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

It never affected me, but I used to work in an office of maybe 75 people.

I know of at least 3 marriages that were ended by intramural coworker berking.  Two of the berkers left to found their own company and left their (new) spouses behind as insider moles and / or health insurance providers.  Finally during one of my yearly reviews I said to the boss "Why are you still paying for those berkers' health insurance and letting them get inside information?  Cut their berking spouses loose, man." 

Two or 3 other couples only became couples because of intramural berking, but at least they started out single.

I don't know if there was some weird E36 M3 they put in the coffee, or what, but it was insane.  Eventually I couldn't stand it any more.

On the bright side, the manager is single and the one who got the promotion will likely be single here in the next six months or so, depending on how long paperwork takes. Might take longer considering they just move here 9-ish months ago and bought a 5 acre house. Housing market already past it's peak in the area, too, it seems.

Either way, I need out of this place and/or out of the office life.

Being tested for what I'm allergic too and the allergist is leaning towards dogs. I have a 3 year old mix breed dog that I love. This might be a E36 M3tier problem to fix then my back was. 

wae said:

I saw this in the office today:

So, I've often wondered.. since it's spelled "refrigerator," why do we shorten it to "fridge?"

My schedule is changing again. Normally, about every month we swap shifts. Nightshift is 7pm to 7am and dayshift is 7am to 7pm. We work the Panama schedule which is 2 days on, 2 days off, 3 days on then the 2-2-3 pattern repeats. I have been on nightshift for almost 3 months straight due to the work center being undermanned. Well, I go back to days on Wednesday. I got off nightshift at 7am today which means I have 2 days to completely change my sleep schedule. I tried staying up today after work but I passed out at around noon, still in my clothes, and woke up at 6:30pm. I berkeleying hate this schedule. I have been employed here for 11 months and now I can see why the turnover rate is so high. Nobody likes this crappy schedule which destroys your social life and there is so much bureaucratic BS and micromanaging that people jump ship pretty quickly. Luckily, there is a huge amount of networking opportunities due to all of the DoD personnel and government contractors that I interface with on a daily basis. I really wanted to stay here for at least a year so it would look better on my resume but I don't think that is going to happen.

In reply to stanger_missle :

I was wondering about how you were doing in your new job just today, actually! 11 months in seems like you're about to hit that one year anniversary despite the E36 M3ty schedule. I've never had to deal with shift changes like that so can't offer advice but however it ends up I hope it works out well for you. 

dropstep said:

Being tested for what I'm allergic too and the allergist is leaning towards dogs. I have a 3 year old mix breed dog that I love. This might be a E36 M3tier problem to fix then my back was. 

I went through something similar.  I kept the pets and manage the allergies through medication.  The meds just make it more tolerable,  as opposed to a total cure,  but I'm not getting rid of the critters.

Cotton said:

dropstep said:

Being tested for what I'm allergic too and the allergist is leaning towards dogs. I have a 3 year old mix breed dog that I love. This might be a E36 M3tier problem to fix then my back was. 

I went through something similar.  I kept the pets and manage the allergies through medication.  The meds just make it more tolerable,  as opposed to a total cure,  but I'm not getting rid of the critters.

I'm allergic to dogs and cats. We have 2 dogs and 3 cats. I take a Claritin every day and the house gets vacuumed frequently with a HEPA vac.  

Damn wheelchair lift isn’t working. Something is running in it but it clearly isn’t engaging. Now MIL can’t come over tonight, which is only going to upset my wife even more. 

In reply to stanger_missle :

I know this wasn't the takeaway from your rant, but I have to ask:  How is

2 ON - 2 OFF - 3 ON - 2 ON - 2 OFF - 3 ON - repeat

any different from

5 ON - 2 OFF - repeat

...?

PS I am sorry that they yank your schedule around like that.  I'm sure that's a bitch.

