Cuando Despierto en la Mañana Se Que Tengo el Poder Para una Dia Triumfar

Wednesday. I expected today to be slow and dull, but in fact, the quite opposite has been the case. I've been quite busy today. I knew I was in for a long day when I answered the phone 10 minutes after I logged in just to hear the sound of screaming. Not screaming at me, per say, but an actual "AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGHHHHH!!!!" Apparently this is an indication that the receivables website is down. Now even though I oversee and maintain the database for said receivables website, I do not oversee its publishing. I just put it out on the FTP site and IT takes it from there. So, after placing a call to IT I get the answer back 7 hours later that the Coldfusion server was down, no one in IT was notified and it wasn't until they researched my problem that they noticed the issue. Now regular readers know that I have a general disdain for our corporate IT help desk (that's a misnomer if I've ever heard one), but I just figured it was because they hired completely incompetent and unknowledgeable people to answer the phones, but that the people actually behind the scenes knew what was going on. However, today has made me doubt even that (with exception to the very nice gentleman that rebooted the server and got things back up and running for me). Seriously, how can people who can pass all kinds of high level math and science courses, not to mention understand intricate technological applications, still be so clueless? The world may never know...

Other than that, I am trying to clean up some really ugly messes on one of my accounts and approving sales orders as they come in. I'm also emailing Lampside back and forth right now, which (along with the writing of this post), is currently taking up the majority of my attention (as it should).

Today is part two of my Ozomatli discussion. Yesterday I listened to Ozomatli's first album, Ozomatli, and today I listened to their latest album Street Signs. While both albums exhibited the same mix of Latin funk, rock and hip-hop, the differences were still noticeable. The biggest difference to me was the replacement of Chali 2na of the Jurassic 5 with another MC to perform the rap vocals. The new guy isn't bad at all, but since I am partial to the J5 sound, I have to give the edge to the first album. The second album had much better production values. That can be both good and bad, depending on how you look at it. It is always a good thing to have a crisp, clean sound, but there is also something to be said about the more raw and truer output that comes from low production. Again, I'm giving the first release the nod on this one.

I did like Street Signs though, and I have really enjoyed the past two mornings listening to this band. You might have heard a few cuts from Street Signs on the radio. They play (Who Discovered) America and Love & Hope here in the Denver/Boulder market, so perhaps they have made it to your area as well (if Clear Channel in their infinite wisdom decides that is what they want you to listen to). Those tunes are ok, but I don't think they really represent what the group is all about. I recommend picking up Ozomatli to get the real scoop. Definitely good stuff.

When the Stage is Free, the Rage in Me is Contained

Tuesday. Well, I'm back after a long holiday weekend. The good news is that I didn't have to deal with Monday yesterday. The bad news is that I have to deal with both Monday and Tuesday today. Awesome. Another benefit of the long weekend was that I had a chance for my emotions to cool down a bit. Don't get me wrong, I am still plenty frustrated with my situation here, but I am now able to think somewhat rationally about it instead of sitting here stewing while my blood reaches its boiling point. Of course, it may not take much to get me back up to that level, but for right now I've got things under control.

I decided that instead of confronting the Big Boss Lady at our next juncture (being my annual review), I thought I would launch a volleying shot over her bow by disclosing my frustrations within my annual personal performance evaluation form that I have to submit to her prior to my review. This form includes a section in which you "discuss your career interests including positions, responsibilities, and timing." In this section I basically laid out my argument (firmly but professionally) on why they should promote me. I feel that I brought up many good points, and focused on why it would be a good decision business-wise, not just saying, "johnny needs a raise." I went through it several times to make sure it read ok and that it got the point across without implying too much anger or nastiness, and then I sent it off. I know that she got it, because she acknowledged its receipt. Now I guess we'll see what comes of it. I'll be sure to let you all know in about three weeks' time.

I have some new music to discuss today. Well, technically these guys aren't new since they've been around since the late 1990's, but since they are new to my collection and new to this blog, I am going to designate them as "new." They are Ozomatli. Ozomatli plays a combination of Latin rock, funk, rap, salsa, and several other genres thrown in. Since you may be wondering (because I did), according to Wikipedia, "Ozomatli take their name from the Nahuatl word for the Aztec astrological symbol of the monkey, which is also a god of dance, fire, the new harvest, and music." Hmmm... interesting. I take my name, John, from an old Hebrew word that roughly translates as "one whose parents could not come up with more original or less boring nomenclature."

Ozomatli originates from California, but also enjoys significant levels of popularity here in Colorado. They have a few tunes that make it on the radio here, and they perform here in concert from time to time as well. I have had kind of a fond familiarity with them, but up until this point I had not checked them out further, even after they appeared on the Sublime tribute album doing a decent cover of April 29, 1992. Their name came up again as I was thinking of new music to check out, and so here we are covering the first of two Ozomatli discussions, the first being on their self-titled album Ozomatli.

Ozomatli will be an excellent candidate for future Friday music selections. This album is fun and funky. I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that Chali 2na and Cut Chemist from the Jurassic Five both contributed heavily to this album. I really like the J5, and a few tracks kind of sounded as if someone dropped one of their albums into a Latino blender with no lid, causing the contents to explode everywhere in a musical eruption. Ok, that was a bit overdoing it with the language, but it was pretty cool. The rest of the tracks are very funky, with not a down tune in the mix. I liked this album and I look forward to listening to another Ozomatli album tomorrow. I definitely recommend it to those who like Latino funk, the Jurassic Five, and salsa (both the music genre and the condiment. Doesn't pretty much anything taste better with salsa?). Good stuff.

