Being Micromanaged by Stupid People

I am back at work and while I didn't mind so much that my boss was stupid, now that he is micromanaging me, it's a little infuriating. He means well and is nice, and I guess if I could have a boss who is mean and stupid, that would be worse, but I might go for mean and smart over mean and stupid. Then again, like I can choose who I have to work for.

So my boss "took over" my duties when I left on maternity leave. Despite the fact my clients actually "refused" to accept him as my replacement because of his stupity, he was the replacement, so now after I have been gone for close to 9 months, they get me back, only part time. So I understand having to be micromanaged, but do I really need to have conversations over things that make absolutely no sense at all? Even if I have no work to do, I actually feel like I am losing brain cells explaining things to him. And I am not nice, and yet he is too stupid to know I am being mean to him. He does not understand sarcasim. I think the inability to understand sarcasim annoys me almost more than just being plain stupid! I don't like my time being wasted and I am sure our clients would prefer he stop wasting their money as well.

He actually hired outside counsel to handle something we have controls in place to handle. He was willing to pay someone $200/hour because he was too stupid to remember that we have a full time person who actually does the same thing for us in-house. I was gone for 9 months and still knew that was not something that made sense, ever! We have to give presentations to managers once a month and they were already calling me in August because my boss had gotten so many negative reviews from the managers and couldn't keep my 45 minute presentation under an hour (and he was only presenting my presenation, he never even took the time to do his own).

And I guess what annoys me even more is that he doesn't even realize how some of the things he does really make him look bad. Once, he had me "help"(translation: do it all) him with a presentation and research for one of his clients. So I kept trying to explain this one case to him, which he kept interpreting wrong. He just wouldn't listen because he wanted it to mean something it didn't. So we are in there, and I am presenting our findings to the client, and he pipes up, in front of management, with the earlier rendition of the case (which he hadn't read or understood and represented incorrectly to them), therefore FORCING me, the only one who had read or understood it, to completely smack him down in front of his clients. But still, too stupid to realize what was coming out of his mouth was utterly wrong and he had now lost their attention and confidence. So my presentation goes on (with his name on it mind you), and one of the clients takes me aside and says: "I am adding your name becuase we know who the only person who did this work or understood it is." These aren't even my clients! I know they all hate him too and make fun of him behind his back. . .but even if they did it to his face, he wouldn't understand. How can you be so stupid? And these are the people my company promotes. . .go figure?

So it took me only 5 days back at work to already be bored, and I guess a full month now that I have been back to start posting on my blog.

We just got Blackberries, so I am excited to see how long it takes him to figure it out. When he travels, he refuses to bring a computer or give out his cell phone to our clients (I think because I doesn't know how to work either without an admin to help him), so I am sure interesting stupid boss things will come up soon!

Would a Shower Curtain Really Piss You Off?

Now I am not saying I am the smartest person in the world, but I think we rent our condo to a couple that is tetering on retardation. These crazy people are upset over a freaking shower curtain!!!

OK, to get the story completely into perspective, my husband and I have been renting to this couple for a little over a year now. First, we were just getting married and kind of threw out an ad on craigslist to see if we could get anyone to want to rent a huge one bedroom furnished place and we found this couple that we definitely thought were a little on the weird side, but more importantly, had good credit and wanted a furnished place. Now you have to wonder on some level what a couple that can afford $1150 a month for rent that has NOTHING (not even dishes or a TV), who is in their 40s, has been doing. So I called around to their references and everyone checked out OK, so we rent to them. First, they were definitley a little weird because they wanted to be friends and my husband basically moved them completely in. We were trying to be nice, and the husband sounds like he is mumbling all the time. Well turns out they love Dolphins, so we got to see their whole Dolphin collection, Disney collection and Magnet Collection. I think I should have just understood that if they had a love for Disney I should be very wary.

Well, they have paid rent on time all the time, so money is money, even if it means I have to pretend to enjoy speaking with them if they call. Well last summer, they started pissing my husband off when they called to constantly complain about the AC. So we send a guy out to check the AC and what do you know, he determines that the reason the AC doesn't work is they shut off the power to the AC (using the circuit breakers). So it doesn't take an AC repairman to tell you that no power = no AC. SO about a week later, the wife calls me freaking out that the AC is out again, so I send the repairman over and after he deals with her for an hour, he calls me and tells me "I know how you can fix the AC." I ask him, "How?" He replies, "Find new tenants."

So we know they are annoying and problematic, but things quite down for a while. All until we decide to put the house on the market this Spring. So they are kind of acting crazy when I bring the agent over. The husband doesn't want them taking pictures of the closet. I am kind of in a tizzy because THEY DON'T EVEN OWN THE FURNITURE. So why would they care if people come in the house. Well, the house isn't showing well. One of the comments of the realtors showing the place is "I can't give much feedback, but if I recall, there was a mid-40s, brown haired woman who was lurking and gave my client the creeps." So, my agent thinks we should kick them out, but I am on maternity leave (with no pay mind you) and my husband is a full time student, so we really can't afford all these mortgages. So shye says, well, we should do a few changes to "spruce it up." One suggestion of hers was to put in a new shower curtain. The current one there is clear with freakin dolphins all over it. I mean, its not like Napolean Dynomite is looking for a condo, so most people prefer to see Pottery Barn.

So my agent calls over there and the wife REFUSES to let her come in with plants and a new shower curtain. So tonight I sent them an email gently reminding them that we had agreed to let them stay on month to month for the same rent (even though the lease was to go up another $100/mo), if they allowed us to show the place and put stuff in there, and mentioned that we needde them to help us out, otherwise we may need to break the lease and show it without peoploe. Well I had done research and there is nothing this cheap, furnished, in our area. . at least not without a roommate, so tonight the husband calls me acting like a maniac on the phone saying he thinks we are evicting him.

I try explaining to him that we want them to stay,but that we want to put in a new shower curtain, that we already bought! No, that won't work for him. . .and can't even give me a reason why. Then he says that his wife doesn't want the agent in the house. Our agent is like 28, cute, sweet, a really nice woman, who always calls before coming over and who is probably the most non-threatening person you'd meet. So, I have deduced that these crazy people are just crazy. So unfortunately their craziness is driving me crazy and hence I am stressed out and up writing a blog about these idiots I have to deal with, that I probably brought on myself knowing they would be pains in the ass. The crazy husband was even threatening to sue us for the AC from last summer. He knows I am a lawyer and still the threats. Maybe I didn't understand him because he speaks like he's retarded. . .bring it on buddy. . .bring it on.