A post is a post is a post

What to post about? I am not in a dry spell. I have plenty to talk about (or write about, I suppose). I just have not had the inclination to sit down and write it. I do not plan my posts ahead. Maybe once in a blue moon will I schedule a post, but for the most part -  you get what I am feeling at that time. If I think about something during the day that I may want to post about, you only get it if I remember it later.

I could write about what I think about the mayor of New York deciding to hold the marathon even though there are so many still suffering (he finally canceled it). My thoughts - what an idiot. And I am certainly not alone.

I could write about a movie I watched last week-end. N Cage (who is really going downhill if he was even on a hill in my book). I am not speaking of looks. I never liked his looks.What is with the eyeliner he wears? It looks freaky. I am speaking of his acting choices. I found it a little far fetched that in the movie Stolen he would go to prison for 8 years and come out knowing how to use the latest cell phone available like a pro. And purchasing (what looked to me like a Blackberry) for thirty dollars. Eh, I may be wrong - he was supposed to be a brilliant con man before going to prison - and maybe they taught prisoners Technology 101 in the prison he went to. To the movie makers out there - don't insult our intelligence.

I guess what really has me bogged down in the writing department is my job. It was a bear this week. My duties got pounded. Nothing was working right and I had a "hell" of a time getting any help from our support for the product. I am fairly certain I am going to dump them after our year is up in June. I hate to admit I was wrong, but I did want to give them a year to straighten themselves out. They are not.

Then, there is that word "hell".  I work in Education. Okay, I get that. My e-mail messages go to men and women who work with computers. My e-mails do not go to teachers, superintendents, treasurers or students. Or, parents. 

We have (and maybe you are familiar with) distribution lists in e-mail. That is a group of e-mail recipients who belong to one group. Such as technology. There is another distribution list for superintendents. One for treasurers, etc.. You get the picture.

When I send an e-mail out to the technology distribution list, all 45 (give or take) of my technology coordinators in my school districts get a copy of my message.

I also have a distribution list (with five people in it) that sends messages to only my staff that I work with in my organization. We meet once a month, we laugh, we go to lunch together. We make fun of the other departments - you know. Just like a little click back in middle school. We are a fun group. We are all over 21. Hell (there's that word again) we are all over thirty. Maybe 40. I don't keep count anymore.

This week I was having a particularly tough time with what I am responsible for and I was especially fired up on Friday because that was the day I decided to give the company that manufactures my product both barrels of my fury.  Sigh.  Again.

So my e-mails were kind of flying thick and fast. They consisted of instructions such as: If this happens, please do this. If that happens, please do that. Please let me know the time and what browser you were using and what site you were trying to get to when this happens. Etc...etc... This type of messaging went to the 45 techs in my schools.

I would also throw a few messages to my co-workers (the smaller distribution list) and let them know what was REALLY going on. You know, things I could not tell the schools. Such as the company I was angry with is on the west coast and I cannot get any support until 11:00 a.m. because they don't start business until 8:00 their time. They tell me this is not true, but they lie.

In one message I printed this phrase "when they decide to wake the hell up on the West coast".

A few messages later, I get an e-mail from my manager telling me to keep the word "hell" out of my e-mails and to portray a more professional disposition when communicating with the school district technology personnel. 

First of all, I did not remember using the word "hell" so I scoured my messages to my techs in the schools and came up with nothing. No curse word "hell" in any of them.

However, a message to my co-workers (the five in my department to which he was actually referring) had the phrase mentioned above  - "when they decide to wake the hell up...."

So here is what my manager tells me (when he still was under the impression that I had sent that line to the schools):

I know you're frustrated and I appreciate all the time you put into this... Let's try to keep the word "hell" the hell out of the e-mails.. :) 

Just want to make sure we are keeping the comms professional from us to the techs...

We'll save the colorful language for when we get these bozo's on the phone.

Ahem. Yes, he did put in a smiley face.

Here is an example of a message I send to the techs in the school districts, all of which I think are very professional:

We are still isolating the problem with the slippage.
If you experience any please let me know the browser and web site you were trying to get to.

Thank-you for your co-operation in this matter as 
intermittent problems are hard to troubleshoot.

And this one:

Please be patient while I work this out with (the product).
I do not need any more information. I understand why it is sporadic and why it is only https:// sites.

I will update as soon as I can.
 

I always strive to remain professional when dealing with them. Well, my manager mixed up the two (I was sending a lot of e-mails so I see how he could do this) but when I pointed out that I did not curse with the word "hell" in any message going to the schools, only to my co-workers in our department -  he said the following:

I thought you  were trying to send that update to the tech coords... No worries...

Just wanted to give you a heads up, because I've done it myself in the heat of battle...

Now, I know I am thin skinned. But I was peeved. I lost all passion about fighting my issue with the problem. Well, almost all. The wind was knocked right out of me.

I will tell you why. You may think I am a baby, you may think I am making a big deal out of nothing, but this type of thing has irked me all my life in the workforce.

He does the same thing. Before he was a manager he ranted and raved and he even refused to go to one district because he did not get along with the tech there. He seriously told the rest of us that he would not walk into that building - somebody else would have to take care of that district from now on. Granted, this was a few years back.

My, oh my! How they change when they get that management title. How hypocritical they are. How dare he even think that I am in any way un-professional?

When the word "hell" is typed in a message (which by the way - he was mistaken) and actually did not go to the schools? He did not apologize. He did not read back my messages that I have sent and replied - "Wow, I see that you are professional when you speak to the techs... thanks and keep up the good work!"  Nope. It was just wanting to give me a heads up. As if I am so..... what is that word? ...."hysterical"  that I have to be reminded to mind my manners! Be a lady. Oh, I see.

Here's a heads up for you, Mr. Manager. How about our organization's director who cannot spell and cannot use proper grammar when she sends e-mails out to the school superintendents? I see them, I cringe. The techs I speak to laugh at her. Yeah, they do. They have for years. Not only what she types - what she says. It is SO obvious they have NO respect for our organization. 

She never gets the their/there,  are/our,   right/write    straight in her messages. She is always using the wrong one. How is that for professionalism? Mr. Manager? Kiss my ass, Mr. Manager. Here is a classic. Once I heard her reading documentation out loud with another co-worker. They came across the word "augment". Such as - network augmentation. They both hesitated. The co-worker shrugged. The director of my organization said "Well, if "I" don't know what it means, I'm sure the superintendents won't know."  Yeah. This is one example. Maybe she should be the next Mayor of  NYC?

Yeah. I'm sensitive. But that makes me the first one to rescue a puppy or kitten or child in distress. After 52 years of life, I wouldn't change a thing. I like who I am. I like what I am. I just don't like managers who are younger than me and were not even born when I was dealing with "managers" telling me how to act in the workplace.  Save it - asshole.

Huh. I guess I did have something to write about after all. 

And, yes. I feel better.