Just let this volume get in you, take some time out for yourself, and let this Friday get to you
And so finally things have mellowed out at work, to the point where I don't really have much that I *have* to do, and quite frankly, I have The Fridays. Therefore, I have the attention span on a hamster on smack. So I'll post on LJ!
In the Comics Section
(shaddup, you know you always flip to the comics first).
Here's what keeps me entertained at work on a regular basis - in fact, it's part of my morning ritual of non-work-related activities - including get tea and/or cereal, check gmail, etc.
Regretsy
Once Upon a Win, and other associated LOLsites.
Awkward Family Photos
Emails From Crazy People
Lamebook
F My Life
And my new personal favorite, Sleep Talkin' Man.
However, I have ran the gamut of these sites today, and I don't feel a bit ashamed of it. :P I have been covering for one of my teammates for the last 2 days, and I rather feel that I have earned it.
In the Business Section
I've had two meetings with HR this week, meetings that *I* called. Several very interesting/helpful things have come out of them.
- HR is aware of the massive problems the entire team is having with Adrian as our supervisor. They aren't going to fire him (not that I asked specifically), because they are working on training/coaching him. They recognize that he is former military, and acknowledge that managers in the company with that background have a hard time communicating effectively. Apparently the entire company knows that my team is in a constant state of hate and rage.
- HR was aware of the write-up, before he presented it to me, and they encouraged him to back off and not file it. They thought it was overkill, and obviously, I agree. It was good to know that HR has my back on this one.
- The Career Development lady that I met with on Wednesday had never met me before, but it seems that she has heard of me - apparently my dedication to a position that has about a 2-year lifespan before the employee burns out is really unusual (I've been in it for 4 1/2 years), and it has been noted that I am clearly very dependable, loyal and committed. It's nice to have that recognition. :)
- As I knew, deep down, I'm going to have to continue dealing with Adrian for a while. Several pieces of advice have been given to me about to handle it: "dropping the rope," meaning stop playing tug-of-war in order to get him on my side; "managing up," basically meaning to train my manager on how I want to be dealt with (my dad and I are very dubious about this one - he says it's a great theory but it never works in practice, and I think I agree. Adrian will manage me however he wants to, amirite?); being really overt about what's going on, and what I want, and what I will do to in order to get it - this means making Adrian VERY AWARE of the fact that I know I am his strongest dispatcher, and if he wants my help, he has to help me get out of this position. In return, I will help him build team solidity in order to leave on good terms. I don't want to be "running away" from this team, as a point of pride, and what Career Development and I think has happened is that BECAUSE I have become such a valued employee in this position, my managers don't want to let me go. However, if they don't support a move out of dispatching to somewhere else in the company, they WILL lose me to another employer. That's just what happens with unsatisfied employees.
- I have a strong general skill set, and now is the time to start deciding which ones I want to focus on for my next step in the Game of Careers. I think I've decided to focus on the research/writing skills - they are, after all, basically what I majored in except I was focusing on historical event analysis. Here, at McK, I am hoping to utilize those skills in the Energy Services side of things. I don’t really want to go into People Management (I’m a leeettle too emotive and wouldn’t be able to keep an emotional distance in certain situations), and I’m not an Engineer, by training or inclination. But that team will require people with excellent writing skillz (I has them!) to write proposals, grants, etc. So I think that is the direction I am going to head, based on my conversations with the lady from Career Development. She did exactly what I was asking for - giving me a compass, basically. Energy Efficiency is a huge, and currently-expanding field, that I would like to be part of in a useful, productive way. But the field (think of a big metaphorical field) is so large that I didn’t know WHERE I should head, and now I feel like I’ve been enough information/tools that I can finally figure out a direction.
So I am feeling in general more optimistic, and I feel a TON better for knowing that I hadn't completely lost my mind when I sent out the page to my mechanics. I have everybody from my parents to HR backing me up on my judgement call, which is awesome.
