Or in my husband's case after 2 layoffs at work, 1/5 the people.
Dave
Staff member
My son bought a PS4 to play the Spider-Man game. One benefit to this was that a bunch of his Army buddies are on the PS Network so he's been catching up with them to play games.
He also found out that one of his best friends committed suicide last year after coming back from the Middle East. He's the guy that we met down in Texas and hung out with while we got acquainted with the area. He's also the one that showed Zach how to get around on base.
God damn it, Henkle.
He also found out that one of his best friends committed suicide last year after coming back from the Middle East. He's the guy that we met down in Texas and hung out with while we got acquainted with the area. He's also the one that showed Zach how to get around on base.
God damn it, Henkle.
Damn man. I have a handful of buddies who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and I'm worried about a few of them. Sorry to hear that.
Fuck cancer and fuck war.
Dave
Staff member
I worry about my son, frankly. Other than work he's isolated. He doesn't go anywhere or do anything besides bi-weekly gaming with me and a couple other guys. When he's off work he stays in his room and plays video games. And nothing else. He assure us he's fine and that he'd talk to us but you know how these things go.
fade
Staff member
I have been driving stick for my entire adult life. Today I did something I never did before, and oh so fortunately it turned out just about as good as it could have. I parked and somehow left it out of gear. I may have snagged the shifter with my lunch bag. Anyway, I looked out the window and went Oh shit! Where's my car?! Then I spotted it across the street. It had rolled out my driveway, and come to rest against the opposite curb. I didn't escape totally unscathed, though. It's trash day, and it hit the neighbor's trash can, leaving a nice scuff on the rear bumper. Oh, and this car is about a month and a half old. Now it has a scuff on the bumper. And there's no one to blame but myself.
...I don't know in what climate you live, but this time of year, there's really no reason not to just use the hand brake instead of leaving it in gear.
I hate the people who built my house. I'm trying to hang a couple of closet rods in the bedroom closet. This is the same project that I previously needed some good wall anchors for - got those, everything went in perfectly, but we still have too many clothes and 50lb hangars just won't cut it. So, get out the stud finder, some #8 x 2" wood screws, a pencil, and my cordless drill - we'll just screw these damn brackets straight into the studs. Only, the screws get 1-1/2" in and then strip out, mercilessly, to the point that you have to remove them with a pair of pliers. So I went and got a 2" nail... it doesn't go all the way in either. Something at 1-1/2" keeps stopping screws and nails from penetrating - and it's not that the drywall is mysteriously 1-1/2" thick, you can feel the bite of the wood when the screws hit it after 1/2" (or 3/4" on the left side of the closet - it's half interior and half exterior wall). So, no closet rods for me, I guess. Time to go check Amazon for a stand-alone version to replace the wall mounted solution.
"Furring strips"
We had to do that to attach 4x sheet metal rectangles to our living room wall. Just 4x2foot panels painted black, but they filled an empty wall and we had a LOT of fancy magnets.
--Patrick
That could be an option. I really should check the load tolerances on the bars and on replacement rack solutions. We have easily 300 or 400 pounds of clothing, which admittedly is a weird unit of measure for clothing, but when you're concerned with hanging bars from walls, weight is the primary concern.
I’ve been feeling so alone lately. And so tired.
Nicole contacted me, I’m not sure why, and proceeded to remind me just how horrible of a person she thinks I am - I asked her to stop messaging me.
One of my ride or die best friends told me she doesn’t think we should be friends anymore. And hasn’t spoken to me since.
Last week, I messaged a friend asking if she wanted to collaborate on a costume idea I’ve had for a while - she makes these gorgeous headdresses - and she gave me the brush off. I then see her comment on a different friends profile telling her if she ever wants to collaborate, just let her know. I feel like I got passed over because I don’t have a social media following and this other girl does.
I try to support my friends and their ventures, but then I feel like no one supports mine. I’m in my life pretty much alone.
But of course, I feel bad complaining about it. I should be grateful for my job, my co-workers who have accepted me quickly, and for the few friends I do have. Still. I like to be alone, not feel alone, and lately I’ve felt more alone than ever.
Nicole contacted me, I’m not sure why, and proceeded to remind me just how horrible of a person she thinks I am - I asked her to stop messaging me.
One of my ride or die best friends told me she doesn’t think we should be friends anymore. And hasn’t spoken to me since.
