The Panda Bear on Her Work Red Line, Declaration of Independence from Paid Empyment, and Office Plant Update

The Panda Bear will have to do a short post today.    Mr. Panda has had some time off which always gives the Panda Bear less free time.

Readers of Panda Bear know that this summer the Panda Bear's employer crossed the Panda Bear' red line in terms of her employment when they banned plants in the office(the reason give was that the plants led to spiders; many workers of the office dispute the plants as a source of bugs).   Many other offices of the same employer have plants.   

The workers of the Panda Bear's office all loved the plants.   They brought their own plants and took care of them.      The Panda Bear recently read that plants actually improved  productivity of offices by improving air quality and reducing stress.    The Panda Bear finds it hard to believe that there is any rationality to the decision to ban plants.

Anyway recently, the heads of the Panda Bear's organization came to visit.   One manager asked the heads of the organization about the plant ban saying that it terribly upset the workers not having plants.   The upper management initially left the decision to the managers of the Panda Bear's office who let the plant ban remain.   However, the next day the decision was made that each worker could have a tiny plant at his/her desk.

The Panda Bear dreams of working in an office full of plants.   The Panda Bear firmly believes that in a good economy that she would have left her job several years ago.   The Panda Bear predicts that in the near future employers are going to have to deal with more and more workers becoming stale in their jobs.

In the Panda Bear's field of work, in the good economy most workers stayed about five years and then left for another job.(The Panda Bear has been in her job for nearly nine years).   If one was unhappy in one's job, one could relatively easily switch positions.   The Panda Bear believes that the feeling that one could get another job if things were bad really improved the morale of the work force.    Now with the bad economy this escape hatch is gone.

Earlier tonight the Panda Bear was procrastinating in writing her post.   Then she remembered feeling somewhat sorry for someone who said she needed a boss to give her deadlines to get her work done.   The Panda Bear feels that in the modern workforce bosses are not benevolent people and one should not have to rely on them for anything.   The Panda Bear has read on she agrees with the theory that nowadays even if one works for an organization one has to view oneself as an entrepreneur working within an organization.

She thinks organizations are going to find more and more people are working for them strictly for the money-any psychological benefits of paid employment are virtually none.   The Panda Bear knows of people who have inherited money and quit the workforce.   She is beginning to think these people are right.   Who would put up with half hour lunches and heavy workloads but for the money?    The Panda Bear is finding offices becoming more and more unpleasant.

The Panda Bear has her internal Declaration of Independence from Paid Employment.   She does not need her job to feel useful, have friends, structure her time, be productive or use her mind.   She needs solely it for the money.   The Panda Bear has no problem subtly letting her employer know that the moment she goes off the clock she has other worthwhile activities to do.

The Panda Bear on Zen, Her Bathroom Repair and the Cleanathon

The Panda Bear is in her third day of paid leave from work.   She has gotten to understand how people who are not employed still say they are very busy.   The Panda Bear feels she has been somewhat hard on Mr. Panda.   He has about three times as much vacation time as the Panda Bear.    The Panda Bear at times will ask him what he has done with his week off and he will say he did not do too much.   The Panda Bear will not understand how he got so little done with so much "free" time.  The Panda Bear now feels it is harder to organize  oneself without a schedule.

When she was younger and had more free time, the Panda Bear did not understand the concept of Zen or doing nothing.   Wouldn't people rather be doing something?   Now after having been constantly busy she has come to appreciate it.   The concept of Zen is came from a busy culture.   A week of having nothing to do would seem like a totally mind altering experience to the Panda Bear right now.

Now here comes the part of the Panda Bear Blog that many readers have been waiting to hear; the Panda Bear will describe how her bathroom repair went last year.

The Panda Bear went to the website Home Advisor Inc, and asked for contractors for remolding the bathroom.   Mr, Panda interviewed the recommended contractors(because he has more time off).  He found one that he liked.  He made sure the contractor had worker's comp and general liability insurance.   We explained to him we did not want a full remodeling just a repair of what was broken.

This contractor very generously offered to go to Home Depot to pick out the material.   The Panda Bear and Mr. Panda don't drive so it is hard get to the store and pick out materials   Furthermore,  the Panda Bear felt she had no idea what to pick.    She explained to the contractor that she liked her old bathroom- it just needed to be fixed.   The contractor picked out the materials and warranted them for year.  He charged for his time and a mark edup on the price.  

The bathroom repair was quick and efficient.   In addition, they had some blinds replaced and some other small repairs.  The Panda Bear can say she is glad the apartment was fixed but she can't say it was an elevating and inspiring experience.   She feels she has acquired new skills but would rather the bathrooms did not break down.

For her next home project the Panda Bear has resolved to do a Cleanathon.   This is where the Panda Bear does a massive cleaning and decluttering so she can hire a professional cleaner to do the heavy cleaning.   Her goal is to hire a cleaner by this spring.  

She also needs to buy some new bureaus or have them repaired.   The Panda Bear finds it very frustrating that all the furniture stores -even in Boston proper where there are many people live in small houses and apartments-seem to have furniture for the McMansion.   The Panda Bear can't figure why since she things there would be a market for it in urban areas it is so hard to find furniture for smaller places.

The Panda Bear on her Glossary of Terms, Office Bathroom and Home Bathroom

The Panda Bear thinks series entertainment is an unnecessary source of stress in modern life.   The Panda Bear thinks one should be able to pick up a novel or watch a TV show without having read the previous book or seen the prior TV episode.

However, a blog is something like a ongoing series.   However, the Panda Bear is committed to try to make each blog post read as much of a stand alone piece as possible.   However, to make the blog more readable the Panda Bear has added two pages to her blog for the reader to reference.   The first page is her Cast of Characters where she lists her frequently repeating characters.    The second page is her Glossary of Terms where she explains many of her words that are unique to the blog.

The Panda Bear has unexpectedly this week has had three days paid days off from work this week due plumbing problems which lead to the toilet facilities not being able to be used.   Three unexpected paid days off from work!!!! This has not happened to the Panda Bear in her nearly thirty years of being in the workforce full-time.  Furthermore,  the Panda Bear has been working for past thirteen years for organizations that had a no close policy so the offices weren't closed even when many other businesses were shut down(i.e. for bad weather).   The Panda Bear has been too stunned to know what to do.   Should she do chores or have fun?   The Panda Bear has decided to try to do a mixture of both. 

The Panda Bear was told places of work had to provide bathroom facilities for the employees and the office had to have electricity to remain open.   What amazed the Panda Bear were not these laws but that her last employer did not follow them.  In the Panda Bear's last place of unemployment they kept the place open without bathrooms(workers had to go to nearby buildings).  Furthermore, once when they had problems with some workers not keeping the bathrooms clean, the organization closed the bathrooms on a temporary basis and to threaten permanently close them(the workers would have had to use the public restrooms in the building).   The organization also kept people working through power outages that last several hours. 

The Panda Bear's previous organization was not some puny small time organization but was affiliated with a large employer.    Its managers would be considered to be "nice" people and mainstream middle management.   However, not all of its actions appear to have been legal.  The Panda Bear wonders why Unions are having such problems today when there is widespread disgruntlement about the way employers treat workers.  

