I really hate coming off like I'm an idiot.
Okay, maybe this isn't a quirk. I don't think I know anyone who actually enjoys having people truly think they're an imbecille. I know people who don't care what other people think about their intelligence (either they're smart enough to know that other people are just stupid, so their opinons are useless, or they're too stupid to realize that seeming stupid doesn't help them in life), but none of them actually enjoy it. Me, well, I care if people realize I'm actually quite smart. I much prefer being thought of as intelligent, and go out of my way to make sure people realize I am. I don't care if people like me or not. They can think of, and call, me a bitch openly. It doesn't bother me. As long as they know I'm a smart bitch.
It's not something that I'm proud of. I show off, mentally, and its a really shallow thing to do. Which is funny, because I don't think of myself as a shallow person. Quite the opposite actually.
Anyway.
So I hate being put into situations that make me look stupid, especially when the reason I look stupid is because I am completely and totally uninformed about something that the person putting me in the situation already knew, and should have told me. And so far today, I have ended up in these types of situations 3 times.
My desk is the closest to the door to our cube farm, and as such, it falls upon me to direct anyone who happens to need directing. So someone comes in to ask if one of my co-workers is around. So I say "if her computer is on, she probably is. if it's not, she's probably not." Upon saying this, another woman in the office decides to pipe up that said co-worker is on vacation for the week. Why she couldn't have piped up when she heard the person ask... I don't know. Why there were no "on vacation" signs posted at this co-worker's desk, I don't know. But I ended up sounding stupid as a result.
So later, another person comes in asking for the same co-worker. Having found out that she's on vacation, I try to direct them to her supervisor. Whereupon the same person that piped up before says "oh, her supervisor is on vacation too." And I nearly slam my head into my desk right then and there. But no, I hold back, and ask politely who is covering while they're gone. The answer? She is. Why she couldn't have told me all that earlier, the first time I made an ass of myself, is beyond me. But whatever.
So after that, someone comes in asking for someone that does not sit in our office (or so I thought). I look at them, confused, and try to direct them downstairs. Whereupon I'm informed by that person that the someone they're looking for moved here. Okay, its a big office, but not THAT big -- I thought -- so I'd know if someone moved in... Right? Apparently not. Apparently this person moved into the far end of the office a WEEK ago, and no one bothered to tell me. And all this I find out from... Guess who. The exact same person who stepped in the first two times.
I really am not sure who to be upset at... My boss for not keeping me in the loop? The people who went on vacation without putting notes on their doors/desks? The people moving into my office without so much as a "hi how are ya? I'm staying for a while"?
GRRR.
Showing posts with label stupid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stupid. Show all posts
Friday, July 06, 2007
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Things That Make You Go "Ummm"
So I get on the elevator at the second floor, and press the 5th floor button.
After I do this, the only other person in the elevator (who has obviously pressed the 4th floor button) says to me:
"Uh, it's going UP"
I look at her and say:
"Yeah, I know. See how I pressed the 5 button?"
Silence ensues.
*shakes head*
After I do this, the only other person in the elevator (who has obviously pressed the 4th floor button) says to me:
"Uh, it's going UP"
I look at her and say:
"Yeah, I know. See how I pressed the 5 button?"
Silence ensues.
*shakes head*
Monday, June 25, 2007
I Could Have Done Better With Hypercard
I am officially completely and totally disgusted with my department.
Today I was required to attend a "training" session in regards to our online financial management/purchasing/reimbursements system thing. They're offering these training sessions in the hopes of getting more people to use it, instead of submitting paper documents. Well, let me tell you, no amount of training sessions are going to get more people to use this piece of crap system.
Management thinks people aren't using it because "they're afraid of new ways of doing things." HA! This is a research center that gets its funding specifically because they're one of the best in the world at figuring out how to create new and better ways of doing things. The faculty and students aren't afraid of new things. They make their livings off of new things. They APPRECIATE new and better ways to do things.
The problem here is that this online system isn't better. It's new, yes. But its already an outdated, poorly programmed, unweildly mess of a thing. Personally, I don't want to ever log into it again.
