The Venting Thread

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

This upcoming semester is going to be a major Charlie Foxtrot. I just have no words. My schedule sucks and I'm really unhappy about it, but there isn't a damn thing I can do except deal with it or quit.

So sorry, EPW, to hear about your schedule. For so many reasons, I agree that this semester is shaping up to a major Charlie Foxtrot.

Why the f*ck are we meeting in person for a Department meeting? Our department is HUGE and I know there are unvaccinated faculty. Ugh.

Our full professors pushed back on our most recently scheduled in-person departmental meeting, and got it changed to hybrid (could attend either in person or virtually).  Part of the reasoning was that we have a mask mandate, and it was going to be really hard to hear across the room without mics for everyone, so Zoom was more accessible.  We are not sure if this reasoning will hold in the future.  No vaccine mandate here.

Did I say this semester would be a clusterf*ck? Yes, yes, I did. I already got an email from a student who will miss the first week of class due to Covid. We have no mask mandate or vaccine requirement because our governor is a dumbass.

[clean]

The Hens Are A clucking!

My bride came home and now the cleaning lady has stopped work, and they are catching up on the World News.  My cleaning lady  talks to the TV so I try to make sure that there is nothing to prompt discussion on while she is here (like public TV, or something I recorded, like Murder She Wrote!  But today, the local news is on and they had an update on Afghanistan, so now she is telling my bride all about Afghanistan, and the election conspiracy.  And no one is cleaning anything!  I can not cooks supper til she leaves! and that is being pushed back! 

Worse, ever other visit, my bride asks why we pay her (complains about something that wasnt done to her standards (though she isnt really willing to take over the tasks herself!  = and I long ago decided that I would rather pay than do those things myself!!)


vent vent vent....

[Harlow2]

New grad class starts in 2 weeks. I've never seen or read the 2 texts  Despite several  reminders to person in charge books were never ordered. Should be fun that first week.

In the 1990s our campus bookstore did that so often with course textbooks that a survey of faculty eventually found that a solid majority of classes had late books.  The university finally outsourced the textbook procurement part of the university's business.  Somebody at the bookstore did themselves right out of a job there!

I think the students can get the book, and bookstore has done what it needs to. Faculty get desk copies elsewhere and that "elsewhere" isn't always on top of things.

[OneMoreYear]

New grad class starts in 2 weeks. I've never seen or read the 2 texts  Despite several  reminders to person in charge books were never ordered. Should be fun that first week.

In the 1990s our campus bookstore did that so often with course textbooks that a survey of faculty eventually found that a solid majority of classes had late books.  The university finally outsourced the textbook procurement part of the university's business.  Somebody at the bookstore did themselves right out of a job there!

I think the students can get the book, and bookstore has done what it needs to. Faculty get desk copies elsewhere and that "elsewhere" isn't always on top of things.

Can you use the faculty sampling from vitalsource until your desk copy arrives?

[Cheerful]

New grad class starts in 2 weeks. I've never seen or read the 2 texts  Despite several  reminders to person in charge books were never ordered. Should be fun that first week.

Sounds like a case where your dept chair needs to approve an invoice/order to have the texts sent to you overnight.  Perfectly reasonable course of action in these circumstances.  Be assertive.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I guess it's my turn to get the Whammy from the Universe. Looks like my 20 year old car may need a new engine. Dumbass admins are still f*cking with my schedule. Class starts on Monday.

[clean]

everyone is required to be tested (as I mentioned above).

You must schedule to take the test.

the website FAQ says that the scheduler is not yet ready! 

I guess that I will not be scheduling my test for Monday!!

[apl68]

The printer that handles our printing for patrons has been out of toner since Tuesday.  We've had toner on order since the week before last.  Every day this week our supplier has told us that it is expected in tomorrow.  There has been a steady stream of patrons needing to print for work, school, etc., and all we've been able to tell them is sorry.  This snafu is giving the library two black eyes as far as the public is concerned. 

I've been on the phone repeatedly with the vendors.  They're local people that I know personally who have been trying their level best to get us what we need, but supply chain issues have made a total mess of things.  And the mass closure of bricks-and-mortar stores in favor of everybody getting everything shipped from online orders means that there are no longer any regional alternatives when those supply chains break down.

