New England Off Topic and Banter as Most Brilliantly Proposed by Cape Cod MINI

[Actual Size]

There's always Tele-Atlas up in good old tax-free Lebanon, NH.

[jwardell]

Welcome to Corporate America. Nobody cares about anyone but themself. It gets a whole lot worse. That's why I can't work for a big company any more.

[GadgetGav]

Quote: Originally Posted by pezboy

Gavin, that's pretty bad considering your cat is gigantic.

Yeah, and he didn't get that way by chasing mice..!

Annette, sorry to hear you're caught in the promotions trap. They make you prove you're worthy by doing the job before they'll think about promoting you and then once you're doing it, why should they bother to promote you since you're doing the work anyway... Sucks that the only reliable way to get a promotion is to change company - how short sighted is that..?

[holdenontoit]

I call these things "polish promotions" twice the responsibility and the same pay.
Virtually every quantum leap I've ever had in terms of job betterment and pay has involved a job switch.Sad, but there you have it.It seems as if there is no incentive for a company to advance anyone within the company .I left my last company as head of a model shop at "X" per hour. several years later I was called and asked if I would consider coming back. I agreed to a meeting , in which I discussed the fact that I was now making "X" plus 50% /hour, and the idiot agreed to meet my current pay scale.That let me know that I was underpaid for the entire 7 years I was there. In my list of requirements I mentioned the 3 weeks/year vacation that I had worked up to while I was still there and he said, "oh no , I couldn't possibly give you that". what a turkey. I turned the discussion into the exit interview that I never got when I left explaining to him in explicit detail why I had left in the first place. Let your company train you ,and then use your new found information get you a better job somewhere down the road. JMO.
Jock

[NoNo]

The sad thing is that we don't even have performance-based raises here. It's just the same amount for everyone, no matter how much or how little they've done. That aggravates the hell out of me too. So I guess the question becomes: Do I stay in mapping, or do I continue with this new skill set? Unfortunately, there aren't a whole lot of GIS jobs in this area, so a new job would almost certainly require a move, perhaps back down to the DC area. A programming job is far easier to come by, but the competition is greater, and frankly, I don't know if I like it enough to want to do that all day long. *sigh* And it's only Tuesday....

[MGB Boy]

Quote: Originally Posted by jwardell

That's why I can't work for a big company any more.

Well, that plus the restraining order...

The joys of big business. We're doing you a favor by pushing you to learn things outside your field of expertise so that we can dump more work on your desk and thus not have to increase headcount. You don't do it for the pay, you do it for the wonderful experience you'll gain, which is far more valuable than pay. Of course the unstated reality behind that statement is that the only way that experience will prove valuable is if you quit and use that experience somewhere else. Because once they've got you doing new work at the same pay scale, there's no way they'll actually give you more money for doing that work, it's now part of your scope. Been there, done that.

All this sort of fun breeds a really unhelpful attitude, people become resistant to helping with anything outside the strict definition of their job because the reality is that if you do it once, it's part of your job for life. Someone asks if you know how to run TPS reports (to use an Office Space example). Although it's not part of your job, you do know how to run them, so you say yes. They ask if you could do some because it's a real pinch and they need it for reason XYZ. If you say no, you're not a team player. If you say yes, then every time anyone needs a TPS report ever again, they will come to you. Running TPS reports on demand becomes part of you job. This leads to an atmosphere where people are resistant to helping out, because they've got enough to do and they don't want to volunteer for another responsibility.

Of course like I said, if you don't help out, you're not a team player. If you don't take classes, you're not interested in developing your skills and you're not showing the yen for advancement that they want to see. It's all a big game, and unfortunately there's more places out there where it's like this than there are where it's not like this. If you find one where it's not like this, and they pay you more than minimum wage, then grab that job and hold on for dear life.

They make a lot of noise here in my group about professional development, about broadening your skill set, taking internal classes, taking external classes that the company will help pay for, all that stuff. But of course I'm the only person on site doing my job, I don't have any real back-up for a lot of the key tasks I do, so if I'm not here, the work doesn't magically go away, it just piles up (and a lot of it is time-sensitive stuff that doesn't take kindly to piling up, which is why I spent about half of MINIs On Top with a cellphone glued to my ear). Creates a strong disincentive for taking classes. My manager understands that, for which I'm thankful, he realizes that the day to day reality of my job doesn't allow for a lot of additional "fun", so he doesn't give me heat about it. Hell, I usually end up with a bunch of vacation time I have to use at year-end because I haven't had a chance to take it any other time. But it's use it or lose it, and I'm not giving those days back...

