Layoff Day . . .

Well, once again I survived. Layoff Day again arrives at the RWMC, and again, I emerge (thusfar; but it’s 2:30 pm, and the Norm Petersons of the company have likely already struck) unscathed and with a job. Not that I would have been surprised to get laid off this time. Not that I don’t think my every move here is being watched and, like the invisible antagonists of C. Monty Burns, there are gremlins waiting to spot a weakness and then descend with a bash to the head. But I prattle on. I still have a job. Many do not. But we’re not hearing as much weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth this time around, for some reason. We just may be simply out of the loop in our little corner of the RWMC.

Sounds like we got off pretty light. Of 67 laid off, only six at RWMC. That means some other project, likely at INTEC, got it in the gut. Sorry, guys and gals.

I survived something even more fundamental: A mistake. It’s turned into the eye-rolling type of mistake, but a mistake nonetheless. Two documents I worked on way earlier this year lacked some reviews, so I’m having to do them over again, and in only four days. Not that it won’t be manageable, but it’s just a headache. I spent a good portion of the weekend silently fretting about it all, only to come in today and feel competent and on top of things as the new reviews are going smoothly. Anticipation of events is the real bugaboo in my life, I suppose, combined with a tendency to overreact and get all moody.

The eye-rolling comes because the documents aren’t really related to the work the auditors were looking at, but because the auditors always have to find something, this is what was found this round, and it just happened to be something I had my fingers in way back in January. I’m not complaining about the situation; I’m simply being asked to fix my mistake, and I’m doing so cheerfully. I hope that goes a ways in showing that I can fess up to the things I do wrong and get them corrected. But you never know how people will react to this kind of situation. DOE is populated with strong-willed yeller types. But cooler heads are prevailing, recognizing that it’s just best to get the work done. Besides, I have the personality type (noted in my post on puppy-dog eyes) that means once I’m swatted with a newspaper, I tend to remember it. At least for a while.