Please Keep Your Clothes On

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.

Mark Twain

If only Mark Twain was right. Lucky for him he didn’t live in the age of the Kardashians and social media! I used to say that the Kardashians were famous for nothing; but I was wrong. They’re the queens of naked cries for attention. As pathetic as it is, they’ve started a trend. Every mediocre celebrity who can’t get into the press for any legitimate reason is following the Kardashians and posting naked selfies. None of these people have any talent but they do have breasts that stand up, sizable rear ends and a very good Brazilian wax. The selfies they post would not so long ago have been considered pornography and relegated to Playboy, Penthouse or Hustler. Unfortunately they’re on every social media site on the planet.

Given that the Kardashians are role models (doesn’t that scare you!) for legions of young women, is it any wonder that sexting is so popular? And how many times have you seen young women walking down the street with their asses hanging out of their shorts, skirts so short you can tell if they’ve had a recent wax and see through tops with no bra? When did displaying your wares like a vendor in a cheap flea market become acceptable?

As a society we need to stop letting people like the Kardashians control social media. We need to replace them with legitimate role models that are bringing about positive change in our world. And we need to teach young women that getting naked is never the way to seek attention. Please keep your clothes on and show us your other attributes.

Life is like one big Mardi Gras. But instead of showing your boobs, show people your brain, and if they like what they see, you’ll have more beads than you know what to do with.

Ellen Degeneres

Make someone smile today.

Geri

I Work for Money, Not for Love

Money isn’t the most important thing in life but it’s reasonably close to oxygen on the “gotta have it” scale.

Zig Ziglar

I’ve noticed quite a few articles recently on LinkedIn evangelizing the concept of only doing work you’re passionate about. And, some people have taken this one step farther and actually made comments saying that they “love” their work so much that they would do their jobs even if they didn’t get paid. REALLY??????? What a load of BS! I’d like to see even one study that shows people who need to support themselves continuing to stay in their jobs once the remuneration disappeared. So far I haven’t found one. Work without money is called volunteering, not a job.

In the real world most of us have to work to keep a roof over our heads and pay our bills. If you’re one of very few people who truly feels passionate about your work, or have found your “calling”, congratulations! You probably make up less than one percent of one percent of the working population. The rest of us feel passionate about the direct deposit into our bank accounts every two weeks.

This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t like our work, our colleagues, manager and environment, but there’s a big leap to passion. In fact I believe that we’re doing people a great disservice by making them believe that we should be passionate about our work. It’s setting them up to fail. Here’s what we should be telling people:

• Enjoy what you do; after all, you’re spending most of your waking hours at your job.
• You’re entitled to a good day’s pay for a good day’s work.
• You should be treated with respect and dignity in the workplace.
• Don’t invest emotionally in your job. At the end of the day you’re a number associated with a ledger entry and if they need to lay you off, they will. And it won’t matter how devoted and loyal you were to the company. Ask people from companies like Nortel and Sears what a lifetime of devotion got them.
• Get out of a toxic environment as quickly as possible.
• Jobs are not unicorns. There are always opportunities out there.

I really enjoy working and I enjoy my work, but let’s be clear – I work for money. I’ve been lucky over the years that most of my jobs have been really great experiences. Through my work I can pay for a lifestyle that I love. Find a job that you enjoy that pays you a good wage and stop searching for the passion at work. If you’re passionate about a certain cause, get out and volunteer. There are many great organizations that would be delighted to find a passionate and dedicated volunteer. Be happy!

They say that love is more important than money, but have you ever tried to pay your bills with a hug?

Unknown

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Performance Reviews – The Dirty Little Secret

Bad news on your performance review. Everyone performed the same but I’m required to rank the group on a bell curve. I had to make up some flaws to move you down the curve. Here’s a pen; sign it.

Dilbert

This quote taken from a Dilbert comic strip, although amusing, is also unfortunately true. Many large companies, including major banks, use the Bell Curve for performance appraisals. Although considered by many to be an outdated HR practice that undermines employee performance, it’s still in use today.

What is the Bell Curve? The Bell Curve (also referred to as Normal Distribution) assumes that each group has an equal number of high performers and low performers, and that most employees fall into the average category.

