My week has been filled with early appointments for preliminary interviews, networking breakfasts, lots of work deadlines, dealing with my son's school and navigating the issues of my new work duties. Today started with a 7:30am meeting with the head guidance counselor of my sonÂ’s school, and a few other individuals. My sonÂ’s teacher has been having a bit of a challenging time with my son adjusting to his new school environment. She was so dissatisfied with his independent and sometimes willful spirit that IÂ’ve been called to the school twice since September. On my 3rd visit this past Tuesday, she insisted so much there had to be something wrong with him, that I finally relented and agreed to have my son tested for ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder).

I did manage to get him tested by a private Dr. recommended by our pediatrician, rather than by their staff. Hey, this is my son theyÂ’re talking about, if heÂ’s going to get labeled from now to high school I want to be the one to choose who labels him and who gets access to his medical information.

Well, having arranged for the results to be communicated to all of us via teleconference (through my Treo plugged into a regular speaker), the Dr. informed us that my son didn’t have ADD (music to my ears) and was simply bored, unchallenged and frustrated by the school environment where he’s “made to sit for hours on end” (my son’s words not the doc's). According to the Doctor, he’s a very bright and advanced student whose knowledge base is that of a 3rd grader, who happens to be in 1st grade. The guidance counselor said he suspected as much because my son has been getting 95/100’s in all his tests (he gets 5pts off for forgetting to write his name on the tests). It seems to him the conflict here is the teacher’s rigidity for not allowing them to move freely about the classroom during various points of the day. [No kidding!] Anyway, we discussed possible solutions we (me, his teacher and the support team) could implement and I set up a timetable for them to be impemented systematically and not all at once (so we could measure the success of each), then we set up a follow up date for next month to check on my son’s progress. Sigh! I’m so glad I waited till I was much older to have a child!

The rest of my day was spent in having my “field demotion” and possible exit, addressed by the appropriate individuals within my firm. The first meeting took place at 8:30am with my department head. He was so upset when he learned of the situation that he immediately went up the ladder with the info. To my surprise, by 3:30pm the matter went all the way to the division head. I chose this week to address the issue because next Wednesday is our deadline for everyone’s performance and compensation review to be submitted to HR. Unbeknownst to me, she is well known for her intransigence, belligerence, and inflexibility. Man she had me fooled!

So I accomplished 3 things by bringing this to light:
1) to have her input on my review minimized or neutralized by the truth of the situation, giving me the opportunity to possibly remain or to have plenty of time to move on to something better;
2) it provides those who are reviewing “her/my boss” with the proof that she’s still "not able to play well with others".
3) it helped me see that there's nothing wrong with me as she's been trying to make me believe, because the high turnover rate indicates differently.

My last meeting of the day was an impromptu one. The head of the dept asked that I accompany him to take a tour of our possible new work space. Well, I went, I saw, and I liked! Ohhhh, itÂ’s sooooo prettyÂ… cream and black marble walls and floors with beech wood trim! I would still have a cube, but this one would be a much, much bigger one. One in which my chair doesn't hit the wall when I move my chair back to get out of my seat.

Since I didn’t think the men in my group wanted to hear the word “pretty” associated with the space they’ll be spending 8+ hrs a day in, I instead used lots of big positive real estate terms with adjectives that men love to hear like: big, strong, bold, and impressive! At this last one my boss perked up, smiled wide, turned to the Property Manager and said: “Great! We’ll take it!” And thus, a deal was consummated.

Posted by: Michele at 11:57 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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1 Sounds like great news all around: you've got a smart kid, your contributions are being recognized at work and you're getting a bigger/better work environment. Congrats!

Posted by: zonker at October 22, 2005 03:16 PM (/y7q3)

2 Michelle, it sounds as if things are going better, given the circumstances. One thing I'm confused about, tho...when you wrote, "...she is well known for her intransigence...," who does the she refer to? The division head mentioned in a previous sentence, or the pain-in-the-neck analyst who is the cause of so much grief?

Posted by: Victor at October 22, 2005 03:30 PM (l+W8Z)

3 I am so happy to hear about your son. That is great! Oh, and your work is good news as well.

Posted by: vw bug at October 22, 2005 04:59 PM (flzGe)

4 You manage to keep an even keel when things get rough. Way to go, kiddo!

Posted by: Ted at October 22, 2005 09:00 PM (+OVgL)

5 heh. cool

Posted by: _Jon at October 22, 2005 09:47 PM (/R7YK)

6 Yeah Team!!! Good news, good news.

Posted by: Bou at October 22, 2005 10:22 PM (5JHEt)

7 "simply bored, unchallenged and frustrated by the school environment where heÂ’s "made to sit for hours on end" I know that feeling. Went through the same thing myself as a kid. The school's solution was to send me to one of the higher-grade classrooms during Reading classes. It helped.

Posted by: Harvey at October 22, 2005 11:37 PM (ubhj8)

8 Yes excellent news about your son....terrific news for sure.

Posted by: armywifetoddlermom at October 22, 2005 11:44 PM (1XnJ1)

9 Excellent news all around! Thanks for sharing it, and good thoughts will continue to head your way.

Posted by: Laughing Wolf at October 23, 2005 04:46 PM (5cMH5)

10 Great news! It is good to be assured that the problem is with her and not you isn't it? See all those blogosphere good thoughts your way are working!

Posted by: oddybobo at October 24, 2005 10:34 AM (6Gm0j)

11 So much good news packed into one post! I'm glad about your son and glad that you were able to stand up to what for some would be a lot of pressure from a school.

