OT - NO POLITICS Off Topic 2020 part XX - Neil Peart, drummer and primary lyricist for Rush, dead at 67

[Fenway]

Damn that's a long flight O_O

Aruba is only 15 miles from Venezuela and it is tiny as Martha's Vineyard is bigger

 

[ODAAT]

Aruba is only 15 miles from Venezuela and it is tiny as Martha's Vineyard is bigger

never been to any of the above but 46 sleeps until Barbados.....can`t come soon enough

 

[BMC]

Aruba is only 15 miles from Venezuela and it is tiny as Martha's Vineyard is bigger

That has the airport where the jets come in for landing right over the beach, right?

 

[Fenway]

That has the airport where the jets come in for landing right over the beach, right?

No that is St Martin

I made it

 

[Glove Malfunction]

never been to any of the above but 46 sleeps until Barbados.....can`t come soon enough

We used to stop in Barbados on our way to and from Ascension Island. It's a beautiful island. you're going to love it.

 

[Glove Malfunction]

No that is St Martin

I made it

Have a great vacation Kevin!

 

[Fenway]

I was asked one question at Aruba customs

Do you enjoy Xander Bogaerts?

I said yes agent replied 'My nephew - enjoy Aruba'

 

[Glove Malfunction]

Would love to hear our HR friends' take on this:

 

[Chief Nine]

Would love to hear our HR friends' take on this:

Wow. Talk about overstepping bounds. That’s way out of line

 

[Kate08]

Would love to hear our HR friends' take on this:

I saw this on a Facebook group for an HR blog I read. Yes, I read HR blogs. Shaddup.

On the surface, it obviously seems pretty bad. But there isn't nearly enough information in the letter to know what kind of company it is, what kind of position the person holds, or what the terms of employment are.

If it's your run of the mill office worker in the USA, totally inappropriate.

Is the job in another country where employment is governed by contract as opposed to employment at will like we have here? Some other public-facing position and/or one that has significant oversight of large sums of money? Could have merit.

 

[LSCII]

Would love to hear our HR friends' take on this:

If I was that guy, I'd go buy a $500.00 shitbox and park it right up front going forward. Crazy how out of bounds this letter is. Love the HR clown talk too. "document the discussion"??? Really? Making a paper trail so you can later leverage this against the guy for not buying a new car? But why stop there? Why not google map his residence and then decide for him whether he should move into a more palatial home, given his salary?

 

[Glove Malfunction]

I saw this on a Facebook group for an HR blog I read. Yes, I read HR blogs. Shaddup.

On the surface, it obviously seems pretty bad. But there isn't nearly enough information in the letter to know what kind of company it is, what kind of position the person holds, or what the terms of employment are.

If it's your run of the mill office worker in the USA, totally inappropriate.

Is the job in another country where employment is governed by contract as opposed to employment at will like we have here? Some other public-facing position and/or one that has significant oversight of large sums of money? Could have merit.

Assuming this is in the US, Is there really ANY position someone could hold where a company can basically direct them to "upgrade" their own personal vehicle?

I read and follow EHR blogs and Twitter feeds too, so I get it.

Edit: I'm actually interested in what the discussion was like in that HR blog and Facebook comment world.

 

[Kate08]

Assuming this is in the US, Is there really ANY position someone could hold where a company can basically direct them to "upgrade" their own personal vehicle?

I read and follow EHR blogs and Twitter feeds too, so I get it.

Edit: I'm actually interested in what the discussion was like in that HR blog and Facebook comment world.

Again, depending on the position and what was agreed to as terms of hire, it's possible.

The comments range from this can't be real, to people sharing stories of other weird shit companies have done, to the fact that the email is signed by 2 people coming from one email address is a strange practice.

 

[Kate08]

It's Perfectly Legal For Your Boss to Tell You to Drive a Nicer Car

Suzanne Lucas runs the Evil HR Lady blog.

Tl;dr - "So, while requiring a nice car is legal, using it as a proxy for financial health is sketchy, and the whole thing is just dumb. If it's important to your company that everyone drives new cars, provide them."

