House President Stuff

Dear House Members,

I have not been posting here too much because my mid-semester activities were very redundant (but not in a bad way!) I was working every week meeting with managers, preparing for House Council, meeting with House Members about issues or concerns, etc.

However, this week has been very different and I have been busy preparing for elections.
- Sending out election info
- Gathering the list of candidates
- Meeting with candidates
- Meeting with managers and the house (council) to discuss the new ballot
- Making the new ballot
- Collecting speeches to be sent out via listserv to the House
- Printing and preparing for speeches

Please remember that Speeches will take place Tuesday night 4/21 at Dinner. Please arrive promptly. We will be sending out the speeches via email, but in-face communication is much better, so if you can make it, please join us.

Also another heads up is that we will be having another round of VOCs in a few weeks!

Thanks!

Nat

Sherman Bakes

I just started a baking blog for the house- you all (hopefully) got an email about it a few minutes ago. It's called Sherman Bakes, and it's a place to share your favorite recipes. If you want to contribute, let me know, and I'll add you to the list. Feel free to post general cooking recipes too!

What I've Been Doing

Since spring break I've been doing the same ol' same ol': reimbursements, paying bills, etc.

Things of note: been getting calls from people either boarding or wanting to move in. I've shown the house around a bit.

Reimbursed Sarah to the tune of $900 for our new grill. That's exciting.

Paid a few bills right after spring break. I believe they were internet and at&t. Yesterday I paid cable.

Reimbursed Keighley and Evan for music and story night expenses. We have a good amount of money (about $1200 I think) for special dinner. That's a lot.

More KM stuff...am I the only one writing here now :)

-Elections coming up soon. Explained @ council what we do, our comp, our hrs., etc.

-Went to KM mtg. on the 31st. We voiced our concerns with CK like how we aren't told til the day of that some foods aren't coming or how the food ordering system is kinda antiquated or how they should change the way CK workshifts are chosen so we don't have a problem like what happened last semester.

-Special Dinner sign-ups going up soon; when we know date.

-Talked w/Shivani about how if we want mops people MUST clean them proper. Otherwise it'll all be a wash (pun intended) and the mops will have to be tossed.

-Might be getting new boarder through CO. Yay more hrs! Massage shift, anyone? Will it happen?

KM stuff from Mar 3-Mar9

-Maggie and I met with the FSC Andrew for our KM evals. Maggie talked to him Tuesday and I spoke with him Wednesday.

-Read through the VOCs. Looked mostly good. A couple of comments seemed too harsh on a personal level rather than on our skills as managers. There was one woman who was particularly offended that we asked her to make something that she wanted to purchase (she didn't specify what or who told her; granola? hummus? salsa?), and that it was like asking her to make bread...we're not sure who wrote this but we know many people in this house who make their own delicious bread to share on a weekly basis :)

-Seriously though, if you ever feel either of us is too harsh/rude/uncooperative with you, talk to one of us if you're comfortable or talk to Natalie, who is a conflict mediator. Or talk to Minoo at CO, who's the conflict resolution person there. It is confidential and no one in the house will know that you specifically talked to her.

-I've been trying to drop off non-perish orders on Sunday afternoons rather than Monday mornings. I know Maggie takes care of produce fairly early in the week.

-Food prices fluctuating like mad on everything. One week I tell folks something's too expensive and the next week we can afford it. If I ever tell you something is too expensive, it usually means it's too expensive THAT week or we've filled our budget quota (if you will) for the week and we can get it sometime in the near future. Or if you find it cheap at Safeway, get it. But talk to Christine or one of us first.

-We're hoping to meet with the cooks soon about how non-menu cooking is going. I'll try to talk to all the cooks this week to get a feel for that.

-And I swear even more lunchmeat than before is coming on the week of the 16th.

