A Case Of The Mondays: Vent Your Work Spleen Here

[bilgistic]

Parking was nearly $200 a year back then, for unreserved, I-had-to-walk-a-quarter-mile-to-my-workplace-building parking.

Now that I work downtown, I pay $160 a month to park in the adjacent deck, but I get back $140 per month from work.

There are some people who get the whole $160 paid just because "they have a different manager" (than people who don't get it paid...or don't get to leave at 4pm on Fridays...or don't get to telecommute...or take paid time off that they earn like everyone else). I'm so tired of hearing that excuse. If we're a corporation, people should be treated fairly and equally.

[Sandman87]

My campus parking situation back in the day became a lot easier once I got a part-time job at a place that was exactly two blocks away from campus. It was located in an old Victorian house with the back yard converted to a parking lot, and the manager gave us employee parking tags that allowed us to park there any time we wanted. Best employment perk ever.

BTW: On those rare occasions when some fool without tags parked there, the entire staff (up to12 of us) would go out and pick up the offending vehicle, then carry it out to the street...placing it in front of a fire hydrant.

[hoosier80]

Well, this should be a fantastic couple of weeks.  System/region conversion is two weeks away, so people are losing their damned minds.  One asshat, who thinks he's a junior exec, sent out a procedure for some new process.  Fine.  I'll read it when I get the first ticket.  The dingbat got the ticket, and just sent it along, without reading the email.  Mr. Jr Exec chewed the dingbat out big time.  It was not the end of the world, so he can have several seats, but it's typical dingbat fashion to pull out the I didn't know card.  Normally Mr. Jr Exec isn't quite so nasty, so everyone is on edge.

Then he tells another team member I need all of this shit to be set up in the system in two weeks.   Now the stuff actually goes live months from now, but oh we need to test first.  Normally, for something of this size and complexity, it normally takes a good month or more to get done, from set up to review.   Yeah, and I am tasked with doing the in-depth review.  I will have no eyesight and carpal tunnel by the time I'm done.  I think for one item, it's reviewing at least 80 screens, and that is a conservative number.  Over 100 items total, so roughly 8000 to 8200 screens I will be looking at.  Yay.  It's not like we have other stuff to do (insert sarcasm here).  When I get the in depth crap done, and hand it off, then I hear bitching from the next person who has to do a cursory review.  WTH.  The shit on that checklist would take maybe 30 minutes tops (per item).  I spend days.  One asshole said oh man, I hate that.  I said well do you want to do the in depth instead, I'll trade you.  Oh, no, I'm fine.  Kills me that our manager basically said yeah,  you have to get it done in two weeks.  No backbone.  We need hard and fast deadlines for shit otherwise you know something will fall through the cracks and then we'll all be getting chewed out.  And I do not believe they just found out about wanting to test in two weeks.  Nope.  This is someone who makes spreadsheets for his spreadsheets to track stuff.  

[Blergh]

OK, here's a workplace pet peeve I'd like  vent : why would an able-bodied person need forty-five minutes to use the restroom? I mean, I'd think they could build their OWN bathroom complete with commode and sewer line in that time.

[zxy556575]

4 hours ago, Blergh said:

OK, here's a workplace pet peeve I'd like  vent : why would an able-bodied person need forty-five minutes to use the restroom? I mean, I'd think they could build their OWN bathroom complete with commode and sewer line in that time.

Is your co-worker named Ally McBeal?

[potatoradio]

On 5/26/2016 at 4:34 PM, janestclair said:

I am going to explode.  Not literally, of course but oh my god, I can not stand my boss.

I am a high school teacher, and we're coming up on the end of the year.  So I had to get letters out to all the students taking my class for next year that we were having a meeting to give them their summer work, and so they could sign up for summer classes.  Said letter needed my supervisor's approval. Ok, fine.  I send it in last Tuesday, and she waited until Friday to tell  me to change some of the wording in some spots because reasons.  I thought it was fine, but whatever. I made the changes and assumed (I know, I know) that that meant all was now kosher and I could distribute the letters to the kids.  So I did that Monday morning.  Then she comes to me later that day asking me if I sent them out and if so, why because I didn't have approval yet.  Ummmm....I made the changes you requested, that's why.  Is that not approval?  Apparently, it also needed to go on school letterhead (for the first time in 10 years, mind).  So now, I have to let all the teachers know not to give out the letter because it's wrong. And I'm on a time crunch because the meeting was Wednesday (this was all Monday) and the kids need notice so they can arrange rides home etc. So I put it on letterhead, but I waited to resend out the letters, because I have a feeling.  Sure enough, now she wants me to change another thing - it has to be signed with her signature at the bottom. So I make that change and have to re-address all 80 of the letters, because of course I have copious amounts of free time to be doing this in, right?  

In what universe is it ok to give people changes to make in dribs and drabs like that?! Tell me all the changes at once, or screw off. She knew there was a time issue because she read the letter with the meeting dates!  And the first time I made the changes was not 5 minutes after she told me to make the changes. When I don't hear back by Monday morning, any normal person would make the assumption is that everything is good to go. Am I wrong?  Plus there's the fact that I've been doing it for ten years without an issue, and with no oversight, and it's always worked out.  I know what I'm doing, she's just being a right bitch because she got tenure and so she can be.  She was all sweetness and honey all year while she was trying to get tenure, even though we all knew it was bullshit.  I think she might actually be a sociopath.  She doesn't just throw people under the bus, she'll gladly drive it, and then go again in reverse.    

