Countdowns

I'm a big countdown person. I like counting down to lunch, or the end of the work day. I like counting down to big events, like my birthday or Christmas. My upcoming wedding has given me a pretty major countdown to look forward to (82 days by the way).

I have even been counting down to the day I'll be laid off from my job for the past couple of years. Unlike most companies who don't usually give a head's up to their employees prior to the lay off, Company X told the employees of my department that in 2010 our department would cease to exist. Knowing that I would be one of the employees remaining employed until the end I thought it would be fun to anxiously look forward to the day when I would be let go. After almost 6 years of working here its safe to say that I've gotten bored with the routine. But a job is a job so I've managed to hang in there.

Today they decided to do a round of lay offs. Seven people were let go, starting at around 9am and ending just an hour ago. It was almost a game to guess which person would be the next to pack up a box. After a few people had marched out of here with the saddest looks on their faces I started to realize how crappy it must be to know that you don't have a job anymore. Most of the people had families and kids to worry about.

I just want to say how grateful I am to still have a job. No more countdown until I'm laid off. That's just depressing. Instead I'll start a countdown until the season premiere of LOST ... 28 hours and 18 minutes to go.

Less than 3 months ...

to go until the big wedding day. It hasn't really hit me yet that I'll be losing my very Cuban last name (RUIZ) and becoming a Chalmers. Luckily the transformation is no more than just a form with the name change. I'll never stop being uber Cuban though. I love everything about my heritage and where my parents called home for over 15 years. Although I wasn't born in Cuba I was born in the next closest place to it ... south Florida. I'll continue to eat black beans and rice and croquettas at every chance I get.

With only 86 days to go I'm happy to say that we have almost everything done for the big day. The most troubling item on my to-do is finding yellow shoes to wear. I think I've handled being a bride-to-be much better than some of the crazier girls out there. Planning is key and I love to plan. Especially way too far in advance (again apologies to my bridesmaids for making them buy their dresses back in September).

Stay tuned for more thoughts about the upcoming wedding ...

Corporate America gets their own coffee machine

A couple of weeks ago my office building installed coffee makers in all of the employee breakrooms. To some this might now seem like a big deal. I mean coffee costs around $1 at 7-11, and up to $5 at one of the fancy coffee chains. So coffee is readily available to consumers at all times of the day but not FREE at any of these locations. Now we could have as much coffee as we want, whenever we want, and at no cost to us at all.

I wasn't overly thrilled at the thought of sharing coffee with my fellow co-workers. Not that I have anything against them (most of them anyways). I just knew that having something as sophisticated as a coffee maker would cause confusion, frustration, and annoyance among the department. The coffee maker and the actual making of coffee became a bigger deal than necessary. There was a 15 minute training class for how to operate the coffee maker. Then there were special emails sent out about how to operate the machines with explicit directions to not shut off the machine EVER. What happened within the first 3 days of having the machine? Someone turned it off and then the next person claimed it was broken. Luckily I'm smarter than the average bear and after appraising the situation was able to literally flip the switch and make the machine run. I was a hero that morning.

As of now the machine hasn't caused any more problems. I'm hoping that the crazies in my department stick to decaf.