A Case Of The Mondays: Vent Your Work Spleen Here

[bilgistic]

15 hours ago, tribeca said:

Was working my part time cashier job at the restaurant last night.  We were in middle of a lovely snow storm with a touch of freezing rain.  A guest came in 10 minutes before closing.  We can’t leave until last guest leaves.  Guest stayed till 10:30 then left the server $1.89 tip.  Got into his Mercedes and got stuck in parking lot. 

It was a stressful scary ride home. 

I worked as a waitress for two months when I was 15 and that was long enough to know I was not cut out for it. My sisters have both worked for years and years in restaurants and/or bars. I have the deepest respect for people who work in food service. As "they" say, if you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to eat out.

And I would never go to a restaurant later than an hour before closing. Even that is pushing it. And in dangerous weather? Screw that guy. He was a selfish (and cheap) asshole.

[bilgistic]

We've talked about this maybe in Pet Peeves, but it happens at my job (three times today already and I've only been here four hours), so here goes: pause your phone conversation when going through a sales transaction. It's rude as hell to treat a person serving you as if they are invisible. I thought this before I worked as a cashier (in this quarter century, ahem), but I definitely think it now that people do it to me. Nobody's that important that they can't put down the phone and go through the checkout. If you can't stop talking, wait to check out.

Also, I dropped a container of blueberries, so that was fun. Blueberries everywhere!

[hoosier80]

It's been freezing cold here with wind chills up to -40. Yeah, I was feeling achy and like a cold coming on, so I worked from home.  One co-worker acts so concerned, but is just digging for dirt.  I keep it so general and truthful, want to tell her to mind her own business.  

The Dip is getting worse and worse.  Took me over a day to review her work and I had 2 pages (8X11) of errors.  Four tries for her to get it all corrected.  The thing is, she's big time pissing off people in other departments now.  One person said, can I refuse to work on anything she touches?  I did bend the ear of my boss, saying I honestly don't know how to train her (and I've worked as a trainer in another company), my stress is going through the roof.  He was like we need to meet regularly.  He got in very hot water re: one of her direct fuck ups, and one indirect (which I'm sure he blames her - kind of justified there - more than his buddy).  

Working through one issue with programmers, one solution didn't work.  VP in another area, known for getting super hyper, had a cow.  I'd said we would have a plan b from programming in the morning.  I had just logged in, and got an IM from one of his clueless managers (they have given day to day to two other folks who do possess working brains), saying we need it done NOW.  Should I call programmer? Sure, go ahead and interrupt them while they try to figure this out.  Manager backed off. Guess what, got it all resolved, and their other shit they needed today got done, too.  We're going to have more wintery weather tomorrow, and boss told all to just let him know if we couldn't make it into the office.  I may bail.  Not sure.   Dip didn't know if her luxury (and I mean luxury - 50 to 85k) car would be able to make it through ice/snow.  That's when I went uhhhh, maybe I'll call off, even though I do have an SUV.  Not busting my ass; last week (?) two or more people told me that the Dip and the other co-worker were surfing the net until I came in that day.  One sits and watches videos on her phone or has gossip sites up on pc.  This is the same time when Dip had so many errors (errors that a client would see).  

[Hero]

My boss was in an unusually nice mood today, but it came off as very fake. It's like she has anger boiling on the surface and she is trying really hard to contain it. 

[magicdog]

14 hours ago, Hero said:

My boss was in an unusually nice mood today, but it came off as very fake. It's like she has anger boiling on the surface and she is trying really hard to contain it. 

That may very well be the case.  I’ve worked with people that were walking on their own eggshells like they’d snap at any moment!

[theredhead77]

@Moose135 any update on that job? I've been awaiting news that will blow up this thread.

[bilgistic]

*rimshot*

[Moose135]

30 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

@Moose135 any update on that job? I've been awaiting news that will blow up this thread.

Not yet - I had the second round interview with the hiring manager a couple of weeks ago, and it went well.  He said he had other candidates to interview, which he would have wrapped up by the end of the month (yesterday/today) then he would set up in person interviews with his finalists.  I'm expecting to hear something next week if I made the final round.

I did have a second round interview on Wednesday for an analyst job with a national financial services company with a major presence in Charlotte.  I interviewed with a recruiter a couple of weeks ago, then he set up a call with one of the team members to review my "technical" skills, namely SQL and Excel.  I'm an Excel ace, but not so much SQL, so I spent the last week reviewing it online.  Call seemed to go well, and she said they would be contacting people next week for a call with her and her manager, the head of the group.  Hopefully I'll have some news in a week or two!

[hoosier80]

Had another phone call 1 on 1 meeting with boss.  He's been ok to me, while he's driven Dip to tears on occasion.  I told him I understand (truly I do) the frustration.  He asked if I was keeping track of her mistakes, because I said I am fearful I'm not going to catch something.  Both Dip and the Queen Bee are fucking up on a regular basis.

New user says I can't see reports, or accounts, or link to abc system.  Oh ID is ok.  I was asked by the Tech group on at least 2 separate occasions to double check the setup.  Yeah, both were wrong.  Clearly said to mirror existing user John Smith and while John had two options, new users had 1 (two separate occasions, different systems, but they use the same logic on ID set up).  Both swore to Tech, oh the ID is good.  Guy got their emails the next morning, which he laughed at, and responded with don't bother Hoosier figured it out and it's all resolved - by the way the ID was wrong.  Other simple stuff Dip did, didn't follow procedures one bit (I would've bet my paycheck on it); checked it and sure enough, incomplete, wrong dates, etc.  I get the response, "oh I thought I was getting better".  I went radio silent.  Very silent.  Like monk in a monastery silent.

So today, boss says well I released reviews online, and this is probably the only time you got one mention of failed to meet expectations.  Yeah, I have always had stellar reviews.  Always.  The major errors the Dip and QB had impacted reviews for the entire team, so because I'm on the fucking ship of fools, I have to go down with the ship.  I'm so going to comment.  It's such BS.  I asked QB and Dip if they needed help on one item - they said no, we've got it covered.  What was I supposed to do?  I cannot check every aspect of their work.  Sadly, I told boss about Dip and how she was so wrong for job (along with a former co-worker - two years ago).  He did nothing.  And Dip still says oh it's just one mistake.  One mistake that was MAJOR and went to senior management, you idiot.  Cannot comprehend that one iota.  Boss also took a major hit on his review, so trickle down theory.  He said he didn't want me to be discouraged about it.  I almost said, well maybe I should start looking on Indeed or call up some of my contacts around town.  

