Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

Good to see SE's quality assurance is as consistent as ever.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

Well, this is an interesting ghost story:

Turbo Granny

"A ghost of an old lady that is said to appear around Mt. Rokko who runs on all fours at blazing speeds. If you look at her back when she passes by you, you can see a piece of paper with the word "Turbo" posted on her. She is not a dangerous ghost but simply one that runs around. Other similar ghosts include the "Dash Hag" of the Shuto Expressway and the "100 km/h Granny" of Hokkaido"
—Soul Hackers Compendium

There's also an iOS game called "Turbo Grannies," but it really just looks like a ripoff of Joe Danger. At any rate, I like learning about weird urban legends from around the world - its part of why I enjoy the SMT games so much.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

My co-workers gave me a send off of chinese food and ice cream cake today. It's like they're going to miss me or something.

[Firewind]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

Oldest Gaming Tokens Found in Turkey : Discovery News

Clearly it's an ancient D&D set.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

And the Voynich Manuscript was its rules manual.

[Yellow Mage]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

Sorry for the double-post, but

[Yygdrasil]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

As most of you know by now, I started my new job as an Ironworker about 2 weeks ago and it's going really well. Sadly, since it's an "in the field" and intensive labor job, I don't really have the time or the means to be as active on the forum as I'd like to. During this transitional period between jobs, I'm actually still employed with the airlines and I'm supposed to be working Friday-Monday. Since there's an obvious overlap in the days of the week that I'm supposed to be at each job and with the relative importance of the Union job in mind, I've been exhausting my vacation days, personal days and sick days at the airport in order to be in attendance at everything the Union asks me to.

Now it's important to mention at this point how our disciplinary procedures work at the airport. You may accumulate a total of 12 "occurrences" of "dependability" before being terminated. Each time you're late for work, that counts as 1 occurrence. Each time you call in sick it counts as 1 occurrence (unless they're sequential days. In which case it still only counts as 1). Each time you show up more than an hour late for work (or not show up at all) it counts as 2 occurrences. When you accumulate a total of 9, you're put on a Level 1. Each additional occurrence that follows bumps the level to 2, 3, FINAL WARNING and finally termination. Occurrences roll off your record exactly 1 year from the date that they happened.

Due to the number of fake sick calls I've made, I've racked up 11 points. Understandably, this has caused a bit of friction with my employers here. And this is where the story gets good...

In my department (Operations) there are a total of 7 employees on a rotating schedule that covers every hour of the day 7 days a week. In order to make such a schedule work, we actually only need 6 people. Last year, management decided to add a part-timer to our roster to help "ease our burden" and facilitate a more smooth transition between shifts on some of our more "strenuous" days. The days they chose were Monday and Friday... which gives us 3 employees on during my shift on both of those days... and yet here I am alone from 4:00am - 8:00am on Saturdays and Sundays still. Needless to say, our management has no idea how to build a schedule that makes any sense. Either way, I didn't have a problem with it until now... simply because I prefer to work alone.

Rewind a few months. I've just told my managers that I'm getting a job with the union and that in the coming months, I'll need to work with them to find a schedule that is mutually beneficial for both the company and myself. Their response: "We'll see about that when the time comes". Ominous.

Fast forward a month. I approach management again, asking them if it's possible for me to be re-certified to work the ramp. Their response: "You're too valuable to us in Ops". Loaded.

Fast forward another month. I've just received my letter of acceptance into the union. I approach management a 3rd time to ask if we can work to reduce my hours in order for me to make a smooth transition into my other job. Their response: "We can't do that. Your union (the airline union) won't let us do that as per your contract". Curious.

Fast forward to a week ago. I'm on a conference call with our airport union president and all 5 of our local shop stewards to discuss the supposed restriction that doesn't allow me to reduce my hours to part time. No such restriction exists and my union president fully supports my reasonable request to either be reduced in hours or transitioned back onto the ramp, considering that we are already overstaffed in my department my 1 person as it is. Following that phone call, I made a few more... but I'll get to that. They're the surprise twists.

Fast forward to yesterday. I approach my department manager and the manager of the station (whom I affectionately refer to as "Big Boss" behind her back) and request a sit down meeting with them both to discuss our options from here forward. My argument was as follows:

"Big Boss, I want to strike a deal with you regarding my continued employment with the company. Hear me out. As you know, I've started working with the Ironworkers recently. You may have also noticed that I've inexplicably been getting sick at the same time. I'm not saying the 2 are related... but just that you may or may not have noticed the correlation. Now... I'm aware that due to the number of sick days I've accumulated, I'm on a Final Warning level. So here is my Final Offer to rebut the Final Warning. I propose that you reduce my schedule down to part time and keep me exclusively on Saturdays and Sundays. You see, on Mondays and Fridays you have 3 of us working... while on Saturdays and Sundays it's only me. From what I can tell, those are the days where I'm actually needed. This change may be unorthodox but I only propose it as a short-term transitional solution that benefits us both. During the next month or 2, I'll be happy to assist in training a replacement to work my position. When he/she is adequately skilled, they can assume my full-time shift permanently and I will resign from my position amicably. How does that sound? Reasonable?"

