The grumpy thread

[GrumpiusMaximus]

7 minutes ago, Nyphur said:

I don't miss working for an MSP 😂

I genuinely love it.  I was brought in as L2 support 18 months ago but given that we're a small team (fewer than a dozen in total) I get to put and implement ideas for improvement all over the shop.  We brought in HaloPSA back in May and I've developed our ticketing and support processes, user experience, etc.  Currently working on reporting and improving the alerting along with projects.  I get a lot of flexibility with my work and very light-touch management.  Huge contrast to my old job at a University.

If I was still doing just L2 support... Jesus....

My brother is a developer and there is a bit of envy as he's never had to deal with customers.  Bastard.

[Pieman]

13 minutes ago, Wack said:

I once spent ½ an hour reporting about 15 of them 

All got the same bot response , doesn't breach guidelines , if you feel this isn't correct  resubmit for sn actual person to look at it 

A week later , we don't have time to look at it , useless 

As I've posted elsewhere - them scamming the public is absolutely fine, but if you call someone a "scammer" in a comment thread, that is HATE SPEECH and gets your account disabled - not suspended from posting or anything, completely disabled with no warning!

[SiC]

3 hours ago, Wack said:

Facebook marketplace is fucked as a selling platform 

There are the first cars I saw for sale 

 

eBay isn't much better at the moment either. Seems to be scammers are using Gumtree from a hacked account to list cars. As Gumtree and eBay are the same company, they also get listed on eBay too. Presumably it's the way they're getting around it now. 

The scammers have got a bit more advanced*. They're reusing the advert text they have pinched from the photos and all the original photos. Then putting it at a cheap price but one that isn't ridiculously cheap. 

[wuvvum]

Found out today that my manager is leaving.  On Thursday.  Nothing like giving us plenty of notice...

I should be used to it by now as there's been quite a turnover of managers since I joined the company 12 1/2 years ago, but she was definitely one of the better ones we've had - genuinely felt like she was on our side.  At the moment we have no idea who's going to replace her.  We've had a lot of shit flung at us recently system- and process-wise, and the team is half the size it was at the start of the year (one's buggered off to do a master's, one's moved to another department and two are on long term sick) and it's a busy time of year anyway, so we really could have done without this at the moment.

Fair play, the head of department called us all individually to talk through it with us and answer any questions that she could (she was on the back foot too, she'd only found out today as well), which was good of her - would have been a lot easier just to hold a Zoom meeting with the whole department at the same time - but obviously no decisions have been made yet so there was a limited amount she could tell me.  

It's put me in a proper grump - I hate change at the best of times and there's been far too much of it recently, even without this latest development.

[High Jetter]

48 minutes ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

I genuinely love it.  I was brought in as L2 support 18 months ago but given that we're a small team (fewer than a dozen in total) I get to put and implement ideas for improvement all over the shop.  We brought in HaloPSA back in May and I've developed our ticketing and support processes, user experience, etc.  Currently working on reporting and improving the alerting along with projects.  I get a lot of flexibility with my work and very light-touch management.  Huge contrast to my old job at a University.

If I was still doing just L2 support... Jesus....

My brother is a developer and there is a bit of envy as he's never had to deal with customers.  Bastard.

Knowledge, tho. Get him on here

[jakebullet]

I haz been on holiday. Ruined by Mrs's parents who happen to live there. Last time we went it was the first time Mrs. had seen them in about 15 years. Super, marvellous, must do it again.

Mrs has been telling mum that we're coming for a few weeks now on messenger. No reaction. Nothing to 10 decimal places. We're here! No reaction. Can we call n see you tomorrow? No reaction. Hmm. This is going well. Goes round, nobody home. No reaction again. 

In between the no reactions mad mum is sending random crap on messenger, but not you know answering questions. N I mean random. EG:

This is an Hellicopter coming to land in Parkol Shipyard, Whitby, which is an unusual place to land. They had to deliver a special message.

Er, something* tells me this wasn't recently. N you don't deliver urgent messages by helicopter, you phone people as it's actually faster.....

As the Mrs has spent a fair chunk on shite for xmas I have another go at delivering it before going home. Dad opens the window, I say I've got this for you, he remotely opens the garage door, says put it in there and shuts the window. Possible he thought I was a random delivery bloke.

Chuff knows what's going on with them, unless they've discovered drugs.

[High Jetter]

 No sister tho?

[wuvvum]

Is anyone in your extended family normal?

[Volksy]

My office is five miles away from my house, granted I have to drive through Stoodent-Ville on my commute, however last night it took me over an hour and twenty mins to get home. The reason? One small hole dug by Northern Gas Networks next to a set of traffic lights.  The lights were covered over and a set of temporary ones installed, and seem to have been programmed by an idiot. The result, complete and utter gridlock in all directions spanning a good few square miles. One chap decided to perform a U-Turn to try and make his escape, only to be stuck across the road, as no one was moving in any direction. 