Now... I'm going to preface this next bit by explaining that I am extremely tech savvy. You give me a new program to use, and I don't need a manual. I just sit down with the thing for an hour, and suddenly I'm an expert. I'm no stranger to basic programming either. I understand the ins and outs. I've designed websites. I've written programs in basic. My BF bombards me every day with information about programming and programming languages that I never dreamed I'd ever hear, let alone actually understand -- but I do understand a lot of it.
That being said: I could have done a better job at designing this thing, and I could have done a better job of it using nothing more than hypercard. Do you remember hypercard? That lovely little program Mac had back in the 90's that let you basically write your own computer programs just by dragging and dropping page elements? Eh, if you don't remember it, that's okay. Imagine Frontpage or Dreamweaver, but for writing applications as well as websites, and much more simplistic.
Seriously. I could have done way better.
The GUI on this "intranet" is so counterintuitive that I spent 15 minutes just trying to figure out which menu item I was supposed to click on. Me. Me, who only ever needs an hour to learn a piece of software well enough to give classes on how to use it. I was completely and totally lost in this web app. The menu set up was beyond attrocious. The "instructions" on each page were convoluted and misleading. The functionality is so limited, that I can get things done faster on paper. Not to mention the fact that this thing is entirely laid out using tables. There are no divs on the page. None. Just tables. Tables and tables and tables, within even more tables.
There is no "help" menu either. No FAQ. Just a 20 page user manual that you have to download in .pdf.
If a professor wants to look at his available funding (a simple thing, a common thing) he has to sift through several pages full of overly long links (not buttons or anything), each time clicking the right one to get further along in the process.
If a student wants to make a requisition, they have to figure out that the correct section of the site to go to for that is "services" then they have to figure out which professor they're supposed to be logging in under, and then they have to figure out which type of requisition they want to fill out -- and none of this is labelled clearly and simply. It's all in accounting staff jargon that no one understands (well, no one except us accountants).
And you know what makes this whole situation worse? It's taken the staff they hired to do this YEARS to get it to the point it's at currently. YEARS! The BF probably could have had it done in 6 months, with way more functionality, and have it so streamlined that no one would be confused about anything, and no "training" would be necessary, as you could tell exactly what you were doing just by looking at the thing.
Oh yeah, and did I mention that the guy they hired to do this barely speaks english, and makes about 3 times as much money as I do.
And I could have done better at it using Hypercard.
*screams in frustration*
Today I was required to attend a "training" session in regards to our online financial management/purchasing/reimbursements system thing. They're offering these training sessions in the hopes of getting more people to use it, instead of submitting paper documents. Well, let me tell you, no amount of training sessions are going to get more people to use this piece of crap system.
Management thinks people aren't using it because "they're afraid of new ways of doing things." HA! This is a research center that gets its funding specifically because they're one of the best in the world at figuring out how to create new and better ways of doing things. The faculty and students aren't afraid of new things. They make their livings off of new things. They APPRECIATE new and better ways to do things.
The problem here is that this online system isn't better. It's new, yes. But its already an outdated, poorly programmed, unweildly mess of a thing. Personally, I don't want to ever log into it again.
Now... I'm going to preface this next bit by explaining that I am extremely tech savvy. You give me a new program to use, and I don't need a manual. I just sit down with the thing for an hour, and suddenly I'm an expert. I'm no stranger to basic programming either. I understand the ins and outs. I've designed websites. I've written programs in basic. My BF bombards me every day with information about programming and programming languages that I never dreamed I'd ever hear, let alone actually understand -- but I do understand a lot of it.
That being said: I could have done a better job at designing this thing, and I could have done a better job of it using nothing more than hypercard. Do you remember hypercard? That lovely little program Mac had back in the 90's that let you basically write your own computer programs just by dragging and dropping page elements? Eh, if you don't remember it, that's okay. Imagine Frontpage or Dreamweaver, but for writing applications as well as websites, and much more simplistic.
Seriously. I could have done way better.
The GUI on this "intranet" is so counterintuitive that I spent 15 minutes just trying to figure out which menu item I was supposed to click on. Me. Me, who only ever needs an hour to learn a piece of software well enough to give classes on how to use it. I was completely and totally lost in this web app. The menu set up was beyond attrocious. The "instructions" on each page were convoluted and misleading. The functionality is so limited, that I can get things done faster on paper. Not to mention the fact that this thing is entirely laid out using tables. There are no divs on the page. None. Just tables. Tables and tables and tables, within even more tables.
