Countdown to Aussie Town

I'm so excited. I looked at the calendar today and realized my Aussie adventure is less than a month away. Soon, I will be exploring the wonders of Sydney, the majesty of Uluru (aka Ayers Rock), and the beauty of the Great Barrier Reef. Can you tell I'm excited?

Now I just have this one little pesky task that my love has saddled me with, putting together the itinerary. My first reaction was "he wants me to do what?" For people who know me well, they'll understand what a challenge this is for me. I understand that for a trip like this, it is essential. I understand that he doesn't want to have the "so, what do you want to do" discussion and end up sitting in the hotel all day. I get that. I want to avoid that as well. It's just so hard to decide what to do on any given day. There's so many things to choose from and so little time. Anyone have any suggestions? Want to plan the itinerary for me? I didn't think so...

A Bachelorette Party

My wonderful cousin-in-law is getting married in October. This weekend, her maid of honor threw a spectacular bachelorette party that did not risk the typical hangover and regrets other parties generally entail (phallic cakes anyone?).

The invite stated we would be going on a wine tasting tour of Harvard Square and end with a dinner at Harvest, where the management very kindly extended the restaurant week menu for us. I re-read the invite to make sure I got it right. No strip clubs? No meat market dance club? This was going to be an interesting night.

The evening began outside of Om Restaurant . Here we met our wine tasting tour guide, Roz, from City Wine Tours . I knew I was going like this woman when she declared that "wine should be enjoyed and drunk." Roz demonstrated the finer points of wine tasting such as how to hold the glass, discover the legs, and what causes wines to have hints of different flavors. We tasted two very nice whites at OM. From here we headed off to Casablanca.

Casablanca is a wonderful little hidden gem. We had two really good reds and enjoyed some wonderful appetizers. The first was a platter with flat bread and three very tasty spreads: a roasted red pepper spread, an eggplant spread, and one that was similar to a hummus. The next appetizer we were served was a roasted grape flat bread pizza. You read that right - I typed roasted grape pizza. At first I was skeptical. Grapes do not belong on pizza (or so I thought). My mind was very quickly changed with the first bite. The sweetness of the grapes was offset nicely with the tangy balsamic and goat cheese. It was really a heavenly dish. After eating the last bits, we headed off to Harvest.

Harvest is another one of Harvard Square's hidden jewels. It's located in an alleyway. It's a lovely alleyway, but it's not on the beaten path of the main road. the wines at Harvest that we tasted were a nice white and a nice sparkling wine. (I really wish I remembered to bring a notepad with me to write down all the names of these wines.)

After we tasted the wines, Harvest was gracious enough to offer us their restaurant week menu which was delicious. I had a wonderful Ahi Tuna to start. Doesn't it look good?

For the main course, I had a pork tenderloin dish that had an interesting lavender sauce. I learned quickly that moderation was key with this sauce. In small doses, the sweetness played really nicely with the saltiness of the pork. Desert was a fantastic mocha semi-freddo. I think I found my new favorite dessert.

Between the great wine, the wonderful people, and the excellent conversations, this was by far one of the best bachelorette parties I every went to.

I'm a lousy employee

I've come to the realization lately that I'm a lousy employee. It took me a long time to figure this out. I never could understand why I had such trouble with managers until now. It's so simple, I'm not sure why I didn't see it sooner.

I work very hard, come in early, stay late, and am constantly trying to improve. I am very conscientious and I pay attention to detail. So this begs the question, why am I such a lousy employee?

Five reasons why I am such a lousy employee

1. I push for results.
   
   • I like to see results based on my actions, especially results that move the company closer to its goals.
   
   
   • This has the unintentional problem of making other less motivated employees look bad.
   
   
2. I ask a lot of questions
   
   • Some see this as being very confrontational, especially when I ask questions that are assumed to be common sense. (We all know what they say about assuming).
   
   
   • I want to understand the work I'm doing including how it will affect our goals.
   
   
   • If someone asks me why I am doing something, I like to give a thoughtful reply. Because I was told to do it just doesn't work for me.
   
   
3. I don't like to waste time.
   
   • I don't mind copy and pasting documents together as long as I understand why there is value in doing so.
   
   
   • I like to make a plan and adjust as I go along. This helps me to allocate the proper amount of time and resources.
   
   
   • While I enjoy talking with my co-workers, I don't enjoy being interrupted while I am working on a project to discuss the merits of your cat or the condition of your baby's diaper this morning. Let's talk during a coffee break instead.
   
   
4. I have a hard time accepting the reason why we do something is because that's the way it has always been done.
   
   • I always look for ways to improve efficiency. Some people find this a bit off-putting, especially when it means I am getting my work done faster.
   
   
   • There have been rare cases where the way something has been done is the most efficient. I don't mind those cases. It's the processes where a little thought and some minor adjustments would make a big difference, but no one has bothered that drives me crazy.
   
   
5. I analyze everything
   
   • I like to track my work to see how I'm doing and to continually raise the bar
   
   
   • Being able to measure and work towards specific metrics makes me very happy
   
   
   • When I fail, I want to know why it happened and how to avoid it in the future

Some who read this will think to themselves I have an attitude problem. The truth is, I do. I am driven to excel and can get easily frustrated when others around me do not have the same drive. I have an entrepreneurial streak. Because of this, I thrive in fast-paced, ever changing environments. I enjoy working with really smart analytical people. I have a hard time believing that I'm the only lousy employee out there. So tell me, what makes you a lousy employee?

Wow, has it really been that long?

It's amazing to me that I've left this blog alone for so long. Since getting married, life has been a bit hectic. It's time to dust this thing off and start posting more regularly. Check back to see what kind of antics I've been up to and the random things that float through my head. I promise, I won't leave you hanging like last time...