Precipice
Can't sleep tonight. My gut in in a knot. I've been up since 4:30am on Thursday morning. Today, Friday, I am working both jobs, I'll be working until 10pm and getting up early Saturday morning to work a day shift. Then I get to come home and move very heavy furniture. Somewhere in there I need to take some landscape photos before Monday. Landscapes. In fucking Worcester. Without a car. Yeah, that should be simple.
Wednesday afternoon I got the email. I was at the networking job, but I was checking my a/v job email. I've mentioned the hardcore politicking going on a while back, and it's been getting much worse over the last couple of weeks. The new dept. head, Faith, turned out to be a manipulating backstabber and is doing everything in her power to make my boss - Bill - a miserable shell of a man. Despite his chipper and upbeat attitude, one can readily see how this is wearing him down. A man with young children who more or less lives at that school, put over 30 hours of overtime in last month and is being denied most of that overtime pay due to a loophole that his union contract cannot protect him from.
See, he teaches some classes at the school as well. Oftentimes orders come in at the last minute for special events on campus which he must tend to. Since only a full time contracted employee can take on those events, it does not matter if one of the part timers (i.e. me) is on the clock with nothing to do. Bill has to cover it, or Dan the other full timer in our dept. But Dan's having a lot of health issues and his wife recently came down with some undisclosed heart problems. He's only been in six days in the last seven weeks. So it's all up to Bill.
So a couple of weeks ago he gets a last minute call for an event booked at the college on a night that he's teaching. All he can do is hastily set up the a/v equipment, run to his class, give his class a couple of short breaks throughout the night to run and check on the event, then after class take back all of the equipment. Bill's an energetic guy, he managed ok. Unfortunately, by putting in for overtime to cover the event at the same time he's getting paid to teach, he opened up Pandora's box. They call it "double dipping", and it's illegal.
So all hell broke loose and the school administrators called him a thief to his face. He's getting denied his overtime and any future overtime is scrutinized heavily. The administrators, of course, want me and the other part time guy to take on these events - which would be fine by me - but Bill told me point blank that his contract won't allow this and if I were to take on these overtime shifts that he'd file a grievance. He said so nicely, a gentle warning not to get involved. Not that I wanted to ever get involved anyway. Still, I like Bill a lot. Had he not given me the opportunity four years ago, I may still be jockeying a fuckin' cash register. This a/v job was my first step into a REAL job with an actual hope of a future. While I haven't always seen eye to eye with how Bill runs his ship, I respect him and like him as a person. I think what the administration is pulling on him is flat out scummy.
The latest tactic being employed against Bill now is to put an ad out for a new full time a/v tech who they can hire for less money and use for all overtime shifts to cut corners and deny Bill the extra income. They thought this would piss Bill off, but he's actually happy about it. He needs a helping hand and is all for me taking the job. I've been told for the last 3+ years by both he and Dan that they would back me if/when a full time position came up.
But Bill isn't doing the hiring. His political enemies are. Faith, the lying sack of shit, is putting together a "search committee" and I'm "welcome to apply for the job". Her committee will undoubtedly be hand picked and full of other people who dislike Bill. I'm "Bill's guy", right? I have Bill's endorsement? Fat load of good that'll do me. I'm on my own.
I don't want to sound all doom and gloom, as there could be a silver lining in all of this. If other applicants are losers, they'll have to give me the job. This could be my "in", I could FINALLY have a full time job. A state job none the less, with a union backing me and decent benefits. It's nearby so transportation isn't an issue. I don't dread going to work. And unlike my networking job, I'm actually GOOD at this job. Take the political bullshit out of the equation and I could see myself working at QCC until retirement. In other words, I want this job so bad I'd almost be willing to blow somebody to get it.
Understand this; My single greatest fear in life has always been that I wouldn't be able to find my place in this world, that I'd float from shitty low-paying entry level jobs throughout my whole life and have to rely on others to keep me from being homeless. I have nightmares about this shit. I think a lot of the stomach problems I have on a regular basis are due to my anxieties over this very issue. Short of being paid to get stoned and play on computers all day, this is about as perfect a job as I could ever hope for at this stage in my life - or the foreseeable future.
Understanding that, you should be able to see why I'm so fucked in the head right now. The golden snitch I've been seeking for years has finally been spotted, and I have all of the tools in my arsenal to enable me to catch the fucker. But I could lose it all in some dumbass pissing contest between my boss and these pissant administrators who act like they're still in fucking high school.
Also let me point this out: When that new full time position is filled, why would they need the two part time positions? If so much of this squabbling has been about penny pinching, it's not out of the question that they would be more than happy to shit-can the part time positions all together.
So if I DON'T get the full time job, I will more than likely end up with NO job at the school.. left only with my part time networking job that has no hope of ever going full time - nor would I be qualified to apply if it was offered.
I'm standing on the edge of a cliff and stretching my wings. When I jump I'll either fly or plummet.
Yeah, I won't be getting to sleep tonight.
What makes this even worse is not knowing. This won't be decided overnight. The ad goes out on the 26th. The interview process will start sometime after that. It could take months before they choose somebody. I've only known about this for less than 2 fucking days now and I'm already nauseous. A few months waiting for my sentence? Jesus... I'm a wreck already!
