McJeff215

I was picking up prescriptions a couple days ago and the clerk asked the man in front of me if he had any questions. He said, "no, but my wife might." He then pulled out his cell phone and called his wife! But, the catch? Her told her to come to the desk and waited on the phone while she walked from the other side of the store! When she showed up, she took another call while I was waiting. After she left, and I went to get my medicine, she had forgotten to sign all of the privacy stuff and they had to go get her to finish. Total. Idiot.

Oh, and giving that dog in my avatar a bath because it got stupid and jumped into a pond. Ever wash one of those things? It took 45 minutes just to get it wet.

Fugging central AC blowing out at home, followed by a big DDOS at work the next day. Yuck.

There's truth to that. I've lived down here for ten years and outside of Atlanta, it's quite old school. I've been deer hunting with my father in law and a good segment of the guys there were so racist it was embarrassing. Comments like, "let's give the deer guts to the n-family up the street, they'll eat anything." Outside of the metropolitan areas, there's quite a bit of it. You do get it both ways. I've been called all kinds of names walking to my car after work. The South is still a very racially charged area.

We're saying the same thing. None of those examples you've listed are acceptable - especially blocking entrance to a recruiting center. As far as forcing changes in the public school curriculum goes, that's happening on either side. See the ongoing "Creationism vs. Evolution" debate here in Georgia. As for Mr. Moore, a lot of the stuff he's put out there is just as misleading as whatever Hannity may be spewing forth on any given day. Hannity pimps it as coverage, Moore pimps it as documentary material. It's politically charged opinion in most cases independent of who the mouthpiece is. I have a problem with that no matter what the ideology happens to be. I'm just sick of seeing Democrats clapping why Republicans sit, or Republicans clapping while Democrats sit. The terms "Liberal" and "Conservative" shouldn't be considered derogatory in really any political context. Healthcare is a total microcosm. The current system can use some work, but it has really just melted down into partisan squawking. If the other party thought of it, it sucks. Period. That sucks.

That was kind of my point (though it may not have come out that way). Neither are immune. They all keep doing stupid stuff. Less focus on the party and more on holding each individual accountable.

Of course Democrats have made fools of themselves. The criticisms hold true for both sides of the isle. This specific example is fresh so it's getting lots of attention. On the other side of the isle? Cynthia McKinney, Pelosi's jets, and Al Gore's hijacking of environmental issues. It's too polarized. It's "examples of the right" versus "examples of the left." Why not hold the individual lawmakers accountable versus tagging a party affiliation and bastardizing the entire side of the spectrum? Both sides have very valid points. The same thing happens on either side, just in different forms. No one likes leaches.

On the surface I agree. But when it comes down to it, I tend to see a small group of pundits that are taking advantage of that blind trust. They know that if they speak to the value system, they've got a following. Then, they just build on via reenforcement. It really turns my stomach. It's kind of in the same vein as all of the country musicians that milked the patriotism over past decade, it's just more dangerous as these guys have a clear call to action. Disrupt town hall meetings. Burn Dixie Chicks albums. Have tea parties. What happens when one says "Revolt!", or tells us to stop going to work?

Thank you. It's simply irrational. I really chalk a lot of it up to the state of the media. It's not a news delivery game, it's a ratings game. With so many news outlets fighting for the viewership, journalistic integrity goes right out the window. For example, why does CNN cover Brittany Spears? Because it increases market share. Is it newsworthy? Hell no. Does it bring eyes to the screen? Yup, and that's what's important. Generating more profit. I used to have a long standing complaint. Remember? It was Sean Hannity. It's just that kind of polarizing crap that causes this stuff. People take it to the bank. They eat it up as news. It's political commentary, but it's not presented that way. Lots of standard debate/argument tactics used as well: 1. Demonize the opposition. You know, "You're just one of those stupid Libs." 2. Elevate your position to a higher moral ground. Anyone been Hannitized? You're a Great American, Sean. It goes on and on. But the more people hear this, the more they buy into it. The more they buy into it, the less likely they are to listen to the opposition in any type of constructive communication. I remember having discussions around the election regarding politics and it was simply impossible to talk to anyone that was further to the right. Obama was the antichrist. End of discussion. He's a baby killer. End of discussion. He's the enemy. When 40% of your population sees your leadership as a moral enemy, there is a serious problem. I don't dislike either political viewpoint. I simply can't stand the polarization and the relentless bickering. It seems to be coming more and more from the right side, which is just driving me more and more to the left side. Stop.

