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The grumpy thread


outlaw118

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Someone's driven into the Hillman :x

 

Tailgate is rather dented. Amazingly it was an honest person and they've left a note. Just spoken to them. Going to get a quote to repair but it could all go belly up of course. :(

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Bloody hell Seth, what a downer.

 

If it's any help then usually if it's someone else's fault they won't try and write the car off. A sensible repair quote might even see the fella who hit you pay out of his own pocket.

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No hidden horrors, just the (previously very straight) tailgate. Lock button won't push right in as its been tweaked to an angle by the panel but its not actually broken and still works. Fortunately the bumper is untouched as I'd be really annoyed if that had got bent. Must have been something tall. Not a fella. Going to see the body man I know on Monday. I reckon he could see to it in a couple of hours as access from behind is good.

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No hidden horrors, just the (previously very straight) tailgate. Lock button won't push right in as its been tweaked to an angle by the panel but its not actually broken and still works. Fortunately the bumper is untouched as I'd be really annoyed if that had got bent. Must have been something tall. Not a fella. Going to see the body man I know on Monday. I reckon he could see to it in a couple of hours as access from behind is good.

 

So what you're saying is that lowering a car really IS a good thing?!

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The main issue with it is I am busy as f*ck at the moment and can't do with the bother... and I can't understand the people at my local PO (Northern Irish accent from behind glass to my English ears is somewhat difficult) :oops:

 

But he's doing the claim now as he has finally told me after a week off on some excuse based holiday. I got fed up with the bother and disputed the case on ebay and it sounds like the case should be closed on monday... I hope.

 

The whole issue hasn't been helped by the fact that the PO have either failed to fill in/filled in incorrectly the proof of postages that I've got off them recently this being one of them, so I just bundled it in the post and told him to sort it out.

 

The whole thing has been a bit of a 'mare and some of it's probably my fault as well as his...

 

M0rris

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I think I'll make a nuisance of myself somewhat on RR. When a mod berates someone for a non-reto question that bangs up image of E46 (98->) 3-series it requires comment. Seriously could they be blatantly trying to be Stanceworks or what ?

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I hink I'll make a nuisance of myself somewhat on RR. When a mod berates someone for a non-reto question that angs up image of E46 (98->) 3-series it requires comment. Seriously could they be blatantly trying to emulate Stanceworks or what ?

 

 

OK I know we really aren't supposed to mention RR on here, but I log on for the first time in ages and there's a thread about how awesome the Corsa B is as it's now retro. What the fuck?

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Not massively grumpy but we haven't got a "mildly disappointed" thread.

Had a chat with my boss about my position at work and where I'm headed. We have 240-odd engineers and technically I'm one of them but I've not engineered in years, instead I'm acting as tech liaison, going to court, project work, developing new systems and processes. But I'm nervous, we have had a management change and I'm scared I'll end up on a bench immersed in drudgery.

 

So I have the chat.... "Yes Chris, we'll find you a job role. We won't have you engineering, you're too valuable doing other things for us we can't trust people with. In fact you'll move onto the management cost centre, we see you as more of a first line manager sort of level". This, is music to my ears. Finally! So I pop the obvious question..... "Oh, well no you'll stay on your pay scale for the time being".

 

Ballbags. FLMs earn £3200 more than me. So, thinking about it on the way home, I'm on pleb wage doing quite a complex job. Great!

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Not massively grumpy but we haven't got a "mildly disappointed" thread.

Had a chat with my boss about my position at work and where I'm headed. We have 240-odd engineers and technically I'm one of them but I've not engineered in years, instead I'm acting as tech liaison, going to court, project work, developing new systems and processes. But I'm nervous, we have had a management change and I'm scared I'll end up on a bench immersed in drudgery.