This Week's Activities

- went to house council, discussed SF Chron subscription. We decided to keep the paper and charge every member at most $4 a semester. I'm considering allowing people to opt into a system in which I keep $4 from their key deposit. People who have already lost their keys will have to turn in $4, and people who lose their keys before they leave will owe me an extra $4. This might make the collection 1) easier and 2) less grumble-worthy.
- paid the Megapath bill by phone with my card, reimbursed myself (121.67)
- met with Monique for central level evaluation
- went to central level managers' meeting
- paid at&t bill (22.08) on 3/6, bill due by 3/20
- reimbursed Sarah (food/supplies: 63.88, social: 160.11)
- reimbursed Keighley (32.02)
- posted about 10-15 flyers
- cleaned up bulletin board area
- cleaned white boards

Response to VOCs

Thank you all for doing VOCs, especially for leaving comments. This really helps me keep myself in check and pinpoint my weaknesses. I feel good with my results, but if you ever feel like I'm overlooking something, please let me know.

I'd like to take a moment to respond to a few comments.

1. "christine is a really good house manager. i'll be sad to see her go. i just hope she takes an active role in training the new manager so that they may do as good a job as she has done."

I am actively looking for new house managers, as I will not be continuing in the summer and won't be here for fall. If you are interested, let me know so that I can explain the job, the perks and show you what I do in a typical week. Also, I'd like to start training my predecessor early and I hope to compile a training manual by May. Ask me about my job!

2. "At night, the house is a little too loud. Please ask people to respect other people's needs to study and to follow quiet hours. "

This is the most common comment I get at VOCs, which is ironic considering how strict I am about silence when I am trying to sleep or study. I know that I don't enforce quiet hours all the time, and this is largely due to the fact that I am not in the room during quiet hours violations. The best way I can improve in this area is to hear from the people affected. Is there always someone on her cellphone outside your room at 2 a.m.? I hate that too, come talk to me. Someone playing the piano while you're trying to study? Loud voices in the bathroom? These are all things I can deal with if you feel uncomfortable approaching someone else. Find me in the house--I'm usually in my room.

I will talk more about VOCs at the next house council.

Budget Update

- House: $8,036.96
- Food: $3,551.69
- Bank: $3,023.24
(will be making deposits next week)
- Social: $1387.67 (room to room cost 192.13)

Previous budget update.

KM stuff from Feb 22-Mar 3

-On Feb 23, we had a KM's meeting @ Wilde. It was a meeting on budgeting. But we talked with them about how we're moving away from menus. The Davis KMs were there and we had a discussion about how much food they've been borrowing.

-I (Esme) have been trying to buy more lunchmeat, which hopefully should be evident starting this month.

-We've been talking to some houses about possibly trading SOME of our Acme bread. Trading would mean actually getting something else from them and not just us giving away our bread.

-We passed kitchen inspection! Yay! These are the thing we should be improving on/fixing (in regards to his comments and the BSC member inspection):

*Provide routine cleaning behind cooking equipments.

*Install a doorsweep to the back door gate.

*Routinely clean tea/vitamin cabinet.

*Provide a towel dispenser in the dining room and maybe a new one for the 1st floor bathroom.

Recent doings and goings-on

Stuff I did this last week:
- bought drinks and supplies for the party
- set up the house for the party and organized room openings and security
- threw the party
- performed all security positions that were unfilled or not fulfilled
- cleaned up after the party

Hopefully this experience will make it easier for me to avoid, spot, and fix problems with parties in the future.

This week I have to:
- update social hours
- plan for St. Patrick's Day FEAST!
- make posters for upcoming TRON Movie Night and St. Paddy's Day
- book Sunol campsite, set dates for camping meetings

What I've Been Up To...

• Turned in the HAPs form for the hot tub to Wes and Kevin at Central Maintenance.
• Fixed the mailbox door
• Got all the paint off/ grime off one of the dining room tables, used a beeswax/orange oil product to help restore the finish.
• Worked with Arielle (maintenance manager in training!) Showed her how to unclog shower and sink drains. The handicap shower drain is being particularly stubborn, so I sent an email to Kevin to have him come look at it.
  

House President Activities Feb 23- March1

This week I....

