Or lack of a job, I guess.

I'm having a day. I am in a mood. I am confrontational and the bullshit from our head office is not helping.

I'm on a job with a customer who is not happy with us. I've been hearing for weeks that this job needs to go smoothly and we need to keep this customer happy. They're one we can't afford to lose because we want future business with them. Obviously.

Ok, no problem. I'm the man for the job. People like me and I do what I do well (or well enough, anyway).

Yesterday said customer came to me and said they fucked up. They thought they had enough parts to complete the job but they miscounted and are now short six parts. This job needs to be done by Friday and getting parts can be somewhat difficult, but these are parts that everyone should have in stock and I said "no problem."

(keep in mind that where I work is considered "remote" despite being a a city, our main office is a 4 1/2 hour drive away, and for some reason they won't let me keep stock out here even though I've begged them and this problem has come up on previous jobs).

I made some calls, got things in motion, got the guy who is supposed to request the parts to request the parts, then was told this morning that the parts were on a plane and would be here tomorrow. Woo! Go team. Let's get this shit done.

I get an email an hour ago saying that the order cannot be entered today and the parts will not be delivered until next Tuesday.

After some gentle inquiring I found out that "there is too much work to be done and too many internal issues to enter the order today to ensure the parts arrive by Friday."

Cue the polite work version of a "WHAT THE FUCK?" email from me.

I let it known to several administrators, sales guys and my supervisor that this could all have been easily avoided had I been provided with the stock I've been requesting for months now, and that since I am a good employee who does not air dirty laundry in front of customers, I now have to inform them that there's no way we can get the parts here by Friday and that I have no excuse or reason as to why.

No response yet.

So how's your day going?

Yep, people are the worst!
I am like you RT, if we have a customer down... We get them going as fast as possible.
I will work through the night, get parts dropped off at the airport by taxi etc.
So many people talk about caring, very few actually willing to get off their butt's and do something.

For what it's worth I admire you for taking the fall.
One of my (many) pet hates is workers who throw their company under the bus to make themselves look good.

Nov 28, 2018 18:45:24 GMT RT said:

Or lack of a job, I guess.

I'm having a day. I am in a mood. I am confrontational and the bullshit from our head office is not helping.

I'm on a job with a customer who is not happy with us. I've been hearing for weeks that this job needs to go smoothly and we need to keep this customer happy. They're one we can't afford to lose because we want future business with them. Obviously.

Ok, no problem. I'm the man for the job. People like me and I do what I do well (or well enough, anyway).

Yesterday said customer came to me and said they fucked up. They thought they had enough parts to complete the job but they miscounted and are now short six parts. This job needs to be done by Friday and getting parts can be somewhat difficult, but these are parts that everyone should have in stock and I said "no problem."

(keep in mind that where I work is considered "remote" despite being a a city, our main office is a 4 1/2 hour drive away, and for some reason they won't let me keep stock out here even though I've begged them and this problem has come up on previous jobs).

I made some calls, got things in motion, got the guy who is supposed to request the parts to request the parts, then was told this morning that the parts were on a plane and would be here tomorrow. Woo! Go team. Let's get this shit done.

I get an email an hour ago saying that the order cannot be entered today and the parts will not be delivered until next Tuesday.

After some gentle inquiring I found out that "there is too much work to be done and too many internal issues to enter the order today to ensure the parts arrive by Friday."

Cue the polite work version of a "WHAT THE FUCK?" email from me.

I let it known to several administrators, sales guys and my supervisor that this could all have been easily avoided had I been provided with the stock I've been requesting for months now, and that since I am a good employee who does not air dirty laundry in front of customers, I now have to inform them that there's no way we can get the parts here by Friday and that I have no excuse or reason as to why.

No response yet.

So how's your day going?

Your company sounds a lot like my company, which further my theory that all corporations are the same, especially once they hit a certain size/bloat point.

There really aren't enough episodes of The Office, Office Space, etc. out there to cathartically binge watch.

"Or lack of a job"

Really thought the story was gonna take a different turn. Glad you're still employed.

<_< Hope there's no dark update coming.

