Brittney Rocks!

Behind my desk is a big flat screen that is connected to a computer in the back. It displays the projects our engineers are working on, their progress, testing, bugs, etc. Red is bad, green is good. Whenever LDS.org is in red, that is really bad, I’ve come to learn.

So I walk in this morning, and right there, above my desk...



Someone went into the back, switched the view from the screen above my desk to the computer, opened a NotePad document, typed Brittney rocks! and then switched the view back to the big screen. I have NO idea who did it. NO idea. Most people don't even know the computer is back there, or that it controls the screen above my desk. The capability to switch the view to the computer (which allows typing) is BRAND new, as of this Monday. I realize I work with computer engineers, but how did they know the capability was there and which buttons to press?

I asked a co-worker to take the picture, because as obvious from my earlier posts, I don't have a camera – and this was too great not to get a photo of. Right as he went to take it, the phone rang. So I ended up in it. I guess it is fitting, right? Notice my dress? I just got it for really cheap and I LOVE it. So, for all of you who wondered, this is where I work.

See the white ceramic dish on the desk? Can you picture the Respirator Wipes story just a little bit better? And picture an upside down chair next to my chair, and you have the imagery down.

This really is a great place to work. Have I mentioned I love my co-workers? It is like having 300 big brothers/dads. They council me, ask me about my love life, set me up with their sons, and quite frequently, make my life much more interesting.

Dads and brothers are fun and entertaining, but they are a lot of work. 300 of them is a mess. Literally. The supply closet is always disheveled. They take out a pen, and then decide they don’t want it – so they put it on the counter and leave the drawer open. Thanks, guys.

Although working for the LDS Church has always been my dream - I thought I would be working with, a lot of the time, people who were really self righteous, judgmental - which is inevitable anywhere there is a high population of members. But that is not the case at all. Everyone I work with is so nice, so friendly and just really loves the Gospel and wants to work here. I love praying in meetings, and listening to these great men pray. They have taught me a lot about sincere prayer. It is interesting to work in a place where the Department Cultural Beliefs are:

Receive Revelation: I call down the Lord’s help in doing my work to aid in exalting the human family.

Be Positive: I contribute to a positive and optimistic work enviorment.

Help Others Succeed: I am successful only when those whom I work with and serve are successful.

Speak Up: I professionally challenge, ask questions, propose alternatives, and exchange feedback.

Make it Simple: I communicate clearly and avoid complexity in my work products and processes.

The guys really do hold true to these values. They understand they are working for something great – to expand the Church, to help build up the Kingdom of God. Everyone is so happy, so helpful, so generous and nice. In the 3 months I’ve been here, I have had one person be rude to me (and it was over the elevators. How stupid).


The Church is true! The people working for the Church are doing their best, and full of the Spirit.

This is a great place to work. I really do love my co-workers… how could I not?

Love,

Brittney

Oh baby oh baby, OH!

A co-worker sent me the link to this picture: http://ferrariguyforhire.com/ If you want a good laugh, i highly recommend visiting this site and browsing the photo gallery...

Ferrari Guy For Hire!

Pay $200 to let him show you around town. Notice his belt is undone? Sign me up!

There was some skepticism, whether this guy/site is for real. So I called the big number at the bottom of the website. It's real. He wants to take me around the block - which I expected. He has a very feminine, airy voice- which I didn't expect.

Love,

Brittney

Whoops…

No one else may think this is funny, but it had me laughing so hard I was crying. Shoot, I am still laughing. I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time.

So for work, I have access to two guys' calendar's - Dan Harmer and Bryan Austad. One of the Admins, Jasmyn, last day is Friday. So I put together a party invite using Outlook, "Jasmyn's Surprise Going Away Party" and sent it to our ENTIRE department, over 800 people. I sent it, and as I am looking at the invite on my calendar, I see it says "Dan Harmer" at the bottom... so I open it up, and lo and behold it says at the top, "Sent by Brittney Deann Johnson in behalf of Dan Harmer"

OH NO. My Outlook, instead of sending it from my calendar, randomly selected Dan's! So Dan doesn't even really know Jasmyn, and this meeting invite is coming from him to over 800 people. I am laughing by now... and then I get this email from Dan,

"Brittney,

For some reason I'm getting like 50-60 responses to an email appointment for a surprise appointment on Friday… Any idea how that happened?"