There is no "help" menu either. No FAQ. Just a 20 page user manual that you have to download in .pdf.
If a professor wants to look at his available funding (a simple thing, a common thing) he has to sift through several pages full of overly long links (not buttons or anything), each time clicking the right one to get further along in the process.
If a student wants to make a requisition, they have to figure out that the correct section of the site to go to for that is "services" then they have to figure out which professor they're supposed to be logging in under, and then they have to figure out which type of requisition they want to fill out -- and none of this is labelled clearly and simply. It's all in accounting staff jargon that no one understands (well, no one except us accountants).
And you know what makes this whole situation worse? It's taken the staff they hired to do this YEARS to get it to the point it's at currently. YEARS! The BF probably could have had it done in 6 months, with way more functionality, and have it so streamlined that no one would be confused about anything, and no "training" would be necessary, as you could tell exactly what you were doing just by looking at the thing.
Oh yeah, and did I mention that the guy they hired to do this barely speaks english, and makes about 3 times as much money as I do.
And I could have done better at it using Hypercard.
*screams in frustration*
Monday, June 18, 2007
Stupid Saying of the Day
I was wandering around the WoW forums, and I came across a poster with the following idiotic saying in his signature field: "Except for ending Slavery, Fascism, Nazism and Communism, war has never solved anything!"
This has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever read... Okay, well maybe not the stupidest, but at least the stupidest thing I've read today.
To my knowledge, all these things are alive and well in the world.
When confronted with this fact, the person with the saying in their signature says to me "The Civil War abolished slavery. WWII got rid of Hitler. The Cold War stopped the spread of Communism."
Being that this was the WoW forums, I wanted to say "lrn2history" but a forum mod stepped in and told us to take the debate elsewhere.
Fine fine. Whatever.
Those of us fluent in world history and current events know that slavery existed (and still exists) in more countries than just the United States. A civil war in just one country does not abolish it world wide, and in fact, didn't even truly succeed in abolishing it in it's own country. It may not be legal in the US anymore, but it still exists here. All the poor teenage Thai and Vietnamese women being kidnapped and imported into the US for use as slave prostitution are proof of that.
And for those of us who know anything about history, WWII may have caused Hitler to kill himself, but he is not the end all be all of nazism. Sure, the current "nazi" groups are not as well organized, but I can guarantee you there are more members now than there were in the 30's.
As for the cold war... That didn't rid the world of communism. China and North Korea are still alive and well. France is fast on it's way to joining them in being communist, though they keep insisting they're only socialists. Whatever guys. Outlawing public displays of religion (even such small ones as wearing a teeny little cross as a necklace) sure sounds like communism to me.
Eh. Politics isn't my vent. I'm not pro-war, I'm not anti-war. Shit happens, and sometimes the only way to deal with it is to blow some people up. I get it. But I would never go so far as to say that war is GOOD. Necessary perhaps. But not good. It doesn't actually solve anything. It may take out the problem temporarily, by way of killing all the people involved in a situation, but that doesn't address the social issues behind whatever was going on. And until you address those social issues, you can never really "solve" a world wide problem.
Anyone who thinks otherwise is a moron, imo.
This has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever read... Okay, well maybe not the stupidest, but at least the stupidest thing I've read today.
To my knowledge, all these things are alive and well in the world.
When confronted with this fact, the person with the saying in their signature says to me "The Civil War abolished slavery. WWII got rid of Hitler. The Cold War stopped the spread of Communism."
Being that this was the WoW forums, I wanted to say "lrn2history" but a forum mod stepped in and told us to take the debate elsewhere.
Fine fine. Whatever.
Those of us fluent in world history and current events know that slavery existed (and still exists) in more countries than just the United States. A civil war in just one country does not abolish it world wide, and in fact, didn't even truly succeed in abolishing it in it's own country. It may not be legal in the US anymore, but it still exists here. All the poor teenage Thai and Vietnamese women being kidnapped and imported into the US for use as slave prostitution are proof of that.
And for those of us who know anything about history, WWII may have caused Hitler to kill himself, but he is not the end all be all of nazism. Sure, the current "nazi" groups are not as well organized, but I can guarantee you there are more members now than there were in the 30's.