It’s Gone on Long Enough, What Has it Changed for You?

Thursday. I'm still reeling from yesterday's frustrations, which has unfortunately resulted in quite a bad attitude on my part today. I spent the vast majority of the morning in managerial teleconferences, which only compounded my anger and frustration. Why even have me attend these things if they aren't going to give me the same title of everyone else attending? A few days ago I would have just assumed it was because the title was pending as promised. However, today I am convinced it is because they realize they have gotten me to perform that level of work for the past ten months at 30% less of the expense. So all the talk that went on two years ago, ten months ago, six months ago, three months ago, etc, has all turned out to be just empty promises and false allusions. It has been suggested to me that I should confront the Big Boss Lady next month during my review since the company won't fire me and that there is obviously no promotion in jeopardy. I am seriously considering it. In three or four weeks' time perhaps my rage will settle down enough that I can actually carry on a rational discourse on the situation without combusting into a fiery ball of frustrated fury (how's that for an alliteration?). If anything, the Big Boss Lady won't be able to say that my departure took her by surprise or that I didn't communicate any issues that I may have been experiencing. No matter what I have to stick around for at least a few more months. I have a surgery coming up and I need my insurance to cover it. After that? Who knows? We'll see how this whole review/confrontation turns out. It will probably just result in more empty promises like all of the other ones, but we'll see I guess.

Sorry, I don't have any new music to discuss today. Sure, there is plenty out there for me to explore but I just haven't gotten there yet. I'll work on it. For this morning, though, I just listened to Keep it Like a Secret by Built to Spill. I really dig those guys and really enjoy this album in particular. It had been a few months since I gave it a listen, so I felt the time was right. It sure was. In my opinion, this album rocks. I've discussed BtS on this site like a bajillion times before though so I am going to wrap this up for now. It's time to get back to imaginative playtime. Today I'm going to pretend that I am higher up in the company by doing far more work than my title dictates for significantly less pay. Yippeee!!!

You Have to See This Through, There’s No One Here But You

Wednesday. I've had better days. Sure, I've had worse days, but really I wouldn't mind having one of those better days right about now. I won't bother giving you a laundry list of today's grievances, but let's just say that the ball hasn't exactly been bouncing in my direction today. I will share the following, though. The Big Boss Lady was in town. We had a big long talk about accounts, business, and things just in general. All of her comments regarding my accounts or the job I am doing was positive, so nothing to tell there. I have my annual review coming up next month, so I tried to prime her up and to get an advance feel of how it is going to go. You see, ever since one of the financial managers mysteriously disappeared off of our payroll without word or warning last February I have been bucking for a promotion. I have been busting my tail off since the beginning of the year significantly bringing my account balances down, working on special projects, flying around the country, attending conferences, giving presentations, and doing whatever else I could do to put myself in the best light possible to demonstrate that I am ready for these new responsibilities. All during this time I have been doing these things with the understanding that these are the things that I had to do to get this promotion. I mean, this is basically what the Big Boss Lady had been telling me and hinting at since January, even before the financial manager disappeared. However, after speaking with her today I got the very strong feeling that this promotion was not going to happen after all, at least not any time soon. She pretty much took a reverse tack of what she had been saying all spring. So right now I am kind of feeling used. I tell you what, I didn't rack up a second mortgage in school loans getting a graduate degree in business just to languish in the stagnant waters of the bottom rung. I know my value in the job market and if this company is not going to at least recognize me via title and compensation for the job I do, I will be more than happy to do it elsewhere. I know I am a bit heated right now, but seriously, why show loyalty to a company that does not show loyalty to its own employees? When it all comes down to it, I have to look out for me and my own since it is obvious no one else is going to.

All that being said, the guy who I've been helping out in Texas offered me a job in Houston today. It would be a significant pay increase, but I have to say that there would never be a pay increase significant enough to get me to move to Texas (he did also offer me a company car, though). Sorry to any Texans out there, but let's just say that Texas would probably welcome me as much as I would welcome a move to Texas. It takes a certain kind of person to live there, and that person is not I. I don't want to mess with Texas, I am perfectly happy to leave it completely alone.

I have some new music to discuss today. A little while back I heard a female vocalist on the radio who piqued my interest. After a little research I discovered that the female vocalist in question is an artist by the name of Brandi Carlile. Yes, that is Brandi with an "i." Now, I'm sorry to all of the Brandis (or Brandys) out there, but I find it very hard to take someone with the name of "Brandi" seriously when it comes to music. I mean, Brandi sounds too much like "Brittany" or "Tiffany." In fact wasn't there already a pop singer named Brandy? And Brandi spelled with an "i"? That definitely seems a bit teenybopper to me. I have a vision of a big bubbly signature with a heart or a smiley face used to dot the I. She should seriously consider going by "Brandice" or some other more formal name instead. I do think that "Balinda" Carlile has already been taken, though, so if that one was on the list she might want to cross it off.

Of course, I shouldn't stereotype just based off of a name. I mean, not everyone can be a "john" (just those in the vicinity of Colfax Avenue in Denver who have $50 in cash on their person...). And truth be told, this eponymous album isn't that bad. Brandi, you're a fine girl. Ms. Carlile's voice has a mellow, folksy feel that is quite accessible. The mood on the album helped me try to maintain my inner calm as I sat behind a bad traffic accident for an extra half hour this morning (did I mention that today has not gone well?). I don't know of a good comparison, but I am willing to bet that those who like Bonnie Raitt, Cat Power and Feist would mostly likely enjoy Brandi Carlile since she seemed to me to be a mixture of all three. I liked Brandi Carlile and would suggest picking it up if you are into the whole "mellow, folksy female vocalist" genre. Recommended tracks: What Can I Say and Throw it All Away.