It is getting late.   The Panda Bear was going to give her readers an update on her bathroom.   The Panda Bear will violate her rule about not liking series and say stay tuned to the next installment of the Panda Bear Blog.

The Panda Bear on Thanksgiving, Literature and Modern Repression

Next week is Thanksgiving Day which is a day where Americans are supposed to be grateful for what they have. The Panda Bear can accept that for one day in the year we can take time to appreciate what we have. However, there are some people who feel we should now have a gratitude month where we spend the month feeling grateful for what we have. The Panda Bear has tried to follow some Facebook pages which for everyday in November its followers are supposed to list something for which they are grateful. After a few days of these upbeat pages the Panda Bear will get impatient. Why can't people just admit that life is nasty, brutal and short? The Panda Bear starts feeling pressured to be happy which she rebels against. She will start feeling that it is her right to be grumpy
and gloomy if that is what she feels.

In a similar overly optimistic vein, the Panda Bear read an essay by a literary critic which stated that no more great novels could be written because we modern folks did not experience tragedy and repression like they did in the good old days. The Panda Bear was wondering what on what planet this critic lived. The United States right now experiencing war, random violence and high unemployment rates. Probably many people in the United States lack basic human necessities. Many people are in physical pain (Mr. Panda has had a toothache for the past three weeks and Mother Panda hurt her leg so the Panda Bear has recently been hearing of people complain about being pain all the time). People still die. There is much corruption in politics. In the United States do we have any privacy at all with the NSA spying on us all the time? We are still experiencing the stuff of great writing.

 However, the Panda Bear things one reason people like old books is because it is safer to experience the emotions that come with yesterday’s problems then come with today's problems. Our present chains are still invisible to usand to function we need to repress some of our conflicts with modern society. The Panda Bear knows what bothers her about modern society. She dislikes the constant rushing around; she wants more leisure to enjoy life. She thinks there must be more to life then jobs that have grown stale and chores that she dislikes to do. The Panda Bear wants to relaxed and creative rather than busy and organized.

The Panda Bear on Colds, Feeling Tired and the Federal Goverment Shut Down

Today at work the Panda Bear was feeling tired. A coworker said to the Panda Bear, "What is the matter with you-you are always complaining about being tired." The Panda Bear was upset; she did not think she had complained that much about being tired. True for the past couple of weeks the Panda Bear was more tired than usual. She found the time change difficult. The Panda Bear wishes there was daylight savings time all year. She would rather it stay light at the end of the day than have the extra light in the morning. The earlier it gets dark the earlier the Panda Bear feels sleepy. In addition, the Panda Bear had a cold over the weekend. She spent almost two days sleeping but is now feeling better. The Panda Bear used to have colds that lasted all winter.

The Panda Bear has learned to slow down when she has a cold; she does believe that this makes the colds shorter. The Panda Bear realizes that she is fortunate that she can take it easy for a couple of days. The Panda Bear Blog is about the right to be tired. It is a human and animal emotion. Recently, the Panda Bear has heard some hard working people complain that they have days that they feel tired and don't get much done. The Panda Bear feels everyone could use some down days from time to time. About ten years ago, the Panda Bear was feeling tired all the time and had colds that lasted a long time. She was working full-time at a stressful job and going to school at night among other activities. Finally, the Panda Bear realized she had to slow down. However, the sad thing is that no one told the Panda Bear to slow down. Indeed, the Panda Bear had to learn to say no to people. The Panda Bear never heard "Panda you work so hard-now just take some time off". The Panda Bear learned that the more you do the more people often expect from you. Now that the Panda Bear has slowed down she still feels tired SOME of the time which is better than being tired ALL of the time.

In some previous posts, the Panda Bear stated she had written to her US Representative and Obama requesting that the US immediately withdraw its military presence from Afghanistan. The Panda Bear received an e-mail back from her US representative stating he supported President Obama's policy. She has not received any acknowledgement from President Obama regarding her e-mail. The Panda Bear wishes to end this post by stating that she things the shutdown of the Federal Government was the greatest waste of government money ever. Many people don't realize that the Federal workers were paid in full for the period that they weren't working. Now as a taxpayer the Panda Bear the Panda Bear would much rather pay people to work then not to work. The Panda Bear thinks if the plan is for the Federal workers not to lose any pay, the US government should keep them working while it tries to resolve its budget problems.

The Panda Bear on Ending the US War in Afghanistan, Career Advancement(Lack of) and The Panda Bear Blog Movie

The Panda Bear Blog is a blog about a overly busy but kindly Panda Bear who is a humble office worker.   It is about her struggles with life.

The Panda Bear had been tired over the weekend and was looking forward to a quiet night at home doing her dreaded home chores.   Longstanding readers of the Panda Bear blog knows the thing in life the Panda Bear hates most is home chores.   She was going to try an experiment to see if by doing more of these dreaded chores after work she could free up more of  her weekends.

However, then she received some e-mails from groups in the United States who oppose the war in Afghanistan.   The Panda Bear has come to believe that the most important political issue in the US is ending the war in Afghanistan.   People are being killed and lives are being ruined.   Furthermore, it is a drain on our resources which are already in short supply.  

The first e-mail came from United for Jobs and Justice asking the people to call or write President Obama asking him to end the war in Afghanistan.   The Panda Bear went to the White House website where it said President Obama was committed to the most transparent administration in the history or the US.   The Panda Bear then e-mailed the President:

I am writing to request that you end the war in Afghanistan.   Too many Americans and Afghans have died in this war.  President Karzai is not a trusted partner and has been highly critical of the U.S.    We have many problems at home and need to put our efforts here.   Our greatest recent security threats have been internal not external.

The US should not make the same mistakes as the British and the Russian have made in Afghanistan and get bogged down into an never ending war in Afghanistan.   Our country is in crisis now.   We need to put our own money and resources here.

Sincerely,

Panda Bear, USA.

She requested a response from the White House.

The second e-mail was from Emergency USA asking supporters to contact their US representatives to cosponsor HR200 a  bill that aims at withdrawing all US troops from Afghanistan.   The Panda Bear e-mailed her representative  asking him to cosponsor this bill stating that the ending the war was the most important issue facing the US because it is a burden, people are getting killed and it serves no purpose.   She also requested a response from her representative.

Readers of this blog will see how the supposedly democratic government of the US responds to the Panda Bear's exercising her rights and responsibilities of a US citizen.

In some of her volunteer projects she has advanced but not in her paid work.   The Panda Bear has read to move ahead in one's career one needs to visualize success and rehearse it in one's mind.   The Panda Bear prides herself on being a realist and finds it hard to dream about the future.

However recently the Panda Bear was at the movies(she only goes to the movies once a year).   She saw the movie The Butler(which was good).   Suddenly, the Panda Bear had a flash of inspiration.    Wouldn't her life make a good movie?   It would be the story of a humble office worker who by blogging at night changes the world.   Is this not a popular theme for the movies about how an average person hits the big time?

