That's what I've largely been doing so far today.

Having discovered a Magic Trick that allowed me to save projects and tasks out of Outlook and into an Excel spreadsheet, I spent two hours yesterday downloading the necessary software components (I loathe tech people who do not install all of Microsoft Office when they install), doing the export, and cleaning up the document.

This morning I spent an hour exporting the sales contact list and similarly cleaning it up and formatting it.

Bernie isn't going to like being nicked for that much time but he has to pay for how long it takes to do shit. And if he's asking a clueless nitwit to do tech stuff, it's going to take two or three times as long as it should. (Although, to be fair, had the necessary components been installed with the rest of the Office suite, I would have saved at least half that time.)

We're going to be having today's first meeting in a few minutes. High on his list of priorities is the work he wants from DiamondGirl. Even though she no longer works here, her list of "tasks" is similar in length to those he used to give me when she did work here. (In his defense, most of these are things he asked for before she left. But since he also asked her to redo both websites and migrate both of them to new ISPs, she really did have quite a lot to do in her last week. Add to that the fact that our office 'net access was creeping like a herd of geriatric turtles most of the week, and....)

It occurs to me that I defend DiamondGirl more than I should. Probably because I like her and because Bernie annoys me constantly.

Let's be very clear...she was putting in anything but an 8-hour workday for those last two weeks. In fact, she rarely put in a full days' work at all, at least since I started here. We were lucky to have her in the office for 6-7 hours a day, and of that, I'd estimate she was actually working only three or four hours. Which would be all well and good if she was one of those who could put out a full days' work in half the time normal people take, but she didn't seem to be that type.

I know she wasn't interested in most of the work we're doing, and that and didn't like doing some of it, but that's hardly reason to go on a months'-long slowdown.

So, you know, don't run away with the idea that I'm finding fault with Bernie because he wants to get the tail-ends of these last few projects wrapped up so that we can function without her. He's right to do that. Although I'm told she was an exceptional employee in the past, from what I can tell she hasn't been worth much since she returned to the company last October. There were very few days in the fourteen weeks I worked with her when I was impressed with her output or her attitude.

So. Just to be fair.

Because I rag about Bernie quite a lot and it's not right that you should all think he's the villain and DiamondGirl and I are the angels. (Right now, for instance, I'm supposed to be prepping for this meeting, but I've spent 15 minute typing this blog entry instead.)

Of course, he's no jewel. Yesterday he sent me a pissy e-mail wanting to jack up the price of our product for a client because it was costing him money for me to spend time sending them a bid.

So, you know. He's still crazy.