What do you hate about your job?

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Thinkpaddict · #1 Post by **Thinkpaddict** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 10:53 pm

For me it would be the commute. 3 hours every day, which at the end of the week add to an additional 2 work days.

Website · #2 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 11:10 pm

When I worked in Chicago, I traveled 2:15 each way...from my front door to my office door....

Fortunately, a lot of that time was spent on the Metra, watching DVDs on my laptop...

Now, my travel is 2 minutes...

ajkula66 · #3 Post by **ajkula66** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 11:28 pm

How about everything apart from pay and benefits?

Daily commute equals 234 miles (117 one way). On a good day, that's a little more than 3 hours. On a bad one....

But the thing that is really killing my little gray cells-if there are any left- is the lack of ability to learn something new and/or find anything even remotely challenging...I outgrew the job itself about 4 years ago...

Needless to say, the next "early retirement" package is likely to be mine...especially with the prospect of picket lines in August...I'm too old and tired for that...

qviri · #4 Post by **qviri** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 11:43 pm

And here I was, thinking one of my profs' 85 km / 1.5 hr one-way commute was excessive...

I know a guy who spent four months commuting for a total of five hours a day. He literally got home and went to sleep in order to wake up early for work the next day. I will never understand why at this point, given that you are a single young student, you wouldn't rent a place closer.

(Even with a settled family a job two hours away doesn't seem to me to be worth it, but I've finally learned not to speak on things I have no experience with...)

mattbiernat · #5 Post by **mattbiernat** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 4:27 am

i don't even have a job...

#6 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 6:23 am

ajkula66 wrote:Daily commute equals 234 miles (117 one way).

Couldn't you rent something cheap for during the week, or get a small RV/camper?
That is a ridiculous commute!

Phazer · #7 Post by **Phazer** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 6:27 am

The "general" public....."those that ain't stupid, are nuts"....

It's more the "me, me, me," additude, the lack of social skills combined with no common sense. And all businesses in it "just for the buck".

No "mom/pop" businesses anymore, every one of them is bought-out or ran out of business.

Fewer things are "made" here.

ajkula66 · #8 Post by **ajkula66** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:00 am

RealBlackStuff wrote:

Couldn't you rent something cheap for during the week, or get a small RV/camper?

I work in Manhattan, and you can't rent a rat hole cheaply there. And having an RV anywhere near there is impossible...

Apart from the fact that I've got three small kids and a wife who doesn't drive (a very long story that one is)...

When we lived in Brooklyn we were less than 20 miles away from my workplace and my commute has still been 1 hour 45 minutes on average...

But it can get worse than that...I used to work with a guy who drove his motorcycle from Philly every morning...for 20 years..until he finally got killed...

JHEM · #9 Post by **JHEM** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:38 am

ajkula66 wrote:RealBlackStuff wrote:
Couldn't you rent something cheap for during the week, or get a small RV/camper?
I work in Manhattan, and you can't rent a rat hole cheaply there. And having an RV anywhere near there is impossible...

I'll rent you one of the boats George and you can keep it in Jersey City!

Seriously, I know dozens of folks who live up by you and RBS and commute into the City every day. Heck, for several years just before she retired from the bank in Manhattan my Mom commuted from Wilkes-Barre into the City and back every day on the "commuter special" bus Martz ran.

Distance doesn't really figure into whether or not a commute is acceptable here on the right coast, it's completely time driven. When I lived on Long Island it took me an hour and 45 minutes to commute each way into Manhattan on the train/subway, only about 30 miles as the crow flies. Took me wife about 2 hours to get uptown to the hospital.

Now we're ~90 miles from the City and it STILL takes about an hour and 45 minutes to drive downtown, go figure.

For the record, I'm basically retired and there's nothing I don't like about my job!

Regards,

James

ajkula66 · #10 Post by **ajkula66** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:09 pm

JHEM wrote:

I'll rent you one of the boats George and you can keep it in Jersey City!

Thanks for the offer, Captain. However, although you and I seem to have a few things in common (that's from reading some of your posts...Leslies, Ro80, SM, 6.9...pretty much my taste and/or memories, although I've never had a 6.9) apart from love for A31p machines, the boats wouldn't be one of them...you see, sir, my book of poetry was called "Fear Of Ships"...

