A little self-important today...

am cursed to work with idiots.

If you are a computer support person, would you go to someone's computer and while you were there working on it, change all the visual views to be how you liked them? Would you change how the folders are displayed, how items are listed in the folders, how the menu looks?

Here's a better question. How would you feel if your computer support person did that to you on your PC when they came to work on it?????? Probably a little pissed off that everything looks different now, right? What if you didn't know how to change things back the way they were? What if you only knew how to find folders well if they were in a list, as opposed to a large, graphically intensive page of icons? What if the "My Computer" icon was no longer listed in your Start menu and you didn't know how to find it?

This is the kind of stupid shit I have to deal with every day. When you are getting a PC ready so that it can be copied and used for everyone else's PC in the building.....KEEP YOUR PERSONAL VIEWING PREFERENCES OFF THE DAMN PC!!!! I don't care if you live in the 1990's and want to see the Windows Classic Menus, colors and Folder Views. DON'T PUT THEM ON THE PROFILE WE WILL BE COPYING!!! Fuhchrissake!!!

randomness

Weird dreams (can't remember any today, but I remember waking up last night thinking WTF?!)
Work frustration (more evidence that SysAdmin is just bluffing his way through stuff.)
New partnership (a friend at work and I are going to work together on something.)
Nice weather (even the thunderstorms have been cool!)
Sore neck (not sure what the heck this is about, but I have had a sore neck from sleeping for days.)
New Nine Inch Nails album (The Slip - WOOT!)
Co-worker rants (my co-worker came at me this morning with a fistful of rants, with which I sympathize, but it was just discouraging.)
Mountain Dew Voltage is ok, nothing great (my sweetie got a free 12 pack.)
New bras rock (I feel buoyant.)
Lots of things to do in and to my house - need to organize them tonight (yeah, that.)
Reflecting on fun from the weekend (SKRF - had a great time and lots of fun and I am oddly looking forward to the event even though I am scripting.)
A helpful lesson in terminal services (from a geek friend - he taught me stuff that was VITAL and just cleared a whole bunch up for me!)
A disappointing answer (my job position does not require a salary revaluation because we are in line with the other IT positions here.)
Feeling hungry (I think it's time for lunch!)

Today's thoughts...

First thought happened while I was at lunch with my fellow computer geeks here at work. We have a monthly interdepartmental meeting for all the computer people in each department. This month was the annual barbecue, since school is out and things are slightly slower for IT folks here. So there I am, waiting in line to get ice cream after I ate my hot dog and hamburger. And I see one of the folks there, a young-ish girl, about my height, with a monstrous bowl of ice cream heaped with chocolate sprinkles and whipped cream! She is very thin, I would say somewhere around a size 4 or 6 (smaller than Lou is how I was comparing it.) And behind her was a larger girl, probably a size 16, with barely a scoop and some chocolate sauce on top. The first thing I thought was, "That girl HAS to be bulemic to have a bowl of ice cream like that! I bet she throws it all up later." My second thought was, "It's so unfair that she gets to eat that huge bowl while the girl behind her, clearly trying to watch what she eats, has the smaller bowl and is still overweight."

Both thoughts were serious, I wasn't being funny. Then I was kind of appalled at my own thoughts. Why should I think that way? Why should I care? Why was I so presumptive to think that the skinny girl must have an eating disorder to stay so thin, or that the larger girl was trying to lose weight? I was being kind of mean. And I didn't like it.

I can't stand the messages we get from the media every day to be so conscious of our appearance and weight and beauty and youth! They never used to get to me much when I was a teenager. But they get to me now. I think about my age. This weekend out in the sun, I was thinking that I looked older because of my makeup and that I better learn how not to make myself look older with makeup. I get happy every time someone gets surprised by my age. I used to look older when I was a teenager and now that I am older, I look younger than my age. I attribute it to good skin care, not smoking and purposely not tanning. I have been using Origins skin care products since I was 23, the year I got married, which is now 15 years ago. See what I mean?!?! This year is my 20th HS Reunion! I have gotten back in touch with people from HS or before through Facebook that I haven't spoken to in 20 years or more in some cases! This is insane! I am not this old! I feel like a kid inside. Not an immature, whiny kid; a fun-loving, playful kid. I think that's part of the reason that all this adult stuff gets me so down! I don't want to have to deal with all this serious stuff when I just want to have some fun. Of course, I do deal with it, but I have trouble balancing the two ends together, I think.

