Week of April 4 randoms

[cattledogkisses]

Apr 7, 2022 8:04:44 GMT -5 neverfstop said:

I'm renting a beach condo for 1 night next month b/c we are doing family pictures down there. They keep asking me for more and more info, name and age of every guest, vehicle make/model, and now they are asking for license plates. I have rented VRBO's tons of time and never been this interrogated. I don't' eve know which car we will take down there or which one my parents will drive. FWIW - it's a management company, not an individual. It seems a bit excessive??

ETA: had to upload a selfie and also a picture of my license

That's ridiculously excessive.  I haven't used VRBO but I've stayed in AirBnBs all over the world and have never been asked for that much info. 

[StrawberryBlondie]

Apr 7, 2022 5:46:08 GMT -5 eddy said:

Apr 5, 2022 12:19:10 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

The "please do not reply all" reply alls are my favorite! 

Or “please take me off this list”

The joy it brings me when this starts going down is very unhealthy lol. 

We had this once when someone accidentally emailed something meant for one team to the entire company. We're a HUGE company. The number of people this went to was probably in the 6 figures.

The number of people replying saying to take them off the list broke our email system for a while.

[eddy]

Apr 7, 2022 8:25:14 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

Apr 7, 2022 5:46:08 GMT -5 eddy said:

Or “please take me off this list”

The joy it brings me when this starts going down is very unhealthy lol. 

We had this once when someone accidentally emailed something meant for one team to the entire company. We're a HUGE company. The number of people this went to was probably in the 6 figures.

The number of people replying saying to take them off the list broke our email system for a while.

I cackled

I am also terrified of being this person.

[bears]

Apr 7, 2022 8:24:56 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

Apr 7, 2022 8:04:44 GMT -5 neverfstop said:

I'm renting a beach condo for 1 night next month b/c we are doing family pictures down there. They keep asking me for more and more info, name and age of every guest, vehicle make/model, and now they are asking for license plates. I have rented VRBO's tons of time and never been this interrogated. I don't' eve know which car we will take down there or which one my parents will drive. FWIW - it's a management company, not an individual. It seems a bit excessive??

ETA: had to upload a selfie and also a picture of my license

That's ridiculously excessive.  I haven't used VRBO but I've stayed in AirBnBs all over the world and have never been asked for that much info. 

It may be related to the property. Is there a gate/guard shack? Getting into my grandma's retirement community is like getting into Fort Knox.

[StrawberryBlondie]

Apr 7, 2022 9:35:53 GMT -5 eddy said:

Apr 7, 2022 8:25:14 GMT -5 StrawberryBlondie said:

We had this once when someone accidentally emailed something meant for one team to the entire company. We're a HUGE company. The number of people this went to was probably in the 6 figures.

The number of people replying saying to take them off the list broke our email system for a while.

I cackled

I am also terrified of being this person.

Trust, it was HILARIOUS.

[SwimDeep]

I just found out I will be taking on project management for the program I work on, and I have many conflicting emotions... I'm always happy to get more responsibility at work, so YAY. But I also already have a very full plate, so *groan*. There is always the hope that taking this on will make it more likely that my contract will continue to be renewed (at the very least) or they'll hire me on as an FTE. But underneath the hope is the awareness (irritation) that I'm now working two jobs without the pay increase or title.

Knowing this gives me more negotiating power (yay) but also makes me impatient and... uncertain maybe? They don't have an incentive to bring me on full time because I'm already doing everything they want me to do. I don't know when I'll have an opportunity to advocate for myself.

Add to all this the recruiter emails I've been getting with pay rates at DOUBLE what I'm currently making and I'm left swimming in a swamp of UGH.

[pixy0stix]

It always kind of boggles my mind how expensive swimsuits are.

[lilypad1126]

just, I can relate. To all of it! I'm trying to make friends so I have someone to do something with outside of just my H and it's helping a bit. It's nice to have something to look forward to that isn't just another night of watching netflix with H, ha. And I started a new job last year to help a little with the boredom. Though it's still work, and it's a new product so it's still not "exciting". And, as you noted, it all feels a little artificial. I don't know, life in my 40s is just not as exciting as I pictured, I guess, lol.

[eponinepontmercy]

I drive two hours to my sister's apartment on Wednesday to help her and her fiancee finally unbox all the shower gifts and put things away. She's so stressed out. The wedding is in two weeks, and she's working six long days a week. She's a chef and the restaurant is really understaffed.

I was surprised when she took me up on my offer to come help organize, but I was so glad I was able to do something.

[TR]

Apr 8, 2022 9:23:19 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

It always kind of boggles my mind how expensive swimsuits are.

It makes me mad every year.

[Dznyprnces]

Apr 8, 2022 9:23:19 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

It always kind of boggles my mind how expensive swimsuits are.

Apparently I’m cheap, because I feel this way about most things. Why are my simple slip on Skechers $65? 

[bimbi284]

I found out this week that two of my most used/favorite lip colors/products have been discontinued.

I am very annoyed by this news. I’ve barely bothered with lip color for the last two years because masks and now that I started to hope of a life less masked, I go to replenish and boom. No lip stuff for bimbi.

