I am CuTRis

Today, I jumped headfirst into substitute teaching. Just to make it more interesting, I did a full day in middle school, in math class--which was my least favorite subject when I was that age. With the Tech industry laying off workers, and needing a job with flexibility, this is currently my solution. -Mr. C

I was laid off last Monday, along with many, other talented people, because the company is in trouble. After buying other companies and other software products, it routinely uses layoffs to temporarily make the finances appear better. While this looks good in the short term, it's misguided. The abandoned workers did nothing wrong, and in fact, they were necessary to maintain quality. When an organization gets too large to provide the wonderful customer experience that they talk so extensively about, cutting staff in favor of AI and offshore solutions, will ultimately lead to more dissatisfied customers and subscription cancellations. There is still no substitute for human talent. I can write better than Claude, and I provide higher quality customer service than Forethought can. I am skilled at writing and effective communications, technology support, customer service and streamlining workflow. If anyone knows of an employer in need of this type of experience, drop me a message. I...

Neng refinished an heirloom piece of furniture for a woman. It was super dirty and in pieces when it arrived. She worked really long and hard on it. She questioned if she did it too cheap because of the labor involved. The woman loved it so much she gave Neng a nice tip! See more at Grayson Paint Studio (on Facebook).

Fence post replacement today... the 80# bags of concrete seem to get heavier each time I have to do it...

I'm afraid I must part ways with Governor Tim Walz on the issue of remote work. I even had to chuckle, when I heard his reasoning for making state employees return to the office at least 50% of the time. That reasoning, is a tactic being used quite often recently, when decisions are made unilaterally and not by consensus. George Carlin was right. People throw a lot of big words and lofty language into things to make them sound more important than they are. I work remotely. If I want to collaborate with my team, I can do that just as quickly and perhaps more efficiently remotely than in the office. We have so many collaborative tools at our disposal, that messages and team meetings are an effective and normal part of our daily work life. It is not our responsibility to populate the downtown areas at our expense. Working remotely, saves fuel and time. While being very productive, I am also able to better care for my family. My job has changed, and is going to change again. Each time,...

On average, a honey bee will make approximately one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime, which is about 6 weeks. Elon Musk will tell it not to take so many breaks.

The mayor of Minneapolis made a joke the other day about those of us working from home turning into "losers." For the life of me, I am not seeing anything except "win" about my situation of working from home! I don't have to pay parking to work downtown, I don't have to pay extra money for gasoline, which is not only good for my bank account, but it's good for the environment too. I also have more time for my family, more personal time, and that lack of sitting in traffic means my stress level is not as high. If all of these things make me a loser, then so be it! I'm very happy.

Here is Winnie the Pooh, dressed for his virtual meeting at work...

Most of the people from my previous job (Note* MNHS laid off half the staff during COVID-19), don't want to talk to me. I find it strange to go from daily interactions to nothing, but hey, people are busy. One, a super liberal, likes to comment on my Facebook when he catches me not being liberal enough. Then he takes the role of smarter-than-me, to try to put me in my place. But white guys in their 50's who talk like Ice-T, don't sound smart to me. And my dislike of ultraliberalism is in no way an endorsement for ultraconservatism. But people don't understand that. Even my best friends don't.

Over the weekend having heard the bragging of a hospital financial administrator, it reinforced my belief that it takes more than an MBA to make a good supervisor. Her comments about firing people who didn’t do what she wanted, were nothing short of shocking. If a company, did things right, they probably spent lots of time and money seeking out the best talent to work for them. Terminating an employee may be how a medieval monarch would handle the situation, but firing someone should always be considered a last resort. It is not good to have a manager with such little regard for people and assets. Perhaps she was just bragging about her “power,” but I know from having a long and varied work history, that nothing will send me into a full-on job search, like an immature or mean-spirited supervisor.

Sometimes when you're digging out that rotten fence post, you need a sledgehammer. That's especially true when someone seemed to have used a lot of concrete when they installed it.

COVID-19 caused me to be furloughed from my part-time job. But now I'm back doing live TV.

I've been having work dreams. Various people I've worked with over the years at various jobs are showing up. Also the various jobs and different places. Some of the coworkers are real, and some are based on real people, but some are completely made up. That goes for the locations as well. I started wondering if it's like back-to-school dreams? It is getting towards the end of summer after all. Could it be that my subconscious doesn't know that I've made the jump from going to work, to working from home?

 

The pandemic taught us much about business practices. For instance, how best to cut staff to save money and preserve the important people. From what I observed, cutting the people who make the least amount of money nets the most savings. These are the people who do the work; and so are less important. The top administrators should all be kept; because they talk about doing work; and so are more important. They may also be who decides who gets laid off. If you have for example, one director and four deputy directors, all should be kept--even if half the workforce is cut. Another rule of thumb is, (another example), if you have a work unit of 13, consisting of 2 supervisors and 11 workers, cut 7 of the workers and keep the 2 supervisors for the remaining 4 workers. This will ensure to maximize meetings, while making the remaining employees work harder. This is truly the best plan during difficult economic times.

So many things remind me of the show "Whose Line is it Anyway?" Because it seems that so often everything is made up and the points don't matter.

Very recently the HR department where I work has reinforced my belief that all of us are expendable with little exception or thought. In my case, I had an unforeseen 2-day hospital stay that has prompted the organization to demand medical records from me. This was also accompanied by information about how my benefits will be cut if I cannot work unless I pay for them out of pocket. The record of my productivity numbers are stellar, and there are certain jobs within IT that only I am trained to do. It is obvious that I will be replaced if deemed necessary. It is interesting because I was already back to work when I started receiving these communications. It is good to remember that any loyalties that we develop toward our workplaces, are almost certainly not reciprocated. Make sure to always keep your own best interests in mind.

Dear President Trump, You should have seen how hard those Mexican men worked installing our new carpet. A few years ago, another crew of Mexican men worked really hard to install our new roof. Have you ever done that kind of work? It isn't easy and those guys sure aren't lazy. Border security is important, but let's give these guys some credit for being hardworking. Sincerely, CuTRis