fuck this job.com

Well, well, well well, welly, welly well!!!!!!! I aint been around here in about six months or so... I'm back - in the casino biz - in a much, much, much, much better environment... but only for about six months or so... soooooooo... let's make it worth our while, oh, my brothers and sisters in the working world - let's do!

I'm back!!!!!!! Little Nicky is here to revitalize, reorganize, reconceptualize, rebuilderize, re-whop-the-fuck-out-of-the-status-quo-terize all that stands in the way of our happiness-it-erize and to make sense of the world at large - er - ize!!!!!!!

*******He/she who claims that money cannot buy happiness - obviously does not know where to go shopping!!!!!!!*******

I stopped in yesterday to pick up the final paycheck and my letter of recommendation. Everything worked out the way I planned; what’s more, the corporate director is still sweet on me. She told me I have her telephone number to use as a reference and that I know who to call if I am looking for work. She admitted to being a little pissed off about me not giving notice and about me screwing things up on New Year’s Eve, but barring that we are on good terms. I said, “Well, you know the Golden Rule: Do unto others as they would do unto you - only you do it first.” Her face turned red, she looked down at the table, bit her lip and made no comment on that one. Looks like I win - again. Believe me, Folks; it really helps to take notes on what is going on in the workplace on a daily basis. Those little entries in your notebooks can paint quite an ugly little picture for the powers that be. Got corruption in the workplace? Start writing things down; month/day/year/time of day, what was said and who said it. You will get results, believe me. Keep a notebook in your pocket and another one at home. The one in your pocket is the first draft; the one at home is the final draft with all your factoids in order. Only don’t tear out any pages or write lies and don’t fluff anything up. Tell the absolute truth as best you know it and let them have it all. Walking into a meeting, with your boss who wants to reprimand you for some stupid shit, with that notebook in your hand will make a corrupt director, manager and/or supervisor shit bricks (unless, of course, you are just a nit-wit and you didn‘t work and you have the reprimand coming to you. In that case, you‘d best keep your notes to yourself, sign the counseling form, keep your trap shut and get the hell out of that office as soon as possible). Learn this, know it, live it. The days of companies taking care of people are over. You must learn to take care of yourself because no one is going to do it for you. Keeping a daily log is one way to start doing the job right. After all, you can bet your ass they are keeping notes on you. True enough, the sun shines on some of the privileged just because they are privileged, but it also shines on us nobody’s who are proactive and take the initiative. The modern workplace is a fucking war zone. Treat it as such. Fight back - and take no prisoners in the process.

The last week or so in my life has been insane. We moved out of our old house and into the new one. My crew did not bother me while I was moving, as they promised. Now, I don't believe in God, but God bless them anyway. What a great bunch of people.

As for the Corporate Director and her new toy boy, I'll call him, Toy Boy... Well; you could say I wasn't so impressed with them.

After the big move, I returned to work to discover that the Corporate Director and a new manager, a new toy, she had hired a few weeks ago had gotten together and made the plans for the New Year celebration behind my back, without even letting me know about it, let alone consulting me. You can imagine my surprise when Toy Boy walked into my office and tossed the plans on my desk and directed me to make copies for all the other managers and shift supervisors and distribute them. I was like, "What the fuck?!" Toy Boy is a friend of a friend of hers who she juiced in ahead of a few other people who had really wanted and who really deserved a promotion, I included. She really likes this guy. He has no idea what he is doing, but she loves him because he keeps his trap shut and does what she tells him to do. What's worse, she gave Toy Boy New Year's Eve off and assigned herself to the task of working the big corporate party and leaving the rest of the floor plan for me to carry out. She intended to have me take this as a compliment, as she thought that I was the only one who could pull the whole thing off successfully. Well, she was right, I was in fact the only one who could pull it off, but I did not take it as a compliment as she had hoped, rather I took it for what it really was - an insult. Yes, she and Toy Boy really hit it off as far as their personalities go, and they have been hanging out together and having a good time. Well, that's cool. It is always good when one gets along with the ones one works with - but she forgot one little thing in the process: eventually, the introductions and all the fun that comes along with meeting someone new wears off and then you actually have to get some work done. Instead of answering my phone calls and taking care of business as usual, she had been ignoring me, as well as many others, and she has been giving me a lot of bullshit. I knew something was up at this point. I wasn't until Dec. 30 that I found out what it was...