I swear I am done. For years I wondered how so many people in my profession can have such bad attitudes towards everything. I have put up with bad managers and bosses, really poor places to work, and broken or outdated equipment for years with never losing my optimistic attitude.. well, I lost it tonight.

yesterday I got myself good with a hole saw, to the point of needing stitches to put my thumb back together. I did it in the morning before work and as this is a really busy week for us, called and said I would be late, only arriving 20 minutes past my scheduled start time. Yes, I left the hospital, went home and got changed, and went right to work. I seriously did not want to put any of my co-workers in a bind by calling out, even if my left hand is a little useless and slightly bleeding through my bandage.

Today at work, which is my usual friday, the laziest guy at work took a fall at home and scraped his arm up a little and he has a small marble sized bump on his eye brow from where he hit the wall on the way down. He's taking off tomorrow to go to the doctor "just in case" and I get to lose my saturday to work his 10 hour shift (mandatory OT).

So let me get this right: the guy who tried to remove his thumb and has it stitched up is coming in to work the shift of a guy who bumped his head at home. And that, My Lord, is when I earned my bad attitude.

FuzzWuzzy said:

At this one? Coworkers berkeleying each other, manager catching wind and telling them to stop, both get busted by their spouses, one gets an ultimatum and quits while the other nonchalantly is going through the Big D, while also getting a promotion, and previously mentioned manager wants up in that, THEN goes on a "site visit" to another state, by themselves.

And none of it is hidden with any sort of discretion, they're just acting/hoping everyone is dumb or blind.

The ultimate berk this week - CEO Steve Easterbrook fired from MacDonalds for having a forbidden coworker relationship.  The company was doing well and he made $15,900,000 last year.

Ouch - that's one sweet lady.

Article on Steve

Berk Chevrolet.  Drop off Silverado for a brake booster software reset recall - 15 minutes.  They come back with $2,500 worth of work - leaking radiator, leaking oil cooler lines so I take a pass and stop by a new place by my house that has great reviews on the internet.  $2,200 estimate and they agree I need the two items along with a tranny fluid change (yep - I was going to get that in the next month), coolant flush, and I toss in a new t-stat.  

Radiator change is $949 plus $150 for a system flush? $200 more to change the easiest t-stat in the world?

Crap - I am getting too old to change this stuff but do I want to pay $2,200 for this lack of pain?  Hello Thanksgiving weekend.....and I bought this truck new 33 months ago and I almost have 75,000 miles on it?  

In reply to dculberson :

It's... OKish? The job description made it sound like I'd be a real technician, with hands on trouble shooting and working the issues. But in reality, it's just a help desk position. My official job title is Network Administrator II but I do not administrate any network. I have to call the party responsible for the piece of the network that is broken, whether that be the satellite terminal, IP transport or local networks. I'm a glorified secretary . The company I work for is decent but I have to deal with the GS13 program manager on a daily basis. He's the type of guy who thinks that screaming at people is a good leadership trait and is famous for calling at 11pm on a Saturday because he read an email only addressed to him and interrogating the poor bastard who happens to answer the phone and may not be aware of what he is talking about. Coupled with the E36 M3ty shift schedule, I'm getting weary. The pay is good though but the turnover rate is really high.

In reply to Duke :

Sorry, I didn't explain it very well. The pattern is 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on and 3 off.

But since we are always undermanned, there is the random 11pm to 7am shift or 7am to 3pm day shift. It doesn't matter if you worked a night shift or day shift the previous day. It rough. And thankless 

In reply to stanger_missle :

I've worked a schedule like that but it was 12 hour nights. I obviously hated it and only did it for 2 weeks.

Sigh.  I was planning to put the Miata up for the winter last night.  (For you FL folk, "winter" is the 5-6 months out of the year when Michigan looks like the set of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer)  I'm pulling the car into the garage, planning to chance clothes, eat dinner then run the car out storage.  Wait, what's that on the garage floor?  A big shiny puddle of fluid. The car has never leaked ANYTHING, so this is new.  So now I get to sort that out BEFORE I put the car away for 5-6 months.  Yay me. 

