Let's bitch about our stupid, annoying co-workers

Fuck you. Pay me.

lol

I have to be on a work computer to see my work email. I had not been at work. I realize that I could set up my phone to receive work emails when I'm not at work but I do not want to receive work emails when I'm not at work. I only even check my personal email about once a day, usually.

― The Reverend, Wednesday, May 21, 2014 1:03 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you are the sanest person in the series of posts above.

This isn't even about which device is always on or when your boss gets to have you on the leash, one's just gotta decide how much we let other people's requests of any kind run the show. And I run my fuckin show.

cause in a sense imo fields of salmon is 100% otm--the requests never stop coming. that puts the onus on us to decide when we're not gonna look at them and we're gonna hang out with people who don't have to pay us to do it instead.

idk

This is the sort of stuff that gives work-at-home freelancers the permanent eye twitch.

*twitch*

oh, if you're a freelancer, you must just respond to all communication forms at all times

*gets out semaphore flags*

*gets out pencil and pad*

"...this...isn't...what...weaaanted at all"

"put.... a... landlord... hat... on... the... land... lord"

this is sort of mildly related

I'm an hourly employee, I only answer email within work hours when I'm AT work. I don't work remotely, I don't have smartphone sync to my email, none of that. It's not expected.

A few years back we took an account on a 3 day winery trip. 5 ppl from the account went on the trip. All of them were workaholics, you'd get emails with send times of like 4am Chicago time, one dude admitted to sleeping in his office, total hardcore crazytown.

We're on the bus on the freeway setting off on our 3 day whatever, and they're all on laptops or blackberries. one of the account guys next to me says, 'So, if something comes up [related to my job] who should I contact?' And I kinda looked at him and said 'Um. Me? But I'm not connected to work so I'll deal with it when we get back.'

He looked so stricken and confused, it was kind of alarming. I felt bad at first, like hmm maybe I should be working remotely.

but within 24hrs they were all untethered and had their laptops away and were kicking up their heels so it ended up working out ok.

I sometimes feel like I work in Mayberry, but honestly I kinda like it. Compartmentalization of yr job is key, at least for me. I don't want it come home with me or anywhere else. Work is at work.

yes, absolutely. a colleague of mine decided to change jobs within our company because she got negative feedback for 'only working 6 hours on a Sunday' (Sundays are off days for all employees).

I get a little tired of the people that act like working 60-70 hrs is a badge of honor. fuck you - part of my goal is figuring out how to do in 50 what it used to take me 60 to do. if I'm working 60-70 hrs it means I either agreed to too much or that I'm not good at my job.

i feel like the biggest curmudgeon but this dude who now sits on the other side me is constantly singing or humming all day and it drives me nuts. i seriously hate open floor plans

I do that but I'm like nat king Cole Jr so its a privilege for em

I'm public sector internal affairs to an internal service I don't have to check my emails ever and my phone hasn't rung in 3 months. recommended.

I get a little tired of the people that act like working 60-70 hrs is a badge of honor. fuck you - part of my goal is figuring out how to do in 50 what it used to take me 60 to do. if I'm working 60-70 hrs it means I either agreed to too much or that I'm not good at my job.

― getting strange ass all around the globe (Neanderthal), Thursday, May 22, 2014 8:52 PM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

booming

Life advice: never work for free.

Yeah. My bf's been working back an extra 2-4 hours a night every other week lately and I'm like "well, they pay you overtime at least, right?"... nope.

All I can think is: ok if its a one off, lets all pull together big project? Yeah pull a few late nighters, git r done. If it is just assumed you'll work 2-5 more hours a night than you're paid for as a matter of course - and if you get constantly sniped at for going home on time at 5pm to pick up yr fucking kids from daycare - that is a job not worth having.

And they told him they were family friendly! cocksuckers.

Yeah,that's total bullshit. If I'm not getting paid, fuck it, I'm going home.

I'm kind of in a weird position that I'm hourly but I have a lot of independence to work on and am expected to take leadership of my own projects (i.e. I should really be salary but what am I gonna do about it), and I basically do what work needs to be done and send my boss a tally of my hours at the end of the pay period. Like I'm the point person on three projects right now and I spend a lot of time working on my own to make sure these things happen, and except for the scheduled classes I teach, I basically put in work as needed.

(ftr, my boss who is pretty much cool except for his decided tendency to overexplain, has never disputed my timesheet)

I'll answer work emails at any point between 6am and midnight but am usually very strict about leaving the office on the dot of 4:30. I'd rather do bits and pieces when I need to than commit to an extra hour in the office.

i had a coworker who would program outlook to send emails in the middle of the night so he was always working. he also constantly referred to "staying up until 4AM negotiating with the Chinese." he was lame.

