Two weeks ago I was in a meeting with L and S, and we were trying to figure out what was going on with a task that had been passed about like a hot potato for a month before it was sent to me.

S explained it to me and I said "so why didn't we do this a month ago?"

She chuckled and L smiled and S explained some more and about 3 minutes later I ask, again

"So why didn't we do this a month ago?  I'll take care of it."  And later that day, I did.

Heh

Yesterday, we were in a large conference room having a presentation/meeting and the guys were all over the place.  Two of them were talking to each other, L (same one) was presenting and asked a couple times if anyone had any questions.  We had flown in half the team from San Francisco, but nobody was paying any attention to her.  My boss actually put in his earphones and made a phone call - in the middle of the meeting!  

At that point I stood up and said "OK L has asked four times if we have questions.  Nobody has answered - are we done here?"

The guys all stopped and stared at me as if I'd grown another head, except my boss.  He hung up his call and I said "AB, do you have anything else for us?  L has asked several times if we have questions, nobody answered, you made another call, I assume we're done."

And when he didn't add anything, I left.

I have zero patience for bullshit like that.   

Good for you! Patience is def NOT my strong suit.

Well they were grandstanding, and doing what men tend to do in a meeting where a woman is in charge:  show their dicks, metaphorically.  I figure they can measure them at lunch, but I got shit to do now, so if we're done now I'm out.

Buahaha.

Im not a big fan of that either - having meetings go off on tangents is irritating to me. More so when it's going over things that are not even work related. Even worse? When its with a bunch of people I'm not happy to be around as it is.

Oh I really like my teammates.  But I'm the only woman in three layers (maybe four) of org chart.  I don't think it's deliberate, but *especially in large groups* they tend to treat me like I don't exist, or they run to me to fix their booboos at the last minute.  It's an ongoing challenge to get most of my team to see me as an equal member.

I also think this is somewhat cultural; I'm the only person here who was born and raised in the United States, to my knowledge.  Among my friends I joke that I'm the token white girl - it's a double EEO bonus in the engineering field.   I don't think I'm token anything, but cultural differences do inform our day to day behaviour, even when we think we're above such "nonsense."

"And when he didn't add anything, I left. I have zero patience for bullshit like that."

Good for you Shannon.. I like that a lot.

Thanks GW.  Note I made a point to check in with the boss first - I'm not COMPLETELY over the line.  *laughing*

Ooo! Go baby, go.

Sag Mars is on the loose, too...Life here in Dilbert-land gets more ludicrous by the day/month/week. And there is the 1/2 finished, cobbled together information package I'm attempting to wade through in preparation for performing a Delivery Review of an open contract later today. Does the PM not understand that handing me a last-minute piece of drek not only makes me suspicious of how they're performing on the contract but also has me unsympathetic and pre-hardened against any issues/mitigating factors they may ascribe to the current status?

Whereas--if they needed more time or had some late-breaking crit-sit to deal with...COMMUNICATE and we'll adjust...Is this so foreign? So hard??

I have to stop myself sometimes from going down the path to ponder just what the share price and potential to increase wage for employees/reduce price to market would be if we, as a company/organization would just STOP FARTING AROUND FOR THE GLORY OF SNIFFING OUR OWN STINK.

ahem. err. That is all.

*roaring laughter*

Oh CP I do love you so!

I work at Dilbertville, too, you know.  Not the same one but still . . . yeah.

I have another story, will relate it after I get more coffee.

-------

OK so.  We have two corporate offices - one is in Georgia, one is in Texas.  The CEO directly above my company's CEO is based in the Georgia office.  He likes to say in his town hall meetings that the Los Angeles office is so hip and out there - and this is a paraphrase, except the tattoo part:  "you go out there and everybody has tattoos, and it's a different world."

Well he was in town for the Hackathon prize results, and you see this coming, yes?  I made sure my hair was freshly colored, and the day he came in, I wore a skirt and a short sleeved shirt, and I made it a point to go up and say hello and thank him for coming to our little Hackathon.

*snortle*

I was super polite and respectful - he seems like a good guy and he IS the over-CEO (there are two more above him, if you can believe that) - and I kept it brief, but I couldn't resist tweaking him just a little bit.

ACK!  OMG you guys . . . ack!    

I got an email about an issue that I know has been going on for some months, and this is the week that someone got their knickers in a twist over it.

Well.  I sent an email Monday trying to find out if anyone had followed up with our IT after the vendor's tech support indicated it was clearly not their issue (the problem is email coming into a third party software platform incorrectly) -  and I got no reply for two days.

Today I get "nobody contacted our IT as far as we know."

My response "Oh OK it must not have been as urgent as I thought.  I'll get hold of the helpdesk today."

The reply:  It is urgent.  I'm out of town at a funeral.

ACK!  I'm so mortified!  I apologized, and explained, and he understood what I meant, but I still feel like an ass.

