When Is It Worth It...

Sometimes it is very easy to determine whether something is worth your time and effort or if you should just pass. Is this job worth the money? Is it the career I want? Will it get me the dream job that I've always wanted? Is this my dream job or is it just some horrible nightmare? What the he'll did I do in a past life to deserve this? =)

A job is a job, which could be a career or it could just be something you do to pass the time between the hours of 8 and 5. You go to work, do what needs to be done and collect a pay cheque every two weeks. Sometimes you work hard, stay late and feel like your drowning in paperwork, or in my case, line drawings on a computer. I suppose if I printed out every single piece of work that I did, I could literally be drowning too. Other times, you sit there staring at a screen, or three, and suddenly you realize that you have no idea how long you have been wandering off into nothing and it's lunch time. I think everyone has their own guilty pleasure...Facebook, Twitter, etc. It's amazing how many hours one can kill at work without actually doing any work.

So what makes it worth it?

The pay can always be better. The perks can always be larger and more enticing. There's always a better boss, better assistant and nicer coworkers. An office with a view, company car, increased vacation time...On the other hand, there are hundreds of companies with horrible management, terrible support, pitiful pay and lame coworkers.

I guess the real question is which company do you work for and what would it take for you to move on? Is the security of a pay cheque enough to keep you working in a sub-par environment? At what point do you wake up in the morning and just say to yourself, "It's just not worth it", then roll over and go back to sleep?

What is the breaking point?

Maybe it should be when you reach the point of asking yourself why you are there, every single morning at 8:15AM.

~Bean




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My New Best Friend.....

The wait was finally over.....
I bit the bullet and opened my wallet...
A whole lot of money came out...
And an iPad2 fell into my hands...

Awesome...


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Being Original...is overrated...

What is original now?
It seems like everything 'new' is recycled from another lifetime.
Has it really all been done before? Sometimes I feel like it has.

What do you need to do to stand out?  To be noticed?
What sets you apart from everyone else?  What makes me different...special....

I think I feel a little less original every day...

Work's Influence on Life's Rituals....

I work, approximately, 10 hours a day, 5 days a week. 
I still glance at emails on my Blackberry over the weekend because I hate walking into a shit-storm on Monday morning. 
I tend to live out of a suitcase, bounce from airport to airport, and a nice home cooked meal rarely occurs more than once a week. 
I carry two phones, two laptops and have essentially two of everything you would ever need in a toiletries bag, (one stays at home, the other never gets unpacked)
I almost always forget my bathing suit.
I hate checking a bag, so I never have shampoo, conditioner or body wash.  I rely heavily on the hotel for this.

The one thing, aside from clothing, that I never forget to pack is this:

 It's my pill box.  Not filled with daily pills as the labels might imply.  Instead I like to keep a decent supply of the following:

• Advil - because headaches, especially migraines, are no fun
• Calcium Pills - I think these are in here because at one time I thought I should be taking them.  
• Multivitamins - there is always someone on the plane who is sick and you're stuck sharing air with them.
• Immodium - no one wants to be on the road with the runs
• Robaxacet - we all know that plane rides are never comfortable and are killer on your back
• Gravol - Some people take for nausea, I take them to help sleep on large time zone differences
• More Advil - because you can never have too much...

When you are on the road as much as I am, you don't have time to find the nearest drug store.  You don't have time because you're now working 14hr days and every meals comes from a drive thru.

This isn't my entire life, just a portion of it.  But right now, I'm in a hotel, alone, and this is all I can think of writing about.

At a Loss for Words....

Some just don't know what to say and never say anything.
Some have too much to say and always say everything.
And some wait too long and their idea is hollow.

It no longer applies, the thought is gone and the point is moot.
If you always speak your mind, you're too opinionated and overbearing.
If you never get it out, you're too quiet and a pushover.
The Opinionated overbear the Stoic and force them into a deeper silence.


When will we get to the point where we listen as much as we speak?
Eliminate the oppression of the Outspoken and Liberate the Silent.

It's Okay To Be Away...

When I Fly Away,
It Won't Bother Me,
Because Going Away,
Means Coming Back To You....

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Within My Mind...

I have my best thoughts when I'm alone. Real epiphanies.
I usually forget them by the time someone comes around.
Which makes me think...maybe they are like trees that fall in the woods when no one is around, because life goes on as if they never really happened at all.
If you don't remember it, how can it change your life?

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Hush

It's not that I have nothing to say. I just don't have anything I want to say. That's an entirely different thing.

Some things are better left unsaid. Some things are better experiences than stories. One day I'll tell you my story and maybe you'll wish you were there. Or maybe you are here, unknowingly, and when the story is told you'll wonder where you've been.

Regardless, this is my story. When I'm ready and the chapter is done, maybe I'll tell you all about it.

