Ugh. I'm getting feedback from my new boss, who is SUPER nice, and gives WAY better feedback from my boss at my old job (whose feedback frequently consisted of -- and I am not making this up -- "This makes us look stupid"). I know it's my first week, and I know I have a learning curve, but when she says things like "You made a good attempt," I just want to go work the fry station at BK.

Plus, I made a change that I *know* is right. It's a damn statistical thing, simple math, and she basically addressed something different from what I changed, telling me it didn't need to be changed. (Something simple, like the total number of patients was 20, and broken into 2 columns, 15 patients were in 1 column [which would be 75%], and 5 patients were in the other column [which would be 25%]. Only the table said 75% and 15%. Which is not right and can be verified by anyone with a calculator. Only my boss said that 15% doesn't need to be changed, because the number [5] is the total of the column above it. Well, I understood that. That wasn't my point.) But if I tried to change it and she said no, and it turns out to be wrong when it's published, I did what I could.

I look forward to my long and prosperous career as a French fry technician.

bonny, now I'm imagining your un-turned-off alarm triggering a cascade of things like the opening credits of Elementary, the final one springing the doors of his crate. Building such a thing would be fun!

Heh. Now my mind is racing. I'll need a silent alarm...I so rarely use one.

On a serious note though, I need to figure out some sort of alarm process to ensure Cagney's safety.

Tep, I hate that first phase of a new job when you don't quite know how things are done, and get corrected. I'm the same way. Even if the correction is nice and constructive, I can't help but hate myself for messing up. (though it sounds like in that specific instance, you didn't.)

I have a work related bitch myself. As a professional writer, it's really important to be able to be trusted by my sources- brewers, distributors, retailers, etc. So if they ask me to hold off on publishing something till the details are nailed down, I do.

But this is very frustrating when I've been working on something (a new high end beer brand entering the LA market) with the distributor, etc., and a blogger just goes and spills the beans. There goes my scoop!

I mean, I've long come to terms with the fact that I'll never be THAT blogger that has the latest breaking news immediately, but it's still annoying.

I'm gratified, at least, that the distributor that the blogger quoted in this case is pretty bullshit over him publishing stuff, because he thought the blogger was just a consumer, not a writer. But at the same time, any consumer can be a blogger! There's no bright line between the two.

So, there isn't anything that can oe should be done, but I just wanted to vent here because I can't anywhere else. And now I have to promote this dudes's news breaking blog post so I can ensure everyone gets the info, because that's how I do.

brenda, me too.

Wow, Nora, that sucks. Did he know he wasn't supposed to spill and did anyway?

I don't think it crossed his mind to ask or to care. The distributor was PISSED at him though.

Daniel, that's one of the nice things about facebook. It can make bye-bye time very very clear - both your deciding and their knowing.

I don't think it crossed his mind to ask or to care. The distributor was PISSED at him though.

That ultimately benefits you as a beer writer, because you've proven you respect an embargo. Even if the blogger didn't know there was an embargo, you're the professional one here.

That said, I'd be ragey in your shoes, too. Because being the one to get the scoop is fan-goddamn-tastic.

And w/r/t my own work, my new boss (I should just start calling her my boss, huh?) emailed me maybe 5-10 minutes after the feedback email and said that she was told about another medical journal, not owned by the AMA, who needs a freelance editor/writer for consumer-level stuff, and she's recommending me.

So maybe I'll hold off on that fry cook job. For now.

Because being the one to get the scoop is fan-goddamn-tastic.

Getting the scoop is the best! So much fun. You get linked and attention and stuff!

But, yes. I definitely value being trusted and respected over getting the scoop.

YAY (new) boss validation!

Once, on the job previous to the current, I handed in some editorial work to my boss. I had cleaned up the hot mess that was his tables and figures, and he looked at it and said, "oh, don't bother, we don't care about that; that's just editing." Excuse me? What am I here for? NO respect. I stayed in that job about three weeks; I never bugged out of a paying position so fast ever.

I need to designate somebody and give them passwords to all my online destinations so H can contact them if I get hit by a bus or something.

I have a letter, or info sheet really, of what to do in case I die or disappear, that I keep updated and give to my three best friends and my sister. It has the make, model, and license plate of my car, the contact info for all four of them, all my contact info, the names of my cats, the login/passwords of places where they'll need to announce my untimely demise, and anything else I felt they'd need to know. It makes me feel better knowing they have it. If they ever need that info, at least they'll have it all in one place.

Daniel, I'm sorry about your job, but I'm SO GLAD you are out of a toxic workplace.