Marking Territory

I feel like a National Geographic case study. Yesterday, I had a run-in with my predecessor at work and I feel a bit of uneasiness between the two of us today.

I notice that she cannot look me in the eyes for a long time. And that she hums a tune when she would really rather say something...

Yesterday, I was quite in a bind over the passing of the DFA/DOF endorsements for tax exemption and was quite worried that we had to pay for additional costs, when we had a lot of extraneous expenses already for this project. After a particularly worrisome phone conversation about the last resort to pay taxes and other duties, she punctiliously informs me to make a report about my experiences, especially about overshooting budgets, adding that she didn't bother preparing any reports because she knew "their" capabilities.

If not for the timing of her (unsolicited) comment, I would've normally welcomed it. But I was already stressed out and her statement about "their" capabilities struck a discordant note in my highly-strung mind. I answered that since I had no idea about the available budget I couldn't make a judgement if I indeed overspent budget for this project, and then shot back, why would I prepare a report when she hasn't prepared any herself?????

So that was it. A total case of marking each other's territory. With me, asserting my fledgling "capabilities" and her, pushing her seniority (in more ways than one) --- and her luck.

I've never been this openly confrontational before and I should get used to it. I feel I'm going need it.