Whew! A lot going on in my head today.

Another thought is about my dumb boss. He is again doing stupid things today to make my life more complicated. Stuff which he should know better than to do. I work for him, he makes more than me, I should not have to clean up his messes. Fucking idiot.

Yet more thoughts are about what I have control of and what I do not. I can control my weight. I can control advancing my work skills and certifications. Therefore, I need to work on both of those things. I am not going to go into any elaborate plans here because I don't have any. The statement above is the plan. Simple as that.

So....what are your thoughts on any of the above, or anything else you are thinking today, internets?

*BUZZ-Z-Z-Z-Z* Wrong answer!

Apparently, the tummy evil I experienced is not over. No. So apparently, it was not caused by the cereal. I have no idea what it WAS caused by, but I am tired of it and want it to stop now, thankyouverymuch.

Second day this week home sick. Ugh.

No fever, no vomiting. Just evil stomach cramping and liquid diarrhea. Yay. And exhaustion. Yeah. Ssssooooo ttiirreedd.

At this point, I don't care WHY. I just want this to be gone.

I will have to tough out work tomorrow, no matter how I feel.

Fortunately, I was not going to be in my office most of today anyway.

Unfortunately, that means I missed a freebie day of cool classes and free lunch. Staff Development Day happens once a year where all staff are allowed and encouraged to take courses offered for the day. Mostly non-academic and non-work related stuff. Personal development, like photography, learning to know your dog, tours of the campus, athletic stuff like pilates or yoga, craft stuff, plant swaps, how to be greener, etc., etc. Plus a huge free barbecue lunch for all the staff. Plus a Family Feud game in the afternoon with questions related to where we work and the culture and events that happen there. Day ends with Ice Cream and Del's Frozen Lemonade, a RI favorite.

The things I signed up for were Yoga in the morning, a class called "Gross Anatomy" in the late morning, which was supposed to go over some more grotesque medical practices back in the day. And in the afternoon, card making class using rubber stamps. We would make two cards, one to keep and one for Ronald McDonald House kids. Which is cool, charity, etc.

Oh well. Next year.

Hopefully today is the last of it for me. I am very tired and need to help out with the Lione renfair this weekend.

Wondering why I bother...

Told by SysAdmin to write an e-mail to staff about a new piece of equipment.

I write draft and send to SysAdmin and Boss Guy (because every word has to be approved by both of them.)

Boss Guy thanks me for the draft and says he will "re-work" it.

Sends out draft to us with ENTIRELY DIFFERENT E-MAIL!!!

Why did I waste ten minutes of my day writing a fucking e-mail that he was just going to entirely re-write? WHY?!

Boss Guy tells us a few weeks ago to "take advantage of Summer Hours" being offered by our employer (we get to work a half-hour less for the same pay.) With a caveat that we may occassionally have to stay for maintenance or issues that arise (of course, duh!) Then today, he mentions to SysAdmin (after everyone submits their preferred hours and wants to leave at 4:30 pm, per the Summer Hours policy that we are allowed to follow...) that he is concerned about IT coverage for the building from 4:30 - 5:00 pm.

...

Did he think that just because I am normally a later person that I would WANT to stay later when I could get out of work at 4:30?! Did he just ASSUME that I would stay later than that?!

I am just W-A-I-T-I-N-G for them to ask me to stay until 5:00 pm for the summer.

Whiskey
Tango
Foxtrot

Am I overreacting?

I think it's hard for non-techies to answer this question because I could ask it by including all the technical details. But I will ask it anyway, without all the techie info.

I tell our database administrator (new character here in my LJ) that I need some info from him because I have to do some server maintenance and then when he replies, he tells me the server needs some maintenance. Not in so many words, but that is the short, non-techie version.

