What Are You Doing Right Now
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So last night I found out that I have two famous relatives that I did not know about.
One is Abraham Oberholtzer, better known as Abraham Oberholt, the face on the bottle of Old Oberholt Straight Rye Whiskey made by Jim Beam.
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The other is Henry Clay Frick. The man who ran Carnegie Steel and founded the Pennsylvania Railroad! I've actually been to one of his museums.
He was my second cousin.
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@scottalanmiller well that.... Frickin' cool?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksaj said:
Also, had a job interview this morning which I nailed! I was quite proud of myself...
I thought that you started a new job yesterday??
I did, but I wanted to keep this one open as a possibility for the future, and I'd scheduled the interview before I'd taken Staples. I went knowing I wouldn't take the job but they don't know that. I figure I'll end up there in a year or two.
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Gotcha, that's cool then.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Gotcha, that's cool then.
Basically, I need a win right now in my life, and I know I can get that for a certainty at Staples. Interestingly enough, I'm walking into a war zone at Staples. My general manager hired me directly against the wishes of one of the assistant managers, who seems to view me as a major threat. However, nobody likes that manager (and I mean nobody).
I was just in the store and a guy needed help and someone who works there walked right by him without helping. So he approached me, even though I wasn't in uniform. I started to work with him, which I didn't mind. The manager who doesn't like me quite rudely butted in and took over, which I didn't mind except the way he did it. Then he got all pissy about how he couldn't have me helping customers and how I wasn't his employee when I told him "well, starting tomorrow, I kinda am..." and he got REALLY quiet, like "I'm going to kill you in your sleep" quiet.
I went and grabbed food and then hung with the two other people who have been at that store longer than anyone else (besides the GM) who I've worked with for years before. The GM came back with one of the biggest smiles on his face and simply said "boy, is he pissed". We all started cracking up.
I've tried calming things down with this manager but I guess he's already on thin ice as it is. The GM told him that as a manager he really can't have him (the assistant manager) working on computers and he claimed he's way faster at fixing them than I am. My general manager is not technical at all and even he knew that was a crock. My GM explained to him that he hired me because they need people and they need someone who is reliable and good at what they do. That's why I was rehired.
I start again tomorrow at 2PM EST. They currently have an EasyTech Expert but he moves to Michigan (sounds like pretty close to the area @FiyaFly lives in) in April, so April 11 is his last day. I have already basically told my GM that I am expecting the job after he leaves, which I'm pretty sure won't be an issue. I'll have about two months to prove myself again, which won't be an issue.
I'm excited to be back there, and probably way more excited than I should be, but I really did like the job and I was damn good at it. So, here's to new beginnings! raises glass
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@thanksaj great..That's awesome story
Congrats again..
Cheers!!! -
@thanksaj honestly it sounds like Staples really is a good place for you. You liked it there and you crushed that job. That assistant manager will likely not be there for long, one way or another. It's not the type of position that really tends to last a long time even normally.
Once you are there for a while and make it clear that you are there to be a rock star tech and not just doing it to grab the Asst. Manager job I think that things will probably get better quickly. Maybe not with this manager, but with the one who replaces him. A good manager wants a rock star tech making him look good and knows that. This guy sounds like he knows that he is not a good manager and is trying to make himself valuable by being a tech instead.
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Although I do have to say that the GM saying that a manager should not fix things too is not the sign of a good GM. I've seen the same thing before when I was a General Manager and the regional manager told me that I was only to "think and manage" and not to "do". Sure, that's a nice theory. But the reality was that I could not spend usefully all of my time managing people, good people don't need that much management.
If I became part of the team I became a better leader and I reduced the total number of staff that we had. We were the most efficient restaurant in our group by a huge degree. Best customer service, fewest employees, highest profits margins, happiest staff. A lot of it came down to that I didn't just manage and act like a monarch with serfs, I acted like a leader and was a part of the team.
