Where there's a will, there's a tyrant.

In today's torture meeting, Rod had focus, determination, grit!  Which meant he was going to make me do what he wanted, regardless of ridiculosity, and regardless of my input.

It was all about the scheduled call report today.  Now, I don't have calls scheduled for sales, which is what most people think when reviewing scheduled calls in Goldmine.  No.  I am to track technical issues in Goldmine.  This is fine with me, I have been in IT for a long time - I know the routine.  Documenting calls and keeping the status updated is second nature to me.  Until now.  Rod wants them written his way.  For instance, if a customer is getting a specific error when installing the product, I am used to typing in that error, listing what I did to troubleshoot, and if unresolved, leaving the ticket (or scheduled call in this case) open.  Rod wants me to close each "call" when I do additional work on something, open a new scheduled call, and then, I must use the words "Will resolve the issue blah blah blah"  Call me crazy, but if there is a pending call under a contact, and the description is that the customer is getting errors, I would think it is intuitive to assume that it is being worked on and that every time you call that person in the future, you are hoping to resolve the issue.  But no.  I must list out, in every scheduled call "Will resolve issue: "  Sigh.  "We are NOT commUnicating!  What did I just say?"  Oh, God, not the "We need to communicate better so you have to repeat everything I say" lecture!  But yes.  I had to repeat everything he said.  Which wouldn't be anywhere near as difficult if he had one coherent sentence.  But he doesn't.  He always ends his thoughts/sentences on a different topic than what he started with, and it usually takes him full minutes to say something simple, like "When will you be doing this?"  So we always have difficulty communicating! I can't remember his entire sentence by the time he finally finishes it!!!  Anyway,  after that exercise in frustration was over, Rod then reviewed my current call list and told me I must change all of the scheduled technical calls on that list to now read "Will resolve issue" as though I can see into the future.  Unbelievable.  But I guess he's paying me to waste time, so who am I to complain?  (Well, I will, when he gets on me for not having finished something else he decided he wanted done.)

Occasionally, I believe I have mentioned, I leave my coat on the spare chair in my cubical.  Today, Rod moved it (without asking, of course) to the top of a dusty bin behind him.  I asked him to please ask me what he should do with my things if he must move them.  He got very irritated by my request and he said "Well, I'd apPRECiate it if you didn't LEAVE it on the CHAIR."  So I said again, "Please ask me to move it then.  Don't just put it where ever you want."  Harrumph was all he said.  Not 20 minutes later, a package arrived!

If you flop your head to the left, you can see he has received a large order of steaks, pork chops, fish, and other assorted goodies, included a cutlery set.  I wonder what the bank would think if they saw this order?  You know, the bank that he won't pay?  And it's been hours now, sitting happily in the chair where my jacket so offended him earlier today.  Sometimes, the hypocrisy here really bugs me.

Remember we can't have personal conversations now?  Since we made that agreement, today Rod has had three in the office, and 2 outside.  I even had to hear about the status of his electric razor that is in for repairs.  How blatant can one be when imposing such a double standard?  He takes the cake.

Instead of emailing me, or asking me something with his voice, I recently found a note to me under contact "Support" for our company.  It asked when I was planning on sending out the mass email.  Hm.  Seems like an odd way to communicate to me, but then, I take it as a compliment that Rod and I do not seem to think alike when it comes to communication styles.

This week has been rather slow in the humor department, but chalk that up to the short week an the fact that most people aren't really working this week.  At least, not in the US.  I'm sure the quotes will be back next week, along with a much healthier dose of humor. 

As a side note, no, I have not come up with a way to get out of working on Friday.  I think I will "work" from home for a few hours and call it good.

Have a terrific holiday, everyone! I know I will!

Eye Tee Girl