Complaint Thursdays

[beerme1]

HABS FANS ARE DELUSIONAL OMFG WOW!!! They are seriously stupid.... EPIC FAIL YOU STUPID HABS IDIOTS.

 

I am complaining about the stupidity of HABS and Leafs fans for your blind following of your crappy teams!!!!

 

 

And to think that earlier I was going to complain that my thesis isn't writing itself! :lol:

 

 

That's what I thought about a career in academia before I came back for grad school. Key word: before. To really, really make it cushy in academia (at least engineering/sciences, I'll say), you have to make it at a top school, and then you've got years of political b.s.: scrambling for grants, endlessly writing proposals, competing for alliances between professors, networking with completely fake douches from universities across the country, etc. Once you get tenure, though, you get to breathe a wee bit...

 

 

 

 

 

Better? :pirate:

 

 

Much better! :clapping: Right back on track. Save your sunshine for F'n Fantastic Friday lol.

[Eleven]

Positive posts in this thread. Save it for tomorrow. This thread is all about today.

 

Talking dogs. Talking dogs piss me off more than the DJIA (it's 30 stocks; if you want to get smart about it, at least follow the S&P 500). They piss me off more than biodork playing Dungeons & Dragons, and they piss me off more than ChileanSeaBass being a person and not an entree.

 

In summary, talking dogs piss me off.

[FogBat]

Talking dogs. Talking dogs piss me off more than the DJIA (it's 30 stocks; if you want to get smart about it, at least follow the S&P 500). They piss me off more than biodork playing Dungeons & Dragons, and they piss me off more than ChileanSeaBass being a person and not an entree.

 

In summary, talking dogs piss me off.

Aren't you barking up the wrong tree on this one? :lol:

[Taro T]

Yep, mom AND the soon-to-be ex are both bi-polar. My mom does some RPG programming, but mostly COBOL. Like you, I have no idea what it is, other than that it's antiquated and you can't find a job using it anymore. She's tried to learn Java and stuff like that, but couldn't pick it up. To deal with her bi-polar she was basically a hoarder who just blew all her money on stupid stuff (at one point she owned 3 carpet cleaners and at least a half dozen mattress pads). So she too has no savings or retirement. She's finally getting treatment for her issues (been about a year now I guess), but most of the damage has been done, and now she's trying to get the train back on its tracks. In all honesty she'd probably be a candidate for disability like my aunt (also bi-polar), but there's no way she'd get it now as they'd assume she's milking the system being on the last legs of her unemployment and all. Hopefully this, or some other, job comes along ASAP. I just hope if she finds one she can keep it.

Seriously? COBOL? That was antiquated back when I was in undergrad in the mid-80's. Maybe she can find a job doing C+; that was only antiquated in '93 or so. (Sorry for the sarcasm, it's been a rough week.)

 

My true complaint: why the ###### is this thread still open at ~2AM?

 

And my 2nd complaint: why does the language filter add 2 ###### letters to a 4 ###### letter word and knock 1 letter off of a 7 ###### letter word? How the ###### are people supposed to understand what you are profanely shouting when all ###### profane words are 6 ###### #'s long?

[spndnchz]

ba-bump

[frissonic]

Talking dogs. Talking dogs piss me off more than the DJIA (it's 30 stocks; if you want to get smart about it, at least follow the S&P 500). They piss me off more than biodork playing Dungeons & Dragons, and they piss me off more than ChileanSeaBass being a person and not an entree.

 

In summary, talking dogs piss me off.

is this in relation to the horse joke ...? or is this some tv commercial?

[frissonic]

waking up at 4 am. being to work by 5 am. and that's with a half hour commute. so i get in, wait for the cafeteria to open, and go down stairs to order some cinnamon walnut french toast. "dude. you're bitching about cinnamon french toast? what is the mater with you?!" no. i'm bitching about the fact that a) what i thought was butter was actually margarine, and b) it tasted like stale fridge. you know ... that crappy, musty taste that sometimes get absorbed by things like butter, mashed potatoes, etc? yah. such was my morning. crappy fake fridge-tasting "butter."

 

sheeeeeeiiit.

[shrader]

Day 2 of 3 of sitting on the couch all day. Yeah, I'm not at work, but this gets pretty boring.