Datsun310Guy said:

Berk Chevrolet.  Drop off Silverado for a brake booster software reset recall - 15 minutes.  They come back with $2,500 worth of work - leaking radiator, leaking oil cooler lines so I take a pass and stop by a new place by my house that has great reviews on the internet.  $2,200 estimate and they agree I need the two items along with a tranny fluid change (yep - I was going to get that in the next month), coolant flush, and I toss in a new t-stat.  

Radiator change is $949 plus $150 for a system flush? $200 more to change the easiest t-stat in the world?

Crap - I am getting too old to change this stuff but do I want to pay $2,200 for this lack of pain?  Hello Thanksgiving weekend.....and I bought this truck new 33 months ago and I almost have 75,000 miles on it?  

 

You got lucky then. I've seen oil cooler lines leaking at 20k miles and radiators at 30k miles. At least the chassis harness hasn't developed all sorts of corroded/broken wires, like those trucks are notorious for, although the '17s seem to be the worst for that. The '14-'18 trucks were...not great.

Dear Texas,

  Yes, drive friendly.  No, don't expect everyone else to melt away from your intended path when you glance over your left shoulder.  I will keep right except to pass and you get to navigate your own happy self onto the freeway (just like we all did a few miles back).

Dear TXDOT Engineers,

  On ramps need 1/8 mile extra so people can match highway speed.  You're partially to blame with your "demolition derby" MERGE NOW lanes. Highways aren't meant to look like guillotines.

Your pal,

CRXPilot

The screeching NIMBYs won three seats on our local city council (six seats total). Come January 1, 2020 all progress in our city stops cold. They don't have a single plan to do anything new in the city, they all ran on stopping change (not just development) cold. By the time we vote again the economic growth around us will be gone and we'll still be staring at decaying 1960s era buildings for another decade.

Trying to get some work done but my blood sugar just crashed and I'm all light-headed.  yuck.

Rodan said:

Why do dealer service writers refuse to listen to customers?

I had our ZL1 in to have the intercooler circuit bled today.  Prior to making the appointment I asked if they had the correct service fitting to bleed it.

Them:  "Sure we do."

Me:  "Can you double check?  It's a different fitting from the ZO6..."

Them:  "Yep, good to go."

I pick up the car today to find out they didn't have the correct fitting, so they had to cobble together something to get it bled, leaving one hose partially pinched.

Them:  "We should have the part in a week or two..."

berkeley.  

It's been a week, so I stop by the dealer today to check on this... GM out of stock, nobody in AZ has one.  Track event next weekend...

Today, I ordered an aftermarket surge tank/reservoir that eliminates the stock bleed point... berkeleying dealer better install it for me for free. 

Check off bills against my monthly statement.  One invoice number, I have no paper, I have no record in the computer, I have no short stack of tires with the invoice taped on.

Actual phone conversation:

"Hi, Streetwise here.  I need a copy of invopice #12345.  I don't have a copy of it."

"Uhhhhmmm....That's not a good number."

"Well, its on your statement, and you want $456.00 because of it."

"That's not a good number.  You'll have to check at your end."

"Click"

Its on your berkeleying statement, you mouth breathing half wit.

Company just announced an increase to our 401(k) from the extremely sad 3% at 100% matching!

They're sticking with the 3% at 100%! And adding another 2%! At....50% matching....yay? Better than nothing? I'm hoping I'll be gone prior to this even taking effect, so meh. The clapping during the announcement was a pretty big....meeeehhhh kind of clap. 

In reply to FuzzWuzzy :

I was in attendance interviewing a new salesman when our VP told him we had a 50% match on our 401k up to 6%. 
 

So I says, yeah it's a full 3% match.  That's  really how they do it.  Angry eyes.