Tag: random

Communication foolishness

Mercury is NOT retrograde yet. (And that’s good news for Bob, Shannon, as he starts his new job Monday.)

Someone needs to tell my computer, AOL, and Live Journal. Mercury is NOT retrograde yet. So stop it.

For anyone who enjoys astrology, here’s info from some random web site.

October 28, 2006 Mercury turns retrograde at 25° Scorpio
November 18, 2006 Mercury turns direct at 9° Scorpio


Scorpio represents our deeper sense of power and motives and aligns our inner and outer goals with our philosophy. Scorpio requires that we take a closer look to understand what truly is within. This being the last mercury retrograde of 2006 opens the door to grab hold of something of substance and that capsules our beliefs and bring this out into the world of career, business and literally bring our inner beliefs to the outer world in one way or another.

The Traumatized Consumer

Somewhere in my LJ archives is a post I made about deoderant. For years, I used Secret Solid, and then FOR NO APPARENT REASON it just stopped working for me. After trying some other products, I hit on Adidas Solid. I loved the scent, and it worked. Then our relationship also went to hell because it began to make me itch. So did everything else I tried.

Jim suggested that I find a deoderant only, that it could be the anti-perspirant ingredients that were causing the problem. It’s not easy to find a deoderant-only product, especially in Houston’s climate.

Finally, in despair, I started using what must surely be the lowest-end product in the deoderant world: Tussy Cream. It works beautifully, without irritation.

Tim and I were shopping the other night, and there was no Tussy on the shelves. “Huh,” I said to him, and referring to my recent C2 trauma added, “Coke must be making it now.” Tim said I should make a post of what would happen in my world if Coke took over more of my preferred products. So here it is.

click here for my consumer nightmare

Corporate America

Two things might have kept me in corporate America (which I finally left permanently in 2002). Being able to Instant Message my friends on my work computer. And this…

Dogs at Work: A Perk That Pays Off
Some Companies Find Furry Companions Keep Employees Productive

(Sept. 21) — There’s something about where Ryan Hayes works that millions of Americans would love.

Replacements Ltd. is a large china and silverware retailer with cookie-cutter corporate contemporary looks — until you look closer. As CBS News correspondent Richard Schlesinger reports, Hayes has company in his cubicle: Coco, his beagle puppy.

He’s not alone. There are dogs all over the company, which encourages its 500-plus employees to bring them in. It’s a perk that pays off.

“You do work better because if you’re maybe having a bad day, you can just look down at your feet and you smile,” Hayes says. As for the barking, he says, “It doesn’t bother me because I’m used to it.”

Bob Page owns the company and has built it into a roughly $70 million-a-year business. It was his idea to allow dogs.

Dogs are welcome in the office, in the warehouse, and even in the showroom.

Bringing dogs to work might make good business sense, according to one survey that found 46 million Americans would work longer hours if they were allowed to bring their furry companions into work with them.

So what used to be unheard of is now becoming almost commonplace. About 20 percent of American companies, including giants like Google, allow dogs in the office. The theory is that dogs reduce stress — and that’s good for business.

“Anytime you have an employee that’s content, I think they become more productive in general,” Page says.

By and large, the dogs get along and express themselves only occasionally.

But have the dogs ever had an accident in the store?

“Well, they do occasionally have accidents,” Page admits.

Coco got a little overexcited, but Hayes handled it. He went on with his day, Coco went on with hers — and throughout the office, it was business as usual.

9/21/06
Copyright 2006, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.