A Survival Guide to Managing Employees from Hell: Handling Idiots, Whiners, Slackers, And Other Workplace Demons

A Survival Guide to Managing Employees from Hell: Handling Idiots, Whiners, Slackers, And Other Workplace Demons
Average customer rating:

A 'must' for managers

A common-sense approach to the difficult employee

A Survival Guide to Managing Employees from Hell: Handling Idiots, Whiners, Slackers, And Other Workplace Demons
Gini Graham Scott
Manufacturer: AMACOM/American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 081447408X

Book Description

All managers get saddled with "problem" employees from time to time; what sets great managers apart is how they deal with them. Drawing from real-life stories, this helpful and humorous guide provides readers with practical advice for handling a wide range of difficult types, including:

* The Impossible "I"s: Incompetents, Idiots, and Imbeciles -- clueless employees who simply don't know what they're doing
* The Bull in the Office China Shop -- the frequently angry worker ready to confront anyone and everyone
* The Party-Time Performer -- the employee who, although great with people, constantly turns work-time into fun-time
* I've Got a Problem -- employees whose work is compromised by any of a range of personal demons, from drug and alcohol problems to emotional issues

From whiners and wastrels to the needy and nefarious, this book gives readers the tools they need to handle any type of difficult employee.

Customer Reviews:

A 'must' for managers.......2007-02-03

A 'must' for managers is Gini Graham Scott, Ph.D.'s A SURVIVAL GUIDE TO MANAGING EMPLOYEES FROM HELL, telling how to handle a typical problem employee. Humor blends with practical, life-tested advice for handling different types of employee issues, from the clueless incompetent to the party-time performer who can't seem to separate work from fun. Case histories blend with advice and techniques from the field in a manual key to any level manager's success.

A common-sense approach to the difficult employee.......2007-01-29

We have all known the "employee from hell" in all of his or her guises: the complainer, the egomaniac, the troublemaker, the passive-aggressive type, the clever con artist, and many more.

In this plain-spoken book, management consultant Gini Graham Scott categorizes bad employees into some three dozen pigeonholes (like the "impossible intern," the "negative Nelly," and the out-and-out liar) and assigns each a brief chapter that opens with a succinct case study. In each setting, Scott asks the same question: Did the boss handle the situation well? Should she have fired the employee on the spot, put him on probation, called a staff meeting, had a one-on-one conversation with the troublesome employee, let the whole thing go, or done something else entirely?

Scott's advice springs largely from common sense. She acknowledges that there isn't just one way to handle a difficult worker. A good deal depends on the office atmosphere, the employee's and boss's personalities, and other intangibles. In discussing a saleswoman who gives so much attention to the first customer of the day that she neglects her duties to other customers, Scott suggests a variety of steps: giving the worker one more chance, explaining that she will be fired if she doesn't change, clarifying where she has gone wrong, asking another employee to monitor her behavior, and rewarding her with small bonuses if her performance improves.

Of course, some problematic behavior - drug use on the job, stealing from the employer, a pattern of lying -- can't be tolerated, and Scott urges that supervisors should fire people who do those things, even if the employee is a friend, or the friend of a friend. Still, there are a number of ways to dismiss someone, and Scott insists that even a fireable employee should be shown the door graciously.

Average customer rating:

Muffy Madness
A Voice of Reason
Lighten up people!
eh
WOW. NO MORE WHINING, PLEASE.

Confessions of a Slacker Mom
Muffy Mead-Ferro
Manufacturer: Da Capo Lifelong
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers
philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer

ASIN: 0738209945

Book Description

Parents who are fed up with the pressure to turn their children into star athletes, concert violinists, and merit scholars-all at once!-finally have an alternative: the world of Slacker Moms, where kids learn to do things for themselves and parents can cut themselves some slack; where it's perfectly all right to do less, have less, and spend less.

Slacker moms say "No" to parenting philosophies that undermine parents'-and children's-ability to think for themselves. They say "Yes" to saving their money and time by opting out of the parenting competition. And they say "Hell, Yes!" to having a life of their own, knowing it makes them better parents.

In this witty and insightful book, author Muffy Mead-Ferro reflects on her experience of growing up on a ranch in Wyoming, where parenting-by necessity-was more hands-off, people "made do" with what they had, and common sense and generational wisdom prevailed. We should all take her sane lead!

Customer Reviews:

Muffy Madness.......2007-09-01

I'm sorry, I can't take seriously anything that a woman named Muffy with a nanny has to say.

What's wrong with moderation here? Why does everything have to be win/lose in this society...working moms vs. stay-at-home moms, slacker moms vs. Type A moms? Nothing is that black and white. I am sick of the media spinning every possible subject re parenting and women into an all-out war. Somewhere in the middle, in my opinion, is the best path.

Work if you have to or want to, but be there and show up for your kids. Let them know you love them and support them, but carve out a little time for yourself, too, whether it's a chair massage once a week or a weekend trip with the girls!

