New - The things that really annoy you

[Alan]

Another week, another round of layoffs.

Incredible that I've survived three of these now in just the last 6 months.

 

[Butters]

Another week, another round of layoffs.

Incredible that I've survived three of these now in just the last 6 months.

That's terrible, hope those who got layed off find something else soon. I think they will be allowed to draw unemployment insurance, but still.

 

[Alan]

That's terrible, hope those who got layed off find something else soon. I think they will be allowed to draw unemployment insurance, but still.

EDIT: Getting too specific makes me nervous, actually.

Suffice to say I've not been impressed with what my friends who did not survive the cut were offered.

 

[Butters]

Think what's being "offered" atm is one month of COBRA.

Not great, in other words.

Yeah that's not worth much smh. I am ok right now in my position, but has been sniffs of budget problems in the new year, so I already have some feelers out for something else. Does help I have lots of experience in education and always jobs in those fields, but hate having to look for something else. But again, might have no choice a few months from now. Fingers crossed.

 

[AndyWolves]

Fuggin boiler packed in, still, at least we don't need the central heating on.

It's gonna get stinky for a few days

 

[Alan]

Think I'm safe til the holidays as that's when my current engagement ends (I'm in consultancy, but not the type that gets lambasted in sitcoms and whatnot, we're basically "near-shore" outsourcing for software development in my vertical).

It just fucking sucks all the fun of coding away. I was just really getting into a flow when the email went out and now I couldn't possibly want to work less.

 

[AndyWolves]

Think I'm safe til the holidays as that's when my current engagement ends (I'm in consultancy, but not the type that gets lambasted in sitcoms and whatnot, we're basically "near-shore" outsourcing for software development in my vertical).

It just fucking sucks all the fun of coding away. I was just really getting into a flow when the email went out and now I couldn't possibly want to work less.

So you're a permanent employee for a company who does outsourcing rather than you consulting directly?

 

[Paul]

"we're basically "near-shore" outsourcing for software development in my vertical"
I understand all of those words individually, but together like that....

Joking apart, good luck for the future, will have my fingers crossed for you (have you thought about Saudi Arabia? )

 

[Alan]

So you're a permanent employee for a company who does outsourcing rather than you consulting directly?

That sounds about right.

We wouldn't call it "outsourcing", really, but the idea is that we can come in when a business lacks the staff or infrastructure to handle the breadth of a project. Sometimes we get to drive design decisions, other times we're closer to staff augmentation. Depends on the client/engagement. My engagement just previous to my current one was the former; started with no code whatsoever and got to give a lot of technical input on the big decisions. Current engagement is much more on the staff aug side of the spectrum.

The demand for plug-and-play teams of devs exploded over COVID (when I entered software engineering for the first time) and has totally collapsed over the last year or so. The selling point of working at a company like mine used to be "freelancing without the barren spells between projects". That argument is clearly out of date now.

 

[AndyWolves]

That sounds about right.

We wouldn't call it "outsourcing", really, but the idea is that we can come in when a business lacks the staff or infrastructure to handle the breadth of a project. Sometimes we get to drive design decisions, other times we're closer to staff augmentation. Depends on the client/engagement. My engagement just previous to my current one was the former; started with no code whatsoever and got to give a lot of technical input on the big decisions. Current engagement is much more on the staff aug side of the spectrum.

The demand for plug-and-play teams of devs exploded over COVID (when I entered software engineering for the first time) and has totally collapsed over the last year or so. The selling point of working at a company like mine used to be "freelancing without the barren spells between projects". That argument is clearly out of date now.

We've got a similar arrangement where I work except I'm on the other side of the fence so to speak. It makes sense from a client perspective because it takes away issues around training, staff retention etc and means we can 'body shop' in resources as we need them. Only challenge is the 'local knowledge ' that long term people get just by being around.

I'm sure there'll be other opportunities of you're doing that kind of work.

 

[Alan]

Me: “I’m a good socialist! Fuck these massive corpos!”

Also me: “Ooooo Amazon Prime Day is coming up.”

Fuck sake, self.

 

[Butters]

Me: “I’m a good socialist! Fuck these massive corpos!”

Also me: “Ooooo Amazon Prime Day is coming up.”

Fuck sake, self.

Tbf, get some great fucking deals

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

Loud people. Just talk at a normal volume FFS.

 

[Keef]

Americans in town then?

 

[Derby Wolf]

Not naive enough to think it doesn't happen but price gouging shithouse hotels is nevertheless annoying.

Booked tickets for the Foo Fighters at the Principality Stadium next June and hotels are tripling their prices.

Quoting rooms for £500 which are available for £120 the week after. Sake.

Decided to stay in Newport and travel in instead.

 

[Alan]

Call me a child, but Independence Day fireworks have already started. I hate them, they scare the shit out of me.

 

[Derby Wolf]

Call me a child, but Independence Day fireworks have already started. I hate them, they scare the shit out of me.

100% with you. My partners got anxiety, agoraphobia and panic disorder. Bonfires Night here is hell for her. Sound cancelling headphones have helped some. I'd ban the lot save for licensed displays if I had chance.

 

[Alan]

NC is stupid; I’m fairly sure it’s legal to shoot them here, just not legal to buy/sell them.

In Charlotte, that means everyone has them, as it’s a short (hour, hour and a half depending on traffic) drive to the SC border, where a massive fireworks store is located.

Some fucker’s shooting some heavy shit off their roof a block down from me, and given someone got shot on that block literally a week ago, it’s damn near sending me full panic.

 

[Dire Wolf]

Me: “I’m a good socialist! Fuck these massive corpos!”

Also me: “Ooooo Amazon Prime Day is coming up.”

Fuck sake, self.

I get you. I am very much a socialist, but I also run a small business that basically wouldn't be able to survive without using Amazon as a selling platform. It conflicts me.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Elon Musk, the cretin.

Essentially because he blocked Twitter from being viewed if you weren't logged in (for reasons only known to him) and didn't put anything in place other than just revoking access, everywhere that has embedded tweets across the entire Internet is now sending millions of unresolved requests over and over to view the site. Twitter is basically now DDOSing itself.

Almost as if it wasn't a good idea to sack everyone who knew what they were doing. The equivalent of taking all the straws in Kerplunk out in one go then immediately trying to ram them all straight in. Good luck with that.