Make Lemons... » work http://make-lemons.com Random thoughts.... from a 30-something gal that works hard and plays hard... Sun, 20 May 2012 13:18:20 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 Cherry on top of this Week!!!!!!! http://make-lemons.com/2009/07/10/cherry-on-top-of-this-week/ http://make-lemons.com/2009/07/10/cherry-on-top-of-this-week/#comments Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:48:00 +0000 michelle http://make-lemons.com/?p=482 Dear Potluck Bitch…

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Dear Potluck Bitch…

]]> http://make-lemons.com/2009/07/10/cherry-on-top-of-this-week/feed/ 3 Found Money! http://make-lemons.com/2009/07/08/found-money/ http://make-lemons.com/2009/07/08/found-money/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:28:00 +0000 michelle http://make-lemons.com/?p=480 I recently referred a former co-worker to my compnay for a job openeing that we have… and they have offered him the job… so I get a nice referral bonus Now I need to decide what to do with it! I have wanted to get a Wii for a while (no [...]]]>

I recently referred a former co-worker to my compnay for a job openeing that we have… and they have offered him the job… so I get a nice referral bonus :) Now I need to decide what to do with it! I have wanted to get a Wii for a while (no not so I can play Pearl Jam RockBand… I am plain bad enough on regular Rockband when I play at a friends’ house — though it is fun)…

Then there is the obvious shoes or new handbag (or some combo of both). And the boring option that my mom will vote for … Save It!

So…..

]]> http://make-lemons.com/2009/07/08/found-money/feed/ 2 You have got to be kidding me!!?!?! http://make-lemons.com/2009/06/30/you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/ http://make-lemons.com/2009/06/30/you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/#comments Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:38:00 +0000 michelle http://make-lemons.com/?p=477 Well it appears 2 months is the longest Potluck Bitch can go without stirring up trouble… and /or being unable to get over the fact that I do not want to be her friend.

Its been a banner week and its only Tuesday. On Friday (while I was out) she sent out an email saying [...]]]>


Well it appears 2 months is the longest Potluck Bitch can go without stirring up trouble… and /or being unable to get over the fact that I do not want to be her friend.

Its been a banner week and its only Tuesday. On Friday (while I was out) she sent out an email saying that I would do something, that I never said I would do, and in fact I could never do because the trigger for me to do the task is PB notifying me that she has completed a document, which she never does, because she refuses to copy me on any work related emails! Today she indicated that I would be volunteering for a task that she could not possibly do, because she was tied up with 10/12 hour work days for the next two weeks (how this is possible I have no clue because she is never at her desk… and she is not at meetings because she is not allowed to go to anything other than staff meetings!).

But the best was this afternoon when she complained that I laugh too much. (Hey I am a giggler, always have been, and I know she doesn’t like it (probably because she is not sure what I am laughing at) so when I listen to EITM in the mornings I kind of lay it on thick…..).

I was unofficially informed of this … and asked…”Am I not allowed to laugh at work anymore?”
Obviously the answer is no, because you can’t police crap like that, but WTH!?!??!?! So its game on!!!!

I now have a lovely image of The Dark Knight’s “Why So Serious?” ad campaign as my desktop wallpaper, Quotes about laughter will be appearing in my email signatures, and whenever she is not at her desk, I will make a comment about billing for hours when you are never at your desk…..

]]> http://make-lemons.com/2009/06/30/you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me/feed/ 2 Go Time! was anti-climatic!! http://make-lemons.com/2009/04/21/go-time-was-anti-climatic/ http://make-lemons.com/2009/04/21/go-time-was-anti-climatic/#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:48:00 +0000 michelle http://make-lemons.com/?p=431 Last Thursday Potluck Bitch and I had a “meeting” to discuss our issues. Our Manager was also in the meeting. He facilitated. Potluck’s position was basically she is a talker. She wants to talk. Apparently in her 30+ year career she has never met someone that was a [...]]]>


Last Thursday Potluck Bitch and I had a “meeting” to discuss our issues. Our Manager was also in the meeting. He facilitated. Potluck’s position was basically she is a talker. She wants to talk. Apparently in her 30+ year career she has never met someone that was a private person.
My position is I am not a talker. I do not want to talk, I want to work. I am here to do a job, not to make friends.

