Been a long time
A real long time... but lately I've been inspired to start writing in here again, after seeing some of the great things people do with their journals. Made me realize that I have some stories of my own to tell.
So, as for my personal life, hmm.. recently ended a romance with an incredible girl. I could get all sappy and sour, but I think I made a great friend (perhaps friends?)out of the deal, and I had a wonderful time and made some pretty decent memories out of the deal, so I think I'm all the better for it. :)
So I'll cut right to the chase and tell ya about TODAY. Today could have been a really crappy day. Shirley (my boss, the Assistant Town Manager of Plainville) was blatantly grumpy with me this morning. Most likely because, last week I got a bit swamped in a flurry of projects including executing the disposal of 550 boxes of documents and files, which is a whole other story. But in the midst of it all, I completed one of my core responsibilities in a slightly untimely manner. (the production of the Town Council binders, which provides them with all information and correspondence relevant to each public hearing) Everything went out early enough so that no adverse consequences came about, but I'm expected to do better.
So, knowing full well that I should expect a call into the office this afternoon, I seized upon the opportunity to talk to Lisa about the whole thing. (Lisa is the secretary to the Town Manager- she oversees the production of the council binders, so for that operation she acts as my supervisor) Now, here's a little personality background. Out of Shirley and Lisa, Lisa is certainly the better one to talk to. I love Shirley to death, but omg when she gets mad, she is absolutely fearsome, and she has the sole power to make or break me as my employer. Lisa, on the other hand, is sweet and charming... to my face (lol). When I'm not around, however, she will be the one to put the bee in Shirley's bonnet, and she can be extraordinarily vicious towards someone when they are not in her presence. I'm certain Shirley's apparent anger was a direct result, and a fractional reflection, of the anger with which Lisa complained about me on Friday.
ANYWAYS, so I came out and apologized for the untimeliness of the binder production last week, towards which she was very receptive (because I was standing in front of her, of course). And we talked about what factors make it difficult for me to execute on time and how we can go about alleviating those issues. Then when Shirley got back from lunch, I initiated the conversation and told her what Lisa and I had come up with. So now, instead of having "the talk," we will be having a joint meeting to bring me up to the level of consistency that the previous office clerk worked at. (NOTE: there are 2 big differences between me and the last office clerk- 1) I'm not an office clerk, I'm a management intern who ALSO takes on the responsibilities of that position because it's unfilled and because, unlike my internship, it's funded in the budget. 2) She was an end-career office clerk. I'm just a bebeh fishy in this swanky tank called Plainville)
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>>> Brian Wolverton 12/20/04 03:20PM >>>
I spoke with Lisa this morning regarding the binders, and the fact that last week things went out later than they should have. So the solution we came up with is:
-Lisa will forward items to me as she receives them (i.e. minutes, boards & commissions updates, etc) so I can get those out of the way. Last week in particular, there were many pages that needed replacing in the roster, and this can be time consuming, so if I can get that out of the way early on we'll be in good shape.
-She will talk to Robert about going back to a system where he reviews correspondence on Wednesday. This earlier deadline will make it a higher priority for me to keep these up to date early in the week.
I will continue to work on establishing a routine that provides consistent timely results for this part of the operation, and I do apologize for last week's setback.
>>>>Shirley Osle wrote:
I actually think that you, me and Lisa should sit down and discuss a few things with the PM job. There are soon going to be some changes and I would like to get things back to the consistancy that we had when Lorraine was here. I know this is not your favorite job, but unfortunately, for now, it's all I have for you.
So yah! Looks like I successfully averted administrative disaster! Sweet!!!
As far as my accomplishments for the day goes, I finalized the Town Manager's letter, to go in the Annual Report, and I sent out requests for quotes for the production of the report. We usually went through this old italian guy, and he was overtly disturbed at the fact that I was going out to bid for the job (he's a real Fonzerelli type character; cool, funny guy, but a pain in the ass to hardball) He was so confident he'd beat anybody out on the job, but I'm already seeing quotes that rival his $4,700. Sorry, Lou.
Poor Marco (the Health Director) got rear-ended by some 16 year old kid, who just got his license a month ago. The town car Marco was driving might be totaled, but Marco seems ok (a little shaken, but ok). The kids mom then calls us and tries to get us to settle under the table, for fear of tarnishing her son's driving record and insurance premiums. Riiiight... we're the Town of Plainville... we ARE the table! Sorry, lady.