[formerlyak]

Our “lovely” tenants texted yesterday saying they are out, that they cleaned and left the keys on the kitchen counter for us. Their lease isn’t up until the 24th so we asked if they still wanted to do a walk through next week to see if anything needs to be addressed that would affect their deposit (in addition to this month’s rent that they never paid). They said no. That they cleaned it all and there should be no issues. If there are, they want us to send them a list with quotes from vendors who could handle the work and they will decide if they want to do them themselves or have us take it out of the deposit. We will provide a list, as that is required, but hell if I’m going to spend time getting quotes for them!

We went in yesterday. All the plants in the front are dead. They left a pile of trash blocking the entire sidewalk which would result in fines from the city of left there since trash day isn’t for three more days, and it’s not at all clean. Hair all over the floor, dust on everything, soap scum on the tub that clearly hasn’t been cleaned in weeks, big bolt holes in the walls from mounting guitars and TVs (nail holes to hang pictures we are fine with the bolt holes that require special patching we are not), the wood window frame in the kitchen is damaged from their curtain rod, they left command hooks stuck everywhere including on wood doors, and the round toilet that was the wrong shape for their bottoms was put back but not hooked up properly. We took photos of everything so they had a date stamp and they can’t say the dust happened on the week between then they left the keys and the official agreed upon walk through time. We will do a thorough walk through and list next weekend.

I can’t wait for this to end!

Anyone have luck getting those command stick up hooks off walls and doors without damage? I’ve not had luck with those in the past and am hoping to get them off without losing a chunk of door or drywall this time.

[AJL]

I am going to Prague and Vienna this summer. ALONE! Woohoo!

Well not totally alone. I am meeting some people there half way through their three weeks in Europe and we're traveling to Prague and Vienna together. But I'm not taking anyone from my family with me. YAY!!!

[eponinepontmercy]

AJL, that sounds amazing.

[BlondeSpiders]

Apr 8, 2022 9:22:42 GMT -5 SwimDeep said:

I just found out I will be taking on project management for the program I work on, and I have many conflicting emotions... I'm always happy to get more responsibility at work, so YAY. But I also already have a very full plate, so *groan*. There is always the hope that taking this on will make it more likely that my contract will continue to be renewed (at the very least) or they'll hire me on as an FTE. But underneath the hope is the awareness (irritation) that I'm now working two jobs without the pay increase or title.

Knowing this gives me more negotiating power (yay) but also makes me impatient and... uncertain maybe? They don't have an incentive to bring me on full time because I'm already doing everything they want me to do. I don't know when I'll have an opportunity to advocate for myself.

Add to all this the recruiter emails I've been getting with pay rates at DOUBLE what I'm currently making and I'm left swimming in a swamp of UGH.

I work with contractors exclusively in my role and adding more duties that were not in the original contract would absolutely not be allowed. 

Are you working with a staffing agency or are you self-representing? If it's an agency, you should take this back to them, because they should be charging more for your labor.

Even if you're not, it's still worth asking if your contract needs to be amended to add these new duties. I can't speak for your company, obvs, but as an HR person, the part I bolded is absolutely spot-on. If you were to bring up how much extra it costs to have you do this work at contractor rates, it would be cheaper to bring you on as an FTE.

[SwimDeep]

Apr 11, 2022 13:53:39 GMT -5 BlondeSpiders said:

Apr 8, 2022 9:22:42 GMT -5 SwimDeep said:

I just found out I will be taking on project management for the program I work on, and I have many conflicting emotions... I'm always happy to get more responsibility at work, so YAY. But I also already have a very full plate, so *groan*. There is always the hope that taking this on will make it more likely that my contract will continue to be renewed (at the very least) or they'll hire me on as an FTE. But underneath the hope is the awareness (irritation) that I'm now working two jobs without the pay increase or title.

Knowing this gives me more negotiating power (yay) but also makes me impatient and... uncertain maybe? They don't have an incentive to bring me on full time because I'm already doing everything they want me to do. I don't know when I'll have an opportunity to advocate for myself.

Add to all this the recruiter emails I've been getting with pay rates at DOUBLE what I'm currently making and I'm left swimming in a swamp of UGH.

I work with contractors exclusively in my role and adding more duties that were not in the original contract would absolutely not be allowed. 

Are you working with a staffing agency or are you self-representing? If it's an agency, you should take this back to them, because they should be charging more for your labor.

Even if you're not, it's still worth asking if your contract needs to be amended to add these new duties. I can't speak for your company, obvs, but as an HR person, the part I bolded is absolutely spot-on. If you were to bring up how much extra it costs to have you do this work at contractor rates, it would be cheaper to bring you on as an FTE.

oh, I would only be doing this for the program my contract specifically covers. They've been very careful not to do anything that would breach the contract, but the contract wording is so vague that it gives them a lot of room. I do like your suggestion about amending it, though. I haven't had a chance to renegotiate it yet, but I'm going to put it at the top of my list now. This will be the first time I've tried to renegotiate a contract. I feel pretty confident I can make a good case for a title change and a raise 🙂

ETA: I'm with an agency, but I don't know how much I trust them to negotiate on my behalf. Although that's probably just me being controlling. They haven't done anything to make me think they would screw me over.