*Whinge Alert* - Fuck this, or how do I blow up work and get away with it?

[James Deuce]

5th year running I am sitting at my desk at work over the Christmas/New Year break.

This year I thought I would get ahead of the game and put my leave request through in June. That was turned down - too early to be able to make a decision.

So I put it through in October and heard nothing back. Beginning of December I get told I can't have my leave as the other guy I work with on this particular Customer is going away to Waihi. WTF, says I, I have relatives coming home for the first time in 3 years from Kuwait and my family is going to be away, hopefully with me, so my kids can meet two cousins they haven't met, and we can all catch up.

No, so and so put his leave in before you did. What, June I said?

You know why we knocked you back then.

How about the one I put in October?

What one in October?

This one with this request number?

Oh, I didn't see that.

Can I have my leave please?

No. We really need someone senior (fuck you, I'm not THAT old) to cover over Christmas.

So because you're incompetent I get to have Christmas by myself, says I?

It has nothing to do with my competence you should have highlighted your requirements earlier, plus you're mental and admitted it so we'll fire you if you don't work.

Put that in writing, I say.

No, they say.

I go get my MP3 player. Record on.

Needless to say subsequent discussion doesn't garner the requisite constructive dismissal comment.

Thankfully wife and kids refuse to go away Christmas Eve and we have Christmas breakfast together. Hitcher saved the day by popping over in the evening with a Monty Python DVD.

I did get to assemble the trampoline unmolested and unhindered, so it's not all bad, but geez I'm still angry. I woke up angry this morning.

The boss' boss' boss has a work programme for me. I'm getting to it, but the pointy haired individual wants to micro-manage the huge lump of work he's dropped on me and HE'S HERE TODAY AND TOMORROW TO WATCH THE CLOCK. I've had a server die, another get filled up by idiots and overseas based airlines not meet their statutory information sharing obligations under International anti-terrorist laws and this guy wants me to analyse the environment schedule and do a gap analysis on our daily check schedule ahead of that stuff.

Why must I be surrounded by idiots!?

I going stark staring mental being forced to put work ahead of everything else, and clueless dolts keep telling me to get a new job.

Newsflash! IT is the same everywhere you go. Same shit, different place.

How do people rationalise work vs family issues without pissing off the boss, the wife, the kids, the relatives, and yourself? It just isn't possible from my perspective.

[Cajun]

damn that sucks Jim.

Alot of time management are assholes, and only do things to please themselfs.

I was am call this week attached to a pager, but at least we closed down the port over xmas day, so at least didn't have to worry to much, i could have a some drinks, and not have to worry about being paged to race in to work. I think this is second year in the past 3 of working here that i on xmas.

[jafar]

An easy fix is to go & chuck in the dunny then go home sick. the boss, boss , boss is there to cover you

[James Deuce]

damn that sucks Jim.

Alot of time management are assholes, and only do things to please themselfs.

I was am call this week attached to a pager, but at least we closed down the port over xmas day, so at least didn't have to worry to much, i could have a some drinks, and not have to worry about being paged to race in to work. I think this is second year in the past 3 of working here that i on xmas.

Yes. The pager. The one I have has me on call for a customer I don't even have a login for and have had no briefing on and have no access to any documentation.

[Disco Dan]

5th year running I am sitting at my desk at work over the Christmas/New Year break.

This year I thought I would get ahead of the game and put my leave request through in June. That was turned down - too early to be able to make a decision.

So I put it through in October and heard nothing back. Beginning of December I get told I can't have my leave as the other guy I work with on this particular Customer is going away to Waihi. WTF, says I, I have relatives coming home for the first time in 3 years from Kuwait and my family is going to be away, hopefully with me, so my kids can meet two cousins they haven't met, and we can all catch up.

How do people rationalise work vs family issues without pissing off the boss, the wife, the kids, the relatives, and yourself? It just isn't possible from my perspective.

Are you in a Union? If not.. get signed up - quick.

Sounds like your boss is taking you up the swanny... if you want any action you need to get in touch with your union and get as many other workers on the same level as you in the union too. When no union is present or only represented by a small minority group of workers, it is very easy for managers to manipulate and get away with mistakes they make by palming them off to you as your mistakes.

