Not single spies, but vast battalions
Sep. 9th, 2003 01:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
j4As if there hadn't been enough trauma this month, one of my best friends has just had to resign from her job as a result of the threat of completely unjustified disciplinary action. Her employers aren't going ahead with the action in the end (having belatedly realised that it was, well, completely unjustified) but who wants to stay on in an atmosphere like that?
Meanwhile, I'm desperately trying (and failing) to think of advice to offer another friend who's become embroiled in a messy emotional situation. ... It's so frustrating to see one person upsetting other people so much while apparently remaining completely oblivious to what they're doing, and I wish I could intervene constructively, but a) it's not really my business, and b) the person who's doing the majority of the upsetting would react very badly if I tried to talk to them. I just wish there was more I could offer than hugs to the people who are on the receiving end of all this, but at the moment it doesn't seem like there is.
In other news, I seem to be getting more and more hysterical. I ended up in fits of something between giggles and tears last night while trying to beat Microsoft Word into submission so that I could fill in a job application form. Today I found myself once again struggling to choke back nervous giggles as more and more problems emerged with the data I'm working on -- which has reached the point of absurdity, but even so. In the end I had to hide in the toilets until I'd calmed down, and on the way there I noticed the sign on the wall between the Ladies' room and the Gents' room, which says
and that nearly finished me. It's still making me giggle; the familiar shaky feeling just keeps welling up somewhere between the lines of the sign. Oh, feel free to laugh (with|at) me -- it's comical. Tragical. Comical-tragical. Scene individible.
I didn't get more than about 4 hours of sleep last night, due in part to the amount of coffee I'd consumed by the time I went to bed, but special thanks also go to the cretins who decided that our street was an excellent place to hold a drunken shouting contest.
I've got one thing left to look forward to this week, and if the bad news I'm half-expecting turns up tomorrow, that may well be off as well.
Meanwhile, I'm desperately trying (and failing) to think of advice to offer another friend who's become embroiled in a messy emotional situation. ... It's so frustrating to see one person upsetting other people so much while apparently remaining completely oblivious to what they're doing, and I wish I could intervene constructively, but a) it's not really my business, and b) the person who's doing the majority of the upsetting would react very badly if I tried to talk to them. I just wish there was more I could offer than hugs to the people who are on the receiving end of all this, but at the moment it doesn't seem like there is.
In other news, I seem to be getting more and more hysterical. I ended up in fits of something between giggles and tears last night while trying to beat Microsoft Word into submission so that I could fill in a job application form. Today I found myself once again struggling to choke back nervous giggles as more and more problems emerged with the data I'm working on -- which has reached the point of absurdity, but even so. In the end I had to hide in the toilets until I'd calmed down, and on the way there I noticed the sign on the wall between the Ladies' room and the Gents' room, which says
EMERGENCY
EVACUATION
PROCEDURE
and that nearly finished me. It's still making me giggle; the familiar shaky feeling just keeps welling up somewhere between the lines of the sign. Oh, feel free to laugh (with|at) me -- it's comical. Tragical. Comical-tragical. Scene individible.
I didn't get more than about 4 hours of sleep last night, due in part to the amount of coffee I'd consumed by the time I went to bed, but special thanks also go to the cretins who decided that our street was an excellent place to hold a drunken shouting contest.
I've got one thing left to look forward to this week, and if the bad news I'm half-expecting turns up tomorrow, that may well be off as well.
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no subject
Date: 2003-09-09 07:38 am (UTC)http://www.compactlaw.co.uk/monster/empf8.html
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Date: 2003-09-09 08:43 am (UTC)I'll definitely suggest the CAB but I know she's had trouble actually getting through to them in the past (apparently it's all automated phone systems etc). I'll pass on the above URL too -- thanks for that, that looks quite useful actually.
no subject
Date: 2003-09-09 08:43 am (UTC)Go to the Citizens Advice Bureau and ask though.
The form for applying to an ET is actually fairly straight forward to fill in - eg. it's designed for lay people not lawyers.
no subject
Date: 2003-09-09 08:49 am (UTC)The info on the page that
no subject
Date: 2003-09-09 08:51 am (UTC)You must have a year's service unless you're complaining about dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy or on the grounds of intimidation etc due to your role as a TU rep/health and safety rep or a couple of other things which I can't remember right now.