And I know she's going to take issue with the fact that i already gave one class their final exam as practice for an assessment they're taking for credit.next week because "she didn't know about it".  Finals are technically in a few weeks.Except she did know about it, because we did the same thing last year.    Another teacher who also teaches the course gave me a heads up about her flipping out and trying to say we broke some sort of rule. An imaginary rule, because I actually checked the handbook.  And while she did previously say that we would need to discuss that there would be changes next year, she said nothing about this year. I can't wait for her to throw us under the bus on that one.  Can. Not. Wait.  She wanted to grab me this afternoon after school, and I just told her I was in a hurry and had to leave. Fuck that, it's a  holiday weekend.  My contracted hours are over for the day.

If I wasn't invested in the district I'm in because I've been there 10 plus years, I would be looking for another job, just like all the non-tenured staff are.  And who knows, maybe I still will. 

I'm with you - my manager is the exact same way and it makes me spitting mad every time, especially because these changes are not substantial. At all. It's like having my eyes pecked out slowly by peevish sparrows. F*ck you, I'd rather you gut and redline in great gushing paragraphs and crush my prose than do your little 'oh, I think maybe using round bullets instead of square' order. But noooooooo....

In one of my other jobs, I was the lucky winner of "who gets saddled writing department communications?" And by communications, I mean emails. Seriously. Should have been nothing more than, "Hey, yo, software's updated. Use it like this now. K, thx." Instead, it took a month to put the stupid thing together because no fewer than ten people had to be conferenced in and my inbox would fill up before 8am with every d*mn person picking over words and then everyone else weighing in on said words and....yahhh!!!!

By the time the thing went out, it was so thrashed that we all missed that the VP of something or other had her name spelled wrong. Instead of "Kristy Smith" she was "Krusty Smith." Yeah....and ya know what, Krusty? Nobody gave a rat's red behind about the memo and user support got slammed anyway.

Janet StClair - I've been out of school forever, but...teachers write letters to students detailing summer homework? There's tenure in K-12 schools? Is your boss the principal? Sorry, I found that all fascinating. I have several nephews and a niece who are in school and I'm the old aunt in the rocking chair musing, "back in my day..." 

[Bastet]

Quote

your little 'oh, I think maybe using round bullets instead of square' order.

This was one of the first lessons for me to learn back when I gained my first taste of supervisory capacity.  I have control issues, plus a sense that what looks best to me looks best period.  And I had to get over that.  If people did something wrong, by all means I was going to require they change it.  But if they were just doing something differently, I needed to either accept that the world works that way or do it all myself.  It can be hard, but it's part of being an adult, never mind a supervisor.  Micro-managing is insulting, and counter-productive.  I have a very low tolerance for that sort of thing, because if I can recognize that and overcome it, anyone can.

Edited June 10, 2016 by Bastet

[janestclair]

17 hours ago, potatoradio said:

Janet StClair - I've been out of school forever, but...teachers write letters to students detailing summer homework? There's tenure in K-12 schools? Is your boss the principal? Sorry, I found that all fascinating. I have several nephews and a niece who are in school and I'm the old aunt in the rocking chair musing, "back in my day..." 

I teach a college level course, so we have a detailed summer assignment for them.  At my school, everyone is encouraged to take advanced courses, which is nice in theory, but we have to make sure they have a minimum level of understanding.  Some states have tenure, some don't. But it's not like if you're tenured, you have a job for life. There are some things you can still be fired for, or at least put on an action plan for improvement. My immediate boss is the supervisor of the department, then we have assistant principals, then the principal, then the superintendent.  All of whom are technically a  boss.  It's irritating and way too much oversight.  My immediate supervisor is the only one who micromanages everyone to within an inch of their sanity, however.  One more week until I don't have to see her face until September.  I do teach summer school, but hopefully I can avoid her.  

[hoosier80]

We're in the process of switching from one network to another, something that has been planned for almost two years.  We've been asking ok, so everything we marked in the directories and folders, all our needed documentation, that's all being moved?  Yes, yes it is.  Just asked again this week, as we're moving by the end of the month.  Uh, what do you need?  I thought a co-worker was going to have a stroke.  Management's "solution" email from your old email address to your new one.  We have hundreds and hundreds of documents we need to do our damned jobs, so it's not feasible.  On top of that, we're being thrown extra shit without any or little explanation of how to handle it, mainly system security crap.  I cannot get over how many people lock up their accounts or passwords across multiple systems on a daily basis.  We have around 20 to 30 processing systems, so it's been a treat.  I got a call from an old employer, saying oh we have an opening.......but that company is a bit sketchy.  Still, good to know I do have somewhat of a plan b should this place piss me off beyond all reason or if they fold (never out of the realm for any company in this age).

[Sandman87]

On Thursday, June 09, 2016 at 8:24 PM, Bastet said:

If people did something wrong, by all means I was going to require they change it.  But if they were just doing something differently, I needed to either accept that the world works that way or do it all myself.

