Ri-dic-u-lous

That is how yesterday was.

We finally made it into the building 45 minutes after we arrived when the campaign manager (who we love) arrived. Boss got there a full hour and 20 minutes after we had planned, and did not give any explanation.

We had planned to have volunteers arrive and canvass. Things were disorganized and we were somewhat unprepared because we had been locked out all morning and could not get everything ready. So we were frantically printing things and finding pens and water bottles in front of all the volunteers (and some financial donors). We certainly could have made a stronger impression.

We then all split into pairs and left the office. I was the lucky one who paired off with the boss.

Oh my.

Things were fine at first. And by fine, I mean the usual annoying things that I tolerate with a clenched jaw. When we got to our location, we separated and went out to canvass. And that was quite good really.

Then I got a phone call. From the boss. To get back to the car.

Because he had forgotten that a new employee was arriving and he was supposed to pick this person up at the airport.

So off we go rather frantically. And the traffic is bad. And the boss doesn't know the airline of this person or have his phone number. So how are we going to find him at the airport?

Boss gives me his blackberry to search through all his emails and find the one with the phone number and flight info.

There are 2414 emails.

He does not know the name of this person.

He does not know what day he was emailed.

How do I find the email?

Have I mentioned that I get carsick quickly if I am not looking out the window? I can't read or really do much at all in a vehicle if it involves looking at something.

So I'm starting to get queasy while flipping through thousands of emails and the boss is switching lanes periodically to get there faster.

We get to the airport after an hour. I have found the email. Boss takes off into the airport with his blackberry attempting to contact the new guy while I stagger alongside clutching my water bottle and attempting to remain mostly vertical.

We find him without too much difficulty, and apologize for being 3 hours late. Boss fibs a bit, blaming our tardiness on some bs communication problem that deflects the blame from him. I recover.

As we're driving out of the parking lot, things are looking good. We found the new guy without incident, remembered where we parked, and I am feeling fine. And then Boss realizes he has lost the parking ticket.

So we pull up to the attendant's booth and Boss gives some story about being lost and pulling in just for a second to turn around.

Doesn't work.

So he frantically searches. Now, I will be the first to say I am disorganized. Open my purse and a whole mess of crap will explode on you. But this man is just BEYOND. Random crap in every corner of the car, and his pockets. He pulls everything out of his pockets and, instead of putting it in a tray or cup holder, just dumps everything onto the floor of the car.

Decides to confess he lost the ticket. I guess everything about airport security has gotten severely anal recently. She takes the license plate number, driver's license, airline, flight number, and arrival time. Then confirms the flight information with someone over her radio. She decides to charge just for the time from an hour before the flight landed. Which is much better than the maximum rate.

But now Boss has to pay, and this proves to be a challenge. He hands over a broken debit card. This thing has been snapped in half. And then duct taped back together. I think that was the breaking point of ridiculous for me. I wasn't annoyed anymore, I was chuckling on the inside of how stupid all this was. The parking attendant was very confused and frustrated.

Once we finally get out of there, his blackberry rings. Of course, he can't find his headset because he dumped it on the floor with everything else. So in the midst of groping around on the floor for this thing, he doesn't listen to the GPS and gets onto the wrong freeway.

Poor new guy. This must have been the worst first impression. Boss tried to make some joke about the new guy being bad luck. He really has no idea what he's in for.

A Seriously Slacking Boss

My work situation is getting to a point of ridiculousness. I believe my boss is allergic to work. His office is absolutely disgusting. A few of us were helping clean up his office, and we found old cherry pits that he had just spit on the floor. Eeeewwww!

He just sits in there eating and gchatting and reading blogs. Now, I’m all for spending a good portion of your day being unproductive on the computer (well, I don’t consider getting out a full blog post to be unproductive).

But he really is the master.

When we need him to do something, we have to tell him hours before it’s needed, remind him, then he still doesn’t do it. It gets done an hour after we needed it done. Then, he often does a crappy job anyway and we have to fix it.

He truly is a master slacking overachiever, so I wonder why I hate him so much. He has a good position considering how young he is. When this post is over he will be in good shape to get a better gig. He came highly recommended, so he must be getting something done!

Lately, however, my primary colleague and I feel he is taking his employees (who are the ones doing all the work) for granted, and reaping the benefits (of OUR work) when he gets to report to his superiors.

What’s even more frustrating, is the rest of the office and staff are absolutely amazing and fun and awesome and great to work with. I don’t know how I got stuck in the bad department with the one rotten egg.

Then, there are tons of little things too. That all just pile up. For instance, right now I am sitting in a parking lot. I mean sitting on the curb with my laptop balanced on a "reserved parking" sign, using the wireless from our office. Why? Because the boss is not here to let me in. (Actually, let us in, one of my colleagues is set up with her laptop right next to me).

We were told to be here early on Saturday. Being the overachiever that I am, of course I will do this in order to satisfy my boss. Being a slacker however, I got here 10 minutes later than scheduled.

