ITT we vent about work and employment

Akkryls · Post by **Akkryls** » Wed Aug 12, 2015 10:07 am #111771

Bottom post of the previous page:

Stickymayhem wrote:
oranges wrote:Why would you not take payment up front?
I tried every possible configuration of this and it just never worked. If you put almost any barrier to entry literally no one will ever come.

My idea was to put in a deposit of £60 and you get five pictures with that but it was so much harder to get anyone to come and you'd almost never get anyone who would be willing to pay more than that. They just saw it as 60 quid for 5 pictures that they could just snap in the bathroom mirror for free instead.

The studios with hundreds of photographers couldn't figure this out and neither could I. Portrait photography is just a weird mess that's dying right now.

The business basically relies on good-hearted customers who won't abuse the system. You'd get one of these people who will actually see the effort and value in this stuff and they'd pay hundreds of pounds for it. But it was so rare to get them.

EDIT: Also photographs are incredibly hard to value. Once you've taken 400 pictures they are in a weird state of being technically worthless but with a nebulous kind of effort behind them that's hard for customers to really get a grasp of. They just see several hundred pictures and wonder why I'm being a dick and not putting all of them on the disk instead of just 5. The CD costs the same either way right?

I think there's this huge group of people in society who don't understand the fucking concept of the "Service Cost".
Because you're too fucking lazy to do it yourself, you come out to get someone else to do it. Because they do it for you, you get charged for the materials used PLUS the service cost, because that's how a business fucking works

It irritates me when people come into the shop where I work, ask for a drink and then balk at the price because "they could make it at home". Well, that's nice. Go home and make it then.
I'm pretty sure people are just spoilt by chains like McDonalds where they sell everything dirt cheap, because it likely is mostly dirt and they have such good supply contracts due to years of business.

DrPillzRedux · Wed Aug 12, 2015 2:32 pm

The basic cost of our ambulance ride is $1500 here. That's before any interventions are performed. Just applying a $20 c collar is rung up as $150.

Medical service costs are rediculous.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Wed Aug 12, 2015 2:37 pm #111808

Land of the free, but dont get hurt or you will be in debt literally the rest of your life.

bandit · Post by **bandit** » Wed Aug 12, 2015 3:31 pm #111813

copywriting, editing, general monkey shit

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Wed Aug 12, 2015 7:46 pm #111872

There's a difference between a photograph and a snapshot.

A selfie of yourself is a snapshot.

Sitting in a chair being postured by a professional while baking under five-point lighting in front of a backdrop dressed up, make-up'ed, to have a bunch of pictures of yourself taken which will then be digitally processed results in photographs.

Idiots have a hard time telling the two apart and believe that a photograph comes out of their phone every time they push the button.

The advancement of technology and ability for any idiot to just push-button-receive image has killed the industry. But also so has the barrier of entry being completely obliterated. You don't have to learn how to develop negatives and process film anymore. Nobody but pretentious assholes use it anymore. You don't have to learn how to meter for light, how to calculate your aperture for the right depth of field anymore. The camera does all that itself, or you can just quickly snap a photo to see what it looks like and adjust it based on that. You don't even need to learn to take good photos, you have a whole wealth of digital resources where you can just push a button and it'll fix all your shitty balance and color problems.

Photography has become like auto-tuned singers performing over a recording of their own albums. It's a dying art.

bandit wrote:copywriting, editing, general monkey shit

Can you be more specific? I'm curious what freelancing other work might be like.

bandit · Post by **bandit** » Wed Aug 12, 2015 9:06 pm #111904

it's literally whatever comes down the pipeline, sometimes with temp agencies, sometimes through word of mouth / regular clients (aka god), sometimes off craigslist (aka satan). ranges from selling your soul to marketing companies to selling your soul to suburban moms who want you to write them a fifty page essay on all the school districts near them

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Wed Aug 12, 2015 10:20 pm #111919

Ah so you just do any kind of freelance writing/editing you can get your hands on, then?

Have you ever checked out freedom with writing? It's a mailing list for people looking to do that kind of stuff. It varies a lot in quality, some of it is really dumb shit that's worthless and some of it is a couple-hundred bucks a pop writing stories for things.

