Tired of Partisan BS

Update

It’s been a while since I have updated my blog so I thought I would give an update.

Work

I have turned down the position on Germany because it just isn’t a great time for me to move to Europe. My son is just too young and let’s say it was a big issue with family, friends and of course Bryan. Maybe I will move if Hillary gets elected. I have however decided to really look at getting back to southern CA. So that will be my focus. There are three of us at work that each run a division with the same boss. The other too “the woman who talks softly and always starts a sentence with “I have a thought” and it ends two hours later and the psycho who thinks everyone is out to get him, are in a power struggle. I stay out of it but wow it makes for some long days. Plus I just hired six people, which was painful. We used an interview panel, and some of the worst candidates I have ever seen came in to interview. It was grueling. I equate it to Seattle, because I have never experienced this. I was planning on leaving my company in the next couple years and either working in the family business, or working overseas. However I was looking at my retirement benefits and if I retire at 65 I will get 9000 per month (in then dollars) a month in pension! Plus 401K and SS. Seems hard to leave. I will not loose my pension if I leave, it will just be less. If I retire at 52 I can get 5K per month! That seems so far away, don’t know how I will make it……I am kind of tired of the corporate politics and BS, and executive management is really not all it is cracked up to be.

School

The PhD program I started is great; I am enjoying the course work and the different focus on the issues. I am enjoying it much more than I did either of my master’s programs. Currently I am taking two classes at a time and may move it up to three and see if I can handle it. I will be complete the course work in about 14 months and can speed that up. Then it is dissertation time. Anyone want to write a dissertation? I think I will focus on the age gap in corporate America or the inability of corporate America to attract diversity candidates in science and engineering fields, and look at what role corporate America should take in the education system.

Home

I am not home much these days, so I am going to get rid of a couple activities to give me some spare time. I have cut back on my hours at work and I think I will have to force myself to the gym more often and give up rugby and baseball. My TV time remains intact. I have 7 TV’s in my house (sounds bad) but several were there when I bought the house. Summer has been fantastic so far, lots of nice weather and sailing. My brother has been coming up one weekend a month, which has been awesome. He wants to make sure I don’t go work overseas. Bryan spends a lot of time on the road and that is tough.

Politics

I don’t discuss politics much because I am worn out, and I am tired of people that can’t be objective. But I am tired of this early campaigning….. I never vote on social issues, all that I care about is that a moderate with a strong business background is in office; Someone that can be innovative, build bridges, and not polarize out country any further. The candidates under whelm me except for Rudy Giuliani. I will never vote for Hilary I think she is a criminal and unethical and will continue to polarize out country. Romney seems to be moving on social issues, Obama is not experienced in business or politics, Edwards – a lawyer no thanks. Fred Thompson, maybe but not sure where he stands, I want religion, abortion, gay issues etc. removed from the political landscape. I want low taxes, small government, innovation to generate income (like legalization of marijuana), and either we are a super power, or we are isolationists. Either is fine with me. I would love to see the rest of the world attack the US if we became neutral. I may not vote for the first time.

4th of July Week

I had a great week at work with my boss out of town and the president of the division in Japan. I really took it easy and ordered all of my books for my upcoming PhD classes and did some on-line shopping. My orientation seminar begins tomorrow, and there are so many books for my first class I am in shock. I really cruised through my MBA because it was intuitive and there were a lot of case studies and papers to write. I didn’t read much of the required material. Looks like I will have to spend a lot more time on my PhD…..Happy Hour was a blast and I drank way too much, making Friday a long day. There was a lot of talk about my secret admirer at happy hour and I think I compared her to an ostrich….Wasn’t very nice of me. But the secret admirer thing seems to be over for now.

In two weeks I meet the President of my company’s German division and I expect an offer shortly after that, but I think I have decided to stay here for now. Seattle is growing on me now that the sun is out. The weather is almost perfect. Today I took my dog for a run in a park along the river and then I went sailing on lake Washington. Now I am on vacation for 4^th of July weekend and looking forward to a week of relaxation, drinking and maybe a few nights out. Bryan will also be off all week so we can hang out and catch up. We are going to a 4^th of July party on a huge boat and will watch the fireworks over Puget Sound.

TV has really sucked lately, I have tried to watch Meadowlands but it doesn't do anything for me, I am watching Entourage, and I am trying to watch John from Cincinnati and after three episodes it has marginally improved. I also watched the Princess Diana concert tonight. Weeds starts soon.....

Summer Plans

Finally a relaxing week! My boss left for Chicago for the week and then goes on vacation for a week. I am also going on vacation next week. So I am in charge of the office this week and I have cut our staff meeting from 4 hours to 30 minutes, and we are having happy hour Thursday and we are all working from home on Friday. Oh I forgot we are having our Wednesday technical review at Starbucks!

