Well on next Monday I have some contractors coming to the house to completely redo the exterior of the house. They are going to rip off all of the siding (both layers), knock of some would trim and then reside the house. They are also going to do aluminum fascia and sophists, along with wrapping all the trim around the windows and doors in aluminum. This work will also be completed on the garage. This is a departure from my original plan which was to repaint all of the ceramic tile and wood trim. The major reason for this change was because I didn’t want to have to repaint every five or so years. The next plan then was to reside and paint the trim. Again this would create too much maintenance. Painting the house even the trim is a huge job, and in the seven years I’ve lived in the house I have so much other work to do that I haven’t had the resources to do this and I don’t see the situation changing for a long time. So the solution was simply to pay more and go maintenance free.
What actually prompted this me to do this work now though was the wonderful city government. They have recently built up a program to discourage absentee landlords, bring up proper values, and in the process lower crime. This program was modeled off of those in other cities and basically it has city inspectors canvassing selected neighborhoods and writing up every single code violations they see. These include overgrown plants in the ally, missing housing numbers, broken windows, chipped or faded paint, and just about any other basic maintenance activity. I have received notices for this type of thing before but it was always minor, like cutting the bushes growing into the alley. It takes me a couple hours every other year to comply. This year however they got me for all the missing/chipped/faded paint on the garage and the house. Since I had already decided to do all of the siding, trim, sophists, and fascia I didn’t want to spend the money on paint just to get all of siding and trim work done a year later.
It’s funny the reaction most people give me. They are shocked that the city could do that. Then they get a little mad that the government would tell you what to do with you house. But when you really think about it this type of program – as long as it isn’t abused by officials – is good for everyone. Home owners while they are forced to spend money they may not want to in the short term still need to have the work done to their homes and as a bonus their neighbors have to clean up there homes too. So your house is better maintained (begrudgingly) and everyone’s property values increase. Since this program also covers rental units it means that people don’t have to settle for buildings that are falling apart. Landlords will have to keep up the maintenance and provide better rental units for people to live in. In fact many landlords that would just keep collecting rent and never work on the building until it is condemned are instead forced to get with the program or sell. Many actually sell and hopefully better owners come in. Also most residents gain the benefit of living in nicer, cleaner, and well maintained city.
The City of course is the big winner in all of this. By enforcing these codes they help their tax base increase by increasing home values, the program also brings in more revenue via permits, inspections, and civil ticket fees. It makes the city more desirable to live in as the houses are nicer looking and in better shape. The city also gains in other ways with the enforcement of codes, many times this enforcement leads to the reduction of crime in the city. This happens for a couple of reasons. First it can force people that are not will to keep up with the citations to leave the city for one reason or another. The second is what you may call the Giuliani effect; that is when you enforce lower level crimes people are less likely to commit larger or more violent crimes. At least this is the hope. Of course I’m just happy that everyone else in the neighborhood has now put a fresh coat of paint on their houses (at least the majority of people), cleaned up their yards, and fixed any hazards around their property, even if I do have to put up with the government telling what to do with my own house. Of course I can’t wait to see the house all fixed up, at least the outside!!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Boo-Hoo Hoo You’re were a Jerk and Now your Losing Money
I find it wholly amusing that lately that so many mortgage companies are crying foul over the delinquency rates in America. In fact many may ask for government help to stay a float. Others (even clients of my own firm) are pulling out of many states completely in an attempt to even be able to continue operations. What I find most amusing is the sympathetic tone most business articles have toward these firms. And the fact that it is not every mortgage firm that is in trouble. In fact many well established institutions are not even close to being in trouble. They may not be making the banner money they were two years ago but they are certainly not looking to close up shop.
It is in fact the unscrupulous firms, those that preyed on people on the bottom, those that pushed the bubble hire and hire, all to line their own pockets with out concern for the future that are in the most trouble. In fact many of these firms “specialized” in “non-traditional” products for sub-prime or high risk borrowers. What then did they really expect? To continue to make three times the profits off the people that had ½ the expectations of paying? They took advantage of people, they did not do their own due diligence, and they did not want to do the work to build a solid investment basis. So why should people pity firms that are imploding because there devious plans back fired? What part of high-risk clients didn’t they understand? Why is it that people that made ridiculous profits for ½ a decade should now be let off the hook for the current crisis and possibly even helped to stay in business?
