Things that annoy you beyond reason...(Vol. 6)

[bristolracer]

The Mad Monk said:

Use of the prefix 'pre'.

Pre-order.

I think you have to allow that one, pre-order means we are going to take your money now and you can wait until July before we send it to you. They will normally "reach out" to you with an email with your name spelt wrong to explain that your custom is important to them before going radio silence until the slow boat arrives from China.
Whereas order is the expectation that the goods will be sent straight away.

[ChevyChase77]

People who tailgate when you're doing 30mph in a 30mph zone.

And more to the point - in this latest incident there were cars ahead of me but it didn't stop the car behind overtaking me and cutting in close to the front of my car. We got up to the roundabout and we were then side by side. Doing all that to get absolutely nowhere any quicker.

[nonsequitur]

ChevyChase77 said:

People who tailgate when you're doing 30mph in a 30mph zone.

And more to the point - in this latest incident there were cars ahead of me but it didn't stop the car behind overtaking me and cutting in close to the front of my car. We got up to the roundabout and we were then side by side. Doing all that to get absolutely nowhere any quicker.

The very epitome of a poor driver. Overtaking, changing lanes, pushing in, roaring away at the lights, presumably to gain ground, but to no useful effect. They almost always have to stop, slow down or even fall behind as a result.

[George Smiley]

PowerPoint, it is a necessary evil in this day and age of tts in the workplace but it can be good or it can be ste. Typically it is ste.

People shove spend so much time shoving crap into their slides that each slide looks like a complete A to Z of the UK condensed onto a single page. What is more annoying though is when I have to end up updating a "slide deck" and the person who had previously prepared it has things out of alignment, different fonts in the same bloody text, things over hanging pages or shoved so much information into a slide you have a seizure trying to understand what it is trying to say.

Then what is more annoying is when you take it upon yourself to completely rewrite the entire thing, condense 2000 slides into 5 that make sense, then some tosser says we cant go to the customer with that, it doesnt look like we've worked hard enough on it. s, every single one of them, this isnt even my job, I've no idea how I ended up doing what I am doing but I do know my last day is Dec 24th, ho ho hoping for a slide free new year.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

George Smiley said:

PowerPoint, it is a necessary evil in this day and age of tts in the workplace but it can be good or it can be ste. Typically it is ste.

People shove spend so much time shoving crap into their slides that each slide looks like a complete A to Z of the UK condensed onto a single page. What is more annoying though is when I have to end up updating a "slide deck" and the person who had previously prepared it has things out of alignment, different fonts in the same bloody text, things over hanging pages or shoved so much information into a slide you have a seizure trying to understand what it is trying to say.

Then what is more annoying is when you take it upon yourself to completely rewrite the entire thing, condense 2000 slides into 5 that make sense, then some tosser says we cant go to the customer with that, it doesnt look like we've worked hard enough on it. s, every single one of them, this isnt even my job, I've no idea how I ended up doing what I am doing but I do know my last day is Dec 24th, ho ho hoping for a slide free new year.

Surely the issue here isn't PowerPoint itself but the people who use it?

It's like saying Microsoft Word is crap because people usually write ste with it.

[Fastdruid]

George Smiley said:

RizzoTheRat said:

Wearing a tie. Thought I ought to put one on today as I'm on an interview panel. I'd forgotten how annoying they are.

If you don't normally wear one, shy for the interview? I assume tieless is acceptable work attire? If it is, then why wear a tie and force interviewee to wear one too?

I wouldn't be particularly bothered to wear a tie as an interviewer but as an interviewee I'd never even consider not wearing one because:

a) You only get one chance for a first impression.
b) It is a sign of how seriously the interviewee takes it.

If someone isn't prepared to make the effort for an interview how likely are they to make the effort for the job?

I wear a tie about once a year, work attire is casual and even when visiting customers ties are optional.

Even knowing that and knowing that I'd never wear a tie to work I would always wear a tie to an interview.

I'd also shave (I'm normally bearded) and pick something blue, either suit or shirt. Both those because bearded men are seen as less trustworthy and blue is perceived as being "trustworthy, dependable, fiscally responsible and secure". It may make very little difference but if I'm going to ensure that I give it everything for that interview!

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Fastdruid said:

Even knowing that and knowing that I'd never wear a tie to work I would always wear a tie to an interview.

