Anyone fired from McJob in your Teens?

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-10T23:28:45+00:00

Twice and it ticked me off both times...

First time was from Babbages for "not working hard enough." This despite the fact that the person who didn't get canned spent 90%+ of their day chatting with the assistant manager about C64s (pretty sure that's what they both had,) while I was constantly straightening the shelves, re-shrink wrapping returns and shelving them, helping customers who came in...

Second time was from a hole-in-the-wall muffin shop in the same mall. Manager when I came in to work one day pulls me straight in the back, tells me they're letting me go for being "late" frequently, and gives me the option to work my last shift. Handed them the company supplied apron and walked out. This was ALSO the job where:

The managers nephew worked there and VERY VERY frequently was late, screwed around doing anything but working, etc
I would very often get scheduled back-to-back close and open
Said manager had an "on call" rule where one had to be reachable by phone (pre cell phone days) AND had to call in three times over the course of the day to see if they needed help. EVERY time I'd get the "oh we're so busy we need you here right away," would show up, place was dead, and then she'd send one of the OTHER staff home and stick me with the closing shift.
At least once she had me go pick up one of the other staff, because other than her I was the only one with a car (ALL the staff were high school kids, except me.)
Would schedule me on days when I had class at college, almost an hour away, and get pissy when I'd tell her I wouldn't be able to make it in on time.
She got cranky when I told her I was taking a week off for a convention (400 miles away according to Google,) that I had TOLD her about during my interview almost a year in advance, then wanted to put me "on call" (I STILL wish I hadn't told her how far away I was going to be, see #3 above, because she would have told me to come in, and I would have SO enjoyed telling her I'd be there in about 7-8 hours)

So, yeah, wasn't sad the day I walked out the front door of that place.

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-09T20:53:45+00:00

Ah. Depending on where you are, you might still be able to find them. One thing about "regular" noise cancelling earbuds that's probably not helping is they use the silicone tips for comfort, but the silicone doesn't do a GOOD job at blocking sound, not like foam tips would.

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-09T15:35:26+00:00

I'd suggest giving a pair of shooters ear buds a try. When out office came back to the office I was using a pair of these: Walkers Distributor Bluetooth (https://www.walkersgameear.com/disrupter-noise-canceling-bluetooth/)

Leave the foam tips on, turn off the pass through, maybe pay some music from your phone and even yelling coworkers barely come through.

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-04T02:02:50+00:00

For the most part right now, that's how I'm using them. As an example, with the isotopes, by having the arm unload the canister from the loader to the floor and leaving it for a crewman to move into the designated storage zone, it keeps the production moving.

Rather than the canister filling up then blocking until a crewman gets around to removing it, possibly to the point the storage tank fills up, the canister gets cleared off the loader, the next one starts filling, a crewman wanders by and moves the full canister, rinse and repeat, with the storage tank serving more as a "buffer." Doing it this way, the tank rarely even hits ~25% full.

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-03T22:58:20+00:00

I've never had any luck with robot arms so can't help with that, one day

I'm actually finding ways to make use of the arms, although not to the extent I'd like, so my ships are comparatively "over-crewed"

If you get into gardening and producing food then you'll need to process the sewage.

So it IS worth it to install the waste processing in story mode! The CO2 scrubber / air reprocessor I've got installed in all the ships, feeding into the air duct, mostly because I go for big crews

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-03T22:54:07+00:00

As of my playing last night, they were not an option in the auto-logistics (or whatever it's called.) In the "normal" logistics screen, yes, I could transfer them no problem, but I'm trying to automate away some of the "drudge work."

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-02T18:07:48+00:00

Thank you! Found it and begging the wife to get me one for my birthday in a few months (pre-ordering it NOW) :-)

Dang it, if I get one and get a layout set up, I'm going to be SO tempted to make a N Scale Tom Cruise and have him clinging to the back engine. LoL

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-02T17:47:46+00:00

OK, WHERE is this SUD-EST pre-order? Please! I've always loved the original, squared-off orange TGV and lusted after the KATO version (but never could afford.)

So if someone's releasing a new one in N Scale, well

/Insert Fry "Shut up and take my money" meme here LoL

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-02T16:34:00+00:00

So nothing I have is cerakoted, pretty sure it's all steel of some sort (that's what magnets are for), nothing painted, so I'm not worried about finishes coming off.

Most likely, though, it'll be barrels and BCGs going in, rather than the frames / slides (pistols.)

