Go Back  Bike Forums > The Racer's Forum > "The 33"-Road Bike Racing
Reload this Page >

So are the days of our lives...

Notices
"The 33"-Road Bike Racing We set this forum up for our members to discuss their experiences in either pro or amateur racing, whether they are the big races, or even the small backyard races. Don't forget to update all the members with your own race results.

So are the days of our lives...

Old 05-07-15, 10:43 PM
  #8601  
**** that
 
mattm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: CALI
Posts: 15,402
Mentioned: 151 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1099 Post(s)
Liked 104 Times in 30 Posts
Originally Posted by Flatballer
I'm still a young engineer, although it does say senior on my title, it sounds more impressive than it is. It's really equivalent to what used to be engineer 3. How long do I have to wait to start skipping and or leaving pointless meetings so that I can actually do the work that the meetings are asking me about doing? I swear I spend more time talking about and planning than actually doing or problem solving. The meeting talking is explaining things that the 3 engineers in the room already know to the 8 project managers who don't understand and never will.

Sorry, it's a bit of a touchy subject at the moment. We inherited the PM mindset from another company, and it's awful. So, much, overhead.
Somewhere between the two extremes (over-planning, no planning) lies the sweet spot.

While it may seem ideal to just "do it", few things can be worse than spending time coming up with a great solution for the wrong problem. Or a solution that is great but not practical, etc.

Some companies handle this well by keeping "foot soldiers" out of most meetings, letting the managers do their job - planning strategy etc.
__________________
cat 1.

my race videos
mattm is offline  
Old 05-07-15, 10:44 PM
  #8602  
**** that
 
mattm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: CALI
Posts: 15,402
Mentioned: 151 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1099 Post(s)
Liked 104 Times in 30 Posts
Originally Posted by Flatballer
Wait, I can say hell, but I can't say the three letter word for the group of things that ***** and ****** are part of? I was reading through a bunch of my old track racing reports, and noticed that everywhere there used to be that word, it was censored. Most of my race reports would say "from the ***", or "at the ***", etc. Ridiculous. That's some really crazy censoring.
I bet $10 it came from some silly argument in P&R, where somebody said "if you're going to censor 'xyz' you might as well censor *** too", and a mod went ahead and did it..
__________________
cat 1.

my race videos
mattm is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 01:35 AM
  #8603  
RacingBear
 
UmneyDurak's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: NorCal
Posts: 9,053
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 280 Post(s)
Liked 68 Times in 36 Posts
Just wait until you have to interact with other teams, and some of them are in different business groups. All with their own agendas and looking to justify their team/product/tool existence. Good times, good times.
UmneyDurak is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 03:40 AM
  #8604  
out walking the earth
Thread Starter
 
gsteinb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lake Placid, NY
Posts: 21,441
Mentioned: 71 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 912 Post(s)
Liked 752 Times in 342 Posts
Originally Posted by mattm
I bet $10 it came from some silly argument in P&R, where somebody said "if you're going to censor 'xyz' you might as well censor *** too", and a mod went ahead and did it..
I'll take that bet.
gsteinb is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 04:47 AM
  #8605  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: NJ
Posts: 216

Bikes: road and track

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Flatballer
I'm still a young engineer, although it does say senior on my title, it sounds more impressive than it is. It's really equivalent to what used to be engineer 3. How long do I have to wait to start skipping and or leaving pointless meetings so that I can actually do the work that the meetings are asking me about doing? I swear I spend more time talking about and planning than actually doing or problem solving. The meeting talking is explaining things that the 3 engineers in the room already know to the 8 project managers who don't understand and never will.

Sorry, it's a bit of a touchy subject at the moment. We inherited the PM mindset from another company, and it's awful. So, much, overhead.
I'm also an engineer and I've come to find that these types of meetings are pointless and are pretty much just ways to make the day go faster. My strategy has become to let the PMs and upper management talk themselves out. Once they're done justifying their existence I explain the problem/solution/etc in layman's terms so they can understand. When all else fails, I throw in some technical jargon to make sound like they're in over their heads. That usually makes them leave me alone long enough to do my work.
Stas87 is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 06:29 AM
  #8606  
No matches
 
Flatballer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 11,647

Bikes: two wheeled ones

Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1398 Post(s)
Liked 444 Times in 250 Posts
Originally Posted by mattm
I bet $10 it came from some silly argument in P&R, where somebody said "if you're going to censor 'xyz' you might as well censor *** too", and a mod went ahead and did it..
lol, I didn't even notice that "long weapon that imparts spin on a projectile" and "revolver is a type of this" were banned too. That's just insane.

