The calm after the storm

Monday was a very busy day at the courthouse; as it was expected, we served well over 1200 customers. On average we serve between 500 and 700 customers a day. Although we were busy on Monday, things ran as smoothly as we had hoped. The entire staff in our section was present and eager to get the day started. Within the first hour and half we had served 200 customers; that was the good indicator of what was stored for us. So working 11 hours on the Wednesday before the holiday in preparation for Monday was well worth it. This allowed for the supervisor, one of the leads and myself to be available if any critical issues arose. Fortunately for us, we were not called up on for any critical issues. All in all, Monday was a good day. Our preparation the week before paid off.

team building

I used to think that having potlucks were just for fun yet kind of a a waste of time. But all that changed once I started working at the city with a large group. Today I see a potluck as a chance to build the team in our section.

We as a team decide what the theme will be, and we always chose the food by its ethnic origin, trying to represent the backgrounds of the team members.  Then each person signs up for what dish they'd like to bring. Last time, it was challenging because we chose Korean food, and I signed up to make Pad Thai (a type of noodles in peanut sauce) for the first time. Making the dish helped me to learn something about a coworker's culture, which helped me to understand and appreciate her.

In addition to the food, each person is asked to bring questions or concerns regarding our section. Whether we talk about work or anything else, as we gather together to eat, we bond. Communication flows between us and the team is reinforced. When the team is stronger, we work better together. I think that's really what the potluck is about.

Long day

The courthouse closed for the long holiday weekend, so on Wednesday I had to work 11 hours to prepare for what is usually the busiest day of the year: the Monday after Thanksgiving. In the morning, we normally do the deposit of the money the court took in on the day before. But because Thursday and Friday were holidays, we did the deposit of Wednesday's money at the end of the day on Wednesday. The deposit usually takes between 2 to 3 hours, and that's why I worked an 11 hour day. By doing the deposit the same day it will allow me to be posted at a customer service window on busy Monday morning, when the we'll have a huge number of customers waiting in the lobby. We also asked the the employees in our section if the would like to start their shift early and others to stay late if needed. This past Wednesday was very busy, the busiest we have been in the past 6 months, so we got and taste of what's to come Monday. But I admired how my supervisor really thought the situation through and did everything possible to plan for the crush. I think the employees appreciated that he was doing his best to keep them and the customers calm, and they were willing to do their part to help.

Soccer

I was born in Mexico and grew up playing and watching soccer or football as it known around the world. After all, this football is played with your feet! This summer was a great summer for me, thanks to the 

World Cup in South Africa, the biggest sporting event in the world. I was happy that the continent of Africa was hosting their first world cup. For a whole month the channels broadcasting the event were running side stories about positive and not so positive impact of the event on South Africa. Many of the positive stories were about how the event was was to bring unity to the country and the possible financial gains. On the other hand, the not so positive stories were about the cost of hosting the event. South Africa spent 5 billion US dollars on the infrastructure and the building of new stadiums for the event. Another negative story was the displacement of some of poor South African citizens to build the stadiums. Today ESPN broadcasted the game between the USA and South Africa in South Africa. ESPN ran a story about the aftermath of the world cup and whether spending 5 billion to host the event was worth it. Many of the new stadiums now sit empty and are not generating any revenue. The citizens who were promised basic needs like running water after the event were still with out running water and are living in shanty town shacks, just as they were prior to the World Cup coming to Africa. It appears so far that hosting the biggest sports event in the world did not help South Africa's development. 

Cross training

At work I’m currently cross training two employees, a back up lead in and I have to performing my daily duties. In addition I help the staff with complex issues regarding cases or with difficult customers. So far this week the training is going as planned, but it is consuming a great portion of my time. The trainees are at different stages of their training and are being introduced to different tasks, so I’m having a hard time keeping up with my duties. On the other hand my plan for speeding up the training is working. The two trainees are about two weeks ahead of all previous trainees. Soon the trainees will be on their own, and I’ll be relieved to go back to handling my duties in a timely manner. 

DownTown Phoenix

I live in downtown Phoenix, and Saturday night downtown was happening.  I was impressed by the volume of people out on the streets, the type of crowd normally seen during a sporting event. The main reason for this phenomenon was the weekend long festivities at the new City Scape with free concerts and activities for the entire family. I have to admit that I was a bit excited at the sight of what could become the new hangout in the valley just blocks a way from my home, not to mention the beneficial effect on my property value. But I'm also skeptical about its success, as other projects downtown have failed to create a major buzz. The Mercado never created a buzz because tenants never moved in. The Arizona Center originally had the Gap and Foot Locker, but those stores closed down because nobody shopped downtown. The restaurants, movie theater, and Hooters survived, but it was never a very interesting place. City Scape has a Gold's Gym, art gallery, clothing stores, an upscale hotel, the bowling alley lounge, and it will soon have a branch of La Grand Orange, famous in Arcadia for becoming the local hangout. I would love to see the project take off, but I'm dubious. It's certainly an improvement over Patriots' Park, which was an sad, ugly brick monument to homelessness (It was supposed to be a park, but it failed, too.)

End of month stats

At the end of every month all departments in in the Courthouse have to submit their reports to management. The types of reports in our area vary from how many disabled customers we help to the amount of of revenue collected from fines for the month. So, for the first two days of each month, things get a little hectic. Not only do we need to complete our stats in a timely manner, we also need to do our daily duties, some of which critical and must be performed daily. In addition, I, as a lead, need to help the staff with complex problems or difficult customers. With everything I have to do as a lead at the beginning of the month, it's hard to keep up with my own daily duties as a clerk. I also feel the crush in keeping up with my schoolwork during the beginning of the month. As my "internship" is actually my full-time job, keeping up with the job and classes is a challenge.