Work Rants (add yours)

The BBQ Pit
21

[QUOTE=tdn]
One rant I have concerns not in-work (usually), but people I meet outside of work. When they ask me what I do, I tell them I am a computer programmer. They then go off on how much they hate (or love) us IT guys. Hello, I’m a programmer! I have nothing to do with IT! In fact, I’m often at odds with IT. I try explaining this, and people just don’t seem to get it. They often look at me as if I’m speaking Chinese, and then ask me how long I’ve been in IT. Um, how about since never?
[/QUOTE]

I don’t understand, how are you not an IT worker? When I was in school getting my (now useless) IT degree, it was pounded into my head daily that anyone that “makes the computer do something” is part of the IT industry. I’d think programming is making a computer do something.

[QUOTE=Mindfield]
Feel free to tell me to organize my department in the best way I see fit, and then go and planogram everything in the exact opposite way. Alphabetical makes much more sense for video games than sorting by genre, because people love looking through every damn game in every damn genre to find what they’re looking for. Ditto for the music and DVD sections. Sheer brilliance.
[/QUOTE]

How else would you organize video games? They don’t really have solid genres like movies do. Would there be an action/adventure section? What about one for First Person Shooters? Or horror games? Depending upon which genres you use, there are certain games that would fit in any and all of these categories. Then what would you do?

ABC, easy as 1-2-3 for me.

22

[QUOTE=Justin_Bailey]
I don’t understand, how are you not an IT worker? When I was in school getting my (now useless) IT degree, it was pounded into my head daily that anyone that “makes the computer do something” is part of the IT industry. I’d think programming is making a computer do something.
[/QUOTE]

When people speak of IT, they generally mean the guy who comes to your desk to give you a new mouse and reinstall your AOL for you. I don’t play that game. I write code. And we generally don’t follow IT’s rules. Since their rules are stupid, we run “illegal” code on “illegal” machines.

23

[QUOTE=Justin_Bailey]
How else would you organize video games? They don’t really have solid genres like movies do. Would there be an action/adventure section? What about one for First Person Shooters? Or horror games? Depending upon which genres you use, there are certain games that would fit in any and all of these categories. Then what would you do?

ABC, easy as 1-2-3 for me.
[/QUOTE]

There are easily identified and clearly defined top-level genres, though; Action, Strategy, Simulation, etc. We had all the signage we needed for them, too, and many people had their preference as to what kind of games they liked. Some were heavily into the RTS (under Strategy) scene, while others much preferred FPS games (under Action) or war sims (under Strategy or Simulation, depending on style). It’s a hell of a lot harder to browse your preferred genre for cool stuff when it’s scattered across the entire department.

24

That’s great, you code. You’re still a member of the IT industry. Here’s the official definition of IT:

[QUOTE=Information Technology Association of America (ITAA)]
The study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware.
[/QUOTE]

I’d say prgramming counts.

Welcome to the party, pal.

25

[QUOTE=Mindfield]
There are easily identified and clearly defined top-level genres, though; Action, Strategy, Simulation, etc. We had all the signage we needed for them, too, and many people had their preference as to what kind of games they liked. Some were heavily into the RTS (under Strategy) scene, while others much preferred FPS games (under Action) or war sims (under Strategy or Simulation, depending on style). It’s a hell of a lot harder to browse your preferred genre for cool stuff when it’s scattered across the entire department.
[/QUOTE]
OK. When I read your first post, I thought that by “genre” you meant Playstation / Wii / Xbox / PC / etc. That would really be stupid to lump all together.

26

[QUOTE=Mindfield]

  • Feel free to tell me to organize my department in the best way I see fit, and then go and planogram everything in the exact opposite way. Alphabetical makes much more sense for video games than sorting by genre, because people love looking through every damn game in every damn genre to find what they’re looking for. Ditto for the music and DVD sections. Sheer brilliance.

[/QUOTE]

Actually, as a customer I’d much prefer everything were grouped together alphabetical. I hate knowing what I’m looking for and then playing the guessing game about whether it got stuck in Action, Adventure, or Puzzle, or the music I just heard on PBS is in Jazz, New, International, or something I’ve never heard of.

27

[QUOTE=FatBaldGuy]
OK. When I read your first post, I thought that by “genre” you meant Playstation / Wii / Xbox / PC / etc. That would really be stupid to lump all together.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, it was. The game console stuff was all alphabetical, which made sense because each section was generally only one or two six-foot sections of wire rack, so you could browse everything in a few minutes. The PC stuff though, was four aisles of stuff, so alphabetical – not such a hot idea. But I also mentioned they did the exact same thing with the DVDs and audio CDs, which is even more idiotic because more people browse those than the PC stuff. They even put me in charge of overseeing the conversion from alphabetical-by-genre to alphabetical-period-so-tough-shit. Lemme tell you, there’s nothing like finding an R-rated movie with explicit sexual content (but not porn) filed behind a Disney flick. :smack:

I am convinced that half the management do these things only to justify their position to their superiors, because if it was discovered just how little they really do, they’d be sacked in a heartbeat.

