Man down… we got a MAN DOWN!

So after setting aside the vacation time 5 months ago followed with heaping doses of prep and planning this week… Tom Donaldson gets the “word” from his boss mid-way through the day Friday that he can’t be spared next week.

Is that not the most mean spirited thing ya’ ever heard?! The guy was 3 hours from freedom and then the hammer drops.

For the upcoming week Tom is to be called Mr. Blue in recognition of the dirt sandwhich he was fed by those that sign his paychecks.

Let’s hope there’s a special place in the afterlife for middle management types that do this kind of stuff to guys in desperate need of a fishing trip.

We’ll miss the heck out of you Mr. B.

Ouch… that hurts! But, he’s gotta do what he’s gotta do to keep food on the table for that little cowboy of his!!! Believe me… I feel it EVERY weekend! Fishing, or horse show with my daughter!!! At least for 1 day… then either skip out early the next day to toss a line out, or the wife nags… and I get stuck with the honeydo list.

Too bad for you, Mr Blue!!!

Mr. Blue,

My thoughts and prayers are with you! I don’t know the whole situation, but it sounds like to me that they need to do a little bit better planning. You gave them 5 months heads up. What more can they ask for?

FDR

P.S. If the itinerary that James sent out sacred you off, I don’t blame you either.

Now that has to suck.

Shoot me your bosses number…I’ll take care of it for you….

Well…I spose you wanted a job when you got back…never mind.

That is just plain stupid! How the hell can they even think of that one? 3 hours??

Two words, “I QUIT!” Seriously, I’m sure he’s not real happy now. I feel for him! I take my outdoor activities serious and as a way to keep me sane in this world, without them their would be no me just like alot of you. Whomever denied him this vacation is truly heartless and wrecked one mans summer dream, after all, that is why each and everyone of us have jobs so we can afford to do the things that we love. At this point I’m even so P’d off I better stop. Just know that we all feel for you in a situation like this and try to make the best of it, impossible I know. Sorry, I gotta go break something!

The man can’t keep you down forever Blue!!! Wait until the time is right, and we’ll go all Che Guevarra on the man, he’ll never know what hit him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m with Coppertop on this one. That is just outrageous. I would be seriously looking for a new job and make it very clear why. Bosses are a lot like buses. one comes by every 20 minutes.

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Wait until the time is right, and we’ll go all Che Guevarra on the man, he’ll never know what hit him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I’d rather go all Castro on the boss. Remember Castro is the one still enjoying a long life. Although,
Che does enjoy a lot of popularity among the dopey college age set.

dd

It was this corporate “mentality” that prompted me to start my own company so I call the shots. Now going on it’s fifth year it’s hearing stuff like this that makes all the hard work and responsibility worth it. Sorry to hear about him being shot down by the boss, it just ain’t right to drop the hammer that late. If i was him i would bite my tongue for now but start weighting the pro’s and con’s of working for this company or boss and at the very least making sure there is safe guards in place to avoid this issue in the future. Just my 2 cents. Man what a bummer.

If you have a dynamic and effective leadership stucture everyone contributes, everyone pitches in, everyone has access to the best information so you can fill in and not hold one person responsible for everything working right. Seems to me someones boss needs to learn a thing or two about fishing. The best anglers are adaptive, comfortable with change and dont have to rely on one technique or one pattern.

I’m with Coppertop as well.. Since the enjoyment of the outdoors IS one of the reasons we work going along with eating food, shelter, and transportation. We look forward to events such as this the whole year. I would look at it like this,,,,,,,,,If the bossman did this to me once, what’s keeping him from doing it again. So now every time Blue plans a vaca he’ll be stressed out in the weeks to come not knowing if the hammer will drop again. Not worth it, I’d be on careerbuilder all week long!!

Thanks guys. I love my job and the people in my Dept. they keep my sanity for me. What most people don’t know is I only have 3 people in my dept. and that’s including myself. We run 3 large format printers and a secondary Dye Sublimation Dept. Right now, our workload is the heaviest I’ve ever seen. I’m borrowing people from 2nd shift depts. just so I can have our printers going for 16 hours. It’s still not enough.

James will tell you all kinds of stories about me calling into work when I’m on vacation just to make sure everythings going well or to assist with trouble shooting.

