(no subject)
Oh, hell. I just got read the riot act. Mofo piece of..... GRRRR!!!
Nicole is back, although no-one is sure for how long. Scherryl (the office manager) thinks that Nic (my scheduler/boss) isn't going to stay, which is why Nikki (the temp-that-was-hired) was hired on permanently - Nic was only supposed to go for maternity leave, but it appears that she might not be staying.
All of this I have probably explained before, but please bear with me.
[All This I Should Have Known (by Breathe) is now going through my head. Good song, underrated band.]
Ah. Here we go - Boingo's Pain on my computer's iTunes fits nicely with my mood.
Anyway... Right. So Nicole is back, and thank all gods. She's the one who really runs this place, no matter what Scherryl might think. So when I walked in this morning, and found Nikki not around, I went directly over to Nic and told her about what happened Monday/yesterday.
So, Monday/yesterday: Monday I walked into the office on time, and Nikki snagged me as I was walking past. "Here's an audio tape of the focus group that Jon wants transcribed."
I looked blankly at it. An audio tape. "Um... I don't have a physical transcriber, just the software one." I hesitated. "Well, I *do* have a physical transcriber, but it's in storage, and I didn't think I would ever need it here." I looked around for help. "Are there any transcribers here?"
Nikki looked blankly at me. "Well, yeah, you."
"No, I'm a transcriptionist. The transcriber is the machine that transcriptionists use. It's a tape recorder with special buttons and functions and a foot pedal so that the transcriptionist can control playback."
"Oh."
Morgan spoke up. "No, we have no transcribers."
"Um... OK. Well, do you have a tape recorder I can use?"
Paula (one of our other ops personnel) said, "Yes." and she dug one out for me.
I had a sinking feeling in my gut. It was bad enough not having the pedal for the transcription software - having to use a regular tape recorder to do audio is *really* bad.
Morgan said, "They didn't make it an audio file? That's the consultant's job. Jon should've done that."
I looked at him gratefully. "Can you do it?"
"Yes. How long is the file?"
Nikki said, "Two hours."
"Oh, God," said Morgan. "It's going to take the full length of the tape to translate it into an audio file."
"OK, Jon wants it ASAP." Nikki said as we departed.
"Fine."
Two and a half hours later (major snarl up of the mail/IM servers for the entire company, not just our branch), Morgan delivered the audio files on CD to me, and I started in. I didn't get very far - there were a total of six people in the focus group, and I was in a lot of pain and not taking any medication for it. But I worked on it for an hour or so, which translates to about 10 minutes of the audio - there was no interview guide, so I was doing full, verbatim transcription with differentiation of each voice. And then I went home.
So, yesterday, I came into work and started directly in to the file, but again, I was in a lot of pain and still not taking any meds, so.... I didn't get very far. I'm really kind of depressed about how little I got done. At 11:45 (I'd been at work for just under two hours), Nikki came over to me. "So, you're done with Jon's focus group, right?"
"Uh... no. I'm only [fudging a bit] four hours in. It's a two hour audio file, which means eight hours total transcription time, minimum."
"Oh, no! I told Jon you were done!"
I couldn't keep the dread from rising into my eyes. "You're kidding. You told Jon I was done without checking with me?"
"Well, yeah, he needs it ASAP...."
Cue to me mentally bashing my head against the desk. Repeatedly.
"I understand. But I've only gotten four hours done [again, fudging], and I'm only here for another two hours (true) because I have a standing weekly appointment at three, so I can't stay.... Can I do the rest, which is going to be two or three hours, from home?"
Approval was gained, and I continued to futz around while at work (I do that when I'm stressed and in pain), secure in the knowledge that I could do it from home. I left at 2, and I broke my no-pain-killer-taking because there was no way that I could get my work done (which would cost me my job) without it.
Cut/fade to 9:30, at home post-therapy, working. Morgan helped me, supported me, for which I will be eternally grateful. I would not have gotten *any* sleep at all, and even with his help, I didn't get to bed until 4:30 AM. I'm proud, though - I sent him to bed around 2, and I kept working and I got it done. The official story is that I took a nap yesterday afternoon, which is why I emailed the finished product to Jon at 4:30 this morning. It's not true - I was in too much pain yesterday afternoon to work, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
AND I got up this morning and came to work. So, nah!
Anyway.... So cut to this morning on walking into work. I talked to Nicole about what happened yesterday, that Nikki told Jon I was done without even consulting me, which is why I had to work from home (which she knew), and which is why I emailed Jon the finished product (and CCed Nikki on it) at 4:30 AM. I told Nicole that I felt uncomfortable with Nikki talking to Jon about my progress without even consulting me, and told her about the way things were during her absence: Nikki not understanding my workflow, Nikki not doing anything to manage my workload, Nikki not remembering that I 'cost' more than I ought to because I'm still a temp, Nikki asking me what I cost versus what I make (four times!), the two more-than-40-hour work weeks, etc.