I'm extremely greatful to have learned my trade and to have the freedom I do, every day at work its like an episode of Lonesome Dove, I feel like Tommy Lee Jones. I always save money all through the Summer and Fall to survive through the winter because everything kinda shuts down around here from Thanksgiving until income tax time in February. Been really fortunate these last couple years, I JUST started a house today that is going to make me a lot of money over the next month or so, out in the woods in the middle of nowhere and I got both of my little bros back working with me(for the first time in like 4 years) so I'm feeling pretty happy and thankful for what I got right now.

I've been at my new job for a year now. The bosses are unknowledgable in my department, some of my colleagues on the opposite shift are absolutely toxic people, and I fully believe this mine will reduce my position in 5 or 10 years due to automation; but I'll land on my feet somewhere else and all will be fine. Also, I will have doubled my annual salaray from my previous job. So who fuckin cares about all that other noise.

RT, do you get paid well? If yes, who cares. If no, I hope you're networking. Don't wait until you're out of work or burnt out to find a better job.

I do get paid well, but the reason I care is simples: shit runs downhill.

I go to a job site and look foolish because I can't get parts. The guys on site know that it isn't my fault, but what do their bosses think when a job runs past the deadline because of a dumb hold up such as our company not being able to supply some common parts that should be in stock? They think the company is incompetent and are going to remember that next time a new job comes up.

There's a lot of competition in my industry, like pretty much any other industry. Little things like that stack up and it eventually adds up to not getting that next big contract. They say "Well the last 3 jobs we did with them, something held us up. Remember when they couldn't get a half dozen fucking parts for a week that should have been in stock?"

So now our sales numbers are down for the year and sales goals aren't being met. This grabs the attention of head office and some faceless douche starts paying attention to numbers out in interior British Columbia from out in Toronto. He doesn't know anyone involved, or why we're in this situation, or even bother to investigate because fuck that. He just sees numbers, and those numbers are affecting his annual bonus. He doesn't like that.

This goes on for a while and the jobs we do get are now trying to maximize profits. More things go wrong because of external pressure, pushing up deadlines, not allotting for overtime, etc etc. Now it REALLY looks like interior BC is struggling.

Faceless douche says to himself "well why are we even employing people in the interior? There's a huge office in Vancouver with tons of techs, and the interior is a 4-hour drive. I do a 2-hour commute to work EVERY MORNING here in Toronto! They can live out there a week at a time when jobs come up."

The guy above him says "Johnson, you're a fucking genius. That'll save us hundreds of thousands of dollars a year! That's why I let you fuck my daughter."

So they close the office. They don't care about the 10 people they just laid off. Fuck them. They also don't care that now Vancouver is under added stress because they're saving money and that makes the people above them happy.

Two years later a boom hits the interior and they go "oh shit, we don't have enough employees out there. We'd better hire a few to cover." and the cycle repeats.

...

This literally just happened to me last August and is why I moved out to BC this year. I have a much better job that pays better, we have far more business than we had in Saskastoon, so things are pretty good. But I'm not about to sit around and find myself in the same position in a couple years because all our business dropped off because some fuck head in Vancouver couldn't send me stock.

Here's my recent life history: Got a PhD mid 2016. Took a break for six months. The last two years have been spent job hunting, volunteering at a bookshop, and doing some programming work in my spare time to improve employability. Being unemployed has its perks, the main one being not having to go to work, but the longer one is unemployed, the more it sucks. As time passed, and with each rejection, my self-esteem fell lower and lower. I wouldn't say I ever reached a state of clinical depression, but it affected my overall mood and behaviour. I avoided talking to some of my friends and attending social events because I didn't want to have the "what are you up to now?" "still looking for a job lol" conversation and inevitable pity party that followed. On the plus side, I wasn't so self-conscious around my close online friends, so I kept regular contact with them. My family (with whom I am living) aren't judgmental in the slightest and never badgered me or asked me about getting a job, even when I had long breaks between interviews. They are awesome. Also on the plus side, I had more time to study chess and play chess and I'm getting really freakin' good now.

The happy end to this story is that one week ago I got a job. Starting on December 17th. Yay for me.

RT, so you've moved to the okanagan from tronna? I thought you hated your okanagan time?

All the things you said describe bureaucracy. It seems like the amount you move around maybe you cant handle working for other people.

Nov 29, 2018 16:55:12 GMT RT said:

I do get paid well, but the reason I care is simples: shit runs downhill.