Maccus · Post by **Maccus** » Thu Aug 13, 2015 7:05 am #112004

Friend who worked at the FLGS and was going to hire me got let go along with lots of other people because the FLGS is in danger of folding.

Feeling great.

bandit · Post by **bandit** » Fri Aug 14, 2015 3:10 pm #112354

An0n3 wrote:Ah so you just do any kind of freelance writing/editing you can get your hands on, then?

Have you ever checked out freedom with writing? It's a mailing list for people looking to do that kind of stuff. It varies a lot in quality, some of it is really dumb shit that's worthless and some of it is a couple-hundred bucks a pop writing stories for things.

just went to the site, it looks exactly like an email harvester, I see that design and wait to be sold tramadol

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Sun Aug 16, 2015 2:07 am #112601

My email address is already bombarded with so much bullshit anyway I couldn't tell if I got any more after getting on that list or not.
Some of the opportunities were very real, though.

More work related insanity today:

Bumped into the guy who wanted me to give him my shirt again today. He was looking bad, walking around kinda labored but he recognized me and we had a weird conversation for a bit.

He stopped in the middle of it to turn his head to the side and throw up a huge clot and a ton of blood all over the sidewalk. He brushed it off by saying "Pardon me".
After talking to him a little more he revealed he's dying of cancer and only has two months to live. He explained this in between bouts of coughing and spitting up more blood.

I rolled up that shirt he liked, it's honestly probably my favorite t-shirt, and put it in my bag. Next time I see him I'm going to give it to him.

Like...fuck, man. I can't do jack shit for you but maybe this will help you feel less alone.

Mister_Doc · Post by **Mister_Doc** » Sun Aug 16, 2015 3:41 am #112614

God dammit Anon3, we came here to gripe not feel! In all seriousness that is pretty sad, sometimes all you can do is the small things that help somebody's life suck a little less.

Drynwyn · Post by **Drynwyn** » Sun Aug 30, 2015 6:52 am #115739

i work at the campus IT help desk
i thought "hey cool i'll get to hang out with people who know computers!"
what it actually is is "babysit these 2 coworkers who know nothing beyond how to follow a flowchart yet get paid the same as you" while solving every problem.

Post by **Thunder11** » Sun Aug 30, 2015 2:06 pm #115801

Drynwyn wrote:i work at the campus IT help desk
i thought "hey cool i'll get to hang out with people who know computers!"
what it actually is is "babysit these 2 coworkers who know nothing beyond how to follow a flowchart yet get paid the same as you" while solving every problem.

>Being optimistic about working on the helldesk
You poor, poor tortured soul...

ColonicAcid · Post by **ColonicAcid** » Sun Aug 30, 2015 5:28 pm #115819

>inb4 someone posts that they're going to shoot up the office they work in and then this thread gets locked

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 1:21 pm #115983

All I can think of to share are more ridiculous interactions with the people downtown.

I haven't seen Mr. Bloodthirster since I posted that update so I'm assuming he has passed on.

RIP

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 3:40 pm #115994

Rest in peace cancer guy, your passing was mourned by a bunch of neckbeard internet spacemen on a message board.

I just applied for a kickass job i may or may not be entirely qualified for experimenting with stem cells and mouse brains in a hospital research lab in ottawa. this sort of shit is exactly what i have always wanted to do, but i will be moving a long way from home and on my own for the first time with none of my friends around or anything, which is pretty scary.

That is assuming they even give me an interview.

EndgamerAzari · Mon Aug 31, 2015 3:40 pm

My boss said today that he and his boss think I am "making great progress and are ready for more types of requests". I feel like I don't have anything to do half the time at work, but apparently whatever minor usage I have here is enough. Still nervous about my future, though. I just don't feel like I'm worth even the meager amount they pay me, but at the same time I feel like this is the only kind of job I'm suited for.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 3:48 pm #115996

Think about it this way. If you are even halfway competent at your job you are leaps and bounds ahead of the average fucking moron that exists in this world. By comparison your bosses probably see you as a gift from god himself simply because you can tell your ass from a hole in the ground.

