Sam and Jack Shipper Lounge

[Sparky She-Demon]

Oooh. Do you think she'd tell?

[hedwig]

Oooh. Do you think she'd tell?

The poor kid would likely be hysterical, and neither Jack or Sara would be listening to her right away in their concern for getting Charlie medical attention. I think that Sara would likely notice there was something more going on with Cora than the immediate reaction to Charlie's death. Cora might even be having nightmares and thinking she'd actually killed Charlie (because she had distracted him), and eventually Sara would be the one to figure it out.

[AmberLM]

Eight year olds sometimes grow up with a huge weight on their shoulders from some sad experience. I used to work with a lady who's son was killed when he was playing with a neighbor kid at the neighbor's house and the neighbor kid somehow got hold of his Dad's gun, it went off, with extremely sad consequences. These boys were only about 8 at the time.

They were a bit older but it happened in Scotland a few years ago. A country kid got given a shotgun by his dad for his 16th birthday and he accidentally shot and killed his girlfriend with it then killed himself out of guilt. So sad.

[neverendingimagination]

My PC is driving me mad. It's been in for repairs twice and still has the same problem. Short version, I struggle to turn it on. The graphics card has been replaced, the fan cleaned, I brought it home and it turned on, then it crashed and wouldn't turn on at all. I took it back to the repair shop. They said it was a virus in my OS and wiped my Windows 7, said it was a bad copy and put Vista back on instead (My windows 7 disc was given to me by someone my parents work with, as far as I know it wasn't a 'bad' copy, bug wise but it wasn't an official disc.).

I take it home, it seems to work. Then when I try and re-install Norton Antivirus, it throws a hissy fit at the vista security updates. Took me goodness knows how many attempts to get the service pack downloaded. I discovered that when the computer goes to sleep, it won't turn back on. I turn off sleep abilities after this happens several times - each requiring a hard reset, draining of internal power and swapping my power cord for my printer cord (and vice versa).

I try and download VLC using Chrome, Chrome doesn't want to know and won't download the file. I.E. works fine. Try and uninstall Chrome and the install wizard insists Chrome is open - task manager confirms it isn't. I turned the computer off about ten minutes ago to make sure Chrome is properly closed - guess what? Yup, it won't switch on.

Oh, and my Ext HDD won't work with Vista - its formatted for both Mac and PC, the newest form of Fat-32, that allows sizes over 4GB. It registers that a device was plugged in but it doesn't know what it is.

I'm pretty sure its my PCU but I don't know how to go about buying a replacement - sure I could follow the online dismantling instruction manual for my PC in order to replace it. I refuse to take it back to the repair shop for further work because I just can't trust them. Spent £75 so far and got nowhere.

It's £69.99 to buy a Windows 7 disc, which I would happily purchase when I have the funds in a month or so, I just don't want to buy it if the PC itself is going to keep giving me problems. It was purchased in 2007 so it's done well really. Replacing the PC isn't an option because I'm talking at least, the best part of £1000. It's really poor timing because I was starting to reply more on my PC because my macbook is getting old too, my baby is 6 years old now, and I can't use multiple programs in the same way that I used to. I don't want to risk burning it out or I really would be screwed. Flash player for example, since the mac coding for flash player was severely screwed up it kicks the CPU into working over time, 90% + CPU power. If I'm using the online flash player, I can't use anything else.

I was directed by murrinholi to a good manufacturer with the CPU, HDD specs I'm looking for, for a decent price but the graphics card and Ram I'd need etc will still make it fairly expensive. For me, working with graphics, there is no point buying anything with a lower spec than my macbook - i.e. nothing less than 16GB Ram, high end graphics card and high end CPU. I've already decided my best option for replacing the PC in the future is a mac with two partitions, one to run Mountain lion (or whatever OSX it is by that time) and one time to run Windows. Currently a suitable mac mini is £1,200. There's a new mac pro due to be launched soon which looks very snazzy too.

Anyway, I'll stop ranting and daydreaming over my ideal computer - if I had the money, this new mac would come with a 27" retina display monitor, final cut pro, and Adobe suite 6, it would total something close to £5000 - I can dream right?