I go to a job site and look foolish because I can't get parts. The guys on site know that it isn't my fault, but what do their bosses think when a job runs past the deadline because of a dumb hold up such as our company not being able to supply some common parts that should be in stock? They think the company is incompetent and are going to remember that next time a new job comes up.

There's a lot of competition in my industry, like pretty much any other industry. Little things like that stack up and it eventually adds up to not getting that next big contract. They say "Well the last 3 jobs we did with them, something held us up. Remember when they couldn't get a half dozen fucking parts for a week that should have been in stock?"

So now our sales numbers are down for the year and sales goals aren't being met. This grabs the attention of head office and some faceless douche starts paying attention to numbers out in interior British Columbia from out in Toronto. He doesn't know anyone involved, or why we're in this situation, or even bother to investigate because fuck that. He just sees numbers, and those numbers are affecting his annual bonus. He doesn't like that.

This goes on for a while and the jobs we do get are now trying to maximize profits. More things go wrong because of external pressure, pushing up deadlines, not allotting for overtime, etc etc. Now it REALLY looks like interior BC is struggling.

Faceless douche says to himself "well why are we even employing people in the interior? There's a huge office in Vancouver with tons of techs, and the interior is a 4-hour drive. I do a 2-hour commute to work EVERY MORNING here in Toronto! They can live out there a week at a time when jobs come up."

The guy above him says "Johnson, you're a fucking genius. That'll save us hundreds of thousands of dollars a year! That's why I let you fuck my daughter."

So they close the office. They don't care about the 10 people they just laid off. Fuck them. They also don't care that now Vancouver is under added stress because they're saving money and that makes the people above them happy.

Two years later a boom hits the interior and they go "oh shit, we don't have enough employees out there. We'd better hire a few to cover." and the cycle repeats.

...

This literally just happened to me last August and is why I moved out to BC this year. I have a much better job that pays better, we have far more business than we had in Saskastoon, so things are pretty good. But I'm not about to sit around and find myself in the same position in a couple years because all our business dropped off because some fuck head in Vancouver couldn't send me stock.

Preach it RT!

As most of you know I'm a buyer for a busy Oil & Gas company.  Yes, I know...boo hiss,  O&G is the devil, death to tar sands and all that.  Whatever, it pays my bills and I like the work. 

What I don't like is being owned by a big US engineering corporation that thinks a construction company can run like them.  They basically bought us because the company that used to own us had US military contracts they wanted and we came along for the ride.  They have made ZERO qualms they didn't want us and have pretty much done everything to kill us off (at least it feels like it).  They put us on the same system as them even though we told them it wouldn't work for what we do.  They said 'we made 100 purchase orders in 40 days so it'll work fine'.  For clarity, I do 100 purchase orders in 2 days on my own.  A year and a bit later after we've somewhat got the bugs ironed out, they are annoucing we're moving to yet another system because the one they moved us to didn't work for us.  Meanwhile, we've lost productivity, good people, our name is mud with our vendors because we went months without paying them because someone didn't realize that we had no money coming in because we weren't billing our clients.  Let's do it all over again!!!  How the VP of finance still has his job after this past year I have zero idea.  I mean how do you not know there is no money coming in?!

When I started 4 years ago there were 40 people in my division.  Now there are 6 of us.  Is there less work?  Maybe, hard to say because I'm still as busy as ever because they just keep laying people off and just expecting those left behind to pick up the slack...and we do (for the most part).  There have been things left behind because it's just not a priority until someone says 'hey how come we aren't getting contract pricing from Bob's Wholesale anymore' and realize that because of all the lay offs the people/person responsible for the vendor contracts is gone and therefore they've all lapsed. Why do I keep doing it?  To me failure is not an option.  Well it's an option but a shitty one.  So I'm going with the moderately succeeding but burning out option where I work from 6am-6pm, go home, eat (sometimes), then start up work again from 8pm until midnight all the while wondering when a heart attack or aneurysm is going to take me out.  I dream about work, get increasingly bitter and resentful, have started to get yelled at on a daily basis because even though I'm working like a dog I'm still behind.  Half of the company is being sold off and after all is said and done, I'm not even sure I'll have a job on either side in the New Year.  I mean, I think so, but I've been given no guarantees and our boss (who sits in another city) has pretty much left us to fend for ourselves.  Someone is still approving my time sheets (not him) so whatever. 

