Minor rant thread. Post your rants o' the day here!

Knurled. said:

Sitting at home, waiting for a call that won't come.

Phone call came.  We hammered out some numbers, meaning, I mumbled something about health insurance premiums and threw out an hourly number that he jumped on after a short stunned silence.

Oh well.  We're re-negotiating in three months and, regardless, I'm still going to be making a good chunk more than I had been making BEFORE the pay structure change that cut my pay in half.  Now I just have to try to make ends meet while paying off the past couple months of making slim-to-nothing (which is admittedly better than the alternative)

Not going to buy a Focus RS with cash for Christmas, but also not going to be eating potatoes and air for three meals a day, either.

Feelings are legitimate but are not an indicator of progress or helpfulness.  I’m a jerk to most folks. Short fuse. Lack of empathy. But people tell me “thank you” 10+ times a day. I’m fair and do what I promise.

The people who just _know_ I’m in the wrong (in-laws mostly, sadly) whine about everything I do, how I raise my kids, where I take my family to spend our quality time. All while I’m helping them move or fixing their car. 

Their gut says “he’s a jerk” but their quality of life says “he’s really helping”.  If you’re “that guy” or know him or voted for him, you’re in the right and hang in there.

and before this project is done there will be every goddam tool from the garage in the house

acetylene tank is in the house yay, let's get 'er done

In reply to stanger_missle :

Dude, I'm sorry to hear that.

In reply to stanger_missle :

Oof, I know that feeling of taking a job that was nowhere near as advertised. Just start looking for something new. All you can do, really. 

There is a special Hell for those of us who don't sleep.

stanger_missle said:

So, what happens next when you move across the county for a job that turns out isn't that great?

This is nothing like the job description said. Its nothing near as technical as the job description made it out to be. I'm nothing more than a glorified telephone operator. I don't actually troubleshoot anything since I don't have any sort of admin control. I have to call outside organizations who do all of it.

On top of that, my immediate manager is terrible. He is a decent guy but shouldn't be anywhere near a position where he manages people. It took over a month for me to gain access to my company's pay system which was his responsibility to set up. I tried calling HR to see if they could help but I got told it was all on him. I had to rely on him to complete my timesheet during that time. I still have not been back paid for the partial pay period during my first week.

His boss, a GS13, is the type that will call you at 3AM and interrogate you about an email that he saw on an issue that you have limited visibility over because your manager is working it. It scary because you have no idea its going to happen. It makes for a very stressful work environment where everyone walks on eggshells. It's no surprise that 5 people have quit over the last 3 weeks. Now we are terribly shorthanded which amplifies the stress.

On top of everything else, my finances are a berkeleying disaster. I'm trying to save money but everything seems to hit all at once. I sold all of my vehicles and bought a cheap Kia for a commuter but my insurance is $300/month(!!!). It seems I underestimated how expensive it is to live here. I should of rented a 2 bedroom apartment closer to work but I just *had* to have a garage. Now I'm stuck with this house for another 11 months before my lease expires.

TL:DR - I'm berkeleying miserable down here. Its nothing like I thought it was. Now I'm stuck here for a bit.

$300 a month?!? I pay $95 for 3 cars, id definitly be shopping around.

As for the bad job i can tell you this: Ive worked for  lot of different companies. Never be afraid to leave a bad job, itll kill you in a thousand ways staying at a crap job...."i was looking for a job when i found this one" is what id tell people. Id try to work towards making my current job better, but be looking around otherwise. Theres always another job out there, and since you are willing to move across the USA to do it, your pool is deep and plentiful. berkeley the current job and move towards being happy

In reply to Appleseed :

Don't worry, when I take my rightful place on the throne, sleep number lava beds for everyone!

logdog said:

Is there some sort of law in Boston that says you only have to unlock 1 door of the double doors on a business entry?  Apparently my superpower is picking the locked door 100% of the time!  I swear somebody is coming along behind me and switching the locked door so it gets me again when I leave.

I have shaken the door loudly, checked my watch, shaken it again, and left. I'll get my sandwich from Jersey John's Fire Way instead. They're open.

We’ve booked a holiday to the Dominican Republic in December - we are scheduled to leave Ottawa on Wednesday morning, during the largest snowstorm of the season. Yay!

In reply to Crxpilot :

We had a guy transfer to our branch that was able to fix our big issues but our company President didn’t like one thing that happened so he was cut.  

I figured we would butt heads at some point but in the end I knew he would be a good asset to our branch. 

Sandpaper people can be rough but they can help smooth and improve.  

Appleseed said:

There is a special Hell for those of us who don't sleep.

Yes there is, it's called LYING IN BED, UNABLE TO SLEEP.

In reply to Antihero :

Yeah, I have been with this insurance company since 2003. They have always treated me right. Before I sold all of my vehicles, I had a policy that had 2 vehicles with full coverage (12 Jeep Wrangler and an 07 F250) and one with just liability (86 CRX Si). I paid $189 a month. That was in podunk Idaho though. I remember car insurance being expensive the last time I lived here in Tampa but $300 a month on a 9 year old Kia with just liability? Yeah, no. That's just berkeleying ridiculous. When I have some spare time, I'm going to hit up an independent agent here.