On a daily basis, I feel as if I'm slogging uphill through a bog, dragging a loaded wagon.  This is while the two idiots sit and surf the net.  I think I'm going to make trips down the aisle - at surprise times, to speak to our office manager (a friend) say it's about something business related.  I have something tomorrow.  If they're surfing the net, I will make a comment.  Maybe instead of surfing the net, learn how to do your damned job?  I've also thought of getting a small spy cam, those tiny ones, and record (somehow) what the two are doing.  I'm seriously beyond pissed.   And if it has cost me $$$, I'm out for blood.  Tired of being handed the hardest shit to do, get it done error free, and then get penalized because two people cannot do the simple tasks assigned to them.   Stopping and playing the lottery tomorrow night.  If there is any justice, I'll win enough to walk in and quit on Friday.

[bilgistic]

At my cashier grocery store job (as opposed to the bakery grocery store job), we have a Coinstar machine. This young-ish guy came in today with three buckets of coins and fed them into the machine for over an hour. I was jumping out of my skin because of the noise. It seems his grandparents have accumulated several buckets of change and he takes it to the store to cash it in. He'd been in before and still has more to bring in. He cashed in $200-something today. I told my manager that we should all get a 10% cut for pain and suffering.

[EighteenTwelve]

All the K-12 schools called off yesterday because we were looking at 10" of heavy wet snow ending right at rush hour.  Most of the universities called off either yesterday or early this morning.  The state offices delayed two hours. 

My university sent out four emails reminding us that we are open for normal business today and anyone who can't make it in on time must contact their supervisor.

[KittyMom4]

As an administrative assistant one of the things I sometimes have to do is decline speaking engagement/conference invitations on my boss' behalf. For the most part the organizations are understanding, every now and then I get some arrogant jerk who does not accept a polite but firm "unfortnately her schedule doesn't permit". Today I got one of those, his response was "Ok, so when will her schedule permit?" I politely responded that I wasn't sure since her schedule is in flux most days, but, if he had another date in mind I could certainly check and see. He said he wanted me to give a date that would work and he would work around it. So I had to pull out the "Unfortunately I don't forsee a date working, it would be better if you moved on to the next person who might better fit your schedule for this event." Then he got angry, so I just kept reiterating that I could not commit her to his event and he finally ended the call saying I was rude.

Why am I rude?? Dude, she can't accept every invitation she is sent, otherwise she'd spend every day doing it! I'm sorry you think your event is soooooo important and how dare my boss decline to take part, as if she just turned down an invitation from the Queen. Then you call me rude, I'm doing my job, suck it.

Edited March 13, 2019 by GoodieGirl

[magicdog]

55 minutes ago, GoodieGirl said:

As an administrative assistant one of the things I sometimes have to do is decline speaking engagement/conference invitations on my boss' behalf. For the most part the organizations are understanding, every now and then I get some arrogant jerk who does not accept a polite but firm "unfortnately her schedule doesn't permit". Today I got one of those, his response was "Ok, so when will her schedule permit?" I politely responded that I wasn't sure since her schedule is in flux most days, but, if he had another date in mind I could certainly check and see. He said he wanted me to give a date that would work and he would work around it. So I had to pull out the "Unfortunately I don't forsee a date working, it would be better if you moved on to the next person who might better fit your schedule for this event." Then he got angry, so I just kept reiterating that I could not commit her to his event and he finally ended the call saying I was rude.

Why am I rude?? Dude, she can't accept every invitation she is sent, otherwise she'd spend every day doing it! I'm sorry you think your event is soooooo important and how dare my boss decline to take part, as if she just turned down an invitation from the Queen. Then you call me rude, I'm doing my job, suck it.

I totally understand your plight.  I think there are many people today who fall into one of two catagories in this scenario:  plain rude, and indignant.  The latter is usually born of frustration and the belief that people like your boss are too good to grace them with her presence.  Then they thing you are the gatekeeper (and you are) and feel like they’re getting the brush off and treated like they don’t matter.  Sure you were doing your job and I’m certain you were as honest and polite as possible,  but that seems to be the prevailing perception these days.

[KittyMom4]

@magicdog I totally see what you're saying, especially the gatekeeper part. My boss is a woman and she's fairly young to be a CEO of a pretty good size company, and I sometimes feel people outside our organization see her as a token instead of the incredibly smart, hard-working, busy woman she truly is. They think she is just the face of the company, therefore she has plenty of time to research, prepare and travel to their event across the country on a moment's notice. Also, add into this, a lot of the speaking requests specifically ask her to speak about how/why our company is so successful, detailed information that is proprietory and not for public knowledge. Because of this we have a pretty strict critieria that has to be met in order for her to even consider the event, but her schedule is ultimatley the dictator to whether she can commit.

Being the gatekeeper is not a power trip for me, I do not decline with a cavalier or arrogant, holier-than-thou attitude, I try to soften it with how flattered my boss was to be asked, however due to time constraints/business obligations/etc. she isn't able to participate. And like I said, most people are fine with that answer but a few take offense, almost to the point like they feel it's a personal rejection instead of the business decision it actually is.

Edited March 13, 2019 by GoodieGirl

[bilgistic]

I'm so tired of the drama at the bakery grocery store job. I'm still there one day a week because I don't get enough hours at the cashier grocery store job.

On Monday, one of my bakery coworkers found out the water was cut off at her apartment complex. How did she find out? Because she's constantly on her phone on the store floor, of course.

So she started freaking out about how she was going to shower for work on Tuesday (it was then mid-afternoon on Monday), and another employee (who doesn't work in our department; she was just hanging out...who knows why) and I both said, "Take a whore's bath." She said she's on her period. Other employee says, "So get two gallons of water and take a birdbath."

Dramatic Employee says that she's going to call out of work on Tuesday if she can't shower (which, what!?), and proceeds to try to set up an overnight stay, i.e., use the shower, at the home of one of her hookups, one of whom used to live with her (I think) and is her "ex-fiance" because she's one of those people who has several ex-fiances. And then gets further upset--like, actually crying--because one of them is possibly with a woman when she was trying to FaceTime him (again, we're at work in a grocery store bakery department). She runs off to the back/off the floor. She isn't exclusive with any of these guys, so I don't get it. I don't get any of it. Third employee who stays on her phone all the time runs off to comfort Dramatic Employee. Meanwhile, I'm the only one actually working during all this.

Yes, I (and others) have told our manager numerous times about this kind of garbage.

I get that people in their early 30s and younger grew up with devices in their hands, but I don't accept that "it's just the way it is" that people will be on their phones all day at work. It's rude and unfair to working employees, it looks atrocious in front of customers, and the company isn't paying its employees to play on their phones.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 3/13/2019 at 10:49 PM, bilgistic said:

the company isn't paying its employees to play on their phones.

