Termyn8or
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Joined: 11/12/2005
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Well maybe I am lucky. I am well networked in my field and haven't looked in a newspaper for a job in probably at least twenty years. Perhaps I am treated better than the other employees because I can do things that noone else can, I haven't really looked into it.
I guess in the past I did have some bad bosses, but those jobs were short lived.
I guess part of it is if you want a good boss you have to be a good employee, but that is not foolproof. Some people are just plain old greedy. However I do see people on their cellphones, having visitors stop by and things like that. I avoid those things like the plague. I have seen my boss loan out money, bail people out of jail and all sorts of things, I also avoid that. All I want is what I earned. The extent of owing between him and I is limited to what we call the floating five. They cash my checks and sometimes, because it is a retail establishment as well, five dollar bills are important. So are singles, so rounded up or down a few bucks doesn't bother me, I'll get it back next time, or may wind up ahead next time. But I never ask to borrow money and hope to never have to.
My strengths and weaknesses were discussed at the gitgo. For example don't ask me to drive, I have a terrible sense of direction. I could leave a bar seven miles from home and get a ticket twenty miles from home. Also I can't see. I need alot of light and when I walk in the back door of the shop there is a time it takes for my eyes to adjust.
But on the other hand, I usually know what we have and what we don't and whether I can complete a job right away, and I ask if he wants me to just do it or get an estimate OKed first. Every day requires a slight adjustment.
I also know that the boss cashed in a life insurance policy a while back to meet expenses. It was the slow season but my pay was intact. I was not asked to wait for my pay at this place.
So as usual there are at least two sides to everything. A couple years ago a coworker asked me why he got reamed when he was late but I could stroll in the door when I damn well please. I told him straight out that I set it up that way in the beginning. The very first day, he said what time, I said noonish. Later he asks, so all you want is like six hours a day, to which I replied that's all I need. That's because I am normally highly productive.
It works both ways. People don't think they know when you waste time in the head, surfing the web, on a personal call or checking your email. Usually they know, and that makes a difference. Some jobs you can do that, usually the type of jobs where you re paid just to be there at the ready, almost like on call. Well then who cares ? But when your time is billed out at around a hundred bucks an hour there is no time for such things.
A buddy of mine stopped by the other day, wants to talk about those water convertors that allow you to run your car off the hydrogen. I've looked into them and they actually will work, but are a big pain in the ass. But my response to him was "This is what I have a house for". I hope I made it clear, I do NOT appreciate visits at work. Normally even where I work is kept secret, pretty much for that reason. He caught wind of it though and through whatever means, found the place. Ironically he is a business owner, and friend or no friend, he is not a good boss. If he persists in visiting me at work, I will go visit his employees when they are supposed to be working.
Perhaps it's my attitude and extreme work ethic that gets me what some might see as preferential treatment, so maybe my point of view is different. I also know something most people seem not to - to not work hard, to work smart. In the last month I have saved the company many thousands of dollars doing just that, avoiding pitfalls like insidious problems that are not easily detected. Sometimes I am asked "So what's up with this thing ?", sometimes my reply is something like "Well it looks like this, but I am making sure, you know, fool me once ?".
That and the fact that if someone stands behind me while I am at the computer, they will not see my private email, or CM or whatever, they are most likely to see an eighteen hundred page technical manual on the screen. In other words I don't fuck around.
So that's my assertion at this time. Good bosses are not just born, they are made.
I know a guy who had a pretty good boss, but he screwed it up. His packege included a free vehicle to drive, home and everything. He worked for a combination boneyard, car sales and rent a wreck. The problem with him is that he's a player, and just one too many times he had to call the boss for a tow because he ran out of gas in a drug neighborhood. I told him the first time he better stop that. Well like many people who avoid listening to good advice, that job is gone for him.
And, last but not least I was thinking of starting a business a couple of years ago. After a few people let me down, like going to make some quicker money rather than fixing my car so I could get to work, I was on the phone with my buddy Jack and said I dunno if this is going to happen, I don't have what it takes to be boss. He said I shouldn't put myself down that way, that I would probably be an excellent boss. Then I replied that I wasn't putting myself down, what I meant was that I lack people that will do what the fuck I say.
So it works both ways. I guess it's like any other relationship, you respond to and meet their needs they will reciprocate. If they don't it is time to move on.
T
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RE: "A note from your boss" - 
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