New friends from work who get to know me are quite astonished when they find out I spend most of my free time alone. Everyone thinks I am this great socialite who is always working a function somewhere. Yeah, I am working a function all right... I am making a great effort to enjoy the very limited time I have away from all the stinky people I meet in the casino. That is my function.

If I am not in the Fun Room banging away on the bass or the guitar, I am at the park climbing rocks. No, don't ask to come with me and then tell me to slow down to a pace where you can keep up. If I am not climbing rocks, I am fucking wife #1 or wife #2 or possibly both at the same time - and, no, I do not wish to be interrupted with another phone call from you, who can't make an executive decision, something I have expressly empowered you to do without fear of punishment for making a bad decision - which you will probably make anyway - in spite of my advice (and so, what the fuck do you ask me for anyway, dink?). Goddamnit, give people everything they ask for and they still can't make up their fucking minds.

I was getting complaints on me that I was "too aggressive". It turned out to be a bunch of bullshit.

I found out who the complainants were. The ones who said I was "too aggressive" are one from another shift in my department and one from another department. The two of them got together and made a beef with a corporate head who made the formal complaint to my corporate head that I had engaged in some "aggressive behavior" toward a "Customer" and a "Fellow Team Member."

I saw a man enter the casino carrying an illegal knife on his belt. I approached the security officer in the doorway and reported what I had seen. The security officer called it in over his radio. He was a new guy (I'll call him, New Guy) and didn't know what to do. I approached the guy with the knife (I'll call him, Guy with the Knife) and informed him that he should turn the blade over to security while in the casino or leave the property immediately. New Guy smiled and said that it was O.K. to carry the weapon so long as he did not take it out of the sheath. I ignored New Guy and told Guy with the Knife that he should do what I tell him. Guy with the Knife wanted to be argumentative. I told him to refrain from argument and do what I tell him. Guy with the Knife got scared, shut his trap and walked out the door.

I've heard a few complaints from other "Team Members" about me that I am "too aggressive". I guess I should back down a bit; after all, you can't expect these pathetic motherfuckers to even try and keep up. Plain and simple: the leadership in my workplace is shit. The gossip and politics is like high school sometimes. The new corporate is losing its grip and profits and they need to gather strength. They instead are losing strength and gathering stagnation. Everyone is pissed off and grumbling and waiting to see what is going to happen next. They have as of late rewritten the employee handbook and everyone is buzzing and freaking out about it. I wonder if they realize this contradiction: while attending their seminars, they literally interrupt employees who use the word, "employee" when referring to another employee and make them say instead the words, "Team Member". Now, what's funny about this is the fact that on the front cover of the employee handbook, in the center of the page just below the corporation's name and logo, it says in bold black letters on top of a blue background: "EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK".

Sometimes things get a little out of focus and I have to stop and wonder why the hell I stay in the casino business. Last night I realized probably one of the best reasons I stay in it.

I was walking through one of the dealer break rooms with a load of papers in my hand, reading, busy as hell, as usual, and wouldn't ya know it? I looked up from my papers for a moment to catch a glimpse of this girl who was lying across one of the sofas. She was hired to play Ms. Claus at the casino. She works with Santa passing out free goodies and playing games with the customers. Now, Ms. Claus is not the plump old lady people always make her out to be in the storybooks. Hell, no. Ms. Claus is wearing her stocking cap and is covered with tinsel. She is 5'7", slender, brunette, long-legged, all her body parts come in perfect proportions and she is drop dead good lookin'. As I passed by her sofa I had to stop and say, "Shall I go grab my camera?"

