Since working in the USA, I have to say, I have been appalled at it's horrible vacation plan for employees. I did some research and here is some information on the amount of vacation days given around the world:
Italy - 42 days
France - 37 days
Germany - 35 days
Brazil - 34 days
United Kingdom - 28 days
Canada - 26 days
Korea - 25 days
Japan - 25 days
U.S. - 13 days
Let's all move to Italy, I say!
I also found this:
"Unlike 127 other countries, the U.S. has no minimum paid-leave law." (www.timeday.com)
That explains why... Come on, America, it's time to treat your employees better!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Saturday, September 06, 2008
sickness, bones and the disappearance of time
Right now, life seems to consist of John and I alternating in getting sick. He's sick first a few weekends in a row, then I get sick, and then neither of us are sick, and then I get sick again. Not fun. Not good.
We also got hooked into Bones by our friend Katie Yauk, and it is quite good. Quite interesting. Check it out... It's about a forensic anthropologist partnering with the FBI to solve crimes. For a brief second, when I was looking at universities and degrees, I briefly thought about Criminology. I think it would be interesting to be able to solve crimes and find out who did it, merely by looking at the evidence. But also quite disturbing.
Time, time, time where are you going? It seems like I am living through a shortage of time right now. And that time just escapes me. It could be because I've gone from a part-time job to a full-time job, am taking a class online (Astronomy - also interesting), am now a consultant with Arbonne, am in the softball team at work and am in a small group with our church, the Vineyard. Too many things, not enough time... But life is going well and busy-ness is always better than the opposite.
We also got hooked into Bones by our friend Katie Yauk, and it is quite good. Quite interesting. Check it out... It's about a forensic anthropologist partnering with the FBI to solve crimes. For a brief second, when I was looking at universities and degrees, I briefly thought about Criminology. I think it would be interesting to be able to solve crimes and find out who did it, merely by looking at the evidence. But also quite disturbing.
Time, time, time where are you going? It seems like I am living through a shortage of time right now. And that time just escapes me. It could be because I've gone from a part-time job to a full-time job, am taking a class online (Astronomy - also interesting), am now a consultant with Arbonne, am in the softball team at work and am in a small group with our church, the Vineyard. Too many things, not enough time... But life is going well and busy-ness is always better than the opposite.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
time to blog
Yes, I know it's been way too long. And I'm even wondering if anyone reads these anyway since there are so sporadic, but oh well, blogs are fun to write.
The main exciting thing in our lives right now is that we have been looking at the last year (and few months) behind us of our time here in Fort Collins and look towards the next year or so we will spend here. One thing I looked at the other day is how much debt we had when we came here and how much we have now. And the difference is quite significant. In the last 15 months or so, John and I have got rid of over $16'000 of debt. Isn't that crazy! My brain doesn't even quite understand how we did it, but somehow we did it! We are finally seeing a light at the end of the debt tunnel, and are confident we will be out of debt in the next 12 months, if not sooner!
And now, a grievance.
Watching the Olympics in the USA is a very frustrating experience for a non-American who is used to watching the Olympics in Europe. The ONLY coverage they show is on Americans, the ONLY commentating is on Americans, the ONLY medal ceremonies they show is on Americans. Even the cameras will focus almost entirely on Americans, even when they're just standing around. It is frustrating, because it takes away from the magic and the glory and the point that is the Olympics - all nations together, with their diversity and difference in culture. I want to see the diversity and glory of all the different competitors. I want to hear the different national anthems at the medal ceremonies. I want to hear about the underdog from Hungary or Zimbabwe or Taiwan that came out of nowhere. I love America and Americans, and I admire the pride they take in their Olympic competitors, but come on, there is more to the world than America, and I want to see that shown on American TV.
The main exciting thing in our lives right now is that we have been looking at the last year (and few months) behind us of our time here in Fort Collins and look towards the next year or so we will spend here. One thing I looked at the other day is how much debt we had when we came here and how much we have now. And the difference is quite significant. In the last 15 months or so, John and I have got rid of over $16'000 of debt. Isn't that crazy! My brain doesn't even quite understand how we did it, but somehow we did it! We are finally seeing a light at the end of the debt tunnel, and are confident we will be out of debt in the next 12 months, if not sooner!