Am I overreacting to get tired of these damn people treating me like I am an idiot? Am I reading too much into what he said to me? Without knowing the guy, you are going to answer that maybe he was being nice and just trying to make suggestions. But it's not like that in IT. IT people are competitive and conceited. They all think they know more than each other. This guy is not super pompous, but he does have a chip on his shoulder. He is somewhat of a know-it-all when it comes to the db he works on, because he worked on this same db at his last job. He talks about that incessantly, "at (other job) we did this, and we did that, and we did this other thing." It drives people here batty. So he does come off like a know-it-all. He came back to me the other day after I FORWARDED a warning email that I received from our IT Security group about a phishing e-mail. It had clickable links in it that were active (on the phishing e-mail itself). It came to me like that, and I sent it out like that. Well, you weren't supposed to click on the links, and the e-mail stated that...IN CAPITALS...TWICE!!! Five minutes after I send the e-mail, he comes over and tells me that the e-mail I just sent has clickable links and that maybe I should have made the links inactive before sending the e-mail. Heh heh. He was chuckling, like heh, heh, oh, duh, you probably should have thought about that first, heh heh. It was like a condescending, pat on the head kind of comment to me. This is the same thing.

I am so goddamn sick of that shit. I don't think I come off as stupid or not knowing what I am talking about. I don't engage in deep conversation about my job and what I do every day with him or my bosses. But I think merely in performing my work, they should be able to gather than I am competent and intelligent and that I understand what I am doing and maybe even more than just what I am doing. Why the hell would I apply to be the System Administrator if I didn't think I had the ability and knowledge to do the job?!

I *LOVE* the people here. LOVE them. CAPITAL L-O-V-E love. The people I work for here (not my bosses; my users, my "customers") are the best group of people I have ever worked for in my life. Real people with real lives, who are mature and understanding and personable and real and not fake and are friendly and talkative and understanding. REAL people. GOOD people. I get thanked for doing my job every day here by the people I work for. I am appreciated, liked, joked with, talked with, asked about, waved hi to. They are nice people. So some of the frustration that I have with my bosses gets mitigated by the great people here.

Maybe I am overreacting. Maybe I am hyper-sensitive to being told what to do when I already know what to do. It always makes me feel like the person telling me what to do believes I don't know already. I don't mind with tasks. Assign me a task, sure, I will do it, no problem. But start listing the steps I need to take to accomplish this task when I have not asked for such assistance and I begin to think you think I am an idiot! Similarly, I take action items away from a meeting. Don't begin following up with me on them immediately, because it makes me feel like you don't trust me to get my damn work done! I can LET YOU KNOW when I am done with the assigned tasks, really, I can. I know they are important and need to get done as soon as I can. I don't ask for help much, but when I do, you will know that I really need help!

So I am not sure if I just have to bite the bullet and deal with this stuff (well, yes, I DO have to just deal with it,) or whether I am JUSTIFIED in feeling this way about it all. Am I just being "sensitive Linda"? Or would you also get as frustrated? I just need to feel validated; That it's okay to get pissed off and frustrated; that they are being assholes. I would hate to hear (but will listen if it's the answer) that I am just being reactionary and that they just mean well and are doing their jobs. I should be thankful for the direction and instruction I am being given and thank them for the opportunity. Eeeuuuccchhhhhh! It makes me want to vomit just WRITING it!!

Comments anyone?

DUMB DAY

Posted to my LJ on April 16th, 2008 at 3:19 pm

SysAdmin is having a "Dumb Day".

That is what I call it when he repeatedly asks stupid questions or makes stupid assumptions or does stupid things. REPEATEDLY. Usually it's one-a-day or something like that. And sometimes the stupid things he does are only m-i-l-d-l-y stupid. Like it could possibly just be an honest mistake (except that I know him well enough that it's not a MISTAKE, it's stupidity.)

But HOLY SHIT, DUH!!!!!!

I am so ready to walk outside and just keep going to my car today. It is just non-stop.

First, it was working on an issue that I already did the troubleshooting and resolution for, that he decided he had to troubleshoot all over again because it is happening to another party.

