HA! Just had a funny TGIWF moment with a email he sent. And I quote "800 numbers are so 90's"! This he says because the bleeding edge technology we get to play with at work has a new conferencing feature but it doesn't provide a toll-fee 800 number for the bridge! GASP!!
Do companies or their employees really care about having a 800 number for a call anymore? I'm opening the polls now. Please comment!
Thanks!!
When it comes time for me to write my book, there will definitely be a chapter solely titled "DON’T PISS OFF THE ASSISTANT!!" For all of you high energy, STRAPPING YOUNG BUSINESS MEN (SYBM) who think YOU should be running the company, I’ll give you one piece of advice: YOU’RE NOT RUNNING THE COMPANY FOR A REASON!! And more than likely, it’s because of your attitude.
You guessed it! I’m an assistant and one of you strapping young ones has really pissed me off today!! So many times I laugh at the careless disregard for those that are put in place to help you.
Often times I joke with TGIWF that I have trained him to do things a certain way, but it is true. I have in a sense trained him and as a result, we have a system that works! Most that deal with us know the system and those that are just learning, catch on very quickly. When TGIWF catches on to someone that’s trying to beat the system, he’ll bump them back to me and say “I can’t do anything unless Angela says I can.”
Rather than just vent in this blog, I’d like to offer you SYBM some insight on WHY this “system” exists and why it is so important not to piss off the assistant:
1. We talk. We talk about meetings, we talk about schedules, but we also talk music, or cars or whatever else we decided to talk about. Hint: We likely talk about the SYBM that just called, barked his orders at me and then slammed the phone down.
2. I DO control his schedule. Since I have most of my SYBM trained properly, I rarely have to use this tactic, but I know other assistants that do. His availability MAY be reflected by your attitude. Those that are unkind to me will NEVER get another meeting rescheduled for matters of urgency and his hours of operations just shrunk!
3. Who do you think calms him down after YOU just made him angry?
4. The answer to “How do I get around you” is THROUGH ME!
5. Don’t dial TGIWF’s line, hit zero to get connected to me, hang up on me and dial his line back. YOU’LL STILL GET ME!
6. Pay attention. If I say you need to talk to the CFO and not my CEO, you’ll likely not talk to either one of them.
7. Don’t automatically assume that I have no clue what your “very important meeting” is about. I know his social security number, birthday, mother’s maiden name and personal credit card number. Chances are, I know more than you do.
8. If it weren’t for me and my SYSTEM you so despise following, you would never speak to TGIWF because he’d be too busy scheduling his own appointments!
Whew! It’s been a long time since I blogged, but it’s been busy in my world after the knee surgery and then heading straight into the holidays. But TGIWF and I are working on a joint blog to post about my work from home experience, so look for that coming soon.
In the mean time, TGIWF flew home to <secret home town> this past weekend to visit family, and as a practice with us, he always sends me a note of where he parked his car so I can put it on his calendar. Since he travels so much, it’s near impossible to remember exactly where he put it!
He also likes to send me a note so I know that he’s on the plane and is on his way. This all is just for my own piece of mind. I like to know that he’s in route when he’s traveling because there have been a few occasions NEVER from it being his fault that he has missed a flight or two and I have to swing into action to get him moving again.
So rather than the normal boring text/informational emails, TGIWF sent me these to log his travels. You know your boss is cool when he sends you stuff like this. I do wonder if his car was under this sign when he got back, though. Mmmmm.
Many of you that read my blog, know that TGIWF stands for (T)hat (G)uy (I) (W)ork (F)or. I keep his identity anonymous because he is well known in our community and blogs himself. While my blog is more for personal use and displaying my ever-growing collection of ridiculous Dooney & Bourke purses, his blog is more geared toward our industry and technology. As much as he respects the work I do for him, I agree with him that he shouldn’t be associated too much with a pink web site that has a Chihuahua on it!
For the most part, we’ve been successful at keeping his identity private, although we were out-ed once by a fellow blogger in a different state. (You can read about that HERE!)
There are a few of my readers that do know TGIWF’s true identity…most of those readers work with us, or know me personally and have shook his hand. So for those of you that know TGIWF, you can appreciate and laugh at the following clue! Not because he all expects us to work from our car, but because he try’s so hard to on his own!
For those of you that DON’T know TGIWF, I can tell you that he is not a slave driver that expects us to work in rush hour. He’s just a computer geek (Oh, I think I can say that!!!) that continues to bridge the gap in technology by incorporating EVERY form possible in his own life. Yes, he can call, read email, write email, print (if we plugged a printer in), surf the web, cancel meetings by voice, IM, hold live video meetings, stream internet radio and even play Xbox if he wanted to, all from the privacy of his own car!
So when I saw this commercial for FedEx/Kinko’s, I thought WHOA! TGIWF is gonna LOVE this!!
Enjoy!
Anyone that knows me well knows that I love anything that has a stupid “D&B” on it. If Dooney & Bourke made a car, I’d buy it! Just because I like them that much. I’m not sure how I got so into this stuff, but I will blame my mom, because she’s the one that bought me my first Dooney about two years ago when I first moved back to Colorado.
Since then, my collection has grown to an amazing obsession and it continues to grow, so does my boyfriends frustration with every little Dooney thing he sees. I’ve got purses, wallets, make-up cases, umbrellas, suitcases, phone covers, notebooks, laptop cases…and now TGIWF, while he gives me just as much grief, has discovered the littlest joy I receive in anything with the silly logo. 
Only he’s smarter! He just modifies your normal everyday things without the ridiculous cost!
For example…some time ago, TGIWF Photo Shopped a picture of my Chihuahua, Kali to look like my pink laptop case. This is my favorite picture of her, and if it got out in public, I’d probably be called in by the authorities!