In the New News Section
Tonight I am going out to Pyramid Alehouse with Christine, one of my favorite coworkers!
Tomorrow I am going on a hike with nicolemarieh and entropic_system. And Tanner! I need to get out and get some fresh freakin' air, peeps.
Tomorrow Night I am Noc Noc knockin' it up with... well, most of you, apparently! And maybe Gretchen & Eric. They need to experience Tot Heaven.
Sunday I want to go shopping, and maybe convince Boyfriend to go see Avatar in 3D. BTW, have you heard about Post-Avatar Depression??? Sweet Smurfing Rainforests, kids, it is JUST A MOVIE. What really cracks me up are the ones saying, "oh the world is so flat and gray after this movie!" Hate to break it to ya, homies, but the world is in fact IN COLOR and in THREE DIMENSIONS. Please go find something else to emo all over.
I had a really delightful birthday party 2 weeks ago, and I am thinking about hosting another game night sometime soon... maybe once every few months? I really do have delightful friends and it was such a relaxed and easy gathering. I have very generous friends too, who gave me beautiful gifts!!!
Also, I plan on posting my goals, soonish, for 2010. I've been laaaaazy. And possibly a little computer-phobic.
In the Sports Section
I am seriously lovin' the Modern & Aerial Dance combined class that I'm taking (although I did something wretched to my back last night, YEOWCH). Our Modern teacher is delightful, and trapecia is, as always, delightful herself. On a sidenote, please to be noting their new Hospitality Coordinator, woot woot!
I still want to try belly dancing with Troupe Hipnotica this year, but I need to make sure I am financially sound first (you may notice there is no Finance Section in today's update. There's a reason for that!), but soooon. I will also admit to being a little lazy - I was SO busy for SO long, that having been freed of certain obligations on every single night of the week, I am enjoying my winter hibernation, and my new hobby of KNITTING (pix to come).
And finally, thanks to a very nice online gift, I can upload more userpics! Time to pull out all the stops, woot woot.
Okay, so that's all she wrote for now. I need to post more often and less at a time, don't I? Gotta put those 35 shiney new icons to use, wut wut?!
In the Comics Section
(shaddup, you know you always flip to the comics first).
Here's what keeps me entertained at work on a regular basis - in fact, it's part of my morning ritual of non-work-related activities - including get tea and/or cereal, check gmail, etc.
Regretsy
Once Upon a Win, and other associated LOLsites.
Awkward Family Photos
Emails From Crazy People
Lamebook
F My Life
And my new personal favorite, Sleep Talkin' Man.
However, I have ran the gamut of these sites today, and I don't feel a bit ashamed of it. :P I have been covering for one of my teammates for the last 2 days, and I rather feel that I have earned it.
In the Business Section
I've had two meetings with HR this week, meetings that *I* called. Several very interesting/helpful things have come out of them.
- HR is aware of the massive problems the entire team is having with Adrian as our supervisor. They aren't going to fire him (not that I asked specifically), because they are working on training/coaching him. They recognize that he is former military, and acknowledge that managers in the company with that background have a hard time communicating effectively. Apparently the entire company knows that my team is in a constant state of hate and rage.
- HR was aware of the write-up, before he presented it to me, and they encouraged him to back off and not file it. They thought it was overkill, and obviously, I agree. It was good to know that HR has my back on this one.