Summer is my favorite season and I plan on enjoying every minute of this summer, Next week I will be in Newport sailing and relaxing. I also plan on spending a few days down in Mexico. Then at the end of July I am going to Canada for a week , and in August I am going to Alaska for a week. So my summer plans are made. All of this would change if I decide to go to Germany, but I am inclined to wait a few years before I go International again. I still haven’t seen the final offer.

Looooong Week

What a long week this been………The weather was perfect and work was hell. On Monday I spent my entire day in a meeting with 5 counterparts and a VP to discuss the details around an upcoming workshop with our business partners (again). Then Tuesday and Wednesday we held the workshop, it was too long and on the first day our business partners slipped out by 2 PM. We spent the next three hours talking about how to improve the next day. There is only one person talking and it is my boss, so no matter what advice we give, my boss continues on. Wednesday was even worse.

Thursday I had a 5 hour meeting to talk about the new building we were going to move to. We agreed on the details and by the end of the meeting the president of our division sent an email to us that said “you are staying where you are, make it work”. The problem with that is that we have doubled in size and hired 6 new people on top of that…..There is not enough space and we can’t fit in any conference room. That meeting was followed by a meeting to look at the data points related to a bad contract we have with a consulting firm. An Ethics adviser had investigated (because Napoleon reported my boss to ethics for the contract because he dislikes the lead consultant) and we were told to change it. This woman in my org who talks about everything being “elegant” and is soft spoken (but very opinionated) asked if we could get together all day Friday to put together a decision support package to help us decide if we should renegotiate the contract! I found myself using my “inside voice” out loud, I told her I couldn’t bare to spend the day with her and that I am tired of screwing around working something all day that is obvious. She told me she needed some reflection time…..So that was my week.

A couple good things happened this week; I went sailing twice after work because it was so nice! I also chose the PhD program I wanted to start and completed enrollment, I start on the 9^th of July. I decided not to let my new found spare time gained from completing my Masters become filled with television or beer drinking. So I am pretty excited about that. Rugby has also finished for a couple months. We don’t start practicing again until September. Bryan wants me to get out on the road for Rudy 2008......Not sure I have the political motivation this time around.

Weekend and Napoleon

What a great weekend I had. We went sailing all day Saturday and had a few friends over for drinks on Saturday. My neighborhood is a gated type of community and as it is new there are about 80 single family homes and the streets are a bit narrow making them “Fire Lanes”. Parking in not allowed on the street, and it is a pain when trying to have people over. Two cars can park in the driveway and one in front of the driveway. The home owner’s association is very strict….Oh well it was great.

Thanks to Michael in Stuttgart and Nik in Paris, I have all kinds of great info on Germany and Berlin. Including sailing clubs! So I feel a bit better about the offer. I will continue to think about it.

Tomorrow is day one of a two day workshop with my coworkers and business partners and I am dreading it because our office drama queen (straight) “Napoleon” is giving a brief and needed to take today off to rest his voice. He also can’t start work before 9 AM and the workshop starts at 7:00 AM. So we are not sure if he will be there on time. He just bought a 5000 square foot home and has been complaining he will need to spend 800K to 1 M on new furniture……”Napoleon” has some complexes as I have mentioned before, but on Friday he told me he could never cram into a 3000 sq. ft home (mine) when I invited him over for drinks on Saturday (to be nice). We have been interviewing for new positions and he told me he didn’t like “Asians” so he rated our only Asian candidate who was excellent, a 1/5. We are having the candidate back next week and didn’t invite Napoleon…….He is a piece of work. I’m not going to his house warming party in July at his new home. Germany looks good at least 3 days a week……

Germany

My boss asked me about taking a position in Berlin again today! I told them I would need to know a lot more before I could consider it. They asked me what my concerns were and I told them money, housing, dog, and car for a start. I also mentioned that I can’t live without my cable TV…..They told me the dog would be relocated at the same time and there would be no quarantine and paperwork would be handled, they would provide me with a home and my choice of company car at no cost to me. All food and other costs would be covered too. They also said they would provide satellite TV….Now it is sounding a bit better. But- I don’t speak German! No problem they tell me, everyone I deal with will speak English. I have a few weeks to decide and they are willing to offer a 65K premium to live in Germany but want me to commit to three years….Not sure…. have to look into Germany a bit more.

