Let's bitch about our stupid, annoying co-workers

This is totally an emergency. There's nothing worse than an entire job stalling because someone who needs to make a decision either isn't doing it or isn't available.

No, its a completely avoidable situation that could have been entirely avoided had the contractor had the foresight to call me ahead of time and say, "hey, the painter is heading out tomorrow/the next day/whatever, can you confirm the color". Or, as in some cases, if they'd look at the effing drawings! Point is, not an emergency. An inconvenience caused by lack of forethought.

worse then asaping every email is marking your every message HIGH PRIORITY! in outlook.

Argh I also hate it when that thing pops up saying "the sender wishes you to confim receipt of this email". I always hit "ignore".

i hate when someone sits on a issue for 3 months and then makes a one-line comment and re-assigns it to you as mega-urgent. (usually happens when you're already busy doing other mega-urgent things)

you know communication is bad in a workplace when someone tells you to IM this guy to tell him you're picking up a certain task.. and you're like.. you mean the guy who's sitting in the same room with you?? (and no one else is in this room at the moment)

daria, I get 'oh can you call the manager's cell phone to tell her to call me?' phone calls from people who have her number.

i hate when someone sits on a issue for 3 months and then makes a one-line comment and re-assigns it to you as mega-urgent.

this is every client ever (except the one time i had an ilxor client - who was awesome). everything is really really urgent and they need it asap - you drop everything, get it to them and they sit on it for weeks, loose it and then they give you their pile of comments/revisions the morning it's due. usually accompanied by an inflammatory comment like "this is a priority and we need it yesterday. those changes shouldn't take too long." (they will)

that happened to me all the time at my previous job. always from people who knew nothing about the technical side of the work, yet were happy to make assumptions about it.. "oh these changes shouldn't be hard, this shouldn't take long." BULLSHIT. my boss even did that and he should've known better, but then, getting the work done *well* was never a priority with him.

actually this happens every now and then at my current gig, where clearly someone has been working on a project for at least a couple days, sends me an email saying "can you photoshop this thing," and if I don't turn it around in 20-30 minutes they show up or IM or both like "hey what is the status, what is the status, can you tell me the status, I need that ASAP." gaah. can you not TELL me it's urgent in the first place, or maybe think of asking earlier, when I'm not in the middle of the busiest part of the morning?

you're a photoshop slave too?

TS: Photoshop slaves vs. AutoCAD monkeys

"we don't have none"
"we can't do nothing"
"we don't have them nowhere"

ARGHHH

"Oh yeah I seen that movie."

xpost - not exactly, i just happen to know how to use the photoshop & the programmers don't, so if they need something for a site they'll ask me to do it. it's not often. the recent instance i was utterly infuriated because i'd explained precisely what happened (slight delay due to a bunch of urgent things happening at once!) but the person didn't bother to listen & then had to get someone else to tell me this "we just want to make sure we understand and are all on the same page here" crap.

how to let things like that go? they make me SO ANGRY - when you don't actually fuck something up & the response you get from a director is this condescending "let's all make sure we understand" implying that you did. (follow this up by saying "don't get defensive" and i might actually break something.)

DO NOT SNEAK UP BEHIND ME AND THEN JUST STAND THERE SAYING NOTHING FOR FUCK KNOWS HOW LONG AND THEN SAY "HELLO" AND SCARE THE SHIT OUT OF ME.

I hate it when people do that! Come up, grab my attention. Don't waft over like a fart and stand there saying nothing! You're creeping me OUT.

silent but deadly

Ha Trayce I have someone like that here too, very creepy and annoying even when i see him do it to other people.

on another note, had meeting this morning and been informed close colleague was fired on Friday. Can't believe how much it's shook me, and suddenly feel very vunerable in regards to employment.

gonna start leaving this thread open and in full view whenever i leave my desk

Tips on how to fire someone? God, I hate doing this. Or watching it happen. (My mum will, hopefully, do the firing.)

"We think you're ready for a solo career."

i hate *getting* fired.

be blunt, honest, apologetic and make sure they're able to ask any questions and say what they need to say. be fair and give them space to get their head together and to get what they need.

