freesia39

Ignore the circle - it's from a thread about fall. We are solidly in fool's spring. 2nd winter is returning next week with mild rain.

It's wannabe spring here in California, i'm waiting for second winter (highs in the 50s, lows in the 30s) to return. YES THAT IS COLD.

I'm glad the judge gave you feedback - good things to mull over, and really the most important part - the cake was delicious.

Do it. Plenty to do that does not involve gambling, and I actually enjoy going in the summer when it's 110 - the heat is dry and there's WAY less people.

Pam, my eyes were drawn to the meyer lemon/blueberry one. I'm always trying to strike a happy medium with palates, which is why I worry something very chocolatey might be too much if you're trying to win. My absolute no is coconut, since it's a flavor/topping that has opinions (like mine, which is don't have that anywhere near my cake unless it's haupia.)

Sigh these are the HR people ruining it for the rest of us that do the right thing... I do admit I don't always answer the phone (I have way too many people calling trying to sell me crap) but I will call you back. And I always respond to an email or slack message.

HR hat: Working hybrid is a privilege and not an entitlement. It can be revoked at any time, whether due to leadership discretion, poor performance or the position has evolved to require additional presence. Providing hybrid work arrangements is a benefit that may help attract and retain employees, especially to support commute times and help with affordability for those who may live further away from the office. (massive issue here in CA.) Some positions are not conducive to remote work. I remind employees that while you may have worked fully remote during the pandemic - so did many of your colleagues and teammates. We had no option but to make it work. As return to office has normalized and stabilized, the expectation set out by your organization should reflect the needs of your organization. Some roles require in person connections for productivity, brainstorming; others require employees to be in person due to the nature of the work - we cannot feed residents remotely, support their maintenance, conduct research experiments with ridiculously expensive equipment that costs millions, teach classes, or even in non-academic examples (as I work in academia) interview employees during an investigation (I do not like doing this remotely due to security concerns and the conversations are VERY different when I hold them in person) If your company is fully remote, it's different - the expectations are different. If it is not, I advise any employee to be open and flexible when you are asked to return to the office, or add occasional additional days per week as needed. I work two days a week in person, and often add a third day due to meetings, events etc. I also advise employees to maximize in person days - I purposely schedule in person meetings, 1:1s with my team, etc - so that I don't have to hear "but I come in and sit on zoom meetings." Some meetings are better held over zoom - the meeting I had with finance as we reviewed data is better when you have a screen to look at salaries right in front of you. Some conversations need to be in person. Some work is done much better in person; some work can ONLY be done in person. I tell people all the time who say they don't want to come in: then do not be surprised if you no longer have a role to work hybrid from as we are not required to allow you to work hybrid. Employees have been terminated for deliberately not coming in on their assigned days. And because I have to say it OFTEN - working hybrid or remotely is NOT a substitute for child care. We understand emergencies happen, and you may need to pick up a child due to illness, issues at school, etc. That has happened in the before times and will continue to happen. You cannot be inflexible on hybrid days because you only have child care two days a week, for example. There is no way you can be productive with a 2 year old roaming around, and the time has passed for children to pop up behind you in meetings. Non HR Hat: I live close to work, I don't mind coming in. Don't abuse that by having me come in for you either, because that's rude. But if you're going to complain you have to come in one extra day ONCE a month because your manager wants everyone there on the same day for team meetings or company wide events, I am not going to have sympathy. If you want to work fully remote, find a fully remote position. You cannot expect a company to bend to your preference to be fully remote if it does not meet operational needs, is not consistent with other members of the team, or meets the vision of leadership. You need to make it work in order to continue making it work. I've heard too many examples of one person effing it up for an entire team because they were refusing to come in, or disappearing for three hours a day, not being responsive, and hybrid privileges were revoked for an entire team. Don't be that person.

<insert very long series of thoughts on hybrid vs fully remote here> I work in HR, I see a lot.

