34 posts tagged “job”

Taking the reins   http://www.flamingodancerblog.com/

The company taking over our organisation phoned and declined my expert services. Basically, they said I was over qualified for the job...my own job that I have been doing for over 3 years!

I suspect that the truth is that they only want to pay peanuts, and even though I was willing to sell myself cheaper, they are going to go for the monkeys...

{old saying : pay peanuts, get monkeys]

One less malcontent in the Basement of Discontent.

Packed up my stuff, cleaned my desk, wiped my name off the white board and headed out the door.

Once again, tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life.

I have perfected bitter and twisted in the workplace to a fine art.

I may go on the road with it.

No job news – for anyone in the Basement of Discontent

I woke with the lyrics “over and over again my friend…we are only here for destruction” in my head. Then as I drove to work this morning I passed a girl wearing a tee-shirt that told me “Frankie says to relax”. So is the big Whatever really called Frankie? And what message am I being being given today?

I  am being interviewed for my own position this morning by the Newbies.

A walk on the wild side.

Ever one is getting very edgy at work. Some of it may be due to the sugar high we all got from the pre-pre Christmas farewell morning tea we gave ourselves this morning. SWKK wanted it and said “lets do food and gifts” next Friday and we all said yes,  okay, we will, in that weak voice you get when you are being polite, but completely lack enthusiasm of any kind. Then  I decided god damn it I am going to take my flex day on Friday after all and changed my hair appointment to Friday and said I can’t make Friday for food and gifts, and lo, SWKK said what about Thursday? and hence the sugar high.

We came with our little gifts – except for SWKK who said something about bringing hers tomorrow, next week, whatever. We of course handed ours over…I have no doubt that she will produce something for us before she leaves next week, but I suspect, I know, it will be of lesser value. The Assistant gave her a musical snow globe, from one of the cheap and nasty shops we all love so much, only when SWKK went to play the music there was no key with which to wind it , so she just got to shake it….poetic isn’t it! Best big jolly I had this week!

SWKK also made a pavlova. Now, a good Aussie pav is always filled with cream and topped with fruits such as strawberries, kiwi fruit, passionfruit etc. Well, the Assistant wont eat fruit. She was traumatized by a banana at an early age and so won’t go near any fruit item. So SWKK, in her milk of human kindness mode, flavoured the whipped cream with chocolate powder and put chocolate flakes over the top. We all went, mmmm mmmm, lovely. And it was to a degree, but it just didn’t seem right. A pavlova has fruit, and chocolate whipped cream just seemed like blasphemy. Maybe it is the catholic side of me again. Some things you don’t mess with…however it was nice.

Now, with sugar pulsating through every vein and artery, we feel like punching people out. Especially the people who feign empathy or sympathy but it is really just a guise to gather gossip. GO AWAY. GO AWAY NOW, BEFORE I SMASH YOUR FACE INTO WHAT REMAINS OF THE CHOCOLATE PAV.

The End – may it be soon.

The Basement of Discontent has had one of those days when you wish you could just flick a switch and have the lights turn off, so that you can just roll over in bed and tell yourself it was all a bad dream. Our IT system is shit. I suspect that Dumbo IT man  may have left us with a time bomb.

Not that we really care. Well some do, as some are making pretence at doing some work while we pursue the chance to continue to perform our own jobs for far less money.  Some. Boss got so angry that he threw several things in his office. I ducked as he has so much rubbish piled up there that I expected something to ricochet out the door that adjoins my office and take me out. At least the family would get worker’s compensation for my demise.  

I hit the ground like one of those journalists who stand too close to the fighting and then jump every time they hear an explosion, or a cough. If they blue screened themselves over some old footage none of us would know the difference anway so why risk life and limb?. Maybe I should send that idea to Murdoch, he might send me a free copy of The Australian newspaper or something valuable like that! I could burn the paper in the winter to keep warm when I am homeless. Or stuff it inside my clothes as an extra layer, also in the winter. All the homeless people would say “what is that crumpling sound?”as I walked by and look at me. I would be the geek nerdy homeless person, but god damn it I would be warmer than they!

