Archive of Marcia's Musings June 10-16, 2002
Friday, June 14, 2002
Exceedingly Glad
Yes, that's me over here-- the one who is exceedingly glad that the week is done!! Yeesh, what a week it was!! Oh, yes, I am also exceedingly glad that Miss Piece of Work is, at least for two years, out of my hair!! Yes, that's right folks: the negotiation is done, finished-- over with already!!
Today, the sales rep and I had a conversation with her regarding the 7-point email that was sent over yesterday. In this email, they outlined 7 areas that we needed to complete in order for them to be happy enough to sign the document. Let me outline how this was presented:
1. This first point didn't actually say what they wanted; it did say that they didn't like the way that the document was currently written because it didn't give them what they wanted. Did they tell us what they wanted? Noooooo, that would be too easy. I had to guess and, today on the phone call, I got lucky and guessed at what they wanted. I drafted the language, read it to her, she approved and voila, we were finished with the first point.
2. Their point #2 was that they wanted to delete some language that they had previously inserted-- ya know, I didn't want it there to begin with so I could care less if they wanted it gone or not. Done deal.
3. The third point was confusing and probably input in a place that I wouldn't have input it but, with a cooperative, intelligent and knowledgeable customer, I could've suggested the more appropriate place for the language. As it was, with Little Miss Wonderful, that wasn't possible so I just shut up and put the language where she wanted it even if it isn't an appropriate fit for it.
4. Their fourth point actually hurts them: its the term of the schedule under which they can buy product. Now, with the deletion that she insisted on, it absolutely, positively stops in two years which is what we wanted in the first place. I had absolutely no problem in deleting it.
Their 5th through 7th points were simply questions that they needed to have answered but, because the first four "went their way", she was in a much better mood. Our sales rep had it nailed: she wasn't getting "her way" so the negotiation wasn't going well.
Its done and I don't have to deal with her for two more years so I don't care-- Man, that was a long time comin'!!
(Yes, that is the last report from here until the end of the black-out period, July 15.)
Squished!!
Today was my annual day to be squished. Man, I hate that!! If it weren't for the fact that it is one of those necessary evils that exist in the world, I wouldn't do it, I'm sure but, it is and besides, I got to see if the cherry tree was showing up yet! ;>) I'm still feeling the pain of that last x-ray, let me tell ya!! I did check to make sure that I could take my x-rays to Maryland and, of course, I can-- I just can't pick them up for a couple of weeks. Not a problem!
Other than that . . .
Not a lot going on this weekend except for a hair appointment for me and a graduation party tomorrow night. Should be a fairly calm day on Sunday which I'll need in preparation for next week.
With that said, have a nice night!!
Thursday, June 13, 2002Very Interesting!!
The whole circumstance of my transfer came about because my company is hiring another negotiator to work the Northeast region from the Maryland office along with Judy. My purpose in being transferred is because I work the Southeast region and then, the three of us will be "The East Coast Team". This third person has been pretty much an unknown until today. Judy interviewed a lady named "Lee" a few weeks ago; Lee also interviewed with the Area Vice President (John's counterpart in the Northeast) earlier this week and, today, interviewed in our office. I got to spend an hour with her talking about her attitudes about the work, her experience and also the Maryland area where we will be eventually living. (We're all pretty sure that Lee is going to be hired-- a matter of time before that negotiation is finalized!)
After talking with Lee, I'm even more excited to move there-- there's so much to do in Maryland and DC and Virginia and New York is only 2-1/2 hours by train!!! Lee also gave me the name of a realtor friend whom she knows does a lot of rentals of houses and especially rentals of houses with dogs!! We'll be contacting her in the next week or so-- afterall: time is running short on the trip in early July to find a house. (Yes, I'm finally getting excited about moving!!)
Once Again . . .
. . . this "Community" we call home has come through for me. Yes, it is true that a person that I trusted was not as up-front and honest with me as she should've been. Sometimes you don't find out everything that you need to know about someone until you've got time and a little money invested in them. Oh, well, it is better to have found out than never to have known.
Also, the concern and requests for shipment on the impending cherry tree that I may be growing is . . . touching to say the least. I'll watch my belly button for branches and let you know-- maybe I'll have blossoms in time for the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC next year!! Cool!!!!
