DIE SUPER!!! - G'morning, 2009!

[Magetastic]

I've worked a number of office jobs since I moved to the city, and it has seemed to me that the unhappiest people were always the ones who withheld the quality they were capable of because they didn't believe their company deserved their effort.  It's been my experience that most people who work slowly fit in this category, as opposed to being unable to keep up.  They want to keep their jobs, and they believe that keeping expectations low is the best way.  It may work for them, but if you bring yourself to that level, you'll live an empty life.

(The above may or may not be meaningless ranting meant to entertain.  The comments made here due not necessarily reflect the views of CK Co or its subsidiaries.)

Does everybody have some sort of crazy lingo around here? Or have I just been brought up on the wrong words?

[Cotigo]

You may just be a pedantic asshole picking up on some Type-Os.

[Magetastic]

You may just be a pedantic asshole picking up on some Type-Os.

I might be. Or I might be out of my mind.

I think it's both.

[NotMiki]

You may just be a pedantic asshole picking up on some Type-Os.

I might be. Or I might be out of my mind.

I think it's both.

Yeah, you should definitely only pick up Type-ABs.

[Grefter]

It is a possessive want.  You mean you don't speak like that?

[Clear Tranquil]

Bought super's birthday present today (+card) Need to remember to send it over next >_>

[Lady Door]

Interviews for "real" jobs suck.

[Excal]

Miki, I can accept that you work in places where efficiency gets rewarded.  For me, back when I started, uniform efficiency just meant that I'd get stuck with the crap jobs that no one wants to do, that needed more time than I had to get any sort of a dent made, any such dent made would be unmade within a day or two, and still lasted long enough to generally leave me either with a head ache or actually cuts given how much of it involved trying to move around haphazardly placed bits of not quite jagged metal at head height.  This is a very good educational experience on why being just efficient enough to get the job done in the time given is an exquisite skill to have.

I have also had that task actually properly given to me with the time to get it done.  The joyous task of cleaning and organizing the fixture room so that people can actually figure out what shelving we had and then get at it without risk of injury.  One time I was given three days to actually just work on that one room.  I threw out half the stuff, and shipped half of what remained to the warehouse.  Everything else was neat, tidy, and sorted by shape and size as well as accessable. 

Basic sorting was gone in a week and a half, major structural organization of the bigger pieces managed to hold for two months before being an unmitigated deathtrap.  Currently, outside of the occasional major push (which I am no longer associated with) managerial staff is limited to being content with having the paths to the fire escape mostly clear and that's a hard enough fight as is.

On more recent news, while crossing the street to catch my bus, somebody actually stopped at a red light before deciding that they were too damned important to be sit around because it was just a crosswalk as opposed to a real intersection.

[NotMiki]

Your point is well taken.  I don't think I've been clear enough.  I've worked precious few jobs that have actually rewarded efficiency and quality (I'm working one now, and I'll be sorry to see it go, even though it's paint-dryingly dull), but what I'm concerned with is not whether you get a promotion or a gold star or anything, but that you remain a person capable and willing to excel.  It's that deadly, slothful, zombie-like mindset that wants nothing but for work to be over that's the problem.  You start thinking like that, soon the rest of your time is just you recuperating from work.

The worst job I ever had was doing paperwork for a union's pension plan.  They had us sign in and out to ensure they could monitor the exact minutes we came in and left (not all that common in office jobs in the city) and, being a union, spelled out in exacting detail the breaks we were 'entitled' to (1 15 minute break in the morning, 1 in the afternoon, and a 1 hour lunch).  The place was a damn mess.  People mostly talked about how dull work was and how many more years they had before their pension kicked in.  I don't believe I ever met anyone at any level in the company who gave a damn about doing a good job which, seeing as we were paying out pensions, was a big problem for the union employees.  People lined up at the sign-out machine 5,6,7,8 minutes before 5:00, sign out in as few seconds as possible when the clock turned or risk the wrath of the people behind them, then bolted for the elevator.  On the elevator, people would commonly forcibly hold the doors shut so that they would pass the other floors and make it down as fast as possible.  Practically stampeding each other in their drive to not give their work one second more than they had to.

That union sense of entitlement, collective bargains for worker's rights, seemed to me to be a double-edged sword.  They knew what they were entitled to and what they were obligated to do, and those became absolute limits in their mind, even for workers employed by the union itself!  They were sabotaging the organization they relied on.  It was the most depressingly ironic thing I've ever seen, and it's served to me as a warning against complacency since I left.