Random Update/Company Picnic

With my Masters complete I am finding that I have a lot more spare time! So I am looking into other programs at Seattle University. On another note I was asked to consider taking a position with my company in Berlin! Not sure if I would do it or not. Sounds great but I’ll have to see what they offer me. Plus I have to be able to take my dog and would need to look into that. I was thinking more along the lines of Brazil or Argentina, as I think I would love it there (have to take the dog though). Oh and Bryan could go tooJ

Things at work are still the same, avoiding my stalker, dealing with Napoleon and my nosy OA is just getting nosier. One of the women on my team tried to set up a team picnic for next Saturday. She sent out an anonymous survey asking everyone what they thought. Well we must not like each other much because no one wanted to attend. Personally I hate company picnics and the salmonella potato salad and all the other “pot luck” shit people bring. Oh and that three bean salad someone always brings. They just don’t do it for me. Today she asked me if I would support a Happy Hour. I reluctantly said yes…….I just can’t take the company outings HELP…….

I enjoyed the Sopranos Series Finale, even though most didn't, I'm glad I didn't have to see Tony get whacked. Big Love is back and I watched that last night. That new Pirates Reality show starts soon too......

Private Beaches

We have had awesome weather in Seattle for weeks now. It has been between 75 and 80 degrees and sunny. Today my brother and I took my dog to Salt River National Park as it was 84 degrees and hot. We walked well down the beach and the dog played in Puget Sound. As we were walking back up the beach some asshole walks out on his deck with a bull horn and yells “Attention on the beach, you have left the State Park and are trespassing on my private beach. Immediately leave my private beach or face further consequences. I have an issue with private beaches and I have lived on a private beach while growing up. We never enforced it as we felt it was a resource for everyone to enjoy. No one should be allowed to own the beach. My brother flipped the guy the bird and we walked back towards the State Park. What an ass…..

Birthday and Admirer Update

Only a couple weeks until I finish my MBA in International Management! My last MBA was in finance and it wasn’t of interest to me. I hope all of this education will pay off….My company pays for all education, books, tuition etc directly to the school of out choice. We can any degree program. Next I plan to learn Spanish and obtain my Project Management Certification. I’m hoping that I will be able to run large scale engineering projects in South America for a few years. (I am also a chemical engineer), but have to figure out how to use my law degree too. My International MBA cost the compnay 40K without books, and the Project Management Cert. will cost 15K. So I figure I have received over 100K in education! What a great benefit. I meet so many people that have been with the company 25 years and have not taken anything, not even a BS.

I had an awesome birthday weekend. My brother and Bryan got all of our friends together for a party at the Rosarito Beach Hotel (Rosarito Beach, MX) on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday we had a live band and a party on my brother’s boat and cruised around the Newport Huntington beach area and my mom and other siblings joined in as well as some long-time friends. On Saturday we had a nice lobster dinner, after water skiing for the day. On Sunday we sailed out to Catalina Island and had lunch. All-in-all a great weekend and I received some nice gifts too. My brother gave me a nice gold Seiko Men's Kinetic Coutura Watch that never needs a battery, and the calendar is accurate through 2100 including leap years. Plus it’s water proof. So the perfect watch for me. Bryan bought me a cruise to Alaska (7 day), and my sister gave me the new red 8GB iPod nano. My mom gave me a trip for two to Hawaii (everyone thinks I need a vacation) and my other brother gave me a gift card for REI. Anyway lots of great stuff, and seeing everyone was great.

Update on my Secret Admirer…. I have tried to move my office and have been working out of an open office down the hall, but I had to rife 7 floors down the elevator with her on Friday……I had to pretend I didn’t know it was her and was pretty friendly but it was awkward to say the least. My group may be moving to another building.

My brother is here for about another week, so I will be spending as much time as I can with him. I plan to try to get away a couple weekends a month – either home to LA or just get away so I feel like I have more vacations. It really helps to get away and have some fun and drink a lot……

New OA 2

On Thursday morning I went in to the office and my OA yelled out your sweetie left you another piece of candy!!! At that point I realized my “admirer” must be able to hear. I went into my office and logged in to our corporate network. Then I received an instant message from my “sweetie”…. The message simply said Good morning Handsome, I heard you are spending next week in California, want to go on a date with me? I did not recognize the name and looked her up in the directory. I pulled my laptop out and spent the day in a conference room on another floor…..I told my OA that my network went down and I didn’t connectivity loud enough for my admirer to hear. I spent Friday in conference rooms on other floors too. I am not sure how I should respond, but obviously she is close enough to hear my phone calls from my office and I have been on the phone planning a trip back to So Cal for a few days next week for my birthday weekend.

Maybe by Monday I will be better prepared to react. One more month until I obtain I complete my graduate degree!

Nosy Office Assistant

During the last couple of months “someone” has been leaving chocolates, flowers, plants and other small gifts outside my office door. I’m part of a small and unique team with high visibility within our corporation. As a result we are a much closer team than I am accustomed to working with in the past. Given the fact one of my colleagues is a nut and another recently suffered a major health set back, their personal lives were thrust into our work environment. Generally I am easy going and have a lot fun at work, and try to keep things light with my dry sense of humor. However, I don’t generally discuss much about my personal life and it is a sore point with my colleagues. They have asked a few direct questions, but understand I am a private person.

