ajsadauskas

ajsadauskas, 4 hours ago

@StudChud @Pilk He may now have softer, more supple and youthful skin, but he'll always be awful on the inside.

ajsadauskas, 4 hours ago

@trk @TassieTosser Knox City Council in outer-eastern Melbourne did exactly this: https://www.knox.vic.gov.au/whats-happening/news/keeping-your-cats-safe-and-secured .

The council did it because some of its suburbs (The Basin, Ferntree Gully, Upper Ferntree Gully, parts of Boronia, Lysterfield) border national parks and the Dandenong Ranges.

Younger cats can adapt to living indoors.

But the challenge was with older cats, who are used to roaming around.

The happy medium would be to phase it in over five to 10 years, where any new cats registered or adopted after a particular date have to stay indoors, but older cats can continue to roam.

ajsadauskas, 2 days ago

@Seagoon_ @Alamutjones Stephen King or RL Stine?

ajsadauskas, 2 days ago

@Seagoon_ Maybe Paul Jennings?

Some supernatural event happens to a kid, that causes the grown ups around them to be covered in snot is the most Paul Jennings plot he's never written.

You could even call it something like Unblocked...

ajsadauskas, 2 days ago

@Pilk @melbourne_wanderer Wifey had COVID about a month ago. It was really bad for a week, including intense migraines, but then cleared up.

About a week after most of her symptoms cleared, she began regaining her sense of taste.

A couple of weeks after that, we were in a queue outdoors and she complained: "Ugh I can't stand the smell of cigarettes. Wait — I can smell the smokers! This is amazing! I CAN SMELL THE SMOKERS!"

Your mileage may vary, but for her it was mostly back within a month.

ajsadauskas, 3 days ago

@Duenan @Taleya "A mother says a man armed with a knife told her to 'just stop crying' as he forced her to drive and buy laptops in Melbourne's south-east while her six-month-old daughter sat in the back seat.

...

"Police say the victim was getting out of her car at the Stud Park Shopping Centre [in Rowville] last Friday night when she was confronted by a man who threatened her with a knife and forced her back into the driver's seat of her Suzuki S Cross."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-17/woman-child-abducted-melbourne-shopping-centre-laptops-police/103859562

There was a thread on here about someone considering moving to Rowville?

Yeah, here's a good example of why that's a bad idea...

ajsadauskas, 4 days ago

@Seagoon_ @StudChud UGH! Of course that's when they'd come!

And then instead of one long relaxing shower, you end up with two half showers 😔

Seriously, it's the kind of thing that would make me a grump all day.

I hope it was at least someone or something important at the door.

(If it's just some salesman who's promising to cut your power bills, in the circumstances you're completely justified in chasing him off with a cricket bat.)

ajsadauskas, 4 days ago

@melbourne_wanderer @Seagoon_ That's awful 😞

Hope you have a full and speedy recovery.

ajsadauskas, 4 days ago

@Seagoon_ I just stopped by the shops quickly, and while I was there, picked up a freshly-made cinnamon donut.

Nom Nom Nom.

ajsadauskas, 5 days ago

@Seagoon_ @TinyBreak Totally.

Honestly, I feel icky just thinking about KFC food, it's just so greasy.

Unless you have a specific craving for the greasiest thing imaginable because you're pregnant/emotionally eating/have cramps/have a hangover/are really drunk/are six-years-old, I don't know why anyone would want it?

ajsadauskas, 5 days ago

@msdropbear42 @TinyBreak @Seagoon_ Greasy lukewarm dead bird in a cardboard bucket, as a friend used to call it.

ajsadauskas, 6 days ago

@Ilandar @TinyBreak Is there a good Korean or Asian grocery near your house? It's worth looking up on Google Maps.

Assuming there is, stop by and pick up some Korean rice cakes, gochujang, and daishi stock.

(I have seen gochujang in Coles, fish stock can work as a substitute for daishi.)

