I can't stand my supervisor

[Lindsey]

As you might know, I've been working at this engineering company since January. It's my first job out of college, and I also did my "work term" with this same company, where I worked for 8 months (with pay) to get credit for school. When I worked here before I did lab work, so I was between construction sites and the lab here all week and most weekends doing samping, testing on soils, asphalt, and concrete, just really hands-on kind of stuff. After awhile the work just gets monotonous. It's the same thing every day, you never learn anything new, and there's nowhere to move up. I did like working alone though, just dealing with clients all day and not really being around the office much.
So when they offered me another lab job, I declined, but said I would be more interested in an office-type job where I'd know my hours every day. I can draft and I can design (I just need an engineer to approve my designs first), so that's the job I got. I've mostly just been drafting but I've also touched on a bit of road design. I really don't mind the work, I like it a lot better than being in the lab.
However, my SUPERVISOR is another story. I absolutely can't stand him. Looking at him just makes me feel sick. He has been through two courses on this new program, and I learned it on my own in a month. He asks me basic questions every day, and makes the same mistakes over and over that I have to fix for him. He is MONTHS late for every project he needs to do because he spends probably no more than 2 hours total in front of his computer all day. The rest of the time he walks around talking to people about his life, or stands outside smoking. He's been at work for over an hour this morning and his computer isn't even ON. On Monday I passed 2 projects on to him because I am wayyyy too busy. He had nothing to do. Yesterday afternoon when I was still swamped he threw them on my desk and said "Can you try to work on these too? They have to be done tomorrow." I didn't get a start on them and the engineer came in this morning looking for them So that's what I'm doing now.
His favourite topic of discussion is diarrhea. If anyone is sick ever, he asks if they have diarrhea! One day him and another guy were in here and they were asking about my bike, and I happened to be wearing a skirt. He told me I should ride around in my skirt and get some panties with motorcycles all over them and go for a ride with my skirt flying up and then he was like screaming "WOOHOO!" and I didn't even look back at him. I was fuming.
This company is small, there are only 10-15 people in this office. Anytime anyone has a personal meeting about anything, every word can be heard through the thin walls. I don't know how to bring it up to the boss, or if I should just suck it up and deal with it.

[HALEY]

i didn't know you did Lab work, that's right up my alley girl, i am a Penndot Certified Aggregate Technician, i love my job, i'm outside all the time ( don't like it to much in the winter) i test all day, if i get bored i take a ride out on site, leave for an hour for lunch, i love this freedom, not chained to a desk all day. and i love my hours 6-3:30, have my company truck.. i'm very blessed with this job, it's hard there is alot of heavy lifting, kinda hard for me, i'm a little person, but i do have big muscles in my legs and arms from lifting this job keeps me fit. and another good perk is that i work with ALL men, no women stabbing me in the back, i had office jobs before, and sometimes its very rough working with all women.
Plus i can't beat the pay is very nice, and i'm only 6 miles from home so that's a perk just in case my baby sitter needs me..
But anyways girl im wishing you the best. Good luck in your career and think about a tech job, if you can get Penndot certified there is a wide open area you can go... Penn dot is always looking for women workers, i would go but there is a lot of traveling involved and right now i want to stay close to home with my son.

[Lindsey]

That's awesome Haley! I'm glad you love your job. What I didn't like about the lab was never knowing my hours. I did quite a bit of compaction testing for roads in new subdivisions. I could go out in the morning and the lifts would pass, then I'd go out in the afternoon and they'd fail. If there was rush, I might have to go back in the evening, or sometimes they would just have me stay on site while they compacted a bit more, or maybe they'd make me take another sample back to the lab and have new results by morning. I was running around so much I usually never even took lunch breaks. I did like how strong I got though I'm also a tiny person but I gained so much muscle in my 8 months as a lab tech, and I felt so in shape. I had the opposite experience with the men I worked with though. A lot of the machine operators on site would make comments, although some were really really nice. The guys I worked with in the lab at the time were jerks though, they weren't a fan of a girl being there with them, and especially when I was the only one actually trained to do lab tests. They had all learned it from people, but I went to school for it. Anytime I corrected them they got pretty mad.

[HALEY]

i put my foot down with these guys when i got hired here, almost had to file sexual harrassment on one of them, but now they treat me like there daugher, so very nice group of guys i work with, it's some of the truck drivers i have to watch out for.
Your right it's a mans job, some of the men in this company don't like women doing a MAN"S job, but i just blow them off, im here to do a job and that's all, had my share of fights here like any job.. but i try to be nice a fair about it..

I like the way my body looks, i do look like a body builder, my mother thinks i'm to skinny, but i'm always running like you said i get samples all day, and they have to weigh at least 30-50 lbs that i do lift, winter time its a little slow right now but come summer i'll hardly be on this site, i'll pop in once in a while.

another perk i can wear jeans and my husbands shirts all day, i had to get use to the steel toe boots but i did walked funny for a while until i got use to them there cold as hell in the winter time i tell you.

[Lindsey]

Ohhh I know, I'm not a fan of steel toes in the winter! I actually had some concrete tests to do in the winter (WHO pours concrete when it's FREEZING?) and that was pretty terrible because of all the water needed. I tried using plastic gloves overtop of warm gloves but the water always splashed and soaked the warm gloves anyway! So I resorted to just filling HOT HOT water before I left the lab, and then my hands would go from freezing cold metal to nice warm water. We have a lot of contracts with mines up north, and the girl who works in the lab now was testing concrete and some of the guys saw her and felt bad for her out in the cold. The next time she flew up they had built her a little shack to test in, to keep her out of the wind! So not all the guys are bad guys
The whole office environment here is pretty slack too. I'm in the office now and I still wear jeans every day. Nobody really dresses up at all. Actually, today is doggy day My dog at this moment is sleeping on my desk in front of my monitors lol. Four little dogs showed up today, but I think they're all having some nap time right now

[HALEY]

try steel toes in the winter time being 7 months pregnant and your feet are swollen that was me last year.. so glad those days are over with.
i have to go an FE test today on B-scrap so i'll be outside most of the day today. not bad today it's 30 degrees and it's only 7:30 am. so i'm going to get this done before it gets colder.
ya some guys just can't handle working with women, or a woman with a mans job, but i can joke with these guys up here and have a good time all day, they just know with me there is always that fine line they know not to cross. You just have to put your foot down and say, i don't like the sexual jokes around me or remarks about my ass or etc. and use the word sexual harrassement and the shut up really fast...
But like i said the group of guys up here are very nice and they help me when they see me getting samples outside or with my heavy lifts, or if something breaks down in my lab the mechanic's are here really fast.
So yes i love my job, and i like wearing jeans all day, and if you have a bad hair day who cares i have to wear a hard hat anyways.