Edit: Okay so If I wanted to purchase all that today I'm talking over £2000 for the computer and monitor (no mouse or keyboard) and up to £3500 for the adobe software. I'd look into the online version but my broadband is so shocking it's unreal - it's below the national minimum standards, we get 2MB speed on a very good day. It's not financially viable for isp's to put fibre optic cabling to the exchange, let alone individual houses. We're still on ADSL.

Looking forward to my visit to Scotland on Sunday, my best friend, all her lovely pets, the fresh air, and lightening speed broadband - well compared to mine anyway.

This time I'm definitely getting back in my box.

[Sparky She-Demon]

The poor kid would likely be hysterical, and neither Jack or Sara would be listening to her right away in their concern for getting Charlie medical attention. I think that Sara would likely notice there was something more going on with Cora than the immediate reaction to Charlie's death. Cora might even be having nightmares and thinking she'd actually killed Charlie (because she had distracted him), and eventually Sara would be the one to figure it out.

That sounds good, but I am working with another idea in mind. I'll remember it.

[hedwig]

My PC is driving me mad. It's been in for repairs twice and still has the same problem. Short version, I struggle to turn it on. The graphics card has been replaced, the fan cleaned, I brought it home and it turned on, then it crashed and wouldn't turn on at all. I took it back to the repair shop. They said it was a virus in my OS and wiped my Windows 7, said it was a bad copy and put Vista back on instead (My windows 7 disc was given to me by someone my parents work with, as far as I know it wasn't a 'bad' copy, bug wise but it wasn't an official disc.).

I take it home, it seems to work. Then when I try and re-install Norton Antivirus, it throws a hissy fit at the vista security updates. Took me goodness knows how many attempts to get the service pack downloaded. I discovered that when the computer goes to sleep, it won't turn back on. I turn off sleep abilities after this happens several times - each requiring a hard reset, draining of internal power and swapping my power cord for my printer cord (and vice versa).

I try and download VLC using Chrome, Chrome doesn't want to know and won't download the file. I.E. works fine. Try and uninstall Chrome and the install wizard insists Chrome is open - task manager confirms it isn't. I turned the computer off about ten minutes ago to make sure Chrome is properly closed - guess what? Yup, it won't switch on.

Oh, and my Ext HDD won't work with Vista - its formatted for both Mac and PC, the newest form of Fat-32, that allows sizes over 4GB. It registers that a device was plugged in but it doesn't know what it is.

I'm pretty sure its my PCU but I don't know how to go about buying a replacement - sure I could follow the online dismantling instruction manual for my PC in order to replace it. I refuse to take it back to the repair shop for further work because I just can't trust them. Spent £75 so far and got nowhere.

It's £69.99 to buy a Windows 7 disc, which I would happily purchase when I have the funds in a month or so, I just don't want to buy it if the PC itself is going to keep giving me problems. It was purchased in 2007 so it's done well really. Replacing the PC isn't an option because I'm talking at least, the best part of £1000. It's really poor timing because I was starting to reply more on my PC because my macbook is getting old too, my baby is 6 years old now, and I can't use multiple programs in the same way that I used to. I don't want to risk burning it out or I really would be screwed. Flash player for example, since the mac coding for flash player was severely screwed up it kicks the CPU into working over time, 90% + CPU power. If I'm using the online flash player, I can't use anything else.

I was directed by murrinholi to a good manufacturer with the CPU, HDD specs I'm looking for, for a decent price but the graphics card and Ram I'd need etc will still make it fairly expensive. For me, working with graphics, there is no point buying anything with a lower spec than my macbook - i.e. nothing less than 16GB Ram, high end graphics card and high end CPU. I've already decided my best option for replacing the PC in the future is a mac with two partitions, one to run Mountain lion (or whatever OSX it is by that time) and one time to run Windows. Currently a suitable mac mini is £1,200. There's a new mac pro due to be launched soon which looks very snazzy too.

Anyway, I'll stop ranting and daydreaming over my ideal computer - if I had the money, this new mac would come with a 27" retina display monitor, final cut pro, and Adobe suite 6, it would total something close to £5000 - I can dream right?

Edit: Okay so If I wanted to purchase all that today I'm talking over £2000 for the computer and monitor (no mouse or keyboard) and up to £3500 for the adobe software. I'd look into the online version but my broadband is so shocking it's unreal - it's below the national minimum standards, we get 2MB speed on a very good day. It's not financially viable for isp's to put fibre optic cabling to the exchange, let alone individual houses. We're still on ADSL.

