Zompist Bboard Again

Man in Space wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:22 am I am applying to jobs I’m qualified for but, despite nearly five years of experience in the field I keep getting rejections. I’d love to change careers but nobody is willing to give experience. I can’t do, say, fast food or similar jobs because of my disability. I WANT OUT.

EDIT: And I get a rejection letter at 7:00 PM after applying at 6:30. I was qualified. I had the ~experience~ they oh so desired. And I get rejected, probably by an automated system.

Well, in any case, good luck!

Emily wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 7:31 pm got back my positive covid test results and within 8 hours managed to spill soup into my keyboard. here's to two weeks of not working and not getting paid, and also not having a functioning keyboard

That's all awfully messed up. Sorry to hear that.

I knew one person at my work came down with covid, so it might have been caught at work or it might not. Now another person tested positive. So while I've had my first two vaccines, I might see if I can get a test since I realized I've been under the weather. If I have it, I might have already spread it but I can stop from spreading it more. And regardless, everyone is going to be wearing masks if they hadn't already.

The more I think about it, the more I get the impression that I've almost never in my life actually gotten better at anything. With a few exceptions, apparently all human activities I've ever tried can be divided into

a) things I was already pretty good at the first time I tried them, and

b) things that I never became good at.

They say that practice makes perfect, but that apparently doesn't work for me.

Genuinely curious; how are you measuring "better"?

Maybe you're immune to the Dunning-Kruger effect, so you'll only feel good at something once you've practiced it for ten thousand hours.

masako wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 4:22 pm Genuinely curious; how are you measuring "better"?

Well, when there's some notable improvement compared to how it was like when I started doing something.

This chart was intended for referring to art skills, but I think it's applicable to everything in life:



Consider that you may well be improving--but your ability to understand/critique a particular area is also improving.

Moose-tache wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 4:55 pm Maybe you're immune to the Dunning-Kruger effect, so you'll only feel good at something once you've practiced it for ten thousand hours.

Or it's just the other side of the Dunning-Kruger effect - that being more competent makes you underestimate your skill.

alynnidalar wrote: ↑Fri Jan 28, 2022 9:40 am This chart was intended for referring to art skills, but I think it's applicable to everything in life:

Yes!

In one of my first drum lessons, my instructor was demonstrating something, suddenly stopped, and said "The better I get, the more I realize how much I suck." Later in life I realized how much truth there was in that statement, even if it was stated in humor.

Oh, don't get me wrong - I don't think I'm bad at everything. It's just that, apparently, with most of the things that I think I am reasonably good at, like learning about history or handling computers, I've been fairly good at them as far as I can remember. The problem is with improving my skills.

Raphael wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 5:46 am The problem is with improving my skills.

Me thinks you might have a strange definition of "improving your skills".

Raphael wrote: ↑Sat Jan 29, 2022 5:46 am It's just that, apparently, with most of the things that I think I am reasonably good at, like learning about history or handling computers, I've been fairly good at them as far as I can remember.

So you woke up one day and knew everything about "handling computers" there was to know, without any prior instruction? I seriously doubt that. And now, you know everything there is to know about "handling computers"? What does that entail: just building them? OK, maybe you know a lot about that, and it's a relatively limited topic if you restrict it to personal PCs. If it's using them and/or programming, I doubt ever more seriously that you know everything about that.

Is it more a matter of how quickly you can glob onto knew information about these topics, rather than just the amount of information you know? Well yeah, how exactly do you keep "improving" that? There's a certain point where you won't learn much faster; you just learn. That's not you: that's everyone.

It seems my W2 got lost in the mail since I normally get it before January ends. No idea how to fix this, although it will undoubtedly involve hours on the phone dealing with the IRS through automated menus.

malloc wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 9:24 am It seems my W2 got lost in the mail since I normally get it before January ends. No idea how to fix this, although it will undoubtedly involve hours on the phone dealing with the IRS through automated menus.

The IRS doesn't mail you your W-2, your employer does. It shouldn't be a big deal to request a replacement from them, though they will probably ask you to wait a bit longer since the mail has been so fucked up recently.