The real test of if the meeting was a success will be if Potluck Bitch can stop running to a 3rd party (not our manager) to discuss me and my “not talking”.

I don’t think she will be able to stop herself in the long run….. so stay tuned!!

]]> http://make-lemons.com/2009/04/21/go-time-was-anti-climatic/feed/ 3 Get in or Get off…. but don’t hold the doors while you finish a conversation! http://make-lemons.com/2009/04/09/get-in-or-get-off-but-dont-hold-the-doors-while-you-finish-a-conversation/ http://make-lemons.com/2009/04/09/get-in-or-get-off-but-dont-hold-the-doors-while-you-finish-a-conversation/#comments Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:13:00 +0000 michelle http://make-lemons.com/?p=425 I was going to post about this last week, but got too busy….then it happened again today.

I work in an office building. We have 8 floors and 4 elevators. Not everyone in the building works for the same agency. One agency may have multiple floors. So last week I got on the elevator [...]]]>

I was going to post about this last week, but got too busy….then it happened again today.

I work in an office building. We have 8 floors and 4 elevators. Not everyone in the building works for the same agency. One agency may have multiple floors. So last week I got on the elevator to go to lunch. I was the only one on the elevator, and it went down about 2 floors and opened. A man got on.. and was talking to someone that remained in the hallway. The doors started 2 close, and he stuck up his arm to keep the doors open because he wasn’t done talking. Then he did it twice more when the doors were closing. WTH!!!!! So when the doors were closing the last time and he put up his arm, I started punching the door close button. Then he looked at me like he just realized I was there and told his talking buddy he had to go :P

Happened again today except the guy got on and just kept his arm in front of the doors so they wouldn’t close. So I gave him the evil eye!

I know I have little patience, especially for that type of rude behavior. But seriously if there is someone on the elevator isn’t it common knowledge that you should not hold that person up?? Just wait for the next elevator. It shouldn’t be that hard!!!

]]> http://make-lemons.com/2009/04/09/get-in-or-get-off-but-dont-hold-the-doors-while-you-finish-a-conversation/feed/ 7 Pink is for Girls… Gray is for Boys?! http://make-lemons.com/2008/12/19/pink-is-for-girls-gray-is-for-boys/ http://make-lemons.com/2008/12/19/pink-is-for-girls-gray-is-for-boys/#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:18:00 +0000 michelle http://make-lemons.com/?p=347 My employer is going through a major growth spurt (good thing in these rough economic times)! So the branding is on the upswing…. today we all got shirts (Land’s End polo’s with the company name embroidered on the top corner)… The guys got gray shirts… the gals (of which there are 3) [...]]]>

My employer is going through a major growth spurt (good thing in these rough economic times)! So the branding is on the upswing…. today we all got shirts (Land’s End polo’s with the company name embroidered on the top corner)… The guys got gray shirts… the gals (of which there are 3) got pink!

Am I odd for thinking that is odd??

Perhaps the owner just really thinks I am a fan of pink…. (MacBook Pro Skin is Hot Pink; iPod is green, bit I have a pink skin for it (with stripes… so the green partially shows through), and a new pink skin for my BlackBerry). :D

]]> http://make-lemons.com/2008/12/19/pink-is-for-girls-gray-is-for-boys/feed/ 0 Potlucks!! http://make-lemons.com/2008/11/24/potlucks/ http://make-lemons.com/2008/11/24/potlucks/#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:50:00 +0000 michelle http://make-lemons.com/?p=319 **This post was originally going to about some minor HOA drama related to Bulk Trash items (exciting I know!!) but has been superseded by workplace drama

I have been in the office setting workplace for over 12 years now (whoa time flies when you are having fun!). Usually around this time of [...]]]>

**This post was originally going to about some minor HOA drama related to Bulk Trash items (exciting I know!!) but has been superseded by workplace drama :D

I have been in the office setting workplace for over 12 years now (whoa time flies when you are having fun!). Usually around this time of year someone gets the bright idea to have a potluck holiday luncheon. Except I hate potlucks (on a large scale). I can’t maneuver MARC and Metro with a covered dish…. I like my food HOT (the stuff that is supposed to be hot) not lukewarm. In the past I have sometimes made a cheesecake, ie when I used to drive to work.

