Random Fail: First World Problems

[Laugana]

My timing belt broke a few years ago when I was driving my car. The tow driver probably did more damage to my engine than when it first happened because he would turn the ignition and have the car move a minute amount at a time to get it into the driveway (it was night, garages were closed). Was out of commission for two weeks while it was being fixed and I had to drive a Nissan Micra rental - a car I vehemently hate.

[Day]

Why the fuck does HP and Dell have to use these stupid DVI cards that are not standard DVI and instead just 30ish somewhat pins with one missing so you have to use an adapter. Swear i'm about to start requesting dual head video cards for dual display for work computers instead due to this bullshit.

That's what we did. Or used 1 DVI 1 VGA like a bunch of turds.

[Ksandra]

Back home in CT. Trying to balance visiting friends is a bitch. Got two college friends who seemed to butt heads a lot recently who are ready to duke it out over planning a get together, since once is a hippie and doesn't want to spend the money on dinner but wants to bring the kids, and the other one doesn't want to cook for potluck and doesn't want the kids around since they take up 90% of our attention.

And then there is my group of hs friends who all have different days off...

At this point I'm not saying anything anymore and will just let them all figure it out, and I'll just show up when it's decided. lol

[Mojo]

Halibut was served for lunch at work today. It was a bit dry

[BaneTheBrawler]

other civilizations are beating me to the perks i want in civ v but i like to play on marathon so by the time i know about it i've sunk a few hundred turns into the game

WHY MUST YOU TORTURE ME SO, FIRAXIS

edit: i used the surplus loading time to practice my marksmanship. i totally just shot the wall with my nerf gun at an angle that made the dart bounce back, then used the gun to bounce it back into the air, and then caught it. THAT MAKES ME A BADASS.

[Aidin]

I only got 2 more hours of overtime tonight instead of a full shift

[Buffy]

other civilizations are beating me to the perks i want in civ v but i like to play on marathon so by the time i know about it i've sunk a few hundred turns into the game

WHY MUST YOU TORTURE ME SO, FIRAXIS

edit: i used the surplus loading time to practice my marksmanship. i totally just shot the wall with my nerf gun at an angle that made the dart bounce back, then used the gun to bounce it back into the air, and then caught it. THAT MAKES ME A BADASS.

I couldn't get into Civ V, I keep playing IV. Am I wrong? It seems so slow.....

[BaneTheBrawler]

well, don't play on marathon. its torture. i want to love marathon because it allows for much more time to actually use all the units in each era, but the Wonders take almost the full era to build, so I end up not having any units and if someone beats me to the wonders I really want, i get frustrated.

normal or quick games are best. it's got a decent pace in those. with all the new dlc, 5 has gained a lot of the features 4 has. i don't remember if 4 has climate change, but if it does, i think that's one of the few things that 5 still doesn't have. otherwise... i find the hex-tiles to be much more immersive than the squares. the graphics are certainly better. idk, its fun for me. check out the thread in the gaming forum for more.

[Kerberoz]

5 is fun with mods... when it doesn't crash.

...and as long as you don't play maps with a lot of water, where the AI completely and utterly fails and all challenge is lost. No mods can fix the fucktarded AI, sadly.

.....and as long as you don't realize you can pay the AI a pittance to go to war with each other, constantly weakening each other, with no diplomatic repercussions for you.

Basically, It's only fun with self-imposed challenges.

[The Stig]

Sort of a big fail for me this morning after avoiding trouble for a good 4 odd months (regulars here may recall I get into trouble over things I say, so I've toned down and eliminated that)

So this morning I managed to royally piss someone off (in my own company, not the customer) with little to no action from myself besides 1 word (and possibly a phrase), haha. I'm just wondering, if this is a lost cause.

So she came over, someone whom I rarely speak with unless it's for work related purposes anyway, I saw her in the corner of my eye but didn't turn around. My manager was sitting to my left. Usually when she does come over she speaks to my manager anyway, I never talk with her. But instead, it turned out she came to speak to me, but at the time I didn't realise, and I caught her glancing towards my desk/screen. Usually when people do that, it's because of some weird object I've placed there people are curious about (I always have random bits on my desk). So I turned around and went "what?"

That was all that took to set it off lol. My manager said "be social" so I sarcastically (my second mistake I suppose) asked how she was this morning (I'm never a morning person and everyone knows if I ask such a question I never mean it, so I didn't treat this scenario any different). At this point in time I'm pretty confident everyone (in my immediate area) knows I don't do small talk or ask "how are you". Well, she asked what she needed to, I answered (normally) and she walked off, with some shock. A brief moment later she came back to me and said she doesn't appreciate being spoken to like this and was basically telling me off, with swearing (!) on top. I gave a sincere "I'm sorry" but wanted to explain why I reacted like that and how I thought she was looking at something weird on my desk. But she walked off.

A moment later I get dragged into a room for a "talk" with my manager but not a serious one, as he knows what I am like. I back up and justify everything that had occured and he understands, and suggested I go apologise in an hour or 2 and act better in the mornings. I fully understand the act thing and I'm usually fine without intervention.

Fast forward 30 mins (30 mins, 1 hour, minimal difference, if any), I catch her alone so I walked over and asked for a few mins to sit down so I can apologise. At this point she outright stated she doesn't want to talk to me again unless it's work related, I asked to explain what happened but then she gave a few more telling offs that I should be nice and polite and walked off again.

So at this point I arrived at the conclusion this is pretty much a lost cause. Right? I don't think this bridge (not that there was much of one anyway) can be repaired. She doesn't want to hear my side of things, at all, and I attempted a sincere apology. And to be honest I'm already getting slightly bored/fed up with the fact whenever I get into an argument or situation people just like to outright state to me what they think and that's how it is without any possible way to even out things with my views.

