VENT!

[LeeM]

Internet service providers overseas customer support people you can't understand. Smart phones. Smart tv's dropping out. New tools that shit themselves within a week. Bus drivers that think they own the fkn road. Cops who think they can defect you for having a ladder on the side of the van before they check the regulations (sucker 😅). Site managers who have never held a fkn drill in their lives telling you how to do the job you've done for years. Companies sending the wrong materials to site costing you hours. Clients who expect you to do 8 hours extra work for nothing because they changed their mind then get the sooks on. Painters who are just f..kwits that say "It's not my job". Boss who asks why an obvious 3-4 day job is taking too long when they only bugeted for one day. Experienced site manager putting two 1st year carpentry apprentices on a landscaping job with zero 'How to install steps' experience to design and install to building code 7metres of steps made from railway sleepers on a 70° sandy slope with no planning or tonnes of backfill, and expecting them to finish it within a day. Home presale decorators/designers or whatever they call themselves not providing any clue whatsoever to which interior door and cabinetry handles they want fitted. Clients who say "Don't scratch my black marble floors" every two fkn minutes when two guys are demolishing their kitchen and removing a 10,000 tonne 2400 x 1200 18mm thick marble wall splashback and massive 35mm thick marble benchtop (yes, we're going to damage your floors on purpose just because thats what we like to do 🙄). Dropping a small air conditioner on your head when someone says "Yeah I got it" and they actually haven't. Smacking your thumb twice with a hammer within minutes. Breaking my favourite chisel....

Amazing what you can fit into just one fkn week. Glad that's over 🤬

End of rant

[OZ930]

Wow, that’s the first vent since July.  Catching up a bit ?

Surprised that this thread hasn’t attracted more use, considering what is going on... 

I now drive buses, thanks to Covid,, and I see the frustration from the other side.  Screaming kids, fighting, arguing, eating and drinking spilling crap all through the bus, jamming rubbish down the sides of seats, too lazy to put it in the garbage bin provided, damage, graffiti, @#@#$** chewing gum, cars (and bikes) cutting you off, not giving you room to manoeuvre or letting you merge (buses need two lanes at tight round a-bouts and intersections), parking in bus stops at schools to pick up their little angels, opening doors without looking, timid drivers at intersections waiting forever,  putting up with all sorts of nut cases that get on the bus,  having to stay back after completing the run to mop out a filthy bus.

 This is every day.

Not having a go at anyone here, just letting you know what it’s like on the other side.  Yes, there are pigs of bus drivers or sometimes drivers have had enough of the crap, then being polite and considerate goes out the window.  Buses are on a timetable which doesn’t have a lot of wiggle room so sometimes you have to push (in) to stay on time.  Passengers and parents rely on strict times.  Being early is a big sin, so as a general rule the bus will run 1 to 2 minutes late. Avoids the “ I missed the bus because” or “ I pick up or meet my angel at...” complaints then having “tea and bickies” with the boss.

If I can’t see you in the mirrors, I don’t know you are there.  This is true.  I look for shadows behind the bus.  Rear quarter vision is the worst.  I have to remember what was coming up behind then look carefully before changing lanes.  Gets “interesting” in traffic.

Driving buses has given me a new perspective of what drivers of big vehicles go through,  Everyone should try it at least once.  I try to be as courteous as possible and most drivers give you courtesy but as I said, sometimes there is a need to push...safely.

 

[Raven]

My 2 cents Lee , just retire , do your own thing and dont give a F#ck , life should not be about putting up with that sort of shit day in day out ,,,,, I Found this worked for me 

[LeeM]

Absolutely no way am I tarring all bus drivers with the same brush @OZ930. I know I couldn't do it, as I'd just ram people off the road, and carry a baseball bat for the dickhead passengers causing trouble etc. I imagine its a thankless job.

 It was just one f...kwit who had a crack at me when I had to emergency brake for a truck driver that jammed on his brakes and stopped whilst I was across the road the bus driver wanted to turn into. He saw what happened yet still had a go at me, so me being me, I hurled it back and was about to get out of my van. It was one of 'those' days and he just added to it. 

