therealljidol | Green Room - Week 6

There's a poll that has been posted https://therealljidol.dreamwidth.org/1114047.html
and a song in my heart!

That song is a funeral march. But hey, that still counts as a song right? ;)

Work update - that new hire that was taking so long? HR just let me know she failed her criminal background check. So, that was probably why she was dragging her feet getting us the paperwork.

Another turned down the salary because it was too low. Which is something that I'm trying to work on with my bosses. But the ultimate decision is out of my hands.

Fortunately we DO have one person starting - as part time for the next month because her original department still needs her. That gives me time to train her before throwing her into the fire. But it also means more working evenings when all I can do is train.

Because - oh yeah, just found out today that my old boss, who was coming in part time in the evenings and who I was hoping would train the newbies? She let me know her last day is next Saturday. So I get a VERY small window to fit some extra training in. (and she only comes in a couple days a week anyway)

Oh, and one of the people who has been helping us from another department? Looks like we broke her. She needs "to take some time away" from this work.

Meanwhile we had our first meeting with the new company - and after people pressured them to give answers on benefits, they eventually revealed that the cost was almost definitely going to go up... and salaries were (for now) staying the same. Neither one of these was met with anything good.

The situation is truly fubar... but I'm holding things together the best I can. This ship IS going to make it into harbor even if I have to take out the entire dock in the process! ;)

***

Anyway, enough of my griping! How is YOUR weekend going???

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

roina_arwen

Ugh, I feel for ya, Gary! I hope everything works out.

Hubby and I are leaving in the morning for our (29th) anniversary trip - we are finally getting to take a Mediterranean cruise, which we’ve been working on trying to do for nearly a decade, lol! On the plus side, there will be some phone/internet access, and I have a printout of my spreadsheet tucked into my luggage. I’m done reading and voting in this poll, at any rate. Fingers crossed that all flights are on time, and that everything goes according to plan.

From:

banana_galaxy

Have an absolutely wonderful time! Also, congratulations on 29 years, that's amazing!

From:

roina_arwen

Thank you!

From:

ryl

Happy 29th anniversary! I'm jealous of your cruise. I want to see Italy and Greece again.

From:

ofearthandstars

Happy anniversary! Have fun on your cruise!

From:

mollywheezy

Happy Anniversary and have a great time!!! My husband and I will have our 26th this year. Since his dad is in the hospital and our oldest nephew is graduating high school, no trips for us except to see family. ;)

From:

drippedonpaper

Wow, that sounds like so much fun. Happy Anniversary! Maybe your cruise will inspire some entries so we can hear about your fun adventures :)

From:

banana_galaxy

Gosh Gary, that all sounds like a nightmare! My only work gripe is that the company I work for doesn't give benefits to folks who work part-time, so I feel exploited because they initially keep me working just under full-time hours to avoid giving me benefits. I'm still paid better than my last job though, and I like the work I do, so I'm reluctant to spend time looking for something that actually gives me what I know I'm worth.

I've been spending my time while my kids are with their dad making my way through a bunch of movies I had checked out from the library (Blithe Spirit (2020), Scream 5, Romancing the Stone, and The Fog), but they'll be dropped home soon so I'll probably spend most of the rest of the day finishing off reading Idol entries, and running a couple of errands (comics to collect, need to see if I can find some things at Target).

From:

ofearthandstars

This is a top pet peeve of mine - most of the jobs my kiddo applies for only have him working a minimal number of hours to avoid benefits. Last year he gave up on a local restaurant gig that hired him and then shifted the schedule to 4 hrs a day. It's amazing to me that companies are still treating workers that way given the high demand for workers!

From:

banana_galaxy

Really! This is one of the things I dislike most about the US. The fact that in some respects I could be considered a tech worker also kinda compounds the insult to me. Like, they have plenty of other people in my team who work full time. The other part timers work far fewer hours. But they offered me 29 hours a week because they needed more people to work on the projects, but didn't "have enough money in their budget" to add another full-timer to the team. I get that the budget is determined from a higher up place than my boss, but her hands being tied doesn't make me feel more respected. Especially when she told me that if these circumstances no longer suit my life, she suggested I should probably look for a job elsewhere that can give me the benefits I want rather than, you know, fight to keep me there because I actually have knowledge and lived experience no one else on the team has that I would think makes me a valuable asset to have.

I've been trying instead to speak up with various other people I work with about this issue and raise it as a DEI concern, since the company claims to care about DEI initiatives, because I think the company policy needs to change. I can't be the only person this impacts.

From:

ofearthandstars

Argh! That's so infuriating that she won't go to bat for you. I wish you luck on raising it through DEI. I do know many companies are focused on DEI right now and I would think that would be a plausible way to bring it up, since benefits should be part of the conversation about equity.