I'm more and more convinced that those guys drive a lot of the problems we have. I have to change it right after they do the traffic report as well. Instead of provoking constructive discussion, it's all self righteousness and emotional appeal. Edit: And they play to the listener base by making them feel superior for listening in the first place! My complaints: 1. My company no longer pays out unused vacation. Why? "Because we're a family company, we want you to use it all." Nice. But if you use too much, they'll dock your last check. They then used our stock buy-back program to purchase unexorcized *options* back from the top 4 or 5 guys instead of reducing float. How is this ethical? Especially considering their option prices are in the $0.10 ranges while the workforce is at $5.00. 2. Learning to write iPhone apps. Fun, but restrictive. 3. I miss hockey. I don't think I've posted in anything other than a complaint thread in months. Time for some action!! 4. The Bills. Holy crap.

DJ's playing opossum. Yeah. That's it.

Here's another one... these Bills games.

The fact that I write software for a living at a public company and my workstation has the case scotch-taped together and I'm using a 17" monitor that flickers funny every now and then, but my project manager boss has a big 27" flat panel that he jacks is laptop into between meetings. Programmers: The steelworkers of the 21st century, without the pensions.

The guy I report to is a PM. His boss asked me if I wanted the job before it was offered to him and I turned it down for various reasons. This dude was like the default as no one really wanted that job. So, this guy is incredibly overly confrontational. He tries to play devil's advocate, but it's just restrictive to the point where we don't talk in meetings with him and wind up making plans via IM afterwards. Just don't want to deal with it. Today, I figure we're not being fair and I pull him aside and explain that he's got to calm down a bit. The response was classic... "Me? Who? I'm not confrontational! Do you think I'm confrontational? Why? What's your reason for thinking that?" Well, I tried.

I'm not complaining about your response per se, but it did trigger a nerve. I'm using the term 'you' generically. My apologies for thread hijacking. I'd like to add another one... "complaints about those that complain about police." Of course you don't taser an 11 year old (unless he's waving an AK-47 around). Before the taser, he'd have been smacked in the mouth with a night stick or knocked out cold with a flashlight. That's if he's lucky. That doesn't make it instantly okay, but understand that the taser isn't the root of all police-related evil. There's this gut response from so many people that the police are all about power trips, racial inequality, abusing the badge, and so forth. How many of you that are bold enough to share that opinion have ever done an ounce of police work? Been to the academy? Hell, have any of you ever gone on a night time ride-along? You can do this, you know, just ask your local police department or an officer if you know one. The lack of respect for these guys amazes me. The overwhelming majority them put up with the sh*t end of society on a daily basis. Fatal traffic accidents, domestic violence, crack heads. For that, they get to be consistently criticized by a bunch of know-betters. To top it off, they make crap for cash. Consider this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16997772 That's 75 fatalities occurring since January of 2001. Of the 49% that had autopsy results available, 78.4% were doped up. Of that group, 86.2% were on some sort of stimulant. You're not exactly seeing hundreds of innocent Catholic school children zapped for not getting The Nicene Creed correct. I'm too lazy to look, but I wonder what the corresponding number of police shootings looks like when accounting for overall crime rate. My grandfather was a NY police officer (and a firefighter, and a WWII veteran), I've a cousin up in the city doing the same thing now and another cousin at the academy. The stuff these guys see would make you physically ill and they (at least these three) do it because they honestly have a desire to help you, whether you think that badge makes them the enemy or not. My grandfather was actually taken hostage at one point. Lastly, I'm certain that you're right and there are a subset of these guys that are total jerks. A subset of every population sucks. They should be taken care of. Removed. Given Therapy. Something. Look at it objectively, though. Try to put the "F the Police!" cultural response aside and think about it. I've never ever had a bad experience with the police (that I didn't deserve when I was a teenager).

