Screw You, Voldemort* and Your Work!

Nina was having problems doing Jennifer's reports. So, when Jennifer peeked out of her office, she told Nina, "Let Ronnie do it."

What the ... ? What do you think I am, Jennifer, your freakin' assistant? I didn't say that out loud, of course. Unfortunately, Nina bore the brunt of my ire.

When she approached me, I told Nina that I couldn't help her with my problem because, first of all, I didn't make the report she was working on. Second, I had had it up to here with Jennifer's projects. She simply had no respect to who you were or what you were doing. She wanted you to drop everything pronto because she had work for you to do. No ifs, whens or buts.

And being the good boy that I was, I still ended up helping Nina although I said "Crap!" when she mentioned that Jennifer had something for me to do. Hey, it was past 4 p.m. and I wanted to go home on time like always.

___________________
* That's the name Belinda and Courtney gave to Jennifer when they're pissed with her.

Tough Day

I thought Tuesday was another ordinary day. Well, not quite.

Jennifer came with some work: hers! I didn't know exactly what she wanted me to do with her report; but she said that since I was smart, I could figure it out myself. It was a bad thing because I had no idea what she was talking about. She started some charts on PowerPoint and wanted me to fill in the blanks and finish them for her.

After a few attempts in guessing what she would like me to do with her report, I finally got it right. By then, it was almost 8 p.m. Save for Jennifer, I was the last person to leave the company (only Julita left early last night and that was around 6 p.m.).

Jennifer's brand of leadership and micromanagement only strengthened my resolve to look for another job.

By the way, Philip, our CEO worldwide, dropped by to discuss how the company was doing internationally. It sounded like we did well last year, but it was only a small growth, thanks to our Florida office who messed up big time. I didn't know the specifics, but, according to Philip, they sucked.

LBM

I didn't report for work yesterday because of LBM: loose bowel movement and looking for better management.

My breakfast of smoked-pacific-salmon-flavoured cream-cheese sandwich didn't sit well with me — and I had an informational interview with a staffing firm early in the morning. Fortunately, my tummy stopped acting up before I went for my meeting.

I thought the meeting with the headhunter went well. Farisha was very helpful, but she asked that I send additional job samples because she found the earlier ones I sent were just okay.

Her client, a supplier of concrete construction forms and accessories, was looking for a communications specialist/marketing copywriter, and she thought that I was suitable for the job. But that all depends on the client. If they would give me a shot at the position, then well and good. If not, then there are other fish in the sea.

Regarding work here in the office, nothing was happening again.

Panic in the Office

For a while there, I thought I was going to be laid off.

Jennifer wanted to talk to me about work, but she didn't provide any specifics. It was highly unusual of her to discuss client matters with me. Of course, the idea of Ryan getting laid off at the end of the day after talking to her crossed my mind. Panic set in.

I consulted Belinda about this and she said that Jennifer might be lying. This added more fuel to the flame.

So, instead of mentally torturing myself, I talked to Wendy, my supervisor, and told her how and what I felt. She assured me that she would know and tell me if ever I would get the boot just like in Deb's case. Thus far, she hadn't heard a thing.

I'm safe — for now.

For Now, It Looks Like Work Is Picking Up

As of this writing, it does look that way: five hours of client-chargeable time today, which is an hour longer than Tuesday (yesterday) and 2¼ longer than Monday.

Yesterday, I was compelled to stay a half hour late because I needed to finish checking the printer proofs of a product brochure that came in English, French and Chinese. Before that, there were English and French reprints of last year's store-opening fliers. Belinda thought that this was a piece of cake, but a lot has changed since 2007.

Today, the bulk of my workload came from proofing French online banners — all 32 of them! This was good for 3½ hours of work.

Back to Square One

I've learned my lesson well from my last lay-off.

Two months before I got the boot in October 2006, I said to myself that I wouldn't survive another round of lay-offs. I didn't take any action, not even looked for another job while I still had one. What was I thinking? I knew right then that no amount of loyalty would save me from impending unemployment. Eventually, I ended up going to the Employment Office and applying for unemployment benefits.

This time, I'm looking out for No. 1, even though it means going back to square one: updating my résumé.

I spent some time this morning looking for work at craigslist.org. Surprisingly, there were job opportunities for writers and editors that caught my attention. I'll start applying for these jobs as soon as I can.

And out of the blue, a headhunter called me up in the afternoon! Unfortunately, I couldn't entertain the call right away because Julita was a few metres behind me cleaning up Amanda's desk. The opening was for a marketing copywriter for a construction office in downtown. I promised the headhunter that I would send her my updated résumé along with some samples of my work.

Regarding my offer to help with the copywriting, I wasn't sure if Jim liked the idea. He just said via e-mail that he would talk to me tomorrow (which is today) about this. So, knowing Jim, it would take a while.

Out of the Fire and Into the Frying Pan?

I'm back after a two-week hiatus, and there's a certain feeling of trepidation in the place. I didn't know why at first, but it became apparent when I saw Deb hugging and kissing people after having a talk with Julita. She got laid off along with Ryan and Amanda.

This scene brought back bad memories, particularly my receiving a pink slip back in October 2006. I thought I'm already safe with this company. I still hope I made the right decision of joining them.

Now, I'm wondering who's next. Nina's off sick and Belinda's relegated to reception duties. I am also compelled to offer some copywriting assistance to make myself useful. I couldn't afford to be unemployed at all.