She can see the movie now.   The Panda Bear would be played by either Julia Roberts or Juliana Moore.   They would show the Panda Bear in very average office job being criticized by Ms. Patronizing -and -Nit- Picky.    Then the splashy theme song and the Panda Bear would be shown blogging night.  The Panda Bear's messy apartment would be shown as a luxury townhouse with a few things out of place.    The climax of the movie would be  Ms. Patronizing -and -Nit- Picky finds out that the Panda Bear's harsh indictment of the corrupt oligarchs have made the Panda Bear loved and respected all over the world. Suddenly,  Ms. Patronizing -and -Nit- Picky changes and becomes Ms. I-Know-How-To-Kiss-Up to the Panda Bear.  The Panda Bear is not fooled but is happy enough her  new success to be forgiving to all.

Sigh....Time to awake from her dream.   The Panda Bear needs to get ready for work tomorrow and face her average and humble job. 

 

 

The Panda Bear on the Fall, Bullying and the AFL-CIO

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.-Martin Luther King Jr.

A few days ago, the Panda Bear was priding herself on escaping the tiredness and lethargy that comes with the Fall season.   Well pride cometh before a fall.   Today the Panda Bear feels both tired and hungry.  Her body feels like she is getting ready to hibernate.

The Panda Bear was talking with a friend about the number of people who are dropping out of the US workforce as soon as they come into some money.   The Panda Bear herself believes that most people are in the work force now solely for the money.   Gone are the days where bored housewives, rich people and retired people were in the paid workforce because they needed something to do.   Nowadays, the Panda Bear thinks people are in the paid workforce strictly for the money.

Recently more has been written about workplace bullying.   The recession is making it harder for people to leave jobs if they feel they are badly treated.   The Panda Bear has experienced bullying at work and has seen other people bullied at work.  She thinks most organizations have an unwritten policy not to intervene when a superior is abusive to a subordinate.   High level people who bully have to be very calculating and opportunistic in their bullying.   The could not hold the positions they have without being very sweet and agreeable to the right people.   They could not be a certain way with their bosses and keep their jobs.

The Panda Bear believes that only a minority of people are bullies.   However, if they people around bullies  who are not bullies keep quiet about the bullies behavior it empowers the bullies.   It makes both the bullies and the victims feel like more people support the bully than really do,   Let us say for the sake of argument that a quarter of the population has some tendency to be bully while another quarter of the population has some tendency to be bullied.   If the half that are neither bullies or bullied keep quiet about bullying, it can make the bully seem like they have the majority of people behind them when maybe the actual majority of opinion is against them.

The Panda Bear has read that for children the goal of some anti-bullying programs was to create an atmosphere where children feel empowered to speak up against bullying when they see other children being bullied.   Something similar should be done so adults feel free to speak up when they see other adults being bullied.

The Panda Bear has never worked for a unionized workplace but it has always been a dream of hers to work in a unionized environment for over twenty-five years since a supervisor once refused to correct the Panda Bear's production statistics for which the supervisor admitted that she total them wrongly and should have been higher.   The Panda Bear felt she might have had some recourse in an unionized office.  

Well the Panda Bear has just  joined the AFL-CIO's mailing list.   Will the union set her free?  Or are unions another branch of the corrupt oligarch 'that run the US?

The Panda Bear on Denise Austin, the US Government Shutdown, Windows 8, and the Panda Bear Blog

Before, the Panda Bear gets into her main post, she would share with her reads two books that she thinks are worthwhile.    The first book is Denise Austin’s Get Energy!: Empower Your Body, Love Your Life.    Denise Austin has some good ideas on how to increase energy which is an issue for the Panda Bear as she struggles to reduce her caffeine level.   However, the favorite part of the book for the Panda Bear is that Denise Austin admits that her house is not a priority and is that it can be messy.    The Panda Bear hates household chores and does not have time to keep her apartment as orderly as the Panda Bear would like.

The second book the Panda Bear found interesting is Last Train to Istanbul by Ayşe Kulin.   It takes place during the Second World War.   It is about two upper class Muslim Turkish sisters one who marries a Turkish Diplomat and the other marries a Turkish Jew.     The sister who marries the Turkish Jew has to move to France with her husband.   A big part of the novel is based on the true efforts Turkish diplomats to get Jews out of occupied France which is a piece of history which the Panda Bear knew nothing about.

When we last left the Panda Bear Blog, the Panda Bear was trying to restart her blog but having problems with Windows 8 and her new computer.    The Panda Bear has gotten better at Windows 8 but she still thinks it is a travesty.    It does not work well if you don’t have a touch screen.   Why does not the computer industry not understand that some people don’t like tablets but would like a good old fashioned lightweight laptop with a full keyboard for typing?

Also the Panda Bear not like the fact more information has to go over computer networks especially in light that the NSA is monitoring all our transactions.    For example to play as simple game of Free Cell(a form of solitaire) the Panda Bear has to now connect to a network where it retrieves information on her prior games on another computer.   Why can’t it simply be a program one computer rather than on a network?  The Panda Bear is hoping that the NSA is enjoying tracking her computer card games.   Seriously, the Panda Bear thinks doing things on paper is going to make a comeback because people won’t feel that their computers are secure because they need to be connected to networks for most functions.

The Panda Bear Blog has also been impacted by the US government shutdown.   How has the US government shutdown effected the Panda Bear Blog?    Mr. Panda is a Federal Worker.    It caused the Panda Bear and Mr. Panda Bear much stress that they did not what was happening at Mr. Panda’s work.   They were planning to go on vacation this week (another ripple effect of shutdown-a hotel lost money because of the shutdown).   Most of all Mr. Panda not working was depriving the Panda Bear of the quite solitude needed for her for the Panda Bear to write her blog.  

Thus, with her new computer and the Federal Government back to normal the Panda Bear hopes to return to regular blogging.

 

 

The Panda Bear on Windows 8, the Afghani War, and Vietnam

The Panda Bear will have to do another short post this week.   Her main computer that she takes with her and works on her blog posts is still in repair.   She got a new computer at home which uses Windows 8.

While the Panda Bear is sure Windows 8 has some good features, she finds many features very frustrating.   She does not like the fact that you have to log into Microsoft to use the computer.   She does not like cloud computing for personal use and would rather keep all her information on her own computer.    The Panda Bear wonders if Microsoft will have some privacy groups sue them because it seems like for more functions the user is forced to go online to use them making for less computer security.   She liked the old Windows menu and seeing all her open windows are the bottom of the screen.   For this post she wanted to share several links but is having a hard time of keeping track of all her open windows so she can link to them.

However, she found this interesting petition online started by a US physician born in Kabul which the Panda Bear wanted to share with her readers.    Here is some of what the petition is about:

The Responsible End to the War in Afghanistan Act (H.R. 200), introduced by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA13), could help save the lives of millions and allow us to improve the health of many more. This bill would accelerate the timetable for ending the war in Afghanistan by requiring funds allocated to the armed forces in Afghanistan to be used only for the safe and orderly withdrawal of all U.S. military personnel and Department of Defense contractor personnel in Afghanistan.

