Random Sputterings: 12/18/2001
 

Rather than separate them into little threads that are nonsensical, I figured I'd throw my day's thoughts into one big post that is REALLY nonsensical.

File under "What the fu...": A lot of "good" companies do the whole exit interview shindig before you leave. They like to know why you are leaving and what not...and perhaps learn about things they can do better.

So, anyway, with my last day being Thursday, I hadn't yet heard from Human Resources regarding this...and I was pretty sure that my company does the exit interview. So, I e-mailed someone in Human Resources earlier today asking if my company did indeed do this. About 2 hours later, I get an e-mail from someone in the department telling me to set a meeting time with her AND my immediate supervisor. What?! First off, my boss is on vacation until the 26th. Secondly, he's one of the reasons I'm leaving my job. And now, I have to drag in the guy that is looking over our group for the week...and he's a tool!

That will be the first thing I bitch about tomorrow when I go in. I mean, why the hell did I basically have to set this up? Well, it gets me off the phone for a while at least. Now I just need to get some notes together for it. I like to be prepared. :)

"I like to go and have fun at someone else's expense.": Gotta love Denis Leary.

Anyway, there is this yahoo on phl.transportaion and misc.transport.road that I would *LOVE* to drag over here into the Cellar. Tony knows very well who this person is. She apparently goes to Penn, and made a name for herself earlier in the year by slagging on the beloved City of Philadelphia. After getting a verbal smackdown, she chilled out. Then, she started posting rather inane things on phl.transportation...it kept things interesting, but it got weird after a while...like the fact that Columbus Blvd. in South Philadelphia does not want to be called Delaware Ave. (its old name)...apparently it speaks.

After a while, it got really weird...and when she was finally called out, she went nuts...expletives and the whole 9. Apparently, a bunch of folks set her to killfile (myself included).

I want to drag her on here...just b/c I want to see Dham rip her a new asshole. Or tw lecture her about extremism. Or Hubris somehow link it to Hello Kitty. Or jag spew out some misspelled charge that would probably fly over her head. BUT...I won't. She would start 90 new threads in a heartbeat.

Christmas: So, what's everyone up to for the holiday? Rho and I are chilling at home, cooking up a ham and the other necessities. Rho has a cousin that holds a brunch just after Xmas, so we'll head down to Baltimore for that.

Suggestions: I run through about a dozen job sites every day, with the main ones being headhunter, monster, jobnet, and hotjobs. Can anyone recommend a few more national sites? I'm trying to spread my resume out as much as possible.

That's it.

Re: Random Sputterings: 12/18/2001
 

Yeah, there's been untold legions out here carpetbombing the world with their resumes since I was laid off last May.

There's such a flood it's nearly impossible to get an interview, or even get a resume with significant technical experience actually read carefully in a lot of cases. Anybody who's ever touched Word or Frontpage is suddenly billing themselves as a a "web programmer". Feels like a real Gresham's Law situation from here.

I'm kind of hoping some of the people who got sucked into computing over the last five or ten years by insane levels of demand will go back to doing whatever it was they were doing before.

it's just dham, man. no caps. :)

MaggieL - go look at www.saic.com and see if they have anything for you. Seriously. We're hiring. Lots. Over 1,000 openings in NoVA alone.

Exit interview
 

I'm looking forward to my exit interview.

I work at a nearby Borders, and this place is just asking for my brand of rage. For going on 3 weeks now, I haven't worked. That's right, I haven't worked one hour in three weeks. (sarcasm)Perfectly logical, I agree. I mean, it's the Christmas season, the busiest time at the store all year, there's no reason why we need Mike to work. Also, because it's Christmas, there's no reason he nees money. He doesn't need to buy gifts for his family and friends.(/sarcasm)

The current theory around the house is that they want me to quit. That's a given. My brother believes they are taking this tack because they don't have the balls to ask me to quit, or God forbid, tell me I'm fired right to my face. My mother, sweet reassuring soul that she is, feels that I do too good a job there with the customers (and she's actually not trying to boost my confidence. In my first job at a pizza place, the customers called up my manager and commended me on how nice I was on the phone. And no, they weren't people I knew.) and they don't want to fire me. So basically, the No-Balls Theory with a nicer twist.

All ye proletariats here who have worked for corporations and have an idea of what may be fueling the gears of my managers, please respond.

~mike

Re: Exit interview
 

Why haven't you worked in 3 weeks? Did you piss one of your bosses off? Do they not like working around your hours (given that you're a student)?

