Donkey Blankets

This morning, two men from two different university safety offices walked in my office and said that they can't proceed with a project that Ob is (supposed to be) supervising because Ob never opened a work order (WO). Thanks to my silver tongue (snicker) and brilliant adaptability (har-har), we opened a temporary WO. I also left a voice mail for Ob, asking him to call me to "coordinate" (i.e. so I could tell him what I did to save his job and so he could tell me what he was supposed to do).

Side note: One of the safety officers told me that Ob was at a dental appt. It would have been nice if Ob had informed his fellow employees.

When Ob phoned me back, he gave me the WO# he opened this morning (not yesterday, as he had claimed, and certainly not a week ago, when he was supposed to). It was written very specifically for one shop, so no wonder it didn't get to everyone it needed to. I went to the WO desk and opened Ob's WO to the proper shops and closed the substitute WO, so that charges won't be misapplied. (I ought to charge Ob's account for the time I spent fixing his screw-up.)

Another project I'm putting more time than I should into is the demolition of Alumni Avenue, one of our residence halls. The architect knows only part of the project. The project manager knows only part of the project. Naturally, my irrigation crew needs to know both parts, so we'll know when and where to shut off the sprinklers. I discovered that the architect and the project manager have not spoken with each other about this project, even though they work for the same supervisor. (Don't bother suggesting that I tell their supervisor because he's just as incompetent as they are.) They even met with me separately. Now they won't respond to my numerous voice mails (on office phones and cell phones) and e-mails. In the meantime, the project is going ahead. I found out today (Thursday) that the demolition is scheduled to start on Monday, and I have yet to see a WO for utility locates. Maybe they need to break an irrigation line or get a heavy truck stuck in wet turf before they realize how important it is to call me back.

I fixed the office's air conditioning this morning, too. The thermostat is not user-friendly. There are several buttons, none of which tells you how to set the time or temperature. That doesn't keep people from messing with it (and screwing it up), though. The owner's manual wasn't in the file cabinet (naturally), so I went online and printed a new one from the manufacturer's web page. (That's the first thing that no one else is capable of thinking of.) I then read said owner's manual (the second thing). I then knew which buttons to push and in which order (the third thing), so I was able to fix the time and desired temperature (although, oddly enough, the day was correct), not to mention program it so it would conserve energy when the office is unoccupied.

All of this was while I was trying to get my own work done. It has been one of those days where I want to add "Does everyone else's job" to my resume. Thus came the inspiration for the title of this post: I'm often called upon to cover someone else's ass.