The grumpy thread

[Guest]

I envy the fact that you seem to like your job.

 

I have never liked any job I've worked in.

[messerschmitt owner]

 

I have never liked any job I've worked in.

some people are not cut out for work - that is why self employment exists!

[M'coli]

It can happen Jon; I've done some crap jobs, and had one particularly bad one for far too long that I still try not to have nightmares about - there's always something in the dream about it to remind me that I no longer work there - but I fear the day that there is nothing in that dream that tells me it's now behind me...

I hope the day comes when you will find the job that you enjoy; and perhaps, like me, when I first found this particular job - it wasn't hugely paid, but it was enjoyable - you'll find yourself laughing to yourself whilst on the way to work because you're on the way to a job that makes you happy. It was a stunning May morning in 1999 when this happened to me!

[dollywobbler]

I've had a right mix of jobs. Shit office jobs can often be a lot of fun if you luck into a good team of people. A crap job can still be a good job and a decent team of folks mean you don't wake up with that fear of dread in the morning. I've had that feeling many times! I wasn't very good at choosing jobs and at one stage went through about ten in two years. Two jobs left me with so much dread that I simply didn't go back after four days. One of those was working at Mr Clutch (where all I learnt was how to make tea and how to f*ck people's cars up, and also what happens if you own a Ford Sierra, smoke, miss the ashtray but just don't give a shit. New boy got the job of driving that one onto the ramp!). That job was a real eye opener, both in how crap some companies can be to work for, and how appallingly some people treat cars. Owners and 'mechanics' both...

[CIH]

I envy the fact that you seem to like your job.

 

I have never liked any job I've worked in.

 

No, me neither and I'm getting bloody sick of it, too. That and the shit money, shit hours, knobheads I have to be around etc.

[trigger]

If it is that one, I'd have a go myself, that's lovely!

 

I'm starting to lose a bit of interest in that Magnum now, The seller still hasn't responded to my offer of £1650 so I don't know where i stand, but she did reply to a email i sent asking about it's condition and weither it would make the 200 mile drove home ok:

 

Hi there! I have never really done any long mileage runs in the vehicle and it's mainly been stood through summer with an occasional run out to keep things moving. I myself would not be confident of driving it over that mileage . It would be better to transport it. Cheers

 

It's starting to sound like grief, plus i spoke to my old man about it and he has a great habit of filling my head full of doubt, hence why I've still not bought anything!.

 

I'm still very tempted by the red Mk5 Cortina near me, It needs taxing and the mot is short but it is a nice car, It's up for £1800, I've offered £1300 but the sellers made a counter offer of £1500, I'm hanging tight in hope he'll drop a bit more...

[Felly Magic]

Triggsy, go pop round to OldFord's workplace in town, have a word in his shell like, and ask nicely if he will give that Clacton Tina a once over. He knows Cortinas like the back of his hand. Could be a handy bargaining tool.

[retrogeezer]

I gotta say Trig that after looking at the pics of the Magnum it looks like a rusty car that has been tarted up in the past and will need work again soon.

 

This looks like bubbling up filler work:

 

 

And this looks like poor preparation before a respray:

 

 

I doubt it would have original paintwork that good on the wings and scuttle with rust like that under the bonnet.

[Guest]

If that Magnum is still around in a week Trig, I can get MM5 and give it the once over if you like. Congleton really isn't for me - and I know of various regulars on here that are even closer than I am.

 

Anyway, I've had time to reflect on the past year, namely how my lovely ex-job fell apart on NYE. I decided to type out exactly where I thought the points of contention were. I've muddied it up a bit, and changed names and locations where appropriate, but it's helped put the experience behind me.

 

Here's some numbered points:

 

1. Derek* would change my rota in his head, and then fail to inform the deputy managers \ call me to tell the rota had changed \ change it on the paper rota that went up every week. He did this to me a number of times and I kept getting a bollocking for turning up x number of hours 'late', when the rotas showed a standard shift. All attempts to try and sound him out on this failed.