Small Update
The "Contract Negotiator" and her boss sent emails to us today. We are attempting to decipher their requests so that we can respond to them but it isn't easy. I figured out that they don't know how to ask for what they want so they're just skirting their requests and I'm supposed to figure it out. Well, I figured out most of them today so I've already outsmarted them!! Ha-HAH!! Tomorrow we're to have a conference call but, not surprisingly, no one wants to talk with the Contract Negotiator by herself-- we all want her manager there so we can avoid the dramatics. See what you started????
*****
I've got a few bills to pay and a little quilting to do-- I'll "see" you tomorrow night!! Have a nice evening!
Wednesday, June 12, 2002Busy-ness!!
It was non-stop from the moment I walked in the door today!! Truly amazing!! The "Problem Customer" from the last week started my day with a conversation between John, my director and I which was almost immediately followed by drafting on my part of the revised agreement followed by another conversation with John. That was immediately followed by a conversation with "The Contract Negotiator" from the other side-- John didn't hesitate to make the call with me. He understands that she is not being as forthright as she should be in her dealings with us and that I am reluctant to make a call to her on my own.
Following that conversation, we sent the first volley over the line: another revision of the agreement. A few hours later, she volleyed back with one minor modification to that language and the updated language that she was supposed to supply. As a follow-up to that, once I got the appropriate legal approvals up the food chain at my company, I sent off another revision cleaning up her language. She types faster than she composes and misses words as a result; this, I suppose, is another thing that she doesn't like about me: I have a requirement to make contracts sound like they are written in the English language. I know, I know-- silly me but I prefer to sound intelligent and especially when someone higher in authority in my company has to execute the document!
Anyway, as it stands right now, they're going to review those final changes and see if there are any outstanding issues that need to be resolved and then they'll set up one more conference call. So, unbelievable as it may seem, we are [this close] to being finished.
Black-Out Period
Every publicly traded company has a "black-out period" wherein they instruct their employees not to discuss anything about the company and the company's business. Since I don't use company names (including my own!), I don't usually worry about this but, it seems that there may be a spy amongst my readers. A person whom I considered (notice the past tense) to be a friend has started publicly "training" against my company so, in true spirit of enjoying my job, as of June 14, I will not be able to discuss my work or my work load publicly on this forum. Who knows? Some of you may be bored to tears with me telling you about how busy I am at the end of the quarter anyway so this will now be prevented.
Quilting Continues
While I love the fluff of the high loft poly-fill that I'm making this quilt with, it was extremely hard to sew the binding onto the edge. Brian helped me think of a way to do it but, it is requiring a lot of hand-sewing. To ensure that the quilt stays together, I'll go back and machine stitch after the hand-sewing but, I have 238 inches to hand-sew first...yes, I'll be doing this awhile.
I started to finish the third quilt in the series of Christmas gift quilts-- Baskets Full of Pansies. There are no photos yet but soon, very soon. I've got a 9-patch square to make for this one yet in addition to the on-point pieces. It may not sound like it but it is really close to coming together.
*****
On that note, as I struggle to eat unpitted black cherries "properly" (that means without swallowing the pits! So far, 19 eaten, 1 pit swallowed!!), I'm going to get back to my quilting and "How To" night on PBS.Have a nice evening (if I can get this published!)!!
Tuesday, June 11, 2002Almost Forgot!
I almost forgot to put a post up tonight! Not that it's life-threateningly critical if I do forget but, I'm sure most of you are in anxious anticipation to hear about the customer from "you know where"-- Harry Potter reference anyone?
I decided I wasn't going to be alone on any conversations with her anymore so that more than one person would hear what she agreed to and then reneged on in the next version of the document. So first thing this morning, the sales rep and I tried to conference in to talk with her-- no luck, we went straight to voicemail. Okay, fine-- I waited about 45 minutes and dialed the sales rep and then dialed the customer again-- she answered the phone this time and, within about 4 minute was yelling at us about how the contract negotiation was horrible and she wasn't going to argue with us (Who was arguing? Not us!) and hung up the phone!!!
