Octopus Overlords

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Oct 25, 2022 3:56 pm

pr0ner wrote: ↑Tue Oct 25, 2022 3:51 pm The government would never implement that, but I know there are loads of people at my agency who would never take a day off for their entire career simply to get that fat paycheck at the end of it if that were a possibility.

...NJ public sector did it for years. Until there were waves of town managers, police chiefs and fire chiefs that retired and cashed out with checks for $100K+ in unused PTO. Now it's explicitly banned, but it was a relatively recent (last 15 years?) change.

As a contractor with no vacation, holiday or sick time, I'm getting a real kick out of this discussion overall.

I did the math, and for the amount of annual leave I could earn over the next 20 years, cashing it out at the end at my current "hourly rate" would net me over $300,000.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Tue Oct 25, 2022 3:56 pm As a contractor with no vacation, holiday or sick time, I'm getting a real kick out of this discussion overall.

+1 -- I haven't had any PTO in 18 years.

MHS wrote: ↑Tue Oct 25, 2022 4:05 pm Technically, I think my company caps at 5 weeks but they've never enforced it and I know they've paid out 14-20 weeks for 2 of my previous coworkers. So if they tried to not pay it if I ever quit, I'd have serious negotiating power to force them to. I'd be fine if they paid it out gradually as if I was still working but on vacation, which they did with the last guy who quit with double-digit weeks on the books. My only question in that circumstance would be, do I keep earning PTO while using it up? I would assume so, legally.

I gamed the system so that when I retired I was on leave for the last 3 months prior to my retirement date, and I accumulated additional vacation days while on leave. I made a point of going in to the lab once every couple of weeks to pick up my pay slip, pointedly not log in to my computer to check email, say hello to people and confuse as many of them as possible who thought that I was already retired.

I never worked at a place that had PTO.

Brian wrote: ↑Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:25 pm I was hoping to transfer to a new job which, ironically, doesn't even offer any PTO but pays at double what I'm making now but they have been dragging their feet on that one. I really need to follow up on that because I know the position is still open (It's with the same company I'm contracted at now but under a different contractor company)

....and they didn't offer me the job. I'm "needed" where I'm at.

Well, they've been trying for two months to fill two additional positions for my current job with no success, and now I'm considering making it three open positions.

Blows my mind that Tier 1 folks are getting nearly twice what us Tier 2 guys are getting. Are they surprised they can't find anyone?

Boo!

Brian wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 10:49 am I'm "needed" where I'm at.

Management fail. If you stop someone from promoting, you're just going to drive them to quit.

I long time ago a friend that interned with Intel told me, "Never be so good at your job that you can't be replaced - because they won't."

It's something that has stuck with me for decades.

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 12:23 pm I long time ago a friend that interned with Intel told me, "Never be so good at your job that you can't be replaced - because they won't."

It's something that has stuck with me for decades.

I am currently whats called "knowledge island" I know things about our process and systems nobody else knows.
A significant part of my job is documenting what I know. Then a couple years later somebody asks me, and I'm like, didn't I write that down? and then find out the docs were retired or deleted or disappeared into the ether during KB migration.

Jaymon wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 1:32 pm

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 12:23 pm I long time ago a friend that interned with Intel told me, "Never be so good at your job that you can't be replaced - because they won't."

It's something that has stuck with me for decades.

I am currently whats called "knowledge island" I know things about our process and systems nobody else knows.
A significant part of my job is documenting what I know. Then a couple years later somebody asks me, and I'm like, didn't I write that down? and then find out the docs were retired or deleted or disappeared into the ether during KB migration.

Amen. Don't know what they've been doing to fill the hole in the six months since I was actively working and don't care. I'm going to feel bad for the site I worked for when the shit hits the fan and exactly 0 people know how to deal with it but not bad enough to help.

No way. Now is when you figure out what your contractor rate is. So when they do call, you can answer in a calm, measured tone just how much it's going to cost to pick your brain. Don't sell yourself short!

I don't have a very good brain for much of anything anymore and I have exactly zero will to work. (To say nothing of anxiety and antisocial attitudes that dominate me emotional state and energy levels) You'd think in six months I'd start to have something coming back. Nope. Nada. Nothing. Nil. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Also I had hoped that spending a concerted effort on better health habit would make me more... Healthy. Nope. My old employer and I already discussed a contracting rate of 2.5x my salary based on a 40 hour week. (40 hours. Ha!) Even that means nothing to me (right now). My old boss' boss knew that money wasn't going to change my desire to work. If he thought it would have, he would have thrown it at me while took their time to replace me. That's what they really wanted. They got 8 months with no increase because I was trying to be a good guy. The company as a whole sat on their ass and I burned out even more. I still checked my email every work week day for another six months and nudged people who needed nudging and answered a few questions here and there in exchange for health care. That exchange ends Monday. I reclaim the kitchen table and return a laptop, external drive, keyboard, mouse, dock, two monitors, credit card, building fob, and three different two factor tokens hopefully that same day. Put on the party hat.

