If we were having coffee today I guess we’d both mention April Fool’s Day. It always seems so appropriate to “do” something on April Fools Day. The fact of the matter is, I joke all the time so I’m a bit jaded by April Fools. It’s a bit like a heavy drinker making a big deal over New Year’s Eve or St. Patrick’s Day as a drinking day. I mean, for them, every day is a big drinking day so why seize on those events, right? So, anyway, I’m just not in the mood this year. Maybe it’s my weeklong backache, or the reorganization at work, or the growing grass and weeds in the yard which brings me back to, well, back to my backache.
Sigh. With my back, I know I just need to give it some time. It always manages to work itself out. It twinged up on Friday a week ago and was feeling better last Sunday so I did a little bit of yard work but paid the price. If I’d let it go last week, I’d probably be ready to go out and do battle now. As it is, I’ll probably need to wait until next weekend.
As far as the reorganization goes, they are a way of life at work. Somebody is always reorganizing something. I’ve worked at the same place for seventeen years and I have completely lost count of the reorganizations. The other day I tried to remember all of my bosses names and I drew a blank on a couple of them. It is simply a way of life in big corporations. I have two theories about why that is, and I think they are related.
One: some form of movement gives the outward impression of progress. In fact, it is really just moving the many pieces around. Oh, little things change, sure, but basically, it ends up being the same work. Nothing ultimately changes.
Two: by its nature, this form of change tends to cause anxiety and discontent. This leads to what I call passive layoffs. These occur if people are already dissatisfied with the company and the unnecessary changes might just spur them to quit and move on. This is a win-win for the company because formal layoffs are very expensive. If they can up the irritation factor just a little, they save a ton of money.
Silly April Fools notion? Think about it. Think about times you’ve worked at a job and some inane policy has come up that made you seriously consider moving on. As far as I know, I made this term up but deep in my heart, I know it is a real thing. No joke. It’s a subtle form of managerial influence. It is akin to the theory that fast food eateries have color schemes designed to influence you to eat fast and get the heck out of there by using a subconscious influence to increase their customer turnover and make more money. We’ll have to see how all that plays out for me. I’m pretty used to these changes, but we’ll have to see. It’s a big unknown. Yesterday I had one manager, today I have another.
In other April Fool’s Weekend news … there is an important sports milestone this weekend. No, I’m not talking about Basketball. Never have been a big fan, although sometimes I’ll watch the last two minutes.
No, I’m talking about a real sport: BASEBALL SEASON STARTS TOMORROW.
Note: there is no “last two minutes” in baseball.
Downloads of the new cookbook have slowed down. Please check it out. It’s fun, it’s got some good recipes, and it’s free. It’s also a good introduction to the world of my two novels. As a reviewer put it this week: “This little cookbook makes the novels seem almost like reading about friends” … ebook only right now, but like I said, it’s free and there are versions for virtually any device.
It is only in ebook formats right now, but like I said, it’s free and there are versions for virtually any device. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/712183
So, even though I haven’t joked at all … that is so out of character for me, I think I can say, April Fools.
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Thomas Fenske is a writer living in NC. You can make his back feel better and make him less uneasy about his job if you BUY HIS BOOKS. More info at http://thefensk.com. At least download the cookbook … you know you can get the pdf and read it at the office while you are pretending to work. At least an increase in free downloads gives the impression of some form of progress. 😉
Scratching the Surface 
I know what you mean about reorganization just moving all the pieces around. I am currently trying to sort things out on a grand scale at home. The hope is that I’ll find load of expired school notes and the like which will be easy to chuck. I have also found that some simple reorganization does make a good improvement, which you’d hope would be the case at work as well. As far as making real progress in concerned, my word for the last two years has been “action” and I’m still fluffing around with theory but I think I’m getting somewhere at last.
Take care and thanks for the coffee, Thomas. Hope you have a great week!
xx Rowena
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I didn’t mention April Fools day in my post. H@ave a great day with no backaches
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I think you are absolutely right in your thinking when it comes to work and re-organization! Great post! Will check out the cookbook too! Thanks!
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Thx
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