Well, last night was the dinner party night! I cooked dinner for six people which includes my library staff and me! Fortunately, everyone was very patient as I vastly underestimated how long it would take me to prepare dinner!!
I had chosen Jamie Oliver's Chicken Breasts In A Bag recipe, mainly because it was simple - just throw a load of stuff into a foil bag and chuck it in the oven. Well, that was the theory anyway - it was not quite so simple!
The trouble was that the preparation was actually quite fiddly, for instance I had to do things like peel and slice two cloves of garlic, fold and create the foil bag, chop the 9oz of mushrooms, cook the pototoes and slice them, and then after all that, I had to carefully stuff the bag! (I had to make three bags too as each bag contained two chicken breasts, so for six people....)
In the end, instead of eating at 7:30 as I had planned (the invite was 7pm for 7:30pm!) we eventually sat down to eat at 8:30pm - whoops! Fortunately everybody alreadys knows everybody and so was quite happy to open the drinks and sit down to chat in the lounge.
The meal itself was very nice - the wine component was a bit too strong and the garlic came through quite strongly, but it was very nice - three plates were almost totally cleared and the other three less so, so I think that I can call that a success!!
Pudding was just as successful - I had a raspberry meringue and a chocolate roulade (not made from scratch thankfully!) - thanks to Ann for whipping the cream and assembling the roulade! ;-)
After dinner we did the Secret Santa thing - all the presents were very nice - let me tell you them in the order that they were opened - Ann had a little pot of handcream and a manicure kit, Judith had a little red umbrella for her handbag, Nicola had a lovely set of minature jams, Bridget had a bag of handlotions and stuff, Trish had a new mug, and I had a drawstring travel washbag (just right for my trip to Australia!!) and I think that everybody was happy!
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Saturday, 22 December 2007
Friday, 21 December 2007
Nice people
Christmas always brings out the nice people!! In the library, we get to see those generous people who bring us some goodies to say thank you for all the work that have done for them over the year.
This year, we have had a box of biscuits from a Consultant, a box of chocolates from a Modern Matron (new, revamped NHS term!!) and another box of biscuits from a Sister; so we are feeling most appreciated here in the library!
Of course, it works both ways, we have given some chocolates to the lady who brings and collects our post every day, a box of biscuits to the IT department...after all, they are the ones that keep our computers going and put up with us when we telephone with yet another computer problem!!
The library notice board behind the duty desk is now covered in Christmas cards or posters printed out from emails sent from libraries around the region - it is looking very Christmassy!
This year, we have had a box of biscuits from a Consultant, a box of chocolates from a Modern Matron (new, revamped NHS term!!) and another box of biscuits from a Sister; so we are feeling most appreciated here in the library!
Of course, it works both ways, we have given some chocolates to the lady who brings and collects our post every day, a box of biscuits to the IT department...after all, they are the ones that keep our computers going and put up with us when we telephone with yet another computer problem!!
The library notice board behind the duty desk is now covered in Christmas cards or posters printed out from emails sent from libraries around the region - it is looking very Christmassy!
Wednesday, 19 December 2007
Colleagues
How many of you get on well with your colleagues? Or if you are a manager - how many of you get on well with your staff?
There are six of us in the Library, me and four staff that I manage, plus one other that works in the library and is part of the team but is paid by the University rather than the hospital and she is not managed by me.
Anyway, we all get on very well and usually have a laugh!! It has been particularly funny this week - probably just the lead up to Christmas! I shall be naming no names here, but one of them (you know who you are!!) managed to get one over me on Monday!
I don't know why it came up, but I asked her to confirm that she would be working on the Thursday after Christmas and she looked at me with a very straight face and said no. I was quite horrified and thought that I had gotten it wrong and would need to redo the rota and find someone to work in the library on that day. Fortunately it didn't take long for me to twig that she was having me on!! (she said that it was very difficult to keep a straight face!!)
Yesterday, it was someone else that made me laugh - we got talking about her daughter's car and the number of times that someone else had bumped the car. She (again no names - but you know who you are!!) said that she'd heard that apparently silver cars get hit by other vehicles most...but then she followed that up with...but most cars are silver anyway; to which I said something like - if most cars are silver then most cars are going to be hit anyway!!! Statistically it just didn't work to prove her statement!!
Anyway, I am just so glad that we do all get on as well as we do, which is a good thing as we all work in the same office - no, I don't get to have a private office just because I am the boss!! I am also glad that we get on well because they are all coming to my house for dinner this Friday!!!
I think that this is the third year in a row that we will have had a Christmas get-together at my house. The last two occassions were more of a pot-luck, I think that we had jacket potatoes both times and everybody brought a bowl of toppings along!! This year, however, I have decided to do the meal myself!! And before you ask, no - it wont be sausages and mash!!
I have yet to buy the dessert - I was going to make one, but have simply run out of time!! I am sure that Sainsburys will come up trumps there!! As for the meal itself, I am going to go for chicken - one of those chicken in foil things that means that you can just bung it all in the oven and forget about it!! The potatoes will be roast (I hope!) and the veg will be steamed in my brand new steamer - so I think that I have got it all planned!!
There are six of us in the Library, me and four staff that I manage, plus one other that works in the library and is part of the team but is paid by the University rather than the hospital and she is not managed by me.
