Conversations with my boss…

My boss and another co-worker of mine were looking for me late yesterday afternoon (after 4:30pm).  Needless to say, I wasn’t around and today I’m getting the third degree… 

Via email…

Boss:  Were you in the office yesterday afternoon?  Co-worker and I were trying to reach you.  I also didn’t see you on Instant Messenger. 

Me:  yes, i was here

Boss:  Then why couldn’t we reach you?  You’re also not in Instant Messenger.  It was quite an ordeal and we needed your help.

Me:  Sorry, that you couldn’t reach me.  I keep forgetting to log on to Instant Messenger.  I’m on now. 

Now, via Instant Messenger…

Boss (08:59:51): I’m still really feeling unsure about yesterday afternoon. If you were still there, where were you that we couldn’t reach you for an hour?

Me (09:00:46): Boss, I don’t know what to tell you

Me (09:01:02): i;m in and out of my cube all day long

Me (09:01:22): i feel bad that you couldn’t get a hold of me

Me (09:01:42): is there anything that i can help you with now???

Boss (09:01:43): you never responded to co-worker’s email either, did you? I didn’t get copied if you did

Me (09:06:00): no i didn’t respond to it

Boss (09:07:29): well, why?

Me (09:09:04): because i didn’t see it until this morning

Boss (09:09:15): why?

Me (09:11:14): unfortunately, i just didn’t see it until this morning

Me (09:12:02): and i spoke to co-worker and she said it was cared for

Boss (09:15:59): I guess you’re missing the point

Boss (09:25:04): You support me, as well as report to me. I needed you yesterday on a quick-turnaround to Big Boss #1 and Big Boss #2. I did the work myself because we couldnt’ reach you. What would you suggest for future so this doesn’t occur again?

Me (09:34:33): Boss, I don’t know what you want me to tell you? This is a total fluke. I am usually at my desk all day long, because I don’t want to give people a reason to talk. All I can say is that I’ll try to be more available than I already am.

This is working in a corporate environment sucks!!  This was technically not my work to do, it was my co-workers work and because she wasn’t around I am scrutinized!!!  I hate this fucking job!!!

Seven Years of Bad Luck…

Today marks the 7th Anniversary here at my job!!  Good Gravy!!!  I can’t believe that I’ve been in hell for 7 years!!  Ohhh man!!  So, today my boss graciously is letting me leave at 3pm a whole 2 hours early!!  Then today I am also receiving an extra week of vacation.  Yip Yip Yippee!  Good times…somewhere along the way I must have broken a mirror!

Sneaky Bastardos…

A very interesting fact just came my way.  A friend of mine who works at the same company I do is a supervisor in another department.  Apparently, my friend and his colleague’s have been given VPN rights to snoop on their sub-ordinate’s computers.  How does this work, you ask?  HA!  I’ll tell you…

All the supervisors have the IP address to every computer their sub-ordinate’s are working on.  They have a program where the supervisor enters the IP address and boom they’re looking at your computer screen.  You won’t notice a thing, only a slight blink of your computer screen.

When my friend tried it out the other day, they (his peers and himself) surveyed 6 employees computers.  Of the 6 employees monitored, only 1 of the employees was doing actual work.  Others were on web site’s and etc…  Hell, they could be blogging about the state of their work situations! 

I guess I really need to invest in the iPhone to keep my blogging and web activity up! 

Happy Earth Day…and other such musings

It’s April 22.  Happy Freakin’ Earth Day!! 

Second note of business.  Work.  Not going so great these days.  Plan B plans are going slow!! 

Tomorrow is a dreaded day for yours truly.  I have been summoned to the suburb of Hoffman Estates by my boss for a meeting.  This is NEVER good.  I KNOW it’s not going to be good for me.  I have been told in such terms that I am going to be put on a performance plan.  Not good at all!!  It’s kind of like a probation, for 90 days, I am going to be put under an even heavier microscope.  Within said 90 days, if I mess up in any way, I can be fired!!  No questions asked!!  UGH!!  What makes matters worse is that I think they “the leadership people” are going to move me to Hoffman Estates, which is not good either!!  It is sooo not a commutable distance for me.  It’s like 50 miles one-way in heavy traffic everyday.  Also, with gas prices at almost $4 a gallon, there is no way I could afford to make the drive.  The train is much much cheaper!!! 

So, anyway, here I am, with a huge pit in my stomach, dreading tomorrow.  Oh well, I shall survive!!

Plan B

As I wrote in an earlier blog, my company is laying off thousands of employees.  I believe the final figure will be about 1.5% of the workforce, but when you work at a company with about a total of 306,000 employees, it’s a lot of people.  That’s the back story.  The front story is this…

On Thursday, we had a departmental meeting where my boss’s boss announced that she was leaving the company, she also announced that one of my boss’s peers is also leaving the company.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I am so happy these people are leaving!!!  Waste of space if you ask me!!!  However, I can read the writing on the wall.  When leadership starts vacating it’s time to get your shit together and look for greener pastures.

This is where “Plan B” comes in to play.  It’s been my experience that large corporate environments are NOT for me!!!  But the question is, how do I avoid working in a corporate environment, when I NEED the salary and benefits?  Well, Part 1 of “Plan B” is make my house work for me.  How do you do that, you ask?  Well, my house is configured in such a way that I can rent a portion of it out.  The rental portion would include a private entrance, bedroom, bathroom and large living area.  There is no kitchen, however the rent includes all the utilities, electricity, water, gas, cable and internet.  I think that it’s a pretty good deal!

I put up an add on Craigslist and Myspace.  I’ve gotten a few responses, and today I was supposed to have a showing with Meaghan M at 9 am.  Well, Meaghan never showed.  But we shall press on.

Once, I have Part 1 of “Plan B” in place I can work on Part 2 of “Plan B”, which I believe will be quitting my good for nothing job and doing something like being a barrista at the Starbuck or something.

Dropping the Axe…

Today, the company I work for, is “dropping the axe” on thousands of employees.  I mean thousands!!  People are receiving 60 day notice of termination letters.  Which means, that they have 60 days to find another job within the company or at the end of 60 days they have to leave.  Of course with severance.  Which, byt the way, ain’t so hot.  A person that has been with the company 7 years, for example, only gets 24% of their base pay as severance.  So, a person who, say, makes $50,000, will only get $12,000.  That $12,000 gets paid monthly for the next year.  I think you can do the match on that. 

As far as I’m concerned, I think I’ll be ok.  Our department is contractor heavy, and contractors would go before an employee.  My boss has asked if anyone has any interest in leaving, if I had money, then I would go in a heartbeat, and lay on the beaches of Europe.  Dare I dream!!  

Quest for the Holy Grail…

Work Life…The past several months I have intensively looking for new employment. It has seemed like an endless stream of job postings, phone screens, pre screens, phone interviews, meetings and face-to-face interviews. (big sigh here…) This evening, I had, what I thought was, another, in a long line of phone interviews. (insert another big sigh here too) Well, let me just say that this was the best phone interview yet! I’m actually excited about this company and the possibility of working there.

As anyone knows, when looking for a job in “the corporate world,” it’s really not what’s on your resume and what past experience you have had, it’s really about whether the company likes you and your personality. They know basically any idiot can do the job and they wouldn’t have called you if they didn’t think you could do the job. They need people to mesh well with their company environment. I actually felt on this phone interview that they were trying to convince me to picture myself in the position. Usually, it’s the other way around, you trying to have them picture you in the position.

Needless to say, I am having a dinner interview with this recruiter sometime next week and I am very excited at the opportunity to meet her and learn more about the company. I don’t want to jinx myself so I will stop right here.