28

[QUOTE=Justin_Bailey]
That’s great, you code. You’re still a member of the IT industry. Here’s the official definition of IT:

I’d say prgramming counts.

Welcome to the party, pal.
[/QUOTE]

Official? Sez who? IT is generally understood to be tech support. Programmers are people who write code. They do not generally get along. They are the Itchy and Scratchies of the high tech world.

29

[QUOTE=FatBaldGuy]
OK. When I read your first post, I thought that by “genre” you meant Playstation / Wii / Xbox / PC / etc. That would really be stupid to lump all together.
[/QUOTE]

There’s a Circuit City near my house that does that. Works out on occasion, though. I was able to get a copy of Dead Rising on release day, because nobody else had bothered to go to that store and dig through stacks of PS2 and Gamecube games to find the hot new 360 release.

30

[QUOTE=Justin_Bailey]
That’s great, you code. You’re still a member of the IT industry. Here’s the official definition of IT:

I’d say prgramming counts.

Welcome to the party, pal.
[/QUOTE]

I’ve worked in 5 IT departments at various companies and they’ve been all very different.

Currently I do networking, but I work directly for one of my corporation’s business units. I am not in IT.

Quoting “an official IT definition” just shows a lack of real-world experience.

31

I am the phone-answerer around here. I’m fine with that. But it would be nice if someone else could handle it for a moment or two, so I could do stuff like eat lunch or use the copier.

I’m deeply frustrated today because every time I answer the phone or check my e-mail, it’s another bit of work, which I am unable to do because I can’t leave the phone.

Of course, there are people who are supposed to back me up when necessary, but one is out sick, one is making herself mighty scarce, and the other doesn’t have the wits to do anything more than holler, “Julia, it’s for you!” (Of course it’s for me, dumb ass. Do you think you could take a message or anything while I use the bathroom?)

Anyway, people get tense when I ask them to watch the phones. After all, I’m supposed to do it! Never mind that I can’t actually help the callers because I can’t leave the phone. Every small task becomes a big one if it involves anything that isn’t within arm’s reach. Even to go to the printer on the other side of the room I have to run. If something needs faxing or mailing or being pulled from the files, I’ll have to see what I can do about making arrangements to get up from my desk. It might not be today.

Today I’m just sitting here watching the work come in. By now, I’m feeling so resentful that I wouldn’t do it even if I could. I might go cry for a couple of minutes, though.

32

I’m sorry, using the words “the official definition” was stupid of me. And you’re right, I don’t have a lot of “real” IT experience as I’m currently an IT guy (1 of 2_ in a library. Entirely different culture.

But it just boggles my mind that some people don’t consider computer programmers part of the IT industry.

33

[QUOTE=Justin_Bailey]
I’m sorry, using the words “the official definition” was stupid of me. And you’re right, I don’t have a lot of “real” IT experience as I’m currently an IT guy (1 of 2_ in a library. Entirely different culture.

But it just boggles my mind that some people don’t consider computer programmers part of the IT industry.
[/QUOTE]

No problem…

I think the term “IT industry” is typically used in a different context than “IT department.”

You’re correct in that programmers are part of the IT industry. But they are typically not parts of IT departments.

34

[QUOTE=Finagle]
Official? Sez who? IT is generally understood to be tech support. Programmers are people who write code. They do not generally get along. They are the Itchy and Scratchies of the high tech world.
[/QUOTE]

Damn straight!

Really, though, I’m not IT. I don’t get paid by IT, I get paid by the department of surgery. I don’t work for 10 hospitals, I work for 1.5. When average Jane Idiot User hoses her mouse driver, she doesn’t call me. But when I tell people what I do for a living, that’s the assumption they not only make, but stick with like it’s a freakin’ lifeboat.

And speaking of Itchy and Scratchy, an IT guy came down a few hours ago to give me a new machine. I didn’t want a new machine. My old one had all the stuff I need on it. But it seems I had no choice. When I asked him if my new one would have SQL Server installed, he informed me that it wasn’t part of the standard build and therefore I didn’t need it. And now I find out that I have Office 2003 installed, and cannot get Office 2000. 2003 is newer, therefore better. Yeah, great, but I need to create files that other people can access. With Word and Excel, that’s a mere pain in the ass. With Access, it’s a fucking headache. And until they get their heads out of their asses, I can’t do my work tomorrow.

Please don’t lump me in with those morons.

35

Industry vs department. I can live with that distinction.

36

[QUOTE=Justin_Bailey]
That’s great, you code. You’re still a member of the IT industry. Here’s the official definition of IT:

I’d say prgramming counts.

