Friday, February 15, 2008

I have a date for lunch today with my boyfriend. He passed this restaurant on his way to work and said "I want to take you to lunch there". An actual date! I can't wait. The sun is actually shining and for once I can walk out of the building and not need the unbrella. So, in an hour and a half, I am leaving this place of frustration (work) and walking from 8th Street to 13th street and meet the love of my life for a lovely lunch.

At yesterday's staff meeting we had our "productivity reports". We are all supposed to log at least 100 hours a month on paper. I only logged 67.5. So I am 32.5 hours short. Now, none of this is 'billable time'. Case Management services are not billable in any form (unless I am performing services for my clients who have mental retardation. That time is billable) The part that frosts my cookie is that I volunteer for committees (time doesn't count), I volunteered to help train folks on the computer (doesn't count) and did countless hours of crisis management training (once again does not count). Now my supervisor says she recognizes that I do all these other things but there is no record of the time. When it comes time for my annual evaluation, those numbers can make a difference. It is demoralizing to know that I work hard to help my clients get what they need and all of my work is done in a timely manner and to see this on paper. It's a weight in my chest. In a few days, I'll have gotten over the initial anger and I'll just try to "capture more time" on paper. I just don't want to feel like a fraud and I don't want to stop being involved in the things around me. And so what did I do this morning? Help someone decorate the multi purpose room for a client talent show we are having today. Of course, that doesn't count either.

So, today's lunch date is really welcome and needed. I knit for a few hours on the shawl last night. The border is really beautiful but it is an awful lot of stitches so it is taking a while to finish each row. I finished Go with the Flow sock number 1 and cast on for number 2. It is such a beautiful sock. Photos over the weekend.

Happy Friday everyone.

Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.

~Tenzin Gyatso

10 comments:

Bells said...

oh a date! Lovely! I hope it was as good as it sounds. What a nice boyfriend you have. :-)

And that sucks. The other part I mean. Saying, 'I recognise you do all this but...' is really no help.

And I just read on Amy's blog you don't have a TV! You should write about that here. I didn't know. we lived without one for years and sometimes I kinda miss it.

Taphophile said...

Ah productivity statistics suck. So glad you have a date lined up to make you feel valued :). Sounds like the BF is a keeper.

Bezzie said...

Mmm..that place looks good.

I feel your pain. When I was a paralegal I billed for my time and "admin time" (the stuff you can't bill) was the stuff that took up most of my day, but of course they don't want to see that. But those little nonbillable things don't magically happen by themselves now do they??

Em said...

What a sucky meeting! You are one of the most productive, helpful, efficient people in that building! What a bunch of bullshit (sorry to swear on your blog)! "I know you do a lot of things, but..." ! That woman should be standing up behind you and saying, "You may not have logged a bazillion hours, but we do know that you've been doing all these things and they count, too." Grr. I'm angry for you. Grr.

It's great you and Dadums had a date today, that place looks tasty! I hope you had a great date. It makes me smile to know that you and Dad still go out on dates.

Rose Red said...

We had a date last weekend - we went to the movies. But there was no pashing in the back row!!!

Productivity stats which don't measure all you do or contribute = crazy.

Nancy @ the Jersey Shore said...

I hope you had a lovely date! :-)

Sheepish Annie said...

I do not miss dealing with billable hours and the paperwork thereof. As a teacher, I am so used to doing things off the clock and purchasing my own supplies, that I rarely thought to bill for all those extras at my agency job. Hence, I was always under my billable hours as well. Gah!!!!!!!!

I'd say lunch with a handsome boyfriend is just the ticket!

Amy Lane said...

What a sucky job wrinkle! Seriously--how do you go about showing the world what an awesome worker you are when this is your reward?

Enjoy lunch--you're totally right! You've earned it!

roxie said...

Hope that lunch with the beloved nourished you physically and spiritually.

"Billable hours." What a crock! Tryoing to measure the intangible with the impossible.

amy said...

I hope you had a lovely lunch date and you're having a good weekend, too, filled with knitting time and light. Are you getting the sunlight we're getting this weekend? Last night there was still some light at 5:30. Even though it's cold, it helps my soul to have more light.

The billable hours--well, I echo what everyone else said. It's extremely frustrating. In my last non-profit job I more or less did the opposite. Like sheepish annie, I did so much "off the clock." I'd been assured the job didn't require nights & weekends, and that ended up being a lie, basically. I lasted a little over a year before I quit.

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