M and M's and silly putty
Dec. 19th, 2012 02:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
susandennisAt one point in my IBM career, I managed people. I had a small group and we worked directly for the top guy. Lots of pressure, lots of exposure. It was not my choice to be a manager and I was somewhere down near the bottom of their long list of managers they wanted. But, they guy we worked for was one of those who could talk eskimo's into buying an ice subscription so we dealt.
I used 3 tricks.
1. I took the only one of our offices without a window. I really didn't care and they did and were well aware that NO manager ever gave up a window office so that somone under him/her could have one.
2. I always had M&M's in a jar on my desk. Always. Want a handful? Come in and get it. No questions asked.
3. I always had Silly Putty on my desk positioned so that my visitor could easily grab it and play with it. They always did. It was a tension reliever. A conversation piece. A signature.
The tricks worked. We only had to endure the situation for a couple of years and when I left (to come to Seattle) they showered me with the most thoughtful gifts and send offs. It was very nice and very rewarding.
So I always kept a giant stash of M&M's and Silly Putty eggs.
These days I keep a glass thing of M&M's on the credenza in my hallway. It's pretty and it's a great way to lure![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
machupicchu over here.
Today I had to dig into every closet and every box and cubboard to find an HDMI cable. I finally found it and, also, turned up two never used before Silly Putty eggs. Flashback!!
---
My Roku arrived (hence the need for HDMI) and it's all set up and operating just the way I hoped it would. Nice and well worth the $35! Now I just need to tell the Harmony remote about it and we're good to go!
---
The unemployment office meeting went fine. The guy I got this time wanted a lot more detail on my log of jobs I've applied for but, fortunately, since the woman I had last time thought it was fine as is, he decided it was, too. Whew. I'll run get to the end of my unemployment $$ in January, so I'm guessing that was my last audit. At least I hope so.
---
Time to find that Harmony cable...
I used 3 tricks.
1. I took the only one of our offices without a window. I really didn't care and they did and were well aware that NO manager ever gave up a window office so that somone under him/her could have one.
2. I always had M&M's in a jar on my desk. Always. Want a handful? Come in and get it. No questions asked.
3. I always had Silly Putty on my desk positioned so that my visitor could easily grab it and play with it. They always did. It was a tension reliever. A conversation piece. A signature.
The tricks worked. We only had to endure the situation for a couple of years and when I left (to come to Seattle) they showered me with the most thoughtful gifts and send offs. It was very nice and very rewarding.
So I always kept a giant stash of M&M's and Silly Putty eggs.
These days I keep a glass thing of M&M's on the credenza in my hallway. It's pretty and it's a great way to lure
machupicchu over here.Today I had to dig into every closet and every box and cubboard to find an HDMI cable. I finally found it and, also, turned up two never used before Silly Putty eggs. Flashback!!
---
My Roku arrived (hence the need for HDMI) and it's all set up and operating just the way I hoped it would. Nice and well worth the $35! Now I just need to tell the Harmony remote about it and we're good to go!
---
The unemployment office meeting went fine. The guy I got this time wanted a lot more detail on my log of jobs I've applied for but, fortunately, since the woman I had last time thought it was fine as is, he decided it was, too. Whew. I'll run get to the end of my unemployment $$ in January, so I'm guessing that was my last audit. At least I hope so.
---
Time to find that Harmony cable...
(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-20 02:55 am (UTC)the M&Ms
Date: 2012-12-20 03:40 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-20 06:20 am (UTC)You know the giant Twizzler containers you can get at Costco? They've got to have the holding space of maybe two gallons of liquid if you filled them with liquid.
I've seen one of those full of M&Ms. Three, four days later, they're all gone. It's amazing.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-20 06:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-20 01:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-24 05:33 am (UTC).
What great ideas for your desk -- all of them but, of course, especially the m&m's. I was thinking about that when something hit me: that could never be as effective in the same way in an office like mine, where the company itself sells food and there is constantly food and snacks available at all corners of the office -- the staff kitchen; the south wing; the west wing. I wonder what you would have done if you worked in an office like that?
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(no subject)
Date: 2012-12-24 06:13 am (UTC)