Cowboy Who?

Back in the 1990s, Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar was in his office in New Delhi when he came across a puzzling story in the newspaper. Some university scientists in the U.S. had apparently filed a patent for using turmeric to help heal wounds. Mashelkar was shocked, because he knew that using turmeric that way was a well known remedy in traditional Indian medicine. And he knew that patents are for brand new inventions. So, he decided to do something about it – to go to battle against the turmeric patent.

But as he would soon discover, turmeric wasn't the only piece of traditional or indigenous knowledge that had been claimed in Western patent offices. The practice even had its own menacing nickname - biopiracy. And what started out as a plan to rescue one Indian remedy from the clutches of the U.S. patent office, eventually turned into a much bigger mission – to build a new kind of digital fortress, strong enough to keep even the most rapacious of bio-pirates at bay.

This episode was produced by Willa Rubin with help from James Sneed and Emma Peaslee. It was edited by Molly Messick. It was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Our engineers were Josh Newell and James Willetts. Planet Money's executive producer is Alex Goldmark.

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The Margaritaville musician is also remembered as a successful author and entrepreneur.

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One-sentence summary

Idalia is expected to become a tropical storm again as it approaches Bermuda, while multiple other systems out there are of no land concern at the moment.

Post-tropical Idalia

Idalia is in a post-tropical phase currently, meaning it’s no longer a “warm core” system feeding off of warm water. Basically, Idalia is an “extratropical cyclone” without thunderstorms and with fronts, akin to a broad nor’easter off the East Coast.

Over the next couple days, Idalia will wander toward Bermuda, eventually probably feeding off the warmer water near the island, which could (should?) allow it to regain tropical characteristics and become a tropical storm again. As Idalia does this, there could be periods of heavy rain and gusty winds on Bermuda. Tropical Storm watches are posted for the island. This is probably not going to be a damaging storm there, but frankly if you have a trip planned to Bermuda over the next few days, I have to apologize.

One other note on Idalia: Because it has grown quite large in size, it will likely continue to churn up rough seas off the U.S. East Coast. This will probably keep rip current risk high for the holiday weekend, so if you are beaching it there this weekend, please use caution in the water. Rip currents can be very dangerous.

Lastly, what does Idalia do beyond Bermuda? Yes. That’s the answer. Yes.

In all seriousness, there is a huge disparity in model guidance regarding Idalia’s track forecast after about day 4 (Monday/Tuesday).

Once Idalia passes Bermuda it will be subject to the whims of building high pressure in the central Atlantic and whatever steering flow is present in the northwest Atlantic. Because there is a lot of action in the Atlantic right now, it makes the pattern forecast into next week a little challenging to decipher with specificity. We’ll call it convoluted. Could Idalia turn left and head to New England? Certainly. Could it head out to sea? Certainly. Could it just meander and eventually fall apart? Certainly. Anyone speaking with confidence on this right now is not serious. We’ll watch it through the weekend and see how this evolves. We’ll keep you posted this weekend as well.

Franklin and Jose and Gert and 94L

Franklin, Jose, and Gert need to learn a thing or two about personal space. Because right now, they’re not really giving any of that to each other.

Remember Tropical Storm Gert? Of course you don’t. It formed a couple weekends ago, then dissipated, and managed to fester long enough to regenerate this morning back to Tropical Depression Gert. It’s just southwest of Tropical Storm Jose, which is just southeast of Hurricane Franklin. Neither of these is a threat to land. All of these will have some impact on the broader pattern in the Atlantic. Alas.

Meanwhile, east of all this, occupying its own personal space is Invest 94L, which should become Tropical Storm Katia today or tomorrow. It is also of no threat to land.

Next week’s next wave

Lastly, we continue to have visibility in modeling on the next tropical wave which may develop by mid to late next week in the central Atlantic. Given the potential location of this wave, it probably is worth keeping tabs on in the islands for next weekend or late next week.

