Holding your tongue those last few days

Michael Moore · 08-16-2005, 09:24 AM

I know, with 4 days left to go that it really doesn't make any sense to point out to the pointy-haired bosses and lame coworkers just how little clothing they have on. But it sure is getting difficult.

Why can't they just cut me some slack for a few more days and not inflict prima donna tantrums on me?

grrrrr
Michael

Leslie · 08-16-2005, 09:44 AM

Take a deep breath and just go to your Happy Place....

Congratulations on being almost to the finish line!

**REWahoo** · 08-16-2005, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Other Michael

Why can't they just cut me some slack for a few more days and not inflict prima donna tantrums on me?

Envy and jealousy are ugly, aren't they?

REW

unclemick · 08-16-2005, 10:28 AM

Heh, heh, heh

Why not spend some big bucks - and give some paperback copies of Your Money or Your Life - to er ah some of your more 'deserving' co workers.

One thing I learned after thirty years down here - some Southerner's can stick it to you with a smile and extreme politeness - way better than this old Dam Yankee.

I been practicing - but alas - I think grumpy old curmudgeon is where I'll end up.

Michael Moore · 08-16-2005, 11:23 AM

There's no envy or jealousy, just the same old managers who have been promoted about 2-3 levels beyond their level of incompetence, yet see it as only just recognition of their sterling qualities.*

Plus I had a new employee (three days here) throw a fit yesterday and go running to management to accuse me of not giving him the systems help he needs.* That conveniently ignores the fact that management is the one who didn't tell him to have his systems folks burn a CD for him if he wanted to bring along any files to our location.* I can't help him with files that are outside my jurisdiction (and which might already have been deleted from the old locations servers anyway).* He also told them that he was going to go to someone else in the future for his system help.*

That rather ignores that the other sysadmin here has been out.* *I've had his email set up since yesterday, but since he doesn't want to talk to me I can't tell him about that.* *

Assholes.* I'm SO tired of dealing with assholes and their crap.

I'll certainly miss some of my coworkers as I've worked with some of them for nearly 25 years.* I sure won't miss the work though!

cheers,
Michael

Patrick · 08-16-2005, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Other Michael

There's no envy or jealousy, just the same old managers who have been promoted about 2-3 levels beyond their level of incompetence, yet see it as only just recognition of their sterling qualities.**

Plus I had a new employee (three days here) throw a fit yesterday and go running to management to accuse me of not giving him the systems help he needs.* That conveniently ignores the fact that management is the one who didn't tell him to have his systems folks burn a CD for him if he wanted to bring along any files to our location.* I can't help him with files that are outside my jurisdiction (and which might already have been deleted from the old locations servers anyway).* He also told them that he was going to go to someone else in the future for his system help.*

Sounds like this problem solved itself.

Hang in there!

MJ · 08-16-2005, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Other Michael

There's no envy or jealousy, just the same old managers who have been promoted about 2-3 levels beyond their level of incompetence, yet see it as only just recognition of their sterling qualities.

Nothing unusual, it's just the Peter Principal at work.
Like someone said take a deep breath.
When you come in the next 3 mornings this final week, keep remembering that you've dug yourself out of this dark workhole, while come next Monday, these managers will still be where you left them. You may want to pray for your co-worker friends to have more patience as they will continue to deal with these same managers.

Good luck.

Michael Moore · 08-16-2005, 02:02 PM

I have no trouble finding pity for those who will still be here! Two of the other long-timers will be escaping by the end of the year, and I'm expecting that one who is already in the "Kiss My Ass" club and can retire on a moment's notice is unlikely to see the end of the year.

It is too bad so many of us feel great relief and see ourselves as "escaping" from work. When you've put in 29+ years (I started working on year 30 on yesterday) it would be nice if we could look back on things with some fondness and regret that those good times had come to the end, to be replaced by new good times.

But it does seem like the old adage of "if it was meant to be fun they wouldn't call it work" fits for far too many of us.

cheers,
Michael

frayne · 08-16-2005, 02:15 PM

Sad to say but I think most older workers feel that they get **** on and are not appreciated after many years of dedication and hard work. After 31+ years I felt I had had enough and didn't want to go down that bitter road, so I gave two months notice and retired. Quite frankly I liked my co-workers and boss(s) for the most part. It was the political corporate dilbert bullshit that drove me nuts. And sometime I think it is just the natural evolution of how careers progress in the workplace. Can't say that I know many retirees that have much good to say about their former place of employment, really kind of sad if you think about it.