Several weeks ago I had a new office assistant start and she has a great sense of humor and is funny. She is also the nosiest beatch I have come across in a long time. I have not reacted to the gifts and notes left outside my office. My new OA has been on a relentless hunt for the “suspect” and apparently tracked her down yesterday. As I am standing around her desk with a few guys that work for me, she says I have something to tell you, want me to tell you privately? I laughed it off and asked her what it was. I really didn’t think she would have much to say anyway. She then said I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth, and someone over there wants to date you and is in love with you”. It was one of those awkward moments when I had nothing to say and I can usually hide almost any emotion, but my face turned bright red. I told her I didn’t want to know who it was and laughed and went in my office. All day the team has been all over me and my office assistant has been broadcasting the story throughout the high-rise. So this will go on for a while, and I guess I will just wait it out…….My office assistant is persistent though. Why is it so hard to keep my business private?

Corporate Team Building HELP

Yesterday my co-workers and I had a teambuilding offsite. Why do these corporate HR people and trainers think we want to play stupid games that show how important communication is….Lego, trust games, and shoot me now please. I have always hated these events and I am not really big on communicating my feelings. Playing sick wasn’t an option and as a “leader” I had to tell two stories that were from the heart……

Well it wasn’t as bad as I expected and we went to one of Seattle’s nicest restaurants when we were done. I really let loose and had a ton to drink. Many coworkers have wanted to ask why I’m not married anymore or where my wife is etc., but I choose to keep my business private. That said I did have fun!

The other aspect of the day that bothered me was the Amazing Race game we played. Well needless to say that our corporate environment does not allow or tolerate any sexual, racial, or discrimination. However every “team” pretended to be a gay couple and wow the laughter never stopped. It was eye opening.

My Bro is Here For a Month

My older brother (1 year) arrived last night to hang out with me in Seattle for a month. My bro, Bryan and I went downtown and drank all night. We had a great time and after the bars closed we were invited to an after hours bar in an old warehouse. Of course we had to spend much of the night in Irish Pubs as my bro and I have attempted to try Irish pubs in every city we have visited. My bro keeps a map in his office with pins in it indicating all of the Irish pubs we’ve been in together. There are way too many pins in that map….The night started out at one of my favorite seafood restaurants with an awesome view of Seattle from Alkai Beach. We didn’t get home until 5 AM and I’m feeling a little rough today.

Normally my bro and I can’t find enough time to get together for more than couple days at a time because we live in different States and he is married and has a young son and runs the family businesses. My bro’s wife has gone to Australia on business for a month, so my nephew is here hanging out with us too. He’s going to work from my house for the next month which is cool. The list of things to do is pretty long but we’ll have a great time. My bro is one of the most positive and driven guys I know, and this is a great opportunity to spend a lot of time together. I better warn my liver in advance…..

One Colleague Ruins the Work place For All

This was another long week at work....I have some really difficult colleagues that make a great job miserable. One of my coworkers is a lawyer, an EMT, an entrepreneur, and a genius. Is there anything he doesn’t know? This guy put the “N” in Napoleon Complex. He is short, angry, domineering, rude, abrasive, inconsiderate and above all annoying. Napoleon has created a hostile environment by pitting the team members against each other . Much of my day is spent resolving conflict and trying to keep a light and positive tone in the office. My efforts have been unsuccessful.

Napoleon has alienated everyone on our team and they all joined together and went to HR and filed an Ethics compliant. The outcome was unpleasant for me as everyone is now reporting to me, and he is angry about it. He has threatened to fire everyone, called them incompetent, and then told everyone he ran background checks on the team and “discovered" things about all of us. He even told me that he knows all of my dirty secrets. Background checks will only pull public records, credit etc. So I am sure that there is nothing to discover about me. I have to say that it made me uncomfortable. Napoleon is also Jewish and seems to think he is being discriminated against.

So the ethics complaint resulted in a long drawn out investigation (which enraged my boss). We spent the last two weeks in interviews and writing statements. Napoleon was counseled by HR and our boss has been penalizing Napoleon since. As a result he has taken sick leave due to “heart problems”, “stress” and “colon problems”. He started coming in and out as he pleased, which caused my boss to require a doctor's note. He has now filed suit under the American’s with Disabilities Act. Napoleon has decided to return to work full time next week while awaiting the outcome of the suit. In the meantime I come home from work exhausted, take a nap, and then finish my work. I am also finishing a graduate degree and it seems I can’t get to bed before 1 AM. In June I will graduate and I think I’ll take a vacation in Denmark and then look for a new job.

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