[frissonic]

Day 2 of 3 of sitting on the couch all day. Yeah, I'm not at work, but this gets pretty boring.

how come you're home? cuz really ... kinda jealous. :)

[shrader]

how come you're home? cuz really ... kinda jealous. :)

 

I have a couple holes in my knee right now.

[frissonic]

I have a couple holes in my knee right now.

ooh okay. not jealous of that. sorry to hear hear that man. hope you heal all quick-like and speedy-esque.

[Andrew Amerk]

I noticed at work yesterday, that the vendor has started stocking the snack machine with 5-hour energy drinks.

 

Not sure why, but something about seeing that made me cringe.

[dEnnis the Menace]

I am at work today, fighting the cold that everyone else had last week :censored:

 

On another work note: there is almost no one doing work currently (including myself at the moment while I type here). There are like 7 people attending a webinar thing in our conference room,my sales manager among like 2 other people are on vacation for the week, and the president and owner of the company is literally on an African safari for the week. This is a small company (talking 27 people, including the machine shop and assembly). I need assistance on a few things, including an HR question, and I have no one to get said help from, nor have I had the opportunity since I arrived at 7:50 this morning. :doh: There's not a while lot that I can/could do without said answers.

 

such a waste of 3+ hours. :death:

[korab rules]

I noticed at work yesterday, that the vendor has started stocking the snack machine with 5-hour energy drinks.

 

Not sure why, but something about seeing that made me cringe.

What a great idea! I bet the owner of your company is behind that!

[Iron Crotch]

And to think that earlier I was going to complain that my thesis isn't writing itself! :lol:

 

 

That's what I thought about a career in academia before I came back for grad school. Key word: before. To really, really make it cushy in academia (at least engineering/sciences, I'll say), you have to make it at a top school, and then you've got years of political b.s.: scrambling for grants, endlessly writing proposals, competing for alliances between professors, networking with completely fake douches from universities across the country, etc. Once you get tenure, though, you get to breathe a wee bit...

 

I started off on a PhD track, because I really enjoyed teaching; then I realized how a career in academia really is, and I'm taking my Masters and running. Be wary, young Liger.

 

 

 

Better? :pirate:

 

I'd like to complain about the fallacy that academia is an any way "cushy." If you're at a research institution, you will work far more than you will at any comparable non-academic job. And, (as you've figured out) if you're pre-tenure you have to deal with constant pressure to produce cutting edge research, get strong teaching ratings, keep your senior colleagues happy since they'll eventually be voting on whether you can stay or not...

 

... not to mention teaching is nowhere near as fun/rewarding as it sounds.

[Claude_Verret]

I have a couple holes in my knee right now.

 

I feel for you here, it gets old really quick being laid up like that. A few years ago I was laid up after knee surgery (the five screws they drilled in remain there today), but at the same time I also had surgery for a detached retina. To keep the retina in place they put a gas bubble in my eye and to keep it properly positioned on my retina I had to lie face down 24/7 for 3 weeks. That sucked beyond words, all I could do to keep entertained was sit up and lean over face down to read a book or watch a movie positioned below me on the floor. I guess this is a retroactive complaint since that time in my life sucked so bad, but at the same time the accident that caused it probably should have killed me. Anyway, I hope you're back on your feet soon. :thumbsup:

[Taro T]

I'd like to complain about the fallacy that academia is an any way "cushy." If you're at a research institution, you will work far more than you will at any comparable non-academic job. And, (as you've figured out) if you're pre-tenure you have to deal with constant pressure to produce cutting edge research, get strong teaching ratings, keep your senior colleagues happy since they'll eventually be voting on whether you can stay or not...

 

... not to mention teaching is nowhere near as fun/rewarding as it sounds.

Sorry guy, but academia relative to most other endeavors is definitely "cushy."

 

Yes, working in a research lab for a university (major or minor) does result in long hours, but let's face it, a lot of those hours aren't necessarily terribly productive. Working in the real world might result in shorter hours (or it might not) but the pressure to produce whatever widget you make is much more direct. 'Production is down because of x, well get a replacement for x in here yesterday, so we can start making money again' is the refrain in the real world. 'You can't run y experiment because you don't have z? Well, go order another z, charge it to the yy budget, and get back to me in 2 weeks when it comes in' is only SLIGHTLY exaggerated. (Technically it should have been 'you can't run y experiment because you don't have z? Well, go order the parts you need to make a z, charge it to the yy budget, and get back to me in 3 weeks when the parts have come in and you've assembled the parts.')

