appraisal and all

so apart from collecting two sparrows at separate vets, and a white pigeon somewhere else.....saw t-doc this morning. She figured it was a multi-purpose appointment; firstly to persuade me not to tell manager to f-off, then to make sure that I got there on time and lastly as a normal session. I really adore her - she is just such a warm, caring person. When I grow up, I'd like to be.... Yeah. Right. I wish.

And after that, the PA was a walkover. I got a really good rating, although that doesn't mean much as a contractor. Wasn't nasty to boss, although that actually didn't worry me too much. He is terribly sweet, and if he wasn't my boss, I'd be quite fond of him. It's just that as a manager he is totally ineffectual, and I think team leader and I scare him too. She and I are both very experienced, good at the work, drink, swear and smoke (all of them more than we should) and - at work - are both somewhat tough. It was the era we were formed in, mostly, when a woman in our positions then needed to be better than any of the guys, at everything. From going to the pub with the team, to doing call outs at midnight, and, above all, making ourselves known and rated as not being girly. Programmers could cry, DBAs couldn't. Not implying that any of it was such a good idea - it was just how it was.

But still, think boss is a bit nervy of both of us. Starting with the bit about knowing that neither of us would want his job, ever - it would mean too much admin and kissing ass, and way too many meetings. So, as long as we keep being good at what we do, not being promoted isn't any kind of incentive to conform. TL got a low rating on meeting attitude, and told him 'great, now stop making me attend so many of them'...I didn't even have that as a KPA! I mentioned the meeting on Thurs that I refused to attend...he told me that he agrees with me about not going and will do his best to put my points across. And that I can always feel free to rant to him if I can just please try not to tell anyone out of the data centre how stupid they are. He also told me that in a way he appreciates me getting angry about things, because he sees that as being an indicator of client-centricity, and that that is key to being a good data-centre DBA. So...as long as I document my major client's database environment some time before March next year, all is well. Guess what he hasn't yet realised is the fact that I care about my one client, I care that they aren't getting the service that they deserve, I care about my reputation with a handful of people in the industry - almost all of whom don't work for my employer - and I'm rather fond of getting large amounts of money for being skilled and available almost all the time. None of the above is enough to stop me from saying what I think. I don't need the job, but it sort of suits me to have it for a while. And while being fired would not be good for my ego, it wouldn't hurt my reputation, doesn't make me behave any better, and doesn't make me dress better either!

Last week, I mentioned the appraisal to p-doc, and said that the data centre and H/O management were pissing me off enough that I didn't see it going too well. So he asked what I was going to do about it, and was astounded when I said that I would bill them double for the annoyance factor. I've told my boss that as well...anything I regard as a waste of time, he gets billed for twice as many hours. P-doc thought that was rather desirable, albeit strange. Dress code.... well, suffice it to say that I am the only person who is expected at work in denims, flip flops and a tshirt. If it's a formal meeting I mostly wear baggy, open-necked shirts. And if it's a very formal meeting, then I try (between Sept and Apr) to not bring more than one basket of birds.

Actually, having this job is probably good for me. If I think about the amount of crap they take without firing me, I have to figure that maybe I am worth something. Somehow......

And I still haven't taken birdy pictures.