Hey guys,
I may have to temporarily drop out in a few weeks' time. Due to corporate restructuring (a nice little euphemism for mean-spirited cost-cutting while not giving a flying f@#k about how it may impact employees' lives) I will no longer be able to w@&k enough hours in my current job to keep living where I am. So I'll be moving into the spare rooms of my parent's lovely and fortunately quite large house, which has enough spare rooms for me to set up a temporary suite. My folks are wonderful people with whom I am very close - we're more like old mates than relatives - and their slightly sprawling house has tons of space for most of my stuff. Some will have to go into storage though.
I'm damned lucky that this option is available to me, otherwise I'd be looking at living out of my car. I'll be at my folks' place while I try to find another job, and after that, another place to live. Which means I may have to give up my lovely fast ADSL connection and go back to sucky slow wireless - maybe. Apparently ADSL is now available in my parents' area, so I'll be looking into it.
So thanks to the heartless bastardry of the company for whom I've worked hard and faithfully for the last three-and-a-half years, I now have to go through all the rigmarole of moving again and arranging storage of some of my still-newish furniture. This will be the last time I w@&k for a large national company, if I can possibly avoid it. I'm not the only one in this boat - a couple of other employees have had the rug unceremoniously pulled out from under their lives, also with little warning. I hope the CEOs of this damned company choke on their profits. I'd like to deliver a very hard, very fast boot right in their bottom line.
Now I understand why some folks go postal...
Sorry to hear what happened to you fragger. :(
I hope that you'll get all that sorted out quickly so you may continue with a happier life than now.
All the best, matey :-X :)
That really sucks.
Just a note on that wireless connection, Ive read so many posts about aussies using the new LTE connections over there, have you looked upon that?
and hope you get a a better job and all that.
Jeez fragger that's a crappy break and that apartment was such a sweet crib too. :(
Good luck on the job hunt. I hope you find a position that will make you wonder why you took so long to swap up from this last one.
I know we've all come to appreciate your presence here in the scrum. If necessary we'll hold your spot open around the campfire while you get things sorted.
Here's to getting your feet back under you quickly. :-))
Man, that sucks, and as one who's also stuck on wireless, I feel for you in not having a good connection anymore. Good luck in getting a new job soon.
That's awful news, fragger, but I'm glad that you have your folks on your side.
One thing about companies of just about any size - they are only looking out for their bottom line, and do not give a rat's a$$ about their employees - that is, unless you luck upon the one gem boss among all the s#!t that floats to the top.
Best of luck in all your efforts, my friend. :-X
Sad news indeed! :(
I could rant about large companies my self, but that would not make Your situation any better... >:((
Really hope You'll get this sorted out quick, so things can go back to normal for You. :-X
Damn Fragger, that's bad news!
and indeed very pity for your flat! Damn life can kick in sometimes. Just keep up the good spirit and I hope you will be able to keep in contact with us during your struggle getting a new job and a new home. All the best finding it, hope it's just a temporary issue :-\\
Thank you muchly, gents :)
Even if I do have to drop out for a while, I'll still be here in spirit.
I've got a couple of weeks' grace before D-Day which will give me enough time to get stuff sorted. I've already arranged for removal and storage to take place then, so all that remains is the wonderful fun of packing everything up. What I'd give for a Jeannie... At least when I moved before, I got rid of a lot of stuff so it won't be too bad this time around.
Thanks Stiku for the tip about LTE, I will definitely look into that. It'll depend on location, money, etc. The new National Broadband Network is reaching towards my parents' neck of the woods, so that will be another possible option.
It's all good - well, more or less. I'm cranky at being forced into this course of action, but I'm not down about it. It could have been a lot worse - at least I have a strong fallback position.
One plus - I won't have to listen to the screaming domestics and drunken yahooism emanating from Bogansville across the road...
Always looking at the bright side Fragger :-X :)
+1 for your spirit!! Hope you'll settle in soon again in a new w@&k and appartment, in an even nicer area without bogans and screamy holiday neighbours ^-^
Darn it fragger!!!! All our prayers are with you my friend, those bastards don't know what they losing.
