10 August 2023
One of my favorite ways of obeying middle management martinets is accurately, thoroughly, and literally.
They usually hate that.
I recall one job (or I may be conflating two or more managers into one) wherein I was directed to account for the time I spent on all of my maintenance tasks for the day. I was firmly informed that filling out these task sheets was now a part of my job, and that compliance was required. Fine by me; it’s their dough, they get to decide how they’re going to spend it. And I’m not a prisoner, so if I want their dough to become mine, I should behave the way they direct, even if I think it is wasteful, foolish, or counter-productive. After about a week the “time sheet” requirement was rescinded. Maybe they didn’t like that just about every other line of mine was accounting for the time that it took to account for the time that it takes to account for time.
18 August 2023
Customers and coworkers often accuse me of being busy and industrious and as having an obvious “Can Do” attitude. I can think of at least two ex-wives, and maybe a couple more former arch nemeses who might disagree, at least with the “busy and industrious” part, and I disagree altogether. I am lazy. I consider it to be one of my fundamental virtues. I am lazy and wise, and I realize that it is generally much easier to do things properly and carefully than to do them over. Also, I’m stubborn, not a fundamental virtue necessarily, but at least a derivative one, so it’s not so much that I have a “Can Do” spirit, but a “fuck you if you think I can’t” attitude instead.