Time for me to rant
Ugh! Have you ever had one of those days where you wish you could crawl under the covers and shut out the world? I'm sure you have. We all have. And because the source of my annoyance is none other than my job where I spend 8 hours of my 16 waking hours a day it's really hard to escape from it. My bad mood can also be blamed on Uncle Sam and his greedy son otherwise know as the IRS. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about having to pay my fair share of taxes. It's just that I expected a much better outcome because everyone told me once you buy a house the tax breaks are beneficial. But what they fail to mention is that only happens when your itemized deductions exceed your standard deduction. And since we don't fall into that category we're stuck with a wopping income tax bill. Also because my husband's employer took no federal tax out we underpaid. So you can understand how that started the week off just lovely.
Another reason I may be so perturbed is that I now have to drive in my car in silence. Yep, my stereo system no longer wants to turn on. It was working just fine this morning as I was heading into work listening to the Larry Keel Experience throw down some Clinch Mountain music. I had to stop for gas, which by the way is another annoyance. $2.82 a gallon! Geez! Anyway, when I start the car back up and turn the stereo back on I get nothing! I was right by the dealership so I stopped in but it was going to take at least 1 1/2 hours to look at it and I had, joy of joys, a staff meeting to faciliate so I couldn't wait.
So you can begin to see how this day was shaping up. But, wait, it get's better. And while the explanation of my frustration cannot be fully comprehended without really knowing about our staffing structure I will try to put it in a nutshell-which by the way is very difficult for me. I am the Project Manager and oversee a staff of 6 people. I report to a Vice President of my division. And while in my performance appraisal I was told that I needed to work on exerting my authority with staff, you would think I would get some support with that. And maybe it was just my perception today, but I felt that my boss really undermined me in the meeting. But that was that and frankly I'm kind of used to that around here anyway. And though I don't want rush to judgement and told myself that this was not her intention, it still pisses me off.
Then the kicker today is related to a social event planned for tomorrow-and as I put this on paper it seems silly to be so annoyed. But annoyance on top of annoyance breeds discontent and grumpiness-so it was inevitable. Anyway, every once in a while we schedule a potluck lunch at work. The purpose of this lunch is first and foremost to eat yummy food. But it also a chance to socialize with co-workers in a more relaxed and social atmosphere. This event involves not only my staff, but several other teams within our division.
Well one of my staff members made a comment during the meeting about the taco salad she signed up to bring and how she couldn't even cook dinner for her family (i.e. herself and her husband) much less something for the potluck. Ok, I know people are busy and I am not assuming because she does not have children that her time isn't as precious as mine, but c'mon. YOU decided to sign up for taco salad. So she switched to salsa, but no that wasn't good enough either. She had to go and try to rally support from a limited number of my staff-mind you without consulting with ME, her supervisor (if you know me,this statement is certatinly no power trip). So through the grapevine I hear about this and how plans are being made to reschedule. HOLD THE PHONE MABEL! When does the desires on one employee outweigh the desires of all others-unless of course you're the BIG BOSS. So I politely and calmly indicated by email that potlucks are voluntary and if someone has changed their mind please let us know because the potluck was still going on. Some people had already bought the food they were going to bring and many of us look forward to this one ray of sunshine in our otherwise dreary work week.
So after putting this all down in all of it's bloggy splendor, I guess it's not that bad after all. I am rejoicing now that after tomorrow I will have a 4 day weekend. Then I won't be able to wait to come back to the grind so I have more material to blog about. Funny how that works.
Another reason I may be so perturbed is that I now have to drive in my car in silence. Yep, my stereo system no longer wants to turn on. It was working just fine this morning as I was heading into work listening to the Larry Keel Experience throw down some Clinch Mountain music. I had to stop for gas, which by the way is another annoyance. $2.82 a gallon! Geez! Anyway, when I start the car back up and turn the stereo back on I get nothing! I was right by the dealership so I stopped in but it was going to take at least 1 1/2 hours to look at it and I had, joy of joys, a staff meeting to faciliate so I couldn't wait.
So you can begin to see how this day was shaping up. But, wait, it get's better. And while the explanation of my frustration cannot be fully comprehended without really knowing about our staffing structure I will try to put it in a nutshell-which by the way is very difficult for me. I am the Project Manager and oversee a staff of 6 people. I report to a Vice President of my division. And while in my performance appraisal I was told that I needed to work on exerting my authority with staff, you would think I would get some support with that. And maybe it was just my perception today, but I felt that my boss really undermined me in the meeting. But that was that and frankly I'm kind of used to that around here anyway. And though I don't want rush to judgement and told myself that this was not her intention, it still pisses me off.
Then the kicker today is related to a social event planned for tomorrow-and as I put this on paper it seems silly to be so annoyed. But annoyance on top of annoyance breeds discontent and grumpiness-so it was inevitable. Anyway, every once in a while we schedule a potluck lunch at work. The purpose of this lunch is first and foremost to eat yummy food. But it also a chance to socialize with co-workers in a more relaxed and social atmosphere. This event involves not only my staff, but several other teams within our division.
Well one of my staff members made a comment during the meeting about the taco salad she signed up to bring and how she couldn't even cook dinner for her family (i.e. herself and her husband) much less something for the potluck. Ok, I know people are busy and I am not assuming because she does not have children that her time isn't as precious as mine, but c'mon. YOU decided to sign up for taco salad. So she switched to salsa, but no that wasn't good enough either. She had to go and try to rally support from a limited number of my staff-mind you without consulting with ME, her supervisor (if you know me,this statement is certatinly no power trip). So through the grapevine I hear about this and how plans are being made to reschedule. HOLD THE PHONE MABEL! When does the desires on one employee outweigh the desires of all others-unless of course you're the BIG BOSS. So I politely and calmly indicated by email that potlucks are voluntary and if someone has changed their mind please let us know because the potluck was still going on. Some people had already bought the food they were going to bring and many of us look forward to this one ray of sunshine in our otherwise dreary work week.
So after putting this all down in all of it's bloggy splendor, I guess it's not that bad after all. I am rejoicing now that after tomorrow I will have a 4 day weekend. Then I won't be able to wait to come back to the grind so I have more material to blog about. Funny how that works.
posted by amyd | 5:25 PM
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