...Prepared and held the Manager's meeting.
...Prepared VOCs online.
.....Sent out detailed emails about VOCS with instructions, guidelines, etc
....Prepared House Agenda for House Council and distributed those to the house via email.
....Prepared and put up House Bulletin in the bathroom stalls
.....Conducted House Council
.....Coordinated 2 Housemembers requests for Basement reservation
.....Sent a housemember instructions for amending a House Bylaw


Please remember that VOCs are due Tuesday March 3 at 11:59 PM

Balanced the Checkbook

I just went through all my check copies and stubs, and I balanced the checkbook to where it should be. Right now, we have $3,230.87 of usable money. By usable, I mean that it may not reflect the current amount because checks may not have been deposited yet, but that's how much we have based on the checks I've written and cashed so far. I am making another bank run soon (hopefully this week) to deposit the remaining key deposits and internet money.

Previous budget update.

Budget Update

* House is $8,135.50
* Social is $1,579.80. Does not reflect Room-to-room cost.
* Still haven't received a bank statement. If it doesn't come by Monday, I'm going to recheck my mail box and documents. If I don't have it, I'm contacting Margie, the BSC accountant, because then I'm worried.
* Food is $3,656.48 surplus

Every week, we're going over budget on gas and electric. Please turn off all lights when you are not in the room. This includes your own room. Also, unplug items you are not currently using (cell phone chargers, blow dryers) or use a power strip.

Previous budget update.

Week's Activities

- ran reimbursements and boarders' money to CO
- went to managers' meeting
- paid Megapath bill on my debit card, will reimburse today (121.65)
- received next Megapath bill, being paid today (WTF, Megapath?)
- reimbursing Sarah today for maintenance stuff, Netflix, and such (100 something)
- emailed Monique about meeting up for my central level evaluation
- finally got info from Heather at CO about how to order furniture. Rooms N and O both lack bed frames. I'm going to try to order 2 of them, but room N is weird because it's a big mattress (queen, double?) and I don't know if I can order a frame that size. Also, CO sucks.

House President Activities Feb 8-23

Week of Feb 8-14
- Prepared and held manager's meeting
- Compiled bulletin and discussion points from managers
- Prepared for House Council- set up little board thingy
- Put Bulletin Points up around the house
- Attended House Presidents Meeting with Central 2/5/08

Week of Feb 15-21 and Feb 22, 23
- Prepared for manager's meeting on 2/23
- Administered and sent out instructions to House regarding Votes of Confidence
- Sent house emails regarding campus safety and the ASUC recall election.

Full Belly Farm Availabilities

Hey eaters! Just wanted to let you know that we have access to some straight-from-Farmers'-Market produce availability now more than ever. Here are some of the items available for purchase. Let us know what strikes your fancy!

Full Belly Farm

CCOF Certified Organic since 1986

ROOTS–$30 in 25# bags

Gold Turnips

Celery Root Rutabagas

Red Daikon Carrots

LEEKS – $30/20#

King Richard – longer white shank with green leaves

Tadorna Blue – fatter white shank with blue leaves

Chioggia Beets – $30/24 ct (medium size roots

Broccoli – $22/18 lb. (bunched spears)

Loose Spinach – $12/ 4-lb. box

Fennel – $30/2-doz bunches

Green Cabbage – $25/35#

Fresh Onions – $24/2-doz bunches

Carrots – $34/2-doz bunches

Rosemary – $10/doz

Wheat Berries, Federation – $2.50 in 2-lb bags (More than 2# – $1.00/lb.)

Corn Meal – $2.50 in a 1 ½ # bag

5 lb for $7.50 or 10 lb for $15. 20 lb. or more is $1.20/lb.

