The cranky thread

[Netzilla]

I had guessed it was something old-school, but I figured it had to be really old-school since I never ran into learning Pascal, Fortran or C in the late 80s/early 90s.  None of my professors even mentioned it.  In the years since, this was the first place I'd found it.  I'm pretty sure all the perpetrators here are ex-COBOL programmers, so perhaps it was a common practice there.  Still, I wish they'd cut it out.

 

What makes it even more annoying is they return the same exception type for actual errors and you have to parse the exception message itself to tell what's going on.  It gets worse when they add or change messages without telling anyone. 

[Ternaugh]

I had guessed it was something old-school, but I figured it had to be really old-school since I never ran into learning Pascal, Fortran or C in the late 80s/early 90s.  None of my professors even mentioned it.  In the years since, this was the first place I'd found it.  I'm pretty sure all the perpetrators here are ex-COBOL programmers, so perhaps it was a common practice there.  Still, I wish they'd cut it out.

 

What makes it even more annoying is they return the same exception type for actual errors and you have to parse the exception message itself to tell what's going on.  It gets worse when they add or change messages without telling anyone. 

 

Back when dinosaurs ruled the earth, and 286 computers were considered nifty, it was common to send back the exit status from functions and programs to allow for error trapping and debugging. It was encouraged when I was learning C ("good programming", right up there with commenting code), and it's one of the reasons that function main() is defined as integer in that language. As you suspected, both COBOL and FORTRAN have their equivalents (STOP RUN and STOP respectively for terminating a program), with ways of passing codes back.

[tkdguy]

Rain is delaying the US Open men's final. Since I'm going out tonight, I may miss the match. Got the old VCR ready to record, since I don't have TiVo. But I won't get to watch it live. And I missed the women's final because I had to work, on my birthday, no less.

 

Why can't it rain in California instead? We have a bunch of wildfires going out of control, and people are predicting we may run out of water next year.

[Pariah]

I learned earlier today that the principal who hired me to my current position died this morning. It wasn't really a surprise; he'd been diagnosed with brain tumors almost a year ago and had recently entered hospice care. As soon as I saw an email from my current principal on a Sunday morning, I pretty much knew what it was going to say.

 

He was a good man and a good principal. I'm going to miss him.

[tkdguy]

My condolences, Pariah.

[FrankL]

So I get an email this morning that the integration routine I upgraded on Friday didn't run correctly. Started looking into it. Oh, wow. Frabuous day. The files I had been given to test my routines against didn't match the actual new production code.

 

"Pray tell, Mr. Babbage. If we put in the wrong numbers will we still get the right answer?"

[Pariah]

GIGO in action!

[Burrito Boy]

My local library doesn't have any Yahoo Serious movies! What is this world coming to?

[FrankL]

GIGO in action!

Yep. And nobody in the whole company can access their team calendars right now.

[Netzilla]

So I get an email this morning that the integration routine I upgraded on Friday didn't run correctly. Started looking into it. Oh, wow. Frabuous day. The files I had been given to test my routines against didn't match the actual new production code.

 

"Pray tell, Mr. Babbage. If we put in the wrong numbers will we still get the right answer?"

 

Been there.  Banged my head on that wall.  IMO, they deserve the testing failures since they didn't give you proper data in the first place but somehow they never see it that way.

[Cancer]

Day 1 of demolition was today. Man, am I sore.

[Xavier Onassiss]

Some of the local merchants around here are complete scumbags. Seriously, genital leprosy is too good for them.

[CaptnStrawberry]

Wasn't even thinking flu season - and WHAM! got hit by a nasty bug this weekend.  Pretty much stayed home the last few days -  I think it's starting to clear.

[death tribble]

Had to put nearly all my stuff into storage when I moved. So during the move of my stuff from storage to home what do I get injured by ? The car door. At the bottom of the rib cage. And over a week later I am still in pain over it although on the good side the pain is not continuous.

[Lawnmower Boy]

So, let's see:

 

i) Crazy lineups at all open checkstands;

ii) "Please Use Next Checkstand" signs at Customer Service.

 

Is there, perhaps, and I am just throwing this question out in idle curiosity, some clearer way for us to intimate that the one manager and four cashiers you can see are all that are available, and that maybe now is not the time to lineup at customer service to get a refund on the wrong size of Rice Krispies you bought? 

 

The question is perhaps more pressing in that I left my (busy) checkstand to walk over and tell you that there would be no-one at Customer Service for about half an hour, and your response was, "But I need to do a return!"

 

Because, and let me be perfectly clear about this, I know you need to do a return. I had a feeling that was the case. I understand. People need to do a lot of things that I wish they could do. They need to run into MacDonalds or the DMV, get through to a live operator at the cable company, book an appointment with a specialist, get across the bridge in less than twenty minutes. Those are all important things that they should be able to do! 

 

But, sometimes, you can't. And if I had to guess what time that might be, I might guess that it was at peak hours. And, moreover, I would guess that, say, the traffic lined up twenty blocks behind the bridge would be some kind of clue that this isn't going to take twenty minutes. 

 

Therefore, I have a proposal. Don't try to use these facilities at peak hours. Or, be prepared to wait, at peak hours. Or, even, and I know this is crazy, consider just how important your errand actually is.

[gewing]

Found out I cannot get the promotion/job transfer to over 25% more money until at least early next year...      It would be nice to be able to actually afford to pay my bills.  

 

My boss encouraged me to look into it.   He says I am at the top of the list when it comes up...   

[Ternaugh]

"Closing the sale" shouldn't really follow the part where you state that you don't know anything about your product. And it certainly shouldn't be attempted by saying "so, which one are you going to buy right now?"*

 

Your supervisor was friendly, though. And so was the other sales person that she found who actually attempted to answer my questions (while that other couple that you ditched me for yelled at you and headed to Wal-Mart).

