What Has This Got to do with Work???

I try...I really try to NOT listen to all the BS around me. I have noise-canceling headphones, but there are days that I really don't feel like listening to music or white noise while I'm working. Just today, here are just a few of the less-than-intelligent comments I heard from next door...

"Your hair looks cute!"

"It was all wobble-jello and bouncy."

"I'm leaving early today." (So what else is new?)

To top it off, I heard all about her labor of 32 years ago when she was telling a male co-worker all the gory details. He said it was because of the way she was built...you know...small hips.

Why does every workplace have one or more of these useless employees? Beats me, but they all do. Once in awhile, I could put up with this, but this talk goes on all day long, every day. I'd find another job, but it would just be the same thing.

Tired of complaining...it's time to go get a Margarita and forget the Doublemint Twins for awhile.

Men...

I heard the other day that our new contract with the new company might not start until March 1st. That would mean from February 17th when the old contract ends until the 1st, we'd all be off work--with NO pay. That would be fine with me. A few days off would be nice. But it would suck for those whose money runs tight.

I emailed my husband and told him the rumor, and that I might have a week or so off. He emailed back and said that if that happened maybe he might come home to a clean house, a hot meal, and a smiling face. I emailed back, "Does this mean I can hire a maid, a cook, and a prostitute?"

His buddy said that a good woman would be all three.

...men...

Another Bright Move on my Part

I must be at the point in life where I have no feelings in my legs due to poor circulation. How else could I have not known what I did until it was too late?

At lunch today, I had brought in a couple packages of Eckrich Grillers and some buns to have for lunch. Not all for me...but to share with the less fortunate. You know, the co-workers who were relying on the roach coach to bring them some food. Due to the snow, the roach coach didn't run today. But lucky them...I had 16 grillers and was cooking them for anyone that was hungry, didn't have a lunch with them, or didn't want to get out in the snow to run to Subway or the caf.

I microwaved both packages to bring them to room temperature to speed up the process a bit. Then I threw four at a time into the little sandwich maker I keep at work. I keep the sandwich maker on top of one of the lunchroom microwaves. Ever so often, I'd turn the grillers to get a nice even brown on all sides. As I stood near the microwave, I backed up a little so my coworkers could use the microwave.

Against the wall near the microwave is a five-gallon bottle of water with a pump/spigot attached to the top. The bottle sits on a chair, for lack of a table to put it on. The room temp water is used to make coffee. I knew it was there.

After a minute or two, I began to feel something slightly cool, but very wet on the back of my left foot. I turned around to find the entire back of the left leg of my heavy knit slacks completely drenched with water. I had backed up a little too far, opened up the spigot, and soaked myself. I mean, the floor behind me was even wet.

The room was full of people, and I was at the far end of the room. Besides, I was the chef for the multitude. So I made an announcement and turned around to show them my soaking wet leg. It was the laugh of the day.

It wasn't too comfortable sitting around all afternoon in wet pants, but they eventually got dry before I had to head home. And it still wasn't as bad as the time I sat down on a huge cup of iced tea, then had to go teach a Windows class with a soaking wet behind.

Good move, Helen

Yesterday

Yesterday was a good day.

In the past couple of weeks, we had a visitor--a Navy reservist from North Carolina who was only going to be with us for a couple of weeks. I knew he was staying on base and probably wasn't getting much of anything good to eat. So I let him and my lunch buddies know I was bringing in homemade tacos and all the fixins for our Thursday lunch. I think I ended up feeding a dozen people with enough left over to feed the sailor and my buddy Julius for lunch today.

Right after lunch, I had my annual review. I hate those things...always did. I never know what to say, and neither do the multitude of bosses I've had over the years. Just do what we have to do and get it over with. Pretend everything's fine so you can get out of their office and get back to work. I've never had a bad review, but I've had reviews where I know I was graded lower than I deserved. Oh, they were good reviews...but does a boss truly know how hard a person works (or doesn't work)? That happens rarely.

Yesterday was an exception. This year I have taken over the duties of another co-worker on top of my already overloaded job. I'm now doing nearly all the work of one coworker and about half the work of another coworker who has gone to another position--and that's on top of the job I already had. The thing is--the way this job is, it makes sense for one person to do it all--unless you have two people with the same knowledge about the software that I document and the same work ethic. And they would have to be able to work very closely together.

In every job I've ever had, all I've gotten for my hard work was somebody else's work. I don't know if it's a sub-conscious thing that bosses do or what. But they seem to know who to assign work to when someone else can't or won't do the work. It's easier than trying to train someone or change their work habits. It's not fair, but just a natural thing to do. I've always expected that my work will speak for me, but have come to realize that the rewards go to those that just know how to work their mouths--either to give excuses, lay claim to someone else's work, or just double-talk their way through it and make it sound good.

As I said, yesterday was an exception. I finally got something for my efforts--and it wasn't more work. Part of the reason was the fact that we reorganized a bit and I now have a boss, his boss, then her boss. The two new bosses are more familiar with my work since they, like me, work in the trenches. My immediate boss is two cubes down from me, and knows my work and sees that I'm there at 6:30 every morning without fail.

Yessiree...Thursday was a good day.

Snow Day

Looks like I won't be going to work today. I hate that. It's not the same as when we were in school and school closed for the day due to snow. This costs me. I have to either take leave (which I'm trying to save for a trip to Italy), LWOP, or make it up on my RDO (regular day off) this Friday.

I really don't want to do any of those. I prefer to go to work, but if I can't--then I want a free snow day. Just give me the day off and pay me for it too! I certainly work hard enough that I've earned it. Give me the same feeling I had when I was a kid and in school. Call the local radio stations and have them announce that work is closed due to snow. Yay! No work! I promise I won't waste the day!

When daylight hits, I'll put on my snowsuit, hat, and boots. I don't have gloves so Mom will put socks on my hands. If the snow's a wet one, Mom will put breadsacks over our socked hands to try to keep them dry.

I'll go outside and throw snowballs. If the snow's real wet, I'll make a snow wall to hide behind to keep from getting smacked with the snowballs my brothers are throwing at me. When we tire of that, we'll make a snowman. Then we'll grab the sled and take a few rides down the hill. We might even grab a few bites of the white stuff, avoiding any yellow patches of snow.

Hey, the Waltman boys are making an igloo again! You'd swear Nanook from the North lives in their yard because their igloos are just like the real thing. "Mom, can we go to the Waltman's and play in their igloo???? Puh-leeeeaaaase???" We knew the answer would always be "no", but we still had to ask. Mom was scared it would collapse on us (they never collapse). Maybe one of these days she won't be paying attention to what we are asking and she'll say "yes".

When we get cold and our fingers turn numb, we'll track all that snow inside the house and begin throwing off breadsacks, sock mittens, boots, hats, and snowsuits. Mom will make us some hot cocoa and we'll sit by the oven and warm up....

....Reality check. I stayed home and switched a doctor's appointment so I could work this Friday to make up the nine hours I missed today. Nobody's giving me the day off without a cost to me. There are dishes and laundry to do, but that's not what I want to do. I'd like to go outside and take some photos, but that seems like a lot of trouble. And then I'd end up tracking snow all over my new carpeting. The kid inside me would love to go out and play in the snow, but the lazy adult in me says to stay inside and do some housework.

The sleet is starting back up again. They said we'd have two waves of this stuff. The first one's over and sounds like the second one is beginning. The weather guys say we will have nine inches of this stuff before the end of the day. Hope I can make it to work tomorrow. I've got lots to do before next month's software subrelease.

Sometimes being an adult sucks.