Finally we’ve reached the end of this stressful week. Next to the transport of my car from Michigan, which I’m now satisfied is going to proceed quite pleasantly, the biggest stress-inducer this week has been getting my company’s new website ready for launch by Friday. I was hoping to have that launched, done and gone by the end of the week, so I could go home and enjoy the weekend without any “project overlap.” Unfortunately, that may yet fail to occur.

As usual, the CEO of my company is shirking his responsibility to his development team. This is nothing new. He is constantly underestimating the time and effort it will take us to perform the tasks he saddles us with, and to add insult to injury, he is also quite fond of ignoring us when we have concerns during the development of said project. He demands to have the final sign-off on everything, but then you can’t get his final sign-off. He ignores you, won’t return e-mails, walks by you while you’re trying to get his attention. He may not realize it, but he’s not exactly making us all want to give much of a damn about the quality of our work.

Today’s example has Mr. CEO completely ignoring the fact that we cannot launch the new company website until he’s reviewed it and is satisfied with it. He won’t review the goddamn site. A coworker and I have been trying all day long to get him to take just a few minutes to sign off on the site. But he is literally ignoring us. I need at least an hour’s notice, too, because I have to work with our release manager to test the site before it goes live. At this point I’m ready to just forget it and not put the site up, and if he has any problems with it later, I will explain that his arbitrary deadlines are going to continue to go unmet until he either gives this project the attention it demands, or delegates that responsibility to somebody else.

Next week, the CEO and three of his top executives are going to be attending a trade show in New York, so they won’t be in the office. I was thinking it was going to be quiet, and that I would have a chance to relax and do some “catch-up work.” Sadly that was not to be either, because I’ve just been given another one of our CEO’s famous “redesign this product in a week” assignments, which are always absurd and usually impossible to complete in the time alotted. This time it’s even crazier than usual, because that 1-week deadline isn’t just for a prototype—it’s to get the whole, finished product live and ready for use. That means I have to finish the prototype in 2-3 days, and a software engineer has to code it for another 2-3. That simply isn’t going to happen.

I’m not exactly sure what planet our CEO lives on, but for the 3+ years I’ve worked here, he has never once demonstrated that he is even beginning to realistically understand the time and effort it takes to perform the work that we do as a company. I simply don’t understand how this is possible.

Anyway, enough of that crap. Since nobody, including the pompous CEO himself, will be in the office on Monday, I’m going to stick around at home until my car gets delivered. I’m certainly not going to waste my time rushing to work, rushing home to pick up the car, rushing back to the office, et cetera. After I worked myself into a knot over the whole auto transport situation last week, it occurred to me that I frequently worry far too much about far too many things. I simply refuse to worry about missing a couple hours of work to pick up my car.

The weekend itself, at least, is shaping up to be nice and calm. I was going to take my wife’s car in for a tire rotation on Saturday, but I think I’ll stay home and do it myself. After all, I keep yakking about how I want to get more experience doing automotive work what with the arrival of KITT. I already change my own oil, but rotating the tires is even easier, if more time-consuming. I might even do it this evening.

A few days ago I was contacted by a local guy who I’ve done some website design for. Apparently he gave my name to another local person who wants a website built for his magazine, and advised me that I should call said person. I really don’t appreciate having my name given out to contacts without my permission. I’m probably unique in this—I imagine most freelancers want their names spread all over the place—but I’m different; I like my privacy.

Anyway, this potential client called me that same afternoon before I got home, said he didn’t want to bother me at work (why did you call me there, then?) and asked me to give him a call after 6:00 regarding the site. So I did. Twice. He never picked up. For the next three days I tried to call him and he never picked up. I left a message. No callback. I suppose he could have left a message on my cellphone, though, but seriously…I do not need a client who I am going to play phone tag with. Assuming I ever get the chance to talk to him, unless the job seems very simple I am going to refuse the business. I want some extra money to toy with, but I don’t want another “client from hell” experience.

It’s funny; when I was in college, my web design class instructor asked me what I wanted to do with my life and seemed appalled that I wanted to be a freelance web designer. “Oh God, no, you don’t want to do that, trust me,” he said. At the time I thought he was nuts. Now I don’t. Fortunately, since those days I have matured and realized that freelancing is for Type A personalities only. I’m quite happy with my day job. Here, our customer service crew and upper management both act as a buffer between the development team (me) and the idiot clients. That’s just how I like it.

Anyway, it’s 4:00 and I have a meeting. Time to go!