I’m learning a great deal being an Operations Manager of an entire building. Some of it isn’t so positive.

Like realizing 99% of vendors are just out for the buck and don’t really care about the level of service they provide you.

Case in point: Our building needs a compressor replaced on one of our rooftop HVAC units. Both units are old models that were only refurbished when we moved into the building three years ago, which probably wasn’t a good decision to start with, but clearly more cost effective than purchasing completely new models. This work is well above our preventative maintenance agreement, which we already pay an arm and a leg for every quarter.

I received the quote for the work a couple days ago, but the amount for parts and labor was lumped together in one total. I requested a breakdown to see the more detailed costs. I expected a price mark-up on the compressor. That’s common practice. What I didn’t expect was this:

Parts: $1294
Labor: $1171

This vendor only offers a 30-day guarantee of workmanship, and the cost is almost identical to the part itself?

That’s just… wrong.

I’m 99% sure I have a co-worker who is bulimic.

My cubicle is close enough to the bathroom that I can hear her forcibly hacking around the same time almost every day… breakfast and lunch. It doesn’t help the walls are super thin, so the acoustics from the restroom are even worse. I’ve suspected it for a while now, but feel my suspicion is confirmed after seeing her exit the restroom after each of these incidents. I know she knows our walls are thin, so I’m not sure if she realizes people can hear her, or if she even cares.

I like this co-worker a lot and we’ve chatted a bit about her weight gain over the past couple years. While I didn’t know her then, seeing her over the nine months I’ve been employed - I think she’s gorgeous.

But, I can’t intervene. I know many women in this country are anorexic, bulimic, or even both. My ex-girlfriend was both. I learned that no matter how upset it made me to hear her or see her run to the bathroom after a meal (even when we were at a restaurant), nothing I said was helpful. In fact, everything I said just stressed her out even more.

This breaks my heart.

Current Mood: Sad

My addiction to the show Forensic Files has paid off. Sort of.

The organization I work for is having an all-staff retreat and booked a resort in St. Michaels on the Chesapeake Bay. For three days we’ll be working on organizational goals, team building, personal growth goals and stuff like that. Probably not exciting to most of you reading this but I’m looking forward to it because I’ve never worked for a place that actually has such things. Of course, the evenings will be filled with fun activities that will lend me the opportunity to see what many of my co-workers are like “off the clock” and vice versa.

I have, however, discovered something about the resort at which we’re staying that rattles me a bit. One of the many Forensic Files reruns that came on what is now called TruTV (gag, CourtTV was much better) aired a few weeks ago. While it was one I had seen before, it aired just a few days after checking out the website of the resort so as I watched the first few minutes of this episode, I noticed the pictures of the cabins looked eerily similar.

At that time, I didn’t really think much of it. For obvious reasons, the show can’t mention the name of the business so I essentially forgot about it. A couple days ago the office got an email update about our trip, thus reminding me about the show. I decided to Google the name of the resort with “murder” added in, and sure enough it’s the same place!

On Valentine’s Day in 1998 a couple were staying at this place and the wife decided to kill her husband, but I can’t recall exactly why. She staged the scene to make it appear an accident… that he fell asleep while reading porn magazines and smoking a cigar that ignited the mattress and thus burned him to death.

This is what I love about Forensic Files: The show highlighted that it was almost believed to be an accident until a barely visible point of origin (of the fire) was found and the autopsy confirmed no soot in the husband’s lungs, proving he was dead before the fire even started.

So, yeah, this woman got caught. There has been at least one true crime novel written about the murder. In case you’re curious, her name is Kimberly Hricko and the resort is Harbourtowne. Google it if you wish.