Topic: So it looks like I need to find a new job!

[CTENG in KS]

You decide on KS yet?

[red]

nah go to Texas if ur gonna move man!

[germ]

The worst part of all of this, as I read through is that you are having to expend so much energy to defend yourself from a cheap shot in the first place. It irritates me to no end when people pull this kind of crap, and cause upheaval to the people who are honest and work hard. I congradulate you on your restraint. Many would just wait till after work, and clobber the dude. (eh.. excuse me, asshat).

Anything in life worth having is worth fighting for. Unless you're thinking of finding other work anyway, I personally think you should follow the advice given above, and just hammer this asshat into the ground. Use the rules and regulations AS THEY WERE INTENDED to teach this kid a lesson. Maintain your composure, prepare yourself above and beyond what you think you will ever need, and then go as far up the chain of command as you need to go, even if it means the owner of the buisness.

You will prevail. It is just a matter of time.

Until the final chapter is written, I wish you the best. Don't let this asshat get away with his devious ways, someone needs to put a stop to it, and you are the best one to do it.

Erik

[Misfit4Runner]

sabatoge and make it so the bosses have to fire him.. get your guys together and make him look horriable

[kneedownnate [OP]]

You decide on KS yet?

Not so much yet, no   If I were to move it'd probably be to oregon.  I kinda dig the idea of waking up, saying "hm, maybe I should buy a gun today" and actually returning home with one the same day. 

Thanks germy, I will take this as far as I have to but understand that the process isn't instant either.  Despite the fact that I want this guy to burn, mostly I want him to realize he can't get away with such actions.  I want it driven home that he can't make up lies and profit from them. 

[te51levin]

Not so much yet, no   If I were to move it'd probably be to oregon.  I kinda dig the idea of waking up, saying "hm, maybe I should buy a gun today" and actually returning home with one the same day. 

I think it goes without saying that you are always welcome to come up for a visit of any length.  We have a spare bedroom.  Plus our tap water doesn't taste like it was drained from an old paint bucket...though allergies are every bit as bad here as Redding, and very likely worse.

Eugene/Springfield are not bad, though a little flat for hillbillies like us.  We went to the aircraft museum in McMinnville yesterday and that also looked like a decent town to hang out in.  They have a pretty cool downtown and the terrain is a little more varied than it is here.

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Thanks for the offer, I still need to make it up that way eventually.  I didn't think the clutch would make it before since it was slipping, but for whatever reason it hasn't become any worse.

If I were to move to oregon I'd probably stay lower so I could still be reasonably close to california.

[Rocksurfer]

I fixed an asshat once, he was keen on getting out of his work so I decided to slowly start doing the things he was supposed to do in his job, little by little I took on more and more of his load. Boy was he soooooo happy, he could sit there and do nothing. Well after about 3 mos. of doing his work to the point that even my boss thought it was my job I stopped. I quit doing his job so the work just started stacking up, up and up it went piles of it just sitting there. Well asshat went to my boss and complained that the work was not getting done, so a meeting was called to disipline me and at that meeting I had my day. Fully armed with all the info I needed to proove that it was asshats job I was doing I roasted him right then and there where he sat. I've never seen someone turn so red as I dictated everyones job that worked there saving my job and his for last. Well I went through what my job was and then looked up and asked asshat "what's your job, what do you do here?" Thats right all that stuff you are accusing me of not doing........... end of meeting.

[germ]

Despite the fact that I want this guy to burn, mostly I want him to realize he can't get away with such actions.  I want it driven home that he can't make up lies and profit from them.

Our desire to avenge a wrong is obviously strong, but a bigger man will try to teach the young asshat how to function in the real world where honesty, integrety and hard work get rewarded justly.

An ounce of example is worth a gallon of lecture. This is your opportunity to use your honesty and integrety to be an example to this guy, your boss and all your co-workers. If handled appropriatly, it will solve the problem, and you will garner the respect of all those around you, as you have already done over the last 12 years.

Taking it "to the top", shows everyone that you will stand up for what is right and honest, no matter how difficult. I think you're in a good position, and while it is a PITA to have to go thru this, everything will turn out fine.

Good luck!