Some days I am a slacker mom, some days I am a type-A stressed-out mom on deadline, some days I am stay-at-home domestic scrapbooking mom, some days I am overprotective mom, and some days I am "I don't feel good today, you're just going to have to figure it out yourself" mom. And you know what? I think I'm a great mom. I have a happy kid who does great in school and is learning that life is not perfect and people are multi-dimensional and ever-evolving, not one-note characters in a book! That's good enough for me.

A Voice of Reason.......2007-07-12

When I first found out I was pregnant, one of my best friends sent me all the books she had read when she was pregnant with her first. Of all that she sent--and many were good--this one has helped me to keep my sanity. I'm due in 3 weeks and anytime I start to panic about silly things like having the right "stuff," I think about this book and relax. The baby-sleeping-in-a-crab-cage story has been the best at getting to take everything a little less seriously and to enjoy this process a bit more.

Yes, the author has some benefits that others don't. Certainly, she makes more than I do, but it's nice to know that it doesn't have to be all-consuming and that a person can be a good mom even if she doesn't cease to exist except to carpool children around and be a toy-buyer/picker-upper. I know that sounds like common sense, but sometimes the other books, articles (and posts), friends, family members, and strangers can lay a lot of guilt at a mother's feet.

And for the record, the scrap-booking section is a hoot. My mother scrapbooks like a fiend and each book is really a work of art, so I don't have any problem with others doing it. What is funny is the author's reaction to the scrap-booking party itself. I have a good friend who is a college instructor, and I remember her coming to me at the beginning of a semester saying, "About ten of my students have posted scrap-booking as a hobby," (she teaches online courses)"and I don't even understand what that means." I explained and she said, "And that's a hobby? Lots of people do that? I don't get it." So the author's behavior made me think of that. I didn't think my friend was condemning all scrap-bookers. It just wasn't an activity that she understood.

Lighten up people!.......2007-06-14

The low reviews I've read for this book crack me up! Definitely people who need to lighten up a bit. Defensive, are we? I thought this book was funny and refreshing. A quick little read, nothing to get all worked up about, anyway -- whether you agree with her or not. For example, I love scrapbooking. She makes fun of it. No need for me to whine about that, or fluff up defensively, she was being funny!

If you simply don't think she is funny, I can understand that. We all have different tastes in humor. But I'm referring to those reviews that just reek of defensiveness...

Who cares if she has a nanny? What does that have to do with anything? If I had a dollar for every mom that bristled at the mere mention of the word "nanny", well let's just say I'd be buying a beach house right about now. Why get all bent out of shape at how other parents manage things? Life is too short.

If you want to make parenting hard, go ahead, knock yourself out. Some of us prefer to do things slacker mom way (and some people need to simmer down on the "proper" way to define 'slacker' -- talk about silly!). Happy, relaxed mom = happy marriage = happy kids.

Not for fans of "Baby Einstein", Gymboree classes, or anything with the term "Mommy-N-Me".

eh.......2007-06-08

talk about condescending! Don't dare to do anything other than what she does in this book!! I bought this thinking it would be funny and lighthearted, but she pretty much toots her own horn the whole time.

WOW. NO MORE WHINING, PLEASE........2007-04-22

I LOVE THIS BOOK. I agree w/ some points in the review (she had a NANNY!!!????!!), but, heck, I loved it because she reminded me of my mother. I am sure that Mom worried about us. But we were raised in the Northwest (as was the author), and we weren't coddled, either. Which is why we face life with determination, gumption, and spirit. We bucked 70 pound bales of hay in the blazing sun when we were 15, camped out alone way before then, traveled by ourselves out of the U.S. by the time we were 16 (and, by the way, paid for such trips by holding down 2 jobs and staying on the high honor role). Out of curiosity, of the people who hated this book, who is from back east, from a privileged background, or, God forbid, from California?
Seriously. Lighten up. Breath. Your kids are not Einstein. Or glass. Or any combination thereof.
And, also, the people who actually like this book are not uneducated, despite what comments have been made. They just live a different life than you do . . . .and isn't that a very valid reason for reading? Isn't part of true education learning about the choices others make in life . . . .hopefully without being offended?
Enjoy this book. It is meant to be FUNNY. What a concept.

Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America

Average customer rating:

Lazy Works.
eh
Slackers of the World, Unite!
The Complete Book of Slackers
The sound of a different drummer

Doing Nothing: A History of Loafers, Loungers, Slackers, and Bums in America
Tom Lutz
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Crying: A Natural and Cultural History of Tears

ASIN: 0865476500
Release Date: 2006-05-16

Book Description

From the author of Crying, a witty, wide-ranging cultural history of our attitudes toward work—and getting out of it

Couch potatoes, goof-offs, freeloaders, good-for-nothings, loafers, and loungers: ever since the Industrial Revolution, when the work ethic as we know it was formed, there has been a chorus of slackers ridiculing and lampooning the pretensions of hardworking respectability. Reviled by many, heroes to others,
these layabouts stretch and yawn while the rest of society worries and sweats. Whenever the world of labor changes in significant ways, the pulpits, politicians, and pedagogues ring with exhortations of the value of work, and the slackers answer with a strenuous call of their own: “To do nothing,” as Oscar Wilde said,
“is the most difficult thing in the world.” From Benjamin Franklin’s “air baths” to Jack Kerouac’s “dharma bums,” Generation-X slackers, and beyond, anti-work-ethic proponents have held a central place in modern culture.

Moving with verve and wit through a series of fascinating case studies that illuminate the changing place of leisure in the American republic, Doing Nothing revises the way we understand slackers and work itself.

Customer Reviews:

Lazy Works. .......2007-10-04

Americans really, really need to listen to thier countrymen in this book, chill out and make time for themselves, not least of all to stare into the abyss and come to terms with their own b.s.

eh.......2007-08-09

I don't know how Tom managed to take such a fun subject and just suck the life right out of it. The subject and people he covers are interesting despite his best efforts, but if you ever wondered why English teachers have a reputation for ruining great literature for youngsters world-wide, well, you won't after you read this. The book is not engaging in any way, but rather you feel like Tom is taking the extensive research he did for the book and whacking you in the face with it. It's essentially a very wordy list of people who at one time or another over the last 300 years had some sort of opinion on the nature of work. As you might imagine, this is a long list. If you find this book at a used book store or maybe sitting on a bench in a train station I'd say go for it, but otherwise your money would be better spent elsewhere.

Slackers of the World, Unite!.......2007-05-27

If you happen to be the kind of person who prefers week-long naps to making a career and winces every time somebody starts talking platitudes about the value of work, the need to "strive" or the immorality of idleness, here's a book for you.

In it you will find lots of references to more or less respectable intellectuals and artists who spent a great deal of their time celebrating the "slacker" ethos (before the term even existed) by advocating our inalienable right to do nothing. Of course, apart from gaining fame (or infamy) for their ideas, none of these people was actually able to overthrow the prevalent "work ethic", which proudly claims that "happiness" and "fulfilment" can only be achieved if you toil your life away.

So what IS it that makes the slacker such a nagging presence in Western culture? This is what Lutz tries to answer by looking at the development of this figure in America.

Not surprisingly, one of the first things we are told is that the "work ethic" and its converse, the "degenerate" idleness, can be traced back more or less to the Industrial Revolution. Apparently before this period humans wasted less time extolling the virtues of work. The hunter-gatherers, as we well know, were so "primitive" that they thought sleeping and playing around were just about the greatest luxuries one could enjoy - and they had plenty of that. The ancient Greeks even went so far to consider work a "curse". And we all remember how much Jesus praised the lilies in the field for... well, just standing there not doing much.

What has changed, then? Lutz's answer: "the nature of work".

As more and more people were dispossessed (i.e., lost their land or their own tools/craft) and became dependent on the continual development (and "whims") of a huge, impersonal factory system, the need to remind them of the "merits" of work (for others) increased. Nowhere has this transformation been more visible than in America - "the land of the free", whose population initially consisted mainly of indentured whites and enslaved blacks, - a country that has made such a swift transition from agriculture to factory to "service" society in only a couple of centuries. At each stage new bunches of people were chucked out of suddenly obsolescent activities and forced to adapt to the latest "economic demands". Those who were left hanging - either because they didn't find a place or actually refused to participate in the new work system - became known as idlers, loafers, tramps, bohemians, hobos, bums, beats, delinquents, etc. And were accordingly reviled by the defenders of dutifulness (usually - surprise, surprise - political/moral authorities, factory bosses, company managers, the mainstream media, etc).

Fortunately, not everyone considers his/her own obsolescence a drama. Instead, some people seem to revel in their newly (and often temporarily) acquired freedom to do anything BUT working for others in exchange for a (mostly) ludicrous salary. They even have the audacity to celebrate their pleasure. Which is what makes this book not only an enlightening but also pleasant experience: the ironic remarks and entertaining tales of those who have stepped out of the rat race remind us that deep inside we all resent this whole myth that working (or rather: wage-labour) is supposed to be such a fun, noble activity.

And as even the "service" society undergoes its transformations (by replacing ever more humans with - far more effective - machines), we can already expect the next wave of nothing-doers, who (as Douglas Coupland prophesied) "may not find a place in the new order". So maybe now more than ever the time is ripe to read this book and at least prepare yourself ideologically for the (quite likely) event that also YOU might be forced to join the slacker-species. Lutz has the good sense to quote (twice) a line from the film "Slacker", which can serve as a consolation for your idle future: you may live badly, but at least you won't have to work for it.

