Ugh, messed up at work. Basically, some last minute changes were requested to week old tasks that I was on, and I should’ve been the one to respond to them, because I’d initially taken care of said tasks. But I missed the email notifications (of which I get many many, most of them irrelevant to me) of these comments thanks to my trigger happy delete finger (and the election), so someone else had to take initiative and respond for me.
My manager brought it to my attention. She phrased it as, how could she help keep better track of things like this so they don’t fall through the cracks next time? I later asked if I was good with the incident, or if there was anything I should do or think about. She said if I took the action I said I was (changing my Outlook view to conversation mode so I could more easily see when an email is a follow up to something I’m concerned with), then we’re good. Also told the person who picked it up for me.
I feel guilty for “making” my manager feel responsible when it was on me. Same with the coworker who had to pick up the conversation. Plus, I feel like I harmed my “reputation,” so I feel… brittle, I guess. On the edge? Probably not (I have one on ones with my manager every other week, and nothing serious has come up lately), but still.
If your manager is really looking for places to implement meaningful changes, the part I bolded is the place to start.
You’re inundated with too much “noise” to filter out. Maybe your manager can find a way to remove you from the lists (?) generating all these unnecessary notifications.
I know how you’re feeling. It stings right now, but there’s no time to wallow in self-blame. This is your chance to get some changes made. In you, and in the company.
If I were your manager, I would LOVE to have you say “This has prompted me to figure out a couple of ways that I could work more efficiently…” Then detail things like emails, trimming the “noise”, jettisoning some responsibilities that someone else would be better at, some new tasks that you’d like, and whatever else would make your job more satisfying.
Thanks to @Spice_weasel, @kaylasdad99, @purplehorseshoe, and @JaneDoe42 for the good wishes and the advice. We are already using paper plates, and have some people cooking for us on occasion, but I’ll see what else I can make easier. The hike was definitely refreshing and I did not get lost :)…the Appalachian Trail is pretty well marked. I did sleep pretty well one night since I posted, and it has helped but I think I need more. “Me time” would be wonderful–maybe I can get some this coming weekend.
I couldn’t go visit today because of my work schedule, so I got an update from one of the nurses. Nothing much is changing, which does not strike me as especially good news. In particular, my wife doesn’t seem to have spoken a word in several days (she didn’t say anything over the weekend) though she was speaking earlier last week–it was difficult for her speak and she wasn’t always coherent, but she was talking at least some. Now, nothing. “She might be depressed,” the nurse said, a little more cheerfully than I would have liked. Ya think?
Well, back again tomorrow, and maybe things’ll be better. Thanks again for the support and suggestions.
As I (only) hinted at, I did suggest changing my Outlook view to conversation mode to possibly keep better track of when an email about a previously closed project comes in. So I did suggest a process change for myself. The problem is, since a lot of this is my own doing (like I said, zoning out and deleting notification emails before I fully register whether it’s something that concerns me), I didn’t have a lot of other suggestions. The rules thing mentioned in the other reply might work…
I guess I don’t know what to add, or how, since I don’t want to drag this back up again if enough time has passed to generally bury it, if that makes sense.
Very minor. The next door neighbor’s have 3 dogs in their front yard. Said dogs are bored to death and bark all day and all night long because they never go in the home. Nobody interacts with the dogs, the kids play in the house or the back yard because they don’t want to be mobbed by lonesome dogs. I am not a dog person, but I really hate seeing how those poor animals live.
The dogs start barking as soon as they see anyone anywhere. We couldn’t use our front yard because of all of the barking, so we are having a brick wall put in. This will hopefully help the issue by stopping the dogs from seeing us, and also deaden the sound or perhaps reflect it back at their place.
Sadly, putting a brick wall in there will probably kill a couple of very nice pine trees in our yard because trees don’t get along with concrete.
Today, we had a not nice visit from the neighbor who loudly objected about us building a wall to block his view and endanger his trees and shade.
I am very irritated that he has the idea that we owe him any sort of choice in what we do with our property, especially considering that he is a renter.
They will just get more dogs. They have had 3 dogs die of parvo in the last couple of years. Why waste money on shots when you can just get more free dogs? Its not like they have any emotional connection to the poor beasts.
Then again, they don’t seem to have much of a connection with their children either. I’ve watched the mom yank the toddlers out of the van (no car seats) and leave them in the rain while screaming at them to get their stupid asses inside.
The brick wall isn’t just because I can’t stand to see how the dogs are treated.
A discreet call to the local children’s protective services might be in order. I believe car seats are required for all children in all states until they reach a certain age/height combination.
Another call to the local SPCA might help with the dogs, as in removing them from the family and getting a court order forbidding them to ever have dogs (or any pet) again.
I think you might be overestimating the value of children and pets out here.
The dogs have food, water and a small, rickety house made out of old pallets. The dogs aren’t being beaten, aren’t being starved and have “shelter” from the snow. That’s some top-notch pet ownership right there.
A cop would have to witness the no car-seat thing, my word isn’t good enough for any action to be taken.
I honestly did try all of the free and cheap solutions first.
Yes, she has her cell phone (complete with charger, which I had to swap out earlier in the stay when it proved not to be charging properly). We did a little FaceTiming in the days leading up to the second surgery. Since then, the cognitive issues have gotten in the way…first, she forgot her passcode, so I wrote it down for her, then she tried texting our daughter, but what she wrote made no sense. After that, no interest in using the phone, and that’s unfortunately where we are at this point. But you’re right of course that it would be great if she could manage it! Thanks.
Further demonstrating the stupidity of the American public (as if the number of Trump voters is not enough) is this little nugget. I bought a bag of ice for the ice machine my wife is using. On the side of the bag of ice is the helpful instruction:
The store got tired of people leaving the bag in the car all day, then putting it in the freezer. And returning the refrozen bag the next day and complaining “Hey, there’s only one ice cube in here!”
Every intern we’ve had in our department has had the most annoying voice. The first one talked way too damned fast and you could never understand what she was saying (she also said she hated art, so not worth my time anyway.) The latest one talks in a slow, stoned-sounding drawl with what I can only describe as an downward lilt at the end of every sentence. It’s like working with goddamn Eeyore.
My “ooooooo-hoooooo-hooo-hooo” coworker semi-retired last year, then completely split earlier this year when COVID-19 started to become an issue for us. Now I’m down to a coworker who often uses a video conferencing app (on her mobile phone) to chat with relatives during the workday. The last time I was in the office, I was treated to the audio of her call with a young nephew, which mostly consisted of her bellowing “What’s on your face? You’ve got something on your face!” over and over.
My miniest of minirants: Mom is unboxing Christmas ornaments and decorations, resulting in the temporary loss of most of a spare bedroom and the formal dining room. It’s too early!