 

2. A customer claims I swore at them. No. This never happened. What happened was that I could barely stand after two all nighters putting a piece of coursework back together after it corrupted, and said customer handed me a lottery ticket that the machine chewed to pieces in front of a rapidly building queue. I was alone on the till, couldn't get it out and swore quietly under my breath. How this amounts to swearing at someone directly when I wasn't even making eye contact with the bloke is beyond me. First I knew something was up was when he shoved a business card at a colleague, claimed I was the rudest person on the planet and that he'd never shop with 'us' again, because of what I supposedly said. Derek* said he had to deal with it. Nice of you to take his word over mine. Very compassionate.

 

3. Derek* never, ever, ever, ever had a nice word to say. You'd say hello and 90% of the time he would blank you. If you were really lucky he'd grunt. He would stand over you at the till in such a way your concentration would break and you would make mistakes. If he ever spoke, it was to critcise or to tell you were doing something wrong, despite telling you in no uncertain terms the previous day that [a particular way of doing something] was the absolute and perfect way of getting something done, because that's how he liked it done.

 

4. Apparently, Derek's* main problem with me was that I talked to customers too much. Of course. Derek* and everyone else could make polite conversation with regulars, but I was absolutely VERBOTEN. Dunno, perhaps some imaginary swearing went on when I wasn't in the room or something.

 

5. Money off coupons. Derek* SCREAMED at me on NYE because I marked the price of some discounted crisps on a coupon handed in. I did this because several months earlier, he'd told me to do this on every coupon handed in. Guess what! He changed his mind and decided I was wrong. We were getting lots of money off coupons and I was putting them in the bag he told me to put them in. When he took one and went to put it in the till, I told him one was there already, and he snapped, claiming I'd left them in the wrong place. OK Derek*, whatever you say.

 

I could go on but it's academic now. All I can say is, deciding to let me go on NYE is colder than cold, and completely unfair. I hadn't planned on staying much longer than January anyway, and writing my notice there and then was the only way of keeping things above board formally speaking.

I won't forget how he spoke to me in a hurry, and I don't think of myself as easily offended. I don't normally wish someone badly either, despite what people may think. I'll make Derek the exception. I hope Tesco build a new superstore nearby and run him out of business. Yes, I just wished poverty on someone.

 

Whenever the unit needs supplies, I will bypass his little tin pot two bit shack and purposely travel elsewhere. I'm looking forward to getting my P45 so this sorry little episode is over and done with.

 

And breathe.

 

*Not his real name.

[eddyramrod]

I've had one like that*, Jon. There's nothing you can do except what you did: keep your head down until such time as you can escape. Trouble is, these are the very management types that are so good at licking the boots of those above them, who never bother to look at the staff turnover rates, or ask the sharp-end staff for opinions. So the real people, like you and me, just keep going from job to job, never building up a pension, never working anywhere long enough for continuity. It's a bummer.

 

Better luck next time.

 

*Come to think of it: several, in different degrees.

[trigger]

*Derek sounds like a complete twat with a real problem with people, I've worked with his kind before and there's nothing more soul degrading that having to put up with arseholes like that, You done the best think leaving as it only drags you down in the end and makes you depressed.

 

If that Magnum is still around in a week Trig, I can get MM5 and give it the once over if you like. Congleton really isn't for me - and I know of various regulars on here that are even closer than I am.

 

Thanks for the offer Wat but my offer on the car as now ran out so it's been too long and as the vendor doesn't come across as wanting to sell the car then I've decided that I'm out.

 

I've spend the last 30 minutes with my finger over the make offer button of this still http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0817858868 I was thinking £1400 seeing that I'll need to tax it and the MOT's only March, He's already offered it to me for £1500 but i want better.

[Mr H Sceptre]

Most Citizen's Advice Bureaus (Bureaux??) have an Employment Law specialist, you could get some free advice and would represent you at any tribunal, again, for nothing.....

[autofive]

I've spend the last 30 minutes with my finger over the make offer button of this still http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0817858868 I was thinking £1400 seeing that I'll need to tax it and the MOT's only March, He's already offered it to me for £1500 but i want better.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320789412584

 

made 1470 last time out

[trigger]

It also made £1650 after that as well but I think that was shill bidding as it finished at £1650, It sounds like the twats chaved it up a bit and i guarantee that he's bought it cheap in the first place which put me off.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Most Citizen's Advice Bureaus (Bureaux??) have an Employment Law specialist, you could get some free advice and would represent you at any tribunal, again, for nothing.....