Originally Posted by UmneyDurak
Just wait until you have to interact with other teams, and some of them are in different business groups. All with their own agendas and looking to justify their team/product/tool existence. Good times, good times.
Already had plenty of that. Just part of being in a big company I guess.

edit: merging posts

Last edited by Flatballer; 05-08-15 at 06:33 AM. Reason: merge
Flatballer is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 07:02 AM
  #8607  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 6,840
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 31 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Flatballer
Man, the project managers here clearly didn't read your book.

Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

I think the book they read is "hold a meeting, have lunch, hold another meeting, hold some more meetings, hold one more meeting. Ask someone who is an expert some things. Ask them the same things in the next meeting. Have another meeting with a different group of project managers. Ask the same questions. Have more free lunches. Hold more meetings".
they skipped steps 1 - 3 and went straight to a portion of step 4. shame on them, but at least everyone is eating well
MDcatV is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 07:11 AM
  #8608  
No matches
 
Flatballer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 11,647

Bikes: two wheeled ones

Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1398 Post(s)
Liked 444 Times in 250 Posts
"Well" is probably not the word I would use. "Plenty" is probably more accurate.
Flatballer is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 07:47 AM
  #8609  
**** that
 
mattm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: CALI
Posts: 15,402
Mentioned: 151 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1099 Post(s)
Liked 104 Times in 30 Posts
Originally Posted by Stas87
I'm also an engineer and I've come to find that these types of meetings are pointless and are pretty much just ways to make the day go faster. My strategy has become to let the PMs and upper management talk themselves out. Once they're done justifying their existence I explain the problem/solution/etc in layman's terms so they can understand. When all else fails, I throw in some technical jargon to make sound like they're in over their heads. That usually makes them leave me alone long enough to do my work.
This sounds a lot like Dilbert.
__________________
cat 1.

my race videos
mattm is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 08:08 AM
  #8610  
Senior Member
 
big john's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: In the foothills of Los Angeles County
Posts: 25,095
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8183 Post(s)
Liked 8,841 Times in 4,390 Posts
Originally Posted by mattm
I bet $10 it came from some silly argument in P&R, where somebody said "if you're going to censor 'xyz' you might as well censor *** too", and a mod went ahead and did it..
Remember when there were buttloads of helmet threads in the 41? They got really ugly and were eventually condensed and moved to P&R. Then came threads about carrying weapons on your bike, and these made the helmet threads seem sedate.

You want to see some ugliness, hatred and namecalling? Talk about weapons and presto, moron central.
big john is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 08:29 AM
  #8611  
Senior Member
 
himespau's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 13,551
Mentioned: 33 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4194 Post(s)
Liked 2,911 Times in 1,780 Posts
Originally Posted by wens
The pm's I work with are pretty good about keeping the number of meetings in check, although that may be because they work with a couple of crusty old engineers who just get up and leave when they decide a meeting has gotten pointless. Apparently after thirty odd years you're you finally lose the training from elementary school.
Man, I wish I had that sort of security.

Originally Posted by carpediemracing
I'm curious who this is, both from a promoter as well as a racer point of view. I haven't seen someone ride like that but it seems so… sadistic?

Nothing riles me up like dirty riding. Well maybe teammates that don't ride like teammates, but don't get me started on that. I don't ride dirty against others first but man, if someone starts messing around, I can be the absolute dirtiest rider around.
Ooh that sounds like another thread for @Doge to start.

Originally Posted by big john
Remember when there were buttloads of helmet threads in the 41? They got really ugly and were eventually condensed and moved to P&R. Then came threads about carrying weapons on your bike, and these made the helmet threads seem sedate.