We Desire Disorder; With This Design We’re All Born Our Own Destroyer

Tuesday. Well, today has been a busy day, that's for sure. Most of that's because I had to leave work after about an hour of being here yesterday morning to go comfort an ailing young one. It was certainly worth it, but coming back in to a stack of stuff pending is not exactly my number one choice of favorite scenarios. None of it has been that bad, it is just a matter of catching up. I'm still a bit behind, but since I didn't post yesterday I'm a bit behind on my blog as well, and of course I have my priorities...

Last week I posted my 56 Reasons Why I Love My Stapler Remover a day late, and as compensation I agreed to Sass's suggestion that I pick an artist or band I am currently unfamiliar with from the list of performers at the Hillside Music Festival to use for an upcoming discussion. Well, faithful readers, that upcoming discussion has come up. I have to admit that the selection was wide open. I only recognized Feist's name on the list, so I could have chosen just about anyone and I would have been ok. However, I wanted to at least get a general feel for the pool of choices. So, I looked up a good many of the bands to find out which ones would be the best candidates for my listening pleasure. My top choice was The Sadies, but unfortunately the music fairy was unable to deliver. The music fairy was able to deliver The Tournament of Hearts by The Constantines, however, so here we go:

The Tournament of Hearts is The Constantines' third album (I believe, feel free to correct me if I am wrong). According to several reviews this album is a departure from their earlier releases, but since I have never heard their earlier releases I have no idea where they are departing from so it didn't make much of a difference. I did learn that The Tournament of Hearts is named after a Canadian ladies' curling championship, which the members of the band watched during hockey's absence due to the strike. Also, according to several websites that I read, the album cover depicting a large jagged rock is some kind of curling joke, but I don't know anything about curling except that one player slides a big weight down the ice (called a "rock" but not the rock in the picture, although I am fairly certain this is where the joke lay) and two other guys run in front of it with brooms trying to change its direction. Wow, I am surprised. I just realized that I know more about curling than I thought, though probably still minuscule in comparison to what people who really follow the sport know. I am pretty sure that a curling iron is not involved, though.

I'm starting to go on crazy tangents here, so I'll try to re-focus. Tournament of Hearts is a tribute of sorts to the working class and society's members that have been left behind. Each song follows this theme from a different aspect. I was personally hoping that the track Lizaveta was a reference to a character in The Brothers Karamazov, but after reading the lyric sheet I don't think that's the case. Of course, some might consider a reference to a character from a 19th century Russian novel in a concept album dealing with 21st century Canadian social classes to be a bit of a stretch, but I think those people are just close-minded and lack imagination.

I think I just went off on another tangent again. Where was I? Oh yeah, Dostoyevsky. Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote several novels that are often considered some of the greatest in classic literature. A few of these novels include Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, The Idiot... wait... sorry, wrong track... backup... start again... The Tournament of Hearts was an enjoyable listen, if not remarkable. I took the liberty of listening to the album the past two mornings, and derived pleasure from both experiences, but I don't know of anything radical and/or new on this release that would make it a landmark recording. I am now curious about what their first two albums sound like so I know where they departed from and possible find out where they may go to next. I recommend listening to this album, but only after reading Notes from Underground first.

Thanks for the suggestion, Sass. I appreciate it.

I’m Thinking About Power: The Ways a Man Could Use It or Be Destroyed by It

Friday. Yeah! Well, today has been a busy day to end a busy week, but at least it's almost over. I have spent most of my day cleaning up all of the piddly stuff I couldn't get to the rest of the week when I was trying to take care of all of the big things that came up. I also spent a good chunk of time trying to help out this guy in Texas by customizing his software layout for him. I could do it, but for some reason it wouldn't let me make it available for other user IDs to use. Other people here can, but for some reason I cannot. So... I called our always-reliable user support line to ask how I can change my settings to be able to do it and the extremely informative answer I got was "oh wow, I really don't know." Now I don't know, but I don't exactly feel comfortable knowing that I can so easily stump the IT person whose sole job it is to answer questions like the one I just asked. At least throw out a BS answer that goes over my head so I can at least think you know what you are talking about. This just adds onto the steadily growing pile of evidence that I have accumulated that has brought me to the conclusion that our help desk is completely inept and clueless. No wonder the Big Boss Lady asked me, Johnny Financial, to help out Tex instead of having him call them. Jeesh.

I woke up in kind of a bad mood this morning. I am pretty sure it was a carryover from a foul mood I was in last night from unsuccessfully repairing my sprinkler system. I'm the kind of guy who gets really bothered by not being able to resolve a problem. I can get extremely persistent. However, when it became apparent that I wasn't going to fix it last night, I had to put it aside, as much as I didn't want to. So, I woke up still frustrated this morning so I knew I had to pick out some Friday tunes that not only got my weekend started off right, but also could exorcise these demons of vexation. My choice: Nothing's Shocking by Jane's Addiction.

I love Jane's Addiction. They're up there as one of my favorite bands (along with the countless others of my "favorite bands"). However, of all of these favorite bands, I never got the chance to see Jane's in concert. Totally lame. Anyway, I totally rocked out on the way in to work and allowed myself to exert the pent up frustration that I had swallowed down the night before. If you've ever been completely ticked off and cranked Pigs in Zen, then you know exactly what I mean. Idiots Rule provided an excellently appropriate backdrop to the north Denver traffic as well. This whole album is good. It's usually a tough call to chose between Nothing's Shocking and Ritual De Lo Habitual as the better album, but today there was no doubt. By the time I pulled into the parking lot I was ready to go. Friday had been saved.