I really must look at the Idle Control Valve on the Big, as it omm nommed its way through over quarter of a tank of juice in the process. 

Temp stayed rock steady at about 85, despite not having an electric fan, so I'm glad I had the pump and thermostat done. 

[jakebullet]

10 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Is anyone in your extended family normal?

The Mrs's brother John is shagging his cousin. So be normal if he moved to Norfolk.

[sierraman]

It’s icy as fuck in the morning and people still insist on driving up your arse.

[Supernaut]

13 hours ago, Nyphur said:

I don't miss working for an MSP 😂

I've only been at one for a week and a half but I want to leave already.

 

I never wanted to go back into IT at all, TBH.

[chadders]

14 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Found out today that my manager is leaving.  On Thursday.  Nothing like giving us plenty of notice...

I should be used to it by now as there's been quite a turnover of managers since I joined the company 12 1/2 years ago, but she was definitely one of the better ones we've had - genuinely felt like she was on our side.  At the moment we have no idea who's going to replace her.  We've had a lot of shit flung at us recently system- and process-wise, and the team is half the size it was at the start of the year (one's buggered off to do a master's, one's moved to another department and two are on long term sick) and it's a busy time of year anyway, so we really could have done without this at the moment.

Fair play, the head of department called us all individually to talk through it with us and answer any questions that she could (she was on the back foot too, she'd only found out today as well), which was good of her - would have been a lot easier just to hold a Zoom meeting with the whole department at the same time - but obviously no decisions have been made yet so there was a limited amount she could tell me.  

It's put me in a proper grump - I hate change at the best of times and there's been far too much of it recently, even without this latest development.

How the hell did the HoD only have 2(?) days notice?

Unless it was something very serious I'd be going f*ing ballistic if I was her.

[wuvvum]

I honestly have no idea.  It's all rather odd.

[chadders]

In my opinion it was good that she spoke to you all individually, to me that means a lot. It takes time which is in short supply in these sort of situations but people remember it.

The only times I've come across anything like that is when they have personal issues that blow up, a pending divorce or similar. In which case you might never find out why and rightly so.

Anyway good luck.

[Tenmil Socket]

I’ve just spent the last 4 days doing a 1000 piece jigsaw and today I finished it but there was 5 twicers 😩

[sdkrc]

3 hours ago, chadders said:

The only times I've come across anything like that is when they have personal issues that blow up, a pending divorce or similar. In which case you might never find out why and rightly so.

Could just be a big lump of annual leave and a 4wk notice period? Interesting to see how many places of work are now chaotic with people quitting, teams diminishing in size and folks off on sick leave. Seems to be a more common theme post-pandemic

[Rust Collector]

9 minutes ago, sdkrc said:

Interesting to see how many places of work are now chaotic with people quitting, teams diminishing in size and folks off on sick leave.

Makes you wonder where everyone is going. 'Lean' working is common in my industry post pandemic, I think there was originally an idea that companies would grow their teams again as things improved but where money has remained tight and people have been working harder there appears to be a reluctance to take on more staff to reduce the workload of existing staff. The more people I speak to in my industry the more I hear that people are exhausted and frustrated that they're not getting any further forwards.

Interestingly, we were contacted by the company we buy currency from to use for international stock purchase. We weren't looking to buy any currently as we're reviewing what the new year may look like (it definitely doesn't look like what I would've expected it to had you asked me in March), but we had a chat, and he volunteered the fact that he's seen a slow down in his business since about July - the same time my figures show a marked slow down in our work against previous years.

Whilst people say 'there's no cost of living crisis, I still see everyone is at the pub' etc., there's definitely something happening that's causing a lot of businesses to falter.

[Zelandeth]

Surge pricing.  Which can plainly be read as "screwing people over during busy periods purely because we know we can get away with it."

Having a last look at hotel pricing in the vicinity of the NEC for an event there in May (well, actually at the Hilton Metropole next door, but everyone knows where the NEC is so it's a useful landmark).  At the hotel I've historically used the a stay of the same length on a "normal" week comes to around £500.  There are cheaper options, but I've always had good experiences with the Moxy, and it's literally a 5 minute walk from the convention venue to my room so it really handy.  However if I do a search for the weekend I'm actually interested in, £905.  It's gone up quite a chunk each year (and last year I accepted that somewhat due to making the decision I was going at the last minute so I knew I'd be paying above the odds) but £900 for a booking that's six months off is just taking the piss.

The Novotel at the airport is £510 (also stayed there before, albeit for work rather than leisure) for the same period - so about £100 more than what the cost would have been for residential stay at the event (which I did enter the lottery for - we're vastly over-subscribed - and wasn't successful in securing a space in) which isn't that bad really in the grand scheme of things.  Just trying to weigh up whether the extra walk between the sites is likely to impact my enjoyment of the event, as the ability to come and go as I please (or need) is quite instrumental in that working for me.  It's an expensive week regardless...but seeing the prices at the closest alternative hotel having gone that high just really put my back up.

