Every week I end up with a collection of links and I always think I’ll present them here with a lovely post on the subject. The truth is that I typically post here once per week and rarely have time for more than that.  And some weeks?  I don’t even have time for one decent post.

So in the spirit of sharing things that I found interesting on the world wide internets (but do not have time to actually write lengthy commentary on) I now present a listing of interesting things I found whilst browsing my inbox and Google Reader recently.

IT Salary Survey: Not all technical certifications are created equal.

Master these 10 processes to sharpen your project management skills.

Tips to Spring clean your career.

Tuesdays are employees most productive days.

Know how much the other guy earns?

Have you read anything interesting on the web recently that you would like to share?

Don’t be jealous.

It is Egg McMuffin AND popcorn day in my office.

One co-worker is making popcorn in our theater sized popcorn maker.

Another just brought in Egg McMuffins for the entire team.

What kind of goodies do you have in your office?

Today I learned about a condition that seems to be afflicting my son called Testosterone Poisoning. It is the best explanation I can come up with besides the fact that we have had a completely effed up week and he is beyond tired because of it.

Because I have been so absorbed with my very emotional boy child this week I am mentally (and physically) quite drained which means I have exactly BUPKIS to offer you.

In the spirit of providing you something new and interesting to cast your eyes upon I now present to you…

::drumroll::

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Last week I mentioned that I had been tagged to be a member of the holiday party planning committee at the office.  There were ten or so of us on the committee.  I know I may be a smidge biased having been on the committee, but I do think that the party went really well.

There were tables set up for card games, random drawings for prizes throughout the day, various guessing games and not one, not two but THREE Wii’s set up for some friendly competition.  Lunch was provided, as were beverages and in total I’d guess darn near every one of the 80 people we expected made their way to the party for at least a quick visit, nibble or game.

In total it took us just over a week to pull it together.  From idea to execution we had a pretty fast turn-around.  Needless to say, there were many preparations happening on and off of standard business hours to prepare for the festivities.

One of the team members that was scheduled to bring in their Wii for the party actually brought it in a day early to test drive the audio and visual on the very large projection screens.  After hooking it up we decided to test drive the system by playing a few games of boxing, tennis and bowling.

At one point we added a Mii to the Wii.  For those of you not in the know, a Mii is much like an avatar that you might create for yourself on Yahoo! Instant Messaging.  I picked out everything from Mii dark rimmed glasses to Mii wardrobe.  Even eye color, face shape and attire.  The only thing I didn’t have a say in (I don’t know why) was my hair.  I ended up with pigtails.

The next day as I sat down to lunch at the start of the party I looked up to see someone had selected me Mii on the Wii just in front of me.  Without a second of thought I shouted…

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I’m on the office planning committee charged with coordinating our team holiday celebration. My love of parties trumps my hate for Christmas so my Grinch-ish holiday tendencies aren’t spoiling the event planning fun.

One of the things we are considering is a photo scavenger hunt. In my head I have started kicking around ideas to put on the list but there is one tiny problem. In my head I can take every seemingly innocent photo suggestion and make it photo suggestive.

*bow chica bow bow*

We aren’t inviting HR to this party but I still need to behave. Let’s hope that I get teamed up with someone with a good moral compass to keep this event on the up and up. I really don’t need the team photo hunt to become an HR conduct report in the making.

Complete with photographic evidence.

Lucky for everyone someone other than me is coordinating the food. That right there increases the odds that it will be an edible lunch by about 100%. We’re planning an entire afternoon of screwing around although I think the employee communication will call it “team building” or something kinder and gentler and HR friendlier than “screwing around”.

So what is shaking in your office space for the holidays? Any fun competitions? Parties? Lunch adventures? Pin the tail on the manager?

Do tell.

Ever have one of those days where the B.S. (Brown Sugar) that you have received from everyone else is enough to make you want to seek out the nearest bell tower?

Yeah, me too.

I am typically really good at dealing with difficult personalities.  Whatever their character flaw may be, I can usually counterbalance it with little to no effort.  The problem is that every now and again I get TIRED of dealing with the cRaZiEs.

Welcome to Now and Again.  Would you like to supersize?

I’m not going to get into specifics about people I have dealt with recently.  Mostly because people that I deal with on a daily basis actually read these posts.  But I will give a high-level list of what I call:

Ways to drive KathyHowe batshit in the office:

(Note to co-workers: this is NOT meant to inspire).

1. Not replying to emails when it is made clear that ACTION is REQUIRED and you are given a HARD DEADLINE in the message.  If you can’t complete the task on time at least have the courtesy to REPLY WITH THAT INFORMATION!
2. Emailing my MANAGER’S MANAGER to tell on me when I don’t reply to your email marked as normal priority within five business hours.  If your message is urgent please flag it as such or pick up the dogdamn phone.
3. Spending 10 minutes bitching about doing a task that will take you 5 minutes to complete.  That is like good time management but totally different.
4. Doing my job for me.  I would be MORE than happy to stop attending project meetings if you would like to just handle everything, superstar.
5. You are more often the voice of the problem (if not the source of it) and you have nothing to offer in terms of a solution.