The Jokes They're Always Bad, But They're Not as Bad as This

Thursday. I'm being pulled on all sides today. It appears that everyone wants me to be his or her advocate for whatever reason or another. A sales rep wants me to talk to operations to figure out how to correct her overbilled sales order. The Big Boss Lady wants me to call down to Texas to help some guy set up his software parameters. A sales rep wants me to check on his vendor payments. A stranger on the corner wants me to deliver a large, unmarked brown paper package to that guy in the van across the street. What is the deal, people? Why do you need to involve me to get your respective jobs done? On top of that I have a bunch of other junk going on, not to mention I'm trying to upload our receivables website today. Fun times.

Ok, as promised, here are the 56 Reasons Why I Love My Staple Remover:

1. It has cool wingy things coming off the sides of it to keep your fingers from slipping when you squeeze it.
2. It is in an unpretentious medium-brown color.
3. Like me, it made Minnesota its home before coming to Colorado to have a better life.
4. While the stapler has gone through many generations, style changes, and "improvements," the staple remover has pretty much retained its simplicity and form.
5. You can squeeze it and fiddle with it while on long, boring phone calls.
6. If those calls get really boring, you can imagine that your staple remover kind of looks like the mouth of a biting dog or dragon. Rarrrr!!!!
7. It doesn't squeak when you squeeze it.
8. It fits perfectly into its own little spot in my desk drawer tray.
9. It was made in China, and serves as a symbol of how capitalistic trade has thawed the tensions between our two philosophically and politically opposed countries.
10. It demonstrates that nothing is binding, and that anything done can just as easily be undone.
11. It does not require an instruction manual.
12. It very, very rarely fails to serve its purpose.
13. Much like the average worker, despite its consistent reliability and performance record, it rarely gets the recognition that it deserves.
14. When in an office supply battle with a co-worker, you can hastily assemble a slingshot out of two pens, a couple of strong rubber bands and a stapler. Then use the stapler remover as one mad projectile, yo.
15. In moments of frustration, it makes a fairly good makeshift paper shredder.
16. I bet even the CEO uses a staple remover from time to time.
17. Current price at Office Depot for staple remover: $1.49. I've had mine for about 3 years, for a total straight-line expense of about 50 cents per year. Not a bad investment...
18. Unlike my adding machine, it never taunts me with out of balance figures.
19. I just threw it against the wall and it didn't break (although it did elicit some odd stares...).
20. You've never heard of tape removers, rubber band removers, or binder clip removers have you? The stapler remover alone rules the world of releasing paper from their respective binding materials.
21. Sometimes the simplest designs or ideas produce the most effective results.
22. For the most part, it is coffee-resistant.
23. Unlike my stapler, it never jams.
24. I'm fairly sure that OSHA has never recorded an injury incident involving a stapler remover.
25. I don't have to answer my stapler remover. Screw you, phone. Quit ringing!
26. 56 reasons I love my tape dispenser? I don't think so.
27. Could possibly double as a home ear-piercing kit. You might want to numb things down with an ice cube first, though.
28. Even though I supposedly work on a "paperless" system, it has yet to be rendered obsolete.
29. Unlike the eraser, this error-correction tool does not diminish with each use.
30. It has its own Wikipedia entry
31. Per this Wikipedia entry, the opposing wedge type staple remover is superior to a simple wedge because it removes staples with minimal damage to the paper documents, whereas a wedge may unintentionally tear said paper documents.
32. Mine is a superior opposing wedge type staple remover, which makes me feel superior for having one.
33. While newfangled fancy office gadgets may be hip and look cool, can they still deliver the same level of satisfaction?
34. You can feed it a staple diet.
35. You can spend a lifetime pondering whether the side with the outside teeth or the inside teeth is the top or bottom.
36. After figuring that out, you can spend a second lifetime wondering if it really matters.
37. It may not be the best, but it's my own.
38. It never slaps you when you give something else a squeeze.
39. Its inner spring always keeps it bouncing back for more.
40. If you place one staple remover in one hand, and one in the other, you can pretend to play the castanets. Co-workers no doubt will delight in your office supply rendition of La Cucaracha.
41. Why would you not like one of these things? Seriously.
42. Since the staple remover transcends all languages and boundaries, it can be used as a common bond between differing cultures and hemispheres.
43. It is just way too fun to say "Me encanta mi sacagrapa!"
44. It is helping me serve my sole purpose in life: to rid the world of all things stapled.
45. If in trouble, you can use it to send out an SOS old school telegraph style.
46. It can rest on all six of its sides.
47. The plastic handle can prevent electric shock should any of my staples be carrying a charge.
48. I don't have to tell it "I love you." It just knows.
49. When lacking rubber gloves, the staple remover can be used to pick up, um, "questionable" items.
50. Sharp enough to raise a staple, dull enough not to break the skin.
51. Unlike my Swingline stapler, it is not in danger of being replaced by a Boston model.
52. I'm taking it with me when I leave.
53. It likes me, it really likes me!
54. It appeals to my deconstructive nature.
55. It provides the perfect antithesis, yin/yang balance to my stapler.
56. And finally (can you tell I'm starting to fade out here?)... It's just super groovy. Need I say more?

I still don't have any new music to review for today. Hopefully, thanks to Sass I should have some soon. In the meantime I have been listening to more Pavement. Before yesterday it had been a long while since I had given them a listen. Pavement is one of those bands that I really like but forget how really cool they are until I start listening to them again. Today's choice was Slanted and Enchanted, Pavement's crown jewel. This album is super good, but I've discussed this one before, plus I've got to finish up this pile of work on my desk, so I'll desist for now.

