The totally off-topic thread

[Bundy Bear]

Well today was a red letter day for me. I finally submitted my PhD thesis.

Well done, you can certainly enjoy your Christmas drinks even better knowing that you are finished.

Now to find a job that includes a bit of flying so you can get your Qantas WP status back.

 

[cove]

How about coasting into an MBA so you don't get withdrawal symptoms?

 

[penegal]

Ill be working Monday and Tuesday...

Monday, Tuesday and Sunday, do I win? (or is that lose?)

Sat, sun, mon, tue, fri, sat, sun

And this is the 2nd Christmas Day I've had off in 7 years

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I think I may have pipped you.

Damn

I work almost every day of the year in some capacity... including today

That said, the "Christmas Shutdown" is the best time to work - you get so much done without interruptions

Hoping to get to drinks tonight if it is feasible...


Does anyone remember that Goldman Sachs meme where a grad earns less than a McDonald's entry level staffer when you take into account the number of hours worked in a week.

Some of us don't get vacations. Apparently you have to have a job before you get them. :mrgreen: Something I'll do in 2014.

Life is hard for some

 

[penegal]

Last year I worked every day from Xmas Eve to NYD. This year, I jagged Xmas Day & Boxing Day off.

I'm working late NYE & am going to America on NYD.

Nice, good way to kick off the new year!

 

[penegal]

Isn't there an app for that?

Several on most platforms, and as JT mentions some have it built in.

I always cache bits and pieces for mobile reading.

 

[JohnK]

Some of us don't get vacations. Apparently you have to have a job before you get them. :mrgreen: Something I'll do in 2014.

I think the idea of permanent vacations has some merit. Will reassess the situation again in ~2 months.

 

[serfty]

To the IT gurus

Is there any way you could cache web pages so you could read them when offline (most planes)?

Would be nice to be able to cache on reading materials on the way to somewhere.

Thanks in advance

Not a problem - I print to .pdf and save it to a temporary folder for later perusal.

Easy to do in Chrome (just select PDF), for FireFox and IE I have set up "Cute PDF Writer' as a "printer" and psuedo-print to that.

 

[Cynicor]

How can you book an appointment at 8:30, then not show up 2 hours later, and not call! 2 in a row today.

At the same time I'm fully booked today and have to turn away people who actually want appointments... Good times.

 

[aupirate]

How can you book an appointment at 8:30, then not show up 2 hours later, and not call! 2 in a row today.

At the same time I'm fully booked today and have to turn away people who actually want appointments... Good times.

Easy way to fix no shows is to get cc details in advance and inform that there will be a no show charge, a bit hard I must admit in some professions. We owned accommodation and always took cc details if a guest cancelled late in the day and we couldn`t resell the room or bed then the charge was put through. Before we started taking cc details we had lots of no shows which meant an empty bed that we had turned others away for. It certainly reduced the rate of no show without a call incidences.

 

[erkpod]

Expensive Big Red Control shift. Just booked an trip in April SYD - OOL - MEL - PER & return.

 

[Robbi]

Easy way to fix no shows is to get cc details in advance and inform that there will be a no show charge, a bit hard I must admit in some professions. We owned accommodation and always took cc details if a guest cancelled late in the day and we couldn`t resell the room or bed then the charge was put through. Before we started taking cc details we had lots of no shows which meant an empty bed that we had turned others away for. It certainly reduced the rate of no show without a call incidences.

My local GP charges for no shows. As long as you cancel there is no charge. Just courtesy really.

 

[Flashback]

I think the idea of permanent vacations has some merit. Will reassess the situation again in ~2 months.

I had a few months and found it rather boring. Good luck to you if you don't find that to be the case

 

[drron]

I've had a lot more fun since retiring.
Though I still go to work from time to time.

 

[Flashback]

I've had a lot more fun since retiring.
Though I still go to work from time to time.

That's a mix that would suit me!

 

[JohnK]

I had a few months and found it rather boring. Good luck to you if you don't find that to be the case

I can assure you it is not boring. And if I am bored going to work is not going to solve the boredom.

For me going to work is boring. I hate waking up in the morning with the thought "I have to go work". There is nothing worse that spending time with strangers you dont want to know.

Give me permanent vacation any time. And in saying that if I did retire there is nothing to say that I cannot still look for part time or contract work.

I dont have many years left. I dont want to waste them going to work. I guess we are all different.

 

[erkpod]

I think part time or flexi working arrangements are great if you can snag it. I know of a couple of people in my depot who are part time now because of commitments outside of work. One of them works about 2-3 days a week & the other one does 2 weeks on & 2 weeks off. If I had to do either, I think I'd prefer the 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off.

 

[bass_ke]

I think part time or flexi working arrangements are great if you can snag it. I know of a couple of people in my depot who are part time now because of commitments outside of work. One of them works about 2-3 days a week & the other one does 2 weeks on & 2 weeks off. If I had to do either, I think I'd prefer the 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off.

It's amazing stuff! Both SWMBO and I were able to part time when she returned from mat leave, me on a set roster and her on one that works around mine which generally involves us having different shifts on the same day and same RDO's. Certainly beats working 1930 - 0500 shifts and only getting an hours sleep before being up with the family!

 

[rogerkambah]

I've had a lot more fun since retiring.
Though I still go to work from time to time.

I agree. Personally, I found work to be over rated, but was a means to a lifestyle I enjoyed. Now retired, I find I have more time to enjoy lifestyle, more disposable cash and I don't have to deal with people that bored me.

 

[erkpod]

It's amazing stuff! Both SWMBO and I were able to part time when she returned from mat leave, me on a set roster and her on one that works around mine which generally involves us having different shifts on the same day and same RDO's. Certainly beats working 1930 - 0500 shifts and only getting an hours sleep before being up with the family!

A set roster would be awesome! Earlier on in crewing, I had a 4 line rotator (fortnight per line) which was great for being able to work out with some degree of certainty where I was going on a particular day, days off etc. I had nowhere the amount of start times then that I do now.

In terms of diagrams that actually leave the depot, my earliest potential sign-on time is 0130 & the latest (not including NYE) is around 2030. On average at the moment, I need to swap half my fortnights away because my start times don't suit me. Just today, I read a union circular about crew having problems contacting their roster clerk. Surprise surprise because so many people have to call in for swaps (my roster clerk looks after about 350 people) because people feel the need to change their rostered working.

 

[JohnK]

I think part time or flexi working arrangements are great if you can snag it. I know of a couple of people in my depot who are part time now because of commitments outside of work. One of them works about 2-3 days a week & the other one does 2 weeks on & 2 weeks off. If I had to do either, I think I'd prefer the 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off.

If I couldnt have flexible arrangement at work I would lose interest quickly. For now ~9-10 weeks off a year seems a good balance between work and pleasure. If I stay on Brisbane longer I may want some extra time off. I am tired. This is the second longest job I have had in my career.

If I had a choice on rosters the perfect one for me would be 3 months on and 3 months off. I can just about manage 3 months of work before needing a break.