The Vent and Rant Thread

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by wodin

BUT, But, but; it IS flat, carried on the back of giant elephants standing on the back of the Cosmic Turtle. Just ask Sir Terry Pratchett... Oh, that's right, you'll have to ask his ghost.

"It's turtles, all the way down..."
______
Dennis

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I know, but if that was applicable in this case, most of my family members are always bored and never want to be where they are, even if it's at home on their own couch.

I think it has just become a bad habit for most of them, just as you have people who seem to feel it to be necessary to fart as loudly as possible, whenever, wherever, or spit on the ground every 20 seconds. (Yeah, sometimes you hear, smell and see things like that in public transport. Some people don't care JACK ***** for social behavior.)

Ok, you are saying they are always bored. You are saying they are always tired.
If they tell you this every time you see them, maybe they want you to entertain them.
You are making me paranoid. It sounds like you are watching your family every second.

Oh and I generally don't get bored unless I am around certain people.

Excuse me, Some people can't hold in their farts. I don't give a dang if my farts offend you. I don't want a ruptured intestine. Not everyone has perfect digestion. Hopefully, if I fart, that is all it is. I have had stinky accidents because I couldn't make it to the bathroom. Consider yourself lucky that you have never had gas.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I'm actually involved, in a thread, on a certain forum (not here), about someone who felt that his book received "slanderous" reviews.

His book is explaining WHY THE EARTH IS FLAT.

There's a Thai chap on LinkedIn posting links in various forums to a video making that assertion, and has apparently written a book of two on the topic as well.

His posts get "Somebody please ban this spammer!" responses.

Along with the Flat Earth types, I believe you can still find folks who believe the Earth is hollow, and things like Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar, or William R. Bradshaw's The Goddess of Atvatabar are possible.

(Sometime Tim Powers collaborator James P. Blaylock did a fantasy called "The Digging Leviathan" that was a neat turn on the idea. The protagonist was a teenage boy with a magic power - if he believed something, it was true. He found a stack of old pulps in a neighbor's garage with the Burroughs tale, and believed in Pellucidar. Suddenly, because he believed it, there was a Pellicidar, and always had been, and he builds the device of the title to reach it.)
______
Dennis

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Ok, you are saying they are always bored. You are saying they are always tired.
If they tell you this every time you see them, maybe they want you to entertain them.
You are making me paranoid. It sounds like you are watching your family every second.

Don't be foolish. I'm not a comedian, and I don't watch family members constantly (but most live fairly close by; some even in the same street). It's just my belief that it's impossible to be _that_ tired, bored, and/or disinterested all the time.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I know, but if that was applicable in this case, most of my family members are always bored and never want to be where they are, even if it's at home on their own couch.

Then perhaps you are best advised to vote with your feet. Is there some overriding reason you must subject yourself to these gatherings?

I think it has just become a bad habit for most of them, just as you have people who seem to feel it to be necessary to fart as loudly as possible, whenever, wherever, or spit on the ground every 20 seconds. (Yeah, sometimes you hear, smell and see things like that in public transport. Some people don't care JACK ***** for social behavior.)

They care about other's social behavior. They are special snowflakes and the rules don't apply to them.
______
Dennis

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Then perhaps you are best advised to vote with your feet. Is there some overriding reason you must subject yourself to these gatherings?

Not really, but I was of the opinion that it is at least somewhat socially required to visit family members once in a while.

As I've said to my GF numerous times: I don't fit/belong in my family. I'm a much better fit for hers, and she agrees 110%.

In my family, I'm the only one who:
- Reads books
- Write (short) stories
- Finished a study beyond vocational school
- Plays a musical instrument (piano now, formerly Hammond and Classical organ)
- Plays computer games
- Eat Italian, Asian, or whatever food that's not traditionally Dutch
- Drink wine and whisky
- Know how to use a computer/smartphone beyond e-mail and Facebook/Whatsapp
- Leaves my city more often than once a year (which is the vacation)
- Sports (when I have time... did martial arts for 20 years)
- Can play Chess and Go at a reasonably strong club level

Everything is also true for my GF, apart from:
- Drinking whisky.
- Playing Chess and Go (although, I think she knows the rules of Chess).
- Her computer knowledge is OK, but less than mine, but that is to be expected. It's my profession after all. I don't know a lot about ships, boats and logistics, which is _her_ profession.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Not really, but I was of the opinion that it is at least somewhat socially required to visit family members once in a while.

