Early Morning

At first blogging was a way to occupy myself in the downtime after lunch, but now, it's begining to take a hold of me. The more I blog the earlier in the day I want to sign on; at first it was after lunch, when there really was nothing to do. It has progressed to the point where now, this past week, I have had to tell myself each morning "No, tie out morning income, get rates, then sign on." Hours earlier than I would have considered posting when this first began. Today it happened though: I didn't even wait to open up my work-related applications (excel, outlook, etc) I went right to the internet. AIM and blogger. I stopped myself halfway through the post and tied out income. after all, work does come first here at work, doesn't it.

And speaking of work related email, here's an excerpt from this morning's only message:
[The 12/31 cycle is by far a “mammoth” one – not only for our fund group, but most Fund groups. It will be challenging for all, but we have faced many challenges over the past year. This cycle is especially important as it is a true test of what we can accomplish as an established fund group. . . . This cycle will set the tone for all future cycles (a blueprint, if you will), in that we will be “attacking” them rather than letting them “attack” us. Yes, lives may be lost, but it is for the “Cause” – sorry, different speech. In all seriousness, we need to collectively and positively, meet the demands of this cycle and those going forward.

Given the aggressive Financial Reporting deadlines and other non-Financial related activity, we are making the weekend of January 8th/9th mandatory. You should plan on working that weekend. Although there may be a portion of the items completed during the week, there may be re-work, etc, that needs to be done after being reviewed – we want to ensure that we are being extremely thorough, since any item overlooked will haunt us later on during the cycle.

There may be some groups, by pure luck of the draw, that appear to have a lighter deliverables list. Not so. This will be a community effort – at both the individual level and group level. If you have completed, for example, your budget/dollar roll template/audit guide, etc.. you will assist others in your group. If your group has completed absolutely all deliverables, your group will assist other groups, and so on. ]

That is not the best way to greet 200 employees on a weekday morning. I am also starting an informal poll to guess which of the folks in my group will have something they "just couldn't get out of" that weekend. I am also calling my cousin to see if she can reschedule her wedding for the 8th/9th instead of the New Year's weekend. I can tell you one thing for sure though. If they expect me to work on a weekend then they better be prepared to have me at work on Saturday morning hungover (or still drunk) and wearing the same clothes I left the office in Friday night. And you know what, that goes for Sunday morning too.

-Tom

ps. How pumped are you about The Life Aquatica and if you don't know what I'm talking about, look it up. and then get pumped.