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I really wish all the baby boomers and Gen X'rs would go ahead and retire or quit working. |
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Sep 9, 2022 17:45
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tadashi posted:I really wish all the baby boomers and Gen X'rs would go ahead and retire or quit working. If I could afford to, don't you think I would? |
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Sep 9, 2022 17:48
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tadashi posted:I really wish all the baby boomers and Gen X'rs would go ahead and retire or quit working. Thanks, yes, being homeless is such fun |
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Sep 9, 2022 17:50
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tadashi posted:I really wish all the baby boomers and Gen X'rs would go ahead and retire or quit working. Me too but I have to fuckin eat. |
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Sep 9, 2022 18:26
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smokin clove cigarettes with my boss on the porch at the cemetery while it's raining all those years of not being a goth kid throughout school have now been made up for |
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Sep 9, 2022 18:59
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work posting. gently caress a job |
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Sep 10, 2022 02:24
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rear end-penny posted:work posting. |
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Sep 10, 2022 23:46
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Hello Workrew. It is 2 am as I write this and I have a lot of stuff on my mind. I have been mulling a lot of stuff over but don't really feel like I'm really getting anywhere. There's things I want to write out but I haven't because a. I'm a little worried about showing my whole rear end online and b. It's a lot of stuff to write out. Maybe writing things out will help me lay things out more, or it might become an incomprehensible that's nest of the various threads I have running into each other in my head. I may also get some advice. This is probably going to be really really long. I absolutely take zero offense if you skip over this entirely. It's probably gonna get rambly. While I've been working for this brewery since July 2019, except for 4 months when I went to work at the brewery from hell in Wakayama, this place only got there license in August of last year and I didn't start actually brewing for another two months as we got things measured and final paperwork taken care of. The brewery and the restaurant it's attached to are owned by a large restaurant management company. I'm the only brewer, which is fine by me, we have a smaller system and I can do almost everything on my own. Things started out a bit rough and after a blowout with the restaurant manager back in May I was grumbling about quitting, but things got restructured and improved quite a bit. Summer was busy but also kind of a mess. The boss agreed to make beer for a Korean themed beer garden run by our parent company. This sounded good in theory because it would help fill empty tanks and the place was supposed to be able to pick up kegs shortly after packaging so the finished product wouldn't take up our very limited cold room space. In practice there were issues. I think that a big one was just the volume. There was this idea they needed something like two to three batches a month starting May. The problem was that they way overestimated the amount they'd sell and didn't even advertise the beer as something special they gad. I'm not saying that their beer was so amazing it was gonna drive up customer volume, but when you're offering your own craft beer as part of an all you can drink course, maybe mention it on Instagram, or at least put it on the online menu. I think they thought it'd save them money and that was it. After a while they stopped picking up full batches and only grabbing portions of it at a time, taking up valuable cold room space, thus slowing production of other beers. Not that they could have predicted it happening, but while I had like three batches in the tank the drat place suffered a minor fire, closing around half of the (rooftop) space and the already low demand plummeted. The base style was also a pale ale, so when we ended up putting it on tap it kind of negated our basic pale ale that was somewhat popular, and sorta threw off the idea of it being one of our regular line up. I guess it's not that important but I think illustrates some of the issues at play here. Overall, I'm fine with this job. I'm treated pretty well (aside from the head chef but that's fairly limited), my pay is fine (I'd like a raise but can live comfortably on what I make ATM), my schedule is pretty relaxed (I can show up and leave whenever I want so long as I deliver on product and I have weekends off), I am in complete control of brewery processes, and I get to make some things I want. I'm not sure if it's just a thing with me but I'm feeling a bit restless. In truth, I haven't held onto a single job for much over a year since leaving the JET Program back in 2014 after four years. I guess I'm starting to feel like I've hit a real ceiling with this place. Things are fine so I'm not looking for an immediate exit. Realistically, I don't see myself even looking for anything new until after my work visa gets renewed in March. Even if I were to leave I'd probably give several months notice as this place has treated me fairly and without me there is nobody on staff capable of doing my job, so realistically September of next year or so. I know your boss isn't your friend but I'd like to finally leave a brewery in this country under good terms for once if possible. I guess I would describe the feeling as one of general stagnation, but I'm unsure about what to do next. I've been thinking about trying to open my own place along with a partner, eventually. I have a partner sort of lined up but nothing is set and I'm not confident in my abilities in many ways. On the one hand, the bar here is lower than it is in the US. I wouldn't consider opening my own place for much