Party prep, nightlife

Crazy week for me personally. Things I have done in the past week:
- Put up room sign-up and security sign-up sheets for Time Warp on social board
- Made flyer, made colorful copies @ CO
- Completed and submitted to CO BSC Party Notification Forms
- Added Christina's and Erika's events to google calendar
- Made tons of hummus (not exactly social manger duties, but delicious)
- Bought, printed out, and reimbursed people for Nightlife tickets
- Composed and emailed camping survey
- Made small adjustments to google calendar
- Told people to move crap out of hallway so we don't fail the party fire inspection
- Didn't sleep enough

Upcoming stuff:
- Be present for party fire inspection
- Hopefully get speaker system from neighboring co-op since ours sucks
- Finalize r2r room openings and themes, organize order of openings
- Get more people to sign up as security and clean up (it's a bucket o fun, people!)
- Buy food, drink, and decoration supplies for Time Warp
- Decorate downstairs
- Party hard

Week's Activities

- emailed with Disability Access Coordinator re: sex and disability forum at Sherman
- paid New York Times bill (31.81)
- paid Comcast bill (13.79)
- emailed Heather at CK to finally find out how to order furniture. Once this is accomplished, I can reimburse people for appliance purchases (like a new blender and shredder).
- collected fees from new members
- reimbursed Keighley for Nightlife ($35)
- showed a potential member the open spot, but she wasn't digging it
- got a past due notice from Megapath. I've been expecting that bill for a while now, and it seems they've been really flaky the past few months (Out of the past four bills, I've received one. Yes, 1). I will phone and pay by credit card tomorrow and then reimburse myself.

KM things

-Had a cooks mtg. this past week. We discussed the pros and cons of using menus and how we're one of the few houses that still do use them. It sounded like several of the cooks would be more willing to work sans menus. We had a few cooks that didn't show. Most told us why, but a couple haven't talked with us even after we sent emails. But the cooks in general have been great with improvising and being flexible. And it seems like they're doing a better job with getting food out on time.

-Talked to/sent emails a few cooks about some flubs in menus (like missing protein dishes or using too much of a certain item in several dishes in one night).

-CK was closed today so we ordered a bunch of extra stuff to come for Friday.

-Still talking to CK about the inconsistencies with dairy (like deliveries coming on Saturdays without any kind of advanced notice, etc.). They still haven't gotten a dairy person yet even though applications were due last week and several people applied.

-I got a new cereal holder that a lot of people like (I think for the novelty factor...). But it leaves a mess that can majorly attract ants and it crushes the cereal when it comes out so I might turn it back in.

Budget Update

House is $8,567.71
Social is $1,574.80
Bank is same ($3,657.86)
Food is $3,117.15 surplus

Still no new bank statement. I'm planning on balancing the checkbook once the new statement comes.

Previous budget update

Week's Activities

- bank run. deposited $789.95
- received keys back from Jackie and Kate. Kept Jackie's deposit because she lost a key. Released Kate's.
- moved in Alyse and Alison on Thursday. Showed them rooms, gave them keys.
- went to BSC house managers' meeting
- paid January AT&T bill. It was bigger than usual ($43.23) because the previous month had not been paid. The day after I sent in the check, I found the December bill in my mailbox. Odd. But everything is okay; don't worry.

activities

CRAZY WEEK!
Unfortunately the Academy of Sciences Nightlife for this week sold out, but we are still on to go next week. I have yet to recieve money from all but one person... But we are still planning on about the same schedule (leaving around 530 from the house and taking public transport). I also want to see if any drivers would be willing to go, which would save time and money and fun.

The party theme has also been finalized: Time Warp!

I'll be organizing room themes, decorating, and supply buying in the next 2 weeks, as well as assigning social hours for party set-up, security, and clean-up. I still have yet to figure out exactly what to do with the post-r2r music situation, and whether I should find someone to dj or try to assign social hours for guarding the ipod playlist. Also, I need to make a good and updated music playlist (and am open to help/input from the house...)

This week I am checking out the house to make sure it is up to fire code and will be filling out the party notification form and dropping it off at CO by friday. I also have to design a poster for the party and submit that too.

I'll be working on a rought script for a skit to liven up house council too... Get excited, Sherman.

Budget Update

Bank = $3,657.86
House = $9,830.40 (less than last time because of manager comp)
Social = about $1,535

New bank statement has not arrived yet.

