At Least Afloat

I survived two weeks as de facto Office Manager. I am godly.

I said farewell to my landlady this morning and asked if she wanted me to bring anything back from the UK. She said energy and a sunny disposition, not that we don’t have that already, she added, perhaps having seen my somewhat guilty face. I am like a snail – Some days, I will come out, others, I’d rather stay in my shell. And I see that. And I wish I were more comfortable. And I wish I were less anxious. I think I am getting better, though.

Well, you’ll be pleased to know that, with a dogged determination that today was the day or never, I finished my key catalogue, and organised the keys accordingly to the best of my abilities. Some keys are missing or not labelled. So it goes. I will talk to my boss about it when she comes back.

I was able to produce a task completion status report for her, with a rate of 80% – 4 out of the 5 tasks I hoped to have done are finished. There was just the question of my tidying some of our files. I was told it wasn’t urgent, and that I should do it if I had time. There is time enough in the weeks to come.

Ah, I may have just ruined our surprise Christmas party, though.

So, Office Management and, maybe, the Country Manager are in on the plans for our staff Christmas party which is supposed to take place on the 6th December. No one else in the office is supposed to know any of the details, except the date. So, my boss has been contacting restaurants for a meal for us all. She opted for one over the other.

Today, I get an angry call asking for me so that I might confirm my boss’ decision for the menu for a 50 person sit-down lunch on Monday, the 6th November.

I tell the irate gentleman that I was not aware of this plan, and my boss is only back on Monday. He said he appreciates that, but we had two weeks in which we needed to decide, and WHO does know, in that case? 

I considered the situation, with my boss, the CM, and the accountant on holiday. I was running short on seniors. Ah. HR? So I passed him the HR Manager’s work phone number. I told him I appreciated the circumstances he found himself in, but that I really couldn’t help, as I know nothing, and I hoped she could.

I warned her over Teams that she may receive a call from a restaurant for Monday about a matter I know nothing about, but apparently my boss does. She replied that they were mistaken with the 6th December.

And I thought, Oh bother! I had an uneasy feeling this may be the case! Anyway, that’s all sorted. I guess the secret circle is wider now. There’s not much I could or can do, alas! Anger in a professional context where you realise your supervisor is at fault but is also currently away is panic-inducing and hard to deal with.

It is important to keep your head where others aren’t keeping theirs.

I managed to get to Charles de Gaulle yo catch my flight without too much difficulty, and I am currently on the bus on my way Home to my parents and siblings, with a box of macarons beside me 🙂

I may take a bit of a break from writing journal entries whilst I’m home, folks! Might write some poems, maybe some reviews, or I may genuinely just rest for a bit.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend 💐