I am still reeling from this morning. OB says, "Odessa, I got this weird email from NB telling me that your end date was going to have to be May 30th. Why did she send me that?" I told her that it was in response to her statement and she said, "I didn't say you were staying longer. You asked ME if you could." I blinked. I dropped my jaw. I let out a high screechy "WHAT!?!" that made dogs cringe. She insisted I was the one that asked to stay longer. Oh sure. Because I WANT to stay in a job with a boss that's psychotic. We went back and forth for over twenty minutes. Each refusing to back down. She said I started it by asking if I could stay. I countered with a "Did not!" and she said that why did I mention the end date? "Because Ann wanted to confirm and I asked you as a courtesy. Because YOU said you may need me longer." Yeah, I hate this job so hard right now.

Later on our IT guy got a dose of Creepy IT Chick to boot. He sat to use my computer while I went to cool off and I came back to her talking some sort of shit about me. He was NOT happy. He finally snapped at her that he makes the IT decisions for our department and that some sort of freeware would NOT be installed. I found out later she was telling him to install some sort of freeware so OB could screen capture easier. She walked out of my cubicle huffing and making smart remarks. I tried to calm him down (and he's usually unflappable). I waved the three hole puncher in front of him and said, "Look what I've got. Need anything punched?" He said in a REALLY loud voice, "Yeah, HER!" Awwwwkward. But funny. Really funny.

I called my new boss this morning and explained the situation regarding my email and my OB's misinformation. She asked if I was ready to get out of there. Heh. I said yes, but I wanted to make sure it was okay on her end. She's the one that has to continue to work with my OB and I didn't want to cause any friction. She said she'd talk to her boss and let me know what they decided. I understand them needing to be diplomatic to an extent. They still have to work together in certain areas, etc... I love her response to my OB saying that she hasn't even posted my position. "That's her fault." Awesomeness. Pure awesomeness. The bottom line is she's going to discuss it with my other boss and their boss to make a decision. At the most my last day will be June 7th. My NB also said she was hoping I'd be able to take some time off before starting my new job. I said, "I wish!" and she said she'll see what they can do. OMG. I am going to love this job so hard.

My finger is on the delete button and I am so tempted to wipe out everything. Information sent to me that I'd normally save is looked at with a quiet chuckle and a 'won't be needing this' whisper before being round filed. Issues and complaints are met with a 'do you reeeeaaally think I care' look until said person gets the hint and walks away. Extra job duties? HAH! Seriously... HAH! Statements like 'We're totally screwed' are met with a knowing glance and ever so slight smirk. Sometimes I even throw in an occasional 'yeppers' before nodding and turning to continue with my report instructions. Yesterday's last minute head game set me into 'fuck you all' overdrive. Don't get me wrong. I love my friends here and will miss them dearly. But the work? Yeah, just like I'd miss dental appointments, mammograms and pap smears.

This morning my OB (old boss) decided to fuck up my mellow. My new boss emailed me to confirm the start date for my new position. I asked my OB and she said, "Tell her I haven't even posted the job yet and want to know when she need me by. The longer she stays with me the better". Then she stood over me to make sure I typed it in verbatim. I wanted to scream. The worst part is that I can't even say shit about it. Since I'm transferring within the same hospital it's up to the managers to duke it out. What's worse is I can't even say anything because it wouldn't be appropriate to bad mouth my OB to my NB. Since my NB is off for a few days I won't even know the outcome until then. So yeah. I am not a happy camper.

Later on in the day she sent an email saying that I should no longer be handling any business related calls and if someone calls me I need to forward them to her and let them know I am leaving so she can delegate who will take over the task. A minute later she emailed me to do a report for her. Do you know how hard it was not to forward the email to her and say it needs to be delegated?

