I Had a Stroke

The stroke whispered in my ear “You’re not strong enough to withstand the storm.” Today I whispered in the stroke’s ear, “I am the storm”.

Unknown

On September 12 I had a stroke. Before I tell you my story, I need to say that I don’t want to be remembered for my stroke. I’m smart, funny and play a bad game of golf. I love the theatre and the AGO and ROM. And I love to shop. I’m telling you the condensed version of my story in case it helps in any way.

My mother saved my life. We live in the same building. I usually leave for work around 7am, so I drop in to say hello. Well that day, I didn’t. By 7:30 she was in a panic so she called a friend of mine who had a key to check on me. As he walked in to my bedroom I was on the floor with a towel and I could see him. I remember saying to myself that I had to stay awake until someone came. As soon as I saw him, I passed out. I don’t remember the ambulance ride or any treatment in the hospital. I just remember waking for a few minutes at a time in ICU to see my best friend Sue.

A few days later I was moved to a ward. That’s when I became aware of my reality. I couldn’t talk except to say Yes and No. In my mind I could have a whole conversation, but I couldn’t say the words. My right arm and hand were paralyzed and my right leg was partially paralyzed too. I couldn’t eat solid food, only mush. I could not get out of bed to go to the bathroom; I had to make in my diapers.

I spent 5 weeks in the hospital. I could say more than Yes and No, but nothing earth shattering. My right arm and hand were still paralyzed but my right leg was getting better. I was still wearing diapers. Three days before I was moved to rehab, I started eating solid food.

I spent 4 weeks in rehab. I got rid of my diapers; YEAH! I went from a wheel chair, to a cane, and then walking free of aids. I had occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy every day. My right arm and hand were still paralyzed.

I was finally released and had out patient therapy Monday and Thursday. The only change I made in my house was that I got a bench for the shower (I used it for 1 month). I couldn’t cook but Sue took me grocery shopping every Saturday (I bought prepared food) and we went out for sushi lunch. It was a great day! I already had a cleaning lady, so her work resumed.

The out patient therapy was magic! I had the best occupational and physical therapists on the planet. They gave me homework to do and so 7 days a week I did an hour of physical exercise. And my right arm and hand started moving again! My out patient therapy is over. My occupational therapist said that she’d never seen a patient recover so quickly.

I still do my exercises. And I’m now looking for a job – communications, change management.

My 2 Gold Medals are to my doctors – Dr. Daniel Selchen at St. Mikes Hospital and Dr. Heather MacNeill at Bridgepoint Rehab. I found out when I was home and recovering that my stroke was so bad that only one in four patients survive well. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

My Platinum Medal goes to Sue. I could never have done it without her!

Lessons that I’ve learned:

• Make sure you have insurance. Without my insurance I don’t know where I’d be.
• Make sure that someone has medical power of attorney.
• Make sure that someone has banking access. 
• If you live alone buy the Phillips Lifeline. If you fall and can’t respond it will call the ambulance.

Strange as it sounds, I was never sad, even for one day. I knew that I was going to get better and I was prepared to work for it. Now I have my life back and I’m happier that words can describe.

I will never give up because I’m a stroke survivor.

Unknown

Make someone smile today.

Geri

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