The Vent and Rant Thread

[Hitch]

Backstory is: this woman has been emailing me for MONTHS, about her children's book. (For those of you not in the racket, the "profit margin" on a typically 32-page book requires an electron microscope to actually SEE, much less spend....) Back and forth, back and forth. The other day, she sends a message that says something like "are you SURE you understand what I want done," to which I replied, a bit shortly, "look, send the file, or don't. I've already had X email discussions with you, over the last Y months, and I still have not seen the file. That makes it extraordinarily difficult for me to respond to any further questions, because: I have not seen the file."

(More quick context: my assistant/CS Manager has departed these shores, for a MUCH better gig, at 3x the pay, which is groovy, but I haven't yet replaced her, which means I'm trying to handle 300 emails/day, by myself.)

Today, email from same prospective client (whom I suspect will balk at the price we give her, no matter WHAT it is):

"Before we send PDF, my assistant needs to know whether it needs to be a printable PDF ?"

(If Youtube doesn't play automagically here--I've never tried to put a video here in MR, before, the url is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opcO5edCzZY




Hitch

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Today, email from same prospective client (whom I suspect will balk at the price we give her, no matter WHAT it is):

"Before we send PDF, my assistant needs to know whether it needs to be a printable PDF ?"

I'd love to know what her assistant thinks a PDF is.

Since the point of a PDF was to reproduce onscreen exactly what you would see on the printed page, sending it to a printer was a way of producing the desired hardcopy. There are things you can specify when producing PDFs intended to be used by a commercial printer to generate plates from which a job can be printed, but those would not be applicable here.

This one would be a candidate for me to send a "This relationship isn't working out. It's in both our interests to end it. Best wishes in your future endeavors." note in reply.
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

I spent last Thursday through yesterday in Boston, attending Arisia 2017, a hobbyist convention devoted to science fiction and fantasy.

In the past, I've been one of those who dealt with the hotel on behalf of the convention. For the past few years I've just been on Programming. But this year, the chap running the Ops division was short handed - a key staffer (who is an old friend) was hospitalized with kidney stones when he was supposed to be working the Ops desk. The guy running Ops is an old friend I've worked with before, so I volunteered to lend a hand while things got straightened out.

At one point, a young woman came to Ops needing to get a key to a hotel space that would be showing Anime. Ops has those keys, and was the place to come to. There's a log book you use to sign out keys with date and time, and a place to note when the key is returned.

I locate the correct key, hand it to her, and give her the logbook to sign it out.

"I'm sorry, but I'm an observant Jew and I'm not allowed to write on Shabbos."

WTF? I'm well aware of Shabbos restrictions, and have occasionally been Shabbos goy at functions like this to do things people need but aren't allowed to do themselves during Shabbos. Those things mostly involve use of technology, like electronic key cards to get into hotel rooms, or elevators.

This is the first time I've been told someone can't use pen and paper. I wrote the log entry and forged her signature, since the point was the record, but I was quite bemused. An old Jewish friend said "Nine Jews, ten opinions", and this is especially the case when the question is "What constitutes work you aren't supposed to do during Shabbos?", but this was...different...

I generally expect functions like this to produce at least one WTF? moment, and that was this one's.
______
Dennis

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Backstory is: this woman has been emailing me for MONTHS, about her children's book. (For those of you not in the racket, the "profit margin" on a typically 32-page book requires an electron microscope to actually SEE, much less spend....) Back and forth, back and forth. The other day, she sends a message that says something like "are you SURE you understand what I want done," to which I replied, a bit shortly, "look, send the file, or don't. I've already had X email discussions with you, over the last Y months, and I still have not seen the file. That makes it extraordinarily difficult for me to respond to any further questions, because: I have not seen the file."

(More quick context: my assistant/CS Manager has departed these shores, for a MUCH better gig, at 3x the pay, which is groovy, but I haven't yet replaced her, which means I'm trying to handle 300 emails/day, by myself.)

Today, email from same prospective client (whom I suspect will balk at the price we give her, no matter WHAT it is):

(If Youtube doesn't play automagically here--I've never tried to put a video here in MR, before, the url is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opcO5edCzZY




Hitch

Dear Maam/Sir,
The fee for looking at the file is $10 a page to make sure the pages are in order. The price to print the book is $640. Thank you in advance for a quick response. All fees are due up front.
Sincerely,
Hitch's new underpaid assistant.