From what you said, apparently it is. 🙂

Sorry.  I do agree that co-workers who want everyone in their workplace to be supporting players in what they imagine to be the Grand Soap Opera That Is Their Life - are the fucking worst.  I actually am sympathetic to the problem of suddenly not being able to shower when you have a job that involves working with the public ( happened to me more than once).  But of course this just opened up a door to DRAMA! as it would for anyone with this personality type.  And I bet one of the rest of you might even have offered to help her, if she had continued to pitch in and work alongside the rest of you.

[Mindthinkr]

On 3/13/2019 at 10:49 PM, bilgistic said:

I'm so tired of the drama at the bakery grocery store job. I'm still there one day a week because I don't get enough hours at the cashier grocery store job.

On Monday, one of my bakery coworkers found out the water was cut off at her apartment complex. How did she find out? Because she's constantly on her phone on the store floor, of course.

So she started freaking out about how she was going to shower for work on Tuesday (it was then mid-afternoon on Monday), and another employee (who doesn't work in our department; she was just hanging out...who knows why) and I both said, "Take a whore's bath." She said she's on her period. Other employee says, "So get two gallons of water and take a birdbath."

Dramatic Employee says that she's going to call out of work on Tuesday if she can't shower (which, what!?), and proceeds to try to set up an overnight stay, i.e., use the shower, at the home of one of her hookups, one of whom used to live with her (I think) and is her "ex-fiance" because she's one of those people who has several ex-fiances. And then gets further upset--like, actually crying--because one of them is possibly with a woman when she was trying to FaceTime him (again, we're at work in a grocery store bakery department). She runs off to the back/off the floor. She isn't exclusive with any of these guys, so I don't get it. I don't get any of it. Third employee who stays on her phone all the time runs off to comfort Dramatic Employee. Meanwhile, I'm the only one actually working during all this.

Yes, I (and others) have told our manager numerous times about this kind of garbage.

I get that people in their early 30s and younger grew up with devices in their hands, but I don't accept that "it's just the way it is" that people will be on their phones all day at work. It's rude and unfair to working employees, it looks atrocious in front of customers, and the company isn't paying its employees to play on their phones.

This person must be related to the people who work in my local deli department. I’ll be at the counter politely waiting and they are chatting, eating, and make me feel like I have cut into their personal time because I would like to purchase something. This has happened more than 3 times. I wonder if it would benefit if I complained to the store manager (anonymously and at a different time than when I am in there). 

Their inability to focus on their job probably makes more work for you. I get wanting a shower, but whining about it at work sounds like noise I don’t want to hear while I’m trying to do my job. 

[theredhead77]

4 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I wonder if it would benefit if I complained to the store manager (anonymously and at a different time than when I am in there). 

I filled out a receipt survey after an experience at the front end where the associates were busy chatting and complaining instead of working. I received a call from the GM about it. That isn't the only time I've received calls from a store or department manager after completing the survey - those are seen by corporate and are taken pretty seriously.

[bilgistic]

4 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

Their inability to focus on their job probably makes more work for you. I get wanting a shower, but whining about it at work sounds like noise I don’t want to hear while I’m trying to do my job. 

I mentioned to her that there's a water outage somewhere within my complex roughly once a month. She was stunned. I've lived in multi-family housing (apartments/condos) for 20-plus years. Water outages are just part and parcel. The water is almost always back on by 9pm at the latest. Housing management and the city know that families need to drink, cook and bathe.

She was going to have water by the time she had to shower in the morning; she just wanted to manufacture drama because that's her brand.

Yet I've been dropped down again to four whole hours on the schedule next week. OK.

[hoosier80]

@bilgistic, I totally get your frustration. I don't understand why some get away with everything, and others always get the short end of the stick. 

The latest bit of fuckery at work, has me so upset right now I am crying and shaking.  We got our work from home days cut from 2 to 1 due to major (and I mean major) fuckups that my two co-workers did (Dip and Queen Bee).  Boss had been warned about Dip multiple times by me and a former co-worker.  Just a matter of time until she'd do a major fuck up and boom!  Cost the company $$ (Dip still doesn't understand - saying it was just one mistake - nope you turned off the wrong client - the entire client).  Queen Bee & Dip worked on a system event; I asked do you need any help?  Nope, it's all good - said QB.  Yeah it was fucked up. Not only that but it was on MY review as well, because we're a team.  Ok, so if I go above and beyond, they get credit then, too?  Because if that's the case, nope I won't bust my ass.  No response.

So now, after TWO YEARS, QB finally got her remote access figured out.  Whatever.  QB didn't want it because she worked part time at another place down the street, plus if something goes wrong, she didn't want to be called.  Now, it apparently works for her.  We were told no Monday or Friday for WFH.  Yep, she it taking Monday and boss said it's ok. 

And both of them come in around 5 to 5:30 and leave by 1 to 2 pm.  That leaves me alone to handle all the late in the day requests.  I am beyond the point of frustration.  I have written multiple drafts to boss, forwarding QB's email to me, basically saying (nicely but tersely, WTF - I mean what the actual fuck??).  I have shelved it for now to rethink, so I don't shoot myself in the foot with my response.  Oh, and when we were chopped on days, somehow Dip took one of my original days.  I was like how in the fuck did that happen?  I just let it roll for the time being, but the bottom line is that my boss knows he is screwed beyond screwed if I walk.  I don't want to use that leverage at every opportunity as it would wear out at some point.  He'd maybe just say fuck it and tell me to leave already.

The good news is that a colleague at another site, whom we work with on a daily basis, had a long talk with his boss (his boss reported the two major fuck ups as it screwed over that team and cost them $$, rescheduling, and resources).  He told his boss (they were discussing why our two teams aren't merged), well Dip and QB are worthless, just make things worse, poor communication, don't know their jobs, etc.  Keep Hoosier though because she straightens shit out - gave me a major shoutout.

I just hope this boss communicates that to upper management like he did the fuck ups.  

[BookWoman56]

On 3/16/2019 at 12:24 PM, bilgistic said:

She was going to have water by the time she had to shower in the morning; she just wanted to manufacture drama because that's her brand.

Back when I was living in an apartment in south Florida, the water once got cut off, with no warning, right when I was in the middle of dying my hair. It didn't come back on for a few hours. That was...not fun.

@hoosier80, that entire situation sucks. You could be doing a great job all the time, yet the two idiots who work with you are going to drag down your performance rating because they are both ignorant of how to do their jobs and too stupid to ask for help/find out how to do their jobs correctly. I hope the situation improves for you; you'd think that such costly mistakes would result in them losing their jobs or being given a lateral move into an area where their screw-ups have minimal impact. 