As I've said to my GF numerous times: I don't fit/belong in my family. I'm a much better fit for hers, and she agrees 110%.

In my family, I'm the only one who:
- Reads books
- Write (short) stories
- Finished a study beyond vocational school
- Plays a musical instrument (piano now, formerly Hammond and Classical organ)
- Plays computer games
- Eat Italian, Asian, or whatever food that's not traditionally Dutch
- Drink wine and whisky
- Know how to use a computer/smartphone beyond e-mail and Facebook/Whatsapp
- Leaves my city more often than once a year (which is the vacation)
- Sports (when I have time... did martial arts for 20 years)
- Can play Chess and Go at a reasonably strong club level

Everything is also true for my GF, apart from:
- Drinking whisky.
- Playing Chess and Go (although, I think she knows the rules of Chess).
- Her computer knowledge is OK, but less than mine, but that is to be expected. It's my profession after all. I don't know a lot about ships, boats and logistics, which is _her_ profession.

I live in the same city with numerous members of my family. The last time we got together was when an uncle in another town passed away. Even then it was only a few of us.

There is no law saying you have to socialize with family.
The family that lives farther away might get visited once a decade.

[Katsunami]

Oh, and to make the non-fit in my family complete, I'm also the only one who doesn't smoke (only taking adults into account) and doesn't drink beer (as I drink wine and whisky, it's not about drinking no alcohol; I just don't like beer).

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Oh, and to make the non-fit in my family complete, I'm also the only one who doesn't smoke (only taking adults into account) and doesn't drink beer (as I drink wine and whisky, it's not about drinking no alcohol; I just don't like beer).

If your family goes on about your not drinking beer, you can tell them that beer is a stage in making whisky.

One of the things I sampled at a fine spirits gathering was something called Dead Guy Whisky. It was at best mediocre, but worth it for the back story.

To commemorate the late Jerry Garcia, lead guitarist and mostly leader of the iconic band the Grateful Dead, a group of Deadheads produced a brew they called Dead Guy Beer in his honor. They had leftover wort from brewing and bottling the beer, and wort is a preliminary stage in making whisky, so...

It was another case where the label was better than the content (like a Dorothy Parker commemorative gin I sampled), but it was a tickle that it existed at all.
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Not really, but I was of the opinion that it is at least somewhat socially required to visit family members once in a while.

Which gives you flexibility in determining how often once in a while might be.

"How about never? Is never good for you?"
______
Dennis

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Also, stupid people... I had a job interview earlier this week. Second one, same company.

In the first one, the development/software engineering team was overjoyed with finally finding someone who could do basically EVERYTHING they ever needed: design and write software for micro-controllers in C, for PLC's in Structured Text, and even create web-interfaces in PHP and HTML/CSS/JQuery. Talked about software engineering and architecture for over two hours. They even invited me for the second interview before I was out the door; didn't need to wait for a phone call or an e-mail.

Yesterday I had the second interview with a manager from HR... the most standard and bland interview you could ever imagine. Irrelevant questions about if I was married / had a GF, if she'd move if I moved for this job, if I liked the master I was doing (no, moron, I always study stuff I hate...), if I knew version control (entirely missing the fact there are four systems mentioned in the CV) and so on.

Today I got the message I won't be made an offer because "he wasn't feeling the vibe."

When do fools like them get this? Engineers don't blabber around making small talk or talking about their girlfriends or whatever you need to 'feel it the vibe'. They want to use the stuff they know to CREATE LOGICAL, WORKING SYSTEMS.

Idiot. And in a few weeks, he'll be screaming at the top of his lungs that he 'can't find good, qualified people,' just like all the other CEO's and HR dudes.

