GasBandit
Staff member
Given that he's only played L4D with us the once, I don't know if he'd get that reference.
I've never played anything in the L4D series with anyone, and *I* get the reference. There's always that chance.
--Patrick
Nope, I don't get it.
I mean, yeah.
GasBandit
Staff member
Nick, that's like LAW #1 when dealing with customers, NEVER discuss politics. Keep all banter to things like weather, local sports, or just business. If the customer insists on discussing politics, just nod and make neutral or possible affirmative noises.
AKA, DON'T FEED THE TROLLS!!!
Because no one's explained it yet:
http://left4dead.wikia.com/wiki/The_Witch
Basically, the Witch is an enemy in L4D and L4D2 that sits around passively, crying. If you ignore it and keep your distance, it'll generally ignore you. However, if you shoot it, bump against it, shine a light on it, or otherwise disturb it, you will "startle" the Witch, and it'll charge at you at a very scary speed and one-shot you.
So, basically, don't startle the Witch.
Always shoot the witch. Terrik taught me that.
Yes and that's why "Terrik" is a noun, verb, and adjective all in one.
For Nick: Crowning the Witch refers to running up to the Witch and one-shotting it with a very powerful weapon, such as a full blast from a shotgun. Because the Witch is going to be startled as soon as you shoot it, or possibly as soon as you run up to it, you need to make sure you do enough damage in that one shot (or several, if you have an automatic shotgun and fire fast enough) to kill it, otherwise it's going to kill you immediately. Consequently, crowning a Witch is a high-risk high-reward strategy.
So, to put it in more practical terms for you... start carrying an automatic shotgun to work? Ok this analogy is falling apart.
Even those very inoffensive topics can still turn weird. I used to work at Tims and people got ugly over the smallest things.
That's true, but it usually takes much more effort on the customer's part to get there. Those that wish to be offended will find a way, no matter how difficult a path.
Don't play the lottery very often (because I understand statistics better'n most), but I bought a ticket last Wed on my way home from work.
Checked my numbers Thu morning. I matched 4! That should be good for $100.
Present ticket for payment Fri on my way home from work. Clerk is confused because it says "results not in yet."
Closer inspection shows the ticket was actually purchased after the same-day deadline on Wed, so it's actually for the Sat drawing.
Sat comes, numbers get drawn.
Matched nothing. Won nothing. So it goes.
--Patrick
Checked my numbers Thu morning. I matched 4! That should be good for $100.
Present ticket for payment Fri on my way home from work. Clerk is confused because it says "results not in yet."
Closer inspection shows the ticket was actually purchased after the same-day deadline on Wed, so it's actually for the Sat drawing.
Sat comes, numbers get drawn.
Matched nothing. Won nothing. So it goes.
--Patrick
I buy one ticket a week. I used to buy for each drawing. The clerk would always try to up-sell the ticket. I would stop her and say.
Buying one ticket greatly increases my odds of winning, any amount past that point does not.
I'm in the lottery pool at work. Not because I really think I could win, but because if they all win, I can't be the only one left!
Seriously though, its an extended pool with our regional office. Our office had one a while ago and a coworker actually filed a grievance to have it shut down. She didn't want to participate which was totally fine, we didn't pressure anyone and our emails went to the participants only. However, she felt that it was unfair that she wouldn't be included in a win if we won a jackpot and that she was being excluded, even though it was open to anyone who worked with us and we had invited her to join. So I guess she didn't want to pay in, but didn't think it would be fair if we didn't share a jackpot if we won, so she cried to the union and had it taken away for all. Omg.
Seriously though, its an extended pool with our regional office. Our office had one a while ago and a coworker actually filed a grievance to have it shut down. She didn't want to participate which was totally fine, we didn't pressure anyone and our emails went to the participants only. However, she felt that it was unfair that she wouldn't be included in a win if we won a jackpot and that she was being excluded, even though it was open to anyone who worked with us and we had invited her to join. So I guess she didn't want to pay in, but didn't think it would be fair if we didn't share a jackpot if we won, so she cried to the union and had it taken away for all. Omg.
As previously mentioned, we've lost a few people in my editing department. Since I'm the most senior and experienced C2E editor remaining, as well as the one who can work the fastest, the company higher-ups tend to come to me whenever there are urgent issues that need to be dealt with.