 

Yes, but the law makes it all but impossible to get anything out of it unless you had been working somewhere for a year. What's ridiculous is that there are plans afoot to increase that to two years. Might as well say "only public sector employees are entitled to protection from unfair dismissal" and be done with it (and no, this is not a rant against the public sector- it's just that job mobility is a lot higher in the private sector).

[Cavcraft]

Knobhead mails me about the 106.

 

'I'll give you £280 for the car as I'm a mechanic and I know the exhaust will cost £100'.

 

'I've just ordered one and it was £40. It'll be here later this week.

 

'How much then with enough fuel in it to get me home?'

 

£325 as that covers everything, bearing in mind you offered me £280.

 

'I don't want it, it's too expensive I can get a mint Mk4 Golf with no rust, half a tank of fuel and a long MOT for £300'.

 

I can't understand how you don't want it as it's now cheaper than you though as you said the exhaust was going to cost you £100. Go and buy the Golf.

 

Obviously I've blocked him now. What a fucking moron

[TimothyClaypole]

I assume he's planning on using his chosen car as a shed if he can only get it home if there's enough fuel in the one he buys...

[Lord Sterling]

Sadly there are a alot of Derek Dickheads in higher positions today who are still continuing to lick the arses of those above them despite being overloaded with stress by those they are licking, which they usually take it out on us shop-floor workers.

 

Personally I use the direct approach, its not always right but it has in the past got these twats off my back for a bit. I ask (or tell) them politly but firmly to lay off, and whilst I respect thier authority, thier authority has restrictions within the confines of the workplace, not outside. Should this not work I usually approach those above them until I reach a solution I'm happy with. Again I'm firm but fair, reminding eveyone that I am here to work, not be pushed around.

 

Unfortunately alot of us have crap jobs, certainly me, I dont like my job but the people I work with make it just that little bit more bearable.

[AnthonyG]

I must say I've been quite lucky with jobs, maybe that's because I worked in different types of libraries quite a few times, and no alpha male or female wants to stick around a library too long .

 

PS. The last Indiana Jones film really is f**king terrible, and I speak as one who watched 'Transformers' last night. Its all CGI shite, and we haven't even got to the bit where he survives a atom bomb test by hiding in a fridge. Still it has got Cate Blanchett in a tight uniform....

[garycox]

I've spend the last 30 minutes with my finger over the make offer button of this still http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0817858868 I was thinking £1400 seeing that I'll need to tax it and the MOT's only March, He's already offered it to me for £1500 but i want better.

 

Has he still got the original wheels? Could you get it cheaper without those horrible ones?

 

If not at least you could sell them afterwards and get a bit back...

[maxpower]

Wat you must have the patience of a saint, if that had been me then "docile derek" would have been picking his teeth out of the cash register after i had tried to shove it right down his fuggin throat.

 

though i don't agree violence sorts anything.... derek sounds the exception

[trigger]

It might have been a bit windy today!

 

[ashmicro]

. I read somewhere that Felixstowe is closed to trucks.

[trigger]

It's quite common for the place to close once wind hits over 45 mph crane high, Most people moan saying how can a place like that this day and age close because of a spot of wind, ^ that is the reason why, where those boxes are laying is were a lorry would be parked normally.

 

Even if they are empty they will still weight 4 tons each, you wouldn't want one to land on your foot...

[chaseracer]

Most Citizen's Advice Bureaus (Bureaux??) have an Employment Law specialist, you could get some free advice and would represent you at any tribunal, again, for nothing.....

 

Yes, but the law makes it all but impossible to get anything out of it unless you had been working somewhere for a year. What's ridiculous is that there are plans afoot to increase that to two years.

True - from April.

 

Might as well say "only public sector employees are entitled to protection from unfair dismissal" and be done with it (and no, this is not a rant against the public sector- it's just that job mobility is a lot higher in the private sector).

FFS, would you care to hammer a smaller - yet equally sweepingly ignorant - generalisation over that?! And there's a lot of job mobility OUT of public services right now - all those nurses, teaching assistants, coppers & lollipop ladies who caused the collapse of the economy are finally getting what they deserve...