The Creepy IT Chick tried to pull yet another fast one. Instead of saying she forgot something in her Macros she claimed my old boss claimed that was the way she was told to do it. Of course I was in the same meeting... so I knew that was total bullshit. When I tried to explain how it SHOULD be done, she started shaking her head like a two year old having a fit, as if I was in the wrong. Yeah, because we WANT our numbers to be incorrect. Oy. I pulled her confused ass into my OB's office faster than you can say 'you're full of shit' and left it to her to decide. CITC is really good at fast talk and OB was half a nod away from agreeing with her when I jumped in. I had to draw diagrams, print data and a fucking legend before OB realized that I was correct and CITC was out of her fucking mind. Again. My favorite part was after I went to great pains to not do the 'you said' line and stated 'I believe it's CITC's understanding that...' and when I asked if that sounded about right she replied (looking at OB), 'Yes. It was my und... I mean YOU told me to do this...' All class. All class. In the end I was right, she was wrong and I have yet to get my Monthly reports finished. I can tell that she wasn't thrilled about me yanking her ass into OB's office. Just wait until OB expects something from her and I'm not here to buffer. She won't be able to fast talk her way out of that one with all the caffeine, cocaine and meth in the world.

This morning was fun. Again... My OB (old boss) was in rare form, jumping down everyone's throat and freaking out about stupid shit. Then we met (again) about my duties. This time she pulled another staff member in to give the news of what duties they would be taking over. After the usual list she started talking about how everyone needs to learn more Excel, that it will help them in their career, blah blah blah... Whatever. Then she added, "When Odessa started she didn't know anything." Uhh.... Excuse me? WTF!?! While I wasn't the Master Chart Maker or Quick Draw McFormulas... I DID know Excel. I corrected her and she back stepped... adding how much more I've learned. Cow... Anyway, the person taking over mentioned to me about how she should get a raise for 'taking over all my duties'. Because I'm leaving and don't give a fuck I snapped back, "All of them? Please. You're not even getting a portion. But if you feel that way then by all means... ask for one." That shut her up. Considering most of the duties she got are really something she should have been doing from the start... yeah, no tears from this cubicle.

Oh yes, this will be fun. And by 'fun' I mean ripping out my spleen and having it shoved down my throat. My old boss has decided that she's going to take her time to get a replacement. Instead, she's having me train the nurses (Read: NO Word/Excel background) and her on my duties. Weeee! Are you sick of me bitching about it yet? Tough shit. Anyway, I now have to write instructions like it's an Admin Assistants for Dummies book and pray that it passes enough to not have to rewrite a gazillion times. On the positive side... this may mean I won't have to stay at this position any longer than my thirty days since she's not going to have me train a replacement. *crosses fingers, eyes and toes*

Our new temp has this... laugh. At first I couldn't place it. I know it was slightly annoying and slightly creepy. But it was also familiar. Friday morning it hit me. Duran Duran's Nowhere Girl. There's creepy forced laughter in the beginning of the song. It's EXACTLY how she sounds. I keep waiting for the echo and the bad hairdo to cue in after each breath. I don't think the laugh would bother me as much if it didn't sound so... forced. I understand that trying to fit in when you're a temp is tough, but fake laughter seems to push people away. Every time she laughs I can see 'Oh G-d, make her stop' expressions on the faces of my coworkers. I could be evil and tell her a really, really obnoxious joke and then leave the office... but I don't want to spend the last days at my job picking Temp flesh off of my desk. Not to mention I would totally lose any chance of a going away party. Fuck that shit. I'll have my party yet. *flips off lazy coworker*