Next, it was a sudden server issue that really came out of nowhere. Our file server had a giant hiccup, causing access to it to be interrupted for our entire building. Well, no sooner do I send out an e-mail saying we are having an unspecified issue (we had not yet figured out it was only the file server,) then he is REBOOTING THE BOX! DURING BUSINESS HOURS! WITHOUT NOTIFYING THE USERS FIRST! Because he could not access it through remote desktop or on the machine itself. No discussing and agreeing saying, our only option is to reboot, no letting me get people off it first, no asking users to save their work. Just - POOF! - rebooted. I guess he is the SysAdmin, he can do that. Right. Sure. Whatever.

After that, he took the liberty of putting a document - that we do not produce and that contains a setup password that may or may not change - on a shared folder. Without asking my co-worker, who controls the distribution of that setup document when he receives it. And without asking the department that produces the document if that is okay with them.

He didn't remember the correct driving reason behind why we wanted to replace our remote access client (our version is End-Of-Life and only has limited support).

And just a few moments ago, he asked another very stupid question about something that we have covered in the past. I just don't understand why he doesn't remember this shit. It's elementary!! First level stuff! WAY under the level that he should have knowledge of.

He said to me during my evaluation last week that we need to utilize a knowledgebase because "not everyone has a memory like a steel trap" gesturing towards me. He knows he has shit for memory. HOW on earth did he ever become a SysAdmin?! You have to know your network and know the machines and the stats and the history and all that shit. Sure, you don't have to know it all from memory. But you shouldn't have to consult your notes every time you deal with the same issue over and over. Hell, I would be happy if he DID consult his notes! At least he would appear organized, like he knows he has a bad memory and only needs a second to review his notes. Make an effort!!!!

I'm so done with him today!!!!

the hits just keep on coming

Posted to my LJ on April 11th at 9:55 am

It's not yet 10:00 am.

SysAdmin guy, along with an outside consultant from a computer place (that should KNOW BETTER!) decided to bring up the second NIC on a production server for a hosted application.

During the day.

Without any notice.

Without telling his help desk staff.

Or anyone else.

...

Then when everyone in the application gets bumped out and can't get back in, he says, "Oh, guess that didn't work," with a dumb smile on his face.

There just aren't words.

nickel and dimed

I'm not going to complain. Because I know I am going to get an increase of 3.5% of my salary. Everyone here is.

That's all for today.

Oxymoron

Posted to my LJ on April 09, 2008 at 10:30 AM

So, the SysAdmin sends out an e-mail to an Executive Assistant asking if, rather than e-mailing a new (70KB) excel file for the phone list every month - with everyone saving that new file and printing it, the assistant could just save the (70KB) file to a Shared folder on the network and send the LOCATION of the (70KB) file. That way we don't have a hundred copies of the same 70KB file taking up space on our network. Because that would be like 700KB of data needlessly taking up space.

On the other hand, SysAdmin has ME contacting the vendor for our Remote Access client to obtain their quote for a new version of their software, installation and two days of onsite training. I am also supposed to schedule the training and make sure to get an agenda/itinerary for it to make sure that the issues we need covered are included.

HE...is the manager.
I...am the Help Desk tech.
What's wrong with this picture?

EDIT: I just had to show him how to use THE PAPER SHREDDER!!! And then he grumbled, half-joking, under his breath, "all this new technology..." AAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
I told him it scared me to hear him say that.

Do as I say...

You know what I love? I love that my SysAdmin takes TOTAL advantage when the Boss Guy is out of the office for any reason. Wednesdays, Boss Guy leaves early to coach his kid's wrestling team. Every Wed, SysAdmin leaves early too. This week Boss Guy is in California at a conference until Thursday. Today, SysAdmin guy got in at 1:30 (dentist appts for his kids.) And he left at 5:00 pm on the dot! How much you wanna bet that tomorrow he is in late and leaves early? I would bet big money on it.

Yet, when I turn in my time card with 45 fucking minutes of overtime on it, for the evening I rebooted a server FROM HOME, at 11:00 PM AT NIGHT, I get questioned on it by him.

