What's bugging you? 2021

[GAME05]

My dream of selling weiners in a state park is likely dead. It's not $250 for the year as I'd understood, but $250 for the weekend. Yearly will require a contract, which I'll still look into, but it'll likely be considered a conflict of interest since I'm an employee. Was also looking at making about $1500 in a day by selling breakfast to the big bass tournaments at the Park, but I guess that's out, too. But there's a nearby gas station and I'll cross my fingers they'll let me sell there.

 

Boy if I were younger I'd skip college and just build a commercial kitchen. My commissary charges $225/mo plus $50/mo for permanent parking there. Inside they only offer a grease trap, a washing sink, fridges and freezers. And they're the only one in all of Raleigh.

[MrTPlush]

I was looking at a vehicle to buy at a dealer and they use 'live market pricing' for their used vehicles. I was about to go look at it and the night before the price rose $2k. I get the concept of market pricing, but absolutely no one had looked at the vehicle the week prior (the mileage was the same as the day it was listed). They then go and raise the price $2k just because their market price software said to? They sent me an email after a few days asking if I needed anything and I told them I wasn't interested at the new price. They basically said okay and closed my file of interest at the dealership.

 

I am sure that way of pricing must work in the long run (why else would they do it), but I can't say I will ever consider their dealership again. Maybe I will wait for 'live market pricing' to make my trade-in appreciate $2k

[wallus]

Used pricing has gotten way out of whack. I have bought new recently because I can usually buy for the same price as late model used if I shop around and qualify for discounts.

[hawing]

We had to put down our super-senior (age 17.5) cat Tuesday night. He survived bladder stones, hyperthyroidism and kidney disease, but not lymphoma. He was older than three of my four nieces/nephews, all high schoolers now.

 

It's not our first round at pet loss, but it still sucks. This was the cat who had bonded with me. Sigh.

[CheezWizHed]

We had to put down our super-senior (age 17.5) cat Tuesday night. He survived bladder stones, hyperthyroidism and kidney disease, but not lymphoma. He was older than three of my four nieces/nephews, all high schoolers now.

 

It's not our first round at pet loss, but it still sucks. This was the cat who had bonded with me. Sigh.

 

Sorry to hear that hawing.

[Jimbo]

The current job market. It seems worse now than in 2011.

[RobDeer 45]

So sorry to hear that Hawing. I hope each day gets a little better. So hard losing a pet.

[hawing]

So sorry to hear that Hawing. I hope each day gets a little better. So hard losing a pet.

Honestly, each time we've had a pet pass away, figuring out the impossible timing of when's "not too late" but "not too soon" is the most upsetting part for me. Not that the after is awesome, but there is some relief at not having to constantly monitor appetite and symptoms.

 

Appreciate the kind thoughts, though.

[nate82]

The current job market. It seems worse now than in 2011.

 

Depends on what you are looking for and where. Lots of IT jobs have opened up lately.

[wallus]

The current job market. It seems worse now than in 2011.

 

I think it depends on where you live. There are many businesses that are desperate for workers here. (manufacturing) My business is trying to hire and only getting poor applicants as well.

[homer]

Used pricing has gotten way out of whack. I have bought new recently because I can usually buy for the same price as late model used if I shop around and qualify for discounts.

 

Can testify to this. We bought a car at Car Max for $19500. We looked at the history and the exact same car had been purchased at the exact same CarMax 9 months earlier for $2500 less (then they sold it back to CarMax 8 months later).

[homer]

So sorry to hear that Hawing. I hope each day gets a little better. So hard losing a pet.

Honestly, each time we've had a pet pass away, figuring out the impossible timing of when's "not too late" but "not too soon" is the most upsetting part for me. Not that the after is awesome, but there is some relief at not having to constantly monitor appetite and symptoms.

 

Appreciate the kind thoughts, though.

 

So sorry to hear that. We can't wait to get a dog but I am already depressed about the day the dog we don't own yet passes away because I already know how attached I will be to it.

[LouisEly]

The current job market. It seems worse now than in 2011.

I accepted a job offer in early January. I had been looking for a year. Everybody (in my line of work at least) stopped hiring from February until about August, then there were so many people looking that if you didn't have exactly what they were looking for you didn't have a chance. The director of the UW MBA program I went to said the same thing; employers are being really picky now. I applied for a job at McDonald's corporate HQ here in Chicago last fall; I saw the posting on LinkedIn four days after it was posted and LI said it had 200 applicants at that point. Despite knowing the head of the department, I didn't even get an interview.

