Back to Me

The first week back to work started off well. I bragged to a friend Monday morning that things were quiet and I was getting a lot done. Well, be careful when you brag, usually that's a good sign that something is about to go really wrong.

My boss called me into a "mandatory meeting" at 12:45 Monday and he was there with my supervisor (not so super, but that's a different issue) and he tells me that he has been told to cut X% from our budget and that we will be losing some positions.

My eyes must have jumped out of my head because he then quickly said... "oh, it isn't you." (um whew) Then he launched into his though process and told me that I was losing someone on my team.

Oh man, the timing, the thought process it all blows. I'm thankful (selfishly) that I didn't get to participate in the decision process as my conscience is a little clear, but I'm not at all absolved from any feelings of guilt and sadness.

The Departed (TD) and I were not on the same page and a separation was in the works, but it didn't involve leaving the company. Needless to say, TD didn't say so long to me - which I understand.

So the rest of my week involved getting my hands into the job that TD was supposed to be doing. Holy Mother of Pearl... the work queue is so back logged that it will take me weeks to get it clear. I will be able to cross train some of the other team members, but wow... it's a damned mess.

In addition to getting things caught up, I have to work on how to re-tool the service dramatically. The newish big boss (the decider) thinks we should stop doing it altogether. That's an idea, but I seriously doubt it would fly with the regulators and auditors.

At this point my attitude is "I'll work as hard as I can, and get as much done as I can, but since you amputated my leg (which was only broken) it might take me a while to reach the finish line." I'm certainly NOT going to work 80 hours a week to do my job and TD's job.

All in all, the first week back at work... SUCKED. I look good, but I don't really care about that at this moment in time.