Tue Oct 30 23:22:59 2001

I fear I again must apologize for my continued absence (although as Socrates said, it may not even be relevant to this place anymore)

I'm currently at work.  The time is dragging somewhat.

What I'm wondering is this: is anyone interested in a long (and somewhat pathetic) rant about my work frustrations and general career frustrations?

Tue Oct 30 23:54:05 2001

Tue Oct 30 23:55:23 2001

Sure man, vent away.

Tue Oct 30 23:59:17 2001

What I'm wondering is this: is anyone interested in a long (and somewhat pathetic) rant about my work frustrations and general career frustrations?

[size=20][color=magenta]INDEED![/color][/size]

:cheesy:

Wed Oct 31 00:11:16 2001

HaxOr badA$$?

M.

Wed Oct 31 00:18:14 2001

Wed Oct 31 01:25:56 2001

Wed Oct 31 01:27:10 2001

Wed Oct 31 01:30:23 2001

Wed Oct 31 01:31:56 2001

Wed Oct 31 01:35:43 2001

Wed Oct 31 02:44:24 2001

Wed Oct 31 05:03:37 2001

make sure they pay you soon or I'll have to rough them up!

BTW Jeremy,

My new title should read thus,

"For whom the bell Trolls"

It has been approved by the Official OSY Titlemaster, Imitation Gruel.

thank you

;)

Wed Oct 31 05:34:56 2001

Official OSY Titlemaster

If I ever bother to become a Subscriptor @ ArsTechnica, that's going to be the custom title I request of the Imperator.

BTW Jeremy,

My new title should read thus,

"For whom the bell Trolls"

It has been approved by the Official OSY Titlemaster, Imitation Gruel.

thank you

Indeed, it has.

Wed Oct 31 05:41:49 2001

It's the the OSY equivalent of the AOL term "Me too!"

I can see Weird Al's new version of "IT's all about the Pentiums"

"And posting, 'Indeed!' like some brain-dead OSY'er"

Wed Oct 31 05:54:29 2001

Consider yourselves informed.

Edit: I can't spell.

Further Edit: And I'm inattentive to detail.

(Edited by Imitation Gruel at 9:57 pm on Oct. 30, 2001)

Wed Oct 31 08:38:28 2001

Cat Hair Sick?

Wed Oct 31 08:39:42 2001

(tap tap)

Is this thing still on?

Oh no!

Wed Oct 31 12:41:17 2001

What I'm wondering is this: is anyone interested in a long (and somewhat pathetic) rant about my work frustrations and general career frustrations?

I think Paul agrees, but us neanderthals have a hard time with the big words. ;)

[size=1]Yeah, so using a word like neanderthals would be a little more ironic if I could, well, wpell it right the first time. heh.[/size]

(Edited by HitScan at 1:12 pm on Oct. 31, 2001)

Wed Oct 31 16:47:07 2001

What I'm wondering is this: is anyone interested in a long (and somewhat pathetic) rant about my work frustrations and general career frustrations?

You betcha!

And oh, if you got some spare time, there are some avatars waiting for you ;)

Thu Nov 1 10:59:07 2001

In a nutshell, work tires me out, because people are always throwing new things at me, constantly, without end, and everything is always a fucking emergency.  I can deal with one or two crises per day, but not seven or eight, at which point I usually just stop functioning properly and go surf Ars for a couple of hours while pretending to work.

The thing is, we make digital video recorders for security applications.  These things are neat, but they are all hobbled together from questionable Korean software (hundreds of nearly-identical versions, nobody knows who actually owns the source or started the project) and horrible, horrible, horrible Windows ME, which is a terrible POS, and a bunch of cheap knockoffs of Geforce cards, ethernet adapters, etc.  Don't even get me started on the digitizer boards, which are just terrible (damn Brooktree chipset)  And yet these are some of the best DVRs on the market today...

