of an answer, by this time in Lego. Talking across all the groups, using Twitter and photos, solved a number of issues in several areas of research. Several of the administrators had completely switched off, because the engineers were talking in maths, which is the usual problem for the ongoing communication issues.
The whole exercise was now subverted, several papers came out of the exercise and some of the administrators came away with an understanding of how engineers read research, and how it compared to the management papers they read normally.
Talk to your creations? As in talk to whatever you have made from the lego? 'Hi, lego house - can you give me advice on how to keep motivated and make a difference in uncertain times?'
It sounds rather surreal to me - I think I would find it fun, but I probably wouldn't be doing it the way they wanted. I suppose, realistically, you will be in teams, and building something together, and observing who takes the leader role and whether you like their direction, and what sort of role you have, and how you make your lego building effective. So maybe the questions will be easier to answer when you've done it,
We had an activity like that when I was in the sixth form - to prepare us for the world of work and adulthood. We were put into teams and given a maths problem. My team all chatted and argued and couldn't work it out, I just sat there quietly, ignoring them, and working out the answer on a piece of paper. I solved it and gave it to them. Then we had to answer questions about our roles in the team. I hadn't really had a role, so it showed I wasn't a good team worker and hadn't joined in. But they wouldn't have got the answer without me, because they were too busy talking and not working it out!
Comments
Damn right. Four hours isn't nearly long enough for a decent Lego project. It's a riot waiting to happen when they call time.
As for the gratitude wall: "Thanks to X for eventually giving me that last six by two brick I needed for my icebreaker* and I hope the bruises fade soon" should work for any X with suitable adjustment of brick size, provided you can get a proper Lego feeding frenzy going.
*full-scale, of course
TICTH the morons putting needles in strawberries.
I'd be the old lady shaking my umbrella at them.
That's not moronic - that's pure, unadulterated, premeditated Evil.
And I'd be the Grumpy Old Git shaking my walking-stick at them.
A Foul Pox be upon all queue-jumpers and evil-minded malefactors.
IJ
Then have a glass or two of WINE (for medicinal porpoises only, of course),
Meanwhile, TICTH BT Yahoo's ridiculous email provision, which no longer allows me to stay logged in. WTF? Why faff about with what's working OK? If it ain't broke, don't fix it......
IJ
You've had my name and address and phone number for a few years now. The care's actually been good.
And you were there when I needed it - ER visit, broken neck, all that stuff.
But you managed to send the ER bill to the wrong address, or something like that. Apparently it came back to you.
Remember that you've got my phone number? When the ER bill came back, you could have picked up the phone and called me.
Sending me directly to fucking collections was well worthy of a hell call.
This summer I got an automated reminder from [hospital where the care was irreproachable, and the staff excellent, highly trained and very compassionate people, and… but wait for the next bit]. Says we owe them fifteen euros. We have no idea what this corresponds to, so phone up the accounts department, having no intention of paying like schmucks unless we actually know what it’s for.
Oh, sorry about that, says the person on the phone. It’s a mistake. I’m cancelling it straight away. You still have that other bill outstanding though, you know, the one for €7500. We were, shall I say, mildly surprised, what with being unaware of the existence of said bill for said mahoosive amount of money. Turns out someone hadn’t registered our insurance document in our records, and there were planning to bill us for the whole amount that should have gone straight to the insurer. I’m only glad we phoned about the other thing before the bill turned up in our letterbox.
Yes but only if they get all your paperwork. Essentially the Social Security pays 70 percent and your insurance pays the rest*.
Had they registered the insurance document they never would have thought of sending a bill.
*I have no idea exactly how much baby en rouge has cost the French taxpayer but it's reasonable to assume it runs into the hundreds of thousands. The 7500 was very very far from the whole bill.
/end of tangent
(Creeps into corner to await chastisement from Host for using a Foreign Tongue)
IJ
I'll hold off the hostly oinking. After all, look who started it.
And you were all agreeing with me ...
That sounds like mine. If I think it will burst into life because of what I am cooking, I open frontand balcony doors before I start. Even in winter. Naturally, this limits what I cook. Grills are mostly out. Turn fan on in rangehood. I am hoping to leave this problem behind when I move shortly. As the rest of the family already there have made no complaints, it seems as if all will be well.
Worse than mine are the alarms on the walkways, one to every two apartments. A spider tiptoeing over the casing can set them off for hours. This place is well set up for alarms and firefighting equipment. It was one of the things I checked when I bought and there is a statutory inspection every year. Reassuring actually, but dreadful when one does start.
Any place where people sleep must have them fitted , they must be kept operational and be fitted on all levels of the building
MMM
Yes, that's what I do. Actually, our smoke detector is mains operated. This is now a legal requirement for all new-build houses in Wales, although ours is a bit older.
IJ
Yes, mine are on the house wiring, but if the battery needs replacing, the alarm starts to beep.
IJ
If anyone has suggestions on subverting this activity I welcome them.
I like the sound of your retreat. I've been on good ones. I'm just not sure how building a structure that shows how I keep motivated helps me. But I may be a grump. With no artistic talent whatsoever.
My daughter has a story of a Lego building exercise like this at a conference. It was a compulsory exercise for all, mixing administrators with engineers, discussing how to communicate with each other, including the use of social media.
The engineers across all the groups started discussing a recent paper, up on several tables on iPads. Two groups from different research groups that do not usually communicate realised that they both had half of an answer, by this time in Lego. Talking across all the groups, using Twitter and photos, solved a number of issues in several areas of research. Several of the administrators had completely switched off, because the engineers were talking in maths, which is the usual problem for the ongoing communication issues.
The whole exercise was now subverted, several papers came out of the exercise and some of the administrators came away with an understanding of how engineers read research, and how it compared to the management papers they read normally.
It sounds rather surreal to me - I think I would find it fun, but I probably wouldn't be doing it the way they wanted. I suppose, realistically, you will be in teams, and building something together, and observing who takes the leader role and whether you like their direction, and what sort of role you have, and how you make your lego building effective. So maybe the questions will be easier to answer when you've done it,
We had an activity like that when I was in the sixth form - to prepare us for the world of work and adulthood. We were put into teams and given a maths problem. My team all chatted and argued and couldn't work it out, I just sat there quietly, ignoring them, and working out the answer on a piece of paper. I solved it and gave it to them. Then we had to answer questions about our roles in the team. I hadn't really had a role, so it showed I wasn't a good team worker and hadn't joined in. But they wouldn't have got the answer without me, because they were too busy talking and not working it out!