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My office got a grant last year, to buy some equipment. We make a list by asking other departments what they need - one woman gives me a great, detailed list. We submit it, get the money. We confirm prices with the vendors, submit updated prices to the grant provider. At that stage, we're concrete - we officially are buying that exact list, and they're going to give us that exact amount of money to buy it. Flash forward to purchasing time - she wants a bunch of different equipment and it's more expensive. My staff member who is working with her on this explains that we can't change anything. She escalates to me, because he's being "unhelpful" (he isn't). I explain the same rules, now I'm being unhelpful. She escalates to our freakin' Director... you'll never guess how unhelpful she was by explaining the same rules! So today she asked my VP about it and he said "Uh, ask The Berzerker, I don't know all the rules of the funding." 
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Sep 17, 2014 03:45
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We've reached a point where the team submitting cases to my team sent in a ton late, like, way past the deadline. Then they bug and pester and follow up enough that those cases are actually getting finished before the stuff that was in on time. They keep copying in the sales team, who join in on the update requests and "offer assistance" despite not even knowing what software I'm using. Also, I found out I'm the only one on the team of temps that doesn't have my Mom working somewhere in the building, and is actually old enough to be out of school. They're all down to part time now and I get sent all the update requests on their stuff as well. re: Chair Talk, for some reason my chair has several deep scratches in the plastic of the arm rest and it's kind of freaky.
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Sep 17, 2014 04:36
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ladyweapon posted:Friday Yes. You could take the 5 minute call when you arent busy, it isnt like she is dicking around going off her call schedule. E: however she is probably terrible at her job. Snatch Duster fucked around with this message at 06:07 on Sep 17, 2014 |
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Sep 17, 2014 06:03
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Snatch Duster posted:Yes. You could take the 5 minute call when you arent busy, it isnt like she is dicking around going off her call schedule. Some of us have worked very hard to establish work/life boundaries. Allowing exceptions leads to madness, wailing, and the gnashing of teeth.
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Sep 17, 2014 06:09
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Snatch Duster posted:Yes. You could take the 5 minute call when you arent busy, it isnt like she is dicking around going off her call schedule.
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Sep 17, 2014 06:41
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Poop Cupcake posted:Everyone in the office hates using my desk, actually. My keyboard is missing about half the letters (worn off the keys), and I have a trackball instead of a mouse. There's nothing stopping anyone from sitting here or messing with anything, but it's awkward enough that they don't want to. It's a lot less hostile than a sign and more effective. I have an ergonomic keyboard and until a few months ago had a trackball, too. It became a real issue sometimes because people come to my desk to do password resets straight from the domain controller or to set up their door PIN to get into the office on their first day. They'd just stare at my mouse and go "uhhh" and then usually try to push it around. It amused me and my co-workers but I felt bad about it. The trackball was about 10 years old so the scroll wheel stopped working and the left click was starting to wear out so I gave up and got a regular mouse. They still look at my keyboard in horror so I tell them just to use the laptop keyboard instead. It boggles my mind that people prefer a regular keyboard over a nice microsoft ergonomic with padding where your palms rest.
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Sep 17, 2014 14:06
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Beach Bum posted:Some of us have worked very hard to establish work/life boundaries. Allowing exceptions leads to madness, wailing, and the gnashing of teeth. Yea cool, but if you are at work during work hours, why not take the call? ladyweapon posted:I did take the 5 minute call, it was on Friday at 2:30PM. I am constantly busy which is why I'm in the office at 7:30AM so I can play paperwork catch up. It's not to listen to her drawl on making small talk while getting around to asking the question she called about and then try to make more small talk. That time is any time after 8AM and before 4PM. She knows this and I stick to it because I don't want work bleeding into my personal life. Anytime we interact with her it ends up taking 2-3 times longer than it really needs to. If its any actual time-sensitive issue, they'll call my boss directly on his cell phone. Work-life balance is important to my boss and I think he'd actually be legitimately bothered that I answered a completely unimportant e-mail at 8PM when it could have waited until actual business hours. Yea it just sounds like she is bad at her job, but is making calls and sending email at those times is in line what a Good Salesman is suppose to do. I doubt she was expecting an email from you at 8pm. Her thinking, probably, was that you would respond the next day. Snatch Duster fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Sep 17, 2014 |
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Sep 17, 2014 17:42
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Snatch Duster posted:Yea cool, but if you are at work during work hours, why not take the call? Because those aren't their work hours. That's extra time they're staying in the office to deal with an emergency or get work done that can't get done during their normal work hours. If they've clearly communicated their work hours to someone, I don't see why they should take calls outside of it. Also, if there's that much communication going on, and 90% of it is repeated information, at some point it's costing the company money to take time to repeatedly communicate the same information to someone.
