Sometimes you just need to scream!!!

[jmbeck]

So, you may not recall, but I had a fight with management over my estimate for my next job. Well, I get copied on the email with the final budgeted hours from scheduling. As it turns out, I had an extra 20% than what I was forced to whittle down, because "we have to get these hours down, the customer just won't stand for anything more than X".

So I called my manager, told him I was pleasantly surprised the hours went up, and I will redistribute the hours accordingly.

"Oh no, I added those hours to the supervision budget, I didn't have enough hours to carry me through the end of the project".

So, I had to cut one of my guys, and I'm seriously concerned about getting my tasks performed under budget. Meanwhile, he adds hours to his budget (with no value added) because he didn't have the hours to carry him through the duration.

His "supervision" budget is now 20% of my entire budget. I have 5 guys I'm carrying. He's got three projects to manage. The supervision hours will be under budget by at least 30%.

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[TouchDown]

Sounds like your boss is feeding you a shitake sandwich.

Pull up to the table and take a big bite of that thing.

 

[Chucktown PE]

If it makes you feel any better my boss cuts my fee estimates (thus cutting hours) by one third before I even have a chance to talk to him. That's better than my last boss that would cut my fee estimates by at least 60%.

 

[EM_PS]

I got an MIL that absolutely loves to be the 'fun' granny to my kids. She loves having them over, they love her, I love getting them out of my hair for a spell. Trouble always is, come time to pick 'em up, they almost always have nuclear meltdowns on how they don't wanna go home, 'I don't like daddy', 'I don't like mommy', yada yada yada - they're 4.5 & 3 btw so clearly nothing to take personally - BUT it infuriates me that 'fun granny' seems to go out of her way to enable these embarassing public displays just to reinforce how clearly beloved she is either for her ego or for our "benefit". She never does anything to help minimize or squelch these long awkward departures like a real grandparent would try. Then i gotta be a hardass to them once we're underway essentially reinforcing how much they 'don't like daddy'. Unreal, just totally puts me in a sour mood rest of day :madgo:

 

[Chucktown PE]

I got an MIL that absolutely loves to be the 'fun' granny to my kids. She loves having them over, they love her, I love getting them out of my hair for a spell. Trouble always is, come time to pick 'em up, they almost always have nuclear meltdowns on how they don't wanna go home, 'I don't like daddy', 'I don't like mommy', yada yada yada - they're 4.5 & 3 btw so clearly nothing to take personally - BUT it infuriates me that 'fun granny' seems to go out of her way to enable these embarassing public displays just to reinforce how clearly beloved she is either for her ego or for our "benefit". She never does anything to help minimize or squelch these long awkward departures like a real grandparent would try. Then i gotta be a hardass to them once we're underway essentially reinforcing how much they 'don't like daddy'. Unreal, just totally puts me in a sour mood rest of day :madgo:

Been there done that dude. My in-laws are the exact same way. They'll do whatever the kids ask, doughnuts for dinner....sure, pizza for breakfast....sure. Mom and Dad don't think that's appropriate.....who cares. My wife is such a freaking pushover as well that I end up having to be the ******* to the in-laws and the ******* to the kids. Then my parents know the rules and actually listen to us so guess who are the favorite grandparents. It infuriates the **** out of me.

Oh well. I'm going to my BIL's bachelor party this weekend. I'll be in the drunk tank in about 6 hours. Probably won't have time for posting with all the strippers running around the house.

:joke: to the stripper thing.......I think.

 

[EM_PS]

Oh well. I'm going to my BIL's bachelor party this weekend. I'll be in the drunk tank in about 6 hours. Probably won't have time for posting with all the strippers running around the house.

Heh - watch the hangover thing. . .oh and the stripper thing, esp the one they call Lola.

I drive home w/ the rugrats, the 3yo is passed out 10 minutes down the road; 4.5 yo attempts talking to me I say "hey, that sounds great hon" & crank the Zune thru the radio up to 30 or so, forcing them to endure Crue / GNR / Velvet Revolver / hair :band: playlist for the 30 minute drive home just so I don't have to F'n interact with them -

 

[Guest]

^ Ditto. Just figured out that there is no way in hell I'm going to make it to Oshkosh tomorrow. The Calculation-Project-From-Hell has just officially eaten my Summer.

I was supposed to go to Atlanta in mid-August for a friend's wedding. I had to cancel because of a backlogged work project that *MUST* get done by September 30th.

On the flip side, I told my boss I am bugging on in early Sept to fly down to Florida for some much needed vacation + time back home.

JR

 

[maryannette]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Somtimes, you just have to scream because life is good!!!! Sometimes it rocks ... sometimes it sucks. Right now, it rocks.

 

[Flyer_PE]

I was supposed to go to Atlanta in mid-August for a friend's wedding. I had to cancel because of a backlogged work project that *MUST* get done by September 30th.
On the flip side, I told my boss I am bugging on in early Sept to fly down to Florida for some much needed vacation + time back home.

JR

I think I told you the story of when my boss at the power plant told me he wasn't sure if he could let me go on my scheduled vacation. My response was that it wasn't a question of if I was going, the question was if or when I was coming back.

I think that was one of the years the term "problem employee" was mentioned in my performance review.

 

[csb]

**** me!

 

[maryannette]

Oh, no!

 

[Chucktown PE]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[csb]

pulling a project after 9 months of work equals an angry engineer

 

[FLBuff PE]

pulling a project after 9 months of work equals an angry engineer

Sorry to hear that, csb!

 

[maryannette]

Me, too. Been there many times.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

At least in consulting, it's not really any skin off my nose if the owner pulls a project that's mostly complete. We get paid for what we did anyway.

But the sense of disappointment when a worthwhile project dies sucks, especially when you've been emotionally and professionally invested in it for several months or even years. I've had a few good projects get canned and it's a bummer because you know the work would have been beneficial.

 

[maryannette]

I used to compare it to being pregnant for 9 months and not having a baby.

 

[chaosiscash]

In the A/E world, we call those the perfect design jobs. You get paid for the design, which is where you make most of your $ anyway, and then you don't deal with the headaches of construction, and the mistakes you made don't get caught. Its all in your perspective.

 

[Chucktown PE]

In the A/E world, we call those the perfect design jobs. You get paid for the design, which is where you make most of your $ anyway, and then you don't deal with the headaches of construction, and the mistakes you made don't get caught. Its all in your perspective.

Exactly. You also don't have to worry about being over budget or asking for ammendments to contracts because the owner will just compensate you from the money allocated for construction management.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

In the A/E world, we call those the perfect design jobs. You get paid for the design, which is where you make most of your $ anyway, and then you don't deal with the headaches of construction, and the mistakes you made don't get caught. Its all in your perspective.

You can't be liable for a building that never gets built!