[chadders]

It's basic demand and supply, it's as old as the hills.

[Zelandeth]

35 minutes ago, chadders said:

It's basic demand and supply, it's as old as the hills.

Oh I understand that - doesn't stop it making my skinflint inner Scotsman from being grumpy about it though!

[Pieman]

My girlfriend's funeral today, which understandably has left me in a bad way mentally, especially having not slept for the past two nights, and I also came down with a cold yesterday.

The service was a perfect send-off for her, but something always has to spoil it - namely the seven cars I counted that overtook the funeral procession when we were en route to the crematorium because they were too important to wait behind it.  Fucking disrespectful arseholes!

And then I get home to find that Amazon had dropped a parcel of ours at the chav house next door (not our doing or instruction in the slightest, we weren't here) and in response Miss Chavette had left a note through our door reading along the lines of "Don't have parcels delivered here, and stop slamming car doors cos a baby lives here, have some respect". 

I'll be replying along the lines of "I'll have some respect when you behave like ordinary human beings rather than stereotypical bone-idle chav cunts, and also stop shouting at each other in your garden at 2am and waking me up - some of us have to go to work, not that you understand what that word means."

[wuvvum]

6 hours ago, chadders said:

The only times I've come across anything like that is when they have personal issues that blow up, a pending divorce or similar. In which case you might never find out why and rightly so.

We were discussing it in the office today and the assumption we've come to (which might be wildly inaccurate) is that she's probably only just handed in her notice, but she's got a job at a rival firm so she's been put on gardening leave rather than working out her notice period.

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, Pieman said:

My girlfriend's funeral today,

That is shite, glad the service was OK, ignore the disrespectors.

Thoughts with you.

[108]

3 hours ago, Pieman said:

My girlfriend's funeral today, which understandably has left me in a bad way mentally, especially having not slept for the past two nights, and I also came down with a cold yesterday.

The service was a perfect send-off for her, but something always has to spoil it - namely the seven cars I counted that overtook the funeral procession when we were en route to the crematorium because they were too important to wait behind it.  Fucking disrespectful arseholes!

And then I get home to find that Amazon had dropped a parcel of ours at the chav house next door (not our doing or instruction in the slightest, we weren't here) and in response Miss Chavette had left a note through our door reading along the lines of "Don't have parcels delivered here, and stop slamming car doors cos a baby lives here, have some respect". 

I'll be replying along the lines of "I'll have some respect when you behave like ordinary human beings rather than stereotypical bone-idle chav cunts, and also stop shouting at each other in your garden at 2am and waking me up - some of us have to go to work, not that you understand what that word means."

Had to do the same myself earlier this year. 
 

My thoughts are with you today. 

[RoverFolkUs]

I had started to notice the Focus has not been quite right starting over the past couple of weeks, churning over a few more revolutions than usual and sounding pretty sluggish while doing so. 

That'll do it

What's annoying is that I'm pretty sure this battery is only a couple of years old, if that. Time to fish out the paperwork. It was only a cheapy F1 Autocentres special because they were the only place open on a Sunday with one available at a sensible price

I seem to remember it had a 3 year warranty. I'll probably dig the invoice out and discover it's a couple of days over the warranty or something knowing my luck 🙄 but I'm pretty sure it's less than 2 years....

[Bren]

15 hours ago, sdkrc said:

Could just be a big lump of annual leave and a 4wk notice period? Interesting to see how many places of work are now chaotic with people quitting, teams diminishing in size and folks off on sick leave. Seems to be a more common theme post-pandemic

X 10 in the public sector.

[Split_Pin]

Well, I discovered a couple of days ago that I might be out of a job soon. I took my current job 4 years ago because I was made redundant so this has come as a bit of a boot in the baws. 

If I only* was mentally at my fighting weight.

Merry Christmas.

[Merryck]

16 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

Whilst people say 'there's no cost of living crisis, I still see everyone is at the pub' etc., there's definitely something happening that's causing a lot of businesses to falter.

Have you ever heard of the Lipstick Index? Essentially the premise is that when money's tight people will spend on small things as a treat. It's far easier to spend on a couple of drinks with friends here and there when your general outlook is shit as a way to lift your spirits.

The upshot of it is that people will cut back on big spends while increasing the instance of treating themselves. Also when people say that, they fail to realise that every time they're walking past that same busy pub they're likely seeing different people. Or they're being intentionally obtuse.

[chadders]

2 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Well, I discovered a couple of days ago that I might be out of a job soon. I took my current job 4 years ago because I was made redundant so this has come as a bit of a boot in the baws. 

If I only* was mentally at my fighting weight.

Merry Christmas.

I was made redundant 3 times in 5 years, once having to tell my missus by 'phone from LHR departures as I was on my way to Dublin. I found that the shock soon wore off and then I'd concentrate on getting another job, having a large mortgage and 2 young kids meant that I had to get one ASAP.

Good Luck!