I immediately, without thinking, quoted the simpsons and blurted out, "Buzzwords, aren't those used by stupid people to sound smart?" My job lingered on despite the bad choice of comedic material, and continued to consist of 3-4 hours of video games a day, and once I got sick of that, I submitted a request for a 30% raise, and was let go soon afterwards

very nice.

it's very nice to not give a flying shit about one's office job. I'm baffled by the level of stress my, um, "co-workers" appear to experience on a daily basis.

I have never lasted at an office job for more than several months. I always take an extended trip or something, never to return to my cubicle again.

Although I have worked in a few offices that had good attitudes. They generally appear to be those of the not-for-profit and/or healthcare persuasion.

ironyengine wrote:

Hiwatt wrote:

ironyengine wrote:You need more logins to this board like I need more cds, Dragon.

DON'T QUOTE ME

Sorry about that. Oh shit...

I'm just curious....

What kind of typical thankless office jobs are out there? What have you guys done, in office environments, that were so mindless (other than AA positions, of course)?

I'm curious because I've worked in an office for the last 10 years, designing (engineering) electrical, telecom, and audiovisual/sound reinforcement sytems and never really felt I was in an "Office Space"/Dilbert type of environment (or worked with folks with that mentality). I've only come across one dipshit I worked with who used office jargon like that; he also had "Successories" motivational posters. Granted, I've never worked at a company with more than 50-300 people either.

More insight, please......

i do temporary/contract "data support consulting." It's like analytical bullshit, basically temp work for people who are good with numbers and databases/spreadsheets.

Half of my day is dedicated to doing nothing. My skills are not all that specialized, and I'm fairly expendable. Therefore, they underestimate my abilities and as a result I have loads of free time (hence all the time I spend fucking around on this board).

I imagine most computer-related, relatively unspecialized jobs in corporate America are like this. Design-related jobs, I imagine, would tend not to be like this because of the creative element, and a sense of pride in the thing you are making.

gio wrote:Design-related jobs, I imagine, would tend not to be like this because of the creative element, and a sense of pride in the thing you are making.

That depends on your relationship with your clients. Let's say you've produced some design you're creatively happy with. On its way to print, or the Web, or whatever, a bunch of people have to sign off on it--creative directors, project managers, various people in the client's organization who are, after all, paying for it. If you're lucky, their comments will be either happy ones or genuinely constructive. If you aren't, one or more of these people will be the kind who won't feel like they're doing their job unless they suggest changes, no matter how stupid those changes may be. So you either fight for your design, or suck it up and make the changes, unless they're impossible to make. If your contract is written correctly, at least you'll be able to bill these changes hourly. Anyway, by the end of this process, you'll probably no longer have pride in your work, since your original concept has been watered down by people without an aesthetic sensibility.

That said, I can't complain about my own freelance situation at the moment, as I'm working with a bunch of good people.

Tom wrote:She's a known quantity .

Known quantity? Has anyone ever heard this phrase before or is my boss even more full of shit than I had thought?

You're taking this entirely out of context. This is an extremely common term used in math, physics and other technical fields. A "known quantity" is something whose value is understood and trusted. It is the opposite of a "variable".

But don't just take my word for it:

http://www.wordsmyth.net/live/home.php?content=wotw/083099/wotw_college

This sort of reminds me of the big to-do over the use of the word "niggardly" that happened a while back...

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=niggardly

Dan

I believe what he meant to say was " known commodity"...

danmohr wrote:

Tom wrote:She's a known quantity .

Known quantity? Has anyone ever heard this phrase before or is my boss even more full of shit than I had thought?

You're taking this entirely out of context. This is an extremely common term used in math, physics and other technical fields. A "known quantity" is something whose value is understood and trusted. It is the opposite of a "variable".

But don't just take my word for it:

http://www.wordsmyth.net/live/home.php?content=wotw/083099/wotw_college

This sort of reminds me of the big to-do over the use of the word "niggardly" that happened a while back...

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=niggardly

Dan

Thanks, that actually makes a little sense.

I didn't really put it into context though, just wanted to find out if there was indeed a context for it.

Tom wrote:Thanks, that actually makes a little sense.

I didn't really put it into context though, just wanted to find out if there was indeed a context for it.

I think the implication of the statement is that the new person is someone whose talent you should trust despite their being new to the job.

The first definition from the site I linked to is:

1. (informal) a person, thing, attribute, or the like that is considered to be familiar or accepted:

And I found it extremely ironic that the example they gave of this syntax was:

The party preferred to nominate a known quantity rather than a newcomer.

Thank you, Google.

Dan

gio wrote:-pump up the volume
-take it to the next level
-tackle
-buckle down
-go to starbucks

I work for a fortune 500 that is obsessed with sports metaphor. We have had several official programs this year named things like "Play to win!" or "Step up to the plate!"

Why can't we borrow from other domains and use slogans like "avast ye mateys!" or "sub zero wins!" or "apply a coat of primer!"

Jesse