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Sep 17, 2014 19:47
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^lowly summed it up before I did  Snatch Duster posted:Yea cool, but if you are at work during work hours, why not take the call?  quote:Yea it just sounds like she is bad at her job, but is making calls and sending email at those times is in line what a Good Salesman is suppose to do. I doubt she was expecting an email from you at 8pm. Her thinking, probably, was that you would respond the next day. 
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Sep 17, 2014 19:52
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Almost every single day, I deal with someone angry at me for not answering their e-mails yesterday. Almost every single day, they are one of the following people (extracted from yesterday's outlook folder, subjects blatantly scrubbed). This is what's left after deleting all the corporate spam the next morning.  Our corporate culture is that you are 100% always responsible for answering e-mails, regardless of time or day. I am a bit of a problem child because my view is gently caress that. Can't wait for my year-end review.
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Sep 17, 2014 20:57
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Why the hell did I agree to three weeks left of work instead of two. Today could have been my last day, but I still have another week. Going to try and make it just 6 or 7 hours a day instead of 8. Spent all day in meetings explaining to people how they haven't saved enough money. They look back at me as if I'm an rear end in a top hat. I mess with things some more to end up right back where we were: you haven't saved enough money. I could have been at my desk kicking rear end closing books for the last time but instead I have to just spin my wheels for hours on end. Health is failing. I'm dreading going into work. It's interfering with my life in every single way. Get me out of here!
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Sep 18, 2014 00:52
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19 o'clock posted:Why the hell did I agree to three weeks left of work instead of two. Today could have been my last day, but I still have another week. Going to try and make it just 6 or 7 hours a day instead of 8. You can do it! Take special care of yourself this week and remember the whole office will be in your rear-view mirror by the end of next week.
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Sep 18, 2014 00:59
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Cup of Hemlock posted:You can do it! Take special care of yourself this week and remember the whole office will be in your rear-view mirror by the end of next week. I will, thanks. Today was a tough one and a fine example of why I'm leaving. I'm reminded of the goon in this thread who was vomiting every morning before work and things got much better after leaving. At least  is legal in Colorado.