I'm with you on this one. I recently had an interview with a technical Director which was going well, until HR joined us. They had this stupid psychometric test (you had to answer eight "questions" about which in a series of four words you were most like and most unlike. How you can fully assess someone's character from that I really don't know). Anyway. she started saying that the test showed I was someone who disliked change, and in stressful situations I became more and more reliant on rules and process. As a change agent, that is the antithesis of what I am - I embrace change and get very quickly bored with handle-turning and the status quo.

Needless to say I didn't get to second interview.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by orlok

I'm with you on this one. ...
Needless to say I didn't get to second interview.

It's always HR who messes it up. They don't read. They don't prepare. They don't listen. They ask stupid questions.

I'm almost certain that it's the fact that I don't have a car or even a driver's license (because of my poor eye sight) that got me rejected. Again. I've seen this turn of events more than a few times.

- Recruitment agency calls / I apply for a job

- It's asked that: "If a car/license is REQUIRED, it's no use to even invite me. I HAVE NO CAR. I HAVE NO LICENSE. I WILL NEVER GET ONE. BY LAW, I AM NOT ALLOWED TO DRIVE BECAUSE OF INSUFFICIENT VISION. Have you understood this?

- "Ah I understand. In this job, it's no problem." I get invited.

- Interview 1: The head of the software department (and the people themselves) positively sit on their chairs, bouncing up and down, grinning, happy to have found someone who can actually do what they want. They rave about how my CV is a perfect match. I chat for over 1-2,5 hours, sometimes even review some of their designs on the spot (seriously), drink a few cups of coffee. I get tours of the company, a look a the test equipment, and am often introduced to other team members. I get invited for the second interview. No, not having a car shouldn't be a problem. I get told they hope to see me again soon.

- Interview 2: Some HR manager/worker asks a lot of questions that can be answered by looking at the **** CV. They ask irrelevant stuff about my GF, marital status, and if everything is OK in the relationship. Which gets answered with: "Yes, everything's fine." (It's none of their business, and not relevant to the job.) They ask if I have pets. Or whatever other irrelevant stuff.

- Then reality suddenly strikes like a thunderbolt: I don't have a car. Nor a license. Why not? Why don't I have a driver's license? Am I going to get one soon? Because, yeah, I need to go to customers sometimes, or there's a second production facility where I sometimes need to be, or whatever. EVERY **** TIME.

- A hugely unpleseant part in the conversation follows, sometimes even including questions such as: Can you still see? Can you use a computer and write software? Do you have a guide dog? (Do you see me being blind? Haven't I handed you a CV which lists 7 projects I've designed, implemented, tested, and delivered in the last 3 years? DO YOU SEE A **** GUIDE DOG AROUND HERE?!)

- Thanks for coming, we'll let you know more in a few days.

- Next day: "Sorry, we're not making you an offer. You don't fit the company, you're no match for the team, the HR person in the second interview wasn't feeling the vibe" or whatever vague crap they come up with.

In my opinion, a job interview should be done with the head of the department and one or more of the people you're going to work with, and that's it. HR should stay out of the entire business of hiring people, except to print the contract when ordered to by said department head. I'm not going to work FOR them, not going to work WITH them, so why speak to them? In the end, if all administration is in order, I'll probably barely see them around except during lunch break.

[DiapDealer]

Moderator Notice
Some language has been cleaned up to comply with Mobileread's Family-Friendly policy. The fact that this is a "Vent & Rant" thread does not give anyone permission to swear like a sailor.

Watch your language, please.

[Katsunami]

Sorry. Might have missed something somewhere... I'm *really* angry when stuff such as this happens.

(If I'm correct, you changed only one word )

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Sorry. Might have missed something somewhere... I'm *really* angry when stuff such as this happens.

(If I'm correct, you changed only one word )

I don't drive either. Yes, people tend to ask the stupidest questions.
Or in one case, make the craziest, silliest statement ever.

Let me set up the scenario: I lived outside of town, 10 miles from the nearest grocery store, there was no public transportation. This woman literally lived 2 blocks from the best grocery store in town. I mean literally drive to the end of her street, make a left onto a non-busy street. Go past 3 houses, turn right, drive less than 500 feet and turn in to the store parking lot.
She told me that it was easier for me to get to the store than it was for her.
I am still trying to figure out that logic.