From:

banana_galaxy

It's like she didn't even want to pretend to try and give the impression of giving a shit about keeping me. Such a defeatist attitude, assuming you already know how they're going to answer so you don't even ask. That's the kind of thing that makes an employee think you want them to quit instead and don't actually want to work with them. Meanwhile, my manager I report to (he reports to her), gives me much more of an impression that he realises how much of an asset I am. He's having me going over content some of the other part-timers who've been there longer than me to check for additional changes that need to be made and my lived experience means I'm more likely to find.

I may wind up seeing if there's a DEI related role in the company I can move into so I am able to speak up more about these kinds of issues, since I'm clearly passionate about them. With this issue, so far I've framed it as being needed for employees who aren't able to work full-time hours due to disability, mental health, or caregiving responsibilities, but are still assets to the workplace and deserve to be compensated. It's like they think their part-timers don't need benefits because they have other jobs that give them benefits, and while that's true in some cases (like the other part-timers in my team who I've never met even on Zoom), it's not true for everyone.

From:

ofearthandstars

I hope you can make some progress with it. It sounds like the manager you report to knows your worth, maybe you can ask them to put in a stronger word? Though a DEI position also sounds promising...I joined our company's DEI committee last year and have found that it takes pushing a lot of boulders to make a little progress. It's all about convincing people to change, bit by bit.

From:

banana_galaxy

I think my manager knows my worth, but is also bitterly worn down by the idea that corporations don't give a shit and also sees himself as not being able to effect that kind of change. That's why I've felt like the DEI position seems like the way to go, and I've been more involved with connecting with people in different parts of the business that way. But yes, it is so very slow to get movement on that.

From:

ofearthandstars

That sounds absolutely miserable. I'm at the point in my own work where I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed by the piles of tasks in front of me since I'm juggling 3 projects and 2 are high priority. I'm actually working today and am trying not to cry because I feel so behind on everything. I know I'll get there, I just hate this feeling, and hate working overtime/weekends. Also when work eats up my life my self-care slips, so I'm feeling crap over that.

It was our 11th anniversary yesterday, so the partner and I did do some fun semi-social things Friday and Saturday night (and we cleaned the house together yesterday, because apparently that is romance after 11 years).

Trying to feel good about doing creative writing here and finding time for it in other spaces. Everything has gone downhill since work picked up.

From:

roina_arwen

Congrats on your anniversary!

Hubby is working today too. Hugs always available from me when you need them!

From:

ofearthandstars

Thanks. I am just worried about this year becoming a repeat of last year where I worked weekends nearly the entirety of May-October.

From:

ryl

If you can clean the house together without killing each other, that means it's a solid relationship. :)

Happy anniversary!

From:

ofearthandstars

Thanks! I find it easier to keep house now that the kids are grown and not around as much...we end up making much less of a mess by ourselves!

From:

mollywheezy

Happy Anniversary!!! :)

My husband and I have been married almost 26 years, and we CANNOT clean house together. Our styles are too different. We just have an assigned division of labor. ;)

From:

ofearthandstars

Thank you! :) Honestly, my partner's style is different (read as: I'm a little perfectionist about things), but since they actively are helping, I try to let (sh*t) that go. I can worry about missed dust bunnies another time.

From:

ryl

I've been training people at work lately and it's definitely been showing all the ways in which our various necessary-for-different-tasks programs don't like to play nice together. Especially when you're doing everything remotely and depending on all the various programs playing nice on different computers.

My weekend was going well until I found out this morning that something I said yesterday put one of my roommates' cats in the kitty hospital. I may have saved his life, but I still feel guilty.

Edited Date: 2022-05-01 06:41 pm (UTC)

From:

ofearthandstars

It sounds like you may have helped kitty out in the long run of he needed to be at the hospital, so *don't* feel guilty!

From:

ryl

I know I shouldn't but when I heard he might need surgery I felt bad. Hopefully he won't and he'll be home later this week.

From:

ofearthandstars

Awh, poor kitty! Wishing him (and your roommate) the best of luck!

From:

ryl

Last I heard he should be home tomorrow. Perhaps in a Cone of Shame, I'm not sure. He had to get a catheter.

From:

adoptedwriter

It’s been a weekend of looking after The Mothership’s needs plus looking after my yard/ garden needs. HoneyB saw Frozen downtown w her other grandma.

From:

dadi

Oh my I am so sorry you have to deal with all this crap at work. I truly appreciate it so much that you still take the time for Idol. *hugs*

From:

joyfulfeather

Ack! I'm impressed that you're handling Idol among all of that!

I got my big deliverable out the door for review on Wednesday, so things will chill out a bit for the next week. It's been A Lot for the last few months.