Yesterday, TGIWF provided me with stickers that had the Dooney & Bourke logo printed on them that were made for my iPod Nano! This is the BEST THING EVER! Phill was very upset and just shakes his head.
I haven’t blogged much lately, and we’re overdue for a TGIWF post, so here it is. TGIWF and I had another one of our really good conversations about life and what not - and I walked away with that same feeling of, MAN…this guy is really deep down fun to work with. And then I stumped him. I said "Rat Killin’". With his background (he knows it) and my own being raised by two Okie’s from McAlester, (that God forsaken place – as quoted by Phill the first time he met my parents not knowing that’s where they were raised) I could not believe he didn’t know what a Rat Killin’ was! Then he asked me to define it and I said, you know...Rat Killin? I couldn’t even define it. Oops! This phrase was used by my dad my whole life. “That’s not my Rat Killin!” “Go get into your own Rat Killin.” etc. (Granny ends every statement with “and etc.”.)
So I challenged myself with the task to define it for him. Basically, I google’d it. Amazing - the stuff I came up with. They all say the same phrase. “That ain’t my Rat Killin!” Oddly enough, I did find the phrase in the online Texas dictionary.
In my search, I found a great blog written by Chris Ruzin about his dachshund, Shorty. I grew up across the street from a big field and while we never got rats, we would occasionally wake up with a field mouse or two in our house. I can add Mindy, Becky and…well maybe not Nikki but defiantly the other two to the list of mouse eating dachshunds with Shorty.
Back to the definition of Rat Killin’, as defined by Big Daddy…
Rat Killin’: pronounced rat kill-in; defined as “not my business; not my job; your deal, ain’t my deal; I ain't got nothin' to do with that!”
Thanks dad!
I've got give thanks that I work for such a understanding executive. I flew TGIWF and another co-worker to Seattle on Tuesday and guess what? They got stuck! Most of you reading my blog are from Denver and have lived through the latest blizzard first hand, so you know that DIA, the airport that never closes CLOSED! TGIWF and our friend were stranded in Seattle!
With the help of the internet and my old friend Lynn at James Travel, we were able to secure flights today from Seattle to Eugene, OR. Then got them on a connection flight from Eugene, OR back to Denver. They have been sitting in Eugene for roughly eight hours now and have been so grateful throughout the entire ordeal.
I rented the movie The Devil Wears Prada on Tuesday night and laughed out loud when Glenn Close's character called her assistant for a similar request to "GET HER HOME" in a hurricane. I am truly lucky to work with two incredibly understanding and appreciative people. Thanks guys!
TGIWF has ordered the new ZUNE from Microsoft which is due out November 14th. For those of you that aren’t lucky enough to work for a guy that knows about ALL of the new toys coming out, the ZUNE is Microsoft’s direct threat to Apple’s iPod. It’s not here yet, but there are already things I like about the new MP3 player. The biggest plus is that it doesn’t involve iTunes…a program I just don’t like. But then again, I’m not a huge fan of Phill L.’s Mac either. I’m a Microsoft girl…what can I say.
Priced at a $249.99, the ZUNE software can import unprotected audio files in WMA, MP3, AAC; photos in JPEG; and videos in WMV, MPEG-4, H.264. A long time coming, TGIWF and a are both anxiously awaiting “the package”! Sitting here writing this blog at Phill L.’s house, I think I may have just helped Microsoft sell a ZUNE to neighbor Chuck L. He’s got a Video iPod now and walked in on me looking at the ZUNE site and is in ahhh. We may have a second Video iPod on eBay, along with the one TGIWF will undoubtedly offload. The ZUNE will defiantly complete.
Unfortunately, since I am still attempting to keep TGIWF anonymous, I’m unable to link you to his own blog which will no doubt have a product review by the end of the week, I’ll post my own blog highlighting TGIWF’s review, so be sure to check back. Those of you that know me well already know TGIWF’s blog anyway and can check it out on your own.
So…TGIWF discovered that a very creative and funny writer (who we’ll call “DAVE”) discovered the link between TGIWF and my web-site, outing the true identity of TGIWF for those that follow his links.
DAVE is a creative blogger who writes about cruising through cyber-space behind the wheel of his make believe muscle car. While his post focuses mostly about the incredible culture and work environment TGIWF has created, he ultimately linked the two of us together, unintentionally outing to everyone the identity of the man behind the man purse. I’ve altered the story a bit (to protect TGIWF), but kept the gist of it mostly in tack.
DAVE kind of writes:
I pull into TGIWF’s office parking lot. Walking through the front door, something strikes me as unusual. I think it's this conversation that I am over hearing. TGIWF is talking about *miscellaneous subject*. His assistant, Angela Watson, injecting her thoughts on *miscellaneous subject*
pssssst, this is where the culture part starts surfacing...
The tone in Angela's voice is both serious and mischievous. Angela's demeanor perks my curiosity. Remember, she is talking to her boss here. I picture TGIWF as an entrepreneur always on the move, a cat with a high metabolic rate. I sort of fade back, away from their conversation and notice a matchbook lying on the floor. This seems odd. I get the feeling not many folks working here smoke. Inside the cover I notice an address. Back to the Cutlass.
The car's headers roar to life as the speakers roar The Wizard by Uriah Heep. The song is barely over as I pull into Angela's place. If there was any doubt before, this seals the deal. TGIWF has created a tremendous work culture! Or perhaps more correctly, he has let a tremendous work culture evolve.
As a manager, I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for the culture at TGIWF’s company. This type of work environment can do nothing but enhance a company's product and service!!
Thanks for the post, DAVE! And thanks from TGIWF for noticing how truly fun the atmosphere is at the company. TGIWF is very proud of the work environment he’s created and appreciated the recognition on his success on making it happen.
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