1st Gen. Lunch Table - General Discussion

From what I understand they're effectively built to force people out after a few years, as the Bezos himself believes that "man is universally lazy". They do monitor the fuck out of your use of time at work, so no poopin on company time I guess.

But they also generally pay substantially more than competitors, so there's that.

 

I've heard the same thing. That's part of the reason I've tried to stop spending money there.

In other first world problems I just went back to work after 2 weeks off and realized I still have 204 hours of vacation time. So I did only reasonable thing and requested another 4 days off in July.

 

My new job has so much time off it's ridiculous. I work 14 on, 7 off. I took a week of vacation in August. I'll only be at work for a week that month. 2 weeks off, work a week, 1 week off. October is going to be similar. LOL

 

No doubt. Between treating employees like disposable tools and the extremely high number of fake/shitty knockoffs parading around as the real deal I've mostly quit shopping on Amazon as well. I mostly search for things I want on the site and then find the manufacturers website to buy direct from.

On the vacation note I'm sitting at something like 75 days off that I haven't been able to burn in years. I'm going to start losing them without using them soon

 

I'm here a straight 40 a week but I've been here long enough I get 16 hours a month, 8 hours sick, then yearly a personal day, and whatever holiday comp time. I start to lose vacation at 240 and have been "forced" to take off 2 days a month since January.

That doesn't include the nearly 800 hours (so far) of sick time I've got that I'm banking for working 'part time' the couple years up to retirement.

 

Better go America all over everybody's ass

 

That's not bad at all. I do 14/7, 15 paid vacation days and 17 reduced work week days. I took those 17 as pay though, they make more sense to take as time for people working 10/4, 4/3 or 5/2.

The job I left I basically planned to work 7 days a week and if I only worked 5 or 6 I counted it as lucky. Only 2 weeks unpaid vacation there and they grumbled when you wanted to take it. You lived to work at that job. Fuck that noise. Now I can have a life and my pay has at least doubled. No idea why I didn't leave earlier.

 

This isn't just hearsay. It's well documented. Funny that you guys all mention this because I just read about it last week. But our folks that currently work in a warehouse won't care. If they offer them .50 more they will leave. Again, I can't blame them.

Here is some info on Amazon but they are allegedly hoping to change the culture there. I got this in an email from the NY times last week.

"In his drive to create the world’s most efficient company, Jeff Bezos discovered what he thought was another inefficiency worth eliminating: hourly employees who spent years working for the same company.

Longtime employees expected to receive raises. They also became less enthusiastic about the work, Amazon’s data suggested. And they were a potential source of internal discontent.

Bezos came to believe that an entrenched blue-collar work force represented “a march to mediocrity,” as David Niekerk, a former Amazon executive who built the company’s warehouse human resources operations, told The Times, as part of an investigative project being published this morning. “What he would say is that our nature as humans is to expend as little energy as possible to get what we want or need.”

In response, Amazon encouraged employee turnover. After three years on the job, hourly workers no longer received automatic raises, and the company offered bonuses to people who quit. It also offered limited upward mobility for hourly workers, preferring to hire managers from the outside.

As is often the case with one of Amazon’s business strategies, it worked.

Turnover at Amazon is much higher than at many other companies — with an annual rate of roughly 150 percent for warehouse workers, The Times’s story discloses, which means that the number who leave the company over a full year is larger than the level of total warehouse employment. The churn is so high that it’s visible in the government’s statistics on turnover in the entire warehouse industry: When Amazon opens a new fulfillment center, local turnover often surges."

 

My wife keeps reminding me I don't work at a post office in the 90s. I think she's trying to tell me something.

 

Roll of black cats never hurt anything.

 

Looking for chainsaw advice. I want to stick with DeWalt since I already have 2 batteries.

They have a 12" 20V for $179 or a 16" 60V for $229.

I just need something to take down some small trees this fall. I don't think I necessarily need the most powerful one. Thoughts?

 

Borrow your neighbor's.
Works great for me.
Seems to run on high-fives and the occasional beer.

