Well, happy new year to everyone, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas or enjoyed other holidays that happen at the end of the year. My holidays were great as usual and I start another year counting down until the next holiday season. Yes, I am one of those cooks that really enjoys the entire holiday season, from Halloween on I am in a Christmas state of mind. I decorate my office cube, I start playing Christmas music and create new compilations from Christmas CD's I got the previous Christmas, I enjoy the shopping and I even enjoy the company of a grinch or two. Grinch's make me appreciate this time of year even more.
But now the real grind begins again in earnest. Besides working full time I am a full time student at the University of Phoenix Online Campus. Going to school online is the only way I am able to fit schooling into my life. Between work and family it is not possible to go to a campus at set times on set days of the week. The class I start today is Marketing, oh joy, oh joy. My view of marketing is not exactly a positive one so it will be interesting to see if this class causes me to drink the marketing kool-aid causing me to believe that a practice that consumes as much as 50% of the price of a product is really worth while.
I also wonder if the end of this year will find me employed where I am today. The industry I work in (IT) is cutting thousands of jobs every day and very few of us will survive the next 5 years. My boss reassures me everything is fine but I suspect I will be rated average at my next review and that is not a good thing when trying to keep your job. At my company all employees are ranked from worst to best in each department so the company always has a set of names ready to lay off. Of course they say the ranking is for other reasons but we never believe them, at least not me. I do like the boss I work for, although she is not the best I have ever had she is at least in the good range and getting better I think. Like all of us she is overworked but she does a good job of keeping in touch with her people. Some of my bosses in the past have been absentee bosses until something went wrong. Not my current boss, she is engaged, helpful and willing to provide constructive feedback that helps me to improve. This is a far cry from the bosses that do not help and only show up to chop your head off.
Let us begin the year together and hope that we end the year as happy as when we started.
On a last note, I do grieve with many over the losses suffered last year from natural disasters and I know that we will all do our part to help during the current crisis just like we do during any other natural disaster. Americans are strong, compassionate people and while not everyone agrees with our methods all of the time, no one can say we do not care.
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