 

So I have the chat.... "Yes Chris, we'll find you a job role. We won't have you engineering, you're too valuable doing other things for us we can't trust people with. In fact you'll move onto the management cost centre, we see you as more of a first line manager sort of level". This, is music to my ears. Finally! So I pop the obvious question..... "Oh, well no you'll stay on your pay scale for the time being".

 

Ballbags. FLMs earn £3200 more than me. So, thinking about it on the way home, I'm on pleb wage doing quite a complex job. Great!

 

That is shit - BUT at least your salary won't go down. Or have I read it wrong?

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Time to find a new job then Hirst-san. It'll only get harder and more pressure will put upon you as the management start to expect more and more of you, the bullying will start from slightly higher twats like line managers/supervisors. Thats when the real problems start.

 

Seems alot of this bullying/pressuring of staff to do more than they are humanly capable of is rising at an alarming rate. More staff get laid off and more work/pressure is put on those who stay behind.

Had a good one today! It was suggested that I should get in earlier - the bedwetter I'm currently covering for usually gets here for about 7am-ish, then starts firing off all these jobs for people to do early on. Me, I get in for a vaguely normal time (9am-ish). The place operates a flexitime policy - as long as there's cover for the core office hours of 9-5 it's alright, but because people are used to things being done a certain way, I should fit around it. I told them to bollocks - if I came in at that time I'd still be having to stay until 5pm to satisfy the rules, earning flexitime that I would be unable to use (no opportunity to spend it - if I took a day off or finished early there'd be no cover). I further pointed out that my flexitime carry-over was already on the edge of the maximum limit due the cover situation, so any further hours I did would be completely free anyway. In response to this, a laughably poor response was made that it would be "conscientious" for me to do so, even if it meant losing the "odd bit" of time (you know, like 10 hours a week).

 

My response? Along the lines of that I'll get in for 7am when I'm not up until 3am drinking every night, stressing about this bloody job, but I'm never doing it for free.

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In my place, it's a disciplinary offence to "work for free" - you must clock in and out, obviously working less hours than you clock is an offence but so is working more. Comes down to fraud since we're performance monitored.

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Seth, don't stress over it...at least it's going to get sorted out at minimal/no cost to you...things could've been much worse!

 

In my place, it's a disciplinary offence to "work for free" - you must clock in and out, obviously working less hours than you clock is an offence but so is working more. Comes down to fraud since we're performance monitored.

 

Wow! I've been studying/working in HR for a number of years, and I've never come across such a policy...and I think it's pure genius! Presenteeism is a load of bollocks- it stresses the employee and makes them less productive, leading to a lose-lose situation.

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If it was a disciplinary at our gaff to work unpaid the place would probably shut. Happy to report I'd never work for sod all and if that means being one of the forgotten few who never climbs the money ladder than so be it.

 

Working for naff all is like creeping to the bosses: it should never happen and I'd sooner sell my soul to the devil himself.

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Seth, don't stress over it...at least it's going to get sorted out at minimal/no cost to you...things could've been much worse!

 

In my place, it's a disciplinary offence to "work for free" - you must clock in and out, obviously working less hours than you clock is an offence but so is working more. Comes down to fraud since we're performance monitored.

 

Wow! I've been studying/working in HR for a number of years, and I've never come across such a policy...and I think it's pure genius! Presenteeism is a load of bollocks- it stresses the employee and makes them less productive, leading to a lose-lose situation.

 

Of course this is based on the assumption that HR is there to support the employee, rather than to climb into bed with the management and tug one off later over an Excel spreadsheet.

 

Just saying.

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It's from the days we used to earn a bonus per repair. If you work four hours extra, then your "target" before you hit bonus payments should rise by half a days worth - if you don't claim it, you earn more bonus which could well be more than your hourly rate.

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After a few weeks of arriving at work bang on my start time I was told that I was "expected" to get into work 20 mins early so I was ready to start work at the correct time. I told them that unless I was getting paid I wasn't insured and couldn't be on the premises. They fell for it too! I get in 10 mins early now so I can use the office computer to go on AS.

