Welcome Back

I have been back from vacation for two days. I haven't quit yet. That is good, I guess. But, it was a close thing.

MNB told me that I had to create unpacking instructions for the instrument, and that they had to be done for a meeting at three o'clock that afternoon. I will admit that I wasn't sure who I was writing the instructions for, as the equipment would be installed by our service engineer, who is actually competent and doesn't need me to tell him how to take the instrument out of the box.

At about noon, MNB came by my desk and told me that if I didn't have the document finished in time for the meeting, he would kick me out of the meeting. Of course none of the other guys had finished their stuff for the meeting, and they knew about it a week ago. I mentioned to MNB that I thought it was a bit unfair that he give me so little notice.

His response was "I sent you an email before you left for vacation. It was in the meeting invite. Check it now."

So, as MNB waited impatiently while I dug up the meeting invitation. I looked at the invite, and noticed that there was only one task on that list, which was order the crates. I told MNB "The only thing on this list for me is to order the crates. They have been here for over a week. No mention of the packing instructions. Do you wish to continue playing this game?"

His response was "No."

The meeting of infamy happened, and sure enough, despite the short notice, I was closer to finished than anybody else. He didn't kick anybody else out of the meeting though. After the meeting, I pointed out that he had scheduled the meeting over our weekly one on one meeting (which is really just a scheduled chance to threaten and insult me). He told me that he had already spent enough time with me today, and he knew what I was working on. No other interaction was necessary.

Thanks. Of course he did finish up by saying "Welcome back. We missed you." Really, he must have meant that he missed having a punching bag around. Either that, or he's getting soft.

We shall see. It's good to be back. Well... not really, now that you mention it.