Partly

Perhaps before you send me political flyers telling me that I should "Vote like my job depends on it" you should check to make sure that I still have a job.

Perhaps before admonishing that I should be afraid of a candidate that proposes that public employees take mandatory furlough days, you should know that my county employee union refused to consider furlough days as a measure to save jobs because they "had to consider what was best for the majority of union employees".

Perhaps instead of sending me endless flyers and bombarding the airways with annoying ads and calling my home with polls and candidate suggestions, you could have actually spent some time trying to save my damn job. Or at least put the effort to pretend that my job, my position as a dues-paying union employee, was something more than sacrificial lamb, low-man-on-the-totum poll employee who gets to loose her job so that all the other union employees can pretend that there's nothing wrong.

I should point out that when it appears that the county that laid me off cared more that I lost job than the Union that was supposed to be protecting that job, you guys messed up somewhere.

You really should think about fixing that before asking me to trust your judgement on how best to "keep my job".

I have been nothing but positive during this whole "only two more months of my job left" craziness. I've whined here -- but only twice. I've talked about the general insanity of it all at work and how a combination of management and union idiocy is creating a royal FUBAR. In fact, I've championed keeping my position even if I won't be the person in the position because my department is a damn fine department and the cuts in services the loss of my position will cause is untenable.

However, I've found a limit to my empathy. I really don't care that this is making life hell for others. In fact, I think that as screwed up as all of this is, it should make life miserable for everyone else.

The union has a one trump hand of "seniority" and it plays it above competence and skills, so the fact that unqualified, under-skilled people will get a positions solely based on seniority is hardly surprising. And since anyone of higher seniority who is losing their position can keep their county job by bumping into the position of anyone of lower seniority, it should be expected that there will be a rash of untrained and unqualified people in new positions.

Management tried to do an end run around these union rules by eliminating the positions of the people it was laying off. They were hoping that doing it this way there would be no bumping and they could limit union influence by merely shifting any necessary work to other departments and have it fall under the "any other assigned work" part of everyones job description. This meant that the necessity of the job, the value of the services offered or even the amount of actual work the position completed was not of importance. All that mattered was that the person who held that position was lowest on the union totem pole. Brilliant managerial strategy, people! (I don't know this for sure, but at least this way there was some reasoning to it, albeit devious reasoning.) But it seems the problems with the best laid plans of mice and men, also apply to the poorly thought out machinations of management -- and the bumping is starting.

So today, anytime someone complained about any and all of the above and expressed their frustrations on it all... I felt like shouting "Welcome to the Club!". I understand what they are going through and how hard it is, but, damn it, they ought to be going through it. It should be miserable. It should be painful. I'm sorry that it is, but anything else would be a lie. This whole mess couldn't have been handled any worse. Now you have departments sniping at each other. People closing ranks in order to preserve their jobs. People bumping to new positions not because they want the job or can do the job but because they are afraid their positions will be eliminated. Management says nothing except "you're good, but you're out of here." The union just nods and says "It's all fine as long as it's seniority". The County Board is meeting in closed sessions and seems content to let non-elected officials write the script.

So, yeah, I'm not all that upset watching this turn into a giant train wreck. Because that's what it is. Right now, I'm tempted to make popcorn and sell tickets.

I so totally rock at my job.  And those idiots upstairs are letting me go.

They suck.

Just had to share.

--

So, my computer at work is acting weird. One of the Very Important Programs that I need kept giving me an error report. Plus it keeps freezing when I reboot... well, maybe not freezing but it sticks at the automatic diagnostics that IT put on it. After 10 minutes of waiting for it to work, I just reboot and skip that step. Works fine after that.

Well, yesterday I step into the back to get some supplies and when I come back S from IT was sitting at my computer checking it out. Keep in mind that I have NO rights on this computer. I can't install programs. I can't remove programs. I can't even remove icons from my desktop.

S tells me that he doesn't know what's wrong with Very Important Program. Because it is a program only used by the the UW-Extension, he says IT doesn't support it and I should write the UW-Extension support. Okay. I kinda guessed that would be the case. County IT doesn't support many of the programs that are only used at the UW-Extension.

Then he goes: What was the program in the corner of your screen that I had to close out of.

I panic for a moment, wondering what the hell website I was browsing and what kind of evil pop-up it left on my computer. Was I on LJ or, Lord forbid, had I started AIM in order to chat with someone... Then I look at the screen and go: You mean the Windows Media Player?

S ponders that. Probably realizing that when he shut down the program the music stopped. Oh. That was a skin, huh?

I nod. So I can pause it if I need to in a hurry. It's always on top.

( It only gets better )

Well, I started my new job on Monday. I've been working, as a temp, for several county agencies. First the Veterans Office and then Lincoln Industries (aka assistance for the Developmentally Disabled). The position at Lincoln Industries was posted to the public and I could have applied for it. I'm very sure that I would have been hired -- especially once I saw the candidates that were interviewed. Of course, had I just applied for the job, I never would have been hired as I was deemed "overqualified".

