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.