And no one is here.

And we never got a call that plans had changed.

And now it is 30 minutes after the time when he should be here to let us in so we can all start working.

And my colleague really has to go to the bathroom, and is whining to me about this as we sit on the curb in the parking lot with our laptops.

And now, as I type, two other colleagues have arrived. Along with the cable guy. So the four of us are standing out here stupidly, unable to let the cable guy in.

I suppose this is a good lesson in workplace relationships and such, but it sure is frustrating.

I just hope I get a great recommendation after all of this. Being an intern who hopes to continue moving up the ranks, I need a really good one.

p.s. This is a campaign I am working on, so it only lasts a few more months, fortunately, until Nov 4. By boss, I don’t mean the candidate who is awesome and perhaps the hardest working person I’ve ever met!

Thursday Thirteen #9

I have just embarked on a summer as a staffer on a political campaign, and what a year to be doing this. Here is a quick recap of the first 2 1/2 weeks:




Thirteen Things I have been doing this summer while working on a political campaign. I... 1. ...flew to a city that I have never been to before. After one of the worst days of delays and flight cancellations I have ever experienced, I landed at 1AM, found my way to a hotel, and then worked that day 9AM-8:30PM, meeting the entire staff for the first time. 2. ...slept on a couch at the deputy finance director's apartment before moving in with the family of a supporter. I quickly got used to the family's habits and 20-year-old cat that yowls in the middle of the night. 3. ...began working 12 hour days, 6 days a week. This Sunday will be my last Sunday off. It will be 7days/week from July on out. 4. ...spent a little bit of time downtown exploring the city. Honestly, it is not quite as great as everyone told me it would be, but I am somewhat impressed, and I have plans to see even more of it this weekend. 5. ...went canoeing with friends. I so wish I had more time off to explore this great state! 6. ...went to a festival and a nursing home as a representative from the campaign. The nursing home was so fun - half the people thought I was the candidate and the other half wanted to tell me about WWII. 7. ...met the candidate who, by the way, is one of the most awesomest people I have ever met. 8. ...had lunch twice with the candidate and a few staffers. The candidate said this is something they try to do once a week in order to "maintain the illusion that campaigns are actually civilized." 9. ...went to a fundraiser at a beautiful house with great food. It kinda, no it really made me wish I worked in finance. They get to go to the events all the time. 10. ...had a truly deep conversation with the campaign manager about flavored tootsie rolls. (Office conversations are great in the evenings. Everyone is tired and lets loose a bit - the results can be pretty hilarious). 11. ...went to a chocolate factory and tasted the BEST chocolate I have EVER had. They make all kinds of flavors like one that tastes like wine, and one that has Chai flavoring. And of course, that chocolate tasting was all very serious official campaign business. Quality control for fundraisers, you know. ;) 12. ...made tons of fundraising calls! Yes, this week I am that annoying person who calls you. The end of the quarter is on Monday so we are in overdrive. Almost all other aspects of the campaign have shut down and everyone, even if they do not work in the finance department, is expected to make fundraising calls. 13. ...took a twenty minute call from a "colorful" voter who had thought through her own plan to deal with Iraq, decided an Indian member of our staff is actually Polish (???), and went on and on about something involving sabotaging oil fields in I guess the Middle East (this was where I kinda lost the conversation).




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It's been great so far and things are only going to get more active, more crazy, and more amazing as we get closer to E-day! I'm still crossing my fingers that the national party will send a celebrity of some sort our way to help out.


p.s. I also got to see the candidate dive stomach first onto an exercise ball when the candidate thought no one was looking!

Thursday Thirteen #8

Way Way WAY overdue

Thirteen Things that I'm using as an excuse to explain not having blogged for awhile (as always, with pictures) 1.I had a huge research paper due on international education policy (a month ago) 2.I had finals (again, a month ago) 3.My grandfather and cousin died during that time. My grandmother is now in the hospital. 4.I said a temporary goodbye to new friends and my new hometown 5.I moved out (fourth floor, no elevator) 6.I went to visit family in California 7.I visited friends in New York (more pics to come) 8.I finally made it home after a hellish day of foot, taxi, subway, bus, and plane travel from New York 9.I have been catching up with friends, packing, and organizing 10. I had an interview for a position for next fall that I applied for (I got it!) 11.I saw the Sex and the City movie (not a great excuse but...) 12.I went to an organizing meeting to talk about how the Democratic Primary went in this state and what we can do for the fall 13.I am getting ready to spend the entire summer on the west coast working on a political campaign, and I will also be attending the convention in Denver! Therefore, I have been spending money like crazy on plane tickets, train tickets, bus tickets, housing, and getting headaches dealing with all of these schedules!


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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Movie photo from: http://pblosser.blogspot.com/2006/10/statism-post-modernism-and-death-of.html

Oh, the Agony

Such is the life of a slacking overachiever.

I am an overachiever. Because of this, I signed up for an independent study policy internship downtown and convinced my Dean to let me take 6 classes during my first year. (I am receiving credit for the internship so it is considered 6 classes total).