I Need to Get Born, I Need to Get Dead; I’m Sick of the Forms, I’m Sick of Being Misread

Wednesday. I had a doctor's appointment this morning. Faithful readers will remember that I finally broke down and went to an Ear, Nose & Throat doctor last month to get checked out after a lifetime of not being able to breath through my nose. Ok, I shouldn't say, "can't" because I can, but it is extremely difficult. I mean I have to really try at it most of the time. Couple that with bad allergies that can't drain due to these structural problems, and you get one miserable Johnny every time the weather or season changes. Well, last month the doctor told me to take allergy meds for a month and to come back once all the swollen tissue/inflammation had gone down. Today was that return visit. The doctor said that now that the inflammation had been treated, it was time to address the structural issues. He poked, prodded, briefly went over all of the problems again that he told me I had last time, and then asked me how I felt about correcting them. I asked him if he meant surgery, and he said yes. I told him that I would be interested in doing anything possible in order to be able to breathe as long as my insurance covered it and/or the deductible was reasonable. He said "good" and then began telling me what he was going to do, which is in medical terms a septoplasty, nasal valve stenosis/repair, and turbinate reduction in both nostrils. Basically this means that he is going to break my nose, correct my deviated septum, and slice off some problematic nasal tissue restricting airflow. To do this he will have to implant some cartilage to do the restructuring. I jokingly asked him if he was going to take it from my ear. He said that in many cases, yes, but in mine, no, which was good because the recovery time for the ear was much worse than for the nose. Ok, then, that teaches me to ask those kinds of questions...

Anyway, the point of the story is (there's a point?) that I am tentatively scheduled for surgery at the end of June. I plan to take off work at least a week afterwards since I have been told from several sources that recovery is pretty harsh and to expect a lot of facial bruising. Sweet... However, everyone that I have talked to who has had this surgery done not only has praised its after effects, but has strongly urged me to do the same. My good friend Lampsidebriefcase reiterated to me again today that even though "it is not fun... I would do it over and over again to get the results." I trust Lampside. He would never try to deceive me. Well, except for EVERY SINGLE SHIFT we worked at that restaurant together ;-). But that's a different story from a different life, although those were definitely good times...

So, now I am trying to catch up from being out all morning getting medical instruments shoved up my nose. I'm barely caught up from being out two days at the end of last week. I resolved that whole lien issue that I had to scramble to deal with at the end of the day yesterday, and now I am trying to get some reports done.

I listened to Pavement's Brighten the Corners on the drive into work today. I didn't have any new music to review plus I had a hankering for some Pavement since their name came up during a Broken Social Scene discussion a few days ago. I've done several posts on Pavement, including this one here, so I'll stop now to avoid redundancy. I know, Sass, that I said I was going to list 56 detailed reasons why I love my staple remover today, but I'm sorry, I'm going to have to bump it to tomorrow's post. It's time to get back to work. I hope you understand...

Is This Greeting the Type That’s Meant for Me? Are You Part of this Khakistocracy?

Tuesday. Things have been steady today. I spent a significant chunk of the morning putting together my pre-upload spreadsheet for the receivables website and now I am trying to track collection dollars. I have also been slammed with order forms requesting to use non-approved suppliers, a phenomenon that I have not been alone in experiencing. After months of having orders hung up by a relatively new audit process on the part of the customer (enacted after a food vendor was caught charging the customer $20/ea for 50-cent ice cube trays), things appear to finally be kicking loose. I guess now it is up to us to deal with the flood of paperwork coming in as a result. Don't get me wrong, I am more than happy to see the company making sales, but having everything hit at once can be a bit overwhelming to say the least.

Other than that, I am in the middle of a dispute between one contractor who we bid out to do work for us and one of their material suppliers who is awaiting payment. The material supplier is trying to file a mechanic's lien against us so we will strong arm the contractor into payment. I advised the freaked out sales rep who was presented this notice that the form was basically toothless since the party in dispute is a second-tier subcontractor and is not covered by the Miller Act. Plus, the lien won't stick because of the status of the entity for whom we were providing work for as a prime vendor. The sales rep said she was thankful to have me around because I knew what I was talking about. I replied "good, then all the BS I'm throwing out to blind you is working because I am just faking it as I go along." She laughed. She thinks I was joking.

I have some brand-spanking new music to review today. Yeah! I heard a song on the radio called Steady as She Goes and thought it was kind of catchy. The DJ said it was by the Raconteurs. I went home and did some investigation and apparently The Raconteurs are comprised of Jack White of the White Stripes and several members of the indy band Greenhornes. Apparently they are good friends who got together to jam and Steady as She Goes was the result. It was so well received they put together a full-length album entitled Broken Boy Soldiers. Shortly afterward I secured a copy of this album and now I am going to discuss it right here on this very site. Simply amazing how that all worked out.

First, apparently "raconteur" means "one who excels at anecdotes." I would say that I have a funny story about that, but since I'm not a raconteur myself, I will just move on. Broken Boy Soldiers sounds very Beatlesque, circa their 1968 psychedelic era. The whole thing has this late-60s rock feel to it. Each song is very listenable, though I have to say that none of the tracks appear to be very musically deep. It had kind of a poppy feel, but since it is 1960's pop you can just call it retro and render it "cool" to keep from feeling guilty for liking it. Jack White's presence is somewhat subdued, which is actually a plus. Not that I don't like the White Stripes, but I would rather hear something new than just another White Stripes record released under a different band name (which often happens with side projects). Overall I thought it was an enjoyable listen, but I don't think you'll find anything here that will change the musical landscape as we know it. This album comes off as a group of friends just having fun making music together, and I would recommend it to anyone else who thinks they would have fun as well when checking it out.