While the bill has already gained 40 cosponsors, it has stalled in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which Rep. Ed Royce chairs. Rep. Royce could help bring the bill to the House floor, but so far he has refused, putting the lives of more Afghan children at risk and preventing others from receiving care. 

Thousands of children have been treated at the hospital in Kabul since it opened in March of 2001. For the cost of ONE day of war in Afghanistan, EMERGENCY can build TEN high-standard, free-of-charge hospitals and cover all expenses for THREE years!

The ongoing bloodshed in Afghanistan is evidence that a political solution is not feasible as long as American troops remain as an occupation force. If we accelerate the timetable to end the war in Afghanistan, we can improve the lives of millions who finally have the opportunity to live without war.

Sign this petition to show your support to end the war in Afghanistan, the longest running war in United States history, and your belief in healthcare as a human right.

The physician is a board member of  EmergencyUSA an NGO that seems to be doing much good in the world.  Please click on the link to see about all the wonderful things this group does with all the terrible things going on the world.   It is interesting to note that this group wants a diplomatic solution to the problems in Syria not war.

The Panda Bear would like the US to withdraw from Afghanistan.    The Panda Bear remembers how much the US was upset about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan when it wanted to keep up a regime it supported in that country.   Yet now the US is doing the same thing in Afghanistan as the former Soviet Union.  Let the Afghans solve their own problems.

The Panda Bear was a young child during the Vietnam war.   She remembers all the war protests and the songs for peace.   Where are all the peace protesters now?

Father Panda, may he rest in peace, was one of few people that the Panda Bear knew who supported the Vietnam war at the time.   The theory at the time was that if we showed weakness in Vietnam the former Soviet Union would become more aggressive  in other countries.   Father Panda was a good person and he had the rather simplistic belief that the US army was always on the side of truth and justice.   A few years before Father Panda died in 2012, he admitted he was wrong about the Vietnam war and that the US should not have gotten involved in that country.

The Panda Bear on Mr, Panda's Leg, Afghanistan and Her New Computer

The Panda Bear's return to blogging has been fraught with obstactles, First computers were broken(but are in the process of being repaired now).  Then Mr, Panda came down with a cold and his leg had a mild infection.   He spent the week at home,  Fotunately, Mr, Panda is feeling much better.

What does this have to do with The Panda Bear Blog?    The Panda Bear writes her blog when she finishes her humble full time office position and Mr. Panda still at work,   Since Mr   Panda is at home is need for attention is depriving the Panda Bear of her moments contempletion and solitude needed to complete the blog,

The Panda Bear does not think time management experts leave enough slack for all the unexpected things that can go wrong,   Recently, the Panda Bear took a stress management test and found out she was overcommitted,   However, the problem is the Panda Bear finds that the part of her life that miht be seen as "overcommitted" is the part off her life that gives the Panda Bear her most satisfaction,
The Panda Bear finds her job routine and does not like home chores,   Shopping gives her no joy.

She will set up her computer which should give her more time to blog,   How much of our lives is just wasted on doing the same things over an over again!!   It seems like it was just yesterday the Panda Bear bought and set-up her last computer,   Then she has to figure out Windows 8,

Another time management problem the Panda Bear has with blogging is that how can she write about all the injustices in the United States in about two to four hours a week?   The Panda Bear has come to believe that power corrupts and there needs to be some activism such as was seen in the US during the 1960s,

Therefore, she has decided to push the political focus of her blog to ending the US involvement in foreign wars.   She does not think the US should be aiding Syrian rebels,  Recently, she came accross a petition asking Congress to immediately end the war Afghanistan.   The Panda Bear thinks the US should leave Afghanistan.   The US is falling apart and we are in no position to tell others what to do.

The Panda Bear on Her Return,, Red Lines, Syria and the War on Office Plants

The Panda Bear Blog is a blog about a stressed out, overly busy, lowly office worker and her thoughts on life. She has returned from her summer break of sitting outside and reading after work. (The Panda Bear knows that she has serious problems if this is her idea of summer fun). She needed to connect with friends.

With her much needed break from blogging the Panda Bear returns. Readers have been asking the Panda Bear about her different home projects. They went well. However, are two crises that will be the focus of this blog posts. There the international crisis of Syria crossing Obama's red line in using chemical weapons and the Panda Bear's workplace crossed the Panda Bear's red line in banning office plants.

The Panda Bear has spent much of the Labor Day weekend e-mailing officials and signing petitions against the US using military force in Syria. The civil war is Syria does not directly affect US security. The US is already having problems paying for the wars it is in right now. The US would be responsible for civilian deaths if it took military action in Syria. The US has to learn to mind its own business.

Some experts have asserted that the US will lose all credibility if it does not go to war when it threatens to go to war. The Panda Bear has two responses to this line of reasoning. One is to be credible but incorrectly start a war is still not a smart thing to do. It is better to admit that one has changed one's mind. Secondly, to behave in an unpredictable and erratic way to threats probably would cause more anxiety in the "enemy" then consistency.

Senator McCain has said that the honor of the US is at stake. The Panda Bear could not care less about hono of the United States. . She agrees with Shakespeare’s Falstaff on the nature of honor and courage. In one place Falstaff says “The better part [quality] of valour is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life”. Below is Falstaff's speech on honor in both the original and modernized version from Spark notes-

http://nfs.sparknotes.com/henry4pt1/page_223.htm

Regarding a visit from death.

FALSTAFF 'Tis not due yet. I would be loath to pay Him before His day. What need I be so forward with Him that calls not on me? Well, ’tis no matter. Honour pricks me on. Yea, but how if honor prick me off when I come on? How then? Can honor set to a leg? no. Or an arm? no. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honor hath no skill in surgery, then? No. What is honor? A word. What is in that word “honor”? What is that “honor”? Air. A trim reckoning. Who hath it? He that died o' Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. 'Tis insensible, then? Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the living? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it. Therefore, I’ll none of it. Honor is a mere scutcheon. And so ends my catechism.

FALSTAFF It’s not due yet. I’d hate to pay him before the due date. Why should I be so eager to pay him before he even asks for it? Well, it doesn’t matter: honor spurs me on. Yeah, but what if honor spurs me off once I’m on, and picks me out to die? What happens then? Can honor set a broken leg? No. Or an arm? No. Can it make a wound stop hurting? No. Honor can’t perform surgery, then? No. What is honor? A word. What is in that word, “honor?” What is that “honor?” Air. Quite a bargain! Who has it? A guy who died last Wednesday. Does he feel it? No. Does he hear it? No. It can’t be detected, then? Right—not by the dead, anyway. But won’t it live with the living? No. Why? Slander won’t allow it. That’s why I don’t want any part of it. Honor is nothing more than a gravestone, and that concludes my catechism

The Panda Bear agrees with Falstaff that a sense of honor and respect is not always enjoyed by those who win wars. Often the "winners" in war (i.e. the Europeans over the Native Americans) are described as blood thirsty, overly aggressive, imperialistic, deceitful  treacherous and ruthless Thus, the Panda Bear thinks honor is one of the worst reasons to go to war.

