"Thirty Days Hath September..."
So, September. Yeah.
What can I say about September? As I claw my way out of the pits of depression, I'm trying to recall if it the pluses outweigh the minuses.
Well, there was some good to be had - I began working from home again and my compensation changed from hourly to performance based. A mixed blessing, really - I can earn more when I push myself, but if there is an internet/hardware failure, I'm SOL. Still, I can decide my own hours (within reason) and I'm much more relaxed working from my home office/bedroom.
I've been shifted laterally within the company - same procedures on my end, but just working with a different product. As a bonus, I'm no longer under the management of the Dingbat.
I don't believe I've mentioned the Dingbat here. I have never and will never call her that to her face, but it is how I refer to her in my head. The Dingbat was my manager for about 4-5 weeks. She's a nice person (And yes, I do use that phrase when I have nothing better to say about someone) but she's really not cut out for a managerial position quite yet.
The Dingbat is the kind of person who tells me to do something then tells me not to do it the next day. On one memorable occasion, she responded to an hourly report e-mail asking for the report she had just responded to. Despite having worked the same position as I do, I don't believe she understands the system, so it can be difficult to get her to acknowledge when there's a problem with the system.
Case in point - my most recent paychecks. The last two weeks I worked in the office, we switched from the usual timeclock to a browser based system which requires us to click a link every ten minutes. It's annoying, all the more so since it is fundamentally broken! Oh, it works just fine for the customer service folks, it's been pointed out, but they have different duties. For us, there's a routine which requires us to clear our cookies several times a day. Unless you log out and log back in to the system every time you clear your cookies, your time is not recorded properly. The real kicker is that it still looks like you're logged in properly. So while I worked a 30+ hour week, I was only paid for about 18 hours. :o
I'm pretty sure the Dingbat didn't quite comprehend this fact when I tried to tell her - the reply to me was basically "Oh, gee, there's nothing I can do." Maybe that's true. Maybe her hands really are tied. Or maybe she just deserves her private nickname.
My lateral move brought me back under the management of the guy who hired me, N. His response when I brought up the issue on Friday: "I can't do anything for you today but send me all your reports from that time period - and cc the Big Boss as well. We'll work this out."
It's a bit of hope, even though I'm not holding my breath. (My first work from home check was also short. N's was too, so he has a personal stake in getting things fixed.)
And I was so looking forward to having my head above water at the end of this month. *sigh*
Okay, so September '09 might not rank high in the favorite months of my life, but I'm looking forward to October.
Edit: Also? I've completely f'ed up my schedule for the 3D Ghostbusters project. Hopefully I'll be able to put myself together soon and get back into the groove.
What can I say about September? As I claw my way out of the pits of depression, I'm trying to recall if it the pluses outweigh the minuses.
Well, there was some good to be had - I began working from home again and my compensation changed from hourly to performance based. A mixed blessing, really - I can earn more when I push myself, but if there is an internet/hardware failure, I'm SOL. Still, I can decide my own hours (within reason) and I'm much more relaxed working from my home office/bedroom.
I've been shifted laterally within the company - same procedures on my end, but just working with a different product. As a bonus, I'm no longer under the management of the Dingbat.
I don't believe I've mentioned the Dingbat here. I have never and will never call her that to her face, but it is how I refer to her in my head. The Dingbat was my manager for about 4-5 weeks. She's a nice person (And yes, I do use that phrase when I have nothing better to say about someone) but she's really not cut out for a managerial position quite yet.
The Dingbat is the kind of person who tells me to do something then tells me not to do it the next day. On one memorable occasion, she responded to an hourly report e-mail asking for the report she had just responded to. Despite having worked the same position as I do, I don't believe she understands the system, so it can be difficult to get her to acknowledge when there's a problem with the system.
Case in point - my most recent paychecks. The last two weeks I worked in the office, we switched from the usual timeclock to a browser based system which requires us to click a link every ten minutes. It's annoying, all the more so since it is fundamentally broken! Oh, it works just fine for the customer service folks, it's been pointed out, but they have different duties. For us, there's a routine which requires us to clear our cookies several times a day. Unless you log out and log back in to the system every time you clear your cookies, your time is not recorded properly. The real kicker is that it still looks like you're logged in properly. So while I worked a 30+ hour week, I was only paid for about 18 hours. :o
I'm pretty sure the Dingbat didn't quite comprehend this fact when I tried to tell her - the reply to me was basically "Oh, gee, there's nothing I can do." Maybe that's true. Maybe her hands really are tied. Or maybe she just deserves her private nickname.
My lateral move brought me back under the management of the guy who hired me, N. His response when I brought up the issue on Friday: "I can't do anything for you today but send me all your reports from that time period - and cc the Big Boss as well. We'll work this out."
It's a bit of hope, even though I'm not holding my breath. (My first work from home check was also short. N's was too, so he has a personal stake in getting things fixed.)
And I was so looking forward to having my head above water at the end of this month. *sigh*
Okay, so September '09 might not rank high in the favorite months of my life, but I'm looking forward to October.
Edit: Also? I've completely f'ed up my schedule for the 3D Ghostbusters project. Hopefully I'll be able to put myself together soon and get back into the groove.