Kitchen Duty
The February schedules of kitchen duties have been put in your mail slot. Also, if are not going to be here on the day you are scheduled please see if you can switch with someone.

As you do your 5 minute ‘chore’ twice a month remember this quote:

"The law of Service: He who wishes to live long must serve, but he who wishes to rule does not live long."--Hesse, "Journey to the East"

Good morning all. Hope you had a great weekend. Thank goodness we won't be getting that snow storm that was predicted earlier. We can deal with a little rain.

Where's Bill this week?

Monday morning -- enroute to New York City for Exec Cmte meetings

Monday afternoon -- meeting with a family life writer, Joanne Heaney-Hunter, who has some ideas about "households of faith" in which we might be interested.

Monday evening -- Larry Neeb, Kathleen Stauffer, Suzanne Spino, Louis Dominic Beaupre, and David Baxendale, plus Bill, are gathering in NYC

Tuesday -- all day -- Exec Cmte meeting -- available for emergencies on my cell phone

Wednesday -- in the office -- Pam Salimeno's first day!

Thursday -- 7:30 AM Customer Service gathering -- Kathie Silva is here Thursday and Friday

Thursday evening -- with Mary Carol and Dan Smart, meeting with staff of the Center for Ministry Development for supper and conversation on a Bible project we are pursuing with them

Remember -- Nick is in-house Feb 7 and 8.

Who's in and Out
Valerie and Kathleen are in New York today.

Spring is in the air!
Judy has graciously volunteered to sell daffodils for the American Cancer Society this year. She's taking orders now and daffodils will be delivered March 21-24. They are selling an adorable special edition Boyds Bear too.

PARKING UPDATE

The 4 parking spaces along the Medical Building to the right of the stairs are now available for Bayard employees. The sign has been removed, however at last check the painted 21 MPR is still there. The bank is still negotiating for more spots.

To help ensure people from the Medical Building do not continue to just park in those 4 spots, we recommend that Bayard employees park in these spots before using the spaces available in the Chelsea Groton lot.

Vacation Update
Andrea will be out of State on vacation from Wednesday, Feb. 15, through Saturday, Feb. 18. She will be in every day the following week, starting Monday, Feb. 20.

Corporate Calendar
We've added a link to our corporate calendar on the Blog. Just click on it to learn about upcoming meetings, etc. It's to the right under the link to Nick's blog. Feel free to advise me of your meetings and travel dates and I'll be happy to add them to the calendar.

Good morning all. Hope you have a blessed day.


Where is Bill?
Tuesday -- in MN office in AM
depart MN office at noon for Chicago
available by cell in PM
Wednesday -- in meetings all day, but available for emergencies by cell
Thursday -- in meetings all morning, enroute to MN office in PM
Friday -- in MN office all day
Saturday -- in MN office until noon
Sunday -- off
Monday & Tuesday -- in NYC for Exec Cmte meeting, available for
emergencies on cell
Feb 1 -- back in CT office for several weeks

Good morning all! Hope you had a great weekend and enjoyed all the sunshine. We could sure use some today.

Thanks to Brad for manning the blog on Friday. You did a terrific job as always.

Alyssa Bourque, please prepare to be showered with the praise and adulation of your co-workers, as you were the first person to correctly answer Friday's trivia question! Yes Bayard employees, take a moment from your day to congratulate Alyssa for her awesome knowledge. She knew (or got Google to tell her) that the United States has hosted the most Winter Olympics (4) and that Beijing, China will host the 2008 Summer Olympics.--Brad

Today Dinora Cruz started working for us in customer service. Welcome Dinora!

Kathleen is in New York today. Bill is working in Minnesota all week.

A brain teaser to kick off your Friday blog viewing: If a tree falls in Antarctica, was it really a tree to begin with? (See answer below)

In the news...
A new feature to the Bayard blog is now available to the right, under the links portion. Introducing the all-new, all-thrilling, Bayard Calendar!!!! By just clicking on that link you have access to the schedules of people who have chosen to use this feat of Web technology. No more, "Is Bill in Minnesota today?" or "When's Kathleen back from NY?" because the answers to your queries are right there! If you want to have modification access to the calendar, please e-mail Brad and I'll give you the double-secret access.