Why stay?  I like the people I work with.  I like my 10 minute drive.  I like that I can tell someone here to fuck off and no one gets all butt hurt like in most corporate settings.  Also, we are not the only company going through this, because as RT said it's a cycle.  Even though it seems things are picking up we are still in an economic slump so most companies are waiting to see if it's just a peak before they hire more people.  Also, job competition is fierce and sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't. 

Nov 30, 2018 0:43:08 GMT iron maiden said:

What I don't like is being owned by a big US engineering corporation that thinks a construction company can run like them.

Holy shit. This. This is my situation.

Except Italian ownership. Resisting transitioning power to the Japanese via the UK.

The US Executives are essentially powerless and thus don't give a fuck about anything.

And so a bad leadership vacuum exists where bullshit bureaucracy, irrelevant policy, flawed strategy, nonexistent decision-making, an status quo maintenance ferment and fester forever.

That’s one way to say you’re a cop. 🤯

RT, Seriously mate you need to start your own business, you are born for it and you care too much to put your blood, sweat and tears into anyone elses hands.

iron maiden, Nothing wrong with O&G anyone who disagrees is a hypocrite.

Nov 30, 2018 2:48:28 GMT KING KID said:

That’s one way to say you’re a cop. 🤯

Seriously...

More days than not, I regret turning down the police offer in Pittsburgh and the firefighter offer in DC.

I need you to remind me again that life is better NOT as a civil servant. Because otherwise regrets loom large.

Nov 30, 2018 5:09:56 GMT iNCY said:

RT, Seriously mate you need to start your own business, you are born for it and you care too much to put your blood, sweat and tears into anyone elses hands.

iron maiden, Nothing wrong with O&G anyone who disagrees is a hypocrite.

I wish I had the balls and energy and know-how to go about starting my own business. Any stories or tips from experience, iNCY? I'll always kinda look up to you as an aspirational inspiration for what working life (and life in general) could be like if I were to ever strike out on my own.

And ditto on there being nothing wrong with 0&G. I did a stint in the mining industry, and can attest that all the industries that form and feel America's infrastructure are so unfairly demonized. I would love for there to be one day a year where like all the companies in the power/energy industry shut down to make people appreciate what they have.

Nov 30, 2018 14:16:18 GMT 🤯 said:

Nov 30, 2018 2:48:28 GMT KING KID said:

That’s one way to say you’re a cop. 🤯

Seriously...

More days than not, I regret turning down the police offer in Pittsburgh and the firefighter offer in DC.

I need you to remind me again that life is better NOT as a civil servant. Because otherwise regrets loom large.

Nov 30, 2018 5:09:56 GMT iNCY said:

RT, Seriously mate you need to start your own business, you are born for it and you care too much to put your blood, sweat and tears into anyone elses hands.

iron maiden, Nothing wrong with O&G anyone who disagrees is a hypocrite.

I wish I had the balls and energy and know-how to go about starting my own business. Any stories or tips from experience, iNCY? I'll always kinda look up to you as an aspirational inspiration for what working life (and life in general) could be like if I were to ever strike out on my own.

And ditto on there being nothing wrong with 0&G. I did a stint in the mining industry, and can attest that all the industries that form and feel America's infrastructure are so unfairly demonized. I would love for there to be one day a year where like all the companies in the power/energy industry shut down to make people appreciate what they have.

I love it when big city folk, who use all the resources, complain about how mining and old and gas is bad for the environment, while they live in a world that uses so much of what we produce.

And even better when I catch wind of people complaining about peopke in this line of work being overpaid, just this month in a mine in bc there was a worksite death.

As you can imagine, Monday nights are pretty dead in bars so they just roster one person on, that person being me.

That is until the doorman let a group of 50 people on a Xmas party crawl in, so it was just me serving with the occasional help from the Pokies person when they weren’t busy. Plus, the Board of Directors & CEO came down, CEO asked me why the line was so long but he was actually understanding about it. Group Shouldn’t have been let in, in the first place but that’s definitely the busiest Monday I’ve ever worked.


Also tonight the Jeff Horn VS Anthony Mundine boxing match was being shown at my work tonight and management (along with many others) assumed that the 7:30 PPV start time = main event time, which all of us that know isn’t the case. The actual fight didn’t start till around 11:30 from memory. So that meant they didn’t roster accordingly, and almost every undercard fight went the distance

They had a new girl on bar close, no other bar staff rostered after 10pm and the supervisor and pokies attendant went home for some reason, so we were two people down. I’m almost always on close but I initially just had a rare short shift tonight, so I didn’t bother to eat before work, big mistake.

