Open Bar: We're going to build a bar, and make the drinks pay for it!

[Don Coyote]

Well, I'm going to be in Portland weekend after the next because I hate myself and hate nerds and I hope to make lots of super serious magic players sulky and maybe I'll dream crush a few pros.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Well, I'm going to be in Portland weekend after the next because I hate myself and hate nerds and I hope to make lots of super serious magic players sulky and maybe I'll dream crush a few pros.

If you get a chance, get to the Tugboat Brewery.  It's a bar more or less dedicated to Magic.

[Don Coyote]

Well, I'm going to be in Portland weekend after the next because I hate myself and hate nerds and I hope to make lots of super serious magic players sulky and maybe I'll dream crush a few pros.

If you get a chance, get to the Tugboat Brewery.  It's a bar more or less dedicated to Magic.

Thanks, I'll try to check it out.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Well, I'm going to be in Portland weekend after the next because I hate myself and hate nerds and I hope to make lots of super serious magic players sulky and maybe I'll dream crush a few pros.

If you get a chance, get to the Tugboat Brewery.  It's a bar more or less dedicated to Magic.

Thanks, I'll try to check it out.

it's in the alley to the left of Mary's Burlesque, under the big air conditioning unit.

Not kidding.  In Portland you have to go into alleys to get to the regular bars.

[Cain]

Hm, that was odd.

Just had a meeting with my department head.  We have a deep-seated, finely tuned mutual loathing for each other, though because I am a gentleman (and because he is a spineless sack of shit) it's all done via nice smiles, compliments and completely fucking up each other's paperwork.  The meeting was meant to be a informal "catch-up", allowing concerns (from me) to be aired, questions asked etc.

So I didn't exactly go in with high expectations.

And while I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch, it does seem my repeated emails about the stupidity of the "Prevent" counter-terrorism program material has finally sunk in, and he's willing to do something about it (namely, have me provide the materials and training instead. +1 to counter-terrorism consultant CV building).  And beyond that, he also seems to share my concerns that Brexit is probably going to tank the whole company if we don't play it smart, and was apparently sufficiently impressed with my off-the-cuff spiel on the issue to want to bring it up with the Principal and even central management.  This may get me in with the lobbying team and allow me to network with the Mayoral office as well (given the Mayor's stated opinion on Brexit).

Now this could be a convoluted way of either getting me to shut up or go away, but he's had no problems in the past telling me to do just that.  Plus some of the names he mentioned in regards to the company suggested he was taking this seriously for once (and maybe saw the potential career benefits of using company resources effectively).  So I'm cautiously positive about this.

He also appears to be gunning for my immediate manager right now, and presumably wants to butter me up so I can deliver some goods on him.  I don't really care for their pissing match, but I'll work the conflict to my benefit if I can.

What's your immediate supervisor like?  If he's stupid, don't feed him/her to the beast too quickly.  My current boss is both malevolent AND intelligent, and it can get really bad.

Well, he's pretty stupid.

However, I suspect this is a setup to try and get the weird spying co-worker into that position.  And she would be much worse than he is...not to mention much more annoying.

So I figure the best strategy is to play them off against each other while giving neither a decisive advantage.  That means they can fight each other, so I can do my job without being micromanaged to death.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

So, I get off of work and find that my doctor's practice (he is on vacation) has managed to fuck my prescription up again, for the ninth day straight.  So no sleep, lots of fun withdrawal symptoms¹, and the urge to take a chainsaw to his staff and then proceed to the rest of the species.  And there is a minimum of 24 hours before it will be fixed.

If my crew were this incompetent, I wouldn't have to fire them, because they'd have killed themselves by now. 

Everything is broken and everything sucks.




¹  Imagine the first day of stopping smoking.  with a toothache, only right behind your eyes.  The some bastard pushes you down the stairs and the IRS audits you.  That's the last ten minutes.  Of the last 24 hours.  It seriously took every rational bit that's left of my brain to not park my car in the side of a bridge abutment on I-10.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Hm, that was odd.

Just had a meeting with my department head.  We have a deep-seated, finely tuned mutual loathing for each other, though because I am a gentleman (and because he is a spineless sack of shit) it's all done via nice smiles, compliments and completely fucking up each other's paperwork.  The meeting was meant to be a informal "catch-up", allowing concerns (from me) to be aired, questions asked etc.

So I didn't exactly go in with high expectations.

And while I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch, it does seem my repeated emails about the stupidity of the "Prevent" counter-terrorism program material has finally sunk in, and he's willing to do something about it (namely, have me provide the materials and training instead. +1 to counter-terrorism consultant CV building).  And beyond that, he also seems to share my concerns that Brexit is probably going to tank the whole company if we don't play it smart, and was apparently sufficiently impressed with my off-the-cuff spiel on the issue to want to bring it up with the Principal and even central management.  This may get me in with the lobbying team and allow me to network with the Mayoral office as well (given the Mayor's stated opinion on Brexit).

Now this could be a convoluted way of either getting me to shut up or go away, but he's had no problems in the past telling me to do just that.  Plus some of the names he mentioned in regards to the company suggested he was taking this seriously for once (and maybe saw the potential career benefits of using company resources effectively).  So I'm cautiously positive about this.

He also appears to be gunning for my immediate manager right now, and presumably wants to butter me up so I can deliver some goods on him.  I don't really care for their pissing match, but I'll work the conflict to my benefit if I can.

