My boss recovering from COVID-19 and my sleepiness due to humidity

My manager caught COVID-19, as did his entire family. He returned to work yesterday, working remotely.

We had a virtual interview to conduct. I had asked the person who had set up this interview to reschedule it to accommodate my manager.

My manager started losing his voice today. He talked for maybe two minutes during the interview. I did all the talking in the interview with the candidate.

The kicker is that this candidate wasn't a perfect fit right off the bat. I wanted to shut down the interview immediately because she has no writing experience.

Such a waste of time!

Anyway, I didn't sleep well last night. It was way too humid overnight. Having the air conditioning on has made things better. I've been napping throughout the day to make up for my sleepiness.

My manager is out sick for the entire week

My manager's entire family has the flu. I am pretty sure that he got his yearly flu shot, so the strain must be different and pretty nasty.

He said that he was out for the entire week. We had an interview scheduled for this Friday. I asked the woman who had scheduled it to change it. She was extremely accommodating and it's now set for next Monday.

I like that this week has been light workwise. I hope that it remains that way for a bit. 

My manager and the flu

My manager has been away sick for the last two days. His message to our team was oddly worded.

He said that he has "tested positive for flu symptoms." Wouldn't it be sufficient to just say that he has the flu?

I can't tell if he tested for COVID-19 and was negative and used the same sentence construction for the flu or if he is indeed so sick that he can't form a clear sentence.

Last week, we had a department outing. I didn't go due to heel pain. Perhaps he caught the flu from that event?

I hope that he feels better soon. He said that he may or may not be working later on today. We'll see.

Update on my friend leaving the company, but moving to a new career elsewhere

Last Friday was my friend's final day at work. My team is horrible at sendoffs. I ended up creating an online meeting for us to say goodbye to her and solicited donations towards a farewell gift separately, if folks wanted to donate.

To explain the situation, my friend originally got a job as a project manager within the company. She was to move to a different department.

I had warned her about her soon-to-be new manager. She was toxic towards me and isn't a nice person. Sure enough, she never finalized my friend's contact and how much she would be earning. She also wanted my friend to work both was a writer and project manager for two months at her current pay.

My friend appreciated the warning that I gave her. She decided to quit. She deserved better. I don't blame her.

She does have a new job lined up and starts just over a week from now. I'm happy for her.

As a team, before this pandemic, we would normally get together for a farewell lunch. My friend isn't comfortable being in a large crowd. Instead, she'd rather have a meal with me and one other colleague. We'll be doing that soon.

I have collected enough funds to get her a spa gift basket. I need to figure out how to get her mailing address to get it delivered to her. I may need to ask my manager first. Otherwise, I may need to ask her directly, which kind of ruins the entire vibe.

My manager and a moisturizing mask

My manager has been away all week. He mentioned on Monday and Tuesday that he wasn't feeling well, and that what he has is not COVID-related.

As much as it has been great to not have a cluttered inbox at work, I'm concerned. Here's hoping that he feels better soon from whatever he is recovering from.

I spent the last hour caring for my face. I put a moisturizing mask on my face. It felt good. I can't remember when I last did it. I should focus on caring for my face more often.

A jerk of a manager

My manager has tendencies of being a jerk. I got to experience it yet again.

On Friday, he was explaining the vision he had about what I was doing. I agreed. He felt that I didn't get what he wanted. Nope, I reassured him three times that we were on the same page.

I don't know what got into him. He said that he wasn't feeling it. I then told him that I was getting frustrated that I had to explain the same thing now more than three times to him and that he was misinterpreting everything. I was so worked up that I truly did not want to be in this meeting.

He does have tendencies of having a one-track mind and not being an attentive listener. A jerk.

A break from the boss due to technology

My manager's laptop had issues charging. He basically said that he only had 23 percent power before he was done for the day.

As sad as his laptop situation was, I actually felt relieved that he wasn't online. My inbox got a break, which meant that I got a break, too.