Looking forward to my visit to Scotland on Sunday, my best friend, all her lovely pets, the fresh air, and lightening speed broadband - well compared to mine anyway.

This time I'm definitely getting back in my box.

Offers NEI a pair of boxing gloves and several punching bags.

[AmberLM]

My friend is doing a PhD on the social impact of high speed Internet (or lack thereof) in Scotland! Apparently it's a huge problem :s

[Sparky She-Demon]

My friend is doing a PhD on the social impact of high speed Internet (or lack thereof) in Scotland! Apparently it's a huge problem :s

It drives people crazy!

[selene0789]

All right, I'm in total vent mode. Well, partial-vent. I'm also not quite sure on how to proceed. Hopefully one of you guys can give me some pointers:

I've been looking for a new job, and I've signed up with a temp agency to help pay the bills until I find something long term. I got my first assignment this week. It's as receptionist/admin work for a high end furniture company. It started as only three days, but the owner wants to keep me on for a month. But I'm not jumping for joy, and here's why:

-The office is a mess. There's no clear method for keeping track of orders or product, and no one seems to have the full scoop on what's going on.

-Their level of customer service is incredibly low, which is surprising given the status of many of their clients. I drafted an email today to a customer, typing word for word what the owner wanted sent, and it was downright hostile. It made me a little uncomfortable, as I'm used to maintaining professional in business matters. (This feeds into another concern-- if this is how they treat people who give them money, whose opinion should mean a great deal, how will they treat their workers?)

-None of the employees seem to want to be there. There's a lot of rolled eyes and exasperated tones and accusations and "that's not my department" mentality. I met one of the delivery guys today, and his ice breaker was "So, has she [the owner] gone off on you yet?" MAJOR red flag.

-The owner doesn't respect other people's time. I get my working hours from my temp agency, which presumably were agreed to or requested by the company itself. For this assignment I was told 10:30am-5:30pm, but the owner seemed to be expecting me to stay until 6:00pm. Last night I was able to stay that long because I was going to be staying in the area for a class, but the owner didn't ask about tonight until I was getting ready to go at 5:30. Since I was in the middle of helping the owner type an email, I agreed to rearrange my schedule for the extra half hour. I ended up staying until 6:30pm to help her draft that email, during which she kept answering phone calls and talking to other employees and getting her thoughts straight.

So, I guess I've already decided that I don't want to stay at the assignment for the full month (or longer, if they want to keep me as a permanent employee). But I don't know how I should address it. I've told my contact at the temp agency that I don't want to accept any extensions for this particular assignment, which she seemed to understand. I don't know if I should tell her all these reasons why I don't like the assignment. As this is my first assignment, I don't want to come off as too high maintenance. But at the same time, if I do share all these points, it may make it easier to find the right cultural fit for the company.

On the other hand, I have the owner asking me to tell the temp agency that I need to be back at the office on Monday (you know, extending the assignment). I don't know how I can politely tell them that there's no way in heck that I want to be back on Monday. I don't know if the agency tells the company if the temp worker doesn't want to continue the assignment, or if they cover by simply saying the temp has another assignment.

I don't want to say one thing, but then have the agency say another. And I don't want the temp agency to have that conversation with them until I've left the company tomorrow, because I don't want to be on the receiving end of more questions.

If anybody here has temp experience, do you know how all this is supposed to go down?

[brendini]

Selene, you absolutely need to be honest with the agency. For one thing, they need to know so they can prepare future workers. As far as how to handle the notification, I haven't come across that. I would definitely call the agency before you report for work, and ask them for guidance. If they've worked with this client before, they may already have been clued in. I'd like to think, however, if that was the case that they would have given you a heads-up.

[selene0789]

Selene, you absolutely need to be honest with the agency. For one thing, they need to know so they can prepare future workers. As far as how to handle the notification, I haven't come across that. I would definitely call the agency before you report for work, and ask them for guidance. If they've worked with this client before, they may already have been clued in. I'd like to think, however, if that was the case that they would have given you a heads-up.

