The grumpy thread

[HillmanImp]

fags up 37p a pkt

 

think it's time to quit, but i am gonna be so fuckin mega grumpy

 

It will be getting cheaper to smoke weed than tobacco at this rate.

 

Buy a bong.

[autofive]

fags up 37p a pkt

 

think it's time to quit, but i am gonna be so fuckin mega grumpy

 

It will be getting cheaper to smoke weed than tobacco at this rate.

 

Buy a bong.

 

and then the government wonder why duty-free fag sellers are thriving

 

 

i noticed petrol is up AGAIN this morning to 141.9 a litre

 

and thats without extra budget duty added

[TimothyClaypole]

Time to quit work and take up cig smuggling.

 

Then rent the house out to a fake tenant so if the fuzz find the weed farm you can deny all knowledge.

 

 

Sorted.

[rml2345]

Personally, I wouldn't worry about any of this. Chances are the western world is going to go arse-about-tit in ten years anyway.

Hang on, this isn't the "Have you seen a doomed Proton?" thread...

[M'coli]

Proper fucking grumpy now, I applied for a job that I have the skills and experience needed, but did I get asked to interview? No. Twatflaps. What's the fucking point...

 

Got the t-shirt so know how you feel, chances are someone is already in that job.

There were three positions, so it does make me think that you are correct though, as it's not exactly a generally-known field of expertise, and ex-colleague also was not interviewed - we have a combined experience in the gerneral field of over 20 years, and the specific area of that field of about 8 years - so what the fuck do either of us need to do extra to get to interview stage, let alone beyond that, FFS???

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Proper fucking grumpy now, I applied for a job that I have the skills and experience needed, but did I get asked to interview? No. Twatflaps. What's the fucking point...

 

Haha, you think that's reason enough to be grumpy? If I used that sort of criterion, I would be grumpy 100% of the ti...on second thoughts, never mind!

 

I applied for a HR officer job in a hotel. Got rejected because of the fact that my HR experience has been outside of the hotel industry. Fair enough, I thought, and I applied for a graduate position with the same hotel chain, explaining that I was doing it because I wanted to focus on the hospitality industry and I had had difficulty getting a job there without hotel-specific experience . My application was then rejected because I have "a substantial amount of professional experience" [albeit in other industries] and that I "would be more suited to a direct-entry HR officer role with the chain".

[Pete-M]

I have a strict rule when it comes to job applications. If the company has a HR department and / or a HR manager, I don't want to work for them. So far, this has been a successful strategy. Same as companies that insist on a CV before they'll interview anyone. Nah, not worth the hassle. Move on, ring 'em up, go to the interviews where you're speaking to the boss or someone with a mind, not some box-ticking droid. If the company doesn't publish a direct phone number, preferably to the person you need to speak to, they're not worth dealing with as you're unimportant to them.

 

HR people don't understand this.

[cobblers]

I have a strict rule when it comes to job applications. If the company has a HR department and / or a HR manager, I don't want to work for them.

 

 

Well put! I was trying to articulate the exact same thing last night but it came out rubbish so I gave up.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

I have a strict rule when it comes to job applications. If the company has a HR department and / or a HR manager, I don't want to work for them. So far, this has been a successful strategy. Same as companies that insist on a CV before they'll interview anyone. Nah, not worth the hassle. Move on, ring 'em up, go to the interviews where you're speaking to the boss or someone with a mind, not some box-ticking droid. If the company doesn't publish a direct phone number, preferably to the person you need to speak to, they're not worth dealing with as you're unimportant to them.

 

HR people don't understand this.

 

Bit hard to follow that strategy when one is a HR person.

[Cavcraft]

What always seemed to work for me is wing cheeky as well as asking about. My last three jobs (including the one I'm in) came about from asking round and speaking to people who worked there.

 

I'd never have even had a look in where I am now but some questioning, a bit of cheek and some Olympic standard bullshitting saw me right.

I even got my lad his job by doing some homework and then speaking to the right people. I know it's not always as easy as that but sometimes you have to make your own luck. Having said all that I'm in work so it's easy for me to say it and it looks like a flaming nightmare trying to get a decent job these days.

[M'coli]

All good advice, chaps - many thanks. I did speak to the person who would be my boss before I set out the application (there was no other way to apply other than on-line - that's councils for you) for about 10-15 minutes, and he seemed quite interested and the job is good (working with trading standards on convicting internet scammers) so to say I'm disappointed is a bit of an understatement.

[Negative Creep]

Job related grump huh?

 

We have a rule that states when logging certain case details you have to put a summary. Sometimes you need the text from a different one, so just put in some dots to get it. A month or so ago I did that and forgot to remove it. Fair enough, my mistake.