The Complete Book of Slackers.......2006-12-10

It was fun finding out that there are so many loafers, including so many famous and accomplished people. But there were too many for me. And the apparent qualifications for getting into the book, I think, were too subjective. I would have prefered fewer slackers coverd in greater depth (the more famous ones). If Tom Lutz's goal was to smoothly and skillfully mention ever last slacker he uncoverd during his research -- he did a heck of a good job.

The sound of a different drummer .......2006-09-05

My father, of blessed memory, Reuben Kelly Freedman used to say ,"Be a worker, not a shirker". And all my life I have been driven by the idea that I must be working , doing something useful at each and every moment. Now the paradox in my case is that I chose a way of work which to many people is not work at all ( writing) and which in terms of earning power certainly fits more in the 'shirking ' category than the working one.
Tom Lutz takes on the theme of ' working- shirking' in a broad- ranging experiential exploration starting with Ben Franklin and Samuel Johnson and working up to our Internet days. He hits upon the paradox of the master measurer of his own useful time Franklin's spending much time in idle conversation with the belles of the City of Light- while the composer of 'The Idler' Johnson was doing the drudgery of compiling his dictionary.
Lutz who is an English university teacher, one that is who works in a job which most people would envy for its short- hours, a job which in fact has longer hours than most tells many an interesting anecdote in tracing the history of those who Bartlebylike preferred to say 'no' when asked to do their work. He highlights the fact that it is often the 'slackers'( A term coined in World War I days for those who did not want to serve in the Army or work) who get a different more important job done. Thoreau after all did not march to the tune of an industrializing New England, but rather heard the sound of a different drummer.
Lutz himself seems to be a champion of the 'more time you have for yourself the freer and better off you are' school though of course for some such a recipe is one for disaster.
I would only point out that one of the conclusions of the new 'Happiness School of Psychology ' people is that one of life's greatest happinesses is when we are involved wholly in doing our work, especially if that is a kind of creative work in which we know our own individual effort matters.

Office Origami: The Highly Successful Slacker's Guide to Workplace Procrastination

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Office Origami: The Highly Successful Slacker's Guide to Workplace Procrastination
David Mitchell , and Adam Russ
Manufacturer: Universe
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0789313138
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Book Description

Bored with budgets? Tired of taking annoying phone calls? Morose about marketing? Work should be fun, but when it’s not, it’s time for a little office origami. These twenty-two classic origami projects use items easily found in any office―time sheets, old expense reports, memos, pink slips―that will help any slacker while away those pesky hours between 9 and 5.
Learn how to get more out of the work day by using sticky notes, budgets, spreadsheets, and other important documents found in any mindless bureaucracy to practice the soothing, ancient Japanese art of origami. Show everyone around you how you “think outside the box” by mastering the twenty-two projects laid out with step-by-step instructions and handy thumbnail diagrams that are easy to follow. Included in this gag gift book are origami projects that range from the complex to the simple and can all be accomplished with a simple piece of paper, often nothing more than a sticky note or your last performance appraisal!
Impress your co-workers, be the life of the office holiday party―just don’t ask your boss for a raise.

Spike, Mike, Slackers, & Dykes: A Guided Tour Across a Decade of American Independent Cinema

Average customer rating:

Seen 'em all? Read this book. Otherwise...
Revised version published as Spike Mike Reloaded
If You're Going to Sundance ...
too much horn-tooting
Definitely for Kevin Smith fans

Spike, Mike, Slackers, & Dykes: A Guided Tour Across a Decade of American Independent Cinema
John Pierson
Manufacturer: Miramax Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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American Independent Cinema

ASIN: 0786882220

Customer Reviews:

Seen 'em all? Read this book. Otherwise..........2005-10-15

I enjoy reading about film, and had previously read (and enjoyed) "Shooting to Kill" by Christine Vachon and David Edelstein and "Down and Dirty Pictures" by Peter Biskind, so I thought I this would be a great book for me.

I haven't seen many of the "classic" indies detailed in the book (i.e. Slacker, She's Gotta Have It, Go Fish, etc.), so I had trouble understanding (and sometimes paying attention to) parts of Pierson's book. I did learn a lot (and I'm happy about that), but I was also confused much of the time. It would have certainly helped if I would have seen the movies he was detailing. He didn't write the book for people like me. He probably wrote it for people with already strong backgrounds in independent film.

I predict it's a really good read if . . . you have seen loads (i mean loads!) of indie films since the "Stranger Than Paradise" (1984) and you already know about the directors and distributors of the post-1984 indie scene.

If you don't feel like your an industry expert just yet, trying reading "Shooting to Kill" or "Down and Dirty Pictures." They assume much less about the reader. Then watch the "classics" mentioned in these books. Then read this book. You'll appreciate it much more.

Revised version published as Spike Mike Reloaded.......2005-04-22

Spike, Mike, Slackers & Dykes was revised and published in January 2004 under the title: Spike Mike Reloaded. It contains a new foreward by Kevin Smith, new chapter by John Pierson, and a new dialogue between the two of them.