I have to write a twenty page policy paper for this internship.

I am a slacker. I have left all of the work to the almost last minute and, during busy weeks, the absolute last minute. I must turn it in tomorrow morning in person. I am stuck in the computer lab writing until it is done. The lab closes at 4am, but I'd like to get out of here by 12:00. No dinner tonight. Just left over Easter chocolate. To achieve my midnight goal, I am posting on my blog, sending my friends bumperstickers on Facebook, and checking out Thursday Thirteens.

Why?

Because only a draft is due. There is certainly time to improve it for the final.

And the independent study is pass/fail.

That's my mantra right now.

"Don't freak out. The sun hasn't set yet. It's only a draft. It's only pass/fail."

A New Meme

From Blog Talkers Talk: What does spring mean for you?

Spring means a mixture of activities for me. As a student, it means both crunch time as exams draw closer, slight panic as I make summer arrangements, and relief as the year will almost be over. The weather is wonderful, of course, although it's taking a bit longer to warm up at University than it did back home. I am so fortunate not to have allergies so I am always able to enjoy the weather. This slacker absolutely does not do a big spring cleaning. Throughout the year, I plug along, picking up, vaccuming, and doing laundry as needed. I think the worst part is the weather not being able to decide what to do. This is similar to that awkward period in the fall where it's too cold for half of your clothing, yet you feel stupid in the other half because it's just not cold enough.

I don't get spring fever so much as summer fever. Around this time I start thinking about the Cape where I've spent every summer of my life. I'm also anxious to get past exams an on to whatever fabulous un-paid internship I managed to land. As of right now, I have not yet received acceptances so I am anxiously awaiting those. Daylight Savings Time happens over the weekend where, at college that involves seriously screwing up your sleep cycle, so I don't feel the effects of DST until Sunday night when I'm frantically trying to finish a paper and wish I had another hour left to do it...such is the life of a SlackingOverachiever (well, actually this part is just about the slacking).

Musings to avoid summer reading and that blue sheet

You know you’re a Washington, D.C. intern when…

You look at a Dear Colleague with 20 or more signatures in awe
You have become disillusioned with parts of the legislative process
You “guess” what mail is important
You are amazed at how friendly everyone in DC is
You are ready to change planets at a moment’s notice
Riding the subway between government buildings is still fun
You still read all the names of representatives on the plaques outside their offices
Tourists, school groups, and ice cream annoy you
Some days, all you do is play sudoku
You are thankful your office has subscriptions to most major magazines
You live for Heard on the Hill
You and your colleagues are “running the world”
You think your official ID badge is the bomb
You religiously stick to the routes between buildings that you learned first
You are impressed by the amount of helpful signs
You really hope the mail has been screened well for anthrax
You are continuously making sure you know whether it is morning, afternoon, or evening so you don’t screw up on the phones
You can see how easliy egos are inflated
Your boss’s office is still a scary place
Your boss isn’t your “real boss”
You stood outside Senator Clinton’s office and worshipped her doors
You go to briefings for the free lunch
Being on C-Span still amazes you
Crazy constituents lighten your day
Getting to refill the water pitchers in the hearing rooms might be the highlight of your day
You think the person you work for is the coolest representative and you are totally excited about your office’s issues
You have forgotten how hard it is to check your party hat at the door
Your office is flooded with coca cola products
Stacks of newspaper clippings have suddenly become fascinating to you
You can give others directions…sorta
RSOB and C-204 are the bomb
You think you can exit RHOB on one side and “quickly” walk around to the other side
RHOB has a courtyard?
Security guards have become your best friends
You swear Dirksen and Hart are the same building
When sorting mail, you still have to check the issues assignment sheet in your office
You feel sorry for the staffers in the district office

You know you’re a WW intern when…

You’re dying for anyone to win the World Cup as long as they’re not French
You are thinking about calling Matt’s girlfriend
A half naked French guy asked you about your grandmother’s funeral while you were watching birth videos
A man in his underwear is not always appealing
You were almost arrested in the subway
You do not get along with DC police or taxi drivers
Who reserves part of the curb?
You beep every time you go through the metal detectors
You are still bitter about the congressional baseball game for several reasons…
Where do you sign up for the softball teams?
You don’t believe in dominant genes anymore because you swear Brigid’s sisters are not half asian
Going to Ballston (and getting a pedicure) is considered a night out on the town
You “know” what the next few presidential tickets will be, all the way up to Hurn-Maloney-Kennedy
You’re going to watch Wedding Crashers dammit!
Even though you are a liberal, you say freedom fries
Preppy pink hats are the shit
Photos with your congressperson are NOT emailed!

You know you’re a high school intern when…

You find yourself constantly explaining that you’re majoring in “high school”
Everyone keeps telling you how lucky you are
You are the lowest of the low and no one really cares about you but you are loving every minute of it
You’re not sure if you should friend your coworkers on facebook or not