We'll see if this break continues or if it's business as usual later today.

Verdict: I am not working with my ex

This saga with the ex-guy throwing me into a potential work nightmare is over. Both my manager and his manager told off the persistent project manager that I do not have time to work on this user guide.

The guide is in horrible shape. It is over a hundred pages and was written by a software developer who has no concept of writing a customer-facing document. As an example, his first paragraph has five instances of etc. This guide is both long and ugly.

Yesterday, my manager pinged me on our new messaging app at work. I don't like instant messaging when it comes to work. He had a discussion with his manager. He then asked me whether I have worked with this project manager and my ex before on deliverables that are separate from what I typically do. I have not.

I said that pretty much everyone reaches out to me because they know who I am and like the work that I do. My manager said something nice. He said that I have a good reputation and that I should be proud of it.

It's good to be helpful and nice. I am thankful that I do not have to work with my ex. 

I feel that he recommended my name to this project manager because he wanted to burden me with this work. Rather, he needs someone who can fix up an ugly document and put some sense into it. It was my ex-guy's way of saying that I'm a decent writer.

I do appreciate that he has respected my wish for him to not contact me. I hope that he continues to honour it.

A break from the boss

I am pleased that my manager is taking a vacation day today. We all could use a break from him.

Our team has a daily chat at 4:45 pm. I start my day at 8:15 am, so I technically am done for the workday by then and say whatever is on my mind before I sign off.

Yesterday, I joined in three minutes later than the start time. I'm always punctual. I wanted to break that cycle.

All I heard was our manager talk about work. When I decided to chime in, he changed his tune.

"I don't want to talk about work. I want cheerful stuff," he said.

"You've been doing that this entire chat," I pointed out.

Such a hypocrite.

Luckily, he had to go to a meeting, which was a nice way to end my day at 5 pm. 

My friend and a product manager

My friend, who has leukemia, has provided an update and it's promising. She went through a trial and she may be in remission. She'll know for sure on Wednesday. I like good news!

At work, it's busy, as we are gearing towards a major software release. I have been restructuring a section of our documentation that is long overdue, but it also conforms to changes that we have done recently. 

The review with the product manager and software architect was smooth. I'm pleased.

With the product manager, he seems to like me more than I recall. In the past, he grumbled about an issue in our documentation to my manager. The latter defended me by saying that I delegate the work to students, so the fault wasn't exactly solely mine.

I have worked with this product manager more closely over the past year or so. When we used to be in the office and once had a major meeting where it was standing room only, he actually pushed me in front of him, as he's probably 6'4" and I'm half a foot shorter. It was a nice gesture to allow me to see what was happening.

He does have a girlfriend, so we won't go into any romantic what-if scenarios. However, he does do smileys in his e-mails, more to me than most. Maybe he's just a flirt.

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.

My manager on vacation gives my inbox a rest

My manager is on vacation for three days. He took three days smack in the middle of the week. He didn't bother making his vacation a longer weekend for some reason.

For me and my e-mail inbox, we feel like it's a vacation, too. I don't get as many e-mails when he isn't around.

I am also more productive without a ton of interruptions. It's nice.

My childhood friend has COVID-19

Two days ago, I found out that a friend whom I've known since we were both four years old, has COVID-19. Ugh!

She works as a manager at a liquor store, which remains open through this pandemic. She lost her sense of taste and smell last Monday. She got a test done and it came back positive.

She describes having it as if I truck had run over her. She is at home, resting and self-isolating. Her daughter is a newly minted nurse. It must be highly stressful for both of them.

My friend is upbeat under the circumstances. She is achy and tired, though. She also doesn't wish this virus on her worst enemy.

It's scary that certain provinces here want to relax certain policies. On Saturday, Ontario was allowed to have nurseries and garden centres open. All I saw were lineups of folks. As much as I am all for having a distraction and a gardening hobby, I simply hope that there are measures in place at these centres as there are at grocery stores. The last thing we want is another spike in the number of Canadians with COVID-19.