(An effective ass, it's true, but an ass nonetheless.     And if nobody has fixed it for months, it's NOT FUCKING URGENT!  But still.  Ass.  Ass.  ASS!)

OK self-flagellation over.  But I thought I'd show the down side, too!

I love Sadge Moons.  I tend to get along with them like a house on fire.  :)

"OK sweets. I love ya, have a good time tonight, and don't do anyone I wouldn't do!"

You always make me smile Shannon

YAY Daisy!  then my work here?  It's done.  <3

Sunday, at the big farmers market

It helps to picture this:  the market is laid out as a cross, containing a couple blocks on each arm of the cross.  The center point of the cross is an intersection one block off Sunset and one block off Vine in Hollywood.

All the "sign my petition" people, and all the "we have free movie passes" people congregate in this center area.  The information booth is here, and the coffee stand.

Skinny hipster dude:  Are you registered to vote in California?

Crafty:  Yes, but I don't want to sign anything today.

SHD:  Yes you do, you want to sign this, it's to blah blah blah!

Crafty: No, I don't.  I said I don't want to sign anything, and you're being rude now.  Please let me pass.  (And of course I have to push past at this point, but I do so.)

Ugh. I hate pushy!

I KNOW RIGHT?!

Like - OK I totally understand you have this job to do, and you have to ask every person.  That's not a problem for me.

What is a problem is when I tell you something about myself ("I don't want to sign anything") and you tell me I am wrong.

Who the FUCK are you?!

Trying to convince to me to change my mind is OK for about 30 seconds - counter the objection, right?  It's a sales thing.  Beyond that, back the fuck off, ass!

Heh.

No, Crafty, tell us how you really feel . . . . .  

I hate to say it, but my new secret adversaries are the chuggers.

charity + muggers = chuggers.

LOL

Life in the city, you know? It gets exhausting.

Guy sends me an email that is basically a repeat of the email he sent two hours ago.

I have already said I was in meetings all morning, and I've responded to the earlier email.  Copied all, as is customary here.

He just now sent me the same freaking email.  With the same list attached.

Me:  So is this a new list of "users we don't need" or the same list you sent me two hours ago?

And yes @Kash, I am adopting "chuggers" because I have to run the gauntlet through them at the farmers market every Sunday.  Chug chugga chugga chugga woo woo!  LOL!!!

!!

Gee-zuz!!

CHUGGERS! LOLLOLOOLLOLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOL!

OMG you are laughing hysterically at your own joke.

I fucking love you, chick.

heeeeee!

A sadge sun and another sadge moon friend of mine were over here recently and they got on the topic of how much they hate being preached to and when someone tries to convert them (and I'm thinking how often does this happen?) they argue with them until they back down which apparently takes a long time (they are both "scientists" ugh)

So I said "If someone asks me if I've been saved, I just say 'yes ma'am I have' and they leave me alone."

They both looked utterly horrified and the moon said "See, I have a problem with LYING like that."

They almost turned on me, but I said "You're right" and slipped away.

People try to convert me all the time, are you kidding? We're interested in all religions so people think we want to be in theirs. Last time was my boss's wife. 'You would be good in our religion.'

'No I wouldn't but thanks anyway!'

The only reason I don't get more conversion attempts is that the Jehovah's Witnesses tend not to be aggressive about it.  But do you know how many copies of Awake or The Watchtower I have?  Or how many LDS (Mormon?  What's the right term these days?) missionaries I've had long and rambling conversations with?

Of course, they all end up the same way, but the religious-outreach folks I've run into have generally been quite polite, so I give them the same back.

As I told my KEB I may not be a kind woman, but I am deeply respectful of people's choices and individuality.  

(Also?  I'm a Gemini.  I don't have a problem lying if it suits my purposes.)

Mormon. Leoman's mum is Mormon but lucky for me doesn't care that I am not.

Ah, I didn't know it was OK to call them Mormons again.  Thank you!

"See, I try not to be that asshole, because I've been the fat person with problems moving around.  But I got off my fat ass, painfully, and fixed it little by little.  Getting a scooter because your body is too large to move around under its own power seems like giving up to me, and that's just fucking sad."  (Talking to my Cowboy today)

After hours of email back and forth with AwesomeBoss, copied to a couple other people outside my department, insisting that I did something wrong.

"It *is* correct in my sandbox.  I checked three different times.

I logged in as test users, created cases, and tested again.

(long explanation of my next steps omitted)

I'll email when I've done all that, but I'm not going to spend any more time debating what is or isn't in my sandbox.  You have access if you feel you want to check behind me."

God/dess help me this mouth is gonna get me in trouble.  You should see all the emails I haven't sent . . . . .

Omg today is hysterical. Examples:

You are fucking adorable when you try to respect my tender feelings.

Oh this fucker on the bus tried to fuck with the wrong bitch! As. Fucking. If.  

Heehee!

So when I get to be a superhero my alter ego will have a prehensile ponytail. I swear this thing is killer!