Aye if they're being fired for a reason, perhaps lay out why (diplomatically of course). I know I'd want to know where I'd gone wrong so I could make amends!

Just signed my contract for another 3 years of work this morning, after a hairy period when we wondered whether we'd have our government funding taken away. Very relieved. I've only ever left one job voluntarily--every other time I've been fired, made redundant or a contract has run out.

OK wow. One of my workmates just ambled in to work, at 11.15am (we are meant to start at 8.30-9am). When the support team leader said in exasperation "can you at least tell me when you'll be late and when you will be in so I know" (shes stuck on her own today) he has the gall to say "look I cant adjust my sleeping patterns right now, and the cricket is on so I'm up late, OK?!"

WTF dude. Shit'd get you fired in my last job. Wanker.

did he really say "the cricket"

wow Trayce, that's bad. people like that eventually get their just desserts I'm sure.

"Okay, I've acknowledged your opinion Sean, but I don't think you're being really considerate of my feelings"

The guy my boss recently hired to directly supervise me, arguing with my boss about some shit that's completely set in stone since way before he got here. If you ignore my proofreading comments, yes, expect Sean to ignore your feelings, dick.

did he really say "the cricket"

Yes. Why, is this confusing?

i dont people say im going to watch "the basketball" or "the football" over here

i KNOW people don't say that over here

"I'm going to watch the based balls"

Plenty of people here say "the footy" and "the cricket"!

But you wouldnt say "the basketball".

You would say "the tennis".

I dont effin know why.

But thank you for schooling me on my own version of english, WWG.

people should start calling it cricky

I fear I have done so in the past :/

"The tennis" etc works in the UK too.
"In my free time I watch football" (in general)
"I'm going home to watch the football" (a specific match or tournament, which it is assumed the listener will already be aware of)

So I think the reason "the basketball" doesn't work but "the tennis/football/cricket/rugby" does is because people are expected to be aware of the current major event in those sports, know about the one big match that's on the major TV channels or in every sports pub that day etc. (You might also use it for seeing the big local match in person.) Er, maybe.

What kind of guy does not even make up some kind of transport-related mishap, major family illness or sudden 8am plumbing disaster, is what I want to know?

the dude next to me has done nothing but cough his fucking head off all week. FUCK OFF HOME YOU SICK BASTARD

I am in awe of Trayce's workmate. I long for the kind of job security where I can be that audaciously honest about my extracurricular activities.

http://www.futurama-area.de/LiH/OComics/16.gif

i need to confess something.

No one says "the" ANY sport over here, I'm pretty sure. I don't even really follow any major sports and yet it just seems profoundly un-American somehow. We leave that kind of thing to the poncey poms.

we have speakers hooked up to an old mac in the studio i work in, usually plays music most of the day.

my boss insists on playing all sorts of awful (or mediocre) stuff over and over AND OVER. the two people with similar tastes to me were both let go a few months back - so anything i put on gets killed pretty quickly. sometimes this is followed by an energetic exchange of musical opinions.

yesterday a coworker outside the studio started a bit of a curfufel about the (awful) music. sensing the opportunity i came in last night and hid the speakers. there has now been an all-staff demanding the damned thing be returned! but i am saying nothing and enjoying the silence!

xpost

this is actually really awesome.

xxp And pineapple up-side-down-land, apparently.

(there's been no finger pointing as of yet either)
xpost

I wish we could do that here, with the speaker hiding! Impressive. Our boss insists on a crappy station that no one else in the office can even stand. We try switching it or plugging in an iPod when he's gone, but upon his return it is to be immediately flipped back to his preferred station. No democracy here. I've thought many times about snipping all the wires.

this is awesome. i have her on my msn and i'm having a blast watching what senseless music she's not subjecting me to!

Just cross some wires, jon, so that next time he turns it on, it sparks and shorts out. Has the double advantages of stopping the music AND making him think maybe he did something to it by keeping it on all day, every day. Perhaps will make him more cautious in future. Bonus points for setting off a fire alarm and having to evacuate the office.

IT have just rung a colleague's extension to ask him what extension he's on.

that's allowable- this weekend i texted my phone from the net to discover it was in my pocket.