TTIM: Things That Irk Me

[jw1739]

1 hour ago, malloy said:

Lets not forget that a royal commission recently highlighted "remuneration" based on performance KPIs measured in monetary terms was pointed out as being a factor in encouraging immoral and illegal behaviour. 

Granted these weren't part of an agreed remuneration package, but the message/effect to other employees is still somewhat the same. 

Everyone knows that KPIs are an absolute fucking fraud. My career in the mining and metals industry started to slide when I caught my general manager setting his KPIs exactly the same as mine - in other words, if I met my KPIs he met his without doing anything extra.

One of the reasons I retired just as soon as I could.

[jw1739]

On 29/10/2020 at 11:10 AM, Tangerine said:

Very quickly: I have no problem with the Cartier watches. Senior business executives have high salaries. If those 4 execs really were high performing then the cost to Australia Post of replacing even one of them would be considerable (much higher than the 4 watches cost). The Board sets the culture and delegation authority of the CEO. If the execs deserved it and the CEO is good at her job, no problem for me. 

If the Government believe that is not appropriate then they should be speaking to the Board about the culture of the organisation they head and what is appropriate. 

It may look bad from the outside, and play badly with the public, but I can't believe the party of business (the Liberals) have got the knickers in a knot.

Personally, i think the $30m for $3m worth of land in Western Sydney is a much bigger deal - particularly given it was bought off a Liberal donor.     

Let me also add that I wouldn't mind the watches quite so much so much if I continued to have postal deliveries 5 days per week - it's now down to 3 - and if a letter dated 16th October from Malvern could possibly be delivered down here in Bayside before 30th October?

[jw1739]

TTIM: Gender politics.

[Shahanga]

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Edited November 3, 2020 by Shahanga
Double post

[Shahanga]

On 30/10/2020 at 2:37 PM, jw1739 said:

Let me also add that I wouldn't mind the watches quite so much so much if I continued to have postal deliveries 5 days per week - it's now down to 3 - and if a letter dated 16th October from Malvern could possibly be delivered down here in Bayside before 30th October?

But the government could guarantee that very easily if they wanted to. So much easier to pretend to be upset over some trivia then spend the big $ in maintaining the mail service.

The truth is they don’t want the mail service maintained, instead they want Australia Post to make a profit. 

[jw1739]

3 hours ago, Shahanga said:

But the government could guarantee that very easily if they wanted to. So much easier to pretend to be upset over some trivia then spend the big $ in maintaining the mail service.

The truth is they don’t want the mail service maintained, instead they want Australia Post to make a profit. 

Do those two objectives have to be mutually exclusive? I don't think so.

[Tangerine]

1 hour ago, jw1739 said:

Do those two objectives have to be mutually exclusive? I don't think so.

In short my view is yes. Mail delivery volumes are down. Australia Post won’t turn a profit delivering 5 days a week unless they increase the price of delivery for all of us.

In response to my post a few days ago, there were sensible and valid responses to it. I don’t necessarily agree but they were well argued and diversity of opinions is what makes life interesting after all.

I note that tonight the Australian is reporting that the head hunter fees to replace the CEO could be $500k. Or about 100 Cartier watches. Confirms that this episode has been a big waste of time and money for everyone. Guess the next CEO won’t make the same mistake though.

[Shahanga]

I think the terrible postal service, which impacts us all is what riled people about this (which is pretty much what @jw1739 said). Incidentally if you’re hanging out for the council election results, that’s why. “Votes in the mail”.

The (alleged) V/Line thing is light years worse.

[jw1739]

16 hours ago, Tangerine said:

In short my view is yes. Mail delivery volumes are down. Australia Post won’t turn a profit delivering 5 days a week unless they increase the price of delivery for all of us.

In response to my post a few days ago, there were sensible and valid responses to it. I don’t necessarily agree but they were well argued and diversity of opinions is what makes life interesting after all.

I note that tonight the Australian is reporting that the head hunter fees to replace the CEO could be $500k. Or about 100 Cartier watches. Confirms that this episode has been a big waste of time and money for everyone. Guess the next CEO won’t make the same mistake though.

The real issue was not the watches, it was the fact that she lied about the Board knowing what she was doing.

