Work Drama

I don't usually post about work here because two of my co-workers are also MySpace friends and I link to my blog on my MySpace, but they already know about this and if anyone else finds it, they can go screw. Our company is being bought out by another, much richer company. It has been described by myself and other equally cynical co-workers as a sugar daddy situation where we're spreading our legs and taking it.

Last Friday, before I went to Rusty's, I received an e-mail that said, "Please note attached memo regarding weekly time sheets and the attached time study form that you are to utilize starting on Monday, April 28th. Thanks for you assistance in this matter."

At first I ignored it because I thought it had to do with people who submit time sheets to get paid. Then I read it more closely and read the attachments. One was this (partly paraphrased): "We totally fucked up in our last merger; therefore, we find it necessary to continue to assess various administrative needs within the agency along with the skill set of specifically identified staff members. This is being done in an effort to ensure smooth and affective [sic] operations in each program area. With this in mind, we have identified a number of staff who will be expected to complete a weekly time sheet of daily activities starting on April 28, 2008 until further notice.

Since you personally received this email, please assume that you have been selected to complete the attached time sheet. The time sheet must be thoroughly completed every week and submitted to X by 12:00 every Monday. The sheets will be reviewed by management on a weekly basis to get a better sense of what functions are occurring effectively and efficiently and what areas of concern have surfaced that need to be appropriately addressed. Questions that might arise through the weekly reviews will be addressed with you personally. If you have any specific questions/concerns, please feel free to direct them to our attention. [this will be important later] We want to thank you in advance for helping us complete this assessment which we feel will serve to strengthen our ongoing operations."

By the way, my supervisor didn't even know about this till I forwarded it to her with a WTF?! message attached.

Also attached was an Excel spreadsheet with days of the week across the top and half-hour increments on the side; the squares are approximately 2 square inches each.

This e-mail came from one of our VPs who is not directly over me and who, when I left the York office to go to Harrisburg, called me into her office and said, "Don't start slacking because you're leaving York." You all don't know me, but I am extremely diligent, precise, and hard-working. I've never gotten bad grades or bad performance reviews at work. I did have some shortcomings at my position in the York office; however, many of them were beyond my control.

On several occasions I have brought my concerns to management and my co-workers have made it known to them that I'm extremely underutilized. Apparently management felt the need to treat us like children instead of giving us the opportunity to assess the "various administrative needs" of our position ourselves or discussing with management what we believe to be our "skill set." Here's another great idea. Maybe if we actually got the performance reviews that we're supposed to receive, those could be assessed to determine our fucking skill sets.

One of the other mental health agencies in our area recently closed, so now we're pretty much it, which means not only are we getting all of their clients, we're getting all the clients who would have gone to the other agency. In the first 9 days of April I had done 80 intakes; before this agency closed I usually averaged about 2-3 a day. So, since my workload is so high right now and since I was off for three days last week and since our computer system will be down from noon Monday until possibly Wednesday and since I do a job that was previously done by myself and another full-time employees and since this is the beginning of the month, which is when I have to do the billing, I e-mailed this VP and asked if I could hand my time study in late due to the fact that I felt it was a more effective use of my time to do work that requires use of the MIS while it's working rather than to fill our a time study.

No dice. But she doesn't respond to me directly, she tells the director of the program for which I work, who is also not directly above me, that I can hand it in on Friday (this past Friday) if I can't do it by Monday. WTF?!?!?!?! If I don't have time to fill out the time study by noon Monday, how is it helpful to allow me to hand it in three days earlier!? Apparently logic isn't in this woman's "skill set." God, I hate that phrase. The poor director got an earful and I had a meltdown. Luckily, the upside is that those are more accepted in a counseling agency than they would be in say, a law office (the downside is that everything you do or say is over-analyzed and you're given a diagnosis).

So, being the slacking employee that I am, I spend 4 hours this weekend doing work to play catch-up. And you better believe I made it known on my time study sheet (I made up my own instead of the shitty one they supplied, thank you very much.)

File this one under it's time to look for a new job. At least my resume is updated.

Four Walls Won't Hold Me Tonight

For Day 5 of 25 DoN, I want to give a shout-out to Thriller, which was released 25 years ago this week. Doesn't that make you feel old? I'm resisting the urge to rant about PennDot because I have nothing nice to say about the fact that they neither plowed nor salted the roads today. Anyway, Thriller has been mind-bogglingly successful, having sold 104 million albums, making it the top-selling album of all-time (although this has been disputed), and it's only one of three albums to remain on the Billboard 200 for a full year. It has gone 27x platinum; spent 80 weeks in the top 10, including 37 consecutive weeks at number 1; it was the only album ever to produce seven top-ten singles; and it was the best-selling album of 1983 and 1984 in the U.S. Today 600,000 copies of Thriller are sold every year in the U.S. Thriller won Michael Jackson 7 Grammys and 8 AMAs.

