Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Our landlord is fixing the main sewage line from the house to the street today. Ten days ago they asked us to go easy on the laundry and not take a shower when they do (gotta listen for it, I guess) because a plumber checked out the situation and they have to tear up the main sewage line and fix it from there. So far, we've been lucky—they came in to our unit only once and determined the problem was outside. Staff meeting today. Cindy talked about a 15-year-old policy regarding sick time newly enforced—we'll be audited if there are more than 6 "instances" of taking sick time within any one-year period. They define an "instance" as the consecutive number of days for one illness. Seemed very bureaucratic and thoughtless to me, so I suggested well pay and PTO plans instead. Joel didn't seem to like their audit plan either, saying that it creates an adversarial relationship because of the audit (or even the possibility of an audit). I also pointed out that their system could be easily fooled. They look for patterns when they audit: "He was always sick on a Friday" or "She always called in sick on rainy Mondays". However, if one keeps track of his or her own sick time, all that needs to be done is to avoid creating a pattern. Were you sick on Fridays the last 2 times? Better call in sick Friday *and* Monday. Or, call in sick on Thursday instead. Doesn't make any difference. It also encourages people to come in to work sick: "I'm really sick, but I don't wanna risk get audited—that sounds like a lot of trouble—so I'll just come in and get through the day." Stupidity! Today was Staff Appreciation Day. They decorated Cole Hall in 1950s decorations with balloons and set props like giant Marshall speakers and giant guitars. As we walked in we saw a large sign saying "Where were you in '62?" along with someone's prom photo, which turned out to be Lorie's. We had a buffet of gardenburgers, hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, milk shakes, fresh fruit, cookies, brownies, sodas, and water. Mary Anne distributed service awards and a costume contest was held for best 1950s clothes. Lorie Rice then introduced our special guest for the afternoon: Cindy Williams. For the first few minutes, I didn't believe what they said—that Lorie and Cindy were best friends in high school—because on a previous Staff Appreciation Day they hired a Marilyn Monroe impersonator, so I thought this was another one of those. However, after a few minutes of her talking and people asking her questions, I realized she was the real Cindy Williams. Joel said, "This is so surreal!" I think because it was half cool but half cheesy because no one was really prepared to have a Q&A with such a well-known Hollywood star. I mean, wouldn't Cindy Williams have better things to do than fly to San Francisco for a day to do a favor for a good friend by essentially selling out her celebrity? You would think. I wonder if we would have gotten a larger turnout if Lorie had publicized the fact that she would be there. But in any case, she seemed genuinely happy to be with us, and she took photos with all the service award winners. Then we got to watch American Graffiti (1973), which I don't recall having seen the whole thing so I stayed to watch. Cindy, Kristina, Ena, and Joel ditched me and Debrah by leaving in the middle of the film. It was fun to see so many actors so young again—Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Mackenzie Phillips. I didn't find out until I got home that "Where were you in '62?" was the tagline for the film. Dinner at home with Patrick: I made a stir fry with leftover noodles and leftover Mongolian Beef from Four Season. Worked on frankfarm.com. Reviewed retreat possibilities with Patrick.