On the matter of AP "making a profit" I would contest that that is a reasonable objective for a public enterprise such as Australia Post. I consider an efficient and effective national postal system to be a reasonable expectation of a first-world society, just as I do medical/hospital and allied services, police, utilities (gas, water, electricity, telephone) public transport etc. Simply turning a "balance sheet profit" takes no account of all the benefits that these building blocks bring to our society if they are efficient and effective.

Australia Post is just not efficient and effective, whatever its publicity says, coronavirus or not, growth of on-line shopping or not. It's its job to be able to move with the demands of the society it serves. A package from Reservoir to Sandringham, with tracking, could not even be found when it did not arrive. The sender claimed and was paid out on insurance, only for the package then to be delivered after one month in the wilderness. A letter from Malvern to Sandringham 14 days.

[Tangerine]

@jw1739 your personal experience of them recently sounds terrible. Can’t argue with that. AusPost are meant to operate ‘commercially’. Maybe it shouldn’t, but then we’d still all pay for the increased service you require but through taxes.

I don’t disagree with you entirely. I think health and education, fire, police etc. are all public goods. Not sure on utilities. I work in the electricity sector where there is a range of government owned businesses competing with private, internationally owned companies. Not sure re-nationalising utilities is the answer but I can fully understand why people don’t think they get value for money.

[jw1739]

TTIM: Misleading packaging. Toothpaste is a good example. They leave the box the same size but reduce the size of the tube inside. I know the net weight is marked on the box, but it's "sharp practice" to say the least.

[HeartFc]

On 05/11/2020 at 1:24 PM, jw1739 said:

TTIM: Misleading packaging. Toothpaste is a good example. They leave the box the same size but reduce the size of the tube inside. I know the net weight is marked on the box, but it's "sharp practice" to say the least.

Its a cheaper to keep the same size box and it doesnt disturb your distribution set up. If you change your "inner" box then in most cases you gotta change your distribution "outter" box. Just from experience, once you establish a box size, brand and network,  its best to keep it like that as long as possible. 

But yea a little unethical. 

[jw1739]

On 28/10/2020 at 8:15 PM, NewConvert said:

I'm begining to think that there is no one left that is honest.

The rottenness in all forms just continues. ASIC, now the SAS, the revelations from the Coroner's inquest into Gargasoulas episode...

[Shahanga]

On 19/11/2020 at 1:31 PM, jw1739 said:

The rottenness in all forms just continues. ASIC, now the SAS, the revelations from the Coroner's inquest into Gargasoulas episode...

The coroner’s inquest reads a bit like the hotel inquiry doesn’t it?

All this bullshit about shared accountability I.e. a fancy term for buck passing.

[NewConvert]

10 hours ago, Shahanga said:

The coroner’s inquest reads a bit like the hotel inquiry doesn’t it?

All this bullshit about shared accountability I.e. a fancy term for buck passing.

The worst thing that this is taught as management theory and big corporations are rife with it. I'm too old to live with it.

[jw1739]

14 hours ago, Shahanga said:

The coroner’s inquest reads a bit like the hotel inquiry doesn’t it?

All this bullshit about shared accountability I.e. a fancy term for buck passing.

In my book accountability can not be shared. The buck stops at just one desk. 

[jw1739]

TTIM: All these people giving up the conventional life for a "life on the road." Total bludgers the lot of them. They rely on everyone else getting on with the conventional life to provide them with what they need - from the fuel and food and everything else they consume, maintaining the roads they drive on and the places they visit, the clothes they wear, the services they require such as spares, the phone networks that they use and the internet where they so kindly blog and tell us what a great time they're having, help when they break down and other emergency services if they need them, including staffed medal and hospital facilities if they fall ill or have an accident, and every fucking thing else and everyone else to pay the taxes that keep it all going. 

[Shahanga]

32 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

TTIM: All these people giving up the conventional life for a "life on the road." Total bludgers the lot of them. They rely on everyone else getting on with the conventional life to provide them with what they need - from the fuel and food and everything else they consume, maintaining the roads they drive on and the places they visit, the clothes they wear, the services they require such as spares, the phone networks that they use and the internet where they so kindly blog and tell us what a great time they're having, help when they break down and other emergency services if they need them, including staffed medal and hospital facilities if they fall ill or have an accident, and every fucking thing else and everyone else to pay the taxes that keep it all going. 

If they are paying their own way, good luck to them (ie living off savings, working holiday types).

The people who raise my eyebrows are the self help gurus, who talk about chucking in the rat race to “follow your dreams“ (become a self help guru).
How many self help gurus can the market bear? What will they do if all their customers become competitors?