Yes, Michael Jackson is in the midst of a downward spiral that has lasted well over a decade so far, but the pop music scene in the 80s belonged, undeniably, to Michael Jackson. Thriller has only 9 songs, but 7 of them are excellent. "The Girl is Mine" is a complete pile of crap ("Paul, I think I told you; I'm a lover, not a fighter."). I happen to like P.Y.T., but compared to Thriller's other tracks, it's filler. That leaves you with the gems: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Baby Be Mine," "Thriller," "Beat It," "Billie Jean," "Human Nature," and "The Lady in My Life." Yes, it's pop, but it's pop at its finest.

Enjoy some clips from before pop music was about untalented skanks getting out of cars while not wearing underwear.

The Office (UK)

Today is Day 4 of 25 DoN and I'm going to write about my love of the UK version of The Office. Part of the reason I'm not feeling the US Office as much lately is that they've departed from what The Office is supposed to be about and the characters have become caricatures of themselves. If you watch season 1 of the US version, the lighting was bad and the actors didn't look glamorous. Steve Carell was paunchy and had bad hair plugs. Now he (and everyone else) are much more attractive. There were no unrealistic situations, and everyone who has worked in an office could relate to the goings-on. The Office is supposed to be realistic and about the doldrums of everyday life in a cubicle farm.

The UK version never strayed from this formula, and part of that was because it was only 12 episodes and a 2-part Christmas special. The US version has 59 episodes and is still going strong. We all knew that Jim and Pam were going to end up together; when Dawn left the Christmas party, our hearts broke because we thought she and Tim would continue to suffer with unrequited love. I do love the US Office, and I'm obviously not one of those people who refuses to watch the US Office because of their love for the UK version (I didn't see the UK version till the end of Season 1 of the US version), but I think the UK version benefited from the idea that less is more.

In honor of The UK Office, here are the Stereophonics (not Rod Stewart!!!!!!) doing "Handbags and Gladrags", one of my favorite songs.

Songza

Check out Songza, the online jukebox. I haven't had a lot of time to play around with it to see what the selection's like (although I did pull on my hair and pull on my pout and listen to "Fascination Street" by The Cure), but you type in the name of an artist or song and play it. You can also create a playlist. I haven't had any lag or buffering yet which certainly beats my radio station's stream that buffers every 5 seconds.

One Year Closer to Death

"Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way"

Well, today is the big 2-6. I'm officially in my late 20s. How depressing is that?! I'm going over to my parents' house for dinner and an Oreo cake from Maggie Moo's tonight. I took Monday off to go to IKEA. Birthdays just aren't the same once you're over 21. Remember that, kiddos.

"Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun"

*Office spoiler* The Office season finale was pretty good Thursday night. I loved the ending. It would have been cheesy if they had done another kiss, but Jim's silent realization and drive home to ask Pam out were nice. I wonder what Karen is going to think when she realizes Jim left her in New York? I thought she'd get the job since Rashida Jones is going to be in a sitcom next season. I guess we'll find out in four months. In other Office news, Jenna Fischer broke her back while she was walking down a marble staircase in high heels. The article I read said she's expected to make a full recovery and it won't affect next season's Office. Here's hoping that she has a speedy recovery!

"And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but its sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death"

Congratulations to my Bears for winning the East Division Final. Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final against the Manchester Monarchs is tonight. Good luck, guys!

"Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought Id something more to say"

I heard on the radio station that the receptionist at work listens to that R. Kelly compared himself to Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that MLKJ never pissed on a 14-year-old. What a tool.

I just finished reading Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres. It was an amazing book! Actually, and I probably shouldn't be saying this, I read about 200+ pages at work on Wednesday because it was an extremely slow day. It's a memoir about Julia's life growing in a white family living in the Midwest with two adopted black children and her close friendship with one of her adopted brothers. Her parents, devout Christians, send them to a reform school in the Dominican Republic, which isn't any better than their life of emotional and verbal abuse at home. I highly recommend the book.

TV Musings

During the group song, "Stuck in the Middle With You," I was waiting for someone's ear to be cut off.

Oh god--Simon and Ryan went to Africa and Randy and Paula are going to Louisiana. I'm all for doing good deeds, but not when you televise it for millions of people to see how wonderful you are. That SPECIAL AMERICAN IDOL EPISODE!!!111! promises to be a clusterfuck. Borat? Annie Lennox? Bono (Haaate)? Gwen Stefani? WTF?

Carrie looks like Skeletor.

