Go Figure!
So today, I expected Shirley to be all mad at me and stuff, given our scuffle at the end of last week... she was sweet as could be! No mention of last week's nutsiness, not even a look! First thing I did when I saw her was smile and ask her how her Christmas was, and then we joked for a bit, and I bitched about some of our suppliers being late with deliveries... I'm telling you, she is 100% mood driven. If she's in a bad mood, it's off with my head. Good mood: honey and flowers! Oy vey! Well, it also helps that Lisa was out today. I'm thoroughly convinced she gripes to Shirley about me for this and that (since we share office space, and while she's OCD I'm more like ODB lol) and that's what gets her going. I'm 100% sure of it. And i'm 60% sure I'm not just being paranoid, either!
So hmm, what did I do today... oh, I came to the realization that I never sent out the check from the dressdown day fund to the Food Pantry. Stacy (the work-from-home office clerk) printed out a letter forever ago... I remember posting a signed COPY of the letter on the billboard, but I couldn't remember sending the letter out, and sure enough I still had the check. So I kinda weaseled out of trouble for this one... I made a copy of the copy, and sent that along with the check to the food pantry. I'm sure they could care less about whether the letter is on authentic letterhead or photocopied, all they'll care about is the fat check inside (some saying about a gift-horse comes to mind...) so my error is sure to go undetected, and my cover-up was not of a consequential sort. All that matters is they got their money, and I didn't get yelled at for sitting on it for over a week. I can hear Shirley now "I wanted that check to get there before the holidays! Where's the original?! I don't want you to do anything productive until you somehow find that original letter." It's silliness. That's why, if and when I'm a manager (which I'm sure I will be given that's what my degree is in) I will manage for results, not for process. I don't care who loses what or how things get done, so long as they're done. If you screw up, I prefer my employee fix the problem and I not find out about it, so long as everything stays on track. I think there's a big difference between a "cover-up" and a "save" and in this case I think what I did was a save, since the results were produced (the Food Pantry got their check). Whether they got it before xmas or after, I'm sure it will be put to equally good use.
Hmm... what else... I created a powerpoint presentation for the Manager. He's trying to convince them to give the capital improvement plan the funding it deserves, so our buildings, streets, and vehicles don't fall apart. (a reasonable request) A few of his figures were off tho. But that's what shiny bright interns are for! =oD
I also worked some on the Annual Report. After wasting a ton of time shuffling text and pictures around in Word (which always re-shuffles text and pictures as the computer sees fit at random- anyone else notice this?) I decided to make each page a separate document, to be converted into PDF files. Original plan was to do all 48 pgs in one document, pictures and all, but Word is just way too squirrely to pull that off, especially with all the wacky formatting I use. (I wish they had Publisher) It's gonna be really nice tho, and since I'm doing all of it in house, I'm saving the Town like $1,500.
Maybe that's why Shirley was nice to me. =oD
I also made some lousy coffee... I never make lousy coffee! Idunno what happened. I need to maybe clean the filter on my French Press or something. I was rather mortified.
As for Town business, lotsa fun stuff going on. There's a community action group trying to shut down Club 290 cuz of all the shit that keeps happening there. Last week, some girls got in a fight, and the one girl ran the other over in the parking lot. The week before it was a big coke bust, and the week before that a riot almost broke out. (the Police got to do some clubbin' of their own! hehe)
Also, more bitterness going about with the big Dem vs. Republican lawsuit going on. This stems back to the 2001 election when the Democrats tried to call an infraction on the Republicans for not following some procedure regarding campaign sign funding (I think they forgot to register their street addresses). Well, fair enough, but the Republicans filed a counter-suit claiming the infraction was called along partisain lines for political purposes, and was uncovered in the process of a smear campaign, which implies unethical conduct. Problem is, the people filing the counter-suit filed it with their official titles after their names, which now makes the Town of Plainville a party in the lawsuit, under the standards of qualified immunity of public officials. (translation: oops! the politicians were playing dirty, and now the taxpayers are gonna be the ones who get screwed! What else is new?) There was some nastiness in relation to this, but I'm not at liberty to post it on the net, cuz then I could be fired and sued too if anyone who's anyone reads it and blabs to the press. However, I am at liberty to tell u all I know things that I'm not at liberty to tell you, so yeah. The story behind the lawsuit is still kinda interesting tho. If I could post all the sneaky dirty details, it'd be way cooler tho. Suffice it to say, Plainville politicians are sneaky and dirty, and don't believe for a second ANYTHING you've ever done where any public record has ever existed (school, employment, financial, police, court... you name it) can't be dug up somehow or another for the wrong reasons.