What's your immediate supervisor like?  If he's stupid, don't feed him/her to the beast too quickly.  My current boss is both malevolent AND intelligent, and it can get really bad.

Well, he's pretty stupid.

However, I suspect this is a setup to try and get the weird spying co-worker into that position.  And she would be much worse than he is...not to mention much more annoying.

So I figure the best strategy is to play them off against each other while giving neither a decisive advantage.  That means they can fight each other, so I can do my job without being micromanaged to death.

You know, you could always sell out and work at some conservative think tank, telling stupid people how to economically cripple themselves.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Well, I'm going to be in Portland weekend after the next because I hate myself and hate nerds and I hope to make lots of super serious magic players sulky and maybe I'll dream crush a few pros.

The 13th-14th? If you have any free time, hit us up, maybe we can go grab a beer!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Well, he's pretty stupid.

However, I suspect this is a setup to try and get the weird spying co-worker into that position.  And she would be much worse than he is...not to mention much more annoying.

So I figure the best strategy is to play them off against each other while giving neither a decisive advantage.  That means they can fight each other, so I can do my job without being micromanaged to death.

This seems like the best strategy, given the circumstances. If their petty bickering can benefit you, why not?

[Freeky]

So, I have a really high resting heart rate.  It's been regularly over 100bpm for a month now, and I got deferred from donating plasma until I can get a dr to sign a release saying I'm good to go.  At the dr's today, it was still high and she ordered a bunch of testwork done. EKG was good, just got to get bloodwork done next week.

I'm not exactly bitching, mind you, because health is a thing that ought to be taken care of, but she was dropping the kind of hints that makes me think that when this shit does get sorted out she won't sign it, which means I'm fucked for bills money.

[LMNO]

So, I get off of work and find that my doctor's practice (he is on vacation) has managed to fuck my prescription up again, for the ninth day straight.  So no sleep, lots of fun withdrawal symptoms¹, and the urge to take a chainsaw to his staff and then proceed to the rest of the species.  And there is a minimum of 24 hours before it will be fixed.

If my crew were this incompetent, I wouldn't have to fire them, because they'd have killed themselves by now. 

Everything is broken and everything sucks.




¹  Imagine the first day of stopping smoking.  with a toothache, only right behind your eyes.  The some bastard pushes you down the stairs and the IRS audits you.  That's the last ten minutes.  Of the last 24 hours.  It seriously took every rational bit that's left of my brain to not park my car in the side of a bridge abutment on I-10.

I'm constantly amazed at how some people/companies/firms will obsess heavily over something that doesn't even matter, and let really important things go straight to hell.  That must suck.

[Cain]

You know, you could always sell out and work at some conservative think tank, telling stupid people how to economically cripple themselves.

I could, but where would the challenge in that be?  Besides, I'm working on getting "employee of the year" in Morrowind at the moment.

So, as far as my Blades handler in Morrowind knows, he sent my character off to either get cured or die after contracting corpus disease.

That was three months ago, in game.  I got cured within the first 24 hours and since then I've: robbed all the Great House vaults and replaced their goods with pillows and copies of "The Lusty Argonian Maid", killed off the entire Dark Brotherhood organisation, become Archmage, Master Thief and Grandmaster of House Hlaalu, have seized control of the Cammona Tong despite being an outlander and an Imperial agent and a member of the rival Thieves Guild, robbed several ebony mines, cornered the market in illegal Dwemer artifacts, spent a month floating above Balmora while casting detect enchantment spells to grind alteration and mysticism, created a ring that makes me impossible to kill, raised my intelligence to godlike levels, assassinated a few Telvanni and Redoran nobles, negotiated several trade deals with the Ashlanders, defeated several bandit camps just using my fists to give them a beatdown, raided another two Sixth House bases and became the Champion of three different Daedric princes.

I have still not reported in.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

So, I get off of work and find that my doctor's practice (he is on vacation) has managed to fuck my prescription up again, for the ninth day straight.  So no sleep, lots of fun withdrawal symptoms¹, and the urge to take a chainsaw to his staff and then proceed to the rest of the species.  And there is a minimum of 24 hours before it will be fixed.

If my crew were this incompetent, I wouldn't have to fire them, because they'd have killed themselves by now. 

Everything is broken and everything sucks.




¹  Imagine the first day of stopping smoking.  with a toothache, only right behind your eyes.  The some bastard pushes you down the stairs and the IRS audits you.  That's the last ten minutes.  Of the last 24 hours.  It seriously took every rational bit that's left of my brain to not park my car in the side of a bridge abutment on I-10.

I'm constantly amazed at how some people/companies/firms will obsess heavily over something that doesn't even matter, and let really important things go straight to hell.  That must suck.

Thanks.  It does suck.  I never really pictured myself as the kind of guy that would wind up dope sick, but here I am.  It's just respectable dope sick.

[Junkenstein]

I have still not reported in.

Fortunately there's no rush as Cosades will just smoke crack until you catch him up on the world.

Skooma is a hell of a drug. 

[Don Coyote]

Well, I'm going to be in Portland weekend after the next because I hate myself and hate nerds and I hope to make lots of super serious magic players sulky and maybe I'll dream crush a few pros.

The 13th-14th? If you have any free time, hit us up, maybe we can go grab a beer!

I'd up for that.