Real Life and What's Happening...

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Stumpydave said:
Unions must work different where you lot are from. Over here (UK) Unions exist to provide backing and support to members, they might get consulted about work practices but if I get benefits from union negotiation, so does everyone else, members or not.
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Without diving into politics, I think it is accurate to say that employer opposition and cultural stigma toward trade unions are greater in the US than in the UK.
 
Brock Savage said:
Without diving into politics, I think it is accurate to say that employer opposition and cultural stigma toward trade unions are greater in the US than in the UK.
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What he said. But even without it. Many of the benefits increase over time vs vesting all at once. Pensions, vacation days, priority selection of when to use those days, who gets first dibs on a job. All of that tends to flow from seniority here(length of time with the union). So new members generally get the worst of everything with promise of gravy if they can last a few years. The current environment here is offering much of the gravy right away due to severe labor shortage. The unions promise was pretty great a few years ago. Now it's not as great to new workers and making more senior workers do jobs they thought they'd never have to do again.
 
Giganotosaurus said:
I was doing some research into Long-Haul trucking a couple months ago and one of the things that kept coming up was that the industry hasn't seen an increase in wage since the 90's. It's still $40k a year but with inflation that's not as much as it used to be.
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This is the case in many industries, unsurprisingly many of these industries are now scrambling to find warm bodies.
 
Gabriel said:
Well, I can say that my experience is that nowhere is in any hurry to hire either.
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Yep. As of late the only response I’ve gotten has been the company I wrote about a few posts back, who thought “bilingual” meant “Will do a full load of English work and a full load of non-English work for the same pay as the folks who only know English.”
 
I am happy to report that the president and vice president followed through with their promise of swift and decisive action. There have been improvements in my department across the board addressing all of my concerns and I am no longer 5 minutes from ragequitting.

Ralph Dula said:
Yep. As of late the only response I’ve gotten has been the company I wrote about a few posts back, who thought “bilingual” meant “Will do a full load of English work and a full load of non-English work for the same pay as the folks who only know English.”
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That's some bullshit. I can't speak for every industry of course but in my line of work, we typically have to pay 25% or more for jobs that require fluency in something other than English. There are exceptions, of course- Southern California has many skilled workers who are fluent in Spanish, for example.
 
As a worker who is in high demand, let me just say "fuck those people and their fucking unrealistic bullshit expectations" Feel free to quote me and they can can fucking phone me if they have an issue. I'll tell 'em where to go.
 
Stumpydave said:
Unions must work different where you lot are from. Over here (UK) Unions exist to provide backing and support to members, they might get consulted about work practices but if I get benefits from union negotiation, so does everyone else, members or not.
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Same here. The unions negotiate with the employers about what's called the CAO here (Collective Labour Agreement). Other than that they provide backing and support to members.
 
Yesterday morning, I had the surgery to get my cyborg parts replaced. It went fine. I have the rest of the week off, and my parents are here to help me out, which is nice.

I had to take a COVID-19 test on Friday morning to get cleared for surgery, which made me slightly nervous. The occasional hangover notwithstanding, I've been illness-free for the entire pandemic era... except that I woke up with a sore throat the day I had to go in for the test! Thankfully, it was just a random sore throat & not COVID, so I still got to have my surgery.

I'm a few days behind in the character creation thread now, but I've got enough free time this week that I should be able to catch up.
 
E-Rocker said:
The occasional hangover notwithstanding, I've been illness-free for the entire pandemic era...
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I know, right? Ever since I started working from home in March 2020 and taking the recommended precautions I haven't been sick once. Not even the sniffles or a cough- as a former smoker I am used to getting slammed with lung based illness and persistent coughs at least once or twice a year. It's almost like these CDC dudes know what they are talking about.
 
