2004-11-17 - 3:42 p.m.
I have just been informed that they will not be hiring another supervisor for my unit for the foreseeable future. It’s all very hush-hush, very sub rosa; apparently it’s the result of a pissing contest between two higher-ups. Not only that, the fact that I’m busting my hump to do a good job is making it easier for them to get away with pulling this crap.
So, what does a reasonably ethical human being do in a situation like this? I’ve got too much pride of purpose to let myself intentionally do a bad job. I have not lost sight of the fact that my job directly impacts the lives of thousands. Yet if I hold myself to my own standards, I allow myself to get treated like Ned Beatty in “Deliverance”.
I’m not to the point that I’m gonna shave my head and climb a clock tower, but dang it, this is bad. It’s bad for my morale, it’s bad for my employees, and it’s bad for the people who are waiting to be interviewed for the position. The worst part is, I don’t know what to do to change it.
I’ve been reading Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential” recently. That is one funny book. It makes me glad that I did not follow my whim to become a chef, as I have no desire to fight the battle of Dien Bien Phu every night. SCA feasts are bad enough for me, and I only do those once every couple of years. No way could I be a professional chef. I just want to cook like one.
In other news, since this is gonna be one broke-ass Christmas for us, I’ve decided to make beer for the tipplers in the family. Five gallons should go a nice long way among six couples. I’m gonna have to go through the bottle collection downstairs and see what I have; I’m sure I don’t have 5 cases’ worth, but I think I have some champagne bottles and so forth. You can’t really bottle beer in wine bottles; too thin, and you have to wire the cork in place. I may have to do a little scrounging here and there, some begging and borrowing, but I should be able to come up with the bottles. I’ve got the promise of a honey beer recipe from one of the better brewers around here, and assistance and equipment from another. “Sir Toby Belch’s Holiday Braggot”, howzat sound?
