The Official "WWWD?" Thread

[Lavabe]

I understand why MacGyver and Road Runner want to wait and tell Boss at the last possible instant. I would do. I also agree that the shit storm will only grow the longer he is in the dark. I would (gently) remind MacGyver and Road Runner that while they are tenured you are not…and when it all comes home to roost you need to be gainfully employed somewhere that doesn’t have a drive through lane. Let them know in a matter of fact way that your are 100% behind this little equipment coup but also need to keep your job, no matter how much of a jack wagon Boss is.
<snip>
Last, try to paint yourself as an 'invited contributor' not a co-conspirator if you can without bus tossing MacGyver and RR.

Sending

This sounds reasonable. But yes, vibes to you.

[Turk]

Sooner or later obstacles to progress get removed or bypassed... Stick to the facts and keep taking the high road... Vibes!!

[windsor]

Just checking in to see if their any updates from the Gang Of Three.

Still vibing that it all works out for you!

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

Just checking in to see if their any updates from the Gang Of Three.

Still vibing that it all works out for you!

YES! Those with inquiring minds want to know!
Love, Ima

[ArkieDukie]

In a holding pattern for right now. I sent our preliminary proposal to our instrument company rep on Friday, along with a note using phrases like "tentative" and "dependent on approval from relevant parties at this end." We have a phone conference sometime Thursday to get his thoughts on our preliminary proposal. I thought it looked great, but it will be interesting to hear what he has to say. We asked for 3 instruments, or roughly $2 million in equipment. We can justify every bit of it, but nonetheless, we're asking for a lot. In any event, we will likely be getting permission from the Provost after that, and then the appropriate department chairs will be informed. Then the fireworks begin.

I had a conversation with MacGyver on Friday in which I expressed my grave concerns about our course of action - specifically, what sort of repercussions I would get from The Boss. I am a senior scientist, MacGyver and Road Runner are both untenured full professors. MacGyver immediately said that he's willing to be the scapegoat on this one and will take the heat. He is a bit safer since he's in a different department. I think he's trustworthy overall, but that doesn't make me any less nervous - especially since MacGyver responded to my email (the one with proposal attached) thanking me for taking the preliminary steps to get the ball rolling by writing the outline. Oh, and did I mention that Road Runner will be out of the country for 2 weeks starting on Wednesday, with MacGyver following shortly thereafter? They're insistent that we need to get this taken care of before they leave the country.

I also received the paperwork last week to apply for membership to the program that will ultimately house our new instrumentation, should our proposal be successful. I have started on it but have not submitted it yet. Frankly, I do not feel like this is something I should do without first consulting with The Boss. I need to talk with the director of the program and see what he thinks. To me, though, it smells even worse than applying for an instrumentation grant without The Boss' knowledge.

A funny side story: I may or may not have mentioned this, but MacGyver is a bit of an instrument scavenger. He has gotten 2 instruments for free recently, one of which was literally rescued from a dumpster. He and his people have put in a lot of effort and have gotten both instruments working. The Boss and his son were walking by MacGyver's lab (he's in a different building) and happened to spot him working on one of the instruments. They came into the lab so The Boss could grill MacGyver on the instruments - the whole "when, where, how, what can this be used for, why didn't I know about this" grilling. MacGyver kept his mouth shut about free instrument #2. To date, The Boss knows nothing about it. MacGyver wants to keep it that way, and I can't say that I blame him. None of us like the way his behavior regarding instrumentation has changed since Wile E. Coyote, his alleged instrument expert, has entered the picture. The alleged shared instruments in the lab that I'm supposed to be managing are available only so long as Wile E. Coyote or The Boss aren't using them. The Boss wants all the instruments to be shared. You can see where I'm going here, and this would be the other major reason that the new equipment is going into a whole separate program. (Not that this makes me any less nervous about the outcome.)

[ArkieDukie]

We had a phone chat today with our outside connection. Things are gearing up for the full-blown application process! They liked our initial offering; we simply need to do some tweaking. We emphasized science a bit too much before; we need to put more emphasis on how a partnership with us would benefit them. We can so do that. We have another phone conference on Tuesday. All of this means, of course, that on-campus political waters will be heating up soon. I am so not looking forward to that.