Meantime, I'm essentially in limbo. My current manager is still out on medical leave, and until she comes back, my reporting line can't be changed to a different manager. I can deal with the delay, but it's a little frustrating as I now have dotted line reporting to the person who will eventually be my new manager, but still have to deal with a colleague on my current team who has essentially taken over during the real manager's absence. This is the one whose major area of expertise is dumping her work on other people. On a more immediate basis, though, I've been pulling my hair out for the last week or so because I've had to work with a former colleague who thinks she's a great writer/editor, and keeps offering to assist me with a major document due by the end of this week. She was supposed to review content for a small section of the document, but has used that function as a pretext to go into the document and wreak havoc. Left a comment for me in the document, asking if I was going to change abbreviation ABC to the spelled-out version of the term, essentially implying that I had overlooked doing that. Had to respond, "Actually, per the official style guide for this specific document, we are supposed to use abbreviation ABC rather than spelling out the term, in this context." She has somehow managed repeatedly to completely fuck up the formatting of the document, so that sections that are supposed to be numbered are no longer numbered. She's not using the correct built-in style settings for bulleted lists and so forth, so I'm having to go behind her and do damage control. She claims to have once managed a small team of tech writers, but if that's true, she obviously had no idea WTF she was doing; her current role is not as a writer. She has reworded several sentences and probably 75% of the time, has ended up introducing a grammar mistake, or just plain changed the meaning of something so it's no longer accurate. She doesn't seem to understand the difference between editing to improve readability and making a sentence mean something quite different. And finally, the plural of "methodology" is not "methodology's". I would ordinarily not be so pissed off at a minor mistake like that, but FFS don't act as if you are an expert in writing and then inject multiple usage mistakes into a document. 

Edited March 20, 2019 by BookWoman56

[bilgistic]

13 minutes ago, BookWoman56 said:

And finally, the plural of "methodology" is not "methodology's".

This causes me physical pain.

[hoosier80]

Well, I've not sent anything officially.  I'm working from home today, as I truly do feel like shit.  I don't think the work BS is helping, but there's definitely something going around again.

And a note to all workaholics.  Just don't do it.  One person in our office (who is physically active, seemingly in relatively good shape) was in the office last week, thought they had a flu bug or chest cold.  Nope. Had major surgery over the weekend, after being told it was nothing by urgent care.  Someone finally took them to the ER.  Had they not gone to the ER or gone later, probably would have been fatal.  This person would work on weekends to try and get stuff done, but has been at the same level for at least 5 years (management but still at same level).  They're doing well, or stable now, still in the hospital, with what sounds like a very lengthy recovery period ahead.  Will have to live in either rehab center and/or with relatives for quite some time is what has been said thus far.  Person is in their mid 40's.    And guess what?  Our office is still chugging along.  Their work will get done.  Maybe not as thoroughly, but it will get done.  

I've noticed a change in some management people, more friendly, less frantic.  It really smacked some people right in the face as a wake up call. 

[bilgistic]

15 minutes ago, hoosier80 said:

Well, I've not sent anything officially.  I'm working from home today, as I truly do feel like shit.  I don't think the work BS is helping, but there's definitely something going around again.

And a note to all workaholics.  Just don't do it.  One person in our office (who is physically active, seemingly in relatively good shape) was in the office last week, thought they had a flu bug or chest cold.  Nope. Had major surgery over the weekend, after being told it was nothing by urgent care.  Someone finally took them to the ER.  Had they not gone to the ER or gone later, probably would have been fatal.  This person would work on weekends to try and get stuff done, but has been at the same level for at least 5 years (management but still at same level).  They're doing well, or stable now, still in the hospital, with what sounds like a very lengthy recovery period ahead.  Will have to live in either rehab center and/or with relatives for quite some time is what has been said thus far.  Person is in their mid 40's.    And guess what?  Our office is still chugging along.  Their work will get done.  Maybe not as thoroughly, but it will get done.  

I've noticed a change in some management people, more friendly, less frantic.  It really smacked some people right in the face as a wake up call. 

Yes! When I quit and then heard that three people had to be hired to replace me, that really told me how much work I was doing. I don't get paid enough to live now that I work in retail, but damn if I don't love having very little responsibility other than being a conscientious worker. I don't have to think about work when I exit the doors, though being who I am, I do.

The problem is...it all has spoiled me for finding work in my specialty. I want a meaningful job with a good work-life balance and a reasonable amount of responsibility, and it seems that's impossible to find. I have "too much" experience for certain jobs and the ones to which my experience matches look so stressful just from the job description. No thank you.

[magicdog]

On 3/20/2019 at 8:12 AM, hoosier80 said:

And a note to all workaholics.  Just don't do it.  One person in our office (who is physically active, seemingly in relatively good shape) was in the office last week, thought they had a flu bug or chest cold.  Nope. Had major surgery over the weekend, after being told it was nothing by urgent care.  Someone finally took them to the ER.  Had they not gone to the ER or gone later, probably would have been fatal.  This person would work on weekends to try and get stuff done, but has been at the same level for at least 5 years (management but still at same level).  They're doing well, or stable now, still in the hospital, with what sounds like a very lengthy recovery period ahead.  Will have to live in either rehab center and/or with relatives for quite some time is what has been said thus far.  Person is in their mid 40's.    And guess what?  Our office is still chugging along.  Their work will get done.  Maybe not as thoroughly, but it will get done.  

Agreed, although there was a time when working hard meant promotions and raises and other perks.  These jerks (along with a lot of other latter day bosses ) just don't bother with that anymore.  I hope your co-worker is doing better.

Guess who took the time to exploit their kid today?  Yup - Bitcheroo!  This time, her kid was shown counting in what seemed to be gibberish.  According to her, it was Russian.  She insists her kid is just so smart since no one speaks Russian at home (although he has an abuela who speaks Spanish).  Supposedly he went to seek out speaking another language on his own.

Now, normally, I encourage kids to seek out knowledge on their own and I applaud when they teach themselves something constructive.  However, the only way this might have happened was if he was on the computer and maybe searched it out (or maybe someone has a language DVD at home), but if it's the former, that means he may have gone on the computer alone (mommy claimed it was a big surprise he started speaking Russian out of the blue) which I do not approve of, since kids should always be supervised when going online.  Plus, this kid isn't even in kindergarten yet, so naturally, "The Boy Who Cried Yacht", has graced our viewers with his intellectual prowess!

I should take it easy on Bitcheroo - so far she's kept her distance from me, and that's about all I can ask for!

[bilgistic]

Today I am proud of myself for doing something that I've never done before. I'm 44 years old, and I've never before placed my needs before a company's. I quit the bakery grocery store job because they had gradually cut me down to four hours a week after initally having me scheduled for 27-32+ per week. As y'all know, I started a cashier job at another store in January. This week I was asked to take on a few hours a week in the deli/bakery, which will more than make up for the hours at the job I quit. I start training in the deli/bakery tomorrow.

