I didn't make it to church today. I woke up with a terrible migraine, the kind that takes over half your body as well as your head. I spent the day relaxing with my family. It was a beautiful day, and we sat out on the front steps, just enjoying the day.
I'm home now. Exhausted -- the migraine and its cure will sometimes do that to me. It will be an early night unless the Yankees game captivates me. Jeff Gordon finally won last night, but it was too late for me.
I don't meet with my pastor this week for my session about pre-ordination stuff because she's traveling, but I have plenty to think about. Maybe I'll blog some of it. Last week's session was overwhelming. I have so much to read and process. I won't be officially entering the process anytime soon. Probably at least until after General Conference next year, because they are going to change the rules again.
In the morning I have to call the handler at the staffing agency and tell her I quit and hope she'll be able to place me someplace else.
Time for the game!
22 April 2007
21 April 2007
Crazy Times
I should have paid more attention to my horoscope this week to see if there was something completely bizarre in the skies causing my life to go skidding through insanity this week. Everyone around me has been telling me how great I look, how calm I seem, how it seems like everything is finally going right for me. And man, did it ever feel like that. I was starting the ordination process, was starting a new job that I thought was a great match for my skills, and was really feeling comfortable in my skin, feeling like I was really going to be able to handle my divorce and make it on my own.
That was last Sunday. Now it's Saturday. I quit the job and realized I am going to have to lie my way through the ordination process -- which was why I stopped it the first time. I'm doing OK on the divorce thing. I think.
First the job. There was a State of Emergency in my state on my first day of work. Three roads that I could take to get to the job were closed. I was 15 minutes late. It took me an hour and half to get there -- normally it takes 20 minutes. I called, but they don't have a voice mail directory on their phones so I couldn't get through to my supervisor. So I called her cell phone. Which was off. When I got there, she didn't say hello to me. She told me punctuality was important and that I should have taken a different road. Specifically a highway that WAS A PARKING LOT due to another closed road. I checked the traffic reports. Oh, she didn't check her cell phone.
Executive Vice President. Doesn't check cell phone. Right.
Later in the day, she called me into her office. I sat down and asked her what I could do for her. She said, "Nothing. You're useless to me until you know the business." Then I got a lecture on company work ethics.
Even later in the day, I got in trouble for not replying to an email she sent me. Except I never got it, because she typed the address OF THE COMPANY wrong.
On Wednesday she had me find a typewriter to type a DHL label. This was to send a package to a Vice President of McDonald's. She seemed to think he would be impressed that the label was typed. THIS MAN HAS TWO ASSISTANTS. He doesn't open his own mail. It was all I could do not to laugh at her. Three revisions on the letter to him, one version of which included this line "We look forward to building our relationship with you and the McDonald's." No, I didn't put the extra "the" there by accident. I actually had to remove it. There were scripts on how to page people over the phone, but the EVP didn't have a mastery of basic grammar. (Neither did the Director of Marketing.)
After countless lectures and being told daily that I was useless to her, I got to Friday. One thing I know how to do is prioritize work. For example, if there is a $30 million bid due in five days, that prep work is more important than making a list of companies we need Annual Reports from. Ah, but I was wrong. Priorities are made by what lands on your desk next. You are to cease working on a project and immediately begin working on the project she hands you, regardless of what you are working on. Also, you are not to hand her things or leave them on her desk and you are never to interrupt her, but you must constantly give her updates as to your progress. Further, it is not good enough to print out the Annual Reports from the company websites, you must call each company and request the hard copies. Now.
Oh, did I mention that she doesn't have a database? Her contacts are all in Word files. Word. Files. In Binders. Not even in Outlook. There's not even a database for the sales department. Not even an Excel spreadsheet. Each salesperson keeps their data however they want to keep it.
One thing I absolutely hate is when a company wastes money. When a salesperson can't immediately put their hands on contact information, that's a waste of money. (It's also a waste of money when you don't have your catalog information in a spreadsheet available to your salespersons for use in RFP's so that they have to type product codes in by hand everytime.)
Apparently somebody got smart and realized they needed a database so they bought ACT! Good choice. Coincidentally, I'm very familiar with ACT! and designed a new ACT! database for my old company, combining two databases. I know how to customize the forms and import data from various sources. In fact, I even know how to get those Word files into a format that ACT! will accept. Those poor people are totally lost. The person they have in charge of the whole thing is their Director of Research and Development. He invents the products for the company. So the President says to me, "Do you know ACT!?" And I said, "Yes, I do. I've been using it for five years." And he says, "Excellent! We can use you as a resource!"
My boss says, "Absolutely not! She knows nothing about the industry!"
So instead of using me and my expertise (and significantly lower salary), she was choosing to use her top managers. The waste of time and money will be staggering, and there will be probably be errors that could corrupt their data because their source data is not in the right format for import. But what do I know?
