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You know, as a manager, sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about the people who report to me. I hear it all these days. I hear about their personal and private issues and I hear about their health battles. They say that after a while you just learn to not care about certain individuals. While that may be true, I certainly hope that I never forget to care about my people. I hope that I don’t, because if I do, how can I ever really call myself their advocate; someone who will champion their causes?



You hear all kinds of things that you wouldn’t normally hear, and to some extent you try to keep it as impartial and non-personal as you can. But, to throw out the human dimension of any relationship is to render yourself ineffective, in my opinion.



Maybe that is to be the source of many sleepless nights to come, and if it is, then so be it. I would rather be someone who cares and is sympathetic of those who are deserving than some hard ass who only knows how to toe the corporate line.



I don’t think I want to stop caring. For every story, there is a point where you can retain the human dimension. There are those that admittedly are lost causes and abuse their benefits. But even those many times are a special case. Sometimes they’re not. But who can really judge which case is true and which case isn’t?



Yes, many sleepless nights to come. But there are also many nights of well-deserved rest where I know that I have done my best to be there for those who do and don’t deserve it.

So I have a few extra minutes this morning, since I didn't go into work. I used to have Sundays off less than 6 weeks ago. One of my favorite things to do upon awakening was to watch Meet the Press. It was essentially my link to the political world and the insights on the show were undeniably interesting and thoughtful.



I think it was late last week that I heard the news Tim Russert had died of a massive heart attack. He was 58 years old.



A self-made man, I don't think that he imagined he would be where he was in his career; an influential political journalist with the inside track to much of the political goings on in the US.



But, even with political figures clamoring to be on his show and all the attention and credibility, he was a humble man. It showed in his face whenever he was doing what he did best. He has one of those genuine faces and you could tell every day that he was honored to be among those he interviewed and sometimes debated with.



He was fascinated by politics and his enthusiasm shone through in his reporting. And though he was never an anchorman in the traditional sense, he was a big figure in the world of broadcast news.



And at the end of the Thunder Road, I hope there is peace and tranquility. Smooth sailing and blue skies to someone I never knew but greatly respected for his passion.







For those who don't know, I studied journalism in college. It's part of my major and it's where my strange affliction for perfect grammar and spelling comes from... Nothing bugs the crap out of me more than poorly written, barely discernible, barely intelligible writing. Maybe that's why I avoid the Forums so religiously.

After many months and 6 weeks in the proving ground, I DID IT! I got the promotion to full time, full fledged supervisor. The company now owns my soul. Lolz.



Am so exhausted.

Wasnt pleased overall with my round two performance. I know it's up to fate. I hear theyve made the decision already.



No hate email about being rejected. Yet. We'll see what's in the inbox tomorrow. Am nervous again. This is a big step. It's sealing the deal. I can always hope. I'm stressed and worried. But mostly? I feel resigned. Maybe its my time and maybe its not.



I hate this.

I am officially tired of carrying along this diseased infested member of my pack. Today is the first step in driving him completely out of the picture. I will have a pack that hunts efficiently and gets the job done and those who are not going to contribute are going to be driven away.



I dare him to surprise me with a decent performance. If he manages that, I'll be sorely surprised.

1st round today. 2nd round soon! For the permanent. Time to try and seal the deal. Things are going extraordinarily well. A huge effort and it is starting to pay off.

yeah. i'm bored out of my mind. it's the weekend, and rather than enjoying resting, I'm bored out of my mind.

And so the month has ended. I got my PA’s finally completed and over with. It’s been a long, long day. Over 10 hours of work, 5 of which was composing the team’s monthly performance reports. Not a lot of surprises once the numbers are tabulated. One escaped a performance improvement plan by the skin of his teeth and one of them regrettably is going to be going on a performance improvement plan.



One of them needs a serious plan to improve. I’m not surprised by his results for the month at all. Below target on just about everything. One of them, however? I’m going to feel awful about delivering. But it is what it is. You have to be on target for your performance in a cost center; that’s just the way it is. I think I’m the first one done with PA’s this month. No small achievement. No rush, and things are done on time for the most part.



I feel weary. I got in this morning at 9:00am and left at 9:00pm or slightly thereafter. Long, long day. But ahead of the game and ready for a Friday.



I need to do laundry. Bad.



My other VR self got zapped on accident. I am a little ticked at myself, but in the grand scheme of things, it's pretty small cheese and crackers by comparison.



At least I didn't mistakenly write over or delete my monthly PA's. That would be maddeningly, frustratingly insane.