The Venting Thread

[clean]

Once again, I post to remind people to back up your computers! 

Yesterday, I was working on my personal laptop and it died.  I spent the rest of the day dealing with what tested to be a hard disk failure.  My laptop is less than 2 years old.  In January, the hard drive was replaced under warranty.  It is now, Seven Months Later, needing to being replaced AGAIN!  (This is the 3rd hard disk failure in 2 years! from 2 different laptops).
Fortunately, I had backed up the computer 11 days ago.  More fortunately, late last night, I attempted to restart the computer again, and it did start, so I was able to copy the files again, and I also backed up bookmarks and passwords files. 

I purchased this HP from Costco.  Because Costco backs things for an additional year from purchase, I am able to get the hard disk replaced again.  Unfortunately, it has less than 120 days left on that warranty.  As I no longer have a lot of confidence in that machine, I am considering purchasing yet another computer.  Probably best to have a spare, I guess.  I have a portable hard drive, (and cd/dvd external drive).  I will probably 'update' to the solid state drives for memory, so that whatever is killing hard disks in my house, will no longer have anything to kill... and I am beginning to explore the option of some sort of Cloud Storage, so that I reduce the risk of losing even 11 days worth of computer work. 

I see that i can get Microsoft 365 (which Im not a fan of) which includes cloud storage sufficient to keep me happy.  (There is a free one, but I dont know if that is large enough... not sure yet).  As I noted, I prefer that Excel and Word be available on the computer. I dont like having to 'ask permission' to open files or log in or go through Teams (which I also do not care for)... I dont want to be REQUIRED to have internet access to work on my programs, but I would like the option to have the files updated more often, more automatically. 

Anyway! 
DO IT NOW!  BACK UP YOUR COMPUTER! 

[ergative]

Oof, glad you could recover your work!

I've always stored everything either in Dropbox (which syncs to another computer at home) or OneDrive (which syncs to my work computer), so everything is always in three places at once (counting the cloud).  I find MS 365 very irritating--especially how it disabled aAutosave except to OneDrive, so I have to remember to keep manually saving anything I write that's not for work--but I do quite like how it integrates with Teams, so we can edit files on the app and then save them directly to a shared Teams folder, rather than constantly having to manually upload new versions. I'm still not sure, though, whether that kind of seamless integration across platforms is worth becoming shackled to a yearly subscription fee model, instead of buying software and owning it. I'm leaning towards not. At least the university pays for my MS365.

[waterboy]

Been using Dropbox for years and it's generally very dependable...except for that one time when it randomly deleted stuff (which I could then retrieve because, well, Dropbox).

[downer]

I felt that Dropbox was slowing down my machines and I also moved to Chromebooks. Now I work out of Google Drive.

[RatGuy]

I've been a part of a coordinated effort by members of staff and NTT faculty to increase salaries. Some staff members have seen a slight increase, and there's been a decision to raise the starting salaries for NTT faculty. But when it comes to increasing salaries for current faculty, the answer from HR is "that's impossible to do with our system" and "we don't know how."

You mean to tell me that I can't get a raise -- that I'll essentially be paid less than someone who just started -- because you don't know how to pay me more?

[sinenomine]

I was jolted out of bed at 2:00 this morning when a smoke/CO detector at the house where I'm caretaking decided it needed new batteries. It has two modes — silent and blaring — and if you just pull out the batteries, it screams "BATTERIES!" I put in new ones, but then couldn't get back to sleep, knowing that the alarm was set for 4:00. I have a full day of classes and meetings ahead of me, and I'm sure I'll be staggering around like a zombie. Grrr.

[apl68]

I have a full day of classes and meetings ahead of me, and I'm sure I'll be staggering around like a zombie. Grrr.

Growling zombies are scary....

But seriously, sorry for the interruption of your sleep.  It has happened to me many times when alarms go off at the library in the middle of the night for no apparent reason, and I have to get up and get dressed and put my contacts in and go meet with the police.  A night like that does make the next day less unpleasant.  The good thing is you were able to get the problem fixed the first time!

[paultuttle]

I've been a part of a coordinated effort by members of staff and NTT faculty to increase salaries. Some staff members have seen a slight increase, and there's been a decision to raise the starting salaries for NTT faculty. But when it comes to increasing salaries for current faculty, the answer from HR is "that's impossible to do with our system" and "we don't know how."

You mean to tell me that I can't get a raise -- that I'll essentially be paid less than someone who just started -- because you don't know how to pay me more?

I smell BS. Just sayin'.

____

My own vent: Work computer access problems, for the second business day in a row, while my personal 2015 HP laptop continues to soldier along quite well.

[AmLitHist]

As my Foot Fiasco has finally gotten resolved (still some soreness and middle of the night cramps, but overall, pretty much done), ALHS seems to have torn a tendon in his foot.  After a cortisone shot and brace and boot, our podiatrist ordered an MRI.

I was aggravated beyond words when the order was placed on a Thursday and ALHS got his test scheduled the next morning, to be done yesterday at 8 a.m.  (after it took me literally 4 months before Cigna would approve my MRI). He even asked the woman in scheduling if Cigna approved it--yes, they had, that same day it was scheduled.

You can probably see where this is going . . . .

In Monday's mail, ALHS received a letter from Cigna, saying they had reviewed the case and would NOT, in fact, pay for the MRI.