XSI · Post by **XSI** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 6:32 pm #116014

That sounds about right

I'm considered one of the top people where I go (Not even a job, since I lost mine. 'job skills training center' ) just because I understand basic things like the language in this country and how to use the bathroom.
Seriously, about half the people here don't know the language or how bathrooms work. It's a regular occurrence to have a group of 6 or so people yelling in some weird language while the guy in charge of the place yells at them that they have to poop IN the toilet, not in front of it

Just a few weeks back the guy in charge checked the toilet. The floor was covered in a cm(About half an inch for muricans?) of vaguely yellow water and nobody wanted to take responsibility for it. It had to have been a mixture of piss and water, around and over the toilet. Not in it

That's where all the immigrants and 'refugees' go in western countries. They don't get jobs, they just get free housing and food money and are then asked to go to one of these places where an underfunded old guy is told to teach a group of 20+ africans(Always only males) who all seem to speak a different language how to act like normal people.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 6:39 pm #116016

Yikes, that sounds like a rough deal man

EndgamerAzari · Mon Aug 31, 2015 6:51 pm

Wyzack wrote: halfway competent

XSI wrote:understand basic things like the language in this country and how to use the bathroom.

I don't even feel like I possess basic everyday competence, though. I'll trip over myself, walk into doorframes, drop shit, forget things, choke on my own spit daily, and injure myself in ways that shouldn't even be possible no matter how careful I am. Last night I gave myself what is basically a paper cut from a dollar store steak knife when I was putting away the dishes. The thing can barely even cut through cooked chicken and I managed to get myself snagged on one of the serrations. The cut didn't even bleed.

I did really well in 2/3s of my higher education and I'm still a barely functioning retard.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 7:20 pm #116019

That is just life dude. I have something fucked up with my glottis where i regularly choke when drinking anything. I need a disgusting amount of coffee to function and when i get it my hands shake. I procrastinate things for no reason even when i know it will fuck me over badly in the long run. Everyone has bullshit like that, most people are just good enough at hiding it from others that you wouldnt know.

Ricotez · Post by **Ricotez** » Mon Aug 31, 2015 10:46 pm #116045

I'm like the living incarnation of the accidental pervert trope. I swear to God I do not do this shit intentionally, it is extremely uncomfortable, awkward and embarrassing.
I keep managing to crush my toes against tables, doors, walls and my own bag, and about a year ago I broke off my bike key when I lifted my bike up a flight of stairs.
Every day I risk expensive electronics by using an open glass to drink from over a bottle, because I knock it over all the goddamn time.
I cannot step over a cable without tripping over it. I started using a wireless mouse because I already destroyed 3 wired mice that way.

Maccus · Post by **Maccus** » Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:15 am #116117

The girl I'm talking to offered to help me get a job where she's working at but I'm preeeetty sure that's not a good idea.

Especially since she's assistant manager.

ThanatosRa · Post by **ThanatosRa** » Mon Sep 07, 2015 8:43 pm #117268

1st world problem, sure but...

>Have to work on Labour day
>hope for lazy day with nothing going on and an early out
>dreams crushed by a large amount of world and productive lower support tiers.

I just wanted to be a lazy shit who's not particularly enamored by time and a half at the moment!

Cuboos · Post by **Cuboos** » Mon Sep 07, 2015 10:28 pm #117283

I was informed that i don't meet the qualifications to work at a local gas station... I am not qualified... to work at a gas station... Do i need a fucking bachelor degree to stand around all day while people use the self service pumps and once in a while buy candy? They had a fucking help wanted sign in the window, so it's not like they were over staffed or anything. But how the fuck do i "Not meet the qualifications" to be a god damned gas station clerk? IT'S ONLY A SIX HOUR JOB TOO, that's like bottom of the barrel, I don't think there's a lower level in the job market. AND I STILL DON'T QUALIFY.

Malkevin · Post by **Malkevin** » Wed Sep 16, 2015 7:47 pm #119148

Why is that all the jobs near me are either an hour commute, shift based, or involve a lot of phone work? Or usually a combination of all three... bleh.

