Something Random
- Thread starter ddrueding
- Start date
Bozo
Storage? I am Storage!
We were notified by our credit card company earlier this week that someone tried to buy $1400.00 of software from Japan. Wrong! The card was canceled.
We still use checks and most stores we visit get their money instantly when the card is read by the cash register. Sometimes I think checks are safer or more secure.
We still use checks and most stores we visit get their money instantly when the card is read by the cash register. Sometimes I think checks are safer or more secure.
ddrueding
Fixture
All my Google Apps domains are down right now....grr....
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
If it makes you feel any better, I just had to drive two hours to a customer site (in Siberian cold-ass weather) because some other vendor was screwing with LAN cabling in the server rack and plugged its ethernet cable into its IPMI management port. At least Google fixes their crap when they screw up.
Howell
Storage? I am Storage!
I'm championing a project right now to get the company off of IE8 and onto 11. There have been about 60 websites I've had to force into compatibility mode but since I set up the gp infrastructure up front the work has been mostly testing coordination because the fix is easy. Only one part of one site that 3 people use absolutely will not work until the new revision off the website next year. Technically we have Firefox and chrome installed inconsistently but I would prefer to remove them asap. Firefox cache is difficult to manage in a terminal server environment.
Stereodude
Not really a
I'm pretty sure I'm a professional babysitter. I have to personally test projects my coworkers are working on for my customers. Otherwise they hand it to me and tell me it's working when it doesn't even pass the most abbreviated end to end test. Further, if I don't sit with them in the lab and participate in "work" stuff doesn't get fixed or done in a timely fashion.
ddrueding
Fixture
I was talking to a coworker about this. It seems some employees consider themselves responsible for performing a task, while others consider themselves responsible for providing a solution. The former is not worth having as an employee, IMHO.
jtr1962
Storage? I am Storage!
A lot of that is the fault of companies which partition tasks off to whomever they think can do it. If you do a particular task well, then you get stuck doing that task and nothing else. End result is employees who only see themselves useful for one or two functions in a company. IIRC, Japanese companies tend to move their employees around to increase their versatility, keep them from getting bored, and let them see the overall functioning of the company. This is a much better model if you ask me. It may also decrease employee turnover.
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
Putting me in HR would be quite a show. I'm less certain it would decrease employees turnover though.
ddrueding
Fixture
I suspect there would be far fewer complaints.
Chewy509
Wotty wot wot.
Clueless hiring based on check boxes, vs someone who has 10+yrs in the industry and has no problem calling out bullshi*t artists... I know which one I would want as HR manager...
mubs
Storage? I am Storage!
Emps should be made to understand quality is not an add-on or bolt-on function.
At one place I worked, I had major arguments with an Exec VP on this topic. He wanted to set up a massive QA function. I disagreed, saying quality should be intrinsic to the work. When I asked him who would QA the work of the QA dept., there was no answer. I prevailed (my boss was the CEO, and he gave me free rein), and was proved right.
As has been said, if emps don't see how they fit in, they are not motivated - they just do a "job" or a "task". JTR's point is extremely relevant for the longer term as well. I quit my last job because I did the same thing for 5 years and there was no scope for growth, personal, professional or for the organization. And I was in a very senior role.
GE is famous for churning out the best CEOs (arguably) because they hire bright kids out of univ, and they are rotated into every job function for a few years at a time, and after about 15 years, they are very, very good.
At one place I worked, I had major arguments with an Exec VP on this topic. He wanted to set up a massive QA function. I disagreed, saying quality should be intrinsic to the work. When I asked him who would QA the work of the QA dept., there was no answer. I prevailed (my boss was the CEO, and he gave me free rein), and was proved right.
As has been said, if emps don't see how they fit in, they are not motivated - they just do a "job" or a "task". JTR's point is extremely relevant for the longer term as well. I quit my last job because I did the same thing for 5 years and there was no scope for growth, personal, professional or for the organization. And I was in a very senior role.
GE is famous for churning out the best CEOs (arguably) because they hire bright kids out of univ, and they are rotated into every job function for a few years at a time, and after about 15 years, they are very, very good.
Chewy509
Wotty wot wot.