We had constant line ups, with half regular members who understand how to queue and half visitors who would try to jump a line of 30 people and expect to be served. We only had the 2 of us on at one point, and most of the time I had to make cocktails/coffee or sandwiches so that leaves 1 person serving the bar.

I ended up finishing at 12:35am as thankfully the fight was over in under 2 minutes, otherwise I probably would have been there til at least 2am.

The sample prep crew on my current shift is great. I spend the last 3 hours of my work day watching wrestling.

I work security at a library. Starting on January 2nd, 2019(date not firm but they hope to start it by then) The Library will begin mandatory Bag searches and wand scanning for all patrons who enter the library. The library has refused to hire any extra security claiming they do not have the “budget” for it. They claim they will agree to hire an extra guard for the “first few weeks” but nothing after that. That means that the entire bag search system must be done by the current 4 guards. Also 1 of the 4 guards is required to be on the Skywalk system at all times. This is because the Library has 2 different contracts. The City pays for the Skywalk guards and the Library pays for the other guards(2 Mourning shifts, 2 evening shifts, and 2 weekend shifts and a 2 supervisor positions). The City can be pretty strict when it comes to the Skywalk guard and have on several occasions filed complaints about not seeing “Their Guard” on Skywalk. This would leave 2 guards and the supervisor who have to deal with the bag searches. Also the library expects us to continue the building patrols, deal with any issue that arise and still maintain the front perimeter after the first rush of people are threw in the mourning. Also in the spring/summer time there is an outside “patio” that security is required to set up and take down a large amount of metal tables and chairs for every single day. We usually do this with 2-3 guards but with this new system only one guard can do it(likely the supervisor coming in early and staying late to do so) not to mention that guard will be responsible for setting up and taking down the tables, stations, blockades required for the check system



This will lead to Insufficient guards to provide backup if a situation occurs inside the Library. As there would have to be at least 2 guards for the bag checks and to prevent people from trying to circumvent the checks. The Skywalk guard can be used sparingly to assist with back-ups but we cannot rely on that very often as again the City wants “their guard” on the Skywalk at all times. So this will often have leave one guard to have to handle a dangerous situation inside the building by themselves with no back-up. This also means that breaks would be near impossible to do. The majority of guards would not be able to take a break as all areas would have to be maintained. Also The bag check system would also require all guards to either be on constant patrol or standing for most of if not the entirety of their shift as we would have to eliminate the seated desk position. We have several guards who are older or have medical issues. I myself have Diabetes and not being able to have a break until at least 7 and ½ hours into a 10 hour shift could be an issue. This new system will completely overwhelm us. Both physically and mentality.



All these issues have been explained but seems to be falling on deaf ears. This whole new program involves a much more aggressive stance versus patron entry than ever before. Library guards are required to practice de-escalation in a non-contact fashion and we are told to be hands off but this will put guards in direct confrontation with many people who will refuse and become verbally or even physically combative over having their items searched or the fact we have on a several daily basis have intoxicated, high and/or other problem patrons entering and having the guards having to maintain the bag check, while trying to remove the problem patron will be very difficult if not impossible. The library sees up to 4000-5000 people a day (at least several hundred of that right at open and a large steady stream well into the afternoon) and at least 70% have some type of bag(The library thinks we are exaggerating and it more like 30%, it’s not trust me) Also general health concerns as we deal with a large homeless population and searching their bags which may have all sorts of bugs or other issues will be a problem. The response from security management has been very little and they have met with the client but feel we are getting a “Whatever the client wants, Figure it out, we are not risking the contract” attitude.

The Site Supervisor has already put in a request of transfer but we suspect that he will be told “Suck it up or quit” as since he is a supervisor is he not allowed to be a part of the Union(also as an extra FU to him his Supervisor pay rate isn’t enough to qualify for supervisor benefits) and other guards are looking to leave as well. If he does leave this will fall onto my shoulders most likely as i've been here the longest. Again we have brought up our concerns but the Library doesn’t seem to be listening. They think the bag check will magically fix all problems that used to arise. They don’t seem to care that we will not be able to have breaks, that in no way do we have enough guards to remotely do this and even their own staff Supervisors(who were just informed the other day) are concerned with this as this will result in delayed or no response from us for problems which may put them in danger

So the TL;DR is

- Library wants mandatory bag check system for all patrons that will cause a large amount of angry public reactions

- Won’t hire extra guards for this, Nowhere near enough guards to handle new system

- Breaks are unlikely, maybe impossible to have

- Company Management is too scared to endanger contract so they are going along with it.