Modeling seems to be in good agreement on this area developing and potentially getting close to the islands by next weekend or so. Its track will ultimately be determined by exact placement of features in the Atlantic and how strong the system itself can get. These are questions we can’t answer right now. We’ll watch it through the weekend and update with more once we get some clarity.

Antonio Lechuga: Structures of Softness at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center, August 5 – September 2, 2023

Criss-crossed bars, resembling an “X” at the joint, and a four-pointed diamond in the negative space between them are the current motifs in Antonio Lechuga’s work. A similar body of work to what is on view here, titled Fences, was shown as freestanding pieces of lattice, covered in a fleece cobijas (artisan-made Mexican blankets weaved of acrylic and polyester) in a variety of colorful prints. Here, those lattices have been layered over each other to cover two long wall segments of the gallery. What appears to be a bed sits in the center of the space, until closer inspection reveals that it is layered sheets of the cobijas, arranged into a similar size and shape. The question occurs to me: is this a platform for a performance, or does it simply denote that the exhibition space is a bedroom? Lechuga’s fences are questioning what defines, divides, or unifies space.

****

Jammie Holmes: Make the Revolution Irresistible at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, August 11, 2023 – November 26, 2023

This exhibition is some of Jammie Holmes’ freshet work, as the vast majority of the paintings here were made in the current decade. The works are big, and museum curator María Elena Ortiz drew some lofty comparisons to Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper during my visit, a distinction that requires some evidence, I think. The lack of contrast in these works surprised me, as I have become conditioned to expect strong pictorial and chromatic expression in painting. Make the Revolution Irresistible, in comparison, is not a flashy show. Holmes seems intent to root the world in a colorscape between brown and deep green, which asks the viewer to detect edges in subtle differences. There are flourishes here and there, by way of metallic confetti in gold and silver, or a stray pink smudge that attempts to frame a larger composition. A tiny chapel, wooden and painted white, streams fuzzy analog video from an old television in the center of the main gallery, with hardly enough room for two.

Holmes’s short career means that this exhibition, his first in a museum setting, is instructional for a local audience that has watched his career quickly balloon. (Holmes is based in Dallas.) We have been able to see him develop his bodies of work from their gestation. I had the opportunity to visit his studio last summer, and while many giant canvases were present then, I don’t recognize any of them here. Holmes is very busy.

My point is that his compositional acuity has grown in a compact time, and this is a somewhat uncommon opportunity to see a local artist coming into his prime while a museum shows work to his peers. It has been a short decade, but Holmes has been documenting it with vigor.

****

Adrienne Brown-David: Taken Aback by my Own Beauty: Identity as Rebellion at Pencil on Paper Gallery, July 8 – August 26, 2023

Pencil on Paper has mounted an exhibition of Black portraiture by Adrienne Brown-David, a resident of Missouri. The figures depicted here are friends and mostly family, with an overt tone of intimacy. Two of Brown-David’s four daughters are repeatedly shown, as in a painting where one of them is dressed differently for two different poses. Brown-David is focusing on self-expression of the individual, in an effort to encapsulate the dynamic nature of a family that is still taking shape. The background of each portrait is painted a distinct color after the figure has been completed, giving the work a reactive quality. Solo painting exhibitions of portraiture mean that the viewer may be sneaking a glimpse into intimate relationships, and there is always more of a story to tell than what we can see on the surface. 

****

Eduardo Sarabia: this must be the place at Dallas Contemporary, April 20 – September 24, 2023

When paired with Dallas Contemporary’s concurrent exhibition, cerámica suro: a story of collaboration, production, and collecting in the contemporary arts, Eduardo Sarabia’s work feels contextualized, at least in the sense of the plasticity of the material he’s using. This incredibly dense show (see: the labyrinthine gallery map provided outside the gallery’s entrance) is laid out as a Mexican hacienda, and its rooms are labeled as domestic spaces.