I had to break several of my fellow techs of that mindset back in the day. I once argued with one of them for half an hour because they refused to believe that there can be multiple ways to do a particular task, and that the circumstances in any given case will suggest which, if any, is preferable. He insisted that there had to be one method that would be right for all cases. He didn't last long in that job.

[hoosier80]

I had yesterday off as a day off from my weekend trip, a day to recover.  I knew today would be a catch up day, because it seems if I even take a day off, the dingbat I work with can't do a damned thing on their own.  Yep, sure enough, they wheel on over to my desk - I'd just gotten through some emails and set my coffee down.  I don't know what to do with this.........well try to run a query, to which I heard, "I don't know how, I need trained".  Well, I sat down and learned it myself, no one taught me nor is there a manual because it's just pulling data out of tables, using Access or Excel.  So I finish the request, send it away, and yeah the manager who requested it, comes by my desk around 6 tonight (I'm trying to finish up some other crap because more is coming down the pike), and says well, I need blah blah blah, too.  Fabulous.  So I stay another 30 minutes to redo the crap the dingbat couldn't figure out.  Dingbat leaves around 3 to 3:30 because they get in around 6:30 a.m., when there's nothing to do.  Coincidence?  I think not.

Then I'm doing the review on a huge new set up, oh we needed it by June 30 to be set up so it could go into test.  Nothing has been put into test.  Asked the jerk who said he needed it, and oh, really, it's not in test yet?  No.  Pretty sure he knew and just said it needed to be done early, so it makes him look good.  He is one who will throw you under the bus and drive it back and forth if it makes him look good.  So now, another completely new client now wants to start up in two weeks.  It was originally sometime next month.  Yeah, let me just twitch my nose, asshole.  The person doing the set up isn't done yet, so that means I will have to work like crazy to get it all reviewed.  Not even sure it can be done, because there are behind the scenes action items that have to be done by programmers, so maybe not.  I love how all of the sales folks think it can just be done.   

[backformore]

On ‎6‎/‎9‎/‎2016 at 9:21 PM, potatoradio said:

Janet StClair - I've been out of school forever, but...teachers write letters to students detailing summer homework? There's tenure in K-12 schools? Is your boss the principal? Sorry, I found that all fascinating. I have several nephews and a niece who are in school and I'm the old aunt in the rocking chair musing, "back in my day

(responding to an older post here)  My kids, in high school, would get a list of books for the summer.  They were to choose one book, read it, and be prepared to discuss and write about it when school started.   I made my kids read one of the books.  BUT, each year, when school started, it was the same thing.  The English teacher asked who read a book, the idea was to divide the class into groups who read the same book, to discuss and do a presentation.  And most kids said they did not read the book, for one reason or another.  (all crap, since the bookstores and libraries had a table devoted to books assigned by the high school district, but kids insisted that they couldn't find the books anywhere).   And then they were told to read the book by the end of the first week of school.   The teachers were frustrated, because parents wouldn't reinforce the idea.  I even heard parents say that "summer vacation is for fun, not reading!"  Which baffled me  - what is more fun than taking a book to the beach, the park, the yard, and finding a place to read? 

I always felt bad for the teachers, who were just trying to instill a good habit, and the parents were being jerks about it. 

Edited July 7, 2016 by backformore

[Bastet]

I've had my nose buried in a book since I learned to read, but I've had an aversion to being told what to do even longer.  Every summer in high school, for Honors and then A.P. English, we had a list of several books we had to read and write short reports on, to be turned in on the first day of school.  I read everything under the sun except those books each summer; in the few days before school started, I'd go get the Cliff's Notes (or ask a classmate for a summary) and bullshit my way through the reports and discussion.  During the year, I'd do the assigned reading, but during the summer I'd only read what I wanted to read.

Yes, I've matured since then.

[bosawks]

My brother paid me to do his summer reading........

[janestclair]

I almost never did the summer reading in high school either, mostly because they were asking us to read books I wasn't interested in. My AP English class asked us to read 5 books over the summer.  I read one that wasn't terrible (Grapes of Wrath, I think) and then used Cliffs Notes for the rest.  I couldn't get into more than a couple pages of Catcher in the Rye.  Ugh.  

Summer reading is important though. Summer brain drain is real. I think teachers need to start assigning better books that kids can relate to if they want them to read it.  I assign my AP Bio kiddos a really great, accessible book as part of their assignment and we refer to it throughout the year.  That said, I do think some of the summer assignment thing, aside from AP classes where it's pretty much a necessity if you want to finish covering everything by May, has gotten way out of hand.  In my district there are also summer math assignments in every grade, and some science ones as well. Since it's a district mandate, most teachers just mark the assignment for completion and then that's the end of it, which is busy work for everyone involved.    

[backformore]

Wow.  Our school district always selected some classic books and some current titles, chosen from the published "young Adult best seller"  lists.  Especially for high school, some of the books on the list had themes of drug use, pregnancy, etc, so parents who didn't want their kids reading those books could steer them toward another one.   Most summers, my kids had already read  a few  of the books on the list, so it wasn't a big deal.  My one son would be annoyed when a new Harry Potter 800 page book would come out, and he'd have to put it aside to read something easier and shorter because it was assigned. 

