So sorry, gallant Hecubus. And I may lose about a billion hours of tough-girl cred but I feel the need. {{Hecubus}}} Or maybe I should play it Homicide style and thank you for not bending me over a radio car to have your way with me. I said that to somebody Simon-ignorant once. She's a social worker who works with abused children and she wanted to know "if I had anything to talk to her about." I felt really dumb.

I think that after they shoot themselves in the foot, and Hec has left the building, we should flood the switchboard with calls asking for him. We could insist on speaking only to him, and pretend we are big clients of the firm.

Or because they have taken some crazy disliking to you?

I don't really know. There's been no precipitating event. But basically the LA!Boss never liked my ex-good-boss' hires of me and my ex-coworker. (Is that all straight?)

LA!Boss is very...country club Republican blonde with ADD. And as I sort of figured out today - she just doesn't like the kind of people you're likely to find in San Francisco. Like ex-coworker being a gay black man. Or middle aged music writing guy. She likes young women in HR. Young perky Southern California women. Like my new co-worker.

So...when my good boss left and my coworker left, she basically decided (I think) to take this opportunity to "fix" our office in her image. It started when she over-rode my new good!boss' decision to hire my minion (musician with a nose ring) in ex-coworkers position back in January.

It's sort of a Stepford Wife takeover.

Plus they're totally shooting themselves in the foot. For the three HR admin positions in April they're going to have one woman who started this month and has never processed anything in the payroll system yet, and one temp who started this week. And the managers don't know how to use the systems here either.

Make sure when they call you a few weeks in with "one quick question" you don't say a word without consulting fee in hand. Bastards.

And from 2 days ago in F2F (still not quite caught up, which is why I'm responding here) to Spidra, Sparky, several others (I forget). I'm an awesome swing dancer (tootin' my own horn a bit - but I've been at it for almost 6 years). I can Lindy and East Coast (once you learn Lindy, you don't use East Coast very much), but I can't lead. Could we import some leads from a local swing venue? I didn't request any swing music because I hate to hear swing if I can't dance and I thought I was the only one. I'm so glad there's more than me!

Make sure when they call you a few weeks in with "one quick question" you don't say a word without consulting fee in hand.

Yes, this.

It's sort of a Stepford Wife takeover.

Eeeewwww. I've worked with people like that, and they make my skin crawl.

Make sure when they call you a few weeks in with "one quick question" you don't say a word without consulting fee in hand

I was just going to say that. I'm thinking that market rate should be somewhere in the range of say, oh... $75 to $85 an hour. Yeah and that's just to answer the question. Access tables, anything else? They should be lookin' at $100/hr easy.

I know two local East Coast swing boys. I don't know if they could be lured to the Prom to act as taxi dancers, but I could give it a try if people really want it.

Cass, I have to warn you that if you and my brother do get together, you'll have to whitefont any porny talk about how it's going. All I ever want to know about my brother and girls is that he holds their hands when they're walking down the street together and opens doors for them. Anything more intimate than that and I will have to run screaming from the internets.

Make sure when they call you a few weeks in with "one quick question" you don't say a word without consulting fee in hand

you can say "oh, you can be the first client for my new consulting business! "

All I ever want to know about my brother and girls is that he holds their hands when they're walking down the street together and opens doors for them.

JZ, that is all he ever does. Well, that and takes girls out for an ice cream soda. I know that's all my brother ever does. Even though he's married and has 2 children. I know all he and his wife ever do is go to a picture show and the ice cream parlor.

Eeeewwww. I've worked with people like that, and they make my skin crawl.

I'm not surprised. I doubt they'd be able to cope with the Jillitude. It's really not pleasant dealing with someone who treats you as the Other the whole time.