Blogging out of Boredom (and a conscious effort to avoid TV)

My husband is watching what feels like the ten millionth US Presidential debate. He just can't seem to get enough, and what's worse - he wants me to care on a level deeper than my current, "Huh, there's a debate on this channel. I wonder what's on other channels?" There are few things that make my brain just switch off more than US Politics (or Canadian, for that matter). So, as he watches Hillary and Barack talk about things I really couldn't care less about, I blog and listen to my iPod to block out the incessant speaking and clapping.

I'm listening to Madeleine Peyroux. What a beautiful, tender, soulful voice she has. She sounds like a throwback to Billie Holiday, with a French twist. Love it.

Speaking of things that make my brain shut off, this afternoon I had to go with the hubby to meet with our new invester lady. It was quite possibly the most painful thing I've had to sit through since highschool math class. Honestly. I'm lucky that my husband is really interested in our finances. It gives me licence to avoid it all entirely. He wants to think about things like our net worth, principle, and other scary financial things. Right now, he's working out the finances for his business and, by default, our personal cashola. In essence, we had to put an ungodly amount of money in an RSP, transfer our individual pensions from previous employment into locked-in RSPs, and transfer an RSP my mom set up about a billion years ago for me. Blech.

The woman we met with is very obviously competant and knowlegeable, and just doesn't seem to understand that it's not that I'm not capable of understanding this stuff, it's that I JUST DON'T WANT TO. Please, PLEASE quit trying to explain the ins and outs of mutual funds. Please, I beg of you. Stop asking me to calculate my assets, and no matter how many times you ask me, I am not going to give you an answer to "how much return do you expect from your investments." She just wouldn't accept "I truly don't care - as long as it's not negative" for an answer. She expected a percentage, and I'm just not prepared to think about percentages on my few, blessed days of unemployment.

I'M ON VACATION. PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE TO THINK ABOUT INCONSEQUENTIAL THINGS. Like how bad a job my hairstylist did on my highlights yesterday and how I have to get them fixed elsewhere on Saturday.

Reflections on an anti-climactic last day

Yesterday was my last day at Job2 - the Insurance place. It feels weird... Somehow I don't feel like it's over - probably because my boss wasn't there to say goodbye or anything. I was supposed to go out for lunch with her, but her mom was really sick so she didn't come in to the office. So basically, I cleaned out my desk and chatted with my colleagues all day. That's it.

I went for lunch with the girls on Thursday, and on Friday the 2 male managers and two of the ladies took me out. But yesterday felt like a normal day, aside from the packing of my stuff. Chatting, bitching, drinking coffee, looking out the window - the usual.



Normally, when people leave the department, they get a card and everyone writes nice things in it. Not so much for me. The 3 girls got me a card, and it was super sweet. But the rest of the department - nada. I guess since my manager was away... still. It bit. Very anti-climactic. I should have made my last day Friday - the day I had my exit interview and farewell lunch with my favourite people.


And the VP hadn't said more than 'hi' to me for the whole 2 weeks after I resigned (well, except to thank me for the cupcakes I brought in one day). I passed her in the hall a few times yesterday and she didn't say a word. Then, last night, I recieved this email:

Daphne,

I cannot believe that I never had a chance to wish you well in your new career move. Boss2 and I had arranged for her to take you to lunch today as a gesture of gratitude for your efforts here. As you know Boss2's mother is gravely ill and she is not at work. I was very busy with meetings and, as you may also know, my EA has gone to hospital and is quite distracted with her own illness at this time. I certainly didn't mean for you to slip out the door without as much as a formal thank-you.

Please accept this as my feeble and, I am hoping, not-too-late note of thanks.

Please let me know that you received this. If I don't hear from you, I'll make a new and different effort.

Scary and Unapproachable VP
Insurance Hell

Better late than? No. Too little, too late. She had two weeks to say "hey, thanks for the past 10 months, and best of luck" but instead chose to ignore me as much as possible. She could have taken two seconds in the hallway yesterday, but didn't. I shouldn't be surprised, I guess.


The bitchy manager of the 'facebook status incident' didn't say a word to me yesterday. I won't miss her. I'm wondering how long I have to wait before I can block her on facebook without her noticing.


So long, Insurance Crap. I worked with some great people (some not so great). On one hand, I learned a lot. On the other hand, I succeeded in learning as little about insurance as possible. I will really miss some of my colleagues, but I'm definitely glad it's over. I'm ready for Job3.


Now, a few days of de-tox and daytime TV!

Update on the "the facebook status incident"

I showed the status to one of the managers who is actually a 'work-friend' of the evil woman's. Even he said 'wow, what a bitch!' when he saw it. He then went in to speak with her about it, and she altered her status slightly so it wasn't *totally* a Daphne-bash.

