Friday, August 3, 2007

One more week of catch up....

So, this is probably going to turn into a weekly column, because it is difficult for me to sit down and write in the evenings, especially if I have been on a computer for some of the day. Anyway, did have a few stories this week and I will try to portray them the best possible.

So, the big story of the week is how small a world it really is. I was walking to another supervisor's office at EMS and one of the Philippine EMTs stopped me and said "Mr. Forest, are you from West Virginia?" (They all know my name, I really only know the supervisors and department head names. I don't work primary with the staff, mainly just the management so it is unrealistic that I will remember or even learn everyones name.) "Yes I am" I replied. He said "Well I lived in Logan County for about 4 years with my Uncle." "You have got to be kidding me.." my response. Turns out his Uncle is a dentist or doctor of some kind in Charleston, and they lived in Logan. He lived with them for a few years. So we talked a bit and then when on our ways. What are the odds of running into a Philippine in Qatar that lived in LOGAN COUNTY, West Virginia? Pretty low, I think.

So, the week started off somewhat on a high note (at least with work, anyway). I got to work Sunday and was doing my normal rounds and beginning of the week stuff. We have a senior department head meeting at 9:00 every Sunday. The secretary told me that the director just called in and cancelled the meeting. The assistant director was out of the country for a few days, so I guess she thought that with no direction the meeting could not go on. After the secretary had sent out an email and called everyone, I told her to re-call everyone and tell them the meeting was still on. What a great opportunity to really see what is happening. So when everyone showed up, I talked to them about having ownership in their organization. A meeting of this magnitude does not have to have a director to be productive. I told them that they know the issues and they know what is going on, for them to communicate and discuss. If they need an agenda, they can use last weeks minutes and check on action items. I told them that anyone in this meeting could run it without a problem, and that we would be doing that very soon! I got to also talk about some leadership issues, communication issues, setting the example, etc. I also got them to open up about some things that they would not normally talk about to management. You see, they view me as a 'safe' person so they feel like they can talk, which is a good thing. I got a lot of good information, and we really started to get them thinking.

Since the morning went so well, you can figure that something would go wrong in the evening. I called our driver to take me to a hardware store and then the villa, so I could install some brushes under my door to keep sand out. Well Dr. J, Ms. D, and Dr. A, all wanted to go as well, but had other stops. I wanted to get a Ritz car and go by myself, but the insisted I go with them. So before our driver was supposed to be there, I went to the bank in the hotel to get my check cashed from the hospital for furniture. This was the 2nd time I had my check, as someone else tried to do it earlier and we had to take it back to the hospital because of a missing signature. So tonight, everything was still good to go. I headed to the bank, and because they didn't sign in the right place, they could not cash the check. I had to take my check back to the hospital one more time. So that started everything else off great! Our driver was uncharacteristically late by almost an hour. (He is usually 5-10 min early). So there is whammy 2. So then, traffic is usually worse here in the evenings so it took us a while to find the shop that Dr. J and Ms. D wanted to go to. We finally found that, and then headed to a hardware store so I could grab a hacksaw. I was in there about 5 minutes and we were on our way again. Dr. A wanted to get a haircut and massage, so we were going to drop him off on the way to the villa. Except, he liked this place 'a few roads over' which ended up being a good ways over. On the way back to the villa I realized it was 9:00. I had been driving around for 2.5 hours. I was in no mood to start installing things. So I got my driver to take me back to the Ritz...and that was the end to a greatly wasted evening.
(I was able to get my check cashed the next day after one more trip to the Finance department...thank goodness)

So, apparently it is against the rules to work at the Ritz and also have outside employment. However, some eager young Indonesians and Filipinos have latched on to the UPMC crowd and have started a side business. The cleaning staff here have worked with us to give all of us at the villa a weekly cleaning crew. 3-4 of them stop by a week and clean for an hour or so and go to everyone's place. It only costs about 20-25 US dollars a week , so why not. Being the employees they are, they do an excellent job. Actually, I have not been to my place yet, but they were there last night giving it a deep cleaning. Wiping down all the walls, cabinets, bathrooms, etc for the first time. I have seen some of their other work and have been impressed. It doesn't cost us much and it is one less thing to worry about...so I will probably keep doing that...

So, as you saw before I got my check from the hospital and I also got my allowance from Pittsburgh. So I have started furniture shopping. I have so far got a dining room table, Couch with 2 love seats (That is how they come here...either that or a couch, love seat, and 2 chairs), and a bedroom suit. I think I found a desk, and I have to keep looking for a entertainment center. Plus I need a TV, along with some carpets, kitchen stuff, etc. All kinds of shopping left. Those of you that are worried, don't be. I am doing a very tasteful blue and gold theme.

That sparks another tirate for me. I am not trying to be distasteful, and I hate people had to die. However, I knew it was coming and it got here today. Today on Sportscenter they started talking about how difficult it was to get back to football practice for the Hokies, and how all of their games are going to be played with all this emotion. This is like the Saints after the Hurricane. There is only so much I can hear about this. I am sorry people died, I do not nor ever will like the Hokies and I hope they have a 0-12 season. I hope that every year, not just this year, so for me it is status quo. I just hope that this reporting will go away sometime, however I think that is unlikely.

So, to end on a good note. Yesterday I was having breakfast and the GM asked if he could join me. We talked about numerous things including college football. He is French, and does the head bob and shake when he talks, but he lived in the states for many years and is a big college football fan. (although it is USC, it was still good to get that out) Anyway, he told me that he had a rough day planned and that he would be up late and then be up really early this morning. Apparently some corporate big timers for the Ritz were coming to visit. So I told him good luck and went about my day. So, this morning I get up and on the club lounge level we really don't have to look great to watch any Muslim customs. So I rolled up for breakfast this morning in shorts, sandals, and my HAIL WEST VIRGINIA t-shirt with a huge flying WV on the back. As I got off the elevator and was walking around the corner I met the GM followed by 10-12 guys in suits taking notes and looking in every freaking corner. So much for trying to help him out. I just used my Yes sirs, and no sirs...and tried to go hide in a corner until they were gone. (Not that they would say anything to our about a guest, but I like to be a team player.) You could tell that someone was coming this week, as the usually perfectly cleaned hotel was really getting a cleaning. They had new flowers everywhere, more food on the buffet this morning, carpets were getting shampooed. etc. All that fun stuff.

Anyway, I am getting tired of typing. I am going to work out and then I am supposed to go shopping with Nurse C tonight. Hopefully I can find an entertainment center and start checking off some of the other stuff. We will see...

Talk to you soon!

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