Hope you'll get sorted soon, best of luck :-X
:-D You guys are tops!
Thanks nex, I knew I could count on you too for support, me old china :)
You're all tops, I don't want to be away from you guys any longer than I possibly can be :-X
I'm kinda looking forward to tomorrow. Even though I'm not rostered on for w@&k that day, I'm going in to tender my resignation, and to give them a bloody good verbal backhander while I'm at it >:D I've also composed a letter which I intend to send to head office - no badinage or black oaths (as much as I'd like to indulge in such), just a sternly worded opinion of their callous business practices. It'll probably just bounce off their armoured hides, but I'll be doing it more for my own therapeutic benefit ;)
Apparently hard w@&k, commitment and good attendance count for nought with this lot. My last sick day was over two years ago when I was having a tube shoved up my arse to remove a benign polyp, balanced against the many, many days when I've gone in to bat for hungover, self-abusive douchebags. I have been late for w@&k twice in three-and-a-half years - once when my manager forgot to inform me of a roster change, and once when an unforeseen traffic accident held me up (I was five minutes late). I've been a manager in other businesses for gawd's sake, and have references from those companies so glowing that you could read in the dark by them. But if these twits want to diss me through their own shortsighted venality, so be it. I deserve better, and I can do better.
Anyway, once again, thanks for the kind words chaps. It's nice to be reminded that there are still decent humans out there :) And I mean that especially since I can hear the bogans loading up even as I write this...
:-))
Give'em hell mate \:/
:-X >:D
:-X :-()
Well, I am now gainlessly unemployed :-()
This will be the last time I can post for a bit. Internet will be going off tomorrow and I'll be fully engaged in the joy of moving :-\\
I'll catch up with you guys later, after I get this moving lot taken care of and have sorted out a new internet connection. Apparently I can get ADSL where I'm going, so hopefully I won't have to go back to sluggy old wireless. It may be a couple of weeks before I can launch myself back into cyberspace though.
Take care all :) I'll still be here in spirit, and I'll see you all anon.
Take care mate :go
Good luck moving and sorting things out, hope to see you around soon!!! :) :-X
Wishes for a easy transition, fragger - hope to see you again soon :-X
All the best and come back soon :-X :)
fragger my man, I know exactly what you re going through. I too just lost my job. :'(
Part due to a world wide oil crisis with not a single thread of hope of getting better in sight, part due to a national crisis after a scandal involving our biggest oil company on top of the world crisis.
The company is now downsizing in order to cut costs and bla bla bla.... you now how the song goes.
I am doing relatively well as I received a reasonable indemnification from the company for breaking my w@&k contract and I also owe the apartment where I currently live so I can still go on for a while without going crazy.
I am with you brother! Better days are coming to both of us, you will see! :-X
the two of you should team up and start up :)
Man, JRD, what happened to you and fragger makes me both angry and sad but more angry than sad. What the hell is going on out there!
To both of you the best of luck, my friends.
Damn!!!! I'm so sorry to hear that JRD, I know what you and fragger are going through, been there myself :(
The two of you are in our prayers my friend :-(
Thanks guys. :)
I see that fragger haven't been around for the last couple weeks. I just hope he can get his life back together in no time. Being forced to move is something brutal. He'll have to put some things back on tracks before he can enjoy a good gaming weekend.
I for one am taking it as a life changing opportunity. I am not really sure what I want to do next but I know what I don't want. This evil corporative world is not appealing anymore. I'm sick and tired of being thrown into the fire to perform taks I wasn't trained to do, having to put up unpaid extra hours, with my management expecting nothing but exceptional results and hearing I did nothing but what I was hired to do when I manage to pull off something good. They disguise everything with fancy words like "challenge", "motivation", "overcoming"..... a big, fat, stinky pile of horse crap. What it really mean is "why should I hire two or three guys if that jerk over there is busting his a$$ off and doing all by himself?" or "why should I send him into training if he is learning by experience?".... pretending they don't see a sleep deprived, living wreck, dragging his beaten off body through the corridors.