Previous Budget Update

Week's Activities

This past week I...
- collected all social and internet fees
- talked to a member re: warm-blooded animals in the coops
- went to house council
- sent bulletin points to Natalie for the crappers
- talked to Shivani about a workshift
- gave an interested person an house tour and encouraged her to board/room at Sherman
- reimbursed Keighley for social stuff ($2.71)
- endorsed a shitload of checks, readied deposits for the bank tomorrow

Tomorrow I'm going to the bank, but we won't see the change in our bank statement until next month.

KM shiznit

Kitchen budget ~$2900

Evan is boarding with us again. We're charging him $800 for starting on Feb 2; this comes from $560 being the Sherman person rate (I can explain this to anyone who would like an explanation) and the remaining comes from the 1.5 hrs of workshift per wk that we'll be losing from a non-workshifter boarding. It should technically be 3 hrs BUT Maggie and I felt it ludicrous to charge $1100 for the semester, esp. since Kim only charged him $650 last semester.

Guilia's sister most likely will board with doing workshift. We're gonna charge her $300 if she starts Monday. Again, I can explain my rates to anyone who wants to know.

A lot of my job is behind the scenes. My main duties are:
-ordering food on the CK system on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, plus turning in sheets to CK personally on Mondays
-going to meetings
-sending emails (this is how we've been trying to get boarders) and communicating with CK about lost/incorrect orders
-creating menus: Maggie and I split it half and half - she takes a few days and I take a few to work on

Whenever I'm around at dinner I check on the cooks at least once during the middle of their shift to see if they need help. If cooks haven't done so I put meat to defrost in the fridge or soak beans. Or Maggie does this, whoever gets to it first. I put out plates and silverware if that hasn't been done already. I've been on pest-clean-up duty this weekend, getting rid of ants from our bread area. I try to find things to clean or clear here and there.

This Week's Activities

- Monday: Conducted manager's meeting. Went very well
- Prepared House Bulletin, put them around the house
-Prepared Discussion Points/Agenda for House Council
- Doing more prep for tonight's house council
-Spoke to a house member about basement reservation

I **think** that is all.

Budget Update

Social: about $1120
House: $13,183 (about $5,860 reserved for managers' compensation)
Bank: same as in the last bulletin ($3657.86)

I will be making a bank run soon, so the bank account should be more padded next time the statement comes in

Last Week's Activities

- had house council, did my spiel
- created an excel sheet to better document petty cash flow (more of this later)
- went through last bank statement to verify
- scanned through reimbursements from CO to our bank account (not on bank statement)
- transferred last semester's documents to filing bin
- counted up petty cash
- emailed house to remind them of fees due date (2/1/09)
- invited house to Google Calendar so that they can follow our Sherman calendar
- reimbursed Maggie for work party food (social, $21.52)
- started social excel sheet
- reimbursed Keighley for tea party (social, $12.72)
- more reimbursements (Katie, me, Christina, Sarah)
- emailed Jan re: construction noise
- went to managers' meeting
- room bids and tours
- collected Cassidy's keys
- gave Melody keys and orientation packet
- talked to one woman who wanted to come by and check out rooms

Activities 1/25

House Activities
- Prepare for and conducted House Managers meeting
-Added Bella to the Sherman manager listserve
- Helped with dinner dishes (does that count?)


What I need to do
- Send out email about next house council
- Send out email to house about all house council dates for the semester
- Review notes from Manager's meeting and create agenda for house council
- Get crate paper/Purchase new house council board
- Establish regular house council meeting times through doodle

Activities, Social Calendar complete

Last night I uploaded and semi-finalized plans for the rest of the semester on the google calendar for Sherman, so check it out! If there is anything on there you want to see that I haven't included, let me know.

Right now I am updating social hours.

And for everyone who came to wine and cheese, thank you! It was an awesome night, I had tons of fun, and I enjoyed the housey bonding cuteness. I hope everyone else did too!

Door tag making is coming up this thursday. Get ready for EXTREME amounts of decoration!

No game night, Wine and Cheese prep

Hey all,

Sorry for the short notice cancellation, I started feeling really sick in the evening, but now after a super fun doctor visit I should be back to normal for wine and Cheese on friday. I still need to go buy some wine... and cheese... To be done today or tomorrow. I will also start looking at the answers to the social survey so I can plot out some more events.

