Timing

[cjsmith]

Guess which weekend I've been asked to work. Y'know, as in work the whole weekend.

If I were positive I had never mentioned the name of my employer in this journal, I'd also tell you why "everybody is going to be in" this weekend. I'd mention how recently we all heard about that, and I'd also explain why I suddenly, as of 3:30pm today, "should" be among those people. When I mentally take a step back it's almost funny. I've gone beyond being stressed; intellectually I realize that caring is counterproductive and I've really got to stop. (Last time I was this stressed about a job, my friends and family unanimously nagged me to quit until I finally did.) But I'm not positive I haven't named the place, so I'll keep shut about the story.

It's not often I look forward to transcontinental flights near Christmas. Transcontinental flights through Chicago, no less. I once spent over twenty-four hours in Chicago O'Hare. Today that prospect seems... relaxing. Peaceful. I'm looking forward to it.

Forty for the party.

Comments

[hot-turkey.livejournal.com]

They are clearly not paying you enough. Not *nearly* enough. *hugs*

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there isn't enough, ever, for this level of stress. The only way extra money would make a difference is if I could do it for a year and retire. :) *hugsback*

[allanh.livejournal.com]

My mother would be thrilled to cook up a storm for you and/or Rob if you're going to be in Chicago (as opposed to just passing through O'Hare). She's an incredible cook.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Her contact information should be an essential part of a "plane transfer in Chicago" survival kit. After all, you never know when it's going to take more than a day!

[lesliepear.livejournal.com]

End of year deadlines?

(HUGS)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

This one didn't strictly have to be end-of-year, but it turns out that way. *deep breath* All I can do is my best, right?

*hugsback* thanks!

[wooddragon.livejournal.com]

Sheesh.

I assume the party is in the evening. Is it possible to work Saturday until say 2 pm or 3, then duck out? Then work Sunday?

Yeah, I've quit jobs for that kinda stuff...(not once, but repeated)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yep, it's in the evening. It's possible to work late today; that much is easy. Food prep can't be done until the day of, anyway.

Speaking of working late, I am a little ticked that no one here will ever notice that I've been in at 7am every day this week. (Except Tuesday; I had to swing by the vet, and they don't even open until 8.) But oh boy, if I have to leave at 6:15 to go call, as I did last night, you can bet everyone sees that.

I'll see how bad cleanup is on Sunday. Ditching Rob with that because these guys didn't tell us in advance when their event was going to be is not... really right.

This place is the worst at preplanning and at communication I have ever seen, bar none. There is a LOT I like about it, but if this keeps up I may have no choice. I don't fit in with the eleven-to-nine, no-outside-responsibilities crowd.

[apparentparadox]

Then tell them that you've been getting in at 7. Besides, people notice if someone is always in the office before them. Make it very explicit with your boss whether certain hours are expected, or if you coming in early and not staying beyond 6 or 7 is OK.

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

Maybe you should call a meeting first thing in the morning with S&S to cover the items that you've already accomplished that day.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I'll let you know if anyone shows up.

[rfrench.livejournal.com]

I mean as soon as they walk in the door, grab them and say "hey, let me tell you what I did over the past 4 hours".

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh, that much is clear. (I agree: explicit is good.) It's just that having heard that someone's been in since 7 is very different from seeing someone there until well after dinner. Hours that don't overlap have less impact.

Most times, none of this is much of a problem. I can stay late and/or come in on the weekends during crunch times except when I'm calling (eg last night) or have something big scheduled (eg tomorrow). The timing's awful on this go-round, that's all.

[apparentparadox]

Yeah, this from the person who was complaining not too long ago about how she has worked for so many years for one company that trying to find a new job was hard & scary.

[wooddragon.livejournal.com]

And my data shows me to be batting .500!

:)

[chiefted]

Wait you are looking forward to going through ORD
during the holidays...oy! work must be stressing
you out.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yes indeedy, that's exactly it.

I suppose the worst that can happen is they decide I'm a slacker and get rid of me. (They can't tell how early I come in. They only see how early I leave on nights I have to call.)

[midendian.livejournal.com]

Wow, sucks about work :( I've been practicing just saying no to employers lately, it's working well so far.

Forty! Didn't know it was going to be such a party. I think Paul RSVP'ed for me as a guest of his.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

*nod* I sorta did that myself. I mentioned the party, said that it was scheduled over a month ago (gotta cover my butt on that one -- can't have them thinking I knowingly scheduled myself to have a life on top of their emergency), and said "I am scheduled to panic all day Saturday." She got the picture.