[ProgRocker]

Trouble is, these are the very management types that are so good at licking the boots of those above them, who never bother to look at the staff turnover rates, or ask the sharp-end staff for opinions. So the real people, like you and me, just keep going from job to job, never building up a pension, never working anywhere long enough for continuity. It's a bummer.

 

Sounds familiar.

 

Since I left full time education in early 2000 I have had... *jots down former employers on a scrap of paper* ...17 - Bloody SEVENTEEN - employers! These include permanent jobs and agency temp jobs. That includes one that lasted just for one day as I had a better paying agency job to go to after the weekend. And at school I always thought I would be one of those people who would only have a few jobs throughout his working life.

 

I currently work on a checkout for a well known supermarket advertised by Andrew Flintoff. Reluctant to join their pension scheme as I am constantly looking for another job that pays more and allows me to exercise my brain a bit more. I am paying into a stakeholder pension scheme.

 

My CV makes me look like a very unsettled to have working for them. I don't put all 17 of those employers on them of course, just the ones where I have worked for a reasonable length of time. On the contrary, I am a very conscientious and reliable worker who is quick to learn. Plus I haven't yet had a day of sick in my current employment in 13 months.

 

Have done a few temp jobs that had a very good work environments but these are the ones that didn't need extra permanent staff, sadly.

[Guest]

According to my CV I haven't worked since September 2010. AFAIC I haven't.

[eddyramrod]

WARNING: HUGE POST INCLUDING MAJOR PERSONAL RANT!

(So that you can scroll down to the next post if you prefer; I wouldn't blame you.)

 

Money. I hate the fucking stuff with a passion, mostly because I know it's not possible to live without it. What follows is a straight lift from my current ad running on a local expat forum (CyprusLiving, if anyone's interested).

Xbox games, now only 5 Euros each!

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

Halo 2

Crimson Skies

Conflict: Desert Storm 2

FIFA Football 2005

Manhunt

XIII

Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne

Rocky Legends

NB: these are for the original Xbox, not 360.

 

Some furniture:

A whole bedroom set! 4 poster double bed, black steel, with lightweight curtains; 4 shelf unit (top shelf in glass); pair of bedside tables; pair of hanging storage units. All co-ordinating. Mattress included if you wish.

300 EUROS FOR THE SET.

 

1999 DFS sofas in Willow (pale green) leather: 3 seater, 2 seater and pouffe. Was 300 euros the set. NOW ONLY 250 EUROS

Fold-out bed/settees, three of; 25/50/100 euros.

Patio tables, one folding/one fixed, 10 euros each.

(Fixed table shown)

Inflatable swimming pool, 15 ft diameter, with cover, groundcloth, filter pump, stepladder and inflator, all new here 2009, was 90 euros. REDUCED AGAIN, NOW 65 EUROS

Swing seat, new 2009, was 50 euros, NOW ONLY 40 EUROS.

Dining table and 6 chairs, metal/wood, was 75 euros. NOW ONLY 65 EUROS

Wicker chair, 15 euros.

 

TV: LG 42", new in 2009, complete with remote. 200 euros.

Cabinet, metal frame, frosted glass doors, 100 euros.

 

My cars:

1972 Ford Granada, was 11,000 euros NOW ONLY 9,750 EUROS

Built May 1972, registered here September 72, now registered as "Antika." Tax, MoT. 2500 V6 with manual gearbox, GXL trim. 5 new whitewall tyres. Some spares. Restored several years ago including replacement correct engine, and respray in original Miami Blue metallic. Drive the only Mk1 on the road in Paphos! Will include your first year's membership of Paphos Classic Vehicle Club.

 

2002 Vauxhall Brava was 3,750 euros NOW ONLY 3,600 EUROS

UK import 2008. 2.5 turbo diesel, 2WD, Truckman top, alloy wheels plus original steels, towbar, CD radio. Tax, MoT, engine rebuilt 2010 with new liners and recon turbo. Comfortable and capable. (Will consider cheap part-exchange on this vehicle.)

 

Also: a whole new hobby for you! Restoration project: 1966 Austin A40 Countryman, stripped for restoration, many new or reconditioned parts (none fitted). Cash offers invited. Will include your first year's membership of Paphos Classic Vehicle Club.