Why should the Bell Curve be abolished? Firstly, why should anyone be evaluated against a group? Each person is an individual and should be evaluated individually.

Even when evaluating a group, the Bell Curve makes ridiculous assumptions. What happens if your group has no low performers? According to the Bell Curve, some of these average performers have to be rated “poor”. What happens if you’re a high performer, but there are a limited number of high performers permitted? You’ll get relegated to being average. The Bell Curve is not only demoralizing but can impact an employee’s bonus which is frequently tied to their performance review. And a poor performance review (even if undeserved) can prevent an employee from moving to another position in the company.

Let’s play fair! Performance reviews should rate an employee’s performance as accurately as possible. It should not limit the number of high performers or lie about someone’s performance to give them a poor review to satisfy the Bell Curve. Let’s have all of these major corporations who are touting their splendid corporate cultures and measures they’re taking to improve employee engagement, really make a difference and abolish the Bell Curve in favour of fairness and honesty.

Your work has been excellent all year. I’m rating you “poor” so I’ll have a paper trail in case I ever need to fire you.

Dilbert

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Why Are You Still on Facebook?

Facebook is like a jail. You sit around, waste time, have a profile picture, write on walls and get poked by guys you don’t really know.

SearchQuotes

I’ve never had a Facebook account - never understood the appeal and always thought it was a colossal time-suck. Believe it or not there are other ways to contact your friends. Phone, text and email work just fine for me. If I want to share photos I send a Dropbox link. Facebook is something I could never buy into.

Clearly most of the world doesn’t agree with me. It’s estimated that over 2 billion people use Facebook on a monthly basis. But, how do you feel now that 50 million Facebook users had their data harvested and passed on to a UK political consultancy, Cambridge Analytica, accused of using that data to target US voters during the 2016 US election campaign?

This may come as a shock to you but it shouldn’t come as a surprise to Facebook; it was warned about app permissions back in 2011 and guess what they did about it? NOTHING! And why is that? MONEY! You are a valuable commodity to Facebook. Have you downloaded a copy of your Facebook data yet? You may be shocked and appalled to know that Facebook probably has your entire address book in addition to metadata about your SMS messages and phone calls. While Google and Twitter profile you based on the sites that you visit, Facebook knows your name, where you live, your birthday and so much more – a virtual goldmine in data. In fact researchers estimate that Facebook will generate $21 billion in ad revenue this year, up almost 17% from 2017. 

How many people will actually delete Facebook as a result of this breach of trust? In reality, probably not many; people are too insecure to leave Facebook. They’re afraid they’ll be left behind by their so-called “friends”. If that’s the case I would strongly encourage you to make and cultivate your friends in the real world. Talk on the phone, meet for coffee/lunch/dinner/drinks, go shopping together, take in a show… There’s a wonderful world out there to share with real friends. You don’t need Facebook; Facebook needs you.

So thankful for Facebook! I would have to call 563 people every morning to let them know that I just ate breakfast.

Dumpaday

Make someone smile today.

Geri

The Recruitment Industry is Broken

3 phone interviews, 2 Skype meetings, 7 face-to-face interviews. Sorry we’re changing the role slightly.

Ed Hunter

The recruitment industry is broken and no one wants to fix it. With each passing year it gets worse, although I didn’t believe that was humanly possible. The operative word here is humanly. The humanity has disappeared from the recruitment industry and it’s been overrun by computer algorithms and automated email messages. Sadly, recruiters who understand the jobs they’re looking to fill and the candidates who are good fits for those jobs are a dying breed. Recruiters are now nothing more than order takers who depend on a computer algorithm to select their candidates.

As someone who works on contract, going through the recruitment process on a regular basis is a necessary evil. The number of imbecilic people I have to deal with in order to secure employment makes the mind reel! It’s a wonder that anyone finds works these days. And professional courtesy is dead! After I have one or more face-to-face interviews I expect a phone call to tell me that I did or did not get the job. But sadly that’s not the way it works anymore. If you get the job you’ll get a phone call. If you don’t get the job you’ll get a tacky form email like this:

Dear (insert candidate’s name),

Thank you for taking the time to apply to the role of (insert role). Your submission was reviewed and evaluated against this position's overall candidate pool. Unfortunately, we will not be moving forward with your application at this time. Please know we will keep your profile in our system and that a Recruiter may reach out to you in the future if they have a role that matches your skills and experience.