In the past, I have stayed at toxic, unhealthy jobs for 1.5 to three-plus years, severely damaging my already tenuous mental health. I left this job today after 5.5 months of employment. I ABSOLUTELY REALIZE that this is a privilege, since I have a second job, but the rub is that I make so little money. However, my mental health is more important than money. I'm finally, finally taking that lesson to heart. I'm learning and embracing my boundaries and how to stick to them.

As I've mentioned, the job I quit was non-stop drama, and poorly performing employees were allowed to continue their bad behavior. I was a conscientious and hard worker, so color me confused about the scheduling situation, other than perhaps the fact that I brought up to management the issues with the poor performers (constantly on their phones while "working", for example). I just don't believe in letting unethical behavior slide.

The store I work in now seems to be relatively drama-free. The staff seems to be hardworking, ethical, and conscientious. I'm not paid enough ($10.50/hour, which is so, so little money; I'll be getting about 32 hours a week with the extra day in the deli), but it seems so far to be a decent job.

I'm still (sigh) looking for/applying for jobs in my specialty, but I'm at least making an income in the meantime. I feel like a weight has been lifted from me now that I don't have to go back to drama central ever again.

[BookWoman56]

1 hour ago, bilgistic said:

As I've mentioned, the job I quit was non-stop drama, and poorly performing employees were allowed to continue their bad behavior. I was a conscientious and hard worker, so color me confused about the scheduling situation, other than perhaps the fact that I brought up to management the issues with the poor performers (constantly on their phones while "working", for example). I just don't believe in letting unethical behavior slide.

Good for you for quitting; even though this doesn't sound like the toxic work environment you were previously in at your old job, there's no reason for you to have to deal with this kind of nonsense for minimal pay. Call me cynical, but my guess is your hours were cut precisely because you did alert management to the performance issues. A long time ago, my first husband was working for a pizza restaurant chain as a manager, after getting his undergrad degree and while looking for a job in his field. He discovered that at one of the stores in this franchise, a manager was doing some serious embezzling. Despite the fact that my husband had been sent to that store because the franchise owner suspected something weird was going on, from that point on, the owner treated my husband like crap. Seriously, the restaurant my husband managed had the entire AC system break down in the summer, and the owner wouldn't have it fixed for over 3 months, so customers were coming in and walking back out in a couple of minutes because it was so damn hot there. Then the owner fired my husband because sales had declined too much. Go figure. But as I said, we and others noticed at the time that the owner's attitude toward my husband changed dramatically as soon as my husband confirmed that the embezzlement by another  manager was happening. It wasn't quite a case of "shoot the messenger," but definitely one of "fire the messenger." My guess with your management is that they just don't want to hear about any problems, because they think it reflects badly on them. 

[magicdog]

10 hours ago, BookWoman56 said:

My guess with your management is that they just don't want to hear about any problems, because they think it reflects badly on them. 

It does because it's likely something they could fix but choose not to, regardless of the reason.  I come from a background in which you fix the problem if you can, not alleviate the symptoms that stem from it.  The trouble is no one knows how to manage or problem solve anymore.  Better it seems to just "go with the flow" and not hurt anyone's feelings or risk a lawsuit.  

[bilgistic]

14 hours ago, BookWoman56 said:

Good for you for quitting; even though this doesn't sound like the toxic work environment you were previously in at your old job, there's no reason for you to have to deal with this kind of nonsense for minimal pay. Call me cynical, but my guess is your hours were cut precisely because you did alert management to the performance issues. A long time ago, my first husband was working for a pizza restaurant chain as a manager, after getting his undergrad degree and while looking for a job in his field. He discovered that at one of the stores in this franchise, a manager was doing some serious embezzling. Despite the fact that my husband had been sent to that store because the franchise owner suspected something weird was going on, from that point on, the owner treated my husband like crap. Seriously, the restaurant my husband managed had the entire AC system break down in the summer, and the owner wouldn't have it fixed for over 3 months, so customers were coming in and walking back out in a couple of minutes because it was so damn hot there. Then the owner fired my husband because sales had declined too much. Go figure. But as I said, we and others noticed at the time that the owner's attitude toward my husband changed dramatically as soon as my husband confirmed that the embezzlement by another  manager was happening. It wasn't quite a case of "shoot the messenger," but definitely one of "fire the messenger." My guess with your management is that they just don't want to hear about any problems, because they think it reflects badly on them. 

I've no doubt there are other workplaces like that (the White House, for one, ha!), but I don't know how much worse they could be. I don't have a single second of regret over leaving that nightmare.

[bilgistic]

I now have had two shifts training in the deli at the store at which I work as a cashier, and...I don't love it. I've mentioned that I'm a vegetarian; I haven't eaten any kind of meat in 20+ years, so slicing deli meat is a stomach-turner for me. It's still better than my other store was. It's more hours, so more money, and hopefully not forever.

The deli stuff is completely new to me, whereas the bakery is more familiar. There's a very small amount of bakery volume in my store—like, 1/30th of what my former store produced—so I'll get my arms around the rest of it eventually. I'm pretty impatient with myself when I don't learn or do things "fast enough" (like, the very first time I'm shown them) and worry that people are frustrated with me because of it, which I know is unrealistic.

All the deli/bakery staff is friendly, helpful and hardworking. Everyone is aged 30s to 60s, so that's part of it. No one's goofing off on their phone all day.

Edited March 28, 2019 by bilgistic

[bilgistic]

My store was burgled on Thursday night when I was the only cashier on duty. At 9:48, a guy came in and walked to the beer aisle and picked up three 24-packs of Michelob Light. He walked the back perimeter of the store (another employee, a stocker, saw him) and the far side of the store from where I was standing on register 1. As I saw him coming up the side toward the front, I was confused because I knew I hadn't rung him up, and I was the only cashier. Perplexed, I watched him walk out the door. The employee who saw him followed him and and yelled to him, but he had gotten into the waiting car by then.

The "office assistant" (person who balances the tills and closes out the front end) was in the front office and the closing manager was in the back of the store, not on the floor.

I went to tell the office assistant what happened. We closed up at 10 as usual, and then he pulled up the video and noted the timestamps when the guy entered the store (we had a clear view of his face) and left. The "getaway car" was parked just outside of the range of the parking lot camera, which I'm sure wasn't a coincidence.

I'd mentioned a few times that I don't feel safe being alone in the front of the store for the last hour of the night. I just want one other employee visible. I talked to the customer service manager about it again today, and his response was that the guy had stolen from us before, and had he (CSM) been there, he would have recognized him. That doesn't solve the problem and is totally irrelevant. The CSM never closes. "Knowing" someone doesn't make them not a thief.