My kids elementary school had a cool "drop everything and read"  DEAR program. At a certain time of day, everyone in the building  - students, staff, visitors, had to stop what they were doing and read for ten minutes.  each classroom had extra books or magazines, the idea was that it didn't matter what you read, you had to do silent reading for ten minutes.   Kindergarten and first grade kids who weren't quite reading, just had to spend the time looking at a book.  It was really a great idea, and seeing it in action was pretty cool - the silence in the building, as everyone had to stop anything they were doing.

Edited July 9, 2016 by backformore

[GHScorpiosRule]

On July 7, 2016 at 3:32 PM, Bastet said:

I've had my nose buried in a book since I learned to read, but I've had an aversion to being told what to do even longer.  Every summer in high school, for Honors and then A.P. English, we had a list of several books we had to read and write short reports on, to be turned in on the first day of school.  I read everything under the sun except those books each summer; in the few days before school started, I'd go get the Cliff's Notes (or ask a classmate for a summary) and bullshit my way through the reports and discussion.  During the year, I'd do the assigned reading, but during the summer I'd only read what I wanted to read.

Yes, I've matured since then.

This made me laugh, @Bastet!? Summer reading-is it a 'depends on what State you're in or public v. Private school or both?' Because I never had to do any summer reading. Well, no, scratch that. Because I went to Kindergarten twice (once in NY) then again in MD, my mom thought I was a year behind and made me take 9th grade English after I finished 8th grade, so I could skip it when I started high school and could graduate a year early. I think I had to repeat Kindergarten because my mom put me in school a year early? Don't ask me how I made it through to the first grade when I didn't speak a lick of English-I had to take ESOL in the first! I was a quick learner and didn't need to stay as long as the others. But, I digress. Other than reading The Great Gatsby, I never had any summer reading assignments. I went to public school. And I ended up taking AP ENGLISH because I refused to graduate with folks who weren't in my class, even if I became friends with upperclassmen in all my English classes until I was a Senior.

On July 7, 2016 at 4:03 PM, janestclair said:

I almost never did the summer reading in high school either, mostly because they were asking us to read books I wasn't interested in. My AP English class asked us to read 5 books over the summer.  I read one that wasn't terrible (Grapes of Wrath, I think) and then used Cliffs Notes for the rest.  I couldn't get into more than a couple pages of Catcher in the Rye.  Ugh.  

And I HATED Grapes of Wrath. The whole class did-we read it during first semester in Junior English. We had a substitute teacher, who even got the movie, which starred a sexy Henry Fonda, but that didn't help me. And it's not like I don't like Steinbeck-I loved his Of Mice and Men.

Second semester we read Catcher in the Rye, which I LOVED. After I got over my shock that it was required reading since it had a lot of curse words AND the f-bomb, especially.

Edited July 11, 2016 by GHScorpiosRule

[Kromm]

One good antidote to Monday, today is Free Slurpee Day. Just walk into a 7-11 and get a free one today.

[Sandman87]

Heh. Summer reading was no big thing for me in high school. I was a reader anyway, and in middle school we had been put through speed-reading exercises. I burned through Of Mice and Men in about 4 hours.

Monday! Stress! I definitely could have used one of those free Slurpees this week.

[hoosier80]

OMG.  Good thing I am not sitting next to my Dipshit co-worker right now.  I'd need bail money for slapping the shit out of them.  I am gobsmacked.  After close to 40 years in the workforce, I am just speechless.  Dipshit emails me a list of 10 questions from new-ish client.  They're adding stuff and the client should actually know what services are offered with one product, but they obviously don't know or it wasn't important before.  Dipshit, who constantly says, I take care of product A, sends me the list of questions.  Because Dipshit is lazy.  Dipshit could've easily done the research.  I pretty much answered off the top of my head, putting my answers in a different font and color by the questions on the list and resent to Dipshit.  Dipshit then sends to manager who was asking on behalf of client.  Copied the entire list as I had sent it, and said WE worked on this list and here are OUR answers.  WTF.  The only thing Dipshit did was copy and paste.  That is their contribution.  I know I am saving my email and the email Dipshit sent.  Debating if I take to our manager, just to say I'm not cool with it.  It wasn't like a huge research project, but honesty and integrity matters.   I've had managers take credit for stuff we did, but not out and out copying shit.  And to actually copy me and say WE did the work.  Some balls.

[bilgistic]

I am going to punch my cubicle neighbor in the larynx. I start work at 9:00 and today had my headphones in by 9:10. He has one of the most annoying voices, and he's SO LOUD. All fucking day long. He and the other blowhards like him wear earpieces that work with their desk phones so they can talk hands-free and pace around my desk, being obnoxious and loud.

I am always writing, editing, researching or doing something else that is quiet and requires concentration. I was watching a web-based training seminar today with my own earpiece in one ear and an earplug in the other and couldn't hear the seminar over my neighbor. The problem is not my hearing; I hear very well--almost too well.

Between him, my boss behind me, my coworker behind me and the other team on the next row, it's like a circus, and I HATE it. I need my two monitors when I'm editing, or I'd go sit in a closet. I've complained about it endlessly. People won't pipe the fuck down so I can concentrate. I can't be moved to another area. I just have to suffer.

The next time I interview, I will ask if there are cubicles and/or "shared workspaces". If the answer's yes, I'm leaving.