Re: Re: Random Sputterings: 12/18/2001
 

I'm by no means in a technical field though. Customer service...data entry...that isn't very complicated per se. It's really about knowing what the fuck you are doing, which really applies to any job. And I'd wager that 70-90% of people in any given field don't belong there. My own personal assessment of course. :)

*crosses his fingers* Come on City of Philadelphia! Send me that letter for the Social Worker examination!

Just for that, the first thing I'm going to do when I meet you is bitchslap you. :)

*Sycamore stumbles onto SAIC's job page via Headhunter*

Yep...lots o' jobs. Too bad I'm not qualified for any of them...and that I've only seen a handful in the Philadelphia area.

Yeah, but Fairfax is pretty cool, and we have Busara!

Re: Re: Exit interview
 

I was written up recently for a bogus reason. It's a store policy that if you bring a bag in, you have to have it checked by a manager before you leave. I complied, met my mother, walked out and got in the car with her, and went straight home. Never left her sight, never went back into the store that night. That was Saturday. The following Monday, I had just offered to take up some extra hours over my Thanksgiving break to free up a friend of mine that wanted to visit relatives in Connecticut. After we solidified that, the HR manager (different from the one who checked my bag) told me to punch in, then sprang on me that Manager 1, the one that checked my bag, wrote me up for having come back into the store and leaving without getting it checked again.

I objected completely, and for what it was worth, wrote down said objection and defense on the inch-and-a-half they give you on those forms. But ever since, my hours were cut and cut until I have had none. My mother is all kinds of pissed as she was there and vouches for me.


I don't think so. I told the HR manager that I can work 5 to 9 on Tuesday to Thursday, 5 to closing (11:30) on Friday, and any stretch of time between noon and closing on Saturday. And that I'm marginally flexible on that. The only real demand I ever made was that I don't work Sundays. Period. I think that for a student, that's pretty flexible.

~mike

Perhaps to you my friend...you sound happy and content in Northern Virginia. Of course, it would probably nice for anyone that started out in Carroll County. ;)

Don't get me started...

On what? Carroll County?

I know. I've lived there.

And there really isn't much to get started on about Fairfax. It's just a nice place to live. At least, where I live, it is. :)

Either way, you're a booger. :)

If I was in NoVa or Pax River I might be working in something defense related by now. 9/11 has been a windfall for those in the defense industries but most of that work has fled this area and headed for closer to the Beltway, with the notable exception of Lockheed Martin.

I really can't reloacate right now; kids still in school that I can't move (joint legal custody) and I own a house here. I'm unlikely to get through the pile of other resumes at LM, since all I have is *experience* instead of a degree. The fact that it's thirty years of experience doesn't seem to matter, execpt to count against me. LM even runs ads up here specifying that particular positions are intended for 2001 college grads.

My brother used to work for SAIC up here; they cut him loose when NADC Warminster closed, they moved evereything they were doing to Pax River.

SAIC has *one* position in Philly, for a junior HPUX engineer.

Ugh. HP-UX is fucking trash. I hate it. A lot.

I'm working on software for HP-UX now, and though I get to play on neat machines, it still sucks. Nothing could save HP-UX.

Read: Anyone with any experience would run from this job within two weeks, because we're basically going to abuse the hell out of you.

I'm not too fond of L-M...

Oh, there is plenty for me to get started on about Fairfax, and Northern Virginia as a whole. The closest equivalent we have to it here in Philadelphia is probably the King of Prussia area. And I hate KOP with all my heart and soul. But that's a story for another topic I will post later tonight. :)

Take yer time. I'll be finishing up and installing my dual processor box tonight, so I probably won't get back to the Cellar until Saturday evening... :)

Well, you're *certainly* welcome to go back to *koff* St. Louis. You won't even have to worry about us gun nuts, since St. Louis all by itself killed Second Amendment rights for the rest of the state. :-)

I lived in KoP for about twenty years, and I'm just across the river from it now. There are a number of things that you need to understand about KoP to appreciate it:

1) The Malls are not the town. The nicest parts of KoP are on the *other* side of the Turnpike. Including most of the residential space, and Valley Forge Park. There are other nice sections, but I'm keeping those secret. :-)

2) The Malls (and their attendant satellite stores like SamAsh Music or Home Depot) are a pain in the ass for *everybody*. *Especially* at Christmas time. If you want to hit the KoP malls during the holidays, I suggest taking a native guide who knows the back roads, because US 202 is a Federally funded parking lot from Thanksgiving to New Year's. I'm available this year...:-)

3) The *good* part about The Malls is: they help pay for the school system. The Upper Merion school system is *excellent*, and both my daughters grew up in it. Families move into Upper Merion just to get access to the school system, especially families with handicapped kids.