Thanks, brendini. I was warned that the owner has a "strong personality". I wasn't initially concerned, as I've worked with those kinds of people before. But the overall feel of the place is just too off; I wouldn't feel comfortable there long term, or for even a month. I tried giving my agency a call as soon as I got out of work yesterday, but it ended up being too late by that point, and I sort of panicked. It's harder to get a hold of my contact in the morning, but I'll definitely be trying. I guess if I can't speak to my contact before hand I can just tell the owner of the company I'm assigned to that I haven't been able to get a hold of who I need to, and that I can't commit to anything without their express approval. Which is true!

Thanks for the advice!

[brendini]

That's probably about the best you can do. If you don't mind my asking, what agency are you going through?

[Samantha-Carter-is-my-muse]

No wonder you don't want to return to that place, selene - such a hostile work environment is not healthy. Was it the temp agency that warned you about the owner's "strong personality"? If it was then to me it sounds like they know about her way of treating people

My friend is doing a PhD on the social impact of high speed Internet (or lack thereof) in Scotland! Apparently it's a huge problem :s

Which reminded me of this:

[Wild Flower]

All right, I'm in total vent mode. Well, partial-vent. I'm also not quite sure on how to proceed. Hopefully one of you guys can give me some pointers:

I've been looking for a new job, and I've signed up with a temp agency to help pay the bills until I find something long term. I got my first assignment this week. It's as receptionist/admin work for a high end furniture company. It started as only three days, but the owner wants to keep me on for a month. But I'm not jumping for joy, and here's why:

-The office is a mess. There's no clear method for keeping track of orders or product, and no one seems to have the full scoop on what's going on.

-Their level of customer service is incredibly low, which is surprising given the status of many of their clients. I drafted an email today to a customer, typing word for word what the owner wanted sent, and it was downright hostile. It made me a little uncomfortable, as I'm used to maintaining professional in business matters. (This feeds into another concern-- if this is how they treat people who give them money, whose opinion should mean a great deal, how will they treat their workers?)

-None of the employees seem to want to be there. There's a lot of rolled eyes and exasperated tones and accusations and "that's not my department" mentality. I met one of the delivery guys today, and his ice breaker was "So, has she [the owner] gone off on you yet?" MAJOR red flag.

-The owner doesn't respect other people's time. I get my working hours from my temp agency, which presumably were agreed to or requested by the company itself. For this assignment I was told 10:30am-5:30pm, but the owner seemed to be expecting me to stay until 6:00pm. Last night I was able to stay that long because I was going to be staying in the area for a class, but the owner didn't ask about tonight until I was getting ready to go at 5:30. Since I was in the middle of helping the owner type an email, I agreed to rearrange my schedule for the extra half hour. I ended up staying until 6:30pm to help her draft that email, during which she kept answering phone calls and talking to other employees and getting her thoughts straight.

So, I guess I've already decided that I don't want to stay at the assignment for the full month (or longer, if they want to keep me as a permanent employee). But I don't know how I should address it. I've told my contact at the temp agency that I don't want to accept any extensions for this particular assignment, which she seemed to understand. I don't know if I should tell her all these reasons why I don't like the assignment. As this is my first assignment, I don't want to come off as too high maintenance. But at the same time, if I do share all these points, it may make it easier to find the right cultural fit for the company.

On the other hand, I have the owner asking me to tell the temp agency that I need to be back at the office on Monday (you know, extending the assignment). I don't know how I can politely tell them that there's no way in heck that I want to be back on Monday. I don't know if the agency tells the company if the temp worker doesn't want to continue the assignment, or if they cover by simply saying the temp has another assignment.

I don't want to say one thing, but then have the agency say another. And I don't want the temp agency to have that conversation with them until I've left the company tomorrow, because I don't want to be on the receiving end of more questions.

If anybody here has temp experience, do you know how all this is supposed to go down?

Oh no Selene, I'm so sorry this placement hasn't worked out. It does sound like a totally awful work environment and not a healthy place to be any longer than you have to. Brendini's advice is solid

You know where I am if you need a chat

[AmberLM]

No wonder you don't want to return to that place, selene - such a hostile work environment is not healthy. Was it the temp agency that warned you about the owner's "strong personality"? If it was then to me it sounds like they know about her way of treating people


Which reminded me of this:

[IMG]http://an-c.dk/at/gateworld/wifimaslow.png[IMG]

I can't green u but that's hilarious! I'm totally sending that to my friend.