Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
I am now a Lamponian
I started my new gig at Dave Ramsey (official name “The Lampo Group”) this past Monday.
I LOVE IT.
Amazing place, people, and culture. It is very busy and very social and has the friendliest and most genuinely helpful group of people I have ever met. I have allot on my plate but great teachers/trainers and the day flies, literally.
I come home tired but a “good tired” but feel a bit disconnected with the blog world. The news is on in the various break rooms at Lampo so I do have an idea as to what is going on in the “real world”. Hopefully as I get used to my responsibilities I will be a bit more in touch.
Until then…happy sporadic blogging and reading to me.
I LOVE IT.
Amazing place, people, and culture. It is very busy and very social and has the friendliest and most genuinely helpful group of people I have ever met. I have allot on my plate but great teachers/trainers and the day flies, literally.
I come home tired but a “good tired” but feel a bit disconnected with the blog world. The news is on in the various break rooms at Lampo so I do have an idea as to what is going on in the “real world”. Hopefully as I get used to my responsibilities I will be a bit more in touch.
Until then…happy sporadic blogging and reading to me.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Laziness
I decided to hit up Starbucks on my way to work this morning. Let’s just say I was too lazy to brew any in my French Press this morning; it just involves a few extra steps compared to the normal brewing in a coffee pot but comes away with a much better tasting cup, or 4, of coffee. Nevertheless I drove to the Starbucks that is close to my current place of employment only to find 10-11 cars in line at the drive-thru. Yes folks that is 10-11 cars in line.
Are you kidding me?
Due to the plethora of cars in line I could not even pull into the parking lot; this is actually a rather frequent occurrence. I am not sure who designed the parking lot entrance/drive-thru but they were apparently lacking foresight as to the amount of people willing to sit in line for up to 20 minutes for the sake of “convenience”. Do they really have that much time to give to waiting for a cup of coffee when on their way to work? I enjoy coffee as much as anyone (and probably more so) but when I am headed to work, I am NOT waking up 20 minutes early just to sit in line. Honestly folks.
Anyhow I decide to park in the lot adjacent to Starbucks, get out of my car and walk, yes! walk a whopping 20 yards (or meters for my European friends) into Starbucks. I am greeted by the manager who may be one of the friendliest people ever. I order my Grande Bold, pay for it (in cash, exact change no less) and receive my drink, put some sugar and creamer in it and leave the store all in about 2 minutes + a few seconds. Meanwhile as I leave the store, the cars that arrived there before me are still in line. They have moved up 1 car length. As I witnessed this I realized that if car # 10 or 11 had only moved up only 1 car length during the time I walked into the store, ordered, paid for and received my beverage and walked out (within 2-3 minutes), then car # 10 or 11 will be waiting anywhere from 20 to 25 minutes to get its beverage and whatever else. Never mind the fact that if cars 1-9 are ordering lattes and such, and those drinks take more time to prepare than my cup of drip coffee, they may possibly be waiting even longer.
Maybe those patrons in the drive-thru line are just really patient(?). Or maybe they should get out and walk.
Of course if they all get out of their cars and come into the store and order then I may be standing in line for 20-25 minutes, hmmm…
Are you kidding me?
Due to the plethora of cars in line I could not even pull into the parking lot; this is actually a rather frequent occurrence. I am not sure who designed the parking lot entrance/drive-thru but they were apparently lacking foresight as to the amount of people willing to sit in line for up to 20 minutes for the sake of “convenience”. Do they really have that much time to give to waiting for a cup of coffee when on their way to work? I enjoy coffee as much as anyone (and probably more so) but when I am headed to work, I am NOT waking up 20 minutes early just to sit in line. Honestly folks.
Anyhow I decide to park in the lot adjacent to Starbucks, get out of my car and walk, yes! walk a whopping 20 yards (or meters for my European friends) into Starbucks. I am greeted by the manager who may be one of the friendliest people ever. I order my Grande Bold, pay for it (in cash, exact change no less) and receive my drink, put some sugar and creamer in it and leave the store all in about 2 minutes + a few seconds. Meanwhile as I leave the store, the cars that arrived there before me are still in line. They have moved up 1 car length. As I witnessed this I realized that if car # 10 or 11 had only moved up only 1 car length during the time I walked into the store, ordered, paid for and received my beverage and walked out (within 2-3 minutes), then car # 10 or 11 will be waiting anywhere from 20 to 25 minutes to get its beverage and whatever else. Never mind the fact that if cars 1-9 are ordering lattes and such, and those drinks take more time to prepare than my cup of drip coffee, they may possibly be waiting even longer.