Nords · 08-16-2005, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Other Michael

I know, with 4 days left to go that it really doesn't make any sense to point out to the pointy-haired bosses and lame coworkers just how little clothing they have on.* But it sure is getting difficult.* *

Somehow you figured out how to find the exit sign in the burning building. Even if you personally hog-tied the rest of them and led them to safety, they'd jump right back in as soon as they untied themselves. While it's easy to feel anger, perhaps pity is more appropriate.

Smile, take a deep breath, and start calculating your happiness factor.*

You would think that it'd be hard to be distracted by these temper tantrums & pontificates when you have the rest of your life awaiting your planning. Get started-- you only have three days left to get it done on company time & resources!!

* HF = (Days of ER) / (Days until ER), although tomorrow you'll probably want to start doing the calculation in hours or even minutes so that you can watch its slope rise.

maddythebeagle · 08-16-2005, 02:57 PM

I think an interesting semi-retire job would be to do research (ala Jane Goodall) on workplace behavior. Not that I am calling some of them monkeys....well maybe........

OldAgePensioner · 08-16-2005, 02:59 PM

Michael,
try these for a feeling of leaving with a bit of fun.

1. *Have a female friend/wife write you a steamy (graphic) love letter and leave it where it will be found.

2. *Put a picture of a Pitt Special acrobatic bi-plane on your office wall and have a secretary leave you a message saying "Michael, Mr Planeseller called to inform you that the plane is completed and will be tested during the next two weeks. *Needs to hear from you regarding final payment."

3. Have someone use a phone message pad to leave you a message. "Corporate HR would be happy to meet with you regarding this. Is 09:00-11:00 feasible. *(Bosses will pee themselves)

4. Casually mention to the office gossip that you doubt your mail will actually reach you in Tahiti during the next 3 months.

Should provide for a lively office after you leave.

justin · 08-16-2005, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords

* HF = (Days of ER) / (Days until ER), although tomorrow you'll probably want to start doing the calculation in hours or even minutes so that you can watch its slope rise.

I think you have an error in your formula. When I put this into excel, and change the days to ER to zero, I get and error message. Is it true that your happiness factor goes to infinity once you have zero days to ER?

Michael Moore · 08-16-2005, 03:38 PM

OAP, I'm a CSRS Federal employee, and while I've had some great managers, the ones I've been dealing with of late aren't among that group. One of them has put a whole new spin on the term "sleeping your way to the top" as she's a GS14 with multiple "outstanding" high quality step increases who is noted for having the automatic light in her office go off without her noticing because she's fallen asleep at her desk (again). As one former employee remarked when hearing about her promotion to a GS14 "her? That woman's dumb as a post!"

There's probably nothing I could leave that would even cause them to blink, mostly because they're about as oblivious as is possible. They are certainly great examples of how a manager's success can depend on the employees below them, as they've been lucky to have a group of self-directing and very competent people who see that the work gets done in spite of the management meddling. Dilbert Lives!

No need for the Pitts photos - any coworker that might care already knows that I've got dozens of motorcycles and they'd probably see a sport bipe as just another odd thing I own (though a friend does have a Starduster II). Most of them can't appreciate the $30K I've put into two machine tools this past year, but my gearhead buddies are impressed.

I'm taking an early out with pension, not retiring to live on my savings so they aren't going to be impressed with my fiscal acumen.

Now maybe the phone message from Ace Guns about the semiautomatic shotguns and pallet of ammunition would get their attention . . .

cheers,
Michael

MRGALT2U · 08-16-2005, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frayne

Sad to say but I think most older workers feel that they get **** on and are not appreciated after many years of dedication and hard work.* After 31+ years I felt I had had enough and didn't want to go down that bitter road, so I gave two months notice and retired.* Quite frankly I liked my co-workers and boss(s) for the most part.* It was the political corporate dilbert bull**** that drove me nuts.* And sometime I think it is just the natural evolution of how careers progress in the workplace.* Can't say that I know many retirees that have much good to say about their former place of employment, really kind of sad if you think about it.*

Well, I don't have anything bad to say about any former "places of employment". IMHO, it's an ego thing. Since I believe I am smarter
than everyone on the planet, nothing that any employers did had
any negative effect on me. I watch out for myself. Like the
'Capital One' commercial, those who oppose me are "going down"
( I laugh every time they run that). Anyway, I never hated any job
in my life. If I had, I'd have left and not looked back.