Municipal Services in Upper Merion Township are in general very, very good. Don't miss the open-air folk music concerts in the park behind the township building (which also houses the excellent public library) summer Sunday evenings at 7pm: bring a blanket and maybe a picnic dinner. On your way there, stop at Michael's Deli on Town Center road: best hoagies on the planet.

4) The layout and connectivity of the major highways in KoP cannot be understood by non-natives, and no signage known to man will help. The problem is the confluence of the PA Turnpike, the Schyulkyl Expressway, US 202 and US 422, aided and abetted by a near-miss by US 30.

Those of you who think it's unfair that only natives understand US 202 will be comforted by the existance of the US 202 rebuilding project. Once the project is complete, natives will be as lost as everybody else, and it won't help to stop at Dunkins Donuts (one each on US 202 N and US 202 S) to ask directions.

And HPUX sucks. :-)

No thanks, I like Philadelphia. :)

Okay Maggie, let's try again. The second amendment is alive and well, contrary to the notions of some. The state of Missouri voted against repealing the ban on concealed weapons in early 1999. As a whole, the ban was upheld by about 10% or so. The reason it was upheld is primarily thanks to residents in St. Louis City and St. Louis County, where the voting ranged from 4-1 to 9-1 in favor of upholding the ban.

Now then, someone in that state had to take the lead. With the exception of a few spots, that state lacks solid intelligence outside St. Louis (and maybe...MAYBE Kansas City). I don't trust Missourians to carry concealed weapons...period. If St. Louis City and County didn't take steps, then who? ;)

That being said, I had no problem with Marylanders carrying concealed weapons. *shrugs* :)

Now...back to the topic at hand.

I know several lovely people who have lived in the KOP area for longer than you have. And I'm sure you and others that have lived out there for 20-30 years moved out there for whatever reason...possibly b/c it was near the sticks and more peaceful and offered what you were looking for in an area to live. The mall is nice, the area has lots of jobs in it, etc. If you love living there, hey, more power to you. As I stated, I hate KOP. To me it represents all that is wrong with suburbia. Of course, I am not a fan of suburbia at all, but that is just me. Lots of people hate the city. *shrugs* We all live and coexist peacefully. :)

Quote:

The layout and connectivity of the major highways in KoP cannot be understood by non-natives, and no signage known to man will help. The problem is the confluence of the PA Turnpike, the Schyulkyl Expressway, US 202 and US 422, aided and abetted by a near-miss by US 30.

The week before I left, they opened the new 76 ramps from NB 202. In turn, they closed off the entrance to our building (on S. Warner Rd.) and moved it over to Devon Park Dr. It was much easier to get onto 76 using the new system (although the ramp makes you feel that you're driving to the middle of nowhere), although it didn't help me much. I took the Tpk, and since they closed the NB 202 onramp at Warner Rd., I had to drive over by the mall to catch the Tpk. Although, in the morning, I could avoid 202 altogether by quickly getting off at N. Gulph Rd. and going up Guthrie Rd.

I feel for the folks that take the 124 bus to my old job, especially when the Warner Rd. overpass closes early next year.

No kidding--I used to work just down the street from there at 500 E Sweedesford. Of course that's in *Wayne*...not even in Montgomery County, much less Upper Merion Township.

It *is* in the midst of the Great US 202 restructuring though.

I'm sure the folks in St. Loius are currently "taking the lead", too. I'd recommend body armor.

While we did use a Wayne address, we were still in Upper Merion Twp and Montgomery County (County Line Rd. was about a few hundred feet behind our building). Upper Merion took a one-time $10 "tax" out of my first paycheck.

&lt thinks&gt Ah...I see. Devon Park is on the *south* side of 202. OK...not far, execpt in political-subdivision terms. My first house in King of Prussia was on Shoemaker Lane, off Weadley. (one of those secretly nice areas) We were only a hundred yards or so from the Chester/Montgomery county line, and also only about 3/4 mile from a point where Delaware, Chester and Montgomery Counties come togther....naturally three different municipalities also: Radnor, Upper Merion and Tredyffryn Townships.