The backseat driver (BSD), the Co-Trainer. They get on my nerves. Immensely. Let me give you some examples of what I’m driving at, oh, backseat driver. Long live staying in your own lane!
Category: The office
Back in the autumn of 1976 my Dad came back from Thornton Watlass pub in the Yorkshire Dales. “Well, I never knew there were so many experts on Northern Ireland, drinking in The Buck Inn!” That’s what he exclaimed. He had just come back from a six-month tour of duty at the Maze Prison in […]
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Turn up the Volume!
KISS: I’ve heard of the band. I knew that one of their members also works as a financial adviser. I never knew what songs they had actually written – until last week, when my new colleague told about this one. Long live those painted faces!
Two decades ago I used to work shifts in the telecoms sectors. I quite enjoyed working nights and weekend. More money, and often less work to to do in the nights. There’d often be only four of us working the night shift. It would often get so quiet, I’d bring in videos for the team […]
I normally abhor foul language. Today I will make an exception, after a day of “Don’t you know who I am?” customers. Long live the ukelele!
Today I have had a pig of a day on the customer service desk, in which I (as the only Brit in the team) have taught my foreign colleagues a new English expression: The moon on a stick. Many thanks to Lee & Herring for this succinct expression. Long live the Moon! And long live […]
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Obscure Name-Drop Time
I love name-drops. Not the standard ones like: “I once had dinner with Roger Moore.” “Last week I shook hands with Simon Cowell.” No. I like the more obscure ones, for example, last year my vicar told me that Acker Bilk’s brother was a member of his congregation. My kind of name-drop. Yesterday I was […]
Known as “Stille Post” in German. The classic example is: “Send reinforcements. We’re going to advance.” becomes “Send three and fourpence. We’re going to a dance.” This is why I hate hearsay with a passion. Yesterday I reported sick at work. Nothing major. Just a probable cracked rib. I will survive. I will hold my […]
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Telemarketers: How to Have Fun
In these sad and serious c-word days, we need something to cheer us up… What To Say To Telemarketers If they want to loan you money, tell them you just filed for bankruptcy and you sure could use some money. If they start out with, ‘How are you today?’ say, ‘Why do you want to […]
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Let’s Play Buzzword Bingo!
Harold Wilson once said: Royal Commissions take minutes and waste years. Meetings generally waste hours. Team building meetings waste staff days, playing buzzword bingo. The four-letter word beginning with “F” that I hate the most? Flip Team building exercise “facilitators” love flip-charts, such as this. I wasn’t sure if this was a real staff development […]
The Dairy of Samuel Peeps 