One of the most valuable things I learned early on in my career is that it's not illegal to be an asshole, as long as you're an asshole to everyone and not an extra big asshole to specific groups of people. It's also not illegal to be a requiring manager, which is a popular sentiment.

 

[Chief Nine]

It's Perfectly Legal For Your Boss to Tell You to Drive a Nicer Car

Suzanne Lucas runs the Evil HR Lady blog.

Tl;dr - "So, while requiring a nice car is legal, using it as a proxy for financial health is sketchy, and the whole thing is just dumb. If it's important to your company that everyone drives new cars, provide them."

One of the most valuable things I learned early on in my career is that it's not illegal to be an *******, as long as you're an ******* to everyone and not an extra big ******* to specific groups of people. It's also not illegal to be a requiring manager, which is a popular sentiment.

These are words of gold. I’m going through an issue right now with an overtly toxic boss who plays favorites like David Gilmour plays the guitar. It ain’t fun

 

[Aussie Bruin]

I was asked one question at Aruba customs

Do you enjoy Xander Bogaerts?

I said yes agent replied 'My nephew - enjoy Aruba'

Enjoy your holiday. You've earned it!

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Sad news, Terry Jones of Monty Python has passed. I was watching the Holy Grail movie yesterday and was wondering about him. I knew he had dementia

Terry Jones, 'Monty Python' Co-Founder and British Comedy Icon, Dies at 77

How do you know so much about swallows?

Oh no, that is very sad. There has never been another comedy group like Python and there never will be. Jones was probably the least well-known and regarded in the sense that he didn't have Palin's easy charm, Idle's musical chops, Chapman's uniqueness and grandeur, Gilliam's subsequent directing career or Cleese's commanding presence and success outside of Python, but he was definitely an integral part of what made the group work and be so very hilarious.

His comic timing was as good as any, and he wrote or co-wrote some of the very best sketches. But probably his directing of Life of Brian is his crowning achievement - Holy Grail is an excellent collection of sketches and Meaning of Life has its great moments, but Brian isn't just incredibly funny and cutting in its social commentary, but it looks and feels like a proper film with genuinely thoughtful design and plotting and some really slick camera work. A lot of that is down to Jones and the care he took in producing the movie. Farewell to a wonderful artist and entertainer.

 

[Fenway]

 

[Glove Malfunction]

It's Perfectly Legal For Your Boss to Tell You to Drive a Nicer Car

Suzanne Lucas runs the Evil HR Lady blog.

Tl;dr - "So, while requiring a nice car is legal, using it as a proxy for financial health is sketchy, and the whole thing is just dumb. If it's important to your company that everyone drives new cars, provide them."

One of the most valuable things I learned early on in my career is that it's not illegal to be an *******, as long as you're an ******* to everyone and not an extra big ******* to specific groups of people. It's also not illegal to be a requiring manager, which is a popular sentiment.

Thanks for the insight, Kate. I figured the responses would pretty much cover the spectrum.

Personally, if I got a message like that, I'd update my resume before I even responded.

 

[Glove Malfunction]

View attachment 311683

Much better than being with that iguana's cousins in Florida:
Florida is so cold freezing iguanas are falling out of trees, officials warn

 

[Fenway]

Argentinian steak - always ask the locals

 

[Dueling Banjos]

Argentinian steak - always ask the locals

That's it, i am having one tomorrow.

 

[Fenway]

 

[Glove Malfunction]

Argentinian steak - always ask the locals

Best steak I ever had was in Panama - no growth hormones, no GMO corn, just grass and whatever they could eat out in the fields

 

[Runner77]

I checked out user replies and saw at least 5 news sources (they looked to be mainstream) asking to use the story or to conduct an interview with the victim of the crime.

On some stories where a twitter user posts dramatic footage, it can become a media feeding frenzy with a ton of replies from competing media outlets.

Wondering how media sources get exclusivities in this type of environment? In the pre-twitter days, reporters had to dig for stories or have a good network of contacts.

More importantly, the victim sounds like a nice person. I hope someone steps up for her.