Get Your Grump on Thursdays - Was (What's chapping my @ss today?)

[roseyscot]

i am a software consultant. i do not work in QA. i do not write the product documentation. so why does the QA department rely on me to find the obvious oversights and bugs in each new release? and why does the product documentation team need me to write the instruction manual for them?

[David Tollefson]

Getting a call at 8:00am from a riding buddy to let me know that he's been diagnoised with ALS. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuk. Told him that when the time comes that he can't ride with us anymore that we'll put him on the back of a tandem and tape him in place so that he can still get out to ride with the group.

That's a friend. I just hope I don't become incapacitated until LONG after I'm unable to ride.

Next week I get a colonoscopy. Look forward to a blow by blow account of the pregame preparation.

Been there, done that too many times to count. 15 year history of colitis. Hope everything is good.

For me, it's been a good 3 weeks off work. I go back on Tuesday. I've got a sprint triathlon on Saturday, and I'd made a challenge to the entire junior team that I help coach that I'd give something "pretty cool" to anyone on the team who beat me in this coming race. Sleep has been an issue. I feel flat. On a good day, I know there are at least two that will most assuredly beat me. There are a couple more on the bubble. I may lose my shirt (or at least a healthy portion of my immediately disposable income) on Saturday.

[chasea]

My girlfriend's "annoyed" tone. And her bitch face.

Shhh. She's sitting right next to me.

[edoz]

I went to an art gallery today to see an iron sculpture exhibit. I have to say, I came away very disappointed. A bunch of scrap metal tacked together in rough shapes of heads and people, or no discernible shape whatsoever. Welds were horrible, hell some of the welds were even broken on the sculptures, he barely cleaned up the cut edges, and any number of other workmanship offenses. A bunch of stuff he probably dug out of the garbage or got paid to haul off, crudely stuck together is almost random patterns.

Selling for thousands of dollars.

Now I guess I should think about going to bed so I can get up, go to the place where my work has to be damn near perfect every time, go through 4 inspection steps before a DoD inspector signs off on it, and no one gives two fat shits about my artistic temperament. Just be here at 5am.
All for $19.25/hr, and no matter how much they say they need me, all I get is a 1.3% raise this year. Too bad the cost of living went up 1.1% last year. Fuck artists.

[Mike Mcdermid]

I went to an art gallery today to see an iron sculpture exhibit. I have to say, I came away very disappointed. A bunch of scrap metal tacked together in rough shapes of heads and people, or no discernible shape whatsoever. Welds were horrible, hell some of the welds were even broken on the sculptures, he barely cleaned up the cut edges, and any number of other workmanship offenses. A bunch of stuff he probably dug out of the garbage or got paid to haul off, crudely stuck together is almost random patterns.

Selling for thousands of dollars.

Now I guess I should think about going to bed so I can get up, go to the place where my work has to be damn near perfect every time, go through 4 inspection steps before a DoD inspector signs off on it, and no one gives two fat shits about my artistic temperament. Just be here at 5am.
All for $19.25/hr, and no matter how much they say they need me, all I get is a 1.3% raise this year. Too bad the cost of living went up 1.1% last year. Fuck artists.

you win some you lose some personally i dont get art in any shape or form and artists are one of the few things in the world which get me angry when i hear them talk

i think engineering types dont appreciate sloppy bollocks workmanship no matter what industry/culture its produced in

my gripe this week is armchair engineers you know that ones that go on forums and know more than you do about a product despite the fact you designed the fricking thing

[Too Tall]

Grumpers. See you next thursday.

[roseyscot]

home alone this week, means i get to ride a lot. i hit the morning cx practice session on wednesday (normal for me) and doubled up with a visit to the evening session at a different spot (i don't usually get to go to the evening session on wednesdays). at the evening session, i was going nice and fast, feeling good, until i missed the lift on the pvc barriers, dropped my bike and put a dent in the top tube when the bars swung around and smacked it. been racing cx for 8 years, that's the first top tube dent i've gotten.

[Matthew Strongin]

Been sick all week. No riding. Each day is getting worse than the day before and I can't miss any work this week to stay home and rest.

[Dallas Tex]

People obsessed with this 'Blue Team vs Red Team' idiocy. Both parties don't give a rats ass about you or what's best for the country. This 'rivalry' keeps voters occupied while both parties ass-rape the country and its future.

[davids]

My riding schedule is being trumped by either my rest-of-my-life schedule or the weather.

[monadnocky]

The less people know, the more they think they are experts at a given subject. Any subject. From climate to psychology to medicine to metallurgy.
Drives me crazy how we're in a state of our national evolution where the experts in a given field are viewed as know-nothing eggheads.

This has been getting some press recently, but the following provides compelling evidence for what I'm talkin' 'bout:

Dunning–Kruger effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[David Tollefson]

Day 3 back to work after almost a month off for the new baby. I come back to:

* No water at my work site, meaning port-o-johns lined up outside. Looks like the local 10K out there. And the weather has been dicey.
* Parking lot construction means a total cluster-fuck, along with having to walk twice as far to get in. Remember the weather comment? Sure, it'd be closer to ride, but with rain every morning and no showers at work (no water, remember), that hasn't been an option.

And today:

* Wife comes in with baby at 3:30am for me to take over.
* Thunder and lightning all the way in this morning, pouring rain. My shoes and socks are hanging on my desk drawers to dry out.
* Some one left a crack pipe under one of the desks in the next cubicle. Site security was called, and I'm sure an investigation will follow.