 

We've yet to have a single neighbor stop by or say hello. We've tried talking to the people next to us but they suck ass. Confirmed with the previous owners that he only spoke to them 3 times in 10 years. The other house next to us is empty. I want a chainsaw to throw in the truck when we go up in the mountains too. Not uncommon to find downed trees blocking the road/trail.

 

Our neighbors vary from sometimes wave, to way too involved in each others' lives.
Makes chainsaw borrowing quite simple.
I also hadn't considered trail use...only the ~15 trees I have on my .5 acre.

 

Too bad you guys never got into Hand Modeling. We only work a couple days a year and make Bank. Only thing is we don’t get retirement and sometimes work under Hot Lights so theres that. Scary put my Hand Lotion Gig on ice in favor of Sanitizer.

Wondering what is my next move? Invest in AMC (up 5,000%) this year? She is coiling up and ready to move again on the chart. Might lose a fortune and die on cat food or maybe retire early? Nah, I’ll wait for dotguv to save me.

 

Older model Jetta experience, Same presentation - Brake control module fixed it.

 

One of those fully forked situations I mentioned earlier.
Let's hope it's not the ABS module or a trans issue.

 

http://dashboard-light.com/vehicles/Volkswagen_Jetta.html

That is a miserable interstate to be stuck on.

 

Get the 12 for most stuff it'll be fine. I've got a 18" Husqvarna and for 90% of my use it's unnecessary.

Look at it this way you can cut a 2ftish diameter tree with a 12. Sure it'll take a little longer but it'll get the job done.

 

Like most big tech companies Amazon is in the business of acquiring information about people. An employee discloses a ton of information to an employer. I wonder what they might be using all that information for.

 

Being a self proclaimed 2 stroke whisperer, i couldnt bring myself to buy an electric battery saw. But when i cut logs, i chop em down to fit in my firepit. And sometimes run through 2-3 tanks of gas.

 

I totally get it. I wasn't sold until a few years ago when a tree went down in our old neighborhood. 4-5 neighbors showed up with chainsaws and went to work and the only person using an electric saw outperformed the rest. They flat out work and I hate screwing with small gas engines.

 

My neighbor gave me a hard time about getting a battery powered stihl. He has been over to borrow it at least 5 times in the last year while his stihl and husky set on his bench. I wouldn't want to cut all my firewood with it but for a few cuts it is amazing.

I have a 701 yamaha and 250 bultaco when I need some 2 stroke therapy.

 

I own a mine in a very remote area. Blow-downs are not uncommon up there and for that reason I always carry a chainsaw in the Jeep or truck. It's literally the only reason I have a chainsaw now. Really tired of lugging gas around and mixing it. Stinks in the vehicle if I tip the saw... stains my stuff if I have a spill. Seriously considering selling the Stihl and getting a 60V. Probably perfect for my uses.

 

I've been using a battery powered sawzall for little stuff. Bigger stuff gets the plug in electric chainsaw. It's a beast. Cordless would be nice there. Unless your chainsaw is getting used regularly, they don't get started and warmed up often enough to stay in good working order. Then it's constant repairs and maintenance. You can use the electric stuff once a decade and it always works first try.

 

I dont use it every other weekend like i used to, but i clean dead trees out of the river often enough. Just run em empty, use stabil, and keep the primer bulbs out of prolonged sunlight.

 

@bmf4069 what year and what motor is that Jetta?

 

029 Farm Boss by Stihl is the go to. 20” Bar for reach in cutting twiglets laying on the ground without stooping and also the switch over to larger shtuff. Gas Powered and almost 30 years old still firing strongly.

 

@Richid My extension was granted this morning thankfully. My only issue is what they really want cannot be provided until I get it processed by another government agency with an average 6 month turnaround. Knowing this, the most likely outcome is a temporary suspension of my clearance until it’s resolved.

The only thing I don’t know and don’t wish to ask directly is whether a “suspension” prevents classified access or not. Any idea?

 

It's a 14 with the 1.8