Uh oh. H's boss is coming to visit

[steph96]

Guys, I am a huge ball of nerves right now. I'm sure you are tired of hearing about this. My husband works at an oilfield service company. They have been doing layoffs. My husband is the assistant manager. The manager just got an email from the owner saying "I will be there tomorrow at 10am. Be ready". This is so out of character for the owner. He always CALLS the day of and tells the manager to pick him up at the airport at 10am. That's all he ever says. One sentence and then he hangs up. It's been this way for at least 16 visits. Why is he suddenly giving them notice of his visit 12 hours sooner than usual? What in the world does "be ready" mean? Why is he emailing instead of calling? The manager is flipping out. My husband is nervous. I am freaking out. This can't be good. I hope I will be able to sleep tonight. Please cross all your fingers and toes for us!

[Deleted]

Big big deep breaths. Remember, everything for a reason. Maybe a layoff would be a good reason to move to Colorado?

[onomatopoeia]

Thats weird. Be ready for what? To lay people off? To be laid off? To make a case for continued employment? To have enough chocolate glazed donuts? Give him a ride from the airport? Did the manager email him back and ask what was up, and if there was anything specific he should prepare?

Sorry, this is probably not helping. I agree with the pp.'s - there's nothing you can do tonight that will change anything, so take a deep breath! And maybe a glass of wine. I'm crossing my fingers and toes for you!

[steph96]

Apr 21, 2015 21:06:28 GMT -5 @idaholakelady said:

Big big deep breaths. Remember, everything for a reason. Maybe a layoff would be a good reason to move to Colorado?

I really do wish we could!  We decided that we need to put that off until my husband gets his degree.  Out of state tuition is just too expensive.  He should be starting college this summer, so Colorado is hopefully a part of our 5 or so year plan.

[steph96]

Apr 21, 2015 21:20:50 GMT -5 onomatopoeia said:

Thats weird. Be ready for what? To lay people off? To be laid off? To make a case for continued employment? To have enough chocolate glazed donuts? Give him a ride from the airport? Did the manager email him back and ask what was up, and if there was anything specific he should prepare?

Sorry, this is probably not helping. I agree with the pp.'s - there's nothing you can do tonight that will change anything, so take a deep breath! And maybe a glass of wine. I'm crossing my fingers and toes for you!

Exactly!  The owner is a man of very few words.  The manager is a whimp and will never ask him any questions.  My husband wasn't told about the visit (completely normal), so he can't ask any questions.  It has to be something big.  He already made his quarterly visit and I can't imagine him paying to fly his private plane here just to grab coffee with them.  The only non-quarterly visits have been to hand out bonus checks, fire managers (these are always unannounced visits), or to talk to management about layoffs.  The 2nd round of layoffs didn't even get a visit--it was just a call.

When the manager called my husband, he was flipping out.  He thinks that he will get fired and my husband will take over.  I don't think this is the case.  If they were going to fire the manager, they wouldn't rely on the manager for transportation (they have a SUV sitting at the airport for this exact purpose).  

I'm so mad at my husband.  I had a talk with him after I posted here 3 weeks ago.  He agreed that he would start looking and applying for jobs.  He hasn't applied for any yet.  I'm pretty sure that he has only looked at job listings twice since then.  This is not okay.

[aurora]

I know it's easier said than done but try to let go since there's nothing you can do to change the situation now. And definitely update us tomorrow!

[Deleted]

Apr 21, 2015 21:33:53 GMT -5 steph96 said:

Apr 21, 2015 21:06:28 GMT -5 @idaholakelady said:

Big big deep breaths. Remember, everything for a reason. Maybe a layoff would be a good reason to move to Colorado?

I really do wish we could!  We decided that we need to put that off until my husband gets his degree.  Out of state tuition is just too expensive.  He should be starting college this summer, so Colorado is hopefully a part of our 5 or so year plan.

Getting residency only usually takes 1 year... I'm rooting for you to make it work!

[steph96]

Two hours until we likely find out the reason for the visit!

[Pom]

I am thinking of you this morning and hoping for the best for you guys. ((hugs))

[compassrose]

Good luck today!

[raangoli]

I hope all goes well today! Fingers crossed.

[LoveTrains]

Good luck and keep us posted.

[tealblue]

Good luck!!

[steph96]

Update: They just met with the owner. There was no mention of layoffs. Apparently he just wanted to come see how things looked. They lost a lot of jobs and he just wanted to make sure that they were cleaning and properly storing all the equipment that was returned. The owner is currently headed to lunch with the manager, so we aren't completely out of the clear yet.

[compassrose]

Ugh. Sorry you guys were stressed out for nothing, but at least it's not bad news.

[steph96]

Apr 22, 2015 11:35:28 GMT -5 @foodielicious said:

omg what a freaking drama queen.

Actually no. What's the opposite of a drama queen, this guy seems woefully out of touch with how his words and actions are perceived by those who report to him. Talk about stirring the pot for nothing.

eta:  I'm glad it's nothing but inducing stress for no good reason is not nice.

I know! I'm hoping this will be the final push for my husband to realize that he needs to get a new job. Living on pins and needles all the time is not okay.

[mbcdefg]

Ugh, clueless bosses are the worst.

Hope all is well.