- Guards will be put into situations where they will be alone dealing with dangerous people with no back-up or overwhelmed if more than one issue occurs.

Nov 29, 2018 21:33:56 GMT nazzer said:

RT, so you've moved to the okanagan from tronna? I thought you hated your okanagan time?

All the things you said describe bureaucracy. It seems like the amount you move around maybe you cant handle working for other people.

We’re better off this time around. I’m getting paid a lot more and we spend to much time parenting to care if we have friends or not.

Also Inwouldnt have left Saskatoon had I not got laid off. Planned to stay there for a long, long time.

Nov 30, 2018 5:09:56 GMT iNCY said:

RT, Seriously mate you need to start your own business, you are born for it and you care too much to put your blood, sweat and tears into anyone elses hands.

iron maiden, Nothing wrong with O&G anyone who disagrees is a hypocrite.

If I ever get to the point where I have a bit of a cushion, I probably will. I’d much prefer making my own schedule and doing small inspection jobs when I’m older. Right now it’s fine, but when I’m in my 40s or 50s I can’t see myself still being a grunt for a huge company.

Dec 1, 2018 2:38:00 GMT RT said:

Nov 29, 2018 21:33:56 GMT nazzer said:

RT, so you've moved to the okanagan from tronna? I thought you hated your okanagan time?

All the things you said describe bureaucracy. It seems like the amount you move around maybe you cant handle working for other people.

We’re better off this time around. I’m getting paid a lot more and we spend to much time parenting to care if we have friends or not.

Also Inwouldnt have left Saskatoon had I not got laid off. Planned to stay there for a long, long time.

You should follow invasion championship wrestling on Facebook. They do a summer and a winter show at the rutland centennial hall gets a decent crowd.

I work in retail for a major chain that I won’t name and I don’t mind my job really, I try not to not let anything or anyone there ever get to me. Of course there are times where I have, it happens in every work place but for the most part I try not to let anything get to me personally.

We do have a new supervisor that transferred from another location that’s rubbing some people the wrong way already, and I have a feeling he doesn’t like me that much but that’s no skin off my back if he does or doesn’t like me. As long as I feel like I’m doing my job right, and my other managers feel like I am then I’m okay.

There was a time where I had a really difficult time with one of my managers when I was working in a department of the store. It got to the point where eventually I wasn’t happy coming to work knowing I had to work with him. I eventually switched departments and am much happier now than I was before, and I get along fine with said manager now.

I stay at my job because it helps pay the bills, and I’ve made plenty of friends from there in the six years I’ve been there. My coworkers make it a more fun environment, imo.

Round two of total incompetence by having too many idiots overseeing a job, however this time it wasn't our company at fault.

On a huge job in the south Okanagan. Millions of dollars at stake, deadlines are deadlines are deadlines, meaning "you're hitting this deadline if it means never seeing your family again," type deal.

Part of the job is inspecting an existing building that the new (expanded) fire system will be tying in to. It's going to become the 2nd largest fire alarm network in western Canada and one of the biggest in Canada when it's complete. Needless to say, our company is taking this very seriously. Technical supervisor for western Canada is running the job, project supervisor has been out to site several times, programmers from Ontario have flown out to help, all kinds of shit.

We've been meeting our deadlines by basically killing ourselves. I've worked more OT in the last two months than I've worked in my entire career. I'm going to miss these paychecks when we're done, but I'll be glad when it's over.

Anyway for this existing inspection we worked with the electrical contractor on the job to lay out an "impact statement" because the building is A) very sensitive and B) government run. So everything has to be as meticulous as possible and you basically need permission to breathe in this building. We handed that in a month ago and for the most part everything was good. I was left for a couple weeks to do the easy part of the inspection with an electrician and we worked nights and weekends to get ahead of schedule, because the "impact statement" had us running into Christmas and we knew nobody was going to be here to do that work.

