Mad Monday

Wow.

Monday was a one of the most unusual work days ever. Let me try to bullet point it for you:

* We hear rumors of layoffs in November.
* HR announces that the severance program is being changed. Benefits are being cut in half to "align with other companies". As far as I can tell, our benefits are just like everyone else's. Nothing makes us stand out anymore.
* My TL gives me a run down of the weekend. He was rather busy but it was not over bearing.
* Esc Mgr (the guy who traded jobs with me) comes in, looks okay, tells me he expects a busy week.
* 45 minutes later, Esc Mgr comes into our office and tells us he is very sick and cannot stay. He looks like he is gonna hurl.
* Our boss comes in and WHILE I AM ON THE PHONE, ask's my TL if I will do Esc Mgr's job. I end my call quickly and tell my boss, "No, I am on call this week and I WILL NOT do the Esc Mgr's job and be on call."
* The next 3 hours are spent haggling over who is going on call. He tries to enlist the guys in Latin America (they have not been very dependable in the past), but keeps running into road blocks.
* My boss tells me to call our customer and tell her that I will be taking over an issue that has been ongoing, but I refuse. I tell my boss, "When we know who is on call, then I will call the customer."
* Me, my boss, and my TL spend about 30 minutes discussing the on call situation and how one week on and one week off (at the pace we work) is wearing us down.
* My boss tells us that we should be rotating with the LA guys (he keeps forgetting they ignore the phone when they are on call and he does NOTHING about it) to keep from burning out.
* Boss finally agrees to put his foot down regarding he LA team and the on call situation.
* By noon, the issue has been discussed but players have changed somewhat. One of the guys who has been on leave is coming back and will be able to assist starting Sept 10.
* The guy in Mexico is told he will be on the rotation so we have 4 guys rotating on call now. Stress level should drop. Boss thinks that now that we have 4 guys to rotate on call, I can still do the Esc Mgr's job. He is mistaken.
* I take over the Esc mgr's case that has been an ongoing issue for 2 weeks. While I could really make myself a hero by walking in and taking over, it would be suicide and I would be back to where I was before.

My boss (who is an account manager) kept pushing me to take over for the Esc Mgr. I told my boss that if he wants us to follow the process, the HE should fill in for the Esc Mgr. He was not pleased and did everything he could to get out of it. Figures.

When the day was over, we had our on call person (and it was not me), I ran the escalation for two meetings, and we all went home tired, but happy.

Once home I ate a quick dinner (homemade gumbo), washed dishes, and finished vacuuming the house. When all that was done, we walked the dogs and watched an epi of "The 4400" that we missed. Exhausted, we fell right to sleep as soon as our hit the pillows.