Anyway, we all get on very well and usually have a laugh!! It has been particularly funny this week - probably just the lead up to Christmas! I shall be naming no names here, but one of them (you know who you are!!) managed to get one over me on Monday!
I don't know why it came up, but I asked her to confirm that she would be working on the Thursday after Christmas and she looked at me with a very straight face and said no. I was quite horrified and thought that I had gotten it wrong and would need to redo the rota and find someone to work in the library on that day. Fortunately it didn't take long for me to twig that she was having me on!! (she said that it was very difficult to keep a straight face!!)
Yesterday, it was someone else that made me laugh - we got talking about her daughter's car and the number of times that someone else had bumped the car. She (again no names - but you know who you are!!) said that she'd heard that apparently silver cars get hit by other vehicles most...but then she followed that up with...but most cars are silver anyway; to which I said something like - if most cars are silver then most cars are going to be hit anyway!!! Statistically it just didn't work to prove her statement!!
Anyway, I am just so glad that we do all get on as well as we do, which is a good thing as we all work in the same office - no, I don't get to have a private office just because I am the boss!! I am also glad that we get on well because they are all coming to my house for dinner this Friday!!!
I think that this is the third year in a row that we will have had a Christmas get-together at my house. The last two occassions were more of a pot-luck, I think that we had jacket potatoes both times and everybody brought a bowl of toppings along!! This year, however, I have decided to do the meal myself!! And before you ask, no - it wont be sausages and mash!!
I have yet to buy the dessert - I was going to make one, but have simply run out of time!! I am sure that Sainsburys will come up trumps there!! As for the meal itself, I am going to go for chicken - one of those chicken in foil things that means that you can just bung it all in the oven and forget about it!! The potatoes will be roast (I hope!) and the veg will be steamed in my brand new steamer - so I think that I have got it all planned!!
Tuesday, 18 December 2007
Funny money
We don't handle a great deal of money in the Library, but we do get some as we deal with money for photocopying, printing, interlibrary loans, old books for sale - that kind of thing!
Unfortunately we get a few foreign coins, even some that are no longer in circulation like the French Franc! Anyway - we had a rather mangled 20p coin other day - see this photo with a more normal one for comparison!
All of us in the library had a good look at it and could not work out whether someone had taken a a hammer to it or whether it was perhaps a forged coin!! Incidentally, the better looking coin is 1982 and the mangled one is 1983 so, surely, it cannot be like this due to simple wear and tear. Well, the only thing that will solve the issue is whether or not the cashiers will accept the coin when we bank the money!
By the way - this is actually my 100th post - yay!! (what a silly thing to get excited about!!)
Unfortunately we get a few foreign coins, even some that are no longer in circulation like the French Franc! Anyway - we had a rather mangled 20p coin other day - see this photo with a more normal one for comparison!
All of us in the library had a good look at it and could not work out whether someone had taken a a hammer to it or whether it was perhaps a forged coin!! Incidentally, the better looking coin is 1982 and the mangled one is 1983 so, surely, it cannot be like this due to simple wear and tear. Well, the only thing that will solve the issue is whether or not the cashiers will accept the coin when we bank the money!By the way - this is actually my 100th post - yay!! (what a silly thing to get excited about!!)
Monday, 22 October 2007
Accreditation
Well, I said yesterday that today was a big day for me....it was the end of a lot of preparation for the Accreditation visit to our Library! Every NHS Library gets visited by assessors every three years and our three years was up today!
A lot of work goes into preparing for this as we have to submit a workbook with lots of evidence about what we are doing and basically have to self assess ourselves and then the assessors visit and meet with the library staff, my line manager, the Chief Executive and some library users. They also get a tour of the Library and the chance to fire lots of questions at me!
It was a tiring and somewhat stressful day, but I am so glad that it is over. The way that it works is that at the end of the day they decide on what Stage Accreditation we should be awarded and then the official report with recommendations will get written and sent to us in about a months time.
Well, I am sure that you are now agog to hear what we got!? There are four stages to the accreditation:
0 - big fat failure
1 - basic accreditation - need improvement
2 - good accreditation with some areas of excellence
3 - excellent accreditation
I knew that we couldn't get a 3, but was hoping for a 2 and that's what we got!! I am so very very pleased, it is due to the hardwork of my staff and their support of me that we have been able to achieve this, so I am very proud of them. (Of course, I am proud of myself too!)
A lot of work goes into preparing for this as we have to submit a workbook with lots of evidence about what we are doing and basically have to self assess ourselves and then the assessors visit and meet with the library staff, my line manager, the Chief Executive and some library users. They also get a tour of the Library and the chance to fire lots of questions at me!
It was a tiring and somewhat stressful day, but I am so glad that it is over. The way that it works is that at the end of the day they decide on what Stage Accreditation we should be awarded and then the official report with recommendations will get written and sent to us in about a months time.
Well, I am sure that you are now agog to hear what we got!? There are four stages to the accreditation:
0 - big fat failure
1 - basic accreditation - need improvement
2 - good accreditation with some areas of excellence
3 - excellent accreditation
I knew that we couldn't get a 3, but was hoping for a 2 and that's what we got!! I am so very very pleased, it is due to the hardwork of my staff and their support of me that we have been able to achieve this, so I am very proud of them. (Of course, I am proud of myself too!)
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