Time for Another Leap

When my company hired a VP of Engineering recently, I was hopeful. My previous boss, whom I like very much as a person, is not a very good manager. This new person started and I was pleased. I thought, "Finally! We'll make some forward progress!" The developers were optimistic, I was optimisitc, the QA people were optimistic.

But then I started to get a weird vibe. He didn't seem to get my part-time schedule at all - and kept pushing against it. Why wouldn't I be in on Wednesday? Explain it again.

I just kept at my work, kept up the communication efforts, kept doing what needed to be done and looking for additional ways to contribute. Like usual. But also like usual, my kids and my family came first. There were a couple days I needed to shoot out right at my ending time, and I made no apologies for that.

This VP is rather a youngster. Early 30s. Smart - well, book smart, I guess. Wife stays at home with small children. Email at all hours. Etc. We are clearly at vastly different points in our lives.

This afternoon he called me in before I left (earlier than usual, admittedly, as hubby is on a bad work schedule, but I worked all this out with management over two years ago when I started the job) and told me that I needed to go full-time, every single day in the office during "normal" hours, 8-5:30. Or transition out of the company.

He then handed me a piece of paper with what he thought was the job description. Most of it was what I do already. Under "Qualifications" it read, "Two years previous experience."

Two. 2. Dos.

Um....if he thinks he could get some person with two years of experience in here to do what I do, he is out of his mind. He would lose the better part of a year of productivity for this person to come up to speed on the product, the technology, how the company works, and so on.

So. Looks like I'll be transitioning out of the company. I may mount some kind of a defense when I am next in the office, but I doubt it will do anything. He seems to have made up his mind long since. I'll try to negotiate a real transition and severance. Then I'll be looking to leap elsewhere.

But to where, or what, I don't know.

Suggestions?

In Case You Think I've Been Exaggerating

I've mentioned my sister numerous times in many contexts. She is 13 years older than me chonologically, but otherwise...well, have I mentioned the time she bit me? She had just turned 40.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, on Facebook, she fanned some ultra-conservative politician, or maybe Gl*nn B*ck or some other freak. As usual, I said nothing about this. I never do because, well, my sister just isn't worth the effort. However, one of her college friends made some comment about it, basically expressing dismay. My sister responded that she liked to do that specifically to piss me off. I said nothing, but went back a couple hours later and tried to take a screen shot of it because I was rather stunned at the immaturity of a 55 year old, even this one that I know to be so immature - but she'd deleted the exchange.

Today this came up:



Just so you know I'm not exaggerating when I talk about my sister. She lives a pretty sad life if this is what gets her going. It's hard to be a part of it, and I wouldn't be except for my nephews, whom I love dearly. (And whom does the oldest call when he needs emotional support? Hint: Not his mother.)

I'm totally dreading that drip in August. I'm doing it for my Mom and for my kids, I tell myself. And after 10 days, I will get to leave and come home to my own life, 3000 glorious miles away.

Good Things

This spring in spring soccer, C's team was pretty good. Like last year, they did not have any losses in their regular season (but blew it in the first game of the playoffs). Unlike last year, C did not break his arm. Phew, phew, and phew on that one as sailing season has started and he's trying to position himself for the high school team.

Many of the same kids were on the team this year, but there were some new ones, too, including a boy who has cerebral palsy. T could not run as fast as the other kids, could not pass with the same quickness, but never expected to be treated any differently. He never, ever gave up in any game. He'd get knocked down, and get right back up. No whining, just kept going. I could learn some things from that kid.

In spite of his perseverance and determination, T did not have a goal during the season. He wanted one, and the other boys knew that. The other boys decided it needed to be a team effort. They didn't make a fuss about it, didn't talk about it, just decided to do it. In the last half of the last game of the regular season, up by just one, the rest of the team worked their butts off to try to get T a goal. They covered and passed, and gave up chances to score themselves. The played hard defense on the other end of the field to get it back down to T as quickly and as often as possible. The whole team wanted T to have a goal. By the end of the game as the parents realized what was going on, the whole field wanted T to have that goal - but the other team also seemed to know that the boys *didn't* want them to just give T a goal. Know what I mean? There was some hard play going on out there. Nobody was giving up.

Alas, it was not to be. It was an exciting, heartwarming and heart breaking 30 minutes of adolescent soccer. T did not get a goal in the end - but it felt like the team got so much more than a mark in the win column that day.

Some Things Never Change

We're going out west in August. The kids haven't been out in 3 years, and although I saw my sister and mother in March, it was very brief, and I haven't seen my brother, a couple nephews and my niece in that time.

So...we make an effort to go out when we know they will all be there. We're flying cross country, at rather significant expense, and what's the response?

"I don't know what our schedule is like. Hopefully we'll be able to see you, but I just don't know."

WTF?