|
Misogynist posted:Talk to the person as though they're a literal human being Human beings are terrible. 
|
#
¿
Feb 4, 2014 19:41
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 10, 2024 20:59 |
|
|
n0tqu1tesane posted:Oh you guys and your small network closets are cute. Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your Cat5e!
|
|
#
¿
Feb 6, 2014 16:24
|
|
|
nitrogen posted:this article is for all of you. I'm the only I.T. person so I have to always answer that phone. I've worked every weekend since we moved to our new HQ (end of December) because it's the only way to keep from getting hopelessly buried. In the last three years since I started we've gone from about 50 people to over 100, at over a dozen sites in three cities and two states, and that growth pace isn't slowing down. My boss and the HR VP asked me about getting some help but all they want is to get a temp from one of their crap agencies. I've explained that the amount of time I'd need to spend training and managing that temp will far outpace whatever they can do for my workload but I don't think they're listening. Nothing new there. So I came in yesterday (Saturday) to prep two new PCs before the rest of the dozen I ordered show up. Instead I spent the whole time working on the Controller's laptop because (to keep things short) she is an idiot. Now it's Sunday and I'm here to do what I couldn't get done yesterday. Dick Trauma fucked around with this message at 20:39 on Feb 16, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2014 20:33
|
|
|
I came in here knowing they would have most of the flaws of the average workplace. That I've made it three years feels weird, since two years at the hell place felt much longer. But unfortunately this place is becoming dysfunctional as they've chosen to continue trying to run the company like it's still just 20 people. No internal controls, wild and wasteful spending, terrible cliques, no one at Director level or above with the good sense and backbone to reign things in... ah well. I'm getting burned out, and tired of having no authority. I almost wish I'd never been an I.T. Director with authority because it ruined me for all the jobs that came afterward.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2014 20:41
|
|
|
I have mostly worked at terrible places, but I've come to learn the basics necessary for controlling growth, managing and developing staff, etc. Most places don't know these things and I wind up frequently wishing I could teach my bosses how to actually be bosses. They should be ashamed of how bad they are at it, managing purely by the seat of their pants. No system, no process, no self-examination. I think this is why I like watching TV shows like "Holmes on Homes" where extremely competent people go and unfuck the things done by average, lousy workers. I wish I could go back in time and find someone like that to work with, no matter what industry it is. They're so rare.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2014 21:05
|
|
|
Based on my lengthy experience working at terrible places all this accomplishes is management anger and resentment. They don't suddenly start looking at you as a valuable resource. They look at you as someone to replace. The long hours are fairly recent. The problems that led to it have been here from the start but were at low boil because we were smaller. I have had two bosses in a row here so far that do not listen to me about pretty much anything. That is the biggest contributor to my troubles here. I do value my time, but I also value the best paycheck I've ever had now that I need to support my elderly parents. At my age and with my corroding skills there's nowhere to go from here but down. I need to delay that as long as possible because it will get ugly pretty quickly if I have to go back to what I was making before. Put me somewhere that doesn't suck and things go quite differently. Finding that place has been the bane of my career.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 16, 2014 21:40
|
|
|
This was posted in the healthcare thread as advice for working with psych patients. Reading it I realized it would be just as useful for working with terrible bosses!Thora posted:Phrases that will be helpful:
|
|
#
¿
Apr 23, 2014 20:12
|
|
|
Paladine_PSoT posted:These are straight up rules for talking to toddlers Like I said... 
|
|
#
¿
Apr 23, 2014 20:17
|
|
|
Fellatio del Toro posted:So in an effort to improve our morale the powers that be have decided to hold a 'competition' where we score points based on metrics, positive surveys received, ticket close times, losing points for tickets open more than a day, etc. At the end of the month the top scorers get to go home 2 hours early! Maybe if you're lucky next Friday will be Hawaiian shirt day.
|
|
#
¿
May 1, 2014 03:39
|
|
|
The next person that asks me a question and when I answer responds with "correct" is getting punched in the throat. I'm hearing this more and more often now and I hate it with every fiber of my being. Are you testing me? Do you already know the answer? No? Then the proper response is "ok" or "thank you" or some other goddamn affirmation but not "correct." In case this doesn't make any sense here's an example from this morning: Security guard: I need you to connect my email to this Blackberry. Dick: What's the email address? Security guard: me@notmygoddamndomain.com Dick: That account is from your company. You'll need your company's I.T. to handle this. Security guard: Correct. 
|
|
#
¿
May 20, 2014 18:24
|
|
|
I worked at a call center where I was given the task of taking (film) photos of alot of the staff. I paid the $150 for film and processing and submitted it for reimbursement. My manager kept it on her desk for five months, and it got to the point where if I brought it up she'd yell "HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO TELL YOU I'M TAKING CARE OF IT?!?" It became only one of many reasons I hated that place (and her) and in the end I had to go to the big wall of photos and take them all down before she was willing to hand the reimbursement request to the accounting manager. That's all she had to do, hand it over, and she refused until the site director saw me taking the pics down and went to her for an explanation. It has been a hallmark of my working life that most people I work for only do the basics when compelled. Without compulsion they have no will of their own to be decent human beings. I never question why someone might want to give less than their best effort to their employer because goddamn have I been on the receiving end of literally decades of work bullshit.
