I turned in my resignation a week ago. My last day is June 7th. And things are going great. It is really freaky. People I have only talked with on the phone about work stuff are coming to visit me and asking for my email address. My boss and I are doing wonderfully. I have had a chance to tell him the things I think he needs to work on in a positive helpful way and he took notes. I also found out what he has been doing to improve on stuff and I am proud of him. He still has a long way to go. He and I still think very differently and it would take a lot of communication all the time to make things work. After getting some things cleared up, I found myself wondering if I could retract my resignation. Then my brain kicked in that it is getting cleared up because I made a crisis by quiting and nothing is actually solved other than the stuff in play at this moment. Things will build up again and it will take a crisis to get resolution again. I can’t live that way. I refuse to live that way. So I am going out on a high note.
I stayed late last night doing some stuff of my own (copying floppy disks to the harddrive so I can burn the files) and a guy on the team next to me ran into problems. He had to get a RFP (request for proposal) out and it wasn’t happening. He was in a quandary and basically running in circles. I stepped in, fixing his files, starting giving a little direction, did some research via the internet and phone calls to find resources for him and we sent him off to the airport at 10pm last night. Found out this morning that it went through and everything was good. I am pleased. It was interesting to see how someone else handles an emergency. I know I am relatively good at troubleshooting and crisis management but I am also surrounded by many people that are good as well. It was interesting to be able to compare how I can handle things and how a “average” person could. I did really well and now I can understand how some people think I am great at it and why I am trusted. I just thought I was average.
This email got sent out by the head of the RFP department and the Client Relationship Officer in charge of the RFP (some of the big wigs were cc’ed on the first part at the bottom):
—–Original Message—–
From: B David BGI SF
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 11:55 AM
To: Palmer, Gina BGI SF
Cc: K David BGI SF
Subject: RE: maryland rfp
Thank you, Gina! I really appreciate your efforts.
David
—–Original Message—–
From: K, David BGI SF
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 2:39 PM
To: P Gina BGI SF; Copy Center BGI SF; R Pat BGI SF
Cc: F James BGI SF; H Owen BGI SF; B David BGI SF; S Matthew BGI SF
Subject: maryland rfp
Yesterday was a brutal day getting the Maryland rfp out, with a host of problems, some of which could have been avoided with better planning by Dave and myself, some not (such as a bug in one of the tables that caused the computers to crash every time we tried to create a pdf). I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who pulled together to get this out. Obviously, Pat Reese did a tremendous job getting this done and I appreciate David’s earlier email thanking him. I second that.
But I also wanted to express special gratitude to Gina Palmer, who stayed here late with Pat, helped him navigate computer issues, and offered a number of ideas that were extremely helpful to Pat.
I also wanted to thank Dave from the copy center who stayed late to help Pat get the document produced.
Again, thanks to all. Many people pulled together and went above and beyond. The good news is that we did get it out on time, and the final proposal is very strong. Dave Bruce’s work on it really improved it.
Dave, good luck with the proposal and let us know how it goes.
David K
Reading this email makes me glow. I am thinking I should keep a copy of it so into LJ it goes. I hung around to help (it is so not related to my job other than I have the skills to help) because Pat looked like he could use the help and there was nobody else on the floor for a resource. And I do it well. It was kind of fun.
Yeah, they should miss me when I am gone. But I did what I could and they made their bed. I am onto other and probably better things.
I am planning taking a week off and staying with friends for a little R&R which will hopefully help me get better. I figure most of my being sick and the mess of dr appts have been work stress related. And when I get back, it is to the temp agencies I go. I am kind of looking forward to contract work again.
Hey sweetie! so glad to hear things are picking up – felt much the same way (though also scared as hell) when leaving QRS.
on the temp side: I would be proud to refer you to my Bayer Healthcar contract person (they contract through Adecco). It’s in Emeryville, and is a good, stable place to work (they get you in as a contractor, and just keep extending and extending.) if you’re interested let me know, LJname at gmail dot com, and I’ll send you the info.
healthCARE. CARE. dammit.
Temp Agencies
I worked w/ Spherion out in San Ramon before I started my current job. They were very nice and helped me put a better polish on my resume. They do mostly longer assignments as opposed to the “can you be at such and such address in 10 minutes to be receptionist for the day.”
Ask Alex what agency he worked with to get the Chevron gig. I’ve promised him lunch the next time I go out there. Having two friends at luch would be even better, IMHO.