Fast forward to this year. I work on a small team, mostly males (its IT afterall!) An email went out a few weeks ago mapping out the plan and asking people to sign-up for food. After briefly considering making cheesecake I decided against it… Mainly due to this guy…. After previously seeing him sneeze snot all over his lunch and then proceed to eat it I knew I wanted no parts of this potluck.

Fast forward to today — Glorified Admin Assist (another blog post forthcoming) sent out an email to each person asking them if they were going to being in the office and what food they would like to bring. I responed yes, I would be in the office, but No I would not be participating.

3 hours later, Glorified Admin Assist send out a chart of all team members and what they are bringing….. Next to my Name – “Opted Out”. (some others had TBD next to their name).

This is the same woman that made a co-worker “share” his calendar and then snooped on it and found a Happy Hour that she invited herself to!

So after her above juvenile move, I have decided the next Happy Hour I plan… I am going to let her know that I opted out of inviting her :P

]]> http://make-lemons.com/2008/11/24/potlucks/feed/ 3 I had the meltdown at work… http://make-lemons.com/2008/10/31/i-had-the-meltdown-at-work/ http://make-lemons.com/2008/10/31/i-had-the-meltdown-at-work/#comments Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:55:00 +0000 michelle http://make-lemons.com/?p=298 It had been brewing for a while. After the last post, Mr. Do Nothing was assigned to work on a project that was semi-high profile. This was around the beginning of October. Well a few days in an email comes out from the client asking why no work was being done [...]]]>


It had been brewing for a while. After the last post, Mr. Do Nothing was assigned to work on a project that was semi-high profile. This was around the beginning of October. Well a few days in an email comes out from the client asking why no work was being done on the project. Apparently Mr Do Nothing decided the project was pointless and he wasn’t going to do it!!!! OMG! Who does that!? So there was a mad scramble to cover for him (Oh yeah… he went on vacation right after the email came out) and of course I got dragged into it. (There is nothing I hate more than doing other people’s work because they just will not do it!) I asked if Mr Do Nothing was going to be assigned back to this when he got back… response – “No, because he thinks its pointless.” So I said, “he thinks everything is pointless!” Meaning is he going to just not do anything because he thinks it’s all pointless?

Early this week I thought the ultimate meltdown may be avoided, because I was finally able to move my seat so I wouldn’t have to see him “do nothing” all day long. Let’s just say I counted my chicken’s before they hatched :(

So I was on a high profile, high stress project. I have been working 10 + hours for the majority of this week, add on an hour + commute each way (1 night with a MARC train that was 30 minutes late), I wasn’t eating dinner because I was too tired when I arrived home, and no running (aside from Monday). Needless to say I was not in a good place.

Yesterday I was on a tight deadline and trying to do 3 things at once when Mr Do Nothing thought now would be a good time to ask a question about another project that he found himself the sole resource on. He sent an email, I dumped some previous reports on him so that he could attempt to figure it out for himself. Since that entailed thinking and actaul work… no dice. He came by my desk and asked. I said, probably rather tersely (I’m not sure it’s all a blur now), “I don’t have time for this right now.” He kept going and asked how I did something. My response… “I don’t remember”. Then it got so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Looking back I know I said that because I just wanted him to go away… and it worked!

If it didn’t happen yesterday, it was bound to happen someother time, so I guess at least its out of the way. Now I can look forward to “team building” dorkiness …

And I need to figure out how to work with someone I have no respect for and basically think is an idiot :-/

]]> http://make-lemons.com/2008/10/31/i-had-the-meltdown-at-work/feed/ 2 Another work situation – The MOM! http://make-lemons.com/2008/09/23/another-work-situation-the-mom/ http://make-lemons.com/2008/09/23/another-work-situation-the-mom/#comments Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:56:00 +0000 michelle http://make-lemons.com/?p=255 In response to my post yesterday regarding what was sending me on the path to a meltdown, one of my regular commenter’s mentioned the “efficient worker phenomenon”. Basically when it’s discovered that you can do a good job quickly, people are happy to pile on the work! Which in and of [...]]]>

In response to my post yesterday regarding what was sending me on the path to a meltdown, one of my regular commenter’s mentioned the “efficient worker phenomenon”. Basically when it’s discovered that you can do a good job quickly, people are happy to pile on the work! Which in and of it-self is fine with me, except when you are surrounded by slackers who don’t pull their weight.

