I make boys and girls cry...

Last week was full of drama at work. Drama like I haven't seen since grade 4 or 5. Some of it goes back a couple weeks so I'll start there. Apparently morale is improved by having monthly themes. This month is a Hawiian theme. Regardless of the theme our cubicles end up looking like a dollar store threw up on them. Just lots of tacky shit everywhere. So the drama starts because Jay and I tend to make fun of all the tacky crap. Jay is way more hardcore than I am in that he will not participate at all and will remove stuff from around his desk. I on the other hand will simply not make any effort. I'll chip in a bit of cash for the dollar store crap and let the others decorate my area, though only to a degree. There is only so much tacky I can handle.

Moving on from there. One of the girls decided to collect some money to buy one of the other team members a birthday present. I chipped in (remember this part, it's important later). Jay was totally unaware of this collection. In the past, when people's birthdays came up someone would buy them a card and the whole team would sign it. Well the girl who took up the collection, the one that Jay didn't know about, sent out an email to the team. The email statedthat there was a card and anyone who chipped in could come sign. Jay, thinking it rediculous that she would be collecting for a card had words with her and made her cry.

I was off that day, the next day within minutes of me getting to work I was approached to sign the card as I had chipped in. I told you that part was important. Well maybe it was just noteworthy as opposed to being important. Anyway after having heard about all the drama from the day before I had decided that I would no longer participate in anything work related that was not actually work. So when the card was handed to me I simpley shook my head declining it. "But you paid" I was told. Again I politely declined saying it was okay. I sat back down at my desk to continue logging on to my computer and I hear sobbing from the other side of the cubicles. Yup, apparently I made her cry too.

That certainly validated my decision to stop participating.

Jay got a talking to by our supervisor. I was expecting one but it didn't come as both supervisors dissapeared mid day. Rumours abound as to why but it seems like they may have been suspended for unrelated infractions. We'll likely find out more this week.

More drama that a gay bar. Oh, if you want to know about me making boys cry... If you ask me nice maybe that will be one of my next blogs.

Today, Not So Much...

Saw another RCMP officer today at Starbucks. Donuts were definitely his best friend. He was fat, I mean really fat. Like couldn't chase a criminal for more than one block fat. Oh well.

I added a picture to my header. It's the Chicago skyline and I'm not sure if that will be confusing to people since I don't live in Chicago. I loved it there though so I thought I'd use it. If I find something more appropriate in the future I'll switch it out.

Interesting news from work, they have lowerd the salary cap to below what I am presently making. Significantly below oddly enough. So though I do keep my current wage I will likely never get an increase from here on in. So my question now is: Since there are no more raises based on performance do I only need to do enough to not get fired? Thats kinda how I read it.

The Good, the Bad and the What to do?

I am in my first week in a new department at work. It is a return to the dreaded Business Care but in a non-suicidal Offline capacity. Basically the things I used to do with screaming customers waiting on the line I now do by email request. I don't mind when they scream in an email though they rarely do anyway. They just ask nicely in an email. So the perks are good, no incoming calls, we can listen to music, work at our own pace. One more perk which could only be understood by someone who works where I do is that we got new computers. New system, new keyboard, new mouse and new 17" LCD monitor. Having a mouse that hasn't been pawed by multiple grubby fingers and a keyboard that is not full of crumbs is fantastic. Our cubicles are quite small so the LCD monitor is like a gift from the gods, the IT gods that is.

As for the work itself, though I haven't been scored on anything yet, I had an informal coaching session with my supervisor. He reviewed some of my work and suggested that he would likely be using me in the near future to do proof reading on other people's work before they send it. So that is definitely recognition. And according to my friend Steve it's terrific.

So that covers work. The big thing going on in my life right now, of course, is Penny. I am sitting at Starbucks right now afraid to go home because this morning was, again, not a good morning. She is definitely having difficulty breathing though not in a gasping for air kind of way. More in a congested kind of way. She has been snoring like crazy, to the point where I am not sleeping well. Add to that last, week was exhausting on its own. I was on a training shift that ran from 4:00PM till 12:30AM and Dan was away in Victoria and I had to run home on my lunch time to let them both out. I was beat by the end of it.