 

*My Answer: "Neither! You didn't even show me what I needed to get to make it all work!"

[tkdguy]

God, I hate inefficient sales clerks and receptionists. Especially when they can't even get the data right, even when it's right in front of them.

[Pariah]

I have just about had it with my phone. The dropped calls, the constant crashes, the periodic lag times the likes of which I haven’t experienced since LambdaMOO, the comically short battery life (which, in fairness, the nice lady at the store warned me would likely happen), the idiotic and counterintuitive autocorrect (seriously, do you really think I mean ‘thus’ every single time I swipe the word ‘this’?  What are the odds?), the need to reboot the phone every night so that it will recognize that it’s plugged in and needs to recharge (see ‘comically short battery life’ above), and now, for no readily apparent reason, now an incident where it only works on speaker mode? I’m sick of it. This phone fills me with anger, the kind of white-hot rage that make me want to shout unpleasant interjections at passing tumbleweeds, or knock low-flying birds out of the sky with a golf club. It makes me want to put my phone in a box, and then put that box in a larger box (you can see where I’m going with this, can’t you?), and then mail that box to myself, and when it’s delivered, SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER!

 

Seriously, my phone is getting on my nerves.

 

Sadly, replacement isn’t really an option right now.

[Ternaugh]

God, I hate inefficient sales clerks and receptionists. Especially when they can't even get the data right, even when it's right in front of them.

 

Part of the problem is that many stores seem to feel that sales clerks are pretty much interchangeable, selling skills don't really have to be taught, and that training on the products isn't necessary. The clerk that I originally worked with seemed to feel that I was a bother, and that it was okay to basically wander off to talk with his co-workers while I stood there bewildered (which he did several times). Part of it could have been a bad read on how I was dressed (faded jeans, polo shirt, work boots), with the assumption that I couldn't afford what I was looking at. I've gotten that before, but it's a really dangerous thing to assume in Vegas.

 

As far as getting the data right, I was surprised that the staff's preferred method of finding out about their product was to reach into their pocket for their smartphone. And even then, they usually had difficulty with finding the correct answers.

[Burrito Boy]

I'm sick of these motherf***ing fire ants in this motherf***ing house!

[tkdguy]

Part of the problem is that many stores seem to feel that sales clerks are pretty much interchangeable, selling skills don't really have to be taught, and that training on the products isn't necessary. The clerk that I originally worked with seemed to feel that I was a bother, and that it was okay to basically wander off to talk with his co-workers while I stood there bewildered (which he did several times). Part of it could have been a bad read on how I was dressed (faded jeans, polo shirt, work boots), with the assumption that I couldn't afford what I was looking at. I've gotten that before, but it's a really dangerous thing to assume in Vegas.

 

As far as getting the data right, I was surprised that the staff's preferred method of finding out about their product was to reach into their pocket for their smartphone. And even then, they usually had difficulty with finding the correct answers.

 

This one is at a Lenscrafters store near my home. I went to another one in San Francisco for many years but transferred to this one last year because I don't go to SFO often nowadays.

 

Person helping me got my file and thought I was using an insurance I don't have anymore. Then she got the dates of my last appointment wrong and stated it was for glasses, not contact lenses. I had to correct her, and she had to get the correct file. Then she had trouble processing my payment, although to be fair, I was using a gift card.

 

It was amazing I was able to keep my cool, although my patience had worn thin.

 

Later on I realized I had spoken to her over the phone months ago about an appointment. She kept talking over me while I was trying to ask a question until I yelled at her.

[Cancer]

... It makes me want to put my phone in a box, and then put that box in a larger box (you can see where I’m going with this, can’t you?), and then mail that box to myself, and when it’s delivered, SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER!

You're a chemist. Surely you can put together something to melt the whole unit, and produce a heart-warming (ahem) fireball during the process?

 

I know, as a nuclear astrophysicist I ought to be able to visit core collapse supernovae on the objects of my ire, but like you, that isn't in my budget.

[Ternaugh]

This one is at a Lenscrafters store near my home. I went to another one in San Francisco for many years but transferred to this one last year because I don't go to SFO often nowadays.

 

Person helping me got my file and thought I was using an insurance I don't have anymore. Then she got the dates of my last appointment wrong and stated it was for glasses, not contact lenses. I had to correct her, and she had to get the correct file. Then she had trouble processing my payment, although to be fair, I was using a gift card.

 

It was amazing I was able to keep my cool, although my patience had worn thin.

 

Later on I realized I had spoken to her over the phone months ago about an appointment. She kept talking over me while I was trying to ask a question until I yelled at her.

 

My doctor's office seems to go out of their way to send my blood samples to the wrong lab*, which means that they don't get paid properly. I have an appointment coming up, so we'll see if they can get it right.

 

*Local underwriter uses lab A, its national parent corporation uses lab B, and they can't seem to figure out that lab A is the one they need to use.

[gewing]

well, 3.5 hours at the ER with my dad.  Finally in an exam room and seen by a doctor.      They advertised online 21 minute wait times....   

 

In their defense, they had an EKG on him within 15 minutes.   Abdominal pain...   

 

I KNEW I should taken him to Urgent care, but...   longer wait time, and when I called the ER, they said bring him in...

 

In retrospect, I suspect I should have made SURE he had tried his prescription antacids.   Now I feel bad. 

 

I came from work, picked him up and brought him down.  Now 2135.   I have to get up at about 0445 for work tomorrow.   MANDATORY training, so I can't miss it, and even when I get him home it is an hour drive to MY house.   

 

CRANKY!!!