Obviously Sue's out today, so I have usurped her blog authority to bring you all this message from the resistance: Alison is out today too, she's sick. Sue will be back on Monday.
Viva Bayard!

Kathleen will be in NY on Monday, and will return on Tuesday.

And that's all the news that's fit to print.

Brain teaser answer: What? Are you crazy? NO!!

Your real Friday trivia: Since everyone but Janice ignored my trivia from two weeks ago, I am reprinting it because it is now that much more germane.

I'm a big fan of the Olympics, ergo, I'm very excited that it's about that time again. Turin, Italy is preparing to host the 2006 Winter games next month. This is the second time Italy has hosted the Winter games. What nation has hosted the WINTER Olympics the most times? Bonus query: Where will the next SUMMER games be played?

Thought for the day: "There's no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you." ~ Will Rogers

Bill will be traveling quite a bit the rest of the month. Thursday and Friday he will be in Los a
Angeles. Next week he will be working in his Minnesota office and can be reached at 320-629-5456. Then on the 30-31st he will be in New York.

Careful driving over the bridge, it may be windy.

"A kind word can warm three months of winter." --Japanese Proverb

David Baxendale is here for meetings this afternoon and tomorrow morning.

A Touch of Spring
Would anyone like to take over the Daffodil Days campaign (for the American Cancer Society)? Please see Kerry for more information.

Weather Update
Careful driving in tomorrow morning. They are forecasting nasty weather tonight and tomorrow morning and it may be slippery.

The Team has answered the questions in the suggestion box:

Could we raise the mailbox cabinet so it’s easier to peer into the slots?
Yes. We will have George handle it.

Turn off AC.
Done. (With apologies for the delay in getting to the question box.)

Can we look into buying 1 or 2 treadmills so employees can exercise inside during inclement weather?
This is a great idea. But, we are sorry that space and budget will not allow for this. We would, however, like to encourage employees to keep up the good work in the exercise department! Feel free to use stairwell B (the back stairs) as a substitute for a StairMaster.

Could we consider removing coat rack from café and replacing it with storage cabinets? We now need to store supplies under large tables, which is unsightly.
We will obtain some cabinets or a buffet setup for the kitchen, located where the tables currently stand. You are right that the current arrangement is unsightly.

Happy Monday everyone. Hope you had an enjoyable weekend despite the cold weather. It’s warmer in here than it is at my house so there’s no complaints from me. Sorry about the silence on Friday. The blog completely slipped my mind. I know, I know, how could I forget you guys!!

New Hire
Dinora Cruz has been hired as a customer service/telemarketer. She will be starting on Monday the 23rd of January. She speaks both English and Spanish and may have time in her first few weeks to review our Spanish products. Please see Karen to schedule this type of work. We look forward to working with her.

Who’s In, Who’s Out
Mary Carol will be in at noon today. Kathleen will be in New York on Tuesday. Louis-Dominic Beaupré will be in the office Mon – Wed. Alison will be out tomorrow for a funeral. A close uncle passed away. Our thoughts and prayers are with you Alison.

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time!
Dear Bayard Employees,
We are selling Girl Scout cookies and our goal is to sell 100 boxes each. You have about 2 weeks to place your cookie order. The order forms are in the café along with samples of the newest cookie called the Café Cookie. You do not have to pay until the cookies are delivered. The cookies will be delivered in early to mid March.

Please support our Girl Scout troops by ordering Girl Scout cookies. Thank you for helping us to reach our goal.

Girl Scouts,
Crystal (Troop 3251) &
Gabrielle (Troop 3115)
Westrate

Judy’s daughter Jacquelyn is also selling Girl Scout cookies again this year.

Suggestion Box
The team has reviewed the questions in the suggestion box. Kathleen will give them to me to post either today or tomorrow.

