Late Fragment.

Helplessly hoping.

I got laid off today.

I know in a week, I will feel differently about all of this, but right now, I just feel something between pissed and sad.

You Gotta Have Friends.

My friend, Ringy, asked me yesterday, about my raise that I was promised.  And I told her I'd been asked to complete a "Managers Self Assessment" so that my request to get what I was promised could be considered.  And then I bemoaned the fact that I have no time to fill in the stupid form.

Ringy, good friend that she is, volunteered to do it for me.

Her attempt, which I can never ever show to my boss but will make me unspeakably happy for weeks to come, is here.

Enjoy.  And thanks, Ring-Ding.  For the laughs and moral support.

Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief.

On Monday, my boss came to me and said "Can we talk for a minute?"  Turns out he wants to take one of my attorneys and move her to another position.  It's good for her, and it's good for me, because it's good when your people succeed. But it's bad for me too, because he has not yet said I can replace her. 

Yesterday, the other senior attorney, who was not an active part of my department but who did complete certain necessary tasks, was let go. 

I have gone from four attorneys to two attorneys in about forty-eight hours.  I would have told you that we were at least an attorney short before all this happened.  Now, well, we're screwed.

I am meeting with my boss to discuss this on Monday.  We need to talk about staffing.  We need to talk about who is going to pick up the responsibilities of the now ex-senior attorney.  And while we are at it, I think we need to talk about the raise he promised me but hasn't delivered.

In the meantime, I get to stress out about all of this for at least another four days.

Sigh.

Working for A Living.

You Let Out One of Your Bored Sighs.

Oh. My. God.  Today has lasted an entire decade.  I want to go home.

Switched to Overload.

The problem with taking a week off is that you come back to a week's worth of accumulated bullshit.

It is nice to be missed, and nice to be needed. 

But I think sometimes I could stand with a little less needing...

Nu-uhn.

Someone actually just used the term "incorporeal hereditament" with me on the phone.  I about swallowed my tongue.

Pour Myself A Cup of Ambition.

This morning, my boss appeared outside my office and said "Can we talk a minute?"

After I died a little inside, I said we could.  And he proceeded to tell me that he'd thought I'd managed to learn a lot in the 4 weeks I've been here (I've been here 11). 

And then he asked me if I'd like to take on a new challenge. 

It's more responsibility.  It's less lawyering and more managing.  It's more likely to be more routine than what I have been doing.  It's more visible.  It's more stressful.  It's certainly more of what the company needs right now.  I'd have more people reporting to me.  I would be much more directly involved in the revenue stream, much more hands-on, much more on the line.  But I'd also be that much more valuable to the company.

I am uncertain if it would resolve some of the current issues I have with the job, but I suspect I could make resolution of some of those issues part of our conversation when I tell him whether or not I want to take this on.

He asked me to think about it and come back to him.  Tomorrow.

I guess I'll have to make up my mind by then.

Good Looking, So Refined.

I spoke to a friend of mine yesterday who told me that she'd talked to someone else we knew who knew the woman I used to work for.  (Wow, that was complicated.)  In any case, the someone else said she didn't know how I'd lasted as long as I had with my old boss.  This makes me feel better about what happened.

My 90 day review is coming up here shortly.  There was a promise of a salary increase at that time.  Today, I took a call with one of the sales guys.  It was pretty standard.  I did nothing extraordinary.  He just came into my office to thank me for being such an amazing asset.  And then he said the magic words.  "I told [your boss] how phenomenal you were.  It's so great to have such a sales-oriented counsel here finally."

Can you say ca-ching?  Can my boss?  I sure hope so.