Really I think they should all go out of business. They knew what they were doing, they built an unsustainable model. This is what should happen to people that use un-ethical practices. I have no sympathy for people that pray on those who are having the hardest time in an effort to live an MTV life style. I am not anti business of course I just think that good business people are willing to put in the extra work and diligence to build up solid practices. They don’t try to make as much money as possible in the short term, and they don’t prey on those that are at the lowest level. You offer a good product or service, at a fair price, and treat your customers right. When these people have problems I may feel bad; but certainly not for all the sub-prime lenders.
The one part of this whole situation that is sad of course is all of the people losing their homes of course. These people should get government assistance. Not necessarily financial assistance, but possibly in legal relief. For instance any legislation that forces lenders to remove barriers from borrows being allowed to refinance would be a good first step. But really in the end you would hope market forces would force the lenders not yet out of business into automatically trying to help the customers refinance. The housing market is already slow and if a lot of foreclosed houses hit it then everyone will lose. But really it is time for those whining about falling “victim” to there own bad policies should bear the brunt of any part of the solution and no, no-one feels bad that you are now losing money because you tried to screw people.
It is in fact the unscrupulous firms, those that preyed on people on the bottom, those that pushed the bubble hire and hire, all to line their own pockets with out concern for the future that are in the most trouble. In fact many of these firms “specialized” in “non-traditional” products for sub-prime or high risk borrowers. What then did they really expect? To continue to make three times the profits off the people that had ½ the expectations of paying? They took advantage of people, they did not do their own due diligence, and they did not want to do the work to build a solid investment basis. So why should people pity firms that are imploding because there devious plans back fired? What part of high-risk clients didn’t they understand? Why is it that people that made ridiculous profits for ½ a decade should now be let off the hook for the current crisis and possibly even helped to stay in business?
Really I think they should all go out of business. They knew what they were doing, they built an unsustainable model. This is what should happen to people that use un-ethical practices. I have no sympathy for people that pray on those who are having the hardest time in an effort to live an MTV life style. I am not anti business of course I just think that good business people are willing to put in the extra work and diligence to build up solid practices. They don’t try to make as much money as possible in the short term, and they don’t prey on those that are at the lowest level. You offer a good product or service, at a fair price, and treat your customers right. When these people have problems I may feel bad; but certainly not for all the sub-prime lenders.
The one part of this whole situation that is sad of course is all of the people losing their homes of course. These people should get government assistance. Not necessarily financial assistance, but possibly in legal relief. For instance any legislation that forces lenders to remove barriers from borrows being allowed to refinance would be a good first step. But really in the end you would hope market forces would force the lenders not yet out of business into automatically trying to help the customers refinance. The housing market is already slow and if a lot of foreclosed houses hit it then everyone will lose. But really it is time for those whining about falling “victim” to there own bad policies should bear the brunt of any part of the solution and no, no-one feels bad that you are now losing money because you tried to screw people.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Loud and Demanding; but I think she passed
Well to say the least this year has been busy. It seems there is a never ending string of events keeping me on the move. And therefore keeping RG (was RB) moving with me a lot of the time. She does a really good job of putting up with this I think. Really I am only home 3 or maybe 4 nights a week, so half-time really, but she puts up with it. In fact she really is helpful keeping me going; running errands during the week (dry cleaning, mail, shopping, etc), making sure I have my favorite iced tea made when I get home, keeping the house inviting, talking to me every night, and more.
So when I am home on the weekends I don’t mind if she gets to be a bit loud and demanding. Any one who has met RG knows that she is not shy, nor is she shy about asking for what she wants. It really doesn’t matter what company is around either. What you see is what you get. Well for the most part. While she may seem demanding to most people, they don’t see the other side. She is always fast to compromise, fast to help, and when I do make her mad (this is a pretty regular occurrence with anyone that has to live with me) she cools off and forgets about it faster than anyone I know. So it is nice that over the last month I think she has passed through her trial of fire with my family.