Miscellaneous
The post office and banks are closed today in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Staff Updates from Bill

Rosanne Coffey has been given a promotion. She is now the Director of Magazine Marketing, and as such is adding to her ad sales work, the task of helping us market and sell Today's Parish, RTJ, Exploring, and This Sunday's Scriptures more effectively. Rosanne and Nick are now forming a magazine team to help advance these products.

Alison Berger has been named Senior Editor, continuing her work with catechetical resources. She will be writing copy for various needs, editing some books, writing original material for Into the Fields, and other projects.

The company has hired Vikki Shepp of Long Beach, CA, as the new National Director of Catechetical Training and Sales. Vikki will be managing a crew of local consultants who will represent, train and sell our products at local events around the country. She will continue to live in CA but will be in the office occasionally as Nick is. Vikki will be part time with us until the end of March, and then full time. She currently serves as the Coordinator of the LA Religious Ed Congress. She can be reached at vashepp@inbox.com.

Michelle Gerstel has been named Editorial Assistant and is now reporting to Mary Carol Kendzia.

Pam Salimeno has been named Director of Book Sales and will be joining us full time around February 1.

Staff Change
Holly Bewlay's employment with the company has been terminated and she has left the building. She will not be returning.

Good morning. Found some interesting statistics about the deadliest days to drive. Let's be careful out there. If you have to get behind the wheel, buckle your seat belt (as always), drive extra defensively. And of course, don't drink and drive.

The Deadliest Days Of the Year to Drive
40,000 in U.S. Die Each Year on the Road
By Ellen Learner

There are those who, by reason of deep-seated fear, won't get into airplanes. Some people avoid elevators, others sports stadiums. And even though it's almost impossible to stay out of cars, it's pretty much a guarantee that a disaster is going to hit a highway near you. But for those who are nervous when getting into a car, there's good news: we can now tell you which days to leave the car in the garage. You might have guessed it from the old truisms and the increased number of troopers, radar guns at the ready, hiding under bridges, but now we have the numbers to prove what we once surmised: the holidays and weekends are no time to be traveling by car.

10 Deadliest Days of the Year To Drive

1. July 4
2. July 3
3. December 23
4. August 3
5. January 1
6. August 6
7. August 4
8. August 12
9. July 2
10. September 2

The deadliest month to drive is August.
The deadliest day of the week is Saturday and the deadliest time of day is 3:00-6:00pm.

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "Traffic Safety Facts 2003"

Visitor Update
Just wanted to keep you updated on some visitors we will have this week.

Steve Ellair will be here Friday. He's a candidate for a senior editorial position and will meet with Bill and some editorial staff.

David Baxendale will arrive at 11:00 on Thursday and leave at 1:00 on Friday.

It's foggy outside, so be careful driving home, and have a good evening!

Employment Opportunity
Karen is looking for a customer service person that speaks Spanish and that is available to work until 8pm in the evening. A possible work day would be 12 noon to 8pm. Plese speak with Karen if you know of anyone who may be interested.

New Email
Rosanne is trying to phase out her 'ads' email address and become a real person. Please change her email address in your address book to: rcoffey@twentythirdpublications.com

Bank Incident
In case you haven't heard, the bank downstairs was robbed today just before lunch. A man passed a note to one of the tellers. The bank personnel have a description of the robber and are okay as there was no weapon involved. They think they will reopen today. We're grateful things were handled professionally and without violence.

Who's In, Who's Out
Deborah and Meg are in today. Bill is out today but will be in tomorrow.

Please remember to return your completed Exante Bank application form to Barbara today.

"If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this." --Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M "Post-It" Notepads.

Wow, what a Spring-like day it is! I took a walk at lunch and it was 49 degrees! It's supposed to be mild all week. Hope you take time to enjoy the fresh air.

Postage Increase:
Beginning today the price of a first-class postage stamp increases to 39 cents.