Meanwhile, the Panda Bear's employer has crossed the Panda Bear's red line in banning all plants from work. The plants gave the workers much pleasure and joy and the office has few windows. These and a few similar rules have made the Panda Bear actively seek employment elsewhere. The Panda Bear is convinced a nicer work environment is out there but the Panda Bear believing that discretion is the better part of valor has to be careful not to burn her bridges.

The Panda Bear was talking to one of her physicians about the ban on plants and she told the Panda Bear that several of her patients were complaining about employers putting in some petty rules. For whatever, reason modern managers don't seem to feel that the happy worker is the productive worker.

 

The Panda Bear on the Year Anniversary of Her Father's Death and Taking a Blogging Break.

The Panda Bear is very tired and she will be taking a temporary break from blogging.   It has been a year after the death of Father Panda.   The Panda Bear found the anniversary of his death very hard.   In addition, Mother Panda has been needing some help.

The Panda Bear needs to rest and enjoy the nice weather.   She will soon back to blogging.

The Panda Bear on Memorial Day and the Irrationality of Modern Management

The Panda Bear has been very tired.  Mother Panda has been sick so the Panda Bear has been going to help her(as well as the Panda Bear working her full-time job).   However, the Panda Bear Blog is about not being ashamed of saying you are tired.    At work some people were embarrassed to say they were tired and did not do much.  Why should hard working Americans be ashamed of being tired?  Don't we all deserve some rest?

The Panda Bear does plan to give her readers an update on her bathroom repair.    However, the Panda Bear feels what would really make her happy is a month vacation which she does not thing she will ever get under the US vacation system.   Maybe a yearly monthly vacation would be too much for employers to provide but to give a worker every five years a month off-would that really wreck the US economy?

The Panda Bear has a low opinion of the modern management.   She things there is a lot of meanness in the modern work culture that has nothing to do with producing the best product or servicing the organization. 

Many people have noticed the decline in working environment in the United States.   The Panda Bear finds it hard to believe that in the nineteen eighties the Panda Bear worked for a large US corporation and most of the managers were seen as being nice.  From 1990-1992 she worked in a section of the company known has "the country club" because of the nice way they treated people.   People worked hard in that section and they were not the highest paid workers but it was a happy work environment.

The Panda Bear wishes to share a  thoughtful video made by the Online MBA on why the government should not be run like a business.    The Panda Bear has always thought that it was unfair to compare the US Postal service to private companies such as UPS or Federal Express.    The US postal service has to serve all areas the the country regardless of financial incentives while private mail companies don't service areas that aren't profitable for the company.

In addition to the reasons provided in the above video,  the Panda Bear things many private large companies and organizations aren't well run-not just government agencies.   In every type of large organizations one hears employees whom their coworkers see a terribly incompetent but the managers just seem to adore them.   Sometimes these workers do get fired but it can take years of bad behavior on the part of these employees.   The Panda Bear wishes she could be a fly on the wall when these employees meet with their bosses;  the Panda Bear feels these employees must have tremendous political skills that the Panda Bear lacks because its seems that all the Panda Bear's bosses seem to expect her to be ultra competent and work very hard.

The Panda Bear on Daily to Do Lists, Happiness, and Bathroom Repair Update

The Panda Bear has been very busy and thus has only time from a short blog post.   The Panda Bear's eighty-five year old mother, Mother Panda has broken her right wrist and was in rehab.   The Panda Bear has been going after work to visit and help Mother Panda.   The Panda Bear loves Mother Panda and does not wish to complain but the Panda Bear is exhausted.    Both the Panda Bear and Mother Panda Bear feel the loss of Father Panda who died in June 2012 so is no longer able to help Mother Panda.

During these busy times the Panda Bear has been neglecting her daily to do list.   She has not been exercising properly or writing down everything she eats.   The kitchen sink has been filled with dishes   She has not been decluttering her apartment.   Some blogging and writing sites, say people who blog should be blogging every day.   Readers of the Panda Bear Blog know that the Panda Bear has not been blogging every day.

It seems that to the Panda Bear that people are being told to well over a week's worth of (short) chores every day which probably should be done.   However, there are not enough hours in the day to do them all.   Also the Panda Bear does not always have the energy to do them all.    She feels guilty about not being able to do everything and overwhelmed.

Seriously, one way the Panda Bear manages her daily to do list is by rotating things she needs to do on a daily basis.   The Panda Bear thinks perfect is the enemy of the good.   If she does some of the things on her daily to do list once or twice a month the Panda Bear is happy.   The Panda Bear views her daily to do list as some abstract ideal which will never be obtained in reality but a cherished goal.

The Panda Bear knows that her readers or curious about the status of her bathroom repair.   Well, the reader of the Panda Bear Blog will be surprised to know that it is being scheduled to start tomorrow.    The Panda Bear has told her contractor that because of illness in the family, she has not had time to prepare her apartment the way she would like to but the contractor has assured the Panda Bear that this will not be a problem.

Many of the Panda Bear's friends think the Panda Bear will experience a sense of deep happiness and joy at having a new bathroom.   The Panda Bear suspects that this is propaganda from various business interests that want us to consume.   At most she expects she will feel some sense of accomplishment and relief at removing something from her to-do list.

Keep on reading The Panda Bear Blog to see if an updated bathroom makes the Panda Bear happy.

The Panda Bear on the Boston Marathon Tragedy and Written Verbal Warnings

The past few weeks have been more busy than usual for the Panda Bear.   There has been some illnesses and a death in the Panda Bear's family.    Some of the time the Panda Bear has been run down with the cold.   The Panda Bear makes no claim that during this time that she was exercising properly or that her apartment was clean.   She was so busy her resolve to keep in kitchen sink shiny has gone down the drain.  Her life is in total disorder.   Therefore, this blog post will be very short.

The Panda Bear was lived in the area that was in lockdown(told not to go out of  their house) when the Boston area police was chasing suspect number two in the Boston Marathon shooting.   The Panda Bear was not close enough to either the bombing or the chasing of the suspect to be scared for herself.   However, she was frightened during the attacks of September 11, 2001 when she was working in the city of Boston.

Though she had no personal connection to either of the suspects, the Panda Bear feels sad that the younger brother turned against the United States.   The Panda Bear believes that the younger brother experienced the United States at its most tolerant, welcoming and generous self.   She was hearing several Americans citizens by birth complain that either they had or they knew other needy US citizens who applied for the kinds assistance that the suspect and his family received but they could not get it.

In addition, during the beginning of April the Panda Bear received a verbal warning from her supervisor at work which was then written up to be put in the Panda Bear's personnel file.   The Panda Bear went to see Human Resources about the warning.

The Panda Bear asked Human Resources if the warning was verbal why was something written put into her personnel file.  The Human Resources representative explained that what the supervisor was doing was writing down that she gave the Panda Bear a verbal warning.

This was not the first time that the Panda Bear received a verbal warning that was in writing in her work life.  In her twenty-five year work history, on two separate occasions the Panda Bear received a verbal warning which was then put in writing.   On both these occasions, the Panda Bear thought the supervisor was lying to her by saying the warning was verbal since the supervisors had put something down in writing which was to be put in the Panda Bear's personnel file.