We're also having problems with internet service dropping in and out.  That service provider has been slow to respond.  They have a tech here now--a full week late, and two weeks after the problem first developed--and so far he hasn't been able to tell us anything--except that we're not getting the full service that we've paid for.

It has been a massively frustrating week.

[mamselle]

And it's not like you can give free books away to make a dent in customer satisfaction stats....

Sorry to hear of all this.

M.

[Langue_doc]

Very angry vent.

Picked up a muffin from one of my usual grocery store deli haunts on my way home from an appointment only to discover mold growing on it. Checked the date to find that 8/10 is the sell-by date. Didn't bother with the receipt as this was my only purchase. Now I have to call the store and also lodge a formal complaint with the health department.

Can't do that until I've had breakfast. Aaargh!

[mamselle]

Parallel issue: I was going to buy a less-expensive bag of hamburger buns until I noticed the torn plastic and the fact that almost a whole roll had been eaten out.

I showed it to the salesclerk, who thanked me.

I considered asking her to charge me the lower price since that was the last one and the one I ended up getting cost more, but it wasn't worth the hassle.

M.

[science.expat]

Very angry vent.

Picked up a muffin from one of my usual grocery store deli haunts on my way home from an appointment only to discover mold growing on it. Checked the date to find that 8/10 is the sell-by date. Didn't bother with the receipt as this was my only purchase. Now I have to call the store and also lodge a formal complaint with the health department.

Can't do that until I've had breakfast. Aaargh!

Why do you have to complain to the health department? Mistakes happen, wouldn't notifying the store be enough?

[ergative]

Very angry vent.

Picked up a muffin from one of my usual grocery store deli haunts on my way home from an appointment only to discover mold growing on it. Checked the date to find that 8/10 is the sell-by date. Didn't bother with the receipt as this was my only purchase. Now I have to call the store and also lodge a formal complaint with the health department.

Can't do that until I've had breakfast. Aaargh!

Why do you have to complain to the health department? Mistakes happen, wouldn't notifying the store be enough?

If it's a matter of small mistakes, then the health department can determine that when they investigate.

[fishbrains]

Very angry vent.

Picked up a muffin from one of my usual grocery store deli haunts on my way home from an appointment only to discover mold growing on it. Checked the date to find that 8/10 is the sell-by date. Didn't bother with the receipt as this was my only purchase. Now I have to call the store and also lodge a formal complaint with the health department.

Can't do that until I've had breakfast. Aaargh!

Why do you have to complain to the health department? Mistakes happen, wouldn't notifying the store be enough?

If it's a matter of small mistakes, then the health department can determine that when they investigate.

Speaking as someone who worked in restaurants for nearly 20 years before getting into this gig: Trust me, you've eaten much worse.

[Langue_doc]

Very angry vent.

Picked up a muffin from one of my usual grocery store deli haunts on my way home from an appointment only to discover mold growing on it. Checked the date to find that 8/10 is the sell-by date. Didn't bother with the receipt as this was my only purchase. Now I have to call the store and also lodge a formal complaint with the health department.

Can't do that until I've had breakfast. Aaargh!

Why do you have to complain to the health department? Mistakes happen, wouldn't notifying the store be enough?

If it's a matter of small mistakes, then the health department can determine that when they investigate.

This is a place with freshly-baked goods. The muffins, croissants, and other pastries were in the usual baked goods cabinet. I had expected that the muffin would have been day-old but didn't realize that the store kept the pastries until they were sold. Pre-pandemic, the pastries would be in baskets in the cabinet, unlike now when each pastry is packed in a plastic container.

I haven't had the energy to call the store but will do so on Monday. Selling moldy pastries under the guise of freshly baked goods is an egregious violation of the health code. If I hadn't had the cataract surgeries I might not have noticed the mold, and would have eaten the muffin.

Fishbrains, I know I must have eaten worse. I'm upset because I like this store, and would make it a point to get lunch from their buffet if I'm in the area.

I doubt if complaining to the store would make any difference as there's no guarantee that they would check each container to make sure that the muffin or croissant hadn't expired. I've never checked the expiration dates of the products in this cabinet as they are sold as freshly baked. I still can't get over the fact that a product with the expiration date of 8/10 was in the cabinet on 8/21.