Last Days In The Trenches

Today is officially the last working day that I am among Ascend Asia's rank and file content writers. No, I haven't done something that would get me fired. On the contrary, I've somehow managed to get myself roped into being, of all things, promoted. For me, this is both a good and bad thing.

This is a good thing because more money is coming to me. Money is always a good thing to have more than adequate amounts of. Between my constant upgrading process for my black deck and my "still in construction" white/green deck (that is designed to directly oppose the black deck on many levels and mirror it on others), not to mention the latest addition to my laptop collection, Kaguya, and the new PDA I plan to buy sometime after the next few months, I estimate that I'm going to need a much larger cash flow than I have now.

Yeah, pretty much money is the only real positive I see about this.

The first thing I worried that I'd lose when my promotion becomes official, however, is time. I have never been one to willingly and consistently sacrifice time. I can donate money. I can donate some bits of my unusual wisdom. I can lie about my understanding other people's problems and donate my sympathy and empathy. However, I do not like the idea of having to donate time. Much less sacrifice it.

And damn it, sacrificing my time is likely going to be the first thing that I end up doing if certain people don't shape up and certain conventions are not...restored to their proper state. Unfortunately, despite being promoted, I am rapidly becoming certain that I still do not have the administrative power needed to correct the glaring mistake I see in how things are being done by the day shift writers, and it sickens me. Mainly because, for as long as this is done, I'm bound to not only have to deal with it, but also end up sacrificing my time for it.

Naturally, I want to expect them to be willing to sacrifice their own time, but I know this aspect of their behavior well. They'd be more willing to leave the work (and whoever is handling the editing) hanging because they've got somewhere to go than live up to their responsibilities. I know I'm not the perfect, work-work-work employee, but for the love of Cthulhu, I at least know how to finish on time despite distracting myself from my work. My day shift co-workers, clearly, do not. Until they can finish everything within the shift, I'm afraid that I'm going to be spending a lot more time with Sumire (my PC at work, which I have decided to name such).

Maybe I can fix this, but that's unlikely. The person that's higher in rank than me (in practice, but not on paper) is just as likely to condone the offending practice as the others are to continue it, regardless of who's in charge. She's a capable enough person on her own to handle all the duties, and she has a good head between her shoulders, but I'm almost certain she'll simply be too lenient to do anything about the problem. This leniency, of course, will just encourage them to continue it.

The worst, most sickening part of this? I know that these bastards can actually get things done. Even get things done early. It happened once before, when they had no choice but be under my watch. Sure, the requirements then were half of what are required now, but come on. If I can do it, and I'm not even trying, why can't they?

Given the chance, I'd be more than happy to do what I have to in keeping them in-line. I'm no big fan of Intellicrap policies regarding backlog work and variances, but I'm also a creature of practicality. I'm not about to refuse the use of a working tool to improve the performance of the whole, no matter how much I dislike the tool itself. I'd hate to have to end up feeling like I have no choice but to suggest the most rigid, draconian of measures be implemented, either. I only hope that things never come to that.

But these are just my worries. We'll see how things work out when it actually comes. I'm not hoping for the best, but I am preparing for the worst.

On another note, I am now experiencing what I think is being on the wrong side of a one-sided interest of the possibly romantic variety. I find this sensation...slightly disarming.

No, I'm not talking about this.