This weekend will have me under the scissors - I have been growing out my hair for over a year in order to donate my locks (not for love) to one of the organization that collects hair and makes wigs for children/women with cancer. I am not going through the very popular 'Locks of Love' because they have a lot of requirements that I could not meet...the biggest being a minimum of 10 inches of hair. I do think I have the 10-inches but it's not all 10-inches - my hair is kinda layered.
Therefore, I am going through Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program (the same one Hillary Swank went through). Their minimum length requirement was eight inches and it didn't really specify if it had to be all one length. So I am cutting off about 10-inches on Friday in hopes that a bulk of it falls between the 8-10 inches mark - which by the looks of my mirror, it should. Besides, wigs need bangs and that's what they can use my shorter pieces for.
People have been donating/selling their hair for years. My first exposure to hair selling came from the movie classic, 'Pretty Women' where Jo sold her hair in order to raise more money for her mother's trip. Sure she did it on impulse and knew it was for a good cause, but I'm afraid my reaction will be much like hers in the end- where she's crying later that night because she has no more hair!
I'm trying to feel good about it though. My original plan was to cut it in the spring (2008) but my hair grows pretty slowly - I only get it cut 3-4 times a year. So I had to wait it out for a year to get it to this length. I'm not going to lie - my hair hasn't been this long since I was in elementary school and I'm not going to miss it. As it gets longer, I just shed more (because it's so heavy) and it takes longer to air dry. However, I am not really looking forward to having my hair uber-short - which I haven't had since the 90s.
We will see how it goes - I have complete faith in my hairdresser that I will come out looking good. If I don't - you'll hear about it. I also have to keep telling myself that this is all for a good cause. I'm glad to be able to do it.
For more information about the Pantent Beautiful Lengths Program, read about it here:
http://www.beautifullengths.com/en_US/requirements.jsp
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Seized By Frustration
We all get frustrated at some point in our lives - it can happen practically any time, anywhere. I find that most of my frustration happens at work. And I have been able to diagnose the root cause of my frustration however, I have not been able to do anything to prevent it in the future.
I get frustrated at work when co-workers don't perform at an above average level - I feel like there are those that 'just get by' with what they can and would not think twice about going above and beyond their usual tasks.
There are times when I get frustrated when the system runs like crap and developers can't explain why - but tell you that it's not happening to them. Ummm- that's not the point...it's happening, do something about it.
There is one person (in a sea of many) that frustrates me any time I hear his voice, see his name or get an email from him - because he just doesn't do his job - plain and simple. He's been with the group longer than I have, yet he doesn't seem to be able to answer simple questions....afterall, he's production support...it's his job to answer simple questions...but instead, he sends an email to me or someone else from my team to answer the question for him - and then he just copies and pastes what we've responded to him with and passes it off as his own.
So what is the root cause of my frustrations? Stupid people. But it goes beyond people being stupid, because there are stupid people everywhere.
I have realized that my expectations are too high.
I have always received glowing reviews from my higher ups. I perform my tasks and many things beyond my job scope. I train new people that come onto the team and I try to help them as they begin to learn the ropes.
Fast forward two months - I am now repeating the things that I said to the new person a week ago. We keep talking about the same thing every week cause you can't seem to grasp the concept; yet you never ask questions.
Yes, folks, it's me. I have set my standards at, supposedly, an unattainable level. When someone older, with the same industry experience comes in, I feel like they should catch on rather quickly and hold to a certain professionalism. But apparently that's too much. It's too much to ask for a new person to show up to work by 9 am and be on time for 9:30 meetings. Shame on me for being upset with new person for showing up to two out of three 9:30 meetings 10-20 minutes late because she either 1) went to the cafeteria to get breakfast or 2) just wasn't in the office at 9:30 am.
So how does one work on this? How does one take a 'who cares' attitude? How do you keep emotion out of the workplace? That has always seemed to be my downfall.
I get frustrated at work when co-workers don't perform at an above average level - I feel like there are those that 'just get by' with what they can and would not think twice about going above and beyond their usual tasks.
There are times when I get frustrated when the system runs like crap and developers can't explain why - but tell you that it's not happening to them. Ummm- that's not the point...it's happening, do something about it.
There is one person (in a sea of many) that frustrates me any time I hear his voice, see his name or get an email from him - because he just doesn't do his job - plain and simple. He's been with the group longer than I have, yet he doesn't seem to be able to answer simple questions....afterall, he's production support...it's his job to answer simple questions...but instead, he sends an email to me or someone else from my team to answer the question for him - and then he just copies and pastes what we've responded to him with and passes it off as his own.
So what is the root cause of my frustrations? Stupid people. But it goes beyond people being stupid, because there are stupid people everywhere.
I have realized that my expectations are too high.
I have always received glowing reviews from my higher ups. I perform my tasks and many things beyond my job scope. I train new people that come onto the team and I try to help them as they begin to learn the ropes.
Fast forward two months - I am now repeating the things that I said to the new person a week ago. We keep talking about the same thing every week cause you can't seem to grasp the concept; yet you never ask questions.
Yes, folks, it's me. I have set my standards at, supposedly, an unattainable level. When someone older, with the same industry experience comes in, I feel like they should catch on rather quickly and hold to a certain professionalism. But apparently that's too much. It's too much to ask for a new person to show up to work by 9 am and be on time for 9:30 meetings. Shame on me for being upset with new person for showing up to two out of three 9:30 meetings 10-20 minutes late because she either 1) went to the cafeteria to get breakfast or 2) just wasn't in the office at 9:30 am.
So how does one work on this? How does one take a 'who cares' attitude? How do you keep emotion out of the workplace? That has always seemed to be my downfall.
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