If You're Going to Sundance ..........2004-04-17

The "A Guided Tour Across a Decade ..." portion of the title is a little misleading to some.

While he talks to and about Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Moore, Jim Jaramusch, Spike Lee and others, and while it's a first account of the American independent film movement circa 1990s - this is NOT a book about their films (either as analysis or critique) or them (as directors and their techniques or merely celeb gossip).

This is a book about the trials and tribulations of being a producer's rep.

There are two types of people who should read this book and would find it useful.

If you plan on directing or producing a movie - consider this book a MUST READ - film distribution 101 reading.

He talks in relevant detail about representing some of the most important American independent films of the 1990s including SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT, CLERKS, ROGER & ME and others. While he gives an almost day-by-day blow of some of these films as they travel from film festival circuit to deal making to publicity tours - the real value is are the details about the process that one can expect as an independent film maker.

Now, a decade later, many things have changed (especially the financing numbers and studio/distribution situation today versus the 1990s) - what hasn't changed is the overall process of what you might encounter and expect. Here's a great opportunity to read what they encountered and what lessons you might learn from them.

The detailed summary on a deal-memo and points that they negotiated regarding the distribution contract and revenues from distribution and home video - are worth the price of a USC Film School class (not the whole education - the books not that great - just a excellent class :-)

If you are a film fanatic and want to learn a portion of the nuts and bolts of the process of film festivals and independent distribution - you should find this book of interest.

Why only three stars? Deduct one star for ... this book would've been more interesting if we got more of a first hand account from the directors and their feelings during the process along with John Pierson's.

Deduct another star because the industry and the financial numbers and the players have changed so the details of the situations are not very useful.

But the foundation of Sundance and other buzz-worthy festivals reached the public eye during this period so if you're going (or thinking of going) to Sundance, Toronto, et al - get up to speed on all that's transpired so far.

Again, this is a MUST READ for aspiring directors and producers. For others, it all depends on how interested you are in the history of the business process of indepedent film-making ...

too much horn-tooting.......2001-07-24

What could've been a good guide to modern indie film is bogged down by Pierson's relentless and self-serving tooting of his own horn. Who cares?!? What we really want is the inside story of all these independent films and filmmakers. Pierson seemed to lose track of who the stars of his book should be. I also found the author's writing and his overall knowledge of movies to be lacking. A much better book on the same broad topic is "Celluloid Mavericks" by Greg Merritt, which covers the entire history of American independent film from a much more literate and balanced perspective.

Definitely for Kevin Smith fans.......2000-07-17

Although I'm a big fan of indie films, I found this book a bit dull. Not that I'm looking for a typical Hollywood put on the glitz and glamour type of book, but the book basically deals with how the author put together financing and got distribution for some indie films. It definitely could have been told in a more exciting way. The best thing about it is the interviews with Kevin Smith that are interspersed through the first half or so of the book. Then, they drop off, and I did as well. The author is definitely a huge fan of Kevin Smith, which is great, as there are a lot of Kevin's journal entries included about when Clerks was at Sundance. If you like Kevin Smith, this is a good read, if only for the interviews and the chapter about Clerks. If not, then well...you might like it, but it's a little dull. If you haven't seen Slacker, Go Fish, Roger and Me, Clerks, She's Gotta Have It, Amongst Friends, Reservoir Dogs, etc., then you might have a hard time as well.

Average customer rating:

You go girl!
For the quasi-feminist in all of us
Maybe You Have To Be There To Appreciate SLACKER WIFE
a long magazine article
Why all the hype?

Confessions Of A Slacker Wife
Muffy Mead-Ferro
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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You Might As Well Laugh: Because crying will only smear your mascara

ASIN: B000GG4Z86

Book Description

By the author of Confessions of a Slacker Mom, hilarious reflections on being a"good wife" in a world of high expectations

"I often thought to myself, 'If I really want to compete with these guys, I need a wife,'" begins Muffy Mead-Ferro in this ode to the women everywhere who are trying to take care of husbands, children, houses, jobs, bosses, clients, customers-and, oh yes, themselves! In lieu of that much-needed wife of her own, Mead-Ferro finds solace, sanity, and even success by embracing her famous tendency toward slackerdom. Full of personal anecdotes and real-wife wisdom, her latest Confessions offers precious comic relief and an invitation for wives everywhere to join the ranks!

A slacker wife has the wisdom to accept the following: that a little dirt on her kitchen floor doesn't hurt anyone, that wrinkles on her husband's shirt and on her face are perfectly natural and not worth worrying about, that party guests can be just as happy with a bowl of chips as an elaborate salmon mousse, and that over-scheduled equals under-happy. Above all, a slacker wife lets herself have fun being a wife. She has girls' weekends, orders take-out, and takes leisurely walks. And as a result, she, her husband, and her family are happier and healthier-even with a dirty kitchen floor and a wrinkled shirt.