EmperorNorton said:
Brock Savage said:
I know, right? Ever since I started working from home in March 2020 and taking the recommended precautions I haven't been sick once. Not even the sniffles or a cough- as a former smoker I am used to getting slammed with lung based illness and persistent coughs at least once or twice a year. It's almost like these CDC dudes know what they are talking about.
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I’m glad your healthy! The mom of one of my better friends is 78 and smoked for more than 6 and a half decades. She has stopped smoking now but her health is terrible and she suffers with lung disfunction, bouts of pneumonia, emphysema (spic) and oxygen deprivation. The doc says some of that will clear up now that she has quit smoking but she has to live long enough for that to happen.
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Brock Savage said:
Even though the ROI for a bachelor's is dropping, people prefer to wear a clean shirt and sit behind a desk.
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Yeah, though it's not a good choice for all of them, especially here where skilled tradesmen are well paid. For a certain kind of person it is much better to paint your name and phone number on the side of a van and do maintenance and renovation work in plumbing, electricals, or carpentry — little jobs where you seldom have to go to the same place or deal with the same idiots for more than a few days at a time. The trades (especially if you don't work on large construction with large firms) give you many more opportunities for visible accomplishment, more doses of "job done, I see what I made" then dealing with a continuous stream of paperwork or gnawing for years on the same research or development project. And although the run of people you have deal with is just as much afflicted with human foibles in either case, the series of small jobs let you deal with each one with a dose of banter and superficial charm that you seldom have to continue to the point where you run out of material.

Furthermore: though tradies start early and sometimes work late, I go to the beach about every other morning, and when the surf is up I find the car parks full of utes and small trucks with plumbers' and electricians' and painters' and carpenters' small businesses advertised on the sides.
 
Brock Savage said:
I know, right? Ever since I started working from home in March 2020 and taking the recommended precautions I haven't been sick once. Not even the sniffles or a cough- as a former smoker I am used to getting slammed with lung based illness and persistent coughs at least once or twice a year. It's almost like these CDC dudes know what they are talking about.
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One time I asked my father why doctors don't catch all the diseases of the patients they treat. He answered "we wash our hands". Dad was a huge admirer of Ignaz Semmelweis.

I read a study once that some research institution conducted at a large US Army base where there was a lot of training done. They reduced the inspection schedule on hand-basins from daily to weekly, and relaxed the inspection standard from "operating room" to "clean". Then they ordered everyone on the base to wash their hands four times per day (before each meal and after each dump). The effect on GI infections was modest but worthwhile. The effect on upper respiratory infections (colds and flu) was something like an 80% reduction. They managed to cut sick call by 55%.

Moral: wash your hands before you touch your food, your face, or anything in your underpants. Or anyone else's food, face, or pink bits, for that matter.
 
Agemegos said:
Moral: wash your hands before you touch your food, your face, or anything in your underpants. Or anyone else's food, face, or pink bits, for that matter.
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Agreed. First thing I do when I get home (after taking off my shoes) is wash my hands, no exceptions.

Ever since I quit smoking I am hypersensitive to office air conditioning. I used to joke that the ducts must have a dead racoon in them because soon after the AC kicks on I develop a cough and feel terrible. I have no idea but it's been this way in multiple offices. Maybe the ducts are full of contaminants or something but working from home has been a blessing.
 
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Agemegos said:
One time I asked my father why doctors don't catch all the diseases of the patients they treat. He answered "we wash our hands". Dad was a huge admirer of Ignaz Semmelweis.

I read a study once that some research institution conducted at a large US Army base where there was a lot of training done. They reduced the inspection schedule on hand-basins from daily to weekly, and relaxed the inspection standard from "operating room" to "clean". Then they ordered everyone on the base to wash their hands four times per day (before each meal and after each dump). The effect on GI infections was modest but worthwhile. The effect on upper respiratory infections (colds and flu) was something like an 80% reduction. They managed to cut sick call by 55%.

Moral: wash your hands before you touch your food, your face, or anything in your underpants. Or anyone else's food, face, or pink bits, for that matter.
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We had to take a class on sanitation for culinary school and one of the big sections on the final was identifying various food borne illnesses.
My favorite is a parasite that's found in Pacific caught fish, of which one of the symptoms is coughing up worms.
Unfortunately far too many good service workers in this country are lackadaisical when it comes to hand washing and hygiene in general.
One of my instructors studied in Switzerland and claims that they don't have foodborne illness outbreaks because they take hygiene seriously.
 
The meeting yesterday was a waste. The best summation I can give is that the woman whose job duties include helping subordinates told us all we have to fend for ourselves, and my boss was good with that.