So because I already tried, even if it may be too soon, but I reckon there's minimal difference if I had went 1 hour later.

I do understand why she's pissed, but it seems overboard in that I presumed she should know me enough at this point in time to not be surprised at all and just carried on (everyone else's path) as if I didn't say anything. Likewise, I understand in a work environment this shouldn't happen, but as we're from the same company/group and she wasn't a customer (I would act significantly differently in such scenario), plus over 4 years now we have communicated here and there the same way. I didn't think this drama would happen for such a small thing lol.

[Eurell]

Yeah, fuck her. You tried to apologize, she didn't like it, so that should be the end of it.

[Zeb]

Blah blah

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lj...xdl2o1_500.jpg

[Brill Weave]

You attempted to apologize. That's good enough for your boss. You made the effort. She is now carrying it to levels it doesn't need to go. Do like she says and limit your interactions to only work related ones.

[Apelila]

I freaking hate when someone acts the victim over stupid pointless shit.

Next time she comes and creepy stares at you, ignore her. Don't make it obvious, but seriously don't say anything until she opens her mouth.
If/when she flips her shit, very calmly and monotonely go back to "At this point she outright stated she doesn't want to talk to me again unless it's work related" and state that her coming over to your desk, not saying anything does not start a conversation and is frankly kind of creepy.

Then calmly ask how you can help her, and watch her flip her shit and hoist her own petard. Or take a step back and not be a total bitch.


First world problem: customer called in last night and spent 20 minutes bitching me out because a tech took the batteries out of her DVD remote to put in the remote for her cable box, demanding a credit for the batteries that he "took".

[The Stig]

Thanks for the secondary inputs. Yeh I agree, keeping it work related now (it was only work related before anyway lol so not much has changed, but now with some latent tension) and going from there.
It's weird that I didn't feel anger out of this as that was not the intention to piss her off, just to brighten the morning up with talk other than "hi how r u" lol

My manager did state that will affect my work/promotions/performance somewhere down the line (but not as a threat, but rather, as a point that people will talk about amongst my other negatives in the past) and will come back to hit me hard. I do think, when I compare to the others, I'm one of the more useful guys there, and that despite my behaviour (which has significantly toned down as mentioned) I can get stuff done. It's just a shame it can't go together with good behaviour (in my opinion). On the other end of the sprectrum, you got nice people who don't know stuff.

Still, not a reason to go renegade. I'll just continute to output HQ work until proven wrong.

First world problem: customer called in last night and spent 20 minutes bitching me out because a tech took the batteries out of her DVD remote to put in the remote for her cable box, demanding a credit for the batteries that he "took".

Had to read that twice to get it around my head, so she saw or knows that he did it ... lol

[Blubbartron]

Shit like that makes me glad my company gives everyone their own tiny cubicle office (fully enclosed). If people want to talk to me, they knock on my door. That 2-3 seconds as I'm telling them to come in gives me time to compose myself (and close browsers when I'm doing stuff like writing this post instead of working).

Also, seconding the fuck her responses. People need to grow thicker skin.

[Acevalefor]

Holy shitfuck Stig....does shit like this really happen? Tell her and your manager to grow the fuck up and stop the petty ridiculous "my feelings were hurt" bullshit. This is work. Do your job and go home.

I am very near the top in my small company, so take what I say with some caution. I do not, nor will I ever, put up with office behavior problems. If you have a problem, don't bring it to me. Deal with it and wear your big boy pants today or go the fuck home and start searching for another job where you will be molly coddled the way you think you need to be.

Of course, all this is done with a smile on my face and much nicer words. I could never work in a corporate environment...

[The Stig]

This is the first in a long while (last incident was March or before), I've been pretty good otherwise! I partially admit it was my fault because to sound sarcastic like that to some may not go well with some but it's not like no one knows I'm like that. Her timing was unfortunate I suppose. But if she decides to talk around the office about it I'm confident everyone would be like "he's always like this" lol

I also admit it's my fault for not being social in the mornings. Personally I'm fed up with empty phrases/small talk and it really gets on me so I try to bypass all small talk and move on to anything that's not small talk. I know I need it to get by in the real world, and I rarely use it with people in the same company that I've worked with for a while. With customers that is an exception as well, they're our customers.

Oh well. Nothing more has been said at the moment so I'll pack up and go home later to sleep on it. I suppose having to be fake is really a skill needed to get by in the corporate world, I always point out to people when they do small talk to me that they don't mean what they ask and they feel awkward because I bust them for it, it's so fun reading people and predicting! But the others get on fine with my style, this is just an one off.

Shit like that makes me glad my company gives everyone their own tiny cubicle office (fully enclosed). If people want to talk to me, they knock on my door. That 2-3 seconds as I'm telling them to come in gives me time to compose myself (and close browsers when I'm doing stuff like writing this post instead of working).

I'll need to go ask my friends to see if they get anything similar nowadays. Seems more and more people are embracing "open office environment". That never occured to me to talk with them about this, just to see if it's any different (they're all in IT too)

[FNH]

Idk how your company deals with HR problems, but be careful it doesn't become a hostile work environment issue. Had one of those when I had a falling out with a former friend after getting a promotion. To ensure I didn't run into having HR breathing down my neck, I waited a day or two and made a strategic apology to smooth it all over. Didn't have anything to apologize for, but I made a generic one anyway jic.


edit: This is in reference to the aftermath to include the not speaking to each other part.

[Laugana]

As an aside from what you were saying Stig, whenever people ring me up at the office and ask 'How are you', I always say fine but don't ask how they are. I think it's a social norm to ask the other person as well, but I don't really care how they are and it's not like they're going to tell me the actual truth anyway.