So Nic told me that that's not the story she got. Apparently, Nikki and Scherryl have come to Nicole and told her that I was flaking the entire time she was gone, that I was 'taking advantage' of Nikki's lack of experience, etc. So I got read the riot act.
Nikki had to be told what I do. She'd never heard the word "transcriptionist" before (or so she claims), she didn't know what I did, anything. She came to me all the time while Nic was gone and said stuff like, "Um... what are you working on?", nevermind that I was keeping her in the loop the entire time, CCing her each time I emailed a consultant. That she asked me four times what I make, and why Spherion gets paid $4.50 extra for every hour I work, and on and on. I took advantage of her?!? I'm sorry, WHO stayed at work until 1 AM, doing a project that nobody was bothering to manage when I'd already put in almost 40 hours so far that week?!? WHO was up until 4:30 this morning doing something because somebody else didn't follow protocol?!?
I don't see Nikki doing any of that. I see Nikki all the time fucking around online. Until very very recently, I didn't even check my personal email while at work. That's changed, thankyouverymuch, but I was completely focused on work while I was at work for a *long* time.
Christ! The reason I got all flaky (which I *own*, godsdamnit!) there for a couple weeks, which necessitated Scherryl's second meeting with me BECAUSE of the two full-time and overtime weeks I had. Plus, Nikki swiped a project I could've handled just fine, thanks, without checking with me first. I'd already put two hours in on the project when she came to me and said, "Oh, I assigned that to somebody else." She doesn't do a godsdamned thing insofar as her job concerned me for months, then comes along and decides that she's *now* going to do her job, but doesn't even talk to me about it.
And, you know, this wouldn't even be so bad except that I'm doing everything I can to get better, I've been in on time, thankyouverymuch, every single fucking day since I talked to Scherryl the last time, and I haven't been leaving early (except once, due to health/transportation concerns). And yet, nobody seems to remember that I will give everything to the company if I'm asked to, that I will pull out all the stops when necessary, even to the extent of making myself sick. I don't see *any* of the other ops staff staying at work until 1 AM. Sometimes the consultants do it, but they make a good ten or twenty times what I do.
[Edit: Actually, I fibbed. Morgan is technically ops, and he stays with me when I work really late. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate his support, how grateful I am to him. He's an angel. He really is. Thank you. I love you. :)]
Nicole is back, although no-one is sure for how long. Scherryl (the office manager) thinks that Nic (my scheduler/boss) isn't going to stay, which is why Nikki (the temp-that-was-hired) was hired on permanently - Nic was only supposed to go for maternity leave, but it appears that she might not be staying.
All of this I have probably explained before, but please bear with me.
[All This I Should Have Known (by Breathe) is now going through my head. Good song, underrated band.]
Ah. Here we go - Boingo's Pain on my computer's iTunes fits nicely with my mood.
Anyway... Right. So Nicole is back, and thank all gods. She's the one who really runs this place, no matter what Scherryl might think. So when I walked in this morning, and found Nikki not around, I went directly over to Nic and told her about what happened Monday/yesterday.
So, Monday/yesterday: Monday I walked into the office on time, and Nikki snagged me as I was walking past. "Here's an audio tape of the focus group that Jon wants transcribed."
I looked blankly at it. An audio tape. "Um... I don't have a physical transcriber, just the software one." I hesitated. "Well, I *do* have a physical transcriber, but it's in storage, and I didn't think I would ever need it here." I looked around for help. "Are there any transcribers here?"
Nikki looked blankly at me. "Well, yeah, you."
"No, I'm a transcriptionist. The transcriber is the machine that transcriptionists use. It's a tape recorder with special buttons and functions and a foot pedal so that the transcriptionist can control playback."
"Oh."
Morgan spoke up. "No, we have no transcribers."
"Um... OK. Well, do you have a tape recorder I can use?"
Paula (one of our other ops personnel) said, "Yes." and she dug one out for me.
I had a sinking feeling in my gut. It was bad enough not having the pedal for the transcription software - having to use a regular tape recorder to do audio is *really* bad.
Morgan said, "They didn't make it an audio file? That's the consultant's job. Jon should've done that."
I looked at him gratefully. "Can you do it?"
"Yes. How long is the file?"
Nikki said, "Two hours."
"Oh, God," said Morgan. "It's going to take the full length of the tape to translate it into an audio file."
"OK, Jon wants it ASAP." Nikki said as we departed.
"Fine."
Two and a half hours later (major snarl up of the mail/IM servers for the entire company, not just our branch), Morgan delivered the audio files on CD to me, and I started in. I didn't get very far - there were a total of six people in the focus group, and I was in a lot of pain and not taking any medication for it. But I worked on it for an hour or so, which translates to about 10 minutes of the audio - there was no interview guide, so I was doing full, verbatim transcription with differentiation of each voice. And then I went home.