Edited August 5, 2016 by bilgistic

[AgentRXS]

I'm an Animal Control Officer for my local county.  Our county's animal shelter is outdated and they are wrapping up construction on our new facility. They are trying up odds and ends but we should be there by the end of the year.

The parking lot where we park the trucks is small enough as it is. We barely have room to turn around.  Now they placed a huge dumpster (to get rid of the stuff they are NOT taking to the new facility) that takes up 1/3rd of the parking lot. People have to make like 5 point turns just to park (and these trucks have no rearview mirror). I park on the other side, the last parking spot on the end. Until last week, on my left there was a picnic table and to the my right another truck.

This week, to make more space, they moved the picnic table and allowed someone else to park their truck there. Problem is, that person parks super close to my car. I've complained about the closeness several times, to the point where I can barely get out of my car, and I was told to "live with it". Well, today, they dented my brand-new car with their door because they parked too close. I told my supervisor and he said the proper procedure is to file a police report. I said "Why, he's going to keep hitting my vehicle because no one is telling him that he is parking too close.......". They said it has to be done. So I called PD, they arrive, and they tell me if I want to file a report, it will cause my insurance to increase since it would be considered a "hit-and-run" since they have no proof that he did it.  I tell my supervisor, and he said "Its up to you if you want to file the report".  I said again, I don't want to file anything, I just want him to STOP PARKING TOO DAMN CLOSE TO MY VEHICLE".  Even the cop said he was too damn close! He said "Well, we can't tell him that".   

The best part about this is that I then told my supervisor I wanted to leave early because this whole situation is stressing me out and I needed to go home, and he actually seemed shocked. Like, seriously? I wonder how he would feel if it was HIS brand-new car. I mean, I did leave but how could you not think I'd be super pissed off?

[BookWoman56]

Bilgistic, I feel your pain. Most of my career I've been lucky enough to have managers who recognized that for my kind of role, tech writing/editing, it is necessary for me to be in a quiet location. Even when I was in a cubicle setting, there were no people around who were constantly on the phone or otherwise making a lot of noise. However, a few years ago I took a position in which I was expected to write and edit materials, all while surrounded first by people who handled customer complaints and so were on the phone all day long, and then by people who were extremely loud  and would not ever STFU. I was initially a contractor and so not allowed to work from home (that was not company policy, just my manager's rule), and even after becoming an FTE, was still not allowed to work from home because my manager was an idiot, in addition to being racist, misogynistic, homophobic and hellbent on inflicting his religious views on everybody else. The second that I hit my one-year mark as an FTE, which meant I could apply for other positions within the company, I did so and stipulated on my application that I wanted to telecommute full-time. Fortunately, I was offered a different position very quickly after that, and I now work from home full-time, with my manager completely understanding that my work requires me to have a quiet environment so I can concentrate, and also that tech writers in general are not known for being social butterflies and often prefer solitude. So I would encourage you to indicate on any applications that you want/prefer a telecommute option, and explain in interviews that a quiet setting is necessary for you to do your best work. There are managers out there who understand that need.

[hoosier80]

Bilgistic, I mainly do research and system updates, so I cannot stand it when the resident assholes in the office are too loud.  We have 3 assholes who walk around the office with the telephone headsets (bluetooth?).  I mean the entire one side of our office.  One acts like he's some junior exec (and he's not).  We also have the borderline psycho, who will be all nice and sunny, then KABOOM!  We can hear her get loud and argumentative on calls, then on two occasions she stormed out of the office (around 1 to 2 pm).  One time she slammed drawers, stomped her way out, and said I've had enough of this shit, I'm going home.  As a co-worker said, we all could have stormed off multiples times every day, but we have to act like adults.  The phone walkers and psycho are all part of management.  Then there's my Dipshit co-worker who thinks it's social hour one the one day of the week all of our smaller team is there.  No, some of us have actual work to do, Dipshit (so you can copy it later you Dipshit).  And then we have some of the management team getting in arguments in cubeland.  We have all short walls now, so sound does travel.  I guess two assholes got into it this morning; both love the sound of their own voice, so it's always vomit inducing.  I missed the argument today.  And upper management, no they don't do a thing - as they're part of the problem.  As a side note, they did install an expensive white noise system, which had a squealing or hissing noise, so management shut it off.  Not sure which headache was worse.  

[Petunia13]

I think a lot of people are noisy intentionally out of passive aggression... Sometimes it is actually bullying, like they know it interferes with your work and upsets you, but do it or escalate the behavior anyways. 

I had one former supervisor do it constantly to her employees and would also spray perfume while standing by them so it got on them and leave anonymous notes, play music, raise voice. 

And one coworker I'm around sometimes since we share space that will sing loudly by me, slam or throw pallets/boxes/furniture., drop and 'accidentally' break bottles and blocks of wood, belch or fart near me, honk horns or turn on alarms. When I'm around him I'm usually doing a computer financial programs, math, or writing something. He's pretty rude he's told me he didn't think I'm smart or like me. 

Edited August 6, 2016 by Petunia13

[BookWoman56]

22 hours ago, AgentRXS said:

 I've complained about the closeness several times, to the point where I can barely get out of my car, and I was told to "live with it".

