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Diary of a Corporate Slave
Don't make me go postal ...

A blog about Personal Journals.
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Withdrawals are fun - not.
Would you like sprinkles on that too?
Fire in the hole!
Movin' On Up!
Are you the only one up here?
Is there a party going on?
A pink slip? Thank you! It’s just my size!
Stuck on stupid ...
Desperation is ...
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Dear Dr. Bangladesh,

For $900 a month I would expect to be treated with at least a little respect ... and really all that would have entailed for you to treat me with respect would have been for you to have one of your nurses call me when you denied my prescription refill request due to the fact that I have never seen you as my primary care physician since I was just recently assigned to you and didn't realize I had to come see you when I wasn't sick.

Had I known that you wanted me to skip on down for a friendly chit chat I'd of happily paid my $15 to tell you my rollarcoaster life story in exchange for refills on medication I have been taking for the past 3.5 years.

Instead, 5 days after my call to the automated refill line, the pharmacy informed me that my request had been denied by you, 4 days earlier - plenty of time for me to come in for a visit before I ran out of pills.

Now, the pharmacist understands the urgency and need for me not to cold turkey my beloved "Help me get out of the house each morning and face the world without having massive anxiety attacks - go to sleep without my mind racing all night" Klonopin (a 'highly potent' benzodiazepine). They sent me running to your nurses station.

Even your nurses understood the urgency and went scrambling through my records to see why in the world you would do such a thing after they realized you had just left the building 10 minutes earlier and looked at me with apologetic eyes as they told me you could see me at 10 am tomorrow.

They know what I'm looking forward to tonight and tomorrow ...

Sweating, chills, hot flashes, heart palpitations, dry mouth, stiff jaw, stomach pain, body aches, nausea, dizziness, tremors, anxiety attacks, insomnia, jitters, and more.

Last week I experienced these symptoms for the first time when I forgot my bottle of Klonopin at work - I had taken it with me so I wouldn't forget to call in the refill ... it said allow 48 hours ... I gave it 5 days. I told myself I would never do that again - well, thanks to you I get to feel like a junky one more time.

Hopefully a combination of a muscle relaxer and NyQuil will put me to sleep and keep me asleep ... I look forward to meeting you tomorrow for the very first time and please forgive me if I'm a little aggravated and irritable.

 

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posted by CubicleDweller on Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 09:29 PM
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When I first began this job I was offhandedly warned about one particular person we deal off who can come off as hard to handle.  We all have one of those, right?  I keep mine organized by putting a little red flag next to their name in my directory.

This one in particular is very demanding, and never appears to be grateful, or thankful that I spend hours reassembling packets and photocopying what she wants added in for her trainings.  Mind you none of the other trainers make demands or requests about what should be added or taken out of these packets that I hand assemble ahead of time and keep them in high supply so they are ready to be shipped out when needed.

Today she emailed me the mother of all emails and had there been anyone else in the office right now they would have heard me yell, "Are you fucking kidding me?!" at my computer monitor.

*****

 

 

Hi Overworked Underpaid Office of One Dweller,

I wanted to follow up with you about the trainings while it was fresh in my mind.

When I do a 2 day training, I need a training packet too. Is it better to send me a copy ahead of time to my home, or include one extra copy with my other paperwork in the shipments to the ** ? Either way, please remember that the trainer needs a training packet too. I need to have the same handouts, in the same colors, as the people I am training. I do not need an ** in my packet, as I bring one with me anyway.

There are so many pieces of paper in the packet, that I feel it needs to be placed in a pocket folder. Could you figure out the cost of adding "teal" or green colored pocket folders, and see if you are able to do this? In our **, we can order a package of 10 for $3. So we are probably talking about a cost of less than $10 by adding the pocket folders, and this would be a really nice professional touch.

What are the costs of the thin beige and green conference pens? (not the fat pens; the other ones we usually have in our pocket folders during the ** training?

Thanks for you help.

Royal PITA (Pain in the ass)

*****

Gosh, at least I got a "thanks" this time.  My boss is on a much needed vacation and I do not feel I need to disturb him until he returns, so here is the much edited PC response I sent Royal PITA:

*****

Hi Royal PITA,
 
I will consult with All Mighty Ruler regarding your requests once he returns from vacation next week and get back to you then.
 
The packets are currently being revised so there will be less papers in the future, I do not mind sending the extra training papers for you with the packets, though you are the only trainer who has requested this.
 
Have a wonderful week!
 
Sincerely,
 
Overworked Underpaid Office of One Dweller
 
*****
 
What I really wanted to say was:
 
Are you freakin joking me?
 
Maybe you don't realize this organization is struggling to pull in the funds that we need to operate as it is.  What difference does it make if the paperwork comes in a fancy folder?  If your district can find those folders for a dime a dozen, then by all means, why don't you buy them yourself out of the money we pay you to travel to exotic locations to train people who really could care less if they got a pocket folder that is just going to be dumped in the trash afterward?
 
You are contracted to do so many trainings I'm surprised you don't already have your own stinkin copies of the materials in the packets - why don't you just keep them?  Oh that's right, because people don't keep that stuff, they just trash it after the training!
 
