Book Cover

Can you tell it's raining?  No?  Good!

No class hours scheduled today, nor for the rest of the Mondays, and Thursdays as well, this block (hurrah!), but went to school anyway to finish some odds and ends, plus! ... the usual appraisal interview, the second this year.  We have one every six months.  They took rather long with the colleague that came before me, but I just relaxed in the next room.  When they saw me, they apologized that I had to wait, but I had no problem with that.  They asked me if I had any long story to tell, in which case they could schedule me for another time, if I so wished.  I said, 'No, that won't be necessary.  I can even make the session very short for you, if you wish.'  They said okay, so I said, 'Okay, here's the short version -- I'm okay, the work is okay, everything's fine!'  They both laughed and so did I.  Was there anything more I wanted to say?  I said I didn't mind the tremendous overtime but if they allow me an extra week or two of summer holiday, we'd be quits.  No problem, they said.  Anything more?  So I just quickly expressed my frustration about Block 1, that some deliverables weren't done on time, something they were already familiar with as apparently I wasn't the only one who complained.  I told them I moved to another room and they were happy I took the initiative and I also told them about the Project Management MOOC starting a week from now, and they were pleased about that, too, and were going to pay for my certificate, which was of course my point.  Was there anything more I wanted to say?  I said, 'No, that's about it.'  Would I be interested in their comments about me?  'Oh, sure.'  So they told me that if everyone they interviewed was like me, they'd run out of things to do, and that when my students gave them feedback about me, they had nothing but compliments.  All I said was, 'Thank you!  Will do my best to keep it that way.'  Of course, that was all nice to hear but, believe me, it doesn't change anything.  The pressure won't be turned off, I still need to deliver.

What matters to me is what hubby thinks, and if things are going well at home.  And okay, it makes things a lot easier if there are no problems at work.

I'm wondering if you can guess the title that goes with this cover.  If not, that's okay, it was a fun read, and still is.  ;DD