# New and Unimproved Workplace Rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 14, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638 "2015-10-14T15:44:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 73
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1441 "2017-11-22T19:57:34Z")
> [@digs](#): > > But not when they’re on vacation. I’m not management, but I’m exempt. And I’ve had meetings not only while I’m on vacation, but while I’ve been home sick with flu + pneumonia. Price of being the company expert on stuff. I don’t do it for fear of punishment, though. I do it because if I _don’t_, somebody in management is going to decide something incredibly stupid that will turn into a shitbomb that _I’ll_ be dealing with for weeks if not months to come. Because they’re the same managers who can’t think forward to the consequences of scheduling a conference call _the week everyone takes vacation_. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1442 "2017-11-22T20:29:36Z")
My manger sent an email mid-morning yesterday inviting the whole team to a status meeting at 1. I emailed him right back asking if I needed to bring or prepare anything. Got no reply. I find out at the meeting, in front of everyone, that he’s moving 2 of my 3 direct reports to another team for the rest of the year. He didn’t ask me if it was OK. He didn’t give me an opportunity to negotiate something different. He didn’t notify me in advance, even a minute. Chances are he wasn’t given any of those options either. Now I need to figure out how to get my work done with half the people. Because my workload doesn’t adjust down either. Happy fucking worksgiving. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1443 "2017-11-22T20:58:23Z")
> [@Typo\_Knig](#): > > My manger sent an email mid-morning yesterday inviting the whole team to a status meeting at 1. I emailed him right back asking if I needed to bring or prepare anything. Got no reply. > > I find out at the meeting, in front of everyone, that he’s moving 2 of my 3 direct reports to another team for the rest of the year. He didn’t ask me if it was OK. He didn’t give me an opportunity to negotiate something different. He didn’t notify me in advance, even a minute. Chances are he wasn’t given any of those options either. > > Now I need to figure out how to get my work done with half the people. Because my workload doesn’t adjust down either. Happy fucking worksgiving. Keep him updated on the workload and the due dates and explain to him what each of your reports is doing, and ask him how to make fewer people do the work. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1444 "2017-11-28T12:16:29Z")
Oh boy, 60-hour work weeks (of which 25 hours are overtime). And no Christmas break. This is gonna be a fucking glorious December. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1445 "2017-11-28T18:23:40Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Oh boy, 60-hour work weeks (of which 25 hours are overtime). And no Christmas break. This is gonna be a fucking glorious December. The bright side: Whatever holiday bills you manage to rack up in whatever limited time you have to shop will be paid off in January. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1446 "2017-11-28T20:12:19Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Oh boy, 60-hour work weeks (of which 25 hours are overtime). And no Christmas break. This is gonna be a fucking glorious December. Is it just you or your entire workplace? I imagine that there are people with flights booked to visit their families for the holidays. Are you being forced to work overtime to cover the projected staffing shortages that always occur in December? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1447 "2017-12-02T06:16:28Z")
A VM crash cost me 3 hours’ work. I swear I was saving my files as I went, but they were gone. Recovery didn’t work. I’m starting from scratch. Because deadlines don’t shift. And at this hour nobody is available to help me. Once again my desire to thorough, good quality work is costing me. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1448 "2017-12-04T14:47:34Z")
For some reason management has decided to paint the office. That’s very nice of them, but could someone explain to me why it’s so hard to put the furniture back where you found it after the paint has dried? The overflow tray from my floor plant was in the trash can, one of my chairs is gone, and my lovely steel bookcase was rotated 90 degrees from its original position, placing it behind my desk rather than alongside it. I understand their reasoning - the bookcase now prevents my chair from bumping the wall - but everything on that bookcase was arranged so I could easily reach frequently used books and items from my chair. Also, the bookcase was left several inches away from the walls. It took me an hour and a half to remove everything from the bookcase, carefully push the bookcase so that it’s flush with the walls (which has resulted in at least three scrapes and a very impressive bruise), and put everything back in usable order. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1449 "2017-12-04T14:52:13Z")
My bossman has just declared that “for testing processes it doesn’t matter if we’ve got corrupted or missing data”. His job title until yesterday? Master Data Manager (Now it’s Integration Manager) ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1450 "2017-12-04T18:35:05Z")