"Hey, the translator wasn't able to finish this case, and the deadline is in 20 minutes. Can you translate the remaining eight pages?" Yes, yes I can. It's going to take a miracle, but I'm one of the few people in Taiwan who can pull off this kind of miracle. It'll require such intense focus that I'll feel like puking afterwards, and I can't guarantee I won't slip a few freudian profanities into the text, but yes, I can do it. I'm the miracle worker.
Problem is, I've been working so many miracles lately, miracle-working has become the default setting for us. I guess I'm partly to blame for that, because I almost never say no to these requests. I mean, the client is expecting the completed translation in 20 minutes. What good does it do anybody for me to refuse to give the remaining pages my best shot, right? (Also, the company higher-ups who ask me to do these things are all hot girls. One of them exclusively wears short shorts to work)
This came crashing down on me over the last couple of days. We had a huge translation case, and the time I got to edit it was approximately a quarter of the time I'd normally need, but since I'm the miracle worker I gave it my best shot anyway. Unfortunately the translator sucked, the translation sucked, and since I didn't have enough time to edit it properly, the final product still sucks. Like, "all your base" level of sucking. I am now waiting with bated breath for a series of angry emails and/or phone calls from the client.
That's the problem with being a miracle worker. Eventually people forget they're miracles. So, the lesson today is, basically, Scotty not La Forge.
"Hey, the translator wasn't able to finish this case, and the deadline is in 20 minutes. Can you translate the remaining eight pages?" Yes, yes I can. It's going to take a miracle, but I'm one of the few people in Taiwan who can pull off this kind of miracle. It'll require such intense focus that I'll feel like puking afterwards, and I can't guarantee I won't slip a few freudian profanities into the text, but yes, I can do it. I'm the miracle worker.
Problem is, I've been working so many miracles lately, miracle-working has become the default setting for us. I guess I'm partly to blame for that, because I almost never say no to these requests. I mean, the client is expecting the completed translation in 20 minutes. What good does it do anybody for me to refuse to give the remaining pages my best shot, right? (Also, the company higher-ups who ask me to do these things are all hot girls. One of them exclusively wears short shorts to work)
This came crashing down on me over the last couple of days. We had a huge translation case, and the time I got to edit it was approximately a quarter of the time I'd normally need, but since I'm the miracle worker I gave it my best shot anyway. Unfortunately the translator sucked, the translation sucked, and since I didn't have enough time to edit it properly, the final product still sucks. Like, "all your base" level of sucking. I am now waiting with bated breath for a series of angry emails and/or phone calls from the client.
That's the problem with being a miracle worker. Eventually people forget they're miracles. So, the lesson today is, basically, Scotty not La Forge.
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Anonymous
Anonymous
What is the mentality of people trying to get fired from a job they don't want anymore? You're not going to be entitled to any benefits, you won't get a good reference when you apply somewhere else, and you've burned bridges with ex-coworkers who have to clean up after you.
At least this time management didn't dig in their heels to try to force the person to quit. Everyone loses in a case like that. Why risk your business's reputation to prove a point to someone you want gone anyway?
At least this time management didn't dig in their heels to try to force the person to quit. Everyone loses in a case like that. Why risk your business's reputation to prove a point to someone you want gone anyway?
I took on a volunteer job to help out with an activity that my daughter takes part in. I would love to take a role that's physically active where I would be more hands on with the girls, but I'm just not well enough to. I really with that I was though. This role is perfect for me though and because I have a financial background, they didn't have to spend any money to train me which is always a good thing for a non-profit.
I'm getting annoyed though. No matter how much faster I get out the monthly reports than my predecessor, now matter how much more information I'm giving them, now matter how many improvements I make to the system so they can get expense cheques sooner, they always ask for more. I'm doing month en two weeks faster than the last lady, but now they want it sooner. I shit you not, one person wanted an interim statement for two days before month end. WTF? One person wanted a mid month statement. They had two transactions....they couldn't sort that one out on their own?? And there are a few of them that scan their receipts and then get super bitchy when I don't have their payments ready an hour or two later....we're not talking thousands of dollars here. Like less than $40.