AgentRXS, were you complaining to your manager, or to the person who parked the truck too close? If you have complained to your manager and nothing is happening, I'd consider taking photos of the offending truck, including license plate, and dumping those photos into a note to put on the windshield of the truck, stating that the driver apparently dented your new car because of being parked too close, and asking that he/she cover the cost of repairing the dent.  Unless there is some company policy prohibiting you from doing so, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to ask this driver to park better, even if your manager or company can't do so officially. If this had happened to you offsite, you'd be perfectly justified in leaving a note for someone who obviously damaged your car, so I don't see why you can't do that here. Of course, it's possible that the driver might retaliate by doing some serious damage to your car, but if that happens, it presumably is already on record that you called the police once about the situation, and I doubt this other employee would want to be accused not just of negligent parking but active vandalism. However, I am by nature a very calm, rational person and frequently do not understand why other people react badly to situations, so if this other person has the potential to be a serious nutjob, then maybe it's better to just take photos on an ongoing basis and document that the person is consistently parking in a way that hinders your entrance/exit into your car. It seems like even your manager would concede that if there's actual evidence of seriously bad parking, then the company has the right to notify the employee to stop parking badly. I've worked places where the parking lot security officers would not hesitate to give a ticket to someone who blocked or impeded access to another vehicle (or in extreme cases, to have the offending car towed), so your situation sounds ridiculous.

[bilgistic]

The "phonewalkers!" Before my cubicle neighbor came to work with us (his team was acquired by our company somehow), I sat in the front of the row of three cubes, nearest the intersection of two halls. I'm now at the back of the row, across from my boss, which is a delight. Anyway, there were phonewalkers in the hallways, but I called one particular repeat, egregious offender the "Halltalker", because he would pace from his desk in one wing, down the hall in front of me--in my eyeline over my monitor--to almost my desk in another wing, all the while talking on his headset. SO ANNOYING.

I talked to my "boss" (the broker I support) AGAIN today about my neighbor and the noise level in general, and how difficult it is for me to concentrate. I mentioned how my coworker wears earplugs when he works so he can concentrate. Boss says "that's just how it is", and "it's not really that loud". Coworker doesn't "want to get dragged into it". I told them obviously sarcastically, "Thanks for once again hearing my concerns."

Please let my lottery ticket be the jackpot winner, sweet baby Jesus.

Edited August 6, 2016 by bilgistic

[hoosier80]

I thought this week would be better as one Dipshit has been out for a few days, almost like a vacation.  Nope.  They did a half assed job on just about everything they touched, which yeah I have to do the follow up on now that they're out.  One error was so big, it could've cost us our largest client.  Being fixed now, but had it gone reviewed by the Dip, they would've said oh it's ok.  Dip fucked up something similar last year, not as large of a client, but yeah, they are no longer our client.  And, I'm sure it would've come back to me, as I probably didn't show the Dip or tell the Dip how it should be done.  Problem is, it's all in the procedures, but READ is a bad 4 letter word for the Dipshit.  Then I have to work on another project, acting as a makeshift tester, being asked how far along I am.  Let me see, I'm the only one doing this fucking job, Dipshit has fucked up multiple items, so not that far along.  Then someone else asks hey do you have time for me to show you how to do abcd.  Sure.  Another department said they'd take care of that type of request, but had no idea how many there would be.  Now, they want to dump it on our area (aka - me and the Dip). It's easy as pie, only takes maybe 10 minutes tops, but it's one more thing to deal with on a daily basis.  Thanks, boss!  

Then I get a project manager asking me about a Project I was assigned to - what was I doing with it?  WTF.  A co-worker researched it and said oh you'll love this - the Dipshit assigned it to me when I was out of the office.  Never told me.  It's something the Dipshit said they "owned" that little system task, but as soon as there is one thing that is not routine, they dump to me.  

I'm going to start playing the lottery heavily.   I see my grocery now has self service tickets for Mega Millions and Powerball.  Off to check what the jackpots are at currently!

[auntlada]

Why does busybody coworker need to know if I am getting a new computer? Why is she asking other people if I am and then reporting to me that I am? It is none of her business. She is not a manager. She has no responsibility for computers other than her own. She wants a new one, but isn't getting one. She says hers is too slow. I want to tell her they give people computers that are as fast as the operators. She wouldn't get it.

[Petunia13]

There's a guy who works in a different dept. I say hi and make conversation if we are alone in the break room or in passing. One day when my university came up and he said was a graduate too, which I commented on happily but later admitted he was lying. That seemed very weird to me and kinda offensive.

Anyways I was driving last night at midnight because I had to come in to work (I do pricing and computer stuff for a supermarket). A car was kinda following me a bit tailgating. And I turned into the big lot for my work which has aisles of lanes but was mostly empty since its been closed for hours. There's few street lights around its dark af. I went through past a stop sign and the black car hit police lights on the dash and I could see a man motioning to pull me over. 

I did and it was him. And I don't know if he thought it was funny or making a citizens arrest? But he's not a cop he juices the oj/lemons/grapefruit/watermelon ect for our grab and go cooler beverages  and makes like 9.50 or 10.25 hr, so isn't moonlighting for extra dough. Why does he have police lights and siren? And that's not funny if he thought it was. He approached me again later to try to chat and I excused myself. 