 I could vent every day about my job (building work/demo/reno etc), and some certain individuals who have never done the work I do that have expectations far above the reality of what certain jobs take to complete with a higher quality than a 1 hour bodge job by a 10 year old with a tub of silly putty to repair a house. They get the work because they budget for certain jobs that will apparently take "Coupla hours" when it actually takes at least a day to complete. They think two 11 metre house facias at a height of 5 metres or so are easily removed and replaced by one 55 year old bloke that has to try and hold the material in place, grab his nail gun whilst ontop of a fkn ladder instead of scaffolding they own (that I'd have to collect, transport, erect and dismantle) and do it within "coupla hours" (ever held a 5.4metre x 300mm plank of wood one handed over your head?). Of course, I said theres no fkn way I can do it on my own before I even got to site, as did the supervisor and the actual carpenters (I'm not a chippy, just a Jack of all trades, master of none). 

 Again, I could vent every day, but I'm trying to just let shit go and be happier than I have been for a few months. Sadly, this week has been one I'd rather forget

6 minutes ago, Raven said:

My 2 cents Lee , just retire , do your own thing and dont give a F#ck , life should not be about putting up with that sort of shit day in day out ,,,,, I Found this worked for me 

 Wish I could mate, yet I'll be doing this till I pop my clogs unfortunately. I normally love my job creating or fixing something, yet lately the expectations from the company I work for are far above what they were 6 months ago, and as a contractor (basically thought of as an employee/part of the working family) they seem to be giving me a lot more responsibility onsite but don't want to pay for it. You don't lose 16 good carpenters and sparkies within a year for no reason. I was doing housing trust maintenance which was a great easy job just changing door handles, fixing holes in walls etc etc, yet they ditched that contract as they were owed $250k and are now in court about it. I was gutted, but they didn't wanna lose me, as I just get the job done so they find me work that I can do.

 Probably should've studied harder at school or saved money instead of racing bikes and chasing women for 20 years 😅

[OZ930]

17 minutes ago, LeeM said:

Absolutely no way am I tarring all bus drivers with the same brush @OZ930. I imagine its a thankless job.

No offence taken Lee, there are good drivers and there are drivers that shouldn’t be allowed near anything with wheels.  It’s not entirely thankless.  A kind word from a passenger can lift the whole day..

..and days when you could cull the population.of drop kicks

[LeeM]

4 minutes ago, OZ930 said:

No offence taken Lee, there are good drivers and there are drivers that shouldn’t be allowed near anything with wheels.  It’s not entirely thankless.  A kind word from a passenger can lift the whole day..

..and days when you could cull the population.of drop kicks

 Cool 👍 Yeah, it is nice when you get some recognition in your job 👍

 And I most definitely know the culling of dropkick days when I was doing housing trust work! 😅👍

[flamingporsche]

Qld Government is shitting me to tears.  I have 3 staff (30% of my workforce) locked out of the state - can't go to work.  I'm losing a fortune in revenue / profit as a result.  I'll be fine at the end of the day, but what's worse though is that 2 guys live in regional Victoria.  They aren't locked down, but can't go to work due to stupid Qld border controls.  Because they're not locked down, don't qualify for any government assistance.  These guys need to eat / have bills to pay...  We've had border pass applications in for 4 weeks - it was promised a 10 business day approval timeframe.  Still no approval in sight.  FMD. 

Conversely, another of my staff lives in Wollongong.  Has been stuck in Qld over 100 days straight because if he leaves, he can't get back in.  That's >3months without seeing his wife n kid.  Fkn shitshow up here and with the worst vaccine performance in the country, our glorious Premier Palletjack won't be in any hurry to let vaccinated southerners in... 

[LeeM]

 They really don't give a shit. How they and the health chiefs come up with these restrictions and 'mandatory orders' and sleep at night is amazing. Though I'm sure they're happy with their mega pay packets whilst Joe/Joanne Public goes broke or worse. F..k em 🖕

[LeeM]

 More to my rant

After the job I was on yesterday, the home owner dropped in to see the progress of our repairs to the house they're selling.

 Not that I had time to talk to them, yet Mrs home owner asked how long it will take, and will it be ready when she was advised? My reply "Yep for sure, though we just need to find a bit more time to do the EXTRA jobs you want done (at least a day) but it shouldn't be a problem at all".

