Escaping work for an escape room

I have roughly half a workday later on today. We have a team event in the afternoon.

I am looking forward to not working. I get to see most of my colleagues tomorrow. Two of them couldn't make it. I'm actually relieved because one is the diva and the other talks so much that he drowns everyone out.

We are doing an escape room. I've never done one before. I assembled a list of escape rooms for us to choose from and we have chosen one that is near my old neighbourhood.

My manager asked me for suggestions to have a drink and a snack afterwards. He quoted allotting $10 for each of us. I indicated that it would be fine to go over that amount and shell out ourselves for any overage. I would rather be satisfied with what I choose to eat and drink than abide by a sum that won't get me what I want.

That's just me, though. I like the flexibility to choose what I want to snack on and drink without a ridiculous restriction.

Here's hoping that the afternoon is fun and enjoyable.

Farewell gift basket has been sent!

I went ahead and asked my friend for her mailing address. She gave it to me without any questions. Nice!

I bought her a spa basket with the contributions that I got from colleagues. It's such a perfect gift for her. She needs and deserves pampering! It's expected to arrive at her home on Friday.

Gift mission accomplished!

Pushback from a colleague that rubbed me the wrong way

At work, a couple of months ago, I was given a task to take data from two horrible spreadsheets and create documents out of them. I am doing this task again for our upcoming software release.

I have made it clear that I don't want to be stuck with this task forever. I was given this task because I am normally the one who is good with taking a first stab in designing it and outlining a potential process. 

My manager agreed. He met to with my two peers who have taken over my software release work. He wants them to own this task. I was also in attendance. 

One of them did not like it. He basically asked me what my challenges were. He then said that was the reason for this meeting was that I needed help.

I find that when I handled everything on our team, very few people on my team understood just how much work I did. I have done this grunt work for far too long that I have better things to do. Anyone can do this work. I have earned it. My experience and performance speak volumes.

My manager put his foot down and said that he wants them to own this task because it's considered a part of the release work. It's true. They don't realize that I have been handling another task for years that anyone can do, but I am stuck with that for years. I shouldn't carry the burden of having two such tasks.

It was interesting to see how this guy started to push back on this task and the second task that was discussed. It was fascinating observing him.

I am on my Chromebook. I love it. Such a great purchase.

Talking at 7 am for work

My manager wants me to give a talk about our team's processes to two colleagues in India. I'm talking in a few hours at 7 am.

There are times when I feel like he complicates my work life because he can't do this task. He doesn't have the hands-on expertise and he isn't great at speaking.

Hopefully, I'm coherent and functioning by then.

On a good note, I do like an earlier start. It means that I can end my workday early. The downside is that we are getting more snow, so it's not like I'll be out and about afterwards. At least I can admire the clean, white snow in a warm home.

Dealing with incompetent colleagues

There are a couple of colleagues at work who occasionally rub me the wrong way.

In December, before I went on vacation, I indicated to both of these folks that the first two weeks of January would be devoted to training a new intern. I said that my work pace on my usual tasks would be slower than expected. I also mentioned all these details in other e-mails.

My first colleague asked whether I could document a "small" feature by the end of next week. What part of training someone for two weeks straight and not working at my usual pace do you not comprehend? I already have two tasks that you are fully aware of that are taking longer than my usual pace.

She asked me to take a look at the feature. I clicked the link and there were no details. I basically said that I can't commit to a date because I don't have enough information to make a proper assessment. I also said that the software guy copied on this e-mail should supply details on what this feature entails and what he plans on providing to me so I can assess how long it will take me.

Ridiculous.

Then, there's the diva on my team. She can't make a decision on her own. Our manager asked a question and she immediately created a meeting to discuss it. She then specifically said that I'm training and to suggest a time if it doesn't work. Um, no. You are booking a meeting. Look at my calendar. It says that I am completely booked. I am not about to drop working with my intern to attend a boring meeting because you can't make a decision on your own and you don't want to respond to an e-mail.

I asked that she hold the meeting without me. Frankly, it can be decided in an e-mail, but she can't take the lead when she is leading this whole project. Ugh!

We'll see if she whines to our manager that I am rejecting attending her stupid meeting.

Two more days of work to go. It has been a rougher week than expected.

My manager can ruin a perfectly nice day

I have an interesting working relationship with my manager. Sometimes, I dig what he does. Other times, I shake my head.

