18 July 2008

I'm not dead yet... no way!

Knock, knock...
Anybody still reading?
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Executive summary:
I've been away, duh...
I'm back, sort of.
Lets see what happens.
_____________________________________

I've added the exec summary since this post has become quite long and I prefer short articles. So if you want to keep on reading, you've been warned.


After more than 2 months of being AWOL, my brain is again buzzing with ideas and the only way to get rid of them is by writing them down.

I started a new job, went from a 30 minutes to a 2 hours daily commute and was absent from the web for almost 2 months. I also realized that getting to know a new company, a new job and new colleagues takes a lot of effort, time and energy. And I thought job hunting was tough...

2 weeks ago I started reading blogs again and tonight I managed to get the unread count in my blog reader to below 1'000 by tirelessly reading and ruthlessly marking as "read".

For the last 2-3 weeks I've been thinking about releasing an apology. After all, posting regularly is a bit like making a commitment to your readers. But on the other hand blogging is just a hobby of mine and I have a tendency to apologize too easily anyway. So as part of my ongoing personal development efforts I've decided not to apologize to my 8 or so faithful readers ;-)

But to prove the rule I'll make this exception:
Wenchie and Laurie, please accept my apologies for disappearing so suddenly and, worst of all, not replying to your emails.
When I had my first fit of AWOLism half a year ago these two ladies already tried to contact me asking if I was okay. This meant a lot to me back then and, oops, they did it again this time. After all, who would have thought that these crazy HR furies would worry about an underground blogger from the old continent ;-)

And also a big thank you to Buddy and Lil' World for mentioning that they missed my posts.

Now I've been thinking about approaching blogging more like a TV series, meaning that I might release a few episodes and then take a break again. So this post could be considered as the trailer. There may or may not be a pre-air episode soon and then 12 or 24 episodes until the fall break. Cool idea, eh?

Finally, here's what's been on my mind lately (besides the new job, listening 20'000 times to Linkin Park, Lenny Kravitz and Johnny Cash while commuting and planning my huge comeback):
  • Song: Beatsteaks - Hail To The Freaks
  • Song: Serj Tankian - Sky Is Over
  • TV series: Middleman
  • TV series: Dragon's Den
  • TV series: Ultimate Force
  • Mom and Dad
  • why is Colbert on vacation... again? And doesn't he care at all about my feelings of missing him?
  • Project: mobbing
  • Project: burn-out
  • which motor oil to use?
  • ROWE: I won an advanced copy of the book and kinda promised to write a review. Not done yet and not forgotten at all...
  • books: William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy
  • book: David Allen's Getting Things Done (tip: re-read when starting a new job)
  • blogs: I'm not blond, don't (always) drink too much and am a little bit taller than Wenchie, yay!
  • blogs: lets save Laurie's prose for next weekend
  • blogs: Ferriss is still awesome
  • anime: the new Appleseed is soo cooool
  • why haven't my comics subscriptions arrived yet?
And don't forget:
FOLLOW THE WHITE RABBIT!

7 comments:

HR Minion said...

Welcome back!!!! I know I missed you! You were the first blogger to reach out to me, so I'm glad you are okay and back.

And you are an Anime fan? How did I not know this and why haven't we geeked out about it together yet?

Happy Employee said...

@HR Minion:
You never knew I was an anime fan because I never bothered to find anything in animes that was HR related and could be mentioned on my HR blog ;-)

Okay, new challenge just for you, in case you saw this anime or read this manga:
what can we learn from the following recruiting methods and incentives offered to the employees:
1) anime, Appleseed 2004: Deunan being recruited at the very beginning assuming that the powers that be at Olympus orchestrated the ambush?
2) manga, Gunnm / Battle Angel Alita: Gally / Alita being recruited as a tuned agent?

HR Minion said...

Here I go:

1) Forcing a candidate into a situation where they feel they don't have any choice but to accept your offer is only going to breed distrust and hard feelings. In addition to rebellion. Talk about disgruntled. :)

2)I've never read this manga though I have seen some of the anime. From what I remember, because she has no real prejudices (veil of ignorance and all that) building trust and empathy were important. As well as providing her with goals and purpose.

How'd I do?

Anonymous said...

good to be back with specific terms. Excellent strategy! Do take the time to build your internal network at the new job, it feels painful and tedious but it is extremely important and will ultimately yield better blogs as a result.

Happy Employee said...

@ HR Minion
You did great ;-)

Happy Employee said...

@Talentedapps (Meg?)
Thanks for the encouragement!

This afternoon a colleague told me how he built his internal network and as a result is now getting (necessary) information that even his boss doesn't receive and how the number of daily emails went from over 100 to 25.

I told him that somebody had just made me a similar recommendation online.

Anonymous said...

You're forgiven...THIS time!