Being the nice and understanding husband I am, I dragged my poor wife to not one but two family reunions in the last month. So she was subjected to meeting both my mom’s side of the family in the hills of Virginia, and my Dad’s side of the Family on the west coast. As with all families I have my share of unique individuals hanging from my family tree. In fact it is about all I have. My family is a lot of fun, and while they are all characters, they also all have character and are genuine and accepting people. So she was able to meet all 6 of my uncles (both sides), all 8 of my aunts (again both sides), and 5 cousins, but she had already met my mom’s mom. My family comes from across the country living in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Texas, Virginia, and of course Minnesota, though I also have extended family in the Carolinas and New York as well. So any way we are all spread out.
The first trip was down to the farm in VA for my Mom’s family’s reunion. This wasn’t a big one that would include most of the county but just the immediate family. I flew in Thursday night, and she flew in late Friday night. My uncle came with us because his wife was flying in at the same time. So RG got to meet them right off the bat. Over the weekend we all hung out, had a few drinks, worked on the farm a little (though my uncles did most of the work) and generally relaxed. One very amusing event I think I need to send photos of to Jeff Foxworthy involved my uncle duct taping several poles together to paint the edge of the roof with a roller. You might be a redneck if…. RG got to hear horror stories from my uncles and aunts about me from my youth, which really I think we exaggerated, I was not that terrible! And at time was subjected to the typical family harassment from my uncles. Though really I think they went a little light on her. For her part she wasn’t as loud as she normally is but just as frank and demanding as usual. Really a good thing in that house because if you don’t make an effort to get what you want you can be steam rolled. When it was all said and done though everyone must have liked her because they all made a point of telling me I did well. If they didn’t like her they would have simply and politely said farewell.
Two weeks later she was in for it again. Again I flew in Thursday after work and again she flew in late Friday night. This time we had arranged it so she could fly on the same flight as my brother. As I understand it she tried to get him to lead a mutiny on the plane; good thing he was smart enough not to take on that task. This time the reunion was my dad’s immediate family at my parent’s new house in Renton, WA a suburb of Seattle, WA. All of his brother’s and their wives showed, along with my brother, and two cousins. This trip, as are all with my dad, more hectic in that we did a lot of sight seeing and less hanging out and drinking. Plus he didn’t put us to work on the house. I don’t think there was as much picking on RG as at my mom’s reunion but people did ask her a lot of questions. She did drink plenty of my uncle’s wine so I am sure that is a bonus. As usual she was her self, a little loud, a bit demanding, but plenty of fun. Again by the end of the weekend all of my uncles told me I did well. So it looks like she passed through her family trial by fire pretty unscathed.
I do have to make a quick statement though. All my uncles told me I did well. But really I think I just got lucky. The only doing well I can really do is to try to make her happy and want to stick around. The rest of it is her poor judgment in liking me (I kid I kid) and the universe for bringing her around in the first place. But I will take the compliment anyway, even though it really is for RG.
So when I am home on the weekends I don’t mind if she gets to be a bit loud and demanding. Any one who has met RG knows that she is not shy, nor is she shy about asking for what she wants. It really doesn’t matter what company is around either. What you see is what you get. Well for the most part. While she may seem demanding to most people, they don’t see the other side. She is always fast to compromise, fast to help, and when I do make her mad (this is a pretty regular occurrence with anyone that has to live with me) she cools off and forgets about it faster than anyone I know. So it is nice that over the last month I think she has passed through her trial of fire with my family.
Being the nice and understanding husband I am, I dragged my poor wife to not one but two family reunions in the last month. So she was subjected to meeting both my mom’s side of the family in the hills of Virginia, and my Dad’s side of the Family on the west coast. As with all families I have my share of unique individuals hanging from my family tree. In fact it is about all I have. My family is a lot of fun, and while they are all characters, they also all have character and are genuine and accepting people. So she was able to meet all 6 of my uncles (both sides), all 8 of my aunts (again both sides), and 5 cousins, but she had already met my mom’s mom. My family comes from across the country living in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Texas, Virginia, and of course Minnesota, though I also have extended family in the Carolinas and New York as well. So any way we are all spread out.
