Ah. Work. Lovely little hell realm it is.
Aug. 15th, 2004 10:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icarusExcellent advice on the diet and exercise for my too-low cholesterol (who knew it was possible?) and osteopedic (I think I have the term right) situation. I figure delicate bones and an inability to heal from a break is probably a bad combination.
Between work and changing my lifestyle/health stuff - this has been a hell of a week. I'm changing my diet, fast. (They couldn't even measure my cholesterol - there wasn't enough for the test to detect.) As for the delicate bones, I'm walking home from work with a 20 lb. pack. Which I was sort of starting to do anyway.
The office politics... holy shit. Some of you read the post about my third day of work, when the Accounting Manager was fired with all the gentleness of a public execution. (The Accounting Manager had pissed off the federal auditors in a company dependent on public funding.)
It turns out, they couldn't afford to fire him. Yes, he was the lynchpin of the entire department.
Not only that, they were two weeks away from a vital audit filing that, if not completed on time, means the company would lose its license and might as well roll up the carpets.
Gosh, and who do you think was doing that filing?
You have one guess.
There was only one other person, relatively new, who had any clue how to do his undocumented job. This other person has been holding down two jobs (the investment person had quit) for two months. She was close to the man who was fired. And she's angry at the way he was treated. Livid, I'd call it. (She also doesn't have enough professionalism to fill a thimble.)
Yes.
The entire future of the company is in the hands of one angry employee.
Brilliant, eh? They thought this through carefully.
Over the last two weeks, she's been on a power trip, abusing the boss both behind her back and openly. Stating loudly that, "This is really good time for me to quit." (Did I mention the lack of professionalism?) Abusing the Accounting Temp (overqualified for his job, though he's sanguine - he's seen far worse in his 25 years), saying "I can't believe they'd let a Temp do that" within his hearing. Resenting every effort to help her, all the while flying the flag of martyrdom. She's used me, as a temp who can't say anything one way or another, as her Out-Loud-In-The-Department sounding board. I finally came up with the answer:
"Gosh, there's nothing I can say to that."
After I said that for the first time, I stopped being her sounding board. And she started bad-mouthing me behind my back, too. Woooonderful.
She took me off at the knees on Friday. My first thought was, "Hmm. I could hand over my timecard and walk right now...." But I decided she would be gone soon enough and it's worth six weeks. Then she was in tears later that morning (ah, the sympathy ploy...) when the boss criticised her work on the audit filing.
This is hell. Amusing in the sense that, well, I've seen worse, too. But I still don't know if I have funding for school this fall. Glk.
Amusement level: 5 out of 10.
Stress level: 9 out of 10.
If I owe drabbles, stories, betas, posts, whatever -- they're more or less on hold for now. Unless I can eke out a moment here or there.
Between work and changing my lifestyle/health stuff - this has been a hell of a week. I'm changing my diet, fast. (They couldn't even measure my cholesterol - there wasn't enough for the test to detect.) As for the delicate bones, I'm walking home from work with a 20 lb. pack. Which I was sort of starting to do anyway.
The office politics... holy shit. Some of you read the post about my third day of work, when the Accounting Manager was fired with all the gentleness of a public execution. (The Accounting Manager had pissed off the federal auditors in a company dependent on public funding.)
It turns out, they couldn't afford to fire him. Yes, he was the lynchpin of the entire department.
Not only that, they were two weeks away from a vital audit filing that, if not completed on time, means the company would lose its license and might as well roll up the carpets.
Gosh, and who do you think was doing that filing?
You have one guess.
There was only one other person, relatively new, who had any clue how to do his undocumented job. This other person has been holding down two jobs (the investment person had quit) for two months. She was close to the man who was fired. And she's angry at the way he was treated. Livid, I'd call it. (She also doesn't have enough professionalism to fill a thimble.)
Yes.
The entire future of the company is in the hands of one angry employee.
Brilliant, eh? They thought this through carefully.
Over the last two weeks, she's been on a power trip, abusing the boss both behind her back and openly. Stating loudly that, "This is really good time for me to quit." (Did I mention the lack of professionalism?) Abusing the Accounting Temp (overqualified for his job, though he's sanguine - he's seen far worse in his 25 years), saying "I can't believe they'd let a Temp do that" within his hearing. Resenting every effort to help her, all the while flying the flag of martyrdom. She's used me, as a temp who can't say anything one way or another, as her Out-Loud-In-The-Department sounding board. I finally came up with the answer:
"Gosh, there's nothing I can say to that."