*Feel free to change the figures. I may have forgot a zero.

[Katsunami]

Let me fix that for you:

Spoiler:

In spoiler tags because some may find this animation disturbing.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Dear Maam/Sir,
The fee for looking at the file is $10 a page to make sure the pages are in order. The price to print the book is $640. Thank you in advance for a quick response. All fees are due up front.
Sincerely,
Hitch's new underpaid assistant.

*Feel free to change the figures. I may have forgot a zero.

Sounds like the apocryphal sign in the mechanic's garage:

Labor cost: $25/hour
If you watch: $50/hour
If you help: $100/hour

______
Dennis

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Sounds like the apocryphal sign in the mechanic's garage:

Labor cost: $25/hour
If you watch: $50/hour
If you help: $100/hour

______
Dennis

That very sign hangs in the office, where we can all see it. In VERY BIG print. It's a skosh different, in case anyone else comes in to read it (ahem....let's say, in case any deluded soul imagines that this is a "family-friendly" environment...).

And shabbos...well, if she defines signing her name, as work...<shrug> The part that slays me, though, is, CLEARLY, she was getting the key to do some WORK. Setting up the anime space, or...something. How that's less work than writing your signature...hmmmm. (Falls into the "things that make you go, "hmmmmm" category.)

Speaking of things that make you go Hmmmm....here's mine for the day:

Spoiler:

Why do hirsute and hair suit sound so similar? When the etymology seems to indicate no relationship between the word and the slang?????

@Cins:

That was funny. I like it so much, I'm thinking of making a canned (reply) of it, with my new, imaginary, (and thus, paid according to her very real worth!) assistant. Grizelda. Grizelda...Zagot. Grizelda Zagot, Manager of Customer Satisfaction and Happiness.

Interviewing. SUCKS. I'd forgotten. Like manna, my last 3 assistants/bookmaker (the very first one I ever hired-he's an MR regular, and no, I shan't disclose his dark secret of having worked for The Evil Capitalistic Queen!), have simply...appeared. The first guy, I stumbled over here. My next assistant was a bartender (I swear) who knew somebody who knew me, and somehow (actually, sort of like a stray cat, now that I think about it) strayed in here, and stayed...until he didn't. This last woman knew the bartender, and needed some part-time work (FOOLED YA!!!), and so she came to work for me, gosh 3+ years ago, maybe four. In fairness, it's not a fab-paying gig, and they DO burn out. Hell, I'm burned out, but it's my biz, so...can't leave.

The bookmakers come the "more regular" way. But their jobs are crisply defined, and in many ways, simple: the book output is good, or it's bad, or they can't learn from mistakes, or they do.

But your right hand man/woman? Oish. That's a whole other kettle o'fish.

Hitch

[Blossom]

That was very nice of you Dennis to help her out. Without discussing religion. She is right. The law clearly forbids her writing during that time.

Hitch you should write a book with all these stories about publishing. I hope you find a new PA soon.



Sent from my XT1528

[Freeshadow]

Grizelda!? What happened to Chandler Pebka?

[Blossom]

I don't understand my mom. She's upset with me. I got a vacuum cleaner for Christmas from her. It was $98. Our Electric is due as I just got a disconnect notice. I'm trying to find assistance but unless you are already on food stamps, welfare or disabled it's hard to qualify. I do qualify for one payment plan through the electric company. They want $105 down and I'll have to pay $9 a month on the back bill. I will also have to go on budget billing.

So I asked her if was okay if I took it back. It's unopened and she threw a big hissy fit. She's disabled so she qualifies for all sorts of programs so she never actually pays her bills. She doesn't understand the concept of hard earned money.

My husband is dumbfounded that she rather us have a vacuum than electric.

Last night big family drama happened this morning I'm trying to just figure it all out. Hubby is out putting in some applications. He says screw his degrees, his experience he's tired of looking. He's hitting the fast food and retail stores now hoping for a minimum wage job to just bring income in.



Sent from my XT1528

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I don't understand my mom. She's upset with me. I got a vacuum cleaner for Christmas from her. It was $98. Our Electric is due as I just got a disconnect notice. I'm trying to find assistance but unless you are already on food stamps, welfare or disabled it's hard to qualify. I do qualify for one payment plan through the electric company. They want $105 down and I'll have to pay $9 a month on the back bill. I will also have to go on budget billing.