Customer Reviews:

You go girl!.......2007-04-01

Following on from Confessions of a Slacker Mom, one of the most sensible parenting books I've read, this is the book about consciously NOT doing it all.

Coming from an obviously intelligent and relatively self-confident working woman, mom and wife, this is an interesting and well backed-up take on why our expectations regarding cleanliness, being the perfect hostess / wife / mother, etc. have escalated out of all proportion, and gives good reasons for taking the pressure to live up to these unrealistic and over-rated standards off ourselves.

Read it, and see if the attitude fits. If it does, you'll have done yourself a huge favor. If not, you can always pass it on to someone who will appreciate it.

For the quasi-feminist in all of us.......2006-11-24

Instead of beating you over the head with feminist rhetoric, Muffy Mead-Ferro sprinkles her tales of domestic "failure" with the wisest offerings to come out of feminism. She honestly approaches the ideas of what is expected of a wife and what is absolutely necessary, why men don't have the same expectations of themselves that women do, and whether expectations of women are culturally imposed, self-imposed, or both. Mead-Ferro puts these expectations to the reality test, and manages to entertain at the same time.

I disagree with other reviews that the book is not funny, not to say that it is a laugh riot. I also disagree that Mead-Ferro is rationalizing laziness; instead, she questions the necessity of performing the myriad tasks that television commercials and other wives put pressure on us to do.

All in all, a good read, but I got mine from the library!

Maybe You Have To Be There To Appreciate SLACKER WIFE.......2005-09-24

I came across CONFESSIONS OF A SLACKER WIFE in May, after reading a glowing review in USA Today (green with envy, of course). All unattractive fits of author-jealousy aside, I LOVE this book, and I am in full agreement with the basic tenets of the Slacker Wife. My favorites include:

1) Observations of The Visibility Factor in the `natural' division of labor between men and women: He hangs a light fixture, "and it's up there for everyone to see" and comment upon favorably:
"That sort of recognition is kind of a nice payoff for the person who hung the light fixture. Or planted the tree. Or built the fence. Or installed the new stereo. It would tend to make that person feel like they were valued and appreciated. That, I can only imagine, must be nice.
"But who's there to say how well my husband's clean underwear were folded?" (Or groceries re-supplied. Or everybody's clutter picked up. Or kitchen cleaned. Etc.)

2) The influence of advertising (from someone in the profession, as an advertising copywriter) on raising standards of cleanliness, organization and décor in our homes, and entertaining, among other things, to impossible standards, by which we have all been conned into judging ourselves--and we wonder why we come up lacking, and frazzled, every single time? Martha Stewart and women's magazines, that's why!

Muffy writes: "It seems like when it comes to all of these "women's" endeavors such as cooking, entertaining, and decorating, we're now supposed to adhere to performance standards that could only be achieved by outright professionals. So I shouldn't make an example of Martha Stewart, because making perfect pies from scratch, or more accurately, supervising a staff of people who make perfect pies from scratch, actually is her profession. The only thing I never liked about her is that she acts like I should do it too. The same way."

3) And what's really important: How to raise happy, healthy, well-adjusted kids (common sense and DON'T DO EVERYTHING FOR THEM); How to slow down and enjoy life ("free time needs to be a higher priority"); and, last but not least, Ladies: "...maybe now that we've managed to such a great extent to liberate ourselves from men, we need to liberate ourselves from ourselves..." and slack off a bit.

Excellent advice-and fun reading. Enjoy!

a long magazine article.......2005-08-28

Although I did enjoy the book and found it entaining and ringing true with its anecdotes, I felt that it could have been summed up and shortened into a magazine article-- it lacked substance for a 200 page plus book.

Why all the hype?.......2005-08-23

I am sorely disappointed in this book. I LOVE to read all types and genres of books, and was extremely excited to receive this due to all the glowing reviews. I took it with me on a mini-vacation expecting a quick, witty, relevant read. After 5 chapters, I finally put it down because I simply couldn't take any more. To me it seems like the author is simply trying to make excuses as to why she doesn't do this or that (i.e. clean her house or kids, cook, etc.) Do yourself a favor... borrow this from the library before spending your hard earned money. If you like it enough, then buy it. This is one book that will not make it into my collection!

One More Beer and I Gotta Go: The Auto-lie-ography of a Twenty-Something Slacker Macking 'Til The Break of Dawn

Average customer rating:

One More Beer and I Gotta Go: The Auto-lie-ography of a Twenty-Something Slacker Macking 'Til The Break of Dawn
Holden Finch
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Comic | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0595327664

Book Description

One More Beer and I Gotta Go will offend you in some way. That is a promise. From the moment you first meet James Laslow, you will immediately fall in love with him and hate him. Yet, you will love him and hate him for one simple reason. You see him inside of you. These are his memoirs from his senior year in high school all the way until his ten-year class reunion. Never will you find a boring moment inside of One More Beer and I Gotta Go from the high school running back that wants to be a magician to the bachelor party from hell where the groom's father does a keg stand to eating cold Chef Boyardee at a tavern in the middle of nowhere. These are laugh aloud anecdotes, but in between those insane stories of his youth come nuggets of truth showing what is real from his best friend to his love life. Simply think Dazed and Confused meets American Pie meets Breakfast at Tiffany's meets Scooby-Doo meets Romeo and Juliet.