Yesterday was trying to say the least. The lazy coworker decides to once again play the 'my phone went on Make Busy (meaning no calls can go through) on it's own'. After running some reports on the phone software I spoke with the phone IT guy who felt it wasn't a phone issue, but her placing herself on MB. To test this he asked if we could switch phones with someone who wasn't having that issue (namely anyone else). I offered to switch and went to tell my 'old' boss. She was in a pissy mood and snapped that she "Just wanted the reports. That's all. JUST the reports." I stomped out, grabbed the reports and put them on her desk. She countered my stomping by snatching the reports up and slapping them down in front of her. I attempted to explain the report, with her interrupting and saying "I underSTAND that' every other sentence. She then said it three times in a row and said she simply wanted "C" to explain why the phone went on MB. She even added, "I was there when it happened". When I responded with, "You were THERE? You were standing IN HER OFFICE and saw it go to MB?" Then she clarified in the most pissy voice she could that she called her and couldn't reach her because it was on MB. I wanted to scream. The answer she wanted would be impossible to give without having a video camera pointing in the cubicle at that very moment. Reports can only go so far. But of course she already knew that. Twit. I stormed out of the office, slowing down just long enough to yell out, "C, will you explain the reports to 'old boss'?". I didn't even wait for an answer. I went over to her boss's assistant. You know, the 'real' assistant. I blew off steam for a bit. She told me she couldn't believe I lasted so long. She's right. I have no idea why I stayed here this long. Yesterday's little fit was just a sampling of what I've been dealing with. Years of rude and inappropriate behavior. Every time she simply shrugs it off with a 'you know how I am' attitude. As if that makes it okay. It's my fault for allowing it to continue. I fully accept that. But I'll be damned if that behavior is going to fly with the next assistant, no matter HOW much they need the job. Minor annoyance: My old boss gives me an exit review. I wasn't thrilled to hear about THAT. So much for me storming back into her office and telling her off. *sigh* So now I wait for another three weeks before finding out if my last day is on the 30th or not. This weekend I'm going into hibernating.

So I was driving to work behind some POS Nissan Sentra who couldn't seem to gain enough speed to go faster than 58 mph... in the fast lane. I coped pretty damn well under the circumstances. After muttering to myself I started imagining myself in a very large Monster truck, simply stepping on the gas and smooshing his slow-assed car to bits. All that was left was a tiny square bouncing off of the freeway while his screaming face peers out (Okay, so the truck is also a trash compactor). Then I took a deep breath and simply imagined a giant boxing glove popping out from my car and gently hurling the car forward. My random daydreaming went on for a while, until the idiot decided to slam on their brakes when traffic approached. And by 'approached' I mean about half a mile away. We're not even talking stopped traffic either. A few brake lights, followed by steadily moving traffic. After yelling out a few "WTF!"s I imagined the hand of G-d simply coming down and flicking him off the face of the Earth. Because He'd totally do that. I am one of the Chosen People after all. *looks up and smiles meekly* Let's just hope He has a good sense of humor.

So one of my coworkers wants to apply for my position. She's a good worker... when she wants to be. But *most* of the time she talks to her family members either on the phone or when they stop by her desk and chat for twenty minutes. She's also the one that is easily swayed with gossip and bullies other employees. All those are doable... considering my boss would ride her like a Stallion and break her into a pony. The part that *really* bugs the shit out of me is that she has NO experience with Word, Excel, Access or PowerPoint. I've tried to show her things from time to time and she would have none of it. To be fair... none of them would. Why learn something when I could do it? The worst part is she's had to use Excel in the past. The other day she asked me about the position and I said it was report heavy. Her response, "Well you didn't know it when you started, right?" WTF!?! Why does everyone think I was a total moron when I started at my position. The *only* thing I wasn't used to doing was graphs. Even then I had done some. And when I was hired we had one or two major reports a month. Now I have a total of 32 reports to do every day. That's before I update all my weekly, monthly and quarterly reports. Then there are the reports I'm asked to do on the fly. considering she didn't know how to add a column or make a title, her learning curve is straight up. I don't mind teaching someone my duties... but I'll be damned if I'm going to teach them how to use the programs. Fuck that.

The twit, by the way, is me. After consulting with the letter G-ds (Cat and Jake) I finalized my official farewell letter and sent it off to let everyone know I was out of here. First glitch was the group email. Basically... It was wrong. After resending it the next morning Jake IMs me about the email forward I left. the first draft of the farewell email was a sample I found on the web. I deleted, changed and sent to Cat for review. What I didn't realize is the email linked part of the address from the sample, which wasn't even close to my work address. After pondering the idea of getting the email address I decided to recall the email and replace with a new one. I was halfway there and accidentally clicked off of the new email. Instead of canceling the recall it simply deleted without any replacement. That meant I had to see which of the twenty to thirty people opened the email before resending. FINALLY I resent the email to everyone and the responses started flowing in. Some had already heard through the gossip vine. Others were shocked but tickled pink that I was finally getting away from my boss. All wished me well and said they'd probably still be working with me in some form or fashion. Lovely... it's like a bad penny. One coworker saw the failed recall email (I hate that it shows that) and asked if that meant I wasn't leaving. I refrained from saying, "Not very fucking likely" and simply explained it was to try and correct an email error. Whatever.

