I did finish packing yesterday morning and decided to leave at about 11am. Initially I still needed to get some sun lotion, as it was set out to become one of the hottest days of the year. Got a pocket size sun lotion at the 2nd drug store I stopped at. In between I stopped at the local jewelry store, where I needed to pick up my polar pulse watch. Got all that and finally hit the road. Henry Rollins on my portable player — funny enough I listened to “Black Coffee Blues”. It’s hardly one of my favorite works of his, but the 2nd and 3rd day of his story play in Vienna and my home turf Linz. So that sort of amused me. Continue reading ‘Attersee, day 1′
So this is XING’s attempt of a “promotion”? They advertise this as 2 months for the price of one:
Honestly though:
Happy Hour membership: One month’s membership for 5.95 € + one month for free (offer valid once only), then three months’ membership for 17.85 € (working out at 5.95 € per month)
…in my book this works out to be 5 for the price of 4… a savings of 20%, versus 50% as advertised.
Alright, i was trying out the cam on my notebook by logging on to my stickam account… all it was showing was me, working on my bikes. When i was done, this — to me hilarious — short conversation happened with another member who contacted me:
* newaz480cutie joined the room.
newaz480cutie: hi sexy
newaz480cutie: ?
xsidx: hardly sexy… more like sweaty…
newaz480cutie: ur turning me on a bit :)
newaz480cutie: u feeling naughty?
newaz480cutie: well r u?
newaz480cutie: ?
xsidx: am i feeling naughty?
newaz480cutie: r u feeling naughty
xsidx: nah, not really. sorry… if thats you on the photo, youre a nice looking girl, but im not into that sort of stuff.
newaz480cutie: ur into guys?
* newaz480cutie left the room.
I have nothing to add to this… the first time something got in touch with me there, and I’m not gonna miss it if it doesn’t happen again.
I get reminded of that a lot, when taking the train. Especially on the ICE. Seeing people on the platform crying, hugging, waving their goodbyes, starting with small kids, to teens in love, married couples to seniors… they all have the sadness in common, the sadness of knowing how it will hurt to miss this person getting on that train.
To me, occurences like this are always reminders of the many times I have had to say goodbye. Usually at airports — a few times at train stations. Going to places of mass transportation has always this sad vibe of leaving or being left. Oddly enough the “seeing each other again” memories don’t manage to equalize the melancholy. Why is that?
I am not a big fan of open-plan offices anymore. I used to like big roomy office spaces, but in my last job, that proved to have a lot of potential for distraction (20+ people). I noticed how much more productive I was in the evenings, when there was no-one else around, or a lot less “traffic”.
Now, for 4 months I have been working in a shared office space with 2-3 other people. This is a start-up. Aside from the fact that it sucks, not to have decent furniture, working so close with people who potentially trigger my latent OCD isn’t all that fun all the time.
Examples? Here we go:
- One of them likes to bring cheese bread to work. Now, this has nothing to do, with me being vegan (besides that, he likes to bring meat too, which disgusts me, but doesn’t cause the same issues), but — and if you’ve ever smelled a “Schlierbacher” cheese, you know what I am talking about — with a stench, I cannot bare for very long. This cheese smells like rotten socks — and really, really strong. To the point, where I get nauseous, when this goes on for more than 30 minutes. Don’t get me wrong, it tastes great and I myself used to love it in my pre-vegan times, but it’s just bad, when you are supposed to be working next to people, who are devouring this at their desks.
- The other one loves to hum when he is thinking(?). This is something I just cannot do with — so thank dog for my Skullcandy Proletariat headphones — noise cancelling galore.
- Same dude, has his chick working at our place too. She sits next to him about a day each week. Now, that’s fine with me, as long as there is professional behavior. The following 2 things I DON’T consider professional behavior at the office:
- Kissing and love-birding (hearing smacks behid my back as I am typing)
- Whispering — this is something that’s really pushing my buttons. However, I’ve noticed myself that they find it pretty disturbing, when I start whispering too, but to myself. Pretty effective, at the price that they think I’m a nutjob. But hey… “I like to whisper too…”
- Eating with your mouth open. Need I say more? A big pet peeve of mine… and nothing that would be too hard to overcome, would it now?
6 more days at work. I’ll be able to manage to hold up till then. Will be fun, when the bosses find out that their calculations are off by almost 2 weeks… let alone all the OT payout that I assume will prompt some discussions and fights. Good thing, the union has my back.
Die Zeit zieht durch den Raum
Sekunden sind zu laut
schlagen auf mich ein.
Zwischen Stille trifft sie ein
und baut sich weiter auf
zum Reissen überspannt.
Bewegung und Kreisen
komm kein Stück voran
dreh mich um mich selber
auf meiner Umlaufbahn.
Chorus:
Alles was jetzt fehlt
bist eigentlich nur du.
Kein anderer mensch
sagt mir so viel wie du.
Stil: Indie Rock
Gehört: im TV am 3.7.2008
[edit]Gelöst: “Was Fehlt” von Lhama - erschienen auf dem Album “So.Jetzt.Hier”… hier anhören[/edit]
Ich hab schon schlimmeres im deutschsprachigen Fernsehen erlebt…
Jeder von uns hat Geheimnisse, aber jeder von uns hat ein grosses, über das wir nicht mal mit uns selbst reden. Aber wenn der Moment kommt und wir unser Innerstes nach aussen gekehrt haben, gibt es kein zurück mehr; es geht nur noch vorwärts… vorwärts in die Freiheit, die man nie wollte; vorwärts in die Liebe, in der bekanntlich alle Mittel erlaubt sind; oder vorwärts in’s Glück, dem noch einiges im Weg stand.
How do you deal with obvious work-related grievances or mismanagement? I am in no way saying that I am the one who has all the solutions and knows everything better, however, for my part, I find it very hard to sit still and bite the bullet. No question, this behavior brings on trouble at times, especially with people who are higher up in the hierarchy and cannot deal with the fact that subordinates come along with suggestions about how to streamline the operation and process in their domain. In my experience, good bosses will be happy and accept every input at least as food for thought and brainstorming. Unfortunately — and that’s especially true in the world of web agencies and start ups — there is a greater number of “CEO”s, which is hopped up on megalomania and has more $’s in their eyes than uncle scrooch.
In my experience, the main lack of focus is on employee satisfaction. There is the material issue on the one hand: not only monetary compensation, but also the question: “How do I shape the work environment, so my staff can work as efficient AND satisfied as possible?” Motivation is valued much too little much too often. This also ties in with the other side: How do I manage to motivate my people, so we work on the task at hand as a team and not as single entities or even rivals?
I am not saying that I have all the answers. And these problems need to be evaluated on a case by case basis. One thing I can say though: I have seen my fair share of how it’s not to be done in the last months; once I am in a position higher in the hierarchy I really hope (and believe) that I will not be the one duplicating those errors — it takes learning, but most of all openness and a conscious and critical view at oneself and the position in the organization. In a few years I hope that I will read these lines and tell myself: “See, you did it better.” Otherwise I hope I’ll already be standing in front of a mirror asking myself what I can do to make people — who rely on my performance just as much as I rely on theirs — happier.