 

There is pressure to produce in academia, but efficiency is not often highly valued. (Which if you are efficient can and does induce it's own stressors.) Yes, a proposal for a grant has a specific deadline, but it usually is known well in advance and there is ample time to get everything in order. Yes, there are other deadlines as well, but typically they are well known in advance and they can be met without pulling all-nighters (though oftentimes the all-nighter becomes part of the process). The pressure is rarely the same as it is in the real world.

 

Cushy is rarely related to the stress level of a job; it is far more often related to the amount of physical labor required, the immediate urgency of performing the task at hand, and the relative level of how much of the 'grunt' work can be avoided by passing it off to underlings or administrative staff. Academia is, when looked at this way, cushy. It also typically is quite stressful.

 

Remember, if it was FUN, they wouldn't call it WORK.

[shrader]

I feel for you here, it gets old really quick being laid up like that. A few years ago I was laid up after knee surgery (the five screws they drilled in remain there today), but at the same time I also had surgery for a detached retina. To keep the retina in place they put a gas bubble in my eye and to keep it properly positioned on my retina I had to lie face down 24/7 for 3 weeks. That sucked beyond words, all I could do to keep entertained was sit up and lean over face down to read a book or watch a movie positioned below me on the floor. I guess this is a retroactive complaint since that time in my life sucked so bad, but at the same time the accident that caused it probably should have killed me. Anyway, I hope you're back on your feet soon. :thumbsup:

 

Yeah, all of yours is far worse than mine. I just got scoped, so no screws or anything. And any type of eye surgery always seems like it would be the worst. Well, I'm thinking surgery below the belt would lead to some very uncomfortable times.

[Sabre Dance]

OK, not really a "complaint" (well, the complaint is in the not knowing...) For the last few weeks, a very attractive woman I see nearly every day in the cafeteria has been looking in my direction... a lot. I know this woman is married (and just had a child). I am no movie star (well, maybe a slightly taller, heavier version of Danny DeVito) and I really have no interest in any dalliance with married persons. So why the stares? Also, yesterday a perfectly lovely twenty-something walked past me on campus and out of the blue flashed a huge smile and said an excited "Hi!". I just turned 55 and unless someone is starting rumors that I won the lottery (I haven't), what the heck is going on? It took me 25 years to get used to attractive women ignoring me and now for some as-yet-unknown reason, I am suddenly attractive? I don't think so.... :blink:

[spndnchz]

My complaint for today plus some.

 

Driving on my way in today I see 5 young female mallards on the side of the road waiting to cross. I slow down, put my flashers on, stop and they start walking (across a five lane road mind you). I'm the only one there until the light changes behind me. I'm stopped. With flashers on. I see traffic coming up from behind me. I literally hang out the window of my car while it's raining, arms flailing to get the cars to stop. What does Mr Numbnuts do? Comes by me doing 45 mph. Takes out the first duck. Not pretty. :angry: The rest of the cars on both sides of the median allow the rest to pass. Can't get the picture out of my head of that duck being run over. Or the other ducks looking back as they finished crossing. Guess you can't save 'em all. :cry:

[MattPie]

I forgot to bring in salad dressing and the company store is closed. I'm looking at 3/4lb of plain spinach, carrots, and broccoli.

[Iron Crotch]

Sorry guy, but academia relative to most other endeavors is definitely "cushy."

 

Yes, working in a research lab for a university (major or minor) does result in long hours, but let's face it, a lot of those hours aren't necessarily terribly productive. Working in the real world might result in shorter hours (or it might not) but the pressure to produce whatever widget you make is much more direct. 'Production is down because of x, well get a replacement for x in here yesterday, so we can start making money again' is the refrain in the real world. 'You can't run y experiment because you don't have z? Well, go order another z, charge it to the yy budget, and get back to me in 2 weeks when it comes in' is only SLIGHTLY exaggerated. (Technically it should have been 'you can't run y experiment because you don't have z? Well, go order the parts you need to make a z, charge it to the yy budget, and get back to me in 3 weeks when the parts have come in and you've assembled the parts.')

