Trending yesterday on LinkedIn. I would agree with the commentators who said that at least these companies are honest; the necessity to work insane hours was always there.
After years of luring talent with promises of flexible schedules and a healthy work-life balance, more employers are now opting for a tough-love approach, The Wall Street Journal notes. Companies like Shopify, McKinsey, and healthcare startup Solace now often go out of their way to stress their long hours and rough pace in job listings. While some applicants appreciate the transparency, one recruiting expert notes that companies are “testing the limits of what they can ask of their employees” in a competitive job market.
I have a coworker with whom we used to be on the same team, and our desks were once close to each other. In summer, we used to go together to the Sweet Home Gelato place on the Riverwalk. We usually planned to go at least once a week, and used this walk to catch up on life.
When she moved to another floor, it became more difficult to coordinate, but I would still invite her to go, although not that often.
Today was one of our “gelato walk” days. We both got chocolate and blueberry gelato in the waffle cones. Usually, I throw away whatever is left from gelato and the cone right before I leave the Riverwalk, but this time, we were deep in conversation, and I forgot to throw it away, and then, there were no garbage cans on our way for a while. The next thing I noticed was the chocolate dripping over my white pants – the left side was covered with chocolate spots from top to bottom!
My coworker was more upset than I was. I told her that I would wash it off, and that I had a Tide pencil in my backpack, and that most importantly, nobody cares! Actually, this was the most important thing: I knew that nobody would even notice these chocolate spots if I acted as if they were not there. We kept walking back to the office. We met another coworker by the elevators, and chatted a little bit, and I chatted as if there was nothing wrong with my outfit. When I reached my floor, I went to the bathroom, took the pants off, washed the front of the over the sink, and pulled them on. Since my behind didn’t have any chocolate spots, I didn’t have to wash it, so I could still sit on my chair, and nobody would see the wet pants under my desk 🙂
… and that was today’s dinner time story for my granddaughters.
Today, the bus routes to the Museum Campus have finally resumed, and everyone is much happier and full of energy. I hope that at least two-thirds of the camp will finally be the way Anna and I envisioned.
My work crisis is still in progress, though :), and all the other millions of things which need my attention still need it!
Anna, Nadia, and Kira are in Chicago this week, and the girls are attending the Field Museum Camp. That’s the thing Anna and I were looking forward to for years! Unfortunately, this experience has been affected by NASCAR race! I should have thought about it, but when we made this decision in January, neither me nor Anna connected the dots! The race happened during the Independence day weekend, and on Monday, there was still no access to the Museum Campus. Not only the busses were rerouted, but even the sidewalk was closed, so on Monday, the had a long walk around to get to the camp.
In general, Monday was quite havotic, because they arrived late on Sunday, and Monday morning was packing lunches and snacks, figuring out breakfast, and getting everyone out of the house. In addition, this week is presenting a major work crisis (and in addition I am severely behind on all my non-work professional activities).
Anna comments as a postitive thing that the girls do not fight with each other (I agree), and having fun at the camp, but it’s definitely more stress for Anna than I hoped!
To continue the topic of the beach-going: the best thing about my current location is that the lake (and the beach) are a ten-minute walk away, and I can go there any time I want, and if I only have thirty minutes, I still go. I love that “the lakefront is Rogers Park backyard.” Once again, you can live in a mansion, or you can be unhoused and live in a tent – the lake is for everyone. With all of this being said (and appreciated), sometimes, a “backyard” analogy is a little bit too direct.
As I mentioned, there was hardly any space anywhere around the beach on Friday, and I thought that my vague idea of going to Fort Sheridan on Saturday is not so bad, because I could also swim at the place where swimming is strictly prohibited. I was looking at the train schedule and going back and forth with this idea, and saying to myself that with all of the amont of work-non-work I have, I absolutely can’t afford to waste half a day; and in any case, I have a beach ten minutes away, and I wanted to go for a long bike ride… But I already figure out the only combination of trains both way that would work for me, and even though I went for a long bike ride, the idea was still there. Then I funny thing happened: I thought that I am still deciding, and realized that I am already packing my backpack for a trip!
If was an amazing outing! It was cooler there than in Rogers Park; the water in that part of the lake was also a little bit cooler, and insanely clear… and there were less than ten people as far as I could see!
