I work for a top five-customer service firm and it probably goes without saying we have about a million policies that guide almost every task we do. Everything from the way we interview and hire to our processes for providing feedback and terminating employment is outlined in close to 150 documents.? We even have a guy, Mike, who checks our compliance with these policies.

A few weeks ago I was forced to end an agent’s employment. I completed a request for permission to terminate, had my manager sign off on the request that’d already been approved by people who rank higher than him and, after letting the poor guy go, ran the final paperwork including an form requesting his HR file be closed out, a checklist to say I filled out that form and an automated script that included the same information that I’d just put onto the original form. Seguir leyendo »

Those who know me have probably heard me rant about couples whose names are very close to one another’s in either spelling, pronunciation or pretty much anything. Erin and Aaron shouldn’t really be friends, let along date. Eric and Erica should not marry and have little babies to assign silly names to.

Now, being named Jeremy I’ve always thought I was pretty safe. I’d banned Jennifers due to my sister being one of those and having a bad experience with one back in high school. (Shout out to the Putz!) But today I stumbled across a girl name Jeremia.

Well I’ve never heard this name before, I’m pretty sure the poor girl’s mom made it up on the spot, and I’ll probably never hear it again. But just in case, all you Jeremia’s out there take note: We, you and I, are not going to get married. We’re not going to date and probably shouldn’t speak. It’s not you, it’s your name.

And while we’re at it. Don’t name your kid something that rhymes with their last name. It’s not cute, trust me its not.

I have been toying with some ideas for another blog and was checking on some domains when I decided to swing by jeremy.com and have a look see.

Now I’ve been to jeremy.com many times in the past. Though I can’t recall the details of the site’s evolution I do recall it went from a basic, and dare I say tacky, basic html site to an ecomerce site (ole Jeremy looking to make a few bucks) and now it seems to be a rather popular fan site for Jakks Pacific WWE action figures. Is this the lamest incarnation yet? Seguir leyendo »

So last week at work I was given a little project. Actually it was a huge project. I was put in charge, more or less, of screening, prepping, testing, training and coaching a new department that would wield incredible power. I ran around all week long, not only getting everything ready to go but also dealing with my own team and their impending transfer to a new supervisor. Seguir leyendo »

To say I grew up in church would be a gross understatement. There were spans of my life where I literally spent more time at the Oak Ridge Church of God than I did at home and school combined. For the vast majority of my young life I didn’t do a single social thing that didn’t involve the church in some way.

So when I turned sixteen and started going out into the world on my own a bit, I was faced with a brand new social scene. I did not fit in. Seguir leyendo »

I arrived at work early, wanting to be inside the building when Jill arrived at work to see her newly decorated office. She’s a dedicated little worker bee though, and she beat me.

So when I arrived this morning she met me at the door with a broad smile. She thought it was great. I went to her office and showed her a few of my favorites and warned her that there were many, many more than those she could actually see.

I went by her office just as she was trying to get a pen and found they all had post-its - this annoyed her. Apparently she’s pretty obsessive about her pens.

By three o’clock most of them were down. The leaf post-its are down to just one, all of the visible one are gone from her desk. The ceiling tiles are mostly still in place but are slowly coming down on their own.

There are many, many post its that she’ll not find for a long, long time. Its the gift that keeps on giving.

When I was out for a few days once, my friend Jill put a cardboard door up on my cubical at work. No big deal but just to keep the fun going I vowed revenge.On Monday I told her that the next time she went out of town I’d have my revenge. Later that day she announced that she’d be taking the next two days off.

I talked to another of the ladies up front and pitched my idea. She agreed to give me full access to not only Jill’s office, but the supply cabinet as well.We spent a few hours after work each night labling nearly everything in her office with post-it notes. Seguir leyendo »

There was this girl I went out with for a little while named Diana. Diana was cool as all get out, though I recall few details for some reason. We met at Pellissippi State in Knoxville in the spring of 97. It was an English Composition class, 201 maybe? But I digress.

At the time I was starting to see Diana I had a weird physically platonic, emotionally involved relationship with this girl named Heather. For some unknown reason I was driving up to Ohio to see this girl every few weeks, just to hang out and see the sites. Seguir leyendo »

Here’s the thing. I am tired of being single. This isn’t anything new, I’ve been sick of it for quite some time. For some reason or another though, I didn’t know what to do about it until rather recently. But I think I’m getting ahead of myself a bit. Let me back up.

I used to have no trouble meeting people. In my Cleveland (TN) days there seemed to be a steady stream of girls I was interested in and no shortage of those who had an interest in me as well. I even dated a few of them. Things were great. In the immortal words of Breakfast with Amy; “Everything was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt.” Seguir leyendo »

The other day I was out with a friend for a day of art, history, music, beer and an all around great day.? We were waiting at a light when a car pulled up next to us.? In the passenger seat was a man with a broken foot; he had the casted leg propped up in the open window.

I can’t recall what started it but I started cracking jokes to my friend about the guy.? Well he heard us and asked if I wanted to trade legs.? I told him no thank you and the light changed.

It was at least two hours later when I came up with a great response.? I should have said: “I would but I don’t think you take very good care of mine.”? We talked about coming up with the great comeback hours or even days after the innital comment was made and I told my friend about a scene in one of my favorite movies where a similar thing happened.

So today I was stumbling and found a site called What I Should Have Said, a site devoted to the untimely retort.? Is there anything the web doesn’t offer?