bunt sign

Thursday, August 11, 2005

I felt as if I’d been punched in the stomach. At first it was just another fax, one more three-page letter to type. Then I saw that it was in Julie’s handwriting and was addressed to the Boss, Tim and me. Subject: Employment.

She didn’t just resign. She also gave her reasons, and they had everything to do with the lack of respect she was getting, especially from Tim. Her relationship with the Boss has changed, too, but it was always Tim who cut her off at the knees every time she tried to do something to help us.

Her biggest complaint was that she was given responsibility with no authority. She blamed Tim for this because of his management style, and because he always has to have his own way. She says he thinks she always has to have her own way, and that she was the source of all problems. Obviously a clash of wills was inevitable. The result was probably equally obvious.

How wrong he is about that, anyway. Julie has been my lifeline in the company, the one person I can talk to about the way things are going. I can always count on fair treatment and honest answers from her. She has even gone out of her way to give me financial advice. That’s something I wouldn’t take from the other two, even if they offered it.

She’s leaving us with a warning. She sees trouble ahead for both companies, the construction company and The Kennel, if Tim continues making arbitrary decisions, disrespecting employees, and insisting on absolute control, and if the Boss continues to defer to him, not because he deserves it but because he’s somehow afraid of his own son.

But this is about me, and how miserable I was when I got this letter to type. I was paralyzed and unable to do anything for a long time. I wasn’t ready to do that typing, so I went out on my errand run, and when I got back I left the phone turned off for a couple of hours. I needed time to think. And, I didn’t want to talk to anybody. It was a difficult afternoon.




10 August 2005

Gratuitous baby picture. (Also my current desktop.)



Eventually I decided that life would go on. Julie could change her mind. Her letter might force those two guys to see the light (though this is doubtful). She’s willing to stay until her replacement is hired and trained (by her); this could take months. Anything can happen. I haven’t discussed any of this with any of them, because when they phone I never know who else might be listening. I did type Julie’s letter and fax it back to her. Tomorrow, someone once said, is another day. (Bet your bottom dollar.)




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Stuff

Hey, but at least the Giants won tonight. And they came from behind in the late innings against Tim Hudson and the Braves to salvage the last game of the series in Atlanta. Randy Winn hit a big two-run homer in the eighth to lead the Giants to a 5-3 win that eases some of the pain of last night’s tough loss. But the Giants have nemeses in every corner of the country. Another of them awaits tomorrow night in South Florida. The Marlins have knocked the Giants out of the playoffs twice in the last eight years, and both times they have gone on to win the World Series. Maybe that extra bit of motivation will help.

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One year ago: Appraisal
"Sometimes he forgets that I work at home. Once in a while, when he's had me working well into the evening, he tells me to 'pack it up and go home.'"


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