Auto Responder: Admin Gal is on Vacation

Admin Gal is on a well deserved vacation for the next two weeks.  She will return rejuvenated and in fine form.

Please see her minion, the flying cat, for any administrative needs in her absence.

Thank you.

Acumulus Nimbus

Admin Gal is amazed, appalled, and astonished at the amount of office supplies that have been found in abandoned desk drawers and overhead bins.

One would think that people might be preparing for an apocalypse - of expense reports and other such horrors.

Really?

Why must do people need 20 bottles of correction fluid, 5 boxes of staples with one staple row missing, 30 rubber finger tips of varying sizes- I won't even go there, and possibly a partridge in a file drawer.

What we can't use in the new building, we'll donate.

Sigh

You've got to Move it, Move it

Admin Gal has been movin' it all right.  The floor move is looming, her vacation is scheduled smack dab in the middle of the move (excellent timing one would say - ha!), she is training new admins, AND packing out her boss's office and her own.

Admin Gal is pretty sure that the company is conspiring against her to make sure she is too exhausted to enjoy her 10 days free of the corporate overlords.  

Never fear, where Admin Gal is going, she'll be beyond the reach of cell phones, email and/or smoke signals. If the office implodes before she gets back, she will dutifully put all the pieces back together.

Rocket Science

When did filling out a form become rocket science?

Seriously?

Admin Gal is currently in the middle of organizing a move to another building.  While, we have all been in and out of the new facility, Security has made the late request that we update our information.  You know, in case of apocalyptic events such as lack of paper, crashed computers, etc.

The form is simple enough.  Admin Gal is finding that her comrades are stymied by the simplest of fields.

1. What department do they work for?  
2. Who is their HR representative?  
3. Which building do they currently work in and what building will they work in? 

If these simple questions cause consternation, Admin Gal can only imagine what misery the hard questions cause.

Gary Fields does NOT Work Here!

Admin Gal has been bedeviled since she started her job by calls for a mysterious 'Gary Fields'.  All the callers have had heavy Bronx accents.  They would request Mr. Fields, Admin Gal would say 'Who?', then they would hang up, never allowing her the opportunity to let them know that the gentleman in question was not an employee.

The frustrating part was they were calling my direct number, their numbers were blocked. And at month's end, their calls were a plague of locust on Admin Gal's existence.

Flash forward four years later and the calls have become a trickle. Admin Gal can always tell when the desperate sales guys have brushed off the old lists.

You would think that after four years of being told the man doesn't work here, people would get the hint.

Admin Gal is Annoyed...

by the machinations of persistent sales people.  Honestly, you'd think after giving them clear and precise directions of how your company accepts their information, they would be grateful.

Instead, Admin Gal finds herself besieged by the peppering calls of salespeople who are hoping and praying that the boss will pick up the phone on a number he doesn't recognize.  

Seriously? 

Were these people born in the cabbage patch?

Admin Gal's job is simple, get the information, direct it to the correct person and get on with her day. Sales people have become the static that you can't drown out of the stereo system.

You Be the Judge

Dear Reader,

Not too long ago, Admin Gal was made aware of an unfortunate situation of an administrative colleague.  

We Admins are often in positions to make many different decisions based on undocumented conversations.  This particular colleague had been asked to add some variety to the catering to an annual multi-week event.  Ever conscious of budgets and time constraints, this Admin went to work to make this request happen.

Imagine her surprise when she was taken to task by her manager, in front of multiple departments, for having blown a budget.  

Here are some key points to take into consideration:

1.     Said Admin had negotiated excellent rates with every vendor who provided food for the event.

2.     At no point did the manager ask to see costs for the meals being provided before he made a scene.

3.     Said manager had a plate full of food as he made a fool of himself.

4.     Everything came well with in the budget alloted for the event.

Admin Gal has heard many a sad tale in her career, but this particular tale of abuse raised her hackles.  

As Admins, we are like ducks, shaking off the bad and reveling in the good.  However, one bad manager can certainly spoil the job.

Dear Reader, what would you do in our dear Admin's place?

Spammit!

Admin Gal hates it when she requests information from a vendor, only to find herself on there mailing list forever. That was not the initial request.

Usually the request was initiated due to a phone call on the part of the vendor.

Admin Gal is not fond of spam.  The kind found in cans, nor the kind found in her inbox.  Her simple recourse is to set up a filter to trash everything she doesn't recognize.

If the next best thing since sliced bread is passed up?  You shouldn't have added me to your mailing list without my permission.