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Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 9:01 pm
by Hype
Yeah. Frankly the sheer volume of ignorance, stupidity, and the stark age-intelligence gap combination are enough to make most undergrads complete non-entities for nearly all profs. Grad students are another matter altogether... but that's also a much more dangerous game, depending on how it's being played. (The former-student/prof thing seems to be permissible, and only moderately frowned upon, especially if there's no evidence of impropriety/deceit...)

Similarly, I also don't understand grad students who treat their supervisors like close friends. I treat my supervisor like any other boss, and we're both hetero males, but it just seems like anything but professionalism would be stupid. Friendship can happen later when I have tenure and don't need to maintain a certain reputation to ensure a solid reference letter anymore.

Corollary: I don't understand why employees would ever assume they're friends with their bosses (and vice versa). I think that was a topic of discussion here a few years ago, and I still stand by it... it can work out okay in some cases by luck, but it's just not a good bet.

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 12:16 pm
by Essence_Smith
A friend of mine (female) was recently involved in a scandal where she slept with a student...the more effed up thing was she taught high school and the kid was 16-17 at the time...she ended up getting 10 years probation, is some kinda low level sex offender and lost her teachers license...her husband has also left her...she's completely done I think...

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 12:22 pm
by Hype
Essence_Smith wrote:A friend of mine (female) was recently involved in a scandal where she slept with a student...the more effed up thing was she taught high school and the kid was 16-17 at the time...she ended up getting 10 years probation, is some kinda low level sex offender and lost her teachers license...her husband has also left her...she's completely done I think...
I don't know why it isn't obvious that no one should sleep with their subordinates/superiors in any kind of professional setting... not because it *couldn't* work out, but because the risks are enormous and the potential payoff is stupid given how simple it would be to get what you want eventually anyway.

It's also obvious that if you put enough members of any species together in confined spaces over extended periods of time, you'll get some of them fucking each other... but we probably should try to avoid it when it's a matter of integrity, power-differentials, etc.

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 12:25 pm
by clickie
That friend of yours knew the consiquences so I dont feel bad for them.

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 1:05 pm
by perkana
Adurentibus Spina wrote:Yeah. Frankly the sheer volume of ignorance, stupidity, and the stark age-intelligence gap combination are enough to make most undergrads complete non-entities for nearly all profs. Grad students are another matter altogether... but that's also a much more dangerous game, depending on how it's being played. (The former-student/prof thing seems to be permissible, and only moderately frowned upon, especially if there's no evidence of impropriety/deceit...)

Similarly, I also don't understand grad students who treat their supervisors like close friends. I treat my supervisor like any other boss, and we're both hetero males, but it just seems like anything but professionalism would be stupid. Friendship can happen later when I have tenure and don't need to maintain a certain reputation to ensure a solid reference letter anymore.

Corollary: I don't understand why employees would ever assume they're friends with their bosses (and vice versa). I think that was a topic of discussion here a few years ago, and I still stand by it... it can work out okay in some cases by luck, but it's just not a good bet.
I agree, I think that's the reason I had problems with my last supervisor. He kept mentioning to me why I didn't like him. And yesterday someone asked me if he had a thing for me, cause I just found out about something really terrible, but I'm glad I got safely out of the whole thing.

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 1:17 pm
by Hype
That's fucked up. Sorry you had even that kind of weird shit. It bugs the shit out of me how women are treated in academia, or just that the default has to be hyper-alert caution. Even smart people are stupid. :balls: :dunce:

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 1:19 pm
by perkana
Yeah, worst thing was that I have been always diplomatic about it, never said a thing, but when they blamed everything on me, I had to say something. It never went that far as sexual harrassment, but most people I told them about it, thought it had to do something about that and that I was lucky to leave and move on elsewhere.

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:06 pm
by Essence_Smith
Adurentibus Spina wrote:
Essence_Smith wrote:A friend of mine (female) was recently involved in a scandal where she slept with a student...the more effed up thing was she taught high school and the kid was 16-17 at the time...she ended up getting 10 years probation, is some kinda low level sex offender and lost her teachers license...her husband has also left her...she's completely done I think...
I don't know why it isn't obvious that no one should sleep with their subordinates/superiors in any kind of professional setting... not because it *couldn't* work out, but because the risks are enormous and the potential payoff is stupid given how simple it would be to get what you want eventually anyway.

It's also obvious that if you put enough members of any species together in confined spaces over extended periods of time, you'll get some of them fucking each other... but we probably should try to avoid it when it's a matter of integrity, power-differentials, etc.
People like her tend not to think about the consequences...I feel bad for her husband and her kid...another fucked up part is she and the kid had something like over a thousand texts back and forth in a few months and were friends on facebook, etc...so it was pretty much an easy case to try...it was in all the papers etc...so REALLY I have no clue what she was thinking...
clickie wrote:That friend of yours knew the consiquences so I dont feel bad for them.
Oh trust me I don't...it's one of the dumbest things an educator on any level can do imo...thinking back to high school, we did have a teacher who was messing with a girl...he quit the teaching gig and actually got with her after she turned 18, though I have no clue how it worked out...

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:26 pm
by clickie
My highschool had one science teacher who was forced to quit because he had an affair with a student, and then our girls swim coach got fired because he'd go in the shower room with them and slap their asses.

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:31 pm
by clickie
This was just during my tenure who knows what the hell went on the other years,

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 11:48 am
by Romeo
Image

I want this car. It's a great price. Low mileage.



I need the down payment :sad:

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Thu Nov 07, 2013 12:32 pm
by tvrec
Romeo wrote:Image

I want this car. It's a great price. Low mileage.



