Administrative Woes

There are complicated problems going on (nothing exciting) that are causing all sorts of angst for all sorts of people who I will quite possibly never see again after the end of July.

There is really no good way to fix the problem, and the people involved already have a well-established, if dysfunctional, way of interacting. For example, saying that everything is fine when talking to the person who has some control over the situation and then complaining to other people who have absolutely no power at all.

And apparently there is the belief that I have a magic wand and a time machine.

Which I don't.

I don't really deal well with inter-personal problems between mathematicians.

My most successful administrative task this weekend involved an amazing logistics rendezvous involving the T. The group was taking the T from Kendall to somewhere at 8-something am on Saturday, but someone in the group had stitches in the emergency room at 2am on Saturday and needed to get a prescription filled before leaving with the group. And there aren't any 24-hour pharmacies within walking distance, and none of us has a car (or a Zipcar).

That's the kind of problem that I can solve. Mathematicians and misunderstandings? Not my strong point.