Mar 4, 2024 18:38:18 GMT Lony said:

The Wife is doing great, I guess this time around, it was my turn to take one for the team.

I'm just happy to be at home now, nothing against the hospital, but I prefer my king-size bed, over what I was sleeping on while I was there. Well that, and more importantly, just to be home and see my kids again.

Did they take it out or was it a false alarm?

Mar 4, 2024 19:40:22 GMT Gyro LC said:

Mar 4, 2024 18:38:18 GMT Lony said:

The Wife is doing great, I guess this time around, it was my turn to take one for the team.

I'm just happy to be at home now, nothing against the hospital, but I prefer my king-size bed, over what I was sleeping on while I was there. Well that, and more importantly, just to be home and see my kids again.

Did they take it out or was it a false alarm?

They took it out.

Glad both you and The Wife are ok Lony.

First world problems: my deli was out of black forest ham and told me the closest they had was Polish ham. It is not close.

The glad the surgery went well Lony. Recovery should be fast, just remember that you had surgery and to take easy. Will be tender if you bang the area for a while.

My last grandparent passed yesterday after a long fight with dementia. She’d lost the ability to communicate mostly about five years ago and I haven’t seen her much since then because the family stopped bringing her to functions. She was my dad’s mom and since they were divorced I spent some time at her house but nothing like the relationship I had with my mom’s parents. She was just a sweet lady. Dementia sucks.

I've very sorry to hear of you and your family's loss mikec. Dementia robs people of so many years with their loved ones.

Mar 11, 2024 18:46:53 GMT mikec said:

My last grandparent passed yesterday after a long fight with dementia. She’d lost the ability to communicate mostly about five years ago and I haven’t seen her much since then because the family stopped bringing her to functions. She was my dad’s mom and since they were divorced I spent some time at her house but nothing like the relationship I had with my mom’s parents. She was just a sweet lady. Dementia sucks.

I am sorry for your loss, I lost my Nan to dementia and it was awful.
She was gone long before she passed, I didn't see her for the last 2 years of her life, I was only young at the time and I think it was too traumatic for my Dad to see her.

The thing I comforted myself in was that her final years, she wasn't suffering for the most part. Dementia is cruel to the family more than the individual.

I hope you process the death okay and you find comfort in the love of your own family.

First world problems... But a project I spent about 30-40k in direct costs (not including my time) to win... Was just cancelled, not postponed but red pen through the whole thing.

I'm seeing aggressive headcount reductions and an abandonment of capital projects, it looks like the really big companies are getting ready for some incredibly nasty economic weather.

Mar 12, 2024 20:52:56 GMT iNCY said:

First world problems... But a project I spent about 30-40k in direct costs (not including my time) to win... Was just cancelled, not postponed but red pen through the whole thing.

I'm seeing aggressive headcount reductions and an abandonment of capital projects, it looks like the really big companies are getting ready for some incredibly nasty economic weather.

I'm sorry. That hurts.  We are seeing/experiencing the same. Were told in January it was going to be busy and it was, but just this last month they cancelled millions of dollars in projects. Now they want me to get the vendor to return 45 specialized instruments we ordered a year ago for the tune of 225K. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how that went over. Client in this case is Imperial Oil aka Uncle Exxon. 

Now in electrical I usually see a lull in March and then April-June things pick up for the rest of the year, but last year things started slowing down in October and they were laying site people off earlier than usual. So I guess we'll see how the rest of the year will play out. 

Mar 12, 2024 20:58:57 GMT iron maiden said:

Mar 12, 2024 20:52:56 GMT iNCY said:

First world problems... But a project I spent about 30-40k in direct costs (not including my time) to win... Was just cancelled, not postponed but red pen through the whole thing.

I'm seeing aggressive headcount reductions and an abandonment of capital projects, it looks like the really big companies are getting ready for some incredibly nasty economic weather.

I'm sorry. That hurts.  We are seeing/experiencing the same. Were told in January it was going to be busy and it was, but just this last month they cancelled millions of dollars in projects. Now they want me to get the vendor to return 45 specialized instruments we ordered a year ago for the tune of 225K. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how that went over. Client in this case is Imperial Oil aka Uncle Exxon. 

Now in electrical I usually see a lull in March and then April-June things pick up for the rest of the year, but last year things started slowing down in October and they were laying site people off earlier than usual. So I guess we'll see how the rest of the year will play out. 