Don’t Get High On What You Create, It Might Just Steal Ya

Monday. Ok, everyone I'm back. You can all now let out your collective sighs of relief... Overall, I think everything went well on this trip. I was invited to attend and present at a regional sales meeting for all of our company's sales representatives in the southwest region, the area in which I represent financially. Going into this thing as a financial rep is like voluntarily entering a den of lions. Generally speaking, our friends on the sales and customer service side usually don't care for us folks in financial (or as they like to call us, "the sales prevention department") for rejecting their orders, making them jump through bureaucratic paperwork hoops, and all-in-all being proverbial wet blankets where their commissions are concerned. Considering that I was there to present a riveting report on financial numbers, figures, receivables, and other things that sales people couldn't care less about, I thought everything went over ok. I tried to sugar coat my doom-and-gloom receivables numbers, etc, with a bit of levity throughout to ease the pain, and I think it was well received. I heard chuckles and not crickets in the right spots, so that was a relief. The true test will be whether or not they listened, and not just heard, what I had to say. We really do need to tighten up our receivables in a bad way, and it is to everyone's benefit to do so. Hopefully they got that message.

There was also quite an, um, "active" roundtable discussion in which the sales and customer service reps aired out their many grievances, many of them towards the financial department (*gasp!* like we could do any wrong...). During this time, I got one of the best professional compliments I have ever received. One CSR was going off about all of the things that her financial rep (not me) was requiring her to do in order to get an order released, and a sales rep sitting in front of me turned around, extended a handshake and thanked me for being "the best financial rep she ever had" because she "knew exactly what (that CSR) was talking about and she was so glad she didn't have to deal with it anymore." There is a bit of a back-story to that compliment, but basically it confirmed to me that my personal professional philosophy and approach is working. Since I took over that account group last August we have made mile-long strides in cleaning up those large outstanding receivables, plus I made a friend and an ally with someone who previously did not work well with the financial department (not solely for reasons on her part). While tradition in this company sets our two groups as opposing forces, I see things differently. I remember getting odd looks when I first started at this company for things I would do that went against the way things were done. I got a flood of cold stares when I once walked over to the customer service department to talk face to face with someone regarding a discrepancy. When I noticed the tinge of oddness in the air, I asked "what?" To which I was told "You are over here. Financial people NEVER come over here." Why the hell not? We all work for the same company, don't we? And that's just one example.

Anyway, I think the trip went well. If anything I got to meet face-to-face a lot of people that I usually deal with only via phone or email, so hopefully that will kind of soften the cold financial guy envisionment of me that they probably maintained up until that point. It is weird matching up faces to how you picture them. A lot of people were nothing like I expected. I wonder if I was what others expected of me?

Random thought:

I usually listen to cool jazz when I'm on an airplane. I find it very relaxing and disarming, plus it provides an excellent backdrop to read, look out the window, rest your eyes, or whatever you find yourself doing strapped to a chair several miles above the ground. However, this time I listened to a couple of Cat Power albums instead. Excellent decision.

Today's music selection on the drive in to work this morning was Broken Social Scene by Broken Social Scene. This pick comes from a strong recommendation from Sweet Li’l Gal, who suggested picking this album up after I reviewed BSS's You Forgot it in People. I am happy to report that this album (and SLG's recommendation) did not disappoint. I enjoyed Broken Social Scene thoroughly. Broken Social Scene (the band, not the album) reminds me a bit like Pavement (the band, not the sidewalk). Not so much in musical style, per se, but in their approach. When listening to a BSS release, you don't exactly expect 10-15 independent tracks combined together to form an album, but something that needs to be soaked in and appreciated as a whole. I'm not talking about a concept album, or songs that simply flow into each other, but axioms that build into a single proof. In the days of a la carte downloading (of which I admit contributory guilt), the idea of the single, solid album has been pretty much rendered obsolete (along with album cover artwork, regretfully). It's good to hear a band that isn't afraid to open themselves up musically, and not be so concerned about putting out a dozen or so ready-made singles thoughtlessly compiled to form an album. I highly recommend picking this one up.

Boy, that was a long post.

I Wonder What I’ll Do Today; I’ve Got a Feeling I’ll be Doing the Same Things All Over Again

Wednesday. Today I have been working on a presentation that I will be giving tomorrow to the combined sales and operations personnel of the region in which I represent. At first the Big Boss Lady asked me to give an updated version of the presentation I put together for our financial conference in March, but after reviewing my slides I realized that this just wasn't going to work. Since the division that I work for operates well outside our company's core competencies, many people have no idea what we do or what we are all about. The first presentation was designed for an audience who fell into this category. However, tomorrow's audience is exclusively made up of people within our group who would be completely bored with such an introductory approach to our region's state of business. I spoke with the Big Boss Lady this morning and related this issue to her, and she agreed that I should overhaul the presentation to make it more relevant to our peers. I kicked around a few ideas that I had, and she simply said to "go for it." She said that she was giving me free reign on this one and I could put together whatever I wanted. I am really kind of touched on the amount of trust and levity she has given me. I better really make this one good so I can get more of these types of opportunities in the future.

