Yesterday I went to the Indiana State Fair with my lovely bride and my soon-to-be-a-licensed-driver-so-get-the-hell-off-the-road-NOW son, Max.    The first Indiana State Fair was in 1852, before the deep fried pickles and deep fried banana foster cheesecake on a stick.  Yes.  I said it.  Deep Fried Bananas Foster Cheesecake on a Stick.

Fried.  Cheesecake.  Stick.  The state-fair trifecta.  Can you ask for more…?

Anyways…

The real reason my son and I wanted to go was simple.  It had nothing to do with the Dairy Barn, with it’s grilled cheese sandwiches and iced cold milk.  Nothing to do with seeing the Cheese Sculpture (all 1800 lbs of it).  Nothing to do with going on the midway to hear how much I sound like a girly-man when I scream on the wimpy roller coaster.

So, what was it?

The world’s largest boar.  One thousand, one hundred, and twenty-one pounds of big fat male pig.  However, Max and I were surprised to find not only the world’s largest boar, but the second largest as well, coming in at One thousand, one hundred, and sixteen pounds.  Must be tough to get the silver medal for just five pounds.

So, why do you go see a male pig that big?  Do they ride bicycles like bears in the circus?  No, of course not, that would just be plain silly.  Their piggie-feet don’t fit well on the pedals.  Duh.

Do they wear little hats and coats like dogs and cats?  I won’t even dignify that with a response.

Can you ride them like a horse?  No saddle big enough.

It’s simple.  They are male pigs.  Giant male pigs.  With giant male pig parts.  Two really really really really giant male pig-parts, if you catch my drift.  And I sure hope you do.  So big, that little boys and girls were pointing and giggling as their parents laughed.  Big enough that my son as well as others took pictures of “them”.    I know… I know… Such a boy.  Both of us.  Ain’t it grand!?

ANYWAYS…

An Unending Three-Day Weekend

I was reading the Wall Street Journal the other day (I sound so pretentious when I say that), and I ran across another article about Chrysler and their ongoing battles to improve revenue and reduce costs.  Chrysler is in talks with the UAW to put 12 plants on a four day-ten hour work week.  Other than holding down costs by shuttering the plant at least one day a week, based on the results of the 2008-9 Employee Hold’em National Workforce Engagement Assessment, the changes may assist in improving how Union employees rate their employers on work-life balance.

Less than half of all union employees believe their managers recognize the importance of their personal and family life (46%) compared to nearly two third of non-union employees who feel the same (63%).  While just a third of union employees agree their company is sensitive to the needs of its employees (33%) compared to more than half of non-union employees (52%).

Hmmmm.  Perhaps an idea whose time has (finally) come.  If Chrysler and the UAW come to a mutually beneficial solution, expect the four-day work week to get more mileage from other companies.

Get more mileage and I was talking about a car company…  I crack myself up.

The Book is Out!

Employee Engagement Fundamentals; A Guide for Managers and Supervisors is out, both Doc Hundley (my co-author) and I received our author copy yesterday.  You can go to www.worldatwork.org to learn more.