The way Sarabia’s differing bodies of work fill out the space makes the installation feel as though it could be studied for a few hours. There are ceramic tiles, as well as blue and white vessels, which are both decorated in a chinoiserie style, featuring alluring swimsuit models and other chicano figures. Once, on a research expedition, Sarabia encountered a drug cartel member in Sinaloa, Mexico. As they spoke, the artist designed a fountain based on the cartel member’s description of a sculpture commission he wished to make. Sarabia then went back to Cerámica Suro and created the piece. This exhibition’s re-imagining of Mexican elements and style, combined with a distinctly melting pot approach to culture, makes this show a highlight of the summer.

****

Barbie, Directed by Greta Gerwig, 2023

Barbie Land, the fantasy world in Greta Gerwig’s film adaptation of the Mattel toy, is not dissimilar to the Christian concept of heaven. All of its inhabitants spend every day in perpetuity repeating utopic bliss and wear fabulous glowing robes. Perhaps the main difference is that in Barbie Land, society is ordained by women. Men are present and liked, but at times are vocally regarded as superfluous. I may also point out that every physical attribute of this magenta universe is skeuomorphic, which means that appearances only refer to hypothetical functions. The shower does not run water, and the waves of the ocean are literally plastic; they are fixed in time and space.

I entered the theater with some basic assumptions about the film: that it would have a strong feminist message, and that it would be almost uniformly pink. It is difficult not to form an opinion of Barbie prior to seeing it, as its marketing campaign lasted nearly one calendar year before release and included over 100 promotional partners. The more attention and popular zeitgeist it generated, the more I assumed it would be a very conventional media product, at least ideologically. I was looking for it when I attended a screening of the film in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. “This theater is never this well attended,” my host, RJ Supa, told me. There must be something in the water.

An immediate lesson I learned from my viewing experience was to hold off expectations about a film, even if its mission is to be a vehicle for merchandise (Barbie is, firstly, a toy). Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, who co-wrote the screenplay, have managed to wring out insight from the American doll brand. Barbie’s perfect environment creates a vacuum of meaning in her relationship with Ken, which is the internal conflict of the film. This is performed with charisma on the part of Ken (Ryan Gosling), and open-minded introspection from Barbie (Margot Robbie).

The cinematic experience suffers somewhat from an excess of clarity, by way of the digital cinematography. There can be a flatness of presentation, as in scenes that happen at the dream houses or in the Mattel top-level boardrooms. Other scenes, like a fight in the Barbie Land dream world, feel more dynamic, with greater depth of field and a complex sense of time. Musical numbers advance the story, but also refer to the decades of American film musicals in their set design and choreography. 

Finally, I do appreciate the film’s moral: that supremacy is a condition for which all beings must make amends. I’ll be more specific: Barbie says that patriarchy makes men into tyrants, and it really doesn’t have to be that way. The conceit operating the film (that Barbies are a kind of idealized projection of the people that play with them) forces some awkward literalism, which requires that there must be a one-to-one representation between what exists in the fantasy universe of the film and what the movie calls “the real world.” In general, I found Barbie to offer some creative surprises in spite of all the commerce from which it came.

William Sarradet is the Assistant Editor for Glasstire.

The post Structures, Beauty, and Barbie: Recent Exhibitions in Dallas appeared first on Glasstire.

1. You have dark circles around your eyes.

2. You look absolutely feral when caught off guard by flash photography.

3. Your behavior is unpredictable, and you could become unexpectedly aggressive at any moment.

4. You are a mostly solitary creature, but sometimes you band together with gender-specific social groups, because it’s the only way you’ll survive.

5. Your appearance in stark daylight is alarming, and prompts calls to public safety.

6. A bath wouldn’t hurt.

7. People get upset when you come into a restaurant with your family, because your mere presence is a disturbance and they think they’re going to have to fumigate the place once you leave.

8. And everyone freaked out that one time you all got onto an airplane, even though you were just sitting there minding your own business and the one who was really stressed out in that situation was you.

