Ah, where to start? I'll try something different -- I'll go backwards.
- I quit my job. I wasn't planning on it, thought I was having a moment of inspiration, thought opportunity was knocking -- but in retrospect, I don't think it was. I told the boss I wanted a raise and more hours, because she fired her main video engineer and it was either me or the new trainee. I'm experienced, knowledgeable, and skilled -- and she had been offering me extra hours for months (but I was working more and didn't want to cause negative fallout for my coworker). But the negotiations never really happened. She said it was impossible, there was no money in the budget. I said, 'How about we think about it over the weekend?' and left. As I walked out of the work-place, she chased after me. She caught me and said, 'I won't be changing my mind, so if you're certain you're leaving, give me your keys.' I did. While she & I were talking, I made the mistake of saying 'I was playing hardball.' I think that made her more upset.
- I talked to a confidante about it -- he said I should call back & say I had over-reacted & still wanted the job (esp considering the economy & so on).
- I talked to my g/f about it -- she said that I hadn't really wanted the job except to learn, that I had learned a lot, and maybe it wasn't the right gig for me. But, she also said that I could always try & patch things up also.
- My boss fired my mentor and friend. I was trained months ago by a really nice video engineer and good guy. I knew she was planning to fire him when she hired me, so I said to him several times -- be careful, she wants to fire you. She kept asking me if I wanted more hours, and while I did (do), I was unwilling to get the guy fired. I like him a lot, he's very knowledgeable, and I refuse to be the pawn in someone's 'game of revenge'. At one point, I told him 'be careful to not tell me everything or you lose your bargaining chips.' Just before she hired another video engineer, I told her I'd take more hours. I thought they had worked things out. She said she didn't feel she could rely on me for the hours.
- The new hire was incompetent. Then a new woman was hired to do video engineer work. We all knew there was only really enough work for one person (~30hrs), but the boss was determined that we train her. My friend & coworker kept saying 'this new hire is clueless', and he didn't want me to show her anything too involved. But I made the mistake and kept showing her how to do shortcuts & simplify hard tasks.
- It was very clear to me and my coworker -- she was nice, but not getting it. So we tried to train her in ways where she would do the least amount of damage. Despite the complexity of the setup, the first day she took no notes. The next day she laughed and said, after I suggested she write things down, "I don't really remember much from yesterday, there was so much. Can we do that stuff all again & this time I'll write things down?"
- The first big joke we had was when she could not use a hole-punch. She kept hole-punching things the wrong way, and laughed when the papers were all messed up. I gave her 'hole puncher training'.
- The second laugh was when she was asked to do something on the internet on another Mac and she said, "I can't find the internet on that one." No, she couldn't use a Mac, and could barely use a PC. (When I asked her which she preferred, she said "I don't like Mac. We used Dell at home. My husband is an engineer, I don't really do computers much." However, the job requirements were clearly "Maintain and manage video fileservers, web streaming servers and Video-On-Demand server", among other requirements.
- The third laugh was more bitter. The job is a video engineering job, where we record clips, edit clips, record live shows, and keep the station broadcasting. The new hire couldn't do anything in Final Cut Pro, but more than that, she didn't know what the T-bar did on a video mixing board. She didn't know how to operate a sound board. She didn't know the different between Program and Preview.
- I was diagnosed with Pigmentary Glaucoma in my right eye. I was concerned that something was up with my eye. I was saddened to find out that it's going to be a condition which can be prevented from worsening, but has already damaged my optic nerve. The doctor said I'll probably have it in both eyes eventually.
- My friend's partner is suffering from terminal cancer. While I'm going thru all this stuff, I know my friend is going thru a lot worse. Her partner of 20 years is diagnosed terminal, and while they were doing ok, the condition has deteriorated significantly. It's a big sad moment.
1 comment:
Hi Rekz, I finally checked out your blog!
It is dog-eat-dog out there in the corporate world, no doubt about it. It is rare to find good management. Office politics can overshadow the actual work. I too quit my last job, but in my case, I had been preparing (saving) for years. I did not foresee the bottom falling out of the economy, however.
I wrecked a few cars in my day too, although in most cases it was the fault of the other driver.
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