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Today I Learned...

Today I learned that you are never alone and somewhere, at some time, someone else has gone through what you are going through.

Lean on your friends for all the insight and advice they can give on the darkest and brightest days...

Today I Learned...

This morning I opened the elevator to discover a man who had been trapped in there for 30 minutes.

Today I learned that the 7th floor really isn't that many flights of stairs.

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Today I Learned...

Today I learned that a banana is actually a berry.  Strawberries, Blackberries and Raspberries are not berries, they are fruits.  Cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, green beans are fruits, not vegetables.  Actually, I knew about the tomatoes already, but someone should let the Grocer know he's got it all wrong!

Back to the Banana's though, I also learned the following:

1. The Cavendish is the kind of Banana found in grocery stores.
2. The Gros Michel was the original Banana of choice until it was almost wiped out completely by a fungus.
3. All bananas are genetically identical.  Perfect clones, but susceptible to disease.
4. There are over 1,000 varieties of Bananas in the world but very few are palatable.  When the Gros Michel was almost wiped out, the Cavendish was a perfect substitute.  There is not substitute for the Cavendish.
5. A cluster of bananas is called a hand, and a single banana is called a finger.
6. Bananas are naturally radioactive due to the Potassium 40 they contain.
7. Over 100 Billion bananas are consumed annually.

There were some additional points, but these ones seemed the most interesting to me.

Today I Learned...

Today I learned that even on the dreariest of days, all it takes is a few good friends to turn it all around. The food and Vodka might have helped, but I'll credit the girls. You should never be too tired or busy to celebrate a friend, birthday or not!

Sitting in Gastown, enjoying my Friday...it doesn't get much better than this. The week is over, the office is closed and my glass is half full, not half empty. Sign me up for a refill....it's time to dance.

I might have had a few at this point...

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Today I Learned...

Today I learned that the end of summer brings the end of baseball, the closing of patios and the beginning of the school year.  It also brings fall.  Autumn in Vancouver can be beautiful.  Everything looks refreshed.  Grass turns green again, the smoldering heat is gone and the leaves slowly start to change. 

But the down side to all this beauty is the rain.  By the end of October, we've long forgotten the long sunny days and glorious sunshine and have become re-accustomed to short days with dreary skies. It's really the first big rain of the season that kills me.  Once the clouds set in and the first few drops hit the ground, every driver in Vancouver suddenly forgets the rules of the road and absolute mayhem breaks out all over the Lower Mainland, gridlock ensues.  What used to be a 30 minute drive become a 45 minute commute and god help you if you have to go to the bathroom.  People drive slow when they don't need to and speed when they shouldn't.  It always seems like the busiest time of year for accidents, inconvenient construction (or deconstruction) and stupid people.  Believe me, they are all over the place!  Oh how I long for November....

All things considered, none of it is as bad as the first snowfall of the year.  That causes mass panic for those not even on the road....

Today I Learned...

Today I learned that all referees are not jerks, some of them are actually on your side. The real jerks are the bullies on the ice that target the smallest players on the other team and take them out.

Two games back to back tonight.  I am exhausted but looking forward to tomorrow because then it's only one more day until Friday.

Today I Learned...

Today I learned that it's almost impossible to get out of Costco under $200.  There is always one more thing that you need, will make the perfect gift for someone, or would be good to have just in case.  And of course, you can never have too much dish soap...

Today I Learned...

Sometimes, when it feels like one of those days that will be a mistake, Mother Nature gets on your side and brings you brilliant sunshine and calm waters.

Today I Learned...

Today I learned that you can forgive if what's at stake means enough to you. Things can be good again, but I don't know if they will ever be the same.

I also don't know about forgetting yet. Maybe that takes longer....or Alzheimer's.

Falling Apart...

Love...

That Was An Elbow In My Back...

I was recently in Thailand for work. Seriously, my job may not be the greatest, but I can't complain about the travel perks...

The group of us decided to go to a spa on the first day for a 90 minute massage. Things I've learned about a massage Thailand:

1. The price is fantastic, even in the fancier places.
2. Yes, it's normal for the masseuse to climb onto the table and straddle you.
   
3. A 80lb Thai woman can apply what seems to be 300lbs of pressure on your back.
4. Medium pressure is way harder than you think.
5. Even if you let them know it's too much pressure, they don't care.
   
6. You can never have too much work done on your feet.
7. I don't really like have my temples massaged...at all.
8. The anticipation of hot oil is worse than the hot oil itself.
   
9. 90 minutes is much longer than you think, especially when you're in pain.
10. Yes, that is an elbow being dug into your shoulder blade and no, it's not over yet.

Definitely an experience to be had, but next time I'm checking the box that says light pressure.

~Bean