I didn't know either. :) Whether that many people will really come or not, who knows? Anyhow, I'll see you there! I'm looking forward to it!

[psi-star-psi.livejournal.com]

So there's no security system at your workplace? Even Spice had the crappy door control system that let us know when you went to the bathroom, if we bothered to check. (We also had a log of all websites visited, until someone mysteriously (& wisely) disabled and flushed it about two days after I stumbled across its existence...)

My previous manager gave me grief about not staying in the office late during crunch time, when I was working 2-3 hours from home after the kids were in bed. I had made clear that this was what I was doing. Finally, I emailed him that if being in the office past 6pm was a requirement, he should let me know explicitly; I would not get a divorce to make him happy, and I needed to brush up my resume. He shut up, he's gone, and I'm still here. YMMV. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we don't have electronic tracking. The card access is for the whole building; the individual office suite takes keys.

Good for you! People who are willing to put on the pressure for something that they know darn well they're NOT willing to outright ask for are slimy.

[eichin.livejournal.com]

mechanical stalking shouldn't be necessary - don't you have internal email/newsgroups? Posting questions or status reports to people in the morning can help this kind of thing - people at least notice that they've already got a pile of email when they get in, even if they don't necessarily check datestamps.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

We've been told, with a straight face, that "e-mail is not a form of communication." It is said with firmness and vigor. I don't know the history behind that -- whatever it is, it predates me -- but it has the feel of "somebody who is really senior here refuses to read mail."

[dangerpudding.livejournal.com]

*blink*

*blinkblink*

Wow. I think I've been working in distributed, international teams for too long. I'm of the opinion that voicemail is not communication, but e-mail.. wow.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Me, I get a little bit annoyed at the erroneous expectations. "This is so-and-so's e-mail address" gives one a reasonable expectation that sending e-mail to that address will reach so-and-so. (Granted, sometimes there are technical glitches.) But if a grown-up professional simply won't deal with e-mail, I'd rather have them disable it or not put it on their business card.

[ambar.livejournal.com]

mind. boggling.

[kimatha.livejournal.com]

Do you work at Initech?

"Um, yeah, I'm going to need you to come in Saturday... oh, almost forgot, yeah, I'm also going to need you to come in on Sunday... some staff left and we're going to need to play catch-up."

That just sucks.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Is Initech the name of the company in Office Space? :-)

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

yes :) you should totally call a temp variable tps_report in protest.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHA definitely! I like it.

ditto

[moriamerri.livejournal.com]

I second (or is it third?) the following:

1. TELL THEM when you are coming in. If overtime continues
to be an issue, arrange to tell them regularly. Putting it on your
status reports would be one way. You are just making your time
visible, nothing wrong with it. You don't have to be mean
about it. "I realize it may look like I'm not here as much
as I really am, since I come in early, and I'm usually not here
as much in the evening with the gang --- so I wanted to let
everyone know that I usually am here at 7 am...."
2. it is very okay to explain IN DETAIL (calmly) about the
party, about when it was planned, about the number of people
invitied. "Oh, I'm SO sorry that I can't bow out of this
obligation. Being as I am the host and have to prepare the
house and food all day and entertain 40 people, it would be
extremely hard to cancel at the last minute" etc.
They don't have to LIKE it, but they can realize that you
have plans and a complex life outside their building.
3. I have often sent lots of email when I'm in the office
alone. Complex and detailed email is good -- something that
shows I was there for a while. A stack of bugs opened can be
good. I try not to do this so much that it looks
contrived, but then again sometimes I really DO get a lot
done in those "quiet" hours when no one else is around.
Plus, others are not there, so if I need to tell them
something, it is easier for me to send email than to
have a list of things to remember to say later.
And the same goes for working at home -- sending email
(or whatever) shows I am working. If your workplace
uses IM, it can, at times, also be reasonable to IM someone
at home to ask about something pressing. Not needlessly,
of course, but, um, since we are all such dedicated
hard-working people, and since I'm working at some weird
hour, why would I NOT send an IM to see if a co-worker
can help with an urgent problem? Then, of course, we
both discuss it at work the next day..... (This happened
a lot when I was working with people in India, as I would
routinely talk to the folks in India at night at home.)

Now, let's hope that the job scene just lightens up a bit!