I have had a few dealings in the past - feel free to PM me.

[Deano]

I'm suffering from a different sort of work stress.......BOREDOM.

Thank you previous union members who decided it would be a good idea to trade the (paid) days off between Xmas and NY each year for a one off payment.

You stooopid carnts.

[Cajun]

Yes. The pager. The one I have has me on call for a customer I don't even have a login for and have had no briefing on and have no access to any documentation.

hahahaa know that feeling our dba is off for two weeks and on monday and we sorta had issue with endless locks, and then couldn't kill the datbase to clear them, but dba has no documentation for us so had to fudge our way thru and close database by an unsafe method.

[limbimtimwim]

Newsflash! IT is the same everywhere you go. Same shit, different place.

Don't work for a big stinking corporate then. Stupid people collect in those places. That's where they go to survive with all the other stupid people. Mediocre performance can go unnoticed. Likewise good people go unrewarded.

[James Deuce]

Are you in a Union? If not.. get signed up - quick.

Sounds like your boss is taking you up the swanny... if you want any action you need to get in touch with your union and get as many other workers on the same level as you in the union too. When no union is present or only represented by a small minority group of workers, it is very easy for managers to manipulate and get away with mistakes they make by palming them off to you as your mistakes.

I have had a few dealings in the past - feel free to PM me.

Union? You work in an industry that tolerates collective bargaining.

I work in an industry that will just fire me and happily pay out the law suit if I became a Union organiser. There isn't a Union specifically for my industry and I rather think that the general workers union would have rather unrealistic expectations of what it means to be an IT worker.

[Taz]

You need a better union and contract I think. Apart from that there is the holidays act...... Anything there you coulda used? bit late now though. If you'd quit you could have been enjoying a nice break right now!

[James Deuce]

I'm suffering from a different sort of work stress.......BOREDOM.

Thank you previous union members who decided it would be a good idea to trade the (paid) days off between Xmas and NY each year for a one off payment.

You stooopid carnts.

You could always take out a civil suit against Exide in your spare time .

[Deano]

You could always take out a civil suit against Exide in your spare time .

Your honour - I have too much lead in my pencil......

They might get a decent prosecution you reckon ?

Oh - I'm still chasing the wanker from the 'crash of '03' for my money. So far I've received $150 out of $6K

[James Deuce]

Don't work for a big stinking corporate then. Stupid people collect in those places. That's where they go to survive with all the other stupid people. Mediocre performance can go unnoticed. Likewise good people go unrewarded.

I've worked at the other end of the scale and working for the clueless is its own set of "special" rewards.
I try to be good at my job, but it's a bit difficult when isolated from training or people with a focus on success instead of arse covering.

[James Deuce]

Oh - I'm still chasing the wanker from the 'crash of '03' for my money. So far I've received $150 out of $6K

Make it Baycorp's problem. If the dude doesn't already have credit issues, that will fuck them up better than paying you back in total.

[mstriumph]

.................Why must I be surrounded by idiots!?

I going stark staring mental being forced to put work ahead of everything else, and clueless dolts keep telling me to get a new job.

Newsflash! IT is the same everywhere you go. Same shit, different place.

How do people rationalise work vs family issues without pissing off the boss, the wife, the kids, the relatives, and yourself? It just isn't possible from my perspective.

"The mass [majority] of men lead lives of quiet desperation" .....Henry David Thoreau said that

he also said
"The cost of a thing is the amount of what I call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run."

you are in a shitty job, unappreciated, surrounded by people who could give a cuss about what's right for you

me too

what we have to realise, unpalatable as it may be, is that somewhere in the depths of our unconcious each one of us has run a 'cost/benefit analysis' of the situation and HAVE DECIDED IT BENEFITS US MORE TO STAY AS WE ARE

depressing, innit?

..........but it DOES mean that, when the balance tips, you'll move ....... as will i.

until then, chin up Bro ......... stay in there slogging ['cause people DEPEND on us, no?]