Good thing he got the letter in time to cancel the test, lest we be on the hook for the cost.  Now he's working with the doctor's office to battle Cigna. . . . just like I had to do all spring.

And I'm paying nearly $500/month out of pocket for my Cigna premiums (and the college is paying over $900 for both of us) WHY, again?

SIGH. I'm glad to have insurance, but I'm so tired of having to fight them for every blessed penny they pay out. And people wonder why people go into bankruptcy from medical bills, even when they have insurance?  I'm happy to answer that one.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

As my Foot Fiasco has finally gotten resolved (still some soreness and middle of the night cramps, but overall, pretty much done), ALHS seems to have torn a tendon in his foot.  After a cortisone shot and brace and boot, our podiatrist ordered an MRI.

I was aggravated beyond words when the order was placed on a Thursday and ALHS got his test scheduled the next morning, to be done yesterday at 8 a.m.  (after it took me literally 4 months before Cigna would approve my MRI). He even asked the woman in scheduling if Cigna approved it--yes, they had, that same day it was scheduled.

You can probably see where this is going . . . .

In Monday's mail, ALHS received a letter from Cigna, saying they had reviewed the case and would NOT, in fact, pay for the MRI.

Good thing he got the letter in time to cancel the test, lest we be on the hook for the cost.  Now he's working with the doctor's office to battle Cigna. . . . just like I had to do all spring.

And I'm paying nearly $500/month out of pocket for my Cigna premiums (and the college is paying over $900 for both of us) WHY, again?

SIGH. I'm glad to have insurance, but I'm so tired of having to fight them for every blessed penny they pay out. And people wonder why people go into bankruptcy from medical bills, even when they have insurance?  I'm happy to answer that one.

Damn. So, they approved it and then changed their minds? Health insurance is such a scam. It's ridiculous that some people have to worry about whether they can afford to be sick.

[Parasaurolophus]

The child does not wish to interact with you. Leave him alone, already. You are not getting him ready to play with other kids.

[paultuttle]

As my Foot Fiasco has finally gotten resolved (still some soreness and middle of the night cramps, but overall, pretty much done), ALHS seems to have torn a tendon in his foot.  After a cortisone shot and brace and boot, our podiatrist ordered an MRI.

I was aggravated beyond words when the order was placed on a Thursday and ALHS got his test scheduled the next morning, to be done yesterday at 8 a.m.  (after it took me literally 4 months before Cigna would approve my MRI). He even asked the woman in scheduling if Cigna approved it--yes, they had, that same day it was scheduled.

You can probably see where this is going . . . .

In Monday's mail, ALHS received a letter from Cigna, saying they had reviewed the case and would NOT, in fact, pay for the MRI.

Good thing he got the letter in time to cancel the test, lest we be on the hook for the cost.  Now he's working with the doctor's office to battle Cigna. . . . just like I had to do all spring.

And I'm paying nearly $500/month out of pocket for my Cigna premiums (and the college is paying over $900 for both of us) WHY, again?

SIGH. I'm glad to have insurance, but I'm so tired of having to fight them for every blessed penny they pay out. And people wonder why people go into bankruptcy from medical bills, even when they have insurance?  I'm happy to answer that one.

Damn. So, they approved it and then changed their minds? Health insurance is such a scam. It's ridiculous that some people have to worry about whether they can afford to be sick.

Universal. Healthcare. Now.

My vent: I want to test the idea that a large group of politicians all talking at once could blow typhoons and hurricanes off course. Unfortunately, it might cost too much to be viable, given some people's inflated (you see what I did there?) conceptualization of their labor's value. :sad trombone:

[sinenomine]

We have a new crop of HR staff at my school, most of them straight out of college, so they're encountering the divide between theory and practice. They've just sent out a campus-wide directive for all employees to fill out a work grid saying in what locations we work and what we do every hour of the week. Faculty are irate, deans are rolling their eyes, and the provost is gobsmacked. Morale has already been low, and short-sighted, draconian decrees and wastes of time like this are not helping!

[downer]

We have a new crop of HR staff at my school, most of them straight out of college, so they're encountering the divide between theory and practice. They've just sent out a campus-wide directive for all employees to fill out a work grid saying in what locations we work and what we do every hour of the week. Faculty are irate, deans are rolling their eyes, and the provost is gobsmacked. Morale has already been low, and short-sighted, draconian decrees and wastes of time like this are not helping!

Isn't there some more experienced boss in your HR?
It would be fun to fill out a work grid for each other. You could say what the deans are really doing.

[ergative]

We have a new crop of HR staff at my school, most of them straight out of college, so they're encountering the divide between theory and practice. They've just sent out a campus-wide directive for all employees to fill out a work grid saying in what locations we work and what we do every hour of the week. Faculty are irate, deans are rolling their eyes, and the provost is gobsmacked. Morale has already been low, and short-sighted, draconian decrees and wastes of time like this are not helping!

Wow.

My vent: I filled out the forms to renew my passport today. It took like five tries. First I used the wrong color ink. Then I put my first name in the box for my last name. Then I accidentally printed out the fourth form double-sided, when it needed to be single-sided. Then I got a digit of my post code wrong. By the last time, I realized I could have written my phone number more neatly, but I was DONE. Paid the fees, mailed it off. Let's hope it works.