Monday morning started out slow and easy, but by noon it had gotten over it. Complaints, problems and idiocies dominated the scene from then on.

One of the hardest chores is explaining to the management of another part of this organization that my branch does not make organization-wide policy in general, nor do we establish policy for their branch, specifically. If the company policy is x, then x is what we do. No, we cannot make an exception, no we cannot pretend we didn't receive the memo, no we cannot cite an imaginary funding line, no I will not put my job at risk because you failed to plan ahead. Yes, I understand that you're frustrated and angry and out of time; deal with it. All said in the warmest and fuzziest way I can muster at the moment, because warm and fuzzy is my mandate. I would love to be able to say, just once, "You're fired!" Or some other uncompromising definitive pronouncement. I'll go home and practice on the dog.

Well, back to putting a good face on an impossible business and the attempt to do more with less.