Documenting my attempt to go to the beach yesterday :). In reality, it was even worse because people were barbecuing on every inch of the grass. Also, lifeguards were unusually vigilant, so there was no way to get into the water higher than the waste level 🙂
I went for long bike rides both yesterday morning and today, while the sunrise is still relatively early, and it’s warm in the morning. Actually, it is so warm that many people try to do their biking/running in the early hours, so by 6 AM, it is already pretty crowded on the Lake Front Trail.
Yesterday:
Bird sanctuary at Montrose HarborBreakfast at home for a change
Today: that’s me going out of my way to capture the stunning beauty of the view from the Aquarium terrace
It is believed that the day before the long weekend is always quiet and uneventful, because nobody wants to start a new project, and half of the people are taking a day off, and the other half want to leave earlier. It could not be further from the truth for me!
First, I had my month-after post-op for the Lasik. It was scheduled for 10-30, and since it takes me no more than 30 minutes to get to the Rush Medical Center from my office, I agreed to do “something” for our UK team at 12-30. It took them a while to agree with this “something,” so I was happy we could wrap it up before the holidays, and I thought I would be back in time. Unfortunately, I was waiting and waiting, and nothing happened! I started to suspect that I might be late, but as it often happens in the medical building, my hotspot barely worked. I sent a WhatsApp message to my UK co-worker to tell the team what the situation was, and that very moment, I was called to the exam room. They took all the measurements, and then… dilated my eyes! I screamed that I needed to go to work, but they didn’t listen. That also meant it would be a while before the doctor saw me. My coworker asked whether we should postpone the “something” until 1 PM, and I said – yes, but I became doubtful. Finally, the surgeon dashed into the room, started talking to me, but then slapped his forehead: Sorry – I forgot something! One moment! And he disappeared from the room! When he finally appeared, and we discussed my concerns and next steps, I knew I had a very slim chance of being on time. I practically ran out of the building (as fast as I could, having patients in wheelchairs all over the place), and ran to the Polk station, only to see the train leaving! The next train would be in 11 minutes, so I went down and called Uber. It was the most expensive 10-minute ride of my life (which also ended up being 15 minutes because of the insane lunch hour traffic). In the car, I was able to slack the team that I was on my way, and was at my desk three minutes to 1PM, which also allowed me to grab lunch (they stop service on our floor at 1 PM, and I would have no time to go to another floor).
Anyway, everything was great until after “something” was completed, the team stated that they experienced some problems. It took another 2.5 hours to check that it was a false alarm, and I was tired beyond anything imaginable.
Then, I went to LensCrafters. Although I can go without glasses or contacts most of the time now, I still encounter situations where my eyes do not work well together, and I also do not see the stage in the theater with the precision I would like to. We discussed options, and I ordered new glasses. We then tried several combinations with contacts and agreed on the best one. By that time, it was a perfect pre-holiday traffic situation, so I walked to the Red Line, fearing that bus 147 might take forever. When I was at home, it was almost 7 pm. My CSA order had been sitting downstairs for over three hours, but everything except the strawberries had survived! Still, I needed a moment of tranquility, so I pulled on a new (just-delivered!) swimsuit and headed to the beach. It was one of those days when I was especially thankful for living by the beach, just a ten-minute walk away from the sand, and the sounds of the waves, along with a mild, descending sun.
I can’t say that “that was it,” because earlier in the morning, I promised one of our Singapore team members to get online at 9 PM, which I did!
That was a funny one. I scheduled my AC check for today, because I was going to work from home anyway. The technician came when I was in the middle of my Zoom meeting with two of my colleagues, and by the time he was done with the inspection, we were wrapping up the meeting, and he heard me saying that I was leaving later that evening. He asked me where I was going, and I said – Finland, and started to explain that it will be cold (how cold? – it should be mid 70s this time of the year, but it is colder now, mid-upper 60 – well, that’s not that bad!). He asked whether I had family there, and I answered vaguely because explaining my family would lengthen this conversation way beyond the small talk. I described the white nights, the sun barely touching down, the lakes, the rocks, and the forest.
He listened with the great interest, and said: I have one last question: can you take me with you?
P.S. Having a goddaughter in Finland is a good way out of “Do you have a family there?” 😀
Hettie's Reflections 