Maybe those patrons in the drive-thru line are just really patient(?). Or maybe they should get out and walk.
Of course if they all get out of their cars and come into the store and order then I may be standing in line for 20-25 minutes, hmmm…
Their laziness is apparently my advantage.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
I have a new job!
So I have been the Office Administrator at a Commercial Real Estate Company for almost 3 years now. This job moved me from Tallahassee, FL to Nashville in August of 2006 within a month of randomly meeting the GM of the company in July of '06 while visiting Nashville. It has been a great experience with plenty of laughs (I work with quite a few characters to say the least) but it is now time to move on.
Back in early March I began what became a 2 month + interview process at Dave Ramsey/The Lampo Group in Brentwood, TN. My hubster and I are BIG fans of Dave and thanks to his instruction are debt free and using the envelope system, building our emergency fund and so on. I have discovered over the years that I really enjoy administrative work but wanted to work for a company whose vision I believed in and was passionate about. No offense to real estate but it is just not my “thing”. Well 2 months and a few days, 8 interviews, many emails and a personality test later I got a job there. I will be working in the Financial Peace University Workplace Division and am thrilled to have this opportunity!
The interview process with The Lampo Group is probably the most holistic, extensive and worthwhile interview process ever. They aim at finding not only the best candidate for an open position but also want to get to know you, your family, etc. I think I met nearly half the company and realize that when I show up for my first day, I will NOT feel like a stranger. They even just completed their new bookstore/coffee shop just in time for my arrival. Can you say good timing or what?!!
So June 1st I begin my new gig. And I get to wear jeans! What more could I ask for in a job?!
Back in early March I began what became a 2 month + interview process at Dave Ramsey/The Lampo Group in Brentwood, TN. My hubster and I are BIG fans of Dave and thanks to his instruction are debt free and using the envelope system, building our emergency fund and so on. I have discovered over the years that I really enjoy administrative work but wanted to work for a company whose vision I believed in and was passionate about. No offense to real estate but it is just not my “thing”. Well 2 months and a few days, 8 interviews, many emails and a personality test later I got a job there. I will be working in the Financial Peace University Workplace Division and am thrilled to have this opportunity!
The interview process with The Lampo Group is probably the most holistic, extensive and worthwhile interview process ever. They aim at finding not only the best candidate for an open position but also want to get to know you, your family, etc. I think I met nearly half the company and realize that when I show up for my first day, I will NOT feel like a stranger. They even just completed their new bookstore/coffee shop just in time for my arrival. Can you say good timing or what?!!
So June 1st I begin my new gig. And I get to wear jeans! What more could I ask for in a job?!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Fox News Needs A Lesson In Discretion
So I clicked on fox news.com today to see what was going on in the world. When I did I wasn’t expecting the home page to have photos of nearly nude women displayed. I was disgusted, offended and thought a news channel such as Fox should use FAR MORE discretion. They are a news station, not Maxim or People Magazine. I don’t think even People Magazine has cover like that.
So I wrote Fox an email. Here it is.
As an avid Fox News watcher and listener I am offended and appalled by the nearly nude pictures of Miss Rhode Island and Miss California. I think both of these photos need to be hidden elsewhere if you must (and I do not think you must) post them and NOT on you homepage.
I go to fox news.com daily for news updates, etc. and am mortified to have your page up come up with these photos. They are offensive to me as a woman and completely inappropriate for a News Channel's home webpage. I feel like I am opening up the Maxim homepage vs. a reputable news channel. Please, use some discretion and respect for women, men and children. This is ridiculous and makes you all look sleazy and perverse.
Sincerely,
Gretchen Fagan
Not sure who this will get to and if anyone would read it but I figured if I had an issue with them, I needed to tell them. Maybe they will use more discretion next time.
Just callin’ it like I see it, especially when I don’t want to see it.
So I wrote Fox an email. Here it is.
As an avid Fox News watcher and listener I am offended and appalled by the nearly nude pictures of Miss Rhode Island and Miss California. I think both of these photos need to be hidden elsewhere if you must (and I do not think you must) post them and NOT on you homepage.
I go to fox news.com daily for news updates, etc. and am mortified to have your page up come up with these photos. They are offensive to me as a woman and completely inappropriate for a News Channel's home webpage. I feel like I am opening up the Maxim homepage vs. a reputable news channel. Please, use some discretion and respect for women, men and children. This is ridiculous and makes you all look sleazy and perverse.
Sincerely,
Gretchen Fagan
Not sure who this will get to and if anyone would read it but I figured if I had an issue with them, I needed to tell them. Maybe they will use more discretion next time.