Dewdroppers, Waldos, and Slackers: A Decade-by-Decade Guide to the Vanishing Vocabulary of the Twentieth Century

Average customer rating:

It's the Bee's Knees, all you Sheiks and Shebas!
Entertaining and great for writers!

Dewdroppers, Waldos, and Slackers: A Decade-by-Decade Guide to the Vanishing Vocabulary of the Twentieth Century
Rosemarie Ostler
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

English (All) | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

Slang & Idioms | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

Reference | Words & Language | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Flappers 2 Rappers: American Youth Slang
Talk the Talk: The Slang of 65 American Subcultures

ASIN: 0195182545

Book Description

Every era of the twentieth century from the "Roaring Twenties" to the "Me Decade" brought its own fads and trends and the language to go with them: fresh youth slang, up-to-the-minute buzzwords, and colorful catch phrases. Most of this new vocabulary exploded into the vernacular, only to fizzle a few years later as newer trends and more current events demanded their own terminology. Giving yesterday's words another chance to sparkle before they retire for good, Dewdroppers, Waldos, and Slackers focuses on language that still resonates with the mood of its times. A nostalgic word trip through the highs and lows of American English from the last century, this book pays special attention to words that enjoyed a brief vogue only to end up abandoned and nearly forgotten: jet jockeys, keypunch operators, the bugged-out and the slackers. All these words have a place here in engaging essays, arranged by decade, that put them in their historical and sociological context. While the twentieth century is over, this book will help us appreciate the words that were left behind.

Customer Reviews:

It's the Bee's Knees, all you Sheiks and Shebas!.......2004-12-12

I bought this book as a present for someone whose interests lay in cultural history, a topic which lacks good reading material. When it arrived, I started to read it to get a feel for the quality of the book. From a cultural history point of view, its priceless. The writer provides an extensive historical backdrop to place the language in, creating a vivid portrayal of life in that time. I was very much impressed with the amount of work she did on vocabulary between 1900 and 1919, an area which tends to be neglected in books on cultural history. Any reader of this book will find themselves reading aloud to other people in the room (whether they like it or not), laughing at the anecdotes behind the words, and often times whispering "wow" as you discover something fascinating. The only thing I'd caution against is not buying the book for the chapter on the 90's. Though she does do a respectable job, we are too close to that decade to have a full appreciation of the contribution to our vocabulary. However, I would say this book is a must for anyone with an interest in cultural history. You can't be disappointed.

Entertaining and great for writers!.......2003-10-28

I picked this book up for fun, but halfway through it realized that it would give a lot of authenticity to my writing, especially dialog. (I am an aspiring writer.) I didn't enjoy it any less after figuring that out -- if anything, I enjoyed it more! It's very readable, not at all like a dictionary. It's more like a popular history.

I am planning on using this with my fifth-graders and asking them to pick a chapter and write dialog based on the words from one decade.

Book Description

Technology may have created a 24/7 work culture, but a handful of savvy white-collar cubicle dwellers are standing up to the "the man" and using these very same (de)vices (the PC, World Wide Web, email and portable gadgets) to make it look like they're working when and where they're not.

The White Collar Slacker's Handbook: Tech Tricks to Fool Your Boss teaches you how to get away with slacking off in a corporate world and not just get away with it but even make it look like you're a dedicated, tireless workaholic at the same time. The White Collar Slacker's Handbook: Tech Tricks to Fool Your Boss also features dozens of sneaky tips, tricks and techniques on how to get away with slacking off. And it's all spelled out in plain English, complete with step-by-step instructions and visuals to help you pull it off without a hitch.

Best of all, in learning how to abuse technology to slack off, this handbook will in fact help you learn more about your PC, popular software and portable devices. How's that for irony?

Customer Reviews:

Funny and Clever.......2005-06-17

I have really enjoyed reading this book. It has some really funny, neat and clever ideas in "sticking it to the man" or boss for that matter.

The techno gadgets of today were supposed to make life easier, but what it's done is elongated our work week. Now, we're expected to work all the time. It never ends...

Well this book, takes a very tongue in cheek approach and will teach you how you can make it look like you are spending those hours working away, when you can be really spending time with the family, at the movies or just plain slacking off.

You'll be caught ..................2005-04-12

Firstly, this book is very entertaining and fun to read. That's why it gests five stars - there is nothing that innovative though. I am a systems auditor - these are the sort of things that make going to work entertaining.