Now, for those of you who may not know it, hanging up the phone in a professional situation is extremely . . . unprofessional! The sales rep was absolutely floored-- he couldn't believe she hung up the phone!! I was in a state of shock myself-- I've never had anyone hang up on me before in a negotiation! I called the sales rep back and we talked about the situation: I couldn't understand where she was coming from because, although I don't like her methods, she and I have had very pleasant conversations. Yes, I've caught her in some significant "stupid" mistakes (i.e., time zone mix-ups) but, I haven't rubbed her nose in it (no matter how much I wanted to do so).
The problem with hanging up on someone is that there is no way to recover from it if you are the hanger-upper. If you are the hang-uppee, you can ignore and not bring it up (which is what we did) but, when you're the hanger-upper, you have to go on to bigger and better things once you've taken that first step into drama. She chose to do exactly that-- she took the next big leap in the dramatic world of contract negotiation.
The sales rep talked with the end user and the two of them agreed that the person to whom I had been speaking ("Contractor Negotiator"), the End User, and the Contract Negotiator's Boss were going to have a conference call with John, the sales rep and me. Within four minutes of the beginning of that call, Ms. Contract Negotiator was mouthing off at John-- literally interrupting him and telling him that we were horrible contract negotiators. John didn't take this too kindly and told her that he wanted to speak his mind, too. Then, Contract Negotiator's Boss asked John a question which John attempted to answer. Contract Negotiator interrupted him again and he said "Excuse me, I was speaking to Contract Negotiator's Boss and would like to finish my sentence."
As you can imagine, the phone went mute while John continued to talk. We then heard the phone be unmuted on the other end and a door slammed. Another big dramatic step had been taken by the Contract Negotiator. Her boss said later that he didn't understand why she was so upset-- she's usually unflappable (according to him). Frankly, I'm at a loss myself. I've never said anything like: "You're wrong-- you're not listening to me" which is certainly something that I could've said but, I don't insult my customers no matter how insulting they are to me. In fact, on the first occasion she told us that it was the worst contract negotiation she'd ever been involved with, I hadn't even spoken to her yet so I know it isn't me. The sales rep thinks its because she's not getting what she wants-- she's getting close to everything that she wants but, we have our limits, too.
Anyway, we're all supposed to reconvene tomorrow-- it should be a lovely time, I think. Don't you wish you could be there? I'm so glad you're not-- I wish I didn't have to be there! I will report back to you on the continuing saga to let you know how it all shakes out-- tons-o-fun, eh?
Needless to say . . .
I've reached my limit for one day's excitement. Sally and I are going to settle into the living room. I'll do some hand-sewing and she'll do what she does best: nap. Sounds like a lovely night, eh?
You have a good evening, too!!
Monday, June 10, 2002Piece of Work!!
I spent an hour on the phone with the customer who is . . . a real piece of work after spending an hour and a half reviewing what she sent back to us to review. Then, I spent the next 90 minutes with her on the phone and then, I followed that up with a conference call with the sales rep. I thought: "We're close-- we're not that far off."
Silly me!!
I got her revision back and things that we had gone through on the phone call that she had agreed to leave in the document were deleted and vice versa. In her email-- yes, she wrote a semi-intelligent email to accompany the document-- she claimed that this was the final document that they could sign.
Silly her!!
I'm really funny about that-- in a phone call you tell me something and I'm going to (a) remember it and (b) hold you to it. I revised the document to read the way that we had discussed it and asked her in the email that I sent back to her (copied to the same people that she had sent it to), why she had changed her mind. I have yet to get a response, needless to say.
I am not pleased with the way that this is going-- there are changes in this that we just can't do. This is not good. Tomorrow we will see how everything shakes out-- her signatory is supposedly leaving by 1pm but I don't put a lot of stock in it. She's said things before that didn't hold up true-- several times now that I think of it-- so I doubt that the signatory is leaving by 1pm.
Hot-Hot-Hot
Yes, it is another scorcher. As I sit in front of my computer, the sun is finally going down through the tree between the street and me so I am finally getting a little cooler. I just hate this kind of heat!!
*******
Have a nice night-- I'm going to try to find a cool spot to hang out around here!!
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