I am putting most of my life aside to make someone rich... why should I be proud to be "part of the company's family" if they kick me out of said family as soon as the investors see their profit marging going down by 1%.... what about me, my family, my life plans?
Screw them..... I may come back to the office for a short while just to make some more money to be able to leave town and go living in the hills nearby where I can drive one hour to have lunch with my friends in town but live my daily routine away from the big city. Open my own business and be my boss, even if making half as much as I was making.... as long as I have enough time to enjoy life, I consider myself rich!
Quote from: JRD on May 11, 2015, 10:57:31 AM
....Screw them..... I may come back to the office for a short while just to make some more money to be able to leave town and go living in the hills nearby where I can drive one hour to have lunch with my friends in town but live my daily routine away from the big city. Open my own business and be my boss, even if making half as much as I was making.... as long as I have enough time to enjoy life, I consider myself rich!
Good for you JRD! Really sorry to hear that you've been the victim of downsizing, but as you say, this can become an opportunity to change directions and perhaps find a much better path.
Best of luck, my friend, and as nex said, prayers are with you and fragger
First off: Thank you so much for all the nice words my friends, I was very moved by your concerns ^-^
Second: I'm sorry to hear what happened to you JRD, and as you can probably imagine, I fully empathize. Rotten sods :angry-new: My father always said that when it comes to big companies, loyalty is a one-way street. How right he is. Anyway, I hope that whatever you choose to do now will bring you the happiness and contentment you deserve :)
For myself, I don't know what I'll do yet. Get on unemployment benefits while I look for some sort of w@&k for starters, which isn't easy in this part of the world for a guy my age, but I'm confident something will come up sooner or later. I've been hitting the bricks looking but nothing has turned up yet. I certainly won't allow myself to become a "dole bludger" (one who lives off government welfare) but I've worked and paid my taxes for almost my entire adult life so the taxman can give me a bit of that dough back for the time being :-() My folks are marvellous people who have been major pillars of support to me in this slightly difficult time. I say "slightly" because there are many people who are much worse off than myself - when I count my blessings I really have no grounds for complaints. If my biggest worry is where I'm going to store my excess furniture then I've got it pretty darned good (it's in a hired storage facility, btw).
But I do know that I will have nothing to do with my former employers, and I'll be damned if I'll ever buy anything from them ever again. Three and a half years of hard w@&k and commitment apparently meant nothing to them, and I can only hope that their decisions come back to bite them in some way. The only reason they have achieved the growth they have in recent years is because they have no serious competition - at least not yet. I'd love to see some other big hitter come onto the field and shake them up, but knowing this lot, should that happen they'll lay the blame for any loss on their stores' staff. Probably accuse them of not being sufficiently "customer-focussed" or some such corporate crapspeak.
Anyway, I've put all that behind me now. The move went pretty smoothly, but I had a bit of a hassle getting my internet account transferred to the new location. It's all sorted now, and although I'm not on actual cable I did get an ADSL wireless setup happening. It appears to be just as quick as it was in my "old" digs so I'm happy with it :-X
Hope everyone's OK here, I have some catching up to do :-()
Thanks again all for the good wishes chaps, they are very much appreciated :)
So glad to see you back online, fragger, and best wishes on your hunt for a new career focus :-X
Quote from: PZ on May 19, 2015, 06:05:17 PM
So glad to see you back online, fragger, and best wishes on your hunt for a new career focus :-X
Goes double from me mate
make that triple from me, then :-()
:-()
Best wishes on finding something that will suit your needs fragger. I keep coming back to your talent with graphics.
The trouble with that could be turning something that's an enjoyable hobby into a job can turn out to be as much blessing as a curse.
It might not hurt to give the online artist colony Deviant Art (not the Blade kind ;) ) a look see. Maybe scan their forums to see if it's a suitable fit or at least pick up some tips.
I know there are some artists there who make a fair amount of pocket change doing commission pieces and some have used it as a platform to launch to higher levels. But then that process depends on networking and tickling the fancy of a fan base which I see as potentially problematic in its own ways.
