Challenges

Yesterday, my boss shows me his computer screen which has a workplace harassment online seminar that he has to take. He points at me and jokingly says, “See what you made me have to do!”

I responded with “whoops” as though I was the direct cause.

I received the email notice today saying I had to take the same online course to learn about workplace harassment. I took it tonite and got all of them right. Whoo hoo!

OK, well, the timing of this online workplace harassment thing is too much of a coincidence. It’s pretty obvious that upper management has received word of my impending announcement and has taken a few steps to try to make my life a little easier at work, but also to possibly cover their asses.

This afternoon was not a fun time. I was in an FDA pre-assessment-type audit, and under the spotlight. I was grilled for about 2 hours, and let’s just say that I ended up well done, perhaps event burnt. This is my first project where I’ve had to start the history file from nothing and put it all together. Not only that, but this is my first FDA project and was my first audit. Nice. I ate a burger and onion rings for lunch, and they weren’t sitting too well about an hour into the audit. What’s going to make this worse, is that I only have a few weeks left before I am out a couple of weeks for FFS.

Speaking of the same project, I gave the project manager my coming out letter tonite. He stopped by a few minutes after I gave him the letter and expressed his full support. He even said something like “Cool!” and that he was happy I was able to be myself...or something like that. We still need to discuss the allocation of resources while I am away.

Sitting here listening to the news, they just mentioned that this week marks the anniversary of all three NASA catastrophes in which astronauts were killed. They said that the Challenger destruction was 18 years ago. Jeez! That seems so long ago. I was a sophomore in high school when it blew up, and can remember I was walking outside the school when I heard the news. Last year, I was asleep when Discovery disintegrated on re-entry, just as I was asleep when 9/11 happened, only to wake up to the news on the radio. I did see one of the buildings topple as I stood there in awe watching what was really happening.