Ryan_C · #11 Post by **Ryan_C** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:14 pm

The hours.. 5am to 9pm, 6 days a week.

goofyGAguy · #12 Post by **goofyGAguy** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:18 pm

Ryan_C wrote:The hours.. 5am to 9pm, 6 days a week.

What do you do?

Ryan_C · #13 Post by **Ryan_C** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:40 am

I manage 3 small-medium computer shops, and I also deal with certain custom computer builds and troubleshooting. In other words, I'm the boss that doesn't have time for you and is always busy.

andyP · #14 Post by **andyP** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:09 am

I hate the customers who've bought cheapo machines from cheapo chains/supermarkets/ebay and expect solutions to problems at less than cheapo costs i.e. for nothing.

My favourite statement from a customer; I had just looked at his new €600,00 notebook, (no-name bought from a supermarket), which he had a problem with. I informed him I could solve his problem for about €40-€50. Not unreasonable as time is money isn't it?
He replied as follows; "As the machine was cheap, I didn't want to spend that much money on it. Tell me what I need to do and I'll fix it myself". As I refused this service, he left the shop after using a few "colourfull" words describing me I think as unfriendly and unhelpfull.

I get about one of these customers a week.

ajkula66 · #15 Post by **ajkula66** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 7:29 am

andyP wrote:

I get about one of these customers a week.

Count your blessings. During 15 years of retailing and repairing musical instruments, I used to have at least 2-3 a day...and that's in two different countries, but the end results were pretty much the same...

#16 Post by **jdhurst** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 8:41 am

andyP wrote:<snip>
He replied as follows; "As the machine was cheap, I didn't want to spend that much money on it. Tell me what I need to do and I'll fix it myself". As I refused this service, he left the shop after using a few "colourfull" words describing me I think as unfriendly and unhelpfull.
I get about one of these customers a week.

I don't get much of this anymore as I have winnowed out clients who think my service is free. However, in the circumstance where I get this, I just firmly say that my cost is a minimum 1 hour service call and let them decide. That way, I am not refusing the service.

The do-it-yourself service is available on the Internet.
... JDH

joester · #17 Post by **joester** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:25 pm

Being a Calibration technician, my biggest pet peeve at work is people moving equipment without notifying me.
With ~5000 pieces of equipment in the database, I spend more time looking for equipment than actually calibrating.

I guees the bright side is that every day is different. That coupled with the facts that I don't mind the 26 mile commute (one way), I like the people I work with, and my employer has good benefits equals a smile on my face.

Joe

kim-chee-san · #18 Post by **kim-chee-san** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:04 pm

I work for state government...enough said.

syedj · #19 Post by **syedj** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 3:11 pm

ajkula66 wrote: Daily commute equals 234 miles (117 one way). On a good day, that's a little more than 3 hours. On a bad one....

Whao!! Thats some commute. I don't know how you do it George.

At one point of my career I used to commute from Derry, NH, to Cambridge, MA. Although the distance was only about 48 miles or so but it used to take almost 2 hours in the morning rush hour and a little over an hour if I had left there around 6:30 in the evening - thats on fair weather days. That was the worst part about those jobs. For the last 4 years my commute is about 45 minutes each way and I am not complaining about it.

In my last job the fear of getting outsourced was perhaps the biggest thing I hated. That organization was slowly but surely laying off people here on the East coast, expanding in India and China and moving more the more projects over there in the name of cheaper sustaining and maintenance costs.

Needless to say after reading the writing on the wall, I switched my job two weeks ago and so far its going good. Lets wait till the honeymoon period is over

#20 Post by **Harryc** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 5:35 pm

Most days my commute is 20 feet ... maybe 100 ft. if I walk the dog first

. If I were to pick one thing I hate about my job, I'd say it was going out of my way to do the right thing for a customer only to have them not appreciate it ... or worse.

#21 Post by **jdhurst** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 7:38 pm

Harryc wrote:<snip> If I were to pick one thing I hate about my job, I'd say it was going out of my way to do the right thing for a customer only to have them not appreciate it ... or worse.

