So work has sucked lately. Don't worry, this isn't going to be an entry when I gripe all the time. Quite the opposite. I'm just saying that it hasn't been that great. I have a boss that doesn't know how to utilize me properly, or really know how to manage. There are two coworkers of mine that, although students, have been around since before my boss has been there. They have their own projects, do their own thing, and that's fine. In short, they are able to work independently and function like a professional--my boss has never had to manage them. Then there are two part-time office workers. Recent hires. Kind of gofers. They are assigned office tasks, complete them, and move on. My boss, apparently, believes that that is also my role here. Except, I was hired due to my 3 years of community service work, and my 3 combined years of managerial experience---I was hired specifically to not be a person to simply complete tasks, but to manage myself, and work to expand my office's capacities. In fact a VISTA's job description specifically says "expand capacities."
But even if she is going to try to run me as a worker bee, she would have to give me tasks, right? Nope, that's not the case either.
A sample conversation:
Me: Stef. All of my projects are done. My next big project I can't work on until mid-November. What do you believe this office needs that I can work towards improving.
Stef: I have so much work I don't know what to do. I'm so busy that I can't give you any guidance or work to do, because that would take too much time. (This was actually said).
So needless to say I haven't been happy. I'm used to being in charge, not having to justify my ability to work independently, and with a supportive staff around me. When this is removed, I get grumpy. But then this week occured.
While my problems with my boss haven't disappeared, this week has been crazy awesome.
Tuesday. I wake up an hour early to go to a meeting at 8 am (an hour before I'm usually at work), at which I sit for 2 hours in a most uncomfortable chair, choking down stale coffee that had to have been made with what I can only guess was sea turtle feces. This was OK though. I was there for a reason. I had a purpose. I was going to present my plan for the city to reduce their landfill waste by 40%, and then watch as it was shot down simultaneously by the 11 members of the Charleston Green Committee, and all the representatives of the County Green Ribbon Committee. What plan am I speaking of? See the post before this one.
But what happened? I met a representative from the county waste management. She is completely for my plan, and we are meeting to discuss how to proceed with it. Furthermore, she told me that while most of the county is actually against any such proposal, their balls are in the metaphorical vice. The landfills are full, the incinerator is, let's face it, a dying technology, building new landfills is going to be expensive and politically infeasible, and--most excitingly--the EPA has contracted with Charleston to use them as one of 10 test cities to install a "Cost to Toss" initiative on waste management. In other words, my plan is going to look a whole hell of a lot better than the alternatives. Also I may have found funding for a student's $350,000 project to get an on-sight composter.
Pumped from this meeting I gathered all my information and sent it to my beautiful pledge wife Bel, who is in charge of the Boiler Green Initiative. They are now looking into implementing something at Purdue. THEN I placed all of my research on scribd.com, which I'm in love with, and after 2 days I already had just shy of 100 views. I've created my own little composting clearing house.
So that day was enough to make my week, but God said "NO! You shall have more!"
Today I go to this meeting with a man named Mark Bryan. He wants the college's help in expanding this after school music program for disadvantaged kids. Turns out Mark Bryan is the lead guitarist for Hootie and the Blowfish. I don't care if its not 1997 anymore. It was sweet.
Finally I get to dogsit this weekend. That means more cash for me (always welcome when you make 3.50 an hour), and I finally have an awesome dog in the house. Funny enough, each dog is approximately exponentially larger than the dog before her. Mine is the biggest. The dog's awesomeness follows the exact same scale. Which means my dog is 16 times more awesome than the smallest dog in my house.
Life is good.
P.S. More on scribd. So if I wanted to back up my important files I would first save all my pictures, followed by all my documents. Finally my home videos and then maybe some install files. People pay for a monthly subscription to server companies to be able to back up these files. With scribd and picassa, why would you ever do that?
P.P.S. I bought a scale last week. I've lost 13 pounds since I moved here. Poverty rocks!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment