ups and downs

I have not posted in some time. Until last week, things were pretty awful. I didn't want to spew out negativity - it was enough carrying it around with me! The boss from %$^@ has been living up to his reputation - totally unprofessional - mostly unavailable, occasionally appearing to request the ridiculous. Always frantic, reactive and urgent. The man is a pinball, careening from one task to another with constantly shifting priorities. I prefer a bit more organization. My new attitude was born of 3 incidents last week. The first was a call at 9:30 am. He had scheduled an interview with a candidate for a parallel position to me for 10am. He wasn't going to make it. Could I do the interview? No room booked, no resume at hand and 30 minutes to prepare! It went ok. Waiting for my return was a note on my desk. He was still unavailable, but had booked a lunch date. Could I find the person and take them to lunch? (can you hear me screaming?) Done. Then last Monday I had to call in sick. 6 had a 104 degree temp along with headache and vision problems. Stayed home to take her to the doctor. The boss would not speak to me the next day. In fact, he called one of my staff and had a conversation with them while I was in the office. I waited 5minutes, then left. Listening to one end of a phone conversation was not exactly a productive use of my time...

He is very clearly not able to manage. I now see my job as creating a strong team to work independently of him. I have been here just long enough to learn what is expected from the executive team, and have put together a group of resources to help. It should be fairly easy to stay a step ahead of him. My team is almost complete - one job offer to go out today. I have a good group of people. Other Managers have been coming to me for help, so I cannot be too far off base with my assessment of the situation.

Elsewhere in my life, I am just back from a 4 day mini vacation. Canada Day was last Friday - it is a huge celebration in our house. The kids love the tradition of the day - even if the parade is only the local Scout troup, the soccer club, T-ball team, a firetruck and a hydro truck. It is still a parade! We were tattooed with Maple Leafs, visited booths staffed by local groups and attended a fair in the park. Of course there were fireworks as well...

Spent 2 days this weekend at Great-Grandma's house. Their pool is leaking and they have been waiting for the 'pool man' to come to repair it. While they wait, the pool sits unused - filled with water and algae. Got a call last week. They had decided to open the pool despite the leak, and had shocked it with chlorine. My 91 year old Grandfather was threatening to get in the pool and scrub the algae off the walls. I offered to help. So the kids and I went up on Saturday armed with brushes. 6 scrubbed the sides of the deep end, 4 scrubbed the shallow end. I got the bottom. 6 finally caught her frog! Our household now has 1 dog, 2 cats, 1 gerbil, 1 bird, 9 fish and a leopard frog. This summer's bug catching has a purpose! Frog food.