Well, after spending a week on my stomach and on my side on the couch (better for me that way with the recovery after surgery) I'm not in too much better shape this week. Monday, got caught up from work, as those who were assigned to do my work did not. One hour into my shift, I got a call from the higher ups to see if I could do some configurations for units that were shipping out Friday. Average time to do a unit, 35 minutes. How many are to be shipped out Friday? 180. I'm not that good at math, but even that doesn't add up. So, waited around till 'guy shows up', did some more of my own work, got rescheduled for training on tuesday.
Tuesday, almost didn't make it till noon, but then rememberd, 'pain killers'! Yes! Coffeed up, had my breakfast on my first break, then popped the pain killers. So I tried to keep myself busy doing little 5 minute jobs, as anything really involved would only be interrupted 'when the guy were to show up.' End of the day, he shows up, goes through one of the configurations, and I'm informed that I'm to do the work on some of the units at the main office building.
Okay, So I'll come by in the morning.
No, I was to wait, until a workstation was prepped for me.
Wednesday 2:00, three hours left in the work day, I get a call. 'Where are you?' I then had to review THEIR instructions that they gave me,and remind them that THEY were going to call me when it was ready for me to go over. As they were getting ansy at the phone calls I made
earlier in the morning...
Apparently I was to sit there and watch the IT guy configure the workstation, like I haven't seen that before. Wednesday just before my shift is ending, phone call from my supervisor, apparently they still need the 180 done up for friday.
GAAAHHHHH!!!!!
So, yesterday it was overtime, with people asking me about the pillows I'm sitting on. I tell them (including the VP of the company) that they really didn't want to know. If they inquired again, I asked them if they were squeamish, could handle CSI and the reality show operations of live open bodies cut open. If they said yes, I told them, that they still don't want to know.
Here's the fun part kids, pay attention now, as the Pike will explain.
I went into great detail about how painful the surgery was, and what I had to go through. High definition does not come close to the words I was using. There was comparisons to the sizes of golfballs and things removed from them the size of blueberries. I also described the facial
expressions of the nurse. And for a nice touch, I sprinkled in the the coppery smell of blood, and the immediate blanket of intestinal gases, juices, and solids.
And that's the Disney version folks.
Needless to say, I managed to make a couple of people white in the face, and I knew when to ask them again...
"Do you really want to know what exactly happened?"
When the words no came out of their mouth, I then told them, to trust me when I tell them these things.
I was a real asshole and kept on going with the description. Why? If I cannot be taken for my word, I will tell them, in great gory detail. When I tell them these things, it's to hammer down the point that I am good to my word. Anyone who dares defy, challenge, or doubt my word
had better have a damn good reason why. This also comes from some people who are in charge of my paycheck. Will I have a job next week?
I don't care.
I honestly don't care.
The work that I usually do, is not considered to be a team task, therefore not as important. The words 'quality service and products' is in our mission statement, and needless to say, since my little chunk of service gets whittled down or pushed off to the side... I get to talk to pissed off customers. I get to deal with them, not the sales people that sold them the units, and my managers are far too busy dealing with new sales to deal with them.
Fade to this afternoon, one of the coordinators for the sale informed me that we wouldn't make it for month end... something that we agreed on Tuesday, and that they reviewed it with my supervisor. Five minutes later, I get a phone call
Why didn't we get all 180 done up?
I then reviewed for them, when I was informed (Monday morning), when I got the training (tuesday afternoon, last thing before workday end), I then reviewed my instructions with the other supervisor about the workstation, and how much overtime I had done thursday to get as many of the units done as possible.
And then came the words, 180 units still not done? I told them that they should coordinate with the other supervisors to ensure that the initial setup for these situations goes a lot faster and smoother. I also advised them that they should work on their communication skills. I also told them that the 35 minute configuration time is not reliable as network traffic plays a very big role on how quickly the updates get done. I finished off the day, still going full out trying to get
as many of these things done as possible.
Tuesday should prove interesting, as effectively, no one has been covering my responsibilities for 2 weeks. My supervisors kept saying 'your work is driving us nuts, you need to come back'.... I didn't remind them that they were the ones who moved me over to configuration.
Communication, is what it all comes down to. I have tried nice, I have tried pleasant. I have tried indifferent, I have tried ranting. I have put it in writing, I have e-mailed, I have chatted. I want to grab them by the shoulders, then repeatedly shake them until they start recognizing the phrases that come out of my mouth. Now, with my communication mode in full asshole mode, you think they will finally listen to what I have to say? Probably not.
Oh yeah, and one more thing. New research from my doctor... Stress is apparently a factor in my health condition.
Did I want a cigarette?
No.
I wanted all of the cigarettes.
So I grabbed my water bottle, hobbled out of my chair, and took an impromptu break fifteen minutes before the end of my shift. I managed to find some more pain killers, spent ten minutes watching clouds outside, then went back in gathered my stuff up and was preparing to really leave for the day... when my temp supervisor asked where I was, I showed him my patch ... it was on my bicep. Get your minds out of the gutters... you'll be able to surf for your porn after getting to the end of the rant here...
Anyways, he fully understood. But I will remind you all, a half second slight nod does not show a difference in my stress levels or paycheck amount.
I've brought up these situations and explained to the one manager of mine that fully understood. Has anything been done about these things? It's been a year and a half, no changes. So am I going to quit work right away? Nope, still gotta eat, keep a roof over head, pay for the modern equivalent of Tiger Beat for my 12 year old daughter... and in the meantime, I am going to look for another job while maintaining the current one.
Is it going to get easier? Hell yes. Part of my quit strategy, will be the day I drop off my 2 weeks notice to my supervisor. I think I might be nice enough to put it into writing, as opposed to going to his desk and delivering a steaming pile of.... well, I'll just put it in writing.
I'm still here,
Pearce
cigarettes not smoked, saving $129.17. Life saved: 1 day, 1 hour, 35
minutes.
0 comments:
Post a Comment