Tag Archives: work

Suck Up!

Posted on September 11, 2013 by funnygurl2

I have a confession to make. And I also have to admit that I am rather proud of it.

I am a big giant suck up.

Teacher’s pet.

My mom refers to me as a “brown noser”. (I hate that term.)

SUCK UP-d bag

I have always been his way. Through school, college, and even my first job.

I almost always make the impression to my superiors that I am 100% reliable and hardworking. And that is not a total lie. But it is probably more like 85%. Which, in my head, is still probably more of an effort than 50% of the other people in the world put forth. (If you are a reader of my blog, I am positive that you fall into the hardworking 50% category 😉

And there is a lot of hard work at the beginning to establish that reputation. You have to be reliable, dependable, dedicated. You have to go above and beyond when you see chances to. And I have this thing that when I work somewhere, especially if I work primarily by myself, I tend to think of the business as if it were my own.

SUCK UP-motivational

No. I don’t mean that I go out and order 500 reams of copier paper or do lunches on the company credit card. I have never had a position where I was important enough to have a company credit card.

I mean that I try to keep my desk/store clean and tidy. I respect the resources/equipment that are available to me. If I abuse them and they break, that just makes my job harder in the long run. I try to capitalize on any chance to fill in dull times with busy work.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my “sit-around-&-do-nothing” time as much as the next guy. In order to be a proper suck up, you must always complete your work promptly when there is actual work to be done. And the quicker you get it done, the sooner you can do nothing. I don’t ask for more work. Instead, I try and appear to be busy all the time. Looking busy when you are not can be work too.

So, I guess what it boils down to is, it is a lot of work to be a suck up.

But it can pay off. If there is a fun task or free stuff, sometimes being a suck up, you are the first person to pop into your superior’s heads. You get watched less. You get more freedom, because they believe you will not abuse it. And you can abuse it a little and usually no one notices. (Of course I don’t mean things like taking money. In an interview, I always list one of my faults as being “too honest”.) But I mean things like standing around talking a few minutes longer than I should. If you are on someone’s mental goody-goody list already, it does not seem as though it is as big of an issue.

I guess being a good worker somehow got ingrained in me. So even when I think that I am goofing off, other people probably don’t see it that way. I am very internally judgmental of my co-workers who are habitually late or slacking. They are not playing my game. They are not putting on a show.

Maybe sucking up works for me because I don’t just put on a show. I actually back it up with real work.

If I am such a wonderful worker, why did it take me so long to find a new job?

Maybe I interview badly.

Maybe it is that “too honest” thing.

Maybe no one believes it.

Or maybe only a person who was “too honest” would ever use that awful line.

SUCK UP-frye

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The Mall (A Poem)

Posted on June 27, 2013 by funnygurl2

The Mall

I sit still
And the world rushes past me.
On my right, the people rush North.
On my left, the people rush South.
If I try to watch
I find myself spinning
spinning
dizzy
too many colors
too many faces
too many voices.
All I can do
is wait
until the rush stops
And then sneak away home.
-JLS
5/26/13

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What I Learned This Week – 6/9/13

Posted on June 9, 2013 by funnygurl2
Photo: YouTube.com

Photo: YouTube.com

This week I learned that while my husband and I are both working for the first time since our son, M, was born 2 1/2 years ago, our living conditions at home are deteriorating.

Thursday from 10PM on played out like a painful sitcom episode. My husband and I both arrived at our wonderful babysitter’s house, having both worked for 8 hours. This was a miscommunication, because my husband’s job is 10 minutes from the sitter. My job? An hour. We were all starving (I assure you, the babysitter did feed my child. But his schedule is so far out of whack, that he now eats fourth meal on a regular basis.). So, I sent the husband home with the kid and to let the dogs out (who had been left an hour beyond their expected bathroom limits), while I headed off to the McDonald’s all-night drive through to buy a randomly-selected number of double cheeseburgers.

I arrived home, walked in the back door, and felt something stuck to the bottom of my shoe. I looked to discover it was dog poop. I cursed the dogs for pooping right outside the back door (I had not walked through the yard). I continued further into the kitchen for paper towels, only to discover that I had poop on both my shoes. And that is was actually diarrhea inside the back door on the laundry room floor.

My husband left my unhappy, thirsty, hungry son on the couch while we worked to get the mess cleaned up and the starving dogs fed (A rug was completely discarded in the process). We did manage to eat our dinner, although my son kept dropping chunks of burger on the couch, much to the non-diarrhea dog’s delight. I changed my son’s diaper one more time, gave the sick dog some Pepto-Bismol, and forgot to brush his teeth (the boy, not the dog). I went out and wiped down the floor a second time, which seemed to finally rid us of the doggy diarrhea odor.

