Today I decided to start pushing my coworker to get her tuckus in gear so we could train on my reports. This has been an ongoing drama. Mind you, she promised to do this so I could go on vacation in return for me relieving her. After learning Friday that she didn't have access to the area needed I asked her to email the person listed for said access. this morning I asked if she received a response. After sifting through her various emails she said no. Fuck this shit. I got on the phone to call the person and was told they never received an email and to please resend. After hanging up she said she forgot to send it. *grumbles* A half hour later she STILL didn't send it. When the email finally went we received a response saying she should have access and to please try. Forty minutes later I said that if she didn't at least check I was going to pitch a fit. She said she'd check... but didn't have time to train. I stared. I opened my mouth. I just stood there. She didn't even read the detailed instructions (READ: six pages) that I wrote. After checking and giving me the thumbs up she added, "Don't worry if I don't do this right. It will be on me that I didn't do it and not you." WTF!?! I think my heart stopped for a moment. She said it as if she was ordering tea. I couldn't even respond. Apparently the work I do isn't important to her so she's ignoring the fact that I busted my ass to create it. Some people can just shrug things like this off, but I can't. When I use the numbers I want them to be right. I have the top brass reading them.

Later on she decided to do an admission to 'get used to it'. She ignored my instructions and didn't write down a damn thing. Again with the lack of consideration. Her desk is piled high with duties and none of them are done. At the end of the day I was so annoyed I said that my old boss taught me something very valuable (yes, she actually taught me good things). She taught me to speak up BEFORE I get overwhelmed so I can get help. That way I don't produce a bunch of half assed projects instead of some that I am proud of. I don't think she even got it. At 4pm she mentioned that we'd train tomorrow. You're damn right we will.

Today I reminded my coworker ONCE AGAIN that I need to train her on my reports. Excel might as well be Notepad with her so all my formulas are a waste. I'm dreading what I will come back to. I've had to explain how to cut and paste three times and that's just the beginning of my report data. As much as I dread it I need the vacation so bad I'm willing to risk a few days of fucked up data. In the end she's higher than me title wise so if she fucks it up they'll be looking at her over me. In the end I'm training on the report, not the programs used. I don't care how she gets the numbers. Hell... she can pop off her shoes and count fingers and toes for all I care. A week and a half of nothing to do with UCLA is all I ask. I plan on being low key and really enjoying my time with Jake.

Eight hours of discussing death, gossip and general discontent has made me a horrible person. In short... I'm fucking sick of hearing about it. The man who died is a wonderful person and deserves all the praise he is getting. It's the overkill that is making me want to jump onto my desk and scream at the top of my lungs, "FOR FUCK'S SAKE HE'S DEAD AND BURIED ALREADY. CAN WE NOT RELIVE IT EVERY FIVE MINUTES!?!?!?!?!" I've heard about who didn't pay their respects and various theories/guesses as to why. Who said inappropriate things and various theories/guesses as to why. What they should and shouldn't do for the memorial (they cut it down from THREE to one so far). Finally, what everyone should do for said memorial. She even went as far as saying the Christmas party should be held in his honor. He's Muslim.

I'm usually the most compassionate person. I can sit and listen to problems, worries and concerns for hours. I love to help and console people. my coworker's various family/friend deaths (three so far in the week) and the man who she was discussing has tipped my Care-O-Meter into the red. It got so bad I literally went into the bathroom for a breather. The calming sound of the air conditioner was a nice break from all the drama. At this point I'd take eight hours of James Blunt's Your Beautiful over this crap.

Edit: Strike that ONE memorial. The count is now officially TWO. *slams head into desk*

Today was "Annoy My Coworker Day". From the moment she stepped foot into the office she was telling me about some idiot who managed to harsh her mellow. I sat there stunned, as more calls came in and more idiots pissed her off. I feel for her, I really do... But I'd rather she be annoyed quietly. Nine hours of non stop bitching when it doesn't involve things that I can bitch about is taxing. All I could say was "I know!" or What an idiot!" or "Kill me now!". Oh wait... that last one was the thought going through my head the whole time.

