And to all a good night.

In October we received a memo that, despite what the handbook says, we will get a day off for Christmas the Friday before instead of the Monday after. Furthermore, no vacation days will be granted during the week between Christmas and New Year's -- no exceptions. Great. We made plans in August for the Monday after Christmas that extended family arranged their schedules for. I might be more understanding if there were any reason I need to be there those dates more than any other, but there isn't, so I'm pissed. I do my best to settle my wife down, I bargain with Franz for a half day on Monday, and I get back to the lunacy.

Fast Forward 2 Months

Two weeks ago, I was given a list of priorities -- let's say it was 10 things to do -- and a due date: December 22nd. No problem. I still have my usual stuff to do, so adding this stuff will be tight, but I can swing it. So I get to work on item 1, and about halfway through Franz comes up and tells me Rod wants to know when item 6 will be done.

"December 22nd," I say with a smile, "when it's due."

"Oh. No," replies Franz, "Rod needs it today."

"Not possible, it's 2 days' worth of work and I wasn't planning on starting on it until next week."

"Well, get some help, and I'll tell him he'll have it first thing tomorrow morning."

So I work through lunch, stay a little late, and accomplish the impossible. Rod has it the next morning, and I'm back to starting item 1. Within an hour, I receive a phantom message from Rod with a list of changes to item 6 that amount to redoing the whole thing, despite the fact that I produced it exactly to his specifications. Then Franz comes over and asks about item 10.

"Well, I have to re-do 6 for Rod because he changed his mind. Then I have to settle some other crisis that IT is having. Then I have to do my usual crap. THEN I can abandon what I'm working on and start the last thing on my list."

"Great," sayeth the twit, "I'll expect it tomorrow morning, then." He then smugly walks off.

You see the pattern, so I'll spare you the details and go to the summary. A week passes, I have like three items from the list done, my normal daily work is now lagging behind, and it's the Tuesday before Christmas break. Franz wants to know where we are on the list and I tell him. "Well, it has to be done before the break, even if we have to come in Friday."

I'm a bit tweaked now. Under my original plan, everything would have been done on schedule, but they rewored things and added projects and generally doubled the size of the whole thing, and somehow never extended the deadline, and now I'm supposed to give up my "break" when I know we won't be any further ahead as a company and I won't be given any recognition, even if I walk on water between now and then? Yeah, I'm simmering, but I'm also jamming, and somehow the day has been fairly free of new crises, so by the end of the day Franz has changed his tune to, "at least we won't be here Friday."

The next day (Wednesday), the fit hits the shan and two more times it's suggested that we [I] will need to come in Friday to make sure all of this gets settled. I'm jammin' all day, plus I'm pissed about the "break" thing, plus the whole "fan fiasco" is going on. I'm angry to the point that I have imaginary fights with Franz in my head about it through my whole hour drive home in the evening.

I decide to be rational. You know what? I wanted Monday anyway, so yeah, I'll give them Friday, they give me Monday. Fair trade, we both get what we need. So I make arrangements with Mason's daycare -- because normal people have schedules that can't just be ignored every time something fails to go as planned, or somebody in China farts facing the wrong way, or whatever.

So I tell Franz I'll be in Friday, but that he has to give me Monday in return. He blankly stares at me like he's never heard of such a thing as staying Friday and says that won't be necessary. "Are you sure?" I ask. "Yes. We're going to be where we need to be by the end of the day, you won't need to come in."

AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGH!

I call the daycare and give them the new update. Then the mad frenzy begins and I spend the rest of the day pissed that I've already changed plans for this stupidity multiple times, the further I go the more it looks like this crap is going to keep me busy enough to have to come in Friday after all, which means changing plans AGAIN, and if it does have to happen, I'm sure he'll wait until after 4 PM to tell me. And none of it's really all that important to start with! Damnit!

I _hate_ these people.

Luckily, it all turned out okay-ish. I didn't go in Friday, and I'm still taking a half day on Monday -- all around, a very Brady ending.

May you have a Merry Christmas and/or a good whatever else you might celebrate this time of year!