As for the job, I been networking like a mofo. I have found 5 people who I was stationed with here when I was on active duty who happen to work for the same company. One if them is a retired Army SGM who I worked for who is very high up in the company. One call and I'm certain he would help me find another position.

I can see why attrition is so high in my work center; shift work, long hours, piss poor management and zero job satisfaction. They require a clearance so most people who are qualified move on quickly.

In the short term, I'm in full on survival mode. I am eating as cheaply as I can and cutting my expenditures to the bare minimum. Just gas to get to work and internet.

I keep telling myself that things will get better but sometimes it's really hard to keep the faith.

The struggle is real 

In reply to stanger_missle :

Keep it up, you've got the right mindset and you'll find something that's a better fit. Good luck.

Saw a second little dot/ring in my vision last night, went to an ophthalmologist again this morning as instructed, found nothing again At least I'm back to seeing one dot it seems...

berkeley this job. berkeley landlord. berkeley liars. berkeley other drivers. berkeley people who won't do their jobs. berkeley all this E36 M3.

I got sucked into a conversation with a “young earther” yesterday.  Their ability to twist reality to fit their magic belief system makes my head hurt.

I upgraded the video card in my main work PC.  Now I no longer get a flicker on the upper half of the middle screen.

It is also much more responsive and the image is quite a bit more clear.

It recognized all three of my monitors.

It will only drive two at a time unless I use an active Display Port adapter.

I have one from a previous build/card.  I also have one that is not active that I acquired somewhere along the way.

Guess which one I can find?

Yup.

Sigh, ordered ANOTHER active adapter from Amazon and it should be here in a couple of days.

I really need to get my computer stuff organized again, right now its all tossed in bins on a shelf in the garage.

I also need to cull the herd of computer stuff I have and organize the garage, it makes me itch whenever I go out there for anything.

In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :

What shape is young earth??

In reply to stanger_missle :

That's gotta bite. Like others said, start a new search right now, every industry up in Northeast is looking for qualified people, would think it is true anywhere in the country right now. There has to be something better, any one of those issues could probably be dealt with individually, but all together it is a recipe for burnout. Are there any similar type facilities or an equal civilian job that are at least a reasonable commute from your new house so you wouldn't have to move? One of my kids works in Savannah GA and they can't find auto techs that know a tire from a windshield and if they do find someone knowledgeable they don't show up half the time. Being a decent employee goes a long way today. Keep working your network, good luck. 

Just got off the phone with my dad. Apparently there was an accident on the corner between his house and mine this morning. Full size pickup entered the inside ditch at corner exit, struck dad's fence, and tipped over. Driver was fine, truck was not (I imagine). I imagine this because truck struck and broke off an 8" hedge post (native hardwood, probably not quite as sturdy as oak).

The real rant is this is the second time in ten days THIS driver in THIS truck has gone off the road in THIS spot. At what point do you think "hmm, its kinda slick out and I did have an accident here a few days ago, maybe I shouldn't lay on a footload of throttle as I leave this corner"?

Now I get to help rebuild fence. Fun.

KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

I got sucked into a conversation with a “young earther” yesterday.  Their ability to twist reality to fit their magic belief system makes my head hurt.

That isn't even his final form! Saw an interesting investigative video on flat earthers, and it turns out that the types that show up to conventions are basically ultra-creationists who are offended not only by the existence of scientific theories on the origin of the universe and the evolution of life, but also on the workings of space, time, and gravity. Thus, discworlds, spotlights, and universal acceleration:

Just changed a flat tire on a (female) co-worker's car.  Said car is a Kia she bought used about 3 months ago.  Sidewalls are suspiciously dry-rotted looking.

Out of curiosity, I checked the date code on the tires.  2005.  She was told by the mechanic that the tires were "fine".  Motherberkeleying used car salesmen.  

I told her not to bother getting the old tire fixed- she was going to need new ones.  Single working mom.  Yeah.  

Just for you guys to appreciate.  Last night Tiger Mom went out to zumba across town and drove the 'burb.  When she got home something had "happened" and she wanted me to come out and drive the truck and see what was wrong with it.  So back on went slippers and a jacket and out into the darkness and blowing rain I go to diagnose my poor vehicle.

She says "it didn't feel like it wanted to go over 55 and the engine is revving a lot".  Oh E36 M3, transmission problems I think.......

Sit in the drivers' seat and immediately notice the LED on the transfer case indicator is in the wrong place.  She just drove home (~8 miles) in 4LO! 

I point this out to her and she says she never touched that button (I don't believe it touched itself but that's not an argument I'll win so let it go).  The rain probably saved the transfer case from nuking itself but still took a few back-and-forths on flat ground to get it to disengage and go back to 2wd.  (it did clang audibly when it released).

SMH

In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :

I did that one time in my wife's old Jimmy.  Coming home from the bar one night, and couldn't figure out why the truck was lurching and revving so... 

You sure she was at Zumba?