Today, I’m about an hour into my overtime, almost done with my work, when a friend shows me something posted online fir our team.



Last Friday when I started my work I wasted three hours, one of my bosses having given me the wrong data, a fact I couldn’t discern at my pay grade.



The thing my friend is pointing to contradicts something the woman who told us to fend for ourselves told us to do when we started this mess. Supposedly a notification that came out today, it means that everyone who has been slaving to meet our insane deadlines has to restart all their work.



Dula Luck kicks in, and an associate from another area asks me how things are going. I tell him what I’ve just learned, and he’s confused, as his department was informed last week of the change that supposedly only occurred today.



I talk to my boss. She confirms the change that allegedly happened today, and assures me that our deadlines are extended. I went back to work, and about two hours later it hits me just how much time I wasted thanks to bum information, and I sign off.



We have another spate of bad weather coming through tonight. Part of me wants to call off tomorrow and attribute it to the weather, rather than frustration at this debacle
 
Brock Savage said:
Ever since I quit smoking I am hypersensitive to office air conditioning. I used to joke that the ducts must have a dead racoon in them because soon after the AC kicks on I develop a cough and feel terrible. I have no idea but it's been this way in multiple offices. Maybe the ducts are full of contaminants or something but working from home has been a blessing.
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AC recirculates air and coworker germs throughout the office. It's a recognised health hazard in my company, but they're not willing to recommend turning off the air conditioning. (Which is good, I'd hate that.)
 
I wish my family would stop Christmassing in my house.

I have had to cancel the first session of my new game because my tall nephew decided to spend Christmas in Cairns with his hot girlfriend instead of here with his family, so my sister decided that he, his mother, two of his cousins, their spouses, and their three children have to come here on Saturday.

Never mind that there is a fucking plague going on so that travelling all around the state and gathering in shouty groups is a dumb thing to do.
 
Agemegos said:
I wish my family would stop Christmassing in my house.

I have had to cancel the first session of my new game because my tall nephew decided to spend Christmas in Cairns with his hot girlfriend instead of here with his family, so my sister decided that he, his mother, two of his cousins, their spouses, and their three children have to come here on Saturday.

Never mind that there is a fucking plague going on so that travelling all around the state and gathering in shouty groups is a dumb thing to do.
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It's your house, right? Either tell them no or tell them to get tested in advance.
 
Fenris-77 said:
Do you rank all your relatives by heights and/or attractiveness? My ugly sister and her short husband are coming to stay....
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No, but they wouldn't want their names used online, and I have to distinguish them somehow. So I have Eldest Nephew a.k.a Crafty Nephew, Naval Nephew, Strongest Nephew, Handsomest Nephew, and Tallest Nephew.
 
3rik said:
It's your house, right? Either tell them no or tell them to get tested in advance.
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There are two techniques involved in avoiding my "no"s. First is to tell me of arrangements they have made with third parties, constraints they are under, and commitments they have been induced to make, then to ask me "is that okay?". The second is to get my clearance for four people on Sunday morning, and later to inform me of a fait accompli that it has been re-scheduled for eleven people on Saturday evening because Strongest Nephew's wife has to work on Sunday. If I put my foot down I become the selfish monster who grinched Christmas for the Family.

We're not even Christian.

As for testing, RATS are running at A$60 a pop, if you can find them.
 
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" If I put my foot down I become the selfish monster who grinched Christmas for the Family. - Agemegos Agemegos

Yeah, I'm not afraid to be that person anymore. Too much wilful stupid encounters over the past few years in particular, and even if it's my family I won't hesitate to put my foot down with a rather large, "No." If they even look at me askew I'll follow up with, "Not just no, but fuck no, is that clear enough?"

I'm determined to outlast all the stupids, whether it's strangers, people I associate occasionally, friends or family. Fuck em if they're gonna be stupid, they can be stupid on their dime and not mine.
 
Agemegos said:
There are two techniques involved in avoiding my "no"s. First is to tell me of arrangements they have made with third parties, constraints they are under, and commitments they have been induced to make, then to ask me "is that okay?". The second is to get my clearance for four people on Sunday morning, and later to inform me of a fait accompli that it has been re-scheduled for eleven people on Saturday evening because Strongest Nephew's wife has to work on Sunday. If I put my foot down I become the selfish monster who grinched Christmas for the Family.