You want to see some ugliness, hatred and namecalling? Talk about weapons and presto, moron central.
Wait. How the hell did helmets devolve into something that ended up in P&R? I could see that barren thought wasteland that is A&S or maybe Trollheim if it got really bad, but why inflict a helmet thread on P&R?
__________________
Bikes: 1996 Eddy Merckx Titanium EX, 1989/90 Colnago Super(issimo?) Piu(?), 1990 Concorde Aquila(hit by car while riding), others in build queue "when I get the time"






Last edited by himespau; 05-08-15 at 08:37 AM. Reason: merged a bunch of posts together
himespau is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 09:00 AM
  #8612  
Senior Member
 
JohnKScott's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Franklin, TN
Posts: 3,385

Bikes: It has two wheels

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I actually know someone who might like that...
JohnKScott is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 09:07 AM
  #8613  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: NJ
Posts: 216

Bikes: road and track

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by mattm
This sounds a lot like Dilbert.
When I started working a few years ago, I was amazed out how many times Dilbert was just like my office. In fact it still amazes me.
Most of the middle management were engineers once, but they have been in management so long they pretty much forgot everything. Now I have become the default technical expert on everything I didn't learn in school
Stas87 is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 09:24 AM
  #8614  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Boston
Posts: 2,199

Bikes: 2017 Raleigh RX 1.0, 2018 Specialized Allez

Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 471 Post(s)
Liked 631 Times in 336 Posts
speaking of work stuff, i was one of two candidates up for a promotion, and I was the loser. the way my employer works is that formal notifications come through an HR application website. fine, but my manager, who was the one who made the decision, hasn't even addressed it with me personally and hasn't even spoken to me in two days, despite her office being right by my cubicle and passing by multiple times per day. so I'm going to have to be the bigger person and address it.
hubcyclist is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 09:35 AM
  #8615  
Senior Member
 
furiousferret's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Redlands, CA
Posts: 6,313
Mentioned: 31 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 842 Post(s)
Liked 469 Times in 250 Posts
Originally Posted by hubcyclist
speaking of work stuff, i was one of two candidates up for a promotion, and I was the loser. the way my employer works is that formal notifications come through an HR application website. fine, but my manager, who was the one who made the decision, hasn't even addressed it with me personally and hasn't even spoken to me in two days, despite her office being right by my cubicle and passing by multiple times per day. so I'm going to have to be the bigger person and address it.
That's rough. I've been there before and its best to hash things out and get some perspective. The best thing to do is try to understand how your boss sees you as an employee (which is usually very different from what you think) and make changes as needed. Good luck.
furiousferret is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 09:39 AM
  #8616  
Senior Member
 
himespau's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Louisville, KY
Posts: 13,551
Mentioned: 33 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4194 Post(s)
Liked 2,911 Times in 1,780 Posts
As long as you can find a way to phrase it so she knows you're looking for ways to improve. That's the hard bit. Even if you're fine with the decision, letting her know you are not angry so she doesn't start from a defensive position feeling like you're attacking her decision.
__________________
Bikes: 1996 Eddy Merckx Titanium EX, 1989/90 Colnago Super(issimo?) Piu(?), 1990 Concorde Aquila(hit by car while riding), others in build queue "when I get the time"





himespau is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 09:56 AM
  #8617  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 6,840
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 31 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by hubcyclist
speaking of work stuff, i was one of two candidates up for a promotion, and I was the loser. the way my employer works is that formal notifications come through an HR application website. fine, but my manager, who was the one who made the decision, hasn't even addressed it with me personally and hasn't even spoken to me in two days, despite her office being right by my cubicle and passing by multiple times per day. so I'm going to have to be the bigger person and address it.
just start doing the job as though you were awarded the promotion and tell her you appreciate her confidence in you
MDcatV is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 10:00 AM
  #8618  
No matches
 
Flatballer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 11,647

Bikes: two wheeled ones

Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1398 Post(s)
Liked 444 Times in 250 Posts
That would be hilarious.
Flatballer is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 10:21 AM
  #8619  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Boston
Posts: 2,199

Bikes: 2017 Raleigh RX 1.0, 2018 Specialized Allez

Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 471 Post(s)
Liked 631 Times in 336 Posts
Yeah, the thing is that the guy chosen was already acting in that capacity for a bit due to someone else leaving, so whether anyone admits it or not, he had the leg up. I heard secondhand that they were actually blown away by my interview, and had gone into the whole process assuming the other guy would be the pick. So I guess I can feel good about disrupting the process, but I feel like they went for the safe pick. Anyhow, I'm frustrated but ultimately as soon as I'm done with my dissertation (hopefully in the next couple of months, we're polishing up the draft) I'll be focusing on other career options.
hubcyclist is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 10:31 AM
  #8620  
No matches
 
Flatballer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 11,647

Bikes: two wheeled ones

Mentioned: 15 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1398 Post(s)
Liked 444 Times in 250 Posts
Sounds like it was an HR requirement posting and you never had a chance going in. They do that here. They know exactly who they want, they write the job description tailored exactly towards them, and never have any plans to choose anyone else who applies. It's purely so they don't get sued, and it's ridiculous and a waste of time.
Flatballer is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 10:57 AM
  #8621  
Senior Member
 
furiousferret's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Redlands, CA
Posts: 6,313
Mentioned: 31 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 842 Post(s)
Liked 469 Times in 250 Posts
Our workplace is a pretty normal IT shop, we have some odd people here.