While at work I got the notification that my Assassin's Creed 2 game was delivered. Oh really? I clicked on the tracking and the delivery said, "at the front door". WTH!?! So now I have to rush my ass home so no moron rips off my $60 game (with pre-order goodness). I knew I should have just picked it up. There. I complained.

This day is awesome. My coworker and I have been bitching about pretty much everything and everyone today. It's like we're in a battle to see who can be more annoyed at every little thing. So far she's wiping my ass all over the office. I'd be annoyed if it wasn't so humorous. She's usually not very frustrated so it's a treat to see her go off about all the stupid shit that she has to deal with. It's nice to know that I can look back on this day and say that for once I didn't own the bill for the Waaaaaambulance.

My biggest gripe was that guy who kept telling me I was going to get new job duties. Today he bitches about our doctors schedule not having the first initial so they would know who to page. Nevermind that they're supposed to page a specific pager so it doesn't mean shit WHO is on the schedule. I told him that I would take care of it and that was that. A few hours later he calls to tell me he complained to another doctor who is the liaison for our department. WTF!?! After asking him why the hell he bothered that doctor after I had told him that I was taking care of it he gave me some lame assed response that meant he basically wanted to whine. I told him, "Fine. Whatever. I have just finished updating the whole schedule so when he calls I'll let him know that you are calling multiple people about a non issue and it's taken care of. He'll be pleased, I'm sure". That went over about as well as him telling me that he went around me with an issue I was already working on. I spent the rest of the day being amused at his attempts to be snarky to me. I love my job, it's the UCLA employees I could do with out.

No, I'm not talking about blondes brainstorming. My coworker and I are battling for what temperature our office could be. After MONTHS of being frozen solid they finally came in to regulate our air. Now she's miserable and I'm enjoying being able to type without worrying about my fingers breaking off. I'm sure she'll find a way to have it changed back but in the meantime I am happy to have won the skirmish. My favorite part was when she told the guy that it's harder to be cooler and I can just wear warmer clothes. WTF!?! Why should I have to try and type with frozen hands and have my legs aching so she can be comfy? I piped in that what warmer clothes is one thing I can't type with gloves so that kinda defeats the purpose. I have doctors on both sides screaming about how cold their offices are and she wants to be comfy. Buy a bigger fan.

On Friday Jake and I got to see my family again. It was a blast. Di cooked a great meal and I loved chatting with them all. I think my favorite part of the night was seeing Tru ride Jake around piggy-back style. He loves my family and was just as happy to see them as I was. Yeppers... I have some cool relatives and their spouses are just as cool. It was hard to leave. Di said that we will get together sooner and I'm looking forward to that. :)

Yesterday my coworker came back from her meeting with some live vaccine of the swine flu (taken nasally) for the doctors to take. After talking about it needing to be refrigerated she turns and pops it into... wait for it... OUR refrigerator. Right. Next. To. My. Lunch. *blink* I did a quick "WTF" and started my protests. She agreed to at least put them into a bag. This morning the doctors shuffle in and she starts handing them out. They sit down, open the thing and use the vial. First, it drips out of their nose and onto the floor. Then the first doctor starts to toss the vial into my trash. MY trash. Fuck that noise. I scream out, "WAIT!!!!" and look at my coworker.

Me: "There's GOT to be a sharps container around here. No way is that something that should be discarded into the trash."
Her: "Oh. We don't. I don't see the prob..."
Me: "I do! It's dripping out. It's open. It's NOT sitting near me."
Her: "Okay, I'll place them into a cup and take them across the street."

