God's Little Blessings

I wrote a while ago that my boss had quit, and that our evil Associate Director would be temporarily filling in. It turned out that didn't happen. One of my coworkers is filling in as unofficial manager, and it's working out well.

At this time I would like to offer some unsolicited advice on how to get a raise, accolades, enjoy your job more, and so forth. Believe it or not, your job performance is almost irrelevant. I say, almost, because if you're a lazy scoundrel it will be relevant.

But seriously, my boss has to evaluate 10 subordinates during annual performance reviews. There's no way he/she can be entirely objective. Or even remember what we did during the last year. My goal last year, for instance, was "Better Communication". Whatever. I tossed the printout in the trash as soon as I got it on paper because really, it all boils down to, "Who is my friend?"

You must become friends with your boss.

It's hard to fire a friend. It's also hard to deny a friend a raise. Easier said than done sometimes, but it's just one of those little things I've come to realize.

Sometimes it really is hard to be friendly. Like, for example, our evil Associate Director is so insecure in her role, that she's made herself more or less unapproachable. She tells us she wants a spreadsheet of last week's "activities", and then scurries off to her hole. Most disconcerting of all is she's one of those women that looks more manly than most men, which is not surprising these days, especially in Midtown Atlanta, but which I still find quite disconcerting.

So I'm thankful I don't have to work closely with the man-woman. And last week I discovered the firm was going to give three weeks of paid Paternity leave to new fathers next year, hopefully just in time for the birth of our twins! Ain't God good? I appreciate that.

Oh, and I prayed for my Zen MP3 player, which I reported was broken earlier, and it's started working again. I was stuck in traffic for two hours the other day and it didn't skip a beat. Been working fine all week. Thank the Lord.

The other night I stepped outside after the family was in bed and listened to the wind blowing through the trees, and thought how much we miss out by staying in our little cubicles all day, or whatever we do. Actually, I speak for myself, 'cause I reckon most of the people that read this blog either hunt or fish on a regular basis. I need to get outside more. You can't see the great outdoors and not see God at the same time, because the great outdoors is one of God's greatest works of art. Perfect in every way, without room for improvement, just like he is.

God is good.