Will Ferrel Guy - Every day comes up and wants to talk about one of the scenes in a Will Ferrell movie. Today it was the scene in Anchorman 2 when he was blind and serving food. Yesterday it was the Other Guys when he was a pimp
Super Enthusiatic Girl - Wow! You rode your bike this weekend? That's amazing!!! How far did you go? OMG!!! That is super.....yep, I rode my bike just like I do every weekend
Koran Dude - Goes out of his way to quote the Koran for everything. Paperclips...yeah there's a Koran reference there somewhere.
Cliche Guy - I got a case of the Mondays, Gotta do what you gotta do, I'm living the dream, just passing the time...Totally devoid of any original thought
Foreign Guy that thinks we're all racists - Despite us telling him over and over that's not appropriate, he insists on making super racist jokes to fit in with the white guys.
Quiet Guy Who is Planning to Shoot Up the Place - Pretty standard, I think every workplace has one of these.
Mensa Guy - Brings up that he's a genius and references Mensa whenever he can. Doesn't wash his hands after he uses the bathroom.

If you ask them about me I'm probably face palm guy.

I'm missing about 30 others, but I have work to do. If management finds this they might promote me.
furiousferret is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 11:14 AM
  #8622  
Senior Member
 
shovelhd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Western MA
Posts: 15,669

Bikes: Yes

Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 9 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by furiousferret
Our workplace is a pretty normal IT shop, we have some odd people here.

Will Ferrel Guy - Every day comes up and wants to talk about one of the scenes in a Will Ferrell movie. Today it was the scene in Anchorman 2 when he was blind and serving food. Yesterday it was the Other Guys when he was a pimp
Super Enthusiatic Girl - Wow! You rode your bike this weekend? That's amazing!!! How far did you go? OMG!!! That is super.....yep, I rode my bike just like I do every weekend
Koran Dude - Goes out of his way to quote the Koran for everything. Paperclips...yeah there's a Koran reference there somewhere.
Cliche Guy - I got a case of the Mondays, Gotta do what you gotta do, I'm living the dream, just passing the time...Totally devoid of any original thought
Foreign Guy that thinks we're all racists - Despite us telling him over and over that's not appropriate, he insists on making super racist jokes to fit in with the white guys.
Quiet Guy Who is Planning to Shoot Up the Place - Pretty standard, I think every workplace has one of these.
Mensa Guy - Brings up that he's a genius and references Mensa whenever he can. Doesn't wash his hands after he uses the bathroom.

If you ask them about me I'm probably face palm guy.

I'm missing about 30 others, but I have work to do. If management finds this they might promote me.
This is hilarious!!!!

I'm technical middle management, and have been a formal PM. I pity some of you guys and the places where you work. I'm at the end of my career and doing some bleeding edge stuff.
shovelhd is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 11:18 AM
  #8623  
Senior Member
 
Wylde06's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: NW Ohio
Posts: 2,208

Bikes: Cannondale Six13

Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 140 Post(s)
Liked 58 Times in 21 Posts
Originally Posted by furiousferret
I'm living the dream
Nightmares are dreams too
Wylde06 is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 12:09 PM
  #8624  
Senior Member
 
canuckbelle's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 944

Bikes: Scott Foil 10, Di2

Mentioned: 21 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 148 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Welp, got added to the 'big' local racing team today At least there's another woman (Cat 3) to train and race with (we raced together on Tuesday).
canuckbelle is offline  
Old 05-08-15, 12:18 PM
  #8625  
**** that
 
mattm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: CALI
Posts: 15,402
Mentioned: 151 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1099 Post(s)
Liked 104 Times in 30 Posts
Congrats @canuckbelle!
__________________
cat 1.

my race videos
mattm is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.