According to Larry David/Curb Your Enthusiasm, it's three days.

Three more weeks of work, then two weeks off...

I'm sorry that no one responded. Research if she needs cellular (is she in an area where she needs access to the internet that has no wifi or is the wifi quality poor?) What type of notetaker is she? Does she like to write things down, or does she type? I had an ipad Pro for work - purchased a keyboard and a pencil as I still liked to write by hand notes. I would get the smaller model because I had the larger one and it was hard to drag that around. However, you can do all of this with an ipad 10th gen now. I bought goodnotes as an app; you can also use Microsoft OneNote. I haven't tried to draw/write within Google Drive/Docs. I recommend you go with her to a store and check out the sizes, and see if it's large enough for her to see the sheet music on, and go from there.

Things I've made with other people's cricuts because I don't want it taking over my space because I know it will: 1. Custom aprons for a team cooking event. 2. Custom t-shirts and ears for a conference at a Disney resort. Things I would make: 1. Custom notebooks... custom everything if I could.

Yes, they will have sales. Like everyone mentioned, it will be up to you to determine if it's worth the fight for parking as they are always a zoo. If you know the company that owns/operates your outlet, you can find the deals - the big ones are Premium or Simon.

You all can do it!

Whoa that plastic mold thingy is cool! BTW: $24 in 1963 is $248.92 in 2024 money.

Darnit. I just bought that cutting board set. I bought my ipad from Costco online last year - I think I bought the 9th generation and it was like $70 off? I was appreciative of the deal in general, as my old ipad just couldn't handle any websites anymore due to age. In terms of day to day items, for the non Costco members, some of these deals are decent: 1. I always buy the Rao's pasta sauce when it's on sale - in store it's 11.99 (note: i'm in CA, prices may be higher here) so for 8.99 for two jars - that's the price of ONE on sale in the grocery store. 2. 3.00 off parchment paper - this will last you FOREVER. I dated the last one I opened - May 2023 - and it's still not finished, and I still have another box. 3. If you need disposable plates, cups, etc in big quantities for a party - Costco has the best deals. 4. If you need batteries in large quantities - buy the Costco branded ones. For the holiday sales: 1. If you need holiday chocolate (or nuts for baking) - the Godiva box is a good deal, along with the Ghiradelli peppermint bark. Everything else is based on what you may need at this time. Costco is never going to have a deal that is "gotta go line up for it" since they're based on having decent pricing all the time. I also have no context for appliance and TV pricing since I don't need either of those items right now so I'm super mentally checked out. If you needed a Christmas tree, they have them on "sale" right now (yes they're expensive) https://www.costco.com/trees.html Welcome to Costco, I love you, haha.

Cash is always a good one, along with gift cards. With the ages, those are probably the best ones. Face masks would work as well - just trying to find things that are flat to make life easier for you!

If you do'nt know what gift cards to get your team and don't want just go with Amazon, I use this vendor a lot for work - http://www.giftogram.com They do not charge you a fee - you pay for the value of the gift card - and the recipient can redeem whatever they want from their options. It is an electronic gift card, so some struggle with figuring out how to redeem in store. (I usually select a gift card that I can add to Apple Wallet or the app for that company.)

Please tell me someone here as the 12 foot skeleton from home depot. I love him.

Nothing gets the crowds out like something limited edition

The last couple of years I just made a big tray of cookies for the dept and let people take what they wanted (because not only do I have four people that report to me, there's also four others on our team as well.) For my direct reports, I've bought target gift cards during their sale weekend and gave those out. Ideas I've wanted to do: 1. Customized notebooks (I was going to buy basic ones off of Amazon and gold foil their names and our team name on there) One year I bought them adult coloring books and crayons (pandemic time, it was SO needed.)

Welcome to September, or second summer in this part of the country. Whee.

Meanwhile, all Prime Day packages have shown up here, whew.

I can't believe it's almost memorial day - might as well be Black Friday at this point.

Happy almost end of March!