Work | Piss and Moan

Changing telecommute

Posted on June 15, 2021 by backuphill

Well, after telecommuting full time for the last 16 months, there is a date to start going back to the office and I am not sure I am all that happy about it. Actually, I am sure that I am not. I lied. I am not happy about it.

Yes, I realize that the expectation to be at the office for work has always been there but this whole situation has fully exposed the fact that we don’t need to be in an office to get our job done. We have proven beyond that shadow of a doubt that our job can be done fully remote and that our clients have been affected to the smallest degree possible. In fact, many have commented over the this time about not really even realizing we were all working from home except that they knew we were working from home. That’s how we roll. There was no break in service, ever.

Anyway, the time has come to get back to the office and there will still be a telecommute policy as before, except that there is a new proposal to expand upon it. Frankly, I don’t think the expansion goes far enough and while I haven’t talked to any of my co-workers yet, I am sure there are quite a few who will express similar feelings.

Prior to the pandemic, we were allowed two days a week (40%, with a few limitations on what days they could be). Now, we are going to be allowed three days a week (60%, not sure of limitations yet). Also what remains to be seen is whether or not this policy has built in flexibility, meaning I don’t have to have a set three days but can pick and choose when I want to telecommute.

Anyway, I don’t think three days is enough.

It could be and should be more.

Perhaps I’ll see what is out there, in regards to full time telecommute and whether or not a change can be had.

Never hurts to have options, right?

Not forgotten

Posted on June 14, 2021 by backuphill

Yes, I haven’t been on here as of late. It’s been hard.

Not because I don’t want to. It’s because it has been so freaking busy at work (like unusually busy) that it just makes it hard to find time to get anything written.

The end of the school year is upon us and schools are trying to figure out how to navigate all the new rules, special situations, and data reporting needs, etc. so they can close out their educational year. The phones are ringing off the hook. The emails are none stop.

Add on top of that a handful of districts preparing for data migration to a newer version of the software and its hard to find time to breathe.

Anyway, I just wanted you all to know that I haven’t forgotten about you. Ya’ll are still on my mind, just not the only thing on it…

Hopefully things will slow down a little in a while and I get get back to my usual grumpiness.

Until then, keep an eye out for an occasional grumble, whine, complaint, or just a plain pissy point about common sense (or lack thereof).

Turned on it’s head

Posted on June 7, 2021 by backuphill

There are a whole lot of things in this crazy, mixed up world that have been turned on their heads. It seems the “upside down” (without the scary monsters…ok, maybe just different monsters…) is for real and we are all living in it now. We can’t avoid it and it seems kicking and screaming about it won’t change it either.

I got an indication of what going back to work (like actually back to the office – because I have been working the whole time) is going to look like, and I don’t like what I am hearing.

So, the head honcho has said that when it is time to be back in the office (projected as August 1, right now) that you will have to wear a mask unless you are vaccinated and they have documented proof that you are vaccinated.

My frustration level, and my irritation level, have hit all time highs now. As I am sure you are aware if you have been reading this blog (does anyone actually do that or do you just click?) for any amount of time over the last year, that I am strongly against people providing proof of vaccination in any manner whatsoever. I believe it is a violation of privacy, leads to segregation and discrimination.

But, it appears that we are going to throw hundreds of years of vaccination understanding out the door in the name of fear.

Mainly, what’s the reason for getting a vaccination?

The simple answer is to protect someone from contracting a disease. Does it completely work in eliminating the risk? No. A vaccinated person can still get the disease, but the likelihood of it being as severe as what an unvaccinated person would experience is reduced greatly.

Immunity, as we have come to understand it, is developed through “active” exposure (coming in contact naturally) and “passive” exposure (being given a vaccine). So, as more and more people have been exposed to Covid (via either method) the more people who are protected against it.

We have seen this for years and years and years with polio, measles, mumps, small pox, chicken pox, etc. Childhood vaccinations were endured by many. We also see many people who get through the flu shot every year because they want to avoid the effects of the flu (or at least as much as possible).

So, if we understand how the shot works for the flu and all the other vaccinations, why are there demands for people to continue wearing masks when there is no reason to?

If you have had the flu shot, do you need to worry about people who haven’t had the flu shot? Do we make those people wear masks at work?

If you have had the measles vaccination, do you have to worry about people who haven’t had the measles vaccine? Do we make those coworkers without the vaccination wear a mask at work?

Do people who haven’t had a vaccine worry about the people who have had the vaccine? If someone chooses to be unvaccinated and not wear a mask, should they worry about getting the disease? No, because the likelihood of getting goes down with each person who has developed immunity to it one way or another.

