Randomness XVIII: Ex-Vee-Triple-Eye

[kristof65]

3 minutes ago, Green Eyed Monsty said:

Don't be too hard on yourself for not having an up-to-the-minute list.

The rate at which companies are making changes that end up either breaking stuff or changing policies that require complete rework of business operations is so rapid now days, it's a wonder anything works as well as it does.

GEM

Totally. 

It's therapeutic to vent here, though.  Plus, I complain about my customers enough, I should own up to the fact I'm not perfect, either. 

 

Our home improvement struggles are almost finally over.  After months of material delays, the gutters were installed, we have our new siding and roof, and the VA released our funds from escrow so I was able to pay our contractor the final balance.  All that remains now is the wire transfer to finalize.   

This is from before the gutters were put on, but it's so much nicer looking now.  Next summer we have to finish up the deck and the deck rails though. 

[WhiteWulfe]

3 hours ago, Green Eyed Monsty said:

Either that or it gets left on the back step bumper.

When the warehouse guys get involved the opportunities for stuff to "get wrecked" go up exponentially.  Starting with the "top load only" packages that get used as a firm base for the pile of machine parts and heavy truck brake drums that always seem to land on the top of the pile because "we've got room for more boxes on top".

GEM

When I worked for them...  Man, the amount of times they would hide something on TOP of my vehicle that was 25lbs or heavier...  Wasn't funny at all.

 

Especially for the poor guy who tried to get his package pulled off the trucks since he was in the area, and we had already started rolling out.  Guy wound up pulling up behind me, just in time to see me hit the gas as my left turn advance came up, aaaaaand package came crashing down off the roof of my truck.  Apparently another UPS driver picked it up, it went back in the queue for the next day, and of course the hardwood furniture that was in said box was put back on my truck, and boy was it ever broken.  Loaders were told not to do such things, but it happened all the time, where they'd put something up there "real quick" and they'd "deal with it in a bit" and it wouldn't be dealt with.  98% of the time the drivers would catch it because it was a tube with a foot sticking out the back, so you'd see it...  But that 2% of the time....

[Green Eyed Monsty]

5 minutes ago, WhiteWulfe said:

When I worked for them...  Man, the amount of times they would hide something on TOP of my vehicle that was 25lbs or heavier...  Wasn't funny at all.

 

Especially for the poor guy who tried to get his package pulled off the trucks since he was in the area, and we had already started rolling out.  Guy wound up pulling up behind me, just in time to see me hit the gas as my left turn advance came up, aaaaaand package came crashing down off the roof of my truck.  Apparently another UPS driver picked it up, it went back in the queue for the next day, and of course the hardwood furniture that was in said box was put back on my truck, and boy was it ever broken.  Loaders were told not to do such things, but it happened all the time, where they'd put something up there "real quick" and they'd "deal with it in a bit" and it wouldn't be dealt with.  98% of the time the drivers would catch it because it was a tube with a foot sticking out the back, so you'd see it...  But that 2% of the time....

One of the reasons I was glad to get out of dry-vans when I was driving was because of the "gotchas"  from problems with loads either shifting or being improperly loaded [which was often the cause of a load shift] by some "dock monkey" in a warehouse.  Biggest problem was in the Union Shops, where the low man was generally somebodies relative and the attitude of the foreman was "not my problem".

GEM

[haldir]

[ratsmitglied]

On 11/15/2022 at 11:05 AM, Pegazus said:

Just found out the hard way that our chimney is clogged up. 

Had that last winter (before we moved)

Filled the house with smoke, turned out a possum had climbed in there and fallen on the baffle plate (it somehow survived)

[Green Eyed Monsty]

39 minutes ago, haldir said:

Gives a whole new meaning to "horsepower"

GEM

[Chaoswolf]

[Sylverthorne]

2 hours ago, Green Eyed Monsty said:

One of the reasons I was glad to get out of dry-vans when I was driving was because of the "gotchas"  from problems with loads either shifting or being improperly loaded [which was often the cause of a load shift] by some "dock monkey" in a warehouse.  Biggest problem was in the Union Shops, where the low man was generally somebodies relative and the attitude of the foreman was "not my problem".

GEM

 

.. when we moved north, we looked around our (apartment, at the time) and said, "nope, not doing that alone" and hired a crew to help us load. 