[HeartFc]

On 27/12/2020 at 2:32 PM, jw1739 said:

TTIM: All these people giving up the conventional life for a "life on the road." Total bludgers the lot of them. 

Most of the younger people who try this are back to their shares houses within 2 years. I did 6 weeks up the coast in my van when I was moving from VIC. It was awesome for a bit but if you have any goals or ambitions in life you get bored. Most "normal" people I met on the road were either burnt out or escaping some form of trauma. I don't count the bums, they don't understand the concept of contributing to society. 

Overall its a great thing to do if you're in limbo a little in life and need a fresh start. I had a qtr life crisis which I reckon I'm still in the tail end of but I'm glad I got the "van life" shit out of my system. 

[jw1739]

TTIM: The goods that are still both imported and produced locally that are sold in non-recyclable packaging. Particularly noticeable in this "gift-giving " period. It really shits me to see one-off plastics and treated paper/cardboard packaging used.

[jw1739]

TTIM...The sloppiness of the NSW Government in its approach to COVID-19. We got rid of this virus after months of lockdown, and now we're facing it all again due to NSW's failure to go in hard and fast. Pussyfooting around and threatening the whole country. 

[Shahanga]

TTIM. Players taking the field with numbers like 77.

where are the other 76?

[jw1739]

12 hours ago, Shahanga said:

TTIM. Players taking the field with numbers like 77.

where are the other 76?

Sigh...old man remembers when the GK didn't have a number and the others were 2-11, irrespective of who was wearing them, there were no names on the shirts, and no advertising. And the ground announcer read out the two teams for the benefit of those who hadn't bought the match-day programme (spelling in "those days"!). And the loud-speakers actually worked and you could understand what he said...

[jw1739]

TTIM: All these fucking nuisance calls I get on my landline, and phishing emails purporting to be from my internet provider that despite a complaint from me on a regular basis said provider does nothing about.

Government should sanction providers who don't cut out this crap.

[Young Polak]

28 minutes ago, jw1739 said:

TTIM: All these fucking nuisance calls I get on my landline, and phishing emails purporting to be from my internet provider that despite a complaint from me on a regular basis said provider does nothing about.

Government should sanction providers who don't cut out this crap.

Or businesses cold-calling you about their product even though your landline number is a private number. They'd play all innocent and 'just happen' to be able to access the number, but I know that these people do pay money to get data from shady third parties or marketing agencies that more-so have some link to incidents of different organisations where their clientele database was hacked or leaked.

[mus-28]

Just get yourself put on the do-not-call list. My preffered method is attempting phone sex with male callers. A few phrases I enjoy are "Tell daddy what a naughty boy you've been ringing other men all day", "Breathe heavily into the line, it makes me so hard", "Tell me what toys you've got at your desk you nasty little whore"

These are best served when they call you at home after 6pm, doing it whilst down the street could be awkward

I guarantee they'll blacklist your number instantly.

[jw1739]

2 hours ago, mus-28 said:

Just get yourself put on the do-not-call list. My preffered method is attempting phone sex with male callers. A few phrases I enjoy are "Tell daddy what a naughty boy you've been ringing other men all day", "Breathe heavily into the line, it makes me so hard", "Tell me what toys you've got at your desk you nasty little whore"

These are best served when they call you at home after 6pm, doing it whilst down the street could be awkward

I guarantee they'll blacklist your number instantly.

Seriously, I am on the "do not call" list - but not by the way you suggest!

The latest recorded calls purport to come from Amazon and Telstra, and a number of the "live" ones have a female sub-continent accent and appalling pronunciation - children can be heard in the background so these are coming from homes with the other partner listening in poised at the keyboard ready to enter any identification that the unwary may provide. On some days I can get 3-5 nuisance calls in total.

[HeartFc]

Mondays mornings I get smashed by 3 or 4 Indian digital markers. 90% of our convos go like this...

Indian: "Sir we are calling about your business" 

Me: "What business?"

Indian: "Sir, your business..."

Me: "What business is that?"

Indian: "I said, your business sir."

Me: "What is the name of my business?"

Pause... 

*Indian hangs up*

 

[jw1739]

TTIM: Sponsorship and sponsors' names all over the place.

The A-League Table is now called the "Bunnings Warehouse Ladder." I checked that it isn't the 1st April, and it isn't. FFS - the "Bunnings Warehouse Ladder."