And now, a grievance.
Watching the Olympics in the USA is a very frustrating experience for a non-American who is used to watching the Olympics in Europe. The ONLY coverage they show is on Americans, the ONLY commentating is on Americans, the ONLY medal ceremonies they show is on Americans. Even the cameras will focus almost entirely on Americans, even when they're just standing around. It is frustrating, because it takes away from the magic and the glory and the point that is the Olympics - all nations together, with their diversity and difference in culture. I want to see the diversity and glory of all the different competitors. I want to hear the different national anthems at the medal ceremonies. I want to hear about the underdog from Hungary or Zimbabwe or Taiwan that came out of nowhere. I love America and Americans, and I admire the pride they take in their Olympic competitors, but come on, there is more to the world than America, and I want to see that shown on American TV.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
just something
I have not blogged in a while, mainly because I am now working full-time and am finding the time to be shorter in my life than it was before. John and I decided not to watch TV anymore, except for DVD's and it's crazy how much difference it makes. We are more productive and more intentional with the way we use our time. It's been fun! We spent way too much before watching silly celebrity shows on E and VH1, thanks to cable.
I have a new job: Administrative Assistant at AVA Solar. AVA Solar is a pretty cool company that started a year ago, and came out of CSU research. Three professors came up with a way to make solar panels out of glass. They are way more efficient and way more cost-effective than the regular solar panels. It's pretty cool stuff. The company is growing like crazy, with more and more people being hired all the time (I was the sixth new person to start on my first week there). It's a pretty cool company to be involved in, even if I have the lowly job of being an Admin Assistant (this is what happens when you don't get a degree, work in missions for eight years, and try to get a "real"job...) www.avasolar.com
Other than that, life is going well for John and I. We are going full-time to the Vineyard church here in Fort Collins, which we really enjoy and are excited about. We've been making lots of fun new friends recently, mostly from when I worked at Starbucks. And with me getting a better paying, and full-time job, we are seeing an end in sight with our debt-paying! It's looking like it's going to be a good year ahead of us!
I have a new job: Administrative Assistant at AVA Solar. AVA Solar is a pretty cool company that started a year ago, and came out of CSU research. Three professors came up with a way to make solar panels out of glass. They are way more efficient and way more cost-effective than the regular solar panels. It's pretty cool stuff. The company is growing like crazy, with more and more people being hired all the time (I was the sixth new person to start on my first week there). It's a pretty cool company to be involved in, even if I have the lowly job of being an Admin Assistant (this is what happens when you don't get a degree, work in missions for eight years, and try to get a "real"job...) www.avasolar.com
Other than that, life is going well for John and I. We are going full-time to the Vineyard church here in Fort Collins, which we really enjoy and are excited about. We've been making lots of fun new friends recently, mostly from when I worked at Starbucks. And with me getting a better paying, and full-time job, we are seeing an end in sight with our debt-paying! It's looking like it's going to be a good year ahead of us!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
cosmetic disfiguring
I've been watching lots of silly afternoon TV shows recently, just to have something on in the background while I'm doing my homework or the laundry or cleaning the house. And they've mainly been What Not To Wear and Ten Years Younger. And I've noticed a trend in Ten Years Younger of doing teeth-whitening, botox injections, collagen lip injections along with the usual makeover stuff. And I've been thinking how ridiculous so much of it is. I don't know if you've ever watched The Swan. I saw a couple of episodes, I don't even remember when, but the creepiest thing about it is that, at the end, every girl looked exactly the same. Long hair, big boobs, skinny body, plump lips. Any individuality about these women was erased and seen as a flaw. It's so sad that uniqueness is seen as an imperfection, instead of a part of who that person is.
Anyway just a few thoughts about what I find annoying about this world and it's influences on what people think is beautiful.
Anyway just a few thoughts about what I find annoying about this world and it's influences on what people think is beautiful.
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