This is getting out of control
So...I've told you before about work related strife. We're passed stressful and into laughable. Part of my job is global support. Not a big deal, I've done it before but in the past it's been for largely English speaking people and usually, expats. Now I'm getting emails like this:
"Proszę wysłać (jak najszybciej) do Rabena 5 palet przekładek 1046260 z PL0112 do PL0306.
Jak zwykle będę wdzięczna za potwierdzenie dokumentu, którym przekładki będą wydane z fabryki."
I am not making this up.
I'm pretty sure that's Polish (but it could be Czech). Neither is available for translation in Babelfish so now I have to find somebody who can translate this or find a website capable of doing so.
In addition, I had a conversation with my manager about training my new counterpart. He asked how I "feel about travel". I asked him where and how long and with an evil grin he said, "two weeks at least, probably three." Now if any of you are familiar with business travel that means I'd be gone at least a month. It did not pass unnoticed that he didn't say where.
I asked again, "Where?"
"Moscow."
"and when would I be going?"
"Next month."
"Uh...next month is December. You're asking me to go for the entire month of December?"
"Not the entire month, you'd be back before Christmas"
"Right. That doesn't really work for me."
"January?"
"You want me to spend an entire month in Russia in January?"
"Yes."
"You know my contract is up at the end of December, right?"
"@#@#$@%#$"
He left to reconsider his options. He knows he has to resign me because Ivan (my Russian counterpart) is not ready for prime time. I decided to head him off at the pass and talked to Ivan about coming to the US and A. He was, shall we say, very excited about the idea and immediately started pestering his manager (and mine.)
See? Reading "The Way of the Weasel" has it's benefits. Thank you Scott Adams!
"Proszę wysłać (jak najszybciej) do Rabena 5 palet przekładek 1046260 z PL0112 do PL0306.
Jak zwykle będę wdzięczna za potwierdzenie dokumentu, którym przekładki będą wydane z fabryki."
I am not making this up.
I'm pretty sure that's Polish (but it could be Czech). Neither is available for translation in Babelfish so now I have to find somebody who can translate this or find a website capable of doing so.
In addition, I had a conversation with my manager about training my new counterpart. He asked how I "feel about travel". I asked him where and how long and with an evil grin he said, "two weeks at least, probably three." Now if any of you are familiar with business travel that means I'd be gone at least a month. It did not pass unnoticed that he didn't say where.
I asked again, "Where?"
"Moscow."
"and when would I be going?"
"Next month."
"Uh...next month is December. You're asking me to go for the entire month of December?"
"Not the entire month, you'd be back before Christmas"
"Right. That doesn't really work for me."
"January?"
"You want me to spend an entire month in Russia in January?"
"Yes."
"You know my contract is up at the end of December, right?"
"@#@#$@%#$"
He left to reconsider his options. He knows he has to resign me because Ivan (my Russian counterpart) is not ready for prime time. I decided to head him off at the pass and talked to Ivan about coming to the US and A. He was, shall we say, very excited about the idea and immediately started pestering his manager (and mine.)
See? Reading "The Way of the Weasel" has it's benefits. Thank you Scott Adams!
Comments
Sheesh. Though everybody knew that one.
Seriously, it's from poltran.com, which seems to work in both directions so perhaps you can use it to fill in the missing details.
I took the Way of the Weasel and ignored it. Turns out I was included for no apparent reason and it appears to have autoresolved. Nevertheless, thanks for the link!
(No cyrillic characters available here, darn!)