Natter 64: Yes, we still need you
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
8 weeks should be a decent amount of warning, but not if others knew they wanted you to go for a year.
I was going back & forth on that. Two months advance warning isn't technically "last minute," but in the scheme of this project it sorta is.
I think finding out via that email is what's eating at me. If they'd come to me, even today, and offered some "Because of X & Y & Z we really need you there" explanation or whatever? I'd still be unhappy, but not quite so furious. So I guess I should practice my responses to "Oh, sorry, I thought we told you" during the drive in tomorrow.
Thanks guys. And hooray for venting. Sigh.
My work irritation is minor in the face of that. They want my home and cell phone number. I really don't like giving them out workwise. Certainly not both of them. I don't want work calls at home. My outgoing message is not sensible, and it's not about to be. I also don't answer the phone for days or check the messages on whim. I also like the freedom to be unreachable by cell, but having it be a work contact number erodes that. If they want that, they should give me a phone. Which they don't do, it seems, even for permanent staff.
I once had an office put my MOTHER'S home phone on our contact sheet. Bitch, I gave you that once in a particular instance as a courtesy, you do NOT pass that shit around.
Buy a $10 to $20 virgin mobile (0r Go phone or whatever) Get the high per minute price with a really low number of minutes required. Use that phone only for work. Leave it at home and check it for messages with the minimum frequency that will keep you from getting into trouble at work.
They want my home and cell phone number.
Ew. There are people at work who certainly know how to reach me, but mostly for non-work reasons. It's not remotely official.
Do you know if they're likely to actually use them? I mean, if it's strictly an ICE thing I would probably give them
one
phone number.* But "I would rather be able to call and talk to you personally at any hour, in case I happen to think of something, instead of just making a note about it, or emailing, or leaving you a message at your work # like sane person." That's not okay.
* Alternatively, I might give them a number that I had inadvertently mistyped. That might still be the rage talking, though.
Huh, we all have everyone's cell phone numbers, especially since we have to have coverage over the holidays. Drug safety never really gets to take a day off.
But I like my co-workers, which seems to be uncommon.
I mostly like my equivalent co-workers. To varying degrees, but if it was just them, I think we'd be fine 90% of the time.
But I loathe one project manager as a human being, another one is so useless she barely exists, and the last two are nicer people but... they're terrible at the actual people-managing part of being management. Which means they alternate between micromanaging and ignoring things.
This entire project is the Peter Principle in action. I keep suggesting that it might actually be an elaborate psychological experiment.
My manager and anyone who bothers to look at my Outlook calendar (not nearly enough of them) can find my home/cell number (same thing). I work from home one day a week and need to be callable, so my number is there in my "working from home" block.
They rarely use it. I'm obsessive about keeping on top of my email, and I encourage people to use that. It has the bonus of leaving a trail, so I can look things up and say, "In your email on 11/21 you said you'd get foo to me by yesterday. How's that coming?"
Work has my home number (as a major emergency number, not a minor work emergency contact) but they don't know I have a cell; just as well since I never answer it. In this day and age, I expect just giving one number wouldn't raise eyebrows.
Why must Loki obsessively bury empty food dishes?
Work has our phone numbers for an emergency phone tree. My coworker accidentally called me at home one morning and was mortified (she had my # in her cell and was delayed at the doctor, and I happened to be home because I was working the night). But I didn't mind at all. Also when there's a shooter on the loose, the Uni calls my cell (this has happened TWICE this year. Both murder-suicides, as it turned out.)
If it was bosses, that's another matter. At my former job I was supposed to call my boss at home if I was calling in sick (I was first in and opened up) and I *hated* doing that. Cut down on "mental health days," I tell you what.