I said No...

I don't write much about my work. I don't mention my company or co-workers very often, but this morning something so ridiculous happened that I just have to blog about it.

I have this co-worker whom I might have mentioned before and she's a big pain in the rear. In fact, no one really likes her, everyone complains about her -- both in my division and out of my division and yet, she gets to keep her job. I wonder about that. Either someone higher actually does like her or my company likes to keep dead wood around.

Anyway, this morning Tootsie (since I don't want to use her real name) comes over to my desk looking for work for a different co-worker. I tell her I don't have anything for him to do and try to politely send her on her way. I was busy with a hot report I needed to code in a grand total of two hours. She insists that I must have something for him and I again tell her no, but in a more firm voice.

Does she take the hint? In a word, NO.

She says, "I'll talk to John" (fake name for our boss), like when she says it, I'm going to say, "Oh, yes, I do have something for him to do!" Don't threaten me with our boss's name. Are we a couple of five year olds on the playground who need the help of our teacher? Please.

So, my first comment is this: why do companies keep people like this on the payroll? I know there are more Tootsies in this world, I've met them before. They live in their own little world, they don't care what you think or what you need to do, they want you to do what they want you to do. Why do we put up with people like this? Why is it that they are allowed to keep working?

My second comment is why is it that she can't take no for an answer? I had a run in with her last year because she wanted to keep the air conditioning on full blast while the other 29 people in the office were freezing. What is fundamentally wrong with her that NO doesn't exist in her world? I said NO and I'm not changing my mind.

And, finally, a request, Please pray that I don't snap her little skinny bony neck.

God Bless

Work

I should start this blog entry by saying, I really love my job. I'm a Data Analyst for a company in Milwaukee. I make fairly decent (at least it was decent until gasoline went over $2.50 a gallon) money. I'm doing something I love to do. I write reports.

I write lots and lots of reports. Reports in Crystal and Excel. Reports that show the top 50 of this and the bottom 50 of that. Reports that connect two different databases on the same server. I write stored procedures and SQL queries and I (mostly) love every minute of it.

But, the parts of my job I hate are also the hardest ones to do. And, those are dealing with morons. Why can't people be team players? Why would one co-worker allow another co-worker to bust his butt finding information to do something and let that co-worker work on this for THREE days and then conveniently hand them the file that shows how to do it? It happened, I saw it.

Why would one co-worker who knows NOTHING about how to write reports or how the system works in regards to reports, keep butting her nose in to tell the Data Analyst (me) how to write the reports needed for a new customer? And, get loud and obnoxious about it?

Somedays, I can truly understand why everyone looks so grumpy going into work. It's not that they hate their jobs, they just hate working with the morons!

God Bless

PS. If you have a story to tell, feel free to post a comment. Also, I'm selling t-shirts with the saying: When I snap, you'll be the first to know. Click here to buy one!

My Knee, My Poor, Poor Knee

So, last Tuesday I'm walking across the parking lot at work and I fall on the ice. (There was no salt and the lot was a sheet of ice) I smashed pretty darn hard on my right side, hurting my right knee. Thanks to some co-workers, I limped my way to my desk and didn't move for most of the day. (I did report it to HR)

Anyway, I went to the clinic my employer wanted me to go to and the doctor says it is just a bad sprain. No big deal, right? It's just a sprain. I take it easy for a few days and everything will be okay.

So, I spent the rest of the week limping around and being careful. Well, today my leg feels fine. I stop limping and I get one with my normal routine. Cheryl tells me that we're out of litter and asks if I mind going to the store to buy some. Sure, I tell her. And, off to the pet store I go.

Well, Mr. Mann will poop outside the litter box if we buy scented litter, so I look on the shelf for unscented and it's way in the back. No problem -- I'll just kneel down and grab a box. Well, that was a mistake. The very second I put weight on my knee, I felt a very sharp pain.

I know it's not that big of a deal if I can't kneel while my knee heals, but damn, I've got to remember that I can't. I came home tonight, went to plug in my laptop and did it again!

Man, that hurt!

And, I just wanted to complain about that.

God Bless