Yesterday, I made her cry. Alaina. Oops. I don't want to be that bitchy boss. That was never the point. But, she's made my job harder in gads of ways and I just have been beside myself with how to handle. Thankfully, S and Marge, another great individual, have been phenomenal mentors. So glad for that!!

Well, today, the crocuses are blooming, daffodils are starting to peek through and the concrete is crumbling all over the place. The fountains are falling apart and the cement patch work isn't holding. It's due to the winter cold and water and, perhaps, the fact that these things are 100 years old. Whatever, now it's my job to save it. So, the fountains are emptied and the concrete is crumbling. Awesome. But, I was a task manager today and explored all of the grounds with the outside guys today and made a loooooooonnnnnnggggg list of things we need to pay attention to. Yikes. But, when I saw the concrete issue, Rodney had a good thought to just call a local pool place to see if they have a suggestion for the patchwork instead of using regular concrete from the Lowe's or Home Depot. I tasked him with finding people to come out and take care of the recommendations and that's done. So - good.

Also, I'm meeting with a Visual Impact rep tomorrow to talk about movies on the lawn, concerts, etc. Should be pretty cool.

Trying to follow up with the University's marketing people to get the logo and imagery so I can get uniforms ordered.

Scheduling an 'investigation' with the Paranormal people I met with a week and a half ago. I mean, why not?

Picked out uniforms, tentatively, but have anxiety over choosing them. Of all the things.

Could have smacked Rodney when he said he 'had always wanted to be trailer trash' in front of E, who lives in a trailer on property. I chastised him, he apologized to her, but I could have throttled him. Complete insensitivity. My God.

Have been arguing for health care reform on facebook today. Haven't had time to be on facebook in the last two months much, so it's been kind of a nice reprieve today.

Had a few complaint calls against Kenmare. Awesome. Another thing to deal with.

Alright, that's the log for today. With concrete crumbling around us, balconies leaning perilously over some areas and a basement that's certain to flood with the next big rain, I remain...

Generally managing.

Second Day Off Since "Transition"

Well, today has been my second day off in the last 21 days. We transitioned the property officially on March 1 and it's been great - except that we're still operating without a contract. And that sort of stresses me out too. I mean, that puts me in another tricky situation because my client, S, has said that I'm the 'right' person for the position - and that he'll keep me even if the contract with our company doesn't work out. I don't know that I'm looking for that sort of disruption in my life. Seems like the opportunities with the company I've worked for for the past three years are too good. I mean, they've promoted me twice in three years, so I feel like there's no where to go but up.

Today was practically a day off. I know that I still need to formalize the cash handling policies, but Alaina phoned me again. I know I have to expect getting calls on my days off, but it would be nice to know that the employees who work for me may be able to make decisions without me there. Alaina calls me today shortly before 5:30 p.m. and asks what to do with the cash box. She has a cash box simply because I haven't had enough bank bags to give out with each till. So, she called me tonight to ask what to do with the cash box, since I'd instructed her to put the cash into the safe. Granted, I did get upset last week because she left the cash box - with $100 cash - sitting out on my desk all night long from Sunday to Monday. But, instead of figuring 'it's just an empty box, I figure it'll be fine' she called and asked me what to do with it since Shea, the security officer, didn't have the comb to the safe.

Well, no shit! Of course Shea the ridiculously weird, middle age and single security officer does not have the comb to the safe. While it's not a ton of money in the scheme of things, it's not something I'm going to risk my job for. I hate who Alaina says 'well, Shea doesn't have the combination' in an accusatory tone, as though she should. I mean, this is a BUSINESS. I know it hasn't been run that way in the past and we're going through some growing pains and all...but Alaina has only been a part of this whole constituency for only a few months.

I have to have another one on one with her tomorrow, Alaina. To go over how she handled herself on Saturday at the volunteer meeting. She kept having this little asides with the volunteers, whispering in corners, obviously playing favorites. I'm sure some of the volunteers like her very much, but the playing favorites and the whispering and the continuation of rumors only serves to undermine what we're trying to accomplish. I mean, I can find anyone to serve in the capacity that she is serving in. I'm going to have to begin documenting things and really managing her time for her because I don't want to get stuck with her as an employee. Though, I did have a revelation that I could come up with an internship program and that way I could always eliminate the position there currently and make it a paid internship program and get to work even more directly with students. There are some risks with that, but it also aligns with the educational mission of the school while giving great opportunity and experience for students. Ah, we shall see. These things don't have to be decided tonight.

To do tomorrow: Figure out if the phone lines are back working after being down for five days, figure out how to check the voice mail that I did not even know existed and figure out who's going to be upset that we haven't called them back because the phones haven't worked correctly. Go figure, what are the odds! Also, figure out the cash from the weekend, get better policies in place, get the company desktop set up, get AP setup and the time/payroll system going, have lunch with the architect and a guest, client S. Figure out content for the website, dates for programming, how to get more guests through the doors, which option to go with for site planning and construction while trying to stay within the budget and yet move forward. And the project manager is going to Poland for three weeks, which is going to make moving forward even more challenging. Oh, and dealing with the shit head caterer that I am being forced to work with.

Ok, no need to stress before falling asleep. Maybe I'll spend some time walking through the grounds and gardens in my cute pink galoshes. Yeah, I think I'll do that.

Well, for today, I'm generally managing...to get by.

L