Pet Peeves

[michaelm]

once the power went out at our house. i get the power company on the phone and he tells me the electricity is on. I ask him where he is, he says Seattle. I have to convince the power is out here in this part of Texas.

We once had a credit card blocked when we were on vacation in Hawaii. Not that big of a deal as we had others, but annoying that the one we wanted to use was out of commission for the week.

When we got back we called the credit card company as we had called in advance to tell them that we would be using the card in Hawaii. They said that they had that on record, but the amount of one transaction was very high so they called us to validate, but as they couldn't get hold of us they put a block on the card.

I asked them which number they called, and without any realization of a problem the guy replied "Your home phone..."

[peter]

Man I hate it that we are open sixteen and three-quater hours a day and whole groups of people who you know have been at home or at least not working all day {a local convenience store is like that} all elect to come in five minutes before you close for the night (11 pm). It was the same in Tesco's Supermarket. We closed at 4 pm on a Sunday [at which point we all stopped being paid] and every time a coconut, at 3.59 pm some clown would wheel a trolley full of food the size of an artic lorry up to your checkout. And they wonder why you seem a little out of joint!

[michaelm]

Continuing the credit card rant...my wife called Bank of America to tell them that she would be spending money with a company in Aruba and after she called and made the purchase...they declined it...

They did the same to us a few months ago in Florida after we told them we were going. Waited until we got there then declined the first purchase we made.

Seriously thinking of dumping the idiots - it just seems like continuous ineptitude from them.

[MsMary]

My sister called me yesterday while I was at work. I didn't get home from work till almost 10pm, so I didn't call her back last night.

This morning I slept late than got up and went to the gym. And she called while I was there.

I am so tempted to call back and say, "What's the matter, I didn't call you back soon enough?" Or "Some of us have other things to do besides sitting home and listening for the phone."

But it is SO not worth going there with her.

I know it's not urgent, cause she said in her voicemail what she is calling about. So just give me some leeway to get around to calling back before leaving daily voice mails and then complaining I never call you back!

[aliantha]

But but but you neeeeeeed to pay attention to her!

I'm sure I could work up a rant on something-or-other... Oh, I know!

My apartment building used to have a sidewalk all the way out to the street. The county tore up a section of the sidewalk to put in a wheelchair ramp, which is fine, but they left a gap of maybe 6 or 8 feet. So for the past several years, people have been wearing a path in the grass where that section of sidewalk used to be.

A few months ago, the apartment building management "fixed" it by putting in stepping stones. Except whoever installed them must have been a giant. They didn't even try to space them for an average stride length. So I'm still walking on the grass.

[MsMary]

But but but you neeeeeeed to pay attention to her!

Hmm, yes. Exactly. :-\

No one else leaves messages for me the first words of which are, "I need..."

[Sorus]

I seem to have developed an annoying habit of repeating myself to people who are capable of getting it the first time. I think it's from constantly and futilely repeating myself at work to people who lack basic communication skills. The next time someone asks for advice or instructions that will be ignored, I am tempted to just throw my hands in the air and say "Why are you asking? You're just going to do whatever you want anyway."

I won't, though I may think it very loudly.

[peter]

Your problems are that Your expectations are not in line with reaality here Sorus. People are always going to be dickheads so once you adjust your mental framework to accommodate this, life will become more tolerable.

[Sorus]

That's the easy answer, and it probably is true fairly often, but there are times when I just don't know.

When someone asks me what to do and then does the opposite, did they not understand what I told them? Were they afraid to ask for clarification? Did they think they knew what I meant? Did they not like the answer and are pretending they didn't understand? They act like they understand. I'm never going to get upset with someone for asking questions.

Sometimes it's just baffling. I was working on a huge project last week, and my coworker came along and started putting all of my tools away. I told him I was still using them. He ignored me. I repeated that I was still using them, and that I would put them away when I was done. He ignored me. I asked him to please leave them alone. He ignored me. He finished putting them away and left the room. What the hell was that about? He didn't need them. They weren't in his way. There's nothing wrong with his hearing. Did I become invisible? Cross over into the Twilight Zone? Was it some kind of passive/aggressive BS? If it was, what was the purpose?

[peter]

That's odd in the extreme - and suggests that the problem is his own rather than yours.

[Sorus]

That's my thought, and I hope it's nothing serious. I'd like to be able to just ask what's up, but we can't communicate well enough for that. It is a bit disquieting though, as I need to be able to work closely with him, and while there is a clique at work that enjoys petty trollishness, he is not a member.

Argh. Why can't I just do my job in peace?

[Avatar]

Freaky.

--A

[sgt.null]

had a coworker that I used to let go home early because "she wasn't feeling work" that day question of my back was bad enough where I could not work.

not to give tmi, but the disk effects the organs as well. other problems happen, not just the pain.

but suddenly she is worker of the month questioning me?

[peter]

That sounds a bit like depression or something Sorus. Sometimes we read entirely the wrong messages from peoples actions or behaviour because the signals they are sending confuse us - but we fail to realise they can't help it. Or an alternative theory is that a third party has been sowing a bit of mischief at your expense. Either way your best course is to wait it out and don't worry - as I say, it's not your problem and in time the cause will come out when the guy chooses to speak.

Sarge - Ghandi had a saying; There are two groups of people - those who do the work and those who take the credit. Join the first group - you'll find there's less competition!

[Avatar]

But unfortunately more work.

--A

[peter]

It's a common problem however that those above misunderstand what actually goes on below them. I work unsupervised by and large, and even my direct superior has little true understanding of what my work entails in terms of time and logistics. Consequently her idea of what can be done and my knowledge of what is possible rarely coincide. But we're good friends and both trust each other and we get by.

[Avatar]

I suppose it depends to an extent on the industry and the company. At my job for example, all the department heads have worked in the positions that they are now managing, so there's a fairly clear idea of what's necessary, and what's required. In most cases anyway.

--A

[Sorus]

I suppose it depends to an extent on the industry and the company.

--A

Yup. There are certain management types who seem to be mass-cloned in some giant factory. (And who supervises that?)

I suspect that they recharge in a Borg alcove when they aren't working.

Though perhaps that is unfair, since that seems like what my boss thinks of me sometimes. The last time I asked to use my vacation time I got a long and convoluted lecture about 'knowing my value'. Apparently I have no value when I am not working. Nice to know?

I suppose it's possible that I misinterpreted something (see: communication issues) but that sure seems like what he was saying.

[peter]

The asshole! Next time flip that sucker right on its head and say that if you don't get a chance to recharge you'll be of no value at all.

[Sorus]

Yeah, I went and put a request on the calendar. Worst that can happen is he'll say no, right? At least that's better than his predecessor, who would just pretend not to see vacation requests.

If he says things will go to hell if I'm not there, last week is Exhibit A of things going to hell when I am there because most of the people who work there don't care about doing their jobs, and that's his problem, not mine.

Today's pet peeve is that Amazon.com still hasn't figured out that FedEx doesn't deliver to post office boxes. And their customer service email form letter after I complained just said that my package was on track to be delivered on time. Yes, to an undeliverable address. And then they tried to tell me that it had actually been shipped USPS, but couldn't explain why they gave me a FedEx tracking number.

Yay for incompetence!

I'm going to go live in a cave.