A Holiday Surprise

And what a surprise it is. I am about to get a new manager....of all the people I worked with over the years, there is only one I truly do not like,and just my luck she is going to be my new boss. The second in command is also someone who I helped train, and while I'm not pals with her, I never really cared for her "give it to me cause I'm a minority" attitude. I prefer to work for people I feel have earned their positions through knowledge and experience, not politics or charming good looks.

My new boss has been with the city 14 years. In that time she has been a florist,a reservations specialist, a District Crew Leader and is now a Service Area Coordinator. She makes around 70 G's a year while I make around 35. She has a bachelor's in Greenhouse management from Cal Poly, but doesn't know crap about basic plant care. I can say this because I spent 5 years at the nursery with her. I can't say I worked with her-because she really didn't do that much work while she was there. Most of her time was spent creating some bogus report she decided to create for no reason, then she would take off for the office for hours at a time to have someone else type it up all pretty then show it to upper management for praise. All the while I was back at the nursery holding down the fort and getting the actual work done.
She always bragged about her degree to everyone, but one day she asked me some basic plant care question ( I can't remember exactly what it was,but I do remember it was about a fairly common crop-maybe poinsettias) I just looked her square in the eye and said "Don't ask me, you're the one with the college degree, I just have a certificate of completion from a high school vocational school." I still remember the exact shade of red her face turned.
Two other things she did that led me to dislike her.. We were at a regional grower's meeting where private growers in the area get together to discuss the industry. Whiel she was a florist (the same as me) one grower asked her if we did something (again I can't recall the exact question,but I do remember her answer) and she told them matter-of -factly "I don't have the staff to do that" Whoa!!!!! Never knew I was her staff, I thought someone else was the nursery supervisor. The final straw was after she left to work in reservations, a piece of mail arrived at the nursery with her name on it and the title manager below it. WTF?????
That is why I do not like her.
So today, on my only friggin day off this week, right before I'm working a 3 day weekend solo, including Christmas day. I am being ordered to come into work for the big announcement. One I do not wish to hear, don't care for and am not looking forward to. More to come on this situation, I'm sure so stay tuned readers.

falalala.......oh screw it

I'm not Scrooge or the Grinch, it's just that Christmas doesn't excite me much. It hasn't for quite a few years now. Even when my parents were still around, I didn't care much for the family get-together. Not that I don't love my family, we just aren't the close knit type. We all live within 20 miles of each other,yet we might get together every other year and we keep in touch mostly through e-mails, which is good enough for all of us. I think when you grow up in a house with 5 kids, you spend enough time together.
The other aspect of my lack of holiday cheer is twofold. One, I never really could afford to give Christmas gifts, and I'm not the crafty type to make them myself...so I feel embarrassed when I am on the giving end. Secondly, after growing poinsettias since July and working every Christmas since 1994, to me it has just become another work day (albeit-a well paid work day)
And even though I care little about it all, I still went out and bought my coworkers and our lone volunteer a little gift. I still have to figure out what to get the old man. So here is a brief description of each person and what I got them..

Tyrone- 22 year old African-Anerican male...
I love this guy! I find it hard to believe he's only 22. He is very responsible,curious about plants, and I can trust him to take proper care of the crops if Tracy or myself aren't there. This kid is a natural. I know he loves The Simpsons,one episode in particular...but I couldn't afford 40 bucks for the dvd set. A few weeks ago he asked what was the best album by Heart, since he was interested in their music. Talk about throwing me for a loop! I don't tend to stereotype people, but a 22 year old black male asking about a band I listened to in the 70's and 80's threw me way off base. So for Christmas "Mr. T." is receiving "Hearts Greatest Hits vol.1"

Tracy -30 something white chick
This was a toughie,since I haven't worked with her long enough yet to know her likes or dislikes, or interests (other than the Bengals) She mentioned her dog ate a scented candle once, and since she is new,she is taking lots of crop notes about when to fertlize,spray,etc. So for my new co-worker.....four scented candles and a weekly planner.

Paul- 70 something once a week volunteer
Paul is a sweet,dedicated volunteer. Every Wednesday for the past 9 years he has driven across town to help us out. He takes care of his wife,who is sometimes bedridden, and his son who has Down's Syndrom. He sits on the board of a local Catholic Cemetary, and he still works as an accountant. We all go out to lunch for birthdays, and he pays not just for the birthday person's meal, but everyone else's as well. Every week he brings us snacks and every year he gets us a gift for Christmas. Paul's near vision is not great and he has a tendency to nick himself when he is pruning plants. He also has a tendency to get cold,even though it's 70 in the greenhouse. So for Paul I got a lightweight sweater and a box of band-aids.

So now I need only one more gift for the old man and I can wrap up Christmas 06.

December Saturday

Well, it's less than a week until hubby's 49th, and I still have no clue what to give him. What to get a guy who wants everything (most of which is out of my price range)? Thinking I'll just flip him a Benjamin and let him decide. Then there's Christmas....ugh. Luckily I only get gifts for 5 people, cause I hate shopping anytime for myself, let alone searching for holiday gifts for others. I'm not Scrooge, I honestly was born without a shopping chromosone in my body. Except for stuff for my house, I can go nuts in a Homegoods store.

Work is going fairly smoothly. Tracy is adjusting, but off until next Thursday. However, I am back to working every other weekend because our third florist decided she wanted to teach horticulture instead of actually getting dirty practicing it. Ah well,life ticks on. Except now there are rumors circulating that the head of Operations wants to rotate all florist areas once a year. Meaning people who have been assigned to a certain park or area for years and have gotten to know all its quirks, would be yanked to go somewhere unfamiliar to them.
The nursery is currently under the Planning side of the department and I think this little dictator wants to control it and the conservatory as well. Hopefully the head of Planning finds his backbone and tells the director to make Napoleon back the hell off. After 20 years of growing, I have lost most of my knowledge of outside plants, and really don't care to re-learn it. From what I gather the other florists in the department feel the same way about their areas. Upper management is always bragging about all the awards our department has won, like "Best use of Government Funds" by a local paper and a few years ago we were rated one of the nation's top 5 Parks Departments by I can't remember who. Now how do they think they got those awards?B not screwing around with what is obviously working! I say leave us the hell alone, let us do our jobs. Their job should be to ensure we have the tools and supplies necessary to do what we need, not tell us how to do what we've been doing right for so long.

sometimes they listen

Wow, management actually heeded my suggestions (more like my threat to transfer out) and sent the one person I wanted to work with out to the nursery and the person I suggested to replace her at the conservatory did.
Plus as an added bonus, they put another person into the nursery weekend rotation so now I only work every third weekend. I told my boss I don't know if I can work 5 days in a row since I haven't done it in over 12 years...lol. I also told her to make sure our new weekender works the same weekend and holidays as her boyfriend that works at the conservatory. My boss said she never thought about that and I was sweet to think of their relationship as far as scheduling. My husband said (jokingly) "Now I have to put up with your ass 2 weekends in a row??"

Seriously, my new partner is Tracy...she was kinda bummed when she first came out this week,since it will mean a longer commute,driving through snow,and using more snow. I understand completely. But by the end of this week, she is beginning to like the quiet and self reliance of the place. The director of the department was always walking through the conservatory,which put everyone there on pins and needles,since he is a neat freak. Plus there is always some event going on there,which meant the florists had to take time away from plant care to set up tables and chairs and then tear them down. Now Tracy can concentrate on growing things,which she likes to do. As Jo was like an older sister I could tell my troubles to, Tracy is like a little sister that I can hopefully help with her problems. I'm sure we'll have our differences, but I think we'll make a pretty good team.