 Forward to 10 minutes ago, I received a call from the boss asking why the f..k I would tell the client we "Hope" to finish by the agreed date, and that it's not my position to talk to the clients with variations/extras to the job etc. Apparently because I'm a nice guy wanting to keep everyone happy, yet I'm now told to basically shut my gob.

Now when I'm there doing the job I'm told to do, yet noone had scoped the job, noone had ordered the materials, noone knew which internal door handles to buy and kitchen and drawer handle style to be used, which doors needed to be replaced, which "Fix window frame" was to be fixed when theres 20 odd dodgy window frames, how many runs of balustrade wire to be used and what spacing to be done to meet building code, and a multitude of a few other tasks, yet me being friendly me trying to assure the client we will do whatever it takes to get the job done on time had been taken out of context and thrown back at me because I said it might take a bit longer! NOONE had been to site to check any part of the job, so I'm expected to do everything and not be paid extra for it? F..k off.

 Why do I fkn bother trying to do the right thing by people and business owners when I get chastised for what has obviously been relayed to the boss in another way than what I said? 

 Another job wasn't finished yesterday morning, as they supplied the wrong tap spindles, so as I was unable to get back there in the afternoon because of the above chat with client that took far too long, I chose to go to Bunnings to buy the right spindles and do it this morning (Saturday) in my own time without clocking onto the job to save the company extra cost for my attendance, as we are so busy we just won't be able to fit it in anytime soon.

Yeah well, as much as I like the people there, that's my gauntlet thrown now, as I've bent over backwards on many occasions, and gone without any financial remuneration for my time over the past two years. I'm fucken over it all

[Shedpest]

11 hours ago, LeeM said:

Probably should've studied harder at school or saved money instead of racing bikes and chasing women for 20 years 😅

Had a great day at LaLa yesterday,  you should have come out and taken your frustration out on the 1299

[LeeM]

2 hours ago, Shedpest said:

Had a great day at LaLa yesterday,  you should have come out and taken your frustration out on the 1299

 Mate, I can't afford to put a set of tyres on my car, so I'm not about to jump on your bike and possibly throw it down the road costing me a fortune in repairs! 😅

Thanks anyway though 👍

[spiller]

@LeeM sorry to hear about this work shit. Have you ever thought about going out on your own? I think there would be a strong demand for handy men to do small jobs that builders don’t want to touch. Get yourself involved in a community where word of mouth is strong and you’d probably have plenty of work and be in control of your own destiny. 

[Rod C]

15 hours ago, LeeM said:

 More to my rant

After the job I was on yesterday, the home owner dropped in to see the progress of our repairs to the house they're selling.

 Not that I had time to talk to them, yet Mrs home owner asked how long it will take, and will it be ready when she was advised? My reply "Yep for sure, though we just need to find a bit more time to do the EXTRA jobs you want done (at least a day) but it shouldn't be a problem at all".

 Forward to 10 minutes ago, I received a call from the boss asking why the f..k I would tell the client we "Hope" to finish by the agreed date, and that it's not my position to talk to the clients with variations/extras to the job etc. Apparently because I'm a nice guy wanting to keep everyone happy, yet I'm now told to basically shut my gob.

Now when I'm there doing the job I'm told to do, yet noone had scoped the job, noone had ordered the materials, noone knew which internal door handles to buy and kitchen and drawer handle style to be used, which doors needed to be replaced, which "Fix window frame" was to be fixed when theres 20 odd dodgy window frames, how many runs of balustrade wire to be used and what spacing to be done to meet building code, and a multitude of a few other tasks, yet me being friendly me trying to assure the client we will do whatever it takes to get the job done on time had been taken out of context and thrown back at me because I said it might take a bit longer! NOONE had been to site to check any part of the job, so I'm expected to do everything and not be paid extra for it? F..k off.

 Why do I fkn bother trying to do the right thing by people and business owners when I get chastised for what has obviously been relayed to the boss in another way than what I said? 

 Another job wasn't finished yesterday morning, as they supplied the wrong tap spindles, so as I was unable to get back there in the afternoon because of the above chat with client that took far too long, I chose to go to Bunnings to buy the right spindles and do it this morning (Saturday) in my own time without clocking onto the job to save the company extra cost for my attendance, as we are so busy we just won't be able to fit it in anytime soon.