Hope everyone is adjusting well to school!

- Keighley, sm

What KMs have been up to

So of all our tasks we didn't get around to cleaning under the veggie sink. Other than that, we did finish the fridges, put in the milk machine, and mostly cleaned the bins (with the help of newbies and older folks at Work Party Part Deux).

We went to a KM mtg. tonight. We spent an hour talking about random stuff, from the seasonality of fruit to local beef companies to how to get your housemates to stop stealing your dishes among other things. I feel like we didn't really accomplish the original goal which was to get us all to talk about budgeting. The next meeting is at the end of next month although there are workshops we can attend sometime in the next week or so.

I think we're doing menus for temp week on a weekly basis; that way we can use up the produce and meat we do have at that time. We make sure to defrost the meat we'd like used. And we inform the cooks that they can change anything as long as they keep with the produce and meat we asked them to...or if they aren't infringing on other nights' plans.

Review of Goals

Here's my list of goals for this past week.

For the most part, I think my goals were accomplished. I never did get to the 2nd floor bathroom, and this was mostly because I was derailed from my mission when I helped out during work parties.

As for printing out bylaws, I decided against this when I realized the hardcopy is 37 pages. I opted for electronic instead, and now everyone should have a copy of the bylaws and the orientation packet.

Tea party and other activities

Thanks to everyone who came to the tea party, and especially to the lovely ladies who helped prep and set up for it! It helped me get a decent perspective on time management, food preparations, and setting up for events in the future. I had a lot of fun, and I hope you all did too!

I have finished the social survey and will send it out tonight or tomorrow morning after house council. After that's complete I'll finalize some more plans for house social events.

Today I'll be missing house council sadly, but I'm writing up an intro to all things social that will hopefully get everyone properly aquainted with my job and what they can expect this semester.

WOO!

Activties

DONE
- helped Keighley with the Google Calendar stuff
- moved in all the new people (still 1 vacancy left)
- drafted the bid list for room bids
- responded to an email Shivani sent
- attended our first social event
- posted house run items
- sent reminder emails to Maggie and Vanesa
- made copies of room B key
- printed and made copies of the orientation packet for new people
- gave Johanna lockout keys
- talked to Keighley about social fees
- fixed house printer (downloaded the missing software)

TO DO
- write up bulletin points for house bulletin
- email listserv re: online bylaws and orientation packet and the blog link

Sherman Calendar

Social updates

Hey all!

This is Keighley, your social manager! Here's a look at what I've been up to and what you all have to look foward to...

Right now I am focusing on getting the social calendar up and running. So far events I have planned include the welcome home tea party on saturday January 17th at 1 pm, a game night on tuesday the 21st around 7:30, and wine and cheese night on friday the 23rd at 8:30. Hopefully I will figure out soon how to put the social calendar online, and I will post a few copies around the house when I get a new printer ink cartridge.

Also, once everyone fills out the social survey (which I will send out after the first house council), I will add more events and set down more dates for future events.

If you have any ideas for events you know you want to have or throw, holla at a playa! You can email me at keighleym@berkeley.edu or shesm@bsc.coop, or just find me wandering around the house.

I am also currently working on making the social board pretty and up-to-date, so check that out (top of the stairs) for upcoming events. Be sure to post any events you are involved or interested in on the board!

I am trying to be able to be present at House Council on sunday, I'm currently entangled in a schedule snafu (sp?). Hopefully the comedy club I have non-refundable tickets for will have mercy on me and let me exchange them...

Hope everyone is having fun moving back in! See you all soon!

- Keighley McFarland

Activities

- moved in 4 people today (keys, getting key deposits, house tours, workshift/recycling/composting explanations)
- emailed 3 people re: what time they're moving in
- got back room B key, will make emergency copies tomorrow morning
- emailed Natalie the full house emails (39)
- confirmed with CO email addresses of new people and the remaining vacancy
- bought office supplies: printer ink for managers, dry erase markers, pens, envelopes, sharpies, tons of masking tape
- uploaded bylaws to Google Docs and published to the web
- finalized, uploaded, and published the orientation packet
- added links to the side of the blog

Later tonight I'll participate in work party parte deux and maybe finally get to handicapped bathroom 2.