Yeah. I love that.

This toolbag is going to sit in on my review next Thursday too. We'll see how that goes. I rated myself Meets Expectations on some things, but Exceeds on a handful too, with good reason, I say. I am betting that Boss Guy knocks them all down to Meets and gives me a 3.5% cost of living increase. I am going to have to take issue with that considering he has been giddy lately at all the money our department is getting to purchase equipment and how easily he has gotten it all approved in comparison to last year. And he as much as SAID that ease is because of me and my co-worker and all our hard work over the past year. So he better put that money where his mouth is.

Feh.

Weekend Too Short

As usual, this weekend was too short. It's already Sunday night and I wish I had a day or two more off. I got stuff accomplished this weekend. I got some non-toxic cleaner stuff and cleaned the upstairs bathroom. It worked well, and smells WONDERFUL! Mrs. Meyers Clean Day cleaners. I also went out and did some yard work today. It's so overwhelming! There is so much to rake and bag and seed and water and mow and rake some more. But I am starting at least. Maybe before summer I will have the leaves all picked up. I wish I had $600 dollars to buy a walk-behind yard vac. I have a leaf blower/vac, but we just have SO much more than I think that thing can handle vacuuming up and mulching.

I have a couple of topics to write about this week. One is an idea from an article I read this week. The other is sort of an article. I am hoping to write a draft of an article and then hone it and...I dunno. I would love to be able to write semi-professionally. I dunno. Maybe I will write the article and try and see if anyone would want to publish it. We shall see.

Anyway, that was my weekend. How was yours?

Rainbow kitty

Posted to my LJ on March 17, 2008, 09:57 am

So I am driving to work this morning and I get into the city. I end up at a light behind a car that has this sticker on the back:




The only thing I could think (whether it's because I am dead tired or just my normal morning pokeyness) was....do they have "gay cat" stickers now? Does that mean her cat is gay? Rainbow kitty? Gay kitty?

I tried to take a picture of it with my phone, but my ineptitude shone brightly as I gazed upon the lovely picture of my dashboard.

So I got here and decided to look it up on Google and find a picture to add here.

Makes my brain hurt....gay kitty sticker. *insert creeped out noises here*

It's not fiction, I can't make this up!

Actual excerpt from e-mail:
(Names and company have been changed. Per normal, the e-mail chain starts at the bottom.)

From: me
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 2:36 PM
To: Sysadmin
Subject: RE:

yes, check her signature. new employee, started Monday

me
IT Helpdesk

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: SysAdmin
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 2:36 PM
To: me
Subject: RE:

Is she staff?

Thanks,
SysAdmin
Systems Administrator
IT Department
Company Name
Company Address
Office:401-555-1111
Cell: 401-555-1111
SysAdmin@thiscompany.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: me
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 2:17 PM
To: SysAdmin
Subject: FW:

We need to add her to the FM_Staff group for her to get this access, correct?

me
IT Helpdesk
(phone number)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jane New-Employee
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 2:16 PM
To: me
Subject:

IT - I am trying to schedule a conference room and it is coming back undeliverable saying no access allowed. Can you please look into and hook me up. Thanks.

Jane New-Employee, Project Manager
Department Name
Company Name and Address
Providence, RI 00000-0000
401-555-1234

Cake and a card at work!

I got cake!!! C-A-K-E!!!!!

I am so happy! It totally, entirely, completely made my damn day!! I was not even thinking about it. My co-worker wished me HB in an e-mail over the weekend and I thought it was nice of him to remember. And then I was down working on someone's computer and she came upstairs with me "to talk to my co-worker about something" and, blam, there was my cake!! YAY!!!

And my co-worker went around to almost everyone here and got them to sign a card for me too. How damned awesome is that! After the shit I have had going on, it was really, really nice to have a little unsolicited positive attention from an unexpected place.

Last night we went to Chili's for my birthday dinner out. Nice big Margarita, sampler appetizer platter, then shrimp and chicken fajitas (Mmmmmm) and for dessert, we split a molten chocolate cake thingy. Super yum! I was so stuffed! I have not eaten like that in a very long time (and don't freak, it will not become a habit!) It was a nice treat!

