An old, fat fool starts a log. Hope no-one minds
Users viewing topic: macroth & 4 Guests
12345678910 ... 117311741175 ... 15351536153715381539154015411542154315441545
| Fatpete |  | ... | 07-06-2020 @ 11:46 |
 Hyper obese Pete Member 70, 17867 posts SQ 322.5, BP 205, DL 300827.5 kgs @ 133kgs Eq | Sunday. A very decent lie in today, watched the papers on the Andrew Marr show and then an episode of Inspector Morse. Soon I will cook more steaks for a very fine and rather late breakfast. This afternoon has a rare treat, C4 are showing a repeat of the 1966 world cup final, the last game of significance that England won. I watched it the first time around, that was in black and white, (this afternoon's is in colour I believe). I was ten years old the first time around. I cannot remember the first three goals, I can't ever remember in what order they were scored. I know that Peters scored one and Hurst the other with his head, as I recall that he is credited with the perfect hat trick - left foot, right foot and head. And obviously somewhere along the line the Germans must have scored. The last three goals I remember well, the last minute equalizer by the Germans, the Russian linesman and the disputed goal, watch Hunt's reaction, of course it was in. And the final, "they think it's all over - it is now" final goal. Arguably the most recognized sentence of sporting commentary ever. One final remark, there was an episode of Minder in which Arthur Daley says "Like the Russian linesman, my conscience is clear" Just thought I would mention that. I do so enjoy trivia. Now, gentle reader, I have steak to attend to | ||
| Fatpete | | ... | 09-06-2020 @ 06:59 |
Hyper obese Pete Member 70, 17867 posts SQ 322.5, BP 205, DL 300827.5 kgs @ 133kgs Eq | Post Edited: 09.06.2020 @ 07:00 AM by Fatpete Yesterday was an unusual day, trials and tribulations at work as the system we use to write parts books just decided to start misbehaving in certain aspects.Another chap and I were badly affected while others were not affected at all, the computer system boffins constantly assure me that a system can't do this and yet it does. So they move heaven and earth to try to blame the end user. I am a Luddite in these respects but it's rather like driving a car and on every journey you change gear dozens of times, then suddenly the gear change messes up. The driver claims it's a fault in the gearbox and the mechanic says the driver is doing it wrong. As the driver is doing nothing different than he has on a hundred journeys he disbelieves the mechanic. But the mechanic gets the final say and will put "driver error" as the cause. And so on it goes. They refuse to fix it as they say nothing needs fixing and the driver has done nothing different so he just carries on as he always does, and it magically sorts itself out. (He of course harbours suspicions that the mechanic snuck in and fixed it but the mechanic denies that) Back in the old days all this was done with pens and pencils and sheets of paper and forms to fill out. And we never needed a guy waiting in the wings with tippex and erasers just in case. Progress just means that you can do things real quick but you now need to do it several times, whereas it used to be slow but it only needed doing once. Let's see what today brings. Once more into the fray dear friends | ||
| little_a | | ... | 11-06-2020 @ 08:49 |
 still a devious weightlifting bastard Member 43, 14374 posts | Have Perkins said that you will be going back in at some point Pete? Many CEOs are openly stating that they have found themselves with unwanted real estate now have have realised that WFH is not only viable, but preferable. | ||
| Fatpete | | ... | 11-06-2020 @ 12:47 |
Hyper obese Pete Member 70, 17867 posts SQ 322.5, BP 205, DL 300827.5 kgs @ 133kgs Eq | little_a said:Have Perkins said that you will be going back in at some point Pete? Many CEOs are openly stating that they have found themselves with unwanted real estate now have have realised that WFH is not only viable, but preferable. Ours isn't a job like that, we can manage from home but we are only managing. We will go back, they have said this repeatedly throughout, but only as and when it is safe to do so after September 1st. The significance of that date is unknown other than it's when we can go back at the earliest. We need to be together in a group, we have too much stuff to make working from home a long term prospect. Can't wait personally. | ||
| BigMacca |  | ... | 11-06-2020 @ 20:57 |
