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I've made a New Year's resolution to make more of an effort in general. So to contribute something to fandom I'm offering my services as a reference librarian.
If you have some kind of historical or scientific question for fandom reasons, post it here or private message me and I'll try to find you an answer.
I'm not making any promises. I work at a public library, not an academic library. There are resources I just don't have access to. But, I do have a good number of subscription databases at my disposal and a thorough understanding of appropriate search terms--so I can do a lot better than a Google search.
Also, I really like looking things up, so give me something to research.
So I was recently promoted and transferred and in the process I've gone from bad management to a total lack of management. The branch manager and department managers retired and weren't replaced, so the Assistant Branch Manager is doing three people's jobs, poorly, because that's what happens when one person is stuck with three jobs.
A couple weeks ago I worked an hour on my day off. I discussed this twice with the Asst. Manager. A week went by and I wasn't credited with it. And this is in addition to my schedule being wrong for the past month because it's never been updated from my old schedule, despite discussing it three times. She said she was going to fix it, but she's so busy she kept forgetting.
So, I contacted HR/Payroll, didn't say a word about what my theoretical manager did or didn't do, just asked for credit for my time worked and for my schedule to be fixed. Payroll contacts the Asst. Manager, my time was sorted out, but then there was a bunch of B.S. about how I should have handled it with my "manager" and the Asst. Manager's feelings were hurt because I was going over her head.
I'm swiftly losing all respect for these people. If you're shorting someone's pay, the correct response when it's pointed out to you is, "Sorry, my bad, I'll fix it." Making excuses for yourself and trying to make the employee feel bad for telling on you is not only wildly inappropriate it's ethically wrong.
And I've got serious doubts about our HR/Payroll person as well. I used to do that job, and this kind of bullshit never went down under my watch. The job is to mitigate, not exacerbate, employee/management conflicts.
A couple weeks ago I worked an hour on my day off. I discussed this twice with the Asst. Manager. A week went by and I wasn't credited with it. And this is in addition to my schedule being wrong for the past month because it's never been updated from my old schedule, despite discussing it three times. She said she was going to fix it, but she's so busy she kept forgetting.
So, I contacted HR/Payroll, didn't say a word about what my theoretical manager did or didn't do, just asked for credit for my time worked and for my schedule to be fixed. Payroll contacts the Asst. Manager, my time was sorted out, but then there was a bunch of B.S. about how I should have handled it with my "manager" and the Asst. Manager's feelings were hurt because I was going over her head.
I'm swiftly losing all respect for these people. If you're shorting someone's pay, the correct response when it's pointed out to you is, "Sorry, my bad, I'll fix it." Making excuses for yourself and trying to make the employee feel bad for telling on you is not only wildly inappropriate it's ethically wrong.
And I've got serious doubts about our HR/Payroll person as well. I used to do that job, and this kind of bullshit never went down under my watch. The job is to mitigate, not exacerbate, employee/management conflicts.
Winamp & Work
Feb. 22nd, 2019 10:30 pmSo I recently dug up an old copy of Winamp from a back up hard drive and installed it, along with my favorite Samurai Champloo skin (and there was a couple hour tangent figuring out how to resize it so it would work on a modern resolution monitor). Now I'm listening to my entire MP3 collection on random--including stuff I haven't listened to since high school or college.
The whole experience is very late 90s, early 2000s.
I just started my new position. It's the same stuff, but less of it and for more money. And apparently my entire library system is a management nightmare. I just went from bad management to a total lack of management. I'm very happy about the more money part, but I'm not so sure about the department I transferred to. If my coworkers let me take over and sort out the mess they've got going on, great. If they get all resentful of my suggestions and insist on keeping the chaos, I might miss the old job. (My old manager was abrasive but at least he got the job done.)
The whole experience is very late 90s, early 2000s.
I just started my new position. It's the same stuff, but less of it and for more money. And apparently my entire library system is a management nightmare. I just went from bad management to a total lack of management. I'm very happy about the more money part, but I'm not so sure about the department I transferred to. If my coworkers let me take over and sort out the mess they've got going on, great. If they get all resentful of my suggestions and insist on keeping the chaos, I might miss the old job. (My old manager was abrasive but at least he got the job done.)
I got the promotion!
Jan. 23rd, 2019 08:38 pmI still haven't gotten the official start date for my new position, but it's been announced library wide so it's definitely happening.
I'm getting a substantial pay raise and it's a supervisory position. I love telling people what to do. Before becoming a librarian I managed an HR office and I've really missed having minions the past few years.
I'm getting a substantial pay raise and it's a supervisory position. I love telling people what to do. Before becoming a librarian I managed an HR office and I've really missed having minions the past few years.
