It's Time for the Office Football Pool (AKA "Give Us the Money!")

While in the throes of being an "empty nester," I started watching football.  

It began with college football (a much more civilized version than the NFL) and progressed to the San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers (I can't pick a team).

A lot of this new enjoyment can be attributed to the "office football pool."   I might be inclined to be a bit of a "gambler."  

You see, around my firm, if you're a staff member, you either "play or get labeled."  Labeled as not one of the gang, labeled as a cheapskate, labeled as "un-American."  I tend to be a "pleaser," so I'll wager ten bucks here and there.  I'm sorry but I cannot give up my gourmet coffee fund for football.  I have not gone there yet and don't plan on it.

However, when someone told me today that I was guaranteed to win the first pool "7-1," I was ecstatic.  I have no idea how I'm guaranteed to win or even what I would win, if I was the winner.  Truth is, even though I've started watching football, I have no clear concept of the rules or how the game is played.  I do understand "touchdown."

And while we bask in 90 degree weather today, I must admit I'm looking just a little forward to football.  Between the office football pool and the Pumpkin Spice Latte, the Fall season has its perks.

The Rhythm of the August Rain by Gillian Royes

You still have time to catch up on your "Summer Reading."

New from Gillian Royes, creator of the Shad series, comes "The Rhythm of the August Rain"

Gillian Royes, Author

"The Rhythm of the August Rain" by Gillian Royes

"Shad Myers, the loveable bartender and town sleuth of Largo Bay, hunts down clues to a woman’s mysterious disappearance in this fourth riveting novel in the Shad detective series.Shannon, a photojournalist on assignment for a Canadian magazine, arrives in the impoverished but beautiful fishing village of Largo Bay, Jamaica. But she’s seeking more than a tropical paradise: She wants to know why a Canadian woman named Katlyn went missing there more than three decades ago.So she calls on Shad—“bartender by trade, investigator by vocation, and unofficial sheriff of Largo Bay” (Publishers Weekly)—for help. Together, they delve into Rastafarian life and history while preparations are being made for Shad’s wedding and the groundbreaking of his new hotel. But the deeper they get into the story, the deeper they get into trouble. And it’s clear that whoever wanted Katlyn buried all those years ago will do anything to keep the truth buried as well…As in her previous novels The Sea Grape Tree, The Man Who Turned Both Cheeks, and The Goat Woman of Largo Bay, Gillian Royes transports readers into a beautiful Caribbean setting where life is cheap but religion is strong, and one man is still trying to solve the island’s relentless questions."

See more at: SimonandSchuster

Available in bookstores everywhere and online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble

They're Back. . .The Return of the Cubicle

Just when you thought the role of the secretary had evolved - they're back.

I don't know about you but I sort of like the direction firms have taken over the past decade or so with open space desks.  I mean, granted you don't have any privacy, but did you really think your "cube-mate" didn't hear you on the phone with your roommate telling him it was time to shape up or ship out?

Cubicles give a whole new meaning to "faux-walls."  They're nothing but "perception." In reality, they're actually more confining and less "feng-shui friendly" than the desk you're sitting at right outside your boss's office.

I mean wouldn't you rather see him coming than have him sneak up behind you just as you clicked on "TMZ?"

Alas, there's nothing we can do because we just work here.

So, you might as well get those push-pins ready for next year's calendars.

The cubicle has returned and with firms making use of every single inch of space, I'd say they're here to stay.

"Is This the Party to Whom I'm Speaking?" Headsets: Functional and Useful or Status Symbols?

I have nothing against telephone headsets.  I think they serve a very useful function.  Sometimes.

Especially, if you're only answering phones all day, say at a switchboard.  Actually, do they even make "switchboards" these days?  I'm dating myself.  Yikes.

Anyway, for me, headsets don't make my life easier.  They are cumbersome as I'm constantly switching gears, multi-tasking, running to the printer, running to the mailroom, making lunch runs - you name it.  

Besides, they pull off your earrings.

