Scary events at work
On Tuesday, at about two o'clock, the team lead of my six-person team went around the team quietly asking them to join him in a meeting room. I didn't hear him ask me, but came with everyone else anyway.
As I got into the meeting room, he saw me and said "Ah, no, sorry, Alex, didn't need to talk to you." In a very clearly "You're dismissed" kind of way.
As I was leaving the room, I overheard him saying to the rest of the team, "So. This economic downturn..."
I sat down at my desk, more than a little scared. Many possibilities were running through my head of reasons for why on earth he could want to talk to the entire team apart from me, that had some connection to the economic situation. I didn't get much work done for the next ten minutes.
Then, I got a call from my manager (who's in the US). He told me that due to the economic downturn, the company's reducing the number of people who go to the SuperComputing conference this year, and I'm among those who're less essential there, so I won't be flying to Texas on the 15th after all.
My relief was palpable. It only occurred to me afterwards that the team lead is also the manager of all the rest of the team, but not me, because my manager's in the US.
So, yes, I'm not flying off to the US after all this November. It's a slight disappointment, in a way, because it's always a slight adventure, and it's fun to see a new city each year. But on the other hand, it's a relief not to be away from Rachael for a week, and it means I get to go to a church service I'd been wanting to go to on the 16th, and I get a bit more NaNoWriMo writing time.
And, of course, I'm relieved that the scary question wasn't hanging over my head for very long, and didn't turn out to be something far worse.
As I got into the meeting room, he saw me and said "Ah, no, sorry, Alex, didn't need to talk to you." In a very clearly "You're dismissed" kind of way.
As I was leaving the room, I overheard him saying to the rest of the team, "So. This economic downturn..."
I sat down at my desk, more than a little scared. Many possibilities were running through my head of reasons for why on earth he could want to talk to the entire team apart from me, that had some connection to the economic situation. I didn't get much work done for the next ten minutes.
Then, I got a call from my manager (who's in the US). He told me that due to the economic downturn, the company's reducing the number of people who go to the SuperComputing conference this year, and I'm among those who're less essential there, so I won't be flying to Texas on the 15th after all.
My relief was palpable. It only occurred to me afterwards that the team lead is also the manager of all the rest of the team, but not me, because my manager's in the US.
So, yes, I'm not flying off to the US after all this November. It's a slight disappointment, in a way, because it's always a slight adventure, and it's fun to see a new city each year. But on the other hand, it's a relief not to be away from Rachael for a week, and it means I get to go to a church service I'd been wanting to go to on the 16th, and I get a bit more NaNoWriMo writing time.
And, of course, I'm relieved that the scary question wasn't hanging over my head for very long, and didn't turn out to be something far worse.