 

The job I ended up accepting wasn't what I had been doing the last five years and isn't here in Chicago; it's in Madison and is a combination of several previous experiences I had and that combination (market research, sales, people leadership, software/databases) is a fairly rare combination of experience/skills to have. I'm also making about $15K less per year than at my former job (and will incur $40K in sales commission on selling my home plus moving costs), but I was that miserable at my old job that it was worth it.

[Jimbo]

The current job market. It seems worse now than in 2011.

 

Depends on what you are looking for and where. Lots of IT jobs have opened up lately.

 

Yeah, I think a lot has to with supply-demand issues. My last four jobs I was like the only person they interviewed. Now, I'm lucky to make it to the Final Four. Majority of my applications are going unacknowledged.

 

I obtained an IT certification twenty years ago, but was useless without experienced. I kinda envy you guys.

 

I think it depends on where you live. There are many businesses that are desperate for workers here. (manufacturing) My business is trying to hire and only getting poor applicants as well.

 

I'm hearing it is difficult to fill low-level positions. If nothing else, I would no problem getting a McJob as a brige until the market sorts itself out.

[rwa12]

LouisEly, I gotta ask...are you a consultant? Big 4?

[nate82]

 

Yeah, I think a lot has to with supply-demand issues. My last four jobs I was like the only person they interviewed. Now, I'm lucky to make it to the Final Four. Majority of my applications are going unacknowledged.

 

I obtained an IT certification twenty years ago, but was useless without experienced. I kinda envy you guys.

 

IT jobs are such a wide spectrum now and some of them you don't need any work experience to get. For example there are some UX/UI jobs that say you need x amount of years of experience but most that I know who go into these jobs don't have any experience other than they took a coding camp course and were hired instantly after. If you are unemployed you may want to see if the unemployment office will pay for a coding boot camp or at least partially pay for it. I would suggest doing something that won't require a lot of years of experience to fulfill and usually a UX designer doesn't need many years of experience usually one year of general experience or a BS degree.

 

If you can't get a coding boot camp paid for you should try and apply to Business Analyst roles which are basically mini project managers. Those jobs are mostly just requirement gathering, documentation, and other various things that a project manager usually do but are now passed onto the Business Analyst. Requirement gathering is basically just people skills if you have people skills and can take notes during a meeting you basically have requirement gathering skills. Documentation is basically can you write out steps and procedures on how something is ran and translate the tech speak into plain English everything else is just filler in the position which just about anyone can do given enough time to learn.

[Thurston Fluff]

So sorry to hear that Hawing. I hope each day gets a little better. So hard losing a pet.

Honestly, each time we've had a pet pass away, figuring out the impossible timing of when's "not too late" but "not too soon" is the most upsetting part for me. Not that the after is awesome, but there is some relief at not having to constantly monitor appetite and symptoms.

 

Appreciate the kind thoughts, though.

 

Last "decision" I had to make was one of those all time great dogs and it was the week before Christmas. Pets give you a lifetime of joy and one truly awful day. While it's never easy I'd be lying if I wasn't always relieved to some extent when it was over.

[Thurston Fluff]

So sorry to hear that Hawing. I hope each day gets a little better. So hard losing a pet.

Honestly, each time we've had a pet pass away, figuring out the impossible timing of when's "not too late" but "not too soon" is the most upsetting part for me. Not that the after is awesome, but there is some relief at not having to constantly monitor appetite and symptoms.

 

Appreciate the kind thoughts, though.

 

Last decision I had to make was one of those all time great dogs and it was the week before Christmas. Pets give you a lifetime of joy and one truly awful day. While it's never easy I'd be lying if I wasn't relieved to some extent when the "death watch" was over.

[young guns]

Only time I've been involved with a decision like that was with the dog we got when I was in high school. His health was failing and my mom was agonizing with the decision to have to put him down. We ended up deciding when to do it and would go as a family after my sister got done with work. He ended up passing away while she was at work(and was upset about it) with his head in my lap. I don't think I'll ever really heal fully from losing him.

[LouisEly]

LouisEly, I gotta ask...are you a consultant? Big 4?

Nope. Used to do marketing research for a biopharmaceutical company; now I lead outbound research and operations for a SaaS (software as a service) company.

 

I should be a consultant, though, with all of the different things that I have done... but they only hire your prototypical 26-30 year old MBA grads.

