Alien probes or my typical day?

It's been one of those weeks, and it's only Tuesday.

I started my week by trying to do the right thing for my floppy, aging body. I got up early and went to the gym with the intention of getting in a solid half-hour of hard cardio.

After dropping my friend at the curb, and cursing the row upon row of film trailers littering Copley Square (and occupying every available metered parking space), I figured I'd ask the cop on duty if he knew how long said trailers would be situated in what I have come to think of as "my parking spaces" outside the gym.

I rolled down my window, politely greeting the gray-haired member of Boston's constabulary with a "Good morning, Officer...I just..." and was cut-off, mid-sentence, when he yelled at me.

Now, given that it was 6:10AM and I hadn't had any coffee (or cardio), I was a bit slow on the uptake. I was also taken aback by the whole screaming at me part of it. Apparently, he wasn't satisfied with his first attempt at communication. He yelled at me twice again, in rapid succession, before I finally determined that he wanted me to move along.

Here's the kicker: The officer had the good manners to cap it all off with, "WHAT?? ARE YOU DEAF OR STUPID OR BOTH???"

Then I made the mistake of going to work.

And, well, let's just say that things only went downhill from there.

So, now, a day later, I'm trying to forget about it.

I'm trying to focus on the the gray and overcast sky. Toward the horizon there is a tinge of eerie yellow light. It makes me think of the "ginormous invading spaceships arriving" montage from the movie "Independence Day".

I've suggested to a colleague that the weird light is, indeed, being caused by ginormous invading spaceships finally arriving as predicted by so many for so long.

My colleague, in turn, thought that given my day yesterday, I send up an S.O.S. and escape this crazy planet. But would I necessarily be escaping? After all, what about those probed-by-an-alien stories you're always hearing about?

Then again, the way my days have been turning out, being probed by an alien might just be more fun.

The Power of No Power

Spring has sprung in the land of the bean and the cod, and for the natives, that means Nor'easters.

A spring Nor'easter is a three-day period of cold, wind-driven rain. The name stems from the meteorological pattern itself: A large, swirly, hurricane-like-looking low pressure system that moves up and out over the northeast coast, pushing wind and moisture from the north and east, down into what lies south and west (that would be us.)

Spring Nor'easters are usually worse than other times of year because of flooding. The thaw has started, and groundwater that's been caught up as frost for the past few months begins to melt, draining toward watersheds. Streams and rivers swell with melting snowpack. Add three days of intense rain, and sandbags around subway stops become the order of the day. With the wind blowing trees down onto power lines and rain bedeviling electric junction boxes, transformers blow.

Without warning, the modern conveniences of life are useless. You cannot finish dinner in your electric oven, but instead don foul weather gear, venture out, and use your grill to cook.

You skip the TV, the internet, the texting, and, in playing backgammon by candlelight, are reminded just how much you love someone.

Spring Cleaning

I've been utterly unproductive in my professional life, and I ascribe it spring fever. Here in Beantown, the first four to five consecutive days of daylight after 5:30PM, in combination with daytime temperatures above 50 degrees, tend to set our frost-addled minds all aflutter.

I thought, well, if I can't concentrate on work, I'll have a little fun with my chewy tidbits of bloggy goodness and do some spring cleaning! New layout, updated links, and more meanderings of my middle-aged mind.

Enjoy.

A long dry winter...blog post-wise, that is

I had recently been told by a few friends that they had not heard from me recently, bloggedly speaking, that is. I kept thinking, "What, I just wrote a post the other day!"

That "other day" would be, oh five-and-a-half months ago.

Whoopsie.

A lot can happen in that time, and yet here I am searching for something entertaining to write about. Perhaps that's why I haven't posted anything: I do not feel entertaining.

What I feel is burned out, tired, exhausted. This is the kind of soul-wearying exhaustion that can be remedied with, oh, a seriously intense month of doing nothing but deciding which beach to go to and whether to nap in the sun or out of it.

I'm fried, people...fried to a crispy dark brown, bordering on burned, and there is no relief in sight.

The Interwebs Are Interesting Today!

The interwebs are chock-full of fun stuff to read (including this here blog-a-delic thingey.)

But today, I have stumbled upon a cornucopia of goodness, including:

* An article about road-testing cat litter. Now, as someone who loves cats, and frequently changes poopy catboxes, I have a personal interest in this; however, overall, it's a well-done consumer product testing piece.

* A nice review of the fall TV season. My sister has been raving about Modern Family, and now my favorite TV critic is, too. I guess I'm going to have to tune in before my cable goes digital and I no longer have TV reception. (Don't ask; it's a looooong story.)

* An interview with Balki. I don't know, maybe it's that I grew up in a family where a funny accent was always encouraged, but I have a soft spot for Balki.

Tomorrow (or possibly later today if I'm really bored): The interwebs are also full of good things to buy!

You Can't Kill an Idea: It's Banned Bookweek!

Banned Book Week ends on Sunday, so take some time to celebrate your intellectual freedoms with a banned book, or with John Stuart Mill, who eloquently outlined the value of diverse discourse in On Liberty:

"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error."

Good Boss, Bad Boss, Part 1

Well, in case my previous post didn't indicate anything was amiss with work, I have been in the crosshairs since returning from my hoo-hoo-related medical leave.

Today, I was once again the recipient of another condescending, snarky email written in a tone more suitable for a mother addressing her stubborn four-year-old than boss addressing a grown-up professional.

Which brings me to my post title: Good Boss, Bad Boss.

Good Boss
* The Good Boss does not blame an individual for an error. When errors occur, The Good Boss looks to process, deconstructing and reviewing processes to detect potential weak spots. The Good Boss then works collaboratively to correct flaws inherent therein.
* The Good Boss understands that humans occasionally need time to go to the dentist, see a kid's play, or take the cat to the vet, and that the time to do these things doesn't necessarily have to result in lost vacation hours or lost pay.
* The Good Boss knows that most people are adults who will, when trusted and given the right resources and authority, do a good job.
* The Good Boss knows power and responsibility need to be delegated simultaneously.
* The Good Boss does not expect you to keep working once you get home.
* The Good Boss is happy and willing to do the grunt work alongside you, and in some cases, does it for you.

Bad Boss
* When errors occur, The Bad Boss is quick to jump down an employee's throat without assessing why the error occurred. The Bad Boss is not interested in processes, but in results only.
* The Bad Boss does not have your back. The Bad Boss leaves you to fend for yourself if something goes wrong, and takes all the credit when it goes right.
* The Bad Boss has no problem being unprofessional, but will become extremely indignant if you behave unprofessionally.
* The Bad Boss thinks that his/her employees don't talk about salaries, layoffs, who got a raise and who didn't, who left their stinky yogurt in the fridge too long, and so on.
* The Bad Boss is a master of intimidation and will use fear, passive-aggressiveness, and many other childhish tactics to get what s/he wants.
* The Bad Boss usually has no empathy.

As I said, this is Part 1. I'm sure that Part 2 will be equally thrilling.