Our team has these brief chats at the end of the workday. Last week, he suggested that each person lead a chat with a topic. I was the first person to say that I liked how casual and natural it flows. We think of topics to discuss as if we were in the office, chatting in the lunch room. It should not be a structured meeting. It's a chat.

Yesterday, a colleague congratulated me on my ten-year work anniversary. Naturally, my manager ruined it by saying that in our human resources system, my start date working for the company is September 24 and that I should contact HR to have it fixed.

Why? I told him that I know what my start date is. Obviously, my three colleagues in this chat knew what my start date was, because they signed my virtual card. He dropped the ball by failing to sign it. He got the e-mail. He chose to not act on it.

Anyway, I contacted HR and spoke to a nice guy. I know that my manager won't and wouldn't do it. As noted, in the system, my start date is correct. However, my signed contract date is September 24, 2012. It's practically two years after I started working for the company, which obviously makes no sense! Anyway, he has a separate department who will fix this issue.

It's always nice when my manager ruins such a lovely occasion. It's not every day that one hits a milestone like what I just did. He could have been more attentive. That's just my take on it.

Anyway, my colleagues left me nice messages in my virtual card. They made Monday far more cheerful.

I got to select a gift to commemorate this occasion. I got a fancy tea steeper. I drink lots of tea, so it will come in handy. It will take a month to ship, which is the downside. Luckily, I am patient.

Working with colleagues who annoy me

At work, I seem to work with people who have interesting personalities, issues and, quirks. I wish that I didn't have to collaborate with them. Luckily, I don't that often with most of them.

Well, there's Diva. She enjoys texting me on our messaging app. I, on the other hand, cringe when she contacts me. We spent forty minutes texting. Why? First, she types slowly. I end up moving onto other work and getting back to her messages. She should consider writing an e-mail instead, as her issues are never urgent. Second, she isn't clear about what she is conveying in her texts. They are confusing for me because she doesn't consider whether her audience will get what she is saying. Third, the reason why I didn't understand her was because she messed up performing a procedure, which caused my work to appear somewhere it shouldn't have been. It was nice pointing that mistake out to her again.

As mentioned a while back, she and another colleague have taken on roughly half my old workload. I always felt that they took what I did for granted. I did and still continue to do a lot. She, in particular, is paying the price for being sloppy.

There is a software tester that I worked with several years ago. He moved on to another position within the company, which was great. I didn't like working with him. Sadly, he's back. He hasn't changed a bit. He has bugged me unnecessarily three times. I finally had it, even after giving him an example of asking a software developer technical questions instead of me. I had to explicitly tell him to copy that developer and me together. Ugh! He, too, enjoys texting. It's not my preferred method. Nothing is that urgent.

Finally, I have been working with a female software developer in a focus group. She was nominated to lead it. Sadly, she talks a ton. She does not let people speak. She seems to thoroughly enjoy hearing herself speak in circles. She talks up such a storm that I just tune out. A meeting that she had set up for thirty minutes yesterday with a group of twenty people got extended to an hour because she took up 37 minutes of it with her gibberish.

Thank goodness it's Friday. Here's hoping that it's a quiet day without dealing with these characters.

Back at work and being with oddballs

My first day back at work was busy, but it went well. I got the work that I needed to catch up on completed. I helped troubleshoot an issue that resulted in having three happy people being able to access a site.

It's not a revelation, but the day made me realize how my colleagues in my department are not exactly leaders:

• The oldest guy on our team talks a lot. He spent twenty minutes talking about an office chair. He also can't figure out how to add a software application on his laptop if his life depended on it.
• The diva injures herself often. She fell on the weekend and has tore a thigh muscle. She has been away on sick leave for the last two days.
• My friend can't read for beans. She sent me a screenshot saying that she has the application installed. The message had the exact application name mentioned three times, which wasn't what she had.

More than half the team does not have this application installed. Had I not stepped in, everyone wouldn't have properly ordered this application. I sometimes wonder why I care so much when my colleague seem indifferent. It's because that's who I am. They need a ton of guidance.

Because my intern has moved over to being under the direct supervision of diva, he is now doing all her work while she recovers. I feel for him. However, I have trained him well that I know that he can doing this work with flying colours.

It's such an odd setup on our team. On the plus side, some people are now realizing how much value and skills I bring to this team when I am either away or don't handle these tasks that I once did.

Working from home - company-wide till the end of March

On Friday, I received an e-mail saying that employees can work from home till the end of the month. It requires manager approval.

My manager is a control freak. Although I see myself getting approval, the fact that his entire team can potentially work from home this month without his full control over the situation will be difficult for him to digest.

