SIX LEGGED CRITTER SINGING IN THE TREES*: 2008-12

Monday, December 29, 2008

I'm stuffed

Well, it was Christmas and all I seem to have been doing is stuff me face with food and copious amounts of alcoholic beverages. I was rather glad to have walked home from my mum's on Saturday (a nice 50 minutes) it was a good bit of low impact exercise, though I suspect it will have made negligible impact on the excess lard I'll have stored over Yuletide.

And speaking of Christmas, it was a nice 'chill fest'. Stayed over at my Mum's, did some entertaining on Boxing Day, and generally relaxed. It was different without my Dad's presence, my Mum and I reminisced like you'd imagine, kept each other company. It was good. I'm hoping it's more of the same over the New Year celebrations.

I'm back at the farm on the 5th, which I'm quite looking forward to, especially after having a lengthy 'recharge'. I'm determined to have a cracking 2009 after this year's calamities, though I seem to have come away from it all a stronger person in more ways than one (not what I expected) and I'm in an 'interesting' position in the 'farm yard'. All I need now is a bigger shovel :)

10:54 AM | Permalink |

Saturday, December 06, 2008

I hate politics

Which considering I'm a trade union rep and a member of a certain British ruling political party may be an odd thing to say. Politics permeates everywhere, and everything nowadays. You can't escape it, politics sadly affects everyone, in every aspect of life from regulating shop opening hours (I'd be stuffed if I couldn't buy milk on a Sunday morning from my local garage) to whether or not Britain goes to war with another state. I guess I understand this, but politics at work is another thing. And the bigger the organisation the worse it is in my experience.

If there's one thing I've learned in recent years, and VERY painfully, is that there's nothing worse than having a line manager who hates you, for whatever irrational, arbitrary, or other reason. It's crap, and I know from personal experience what it's like to be singled out, victimised etc. At best it's an annoyance, at worst it can affect your pay, your career opportunities, your health and in some instances has lead to people taking the ultimate sanction in order to get out the situation (use your imagination).

I blame hierarchies within organisations. Bonuses within business functions dependant on performance, pressures put on successive layers within a business to achieve certain targets, the interrelationship of functions within a business (political units), how they relate to other functions and finally the 'troops', non bonussed employees at the bottom of the 'food chain' who perform the work that ensures the 'managers' get their bonuses. Coupled with a performance related assessment system which relies more on an adherence to a 'bell curve' distribution of performance, than actual performance you have a recipe for all sorts of heartache on the shop floor.

If you're very lucky, you might work in a function that is isolated from other functions within an organisation. This situation, otherwise known as a 'cushy number' is rare within large organisations. In the real world most functions within a business are continually jockeying with each other, asserting influence and establishing a functional hierarchy. Usually, any quality control function is seen as being at the bottom of that hierarchy, irrespective of how well regulated the business may be within it's particular industry. You only have to look at capital expenditure, head count, salaries, career opportunities etc.

Anyway, I'm starting to ramble. But the point I'm trying to make is that in order to survive in today's world of work, it's not enough to be doing your job, you have to be seen to be doing your job. It's about perception, being proactive, being competitive, playing the 'game', otherwise you run the risk of losing your job, your pension etc. The system bloody stinks as far as I'm concerned and it'll only get worse. If you aren't intelligent, or astute enough to see the 'end result' you're stuffed. Is it any wonder that 'back stabbing' is promoted within this system, that people who are otherwise good workers are singled out if for whatever reason their performance falls (personal reasons or otherwise).

And of course, if you are disabled in anyway?

4:40 PM | Permalink |

A birthday

Today would have been my late father's 78th birthday. But instead it's a time of remembrance for me and my family. Last night I stayed over at my mum's, the first time I've seen her in too many weeks. I phone her every day, but it's not the same really. Anyway, it was wonderful to arrive 'home' to a smiling face and a hot meal. It was bliss to spend a bit of quality time with my family, something I wish I had the opportunity to take for granted.I miss my dad, even though he could be a pain in the arse at times. Christmas is approaching and I'm not sure I'm looking forward to it without my father.

3:23 PM | Permalink |