Today's Activities

Last Night
- Typed up minutes from Manager's Meeting
- Compiled the Agenda for First House Council (This SUNDAY at 7 pm Living Room)

Today
- Vacuumed the entire house
- Helped two new house members move in
- Cleaned/Organized/Dusted the Study Room

Spring 2009 Orientation Packet

Can be found online here. There will also be an electronic version emailed out soon and Natalie will send out an electronic copy of the bylaws too.

Tasks completed and yet to do

Our first KM trainings were canceled. But I and people at CK have been helping Maggie out with what to do as a KM: order food, how to keep the kitchen clean, mtgs. we have to go to over the semester, working with cooks, etc.

Maggie and I have:
*gone to Safety Training (Wed, 2-6-ish)
- learned about cooking temps, sanitizing vs. cleaning, proper conduct in the kitchen, other stuff
- had to do mandatory IKC at Kingman, some houses skipped it, but CK said that since our house plus a few others stayed, we should be getting something special soon. Don't know what this means yet...
*cleaned the shelves that hold the big containers
*cleaned out/sanitized the produce and condiment fridges
*done some organizing of the container rack
*ordered food for this week and next week
*cleaned the stove and oven (still need to do stove back and griddle)
*got help from the house when we did Work Party I on Mon with the floors of the kitchen and dining room being cleaned

What should be done tonight at Work Party II:
*clean/sanitize rest of fridges
*put in milk machine
*clean fruit baskets and cereal containers, if little to no cereal left

What should be done by the 20th:
*menus
*clean under veggie sink
*IKEA run for plates, bowls, cups, mugs (all microwave safe) and chopsticks

Agenda for First House Council - Sunday January 18 2008 7 pm

Agenda- Each point follows Manager introductions and descriptions of Positions

· House Manager

o Fees for Social, Internet and Personal Refrigerators

o No Smoking House

o Read the Orientation Packet

o Room Tours and Bids

o Lock Out Keys

o Quiet Hours

· House President

o Ice-Breaker

o Description of House Council

§ Attendance Mandatory

§ Safe Space

§ Format-

· Bulletin on the bathroom stalls,

· Discussion points, motions, contentious items and announcements in council

§ Speaking order (point of order/information/personal privilege, question, comment)

o Bylaws- New Bylaw

· Workshift

o We need to establish dates for Workshift trainings

· Kitchen

o Basic food order, kitchen, sanitation information, food put away

o Vote on Dinner Time, Brunch Yes No When, Milk to be in Milk Machines

o Boarding Policy

· Compost

o Basic Rules of Compost and Recycling- Brief Tutorial

· Green Goddess

o Introduction to the Garden- Use it!!!

· Social

o Social Survey

o Calendar

o First Social Events

o Voting on Themes

Goals

To be accomplished by first day of school, Tuesday Jan. 20:

- ensure house is clean
- make a copy of room B key
- collect lockout keys and redistribute
- buy office supplies for house
- have a successful first house council
- move people in
- print out an orientation packet and make copies for new members
- print out bylaws and make copies for new members

Activities

Yesterday:
- attended training session from 2-6 pm. Put out a fire!
- made sure rooms were ready for move-in. Noted that room A needs a sweep.
- emailed with one woman transferring to Hoyt (and needing to move stuff out)
- emailed with one woman who was moving in today

Today:
- moved in one woman
- will attend managers' meeting
- will sweep room A and clean 2nd floor handicapped bathroom

MANAGER'S MEETING TONIGHT!

ALL managers: Please meet in the house foyer at 7:30 pm. We will go have dinner and plan the semester!

Please be prepared to think about goals for the semester, the first house council and remember to bring some writing material.

Thanks!