The rest of the day was a battle between me being uncomfortable and her making me feel like it was no big deal. Food sitting next live viruses, sealed or not, creeps me out. It's not healthy, not sanitary and not appropriate. Anyway... At least I won the battle of the sharps container. *hoists flag up*

Job security is so important these days. If they can find a way to do with less they will. My reports were an ace in the hole for me. No one did them and no one wanted to do them. With the holidays coming up I emailed my boss to ask for time off. Her response was that those are highly sought after days but if I could cross train my coworker she'd say yes. Cross train. Great... first off, my report isn't easy to explain. If it were I'd have it written down and in a binder. There are so many 'off the book' checks to make it's a pain to even explain. My coworker insists that she doesn't like doing this sort of thing and my boss said we'd work perfectly together because I do the tasks they hate to do. Wait, what? I understand she was trying to sound like she's not going to take my job from me and all... but don't make me sound like I clean up the elephant shit at a Circus. I LIKE my job. I LIKE to do reports. Asshole...

This morning I get a call from this guy that I have to work with to get my patients admitted (IE: I can't tell to FOAD if I want my job to work). He announces that my job duties are going to change. Mind you, he doesn't even work in my department. When I ask what he means he responded, "I can't tell you". WTF!?! After asking again with the same answer I tell him that it's pretty mean to do something like this. Then I continue to politely press and he says it's coming from 'the higher ups'. Again with the vagueness. A moment later he starts to back peddle, saying it's a PROPOSAL from HIS 'higher up' (the woman that said my job was redundant on my first day on the job) and the proposal hasn't even been given to my big boss. In fact, it may not even be accepted. I was so annoyed. I dropped the subject and called my boss to find out what the deal was or if she even heard of it. Her response: "That's news to me!". After talking with her some more she added that the guy "didn't even know what my position entailed and that I didn't work for the same system" so he was basically just being a jerk. At the end she mentions having a meeting with them today and will call me by three with an update, which made it sound as if this phantom 'duty change' is still in play. I think what bothers me most is that I have been working pretty hard to make them happy and offering to help in any way to make my referrals go smoother. Having this guy announce that it's going to my big boss when I have no idea as to what it is makes me feel as if there may be something they are complaining about that they are not notifying me of. I would like to at the very least have first crack at working to fix whatever it is. Anyway... I paged my boss like she asked and have not heard back. This day is turning into a really sucky one.

Epilogue: So nothing was mentioned and he's full of shit. HAH! If it's a proposal in the future my boss assured me that the BBs stand behind me and if it's not going to be helpful to our patients they can go spit. *flexes*

It would seem my coworker has decided to listen to Michael Jackson music constantly since he died. On one hand it's better than the crappy top 40 hits from the 70s and 80s music she was humming along to before. On the other hand... I need some fucking variety. How many times can you listen to the same five songs?. I feel like I have a radio station on. NEVER DEVIATE FROM THE PLAY LIST!

Today was the day MJ was buried and a lot of people made money from it. A sad ending if you ask me. I clicked on CNN and thought I was redirected to MJ.com. Every article was about him. It's as if the world stopped. No deaths. No murders. No war. No news. While it's a wonderful thought... the reality is that it's just not the biggest selling news. Who wants to read about some random shooting when they can read about the step by step procession of random people who went to a memorial for a man they didn't even know? I grew up with Michael Jackson. I had a crush on him as a child and listened to his music while tapping my feet or dancing on the dance floor. His contribution to the music industry was deserving of a huge send off, but in reality it was a bitter sweet end to a man who gave his life to his fans... and in return they never gave him a moment of peace.

Anyway... I'm hoping a plane full of musicians hits turbulence and knocks them around so she'll start listening to other music.