As I look at the “rules” for going back to the office, I can’t help but wonder where we decided to turn everything we know about vaccinations upside down and ignore hundreds of years of practice simply because this one disease has caused so much undo fear.

If the vaccinated aren’t afraid of other vaccinated people, then do they need to be fearful of unvaccinated people? NO! They are protected. That’s why they got the vaccination in the first place!

Gosh people are stupid.

Perhaps I’ll start looking for a job where I don’t have to go into an office any longer. Anyone got a job offer that would allow me to work from home and allow me to earn what I currently earn? I would seriously consider it. Seriously.

Bad motivator

Posted on June 4, 2021 by backuphill

I seem to have a bad motivator. Yet, I have so much I could be doing. Anyone else having a hard time getting started today?

After a LONG, short week of work and every evening being dominated by gazebo construction (no, not done yet), I am just having a hard time focusing on what needs to be done at work today. I am already thinking about what I may be able to accomplish after work today, and yet there is a part of me that says, “You should just sit on the couch tonight.”

Perhaps another droid would like to take over and finish out the day for me.

Anyone?

How about “No”?

Posted on May 25, 2021 by backuphill

There is at least one in everyone’s life. There is at least one in everyone’s working sphere. There is always one. They are exhausting, annoying, and their success in getting to “Yes” is a rarity.

That person who won’t take “No” for an answer.

Good grief, I wanna shove an ice pick into my ear as deep as it will go and then wiggle it around like I am trying to make round cookie balls.

I jut got off the phone with a client who, no matter how many times I explained the limitations of the software and no matter how many times I explained the exact same info in a different way, she still wouldn’t accept that she couldn’t bend the software to her will.

She even suggested that maybe the people who made the software could program what she wanted into the software.

OK, that might have been a viable (and costly) answer in the past, but the software developers are focused on the new version of the software and aren’t taking requests for the current software even if the client pays for it.

Instead of adapting to the way it works and educating the people who use it (or are expected to use it), she just wants it to work the way she wants it to work.

OK, lady, we’ll get on it just for you.

No, not really. Stop asking already.

I am the fourth person you have talked to about this. We have pushed the software as far and as close to what you want, but there is a limit and our answers are all the same.

We can’t do any more for you.

Got it?

Anyone else have a person that just take “NO” for an answer?

The instructions

Posted on May 21, 2021 by backuphill

Stop trying to take the easy way out. By easy way, I mean the one where you have someone else do it for you.

Nearly everything you buy these days, nearly everything you work with these days, nearly EVERYTHING has some kind of “User Guide, “User Manual,” “Setup Guide,” “Assembly Instructions,” “Directions for Use,” etc.

Seriously. Have you opened a box of anything and not found at least some documentation with directions or instructions of some sort – either right there on the paper or directions to find them online? So there is honestly no excuse for not knowing what to do, how to use it, or how to set it up.

Unfortunately, society has become a bunch of “anti-instructionists.” (Yes, I made that up, but I can’t think of anything else to call it.)

It used to be that the cliché was that men were notorious for not reading the instructions and just jumping right in to figure it out (even if it meant taking something apart multiple times to get it right). That cliché has been turned on it’s head as, apparently, all people are just too lazy to read/learn/discover/follow directions. So many people are just willing to have someone else do it for them (or, to put it more bluntly – DEMAND you do it for them).

I know I am a little bit on the unusual side, since I do in fact take time to read the documentation included with a product, or posted online. I don’t always read them AT the moment of unboxing but I do eventually get to it. It depends on the level of complexity involved. I have even read the manuals that came with my car (hey, I like knowing about all the features that I may or may not use!). So, I do go through the trouble to learn about something. Sometimes it is trial and error and sometimes it is because I actually put effort into it and did it the right way.

Work lately…work lately is a bunch of people who don’t bother to read the documentation the software owner puts out. They don’t read all the supplemental documentation we create to further assist in use of the software. Hell, they don’t even watch the video we produce to give them visual aid in using the software. Instead, they just call use and take the easy way out – they want us to do it for them.

It’s frustrating that day after day after day people call and ask the exact same questions they asked three days ago, or 24 hours ago, or 6 weeks ago. Seriously, people, it’s part of YOUR job. Learn it. Read it. Discover it. Work in it and work at it. You aren’t going to have a crutch all the damn time.

OK.

Deep breath.

I guess my rant is over.

What type of person are you? Do you read the instructions and learn or do you completely ignore them and rely on someone else to do it for you? Do you follow directions to do things correctly or do you just make it up as you go and hope for good results?

What type of person are you?

Drag on

Posted on May 17, 2021 by backuphill

Or draggin’. Dragging.