Today's music selection for the drive in was Monarch by Feist. I really enjoy Feist's recent release Let it Die, and after hearing that she has played a significant part in Broken Social Scene as well as being a former punk rocker, I was fairly curious about what her other stuff sounded like. So, I picked up Monarch and gave it a go. I have to say I like Let it Die better. Let it Die contains kind of a bit of fun that Monarch does not. On Let it Die, Feist seems to be enjoying herself more (as evidenced by her cover of an old Bee Gees tune Inside and Out). On Monarch, it seems to be all business. Monarch isn't bad by any means, it is just that after hearing Let it Die, I yearned to hear more of that side of Feist than the serious side presented on Monarch. Of course, since most Feist fans heard Monarch first, they probably make the opposite comparison and lament the loss of Feist's "serious artist persona." Anyway, I liked Monarch and enjoyed listening to it, but I would recommend picking up Let it Die first if you don't already have it. To me, it's the better album.

Finally, as a head's up to everyone out there, since I will be traveling to corporate headquarters tomorrow to attend this regional conference, I will not have access to a computer to be able to post for the next few days. I know, I've been missing a few posts lately, but I'll be back on Monday. Fight to hang on until then...

All I Can Be Is a Busy Sea of Spinning Wheels and Hands that Feel for Stones to Throw

Tuesday. Today has been a pretty steady day for me. It hasn't been too busy, nor too slow. It was just right. Ok, now I feel like Goldilocks. You know, a nap in Baby Bear's bed actually doesn't sound so bad right about now...

I spend most of the day working in spreadsheets. I tracked a bunch of vendor payments, and then I put together my pre-upload spreadsheet. I have also been playing around in the customer's new A/R website, since I will need to have working knowledge of how to use this thing since they closed down their old website and I need to know how to get certain information for our website to be correct. Plus, no one else around here knows how to use their site, so having the only working knowledge in the company of how it operates (and learning it on my own volition, nonetheless) can't be too bad a thing, either.

Upon Sweet Li’l Gal's advice, I checked out another Wilco album today, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. This album title refers to either three armed services radio call letters, or to a certain kind of dance step founded in a Northern US lodging establishment. I have yet to figure that one out yet.

I am in full agreement with SLG that this album is superior to A.M. However, I must admit I was skeptical at first. The first few tunes were similar to yesterday's experience: ok tracks, but not exactly mind-blowingly awesome or anything. However, it started to really pick up after about the third song. In fact, a few of the tracks sounded downright poppy, especially Heavy Metal Drummer, which I recognized from the local college radio station. I also enjoyed I'm the Man Who Loves You and Jesus, Etc.

I'm sure that hardcore Wilco fans out there would accuse me of picking out the obvious "single" tunes and ignoring the band's greater works of genius on the album. They probably have a point. However, I am going off first impressions here, and I have to be honest about what I hear and how I hear it. I'll be listening to this album again. There's some good stuff on here. Perhaps I'll begin to appreciate the rest a little bit more along the way.

Hey, Wake Up; Your Eyes Weren’t Open Wide

Monday. Man, I am bored today. I just don't get it. Last week I was totally slammed. Today I am scrounging for things to keep me busy. I mean, there are always things to do, but I prefer working towards a means to an end, not just keeping myself busy just for the sake of keeping myself busy. There's only so much filing that a guy can take before the eventual nervous breakdown from the monotony takes over. And even then, that's only a good 15-20 minutes of unbridled insanity to enjoy, and then I'm left with a whole rest of the day as a letdown. Oh well. I guess I should just continue on researching these discrepancies.

I'm also supposed to be putting together a presentation that I have to give on Thursday when I visit corporate HQ. I feel uninspired. I think I will continue to put this off until the last minute in which I freak out and scramble to get it done. That's how I tend to produce my best work.

Today's music selection is A.M. by Wilco. Somebody who didn't think that today's music scene had enough sub-genres has decided to designate Wilco as "alt-country" whatever that means. Apparently, that means you can have an acoustic, folksy-sound without having to sing in the twangy accent required for most major country and western releases. I have been cognizant up until this point that there is a pretty decent Wilco following out there. However, I never really gave them a listen. No reason why. I just didn't. However, in my never-ending search for new tunes, I decided that perhaps now was the time to give them a shot. So, I decided to start in the beginning with their first release, A.M. This album is ok. The songs were catchy, and it was an enjoyable listen, but it didn't really blow my mind out or anything. I read some other reviews after the fact and some said that I should listen to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot instead. Maybe I'll try that one out tomorrow. Until then, I'm a little hesitant on a glowing recommendation. A.M. certainly wasn't bad, but I don't know if it was strong enough for me to give it full-fledged accolades. How 'bout "check it out if you are curious or into the whole alt-country thing."

I Got the Skills of Titanium, Straight to the Cranium

Thursday. Well this morning kind of sucked, but I think it is all over now. For the past three weeks or so the information on our receivables website (of which I am responsible for maintaining) has been insufficient. This has not been due to anything on our part, but due to the customer changing without notice the internet applications from which we gather this information. So basically, they change, they don't tell us, and then they get upset at us for not having accurate, updated information. As a result I have been scrambling the past few days trying to get this database macro to correctly compile all of the correct information. I couldn't get it, so I elicited the help of a former data manager contact of mine, who now works in a completely different department. Very luckily she was able to adjust the macro to the new data format, and so (with fingers crossed) the website should be correct tomorrow after it uploads. If not, I am sure I will get a ton of scathing calls and emails, but I won't be there to have to endure them. I have the day off tomorrow (yeah!). I have a birthday coming up, so I am taking a 3-day weekend to celebrate. I am very much looking forward to it. Just as a head's up, since I won't be here, there will in most likelihood not be a post tomorrow. I know, it's hard to take such distressing news, but don't worry, I'll be back the following Monday.