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Sep 18, 2014 01:03
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May as well join in this thread. Hate my work. I underwrite group health insurance policies for small groups for a big canadian life insurance company. It's a living hell. We use a program to price policies that the company developed in the early 90s. It's made for a 640x480 screen so you can't display all the info you need at once and am constantly flipping back and forth between tabs on windows. The system is incapable of spitting out any pricing unless a ton of information is entered, even if it doesn't use it. Often times if we have an empty class (say retired owners) it won't run anything unless you put an employee in this class, so we have to put in somebody born in 1900 so they aren't eligible for any benefits and doesn't affect the price. Nope still won't run unless you put in the amount of life insurance and disability they should receive which the system will then reduce to zero because of their age. After that we have to edit that person out of the proposal document so advisors aren't asking who the employee "Dummy Data" is. Just one of many annoying little things I've got to do On top of that almost anything we do requires (a) a price override/manually re-entering info (b) manually editting the 20 page proposal the system spits out. Not a huge deal, but it is just tedious work that would be unnecessary if they updated their system. Finally I have a process and procedures team that is out of control with OCD. each quote we get requires about a half dozen excel sheets to be filled out and saved to either work around our program or document useless crap to satisfy the process and procedures team. We get auditted on our work by the team with absurd metrics such as saving the "quote checklist" excel sheet and a PDF copy of the email containing the final proposal on the network drive. Most of this stuff is useless but requires a meeting with the manager to discuss why you didn't save a copy of the email showing that you sent the proposal or fill out "x" field of an excel sheet that wasn't applicable. F1DriverQuidenBerg fucked around with this message at 01:55 on Sep 18, 2014 |
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Sep 18, 2014 01:48
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A couple weeks ago, I got a talking to about sending a link to our company intranet/Google searching our address. Today, I sent a lmgtfy link to a dude in IT that was asking if a certain city had an airport they could fly in to. This was after he'd sent (and I responded to) three emails asking about international airports nearby. Note we have an internal travel agency that takes care of everything. I expect a nastygram tomorrow but good God....
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Sep 18, 2014 02:15
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Tide posted:A couple weeks ago, I got a talking to about sending a link to our company intranet/Google searching our address. Today, I sent a lmgtfy link to a dude in IT that was asking if a certain city had an airport they could fly in to. This was after he'd sent (and I responded to) three emails asking about international airports nearby. Note we have an internal travel agency that takes care of everything. I treat work favors the same way I play board games; never help anyone. So far it has worked out just fine.
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Sep 18, 2014 04:26
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Snatch Duster posted:I treat work favors the same way I play board games; never help anyone. drat man, I try to be helpful to everyone. Then again, no one I help is a moron, so that has worked out okay...
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Sep 18, 2014 04:45
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Stolennosferatu posted:drat man, I try to be helpful to everyone. Then again, no one I help is a moron, so that has worked out okay... Just a matter of time before all tha good karma comes around to bite ya. If you never put anything out there to go around, nothing ever comes around to ruin your day.
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Sep 18, 2014 04:53
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I had some mandatory emergency preparedness training: how to react to fires, earthquakes, and armed intruders. I learned from the powerpoint slides that if you can't flee or hide from a shooter, you might have to fight back! Look for nearby objects that can be used as weapons: staplers, phones, and scissors can be thrown at your attacker.
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Sep 18, 2014 07:09
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dividertabs posted:I had some mandatory emergency preparedness training: how to react to fires, earthquakes, and armed intruders. I learned from the powerpoint slides that if you can't flee or hide from a shooter, you might have to fight back! Look for nearby objects that can be used as weapons: staplers, phones, and scissors can be thrown at your attacker. Snap a CD in half and use it as a tiny one-handed makeshift bat'leth. Play your call holding music over the loudspeakers as he goes about his murderous rampage, eventually crushing his spirit and making he question whether it's even worth his time. Pepper it with "Your shooting spree is very important to us, and we will receive your bullets in the order in which they have been fired" every 30 seconds.
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Sep 18, 2014 13:36
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dividertabs posted:I had some mandatory emergency preparedness training: how to react to fires, earthquakes, and armed intruders. I learned from the powerpoint slides that if you can't flee or hide from a shooter, you might have to fight back! Look for nearby objects that can be used as weapons: staplers, phones, and scissors can be thrown at your attacker. How do people stand there and say stuff like that with a straight face?
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Sep 18, 2014 13:45
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spog posted:How do people stand there and say stuff like that with a straight face? dividertabs posted:I had some mandatory emergency preparedness training: how to react to fires, earthquakes, and armed intruders. I learned from the powerpoint slides that if you can't flee or hide from a shooter, you might have to fight back! Look for nearby objects that can be used as weapons: staplers, phones, and scissors can be thrown at your attacker. I mean, it seems pretty straightforward. There's not a lot in my office that could be used as an improvised weapon either, unless my attacker has a deadly nerf allergy, and an improvised weapon is probably better than none if you can get the drop on the person (doorway, etc)
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Sep 18, 2014 13:49
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19 o'clock posted:Why the hell did I agree to three weeks left of work instead of two. Today could have been my last day, but I still have another week. Going to try and make it just 6 or 7 hours a day instead of 8. The clear answer is day-drinking, long lunches and some porn.
