If it's whatever hit me yesterday, Burrell, it shouldn't last too long. Could certainly be stress, of course. I haven't figured out what may have caused mine - could be a bug or something I ate, but what it felt like is morning sickness (which it couldn't be (unless menopause can cause that?)). I feel pretty confident it was not a contagion that could spread through this series of tubes, in any case. Anyway, hope yours goes away swiftly and completely.

So here I am, trying to figure out how to do a key element of my new job. It's ridiculous that I don't know how to do this. I've had no training at all. All I have is an outdated, badly written manual. My boss doesn't answer me when I really need her (and probably doesn't know how anyway). She hasn't answered an email in two days. I have to go bother my coworkers to find out how to do my job. And I find that a new process was put into place just in the last month for handling this, so the manual is even more outdated, and no one bothered to inform us. Or maybe they did, in some meeting while I was on vacation, but still, they couldn't send around an email? This annoys me. Seems like our company should be more efficient, than the "throw them in the deep end and see if they swim" method of training employees.

To clarify, it's a new job responsibility. I haven't changed jobs.

but what it felt like is morning sickness (which it couldn't be (unless menopause can cause that?))

Yes to all that. I've been sitting here wondering what else could feel like morning sickness, hence the stress

Huh, weird that we should be hit with the same mystery ick one right after the other like that. But hopefully reassuring for you?

Ugh, Zen. My company is trying to get away from that style of "training" but I have experienced enough of it to empathize strongly.

Oh, hey, Steph: [link]

Oh, hey, Steph: [link]

Woo! Light 'em up, folks.

Dang, my dad is on the phone with me at this exact moment, haranguing me to go to the ER if *anything* feels wrong. And I get that he's really shaken by my cousin (who, as it turns out, was going to be 44 in 3 weeks, which gives me the heebie-jeebies a little bit), so I get his concern. But damn, Dad, I am a frigging adult who doesn't want to die, and I'm not dumb enough to ignore MI symptoms.

I get that he worries, but he needs to chill a little. I'll let him be worried today, but after today I'm going to bring the Hammer of Boundaries, Dad, Do You Speak Them?

To clarify, it's a new job responsibility.

Oh, because you needed ANOTHER one of those?

What I have done this week to piss off authors? Remember the bitchy one from Monday who argued that her email didn't include the due date? She returned her article today. We had to ask -- in several places -- for data that we are required to include, and the author replied "I do not see the point of this." and didn't provide the data.

She also went through and vigorously complained about changes made for our style (for example, we do not say "utilize"; we say "use") and her bitchy comment was "This is a purely stylistic change. Leave my original wording." Well...YEAH. It IS a style change and also FUUUUUUUUCK YOU.

So I got to email her and reiterate that we actually need all the data we requested because it is a journal requirement. I can't WAIT for her response.

It's so weird to me that authors get all whiny with the AMA.