Books

Whilst researching spots to visit in England, I came across a note that indicated that Charing Cross Road is "used-bookstore-row" in downtown London.

That statement twigged a memory of a book my sis-law bought me for my birthday years ago:

 so I pulled it out and re-read it.
It's a collection of letters between an American writer and a British bookseller ( little bit like that Guernsey Potato Peel Pie book) and has apparently been made into a movie with Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft and Judy Dench. I defs will have to rent this...

The book is a quick read and quite wonderful.

I just finished "Not Everyone Gets a Trophy"

and found it to be full of common sense.

The "How to Manage Generation Y" tips are applicable towards ALL generations, and not just in the workplace. Some of his (the author's) suggestions would work well in the classroom, the kitchen, the upcoming trip to England...

Tulgan has interviewed hundreds (?, maybe thousands?) of Gen Y'ers and quotes them extensively. Each Gen Y comment had me smiling because I can so hear my kids' voices in those quotes:

"They keep telling me, "Here's what you get in five years, ten years, twenty years ..." But they expect me to come back to work tomorrow. What do I get tomorrow? "

An experienced nurse-manager in a busy hospital told me she stopped a new nurse from administering the wrong medicine by intravenous drip to a patient. The manager pulled the young nurse aside and explained emphatically how serious a mistake she almost made. "I explained that this is how patients die unnecessarily. I told her, "You need to check the wrist bracelet, then the patient's chart, then the charge list, then the IV bag. Then you need to check them all again. Before she finished, the young nurse interrupted her. "Actually, you are doing this conversation wrong," she told her boss. "You are supposed to give me some positive feedback before you criticize my work." How did the manager respond? "Okay. Nice shoes. Now, about that IV bag..."

"I know I'm great. I don't need my boss to tell me I'm great..."

"All the stuff you've forgotten, I'll never have to know. Half of the stuff you remember, I'll never have to know.  That means I'm halfway to catching up with you. It's easy for guys my age to catch up with the more experienced guys."

And this comment was interesting and describes my boys perfectly:
"Gen Y-ers want the latest and greatest technology. But it's not just a desire for the coolest toy. It's like breathing."

We were at my dad and mom's place last Sunday for dinner. I sat on one side of the table with Jule and Daryl. My dad and mom shared one end, with Mandi and Zac sharing the other end. My three boys sat on the other side.

It was a lovely, long-ish meal, with us all sitting around a visiting for oh, maybe an hour or so afterwards. My boys never left the table, and stayed actively involved in the conversation all the while clicking and tapping and beeping their phones. They played games, surfed the net, sent and received text messages, got facebook notifications...

I'm embarrassed because I see this as being rude. But for them it's like breathing. No big deal. And not an indication of being bored with the people they are sharing a meal with.

Anyways, this book was fascinating for me. And I'd recommend it to HR departments and managers who have to manage/work with people like the ones I gave birth to.

My favourite aspect of the book is his positive attitude towards these aliens... "Generation Y will be more difficult to recruit, retain, motivate, and manage than any other new generation to enter the workforce. But this will also be the most high-performing workforce in history for those who now how to manage them properly."


And the third book I recently finished is a Costco 'best buy' (meaning, I think, if you don't like it, you can return it.)

I recommend this book.
It's a novel.
But reads like the autobiography of a woman who was born as a slave on the island of Jamaica during the first half of the nineteenth century. Fascinating. Uncomfortable. Horrific.

And again leads me to be thankful that I was born in Canada in the '60's.

Three things I'm thankful for:
1. For a rainy day, it turned out OK in the end. Thanks Mandi for going to the movies with me. (We saw Tom and Cameron in Knight and Day.)

It was fun. And predictable. But a good thing to do on a rainy Sunday evening.

2. Birthdays.
Seven of us celebrated Maxine's birthday on Friday night at White Rock and you know what? I love nights like that. Eat. Talk. Walk.
I took some awesome pics of us, the view, the sunset, the fabulous full moon, the expensive cars in the Washington Ave Grill parking lot... only to discover I forgot to put a memory card into my camera.
Amateur, Jane, amateur.

3. My garage. Is. So. Clean.

Shalom,