So, this morning PoodleBoy went on strike. He wants 40% more for the jobs he does for us, and he wants to do 60% less of the work on those jobs.

I ask you. Is it my fault he's been undercharging Bernie for the number of hours these things take for the last five years? It is not. But, as so often happens, I was here at the time, so I get to pay the price.

Today I had to spend 5-1/2 hours of time I'd really intended to spend on other projects cleaning up data.

Also I found out that our two biggest clients are having their annual meetings within two weeks of each other next fall. Which should make next fall a nice little slice of heck for me or whomever is here at the time. (Whomever? Whoever? I never know about those two. I think it has something to do with being the object of a preposition? Whatever.)

The thing is, I don't mind doing the work associated with this job. I can even live with having to do some of DiamondGirl's and some of PoodleBoy's jobs. It's not easy, but I can fit it all in most of the time.

Where I really find myself getting annoyed is with the secretarial stuff. Bernie and I have talked about this and he knows how I feel about being treated as a secretary. And yet, that doesn't stop him from asking me to email people documents instead of emailing them himself, or from making phone calls that would be better coming from him (like to the bank about the company's account) , or from sending me explicit instructions on conversations he feels need to be had with clients but that he won't pick up the phone and just have.

There are valid times when you ask someone else have a conversation with someone. I accept that. I'm a big believer in that. But emailing me to ask me to email Scooby and ask him if he's done a certain report, then having to Scooby's answer back to Bernie? Would it not be a lot less schizophrenic if Bernie just emailed Scooby and asked him the question?

Bernie sending me three emails telling me to email a document from last year to PoodleBoy? Bernie worked here last year. I did not. Bernie has the document on his computer. I'm going to have to spend 20 minutes searching the Tweenybopper's files to find it. What is his issue with just emailing the stupid document himself?

I talked with the R.C. about this and she says if I don't know what Bernie is doing all day every day, I should just ask him. Of course, I should put it diplomatically, not just blurt out, "it feels to me like I'm doing 90% of everything that needs to be done to keep your stupid company going and just what are you bringing to the table, anyhow?" at him. I should say something about scheduling tasks or making sure we have everything covered and say that I want to make sure I'm supporting him how he needs (hah) and then ask him what projects he's working on and where his time is going.

It's a good plan. I know that, Bernie being Bernie, he's going to take that as an invitation to try and offload yet more of the tedium of running a business off on me, but I have no doubts about my ability to push back on any such suggestions.

Also? The raise Bernie and I were supposed to discuss at the end of July that I let slide until we talked in Septemberand then told him two weeks ago I'd want at the end of December if he wanted me to stay?

Now he's trying to slide it past me that all of the big client decisions should be "in place" by the first of March. I suspect that in his fevered imagination, I won't have any problem waiting for another two months for a raise that was supposed to be forthcoming four months ago.

But you shouldn't bluff these things. If I tell him I need the money January 1 or I'm going to walk? I need to be prepared to walk.

I'm not really sure why I'm so cranky all of a sudden. I got the insurance thing straightened out and I'm all legal again. I had a nice lunch and a cookie. I have chocolates I can eat in case of emergency hunger or just boredom. Only 45 minutes until I get to go home.

I'm just...well, I'm having a little Cranky Interlude.