Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Vacation Day!

Son #3 has a dental appointment shortly after noon, so I'm taking this opportunity to use one of my 13 vacation days left before June 1st. (I'm saving the rest for when my soldier is home on mid-tour leave in May.) It's windy out there, but warmer (about 53 degrees F, moving up to 64 in the afternoon), with a chance for thunderstorms and tornadoes tonight! In case I haven't mentioned it, I embrace bad weather, but only if it's warm.

I'm biorhythmically moving into one of my introspective periods, which means fewer posts and comments. At least I understand my own patterns and can predict them, even if I haven't yet managed to figure out prevention. I may be on to something, though: a co-worker invited me yesterday to walk the six flights of stairs that flank the interior of the hangar and lead to a catwalk at the ceiling. If I lead up to doing this every day, five days a week, I'll be well on my way to restructuring my bird legs, having thighs and calves, and maybe preventing a fluctuation in mood. And if I end up looking like the lower half of Beyonce, who am I to complain?

One of the things I've been thinking about lately is how painful self-restraint is for me. And not just self-restraint, but being forced by other people or by circumstances to refrain from doing something - especially spending money. It's bad enough that I live with a tightwad at home, but now I'm faced with a tightwad employer. Since I started my current job, I've been in charge of ordering office supplies for my department. Because of the current economy, the only thing I can order is paper, and even that has to go through the approval of four managers. This means no Post-It notes! No pens! No multi-colored miniature legal notepads! Do you know how much that hurts me? It's a good thing I have my purple, refillable Dr. Grip gel pen, with the dozen-or-so black ink refills I ordered a while back just in case. I may have stumbled upon an entrepeneurial opportunity, though. While I still have staples, I'm going to take discarded printer paper, cut it into quarters, and staple it (blank side up) into small note pads and sell them to my co-workers.
(Note: While I understand that if you "take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves," it seems a bit laughable when you consider that the top five executives of my company are pulling in a total of 44 million dollars. I say slice from the top of the cake first. I'll bet the top of the cake has Post-It notes!)

So that's it. I'm spoiled rotten, and never would have survived The Great Depression. Especially since Post-It Notes weren't invented yet.

12 comments:

yackydoodle said...

those are pretty high salaries.....I hope they don't also get rediculous bonuses on top of that

Marchelle said...

I'm [going to start] jogging with the dog in the mornings...just like I always [say I'm going to] do. Because I wouldn't mind looking like the lower half of Beyonce, either.

Funny story....'new boss' is all about ordering this and that for the office...re-doing the landscaping...painting and redecorating the waiting room...of course Squeaky (you remember him, you used to work for him) and the others aren't completely on board.
We haven't cut back on Post Its yet; I'll see if I can smuggle some to you. Know of a good overnight delivery service I could use?

MauritaMason said...

yacky, if they do, they aren't talking...especially since the rest of us don't get bonuses anymore.

Marchelle, ha! LOL @ 'Squeaky.' The smuggling would help in TWO ways! But I'm not completely out of stickies yet. I've held a couple of stacks back, and I can even cut one of them in half. Also, I'm glad somebody is concerned about the landscaping! That's one of the things I miss about that place. You know...since I don't do any of it at home. And the one time I tried at the new job, our paid landscaper told one of the guards to let me know that everything was HIS, and that I really shouldn't be touching it. (By the way, he may be good at cutting grass, but he sucks at landscaping.)

Unknown said...

Hi! Firstly, thank you for joining my blog followers! I always get a thrill when I see a new face. And secondly... post it notes made of stapled printer paper??? good luck on that one!! Made me laugh. S x

Fijufic said...

Oh boy...

I think the keys is to just keep moving.

The "other" option just plain old sucks the big one...I don't know why in the hell I didn't catch on to your journal when I was at Jayess.
Now I'm pissed because I 100% guarantee I missed some pretty good stuff.

Bobby

LERMONTOV said...

The dirty buggers and their post-its at the top of the cake - perhaps you could start invoicing them for your own home made variety. With 44 million - they'd have to have a little spare.

I don't know how anyone survived the Great Depression. Bad enough ATM

Knifeboy said...

Hmm. I don't think I could do without post-it notes at work. My organization scheme sort of revolves around them.

Anonymous said...

What no coloured highlighters??!! Your employers are savages.

Dickingtonbar II said...

i'l read this ina minute babe... you should read this though:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12252

becomingkate said...

That's pretty cheap! My company is giving up expensive trips/luncheons, but I was rarely invited to those anyway.

MauritaMason said...

Sarah, I'm happy to follow - I enjoy reading you.

Bobby, let me reassure you that you probably didn't miss anything. Besides, my age is sure to cause me to repeat myself here.

Lerm, I'm terrible at sacrifices. This economy just isn't going to work for me.

Knifeboy, glad to know there's someone out there to keep 3M in business!

Miss M, oh no! I hadn't even considered highlighters yet. Maybe I can rig up my own, using a sponge-tipped quill and the juice of lightning bugs.

db, ouch! More bad news. At least I can forewarn farmboy that he should order drought-resistant seed. or perhaps not plant at all this year.

Kate, somehow I think the execs are still tripping.

Chiaroscuro said...

That is what the execs in Japan do - they cut their salaries first. In fact, in doing so they almost never have to have any lay-offs.