Not a brilliant day at work today. It was S’s birthday, and I had baked her a cake last night, but the boss hadn’t bothered to get her anything - which I think was a bit mean. We went to the pub as a team at lunch time, which is the first time in ages, which was nice, although I was feeling a bit guilty because I had a massage booked for half an hour, which was supposed to be my lunch time.

I needn’t have bothered feeling bad. Boss lady, who also went to the pub with us, left at 3.30 to go to her daughter’s parents evening. Sounds a bit dodgy to me - I always thought parents evenings began around 6 o’clock…..

Mind you, I was looking through her calendar yesterday to see where she is this week, and noticed she had something in their for 8.30 tomorrow titled “Interview”. So I opened it. Well, if she didn’t want anyone to look at it, she should set it to private! It was an interview from the head honcho in Marketing, inviting her to interview following her recent application.

That would explain all the arse licking she has been doing recently, and not sticking up for us in the holiday fiasco.

But once again, I am going to be faced with the decision of whether I apply for the job or not. I don’t really want it - it is bad enough having to deal with Z through her, having to deal with him directly would be a nightmare. Also, I am just not politically minded enough, and far too honest to be in management.

However, I was talking with A about it yesterday, and he says that out of all the people in the department, there are only 2 who could possibly apply for it, and he reckons I have more experience than the other guy. Plus, the other guy is an arsehole. However, he is also the blue-eyed boy. Also, A is trying to get into my knickers, so I am not sure how reliable his opinion is.

Tonight, me and ONB left work together. We were talking about Z. He admitted he is the worst boss he has ever worked for, and he is also not happy with Boss lady, who doesn’t seem to stand up for him. (He also went on to thank me for sticking up for him today when someone from another team was claiming credit for work which ONB had done - I made sure Z knew exactly who had done the work, and that all D had done was print the charts out on separate pages, rather than 2 to a page. He had even left the ‘notes’ box ONB had added unchanged, hadn’t even added his own commentary. Shit!)

I told ONB about Boss lady’s interview tomorrow. He said I should go for it, and that maybe with me in charge Z would be easier to deal with, rather than having Boss lady agreeing with everything Z says before he’s even finished his sentence.

Which is something she is doing a lot lately. I don’t know if she has always done it, and I have just noticed it, but when I am talking in a meeting, she is forever jumping in and talking over me. Even if I don’t stop, and carry on with what I am saying, she just talks even louder.

She did it this afternoon. The arse hole guy who is the blue eyed boy who will most likely get the promotion was over asking something. I was showing ONB something, but as ever, Boss lady decides that what she needs is far more important, and interrupts me. I get involved in the discussion. I don’t agree with what they are suggesting - why have we recently spent millions of pounds on behaviour analysis, if we are going to make stupid, knee-jerk policy decisions on everything. The behaviour analysis should sort them out - if they behave bad, then they will get treated accordingly.

I was starting to win the argument, and then Z comes over. Z, the king of knee-jerk, policy decisions. Z who doesn’t know that customer equals a person, not an object. Z who says if we have to take them on, fine, but don’t actually allow them to do anything. Ever. Regardless of how they perform. And close them as soon as we can. And while we’re at it, lets close everyone else down as well.

Boss lady immediately rolls over on to her back in submission, and agrees that yes, that is exactly what we must do (said while I was trying to defend my position, as if I wasn’t even there, let alone talking). At this point I lost my rag. “Then why on earth did we bother with a new behaviour score, if we’re going to end up ruling everything by policy decisions?” Z paused. “Well, I don’t know. But I want them blocked.” He didn’t actually come out with it this time, but it was the, “this is not up for discussion” comment all over again.

Why on earth am I employed, if they are not even going to value my opinion?

Oh, and doing that in front of blue-eyed boy, who then proceeded to patronise me (how I didn’t kick him in the balls I don’t know) I have well and truly shot myself in the foot in the promotion stakes.

Did I mention I came on today?

My aunt has had a stroke. Apparently things don’t look good.

Once again, I am struggling to bring down the $120 worth of goodies I have in my basket from my favourite website.

Just going to bed last night at 11.30, just put phone down on chest next to the bed when it announces I have a text message.

SE - I am still waiting for you to clean the pile of rubbish

Me - I’ll clean up when you give me my stamping stuff. And my sweets for work. How are you? I am just off to bed.

SE - Holy shit! I hit the jackpot … Didn’t realize u had left the candy … Been raining all week

Me - That’s because they are in the pile of crap I haven’t cleared away. Better rain than snow and ice.

