Pros and Cons

Since I’m the Murphy Brown of HR Directors, I’m currently looking for a new assistant. Apparently, I’m really supportive and encouraging making it very easy for people to leave me and go on to bigger and better things. WHATEVER. I’m so not doing that anymore.

I’ve had three interviews so far & all of them have been really good. One more is scheduled for tomorrow and then I’m hoping to make a decision. (so that I don’t have to sort through the 170+ resumes again – thank you, President Bush)

Right now I’m feeling torn… do I hire the more experienced candidate who will bring a strong personality and background to the position, but might be here less time (see above “bigger and better” comment)… OR do I bring on someone with less experience, mucho enthusiasm and drive, become a mentor to and who will probably hang out a little bit longer?

At this point, I’m just not sure.

I am sure, however, that I will NOT be hiring this guy:

He sent me a cake, his FIVE PAGE resume, and a color photo… of HIMSELF. (with no discernable HR experience whatsoever, I might add)

If you’re looking for a job, please don’t do that. Ever. It made me even more confident of my choice to have a panic button installed in my office.

And so… the search continues.

Did someone throw a bucket of water on her?

We have no idea who belongs to these shoes & why they are sitting outside the HR office.

And of course, we don’t want to touch them because… we’re germaphobes who bathe ourselves in antibacterial hand sanitizer every day thanks to all the hands we shake. Plus, gross! They’re not our shoes!

Chicago is…

Pretty darn awesome!

(this is the view from my room)

Arrived today for an HR conference – excited to see old friends & to get to stay in such a great city!

Hiyyyy-yah!

My hotel is filled to the brim with some crazy characters. CUH-RAY-ZEE. I think it’s a hotel-thing. You have to be a little off your rocker to work in one of these buildings. I must admit that I’m probably lumped into that category myself. But, whatever. I like to keep people on their toes.

The other day I started to notice how some of my colleagues reminded me of characters from The Muppets. My assistant and I started to discuss exactly who we thought they most resembled… and I’m not kidding when I say some of the characteristics are spot on!

Fozie Bear, Sam the Eagle, the two old guys in the balcony (Statler & Waldorf), Kermit, and Oscar the Grouch. I work with all of them. Every day. Those are the ones on my team. I sit in meetings with those guys. (did I mention that I’m also the only female on the team?)

And yeah, it’s just as crazy as it looks. The picture above kind of sums up my job…and certainly what it’s like to work in a hotel. Maybe I can add “Muppet-Wrangler” to my resume. Some days, that’s exactly what it feels like.

Then a realization came to me - if we assigned my entire executive team muppets, who does that make me? 

And then it hit me.

And all of a sudden it wasn’t so funny.

Fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-kind-of-gal

I’m not usually someone who plans a lot of stuff for the weekends. My work weeks are so chock full o’ meetings and interviews and training classes and more meetings that I like to have weekends with NOTHING planned. (except for maybe some naps) Not so for this weekend.

Saturday afternoon we hosted Marti & Lew along with their kids and my sister Jillian for a night of games, food and margaritas! Can I just say that it was the first time I had ever heard my  baby sister referred to as a “whore” – thanks for that, Marti! Ha! (we’re a teensy bit competitive when we play games)

Today I had to work on scrapping for my Design Team gig at Serendipity Kits & knock out a few layouts to be posted for tomorrow. (you can check them out at the site!) Then tonight we had a delicious dinner with my sisters & family.

See what I mean by busy? I didn’t get to take any naps! And that’s a damn crime!

To make up for my napless weekend - these were waiting for me at the house after dinner:

Secret Admirerer? Nah… they were from the Corporate Trainer – thanking me for being a “trooper” while the training classes have been constantly changed and updated… (this week I’m training two more hotels – yowza!)

The flowers were a very nice way to end the weekend. 

Speaking of a nice way to end the weekend… Mad Men has been recorded. I don’t mind having Don Draper as the last thing I see before I fall asleep.

Where have you been?

There is a light at the end of my boring-non-internet-accessing life. The new hardware arrived yesterday and I should be back in the 21st century by tonight! Hallelujah!

On the flip side… I have been getting a lot of extra sleep.

Work has been difficult – the employee that was in the hospital passed away over the weekend. We’re holding a memorial service for her at the hotel today & expect about 150+ people to share it with us. Tomorrow is her funeral – about 2 1/2 hours away & there may not be enough room in the church for everyone. (and we don’t mind one bit)

Even though I’ve been in HR for over 11 years, this is the first time I’ve lost an employee. Not only are we (me & my assistant) grieving over the loss of a dear friend and co-worker, we’re also looked upon to help others through it. It’s tough – but it helps to get out of the wallowing-in-self-pity funk knowing that there are other people feeling exactly the same way & they need you.

A long weekend could not come at a better time. The extra day will most definitely be needed & enjoyed with the family and the INTERNET! (after some serious house-cleaning & toilet-scrubbing) I’ll be soooo happy to be connected again! I’ve missed my blog friends! And my gossip sites! And my message boards! And my Webkinz! (I hope they’re okay! Probably starving… poor little imaginary-computer-generated pets.)

Finally!

Happy Weekend Everybody!

It’s why I sleep with a pillow on my head.

Even though when I go to sleep at night I have to listen to the dog stirring in his crate, the TV (someone can’t fall asleep without it on), and some sort of insect that sounds like there are 1 million maracas being shaken outside my bedroom window… I’d rather be there right this moment then dealing with my day at work. In fact, I’d really like to stay there until, oh, 2009.

-An employee was caught sleeping at work. How was this person caught? Well – a guest woke her up because he was trying to check out & when no one answered him at the front desk, he went behind the desk to the back office and found this person snoring a la Rip VanWinkle.

-A former employee passed away last night of a heart attack. He was 49.

-The most beloved employee at this hotel is in ICU right now in critical condition. She had an aneurysm last night and will be having surgery tomorrow. Employees have been brought to tears upon hearing this news.

-Another associate relations issue was brought to our attention by a guest… not even going to mention it here.

My bed (and subsequent noise) sounds absolutely heavenly compared to all of this!

My friend who lost her dog… she’s doing okay. Thank you for thinking of her! She was able to see her dog and say her good-byes. So she got some closure to what happened.

Okay… I can’t be all Debbie Downer, right?

This is what I found a few weeks ago when I went into the kids’ bathroom. No – we don’t keep a stock of these in the house. I swear.

I have no explanation for it. (and yes, I did clean the sink after I took the photo)

And here is what Marti got for me as a present:

She got these for each of us – so now when we play Pounce, there is no question about whose cards are whose. How cool are they?

Today is definitely one of those days to count your blessings… and to tell people that you love them! (and to question my kids about where they’re getting rubber gloves from)

Things you never thought you’d have to say.

At work today I had to say this:

“Can you please make sure that applicant has all his teeth?”

Seriously.

He didn’t, by the way.

This is the way to do it.

If your job forces you to travel, you might as well end up in a hotel room with a view like this:

(yes, I neglected to bring my camera on another trip… hence the crappy camera-phone quality photos)

It’s also a good idea to remain friends with folks you used to work with, so they’ll make sure you have a room with a kick-ass view… and other friends/former co-workers who will send you stuff like this:

I’d type more… but I’m extremely busy drinking wine and staring at the ocean. Oh – and getting ready for tomorrow’s class. While I enjoy my wine. And the ocean.