Anyone can come in here and steal from/rob us because we are an easy target. The store is tucked back in a neighborhood off a secondary road. I'm irritated that my concern for my and other employees' safety was dismissed because "robberies happen". Yeah, they do, but there are steps to take to prevent them, like having more visible employees.

I've been working here 10 weeks, by the way. Ten weeks and this happens.

Edited April 1, 2019 by bilgistic

[shanndee]

I'm sorry to read this @bilgistic. This has been an argument of mine for years in both food service and retail positions. No one should be working alone. Ever. I ended up losing some shifts over my concerns, but it was worth it, as I usually ended up in better working conditions. 

I hope they listen to you. Good luck.

[ABay]

It's a disgusting attitude because he's clearly only thinking of the money and not his employees. Maybe put it in writing so in case anything happens, you have it documented that you raised the issue and he dismissed it.

[BookWoman56]

That sucks, @bilgistic. I don't understand the CSM's response regarding that if he'd been there, he would have recognized the thief. If this person has stolen stuff more than once, and has been captured on videotape, why doesn't the CSM circulate a picture of the guy (yeah, probably not the greatest resolution since it would be captured from a security camera) to all the clerks so that they can also identify him? Not sure what recognizing the guy would do, other than maybe allow someone to sneak outside and take a photo of the getaway car's license plate. So if the CSM had been there, what would he have done when he recognized the guy? Gone up and confronted him, telling him he's banned from the store? I'd think there would be too much risk there of the guy possibly getting violent. 

Right now, I'm seriously peeved at one of my colleagues, who was assigned to a project and insisted on doing the development work solo, so as to get all the credit for it. But it all has to be documented, and he kept assuring everybody he had the documentation under control. Only, it wasn't. So last week he announced to the project manager that he wouldn't finish drafting the documentation until Friday afternoon, and I would just have to work over the weekend to review/edit/clean up the document. (The document was originally due start of business today, but the deadline has been pushed back a couple of days.) He didn't consult with me at all to see if I would be available to work over the weekend, just assumed because he'd been procrastinating like crazy that I would be available to work. Then during the weekend he managed to edit the main document, only instead of editing the file on the main server, he downloaded a local copy, made edits to it, then uploaded it back to the main server, overwriting several hours of edits I had made. This was after our meeting where it was stressed that all edits had to be made to the file on the server, and that if it was for some reason necessary to take the document offline for a while, to notify the rest of the team what was going on. This colleague is someone who has gained notoriety in the past 6 months for not following instructions. If his manager or the PM tells him that ABC is the process to do XYZ, this guy will completely ignore those instructions and just go do his own thing, generally causing problems down the road. So at the moment I'm annoyed because thanks to this guy, I will be working late both today and tomorrow to finish the document review and final edits to meet the deadline. I wish people would understand that completely ignoring standard procedure and instructions to go do their own thing may be helpful to them, but not to the rest of the team who then are stuck cleaning up the mess. 

[hoosier80]

Well, it was bound to happen, I guess.   I may have royally fucked up something.   Another area, who continually jacks up stuff, which I've caught some major stuff before it went wrong loads of times, ran job 1.  Nope, we have to have job 1 and 2.  Why?

It made zero sense, but ok.  They wanted to pick up any corrected data.  Well, when you do that, you flip a flag to A - that was my understanding.  I sent to another group, along with what I'd set up so they could review.  Jobs ran.  Now display in system doesn't show that shit was ran/sent out.  It's because of the way I set the flag.  I know this group will hang me out to dry if it can't be fixed.  I feel sick to my stomach.   Of course, no one else on my team touches this shit, because I don't understand it.....

Basically, they just want easy shit to do.   Even today, I found two simple errors that Dip did, so honestly, probably wouldn't ever want her to do this stuff anyhow.  I'm scared when she picks up anything.  Just beating myself up, because I try to be so careful.

A counterpart on the other team thinks it can be fixed and is telling me to chill, but beyond anxious right now.  The data was ok, just system display is off.  They do have other ways to retrieve data, but damn.  Just damn.

[emma675]

hoosier80, deep breaths. Even if it was an error that can't be fixed, just accept it, apologize, and then remind everyone that you've made one mistake while cleaning up thousands of others Dip makes on a daily basis. 

[hoosier80]

Well, the guys in programming fixed it, along with another team I work with all the time.  My heroes.  Even the head of one department said well thank goodness she's there (me) to coordinate these jobs, because no one else even tries to understand it at all.

All is well.  I'm just going to note what needs to happen in procedures, which will just be me reading them, as the others on the team just leave 'hard' tickets for me.  

I was thinking of doing a training session on one subject, just so they try to research questions on it when stuff comes in, instead of waiting for me or sending it along to programming (which about 50% or more of the time does not need to happen).  I've done in depth training with Dip; on one occasion she said well you're still going to do this, so I don't need to remember all of this now.  WTH.  I needed to email or call manager right then and there.  

If I do the training, then I will say in advance, please bring a notebook to take notes - and copy boss on it all.

[magicdog]

On 4/2/2019 at 12:04 PM, emma675 said:

hoosier80, deep breaths. Even if it was an error that can't be fixed, just accept it, apologize, and then remind everyone that you've made one mistake while cleaning up thousands of others Dip makes on a daily basis. 

This reminds me of one of my dad’s favorite sayings:

One  “Oh Shit” wipes out three attaboys!

[Moose135]

23 minutes ago, magicdog said:

One  “Oh Shit” wipes out three attaboys!

When I was in USAF pilot training, I received an informal "Attaboy" certificate for something good I had done.  At the bottom of the certificate, it said the same thing.

[shanndee]

I'm considering doing some retraining in the evening or on weekends. My employer is downsizing (again), and I'll be taking on some more duties. I'm so looking forward to doing the work of 2 people (1 and a half if I'm lucky) for the same amount of pay. 😞

It just makes me feel really insecure. I wonder how long it will be before we all lose our jobs, and I'm afraid ageism will rear its ugly head if/when I need to find another job. And if that is the case, should I really put myself through the stress (and cost) of studying?

Argh. I hate uncertainty. 

[hoosier80]

Go into the office on Friday, Dip is there, but no Queen Bee.  Was she off?  Sick, vacation?

Nope, I see she's online - remote.  Now, if she has both Monday and Friday remote, there will be fireworks!  I was told neither could be taken when we had our WFH days reduced.  I had days reduced due to no fault of mine, boss even said so.  I had the shittiest review of my entire life due to those fuck ups, again due to no fault of my own - boss called me to clarify before I saw it.  Now, if one of the two 'fucker uppers' gets the two days I was told was off limits, I will not let it go.  I don't care if QB is a personal friend of the boss.  

