Almost a month to the date since my last post, and a few important things have happened.
WORK
My manager changed again. I have had four managers in one year.
Four managers in one year! Un-fucking-real.
My third manager and I met to discuss my performance review the last week of January but before getting into the nitty-gritty of the conversation, we spent fifteen minutes laughing it up and talking about death. See? Cool manager.
At some point, he must have mentioned the change and I must have ignored it. I was so focused on discussing an increase in salary that I must have tuned him out after our last comments about dying of old age.
Completely my fault, no doubt.
I realized he wasn’t my manager when I logged into Workday to submit my time on Monday morning. I immediately sent him a message on Teams. He replied, “We spoke about this during your performance review last week, remember?”
No, I don’t remember. I remember our funny conversation about death and my request for a salary increase. That’s it. Again, my fault.
I gave him a semi-honest reply, “I must have tuned it out because I wanted you to remain my manager. Sorry about that. I swear I was paying attention.”
He asked if I had met with my new manager, and I told him that I had but that I failed to discuss money because I was under the impression he would still be my manager. I asked him if I should speak with her about my salary request or if he would communicate it to her. He affirmed the latter.
My new manager is a woman, and she appears to be down to earth; however, I do not trust women especially women in positions of power. Women, particularly white women, are difficult to support because they are convinced that they need to act tough or tougher than their male counterparts, and they act like they have something more to prove than their male counterparts.
The only thing any working adult has to prove is that they have the experience and skills to do the job. Anything extra is a sign of their own insecurity, and that’s a them problem not a me problem.
Female executives who carry around these feelings almost always act like absolute cunts.
Say what you will about my use of the C word, but it’s warranted. Ask any female executive assistant (EA) who supports a female executive if it’s as bad as I say it is, and they’re very likely to respond, “Where would you like me to start?”
BUT…
I’m willing to give her a chance. We met earlier this week, and we seem to be on the same page about how to get things done. She doesn’t squirm at my candidness (I’m professional albeit very blunt) when speaking about the company and its shortcomings. That’s important because she needs to understand what we’re dealing with, because it’s not an easy situation.
Regardless of how bad it is at the company or how bad it can become, salary increase or no salary increase, my bills still need to be paid. Equally as important is the amount of money I need to save to execute my plan later this year. I do not want to be that person that makes a life-changing decision with $1,000 in the bank. No, no, no. I want to make sure I have more than enough money to weather almost any storm.
I will divulge all details once the time is right.
For now, let’s hope my manager doesn’t act horribly (like a cunt-I really like the C word) and I keep this job until I’m comfortable to leave.
Personal
My good friend, Louis, and I decided to take a quick trip to Paris, France, the week of January 20. I’m going to write a separate post about it. I wanted to write up a quick recap of each day when I returned to the hotel at night but getting back late made that impossible. I planned to write on the plane ride back to NYC, but I chose to catch up on some reading and much needed sleep instead.
It’s a work in progress, and I’ll publish my post before the end of February.
I failed to share something I’ve been working on in my recap of 2024. I can share this because it doesn’t give away the big plan, and I hope my future posts about it help anyone who wants to accomplish the same thing.
I have been studying and working with a French tutor to take the DELF exam (Diplôme d’études en langue française) at L’Alliance New York in New York City in June. The DELF is a language proficiency certificate awarded by the French Ministry of Education to non-native French speakers, and it’s recognized worldwide.
I also have been studying and working with an Italian tutor to take the CILS exam (Certificato di italiano come lingua straniera) at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di New York in June. The CILS is administered by Italian Culture Institutes around the world, and the certificate is awarded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It’s also recognized worldwide.
When I decided that I was going to take the exams in 2025 last November, I imagined myself taking the DELF B1 on June 10 and the CILS B2 on June 11 so I could have both certificates by September 2025. My big plan only requires knowledge of one of those languages, so I recently decided to forego taking the CILS exam and instead focus on taking and passing the DELF B2.
I would rather have the DELF B2 certificate than the B1, because it signifies a higher level of French language proficiency. I can always take the CILS at a later date. Unfortunately, these exams are not administered frequently. The DELF is administered four times a year at L’Alliance and the CILS is administered only twice a year at the Istituto di Cultura di New York.
I also decided to stick to studying for one language exam for two other reasons: 1) these exams require a lot of preparation, 2) private tutors are expensive.
I’m using iTalki, and the Italian tutor offers different packages of classes. I purchased two packages of 5 classes for $140.62/package. My French tutor charges 26 € ($30) per lesson, and that’s with a discount. Each lesson isn’t expensive on its own, but it’s beginning to add up. To date, I’ve paid out $733.87. If I keeping paying for both tutors through the end of May, I’ll have paid a little over $1,500.
When it comes to self-improvement for personal or professional reasons, any money you spend is worth it. And if you have the money to spend, spend it to improve yourself. With the change that I want to make later this year, I need to make sure every dollar is spent correctly and I think the best choice is to spend the money on my French lessons because it’s the language for which I really want the certificate.
While the private lessons are slowly draining my bank account, studying for two exams is consuming all my time. While I don’t have any serious commitments and can devote all my time to studying for both language exams, I think it’s better if I dedicate myself to passing one exam with flying colors than passing two exams with a satisfactory grade.
I also don’t want to risk feeling overwhelmed at some point in the near future. I love dedicating my downtime and lunchtime at work to studying, and then studying some more in the evenings at home; however, I’d like spend some time doing other things.
Speaking of other things, Orange Theory Fitness celebrated my 150th class this morning. I was wondering how many classes I’ve taken so far, & I got my answer this morning.
Other than that, life has been good and quiet. Let’s hope February stays that way.