12-19-2009, 05:45 AM
G'day folks!
Well, some people already know this news that I'm about to post, but I figure everyone should be appraised of the situation. Plus it's cathartic in
some ways, I suppose. (^_^)
Anyhow, as of November 27th, 2009, I have been unemployed. I walked in to work at 7:30 AM, my usual start time, and I was ambushed by my boss, who normally
doesn't make an appearance before 9:00 AM if she can help it. That was my first clue that something was in the wind. She pulled me into the VP of
Finance's office (the I.T. department reports to him), and she started on about how it was "obvious I wasn't a member of the team" and how
they needed somebody who was a better "fit" for the company, blah blah blah. Anyhow, I was handed the termination letter, and then the VP walked me
back to the front door. Didn't even get a chance to clean out my desk or anything. (This wasn't a big issue though - for the last three years I
haven't kept anything personal at my desk because I had absolute zero trust in management, and my boss in particular. She has a habit of dragging people
off into side rooms and threatening them if things aren't going according to how she feels they should be going.)
Once I got to the front door was when I lost it, and the anger and frustration with my (now former) boss boiled over. I told the VP in no uncertain terms what
I thought of both my ex-boss, and the way she was handling things. I then left, voicing a couple of imprecations loudly enough as I crossed the parking lot
that I'm told they did hear me inside the building. (^_^)
So I drove home, more than a bit furious at how this had been handled. One one level, I can't say I'm surprised - my ex-boss has always been a
self-serving, two-faced, duplicitous bitch who acts friendly and then undercuts you when you're not looking. She also doesn't like being contradicted,
and she carries grudges when she is - I'm fairly certain those last two points were what led to this abrupt backstab and dumping over the side. This has
also, unfortunately, been the pattern of the senior management at that company: terminate abruptly with no explanation, and without even a pretense of allowing
the outgoing person even a shred of dignity or respect. (That's what makes part of the company's supposed 'values' list so laughable - although
the upper management preaches about respecting your co-workers, they have repeatedly demonstrated no respect for anyone or anything except their own agendas.
But I digress...)
Once I got home, I made three phone calls. The first was to my friend and co-worker, Mark - I let him know what I had been planning to work on that day, and
also told him about the issues I'd been working on and what some of the outstanding issues were that I had been dealing with. The second call was to the VP
of Finance to reassure him that I'd made it home intact - he'd been concerned about letting me drive, given the towering fury I'd been in when
we'd parted company. The third call was to the HR manager of the company - I valued her judgement, and despite what the situation at work had always been
like, we'd had some pretty in-depth discussions about what was going on there.
It was at this point that a strange metamorphosis occurred - I went from being disgruntled and pissed-off to the almost polar opposite. I was suddenly SO happy
to not have to go in to work at that snake pit anymore, it was crazy. That particular feeling lasted for the next three days - which is a probable indication
of how depressed I'd gotten at having to work there. And my mood shift was noticed by several people over the next few days - I had several people tell me
I looked very relaxed and sounded better than I had in a long time. Go figure. (^_^)
I then typed up a farewell email to my former co-workers (the ones that I liked and got along really well with, anyway) and emailed it to them. I got a large
number of responses back, which was nice.
What I found out later through my sources was that the news of my abrupt termination did *not* go over well with the rest of the company. My ex-boss was
apparently taken aback by some of the reactions, and at how widespread the reaction was - apparently she hadn't figured I was on good relations with the
rest of the company. Several people were apparently vocal and critical about it within earshot of her, and the HR manager had to deal with inquiries all day
that were generally along the lines of "What the #$% is going on?!". There was even something of a minor revolt down in the shipping department over
it. Doesn't mean much in the long term, I suppose, but it's nice to know that people cared. And the fact that my ex-boss wound up with egg on her face
also has appeal. >:]
As a side note, morale at the office has been crap for most of the year because of some events remarkably similar to my firing. As I was one of the
longer-serving employees there (8 years), you can guess what morale is now like.
Earlier I said that I'd been fired on November the 27th. On Friday, November 28th, my ex-boss announced that my replacement would be starting on Monday,
November 30th. She didn't even wait for the blood to dry on the decks, and that certainly didn't go over without comment either.
(I had suspected something was up for some time after observing some curious and unexplained behaviour on her part. On a subconcious level, I guess I
didn't care anymore. )
So, for the last three weeks I've been working at getting my head back on straight and trying to get un-depressed. That's why I haven't been online
very much on COH....staying offline and reading, watching DVDs, eating, sleeping, teaching karate, visting friends and family, and working out has been my
therapy for the last while. (^_^)
I'll be getting back at the job searching in the new year, but first I have to figure out what exactly it is that I'd like to do. I'm primarily
qualified for tech support stuff, but after 8 years at my former place (13 years total in I.T.), I'm not sure I want to go back to that. Which, of course,
raises the question of what else would I be qualified to get into, and would would I really like to be doing. Given the mental 'damage' I'm still
undoing from the last few years, that's not as easy to define as it sounds. =/
So that's the scoop from this end of things. I'm hoping to get back at some writing now that I'm not labouring under the mental pall that my
previous job had cast over me. I'll keep folks posted.
Later!
