tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10650164887924262382012-01-29T14:26:38.120-08:00Got a proverbial cornucopia of lemons. Now, where is all that lemonade they speak of? <p> And related absurdities in the world.</p>Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.comBlogger341100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-87443164025318756502010-05-15T21:25:00.000-07:002010-05-15T21:31:02.159-07:00

We had our departmental meeting a few days after the company meeting. Nothing new.S talked briefly about the financial aspects of the company. Then we had a mind-numbing talk from head the of marketing where she said the same thing as she said at the company meeting, only took longer and spoke slower. It was all I could do to stay awake.After that P took over.So nothing has changed. As previously

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-65806613769299880852010-05-01T18:15:00.000-07:002010-05-02T19:06:45.080-07:00

We had our company meeting finally. Looks like financially things are starting to look a little better. More sales. I knew things have been on the upswing because for the last month and a half, they have been spending money.Announced at the meeting was some good news for employees. 401K matching will be coming back, although at half the previous rate; it was hinted that if things improve, it

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-32334671903543361862010-04-12T20:54:00.000-07:002010-04-12T21:18:42.318-07:00

In the last week, I have had a tremendous turn-about in my attitude. It came about because of a turn-about in my thinking.I started to look at what people do, not at what they say. And... BOOM! It was like an eye-opening revelation to see the difference.Usually, when a person's deeds and actions do not match, the difference creates an imbalance that becomes either tension, stress, anxiety or

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-2978046050033184642010-04-12T20:49:00.000-07:002010-04-12T20:53:56.651-07:00

Company meeting scheduled for this week was postponed again. This is the fourth time it has been postponed. Wouldn't sound good to me if someone from another company told me this story.So it is doubtful a department meeting will be held this week as well.We need to wait until after the Board of Directors meeting for a company meeting; now it is scheduled for two weeks from now.

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-916932378560179972010-04-11T20:28:00.000-07:002010-04-11T20:37:20.445-07:00

More layoffs last week.That was the third round. Previous one was about a year ago. Since the company fiscal year ended the week before, it rhymes. I am beginning to think they will continue on a regular basis, even if business improves; probably because (a) it improves the 'revenue per employee' number (which is a farce statistic), and (b) outsourcing continues unabated.The reason I believe the

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-70752018486620949602010-03-08T20:57:00.000-08:002010-03-20T17:41:13.543-07:00

It's been almost a year. I did not know what to expect about the effect of my father's passing away, and it has been a year. I functioned, and did what I would have normally done in the past year. But I retreated from writing here, and only now can I see the major reason was my reaction to the loss of my father.When I groan I hear the sound of my father's voice, when I look in the mirror I see

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-54370965518109951502009-04-09T12:23:00.000-07:002009-05-08T20:40:50.770-07:00

More layoffs this week.This was the second round. The first having been about six or seven months ago. (That means that October could be the next phase.)The usual reason was given, the state of the economy.But it was large group. Based on my estimate, 15% of the staff were let go. Some of the people had been with the company 13 years or more.And this was the second round. Back in the fall when

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-54685084240227729362009-04-09T11:53:00.000-07:002009-05-08T20:37:40.356-07:00

My father passed away last week.It was not unexpected. He was 89 and suffering from lung cancer and was declining rapidly in recent weeks, losing weight and losing the ability to move around. About ten days before he died, his doctor told him it was only a matter of a few days. Two or so days later, the visiting hospice person said he has a week left. And so he did die a week later.He was

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-83885311304320794272009-03-26T17:46:00.001-07:002009-03-29T19:21:23.831-07:00

Some years back, after I was living in California about a year, I was working in a very unstable company, and wanted to find a new job. Someone I had met at a temporary job a few months earlier set up a telephone introduction for me with a woman he knew who might have an opening at her company.When I called her, she thought it would be a good idea if we met to talk. So she asked, "Would you like

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-5791018469446855712009-03-19T14:11:00.000-07:002009-05-09T19:32:55.512-07:00

How to advance in your career by taking over your department and ruin the careers of others.Assuming you don't mind being a Macchiavelli to get ahead.Here are a set of guidelines to achieve your goal, including...-- How to eliminate competition in the workplace.-- How to marginalize all threats to your power.-- How to neutralize employees in current positions of authority, responsibility or power

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-51143214232927262512009-03-13T21:03:00.000-07:002009-03-22T19:21:16.645-07:00

Employment, self.With all the unsettledness and turmoil around, with all the ambiguity of my new role, with the unclarity and lack of clear direction on what I am expected to do, it has become difficult at times to focus on daily tasks. With no clear responsibility for product release, many times I am just puzzled what to do next, and I end up sometimes doing very little.This situation is