Then we rented 'Michael Clayton'. Whoo. INTENSE movie! LOVED it. I didn't realize what it was about before. I thought it was a political story or a spy thing. Nope. George Clooney was fantastic. So was Tom Wilkinson, who I love. Everyone was good in it. And lots of actors I like (Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack). I highly recommend it.

Had a nice day yesterday and a nice day today. Woo for me!

screw-up

SysAdmin guy manages to screw up everything he touches. A simple remote access program that we use to log in from home. It's simple. I have installed and configured it at least 40 times since I have been here. He installs it on his PC and it is totally screwed up.

Seriously. I don't know what his problem is! I literally fix stuff that he messes up EVERY DAY. Little things like this, usually not catastrophic things. But he occassionally screws up things that are serious and affect, oh, everyone in the building.

I wishwishwishwishwishwish I could do something about him. But he is entering his 5th month here (probation lasts for 6 months) and I am positive he is not going anywhere. Boss guy likes him and doesn't know enough technically to know how sub-standard this guy really is.

We have had no less than three meetings where we have discussed things that we have to discuss. The same list of things. Three times. We talk about the list and say that we have to prioritize the list so that we can start tackling the projects. We have done it in three separate meetings. I feel like I am insane in these meetings. But hey, I'm not the boss. I have chosen a few of the projects and will do some legwork on them and suddenly have it prepared at a meeting soon. So I am doing my part to be impressive and proactive. But I just don't understand how this shit flies day after day. It's not even a private corp!

It's stunning, what a screw up this guy is.

EDIT: My co-worker and I have decided that he "got hit by the stupid stick" this morning. There are some days when he is dumber than others and I am so happy that I am not the only one to think so!

Half day for me - woot!

I had already planned to leave work early if the snow actually picked up the way the news said it would. Well, it did and the city was telling employers to let non-essential personnel leave work. And there was a parking ban as of 12:00 noon in the city, so Brown sent out an e-mail to all staff and faculty that people could go home. I left at 1:00 pm and got home in a reasonable time, no traffic or anything. Fortunately, the way I traveled I didn't hit any accidents either. The roads weren't great, but I got home fine.

It was pretty cool for a change to have something to be happy about related to work. No stress, no pressure, just being allowed to go home. Yay!

So I came home and went to the store with my sweetie for weekly food shopping. After that, I took a nice nap with my puppies in the warm bed. Mmmmmm.

There was a possibilty of dinner with friends, but of course, the snow got in the way of that. No problem. A nice night vegging out at home was definitely satisfactory after this week. :-)

Anyway, hitting the sack now.

EDIT: Just took the dogs out for the final time tonight. This is the WORST kind of weather! YUCK! Started this morning as light fluffy snow and then stopped and then picked up again around noon as more fluffy snow, but LOTS of it. Got home and was able to shovel simply by pushing it with the shovel, it was so fluffy. Got out of the supermarket and it was freezing rain. I think it has been doing that since then. So now all the snow is still there, but it is all crusted over with ice. And everything else is covered in a layer of ice. GREAT! YUK!

Cough, cough, cough...

Worked from home yesterday. I have never gotten "officially" sanctioned to do this, but I have never heard anything negative about it either, and the subject has come up with boss guy before (and as they say, it is easier to apologize than to ask permission). They would have sent me home anyway. I was coughing my head off and I was still so tired. Still am. I napped between checking my e-mail and fixing issues remotely. It was nice to work from my bed surrounded by warm puppies. :-)

This chest cold just came out of nowhere though. Very odd. I know some people here at work are sick. But I really don't know where I got this from. Fortunately, I am getting better already. Thanks to modern pharmaceuticals. Damn them.

So I think that in addition to being a member of Blog365 I will be re-joining NaBloPoMo, because Eden, who started NaBloPoMo after her love for NaNoWriMo, has made it a monthly affair! I will remain a member of Blog365, but will be trying to take it in monthly chunks since I have already failed miserably at blogging every day. Maybe taking just one month at a time will help my track record. And the chance for fabulous prizes - I just can't pass it up!

