Today is a two-fer. This isn’t really a Sunday Seven, but it has 7 items.
Disasters
- The East Coast earthquake. I’m so glad I was at home. The traffic that evening was horrendous. One cup from an antique(ish) Japanese (almost Nippon) chocolate set broke. And the cat’s water dish slopped over. Honestly, this was unlike any earthquake I’d ever been through (went through a couple [one major] while stationed in Italy, but wasn’t this close to the epicenter). Actually, as the quake progressed, I became more frightened than when the steel rod smashed through my car window.
HurricaneTropical Storm Irene: I prepared for a power outage by loading books to my iPod and Nook. And made sure they were charged. Last night I watched an episode of Wallander on dvd (the one with Kenneth Branaugh). I’m not sure I’ll watch any more. They’re pretty depressing, and that’s the last thing I need right now. (See Disaster #3 below). The power went out sometime in the night. So I slept late this morning. I was playing with the Nook when it came back on before noon today. Pretty lucky! But then, it wasn’t all that bad here. The sun is out now.- Remember the person I fired? Well, in an effort to call her on her shit, she has accused me of hitting her. (No, I didn’t. I just caught her doing something I told her not to do, and scolded her.) Our stories are so different, but she has a history of lying. As I was writing up previous incidents for letters of counseling (before the accusation occurred), I realized she must have some mental problems to be so angry and vindictive for so long; and she has now transferred her bile from her previous supervisor to me. The unfortunate thing is, she has convinced others that I am an abusive person, and a young impressionable fellow with whom I’d had a good relationship has filed a complaint about something that happened last year. And she continues to “hold court” with the other workers, vilifying me. My boss recommended I file a formal complaint for defamation of character. I may actually do so. OH! And I just realized this morning that when I’d talked with the team she’d been on, they didn’t want to have any accusations of her behavior attributed to them. Now I know what they were afraid of.
Given all that crap, my reputation may be in the toilet. I therefore need to make plans. The good news is I’m now eligible to retire. The bad news is I can’t really afford to. So, here are some alternate plans.
- Stay at work until next January or June, but ask to be reassigned. My reputation with leadership has been pretty good, but I’m not sure how this incident will color their perceptions. In other words, I don’t trust the system.
- Brush up my resume and try to get hired by a government contractor (aka “Beltway Bandit”). One person is already interested in me, but doesn’t have the contract yet.
- Take tax accounting courses and do taxes for 4½ months of the year.
- Work as a doggie day-care provider for PetSmart. (This is my favorite, but I have no idea what the pay is.)
I guess I need to just remind myself constantly that I have done nothing wrong. Even if the worst outcome happens, I’ll know in my heart I was right.
I’ve been following the reports about
hurricanetropical storm Irene on the news: I’m happy the hurricane became a tropical storm before doing any more damage. However, I’m glad I have no first-hand experience of a hurricane/tropical storm and hope I’ll never have it.As for the person you fired, I’d take your boss’s advice and file a formal complaint for defamation of character: it is a matter of protecting your reputation and sending her the message that she can’t go on unfairly vilifying people and expect them not to respond. Anyway, I can understand how you are considering the options you have, in case you decide to leave your present job, as unless you can get her reassigned (or have her decided to ask to be reassigned), you might not feel very much at ease where you are now.
I have a friend who works as a pet sitter: business was slow at the beginning, but then it boomed.
I’m doing ok, work-wise. The beyotch is on extended leave, so things are ok for now. My biggest concern was that the leadership would take her side (even though she’s already proven to be a trouble-maker). We’ll see what happens when she returns to work.
So being a trouble-maker pays? What I saw happening with trouble-makers the leadership wants to get rid of but do not want to fire to avoid being sued is that the leadership tries to make life unbearable for them (e.g., by having them do the lowest end or most boring jobs) so that they make the decision to leave.
Glad to hear all the nasty weather and stuff left you unscathed. I was wondering how you were doing.
So all your retirement/semi-retirement plans involve staying where you are, then? Don’t forget it’s a hell of a lot cheaper to live here in Iowa.
I’m ok. Turns out right after the storm, I lost internet service. I was too tired and my legs too sore after work to tackle the tangle of wires behind my computer. (In fact, I didn’t turn on the computer most evenings.) But I took today off (Friday before Labor Day) and when I came back from getting my car’s new software installed (!!) I cleaned out the wires and got the modem restored. Oh, I did show the guys at the dealership (the guy sold me the car now works in service) the video of the rod. They were duly impressed.
Oh, I’m definitely going to move, and probably to your neck of the woods. (Nothing else is calling my name like Clear Lake. And who knows, maybe even Mason City.)
But I have a lot of work I have to do on the condo before I can put it on the market. So it’ll be a couple years.