 

Except now I come home to a letter requesting I attend a disciplinary hearing tomorrow! If I swore at someone or was being lazy then fine, but this is just stupid. The Manager already had a meeting about it but clearly that's not enough. Plenty of people there get away with doing fuck all or constant poor work, but obviously that's fine.

 

All this for £13k a year. What is the point?

[HillmanImp]

I cant figure out if this is a grin or a grump.

 

Since Monday I have been smoking around in the Volvo waftomatic luxobarge. I have always been dead against automatics, 'not a real drivers car', 'for old men' etc. However I have been converted to the ways of a slushbox. Its fucking ace. The car is amazing. Still going to sell it once I have ponced it up though as I cant have it and the Audi.

 

Took the buggered wing off tonight tonight but did not realise the bottom where it reattached to the inner wing was also bent so when I attached it from the top I cant attach it on the bottom. Arsebiscuits. Need to take it off and get out my lump hammer again motherfucker.

 

 

Will show the wing back on when it does not look so shit.

[TimothyClaypole]

NC - You are not on the "gravy train" at the company I suspect.

 

It's the same where I am.

 

I was 60 seconds late once, I was reminded about it twice the same day, "I hope it won't happen again etc etc".

 

The Long Haired Freak who works behind me was carted away in an ambulance the other week with heart problems - he was swinging it wanting some time off and over acted, turned out to have a virus of some sort which was fair enough but

he still managed to move into a new house the same week he was off ill.

 

He was employee of the month last month which is just a joke.

 

 

So i was doing mine and his work while he sat at home tossing it off for 2 weeks then got moaned at for asking for 3 days off in June.

 

 

There's a set of people there that could go into the manager's office, slap her across the face then piss on her desk and she'd just laugh it off...

 

 

 

On an unrelated grump my flask of coffee managed to break inside my bag on the way to work which was very annoying, especially when it managed to drown everything else, new mobile phone, wallet etc.

[Negative Creep]

We also have to sign in, and if you're so much as 1 minute late you have to attend a lateness meeting and write down why you won't do it again. I've done it several times, not because I was late, but because I worked through the break (which you get told off for) and forgot to sign back in again. If you're 5-10 minutes late then fair enough, but there is zero flexibility

 

Naturally, none of the Managers who enforce the rules have to sign in

[dollywobbler]

Naturally, none of the Managers who enforce the rules have to sign in

 

P'raps not, but I've worked for plenty of companies where managers are 'expected' to work at least an hour after the plebs have gone home. Unpaid, naturally. There's something very f*cked up about a world where you can't go home at hometime for fear of being treated as work-shy. I've even spoken to some manages who said they would 'people manage' staff that didn't work beyond their hours as routine. Kind of why I like being self-employed! (though the pay is rubbish, but only because I refuse to work all hours of the day and night).

[Lankytim]

I thought there was some kind of euro law that said you could be up to 3 minutes late, incase theres a queue at the door or something.

 

I used to get harassed for coming in bang on time "its expected you get in 20 mins early so you are ready to start work at the correct time" Fuck off, if i'm not getting paid then i'm uninsured (bollox I think but they swallowed it). As you say some can openly flaunt the rules and get away scott free, which is annoying.

[Albert Ross]

Interesting. Where I work, we recently changed our keyholder status. I am now a keyholder..... (idiots) but I get the best job. Unlocking. No responsibility except to report anything that looks incorrect.... I get in at around 06:45, and don't officially start work until 08:30. Stupid? Nah. I am first in the staff car park (I get the best space) I get a cuppa, read the paper, get the heaters on in the workshop, and start the first MOT of the day at 07:30 (used car stock). My assistant arrives at 07:50 or thereabouts, and I finish the test around 08:15 or so. There's an hour's overtime right there. I then work through till 5, with a lunch break, and then do another internal MOT at 5pm. Oh, another hour's overtime! So 2 hours a day, just for turning up. No night time callouts either... And because I have an electronic pass key, I am registered on site by the alarm system, therefore insured, as long as I have my safety footwear on!

[cobblers]

I used to get this bollocks at 'frauds. I'd be 30-45 minutes early almost every day so I could have a brew and get settled before we opened the shop at 9. Then one day out of maybe 3 months I turn up exactly on time and get my ear chewed by the manager cos "he needed me to get a couple of bikes ready for 9am" or some bullshit like that.

 

They tried making me a keyholder and offered it me like it was a "promotion". With no extra pay. I lived closest too, so I'd be first on the alarm call list, which used to go off about once or twice a month for no reason. Fuck that noise.

