Jumping onto my soap box

So I still owe everyone a post about the end of my North Carolina trip which consisted of family fun time and NASCAR shops with a friend before heading back home and back to the real world.

I'll get to it I promise. However, I need you guys to give me a minute cause there are some things happening out in the World that I feel needs my two cents added to the conversation. So here I go. 

Lent is stupid
So….I am not Catholic, yet I participate in Lent. It’s not just a Catholic thing but they are way more strict about it. However Lent is stupid. Not the actual process of Lent mind you, I still fully believe in giving up something for 40 days as a sacrifice and in an effort to better yourself even if it’s not for religious reasons. Golden for one has spent the last some odd 20 days or so giving back as her Lent acknowledgement. She has paid the bill of people behind her in fast food lines and in other ways and I commend her for that. As you know dear reader I gave up both Social Media and Soda for Lent and.... guys … it’s been hard. Thus Lent is stupid. I can live with the social media break, actually I enjoy it but since Lent started my AU Gymnastics team has had three meets, went to the SEC Championships and I have had to watch it all from the sidelines.  

However all of that aside one of my favorite Gymnasts Sam Cerio had a horrific accident during her Floor Routine during the first night of the Regional at LSU, in which my team advanced to night two thank you very much. She broke both her legs and dislocated BOTH her knees. It was a horrific thing to watch do yourself a favor and NEVER WATCH IT. I was watching live on the internet and almost threw up on my keyboard. The coolest thing is that the next day the President of LSU visited Sam in the hospital. I thought that was really cool and shows the support and love that the SEC has for each other off the playing field or Matts in this case. 

It’s been awful not being able to reach out to Sam and give her support at this time. She graduates in May and I understand is getting married in June. She has stated she plans to walk down the isle and if anyone can do it … SAM CAN! She’s amazing. I have a message board on my desk, that I try to update at least once a week, this was the board the week after the meet.  

In addition to all of that my beloved Auburn Tigers got to the freaking FINAL FOUR!!!!!!! That’s never ever ever in life happened and watching it from a far was super hard. Not checking in with the team or watching the various fan events that happened during the tournament but not being able to connect with anyone about it was really hard. Like for reals hard. It was also difficult to find scores and times when the games would be without seeing spoilers. It was a damn fun run to the Final Four and I couldn’t be more proud of those guys. I can’t wait until the 22^nd to hit up Bruce Pearl and thank him for leading these young men in such a positive wonderful way. They all made me very proud to be an Auburn Tiger. It also cracked me up that this team caused a TP shortage in the Auburn/Opelika area, if you don't know the ways of Toomer's Corner, well I'm sad for your very sheltered and horrible upbringing.  

However social media woes aside the hardest part has been the missing of SODA in my life. This year I decided a full ban on all things soda. If I NEVER drink another glass of sweet tea again it will be too soon. My plan is the Friday before Easter I’m going to buy a 6 pack of Wild Cherry Pepsi and I plan to drink all 6 on Easter Sunday. I have missed soda every time we went to lunch and they woud ask “what would you like to drink” all of me wanted to say a COKE give me a freaking COKE ASAP! I’m proud to say that as of the 10^th I’ve held strong but it’s not been easy. Not easy at all. My family keeps saying you aren’t Catholic just drink a coke (I’ve been a little cranky) already but I’ve come this far I can go another 14 or so days.

My plan for Easter …. wake up, go to sunrise service and while there drink a 2 liter of coke by myself as the preacher talks then on the way home hit up Sam Cerio as my first tweet and my second tweet a picture of my nearly empty coke with a countdown of sodas to follow throughout the day. 


Harry and Megan, the Royal Baby and Rumors on top of Rumors
Ok let me start by saying STOP IT. Leave this damn couple alone. Granted they have squeezed in all the things into a single year, the marriage, the kid, all of it before the 1^st anniversary and so that’s on them but my goodnees they can’t do anything without it being a major controversary. I don’t blame them for not wanting to do the “photoshoot” on the stairs of the hospital like 7 hours after the kid pops out. The last two times Kate did that she got flack for it but now everyone is acting like Meghan is personally whipping her new kid's butt with the unwritten Royal Protocol. I mean from the moment this couple became a couple they have been scrutinized at every step. From how she dresses to how his face looks when they are together, to other media woes with her super stable and loving family. He has always been a very private person and it kind of cracks me up how the entire focus is now on her when they are together and it's almost like he is allowed to relax cause he is very conscious of that fact. He also seems to turn into her security officer when they are out and about which I think is adorable. You can very clearly see him scanning the crowd for trouble and mentally preparing a plan for should it arise. 

