Thoughts, Rants, and Musings

[reinventmyself]

Do you really want two jobs? Eeek.

[Jibralta]

I don't know :(

I feel like I already said yes :(((

[reinventmyself]

I don't know :(

I feel like I already said yes :(((

 

. . . .

[dias]

I don't know :(

I feel like I already said yes :(((

 

It's easy to burn out. When you say temp, for how long exactly? If it's for a few months, maybe it's worth a try. If it's for more, well, it will have implications in your life (always tired/bad mood etc)

[Jibralta]

I picture a few months. We shall see...

[Seraphim]

I heard from this guy on Friday morning. He sent me an email thanking me for the interview (?!). This sort of threw me off, because I was planning to compose the traditional post-interview thank you note and send it off via snail-mail. So much for that.

 

He went on to say that he thought I would be a good fit, and that he would put together a plan of action for us to start working together. This filled me with a huge desire to escape and run away screaming. It also made me happy.

 

I think he's looking for a temp-to-perm person, and I'm really leaning more towards temp-to-temp. During the day, I feel like I can handle a part-time job in addition to my job. But in the middle of the night, I freak out and wonder what the hell I am thinking; I have no free time as it is. Half of me hopes that I'll never hear from him again, and the other half is wondering when he's going to send the plan of action and will probably feel deflated if he doesn't.

 

To make matters worse, ZipRecruiter makes it very easy to apply for jobs (one click!), so I'm clicking all over the place and then freaking myself out every time someone seems to like my resume.

You sound like me. I turned in my resume today. And I am not sure if I want this. My husband wants me to want it.

[Jibralta]

You sound like me. I turned in my resume today. And I am not sure if I want this. My husband wants me to want it.

 

My boyfriend thinks I'm a time-management imbecile LOL.

[Jibralta]

I got the offer from the potential employer yesterday. As discussed, he proposes that I start out as part time (although the number of hours per week has not been defined). The hourly rate is slightly more than what I currently make, but (unsurprisingly) it's not as much as I want. He says that we can discuss compensation and benefits further when he hires me full time. I'm not sure if I should be up-front with him about my intention to only be a temporary employee. I guess there's no reason to. I haven't made him any promises to do so, and also I might change my mind if something miraculous happens and he can pay me the rate I want while also offering me benefits comparable to what I have now.

 

Applying for other jobs has shown me that I'm really not in that bad of a situation where I am.

 

Of course, I still want my raise. Unfortunately, my raise must now take back seat to a family crisis that my boss is dealing with. No way am I going to pressure him under these circumstances...

[reinventmyself]

How many hours a day does this translate into?

[Jibralta]

How many hours a day does this translate into?

 

He didn't say, but I'm going to propose 10 hours per week. I think that's manageable.

[Jibralta]

It seems I have mortally offended some foreman at my job site. It's not a big deal, it's just sort of annoying and funny. Like, get over it dude. Really.

 

What happened is, I was watching a new crew of dock builders drill holes in the ground. From behind me, I heard a voice say, "Can I help you?"

 

I thought, Why would I need help? Is this guy trying to hint that I have no business watching his crew? He should F off.

 

I turned to look and it was this guy, their foreman. He was smiling and friendly.

 

Unfortunately, the expression on my face was already saying, "Why are you stupidly asking me a stupid question, Stupid?"

 

When I saw he was mostly being nice, I tried to be nice too. But it was too late. My face had already called him an idiot.

 

I think that if I were a man, he would have brushed it off. But some men are upset by women who don't act according to their expectations/preferences, and I daresay he is one of these.

 

There's no going back. He now refuses to acknowledge my existence. I guess he'll show me. hahahaha

[reinventmyself]

I can so relate.

I am often spoken to as if I don't know any better.

4 locations and I've had `flood stops' installed under all kitchen sinks. 2 multi million dollar water claims will make you just a lil' cautious.

 

I was in one of our smaller offices the other day. The faulty faucet would leak around the neck, which in turn would go through the seal, drip on the floor below and trigger the water sensor to shut off the valve. I called engineering requesting to replace the faucet.

 

An engineer comes up and escorts me to the kitchen. He opens the cupboard below, beckons me with a flash light shining on the flood stop and proceeds to explain to me (like I am stupid) what it's called, what it's for and how it works.

 

Mind you, we are crouching side by side looking under the sink. The moment I realized I was being schooled about flood stops I wanted to push him over. Instead I stood up, composed myself and told him - I had the stupid thing installed there, along with the other 20 I have in 4 other locations. "now please order me a faucet, already!"