SE - U will have to come back now to get the candy and clean the pile of crap

Me - Oh no, do I HAVE to? Oh well, if you insist. I have to find somewhere to go now I’ve fought to get an extra 5 days holiday. Can’t wait to come back!

SE - That would be funny if u didn’t take the holiday … Looking forward to ur next visit

Just been browsing the BBC Wales website. Checked out the pictures of the snow - BBC pictures.

The second picture is by none other than Mr Aitch. I know someone famous!

Woke up a little bit of snow this morning (about half an inch). The radio told me I had received 3 inches, but it was a man, and they always promise more than is actual truth.

It had all gone by lunch time, not that I went outside. I stayed in the warm, I’m not daft. It’s cold out there now though, and I expect it will get much colder overnight, and be very, very icy tomorrow. I am torn between going back out now to pick up bits and pieces from the supermarket, and staying in and just living off what I have in the cupboards and freezer.

Actually, I am not that torn. I know which one will win.

The thing I *am* torn over though is the very difficult question - red, white or rose?

We got up in the morning, and headed off to Newcastle. It was okay, not too much to see there, very much a working town, not touristy.

It was weird seeing buses for Morpeth, Hexham and Wallsend.

We then headed back to Sydney via the scenic route, stopping at lots of nice beaches and views along the way.

We also stopped and did a lot of shopping. Well, SE did a lot of shopping. Him not having a car, he was very excited to buy things that were too big or too heavy for him to easily buy - a barbecue, a chair for his balcony, a laundry basket. We also bought some food to cook on the barbecue, because SE came over all manly and insisted he had to cook me meat.

It was very funny though, because I don’t think he’s come across the coals which are infused with the lighter fluid before - he was very panicked at the high flames at the start, and I physically had to restrain him from throwing a bucket of water over them.

The next morning SE got up early and took the car back. At least that’s what he told me, I was dead to the world and never heard him leave. I sat in the new chair on the balcony, reading for an hour or so, then got on a bus and headed off to Bondi Beach.

Sigh.

It was beautiful. Golden sand, blue sea, white foam.

It’s a shame I was on my own, because it meant I couldn’t go swimming in the sea (didn’t want to leave my bag unattended). I did go for a good long paddle though. I also lay on the beach for about an hour, but I really had to fight to stay awake, and I was frightened I would burn to a crisp.

Question - why is it that all the beautiful people, with their golden skin, only manage to get a few measly grains of sand on them, which looks beautifully white against their bodies? While there was me, doing an impression of a reverse doughnut - white skin, covered (and I mean COVERED) in brown sand.

Still, it meant I had beautifully soft skin for over a week.

Around 9.30 this morning, the boss-lady calls for a “Quick team meeting, let’s just have a huddle here, no need for a room.” We all huddle. We are all quiet.

I try not to look smug.

“There has been a reversal, and the agreement to purchase holidays now rests with me again, rather than coming down from on high.”

I went to lunch with one of the PA’s who I think is more sick of her job than I am. I get more of the picture.

Seems I wasn’t the only one talking to people. Z has been overheard shouting, “I can’t believe he went to HR,” while throwing his hands in the air.

I also know that another colleague (who I had spent all afternoon emailing back and forth with about what we were going to do, and what cheeky fuckers management were, and how stupid they were to think we wouldn’t fight it) had sent an email to her boss before she left last night, listing all the points with which she disagreed.

She was particularly unhappy because the closing date for her selections was midnight last night, and she had been made to remove them (she has managed to reinstate them now, thank goodness).

Anyway, her boss came in at 8.30, Z is always in at 8. Immediately they went into one of the spare offices, where once again there was much arm waving by Z.

I have spoken to K, a bloke who works in LELI’s team, who is a manager grade but the structure of the team is basically shite, he has nobody working for him, the whole team reports to the tit-touching monkey, and the whole team hates it. I know there is a structure change coming (from LELI), and I can guess that it splits the team into two, half reporting to K, half reporting to the monkey. I also know there will be vacancies.

I have told K that I am very interested should there be a position under him at my level.

I sort of knew it was coming. My boss had hinted it might be coming months ago, but last week when I got off holiday I asked for clarification.

My company, along with most companies nowadays, try and con you into thinking you get more than your salary, you have to consider your ‘total package’ with them. This has included for the last 2 years the ability to ‘buy holidays’. This is basically unpaid leave, but they take it out of your wages spread out over 12 months rather than when you actually take it.

My boss said on Tuesday I could buy leave.

I asked again Wednesday, and she told me the same thing again.

