Reach for the stars...

MrsMoo2U

Eew........... not a flattering picture at all. I was referring more to his personality than his looks though.

Well done on getting all that off your chest. I also tend to keep a diary for such things. I am currently struggling with managers and their ability to create stress where none is necessary so completely understand where you are coming from.

niccatw

I just didn't find him completely genuine. Which is likely to happen when you are playing a TV role and meeting lots of people you don't know. He was lovely, don't get me wrong. Brilliant at putting you at your ease when chatting to you. But just a bit too full of himself for my liking. But again, I guess you don't get far as a TV presenter unless you are a little bit arrogant .

And I cannot fault just how brilliant the whole team were at stopping to chat to passersby, even when the pressure was really on! So my opinion is just based on that very personal feeling of not feeling properly at ease with him. Whereas with Julia, the Interior Designer, I felt you could chat about anything and it was very relaxed and easy and she wouldn't look at you as if you'd just asked the most daft question in the world when clearly, you just had.

Oh dear. Now I'm sounding like an ungrateful brat! (Apparently the show was on again on a Sky channel at the weekend. I was spotted. )

Butti

Dear Nic 'ungrateful brat' you,

You're brilliant you know that. The diary thing is very wise and your analysis of the situation is very wise. The stress causer should move but how often do they apply logic in these situations. Lets hope.....

I also have to agree on Nick (Really I'm not trying to swell your head). Nick is a presenter, he presents rather than is. So he chatted to us about what we did and why we were there and was pleasant enough, but did he really give a stuff and do you think he could remember anything we told him 5 minutes later.

I liked Julia, she was genuine and she got a hard time from the boys, maybe not as hard as her flowers in the flower boxes though :rotfl:......and I loved Billy. I just thought he was lovely, warm, funny, caring, just a really nice guy - I would have brought him home if he wasn't quite so orange and wouldn't clash so much with the furniture in the house!


B

MrsMoo2U

I completely understand that. He does come across as very caring and nice as a presenter but yes, why should he be as genuine as he portrays. He is, after all doing a job. Julia does seem very nice and I thought the hard time they gave her was all put on for the cameras, maybe not. Love the last line Butti, Billy is so funny on the telly to watch. In fact I think that he is the one that makes the show worth watching half the time. I dont have tv so wont be able to see any repeats. I did watch on iplayer though.

You do not sound ungrateful. You are giving me an honest summation of people as requested. See you are not stressed - if you were then you wouldn't be so coherant. analytical and insightful. It is most definitely frustration that is causing the stress when the supervisor is around and yes, it is unlikely that they will move her.

niccatw

I was thinking that today; there's no chance they will move her. But two can play that game - they have no grounds for moving me. Other than, according to our job descriptions either of us can be moved where there is a service demand at any point in time! (Just so happens it's our area that has the biggest demand.)

More I was thinking that it is my professional reputation at stake here. When I mentioned the delegated list of stuff to do to boss I said supervisor would most likely tell her I hadn't done it instead of giving the reasons why I haven't and/or couldn't. Boss said yes, that is what comes back to her. Which essentially means everything that has happened in the last two years has been as a result of supervisor telling boss her version of the story and boss thinking I was not competent work-wise.

Now, I'm not for a second here suggesting I wouldn't have been ill or that some stuff needed to go back to boss, but I am becoming more and more aware that nothing is ever her fault and she will always apportion blame. And that much of that would have led my boss to make that initial referral to occy health, where perhaps working with me to support me might have been more appropriate!

I am well enough now to make sure I defend myself. I won't sit back and let that blame be apportioned.

Never provoke a Taureen! :rotfl: Says she who would dispute she had some of the Taureen qualities. I wonder if it's because I was very premature and actually should have been born a Gemini. :rotfl:

I should probably go check my bank accounts... I redid my budget again at weekend. It won't be as tight as I though as I'd forgotten I was paying out £50 every 4 weeks for waxing anyway, so I actually only need to budget for an extra £25 to cover the babrclaycard payment. It is just this month that will be trickier as I have the iterim payments to cover until the direct debit is implemented and I want to pay the £300 off the virgin card right away so the APR doesn't kick in.

Today has been NSD 2. Last month those NSDs were slippery little eels and they kept escaping my grasp... this month I am determined to chase them!!!

By the way, the weather on the walking marathon will be wild! The store manager kept back other suitable pairs of waterproofs for me as he didn't have many in my size. But they were too big so I got a refund. I still have no waterproof trousers. (Though I did get drawn in to the Warehouse sale and came out with a gorgeous navy and cream silk dress instead. I'm sure that'll be just the ticket for walking 26.2 miles in the middle of the night in September in Glasgow! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:) And has sealed my fate with regards to the weather!

Jesthar

cherisong wrote: »

Eew........... not a flattering picture at all. I was referring more to his personality than his looks though.

Could've been worse, could've been something other than the *back* of my head in the foreground, given how hot and sweaty we all were at that point Oh, the memories that pic brought back! :rotfl:

Good call on the diary, Nic, and well done for tackling the boss, hope Wednesday goes well. Keeping e-mails is usually good, too - I certainly do that, much to the dismay of our IT department mailfile size-wise... And with my Union rep hat on, I'd say as you're a member, if you have a local rep who's decent a chat with them wouldn't go amiss.