Erik

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Thanks Erik, we'll see what happens tomorrow when I go back to work.

Oh yea, and this guy's not younger than me either, he's atleast very late 30s or very early 40s.  He should know better by now!

[germ]

Oh yea, and this guy's not younger than me either, he's atleast very late 30s or very early 40s.  He should know better by now!

Yeah, your right, he SHOULD know better, but he's obviously never run into someone who is willing to fight for what is right, like you. Hope it all works out for the best.

Erik

[kneedownnate [OP]]

Welp, I THOUGHT this was over last week, but I was wrong   Dipshit had a conversation that wasn't proper for the workplace.  I removed myself from the room so I could write down EXACTLY what was said and was on my way to speak to him about it.  All I intended to do was say "this was said and it's not workplace appropriate and will not be tolerated in the future".  That was it.  A manager was sitting behind the shop so I filled her in on what happened and what I was going to do, just so somebody knew my intentions ahead of time.  She felt very strongly that I shouldn't have the conversation on my own, despite the fact that I told her I didn't want a big deal made out of it.   We ended up in a meeting, counseling session, with me, him, my boss and the AGM.  Boss started it off with "so what's this I hear there's a problem between you two?"   Bad start!  All that did was put us both on the spot and start out with me on the defensive.  He got defensive and confrontational, started basically pouting and acting like a child.  Everybody else stayed professional and he showed his true colors.

Feeling cornered and defeated, he went down to the dock and told somebody else that I was saying they stole things to sell for drug money.  He did this to get the other guy fired up (which worked well) so he could have somebody else on his side.  Another meeting was called, this time including the other guy too.  Boss was up with the GM while we waited in the shop.  Other guy dropped a hint that the meeting was about me, so I slowly started to get info out of him.  I finally got out of him what I SUPPOSEDLY said about him, after which I told him what I ACTUALLY said, which was a joke I've made about myself a million times.  At that point he realized it was kinda bull crap and dropped it, but I told him that I didn't wanna sway his decision making and he was welcome to discuss it with the boss still.  Right after that the boss came down and it started.  He said this came straight from the GM:  stop all the petty bull crap snickering and quit worrying about what he said she said about you.  He said, just as was said in a few prior meetings, to take all the personal crap away from work and quit using work time to stir up drama.  We're all men and should act like men.

I THOUGHT it was over at this point, but it again came up today.  We had a weekly mechanics meeting, and toward the end the boss decided to open up a round table so we could address any issues.  First guy - nothing.  Second guy, instigator, brings up the issue that there's no teaching being done, only ridicule and criticism.  He was asked for an example and brought up our engine lists.  In order to decide how many engines/generators we need to order we have to go around and document the style and condition of each generator and engine on each boat.  He'd started by doing about a page of these, so I copied his layout save for one change; on the I/O engines I included whether or not it was a 2.5 or 3.0.  New guy came over to ask me a question, noticed my list and asked about this, to which I replied that I wasn't sure if the boss wanted that or not so I'd included it anyway.  He asked if I wanted him to go back over the boats the other guy had already done and add which size I/O they had, so I told him I wouldn't worry about it cause it probably didn't really matter.

Instigator said it was said that he was doing a bad job by not including the engine size.  I quickly explained the what and the why but he still kept pushing it and saying it was criticism, so I said it wasn't even an issue - he threw up his hands in a dramatic fashion, says very loudly "that's exactly what I'm talking about!  That's it, I don't have to put up with this bull crap!"  and he walked out of the building.  He walked back in after a minute and again tried stirring the up.  He was saying that all the termoil in the shop revolves around one person, me.  My boss asked a little more about it and said "I can take care of this right now, it's over and done with and we're not going to worry about it anymore".

What I didn't know was that both the troublemakers were repromanded that morning.  Skuzball had shown up late without calling in for the 4th or 5th time in 2 weeks, despite being written up for this twice this summer.  Instigator was repromanded for writing on his time cards.  Both already felt defeated going into the meeting, so what better way to draw attention away from yourself than to attempt ganging up on somebody else?! 