- The Career Development lady that I met with on Wednesday had never met me before, but it seems that she has heard of me - apparently my dedication to a position that has about a 2-year lifespan before the employee burns out is really unusual (I've been in it for 4 1/2 years), and it has been noted that I am clearly very dependable, loyal and committed. It's nice to have that recognition. :)
- As I knew, deep down, I'm going to have to continue dealing with Adrian for a while. Several pieces of advice have been given to me about to handle it: "dropping the rope," meaning stop playing tug-of-war in order to get him on my side; "managing up," basically meaning to train my manager on how I want to be dealt with (my dad and I are very dubious about this one - he says it's a great theory but it never works in practice, and I think I agree. Adrian will manage me however he wants to, amirite?); being really overt about what's going on, and what I want, and what I will do to in order to get it - this means making Adrian VERY AWARE of the fact that I know I am his strongest dispatcher, and if he wants my help, he has to help me get out of this position. In return, I will help him build team solidity in order to leave on good terms. I don't want to be "running away" from this team, as a point of pride, and what Career Development and I think has happened is that BECAUSE I have become such a valued employee in this position, my managers don't want to let me go. However, if they don't support a move out of dispatching to somewhere else in the company, they WILL lose me to another employer. That's just what happens with unsatisfied employees.
- I have a strong general skill set, and now is the time to start deciding which ones I want to focus on for my next step in the Game of Careers. I think I've decided to focus on the research/writing skills - they are, after all, basically what I majored in except I was focusing on historical event analysis. Here, at McK, I am hoping to utilize those skills in the Energy Services side of things. I don’t really want to go into People Management (I’m a leeettle too emotive and wouldn’t be able to keep an emotional distance in certain situations), and I’m not an Engineer, by training or inclination. But that team will require people with excellent writing skillz (I has them!) to write proposals, grants, etc. So I think that is the direction I am going to head, based on my conversations with the lady from Career Development. She did exactly what I was asking for - giving me a compass, basically. Energy Efficiency is a huge, and currently-expanding field, that I would like to be part of in a useful, productive way. But the field (think of a big metaphorical field) is so large that I didn’t know WHERE I should head, and now I feel like I’ve been enough information/tools that I can finally figure out a direction.
So I am feeling in general more optimistic, and I feel a TON better for knowing that I hadn't completely lost my mind when I sent out the page to my mechanics. I have everybody from my parents to HR backing me up on my judgement call, which is awesome.
In the New News Section
Tonight I am going out to Pyramid Alehouse with Christine, one of my favorite coworkers!
Tomorrow I am going on a hike with nicolemarieh and entropic_system. And Tanner! I need to get out and get some fresh freakin' air, peeps.
Tomorrow Night I am Noc Noc knockin' it up with... well, most of you, apparently! And maybe Gretchen & Eric. They need to experience Tot Heaven.
Sunday I want to go shopping, and maybe convince Boyfriend to go see Avatar in 3D. BTW, have you heard about Post-Avatar Depression??? Sweet Smurfing Rainforests, kids, it is JUST A MOVIE. What really cracks me up are the ones saying, "oh the world is so flat and gray after this movie!" Hate to break it to ya, homies, but the world is in fact IN COLOR and in THREE DIMENSIONS. Please go find something else to emo all over.
I had a really delightful birthday party 2 weeks ago, and I am thinking about hosting another game night sometime soon... maybe once every few months? I really do have delightful friends and it was such a relaxed and easy gathering. I have very generous friends too, who gave me beautiful gifts!!!
Also, I plan on posting my goals, soonish, for 2010. I've been laaaaazy. And possibly a little computer-phobic.
In the Sports Section
I am seriously lovin' the Modern & Aerial Dance combined class that I'm taking (although I did something wretched to my back last night, YEOWCH). Our Modern teacher is delightful, and trapecia is, as always, delightful herself. On a sidenote, please to be noting their new Hospitality Coordinator, woot woot!
I still want to try belly dancing with Troupe Hipnotica this year, but I need to make sure I am financially sound first (you may notice there is no Finance Section in today's update. There's a reason for that!), but soooon. I will also admit to being a little lazy - I was SO busy for SO long, that having been freed of certain obligations on every single night of the week, I am enjoying my winter hibernation, and my new hobby of KNITTING (pix to come).
And finally, thanks to a very nice online gift, I can upload more userpics! Time to pull out all the stops, woot woot.
Okay, so that's all she wrote for now. I need to post more often and less at a time, don't I? Gotta put those 35 shiney new icons to use, wut wut?!