marty21

Ding Dong the wicked witch has gone!

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:44:48 GMT

3 weeks into my new job, settling in, less of the politics of larger places I have worked. I still don't know what I'm doing, but feel less confused.

I heard from people at my old job, the evil manager has been let go, she was a temp so it would have been an easy process to let her go, pity they didn't do this in January, a whole lot of hassle could have been avoided. She is off the gravy train, and I hope (and I'm usually a generous soul) that she doesn't get another job, partly because of the way she is likely to treat staff at another organisation, mostly because I'd like her to suffer in some way - payback.

I feel bad that I feel that way

but not too bad

quick work not

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:04:14 GMT

had an email from my old employer, after criticizing the management when I left, I sent the form about 2 months ago, and now they are inviting me in to discuss my issues. I told them I couldn't go in as I had just started a new job, and that I was sure that the director was aware of the issues and should be able to make an informed decision on the basis of not just my comments but several others - talk talk talk, but no action, sums up the place to be honest, I'm well out of there.

back in the land of employment

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:25:13 GMT

Quite relieved to be honest, started a new job on Monday at a Housing Co-op in West Hampstead. Bit of a dramatic change from my last job at evil massive housing association, they told me at the interview that they are a bit tame, I said I love tame.

So I was out of work from June 27th, paid until July 27th, and wageless until September 15, I could have temped from June, instead I decided to hold out until I got a permanent job, and dug into my savings a little, before the credit crunch stole them.

Talking of the credit crunch, they way I understand it, short selling was a major factor, brokers sell stock they don't own, in the hope that the shre prices drop, then trouser the difference when the stock tanks, I think the practice is actually called "naked short selling" since you don't actually own the stock you are trading. I read somewhere that some hedgefunds who favour this practice had made billions out of it, making hay while banks went out of business, immoral really, since it is not just the big earners at banks who suffer, and frankly they get no sympathy from most, but also the support staff, and businesses who supply services, they are the real victims. Bank staff with the big bonuses can sell their 3rd homes or second porsche I guess.

Meanwhile the share price drop directly affects those with pensions, I had my pension statement recently, a stakeholder one, I have paid into for the past 6 years, it's worth what I paid in. Great, I'd have been just
as well off stuffing it under the bed.

a friend writes for the guardian

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:59:17 GMT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/19/healthandwellbeing6

he's an online mate, although i have met him a few times in real life, and a lovely chap he is as well. In saturday's guardian magazine, he wrote very movingly about how he killed a man, nothing sinister, he is a tube driver, and someone committed suicide under the train he was driving...

a life of leisure

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 16:44:52 GMT

been a week now since i left, my main worry is whether or not i'll get paid in July, I have a feeling that the evil boss will try and stitch me up on that. She has already stitched me up on my yearly bonus. Once i officially leave the form, then i will start my complaints against her. I feel sorry for the people left, and she is really the worst manager i have ever had, and my experience of managers goes back to my first part-time job in 1978...

it has been very relaxing, not having to worry about work, next week i aim to start the job search in earnest. honest!!!

the end!

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:27:24 GMT

I'm out of there!! Friday was uneventful, finished most of the stuff i needed to, but impossible to finish everything - gave copious notes to my successor, nice bloke, I hope he can handle it better than i could. Evil boss barely spoke to me all day, although after i sneaked off at 4.15 (through a useful side entrance) I heard she was looking for me. I wouldn't be surprised if she turned up at my flat .

I am convinced that she will try and stop the pay for July, even though she asked me to leave and offered to pay me to the end of july, and stop the paltry bonus that she stiffed me on anyway. I did make sure HR were aware of the deal

Gawd, I feel like a surly teenager, I'm forty fucking three, and I'm so glad to be out of there. There are plenty of people i will miss, but I felt under real strain there, seeing the way she treated me and most of the other staff. Maybe i should have spoken out a bit more, but when you are in the situation, it gets difficult, I really didn't want to jeopardize the last month's pay.

So I begin again, just like 2003, when i last left a permanent job - temping awaits. Hopefully I am older and wiser now, and I'll get a perm job, and settle into it again. Sadly I thought I was all sorted in the last one, and up until Feb, i was. Then evil boss comes a calling, mass exodus, voluntary and involuntary, and stress, and anxiety. It's just not worth it. I have savings, I can survive for a few months (even if she stiffs me) and i feel relaxed for the first time since Feb.

Lucky I went gray early, or this experience would have sent me grey.

more changes

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:46:37 GMT

now i have only 5 working days left, my manager asked if i wanted to leave earlier - told me they'd pay me til the end of july - i said yes, so suddenly I'm leaving in a week.

blimey - how it did all end like this? i guess they didn't want me hanging about infecting people with my leave-iness.

I can take a bit of time off now, so there may be some lazy days in the pub before the job search starts in august

i want sun this july !!!

it's done

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:39:11 GMT

resigned today, i have about 6 weeks left in this job, sad that it had to end this way, sad that i don't actually have a job to go to, but relieved that i don't have to put up with their shite management anymore (after july anyway)

other non blog stuff is making me sad too, but that's not for here

still there

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Sat, 31 May 2008 21:36:37 GMT

still in the same job, but frankly i don't think i can take much more. Other stuff has been happening outside work, but that's not for internet consumption. My new manager is the most incompetent manager i have ever had, and my first full-time job was in 1983, hell i'll even go back to my first part-time job in 1978, she trumps all of the dozens of managers i have worked for since.

i find it grating that a woman earning what i estimate to be £50,000 a year, can not write a clearly worded email, I know, it sounds stupid, why should it bother me, it's unprofessional, and maybe i expect too much, but i do expect someone to know the difference between the word "please" and the word "police", and i don't think she's dyslexic, i think she writes words the way she hears them.

she is also a bully, but i haven't really felt bullied yet, although she has completely fucked up my job, it's the other stuff she has got away with to date. I can't believe she has only been there since Feb. She has suspended a well-liked manager (you don't hear those words too often) he was suspended for minor stuff, seems to be a vendetta on her part, after 8 weeks of very little action, he resigned, she and her boss had not made any decision. They had contacted myself and another worker and told us we were "implicated in a gross misconduct case" now that sounds like we were being accused of gross misconduct. What we were questioned about wasn't even gross misconduct. She was clearly attempting to intimidate us.

She has bullied other staff, and to my shame I have not done much about that, other than taking a grievance against her, which had no affect as she has the support of the director. One member of staff has gone off on long tern sick due to stress, another two resigned. That makes 3 resignations if you count my manager, none of them resigned because they had a job to go to. Another worker left for another job, I know he wouldn't have left had she not started work in the office. Another member of staff is off sick, I think she had a fall. The whole office mood is affected by this woman, when she is away, it is as if a massive weight has been taken off the whole office.

I nearly resigned on friday, I was all ready to confront her as cumulatively this has taken a toll, i was awake until 4am tossing and turning, worrying about my job. I decided i couldn't take it any more, I went in, expecting to have a peter finch "network" moment, when i totally lost it, and told her what was what. I was all keyed up to do this, but when i arrived, she was at a meeting, I fucked off home, telling a manager to tell her that i had fucked off.

Other stuff comes to mind, it's bonus time, and I hear she is going to agree to really small bonuses for everyone, one lady is going to get 1%, normally we get awarded 4-6%, 1% is an insult to be honest. The 1% lady, will also be discliplined, the manager is getting another manager to do the dirty work, tell people the size of the pitiful bonuses, and then instigate the disciplinary action against the 1% lady, and has threatened the same manager with a disciplinary if she refuses.