Regrding your supervisor, is there any chance she has done the same to other people - misrepresented their ablities and capabilities?

And, hun - don't go blaming yourself for the faults of others. Nor for calling them to task when they try and dump the results on you, k? They sow it, they should do the reaping, eh?

*hugs*

niccatw

Yes Jes, she has. Said person has also been off sick and has also spoken to boss.

Spoke to boss again yesterday. Less convinced anything will happen. Boss told me her strategy was to wait until they have supervision together and invite supervisor to tell boss how she might ensure I have more control and autonomy over my caseload.

Seems a bit of a cop out if you ask me. But I'm not the boss and supervisor does need to be given the chance to show she has any clue about how she might be making me feel.

And actually, it is probably all boss can do as when boss asked me how much she could share of what I'd said with supervisor I said it'd probably be best if she went with the sress at work policy. I rather boss didn't go in with the "actually Nicca doesn't think you're doing your job particularly well" line!!! Especially since, from what boss has said, she also has concerns!

However I do know boss mentioned to the other person that she had no idea how bad it was. So boss will be snooping a lot more. And boss did also give me clear guidance on how I was deal with the area in which I have more experience than supervisor and need to supervise supervisor! Yes, I know! No bloody wonder I stress!

Boss now knows supervisor's response to me is very ofen "I don't know"! And appreciated that while boss can say "oh come off it, you do" exactly because she is the boss, that's much more difficult for me to say!

Even though I know that response would never work the other way round!

Anyhoo...

No NSD today but RBS is sitting at £2,504.61.

The balance transfer for hasn't yet gone through properly so I'm getting a little antcy about that, though I still have 10 days (not working days mind you) before the direct debit for the full amount goes out of my bills account. According to Barclaycard, it's there, but it's not yet gone from MBNA. Why do these things take so bl00dy long?

Lodger doing my head in again. Again no particular reason. He's just there. Constantly. And his idea of cleaning is so not mine! In fact, his idea of cleaning is just not. Grrrrr! What is he doing 24/7 in the flat if he can't even wipe a kitchen surface after himself?

Grump, grump, grump...

MrsMoo2U

Deep breaths, I get a bit claustrophobic when in the same place as Mr C for too long. I do love him but your own space is always a good thing too.

At least your boss knows now and she can monitor the situation. She should not need to share what you have discussed with her in order to keep an eye on things really, although she may have been thinking that speaking to the supervisor may make things easier. Any good manager would use all of the information gathered and come up with an action plan without having to repeat confidential conversations. The very fact that 2 people from the team have been off sick should have prompted her to be asking questions anyway.

Can you amend the DD for the CC on line to the minimum amount? If it is MBNA I am pretty sure that can be done on line on the MBNA website and if you do it now then they will only take the minimum. If that is more than you owe then could you just use the card to buy groceries to clear any credit on it? Not sure if you can amend BC on line. I recently transferred an MBNA balance to BC and it showed on the BC the next day but didnt clear on the MBNA card for about 7 days.

niccatw

I have been trying that tonight Cheri but it just keeps telling me the server is temporaily unavailable. If I don't get it, I'll give them a buzz.

It really irks me that financial institutions can get away with taking two weeks to process these things. That means both can be charging me interest (if I weren't on the 0%) or gaining their own interest.

Can you imagine their response if we turned around and said, oh yes, we've sent the money, but you'll just need to wait for it to process. Harrummph!

Crikey, I am a grump today. I think I've had too much sleep! I fell asleep when I ought to have been studying yesterday. At 2pm ish. I woke up enough to go to bed properly but otherwise slept right through until 8am this morning. That cannot be normal. Even for some-one who loves their bed as much as I do!

MrsMoo2U

I get grumpy when I am tired too. Too much sleep definitely makes me grumpy. Hope that you can get in on the server soon. You are so right. I rang the bank last week to ask when I was getting my new debit card as mine ran out in August. I was told that I had to ring two weeks before the end of August to order a new one, they would block the one I have and I would be without for 2 weeks. I explained that this could not be right, I usually just get a replacement and it runs on. She double checked and said yes, I was right and a new one would be issued. Went to the bank the next day and the ATM took my card off me. Went inside and was told it had been blocked and would take 2 weeks to get another. I blew a gasket (the bank is a 15 mile round trip, I live in a village with no ATM access and how could I obtain fuel etc if I had no card?) They said that they could "only apologise" At which point I ranted on about if I was delaying payment to them for 2 weeks I would be charged all kinds but all they would do is apologise, OH NO says I! I am not leaving this bank until it is sorted. (at which point the two old ladies behind me clapped). The girl on the desk knows me (I have been in a lot transferring very large sums of money to Austria) and had just arrived back from lunch. She sorted it out but have I had a written apology? NO. I had to wait 7 days for a new card. I have sent a letter of complaint with a list of all the times that I have had to drive to the bank to obtain cash. Time off work (ok they dont know I am on holiday), petrol costs, wear and tear on car and inconvenience. I told them that my rate of pay is £18 per hour and billed them. Do you think it will work? NO!!

Oops, I have joined the grumpy corner