Today, in a team meeting, Z, her boss, announced that nobody would be allowed to buy leave this coming year. I asked why not. “Because we are a business critical function.” My arse. “How can that be? In the disaster recovery plan where there is emergency provision for ‘essential personnel’ to move to offices where the essential work can be performed, our function is way, way down the list. We are among the last people to be considered for desk space.”

His reply was, “This is not up for discussion. Nobody is buying holiday.”

P then asked who was affected by this decision. “Everyone in C’s world.” P pointed out that this ought to be the case, and that it should be fully communicated, because it wasn’t fair if some of us couldn’t buy the holiday, and we found out that others had been allowed it.

Once again, “This is not up for discussion.” Then he made a very foolish mistake. “It’s because you work for two levels of American’s, and we already think you have far too much holiday.”

Kept my ‘pissed off’ face on, but inside I am rubbing my hands with glee.

Had several other meetings, and wasn’t free to actually do anything until around 3 o’clock this afternoon, when off I toddled to one of the meeting rooms downstairs.

“Hello, is that the Union? Well, I wonder if you can give me some advice………”

Turns out, as I suspected, they haven’t got a cat in hells chance of enforcing this. We all have grounds for complaint, made even more definite by the stupid “We’re American’s” comment.

It further turns out that not everyone in our part of the department has been told this anyway. It is only ‘our side’ of the office that this has been communicated to. And note that the communication has all been done verbally - surely it would have been easier to send out a global email?

Then we find out that another part of our department based in a different city have all had their requests approved.

Then we find out that the closing date for requesting these things is staggered - and for some people had actually closed last night, so anyone who has already requested it, will now get it.

We all get 3 weeks in which to make selections. There is great communication through all the usual channels - intranet, company magazines, emails - heralding what a great company we work for which allows us to do this. Yet they wait until just before the closing date for most of us to communicate it.

Around 1/4 to 5, when my boss finally got free I took her to one side. “I think you should know that people aren’t happy about this holiday decision. I know you are probably equally as annoyed,” which she is, because I know she also wanted to purchase days, “but I think you should be passing it up the line that people aren’t happy. The Union has been consulted, and I myself will be raising it with HR tomorrow as advised by the Union. I will wait until tomorrow because I think I need to be a little calmer, and maybe get a nights sleep in before I chase this.”

I then saw her go into an office with Z, where there was much discussion and arm waving.

Meantime, I have been talking and emailing with another colleague who is very unhappy as she has to make her decisions by tonight, and was told at 3 o’clock she has to back them out. She also discovered that Z is now not happy, because he was assured it would affect the whole department, only now it’s only part of it. Whatever else he may be, seems he is a man of his word - and he is very upset to have promised us that nobody would be allowed it, to find this is plainly not true.

At 5.30, boss has to leave. As she is putting her coat on, Z calls her over. Then she heads back to where we all sit, and asks me, “If you were allowed to purchase holiday, how many days would you like? And you too, ONB? And you, NB? How about you, Krazy K?” Then she goes back to her desk, coat on and ready to leave, switches on her pc and sits typing. Then she leaves.

To be continued…….

Went to the opticians in the morning. I went to one about 8 months ago, but I got the impression that they had no experience of my condition, nor wanted to. Seems I was right, when I handed over my prescription to this new man, and he said that I only had the KC in the left eye. “No, I have it in both, only it’s much worse in my left than my right.”

New man spotted that within 5 minutes of looking. The old optician didn’t even recognise I had it.

I have to go back again in a few weeks, since he didn’t have his special KC fitting kit (in spite me telling the receptionist about my condition when I booked the appointment). And it’s a bugger because this optician isn’t part of the free testing scheme at work, so I have to pay. Oh well.

The rugby was good. The food was so-so. The half a bottle of vodka I drank was wonderful!

Not done much today apart from file away some of the papers that have been piling up in the kitchen since I moved in.

LELI came for dinner - he really is such a sweety. I cooked him chicken in cider, but because I served it with cous-cous he refused to accept it was British food (seems he is incapable of accepting the British can do good food). We also had some lovely Welsh cheese with mustard (even he couldn’t claim this wasn’t British) with some bread I baked earlier, followed by a slice (me) and two slices (him) of chocolate cake.

Washed down with a nice Italian rose wine. And then finishing off the last of my mom’s home made blackberry/raspberry/cherry gin/vodka (she makes so many, then once it’s all drained of the fruit it all looks the same - I think what we were drinking was raspberry gin, but I’m not 100% certain).

He just left to get the bus home.

It’s warmer where he lives - when I went to pick him up it was 0^o according the my car, but when I got to his it was 3^o.