How dare they get an Instagram without me, not being able to follow or see their pictures. No before you ask, cause I know you will, I don't believe she is running it. Is she sending in captions to the person running it … maybe … but I don't believe she's sitting at Fogmore with phone on her giant belly deciding what to post on Instagram. Sigh …… that was so rude. I also think that this backlash where people are creating a KP VS the Sussex is just dumb. The “Fab 4” can and will do amazing things if people would just back off and let them have the space to breath and do it. If anything this might force William and Kate to step up their game as a solo unit now. I really hope the stories of the boys drifting apart are not true but more two busy people leading very busy lives. I mean my goodness William has three kids for Christ sakes, their lives are separating cause it's the natural order of how life  happens between normal family members. If I see one more headline about William missing the birth I'm going to scream. Last time I checked the brother didnt have to be there not to mention Harry was out of the country for all but Louis (and for that one he was in full wedding mode) so people just need to stop it already. Not to mention that their public life focus is very different and that's ok. That's what made the Royal Foundation work. I hope it stays in tact cause its definitely sheading light on some areas that deserve to be highlighted. The good that this 3 some did can only be better now with 4 voices and focus behind it. I look forward to watching. 

The truth is they can do it now or do it in a few years when Charles becomes King and everything HAS to shift. Do it now and it will allow the focus to stay on Charles when he becomes King, as it should be. Let's be honest they weren't going to be joined at the hip forever. People keep forgetting that William also took his little family out of the limelight moving away from KP for a while when George was little. Of course in my opinion that was during the time that William was still kind of running from this role.  This couple deserves the time and space to start their family and I pray that the media, the “fans” and the rest of the world allows them the space to do so. Everyone needs to back off and just let them be and I don’t want to hear that they knew what they were getting into when they walked into this party. May we all be so lucky to fall hard in love with another human being like they seem to have. She seems to make him really happy and if people would just back off I think they just might make it work. Tho maybe that's the issue there are those that dont want this couple to make it and that's just sad and pathetic.

Let me also add that I don't believe the Queen gives a flying Corgi if they raise this child vegan or vegetarian or feed it well Corgis every day for breakfast, ok in that instance she might step in. As long as the kid is taken care of she will likely let them do whatever they want with the kid, in reason of course. The kid is going to be so far away from the throne it really isnt as big a deal in that instance. I am not saying that the kid doesn't matter I'm simply stating that it's not quite as stressful for this kid as it would say George who will eventually,  God willing, reach the throne. Even Charlotte and Louis will just be sideline players, again assuming God takes care of this little family. If Harry and Meghan were smart they would be pushing for the kid to not have a title opening up the path that kid can take in the future. Sure it could take on private life or continue the works of Mum and Dad, or frankly both, but the bottom line is that Babby Sussex could have choices that Harry and Will never had dreams about having  However that's just my opinion, I have often though Harry had the better deal. All of the fun of Royal life with a fraction of the pressure. I also think that once he decided he could use this role given to him for good he jumped in with both feet. I often think William still just has a toe in the water but that his pool is much deeper so I kind of understand that.

Last point I’m going to make on this …. If they have a girl if anyone on the planet is dumb enough to think Harry is going to name said girl Diana they haven’t been paying attention at all. I can’t imagine a world in which he will be able to physically say Diana for the rest of his life. I’m not saying one of the 7 names they give a kid might not be Diana but it will be buried deep into the name. I personally hope for a boy (tho I’m not 100% sure why I even care) cause I want them to name the boy Phillip and I'm sure they care what I think about that. 

College Scandal – LEAVE AUNT BECKY ALONE 
I am so sick of this story, this scandal, and the fact that of all the parents involved two “celebrity” parents are getting the brunt of it. I love how every story talks about Lori Laughlin like she’s personally responsible for this entire thing. Then in the second breath they mention the “Desperate Housewife” AKA Felicity Huffman (who in my world will always be Dana Whitaker - RIP Sports Night) as an oh yeah she’s also involved. Why the hell is that ? 

I feel Lori Lofton is being treated really unfairly in the stupid thing. Dont get me wrong what she and the other parents did was wrong on so many levels but they are just the tip of this. What about administrative people who looked the other way. Coaches who gave up scholarships to really talented kids why aren't they in trouble??? Its like prosecuting the drug pushers when the main dealer is sitting next to them at the table.

