Someone was in the hall outside of one of our clinics eating in-the-shell sunflower seeds and spitting the hulls on the floor. There were at least 20! Who the fuck does that kind of thing inside? And of course there was a little wastebasket mounted to the wall not more than 3’ from the center of the scattered hulls. :smack:
Why is everything around here metal?! I’m tired of getting static shocks every time I touch something that’s not my desk. Aren’t shoe soles supposed to be rubber? Where am I getting all these electrons from?
(This is a very minor gripe.)
[quote=“thursday_next, post:3938, topic:560401”]
Flatlined, I would also be interested in hearing how the veskimo works out. It could really potentially help someone I love.]
Its here! I’m loving it already. The sizing guide worked and its adjustable. I have bumps in places that the men who designed it don’t. I was able to loosen it here and tighten it there, so it fits snugly. With the backpack, water and 2 trays of icecubes, it weighs about 14 pounds (it will be lighter when filled with icecubes, but I was in too much of a hurry to see how it works to go to the store and get a bag of ice.)
I used to model chain maile at Renn Fairs and have learned that its important that heavy garb is snug. The weight is pretty evenly spread over my torso, I can bend and twist fairly well and the fabric looks heavy enough to repel spider and rat attacks.
Its monsoon season now, and the temps have dropped to the low 90’s so I won’t be giving it as good a test as I would have last week, but I think it will help a lot. I’ll give a performance report tomorrow.
Oh, and its quiet. There is a slight hum which became background noise right away.
Speaking for myself, I like to read this thread just so I can remember that I don’t have it so bad afterall 
You know, I’m 99.9999999999995743% certain that we cannot simply run a report for you from a database you don’t have permission to access, just because you need it today and think it would take too long to get that permission.
Given that my job is basically security gatekeeper for those databases, asking me to completely bypass that security for you probably isn’t going to work. I would most certainly be fired for cause. Hell, I’d fire me for that kind of stupidity.
This beside the fact that I don’t have access to every goddamned database myself. You see, they aren’t pertinent to my job.
And yet, at least one or two people each week ask us to do this. I swear in the last month I’ve seen the same person do it three times, despite my very clearly and bluntly spelling this out in great detail the first time she asked.
I would like to gripe about the office dynamic that has developed regarding people coming in late for second shift. If I complain about having to stay over, the problem is with me as opposed to the person who can’t show up on time. The manager’s concept/conceit that we have to “accommodate” people’s schedules doesn’t fly with me–what about the people who CAN show up on time every day; don’t we deserve to go home on time?
Heh - you reminded me of a certain woman at a certain job who enjoyed making me wait for her to do her job so I could finish up mine. What a bitch.
how about they accommodate YOUR schedule, I have a simlar issue I can never plan to do anything after work as I am dependant on another department, if they decide to work overtime, I have to stay with them. If if it is voluntary on their part to stay and work.
Yeah, that sounds like the best answer: “You tell me we need to accomodate their schedule, but you’re not accomodating ours”.
Of course the problem is with you because you’re making it a problem for the manager. And of course the manager lies, pretending that some other “guideline” is in play. Turns out that if you complain, you’re the one creating the problem even when the other guy is gaming the system.
It’s a shame good managers are much more rare than good workers. What you end up with are the ones good at coming up with political excuses.
OMGOMGOMGOMG
Sitting here quietly typing away, when out of the complete fucking blue, Grandboss looks up from her desk and casually says, “Well, since y’all are still here, I guess all of you survived the second round of layoffs.”
:eek:
There was a FIRST round?!?!?!?
:eek:
HOLY SHIT!
May I offer some rephrasings, for anybody here who’s been burned by those problems Moonlitherial describes? I understand the need to get the information, having met more than one person whose CV was so inflated it flew (worst case offender had added 10 years to her age in order to claim 10 years experience; was found out when someone mentioned official age in front of an AA who’d seen the offender’s ID), but still, asking “do you speak English” after half an hour of conversation in English is dumb.
- are you comfortable speaking English at work? I see that some of your projects have been abroad; was any of them English-speaking? Was any of your projects in Spain English-speaking? Did you have any projects where the working language was something else than English and Spanish?
