July 28, 2005
you are now entering, my BIRTHDAY
you are now entering, my BIRTHDAY
Originally uploaded by in retrospect.
it's my last day in the office before i head up to seattle for the weekend, so the first thing i see when i walk into work is this!
my team decorated my office with banners, birthday cake confetti and a little cake with "happy birthday heidi" in pink icing.
how cool is that?
this totally made my day after a real hard week and was a great start to my bday weekend.
for those that don't know me, i officially slide into my mid-thirties on saturday--and i'm feeling a little ambivalent about it.
Posted by heidijanet at 08:21 PM | Comments (2)
June 23, 2005
crocodile tears
my boss and i ventured out for lunch this afternoon for our periodic one-on-one meeting, as we stood in line at a local deli frequented by many amgen folks for lunch something flew smack into my eye.
as my eyes watered up and tears began streaming down one side of my face, and she leaned over quietly concerned suggesting that i let it tear up, i began to wickedly mock-cry and exclaim, "i can't believe you're letting me go like this! in a public place and everything!"
horrified, blushing and cracking up all at the same time she gesticulated wildly waving her hands around to call attention to the all the amgen-badged observers that i was kidding.
yet another example of how cool my boss is, she finally just shook her head and sighed, "oh what did i do to deserve you?"
Posted by heidijanet at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)
May 04, 2005
pearls of wisdom
every day i learn tiny little lessons about surviving in the corporate world that they just don't teach you in school. a couple that i've learned over the last week:
1. don't drink at office parties. especially if someone has a camera.
2. do not start bitching about a co-worker before you have actually hung up the phone after leaving said co-worker a voicemail. (i have feelings too) ahem.
3. admit making a mistake--even if you didn't make the mistake alone. it's your team, it's your mistake. if you want the credit for a job well done, be prepared to take the blame when it goes wrong.
4. manage your expectations. after getting home night after night with racoon eyes (usually the only time i look in the mirror again after getting ready in the morning), i switched to a long-up-to-16-hours-lasting mascara. apparently this 16 hour business is only true when tested on women who do not blink, sweat, rub eyes in frustration all day. length of lasting diminished approximately 55% by actually being human. very disappointing.
5. if someone tells you not to prepare for a meeting. don't listen to them. prepare. prepare. prepare. amendment: interestingly enough, i just received a suggestion that sometimes it is wise to intentionally NOT prepare for a meeting, as we often waste time preparing within an inch of our sanity, only to find we have the answer in our head already. hm. i'm going to try it both ways and report back.
Posted by heidijanet at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2005
i'm feeling...
the folks at work thought it might be a fun little idea to distribute Mood Swings books to everyone in our department as a fun way for us to express ourselves to our co-workers.
i personally suspect it's a subversive attempt to gauge the morale in the department and i keep secretly expecting to see spectacled, scientific-type strangers with clipboards wandering the halls jotting notes and raising eyebrows.
however this little "gift" has had an unexpected and unsettling effect on the folks here. instead of individuals choosing their own mood page, rogue employees are sneaking around the cubes and offices flipping around other people's moods.
which has created a rapidly rumbling protest of, "hey! don't tell me how i'm feeling!"
my dear friend (and co-worker) lew sketched me a custom "Mood" affectionately labeled "in Pain". it took a bit of restraint not to add, "please pass the vicodin".
no one has had the balls to change it on me. so far.
Posted by heidijanet at 06:32 PM | Comments (0)
January 31, 2005
*collapse*
ouch
Originally uploaded by in retrospect.
i've finally returned from three of the most grueling weeks i think of my entire career. three 4-day meetings back to back in three different cities.
this is how my poor feet looked on the very last day, swollen battered blistered, and frankly real ugly.
but the meetings were a great success, and for the first time in my experience managing these meetings, i came back to my hotel room for a holly hunter bradcast news moment to find flowers delivered from one of the executives as a thank you.
which almost made it worth it. almost.
Posted by heidijanet at 04:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 07, 2004
take me seriously. no really.
sitting in a budget meeting this afternoon, i was introduced to a very serious, middle-aged woman, who was making a very serious point about budget and brand planning over the next 12 months.
i, on the other hand, was having quite a bit of trouble focusing on anything other than her bright pink Hello Kitty flip flops.
Posted by heidijanet at 02:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 12, 2004
touche
okay, i don't usually talk too much about work here, but it was just too funny not to mention...
we're very busy here in my department pulling off a bi-annual thing that we do with marketing every year so things are stressy and a little crazy.
so i find myself in rare smartass form, yet again, in my boss' office when she half-turns to me and says, "okay, everyone likes a piece of ass, but NO ONE likes a smartass."
*snort*
i think we're going to get along just fine.
Posted by heidijanet at 04:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 08, 2003
new site.
as many may have heard i'm looking for gainful employment and finally got my site updated. it was a long process of signing up for new hosting, moving my domain, redesigning, hand coding (a bit awkwardly in fact) and ouila! it's up.
just in time for the weekend. fantastic.
Posted by heidijanet at 08:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 21, 2003
chin up dammit
yeah, that whole thing about keeping my chin up...that was bullshit.
had a great weekend in san francisco, came into the office today to be pulled into the COO's (now the CMO's office) to find out that they're restructuring marketing.
translation: they let my boss go, and oh and they let me go too.
Posted by heidijanet at 02:10 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
July 17, 2003
talking the talk.
funny how little things can just make your day.
on my way to my car from work yesterday, a guy who works in my building (but not for our company) said as we passed each other, "can i send you my resume? i want to work on the 3rd floor." i replied that he should forward to human resouces, they do the hiring.
he replied, "yeah, but you're in management right? cuz, you have that tone of authority in your voice, so i thought it would be a good idea to send it to you."
now, i'm not naive, he might have been hitting on me. but it still made my day after a long string of very discouraging events in my career.
it's amazing how the littlest things can help keep your chin up.
Posted by heidijanet at 06:11 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 06, 2003
code_dependent
a couple of years ago i worked on an animated short with a friend of mine. i came up with the general idea and consulted on the writing.
it's obviously a first work -- but it was fun to see it come to fruition!
Posted by heidijanet at 09:41 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 16, 2003
oh quit yur whining
On another note, my coworker Ariel whines about how unfair it is to have a highly evolved vocabulary in a room full of "yeah, yeah, draw me a picture" folks.
we all embraced your use of unflappable by the end of the meeting. this is no small feat. you should be proud.
Posted by heidijanet at 01:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 04, 2003
grimace
reading my coworker ariel's blog, she references the purple beanbag in our pod, nicknamed Grimace.
seeing it in writing for the first time, made me wonder why a kid-friendly restaurant like McDonalds would name their purple fuzzy lump of happiness after a horrifying contortion of the face?
here's a theory. and here's another one. any thoughts?
Posted by heidijanet at 04:06 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack