XPosted from Bitches:

Hey, all.

Back from camping weekend; so tired and groggy. Didn't get home till about 8 last night, and fell into bed at 10. I am at work right now, and am frantically trying to update/prepare my teaching portfolio for my first teacher interview.

Also, I have to teach a 20 minute lesson plan in front of hiring committee and to a few students.

Suggestions on portfolio and/or lesson plan from teachers?

I have a what the fucking fuck? moment, but it needs a little background before I can share it.

My job has me working organizationally in one office, but geographically across the hall. I like it here. It's quiet, there are only two of us here, and Important People don't come through very much. Occasionally, when the receptionist across the hall is gone and the other people in the office aren't there, I'll be asked to come cover the phones. I frankly hate it, because a) I don't like answering phones (and, honestly, I don't know the answers to any of the questions people call to ask), b) I don't like the high traffic, and c) hello? not my desk. But whatever, I fill in.

I just got an email from this woman (who is another whole long story -- I can't stand her, but I feel kind of sorry for her because the other women in that office, who've been there 20-some years, really can't stand her and it makes the whole place sort of uncomfortable), saying the receptionist will be out from tomorrow morning for the rest of the week and could I sit at her desk and answer the phones?

And I'm not really sure how to say, are you fucking crazy? I just don't like it over there. Frankly, I'm still unclear on why the other woman over there can't answer the phones. But I'm not about to open that powder keg.

The thing is, I probably can do all my work at her desk, so I can't really use it as an excuse, but... I'm kind of flabbergasted by how she thinks it'll be pretty minor to work at another desk for a week.

Then there are the main problems: it's harder to do all the fucking-around things I do in a fairly high-traffic area -- not a reason I can really bring up ("but how can I talk to the Buffistas and read livejournal?"); and I don't come in at a regular time every day and don't want to (also not a good argument -- "but it means I'll have to act like a responsible adult! I hate that!"). So mostly I just want to bitch about it, because I don't have an actual reason for saying no. So, bitch whine complain.

Thank you.

I gained 50 pounds durring college. I was pretty stable ( give or take 10 lbs) until about a year before my diabetes showed up. when I learned to eat better- and started slowly loseing weight.

and I am sticking out my tounge at people that want Emily to do stuff she doesn't want to do , but can't think of a good reason to get out of

Emily, does your boss know that this woman wants you to answer phones all week? Boss person may not appreciate your productivity going down all week long. I'd say something like this: "Boss, woman asked me to cover phones all week for missing receptionist. I can do that if you want me to, but it will affect how much of my own work I can get done this week. Do you want me to?"

I answer the phones here, while doing billing and purchasing and all my HR duties. I don't like it, but it can be done.

"Boss, woman asked me to cover phones all week for missing receptionist. I can do that if you want me to, but it will affect how much of my own work I can get done this week. Do you want me to?"

Or you could just say that the radiation at the reception desk interferes with your silica pathways.

That is, if you don't mind outing yourself as a Cylon....

edit to fix spelling of sci-fi term....

That's one of the most annoying things at work: "Hey, can you do X?" "Welllll, I could, but I don't want to!" "Why not?" "Um, because I don't?"

When I was temping and I'd get lots of questions I'd just say "I'm sorry, I'm a temp and I don't have that information, would you like to leave a message?"

That generally worked.

Emily, does your boss know that this woman wants you to answer phones all week?

Well, that's sort of a problem... I'm not sure who my boss is. It could be the new Dean, whom I've barely exchanged five words with and dosn't know what I do. It could be the Special Assistant to the Dean, who only comes in three days a week. It probably is him, actually. The problem is that I'm pretty self-guided -- which I love, but... eh. As I say, I don't think there's anything to be done. And my productivity won't go down, as I said -- I can probably do things over there just as easily as over here (I never said it can't be done, just that I hate doing it). It'll just make me really uncomfortable, and I wish the request hadn't been phrased as though it were a minor inconvenience. For one thing, it makes me feel interchangeable. I'm not a snowmobile part!

OK, still more Dalek wackiness....

[link]

ARMED police sprang into action after spotting A DALEK outside Parliament.

Worried the tin-plated terror was about to 'Exterminate' the Government, they quickly trained their machine guns on the invader. But the man behind the suit - Dr Who fan Ken Meikle, 46 - was able to convince them his Dalek's cannon fired nothing more deadly than water.

After delivering a stern ticking off, the officers escorted the lifesize fibreglass replica safely away from Westminster.

Ken, of Barrhead, Renfrewshire, was in London filming a promotional video for a stage version of cult classic Dr Who.

He has spent thousands of pounds creating Scotland's only fully motorised Dalek, which has a top speed of 5mph.

The Dalek even features a digital voice box which sounds exactly like the original robots, Dr Who's arch enemies in the classic show. Ken said: 'We had spent the whole morning filming in London and brought the place to a standstill.

'Cars were grinding to a halt in disbelief when they saw a Dalek trundling over Tower Bridge.

'And we were mobbed by Japanese tourists desperate for photos.

'But within seconds of the Dalek arriving outside Parliament, armed police officers came running up.

'It's fair to say they were not amused at being invaded by a time-travelling robot. 'They asked us what the hell we were doing, and then marched us as far away from Parliament as they could.