Our company fucking loved us for getting them days ahead of schedule and pretty much guaranteeing we wouldn't be needed up until Christmas, and maybe not even this coming weekend. Life was good.

The last part of the inspection was testing shutdown relays around the building. Keep in mind, we've laid out what will happen and what assistance we need from the building weeks ago. Approval was given, staff was ready, all was well.

Yesterday the testing was supposed to start and the supervisor for the building's maintenance staff tells me "we can't trip any door relays under any circumstances."

I said "well that's part of the testing."

He says "well then we're not doing it."

No problem. I'll go into the programming and disable every door relay I can find. Give me half an hour.

Half an hour later we're ready to test. First alarm I trip, a door, one SINGLE door in the main lobby shuts. Nothing else does. Just one door.

RED FLAG SHUT IT DOWN WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING SEND EMAILS OH GOD WHAT HAPPENED

It's explained to me that if we can't 100% guarantee that the doors in the building won't trip, we need extra staff to man particular rooms, we need to block open doors that may release so injuries can't happen, we need to notify different departments and blah blah blah. You know, stuff that should have been taken care of WHEN WE SUBMITTED THE IMPACT STATEMENT A MONTH AGO.

So we're still on schedule for the rest of the job but now I have to hand in an inspection report that has a bunch of shit listed as "not tested" because the people I'm giving the fucking report to are incompetent. They'll see it as not tested and see the reasons I laid out in the report, then freak out and scramble to get it done ASAP, then cry when they realize it's the holidays and none of our techs are working.

Dec 18, 2018 17:32:37 GMT RT said:

We've been meeting our deadlines by basically killing ourselves. I've worked more OT in the last two months than I've worked in my entire career. I'm going to miss these paychecks when we're done, but I'll be glad when it's over.

I feel this on an elemental level.

I worked 16 hours yesterday and today looks like it will be much the same.  I emailed my 'boss' back in the summer that we would only be able to work like this for so long before someone ended up in the hospital or we failed spectacularly.  I had really bad heartburn the other day and thought 'here we go'. 

All my friends are saying, 'oh the extra money must be great'.  Honestly, it just bumps me up an extra tax bracket so I'm actually clearing less an hour and really there comes a time you just don't give a shit about the money. 

Working for yourself can be like tonguing the balls of an amputee camel in the noon day sun.

Today was my eldest daughters kinder gym break up... So I worked until 3am then left home at 7am for an 8:30am meeting so I could make her party before heading into the office.

So work has a Spotify CrowdDJ thing and people can just go pick the music they want on it, or it just autoplays music which is fine.

Now to get in the Christmas spirit they’ve turned it off and made a Christmas playlist that plays all day & all night with the access being in their office upstairs that’s locked at night.

I’ve now listened to every Christmas song ever released.

Took a couple weeks off for Christmas to fly to Ontario with the family and see my family for the holidays. Wasn’t planned but my dad is very sick and it had to happen. Talked to my boss and he was kind enough to grant me some extra time off and approved me to bank overtime/cash it out to get out there (company doesn’t really like doing that, apparently).

I get back to work Monday to a flood of emails and texts from coworkers and customers, as expected. Before I left I made sure I knew what my schedule was upon coming back to work. I had one inspection booked for the whole week and that was it. Easy enough?

Of course not. The inspection I was scheduled at got double booked against another inspection because my coordinator fucked up. On top of that, part of my inspection has to be done overnight (which was communicated to me yesterday). And on top of THAT, another customer booked an inspection that is past due because it requires an elevator technician and they’re impossible to book because for some reason all elevator companies are run by assholes who do whatever they want.

The result: worked all day Monday. Worked all day Tuesday. Worked from 11pm Tuesday night to about an hour ago (4:30am). Drove an hour. Am now at the elevator job eating breakfast and waiting for people to show up.

Meanwhile there’s a ton of outstanding work that customers want done yesterday. None of it is scheduled. And in two weeks I’m leaving town for two weeks for a large project at a campus that cannot be missed.

I am le tired.

RT, It's not the worst thing in the world to be an RT swimming in OT right after your holidays... But yes, wonder what the result would be if you called the planner at 11pm to ask a question, 99.9% guaranteed he doesn't doesn't answer.

Can I bitch about being on my strata council here, feels like a dang second job.

Every time this thread is updated by RT I come in hoping he's lighting the place on fire in a twist if irony.