|
|
#
¿
May 20, 2014 19:49
|
|
|
Sickening posted:SO my new COO has been an employee for an entire month. He however has only been in the office for 4 whole days. The perfect boss. 
|
|
#
¿
May 20, 2014 20:33
|
|
|
I saw a board presentation yesterday that showed our org chart and my box has been moved all the way to the bottom by itself, so far down that the lower half is cut off.
|
|
#
¿
May 22, 2014 16:56
|
|
|
MC Fruit Stripe posted:You get a box? Lucky. Aye. In them days, we'd a' been glad to have the price of a cup o' tea.
|
|
#
¿
May 22, 2014 17:16
|
|
|
mewse posted:At least you have your stapler? I don't actually have one! I'm on the verge of being obliged to drive across town to turn on the monitors for someone's small video art installation. They told me yesterday that after a power issue the installation was off. I told them to verify that the monitors are on. Now there's an executive visit there tomorrow morning and it's an emergency and they're refusing to turn the goddamn monitors on because they insist it's my responsibility. I hate this place so much now.
|
|
#
¿
May 22, 2014 19:06
|
|
|
Santa is strapped posted:Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember back in the day you had escaped a hell hole (the one with Tony) and found yourself in an amazing company. Is this the company you're with now? Yup. It's a long story but boils down once again to terrible management. The user just emailed me that the video installation is working fine but that no one there touched anything. 
|
|
#
¿
May 22, 2014 19:22
|
|
|
Put one UPS on one server, and put two daisy chained on another. One should be 20 amp and the other 30. Everybody wins!
|
|
#
¿
May 28, 2014 17:14
|
|
|
AlternateAccount posted:Actual human guards? Plural? Armed?! Where do you work!? 
|
|
#
¿
Jun 4, 2014 21:45
|
|
|
Jerry Cotton posted:Why don't modern laptops just use regular standard power cords like my old Toshiba Satellite Pro, instead of proprietary shitbricks that you always leave somewhere? Making the transformer external cuts laptop weight, but of course you bring the drat thing with you anyway.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 5, 2014 01:11
|
|
|
nitrogen posted:I am on an application failover call with what has to be the least professional customer i've ever worked with. Someone actually said this? 
|
|
#
¿
Jun 5, 2014 16:44
|
|
|
I've got the blocks in place via GPO and it was annoying at first to have to test and whitelist things but it's better than not doing it. You find out how apps abuse appdata, like the installer that is secretly the 32 and 64 bit version and when you run it decompresses to appdata first and runs the appropriate one. Appdata's like a garbage collection site for lazy programmers. The lifesaver is a registry entry that will generate a log file when apps run so I can check it to get the full path for whatever triggers the block warning.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 11, 2014 19:13
|
|
|
Lord Dudeguy posted:loving CHRIST. When we were switching to Telepacfic a few weeks ago TP put a port request in to the losing carriers without consulting with me first. The losing carriers (the numbers were split across two) contacted me and I freaked out and got TP to cancel the request until I could actually schedule the drat thing properly. One day I come in and half our numbers have stopped working. Apparently the losing carriers have two systems that receive the cancellation request and one system processed it and the other didn't. Result? Cancellation goes through anyway! Took a couple of hours to get that unfucked. When the real port date came everything seemed to go smoothly until I discovered that one of our largest sites had their own bizarro arrangement with the carriers and they couldn't call any of our numbers after the port. In short: gently caress telco. You can schedule, confirm, verify but they'll still do something unproductive and possibly career-ending.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 19, 2014 19:46
|
|
|
Although it's natural for me to ask questions like this it has cost me, over and over again.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 1, 2014 17:40
|
|
|
For a multitude of reasons throughout the years I haven't taken a real vacation since the mid seventies when I was a kid. Money issues, job issues, unemployment, health problems... I'm not proud of it. My life has gone rather poorly. But If I get fired soon I promise to take a few days somewhere nice.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 2, 2014 04:22
|
|
|
I started buying laptops with SSDs and goddamn installing Office 2010 goes lickety-split.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 2, 2014 20:22
|
|
|
TWBalls posted:Their website is incredibly lovely. If I select the 9020, they don't seem to offer a choice to change the hard drive at all. However, if I filter by Solid State Drive, they do offer 9020's with an SSD: Ultra Small Form Factor all the way. 
