The Weekly Newspaper of Torrance Herald Publications - Torrance, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 7, No. 44 - November 2, 2017 SBJA Dodger Blue Dress Day Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals ......................8 Classifieds ...........................4 Crossword/Sudoku ............4 Entertainment .....................2 Legals ...................................8 Pets .....................................12 Real Estate. ...................9-11 In honor of the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the National League pennant against the Chicago Cubs and making it to the World Series (the final results of which were not known at press time), students at South Bay Junior Academy in West Torrance were encouraged to wear Dodger Blue on October 24—and that they did! The day was celebrated with a stadium-style lunch menu of Dodger Dogs (aka veggie dogs), nachos, vanilla ice cream and churros. Photo Provided by SBJA. Sports ...................................5 Survey Enables Employees to TerriAnn in Torrance .........6 Reveal How Much They Loaf By Rob McCarthy Rising Productivity,” in which he opined that and engaged at meetings. Employees admit Once as a supervisor, I reprimanded a young companies are getting their money’s worth to putting on appearances at their desks, too, customer-service rep in our office who was even if today’s employees are shopping online in case their supervisors pop in unexpectedly. checking her smartphone every time I looked at their desks. “Let’s face it, the workday isn’t always filled up from my desk. She was the niece of a The average working American puts in with excitement,” said Brandi Britton, district good friend, so I persuaded HR to hire her. roughly a 34-hour workweek. Work output president for OfficeTeam. When it comes Weekend My request seemed reasonable. However, is rising even though the actual effort is down to it, the responsibility for staying busy it went over as well as a burp in church. declining, meaning “more is being done with and not pushing back from work is on the Forecast Another manager in the office later told me less,” according to Smith. That’s a good thing. employees themselves, she said. Managers that I was wrong to single out one employee “If I can complete a task in two hours that and supervisors can check in with staff to for something everybody in the office was used to take four, and spend the extra two make sure they are engaged and staying on doing. That our staff goofed off was hardly hours surfing Twitter, it means that tech- track too. Friday a revelation. I just didn’t know how much nology, management or some other aspect The question, “What do you do when bored or exactly why--until now. of the economy has gotten twice as good,” in the office?” brought some garden-variety AM Clouds/ White collar employees admitted to a Bay Smith writes. answers. People said they browse the Internet, PM Sun Area staffing firm that they goof off 10.5 He adds, “Even if slacking off is a bad check personal email and social media, pay hours a week. Millennial males say they’re the thing, it could be good news for technologi- bills and talk to co-workers. A few talked 66˚/58˚ most bored in offices and cube farms. They cal progress.” about waging “rubber band battles” and estimate playing on their phones, surfing the And, Smith writes, it would explain why the working on an unfinished manuscript. Web and--get this--working on their unfinished adoption of information systems technology Britton with OfficeTeam offered some Saturday novels almost 14 hours per workweek. in U.S. companies hasn’t lifted the nation’s career advice for those who find their work The survey sample wasn’t huge, for what productivity over the past 30 years. Why dull and uninspiring. “When boredom strikes Partly it’s worth. The OfficeTeam, based in Menlo productivity is flat has stumped economists. or there’s a lull in activity, individuals should Cloudy Park, says that the researchers took responses The OfficeTeam’s examination of employee proactively ask to help with projects that from 380 adult workers and 300-plus senior habits found that management underestimated challenge and interest them,” she said. 66˚/58˚ managers at companies with 20 or more staff. how much paid staff time is going towards Some creative ways people say they dodge This project calls to mind screenwriter non-work activities. They guessed too low. work are: Mike Judge’s 1999 film Office Space, about a Some the managers--39 percent--thought • Learning a language Sunday group of restless tech workers. The leader of their people had too much work to complete. • Doing crossword puzzles the group, named Peter, spends his day in a Others