She then sent me this facebook message:

re: My Status...

Was not referring to you. It was referring to the recruitment process.
~She-bitch

To which I replied:

Glad to hear it. After hearing what you said very loudly to the MarketingManager on Tuesday to the effect of "I never thought she was that great anyway - I won't miss her," I'm sure you can understand why I took it personally.
~Daphne

"Them's fightin' words, Daphne!" said mutual-friend manager.
Damn right. I'm tired of the bullshit, and if I can't say what I think now, after I've already quit, well, when can I?

We haven't spoken since the incident. I don't miss her.

It's like bizarro world

So there's a potential new writer here doing a writing test.

I went on to Facebook, and saw this status update from the bitchiest manager:

She-Bitch is hoping we'll find someone who can actually write!!!!

Thanks so much. I hope you do too. And that he/she then quits because you're a cow.
I've saved a screenshot of that, and plan to take it to my exit interview. Just one more reason that this place is toxic. I almost want to go in and warn that poor guy, in there, writing away, oblivious to the bullshit... for now..


Another weird thing this morning. Ben, one of my old colleagues (one of the former Communicator's Corner here in Insurance Hell, who was unceremoniously laid off in October) messaged me to tell me he was contacted about my job opening - wondering if he was available still! He got an email from HR, and a phonecall! And the message said something like, "funny how things turn out sometimes... but anyway, wondering if you're available." Ben's answer was officially, "no, thank you," but to me he said, "HELL NO!" Why the hell is HR asking Ben to come back? There's no way my boss knew about that - no way in hell. I told the MediaManager about it and he's like, What? I wonder if Boss2 knows??

Bizarro world.

K. Off to mail off my signed offer letter. yay me :P

Everybody loves a Winner

I love the last two weeks at a job after quitting. I'm so relaxed. Two of my managers have absolutely dumped work on me (at Boss2's recommendation to 'suck all the work out of her that you can while she's here') but I just don't care. I'll get to it when I get to it, and there's nothing they can do about it. I'll work on it soon - but for now, I'm busy surfing on Etsy, so please don't interrupt me.

Our VP's EA is recuperating from surgery, and one of my colleagues asked me to go buy a basket and some cellophane to start a care package for her. So, this morning I took a field trip down to Winners (I will miss that when I change jobs) to find a basket. On the way, I found two pairs of really hot shoes and a sexy, Valentine's-y nightie... oh, and a basket, too. I just got paid to shoe shop.

I love the last two weeks.

HR should be booking my exit interview soon. I can't wait for that. There are so many things I feel I need to say - I owe it to those remaining. I need to tell them some of the many ways that this deparment is dysfunctional, for example:

• the Scary & Unapproachable VP (don't even think about walking into her office unannounced!)
• the EA who continually tells us we can't even think about getting pregnant (not that I want to be, but it's the principle that's appalling)
• the uber-bitchy Manager who has no tact and tries to sabotage all new employees
• even the President who routinely belittles people and makes them cry. Seriously. cry.
  
  Something needs to be said, or the next writer is going to be in the same spot, 10 months down the road (provided he/she hasn't been canned by then).

A sign of things to come

About an hour after I verbally accepted the position at thePublisher, I received the following email from my new boss. Now THIS is the type of environment I should be working in.

Hi Daphne … it was great chatting with you this morning and I'm really excited about you joining our team. I'm biased - but I think you've made an excellent choice. ThePublisher is truly a great place to work.

Odd question - do you have any food allergies/preferences? We tend to do lots of food-related celebrations within the team … and typically do bagels/cream cheese as a "welcome". I shouldn't mislead you - in our team, we take every opportunity to celebrate and what better way than to say "hello" to someone new! If I know ahead of time about allergies/preferences (i.e. vegetarian, lactose intolerant, etc.) I can be sure to get something that will agree with you. We'll also plan lunch out that week for the two of us to get to know each other a little better.

If you have any questions between now and the 25th, please let me know. I look forward to working with you.

~NewBoss

Equal Parts Truth and Bullshit

In an email to my brother

Hey!
Good news - I accepted the job at The Publisher yesterday morning, and then resigned when my boss came in. Sweet :)

Needless to say, the interview with the President last Monday went really well - really nice guy, down to earth. It should be a really cool position - and more challenging than I thought initially, since he told me he wants me to work with him on their communications strategy, and I'll be advising him, too. Pretty cool - such an adult job :)

My current boss took it really well, as did the other manager I was talking with about the media position here. So, all in all, everything went smoothly. And my new boss sent me an email telling me how excited she is to have me join her team, and asked if I have any dietary concerns at all because she'd like to have a welcome breakfast for me. --Now that's the kind of place I want to work :)