As for the cold war... That didn't rid the world of communism. China and North Korea are still alive and well. France is fast on it's way to joining them in being communist, though they keep insisting they're only socialists. Whatever guys. Outlawing public displays of religion (even such small ones as wearing a teeny little cross as a necklace) sure sounds like communism to me.
Eh. Politics isn't my vent. I'm not pro-war, I'm not anti-war. Shit happens, and sometimes the only way to deal with it is to blow some people up. I get it. But I would never go so far as to say that war is GOOD. Necessary perhaps. But not good. It doesn't actually solve anything. It may take out the problem temporarily, by way of killing all the people involved in a situation, but that doesn't address the social issues behind whatever was going on. And until you address those social issues, you can never really "solve" a world wide problem.
Anyone who thinks otherwise is a moron, imo.
Monday, May 21, 2007
You're Kidding... Right?
To my boss:
You came to my desk this morning, to ask why it is that Purchasing needs 6 weeks of lead time on requisitions over $25k. And while I answered your question politely, what I really wanted to say was:
You're fucking kidding me, right?
You've been working here for a good 12 years longer than I have, and probably make about triple the amount of money I do. You're supposed to be the one with the expertise, and you're the one who's supposed to answer these types of questions for all of us underlings. But no... You're coming to ME to find out the answers to these questions.
Are you seriously trying to tell me that in the 18 years you've spent working here, you never once bothered to find out why Purchasing needs 6 weeks lead time on requisitions over $25k? Are you seriously trying to tell me that in the 18 years you've spent working here, you don't know about the policy that says items costing more than $25k must researched to see if we can get a lower price? That you don't know there's STATE LAW that says we must do this?
And then you had the gall to ask me why the balance of a purchase order was the way it was -- after I had already researched the thing 2 times, and explained it to you a good 10 times over the past 3 weeks.
You're fucking kidding me... You've GOT to be fucking kidding me. I know your office is a mess, and you can't find any of the important documentation anyone submits to you for approval, but are you really so completely out of it that you can't recall a simple explanation that you've heard 10 times already? Really? Even my 8 year old can do better than that.
I'd like to think that you're testing me, to make sure that I know these things... But I can tell by the bewildered look on your face every time you ask me that you're not.
The sad thing is, when the department was re-organizing, and all the managers had to re-apply for their jobs, I applied for your job. And they turned me down.
They must be just as stupid as you are.
You came to my desk this morning, to ask why it is that Purchasing needs 6 weeks of lead time on requisitions over $25k. And while I answered your question politely, what I really wanted to say was:
You're fucking kidding me, right?
You've been working here for a good 12 years longer than I have, and probably make about triple the amount of money I do. You're supposed to be the one with the expertise, and you're the one who's supposed to answer these types of questions for all of us underlings. But no... You're coming to ME to find out the answers to these questions.
Are you seriously trying to tell me that in the 18 years you've spent working here, you never once bothered to find out why Purchasing needs 6 weeks lead time on requisitions over $25k? Are you seriously trying to tell me that in the 18 years you've spent working here, you don't know about the policy that says items costing more than $25k must researched to see if we can get a lower price? That you don't know there's STATE LAW that says we must do this?
And then you had the gall to ask me why the balance of a purchase order was the way it was -- after I had already researched the thing 2 times, and explained it to you a good 10 times over the past 3 weeks.
You're fucking kidding me... You've GOT to be fucking kidding me. I know your office is a mess, and you can't find any of the important documentation anyone submits to you for approval, but are you really so completely out of it that you can't recall a simple explanation that you've heard 10 times already? Really? Even my 8 year old can do better than that.
I'd like to think that you're testing me, to make sure that I know these things... But I can tell by the bewildered look on your face every time you ask me that you're not.
The sad thing is, when the department was re-organizing, and all the managers had to re-apply for their jobs, I applied for your job. And they turned me down.
They must be just as stupid as you are.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Confruddost?
So today has been a weird day, as evidenced by my last post. But it seems like a lot of days lately have been weird days.