Some of the suggestions are a very quick way to get into trouble - PC anywhere in particular is a high risk product in it's own right - if the security settings are scrwed up. Who is monitoring your network traffic? Do you want them to know what's on your home PC? Have you set up PC anywhere securely?

If I discovered an employee routing (confidential)email outside the company network I'd be more disturbed by the security implications than the employee slacking off. Who at the ISP has access to the email?

The ideas in this book are rather similar to spending a sick day at a ball game, which your boss is watching on TV .... fine until the camera picks you out!

Fun book. Make sure you know your companies policies before you start to play ........

Average customer rating:

Not another bleeding heart
Hilarious, poignant and infuriating!
Intensely Real
Real Stories from Society's Often Overlooked Heros
FUNNY, SATIRICAL, WONDERFUL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Retards, Rebels, & Slackers
Jaina Bell
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1401011365

Book Description

Author Jaina Bell brilliantly illuminates a mad cap world the reader was blissfully unaware of; a parallel Universe right next door, an altered reality known as a "group home". At the center of this upside down Universe is Gina, a young woman who left her native New Mexico and a failed relationship for a California Dream-only to find she can't afford rent in the Promised Land. That's o.k., she's not alone- the nonprofit social services agency that hires her into an entry level mental health job is dominated by a gang of sophomoric slackers, the "homeless", who literally spend 24/7 on the job; since they don't get paid enough to pay rent, they simply don't. It's a makeshift commune of sorts, evolved of necessity during the social services budget cuts of the post-Reaganomic 90's.

"Retards, Rebels and Slackers" is a darkly comic, social services satire on the institutions of the institutionalized. In keeping with the times, the action has moved away from the grounds of the State Hospital into the four bedroom, two bath homes of middle class suburbia. The LVN's, RN's, MFT's, LCSW's and Ph.d's have been rendered obsolete by social services budget cuts, and the developmentally disabled have been delivered into the hands of untrained, underpaid nonconformists, slackers who cheerfully orchestrate the insanity around them into a performance piece they call life. It is a story of familiar people and familiar passions, played out in the unfamiliar territory of institutionalized suburbia.

Customer Reviews:

Not another bleeding heart.......2004-05-03

This is not just another bleeding heart bulls%@t Gump or Rainman- this is new fiction that defies the genre- it feels right, because it's written with heart, by someone who knows her subject by heart- the entry level "mental health" jobs caring for those with "special needs". It's perfect! But be prepared- you'll either love it, or hate it, there's no in between.

Hilarious, poignant and infuriating!.......2004-01-20

This is a story that no one else has told. There is no effort to be politically correct. It is at once a shocking, funny, poignant and infuriating look at the way our culture treats and cares for the developmentally disabled. Wanna find out what's up with those strangely dressed people you see hanging together in Walmart? Sex, drugs, rock & roll, retards and funding cutbacks - its all here. The ring of truth and reality is either due to the talent or real life experience of first time author Jaina Bell - either way IT WORKS!

Intensely Real.......2002-10-17

This book will knock your proverbial socks off! People either get into the high speed, [thumpin] groove of this roller coaster ride of a book, or they can't take the jarring reality or the grinding pace, start to feel sick, and need to jump ship.

I've worked in group homes, and this book is a real, politically inncorrect guilty pleasure. It truly captures the cartoonesque, surreal quality indiginous to the environment, and knocks the stuffing out of all the P.C. nonprofit, fund raising spin most people see on TV. It's not all smiling, over achieving Special Olympics faces and warm and fuzzy hugs- it's also just as anti-social as "The Osbournes" or "Jackass", and as startling as a cold bucket of water in your face. But don't let that scare you- buy the book if you're ready for something refreshingly different!

Real Stories from Society's Often Overlooked Heros.......2002-03-23

Bell presents a fast-paced, comedic and realistic view of contemporary real-life circumstance, from the point of view of counselors to the developmentally-disabled in a residential setting. If many allow themselves this "insider's" journey, they must applaud the counselors without whom life for these clients would be quite dismal, and realize how unsupported our society is in its compensation to these creative workers. How many of us are willing to pull the cushions off a sofa for our bed, the only realistic option for a decent sleep, given the resources, as we provide the needed support and care for others less fortunate than ourselves. Or are they? Bell gives us a look at how the "business" is run and how the humanity is revealed of those often forgotten. Anyone involved in social work can benefit from these stories.

FUNNY, SATIRICAL, WONDERFUL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.......2001-11-04

Bell makes it impossible to judge these characters. A hysterical farce about nothing funny, it requires the reader to be open to satire and cynicism, and to laugh at that which is held most sacred. The beauty of this novel is it's appeal to both casual readers and literary critics alike, simultaneously providing entertainment and social commentary. Funny and tragic all at once, Bell has created something that will stand the test of time.

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