Foolish.
There was more. So much more. So much you would hardly believe I was only there for five days. But it was all capped off when she reminded me again that I should be responding to each email she sends me as an acknowledgement. I was totally confused, because I hadn't gotten any emails from her. I chalked it up to her insanity. Then this morning I checked my personal email -- the one I use for my resume and job search -- and there were three emails from her. She was sending them to the wrong fucking email address.
That was last Sunday. Now it's Saturday. I quit the job and realized I am going to have to lie my way through the ordination process -- which was why I stopped it the first time. I'm doing OK on the divorce thing. I think.
First the job. There was a State of Emergency in my state on my first day of work. Three roads that I could take to get to the job were closed. I was 15 minutes late. It took me an hour and half to get there -- normally it takes 20 minutes. I called, but they don't have a voice mail directory on their phones so I couldn't get through to my supervisor. So I called her cell phone. Which was off. When I got there, she didn't say hello to me. She told me punctuality was important and that I should have taken a different road. Specifically a highway that WAS A PARKING LOT due to another closed road. I checked the traffic reports. Oh, she didn't check her cell phone.
Executive Vice President. Doesn't check cell phone. Right.
Later in the day, she called me into her office. I sat down and asked her what I could do for her. She said, "Nothing. You're useless to me until you know the business." Then I got a lecture on company work ethics.
Even later in the day, I got in trouble for not replying to an email she sent me. Except I never got it, because she typed the address OF THE COMPANY wrong.
On Wednesday she had me find a typewriter to type a DHL label. This was to send a package to a Vice President of McDonald's. She seemed to think he would be impressed that the label was typed. THIS MAN HAS TWO ASSISTANTS. He doesn't open his own mail. It was all I could do not to laugh at her. Three revisions on the letter to him, one version of which included this line "We look forward to building our relationship with you and the McDonald's." No, I didn't put the extra "the" there by accident. I actually had to remove it. There were scripts on how to page people over the phone, but the EVP didn't have a mastery of basic grammar. (Neither did the Director of Marketing.)
After countless lectures and being told daily that I was useless to her, I got to Friday. One thing I know how to do is prioritize work. For example, if there is a $30 million bid due in five days, that prep work is more important than making a list of companies we need Annual Reports from. Ah, but I was wrong. Priorities are made by what lands on your desk next. You are to cease working on a project and immediately begin working on the project she hands you, regardless of what you are working on. Also, you are not to hand her things or leave them on her desk and you are never to interrupt her, but you must constantly give her updates as to your progress. Further, it is not good enough to print out the Annual Reports from the company websites, you must call each company and request the hard copies. Now.
Oh, did I mention that she doesn't have a database? Her contacts are all in Word files. Word. Files. In Binders. Not even in Outlook. There's not even a database for the sales department. Not even an Excel spreadsheet. Each salesperson keeps their data however they want to keep it.
One thing I absolutely hate is when a company wastes money. When a salesperson can't immediately put their hands on contact information, that's a waste of money. (It's also a waste of money when you don't have your catalog information in a spreadsheet available to your salespersons for use in RFP's so that they have to type product codes in by hand everytime.)
Apparently somebody got smart and realized they needed a database so they bought ACT! Good choice. Coincidentally, I'm very familiar with ACT! and designed a new ACT! database for my old company, combining two databases. I know how to customize the forms and import data from various sources. In fact, I even know how to get those Word files into a format that ACT! will accept. Those poor people are totally lost. The person they have in charge of the whole thing is their Director of Research and Development. He invents the products for the company. So the President says to me, "Do you know ACT!?" And I said, "Yes, I do. I've been using it for five years." And he says, "Excellent! We can use you as a resource!"
My boss says, "Absolutely not! She knows nothing about the industry!"
So instead of using me and my expertise (and significantly lower salary), she was choosing to use her top managers. The waste of time and money will be staggering, and there will be probably be errors that could corrupt their data because their source data is not in the right format for import. But what do I know?
Foolish.
There was more. So much more. So much you would hardly believe I was only there for five days. But it was all capped off when she reminded me again that I should be responding to each email she sends me as an acknowledgement. I was totally confused, because I hadn't gotten any emails from her. I chalked it up to her insanity. Then this morning I checked my personal email -- the one I use for my resume and job search -- and there were three emails from her. She was sending them to the wrong fucking email address.
06 April 2007
Who?
You’re St. Melito of Sardis! You have a great love of history and liturgy. You’re attached to the traditions of the ancients, yet you recognize that the old world — great as it was — is passing away. You are loyal to the customs of your family, though you do not hesitate to call family members to account for their sins. Find out which Church Father you are at The Way of the Fathers! |
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