I have been fortunate to have had support from friends and colleagues over his horrible delivery about my being banned from the workplace because I went to the States. It's one thing to be safe. It's also about being compassionate, which he lacks as a person.

Figure it out!

I worked from home on Wednesday. I realize that a number of my colleagues can't figure out things on their own. They simply ask questions and hope that someone like me will hand them these answers on a silver platter.

I am tired of this mentality. I figure out answers on my own. Why can't they do the same thing?

My manager is a part of this group. He can't do work himself. It is that part of management that I don't want to aspire to. I don't want to look or be incompetent.

Anyway, that's my little rant. I'm off to bed, hoping that Thursday will be happier and far more promising.

Office function - reconnecting

Yesterday, I squeezed in a holiday office function. It was fun. I ate way too much, though.

This past summer, I was in Montreal for training. I met some folks from this course who were from my office. They work on other floors. I got to say hi and chat with them. It was great. One hugged me, as we had spent many hours working as a team. The other person and I did a handful of role-playing exercises and we shook hands. I was the only woman in the course.

It is great that a course bonds folks together. I'm so glad that this function was meaningful and a well-deserved, brief break from the craziness that is work.

Layoffs and canned presentation

I normally work from home on Wednesdays. I changed things up due to my two medical appointments and went into work yesterday.

It was an interesting day to be in the office. The good news is that I had a massive full rack of ribs for lunch. There was a deal going on at a local restaurant. I took advantage of it.

The downside was that a snap meeting was held while my student, manager, and I were out having lunch. It's ridiculous to call a meeting fifteen minutes before it starts and during the lunch hour.

It turns out that six people were laid off in my department. It's difficult to tell whether it was due to performance or that they had been with the company for eons. They were gone. Just like that.

One person was on my team. I didn't expect him to be turfed. This person's manager was also let go.

My manager was candid with me during our regular biweekly meeting. He though that he would be the one to go. It was an odd statement. He said that I would be fine.

It's difficult to say whether I am truly safe. That being said, I do my job well. Folks know that if I leave for whatever reason, my department will suffer.

I am hoping that things get better.

In the meantime, there is great news. I was supposed to do a five-minute presentation on Monday with two other colleagues in front of our entire department. That presentation has been scrapped. Yay!

Long weekend and sleep

It's the start of my long Easter weekend. I'm glad that it's here.

This week, although short, has been rough. I did tons of troubleshooting and it all worked out. I lost a colleague. Some colleagues that I have are tedious to talk and listen to.

I'm sleeping in. I'm looking forward to it.

Losing colleagues due to no work

Work is getting dark. I learned on Friday that we have lost a good third of our department of writers due to a shortage of work.

It's sad. I am sad, as I trained the majority of them when they first joined the company. I do hope that they can find employment elsewhere.

It's sad that the news was delivered on a Friday, just before starting the weekend. When I got laid off a couple of times in my life, the news came down on Monday. I felt that it was a bit easier to digest, but not a whole lot.

I still feel that I am safe. I am the most competent person in my department. I am also the longest serving one in my group. All of that helps me out. We'll see for how long.

Incompetent colleagues

I work with a few bad apples. Otherwise, things are good at work.

First, there is a person who is older than I am. He is also a team lead like I am. He is highly incompetent. He didn't do his job on a straightforward task. It was to the point where I actually knew more about what he was supposed to do than he did. I don't even work in that area these days. I have dabbled in it in the past.

He blamed getting the information "at the last minute." I corrected him by saying that communication wasn't there between he and his teammates. Additionally, if he is going to write something that he is unclear about, he needs to ask.

Then, there's my incompetent colleague whom is supposed to take over some of my job responsibilities and isn't even close. She was asked by someone to provide status in an e-mail initially. This woman then pinged her on our corporate instant messaging app. The newish incompetent colleague ignored responding to both methods, as I had expected.

I asked her to write back. She said that she would do so "with [my] exact wording." I told her that she needs to think for herself. I'll need to have yet another talk with her. She is unfit for this position.

Finally, there is this woman who pinged my incompetent colleague. She assumed that our work needed to be done today. I asked her politely whether the deadline had changed. My team completes our work at least a day before the deadline, which would make it Thursday and not her made-up deadline of Wednesday. Luckily, the manager who is in charge happens to know how my team ticks and he is actually our manager. He said that we could take our time and that the deadline was indeed Thursday.

Ah, the joys of dealing with people who need help doing their jobs at the most basic level.

