Living life simply

I have a lot to learn when it comes to living life simply. How many times do I choose something I should do versus something I want to do? More than I can count. I guess I only realize now that it's my major source of conflict and unhappiness whenever I make such choices. For instance, I feel like I should not give up on a friend who seems to keep ignoring me; or, I feel should do all this shopping while I am in the city because I can't get these things at the same low prices if I were in Port Hardy. Even though I am tired from a long day and I just want to nap, I still press on. But at least I can say, today I have found a clear sign that it's time to go with how I truly feel not what I should do..

I remember I read somewhere that one of the sources of unhappiness is when your actions are not aligned with your feelings. So it follows that you'll be happier if you do more of the stuff you love and see less of the things you dislike. Simple, right? I need to put this realization to practice now. Perhaps this will be my new year's resolution: Living life simply!

posted from Bloggeroid

What kind of boss are you?

Whether you live in a big city and work for a Fortune 500 company, or you work in a small store in a remote town, a good boss makes a huge difference in the workplace morale, productivity, and ultimately contributes to the success of your enterprise.

In my career, I have been an employee longer than I have been in management, so I have seen both sides and can understand things from both perspectives. It's not easy being a manager, and it's much easier being an employee. As a manager, you have to deliver results, but you also have to deal with people issues. Insubordination, health issues, conflicts, etc. and the list goes on. You have to earn respect from your reports (keyword is "earn"), and build rapport with other managers so they will support your team when in need. You hire carefully and make sure the team is working well together. You discipline appropriately and fire before the bad employee's behavior infects the rest of the team.

It's hard. And I'm sure you have had bosses who are not like that. Bosses who seem to hardly do anything; bosses who don't have a clue what you do; bosses who are too much into what you do and ask to be copied on everything and sometimes takes over your job a bit? Bosses who just repeat what their boss tells them? We've all met them whether directly or indirectly.

Perhaps there is one thing in common for good bosses: they genuinely CARE about their team and they put TRUST in their team.

When a boss trusts, he/she will not get into your hair and ask nitty gritty questions all the time. He/she will give you discretion and decision making power.

When a boss cares, he/she will make themselves available if you have questions or just anything you may want to talk about. He/she will want to understand what you do and how you do your job, so they understand what you go through on a daily basis. He/she will look for or will support opportunities that will make your job easier and safer. He/she will be honest about how he/she feels if there are higher management decisions being passed down for him/her to execute. He/she will apologize if he did or said something wrong and he will show appreciation and gratitude regularly for the good work you do.

Why do good bosses matter? If I am a boss today, can I decide to be an "effective" boss rather than a "well-liked" boss? Of course I can. I may get promoted for being able to get another half million dollars revenue because I put a lot of pressure on my people. But I will not retain the best talent in the company. My team will eventually consist of people who are sad, unmotivated, who are only there for the paycheck. My reputation will precede me and people on other teams will rather quit the company than work for me. The bad morale will spread wider the higher I get in the company. And everyone knows bad morale means low productivity. So, where is the effectiveness of my style now?

I have had the privilege of working for some great bosses in the past and especially the present. I have learned so much and have lots of respect for them. If I ever am to be a manager again one day, I will definitely look to my role models and learn to manage like them.

posted from Bloggeroid

My computer's quest for her perfect mate

Ms. Dell Latitude came to this town with me, and didn't rest much before venturing out into the dating scene. She's been spoiled when she was dating Mr. Telus Optik in our previous home. Things really clicked between them and they were going really fast. Poor Ms. Dell had to move with me to this town because I was married to Mr. Hero. And which hero stays put in one place, right?

Ms. Dell's spirits weren't too bad in the first day or two of casual dating. She found Mr. Café Guido to be quite charming, they connected well, and he offered her all kinds of goodies. The problem is Mr. Guido is too well known in town, everyone visits him and it can get loud sometimes. Ms. Dell likes to have some peace and quiet. So, after the morning date, she crossed the street to see Mr. Public Library.

Mr. Library was quite a bit different from Mr. Guido. He was quiet, down to earth, and didn't offer any frills. Ms. Dell liked that a lot, and they connected well too. However, Mr. Library was a man of habit and kept a strict schedule. He would never see her on Mondays and Sundays, and his hours during the week were limited too (often unavailable before noon). Ms. Dell knew it was hard to change him since he's a bit older and he's well established.