:-()
Thank you chaps :)
And thanks for the suggestion mandru. I have looked at Deviant Art on occasion, but have only really given it a bit of a skim. There is such a huge range of competition in that field though, largely because 3D modelling and render programs have made it so (relatively) easy for people to turn out images that I imagine it would be a real struggle to stand out enough to expect to make any sort of money from it. It can be done of course. Would I want to? Maybe. I could try, I guess. But like you said, doing something for fun can be a whole different thing than doing it for a living, even a partial one. Sometimes I go for periods of time where I just don't feel the urge to do any of that, and I can't make myself get creative if my heart's not in it.
I suppose the only way to find out would be to upload some stuff and see what kind of reaction it gets, if any.
But once again, the sheer numbers are daunting. There are just so many folks out there contributing purely because computer software has made it so easy - no paints or canvasses, no mixing, no turps, and most importantly, no truly outstanding talent required - at least in part. I can attest to the fact that computer programs take a great deal of the skill (and mess) away from creating art as opposed to creating it via traditional means. True artistic ability is still a requirement when it comes to composition and subject matter, but when it comes to lighting and shadow effects, which are what really make or break an image, computers make it almost criminally easy. You don't have to try to w@&k out where and how a shadow will fall, for just one example - the software does it for you. If the lighting doesn't look right, change it, and change it again, until it does. That's not terribly easy to do with actual paint... Same goes for perspective, shading, etc etc etc, not to mention how easy it is to make corrections or changes to an image. If these programs didn't exist there would be a vastly smaller number of artists on the scene, and more chance for the truly talented ones to stand out. I'm not saying I'm one of those, but I humbly believe that I'm at least OK, and I have had experience in the real thing. I'd still do the real thing if I had the time, the space, the tools, the ventilation, and the willingness to don a smelly, paint-encrusted smock.
Don't get me wrong - I believe that CG artwork is as valid a medium of artistic expression as any other. It's just so clean and easy, relatively speaking, that it allows a huge number of people to get involved. That's fine and I like to see it, but to make money from it? It really has to be something special to stand out from the sheer volume of images out there. I don't know if I have what it takes to make that kind of impact. I see some stuff online that blows me away and makes me think, "How in the world did they achieve that, and what sort of software/hardware did they use?" I don't get discouraged or jealous or anything, but it makes me realize how much further I still have to go to reach any reasonable level of competitiveness. A high-end render farm would help - which is what I suspect some of these folks have, as well as some high-end industry-standard software like Autodesk Maya (licensed only, @ AUS$2070
per year). Admittedly I'm referring to mostly professionally-produced images here, which I know is not what Deviant Art is all about, but if I tried to replicate some of the incredible modelwork and images I've seen elsewhere they would take months to render out on my ordinary old single-user rig. Not to mention the time involved building the models.
Deviant Art would be a pretty good place to trial out on though, as it's intended for amateurs such as myself to showcase on and not industrial render-farmers. I guess if I don't have a go I'll never know, will I? :-()
If someone wants to get me one of these for Christmas, I'll see what I can do with it:
Spoiler
[smg id=7975 width=588]
Quote from: fragger on May 21, 2015, 06:19:01 AM
If someone wants to get me one of these for Christmas, I'll see what I can do with it:
Spoiler
[smg id=7975 width=588]
That all you want? ....I'll take a look see, might have a spare one lying around somewhere :laugh:
:laugh:
:-D
Quote from: fragger on May 21, 2015, 06:19:01 AM
Thank you chaps :)
And thanks for the suggestion mandru. I have looked at Deviant Art on occasion, but have only really given it a bit of a skim. There is such a huge range of competition in that field though, largely because 3D modelling and render programs have made it so (relatively) easy for people to turn out images that I imagine it would be a real struggle to stand out enough to expect to make any sort of money from it. It can be done of course. Would I want to? Maybe. I could try, I guess. But like you said, doing something for fun can be a whole different thing than doing it for a living, even a partial one. Sometimes I go for periods of time where I just don't feel the urge to do any of that, and I can't make myself get creative if my heart's not in it.
