Monday, August 4, 1997 -- Informing Work
Jeff is the branch manager here, he was one of the four people I interviewed with, and one of the reasons I accepted the position.		Boy I dreaded today. I was slow getting dressed, and slow going out to the bus, and just generally apprehensive. I hate leaving phone messages and email when I'm like this, I'd much rather talk face to face. Gary wasn't in this morning. Neither was Mike the Branch Manager for St.Louis, but I expected that. Mike wanted voice mail, so I left it for him. I asked the receptionist when Gary was going to get in. She told me, "He's on vacation." Great, now who was I supposed to talk to this about? I still haven't really figured out the hierarchy here, I know who's in charge of the bank, and who's involved themselves in my work, and that's about it. The only other person I could think of was Ron, the guy who chewed me out. I brought him up to speed, got a minor "Well that would have been a good opportunity" speech, and let him get things wound up. I don't really like Ron, he's too political acting, and not really friendly. It doesn't help that I lied to him about the day i was in jail. I generally got the feeling that he would have been glad if I'd left. [As in, not his problem anymore.] But that might just be my feelings mixed up in it. Around 10, Jeff, the branch manager, called me, and asked me to come down to his office. I went down, and told him what I'd told Ron, that I would fly to St.Louis, but that I didn't really want to. He nodded, thanked me, and told me they'd do what they could to get me back here as soon as possible, and might give me some travel money. I liked Jeff the moment I met him, the very first day I came here (and the day they offered to hire me). He's a good-ol' boy, in the country sense, but was also a consultant at one time, and generally has a good head on his shoulders. He doesn't manage much (and that's more due to the type of business we are in), but when he does, it's always positive, and makes you feel worthwhile. Despite all my bad feelings about my job, I still walked out of his office generally pleased with this company. And that's a good manager, I guess. Because of the cost of tickets, and that I need to be in town next week for my court date, I'm not flying out until the 18th. That gives me plenty of time to get things settled, and start on something new. Generic Joe's A Typical Male