So because of being so tired I worry that I cannot make a good judgement about when it is time to say goodbye to Penny. She is having trouble breathing but she is still eating and drinking. She is lacking energy but does not seem to be in any pain. I don't want to let her go any sooner than I have to but I know how much easier it is going to be for me after she is gone. It is a tough place for me to be in. Oh well, day by day...

The more things change...

So it seems I am in a bit of a career rut at StarTek. I applied for a position last week but didn't get an interview. Not sure what the salary for that position was. Two more postings came up. One was grossly lower paid, and I mean gross. The other was for an Interim Supervisor and even that one was less money than I am making now. Does anyone else see this as kind of funny. Shouldn't the Indians make less than the Chiefs? Surely I work for a weird company given the above example, not that we didn't know this to be the case long ago.

The next work news is that there is a new Offline Department ramping up. As luck would have it I am unable to apply as those in my queue are needed where we are. I was not sure if I was interested as I was waiting for more details but apparently my decision is made for me anyway. As it turns out I am not unhappy in my present department. I am doing well. I am not suicidal. Really its all good but it would have been nice to have an option.

So we will carry on as we do and let fate decide where I end up. If there is one thing I know I can expect from work it's change. I guess it keeps me from being bored.

New direction

So I did something pretty unexpected. I applied for an internal position at work. I have done that on a couple of occaisions in the past and only got one interview. That was several years ago and because of my dislike for the way my workplace is run I have avoided making any other attempts to advance. I think it speaks to the vast improvements our current director has made that I am even considering it. Now it is just a matter of waiting to see if I am granted an interview. I am being optimistic that they maybe have not already got their candidate lined up and the posting is just a formality. Time will tell and I will keep you posted.

Mr Lonely?

So I am back on days. I have my evenings free. What a perfect week for Dan to be in Banff. NOT. Oh well, I will get through it. I have QDG tomorrow. QDG is the new name for COLA in case you didn't know. Tim is staying here after and has designs on the last of the apple pie. Meghan is moving in on Friday for a couple weeks since she is homeless untill she can get into her apartment. That should prove entertaining. Having her cat here certainly might provide entertainment.

Well thats about all I've got for now. Pretty boring. I'll try and come up with some crisis to entertain you all as soon as possible.

Oh and Andrew is awesome and apparently above average. You wanted me to mention you...

Its been a while...

So, it really has been a while since I have written anything and I am sure a lot has happened. I will try and put some of the highlights here.
First off, I have a new shift. I am now working the overnight shift. I like it, Dan doesn't. I like it because of the total lack of pressure. It is much more relaxed on nights. I am still having a bit of trouble with the new sleeping patterns though. I am not getting near as much sleep as I probably need. Mondays are fun as I tend to go to bed at the normal time on Sunday night and get up at the normal time Monday morning. So generally I am up from 7:00 Monday morning till about 8:30 on Tuesday morning. Surprisingly that is not as bad as it sounds. All I need to figure out now is how to sleep more than 5 hours per day.
Now on to the fun stuff. Chicago. We drove to Paris, from there headed to Buffalo then flew into Chicago to visit Dan's sister. We were on the go for the full 3 days we were there. Lots of touristy stuff, shopping, museums/galleries. It was a blast. We are definitely going to go back. Really, a beautiful city. Next time we go clubbing though.
So other than that and all the stuff I have forgotten there was a couple runs to IKEA, a couple visits from Bryan & Ryan, Mark's housewarming party and lots of coffees.
Thats it for now, I will try to keep them coming.

What the hell!

So I haven't posted in ages. I have no clue why that is. Lazy I guess.
Not a whole lot to report. Work is the usual up and down affair. Usually down. The more apathetic I become the less any of it seems to matter. So, enough about work.
I'm not going to go back and cover what I've been doing the last few weeks. I've had some fun I'm sure. There was a weekend in Toronto. Shopping at H&M with Emma, we know how that turned out. Fabulous of course. And expensive.
This weekend is Kingston Pride. Next week Laura is throwing a pre-party before heading to The Joy Supper Club. Then the weekend after that we head to Toronto for Pride. YAY! So much to do, so little time to do it. Hope we can fit it all in.
Okay thats it for now. Stay tuned for more...

