He stole my idea

I had a great idea for streamlining some of the tasks that we have to do as part of our everyday testing. It involved using standardized automation tools to automate some of the more repetive tasks that we have to do often. Just when I was starting to get some traction in getting it all working right another co-worker (the one with his own office for naps) started putting it down in front of my manager and said that he could right a better tool using Python. Can you believe that?

Does he know my name?

I just noticed today that the owner of the company never addresses me by name. Is it possible that he hasn't even bothered to learn it? Or perhaps it's some sort of hierarchy thing. I don't know but it seems kind of strange for a management team that cares so much about it's employees.

Return of the bonus

My boss pulled me aside this morning and told me that they've been quite happy with my work this year. As a result they are issuing me a bonus check later this week for over one thousand dollars! Yahoo!

Disappointment

No sooner did I write that all the bosses were here then they all disappeared for the rest of the day. No bonus checks came. Christmas has been ruined and I am depressed.

Bonuses are coming soon

It's 3:30 on a Friday and ALL the bosses are in the office. I think that can only mean one thing - bonus checks will be in our hands soon!

Bonus!!!!!!

There is a rumor circulating around the company that we'll be getting bonus checks tomorrow just in time for Christmas and Christmas shopping. What a great perc and how considerate of them to get it to us before Christmas. I wonder how much it's going to be?

Company meeting short

Since all of the bosses are NITO, the required company meeting this morning was quite short. In fact, there was hardly time to sit down before it was adjourned. Many of the developers grumbled about coming in early for no reason. Shouldn't they be getting to work by 10 a.m. anyway?

Babysitter gone, uber-babysitter still here

So the head of our department is gone for three weeks so you would think there would less of a I'm-being-watched atmosphere here. But my bosses boss keeps sticking his head in the lab to check up on us. He even remarked once that it was strange how I was the only one in the lab whenever he checked. That's funny because I'm probably in here less than anyone else.

Hugo's

It is a tradition here that on the day before Thanksgiving the whole company meets at Hugo's, a local bar that serves turkey and exotic coffee drinks. Unfortunately, many of the employees didn't know what time that was happening because there was no anouncement until shortly before. Because of there was no anouncement, some of the employees had lunch right before it was time to go. Since the company policy is to only pay for the first hour or so, these employees saw no reason to go even though the company was also paying for drinks. Free drinks and they STILL didn't go. Seems really rude and ungrateful to me.

NITO

One of the customs here is to send a NITO (not in the office) message via email whenever you will be absent from work. Everybody seems to follow that rule except the owner of the company who never gives any indication to anybody but our secretary when he will be out. I haven't seen him all week this week but I have no idea where he is. There was no mention of his absence during the company meeting this week, either. You would think that someone as integral to the company's success would be available most of the time. You might also think that the owner of the company would want to be the best example of following the rules.

I'm Officially A Cynical Math Employee!!!

Today they announced that I am no longer a temporary employee and am now officially a fulltime employee. I attended my first company meeting today. What a disappointment. There were only a few people there, none of the bosses were there and it only lasted long enough for someone to say that there wasn't anything to talk about. I'm sure this is just an exception and that future meetings will be much more informative and exciting.

Babysitter

I overhead a conversation today in which a manager described himself as a "babysitter" for a developer. Directly to the developer! Why doesn't he just call her a "baby"?

Been busy but big news is coming

We've been working hard here but I'll soon have some important personal news to announce, I think. Watch this space!

Client in the office - behave

That was the message from our office administrator. Once again, there was no warning until the client was actually in the office so I wasn't able to dress properly. But "behave"? Seriously, "behave?"

You're not having enough fun

So I heard that the head of my department went off at the company meeting this afternoon. He was complaining because he didn't get a satisfactory response from team members in organizing a product ship party. It's weird that nobody wanted to participate in the ship party but it's even weirder that management would complain about it.

