Fur-ball and the Thumper
(i'll explain)...
i work in an engineering firm. there are these 2 college students who work on the other side of my partition. unfortunately said partition is not soundproof in the least, so i hear every sound. "Fur-ball" has this raspy little cough that, unbeknownst to him, doubles for a dead-on impression of a cat trying to bring something up. "Thumper" is hyperactive and apparently unaware that he constantly taps his fingers on the desk, as if he's pounding out a mozart concerto.
Saving grace for me is they only work part-time these days.
Thumper, eh? I've got a Hummer.
I think I mentioned him before on this thread... he is also the Bigot.
This morning we got a call from Myrna, asking about a gage of hers that was found damaged. When he got off the phone the Bigot said something about the 'woman factor' contributing to the gage being broken. The other person in the lab at the time told him to stop it. He said he wasn't being sexist or anything... so I agreed with her and said that he was. So he called me a woman and threatened to slap me...
He really is none too bright.
We have a lady here whos a croni hypochondriac... calls in weekly.....i am at a loss a to how she has kept her job...20 years at that...
I am a freelance graphic designer and my biggest client is a company in another part of the country. The freelance consultant/project manager/writer that I work with is a person I've known and worked with for over twenty years now. I've watched this woman evolve from a talented, self-confident, deadline oriented person to a frightened, paranoid, blow-the-deadline type in the last few years but that's not the problem. The problem is that she will look for anyone and everyone else to blame for the missed deadlines, refusing to accept or even acknowledge the fact that the problem falls on her. She and I have brawled several times now about her blaming me, or trying to, for missed deadlines. I refuse to let her get away with it.
My problem now is, we're about to miss another deadline and it's her fault, but she wants to tell the client that it's my fault because I went out of town last week for about 36 hours and I may go away this weekend. In the meantime, I'm sitting here idle because she hasn't finished the articles for me to do the layouts so of course, my going out of town had nor will it have any affect on anything.
I know she's struggling and it looks to me that she's just got too much on her plate but she's afraid to tell the client that they're piling too much on because she's grown so paranoid about everything.
What really grates on my nerves is her desperate need to find fault. She'll call and try to tear into my ass about a mistake I made while, in the meantime, deadlines aren't being met and she's doing a pitiful song and dance to the client, to me, and I'm sure, other vendors she's working with as well, blaming one person for this, the other person for that, everybody else is guilty but she's not. Ever.
Hmmm, I didn't grrr twice, geez, I only need once! Snap!
What really peeves me about work is having to be there on time every day. Also, having to work on set days, even when I'm not in the mood.
It used to be so much better when I could take my laptop to coffeeshops, or to a table in the park, and just bill clients for whatever I felt like doing that week.
Having to do things at a certain hour or day is REALLY constricting. The lack of freedom in America is so wasteful and unproductive.
Gosh, yes, Smiley! Having to actually GO somewhere and WORK can be a real bummer!
(I'm half jealous, half ticked-off... I don't really want to be self employed but I haven't been employed by anybody else for a little over a year. I WANT to go someplace every morning and work!)
Not having to do anything at any time of day (and not getting paid) is really constricting, too!
I work in libraries. Anyone, and I mean anyone - feral kids, perverts, nutjobs, wacks, paranoids, smack-heads, conspiracy freaks, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, ****-kickers and Methodists!* - can enter at will. It's a rare day when we don't have to deal with a maddie, usually two.
But, and I was actually discussing this last night with a friend, the worst of the lot are the ones that DO NOT EVER WASH!! Man, at this point we've gone way beyond 'The Customer from Hell' and we're into 'The Customer Straight from Hell's Cesspit'. Gag-producing! Ack!!
*alright, the list isn't that inclusive, but sooner or later they'll turn up!
That sounds horrible, Stillwater.
It really does spoil what can be a very worthwhile and rewarding job. We do look on having our 'problem' patrons as one of the managable hazards of the job, but there are times when you just want to roll up your sleeves and start to throttle 'em.
Strangulation; see also Asphyxiation and Homicides, Justifiable by profession eg. Homicides, Justifiable (by Librarians)
Managers who get large bonuses while driving us 5 million dollars over budget. Their response is to restrict overtime to the workers, who see their own standard of living suffer, so the managers can get even more bonuses.
I think I liked being an engineer a lot more 25 years ago - before personal computers, the company intranet, and all the fancy options on telephones. Back in the good old days I was actually able to spend most of my time in the Plant, tweak the equipment, and actually be an engineer.
These days I spend about half my time with reports that wouldn't be possible without the new technology - daily status reports, weekly status reports, two daily conference calls, the monthly status report (takes about four days to fill out - and that's no exaggeration) ad nauseum. I doubt if I do ten hours a month of real engineering.
Know what'cha mean, Wilso. I was laid off from a power plant in 1988 - the most productive year the plant had had to date. Why? Well, our new president, with whom I has a significant seniority advantage, bought a bunch of worthless "resort" property in the Arizona desert, and a bank with a negative net worth approaching 500 million dollars. Hey, they had to cut back somewhere.
Mr. S, I sympathize. Really.
Now tell me where a homeless person with only the clothes on his/her back can go, shower, and wash the clothing. (One without the other won't do a lot of good.) With just as much money as it takes to go to the library and sit inside for a while.
Now, the ones with no DESIRE to wash... them I don't know about.
p.s. I'm keeping your list. It seems pretty inclusive to me!
Mr Stillwater wrote:mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, ****-kickers and Methodists!
i thought this sounded familiar! harvey korman's hedley lamarr in
blazing saddles rattled off this list when describing characteristics for his rock ridge wrecking gang...
