The 3 Little Work Conundrums

While reading a few blogs today, I found a few workplace themes or recurring issues I thought were quite interesting. Based on many others' experiences and stories, I wanted to give a few examples and ask following...

Picture this: You get the job. You strut your stuff as you give out your business cards and you are ecstatic that your bank account finally has enough digits to buy you something other than ramen noodles. You have a salary and benefits, hallelujah! Then, the unexpected happens… 

This is like the butterfly effect - you get to pick the ending! Which paradigm are you most closely associated with in each scenario?

1) You hate your job. Wait a minute, this wasn’t supposed to happen?! You thought this was your dream job. You were pumped when you got hired – eager to work with your banana republic trousers and your game face on. So what happened?  You realized that the job reality didn’t quite match up to the job description or perhaps, like so many recent college graduates or unemployed citizens, you were just so enthralled with the thought of having a job –any job - that you were blindsided. 

Now what?

School of thought a: suck it up, this is a recession and life isn’t made of roses. Change your attitude and get back to work. You can find a better job in two years.

Oh, you hate your job?  Why didn't you say so?  There's a support group for that.  It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar.  ~Drew Carey

School of thought b: Start looking for a new job as of yesterday. Life is too short to stay in a miserable, motivating, life-sucking position. I need to find something that I love doing.

 Find a job you like and you add five days to every week.  ~H. Jackson Browne

2) Everyone’s warned you about it. Your mom would definitely disapprove. You know it’s a bad idea and yet somehow it happens – you get “involved” with someone at work. You don’t even know if you signed a document stating “thou shall not fraternize with co-workers.” THINK THINK! What did that contract say and why do you not have a copy of it now? Does anyone at work know? You tried to keep it a secret but you suspect rumors are circulating.

Now what?

School of thought a: I am professional, damn it. People are a dime a dozen and I can find someone to hang out with romantically anywhere. You shouldn’t put yourself in a sticky situation, especially when it involves work.

School of thought b: work is work. It is not their business what happens outside of the workplace. I dare someone to say something to me. If no PDA or even hint of a relationship is occurring at work, what is the problem? All I need to do is get ahold of the document I signed upon employment…

The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.  ~Arnold Toynbee
 

3) What review? What raise? Your pay is based on a yearly review. Your review determines whether or not you get a pay increase and it is your direct boss’ duty to perform that yearly review. The only problem is, your boss is nearly a year behind on your first review and your second year mark is coming up - aka time for another review. You have asked for a review both in person and in written form, but still nothing.

Now What?

School of thought a: you need to grow a pair and take the issue to upper management and demand that you get your rightfully deserved review. You don’t care that you are stepping on your boss’ toes. Who cares if he makes you miserable for the next couple of weeks, maybe even months, because you tattle tailed on him. At least this way you will be getting your raise, hopefully, maybe…

School of thought b: I need to wait it out until the second review time comes along and politely remind my boss that now I am an entire year behind. When he does not follow through yet again, I will persist and just hope that he will actually do his job this time – hey it could happen, right?

Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they're looking for ideas.  ~Paula Poundstone

Beat the Bloat 2011

In an effort to get my groove back and my booty whooped into shape, I have started (once again) running about 30 miles a week and doing 30 min weight training sessions every day after work. So far, so good. I don’t have as much trouble on the working out and breaking a sweat part as much as I have a problem with food. How much do I really need to eat and when is a tricker formula than it sounds. This is especially true because I can’t eat particular food because my stomach is so sensitive and I really have to plan in advance. I have been trying to collect a few recipes that are simple and easy to do, because by the time I get done at the gym, it’s 8pm and I am starving. If I am really running low on time, I go for my "quick" meal ingredients to make a salad and add beans as for protein or I simply have a protein shake – GNC’s generic cookies and cream flavor is the best.

Also, I don’t know about y’all but my top 5 favorite diet busters are so hard to give up…everything in moderation, right? The only problem is I don’t know how to eat these things in moderation. I could eat buckets full of this stuff:

1) Beer and Wine

2) Chicken nuggets and wings with lots of SAUCY SAUCE

3) Ice Cream and frozen yogurt

4) BREAD in all of its forms

5) French fries

I apologize ahead of time for the lack of measurement in these recipes, but literally I just eye-ball most of the things I make, so it’s hard to say. Just taste it, add to it, repeat, repeat, until finally satisfied.

 

Turkey Trot Burgers (watch out now, they have a little a bit of a kick!)