longer if I was back home. That said, should I be happy with that? Even if I do open this place, it's going to be at least a couple more years before that happens. But am I gaining enough experience here and will I continue to? I feel like I'm starting to hit a ceiling here, and unless I'm given more control over the production schedule and lineup, I doubt I'll be able to grow much more as a brewer. Production has been a bit stop and go and I do feel like maybe I wedge in beers I want to make at the expense of more accessible beers. I want to balance our lineup but it gets tampered with a bit sometimes. I do feel like a lot of the beers I release are mediocre at best. I'm unsure how much I can improve that or if I could succeed with what I have right now or in a few years. Outside sales have been slow. We sell some kegs to other restaurants owned by the company, but have only sold two 10 liter kegs to an outside bar. That's it. It feels like the managers were just so laser focused on selling to this one place that they lost sight of looking for other sales. I tried a bit but it feels like any lead I give them is never followed up on, although that may not be accurate. I'm supposed to make a list of potential businesses, and I will, but this only came up late last week. It's just not a focus, despite it being brought up as a problem every so often. My coworker contacted a former coworker, who works at a craft beer bar now to ask about buying from us I think. Knowing him he was way too forward about it. I get sales is about exploiting contacts but I think you gotta have some finesse, especially in the small world of craft beer. I don't think this guy has it. Today a guy I know who manages a few craft beer places in Kyoto dropped by and we shot the poo poo and he gave me direct feedback on my beers. I feel like I have excuses for a lot of my less good beers, but also that the lineup isn't very good now. Production is so stop and go lately and I think the lineup is starting to suffer from a lack of variety in a way. While I get a lot of freedom to make things I want, I also think maybe I'm taking advantage of that too much sometimes. I'm also tired of making the weird smoothie sour IPA, not just because I really don't like the styles it represents as a whole, but everything about it from brew day, to fermentation, to cropping, to packaging is such a pain in the rear end. The focus on it has lessened slightly, but it's still a part of the regular lineup and is just a constant headache for me. I'm not saying we need to never make it again but with around 200 liters of loss for every 500 liter batch, along with the double dry hop and fruit added, the cost performance has to be awful. I hate bottling, but that being our only bottled product seems like a mistake. I guess it just feels like I've gotten as far as I can here. I get along with my manager and all, but the massive corporate structure makes change or progress difficult and time consuming. All kinds of purchases large and small have to get approval from several layers of management which can take months. My manager has cut through the red tape for me on several occasions, but it's also kind of the state of the company in general. As a brewer I'm generally less busy in the fall and winter, but it's almost at a halt right now. I'm trying to get them to have me make beers that take more time to mature such as lagers and certain high alcohol beers, but the assistant manager hems and haws about it and is like "outside sales aren't there", which I get, but also there's no effort put into it and he doesn't understand that the point is to use the time were sales are low and cold room space is limited to make a more special product that can stay in the tank for longer if needed. I guess in the end I'm wondering do I stay on? If so, how long? Can I learn more and improve here? If I leave, where to? Do I look for a brewing job elsewhere? Can Do I start my own place? Am I ready to do that? Do I have the knowledge and skills to perform at that level? Should I maybe try phantom brewing on the side? If I look for another job I can at least take my time as things here are comfortable enough, but I'm also wary about moving again. I don't want to work for another narcissistic brewery owner who micromanages my processes and schedule, but I don't know if I can realistically stay here for much more than another year or two without something else lined up. Maybe I could start phantom brewing and even use tanks I'm not really using here but...I dunno. I'd have to look into setting up my own company and the visa allowances I'd need. |
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Sep 12, 2022 19:36
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from what I can figure out, if'n you really want to grow as a brewer starting your own place would really give you the control you need to try and further your knowledge. even if the business doesn't pan out long term I'm 100% sure you will learn a lot, and not just on the brewing side of things, but on sales, advertising, etc. stay at the place you're at until you are ready to really start making moves, but you can do a lot of set up under the safety net of your current employer, who you sound comfortable with, even if you don't really seem happy. get your partners lined up, maybe a graphic design or printing/packaging person, whoever else you think you are going to need to have your vision hit the ground running. front of house people and food people if you see it going that way. it seems weird to me the company you are working for wants you supplying them potential customers? is that a normal thing? I had felt like you were just making beers for them, and if that is the case why are they making you do things not in your job description?Escape From Noise posted:Today a guy I know who manages a few craft beer places in Kyoto dropped by and we shot the poo poo and he gave me direct feedback on my beers. I feel like I have excuses for a lot of my less good beers, but also that the lineup isn't very good now. Production is so stop and go lately and I think the lineup is starting to suffer from a lack of variety in a way. While I get a lot of freedom to make things I want, I also think maybe I'm taking advantage of that