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-41707108266200495222009-03-13T20:05:00.000-07:002009-03-14T11:51:10.350-07:00

So now it has come much clearer that P, the main department director, has slowly taken over the world and made it his. In his about three years since he has arrived, he has managed to do the following:- get put in charge of all product development- get the corner office, displacing his boss S, the departmental VP- marginalize all other managers and directors who preceded him in the department-

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-61740104956529587882009-03-11T20:14:00.000-07:002009-03-11T21:03:27.277-07:00

Life, death.I recently left a comment at Random Thoughts asking Stuart his view on knowing death when I'm dead. The reason I asked him was because I recently watched some You Tube video of him describing a movie he had seen (Zen Noir) in which a man had an exchange with a zen master:Man: What happens when we die?Zen master: Don't know.Man: Why not?Zen master: Not dead yet.So, I asked Stuart, if,

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-46457439998621822412009-03-09T22:10:00.001-07:002009-03-15T16:41:11.410-07:00

We had our departmental meeting today.No major surprises regarding personnel shifting. We heard a general outline of plans. It was much less concrete than what I had seen in the planning document last week. But generally follows the same plan. What was said was a vague description of the essence, with some hedging. Makes me think that the plan I saw might have been a recommendation rather than

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-35790055405646875272009-03-08T22:37:00.000-07:002009-03-11T20:54:45.503-07:00

At one time or another, I have heard that the purpose of anger is to let you know what is important to you.Not a bad explanation. It is not always obvious the real reason someone gets angry, in our world it is often something other than the loudest words being shouted. In fact, it is usual that people respond to anger by attempting to perceive a different reason for the anger than that which is

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-59463882710631726352009-03-08T13:36:00.000-07:002009-03-11T20:56:08.574-07:00

I was reading through some blogs recently, and on one particular one I was struck by someone who talked all about the risk he and his wife went through to start their own business, and how difficult it was for him, for prior to that he was very resistant to making waves to take risks.So while I was reading through this, I came to some understanding about myself. To succeed, one needs to step

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-79173379276445221082009-03-07T09:14:00.000-08:002009-03-07T21:27:03.021-08:00

From time to time, I stumble across information that may not have been intended for my eyes. It was not something I went out of my way to uncover. Someone left some planning documents in a public place; my perception is that they should not have done that. I don't know who did it, all I know is I saw it.This kind of thing is probably not uncommon in many offices. I would guess it depends

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-58732904590810311202009-03-06T16:01:00.000-08:002009-03-06T16:09:03.572-08:00

Buzzwording. (Did I make up a new word?)On a call today with my manager, G, he said, "The closeout I had with so-and-so today on this was..."One that has become much more common in recent years is, "The take away I got from that was..." referring not to food (take away/take out) but more along the lines of 'What I learned from that was...'New buzzwording (there it is again!) always jars the ears

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-29703423863433729142009-03-05T21:06:00.000-08:002009-03-06T16:01:31.925-08:00

The CEO talk this morning did not have any major announcements. Mostly about how we're holding up despite the general economy.The requisite number of corporate buzzwords were heard. Periodically, new ones enter the atmosphere, and today was no exception. Imagine using "ramp" as a verb to mean getting people up to speed. Or using "on board" as a verb to mean, well, getting people on board, as in

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-19873684500865985902009-03-04T20:40:00.000-08:002009-03-04T22:06:56.286-08:00

Tomorrow morning at 9am the CEO will hold an all-company conference call.So I assume this will be the major announcement of the changes. In the past, there were actually three calls, allowing many people in many time zones to hear it for themselves. And it seemed from the announcement about three weeks ago that this time there would be at least two. But when the official word came out today with

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-13120428033644481892009-03-03T12:07:00.001-08:002009-03-03T21:27:52.131-08:00

Maybe there's a plan, but it gets really weirdly annoying when G sends requests for information to either MK or I but not both. If MK is now supposed to be the lead in the group for the particular product G is asking about, why does G go to me sometimes, even without copying MK?G's organization plan, which has been in effect for some months now, has finally become a partially visible. The latest

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-87766588272806011962009-03-02T21:29:00.000-08:002009-03-04T17:19:27.092-08:00

Monday.Got out of having to attend a meeting today. Last week when my manager was in town (G is in our office about one week a month), he asked me to attend a meeting with him. (He also asked MK to come with us.) Turns out there is a director's level meeting about a product release plan. It is something I would have been invited to regularly attend had it been meeting say, a year or more ago. But

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-51226040777900477192009-02-28T23:03:00.000-08:002009-03-01T16:29:20.726-08:00

