Weekend and a pro

Yay, weekend!

I got an extension on the last-minute work that I couldn't complete by Friday. I'm good not killing myself.

I got a nice request from a fellow colleague to edit his work because he needed "a pro" to help out. I appreciated that compliment.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

A compliment over purple corduroy leggings

A compliment goes a long way, especially when it is unexpected.

On Saturday, I had to stop by a store. Due to the pandemic, only three customers are allowed inside the store. I was waiting outside with roughly five other people.

I managed to get inside the store at long last. I was waiting for my order to be fetched. The man behind me started a conversation with a compliment.

"I love your purple pants," he said.

I had purple corduroy leggings on. I thanked him and said that they screamed my name when I saw them. He said that he wouldn't mind wearing a pair because they are purple and he loves corduroy. He saw them on me and thought that they were cool. I loved his fashion sense. He even said that he would wear them with white sneakers. Yes, a pop of colour goes a long way.

What is cool about these leggings is that they have full front pockets. You don't normally get that with leggings. You often don't get pockets. Sometimes, if they are jeggings, you get a small front pocket and two back pockets. 

He brightened my day. I'm glad that I was able to brighten his with my purple corduroy leggings.

Grocery shopping, cart return, and car compliment

On Saturday, I went grocery shopping. Every couple of week, I drive into Toronto to hit one particular grocery store that has specific items that I can't get in my neighbourhood. I like this store a lot.

I had a small cart. After I had paid for my groceries, I rolled a small cart with my items over to my car, unloaded them into my car's trunk, and proceeded to put my cart away. There was a nice man who spotted me returning my cart.

"I can take that," he said cheerfully.
"Thanks," I said, leaving the cart a few feet from him so he could sanitize it.
"That's a beautiful car," he said, looking at my blue Corolla hatchback.
"Oh, thanks so much!"

I have to agree with him. It i a good-looking car.

Meetings and time

Some people are having a difficult time adjusting to working from home every day. For me, it wasn't a huge stretch. I was working from home once or twice a week before the pandemic.

I truly prefer working from home. When I was in the office, many folks approached me to discuss various topics. I felt like I couldn't concentrate on my work with so many interruptions throughout the day. I have fewer distractions at home.

I tend to have meetings with my manager practically daily. I am doing work that requires my talking to him often. It's okay, except that I'd like to have fewer meetings.

Anyway, he came to my meeting on Wednesday morning and said the following:

"I am so glad to be in your meeting. Everyone else calls meetings that are pointless," he said.

That's a pretty good compliment to get. I went through my content and he approved it. It was a one-hour meeting that ended on time.

I wish that more meetings that I am a part of and are not run by me were that efficient.

A compliment from my manager

I worked from home on Tuesday. I had a conference call with my manager. As usual, he was running late.

I decided to review a video that my student had redone while waiting for him. When he got on the call, he heard part of it.

"Is that our student?" he asked me.
"Yes, it's a video that she did for our new application," I replied.
"She sounds professional," he complimented.
"She does. She's the only person on my team who is professional," I noted, hinting at the clueless woman in yesterday's post.
"There's you, too. Don't forget to include you. You count as 1.5 people on the professional scale, which makes up for her deficiency," he said.

It was a nice compliment to hear. I paid it forward and shared the compliment that my student got from our manager with her.

A compliment that came out of nowhere

The other day, I got a compliment from my manager that was completely unexpected. It happened during a conference call.

To make an extremely long story short, we have a group of employees in another country that had questions. A handful of us in Toronto were on this call. They want to set up a similar structure that we have here.

The problem is that these folks want to have a team leader, but none of us in Toronto feel that any of them can handle this position. One of the tasks would be training new employees.

"You would have to train every new employee that joins us. Frankly, I think Cutiebootie and her team should continue training new folks. Cutiebootie is the best trainer that we have," my manager said.

Wow. I'll take it.

