Good morning.
Thank you for the birthday wishes.
It’s damp outside and 45 degrees Fahrenheit. The expected high temperature is 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and it’ll be cloudy to partly cloudy all day. We had a good bit of rain yesterday and a couple of thunderboomers.
This is the last time I will address work hours (god I hope). I take care of stuff in my control immediately, if not within 24 hours. This is a point of pride, allowing me to focus on the smaller rocks. So, I meet my suspense dates with time spare. I get a jump on my emails, so I’m prepared for Monday mornings and have answers ready to go. I rarely, if ever, reply to any email on the weekend, except if it’s truly emergent, and that has happened less than three times. Yes, I shouldn’t be working those hours, but if I didn’t, I would be even more stressed because then I would be missing suspense dates, and that’s a performance bullet for me. I have to ride people who have input into data calls, FOIAs, projects, whatever, that I am actively managing. They provide the input, and I put it together, edit it, provide my input, and send it forward. It’s on ME if it’s late. I know it’s wrong, but that’s how it is.
I am hopeful that with the addition of the new MPA, I won’t have to worry so much and will have someone I can count on to get things done in my absence. The current MPA is often overwhelmed and forgetful because of the stuff she deals with. I’ve given up on things ever improving in that area. On top of that, she and her husband found out he has cancer, so now she’ll be gone a lot dealing with that, and I don’t blame her one bit.
I have learned to let many things go; I know you don’t believe it, but it’s true. Someone fucked and forgot to do something that lost them access to a system, or waited until Friday afternoon for something they needed NOW? Tough noogies. They get to stew until Monday morning. They fucked up the travel, even though I provided explicit instruction? They get to wait an additional 24 hours. I have stopped jumping through my ass for little things. The state meeting? That’s a big deal. Dignitaries and tribal members will be present. We’ve invested a stupid amount of money in this, along with manhours. I got it sorted, and that’s what counts.
After completing the records project, the ultra-long hours will stop, and I’ve already decided that my leave is my leave, and my weekends are my weekends. Unless someone directly reaches out to me on my cell phone (super, super rare), work won’t occur in my off time.
Staff will now receive initial instruction and two follow-up reminders if they don’t act promptly. After that, they will fail. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve already started this for minor, non-emergent stuff that does not impact a deadline, pay, or create a work stoppage.
I know it seems petulant, but what has happened seems to boil down to a lack of respect for my time, effort, and title. and that is stopping NOW. They have stopped calling or emailing me so often, but the fall-out has been that they’ve been pestering the MPA, which means she drops her priorities to help them, thus meaning the onus is back on me to pick up those priorities and finish them. It’s a vicious circle. Them pestering the MPA also demonstrates a lack of respect for her time. She also goes out of her way to provide explicit instruction.
Finally, I do realize that I probably created my own hell here. I set high standards for myself. Some of me can’t accept that others don’t do the same. I’m also still scarred from that hellhole I used to work for, and I am so hellbent on being successful and making sure our state is successful that it’s difficult for me to let go of things. My efforts make my state and state director look good (also part of my job), and it is often noted by those much higher up.
I am just going to take care of the big rocks now. The little rocks tumble on their own.
Whew! That was long!
My son is coming to spend the day with us. I’m unsure what we’ll do, but I’ll enjoy his company.
I went to the mall yesterday and picked up a pair of shoes and a new pair of slacks.
I did laundry, and other than packing tomorrow morning, I am ready for my trip. I need to stop and pick up some group snackage, but I can do that on the way to the way tomorrow.
Okay, it’s time to finish my coffee and play with the pups.
happy, happy birthday taters
But without reading – or even skimming – most of the existing 287 posts in the thread, so apologies if I miss some needed boos or yays or hugs from the past week.
I’ll drive up on a Thursday: the next night I’ll take my favorite cousin to see a show about an hour from her place, and from there we’ll go to the Jersey shore (90 min drive) for a couple of nights. I made an Airbnb reservation for the shore last month, but on Friday I made a reservation for the single night near my cousin’s. I thought about trying for the alpaca farm again, but decided that for just one night I could go simpler (= cheaper) and booked a room at an Econo Lodge. It’s near the hospice where my aunt is, so it’ll be easy to go visit her after I check in.