Andi is very good at packing trucks. The two kids that showed up to 'help'? Less good. We had them for a couple of hours. They were NOT competent. They vanished around lunch, and Andi finished packing the truck more or less himself.

At the time, we owned a laser printer. It was a HEAVY mammajamma, and Andi tucked it in somewhere around the floor before the kids arrived, so it wouldn't, y'know, fall and hurt somebody and probably be damaged as well.

We got that truck north, and we met up with the guys we hired on the arrival end to unpack everything. The crew had good things to say about Andi's packing job. Then they hit where the kids left and ... things got Interesting. Apparently, one of the things they found? The damn laser printer. Perched on the top of a stack that apparently nearly came down on one of the guys - still not sure how he managed to prevent it; Andi said he just about grew extra arms. I was busy directing furniture and boxes, so didn't see this, but I'm pretty sure I /did/ hear the swearing.

 

 

Neither of us were best pleased; Andi left a fairly pointy review for the kids, and they did /not/ get a bonus.

The unloading crew wasn't thrilled either; I'm just glad no one was hurt.

 

 

[sumbloke]

I did a month as a dockhand at a courier company (not fired or anything, I just took the job to fill some time before moving cross country for work). Some of the behaviour I saw was... questionable. Such as, when presented with a wall of packages in a truck too tall to pull things down from the top, one guy would just yank out something around head height and let everything above it fall down...

[Green Eyed Monsty]

 

GEM

 

[Pegazus]

Actual had a full day of work today. Was nice to not have to find something to do. 

[Chaoswolf]

I had pretty close to a full day; I needed to stretch my creativity a  little bit to fill it. Today, I might have enough to do, especially if I'm really slow at it. Tomorrow we're having a potluck Thanksgiving, so that'll account for at least a few hours. It's nice to get a little (short) break every once in a while, but I'd generally rather have lots to do.

[WhiteWulfe]

Today feels weird, but I'm also refreshed.  First day back to work after my weekend from the weekend (I took of Monday and Tuesday so I could recharge after parental visit). 

 

..... Aaaand of course the wind is going to pick up, and have the windchill drip down to fifteen below.  Thanks for the "warm" welcome back winter! 😛

[kristof65]

Finally came in to work without a full queue of voicemails and emails of new problems waiting for me. First time in a couple weeks. Time to play some catch up. 

 

Played another game of Burrows & Badgers last night.  My friend who introduced me to the game has now lost 6 out of the 7 games we've played. I see this as fair, because he usually beats me in all of the other games we play. 

 

Speaking of games, my Traveller campaign is going well, but I've got a plot point I'm stumped on, if anyone has any ideas.   Party was hired to get a guy and his three kids back home. Shortly after that, the father was (probably) mortally injured, and tasked the group with getting his kids to his ex-wife.   The party arrived at the planet, found where the ex-wife lives, but she has disappeared. 

I still haven't decided *why* she disappeared, nor where she's gone off to. Here's what I do know:

- her orbital station condo was clean and neat, and didn't look like anyone had been there for weeks, maybe months. 

- her planet-side condo was trashed, as if someone had searched it.

- the neighbor of her planet-side condo said she hadn't seen her for three weeks, and two weeks ago, two men who appeared to be law enforcement showed up and let themselves into her condo

- she's not answering any calls made to her, neither by the party, nor her kids. 

- local law enforcement was less than helpful when the party called them. 

- I do want the mother to be alive and capable of caring for her kids when the party eventually does find her. 

So why did mom disappear, why didn't she tell anyone where she was, why isn't she answering her calls and where the bleep is she? 

 

[TGP]

Mom accidentally found out about some smuggling of contraband [….anagathics?….] that was passing through the space station. She tried to be a whistle blower, this got her fired from the orbital job, that is why her LO quarters are cleared away. 
 

She retreated to the surface but had saved some evidence of what was going on. She tried the local LEOs next. Too bad that maybe half of them are in on the scam. She ran. The two guys that trashed her place were law enforcement but they were some of the bent ones looking for her and the evidence. 
 

She is in hiding. She knows a guy who knows a guy who works in a small, planet-side, shipyard. She is living/hiding aboard a small ship that is hangared there. The shipyard mostly works on shuttles, pinnaces, cutters, and small vessels up to 600 tons. It is not a big operation.