Mac and I like to go to TGI Fridays on Saturday nights.  We don’t go for the food.  (seriously – how can people go there to actually EAT?)  We go for Trivia.  Buzztime (formerly NTN) trivia.  TV Trivia followed by Music trivia.

We haven’t been there in a couple weeks so we decided to go tonight.  Of course, being March Madness, we weren’t sure they’d turn one of the bar TV’s to the trivia channel.  And it was very crowded.  We found a seat and asked if they could turn one of the five TVs tuned to the same station to the Trivia channel.

They

stopped

their

subscription

to

Buzztime

Trivia!

Looks like we won’t be going back there.  I can eat mediocre food if there is some entertainment.  But to go there on purpose?  No thanks.

I’ve used Microsoft Project before.  I believe we used it a little in my project management courses about 5 or 6 years ago.  But I don’t have extensive experience with it.

At work, they decided they needed Microsoft Project to keep track of what people were doing.  I don’t think they understand how complex Project is, but anyway…

So I just finished two days of Project 2007 training.  Now I have to go back to the office and train 5 others.

In a couple of hours.

I am expected to cram two days worth of training into a couple of hours.

Just let me don my cape and tights and I’ll get right on that

I just realized you can change the time stamp on a message.  When did this start? 

I just realized that yesterday’s entry was private.  I had uploaded the picture and was tweaking the dimensions when the fire alarm went off so I marked it private, saved it and closed my browser.  I forgot to pick it back up and make it public when I got back.  Anyway, happy day after St. Paddy’s day LOL

I work in a high-rise building in Chicago.  They are doing construction in the building, converting the lower floors to a luxury hotel (with a 20,000 sq. ft. spa!  woot!)  They’ve been working on the stairwells and told us that they would be closing some of them, but to expect a fire drill sometime soon.

Sitting at my desk yesterday, I heard a siren and it seemed to stop just below my window (I’m on the 15th floor).  I had a fleeting thought that there might be a problem at “The Rookery” building or at the Chicago Board of Trade (both are very close to me.)  And I went back to work (or my Xanga entry, whatever.)

About a minute later, the fire alarm went off and I had already forgotten the siren and my first thought was “this is the fire drill they were talking about.”  They grade us on our response and one rule is to leave everything behind, so I set my purse on the floor under my desk, grabbed my jacket (it was a warm day, but still a little chilly at 9:30 am).  As I was walking into the stairwell, they came over the fire alarm system “If you find yourself in a dangerous situation, please call 911 and notify us of your location.”  I thought that was unusual, and realized immediately that this was not a drill, but the real thing.

I walked down 15 flights of stairs (and am feeling it today!).  At one point, the stairwell was dark and I misjudged the bottom step (I was second from the bottom) and toppled over.  I didn’t get hurt, but did cause some alarm to the people around me. As I continued down the stairwell, I kept thinking to myself how calm I was, and how calm everyone else was, and whether or not I was the only one who thought this wasn’t a drill.

I got outside and a few minutes later our floor “captains” came out and said that just before they got into the stairwell after securing our floor, they came over the fire alarm system and said “This is not a drill.  This is an emergency evacuation.”  (You couldn’t hear the system in the stairwells so none of us heard it.)  I said “Damn, had I known, I would have brought my purse, because I have no money, and no Starbuck’s card.”  Two people volunteered to give me my java fix  

I went over to the Starbucks across the street, and it was THEN I got weak in the knees and started shaking (newspaper accounts said there were more than a dozen fire trucks around our building) and pictured the towers of 9/11.

It turned out there was a fire on the floor right below mine.  They got it out and we were back in the building two hours later.

This is for the March “Featured Grownups” group.

If you are the one who is driving on the expressway, trying to merge over and someone hugs the bumper of the other car not wanting to let you in, I am the one who is behind that person that smiles and lets you in.

If you are the one who hogs the bumper of the other car when I want in, I’m the one who will stare you down until you back off and let me in.

If you are the one who left your empty coffee cup, paper bag, candy wrapper and newspaper on the train by the seat I’ve chosen, I am the one who picks it up and throws it in the trash can you had to pass on your way off the train.

If you are the one who yells at a store clerk because they are out of something or you think the prices are too high, I’m the one behind you who will smile at the store clerk to remind her that we’re not all jerks.

If you are the one who gave me a bad customer service experience in your establishment, I won’t say anything, but I will never return.

I am the one who cries when she hears a children’s choir.

I am the one who tries not to step on the cracks on the sidewalk.

I am the one who will sing White Rabbit at karaoke as a warm-up song.

I am the one who will run a guildie through an instance in World of Warcraft.

I am the one who prefers to go to lunch alone and read a novel.

I am the one who has three songs on her iPod to play over and over to learn for karaoke: something by Peter, Paul and Mary, something by Martina McBride and something by Sara Bareilles.

I am the one who can look busy at work while typing an entry on Xanga

Edit:  I had this on private.  Don’t ask me why LOL

I had to go into the office today because they shut down power over the weekend again this weekend and I had to plug in everyone’s computers.  Drove 2 hours round-trip to do 1/2 hour’s worth of work.

I need a new line of work.

It’s really a toss-up between Led Zeppelin and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.  Both groups had a unique sound.  Zeppelin produced some of the best blues-rock I’ve ever heard (You Shook Me) and CSNY had some of the best harmonies (Carry On).  Zeppelin had a great anthem with Stairway to Heaven, and CSNY had a GREAT song to sing along with in Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.

It just don’t get no better than that.
   

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

In this economy, generating revenue is difficult, at best.  I think it’s the perfect time to generate goodwill (which is something companies can put on their books as an intangible asset).

Here is an example conversation I just had with someone wanting me to join their organization.  I responded to an email that said I could get a free membership because of my profession and because I was female.

So I dialed the number.
I’ll just refer to the person who answered as Rep.

Rep: National Association of (women in your profession), how may I help you?
Me: I am responding to your email for a free membership.
Rep: Great!  Let me ask you a few questions.

[She asks my name, title, company, address, direct phone number, email address, length of time with company, length of time in profession - all seemed to be pretty legitimate questions.]

Rep: Thank you.  Would you like to be listed in our member directory?
Me: Sure.
Rep: Okay, we also offer free training videos with that, and several free webinars a year.
Me: Wow, that sounds great [Thinking that it was great there was an org out there that would offer all of this for free.]
Rep: Great! A one-year membership is normally $139 but we are offering a discount so that you can join for $99 a year.
Me: Wait, I thought this was free?
Rep: Oh, well, yes, you can join for free and be on our mailing list, and get newsletters.
Me: But to get anything else, I have to pay?
Rep: Yes.  Do you have a credit card, or would you like us to invoice you?
Me: Wait.  You know this is a crunch time in our economy, and right now, my budget is frozen, so I cannot spend money on a membership at this time.
Rep: [snarky] Well, I’ll add you to the mailing list. [click]

Now.  This Rep not only did NOT get a paid membership out of me, this organization will NEVER get a paid membership out of me.  And because I have a network of other women in my profession, I will NEVER recommend this organization to any of them.

A little goodwill, on the other hand, goes a long way.  She didn’t have to get snarky with me, and could have seen the potential future business by staying pleasant, explaining the email newsletter bit, and signing me up as a free member.  Had she done that (I would have been okay with just the email newsletters for now) I would have added a membership to next year’s budget.

Goodwill is as good as revenue in this economy, for any business that still wants to be in business when the economy is back on the upswing.

Have you had any experiences where a company could have practiced a little goodwill without giving the store away, and still kept you as a satisfied customer?