Two strikes for the boss lady...

Twice...count it, that's one plus one, that's two.  TWICE, that's twice in the
less than two months I've been working for her, that my boss lady has sold me
down the river while I'm standing there in front of her boss.  What does this mean?
It means she blames me for her neglectful behavior - and I have the emails to prove
it.

In the most recent incident, the boss lady turned to me in front of the boss's
boss and said "I don't know anything about this, I didn't even know it was going
on."  My mind clouds for a sec in a moment of panic, then I remember the numerous
meetings that were held and the numerous meetings that the boss lady decided not to
attend.  Then I remember the numerous "fill ins" I gave her as well as multiple
follow-up emails, and my priceless 9am status report meetings with her. Hmm, I gue
ss email, phone and in person doesn't seem to stick - I guess I should try
telepathy.

As I stand there as she blames me again, I breathe and think about how my
job is to make my boss look good (a task that gets harder every day.  maybe I can
just change her haircut to cover the horns...no, that won't help).

Here's the frustrating part.  I stand up for my girls every time.  I hold
myself accountable for their mistakes as if they were my own.  My boss does not
do this.  She would rather take a sharp knife, make it dull,  and stab me in the
eye.  I could still work but it would make my job a little harder if I only had
one eye.

Someone once said, "Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on
me."  I used to live by this theory, unfortunately, it seems like there's nothing
I can do in my current situation.  So what do you do when you have a boss who
blames you publicly for her mistakes?  Learn how not to be when you're in her
position and learn to deal with her "kind" out in the work force.  And most
importantly, take a minute to breathe when you get back to your desk and remember
that she is the type of person to get into a lifeboat as her cruise ship sinks and
row away leaving her children on the deck crying "mommy, wait..."

Monday...call in sick

It's Monday...again. It's raining...again. And half the company has called in sick...again. But not me. Here I am sitting at my desk, listening to the hum of the rain drops on my window and forcing myself to get work done. Why? Because I'm not sick. But something tells me that my co-workers who aren't in are also not sick. I should, now that I think of it, actually consider myself sicker than them for being at work. Even my coordinator called in sick, so I have no one to torture today.



I actually spent some time this morning doing a little research and found this web page "How to Beat the Monday Morning Blues". Please take a minute to review. Okay, now steps 1-6 are gibberish and step 7 is just stupid!

• Step 1: Sleep an extra hour?! If I had an extra hour to sleep, I wouldn't be getting up at the time that I get up.
• Step 2: ignore this it will be 30 seconds of your life you cannot get back.
  
• Step 3: Hope out of bed, lingering will draw out the agony. Oh please, lingering isn't the agony it's the getting out of bed after I'm done lingering that's painful.
• Step 4: End your shower with a jolt of cold water - no thank you.
  
• Step 5: Get out in the sunlight. Great work, Einstein. If there was sunlight today I would happily frolic outside.
  
• Step 6: Drink coffee or another caffeine beverage. Although it's not healthy to drink caffeine to the point of addiction...this is blasphemy. addiction? caffeine?
• Step 7: Anticipate your Monday morning on Friday afternoon. This is where I started laughing. The last thing I want to do on a Friday afternoon is anticipate Monday morning.

Here is my "How to beat the Monday morning Blues":

Step 1: Get up a little earlier and take your time getting ready. By the time you walk out the door you'll feel refreshed and energized.

Step 2: Dress for success. Fight the urge to wear those worn in slacks and flats. Instead toss on a pair of sexy lace stockings, a flowing skirt, and layered top. Don't forget the heels. A full face of make-up will also make you feel like a million dollars. The cuter you are the better you'll feel.

Step 3: Spend a few dollars and stop at Starbucks. There's no excuse, you probably pass over a dozen on your way to work. They have a great gingerbread latte out and even carrying the cup can up your happy factors.

Step 4: Read all the fun mail in your inbox first. Daily Candy, Short List, trade emails, notes from friends. Get a smile in before the tornado of Monday morning hits. You'll also clear half your inbox this way so you can sort of feel productive.

Step 6: Leave on time. Do not under any circumstance work past 7 or 8pm. You have at least 4 more days of work left. If you can't get it done on Monday, everything will be okay. Working late should happen Tuesday - Thursday.

These are just my thoughts on Monday morning as I battle my blues.

My devil doesn't wear prada...

...if she did I may have a little more respect for her. If my devil looked anything like Meryl Streep (see picture on left) than at least I could stare at her all day in awe. Unfortunately my devil looks more like my least favorite aunt - the one who told me I was too fat as a kid and too skinny as an adult. You know which one I'm talking about.

Anyway, the boss lady has been keeping me quite busy which is why I've been lacking on the postings. The promotion meant more meetings and more work. Unfortunately, the more meetings part meant I didn't have time to do the more work part. After taxes, I think I ended up with the short stick. *Oh well*. While I may be in misery, there is no need for the girls of the department to be in the same misery. Our coordinator made a suggestion and I agreed - we needed a bonding experience. The ultimate decision: the marketing team that strips together stays together hence Sheila Kelly's S Factor. Haven't heard of it? Well, it's pretty much a striptease and pole dancing class.

The great thing about the intro class is that it forced everyone to leave work at 5:30 so we could be on time. We walked into the dance studio and was told the intro class was held across the street. My draw dropped when I saw the building. Sheila Kelly had transformed an old church into a strip dancing studio!!! Sacrilege - exactly what I need. It was almost like being a part of a secret society. Someone asked us what meeting was being held as we opened the large church doors. "A woman's meeting", our assistant giggled as she attempted to hide behind her yoga mat. (Oh god, I'm tainting her!)

The room was dark and filled with women of every shape and age. Our teacher looked like she had a full time job at Scores but sounded like she was 16 - did I write 16, sorry I meant 14. "Like, now, when I strip it's totally an emotional experience." (okay, if she had stopped there I would have just nudged my manager and smiled, but she went on) "I totally can't strip for people without crying and I do it 6 hours a day." (this is where she scared me a bit and the nudge became a grab with a quick glance at the door) We spent half the time stretching and the other half learning a pole trick. I actually got the hang of it. By the end of the night I was wishing I had some more pole time.


As I walked out of the class I wondered whether I could expense the $480, 8 week course. Hmm, that would be an awkward conversation. I wonder if I could change her mind if showed her my new pole split move.

Maybe I'm better off trying to convince her to let me expense a retractable stripper pole as a stress reliever. Yes, they do exist and according to my teacher "I couldn't live without one..."

My Cubicle...

While this doesn't necessarily apply to me, I thought it was funny...I love my job because I'm not bound to my desk, but I can see how people could feel this way and this video does a much better job than my previous post "My One Year Anniversary"...so here goes...Click Here...