🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi gang!  We've all had them, haven't we?  People we see practically more than
our families, who we can't stand.  Right now, I work with one of the WORST.

She's much older than me, about 52.  She has never had kids, and was the only
girl in the family, so she became very set in her ways.  Sure, everyone is like
that about some things, but this woman is insane.  She knows her job
description to the letter, and WILL NOT alter anything in any way shape or
form.  She does all the accounts payable, which means she writes checks. 
Whenever we get paid on a large job, she will then write the checks for the
subcontractors on that job.  Now, sometimes, we will get a partial payment, so
naturally the question of how much we should pay the subs comes up.  She won't
ask the project engineer.  She has me call upstairs, ask them what they want to
do, and report back to her so that she can write the check.  WTF.  I mean, SHE
is the one who needs to know how much to pay them, right?  It's not in her job
description.  But, OK, she's been here 9 years to my 10 months, so I'm not
going to argue the little dumb stuff.

She's insanely nosy.  If you tell her one little fact about yourself, it turns
into an interrogation.  Consequently, I've avoided talking to her as much as
possible.

We are both supposed to answer the phone, and prepare whatever the engineers,
etc. need mailed.  This is a shared duty.  I am less busy than she is usually,
so I answer the phone more and do more of the mailing.  Not a big deal, as I'd
rather be busy than bored.  And when it's super quiet (like today) I work
ahead, then go online.  Right now I'm about 2 weeks ahead on all my reports.  I
don't know if it's because I have so much less to do, or if she just likes to
piss away a whole day with a single task.

Well, yesterday, I snapped.  It started in the morning.  I was answering the
phone, and also working on entering all the equipment we'd used for the last 2
weeks into our system.  I had over 100 pages of time sheets, with roughly 4-5
pieces on each one.  Each is a separate transaction.  So, I'm busting my butt
to get this done, and she will NOT answer the phone.  There were a couple of
times I let it ring 3-4 times, she completely ignored it.  Ok, fine.  Maybe she
has a sore throat, or a bad headache, although it would be nice if she'd tell
me that.  

Then lunchtime came.  We are each allowed a half hour for lunch.  I go at 12,
she goes at 12:30.  So, I ate at 12, and at 12:30, she said, I'm going to run
out and get a sandwich.  She is back in 10 minutes, and says that she's going
upstairs to eat. I've never seen her do that.  There's a conference room with a
TV up there, but nobody really bothers with it through the day.  I mean, for as
short of a break as we have, why try?  So then I'm thinking maybe she is having
some kind of family crisis, I know her father's been ill, maybe she wants to be
alone, or needs to make some phone calls.  Ok, fine, not a problem.

1:00 - no sign of her.  1:30 - no sign of her.  I went to our boss finally at
1:45, and said, I'm not trying to tattle or get anyone in trouble, but I think
something's wrong.  She's been up there an awful long time.  He replied that
he'd noticed too, and he'd go up & see what was going on.  Well, his phone
rang, and he was tied up for a bit, and at 2:00 she come strolling back in. 
Not knowing what was going on, I didn't say anything to her.  She sat down at
her desk, and within 5 minutes, another woman from a different department paged
her & said "They're showing it!"

At this point, Barb ran BACK upstairs.  Still leaving me to cover the phone &
try to finish what I was working on.  Here, the other woman's niece was on MTV
for something, and the 2 of them had sat upstairs all that time watching for
her.  Barb came back down after 10 minutes.

Some crisis.  But, it's not my place to say anything - our boss knew about the
extended lunch break.  So, I am back to working on my massive report, and I
can't get the numbers to balance.  I'm going through 100+ pages, comparing them
to both a computer printout while calculating them on an adding machine, with a
thumping headache.  The phone rings, and of course she ignores it.  So I take
the call, and after hanging up say:  Just out of curiosity, is there a reason
you're not answering the phone today?

She replies that she's not answering the phone because she is busy for 8 hours
every day and I play online for 8 hours a day.  WHAT?!?!  Also, she says since
I always get the phone, she may as well not bother.

Fortunately, just then, the HR director (he and the controller are our
immediate bosses, jointly) stuck his head in, just as I said "So, you will not
answer the phone anymore at all?"

She went into her spiel again, and he heard the whole thing.  So he said, "The
phone is a JOINT responsibility.  If one of you doesn't get it by the 3rd ring,
the other one should.  End of discussion."

So, small points gained for me.  For the rest of the hour that I was there, she
grabbed the phone on the first ring, every time.  Was that supposed to hurt my
feelings or something?  Oh well.

Today it got weirder.  I came in, and our boss (the controller) said, "I think
Barb's on vacation today and tomorrow."  (((insert happy dance here))).  Then
he added "but it's strange, she didn't say anything yesterday, and she didn't
give me all these checks to get ready to send out."

Now, I don't know about other offices, but here, it's considered a courtesy to
not only finish what you need to before leaving on vacation, but also to remind
everyone that you won't be in, and see if they need anything before you go. 
Barb did neither.  She HAD apparently requested the time off a while ago, the
boss had it marked on his calendar, BUT - taken with the long lunch break, the
refusal to answer the phone yesterday, the whole thing is weird.  I know that
she's capable of having quite a snit, but still - do these seem like the
actions of someone who's planning to keep her job?

I'm hoping (praying, and wishing fervently) that she isn't.   When the
controller mentioned that she'd left things undone, I offered to help out in
any way I can, which is why I've spent about an hour & a half typing this, lol.
 Her job has always been just that - HER job.  If I would ask her about
something that she does, her response is "You need to worry about your OWN
job."  But today, the boss is explaining to me what she does, and having me do
some of it.  

Anyway, everyone, cross your fingers that she's leaving, and that I can take
over her position too (at a substantial pay raise, of course!).  Sorry for the
long post, but it seemed that leaving anything out would cause other parts to
not make sense.