You know, I've gotten used to people promising me things I have asked for and not delivering. That don't bother me anymore. But when they promise me something I have not asked for and don't deliver - that really pisses me off.

The Boss dragged me into her office a while back and expressed how well pleased she was with my performance and told me, "I am going to get you some more money. You deserve it." Now, that's cool that I'm well thought of, but where's the money? I didn't ask for a raise. I didn't ask anyone for a goddamned thing. The Boss just came out of the blue and told me she was going to give me a raise. Great. Now, where is it? Did you forget we had that conversation and that you made that promise of your own volition? Are you just playing with me? Was this just another one of your flakey conversations that you forgot about? I know, you're the Boss, you're a very busy person and a very good looking woman and everyone wants a piece of your action while you're on the job - but that don't make it O.K. for you to be careless and forgetful. You think the world of me? I think the world of you too. Now, how 'bout that raise?

Makes it rough when you have people who genuinely respect you offer you more money and express that they hope you will be with them for a long time when you are hating the job and want to get away from it. It almost makes me like the job all over again.

Some of the corporate people are some of the dumbest motherfuckers I have ever seen. These are people from good families, with college educations - who couldn't think their way out of a wet paper bag. My case in point: a person, a manager, who had been working at the facility for years, a few short weeks before Christmas, without warning, without ever having been written up for anything - was fired two days ago during the normal course of a business day. They called him into an office and told him he was terminated and asked him to sign the termination papers. Their reason? "Consolidation", i.e., downsizing.

Can't say I will miss 2004. It has been a son-of-a-bitch of a year. I want to leave it all behind me and move on, the sooner the better. Work is good and then it's bad all over again. The holidays are coming up and I am not looking forward to that. I never do. Holidays bore the shit out of me.

Holidays mean nothing to me (except the Fourth of July). I just wish they would go away.

A holiday to me is a dog-sledding trip in Canada. A holiday to me is a long boat trip down a long river, a hike through the Grand Tetons, the Adirondacks, or the Grand Canyon. A holiday to me is finally taking that three month trip through Asia. A holiday to me is two or three girls at the same time. A holiday to me is finally turning in that resignation letter I have written for the tenth time.

We got no Happy Thanksgiving at the casino. No one said a word about it to anyone, except I did pass along a Happy Thanksgiving to the corporate director who seems to be having a bad time with the upcoming holidays. I asked her what she would be doing for Thanksgiving. She hung her head low and she said she would be in the casino working Thanksgiving. I don't have any sympathy. I will be there working too, like I have been working every Thanksgiving for at least the last four years. I invited her to stop down at the Can Do Crew Headquarters for a meat tray, cheese, RC Cola, 7Up, Ritz and saltine crackers and Twizzlers for desert. She happily accepted the offer. Yeah, that's right - smile once in a while - it won't break your pretty face.

This good lookin', mild mannered chick, I'll call her, Destructo Chick, got herself fired yesterday when she surprised everyone in the place by becoming enraged at a computer and attacking it.

Destructo Chick had been complaining to her management about a computer at the ticket booth that kept crashing, thus leaving her standing there with customers waiting in line to buy event tickets and complaining while they waited. The computer crashed again yesterday while a line of people were waiting to buy tickets, and Destructo Chick flew off the handle - right in front of the line of people and a corporate big-shot who was standing nearby, "This son-of-a-bitch! When are they going to fix this fucking thing!? Goddamnit! Here, I'll fix this fucker once and for all!" At that, Destructo Chick bent down under the counter and dragged the computer out from the cabinet, and then she grabbed a handful of cables and ripped them out of the back of the computer and kicked the computer away from her and up against a wall. Then she stood up and grabbed the monitor and shoved it off the countertop and onto the floor where it landed on the tile with a loud "crack!" Corporate Big-Shot approached and started yelling at Destructo Chick. "You're finished, lady! Give me your name tag! You are so out of here! Who is your boss?! Where is your boss?! Get out from behind that counter and follow me! Right now!" Corporate Big-Shot escorted Destructo Chick to the security office and contacted her boss. When her boss arrived, he told her what she had done. Corporate Big-Shot saw the whole thing. She was fired on the spot and told not to come back to the property - ever - and that she would have to pay for the computer she destroyed. Of course, she started bawling and apologizing, but Corporate Big-Shot and Destructo Chick's boss weren't the least bit interested at this point. They fired her sexy, young ass and had security escort her off the property.