I told Shirley I'm applying for an Assistant Manager position in Provincetown. She asked how well I can act like I'm gay. I told her I'm not trying to be the next famous public management intern to take the big journey under the desk. =o/
Helped Bev (the Social Services Director) get her word processor to "stop making everything red!) It was on Track Changes. I love how i'm the in-house IT specialist, and I have NO formal computer training whatsoever. My only qualification is that I'm not old and computer illiterate. tee hee.
Talked to Dan from Automated Waste Disposal in Danbury (heh... Dan from Danbury... doyt doyt). The operation was a success! I successfully had 550 boxes of documents (about 15 tons worth) hauled offsite and securely shredded for $250, which was almost 1/20th of the expected cost! I got major kudos for making that happen.
(I like kudos.)
=o9
Tonight I have tons of minutes for meetings to do. They're cracking down on having to have those in on time under the Freedom of Information Act laws. Grr. But, it all amounts to more butter on my bread. And that's ALWAYS a good thing.
I gotta get to Toys R Us sometime to get more crap for Jordan-monster. I already have stuff, but I have 2 checks to cash so I wanna get her even more crap for Christmas. Little blonde things that stand 3 feet tall and call you daddy tend to get first dibs on the paycheck. I'm gonna see her Wednesday (I have the Housing Authority meeting to attend tomorrow night, grr). My latest endeavor has been to get her to eat more- she's like a rail! But you know how kids can be. She just wants cookies and candy. I'm trying to decipher what healthy food she'll actually eat. Wish me luck!
Oh! I also scored some toner for tech services for a crazy low price! I went through a state bid and bought a generic, yet compatible, cartridge for the HP Laserjet 4. $31, as opposed to the usual $120. Goddamn I rock, in my grinch tie and arguile socks!
Oh, and then there was the Mystery of the Staples Card User... finance, per usual, requested that I determine who made specific expenditures on the Town's Staples card... but when I went to examine the log sheet, one purchase was signed off on with a scribble! *frown frown* SO... I whipped out a stack of purchase requisitions and got down and dirty with some handwriting analysis. Turns out it was the Buildings and Grounds director (Dave). His D looked like a J. What a pain in my ass!
Ok, well it's 4:30, time for me to scoot. Peace out, yall!
So, as for my personal life, hmm.. recently ended a romance with an incredible girl. I could get all sappy and sour, but I think I made a great friend (perhaps friends?)out of the deal, and I had a wonderful time and made some pretty decent memories out of the deal, so I think I'm all the better for it. :)
So I'll cut right to the chase and tell ya about TODAY. Today could have been a really crappy day. Shirley (my boss, the Assistant Town Manager of Plainville) was blatantly grumpy with me this morning. Most likely because, last week I got a bit swamped in a flurry of projects including executing the disposal of 550 boxes of documents and files, which is a whole other story. But in the midst of it all, I completed one of my core responsibilities in a slightly untimely manner. (the production of the Town Council binders, which provides them with all information and correspondence relevant to each public hearing) Everything went out early enough so that no adverse consequences came about, but I'm expected to do better.
So, knowing full well that I should expect a call into the office this afternoon, I seized upon the opportunity to talk to Lisa about the whole thing. (Lisa is the secretary to the Town Manager- she oversees the production of the council binders, so for that operation she acts as my supervisor) Now, here's a little personality background. Out of Shirley and Lisa, Lisa is certainly the better one to talk to. I love Shirley to death, but omg when she gets mad, she is absolutely fearsome, and she has the sole power to make or break me as my employer. Lisa, on the other hand, is sweet and charming... to my face (lol). When I'm not around, however, she will be the one to put the bee in Shirley's bonnet, and she can be extraordinarily vicious towards someone when they are not in her presence. I'm certain Shirley's apparent anger was a direct result, and a fractional reflection, of the anger with which Lisa complained about me on Friday.
