Rumors and More

This week has been filled with rumors at work. The rumor - DHL is buying Watkins. Apparently DHL had submitted 2 offers that were both rejected. They submitted a third offer and the Watkins family has seriously taken it into consideration. It is a logiclal fit for both DHL and Watkins. The major air/overnight carriers have purchased freight/over the road carriers over the last few years. If DHL wants to remain competitive, they must either purchase or grow their own freight carrier. DHL, like Watkins is a non-union shop. Both companies strive to remain non-union and therefore pay competitively and keep benefits on par with the union shops.

As for what a buyout would mean to me, it wouldn't have any effect on my job. DHL needs the teminals (we're the reason they want to buy Watkins). The major changes would be with corporate and higher level management. This should prove to be an interesting week at work. Hopefully we will hear something difinitive early in the week.

Now for more on the work front. My anniversary date at Watkins is January 19th. can you believe it's been 2 years already?!?!? Last week I had the pleasure of typing my own review!! Well, my boss wrote it but I got to type the review and calculate my raise. Damn! There is a set calculation for raises depending on the review scoring. For over a year, I had the distinct pleasure of being the only employee my boss had reviewed as being "Outstanding". Last fall he reviewed our HR Manager and gave him an "Outstanding" as well. I now have the pleasure of being the only person to receive an "Outstanding" for 2 consecutive years. We'll see how Dean does on his next review :)

Also for this week, we have the auditor arriving. Gee, the petty cash hasn't been over/short since I sent my boss the e-mail. I need to place a few fixed asset tags on the network equipment but that's about all I should need to do for the audit. I have already closed out the OSHA Log for 2005 and the required totals will be posted before the auditor arrives.

Things at home have been quiet as usual. We've had some very strange (even for CT) weather this weekend. Yesterday it was in the 50's and I was outside without a coat. I woke this morning to a fresh blanket of snow and temps barely reaching the 20's. Shadow is a tad upset because I refuse to shovel the back steps. Go figure - he'll play in water but doesn't like it when he gets wet outside. If he gets wet outside, he stands on the kitchen rug and waits for me to wipe him off with a paper towel.

As I previously wrote, I'm trying to quit smoking. While I haven't completely quit, I have cut back. At one time I was up to 2 packs a day. Now I can get one pack to last almost 2 days. I'm sure I could get the pack to last longer if I could find more to keep my mind occupied. It seems many times, I light up without thinking about it or wanting one. As soon as I tell myself not to light up, is when I can't get my mind off them.

Oh well, my coffee mug is empty and that's the sign that it's time to move my butt. Have a fun week! If I hear anything about DHL/Watkins, I'll be sure to post.

TTFN!