pit of random II

*Three times in the past two weeks I’ve been woken up by an alarm sounding somewhere outside. Thankfully, all three times it was within 30 minutes of the time I was going to get up anyway.

*After researching the cameras that will soon be on sale, I’ve decided on one that I want. Now, I’m preparing myself that the store will probably have sold out of them by the time I get there on Friday.

*Today, I cooked “over well” eggs for the first time, and later I plan to finish the latest email to my epal, Michele.

*Recently, I have been busily working to accomplish some website To Dos.

*Although it was April when I changed my hairstyle, I’m still not used to seeing myself with this look.

*I eagerly await the – so far unscheduled – release of season two of The Young Riders on DVD.

*A few weeks ago, I started eating fish again, but I haven’t told the people at work. It would simply mean too much to them.

*On Sunday, I bought six new pairs of socks. (Two packs of three.) The socks that I previously bought on two separate occasions were too tight in the ankles. So far, the new ones seem to work okay.

*When I renewed my apartment lease last month, they raised the rent $10.

*My boyfriend and I are planning to go to the new Greek restaurant in Huntsville this weekend, but I don’t think he remembers that.

*Does anyone know of a store that sells a parallel-to-USB printer cable? I’d rather not have to order it on-line.

*The stretch of Interstate 65 that crosses the Tennessee River in Alabama is really beautiful in the spring and fall.

*I hope that all of you have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving.

what goes around

At work, as we try to adjust to our new owners’ way of doing things, a typical exchange with the people reviewing our projects goes like this:

Us: Do you have a standard way of doing this?

Them: There are *no* standards.

Us: I understand, but is there a way you usually do it?

Them: There are *no* standards.

Us: [Picks a way and does the task.]

Them: That’s not how we do it!

Us: [Fights urge to hurt Them.]

The bright side of this is that the two people who were previously in charge of checking the projects are now getting a taste of the frustration that the other trainee and I have been experiencing since we were hired.

The dark side of the bright side is that neither of them is aware of the connection.

OfficeMate, no more

Fed up with the work situation my OfficeMate turned in his resignation. The next day, the bosses asked him to go ahead and leave since he was going to work for a competitor. Fortunately for him, he was able to start work at his new job two days later.

That was a few weeks ago, and since around that time, I’ve mostly found myself calmed down about the job situation. No, not because OM left. I think I’ve just finally come to terms with the way things are. I’m not even really angry at the bosses. They did what they had to do, and now I know what I have to do. And even though my last interview was a disaster and I’ve currently zero job prospects, most of the time I feel calmly positive about that, too. I encourage myself that I’ll keep looking for a new job, and I’ll take my time so I know I’m getting the right one.

And then there are days like today, where one of the consistently moody checker people chews me out, oozing with sarcasm, and I almost hope that they let me go after the “three month trial period” ends. What is it about this industry that allows such tactless, obstinate people to assume positions of authority? I don’t care if you think I’m the biggest idiot this side of the Mississippi – although, can one truly be a good manager with that kind of negative attitude? – if you want me to listen to what you have to say, you’ll make it a point to show me just the tiniest bit of respect.

OfficeMate felt he had to leave to get respect. Today’s incident is pretty much the standard for management where I work, and I can say with great confidence that they don’t care that OM left. (Sorta proves him right, yes?) So smugly self-righteous, they made it clear when they took over that there are “thirty people in line” for all of our jobs.

Is that a fact, managers? Because I can’t help noticing that a replacement has not yet been found for OM. As far as I know, there’ve only been two interviews, and both of those candidates had much less experience than OM did. Well, in the higher-ups’ defense, they didn’t say that there were thirty qualified people.

And it’s a funny thing about a lack of loyalty: it works both ways. Management wants me to understand how utterly replaceable I am. Okay. I get that. But do *they* realize? I don’t need thirty job offers to lure me away. One decent one is all it would take.