December 10,
2007
Holiday and
Giving Back Special
Giving Trees still have some tags;
deadline is this Thursday
Gifts are due this Thursday,
December 13, for the
Salvation
Army Giving Trees, now up in the Director's Office, at Tacoma Rail and in the Water
Distribution Building. Most of the remaining gift tags are for seniors. Buying gifts for the Giving Tree counts for
two hours toward your community involvement incentive goal. Contact
Erika Tucci, 502-8225, if you'd like to help
deliver gifts to the seniors.
Musicians, singers needed for holiday
breakfast December 24
If you or a family member would like to provide music at the
Employee/Retiree Holiday Breakfast on Monday, December 24, contact Tommie
Frazier, 502-8238, and let him know the time and number of selections you'd
like to do. The breakfast will run from
7 to 9 a.m. in the Cafeteria. The Belles and Beaux choir also will sing a
few tunes; contact Tommie if you'd like to join the chorus.
Three employees eligible
for donated PTO or sick leave
Kevin Leib, Grounds
Maintenance;
Holly
Mazurek, Customer Service; and Dennis
Johnson, Building Maintenance, are
eligible to receive donated PTO or sick leave. To donate, contact your
timekeeper or Public Utilities Human Resources, 502‑8158, for a PTO/sick
leave donation form. You also can download the form from the Human Resources
section of CityWeb.
News You Can Use
Public Utility Board agenda for December 12
Check at
the end of the News You Can Use section (right before Get Smart) for this Wednesday's agenda.
Pedestrian bridge over 35th Street
goes up this Tuesday
On December 11, the contractor plans to set the pedestrian bridge
connecting Parking Lot G with the east side of 35th Street. To accomplish
this, 35th Street will be closed for the day, likely from Union to Tyler. TPU plans to provide access to the customer and employee parking lots, and
access to Click! from 35th Street.
Bob
Durkee signing off
— retirement reception is December 19
Bob Durkee, Building Maintenance manager, will retire December 31 after 23
years of service at TPU. Give Bob your good wishes at his retirement
reception on Wednesday, December 19, from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Ground Floor
Conference Room.
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What's Cookin'
the Week of Dec. 10
Cup of Soup & Sandwich — $2.63
Cup of Chili or Chowder & Sandwich —
$2.81
Salad — $2.76
Hot Special — $3.03
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Looking for some fun? Utilities People can always use a helping hand
Utilities People is a social organization that provides and coordinates
social activities for TPU employees, employees of General Government
sections that support TPU, retirees and their families. If you are
interested in learning more about Utilities People, please contact any of
the UP officers: Jan Pieper (president), Customer Service, 502-8452; Denise
Hottel (vice president), Customer Service, 502-8936; Liz Larson (secretary),
Director's Office, 502-8769; and Rick Herrmann (treasurer), Generation,
502-8226.
Civil Service Board changes meetings to Thursdays for 2008
The Civil Service Board is changing its meeting night from Mondays to
Thursdays effective in January 2008. Meetings will be held the first and
third Thursdays of each month at 5 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at the
Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market Street. Meetings are sometimes
cancelled if the agenda is too short, but that is on a case-by-case basis.
Get Smart
XiBuy
procurement software going live December 18; classes on December 19 and 20
It is anticipated that XiBuy, the City's new procurement card software, will
go live on Tuesday, December 18. Barring any last-minute testing issues,
procurement card approvers should begin looking to their Outlook inboxes for
notices of new transactions on December 18.
Several drop-in sessions are scheduled just after
go-live to answer questions and provide hands-on assistance:
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Wednesday, December 19, 1 to 4 p.m., TPU Computer Training Room and TMBN
Computer Training Room
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Thursday, December 20, 1 to 4 p.m., TPU Computer Training Room
Procurement card approvers will receive separate instructions for clearing
transactions from the old system.
For questions, contact
Kim Kerner, procurement card administrator, 502-8889.
Systems for the 21st
Century/Total Quality — Half-day classes scheduled through March
This class
is mandatory for all TPU employees by the end of 2008. Total Quality builds
shared commitment to TPU's vision, mission and goals, and it presents
fundamental quality tools and concepts. Employees will learn how Total
Quality fits into the big picture of TPU, learn problem solving and
improvement tools, and be able to apply new tools to their daily work. It is
a 3½-hour class offered in the morning and afternoon. Contact your area's
training representative to register or
Sheryl Brown, 502-8511, if you have questions.