I mean honestly is this the biggest issue in the world?! Is it really necessary to ruin the careers of these two ladies and why aren’t their husbands being drug through the mud? Why isn’t William H Macy being black balled left and right? It all seems really stupid that these two ladies are looking at 20 years in prison OVER THIS?! I’ve seen people who have done far worse who have gotten far less. It’s just majorly stupid!

Politics … specifically Trump Vs Democrats

Ok guys I've talked about Trump on here before and while Golden and I said early on that we wouldn't get political, I think what I've said so far straddles that line, cause I gotta open that door one more time. I need the Democrats to move on. I typically vote Blue unless the Red race will affect my every day world and needs my attention. Living in a Red state that happens more than I'd like to be honest. However I need the Democrats to move on. There are like 75 people running on the Democratic ticket and while I know it's early in the game, I'm not sure any of them can beat Trump. The Dems have done exactly what they didn't want the Republicans to do from day one, not concede this election. I get it, he's not the President you wanted, he's not the guy you voted for, but suck it up buttercup he's who we have. Instead of fighting him every step of the way or continuing this collusion BS or think about impeachment proceedings how about you guys pull on your big boy and girl clothes and get to work. Force him out the right way, give people someone they can vote for instead of him. Right now I'm confident he'd get a second term and that's not ok. That's not acceptable and that's entirely on the Democrats head if he does. They talk so much about what he has not accomplished but they can't point to their own accomplishments either. It's a giant cluster either way you look at it and our Nation isn't in a great place right now so let's all be adults, the Mueller report is out, if you must … read it... learn from it.... then move on. 

One more thing about this Biden has give his time to this Country, he's made a very positive impact along with Obama and frankly needs to step aside. This is NOT his fight. I'm not saying he can't help whomever makes it through the pack of crap running but I just feel it shouldn't fall on his shoulders. He's an amazing man, a loving man, a man that cares about the Veterans and a man that deserves to do whatever he wants at this stage in his life. I'm not sure President is something he needs to add to his resume. However he can do whatever he wants … and likely will. 

Jessie Sommelet - Chicago PD 
Ok just no. Here's what happened. Some asshat actor made up some BS story to get his name in the papers and up his reputation and the social media community pounced on it before they even knew what happened. The public support was so great and he was so high profile that the Chicago PD jumped in with both feet too and put the full force of well the force on this case. They wasted a TON of money, time, efforts, and manhours on this case. The end result being that it was all crap and now they want him to pay for it … no. Good police work will show it's BS from the beginning. You don't throw money down a hole, which is what they did. When they saw it starting to go south you pull back, put less on it and move on. They also dropped all the charges about false statements so they couldn't even get that right. If dude isn't guilty then he shouldn't have to pay. That was on them for letting the public outcry dictate how they ran their department. It was fun to watch it play out while I could cause the wave of social media on this case proved just how messed up social media can be. The support was huge, then the disappointment after learning the "truth" was a dull roar followed by silence. The world moved on long before the Chicago PD did and now that dude can't catch a break yet he still pops up in my news feed from time to time. It's going to be interesting how this plays out to be honest. 5 years from now he'll pop up in some random movie and blow everyone away then he'll be the huge start he wanted to be when all this started. That's my guestimate but first he'll have to endure a Lifetime or BET movie about the entire situation in which they won't even allow him to play himself. 

Ok I’m climbing down now … thank you for letting me get some of this off my chest, I admit I feel better. 

Thanks 
Marcy 
@beaslma

Venting - Work Edition

It’s the weekend!!!!!!! Which means what … nothing ….. well nothing to me. I worked last weekend so this weekend I’m being more lazy than normal. I woke up this morning and realized it’s nearly time for my social media break (March 6 - April 20^th). It’s a rough time to go on a social media break to be honest. In March alone I’m going to North Carolina for a SMPS conference (Ashville) and then going to spend a few days afterwards with my cousin and a friend who just moved to the area. Other interesting things of note for the lent season: my Auburn Tigers will join the rest of the SEC for the Gymnastics Championship in New Orleans (the weekend after my trip or I’d be there); my boss is planning an employee appreciation night at our local college’s baseball game which was really fun last year; my SIL has a birthday; then in April my friend Katie and I are going to see Kiss in Birmingham, and I personally think Baby Sussex will be here sometime in March cause I don’t think Meghan is making it to April, but that’s just my opinion. I’m sure there’s other fun things in the mix I haven’t even thought about yet.