The first trip was down to the farm in VA for my Mom’s family’s reunion. This wasn’t a big one that would include most of the county but just the immediate family. I flew in Thursday night, and she flew in late Friday night. My uncle came with us because his wife was flying in at the same time. So RG got to meet them right off the bat. Over the weekend we all hung out, had a few drinks, worked on the farm a little (though my uncles did most of the work) and generally relaxed. One very amusing event I think I need to send photos of to Jeff Foxworthy involved my uncle duct taping several poles together to paint the edge of the roof with a roller. You might be a redneck if…. RG got to hear horror stories from my uncles and aunts about me from my youth, which really I think we exaggerated, I was not that terrible! And at time was subjected to the typical family harassment from my uncles. Though really I think they went a little light on her. For her part she wasn’t as loud as she normally is but just as frank and demanding as usual. Really a good thing in that house because if you don’t make an effort to get what you want you can be steam rolled. When it was all said and done though everyone must have liked her because they all made a point of telling me I did well. If they didn’t like her they would have simply and politely said farewell.
Two weeks later she was in for it again. Again I flew in Thursday after work and again she flew in late Friday night. This time we had arranged it so she could fly on the same flight as my brother. As I understand it she tried to get him to lead a mutiny on the plane; good thing he was smart enough not to take on that task. This time the reunion was my dad’s immediate family at my parent’s new house in Renton, WA a suburb of Seattle, WA. All of his brother’s and their wives showed, along with my brother, and two cousins. This trip, as are all with my dad, more hectic in that we did a lot of sight seeing and less hanging out and drinking. Plus he didn’t put us to work on the house. I don’t think there was as much picking on RG as at my mom’s reunion but people did ask her a lot of questions. She did drink plenty of my uncle’s wine so I am sure that is a bonus. As usual she was her self, a little loud, a bit demanding, but plenty of fun. Again by the end of the weekend all of my uncles told me I did well. So it looks like she passed through her family trial by fire pretty unscathed.
I do have to make a quick statement though. All my uncles told me I did well. But really I think I just got lucky. The only doing well I can really do is to try to make her happy and want to stick around. The rest of it is her poor judgment in liking me (I kid I kid) and the universe for bringing her around in the first place. But I will take the compliment anyway, even though it really is for RG.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The Fat Bob is PHAT
If anyone else is a bit of a motorcycle fan they have notice that Harley-Davidson has released their 2008 Models. Normally Harley sticks to variation on old themes. One major exception to this is the V-Rod that came out a few years ago. Other than that they have been basing their bikes off the same 3-4 frames with minor styling and sometimes big mechanical changes for years. Normally styling has to do with what gets chromed, what colors they use, how they paint the bike, the wheels, the handle bars, the gas tank, and maybe the mufflers. However lately the same ole, may not be enough for Harley. There is increasing competition from Yamaha, Suzuki, and others in the street bike category.
So this year Harley came out with four new models. two are based on the Softail line but look like they came from the TV show American Chopper. They are stretched out, have flames standard, have the seat floating over the rear fender, and many other styling cues that hobists that build bikes have been using for years. They are pretty cool looking. Finally the customer model has a trick seat that opens up and expands for a second rider. So you can keep the look of solo seat but still have a passenger at times. Though for about 20k I don't think I will be looking to buy one anytime soon. Take a look though they are pretty cool:
http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/2008_Motorcycles/2008_Motorcycles.jsp?locale=en_US&swfsection=family&swffamily=so
See the Rocker and Rocker-c models for the above link.
The next model was actually introduced in the Spring. It is aimed at expanding the younger customer base for Harley-Davidson. It's called the Nightster. It is based on the Sportster family with the 1200cc motor. The main difference for this bike is the blacked out engine, simplified paint, tank and fender modifications, and stripped down nature of the bike. Harley's research into youth buyer's is that they want simpler, less flashy bikes. Personally I think this is because price is more of an issue, but HD believes it has more to due with styling. See it at the below link look for Nightster:
http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/2008_Motorcycles/2008_Motorcycles.jsp?locale=en_US&swfsection=family&swffamily=so
Finally on the list of new models is the addition to the Dyna family. One of the oldest families of bike Harley has. Again playing to youth they have been expanding this family of bikes to include more blacked out options and stripped down models. This can be seen in other models such as the Dyna Low Rider, and Street Bob (one of the more popular models with younger people). This year they came out with what has to be my favorite bike. By combining the styling cues of the Street Bob with those of the larger Softail faimlied Fat Boy they came up with the Fat Bob. It has the blacked out options of the Street Bob, the fat tires and tank of the Fat Boy, and it has Straight handle bars that are normally an option on other bikes, plus a duel headlamp setup that is just the coolest thing I've seen on a Harley. On top of all that it come in Black or Maroon Denim finishes that are pretty simple but wild paint options. If you want to check it out follow the below link and look for Fat Bob:
http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/2008_Motorcycles/2008_Motorcycles.jsp?locale=en_US&swfsection=family&swffamily=so
If I won the Lottery I would probably buy a Fat Bob. It is pretty wild. Though maybe I can wait a few years and pick one up for like 10k. That wouldn't be too bad. Though I'm sure I will find better things to do with my money.