Then I heard via the grapevine that Dip and QB say they don't have enough to do.  Excuse me

Neither asks ever if they can help me - and I am usually swamped.  They only pick and choose what they want to do.  I have shown both stuff on what I do, and Dip said oh well, I don't have to really learn this because you'll be handling all this, right?  I did let boss know and he's basically a chicken shit, preferring to wait it out until Dip retires (which will not be until 2 to 3 years from now).

I also had a thought.  What if I came in all dressed up - like business dress (or dressier than our normal jeans workwear)?  I mean, I always wear jeans unless we're told otherwise (client coming in or some grand pooh bah making a visit).  So anything other than jeans would draw attention.  If asked, I'd just say oh I had somewhere I had to be...….something very vague.  I'm sure it'd get back to the boss in a nano second.  He knows he'd be shit up a creek if I left, even telling another person so - other person is in our department but a different function.   I'm thinking it over.  Dip would shit her pants, so it might be worth it just for that alone.  LOL.

I managed a retail store eons ago, and there had to be two people on the sales floor at all times (unless for a break - like bathroom), but two people for the long haul.   I don't get having one person only upfront, especially when there's been robberies before.  It almost seems like the CSM doesn't care if the store is robbed.  Total BS.

[magicdog]

So sorry @hoosier80!  I'd be careful though about making it seem like you're interviewing -  those idiots are probably dumb enough to let you go and praise Dip for all her "accomplishments"!  Then they'll hire 2-3 people to replace you at half the price to cover up Dip's screw ups!  Seriously, I wonder how these managers learn stupidity like this?

At my job Bitcheroo took a week off.  Seems she got married (presumably to the baby daddy of her genius son - only took 4 years).  She got back this week and I and another co-worker couldn't help but notice that Bitcheroo came back from what is supposed to be one of the most happiest  times in her life - a wedding and a honeymoon - with a frown!  Usually most brides come back from their honeymoons all dreamily happy and on a natural high for at least a few weeks.  Not Bitcheroo!  We noticed she never smiled the whole time since she returned!  She even had the nerve to give me the stink eye when I walked past her!  I was going to be polite and congratulate her, but with that attitude, I decided to remain silent. 

 I hope she isn't plotting my downfall again.  My birthday is next month and she's likely dumb enough to make it three in a row by calling me on the carpet for some imagined slight.  She's kept her distance from me for the last several months so I hope that continues.  I noticed her hanging outside my edit bay (ostensibly to either use the microwave or look at posted schedules on the bulletin board) but I can't help but wonder if she's up to her old spying tricks again. That's the kind of climate she created since she started this war.

Edited April 14, 2019 by magicdog

[BookWoman56]

On 4/4/2019 at 11:47 PM, shanndee said:

I'm considering doing some retraining in the evening or on weekends. My employer is downsizing (again), and I'll be taking on some more duties. I'm so looking forward to doing the work of 2 people (1 and a half if I'm lucky) for the same amount of pay. 😞

It just makes me feel really insecure. I wonder how long it will be before we all lose our jobs, and I'm afraid ageism will rear its ugly head if/when I need to find another job. And if that is the case, should I really put myself through the stress (and cost) of studying?

If you decide to do some retraining, just make sure it's something that is transferable to other positions/companies, rather than something completely specific to  your current role. While my job appears relatively safe right now, I'm in the same boat that if I suddenly had to start a job search, my age would count against me. That said, a lot of current advice on resumes is to limit your work experience to just the past 10 years of jobs, on the grounds that anything older will probably not be relevant to the job you're seeking, and to remove the dates from any degrees and so forth you might have. I lucked out in that for my last two positions, there was no in-person interview, only phone interviews, and so nobody knew my actual age until the day I started work. Even then, I'm lucky in that I can easily pass for 10 years younger than I really am, but I've seen too many older candidates get passed by because of the perception that they won't be as energetic/productive than someone 10-20 years younger. It sucks. However, that's where doing some retraining can help offset that perception; if you can show that you're willing to learn new things, then people are more likely to see you as flexible and able to adapt to changing work environments.

10 hours ago, hoosier80 said:

Then I heard via the grapevine that Dip and QB say they don't have enough to do.  Excuse me

Neither asks ever if they can help me - and I am usually swamped.  They only pick and choose what they want to do.  I have shown both stuff on what I do, and Dip said oh well, I don't have to really learn this because you'll be handling all this, right?  I did let boss know and he's basically a chicken shit, preferring to wait it out until Dip retires (which will not be until 2 to 3 years from now).

I also had a thought.  What if I came in all dressed up - like business dress (or dressier than our normal jeans workwear)?  I mean, I always wear jeans unless we're told otherwise (client coming in or some grand pooh bah making a visit).  So anything other than jeans would draw attention.  If asked, I'd just say oh I had somewhere I had to be...….something very vague.  I'm sure it'd get back to the boss in a nano second.  He knows he'd be shit up a creek if I left, even telling another person so - other person is in our department but a different function.   I'm thinking it over.  Dip would shit her pants, so it might be worth it just for that alone.  LOL.

I don't see any harm in going into the office one day being dressed up enough that you could be going for an interview elsewhere; I don't think it hurts to have your boss/colleagues casually wonder if you are looking for something else and then have to consider what they would do if you weren't there any longer. That said, I wouldn't do it more than once unless you actually do have an interview. I've known managers who stupidly feel that anybody who is looking for another job should be fired asap, rather than asking themselves what's motivating the person to look elsewhere. (Despite the fact that these days, it's unrealistic to expect employees to stay in the same job/with the same company all that long. I'd consider it bad form to start job searching 2 weeks after someone takes a new job, but if they've been on the job for more than a couple of years, nobody should be surprised when employees are looking to change jobs.)

12 minutes ago, magicdog said:

 I hope she isn't plotting my downfall again.  My birthday is next month and she's likely dumb enough to make it three in a row by calling me on the carpet for some imagined slight.  She's kept her distance from me for the last several months so I hope that continues.  I noticed her hanging outside my edit bay (ostensibly to either use the microwave or look at posted schedules on the bulletin board) but I can't help but wonder if she's up to her old spying tricks again. That's the kind of climate she created since she started this war.

I sincerely hope she keeps her distance and leaves you alone. Ongoing workplace stress and tension don't generally produce good results. 

I did put in an insane amount of hours because of my procrastinating colleague, which sucked as much as I thought it would, but on the upside, it did result in me getting some shout-outs and an actual gift card for going the extra mile. We're having planning sessions right now to address how to improve things for next time, and this particular type of incident is included in the list of things that we don't want to happen again. My colleague's boss was not happy with him at all, and copied 5-6 people higher up the corporate food chain in thanking me for my work to pull this off. Meanwhile, my manager who's out on medical leave is rumored to be returning sometime next month, at which point I can be moved over from her team to the team of my dotted-line manager. Looking forward to that, as it means a change in the scope of my work and being able to concentrate on documentation that is more interesting to me. 