It should be a fun and relaxing month or so, and I can’t begin to tell you how I need it. The last month at work has been beyond insane, and I know I say that a lot but this past month nearly broke Marcy. A submittal I should have had over a month to work on solid, ended up being crammed into a week and a half and in that timeframe, I also had another one to get out the door, and assist with two others. The week to get it done would have been ok but I had a Subconsultant that just wouldn’t send me their information. I finally got it the DAY BEFORE I HAD TO PRINT. That’s not good. That did not make for a happy Marcy. The submittal ended up being 5 pages shy of 200 pages. Not gonna lie almost added some fluff to get me there but I ran out of time. It’s a good submittal. Do we have a snowballs chance in hell of getting the contract? Time will tell. I can honestly say that I did my part. That’s all I can do.

As you know dear reader, I’ll give my job everything I have all week long, I do my best to NOT work a weekend. I think it’s good for me and good for my company for me to have those two days. However, as I recently told a co-worker sometimes you do what you have to do to get it done. Her response to that made my blood boil. She basically told me to my face that I “Shouldn’t be working on Saturdays” then she sent me a link to an article that said “Always leave office on time” saying “you really should read this.” I guess implying that I needed the wisdom of this article in my life. To summarize the article this random dude on Linked In had shared an image of 7 points about why someone should always leave the office on time, then he gave his own 2 cents about each of those points after of course telling everyone how surprised he was that his post nearly went viral, whatever dude.  

Look don’t get me wrong I get it … balancing work and life is a struggle everyone has. Some have kids, husbands, pets, that require their attention at certain times, I myself like my quality time with my TV and adult beverages. I get that I totally do. However, I would argue I’m paid, quite well I should add, to do a job. It’s up to me to get that job done. Literally whatever it takes to get that job done is what I’m going to do. If I need to work a couple extra hours during the week to make that happen then that’s what I’ll do. If a Project Manager isn’t getting back with me the way I think he/she should then I’m going to start putting together pieces and parts knowing that when he does finally engage it may change but at least I’ll have a start of something. . . . anything. The deadline doesn’t change cause she/he isn’t doing his/her part. What my coworker fails to realize is that that PM is usually doing actual work work. Don’t get me wrong our work is important too, but the work HE/SHE does pays my salary which in turn allows me the benefits of enjoying my life away from work. That same PM likely works many a weekend and doesn’t get to complain about it, then again that PM makes way more money than I do for that privilege. Hell last week we had a PM who ended up in the hospital last Friday after spending 3 days walking around unable to breathe. Like for real guys he was not able to take a breath but he did a presentation, had 3 conference calls, visited two offices and then on Friday his coworker drove him to an Urgent Care and the Urgent Care put him in an ambulance. He’s better now but Friday night it was scary wondering if we were ever going to be able to talk to him again. So that’s an extreme that I don’t condone but I can totally understand the mentality behind it. YOU DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO GET IT DONE! Then you lie down, recharge, and start back up again. If these guys can put that effort into it, then I can sacrifice a couple of hours a week and an occasional weekend for them. It’s only fair.  

However, I was talking about this asshat’sarticle, feel free to read it if you wish. The article is a lot of “feel good comments and clichés that really just justified his ass being able to go home at 5. 

His points are shown below …

•  Work is a never ending process
• Interest of a client is important, so is your family
• If you fall in life neither your client or boss will lend you a helping hand, your family will
• Life is not only about work, office and client
• A person who stays late at the office is not a hard working person
• You did not study hard or struggle in life to become a machine
• If your boss forces you to work late

Then as I said he justifies each of these points with his own bouts of wisdom which frankly sound good on paper but that’s all …. It’s not always practical. I do agree with him that work never ends, if it did we’d all have to find new jobs. However, I’d argue that tasks do. If I can stay an extra 30 minutes or and hour at the end of the day to finish something so I can move on to the next task then I’m going to do that cause it will make my tomorrow better. The best part of my job is that the deadlines are hard. Once that deadline gets here the job is done cause if I haven’t submitted then submitting late isn’t going to get us anywhere. So at some point I get to move on no matter if I am ready or not.

This article stresses time management as the reason most people don’t leave the office on time. I’d argue that is true to an extent. However, is it my lack of time management that I spent say 3 hours of my day helping coworkers get their stuff done then have to cram my stuff into the rest of the day? Is that on me or them? When they are walking out the door at a quarter to 5 after me spending time on their work am I the idiot here? Yeah I guess I am. Again, I’d argue that’s the role I’ve risen to in my 15 years at the company. My boss trust me cause he knows giving me a task means he doesn’t have to worry about that task anymore. I take pride in that. I hate when I have to lean on him during a submittal (that 200 pager required him a lot more than typical and I felt bad about that cause every time I left his office one of my coworkers was walking in behind me). So should I be more selfish of my time so that I can increase my “time management” ? Hold that thought ….

