When the Cat's Away

As you may know - I love my boss.

Not sexual like - you pervs, but filial.... Look it up.

So, he very nonchalantly informed me a few weeks back about his vacation plans for the year.

Seems like no big deal.

He's going home to Jamaica to see his Mom (I told you he was a great person!), for two weeks, and then he's taking another week over Thanksgiving to have a vacation with his wife (aww!)

OK - so he really is that terrific. His mama raised him right (see previous blog about 'yo mama'...).

Now here's where my happiness about him trusting me enough to be alone in the hen house becomes neurosis.

We did talk about my 'little problem' before he went way.

He has been slowly trying to give me more stuff to get me experience before he goes, but the problem is simple: we are responsible for our department and another entire governmental departments' fee collection.

This doesn't sound like much - but I need to process fees for everything from Air Quality, to Surface Water, and understand the basics of the documentation and calculations that the ahem - engineers use to come up with the fees for the developers, etc. and it's pretty much me and him. Even his boss doesn't know as much as he does about the detail and specifics - he's like the wizard of Accounting - making it look easy and with enough experience and the network that it really is easy - for him.

This is an awful lot to assimilate in just over three months. When anything goes wrong, or gets complicated - now I'm the go-to guy! No back-up, no C to ask, no safety net! Five Divisions, plus Development Management, and the three people on the front counter, (only one has any sense) and all the IT and register issues and all the reports... all on me!!!! ARRGHH!!!

The bottom line is this: I just don't want him to come back from vacation and have a bunch of my crap to clean up....

OK - so there has been some sleeplessness - this kind of stuff definitely spills over into my subconscious. I'm not one of those people who doesn't dream, or doesn't remember their dreams - or does the black and white thing. My dreams are like Oz baby...

So, I made it through week one with only some relatively medium to large speed bumps.
We had two - 2 - TWO, things that I needed to call Accounting for.

OK - you should know that I've never had to call the County's Accounting Department for anything before last week.

He's in Jamaica!

Here I find out through the talk of the co-workers that he's never never taken more than three days off at a time

I know why - the place is a freakin' never-ending line of issues and problems to resolve and they need him!

Last night I dreamt that I had items to close out of last years' ledger and the fiscal year closed on Friday - but I don't reconcile my receipts until Monday and so I missed my deadline. I had a couple of millions of dollars of revenue that were going to post to the wrong year...

2am - still no sleep....

I'm neurotic.

I can't wait until he comes back.

He'll laugh for sure and tell me that I did great - he always does.

I'm going to need my vacation soon.

Come on February....