So this year Harley came out with four new models. two are based on the Softail line but look like they came from the TV show American Chopper. They are stretched out, have flames standard, have the seat floating over the rear fender, and many other styling cues that hobists that build bikes have been using for years. They are pretty cool looking. Finally the customer model has a trick seat that opens up and expands for a second rider. So you can keep the look of solo seat but still have a passenger at times. Though for about 20k I don't think I will be looking to buy one anytime soon. Take a look though they are pretty cool:
http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/2008_Motorcycles/2008_Motorcycles.jsp?locale=en_US&swfsection=family&swffamily=so
See the Rocker and Rocker-c models for the above link.
The next model was actually introduced in the Spring. It is aimed at expanding the younger customer base for Harley-Davidson. It's called the Nightster. It is based on the Sportster family with the 1200cc motor. The main difference for this bike is the blacked out engine, simplified paint, tank and fender modifications, and stripped down nature of the bike. Harley's research into youth buyer's is that they want simpler, less flashy bikes. Personally I think this is because price is more of an issue, but HD believes it has more to due with styling. See it at the below link look for Nightster:
http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/2008_Motorcycles/2008_Motorcycles.jsp?locale=en_US&swfsection=family&swffamily=so
Finally on the list of new models is the addition to the Dyna family. One of the oldest families of bike Harley has. Again playing to youth they have been expanding this family of bikes to include more blacked out options and stripped down models. This can be seen in other models such as the Dyna Low Rider, and Street Bob (one of the more popular models with younger people). This year they came out with what has to be my favorite bike. By combining the styling cues of the Street Bob with those of the larger Softail faimlied Fat Boy they came up with the Fat Bob. It has the blacked out options of the Street Bob, the fat tires and tank of the Fat Boy, and it has Straight handle bars that are normally an option on other bikes, plus a duel headlamp setup that is just the coolest thing I've seen on a Harley. On top of all that it come in Black or Maroon Denim finishes that are pretty simple but wild paint options. If you want to check it out follow the below link and look for Fat Bob:
http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/2008_Motorcycles/2008_Motorcycles.jsp?locale=en_US&swfsection=family&swffamily=so
If I won the Lottery I would probably buy a Fat Bob. It is pretty wild. Though maybe I can wait a few years and pick one up for like 10k. That wouldn't be too bad. Though I'm sure I will find better things to do with my money.
Seeing cool things first.
So one thing that is fun about working at my current client is that time to time I get to see things that other people don't. For instance they just came out with their 2008 models. Well I saw them 6 months before now. I just didn't know they were new models not yet announced. Everyday we walk by this cage in a warehouse that is surrounded by black tarps so you can't see in. They deliver products to this cage to be worked on to test out new Parts and Accessories. So a few months back we saw a product that looked like it came from a custom shop. Today we learned it is a production model. Pretty cool stuff. We also saw a couple of other models of other models that were modifications of 2007s. I guess I should have paid more attention. I probably could have smuggled some photos out and made a few bucks! Oh well who wants to lose a good job over something like that..
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Managing expectations
Managing expectations is terminology in consulting for not letting the client get ahead of themselves. For instance you can’t let them assume that work will magically get done and that deadlines will make themselves. Instead you have to get them to recognize that they will have to commit resources and management leverage to make things happen according to plan. The term is also used internally in dealing with different events in peoples careers. Mostly this concerns promotions and raises, but also internal competitions for different internal leadership roles. Many times people in the firm become disenfranchised because they had expectation that were way out of line with reality. This especially true of the newest generation the millennials, who expect to get promoted with in a year and get 20% raises, while not having to pay their dues. However the high performing and hardworking can easily fall into this trap as well. So can your’s truly.
