Conversation between bad boss and wonderful manager outside of my cubicle:
WM: "So you were in the service?"
BB: "Yes, I was in the Navy, went to 'Nam."
WM: "Wow, so you're a Vietnam Vet."
BB: "Yes, I was shot in the leg when my helicopter took off."
WM: "Shot?! So, you have a Purple Heart?"
BB: "Ummm.....yesss, I do"
WM: "Well, thank you for your service to our country."
I hate myself but I couldn't resist even though I know he is a liar. It makes me feel even more pathetic when I get this e-mail back from my friend who works at the VA: "The regional office here verified that Mr. L. served during the Vietnam era. The regional office could not verify that he was in Vietnam nor if he was a purple heart recipient." I just had to check.
“Don’t send me e-mails. I read them on my Blackberry where I can only see the first line and I never go back and re-read them.”
“I was exposed to agent orange in ‘Nam. Either you get cancer from it or become immune, I became immune from cancer.”
“I know bad employee is lazy and doesn’t want to work, what am I supposed to do about it?”
“When I was at Gitmo, I used to get the best cigars.”
“Engineering reported to me that bad employee is doing peer-to-peer file sharing which is a security breach. Oh well, there’s no policy on that.”
“I work with the Navy Security forces as a consultant, San Diego, Colorado Springs, and Milwaukee are prime targets for terror attacks right now.”
“Milwaukee reminds me of San Diego, they are almost the same.”
“I was exposed to agent orange in ‘Nam. Either you get cancer from it or become immune, I became immune from cancer.”
“I know bad employee is lazy and doesn’t want to work, what am I supposed to do about it?”
“When I was at Gitmo, I used to get the best cigars.”
“Engineering reported to me that bad employee is doing peer-to-peer file sharing which is a security breach. Oh well, there’s no policy on that.”
“I work with the Navy Security forces as a consultant, San Diego, Colorado Springs, and Milwaukee are prime targets for terror attacks right now.”
“Milwaukee reminds me of San Diego, they are almost the same.”
This morning I went out to run errands. I had birthday presents to buy as well as door prizes for bowling tonight. Me and my team did pre-bowl yesterday just because we knew we would be going to a Packer party Saturday and we didn't want to be burdened with being on a schedule and having to get to bowling on time. I was pretty happy that I got all my shopping done. With my mom's and nephew's combined birthday party tomorrow, and my mom being so difficult to shop for, I was thrilled to get it done. The hard part was that even though all the shopping was done, since I am responsible for door prizes every time we bowl, even though I didn't have to bowl, I still had to drop the prizes off.
I stopped at home to wrap everything before I headed back out to drop off the door prizes. Since the drop off point was down the street from Petco where I get my kitty groomed, I figured I would take him with me and get his nails trimmed. I walked in the house to find Jeff standing in his long underwear. I had to ask...."Where do you think you are going in that outfit?" He says, "I am going to the game with the boy and his friends." My son had planned on going to the game without a ticket. His friends has tickets and he felt like he couldn't miss this opportunity to go to the playoffs knowing that plenty of tickets are scalped across the street from the stadium. Plus he had a free ride to Green Bay.
Next thing I know, out the door he goes, Packer gear in tow. Go Pack Go! I finished my wrapping, grabbed the cat and headed out. I picked up some snacks to take with me to the Packer party, after all, I was still going even though it would now be all by myself. The only thing that bothered me about going by myself was that I had never been to my friend's new house, it was an hour drive away, and I am not very good at remembering how I got somewhere. I knew I would find it during daylight alright but I wasn't crazy about driving home in the dark, through winding backroads not remembering which direction I took to get there.
The game was great, I couldn't resist making snarky comments on how the snow must be making things miserable knowing very well that Jeff and BJ were having the time of their lives. One can never be miserable when at Lambeau, there is just too much magic there. Even if you aren't a Packer fan. I drove home wondering how long it would take the boys to get home know very well it would be well after I went to bed. I figure at least midnight, especially with all that snow. I was glad the snow didn't come south, so I never saw any outside of what was on television.
It certainly was quite a difference from when we went to the San Diego game back in September:
I stopped at home to wrap everything before I headed back out to drop off the door prizes. Since the drop off point was down the street from Petco where I get my kitty groomed, I figured I would take him with me and get his nails trimmed. I walked in the house to find Jeff standing in his long underwear. I had to ask...."Where do you think you are going in that outfit?" He says, "I am going to the game with the boy and his friends." My son had planned on going to the game without a ticket. His friends has tickets and he felt like he couldn't miss this opportunity to go to the playoffs knowing that plenty of tickets are scalped across the street from the stadium. Plus he had a free ride to Green Bay.
Next thing I know, out the door he goes, Packer gear in tow. Go Pack Go! I finished my wrapping, grabbed the cat and headed out. I picked up some snacks to take with me to the Packer party, after all, I was still going even though it would now be all by myself. The only thing that bothered me about going by myself was that I had never been to my friend's new house, it was an hour drive away, and I am not very good at remembering how I got somewhere. I knew I would find it during daylight alright but I wasn't crazy about driving home in the dark, through winding backroads not remembering which direction I took to get there.
