Kevin's Watch

Sheesh, tired and worn out. Just one month more, and then it's holiday. Damn, I need it.

--A

Null, I'd start looking for another job if you haven't already. Unless you can bring attention to the issue that she is looking for any excuse, and want to go through all that accusation, but otherwise you will feel a lot better if you start looking elsewhere. However, I'm sure with the prison system, there isn't like 100 other places to go. Is there a possibility of changing departments at the prison to get away from this horrible boss? Have you had a chat with HR, as that might be a way to go.

I was in that same situation at one of the jobs I worked. I had a friend in HR, and I had talked with him about the "setup to fail" situation I was in, and he told me that the past 7 people in my position had had the same thing happen. He decided whoever was in this position needed to be fired (one including his own nephew), and did everything to get them out. I heard of write-ups for incidents that never happened, which the #2 guy went along with because he had no spine, and things like that. My friend ended up finding another job before I did because his supervisor in HR also saw this pattern, but did nothing to change it.

Wow Sarge - sounds like you are really going through the mill there! Sorry to hear that. Remember when the b***h badmouths you, what can you expect from a pig but a grunt.

I wish I could offer some advice because I have been through the whole no-win-situation boss-setting-you-up-to-fail and I hesitate to advise you to quit when you have so much time invested and it's so hard finding a new job these days, but that kind of work environment is not healthy.

Sarge, can you request a transfer or a different department?

thanks for sympathy...

i can get a transfer from the department and prison, if i am not serving a disciplinary.

cags - she has already moved out three sergeants and had another quit on her. no one above her has noticed the pattern.

peter - thanks i will keep the grunt in mind.

jenn - i want to leave and she wants me to leave. then she writes me up and guarantees i can't leave. it isn't enough to just let me go.

i saw my doctor yesterday i have bronchitis and sinusitus (if i spelled them correctly) and my arthritis is kicking my ass because i've been off my naproxen.

my doctor advised me i needed time off and gave me three days. i will not return til saturday. and that delays my hearing til next week. i'll let you know what they decide.

i appreciate you guys as friends and a sounding board - thank you!

I'm really lucky Sarge in that my bosses by and large are at a distance - and my immediate boss I love to bits. But on one occasion while I had another one for a while. I crossed swords with the bastard and he had me hauled up before the big bannana's.

Probably not a good idea Sarge but I was so mad I thought 'Screw it - if I'm going down then at least I'll make sure that someone else knows the true situation here'. So the upshot was I went in all guns blazing and told them what a total incompetant my boss was - and if they weren't going to do something about it then I was going to walk anyway. Three years later I'm still there and the guy lasted a fortnight. Risky Sarge, but satisfying - and I meant what I said. Screw being shafted for $10 per hour less tax. You're a clever cookie Sarge. If this clown wants to go head to head with you then so be it. If you go down, take her with you. My bet is you'll be the one that comes out the other side. If not, then you'll have told them some home truths that will still be with them long after you are gone and happily settled in a new job.

Like I say, probably not good advice, but shit situations just tend to get worse if you don't deal with them and sometimes you've just got to jump in and let the chips fall where they will. Chances are that the end result will be an improvement on what you are dealing with now and at the least the bosses will know the truth about the dipstick Captain.

Be lucky and of good cheer Sarge. This one will work out OK for you whatever way it goes.

^what Peter said^

If you do end up going to HR, consider interviewing some of the other people that left/were transferred. You know your situation and workplace better than anyone, but I learned the hard way the one and only time I went that route that HR tends to side with the person higher up the food chain. Being able to say 'she's done this 4 times before, and here's proof' might get them to listen better.

I had to leave work early because they had the floors waxed overnight and the fumes were having a dire effect on the headache I've had for the last 6 weeks. I rarely leave work early and don't like doing so, but if they'd given me the day I needed off to get my eyes examined, I probably wouldn't still have headaches. As it is, I have no memory of getting home except arriving at my door and trying to open it by waving my train pass over the keyhole, so it's probably a good thing that I left.

Yeah, no kidding, Sorus. Glad you got home safely.

Sarge, Sorus makes a good point. If you're going to challenge the disciplinary board, back up your assertions with names and dates, at least, of the other sergeants she's messed with. Which doesn't sound like a lot of fun to do when you're sick, I know. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Hugs to everyone. I had a good day but sorry Sorus went home. I really wanted to see her laugh at my uber eighties feather flip look.

It was a great b'day today. I feel very loved. Thanks everyone.

peter - depends on which warden is punishing me. i will see how it plays out and answer depending on what they give me. need the job, nothing else is as good and i have no schooling.

menolly - adopt me?

ali - the best thing is they (tdcj) likely do not want to get rid of me, as most everyone fired goes through mediation and wins. i am hoping for another probation - thi sone much longer and leaving me fearful of my captain.

the thing she (the captain) does not know is my determination. if she continues in such a way i will dig in my heels and fight unlike anyone she has ever dealt with. i can outlast her...

thanks for your support all. i just want to win the damned lotto and build the Land of Odd...

Sarge, your determination will win the day for you. If the USA is anything like the UK to actualy fire someone is a very, very risky thing to do - it can kick back on the employer bigtime if the have even the slightest flaw in their reason for doing so. Employers tend to know this and play very safe. This gives you more than a little clout in disciplinary situations and if the instigator of the situation is even a smidgin' in the wrong - job done! (I have known situations in the UK where the employee has won at tribuneral without even being fired - just on the grounds that his/her continued working in the job had been rendered impossible by the actions of someone else.)

That's it, we should all move to the UK. Virginia, at least, is a right-to-work state -- which means either the employee or the employer can sever ties for virtually any reason. Dunno about Texas, where Sarge is, tho.

As for me: the partners cleared out for their annual retreat yesterday, so we had a nice, quiet day at work. I got all of the Commissioner's e-mails sorted -- done with his stuff now, yay! -- and nearly finished reviewing the Big, Scary Bill, too. That means today, I can power through the rest of my to-do list and be all caught up. I hope. We'll see....

will not find ou tlikely til monday.

going with julie and our grandson soon to get our holiday photo done...

peter wrote:Sarge, your determination will win the day for you. If the USA is anything like the UK to actualy fire someone is a very, very risky thing to do...

Hahaha, not, I've learned, the same in the US. Seems like in most places they can fire you for looking at the boss funny...no warnings, no disciplinary hearings, no recourse.

--A

Wow, thats a shame. It means that the little guy will always get f***ed over every time. Our system is WAY from perfect - but at least you have a chance to hold your own in disputes against much stronger opponents.

Hugs for Sarge!! Go enjoy the weekend with the grandchild and forget about work!!

I am really, really thankful that I love my job.

I am really thankful that I *have* a job. And I hope and pray every day that my real attitude about it doesn't show through in the way I do my work, because I've got at least eight more years before I can retire....

I've been bone-tired for the past several days. I've been blaming WFC and the time change for it, but I begin to suspect the real culprit is NaNoWriMo. I've written almost 30,000 words since the beginning of the month, mostly in the evenings when I should have been sleeping.... I'm way ahead in word count, but I still can't stop myself from writing every night. I suppose that's a good thing.

Today is a good day -- for no reason in particular.

Cheers, all!


dw