(the one this week at one point said “I see your projects have been mainly in Spain” - uh, I don’t think so. I’ve actually worked abroad more than in Spain. Then again she was probably counting Latin America as “Spain” and what she meant was Spanish-speaking locations… most of my LA time happened to be English-speaking)
I’ve had problems before being in English-speaking projects but not in English-speaking areas, but apparently if you’re a consultant you’re not expected to have conversations outside of work (how dare you want to sleep in a bed? What’s more, how dare you sleep? Those are billable hours!.. actually they’re not? Ok, forget that, you can bring a sleeping bag). So,
-
are you comfortable staying in a [language other than interviewee’s]-speaking area?
-
is [your email] your preffered email?
One that few ask but which makes me want to hug them: * is [your email] the best way to contact you? (yes, please; if you call me during working hours I’m likely to be at work, duh)
And the following dialogue should grant the interviewee the right to perform surgery on the interviewer:
Q: when would be a good time to call you?
A: I’m sorry but we’re in the middle of go-live. It’s just not going to be a good time any time in the next two weeks. Please email any questions, I’m sorry.
Q: but when would be a good time to call you?
A: in two or three weeks. Mid-July.
Q: oh, but I need to speak with you.
A: you are speaking with me. And I should be running data loads. Can we move on to the next question? -
the project is in Potatoes-near-the-Thames, are you familiar with the area?
-
ask different questions about the last client. Ask leading questions which can help figure out whether the inteerviewed knows the area in question (ok, so many people never bother visit the places they work in: if you’re in Bilbao you should be able to answer “oh, I hear that area is very nice, have you been able to see any of it?” with “actually no, but I can tell you that even factory food is good here!” or “no I haven’t, too much work, we just got to see Guggenheim from the outside”)
plays the Gloria Gaynor/Celia Cruz mix of I Will Survive/Sobreviviré for Equine Footwear
I quit a job over that in college. It was in a small Blockbuster. I was sick & tired of the next shift not showing up, and me being left alone to wait for them because my coworker had to leave on time to pick her kids up from school (no issues with her). So one day when I had to stay again, neither the SM or ASM answering their phones, and had a class I just left. As in I clocked out and left the store with customers still inside & wanting to be checked out.
About half an hour later somebody called 911 because they came in to rent a video and the place was abandoned. The police were able get in touch with the district manager, and I had a very angry message on my machine when I got home. The next door I called the store and polity told managment that my school is more important than their business, and I didn’t care how much shit he was getting from corporate because that wasn’t my problem. I’ve never set foot in a Blockbuster since then. I’ve always wondered how much merchandise ended up walking out the door after I left. 
Somewhat. I used to spend time in Butter-on-Chives.
I would’a thought Chivas-on-the-Rocks was more popular…
What, not even to pick up your final paycheck?
Direct deposit.
The coffee pot is broken! I can’t work under these conditions!
My boss just cornered me and made me explain to him in graphic detail why people think he’s an asshole. There’s really not a polite or professional way to say, “Well, it’s primarily because you’re an asshole-coated asshole with creamy asshole filling and a side dish of asshole sauce for dipping.”
He is, for the record, a weapons-grade Class I asshole a great deal of the time. It’s largely unintentional, and he tends to be entirely unaware of it because he’s utterly oblivious to social cues of any sort. I mean, he’s so socially inept that he invited the staff to have dinner with him on his birthday because we’re the closest thing he has to friends. Telling him he’s an asshole is kind of like kicking a puppy. An arrogant puppy who thinks he’s Og’s gift to Dog-dom and barks shit about pretty much every other animal ever and semi-regularly snarls at you for no apparent reason, but a puppy nonetheless.
Ha! May I borrow this, please? 
Unfortunately my boss knows he’s an asshole and doesn’t care.
There may be a light at the end of the tunnel. Friend of my boyfriend is a manager at an employment agency and he thinks he has a place he can put me. Fingers, toes, and anything else crossed.
Steal away; it’s an adaptation of a Scrubs quote anyway.
And good luck on the new job.