I lied

[eris esoteric]

eris esoteric said

Suddenly I'm feeling better about going into work on my night off because my coworker is ailing. Again. At least I have the possibility of getting a new coworker before the year is out.

The coworker has taken 6 days off this month. (Yes, six sick days before half the month is out. And yes, this is normal for her.)

I have accumulated 15 hours of overtime this month to compensate. The money's great, but the boyfriend's just going to fritter it away on silly things like Christmas presents for his family.

The one person I was really, really hoping would get the job has, at this point, failed the typing test twice. Downside of the union... the typing test is a REQUIREMENT, and therefore any applicant MUST pass it in order to be qualified. No matter how qualified they are otherwise.

The comptroller's vacation is coming up, and she is hesitating to hire anyone just before she leaves, as she is going to visit family in India and would really prefer not to be out of the country for the new hire's first two weeks.

Oh, yeah, and my parents, remember them? The nice lady with Alzheimer's and the cranky old guy with the hearing aids? Those folks? They've been bugging me to come visit, and I really, really want to, but I can't see getting away during the slowdown and I don't know what the comptroller is going to hire to work with me and how soon that person will be safe to be left alone while I'm in FRIKKEN UTAH, of all places, and I've TRIED suggesting that they come visit here, but those emails don't ever get answered and yeah, I should call them but godDAMN is it just me or are my arms getting longer?

*sigh*

[lynnzop[$]]

Sounds like the end is in sight for the "sick" co-worker.

Maybe AFTER the holidays would be better to see the 'rents.

[hadassahchana[$]]

Wow, Eris, I am so sorry you have to work in hell. Couldn't they at least buyt you a three-headed dog?

again.

[theworm[$]]

[pippadaisy[$]]

Eris, you cannot single-handedly take responsibility for everything. You are entitled to vacation and if the comptroller can't figure out that she needs to get someone NOW, that shouldn't be YOUR problem to deal with. It's hers. Do you see her rescheduling her time off to fix things?

Stop being nice. It's scaring me.

[eris esoteric]

Oh, and did I mention getting the letter from the state calling me for jury duty? I'm working on getting an exemption for someone else's health.

And I've already put the parents off for the holidays. I was hoping to slide in sometime in February, where the only thing really exciting is the Bar Exam. But now I'm starting to think THAT may not be doable. Of course, there's only so long I can put off taking time to go before it'll be time for NO MORE TIME OFF EVER again.

And I don't think it's that I'm working in hell. I've WORKED in hell. This is just FRUSTRATING.

I mean, the days off she takes are bad enough. And they're not always completely frivolous. But the woman just doesn't do the work, and doesn't know HOW to do the work, and every single time I've tried to reach out and help her, she runs to the comptroller and tells her I'm "being mean to her" and "picking on her disability." At this point, her biggest disability is her addiction to pain medication, and all the attendant joys that that brings, but never mind that. When I try to tell the comptroller that she's just not doing the work and isn't, at the level she's at even CAPABLE of doing the work, the comptroller tells me that nobody has complained to HER about the work the coworker is doing.

Which is a complete LIE, because the biddies in the accounting department HAVE complained to the comptroller, REPEATEDLY, but she tells THEM not to complain. So, the coworker's not doing any work, and I can't leave work undone so I do the work, and fine, so I'm doing to much work, OK, this is not new territory, but then with the absences the woman doesn't come in at all and it all just makes me want to scream.

And I'm trying, I'm trying really hard to be nice to her but she's driving me nuts and so I pretty much end up leaving her feeling like I think she's completely useless. Which is true, but it's not productive and I really don't see this ever ending and it just all gets so complicated that I end up thinking it's best I just don't talk to anyone at all.

And the thing of it is, I know it's all me. I think it was in The Mists of Avalon, Morgaine talks about trying to perceive the patterns of your life, and how everything is a cycle and that the things that keep coming back to you are the things that life is trying to tell you about yourself. And this is the thing that keeps on coming back to me.

I keep getting stuck in these relationships where I do the best I can but things are ghastly and I'm stuck, there's nowhere to go and I just have to live it out, and this keeps happening over and over in different ways, and for the love of god and all her furry little critters I live in a basement I work nights and my only friends besides the boyfriend are people I talk to online and I STILL CAN'T KEEP AVOIDING THESE GHASTLY RELATIONSHIPS.