Posted by: RP at October 28, 2005 02:04 PM (LlPKh)

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Behold, my new name in Chinese:

It's Min Li which translates in English to smart and nimble jasmine flower.

I know where my colleagues got the smart and the jasmine part (I love jasmine leaves in all my teas). But where the heck did they get nimble from? Must investigate... excuse me while I send off a few text messages.

This. however, is not my first adopted name. When I taught English as a 2nd language in the Middle East, I was given a name that people could pronouce locally because otherwise I would have been known as Miss. The naming task fell squarely on the shoulders of the Village Chief where I lived just 100 miles outside of Cairo.

He gave me a very unusual sounding name, but one which I took too easily because everyone could pronounce it very well. Phonetically it was pronounced Neal-ba. I thought it was neat sounding name so I kept it and never asked what it meant. It was only later on, almost upon leaving really, that the translation of my arabic name was revealed to me, after much grinning ensued at the airport. It was Big Storm Amounting To Nothing. To this day I don't know what the Village Chief saw in me on that first day, as he stared into my eyes, to come up with such a name.

I guess I've moved up in the world since then, huh?

Posted by: Michele at 04:59 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Just had to blog because its such a great morning! Theres a steady heayv rain falling since Friday that had made everything that's green wet and lush. I love the rain almost as much as I love music. Because it's been raining so heavy lately the scent from the river, which is at high tide, is reaching farther inland than usual and the scent is magnificent. The river scent is so strong I almost feel like if I turn the corner I'll see the buoys a block away.

Anyway, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have stopped by and left comments. I also want to say thanks to those of you who have sent supportive emails and and text messages. And finally, to the select group of you who have called, thank you for making my day. You guys are ALL awesome!
more...

Posted by: Michele at 12:23 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 Even though you don't say it, it has to feel good to have someoen there not only recognize the work you do, but to appreciate it. Your company may need to look into what is going on in your position to have that many people pass through it in the last year.

Posted by: Contagion at October 13, 2005 12:47 PM (Q5WxB)

2 I agree with Contagion. Perhaps its the person at the top that has to go this time! Hang in there, it is a beautiful day.

Posted by: oddybobo at October 13, 2005 01:09 PM (6Gm0j)

3 Hope things continue to work out for you.

Posted by: vw bug at October 13, 2005 04:44 PM (MNp8q)

4 I think when/if you leave... this will not be the end. I think you made such an impact, that your leaving will have more of an effect than those others before you. Sometimes someone has to stand up and say, 'Stop the madness!" Perhaps what has happened to you and your actions as a result will make someone grow some cajones and finally take a stand. It could happen.

Posted by: Bou at October 13, 2005 05:06 PM (5JHEt)

5 Ooooh, that worked well! Hey, wanna go swimming?

Posted by: _Jon at October 13, 2005 07:47 PM (/R7YK)

6 thanks for quoting me!! here's some other things ive said: "dont eat the yellow snow" "spring only comes once a year" "a bird in the hand is worth seventeen dollars according to the latest exchange rates" "it's always darkest before it's lightest" "its always more shadowy before it's pastel" "tomorrow's a beautiful day too!!' "why put off today what you can put off tomorrow" "today is the first day of the rest of my massive royalty checks" see you all on the next tour!!

Posted by: bono at October 13, 2005 08:43 PM (U28kD)

7 Well I would say that unless your boss goes - you are very smart to use the probationary period to get out. Working for that kind of person will only get worse - as I know you know. At least you know of one person (maybe more) from this job who will give you good references. I am so sorry this job isn't working out and I'm praying that an even better job will come your way.

Posted by: Teresa at October 14, 2005 11:42 PM (FZwDL)

8 Michele, if your little discussion with the senior staff member was half as well-phrased as I suspect it was, I bet a certain other analyst will soon find herself under a microscope. It's such a pity that the higher-up some people get, the more mature your average kindergartner seems by comparison ("Professional" my fat, balding ass!) Fortunately, a company with a good corporate environment frequently finds ways to weed out those who don't deserve their jobs. The only thing that has me concerned about your corporate environment is that no one seems to have twigged on the fact they can't keep a warm body in your job slot--nine people, turning over fairly quickly, should have raised a red flag *somewhere* higher up. The more and more I read your blog, though, the more I'm convinced that should you find yourself handed a pink slip, the more I'm convinced you'll find a better job quickly. And I'm also more convinced I don't want to play p0ker against you :~)

Posted by: Victor at October 17, 2005 08:25 AM (L3qPK)

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That's how it feels right now! It started as an awful day and it went steadily downhill from there.

Essentially... I was demoted as a result of using false and/or incorrect info given to me by a 3rd party. I have no way of checking the info's veracity or accuracy, as that's the responsibility of others. Yet, because I published it unwittingly in today's reports, I'm the one that gets crucified this week.

I've also been put on 30 days notice.

Well using me as the scape goat enable the senior analyst in my dept to escape from censure and more for all the errors she's committed these past 2 weeks. Using those reasons also enables my boss to continue sleeping w/my Ex's uncle without a care or concern for my uncomfortability.

In fact, they kill 2 proverbial birds with one stoning.

So now I have to figure out if I let them fire me, or quickly begin looking for another job after being there for only 2 months. Or, try to do both simultaneously. I've never, ever, been demoted or fired. I've always had stellar reviews! So this is also a blow to my ego.

As Dax Montana would say: Damn! Just damn!

Posted by: Michele at 06:45 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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