This reminds me a situation I was in two jobs ago when I worked with some one I refer to as “The MOM”. I am sure you know where this is heading…

So in IT many times you have implementations that need to be done off-hours (ie late at night or on weekends). Many companies will work out something if you are putting in a bunch of extra hours (during off hours) where you get comp-time etc…

Anyway … in this job I was working on a big project where we were moving a bunch of data from a legacy system to a big new fancy web-based system. Guess who got assigned to do the majority of the weekend implementations? Yep me! “The MOM” didn’t work a weekend the entire time she was there, nor did she stay late. But she was always the first one aboard the “leave early” train! So while I was putting in all these extra hours I started asking if I could start leaving early (ie when my work for the day was all finished… because I can focus and get it done!). Denied! Then a few months later I started asking if I could start telecommuting (I had an hour commute each way by car) 1 day a week. Denied again… needless to say these were some of the main reasons I am no longer with that company!

I am all for being a team player and picking up someone’s slack when there is an emergency or last minute situation… but when it becomes a repeated behavior to the point where I feel that I am being taken advantage of it is then time to ask yourself the serious questions, such as “What can be done about this?” or “Is this the right place for me?”

]]> http://make-lemons.com/2008/09/23/another-work-situation-the-mom/feed/ 0 My almost meltdown at work last week…. http://make-lemons.com/2008/09/22/my-almost-meltdown-at-work-last-week%e2%80%a6/ http://make-lemons.com/2008/09/22/my-almost-meltdown-at-work-last-week%e2%80%a6/#comments Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:26:00 +0000 michelle http://make-lemons.com/?p=254 I work in IT (software development side, I get paid to break things ie other people ‘s code ) and I love it (usually)… everyday is different and I don’t have to deal with the general public ☺

Anyway… I work with this guy that does nothing… and by does nothing I mean does no [...]]]>


I work in IT (software development side, I get paid to break things ie other people ‘s code :P ) and I love it (usually)… everyday is different and I don’t have to deal with the general public ☺

Anyway… I work with this guy that does nothing… and by does nothing I mean does no work. On one day last week (right before my almost meltdown) this was his day…

Arrive… check email
Read book (not a software book… a novel!)
Personal phone calls
More reading of book
1st lunch (at 10 am)
More book reading
Personal phone calls (this one lasted at least an hour)
2nd lunch around noon – disappeared for about an hour
check email
Read book
Play PSP

You may be asking yourself why there is no internet surfing listed above? Well about 3 weeks ago the team that I work on was told to severely limit Personal surfing on “Agency” computers – because this guy was getting here in the a.m. and surfing all day (so where you see book reading above… that used to be surf time).

It’s not like there is no work to be done. I have been crazy busy, and in the midst of it all he was assigned to be the Primary contact for a small project. Right before the email went out announcing this he turned to me and said, “we need to tell them that you are the Primary on this” My response – “No, I am already Primary on another project”. So after he was assigned to this project he does the bare minimum (doesn’t prepare any reports or daily updates, isn’t prepared at all).

So last week, I had two documents that needed to be completed and submitted to the client for review, along with some other tasks that I needed to accomplish for the week. In the midst of all this (right after the big day of do nothing) I get an email that I am the only contact for a small project that needs to be completed this week (aka last week). While I am a queen of multi-tasking even I cannot work on two documents with a deadline of ASAP at the same time – they need to be prioritized. So in all my passive aggressive glory I said I could do one, but it would be at the delay of the other which one do you want me to work on? Needless to say – Mr. Do Nothing now found himself with some work to do.

I have been in this situation before… as I am sure some of you have. When you do a good job, you get assignments. If you do crap, people do not want to assign you work. Which is better? Obviously I say “Do a good job and stay employed!” but the people that do crap usually somehow manage to stay employed too!

What would happen if all the people that are top producers took a week and completely slacked? I think I would be bored after a day or two… there is only so much online shopping one can do!

The one plus about this situation is that I can bill extra hours and get paid for it :D .

One of my managers knows about Mr Do Nothing and that I am displeased about the situation., it remains to be seen if anything is done. I’ll keep you posted.

(I realize some may call me a hypocrite because I am posting to my blog while at work… but I think there is a difference between occasionally taking a surf break, and surfing, reading, and playing video games to the point that you are actively trying to get work that has been assigned to you reassigned to someone else.)

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