Jesse, sorry--tried to pare the attributions too far: [link]

They might not be a cabinet minister, Kate, but they are a government minister, in the most general of senses.

I love this comic [link] because that is just perfectly awful.

Heh. That's perfectly awesome.

I have many thoughts on gender, and lots of them even conflict with each other. My brain is a complicated place.

Are ministers also diplomats? Because that might work.

At the end of the day boss lady got grumpy and agitated over an old volunteer bringing up an old volunteer session (Monday Morning Men's Work Crew) that has been defunct for over a decade, and those dudes were old back then. We both resent the pressure on this topic (Mondays are not a good day to have to supervise volunteers, especially now that there will only be one of us on the grounds then). I told boss lady to just clock out and not deal with anything in the house until next week, and she moaned about all of the administrative stuff she had yet to do (since she'd spent precious time picking rocks and sticks out of the dirt pile instead earlier today). 15 minutes later, she walks past me and another coworker in tears. Apparently she'd confronted the ED about the volunteer crew.

God, she is her own worst enemy. Why would she open that can of worms at 4pm on a Friday? I don't need her getting herself fired for being aggressive and confrontational and unyeilding with the ED, and I don't need her constantly going into tailspins because she's aspiring towards the unattainable standards of perfection and timely completion of projects.

She's starting to go crazy in her controllingness, to where she's giving me and herself assignments that will double our workload (I wasted three hours on Wednesday putting down grass seed when we will be purchasing sod in the coming weeks. She wanted to topdress construction fill that we will have to spend days digging out and replacing with actual top soil, just to make it pretty for a board members daughter's wedding tomorrow, saying we could rototill it in later). So yeah, now she's being her control-freak selk, but is giving out irrational and illogical directives, which is putting me in the position of "yes-ma'aming" or having to constantly talk her out of her craziness, which is putting me in the position of being an unruly employee who second-guesses her every decision.

I've been here six years, survived two bosses quitting in a huff (under far more dire circumstances), we've both been through two terrible nor'easters, I think we're in a great place and she's panicking. I don't know what to do with her, how I can help without pushing her into a defensive position or overstep my position. So frustrating.

Also, there's something that makes me incredibly relaxed when someone else is clenching. Is that a thing?

Sorry, new iPhone user.

I have many thoughts on gender, and lots of them even conflict with each other. My brain is a complicated place

As is your fiancé. Oh, that's a cute word on you. Really suits you.

Are ministers also diplomats?

Not necessarily, no.

So it turns out that I was right. No, seriously, I was. The co-worker (not on my team, blessedly) who punted the support request at me with insufficient data and then tried to backseat drive me troubleshooting it, was wrong. I sat down with the person he told me not to talk to, walked through the setup screens, made sure everything was saved, and re-tested the use case.

Bingo! Everything is fine. When I told him, did he have the least bit of contrition? Zero ounces, give or take minus two. Good lord. But I will rock myself to sleep with the knowledge that I can do bits of his job and just try and work out some way to not get into tugs of war with him. For some reason his ego has gotten weird in the past month or so. Keeps trying to tell me how the systems I designed work. Incorrectly to boot. Denies he was given X information. I resend the document. Tells me he knew all that. Well, I did send you the document a year ago. It's possible you READ IT. IN MY DOCUMENT. What with me being the subject matter expert and shit...

Grr.

Another co-worker (who I do like) just came by and read my palm and told me I was stubborn and artistic.

From certain angles, maybe.

I love this comic [link] because that is just perfectly awful.

Ha! That's perfect full stop.

The co-worker (not on my team, blessedly) who punted the support request at me with insufficient data and then tried to backseat drive me troubleshooting it, was wrong.

I am SHOCKED at this turn of events.

Another co-worker (who I do like) just came by and read my palm and told me I was stubborn and artistic.

I could tell you that without even looking at your palm.

told me I was stubborn and artistic

I should never have guessed! Heh.

Hmm. Technically I am off in 8 minutes, but I have to meet my family for dinner at 6:15 only a couple of miles away. Wonder if I can find someone to meet me earlier for drinks?

I have many thoughts on gender, and lots of them even conflict with each other. My brain is a complicated place

As is your fiancé.

Boy howdy, is he ever.

Oh, that's a cute word on you. Really suits you.

Heh. I still slip and say "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" all the time. That was the status quo for 7 years; it's a hard habit to break!