Later on in the day I was told I needed to train one of the nurses to do my daily reports. I went through and counted how many different reports I did and it ended up being twenty seven. I thought the nurse was going to faint. I have yet to write out how to do the major report... and am not looking forward to it. Try explaining how to change Excel graphs imbedded into a Word document to someone who doesn't know how to change Margins. It's one thing to show someone how to do this when they understand Word and Excel... but I'll be damned if I'm going to teach someone the basics of a program so they'll fuck up the document and blame me for not teaching them right.

Since I worked so hard (Read: forwarded to Cat and Jake) on my farewell email that I thought I'd post it here for posterity.

Hello Everyone,

As some of you may know, I will be leaving my position at the [old department] sometime in the next month. I have accepted a newly-created position with the [new job department], and I want to take this opportunity to say goodbye to each of you.

I am deeply grateful to have worked with such a warm, wonderful group of individuals. I have immensely enjoyed working here, and I appreciate having had this opportunity to work alongside you.

During the past several years, each of you has provided me with support, encouragement and guidance. As a result, I feel I have grown immensely; both personally and professionally. I have shared a unique camaraderie with each of you, which I hope will continue in the future - even if I may no longer work with you directly.

I look forward to the challenges and personal growth that will come with my future position, though I will remember my time with the [old job] fondly.

I wish you the best of luck and an abundance of success in the future.

Please feel free to reach me via email at [CORRECT email here].

Warm regards,

Odessa

In other words: Laterz! LOL!

I don't know why, but I keep feeling like I have to whisper about my new job. I should be standing on my chair and shouting it to the heavens... but instead I've been pulling people aside and quietly letting them know. Part of me doesn't want to rub it in too much. There's going to be some problems right after I go... especially with those who never managed to get their work done and I picked up the slack (without telling the boss). Why start another fight that will end up being my fault? I'd rather just get the job done and have my reports ready on time. A quick fix that ultimately created a lazy attitude. I'm sure I'll be more vocal about my job as it nears. Right now I have to get my ass in gear and update report instructions, create other report instructions, and basically deal with my boss trying to follow the instructions. Yeah, that's going to be fun. NOT.

Or... as I sent to everyone on AIM: "I GOT THE FUCKING JOB!!!!!!! OMG!" I spent the day fretting about what to do. I haven't heard from the people who interviewed me and I was torn between contacting them or waiting. Half of my friends said to do it, the other half said to wait. After some goading from the 'DO IT' camp I shot off an email and held my breath. Within a minute the phone rang. They offered me the job and said they'd work with my boss on the end date. Formally it's one month. But they would understand if she needed me a bit longer. I agreed and we joked around a bit. I couldn't tell you anything she said after that. All I kept thinking was that they wanted me and I'm finally out of here. FINALLY. Now to write a formal resignation letter that doesn't have the words "Fuck you" anywhere in them. It's tougher than I thought...

Every time my phone rings my heart beats a little faster. Every time it's NOT the call I'm waiting for my heart aches a little more. My boss said when she asked if they knew when a decision would be made the answer was 'probably sometime this afternoon'. That was Monday. I realize that decision doesn't equal phone call... but then again maybe it does. I've slipped and told others about my possible new job, including the lazy coworker who I can't stand. If it falls through then I'll feel even more of a failure. My boss will probably be supportive for about an hour... then ride my ass like it's the World Series for Rodeos. I can also see her start the 'let's see what you're doing wrong so we (meaning she) can fix it. And by wrong I mean everything I do. And by fix it I mean critique everything from my style to my breathing. I called my friend this morning and she said I sounded like a nervous wreck. She's right. It's one thing to apply for a job and not get it. It's quite another for everyone to know you didn't get it. Especially since I would go from 'top candidate' to loser in the time it takes to make a courtesy phone call... or open a dear Jane letter. So now I'm left waiting and wanting to know, and that's the worst part. I want them to be sure I'm right for the position. I want them to have confidence that they chose the best person. As long as it's me....