Lately I've started to notice more and more people with headsets on at work, which has led me to believe that some, not all, but some of these folks are trying to look important.  Sort of a "status symbol," if you will.

When you're providing "assistance" to anywhere from 4 to 8 attorneys, how can you sit in the same spot all day with a headset on?  Practically speaking, it doesn't work.

From what I can tell, the busiest secretaries and assistants don't use them.  They're juggling several balls at once and need to keep their "ear to the ground," so to speak.

Do you headset?  If so, how's that working for you?  I'd love to hear.

Beware the Information Seekers - They're Listening, Even When You Think They're Not

Ever feel like people in your office are out to get information?  Nothing that's life-changing.  Just information about what your attorneys are doing, which cases they're working on, how many hours they're billing, who is staffing their teams?

If you're a secretary, like me, then you've probably met them.  The Information Seekers.  They disguise themselves as friendly co-workers who just stop by to chit-chat.  However, they often give themselves away, like when they come up to you with a pen and pad (much like a reporter's notebook).  

That happened to me today.  I almost fell for it too.  The old, "I haven't talked to you in forever, how's it going?"  Followed by, "Hey, what is the name of that new case?"

But, old Della Street knows the deal.  That's when I clam up and play "silly secretary who can't keep the cases straight."

When they become irritated at your perceived incompetence and lack of knowledge about matters which are of no concern to them, that's when you know - you almost got played!

And remember, just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not following you.

Now, I'm telling you all this "confidentially" of course.

Book Review: "A Good Killing" by Allison Leotta

Was it Edgar Allen Poe who said, "Believe half of what you see, none of what you hear?"

That quote would certainly apply to Allison Leotta's newest legal thriller, "A Good Killing."  It's the latest in the Anna Curtis series.  And it had me guessing until the very last page.

I'm not going to say that this is her "best work yet," because I think all of Ms. Leotta's novels are amazing.  I love a good mystery.  And she's good.  Very good.


I especially related to the bond between the two sisters.  It made me ask myself "how far would I go for my own sisters?"  

I'll take the fifth on that question because I don't want it to come back to haunt me.

"A Good Killing" by Allison Leotta

Online at amazon and other online sellers, hardback and digital.  Suggestion - get the hardback, you'll want to have it for your library.  I have a feeling this author hasn't even hit her writing prime.  And that's super exciting.

Allison Leotta

"Former federal prosecutor and critically acclaimed author Allison Leotta’s spellbinding thriller follows prosecutor Anna Curtis as she heads home to Michigan to defend her sister in a case that will bring her to her knees.

How far would you go to save your sister?

Anna Curtis is back in her hometown just outside of Detroit. Newly single after calling off her wedding, Anna isn’t home to lick her wounds. She’s returned to support her sister, Jody, who has been wrongfully accused of murder after their old high school coach, a local hero, dies in a suspicious car crash.

But maybe Jody isn’t so innocent after all. The police are convinced that Jody was having an affair with the married coach and killed him out of jealousy. As Anna investigates with the help of her childhood friend Cooper Bolden, an Afghan War veteran with a secret of his own, she slowly peels back the facade of her all-American town and discovers that no one is telling the truth about the coach, not even the people she thought she knew best. When the town rallies against them, threatening not just Jody’s liberty but both sisters’ lives, Anna resolves to do everything she can to save her sister and defend the only family she has left."  (From amazon.com)

Thank You. Yay or Nay?

We've all officially survived another

"Staff Appreciation/Administrative Professionals Day/Week."

So, now here's the question for "Emily Post."  

If you happened to be fortunate enough to receive an individual gift from your attorney(s), beyond the hot dog lunches, ice cream bars, chair massages and "group company gifts,"  should you give her a formal handwritten "thank you," or is an email enough?

I'm not completely ill-mannered.  I know that bouquet of flowers or that box of candy or Starbucks gift card deserves a phone call (make it quick, it's their billable time) or an email.  But, should you take it even further and write out an old-fashioned "Thank you?"

And does the "one month after the gift, thank you card" rule apply to Secretary's Day?  

If not, I'll gladly take your answers to apply to next year.