-Ricardo

[holdenontoit]

Quote: Originally Posted by MGB Boy

If you find one where it's not like this, and they pay you more than minimum wage, then grab that job and hold on for dear life.
-Ricardo

that's where I work, and boy do I appreciate it.

[MetalMiniMayhem]

hey Annette, at least where you work you can "fudge" your hours if need be... where I work you have to account for everything by task code, if you have nothing to work on there is a task for "down and idle" but it is a HUGE "no-no" (no pun intended) to use that task code... here's the problem.. management tells you not to use that task, but if you use something else, that's called mischarging, which is labor fraud and when working for a government contractor, well that can get you into serious trouble including not just being fired, but possibly jail time and huge fines... for the last two weeks I have had absolutely zero work to do so I have had to go around to people and say "hey talk to me about this assembly" and they'd say "why?" and I'd have to reply, "I need something to charge".. it's that bad.. it sucks being on the edge of commiting federal labor fraud every day and having to find a way NOT to...

[holdenontoit]

yeah ours is called "Burden" ....................nuff said Jock

[snid]

Quote: Originally Posted by GadgetGav

OK Derek, confession time... **WHICH** SUV did you almost leave us for..? If it's something like the new LandRover or Range Rover Sport, I for one will forgive you.

On my way back home from the track on Friday, I was passed by a pair of new Rovers. A Range Rover and a Range Rover Sport. Seeing them both close together really shows off how the Sport is not built from the same chassis as the Range Rover - the Sport is based on the smaller LR3. In any case, the Sport looks awesome!

[GBMINI]

Please see the new MINI Peabody / Care For Keith Event entry on my weblog

MINI Peabody has an event planned for Sunday November 13th to raise money for the Care For Keith Trust:
An instructional / gymkana driving event will be held on Sunday November 13th between 10am and 3pm; driving instructors from the BMW CCA Boston chapter will provide instruction / training on MINI handling, followed by a skill drive gymkana emphasising driving control (NOT speed).
Food & drink will be provided and all participating MINIs will be cleaned.
The event will also show off the new Lyon-Waugh group Centennial Park service operation - MINI Peabody is part of that group.

An entrance fee of $50/car will be charged - this fee will go directly to the Care For Keith Trust; specially designed T-shirts will also be available for purchase with profits from them going to the trust.

I'll update the weblog and post here as I hear more info.
Basically SIGN UP FOR THIS! Martin wants 100 attendees - raising $5K for Keith!

Your MINI dealership needs you


PS:
Where ... the Centennial Park facility is near to MINI Peabody, off route 128. Directions will come when I find them

[pezboy]

Um. I'm working until 1:30pm that day probably. Can I still just go hang out afterwards? Will Martin be accepting donations from those not participating in the event?

[GBMINI]

Jared,
I think if the full 100 MINIs sign up, space for "just hanging out" might be too limited to allow it - but I have not seen the new place.
I'm sure Martin will be happy to accept your donation.

Also, if 100 MINIs sign up I can see the 3pm end time being extended - maybe you can sign up anyway and still catch a reasonable amount ...

[Cape Cod MINI]

Jared, just sign up anyway and if you can't make it for the driving bit or choose not to they still get the $$ and things run a bit smoother. I just emailed Martin saying I'm in but will most likely show up in the RX-8 or pickup truck. Looking forward to seeing friends and helping our buddy Keith.

Here's a good one:
A man wanted an attack dog to protect his business, so he
visited a kennel that specialized in attack dogs.
The man explained to the kennel owner that he wanted the
biggest,meanest, most vicious dog in the kennel, and the
owner offered to take the man on a tour of the premises.
After they had been walking for a few minutes, they came
upon a large dog. He was snarling loudly and biting and clawing
at the cage.
"He looks like he'd be a pretty good attack dog," said the buyer.
"Well, he's not bad," replied the owner, "but I have something
better in mind for you."
They continued walking around the premises, and after a while
they found an even larger,meaner dog than the first.
He snarled at the two men and tried to bite them through the wire
on his cage.
"Ah," said the buyer. "This must be the dog you were referring to
earlier."
"Well, no." said the owner. "I have something better in mind for you."
The men continued their tour. Eventually, they came upon a fairly
large dog that was lying quietly on his side, licking his ass.
He did not seem to notice as the men approached.
"This is the dog I had in mind for you," said the owner.
The buyer was flabbergasted. "You're joking!" he exclaimed.
"This dog seems quite tame; he doesn't act at all like an attack
dog at all. Hell, he's just lying there, licking his ass!"
"I know, I know," said the owner. "But you see, he just ate a
lawyer, and he's trying to get the taste out of his mouth."

[MetalMiniMayhem]