[Jimbo]

IT jobs are such a wide spectrum now and some of them you don't need any work experience to get. For example there are some UX/UI jobs that say you need x amount of years of experience but most that I know who go into these jobs don't have any experience other than they took a coding camp course and were hired instantly after. If you are unemployed you may want to see if the unemployment office will pay for a coding boot camp or at least partially pay for it. I would suggest doing something that won't require a lot of years of experience to fulfill and usually a UX designer doesn't need many years of experience usually one year of general experience or a BS degree.

 

If you can't get a coding boot camp paid for you should try and apply to Business Analyst roles which are basically mini project managers. Those jobs are mostly just requirement gathering, documentation, and other various things that a project manager usually do but are now passed onto the Business Analyst. Requirement gathering is basically just people skills if you have people skills and can take notes during a meeting you basically have requirement gathering skills. Documentation is basically can you write out steps and procedures on how something is ran and translate the tech speak into plain English everything else is just filler in the position which just about anyone can do given enough time to learn.

 

So, are these jobs in Milwaukee, or just Chicago/Boston/SF?

[nate82]

IT jobs are such a wide spectrum now and some of them you don't need any work experience to get. For example there are some UX/UI jobs that say you need x amount of years of experience but most that I know who go into these jobs don't have any experience other than they took a coding camp course and were hired instantly after. If you are unemployed you may want to see if the unemployment office will pay for a coding boot camp or at least partially pay for it. I would suggest doing something that won't require a lot of years of experience to fulfill and usually a UX designer doesn't need many years of experience usually one year of general experience or a BS degree.

 

If you can't get a coding boot camp paid for you should try and apply to Business Analyst roles which are basically mini project managers. Those jobs are mostly just requirement gathering, documentation, and other various things that a project manager usually do but are now passed onto the Business Analyst. Requirement gathering is basically just people skills if you have people skills and can take notes during a meeting you basically have requirement gathering skills. Documentation is basically can you write out steps and procedures on how something is ran and translate the tech speak into plain English everything else is just filler in the position which just about anyone can do given enough time to learn.

 

So, are these jobs in Milwaukee, or just Chicago/Boston/SF?

 

Most are remote so they can be anywhere. I know in the past I have seen plenty in the state of Wisconsin.

 

For example these jobs.

[stalton]

I love winter. I really do. But God bless it all when Racine by the lake gets over a foot of snow.

[Patrick425]

An update on my unemployment fraud situation. About a week after submitting paperwork as an employer (As I stated, not only am I the one who's ID was stolen, I also handle HR at the small company I work for), we receive a letter from Unemployment detailing the payments that the "ex-employee" (me!) is eligible for, etc. So, I call back as the employer to confirm they received our paperwork, which was submitted with the deadline stated on the letter, and that the claim has been stopped. They did verify that the claim was stopped, but that unfortunately one payment had gone out. Then they tell me that the claim was made online on January 24th and the payment went out on the 26th!!?!. Huh? I did not receive a letter at home until the 27th and I believe we received the letter at work to verify the employee information on the 28th. The letter stated to return it no later than February 5th, I faxed it to them on the 3rd. Why would they pay anything out before confirming information with the employer??! It's just unbelievable to me how careless they are. Obviously the person I spoke with was unable to give me this information, but told me these were questions that I could ask the fraud investigator when they get back to me. When I asked when that would be, I was told the normal time is 14-21 days, but currently they are backed up and it could be twice as long as normal until I hear from someone. So, they can send out benefits for an online claim within 2 days, but it takes them 6 weeks to get back to someone who's ID is being used to commit unemployment fraud - Brilliant!!

[CheezWizHed]

I recently brought two of my sons (aged 15 & 16) in for a strep test this weekend. Multiple things are bugging me...

- They required a COVID test at the same time. They don't call if the test is negative...but if schools/doctors/other activities find out they had a COVID test (even me going into work), they required positive confirmation of a negative test.

- I have to sign off for them to treat my kids; I have to pay for the treatment; But because they are over 12, I can't call in find out the results of their tests. Except if it was positive, they would've called my cell phone.

- My daughter goes to a different school as those two sons. This morning I get a phone call from the school nurse inquiring about my sons' health and COVID situation (evidently they ask about the family's health as she comes into school?). Of course, if they have a pending COVID test, my daughter wasn't allowed to be in school (which obviously, we closed out the confirmation before sending everyone back in). She wants to dig into the health situation of my others sons to verify my daughter should be in school. I answered her questions, but was massively annoyed at her sticking her nose where it didn't need to be.