I went through my cubicle yesterday and realized there's a whole lotta crap saved that I don't need. Everything from joke clippings to reminders of appointments... from 2001. I've started clearing out all the extra things that I haven't used in forever. Every once in a while I'll come across something I just can't part with... like my letter giving notice to my last position.

Working in the Operating Room was a blast. The hours sucked balls. I worked almost every weekend (13 days in a row then one day off... then six days in a row) and holidays. I worked 8 hours on the weekday, and 12 on the weekends/holidays. Seniority meant dick in that area. Then there was my boss. I trained her for the position and when she felt she knew enough (which she didn't) she started raining hell on all those who weren't on her good side. Eventually that included me. At my 10 year mark at UCLA I decided I needed a change. I wanted Monday through Friday hours. My dating was erratic and it was time to find someone special. It took me two years to find something I liked... and that was only with a friend suggesting it. By then I went from the OR's golden girl to a fuck up (in my boss's eyes). She wrote a less than stellar evaluation and I thought I was fucked. Luckily my current boss saw through the personal issue and gave me a chance. For that I will be forever grateful. When I told the higher up, a doctor who knew of all the crap and supported me privately (which didn't do shit when it came down to it) he said, "You know the OR will fall to it's knees, don't you?" I told him, "Yes, but maybe that's just what it needs". With that I wrote out my two week notice. A simple "My last day in this department will be" kinda thing. Nothing pleasant. No thank yous. More of a "fuck you" than anything. My new boss called and said "You're hired, but I need to talk to your current boss." No problem. I put her on hold and turned to the bitch and simply handed her the note, saying "My last day will be in two weeks. My new boss wants to speak with you. She's on line two." It was a burn that I felt good about. Regardless of how she treated me for the next two weeks... that day was awesome. I was given a goodbye cake that showed up on my desk and sat there... because hardly anyone knew. I left in tears... because I really did love my job. Two weeks after that my old boss was given two choices: Be demoted or fired. It took four people to do my job. Something I'm really proud of. I think I'll keep this letter... just because. *smiles*

Two weeks before my birthday I was joking around with a coworker. We were complaining about my boss and her behavior (apparently she has a reputation throughout the hospital). I shot off a 'so find me a job' comment and she fired back with 'I will'. I said I wasn't kidding and she said either was she. Two days later she said she knew about a position that would be 'perfect' for me, but needed to talk to the director about it. A few days after that she said she emailed the person in charge of the job. She said, "Here's the thing. Originally they said they had someone in mind already. The next morning they called me and said that if you were really interested to call or page them." I was so nervous I could scream. After freaking out to Cat and Jake I sent off a friendly email saying I'd love to talk to them about the position. Then I waited. And waited.My friend said the person got my email and 'nearly jumped out of her chair with excitement'. That's a good sign...

Friday, the day before my birthday, I got the call. Let's meet on Monday. Figures... the day I took off to take my car in. I happily agreed and the timeline started. Again I panicked and asked Cat, Jake and Pattie for help on my resume. I hadn't written one in almost ten years. I was beyond nervous. This was such a huge step for me and I had dick prepared for it. After several drafts I finally had one I was happy with... just in time for them to ask me if I had one. Thank goodness for the kindness of friends.

