Hard Work Agrees with Me!

I've always been a hard worker. I'm fast too.

Today, I had an organization job. I don't remember if I mentioned that or not, but I got a call a few weeks ago from the office manager of an international construction company. This office has about 50 employees. They had moved recently and needed some help with the HUGE kitchen area and storage closets. They do a lot of entertaining there, so they needed a lot of help making the space more efficient.

I haven't taken a "regular" organizing job in over 10 years. I have focused on craft rooms for the last 10+ years. Besides, I was tired of cleaning out closets and files. Still, when I got the call, I was intrigued. There's nothing I like more than making order out of chaos.

My immediate reaction when I consented to the initial consultation was, "Barb, what are you doing? You don't have time for this." As soon as I saw the situation, I knew immediately what needed to be done. I told them it would take about 4 or 5 hours. Plus, that really was about the only amount of time I could spare.

I got there at 8 a.m. this morning. Boy have things changed in the work world since I was there in the 1970's. Wait, who am I kidding! I haven't been in the work world since Sandy was born in 1971!! I'm still not sure if what I encountered with this company is the "norm" or just one fantastic place to work.

I started in and wasn't surprised that people were in and out to get their coffee. But at 8:30, the office manager informed me that their daily "stretch and flex" was about to begin. What the---? I told her that I  was doing all the bending and flexing I needed by moving stuff around the cabinets. I moved myself to the far end of the kitchen to stay out of the way of flying arms and legs.

After the exercising was finished, they got their breakfast. The company provides that---cereal, oatmeal and whatever else they want. Honestly, I just wanted them OUT. It was a little hard to work around them, but luckily, it didn't take too long.

The job was a lot of fun and I finished---except for a huge storage closet that the CEO asked me about during the initial consultation. He's going to have it built out with floor to ceiling shelves and one of those ladders that rides around the track. When that's done, I'll go back and finish up.

I have a feeling that this place is a great place to work. The company is out of Sweden, so they must do things a lot differently there. They provide the employees with a "Wellness Room" where you can go to recline, listen to soothing music, calm down and nap. I have never heard of that before. I think I could like a place that lets me have a rest in the afternoon!

They also have this:

I was told that fresh popcorn was important to the employees. And, if they have too much and get a tummy ache, there's always this:

The company provides them with medicine!! That sure is a far cry from when I ran the health room at St. Therese in Kansas City. We only had Bactine and Bandaids. If I couldn't take care of it with that, then I had to call the parents. Here, they have cold/flu, stomach, pain relievers and allergy medicines. Considering the cost of meds, that's a nice perk.

Things certainly have changed since I had a "real" job. But, I think I'll stay sami-retired! Still, it was a lot of fun and the place looks great! And I did it under 4 hours!!