Nat

House President Activities 1/12- 1/14

1/12- 1/14

• Attended New Manager Training hosted by Central Office- Topics: Email/General BSC Info/Sexual Harassment/Alcohol and Substance Abuse
• Vacuumed first floor foyer (although the thing went kaputz after 30 minutes), helped clean living room, kitchen cabinets, removed Xmas decorations, took pictures, cleaned tables and dusted
• Updated the Health Worker Board
• Updated email lists
• Looked into KOA campgrounds for manager's retreat
• Preparation for first manager's meeting
• Cleaned third floor bathrooms: floors, toilets, counters, showers
• Will attend President's Training from 2pm-6pm today, Prep for managers meeting and hold managers meeting
  

Activities

Yesterday's accomplishments:
- came back to the house
- paid Comcast (cable, 13.78)
- paid Megapath (internet, 119.85)
- cleaned 1st floor bathroom
- cleaned dining room counter space
- helped remove Xmas decorations
- organized impromptu work party
--> cost: 1 bottle of social wine, $34 for pizza
- went to training, 3 hrs
- invited Johanna and Vanesa to the blog
- bugged Natalie about setting a time/date for managers' meeting

Pictures

(Potential) Activities

Here's what Maggie and I will need to do or should get done between now and the 18th. You all are free to add to this if I forgot things or you have better suggestions; Kimber and I went through this fast and with lots of help back in Aug so I may have forgot some steps. These are not in any particular order:

*clean under the veggie sink
*mop floors - I already did some sweeping last night (along with dishes
that folks have been leaving), but there's more to be done
*get rid of ants! - Yes we have some. It's winter, it's a given they will come in.
They're near the dining room compost and the metal/plastic recycling bin,
not in kitchen as far as I've found. They're nowhere near as bad as last year's ants.
Last year, they were in or near our tea, coffee, microwave, milk machine,
and some were found near the spices.
But we need more Raid or other bug spray.
*buy new plates, bowls, cups, and mugs - We should do an Ikea run
(or Costco, my aunt found cheap plates there, but not too microwave friendly)
*inventory (esp. staple foods like flour and sugar) MUST DO BY THE 11TH!!!
since orders are due 8am-ish on the 12th
*clean all the shelves that hold the big containers
*clean the fruit baskets
*clean the cereal holders - the 2 empty ones were already done
*throw away old food from fridges, freezers (those bags of meat!), and
dry goods' cabinets -There's not as much as you'd think.
Kimber was pretty good about ordering few veggies near the end there.
Yes, many people suffered during finals but it made the clean-up easy :)
*clean/sanitize fridges and freezers (including racks)
*clean the oven racks, stove tops, and griddle;
changing the foil under the stove
*come up with menus for about 2 weeks worth by the 11th
*organize container rack
*put in new milk machine before the 13th - or before milk gets delivered,
whatever comes sooner

At council we'll need to vote on:
*dinner time
*brunch (yes or no, then time if "yes" wins)
*milk.
Our standing milk order will take awhile to change if there is a change.

Anything else to add? Sorry that it's super long.

Activities

Somewhat lighter day, not too crazy. More emails.
- Got Esme's email about Google Docs problem, tried to resend the orientation packet invite to her (dunno if it worked)
- Confirmed move-in date of a new Shermanite
- Responded to Keighley's email re: social calendar and how to post it to this blog

As soon as I finish this, I'm sending out an email to the managers about what I want to do with this blog.

Activities

Got two responses so far to my move-in email. I added the women's names to my Google Calendar. Responded to one's queries about parking and directed her to Davis or Castro.

Responded to the woman moving in early about possibly squeezing her in between my return to Berkeley and my afternoon training session.

Responded to a Clone who is transferring from Sherman to Hoyt.

Activities

Yesterday I emailed CO to get the new email list for Sherman.

Today I sent out a pantload of emails.
1. To all house members re: move-ins
2. To managers re: orientation packet
- also started a Google Doc for the orientation packet
3. To Shivani re: workshift packet
4. Replied to an international student re: early move-in
5. To Keighley re: cultural social event
5. A chat with Natalie re: bylaws and acceptable excuses for missing house council

Now I will wait for the newbies to respond to me and set up move-in times.