Two days ago, I get a call from my ex asking me for money (which I did NOT give him, btw), then telling me all about his "girlfriend" the "model" who's in jail --again-- for a reason that is so far fetched, I have to wonder if it's made up. The things I'm hearing just don't add up, and given my ex's propensity towards creating fictions that are so elaborate even he believes them... I can't help but think this is another one of those situations. Either that, or I have to believe that both a) he is stupid enough to want to have anything to do with someone who lands themeselves in jail for really BAD things, and thinks I'm going to be okay letting my son be around that too, b) there is some girl out there who is so incredibly stupid that she is either lying to him about who and what she is, or that she's really THAT stupid and THAT desperate to want to be with him -- who she's never even met face to face before.
Do I want to believe any of that? No, not really. But what choice am I left with? I hate thinking the worst of someone. I'm always the one wanting to think the best, the one giving more chances than I should, the one having faith that the "real" them will eventually shine through... But I can't afford those delusions when it comes to my kid, even if those delusions are the reason my kid even exists in the first place.
Then yesterday my ex calls me AGAIN, begging for cash AGAIN. Like I'm some sort of millionaire. Like I have money to throw around now that I'm the one supporting my son full time. Sure, I have a job that pays pretty well. But a third of that check is taken out in taxes, and I've got debts of my own. I can afford to eat out a lot of the time, but thats only because I make myself afford it because I hate washing dishes so much. I eat out instead of buying myself new clothes (which I sorely need, btw), or buying new music, or buying movies (I buy maybe one a month, if that, instead of the 6 or 8 that I used to). Maybe the money I spend on eating out would be better spent hiring a maid to wash my dishes for me... I dunno. That's not the point really. The point is I live from check to check. I don't have extra money to just throw away on loans that won't ever be re-paid. And the sucky thing is that he didn't want to take no for an answer. He kept on with the "I'll pay you back in 3 weeks" and the "but it's only $350" and all. Hell, he still owes me $200 from a previous banking problem... Like I'm going to give him more...
And I've just been out of sorts anyway. Friday night I got a really horrible muscle spasm in my neck and left shoulder. One so bad that I had shooting pains down my arm. The BF ended up having to run out and get me a tube of Bengay just so I could try and get some sleep before going back to work on Monday.
Things have been stupid weird, and stupid weird always makes me feel uneasy. And feeling uneasy makes me stress out, which makes me over anxious, which makes me depressed... So I cry for no reason. Or I cry for a reason that I can't quite make myself verbalize. That happened Monday night... And the BF still hasn't learned quite how to handle me when I get like that, so it ended up in him getting pissed off at me, and me crying myself to sleep.
Sad thing is, all I really wanted was to feel good for 5 minutes... But I couldn't bring myself to say that. I couldn't bring myself to admit that I was feeling miserably bad, both physically and emotionally, despite the fact that I was sitting there crying while trying (to no avail) to massage the knots out of my own neck and the muscle cramps out of my legs (from sitting at my desk for 8 hours).
Of course, the BF has a really bad habit of trying to get me to talk while I'm in tears. He asks me "is there anything I can get you?" and "what's up?" and actually expects an answer. I mean really. I'm crying. Why don't you try to calm me down a bit before asking me questions I don't know how to answer. Why not just hug me, and hold me, and stroke my hair, and wait for me to stop sobbing first? And why doesn't he think of that on his own?
I shouldn't be surprised really. Most of the time I have to ask for hugs and kisses. Most of the time I have to ask for him to cuddle with me. And even then, I get half assed hugs, kisses, and cuddling in response. It's like now that we're living together, he's lost any interest in being passionate with me. Not that I'm saying we don't have "adult time" -- we do. But I'm always the one to initiate it, and it always takes a TON of work to get him to realize what I want (at least, thats what it seems like. Maybe he's just playing dumb?). And then, just like the hugs and kisses, his side of things are half assed. It's like he's not even really trying. I know he's not trying. Cuz when he does try, the whole world disappears, and all I can do is --feel--... *sigh*
Wow, now I'm really rambling huh. I guess I'm more ... I dunno... What's the right word for what I am right now? Frustrated? Confused? Lost? Befuddled? Confruddost?
Anyway, I'm more of whatever I am than I thought I was, and I just threw it all up into your laps now didn't I. *sigh*
I need a break.