 

Hmmmph. . I stormed out all pissy. . . Lol

Doubtful he would have spoken to me that way had I had testicles :)

[Jibralta]

He opens the cupboard below, beckons me with a flash light shining on the flood stop and proceeds to explain to me (like I am stupid) what it's called, what it's for and how it works.

 

Argghhh, and he totally missed the point!

 

Doubtful he would have spoken to me that way had I had testicles :)

 

Yeah, there's very little chance that would have tried to hold your hand like that if you were a man. Well, maybe if you were a very old man he would have done that. Or a young child.

 

I think it often comes from a good place, but it's so unnecessary and even cumbersome.

 

The worst is when people insist on explaining something to you even after you tell them that you understand. It's like, "Yes. Thank you. I know. Thank you. Yes. I get it. Yes. Now I need to go back to work. Ok. I understand. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. @$%#^@%# CAN YOU LEAVE ME ALONE NOW????"

 

When I first started working in architecture, I had this one boss who LOVED to overexplain things. It was like his Time to Shine. I'd ask him a simple question and I'd get a long, rambling speech that discussed various related aspects of the topic, but somehow NEVER ANSWERED the freaking question. It got to the point where I stopped asking him questions altogether. I just couldn't take it. I stopped paying attention halfway through his speeches and was literally trapped there in a state of boredom, forced to listen to him drone on and on and never answer my question.

[reinventmyself]

I have an assistant who `man splains' everything to me. He is my sons age and mind you almost everything he overexplains to me - are things I taught him.

 

I am not very nice about it depending on my mood and tolerance. What might call for a yes or no answer,

I get a long winded over explanation on how it works.

 

I get his intentions though. He's my been my insecure underachiever and it's his way of letting me know he is knowledgeable.

But it irks the heck out of me anyway.

 

Sometimes when he's on a roll, I do what you described earlier, sort of just talk over him to shut it down. Or I might walk away mid sentence. I might be doing him a favor if I actually explained to him that he ought not do it . . instead I just handle it rather passive aggressively.

 

Between him, my boss, contractors and engineers I have my fill of man 'splaining. :)

[reinventmyself]

 

When I first started working in architecture, I had this one boss who LOVED to overexplain things. It was like his Time to Shine. I'd ask him a simple question and I'd get a long, rambling speech that discussed various related aspects of the topic, but somehow NEVER ANSWERED the freaking question. It got to the point where I stopped asking him questions altogether. I just couldn't take it. I stopped paying attention halfway through his speeches and was literally trapped there in a state of boredom, forced to listen to him drone on and on and never answer my question.

 

OR!! (I can get on a roll here with you) My boss is what I refer to as the nutty professor.

I might need to escalate something and get his input but I rarely EVER leave his office with a straight answer.

 

Early on I used to use my marriage counseling skills on him.

I'd repeat back to him what he said and then ask `what did we come to an agreement on?'

I would walk out of his office 30 min's later only to recognize that despite all my attempts, I never got a straight answer from him!

 

Now I just practice keeping him out of the loop. It's just easier that way. :)

[dias]

but somehow NEVER ANSWERED the freaking question.

 

That's the worst type. We agree on that.

 

Regarding the foreman, if his tone was hostile, ok, you were right to get pissed off. But if it was a normal "can I help you" and you were pissed off, I can see why he got upset. Unless you knew the guy already and you knew he was a jerk or something.

[dias]

he overexplains to me - are things I taught him.

This is so irritating. Nobody would blame you if you kick him. lol

[Jibralta]

Regarding the foreman, if his tone was hostile, ok, you were right to get pissed off. But if it was a normal "can I help you" and you were pissed off, I can see why he got upset. Unless you knew the guy already and you knew he was a jerk or something.

 

No, I was wrong and I realized that I was wrong as it was happening. I tried to correct myself midway through. But he refuses to forgive me.

[Jibralta]

Now I just practice keeping him out of the loop. It's just easier that way. :)

 

Haha! Excellent strategy!

[Jibralta]

I pretty much accepted the part time position. We have a meeting on Thursday to discuss some of the issues that I will be dealing with. I can't believe I am doing this. But I'm also excited.

 

I started measuring my friends' house this weekend because they want to do some renovations. I'd better get cracking on that because pretty soon I'm going to have NO time!

[dias]

Congrats jibs! Good luck with the new job :)

[reinventmyself]

Rooting for you. . good luck!

[Jibralta]

So, I was thinking again today about people who overexplain. I am lucky these days, because nobody I work with feels the need to overexplain, and in fact most if not all of the people that I work with dislike overexplanations. One of my bosses actually gets kind of mad. The other boss just waits a beat when you pause for breath and says, "Understood."