JG

Eagle43 · 08-16-2005, 03:59 PM

I don't hate any of them, either. . NOW

MRGALT2U · 08-16-2005, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Other Michael

I have no trouble finding pity for those who will still be here!* Two of the other long-timers will be escaping by the end of the year, and I'm expecting that one who is already in the "Kiss My Ass" club and can retire on a moment's notice is unlikely to see the end of the year.

It is too bad so many of us feel great relief and see ourselves as "escaping" from work.* When you've put in 29+ years (I started working on year 30 on yesterday) it would be nice if we could look back on things with some fondness and regret that those good times had come to the end, to be replaced by new good times.

But it does seem like* the old adage of "if it was meant to be fun they wouldn't call it work" fits for far too many of us.

cheers,
Michael

I enjoyed most of it.

JG

Nords · 08-16-2005, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin

When I put this into excel, and change the days to ER to zero, I get and error message.* Is it true that your happiness factor goes to infinity once you have zero days to ER?*

Maybe you're using a Pentium chip.

Believe it or not, some things just can't be spreadsheeted and have to be experienced to be truly appreciated...

Lazarus · 08-16-2005, 06:05 PM

My happiness has increased as I got older.

OldAgePensioner · 08-16-2005, 06:10 PM

Lazarus, glad to see you rise up!

Micheal,
Dilbert is so accurate that we need to really study Dilbert's version of:
1.Total Quality Management-------TQM
2. Continuous Process Improvement ----CPI
3. ISO 9000 -- Inane crap
4. 6 Sigma - (a really funny joke)

Wait, did we get them all! *Has American industry so bought into these jokes that it's best to go ove

08-16-2005, 09:24 AM	#1
Michael Moore Recycles dryer sheets Join Date: May 2005 Location: In the fog of San Francisco Posts: 225	Holding your tongue those last few days I know, with 4 days left to go that it really doesn't make any sense to point out to the pointy-haired bosses and lame coworkers just how little clothing they have on. But it sure is getting difficult. Why can't they just cut me some slack for a few more days and not inflict prima donna tantrums on me? grrrrr Michael

08-16-2005, 09:44 AM	#2
Leslie Recycles dryer sheets Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 83	Re: Holding your tongue those last few days Take a deep breath and just go to your Happy Place.... Congratulations on being almost to the finish line! __________________ "It's not that I dislike people, it's that I'm so tired of them."--Ryokan (Japanese Zen Monk-Hermit)

08-16-2005, 10:28 AM	#4
unclemick Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ... Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: north of Kansas City Posts: 5,553	Re: Holding your tongue those last few days Heh, heh, heh Why not spend some big bucks - and give some paperback copies of Your Money or Your Life - to er ah some of your more 'deserving' co workers. One thing I learned after thirty years down here - some Southerner's can stick it to you with a smile and extreme politeness - way better than this old Dam Yankee. I been practicing - but alas - I think grumpy old curmudgeon is where I'll end up.

08-16-2005, 11:23 AM	#5
Michael Moore Recycles dryer sheets Join Date: May 2005 Location: In the fog of San Francisco Posts: 225	Re: Holding your tongue those last few days There's no envy or jealousy, just the same old managers who have been promoted about 2-3 levels beyond their level of incompetence, yet see it as only just recognition of their sterling qualities.* Plus I had a new employee (three days here) throw a fit yesterday and go running to management to accuse me of not giving him the systems help he needs.* That conveniently ignores the fact that management is the one who didn't tell him to have his systems folks burn a CD for him if he wanted to bring along any files to our location.* I can't help him with files that are outside my jurisdiction (and which might already have been deleted from the old locations servers anyway).* He also told them that he was going to go to someone else in the future for his system help.* That rather ignores that the other sysadmin here has been out.* I've had his email set up since yesterday, but since he doesn't want to talk to me I can't tell him about that. * Assholes.* I'm SO tired of dealing with assholes and their crap. I'll certainly miss some of my coworkers as I've worked with some of them for nearly 25 years.* I sure won't miss the work though! cheers, Michael