All in all, I now just want to go in on Monday and tell her what i really think of her, a colleague keeps telling me to keep calm, but to be honest I don't care any more. This woman, with the support of the director of housing, is making people miserable, is stressing people out, and for what. They seem to think that in the next inspection, we will get a glowing report. Fat fucking chance, the place is a mismanaged mess, full of unmotivated staff, and staff who will be telling the inspectors all about it when they come a calling.

Who knew about blogs in 1985?

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:59:34 GMT

Yes, 1985, in clearing some stuff out, I found an earlier version of blogging, a diary, handwritten from 1985 when i was 19/20. Thought I'd put a few entries up, i'll edit names out to protect the innocent!!

fairly boring stuff,the time i got up, whether i made it to a lecture, i remember university being a lot more exciting!! Although I do seem very obsessed with women, constantly trying and failing to understand them - some things never change. I was on so little money - i'd take out a fiver at a time from the cash point, and that would often fund an evening's drinking - couldn't get two pints now from a fiver.

MARCH 11 1985.

"felt pissed off this morning bit it passed, had a chat with Lloyd, he's still pissed off with K, yet his boot came the same time as mine, it made me realise how well I have in fact handled this whole affair rather well. Good Lad!. Saw J for the first time in nearly a week, the crush is definitely over and no damage is done. I might well be falling for S, but it is a similar position to the one i was in with J.

The solution is of course, Miss X, saw her in college today, I have to do something about this, hopefully by the end of term. All i need is her name and my cockiness will do the rest - hopefully.

Saw her again at tea, shit, I need something to happen, now!! Stayed in again, watched Clint in "thunderbolt and lightfoot" - good stuff - bed 1ish (papered Mitch's car - good crack - he took it well!)"

A taste of my life 23 years ago, no idea who Miss X was, I definitely wasn't cocky then, i was usually painfully shy, I seemed to be jumping from obsessions on an hourly basis, obsessing about different girls - must have been sex starvation - i wasn't having regular sex then, it must have been screwing with my mind!!!

good morning!

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:49:47 GMT

I feel slightly less depressed about the situation, although not particularly looking forward to going to work in a few minutes. Getting dressed would be a good start. I'm in a good position if i do decide to resign, i have savings which would last a few months if it came to it, my mortgage is low, i have a partner who would support me if the time came. Work phone is ringing, do they really expect me to answer at 8.45am, when i don't start til 9.30? It was a colleague, probably phoning in sick, can't say i blame them to be honest. If you want a motivated staff, senior management need to motivate, and if they are asking staff to consider resigning, suspending others, sending snotty emails (i got one on the blackberry yesterday) then motivation and enthusiasm tends to suffer.

work place woe

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:30:56 GMT

i can see myself handing in my resignation soon, when i can't find any joy in a place, it's time to head. I say joy, there are plenty of people there that i like, but the management of the place is shambolic. Plans to drug test some employees, maybe they should start drug testing the senior management first, and "cascade" the policy down. Now my manager has mysteriously gone on "emergency leave" which probably means suspension. Since the new manager started, 2 people have resigned, one manager has been asked to consider leaving, another seems to be suspended, it's all gone pear shaped within a month.

If i do resign, i know i can get temping work fairly easy, there is a slight worry about leaving a permanent job for the temping lark, but i've done it before, and things worked out then, i'm sure they'll work out again.

watch this space

workplace rant

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:04:54 GMT

I've never been particularly ambitious, to be honest i can be fairly lazy at work, and management? I have had a taste of it, I'm a deputy manager where i work, but i don't particularly care if i do become a manager. Part of the reason is the way manager's treat staff. I have worked with good managers, in fact one has just left my organisation after deciding that she could not work with the director. I can't say i blame her after hearing of her latest antic. One of the manager's in my office as worked for the organisation for almost 20 years, in my view she is a good manager, manages her staff well, is fair, I'm sure she can be firm if necessary, but i've never heard a word of complaint about her. However, she seems to be at war with the director, they simply don't like eachother, probably because she isn't a yes-person, and yes-people are what this director likes. She seems to specialise in promoting her favourites, she recently replaced our recently departed manager, with a woman who clearly does not have the personal or professional skills to manage. My theory, she wanted to piss off one or both of the managers in this office. Probably a power thing. I thought it was a slap in the face to both of them, who should have been considered for the acting up post, but weren't.