Anyway, we are selling these boxen by the shitload these days.  I used to help out making them, then I trained our assembler guy (nicest guy around, really cool dude) to make them and he just cranks them out all day, along with cameras and shit.  But invariably they get damaged in shipping, or Windows ME decides today would be a great day to forget that its current video driver can handle more than 256 colors, or the software decides it wants to produce a new CapEyeRecord error, or blue screen, or something of that nature.   Which is when someone phones, and I often end up taking the call because everyone else is too busy or isn't technically skilled enough to answer it.  

Okay, that wouldn't be so bad, but there is no proper phone jack at my tiny little desk, I can dial out, but not get on the switchboard, and no attempt has been made to remedy this situation, so I fucking hate getting phone calls, because it means I'm stealing someone else's phone at the least and desk at the most.

Also I hate phone calls because it totally interrupts whatever else I'm doing.  What was on my list yesterday?  Hmm, let's see:

- try to figure out why the Backup Viewing software is fucking up on some customer's machines but none of our own
- reconfiguring all the demo video camera units upstairs to new IP addresses, since our ISP in its infinite wisdom decided to fux0r all our old static IPs all of a sudden
- installing new software on the Linux DVR and trying to figure out why the FUCK it doesn't work with the Pelco dome when the software guys (in Taiwan, this time) said it would
- Trying to figure out how to interface a Kalatel dome and a matrix switcher and the DVR, the wiring diagrams alone give me a headache
- going to yet another endless meeting
- that damn VPON is still DOA, and another DVR is malfunctioning (got sent back) without good cause... argh...
(all the while taking tech support calls all day long)

And on top of all this, I have (according to our schedules) about one week to figure out how to program in Qt on FreeBSD so that the next-gen DVR we are developing can get a pretty interface.  Occasionally I look upon this as a fun challenge, but it would be a fun challenge if it was the only thing I had to do, which is never the case.  And I don't find programming to be fun at all, it was fun back in the days of QuickBasic, it ain't fun now, it just makes my head hurt.  Don't get me started on streaming media....

Usually by the end of the day my eyes hurt and I have a slight headache and just want to sleep or watch TV and veg out.  So I have very little energy to do fun stuff, like play games or visit my beloved OSY.  (Or even pay bills, I have a stack that hasn't been visited in a couple of months)  

Basically all the life energy is sucked out of me every single day.  I took sick days for a while and just stayed in bed the whole day, but I can't do that anymore as people are becoming suspicious.  

I'm starting to hate technology.  Argh.   Hate hate hate.  I hate being a techie, that's probably why I tried doing something else (namely teaching) for a few years, but that turned out to be a whole lot worse (but that's a topic for another thread)

I wish I was something else, like an artist or graphic designer, but I don't have the talent or experience to get a job like that, assuming they even exist anymore.

*sigh*

Thanks for letting me rant, guys.  Seriously.

Thu Nov 1 11:03:23 2001

Okay, I'm sleepless again, so I might as well rant, and thanks for all the positive replies.

In a nutshell, work tires me out, because people are always throwing new things at me, constantly, without end, and everything is always a fucking emergency.  I can deal with one or two crises per day, but not seven or eight, at which point I usually just stop functioning properly and go surf Ars for a couple of hours while pretending to work.

The thing is, we make digital video recorders for security applications.  These things are neat, but they are all hobbled together from questionable Korean software (hundreds of nearly-identical versions, nobody knows who actually owns the source or started the project) and horrible, horrible, horrible Windows ME, which is a terrible POS, and a bunch of cheap knockoffs of Geforce cards, ethernet adapters, etc.  Don't even get me started on the digitizer boards, which are just terrible (damn Brooktree chipset)  And yet these are some of the best DVRs on the market today...

Anyway, we are selling these boxen by the shitload these days.  I used to help out making them, then I trained our assembler guy (nicest guy around, really cool dude) to make them and he just cranks them out all day, along with cameras and shit.  But invariably they get damaged in shipping, or Windows ME decides today would be a great day to forget that its current video driver can handle more than 256 colors, or the software decides it wants to produce a new CapEyeRecord error, or blue screen, or something of that nature.   Which is when someone phones, and I often end up taking the call because everyone else is too busy or isn't technically skilled enough to answer it.  

