Oh my goodness, Heather. I'm not even sure what the proper response oughta be, other than righteous indignation. Er, if I'm reading that all right, i.e. that you're the "current person" in question.

There aren't words. There is smacking. But there are not words.

Heather--what an ass! Especially, it seems to me, to be ragging on you in a forum that he knows it's your responsibility to read. Has that situation ever created awkwardness or weirdness for you before, reading things that he may not have wanted you to see?

Oh Heather.

Wow, Heather. I'm not sure what you should do. Is it an option to make it clear to your boss that you have no plans to leave (and you don't know how he could have gotten that idea)?

It must really grate to read about a supposed attitude problem. Since no one is in my office at the moment, I'm going to scream in frustration for you, and bang my desk with my fist for good measure.

Heather, that's blows. I'm sorry. Think happy thoughts about next week!

VW--LUCK!

Yup. I'd be the current person with the bad attitude who works on her days off, put together a really cool booklet for presentations, write pretty much every thing with just a "Say something like, you know, what we do and those kinds of things."

Yesterday he was all "mistakes, it's these kinds of mistakes" which would be fine if he'd just once look at what he's asking and realize that it's a lot with little to no direction.

It's like at the show last month. He's saying it will take no time to get everything packed and ready to go because we have like 4 or 5 guys helping. But it is taking forever because he's not supervising, or telling people what he wants, and when they take initiative, he yells that they're doing it wrong and in too much of a hurry to get out of there.

That pretty much sums up my work day, but with less packing and more paperwork.

Oh yeah, and today he's being all nice. "Since you're doing such a good job today, I'll let you take a vacation next week" Yes. My previously scheduled unpaid vacation, thanks.

Gawd. What an ass.

I wish I had good words of advice but, tragically, I'm kind of in the same place.

Could someone direct me to the personality transplant department so that we can get Heather's boss and my 'friend' Bridezilla a do over?

Gack.

I was actually thinking about printing that thing out, finding another job, and walking out after throwing it on his desk. But that's a little unlikely, so I will stew.

Oy, Heather. Please tell me you're looking for another job, like, NOW.

especially with a few months notice

But that's the thing. How do you ever get a few months' notice? If you're offered a job, you generally need to start in about 2 weeks.

Really, this would all be OK if I could just get two more clients like the dance company that's my steady source of income now. I'm making enough money to meet my basic needs (though I skimp a lot on that--when you work at home, old clothes are fine, and I get fewer haircuts than I used to, etc.). If I could just get two more people who gave me 10-20 hours/month on a reasonably regular basis, I'd have what we need--enough money to chop at rather than whittle away at the debt. Anything on top of that--the wedding coordination, resume/cover letter jobs, writing sales--would be gravy.

And the thing is, I haven't really exhausted all my options. Last month I made this lovely list of all the contacts I could think of--former bosses and colleagues, people at church who work in nonprofits or academia, college and family connections, etc. But I keep chickening out on contacting them. I'm like, "I can't just email them. I need a professional brochure and portfolio, which I can't afford." Or, "How can I send stuff to Jeff or Dave? It's been years since we did that thing at church--they probably barely remember who I am." Or, "Why would Cousin Della hire me when she could hire someone not on the other side of the country?"

I think it's mostly just fear--what if I contact all these people and STILL don't have the work I need? I'll have exhausted all my resources. I think some part of my mind likes having something I still haven't tried in reserve.