On a somewhat related issue, I mentioned before the possibility of moving my office space to one that is in the same building as Road Runner and MacGyver. It has since gone from an office to a cubicle to a desk in the lab. Making it worse, it's a desk that was deemed unsuitable for Road Runner's postdoc because it's too noisy/distracting. Therefore, the postdoc is getting an office and I was offered her old desk. Road Runner is expecting me to move my computational work to the desk that was deemed unacceptable for the person in her group who does similar work. As an added bonus, I actually have meetings with various collaborators in which I discuss their results - meaning I would need access to the computer. That cannot happen in the space that was offered to me, which leads me to the conclusion that the move cannot happen for some reason but they don't actually want to tell me.

The longer I thought about this, the more ticked off and insulted I became. Am I over-reacting? My current plan is to write a nice "thanks but no thanks" note, politely mentioning the points above - without mentioning being insulted that my contributions are viewed as less important than a postdoc's. Does this seem reasonable?

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

We had a phone chat today with our outside connection. Things are gearing up for the full-blown application process! They liked our initial offering; we simply need to do some tweaking. We emphasized science a bit too much before; we need to put more emphasis on how a partnership with us would benefit them. We can so do that. We have another phone conference on Tuesday. All of this means, of course, that on-campus political waters will be heating up soon. I am so not looking forward to that.

On a somewhat related issue, I mentioned before the possibility of moving my office space to one that is in the same building as Road Runner and MacGyver. It has since gone from an office to a cubicle to a desk in the lab. Making it worse, it's a desk that was deemed unsuitable for Road Runner's postdoc because it's too noisy/distracting. Therefore, the postdoc is getting an office and I was offered her old desk. Road Runner is expecting me to move my computational work to the desk that was deemed unacceptable for the person in her group who does similar work. As an added bonus, I actually have meetings with various collaborators in which I discuss their results - meaning I would need access to the computer. That cannot happen in the space that was offered to me, which leads me to the conclusion that the move cannot happen for some reason but they don't actually want to tell me.

The longer I thought about this, the more ticked off and insulted I became. Am I over-reacting? My current plan is to write a nice "thanks but no thanks" note, politely mentioning the points above - without mentioning being insulted that my contributions are viewed as less important than a postdoc's. Does this seem reasonable?

Perfectly!
Love, Ima

[Very Duke Blue]

I'm with Ima. That sucks.

[windsor]

We had a phone chat today with our outside connection. Things are gearing up for the full-blown application process! They liked our initial offering; we simply need to do some tweaking. We emphasized science a bit too much before; we need to put more emphasis on how a partnership with us would benefit them. We can so do that. We have another phone conference on Tuesday. All of this means, of course, that on-campus political waters will be heating up soon. I am so not looking forward to that.

On a somewhat related issue, I mentioned before the possibility of moving my office space to one that is in the same building as Road Runner and MacGyver. It has since gone from an office to a cubicle to a desk in the lab. Making it worse, it's a desk that was deemed unsuitable for Road Runner's postdoc because it's too noisy/distracting. Therefore, the postdoc is getting an office and I was offered her old desk. Road Runner is expecting me to move my computational work to the desk that was deemed unacceptable for the person in her group who does similar work. As an added bonus, I actually have meetings with various collaborators in which I discuss their results - meaning I would need access to the computer. That cannot happen in the space that was offered to me, which leads me to the conclusion that the move cannot happen for some reason but they don't actually want to tell me.

The longer I thought about this, the more ticked off and insulted I became. Am I over-reacting? My current plan is to write a nice "thanks but no thanks" note, politely mentioning the points above - without mentioning being insulted that my contributions are viewed as less important than a postdoc's. Does this seem reasonable?

That seems quite reasonable. I would indicate that while you were looking forward to moving, you are disappointed that you will not be able to given the proposed location (insert polite 'why' here) and that you hope that if more suitable space becomes available the move can be reconsidered.

Off the record, and verbally you can tell RR you were hurt (not insulted) that you were offered the space that was not good enough for the post doc. Use hurt not insulted. "Insulted" makes people defensive. "hurt" does not.

[ArkieDukie]

We had a phone chat today with our outside connection. Things are gearing up for the full-blown application process! They liked our initial offering; we simply need to do some tweaking. We emphasized science a bit too much before; we need to put more emphasis on how a partnership with us would benefit them. We can so do that. We have another phone conference on Tuesday. All of this means, of course, that on-campus political waters will be heating up soon. I am so not looking forward to that.