And the year is off to a great start...
On Wednesday, my wife went for a follow up with her treatment specialist team, and has been told that she has breast cancer (stage 2, non-operable). A lesion (attached to a lymph node in her left breast) has appeared in the last 2 months, and MRIs and blood tests have confirmed that the cancer has matastised beyond the initial site. She's already started hormone therapy, and will start radiation treatment next week for 6 weeks, followed by chemotherapy there after. The oncology team assigned to her are hoping that radiation/chemo will shrink the cancer back to a point were they can do surgery to remove the growth. (It's means a double mastectomy for her).
The only decent news to come out of all the tests she's had recently, is they diagnosis of MS may be incorrect, and symptoms attributed to the breast cancer, a severe case of Rheumatoid arthritis and her Crohn's disease, coupled with re-occurrence of epilepsy. (She has epilepsy as a child, but it went away at 5/6 yrs of age. It reappeared after the birth of our daughter, but has been successfully treated with mild medication since). Once treatment for the breast cancer has completed, they will retest for MS just to make sure.
All of this coming after beating bowel cancer less than 12 months ago has taken a strain on her emotionally, as one can imagine. (Incidentally, during her treatment for bowel cancer, they did note two dormant lesions in her left breast, but left them in place, as they weren't doing anything. The oncology team she has now also noted these lesions are still there dormant, and suspect the Biological Treatment she had for bowel cancer actually kept these two lesions dormant all this time. But alas a third lesion has now appeared, and has spread).
Such is life...
Chewy509
Wotty wot wot.
Happy Australia Day for all the Aussies on the forum...
PS. Also know as Invasion Day...
PS. Also know as Invasion Day...
Stereodude
Not really a
There's very little turnover in Japan because of the culture. People just don't change jobs, and companies don't lay people off (not sure if the latter is the law or driven by cultural norms). Of course none of that changes that in general Japanese companies don't understand how to do business outside of Japan. Most of their industries have been decimated by competition and are limping along under the crushing weight of the policies driven by those cultural norms.
ddrueding
Fixture
And the year is off to a great start...
That is rough Chewy, I hope things turn out better.
mubs
Storage? I am Storage!
And the year is off to a great start...
Chewy, that's awful. I hope like the MS scare, the other issues are also actually not so bad and can be takes care of. My prayers and best wishes for your wife's complete and speedy recovery.
Bozo
Storage? I am Storage!
The company that I used to work for does this. Turnover is terrible with most employees lasting about 5 years. The quality of the product we manufacture suffers too. The saying "Jack of all trades, Master on none" comes to mind. The employee never gets a chance to get a 'feel' for the process where they are working. Because management is also being shuffled you end up with supervisors that have never worked on the production floor making decisions based on a 'best guess' scenario or 'team decisions', whatever that is. The solution from management is to write SOPs. They believe that you can hirer anyone of the street, hand that person an SOP and they can do the job.
It seems to me almost everyone takes pride in what they do, striving to be their best. But with constantly being shuffled around the attitude becomes 'just follow the SOP'.
Maybe the culture in Japan is different enough to allow the changing of jobs all the time, but not here.
I'm very sorry to hear that Chewy. That's a very emotional and challenging situation that both of you have to handle. Thanks for sharing it with us and I hope that you and your wife's spirits can stay high through these challenging times. I hope for the best for you both.And the year is off to a great start...
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
I'm sorry to learn the bad news for your wife too, Chewy. All I can say is that I've known several people who had cancer over the years and those who tend to fare better are those who kept seeing life in a positive way. I know it's hard to do, but if your wife fall into depression, in my experience, you'll be alone soon. I'm sure you already do your best regarding this. Keep reminding her your children needs her and if she can't find joy in what she believes will be her own faith, she can think of all the wonderful things that will happen in your children's future. Find happiness in their eyes.
I don't know what else to say. Good luck.
I don't know what else to say. Good luck.
jtr1962
Storage? I am Storage!
Everyone has areas where they're talented and not talented. I wouldn't be all that great in HR, either. I'd probably end up running it like the drill sergeant in "Full Metal Jacket".