Today. Is. Dragging. On. On. On.

Good grief.

It all started with an alarm that told me to get outta bed. Like most week days. Like most work days. The mistake was I listened.

The weather has turned sloppy. It’s cool and freary.

The software is hung up. It is slow as molasses today. Dragging, dragging, dragging.

This would be a better day just left to do nothing. Well, at least nothing of consequence.

It’s an uphill, uphill battle today.

How about a reset?

I’ll just go back to bed and try again tomorrow.

Friday vibes

Posted on May 14, 2021 by backuphill

It’s Friday.

It’s sunny.

It’s been a long week.

Friday vibes got me wishing I was anyplace other than working…well, I guess anyplace is maybe a tad of an overstatement. So, how about someplace I’d rather be…

Can I get an amen on that?

Who has the power to give me permission to just bail on work and get the weekend started? Anyone? Anyone?

Time is moving so slowly…and watching that clock doesn’t make it go any faster….

Inappropriate display

Posted on May 4, 2021 by backuphill

Is it appropriate for a teacher to display a “Black Lives Matter” poster on their wall or wear a t-shirt with the same message? Is it appropriate for a teacher to leave a Bible or other religious text sitting on their desk? Is it appropriate for a teacher to promote one political party over another? Is it appropriate for any of these things to be done while with students and on school time?

I was doing a training the other day with a school district and one of the teachers participating in the Zoom meeting had a poster on the back wall, in plain view of the camera, that essentially was advocating for a political viewpoint. Obviously this teacher was demonstrating they were an “activist” of sorts and wanted whomever was seeing them on camera to see that they felt a certain way about certain issues currently on the forefront of conversations for society as a whole.

I found the poster to be inappropriate for a teacher to be displaying – especially if this was a background that would be seen by students. I didn’t find it inappropriate because I disagreed with the subject matter. I found it in appropriate because I see it as a violation of professional standards.

Now, before I continue, I want to reiterate that I am all for free speech and allowing people to express their views. If you have spent time on this blog over the years you would know this. I don’t have many instances where expression of one’s views should be limited because I believe that the expression of one’s self is that important.

However, having been a high school teacher and an American Government teacher and knowing enough about freedoms within the school and limitations of those freedoms, there would seem to be a double standards – again.

Professional standards say that, as people who have a position of power over students, our personal views should be kept to ourselves. In the past this has generally been applied to things like politics and religion. The reasoning behind this is that students are moldable and if given undue influence, they might take on the beliefs or thoughts of their teacher. Makes sense, and as a teacher I tried to keep the students guessing when it came to these two topics – not my job to instill these things in students, that’s their parents’ job and eventually they should develop these views and opinions on their own with their own reasoning.

However, over the last 20 years, it has been more acceptable for teachers to express their political views but not their religious views. When I was teaching I heard my own colleagues express their political views in the classroom with students. I have had my daughter relate to me that one of her teachers was actually passing out bumper stickers for one particular presidential candidate. Conversely, I have seen and heard of school employees and teachers being punished for expressing their religious views or even practicing their religion while on school grounds.

Is it another double standard? Is it another practice of “it’s ok for me, but not for you” when it comes to politics and religion?

Look, it should be all of one, or all of the other. Either keep all politics and religion out of the classroom or allow all politics and religion in the classroom.

But, what do you think? Is there a fine line between what is appropriate and what isn’t? Is one more acceptable than the other?

Medical discrimination

Posted on April 29, 2021 by backuphill

The conspiracy theorists don’t have to say “I told you so”…because that theory isn’t a theory any longer. The requirement for a “vaccine passport” or at least proof of vaccination is here. The idea that you have sovereignty over your body, at least in some situations, apparently doesn’t apply these days. You are going to be told that you can’t live in or participate in society if you don’t comply.

I have heard of some employers actually requiring it too, but I don’t have the support on that yet (So far mine has said it won’t be a requirement…).

But, I think it is safe to say that discrimination based upon your medical/vaccination status is now truly going to be a thing. Thus, a theory becomes fact.

Yet again, higher education has found another way to discriminate against people being able to get an education.

The growing list of colleges who are going require vaccination of students is proof positive that those who said it wasn’t going to be necessary, were freaking lying to you. This was likely the plan all along, as far as vaccinations go.

Weird how colleges and universities are leading this in a very public way.

Vaccination is required; discrimination ensues; rejection for those who don’t comply and admission for those who do; and for those who do comply they will now be subjected further and already epic levels of indoctrination.

It used to be thought that higher education would be the “great equalizer”, but now it seems it will be the great discriminator and limiter.

What do you think? Do you disagree that this is discrimination based on a medical or vaccination status?