Jaymon wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 1:32 pm I am currently whats called "knowledge island" I know things about our process and systems nobody else knows.

Same here. Ours was a small company, where I started as a (single) tech support person. And as I learned more things about our application, systems, and integrations, I slowly accumulated knowledge that was otherwise scattered among people on other teams.

And then as people left and new ones were hired...they never learned all the old bits and pieces, and more of it was lost to everyone but me. Because when someone else can fix an issue, why learn it, amirite?

And then we got acquired a few months before the pandemic hit. The parent company is a mismanaged mess that's owned by private equity and has their business processes firmly rooted in 1995. Between all people that were either laid off or left for greener pastures, we literally lost the prior 10 years of institutional knowledge. We also lost IT, DevOps and all but one ETL developer. And as they all left, I was handed more and more access to every system they used to manage or support (the last IT guy literally handed me a USB stick with a KeePass file with ALL of their passwords...I'm an admin on almost everything now).

My title is "technical consultant", I'm underpaid, and I report to people who have absolutely no concept of the sheer scope of what I do. All they know if when I take a day off, they notice. In the most painful way.

I do fully intend to document my knowledge but I literally don't have time...I'm doing the work of at least 3 people, and I can't keep up.

I fucking hate my job.

Weird. I got a parking ticket this morning which I didn't earn - I actually moved my car on time to the other side of the street and the idiot parking guy couldn't tell the difference.

The weird thing is that I just feel hopeless and depressed about it. It's got me in a total funk, mostly because I know the idiot effed up, but I don't feel like there's anything I can do about it but suck it up and pay it. Maybe my phone location data could be proof, but I doubt it.

How come I can eat twice as much spaghetti as I can regular food?
And why do my dogs like spaghetti more than meat balls?

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 7:25 pm How come I can eat twice as much spaghetti as I can regular food?
And why do my dogs like spaghetti more than meat balls?

We’re all spaghetting older.

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 6:26 pm Weird. I got a parking ticket this morning which I didn't earn - I actually moved my car on time to the other side of the street and the idiot parking guy couldn't tell the difference.

The weird thing is that I just feel hopeless and depressed about it. It's got me in a total funk, mostly because I know the idiot effed up, but I don't feel like there's anything I can do about it but suck it up and pay it. Maybe my phone location data could be proof, but I doubt it.

Not true.
You can always fight it.
Just have to figure out if it's worth the time and trouble.
But you do have that option.

With the weather change my power bill dropped from $140.00 last month to $79.00 this month. Next spring if I can defrost that big upright freezer and sell it that will be less power drawn there as well. Of course Ive not been heating water for over 2 months with no water to the house.

I always look forward to 'window weather', that period when it's warm enough to not need the heater, and cool enough to not need the AC. I absolutely milk those weeks (as I am right now), opening and closing windows and doors to manipulate the airflow to make it last as long as possible. Not only do I enjoy the fresh air, I save about $100 per month in utilities, which is a huge savings for me.

Looking back at pictures of authors and intellectuals from the 50's, 60's, and 70's and thinking it must have been easier to be smart when everybody smoked.

Holman wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 9:17 pm Looking back at pictures of authors and intellectuals from the 50's, 60's, and 70's and thinking it must have been easier to be smart when everybody smoked.

And lead in the gasoline.

Maybe that is why they all seemed to live in East coast cities with public transit; they weren't that brilliant but they also had less lead poisoning!

Had many different dreams last night and my wife was in 2 of them. Was great. Whats funny is when I do dream of her Im not surprised to see her or anything. Its like she has never been gone and its just a normal time with her.

I dream like that all the time.

Every October since 1989, I've had to install large, heavy interior storm windows over my three leaky kitchen windows and take them down again in the spring. That's 96 total window changes so far. Since we started talking about moving out a few years ago, I've been saying "Maybe this will be the last time I have to do this." Now that we're getting serious about moving next year, I really meant it this time.