It has all culminated in making me feel really,  really stressed. REALLY STRESSED. Bite the head off a canary stressed. Even a walk and a cup of tea has not helped to unwind me. I feel like a corckscrew embedded tightly in a cork that wont budge from the bottle’s neck. Lucky Mr FD is away tonight, or he might have been my punching bag. I may still phone him and abuse him long distance just to make myself feel better.

Mr FD is in the lovely town of Murgon tonight. Those of you who are familiar with the town will know what an exciting little rural retreat that is… Mr FD and his friend GA have the honor of having been thrown out of the Murgon pub back in the 1970s. I am sad to say that Murgon was once an Aboriginal mission and as Australia only recognized Aboriginals as Australia citizens in 1967, that a white man had to work pretty hard to get thrown out of the Murgon pub in those days. (and before you abuse me, I was 9 years old in 1967 and not yet aware of our  then White Australia Policy, and once I was aware, detested it instantly)

 I believe that one of the reasons they got thrown out was the fact that they were not obeying the dress code. It appears between them they had 4 feet and 2 thongs (flipflops) and one is suppose to wear shoes in the public bar. So, mightily in need of a drink, they divided the pair of thongs and each took one. They stood at the bar, the barfoot on the ground and placed the thronged foot on top of it to try and hide the thongless foot. It was one reason they were thrown out ….I don’t know the other reason and to be truthful after 30 years of marriage I suspect it is better not to venture there now. Another time they needed a tie to enter an event and Mr FD was without one. He took his shoe lace out of his shoe and tied it around his neck al la bowtie. Nothing would keep this man from a drink in the old days… and little more now!

I have digressed again haven’t I? I do so digress. I suspect that it has helped unkink some of the twists in my neck muscles due to Dumbo IT though. We do feel like we are gradually being evicted though. The business at the front of our building is expanding and all sorts of renovations are taking place, so we can’t use out front entrance. Lots of noise and vibrating too – a bit like a bad sex movie in some ways, without the relief when it is all over. Computer systems are kaput.  People are disappearing and not caring enough to let anyone know why they hid the keys. Is this what it is like to live on Death Row? Or Cannery Row? Maybe that is the problem, we are living a life in a defunct sardine canning factory. God knows, we are living through our own great depression.

Our acting Operations Manager has earned the nickname Mr Suffleupagus as so few of the staff have sighted him in the 6 weeks or so since he was appointed. I have worked with him on projects before so he greets me, but he can walk into the office where I am talking to other staff members and only greet me. They are somewhat perturbed at their non-existence. I tell them to consider themselves lucky as it means he wont “delegate” anything to them.

SWKK is arranging her own going away party! Friday week. Be there, with a plate. I know where the plate might go too…

If this life doesn’t pick up soon, I am going to be really bad in my next life. What is the good of putting in all the ground work if this is as good as it gets?

Mr FD and I are on a quest this Christmas season. We are going to try and watch every Christmas movie shown on television between now and Christmas. We have notched up two this week. Last night was an appalling thing with Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. It was painful. Why Jamie Lee allowed herself to have that hair cut I will never know. Sad. Sad I tell you.

Go on, outsource the company and see if I care….

I heard a noise before. I suspect it was me screaming.

Definition of cute: Three year old who describes her Grandma as “my kind of girl”.

Mental Health Day, Doona Day, Chucking a Sickie, No Show Day, call it what you will but I am not going to work today. I can't take the Cry Me a River Sisters (SWKK and The Assistant) Today.

not playing today

Besides we don't get paid out for our accumulated sick days so in the great Australian tradition we all plan to use them up before we are shown the door on, Ho Ho Ho Home you go, and stay there Christmas Eve!