Antonella and Stephanie--meh. I'm not surprised about Antonella and Stephanie wasn't shown enough in the auditions to do well. Haley doesn't have a bad voice but she's pretty pageant-y and picks the dumbest songs in the history of the world. Queen of the Night? Seriously, Haley?

Jared and Sundance--another meh. I sure as shit don't think Sanjaya deserves to be in the top 12 more than them, but I don't care that either of them are gone.

I feel compelled to write about Arrested Development like Rusty wrote about the Black Donnellys the other week because I've been rewatching our DVDs and getting even more pissed that the show didn't get a longer run. Phyllis from The Office was on the episode I watched the other day ("The Immaculate Election" from Season 2) and Kevin has a brief appearance in another episode (he informs Tobias of the gun-show loophole). Ed Helms also appeared as a real estate agent. That show had the best guest stars--Rob Corddry, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jeff Garlin, Andy Richter, Dan Castellaneta, and Henry Winkler, just to name a few. Several episodes were directed by Paul Feig, who created "Freaks and Geeks," which is also one of the best shows ever, and directed some episodes of "The Office."

Describing how great this show is will not do it justice. I highly recommend you watch it yourself to experience the slick writing, attention to detail, flawless acting, biting social commentary, and hilarious jokes. I can't think of another show that uses callbacks, foreshadowing and inside jokes so well. Arrested Development rewards people who pay attention, and I appreciate that. Every character is perfectly cast, and I can only think of one thing that I didn't like from the whole series, and that was Martin Short playing Uncle Jack.

It was so frustrating to be a fan of the show. We had to watch it be screwed repeatedly by FOX. They moved it all over the place in the schedule which prevented it from building a strong fan base, they cut the second season down to only 18 episodes (a full season is 22) to make room for "Family Guy's" comeback, and the third season was cut to 13 episodes. They aired the final four episodes in a two-hour block which was scheduled at the same time as the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Nice one, FOX. You better believe that our dial was planted firmly on FOX that night though. Imagine what it's like to be a fan of one of the most intelligent and hilarious sitcoms ever and have it cancelled while "Stacked" and "The War at Home" are still on the air. Arrested was nominated for 20 freaking Emmys (winning 7) and won several other awards, for god's sake! To quote GOB, "Come on!"

Raves

I do enough ranting on this blog, so here are some raves.

I watched Taxi Driver this weekend and was left wondering why the hell I waited so long to see it. The movie was gritty and raw, and I can't think of any movie that I've seen that is a better character study that this one. Released in 1976, it was nominated for and/or won several awards, most notably the Golden Palm at Cannes and Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Lead Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Score. Travis Bickle, played without flaw by Robert DeNiro, is a cab driver disgusted by his surroundings. Throughout the whole movie, Travis moves closer and closer to the edge of sanity. We get glimpses into his past; all the straws that are piling up on the camel's back, but we are never told the whole story. He tells Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) that she's just like all the others when she refuses to see him again after an ill-advised second date at a porn house, but we don't know what what "the others" did to hurt Travis. He writes to his parents that he still can't give them his address, but we don't know how long Travis has been living in his filthy closed-sized apartment, hiding from the world with only his delusions that he works for the government and that he alone has the power to clean up the streets and right all of society's wrongs to keep him company.

"Now I see this clearly. My whole life is pointed in one direction. There never has been a choice for me."

The viewer can feel Travis's discomfort and angst, which is a direct result of Scorsese's masterful directing and DeNiro's brilliant performance. The tension builds and builds until one hot summer night when Travis can't take it any longer. The ending is ambiguous enough that a first-time viewer like myself can't be sure if it's real or a fantasy, although I'm sure there are many who are more well-versed who have their theories and opinions. Also worth mentioning are excellent performances by Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, and surprisingly, Jodie Foster, whom I have always considered to be wooden.


Another good movie I saw recently was Sherrybaby. This movie is the story of Sherry (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a young woman who is trying to get her life back on track upon being released from prison after serving three years. I admire Gyllenhaal because she's willing to take on roles that aren't going to launch her into "superstardom," i.e. playing the lead in a formulaic romantic comedy like Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan. Sherry teeters between going back to her former life and trying to live as a decent member of society. Her journey finds her reuniting with her daughter; relapsing; mouthing off to her parole officer; using sex to overcome low self-esteem; and dealing with a cast of characters including her sexually abusive father, an aggressive tenant at her halfway house, and the manipulative director of her program. We watch her try to move from a life of instant gratification, whether it be shooting up or offering sexual favors in exchange for a job, to a more adult life where it takes time for things to fall into place. This movie can at times be uncomfortable, but so is life.


Finally, I leave you with a video that Chris sent me of Ricky Gervais interviewing Larry David. I'm surprised the universe didn't implode with two comedic geniuses in one room.

Ricky Gervais meets Larry David
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