too much sometimes. I'm also tired of making the weird smoothie sour IPA, not just because I really don't like the styles it represents as a whole, but everything about it from brew day, to fermentation, to cropping, to packaging is such a pain in the rear end. The focus on it has lessened slightly, but it's still a part of the regular lineup and is just a constant headache for me. I'm not saying we need to never make it again but with around 200 liters of loss for every 500 liter batch, along with the double dry hop and fruit added, the cost performance has to be awful. I hate bottling, but that being our only bottled product seems like a mistake. these two paragraphs are a little  for me tho. in the first one you say you have freedom to do things you want, even that you're taking over-advantage of that. in the second paragraph, you pitch a beer that takes longer to mature, and they're worried they aren't going to sell it, even while they're sitting on piles of unsold product apparently. when you say "freedom to make things you want" are you talking about for lunch? because it doesn't sound like you can actually experiment, try new things, and grow if your production is based on sales figures. I get having some safety beers that are flagships or whatever but you kinda have to make new things, and new mistakes sometimes, if you are going to grow and get better in this field?lastly the phrase "phantom brewing" shows up in the last few paragraphs, and I'm assuming you're not talking about the brewery in Connecticut. is that like, brewing at home to try and sell in stores or what is that and how is it different from starting your own place? |
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Sep 12, 2022 21:15
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End of fiscal year can bite my rear end.tadashi posted:I really wish all the baby boomers and Gen X'rs would go ahead and retire or quit working. I think I'm in Gen X. At least, that's what the Pepsi commercial during the previews before Back To The Future told me in high school. I have to keep working for 20 more years until I can retire. It's interesting to see someone considers people my age part of the problem, though. What goes around comes around, I suppose. cruft fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Sep 12, 2022 |
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Sep 12, 2022 23:12
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But my main point is that the end of the fiscal year can just go to hell. Today I attended a mandatory "thank you" lunch for 90 minutes, in the middle of reviewing over 1000 resumes for this GIGANTIC conference next week, fixed an operating system version problem in our cloud, and recorded some videos for an anti-phishing training. All in the middle of fielding non-stop frenzied questions about spending every last dollar exactly by the end of next week. I hate this so much. |
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Sep 12, 2022 23:16
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the fact that almost no one has pensions anymore is gonna gently caress the labor market for decades if not more. the boomers who are trying to retire now (like my parents) are the first generation to have their entire retirement tied up in 401k/IRAs and like, uh, an awful lot of them absolutely can not retire
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Sep 12, 2022 23:27
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more falafel please posted:the fact that almost no one has pensions anymore is gonna gently caress the labor market for decades if not more. Ironically, the sheer number of boomers is probably the main reason that pensions went away. It stopped being sustainable when 60% of your workforce was between 40 and 50 years old. Stupid world war 2! |
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Sep 13, 2022 00:11
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more falafel please posted:the fact that almost no one has pensions anymore is gonna gently caress the labor market for decades if not more. kids reacting to pensions: "What do you mean you don't have to work anymore? Why do checks keep showing up in your mail? This is fun, but I'm late for my shift at McDonalds." |
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Sep 13, 2022 01:04
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Today was a fuckin gong show. Got out late so going in late tomorrow. Gonna take the time to make a nice breakfast. |
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Sep 13, 2022 06:07
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rear end-penny posted:from what I can figure out, if'n you really want to grow as a brewer starting your own place would really give you the control you need to try and further your knowledge. even if the business doesn't pan out long term I'm 100% sure you will learn a lot, and not just on the brewing side of things, but on sales, advertising, etc. stay at the place you're at until you are ready to really start making moves, but you can do a lot of set up under the safety net of your current employer, who you sound comfortable with, even if you don't really seem happy. get your partners lined up, maybe a graphic design or printing/packaging person, whoever else you think you are going to need to have your vision hit the ground running. front of house people and food people if you see it going that way. it seems weird to me the company you are working for wants you supplying them potential customers? is that a normal thing? I had felt like you were just making beers for them, and if that is the case why are they making you do things not in your job description? At a smaller brewery it's pretty common to wear a few hats and help with sales by providing at least some customers. Just by say going out to places and mentioning where you work. I'm okay with helping with that to a certain extent, but I also kind of feel like they're kind of relying on my to provide sales way too much without putting in work themselves, in a sense. Those two ideas do come off as contradictory, and in a sense, I guess they are. So to clarify, I do get to make things I want but don't have overall control of that makes sense. As in I have to sort of ask