Last week, I messaged a friend asking if she wanted to collaborate on a costume idea I’ve had for a while - she makes these gorgeous headdresses - and she gave me the brush off. I then see her comment on a different friends profile telling her if she ever wants to collaborate, just let her know. I feel like I got passed over because I don’t have a social media following and this other girl does.
I try to support my friends and their ventures, but then I feel like no one supports mine. I’m in my life pretty much alone.
But of course, I feel bad complaining about it. I should be grateful for my job, my co-workers who have accepted me quickly, and for the few friends I do have. Still. I like to be alone, not feel alone, and lately I’ve felt more alone than ever.
Please feel free to vent here, if nowhere else. I know it can feel selfish to want to talk about yourself, but we love you and we're here to support you.
I feel so bad because you guys say this to me everytime. >_<
But truly, thank you!! I love you, all of you. I know I’ll be okay and I’ll manage. I’ve made it this far, I can keep on going, but still. I’ve taken a hit this week and I’m wounded.
I just feel really fucked up? Like, I don’t understand people how I thought I did I guess?
My job lately has been a huge pain in the ass. I do tech support for a school district and primarily work at a high school. This year, 2 weeks before school started, we had to go through and remove between 60 & 80% of the desktops in the entire district. Why? The Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities. The old systems were all 32-bit systems that, according to management, could not be updated. We needed to remove them and leave only the systems that can be put to the 64-bit version of windows 10.
Except we absolutely could update them. We have had a 32-bit version of windows 10 that runs perfectly well on the old systems. I have an 8 year old system on my desk that is perfectly happy running that. Instead, we are taking away almost all of the desktops teachers use to run their projectors and have been scrambling to get them laptops that will work instead. Of course since the laptops only have 2 usb ports and our images don't have the software to run the smartboards in every room, this has been quite the clusterfuck. As an example of how drastic this has been, I had 30 desktops for 72 classrooms. That meant that 42 classrooms did not have a computer in them at the start of school. All of the computer labs were taken away as well. The students all have laptops, so it's not that bad, but they didn't get them until a week or two into the year.
Add to that a newish executive director of IT (my boss' boss, it's his 2nd year) that has managed to piss off all of the media specialists so that we had 13 retire or otherwise leave the district last year. This means we have multiple schools that currently do not have a media specialist in their library multiple weeks into the new school year. He is also dismissive of any complaints being brought up as people suffering from the "who moved my cheese?" mindset, which I find extremely patronizing.
But, there is goodish news as well.
Except we absolutely could update them. We have had a 32-bit version of windows 10 that runs perfectly well on the old systems. I have an 8 year old system on my desk that is perfectly happy running that. Instead, we are taking away almost all of the desktops teachers use to run their projectors and have been scrambling to get them laptops that will work instead. Of course since the laptops only have 2 usb ports and our images don't have the software to run the smartboards in every room, this has been quite the clusterfuck. As an example of how drastic this has been, I had 30 desktops for 72 classrooms. That meant that 42 classrooms did not have a computer in them at the start of school. All of the computer labs were taken away as well. The students all have laptops, so it's not that bad, but they didn't get them until a week or two into the year.
Add to that a newish executive director of IT (my boss' boss, it's his 2nd year) that has managed to piss off all of the media specialists so that we had 13 retire or otherwise leave the district last year. This means we have multiple schools that currently do not have a media specialist in their library multiple weeks into the new school year. He is also dismissive of any complaints being brought up as people suffering from the "who moved my cheese?" mindset, which I find extremely patronizing.
But, there is goodish news as well.
Welcome to the human condition. We're all fucked up, nervous wrecks with poor self image and even poorer coping skills (but hopefully we get better at this as we go along.) I know what it's like to feel bad when people offer you support, but it's ok to not be ok. In fact I think not being ok might be the default.
Hey @General Specific how long do you think it'll be until your school just straight up rents computers directly from Microsoft?
--Patrick
--Patrick
GasBandit
Staff member
Anyone who seriously, unironically advocates the "who moved my cheese" fable as something anyone else should take to heart is a dickless assmunch. It's quite telling that, when they had just bought a radio station, Clear Channel (now iHeartMedia) used to give everybody that worked at the new acquisition a copy of that book to read while the new ownership went about gutting it down and making it the shittiest place to work possible. The whole story is basically just "hey worker drone, why don't you just decide to be happy so we can exploit you more?"
Kags, is it possible that Nicole is has something to do with these reactions from other friends? "Poisoning the well" with stories of what an awful person you are?