The economic news continues to get worse. Multi-thousands have already been laid off, the financial disasters of banks, companies, and in personal lives just seemingly continues to expand.What is the individual to do? To this date, I am still employed. You never know, however. I could be let go Monday morning, or I could still be there years from now.Certainly, for someone who still has work, the

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-18745826668565062392009-02-27T09:30:00.000-08:002009-02-27T09:42:11.153-08:00

I know I am not the first to face what I am facing in my job. Far worse has happened to others so why should I run my mouth? And possibly far worse is yet to happen to me too. One never knows.From being a manager with all the responsibilities and authority, to now being primarily a proofreader of the outsource company's coders' output... it is a comedown and a letdown.What affect does this have

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-85922031019150923832009-02-26T20:40:00.000-08:002009-02-28T09:43:33.875-08:00

While I am not surprised that humans have the urge to believe in a religion or related system, what does send me up the wall with astonishment is the need humans have to feel threatened by others' beliefs.Why are so many threatened by what others believe?Why should you care what I believe?Why should I care what you or anyone believes?Why is it so threatening that someone believes something else..

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-68781124632107172062009-02-25T20:59:00.001-08:002009-02-28T09:39:16.972-08:00

Opportunities and promotions.I see in the current company a similar condition that I have seen before elsewhere, and it is something that does not bode well.When a company decides to grow or expand, upper management is faced with some of the decisions on how to do it, such as how to staff for it, etc. When newer managers decide that their best bet is to hire their former associates from previous

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-18159859026788918952009-02-24T20:34:00.000-08:002009-02-26T17:18:34.788-08:00

It took about a year, but this week my manager, G, who has been my manager for about a year, and I had a conversation which took a turn where I think he began to admit he saw things now differently than he had thought.He said he was reviewing some of the specifications and documents put in place for the production of the product currently in development, and he was talking about how, despite the

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-85175833915732276512009-02-24T20:30:00.002-08:002009-02-26T17:16:27.797-08:00

I was speaking to TK recently. He has a young child about three years old, and has been on a new job a year and a half.Of course the conversation turned to the current economy and all the job loses.He said, "I don't know what I would do if I lost my job."I repeated a saying I had heard, "Nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of being hung in the morning."* With that, we had a good laugh.My

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-83293442118711079262009-02-24T20:23:00.001-08:002009-02-26T17:13:19.799-08:00

With all the poor economic new these days, part of me says 'don't even bother standing up for yourself, just hunker down and keep on earning money as long as you can.'I'm not optimistic about how the economy will shake out in the short term. As much as I hope Obama can do wonders, I think things are way beyond any one's ability to move them in any direction in the short term; we just need to wait

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-83732202613110399902009-02-24T20:21:00.000-08:002009-02-24T20:22:35.073-08:00

I'm not one to sugar coat my expectations of corporate behavior. I don't expect the best of people who run companies. They're in it to make money, for themselves and their owners. Everything else is a variable to be reckoned with.Namely, employees are necessary, except when they're not (viz., outsourcing). Customers are a requirement, but often a pain in the ass and are to be so treated (read The

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-45889044612464378722009-02-24T20:19:00.001-08:002009-03-03T12:07:00.191-08:00

For about seven years, I had a manager who was and still is a Director. Let's call her T. She and I got along quite well.About a year ago, my group and I, and two other groups in the company (all three are in different locations in the country) were moved to be under a different Director, let's call him G. I was apprehensive of dealing with him, but I decided to see how it went.G and I have a

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-59226563521263140012009-02-24T20:17:00.000-08:002009-02-24T20:18:28.723-08:00

A long story, but worth it in my opinion.Been on this particular job 15 years. Actually, I was hired 16 years ago, but I spent a year away back some 9 years ago, and came back. So there's history. Many of the people at this company have been around a long time, many longer than I.And what makes it even odder is that it is a high tech company. High tech companies have had the reputation as

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-55251425757523621872009-02-24T20:16:00.001-08:002009-02-28T09:43:01.298-08:00

One day this week I received eight envelopes from a stock transfer agent. I own a few shares of a number of companies, and some use the same transfer agent. Each envelope from the transfer agent contained a letter regarding one of the eight companies.The letters were essentially the same thing:"We have updated our records with a new address for the account held in the above-referenced company.

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1065016488792426238.post-22720732414839081202009-02-24T20:13:00.000-08:002009-02-28T20:10:52.691-08:00

While it's a nice coincidence that Tina Fey's character on 30 Rick is named Liz Lemon, this blog is not about her or that show. Although I like both her and the show, it has nice humor; better than most of the tube.But 'Seeking Lemonade' is what you might think. It's about trying to get the lemonade out of those lemons that life has handed us.So, it's about life and the events therein. Work and

Seeking Lemonadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06360486577726394301noreply@blogger.com0