enough of the fuckwit who now manages the office, now i hear that the director has instructed HR, to persuade a manager to leave, because she is "an obstacle to change", basically the director doesn't like her, and wants her out. I can't believe she was able to brow-beat personnel into suggesting this to the said manager, although it was a one on one conversation, so there are no witnesses (i believe it did happen though)

She doesn't want to go, particularly as they appear only willing to offer her 3 months pay, if the fuckwits who run this department really want her to leave, they need to offer her big big money, and she is likely to take it. Alas it will surely lead to a lot of good people leaving the organisation, and the chances of the organisation receiving 3 stars in the next inspection, are surely nil]

why are bosses such fuckwits? i doubt we'll ever get an answer to that

update on previous entries

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:52:22 GMT

i finished the nanowrimo, 3rd year in a row, as usual it became an obsession for the month. Kettle crisp employees voted against union membership - evil corporations triumph again i guess, the campaign and boycott continue - hopefully they will get another chance to vote on this

when

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:49:16 GMT

I like it when
an unrequited love
visits me in my
dreams

i get to hold her
and that
even get
naked
with her
which is nice

but we never
you know
actually
do the do
do the sex thing
that never happens
the dream reflecting
life

i know it is a dream
because i get to carry cars
as if they were
suitcases

and go on
impossible bus journeys
like in the movies
but not like that one
where it blows up
if the bus
slows down

ilfra

nanowrimo - it's that time again

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:08:08 GMT

Third year in a row I have participated in this internet insanity. For those unaware about what it is, it's a challenge, you have to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of november. That's it.

This year i started with an intention to write about an internet stalker, but as i got into it, it became more about obsession, my obsession, to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. As a result it has become a hybrid, a blog/novel, or a blovel, i think i have invented that term, i'm going to google it to see if I have in fact come up with a new wanky term.

Dammit, someone came up with it first, ah well, back to the welcome arms of obscurity.

I'm 31000 words in, i have 16 days to finish, as usual it feels like a bit of a struggle, but i seem to be motoring along ok, should finish now. It does become an obsession, November is all about nanowrimo now...

guardian follow up to facebook story

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 08:53:36 GMT

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2186569,00.html

Mentions me in it, which is nice. The journalist did contact me yesterday and ask me why I started it, but my wise words did not arrive in time to make the article

still membership of the 2 facebook groups jumped overnight from around 130, to well over 200 as a direct result of the article. Hopefully, these 200 people recruit more and more. The result of the ballot is due on Thursday.

Boycott Kettle crisps

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:42:21 GMT

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/unions/story/0,,2180624,00.html

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5233937858

Here's a story which has encouraged me to get more involved in Politics, I was active as a student, and then again in the 90s when thatcher was destroying the country, but lately I became apathetic to be honest. I was interested, kept up to date, even went on the million plus march against the Iraq war but I think i just became tired.

Kettle crisps could be described as an upmarket snack (another way of saying expensive) they supply waitrose, and make M&S branded crisps. Last week employees at Kettlefoods were voting on whether or not to join a union. Prior to the vote Kettlefoods brought in a specialist anti-union form to discourage workers from joining the union, claiming that there was no need for them to join a union. One thing i have tried to keep up in my working life is membership of a union, I wasn't unionised when i was temping, but now I'm back in full-time work, I make sure i join the union (I've just switched unions so I do need to send off the new membership forms)

This issue has angered me, unions have been attacked since Thatcher came in, they are not as powerful as they were , some would see that as a good thing, I don't, but that is another argument. I feel that workers should have the right to join a union, and should not be subjected to any sort of pressure if they exercise that right.

