One theory is that the types of trees planted in the parking lot tend to soak up a lot of water on hot days, making the limbs heavy. They don’t appear to have cracks that indicate slow breaks, but rather they have clean breaks that show they drop suddenly and, apparently, without warning.

The estimate she got is around $3,500, unless they need to replace the sunroof, which would raise that amount. The property management representative simply told her to contact her insurance company. Hopefully they can prove negligence as it happens fairly often.

Thou art deformed, crooked, old and sere, ill faced, worse bodied, shapeless everywhere, vicious, ungentle, foolish, blunt, unkind, stigmatical to making, worse in mind (Comedy of Errors)

Was she trying to tell me something? LOL

1. Google calendar (personal & important work stuff)
2. My desk calendar (record time off)
3. My Outlook calendar (appts  & project due dates)
4. Shared Outlook calendar (appts & vacation)
5. Printed calendar (appts & vacation)

I guess I need to consolidate some of these, but the only one I can really give up is the desk calendar, but that comes in handy when all I need is the time I’ve taken off, so I can quickly update my time sheet at the end of the month. It would be nice if all of our Outlook calendars were synched, so there would be no need for a shared calendar, in turn eliminating the need for the printed version. Gotta love redundancy. Gotta love redundancy.

For example, over the past several days I’ve had fairly minor, but very annoying, headaches and, yesterday, I finally attributed the source to some flickering fluorescent lights above my cubicle. I normally don’t have any issues with flickering lights, like those caused by sunlight flashing through trees swaying in the wind. But, this constant slight flickering can really get to you after several hours. Thankfully, some time today, maintenance is coming to take care of this.

Here are some tips* for relieving a headache at the office**:

1. Maintain good posture and keep monitor at eye level.
2. Take a break from the computer and go for a walk.
3. Drink plenty of fluids and eat a snack if hungry.
4. Drink some soda or coffee if you’re a caffeine addict.
5. Stretch your neck in each direction, but don’t roll your head.
6. Using your fingers, apply a gentle pressure on your closed eyes.
7. Pinch the pressure point between your thumb and forefinger.
8. Massage the area of your head where a crown would rest.
9. Push on the bridge of your nose with your forefinger.
10. Wet a folded paper towel and place over eyes. Try warm or cold.
11. Find a quiet place and take a cat nap, even if it’s in the car.
12. Close your eyes for 10-15 seconds every 5-10 minutes.

*   Use at your own risk

** I don’t mean your boss

I had no idea some people would be so adverse in their opinions of blogs. When I mentioned, “it’s the best blog script, but we can use it for your needs,” the response was, “We don’t want a blog.” Ok…… Then you don’t have to use it for that. After some explaining and re-explaining, we’re proceeding.

What the “client” needs to use their web site for:

1. Signup and renewal for real world membership
2. Store for selling books and clothing
3. Information about their event(s)
4. Photo gallery to display event photos
5. A page for the latest news
6. Information about their location
7. A page for links to related sites

Why I recommended WordPress as a CMS:

1. They want to be able to change content
2. It’s secure and updated frequently
3. It’s easy to set up, use and update
4. Use of Pages vs. Posts (to not be a blog)
5. Use Picasa or Flickr gallery plugin
6. Set a static page as the front page

Several plugins I will be looking at using:

1. WP-ContactForm
2. Flickr Gallery
3. WordPress Simple PayPal Shoppping Cart
4. WordPress Easy PayPal Payment Accept
5. eShop

For the photo gallery, rather than have the client try and manipulate photos, upload and arrange them via WordPress manually, we looked at other solutions. While they are familiar with Coppermine, we also wanted to keep the use of other scripts to a minimum and perhaps cut down on hosting costs by hosting the pictures elsewhere. For these reasons, a Picasa or Flickr gallery plugin is ideal.

The various PayPal plugins may be used on different pages, depending on their need – There is only one link needed per book. For shirts, there may be one link per size for each shirt. The membership registration and renewal will require more information, which the eShop plugin should be able to handle.  I proposed using subscriptions, but the association’s Treasurer would rather handle renewals manually. Understandably, an automatic yearly payment would catch some people off guard.

While it’s not a terribly complicated site, I think it’s a good example of how WordPress can be used for purposes other than a simple blog. Being able to create a theme, or alter an existing one, and not have any links or blog structure is a major benefit. Also, because of it’s ease of use, rather than create a few static mockups, I created a test blog and let them get an actual user experience.

