New year, new job, new car...but I wouldn't call it all "good" news.

A New Job?

At the beginning of January my immediate manager, Reza, stabbed me in the back with a negative performance review and started making my work environment very hostile.  He would lie to me, belittle me in front of others, not help me as he promised he would, and set project expectations that were designed to fail -- he even tasked me with a project management job that was his responsibility which he failed to meet over a three month period...and he expected me to know it 100% in less than three weeks!  I don't know where any of this came from; it honestly caught me off-guard.  Were they trying to build a case to fire me?  Did they not want to give me a raise, thus using this exercise as a reason?

Since it was obvious he was out to get me and my group manager was in no way trying to help me, either, I started looking for work else where.  Since I'm good at what I do finding another job was easy.  I submitted HR the proper resignation letter with my employee badge and gave my immediate notice during our daily morning "team" meeting.  I was not going to be treated with such blatant disrespect from a manager who had yet to even earn any respect from the team.

I am very glad I listed why I was leaving in my resignation letter because that lousy manager was pressured to leave the company by the end of the month:  Who's wearing a big smile now, Reza?  I hear others are leaving as well and the business intelligence reporting environment (and other initiatives) is crumbling.

I'm now at local, major shoe design company and love it!  For every day I was there the first week I did something to improve the teams workflow.  I'm building Access database and Excel applications, both well infused with VBA to make them workhorses.  I set up remote desktop stations with spare systems to help team members in Tennessee run their reports 15 times faster.  I figured out how to automate their SAP BEx workbooks for reporting automation.  My team is very appreciative and it feels good to get positive feedback.

A New Car?

Ah...the "new" car...huh?  Well, to be honest, Antonette is the one who finally got tired of her Passat and ended up buying a 2010 VW Routan SEL...yes, mini-van!  UHG!!  Yeah, we have a mini-van :-(  But there are good points about it that make sense when you have a family:  Seating for seven, much more cargo space, dual DVD players and screens to keep the kids freakin' quiet on trips, and individual climate zones.  I already installed fog lights in it.  Looking to add an OEM trailer hitch as it came with a towing setup (just no hitch?) and also add running boards so the kids can more easily enter/exit.  It's a big step for them.  The 6-cylinder engine does have guts!  It's more responsive than the Passat with it's turbo.  However, the gas mileage is the worst of all our vehicles so ya gotta take the good with the bad.

What Else?

Nothing much for now, that's the update.