 

I remember when I first started working for him (Boss 2). I didn't really know him or know what he knew. He seemed pretty smart, but you never know with people. Also, I tend to overestimate people quite a bit. AND I had just recently worked with the stupidest and most dysfunctional group of people I've ever worked with in my life. So, I was used to being misunderstood. ANYWAY, there was some sort of problem with something and I was trying to explain it to this new boss of mine, Boss 2. He wasn't reacting in any way, and I thought maybe he didn't understand the issue. So, I started to explain little details of the problem. I didn't get far before Boss 2 and said, "Understood." And I just shut up because that was such a relief.

 

Boss 2 actually never explains anything and I really like it. Actually, he tries to explain some things, but he's so nonlinear that he gets distracted and forgets. Then I'm usually left to my own devices to figure whatever it is out. Boss 1 is more controlling, but I don't mind that either because he's very specific and doesn't mince words.

 

Boss 2 can be pretty direct, too. But he really relies on you using your own brain to figure out what he wants. When I first started working for him, he wanted me to draw a wave. We needed to do a series of diagrams to help illustrate coastal wave impacts to buildings. He drew a wave and I copied it EXACTLY, because I didn't know him or what he was all about and I wanted to do a good job. Well, the wave he drew looked a lot like a giant thumb. I know that waves don't look like thumbs, but I thought, "This guy is an expert on coastal storms. Maybe waves do look like thumbs and I've been wrong all of my life."

 

So, I drew all of these diagrams with buildings and different sized thumbs. I brought them to him and he looked at them. For a couple seconds, he seemed to be having a difficult time saying something. Then he finally said, "I hate this." I was like, "Oh, ok. I'll fix that." He saw that I was grinning stupidly and said, "It looks like Sharknado." I was like "Ok..." He continued, "It looks like The Shark that Ate Manhattan." I was like, "Ok. No problem. I just copied what you showed me. I can do better. I just need a better reference." So, he referred me to someone else who basically showed me that I knew what a wave really looked like. And everything ended happily, and I learned that my boss didn't like to explain things.

 

Today, I needed a civil engineer to review some costs. The guy came back to me saying "we don't know how long they're going to need to do the work." And I responded, "Understood. I just need to know if the unit costs are reasonable." And it was super easy from there. He didn't need to elaborate on why more work might need to be done. We just needed to understand each other.

[Jibralta]

Last Thursday, as I was pulling into the parking lot at work, I noticed that a goose had nested on a small bit of landscaping in the middle of the parking lot. She was sleeping on her nest and her mate was trying to attack the cars as they were speeding into the lot. I was worried that someone might not see him and hit him with their car. Geese can be annoying, but I don't want to see them get hurt. So, I notified one of the environmental scientists in our office, hoping that she would take care of the situation with her tree-hugging powers. Well, she took care of it today, but she needed me to be a side-kick. We went out there, located the nest, and got the maintenance man to promise to put cones around the area. I felt like a huge dork, but I really worry about those poor dumb geese.

[reinventmyself]

Last Thursday, as I was pulling into the parking lot at work, I noticed that a goose had nested on a small bit of landscaping in the middle of the parking lot. She was sleeping on her nest and her mate was trying to attack the cars as they were speeding into the lot. I was worried that someone might not see him and hit him with their car. Geese can be annoying, but I don't want to see them get hurt. So, I notified one of the environmental scientists in our office, hoping that she would take care of the situation with her tree-hugging powers. Well, she took care of it today, but she needed me to be a side-kick. We went out there, located the nest, and got the maintenance man to promise to put cones around the area. I felt like a huge dork, but I really worry about those poor dumb geese.

 

I'm the same way.

Monday morning coming into work with having had very little sleep for about 4 days, I see a small gray and white cat sitting on the center divider of the freeway.

It appeared to be in distress, curled up tight with it's head down and eyes closed. I wondered if it was even hurt. Mind you this is during the peek downtown Los Angeles traffic and any move would be the end of this little kitty.

 

Not to mention any driver that swerved to miss the cat - But honestly I was more concerned for the animal than the drivers passing by.

Funny how we can be like that. .

 

Anyway, I was so tired and punchy, it really upset me. My own reaction surprised me. (a reminder to catch up on sleep)

 

I call highway patrol to report it and then went into work and logged onto the highway patrol website. It turns out I was able to watch the activity of a dozen or more calls that came in about the kitty and the updates about the full freeway traffic stop (I am sure the 4k people affected appreciated it) Then an update from the officer who couldn't catch it and requesting assistance from animal control. At some point the info and updates scroll up and I couldn't see the activity any longer. But this went on for most of the morning.

 

I thought about that cat for a day and half wondering what happened to him.

And then I caught up on my sleep :) after I hugged my own cat.