[theredhead77]

There are construction people doing work to the roof of my office building. They are on my side of the building today. It's so fucking distracting. 

I'm probably leaving at lunch and going to work from home the rest of the day where it's quiet.

[ABay]

Whenever there's construction on campus, I relearn that construction vehicles only go in reverse (beep beep beep).

Edited April 15, 2019 by ABay
Wrong thread. Moved to Pet Peeves.

[BookWoman56]

On 4/14/2019 at 11:54 AM, BookWoman56 said:

Meanwhile, my manager who's out on medical leave is rumored to be returning sometime next month, at which point I can be moved over from her team to the team of my dotted-line manager.

This rumor turned out to be wishful thinking on somebody's part, as my manager died over the weekend. Another colleague and I learned about it first thing this morning. I had frankly wondered whether she was really coming back, given that she'd had two rounds of cancer within one year. Apparently she was hopeful she'd be able to return for at least a couple of months, but took a serious turn for the worse about a week ago. Her two kids are in their late teens and presumably will now go live with their father.

It's obviously a sad situation, but from my perspective not really unexpected. However, I foresee some uncertainty over the next few weeks as TPTB decide how to re-org. Unless something changes drastically, I assume I will be transferred over to the person who is now my dotted-line manager. What's up in the air is what will happen to my friend that I had recommended for a job and who is now working on my current team. The other colleague who has been acting as an interim manager is just completely unsuited to be a manager; if I were told I'd now be reporting to her, I'd be looking for a new position asap. With my friend, I'm hoping she will end up on the same team that I should be moved to; it would make sense as my dotted-line manager oversees the entire project for which  my friend is essentially a project manager on one component of this project. But I'm a little concerned that if there is a re-org that ends up with my friend formally reporting to our colleague that we both dislike, my friend is going to get screwed over. She's essentially doing the same job that this other colleague used to do, and of course, this other colleague is convinced that nobody will ever be quite as wonderful at that role as she thinks she was. Once the dust has settled, I will strongly recommend to my new manager that it makes more sense for my friend to report to him than to leave her in the existing structure. 

I feel somewhat guilty in that I don't really feel a lot of sadness or grief over my manager's death, but we were never particularly close and at best her style of management was benign neglect. I've had managers I was very close to where this would have been a major loss, but in this case, I just feel general regret and as self-serving as it sounds, I mostly just hope her death doesn't fuck up the workplace environment for me and my friend. Not sure if that makes me cynical or just a pragmatist.

[Moose135]

Today, I started my job at the Census Bureau.  I'm starting as an office supervisor working with the field operations team - they are the folks who do the address checking and follow up interviews with people who don't return their Census forms.  It's not a bad gig - right now it's an 8-week term that can (and probably will) be extended, and it pays better than a clerk position.

I'm also interviewing for the Office Manager position - that's the one I want, at least if I'm working for the Census - I would be managing the entire operation here, and it's more of a "real" government job, with a term through the end of the Census operation in September 2020.  It pays more, and offers some benefits, like paid vacation days, and qualifying for health insurance.  My interview is Wednesday morning, in the office where I'm working, and the woman I'm interviewing with is from the Atlanta regional office, currently serving as the acting office manager. I had the opportunity to meet her and chat with her a bit today, so hopefully that helps come the interview.  I spent most of today doing training programs on the computer - it sounds like the operation this time is what they hoped to have in 2010, but couldn't make work at the time.  Even so, I'm finding many familiar things from my previous work there, so some things remain the same.

I also have a phone interview Thursday on a permanent, full-time  analyst position, and I'm still waiting to hear on a couple of other things I'm working on.

[AgentRXS]

This person I'm training is the worst training experience I've ever had. He is not remembering anything shown, makes zero effort to write anything down when directed and is so  freaking slow. I hate this. I cannot wait until I am done with him.

Edited April 17, 2019 by AgentRXS

[hoosier80]

I took Friday off, just because I needed a day to try and get some stuff done for me at home.

I go into the office today, Dip is on vacation (yay), and QB decided to WFH again.  Ok, so sort of peaceful.  Nope.  Dip was kind enough to assign crap to me, then I get emails that they wanted it done ASAP (normally it's within a week - which some of it has to be done a week out).  So I start on that crap, then a manager from another area sends an email - can I get an update on abcd?  I start to look it up, and he comes over directly to me.  He said hoosier, I missed you on Friday.  These two were unable to help me one bit.  He was pissed.  I said oh it's about this abcd?  Yep.  Submitted to us around 3 pm on Friday and not touched.  It laid out what needed to be done to fix something, really almost a clerical fix.  I quickly read what programming had told this manager, and I said oh it's because of how the other system reads this stuff.  He didn't know anything about that system, so I gave him a quick overview.  He's like oh, ok.  Anyhow, I fixed what he needed within 10 minutes.  Problem is that it takes a nightly refresh before his team can now do their corrections, so we lost a day.  It's related to a customer request, so they're not getting their money.  I should have told this manager to rat out my 'esteemed colleagues'.  He may do so even without my saying a word.  He was very pissed off.

Then, I may have the joy of seeing how many other old set ups are like this one, which would also be wrong.  QB picks up one request, and then doesn't do it correctly.  My whole day was one 'oh shit' moment after another.  

[bilgistic]

Sigh. I got a "thanks but no thanks" email today in response to a "real job" phone interview I had on Friday. I wasn't surprised. I had some issues with the job, but it would've been nice to have an actual interview to see if there was a match. I understand the premise behind trying to make the hiring process easier, but the quasi-Myers-Briggs assessments and 15-minute phone conversations don't show who a candidate really is. I'm not a good phone interviewer. I'm not confident in person, either, but I am able to focus better in person than I can on the phone. I don't know. I feel like I'm never going to find a "real" job.

At my grocery store job, I managed to work just over 40 hours in six days last week by taking 1.5 extra shifts. I feel like all I do is work but I make so very little money. I'm hoping my picking up extra shifts is going to be OK. The store manager isn't wild about me working "more than I was hired to work", but the Customer Service Manager (my direct boss) is cool with it. I don't get the store manager's logic. If you need people to work and they are willing, let them work. They keep hiring more people "because people call out". *I* don't call out, but hiring more people cuts into my hours.

One of the store assistant managers is a dick. He is sharp/short and condescending, but I fortunately don't have to work directly with him. He and I crossed paths a couple times last week, and he was toxic both times. I'd never really interacted with him before. A day or so later, I walked by him getting into it with a customer who told him he was rude. He was arguing back with the customer. What good manager does that? It helped me feel better about the situation, though the store manager really should rein him in, but here we are.