Flibbertigibbet

Urinal Patties

At my work, the unrinal patties are locked inside these little plastic cages. I don't like this because all those angles makes for pee splashing all over the place. To make matters worse, when the urine hits the urinal cake, it turns blue, which stains your pants legs.

Vexing though blue urine on my pant leg may be, I find myself more preoccupied by the thought that someone has to touch the patty cage to put a new one in there each time. And someone does replace them, too.

I hate my job, but I'm glad that isn't my job.

Ok. Don't Freak Out

But I'm getting a cat.

A pregnant neighbor lady stopped by to figure out what I'm doing in my yard and she said she has kittens and that I can have one of them.

Any suggestions for names? I'm thinking Squish or Miss Frisco at the moment.

Good Advice

Reader Victor offered good advice in response to my last post. It's so good, I'm making a post out of it.

[C.A.R.]

C is for Change: Can you change your situation? Not necesarilly the situation--it may well be too late for your boss to change, but can you change anything about it? Your work style, change to a different department within the company--anything? If change is not an option, then...

A is for Accept: Can you accept the situation? Lots of things go into this decision (job market, benefits, salary), so think *hard* about it. If you can't accept it, your only option is to..

R is for Resign (or L is for leave): Seriously. If neither C nor A is a viable option, start looking for a new job--life is too short to be miserable.

Which reminds me of one of my mottos: Life is too long to be miserable.

I don't want anyone to worry about me due to my last post, though. I've made up my mind that I have to leave my company. I'm very slow moving about this stuff, so even though I landed solidly in the "disgruntled employee" category over a year ago, I'm just now getting around to applying to new jobs.

But so I am.

So, I'm not stuck and I'm not miserable. I'm just not pleased with my job. I'll fix it!

Best wishes are always welcome, though.

Workplace Drama

OK. I haven't posted in a while because I am super busy with lots of things and the least of those things is not the drama at my work. I'll fill you in a little:

As I may or may not have made clear, I go through my day thinking that I might be fired at any moment. The reason I might be fired isn't because I do anything unethical or that I am a poor performer. The reason I might be fired is because my boss is really tempermental and I manage to piss him off with some regularity.

On more than one occasion he has said, "If I had seen you yesterday, I would have fired you." And on none of those occasions have I been very clear on why that level of rage and frustration is warranted. I usually have no idea what he's talking about and have to pow-wow with my peers after meetings to make sure we're all doing the same thing. (I'm not the only one who thinks he speaks a foreign language sometimes.) And he changes his mind a lot about what he wants. Basically, I think he's insane.

So, I avoid him when I can.

Alternatively, I've also managed to document many very egregious short-comings in my boss' performance.

Can you see where this is going?

Well, I reported him to HR and then I confided this information in two trusted coworkers.

One of them promptly told my boss. And my boss confronted me.

Naturally, he can't fire me or retaliate because I'm on record with HR.

Most people immediately ask if I talked to him about these problems first, to which I have to say I have not. And why would I? Why would I confront my boss about his faults when I believe that he will get angry and try to fire me? Why would I risk MY livelihood telling my boss that it is his responsibility to show up to the office more than just 2 business days in a week? How is it even my responsibility to tell my boss that it is unethical for him to tell my peers about how he almost fired me? Why would I think it my place to even suggest to my supervisor that complaining to the entire staff about HIS boss is improper? Especially in light of the fact that this is the same man who snapped at me, "Are you coaching me?" in one of our very first meetings when I suggested a more effective application of our email software. (He has not mastered the use of Outlook to this day.)

And isn't this what the Human Resources department is for?

Unfortunately, I actually think he's looking for a reason to fire me now, so I avoid him even more. But he's avoiding me, too. He is refusing to respond to my requests for information. He leaves me off of meeting invitations and notices the affect my job.

I didn't think work could get more miserable, but at least now my day is filled with the constant adrenaline rush because every time I hear a knock at my office door, I think it's him with a box and a pink slip.

drama drama drama...