Bert V.V.
aka SkyKnight/Mechadeuce
(P.S. - One thing I had to do in the last three weeks was rebuild my computer after a hard drive crash. I recovered around 95% of my files from backup, but for
some reason, I can't get my email to restore. So anybody that has emailed me in the last three years, please resend because I've lost your email
addresses. Sorry about that!! ^^; )
Well, some people already know this news that I'm about to post, but I figure everyone should be appraised of the situation. Plus it's cathartic in
some ways, I suppose. (^_^)
Anyhow, as of November 27th, 2009, I have been unemployed. I walked in to work at 7:30 AM, my usual start time, and I was ambushed by my boss, who normally
doesn't make an appearance before 9:00 AM if she can help it. That was my first clue that something was in the wind. She pulled me into the VP of
Finance's office (the I.T. department reports to him), and she started on about how it was "obvious I wasn't a member of the team" and how
they needed somebody who was a better "fit" for the company, blah blah blah. Anyhow, I was handed the termination letter, and then the VP walked me
back to the front door. Didn't even get a chance to clean out my desk or anything. (This wasn't a big issue though - for the last three years I
haven't kept anything personal at my desk because I had absolute zero trust in management, and my boss in particular. She has a habit of dragging people
off into side rooms and threatening them if things aren't going according to how she feels they should be going.)
Once I got to the front door was when I lost it, and the anger and frustration with my (now former) boss boiled over. I told the VP in no uncertain terms what
I thought of both my ex-boss, and the way she was handling things. I then left, voicing a couple of imprecations loudly enough as I crossed the parking lot
that I'm told they did hear me inside the building. (^_^)
So I drove home, more than a bit furious at how this had been handled. One one level, I can't say I'm surprised - my ex-boss has always been a
self-serving, two-faced, duplicitous bitch who acts friendly and then undercuts you when you're not looking. She also doesn't like being contradicted,
and she carries grudges when she is - I'm fairly certain those last two points were what led to this abrupt backstab and dumping over the side. This has
also, unfortunately, been the pattern of the senior management at that company: terminate abruptly with no explanation, and without even a pretense of allowing
the outgoing person even a shred of dignity or respect. (That's what makes part of the company's supposed 'values' list so laughable - although
the upper management preaches about respecting your co-workers, they have repeatedly demonstrated no respect for anyone or anything except their own agendas.
But I digress...)
Once I got home, I made three phone calls. The first was to my friend and co-worker, Mark - I let him know what I had been planning to work on that day, and
also told him about the issues I'd been working on and what some of the outstanding issues were that I had been dealing with. The second call was to the VP
of Finance to reassure him that I'd made it home intact - he'd been concerned about letting me drive, given the towering fury I'd been in when
we'd parted company. The third call was to the HR manager of the company - I valued her judgement, and despite what the situation at work had always been
like, we'd had some pretty in-depth discussions about what was going on there.
It was at this point that a strange metamorphosis occurred - I went from being disgruntled and pissed-off to the almost polar opposite. I was suddenly SO happy
to not have to go in to work at that snake pit anymore, it was crazy. That particular feeling lasted for the next three days - which is a probable indication
of how depressed I'd gotten at having to work there. And my mood shift was noticed by several people over the next few days - I had several people tell me
I looked very relaxed and sounded better than I had in a long time. Go figure. (^_^)
I then typed up a farewell email to my former co-workers (the ones that I liked and got along really well with, anyway) and emailed it to them. I got a large
number of responses back, which was nice.
What I found out later through my sources was that the news of my abrupt termination did *not* go over well with the rest of the company. My ex-boss was
apparently taken aback by some of the reactions, and at how widespread the reaction was - apparently she hadn't figured I was on good relations with the
rest of the company. Several people were apparently vocal and critical about it within earshot of her, and the HR manager had to deal with inquiries all day
that were generally along the lines of "What the #$% is going on?!". There was even something of a minor revolt down in the shipping department over
it. Doesn't mean much in the long term, I suppose, but it's nice to know that people cared. And the fact that my ex-boss wound up with egg on her face
also has appeal. >:]
As a side note, morale at the office has been crap for most of the year because of some events remarkably similar to my firing. As I was one of the
longer-serving employees there (8 years), you can guess what morale is now like.
Earlier I said that I'd been fired on November the 27th. On Friday, November 28th, my ex-boss announced that my replacement would be starting on Monday,
November 30th. She didn't even wait for the blood to dry on the decks, and that certainly didn't go over without comment either.
(I had suspected something was up for some time after observing some curious and unexplained behaviour on her part. On a subconcious level, I guess I
didn't care anymore. )
So, for the last three weeks I've been working at getting my head back on straight and trying to get un-depressed. That's why I haven't been online
very much on COH....staying offline and reading, watching DVDs, eating, sleeping, teaching karate, visting friends and family, and working out has been my
therapy for the last while. (^_^)
I'll be getting back at the job searching in the new year, but first I have to figure out what exactly it is that I'd like to do. I'm primarily
qualified for tech support stuff, but after 8 years at my former place (13 years total in I.T.), I'm not sure I want to go back to that. Which, of course,
raises the question of what else would I be qualified to get into, and would would I really like to be doing. Given the mental 'damage' I'm still
undoing from the last few years, that's not as easy to define as it sounds. =/
So that's the scoop from this end of things. I'm hoping to get back at some writing now that I'm not labouring under the mental pall that my
previous job had cast over me. I'll keep folks posted.
Later!
Bert V.V.
aka SkyKnight/Mechadeuce
(P.S. - One thing I had to do in the last three weeks was rebuild my computer after a hard drive crash. I recovered around 95% of my files from backup, but for
some reason, I can't get my email to restore. So anybody that has emailed me in the last three years, please resend because I've lost your email
addresses. Sorry about that!! ^^; )