Beyond the Spreadsheet: The unseen humor in HR and finance roles. Credit: Gemini As a supervisor, I’ve met all sorts of characters, but Xiuping, our Finance Assistant and HR Manager, is a rare gem—a data-driven dynamo with a knack for unintentional comedy. She tackles DHR’s financial and HR challenges with surgical precision and the bluntness of a stand-up comic. And yes, I’m cheering for her well-deserved raise—she’s earned it. The Money Maestro Xiuping’s motto? “Only got time for money and good company.” She cuts through nonsense like a hot knife, asking, “Do I get money for this?” or “I’m glad DOF is happy with us... do we get a bonus for that?” Praise is nice, but she’d prefer it in her paycheck. I’m right there with her, marveling at her stellar work. Her hustle extends beyond the office. “Maybe I’ll buy lotto this weekend too,” she quips, ever cha...

From apologetic accountant to blissfully unbothered with chaos-pink spreadsheets. Go, Lily, go! Credit: Gemini AI The Saintly Lily Every office has one: a soul so pure, so relentlessly kind, you’d swear they glow like a human nightlight. In our Finance unit at DHR, that was our accountant, Lily—until the day the universe ran out of pastel highlighters and her halo flickered. Calling Lily a “living saint” is, frankly, an insult to her saintly bona fides. It’s an understatement so profound it borders on libel. Her integrity as an accountant? Bulletproof. Her willingness to consistently put the needs and well-being of others before her own? Legendary. If you needed a report to, say, prevent the County from accidentally double-paying a vendor who already owed us money back (ahem, our pre-Lily oopsie era), or to catch invoices sketchier than a Craigslist ad? Mind you, not from any proacti...

A frazzled finance manager surrounded by absurd budget proposals, with a dog adding to the chaos. Credit: Gemini The Circus Begins Budget season in my office is less a process and more a three-ring circus where I, the Financial Manager, am part accountant, part lion tamer. I dream of spreadsheets that balance like a perfectly brewed cup of coffee, but instead, I’m dodging requests for a $9,000 “indoor zen waterfall” for the break room or debates over whether $150 pens say “we’re thriving” or “we’re unhinged.” It’s like my dog Sansa took over the budget meetings—adorable chaos, but I’m still cleaning up the mess. Some might see chaos, a fiscal year spiraling into a budgetary black hole lined with disco balls and the echoes of someone’s awful “inspirational” playlist. But me? I see… opportunity. Call me weird, but numbers are my emotional support animals. While the office descends into...

My Day Job: More Than Just Numbers A tidy, efficient digital workspace, typical of a financial manager. Credit: Google AI My day job? It's... an experience. Let me elaborate. A tale of spreadsheets, financial forecasts, and… the surprisingly intense daily dramas of a grown adult who happens to be the person in charge. Now, I'm the Financial Manager here. Numbers are my jam. Budget reconciliations? Bring 'em on. Cash flow statements? My happy place. Explaining the nuances of accrual accounting? Thrilling Tuesday night for me. What I didn’t sign up for was being the unofficial, unpaid, and frankly, slightly bewildered, unofficial babysitter for the main guy. The Escalation of Trivialities It started subtly. A quick “Hey, just wanted to run this email draft by you, see if the tone is okay?” Sure, no problem. Professional cour...

A collection of spreadsheets and charts. Credit: Gemini A Data-Driven Life Let's be clear: I am a creature of data. Numbers soothe my soul. If there's a problem, I'm convinced the answer lies in a well-crafted spreadsheet. My work demands it, of course. Without those glorious grids, the financial world would probably collapse into a gleaming state of confusion. But my love for the cell extends far beyond the office walls, creeping into the hallowed halls of my personal life like a particularly persistent formula error. You see, in my valiant attempt to "manage" this increasingly unmanageable world, I've armed myself with… more spreadsheets. It's a logical extension, right? If data can manage mergers and acquisitions, surely it can tame my chaotic existence. Meetings Under Scrutiny Take meetings, for example. I have a metic...