We're not even Christian.

As for testing, RATS are running at A$60 a pop, if you can find them.
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I think you need to set firmer boundaries. It took me a while with my father, but I got him to the point where they don't show up unanounced anymore and they don't try to phone me anymore; they can either send me a whatsapp or an email if they want to make an appointment. In the event they do decide to show up unanounced, we won't answer the door and just wait for them to leave.

Oh yeah, no means no.

You will receive a lot of push-back the first time you do this. The trick is to stand your ground and they'll get used to the new rules eventually. Don't worry about being "not nice" or unlikeable. You actually have a right to do this. Their response is not your responsabilty.

If being honest doesn't work or is too much of a hassle, just make up some excuse that you refuse to discuss further.
 
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Since we've moved to SAFe, I always feel like I'm behind on all my work. Today, I just figured out why. Though I haven't figured out a solution.

There are 8 hours in a work day- we're scheduled for 6. I'm on two different teams, so 3 hours each. The extra two hours are supposed to be for admin stuff and meetings.

I'm in 4-5 hours of meetings most days.

...see where I'm going with this? And I'm just surprised it took me so long to figure this out.
 
You know's got three thumbs and a suddenly very serious case of the COVID-19?

This asshole.

Felt like shit Tuesday afternoon, went to the ER and while I was there my blood oxygen started plummeting-- positive diagnosis, and now I'm on 6mg decadron daily for 10 days and 2 liters of oxygen until I can take it away and not fucking die. Prognosis is very strong for a brief and full recovery, but I'm not looking forward to a very fun week.
 
Agemegos said:
As for testing, RATS are running at A$60 a pop, if you can find them.
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They cost roughly $5 AUD to $15 AUD each individual RAT, although they usually come in double or quad packs - so that's $10 to $30 for a double RAT pack, and $20 to $60 for a quad RAT pack

Don't pay anymore, or it'll be price-gouging
Some bloody local pharmacies here in Brissy have been selling RAT quad packs for over $80 in some places, and there has been reports in Sydney and Melbourne for quad RAT packs going for well over $100

I'll just line up for hours for the freebie tests instead of being fleeced by the local pharmacies who are ripping everyone off
Hopefully this wave will start to pass by March, but it's gonna be a long few weeks
 
I had a spooky/annoying thing happen tonight...
I went to pick up a friend on our way to a performance. She lives in one of those super-anonymous housing developments with a zealous HOA. The roads there are confusing and twisty, so I had to pull over and call her for specific directions (I hadn't been there lately).
While I did this I noticed this car driving around slowly with an array of lights on the front. I haven't seen a car with lights like it before, it was some custom installation.
Anyway, I got to my friend's house and that same lit up car pulled up next to me and the youngish guy driving it started asking me "why are you following me?!!!", then "'where are you going?!!!" and not accepting my explanation that I was picking up a friend.
He wasn't a security guard, had no insiginia on his car. He was one of those self-appointed neighborhood watch guys and he kept at me in a way that reminded me of scenes on cop shows where they try to trip up suspects during interrogations. He asked me my friend's name, claiming he knew everyone on the street... but didn't recognize her name... then told me he was making sure the 'people on this street are safe'.
It seemed like no matter what I told him was not going to satisfy his questions...
I really think it would have escalated to him pulling a gun and demanding I get out of my car and... I dunno...
But right then my friend came out of her house and got in my car, so the guy drove off.
My friend was embarassed and angry about it when I told her... she had no idea who the guy was.

Years ago we had a guy like that on our street. He used to walk around the neighborhood armed. He'd stop people, like friends of mine, who'd walk up the street to visit... asking them questions about who they were and where they were going.

It's been bouncing around in my head all evening... making me mad... then making me think that I was lucky it didn't go on further... and probably lucky that I was a well-dressed white guy in a nice car.
 
Agemegos said:
As for testing, RATS are running at A$60 a pop, if you can find them.
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We can each get two of those for free, but I haven't picked up any.

The price isn't your problem anyway. You only require for visitors that they get themselves tested before visiting. No test, no entrance.
 
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