After I said that for the first time, I stopped being her sounding board. And she started bad-mouthing me behind my back, too. Woooonderful.
She took me off at the knees on Friday. My first thought was, "Hmm. I could hand over my timecard and walk right now...." But I decided she would be gone soon enough and it's worth six weeks. Then she was in tears later that morning (ah, the sympathy ploy...) when the boss criticised her work on the audit filing.
This is hell. Amusing in the sense that, well, I've seen worse, too. But I still don't know if I have funding for school this fall. Glk.
Amusement level: 5 out of 10.
Stress level: 9 out of 10.
If I owe drabbles, stories, betas, posts, whatever -- they're more or less on hold for now. Unless I can eke out a moment here or there.
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-15 12:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-15 02:25 pm (UTC)Icarus
no subject
Date: 2004-08-15 04:36 pm (UTC)Especially since she could be using this opportunity to really show her stuff, which is good to have in your favour even if you don't like management.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-15 06:18 pm (UTC)If I were her, I would say, "yes, I will do that audit filing, but since I'm going to be here all weekend, I would like this much for a bonus." They haven't been paying the salary of the other person who's been gone for two months, so they have it in the budget. It wouldn't make her happy, but it would extract her pound of flesh in a way that won't come back on her like a bear-trap. And she's going on a cruise in a few weeks. A little extra spending money? Or a little to line the nest for when she quits?
*sigh* It's too late to suggest it now.
Icarus
no subject
Date: 2004-08-15 10:44 pm (UTC)Especially since she could be using this opportunity to really show her stuff, which is good to have in your favour even if you don't like management
If management fired her friend like that, she could do a bang up job and do everything perfectly, and that would not mean a damn thing. Fuck them. they deserve every single squirmy moment. What is really bad is that Icarus is stuck with this crap so that she can make school fees.
Argh!
no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 11:47 am (UTC)And it impacts on everyone else, not just management, as per Icarus's situation. I'm not saying management doesn't suck, esp. in this case, but they're not the only ones who're going to have to live will the results of a unprofessional jerk making them squirm in this position.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 12:12 pm (UTC)Which is the point- they fired the other peson without a degree of respect or mercy, then came to find out they hey, this person was actually vital. And the person is actually doing the work, just making sure that people realise their nastiness. Office politics sucks, but management really shot itself in the foot, and they have to have live with the pain. an dgiven teh smallish worl of nonprofits, you can bet the story will go around about boith the person crappy tude and the management's shitty treatment.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 12:23 pm (UTC)A bonus for the hours she intended to spend on the audit filing.
A pay increase to last the duration she's covering both positions. That would do two things: 1) compensate her properly, 2) encourage them to replace him sooner.
Working the extra hours on a project for your regular salary, or for just regular overtime pay, is for people you like.
I've learned that guilt doesn't work on companies, and this sort of thing comes back on you like a bear trap. Also, your quality of life while doing this goes down. Better to do what's best for yourself in these situations.
Icarus
no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 04:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 12:57 pm (UTC)Oh, I'm not disagreeing with that; I hope it does end up biting them in the ass.
But that doesn't change my opinion that the behavior of I's co-worker, though apparently satisfying to her, is childish, selfish, and will end up hurting the people around her just as much, if not more than, management itself. And it makes her look bad, possibly not as valuable in a place where ability isn't taken into account, but it's a matter of personal pride and professional ethics, to me.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-15 05:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-15 06:14 pm (UTC)Icarus
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Date: 2004-08-16 05:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 10:31 am (UTC)Icarus
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Date: 2004-08-16 10:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 01:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 02:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 10:08 am (UTC)I heard thru the grapevine that one of the other support reps in the company that fired me has decided to leave the company. They're down to one support rep (who is less experienced than I am in the company's primary product line). They've been making programmers take shifts on the support line because they don't have enough people to cover it otherwise.
I just noticed that they're advertising for my old job. I'm trying to decide whether or not to apply. On the one hand, it's a paycheck, which I could definitely use. On the other hand, that place was truly toxic, recent business decisions seem certain to destroy the company, and I don't really want to be doing tech support again. [Besides, to hire me back would mean admitting they made a mistake, something current management seems to abhor.]
no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 10:17 pm (UTC)Icarus
no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 05:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-16 10:16 pm (UTC):D
Icarus