This Too Shall Pass...

I am emotionally exhausted. Without sharing all of the boring details, I had a minor meltdown at work this past week. No blood was let and shockingly all relationships seem to be stronger than ever. Still, I need to find a way to ask for what I need before there is a crisis.

I guess the big news is that tomorrow my boss is going to be asked to take a six-month sabbatical. He'll have twenty-four hours to accept the invitation. There really isn't an alternative. Much change needs to take place within the organization, which means as much as a third of the staff needs to be removed or changed, and my boss is not emotionally equipped to make the changes needed. Many of the people who need to be let go are almost like family to him, having worked together for more than twenty years, and the dread of having to be involved in those separations has him paralyzed. The list hasn't been finalized yet, but since he cannot be objective, and has demonstated his inertia repeatedly, he will be asked to step aside.

This, of course, means that I will be more intimately involved in these changes than I would like. But, it isn't anything I haven't been through before. And as in the other situations, there will be one or two cases that I will actually enjoy. Several of the people have lived very comfortably without really contributing accordingly to the general good of the organization; and they've gotten quite smug with the idea that they are untouchable. Now, understand, I have very little input in the final decisions, but I have been asked my opinion and of the twenty-three names on the list, I've only objected to three. I anticipate the final toll to be about twelve. October 15 is the projected date.

As almost an afterthought, school is going well. Summer sessions are brutal as they are full classes crammed into half the time. The workload is brutal and I have two major projects due this week. The first is nearly completed, but the second is barely begun and I have almost no interest in beginning it. The past four weeks have been simply work, school and sleep. If I wasn't able to pay my bills online, I'd be homeless. I'm stealing these few minutes to update my devoted readers and prevent them from sending out bloodhounds in search of me.

My next post, God willing, should be a celebration from academia!