Is it asking too much of US industry to make verbal warnings purely verbal so it does not hit the employee's personnel file?   Or if the management feels like it needs to document everything to come up with different levels of written warnings?   Is the Panda Bear the only employee to feel that her supervisor has lied to her by telling her the warning was verbal and the putting something in writing?

Anyway, one thing the Panda Bear was reprimanded for was being too creative in the decor of her desk.   The Panda Bear took down some colorful cloth hangings from her cubicle.   However, before the reader becomes too judgemental about the way the Panda Bear keeps her desk, please note that many people have signs on their desk about the importance of keeping calm including her supervisor.   Apparently a lot of people at the Panda Bear's job feel under high amounts of stress and indicate it bywhat they have around their work space.

Another time the Panda Bear received a written verbal warning was when she called the managers of ganization communists in an e-mail.   Apparently, in the opinion or her manager at the time that was the worst thing the Panda Bear could have called her superiors(what the Panda Bear meant is that the managers treated good workers and bad workers alike with no incentives for the employees to put in extra effort).  

Dear readers-learn from the Panda Bear's mistakes.   Never call your managers communists unless your managers think being a communist is a good thing(remember the Panda Bear Blog is an international blog and it has a Russian readership).

The Panda Bear on the 2nd Anniversary of her Blog and the Lost Art of Day Dreaming

The Panda Bear Blog will be shortly celebrating its second anniversary.   It is a blog about a lowly, confused US office worker (who is the Panda Bear) dealing with the corrupt oligarchy that seems to control the United States.    The Panda Bear is intensely critical of the fast pace of modern life.   In addition she hates household chores.

 The Panda Bear’s wrote her first blog post on 4/11/2011.   Since that time, the Panda Bear Blog has had 13.310 page views with subscribers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany.

Below is a listing of page views of The Panda Bear Blog broken down by country:

United States           8507
Germany                  861
Bulgaria                   855
Russia                     384
United Kingdom     297
Spain                      205
India                       153
Canada                   133
France                    96
Philippines             75

From this viewing statistics, it becomes apparent that the internet is really the World Wide Web.   The Panda Bear is surprised how high the page views are from countries for whom English is not a first language.   Canada is number 7 in terms of page views; the Panda Bear would have thought Canada would be number two or three in number of page views since it is near the US and shares a similar culture.

The Panda Bear Blog has also had its setbacks.   The most noticeable set back was that she was thrown out of the Google Adsense program for “invalid clicking activity” though the Panda Bear maintains she did not personally authorize any invalid clicking.   Google Adsense is a pay for click advertising program where the blogger makes money every time someone clicks on an advertisement.   The blogger is not supposed to click on advertisements on his/her own site or encourage other people to click on ads on his/her site because it is considered a form a fraud.   Fortunately there are competing ad networks the Panda Bear can join.   Competition is good in the economy because if one has problems with one organization/company/person there are alternatives available.

The Panda Bear personally had one major setback since starting her blog in that her father (Father Panda) died in June 2012 at the age of 89.  Otherwise the Panda Bear’s personal life has been as tedious and ordinary as ever.   The poor economy is making job change difficult.   The Panda Bear has to spend more of her personal time on dreaded home chores and repair.   The poor condition of her apartment is getting on the Panda Bear’s nerves and she is resolved to get things done at her apartment even if it eats into her highly limited time after work.   Is there more to living then sitting at a desk all day and do home chores at night?

The Panda Bear was trying to find ways to fight boredom without internet surfing the internet which can be rude and look bad at work.   Thirty years ago the Panda Bear had a higher tolerance for routine when there was no internet.    The Panda Bear many years ago had a rich inner life.    She was able to keep herself entertained with her thoughts.  The Panda Bear thinks she has lost some of this ability in this digital age.

When things are dull, the Panda Bear wants to be able to reconstruct her ability to go on autopilot and escape into the inner depths of her mind.    The Panda Bear thinks mental escapism is underrated in modern times.

 

 

 

The Panda Bear on Medical Appointments and the Terror of House Repairs

The Panda Bear has been enjoying the longer days.   It makes such a difference going to work in daylight and leaving in daylight.   It makes the Panda Bear feel that there is a life after work.   

Things have been going slightly better for the Panda Bear at work.   The superior section at work no longer seems so superior and they are having problems of their own.   The Panda Read this inspired article about following one’s passions on the nights and weekends and the Panda Bear has resolved to follow this suggestion.

However, the Panda Bear’s nights and weekends have been taking up recently with medical appointments and home repairs.    Her employer prefers that the Panda Bear schedules her medical appointments after work. This time of year is the time of year where she has her various annual physical exams.    A lot of the Panda Bear’s “free time” is being spent on lab tests, mammograms and various yearly doctors’ appointments.  These annual exams always remind the Panda Bear of her own mortality.   She hears the Grim Reaper saying “if not now, eventually I am going to get you.”   In addition, she needs to see her dentist, acupuncturist, dietician, and psychologist on an ongoing basis.    Also, the Panda Bear needs to maintain her diet and exercise routines.   The Panda realizes that she is fortunate to be able to have all the services available to her.   She also realizes that she is lucky to be blessed with good health.    However, as she gets older the Panda Bear can understand that many people feel they are too busy to look after their health in the best manner possible.   The Panda Bear thinks the US culture will need to change to make a dent in the amount of illnesses caused by poor lifestyle.

Last Sunday, Mr. Panda was very upset at the Panda Bear for not going with him to the YMCA swimming the way they usually do.   The Panda Bear wanted to clean the condo because the Panda Bear anticipated repair people coming in during the week.    She was afraid of them seeing a dirty apartment.     While the Panda Bear is fearless in confronting the corrupt oligarchy that is running the United States, she trembles at the thought of someone coming into her place and saying “this apartment is dirty.”    The Panda Bear admits her apartment is not as tidy as it should be.   It would take all the Panda Bear’s free time away from work to maintain the apartment the way it should be maintained and the Panda Bear hates domestic chores.      Her goal is to have her apartment in some order for at least a few days a year before it becomes a messy again.

Though the Panda Bear was glad to see her kitchen cleaner than it had been in a while, she found out that she may have been too hasty in getting her apartment in order for the repair.   Yesterday the Panda Bear found out she needed to get the condo association’s approval to do her bathroom repair. Therefore she and her contractor quickly had to complete forms and send them to the condo association for them to approve the work.   It may take them a couple of weeks to approve of the work.  Therefore, these repairs have temporarily been postponed.

However, the anxiety is getting to the Panda Bear.  Dealings with the condo association have not always been pleasant.   What will the condo association say about the repairs?    Also there has been some damage to the Panda Bear’s bathroom floor underneath the tiles.   The tiles will have to be taken out to find out the extent of the damage.    These uncertainties are setting the Panda Bear’s nerves on edge.

From what the Panda Bear sees of building, it seems to be a very changeable industry.   While she knows there is some reality TV shows about home repairs, the Panda Bear thinks a fictional TV series about real estate/contracting could be very successful.   Some of what goes on can be quite dramatic and the main characters could be people in all walks of life (i.e. painters, lawyers) so they could have wide audience appeal.

