On August 6th I’d had enough of being sabotaged by my team at work. This had been going on for months. I’d tried to work around it, talked to the offender, talked to management… you name it. Most of the team problems stemmed from one passive-aggressive coworker, but when my boss, a friend of this coworker, started to develop the same attitude, I resigned.

Prior to that we’d been planning to build a house, a nice one we could live in at a nice price, or turn around and sell for profit. We’d even moved in with parents to save more down payment faster. Now we can’t build the house AND we’re living jobless with my parents. And I’m looking for the silver lining…

Do you ever get the feeling that some people like to make themselves appear smarter-than-thou, mystical, untouchable, scary… you name it… Well, I get that vibe sometimes and haven’t been sure what to do with it: I ask a simple question and get a “Do not arouse the wrath of the Great and Powerful Oz!” type of answer back.

Complete with fists pounded on the desk.

I’ve finally recognized it as a desperate (and all-too-often successful) attempt to intimidate me. I don’t know how I missed that before. But I need to find a way around the meanness and intimidation, because just like our Kansas heroes, this wizard and I have a common goal to accomplish together, whether we like it or not.

In the meantime, enjoy a quote from the movie script, which is laughably similar to the conversations I’ve had:

“If you were really great and powerful, you’d keep your promises!”

“Do you presume to criticize the Great Oz? You ungrateful creatures! Think yourselves lucky that I’m giving you audience tomorrow, instead of twenty years from now. Oh — oh oh! The Great Oz has spoken!”

What a world…