Those things are very important if you want to retain quality employees. That's actually why I gave up on working for someone else only 6 years out of college. I couldn't find a place willing to pay me a decent salary to start, and which also had the potential to let me go as far as my abilities would let me. Sad to say, most places see even high-level workers as disposable assets which aren't worth investing time or training into.
Not all aspects of the Japanese model should be emulated. Lifetime employee largely is a cultural thing there. On the face of it, this isn't a bad idea. If you commit to a company it will commit to you. The downside of course is when employees don't work out well. The company is stuck with them. One of the models for lifetime employment has the least well performing worker out of every ten at each pay grade voluntarily quitting. That helps, but it's not as good as being allowed to hire/fire workers anytime. That said, I feel American companies go too far in the other direction. It's increasingly common for companies to lay off competent senior workers for no reason other than they can hire two or three college graduates for the same amount. Head count isn't everything.
I'm thinking here that they either hired too many less than qualified people, or just switched people way too often. It's true that some jobs can't be mastered quickly. The rotation schedule should reflect that. Also, there are some specialized positions which really take years or decades to master. Those are not amenable to rotation, but they usually consist of enough diverse tasks to keep the person doing them from getting stale. Another factor is pay. Management thinks it's so wonderful when they find people for $8 an hour. Of course, it isn't when a competent worker can replace 3 or 4 of them, or other employees have to constantly correct their mistakes. That was actually an issue at most places I worked. I told management as diplomatically as I could to get rid of the screw ups and pay those who remained at least twice as much. Chances are good we could have handled the workload. They never saw it that way. The typical response was "Look, we know they're not much better than nothing but they're cheap". That was usually the signal that it was time to leave. I know for a fact at least one of these companies was out of business a few years later. They loved to spend $$$ sending top sales people on trips to already established customers who were going to order from us anyway but they hated paying the people who actually did the grunt work decent wages. The biggest insult was when they closed the NYC shop but asked me to relocate to Virginia. Not that I was seriously considering it anyway, but they didn't offer me even a cent more than the lousy $10.94 an hour they were paying me.
jtr1962
Storage? I am Storage!
I'm also sorry to hear about the recent turn of events with your wife. It may be hard at times, but she needs to keep a positive outlook. Those who do have a much better shot at living a long time. I know at least two people (my dad and my maternal grandmother after her husband died) who just lost their will to live. Their bodies soon followed. I've also known people who survived decades more than the doctors said they would on willpower alone. I wish both of you all the luck in the world beating this.
And the year is off to a great start...
On Wednesday, my wife went for a follow up with her treatment specialist team, and has been told that she has breast cancer (stage 2, non-operable). A lesion (attached to a lymph node in her left breast) has appeared in the last 2 months, and MRIs and blood tests have confirmed that the cancer has matastised beyond the initial site. She's already started hormone therapy, and will start radiation treatment next week for 6 weeks, followed by chemotherapy there after. The oncology team assigned to her are hoping that radiation/chemo will shrink the cancer back to a point were they can do surgery to remove the growth. (It's means a double mastectomy for her).
The only decent news to come out of all the tests she's had recently, is they diagnosis of MS may be incorrect, and symptoms attributed to the breast cancer, a severe case of Rheumatoid arthritis and her Crohn's disease, coupled with re-occurrence of epilepsy. (She has epilepsy as a child, but it went away at 5/6 yrs of age. It reappeared after the birth of our daughter, but has been successfully treated with mild medication since). Once treatment for the breast cancer has completed, they will retest for MS just to make sure.
All of this coming after beating bowel cancer less than 12 months ago has taken a strain on her emotionally, as one can imagine. (Incidentally, during her treatment for bowel cancer, they did note two dormant lesions in her left breast, but left them in place, as they weren't doing anything. The oncology team she has now also noted these lesions are still there dormant, and suspect the Biological Treatment she had for bowel cancer actually kept these two lesions dormant all this time. But alas a third lesion has now appeared, and has spread).
Such is life...
That's terrible.
Howell
Storage? I am Storage!
Somehow "that sucks" doesn't really seem to communicate enough. My thoughts are with your family.
Stereodude
Not really a
That's very unfortunate news. I hope things get better for you and your wife.And the year is off to a great start...
