I must be getting old...

I used to be able to do 14 things at once, all of them requiring major commitments of time, and not bat an eye. I'm getting old.

As my coworkers know (or at least the ones who haven't been living under a rock since July), we are making lots of changes to how we do things on the HR and Payroll side. One of these changes is a new Time and Attendance system. It's a great system, way easier to work with than the old one, and it will cut our payroll processing time down by at least 3 hours. Unfortunately, as we slowly roll this out to the company over 5 pay periods, I am beginning to realize why they suggested we take a slower pace - there is nothing worse than doing payroll in TWO systems. We had to triple check everything we did, and I am sure that someone's check got messed up. Hopefully it's a minor problem, easily fixed, and not causing major hiccups to someone's cash flow. In case you're wondering, I feel worse when it's my mistake than when it's yours, and I really hate when it's a big hit to someone who can't take a big hit.

In addition to what's going on at work, I have two baby quilts to make, two challenge quilts, a pirate costume, and I just volunteered to help make costumes for a local children's theater.

Why yes, I am crazy. Why do you ask?

Being Temple Sherburne

Today is my day to cover the front desk while Temple takes her breaks. It's actually a nice change of pace. I answer the few calls that come thru, redirect people to the OTHER elevators so they can get where they're going, and contemplate the life cycle of paperclips.

Strangely, DCS is my first job in over 20 years where I don't handle Reception in addition to my other duties. Imagine, if you will, discussing a delicate payroll matter with an employee on the phone, while signing for a FedEx package. Meanwhile, there are two employees in front of you talking loudly while they wait for you to hang up so THEY can discuss delicate personnel matters with you. That is the life of a Payroll/HR/Front Desk/Office Manager for you. I don't recommend it as a career choice - the pay is horrible, and the working conditions are worse.

Question of the day - what were some of the strangest job duties you ever had? I mean the ones that weren't anywhere close to what you expected from the job title?