It was one of those days. There are days better staying in bed than going to work and having everything go wrong that can. Today was one of those days. These are the days when you wonder whether or not you should continue at what you are doing for money. It was one of those days.
Last night was a reflection of what my job has come to. We are experiencing that every 18-24 month procedure called a file review. In order to prepare for the file review, and I had to work late last night until midnight and then I came in early this morning.
This experience has taught me a couple of things. The boy is not as young as he used to be. I am exhausted today. 10 years ago I could have managed this, but now, I am just getting further along in the life experience and as a result, I know that I can’t perform quite like I used to. It is disappointing to realize that you aren’t the superman you used to be.
Well, today was a real roller coaster ride. I was working on trying to get a loan closed during the day. In the morning I came to work and it was supposed to be ready to close. I then came to realize that it had all blown up, over a newspaper article. Then I had thought that since it was dead, I would go to other meetings.
Then, things changed again over night, or so it seemed. All of a sudden, the loan was on again. I was in a roller coaster for the second time of the day. I got it closed, but it was not without it’s stress and affects. I am so tired of that.
They say that global warming is upon us. Maybe, I don’t know. However, I can tell you that we have seen a huge swing in temperature in the last two weeks. No more than two weeks ago, we had very cold temperatures reflective of what time of year it really is. It is still winter, and shouldn’t we have winter still. We did, until a few days ago. Now, it is close to 70 outside and the snow pack is melting. I am also concerned for some of my agricultural customers, who if the trees wake up and then we have a freeze this could prove to be a disaster. It is a strange time we live in, this time of global warming.
I have come into work this morning because I have to. Why? Well, if I want to go on vacation and have any piece of mind, I am going to need to come into work. That is how it works for a banker. You have so cotton pickin much that you deal with on an ongoing basis that you need to get away from it, but in order to get away from it, you have to do more of it before you don’t have to do it at all, for a few days. Does that make any sense?
I need to get away from the bank. I need some time to sit and read next to a beach, or in this case, next to a river. I want to take tons of pictures. I want to be an artist, in some sense. I love photography. I sometimes wish I had made it my livelihood. I am good at, and I love it. There are other things that I love to do that perhaps I should have made my life work, and then maybe I wouldn’t need a vacation. Wrong!!!
Well, I went to a management meeting again today for the bank. This time, it was our Regional group instead of the whole bank. What do you know, it was almost a complete replay of the meetings I went to last week. Maybe some people come back from these meetings all invigorated, excited, ready to push forth and slay the dragons. For me, I come back with fear. It is the fear of not measuring up. I guess I somehow need to change my mind set.
In the meantime, I need to go out and get the job done.
Been spending the last two days at the bank’s annual management conference. The purpose of these conferences is to get us to buy into the goals that someone else has set for us. I guess that is not unprecedented, and certainly is important. I sometimes get tired however of sitting there and hearing this for two days straight. I wonder sometimes if it wouldn’t be done better over the phone on a conference call. Well, that is my take on cheerleading.
I Thought The Energy Crisis Changed Things
Apparently it didn’t. I come into work during the winter and I nearly freeze to death every day. I sit in the corner office at the bank, and suffer from a vestige of the days when there was no energy crisis.
They built this stupid bank building when energy was cheap, and therefore, the only thing between me and the north forty is a thin wall of bricks, every one of which is very conductive of the cold that exists on the other side of the wall. I sit in my office each and every winter morning and just freeze to death. Of course it doesn’t help that I have poor circulation anyway and so my hands and feet turn into ice cubes at the drop of the hat.
I thought the energy crisis was supposed to change things. It was supposed to change things like make companies do a better job of insulating their buildings. Apparently the bank I work for hasn’t heard of the energy crisis.
Today is going to suck at work. We have 3 people off on vacation, and today we have 2 people that called in sick. That wouldn’t be an issue normally, but since we have it also being the last day of the year, it could be a problem.
What really makes this a problem is the attitude of the branch manager. Our manager doesn’t mind taking days other than Friday off because he has his own business on the side and it is convenient for him to take the middle days of the week off. For me, I want to be able to go see family over an extended weekend, or spend time with my wife in some romantic location. Taking Tuesday and Wednesday to go somewhere just isn’t going to cut it. Our manager wants to clamp down on anyone taking those days off, because it isn’t convenient. What needs to happen is for the bank to staff the place, and provide substitutes, so people can enjoy their life. In other words, was work made for man, or man made for work. We should be able to enjoy some of the fruits of our labors.
Supposedly, if you were in a bank the day after Christmas, it is supposed to be a pretty quiet day, a day to get things done, a day that is not too stressful. Oh boy, have things changed. I worked today, and it was one stressful thing after another. The thing was, I would have rathered have been with the family while they were out shopping, but I had no days left to take off, and besides that, the people with more seniority were out of the bank.
Maybe someday…..when I am old and retired….I won’t have to worry about the day after. For now, it is always going to be a worry.