Monday came and I managed to get my car back just in time. It felt so good to be back at UCLA. I ran into a few people who recognized me and made my way up to the office. I was dressed to the nines. They ended up being in casual wear. Heh. The interview lasted over an hour and a half. They loved my resume (thank you Pattie, Cat and Jake!) and even said things like "You used the word 'problem solver' which I really like, so I'm going to use it here". I walked out feeling good. Nervous, but good. The job sounds like a dream come true. It's being created as we speak, so I'll set the rules instead of trying to follow rules that may or may not have been changed by previous people. The only not so cool part is that my hours will be until 7pm at first. Once they see if the workload is slow (or they are able to hire new people) I will be able to have an earlier shift. No more Assistant to anyone. Dude... That alone is a dream come true. The difference between being an assistant to someone and having a supervisor is like day and night. As in sucking balls VS having them slapped across your face.

After a week went by the process started rolling. I got a call saying "You're one of the top candidates" and they were going to call references. Last Friday I got the call saying I was "the TOP candidate", and we needed to speak to your boss. My heart started racing. My hands were shaking. They said to let them know when they could call her after I let her know. My boss came back from a meeting and I made my way into her office. People couldn't understand why I was so nervous. To me, it was like I was breaking up with her. We had spent almost ten years together. We had many bad times, but there were many good ones too. And this job really molded me. I changed so much from when I first started. Some good, some bad. I was pushed into a position that I didn't want for a person I didn't enjoy working with. I learned to create graphs (ha ha), different reports and help manage a department. There was a lot of responsibility placed on me and I was up to the task. But there were bad parts too. My friend Michi said my boss was breaking me. Making me feel as if I wasn't worthy of doing a good job. She's right. I felt like they wouldn't want me when in fact I should feel like I needed to decide if I wanted them. Twenty years experience is nothing to sneeze at. And it's twenty years of growing, not just showing up at the job. But my boss was good at making people feel like they were failing. Any choice was the wrong one. I needed to grow a pair and move up.

My meeting went well. She was happy for me and even shook my hand. She said that if she could find a job closer to home without losing a big chunk of her salary she'd do so in a minute. She also looked sad. It was like we were coming to the end of something and both having to deal with it in different ways. I explained that I wouldn't go until the new hospital was running (whenever the hell that is) and I would do reports for her from home when needed. She said she'd give me a glowing review and with that I walked out of her office, hands shaking and waiting to hear when they'd call. So now everyone is talking about my 'new job' and all I can say is that I won't call it that until they actually tell me I have it. For now I'm the 'top candidate'. For now....

Okay, I don't. But I totally need one. My current bag is old and boring. Meanwhile the ones I fell head over heels for are waaaay too expensive. I know there are knock off bags downtown that you can get for half the price, but the whole 'shopping' thing makes me queasy. You know... going out and dealing with a bunch of people trying on clothes that don't fit so other people can lie and say they look fabulous... just to get them out of the store. I don't know why I have such a negative feeling towards shopping in general. I swear it's borderline phobia. The thought of shoe shopping makes me want to lock myself into the house and barricade the windows. Online shopping is the best thing since sliced bread to me. No fuss. No obnoxious shoppers. No long lines. No kids running around. No annoying employees telling you something looks fabulous that you are busting out of. "Lime green tops and pink capris are in this year!" Not on this body they aren't.

I want details! I want descriptions! I want to fucking know every time they breathed. My friend, on the other hand, wants to summarize a VERY important conversation. She ended it with a "Don't worry. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be." Fuck that shit. I want to worry. I want to know. I want to panic. I want to fret and dissect the conversation for any innuendoes that may mean something but most likely mean absolute dick. Right now I feel like I'm going to burst and the only thing I can say is 'I'll let you all know soon... either way'. As it is I feel like the 'either way' is not going to be a happy one. *sigh*

I recently learned that someone I thought of as a friend was talking behind my back. Yeah, I know... junior high school shit. Still it hit me hard and I've been trying to deal with it. I really liked this person too. We post on the same forums (Sims related) so it's been hard for me to even enjoy the place.