Thank you for your interest…

Doesn’t it make you wonder how many excellent candidates have never been considered for jobs they were a perfect fit for because of a computer algorithm and an ineffective recruiter? And conversely, how many bad hires have been made for the same reason? Perhaps it's time to turn recruiting over to Artificial Intelligence. At least there would be some form of intelligence and we would no longer have an expectation of humanity.

We’re looking for someone with the wisdom of a 50-year old, the experience of a 40-year old, the drive of a 30-year old and the pay scale of a 20-year old.

RecruitingBlogs

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Why Am I Paying Handling Fees When Nothing’s Being Handled?

The charges are correct. The airline now charges for emotional baggage as well.

Unknown

Once upon a time, in the olden days, when we purchased tickets to the theatre, we called the theatre, made the purchase over the phone and gave the reservationist our credit card number. Those tickets then had to be printed and mailed. They were actually handled and there were fees involved, which of course were passed along to the consumer.

Now we live in a culture of self-serve. We buy the tickets online with no live intervention. The tickets are emailed to us. We can either print out our tickets or just bring them up on our phones at the theatre for scanning. Then why are we still paying the same handling charge as we used to when tickets were handled?

I recently bought tickets for a play at Stratford. Each ticket included a $2 facility improvement charge and a $4.75 handling charge. This boggles my mind! I’ve never heard of a facility improvement charge and I’d like any normal human being to justify a $4.75 handling charge when I’m the only one doing the handling. In essence they’ve charged me $4.75 for sending me an email. Isn’t that a nice way to gouge the public?

I love Stratford and I understand that they’re a not-for-profit organization, but I hate getting screwed by anyone. Raise the ticket prices if you have to by $4.75 but don’t charge me a handling fee of $4.75 for self-service. It’s the same sort of BS as the banks charging you to use an ATM to access your own money.

We’ve created a self-serve society and I have no objection to that. What I do object to is being charged for service that isn’t being performed.

Shoutout to ATM fees for making me buy my own money.

Unknown

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Why Do You Have to Pay to Use Your Own Parking Pad in Toronto?

The way humans hunt for parking and the way animals hunt for food are not as different as you might think. 
Tom Vanderbilt

Parking spaces are worth more than gold in Toronto and parking pads are now an endangered species. The city apparently doesn’t want to allow any new parking pads; I couldn’t even begin to understand their logic… Torontonians who have no parking have to shell out approximately $200/year for a parking permit. This allows them to park on their street, near their homes (hopefully). If the parking permit allotment for their street is already at capacity they will get a permit for parking on a nearby street, and still pay the same amount of money (even though they’re being inconvenienced).

The biggest money grab of all is the coveted parking pad. Homeowners pay upwards of $20,000 to build a parking pad. A friend of mine has one such parking pad. It’s quite large and can accommodate two cars quite comfortably. For this pleasure she has to pay the city of Toronto $400 annually. Yes, she has to pay the city of Toronto for the use of her own parking pad that is on her property and was privately paid for with no contribution or subsidy from the city. She recently was paid a visit by a city employee who inspects parking pads (and is probably being incredibly overpaid for this idiotic job that requires no skill). He informed her that she was not permitted to park more than one car on HER PARKING PAD. In fact he was coming back to inspect and if there were two cars parked, he was going to have one towed away.

This is draconian! A homeowner builds a parking pad on their own property (with proper permissions and permits) at their own considerable expense  and then effectively has to lease it annually from the city of Toronto who arbitrarily has the unmitigated gall to tell them how they can or cannot use it! This boggles the mind. Unfortunately, you really can’t fight city hall and when it comes to parking, we’re all being royally screwed!

He parks in the far corner of the lot, explaining that it is more logical to do this and then walk for fifteen seconds than it is to spend fifteen minutes looking for a closer space. 
Neal Stephenson

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Credit Card Annual Fees Are a Rip-off!