Actually M (my direct boss) made no secret of the fact that she would love to hire me, but she also said that she'd demand at least a five year agreement from me, because I'd never be happy there. She's not wrong about that. I loved the people -- both the employees and the disabled people who they helped. I didn't much care for the work. It was all numbers and data entry and mind-numbing state mandated billing and coding. I am so not an accountant and this job was very accounting-like.

It turned out that there was another opening in the county that was posted right around the same time. This one was for an administrative assistant in the UW Extension office. I applied for that because it looked to be much more word-friendly, and more varied, too.

I was hired almost immediately after the interview. (I was told that one person who interviewed for the job, walked out half-way through the skills test saying "I can't do this crap." Heh. People are weird.) When I was hired it was only a temp position, with funding for the job running out in Dec. However, when I started (three weeks later) it turns out that one of the other support people in the office is retiring in June, so I am full-time and permanent. Yay, me.

The UW Extension does a ton of stuff. As it stands right now, I'm going to definitely be working with the 4-H and other youth resources. Of course, I'll also be working the "counter" which means I'll be the first line of defense when people bring down unidentified bugs or plant specimens or anything else they think falls under the preview of the "ag agent". I'm secretly hoping for some reason to have to go to the county fair (4-H sponsored) as part of my job. I'm not sure that will happen.

It's great fun and everyone seems very nice. One thing this job will never be is boring. I have, however, a ton of things I have to read up on. I've only worked two days and I continually feel like I'm not really sure what I'm doing. However, everyone keeps telling me that I'm going a wonderful job and handle everything that comes my way. I think I'll choose to believe them. Although I've been known to project confidence and ability when I've been panicky and lost, so I may just be a good actor.

I am tired of being sick.

I am sick of being tired.

The fever that I was fighting every day since Sunday finally broke sometime early this morning. While it's coming back now, I did manage to go fever free most of the day. Yay, for that. Only it still felt like I had an iron band around my head. My brain was seriously fuzzed and it took way to long to do anything today. Nothing I did felt right, nothing that happened felt good.

I had another interview today. I don't usually post these things because the long list of jobs I applied for (and was qualified for) but still did not get depresses me to tears. I was supposed to go to the interview at 4 so I arranged to get off my current (temp) job at 3:30 so I would have time to relax and what not. At 2:45, I get a call at work from the place asking if I could "move it up". To what, I ask. Their answer: Now.

That's just… rude. You don't do that. When I called for the interview, they let me choose my interview time. I chose the best option from the ones they offered. I said….. ah, no. Half because I didn't want to lose pay by leaving, half because it just goes against my nature to jump when someone tells me to.

At 3 I decided I would go to the interview then hit work after, to make up the half-hour I would miss after I was done.

So didn't happen. I got there 15 minutes after they said "now". So what happens? I sit for a half hour until I could go in. The interview takes about 20 minutes then I sit for another 20 minutes until I can take the inane "skills" tests that they gave me.

County office, indeed.

I still would like the job, mind. It's full time, with benefits for the county. Granted it only has funding through December, but I think it not being a permanent thing actually is in my favor for getting it. Still, I left work a half-hour early and all I feel that happened is that I lost a half-hour pay.

There is more. For example, the job I am current working at is also up for interviews. I am very good at it, and everyone (including my supervisor) says I am doing a terrific job. However, my supervisor also said that I am "overqualified" and she feels that I would quit for another job too soon.

All I want is a job in town that pays reasonably well. For those of you not living in small town USA, I'd be happy with $9 – $10 an hour. I'm not looking to make it big or climb any damn corporate latter. I just want a steady job that will help pay the bills. That's it. I'm good at what I do – just ask any of the many people that I have temped for over the past two years.

Hell and damnation.

I say "There is a reason for this. I always get temp jobs that pay what I need. It's this way because the perfect job is right around the corner." I believe it when I say it. But then I didn't get the school tech job that I worked at for a whole year, which everyone said I was perfect for. No. Instead some guy with a perfectly good job in another school district who was ridiculously perfectly qualified had to apply.

I don't really like the job I'm working at now. I don't hate it, but it has way to many numbers and way too much number crunching in it, but I'm good at it. I can do it and it fits all the requirements of a job for me. But, you know, overqualified.

All this would be easier to handle if I felt good. One more day of work. Which is nice except for the small paycheck.

Damn brain. Just can't shut it off.

I think I'll have some Due South, some drugs (the good kind) and then sleep. Maybe life will look better in the morning.

It usually does.

Note to self:

The reason the page didn't print when you pushed that little icon is because that icon is the SAVE icon and not the PRINT icon.

Remember that and next time you could save yourself 15 minutes of futzing with printer drivers and network settings.

Oh… and caffeine really can't replace sleep in the improving of brain functions.

Much love,

Me