permission. At that place in Wakayama I was never allowed input. Just made the same couple beers every time. So while I get to make my own stuff I still have to make what they want. Overall, that's fine, I guess I just feel like the flow gets interrupted while options are considered and reconsidered sometimes. To further clarify, I like Belgian styles, and given a choice I'll always try and fit a few in the schedule. The problem is that these are generally not super popular styles and can be harder to sell, except maybe saison (oddly enough one of the part timers who's in her early 20s said working here got her sort of interested in beer and she really liked the soba saison because it's dry). I think it's possible to sell but needs decent marketing, also possibly with more outside sales. As it stands most of our customers aren't coming in for the beer alone, so things like our pale ale have been are biggest sellers. People who don't know beer aren't goingg to know Belgian styles (other than wit), and those that do and enjoy them are a definite minority. I've tried to make more IPAs and wanted to make a NEIPA before summer. I'm supposed to make a tropical IPA soon. They're not my favorite, but they sell. I was going to make a NEIPA early on but shelved it due to the lack of cold room space meaning I was told to hold off on packaging some finished beers and NEIPAs need to be packaged and sold ASAP as they're best fresh. I also want to clarify that the restaurant manager isn't really in charge of the brewery. He's also not the same manager I had a blowout with. He stepped into the restaurant manager position earlier this month. He's more in a liason position in order to help me communicate with the section head and has been helping in this capacity before when he was the assistant manager. The section head is very approachable, but there's sometimes communication issues, especially over text. He can be busy so sometimes he's not immediately available. The restaurant manager can be helpful but also he can be a little...thick. Sometimes there are miscommunications due to language barrier stuff but also sometimes he's just slow I guess. So while I'll tell him about ideas I have, he doesn't have final say. It's more like his two cents. Sometimes I appreciate it, but sometimes I think he's not really understanding my point. So when I brought up the beers with long maturation times in order to help pad out production and free time, I don't think he understood what the goal of that was. Finally, phantom brewing (or, as it is sometimes unfortunately called, gypsy brewing) is when you brew your beer on other people's equipment, sometimes this is just a company that contract brews beers (paying a brewery to make a beer to the company's specifications), but it can also mean paying to use other brewery's equipment to brew your own beers. Sorry that got really long. There's probably a more succinct way of putting all of that but I'm sorta all over the place in my head about it so thank you for reading and I am in no way offended if anyone skimmed or just completely scrolled past. |
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Sep 13, 2022 06:09
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 I hope work sorts itself out for you. |
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Sep 13, 2022 15:56
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I have been at work for an hour and have not done anything but check emails. I think I am having a bad brain day and I don't want to work. |
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Sep 13, 2022 16:10
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xcheopis posted:
Thanks. Overall things are fine and better than just bearable, despite my ramblings. I guess it's also after working for various people and it feels like "Is this as good as it gets?". I guess I'm kind of frustrated with the restaurant manager because I asked when the last time he cleaned the taps was and his response was "I don't know, I want to but I've been busy!" And while they have over twenty taps I think only around eight are in actual use. There's beer all over the cold room floor and mold on the tap lines. You're telling me you can't come in early on a weekday when things aren't so busy and take care of that? It's not like that much time to take care of all that! I'd be willing to do it, just let me know and I can schedule it on a day where I don't have much going on! Maybe that's it. Just tired of lackluster presentation of what I produce. Escape From Noise fucked around with this message at 17:30 on Sep 13, 2022 |
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Sep 13, 2022 16:26
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This morning I modified a web page to look different. |
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Sep 13, 2022 17:33
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My work day so far has mostly been looking at different crochet patterns online. Sent one conspicuous email to give the appearance of productivity. |
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Sep 13, 2022 18:05
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I just finished recording a video explaining how to rickroll your co-workers. |
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Sep 13, 2022 18:22
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Zil posted:I have been at work for an hour and have not done anything but check emails. I think I am having a bad brain day and I don't want to work. same but in 8 minutes i have to start talking to people |
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Sep 13, 2022 22:53
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ive been tweaking my resume for new stuff and man i hate resumes. just fuckin do not like resumes |
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Sep 13, 2022 22:54
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Scuba Trooper posted:ive been tweaking my resume for new stuff and man i hate resumes. just fuckin do not like resumes I realised a few days back that the resume I had been using knocked an entire 12 months off the length of time at one of my recent roles (said 2021 as start instead of 2020). I checked that drat thing so many times too!! 
