The office: Chatter about your job

Back to the company delivery fleet thing for a bit, around here, there's one livery service (they specialize in picking up foreign executives on an extended stay and taking them from the airport (usually O'hare) to the residence they'll be using (usually a rented or sublet house) that has a company fleet and shuttling them around. The Medical lab also maintains a fleet for its couriers. In both cases, the company wants to be sure that the vehicles used are in good maintenance and working order; additionally, the med lab has signs which keep their couriers from getting parking tickets from overzealous rent-a-cops when they leave the car other than in a designated parking spot at pick-up and drop-off points, and the livery service does it so that they can count on a consistent standard of comfort for the executives.

Just when I was starting to get used to making more than one and a half times what I need to survive, I've got an offer from a place I'd not just dislike less than where I am now, but would probably really enjoy. For three quarters of my minimum.

I would actually have time for a second job/freelance career work though. I'm going to hit up UPS again, since the main reason I turned them down was because they were offering fewer hours than I needed at most, but they were on call. I also have a few temp agencies I'm trying to get going with, and there's an outfit that dabbles in production work placement that I need to get in touch with.

Well, I have just accepted an offer of a new job. Company who provides services to the hospitality industry; I had a previous employer who did the same kind of thing, so it's not exactly a new customer base. But more importantly they're redoing their product suite as SAAS online applications and need another UNIX sysadmin to keep it running and keep the devs' environments happy. Contract to start with, permanent after 6 months.

Congrats!

Thanks!

I'm not sure how I'll respond to being only expected to work 40 hours a week and not being considered a failure if I wasn't doing 65+.

edited 1st Feb '15 7:38:36 AM by Morven

That's awesome, Morven.

Good to hear, Morven. And you'll get used to the short workweek in no time.

Anyone here ever had a problem with chain smoking coworkers? Even though I work outdoors, right now every one of my coworkers smokes constantly, so by the time my shift is done I feel like I've gone jogging through a forest fire. Doesn't feel like there's much I can do about it either, since I'm the lowest in the pecking order.

I think I'm the only person at my store who doesn't smoke something, but only one or two of my coworkers take cigarette breaks.

A couple of the drivers smoke in their cars.

Got a full plate this week. More official dinners/meetings which means more monkey suit time and at the end of the week they are starting some major interior construction which will on my long 12 hour day where I have the least sleep they will be jack-hammering the concrete floor to install a drain pipe.

The whole reason for the construction is to put in a lactation room. While I appreciate the step forward they seem to have gotten several priorities crossed. Myself and many others would appreciate it a lot more if they put the same amount of time, money, and effort into like say hiring more security guards, regular employees, and ensuring we have adequate space for said employees to be able to keep up with the companies constant growth. Or spending money on a new Mother Fund so new moms can afford to simply not be at work for a few months rather then force them to live through the stress of crunching that is going on now.

I was employed by Target part time for all of 2012 and 2013. I made about $8k those years. According to my W2s, I also made about $8k in 2014, despite having a two and a half month gap between leaving Target and starting at the pizza place.

It's probably more due to going from an 18-22 hour week to a 50ish hour week than from making tips. The hours add up, and there's overtime pay.

Hang in there the change over can be rough for a little while.

First day of the new job (classy adult boutique). Being back in retail means sore feet and backs are here again. And the floors are hard concrete with no mats anywhere.

Today was training, and I got comments about how knowledgeable I already was about the basics of the toys. Lingerie not so much, but I think I can handle it.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but since this is part time and not enough to cover my budget, I'm probably going to have to stay on at the pizza place for a few hours a week for a while. But I should overall be working less and have more time to pursue career gigs.

Finished a five hour shift at New Job, and I'm ready to go home. But I have to go work eightish at Old Job.

We had someone steal the part of our toilet paper stand that actually holds the paper roll (the spring-loaded cylinder bit). Just that. The toilet paper roll was left sitting on the sink. The rest of the stand is still there.

I am still confused as to why someone would take that. Especially considering it's not a very good one.

edited 13th Feb '15 12:55:49 PM by Nocturna

Could it have got lost while they were changing rolls?

Is Joint Commission gone? Please tell me they're gone. They've been here since Monday, everyone is tense, and I'm getting tired of walking all the way down the hall and around the corner to drink my Coke.

edited 13th Feb '15 4:26:20 PM by jedimaster91

Considering none of my co-workers had it or had any idea it was gone, not likely. Also that it was a partly used roll of paper with no new roll.

Had a bit of Schadenfreude earlier.

Me and the buddyfucker I mentioned, months ago, were scheduled to close on Tuesday, him at 12:00am as the closing dishwasher, and me 30m later doing the other closing duties.

Internet order comes in almost literally at the last minute (2 minutes to store close), from a known stiffer (IOW no tips). I have a brainfart and mention to the BF they almost never tip, and he basically sticks me with the delivery while he skips out, in spite of the fact that I had to open the store Wed morning as well and the fact that as the next person in the driver queue he was supposed to take the run, as schedules are more in the way of goals than absolute hard limits.

So I get to the customer's place, fully expecting to get dicked over. We go through the fake pleasantries dance, and I'm as professional as ever throughout the exchange in spite of my previous experience, but tonight is different: the stiffer gives me a $10 tip, nearly 2/3rds of the total price of his order.

Still professional, I go back to my car, on the other side of the parking lot, making sure the customer's door is closed. And then I laugh, long and hard. You fucked yourself, buddy-fucker!

One of my deliveries yesterday:

Her: "where's the ranch?"

Him: "Did you not have ranch?"

Me: "Was it on the order?" (it was not)

Him: "Oh. Well, do you have ranch?"

Me: "We only carry what's in the order, no extras."

Him: "Can you go get us some ranch?"

Me: "They cost extra."

Him: (points to the money) "well that's..." (read: can I pay for it out of your tip?)

Me: "You'd have to call the store and order it."

Him: "Would they send you?"

Me: "no, it could be anyone."

Him: "... I'm sorry honey, I forgot to order the ranch."

Heh. It's amazing (and by "amazing" I mean "annoying" ) what some people seem to expect out of delivery people, like they're supposed to have a miniature version of the store in their trunk or something.

At least (most) people who ask if I have extra pizza for them are kidding.

Small comfort, that's just exchanging one annoyance for another.

edited 25th Feb '15 10:03:47 PM by Nohbody

So I took this new job because I really wanted to quit delivering pizzas. I knew going in that it wouldn't be great money or great hours, so when my boss offered to let me pick up extra hours around my new job's hours, I accepted.

However, I thought I'd be in the neighborhood of 15-20 hours a week at my new job, and 8-12 or less at my old job. I did over 20 hours in delivery this past week, and had 14 hours cut from my schedule at the store this past week due to being over payroll budget and slow sales, and in the next two weeks' schedules, I'm only working at the store on Saturday evenings, five and six hour shifts.

Time to start putting out applications again.

There's a team meeting at job two on Sunday morning... given how little I've been working due to the payroll budget and slowness, I expect layoffs. Well, one layoff.