On unreasonable anger at voicemail

Dear Boss:

You get unreasonably irate about voicemail systems when you call other offices. I am aware that you feel rushed and in a panic virtually at all times (though I do not understand why) but that does not account for your intense fury at a voicemail system that gives you instructions before letting you dial the party you are trying to reach. You should be able to understand that if they did not do that, nobody who had not called that office before would know what to do in order to get through to the person they were trying to reach.

Also, there is no need to get angry when you "can't reach a human being" after normal business hours. Most people, especially people who do things like operate switchboards at offices, leave on time. So it is completely unreasonable to get angry that other people choose to work normal hours, when you yourself do not.

Please make note of these important facts that I am sharing with you, as letting your blood pressure rise about 200 points because you have to spend 10 extra seconds on the phone is really not worth it.

On how to select a new phone system

Or rather, how not to.

Probably, you shouldn't set up demos with several vendors, then upon receiving their quotes for various systems (before the demo) have me call them to ask me why we should get this or that system versus something else.

Well, they are probably just giving us a range of options and I think it's kind of the point of the demo. Right?

It's like trying to cover the topics of a meeting before a meeting. Less effective, especially when a demonstration is involved, and then sort of renders the demonstration pointless.

Also, comments like, "Call this phone expert that so and so knows and ask them what the absolute best most reliable phone system is," are stupid.

Well, since in my recent conversations I have found out that there are probably at least a half dozen major phone system manufacturers, and each probably offers a range of at least 3-4 different products, I'm pretty certain there is not one easy to point to best system.

I mean, is there one best car? One best TV? One best computer?

SIGH.

On making and keeping appointments

My boss has been trying to make an appointment with a phone vendor to look at our phone system here at the office. We have been having various problems for a while now.

Last week he had me start calling vendors to submit quotes to us and come in to do demos. Last week I scheduled a vendor to do a demo today at 1pm.

Yesterday at about 5pm he had me cancel today's meeting because "something came up" today. (Hint: something always comes up.) Today he asked me to try to reschedule with the vendor, plus another one, for tomorrow.

I don't know about you, but most working people try to schedule their time in advance by more than 1 working day.

Neither vendor is available at the very specific times he wanted tomorrow (not just anytime tomorrow, but, like 10:15 or 4:30 only).

His response to this was, "Neither of them can do tomorrow? Neither of them?" ... "OK well schedule a meeting, put it in my calendar, for 4pm tomorrow for you and me to sit down and go over this phone stuff. It is not being dealt with at a high enough level. It needs to be escalated."

Dear boss: You cancelled today's meeting with less than 24 hours notice and then tried to set up a new meeting again with less than 24 hours notice. This is not how normal people operate. Your time management skills are non-existant. FAIL.

I'm not sure if it's irony but it's something

When I visit this blog which I have forsaken for literally years, and find that my last post is from over a year ago, and it's called "Ah blog, how I have forsaken thee". Oops.

Sorry.

Honestly, I probably have 10 ridiculous tales to post here literally every day so I really shouldn't forsake it.