Dentist, dry mouth, and Internet connection problems... fun!

On Tuesday, I had a dentist appointment at 9 am. I had pointed out to my team that I would be away for roughly 1.5 hours and then would continue working from home.

I typically have a one-on-one meeting with my manager every other Tuesday at 10:30 am. He sent me an e-mail, asking if he needed to reschedule. I said no, which should have been implied that I would make it home in time.

My regular teeth-cleaning and exam appointment has been fairly uneventful for a few years now. Sure, I have had three different hygienists (not my fault), but my teeth not having any issues have been the constant.

Sure enough, my appointment was over just after 10 am. I drove to Starbucks to get an iced black tea, and then drove home. I was home well before 10:30 am.

I have dry mouth. I am not sure whether I have mentioned it in my blog, but I have had it for over a decade. Going to the dentist makes the condition worse for a bit, as you have your mouth open for most of the appointment and the suction tool that is used doesn't make things better! It's the usual thirty-minute wait after you have your fluoride rinse where you can drink anything.

By the time I got my drink, I could consume it. Yay!

Anyway, I got home and noticed that my connections to various servers on my laptop had died. I also didn't have wifi on my phone. Sure enough, my modem-router needed to be rebooted. I knew that I would be down when 10:30 am hit.

I have our corporate messaging app on my phone. I dialled into my meeting that way, so I was on time.

My manager is constantly late. Today, I hoped that he truly was late. Someone was on my side. He was late by fifteen minutes.

I rebooted my laptop. My wifi was up and running. All was well. I dialled in through my laptop, which was essential for me to share information on my screen with him.

My manager finally got to the office and dialled in. He asked again whether we should reschedule. I said no. We could do our meeting in thirty minutes.

The last one-on-one meeting was horrific. He was in a foul mood. Today, he was much better. He said that there should be more employees like me. I took that compliment, as it is rare for him to dish it out. I hope that he stays nice for a while.

A compliment on my nail colour goes a long way

As crazy as work is these days, I find that the new folks that I have welcomed and trained recently bring a smile to my face when I least expect it.

I was in our regular team meeting on Thursday. I don't normally bring my laptop into these meetings because I don't like being distracted. However, I had another meeting after this one that required my pulling up information that I had prepared on my laptop.

My manager posed a question to me that he should have known the answer to. He had booked the meeting, for heaven's sake! So, I answered it and continued to listen to him.

A new writer (NW), whom I interviewed and helped train with one of my co-op students a few weeks ago, shot me an instant message. As of late, our corporate instant messaging systems causes me stress when folks pick my brains.

I enjoyed this brief exchange:

NW: Hi, Cutiebootie. I love your nail colour!
Me: Thanks, NW! I thought that I needed a bright colour to liven up our workplace. =)
NW: I agree

All it takes is a small compliment to make someone's day. I have a cheerful berry colour polish on my nails. She made this meeting far more bearable!

Universities, a nerd, and an upcoming spanking

Tuesday was another long day. We got snow, so my getting to work by 07:15 didn't happen. I got there by 07:30. Leaving early didn't help much.

I asked my boss to drive us over to the university. He has snow tires. I have all-weather ones. It took us two hours to drive over there when it would normally take half that time.

We were on campus to interview student candidates for an internship. They are so bright and talented. It was a pleasure meeting and talking to them.

The folks at the university were great to buy us lunch. I wasn't expecting it, but the gesture was nice.

I believe that my guy has worked at both universities that I have recently visited. I was accepted to the university that I had visited for my undergraduate studies.

I told my guy the other day that it was nice knowing a nerd like him. He liked that compliment a lot.

There are a few more days left before I get to see him again. He is excited to see me. The feeling is certainly mutual.

Waiting is tough. I can't wait to be in his arms again and hold me. But, I have no choice but to wait.

A few more day before my bottom gets sore. He promises a hard spanking coming my way. It's long overdue!