So, I’ve been working on the following:

• Recreate resume design from scratch
• Update education with training and computer courses
• Remove old work history from high school and college
• Add new work history and change dates
• Format and build bulleted lists for easier reading
• Create new list of references & track down contact info
• Update online portfolio and include URL on resume
• Convert resume, references & design example to PDF
• Draft introduction, or cover letter

I’ve been at my current job for a couple years now and I’ve had the same broken chair the entire time. It wasn’t enough for me to complain about, especially since I was new and then grew used to it and, after a while, didn’t even think about it anymore. But lately it had gotten worse and I finally asked for a new chair.

We have the standard adjustable desk chairs with five wheels. One of those wheels was broken and wherever it was located as the chair swiveled, is the direction I would lean. I usually tried to move it toward the back so I could recline and prop my feet up on a box under my desk. Occassionally, it would get moved toward the front and I would get pushed forward toward my monitor in an uncomfortable fashion.

Money being tight, they couldn’t order me a new chair, but they did canibalize two others and I now have a proper working chair for my cubicle. Now, I’m sad to say that I miss the ability to recline comfortably, but I don’t miss not being able to move it around easily. It’s going to take a while to get used to…

Yes, she is a drama queen. It’s not entirely her fault, from what I’ve gathered, but often enough she goes out of her way to create drama. Granted, I’ve never been in that sort of situation before, and hopefully I never will. To make things even more pleasant, both remarried within about a year of the divorce, and those relationships didn’t do anything to improve the situation for anyone.

We work in a small office and everyone can hear each other’s conversations. That’s why, if I get a personal call, I’ll take a break and go outside to the parking lot, or to my car. It’s just common courtesy. What she is doing is creating a hostile work environment, but nobody will complain. I guess it’s because we all feel that she has enough drama in her life, and that would only make it worse.

Do you have someone like this in your office?

Here are some more dos and don’ts for Bathroom Etiquette.

1. Pee in the toilet – Does this really need to be said? Apparently. It’s a bathroom, not an obstacle course. Next time you pee on the floor, expect to have someone come to your office and pee on your shoes. Everyone who steps in your pee ends up tracking it back to their desk, or wherever else they go.
2. Flush the toilet – Assuming you’re past the potty training stage, and I’m not your father, you should know to push the little lever on the toilet after you’re done dropping whatever stinky loads you have after your double bean grande burrito with extra toxic sludge.
3. Leave business outside – The bathroom is not your office away from the office. Don’t bring your laptop or briefcase into a stall with you and try to get work done. And, for heaven’s sake, don’t talk on your cell phone! Nobody wants to listen to your conversation and the person on the other end of the phone just thinks your an asshole when they hear the toilet flush.
4. Have some courtesy – It’s called a courtesy flush for a reason. That turd you just dropped off in the pool stinks! If you’re not willing to courtesy flush and risk getting that nasty ass shower, bring some deodorizer in with you!
5. Clean up – Treat the bathroom better than you treat your home’s. Just because you don’t ever have people coming to visit you and can get away with leaving your bathroom a mess, doesn’t mean you have to subject the rest of us to your socially inept qualities.
6. Don’t talk to me – In the bathroom, I’m not your friend. I’m not your buddy. I don’t even know you. Even if you are my boss. I want some privacy and I’m not there to socialize. I want to do my business and get on with my life. Whatever you have to say to me can wait until we’re both outside.
7. No neighbors – In a bathroom with three or more urinals or stalls, don’t take the one right next to me, and don’t take the one in the middle so I have to be next to you. It’s more comfortable for both of us and we can enjoy the experience – separately.
8. Wash your hands – Haven’t you seen one of those shows like Dateline that investigates gross things like the amount of feces on door handles or office equipment? No? Do you live in a cave? In case you haven’t, trust me on this, it’s gross. It’s even more gross when they touched the doughnut you just ate.
9. No stalkers – Don’t lie in wait, ready to pounce on that occupied urinal or stall as soon as the door opens. Think about how embarrassed you’d be if you just finished your business with all of the accompanying noises and smells, to open the door to your coworker standing there.
10. Its good to be the boss – While we hope every boss follows these rules and understands why they’re important, we will all probably experience the ones who don’t. It’s generally not a good idea to try and enforce any of the aforementioned rules when your boss is involved. A pleasurable bathroom experience is not something to risk your job for, especially in this economy.