Yeah well, as much as I like the people there, that's my gauntlet thrown now, as I've bent over backwards on many occasions, and gone without any financial remuneration for my time over the past two years. I'm fucken over it all

Thats what I like to see Lee a smart business owner who knows the value of his business is the people who work within it and realy makes them feel like a valued member of the team... NOT!!!!     Gee I too would feel like going the extra mile so I could receive a baking!

[LeeM]

@spiller Cheers Simon, it has been a shit of a week, and sadly the goal posts have been moved as of yesterday.

 I have looked into going out on my own before, though to start with, I don't possess the various licenses required for 1st fix building/renovation work and even tiling now apparently (not that I'm any good at tiling, so they can keep that) I'm confident in my abilities to over engineer what I'm doing, yet there are some people who demand licenses be produced. I contract to a company under their licensing and insurance umbrella, though I do have my own public liability insurance, as its stung me before when a company I worked for for many years the owner said "Nah don't worry about it, any damage you do we will cover" yet they ended up handballing the expensive carpet damage claim over to me. Fortunately a mate claimed it on his insurance and I paid the excess. Once bitten...

 Then I s'pose I don't have the head to run a business with all the licensing, legalities, tax etc, not to mention the uncertainty of getting the regular work without busting my arse every day at 55 years old with site visits, quoting, doing the job etc. A mate is going through that now with his higher end cabinetry business after he got shafted by who I work for now. Basically he's too busy but can't afford to employ someone.

There is loads of work out there for sure, and I have been asked by a sparky I trust implicitly to come on board if he gets a certain contract in the new year, which will allow me the freedom to do easy work when I feel like it and probably earn more, but it's not about the cash for me. Coincidently I'm actually talking with him about it tomorrow, so we'll see what happens there

5 minutes ago, Rod C said:

Thats what I like to see Lee a smart business owner who knows the value of his business is the people who work within it and realy makes them feel like a valued member of the team... NOT!!!!     Gee I too would feel like going the extra mile so I could receive a baking!

 Yeah it's not exactly how I'd treat people who work for me mate 😅

Oh well, I just won't be doing that anymore, and will be spreading my time with others who do appreciate my efforts.

Cheers 👍

[Shedpest]

@LeeM the "therapy" shed is always open

[3legs]

Ditto to what @Shedpest said Lee 

Ever ridden a sidecar Lee? That will certainly take your mind off things ( you will be too terrified to think of other things if you have never ridden one before     )

[st3ve]

2 hours ago, LeeM said:

Then I s'pose I don't have the head to run a business with all the licensing, legalities, tax etc, not to mention the uncertainty of getting the regular work without busting my arse every day at 55 years old

Mate of mine here was in a similar position to you, no formal qualifications and early 60's but kicked arse in his job and work (commercial window fixing), outperforming all the young'uns both in skills and work ethic.  He'd regularly come to my therapy centre (ie shed with beer fridge) and vent in a very similar way to you, about how he was being given impossible demands and not being valued by his small business employer who he'd been with for many years.  He also was not really in a position to set up on his own.

Long story short, he put the word around and had a new offer within two days, politely told the present boss he was leaving because he was being treated so poorly and took up with the new mob within a week.  Similar work, great new team to work with, valued for his input and a slight pay bump to boot.  He's so much happier, we just talk about motorbikes now.  It's easy for me to say, but from how you're writing there, that shit is going to eat you up and based on my mates experience I'd say you will move on and find something better without too much trouble.

If you're into schaedenfreude, the happy ending is that my mate's departure really f***ed the placed he'd been for years and who treated him so poorly.  The bloke there has apparently had to take a major re-evaluation of the way he treats staff after several more walked when given the example.

[LeeM]

 Cheers @st3ve @Shedpest @3legs

Yeah, I've been asked a couple of times about jumping ship to a maintenance company (who took over what I was doing) a few months ago for an extra few dollars an hour, yet as I was told I'm a much valued 'team member' with who I'm with now I declined, as I'm one of those loyal blokes/not about the money blah blah blah.