Bonuses have finally been reinstated

For the past three years, all employees in my department at work have not got a yearly bonus. The company went through a rough patch and decided to halt paying out bonuses for this long.

Needless to say, it doesn't help morale. I work hard. Every performance review has been positive. Yet, I don't have a bonus to show for it.

Last year, all of us did not get a standard of living increase on our base salary. Within the next seven days, three women colleagues will be leaving the company. All are talented and well-liked. Gone.

We got the news on Friday that we will be getting a bonus. That's encouraging news. I am thrilled. However, the damage has been done and many have already left the company.

I look forward to getting my bonus. Naturally, it will go to both savings and debt payoff.

This year will be a transformative one, which I am excited about. I have been working hard reducing my debt and increasing my credit score. I am seeing results, which motivate me.

It would be nice to get my bonus soon. I could do so much with it.

Losing jobs before Christmas is sad

It's always sad to hear about colleagues and people losing their jobs. It's even worse when it's just before Christmas.

The biggest news story just east of where I live is that General Motors (GM) has decided to close its Oshawa plant in 2019, which means that all workers at this plant will be unemployed. It's sad, as Oshawa is the home of so many GM employees who moved to this city to work.

I used to have a Pontiac Grand Am. I thought that my next car would be a Pontiac G6 until the entire Pontiac line got canned. GM hasn't fully recovered since the late 2000's.

This week, my company found out that pink slips have been issued to folks out of our Montreal office. On my team, we are losing three decent people, two of whom I have met and trained. It's just a sad situation and I can only offer to help if they need any references from me.

It sucks that they are losing their jobs right before Christmas.

A compliment that came out of nowhere

The other day, I got a compliment from my manager that was completely unexpected. It happened during a conference call.

To make an extremely long story short, we have a group of employees in another country that had questions. A handful of us in Toronto were on this call. They want to set up a similar structure that we have here.

The problem is that these folks want to have a team leader, but none of us in Toronto feel that any of them can handle this position. One of the tasks would be training new employees.

"You would have to train every new employee that joins us. Frankly, I think Cutiebootie and her team should continue training new folks. Cutiebootie is the best trainer that we have," my manager said.

Wow. I'll take it.

Departing colleague who thinks I'm Yoda

Another colleague in my department has decided to leave the company. She has been with us for 1.5 years.

I have been pretty busy at work with various software releases. She had a question for me and wrote an e-mail. I answered it a couple of hours after she had sent it, as my team was still trying to get our deliverables out the door.

In my response, I decided to wish her the best with her new job. I indicated that I was going to miss working with her, while still happy about her moving up in the world. She is the person who did not properly lock a washroom stall that she was in and I walked in, thinking that it was free. My guy still teases me now and again about it. It's funny, but we both have moved on from that odd moment.

My colleague wrote back and expressed pretty much the same thing -- that she wished that she could continue to work with me. She went one step further by saying that I am her Yoda. It's sweet, as she feels that I have an answer to any question that she has.

Another colleague and I are organizing her farewell lunch. I am also collecting money towards her parting gift. It's nice that we are all a thoughtful bunch and we get along.

Declining my second interview

I decided to pass on that second job interview. It's interesting how a few events managed to change my thoughts about the position.

This potential job opportunity is a contract. I don't mind that. I would also be taking a pay cut. Again, that's not a concern, for the job requires working from home.

These days, it's health benefits. This job doesn't offer any. I need peace of mind that I am covered. Paying for my own isn't an option.

The fiasco with the resource manager saying that another candidate had been selected over me, and then apologizing by saying that he got the hiring managers mixed up put a damper on things. As much as I was okay with the mixup at the time, it's still not the best emotional roller coaster to be on.

I was asked to produce a network topology diagram. It has been a while since I did all this preparation work for an interview, but I managed to get it done on Saturday.

This week, things got busy at work. This hiring manager contacted me through e-mail and phone. I couldn't attend to both.

During this process, the hiring manager corresponded with me using two different personal e-mail addresses. He panicked and guessed at what my work e-mail was. He then sent me an e-mail on how concerned he was. I didn't appreciate it. The last thing I want is a hiring manager to be contacting me at work. Our IT department does data mining, among other data checks. I don't need the company realizing that I want to jump ship.

So, I wrote to him and said that I wasn't interested anymore. I actually am good with my decision. I have health benefits and I like my colleagues on the whole. Sure, a change would have been great, but I am going through change with my job duties at my current place of employment. I want to see where I go with them.