Those pens are cheap, the majority of them don't work anyway, so do you really want to suggest I also add those to the bulk of shipping costs?  Maybe in your world money grows on trees, but how about you step out of the river of denial and dry off with the towel of reality. 
 
This organization has 3 people who staff it, and as I am the lowest member on the totem pole I am the one who hand assembles all of the packets to save costs on production and I also am in charge of everything else needed to keep an organization running smoothly such as all of the accounting, order processing, order shipping, office supplies, etc ... then when you or any of the other trainers send back the training paperwork I am in charge of the data entry and processing of those trained along with making sure they receive a pretty little certificate that says you graced their presence.
 
Peace out.
 
 
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posted by CubicleDweller on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 12:30 PM
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Our restroom has 3 stalls, the first you have to be careful to latch it correctly - I found this out one afternoon when I pushed the door open to see a woman sitting on the toilet texting someone. As I took my seat in the middle stall she began explaining through the partition that it was a tricky latch and "some people read books while they use the toilet, I text people", okay ... I did not need to know that.

The 3rd stall is the handicap stall, so unless the other two are occupied I won't use that one.

The middle stall, the stall I landed in that afternoon has an exploding toilet. The white porcelain bowl looked harmless enough until I stood up, zipped up, and then flushed it with my foot ... BLOOOSH BLOOSH BLOOOOSH!!!!! GURGLE GLUGGLE!!!!! and there I stood covered in toilet mist. You know how many germs and bacteria are in that lovely Eau de Toilette? Enough to make your skin crawl if you suddenly feel wet mist on your lips.

For some reason I continued using that stall, even when the 1st was not occupied ... the previous tenant's conversation led me to believe it didn't lock. So each trip, I'd stand, zip up, open the door, stretch my leg as far as it would reach, turn my head away from the toilet, then flush with my foot and bolt toward the sinks.

After maybe 2 or 3 weeks I once again visited the restroom and since the middle stall was occupied I decided to use the 1st stall. I was elated to find that the door does indeed lock, the latch just needs a bit of lubrication and you have to make sure to shut the door all the way.

So I can finally use the toilet and not have to do a crazy balancing act and duck like a mad fool every time I flush.

 

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posted by CubicleDweller on Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 01:03 PM
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Well I'm movin' on up! Movin' on up! To a dee-luxe office in the sky! I'm movin' on up! To the east side! Movin' on up! I've finally got a piece of the pie!!!!

After a nice summer break of traveling, hanging by the pool, floating down the river, and being a lady of leisure, I was called for a job interview. Frankly I didn't want to bullshit anyone, I wanted to make sure wherever I landed, it would be a good fit - so I was very blunt during the interview and when asked what I would like about this job I stated, "Let me tell you what I don't like in an office and we'll go from there ..."

A week later I received a phone call from the head of HR and was offered the position with my new boss on speaker phone.

I now have an office - with 4 walls, a window with a view, and a door! I work with a very small group of people, my job will take me out of state a few times a year for a week at a time, and in the last 3 weeks that I've been there I've apparently made an impression on people I haven't even realized I would have impressed - including the man who had signed the letter accompanying my pink slip.

My boss and co-worker regularly ask if I'm happy, or say they hope I'm happy, and on Friday's my boss has asked if I'll be back Monday and even has told me go home early due to my apparent efficiency. I don't know who was working for him before but apparently the bar was set pretty low and he tells me the last time he had a good assistant was 20 years ago, and I'm even better than she was.

Friday I found several mistakes on forms, in databases, and missing documents in files, I pointed them out to my boss and then corrected them - he said, "Oh that just gets me, see, your predecessor was just being lazy! You are so efficient, and I'm sure you won't ever have these problems, you are perfect!"

Uh-oh ... I stopped dead in my tracks, turned back to him and replied, "I'm not perfect, I will make mistakes, trust me". I was dead serious, but he just chuckled.

I'm so thankful for this job, it is for a wonderful organization, I enjoy the work, and have interns that I manage who are supposed to do the "grunt work" for me ... though I guess I am a little too efficient and need to begin saving work for them to do. I am also ENCOURAGED to listen to music in my office and my boss is not a clock watcher.

The day before I began my job I was given a fortune cookie with my lunch. The little slip inside read, "You will have a good job, with a comfortable salary" ... I'm going to frame that and hang it on one of my walls.

 

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Topics: cubicledweller, cubicle, Office, cubicle dweller
posted by CubicleDweller on Sunday, September 13, 2009 at 06:57 PM
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A coworker just asked me that - I looked around, smiled and replied, "Me and my imaginary friends"

She laughed ... I wasn't joking. 

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Topics: cubicle dweller, Imaginary Friends, cd, cubie, Office
posted by CubicleDweller on Friday, May 22, 2009 at 12:45 PM
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Nearly 2 years ago I posted that "Cubicle Does Not Begin With P"

The mystery smell has returned - and again I have visions of janitors having crazy after parties in between these claustrophobic walls.  Realistically I am beginning to think that maybe it has something to do with the air conditioning unit in the building being turned on and I'm just ultra sensitive to the smell.