 understanding of the sport, little he has. Member 798, 9942 posts SQ 260, BP 150, DL 272.5682.5 kgs @ 82.5kgs UnEq | Fatpete said: Ours isn't a job like that, we can manage from home but we are only managing. We will go back, they have said this repeatedly throughout, but only as and when it is safe to do so after September 1st. The significance of that date is unknown other than it's when we can go back at the earliest. We need to be together in a group, we have too much stuff to make working from home a long term prospect. Can't wait personally. Our of interest Mr Pete, what can't you do remotely? Is it just a lack of supporting technology or something else? I'm currently working on a £6,000,000 project that has around 20 of us on the project team. With conference calls and technology like MS Teams for sharing content, we're all working together fairly seemlessly. I spent all afternoon doing a joint development session using screen sharing and it was probably more efficient than doing it in person... | ||
| Rick | | ... | 11-06-2020 @ 21:36 |
 I am a bench-only guy Member 3, 10034 posts SQ 185, BP 175, DL 235595.0 kgs @ 140kgs UnEq Administrator | I know several people who used to go to an office every day and are now going to work from home for at least four days in a typical week, permanently; and one who will work from home full time, as his company permanently closed all the relevant offices, worldwide, a few weeks into the Big C, realising they were just throwing money away for no extra productivity. I think it's a big, permanent change for a lot of non-manual workers. Should help with the whole work-life and climate change problems, too. | ||
| Fatpete | | ... | 12-06-2020 @ 09:56 |
Hyper obese Pete Member 70, 17867 posts SQ 322.5, BP 205, DL 300827.5 kgs @ 133kgs Eq | BigMacca said: Our of interest Mr Pete, what can't you do remotely? Is it just a lack of supporting technology or something else? I lack the room for a kick off. There are many people who can just plug in their lap tops and away they go. But we (all the parts book authors) have three screens, the lap top one and two monitors. We were allowed to bring all this stuff home with us but I only brought the one monitor as I have nowhere to put the second. The first thing I realized is just how big work actually is and how much room there is there. During the course of a day we have to access many different systems and have several running at the same time. This takes monitor space which is now more or less halved. There is no printer at home which means a huge amount of stuff has to be jotted down on paper which I have to supply. At work, because I have a printer I have a supply of scrap paper which I can use. Not being able to print is a serious bind. There is no canteen, I used to amble down a corridor and purchase, at a very reasonable price a hot, cooked meal and I didn't have to wash up. There is no banter or craic at home, there is no social aspect which I miss hugely. Also, when in an office where there are ten of us, very often people come from other offices and have conversations with us. These conversations are overheard by all, and a great deal of very usual information is picked up in his way. Well, not any more it isn't. The tech support at work was not outstanding, at home it is much worse. The advantages are few, the lack of travel being the only one that springs to mind. Working from home is all the disadvantages of work with none of the advantages. As a one off, ad-hoc thing it's all right. In an emergency, such as we are in now, it is necessary. But in normality and on a long term basis I would consider it a truly horrible thing that would be much less efficient that the traditional approach. Other opinions are doubtless available | ||
| Fatpete | | ... | 12-06-2020 @ 10:03 |
Hyper obese Pete Member 70, 17867 posts SQ 322.5, BP 205, DL 300827.5 kgs @ 133kgs Eq | Rick said:I know several people who used to go to an office every day and are now going to work from home for at least four days in a typical week, For us this is not really an option, when we packed our bags and left there was a considerable amount of stuff to be dismantled, transported and re-assembled. It would simply not be reasonable or practical to expect this to happen on a weekly basis. There are many who could, happily we cannot. We are either in or we're out, as the only practical solution for the above would be two set-ups; one home and one at work. I don't see anyone forking out for all that, let alone the loft conversion I would require. I am still eating most of my meals standing up because I now work from my kitchen table. The last up date is that we are working from home until September 1st at the earliest. Ah well, it is what it is. | ||