Friday again

What a long, hard week. Now it's friday afternoon and hardly anybody is in the office. By 2 pm I can count that there are fewer than half of the people in the office. The people who are here are working hard including the head of my department who is sitting in his office presumably to make sure that his few remaining employees are not "goofing off." According to sources, the CEO and VP are out drinking beeer at Jack's, a nearby bar.

An office all my own

I'm told that everyone used to have their own office except temporary employees but I can't figure out how they decide who gets and office now and who doesn't. All the developers seem to have their own office including the temporary contractors. All of the QA department is crammed into a lab that doesn't even have cubicles. The head of the department is in an ajoining office that is about twice as big as any other office in the place. This week one of the QA engineers moved into his own office. I'm told this is because he needs a place where he can nap without being disturbed I guess for some medical condition. I'm sure it's necessary but what message does that send to the rest of the staff?

Beer

The company keg ran out a couple of days ago. A couple of the peope here took charge of getting a new one. They were in charge of collecting the money and getting people's preferences. One of them wrote a program to count votes and there was a huge email discussion that spanned most of the day. It all culminated in a large crowd of people gathered outside the guys office debating beers. The keg will arrive this afternoon.

Client in the office

I got to work this morning and the first thing I read was an email telling me that a client was in the office today. Great. I am totally underdressed today to be interacting with clients. Of course, when I look around, so is everybody else. This company does not follow the normal rules of professional business conduct.

Icy stare

Wednesday afternoon is "Cake Time". Everyone gathers in the recreation room and enjoys cake and talk to everyone. This time some people moved over to the foosball table and played for a while. It didn't take long before the head of my department looked in without saying anything and then leaving. Within seconds, everyone in the department said "I better get back to work." Of course, I followed suite, but I don't understand it. If the company wants us to relax and enjoy ourselves for a while, then why send the department head out to keep everyone in line?

10 years and no window

Today's is one of the engineers 10th anniversary working for the company. The weird thing is that he doesn't have a window office while other engineers with only 2 or 3 years working here do. I guess he didn't want a window office.

16 Years

The company celebrates it's 16th anniversary this week. I bet the founders have a lot to be proud of. Great products they've created that are still in use. Longtime employees who are justly rewarded. A stellar reputation in the community and industry.

Friday afternoon

It's Friday afternoon and almost every boss in the building left by 3 o'clock today. Of course, they were all sure to give extensive work instructions to the worker bees before they left. Is this what it will be like every Friday? Why doesn't everybody just leave after the bosses leave?

Halo 3

Halo 3 came out last night and half of the engineering staff is busy playing it on the company XBox. If it's not Guitar Hero or foosball, now it's Halo. I'm not sure how anyone gets work done around here. And its all paid for by the company.

Trophy

The bosses girlfriend was in this afternoon. She waters the office plants. I'm not sure if she gets paid to do it. I talked with her briefly. She is a total airhead - she even has the baby-girl voice. I asked around and people say that she and the boss started dating while he was still married. The old wife is not a looker so he's definitely moved up on that score. But it makes me wonder about his morals and how he treats others who have been loyal to him. Oh well. I'm sure there's no reason to think about how it applies to me.

Company meeting

What a disappointment. Temporary and new employees are not allowed at the company meeting. I wonder what goes on at this top secret meeting? I'll have to ask around to find out but it must be very important.

Anticipation

This morning I'll be attending my first company meeting. Each week they have these to make announcements, coordinate projects, give out assignments. I'm looking forward to see how it all goes down.

Kitchen Party

Wow! As I was leaving, I noticed a huge ruckus from the kitchen. A bunch of people had gathered and were drinking beer from the company supplied keg. There was quite a bit of lewd talk which I felt was inappropriate for the workplace, so I left early. I was surprised to see that nobody else was bothered by it.

First week

Well my first week is over. The people here are great but the boss is pretty weird. He's always walking around with his shirt hanging out and unbuttoned. He never wears dark clothes and the huge flakes on his shoulders are why. I have been hired as a temp but have been told that most temps are eventually converted to permanent positions. I hope that's me!