Ingredients:

1lb ground turkey

½ diced yellow or white onion

 1 fresh garlic clove or 2 teaspoons minced garlic

Eyeball it – onion powder

Heavy hand of ground black pepper

1 fresh minced jalapeno

Dash of paprika

Heavy dash of chili powder

Dash of crushed red pepper flakes

1 egg white

Variations –

depending on what you feel like, add BBQ sauce, hot Sauce, soy sauce, or salsa directly on the meat. I think it makes it more tender…

Caramelize your onions…

Directions:

Fold ALL of the ingredients into the ground turkey meat and separate into patties.  Cook on the stove in a skillet or on a grill for about 10 min.

Breakfast in the morning, breakfast in the evening, breakfast anytime!

For a very low cal, but delicious breakfast try this egg white omlette with stewed cinnamon apples

Ingredients:

4 egg whites or 3 egg whites and one full egg

Chopped veggies of your choice

(cheese - optional – I recommend pepper jack or Colby jack)

Two small apples or one large

Cinnamon

2 or 3 splashes of Orange Juice

Dash of salt

Directions:

Chop the apples up into chicken-finger sized wedges

Pour the OJ on top of the apples and as the pot warms up, keep sprinkling the cinnamon on top of the apples until the cinnamon gets thick with the orange juice – at this point the heat should be on medium

Add the dash of salt

Stop cooking when the apples are soft and the sauce is thick

Crack your eggs and separate your yolks from your egg white. Spray a pan with non-stick spray and throw in any veggies you have laying around – onions, peppers, jalapenos, mushrooms, spinach… it’s all good! Then add your eggs. Egg whites are ready when they are no longer runny.

Nacho Mama’s Guacamole

As many avocados as you please, but for this recipe’s sake (makes about 2 cups) 4 medium avocados

1 small tomato

¼ yellow or white onions

Dash of cumin

Lots of garlic! I use about 2 teaspoons of minced garlic but this is up to you

Onion powder

3 squirts of lemon

Ground black pepper

Salt is kind of optional here – I would add a tiny but, but honestly you won’t miss it and I am an advocate for consuming less salt

 Looking for a little more pizazz? Try adding jalapenos, poblano peppers or diced red peppers

Directions: FOLD, don’t mash these ingredients together in order to preserve the chunky texture. Refrigerate.

Throw guac in a pita, on a sandwich with bacon, on a salad, eat with chips, with celery, heck eat with eggs -  the possibilities are endless!!

My alternative cardio sessions when I am not running are composed of the stairmill (like a stairmaster, but the stairs are moving) walking at at least 4.0 on a 5.0 incline, bootcamp classes, and cycling classes. I definitely think that on days when you are not feeling particular motivated, working out with other people gives you the boost you need. I recently read that even 10 min a day of breaking a sweat can keep your metabolism revved up. Get up and go do something. I wish my cubicle had a treadmill.

I recently did the Warrior Dash, which was a great experience. It is definately more about the fun than the competition. I would encourage trying it one time, but unless the obstacles get more creative, I probably won't do it again. There were walls to climb, mud to trek, firepoles to slide down, barbed wire to crawl under, you get the picture.

Possibly the Quickest Trip to Turkey and Greece...

My favorite part about traveling is not knowing what a place will be like until you get there – some destinations are all hype and some do not disappoint. The good thing about my job is that it allows me to catch a sneak peak at places I may want to return to in the future and that is something I am definitely thankful for. This time, I went on an an ITV upgrade on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas.

I usually give a good recap of the places I visit, but honestly I was only in Athens and Kusadasi long enough to give you a first impression.

Athens, Greece

The Acropolis is situated in the middle of a city and then bam. There it is. About two right turns from a Starbucks – you just have to laugh. I can only imagine its grandeur when it was first built. First off, please do not let the sleeze bags take your money and convince you that they are doing YOU a favor. From the train station where most tourists arrive, it is a 15 min drive to the attractions. If you get in a cab, make sure you do not pay more than 20 Euro. They all speak English and they will all try to talk you into all kinds of things all day long. If you purchase the ticket for the Acropolis, it costs 12 Euro and you get access to the rest of the sites. Don’t take the tour bus. A note of warning, it can be quite windy and dusty – as in, if you wear white and don’t wear sunglasses, you will come out blind and wearing brown.

There are a good amount of nice, reasonably priced cafes all around. Ask for something traditional and don’t get a Caesar salad. Do try the olives!! (ps – this is why I gain so much weight when I travel often. Seriously though, how can you ever guarantee you will be in such a cool place?

Things to see..

The karyatides statues

Theater of Dionysus



I wasn't expecting such a large crowd or the construction occuring onsite

View from the top



It was so dusty and dirty that my foot was literally two different colors





We refused to pay more money for two cabs - cram cram cram!