Bullshit background: I like to thank people for their creations on the forums. I can't seem to create anything worth uploading and admire the hell out of those who try and succeed. I want to be supportive. I want to encourage new people to keep trying. Team player and all that... Most of the time they are objects I download for personal use. But there are quite a few that I thank without the download. It's not even a matter of quality. If I see something that I personally wouldn't use but think is absolutely adorable I want them to know. Why waste bandwidth to let someone know they did a good job? I never liked the 'It's not something I would use' comment. I don't see the need. The important part is that someone is sharing something they did and wants feedback. I'm more than happy to oblige. The mean person PMd a friend saying they basically didn't like me because of this. They felt it was pity posting or something like that. They also slammed my friend's work saying her friends only posted to be kind, and not because they liked her work. She posted about the conversation (minus the comment about me and the name of the person) because it really hurt her. Instead of just letting her vent and hearing what her friends had to say on the matter the mean person posted the PM (which was removed before I saw it) along with some very cruel comments about people who post without downloading. They left it with a 'I'd hate for them to come with me to buy pants' comment. This rubbed me raw. I felt like this was describing me to a tee. So much so that I deleted comments on creations of this person that I didn't download. Little did I know that they were talking about me.

The thread got out of hand and was locked. The person who was mean decided to pitch a hissy fit and delete ALL of their work and say they were only going to be on the main side (not the adult side). I was so appalled that someone would take creations from people who had nothing to do with the matter. It was so selfish. So childish. So... unlike the person I thought I knew. Then I was told about the PM. Ironically it was because the mean person accused my friend of telling me and she ended up having to tell me when asking if I knew. So now I was hurt and feeling humiliated. Worst of all, I felt like some sort of spammer. I didn't even want to post on threads. I felt like I was being judged. I went through my usual ask a billion people if I'm really that way and another person who I really liked said I kinda was. That made me feel even worse. Enough to want to leave.

A woman who I talk to a lot PMd me and I took a chance and told her about it (no names, etc..) Her response made me feel so much better. She reminded me of all the people who thanked me in posts and in PMs for being so kind and always saying something nice. One person called me an angel for making sure everyone had at least one post complimenting their work. My silly Moo was always supportive and then I got the PM I was dreading. I had asked a guy who I trusted to give me the truth. Brutal, but to the point. I half expected him to side with the mean person. Instead he sent a very detailed PM basically saying I was doing good for the community. That there is nothing wrong with thanking someone for their work, as long as you don't say you're downloading something that you aren't. I finally started to feel like the mean person was standing alone on this issue. If anything his comments hurt the community and it was better that he left. More importantly, I've seen him post on threads doing the same thing... so he was a hypocrite.

So now I'm trying to lick my wounds and join back in the fun. I figured it would be good to just get it out and be done with it. So there you are... the drama and it's closure. Except for when I bitch about the mean person... Cuz you know how I am. :p

Some days I wonder why I even come into work. Then I remember the bills.... A coworker comes up to me while I'm on the phone and says she'll come back. No problem. She pops by a while later, still on the phone. She says she'll come back. Do you see a pattern arising? She comes by AGAIN and I stop her from leaving. You know... because being on the phone isn't going to change. She announces that she's locked out of her computer and can't get in. Oy... I call the IT guy and he tells her to restart. I go back to my call. A while later she comes by to let me know she still can't get onto her computer. And by 'a while' I mean 'over an hour'. I contact the IT guy who tells her to restart and it's lather, rinse, repeat. So she comes up tell tell me that she has yet to get onto her computer and I ask her why she didn't tell me. 'You were busy'. WTF!?! I'm ALWAYS busy. I tell her to stick a note under my face if I'm on a call and she says, 'It's not that serious'. Oooookay. Cue the boss coming in late and finding out said coworker hasn't been able to sign onto her computer for two hours. Guess who's fault it is. I'll give you ONE guess. So yeah, I get the fucking riot act for not going over to her desk and standing there while she tried to sign onto her computer. The last I heard it's a password issue... otherwise known as a UE. Now I'm told the hard drive is going bad and it's still my fault that she didn't tell me she couldn't get in. Any rational person who's job solely relies on them being able to sign into the computer would raise hell if they couldn't get on. Yeah... welcome to UCLA. Home of the lazy. Meanwhile I'm working through lunch (as usual) and my boss said, "I could have kicked you out of your cubicle so she could have a spot, but I found other people." Gee, thanks. You're so kind.