The Panda Bear on Her Bathroom Repair, Queen for a Day and House Cleaning

The Panda Bear Blog is a blog about an average office worker muddling through the tedium of life. She feels that though there must be more to life then work and purchasing consumer goods though she thinks this is what makes the politicians and large corporations happy She hates domestic chores.

The Panda Bear yesterday came to the conclusion that civilization is moving forward even though it at times it may seem to be at a standstill. The Panda Bear's coworkers yesterday were talking about the nineteen fifties television show Queen for a Day. Apparently what the woman who was chosen Queen for the Day received was a NEW APRON. She did get taken out for dinner but what she good for being Queen for the Day was a new apron. Apparently the show was sponsored by house cleaning supply companies. For part of the show, the woman's house was inspected for cleanliness.

One of the Panda Bear's coworkers remembers an Aunt of hers who was a stereotypical nineteen fifties housewife. She always greeted her husband when he came home from work with a kiss with freshly applied lipstick, a clean apron, fancy home cooked meal and an immaculate house. The Panda Bear finds it hard to believe that anyone lives this way nowadays. However, the Panda Bear feels that we probably are still being manipulated by advertisers and business to make home chores seem appealing, fun and exciting. However, the Panda Bear feels that in a perfect world the Panda Bear feels that nights and weekends should be mostly about relaxation for both men and women. Why hasn't the technology been invented to make ALL household chores go away?

The Panda Bear and Mr. Panda will be having their bathroom redone. Someone at the Panda Bear's work said the Panda Bear has been talking to for the last four years about having their bathroom redone but this time it appears that they will actually have it redone. They are meeting with the contractor on Saturday to finalize the arrangements. Originally they were going to have someone else to the work but they waited too long have the company do the work and the company stopped doing that kind of work. So they had to find a new contractor. The lesson learned is that procrastinating on home chores.

The Panda Bear took the day off from work today. She told herself (ha!!) that she was going to spend most of the day cleaning for the contractor. However, she spent a lot of the day at Starbucks reading and surfing the Internet. She tells herself after working hard all week she deserves to have a day of relaxation. However, after she finishes this post, the Panda Bear hopes to put in a couple hours of cleaning. She hopes to feel some sense of an accomplishment or some sense of penance for unknown sins.

 

The Panda Bear on George Carlin, Mindfulness, and Her Office Desk

The Panda Bear got this quote she liked from George Carlin on Facebook.   Before she put it on her blog she wanted to verify its accuracy because as Abraham Lincoln has been warning people on Facebook just because because you see a quote on Facebook it does not mean it really came from the person(this is a joke).   Anyway the quote that was attributed to George Carlin that the Panda Bear liked is:

Governments does not want well informed, well education people capable of critical thinking.   That is against their interests.   They want obedient workers, people are who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork and just dumb enough to passively accept it.

Sometimes the Panda Bear feels those in charge of the US want everyone to be so busy working and purchasing goods that they won't have time to challenge the status quo.   Instead of diverting the masses with bread and circuses like the ancient Romans, she feels the powerful want to placate us with cheap consumer goods(really toys) that we don't have room to store so spend what little free time we have decluttering our living space.

Daylight savings time is making the Panda Bear feel better.   Why can't humans just admit it that even though it is not rational their bodies are programmed to go to sleep when it is dark?

Recently, the Panda Bear has been reading about the importance of having a positive attitude at work.   She read that a negative attitude can be self-fulling.   Actually, things have been going better in the Panda Bear's job even though things have gotten very busy.  

Also the Panda Bear has been practicing "mindfulness" which means focusing on the present moement rather than the past or future.   In a moment of mindfulness inspiration, the Panda Bear realized that  she should not obsess about her twenty years worth of negative work experiences and focus on the hear and now.   Today is a new day and a chance to have a fresh start.

However, sometimes when the Panda Bear at her desk and is practicing mindfulness she sees a very drab cubicle(most people admit the office is drab). Though the miracles of scanning and other computer technology the Panda Bear almost paper-free in her work.   In previous years, the Panda Bear's desk and work area used to consist of mounds of papers going in every direction.    She admits it was an eyesore.   However, since her work area is now by and large paper-free, the Panda Bear now sees the first chance ever in her work life to make her work area attractive.

Since the Panda Bear is very busy and finds it hard to shop, she is slowly trying buy things to spruce up her work area more(too bad Woolworth's went out of business-it was a good place to pick up cheap nice office decorations).   She has mentioned in previous posts how she has bought some plants to her work area.   Now she has put some nice fabric on another part of her desk for which she has received some compliments.    For the first time in her work life,  people have said her work area looks nice.

The Panda Bear wants to add more objects of beauty to look at to give her some relief from both the stress and monotony of the job.    She wants to get either map or globe to put in her cubicle which she could look at if she wants a quick mental break without going on the computer.   Even if she is confined to her desk, in her mind she can be a global traveler.    No longer will the Panda Bear suffering from job stagnation!!! Though she may not be obtaining a promotion, the Panda Bear for the first time in her work life will have an eye pleasing, attractive, creative and as well as efficient looking office.


  

The Panda Bear on Yahoo, Lack of Leisure, and the Diet Project

The Panda Bear has read about Yahoo's decision to stop allowing people to telecommute.    The Panda Bear has not read about the details of this decision but just from the headlines this decision rings about everything the Panda Bear dislikes about modern leadership in organizations.    It does not treat people like individuals-good workers loose benefits because of the incompetence of others.    Rather then go after the bad workers, the organization punishes everyone.   Secondly, the Panda Bear strongly believes that the CEO of Yahoo will be telecommuting some of the time.   Modern leaders seem to feel they don't have to follow the rules they set for us peasants.      There are very few people in leadership positions that the Panda Bear respects.

The Panda Bear is an office worker but she does not telecommute.    Her job is still very paper based and it would be hard to do at home.   However, the Panda Bear dreams of flexible work scheduling.   The four day work week or the four and a half day work week!.  To have greater freedom on how one works their forty hours.  How nice not to be charged time off for going to a physician's appointment,   The Panda Bear believes that the five day work week is both for her personally and her work extremely inefficient.  

The Panda Bear's supervisor was in the kitchen and she was asking the Panda Bear and other coworkers why people don't like to work.   The Panda Bear said sometimes it wasn't the work itself but the fact people feel that their lives are restricted because of long work hours.   People don't live by work alone.

The Panda Bear Blog is a blog that believe work and fun go together.   Of course, the Panda Bear has become more critical of her work environment in that "fun" means eating high caloric food in a job that involves sitting at a computer all day.    She told the heads of her organization at a group meeting that many people in offices need watch their weight-the office should be more diet and exercise friendly especially since the organization is self-insured(Overweight employees increase healthcare costs).