9. Those whiskers are getting pretty long.

10. And you very obviously don’t shave your legs, but nobody really expects that from you anyway. To be honest, everything is looking a little hairy and untamed.

11. And sure, you tend to weigh a lot more in the winter, but the extra stored fat will keep you nice and toasty during the cold months! Your roly-poly body is adorable. It’s perfect. You’re perfect.

12. In 1778, Benjamin Franklin traveled overseas to negotiate a treaty with the King of France for the purpose of gaining support during the Revolutionary War. In an effort to make a great first impression and fit the French expectations of a “colonial,” he donned a cap made from your skinned hide.

13. You survive off a steady diet of leftover food scraps, like half-eaten pizza crusts and the last couple of nibbles of an apple core.

14. That’s why the kids call you “Trash Panda” to your face.

15. A rabies shot wouldn’t hurt.

Exhausted parent of small children: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15
Raccoon: 12

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This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go…

1. I have $10,000 in unsubmitted business expenses from my old job

At my previous employer (employed September 2022 – April 2023), I incurred expenses on my personal credit card and did not submit them for reimbursement. I was battling a handful of personal and mental and legal challenges at that time. My irresponsibility in hindsight is just baffling to me now but … I was in a really dark place. Fast forward to today, I still have these receipts and have not submitted any of them. They go as far back as October 2022 and total roughly $10,000.

Do have the option to submit these because they were on a personal card vs. a company business card? I’m trying work on paying down some debt, but I’m assuming my window of opportunity has long since closed. Is reimbursement on a company card vs. a personal handled differently or does everything need to be submitted in a timely manner (30-60 days) regardless?

Oh my goodness, $10,000! Ethically, they absolutely should reimburse you — those are their business expenses and you shouldn’t have to pay for them, regardless of how much time has gone by. And shouldn’t matter that they’re on your personal card as long as you have receipts and can prove they were approved work expenses.

That said, I don’t know if they will. They might balk because it’s so long after the fact, particularly with the ones from last year. You’d have a better shot if you were still working there, but with so much money at stake, you should try regardless. If they say no, you’re no worse off than you are now. Approach your old manager there first, since that’s someone who knows you and might be invested in trying to get this fixed. Don’t wait another day!

2. What do I do about ear-splittingly loud conferences?

I have some physical issues that require me to be very careful of my hearing. I deliberately took a position where noise is minimal, and according to my manager I’m doing well in it.

Recently, my team went to an industry conference. The industry is not especially loud-sound-related — it’s not in entertainment or munitions or anything like that. So I did not expect to run into any problems. However, at the first keynote, there was bass music so loud that the floor shook, with people shouting into mics to be heard over that. Several other people and I had to leave. That night there was a networking mixer with a DJ that was so loud I couldn’t stay for more than a few minutes, and I couldn’t have heard anyone I might have wanted to network with if I’d stayed. The following night there was another networking event with the same DJ, and, even with the earplugs that I’d brought, I couldn’t manage more than five minutes. When I got back to my hotel room after the last event, I saw that the sound stress had burst a blood vessel in my eye.

A big part of going to conferences is networking, so I feel I didn’t get my department’s money’s worth out of the event. I’ve been to other conferences in this industry that didn’t include aural assault, so it’s not like it’s standard. But my department spent thousands of dollars on my participation (what with conference registration, flights, and the hotel) and that seems like an expensive way to learn that a conference is not for me. Is there a way to determine in advance if conferences will be rock conference wanna-bes? If not, how should I handle any future events if they prove to be similarly untenable? I’m resigned to being Susie No-Fun, but I don’t think my department should be out of pocket for that.

I went 16 years with no letters on this topic and in the last two months have had two. Conference organizers, get your sound levels under control!