The meeting ended up going very well, despite my new coworker trying to make it seem as if she had to convince me to be a team player. The fact that she repeated the same thing over five times made it even less likely that they would believe her. I explained my side and my boss actually gave a sigh of relief. It was a miscommunication and she agreed that it was a grey area. W000! The rest of the meeting centered on Ms. Bossy (my coworker's new nickname) and her duties. She would try to offer me up and they would explain that they are discussing HER duties and that mine are set. I was tickled pink. She did throw in that I didn't seem that busy, which I wanted to slap the shit out of her for. It's really none of her business WHAT I am doing. Then she mentioned me helping with part of her work and I tossed it back at her (politely). She needs to understand that our jobs are different and while they compliment each other I am not her bitch.

Earlier in the day Ms. Bossy told me that she was basically told she HAD to take the position. Ouch. They offered it up, she said no. They said wrong answer. She went from being a supervisor to a party of one. No wonder she was so gung-ho about telling me what to do. The next step is to walk carefully around her. No chit chat, no discussion about the job. *puts on face paint* It's war, baby. Okay, maybe not. But still... *puckers lips* I needed to freshen up.

The question is: what's happening with my job? After a HORRIBLE day yesterday in which the new coworker got my boss involved and made me sound like I was obstructive (not even asking me the details) I called my boss to find out what the hell is happening. The new gal said my job is changing, the protocols are changing and that she was in meetings pertaining to this. I was less than thrilled. My boss assured me it was simply a clarification but then said we HAVE to make this work. Personally I have no problem with working with her. My issue is that she seems to know more about what's happening with my job than I do. At first my boss was going to meet with us on Thursday. She emailed today to say it would be at 4pm. Luckily the new gal and I had talked for a while and hammered out some details. She emailed our boss to let her know all is well and that I was on board with the team. I was slightly miffed at that since I didn't think I was ever OFF board, but whatever. I think today will be important for two reasons. First it will clarify what is changing and what they'd like me to do. Secondly I will see if the new gal tries to make it sound as if she's the reason things are better and not that she totally missed my point and asked for clarification elsewhere without even letting me know. Even our boss said that she should have CCd me. yeah, thanks for that. I'm hoping the meeting will be positive and I'll walk away with my job. Beyond that... I can't wait for the weekend.

And the hits just keep on coming. Today was tiff number two with my new coworker. She went from saying that my protocol would change to saying she never said that. She also spoke about meetings and made them sound as if they happened recently only to clarify that it was before she came here. I am so sick of not knowing what the hell is going on but scared to death to clarify. I don't want to sound as if I'm not a team player. I don't want to seem as though I am hard to get along with. I just want to make a set of rules that everyone can be happy with.

The economy is so fucked that I don't have the slightest chance of starting over somewhere new. Even with my experience here it's not enough to get me into the door of some places. Hell, it's enough for them to close it. The pay scale is nothing like outside and to be hired in another area I'd still be middle to top of my rate. No one wants to start someone out there. *sigh*

The new coworker is... interesting. First we had a tiff over how to do admissions. Later on a doctor came into the office and we met about one of the newer duties I have. After 10 minutes she jumps in and says that she will be taking that over. News to me. So here I am, looking like an ass and wondering why I spent ten minutes working out details on a duty I'm not even doing. After I did a half-assed recovery statement the doctor left with a confused look on his face. Way to go... Then she turns to me and announces that she's not here to take my job. She goes from dismissing Mr. Nosy because she needs clarification about her duties to confirming what part of her duties are (when it makes me look bad) and then assuring me she's not going to do mine. She will supposedly find out her duties by Friday. This should be interesting. She's not that bad to work with, I just wish we'd have some true clarification on who does what so I can get on with not worrying about my job every day.

I signed up for a contest this week with other XBL people. The most gamer points gained in a week. I know that I'll lose but it will be fun to try. One game I WON'T be getting the score with: Wolverine. Killing Deadpool on Hard Mode has been kicking my ass all weekend. Saturday night I stayed up until 3am just trying to wind down after not being able to get that last achievement. It's not even about the score. It's about me doing something all the way through. This morning I almost had him too. I decided to stop and not try again. I can't imagine going to work that pissed off. Especially about a game.