Skuzball got a guilty conscience and came up to me later to apologize.  He said he had no intention of making it personal and didn't think it would escalate to that level.  He said the only reason he brought up the issues he did was because others had come up to him and mentioned these issues and he thought it needed to be brought up so it could be fixed. 

When I came up for lunch I told the boss I was done dealing with this bull crap, grabbed a paper and perused the classifieds rather than eating.  He pulled me aside later and said he had an idea.  Since they were saying all the negativity revolved around me he had two propositions.  1-give me a raise, then 2-drop me down to a regular mechanic for atleast the winter.  This way I'd be on an evel keel with them.  That way they couldn't pregnant dog about me being unfair or singling people out.  He feels that by doing this it'll give them enough rope to hang themselves.  I hope that's true, but I'll also look forward to not having to babysit.  He also said he'd take 2 of my current responsibilities and doll them out to the other guys.  1-I'd no longer be in charge of the battery room - THANK FRICKIN GOD! - let them see how hard it is to set up the batteries, check back frequent enough to weed out the bad ones, then have to deal with people who can't follow simple directions on how to bring in dead batteries.  2-Somebody else would be responsible for stocking parts in the shop and both chase boats.  Then, and only then, will those asshats realize why I get frustrated when they continually don't mark off the parts they take! 

They don't understand how time consuming it is to keep up on the batteries, stock the shop and boats, constantly check the boat lists to make sure there are no changes, keep checking to make sure people are working and getting the boats done, constantly answer the radio and phone and send people out for chase calls, drive boats over to the loadout dock when they're done, double check all the boats that have been done, find any issues with the boats and have the guy who singed it off go back and fix it, then get tugged around in 6 directions at the same time. 

They say I stand around and do nothing all day, yet I STILL get asked by people from other departments if I'm going to slow down and take a break.  Yes, I'm really starting to look forward to being relieved of a lot of my responsibilities

[Stocker]

PM sent

[Cheesemaker]

So, let me get this straight.  You got a raise and on top of it, you've got less responsibilities?  Dude, you rock!  I'm glad things are looking better for you!  It looks like the management is starting to see through the cloud of BS!   

[kneedownnate [OP]]

So, let me get this straight.  You got a raise and on top of it, you've got less responsibilities?   

[79coyotefrg]

[kneedownnate [OP]]

NOT RELATED: But, today I was nearly done getting both engines running and installing a new lower unit on the anchor barge when a call came across the radio that one of our rental ski boats had flipped upside down!  Picked up all my tools and parts asap, 4 of us piled onto the chase boat, 2 on another chase boat and we headed out.  Saw the ski boat sitting upside down by the shore about 200-300 feet from a houseboat.  We hooked to it, began slowly righting it when I noticed the houseboat began moving.  I thought aloud "they can't possibly be leaving, can they?!".  One of the managers says "no, they're probably just going to pull up to shore.  RIIIIIIIIIIGHT!  I say "where, on the other side of the bridge?".  They just kept going while we worked to right the boat they flipped.

Takes us about 20 minutes or so to get it flipped and bail out the water.  2 guys and 1 boat hook up to tow it back and we set out for the houseboat.  Nobody got the boat # or a solid look at the people, but the small boats guy there was very sure he recognized a couple of them so we found the boat that seemed right...... and it was them.  They were in the process of pulling into the marina when we swung around in front of them and started exchanging info.  They thought they were completely in the clear because they purchased the prop damage waiver   They couldn't understand why we were even going after them!  As we were untying from their boat the main talker says "just out of curiousity, how did you know it was us?"  My boss and I couldn't help but  

So they come back to the marina, which surprised me, and disputed any and all charges.  They got off soooooo easy, only having to pay about $750.

Good times all around!

[kneedownnate [OP]]

1 down, 1 to go   The other guy, not the sexual harassment one, got let go today.  I feel bad for him losing his job, but he really should have been fired when he was caught drinking on the job over memorial day weekend.  Actually, had that happened I would have never gone through this at all since they were both involved!

[kneedownnate [OP]]

1 down, 1 to go   The other guy, not the sexual harassment one, got let go today.  I feel bad for him losing his job, but he really should have been fired when he was caught drinking on the job over memorial day weekend.  Actually, had that happened I would have never gone through this at all since they were both involved!