Last year I started my first year with the firm hoping I could keep up with all of the 4.0 over achieving students that started with me, and for some reason ended the year expecting a high rating of one of the best performers. Why did this change. Well basically it was because I felt I had filled in all of the check boxes and all of engagement reviews were stellar. Little did I know how much your overall rating was also based on something you have little control over: Staffing. While I had high ratings and did all the extra things required I still had a low staffing number because I had 2 months of training and another month on the beach that year. So I came in average. I was a bit upset. If someone had “managed my expectations” better I would have know how much this number meant.
The second thing that happened last year was raises. The firm has been experiencing record growth for a couple of years now. All of last year at every meeting we heard how much the firm was beating its numbers quarter after quarter. So naturally we all assumed (and remember what happens when you ASSume) that this would have a trickle down effect and our raises would be stellar. In fact the raises the year before had been so good and other parts of the firm were giving out such high raises that we (most of the people that started with me) thought we were defiantly going to see a big number. In retrospect looking back the raises were pretty good, but we expected so much that we upset by what we got. In fact for a month or more that was all anybody talked about. We reached out to all the other analyst that had started in different cities and the bad feelings just grew and spread, surprisingly though no one left. Again if we had good realistic data on what to expect we would not have been so shocked.
Well that was last year and this is this year. So of course I am personally managing my own expectations and that of all the new analysts I am guiding. They had similar ideas as we had last year and I spent a lot of time trying to get them to start thinking in a different way. Hopefully I helped, who knows. In the process I had lower expectations for myself. I still got the great reviews on my assignment and filled in all the check boxes but figured, you know they’ll find an excuse to keep my review down. One big thing did change though I had over 10% higher staffing than my target, and as my target is quite high this is a big deal at the junior level. So this year I got the higher rating, along with the promotion (though if I didn’t get promoted it is a not so subtle statement that you might look elsewhere for employment). But as my expectations were lower this came as a great surprise and really good news.
I am still not holding my breath when it comes to raises though. However with the good rating and the promotion, even with lower expectations, I can hope in a certain range. Who knows though, maybe I just had my expectations off and should have had last years changed around with this years. We shall see.
Last year I started my first year with the firm hoping I could keep up with all of the 4.0 over achieving students that started with me, and for some reason ended the year expecting a high rating of one of the best performers. Why did this change. Well basically it was because I felt I had filled in all of the check boxes and all of engagement reviews were stellar. Little did I know how much your overall rating was also based on something you have little control over: Staffing. While I had high ratings and did all the extra things required I still had a low staffing number because I had 2 months of training and another month on the beach that year. So I came in average. I was a bit upset. If someone had “managed my expectations” better I would have know how much this number meant.
The second thing that happened last year was raises. The firm has been experiencing record growth for a couple of years now. All of last year at every meeting we heard how much the firm was beating its numbers quarter after quarter. So naturally we all assumed (and remember what happens when you ASSume) that this would have a trickle down effect and our raises would be stellar. In fact the raises the year before had been so good and other parts of the firm were giving out such high raises that we (most of the people that started with me) thought we were defiantly going to see a big number. In retrospect looking back the raises were pretty good, but we expected so much that we upset by what we got. In fact for a month or more that was all anybody talked about. We reached out to all the other analyst that had started in different cities and the bad feelings just grew and spread, surprisingly though no one left. Again if we had good realistic data on what to expect we would not have been so shocked.
Well that was last year and this is this year. So of course I am personally managing my own expectations and that of all the new analysts I am guiding. They had similar ideas as we had last year and I spent a lot of time trying to get them to start thinking in a different way. Hopefully I helped, who knows. In the process I had lower expectations for myself. I still got the great reviews on my assignment and filled in all the check boxes but figured, you know they’ll find an excuse to keep my review down. One big thing did change though I had over 10% higher staffing than my target, and as my target is quite high this is a big deal at the junior level. So this year I got the higher rating, along with the promotion (though if I didn’t get promoted it is a not so subtle statement that you might look elsewhere for employment). But as my expectations were lower this came as a great surprise and really good news.
I am still not holding my breath when it comes to raises though. However with the good rating and the promotion, even with lower expectations, I can hope in a certain range. Who knows though, maybe I just had my expectations off and should have had last years changed around with this years. We shall see.
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