“Don’t drink the Kool-Aid!” Another odd expression that has been thrown around numerous times since I’ve been on this detail. Although I understand the context in which the expression is used, I’m uncertain of the origin. I know the expression doesn’t exist in England, as Kool-Aid (a powdered water flavor additive) isn’t sold. I guess the British equivalent would be “don’t drink the Robinsons Lemon and Lime Barley Water” – doesn’t really have the same ring. Continue reading »
Well today got busy quickly. There was only one thing on the agenda, a leadership meeting, but it did take up about five hours of the day. I wasn’t expecting a flood of other items, but true to form as soon as the meeting started they showed up.
Two minutes can really change a day or at least the way you feel about it – I’ll get back to that thought in a minute.
So begins week four and the halfway point for my detail. Much like last Monday the only thing on the calendar was the supervisors meeting. I managed to occupy the rest of my day however, by writing a letter to invite specific groups to collaborate with us, scheduling the mid-year performance reviews for my direct reports, answering email and twiddling my thumbs. Continue reading »
The end of the third week and boy, was that last day a long one. As I mentioned yesterday I had to be up at 4:30am to be at work for 5:30am – I was heading over to Susanville (a little over a two hour drive) to attend the last day of “Proper Functioning Condition”, PFC for short, training. Why only the last day? Well I’d like to say because I’m so smart I didn’t need the other four days, but the last day was specifically directed at supervisors and managers so they could be aware of the process and workload involved. Continue reading »
Today didn’t look to promising on paper. My calendars, both the paper and electronic ones, were empty. Two of my direct reports are away on training, and one on vacation – leaving just three for me supervise. The manager is also out of the office for two days – so I wasn’t expecting anything new to come my way. Luckily I had forgotten that there was some safety training in first thing on using Radios; so at least something to fill up my morning. Continue reading »