So, on the third day, Ms. Dell decided to do some speed dating to increase her chances of finding a good mate. She met Mr. North I. College and Mr. A.N.W., but both were a disappointment. The former was almost her dream came true - studious, but not uptight; quiet, but there are social times. Too bad, when they started talking to each other, he just didn't get her on a deeper level (when she brought out VPN). This was a deal breaker for her, so she left after an hour and headed to Mr. A.N.W. This one was full of promise on the outside, advertising he is available for her many hours a day, every day. But, once she sat down, she found he couldn't even communicate at all! Utterly disappointed, she goes back to spend the rest of her afternoon with Mr. Library and then Mr. Guido.

"People must think I am a whore!" Ms. Dell says to herself and to me. I consoled her and told her things should get better soon. It's not like I haven't tried helping her - I did some matchmaking before we even moved here, the match is called Mr. Xplornet. But the matchmaker Mr. Source is always busy setting up other people, we have to wait our turn. Ms. Dell and I can only wait...

We hope when we finally get to meet Mr. Xplornet that he and Ms. Dell will be in a stable and happy relationship! He is her last hope in this small town...

posted from Bloggeroid

Our new adventure begins!

It seems like we kind of "lost" November...
Wasn't it only a while ago when I was taking fall leaves pictures with my friends in Stanley Park, or seeing little kids trick or treating in Port Hardy?

But, come to think of it...we did take advantage of the sales before Black Friday...(using my new phone to blog this as I type :D )

So with the departure of US Thanksgiving and Black Friday, a new beginning arrives: our new life in Port Hardy! We are thankful to have had a dry loading day and a crew to pack and move so much stuff in such a short time.

Time to rest up after a long, wet drive - tomorrow will be a brand new day, month and chapter!

posted from Bloggeroid

In the name of Halloween

Wonderful to have the most iconic signage of the city adorned like this, isn't it?



I am excited to see how it looks like when Christmas comes around...

posted from Bloggeroid

Am I doing this? YES, I am doing this!

It has been quite the ride at our House Hunting trip last week.  Yes, literally.  9:30am-6pm.  And that's only to Port McNeill. 

People have limited attention span these days and I am pretty busy with 3 weeks to go, so let me just keep the rest of this post in point form.  These are our first impressions...

Highlights of Port Hardy:
- There is no traffic light in town that I remember, and there is no traffic. No parking meters to worry about.
- Almost all roads we have been on so far are paved, except for Stories Beach Rd.
- Good Halloween spirit...you know, like families and kids all dressed up to go trick or treating, door to door.  Really enjoyed seeing that.
- 15 minutes of impressive fireworks display right in front of you on Halloween night, with ample free parking, free hot chocolate and a huge bonfire.
- 2 Japanese (sushi) restaurants, both decent
- 1 Chinese restaurant (with an American menu too), not bad
- There is a pier and a nice boardwalk along the waterfront.
- There is a decent recreation centre with 2 outdoor tennis courts and 1 nice skating/hockey rink, and also an auditorium/theatre that I am sure has events throughout the year.
- Library has good spaces for spending time there and has good wifi.
- Nice cafe with bookstore and gift shop.
- A nice, completely renovated house in a good neighbourhood can be purchased in the low $300K range.

Lowlights of Port Hardy:
- The cable companies sold out of Internet bandwidth!  With no ETA of expansion completion!
- The only Internet options for new subscribers are Satellite or Mobile Internet, and sacrifices will have to be made about speed, monthly cap, response time.
- There is no cell phone signal from any carrier between Campbell River and Port McNeill.
- There is only one channel you can receive on FM radio - CBC.  Mostly news and talk shows.
- There is no OB/GYN in town, so women have to go down island e.g. Nanaimo/Victoria, by a certain time in their pregnancy and to eventually give birth.
- A 20-min drive (to a neighbouring town) feels much longer here because of the lack of landmarks.
- There is one gym selling membership in town and it is occupying the gymnasium in one of the elementary schools that is now closed down.  It has a yoga/group exercise area but it is not partitioned off and I don't think I see mirrors that help with posture. 
- Other than housing, everything does seem to be more expensive here, and of course, choices are limited.

The shock was there...but not a show stopper...and here is a silver lining I just found thanks to The Source calling me today about the schedule of my satellite Internet installation!

Free TV offered by Shaw Direct - Local Television Satellite Solution (LTSS)
http://www.tjfworks.ca/ltss.html
http://dudewhereismytv.wordpress.com/shaws-local-television-satellite-solution-ltss-program/
-- if I sign up before Nov 30, 2013, I will have free basic TV in Port Hardy!  Perks of being in a remote town! :)