I can only think of two ways to suss this out ahead of time. One is to contact the organizers beforehand and ask. The other is to ask people in your field who have attended in previous years. Neither of these is foolproof since one person’s “blood-vessel-popping loud” is another person’s “not too bad” … and even if someone attests that it was safe in past years, it could change the next year.

But you should definitely give feedback to the organizers of this conference, and do the same thing if it happens at another event in the future. You might also talk to your manager about the problem and ask if there’s another way she wants you to handle it — but it’s pretty likely she’s going to tell you to do exactly what you did (leave if you can’t comfortably stay). The chances of running into this wouldn’t warrant never attending a conference again as a precautionary measure, but it’s smart to give her a heads-up about the issue so it’s on her radar too.

3. How can I turn down endless gifts of salad dressing?

I live in a country where food gifts are a common way to express appreciation to coworkers (think, a little treat from a bakery, etc). I have a colleague who I regularly help with a task outside of my usual job duties but within my unique skill set. This task happens twice a year, and every time, she gives me a bottle of a certain type of salad dressing as a thank you. It’s a delicious dressing, but honestly, salad isn’t part of my regular home cooking rotation. The unopened bottles of dressing are building up in my cabinet. I have a friendly relationship with this colleague, and I don’t want to hurt her feelings. Do I have any way to escape the endless dressing?

“This is so nice of you! I haven’t been eating much salad lately so I shouldn’t take any more, but it’s so kind of you to think of me.”

4. Company doesn’t use titles externally

I am a young professional in my last year of school. I recently started work at a new industrial company. One of the women I eat lunch with says that the company does not use any titles externally — our titles are only internal. For example, our titles do not appear in our email signatures (which we are not allowed to set ourselves — this is governed by IT) and to my knowledge they do not refer to anyone as “project manager” or “engineer” outside of internal communication, even with vendors and clients. Is this normal? Is there a good reason for this?

It’s not the norm, and it seems like something that’s going to breed confusion in situations where you want clarity. In many external communications, a title quickly communicates what your role is and a general idea of what authority and expertise you might have. Those are usually useful concepts to be able to convey to clients in particular.

HALIFAX – Following a trying summer of forest fires and floods, Halifax once again scrambles to ready themselves for its next force majeure: the annual deluge of wealthy Ontarians to Dalhousie University. CTV Atlantic Meteorologist Allison Durling was the first to raise the alarm, noting, “As you can see on the radar, we have what […]

The post Nova Scotians board up windows and gather supplies in preparation for incoming Dalhousie Students appeared first on The Beaverton.

One-sentence summary

A much less intense Idalia should move toward Bermuda heading into this weekend, but there is a bit of uncertainty about what happens next week, while a couple other systems meander out to sea elsewhere.

Tropical Storm Idalia: 60 mph, moving ENE 21 mph

Idalia is moving off the coast of the Carolinas now, as it begins its march toward Bermuda.

Heavy rain continues from Idalia over far east North Carolina, with some flash flood warnings posted for the Outer Banks this morning. Some locally hefty rainfall amounts are occurring in that area. Wind gusts generally in the 40 to 50 mph range with a couple exceptions have also been occurring. A tropical storm impact in this region for sure.

Idalia will continue eastward today and tomorrow with gradually improving weather over the Carolinas.

As Idalia heads out to sea it should hold its own or weaken a bit further, encountering a lot of wind shear. Because of Idalia’s size, tropical storm conditions or breezy rainfall could begin in Bermuda as early as later tomorrow or Saturday.

Through day 5, the forecast for Idalia is pretty straightforward. It will slow down as it approaches Bermuda and meander for a couple days, so by Monday it’s somewhere near or north of Bermuda.

From there, things get weird. On the map below I plotted the 500 mb pattern, or what would steer Idalia at about 20,000 feet up. Areas highlighted in red indicate warmer than normal, or what we’d refer to as “above normal heights.” Areas highlighted in blue are below normal. The yellow is an overlay I did of “spin” in the mid-levels of the atmosphere to identify Idalia relative to the 500 mb pattern. Confusing? A little, but it paints a picture I can use as a meteorologist.