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People working for nothing really irritates me, as it has a knock-on effect for everyone else. The situation at my work is that many people work longer than they are contracted to, generally due to heavy workloads and not enough staffing, a situation which has been around for many years I would guess. The result - unacceptable to have too much of a backlog of work, but completely acceptable to work for free. If no one stood for it, the employer would have to either pay overtime or hire more staff to get the work done. As is, they'll probably just keep soaking up more and more work until they sleep under their desks. I know of offices at my work where you can never go out for your lunch, because the culture there is to work through it. In theory you can go, but it would turn everyone against you and make your job impossible, so everyone sits there with a sarnie in one hand and types with the other. Nice work!

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Of course this is based on the assumption that HR is there to support the employee, rather than to climb into bed with the management and tug one off later over an Excel spreadsheet.

 

Just saying.

 

It shouldn't matter...if the employees are not performing well, that's a problem for the management, too. Of course, in the real world, managers can't be bothered to do anything about it, preferring just to shift the blame downwards.

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On a slightly sideways note, my boss called me a liar today, refused to admit he was wrong, and told me to fuck off on the phone before hanging up on me.

 

The reason? I took his car on my teabreak.

 

The same car I was allocated at the start of my shift for the sole purpose of doing teabreaks because he'd slept in and they had to send the LDV out early.

 

 

The way my shift works I cover five different duties, the second to last bus I get off at 1457 and pick up the next one at 1540 (which I'm on until 1855), giving me a 43 minute unpaid break. Without telling me to do so, I was to assume that I was to take his car back to the depot, wait for someone else to bring in the Octavia, and take that back down to where I was in order to pick up my next bus. On a Friday afternoon. For no additional pay. Que shouting match on the phone where I was told that the running board states I've to return to the depot - which it doesn't - and when I pointed that out to him he said that I should open my fucking eyes and stop lying to him. Impressive stuff. I informed him that I wasn't a mind reader and that if he desperately needed his car back he could've sent someone down to get it whilst I was covering a duty. At that point I was told to "listen, just FUCK OFF!" and the phone was put down.

 

I sat down and thought about this. I then phoned the traffic officer to ask him to inform the boss that if he ever spoke to me like that again he could do the shift himself, and that if I didn't get an apology I'd be bringing the last bus into the garage and going home as soon as I picked it up.

 

As I sat, quite literally shaking with rage and wondering if the rumour about Mk4 Astras was true, I had a text from the boss apologising for swearing at me. It should really be a grin, but I just can't bring myself to grin about it. I'm still shaking with anger. :twisted:

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I sat down and thought about this. I then phoned the traffic officer to ask him to inform the boss that if he ever spoke to me like that again he could do the shift himself, and that if I didn't get an apology I'd be bringing the last bus into the garage and going home as soon as I picked it up.

 

As I sat, quite literally shaking with rage and wondering if the rumour about Mk4 Astras was true, I had a text from the boss apologising for swearing at me. It should really be a grin, but I just can't bring myself to grin about it. I'm still shaking with anger.

 

Since you've got that text message, you can now go on sick leave for a few weeks citing "stress", and then sue your employer for a ridiculous amount of money for bullying etc. You have an excellent chance of making a mint out of it...and I am only half-joking.

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I've walked off jobs for getting verbal assault like that. I quit a shop job a few years back, 'cos I was de facto the manager half the time - but without the title, and therefore the wages and extras. Oh and the sciatica I left with 'cos they couldn't even provide a chair.

Sky used to pull that 'come in early and be ready' thing: at least it was only 5 minutes they expected you to do unpaid, if your shift ran over, you did get paid for that. But they were atrocious to work for anyway.

I'm glad everything I do is on my tacho: there's no argument over shift length. If I did it, it gets paid for. And I have the law telling me how long I can do, and how much I have to rest, which is damn handy when telling peeps to stuff their last run.

