is there anybody out there?

[the_siobhan]

After wiping everything off my harddrive and starting over with a clean Windows install, I can now announce that my computer and it's brand new network card still can't hold onto a steady internet connection.

Well, balls.

So yeah. Still not caught up. Send messages by carrier pigeon, because given that I now work in a call centre where I can't have my phone on audible ring, and I keep flippin' forgetting to turn it back on once I go home, birds and bottles with messages stuffed into 'em may be the best way to go.

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May be a while until I'm caught up even if I get this fixed. I'm truly surprised at how much work is wiping me out. I'm used to working five days a week - hell I'm used to working 10 days a week. But I could always count on the occasional four-day break in there. Not any more.

And then there's that whole 6AM thing. The one time of day when my body is most geared towards deep cycle sleep. The time of day when I am reliably tired, and have to pull over for a two-hour kip, even on one of my 28-hour hell-bent-for-leather driving expeditions. That's when I have to get out of bed, and it's beating me into mush no matter how early I try to go to bed the night before. Evil. Fortunately I go on afternoons as of Monday, and that means eight hours of sleep will actually leave me feeling rested.

And I missed No Pants Day.

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I paid my five dolla' to the social committee, and I now have a sign on my desk that says I'm allowed to take part in casual week. The whole idea of casual days completely Does Not make sense to me. If wearing jeans to work is a bad thing, why is it therefore acceptable on Fridays? Does the alignment of the planetary cycle negate all the low-productivity ions emitted by collarless shirts? Does that casual week sign have lead sheilding to protect my computers from the unscheduled downtime caused by sneakers near the harddrive? What?

I'm also completely bemused by Corp Speak. Calling every problem a "challenge" isn't fooling anybody, I assure you.

Can you tell I've never worked for big biz before? I predict about six months before I've completely learned the lingo. In the meantime I think I'm doing really well if I can remember not to swear.

Comments

[sweetfuckall.livejournal.com]

Heh. I wound up having to stay home from work due to Menstrual Hell, so I actually took part in No Pants Day. Unwittingly, yes, but I participated nonetheless!

[hellsop.livejournal.com]

IBM doesn't have problems, or even challenges. They have "opportunities to excel".

I'm with you on not quite getting why Friday should require a different formality than any other day of the week.

[kest]

You might try disabling all other stuff on your computer that you can disable: CD drive, usb stuff, audio card, etc, so forth. I had some trouble with my network card for awhile that turned out to be due to a weird hardware incompatibility.

[mandor1971.livejournal.com]

How do you like the job so far?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzzword_bingo

A fun game. We used to play it on conference calls an employer a long time ago.

The jeans thing, at least most places I worked, was for charity. We're using it for the American Cancer Society, but it's only for a month.

The one place we HAD to have the casual thing was when I worked in Birmingham. The big difference from most places was that it was $30/month, lasted all summer, and meant you could wear ... shorts to work! The money went to MS or something similar, but management allowed it because it was so hot and humid that a suit would be soaked in sweat within a few minutes of being outside. (There was a period when I was there where the nightly lows were 35C. Shudder.)

I hope your body adapts to the wakeup schedule. It's a pain to change it.

Network card issues

[mandor1971.livejournal.com]

Are you using the drivers and software that came with the card or the ones built-in to Windows? If you're using the stuff that came with the card, uninstall all of it and follow the Windows prompts, ignoring the instructions that came with the card. If you're using the Windows drivers, try following the instructions that came with the card.

I've had to go to a buddy's house three times due to issues with him trying to use the software that came with his network adapter. When I removed what came with the card, Windows recognized it on its own and it was then stable.

Just an idea.

[sarah-mum.livejournal.com]

'Casual clothes, not casual attitude' - I've actually heard that said in serious tones. Tried not to laugh, but it was too challenging.

[markeris.livejournal.com]

"The whole idea of casual days completely Does Not make sense to me"

When they introduced Smart Casual towards the end of my last job, I was minuted as saying "I don`t do Smart Casual. Is it OK if I keep on with my previous policy of Business Scruffy?"

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I do, "whatever I could find at the thrift store that sorta fits me and doesn't show my bum".

The simplicity of jeans are an enormous relief.

[markeris.livejournal.com]

"The simplicity of jeans are an enormous relief."

My point entirely. I`ve already gone out and bought a dead mans suit, don`t be getting all groovy on me now and making me have to buy jeans as well. Because quite frankly, I`m as likely to have an SS uniform lying around as I am the sort of clothing that they regard as a special treat for the chattering classes to wear lying around.

[markeris.livejournal.com]

" Calling every problem a "challenge" isn't fooling anybody, I assure you."

I think I`m also probably also in the minuted records of a major multinational as asking in a senior managers meeting during which it was explained to us that there were no challenges, merely opportunities, what I was supposed to do when faced with an insurmountable opportunity.

There are probably, now I think about it, reasons why I suck cock for crack these days.

[50-ft-queenie.livejournal.com]

Have you been asked to "action" anything yet? Any lectures about being a "team player"? If not, count yourself lucky. If you even hear the phrase "grab the low-hanging fruit", run for your life.

Casual week? At my past jobs, we had casual Friday, which meant jeans were OK.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, for being the biggest, most corporate place I've ever worked, it's actually the best working environment I've ever been in. I told one of the managers yesterday that ever since I started I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop. I got a laugh for that.

Fridays are always casual days. Casual weeks are only held as fundraisers by the social committee.

[inulro.livejournal.com]

In the meantime I think I'm doing really well if I can remember not to swear.

Without exception, that's how I've started in every job I've ever had, but within a few months I've had everyone in the department swearing as much as I do. Not to patients in the hospital, obviously, but I'm clearly a bad, bad influence.

[siani-hedgehog.livejournal.com]

we have occasional charity related casual fridays. problem is, we also have no dress code. apparently casual days were much more popular before they asked me if i wanted to participate, and had to answer my questions while i tried to figure out why i might. suddenly everyone twigged that if they wanted to wear jeans, they could just wear jeans.
i didn't see the point anyways, since all the clothing i own fits into either "business casual", "corpgoth" or "totally inappropriate for work".