I hate all things financial and money related. I hate paychecks, having to work for one, getting paid, bills, expenses, budgets, monthly, weekly and quarterly payments, income tax, sales tax, any kind of tax. 'Nuff said. Except one more thing. I think we middle-middle class people (and everyone less fortunate) should band together and stage a socialist uprising starting in L.A.! The wealth of ridiculously rich celebrities, celebutantes, "real housewives", multi-millionaires, politicians, oil tycoons and such, should be re-distributed to everyone struggling through. I try not to think about it because it makes me so mad. But I just thought I'd say it and get it out there.

Tonight I go back to the trusty laundromat to wash the first of several loads of wash I have to do over the next 3-4 days. The poop incidents of last week have created a large pile of linens and blankets that need to be decontaminated. But I just can't do it all in one trip, much as I would like to. The logistics of the laundromat are entirely different when you are only WASHING stuff there. This is because the load is three times heavier when you carry it out than when you went in. Also, my dryer will only do one load at a time, so really it's impractical to have a wet washload (or 4) sitting there marinating while one is drying. One would say, why don't you just dry your laundry there as well? YIKES, the cost!!! When I had my apartment in Derry just a few short years ago (6 to be exact) a load of laundry - washed and dried - was $5 bucks. These were small to average sized washers, not large ones, so you could only do a small regular load (in jeans terms, about 6 or 7 pairs.) At the laundromat, it is $4 bucks to do ONE WASHLOAD in the mid-sized machine! The small one is $3.25 and the super large one is $6.50. I have not even checked the dryer costs. This is crazy! If you saved your laundromat money for half a year you could buy at least a washer if not both a washer AND a dryer. It's just ridiculous. Just having to pay for it out-of-pocket gets me shaking my head and freaking out at the cost.

Okay, I am sensing a theme, so I think I better stop now or risk people telling me to shut up!

Seriously...wtf?!

I have days where I can tolerate my manager guy okay. He fuddles through the day and doesn't say much while he pokes around the network looking for stuff to fuck up.

Then there are days like today.

Today, while reviewing my time sheet, he asked me if they are supposed to pay me if I work over a certain number of hours PER DAY, or was it PER WEEK. He didn't ask PAYROLL, which is literally on the other side of my cubicle. He asked me.

Today in our weekly meeting he said that he set the calendar for requesting a laptop to AUTO-ACCEPT meeting requests. Because we have enough laptops to put one in every conference room (and 2 extra) he felt that my co-worker and I didn't need to look at and accept the meeting requests for laptops. He didn't ASK US...he just assumed.

Today, I discovered that a printer has been renamed on a print server. This is not a big deal except that everyone that uses that printer now has to delete the old one and re-add it to their printers. We have the typical gamut of users - very competent to totally inept. Of course, the ones that primarily use this printer are totally inept. So they FREAKED OUT when they could not print. I am positive it was manager guy. And he didn't bother to TELL ANYONE. I assume from the name change that he named it something that he finds easier.

We have an issue here that is taking WAY too long to resolve and needs escalation from a manager to get cooperation from the main IT department on it. So he ASKS ME what I think we should do next.

What the goddamn fuck?!

Why do I work FOR this guy?! Why do I make LESS MONEY than he does?!

B.E.A.R. Day! \m/

Today is Brown Employee Appreciation and Recognition Day! What does this mean for me? An hour long, boring presentation honoring people who go above and beyond (some of whom I actually know and will applaud for) and recognizing the crazy people who have been here for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and yes, 40 years!

But after the boring-ness, there is food. Free food. Not just free food - free shrimp cocktail! Huge plump shrimp in all their cocktail saucy glory! Other stuff too that was good last year, but the shrimp was a standout because there were TONS of them and they were HUGE! So...off I go to sit patiently as I wait for the hors d'ouvres wait people to come out with the trays. Woot!

And no, I did NOT eat lunch. I was prepared for this! :-)