08-16-2005, 02:02 PM	#8
Michael Moore Recycles dryer sheets Join Date: May 2005 Location: In the fog of San Francisco Posts: 225	Re: Holding your tongue those last few days I have no trouble finding pity for those who will still be here! Two of the other long-timers will be escaping by the end of the year, and I'm expecting that one who is already in the "Kiss My Ass" club and can retire on a moment's notice is unlikely to see the end of the year. It is too bad so many of us feel great relief and see ourselves as "escaping" from work. When you've put in 29+ years (I started working on year 30 on yesterday) it would be nice if we could look back on things with some fondness and regret that those good times had come to the end, to be replaced by new good times. But it does seem like the old adage of "if it was meant to be fun they wouldn't call it work" fits for far too many of us. cheers, Michael

08-16-2005, 02:15 PM	#9
frayne Recycles dryer sheets Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 426	Re: Holding your tongue those last few days Sad to say but I think most older workers feel that they get **** on and are not appreciated after many years of dedication and hard work. After 31+ years I felt I had had enough and didn't want to go down that bitter road, so I gave two months notice and retired. Quite frankly I liked my co-workers and boss(s) for the most part. It was the political corporate dilbert bullshit that drove me nuts. And sometime I think it is just the natural evolution of how careers progress in the workplace. Can't say that I know many retirees that have much good to say about their former place of employment, really kind of sad if you think about it.

08-16-2005, 02:57 PM	#11
maddythebeagle Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2,440	Re: Holding your tongue those last few days I think an interesting semi-retire job would be to do research (ala Jane Goodall) on workplace behavior. Not that I am calling some of them monkeys....well maybe........ __________________ - Hurry! to the cliffs of insanity!

08-16-2005, 02:59 PM	#12
OldAgePensioner Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 1,352	Re: Holding your tongue those last few days Michael, try these for a feeling of leaving with a bit of fun. 1. Have a female friend/wife write you a steamy (graphic) love letter and leave it where it will be found. 2. Put a picture of a Pitt Special acrobatic bi-plane on your office wall and have a secretary leave you a message saying "Michael, Mr Planeseller called to inform you that the plane is completed and will be tested during the next two weeks. Needs to hear from you regarding final payment." 3. Have someone use a phone message pad to leave you a message. "Corporate HR would be happy to meet with you regarding this. Is 09:00-11:00 feasible. (Bosses will pee themselves) 4. Casually mention to the office gossip that you doubt your mail will actually reach you in Tahiti during the next 3 months. Should provide for a lively office after you leave.

08-16-2005, 03:38 PM	#14
Michael Moore Recycles dryer sheets Join Date: May 2005 Location: In the fog of San Francisco Posts: 225	Re: Holding your tongue those last few days OAP, I'm a CSRS Federal employee, and while I've had some great managers, the ones I've been dealing with of late aren't among that group. One of them has put a whole new spin on the term "sleeping your way to the top" as she's a GS14 with multiple "outstanding" high quality step increases who is noted for having the automatic light in her office go off without her noticing because she's fallen asleep at her desk (again). As one former employee remarked when hearing about her promotion to a GS14 "her? That woman's dumb as a post!" There's probably nothing I could leave that would even cause them to blink, mostly because they're about as oblivious as is possible. They are certainly great examples of how a manager's success can depend on the employees below them, as they've been lucky to have a group of self-directing and very competent people who see that the work gets done in spite of the management meddling. Dilbert Lives! No need for the Pitts photos - any coworker that might care already knows that I've got dozens of motorcycles and they'd probably see a sport bipe as just another odd thing I own (though a friend does have a Starduster II). Most of them can't appreciate the $30K I've put into two machine tools this past year, but my gearhead buddies are impressed. I'm taking an early out with pension, not retiring to live on my savings so they aren't going to be impressed with my fiscal acumen. Now maybe the phone message from Ace Guns about the semiautomatic shotguns and pallet of ammunition would get their attention . . . cheers, Michael

08-16-2005, 03:59 PM	#16
Eagle43 Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,653	Re: Holding your tongue those last few days I don't hate any of them, either. . NOW __________________ Resist much. Obey Little. . . . Ed Abbey Disclaimer: My Posts are for my amusement only.

08-16-2005, 06:05 PM	#19
Lazarus Recycles dryer sheets Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 411	Re: Holding your tongue those last few days My happiness has increased as I got older. __________________ My Dog eats dryer sheets.