 Yeah well, it's taken just one phone call about a very, very minor problem (which it's actually not a problem thanks to the client taking one sentence out of context) to where I'm at today thinking about just ditching them and see what happens. My main gripe is that I've busted my arse on this one job by scoping it all, organising what needs to be done, liaising with the stylist woman who hadn't chosen any materials for me to buy (who had actually asked for the boss to do a run through with but never happened prior to me going there), do all the demo work by myself in a day when two days were allocated for it, plus have all other trades ask me questions about this n that when i had no clue due to noone else knowing what was supposed to be done (boss, stylist and apparently I'm now told another bloke is actually the site supervisor but he's never even seen the place!), got to Bunnings 3 times to buy all the materials, AND delivered other materials to site on a public holiday taking me 3 hours of my time I didn't charge for coz they'd get the sooks on, AND I'm actually ahead of schedule with all the work that needs to be done! I've also repaired little things that weren't in the scope of jobs just because "Whilst I'm there just fix it", plus all the other times I've done the same, yet I get hauled over the coals for something I and many others would say is ridiculous and taken out of context. It may only be a small thing to some and that I should just move on, yet my point is that they seem to forget I am actually a contractor and not their employee they pay super, holidays, sick days and whatever else an employee receives that I don't. 

 I've just spoken to another contractor there, and he's of the same opinion and has copped flak about little things too, so he's jumping ship soon.

 Sadly, this happens so much with business owners who employ contractors to do the work. It all starts off well, yet eventually they don't want to pay you correctly, and they expect a lot more for their money in half the time. Yeah they're supplying me regular work and it's appreciated, yet it's a two way street with me. I help you, you help me, not take advantage of me coz I'm a nice bloke that likes to help people and gets the job done to the best of my ability.

Modestly, I have very experienced chippies I work with that have said to my face they'll work with me anytime, and have actually requested me to assist on jobs ahead of other chippies. Even the big boss requested me to do some wall features in his own big dollar house! (I'm pretty sure when he finds out about 'the phone call' from his son he'll be having words with him!) I don't know a lot about carpentry, but I know what I think is quality and how things can be done and I learn. It's wood ferchrissakes, you measure it, you cut it, you make it fit...simple! It's not hard.

 Sorry, I went off track there during the long winded whinge, but I've just done a load of gardening, and have been thinking about it all day. Whoever said gardening is therapeutic is fkn lying! 😅

[LeeM]

Vent. Getting Netflix

Why?

Missus catching up on repeat episodes 1 to 8762946 of 'Friends' every...f@#$%^& day!!! 🤯🤯

Just kill me now

 

[LeeM]

 Netflix vent update

Last week she's found another US sitcom called 'New girl'. Fark me it's worse than Friends!! 

Now it's 2 shows of Friends, 2 shows of New Girl...for HOURS! 🙄 How many damn series did they frigging make??? 

Last Saturday I got the shits on, and went to Good Guys and bought another smart tv for another room. Now to work out how I can get our wifi to reach the mancave 

[TwoHeadsTas]

40 minutes ago, LeeM said:

 Netflix vent update

Last week she's found another US sitcom called 'New girl'. Fark me it's worse than Friends!! 

Now it's 2 shows of Friends, 2 shows of New Girl...for HOURS! 🙄 How many damn series did they frigging make??? 

Last Saturday I got the shits on, and went to Good Guys and bought another smart tv for another room. Now to work out how I can get our wifi to reach the mancave 

Bloody long cable!!!!

[Techno]

"Now to work out how I can get our wifi to reach the mancave"

Get a powerline adaptor. I used one of these in our office for years. As long as its in the same house it will send your internet signal along powerlines and connect via Cat5 cable. More reliable than wifi too.

https://www.techadvisor.com/test-centre/network-wifi/best-powerline-adapters-3490638/

[LeeM]

55 minutes ago, Techno said:

 As long as its in the same house it will send your internet signal along powerlines and connect via Cat5 cable. 

 It ain't 😅

 It's my shed about 20 metres from the house, yet could be doable if I can ever get 1 of 5 sparky mates here to have a look 🙄

Cheers 👍 

[Techno]

On 07/12/2021 at 20:45, LeeM said:

 It ain't 😅

 It's my shed about 20 metres from the house, yet could be doable if I can ever get 1 of 5 sparky mates here to have a look 🙄

Cheers 👍 

Sorry I wasn't very clear. If your house and shed are on the same meter it will work.

[WOKA]

On 10/12/2021 at 06:35, Techno said:

Sorry I wasn't very clear. If your house and shed are on the same meter it will work.

Not correct..  They need to be on the same power circuit.