Just callin’ it like I see it, especially when I don’t want to see it.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Elijah Prayed For Rain, I'm Praying For Sunshine
The sun is coming out.
That is all. But if you live in Nashville, you know that this is blog worthy. It’s been raining for daaaaayyyyysssss….
That is all. But if you live in Nashville, you know that this is blog worthy. It’s been raining for daaaaayyyyysssss….
Monday, May 4, 2009
Saying Goodbye to Facebook
In less than 48 hours my Facebook account will be shut down for good. I have enjoyed “re-connecting” with people who I have not spoken to since middle school, high school, college, etc. as well as those I see on almost a daily basis. I have commented on photos and uploaded my share of photos as well, “tagged” my friends and myself, regularly updated my “status”, joined “Groups”, created a “Group”, got “engaged and married on Facebook”, and even took a few lame quizzes. It was fun for a while but the fun has run its course.
I have the tendency to try to “keep up” with too much. Technology is great (I still enjoy blogging and reading other’s blogs) but I prefer quality over quantity and in my opinion the communication wave is over the top. In other words I am trying to “keep up” with too much information that I really wouldn’t miss if I didn’t know it was out there or might be out there and have access to it. I even kind of tried Twitter for a few weeks, I followed some people and had followers but never figured out how it worked thus never actually “twittered” or “tweeted” or whatever so I deleted it.
I am finding that maybe I am a bit old fashioned in all of this, and for me that is a good thing.
I am trying to remove myself from the rat race lifestyle and as much as possible, and thus the things that make me feel a part of it. I feel stressed when I have to keep up with too much and though I love people and find I “never (really) meet a stranger” I would rather a small, close-knit community than a whole bunch of Facebook “friends”. I could have just downsized my 400 “friends” to about 50 but that alone would have stressed me out trying to figure out who and who not to “remove from friends”.
In my opinion, if someone is not in my family, my city, my church or place of work, my cell phone or at least in my email contacts I probably don’t need to be keeping up with them. Shoot, even that is allot of people, more than I can have quality relationship with. And the key for me is quality. We just can’t all be “friends”.
Technology has done some pretty wondrous things. But in the case of relationships I think it has backfired some. It is easier to be someone’s “friend” online when you are not involved in the messiness and the joy of their actual lives. An author I read recently stated it is often easier to give to needs across the world than those in our neighborhoods for those across the world are not going to show up at our doorstep.
I have a few friends I keep in touch with regularly via chatting online (thanks to the world of Gmail), yet they are people I also regularly see throughout the year and speak to on the phone regularly since they happen to live outside of Nashville. My friendships with them were established years ago, in person.
So my Facebook days are over.
I find that less really is more and I am already less stressed. Nice.
I have the tendency to try to “keep up” with too much. Technology is great (I still enjoy blogging and reading other’s blogs) but I prefer quality over quantity and in my opinion the communication wave is over the top. In other words I am trying to “keep up” with too much information that I really wouldn’t miss if I didn’t know it was out there or might be out there and have access to it. I even kind of tried Twitter for a few weeks, I followed some people and had followers but never figured out how it worked thus never actually “twittered” or “tweeted” or whatever so I deleted it.
I am finding that maybe I am a bit old fashioned in all of this, and for me that is a good thing.
I am trying to remove myself from the rat race lifestyle and as much as possible, and thus the things that make me feel a part of it. I feel stressed when I have to keep up with too much and though I love people and find I “never (really) meet a stranger” I would rather a small, close-knit community than a whole bunch of Facebook “friends”. I could have just downsized my 400 “friends” to about 50 but that alone would have stressed me out trying to figure out who and who not to “remove from friends”.
In my opinion, if someone is not in my family, my city, my church or place of work, my cell phone or at least in my email contacts I probably don’t need to be keeping up with them. Shoot, even that is allot of people, more than I can have quality relationship with. And the key for me is quality. We just can’t all be “friends”.
Technology has done some pretty wondrous things. But in the case of relationships I think it has backfired some. It is easier to be someone’s “friend” online when you are not involved in the messiness and the joy of their actual lives. An author I read recently stated it is often easier to give to needs across the world than those in our neighborhoods for those across the world are not going to show up at our doorstep.
I have a few friends I keep in touch with regularly via chatting online (thanks to the world of Gmail), yet they are people I also regularly see throughout the year and speak to on the phone regularly since they happen to live outside of Nashville. My friendships with them were established years ago, in person.
So my Facebook days are over.
I find that less really is more and I am already less stressed. Nice.
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