*sigh*

I'm going to go play some video games that involve me running around the countryside with a very large axe, with which I chop things up. And the only thing that will make this better is being able to go into the game and edit the names of the potential choppees.

[eris esoteric]

Oh, and Pippa, no, I'm not going to get on the comptroller's case about her going on vacation. If nothing else, there's a REALLY good chance that the good twin might be the one to come back to the States this time. It's happened once or twice already.

[pippadaisy[$]]

See... all your problems can be solved in one fell swoop. YOU are the one covering the useless co-worker's ass. YOU go on vacation. Leave her being the ONLY one to get the work done, and see how long the comptroller lets things go.

She doesn't need to worry about replacing her, because SHE HAS YOU. See how that works? No you... she isn't going to want to do the work HERSELF, and voila. Problem solved.

Now go take vacation. Quit worrying about busy times. According to the comptroller, you have a capable co-worker. So no problems. See?

[eris esoteric]

No, Pippa. The coworker IS leaving. She's going to work downstairs. In the accounting department. With the biddies who all hate her. Getting rid of her today won't solve the problem, which is that THERE'S NO ONE BUT HER AND ME. I just need to keep her around just long enough to offer her up on a silver platter to the biddies (each of whom will EAT their own young. I kid you not.)

And "capable" or not, the fact of the matter is that she actually does have actual health problems and *hand/staple/forehead* just can't be blamed for the fact that she takes many, many days off.

The comptroller is *working* on hiring someone to replace her. But the process is just dragging on so long, I may not have a nerve left. Which would make for a GREAT time to go visit the parental units. Since they're going to drive me nuts, anyway. (Who else remembers the incident with the car that got stuck in the wet clay?)

[pippadaisy[$]]

ADA does not cover unlimited days off. And FMLA has a limit as well.

[Redlass]

What happens if you just stop doing her work so that people do complain? Of course, that could be rough on the guests and co-workers who get hit by the fallout, but would you feel better? Would they stop expecting you to cover for her?

and my only friends besides the boyfriend are people I talk to online and I STILL CAN'T KEEP AVOIDING THESE GHASTLY RELATIONSHIPS.

Ya know, I was going to object until I realized that despite living as close as we do to one another, we still only talk online. But hey, New Years is almost here.

[eris esoteric]

Honestly, at this point, covering for her is the least of my problems. Like I've said, she's leaving soon. At this point, it's the pouting when I just work around her and let her ramble around behind the front desk that gets on my nerves. It's like she expects me to start rewarding her for managing to drive into work without crashing her car, or for managing to process oxygen in her bloodstream and produce carbon dioxide. To me, it's just easier to do the work than to let her screw and have to fix things later. All the departments are strapped right now, front desk, reservations, accounting. Stuff needs to get done and I'm more than willing to do it. It's just the expectation that I need to pat the coworker on the back for being a good girl when she stays in the bosses office and doesn't screw anything up that drives me nuts.

[mtbat]

Eris, you would be perfect in Payroll you really should think about changing carreers, Oh payroll is just as crazy as the hotel, but with nice normal hours and a lot more money typically.

[eris esoteric]

mtbat said

but with nice normal hours

Somehow, changing careers in order to work around even MORE people just doesn't seem to be the move I wanna make right now...

[Helen_B[$]]

Kinda OT: This thing with patterns is interesting to watch, but only from outside. Someone I know keeps being hired for or promoted into jobs for which he isn't really qualified, for which he gets little or no on-the-job training, which he never refuses, and then he gets to try to save the day, flounder around, feel persecuted, and finally quit or get fired. Haven't heard how the latest one is working out, but it's just so curious. As a kid, he was the responsible adult in the family, where of course he tried really hard to fix things which were impossible for a team of social workers to fix, let alone a child. I think his secret (or maybe not so secret) wish is to be a superhero. But it's not happening.

[eris esoteric]

Maybe what I really need is a T-shirt that says "Go away so I can keep pretending to myself that I don't despise you."

And I don't know WHAT I'm trying to do. I think I've progressed, I'm no longer actively seeking staying around the people that I get into these weird loops with. Now I'm just at the point where circumstances keep me tied to these people longer than anyone would deem comfortable.

[eris esoteric]

*roll to detect trap*

OK, got a phone call from the comptroller.

She's hired someone. The wife of the auditor that the person that I replaced replaced.

She is putting the new auditor COMPLETELY under my control for training. When she starts, she starts at night, with me.

Does anybody smell anything?