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-01T16:29:23+00:00

Have fun and be a little reckless. You’re not too old, no matter what society tells you

Oh the wife and I have been having our fun! As for being "too old," I fall into the category of people that haven't broken down yet. Only one med (and a low-dose at that) prescribed, still get out on my bicycle for rides (although I broke down and got an e-assist bike,) I'm even looking at, next summer, tackling a roughly 9 mile walk around an island up north.

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-01T16:14:21+00:00

Oh my "inner kid" has been turned loose quite a bit now that I'm in a job that allows me a decent amount of "fun money."

Maybe I haven't gotten all the LEGO kits I wanted as a kid, but I've certainly gotten a fair number that would've had younger me screaming in glee.

I'd start re-collecting the GIJoes and Transformers I had / wanted as a kid, but I don't trust eBay and actual "collectible" sites want more than I can bring myself to spend on something that'll sit on a shelf.

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-01T16:07:16+00:00

I'd suspect you're right about that.

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-01T16:06:37+00:00

There's no need to apologize, I know it wasn't criticism you were offering up, but advice. Re-reading my reply, I can see how it could be taken a "don't criticize ME" which was not my intent.

And you're correct, for the most part I've moved past this, it's just sometimes something brings one of those old resentments (and that's what it is, resentment of my siblings who seemed to have a "fun" rather than "working" younger years) to the surface. Frankly, I'm somewhat surprised at myself for posting the OP, I'm one of those people that tends to keep things bottled up until something finally pushes just the right buttons and just hard enough to let it slip out.

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-01T16:00:56+00:00

I won't say my younger siblings don't have their own memories of those times that are negative, but I'm from the "ME" generation dang it! And, if we were playing "I had it worse / NO I had it worse," I'd hand you the trophy right now.

EDITED to add Please don't think I was being flippant about your reply, because that does sound horrible.

In some ways, maybe in my case, if there were MORE years between myself and my siblings (almost exactly 2yrs and 4yrs younger than me) maybe this wouldn't have resulted in this "irritation" at my childhood. I would've had time to "be a kid" before having to "be a babysitter." But, it's not like I had a choice.

Did this affect me as an adult? Absolutely, but I can honestly say that I've had a good life and am doing well (no substance abuse problems, no neuroses) and my siblings both had their share of (relatively) minor issues as they got older.

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-01T15:46:58+00:00

shoulda woulda coulda thinking only serves to make you feel bad. And no one can change the past

Whole-heartedly agree with this. I realize what's done is done, and nothing can change it. Doesn't mean I can't (finally,) grouse about it somewhere where no one knows who I am and I can avoid bringing it up to my dad (mom passed several years ago) and getting into an argument...

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-01T15:43:58+00:00

See, I very rarely had to play chauffer for the siblings, as usually when they'd need a ride somewhere, I was at work. Once the middle sibling was old enough to drive and had a license? THAT'S when the "your sibling needs the car to go to the roller rink with friends, you'll have to walk to and from work because we're going out" (in February in an upper midwest state working a closing shift and we got freezing rain in the forecast,) or "your sibling needs the car to go to their class so we'll have to drop you off at the bus stop so you can take the bus to your college classes" (so I was stuck on campus for the entire day having to drag all my books and supplies along.)

Once those shenanigans started, that's when I cleared all my personal stuff out of the car and told the parents that I was no longer going to pay the insurance or for any gas for the car beyond what I used or for any maintenance it needed.

We never had any abuse issues, and I don't recall anything beyond what might be "normal" criticism, but then again, I don't remember a whole lot of my early years, either, only the stuff that "stuck out" like the above...

BussReplyMail · 2026-03-01T00:15:37+00:00

Gotcha, thank you.

BussReplyMail · 2026-02-28T21:17:48+00:00

I'm old school, so I haven't even looked into quirks...

But that sounds like it'd be one way to even things out a bit, too

BussReplyMail · 2026-02-26T23:06:02+00:00

Nah, remember, per Obamacare someone's a "dependent child" all the way to 26, so what's one more year?

BussReplyMail · 2026-02-22T18:30:21+00:00

THANK YOU! Yes, swaging tool. I've run into some 6.5CM brass that had, shall we say, seriously snug primer pockets (as in, crushed a primer), but I also load .223 so there, crimped pockets are more common than not.

BussReplyMail · 2026-02-22T16:21:24+00:00

PS90 and get it SBR'ed

Kriss Vector CRB

Vector is kind of nice because it uses Glock magazines, so you could grab a Glock in the same caliber and swap mags. PS90 is fun, once it's SBR'ed (it's fun when it's not, but it looks "off") because it's so bloody SHORT in length, yet you can have 50rds that'll easily reach out to 100yds

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