ANYWAYS, so I came out and apologized for the untimeliness of the binder production last week, towards which she was very receptive (because I was standing in front of her, of course). And we talked about what factors make it difficult for me to execute on time and how we can go about alleviating those issues. Then when Shirley got back from lunch, I initiated the conversation and told her what Lisa and I had come up with. So now, instead of having "the talk," we will be having a joint meeting to bring me up to the level of consistency that the previous office clerk worked at. (NOTE: there are 2 big differences between me and the last office clerk- 1) I'm not an office clerk, I'm a management intern who ALSO takes on the responsibilities of that position because it's unfilled and because, unlike my internship, it's funded in the budget. 2) She was an end-career office clerk. I'm just a bebeh fishy in this swanky tank called Plainville)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> Brian Wolverton 12/20/04 03:20PM >>>
I spoke with Lisa this morning regarding the binders, and the fact that last week things went out later than they should have. So the solution we came up with is:
-Lisa will forward items to me as she receives them (i.e. minutes, boards & commissions updates, etc) so I can get those out of the way. Last week in particular, there were many pages that needed replacing in the roster, and this can be time consuming, so if I can get that out of the way early on we'll be in good shape.
-She will talk to Robert about going back to a system where he reviews correspondence on Wednesday. This earlier deadline will make it a higher priority for me to keep these up to date early in the week.
I will continue to work on establishing a routine that provides consistent timely results for this part of the operation, and I do apologize for last week's setback.
>>>>Shirley Osle wrote:
I actually think that you, me and Lisa should sit down and discuss a few things with the PM job. There are soon going to be some changes and I would like to get things back to the consistancy that we had when Lorraine was here. I know this is not your favorite job, but unfortunately, for now, it's all I have for you.
So yah! Looks like I successfully averted administrative disaster! Sweet!!!
As far as my accomplishments for the day goes, I finalized the Town Manager's letter, to go in the Annual Report, and I sent out requests for quotes for the production of the report. We usually went through this old italian guy, and he was overtly disturbed at the fact that I was going out to bid for the job (he's a real Fonzerelli type character; cool, funny guy, but a pain in the ass to hardball) He was so confident he'd beat anybody out on the job, but I'm already seeing quotes that rival his $4,700. Sorry, Lou.
Poor Marco (the Health Director) got rear-ended by some 16 year old kid, who just got his license a month ago. The town car Marco was driving might be totaled, but Marco seems ok (a little shaken, but ok). The kids mom then calls us and tries to get us to settle under the table, for fear of tarnishing her son's driving record and insurance premiums. Riiiight... we're the Town of Plainville... we ARE the table! Sorry, lady.
I told Shirley I'm applying for an Assistant Manager position in Provincetown. She asked how well I can act like I'm gay. I told her I'm not trying to be the next famous public management intern to take the big journey under the desk. =o/
Helped Bev (the Social Services Director) get her word processor to "stop making everything red!) It was on Track Changes. I love how i'm the in-house IT specialist, and I have NO formal computer training whatsoever. My only qualification is that I'm not old and computer illiterate. tee hee.
Talked to Dan from Automated Waste Disposal in Danbury (heh... Dan from Danbury... doyt doyt). The operation was a success! I successfully had 550 boxes of documents (about 15 tons worth) hauled offsite and securely shredded for $250, which was almost 1/20th of the expected cost! I got major kudos for making that happen.
(I like kudos.)
=o9
Tonight I have tons of minutes for meetings to do. They're cracking down on having to have those in on time under the Freedom of Information Act laws. Grr. But, it all amounts to more butter on my bread. And that's ALWAYS a good thing.
I gotta get to Toys R Us sometime to get more crap for Jordan-monster. I already have stuff, but I have 2 checks to cash so I wanna get her even more crap for Christmas. Little blonde things that stand 3 feet tall and call you daddy tend to get first dibs on the paycheck. I'm gonna see her Wednesday (I have the Housing Authority meeting to attend tomorrow night, grr). My latest endeavor has been to get her to eat more- she's like a rail! But you know how kids can be. She just wants cookies and candy. I'm trying to decipher what healthy food she'll actually eat. Wish me luck!
Oh! I also scored some toner for tech services for a crazy low price! I went through a state bid and bought a generic, yet compatible, cartridge for the HP Laserjet 4. $31, as opposed to the usual $120. Goddamn I rock, in my grinch tie and arguile socks!
Oh, and then there was the Mystery of the Staples Card User... finance, per usual, requested that I determine who made specific expenditures on the Town's Staples card... but when I went to examine the log sheet, one purchase was signed off on with a scribble! *frown frown* SO... I whipped out a stack of purchase requisitions and got down and dirty with some handwriting analysis. Turns out it was the Buildings and Grounds director (Dave). His D looked like a J. What a pain in my ass!
Ok, well it's 4:30, time for me to scoot. Peace out, yall!