acknowledged the lack of motivation • Doodling Mostly cubicle updating banking software ahead of the to get things done, saying that employees • Daydreaming Y2K changeover and watching out for his boss didn’t feel challenged enough by assignments. • Making videos Cloudy who’s going to ask him to work the weekend. While slacking off is a year-round habit, of- • Watching TV shows and movies 65˚/59˚ Another writer who has explored the topic fice workers reported feeling the most bored • Playing online games of slacking on the job is Bloomberg View in the winter months. Asking for extra work, cleaning their desks, columnist Noah Smith. He penned an article What are these people doing instead of and looking for another job finished near the in May about “Goofing Off at Work Masking work? One answer: Trying to look interested bottom of the list. • Page 2 November 2, 2017 TORRANCE TRIBUNE Entertainment Film Review Check It Out Oscar-Worthy The Square Is a Satirical Hazel Gaynor’s The Cottingley Secret Look at Affluence Through Modern Art Delves into Fairy and Family Mystiques By H. Nelson Tracey either glamorized or normalized. Here, as was Reviewed by Roz Templin, Library ensure her grandmother’s medical bills are for www.cinemacy.com true of his last film, Östlund takes a critical Assistant, El Segundo Public Library paid, Olivia must face up to some hard truths About once a year, if we’re lucky, a movie examination of wealth in a way in which we Olivia Kavanaugh inherits an old book- and make difficult decisions. There is a bit comes along that transcends the labels of all can take a lesson. shop when her beloved grandfather passes of romance that presents itself unexpectedly, comedy, drama and other classified genres. It To English-speaking audiences, a trio of away. She’s in the midst of wedding plans, as well as some unexplained phenomena that will also prove that with top-tier filmmaking, recognizable faces each play a supporting role: occur in her bookshop’s window display. you can utilize a full emotional range to tell Elisabeth Moss as a naive reporter, Dominic Fairytale stories and verse shed some light a story. It is safe to say we have an entry for West as a self-serving artist and lastly, Terry on the basic questions of belief. If you can’t this year in Ruben Östlund’s The Square. Notary--whose name doesn’t carry star power, see or touch something, does that mean it A modern art museum in Sweden, vying to be but whose resume includes doing motion capture doesn’t exist? During the original Cottingley cutting edge while also needing to sustain its for the Kong and Planet of the Apes movies. fairies incident, the United Kingdom was overhead and encourage people to actually visit, Here, Notary plays a controversial performance reeling from the injuries and loss of life. is getting ready for its newest, boldest exhibit: artist and I’ll only say his animal motion capture The First World War Spiritualism (which The Square. At the helm of the museum is work gets to play off extraordinarily. The star included belief in fairies or “elementals”) Christian (Claes Bang) who lives in a swanky of the film remains Claes Bang, whose deadpan was very popular and gave hope to survivors apartment, drives a Tesla and has no trouble scor- delivery as Christian, no matter what scenario that they may see their loved ones again in ing beautiful women. Because this new exhibit he finds himself in, is both endlessly relatable another realm. Olivia also experiences quite is almost entirely focused on helping people and at times hysterical. a few deaths in this story, and we come to and trusting strangers, Christian presents himself It is not required that you see Östlund’s last understand her growing attachment to the with the challenge of upholding the artistic vi- feature, Force Majeure, before you see this film. fairy manuscript and to those persons involved sion of altruism throughout the rest of his life. However, it does prime you for what to expect in the event. She has recurring dreams of a In reaction to his generally self-serving from his particular style. His preceding film little red-headed girl that get resolved as she behavior, the new exhibit pushes Christian also deals with painfully comedic scenarios of nears the end of the forgotten manuscript. out of his comfort zone. Yet in every ear- an affluent family set in a ski resort. That be- Author Hazel Gaynor did some extensive nest (or disingenuous) attempt to help other ing said, the ideas and aspirations that Östlund research into the real story of those famous people--his co-workers, the homeless, family introduced in Force Majeure are delivered in fairies and she adds some extra information at members--there is a bitter, comical pushback.