groan. Long, prolonged, heavy-assed groan. I just finished writing my annual review: my self-assessment, an assessment of a co-worker, and my assessment of my boss. I got reviewed by my friend Mickey, so all these things put together are referred to in HR circles as a "360 Review." I hate these things. Goals and flipping objectives. Gah.
Here's my assessment from last year: I scheduled content to run on a screen. My goal for next year is to continue to schedule content up on a screen.
What is to goal and object about that?
I have a feeling though that the company is growing and I may get stuff thrown at me, or my workload could shift and someone else may be hired to come in and do half my job. I'm sure that the sitting and scheduling just these screens thing days are coming to an end. And the goals and objectives I wrote today for next year (ie: schedule stuff for next year) will have to be revised.
That's all fine and good as long as our company keeps growing and evolving. I like where we are, but if we could be the big player it would be more fun to be in the game. Kind of like... playing for the Patriots vs. playing for the Saints. If you get the analogy.
This past week or so has been unbelievably busy. I got about 90% of our Christmas shopping done. And the only problem is I haven't yet bought for those who live far away. So shipping could be a pain in the ass. I may end up early tomorrow, running around like a basket case, and hitting the post office.
I went shopping after work on Thursday night, before the ice storm hit. No one was out, which was really nice. I did however make the following observations.
1. It is hot in these damn stores. It was about 15 outside, and then inside Target and Radio Shack and these other places it was 90. I felt like I was going to puke after going in and out of five stores.
2. I don't like being in enclosed spaces with other people and their kids. I especially don't like it when the people reek of cigarettes and their kids smell like puke and the parents are fighting and the kids are grabby asses... I wanted to get a particular RC toy for Geoff but this one couple and their three horrid little children drove me into the housewares department. Then they wouldn't clear the hell out of the aisle I wanted to be in, so I left. Enclosed spaces, high heat, and horrible stench do not make me happy. I thought to myself "I wish I had shopped online, sooner. See item number five for why I found myself shopping in person.
3. Jess is hard to shop for. Geoff, on the other hand, I could spend a million dollars on and still find stuff he'd like. I am at a loss as to what to do for Jess. Gah. 13 is hard.
4. Looking at some of the shit on the shelves convinces me that as a nation we suck. Some other nation has hundreds of thousands of people getting paid pennies on the dollar to make some of this plastic horse shit, and I felt guilty and nauseated looking at it and knowing where it came from, and how in a few weeks most of it that doesn't sell will be on sale at Big Lots or Building 19. This is why America is hated in the world.
5. I tried shopping online for some things, but I discovered that this year everyone bought stuff I wanted to buy and now everything is backordered two weeks. Nice. Recently, I heard a report that six million people will shop online for Christmas gifts for the very first time, and it boggled my mind. We were shopping at eToys in 1998, and have shopped online every year since. How 6 million people shopping for the first time online EVER can screw up what I want to buy pisses me off.
6. I despise these giant blow-up figurines everyone has on their lawn... with Snoopy on an igloo, or Santa in a giant sno globe. I want to pop them all. I won't be stealing them, though. Hating them does not mean I'll go out a-thieving. I just think they're tacky as all hell, a complete waste of freaking money, oh, and tacky. Feed some starving kids in Africa or something. Don't put this crap out on the side of the road for me to drive past. Another thing for the terrorists to hate about us.
So I sound a bit grinchy, yes. But I'm not really. I love the season and the holiday and the whole thing. But every year it just gets more and more ridiculous and tacky. Gaudy and stupid. I like simple white strings of lights or a lighting display put on at someone's property when they have the space. I do not like 10,000,000 BTU of electricity emanating from some house on the side of the road in Saugus. It just tack-ifies the whole season for me.
Anyway. I still have some stuff to take care of but all told I'm done. Compared to last week when the to-do list was making me plotz, I'm in a good spot. The cards are done and in the mail. The decorations are out and ready to be put on the tree which we will get tomorrow. Yes, we wait until late to do the tree. We get a live one, and take it down around Geoff's birthday because his is the 7th of January, and epiphany falls on the 6th. So we've built-in a little tradition there. Together.
And on that note, I'm off to go spend time with my kids and my husband. After all, I kind of see the season as the time to be with people you love. So I may as well go and do that instead of sitting here bloviating.
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