 

I would quite fancy Alberts deal though!

[Guest]

If it wasn't for flexitime I'd have been fired years ago, I generally do 10-6.

 

Ultimately though, I find it a bit frustrating that it's a medical fact that some people are hard-wired to get up later, yet the system is skewed in favour of people who get up early and want to go home at 3pm-ish. For some reason if you turn up at the instant the building opens, you're like Christmas, regardless of whether you're any good at your job.

[M'coli]

I've found that managers never like to let medical facts interfere with their personal agendas.

[Cavcraft]

In my last job I was always first in and was never late in 8 years of working there. However due to some people who couldn't get up in time every four weeks during our busiest time the boss would call a morning meeting to discuss lateness. Farking ace, that meant an hour or two later getting back to the depot in the evening. Pleas to the boss fell on death ears because 'everyone has to know and I can't leave people out as we can't do that.'

[Negative Creep]

Well after nearly 45 minutes I've been given a verbal warning. Everyone agreed it was completely pointless, but it made a few people in HR feel important. Surprised they waited until 14:00 to do it, seeing as they always fuck off early for the weekend.

 

I have noticed that on the "evidence" they sent me, it includes a screenshot of all the customer details. Pretty sure that's a breach of DPA.............

[messerschmitt owner]

this is the 20001 reply to grumpy old man - that makes me happy!

[Lankytim]

Surely when they pull you in for a verbal warning the first thing you should say is "where's my rep/buddy/solicitor" Tell them that you are entitled to someone to go in with you but they are not available for another week. Usually the verbal warning dissapears! (or instantly gets bumped up to a final warning)

[Cheggers]

I'm loving the 944, but who the heck decided to build the radio aerial into the windscreen...even with an in-line signal booster, reception is absolutely shite.

[Guest]

I had to go to some disciplinary nonsense two years back and their rules were that it must be a union rep or colleague. I told them I'm not in the union as I disagree with their political affiliations and no colleague would be stupid enough to turn up to one of these and make themselves a target for the rest of their career. Therefore I wanted to take my dad as a legal aide (he knows workplace law inside-out as he's chaired hundreds of similar meetings). They refused, so I was to attend alone. I waited for the date, parked the 626 in the managers car park (for the laugh) and strolled in.

 

Chair: "Did you intend on bringing anyone else to the meeting?"

Me: "I did, but she refused it" (points at HR woman)

Chair: "Is that true?"

HR Bint: "Err, well, err, the rules say that you can only bring a union rep, or a colleague unless it's at Stage 2"

Me: "So you refused it"

HR BInt: "I didn't refuse it"

Me: "Great, I'll ring him now"

Chair and HR Bint: "You can't do that"

Me: "So you've refused it"

HR Bint: "It's not refused as such"

Me: (incredulous) "What have you done then?? I seriously think we should have a transcript of all this"

HR Bint: "That can't be done until Stage 2 appeal"

Me: "So what's the point of this then?"

Chair: "This is to determine what happened, it isn't really important at this stage"

Me: "It must be important, the letter you sent me said you were going to fire me for gross misconduct. Is that when I get the Stage 2 appeal?"

HR Bint: "Yes, that's when it moves to the Stage 2 appeal"

Me: "So you have to fire me before you'll let me have any kind of legal representation whatsoever?"

 

Then they just sort of looked at each other and moved on. In this case I was fed up to the point where I couldn't care less if I was fired or not and had an inch-thick binder of evidence against them (purely out of spite for the incompetence in how the whole thing was handled) and kept specifically pushing them to proceed with the disciplinary so I could put in my Stage 2 appeal by return, wherein I'd have proper legal representation, an expert witness, full transcripts, etc. In the end they did some strange arse-covering exercise where I was to receive a verbal warning and be made to work an unspecified amount of time back (quite a drop from the original "you're definitely getting fired"). The chair then actually took me to one side and told me that an appeal against a verbal warning would be pointless as it'd only come back to the same decision (his words, not mine). I told him that I'd be doing the appeal regardless on receipt of the documents and that I was looking forward to having the matter dealt with through the proper legal channels. The end result was that I heard nothing about it ever again, didn't work any time back and nothing was officially recorded against me. SUCK ON THAT

[Pete-M]

"How to deal with HR droids", by D. Hirst Esq. should be required reading for anyone who has to deal with HR knob heads.

[eddyramrod]

"How to deal with HR droids", by D. Hirst Esq. should be required reading for HR knob heads.

 

EFA! It's slightly possible that they might begin to treat employees like humans after such a read. [/hopeless optimist]

[ashmicro]

That's quality Hirst. Well played Sir!