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Sep 18, 2014 15:27
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sbaldrick posted:The clear answer is day-drinking, long lunches and some porn. Not gonna day drink...trying to cut back what this job is doing to me. I will not embrace the darkness! I will not become the beast! I think yesterday may have been my worst day remaining. My calendar shows lots of empty space until the day of my departure. I'm all about just "doing work" instead of "talking about doing work." Last night I went to bed at 8pm and woke up at 1am to practice music and read a bit. It was absolutely wonderful. I'm going to chase that feeling of "wonderful".
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Sep 18, 2014 15:44
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Planning to quit my job in a month. I know the conventional wisdom is to not burn bridges, but it's so loving tempting...
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Sep 18, 2014 16:28
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19 o'clock posted:I will, thanks. Today was a tough one and a fine example of why I'm leaving. I'm reminded of the goon in this thread who was vomiting every morning before work and things got much better after leaving. What's up, corporate-disaffected Coloragoon!  Where are you heading after this?
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Sep 18, 2014 16:59
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a shameful boehner posted:What's up, corporate-disaffected Coloragoon! I'm headed to my bedroom to practice music and write DJ software. I've been gigging hard all summer with weddings and pubs, so I'm in a position to live off of savings and play music professionally for a bit. Gonna give it a go! Additionally, two friends have given me job offers in the past week in accounting and finance fields so that's also reassuring. Basically just gonna decide what's next and take a few months off from corporate world. Are you in the same boat?
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Sep 18, 2014 17:07
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My coworker wasn't feeling well yesterday. Today she says she has bronchitis that she got from her husband and asks if bronchitis is contagious (yes, it is). I have been getting bronchitis since I was an infant, nearly every year of my life. Last year I was sick for three months including a visit to the ER once because I couldn't breathe. She knows I'm highly susceptible to catching bronchitis, yet here she is, four feet from me at work. We have plenty of sick time and can do a fair bit of working from home, but nope, she's in the office coughing up a storm (without so much as covering her mouth). I am looking forward to 9-10 hour days while suffering from bronchitis. e: This sales rep needs to stop calling me immediately after she sends an email. I haven't even had a chance to open it! ladyweapon fucked around with this message at 17:41 on Sep 18, 2014 |
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Sep 18, 2014 17:26
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19 o'clock posted:I'm headed to my bedroom to practice music and write DJ software. I've been gigging hard all summer with weddings and pubs, so I'm in a position to live off of savings and play music professionally for a bit. Gonna give it a go! I used to love doing bedroom DJing, I had my own pair of Technic 1200s and a Pioneer DJM500. I had to sell them a while back, sadly. I would love to be in the same boat, but I don't have the offers to fall back on. I have a decent savings cushion but without something else lined up I'm not really ready to bail. I have a background in IT, technical writing and training, so if your friends have an opening anywhere there...I'm open to it!
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Sep 18, 2014 18:17
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In the same call we discuss my vacation next week, my boss assigns me more work due next week.