So, yesterday, I came into work and started directly in to the file, but again, I was in a lot of pain and still not taking any meds, so.... I didn't get very far. I'm really kind of depressed about how little I got done. At 11:45 (I'd been at work for just under two hours), Nikki came over to me. "So, you're done with Jon's focus group, right?"
"Uh... no. I'm only [fudging a bit] four hours in. It's a two hour audio file, which means eight hours total transcription time, minimum."
"Oh, no! I told Jon you were done!"
I couldn't keep the dread from rising into my eyes. "You're kidding. You told Jon I was done without checking with me?"
"Well, yeah, he needs it ASAP...."
Cue to me mentally bashing my head against the desk. Repeatedly.
"I understand. But I've only gotten four hours done [again, fudging], and I'm only here for another two hours (true) because I have a standing weekly appointment at three, so I can't stay.... Can I do the rest, which is going to be two or three hours, from home?"
Approval was gained, and I continued to futz around while at work (I do that when I'm stressed and in pain), secure in the knowledge that I could do it from home. I left at 2, and I broke my no-pain-killer-taking because there was no way that I could get my work done (which would cost me my job) without it.
Cut/fade to 9:30, at home post-therapy, working. Morgan helped me, supported me, for which I will be eternally grateful. I would not have gotten *any* sleep at all, and even with his help, I didn't get to bed until 4:30 AM. I'm proud, though - I sent him to bed around 2, and I kept working and I got it done. The official story is that I took a nap yesterday afternoon, which is why I emailed the finished product to Jon at 4:30 this morning. It's not true - I was in too much pain yesterday afternoon to work, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
AND I got up this morning and came to work. So, nah!
Anyway.... So cut to this morning on walking into work. I talked to Nicole about what happened yesterday, that Nikki told Jon I was done without even consulting me, which is why I had to work from home (which she knew), and which is why I emailed Jon the finished product (and CCed Nikki on it) at 4:30 AM. I told Nicole that I felt uncomfortable with Nikki talking to Jon about my progress without even consulting me, and told her about the way things were during her absence: Nikki not understanding my workflow, Nikki not doing anything to manage my workload, Nikki not remembering that I 'cost' more than I ought to because I'm still a temp, Nikki asking me what I cost versus what I make (four times!), the two more-than-40-hour work weeks, etc.
So Nic told me that that's not the story she got. Apparently, Nikki and Scherryl have come to Nicole and told her that I was flaking the entire time she was gone, that I was 'taking advantage' of Nikki's lack of experience, etc. So I got read the riot act.
Nikki had to be told what I do. She'd never heard the word "transcriptionist" before (or so she claims), she didn't know what I did, anything. She came to me all the time while Nic was gone and said stuff like, "Um... what are you working on?", nevermind that I was keeping her in the loop the entire time, CCing her each time I emailed a consultant. That she asked me four times what I make, and why Spherion gets paid $4.50 extra for every hour I work, and on and on. I took advantage of her?!? I'm sorry, WHO stayed at work until 1 AM, doing a project that nobody was bothering to manage when I'd already put in almost 40 hours so far that week?!? WHO was up until 4:30 this morning doing something because somebody else didn't follow protocol?!?
I don't see Nikki doing any of that. I see Nikki all the time fucking around online. Until very very recently, I didn't even check my personal email while at work. That's changed, thankyouverymuch, but I was completely focused on work while I was at work for a *long* time.
Christ! The reason I got all flaky (which I *own*, godsdamnit!) there for a couple weeks, which necessitated Scherryl's second meeting with me BECAUSE of the two full-time and overtime weeks I had. Plus, Nikki swiped a project I could've handled just fine, thanks, without checking with me first. I'd already put two hours in on the project when she came to me and said, "Oh, I assigned that to somebody else." She doesn't do a godsdamned thing insofar as her job concerned me for months, then comes along and decides that she's *now* going to do her job, but doesn't even talk to me about it.
And, you know, this wouldn't even be so bad except that I'm doing everything I can to get better, I've been in on time, thankyouverymuch, every single fucking day since I talked to Scherryl the last time, and I haven't been leaving early (except once, due to health/transportation concerns). And yet, nobody seems to remember that I will give everything to the company if I'm asked to, that I will pull out all the stops when necessary, even to the extent of making myself sick. I don't see *any* of the other ops staff staying at work until 1 AM. Sometimes the consultants do it, but they make a good ten or twenty times what I do.
[Edit: Actually, I fibbed. Morgan is technically ops, and he stays with me when I work really late. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate his support, how grateful I am to him. He's an angel. He really is. Thank you. I love you. :)]