Time to Relax...January 28, 2014 by

Shit's been all too serious up in here. People leaving...ok, one person...and a lot of folks didn't like him, but still..."drama"...or arguments, and people bitching about it as though it were a big deal thereby making it a bigger deal than it really is. Whiners. Other stupid shit, so if how about this: I put my absolutely appalling video and audio editing skills to use and make a vlog. Not just any vlog. I sing...which means everyone should be able to join hands and laugh at me, and also be like "yeah...I know what he's talking about" in this song that I made about how fucking stupid MyIGN is sometimes (on a technical level really).

Umm...to give credit where it's due:

Peter Schilling - Major Tom (Coming Home)

or, the first minute or so of it anyway lol.

For those of you fuckers born after the 80's, you may be more familiar with the version of this song that was covered by Shiny Toy Guns around 2010 for a car commercial:

I do admit though, I like that version too. Anyway...now there are two good links to versions of the song you'll want to wash your ears out with after hearing me sing...or listen to them first for a better idea of how tone deaf I am, the choice is yours. :P

Really more of a slideshow than a video I guess, but what do you expect? I've just got Windows Movie Maker to work with. Anyway, you're welcome for the laugh...or making your ears bleed.  :D

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I'm a Shitty Businessman...January 14, 2014 by

Not that I view that necessarily as a bad thing...at all.

So, part of my job is to negotiate rates and find the best/cheapest (really) method of shipping our bullshit to various places around the world (but mostly still in the United States...and occasionally up to the fucking Canadians. :P ) and in the course of doing so I've come to develop a relationship with freight carriers and logistical support groups to varying degrees.

One of the newer companies belonging to the latter, I'd been dealing with a certain individual for a pretty short time, but we got along fairly well. We'd talk a little bit, he always did pretty well by me, resolved issues and generally seemed like a very honest and good worker. For about half a month I lost contact with him, so in an effort to still get the services of the company he worked for I sent a message to corporate saying I'd appreciate another liaison in his stead (since prior to his going silent, he received really good news about potentially going back to school for his BA, so I just figured maybe he did just that) or in the time he took off, or whatever the case may be. I was told to keep trying to contact him due to corporate rules being that 45 days pass after the last shipment with a current agent before accounts could be transferred generally. So I try a few more emails and I get a response with his phone number.

So...I dunno how much I should say. Basically, he wasn't getting paid because his boss (a franchisee) was taking money out of the investment bankroll for personal use, and saying that it was the investor who was responsible. Details are..weird, and it was an odd conversation to have with the guy honestly. We both wish each other luck in the future and whatnot.

I tell corporate that we should probably just move ahead with getting me a new agent, but I'm told that the franchise owner will be taking on the account, and he was just slow issuing the paperwork removing my old agent from it (and work) apparently.

So, here's where I probably fail as a businessman. I draw a line in the sand and say that in order to proceed I unfortunately would like some kind of investigation into whatever the fuck was happening with the franchisee, because I would not willingly put money into the hand of a thief OR anybody who willfully lead a decent, hard working employee to their expulsion from a place they've actually spoken pretty highly of and seemed to like working for prior. I also apologized a lot for putting the representative I was speaking to in such an awkward position...because that probably sucks to be in the middle of.

This could potentially cost us a little bit (not a lot, mind you, there are other avenues I can go down, and a lot of people are willing to compete for our business) so I'm sure as a business decision it was not particularly sound, right? I'm sure a good businessman would probably just say, "fuck it, the world is fucked, but whatever, cost of doing business." or something...but I'm not that guy. I don't even know how to be that guy. I'm still the same guy who called my own (now ex) boss well meaning, but functionally retarded when I was asked during my review what I thought of him. I'm still the guy who sends messages to all users asking them to stop being fucking idiot children who don't clean up after themselves. I'm still the guy who gets in arguments with vice presidents when they're talking out of their ass and I take offense to how out of fucking touch they are with their own business. I'm still the guy who gives two shits about the little guy; about hard fucking workers and wanting to see them not get hosed all the time, manager title be damned.

I'll admit that maybe it's not my business...but who the fuck's is it then? I don't know much about franchise based businesses like this. It seems like a good deal for everyone, although oversight apparently can be lacking, and it just seems like another way bigwigs can make money without looking at how their business really operates, and I don't approve of that shit for a second. Who's place is it to point out that a business could have a thief operating under their banner? Who's place is it to maybe butt-in and take a swing at the fucker for the little guy who lost his job over the holiday season, and can't now pay for the schooling he got accepted for or his wife's medical bills? I don't know...but I guess I'll go ahead and be THAT guy.

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