[Grefter]

They had us sign in and out to ensure they could monitor the exact minutes we came in and left  .....   Practically stampeding each other in their drive to not give their work one second more than they had to.

These factors are commonly related.  To be honest, the vast majority of the problems come from bad management.  This is part of the whole management is the devil thing though.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

The network went down again! We might as well play cards while we're around, lol saturday mornings.

[NotMiki]

They had us sign in and out to ensure they could monitor the exact minutes we came in and left  .....   Practically stampeding each other in their drive to not give their work one second more than they had to.

These factors are commonly related.  To be honest, the vast majority of the problems come from bad management.  This is part of the whole management is the devil thing though.

Oh yes, it's all related.  Now, there is such a thing as good management.  I am blessed with it currently, in fact.  At my current job, you could leave a few minutes early and no one would raise an eyebrow.  As a result, it's not uncommon for people to stay a bit late to finish things up.  Little story, before Memorial Day weekend, we were let out early by the higher-ups.  My department head came by earlier than that and said we could go if we had nothing time-sensitive left.  As I was packing up, he was helping the one guy who had stuff left get it done.  That's worth a lot in my book.

[Cotigo]

So that raft we put together last week?  Rode it down the Rio Grande yesterday and today.  Pretty great times, though rough going.  The raft was so large that it was impossible to control with paddles, so we ended up navigating by pushing sticks most of the time.  The raft was a fucking tank; we crashed on the banks so much that by the end the paint on the cabins had been gouged quite a bit.  On the flipside, though, with the wind yesterday and the low water level, the easiest way to get the raft moving in a couple places was to just get out and push.  Fun times.  Most exercise I've gotten since backpacking around Europe, probably. 

Today was a lot better, though; less wind, and a deeper part of the river.  Spinning down the river on the hobo raft you slept in, whee.  Many Huck Finn jokes were made because everyone on the raft was literate.  Unfortunately now I think we all have dysentery.

[Shale]

Found out this morning that the older brother of a good friend of mine was found murdered - shot in the head - Thursday. Ugh.

He seems to be coping okay - better than I would, for sure. But God, it can't be easy.

[Xeroma]

Shot in the head but lived? Cripes.

[Shale]

....I meant my friend is coping. His brother's dead.

This is what happens when I write up something dramatic at 1:30 AM. Fixed.

[Ultradude]

To be fair, people do survive head shots sometimes.

Anyways, hope your friend comes out of this okay. He has my condolences for what it's worth.

[Xeroma]

ow. sorry to hear that.

[Cotigo]

Wow, Shale.  That sucks something fierce.  Hope your friend gets through it okay.

[Grefter]

I hope your friend's brother gets better.

Edit - Yeah that was a bad joke.

[Idun]

I am illogically pumped for White Knight Chronicles. Granted, I was always pumped, since it is Level 5, and they are pretty much my favorite RPG company out there for their versatility [though Rogue Galaxy was a bit too much]. Granted, I can't wait.

[Luther Lansfeld]

Yikes, Shale.

So today I am at work relabelling all of my songs in my iPod and I'm waiting for one of my co-workers to finish his so we can move on to something else.

[OblivionKnight]

Sorry to hear that Shale.  It sucks to hear that.  Hopefully it will all work out.

So, as some people heard, I had an interesting experience Saturday night.  I learned that apparently Craig's List actually has "casual encounter" services, which I didn't know they had before. 

I learned this as one of my friend's texted me Saturday night asking where I was.  He was in Pittsburgh since Friday for some business work.  I was at home for my sister's high school graduation, so I missed him.  Anyway, he told me about how he was looking for some "fun" with a female associate, and found one on Craig's List.

Not much, right?

Well, apparently, as they were talking, work came up.  Apparently the girl brought up my name and working at the hospital I work at, talking about the residents there.  My friend thought it would be funny to tell me, and not her, that we all knew each other.  Of course, he wouldn't tell me the name of the person!

Curious as I was, I decided to peruse Craig's List and find the person!

...well, I'll never be able to look at her the same way again without imagining her naked.  Or with...other things...

At least she's cute.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

* Jo'ou Ranbu gnaws on Mondays.

[Cotigo]

So yeah discussion in chat just reminded me that I never beat S5.  Thinking on it, I probably won't; game doesn't appeal to me much anymore.  Anyone interested in buying it off of me?  Make an offer in PM.  Game's basically new.