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Sep 13, 2022 23:33
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I wish this place gave a poo poo about my beer. |
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Sep 14, 2022 02:37
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poo poo. I'd like to finally work at a place again that gave half a poo poo about the actual serving of the beer. Pretty sure one of our lines has a diacetyl contamination. Guess I'll have to clean the lines tomorrow because the restaurant manager can't seem to find the time. |
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Sep 14, 2022 05:14
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Scuba Trooper posted:ive been tweaking my resume for new stuff and man i hate resumes. just fuckin do not like resumes the WORST
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Sep 14, 2022 13:13
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i have to look at a lot of resumes and these days i cut people a LOT of slack. writing resumes is hard and miserable. you can kind of tell the difference between a resume that's badly written because someone's lying about their career, and one that's badly written because they gave up the will to live before the end
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Sep 14, 2022 13:43
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curriculum vitae lmao
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Sep 14, 2022 13:46
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also some people who are really bad at writing resumes get their friend to write it for them. however, the friend is also bad at writing resumes.
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Sep 14, 2022 13:49
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Japanese resumes are sort of a pain in the rear end but at least it's mostly just data entry. |
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Sep 14, 2022 14:14
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Dr. Honked posted:also some people who are really bad at writing resumes get their friend to write it for them. however, the friend is also bad at writing resumes. I know someone who paid for a "professional" to do their resume, but when I looked at it years later it was garbage. I completely redid it but it makes me cranky to think of the missed opportunities from that thing! Also don't pay a professional to do your resume - if you have friends/family who have been responsible for hiring/firing get them to look instead and provide feedback. The ability to download a resume template from word doth not a professional make
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Sep 14, 2022 21:52
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Escape From Noise posted:Japanese resumes are sort of a pain in the rear end but at least it's mostly just data entry. How are they different, I am fascinated to learn more 
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Sep 14, 2022 21:53
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Chewbecca posted:How are they different, I am fascinated to learn more I think it's just like you list your work and schools but it's literally just the name of the school and workplace and the dates attended. Then certifications and awards. Oh yeah. Also a photograph. Which is weird. It's been a minute since I dealt with mine. There's room for a personal statement or two but they're relatively short. Here's a rundown https://blog.gaijinpot.com/write-japanese-resume/ |
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Sep 15, 2022 00:27
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Do they still ask for blood-type? |
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Sep 15, 2022 00:32
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xcheopis posted:Do they still ask for blood-type? I've never heard of that being a thing. Edit: Maybe it was at some point? |
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Sep 15, 2022 01:10
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in the office today, and someone put bob ross on the tv. excellent we used to have a news channel playing all the time but gently caress that noise 
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Sep 15, 2022 13:44
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I cleaned the lines today, except for the ones with Kirin fittings. The restaurant manager wasn't there but I went back in to say hello to a former part timer and he was there. I told him I'd cleaned all of the lines with standard fittings. His response? "Did you clean up the mold?". I mentioned maybe doing this for him but the way he responded made it very clear he's going to just lean on me to do his loving job. I'm glad I only cleaned two tap lines that weren't my own beer. From now on I'll only be cleaning my own lines. I sent pics of the state of the cold room to the chat shared with him and the section head. I also called the boss and said we needed to talk about this so having a meeting about it tomorrow. At least the restaurant manager isn't agressive about it. He's just really dumb. And lazy. |
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Sep 15, 2022 17:02
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| # ? May 20, 2024 22:10 |
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Dr. Honked posted:in the office today, and someone put bob ross on the tv. excellent Oh hell ya baby that's the workplace I need desperately |
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Sep 15, 2022 17:32
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