Fudd Me

Points if you catch the above reference.

Well, today didn't go quite like I planned.

The boss asked me what was happening in terms of rescheduling a meeting we'd had to postpone from Monday. This particular meeting has always been a problem. I send out emails to all the relevant parties saying things like, "Please let me know your availability for a meeting at 2 p.m. on Monday, April 25" etc. You know, real hard-nosed of me. They never respond, ever. I was desperately trying to get in touch with someone, anyone from this meeting to confirm that it was actually happening before I sent my boss to Philadelphia for it.

Then of course we canceled it.

I followed up immediately with an email suggesting alternate dates for rescheduling. No responses. Not one from any of the five people (not from my company, they're all external). No one returns phone calls.

This morning the boss asks again when that meeting is going to happen.

So I composed an email to the participants saying I was "somewhat dismayed" that I had not received a single response from anyone to any of my emails and phonecalls, and that if there was a more convenient way for them to have me coordinate the meeting to please let me know.

I got one response in 35 seconds. (Yes, I timed it.)

"I would think “dismay” is fairly strong for someone who cancelled when several of us were en route from out of town when we received the cancellation notice."

Yes, we canceled the meeting at the last minute. For, as far as I can tell, no good reason whatsoever, but I don't make it my business to ask. I'd already apologized profusely and made all the usual excuses. No one had responded to my urgent cancellation notice, either.

So, hummppfff! to that guy. First of all, I am a secretary, Mr. I Can't Be Bothered to Answer An Email. I'm not the one who canceled the meeting, don't shoot the messenger. Secondly, if you think "somewhat dismayed" is harsh, then you should have heard what I really wanted to write, you arrogant fuckwit.

I guess I'll just pass this off to my successor.

My mother and stepfather are in New York currently, on their way to Europe tonight. Last night at dinner my mother was complaining of sharp pains in her leg, and I thought it would be best for everyone's peace of mind if we could get her in to see my doctor this morning. He graciously made time for them, and then decided her symptoms might mean she had a blood clot, which of course can cause a heart attack or a stroke. Sigh.

So, off to the hospital she went. She had an ultrasound. It was neither a boy nor a girl, nor a clot. It was a cyst of some kind. But this required an MRI to determine what kind. (As the clock ticks down toward their departure time.) Apparently it's just a water-filled cyst and will probably burst on its own at some point, nothing to worry about, just a little uncomfortable for now.

Still, thinking about my mother undergoing a bunch of tests at a hospital just hours before she heads off to Europe for a month was a little disconcerting. I was sure she'd be fine, but as I know my mother I know how she sometimes panics a little bit and I was more worried about her stress than anything else. But she called and said she was okay. They probably gave her a little something for the plane ride. Where's mine?

I also had hoped to corral my boss for a second today to at least say in person "thanks so much, I'm leaving to take another job" but this office has been a complete zoo today. I shouldn't even be blogging right now, but my brain needed the break. I am going home tonight and curling up on the sofa with some beer, leftover Chinese food and a couple of hobbits.