Edited August 30, 2016 by Petunia13

[auntlada]

3 minutes ago, Petunia13 said:

There's a guy who works in a different dept. I say hi and make conversation if we are alone in the break room or in passing. One day when my university came up and he said was a graduate too, which I commented on happily but later admitted he was lying. That seemed very weird to me and kinda offensive.

Anyways I was driving last night at midnight because I had to come in to work (I do pricing and computer stuff for a supermarket). A car was kinda following me a bit tailgating. And I turned into the big lot for my work which has aisles of lanes but was mostly empty since its been closed for hours. There's few street lights around its dark af. I went through past a stop sign and the black car hit police lights on the dash and I could see a man motioning to pull me over. 

I did and it was him. And I don't know if he thought it was funny or making a citizens arrest? But he's not a cop he juices the oj/lemons/grapefruit/watermelon ect for our grab and go cooler beverages  and makes like 9.50 or 10.25 hr, so isn't moonlighting for extra dough. Why does he have police lights and siren? And that's not funny if he thought it was. He approached me again later to try to chat and I excused myself. 

If he flashes the lights at you again, call 911 and report him for impersonating an officer.

I don't know if that's the sort of thing you can report to HR or not, but he sounds extra creepy and maybe a little scary.

[ABay]

Isn't that illegal? Pretending to be a cop, having the lights, etc.

Edited August 31, 2016 by ABay

[Petunia13]

I think it is. But every story I've ever heard of someone with police equipment they were using it for scary bad or criminal reasons. And the fact he used it in the middle of the night on me in dark desolate area is creepy. He makes not much and from what I'd guess that equipment is expensive he'd why would he buy it there's no legit or cool reason to have it. I heard you can get a fine or arrested for having a fake badge or pulling someone over under the guise you're a cop. What should I do? And to make matters even weirder I am in training to transition to be one of his managers (which few people know.... it's a long training to manage produce the dept is complex and also covers our salad bar, smoothie bar and the candy shoppe like a hundred employees and mucho ordering daily) but he knows I'm in operations in general for the store. 

Edited August 31, 2016 by Petunia13

[auntlada]

Yes, it's illegal. Most people who do that are in the process of committing other crimes, although I've heard of teenagers and college kids doing that to other kids their age as a joke. It's still illegal, though, and they could be charged if they were caught.

People like him are why women are afraid to stop for police car lights at night. If you are near a police department, you could drive there, particularly if you are sure it is him.

He sounds like a stalker.

[DeLurker]

@Petunia13 - how long before you got to work was he following you?  It is creepy as hell, but if he was following you from home or thereabouts, that is stalking.

Since you are ultimately going to be supervising him/his department, please bring this highly unsettling and irregular to someone's attention.  Whether it is your supervisor or HR - tell someone and  ask their advice as to how / if this should be handled.  He may have done it to others so this may not be an isolated incident.

[BooksRule]

Starting today, my boss is out of town for the next two weeks (he's actually out of the country and not planning on checking e-mail at all).  I'm looking forward to getting a lot done.  Not that he's a bad boss, but this gives me a chance to clean out files, and catch up without him coming by my office and wanting to know why I have six carts of books surrounding my desk or why my desk is a foot deep in papers.  And, I'm not being called to come to his office every ten minutes for a conversation that could have been just as easily handled via e-mail or phone.  However, I am hoping that everything goes smoothly while he's away, because I'm in charge when he's gone.  I don't want to have to handle a student having a melt-down at the Circulation desk or administration calling up one morning and asking for statistics for the last five years and--by the way--go ahead and predict what your numbers will be for the next two years and we need it by tomorrow at noon.  Yes, that's happened before.

[bilgistic]

Definitely report creepio, and call the real police on him because impersonating them is a crime.

Edited August 31, 2016 by bilgistic

[MargeGunderson]

Petunia13, do report this to HR. He sounds more than a little creepy and this is the kind of thing you want to have on the record in case it escalates. I hope it doesn't but better safe than sorry.

[Babalu]

@Petunia13 - I agree about reporting to HR and to the police. You want the police to have a record in case this escalates. And, as @auntlada said, I'd go directly to the nearest police station any time you think he may be following you or anything suspicious happens or you just have an intuition. If you don't know where the police stations are in the areas you'll be driving, I'd look them up on your cell phone so you're ready if needed. He may just be a goofball with an inappropriate sense of humor, but better to be prepared just in case you need to be.

[backformore]

@Petunia13  I wonder if you might be able to make an anonymous report about this guy, to the police.   Someone who is going through that trouble, wasn't just doing it to you, he might be shaking people down for money,  under the guise of "well, I should give you  ticket, but I guess I could let it slide just this once for $50".  Or he could be up to something much worse.   If the cops have his license plate and info, they can check it out, and it won't have to come back to you. 

[theredhead77]

What do my fellow cubicle dwellers use to drown out the chatterboxes in surrounding cubes? I'm surrounded by people who make personal calls all day long, and talk super low so no one can hear them (so they think). All I can hear is their conversation and the ladies next to me like to have social hour a few times a day. Bosses are aware and don't care.

