Wednesday, Sept. 07, 2005 10:49 am
Work frustration on vacation?
Trouble is, I have no boss. Okay, I have a boss, but it is like, let's say, an Austin street sweeper, but my boss is the Governor of Texas. He has a lot more on his mind than sweeping streets (he's got photo ops and hair appointments to think about), but if there is a change in street sweeping protocol, he's supposed to be the one to tell me, even though lots of other people in the capitol might also know about it before me. That has happened time and again at work. Someone will say to me, "Have you changed your street sweeping protocol for tomorrow?" and I'll say, "No, why?" and they'll exclaim, "The federal government has mandated that all street sweeping must be done now with whisk brooms! You've got to change!"
A day or two ago there was a request for a bit of information from folks on my level. I ignored it since I am on vacation and had no clue what they were talking about. Today is more emails asking for this information. Fortunately, she also notes that I am on vacation and someone is going to have to adjust this for me. Damn right! I am going to have to go to the station later, but it will be too late for this change she is asking for.
And add to that my vacation is being chipped away. I had said I would be available for any volunteer work they might need, but did they ask me before they scheduled me? No, they didn't, and they (she) scheduled me smack dab during my group time. I'm not giving up my group (and throwing away that money), no matter how good the cause is. A co-worker and I have made a switch that should cover it, but now my Thursday is all blown out of the water. I'm sticking to my guns on Friday, though. Otherwise, I don't know when I'll get to see Nephew #2 as drum major.
But, on to happier things. I kicked ass when it came to bowling yesterday! It was a lot of fun. I wasn't as blown away by the enchildas at the Dart as everyone has told me I would be, but the bowling was a blast. Mark wouldn't take any of my well intentioned advice and he lost miserably. When he finally did get a strike he came up to me and said "In your face!" It was really funny. I had four strikes and maybe my best game ever with 116 (don't laugh! I haven't bowled in maybe 15 years). I'm feeling it in my hips today, but I want to do it again soon. It was really fun to find that sweet spot that rolled that ball right into the pocket.
Last night my throat was sore and weird so I mostly watched TV while Mark rearranged and cleaned out his office (and moved everything of mine out of it and into my already overflowing office). I watched a Michael Powell movie and documentary that brought back fond memories of studying British film at UNT. I did a big paper on Emeric Pressburger, Powell's scriptwriter and partner, but he didn't have anything to do with The Edge of the World (or was it End of the World?). Anyway, it was an interesting story, hard to follow without subtitles, but fun to see a classic and know about the director. I wish all these films had been so available when I was at school. Sure, we had Blockbuster, but the classics were rarely available.
So, today I face office work... quite a bit of office work... and I'll go up to the office this evening and then to the cafe for the weekly series. I get paid for that so that's why I'm not complaining about it. I chose to do it to continue that bit of income as long as I can.