I need the down payment :sad:
That's a beauty. I love SAABs. Lost mine last February in an auto accident and have had a lingering depression about it ever since. I try to tell myself that the electric convertible 9-3 is launching soon (but probably will never actually roll out) and that I just need to wait it out.

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 10:55 am
by Romeo
Are SAAB's still going to be available in the US?

That car is beautiful and totally impractical. lol :lol:
I really should get a more practical car. But for 49,000 miles it is actually going for under 10G's and it certified used. How could I possibly say no :wink:

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 11:10 am
by creep
this is a question for the girls here. do you think that there is probably something wrong with a guy that owns a convertible? it seems to be only acceptable if it's a classic car. i owned many international scouts (they are suv's) and the top bolts off. i loved those trucks and hope to own one again some day. i also want a ford falcon convertible.

Image

Image

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 11:25 am
by tvrec
Romeo wrote:Are SAAB's still going to be available in the US?

That car is beautiful and totally impractical. lol :lol:
I really should get a more practical car. But for 49,000 miles it is actually going for under 10G's and it certified used. How could I possibly say no :wink:
Projected North American availability of any new SAAB that may see the light of day seems to fluctuate on a weekly basis. It's only been 9 months or so that parts have become more available since the bankruptcy asset freeze. One of the saddest stories I read was how the final US shipment was frozen on the docks in New Jersey, rotting in limbo as the company was liquidated/sold: http://jalopnik.com/5897732/the-last-sa ... ersey-port

One thing to bear in mind with SAABs is the repair costs. They're not cheap to keep running.

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 11:52 am
by wally
creep wrote:this is a question for the girls here. do you think that there is probably something wrong with a guy that owns a convertible? it seems to be only acceptable if it's a classic car. i owned many international scouts (they are suv's) and the top bolts off. i loved those trucks and hope to own one again some day. i also want a ford falcon convertible.
good taste. i too want a falcon, but not a convertible.
not a girl, but the answer to your question is no. either of these ar perfectly acceptable for a man to drive.
Image
Image

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 12:33 pm
by Romeo
I don't see an issue with men driving convertibles that aren't muscle cars!

My CFO just got a BMW 3 series hard top convertible.

Maybe because we live on an Island :noclue:

Thanks for the heads up on the SAAB repair costs. It's a beauty but I need something a little more "practical". I'm looking at a RAV4. That's as practical as practical gets :lol:

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 9:42 am
by Juana
UGH, I'm going to have to pay my ISP to run a fiber line out to my studio/guesthouse. I was going to try to do it myself but realized outside of guitars I suck at things mechanical in nature.

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:29 am
by Artemis
When the sandwich counter lady cut my smoked meat on rye sandwuch in half today, she sliced through the tin foil wrapping which caused the Dijon mustard and pickle juice to ooze out onto my pants. Now, I have to walk around with a stain spot for the rest of the day. :eyes:

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:29 am
by Artemis
Artemis wrote:When the sandwich counter lady cut my smoked meat on rye sandwuch in half today, she sliced through the tin foil wrapping which caused the Dijon mustard and pickle juice to ooze out onto my pants. Now I have to walk around with a stain spot for the rest of the day. :eyes:

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:47 am
by creep
Artemis wrote:When the sandwich counter lady cut my smoked meat on rye sandwuch in half today, she sliced through the tin foil wrapping which caused the Dijon mustard and pickle juice to ooze out onto my pants. Now, I have to walk around with a stain spot for the rest of the day. :eyes:
i always thought that if i ever worked in an office i would have a change of clothes there since i would have many food related accidents.

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 4:10 pm
by Artemis
creep wrote:
Artemis wrote:When the sandwich counter lady cut my smoked meat on rye sandwuch in half today, she sliced through the tin foil wrapping which caused the Dijon mustard and pickle juice to ooze out onto my pants. Now, I have to walk around with a stain spot for the rest of the day. :eyes:
i always thought that if i ever worked in an office i would have a change of clothes there since i would have many food related accidents.

:lol:

I don't often have food related accidents. The most common one for me is salad dressing splashes or drips. I have MANY tops/blouses that are now "around the house" wear because of a visible oil stain.

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 4:40 pm
by nausearockpig
someone sent me this today, it's probably been seen before but it's both funny and sad...


Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 4:50 pm
by Artemis
No, I haven't seen that before. It certainly puts things in perspective...well done.

Re: First World Problem of the Day

Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 4:24 pm
by chaos
Oh. My. God. This is both hysterical and scary. :lolol: :scared:

I give the kid who was unfortunate enough to answer this call a lot of credit for staying so measured and calm.
http://gawker.com/youve-never-heard-a-c ... ign=Buffer



You've Never Heard a Customer Service Call Meltdown Quite Like This One
Neetzan Zimmerman

9/12/13 9:47am

First, some context.

After an unidentified security systems company missed an appointment, one inconvenienced customer phoned the company's customer service line to straighten things out.

Following a little back and forth, the issue was bumped up to a supervisor named Michelle, who subsequently phoned the customer and left him a message asking him to call her back to her direct extension.

And so he did.

Except that Michelle had apparently gone home for the day, and no one at customer service seemed to know her by name, so the customer was kicked around the system for over three hours.

He ultimately reached a tech support agent named Mark, and that's when he officially broke down and let the expletives fly.

What followed was the culmination not just of this customer's individual frustration with the customer service system of this particular company, but the synergistic ire of every customer who has ever been shoved around by useless customer service since the first hold button was installed.

The exchange was uploaded to YouTube yesterday by a person claiming to be a former employee of the company.

According to this person, after this incident, the customer was legally banned from phoning the company.

The ex-employee also claims the company has gone to lengths to scrub any and all record that this call ever took place.

"The company would not be happy that I'm doing this," he wrote, "but it belongs on the internet."