What really has got my goat, more than once, is 'assessment'. I've got bits of plastic and paper from various places to certify that I can do the job their way. Most of them treat it as a shift, and pay me as such, but...

A few years ago, when White Arrow became Reality Group (just a dodgy name-change, it still belonged to Littlewoods), they decided to 'assess' all the agency drivers. But not offer any pay. Bad enough if it was a run round the block, and a bit of a chat (cheers Somerfield!), but the plan was to have me do the Aberdeen run I'd been doing the previous week, with the assessor in the passenger seat. For nowt. Aye right! I refused, as did everybody else, fully backed by the agency (Driver Hire); they dropped the idea after a couple of weeks of struggling away without enough drivers, but it goes to show what some will try.

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Hate to say, but these days, unless you're working for a protected monopoly (like a government office or a public utility), then you're part of the "world economy", and your company's very existence may well be at stake unless people tilt into their work. Yes, it sucks. But that's the way it is. A company in Indonesia can very likely do everything you're doing in Herts or Dublin or Oslo or NYC, outside of local farming/fishing/exhaust fitting/leaf raking. Otherwise, it's a full court press.

I don't think that's always the best way of looking at it, it can be a false economy having an overworked/undervalued workforce. If people are being constantly pushed to breaking point, you'll have people going on long-term sick, high turnover of staff, people doing the bare minimum to keep themselves from being fired, skiving off, etc. Work isn't meant to be a lot of fun, but when you're sat there on a Sunday evening feeling genuinely sick about going to the office tomorrow, something isn't right there.

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I don't think that's always the best way of looking at it, it can be a false economy having an overworked/undervalued workforce. If people are being constantly pushed to breaking point, you'll have people going on long-term sick, high turnover of staff, people doing the bare minimum to keep themselves from being fired, skiving off, etc. Work isn't meant to be a lot of fun, but when you're sat there on a Sunday evening feeling genuinely sick about going to the office tomorrow, something isn't right there.

 

I made this point to the 'manager' of the shop (and the two area managers I worked with/for/against in that time), more or less with bullet points. I have had to endure studying management theory, while at uni and college, and it came in handy. Charles Handy, actually - writer of some seminal texts on management - I've read a lot. The manager listened politely enough, then threw the whole idea straight out of the window, reminding me that the company didn't actually care that much, and would put up with massive staff turnover, and regular legal actions from former and current employees.

If work isn't at least tolerable, and able to leave you still feeling human at the end of your shift, it isn't working. It's why we have unions, allegedly, to sort out this kind of thing. Unsurprisingly, my old shop was a closed shop - no union recognition within the company at all. Therefore, the genuinely downtrodden workers had to take it or leave. I did both, one after the other!

On the other hand, I have a relative, who has built his software company up from nothing in about 20 years. He rarely does less than 15 hours a day, sometimes takes a Sunday off. I admire his strength and guts, but I wouldn't change places. Not for all his wealth, and genuine sense of achievement. Each to their own, eh?

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On a slightly sideways note, my boss called me a liar today, refused to admit he was wrong, and told me to fuck off on the phone before hanging up on me.

 

The reason? I took his car on my teabreak.

 

Sorry to hear that CMS. Personally I dont take/accept any kind of insult from anyone, be it in work or on the street. If I was shouted at unreasonably or insulted, I'd take that person to the side for a quiet but polite word and remind them that whilst they are in a higher position than myself, they dont have that power over me outside of the workplace, that usually brought them back down to earth. I suppose if I used the same tactics today I'd probably be kicked out of work on some made up charge of verbal assult or something.

 

Many workplaces are really starting an overwork/bullying assault on staff. The mood really has changed for the worse, I keep hearing of people being seriously bullied at work by thier managers/supervisor and even those in similar positions. They will also try it on to get staff to work more hours than they are contracted to by making up rules about turning up to work earlier and leaving later, its just a way of getting more work for free.

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