Keyboards Dirtier than a Toilet!

May 5, 2008 in Health, Work

Some computer keyboards harbour more harmful bacteria than a toilet seat, research has suggested.

Consumer group Which? said tests at its London offices found equipment carrying bugs that could cause food poisoning.

Out of 33 keyboards swabbed, four were regarded as a potential health hazard and one harboured five times more germs than one of the office’s toilet seats.

During the Which? tests in January this year, a microbiologist deemed one of the office’s keyboards to be so dirty he ordered it to be removed, quarantined and cleaned.

It had 150 times the recommended limit for bacteria – five times as filthy as a lavatory seat tested at the same time, the research found.

“If you look at what grows on computer keyboards, and hospitals are worse, believe it or not, it’s more or less a reflection of what’s in your nose and in your gut,” he said.

“Should somebody have a cold in your office, or even have gastroenteritis, you’re very likely to pick it up from a keyboard.”

Which? said one of the causes of dirty keyboards was users eating lunch at their desk, with crumbs encouraging the growth of bacteria.

Poor personal hygiene, such as not washing hands after going to the toilet, could also be to blame, it said. [source]

I’m glad that I’m not sharing my PC with my colleagues, if my keyboard is contaminated then at least it’s from my own hand but I think it’s not that worst because I always used hand sanitizer and I’m not taking my lunch in my desk, however I  wonder if the mobile phone keypads have also the same bacteria as the keyboards 😦  hmmm…

Motivating Story!

March 19, 2008 in Inspirational, Short Stories, Work

Story 1 :

We all must have seen a fly trapped in a room ! If it reaches a glass window it continues to flutter at the glass, trying to escape. It does not think there can be other openings in the room to escape !

Story 2 :

Once there was a sales man whose sales ranged between 80% to 95% of his budget. Disheartened with the results, he took an appointment with a marketing consultant, to know where he was wrong. He reached the consultant’s office at the appointed time. After entering the office he saw two doors, instead of a receptionist. One door was marked “SALES LESS THAN 100%” and the other door was marked “SALES MORE THAN 100%”. Since his average sale was less than 100%, he entered to the Ist door. After entering the room he found two more doors – one was marked “EARN INCENTIVES” and the other door was marked “NOT EARN INCENTIVES”. Since he did not earn incentive on regular basis, he entered the IInd door. He again found two doors, one was marked “HAPPY WITH YOUR SELF” and the other was marked “NOT HAPPY WITH YOUR SELF”. Since he was not an achiever, he was not happy and so entered the IInd door. And surprisingly on entering it he found himself on the same street where he had entered.

Moral of these two stories :

If we continue to work with same attitude and with same approach, if our style of functioning remains the same, if we take same steps then we will meet the same fate. Similar actions again and again will lead to similar results, again and again. To get different or desired results : we have to bring about a change in our attitude, in our approach towards our customer, bring about a change in our style of functioning, thus we must open different doors.

Bored at Work? You’re not alone…

July 30, 2007 in Work

image:courtesy of www.ummah.net

According to an American survery, about 6 in every 10 workers  admit wasting time at work with average employee wasting 1.7 hours of a typical 8.5 hour working day. The reason why people wasted time were varied,  boredom and not having enough to do were the top reasons, some reasons are lack of challenging work and being uderpaid.  So what did these employees do when they were bored at work? Of course the number one answer would be INTERNET and unfortunately I am one of those 6 out of 10.  I didn’t have enough work to do, it’s boring. Internet is the leading time-wasting activity nowadays, in fact there are lots of websites nowadays about intertaining employees who were bored at work.  Just google or yahoo the terms bored at work and you’ll discover that you’re not alone, the msn bored at work club is one of my favorite hang out, I’m glad that aside from blogging I can still waste my time sharing ideas, jokes and many things with my online friends who are bored at work too.  Aside from internet, some of the common time-wasting activity at the workplace are solitaire, socializing with co-workers, gossiping, text messaging, reading magazines, watching TV, telephone conversation, drinking coffee, eating, telling jokes, sleeping (the worst, lol), etc.  What about you which of the list is your favorite?

Conversation with our cleaning staff

June 24, 2007 in Personal, Pinoys in Kuwait, Work

One of our office cleaning staffs, a Sri Lankan lady named Chandrika managed to have a slight conversation with me this morning, she asked many things about me, like how Philippines look like, the fruits available in Phil., my siblings and finally about my son. She asked me if I have a latest picture of my son, I said yes and I showed it to her. She admired him so much and that leaded us to have this tête-à-tête below:

Chandrika: Does your son have nanny at home?
Me: Yes, of course.

Chandrika: How much do you gave her monthly?
Me: ( KD xx) with increment every year.

Chandrika: Really?
Me: Yeah, why?

Chandrika: You pay more than the Kuwaitis.
Me: I’m not a Kuwaiti.

Chandrika: But they have more money than you and you live in apartment while they live in villa.
Me: So what’s wrong with it?

Chandrika: Work will be lesser in your home and you still pay more.
Me: Because I’m an employee too and I want to be paid more, I just want to treat others like the way what I want my self to be treated.

Chandrika: Do you gave her day off?
Me: Yes, every Thursdays and Fridays with free transport.

Chandrika: 2 days? Wallah? You can’t found that in Kuwaiti homes.
Me: I told you I’m not a Kuwaiti.

Chandrika: Yeah, but that sounds crazy!
Me: She loves my son so much so she deserves the best treatment from me also.

Chandrika: You’re spoiling her, your son sleep with her at night or with you?
Me: As soon as I arrived home from work, my son is always with me until the next day and I let her nanny rest for a while.

Chandrika: I don’t wanna ask more ,Wallah ,because I might want to quit my job in this office and work with you instead.

We both laughed and she continued her work.