Monday, April 26, 2010

Oh HAI!

Right, so that whole "month of April" thing...I've been around, hopefully commenting on most of your blogs. But at work, oh my God, at work, I've descended into the fourth circle of Hell. My closest co-worker gave her notice at the end of March (why yes, right around the time I stopped blogging!) and left our office the second week of April. At first, they were going to replace her as soon as possible, but yet not hire the first person off the street and asked me to take on her responsibilities for a short time. Which, yeah, I wasn't thrilled about, but as long as they were actually working on replacing her, I could probably deal. Then, a few days later, they were going to hire someone part time to replace her. Which, no, was not my first choice of options, but I knew she had a good bit of downtime, so maybe it could be a part time job. My biggest worry was that they would hire someone who wanted part time work, and then, when we get busy enough to need a full-time person, wouldn't want to go full-time. But then - oh dudes, THEN. Boss' Boss came into town on the next to last day my co-worker was working, sat down with Boss and me, and announced that he had no plans to hire anyone to replace co-worker, that I would be taking on both jobs, and that they expected outstanding performance in both roles OR ELSE. The OR ELSE was more subtle, but the message was loud and clear. So I've been working overtime and busting my ass for the last few weeks. It seems to be going pretty well, though, and I don't think the OR ELSE is going to come into play. Now, though, they are talking about hiring an intern to come in a couple of days a week to help me out. So there may be light at the end of this very dark tunnel.

In other news, I saw the movie The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and it was seriously wonderful! DO NOT be put off by the whole "it's in Swedish with English subtitles" thing. You can totally follow the plot and dialog. Rock, who has not read the book, went with me and he loved it, too, so you don't even have to have read the book. But really, you should, because as good as the film is, the book is even better. But the film stays true to the book, following the very complex plot very closely. I was really impressed. If it's coming to a theater near you, do go see it.

12 comments:

d e v a n said...

omg - that's crazy about the job stuff! INSANE!

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry about your job. I hate how employers are taking advantage of people just being happy to have a job period by doing things like having them do two-jobs-for-the-price-of-one.

I KNOW (about the movie)!!! I got my hubby to read the first two books and he's hooked.

Janssen said...

Ack, glad you're making it work, even if it does sound exhausting!

Shelly said...

Devan - yeah, it sucks. Thanks.

Shelly said...

Shelly - To me, that's one of the worst parts of a crappy economy. Employers use it as an excuse to take advantage of their employees and the employees have no recourse.

Wasn't it great?! I LOVED it so so much!

Shelly said...

Janssen - thanks, it is very exhausting.

Jess said...

Unbelievable that rather than PAYING YOU MORE to do two jobs, as they SHOULD, they basically THREATEN you. Ugh! I'm so sorry! I hope this intern materializes soon.

Shelly said...

Jess - yep, that's the bottom line. I think we've got approval to hire an intern, and a friend of a friend is interested, so that may work out soon.

Gina said...

I'll have to see it when I get a chance. I bought the book, since you loved it (and we seem to have similar taste in books), and when i started it I could NOT get into it. I hated it. And then suddenly it was AWESOME. of course I ran right out and got the second one and loved it too.

Shelly said...

Gina - That is hilarious! Yeah, a lot of people have said that it's a slow start, and they had trouble getting through the financial stuff at the beginning. I didn't notice it when I read it the first time, or else I remembered it so fondly that it drove the boring part out of my head! I'm so glad you loved it!

Astarte said...

Companies are such assholes. At my last job, during the final round of layoffs before I left, my boss told me that I was scheduled to be laid off, but that she would 'fix it' for me. I later found out that what she expected was to lay off three other people and give me their work in addition to my own. Um, no. I marched into her office and told her that I didn't want it to be fixed, that I would rather be laid off. I was pregnant, had been abused for years in that same way, and that was just IT. The oh-shit expression on her face was priceless. I still chuckle when I picture it. :)

I'm glad it's working out for you, and that you're going to get an intern. Maybe that will eventually branch out into a part-time position again at some point. Hang in there!

Shelly said...

Astarte - Oh my God, that is ridiculous! Three jobs in addition to your own?! That woman was nuts! Good for you for standing up to her! I bet the look on her face was great.

Yeah, there is starting to be some light at the end of this tunnel. Thanks!