I'd also shave (I'm normally bearded) and pick something blue, either suit or shirt. Both those because bearded men are seen as less trustworthy and blue is perceived as being "trustworthy, dependable, fiscally responsible and secure". It may make very little difference but if I'm going to ensure that I give it everything for that interview!

So, basically, you go into an interview giving false expectations and then pull a "bait and switch" once you have the job by growing your beard again and dressing how you wish?

[RizzoTheRat]

George Smiley said:

RizzoTheRat said:

Wearing a tie. Thought I ought to put one on today as I'm on an interview panel. I'd forgotten how annoying they are.

If you don't normally wear one, shy for the interview? I assume tieless is acceptable work attire? If it is, then why wear a tie and force interviewee to wear one too?

A perfectly valid point. My normal work dress is a shirt and no tie, although some people do wear suits all the time. We seem to have a culture of wearing suits for meetings though, however our customers wear uniforms so some turn up to meetings in smart shirt and ties, some turn up in overalls, and some in patterned pyjamas.

George Smiley said:

PowerPoint, it is a necessary evil in this day and age of tts in the workplace but it can be good or it can be ste. Typically it is ste.

People shove spend so much time shoving crap into their slides that each slide looks like a complete A to Z of the UK condensed onto a single page. What is more annoying though is when I have to end up updating a "slide deck" and the person who had previously prepared it has things out of alignment, different fonts in the same bloody text, things over hanging pages or shoved so much information into a slide you have a seizure trying to understand what it is trying to say.

Then what is more annoying is when you take it upon yourself to completely rewrite the entire thing, condense 2000 slides into 5 that make sense, then some tosser says we cant go to the customer with that, it doesnt look like we've worked hard enough on it. s, every single one of them, this isnt even my job, I've no idea how I ended up doing what I am doing but I do know my last day is Dec 24th, ho ho hoping for a slide free new year.

Don't get me started! We have some 200+ slide decks that are the main repositories for some stuff, so we then have excel macros that run through multiple presentations to extract the key information so we can actually use it.

[Fastdruid]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

Fastdruid said:

Even knowing that and knowing that I'd never wear a tie to work I would always wear a tie to an interview.

I'd also shave (I'm normally bearded) and pick something blue, either suit or shirt. Both those because bearded men are seen as less trustworthy and blue is perceived as being "trustworthy, dependable, fiscally responsible and secure". It may make very little difference but if I'm going to ensure that I give it everything for that interview!

So, basically, you go into an interview giving false expectations and then pull a "bait and switch" once you have the job by growing your beard again and dressing how you wish?

Hardly bait and switch, if I got the job I'd dress to the dress code. If the dress code was shirt and tie I'd wear shirt and tie.

[Europa1]

bristolracer said:

The Mad Monk said:

Use of the prefix 'pre'.

Pre-order.

I think you have to allow that one, pre-order means we are going to take your money now and you can wait until July before we send it to you. They will normally "reach out" to you with an email with your name spelt wrong to explain that your custom is important to them before going radio silence until the slow boat arrives from China.
Whereas order is the expectation that the goods will be sent straight away.

I'm with Mad Monk on this one. It's still just an order.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

RizzoTheRat said:

Don't get me started! We have some 200+ slide decks that are the main repositories for some stuff, so we then have excel macros that run through multiple presentations to extract the key information so we can actually use it.

And I bet some people refer to that as "the database" too.

[FourWheelDrift]

Unless they are giving a presentation to more than 20 people in an auditorium Powerpoint should never be used for anything else. Anyone putting a laptop in front of me and starting up Powerpoint to sell me something immediately gets shown the door.

[DoubleD]

FourWheelDrift said:

Anyone putting a laptop in front of me and starting up Powerpoint to sell me something immediately gets shown the door.

I bet you have never done that before

[FourWheelDrift]

DoubleD said:

FourWheelDrift said:

Anyone putting a laptop in front of me and starting up Powerpoint to sell me something immediately gets shown the door.

I bet you have never done that before

Yes I have, I get out my laptop and give them a powerpoint presentation on doors.

[DoubleD]

FourWheelDrift said:

DoubleD said:

FourWheelDrift said:

Anyone putting a laptop in front of me and starting up Powerpoint to sell me something immediately gets shown the door.

I bet you have never done that before

Yes I have, I get out my laptop and give them a powerpoint presentation on doors.

Yeah, im sure thats what you do.