Suckage. The do-more-with-less and be thankful stuff is wearing on me as well. We've had our benefits slashed. Our 10Q from yesterday included a paragraph that said: "Net savings from benefits reduction and employee salary readjustments for the quarter ending on mm/dd/yyyy was $xxxx." And then not two paragraphs above? "Overall earnings were excellent this quarter, with profit numbers coming in above Q2 guidance." And then not two paragraphs below? "Administrative and managerial costs increased by xxx,xxx this quarter due to.." And then two paragraphs below that? "Company bought 200,000 shares of stock back from Executive X." So, the company is obviously not hurting. In fact, we're growing at a very impressive rate for the type of economy we're in now. But what do these scum bags do? Instead of making it a good place to work, providing a good benefits package, raises, and performance bonuses to us worker bees, they use they use the state of the economy as a reason to cut benefits *and* salaries. At the same time, their compensation cleared a million-per last year, before incentive stock options. They're actually looking to cut PPO next year altogether and just leave us with a crappy health savings account. The reason? The state of the health care industry. Jesus. That's a hell of a reward for 11 years of service and parking my ass in a college classroom. I have a hard time coming up with reasons why that crap shouldn't be criminal. At the same time, I'm free to up and go else where yet I put up with it. Moral of the story? If you work for a public company, read the SEC filings!! You'll avoid the corporate go-us drone and see what's actually going on without the execu-speak. RAWR! I feel better now.

This damn traffic. I left an hour ago and have not made it half way.

I heard a term a few weeks back that made me gag a little. It was "weisure time." A combination of the words work and leisure. The concept was that because we're so connected, we can mix both our work and our play time. A good example would be golfing and answering emails on an iPhone. Perhaps taking the kids to the park but handling a conference call from a bench. I really, honestly, hope that this doesn't become something that people learn to expect. I don't care if you're in a hot tub with a collection of twenty-somethings, it's not relaxing in the least if you've got to put your corporate facade on and handle business when you should be getting some relaxation in. I've taken to just not doing anything work related after I leave. I'm honestly not paid for it and it just takes away from good old quiet relaxation. I'll see the little 'you have 15 new messages' indicator on the phone, but to hell with it, I'll get it on Monday.

What industry? If it was any type of "businessy" interview, she probably thought it made her look sophisticated and ready to go get 'em. in reality, it just make her look like she feels overly important. Take it out. You're not that important. No one needs to get ahold of you that bad. Cell phone etiquette needs to get better. Period. Ever miss what a guy said on an elevator, say "excuse me?", and then realize he's talking into a Bluetooth piece? My personal favorite is the dude that scowls at you in the hallway because you're being too loud for his phone conversation.

One: The ongoing MJ saturation. There's nothing more important out there to cover? Iraq? Afghanistan? Economics? Government spending? Nope. Here, have more Jackson! Two: My cheap ass employer and my Dilbert-esque days. I write software all day on a 17" monitor that doesn't work right all of the time. I asked for a bigger one and - quite literally - got chuckled at and then denied because of budgetary reasons. Along the way, they hinted that I just wanted nicer techie toys. During all of this, a big 30" flat panel shows up on the desk of one of the graphics girls that works three days a week at the office. My next logical question was, "well I guess I can start working from the home office too, my equipment is better there." Nope. I need to be here during "core hours" and telecommuting "doesn't work for us." Graphics girl is in my same damn 8 person group. Same manager. Seriously? Seriously? Scott Adams couldn't make crap like this up. Can't help but laugh at it.

Oh oh.. another one.. guys with extremely loud cell phone tones in an office setting. Extra points if a) they have some fruity cutsy thing, or b) they leave phone on desk whenever they go to a meeting/take a leak. The guy behind me has this annoying blues tone and it's turned up to 11... "duh da duh dah dun dun dun dun dun."

Funny you mention that... we actually just bought a company in Scranton, PA. I don't think they have directors with the clap, though.

The director I report to is a disrespectful jackass. He actually walks up behind us and CLAPS five minutes before a meeting. You know, "Let's go!!" CLAP CLAP! Also makes it a point to make little "you have to listen to me, employee" type comments. Insecure. Needs a swift kick to the tool. Also, dealing with 24 year old hot-shots. Above director eats it up and I wind up cleaning the mess. Actually? Corporate everything.

Oh I hate those.. and they're compressed, which makes a lack of motivation even harder to make up. We used to have mini-semesters *between* Spring and Summer that lasted like 3 weeks, meeting a lot, for too many hours per day.

Most of the gross in hot-and-sour soup is mushroom. The slimy brown things, eh? Good stuff, by the way.