Whoops... Poor guy. I bet his inbox is in the hundreds by now... I was telling another Admin about this, and she said that is her biggest complaint in Outlook. When you have access to someone else's calendar, it will often just randomly pick a calendar and send it from that one, even though you have your own selected. She said she has done this many, many, many times. So that makes me feel better. It really wasn't my fault. But still was soo funny. Luckily Dan is a good guy, and wasn't mad.

Love,

Brittney

Why I should bring a camera to work…

Or at least have a working camera phone.

A little background… I am the Receptionist Extraordinaire/Admin where I work. So I sit front and center of our main floor in the Triad, but I am the Receptionist/Admin for 3 floors. Most days I feel less like a Receptionist and more like a babysitter. I work with 300 Engineers, which translates to 300 men. They are fun and I love them all, but they surely are a lot of work… every time I walk into the supply closet, I find a mess. They leave drawers open, and if they decide they don't want a certain object, instead of putting it back, they leave it on the counter.

One of my lovelier duties is the role of Fridge Nazi! Along with a co-worker, who, for his own safety, will remain anonymous, I clean out the fridge weekly. This brilliant engineer has come up with a system that works quite nicely. Every week we put florescent orange CONDEMNED stickers on all the items in the fridge. The food owners have a week to claim these items. See picture below:At the end of the week, all items that still have the sticker on them are tossed. Thus the fridge is kept free of moldy, nasty food. It is a genius system. Last week we ran out of stickers mid fridge cleanse, and so I ran and printed a couple more sheets. I left the extra ones next to my desk, and ran to finish the job. They are still sitting here. Smiling up at me.

Another of my jobs is to maintain the porcelain dish on the top of my desk. When I started work here, it was full of hand sanitizer packets. Most of the guys love them! The rest look at me like I'm awful for not stocking candy, and make comments. So I ran out of the packets and went to order more – but the site I am authorized to order from doesn't stock them! The closest I could find was Bausch&Lomb Respirator and Equipment Wipes. I figured that was close enough, and honestly who would actually read the labels on them? Most don't, but I have had some interesting looks and conversations about the wipes. Oh well. So one day I decided to give the guys a break and I ordered candy. I was the new awesomest person in the office. But they went through it like crazy, and yesterday the last piece was gone. So I went back to the Respirator and Equipment wipes. I joked with one of the guys that he needed to get more – as he ate them all (While he didn't eat them all – he surely ate more than anyone else).

So the other day I walk up to my desk, and there, upside down right in my way is a chair. What a delight. My first thought is, "why?? Why do you do this stuff to me?" Upon closer examination, I realized that the chair was missing a wheel. So someone tipped it upside down in my way so I wouldn't miss the fact that it was missing a wheel. I walked around to the other side, ready to right it – and there, stuck on the bottom where the wheel was missing, someone had stuck a CONDEMNED sticker. I laughed so hard for far too long… it was so funny. A picture moment wasted.

I walked in this morning, and there, right next to my keyboard is a huge pile of Respirator and Equipment wipes. I'm thinking, again, "why?? Why do you do this stuff to me?" when I look up and notice that the porcelain dish is now full of candy! The really good spearmint lifesavers and jolly ranchers! And in a cute decorative pattern, some of the Respirator and Equipment wipes were staggered on the outside, creating a border for the candy. The guy who had generously helped eat the first round of candy had waited until I left yesterday and re-filled it. How cute!

My third office photo moment was a month or so ago… someone stuck a Post-It note to my laptop that said: Brittney CTR

I have NO idea who did it or why…

I LOVE MY JOB! Obviously…. Who wouldn't love a job like this!?

Disclaimer – I do do LOTS of other tasks bedsides these random things!

Love,

Brittney