The Swamp

A_B wrote: ↑Wed Jan 31, 2018 8:54 am

Brontoburglar wrote: ↑Wed Jan 31, 2018 8:53 am

Shirley wrote: ↑Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:19 pm

Brontoburglar wrote: ↑Tue Jan 30, 2018 4:07 pm Always fun when people reply-all to listserves about a specific problem and then as the email hell-chain keeps growing, people chime in via reply-all to ask to be removed from the reply-all, further propagating the problem.

My phone is going to die from the notifications.

[pedant]listservs[/pedant]

gah how could I make that typo

Really has me questioning your journalistic bona fides.

[+] spoiler

Johnny Carwash wrote: ↑Thu Mar 22, 2018 10:14 am Giff—Absolutely sympathize as a meeting-averse person, getting looped into calls on things you're only peripherally involved in, having to sit and listen to other people think out loud for hours, but can't decline or excuse yourself for the sake of appearances.

Can't speak to the other part, though. Asking this honestly: should there be a moratorium on the jokes?

A_B wrote: ↑Thu Mar 22, 2018 10:15 am Yeah I feel pretty bad about it now, sorry about that my man. Wish things were going better.

mister d wrote: ↑Thu Mar 22, 2018 10:34 am That's either your best joke ever or ...

A_B wrote: ↑Tue Apr 24, 2018 1:49 pm Just got a linkedin suggestion for a guy whose profile says this right under his name

"Delivering massive value and far exceeding customer expectations"

He has no company/job listed on his actual profile.

degenerasian wrote: ↑Thu May 03, 2018 2:33 pm Wanted to run this by your guys for some advice

I'm currently a Data analyst on a Records and Information Management team that's structured this way (Manager -> Lead -> team of 8). The lead favors "Operations Guy" that the other 7 (including me) always have to send weekly reports to him even though they/we don't report to him. He is her favorite guy and he's privy to a lot of information. I've often seen the lead's email to the manager with him CC'd on it. He's definitely being groomed to replace her as she has announced her retirement August 31st. However, Operations Guy is the most hated guy in the company as he is rude and arrogant. I know of 2 cases where he was hauled down to HR. But in the end the lead always covers for him. So the team feels it would be a very poor fit if he were to become the supervisor.

I'm not sure how the manager feels about all this or what the plans going forward are. But when there is an opening, should I consider going for it even if he has been obviously mentored for it? Title-wise I am equal to him. I have better relationships with the team and with staff in other departments. I am often farmed out to other departments to help so I have good relationships there. Can I be an alternative plan? How do I find out?

This would seem an easy answer but something is holding me back. What am I afraid of. i don't know. Do I not want to rock the boat? Do I not want to fail and then have to work under this guy? Do I not want to hear rejection? Am I afraid the team who likes me in this role today will turn on me if I apply?

I'm afraid of something...I feel uncomfortable when I shouldn't.

degenerasian wrote: ↑Mon May 07, 2018 11:38 am Spoke with the manager Friday afternoon. I think it went well as I really emphasized what I brought to the group how I want to help her achieve certain goals moving this group forward. I did do some disrupting and went more negative then I wanted to because she pressed me on it and asked a lot of questions. Didn't mentioned specifics but I said I was bogged down and stuck moving current projects forward. I'm sure she could read between the lines and sense my frustration. I could see her processing what I've said with what she does and doesn't know.

She was really pleased that I spoke up and asked me to continue to do so. And she said it was time I took more responsibility. What that looks like, she's not sure yet.

DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Wed May 23, 2018 11:57 pm Ok...need some work advice:

Yesterday, my Boss had a meeting with myself and two of my colleagues, one a system engineer, and the other another software engineer. It was to set priorities about getting this project up and going for a group of scientists. I've been working on other stuff, but am getting pulled into this effort. We set a plan to do a walk through of things with the lead scientist and one of his research associates at 430pm.

So we set plans to meet at 11:45 this morning, to test things. I'm testing my stuff, and running into issues with trying to communicate with a motor driver, so it takes longer then expected. But by 215, I've got things sorted out, and I'm ready to pass off the rig to the other software engineer to test out his stuff.

And get this...he's gone. I'm sending him messages on Teams (the microsoft version of slack)...the system engineer is sending him messages. No response. I'm freaking out, because I have no idea how he's got things installed (they aren't where they should be installed), and he's using an IDE for development that I've never used (PyCharm), and I can't get anything to run correctly.

Finally, about 410, he responds, saying "it should be working...", and then he logs in remotely, and cobbles things together, just in time for doing this walkthrough with the scientist. But then a bunch of stuff that he said he had fixed isn't fixed/isn't installed, and myself and the systems engineer have to stand there and take the heat for his stuff not working correctly.

So...here's the dilemma...Do I throw this guy under the bus with my boss? (my boss was out of the office today, but will be back tomorrow). I know the scientist is going to go to him saying "there are still a bunch of bugs/issues, which were said to be resolved but aren't", and I don't want to eat shit over it. I'm leaning towards just saying "fuck that guy...he took off without telling anyone, and his shit wasn't ready to go".

Thoughts?

mister d wrote: ↑Thu May 24, 2018 7:14 am Can you just provide a timeline as the explanation? “At 2:00, we passed over our piece for testing and at 4:00 we got the all good from him” and let the questions go from there?

GoodKarma wrote: ↑Thu May 24, 2018 8:33 am

mister d wrote: ↑Thu May 24, 2018 7:14 am Can you just provide a timeline as the explanation? “At 2:00, we passed over our piece for testing and at 4:00 we got the all good from him” and let the questions go from there?

This. Just like leading a witness in a trial. Give indirect statements or answers that throw the guy under the bus without directly calling it out like a tattle-tale.

Bottom line is do you think this guy should be thrown under the bus? For example, I will take bullets or cover for people I like or have legit reasons for flaking but will not allow people who are just lazy or inconsiderate get away with that kind of stuff.

DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Thu May 24, 2018 9:28 am
Thanks for all the feedback, guys.

The thing that was really irksome was that he just took off, with out saying anything to us. If he had said 'Hey, I need to take off at 230pm...I've got a sick kid/dr appt/meeting with my lawyer/whatever', I would have said 'Ok, my stuff can wait. Make sure your stuff is ready to go and we are ready to do this demo at 430pm'. But he went completely silent, and wasn't responding to any messages.

I'm worried that the scientist, who've I had issues dealing with in the past, is going to go to my boss, and tell him that stuff still wasn't working right, and I'll be the one getting the blame, despite having just jumped into the project yesterday morning.

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Fri May 25, 2018 2:55 pm Jesus Christ... Is she Bill Brasky's daughter or something?

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Fri May 25, 2018 3:18 pm I would be in the bushes if I had 3 martinis.