The lack of blue color means there is a lack of lower heights or troughs that could pick up and move Idalia. Instead, Idalia on Monday night is stuck between a rock (high pressure over the Eastern U.S.) and a hard place (building high pressure from near the Cabo Verde Islands). This should produce erratic, uncertain movement early next week. And it’s plausible that Idalia has a lack of an exit, so whatever is left of it at this point would just sit and spin. This isn’t spectacular news as this could lead to an extended period of rough surf and rip tides on the East Coast that began this week and may extend into next week.

It also does open the door up for weird things like a track back toward the coast, except in the Northeast, not Florida. A couple things to note here: Idalia may or may not be a tropical system at this point. It surely should not be a strong tropical system if it is, but it may be a broad one size-wise, which means it would be capable of rough surf or offshore gale conditions. I think once we see how Hurricane Franklin’s exit goes, we’ll have higher confidence in the early next week period, hopefully in a day or two. But in general, we have a long way to go here, so we’ll keep an eye on things. Idalia should impact Bermuda in some fashion beginning by this weekend.

Elsewhere

Hurricane Franklin: 100 mph, moving ENE 15 mph

Franklin remains a category 2 hurricane, but it is beginning the process of accelerating out to sea.

No other impacts to land are expected as Franklin heads out.

Tropical Storm Jose: 40 mph, moving N 5 mph

As all the chaos broke with Idalia, Tropical Depression 11 formed out in the middle of the Atlantic this week. Overnight, that became Tropical Storm Jose. This will be a short-lived storm, and there’s no way Jose will impact land.

Invest 94L

Far out in the eastern Atlantic, we have Invest 94L , which is currently over the Cabo Verde Islands. This has about a 70 percent chance of becoming a tropical system over the next few days. But it will be heading northwest or due north away from any land impacts.

Looking ahead

Other than monitoring Idalia, it will be a relatively quiet weekend into early next week. There are some signals of another Cabo Verde type system that could get going later next week or next weekend, but that’s far out there, and given the high uncertainty in the northern half of the Atlantic, I don’t really want to speculate on what might happen with that one.

That’s about it at the moment. We have a couple days to catch our breath and focus on hopefully lower-end impacts of Idalia in Bermuda. We’ll then see what happens next week and keep tabs on the next system emerging off Africa later next week.

Good morning. I don’t want to provide false hope to anyone, but the reality of the matter is that by Sunday, conditions for our region will start to change and favor at least the possibility of some rain showers across the metro area. We’re also looking at temperatures in the upper 90s to 100s, rather than really crazy temperatures of 105 degrees or above. So, as we move into September, we probably should embrace the small victories.

Thursday

For now, there won’t be much change. After a weak front moved into the region earlier this week we’ve been seeing some drier air and it’s made for some decently nice evenings and mornings, with lower humidity and slightly lower temperatures. Daytimes remain really hot, but this is partly because dry air warms more quickly. We’ve been seeing some afternoon humidities in the 20 percents, and that should continue. Look for highs today to again be in the upper 90s to 100 degrees, with low humidity. Overnight lows should drop into the 70s, with light northeasterly winds. Skies will be sunny, and rain chances nil.

Friday

Another day a lot like Thursday. Humidity levels will be a bit higher, but not much. So for Houston, in summer, it will still feel pretty dry.

Saturday

This will be a bit of a transition day, with mostly sunny skies and our formerly northerly wind shifting to come from the east. This will help start to raise humidity levels. Coastal areas may see about a 20 percent chance of rain, but for most of us it’s just going to be hot and mostly sunny, with highs of around 100 degrees.

