That would be me… except that SWMBO is more like SWMBIUYWTH2FDAYE. (She who must be ignored unless you want the hotel to fall down around your ears.)
This week’s work rant? In addition to currently acting as front desk manager (maternity leave, twins, for the regular manager,) plus my usual sales, marketing, and customer service duties, I get to supervise housekeeping tomorrow. And do a lot of handholding, because the corporate CEO has decreed that all of the company VPs should actually learn something about actual hotel operations… Our visiting VP had never been behind a front desk before yesterday. Nice guy, and I agree completely with the CEO’s objective, but the timing couldn’t be much worse. Plus 1/2 of our (2-man) maintenance crew is out due to a family emergency. And at 2pm, my 3 o’clock desk person called, sobbing hysterically. I still don’t know what’s wrong, but she clearly couldn’t come in to work. I finally found someone to relieve me at 7:30.
And tomorrow is the fucking Chamber of Commerce meeting at 5 pm. This week needs to end.
I got the keys today. I’m expected to move all of the boxes out by Monday, but I’m not allowed to work overtime. Its not possible. I do have all of the email and project notes available to anyone who wants to see them, and I have sent them to everyone during the whole process.
Its still going to be my fault. On the good side, I now have a script for Lorazepam and my worry levels have gone down so much that I haven’t bothered to google it.
And the nice office worker who will have to help me move the boxes brought me some home grown tomatos and said that she would bring gloves and try to find some capres to wear tomorrow.
“… initially marketed under the brand names Ativan and Temesta) is a high-potency short-to-intermediate-acting 3-hydroxy benzodiazepine drug that has all five intrinsic benzodiazepine effects: anxiolytic, amnesic, sedative/hypnotic, anticonvulsant and muscle relaxant.”
No, it’s not your fault, and don’t accept the blame for it. You didn’t decide to understaff the project. You didn’t decide the timeline. You didn’t waffle about the project. Right? If you couldn’t make these decisions, then it’s not your fault. If someone DOES try to blame you, tell him/her that you were not given the resources (time and labor) that you needed to complete the job in a timely manner. What happens is that if you keep doing things that are about impossible to do, management will keep expecting the impossible. What will happen if the boxes don’t get moved? Management will have to find some way to move them, and maybe, just maybe, they’ll learn not to expect the impossible. There will be a lot of griping, and a lot of hassle. Don’t worry about it, though. If you’ve done the best you can, then you can’t do any more.
Look, SG gets away with not working. They are NOT going to fire you, because there’s still a hiring freeze, right? And you DO get the job done, if it’s a reasonable expectation.
What Lynn said. I’ve posted about this before (maybe even in this thread) - I worked in an accounting department where everything was a rush and a crisis so we wouldn’t miss deadlines. We were understaffed, so we often missed deadlines. When we missed a deadline, the response was, “Oh, well, get it done when you can.” Honestly, no one dies if the boxes take two weeks to move instead of one. This is very much Not Your Problem.
Thanks for the kind words. I don’t care anymore. Better living through chemistry
Today, I found rodent droppings in the other off-site storage area. That is a fancy name for an old storage unit in the middle of fields. 1200 boxes that HAVE to be moved right away. Facilities can spray and/or put out poison, but unless they are willing to rodent proof the building (I can see daylight between the bricks), those boxes are in serious danger.
My boss was very helpful in our conversation about it. She agreed that I was not to even consider cleaning the messes up. She agreed that anyone going in there from now on would wear dust masks. When I told her that I didn’t think that the rodents had actually gotten into the boxes because I didn’t see any signs of chewing, she reminded me that rats could climb in through the handles and make a nice, private nest.
Thanks a lot, boss! Now I’m having mental images of opening one of those boxes and having a giant, mutant rat leap out and rip off my face.
There isn’t any place to put the boxes. I also learned that the attorney was wrong and that the county is responsible for storing the sweat lodge material. 150 boxes and growing because the case is ongoing.
I needed something off SG’s shelf and while I was looking for it, I found a carefully hidden salt shaker. I laughed so hard, water came out of my eyes.
So, I quit today. Due to the rats in the warehouse, I was trying to move boxes out. I heard squeeks when I picked up a box, so I just put the box down, closed the doors, drove the van back to its home, got on my stinky bike and left. I left a vm for my boss on her cell saying that I wouldn’t be back until I knew that I wasn’t at risk for rabies or hantavirus.
There aren’t enough drugs in the world to keep me working in a rat infested U-Store place.
Wow, flatlined, I have to confess that I’ve been addicted to reading your posts about your job and about SG. I wish you the best in finding a new job ASAP, and I’ve got to admit to a little bit of sadistic glee wondering how your boss is now going to cope with trying to get SG to do some work.