I suppose the only way to find out would be to upload some stuff and see what kind of reaction it gets, if any.
But once again, the sheer numbers are daunting. There are just so many folks out there contributing purely because computer software has made it so easy - no paints or canvasses, no mixing, no turps, and most importantly, no truly outstanding talent required - at least in part. I can attest to the fact that computer programs take a great deal of the skill (and mess) away from creating art as opposed to creating it via traditional means. True artistic ability is still a requirement when it comes to composition and subject matter, but when it comes to lighting and shadow effects, which are what really make or break an image, computers make it almost criminally easy. You don't have to try to w@&k out where and how a shadow will fall, for just one example - the software does it for you. If the lighting doesn't look right, change it, and change it again, until it does. That's not terribly easy to do with actual paint... Same goes for perspective, shading, etc etc etc, not to mention how easy it is to make corrections or changes to an image. If these programs didn't exist there would be a vastly smaller number of artists on the scene, and more chance for the truly talented ones to stand out. I'm not saying I'm one of those, but I humbly believe that I'm at least OK, and I have had experience in the real thing. I'd still do the real thing if I had the time, the space, the tools, the ventilation, and the willingness to don a smelly, paint-encrusted smock.
Don't get me wrong - I believe that CG artwork is as valid a medium of artistic expression as any other. It's just so clean and easy, relatively speaking, that it allows a huge number of people to get involved. That's fine and I like to see it, but to make money from it? It really has to be something special to stand out from the sheer volume of images out there. I don't know if I have what it takes to make that kind of impact. I see some stuff online that blows me away and makes me think, "How in the world did they achieve that, and what sort of software/hardware did they use?" I don't get discouraged or jealous or anything, but it makes me realize how much further I still have to go to reach any reasonable level of competitiveness. A high-end render farm would help - which is what I suspect some of these folks have, as well as some high-end industry-standard software like Autodesk Maya (licensed only, @ AUS$2070 per year). Admittedly I'm referring to mostly professionally-produced images here, which I know is not what Deviant Art is all about, but if I tried to replicate some of the incredible modelwork and images I've seen elsewhere they would take months to render out on my ordinary old single-user rig. Not to mention the time involved building the models.
Deviant Art would be a pretty good place to trial out on though, as it's intended for amateurs such as myself to showcase on and not industrial render-farmers. I guess if I don't have a go I'll never know, will I? :-()
If someone wants to get me one of these for Christmas, I'll see what I can do with it:
Spoiler
[smg id=7975 width=588]
I usually don't quote entire messages, but in this case I just have to. Man, Fragger, you use so many lines to explain why you shouldn't give it a try; If there's talent in you, it will hatch. All you have to do is sit on it! Now you have the time to do so, so get that bloody wellfare check and try it out! Like you mentioned earlier; you did your dudy. If I were you, I'd divide my time in two; 2 days a week of Artistic expression, 2 days for finding new employment. 1 day to catch inspiration, and you still got the weekend for gaming :-()
@ JRD, man I feel with you. I hope you get things sorted, and that you will find the new path. I so much understand your feelings regarding big companies operating in global markets, it's sad indeed. When you move out to catch that better life, make sure you still got some wire(less) to the net. I wouldn't want to miss your contribution here ;)
indeed :)
Fragger, consider becoming an author. No high-end stuff needed for that and talent you've got aplenty. :)
Quote from: fragger on May 21, 2015, 06:19:01 AM
If someone wants to get me one of these for Christmas, I'll see what I can do with it:
Spoiler
[smg id=7975 width=588]
Ok, but no gaming, just w@&k... promise?!?! :-D
Quote from: Binnatics on May 21, 2015, 09:37:08 AM
When you move out to catch that better life, make sure you still got some wire(less) to the net. I wouldn't want to miss your contribution here ;)
Don't worry Binn, I'll be haunting OWG's corridors for a long time. >:D
:-X :-D