These windows date to the last kitchen re-do in the late '40s or early '50s. Never ever have I broken one until today. After installing a new weather strip on the bottom and giving it a good cleaning, I propped it in its frame, waited a few seconds for it to show me it was stable, then turned around to get my screwdriver, because I usually forget to put the damned screwdriver in my pocket. This time, the new V-fold weather strip destabilized the base *just enough* to make the ancient window leap to its death. It was a bodacious mess.

Tomorrow I'll take the frame to the local True Value for a new pane of glass. None of this would've been worth mentioning if it had happened 5 or 10 or 30 years ago, but it especially pisses me off because I really thought this might truly be the last time I ever had to put that window up.

Did anyone ever own a Whizzer? Ive wanted a motorcycle or a scooter my entire life. I still want a scooter or ebike . I cant get one right now of course..dont even have water. But one day in my mid 50s I should be able to get either a cheap used scooter or ebike. The Whizzer is an old days gas motor'd bicycle. My sister has wanted one since she was a kid herself. She said in Florida they sell them all the time at flea markets and such for a couple hundred dollars.

Id love a battery bike but they seem more expensive than a gas engine assisted bike. Im talking pedals with a motor so I can get some exercise and when tired can use the motor to come home on. Just something to ride around in the evenings on these country back roads or in the downtown area of the old original part of our small town. Go to the library and such.

Again not now. One day .Dreaming. But did anyone have a Whizzer? Or remember them?

I keep thinking about an electric bike. Maybe if the price to quality looks more appealing next spring I think more seriously again.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 5:45 pm Did anyone ever own a Whizzer? Ive wanted a motorcycle or a scooter my entire life. I still want a scooter or ebike . I cant get one right now of course..dont even have water. But one day in my mid 50s I should be able to get either a cheap used scooter or ebike. The Whizzer is an old days gas motor'd bicycle. My sister has wanted one since she was a kid herself. She said in Florida they sell them all the time at flea markets and such for a couple hundred dollars.

Id love a battery bike but they seem more expensive than a gas engine assisted bike. Im talking pedals with a motor so I can get some exercise and when tired can use the motor to come home on. Just something to ride around in the evenings on these country back roads or in the downtown area of the old original part of our small town. Go to the library and such.

Again not now. One day .Dreaming. But did anyone have a Whizzer? Or remember them?

It looks very heavy, so much so that any non-motorized travel might be pretty uncomfortable. A full tank of gas alone would weigh a few bricks, and that's not counting the motor. I would also assume (although I don't know) that you can't easily switch between pedals-only and engine-assist on the fly (as when you approach a hill, for example).

Was this ever meant as a dual-use vehicle, or was it basically a cut-down motorbike?

When I was in Germany I was surprised to see how many electric bikes there were. I don't think I'd ever seen them in the US.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 7:10 pm When I was in Germany I was surprised to see how many electric bikes there were. I don't think I'd ever seen them in the US.

I've seen a lot of them (comparatively) since I started driving again post COVID. I don't know if I am paying more attention because I'm not in a hurry to somewhere and for a while traffic was lighter or if it's wider availability or if it's the rise electric transportation or if it's a projection because I was looking for alternates to my own driving. We don't have a ton of bicyclist around here so seeing any electric bicyclists is noticeable.

Well, it was 50 years ago and things change. Still not a lot of electric bikes on the mountainous dirt roads of Hogeye.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 8:04 am Well, it was 50 years ago and things change. Still not a lot of electric bikes on the mountainous dirt roads of Hogeye.

Maybe they just need a Hummer EV e-bike.

My brother, who doesn't drive, and I were talking about electric bikes. He feels that at 56 he's past wanting to go to the grocery store on a regular bike even though it is fairly flat where he is. Neither of us has found one that we really want though. 5 years ago I would have planned on a DIY conversion but as they become more available I would now be more self conscious about it being a DIY solution.

Hrothgar wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 8:53 am

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 8:04 am Well, it was 50 years ago and things change. Still not a lot of electric bikes on the mountainous dirt roads of Hogeye.

Maybe they just need a Hummer EV e-bike.

Hummer has a long history with developing military vehicles for the United States army. The EV bike is no exception. It was designed to cause laughter from enemy soldiers when they spotted American soldiers riding them. Thus allowing our units to catch them off guard.

King Tut's tomb was the one not already looted and museums are full of its treasures today. Thats a lot of treasure. So there were many many other tombs looted already.....so where is all that loot?

Melted down and resold for scrap.

If movies and TV shows are to be trusted, that stuff is hidden in private safe deposit boxes around the world, or in a crate in a black-market auction house somewhere.

Actually I have it stored in my little building.

I wonder if more pedestrians get hit by Teslas or gas engine cars?