If you can track down these three main ingredients, you can make yourself tteokbokki:

https://mykoreankitchen.com/tteokbokki-spicy-rice-cakes/

ajsadauskas, 6 days ago

@Gibsonisafluffybutt @Seagoon_ Lovely post-modern art piece by Gibson 😸

ajsadauskas, 6 days ago

@Seagoon_ Overheard in the office...

Colleague one: "As you are aware, we've decided to postpone <event> until August or September. Can you change the dates on the website please?"

Colleague two: "No, I was not aware, thanks for letting me know. When was the decision made? I'll update the website."

Colleague one: "I am very sorry, I thought you were aware."

The "Manager" strikes again.

ajsadauskas, 6 days ago

@tombruzzo @SituationCake The other thing is to keep in mind is that it's not necessarily IT that is the "business owner" of the website.

Sure, IT might be responsible for keeping it online. But the main decisions about it, and the responsibility for maintaining the content, belong to a different person/team/department.

Depending on where I've worked, that's been operations, content, comms/PR, and marketing.

Even in small orgs, it's often the CEO rather than IT who has the final say.

And sometimes different parts of the website are managed by different people/teams/departments.

The second thing to be mindful of is it's not just about whether you have the WordPress skills.

There's often a lot of office politics in many organisations.

People quite rightly don't enjoy feeling like their jobs or responsibilities are being undermined.

And they don't want changes made in an area they're ultimately responsible for without them knowing.

That's where business processes and procedures come into play.

It might be as simple as emailing a particular person to get their sign off on you making a particular update, or notifying them afterwards.

You also need to think about what the benefits to them are of granting you this access. Perhaps it frees up their resources for more meaningful tasks?

And the third thing to be prepared for is if you get the admin privileges you want, suddenly other people might ask you to make changes as a shortcut around IT. You might want to push back against that.

If I were in your position, I'd plan out the case for:

• What the problem you want to solve is.
• Your proposed solution. That's not just gaining access, but also the approvals or notifications around it.
• Restrictions and safeguards. You are only to have this level of privileges and make updates in situations x, y, and z. This helps you push back if someone else wants you to make other changes — I'm not authorised to do that.
• The benefits to the business, including improved productivity, or customer experience.

I'd have a chat with your boss to get them on board.

I'd find out who the business owner(s) of the website are.

I'd organise either an informal chat (maybe buy them coffee one day?) or a meeting to talk through the case with them.

And finally, I'd be prepared for the answer to be a no. That's ultimately their call. If that's the case, your decision is whether you stick with your current job, or find a different one that makes better use of your skills.

ajsadauskas, 6 days ago

@Nath @StudChud Nath, it's great you had a good job experience.

But not all call centre jobs are like that.

Many call centres are micro-micromanaged.

Adherence to work hours. Conformance to schedule. Call handling time. Calls per worked hour.

There's often caller feedback forms, and those irrational or malicious customers basically decide if you keep your job.

The calls are recorded, and your team leader or dedicated contact centre staff listen in randomly.

In many commercial organisations, there's a mandate to upsell or cross-sell, even if it's an angry customer who wants to close their accounts.

In those cases, you also get judged on the average value of products you sell, and the percentage of calls you upsell on.

You have already angry people who have just been on hold for up to an hour, and have been transferred across different departments and teams.

And there are some men who are either creepy or misogynistic when dealing with women over the phone. And yes, clearly it's a small minority of men. But that small minority exists, and they're shitty.

ajsadauskas, 6 days ago

@StudChud @Seagoon_ Nawww

Sweet little Mickey is soooo cute 😻

ajsadauskas, 5 days ago

@tombruzzo Out of curiosity, roughly how large is this organisation? Is it closer to 10 staff, 50 staff, or 1000?

Also, you mentioned something I found interesting.

You said the business wants everything done now, but also everyone needs to give their input and approval.

Is that an issue just with the website? Or is it across the board in your business?