Okay, that wouldn't be so bad, but there is no proper phone jack at my tiny little desk, I can dial out, but not get on the switchboard, and no attempt has been made to remedy this situation, so I fucking hate getting phone calls, because it means I'm stealing someone else's phone at the least and desk at the most.

Also I hate phone calls because it totally interrupts whatever else I'm doing.  What was on my list yesterday?  Hmm, let's see:

- try to figure out why the Backup Viewing software is fucking up on some customer's machines but none of our own
- reconfiguring all the demo video camera units upstairs to new IP addresses, since our ISP in its infinite wisdom decided to fux0r all our old static IPs all of a sudden
- installing new software on the Linux DVR and trying to figure out why the FUCK it doesn't work with the Pelco dome when the software guys (in Taiwan, this time) said it would
- Trying to figure out how to interface a Kalatel dome and a matrix switcher and the DVR, the wiring diagrams alone give me a headache
- going to yet another endless meeting
- that damn VPON is still DOA, and another DVR is malfunctioning (got sent back) without good cause... argh...
(all the while taking tech support calls all day long)

And on top of all this, I have (according to our schedules) about one week to figure out how to program in Qt on FreeBSD so that the next-gen DVR we are developing can get a pretty interface.  Occasionally I look upon this as a fun challenge, but it would be a fun challenge if it was the only thing I had to do, which is never the case.  And I don't find programming to be fun at all, it was fun back in the days of QuickBasic, it ain't fun now, it just makes my head hurt.  Don't get me started on streaming media....

Usually by the end of the day my eyes hurt and I have a slight headache and just want to sleep or watch TV and veg out.  So I have very little energy to do fun stuff, like play games or visit my beloved OSY.  (Or even pay bills, I have a stack that hasn't been visited in a couple of months)  

Basically all the life energy is sucked out of me every single day.  I took sick days for a while and just stayed in bed the whole day, but I can't do that anymore as people are becoming suspicious.  

I'm starting to hate technology.  Argh.   Hate hate hate.  I hate being a techie, that's probably why I tried doing something else (namely teaching) for a few years, but that turned out to be a whole lot worse (but that's a topic for another thread)

I wish I was something else, like an artist or graphic designer, but I don't have the talent or experience to get a job like that, assuming they even exist anymore.

*sigh*

Thanks for letting me rant, guys.  Seriously.

That sounds pretty crappy, JR. I hope it gets better soon; if not, find something else and then quit. Could you stomach going back to teaching, perhaps at a different school, or something?

Thu Nov 1 11:08:59 2001

Not a bad start. :evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin:[/color]

(Edited by Imitation Gruel at 3:12 am on Nov. 1, 2001)

Thu Nov 1 11:20:11 2001

That sounds pretty crappy, JR. I hope it gets better soon; if not, find something else and then quit. Could you stomach going back to teaching, perhaps at a different school, or something?

Teaching was not fun for me at all, either, and the stresses of working at a high school were quite unbearable.  At least at this job I'm learning things, I found that after teaching a course once (especially Math, which was what I taught) it was painful to do the same thing again, and again...

Partly the fault is me, of course.  My personality tends to make me shy away from voicing my concerns and problems to anyone, while at the same time not standing up to people when they ask me to do things for them.  Well, that's not entirely true, if I don't want to do something or don't have the time, I just won't, or I put it off until later, but it's no way to live, methinks.

In today's transglorious economy, jobs like mine aren't easy to find, anyway.  Or jobs period.  

I really do want to do digital art.  I designed a whole bunch of new icons for our Linux DVR, which everyone loved, except for the VP who kind of liked them for a while and then went out and hired a third party icon designer (whose efforts have not impressed me at all, incidentally)  That really pissed me off because the icons (which I did really quickly as a proof of concept, and could easily have made tons better given time) were really quite nice and I was quite proud of them, and I enjoyed making them.  Far more than I've ever enjoyed programming.