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Sep 18, 2014 20:29
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When I was an intern at the dept. of commercial service (as opposed to consular, those losers ) at the US embassy in Madrid, we had a safety presentation that involved being shown how to use emergency breathing/oxygen devices and sick needles that self inject into your heart with loaded springs a la The Rock in the event of certain toxins. Probably the most hardcore safety presentation for what was a mostly boring office job. Edit: to be clear, I understand why the embassy was kitted out such that we could survive a riot but it was amusing nonetheless. I once got in even after I handed in my security badge because the Spanish national guard dudes recognized me and didn't bother to check at the gate and then a Spanish dude who worked there and also recognized me was entering ahead of me and held the door open behind him. (The Americans were greater sticklers for the rules.) Hells yeah I breached US embassy security. I should cash in on this Benghazi business. I did it because the espresso in the cafeteria is excellent and inexpensive. Xibanya fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Sep 18, 2014 |
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Sep 18, 2014 21:42
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Xibanya posted:When I was an intern at the dept. of commercial service (as opposed to consular, those losers I don't think it's really hardcore unless you received the training on how to operate both U.S. and Russian small arms because there is a non-trivial chance that is knowledge that you, an office worker, might someday need. I believe that is only mandated for Afghanistan and Mexico (drug war lol). LGD fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Sep 18, 2014 |
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Sep 18, 2014 22:01
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ladyweapon posted:My coworker wasn't feeling well yesterday. Today she says she has bronchitis that she got from her husband and asks if bronchitis is contagious (yes, it is). Basic deductive reasoning really does just escape some people, doesn't it?  It ought to be legal to use heat sterilization to prevent the spread of infectious diseases when the infection vector is some rear end in a top hat who won't stay home when they're horribly sick.  Already caught one cold from a sick co-worker this month, and another co-worker who was sneezing all over my cube yesterday (while insisting she wasn't sick) was coughing uncontrollably all day today, so I look forward to yet another round of whatever horrible plague is constantly going around our office. And I won't even have any days off work for the next few weeks to try to recover... 
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Sep 18, 2014 22:54
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dividertabs posted:staplers, phones, and scissors can be thrown at your attacker. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy1VQp9QAWE
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Sep 19, 2014 00:05
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We also had to watch the armed intruder video, except ours ended with a cliffhanger of some office guy about to whack the intruder on the head with a fire extinguisher. We then decided to nominate the guy with the cube closest to the door as our designated fire extinguisher thrower. We all feel safer now.
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Sep 19, 2014 00:51
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I had to take a three day course in security, smuggling and terrorism prevention at some point. My favourite highlight was the slide about improvised explosive device, and I quote from memory: Bombs A bomb can:
It as three days of stuff of this level of usefulness 
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Sep 19, 2014 01:02
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:We also had to watch the armed intruder video, except ours ended with a cliffhanger of some office guy about to whack the intruder on the head with a fire extinguisher. We then decided to nominate the guy with the cube closest to the door as our designated fire extinguisher thrower. We all feel safer now. What if that guy *is* the armed intruder?!?!
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Sep 19, 2014 01:04
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a shameful boehner posted:I used to love doing bedroom DJing, I had my own pair of Technic 1200s and a Pioneer DJM500. I had to sell them a while back, sadly. Yeah, I have to pull the trigger on one around December. Another may leave in the coming weeks. It's truly scary as hell but very exciting. I know that if I don't take my chances now to work on musical projects that I stand to never get them done. Alternatively, performing music puts me in well with every restaurant in a 100 mile radius so I can always tend bar. Still scary. If I hear of any IT jobs opening up I will get in contact. Not much in ski towns, I'm afraid...
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Sep 19, 2014 01:46
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dennyk posted:Basic deductive reasoning really does just escape some people, doesn't it? Basic deductive reasoning escapes some companies. I was sick last week and was told that my (salaried) pay would be docked if I did not come in. 
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Sep 19, 2014 02:06
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dividertabs posted:I had some mandatory emergency preparedness training: how to react to fires, earthquakes, and armed intruders. I learned from the powerpoint slides that if you can't flee or hide from a shooter, you might have to fight back! Look for nearby objects that can be used as weapons: staplers, phones, and scissors can be thrown at your attacker. I did some contract work on a government project a few years ago which included some hours of mandatory training. About a third of it was how to deal with the many ways people may threaten or attempt to kill you. It read as amazingly blasé. "If a caller issues a bomb threat, pull a Form 800-M from the stack next to your phone and get a neighbor to contact your manager."
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Sep 19, 2014 02:20
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