In the Doghouse

“I think I’m going to put a reminder on my phone that says ‘Go to work,’ and just hit ‘Dismiss’ when it pops up.”
- Greg Albers

For some reason, Brian Schmidt ends up in the doghouse almost every week, as he tends to have a hard time remembering to submit his completed timesheet. He gets it all filled out, but its that tricky little "Submit" button that gets him every time. And, like clockwork, almost every Monday Jeff Puthoff "politely" reminds Schmitty to click 'Submit."

Brian decided to be proactive and put a recurring reminder on his Outlook calendar that says “Submit Timesheet” on every Friday afternoon. However, he apparently dismisses this reminder each time it pops up on his screen. Perhaps he has a hard time tearing himself away from a particularly engaging sanitary sewer slope... or is occasionally distracted by the downtown Loveland traffic passing the office.

There’s lots of things we can think of that would be more fun to “dismiss” than filling out our timesheets, such as:

• "Perform field survey" (in 5-degree weather)
• "Perform field survey " (in 95-degree weather)
• "Lunch meeting - 12:30" (when some of us struggle to patiently wait ALL the way until 12:30pm to eat)
• "Fix coffee machine" (when you're Tony)

Perhaps you all can help us out. Feel free to bombard Schmitty with reminders to submit his timesheet today at bjs@choiceoneengineering.com. Since Jeff Puthoff can be cranky early on a Monday morning (many of us might agree that Monday mornings are a tempting time to click "Dismiss" on the "Go to Work" reminder), and since Brian doesn’t pay attention to his computer reminder, maybe we can keep him out of that doghouse with a reminder by committee.

Playing Hooky

Brian Goubeaux: “Jeff, if MSA is the official architect of the Cincinnati Reds and they take Opening Day off, can we be the official civil engineers of the Cincinnati Reds and get Opening Day off too?”
 
Jeff Puthoff: “Goub, baseball is boring. If you want Opening Day off, just take a frickin’ vacation day.”

Some of us baseball fans admire our friends at MSA Architects for taking Opening Day off like a holiday. Granted, their offices are in downtown Cincinnati, and logistically, getting to and from work and getting anything done when the office overlooks the stadium would be pretty difficult in the first place, but we think it makes a pretty good business statement too.

Opening Day at Choice One brings a big bag of peanuts in the shell, lots of talk and dreams of pennant races, and the radio getting switched to 700 WLW near game time. Some in the company, however, (ahem, Jeff Puthoff) think baseball is “boring,” and, similarly, think taking the day off of work for a baseball game is ridiculous.

Of course, when you look at Choice One’s history, we’ve come up with plenty of “better” reasons to take days off. For instance:

• Giving yourself a concussion falling down during a sand volleyball game.
• Taking  one of your children to the emergency room for the fifteenth sports-related injury.
• Getting your car stuck in your driveway on a snowy day. Or not being able to get up a steep, hilly road on a snowy day.
• Injuring your foot tripping over the fuel pump line at a gas station.
• Taking your kids to Kalahari Waterpark for the fifth weekend in a row. Or to Disney for the third year in a row.
• Getting an early start to Oktoberfest, Russia Homecoming, Pioneer Days, Country Concert, etc.

So cheers, MSA, for taking off Opening Day. Perhaps Choice One can consider becoming the official civil engineers of Urgent Care, Versailles Poultry Days or Honda Snow Blowers for a few extra days off.