There's not enough bitching

[Anastasia]

His reasoning? That in a situation like this with little evidence to back her claim up the company would still likely er on the side of caution and come down on me because she's a woman! And now I'm hearing from people outside of my work group that she's spreading rumors that I'm going snap and shoot her

like those columbine kids.

My brother was once assaulted by his girlfriend at the time; she was trying to beat him with a cookie sheet.  When he called the police to report her for that and scratching him up, he was arrested.

10,000$ bail.

Also, some employees at work were not given paychecks today.  Some were.  The last time this happened, those that did not get their checks at the regular time were fired.

I was not paid today.

Edit: Update, I now have check.  Others ... still do not. :x

I'd say you were full of it...but I've seen that happen. It's sad, but it happens. Gender equality, eh?

[Dracos]

We get to leer, they get to throw us in jail.

I was scanning DailyWTF and one of them was a guy interviewing a gal who had no business even remotely applying to the job in any way shape or form.  The reason from his boss? "I really like not having a gender discrimination suit on my hands."

[Anastasia]

 That's life. Equality is a bitch.

---

My co-worker's 10 year old nephew has spinal and brain cancer. He has less than a year to live. Blech.

[Brian]

Conversations....

Me and the lead I respect:

Me: "This job is starting to really suck; I spent all my time on fringe projects, being the only one willing to do them, and now my co-workers give me crap for not being as familiar with the core project as they are."
Lead: "Did you try talking to the deparment manager?"
Me: "He is too passive-aggressive to be any use in the matter."
Lead: "LOL!  Yeah...."

What really pisses me off is that these are the same co-workers I stood up for when the nastiest curdmugeon in QA was still here.  And ... the lead in the heckling is the lead of my last project, which I ran (completely, after the first week), because he didn't feel like it.

I cannot wait for my contract to end.  If I weren't so worried about finding another job/unemployment, I'd quit already.  Final confirmation in 10 days.  Freedom possibly just as soon.


E-mails between me, my brother (carpool), and the department manager:
Boss-to-all: "Can you volunteer for OT this week?"
Brother: "I'm doing tomorrow, Thursday, and both days this weekend."
Me-to-boss(and bcced to brother): "I will work OT tomorrow and Thursday."
Brother: "Don't feel like working this weekend?"
Me: "I'm sure the boss will ride my ass about not taking more OT any moment."
(The expected e-mail arrived while I was sending that one.)
Boss: "Do you want to work more OT?  Maybe one day this weekend?"
Me: "Boss, if I wanted more OT, I would have signed up for more OT.  If you're going to insist, pick a day; I really don't care which one."

Later I get this defensive argument about him just trying to do his job ... yeah, right.  He can ASK us to work OT, not insist that we VOLUNTEER.  We can't legally be required to work OT in any case, so there's no difference in how he asks ... but if he's going to be Shinji every time, I'll tell him to screw off.  No sense encouraging poor management habits.

[KLSymph]

Flash drive corruption. Lost my joke file and had to go to my last backup, so the news ones I brainstormed in the last two weeks are probably lost forever. Also lost an entire folder of pictures and my entire portable installation of XEmacs.

[Anastasia]

I overslept on the one day of the week I couldn't really afford to oversleep. Fuck!

[DY]

It is finals week for me and I hate it so much. Studying for tax accounting, an area full of so much confusing law that I can't make heads or tails of it ><. *sighs*

[Dracos]

I got swarmed by viruses.

Hate McAfee so much.

[Brian]

All of my C&C lately has just gotten authors to tell me I'm wrong/they don't care.  Very frustrating to invest time in commentary that was requested, but not actually wanted.  This is probably why I don't C&C that much anymore.  Three times in the last year or three, I think?  And of the three people I C&Ced, only one of them appreciated it/listened to my advice.

[Anastasia]

I had that happen to me back in the day, Brian. If they don't want your help, don't give it.

[Edward]

While I have asked a large number of people for C&C in the past year and had little success. I'm almost desparate enough to check for beta readers on ff.net.

