Fri Mar 8 15:31:51 2002

Let’s have a For Instance, shall we? Sometime last month one of my lab assistants emails me a vacation request for this Thursday and Friday. Simple enough, no? I even printed it off to remember it. (I don’t know where it’s at now, probly at the bottom of a 4 inch stack of paper.) So, the schedule for this week came out last Thursday, and I get an email, saying that he can’t work those days because he requested them off and will be out of town. I said it’s no big deal, I just forgot to check the schedule.
Apparently I completely forgot to forward the request to my boss (who has the final say in such manners) so I had to explain that. Then, to avoid having to work until 6 today I switch hours with another LA so that I’m supposed to work in the morning. I neglected to tell anyone this, and so when I (of course) forgot this morning, I get paged over the intercom (which cannot be heard in the bathroom, and I’ll give you 1 guess where I was at the time) and lo and behold, the lib Director (the big boss) trots down to my office with a “Jason, didn’t you hear your page?” rolling off her tongue. Everyone’s wondering where either of them are, and I’m explaining that I’m a fool and forgot to change the schedule upstairs so that people would know why things are different. And I still have to spend 5.5 hours stuck in this stupid computer lab.

I wouldn’t ordinarily be this upset about things, but it’s getting more common. I just need to have my job, and no workers, or something. I can’t schedule, I can’t plan, I can barely think. Other stuff around here is driving me crazy, so that’s no help. I can’t really get a new job, this town really doesn’t have any tech stuff worth looking into. I just need to be the anti-me: responsible, organized, having a fucking clue now and then. I may need to bitch less as well, from the sound of things. :(

Fri Mar 8 15:50:02 2002

In other words: Shit this guy is good, and he makes good money now... lets say fuck it, hire two punks just out of school with no real experience and let them fuck up the network, only to have to go back to the other guy in a few months and beg to have him back to fix the crap the paper tigers fucked up...

Fri Mar 8 16:24:39 2002

My problem is that if it weren't for being someone's boss, I would be overqualified for this. This is a piddly little position, a little network admin here, some hardware stuff there, all in all next to nothing compared to the stuff I do at home just for fun.

I suppose some experience with handling people wouldn't hurt, as I've had the other experience down for a while, heh.

on a side note, good to see you posting here again. Mo' people is mo' fun. :cheesy:

Fri Mar 8 16:32:54 2002

on a side note, good to see you posting here again. Mo' people is mo' fun.

Ind.......

Well HS, I guess I'm not the only underqualified one ;)

Fri Mar 8 19:11:17 2002

Layoff's are all over the place and it is expected that MA will be one of the last states to recover from the recession... regardless that I live in NH, I need to work in MA...

Fri Mar 8 21:39:31 2002

Fri Mar 8 22:53:17 2002

Sun Mar 10 01:29:07 2002

My only problem is my boss likes to yell at me a lot.

Sun Mar 10 01:45:17 2002

But what tends to happen in my job, with such a small company, is that people just do whatever needs to be done, and I'm constantly learning new things.  Some things I can learn pretty easily, like how to update the web site with Frontpage, other things, like designing a user interface from scratch, I have no experience with, and the lines of communication were never very clear on exactly what was expected of me.  This led to a point where my boss criticized my work for not being comprehensive enough, in front of the dev team no less, which pissed me off immensely.  That was when I decided I just wouldn't care so much about work, that I would do just what was needed or what was asked.

My boss is a bit of a weird sort, he's constantly redefining his job role as well, and he's hardly ever in the office.  

I prefer to just figure out what needs to be done on my own, and then do it, rather than wait for someone else to figure it out.

I guess I'm saying I understand where you are coming from, Hitscan.  Work is generally weird.  

Sun Mar 10 21:03:36 2002

I guess I'm saying I understand where you are coming from, Hitscan.  Work is generally weird.

I expect to be paid simply for my dashing good looks in the next 5 years. The gravy train line starts back here. :biggrin:

Sun Mar 10 21:23:41 2002

I'm in!

Let's get started.

So, see, I have this "work contract" wherein basically stands that 1) i only work project based, and 2) the boss cant tell me a fuckin thing.
3) No fix work times are set.

However, boss still wants that I work from 9:00-16:00 daily. I even told him i have to be at home at 16:00 because my brother comes home then and doesnt have a key. (well, he actually comes an hour later, but he doesnt know, does he?)
And there is that thing that the others at work have a 80hours/month contract or 20/week.
Atm I work 22-25/week. (depending if I come in at 10 or 10:30).