Stay safe and healthy, everyone. This virus is scary.

The weekend and change

I am thrilled that it's the weekend. Friday was busy work-wise. I managed to train someone on a major task that my entire team has handled for years. Frankly, I have done this task since I joined this company.

I am happy to hand this task over to another colleague in an entirely different department. The problem? My manager has difficulty letting go.

When this change was proposed by another manager, he asked me for my opinion. I said that other units across the company do not have folks like me do this task. We should follow suit. I personally do way too much work and would be more than happy to stop working on this specific task.

My manager was adamant that we should maintain it. Well, we went into a meeting and he completely caved. He definitely does not have a backbone.

Recently, a project manager created a transition plan. He wrote to me and suggested that we delay the handover until we are "back in the office." I had to level with him and say that this pandemic could last longer than a couple of months, which is what he thinks. So, I went ahead with training the woman who will take over for me.

I do enjoy training people. I like creating training materials. I feel that I am good explaining concepts. I also have the patience.

It's just a shame that I have a manager who doesn't seem to get with the program. Oh, well.

It's the weekend. It means that I do grocery shopping later on today.

Stay safe and have a good one!

A manager to can't control his team working from home and great colleagues who care

As expected, my manager, a control freak, cannot handle his entire team working from home. He feels the need to write long-winded e-mails to everyone on everything. He can't keep an eye on anyone, so this method of madness is his way of coping. Odd.

He ended up sending me a multitude of e-mails. I know that I have tasks to do. Micromanaging me by copying and pasting what he had already written to me last week isn't going to make me work faster. I need responses from others around the world. Give me a break! Maybe trust me.

Anyway, I decided to say thanks to three colleagues on Monday by recognizing them in our internal tool. Two of them took my belongings off my desk and stowed them safely away so that staff could sanitize my desk. It was thoughtful of them. I also recognized my project manager, thanking her for supporting me when my manager interrogated me last week before abruptly banning me from the office. Her compassion and support were most appreciated.

It's nice that I have support when I need it the most.

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.

Good things came in threes for me

The year is winding down at work. I got a bunch of gifts on Thursday.

A project manager thanked me for my hard work recently. She got me a Belgian chocolate cake. I was feeling chilled and not the best yesterday, so I'll eat the cake when I am back to my normal self. I thanked her for the kind gesture.

A colleague got me chocolates. Yum!

Finally, my manager gave me a bunch of points towards anything at our online store. He thanked me for my efforts getting five software releases out the door within the last three weeks.

No wonder I felt under the weather yesterday. Work has just been weighing me down. Today is my last workday before I go on vacation. Yay!

Back in the training saddle again

Monday was my first day training my new student. All went well, except that her laptop didn't arrive at work on time. We had to get a loaner.

She's fitting in well. I am pleased.

My manager treated her to lunch. I was invited, but had to pay for my own meal. Hey, it could have been much worse.

I am looking forward to the rest of this week.

Standing up at work for a meeting and being gently pushed

At work on Thursday, our company had an all-employee meeting. It was originally slated to be in our auditorium. I have no idea why the venue changed to a corner of our floor.

We had bigwigs visiting us. There was supposed to be an online feed, but the audio sucked. I walked over there to listen in instead. I was hoping to tune in while eating my lunch, as this meeting started at noon.

There were a ton of people. I ended up standing in a corridor, unable to see anyone.

It helps that I am friendly. It have established a rapport with those whom I work closely with. As of late, I have had to work with a product manager. He looked, saw me, and literally let me know that I could move up in front of him.

"I'm tall. You stand here," he said.
"Thanks," I replied.

He must be 6'4". I'm 5'10" and seem mighty short standing next to him.

It was interesting that he gently pushed me up, touching the back of my shoulder blades with his palms. I have never had anyone do that before.

It worked. I had a good view. I could hear. All was great.

It helps to work with decent people who are polite and care.

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.