Hmmm...

Thu Nov 1 11:36:19 2001

Yeah there'd be a sight...you working for Adobe alongside Chris Cox, especially after [url=http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenTopic/page?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=48409524&m=198099107]this thread.[/url]

:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

Sorry to make light of your situation, I really do hope things become better soon.

Thu Nov 1 11:49:58 2001

Yeah there'd be a sight...you working for Adobe alongside Chris Cox, especially after this thread.

That thread ought to be fucking coated in bronze and saved for future generations, it was my finest trolling hour ever.

Anyway, I'm going to start putting together an art portfolio, given that I've done all sorts of shit (took a 4month course in 2d/3d animation even) and maybe there's something else out there...

Thu Nov 1 11:53:35 2001

That thread ought to be fucking coated in bronze and saved for future generations, it was my finest trolling hour ever.

[color=purple][font=papyrus][size=100]INDEED !![/size][/font][/color]

Thu Nov 1 12:34:55 2001

Two things:

1) Holy shit that was exhausting!
2) Holy shit was I totally flipping nuts back then!

Whew!

Oh, and the 3rd thing:

3) I should really do that PSP versus PS comparison, just to mess with people's heads...

Thu Nov 1 12:37:22 2001

3) I should really do that PSP versus PS comparison, just to mess with people's heads...

[color=red]Yes. Yes, you should. Indeed !![/color]
 

Thu Nov 1 19:20:16 2001

I like hearing from you too.

Don't know what to say.  I had a job, running a restaurant,
that did the same thing to me.  Physical exhaustion caused by stress.

Weird stuff.

Physical exercise usually solved the problem, after work.

Problem is, when you are exhausted, it's hard to do anything.

All I can really say, is it could be way worse.
My educated guess is right now, we have 300k people out of work in this area, at least.
You walk into restaurants that used to be full all the time, and they are empty.

Rush hour is almost liveable now, and that's scary.

Rents in San Francisco are plunging, and no relief in site, around here.

I would try and look at the positive sides of technology.
One of the nice things about math, and tech, is they often have a RIGHT answer.  Something you rarely find in law.

You can actually sell someone on your worth, and a raise,
by your ability to solve those problems, and conversely, get your ass fired if you can't.

You are in a dangerous position.  It sounds like you need to confront the powers that be, and ask them if they want you to trouble shoot, then set you up for it, and pay accordingly.
If not, then you better make sure you are doing it, since it sounds like your communication with your employer is not
real good, and when this happens, they wonder why you aren't doing what they expect, and have no clue as to what you are really doing.

In other words, sell yourself to your employer, and you can get either the work you want, or better pay, or out from under the headaches.

gs

Thu Nov 1 19:25:54 2001

Massive amounts of drugs, sex, and champagne can also solve the temporary pain of such a job;-)

Socrates

PS:  Who is Chris Cox, and is he in that thread?

Thu Nov 1 21:47:07 2001

that was really some shameless trolling.

Socrates,.

Cris Cox works for Adobe, he's their optomization guy.

Thu Nov 1 22:51:46 2001

Jeremy, that sounds shit.  They should upgrade to XP for everything.

Fri Nov 2 01:10:24 2001

Cris Cox works for Adobe, he's their optomization guy.

In much the same way that Hitler was a PR guy. :tongue:

Fri Nov 2 22:21:26 2001

Socrates

Sat Nov 3 01:53:55 2001

from Socrates posted at 5:21 pm on Nov. 2, 2001

Just wondering if Cox was one of the guys JR was abusing in that thread, and I didn't know his nickname?

I'm pretty sure that his nick was ccox.  Maybe if I'm arsed I'll check out the thread again, but to be honest I expect it'll gimme a headache. ;)

Sat Nov 3 05:26:48 2001

Damn funny thread; one of the Battlefront's finest humorfests. Loved it.