I hope you can find different clients. When I go out of my way (set up at client 1, get urgent call, fold tent, appear at client 2), they never fail to express appreciation. I appreciate them as well and say so. So I have clients for very long period of time.

Since inevitably client 1 will be client 2 sometime and they all know I will do my best to serve them. ... JDH

#22 Post by **Harryc** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 7:42 pm

jdhurst wrote:I hope you can find different clients.

Not possible while working in service management for a fortune 500 company, but thanks for the thought.

k2jsv · #23 Post by **k2jsv** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 8:38 pm

Crappy hours(for having a family), crappy pay... but rumor has it I can retire with 25 on the job at 75 percent pay and bennies for life. (16 years to go)

Schedule ain't bad either. 4 on, 2 off 8 hours... 2 day shift, 2 evening shift... all the overtime I can chew. The big downer... All the overtime I can chew usually tops me out at $35k for the year.

Whoever it was said that they work for state government had it bad... I dare say my county job might be on that list as well.

dr_st · #24 Post by **dr_st** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 2:03 am

For me it's also the commute. 2 hours each end (walk+train+walk) and that's if the trains run on time, which lately they don't.

However, because of this, I've been given the privilege to work from home 1-2 days a week (I'm a software engineer), which means I only have to commute this insanity 3-4 days a week.

Puppy · #25 Post by **Puppy** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 10:49 am

I never get used to go to regular work so I quit. I couldn't stand working hours (I get up around 11AM), various stupid rules, crappy equipment, limited this, limited that, ask ten times for a single thing to solve etc.

Now I work (I'm a software developer) on my own, most of the time from home. I can buy equipment I want and does not have to bother with typical bureaucracy in most of companies.

ajkula66 · #26 Post by **ajkula66** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 10:26 pm

k2jsv wrote:

.. all the overtime I can chew.

After 9/11, we used to put in some crazy hours...like 30hrs OT a week, and after 9 you go into double time...until you figure out that your favourite uncle is taking the most of that money...that's when I stopped.

Puppy wrote:

I never get used to go to regular work so I quit. I couldn't stand working hours (I get up around 11AM), various stupid rules, crappy equipment, limited this, limited that, ask ten times for a single thing to solve etc.

Now I work (I'm a software developer) on my own, most of the time from home. I can buy equipment I want and does not have to bother with typical bureaucracy in most of companies.

I hear you. Reminds me, to a pretty high degree, of life I used to lead once, belonging to a different profession, but being the boss of my own time...and, honestly, I envy you. Hadn't I lived like that once upon a time (geographically much closer to you as well), I wouldn't hate my current situation as much as I do. Then again, hating it to this extent has made whatever's left of my brain work hard to resolve the situation, and I do believe that the sun is about to rise for me once again...

Don't ever give up your freedom. Nothing's worth that sacrifice.

#27 Post by **K. Eng** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:46 am

Cons of my job: boredom and lack of opportunity to move up.

On the bright side, the pay is relatively good and the co-workers on my team are very professional.

dsigma6 · #28 Post by **dsigma6** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:02 am

Phazer wrote:additude

Are you secretly from Philly?

My job is manageable and is only 20 minutes/7 miles each way. It used to be 3 miles and 10 minutes, but my better half thought moving was a great idea.

jamerslong · #29 Post by **jamerslong** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 7:07 pm

Well, my job is not to bad, Except i am stuck in the middle of the Desert right now working long hours all week. no family.

Decent pay and great benefits are a plus.

they even give you all these cool clothes that make you invisible, like a ninja ::insert non-exsistent ninja Emotiocon::

#30 Post by **rkawakami** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 8:14 pm

jamerslong wrote:<snip>... great benefits are a plus.

I guess that would be free air travel to anywhere in the world you are told to go?

(Have a brother who had a 20-year Navy career in the Pacific)

jamerslong wrote:they even give you all these cool clothes that make you invisible, like a ninja ::insert non-exsistent ninja Emotiocon::

Keep your wits about you and have a safe tour.

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