Ski Day

A day on the mountain is always better than a day at work. But yesterday I nearly questioned that expression. It was our company ski day and the offices closed for a day of skiing. Or as we say in the ski business, "testing the product".

It was cold, windy, and sunless when I awoke and I hoped it would clear up later but it never did. I picked up my friend Shunnie, drove to Vail and met the rest of our co-workers at the top.

You probably realize that when you ski with co-workers who work for Vail Resorts, you are skiing with excellent skiers. I am not in that category. I can't even fake it anymore because 2 years ago I got hauled off the mountain in a toboggan and straight onto an ambulance. It was hard to keep that quiet when it ruined at the office ski day that year. People remember. I can tell they still keep their eyes on me and ski easier trails when I'm around. I protest that I haven't fallen since then but it's too late. My reputation is established.

Yesterdays conditions were bad. Icy crust and the wind was just about blowing us back up the hill. Icicles formed from our chins as we rode the chairlifts. Nobody wanted to be there but nobody wanted to admit it because we were certain that a day on the mountain was better than a day at work. Lunch at the Game Creek private club was a definite high point and it was the only place I could take a picture. I posted it below.

After lunch, a few of us were standing around (in a freaking blizzard) wondering where to ski next. I knew no one wanted to ski and no one wanted to admit it. So since it was already established that I was the weak link of ski days, I took one for the team and said I didn't want to ski anymore.

"No?" my boss asked.

"Hell No" I confirmed.

Then they readily agreed that if Jim was done they might as well quit too. I bravely sacrificed my reputation (what reputation I have left after my pedicure anyway) to save my friends from freezing.

That's the way I'm going to look at it anyway.

Sweet Feet

I did something yesterday for the first time in my life. I got a pedicure. It wasn't on my list of things to do before I die...I just sort of stumbled into it. I sit on a home owners board and for Christmas they sent me a spa gift card worth $100. I was excited and was looking forward to a nice massage. At least I was looking forward to it until I checked the prices at this very exclusive spa and saw that massages started at $200. So I started looking down the list of services.

I could get my hair high lighted for $125...no
I could get my eyebrows designed with a perfect arch for just $75...pass
The Perfect Eyes treatment was $95 came with the eyebrow arching plus eye shadow recommendations...tempting.
The Gentlemans Manicure was only $50 but if I wasn't getting nail polish then it just seemed like paying a pretty girl to hold my hand....I decided against it.
Then I saw the Signature Pedicure. I thought it was just having someone clip my toenails. But no. It is a cuticle trim, nail shape, exfoliation & polish. It is a complete pedicure using their signature Ginger Peach line. Sounded too tempting and I scheduled it.

I told my boss that I was leaving work for a pedicure. Becka felt that this was an occasion that should be witnessed so she scheduled one with me. His and Her pedicures with my boss. We arrived and I informed my (pedicurist? nail girl? foot artist?) that I was a first timer and asked her to be gentle with me. I'm not sure what all of the steps were in my pedicure because I was laying back in my massage chair with my eyes closed. I do know that it involved hot bubbly water, clippers, some sort of mineral salts, a big old file that looked like it belonged in my garage, and some sort of moisturizer from their signature ginger peach line. Since I have apparently been neglecting my feet for many decades, that big old garage file got a pretty good work out on the bottom of my feet.

Did any of you guys know that you were supposed to be filing the bottoms of your feet?

I skipped the nail polish but when I saw how good Becka's nails looked with a Hot Bubble Gum shade, I regretted my conservatism. But on the other hand, I could put my shoes on when we were done and she had to walk in flip flops with cottonballs between her toes into a mountain winter day.

Over all, it was a nice experience as long as I didn't have to pay for it. And my feet felt so nice last night that I kept myself awake by rubbing them on my legs.

I may have to bring my file out of the garage and keep it in the shower from now on.

You're Fired

With all of the lay-offs in the news, I’ve been wondering how the word is actually given to the victims. When Panasonic says the are laying off 15,000 people, how do they actually go about it? Email? Bulletin board? Does each person get pulled into an office for a private chat? Or do pink slips really exist that people just find in an envelope with their last paycheck?

I’ve had to fire people. It was always hard, but I’ll admit it did get easier. I can’t remember the name of the first guy I had to fire but I remember everything else about it. I was in my first supervisory position just a couple years out of college. He was the worlds worst parking lot attendant. He wouldn’t shower, he glared at customers, he was seldom on time, he couldn’t count money accurately, and his co-workers hated him. There were complaints everyday. He deserved to be fired but I couldn’t do it. I’d like to say it’s because I was such a nice guy who could see the good in everyone, but that’s not true. I was just afraid to fire someone. I got a four year business degree from a good university and it just never came up in any class.

So I counseled him about cash counting, and gave him warnings about being late, but how do you tell an adult he smells bad and needs to take a shower? He didn’t improve and the other employees were losing respect for me so I had to do it. I lost sleep for 3 nights while I worried about. I worked on various scripts in my head. I had answers for anything he’d say. I had a nice version and a stern version. On the chosen day, I met him at the end of his shift and said,

“It isn’t working out. We’ll have to let you go.”

He shrugged and walked away. It was that easy.

Over the next 20 years I fired a bunch of people. Some were for budget reasons, some were for performance issues. On one bad day, I even fired 6 at once. It was never easy but it was never as hard as that first time.

It's true that you learn more from life than you do from school, but I still think every business degree should offer Firing 101.

Worth It

I don't need to see the odds against winning. I don't need to hear that it's money down the toilet and don't tell me it's foolish.

I'm still going to buy a couple lottery tickets every week.

For two dollars a week I get a 10 minute fantasy. I'm rich. I quit my job, give money to my family, and live in luxury. I buy a couple homes and I travel around the world. I decide I'll need a bodyguard. Maybe a cook or an assistant. A personal trainer definitely. Maybe I'll find one person to do all of those jobs. I wonder if I should hire a private accountant or go with a big firm to manage my money. I figure out how much I'll pay in taxes and get annoyed at the amount. I worry about spoiling my children. I'm concerned about everyone that will be looking for handouts. Where should I live? Could I trust new friends?

So much to think about. I enjoy it. Carrying around a pocket full of possibilities is worth much more to me than the coffee or the slurpee I could have had for the same price.

So shut up! It's worth it!