This morning I listened to White People, Handsome Boy Modeling School's second album (please see yesterday's post). I think the reviews were right about the first album being better. That doesn't mean that this album was bad, it was just a little bit less consistent than its predecessor. As I mentioned yesterday, guest artists provide pretty much all of the vocals for HBMS. White People again has a wide variety of cameos, with the most interesting to me being Cat Power singing along to a hip hop back track. It is most definitely Cat Power, but in a style in which I had never heard her recorded in before. Also on this album is the remix of Jack Johnson's Breakdown, which I discussed yesterday. If you like Mr. Johnson's other work, definitely check this track out. It's pretty cool. It's not too overdone, but adds just enough to give it some extra flavor.

Overall I thought this album was ok. I recommend it based on the strength of the good tracks and decent sound throughout. Although it has some good tunes, it isn't as solid as the first HBMS album. I agree with the reviews, if you are thinking about getting this album, perhaps get the first one beforehand.

I Used to Think Time Was On My Side, I Used to Think the World Could Be So Kind; That Was Another Day, That Was Another Time

Wednesday. This has been another busy day in what has so far been a very busy week. I have been trying to crank out these spreadsheet reports all morning, but I am falling behind due to things that keep coming up. I had one heated incident regarding an order that I wouldn't release off of financial hold. Supposedly it was an emergency order, but as I've said before, if you are a sales rep and you have something that has to go out the door immediately, make sure you have everything together before you send it, otherwise it will just waste more time when I have to go back and request all of the corresponding documentation a bunch of times. Apparently the sales higher-ups were in the Big Boss Lady's office "sharing words" (as the Big Boss Lady put it) over this issue. However, when it was all said and done, the BBL called me up and told me I acted exactly as I should have and did absolutely nothing wrong. She said not to take it personally because I was just doing the job that she hired me to do and I did it well. So, sure, I ticked off a lot of the upper sales management, but at least my boss likes me...

On top of that, I am dealing with website database issues. Something is screwed up and since the upload is tomorrow, I am trying to fix it now ahead of time instead of on the fly. Of course, it probably will still be screwed up, but at least I tried...

So, I have some new music today. Well, it's new to me and to this blog. I was out searching for random music on a whim, and I came across a sort of hip-hop remix of Jack Johnson's Breakdown. I had heard this tune on the radio a few times and thought it was pretty good, so I decided to check out more of the album. This tune was put together by a duo named Handsome Boy Modeling School, which I thought was a horrible name for a band until I read that they were inspired to name themselves that after watching an episode of Get a Life by Chris Elliot. Since for years I thought I was the absolutely only one who ever watched Get a Life faithfully, I found a new found respect for this moniker choice.

Handsome Boy Modeling School is made up of two main members, one formerly of De La Soul and the other from the Gorillaz. They have two albums out, and they mostly consist of hip-hop tracks and remixes with guest appearances from a wide variety of artists (Mike D., Sean Lennon, Del the Funky Homosapien, Cat Power, etc). Reviews of both albums were very favorable, however, pretty much every review for the second album (the one with that Jack Johnson remix on it) said to get the first album before the second one. So, I got both albums and listened to the first one this morning.

I enjoyed So, How's Your Girl. I have mentioned this before on this blog, but I've pretty much grown bored of rap music. Not that I don't like the genre of rap or hip hop music, in fact, quite the opposite. I enjoy phat beats and tight rhymes just as much as the next receivables accountant, but the whole gangsta thing is getting a bit old and overdone. However, this album proves that you can have great beats, good music and tight lyrics and not have to dip into the gangsta well for the bajillionth time. It's albums like these that just might get me to listen to hip-hop again. Eh, it's probably just an anomaly.

Anyway, I liked this album. I recommend it for anyone just as jaded who is looking for something refreshing in the hip-hop genre. I'm looking forward to checking out album #2 tomorrow morning.

Here is a Waiting Room That Wants to Save Your Life

Tuesday. Sorry for the no post yesterday. I really meant to have something out there. It totally bugs me when I miss a day. I even wrote over half a post, but it just didn't make it onto the blog. I was pretty busy all day. It being the first of the month, I got slammed with a bunch of reports I had to put together along with a bunch of manual and summary billing that had to be out the door by yesterday afternoon. Fun times. Today I am working on about five different spreadsheet reports and dealing with other issues that keep popping up. I'm still pretty busy, but there's no way I'm missing two posts in a row, especially since I won't be posting on Friday because I have the day off (more on that later this week).

I have been fairly lame lately as far as new music goes. To correct this issue, I went to one of my favorite music referral sites, Live Plasma, in search of new musical acts to review. Even if they weren't "new" per se, they would at least be new to me. So, I did the usual search by typing in "Modest Mouse" and seeing what bands/artists the cluster chart brought up. I jotted down a couple of the names and viola! I have today's music choice: You Forgot it in People by Broken Social Scene.

Broken Social Scene is a Canadian band apparently made up of members of other popular but now-defunct Canadian bands that I've never heard of (Lisa V., are you able to enlighten us with your vast Canadian indy-rock knowledge?). At first, I thought the album was ok, but not too overly impressive. After the first couple of tracks, things started to pick up. Then they got downright enjoyable. There are several instrumental tracks that provided an excellent backdrop to the morning commute. Most of the other tracks change up in style, which also helps keep the album from becoming too monotonous. My only complaint is that some of the tracks kind of sound like songs from other bands. There is at least one track that I swear sounds like U2, and there's another one reminiscent of G.Love and Special Sauce. That being said, however, I liked the album overall. I even went back and listened to the first few tracks, and they didn't sound too bad the second time around, either. Recommended tracks: Looks Just Like the Sun, Pacific Theme and Cause=Time.