Heel pain

I woke up this morning at around 4:30 pm and had heel pain. Whenever I walk a lot, I end up overusing my right foot in some way. I ended up with heel pain.

It took several hours for the pain to subside. I was supposed to go to a work bowling events, but ended up not going because I was tired. I needed a nap.

I'm doing a lot better now. Luckily, it doesn't happen all the time. However, when the pain arrives, it does take a while for it to subside.

Extended weekend, and shoulder and neck pain are over

My five-day extended weekend is over. I feel rested. My neck and shoulder pain are gone. All is good.

Shorter workweeks tend to be busy for me. I am hoping that this week is an exception.

Memories of a tram and more

On Saturday afternoon, my guy called me. I missed his call by nine minutes. I was on the road, driving. I eventually pinged him and we chatted.

He is currently in Istanbul.

"Remember the tram that we took when we were on the Asian side of Istanbul?" he asked me.
"Yes, I do," I said, reminiscing.
"It's gone. Even the tracks have been covered up," he said, breaking the news.
"Oh, no. I liked that tram. You took a photo of me when we were on it. Now, that photo means more than ever," I replied.
"It sure does," he agreed.
"I remember your telling me about when you were a kid trying to hop on the train and it didn't end that great," I said.
"Yes, that's true," he laughed. "You have an amazing memory."
"Thanks, sweetie," I replied.

It's good that we both have fond memories of the city and more.

Dreadful Diva is gone... yay!

Tuesday was the day. It was dreadful diva's last day with the company.

I worked from home that day. I suppose that I was lucky to not be in the office. I was in a four-hour conference call that started at 07:00.

My manager had his regular one-on-one meeting with her. It was different, though. He had one human resources (HR) person with him, and another HR person on the phone.

On Thursday, I held a regular weekly meeting with my two writers. I have one writer who has been on our team for just over a month. I also have a student who has been with us for just over two months.

Although I wasn't expecting a bit of a therapy session, it happened. We are all so comfortable talking to one another that I am glad that it happened.

They expressed how uncomfortable it was to hear dreadful diva (DD) complain and vent about various aspects of her job. Although someone had reported to my manager that negative comments were directed at a number of folks, including me, the writer on our team indicated that there wasn't anything aimed directly at me -- that it was more process and more towards our manager.

My student missed a deadline by a day, which was unusual. She admitted that she was affected by the negativity coming from DD. She felt sluggish. I get it.

It was a good conversation with them, with all of us sharing our observations and concerns. It's over, thankfully.

I had a talk with my manager after we had finished conducting an interview on Thursday. He had indicated that DD was confrontation from the start when she first entered the meeting room and saw the HR person.

DD apparently cited that my manager had indicated during her interview that she would be a team lead, taking over my job. Um, I don't recall any of that. If she did, it wouldn't happen a month after starting. She could barely use our authoring tool.

She has selective hearing. In her interview, we had mentioned our new authoring tool. During her first week in training, she constantly referred to that tool. We haven't moved over to it yet!

My writer pointed out that during her interview that she did not hear our manager mention that she would be taking over a lead role. You are given such a role when you have proven that you are competent. My new writer, who is essentially my mini-me, is perfectly competent. It's the reason why she is taking over my writing duties.

DD said that she is planning on suing the company for being misled. The suing part doesn't surprise me. Before she joined the company, she had her lawyer go through the benefits package. I knew that she would be a difficult person right from the start. My manager nodded in agreement.

He also noted that she pointed out that she had quit her previous job to take this one. Well, that's life. You decide whether you want to take the plunge and try a new job. Sometimes, it works out. In this case, it didn't.

We are all relieved that she is gone. Sadly, she caused some grief after she was led out of the office and building. She had our IM app on her phone. She apparently used it to say goodbye to folks. She also asked someone to go out for lunch.

If I were in her shoes, I wouldn't have done any of that on a corporate tool that you shouldn't be using once you are terminated. Instead, I would leave, go home, think, and then write goodbye e-mails to folks instead.

My manager had IT terminate her session at a server level. It's incredible how stressful Tuesday was for our team.

I am so glad that this nightmare is over. I'm not sure how the suing-the-company saga will unfold, but she doesn't have a case when her performance was the main cause of her termination.