On a somewhat related issue, I mentioned before the possibility of moving my office space to one that is in the same building as Road Runner and MacGyver. It has since gone from an office to a cubicle to a desk in the lab. Making it worse, it's a desk that was deemed unsuitable for Road Runner's postdoc because it's too noisy/distracting. Therefore, the postdoc is getting an office and I was offered her old desk. Road Runner is expecting me to move my computational work to the desk that was deemed unacceptable for the person in her group who does similar work. As an added bonus, I actually have meetings with various collaborators in which I discuss their results - meaning I would need access to the computer. That cannot happen in the space that was offered to me, which leads me to the conclusion that the move cannot happen for some reason but they don't actually want to tell me.

The longer I thought about this, the more ticked off and insulted I became. Am I over-reacting? My current plan is to write a nice "thanks but no thanks" note, politely mentioning the points above - without mentioning being insulted that my contributions are viewed as less important than a postdoc's. Does this seem reasonable?

That seems quite reasonable. I would indicate that while you were looking forward to moving, you are disappointed that you will not be able to given the proposed location (insert polite 'why' here) and that you hope that if more suitable space becomes available the move can be reconsidered.

Off the record, and verbally you can tell RR you were hurt (not insulted) that you were offered the space that was not good enough for the post doc. Use hurt not insulted. "Insulted" makes people defensive. "hurt" does not.

"Hurt" is probably a more accurate descriptor. I do suspect that the offer of office space was premature and cannot be made for political reasons. I'm technically not one of her people, and she has stated on multiple occasions that they are her top priority. For instance, I cannot imagine how irate Bar Minion would be if I got an office while she was in a cubicle. The postdoc is going to be sharing an office, so that will appease her.

I suspect the current offer had another motivation. Brilliant Graduate Student has been working with me a lot recently, and she's learning to use the software that I use routinely. Putting me at a desk in Road Runner's lab makes my job more difficult, but it gives BGS and the other members of Road Runner's lab open access to my software whenever they want. BGS' name was even mentioned in the first sentence when Road Runner made the offer of the desk. BGS had been lobbying for Road Runner to actually buy a copy of the software that I use, but it's too pricey. Her latest complaint is that she can only work when I'm there, so moving me into the lab would address that complaint. The move would also give open access to Bar Minion, who is extremely unhappy that I'm doing analysis she believes she should be doing (regardless of the fact that she does not know how to do it herself). Bar Minion been trying to learn a couple of other programs that do the same thing, in fact - programs I had already tried out and found to be unacceptable. So, Road Runner's offer to move me to a desk in her lab gives her people access to almost $50K worth of software that she cannot afford to purchase. In summary, I guess it feels to me more like the offer was made in order to benefit her people than to benefit me.

[windsor]

It probably was made to benefit her people, and that would be fine if you found equal benefit for yourself. In this case, you do not. Respectfully decline while politely pointing out why the location is unsuitable. Also throw in an 'I understand why it would be beneficial to have me in proximity...so she knows you know it isn't all about having your shining face around ...that also indicates that should suitable digs be found, you would be willing.

[Very Duke Blue]

It probably was made to benefit her people, and that would be fine if you found equal benefit for yourself. In this case, you do not. Respectfully decline while politely pointing out why the location is unsuitable. Also throw in an 'I understand why it would be beneficial to have me in proximity...so she knows you know it isn't all about having your shining face around ...that also indicates that should suitable digs be found, you would be willing.

"Like"

[ArkieDukie]

That's pretty much what I did and got an immediate reply that I could VPN to do data analysis from my office computer. Well, no, I can't. My software license doesn't allow me to do that.

[windsor]

That's pretty much what I did and got an immediate reply that I could VPN to do data analysis from my office computer. Well, no, I can't. My software license doesn't allow me to do that.

...sounds like they love you for your software

[ArkieDukie]

That's pretty much what I did and got an immediate reply that I could VPN to do data analysis from my office computer. Well, no, I can't. My software license doesn't allow me to do that.

...sounds like they love you for your software

Yeah, this one is coming back up again. Road Runner put in for a small grant ($20K) to improve her data analysis setup. One of the ideas was to upgrade the copy of my $35K software to the server version (for roughly $8K) so that she can add a login for her lab (around $17K). There's not enough money to do both. At a meeting on Friday, she told me that she had an account number for the grant and then announced to Bar Minion and another lab member that she was going to get a copy of my software for her lab so that anyone who was interested could learn to use it. Bar Minion was quite excited. Now, here's the thing: I fear that this particular setup could end up being very bad for me. I suspect that, if we do upgrade my computer at the same time (not enough $$), the new box and the upgrade will end up in her lab and I'll have to compete with her people for software usage. That's not acceptable. How the heck am I supposed to do my job if I can't have access to a required resource?

