You know what? I'll start with work. I was filling in second shift. There was a ton of stuff when I got there, and I didn't get through much by the time I left. Don't want to get into details, but the forms that we generally get were updated. By law, all the information for the samples we receive need to be filled out on these new forms when the samples are sent in on such and such a date. Whenever that date was, all samples received after that date that came with the old forms have to have a special process done to them, all of it centering around asking for proof that the people collecting the sample knew they were using old forms and explaining why they did. If this proof isn't issued, we don't test the sample.
There is, to be frank and crude, a shit ton of these old forms. One of the things that need to be done with them is to scan them into our records. That is what I did for the majority of my shift that ended. And that probably makes me look bad when my supervisor comes in in the morning. I'm guessing that this task is going to push a lot of work to the back burner. But at least on a visceral level, I left folders upon folders upon folders all over the room. It is largely a standard, if not a hard and fast rule, that you at least are able to get through the work that was there when you started your shift. That did not happen last night, not at all. I was too busy scanning all these forms -- a large and herculean task that I decided needed to be done before most other things ... even though it is not clear to me it is such a priority that I had to drop everything in order to take care of this task first.
Oh, and by the way, I didn't get through all the old forms that were left for me. I got through some, but not all. Oh, and I stayed an extra half-hour even though I wasn't asked to. There were these, uh, other things I really, really wanted to complete before I left, and by the time I got done and shut everything down and cleaned everything up, it was 12:30. So it is possible that my supe is coming in tomorrow and is seeing literally dozens of folders that I did not get around to, including these special folders containing all these old forms, and she's going to get pissed and wonder why in the hell didn't I work, even though I stayed an extra 30 minutes that, if you want to look at it through conspiratorial eyes, makes me look as if I racked up overtime without doing the commensurate work. Shit, man, I did work, hard and steadily, but it's just so goddamn much! Now, could I have worked, uh, harder and faster? Sure, according to her standards. But I'm not going to blow out my heart just so I could prove to her, or to anyone else, that I am working hard. I have panic attacks at work as is, Christ. ...
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What I don't get, and what I somewhat am scared of more, is this letter I got from the company for which I scored tests. It was a warning letter. It said that there were concerns about the speed at which I scored tests. Now I remember coming on here and worrying that my poky speed at the time -- affected by the distractions around my bedroom as I worked from home -- would raise the attention of the powers that be over there, and it actually did -- sort of. What I got from the letter was that the massive fluctuation in answer reading led to a wide fluctuation in scores ... and that the faster I got, the worse my scoring accuracy became.
So-so-so ... uh, is she saying that the faster I worked, the more inaccurate I got? I was worried all this time about working too slowly, and it now seems as if my decision to work faster has backfired on me. I don't get why they're so upset, especially when I was told repeatedly by the supervisors during the project that we could all be going faster. And speaking of that, no one I worked for at the test scoring project raised any concerns in the way I scored these essays. In fact, I was told during the project that I should hew the distribution of my scores closer to the project average, which I did over time. And since I started working faster to boot, that means the scores I gave were actually more inaccurate? I don't believe it, but I would like someone to explain it to me if that were the case.
The last sentence in that letter was ominous. Paraphrasing: "We cannot employ you any longer if your scores continue to be this inaccurate." First of all, I'm not being inaccurate! And second of all, does she really think she could just send this without thinking it has to be elaborated upon? This warning was a total fucking blindside, and I think I should call her to make sure this wasn't some big misunderstanding. Because if we Work From Home again next year, I will have no clue if what I'm doing, and the speed at which I'm doing it, are truly satisfactory to them.
Two jobs, tons of real and perceived complaints. But hey, what can I do? I tried my best -- right?
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