 

There is pressure to produce in academia, but efficiency is not often highly valued. (Which if you are efficient can and does induce it's own stressors.) Yes, a proposal for a grant has a specific deadline, but it usually is known well in advance and there is ample time to get everything in order. Yes, there are other deadlines as well, but typically they are well known in advance and they can be met without pulling all-nighters (though oftentimes the all-nighter becomes part of the process). The pressure is rarely the same as it is in the real world.

 

Cushy is rarely related to the stress level of a job; it is far more often related to the amount of physical labor required, the immediate urgency of performing the task at hand, and the relative level of how much of the 'grunt' work can be avoided by passing it off to underlings or administrative staff. Academia is, when looked at this way, cushy. It also typically is quite stressful.

 

Remember, if it was FUN, they wouldn't call it WORK.

 

I worked in "the real world" (your terminology) for over a decade and I do quite a bit of "real world" consulting currently. But, those who say that academic jobs at Tier I research institutions are cushy almost invariably have never tried their hand at it. That is my point. We mock that which we do not understand. Hence the complaint in my original post (since this is "complaint Thursday") :D

[korab rules]

OK, not really a "complaint" (well, the complaint is in the not knowing...) For the last few weeks, a very attractive woman I see nearly every day in the cafeteria has been looking in my direction... a lot. I know this woman is married (and just had a child). I am no movie star (well, maybe a slightly taller, heavier version of Danny DeVito) and I really have no interest in any dalliance with married persons. So why the stares? Also, yesterday a perfectly lovely twenty-something walked past me on campus and out of the blue flashed a huge smile and said an excited "Hi!". I just turned 55 and unless someone is starting rumors that I won the lottery (I haven't), what the heck is going on? It took me 25 years to get used to attractive women ignoring me and now for some as-yet-unknown reason, I am suddenly attractive? I don't think so.... :blink:

[SwampD]

Sorry guy, but academia relative to most other endeavors is definitely "cushy."

 

Yes, working in a research lab for a university (major or minor) does result in long hours, but let's face it, a lot of those hours aren't necessarily terribly productive. Working in the real world might result in shorter hours (or it might not) but the pressure to produce whatever widget you make is much more direct. 'Production is down because of x, well get a replacement for x in here yesterday, so we can start making money again' is the refrain in the real world. 'You can't run y experiment because you don't have z? Well, go order another z, charge it to the yy budget, and get back to me in 2 weeks when it comes in' is only SLIGHTLY exaggerated. (Technically it should have been 'you can't run y experiment because you don't have z? Well, go order the parts you need to make a z, charge it to the yy budget, and get back to me in 3 weeks when the parts have come in and you've assembled the parts.')

 

There is pressure to produce in academia, but efficiency is not often highly valued. (Which if you are efficient can and does induce it's own stressors.) Yes, a proposal for a grant has a specific deadline, but it usually is known well in advance and there is ample time to get everything in order. Yes, there are other deadlines as well, but typically they are well known in advance and they can be met without pulling all-nighters (though oftentimes the all-nighter becomes part of the process). The pressure is rarely the same as it is in the real world.

 

Cushy is rarely related to the stress level of a job; it is far more often related to the amount of physical labor required, the immediate urgency of performing the task at hand, and the relative level of how much of the 'grunt' work can be avoided by passing it off to underlings or administrative staff. Academia is, when looked at this way, cushy. It also typically is quite stressful.

 

Remember, if it was FUN, they wouldn't call it WORK.

I'm not quite sure why, but this post really bothers me. I think it's the use of the term "real" world.

 

I'm in the "real" world and don't stress like that. But put me in front of 30 teenagers for 7 hours a day and I can gaurantee I'll be bat-$#!t crazy in a week.

 

Unless you're a farmer, homebuilder, make clothing and to a lesser extent automaker(EDIT:I'm sure there are others, but nobodody actually needs a 4G Iphone or 50 inch plazma), is anyone actually in the "real" world?

[spndnchz]

The answer is out there, Neo, and it's looking for you, and it will find you if you want it to.