Well, that's it, no more Pipsqueak. The corporate director got a security officer terminated for refusing to allow security to do a visual inspection of his personal baggage as he left the building after shift the other day. She also found out that Pipsqueak, along with the security officer's supervisor, knew all about it and did nothing about it. They were both standing near the exit as the officer refused the mandatory visual inspection of his baggage. When the officer, who was pissed off about something as he was leaving, told his fellow officer, "Fuck off, you aint checkin' shit!", and left the building, Pipsqueak and the security supervisor watched the incident and started laughing and blew the whole thing off. Big mistake. The security officer who got told, "fuck off" got pissed at his supervisor and Pipsqueak for laughing at him and for taking no action and reported it. Word of the incident spread like a gasoline fire. The officer who refused the bag check was terminated when he showed up for work next day. The security supervisor was brought into the security office and terminated on the spot. The corporate director called Pipsqueak into the main office and demoted him. She said she was fed up with Pipsqueak's bullshit and this was the last straw. He signed the paper and walked out. Pipsqueak showed up for work with an attitude next day, didn't do shit while on shift (nothing new there), bitched at everyone, started some shit with a customer who reported him immediately, then clocked out early and went home. He returned about an hour later, turned in all his stuff and left his resignation form lying on a desk in the main office.

Excitement is gone from my life. That is terrifying. I had always did the kind of work that was the most fun and most exciting I could find. I once went to South America and worked as a photographer for a bunch of scientists. I photographed everything from tree sloths to these fat, five pound poisonous toads. It was hilarious. I went hunting for crocodiles in the Amazon River Basin. It was ... different. Lol. I once visited one of the most remote places left on the planet. Yeah, I wouldn't do anything if it wasn't fun! I took lower paying jobs just because I knew that doing the job was going to be a good time. I took higher paying fun jobs whenever I could get them. I did whatever the fuck I wanted.

Whenever the corporate director is not around, I have made a habit of putting Van Halen in the CD player in the main office. Our favorite song so far is "Fools". "Fools! You make me blue! Fools! I live with fools!"

"Don't want no class reunion, the circus just left town - why behave in public when you're living on a playground?!!!!!!! Fools! You make me blue! Fools! I live with fools!"

Sunday night we had a few people dancing the aisle ways between the cubicles. Two females got together and made up a little dance step to the song. It was wonderful!

Won't be long before the corporate director gets wind of this shit and gives me a little discipline. Aw, fuck it, I aint scared. I think maybe the corporate director needs a little discipline herself. Listen, lady, you gave me the fuckin' reins and told me to steer this fuckin' cart myself - and that's what I am doing. You don't like it? Well, when you wonder how I do better than all the other managers put together and you also want to complain about my mandatory Van Halen concerts in the main office - you figure it out yourself. You told me to make it fun - so now it's fun and all the work is getting done better than it was before. This office runs on Van Halen, RC Cola and coffee, beef jerky and hot pizza. We don't eat anything that's healthy in here, and for those who do smoke, they are trying to increase their nicotine intake from just one half pack a day to at least one full pack a day. Having to do all this work cuts into their smoking time and pleasure. Are ya satisfied? Yes, they are smoking in a designated smoking area.