Seriously, while the Panda Bear confesses she has ate many and  has enjoyed office sweets, she feels she would be a healthier person if there was less food available in offices.  Also the Panda Bear (unfortunately) has body type that does not require a lot of calories.  She can't eat most of the food in offices without gaining weight.    The office has been a source of junk food for the Panda Bear that she does not eat at home.   It has reinforced Panda Bear's tendency towards emotional eating. To increase her diet resolve, the Panda Bear tells herself that she is not a dog-she does not work for a food reward.   The Panda Bear reminds herself that offices used to reward people by giving cigarettes;it might be fun to smoke and sociable to smoke at work but it is an unhealthly pleaure

Therefore, the Panda Bear has began the Diet at Work Project.   She has vowed to go 365 days without eating any food at an office event except food that she brings.   The Panda Bear feels it would really be a blessing if the office never fed her again and showed their appreciation in other ways.  

The Panda Bear on Washington's Birthday, Henri the Chat Noir, and Mindfullness

The Panda Bear Blog is a blog about the musings of an average office worker who wants more from life than sitting at an office desk and doing(hated) household chores.

The Panda Bear''a last weekend was a three day weekend in the US.   To the Panda Bear, the Monday holiday in February will always be George Washington's birthday not President's day. George Washington deserves his own day; he was our first president and the father of our country. He set the tone for the other presidents to follow including Abraham Lincoln. In the Panda Bear's opinion he is the greatest President of the United States.

The Panda Bear believes that George Washington has lost some of his status as  greatest President of the United States because he owned slaves. The Panda Bear does not wish to minimize this serious flaw but she thinks Washington should be judged by the standards of the time. A very interesting book on the subject is An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America by Henry Wiencek.

The Panda Bear received this call for a slow weekend  from a meditation web site:

"This year, I am determined to be more unproductive. My goal is to do less and less – to move slower and slower until everything stops. I and the whole world will come to a sweet and silent stillness. And in this stillness, a great shout of joy will arise. We will all be free..."

From the Ox and Window, by 17th century Zen master Hakuin Ekaku

The Panda Bear feels it is worth noting that Zen comes from a very busy culture.

The Panda Bear shared this quote with some of her friends where they all said it was hard to slow down.

The Panda Bear has read alot of about being mindful(living in the present moment) which is a part of the philosophybehind meditation.    However, right now the Panda Bear has some respectful disagreements with the philosophy during the winter.   The short days make the Panda Bear tired at night.   It has been snowing heavily for the past couple of weekends and the Panda Bear has been shut in her apartment doing her hated household chores.    She has tried to be positive about these chores but at times her body rebels.   Practically everyone the Panda Bear knows has had the cold or the flu.   The bad weather and illnesses has interrupted the Panda Bear's limited social life making her feel lonely.   How bad can it be for the Panda Bear's spiritual development to yearn for spring and the long days that make one feel there is life after work?   In the spring, summer and early fall the Panda Bear admits that at times it is easy to live in the present moment-during the winter she finds it hard.

At work, the Panda Bear resolves to have an upbeat attitude.   It is hard to do-the office is stuffy and the Panda Bear does not have easy access to a window.    She and a coworker created a wall of plants to give themselves something pleasant to look at during the day.    The Panda Bear has held the same type of job for over eighteen years and it has gotten old.   She tries to tell herself the numerous disappointments in her job in the past don't predict the future disappointment.

The Panda Bear feels she needs political skills.   Everything the Panda Bear reads about office politics says she should be making her boss look good.    The Panda Bear thinks she does make her boss look good in that the Panda Bear does a good job.    However, the Panda Bear has a hard time flattering bosses particularly since the Panda Bear often feels overworked and under appreciated.

The Panda Bear has found a cat on the Internet that shares some of her ennui. It is Henri Le Chat Noir a melancholy French cat. The videos on the site are funny. The first two are the funniest and are located at the bottom of the page.

 

The Panda Bear on Improving Working Conditions and Bathroomn Remolding

The Panda Bear Blog is a blog about the a stressed out average office worker and her observations on life.

The Panda Bear has not forgotten her dear and valued readers.   Her New Years resolution was to cultivate her inner hippie and embrace change and social improvements.    Therefore she has gotten involved in workplace reform.   She has volunteered to help with some groups that want to make laws to change some employment practices.

Though the Panda Bear is on a bottom level job in her office at meeting she very tactfully confronted the heads of her organization regarding improving health conditions where she works and making the office more exercise and diet friendly.    The heads said they would listen to her ideas.

All through this whirlwind of reform activity, the Panda Bear has continued with her hated household chores.    The Panda Bear and Mr. Panda have done some needed repairs.   There is still much work needed to be done.

The Panda Bear plans to start regularly blogging again.

The Panda Bear on Rousseau, Adsense, and Competition

The Panda Bear is starting this post during lunch in the office kitchen trying to look very important.   She is using her spiffy netbook which has impressed the IT department  at work.    As readers of the Panda Bear Blog already know, the Panda Bear is stalled in her daytime career.    Though she works for a large major organization, the Panda Bear now works in a small office of about thirty where she is one of the seven lowest level workers in a group of about thirty-five.  It is possible to tell who are the lower level workers by the red at lunch sign at their desks.

The Panda Bear Blog is a blog about a lowly office worker.    It is a blog about being a confused humble bear who is in the lower percentages of human society.    At work Panda Bear keeps thinking  of Rousseau’s saying that “Man was bore free but everywhere he is in chains.”   The Panda Bear feels like shouting from her cubicle “Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.”   Then she remembers that this was from the FRENCH revolution and the Panda Bear is an American (also the French revolution came with a lot of violence against innocents unfortunately).

However, the American Revolution was founded on the idea of liberty and equality.   Where is it in the work place?   Most big organizations the Panda Bear has worked it has been quite clear that the well being of some individuals is worth more to the organization than others.     Also the American Revolution was founded on the principles of free speech and due process.   Most people don’t have these rights while at work unless they are covered by a union.  Most nonunionized large organizations in the United States are run like feudal empires

The Panda Bear thinks employees should be able to freely discuss the terms of employment, pay, and working conditions without free of repercussion especially outside of work and on the social media,.   The Panda Bear thinks transparent working conditions and pay would result in much better treatment of workers.   Truth should be a defense to the accusation that an employee is being negative.   Employers should be held accountable for their treatment of workers; if employers were justified in their actions they have nothing to be afraid of in making information on how they treat workers public.

Of course, the simplest solution for employers is to give workers more time off where  they are able to enjoy the freedoms of the United States.     The Panda Bear does not think giving the workers letting go early once or twice would undermine the US economy and would make people much more relaxed and happy.

Since the Panda Bear Blog is a blog about a little humble Panda Bear dealing with the powers that be, the Panda Bear regrets to report that she was thrown of the Google Adsense program.    The reason they gave was invalid click activity (Adsense pays out per click).   The Panda Bear did not knowingly violate Adsense policy.   She suspects that one of readers may have made some invalid clicks and her blog did not attract enough visitors to make Google Adsense feel that her blog was worth keeping in their network.   However, now the Panda Bear Blog has  banned from Adsense forever (she is told Google never changes its mind).

It is fortunate for the Panda Bear that there are competing ad networks which the Panda Bear could join.   Choice and options are the advantages are being in an economy where there are competing companies.

However, the Panda Bear plans to stay away from pay-for-click advertising and she joins different networks to boost blog readership.    She thinks the pay for click advertising is too easily open for fraudulent activity and she does not plan to pursue pay for click advertising until the blog is more established.