Two days ago, I get a call from my ex asking me for money (which I did NOT give him, btw), then telling me all about his "girlfriend" the "model" who's in jail --again-- for a reason that is so far fetched, I have to wonder if it's made up. The things I'm hearing just don't add up, and given my ex's propensity towards creating fictions that are so elaborate even he believes them... I can't help but think this is another one of those situations. Either that, or I have to believe that both a) he is stupid enough to want to have anything to do with someone who lands themeselves in jail for really BAD things, and thinks I'm going to be okay letting my son be around that too, b) there is some girl out there who is so incredibly stupid that she is either lying to him about who and what she is, or that she's really THAT stupid and THAT desperate to want to be with him -- who she's never even met face to face before.
Do I want to believe any of that? No, not really. But what choice am I left with? I hate thinking the worst of someone. I'm always the one wanting to think the best, the one giving more chances than I should, the one having faith that the "real" them will eventually shine through... But I can't afford those delusions when it comes to my kid, even if those delusions are the reason my kid even exists in the first place.
Then yesterday my ex calls me AGAIN, begging for cash AGAIN. Like I'm some sort of millionaire. Like I have money to throw around now that I'm the one supporting my son full time. Sure, I have a job that pays pretty well. But a third of that check is taken out in taxes, and I've got debts of my own. I can afford to eat out a lot of the time, but thats only because I make myself afford it because I hate washing dishes so much. I eat out instead of buying myself new clothes (which I sorely need, btw), or buying new music, or buying movies (I buy maybe one a month, if that, instead of the 6 or 8 that I used to). Maybe the money I spend on eating out would be better spent hiring a maid to wash my dishes for me... I dunno. That's not the point really. The point is I live from check to check. I don't have extra money to just throw away on loans that won't ever be re-paid. And the sucky thing is that he didn't want to take no for an answer. He kept on with the "I'll pay you back in 3 weeks" and the "but it's only $350" and all. Hell, he still owes me $200 from a previous banking problem... Like I'm going to give him more...
And I've just been out of sorts anyway. Friday night I got a really horrible muscle spasm in my neck and left shoulder. One so bad that I had shooting pains down my arm. The BF ended up having to run out and get me a tube of Bengay just so I could try and get some sleep before going back to work on Monday.
Things have been stupid weird, and stupid weird always makes me feel uneasy. And feeling uneasy makes me stress out, which makes me over anxious, which makes me depressed... So I cry for no reason. Or I cry for a reason that I can't quite make myself verbalize. That happened Monday night... And the BF still hasn't learned quite how to handle me when I get like that, so it ended up in him getting pissed off at me, and me crying myself to sleep.
Sad thing is, all I really wanted was to feel good for 5 minutes... But I couldn't bring myself to say that. I couldn't bring myself to admit that I was feeling miserably bad, both physically and emotionally, despite the fact that I was sitting there crying while trying (to no avail) to massage the knots out of my own neck and the muscle cramps out of my legs (from sitting at my desk for 8 hours).
Of course, the BF has a really bad habit of trying to get me to talk while I'm in tears. He asks me "is there anything I can get you?" and "what's up?" and actually expects an answer. I mean really. I'm crying. Why don't you try to calm me down a bit before asking me questions I don't know how to answer. Why not just hug me, and hold me, and stroke my hair, and wait for me to stop sobbing first? And why doesn't he think of that on his own?
I shouldn't be surprised really. Most of the time I have to ask for hugs and kisses. Most of the time I have to ask for him to cuddle with me. And even then, I get half assed hugs, kisses, and cuddling in response. It's like now that we're living together, he's lost any interest in being passionate with me. Not that I'm saying we don't have "adult time" -- we do. But I'm always the one to initiate it, and it always takes a TON of work to get him to realize what I want (at least, thats what it seems like. Maybe he's just playing dumb?). And then, just like the hugs and kisses, his side of things are half assed. It's like he's not even really trying. I know he's not trying. Cuz when he does try, the whole world disappears, and all I can do is --feel--... *sigh*
Wow, now I'm really rambling huh. I guess I'm more ... I dunno... What's the right word for what I am right now? Frustrated? Confused? Lost? Befuddled? Confruddost?
Anyway, I'm more of whatever I am than I thought I was, and I just threw it all up into your laps now didn't I. *sigh*
I need a break.
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