World's Dumbest Employees.

You've heard of the television show World's Dumbest Criminals, right? Well, yesterday I could have been on the show World's Dumbest Employees.

It all started with a rocky Monday, followed by an email received Tuesday morning that sent me over the edge in terms of anger towards and complete dislike of my job (not the job itself, but rather certain individuals who have the innate ability to suck any and all joy out of the work environment).  Having contemplated looking for alternate employment for quite some time, I finally decided to take the plunge.  In addition to searching for open positions at several universities out of state, I applied to four positions posted on the human resources website for the university at which I currently work.

My intentions were never to keep my job search a complete secret from my boss, but rather to wait and see if I landed any job interviews before discussing the matter with him.  I saw no need to rock the boat and jeopardize what little comfort I have by prematurely announcing my hopefully impending resignation.  As fate would have it, however, the public announcement of my job search would not occur at my own discretion. 

(Can you see where this is heading?)

Thursday afternoon, a graduate student from another laboratory randomly said to me, "Oh yeah, you applied to a position that was posted by [your boss]."  I can just imagine what the look on my face must have been.  Color drained, an expression of utter disbelief followed by an unspoken plea for mercy.  Least to say, the next time I crossed paths with my boss, he told me to stop by his office before I left for the day.  Talk about AWKWARD.

Lesson learned?  When searching for a new job, only apply to listings that are clearly in no way even remotely related to my current position.  In other words, don't be such a dumbass.

Un-Snow Day, Take Two

Apparently, our society is one that rewards the lazy and unmotivated, while those that actually care and try get screwed.

Okay, so maybe I am blowing this just a bit out of proportion, but I am miffed/ticked/pissed off. Today at work, we received an email detailing how we should record our time for Wednesday when the campus was closed due to the adverse weather conditions. Individuals who were scheduled to work, but did not make it into work that day, get to claim their hours on their timesheet under the code WTHR. People like me, however, who actually showed up and worked MORE than their eight hour shift, do not get to claim any time using this code. Basically, if I had given in to my desire to say screw it and call in, I would have gotten a paid day off; but because I was one of the few dedicated workers who actually showed up that day, I am to receive no compensation. (Keep in mind, I had no choice but to show up - we have months worth of data that relies on certain things being done each day).

I know I am whining, but I needed to take a minute to complain.

On a completely different note, can I just say how proud I am of my oldest nephew, who is seeded third for wrestling sectionals tomorrow? :-)

Un-Snow Day.

Normally, I love my job. (Well, except for one tiny part, which in reality is not all that tiny.)

Today, not so much.

Working at a university has a lot of GREAT benefits, not the least of which are vacation time, sick time, nine paid holidays each year, and dirt cheap dental and health insurance. However, my position as a research technician, while affording me all of these great benefits, has one major drawback - it doesn't matter what day of the week it is, whether or not it is a holiday, or if campus is closed due to a winter storm - I still have to go to work.

Research must go on.

As I was getting ready to get in the shower this morning, my phone started ringing. Having woken up with a severe headache, I grumbled as I went to see who was text messaging/calling me at such an ungodly hour. I opened my phone to see a message from the university saying campus is closed and classes are canceled due to adverse weather. "That's great," I yelled at my phone, "but I still have to [insert expletive here] go to work!"

Which is unfortunate, because I really could have used a snow day.

The Fool Who Ripped Her Pants

Yesterday at work, I was weighing rats when one of them started to jump out of my hand. Instinctively, I went into a squat as I tried to catch the rat and keep it from falling to the floor. Unfortunately when I did this, I heard a distinct ripping sound. Thankfully, it happened near the end of my workday, and the tear was along the back pocket of my jeans, so it wasn't terribly noticeable. However, the pair of jeans I was wearing were one of two pairs I have that actually fit me, so now I am down to one pair of jeans. :-(