FranklinCovey FOCUS: Achieving your highest priorities — January 15 or
February 19
This one-day course helps you identify and focus on your top priorities.
Subjects include overcoming procrastination, getting more of the right
things done in less time, setting goals and managing information better.
Each attendee receives a FranklinCovey Planner to help determine how to
spend time and energy, and successfully balance personal and professional
life demands. Classes are January 15 and February 19, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Space is limited; registration deadline is 10 days before class.
Contact your area's training representative to register or
Sheryl Brown, 502-8511, if you have questions.
Green Scene
Commute trip reduction
and vanpool reminder — plus a little "identify the holiday references" contest
The holiday
season is here and ridesharing can present you a wonderful life. Why? It's
beginning to look a lot like high gas prices are here to stay. Reduce your
use of gas and you'll increase the amount of money you keep each paycheck.
Oh what fun it is to ride on the bus and in a carpool or vanpool as you save
money on your work commute. Free bus passes and subsidized vanpool fares up
to $110 per month are available. And when you rideshare you reduce both the
amount of traffic congestion on our roads and pollution in our air. That can
bring joy to the world. All I want for Christmas is you trying ridesharing
for at least two times a week for two months. Then you will earn a $50 Fred
Meyer gift card and will think of your commute as the most wonderful time of
the year.
Rideshare and create a
miracle on 35th Street.
And have you
considered a vanpool? The following routes are looking for riders:
-
Puyallup (from
176th & Meridian and Canyon Road), supporting an 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. work
shift
-
Gig Harbor, 7 a.m.
to 4 p.m.
-
Eatonville, 7 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m.
-
Rainier/Yelm, 8
a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
-
Spanaway, 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
You also can click here
for the complete TPU vanpool roster. For information about all ridesharing
options at TPU, contact
Randy Stearnes, employee transportation coordinator, 502-8224. Send
Randy a list of all the holiday songs and movies referenced in the paragraph
above, and he’ll draw one name from all the correct entries to win a Baskin
Robbins gift card.
For Your Benefit
Deferred compensation contribution limits not
increasing for 2008
— submit changes by December 14
For 2008, there will be no increases in the following for deferred
compensation: maximum regular participant contribution ($15,500/$596.15 per
pay period); pre-retirement catch-up contribution ($31,000/$1,192.30 per pay
period) or age 50+ provision ($20,500/$788.46 per pay period). To change
your level of contributions, you will need to complete a new deduction form
available in TPU Human Resources; Risk Management, Tacoma Municipal
Building, Room 1420; or on CityWeb under Documents/Standard Documents/Human
Resources/deferred compensation. Be sure to choose the correct vendor,
either ING Aetna or ICMA. Send the forms to
Risk Management, Tacoma Municipal Building, Room 1420, to
be received by this Friday, December 14. If you have questions, contact
Shannon Hoffman, 591-5823.
Are you new here? Don't miss the orientation on Monday, December 17
This orientation is required for all new employees who are permanent
(code 01), appointive (code 06), project
(code 08) or temporary pending exam (code 15). The orientation will be from
8:30 a.m. to noon in Tacoma Municipal Building, Room 1444, 747 Market Street.
The session will provide an overview of the City's organizational structure,
employee programs and services, City policies and the safety program.
Contact
JoAnn O'Neill, Human Resources, 591-5438, for more information about the
orientation. If you have not yet signed up for benefits, you will
need to bring dependent and beneficiary information with birth dates, social
security numbers and addresses. If you have medical, dental or vision
coverage elsewhere, bring the name, address and phone number of the group,
the policy number and names of the people who are eligible under the plan.
Contact
Shannon Hoffman, 591-5823;
Regene Halfmoon, 591-5411;
Sandy Frasier, 591-5440; or
Joe Nienalt, 591-5406,
for more information on benefits.
Familiar with your retirement benefits? Check out
January 9 introduction session
— register by January
4
The Retirement Office provides an introduction to retirement every other
month to familiarize individuals with their retirement benefits. The next
session is at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, January 9, in the
City Council Chambers
at the Tacoma Municipal Building, 747 Market Street.
If you'd like to attend, contact the Retirement Office, 591-2035,
by Friday, January 4. If you cannot attend, Retirement has a DVD/CD combo
of the session that you can borrow.