So i started a facebook group, and 107 members have joined, if membership reached several thousand, it might make a difference. HSBC recently climbed down on plans to change student bank accounts when a million plus joined a facebook group set up to protest. It is a modern way to protest, a sitting in front of your computer screen way to protest.

Whether consumer boycotts work is also open to debate, while the HSBC one has, it's clear that others against Nike, Macdonalds, Gap and the like haven't exactly brought these firms to their knees. It has seen them change the ways they do business. However people are more and more caring about how they spend their money, and boycotting kettle crisps is no real hardship with so many other savoury snacks on the market. And if it makes kettle crisps think again about how they treat their workers, surely that is a good thing.

So join facebook and join this protest, if it angers you as much as me. Post about the issue on message boards, write in your blog, email kettle crisps, email papers, and maybe just maybe. a small victory against bullying employers will result.

Complaining

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:00:56 GMT

Maybe i'm getting old, but i seem to complain more, a friend of mine told me I was out of order to complain about a 4 day party recently held at a house 4 doors away. It was a muslim wedding party, and lasted from Thursday night to Sunday night, I was away on from early saturday morning until Sunday evening so missed a lot of it, when i got back, it was still going on. I spoke to a neighbour who was immediately next door to the party, she said she had suffered all weekend, she had gone to see the neighbours who argued that it was a cultural thing to have these lavish wedding parties, call me an old fart if you wish, but have your 4 days wedding parties somewhere where you don't keep neighbours awake. I decided to contact the housing association of the neighbours who had the party, rang them up, initially they gave me the same "cultural" line, but agreed that they should have informed their neighbours beforehand, and not gone on til 2 or 3 in the morning. I then went to speak to the neighbours, just so that they were aware that they had disturbed people. I work in social housing so have these conversations a lot with our tenants (although i haven't actually had a conversation about a 4 day wedding party before) I was friendly, said that they should have warned people, again they used the cultural line, they claimed to have warned their neighbours (they told the neighbour next door after the thing had started). They also claimed they didn't know other people could hear anything, which was plainly ridiculous. I left it at that, I have no desire for them to be punished, just to be more considerate.

Next to my office is a lane, where the local businesses control parking. There was an incident about 10 days ago when a motorist was clamped, he kicked up a bit of a fuss about paying £125 remove the clamp, claiming it was illegal. He then went overboard, attacking the clampers van with a hammer. They rang the police, claimed he was armed with a gun, and suddenly hordes if armed police turned up, and arrested him, despite him telling them the clamp was illegal. I contacted Hackney who confirmed that it was a public highway and only hackney could enforce parking. So i complained to them and to my MP,I'm sure this has been brought to their attention before, I doubt anything will come of it.

Then yesterday i came home to see 3 bags of rubble dumped outside my flat, I don't think these were dumped by the muslim neighbours or the clampers, more likely from the house up the road which has just had the basement dug out. So again I'm complaining to hackney, I think the builders were avoiding the cost of dumping the stuff legitimately, and may even have thought that the bin collectors would not notice that these bin bags were full of rubble. They way a fucking ton, I tried to move them back. Another complaint heading towards hackney , dobbing him no.7 as well.

Am i turning into Victor Meldrew?

a local plea

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:46:09 GMT

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/saveourcinema/?e

this probably isn't relevant to thousands of my world wide readers (in stupidly optimistic mode) but the petition above is to save an old cinema in clapton, london E5. It hasn't actually been a cinema for years, it was last used as a night club, a particularly notorious one called Chimes,and the Palace, but was closed down about 18 months ago following a series of violent incidents.

I live within 5 minutes of this place, and would love to have a cinema so close by (who wouldn't) and the area is in dire need of improvement, and yes, I would benefit from that. but then again , it would make it a nicer place to live for everyone. So sign it if you live nearby, or even if you don't.