So maybe I have self esteem issues...
Jan. 15th, 2019 09:24 pmSo I had my interview for a promotion today. I feel like it went okay. I only flubbed one answer. I might not have said the absolute best things for everything else, but I at least had something halfway intelligent to say. And, the people I interviewed with weren't giving me the stink-eye and they laughed a few times--which I think is a positive sign.
I'd give myself a 50/50 chance of getting the job. It's just going to come down to who else interviewed and if they edged me out of the running. But, everyone I've talked to, all my coworkers including my manager & assistant manager and my friends and family members, have said they'd be surprised if I didn't get the job. So it makes me wonder if I'm being too self critical and undervaluing my competence and qualifications.
I'd give myself a 50/50 chance of getting the job. It's just going to come down to who else interviewed and if they edged me out of the running. But, everyone I've talked to, all my coworkers including my manager & assistant manager and my friends and family members, have said they'd be surprised if I didn't get the job. So it makes me wonder if I'm being too self critical and undervaluing my competence and qualifications.
Bitching about work...
Dec. 29th, 2018 03:42 pmI just applied for a promotion and it didn't go well. It's a gov't job, so there's this complicated system where you apply to a board that doesn't have any real relationship to your eventual employer, they review the applications then give the top ten names to the person actually doing the hiring. They determine the top ten with a point system.
Last time I applied for the same promotion I got a 73.5. That was three years ago and I've taken on other responsibilities and gotten experience in several new things since. This time they scored me 75.0. So I called and asked what is their scoring rubric.
I wasn't asking for a precise breakdown of which points came from what, just general information how they weigh things. Is years experience more important or tasks performed? If they give a certain number of points for 1-5 years experience and you don't go up in point until you reach 5-10 years experience, that would make sense--it's completely stupid, but it would explain the score. They claimed how they score work experience is proprietary and they couldn't tell me anything.
I don't think there's a system. I suspect scores are given based on how the analyst feels about it--which would go against the entire purpose of the board. Theoretically, this board is supposed to make the hiring process fair, but the total lack of transparency makes the supposed fairness highly questionable. And if the hiring decisions are based on someone's gut instinct about an application, why are we paying these people? The directors and department heads could just do their own hiring.
Last time I applied for the same promotion I got a 73.5. That was three years ago and I've taken on other responsibilities and gotten experience in several new things since. This time they scored me 75.0. So I called and asked what is their scoring rubric.
I wasn't asking for a precise breakdown of which points came from what, just general information how they weigh things. Is years experience more important or tasks performed? If they give a certain number of points for 1-5 years experience and you don't go up in point until you reach 5-10 years experience, that would make sense--it's completely stupid, but it would explain the score. They claimed how they score work experience is proprietary and they couldn't tell me anything.
I don't think there's a system. I suspect scores are given based on how the analyst feels about it--which would go against the entire purpose of the board. Theoretically, this board is supposed to make the hiring process fair, but the total lack of transparency makes the supposed fairness highly questionable. And if the hiring decisions are based on someone's gut instinct about an application, why are we paying these people? The directors and department heads could just do their own hiring.
Eye Surgery
Dec. 17th, 2018 10:43 pmSince this format does allow more discussion, I'll just mention here that I've had most of the different eye surgeries a person can have. I haven't had stints, a buckle, or a cornea transplant--but pretty much everything else I've had on one eye or the other. So if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll tell you all about how it works and what the recovery is like.
This all looks vaguely familiar...
Dec. 17th, 2018 09:02 pmI signed up for this account when LJ first started to go under, then ended up migrating to tumblr instead. It's been so long, I'm totally confused.
I spent the past hour or so randomly adding names I recognized to my Circle, in case we end up back here. If you've stumbled on this DW from the contact list, you probably don't know me.
Once upon a time, I was an active participant in fandom. Wrote fic, beta read, organized challenges, etc. Then I went to grad school and dropped off the face of the earth fandom-wise. Now fifteen years and a dozen fandoms later I've never de-lurked and have lost track of most of the fandom friends I had back in the day.
So, just FYI, if you'd like to make fandom friends you have to get involved and volunteer for stuff. That's how you get to know people.
I spent the past hour or so randomly adding names I recognized to my Circle, in case we end up back here. If you've stumbled on this DW from the contact list, you probably don't know me.
Once upon a time, I was an active participant in fandom. Wrote fic, beta read, organized challenges, etc. Then I went to grad school and dropped off the face of the earth fandom-wise. Now fifteen years and a dozen fandoms later I've never de-lurked and have lost track of most of the fandom friends I had back in the day.
So, just FYI, if you'd like to make fandom friends you have to get involved and volunteer for stuff. That's how you get to know people.