Her response (as expected): "Absolutely not. Your union would never allow such a thing and we're bound to their restrictions. You need to make a decision to stay with one job or the other and stop trying to balance the 2 before you force us to terminate you based on your dependability."

My response (well prepared): "I spoke with the president of the union yesterday as well as a number of our stewards here in the station and I have been informed that no such restriction exists in union bi-laws. I similarly followed up with Human resources and consulted them on the issue of my being denied part time status during a time in which you are regularly hiring on part time employees to the ramp from other departments that are similarly overstaffed... and they are as confused as I am as to why you won't let it happen. They agree that my request to have reduced hours, my request to change departments and my reasonable request to make suitable arrangements several months in advance to prepare for just such an incident as today were more than accommodating to you. I'm truly sorry to hear that we can't work something out that benefits us both. I thought my offer was a reasonable one. I'll be speaking with the union president this afternoon to draft up a grievance with the company for failure to comply with your own company hiring standards and the freedom of movement clause in your company handbook that permits me to transition willingly from one department to another provided that the receiving department is hiring and that the one I'm leaving is adequately staffed. Furthermore, I'm been in contact with the unemployment office in Boston to inquire about my rights if I feel that I've been wrongfully terminated from my job. I explained the entire situation to the case worker and she agrees that it's good to have a backup plan in the unlikely event that I get laid off from my Ironworking job I'm on. I've been paying into Unemployment benefits here at the airport for 6 years now and have quite the lump sum to feed off of. Should my other job temporarily lay me off, I would not be able to file for unemployment through them sue to the limited time I've been working for them. You however... I could file for. Which brings me to how you've been pressuring me to put in my 2 weeks resignation from the company as of late. It's come to my understanding that if i resign from my position, I forfeit all rights to my unemployment benefits here. The same goes for if I'm fired. However... if I were to be wrongfully terminated... which the caseworker at the Unemployment office has agreed would be the case here, I would be fully entitled to draw off my Unemployment from the airport while laid off from the union. I'm also told that such a thing would put a big nasty smear on your company record. In short, please reconsider my proposal and think about how it could be best for everyone. In the meantime, I hope I don't get sick again any time soon. I wouldn't want to get fired."

And I walked out.

I could not possibly be more satisfied with myself.

In the end... the unemployment thing was more of a scare tactic. I have no intention of going through with it... although I did sit on hold for about an hour waiting to talk to the lovely and helpful lady who assisted me in researching my rights and educating me on the system that I've had no experience with until now. Sure, I want to transition smoothly from one job to the other... but to be perfectly honest... I've wanted to burn this bridge to the ground for years... and my "kill em with kindness / sincerity" act worked exactly like I expected. I'm still not fired for insubordination or attendance... and I got to watch the cutest little puff of anger-smoke vent out from Big-Boss' ears as I skipped out of the room and whistled al;l the way back to my office.

Mission accomplished. Smile: Acquired.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

I can't wait to hear how that plays out. It sounds like you've got them right where you want them.

[Feba]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

Operations is a pretty fancy way to say baggage handler.

[Aksannyi]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

At my old job I worked in Operations and that meant dispatcher so Operations can mean a lot of shit lol.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

I am so excited for this.

[Feba]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

At my old job I worked in Operations and that meant receptionist.

ftfy

[Firewind]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

I have held a job title called "Operations Technical Support". Basically I was the guy that everyone whined at on the phone whenever the website was down, which was often given the traffic and how unstable the network was.

[Aksannyi]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

ftfy

No. I was a dispatcher, ran radios and took incoming service calls. I haven't been a receptionist since I was like 20. Think 911 dispatcher - but I didn't work for the 911 call center.

[Yygdrasil]

Re: Little things that make you smile - the anti-peeve thread.

Operations is a pretty fancy way to say baggage handler.

Not at all. I monitor ground operations and manage a team of ramp agents. I also manage the gates, monitor and maintain all computers and dedicated servers as well as working in conjunction with the FAA and Massport to keep track of and organize all flight history records.

I'm in charge of the air to ground and ground to ground radio transmissions and have a nice cushy office in the tower.

I wouldn't be caught dead on the ramp. Not for the kind of money those guys make. Hell naw.