Sunday and Monday

It’s Labor Day weekend, so the majority of people reading this will have Monday off from work as well. (Don’t worry, we’ll still have a report for you on Monday). By Sunday we should see high pressure start to retreat well to the north, and this will open up our region to moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the potential for rain showers on Sunday and Monday. I’ll put chances for both days at about 60 percent for areas along and southeast of Interstate 69/Highway 59; and 40 to 50 percent for areas further inland. In terms of accumulations, we’re probably looking at a few tenths of an inch, give or take. But I would say that is far from set in stone. When it’s not raining, and it certainly won’t be most of the time, we can expect mostly sunny skies and highs generally in the upper-90s.

Next week

Rain chances look to hold on through Wednesday, after which we may return to a mostly sunny pattern, with days in the upper 90s to about 100 degrees. There are still no indications of the season’s first real cold front, but it’s probably too early to have an expectation of one.

Tropics

After ravaging the Big Bend area of Florida, as well as Georgia and parts of the Carolinas, Tropical Storm Idalia is moving into the Atlantic Ocean and away from the United States. Beyond that there is a lot of noise in the Atlantic Ocean, but nothing that really need concern us in Texas, or indeed, the rest of the United States. Full coverage of all of this can be found on The Eyewall.

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes:

I have a coworker, Louis, who I’ve been fed up with since he’s joined our team.

Situation: Sometimes, not terribly often, Louis asks me questions that I know he’s already gotten the answer to via email. We’re part of a larger team, but mostly it’s just us on a joint client project. His usual process seems to be, “If I try something once and it doesn’t work, ask Jane (me), because she’ll find it more quickly.” If I mention it’s in an email somewhere, he’ll ask me what my problem is and would it really be that terrible to just quickly send it to him again/walk him through the process for a few minutes? And no, it wouldn’t, but the reason he’s asking me instead of looking it up himself is because it’s just easier on him (I’ve seen him do this to others and don’t believe it’s because of sexism).

Context: When Louis joined our team, he refused most of our attempts to teach him the ropes. He would cancel meetings that we’d set up, mostly because he’d rather start a bit later or didn’t see the need (his words), and told everybody in our company how easy our team has it (because others were shouldering the work — and yes, in hindsight, I should’ve told my manager that in no uncertain terms, but she’s very hands-off anyway). He learned most of the important stuff when he was alone at the project for a few weeks, with me at another location, and he absolutely had to. He still has questions sometimes, and I usually answer those, even if it’s been covered before. I have many more grievances that may absolutely cloud my judgment (i.e., he doesn’t care much about keeping our main client happy, he didn’t take me seriously at ALL during his first six months here, his actual work is … not good, he’s noticed that he doesn’t know all he should and keeps mentioning how little he was taught when he first joined the company(!)).

Question: How do I deal with his questions when he could find answers elsewhere (process documentation, emails)? I know there are more issues to address, and I need to push for him to take on more of our “shared” tasks, but I’m unsure how to reply to “why can’t you do this small thing, it would really help me” (said in a rather fascinated tone, like what possesses me to deny a simple request made by a fellow human?).

The words you want: “Sorry, I’m swamped right now.”

Obviously that shouldn’t be necessary; you shouldn’t need to defend your choice not to do his work for him. But since he pushes you on it and implies you’re a belligerent wastrel for not helping, just start responding to his requests with variations of, “Sorry, I’m swamped, but it’s definitely in an email somewhere.” And then if he asks what your problem is (!) or otherwise pushes back on that, you can simply ignore him. Or, if you want, say, “Like I said, I’m swamped and can’t stop what I’m doing.” Or if you have an expressive face and are willing to use it, feel free to give him a look that conveys, “Why are you asking me to stop in the middle of a busy day and do your work for you?”

Alternately, you could address it more head-on! As in, “It’s really weird that you act like I’m wronging you when I don’t take extra time to dig up old emails and resend them to you. You should assume you’re in charge of tracking those yourself and I’m not going to hunt them down for you.” But Louis sounds like such a jackwagon that I’m not sure it’s worth bothering, when you can instead just flatly decline in the moment.

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