Extracting Myself From Hell

Well, that hasn't gone so well. The new job. There is a complete meathead in charge of who, and I could be misreading this, but I don't think so, everybody seems to live in fear. Big, box head, grunts a lot. He has no idea what is wrong with their processes and procedures, but he wants me to fix them anyway. He seems to have no problem asking me to perform duties outside of my scope of contract, as though I am his permanent employee. (Hey mate, I am only filling in until you get yourself a real employee... 6 to 8 weeks max) The exiting employee who is doing the handover was away one of the two days I had with her last week that she was supposed to be instructing me, as she had no one to look after her kids in the holidays. She completed crucial work I am supposed to know, at home. Boof-head's only comment was, "Ah, oh, yes, I guess that is a problem."

I sat there for the second day, well, morning, with no computer and nothing to do, until I said that it was pointless. (I can't stand being bored and idle at work, at the best of times, I need to be busy)

On our way out the first day, I asked the exiting employee if she was going to a new job, she stopped walking, looked nervous and said, "Ah, oh, no... sorry I have left something behind," and cut the conversation off as though she really didn't want to talk about it and walked back in the opposite direction. Of course, there could be a multitude of reasons for that that I don't know.

I just have a very bad feeling about the whole thing.

All I can see is two months of misery ahead.

Jack called me to ask me how it was going. I told him what I thought. And he said, "It is no problem to replace you Christian, if you really don't think it is going to go well."

We finished the conversation with, "See how you go next week," said Jack. "Don't stress."

I ate my lunch and thought, there is no problem to replace me? Two things I have found from doing contract work, that when I turn down/get out of a shitty job a better one always comes along. And, I've learned though experience, in permanent and contract roles, don't stay in a job you don't like, life is too short. So I emailed Jack (wimp, I know, but I didn't think of that at the time) and said, "Jack please replace me."

My company could send in a systems analyst to give them a structure to fix all of their problems, but, of course, they don't want to pay for that. They expect little old me to sort out their systems and rejig their procedures, all the while completing the day to day work as well. I've seen this before, and sorry guys it just doesn't work that way.

So now I am waiting for the word, that I have been replaced. Cross your fingers. Please universe, don't send me back to hell that would seem to me to be very unfair.