This was brought to my attention last week via an email from a customer: We sell data to a global industry. A lot of the data contains dates. All of which are in YYMMDD format. Yes, a two-digit year. The customer was inquiring about our method for identifying which century the date is in, using their scheme as an example. (YY values less than 80 have 19 pre-pended to them, otherwise they have 20 prepended to them.) It’s OUR fault that they’re stuck doing this because it’s our systems sending out the two digit years. The reason this blew my mind so badly was because I was one of the famous Cobol programmers who spent 1999 through 2001 fixing stupid shit like this. I didn’t work here at the time, obviously. Um… how long ago was that? **Seventeen** years, you say? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1451 "2017-12-04T20:53:18Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > The customer was inquiring about our method for identifying which century the date is in, using their scheme as an example. **(YY values less than 80 have 19 pre-pended to them, otherwise they have 20 prepended to them.)** Uh, isn’t that backward? Another strategy would be to guess at a reasonable year-range based on the context. Birth years or other historical dates would have to be in the past. Expiration dates (e.g., driver licenses, credit cards, contracts, etc.) tend to be in the near future, or perhaps in the near past. For various other kinds of date fields, you might be able to make context-sensitive guesses too. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1452 "2017-12-04T20:56:11Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > The reason this blew my mind so badly was because I was one of the famous Cobol programmers who spent 1999 through 2001 fixing stupid shit like this. Hang on to your resume! COBOL programmers will be very much in demand again in the year 9999! ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1453 "2017-12-05T16:46:33Z")
I’m attending a webinar this afternoon. The host just sent out an informational pdf with links to “information that you might find useful for this discussion.” There are 68 links. Fuck that. I’m not even going to bother reading the titles of all those! ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1454 "2017-12-05T19:06:06Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Hang on to your resume! COBOL programmers will be very much in demand again in the year 9999! They are much in demand right now! Many of them are at retirement age, and a huge amount of the worlds’ systems are still running on COBOL mainframe systems, which need to be maintained. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1455 "2017-12-05T19:17:40Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > They are much in demand right now! > > Many of them are at retirement age, and a huge amount of the worlds’ systems are still running on COBOL mainframe systems, which need to be maintained. I’d think, “Gee, I should brush up on the COBOL (that I studied but never worked in), because I could do with a job for the next 10-15 years.” Except I’ve seen the hours programmers work and I’m just too old for that shit. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1456 "2017-12-06T14:05:09Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > The same kind of asshole who schedules one for 8am Monday morning. I think they’re related to the genius who chose corporate fonts where O and 0 look the same, in a company using SAP. For those not familiar with the Big Blue Database, people who use it tend to speak in terms of “screen codes”, which in turn tend to be things such as CO01, COOIS… and then you reports or programs with names such as PPIOA000 or ZPP0010\_AO001. We don’t need to be able to distinguish letters and numbers, no sir. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1457 "2017-12-07T23:27:04Z")
The head of tech support here sure has some odd notions about technology. Refuses to let anyone work from home more than two days per week; the reason has something to do with supposedly being better able to track productivity for those in cubicles, IIRC. Everyone else can telework all seven days and even weekends but anyone under the CIO’s umbrella? Only two for you! Unless the weather’s so bad that unscheduled telework is authorized. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1458 "2017-12-08T17:56:21Z")
Because A/P and Purchasing can’t communicate, I get the crabby late notices on invoices that I have already filled out a fucking purchase request for. And I get a snotty email from the A/P person telling me that I sent it to the wrong email. Well, that’s the email Purchasing gave me. It would be a Festivus miracle if there were one protocol and that protocol was communicated. I don’t like to play “how is this done today?” Fuckthemall. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1459 "2017-12-10T05:21:14Z")
Not so much a workplace rant as a job-seeking rant. Over the last year or so, I’ve been half-assedly sending my resume in for suitable law-firm jobs I see on Craigslist. Last Saturday I missed a phone call from a guy regarding the most recent job I’d applied for. Well, on weekends I’m busy with volunteer work and other stuff, so I called him back on Monday morning, and left a message. On Tuesday evening, I miss a call again (hey, I’m an old fart, not one of these young’uns glued to their phone 24/7). Wednesday morning, I call and leave another message. Friday evening, there’s a missed call from his number, but no voicemail. Dude, if you’re serious, and this is a real job, please understand that I can’t take you seriously if you are only able to call me during non working hours! I understand that people get busy, but the Craigslist ad made it sound like a real law firm, not a one-man show. Also, there’s this thing called e-mail, which is great for communicating between busy people, if you’re too swamped to call during normal business hours. I’m also a bit suspicious because I can’t find any attorney on the state. bar website with any spelling variation of what sounded like his last name, except one who had been disbarred over a decade ago, in another part of the state. TLDR, sometimes Cragslist job ads are sketchy and people are flaky. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638/1460 "2017-12-10T08:07:48Z")
So, what? The job ads should differ from the rest of the ads? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638.md?page=72) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-and-unimproved-workplace-rants/734638.md?page=74)