On a lighter note, since I didn't have time to go back to my Farmington pad this morning, I had to wear my sneakers to work with my suit. I looked downright silly. Chad the Accountant told me that the look is "all the rage in silicon valley" and that an appropriate degree of comfort can go a long ways in improving the effectiveness and productivity of the organization.
Chad the Accountant later received a wedgie and a proper flushing in the men's room by an anonymous assailant.
=oD
So hmm, what did I do today... oh, I came to the realization that I never sent out the check from the dressdown day fund to the Food Pantry. Stacy (the work-from-home office clerk) printed out a letter forever ago... I remember posting a signed COPY of the letter on the billboard, but I couldn't remember sending the letter out, and sure enough I still had the check. So I kinda weaseled out of trouble for this one... I made a copy of the copy, and sent that along with the check to the food pantry. I'm sure they could care less about whether the letter is on authentic letterhead or photocopied, all they'll care about is the fat check inside (some saying about a gift-horse comes to mind...) so my error is sure to go undetected, and my cover-up was not of a consequential sort. All that matters is they got their money, and I didn't get yelled at for sitting on it for over a week. I can hear Shirley now "I wanted that check to get there before the holidays! Where's the original?! I don't want you to do anything productive until you somehow find that original letter." It's silliness. That's why, if and when I'm a manager (which I'm sure I will be given that's what my degree is in) I will manage for results, not for process. I don't care who loses what or how things get done, so long as they're done. If you screw up, I prefer my employee fix the problem and I not find out about it, so long as everything stays on track. I think there's a big difference between a "cover-up" and a "save" and in this case I think what I did was a save, since the results were produced (the Food Pantry got their check). Whether they got it before xmas or after, I'm sure it will be put to equally good use.
Hmm... what else... I created a powerpoint presentation for the Manager. He's trying to convince them to give the capital improvement plan the funding it deserves, so our buildings, streets, and vehicles don't fall apart. (a reasonable request) A few of his figures were off tho. But that's what shiny bright interns are for! =oD
I also worked some on the Annual Report. After wasting a ton of time shuffling text and pictures around in Word (which always re-shuffles text and pictures as the computer sees fit at random- anyone else notice this?) I decided to make each page a separate document, to be converted into PDF files. Original plan was to do all 48 pgs in one document, pictures and all, but Word is just way too squirrely to pull that off, especially with all the wacky formatting I use. (I wish they had Publisher) It's gonna be really nice tho, and since I'm doing all of it in house, I'm saving the Town like $1,500.
Maybe that's why Shirley was nice to me. =oD
I also made some lousy coffee... I never make lousy coffee! Idunno what happened. I need to maybe clean the filter on my French Press or something. I was rather mortified.
As for Town business, lotsa fun stuff going on. There's a community action group trying to shut down Club 290 cuz of all the shit that keeps happening there. Last week, some girls got in a fight, and the one girl ran the other over in the parking lot. The week before it was a big coke bust, and the week before that a riot almost broke out. (the Police got to do some clubbin' of their own! hehe)
Also, more bitterness going about with the big Dem vs. Republican lawsuit going on. This stems back to the 2001 election when the Democrats tried to call an infraction on the Republicans for not following some procedure regarding campaign sign funding (I think they forgot to register their street addresses). Well, fair enough, but the Republicans filed a counter-suit claiming the infraction was called along partisain lines for political purposes, and was uncovered in the process of a smear campaign, which implies unethical conduct. Problem is, the people filing the counter-suit filed it with their official titles after their names, which now makes the Town of Plainville a party in the lawsuit, under the standards of qualified immunity of public officials. (translation: oops! the politicians were playing dirty, and now the taxpayers are gonna be the ones who get screwed! What else is new?) There was some nastiness in relation to this, but I'm not at liberty to post it on the net, cuz then I could be fired and sued too if anyone who's anyone reads it and blabs to the press. However, I am at liberty to tell u all I know things that I'm not at liberty to tell you, so yeah. The story behind the lawsuit is still kinda interesting tho. If I could post all the sneaky dirty details, it'd be way cooler tho. Suffice it to say, Plainville politicians are sneaky and dirty, and don't believe for a second ANYTHING you've ever done where any public record has ever existed (school, employment, financial, police, court... you name it) can't be dug up somehow or another for the wrong reasons.
On a lighter note, since I didn't have time to go back to my Farmington pad this morning, I had to wear my sneakers to work with my suit. I looked downright silly. Chad the Accountant told me that the look is "all the rage in silicon valley" and that an appropriate degree of comfort can go a long ways in improving the effectiveness and productivity of the organization.
Chad the Accountant later received a wedgie and a proper flushing in the men's room by an anonymous assailant.
=oD