Welcome to the party, pal.
[/QUOTE]

He never said he wasn’t part of the IT industry, he was saying that he wasn’t part of the IT department. Obviously a programmer is part of the IT industry. On Preview: I guess I wasn’t the first to clarify that :stuck_out_tongue:

For my part, I hate the temp agency I work for. To them I’m just income and not an actual person, which I understand, but do you have to make it so obvious? Me and my ex both worked for the agency, and we had some good times with them:

Me: Hey Temp Agency, someone busted my windshield with a brick. I’ve got to wait until the glass people come by and fix it before I can drive in. They said they should be here around noon.
Agency: Hmmm, well is there any way you can get in any earlier than that?
Me: Well, Your office building is only about a mile from my apartment, if you wanted to come pick me up and drive me the 30 minutes to my assignment I’d be able to go in much earlier.
Agency: Uh… Can’t really do that…

the reason I always called my assigned office and never bothered calling the agency when running late:
Mgr: Hey Cricket, just got off the phone with Agency and they said you were running a little late today. When did you get in?
Me: Um, about four hours ago. I was only running about 45 minutes behind.
Mgr: (shaking his head) I see. Would you be able to call us instead of Agency next time? They have a habit of that sort of thing.

and it wasn’t just the NH office, when i transferred to Maine they treated me great, too:
Agency: Well, we do have one assignment, but it pays $X an hour.
Me: Is there any way you could talk to them or I could go in for an interview to see if I could convince them to pay $X+1 an hour? $X is at the bottom of my budget and I’d really like to have some extra be able to save for emergencies. Plus, I’m more than qualified for the position.
Agency: Sure! I’ll ask them and call you back.
(fast forward to the next day)
Agency (on my voicemail): Hey Cricket! The company wouldn’t go for $X+1, so we gave the job to someone else. We’ll keep looking for you, though!
What the…? at least give me the chance to turn it down! I never said I wouldn’t take it at $X! ANY job is better than no job! Then it took them a week to find me another job, even though I was calling every day asking about jobs they had listed on their website.

and the most damning one, from my ex’s experience:
(Note: at one time her mother worked for the agency part-time, as well)
Ex: Hi Agency, my mom just got diagnosed with cancer and she has to start going in for radiation treatments.
Agency: Do you know when she’ll be able to start working again?
Now, I understand that’s important to know, but come on… at least fake some concern! The girl’s mother just got diagnosed with a terminal illness!

and all that’s only the tip of the iceberg… I can’t wait to get a different job…

37

I have walked out of an IT job that wasn’t going well a couple of years ago. Final straw and symptomatic of the whole company:

MGR: “We’ve got eight PMs, but we’ve had 10 devs leave last month and we’ve got eight more leaving this week, so we’re down to two devs. And we’ve got three more projects staring next week.”
Me: “Oh - you are hiring more people, right?”
MGR: “Yes, we’ve got a new PM starting Monday!”

Yes, with two developers to build all their projects (approx 400 man days of work in two months) they were hiring and interviewing for more PMs. I did query this, pointing out little things like the 1000% time allocation for a developer on their project chart, but apparently they just thought they needed to be more organised.

After 3 days of telling them to hiring more devs (even with pretty little charts) I gave up.

38

Agencies? I don’t have anything that can compare to Gundam_Crickets final story, but I was planning this for its own rant once I quit my current job. This is just so much the right time.

This is in the pit because I am too tired to get worked up, but on a good day I can go on about these festering piles of sh!t for hours. I would like to pit job hunting, particularly the tossers who appear to staff certain agencies it has been my misfortune to come across. Some agencies are very good, therefore they are not the subject of this rant; No, this is aimed squarely at the clueless wastes of space flesh and oxygen who play at staffing some of the worst pretenses-of-agencies I have encountered in the last few years:

Ag: “The role is in West London.”
Me: “Where in West London?”
Ag: “Cardiff”. (Yes, I suppose the capital of Wales could be deemed to be West OF London, if I didn’t have a job description with “West London” as the location.)
Me: “That’s nowhere near London. Why does the description say West London?”
Ag: “Because no one was applying when we said it was in Cardiff.”

Other classics include the job in Surrey (Peterborough, Surrey - apparently the agent didn’t know where Peterborough was, so they assumed it was in Surrey) and London/Devon (well, they both end in “on”). Just a few minor geographical screwups…Nearly accepting a role based in Southampton, only to find out at the last minute it was actually based in Plymouth, the agent had lied to set up the interview and told myself and the company two different stories…

I won’t get into being phoned at 10pm on a Saturday night to be asked if I wanted to reject a confirmed offer from one company to interview for a role paying half the rate, not in my field and with a longer commute (I took the phone off the hook because he wouldn’t stop calling). Or phoned by another agent and asked to leave a role on my first day for a speculative role through them “because I was perfect for their client” and then verbally abused when I wouldn’t (did report that one to his boss. Turns out I wasn’t perfect for his client - they didn’t have a client. The agent just wanted me to jump so their candidate who was second in line for the role I got would be hired instead).

And the new role, <sigh> where do I start - job title PM a.k.a corporate enforcer. Covered by an NDA for 3 months so I can’t go into the issues, but have just handed resignation in.

Please tell me the entire world is not scum.

And I know there are good agents out there - they just seem to be few and far between.

39

[QUOTE=Leaffan]
So you’re a stripper, err dancer? Or waitress, I mean server?
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, we have pet peeves in our line of work too. They would probably sound too nutty to list on here in their entirety, and naturally would offend some people. But that’s ok, we have our own messageboard just for that sort of thing. :wink:

40

I’ve been part of several IT Departments throughout my career. Guess it just depends on the company you work for and how they decide to divvy peeps up.

Dazzling White Diamonds, Computer Programmer for 19 years.