Message from Dan S.
Bill gave me the card you all signed and the notice of the donation to The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Everett’s name. I am truly, truly touched by your thoughtfulness and generosity and thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I have really felt your prayers during this difficult time and feel blessed to work with such kind and caring co-workers. The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp had a special place in Everett's heart, and thus your gift is all the more appreciated. He too would be touched by your thoughtfulness and very grateful. Dan

Message from Jane
I would like to say thank you for your friendship and support these past seven-plus years. It has been a pleasure working with you and I have been so blessed by your many smiles, prayers and gifts. I'm grateful to Neil and Pat for giving me the opportunity to work for such a wonderful company and to Bayard for making the transition run smoothly. I'll miss you and I wish you all love, peace and the grace of God in which through him all things are possible. Jane

Spring Forward
It's Daylight Savings Time again. So before you go to bed Saturday night, set your clocks ahead one hour.

Interesting Fact
On this day in 1918 Daylight Savings Time was implemented for the first time in the U.S.

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Looks like we'll be getting some spring-like weather this week. And that's a good thing.

Who's In and Out
Bill is in today and tomorrow. Please check the corporate calendar daily as there will be a lot of people traveling in the near future. There's a link on the blog.

In case you haven't heard, Jane will be leaving us to stay home with her children. On Thursday we will be having a pizza luncheon for her and all are invited. See you there.

Interesting fact: On this day in 1919, Cracker Jack started adding a toy prize to their boxes of popcorn.

Good morning. Spring is definitely in the air today now that the daffodils have arrived. Anyone sneezing yet?

Bill and Kathleen are still in St. Louis.

Happy Birthday Valerie and Bethany! Hope you have a terrific day!

Interesting Fact
Hummingbirds are the only the bird that can fly backwards.

Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Friday! May the luck of the Irish be with you today!

Click on this link to take a quiz about Ireland: http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/stpatricksday/index.jsp?page=irishquiz

Who's In and Out
Bill is at Novalis and Kathleen is in NY today. They will both be in St. Louis March 20-22 to attend the Board meeting. Bill will be back in New London the 27th.
Welcome back Karen and Kerry. Hope you had a great time in Aruba!

Good morning! Happy Wednesday.

Books in Library
We are missing some titles from our Library Shelves that are not on the sign out sheet. Please be aware that due to our warehouse now in Fenton, MO, that we have only one copy of each of our titles, and they must not be taken from our shelves permanently. When you do borrow a book, don't forget to fill out the sign out sheet, and return the book in a timely manner--i.e. a couple days should be enough. We cannot be without these reference titles. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

Trivia
What two very popular sitcoms debuted on this day 29 years ago? Please email if you know the answer. I know many of us are old enough to remember this but may not want to admit to watching them!

And for the more serious among us:
"My true religion is kindness."--Dalai Lama

Good morning. Hope everyone had a good weekend and was able to get outside and enjoy the mild weather on Saturday!

Good thing we don't have to weigh in around here, because with all those Girl Scout Cookies flying around last week we probably all gained 2.3 pounds over the weekend!

Who's In and Out
Bill is in Minnesota today and tomorrow then will be at Novalis the rest of the week. Welcome back Cidalia! She just spent nine glorious days in my favorite place--Walt Disney World--and had a fantastic time.

Corporate Calendar
Just a reminder that there's a link on the blog to the corporate calendar. It's to the right under Links. I'll try to keep everyone's travel dates current. You can view it in a daily, weekly, or monthly format. Let me know when you're traveling and I'll be happy to update it.

Interesting Fact
Humans use an impressive five million olfactory cells to smell. Sheepdogs use 220 million, which allows them to smell 44 times better than people.

Hi everyone,

Beginning today, when Judy needs someone from Customer Service to pick up a customer in “park”, she is just going to sound the intercom tone alert and say nothing. That sound tone by itself will be a signal for someone in Customer Service to pick up the line.

If there were more than one call in park, she would have to announce which line to pick up. Please see Sue or Judy if you have any questions.

Thanks for your cooperation

Good morning! Finally, something to blog about! There hasn't been much to share lately. Please let me know if you have something. I'm open to suggestions.

We have a full house today with several visitors. Bill, Deborah, Louis Dominic, and David are here today.

Kathleen has answered the questions from the suggestion box: Here the info:

Would there be any consideration of being able to get paid every week instead of bi-weekly? A lot of people find it difficult to budget their money.
Most of us would absolutely prefer to be paid weekly, but executing payroll tasks every week would impede our ability to properly address other essential accounting functions. The staff has grown larger, and so the payroll task is more consuming. Time required to facilitate payroll is the main reason most corporations no longer pay employees weekly.
Since the amount of money paid to employees would be the same amount, we suggest placing half of the paycheck into a savings account and tapping into it only in the second week following the last pay period.

I would like to suggest that we consider a company shutdown for the 3 days between the Christmas holidays and the New Year's holiday (December 26th, 27th, 28th). Employees could be charged vacation time which would also help with scheduling of vacation time during the year. This would be extremely helpful for customer service.
Though it would be lovely for all of us to be "off" during the holidays, many of our customers are at their offices during this time, cleaning off their desks and working. Editorial and marketing are busy preparing for the heavy work of the winter exhibitions and shows. And, for accounting, there are always support projects for departments in need.


Can the company provide employees with 10-15 minute chair massages during
lunch break? (By a professional, of course.)
We have explored the possibility of employee massage but – at this time – regret that even mini-massage proves cost-prohibitive at this time.

When will the A/C be shut off AGAIN?
Bert has notified the bank that we are cold and that it does indeed seem as if the air conditioning has been switching on. This problem should be resolved shortly.
Thanks very much for your questions!

Quote of the Day
There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.--Booker T. Washington

Good afternoon and happy Friday! Glad we all survived the snow storm without incident.

Who's In, Who's Out March 6-10
Bill will be in Tuesday until 10:15 a.m. and all day Wednesday.
Thursday & Friday - San Francisco

Louis Dominic will be here March 6-8

Deborah will be here Wednesday

David Baxendale will be here Wednesday and possibly one other day.

Kathleen is in New York on Thursday

Daffodils
The daffodils will be delivered Tuesday, the 21st. We raised $431 for the American Cancer Society! You may want to bring in a vase from home so they'll stay fresh.

Save Your Pennies
Jordan Moosey's kindergarten class is collecting pennies for the Lymphoma Society. They do research for children's cancer. If anyone would like to donate their pennies (or any other money), there is a can on Charlene's desk.

Birthdays
Charlene's birthday is Sunday, March 5. Happy Birthday Charlene!

Update on Pat Kluepfel from Neil:

This morning Pat learned from her doctor that the cancer is in remission. She had been feeling well, generally, throughout the infusion series so this heartening news reinforced our belief/hope that she would get a clean bill of health. Thanks for your well wishes and prayers through her six-month ordeal.