I think my current job is slowly killing me, it pays fuck all that it was barely worth doing when my work sites were only based around my local area but now I'm expected to drive to sites an hour away (whilst still having the same 'working' day) - for the same crap pay. Had to swear at my boss today because the scheduling meant I wasn't getting my contracted lunch break, the result? I now have to work half an hour longer than everyone else in my department...
Least I get paid mileage, but most of that is gobbled up on fuel costs. BLEH!

ThanatosRa · Post by **ThanatosRa** » Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:56 pm #119161

Slavery

ThanatosRa · Post by **ThanatosRa** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 12:15 am #119196

Also, We have a shitler at my job.(and he's sitting next to me in the internet cafe in the cafeteria, I don't even give a fuck). One of the guys in Tier 2(I'm Tier 3). He mouths off to anyone who doesn't help him, or listen to him. One of the supervisors of his tier was on break while talking to us or something else, I forget exactly what. But not obligated to take his supervisor escalation at the time. And he loses his Shit. Then he loses his shit on the coach that came to help. Incompetent, irritating, terminally obsessed with The Walking Dead(to the point that he runs a site about it on Facebook that he spends every waking minute on and will be aggressive if denied the right to get to it), to the point that I will never watch it to avoid him tlaking to me. Counting the days until he's removed from the premises.

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 2:26 am #119216

I may be in line for a promotion!

Whoop whoop!

Even if I don't get it, I should be getting a raise soon anyway!

A bunch of us went out for a steak dinners tonight after work because fuck it we can. One dude ate two whole steaks just to show everyone he could. Another guy lied and said it was his birthday just to make a huge scene. When they asked him how old he was he told them he just turned five. The servers asked the whole restaurant to wish him a happy 5th birthday. I screamed "You look pretty fuckin' hairy for a five year old!" at him. He has a beard like mine.

This is only like three days after we all went out to eat at a sushi buffet.

Yesterday we all left work for a two-and-a-half hour lunch break to go to a park, eat BBQ and play Bocce.

I bought a huge box of techdeck parts and miniature skatepark bullshit on ebay. We're going to set it all up in the break room and everyone is buying up tech decks and more tech deck garbage to bring in to work. We're turning our whole break room into a giant fingerboard skate park only nobody has any fucking idea how to actually fingerboard and it's all a big dumb joke anyway.

I posted this thing I built at work after we couldn't find a tape dispenser. Everyone flipped out about what a work hazard it was.

So today a whole shipment of tape dispensers arrives. I quickly built and posted this.

ThanatosRa · Post by **ThanatosRa** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:58 pm #119463

ThanatosRa · Post by **ThanatosRa** » Thu Oct 08, 2015 9:33 pm #124477

Call Center Karaoke Parties are War Crimes.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Thu Oct 08, 2015 10:05 pm #124488

I fucking love karaoke. It is a shame that every place in my town only does it on sundays and wednesdays, so i rarely get to go. my white boy rap game is stronk

ThanatosRa · Post by **ThanatosRa** » Thu Oct 08, 2015 10:13 pm #124492

This was during work hours due to this being customer service week. And this shit should be punishable by death.

Mister_Doc · Post by **Mister_Doc** » Fri Oct 09, 2015 2:43 am #124554

I got fired! A week after I put in my 2 week notice! Whatever, Dobby Doc is free now.

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Fri Oct 09, 2015 2:43 am #124555

Cool.

Apply for UI and make them pay you to sit on your ass for a while.

THE MIGHTY GALVATRON · Fri Oct 09, 2015 3:07 am

Oh lawdy I'm going to work for the Disney Store next week.

Don't even like Disney, what am I doing?

Fug it though, people seem to like me for no raisin and hey I know Star Wars and Marvel stuff to an extent so I should be fine, right?

Super Aggro Crag · Fri Oct 09, 2015 3:46 am

i work in a factory

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Fri Oct 09, 2015 4:24 am #124578

Crag this is the first time we've both posted in the same thread in like

years?

EndgamerAzari · Fri Oct 09, 2015 6:37 pm

Oh hell.

My firm is eliminating some more traditional library positions and consolidating the management of print collection/resources/etc. to a single position. It doesn't directly effect me, but holy shit, having a meeting on Friday to tell the department that two people are being fired is jarring. Apparently they just told these people today. Jesus. They said nobody else's position is on the chopping block right now, but holy God. I'm shaken.