The game was great, I couldn't resist making snarky comments on how the snow must be making things miserable knowing very well that Jeff and BJ were having the time of their lives. One can never be miserable when at Lambeau, there is just too much magic there. Even if you aren't a Packer fan. I drove home wondering how long it would take the boys to get home know very well it would be well after I went to bed. I figure at least midnight, especially with all that snow. I was glad the snow didn't come south, so I never saw any outside of what was on television.
It certainly was quite a difference from when we went to the San Diego game back in September:
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Compared to what the guys saw on Saturday:
Now if only the Giants could pull off a win and bring the next game back to Green Bay - that is the only thing that could make this weekend any better.
OK, what I really mean is that I am in trouble. I can't help myself, I am obsessed, and I cannot stop. I bought a Wii for Christmas, not necessarily for anyone in particular, just so I had one. Since Bailee was moving out and BJ will be graduating soon, they didn't really care about a video game system. Besides, they each had their own systems. But everyone had one so I thought I would get one too. I figured we would play it on Christmas day. Then I figured I would put it back in the box and eventually sell it since I didn't think anyone really cared about it.
I was wrong.
But the problem is that I am the one who is hooked. Even Christmas dinner was late because I could not stop. Every night when I get home from work it's all I can think about. And it's not like I need a variety, I just have the sports games that came with the damn system. That is more than enough for me. I can't stand it, I have to stop typing now, I am almost at the pro level in bowling and tennis.
Almost.
I was wrong.
But the problem is that I am the one who is hooked. Even Christmas dinner was late because I could not stop. Every night when I get home from work it's all I can think about. And it's not like I need a variety, I just have the sports games that came with the damn system. That is more than enough for me. I can't stand it, I have to stop typing now, I am almost at the pro level in bowling and tennis.
Almost.
Today we are interviewing candidates for a job opening in my department. The job is Quality Assurance Analyst – the qualifications include a background working with Accounts Receivable programs and since we work in long term health care, medical billing would be a real plus. So the boss gives me three resumes. One guy has billing experience, one guy was a programmer with Abbott Labs, nothing to do with health care or billing really as well as very little QA, and the third woman worked with physical therapy billing – jackpot! So I tell the boss yes to the first, no to the second, and definitely yes to the third person. The boss sends me the interview times for the two candidates so I can sit in on the interviews. But what he doesn’t tell me is that he is still interviewing the reject candidate and the bad employee is sitting in on the interview. That’s gotta suck for bad employee, since he is not even qualified to work here at all and he is interviewing a guy with better qualifications than his own.
We get through the two interviews and they both went pretty well so I suggested that they both come back for a second interview where we bring in the subject matter experts to ask more questions. Then the boss tells me that he brought in the guy I rejected because he thought he would be a good candidate for the other job opening we have. The other opening is for a QA Analyst specializing in payroll. I ask why he thinks someone who was directly involved in setting up laboratories would have anything to do with a payroll system. Bad boss says, “He has some database experience which would make him qualified.” DATABASE experience! I thought my head was going to explode – databases are used to store information no matter what system you have. That is like saying that a hypochondriac would be a good doctor because they always KNOW there is something wrong with them.
We get through the two interviews and they both went pretty well so I suggested that they both come back for a second interview where we bring in the subject matter experts to ask more questions. Then the boss tells me that he brought in the guy I rejected because he thought he would be a good candidate for the other job opening we have. The other opening is for a QA Analyst specializing in payroll. I ask why he thinks someone who was directly involved in setting up laboratories would have anything to do with a payroll system. Bad boss says, “He has some database experience which would make him qualified.” DATABASE experience! I thought my head was going to explode – databases are used to store information no matter what system you have. That is like saying that a hypochondriac would be a good doctor because they always KNOW there is something wrong with them.
My daughter moved out over the Christmas holiday. She has a nice boyfriend and I wish her well, but I worry. She is a diabetic and needs special care and I hope he can handle it. Or maybe I just hope he will take care of her up to my standards. She mentioned that she would miss some of the amenities that I have. She likes to cook as much as I do, so going to a place where there is no Kitchenaid stand mixer, no vegetable steamer, and no deep fryer will be an adjustment. For Christmas, I did get her a Fry Daddy so she didn't have to miss all three. I would have got her the steamer but she didn't mention that until the day before Christmas, and I was through with that madness by then. As she moved her stuff into his apartment, he had a nice surprise for her. He bought her a Kitchenaid mixer. That was quite a wonderful (and expensive) gift, especially one week after Christmas! So now most of her stuff is gone and as I rummage through her room, I think of all the years gone by. I move from excitement for her new beginning and my new beginning as well. I think of how fun it will be to turn her room into a home office. It's like a blank canvas where I can paint and decorate any way I want. But the excitement turns to loss when I think of her not being here. Funny thing is when she's around, she is a chatterbox and sometimes I wish she would just stop talking for a few minutes. And now I find the quiet hard to take.
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