It’s not uncommon to get jobs into my Dept. around noon that are due that day. Or get jobs back from a dept. with a note saying they ruined the lot and we need to output more vinyl. It’s my job to make sure the customer doesn’t get the shaft and they get their product when it’s due. Somedays, that’s a miracle in itself.

If I didn’t love my job or the people in my Dept. so much, I’d be paddling a canoe right now and updating my resume on a slab of Birch bark….It’s all the garbage outside of my Dept. that I could do without.

The support is much appreciated.

Blame it on that darned midwestern work ethic. I put up with not being able to schedule a vaction for over 30 years. One or maybe 2 days now and then was the best they would allow. Something about “well, we might need you here”.

Blue is one working mo’fo and needs to take care of what he needs to do, no doubt.

Alls I can say is…..WUSS

JK Blue, So when you heading up my way for some fishing????

You’re not the only one Blue, I would sitting on Oahe right now instead of IDA if my boss wouldn’t have broken his leg a week before…

Blue,

You girl. I would have stood up to them. Oh wait, I just woke up.

Everyone knows life stinks most days, but last Friday had to be extremely cruddy for you. I was actually just coming online to ridicule you and Wade. Wondering which of the fat kids lost more weight the last two days. I now know the answer. Sorry you couldn’t make the trip bud!!!

Come clean, you were worried when you realized you would need to poo 3-4 times a day in the outdoors with no time allocated in the schedule for wiping.

I dont blame you, I would have come up with some lame work excuse too.

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Come clean, you were worried when you realized you would need to poo 3-4 times a day in the outdoors with no time allocated in the schedule for wiping.

I dont blame you, I would have come up with some lame work excuse too.

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If I gotta poo 3-4 times a day, I’m going to make sure I get paid for it. Or get a workman’s comp. case going for over exertion.There’s no other place I can do that than at work. Plus I can schedule plenty of time for wiping.

That’s the joys of being company.

Man, just breaks my heart when someone takes advantage of someone else, you may not see it that way, but facts are facts. Knowing that your department will be a main man down, and you giving plenty of notice, they certainly could adjust their lead time, or pass on a job or two, yes I know things come up, there will always be something coming up. Myself, I’d be looking for a huge bonus or pay raise or both, if not, I just developed a case of annal glaucoma, just can’t see my a$$ showing up for work! Hang in there Blue

While I agree with you Chomps, the printing industry is plain weird. I mean we have unreal deadlines in IT, but not like the printing industry. My old neighbor ran the prepress department for a large printer here in the cities. They ran 24x7x365. The equipment alone barely pays for itself if you don’t. Anyway, the company should be staffed appropriately enough so anyone can be gone for a week. What if Blue were to get hit by a bus(hope he doesn’t hurt the bus )?? Seems pretty risky to me, but I think just about every small business out there has these inherent weaknesses.

First off Blue I feel for you man. Damn the man! Just keep your head up, and hope that this will all be remembered in the future when you want to sneak out early for the next 15 fridays. Now with that said.

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… the printing industry is plain weird. I mean we have unreal deadlines in IT, but not like the printing industry. My old neighbor ran the prepress department for a large printer here in the cities. They ran 24x7x365. The equipment alone barely pays for itself if you don’t. Anyway, the company should be staffed appropriately enough so anyone can be gone for a week. What if Blue were to get hit by a bus(hope he doesn’t hurt the bus )?? …

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I as well work in the printing industry.(why is it everyone assumes that a realistic time line for a project no matter how much or how little work needs to be done is 15 minutes? Sorry that’s a whole other thread) This bus must target people in the print industry. In the past 3 weeks my boss has used it on himself, trying to get me to learn the ropes of his job, as well as all of my co-workers. Blue, it may be time to find a safer job, maybe something like Alaskan crab fishing. I don’t think the “bus” can swim.

Ryan

Are you and Blue on the short bus?? If so, wear your helmets.

My dad says helmets are for sissies.

My advise to you Blue is this…..GO ANYWAY!!!! He needs you this week? Well he’s not going to fire you because after missing next week….he’s really going to need you when you get back!

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For the upcoming week Tom is to be called Mr. Blue in recognition of the dirt sandwhich he was fed by those that sign his paychecks.

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I think if i were that close to a big fishing trip and was told i couldn’t go, they’d be calling me “Mr. Blue” for another reason, cause i get so excited for planned fishing trips….