The Bad News Thread

Shit Skinsguy sorry to hear that. Thank God your parents are ok - that is definitely what is important. When hurricane Sandy hit us here my father in law and alot of other people i know lost their houses and all of their personal stuff. I saw what that did to him. Can be really tough but im glad that they are OK.

Just now seeing this thread. Well, it's been about three weeks ago now, but my parents' house, my childhood home, burned down a couple of Sunday mornings ago. Lost everything. My parents did make it out, barely. Mom had to be treated for carbon monoxide poisoning. She was trying to save her dog.

My wife and I took the dog and the cat in to take care of them while my parents were displaced. Unfortunately, the dog had so many health issues that we had no choice but to put him to sleep last week. All that and my wife's back going out on her, and the last couple of weeks have been pretty rough for my family.

Damn thats rough,hope things get better

Just now seeing this thread. Well, it's been about three weeks ago now, but my parents' house, my childhood home, burned down a couple of Sunday mornings ago. Lost everything. My parents did make it out, barely. Mom had to be treated for carbon monoxide poisoning. She was trying to save her dog.

My wife and I took the dog and the cat in to take care of them while my parents were displaced. Unfortunately, the dog had so many health issues that we had no choice but to put him to sleep last week. All that and my wife's back going out on her, and the last couple of weeks have been pretty rough for my family.

Thats terrible, hopefully everything will work itself out...

Thanks guys. I had lunch with them today, and I can tell that this whole thing has kind of worn them down. But you know what has bothered them more than anything is the dog having to be put down. It was such a hard thing for my wife and I to do. We felt terrible, because we wanted, so badly, to keep him good enough health so that he could be somewhat of a comfort to them while they went through all of this - but it wasn't meant to be. They say they don't think they want another dog, but I'm kind of hoping (and wanting) for them to get another dog wants their house is able to be replaced. My family has always had pets, mainly dogs, and I can't seem to ever remember a time of not having a pet.

Gwar frontman Dave Brockie found dead in Virginia home (http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2014/03/24/gwar-frontman-brockie-found-dead-in-virginia-home/6821683/)

An original and a good dude. He lived about mile from my sister in the city.

GWAR Dave Brockie found dead | WTVR.com (http://wtvr.com/2014/03/24/gwar-founder-dave-brockie-found-dead-in-richmond-home/)

That's too bad, that dude was a redskins fan...

I once worked for the Misfits. Did a couple of tours with GWAR. I got to know him pretty well at that time. This was about 14 years ago. He was really really nice. Yes - a huge Redskins fan. I still have a gwar poster they all signed. He wrote "go Skins" and signed it Oderus. Ill try and dig it out and post a pic of it.

I like what I do, but unfortunately it has it's drawbacks. I work in a environment that encourages incompetency and laziness. Take this guy for instance. His name is Al. Al is currently sleeping at his desk and has the phone up to hear ear to pass it off like he's on the phone. The pictures were taken at 11am and were distributed to a few co-workers via email. The email went out a hour and a half later and Al was still in the same position, not having moved a muscle. Al also likes to drink, and has been seen going in and out of the ABC store next door during business hours. Al also likes to come into work late (9ish/10ish) and leave a hour or so early as well. He doesn't document any of that time on time sheets. That red solo cup on the desk has been known to contain liquor that was poured and devoured in the work parking lot.


How is Al allowed to do stuff like this? Well, when you have a boss that is incompetent and lazy as he is, it's easy to see how this is allowed to go on. Our boss has a high school degree, and has ascended the ranks to be a IT director making 130,000. My entire life I've heard about how if you work hard and bust your ass, you can ascend to the top. Truth is, it's a myth for the most part. More often than not, it's the incompetent people being promoted while the hard working people are left in place to do the work.

Our boss is a perfect example of this. He has no idea about technology, nor could he assist us or fix any network issues if they came up. He parrots tech buzz words he hears, and sounds like a complete dumbass in doing it. I can't begin to tell you how stupid he sounds when talking to other engineers/vendors when discussing IT. What he is good at is bullshitting, telling fishing stories and taking the good ole boys out on his boat.

The thing that bothers me the most isn't the fact he's not qualified to be our boss, but the fact that he allows guys like Al and others to do what they do. Not only that, but we have another guy who disappears during the day to take the state van for personal use. This guy has been running a side computer repair business during the day, and using the state van to run errands for his family and side business. The mileage log in the van is 99% fabricated, and our boss has been notified and still has done nothing. Did I mention he misses lots and lots of time and has yet to record it on the monthly time sheets?

Finally is our wiring manager (who's under our boss as well). This guy is making 93K, and shows up pretty much when he wants. He's been caught stealing stuff on camera, and only made to put it back. When he's called on the cell phone, you can hear the lawnmower in the background because he's at home cutting grass while on work. Call him other times and you can hear the Lowe's overhead system paging somebody. He was out a couple months with heart surgery, and finally was released to come back to work. He didn't bother showing up to work, nor would he answer our boss (and his) calls or emails. All this while he's getting paid 93k. Also another one that doesn't document any time on the time sheets. Did I mention he steals any unused copper on school projects? (a crime)


Now our boss is going to Vegas for a week (after being out the week previous) to go hang with vendors and taking free meals/drinks/etc while strictly against the rules.

I think your judgment in posting these photos on the internet tells me all that I need to know about your potential for management.

I think your judgment in posting these photos on the internet tells me all that I need to know about your potential for management.

This post had me laughing my ass off. Nice

Nc, I sympathize with ur situation, I don't know how the dynamics work in your office but drinking on the job is a non negotiator in most places.