UWOD

September 5: nerd-person

The voice someone uses when explaining something technical or generally nerdy.

I always switch to the nerd-person when discussing the finer points of ewok economics

Order a nerd-person mug — or a mug with any definition — on urbandictionary.com.

This made me laugh this morning.  It instantly reminded me of my friend Mark, the programmer guy, who explains technical things to me until my eyes glaze over, thinking I will understand.  I’m sure I DO get information out of it, but ohmyfuckinggod.   Speaking in the nerd-person, for sure.

So,  if you noticed that I haven’t been around much, it’s because I have my head down and am working 70+ hours a week.  It’s killin’ me.  The powers that be (at my work) are on a rampage to cut costs and casting aspersions upon at least half of the people in the office.  It is very tense,  jobs are going to be lost, mine included.  So much for 20 years of loyalty.  It’s not worth much, apparently.   I think the boss doesn’t think females should do IT because we’re not analytical enough.   Or maybe it’s just me.  I’m not articulate under the best of circumstances and when I get railed at by male authority figures I go into DeerInHeadights mode.  Not a good survival tactic.

An example of how I’ve lost my marbles:   A couple of months ago I had decided it was time to upgrade the blackberries for staff while we still had some budget.  The new iPhones were coming out and everyone was excited,  but realistically, their battery life sucks.  We were standardized on blackberries and everyone already knows how to use them so that’s what my plans were, new blackberries.   But the big boss, that male authority figure, never talks to me and he likes gadgets, so I thought I would engage him with a little debate and get some input from him about whether we should get blackberries or iPhones.  We went back and forth and I argued for the iPhones just for fun.   He wanted me to present a business case for them (why did I start this? yes, I am insane) which was more or less impossible because it’s a fairly bad idea.  He threw all of this in my face during our “meeting” about my job telling me I was not analytical and we should not run IT based on my “feelings”.   Could I explain any of what I just wrote here to him?  No.  DeerInHeadlights mode.  I sat there and took it for 90 minutes.  I didn’t cry, which was apparently a big disappointment for him.   He kept saying things like “Don’t take it personally, but are you even equipped to do your job? I’m going to get someone in here to see if you can really do your job.”  Sweet jeebus, I BUILT that job.  We had 3 un-networked PCs when I started there.

A lot of what is going on seems to be office politics, and the rest is the boss being on a diet and having hunger rage.  It’s scary having your future in hands like that and not being able to do much about it.   There’s more to it, of course, and the bottom line is always money, but it’s certainly been painful for the last few weeks.  I’ve now got a repetitive stress injury in my mouse arm called ulnar nerve compression (I think) and the fix is to not use it until it’s better.  That’s not really an option, of course.  But I haven’t been going online for fun.  😦 I miss you guys.

Anyway, Bob’s got me on his health insurance so if I do get canned there will be that.  I don’t have a degree and no current credentials, my bad for being complacent and learning things on my own.  It’s a tough job market out there and I don’t suppose I can compete.   Look, I’ve already given up before I’ve started!

I guess I can always go wash dishes somewhere.    Feh.

7 thoughts on “UWOD”

  1. don’t throw in the towel yet… catch your breath. it ain’t over til he pulls the chain. doesn’t sound very pleasant, though, and he’s quite the douchenozzle for treating you that way.

    is there a chance he’s testing you by throwing this at you? not a nice thing to do, but seeing how you react under pressure? you have skills. don’t let him rattle you…

    Like

  2. I miss you too!

    Honey, you are always selling yourself short and not seeing your own true skills and how valuable you actually are.

    I don’t have a degree and I certainly don’t have any current credentials, but I’m determined to make it. And you will too.

    Oh, and I have borrowed “the nerd-person” for tomorrow’s blog.

    *hugs*

    Like

  3. Thanks, you guys. I am a flippin’ basket case right now and I know it. Deep breaths. This, too, shall pass.
    Also, I’m looking to form a drug habit for escape reasons. Any recommendations?

    Like

  4. Prozac, definitely prozac. But then again, I recently read a book called “Puppy Chow is Better Than Prozac,” so who am I to talk? I was in the same place about ten years ago. I had a degree, or two, or maybe three. Doesn’t make any difference when it comes to the bottom line. Actually, your experience probably counts against you more than the lack of a degree. You know what you’re doing, and you’re probably maxed out. He’s looking to hire some nerd still in high school for peanuts. But at least you will have health insurance. And now is maybe a time to re-invent yourself. If you could do any job you wanted to, what would it be? Think about it. ((((Hugs))))

    Like

  6. I’ve never been happier than in that job, but it was a few years back and involved different management. I was still learning every day, could keep up with everything, had a great boss who appreciated me AND TOLD ME THAT on a regular basis. I’d wake up every morning, excited that I got to go in to work that day. Seriously. Maybe I’m lucky that I got to be there, then, for even a little while.

    I guess if I could do anything I’d do that again. Wasn’t quite as much to manage at that point, much better support from above. I don’t think you can get there from here, though.

    Also: prozac and wellbutrin give me grande mal seizures, found out the hard way that class of drugs is no longer an option. I’m okay. Anybody out there really good with resumes?

    Like

  7. i get about 20 resumes a week, and can give you one geek-girls opinion. i don’t work in IT, though. but send it to me via e-mail and i’ll take a look… tough market, but you’ve got MAD SKILZ… (and no, don’t spell it that way in the resume. only asshole bosses like me will hire that kinda person!)

    Like

Comments are closed.