The guys second point was that family enriches your life more than a client ever will. I agree with that too cause clients can be nothing of a headache cause clients rarely call when they are happy. However keeping clients happy is important to. I’d wager a guess that if you aren’t available when a client needs you he will soon stop calling you at all. This asshat also fails to realize you spend far more time with coworkers than family in a given week. What I truly love about my place of business is we rally in times of need and support one another in a way that family does. We are after all one big dysfunctional family. I’d also argue that family often let’s you down, so yeah on this one he can suck it. 

The one I took huge objection to was the person who stays late is not a hard working person, mostly cause he went on to say that person is not working effectively or a benefit to the company and is frankly a fool. See previous statement about helping others with their work while I have to do mine after the “time limit” this guy has established has passed. He states planning your day is a major factor in getting your stuff accomplished on time. I make a to do list daily. Sometimes the day before and it starts with the things I need to accomplish (including tasks left over from the day before) in order to meet my given deadlines. Then throughout the day other things get added to that list in another color. It’s always interesting to me at the end of the day seeing what’s crossed off and what’s not and typically it’s the things that get added to my day that are crossed off first. The ironic thing is when I do blow people off so I can focus on my stuff I’m told I’m not a team player, or called not nice names that often rhymes with witch because for one day … one mfing day I’m not being helpful when someone says jump. Again maybe he’s right maybe I am a fool. A fool for coming in on a Friday when what I really wanted to do was take that day off, and for staying until 4 when what I really wanted to do was leave at 3. What was I doing on this day? I spent half of it creating a section for a coworker and writing an approach for a submittal that wasn’t mine, then I pulled resumes for another office and helped a different office with language for a different submittal. However, that’s right it was my choice to not take that day off but if I had who would have handled all that other stuff … my coworkers?! I doubt it. My boss was on vacay with his family Friday so he couldn’t have done it … .so again I ask who!? So Mr. Go home on time guy … whose doing everyone else’s job when I’m being selfish and working on my stuff? Huh?! Ever think about that?! Maybe I am a fool.

His next point … you didn’t study hard or struggle in life to become a machine. Again he’s correct in theory. No one grows up as a small child thinking man if I could only get a job that requires, I work 40-50 hours a week that’s the dream! Mr. Asshat states you have 24 hours…. 8 hours to sleep (who the hell is he kidding), 8 hours for work, and 8 hours on your own. So he’s stating that essentially there are 16 hours to play with here. Cause let’s face it find me an adult who sleeps 8 hours and I’ll show you an adult who is not adulting at all. Then his 8 hours of “my time” does that include say the hour or so it takes to get ready for work in the morning, for the record I can do it in 30 minutes, it aint pretty but I can. What about life time … groceries, taking kids to various appointments, dr appointments, what about commute time, say that takes an hour a day both ways five days a week that’s 10 hours a week right there. What I’m saying is it’s a cute idea and a cliché premise but it’s not practical. That’s my issue with this entire article. Nothing in this article is practical and it might be what’s wrong with this generation. 

Lastly the comment about a boss forcing someone to work late. I’M SORRY BUT YES SOMETIMES PEOPLE NEED TO WORK LATE. THAT’S CALLED LIFE. However, I can tell you I have the best boss on the planet and he’s often begging me not to. He told me one time he had one employee he couldn’t get to leave the office and one he couldn’t get to stay in said office. The truth is my boss has never once told me to stay. He’s told me to leave but he’s never once said you need to stay. He gets that I have this thing that makes me want to succeed and this thing in my brain that if I leave without finishing something I might as well stay cause I’m not going to enjoy wherever I go. AKA I could leave a task unfinished and pick it back up tomorrow and go home but I’m going to be at home stressing about said task being incomplete so 30 minutes here or there will allow to me 100% be at home unstressed about my work life. Plus I’ll sleep better for the 3-4 hours a night that I do get. I will also add that stress dreams about work suck super hard and I don't reccomend them at all.

My point is this …. I work hard, I am very good at my job, I wish others around me understood and were able to also state those things before they send links to me about how I need to reevaluate how I do said job. 

That is all. 

Marcy (@beaslma)