My options are to let Road Runner pay for the upgrades, with the risk that the software control will get moved to her lab, or approach The Boss for the money. I can come up with justification for this quite easily, and Road Runner could then get the $17K copy for her lab. The risk here is that I'm forced to allow that idiot Wile E. Coyote to use my software, since he is learning to use it himself. Of course, one of the advantages to the server upgrade is that anyone in my dept. can buy a $17K login. Therefore, if WEC tries to horn in, I will cordially invite him to use some of his money to buy a license. I should mention that he doesn't have any money left and is always hitting up The Boss for more $$.

I was talking to a colleague and expressed a deep concern that WEC would pitch a fit and request to use my software whenever he wants. His response was that WEC is well within his rights to do so because my software is a departmental resource (The Boss purchased it). I asked again, "You mean, it's acceptable for him to take over something that I need to use in order to do my work, making me unable to do my work, even if he doesn't know what he's doing?" The answer was "Yes." This really, really worries me, and this would be the #1 reason why I would not want to approach The Boss for the money.

So, tough call for the crowd. Do I ask The Boss for the money (which Road Runner adamantly does NOT want me to do), or do I let Road Runner do all of the upgrades? Damned if I do, damned if I don't?

As an aside, my gut is telling me to be very, very careful of Road Runner. We get along very well, and she has given me many wonderful opportunities, but this makes me very, very nervous. Recall that I have tabbed her as a matcher (from the book Givers and Takers), which means that she expects favors in return. I've worked with several people like this in the past, and they are the type who will crucify you professionally if you dare to cross them. I'm trying to tiptoe a very fine line between being helpful and keeping my distance - if that makes sense. Hence, the current dilemma...

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I think I'd tell WEC to fuck off if he/she messed with me (again), me being in your situation.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I think I'd tell WEC to fuck off if he/she messed with me (again), me being in your situation.

Apparently this was my 9000th post. Somehow, it's fitting!

[ArkieDukie]

I think I'd tell WEC to fuck off if he/she messed with me (again), me being in your situation.

Apparently this was my 9000th post. Somehow, it's fitting!

Congratulations on your 9000th post!

Unfortunately I can't be quite that blunt with WEC. Recall that he is The Boss' golden boy, and any mud that one might sling at WEC gets thrown back 10x. Truly frustrating. The little weasel was caught rooting through Road Runner's and MacGyver's supply cabinets on separate occasions. They did not go to The Boss, but they did start locking supply cabinets. I'm pretty sure he's behind the disappearance of some supplies from another of our instruments.

I think I am going to ask The Boss for the money. I think it's safer for me to do that rather than having Road Runner put up the money. If The Boss makes any demands on Wile E. Coyote's behalf, I will start making demands of my own. The first one will be that I be given unlimited access to one of WEC's instruments. The Boss has told several of my colleagues that I have unlimited access to these instruments (which is not exactly true), so I think it's time to call him on it. I'll also remind The Boss that he promised me lab space inside WEC's lab, and it was not given to me. Instead, WEC has expanded to fill 2 adjacent rooms. Of course, if I do get instrument access and lab space, I will promptly install a nanny cam so I can report WEC if he starts stealing my supplies. Pet or no pet, WEC should not be able to steal from his colleagues and get away with it.

[windsor]

I would not ask the Boss for money directly. I would present to the boss the potential for utilization overload for this software (and include, in glowing terms WEC new found interest). Start with current load on the software in factual ytersm. Suggest that given WEC's pending need AND RR et all that the software will be over utilized inhibiting everyone's abiltiy to do good work (including WEC) If you need to lead him to the solutions "we could let RR upgrade, but then what about ...blah blah blah"... or we (aka 'Boss') could get more licenses. Stress the need for a soltuion BEFORE it reaches criticla mass.

Let him come up with a solutioln that is his idea.

[ArkieDukie]

I would not ask the Boss for money directly. I would present to the boss the potential for utilization overload for this software (and include, in glowing terms WEC new found interest). Start with current load on the software in factual ytersm. Suggest that given WEC's pending need AND RR et all that the software will be over utilized inhibiting everyone's abiltiy to do good work (including WEC) If you need to lead him to the solutions "we could let RR upgrade, but then what about ...blah blah blah"... or we (aka 'Boss') could get more licenses. Stress the need for a soltuion BEFORE it reaches criticla mass.

Let him come up with a solutioln that is his idea.

Thanks, Windsor! I will definitely use this approach. Some of what you say was going to be included. I plan to mention the work I've done so far, publications, and bringing in $$ for the department.