[yellowjack]

DoubleD said:

FourWheelDrift said:

DoubleD said:

FourWheelDrift said:

Anyone putting a laptop in front of me and starting up Powerpoint to sell me something immediately gets shown the door.

I bet you have never done that before

Yes I have, I get out my laptop and give them a powerpoint presentation on doors.

Yeah, im sure thats what you do.

Probably doesn't happen, but it would be really funny to see one of those "pressure selling" window or vacuum cleaner types get to the end of their four hour sales pitch and get up to leave, only to find the door locked and the elderly couple they've been bamboozling all evening getting out their old Kodak slide projector and fifty years worth of holiday snaps preloaded into slide carousels...

[gregs656]

The Mad Monk said:

Use of the prefix 'pre'.

"It was a pre-planned raid".

Pre-order.

Pre-book.

Pre-warned is another one.

Like many things in our language it only makes sense if you don’t think about it too much.

[George Smiley]

Fastdruid said:

George Smiley said:

RizzoTheRat said:

Wearing a tie. Thought I ought to put one on today as I'm on an interview panel. I'd forgotten how annoying they are.

If you don't normally wear one, shy for the interview? I assume tieless is acceptable work attire? If it is, then why wear a tie and force interviewee to wear one too?

I wouldn't be particularly bothered to wear a tie as an interviewer but as an interviewee I'd never even consider not wearing one because:

a) You only get one chance for a first impression.
b) It is a sign of how seriously the interviewee takes it.

If someone isn't prepared to make the effort for an interview how likely are they to make the effort for the job?

I wear a tie about once a year, work attire is casual and even when visiting customers ties are optional.

Even knowing that and knowing that I'd never wear a tie to work I would always wear a tie to an interview.

I'd also shave (I'm normally bearded) and pick something blue, either suit or shirt. Both those because bearded men are seen as less trustworthy and blue is perceived as being "trustworthy, dependable, fiscally responsible and secure". It may make very little difference but if I'm going to ensure that I give it everything for that interview!

If ever I am going for interview one of the questions I always ask is what is the expected attire or the dress culture. Why? Because you only get one chance to make the right impression, over or under dress and it is the wrong impression. Shave if you want to, but if somewhere is too short sighted to hire you because you have facial hair, then they are not worth working for.

[George Smiley]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

Surely the issue here isn't PowerPoint itself but the people who use it?

It's like saying Microsoft Word is crap because people usually write ste with it.

Quite. I think most people should be restricted to only reading emails and any apps they use to do their actual work and not used to make it appear like they are contributing something.

In fact, ban most people from the office as there are few that are necessary. If you can take a 2 week holiday and no one notices, you are not required. If you are a single point of failure, you are a liability and thus not required, in fact, you are toxic.

In short, working in this office makes me angry.

[DoubleD]

George Smiley said:

Fastdruid said:

George Smiley said:

RizzoTheRat said:

Wearing a tie. Thought I ought to put one on today as I'm on an interview panel. I'd forgotten how annoying they are.

If you don't normally wear one, shy for the interview? I assume tieless is acceptable work attire? If it is, then why wear a tie and force interviewee to wear one too?

I wouldn't be particularly bothered to wear a tie as an interviewer but as an interviewee I'd never even consider not wearing one because:

a) You only get one chance for a first impression.
b) It is a sign of how seriously the interviewee takes it.

If someone isn't prepared to make the effort for an interview how likely are they to make the effort for the job?

I wear a tie about once a year, work attire is casual and even when visiting customers ties are optional.

Even knowing that and knowing that I'd never wear a tie to work I would always wear a tie to an interview.

I'd also shave (I'm normally bearded) and pick something blue, either suit or shirt. Both those because bearded men are seen as less trustworthy and blue is perceived as being "trustworthy, dependable, fiscally responsible and secure". It may make very little difference but if I'm going to ensure that I give it everything for that interview!

If ever I am going for interview one of the questions I always ask is what is the expected attire or the dress culture. Why? Because you only get one chance to make the right impression, over or under dress and it is the wrong impression. Shave if you want to, but if somewhere is too short sighted to hire you because you have facial hair, then they are not worth working for.

The view they will probably take is if you cant be arsed to make a good effort at an interview how much effort will you put in if they give you the job.

Guess who will get the job if 2 of you are going for a job and both interview the same, but 1 looks a lot smarter than the other.