Almost all of them are incredibly nice, but a handful of them are well...a handful...
I'm getting annoyed though. No matter how much faster I get out the monthly reports than my predecessor, now matter how much more information I'm giving them, now matter how many improvements I make to the system so they can get expense cheques sooner, they always ask for more. I'm doing month en two weeks faster than the last lady, but now they want it sooner. I shit you not, one person wanted an interim statement for two days before month end. WTF? One person wanted a mid month statement. They had two transactions....they couldn't sort that one out on their own?? And there are a few of them that scan their receipts and then get super bitchy when I don't have their payments ready an hour or two later....we're not talking thousands of dollars here. Like less than $40.
Almost all of them are incredibly nice, but a handful of them are well...a handful...
They will suck you dry if you let them. Set some boundaries - number of hours a week, a process for receiving requests so you don't have to track them (email is useful here, it's like a todo list), and decide how long requests take. Expense checks always take 2+ days, and are only written once a week, for instance, so if they don't get their reports in by Tuesday then they have to wait until next thursday. Statements can't be generated the same day as requested, they always take at least a day, and perhaps two days because they require you to go through all the pending stuff to make sure you've processed everything that affects their account, etc.
Usually once everyone understands the time limits things should get easier with less pressure, and you should be better able to handle them - because you know there's going to come a time when you're physically not up to working but someone is going to demand immediate results to their request. Making sure everything takes at least two days should give you enough breathing room to manage your own life and continue to help them without getting burned out.
Don't get burned out.
Speaking of being sucked dry, my morning run keeps getting shorted by the fucking mosquitorama that's happening here this year. No amount of repellent keeps them away from me either. I swiped my hand over my arm and head and had 8 bloody corpses at one time. My arms are streaked with my own blood of the fattened mosquitoes I've killed. I haven't seen them this bad in many years.
Blech.
Blech.
This might be in the wrong thread then. Killed 8 with one blow!
So we have a client that's something of a middleman, or intermediary. They get translation requests from end clients, and then they outsource the translation jobs to us. We do the translations, hand them back to the intermediary client, who then hands them over to the end client.
An end client ends up dissatisfied with a translation delivered by the intermediary client (and, by extension, us). The intermediary client comes to us in a huff, "Why was the quality of your translation so bad? Our end client is very upset!"
We look at the end client's feedback. The issues arose because the end client's requirements were not clearly conveyed to us by the intermediary client.
"Hey intermediary client? You didn't tell us you needed the translation done this way."
"We don't care, it's your job to fix it. FIX IT NOW!"
BONUS: The editor originally responsible for this case is, pretty much, refusing to comply with the intermediary client's demand, because he feels it's unreasonable for us to have to fix the translation based on new requirements (or at least new to us). At the very least, the intermediary client should pay us more to fix it, because it was their fault the translation wasn't done right the first time around. To be honest, I fully sympathize with this editor's perspective and position. Unfortunately, the intermediary client is a major client of ours, and it is not in our company's interests to piss them off.
So, basically, guess who's going to have to take over the responsibility of fixing this translation now?
An end client ends up dissatisfied with a translation delivered by the intermediary client (and, by extension, us). The intermediary client comes to us in a huff, "Why was the quality of your translation so bad? Our end client is very upset!"
We look at the end client's feedback. The issues arose because the end client's requirements were not clearly conveyed to us by the intermediary client.
"Hey intermediary client? You didn't tell us you needed the translation done this way."
"We don't care, it's your job to fix it. FIX IT NOW!"
BONUS: The editor originally responsible for this case is, pretty much, refusing to comply with the intermediary client's demand, because he feels it's unreasonable for us to have to fix the translation based on new requirements (or at least new to us). At the very least, the intermediary client should pay us more to fix it, because it was their fault the translation wasn't done right the first time around. To be honest, I fully sympathize with this editor's perspective and position. Unfortunately, the intermediary client is a major client of ours, and it is not in our company's interests to piss them off.
So, basically, guess who's going to have to take over the responsibility of fixing this translation now?
/opines on shared cultural memes and their importance to community.
/wonders what happened in last night's episode, and if it's even still on the air.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brave_Little_Tailor
I'm unaware of any other cultural "X in one blow" reference.
And I've never even seen Community.