The following night, on the same time table, seemed to go smoother. Only one parent showed up to claim the child (still me), we had dinner that wasn’t fast food, and no one pooped on the floor! Ya! Maybe this 2 jobs thing just requires practice.

I also learned that I have trouble working AND keeping up with my blog. But I assure you, I have many completed posts in my cue and the next three days off. Just let me catch up:)

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THE QUARANTINE

Posted on October 4, 2012 by funnygurl2

RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!


I live in a small town in Southeastern Michigan called Adrian. While it is small by New York, Chicago, Detroit standards, approximately 44,600 people live here and it is the county seat. So then, you would think, when they make major road construction plans that they would make sure there is still a way in and out of the city that isn’t blocked.

A map of Adrian showing the construction projects of 2012, as compiled by me.


Think again. Great government minds at work.

You also have to realize that there are small towns around Adrian that have no Walmart, Meijer, Lowes, or Spotted Cows. Hence, people come from far and wide (Blissfield, Riga, Deerfield, Palmyra) to go to Adrian (when they don’t feel like driving to Toledo or Ann Arbor).

Now, to get to Adrian from the East, you have to cross the River Raisin. The River Raisin is no ordinary river. Ripley’s Believe It or Not deemed it the most crooked river in the world. (Or so they tell students in the local high school science classes.) There are a limited number of bridges to cross the River Raisin from the East. (This is really inconvenient when the river floods and closes several of them.) The main crossing between Blissfield and Adrian and the most convenient is in Palmyra. Which is now a one lane bridge due to construction. It has been since, like, April. No end in the forseeable future. My brother-in-law even contacted the Michigan Department of Transportation via Facebook to ask if they would be finished soon. They only answered that they were on schedule. And that means our grandchildren will have a new bridge?

A map of Lenawee County showing all the 2012 construction projects, that I gathered myself.


Many locals take a road north of the Palmyra bridge construction to get into Adrian. Or they did. Until they started resurfacing that road, going so far as to close it completely some days.

This leaves only a southern detour to get to Blissfield, even involving a stretch of gravel road.

My asbestos friend, in utter frustration trying to reach the grocery store recently, texted me that Adrian must be quarantined, because it was almost impossible to get to it.

I laughed very hard and realized she was totally right. My husband doesn’t get it.

This summer’s construction has been really miserable and it isn’t anywhere near over as they begin new projects every day. IN OCTOBER!!!!!

We have 2 seasons in Michigan–Winter and Construction. Winter is here. It is time for Construction to END!

Damn right!

I’m not stalking you. is NOW ON FACEBOOK! “Like” that I’m not stalking you and get an update when there is a new post to read. (It is sort of like YOU are stalking ME.)

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You Never Know Who You Will See On A Walk

Posted on July 17, 2012 by funnygurl2

I had my last job for twelve years. Apparently that was the magic number, because that was the maximum number of weeks of severance they would pay out per year of employment. In those twelve years, I went for a walk on my breaks around the business park. Almost every day. I loved it, because it was a half hour (2 x 15 min) a day that I got out of the recycled air of the stuffy office building. My burning eyes got to rest from staring at the computer screen. I got to see which businesses had their lawn mowed that day. I got to see if the street sweeper had cleaned those pesky leaves out of the gutters. I got to see where the Canadian Geese were hanging out (and be a little scared of them). I got to try to see my favorite woodchuck. A few times I got to see an adorable Great Dane-Lab mix. Sometimes I got to see a guy practicing his banjo. Once I watched a thunderstorm form over the building. Once I even saw a tree just after a lightning bolt had blown it to bits. But one day, I had one of the most unusual walks ever.

I was out walking. Three people were approaching me. As usual, I bowed my head so that I wouldn’t have to talk to them. (I really hated talking to people during my walks. The most vile were the passing cars who asked for directions from me, just because I was there. Although I did usually take pity on the ones who were looking for the Social Security Administration. No one goes to Social Security for fun.) As these people passed me, I did look up. There was a male and a female, both in their twenties or thirties. Between them was an older man. They were all in business attire. I don’t know diddly about suits, but I could tell the one the older man wore was very expensive. Then I realized I had seen him before. I knew his name.

Lee Iacocca had just walked by me.

Lee Iaccoca


I had no idea why he was there at that moment or why he was taking a walk. (Although a Mitsubishi office is right there, maybe he was trying to spy.) I asked around when I got back into work. It seems Mr. Iaccoca had had a meeting with the CEO of my company to promote his new book (“Where Have All The Leaders Gone?”, published May 2007). Talk about a small world. I guess I should have said something to him that day, even “hi”, but I didn’t. Like I said, I didn’t even realize who he was until he was past me. A very strange experience indeed.

I’m not stalking you. is NOW ON FACEBOOK! “Like” that I’m not stalking you and get an update when there is a new post to read. (It is sort of like YOU are stalking ME.)

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