Stores are never nice to people. They're nice to credit cards.

J.F. Lawton

I recently made a rare, in-person visit to my financial institution and they were promoting some new credit cards. There was a big sign saying that if you signed up today, they would wave the annual fee for one year. Quite frankly, the whole concept of an annual fee offends me; it’s just another way to rip off consumers.

Credit card companies are already gouging you. They’ve made an art of collecting fees:

Merchant fees: When merchants accept a payment via credit card they have to pay a percentage of the transaction amount as a fee to the credit card company.

Consumer fees: Annual fees for the pleasure of using your credit card, outrageous interest fees for not paying your balance in full every month, cash advance fees, balance transfer fees…

Sale of customer data: Yes, some credit card actually companies sell their customers’ data to other businesses. This data is a goldmine of consumer spending habits.

Why on earth would I pay an annual fee to use a credit card? The credit card companies should pay me to use their cards. I have a MasterCard and a Visa with no annual fees that suit me just fine. Waving an annual fee for one year so that you can rip me off annually after that, is not in my future. How many credit cards are you paying an annual fee for? And why exactly are you doing that?

Life was a lot simpler when what we honored was father and mother rather than all major credit cards.

Robert Orben

Make someone smile today.

Geri

My New Favourite Beauty Product

If you think there’s no such thing as a magic wand, you’ve clearly never used mascara.

Payal Puri

In the last several years, I’ve become a minimalist where makeup is concerned – mascara, blush and lipstick. Readers of my blog already know that I’m devoted to Stila liquid blush (I’ve recently changed colour from Rosewater to Shimmering Lotus) and MAC Russian Red Lipstick (I won’t even take out the trash without my Russian Red). I’ve also been happily using Chanel mascara (seriously overpriced, but great!) for several years now.

I recently dropped into the MAC counter at the Bay on Queen to recycle my old makeup containers and get a free lipstick – yes, Russian Red! Allie served me and she had the most amazing eyelashes. Of course I wanted to know how she did it. Her trick is a MAC product called False Lashes Maximizer. You apply it like mascara. It’s white and coats your lashes. Then you apply your mascara and voila! It really makes your lashes look fuller and longer and stops your mascara from running so I can now wear mascara on my lower lashes. I also tried MAC’s Extra Dimension Black Mascara and was super impressed; I love the very narrow wand. I wanted to see how it performed next to my Chanel mascara so at home I did the mascara test. First I used the False Lashes Maximizer. Then on my right eye I applied two coats of the Chanel Volume Black Mascara and on my left eye I applied two coats of the MAC Extra Dimension Black Mascara. I was very surprised that the MAC mascara won the contest (not by much).

False Lashes Maximizer is my new favourite beauty product and I will stay with the MAC Extra Dimension Black Mascara which out-performed Chanel and is significantly cheaper. What are your favourite beauty products?

I won’t cry for you. My mascara is too expensive.

Unknown

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Micromanagers – The Scourge of Corporate Life

If I was meant to be controlled, I would have come with a remote.

Genereux Philip

I know that all of you working in the corporate world have had at least one (or more) experience with a micromanager – and it’s never positive. At best, the micromanager lightens up a bit over time and the situation becomes tolerable (if they’re paying you enough money). At worst, you keep a letter of resignation in your word document file and every morning you come in, you correct the dates because you never know which day will be the one where you say ENOUGH! and send off the letter to the appropriate parties. Once you have the letter of resignation poised at the ready, it doesn’t matter how much they’re paying you (I can tell you from first hand experience).

The problem is that corporations breed this style of leadership. As you work your way up the corporate ladder you’ll eventually be promoted into a position with direct reports whether or not you have the people skills to be managing living, breathing people whose lives you’re capable of ruining. With no training (or little training after the fact), these new people managers are let loose on the unsuspecting population, wreaking havoc. They have no clue how to manage so instead, they micromanage. Some micromanage because they feel that in order to do their jobs they have to be in total control. Others micromanage because they crave power and micromanaging allows them to exert their power over you. Whatever the reason, the outcome is never good.