[Dave]

I am grumpy about the state of education today. I am sick of having to wipe kid's noses (metaphorically speaking) teaching 12 year olds the word "No' for the first time intheir life. Having kids lie to my face and when I speak to their parents having them disregard my consequences as too harsh.

I am sick of having the buck passed to me by my principal as she walks around and chats with the "girls" she enjoys in her super secret social circle. I am tired of having to teach to a test to get kids to pass, criticised by parents for not making their kids do their homework and then punishing them for not doing it, and being over qualified for entry level jobs or under qualified for jobs I actually want.

I was told by one parent that a teacher is nothing but an overpaid baby sitter. I wish I was at least paid like a baby sitter.

If teachers are mere babysitters, pay them accordingly | Get Schooled

Now don't get me wrong, I love to actually teach, explain difficult things to people, and to inspire kids to want to learn more even if it means putting down their phones or play stations.

I however am losing the battle in my heart. To be honest I am worn out.

Come on lottery!

[Tom]

Meetings without agendas. How the f am I supposed to prepare if I have no goddamn idea what the meeting is about? I have enough work without going in and listening to somebody explain what the meeting is about and then we start from scratch after ten minutes and waste the rest of the hour. I guess writing stuff down is a lost art. When they do try, one vague incomplete sentence is not an 'agenda'. An example: "Discuss additional opportunities for testing during the work effort". In addition to what, Genius? Why do they get mad when I decline to attend, giving the reason "No agenda, I don't come. I'm busy." Morons.

And why is Enterprise Architecture's favorite standard 'de facto'? "Hey, guys, do we have a standard secure ftp client for Windows that I can tell apps to use?" "Uh, no, we don't, they can use this or they can use that, we haven't decided and what we are using is that ssh lookalike but we're trying to get away from it." Oh, OK, I understand. Windows is so new.

And Instant Messaging apps. Understand the concept of "Instant"? If it can wait 24 hours put it in an email. Don't send me "hi" and then not enter anything. Ask the goddamn question.

[monadnocky]

Oh and one more thing.

Moved into a new office yesterday. They've (generously) provided each office with its own laptop.

I'm not a diehard Mac user, really; I recognize that it's just what tends to work for me and I like the aesthetics of Macs. This laptop comes installed with Windows 8. My understanding is that Windows 8 is optimized for tablets, but holy sweet jesus mother of God is it awful on a laptop. I mean it is a complete cluster of tiles, apps, un-useable features, and in this laptop's case, 912 pre-installed security suites. I kid you not, it took me over fifteen minutes to figure out HOW TO TURN THE GODDAMN COMPUTER OFF. To get a simple Word document open requires so much work you'd think you were programming an Altair 800 in 1982.

I hope whoever helped design Windows 8 gets boiled in a vat of acid. How- HOW could this atrocious piece of garbage actually make it to market?

[echelon_john]

Well, it DID precede Ballmer's departure, if that's any consolation.

Oh and one more thing.

Moved into a new office yesterday. They've (generously) provided each office with its own laptop.

I'm not a diehard Mac user, really; I recognize that it's just what tends to work for me and I like the aesthetics of Macs. This laptop comes installed with Windows 8. My understanding is that Windows 8 is optimized for tablets, but holy sweet jesus mother of God is it awful on a laptop. I mean it is a complete cluster of tiles, apps, un-useable features, and in this laptop's case, 912 pre-installed security suites. I kid you not, it took me over fifteen minutes to figure out HOW TO TURN THE GODDAMN COMPUTER OFF. To get a simple Word document open requires so much work you'd think you were programming an Altair 800 in 1982.

I hope whoever helped design Windows 8 gets boiled in a vat of acid. How- HOW could this atrocious piece of garbage actually make it to market?

[monadnocky]

Well, it DID precede Ballmer's departure, if that's any consolation.

that sweaty, domineering, fatass, visionless halfwit.

Apparently he's returning to his true calling, giving goofy over-the-top rah-rah-rah speeches in the locker rooms of high school football games at halftime.

[boxerboxer]

Oh and one more thing.

Moved into a new office yesterday. They've (generously) provided each office with its own laptop.

I'm not a diehard Mac user, really; I recognize that it's just what tends to work for me and I like the aesthetics of Macs. This laptop comes installed with Windows 8. My understanding is that Windows 8 is optimized for tablets, but holy sweet jesus mother of God is it awful on a laptop. I mean it is a complete cluster of tiles, apps, un-useable features, and in this laptop's case, 912 pre-installed security suites. I kid you not, it took me over fifteen minutes to figure out HOW TO TURN THE GODDAMN COMPUTER OFF. To get a simple Word document open requires so much work you'd think you were programming an Altair 800 in 1982.

I hope whoever helped design Windows 8 gets boiled in a vat of acid. How- HOW could this atrocious piece of garbage actually make it to market?

For a very long time now PCs have had the capability to shut down properly just by pressing the power button. Windows 8 does suck in a lot of ways.

Does providing useful info count in place of push-ups?

[nahtnoj]

Constantly changing requirements at work.

My wife's health issues.

The fact that I barely have time to ride.

I need a vacation.

[Saab2000]

People who barely finished high school who lecture me about politics and why the candidate of his/her preference would have been so much better than candidate XYZ. People like this who clam zen-like consciousness regarding how their vision of the nation's direction, and only their vision, and there cannot possibly be any other reasonable thoughts on the subject, piss me off.