Thanks

rachel north - out of the tunnel

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 17:32:25 GMT

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Tunnel-Rachel-North/dp/1905548753/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/202-8849214-1939815?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186161951&sr=8-1

I've mentioned rachel on here before, she posts on urban75, she was a survivor of the tube bombings in 2005, when she was on the tube that day, she was reading an article about herself in a magazine about surviving a vicious assault and rape, then the bomb went off. On top of that when she started a blog about the tube bombings she found herself stalked by a deranged individual (see other posts on here)

Anyway, she's now released a book about surviving the tube bombings, and surviving rape, she is an amazing lady, I hope to meet her soon when she does an urban75 booze up/signing session in a few weeks, the book is already selling well, she's appeared on Richard and Judy and on fivelive, let's get it to number one.

Richard Scrowston RIP

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 09:17:00 GMT

Richard Scrowston was my English teacher and form teacher in 1982/3 when i was studying a levels at St Brendan's Sixth form in Bristol. I just heard via a kind soul on friends reunited, that he died on July 11th. It is really sad news, i got the message because i had posted something about Richard on the message board there.

He was an inspiration to me, I lacked confidence when i started a levels, but he inspired me, encouraged me, made me believe in myself, I did eventually go to university, and I've always hoped that he would be pleased with how I've turned out. I managed to publish a poetry collection, which i should have made more of an effort to sent him.

He's also to blame for a life time of reading the guardian, he told my mum at a parent's evening that it would be beneficial for me if I read that paper, she started ordering it straight away. He was a great teacher, and was soon nicknamed Dickie Scrotum. (we were teenagers in our defence)

I did track him down a few years ago, and swapped a few emails, he said he was going to come up to London and we would have met, that would have been nice, I think he was about 60 when he died, the funeral is tomorrow which I can't make sadly.

Richard Scrowston RIP

help these people buy a tank

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:54:19 GMT

http://www.pledgebank.com/tankFundBig

http://www.spacehijackers.org/tank/

sign the pledge, give them a few quid, they want to buy a tank and park up outside that weaponsfest at excel

the government is quite happy to save it's citizens by banning people from smoking in pubs - yet equally happy to allow a exhibition about killing other folks and how to do it

smoking ban in the uk

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:31:29 GMT

So, July 1st, and end to hundreds of years of smoking in doors. I'm a smoker, I know all about the risks, yet continue to smoke, more fool me I know. I find it sad that the government decided to do it, it's not a vote loser to be fair, 20 odd percent of us smoke. But it is the government ordering a group of people around , tyranny of the majority as we used to talk about in politics seminars.

It's all a bit academic now it's been done, no government is going to overturn it, there might be some legal challenges and clever way around the ban, let's see what happens.

I had my last cigarette inside a pub, at the monks bar, which is part of the shaved crown hotel in shipton under wychwood, in oxfordshire. It's a 700 year old inn, so would have been there for the whole history of smoking tobacco in the uk, from the days of raleigh to today, appropriate that i put out the last one in such a place.

I do feel sorry for the old guys who have been going once a week to a pub for a pint,a few cigarettes and a bit of a chat. Yes they can still have the chat and the pint, and they can nip outside for a smoke. It is not the same though. I would have liked some exceptions made, maybe smoking and non-smoking pubs - a quota of smoking pubs in a certain area. Not to be Not to be.

The worst thing, is the crowing of the non smokers, on internet message boards all over the place, glorying in something the government has done, oh yes they can bomb the fuck out of Iraq, but they are fantastic because they stopped smoking in pubs....

cyber stalker in custody

mj_togher@hotmail.com — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 00:19:00 GMT

http://rachelnorthlondon.blogspot.com/2007/05/cyber-stalking-your-help-is-needed.html

She was caught in a internet cafe in Brick Lane, East London. I hope this an end to all of this craziness...