How to know if you're
stressed — and what you can do about it
The
Caltech Counseling Center notes that people experience stress
differently. Sometimes it can be helpful to think of the last time you know
you were really stressed: what did you do and how did you feel? Here are
some specific signs that you might be stressed:
-
No longer taking pleasure in activities that used to
be enjoyable
-
Finding even simple things burdensome or difficult to
accomplish
-
Distracted by all that you have to do, or finding it
hard to keep track of little things, such as your keys
-
Feeling on edge, frustrated or annoyed, having less
patience
-
A change in eating habits, eating either more or less
than usual
-
Sleeping more than usual (can't bring yourself to get
out of bed) or having difficulty getting to sleep (too many things on
your mind)
-
Being easily annoyed by simple problems or the way
other people behave (having normal emotions that are displayed to an
extreme degree or for a prolonged period of time)
-
Marked changes in personality or mood
-
Listlessness, lack of energy
-
Trouble concentrating or making decisions
-
High levels of irritability, including abrasive,
unruly or aggressive behavior
Relieving stress might not be easy, but the obvious things do make a
difference:
-
Increase exercise
-
Maintain a regular sleep schedule
-
Limit alcohol and drug use (long-term, they don't
relieve stress — they add to it)
-
Manage your time
-
Understanding why you are stressed in the first place
also can help you feel better
What's Happening & When
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December 12: Learn how to manage workplace stress from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Auditorium,
courtesy of the City of
Tacoma's Employee Assistance Program provider First Choice Health. Free lunch bags
and organic fruit will be provided.
-
December 12 and 13:
Mammogram vans from Swedish
Medical Center will be at TPU giving free mammograms to
any female City
employee age 40 or older who is symptom-free and not pregnant, or who is
35 or older with her primary care provider's referral.
Make appointments with
Swedish at 206-320-2500 or
breastcareexpress@swedish.org. Contact
Shannon Hoffman,
591-5823, with questions.
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December 14: Click! workshop "Cable 101: Preparing for Digital TV" at noon in the Auditorium Conference Room. Regardless of whether you are
a Click! customer, learn how to prepare for the FCC-mandated digital TV
deadline of February 2009. Seating is limited; register in advance by calling 502-8823. Dessert will
be served.
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December 15:
Utilities People children's Winter Wonderland party, 10 a.m. to noon,
Cafeteria and Auditorium. Sign up on the sheet in the Cafeteria; Utilities People members and guests only. For
party info, contact
Jan Pieper, 502-8452; or
Denise Hottel, 502-8936.
Contact
Rick Herrmann,
502-8226, to join Utilities People.
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December 24:
Employee/Retiree Holiday Breakfast in the Cafeteria, free, 7 to 9 a.m.
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December 31:
Last day to turn in completed community involvement goal paperwork to
Human Resources or to submit information through CityWeb at Employee Resources/TPU
Incentive Program. For anyone to earn the incentive day, 80 percent of
employees must document at least eight hours of community service in
2007.
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Throughout
December:
Richard Friel, Electrical Inspection, appears in December's TV
Tacoma CityScape program with important information to keep the season
bright and safe. CityScape airs daily on TV
Tacoma Channel 12. Check listings for
times and channels outside Tacoma.
Bargain Shopping
Submit
your ad to Newsline
Ads run in two issues of Newsline.
The deadline to submit ads is 10 a.m. Fridays. E-mail
Newsline, or call editor Laurel Willoughby, 502-8754,
if you don't have e-mail access. Include at least your first name,
and phone number or e-mail in your ad. Ads
for business activities, online auction ads and calls for charity
sponsorship are not allowed. About once a month, ads
will be borrowed from the Cafeteria bulletin board and included in
Newsline.
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For sale: Enclosed
modular cat kennel by Options Plus, Inc. (USA made). 13 black,
powder-coated 11½ gauge hardened steel wire panels (3 ft. x 4 ft.) that
allow up to 12 ft. of roaming within kennel. Easy
to assemble and portable! Excellent condition. Retail price $379, asking
$325 or reasonable best offer. Contact
Peggy Dickson, 502-8110, for pictures and additional details.
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For sale: 7-foot
artificial "pencil" Christmas tree. This is a slender tree, perfect for
small spaces, $35. Vern or Jan,
460-3066.
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