Yes, I'm in an industry that like yours is a leading indicator of the economy. The fact that your energy customers are so down is a good indicator that the economy is cratering and we just haven't felt it yet.

Energy production is going to drop 6-12 months before companies are reporting a drop in revenue to wall street.

It's one of the reasons I keep my company small, when there's a lot of mouths to feed it doesn't take much of a lull to drain the piggy bank.
I did try to add a PA this year but the salaries people want these days are eye watering.

Mar 12, 2024 21:53:30 GMT iNCY said:

Yes, I'm in an industry that like yours is a leading indicator of the economy. The fact that your energy customers are so down is a good indicator that the economy is cratering and we just haven't felt it yet.

Energy production is going to drop 6-12 months before companies are reporting a drop in revenue to wall street.

It's one of the reasons I keep my company small, when there's a lot of mouths to feed it doesn't take much of a lull to drain the piggy bank.
I did try to add a PA this year but the salaries people want these days are eye watering.

Have you tried a virtual (off-shore) assistant? My friend was telling me his business partners use them for about $8/hr and they like them a lot. They're based in the Philippines.

Mar 12, 2024 22:30:14 GMT Gyro LC said:

Mar 12, 2024 21:53:30 GMT iNCY said:

Yes, I'm in an industry that like yours is a leading indicator of the economy. The fact that your energy customers are so down is a good indicator that the economy is cratering and we just haven't felt it yet.

Energy production is going to drop 6-12 months before companies are reporting a drop in revenue to wall street.

It's one of the reasons I keep my company small, when there's a lot of mouths to feed it doesn't take much of a lull to drain the piggy bank.
I did try to add a PA this year but the salaries people want these days are eye watering.

Have you tried a virtual (off-shore) assistant? My friend was telling me his business partners use them for about $8/hr and they like them a lot. They're based in the Philippines.

I have looked into it, I am sure in the future I could use one of two VA's, the problem I have is needing someone physically present for some of the tasks and to keep me on track ... As embarrassing as that is.

Insomnia sucks. I can’t remember the last time I had an actual proper decent sleep at night. Supposed to get up in 3 hours and I’ve had zero sleep weeeeeeee

Apr 30, 2024 20:53:42 GMT sandylea said:

Insomnia sucks. I can’t remember the last time I had an actual proper decent sleep at night. Supposed to get up in 3 hours and I’ve had zero sleep weeeeeeee

I feel for you. I can't recall a time in my life ever feeling fully rested no matter how long I slept even as a kid. 

I did a sleep study and they said I don't have sleep apnea but something about REM and my circadian rhythm being 'out of whack'. I'm supposed to practice good sleep habits, but I don't because lying in bed trying to sleep drives me insane. 

I went from asking for more work to a co-worker leaving, so now I've got more work than I know what to do with on top of school. Yay!  Oh well, at least it'll keep me out of trouble. Which after Vegas is a good thing. One more day there and I would have died or been in jail. 

May 1, 2024 0:23:58 GMT iron maiden said:

Apr 30, 2024 20:53:42 GMT sandylea said:

Insomnia sucks. I can’t remember the last time I had an actual proper decent sleep at night. Supposed to get up in 3 hours and I’ve had zero sleep weeeeeeee

I feel for you. I can't recall a time in my life ever feeling fully rested no matter how long I slept even as a kid. 

I did a sleep study and they said I don't have sleep apnea but something about REM and my circadian rhythm being 'out of whack'. I'm supposed to practice good sleep habits, but I don't because lying in bed trying to sleep drives me insane. 

I went from asking for more work to a co-worker leaving, so now I've got more work than I know what to do with on top of school. Yay!  Oh well, at least it'll keep me out of trouble. Which after Vegas is a good thing. One more day there and I would have died or been in jail. 

I’m supposed to have a sleep apnea test but the doctors keep postponing it and it’s driving me mental. My sleep patterns have always been all over the place but it’s absolutely dreadful right now

'Go back to school at 47', I said. 'It'll be fun', I said.

May 3, 2024 3:12:10 GMT iron maiden said:

'Go back to school at 47', I said. 'It'll be fun', I said.

Are you surviving? 

May 3, 2024 3:23:26 GMT iNCY said:

May 3, 2024 3:12:10 GMT iron maiden said:

'Go back to school at 47', I said. 'It'll be fun', I said.

Are you surviving? 

