Sawmill Creek At Work

[Joe Angrisani]

Just worrying wouldn't elicit a comment, either.

[Derek Gilmer]

It matters in that perhaps that's the reason everything seems to have moved overseas. Too much goofing off by the average American worker and the subsequent loss over time of a work ethic (if anyone denies that average situation, I say you're kidding yourself). I'm retired, Ken. I worked when I was at work, and played when I was not at work. Perhaps that's why I was able to retire at 41.

And I'm not "worried", David. Just observing.

Peace, everyone....

Meh, I think every generation feels the one after it isn't as good. Think of all the folks who worked in giant meat packing houses in chicago before labor laws. The lazy bums after them didn't start rendering cows until they were over 13!

I think the internet helps share the lack of effort that has always been there just hidden better

[Brian Tymchak]

I eat lunch at my desk and punch up SMC then as I am sure a lot of folks do. Note the times on the responses you received. I don't know if you are self employed or retired but Inoticed the time on your post was 10:48 AM.

Hmm, interesting. My post time was 12:25 pm (EST) according to the banner I see on top of my original message. I would have said that you are seeing post times relative to your time zone, but I can't quite account for the 23 minute difference...

However, I do occasionally login to SMC off lunch hour, as I might have a lunch time meeting.. But not yesterday.

[Joe Angrisani]

Brian: Your #33 post says 10:25am on my screen in MST.

Derek: Great. Now you made me realize I've turned into my Dad....

[Belinda Barfield]

I am part owner in the company, and so self employed. I do a lot of research on the Creek because on the laser engraver's forum so I am on the Creek during work hours. My hours are 6 to whenever I go home, rarely before 3 or 3:30. A lot of my job is waiting for people to return calls, etc. When I'm busy with work, I'm not on the Creek. I do have employees who perform internet searches for unusual materials, parts, etc. I also HAD an employee who was addicted to texting.

[Chen-Tin Tsai]

I think those people that are driven to succeed and strive for excellence will do so regardless of what's on the internet/office gossip/cell phone games/etc. Those that are slackers will probably still be slackers even if they were chained to their desk with their boss standing behind them. The problem is, most managers will focus only on the "output" (ie, how many hours they are staring at a spreadsheet) rather than the "outcome" (ie, how well an employee can use the spreadsheet to find actionable solutions to pressing problems).

My employer employs me to solve problems, not simply enter data into a spreadsheet. How I solve those problems is up to me, which means I can surf the net when I need a break. Besides, the counterpoint is this: why work quickly and efficiently when your reward is only more work? This is the fundamental breakdown in management's objective; instead of focusing on mere outputs, there should be more reward for positive outcomes, and accountability for poor outcomes.

[John Coloccia]

It matters in that perhaps that's the reason everything seems to have moved overseas. Too much goofing off by the average American worker and the subsequent loss over time of a work ethic (if anyone denies that average situation, I say you're kidding yourself). I'm retired, Ken. I worked when I was at work, and played when I was not at work. Perhaps that's why I was able to retire at 41.

And I'm not "worried", David. Just observing.

Peace, everyone....

If you're worried about jobs moving overseas, why not start another company and hire some people?

One thing that I have noticed that this generation does is confuse talking about a problem with solving a problem. It's not the "me" generation. It's the "meeting" generation.

[Phil Thien]

I'm retired, Ken. I worked when I was at work, and played when I was not at work. Perhaps that's why I was able to retire at 41.

How the heck did you accomplish that? I've been working my your know what off in my own business since 1988, and I don't feel like anywhere near retirement.

[Bryan Morgan]

Its easy for me. I sit there programming routers and managing servers unless I'm on location somewhere physically installing them. Sometimes you have to wait for things to reload. I am usually multi-tasking on top of that. I can't follow more than 3 things or so at a time, especially when programming or calculating some MPLS/BGP configs. So... its easy to keep a few extra tabs open in the browser to come back at from time to time. I usually open up a bunch of interesting threads in separate tabs and when I get a chance to look I'll read one, post a reply or whatever. It could take me all day to go over 5 or 10 posts. I don't take breaks and I usually work through my lunch hour, not to mention all the work I do from home or the 2 am "the server is down waa waa waa" phone calls. The company gets more than their money's worth out of me. I also manage all the internet access so I get to see just how much time everyone is wasting on line. Apparently even with all the time wasted we still make enough money. I've brought it up at meetings and unless it wasts bandwidth (streaming stuff), or something that could get us sued (on screen boobies) nobody seems to care.

[Joe Angrisani]

John.... I did my stint and generated jobs and taxes for the better part of 20 years. Time for someone else to take their turn. But when people complain about jobs gong overseas, all I can see are lazy people from the entitlement generation causing employers to say "Enough!". I saw it in Upstate New York growing up as industry pulled out, and I see it today with nearly everything made overseas, including customer service lines. But I do agree with your 'talking' vs 'solving' comment. Some places sure love meetings.

Phil.... As I said, I worked. I didn't make excuses about how I had free time between other tasks. I used that "free" time to add extra results to each and every day. I guess some people just think, "I need to get this done today and I will finished." I was always of the mindset, "I finished what I planned to get done, now I can add something extra to the day's productivity."

Bryan.... All along I was speaking about averages. There are certainly those who perform above and beyond, as you and others who defended themselves previously do. But the average has deteriorated, and hours and hours and hours are wasted every day by people "on the clock". I'm not talking just SMC. Any forum I've ever browsed shows FAR MORE posts during working hours, with lulls during non-work hours.

[Bill Edwards(2)]

I think what Joe says is true.

Plus I know he's talking about those other people.... not me.

[Dan Hintz]

But when people bitch about jobs gong overseas, all I can see are lazy people from the entitlement generation causing employers to say "Enough!"

My take on it is if you purchase a red car and want to be unique, all you see are red cars on the road.

I can name several people on this board who consider customer service, quality of their work, and support of thier workforce as very high priorities. But it's easy enough to switch gears and find people who think the other way...

[Phil Thien]

Phil.... As I said, I worked. I didn't make excuses about how I had free time between other tasks. I used that "free" time to add extra results to each and every day. I guess some people just think, "I need to get this done today and I will finished." I was always of the mindset, "I finished what I planned to get done, now I can add something extra to the day's productivity."

Why did you retire?

[Joe Angrisani]

Why did you retire?

I have "enough". More is not better, just more. I have enough to enjoy the rest of my days in my jeans-and-t-shirt sorta way, and now I can think about pampering my wife, or setting up my dream shop, or heading off to Utah for a week in the Westfalia, or playing with the dog, or putzing around with the house projects, or going to see family and friends, or helping with a weeks-long sailboat delivery, or putting together a case of $10 bottles at my winesmithy, or finally learning to play my guitar, or wandering the farmer's market and coming up with a knockout bargain dinner, or ___________. The non-work stuff.

[Joe Angrisani]

My take on it is if you purchase a red car and want to be unique, all you see are red cars on the road.

Funny thing is, Dan, that it sounds like you have decided to see only "your" red cars....