The management at work are conducting a cruel human experiment on us. We're being subjected to 'extremes' of temperature, as the useless air conditioning sends the office temperature on a rollercoaster, rocketing at one point today to 29C, then plummeting to 22C as we reduced the thermostat display by just one degree in an attempt to lower the temperature. This has been going on since last week, and tempers, in our already fractious and divided office, are getting frayed as well as frazzled.

What's worse is that our boss seems to think we are being impertinent by even mentioning that there might be a problem, and some people have adopted the 'anything for a quiet life' approach, even if this means being reduced to a pool of sweat. As I walked into the sauna today at the start of the late shift, I went to ask our manager almost immediately if we could take the thermostat down a notch. All the other muppets (from the early shift) were sitting there, too afraid to say anything, but as soon as I mentioned it, our manager became annoyed and snappy (which I didn't much care about), but everyone else admitted they were too hot as well. I really do work with a bunch of wet lettuces. I wonder if some of them can wipe their own arses.

The annoyance with this unpredictable temperature situation - at times we're having to go outside to keep warm, as the ceiling blows Arctic draughts onto us - manifested itself yesterday. Yes, even Mr Calm and Controlled Chig found himself being inappropriately acerbic with the new temp. She's only been with us for two weeks. She has been inadequately trained by the WORST person in the office to train a newie. (The one who cuts all the corners himself and infuriates us with the lack of information on anything he writes. Or doesn't write, to be strictly accurate.) The induction booklet for new temps STILL doesn't exist, two-and-a-half years after we started recruiting new people occasionally. And unfortunately, she's one of these people who thinks that because she's been with us for a fortnight, she knows everything and doesn't need to listen any more. She's not the sharpest tool in the box - I even had to show her how to use a hole punch properly. My patience was at its lowest ebb yesterday, when her phone was ringing out on the desk (next to me) as I was doing something urgent on screen. She stared at the phone for several rings and said, "Shall I get that?" "Yes, please," I replied, as chirpily as I could muster to what seemed like a really dumb question. She stared for a few more seconds at the number of the incoming call displayed on her phone, as it continued to annoy us all by ringing out, then came out with a classic. "But I don't know who it is," she whined. I said "There's a really good way to find out," without even turning away from my screen. I think she then answered it. She probably found out who it was then, and the world didn't end.

Another colleague laughed and said, "Ooh, that was catty", but honestly, what do you expect? I said to her, "I find I don't know who 100% of my calls are from at home, so I answer them to find out. Amazing, isn't it?" You just can't get the staff.


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