The Pitcher Plant Strikes Again
Mar. 6th, 2007 01:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thessalianToday has been a completely weird sort of Kafka-esque deal.
So I got to ChelWest no problem, and turned up at Management 3, and went looking for the contact I'd been given - a temp named Samantha with General Medicine. Which was fine, except for the fact that no one knew about any Samantha and General Medicine hadn't authorised a temp. Huh. So I ring the agency. Agency rings their contact, says, "Sorry - ask for Stephanie. Seems like there have been some communication problems on that end." So I ask for Stephanie in General Medicine. I am duly informed that there is no temp named Stephanie in General Medicine either. Ring the agency again. Turns out that Stephanie replaced someone named Nikki in Surgery rather than General Medicine. So I ask about Nikki and am simply told, "She doesn't work here anymore." Yes, I know that, hence the temp named Stephanie. Turns out that no one told the staff bank that a new temp was coming in at all, so apart from this Stephanie person and her contact (remaining nameless), no one knew I was coming. I am finally pointed in the direction of Stephanie's desk.
Stephanie is not in. Stephanie hasn't shown up at all. They've had to cancel a clinic because of it, as I found out on my fifth call to the agency. They are going to send someone named Louise to come fetch me. Fine. Fifteen minutes later, still no Louise. I ring the agency again. Eventually, someone turns around to a guy I remember from working in Trauma and Orthopaedics here and asks if he can show me where I'm supposed to go.
...Okay, why him, if he's Orthopaedics rather than Surgery and...?
And the penny drops.
See, it turns out that, while I was told General Medicine and eventually figured it out to be Surgery, they actually meant Orthopaedics. Which means, whaddya know? I'm back in the exact same stupid job I was in last time I was here. OMFG. Well, at least it means I can get my copy of The Plague Dogs out of my old desk drawer, and all my passwords and stuff are still current. Also, they've made damn sure that I'm still getting paid from 9 am even though I didn't start technically working till 10 because I spent an hour wandering around Management 3 looking for someone with a clue. Still ... I didn't want this job again...
Best part of all is that the previous temp in this position got sacked for being incompetent. I found this out after listening to 39 messages on the voicemail system, the 38th being a call from one contact or another saying, "You know you let your last temp go because you weren't happy with her? Well, we got you a new one..." Yeah. 39 separate messages on the answerphone, all from points in which this woman was supposed to be working but didn't do a fucking thing. Also, all her letters got sent out with more corrections than I know what to do with, to the point where the consultants and registrars are having to spell out words that are actually supposed to be simple for a decent med sec. Yeah. Right. It is going to be fun getting all this sorted out.
Anyway, when all's said and done, I feel quite justified in taking an abbreviated lunch and buggering off at half-four so I can get over to Leicester Square in plenty of time to meet![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dodgyhoodoo for dinner before going to see Equus. Two and a half hours, and I'm free. Same again tomorrow, too, for the interview for a job I actually want.
The employment gods mock me, I tell you.
So I got to ChelWest no problem, and turned up at Management 3, and went looking for the contact I'd been given - a temp named Samantha with General Medicine. Which was fine, except for the fact that no one knew about any Samantha and General Medicine hadn't authorised a temp. Huh. So I ring the agency. Agency rings their contact, says, "Sorry - ask for Stephanie. Seems like there have been some communication problems on that end." So I ask for Stephanie in General Medicine. I am duly informed that there is no temp named Stephanie in General Medicine either. Ring the agency again. Turns out that Stephanie replaced someone named Nikki in Surgery rather than General Medicine. So I ask about Nikki and am simply told, "She doesn't work here anymore." Yes, I know that, hence the temp named Stephanie. Turns out that no one told the staff bank that a new temp was coming in at all, so apart from this Stephanie person and her contact (remaining nameless), no one knew I was coming. I am finally pointed in the direction of Stephanie's desk.
Stephanie is not in. Stephanie hasn't shown up at all. They've had to cancel a clinic because of it, as I found out on my fifth call to the agency. They are going to send someone named Louise to come fetch me. Fine. Fifteen minutes later, still no Louise. I ring the agency again. Eventually, someone turns around to a guy I remember from working in Trauma and Orthopaedics here and asks if he can show me where I'm supposed to go.
...Okay, why him, if he's Orthopaedics rather than Surgery and...?
And the penny drops.
See, it turns out that, while I was told General Medicine and eventually figured it out to be Surgery, they actually meant Orthopaedics. Which means, whaddya know? I'm back in the exact same stupid job I was in last time I was here. OMFG. Well, at least it means I can get my copy of The Plague Dogs out of my old desk drawer, and all my passwords and stuff are still current. Also, they've made damn sure that I'm still getting paid from 9 am even though I didn't start technically working till 10 because I spent an hour wandering around Management 3 looking for someone with a clue. Still ... I didn't want this job again...
Best part of all is that the previous temp in this position got sacked for being incompetent. I found this out after listening to 39 messages on the voicemail system, the 38th being a call from one contact or another saying, "You know you let your last temp go because you weren't happy with her? Well, we got you a new one..." Yeah. 39 separate messages on the answerphone, all from points in which this woman was supposed to be working but didn't do a fucking thing. Also, all her letters got sent out with more corrections than I know what to do with, to the point where the consultants and registrars are having to spell out words that are actually supposed to be simple for a decent med sec. Yeah. Right. It is going to be fun getting all this sorted out.
Anyway, when all's said and done, I feel quite justified in taking an abbreviated lunch and buggering off at half-four so I can get over to Leicester Square in plenty of time to meet
dodgyhoodoo for dinner before going to see Equus. Two and a half hours, and I'm free. Same again tomorrow, too, for the interview for a job I actually want.The employment gods mock me, I tell you.