[jw1739]

TTIM: Banks

My Big Four bank is closing my local branch in April, and I received an email today advising me of that. I suppose the people that write these emails can't see the irony - it starts "Your Branch is closing and we're here to help...." 

They could start to help by not closing the branch perhaps?

 

[NewConvert]

8 hours ago, jw1739 said:

TTIM: Banks

My Big Four bank is closing my local branch in April, and I received an email today advising me of that. I suppose the people that write these emails can't see the irony - it starts "Your Branch is closing and we're here to help...." 

They could start to help by not closing the branch perhaps?

 

We lost all of our branches years ago. Of the two nearest ones one was turned into a self service branch with three rather large ATMs where you are supposed to do your banking. They do have a help desk which is staffed but whenever I go there, no one is at the ATMs and the two staff have a queue of people to assist. The other branch remains the same but there is a revolving door of staff.

[jw1739]

This is becoming my personal daily irk sub-forum. At least it makes me feel a little better to vent my spleen.

Today's Irk: Windows 10 updates. Windows 10 is bad enough, but these updates drive me mad - afterwards I have to re-learn where to find things and what I'm doing. Could Microsoft leave the effing program alone?

[n i k o]

On 02/02/2021 at 8:43 PM, HeartFc said:

Mondays mornings I get smashed by 3 or 4 Indian digital markers. 90% of our convos go like this...

Indian: "Sir we are calling about your business" 

Me: "What business?"

Indian: "Sir, your business..."

Me: "What business is that?"

Indian: "I said, your business sir."

Me: "What is the name of my business?"

Pause... 

*Indian hangs up*

 

I like the electricity companies when I've got nothing better to do. I tell them I need a good price on it to reduce my costs of powering exactly 1.21 gigawatts to my Delorean and guarantee them business if they can lock the price in so as not to incur price changes when I travel into the future. "Oh you have a time machine sir" ...."We can do you a very good deal sir" 

[jw1739]

I string the Telstra ones along sometimes - because I don't have an account with them. The current annoying ones are about LEDs (no pun intended). I can get 4-5 calls all on the same day, usually 2-3 on LEDs, one from Amazon, and one from Telstra. Purporting to be that is.

I''m afraid I now tell them to FO. Would it be more effective if this was in Hindi?

[Jovan]

My go too is just hang up. 

The second I realize it's a cold call I hang up. No emotions, no frustration just a simple hang up.

After a few times , I starting testing myself to see if I can do it before they could say their second word.

Problem was that I received a few calls recently from a distant relative I've never spoken to and after hanging up on this poor bloke 5 times my mum rings me and wanted to know why I kept hanging up on my 2 or 3rd cousin (still really don't know the connection). I later found out his wife passed away and he was just passing on the bad news. 

[jw1739]

2 hours ago, Jovan said:

My go too is just hang up. 

The second I realize it's a cold call I hang up. No emotions, no frustration just a simple hang up.

After a few times , I starting testing myself to see if I can do it before they could say their second word.

Problem was that I received a few calls recently from a distant relative I've never spoken to and after hanging up on this poor bloke 5 times my mum rings me and wanted to know why I kept hanging up on my 2 or 3rd cousin (still really don't know the connection). I later found out his wife passed away and he was just passing on the bad news. 

Did the same recently with my late wife's sister who lives overseas. She wasn't impressed.

[Shahanga]

On 13/02/2021 at 9:42 AM, jw1739 said:

Did the same recently with my late wife's sister who lives overseas. She wasn't impressed.

Oh shit.

I always hang up on cold callers, but I’m always also a bit nervous as I have friends with every accent under the sun!

I figure my friends wouldn’t be rude enough to only engage the call with a few seconds pause after I answer and normally don’t need to check who I am. Fingers crossed anyway.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Shahanga

[HeartFc]

On 13/02/2021 at 8:42 AM, jw1739 said:

Did the same recently with my late wife's sister who lives overseas. She wasn't impressed.

I do that all the time. The difference is, I know its my wife's sister. 

[jw1739]

TTIM: Politicians and senior public servants in Victoria who can't or won't answer a simple question with a concise and truthful answer.

[jw1739]

TTIM: Harry and Meghan. What a joke that they want to be financially independent. They can start by paying back all the fucking benefits that they received from the British taxpayer before they abandoned the royal ship. That should take them a while...