Changes

Yes, it's January, and everything changes, if you're on  a calendar year cycle.

Health insurance changes for many people. I saw the first few people in my office looking for the department that handles that this week. How they get that deviated  (we're not even close to the office they need to go to) is crazy.

One of my friends from my master's program received a pink slip right before Christmas. His/Her health care organization needed to stop spending money, so they just laid off everyone in his/her unit. The equation seems to be: if the company loses millions, the employees have to suffer.

I have thought about changing jobs at the Hotel for the last year or so, but I think, I've finally decided to give up on most anything posted on our jobs site. Our HR department may or may not be run by actual humans, because every job post I've responded to and gone to interviews (two so far)  have not been anything like the job posted online. This job mentioned working from home and flexible hours. The first things they mentioned was that neither of those were true. Big red flags flew up and continued flapping in the breeze as my other favorite thing was uttered, "Oh, well, this isn't just a 40 hour a week job." To me, it sounds like a whole bunch of mandated overtime. Funny, that's what I thought it was, so thanks for clarifying that little detail.

As a result, I think if I want a new job, it will be outside the Hotel, and with a company that actually posts accurate job listings as not to waste my time and theirs (in this last interview, I spoke to the chief executive of that area, who had to make time for me) in my interview. When I think of the waste this was, I'm mad. Not just for me, but for him/her.

Happy weekend all! I'm going to enjoy it. Hope you do too, wherever you are.

Spot on

I do have to say, despite not considering myself a politico of any sort, I do enjoy political debates. Some of the personalities, however, drive me nuts.

As a student in the 1980s, like a lot of people my age, I thought Bill Bennett was the crazy schoolmaster intent on robbing us of having a good time and simply thinking up more rules we didn't need.

He even has his own conservative radio show. I don't listen to Rush or Bill or any of the other characters either. But while perusing my nightly off-topic reading (my escape from work life and school), I ran into this article William Bennett wrote about the "Aurora Three", posted today.

It made me realize that this is not a conservative value he's talking about...it's a human one.Those young guys really were heroes, especially to their girlfriends. They are also a reminder of the potential hero in everyone of us.