 

All prices ovno; please call 99009826. All items located in Mesogi, just off Polis Road. (End of ad.)

 

FFS, selling the bed and the telly?????? Times are tough. Those prices above are all straight losses, some of them violent. I know the classics are in a small and specialised market, but the pickup? It's ridiculously cheap for what it is and where it is, I can't believe I still have it.

Mrs R is on Facebook all the time, telling her family and "friends" how badly we're doing, how short of cash we are; consensus it that it's all my fault for dragging her to Cyprus and promptly spending all the proceeds of our house on the World's Greatest Evil, "classic cars."

Nobody notices that it was the other way round, I came here because she chose it.

Nobody notices that I'm not in the betting shop and the pub all day every day, like many men including her first husband.

Nobody notices that I'm single-handedly looking after an invalid (although, ok, she is getting better and better all the time) and a bunch of pets.

Nobody notices that I've been trying to get a job for over two years, even applying for rampantly unsuitable things just to get some money in (with zero success).

Nobody notices that every cent I've spent on classic cars since we came here would have been a drop in the ocean compared to buying some new hatchback, and the classics have made friends for me that the hatchback wouldn't.

Nobody notices that medical care here costs money, even in the cheap-and-shitty General Hospital. MRI scan, 500 euros; that's a month of rent. Multiple neurologist visits, 80+ each. Even going to your GP costs 35 a time. And medication has to be bought over the counter too.

Nobody notices that in moving to a bigger house, with a swimming pool, we actually moved to a cheaper house! Even with the cost of pool maintenance, we're still nearly 100 euros a month up compared to where we were.

Nobody notices that we spent half the funds we had buying a house in Barrow-in-Furness to provide an income, doing it up and furnishing it. And got thoroughly shafted on exchange rates because of the timing of our transfers.

Nobody notices any of this shit. Oh no, it's just my fault, simple as that.

We've had visits in the last six months from her sister (husband ex-RAF, earning more per hour than I'll ever see and stacking up pensions too); her son (Royal Navy submariner) and daughter (ex-RAF but loaded with mortgages and two young children). I know they all know how we are fixed, as they bombard me with advice, most of which is "move back to UK immediately." Advice doesn't cost them anything. It's exactly zero help of course, in fact counter-productive, but does anyone send a few euros, which would help? Do they fuck.

 

I am NOT the thieving thicko they seem to think I am. I understand that we made a big mistake coming here. I understand that we now need to retreat. Flights cost money. So does a container. So does rent in the meantime. And food, and fuel. The income from our house in Barrow doesn't cover it.

 

I have to flog everything. I have to re-home the pets, on an island with a massive animal-homing problem. I have to find homes for 4 new puppies. I'm doing everything I can think of, short of robbing a bank, to keep us alive here, and none of it is working. All that happens is I feel like I'm drowning.

 

It all boils down to money. I hate the fucking stuff, with a passion I normally reserve for football and politics.

 

...And breathe, if that's still free.

 

Oh yeah, and my R key is playing silly buggers too. Almost every time I use it, I have to go back over what I've typed and specifically add an r here and there. Usually that reads "hee and thee" and I almost do "from" automatically now, I'm so used to seeing "fom." Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

 

There's a moral here. Don't move abroad until you're a multi-millionaire.

 

OK, rant over, you can ignore me now. Apologies if I've depressed anyone, but you just have to share sometimes.

[autofive]

just been to weigh-in non-ferrous this morning, now (a trial scheme in the north east) no one can weigh-in without a passport or driving license, and they have to show them each time they weigh in.

 

so, i came away empty handed, i have to go back tomorrow with the required I.D. before collecting payment.

 

all the staff are moaning that theres nothing coming in, and job losses are in the wind

[dollywobbler]

Given the issues with cars/railway/power station metal being weighed in very merrily, I struggle to sympathise with that one A5. If there's no money for legit scrap metal, then it just proves that the trade has been enjoying the influx of stolen property so again, hard cheese really.

 

My grump is the fact that I'm bloody useless today. I scraped the minibus on a wall first thing, then clobbered a door mirror in exactly the same place when I came back. Just stupid errors, thankfully without much damage. I don't really understand how I've forgotten how to drive.