Fingers crossed for you flatlined. I would’ve done the same thing, I think. Can’t pay me enough to have to deal with rats and the possible diseases. :shudder:
Good on ya, flatlined. You took too much crap for that place. Fingers crossed you find a new job soonest.
I switched shifts today with one of the other morning ladies (let’s call her Mama Bear), so I worked today instead of yesterday. It turns out this was very bad for Mama Bear. Little Miss Perky, the young’un on the desk (she’s 21, the other three ladies are in their 50’s and I’m 31) got married last weekend. We all heard about how many days it was until her wedding from day 100. Even me, and I usually see her for five minutes at shift change most days. She finally got married last Saturday (9-10-11, how fucking cute) and has been off on her honeymoon all this week. She was supposed to be back yesterday to work at 3. She knew this about a week before she left. Plenty of time to pencil it into Ye Olde Calendar.
So yesterday she called in at 1 p.m. from Florida saying she had two tires that needed to be replaced on the car and couldn’t make it in. Two hours before she was supposed to come in. She calls from Florida. We’re in North Carolina. I kind of wish I had been there so I could have taken that line and spread it on my garden. So poor Mama Bear had to work a double since they had to have two people cover the desk last night as it was crazy busy.
Today I **had **to be out the door at 3 because my boyfriend had to use my car to get to a job interview in a town ten minutes away. 2:50, no Little Miss Perky. 2:55, not yet. 3:00, I find the AGM and tell him I have to go. He tells me to go and mutters something about Little Miss Perky deciding to resign from her job if she doesn’t show up tout suite. As I’m running to the back to clock out, guess who walks out the door heading to the front desk? Why Little Miss Perky, so glad you decided to show up! Hate to be you in two minutes when the AGM gets hold of you. And he will leave your shredded remains for Mama Bear to maul tomorrow. He’s nice like that.
Laugh with me everyone, because if I don’t laugh, I’ll cry.
My boss called this morning and said that I couldn’t quit now. I won’t be fully vested until the middle of October. FML.
I’m not going back in that building by myself. Misery loves company and all. I’ve calmed down a lot since yesterday. My plan is to wear a dust mask and gloves and to open every box before I move it.
I must confess that I’m glad she didn’t accept my resignation phone call. As much as I’d have enjoyed maybe being able to meet purplehorseshoe, moving a colony of feral cats accross 2 state lines doesn’t sound easy or fun.
My “second” job just took a downturn as well. 18 years ago, the Director bought 20 acres of residential zoned property on the outskirts of town. As time passed, the town grew and she now has neighbors. Someone who recently moved next to her is trying to get her shut down because of the dogs barking. This is going to cost time and money that we would rather use to save critters. We are a 501C non-profit, but the neighbor is claiming that the Director is using her land for commercial reasons.
Boss told me to take tomorrow off. I will go in anyhow because I need to talk to the legal secretaries and see if they know of a lawyer who will take our case free or cheap.
Ah, jeez, flatlined, that sucks rocks. Aren’t there any OSHA regulations or something like that that would prevent your job from making you work in an unsafe environment?
My husband (the occupational safety officer) says that OSHA would consider a biological hazard a hazard, and you are probably fully within your rights to refuse that work (with the usual caveat that he certified in Alberta - check with OSHA in your area).
I think that this is the perfect time to discover that you’re a girly girl, and Shredder Guy is a manly man, and HE should take care of the lifting. It’s not as poetic as shoving him down the shredder feet first, but maybe he’ll let loose with some high pitched girly squeals if the rats bite him.
Seconding the OSHA calls and maybe it’s time for you to do some “method acting”… ok, you know how actors used to be expected to learn their lines and do what the director said, right? And then this Stanislavsky method came along and now they’re supposed to “wear their character”? When I’m dealing with certain types, I wear my Japanese schoolgirl Let your Japanese schoolgirl out!
Also, BEFORE you open a box, give it a good solid kick or two, or thump it with your fist if it’s too high to kick. Then wait a good minute: any rat inside must have a way out, give him a chance to use it BEFORE the best option is leaping out towards you as you open the flap.
Ugh. Hope the OSHA info pans out.
Hey, could they fumigate the area before you move the boxes? Yes, you’d have rat bodies to deal with, but that’s marginally better than ones that are still scrabbling around.
Yup. You can also call OSHA and request that they come down and have an inspection of your job site - the Canadian version of OSHA (Workplace Health and Safety) works with companies to correct problems; I’ve heard rumours that the American OSHA just likes to fine companies.