Weekend Update

So, a rather typical weekend. I know that saying it that way might make you think that I mean it in a bad way. Like I am using the word typical to mean mundane. I however generally have a lot of fun on my weekends so a typical weekend is a good thing. Generally speaking my weekends involve my friends. No exception this weekend. A bit of car shopping, now I am all horny about the MAZDA 3. Pizza at Howie & Neil's. Games. Friends. Fun. Sunday Brunch. A couple of walks downtown. Coffee. All in all, a very good weekend. Oh I forgot to mention that it started early since I only worked for 2 hours on Friday before I bailed.
So now, heading into a new week. I find I am not that bothered about the fact that I am back to work tomorrow. Odds are it will not take long before I am not in a good way there, but I am going to try and head into it in as good a mood as possible. Its not like I can change it. Tuesday is payday, that's a good thing. Wednesday is my short day, there's something to look forward to. Basically my plan is to putter through the week as best I can. The warm weather is here. Walking downtown, coffee, friends. It all gets me through the week.
A few things on my mind these days:
1) Selling the piece of land. We really need to get going on that. Between the taxes we pay on it and the interest I pay on the loans etc. that I have it really is costing a lot of money to hold on to it.
2) The car. Do I put money into it? Shoulld I keep it another year or get rid of it before it does cost me too much?
3) Toronto Pride. Kicks off my holidays. Very much looking forward to it.
I am sure there is more but it escapes me right now. I'm sure it will show up in future blogs.
Thats it for now faithful readers. All 3 or 4 of you. G'night...

Time for some more random thoughts...

So I am told I need to blog to relieve my stress. For those of you who have not been keeping up, work has not been going so well. Let me gather my thoughts and try to explain it in basic terms. I do not mind the work I do. That being take calls from Americans to help them out with their cell phones or their accounts. People call in bitching about their bills and service and such but that doesn't bother me. They can yell and scream and cry all they want and I will simply do what I can to help them with the tools I have at my disposal. More about those tools later. What does bother me about the calls I get, or more properly about the people who call, are the ones that can't even manage to have basic manners. Hello, goodbye, please, thank you. All pretty basic if you ask me. And really when I have finished helping you you can say "thank you, have a nice day" or even just "thank you" but really "that'll do" is not a good response.
Even the rudeness I can live with, after all it's not like they are educated or anything. One thing I have learned from dealing with them is be so thankful of the education system in Canada. We could live in a country whose government puts more money into guns than it does into education. That is why the manuals that come with the guns are all pictures and no text.
So on to what does piss me off about my job. Lets start with the tools I mentioned earlier. Is it wrong that my crappy computer at home is way faster then the one the multi-million dollar company I work for supplies me with? Can I tell you how long 40 seconds can feel when you have a customer on the line and you click on the minimized Internet explorer window and nothing happens for those 40 seconds. When it finally does materialize don't be holding your breath while you are waiting to be able to click on a link and then wait for that page to load up. Funny that one of our 4 drivers for our quality scores is Timely Resolution. There is nothing timely about the systems we use.
So on to 2 more of the drivers we are scored under, Courtesy and Concern. You know I find it hard to naturally apply either of those to my customers when I don't see any of it for either the customers or the employees from the management team.
So that is all the energy I am going to devote to work related blogging.
On a more positive note: Dinner with Howie & Neil, then tea/cappucino at Sipps. Sipps is officially cheaper than The Goat now for tea. Only issue is the seating is not as flexible hence The Goat will still be frequented when necessary. Other than that I am all about Sipps.
So one more day to get through till the weekend. I am pretty sure I will make it.
That's it.

Movies and Open Houses

So we are back in a downward spiral where work is concerned. Monday morning and I didn't even get to take my first call before I was pissed off. There is a new "incentive program" starting this week. All I have to say is I feel like I am back in kindergarden again. Totally pointless. Totally stupid. Not participating.
Also work related, no call from Lyreco. So if I can't even get a call back for a warehouse job what am I going to get a call back on? I don't even want to think about it.
So anyway... Saturday night we had Ryan over to watch a couple movies. The Prestige was fantastic though I nodded off a couple times due to the boringness of Marie Antoinette which we watched first. Not even the amazing location could make that movie anything but slow. The Prestige had me wondering right up until the end. Came together very well.
Sunday started with Brunch, carpet cleaning and a few open houses. Three houses but nothing very interesting in any of them.
Tonight we went to Sipps with Tracy and Dan. Fun talking about houses and Tracy's Dan and I didn't bring up work at all.
So that's it for now. Feel free to comment because unlike myspace I have no idea if anyone is reading this or not.