So I asked her if was okay if I took it back. It's unopened and she threw a big hissy fit. She's disabled so she qualifies for all sorts of programs so she never actually pays her bills. She doesn't understand the concept of hard earned money.

My husband is dumbfounded that she rather us have a vacuum than electric.

Last night big family drama happened this morning I'm trying to just figure it all out. Hubby is out putting in some applications. He says screw his degrees, his experience he's tired of looking. He's hitting the fast food and retail stores now hoping for a minimum wage job to just bring income in.



Sent from my XT1528

Well now part of me wonders why you needed to ask mom, but it is family so I do kind of understand.
Well now if I remember correctly a vacuum cleaner makes a nice dust collector if one doesn't have electricity.
Sorry you are going through so much.
If you are going to return the vacuum, you might want to do it soon. You can always buy a cheaper one later.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Well now part of me wonders why you needed to ask mom, but it is family so I do kind of understand.
Well now if I remember correctly a vacuum cleaner makes a nice dust collector if one doesn't have electricity.
Sorry you are going through so much.
If you are going to return the vacuum, you might want to do it soon. You can always buy a cheaper one later.

Because I wouldn't hear the end of it if I did. We have a vacuum. It works okay. A new one would have been nice but electric is nicer. When she gives me money she makes me promise I won't use it to pay bills. It's mind boggling. She gets mad when I won't make that promise.

Hubby's parents are the complete opposite. Bills first, food second, other stuff third. Nothing is designated and if you don't want something do whatever with it.

Sometimes I feel like I'm living in the Twlight Zone.

Last night was nuts. Mom and Sis wanted hubby to install a fireplace/heater but refuse to call him. He refused to call them. I was literally a messaging service while they tried to meet up to pick up the item, take it to their house and install it. They are such children. Hubby had them running in circles, then they had him running in circles. I was home wishing I could just turn the phone off.

Sent from my XT1528

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Because I wouldn't hear the end of it if I did. We have a vacuum. It works okay. A new one would have been nice but electric is nicer. When she gives me money she makes me promise I won't use it to pay bills. It's mind boggling. She gets mad when I won't make that promise.

Hubby's parents are the complete opposite. Bills first, food second, other stuff third. Nothing is designated and if you don't want something do whatever with it.

Sometimes I feel like I'm living in the Twlight Zone.

Last night was nuts. Mom and Sis wanted hubby to install a fireplace/heater but refuse to call him. He refused to call them. I was literally a messaging service while they tried to meet up to pick up the item, take it to their house and install it. They are such children. Hubby had them running in circles, then they had him running in circles. I was home wishing I could just turn the phone off.

Sent from my XT1528

I have met people like your mom. They are most annoying.
I figured on the vacuum your mom would give you grief. Read on for an eye blinding story.

I gave (found) you this so you will use it the way I say. "The bright orange couch will go in front of the royal blue velvet drapes and you can't replace either until you pay off this trailer house my uncle found you cheap."
Yes, that was a literal quote.

Did they pay him for his time or just expect it free because family and we got you x, y and z for Christmas?

Here it is food, bills then other stuff.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Blossom

That was very nice of you Dennis to help her out. Without discussing religion.

I'd have been fascinated to get her sect's take on the issue, but there wasn't time to discuss it.

She is right. The law clearly forbids her writing during that time.

That will come as news to every other Jew I know. What constitutes work that may not be done on Shabbos will vary by the person and the sect. Orthodox and Hasids will vary in where they draw various lines, and this was her rabbi's take on the matter.

I deal with this as the chap who deals with the venue for conventions like this, and I've had a variety of conversations with observant folks like "You want a low floor so you can use the stairs on Shabbos. Don't try to arrange that through the chain's central reservations. They will not get it right. Talk to me directly before the con. The hotel will put people where I specify, and I will specify you get the lowest sleeping room floor."

What observant folks can't do generally involved technology. Like, they aren't supposed to ride elevators, or use electronic key cards.

One observant Jew I know from this context had a novel approach. She was an area manager at the convention. She did not feel she could answer the phone during Shabbos. She could have a radio tuned to the Ops frequency on a table, which was placed there before Shabbos begun and turned on, and listen to the background chatter. If something that involved her came past, she could drift down to Ops and talk to people.

Not being allowed to use pencil and paper on Shabbos is a new one on me.
______
Dennis

[Blossom]

As we can't discuss religion on here unless it's in the P&R forum. I can only say Google it. You will find your answers there on the writing issue.

Sent from my XT1528