|
|
#
¿
Jul 2, 2014 22:43
|
|
|
Ordered a circuit with static IP from CenturyLink for a Seattle location that is about to move and needs new service. Modem arrived within a couple of days, local staff plugged it in so I could test it, then I programmed a router to ship up to them for their move today from the old space. New router isn't working with their circuit. Why? CenturyLink changed the IP. Guess I should've paid more for the Super Extra Static IP plan.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 2, 2014 23:33
|
|
|
I get regular calls from toner scammers and it brightens my day. : Hi, this is Brett calling about the copier. Can I get the model number real quick? : Don't even try that with me. Go bother someone else.: Uhh.... <click>
|
|
#
¿
Jul 7, 2014 18:52
|
|
|
One of the executive assistants learned today that if you use an MFC's scan to email function and enter your own email address incorrectly you will not receive the scan. It's like that old Charles Babbage quote: "On two occasions I have been asked, 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
|
|
#
¿
Jul 8, 2014 01:10
|
|
|
One of the VPs insisted on having an office and a cubicle, both set up with dual monitors, laptop dock, etc. This is the same guy that managed to get Cryptolocker on both his desktop and laptop within a couple of days of one another. Anyway he's now responsible for doing something stupid that I've never seen before, and considering how long I've been doing this that's an accomplishment. In his office he's taken to sitting on the guest side of his desk. The monitors are on an arm and he's swung them around so he can sit on the wrong side of his desk. This puts his back up against the wall, which is glass, so everyone passing by in the corridor gets to see his weirdness on display. Also he never turns the lights on so you just see these two big glowing monitors and the back of this dumbass slouched down in his chair.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 14, 2014 17:09
|
|
|
Buy your special snowflakes a Dell Latitude e7240. With an SSD and no optical drive it's small, light and does a reasonable imitation of a stylish laptop. And they work with the standard Dell dock. Put it in a nice slipcover case and when you bring it to them they'll feel extra special.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 18, 2014 17:23
|
|
|
Tailored Sauce posted:"Do the needful" and "gentle reminder". I hate them. I hate them both. Friendly reminders, too. Ugh. When was the last time anyone received a "friendly" reminder that was actually friendly and not some passive-aggressive horseshit?
|
|
#
¿
Jul 23, 2014 21:59
|
|
|
luminalflux posted:We had a discussion today in our retrospective on tone in trello cards... Your post baffled me and not just because I don't know what trello cards are. I'm going to guess that it's another flavor of the month management tool but I'm picturing it being like a tarot reading. Your team sits in a darkened room while a supervisor slowly lays out the trello... "The nine of SCSI, inverted. Looks like that hot spare is neither!"
|
|
#
¿
Jul 23, 2014 22:48
|
|
|
Annoyed person emails me about a problem I am only on the periphery of. Copies in her boss, her boss's boss and two of my bosses, none of whom are going to be familiar with what's going on. Why are there so many people who exercise the nuclear option every time they have an issue? She could've picked up the drat phone and asked me about this directly, and would've gotten a good answer, too.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 25, 2014 18:45
|
|
|
Thanks Ants posted:Who else is seeing a largeish increase in the amount of spam hitting filters this past week or so? This month is at 16%, same as last month.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2014 19:47
|
|
|
Last week I cut someone off from support for the first time, a person from the company doing our internal audit that was a jerk last year and decided to stick with that strategy this year. He's a huffy man-baby that doesn't understand that we're his drat client, and coming in here and bitching at me that my network doesn't work and our printers don't work and our wifi doesn't work was more than I was willing to put up with. He's on a floor with about 70 people on it and a shitload of printers, copiers and wireless devices and just like last year he's the only one having a problem. I told him his I.T. people could contact me so we could discuss his continuous tech issues and he rolled his eyes at me. I told the CAO that this dipshit is cut off from tech support until he apologizes to me for his rudeness. I don't expect that to ever happen. Today I find that the external audit team (from a different company than the internal team) unplugged one of our WAPs so they could plug their own switch in. They are usually polite people so I chastized them gently but who really does that when they go to a client? Is the piece of equipment plugged in and has blinking lights on it? Don't touch it without asking! Jesus.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2014 22:08
|
|
|
That horrible woman in Marketing came to me with a design sketch for a showroom that's being built. She says "the CEO wants to see what's represented in this sketch scrolling on these two monitors. How do we do that?" Long story short, someone approved a quote for a $5,000 video display system which appears to be two TVs and a server of some sort. I asked for the make and model of the display system as well as the name of the server software so I can find out the specifics and she says "Well basically you just put the video on the server. So how do we do this?" I repeated that I need the details on the system and software they purchased. Without that info I can't tell them how to do it. She sends me the quotes, which have no info other than TV/SERVER/SOFTWARE. I ask for the details I requested. She sends me wall mount instructions for the TVs. I ask for the details I requested. She sends me the TV manual. I ask for the details I requested. FFFFfffffuck I can't stand this person. I also can't stand that they'd spend that much money on something I'm supposed to support without getting me involved. I told her we don't have any way of creating the scrolling animations ourselves and we have to work with a production house and now she's even more pissed off. Some people poison any process they touch.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 30, 2014 23:12
|
|
|
Oh man it's supposed to go live in two weeks. 
|
|
#
¿
Jul 30, 2014 23:41
|
|
|
Thanks Ants posted:I was thinking more digital sign player than media server, but even then you're looking at 10k just in server and player licensing before you've bought any hardware. It might be Samsung's MagicInfo software. Don't know for sure yet.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 31, 2014 00:08
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 10, 2024 20:59 |
|
|
More poo poo that pisses you off: Holy potato, I forgot all about work!
|
|
#
¿
Aug 1, 2014 19:46
|
|