The joke in the corporate world is the overuse of employee engagement surveys which allows employees to anonymously express how they feel about their bosses, corporate culture, etc. The well-known micromanagers get abysmal employee engagement scores survey after survey, but nothing’s ever done. Eventually employees go survey blind and the micromanagers continue on as before without missing a beat. Nothing ever changes.

I’ve sadly come across very few good people managers in my long career. The old expression People leave managers, not companies is spot on. In fact according to Gallup polls, a full 50% of employees who quit cite their manager as the reason and 70% of the factors that contribute to your happiness and motivation at work are directly related to your manager.

Interviews are a two way street. Make sure that you have a list of questions prepared for the manager so that you can ascertain whether or not you want to work for them. Jobs are not unicorns. Don’t be afraid to pass on an opportunity where you see warning signs about the manager or culture. As I seek out a new opportunity for myself, I’ll be taking my own advice. 😁

If your job is to tell me how to do my job, you should at least know how to do my job.

Someecards

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Life’s Too Short

Life is too short to have anything but delusional notions about yourself.

Gene Simmons

So often we seem to live our lives on automatic pilot, content to maintain the status quo. But, stop for a moment and ask yourself if that’s enough? Are you are really happy? Do you like your job? Is your home your sanctuary? Are you surrounded by people who enrich your life?

I’m by nature a happy person. My manager in a previous job described me as having infectious positivity. I was recently in a position that was robbing me of my smile and I allowed it. It was a good job, with good money for a good company – everyone’s dream, but mine. The environment was stifling and oppressive. I felt strangled, deflated and defeated, but I soldiered on until I knew that I had no choice but to leave - my smile was gone and I couldn’t find it. Even though I didn’t have another position lined up, I gave my notice and reclaimed my smile!

This isn’t a dress rehearsal. Life’s too short to be miserable.

• Surround yourself with happy, positive people that enrich your life
• Find a work environment that inspires and encourages you to be your very best
• Stop caring what other people think
• Wear clothes and accessories that make you happy, not conform
• Don’t be afraid to stand out
• Stop obsessing over food and enjoy it
• Eat real butter, real cheese and dessert once in a while
• Being a size 0 shouldn’t be your goal in life
• Don’t waste your life commuting

I’m going to continue looking for a job that excites and inspires me every day. I have butter in my freezer and really good cheese in the fridge. From time to time I will have dessert. I was born bigger than a size 0 and have no desire to look like a stick figure. I embrace my quirky taste in fashion and have a closet full of less than conventional clothes that make me happy. My sun glass collection currently stands at 20 and is still growing. I value each and every one of the happy, positive, enriching people in my life. And I love coming home to my sanctuary. Now if only my golf game would improve…

Life is too short to live on low-fat everything.

Kristin Scott Thomas

Make someone smile today.

Geri

We’re Being Ripped off by the Postal Service

You know you're a fool when what you're doing makes even the post office seem efficient.

Joshua Cohen

I’m tired of being ripped off by a post office that provides inferior service at exorbitant prices. The cost of postage is an outrage and I’ve gone totally electronic. In fact this past Christmas I sent ecards exclusively.

My recent encounter with the post office astounded me! I was recently notified to appear for jury selection. As much as I would truly enjoy seeing the legal process in action, I can’t afford it. I’m self employed and if I don’t work, I can’t pay the bills. In order to be released from jury duty you have to send a letter to the Attorney General’s office explaining how being a juror would cause you undue financial hardship. I wrote the letter, and not wanting to take any chances (I have no faith in the postal system), I elected to send the letter by registered mail. I should preface this by telling you that the destination of the letter is within walking distance of my apartment, so imagine my shock when the postal clerk asked me for $11.30 to register my letter. Feeling that I really had no choice, I coughed up the money with great resentment. Thankfully my $11.30 registered letter reached its mark and I have formally been released from jury duty.

The usefulness of the post office to society diminishes with each passing year and as we become more accustomed to going electronic, their only use in the future may be to deliver the goods that we order online.

Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas.

Johnny Carson

Make someone smile today.

Geri