Bozo
Storage? I am Storage!
Chewy, I'm at a loss for words....
That's horrible.
That's horrible.
I'm sorry to hear this news. My only advice is to stay strong for her, she'll need to lean on you, but don't be afraid to lean on a friend of your own. She needs your strength, and you'll need all the strength you can get to support her.
Best wishes
Best wishes
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Those are definitely some bad circumstances. Let us know if there's something we can do.
Chewy509
Wotty wot wot.
Just like to thank everyone for your kind words and support.
After an intense emotional weekend, I believe we're at a stage of acceptance of the situation and most importantly she has a positive outlook on the outcome of the treatment she's on. So let the fun begin!
After an intense emotional weekend, I believe we're at a stage of acceptance of the situation and most importantly she has a positive outlook on the outcome of the treatment she's on. So let the fun begin!
timwhit
Hairy Aussie
Chewy, I hope everything works out for you and your wife.
ddrueding
Fixture
Attachments
mubs
Storage? I am Storage!
Sad. It'sd happening in most parts of the world, DD. Especially underground aquifers that filled over millions of years have been sucked dry in 120 years.
ddrueding
Fixture
jtr1962
Storage? I am Storage!
Just using a liquid cooling block on the CPU might get CPU temperatures a few degrees above 0°C. On the other hand, if you use a liquid cooling block to cool a decent size thermoelectric cooler you could see CPU temperatures well below 0°C. Going by the specs, if we assume a 125 watt CPU, you might need a thermoelectric cooler like this. For efficiency reasons you might only run it at 60% of maximum current. This means the chiller must get rid of 125 watts from the CPU and 270 watts for the thermoelectric cooler, or ~400 watts total. You end up with a cooling block temperature around 9°C at an ambient of 25°C. The hot side of the thermoelectric will be a few degrees more than this due to interface losses, so figure maybe Th=12°C. A thermal load of 125 watts on the thermoelectric cooler gives a temperature differential of ~28°C at 60% of maximum current (the spec sheet says 36°C at Th=25°C but thermoelectrics get less efficient as Th decreases). You end up with a CPU temperature of 12°-28° = -16°C. Not sure if it's worthwhile going through all this to get the CPU about 20°C cooler than with liquid cooling alone but it is possible.
ddrueding
Fixture
Going below freezing brings all kinds of trouble; I wouldn't consider it viable for 24/7/365 operation. My current water cooled loop has been running 24/7 for over a year without even needing to add coolant. My current loop runs at near outdoor ambient (the radiator is in the garage) which at the moment is ~47F (and raining! yay!). I would only be interested in taking it just above 32F (0C) to discourage condensation. I'm already running a glycol mixture so freezing the coolant isn't really an issue.
Stereodude
Not really a
You can also get condensation above freezing. You've seen dew before right?
ddrueding
Fixture
Indeed. But the usual steps of waterproofing the board or insulating the waterblocks only works long-term if the water outside the pipes doesn't freeze
Consumer protections don't increase profits so why implement them. Just raise fees to cover costs.
mubs
Storage? I am Storage!
Aah, sir, but if the card is bogus, it's the merchant that has to eat the loss, not MC or Visa. This type of thinking is typically short-term. If the merchants want to be around for the long haul, they need to time-travel to the present era. That includes that behemoth, Amz.
Chewy509
Wotty wot wot.
Don't you hate it when the cost of towing exceeds the cost of the repair?
Got a flat rear tire on the bike yesterday on the way to work.... 1hr 30min wait for the tow truck (I have road side assistance as part of my insurance policy which includes 10km of towing for free), and the nearest tire place that does bike tires is outside my "free" 10km tow zone - so there's $65 for towing... The cost of the repair on the tire - $50... (patch on tire + new tube).
I know, I know, my first world problems...
Got a flat rear tire on the bike yesterday on the way to work.... 1hr 30min wait for the tow truck (I have road side assistance as part of my insurance policy which includes 10km of towing for free), and the nearest tire place that does bike tires is outside my "free" 10km tow zone - so there's $65 for towing... The cost of the repair on the tire - $50... (patch on tire + new tube).
I know, I know, my first world problems...