[Dracos]

I still have Edward's fic in my inbox with a small chunk of C&C written for it.

I suck ;_;.  Sorry, Edward. :\

[Anastasia]

While I have asked a large number of people for C&C in the past year and had little success. I'm almost desparate enough to check for beta readers on ff.net.

Yeah. I think a lot of the formerly productive sorts have lost interest. I used to C/C a lot but...eh.

[Brian]

I'm probably getting fired.

Hello Chris,

            Well, to put it simply, after investing as much of myself into the project as I had, it was frustrating to be told my contributions weren't necessary any more.  I've been doing C-Mo's job for quite some time, pretty much by myself – the last times PS2 issues arose, he wasn't even in the loop (I didn't request him to be left out; I even CCed him on what was going on).  And when you needed a report on the PS2 last time, I didn't have any trouble making it for you (by myself).

            Basically, it felt like you took the task I'd been responsible for the last few weeks away and gave it to a stranger.  Since I was able to do the report myself last time, it seemed like your plan was to try and get C-Mo and I to be friends.  I hate to be critical of my manager, but that's not the best call on the same day I blew up at him.  We're not seven year olds who need to learn how to share; we're a dedicated worker and someone with a severe social disorder respectively.  I try and ignore unprofessional behavior as much as I can, but I have a finite limit, and I'll admit that I've got a weak spot for my family.  C-Mo's banter didn't bother me so much that it would get in the way because he used to work.  It was a (slightly off-color) characteristic of a co-worker.

            But one day he stopped being a co-worker, and was just a guy who showed up occasionally to look busy and heckle.  This puts me in a difficult position; he's the lead, he's supposed to be the example.  What am I supposed to do in this situation?  Go over his head and report to you?  That'll piss him off.  Meanwhile, all during the project people who don't want to talk to C-Mo because of ... off-putting characteristics (to say the least) refuse to talk to him and go straight to me.  So I panic and try to keep things on the project together myself.  Except ... I pull it off.  It doesn't blow up or instantly go down in flames; C-Mo's able to screw around, and I'm able to kick out test plans builds and reports when he doesn't come in and tell me to stop making him look bad (which did happen, several times).

            The worst thing that happens the entire time is that you notice the things he's supposed to be doing aren't getting done, and then tell me how to do them myself.  Forgive me for misinterpreting, but this (and your, "You're actually the lead",) comments may have given me a greater sense of duty to the project than you intended.  I thought I was in charge; I was certainly doing the lion's share of the work.

            So, after proving myself capable, you wanted to force me to work with C-Mo to see if we'd get along.  I admit, I don't understand how you thought this would be productive, though I do believe that no malice was intended (you probably didn't understand how deep my frustration with C-Mo has grown over the weeks of doing his job).

            And after all of that, I was supposed to be on a full play-through to help Ken's project that day.  I put it on hold and was hopelessly behind once you told me to stop working on that report for the PS2.  I felt like everything I was trying to accomplish that day was being attacked, even if it wasn't intentional on your part (you didn't know).  I apologize for my behavior, but the frustration was intolerable, and I didn't feel I would accomplish anything productive without taking some time to calm down.  After looking back, I'm not as frustrated anymore; being off the project means I don't have to work with C-Mo.  And now I know how to be a lead on a project; useful job experience.

            Bottom line, it was probably my fault for not saying anything sooner ... but if the rumor-mill is to be believed, maybe the objections to rehiring C-Mo should have been given greater credence.  It sucks, but the guy is a known issue, and I know I'm not the only person he affronts.  Regardless, if he can leave me alone for the duration of my contract, I do not intend to cause issues.

            Regards,

            Brian R.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Chris Bruno
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 3:37 PM
To: Brian Randall
Subject: Tomorrow

Hi Brian,

Was hoping to have a chance to sit down and talk to you before you left today.  Hope you made it home alright.

When I get in tomorrow I would like to sit down for a moment and chat with you.  To figure out what caused you to leave so suddenly today.

Thanks.

~Chris

Edit: Or not.  I'm still stuck here.

[Anastasia]

Oh whew. You need the job, don't you?