And those guys get social security and more paid.
So.... WTF?

I AINT WORKIN 35/WEEK FOR LESS YOU OLD STUPID FUCKIN CUNT.

Mon Mar 11 02:22:59 2002

Mon Mar 11 12:25:28 2002

E_M is right. That's precisely how most corporate environments work.

In any event, you shouldn't feel bad. Like Jeremy, KR hired me to build a db-driven commerce site for a sub-corp two years ago. They promised my still computer-deficient ass that I could use any technology I wanted (read: ColdFusion). Instead, they had a SQL 7 Server and a site built off of ASP when I wasn't looking. While I don't mind SQL Server(quite good in terms of the tools it brings), I *hate* ASP.

"But Madan, you recommend ASP all the time..."

Yes, yes I do but that's because you'd probably get it. I don't "get" it. I study it, but I just don't like the way the code branches into zillions of pages, in what looks to *me* as no reason.

Our site is a simple/secure commerce site and we have over 40 ASP pages. That's just crazy.

In any event, like Jeremy, I learned(enough to do the job, anyways). That's your goal. Learn enough to survive.

Just do your best and remember that, as an Ars poster, you already are computer l33t beyond us regular mortals. :)

M.

Mon Mar 11 14:33:27 2002

In any event, like Jeremy, I learned(enough to do the job, anyways). That's your goal. Learn enough to survive.

Mon Mar 11 14:49:42 2002

I would love to get out of the company I am at now. After 4 rounds of layoffs starting in May of last year, and the last one happening last week, I simply don't feel safe. Then again, how many companies are looking for a guy with as much experience I have and are willing to pay me for it...

Mon Mar 11 15:04:19 2002

Then again, all companis are doing this...

The Hstore had 12 employees starting out. They cut the manager, 80% of the support team and left one person to fulfill hundreds of monthly orders and me to maintain the site.

They got angry at me the other day because I indicated that I could not finish the entire revamping of the site in 2 days. It's insane. They have no idea how hard or how tricky IT work can be.

Business people are brutally stupid and arrogant in that respect. Worse, I'm an MBA and I actually have experience in accounting/finance for multi-billion dollar companies but that still gives me no respect.

To them, I'm some computer "punk" to do everything in the second they need it.

M.

Mon Mar 11 15:47:37 2002

Answer: None.

Then again, all companis are doing this...

The Hstore had 12 employees starting out. They cut the manager, 80% of the support team and left one person to fulfill hundreds of monthly orders and me to maintain the site.

They got angry at me the other day because I indicated that I could not finish the entire revamping of the site in 2 days. It's insane. They have no idea how hard or how tricky IT work can be.

Business people are brutally stupid and arrogant in that respect. Worse, I'm an MBA and I actually have experience in accounting/finance for multi-billion dollar companies but that still gives me no respect.

To them, I'm some computer "punk" to do everything in the second they need it.

That's pretty bold of them, as an IT manager, I'd just tell them to STFU or I'd make sure I found goat ProN thier computer.

;)

Mon Mar 11 16:11:28 2002

Quite often i have to explain to upper managment why things don't work out as they had hoped. Or if they have some plan and then in the last minute let me know what they need with very little time I end up explaining to them the reality.

GRRR!!!! I hate having to do that, especially when they don't understand and i have to explain my self more then once.

Mon Mar 11 16:20:09 2002

Tell them to STFU or you'll smear poop on them. :)

Mon Mar 11 16:29:57 2002

Mon Mar 11 17:50:34 2002

That treatment is the same by anyone not in IT. Hell the upper managment got all pissy when I told them we NEED an outside consultant to make sure our AD deployment goes the right way. Doing it internally and on our own meant too much dealing with corporate politics and other crap...

I swear, sometimes it pisses me off. IT is considered a non-money maker for companies, yet lets see how well sales does without a phone, email or a laptop. It is amazing how much disrepsect we get.

Mon Mar 11 23:21:31 2002

I swear, sometimes it pisses me off. IT is considered a non-money maker for companies, yet lets see how well sales does without a phone, email or a laptop. It is amazing how much disrepsect we get.

Word, bro.  I think I'll keep that quote handy next time they question the computer/infrastructure budget. ;)