The over-arching rule is: Don’t waste people’s time. Don’t invite everyone in the known universe, unless they’re all genuinely needed on the phone at once. Talk to them individually if possible; it’s often more efficient. If plans change and some people aren’t needed after all, let them know. If you have people in different states/cities, ... [More]
Following up from yesterday… In many cities, it’s common for white-collar male workers to wear shirt+tie, though casual Friday is becoming more popular in some companies. For some people, it appears that even the suit jacket is compulsory, including on the hottest days. From what I can see, this primarily seems to include (male) politicians ... [More]
I can understand why some white-collar women wear runners on their commute given how uncomfortable and impractical some of the shoes they wear around the office look. I don’t understand why some men feel the same way though. It’s not like they wear platform shoes or high heels at work. (Unless their work is odder ... [More]
I was sitting doing some coding at work when The Posture Police arrived. The Chair Squad. The Ergonomic Inspectors. Seriously, a team of three did a sweep through the office and checked every chair to make sure it was working properly, able to be adjusted, and offering the correct back support. Zowee. It reminds me ... [More]
Although I and a few others at work wear ties most days, the bulk of the men (and of course all of the women) don’t. Ties are a purely decorative item, and sometimes they’re expected, sometimes not. Lately I’ve been pondering if I should buy some new shirts. I don’t know if my neck is ... [More]
Cam of TPN is off to America to make his fortune, and his latest podcast is a “Goodbye Australia” edition. But what I found really interesting about it is him talking about the (metaphorical) journey — how he’s got into this position, and how successful people work: meeting people, making contacts, helping those contacts when ... [More]
My three main Inboxes are getting out of control. While I manage to reply in a reasonable manner to most of the email I get that’s directed to me personally, I tend to get very slack at filing things away or deleting them, perhaps partly because I think at some stage I’ll need to find ... [More]
I’ve mentioned before how I hate the expression “I’ll let you go”. It just tells me in the most thinly-veiled way that the person talking to me is sick of me, and has more important things to do. Last week I overheard a work colleague who had evidently rung someone he didn’t want to talk ... [More]
I didn’t get up early. I’m up late. Pulling an all-nighter for a major system deployment. Which has involved a lot of waiting around. Should get to bed soon. Thank goodness I can do it all from the comfort of my own home. Strangely, I don’t feel particularly tired. I bet I will when I ... [More]
It seems one of the popular things is to complain about these days the curse of the always-on generation. Mobile phones, email, instant messaging mean you’re always contactable. But I like all that stuff for other reasons. It means I can leave the office early (as I do every Tuesday) and stay in touch. I ... [More]
“In the mansion of life, we can’t all be the state bedroom. Someone’s gotta be the outside bog, and that’s you!” — Vince, in Pratt Outta Hell, by Ben Elton I wonder how many people are happy with the job they’re in, and how many are just killing time/earning some bucks while they work towards ... [More]
Unbelievably, just hours after lamenting with Marita about how some of us in the Bowen family are prone to upset tummies, I felt the same myself. The Bowen belly had struck yet again, though not as badly as some other times. This comes after my sister and her toddler were struck down with something last ... [More]