| Fatpete | | ... | 12-06-2020 @ 10:13 |
Hyper obese Pete Member 70, 17867 posts SQ 322.5, BP 205, DL 300827.5 kgs @ 133kgs Eq | Rick said: Should help with the whole work-life and climate change problems, too. Climate change I don't disagree with though it isn't high on my priorities, the work life thing I disagree with. I think that you are merely replacing one set of problems with a different, and possibly quite a bit larger set. In the meetings we do have there are many who stress the importance of finishing on time. Of not doing too much work, of being tempted back into the office in the next room just to do a little bit more. In fact many claim to be struggling more with work-life balance than they did previously. Personally I don't have problem with this, like Mycroft Holmes I have my rails and I run on them. 7:30 I start, 3:15 I finish. Today I am on holiday and nothing would induce me to lift the lid on that laptop. But I have noticed emails timed at unusual times or on unusual days. It takes discipline to ignore peer pressure and the lure of brownie points for "just a bit more". I have it, others do not. I was however brought up in a very different era to the one we are in now. | ||
| Wigan | | ... | 12-06-2020 @ 12:58 |
 a cynical old scrote Member 68, 6840 posts SQ 255, BP 132.5, DL 250637.5 kgs @ 110kgs UnEq | Post Edited: 12.06.2020 @ 13:02 PM by Wigan This may be of interest:https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis--working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus--claim-p6-wk-/ | ||
| Fatpete | | ... | 12-06-2020 @ 13:49 |
Hyper obese Pete Member 70, 17867 posts SQ 322.5, BP 205, DL 300827.5 kgs @ 133kgs Eq | Thanks for that Wiggers old chap, it has been mentioned in one of our many conference calls at work. By all accounts you have to wait until you go back before you can claim. We have a conference call four days out of five at work as the company very sensibly acknowledges that face to face (albeit virtual) is essential. It does take up rather a lot of time though. I do find them very helpful and strangely rewarding. I am unsuited by isolation. Indeed I am of the opinion that when the gym re-opens it will have a positive effect on me working from home. | ||
| Fatpete | | ... | 12-06-2020 @ 13:55 |
Hyper obese Pete Member 70, 17867 posts SQ 322.5, BP 205, DL 300827.5 kgs @ 133kgs Eq | Interestingly when you ring someone on these video phone things, we use Microsoft teams, one cannot help but notice something. It is a hundred percent better to see an image of the person you are speaking to rather than just a circle with his or her initials in it. And yet while most men will switch their camera on, very few women will. They say that it is because they are not wearing makeup, which I find a ludicrous excuse. You should see the state of me, but my camera stays on and will do so until the day comes from someone asks me to turn it off. That is a conversation that I am yet to have | ||
| Fatpete | | ... | 12-06-2020 @ 14:04 |
Hyper obese Pete Member 70, 17867 posts SQ 322.5, BP 205, DL 300827.5 kgs @ 133kgs Eq | On my wanderings yesterday I noticed the Chinese takeaway had reopened. I suspect I will take advantage of this in the near future. Chip shop, pie shop, now Chinese. Good lord, I have counted my blessings (and there was three) :-) | ||
| little_a | | ... | 12-06-2020 @ 14:41 |
still a devious weightlifting bastard Member 43, 14374 posts | Fatpete said:It is a hundred percent better to see an image of the person you are speaking to rather than just a circle with his or her initials in it. Our managers insist that cameras are switched on for that reason, in fact if someone does revert to their avatar the meeting is stopped and they are told to put their camera's back on before the meeting can progress. I do like to have the odd meeting naked apart from a T-Shirt. Helps me remember that they only pay for what's above the desk. Also helps me disguise mid meeting furious masturbation for a bad case of athlete's foot, which can only be a positive thing. | ||
| little_a | | ... | 12-06-2020 @ 14:41 |
still a devious weightlifting bastard Member 43, 14374 posts | Fatpete said:On my wanderings yesterday I noticed the Chinese takeaway had reopened. I suspect I will take advantage of this in the near future. Chip shop, pie shop, now Chinese. Good lord, I have counted my blessings (and there was three) :-) No Olympus yet I assume? | ||
12345678910 ... 117311741175 ... 15351536153715381539154015411542154315441545