My Word of the Day

Incompetence - Devoid of those qualities requisite for effective conduct or action.

I had a bad day at work today.  Nothing was easy (yes, I know work isn't always easy) but today was one of those challenging days were I wished e-mail was never invented.  I'm not sure I could explain the level of duh! I encountered today but suffice it to say that it was not pretty.  Not everything was bad but apparently there is a big misunderstanding about the following words:

• Immediately means without delay or instantly to me.  My job is to prioritize things and tell people what to do - for other departments.  It's a good thing we don't deal in life or death issues because apparently, immediately means 8 hours later to some people.  
• No means no!  I can only tell someone so many times that something isn't available, doesn't exist or can't be done before I lose my patience.  I try to be nice and polite but it's a good thing you can't read between the lines on e-mails!

On the bright side, I had a very good experience today as well that helped balance out the bad.  It was a little weird but so cool.  I ran into a woman today who looked familiar and we exchanged pleasantries.  "You are 'Monkeygirl' right?" she said. (She used my real name not Monkeygirl)  She went on to tell me that she attended my presentation the other day and she really enjoyed it.  Wow!  I was impressed that she remembered me and that she had such wonderfully good things to say.  The weird part was this entire exchange occurred in the women's restroom!  It was great but not exactly the best place to hold a professional conversation.

Sighhhhhh

Whew!  I survived my speech today and I actually think I did fairly well.  I hate speaking and seeing a room full of people fidgeting or nodding off, but I seemed to have everyone's attention and they were actually engaged in the conversation!

I got a lot of "great job" comments from my co-workers and so I think it went well. It was kind of nerve racking to see and entire row of upper management staring at me from the back of the room but I was determined not to focus on them at all.  All in all I would say it was a success and most importantly, I didn't puke, trip or bop anybody in the head!

Wish Me Luck

I haven't been a very good blogger lately.  I finished my craft room but haven't posted the resulting pics yet.  It's Monday and the monkey is conspicuously absent again.  We planned a vacation and I haven't written a word about it yet.  But I have a reason.

I'm in panic mode right now.  I hate speaking in front of a group of people.  I have no problems speaking up in meetings or talking to "important" people on the phone.  I do really well at the one on one schmoozing that is required when you attend trade shows.  But ask me to stand up in front of a room of strangers and speak and I freeze.  I - uhm - forget - uhm - what I was going to say.

Tomorrow morning I "volunteered" to give a presentation at a client forum we are holding.  I told my former boss that I would be more than happy to help out in anyway I could - as long as I didn't have to present.  I guess that piece of information went out the door with him when he left the company a few months back.  Now I have to stand up in front of a room full of clients and present a 40-45 minute presentation.  "Just make it conversational" they said, "Try to make it fun". Uhm, sorry but my assigned subject matter isn't exactly the kind of stuff you hear at the local Laugh Factory.  I'm a reformed geek (aka code monkey) and even I think some of this is b-o-r-i-n-g.

I've made myself all kinds of notes (slow down!, take a deep breath!, smile!) I've (gasp!) even practiced my presentation so it doesn't sound like I'm reading - or that I'm a complete babbling idiot! In fact, I purposely put very little on the slides to avoid the allusion that I'm just reading.  Personal Pet Peeve Alert - I can read your slides a lot faster than you can read them to me so tell me something else or quit wasting my time!  I've timed myself over and over and I am right at the 40 minute mark.  Perfect, right?  Maybe, if I can remember to s-l-o-w down and not talk too fast, if I don't puke on the front row due to nerves, if I don't fall off my heels tripping over a projector cord.  Oh, and I hope that I don't clobber someone in the front row.  I should have some Italian in me considering how much I use my hands when I talk!

So wish me luck!  I doubt I can whip up a serious case of laryngitis by morning so I think I'm stuck.  Oh well, within the next 12 hours it will all be over and I can get back to some serious fun.