Important
Please give your completed Health Saving Account application form to Barbara as soon as possible. There are still some informational packets by the mail boxes if you didn’t pick one up on Friday.

Coffee Update
There are directions for making coffee and hot water next to the phone in the kitchen. Some people have mentioned the regular coffee is very strong. Please remember that others drink the coffee also. The coffee we are using aside from the prepackaged brands is called Hogan Bros. They are located in MA. The coffee is 100% organic and freshly ground when we order it. The coffee is cheaper than Starbucks but costs more than 8 O'clock. Now you know more than you ever wanted to know about our coffee.--Rosanne

Get your HSA paperwork to Barbara as soon as possible. The longer you tarry, the longer it will take to establish your account.

Our Oxford Health Insurance Group number is: BI 82116

For more information about your account, visit http://www.exantebankhsa.com

I'll get the business-y business out of the way first:

Today, at 2:00 P.M., in the lunch room, the Oxford Healthcare cowboys ride into town to dazzle the employees of Bayard, Inc. with an all-out, old time-y wild west extravaganza of deductibles, co-pays, and elegible providers! This is a can't miss, once-in-a-lifetime show guaranteed to entertain both young and the less young. Be there, or be very jealous of everyone else who was there.

Bethany and Sue are not in today.

Kathleen will be in the NY office on Monday.

On to the Friday fun!

Trivia! Yes, Trivia Friday is back! (For today anyway) So, e-mail your answers to Brad...

I'm a big fan of the Olympics, ergo, I'm very excited that it's about that time again. Turin, Italy is preparing to host the 2006 Winter games next month. This is the second time Italy has hosted the Winter games. What nation has hosted the WINTER Olympics the most times, and how many is that? Bonus query: Where will the next SUMMER games be played?

Thought for the Day: ""Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend and inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." ~ Groucho Marx

Use It or Lose It
Just a reminder that if you have any remaining vacation time you need to use it by Jan 31 or it will be lost.

Lost Fob
If anyone finds a lost fob, it belongs to Holly.

Hooray!!!! Jane had her baby girl this morning at 4 a.m.

Noelle Anne Silva
7 lbs 10 oz 20inches
black hair

Westerly Hospital: 401-348-3507, Rm 2156 2nd floor. Her home address is:

Jane Silva
5 N. Joseph Street
Westerly RI 02891
1-401-348-6473

Important Health Insurance Update:
It has been decided that Bayard will deposit 100% of its contribution to the HSA account ASAP. As soon as we receive the enrollment kits for the HSA accounts, they will be distributed to the employees.--Valerie

Health Insurance Update
The company meeting with the Oxford representative and our insurance agent has been tentatively rescheduled for 1:00 Friday. I’m trying to get this changed to 2:00 in order to not conflict with lunch schedules for customer service personnel. We will update the blog as we have more information.--Valerie

To: All New London and New York Employees
From: Kathleen
Date: 3 January 2006
Re: Exciting Change in the Magazine Division

We are pleased to announce the promotion of Julie Rattey from assistant to associate editor at Catholic Digest. Julie arrived at Catholic Digest in 2003 shortly after receiving her degree at Harvard. In her work with the magazine, Julie has edited the jokes and filler department, compiled the Be Well section, and edited and written articles. Her fluency in French has been a big help, and Julie currently is involved with the magazine’s Love Your Neighbor expansion, writing features and mini-books about good works and Catholic endeavors around the globe. Julie’s new title and role are effective immediately.

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a wonderful four days off. Nice to see everyone made it in considering the lousy weather and school closings this morning. Not much to report here in Blogland. Guess I must be experiencing writer's block. If you have any news, I'll be happy to post it. Haven't heard anything further about a health insurance meeting. Will let you know when I do. No word yet on the birth of Jane's baby. Today is her actual due date but this little girl must have a mind of her own. Anyway, blessings to you in this New Year. Good health and happiness to all.

Important: Just a reminder about the meeting tomorrow at 7:30 for all customer service people. Coffee, juice, and donuts will be served.