Also, why don't you block her from your phone? It sounds like all she wants to do is make you miserable. You don't deserve that from anyone.
The college I stopped working out a few years ago was BIG into "Who Moved My Cheese". Like, the library was required to keep 5 copies on reserve for people to use, and the college president, a degenerate con artist named William J. Austin, ordered that a few classes each semester use it. As well as his two vanity press books.
I mean, it’s possible but I would be FLOORED and absolutely destroyed if Raye left because of what Nicole is saying. Raye’s been my best friend for years and years and knows me better than anyone. But it is possible.
If she tries to contact me again, I will do that, but currently I trust that she’ll heed my request. Thanks @WasabiPoptart
@LittleKagsin if you are ever feeling lonely you are always welcome to come talk to us on the discord, hell Dave streams almost every night, and I know at least three people myself included come talk with him a little bit every night. I know thats probably not the support you want or need, but i figured it was at least worth offering. I'm always around if you need someone to vent to on here.
The last company I worked for before my current job got bought out, and the new owners gave us a copy of that book. I never read it, but considering they then used the current staff to train a new bunch they could pay less and then fired is all doesn't give me the highest opinion of what might be in that book.
Complacency, settling into a routine and thinking everything will always stay the same, is bad; being able to adapt to changes and learn from them is good; having a way of life which keeps you adaptive and open is good, refusing to explore new avenues is bad....
There's certainly some wisdom there in some cases - it's not because your wife passes away that you're doomed to eternal solitude, after a time of grief it's ok to find someone new, for example. "Rusting" in place and not accepting anything new is how you get extreme conservativism and people who're afraid of computers.
On the other hand, looking for peace and a calm existence, where you can feel safe without the constant huslle and stress of "everything good might change at any minute!" is perfectly OK, too - most people in this day and age seem to run up to their limits after a while and need to be able to just be secure and safe once in a while.
The message of the book itself, I'd say, isn't necessarily bad or evil - the way it's been co-opted into management speak is horrible, though. "Exploring new opportunities" is good; when your boss tells you he's going to give you the space to do that, it means he's firing you or placing you in another department. "Room for personal growth" is good, when a manager says that it probably means you get a bunch of new responsibilities but no pay or title change so it sucks.
There's certainly some wisdom there in some cases - it's not because your wife passes away that you're doomed to eternal solitude, after a time of grief it's ok to find someone new, for example. "Rusting" in place and not accepting anything new is how you get extreme conservativism and people who're afraid of computers.
On the other hand, looking for peace and a calm existence, where you can feel safe without the constant huslle and stress of "everything good might change at any minute!" is perfectly OK, too - most people in this day and age seem to run up to their limits after a while and need to be able to just be secure and safe once in a while.
The message of the book itself, I'd say, isn't necessarily bad or evil - the way it's been co-opted into management speak is horrible, though. "Exploring new opportunities" is good; when your boss tells you he's going to give you the space to do that, it means he's firing you or placing you in another department. "Room for personal growth" is good, when a manager says that it probably means you get a bunch of new responsibilities but no pay or title change so it sucks.
Dave
Staff member
One thing to note. If you come into the channel I'm in, you're being recorded. So you might want to find a channel to hang out. I mean, if you just want to interact and shoot the shit, come on in!
right forgot that twitch records, thats my bad.
GasBandit
Staff member
The book tries to be about being proactive and adapting to change, but it's used 99% of the time as a smokescreen to try to convince workers that, when a new owner comes in, fucks up everything, and starts treating them like subhumans that exist only to toil for scraps, that their lower morale is their own fault and they just need to decide to be happy by adjusting their own expectations downward.
Anywhere that issues "Who moved my cheese" to workers is a job you need to quit ASAP. Run.
I did this except while delivering newspapers to gas stations. I thought the truck was in gear, but I didn't and by the time I turned around after dumping the stack, my truck had rolled down the street and hit a curb. Thankfully it didn't hit a car or hit the gas pump.
Dave
Staff member
My boss wants to move his desk. He says the current setup hurts his arms. He wants to move it to his right - which would then allow him to view both of my monitors. He loves my setup, though. Fine. Just trade desks with me. Why rearrange the whole office? And no, he's not doing it to monitor me. It's just an unfortunate consequence.
My arms might start hurting, too so I can move my shit around.
My arms might start hurting, too so I can move my shit around.
Get a privacy screen for your monitor?
Start working in another language?
Start working in another language?
German porn still doesn't look like work.
It kinda does. If you're a farmer.