It's never sounded like your boss hates you - just that he is incredibly incompetent as a manager. I have really negative vibes about him because he sounds so much like the male version of a raging narcissist I worked with - I can't get that idea out of my head.

With this additional description, it's starting to sound like he is just labeling the work you are being asked to do in a really inappropriate and offensive way. I am not sure what you would call this role, but maybe they are looking for a strategic report of the meeting rather than just minutes? If all they wanted was information capture, they could just record the meetings, right?

But if he is asking you to google stuff and take notes... that's treating you like an admin. .. unless he is preparing you to take a more managerial role with the clients and business acquisition? I really don't get it - but this *could* be a really awkward way of giving you a promotion of sorts, although it sounds like it would be one you don't really want.

Yeah, I don't like that. Maybe Option B wasn't that great when the problem was not having enough work, but being assigned secretarial duties... that makes Option B look a bit better.

If your mother has a friend, it's tempting to just give those two some suggestions about things old ladies might like to do in your town and let them amuse each other. Let her friend take some of the pressure off you-- your mother won't be bored and alone if she has Mary to keep her company.

The less notice she gives you about dates, the easier it is to claim that you aren't available

I went on a road trip to some of our outer branches and learned *so much* about this company. The more I dig in, the more levels of dysfunction I find. So many of my original assumptions were right. The organization openly proclaims that anyone who does not generate billable hours is of no value. It's not just IT. They have doubled the # of employees in a year or two and people are starting to have mental breakdowns.

I think the person I am working for is someone who actually suffered due to this, not someone who believes in this policy (although he might be slightly indoctrinated).

So the further involved I get, the happier I am that I am not a full-time employee with an impossible job. And thank god I am not salaried!

I just spent nearly two hours this morning trying to sort stuff out. OMG. It's not really worth the money to work on this stuff from home. I need to do a better job disengaging.