I already use earphones and music but I prefer to work in silence and don't feel that I should have to listen to something to drown out their noise. Ear plugs don't work since sound is carried through the bone and I tried white noise via a small speaker but it didn't do anything.

Short of moving to a different building an hour away (I live 20 minutes from my office) what do you all suggest?

[bilgistic]

I wish I had the answer. My boss acts like he's doing me a favor by "letting" me use headphones. I sit amid several very loud talkers (real estate brokers on the phone jabber-jawing constantly), one of whom is a foot from my face, sharing my cube wall. Our analyst wears earplugs but won't stand up with me and say anything about the noise level, namely because our boss is one of the louder people. I HATE cubicles. Ours don't have high walls or upper cabinets like cubes did 15 to 20 years ago. Those at least buffered noise.

[DeLurker]

I used the humor approach.  While they were on a personal call, I sent them an email that said "Tell Jo I say hi!  And ask if that nasty infection has cleared up."

It was just a way to let them know their conversations could be hard in the area. 

With a particular loud talker, I just would email him "Shooosh please".  Since I was older and more senior in position, he took it pretty well.  It got so when other people found out I did this, they started to do it too.

Edited October 1, 2016 by DeLurker
Cause there/they're/their are all spelled the same until I've had coffee.

[auntlada]

9 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

What do my fellow cubicle dwellers use to drown out the chatterboxes in surrounding cubes? I'm surrounded by people who make personal calls all day long, and talk super low so no one can hear them (so they think). All I can hear is their conversation and the ladies next to me like to have social hour a few times a day. Bosses are aware and don't care.

I already use earphones and music but I prefer to work in silence and don't feel that I should have to listen to something to drown out their noise. Ear plugs don't work since sound is carried through the bone and I tried white noise via a small speaker but it didn't do anything.

Short of moving to a different building an hour away (I live 20 minutes from my office) what do you all suggest?

I just read an article about this. I don't know if it works, but here you go: http://www.wsj.com/articles/chatty-co-worker-driving-you-crazy-try-a-smarter-white-noise-1475172822

[magicdog]

I'm so annoyed with the state of my newsroom right now.

 

I've been in the TV news biz for 15 years and there's been a shakeup recently - the news director who had helped take our newscasts from worst to first and manned the helm for over a decade got sacked, as did one of my supervisors - head of photography.  I was told by management that there's a "new vision" they didn't see eye to eye with and were let go.  It does happen in the business but I find the timing a bit suspect.  Not to mention the new news director has been bringing her own people in (to replace the folks that were let go).  I've been rolling with the changes, but there's been something recently that really bugged me.

When you work in the news biz long enough, you start getting a nose for frauds/attention seekers.  Some are professionals who purposely bring stories to the media as a test to see if the crew will investigate further  (because investigative reporting is all but non existent these days and many reporters will run with anything that turns up in their e-mails), others are trying to "raise awareness" of some perceived wrong (bullying or racism) by committing some act of vandalism on their own property and claiming they were being "bullied" when in fact, nothing of the sort occured.  There was an e-mail which was sent out to everyone in News in which a local resident (who happens to be Mexican-American) claimed she had received a letter (in poorly worded English!)  which stated she should put her trash cans behind the fence so the neighborhood won't, "look like a barrio".  I've seen many cases of similar situations which turned out to be false (usually they confess to it days later - especially if it's being investigated by the police as a hate crime) and all it does it make the news department look sloppy because they were running with a story ("the narrative") which was never true and only served to stir up the viewers over something that never happened.  My old news director wouldn't have jumped on this story so quickly, but the new one was practically giddy based on the e-mail reply and we ran with it!  My experience tells me this story doesn't pass the sniff test and I worry that our credibility will be at risk if in a few days it turns out this was a lie and could have been sussed out sooner.   I had thought about bringing this up in a future meeting but I'm afraid this is the "new vision" our bosses want to stay with.

[auntlada]

I've been there, @magicdog, albeit in print journalism. Based on my experience, keep your head down, do your job and look for a new job. When it happened at our newspaper, there was almost 100 percent turnover while the new publisher was there -- before she got fired, probably for losing money because she was seriously incompetent (and crazy, but the owners in another state probably didn't see that). There were about five or six of us who were there when she came who were still there when she left. And many people came and went while she was there because did I mention she was incompetent and crazy?

[Blergh]

Obviously, I can't get too detailed but has anyone here ever had an employer who felt that the sound of their voice was THE most important thing happening in the workplace to the exclusion of  ontask phone calls and even the work itself?

[DeLurker]

I know I have and I suspect many others do too.

Unless you are willing to elevate the matter above his/her head, I have no useful suggestions though.  I have had to do just that and it worked out fine (in the long run).  But my supervisor also irritated the hell out of who he reported too, so he had already began digging his own grave.

[bilgistic]

1 hour ago, Blergh said:

Obviously, I can't get too detailed but has anyone here ever had an employer who felt that the sound of their voice was THE most important thing happening in the workplace to the exclusion of  ontask phone calls and even the work itself?

My boss has told me that I'm not "engaged" with him when I'm taking notes on my laptop in our meetings, so I now have to simultaneously take notes and gaze at him with doe eyes. The ego on that fucker.

[DeLurker]

I'd have to rub my eye with a middle finger extended at your next meeting.