All I can do is put in my application and come up with a resume (which I suck at, by the way) and cover letter, and do my best not to fuck up. If this doesn't work out, so help me Fling Spaghetti Monster, it WON'T be because I fucked up. Guess it's "game on".
Wednesday afternoon I got the email. I was at the networking job, but I was checking my a/v job email. I've mentioned the hardcore politicking going on a while back, and it's been getting much worse over the last couple of weeks. The new dept. head, Faith, turned out to be a manipulating backstabber and is doing everything in her power to make my boss - Bill - a miserable shell of a man. Despite his chipper and upbeat attitude, one can readily see how this is wearing him down. A man with young children who more or less lives at that school, put over 30 hours of overtime in last month and is being denied most of that overtime pay due to a loophole that his union contract cannot protect him from.
See, he teaches some classes at the school as well. Oftentimes orders come in at the last minute for special events on campus which he must tend to. Since only a full time contracted employee can take on those events, it does not matter if one of the part timers (i.e. me) is on the clock with nothing to do. Bill has to cover it, or Dan the other full timer in our dept. But Dan's having a lot of health issues and his wife recently came down with some undisclosed heart problems. He's only been in six days in the last seven weeks. So it's all up to Bill.
So a couple of weeks ago he gets a last minute call for an event booked at the college on a night that he's teaching. All he can do is hastily set up the a/v equipment, run to his class, give his class a couple of short breaks throughout the night to run and check on the event, then after class take back all of the equipment. Bill's an energetic guy, he managed ok. Unfortunately, by putting in for overtime to cover the event at the same time he's getting paid to teach, he opened up Pandora's box. They call it "double dipping", and it's illegal.
So all hell broke loose and the school administrators called him a thief to his face. He's getting denied his overtime and any future overtime is scrutinized heavily. The administrators, of course, want me and the other part time guy to take on these events - which would be fine by me - but Bill told me point blank that his contract won't allow this and if I were to take on these overtime shifts that he'd file a grievance. He said so nicely, a gentle warning not to get involved. Not that I wanted to ever get involved anyway. Still, I like Bill a lot. Had he not given me the opportunity four years ago, I may still be jockeying a fuckin' cash register. This a/v job was my first step into a REAL job with an actual hope of a future. While I haven't always seen eye to eye with how Bill runs his ship, I respect him and like him as a person. I think what the administration is pulling on him is flat out scummy.
The latest tactic being employed against Bill now is to put an ad out for a new full time a/v tech who they can hire for less money and use for all overtime shifts to cut corners and deny Bill the extra income. They thought this would piss Bill off, but he's actually happy about it. He needs a helping hand and is all for me taking the job. I've been told for the last 3+ years by both he and Dan that they would back me if/when a full time position came up.
But Bill isn't doing the hiring. His political enemies are. Faith, the lying sack of shit, is putting together a "search committee" and I'm "welcome to apply for the job". Her committee will undoubtedly be hand picked and full of other people who dislike Bill. I'm "Bill's guy", right? I have Bill's endorsement? Fat load of good that'll do me. I'm on my own.
I don't want to sound all doom and gloom, as there could be a silver lining in all of this. If other applicants are losers, they'll have to give me the job. This could be my "in", I could FINALLY have a full time job. A state job none the less, with a union backing me and decent benefits. It's nearby so transportation isn't an issue. I don't dread going to work. And unlike my networking job, I'm actually GOOD at this job. Take the political bullshit out of the equation and I could see myself working at QCC until retirement. In other words, I want this job so bad I'd almost be willing to blow somebody to get it.
Understand this; My single greatest fear in life has always been that I wouldn't be able to find my place in this world, that I'd float from shitty low-paying entry level jobs throughout my whole life and have to rely on others to keep me from being homeless. I have nightmares about this shit. I think a lot of the stomach problems I have on a regular basis are due to my anxieties over this very issue. Short of being paid to get stoned and play on computers all day, this is about as perfect a job as I could ever hope for at this stage in my life - or the foreseeable future.
Understanding that, you should be able to see why I'm so fucked in the head right now. The golden snitch I've been seeking for years has finally been spotted, and I have all of the tools in my arsenal to enable me to catch the fucker. But I could lose it all in some dumbass pissing contest between my boss and these pissant administrators who act like they're still in fucking high school.
Also let me point this out: When that new full time position is filled, why would they need the two part time positions? If so much of this squabbling has been about penny pinching, it's not out of the question that they would be more than happy to shit-can the part time positions all together.
So if I DON'T get the full time job, I will more than likely end up with NO job at the school.. left only with my part time networking job that has no hope of ever going full time - nor would I be qualified to apply if it was offered.
I'm standing on the edge of a cliff and stretching my wings. When I jump I'll either fly or plummet.
Yeah, I won't be getting to sleep tonight.
What makes this even worse is not knowing. This won't be decided overnight. The ad goes out on the 26th. The interview process will start sometime after that. It could take months before they choose somebody. I've only known about this for less than 2 fucking days now and I'm already nauseous. A few months waiting for my sentence? Jesus... I'm a wreck already!
All I can do is put in my application and come up with a resume (which I suck at, by the way) and cover letter, and do my best not to fuck up. If this doesn't work out, so help me Fling Spaghetti Monster, it WON'T be because I fucked up. Guess it's "game on".