I realized recently that one of my coworkers has no understanding of context. He's not a dumb person overall (although I wouldn't put him anywhere near smart either), but if I bring up anything that requires environmental context at all to understand, he acts like I grew two new heads.

I could specifically be staying to do extra prep, and ask what he needs and he'll answer that he doesn't need anything because CURRENTLY he doesn't need help. Also I can tell him something directly, like "I need to help this customer but I'll do X, Y and Z when I'm done." And he'll complain that I didn't do X, Y and Z and instead did "whatever I wanted" when customers that are already there get first priority and he wasn't helping them so I had to step in.

I have some idea why this is happening. He's under a lot of stress from money issues and working multiple jobs. But he needs to slow down and listen to people, or he won't have the job he has for too long.

linguistcat wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 10:50 amI could specifically be staying to do extra prep, and ask what he needs and he'll answer that he doesn't need anything because CURRENTLY he doesn't need help. Also I can tell him something directly, like "I need to help this customer but I'll do X, Y and Z when I'm done." And he'll complain that I didn't do X, Y and Z and instead did "whatever I wanted" when customers that are already there get first priority and he wasn't helping them so I had to step in.

I had an employee like that once. She couldn't understand instructions like, "When you finish with X, do Y." All she would hear was "Do Y" and stop doing X. I learned I had to phrase everything differently for her. Fortunately she didn't stay long.

Linguoboy wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 11:19 am

linguistcat wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 10:50 amI could specifically be staying to do extra prep, and ask what he needs and he'll answer that he doesn't need anything because CURRENTLY he doesn't need help. Also I can tell him something directly, like "I need to help this customer but I'll do X, Y and Z when I'm done." And he'll complain that I didn't do X, Y and Z and instead did "whatever I wanted" when customers that are already there get first priority and he wasn't helping them so I had to step in.

I had an employee like that once. She couldn't understand instructions like, "When you finish with X, do Y." All she would hear was "Do Y" and stop doing X. I learned I had to phrase everything differently for her. Fortunately she didn't stay long.

I'm not even a manager or assistant manager, but I often get treated as one. (I need to ask for a raise, but that's a different complaint.) Having someone who can't communicate with other folks on top of that is a bit trying. I know I have my own foibles with communication but at least I don't blame other people for those.

Linguoboy wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 10:19 am The IRS doesn't mail you your W-2, your employer does. It shouldn't be a big deal to request a replacement from them, though they will probably ask you to wait a bit longer since the mail has been so fucked up recently.

The mail in the US has been quite "catastrophic", to say the least. In smaller things, I sent my mother a Christmas card in mid-November. I arrived back in the US in mid-December for a visit, and the card arrived a week after I did. (And I got a card a friend sent in December 2020 this past September!)


Minor-ish vent: It feels like my allergies are already flaring up again, and what's a nuisance is that a lot of my typical allergy symptoms are included in typical Covid symptoms! Fortunately, all my self-tests (as well as the PCR I did to return to the Netherlands) all came back negative, but it's still quite annoying.

doctor shark wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 1:25 pm Minor-ish vent: It feels like my allergies are already flaring up again, and what's a nuisance is that a lot of my typical allergy symptoms are included in typical Covid symptoms! Fortunately, all my self-tests (as well as the PCR I did to return to the Netherlands) all came back negative, but it's still quite annoying.

I feel you! I get a dry cough in the spring as a matter of course.

That feeling you get when you discuss a new position with your managers, and they discuss it with their managers, only to be told that the only option is to stay in your current position or return to the same position you had when you began with the company 10 years prior.

doctor shark wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 1:25 pm

Linguoboy wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 10:19 am The IRS doesn't mail you your W-2, your employer does. It shouldn't be a big deal to request a replacement from them, though they will probably ask you to wait a bit longer since the mail has been so fucked up recently.

The mail in the US has been quite "catastrophic", to say the least. In smaller things, I sent my mother a Christmas card in mid-November. I arrived back in the US in mid-December for a visit, and the card arrived a week after I did. (And I got a card a friend sent in December 2020 this past September!)

So it's not just here then! The post usually takes about a month to arrive here from Scotland, but once a parcel of books didn't arrive after more than half a year. So I asked the sender to send it again. And just after I asked them, I received both the first parcel and the second and had to pay to send back the second one.