OT: My Job Interview

OK - I'll email you.

Thanks! Rich

Questions from Boki?

D'OH!

Eye reply one my spellchecker fare two mulch; it passes obvious error's and lull's me into knot proof reeding my post's.

I see even your weblog has been spammed :(

Yeah, it sticks in the gall a bit it when you've been the subject of a management dirty trick.

I was once overlooked for promotion even though highly experienced and competent, due to being seen as having an anti-management attitude. This assessment was solely due to me being the local union rep for technical officers in my building. The fact that I did a good job and worked longer hours unpaid was insufficient to convince the heirarchy otherwise. Management can be very sneaky when they want to remove an obstacle.

Management had selected a newcomer for a promotion over me even though I had been perfoming the function of this position for 12 months. This newcomer was an ex US Navy electronics tech and had been working in the telco industry in Australia a mere 18mths as compared to my 30 odd years. The management assessment of this guy was glowing to say the least. But luckily, in our industry we had recourse to an appeals tribunal made up of a employer appointed commissioner, a union nominated rep and an employer nominated technical manager having relevant knowledge of the area of employment. Both the union rep and the employer nominated technical manager in my case were also members of my union, but this in itself would not guarantee that I would win the appeal. It would merely help to balance the odds. If the other guy had won I would have been subservient to him, and that would have been an untenable situation.

Prior to my appeal hearing I managed to get a copy of this other person's application resume'(fell off the back of a truck), and from it discovered his previous work history and employers in Australia. I took a couple of days leave, and dressed in a suit and spinning a suitable yarn, I interviewed his two previous employers. Their opinion was unanimous that this person was not a team player, was a troublemaker and disliked by all staff under his supervision, and all said they would not employ him again if the opportunity arose. At the appeal hearing I had the tribunal members talk to the previous employers via phone and they confirmed what I had reported. I won the appeal but had to serve a 6 month probation before final appointment to the position for being seen as having illegally gained access to the private information of the other person. A small price to pay in order to beat a management dirty tricks campaign.

It sucked - I found out afterwards, when I was told I 'came second' to another guy. They let slip the name then seemed embarrassed and clammed up. Not impressed, and the whole process was clearly a set-up for the guy.

Ken

Cue my walk-on part...

Yes. Pot makes us think more nonlinearly, which often leads in very interesting directions. Unfortunately it also makes it hard to bring our finds back into linear-land so we can share.

Keep people thinking linearly so we can participate in The Great Economy; one of the other things that happened when pot was outlawed in the US was that we became the world's manufacturing giant. Try operating an engine lathe while stoned. Or rather, don't; I'd prefer you not lose fingers etc.

Considering that we seem to be moving from a manufacturing economy to a service one, ISTM the point will be moot fairly soon. I mean, I've _seen_ stoned kids operating the pictures-only cash registers at McDonalds without making mistakes. If enough of manufacturing becomes automated, pot use will indeed be "harmless" under most all circumstances. I still don't want a stoned EMT trying to revive a slightly drowned kid.

Mark L. Fergerson

Bitch, bitch, bitch.

Cheers! Rich

Well, I'm not advocating going to _work_ stoned! Although, I did hear an anecdote from some guy who claimed that he was 2nd shift supervisor of some production line, and when the 1st shift went home, they locked the doors and _all_ got high, and according to this guy's anecdote, the 2nd shift beat the 1st shift in production by a supposedly significant margin. I can see somebody on a production line doing just as good of work, but being much, much less bored at it. :-)

Cheers! Rich

OK, I guess it's time for my lug nut story. I had a Ford Econoline van that I'd bought in California, then drove to Minnesota. As far as I know, it still has dust in it from the Oklahoma panhandle - drove through a dust storm. Well, actually, just as the storm started, I was about at the OK/TX state line, and there wsa a concrete block building with "COLD BEER" painted full-height. So I stopped and drank beer until the storm passed. "Welcome to f***in' Oklahoma," the bartender had said. :-)

But that's not the tire story. When I got to Minnesota, I decided that undercoating the Econoline would be a good idea, and had heard of some outfit called "Steel Seal". They claimed that their undercoating used Neoprene. Now that I know the difference, I'd rather have that gooey tarry stuff.

Anyway, the shop was brand-new - so new that it still smelled like fresh paint. So, they put the car up on the rack (I called the van my "tall car".), took the wheels off, and sprayed their goop.

Well, I had special wheels - they had been added on, i.e., not OE. Decorative. White. But they had slots for the lug nuts, so that they could fit a variety of cars, and the lug nuts themselves had shoulders and each one had a thich fat washer. Problem is, all five slots need to be lined up so that all five of the nut shoulders go into the slots. I didn't know that at the time (or hadn't thought about it - those guys are supposed to be the pros, right?), and I got the car back, and when I made the turn out of their driveway, it went, "KLUNK! KA-KLUNK! KA-KLUNK!" and so on.

Turns out, they hadn't bothered to finesse the five shouldered lug nuts into the slots - they just slapped the wheels up on the car and air-wrenched the nuts into place.

I read them the riot act. I've never chewed anybody out so bad.