"Gotta go. London. It's 7 AM in the Old Empire. "

i made it very clear to the head of my dept two years ago that I work to live and not vice versa, and they tend to respect that. I heard people in other depts talk about working a 100 hour week and we're talking someone with a spouse and kids and I'm like wtf, no way.

when the time calls for it, I'll work whatever needs to be worked, but that should be only when a project is going live, not cos you had a hankerin' to know somethin at 11 pm.

yesterday a woman in the next row of cubicles (fond of the word 'fuck', best known for spending like 20 minutes on the phone going *off* on a ups operator about her missing package a while back) was holding forth on proper wedding etiquette.

in her view, wedding guests must offer gifts worth the expected value of the food they consume. she's been married for years but still has a list of people who did not fulfill this obligation at her own wedding.

also lol she has written a (73-page) book about wiccan spells and hexes to cast on cheating exes? guess those wedding guests are fuc-ed

whoa

that's like level-up crazytown

awesome

imagine how long that took to

spell check

fp u

A man with wife and kids who works 100 hrs a week basically doesnt want the spouse and kid, imho.

Absolutely otm. My wife and I have each managed to get our work days down to 3 per week and I'm absolutely fine with that-- not so much money but much more time for LIFE not fucking work.

how is this accomplished?

we both work for different health-related NGOs where the pay is poor but we can salary sacrifice to our mortgage and where they're reasonably flexible about home/life balance

Christ thats exactly what my bf needs. He's trying to raise 2 boys on a FT job and he's really struggling and they dont give a shit and get snippy at him for leaving at 5pm (like, when you're meant to).

I hate companies that fetishize how long you work. I love my current job cos I log out when I'm done. one of my previous jobs, they required us to work 45 hours a week (we were salaried), regardless of our work load...stating that 'it has been proven that people who work longer complete more work'. I argued about how stupid this was since I was one of the more productive members of the team (actually got an award for completing the most work one year), and felt that it was silly to ask me to spend an extra hour each day if my work was done early, which it often was. In the end, most folks just continued doing the same amount of work, but just worked more slowly. Or lied on their timecards.

silver lining was the guy in charge of that dept later got laid off, due to the division being dissolved largely because of his poor decision-making.

In a previous job I had people were all about being seen to stay late, regardless of how much actual work they had on. Life's too short.

yeah seriously. one of my favorite managers years back was a hardass but also very supportive and she used to get on me for working too late. she said "I used to work 80 hour weeks for a bank and got divorced because of it - don't do that to yourself!"

I used to work for a tech company in the early 00s and yes, being seen staying late was a key component of success. Also not taking any of your vacation time. I left when my work was done and took vacations so I got let go in the second round of layoffs (the person on my team who took the most vacation time was let go in the first round. She also happened to be the most senior and experienced and the only black woman so make of that what you will).

My job now is pretty great. Flexible hours, I can work from home, the focus is totally all about getting your work done and not putting in hours for the sake of putting in hours. The pay is fine, not great, but I'm eligible for bonuses that are actually tied into how many cases I handle compared to how many hours I bill (the higher the first number and the lower the second, the better my bonus) so doing more in less time is built into the system.

I still have some ideological discomfort with the work I do, and I still haven't quite let go of the image of myself as this badass crusader for justice, but this work/life balance thing is pretty fantastic.

Oh my point was that I was contacted by a recruiter about a more traditional associate position and my eyes turned into dollar signs and I was like sure, submit my resume. When she told me they were looking for someone with more traditional employee benefits experience (drafting pension plans as opposed to claims litigation), I was like OH THANK GOD. As Jeff put it, the money would be nice but the hours would be such that we'd have to hire a nanny, a housekeeper, and a chef to keep any semblance of sanity in our home. And I'd never get to see my daughter, which would more or less ruin my life. So in conclusion I will be paying off my student loans until I'm in my 80s.

does anyone work for a company with "unlimited" vacation time? it's common among startups who like to offer OMG AMAZING benefits, but it seems like it would be terrible in practice. fab offers it, but i can just imagine how well it would go over to tell your supervisor that you have a week vacation planned right after jason goldberg sends you out his fifth "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" email of the week to every employee.

ya its a total scam

listening to a ten-minute conversation going "I wonder if our organisation has web branding guidelines? I don't think it does. What would be in them anyway?", making 3 attempts to say "it does, they're on the intranet, but they don't contain the thing you're looking for" (I looked at them yesterday), but not being able to get more than a couple of words out without being talked over with another stream of "ooh I don't know. I wonder? ooooh"

too tired for this. gave up.

prolix boss is prolix

I am in work politics hell. if I was interested in and/or better at this stuff I might be paid at the level of the stuff I'm doing, as opposed to constantly training, explaining and subsequently online complaining about the wittering mediocrities of professional professionals hopping ahead of me.

braying ass man is prob running a fuckin dept by now, idk idk

i'm pretty sure that the boss cadre recognises its own and naturally sucks them into the fold

oh I'm just fine with that, it keeps them away from the raw data and the front line. just fuckin pay me and ensure that my guaranteed blithe dismissal of their wishes is enshrined in the working conditions

i think they have this misguided yen to be liked

I will sign a contract to like them a good deal more when my conditions are met

shhh, you mustn't mention money, they think we're here for the sheer love of it

at civil service wages I'd surmise the same fucking thing bytimes