Just in case, I have already completely sanitized my entire work space, including my chair. 

 

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Topics: mystery smell, pee, cubicle, Office, cd, cubicledweller
posted by CubicleDweller on Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 09:31 AM
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Just moments ago the Man asked if I had a minute. Well, gosh, yes I do! He knew that I already knew … I’m a mind reader, a fortune teller … well, more like very intuitive and cover all bases before the disaster strikes.
 
It began a month or so ago … a budget meeting was held and we were informed that unfortunately they had predicted incorrectly and there were going to be layoffs. The Man looked directly at me as he said this. When the meeting was over I stated out loud, “Well, looks like I’ll be unemployed come the end of June” then I promptly found a smoker on the floor, borrowed their lighter, went outside to roll a cigarette, then went for a long walk off a short cliff. I don’t smoke very often, hence the fact I carry papers and tobacco, but am usually missing a lighter.
 
Other co-workers said I must have misread him, must have misunderstood, I wasn’t going to be laid off. Slowpoke called me in for a meeting and said he’d fight for me of course, but I should make an appointment with HR to see where I stood seniority wise and what my options would be. 
 
Two days ago I finally was able to meet with the head of HR. She’s always been good to me; found me consistent consecutive temp jobs when I was an office whore 8 years ago. I knew she’d lay it straight across the table and not make me wait a second longer. She disclosed that yes, my position was one of the ones being terminated. She let me know my rights, assured me she was looking for an opening to move me into, and if that didn’t work I’d be priority on her temp list again.
 
Demoted back to office whore, but those days were a bit footloose and fancy free. I actually enjoyed moving around from department to department, being used as needed until there was no more use for me, and moving on to someone else. It was refreshing in a way.
 
She asked me to please not tell anyone that I knew the exact date pink slips would be handed out. That it causes anxiety in the work place – you think?!  I thanked her for telling me – I knew it would soften the blow at least just a little. It was better her to give me the bad news and hope for more employment than to be handed the letter by The Man while he had a sad “I’m sorry, but what can I do” look on his face.
 
Yesterday I cleaned everything personal out of my desk and began cleaning files and shredding everything that wasn’t needed. It was cleansing in a way – or maybe the sound of the paper being shredded into itty bitty pieces just soothed my soul a little.
 
At the end of the day Slowpoke finally came into the office – I simply stated, “I know” He didn’t know what I was talking about, I quietly filled him in. He exclaimed, “What am I going to do?!” I simply shrugged and replied, “I don’t know” He stated that he was going to talk to The Man and went directly to his office. I thought, “Save your breath, but thanks for caring”
 
Or maybe it was just a big show and he already knew.
 
It was pretty much the same reaction from Chatty – she thought she was going down herself. She said, “But I’ve known you for six years!” – and she actually had teary red eyes, like she really would miss me. Or maybe it was just fear of knowing just how much extra work she was going to have to absorb. She told me she was going to keep my cell phone number and call me with lots of questions. I told her if she did she’d owe me a Starbucks coffee each time. If I’m not being paid, I really don’t feel like working – thank you very much.
 
I walked around Walmart last night stating “Suck it!” to anyone listening. I think I’ll go back to my regular dosage of happy meds for a while – I usually just take half a dose. 
 
The look on The Man’s face was the exactly what I’d seen in my mind the last couple of days. He knew I already knew, but stated this was the hardest part of his job. He handed me the letter and there was a paper for both of us to sign. He kept glancing at his watch, and said, “I don’t know why I keep checking my watch, I know the date” and I replied, “Because you are nervous” and he said, “Yes” …
 
As I thanked him for my brand new pink slip I wanted to say, “Try figuring out how you are going to pay the mortgage, the rest of your bills, and feed and clothe you child. Now that is liable to make you nervous” … I should have been the one glancing at my watch – but I already knew what time it was.
 
It’s time for a change.
 
And a change could do me good.

 

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Topics: cubicledweller, layoffs, pink slip, cubicle
posted by CubicleDweller on Friday, May 8, 2009 at 01:38 PM
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What part of "TURN OFF THE BURNER WHE N YOU TAKE THE LAST CUP& nbsp;OF COFFEE" don't you understand?

Fortunately I have an uncanny sense of smell, smelt the burning coffee sludge remains, and saved another pot from cracking.

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posted by CubicleDweller on Thursday, April 16, 2009 at 01:34 PM
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Drinking a Pepsi 3 months 11 days past it's best by date that you found in the bottom of your drawer and put in the fridge ovennight to at least cool it down.

Very little sizzle upon opening. 

 

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posted by CubicleDweller on Thursday, April 16, 2009 at 01:25 PM
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Attention all personnel … this is a Pubic Service Announcement.  For the safety of all employees please refrain from trimming your pubic hair over the employee toilets.  There have been reports of injuries to other employees due to them balancing and hovering over the toilet seat to avoid having to have any contact of said pubic hair.

That is all.
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Topics: cubicle dweller, cubie, pubic hair, toilet
posted by CubicleDweller on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 12:13 PM
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