Posts made by Ganymede

@arkandel

What did I say about the cute?

(No, that was not a safe word, so keep going.)

@derp

Most places have a cap. I'm just explaining why one exists.

@silverfox said in The Work Thread:

TLDR - The district is proposing a change to how unused sick days are paid out and while it sounds good on the surface I'm still left with a rub the wrong way and I can't pin down why it rubs me wrong (especially since I'm going to benefit from the change.)

It probably rubs you the wrong way because it does two things simultaneously: (1) forces you to take time off; or (2) get penalized for it.

While it seems punitive from the workers' end, it is a problem all over the public sector in Ohio that can break any public entity's budget. If the employees are allowed to roll over their PTO year after year, it is not unreasonable for some employees to have at the end of their tenure around 200 days. Because these are public benefits, they cannot be taken away from you under Ohio law, so the employer has to pay you PTO when you leave employment. So if you have an unexpected number of folks retiring all at one time, your budget takes a massive hit.

This is a problem because most public entities cannot or will not save their money in a public account to pay out PTO. School boards feasibly can do this, but if they start saving an awful lot of money there will be a public clamor to reduce taxes or, when an increase in a levy arises, deny necessary increases in revenue. Other public bodies beholden to higher governments may see their annual budgets cut if they continue to save up public funds even though this is a wise thing to do from an economic perspective. And this is because -- holy shit who knew? -- the vast majority of public officials do not have appreciable studies in economics and public finance courses are notoriously weighted towards short-term budgeting.

Look, it sucks. It really does. Now that I am in administration? It doubly-sucks.

@silverfox

Aaauiugh! The cute!

@ominous said in Girl Scout Cookies:

Freezer thin mints are the best.

Especially on ice cream.

Except Tagalongs and Samoas, which are the actual best.

@betternow said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

I mean, Everyone ELSE involved with Buffy, Firefly, the Avengers, Angel, Dollhouse, Cabin in the Woods, etc, etc, don't deserve our disdain for his attachment to the projects. If anything they deserve MORE of our love for making something great in SPITE of having to deal with him.

This.

For me, the issue is always knowledge. If I knew an artist was a raging misogynist, but still lumped love on him, then I am part of the problem. And if the artist took responsibility for what they did, I would have less of an issue with that lingering affection.

But if the artist remains a defiant asshole defending his inexcusable behavior, yeah, hard pass.

@arkandel

@arkandel said in General Video Game Thread:

Blizzard's newest post on fixing their culture issues.

As someone who helps prepare press releases now, I can tell you that this is typical non-committal drivel.

Example: We tripled the size of our compliance and investigation teams and have articulated clear accountability for unacceptable behavior. This applies to all employees at Blizzard, including leadership and management.

Here's something to think about:

1. What's three times zero?
2. What are the compensation and qualifications of the compliance and investigation professionals?
3. If a law is well-articulated, does it mean anything if it is never enforced?

And so on.

@greenflashlight said in Good TV:

Yeah, don't even get me started on the show's sexual politics. The new season is better about it, but still kinda pings my creep radar.

Yeah, that's good old-fashioned 1980s nostalgia sexism.

@macha @Sunny

I echo Macha's offer and suggestion, if you are so inclined.

@sunny

I believe you.

@silverfox

Well, you sound hotter, so --

@too-old-for-this

Yeah, but those roles were re-cast for reasons other than a sudden, tragic death.

@flyrannosaurus

I will give you GoW and Forza. Those are all great, even if I've no reason to play them.

I'm not sure I've noticed any improvement in LinkedIn, honestly, and I don't use or care about GitHub, Mojang, or Nuance. Since Activision / Blizzard is a gaming company, though, I'd like to stay there.

I mean, what has Microsoft done for Bethesda? It's still clinging to Skyrim and ESO. It totally fucked up the Fallout Series, and the changes to FO76 have done little to bring back the fan-base.

Maybe I'm getting too old for this shit. As soon as Activision gave away the rights to the Battletech IP, I lost interest in the company.

@flyrannosaurus said in General Video Game Thread:

Companies acquired by Microsoft have a tendency to improve quickly and often dramatically.

I need some examples here.

More importantly, I need to know what other IP Microsoft has done well with aside from the Halo series.

Frankly, when people ask me why I don't have an XBox One yet, I ask them: why should I get it?

@sunny said in General Video Game Thread:

That is so exciting.

I am cautiously optimistic.

Activision / Blizzard's entire corporate structure needs to be razed. The timing of the acquisition is a bit suspect too, that it is facing sexual harassment complaints. If I were an investor, I would want out before the entire house of cards comes down in flames.

As for improvement on the IP, I hope Microsoft fares better than EA but, frankly, I haven't been impressed with any of its own IP and its failure to capitalize and improve its acquired IP suggests to me that they have no fracking clue what they are doing.

Work Peeve No. 34,769

=====

To: <Me>
From: <Colleague>

Re: Quick Question

I have a really simple, quick question. Can you call me?

=====

Bruh, if your question is simple and quick, then just write it out with your e-mail. Asking to confer by telephone is how I know your question is neither simple nor quick.

@derp

When you put people into a shitty situation with no resources and do not pay them adequately, you can hardly complain when they quit and others do not want to replace them.

@too-old-for-this said in The Work Thread:

He could be schooled from home, via laptop. There are students getting that right now. He could be, too. But I am told that because we opted into in-school before Omicron was even a known quantity, we cannot now opt for at-home to finish the year. Even though he has all the tools and there is staffing dedicated to the online schooling of the students that chose not to come back.

This is the infuriating part for me about your situation. It does boil down to bureaucratic nonsense. I can't think of a reason why a student should be barred from switching how they take their classes, especially since virtual learning was permitted so as to increase flexibility.

@derp said in The Work Thread:

@solstice said in The Work Thread:

So yeah, no out for them, there. It's entirely motivated by archaic 'You're not productive if you're not in your seat' wisdom.

This is why we're not allowed to do WFH anymore either. Too many conservatives got all mad that the government offices were empty, even though we were already planning on going to remote work for a lot of stuff and downsizing in an effort to be fiscally conservative, which is the freaking mantra.

I understand.

Some businesses can be entirely remote. Government work is one of them. Just about everything is automated and, at worst, you could put one or two people in the office to man the phones and direct calls, if needed, but most modern, urban offices can direct calls electronically. Easy-peasy.

Other business cannot work that way. They just don't. Productivity demonstrably dips when people are not at the office or the place of production.

But most people don't understand that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. All businesses are different in different ways. Garages cannot do their jobs from home, so shutting them down will kill them; but many office services can, and should, be done from home.

A little empathy and understand goes a long way.

Anyhow, I understand and empathize. My only point, if I had one, is that there's no one-size-fits-all solution here.