Somewhat. I'm struggling a bit with stuff I'm sure comes easily to most of you, but is not something I do daily. Like right now, I'm trying to create a Supply Chain flow chart of sorts on Excel, Word, Power Point (whichever one will make me cry less) for my project due Thursday. I'm good with words, but not with charts and graphs. 

I can't remember the last time I used any legit Word product. I've been using notepad and actual spiral notebooks for most of my documents. Not since leaving school.

I'm ok with Word & Excel for what I use them for daily but not flow charts.

The free site, Lucidchart, is much better for making flowcharts than Word or Excel.

Thank you <3

May 6, 2024 20:16:44 GMT @ness said:

I can't remember the last time I used any legit Word product. I've been using notepad and actual spiral notebooks for most of my documents. Not since leaving school.

I’m in an office setting, and I use the Office suite nonstop.

Word, PPT, Teams, Excel (I live in Excel).

Here's a question...I'm creating a flow chart for my Supply Chain. We have various sites across Canada and Northern US. Do I do Tier 3 vendors> Tier 2 Manufacturers> Tier 1 Distributors > Various sites> Tier 1 Clients > Tier 2 customers or do I have to list all the sites cause this is going to be a huge list otherwise.

iNCY , Gyro LC , KJ , NATH45  - you guys are business guys. Help? The Prof wasn't very helpful and I'm overthinking it.

May 7, 2024 6:00:19 GMT iron maiden said:

Here's a question...I'm creating a flow chart for my Supply Chain. We have various sites across Canada and Northern US. Do I do Tier 3 vendors> Tier 2 Manufacturers> Tier 1 Distributors > Various sites> Tier 1 Clients > Tier 2 customers or do I have to list all the sites cause this is going to be a huge list otherwise.

iNCY , Gyro LC , KJ , NATH45  - you guys are business guys. Help? The Prof wasn't very helpful and I'm overthinking it.

You could list some as an example and then have a table in the appendix that lists them all.

Remember too for school assignments the scope that is being requesting. Easy to forget how constrained school assignments are meant to be, and go way, way too in depth.  If in doubt email the professor to clarify scope.

For future graphs or charts, pick your preferred graph maker, and google that, the type of graph and template.

So excel supply chain flowchart template would have gotten you several examples to edit.

May 7, 2024 13:18:29 GMT c said:

So excel supply chain flowchart template would have gotten you several examples to edit.

Yeah I looked but none really encapsulated what I was looking for. The site Gyro suggested is working for what I need.  

Thanks both. Good suggestion KJ.

It's been at least 25 moons since I've been in school (other than the school of hard knocks) and things have changed drastically since then. It's only worth 5% of my overall mark but we are using this chart for 3 other sections in this course. 

Ah if you will be reusing the chart, best to really nail it then.

General college tip too, know what degree you are going for, and to plan out what you need to get it from the start. And make sure it aligns with a career goal. If you end up with free electives, focus them onto classes that can offer skills you will want. Want to like focus on skills and not fluff to make the most out of college. And when in doubt, skills that involve math tend to be more profitable than ones that do not.  As my mentor loved to say, sometimes it is better to just read a book than take a class, and if you can learn from the book, there is no need for the class.

I'm working towards my Purchasing Designation while still working my job as a Purchaser. So while not a Bachelor or Doctorate, it is a 2-3 year program, important to me and my livelihood and something I should have gotten 10 years ago.

I think the issue I am having is the theoretical vs reality. For instance this Supply Chain Map. Teacher is telling us we should know where all the goods we purchased are being manufactured and who supplies that manufacturer with the widgets to make that part. Also, on the other side they want me to know what my sites are producing and from there who their customers are. In a perfect world, yes that would be helpful to mitigate any risks. I'm betting iNCY knows but he's the manufacturer. In reality, it doesn't work that way and honestly, I don't care. I know what my sites do. They need the stuff to complete their day to day jobs, I get them the stuff to do that. I just feel like they are over complicating it at times. 

Yeah, theory to practice is a real disconnect in most areas of higher education. Theory is nice and clean with a full range of assumptions that practice systematically breaks. The entire field of statistics I trained in is rarely used in the real world for instance, and what is used academia considers bad practice. Part of academic learning is knowing what to apply to real world problems and what can safely be ignored.

Hopefully your program is fluff free. Sounds like a certification program and generally those are designed by local industry. Basically four year degrees with all of the general education gutted.