Now I know all of you had had the pleasure of working with difficult, challenging or otherwise asshole people.  Share your stories.  What drives YOU batshit?

A hodge podge of interesting information I have run into on the world wide web in recent weeks.

1. The Personal MBA. In an earlier post I questioned the need for certifications in our professions and most people responded that they absolutely saw value in being certified. As I researched some of the options out there I ran across The Personal MBA and being the self-taught girl that I am, it certainly appealed to me. I’ve already started reading the book list.
2. A Quiz: Does your job feed your soul? My results were “Congratulations! Your soul is inspired by work.” I’m not so sure I agree with those results these days. I feel like there are a lot of opportunities for me to be MORE effective within the organization. Opportunities for me to provide greater value. The good news is, my manager hears me when I tell him that and maybe THAT is why I scored the way I did.
3. Pink Magazine: A beautiful career, a beautiful life. I’m not sure if this is new or not but it is new to me. They have events coming up across the United States that look like wonderful opportunities for women to connect face-to-face with other professional women.
4. Do you use LinkedIn? If so, I strongly encourage you to get some Linked Intelligence.
5. Do you know How To Position Yourself To Snag Your Boss’s Job? I do. (Note to my manager: don’t be nervous. I don’t want your job just yet. I still have a thing or two to learn donchyaknow.)
6. Those ballet flats ROCK with that skirt! I know that sort of thing because I found Susan over at The Working Closet. If you are unsure of the do’s and don’t’s of office attire, Susan is your gal. To top it off, she’s a damn HOOT.
7. Rumor has it you can Avoid Conflict By Understanding Your Peers. Say it isn’t so.
8. Trunk Monkey Videos. And no. I am not implying anything about my co-workers. *coughs*

Have you found anything interesting on the internet lately?

 ::::drumroll::::

Ten reasons why working in the corporate world is great:

1. There are all kinds of people to blame when your stuff goes to hell.
2. Corporate politics can at times make having Bush in office seem like no big deal.
3. CEO’s have finally realized blogging is cool and are using it as a corporate communications tool.  Just wait until the year 2020 when they find out about Flickr!
4. Having co-workers means there is always someone around to cut the stray string off your sleeve for you.  No need to strip nekkid during meetings to do it yourself.
5. Birthday treats can happen darn near every week if you work on a large enough team.
6. At some point in your career a vendor will try to win your love with tickets to great seats at sporting events.  Do yourself a favor and play hard to get at least through the playoffs.
7. There are people to pick up the slack for you when you need to leave work for a few weeks to get your cervix razored out.
8. You get to introduce yourself to a new boss every 3 - 6 months.  Oh the joy of tooting your own horn with such regularity.
9. Free coffee!!  And sugar!!
10. So many people to prank.  So little time.

What are some things YOU like about working in a corporate environment?

I have a confession to make:

I like my co-workers.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like them all every single day. There are some days that I don’t like anybody on the planet, but mostly, my co-workers are good people.

I used to be in business for myself. While my work did call for interaction with customers it was mostly a job done in solitude. Working alone has it’s perks like you can skip the morning routine of getting all dolled up. But working alone also has it’s pitfalls.

Like it is lonely, lonely, lonely.

All the years that I spent working alone I feel like I missed out on something. Actually, more than that I feel like I forgot a very important skill and that is how to have fun at work. I have always enjoyed my work, enjoyed what I have done but isn’t having someone else around to laugh at your jokes so much better than laughing at them yourself?

Now that I am working in a corporate environment that requires me to actually show up at the office each and every day I am realizing just how dusty my social skills are in the workplace. Sure, I get along with my co-workers but I have hesitated to participate in most of their events.

One of the things my co-workers have going on is a fitness challenge that is somehow tied to the show Survivor. People are voted off the fitness island from what I understand. They have to take their wheat thins and go back to their cubicle. It started, I believe, shortly after the holidays and is still very much in the works. I don’t know all the in’s and out’s of this challenge but I do know that each week a whole bunch of them spend their lunch hour weighing in. I don’t have any major fitness goals but when I hear my co-workers teasing one another about weigh-in I think, “dang. sounds fun.”

Every so often there is a pool for the lottery (comon lucky powerball) and each winter there is a football board. Knowing absolutely nothing about football has kept me away from the football thing in the past but this year I signed my name into a square and handed my $5 to the coordinator. She assured me I need to know absolutely nothing about football to participate and I’m gonna hold her to that.

There are lunch outings that are impromptu and informal, lunchtime basketball games that happen weekly and other events that people within my department coordinate. I’ve decided I have been passing up many of these things for long enough and the time has come to start joining in on some of the fun.

All work and no play makes KathyHowe’s mind go batty.

One of the things I’d like to coordinate is an office/team dance competition because I LOVE the show Dancing with the Stars and several of my co-workers know it. Never mind that I work mostly with men and never mind that I can’t dance to save my life. I’m sure everyone would love the idea.

Or vote me off the island.

Does your office have any fun activities that are either company sponsored or team coordinated?