Regarding the Diet and Habitat of the Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat

Once again, for the umpteenth time, I don't really have anything substantial to say tonight on the blog. Oh whatever, shut up Heidi, and just get to it. Right.

The weather down South these days is just unbelievable, huh? Today was 60+ in our little northwest corner of NC! Unheard of for January 4th. While visiting Doc's office earlier today, they had the windows open and Joy still complained about it being hot! Gran came by to plant some bulbs and she even mentioned that some of her flowers had poked their fragile little heads up to see the sunshine. (She covered 'em... hopefully, they'll make it regardless of what happens for the rest of the "winter".) Today was just beautiful, though. Which makes me wonder how the rest of the country fared. I know last week in Portland was partly gray (some days) and partly sunny (others), but consistently pretty chilly (40s). Tonight, the weather channel is reporting 33 (tonight's low) - 44 (tomorrow's high) & partly cloudy/chance of showers for Vancouver, WA. Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, S'boro is projected to have a high of 77 tomorrow. Seventy-seven!!! On January 5th!!!

Anyway, I can already tell I'm going to be tired again in the morning. I had an extra-hard time waking up and getting going this AM... that is, until an IT colleague called me to RE-ask me stupid questions. I seriously believe in the philosophy that there's never a stupid question... THE FIRST TIME YOU ASK IT. By the third or fourth time, even the best questions are STUPID ONES. And the lame-brain ones like those from today are off-the-charts-ridiculous. Seriously... most of y'all probably know relatively little about payroll software systems; but let's just say you run a business where you have to pay employees in multiple countries. Oh, by the way, you have multiple hundred employees in both countries -- not just a couple of salespeople who would probably be okay with being add-ons to a U.S.-based payroll. Just for example's sake, let's say we're talking about the U.S. and Mexico. And let's just use basic reasoning here... can a payroll software system fulfill the needs of both employee populations (so that you can only run one system, with all your employee data, and pay everyone in the same manner)? Remember, basic reasoning. What are some of the potential pitfalls you might think of? Hmm... well, for one, maybe different currencies? Survey says... Ding, ding, ding. Each country has its own currency. It's difficult enough to figure out how to manage financial transactions without figuring in exchange rates! What else? Employment/payroll laws, you say? Survey says... Ding, ding, ding. You're on a role! The resources that would have to go into keeping up with multi-national payroll rules & regulations are staggering. (The resources required to keep up with federal and state regulations are staggering in and of themselves!)

But, you know, on the other hand (since there are always two sides to everything), maybe I'm being unreasonable and short-sighted. Maybe there ARE actually companies out there that are capable of paying employee populations in multiple countries from one system. I can't possibly think there are, but if any of you know one, I'd love to know about it.

And maybe it just ticks me off so much because we've already had this conversation! Not only that... but you refuse to learn anything from the many conversations we've had. We keep on having the exact same talks. F-r-u-s-t-r-a-t-i-n-g!

Maybe I should be more patient with people. Maybe I shouldn't have called another colleague to commiserate (yet again!) about this guy & our frustrating-as-crap repeat conversations. Patience... something I should probably check into.

Things that made me smile today:
- Surprise hellos from old friends
- Sydney's "hands"
- Marco's blog... "What? I'm pretty sure it's what Jesus would have done."
- Family time around the dinner table (which happened to be in a quiet restaurant)
- Rumors are swirling that The Police may be reuniting... I'm soooo going to that show. Who's in?

Let's go get some "work" done. Just a little bit more... b/c I can't seem to find my motivation during the days. (Maybe I left it in Oregon... have you seen it, Mary?) Have a great Friday!! X to tha O.