I'm not saying that this Asst. Manager is like that, he just sounds like an idiot. I still knew that my team was all better at their jobs that I was and I was just there to help out wherever needed and managing was my priority. I was the guy who covered them on breaks and sick days or whatever. Or who hopped in when they were overloaded. This guy sounds like he wants to be the tech, in reality.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@thanksaj honestly it sounds like Staples really is a good place for you. You liked it there and you crushed that job. That assistant manager will likely not be there for long, one way or another. It's not the type of position that really tends to last a long time even normally.
Once you are there for a while and make it clear that you are there to be a rock star tech and not just doing it to grab the Asst. Manager job I think that things will probably get better quickly. Maybe not with this manager, but with the one who replaces him. A good manager wants a rock star tech making him look good and knows that. This guy sounds like he knows that he is not a good manager and is trying to make himself valuable by being a tech instead.
Yeah, I did. It feels like I'm going backwards in many ways, but I really did love this job. I'm excited to be going back. You are right though. Especially on my last stint at Staples, I needed very little management. I knew pretty much all the policies and procedures and the managers just let me do my job and pretty much never questioned my decisions, because I'd earned a level of trust. I don't think this assistant manager wants to be a tech. I think he wants to do whatever is necessary to be viewed as valuable/irreplaceable, and his stock just continues to drop.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Although I do have to say that the GM saying that a manager should not fix things too is not the sign of a good GM. I've seen the same thing before when I was a General Manager and the regional manager told me that I was only to "think and manage" and not to "do". Sure, that's a nice theory. But the reality was that I could not spend usefully all of my time managing people, good people don't need that much management.
If I became part of the team I became a better leader and I reduced the total number of staff that we had. We were the most efficient restaurant in our group by a huge degree. Best customer service, fewest employees, highest profits margins, happiest staff. A lot of it came down to that I didn't just manage and act like a monarch with serfs, I acted like a leader and was a part of the team.
I'm not saying that this Asst. Manager is like that, he just sounds like an idiot. I still knew that my team was all better at their jobs that I was and I was just there to help out wherever needed and managing was my priority. I was the guy who covered them on breaks and sick days or whatever. Or who hopped in when they were overloaded. This guy sounds like he wants to be the tech, in reality.
And I agree with that. The GM wasn't saying that the assistant manager CAN'T fix computers, but this assistant manager has been forgoing other responsibilities that are manager-only jobs to try and be "useful" at fixing computers, etc. The problem is that right now the department doesn't have any really solid techs, which is no surprise. Even walking in the door, I'm going to be the strongest asset our department has, and I haven't been there in a year and a half. Once I've been there a couple weeks and have the new ways of doing things down, I'm gonna be back in my groove.
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I also found out that a friend of mine, who was also EasyTech Expert at one time (I replaced the guy who replaced him), filed a formal complaint with corporate against this assistant manager because of something he did and how he treated him as a customer. Our store has always prided itself on being the best at customer service, especially under my watch. It sounds like they've lost some of that since I've been gone...
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Dealing with the insane complications that come with being a "citizen of the world." Taxes, visas, flights... ugh.
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Just found out that our remote application server has an HTML5 client. Also found out that it the client won't run on Chrome for Android. Either way it is pretty cool.
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@coliver said:
Just found out that our remote application server has an HTML5 client. Also found out that it the client won't run on Chrome for Android. Either way it is pretty cool.
Nice. Not about the Chrome on Android bit, but other than that, pretty sweet.
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This is crazy....
NY -> Cali -> NY -> Texas -> Spain -> NY -> Cali -> Texas -> ? -> Texas -> Spain -> Texas. That’s just 2015!!
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Good morning to all! Happy weekend..
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Good "morning"
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Looking forward to a satisfying afternoon! 99% done decomissioning an old server2k3 box which I will turn into a vmhost for my imaging server (FOG)
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About to go get my Assistant totally setup with a satellite office at her house. Cordless Phone, check! Desktop top, check! Monitor, check!