And the management has one of the goons come out and just apply a lug wrench, to tighten the nuts more. They broke two lug studs right off. I almost strangled the guy. I said, "Stop! Do it this way..." and proceeded to train the goons such that they got the rest of the wheels mounted right, and then I took the brake drum to some machine shop to have the old lug studs pressed out, and for some reason, I was able to buy a couple of new studs, which, of course, had to be pressed in.

So, it wasn't terribly expensive, but within a year "Steel Seal" didn't exist any more, and the "neoprene" "undercoating" had started falling off in sheets. )-;

I believe I got robbed. =:-O

Thanks! Rich

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Maybe by squirting Reddi-Wip at the dog? ;-)

Cheers! Rich

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Does she like it fast and puffy, or slow and dribbly? ;-p

Thanks, Rich

It's not about his name. "Guy Macon" is an entirely legitimate, valid name, at least in America. My client's landlord's dad's name is "Guy."

Guy's problem is that he's terrified, and that he's still trying to make the "don't be afraid" programming work. Which it never does, as most of us know. He either had obsessively strict, strait-laced parents, or parents who simply didn't give a shit. He's like an innocent babe in the woods, cast out into the slings and arrows and trials and tribulations of the stormy seas of life, desperately seeking acceptance.

Been There, Done That.

In my case, rock bottom was facilitated by alcohol and jail. I did a lot of asking: "Howcome nobody likes me?" "It's because of your big mouth." "But, I try to say the stuff that other people say, and they get away with it, and people like them )-;" "Well, your timing is all off."

Yeah, it took me a lot of years to figure out how to finesse my way into a conversation, but the most important thing I've learned, I think, as far as social interactions, is, most peple prefer it when I SHUT UP! That's the secret! That's the key! If somebody wants to know something from me, they'll ASK for my opinion! (Of course, on USENET, a post is kind of a defacto request for opinions!)

Otherwise, if I'm disgruntled about something, it behooves me to find out which part of reality I'm not "fitting in" with, properly, and make adjustments accordingly, or I endeavour to.

There may be a couple of people here who warrant name-calling, but I usually try to not be a fathead. I don't always succeed, but I hope I've made an effort to be more personable.

Oh, blather, blather, blather -

Bottom Line: Guy, Man up! There are some meditation exercises you can do to get in touch with your inner child, and make the world safe for him, by being Guy the Man, and protecting Guy the Kid.

By learning how to act like a grownup.

At least, that's been my experience. My own little Egbert is happy as a clam, albeit facing a little trepidation with my workish stuff that seems to be baffling me for the moment. But that's OK - I have a day or two to come up with a resolution, so I'm not in a panic. And Rich the Grownup will protect Egbert, and Barbara (the inner lesbian aspect of my inner child), the Philosophizer, the pig bladder, the Wacko --- the Libertarian, the Hippie, and the Drunk disdain protection by the Techie. But the Pig Bladder did just now kick me in the corpus callosum, wanting to be capitalized.

Thanks! Rich

Thanks to everyone for jumping in on this thread, it's been a lot of fun!

And, for heaven's sakes don't stop contributing just because I got a rejection letter. It's a very nice rejection letter:

"Dear Mr. Grise:

"On behalf of Rancho Santiago Community College District, I would like to thank you for your recent interview for the position of Electronic and Computer Technician #2178.

"Although you have not been recommended as a finalist, we want you to know that your interest in this position is appreciated.

"The screening committee would like to assure you that careful consideration was given to all candidates interviewed, weighing all factors pertinent to the position, and finally arrived at a decision to best fit the needs of the District.

"Thank you again for your interest in Rancho Santiago Community College District. We encourage you to applly for future employment opportunities in the District that may occur in your area of interest.

"Sincerely, John X. Xxxxxx"

So, oh, well, if another job like that shows up, I'm still allowed to apply again! For a slob like me, that's a success! ;-P

Cheers! Rich

But, how do you pronounce "Ban Bordighera" anyway?

Thanks, Rich

I've already tried to 'splain this to Guy about that "Fathead" remark.

But, I tell you what, I'm about to go over to the 'boy who cried wolf' side - i.e., if it walks like a fathead, talks like a fathead, swims like a fathead, and posts like a fathead, it's probably a fathead.

No offense, Guy - I know the feeling you'r having of being attacked from all sides simultaneously. In my case, I was merely an alcoholic. The only challenge there is to either (a) get through a day without a drink, or (b) learn to hold my liquor, which act consists primarily of knowing when I'm too drunk to drive, which causes jail time. (I might or might not learn to "Not post to the NG when you're too drunk to see," but the jury's still out on that one.)

But fatheadedness, that could be a challenge, kind of like, well, I've also been through a phase of hated assholery. But I lived to tell the tale! (and while I was doing soul-searching by asking everybody, "Why does everybody hate me?" the answer was universally, "Your big mouth.")

And, Guy, just to reassure you, there _are_ real bullies. But very few of them hang out at s.e.d., and I have a couple of names in my filter file, and don't miss them. Imagine your surprise. :-)

But you can't killfile _EVERYBODY!_ What would be the point of the NG? Ach, I ramble yet again.

Good Luck! Rich

So, would you be so kind as to enlighten us benighted USian savages, as to what your meaning of "knob" is? To me, it's either the equivalent of a "bonehead" or "knucklehead", which are not "good things," but it could also mean "penis."

Can you halp me out here?

Thanks, Rich

About f****ng time.

There is no apostrophe in the possessive 'its'.