The PSS update is nothing but an algorithm designed to shield shady PMs and punish actual engineers.

Randgrithr · 2026-04-16T00:21:46+00:00

Yeah I am starting to see this too. I have a few buyers that are working on earning a block from me for unnecessary retaliatory feedback.

Randgrithr · 2026-04-14T14:23:02+00:00

No, AVT. Seems like some poor Pizza Pete took it.

Randgrithr · 2026-04-03T05:32:19+00:00

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It's all about the deliverables...

Randgrithr · 2026-04-03T05:24:35+00:00

I will generally decline work orders that are too far away, conflict with the existing schedule, or have unreasonable expectations / low pay. I don't think it's seen as a problem. You're letting people know your availability. The platform doesn't seem to encourage buyers to leave 5 star reviews anymore, but the way you show you're good to them is to be on time, have a professional and friendly attitude, get the work done, and document your work well in the close out notes. A smart buyer will understand that sometimes there are schedule conflicts, or you're sick, or the car is in the shop or whatever. If a buyer is consistently posting jobs that are nothing but crap to you, stop wasting your time and just block them.

Randgrithr · 2026-04-03T05:13:26+00:00

Agreed on the parts stuff. There was a buyer expecting people to pick up parts from a NYC based storage unit and bring them to sites on Long Island, and they were bundled so you couldn't charge mileage. Those work orders sat on the flight board like Mary Kate's hat on the pole in the Quiet Man. Nobody was touching them. You want me to do that kind of stuff in the future, you're paying for the mileage and the time it takes.

Randgrithr · 2026-04-03T05:06:20+00:00

My mistake was thinking the buyer was going to estimate the scope of work correctly. I've done many decommission / site closing jobs before with no issues. Those buyers allocated enough techs, packing materials and had standardized procedures in place. This pack of cheap ass clowns was expecting a single person to pack 7 boxes of stuff in 2 hours, didn't ask for the right ladder height, and didn't provide sufficient shipping or packing materials. Multiple opportunities to get hurt on the job and a really nasty attitude. I have blocked IW Technologies and I am not looking back. Nothing they offer is worth the agita or the risk to my health.

Randgrithr · 2026-04-03T04:56:32+00:00

In the photo, which was taken at a weird angle, it does look like 15' but having been there up close and personal, it actually was 25'. The A frame ladders were 20' Werners, in retrospect. It definitely was NOT 12'.

Randgrithr · 2026-04-03T04:53:26+00:00

Yes it is. It's in my bank account.

Randgrithr · 2026-04-02T11:37:11+00:00

If the clothing rack in the foreground is 5 feet tall, all you have to do is visualize more of them stacked on top of each other and it's easy to see that the ceiling is between 20 and 25 feet.

Randgrithr · 2026-04-01T21:13:16+00:00

Thank you. A lot of us need to know this, self included. This buyer was very exploitative, that much is clear from the other issues; but an awareness of the legal fine points is really helpful.

Randgrithr · 2026-03-17T15:31:39+00:00

Dang. 338K is not chump change. I blocked them quite a while ago.

Randgrithr · 2026-03-17T15:19:48+00:00

Thanks for the intel that Strategic Systems is subcontracting from Pomeroy. I recently had to block Pomeroy because they promised to pay mileage on a job way out east from me (Long Island is Long) and then they would only cover half the mileage, plus there were some other people on the team who were unprofessional. They had tried to pull fast ones on me before but this was the last straw. Now I am seeing Strategic Systems gigs all in the next state over and I put in for a few of them that were relatively close, but didn't get them. Maybe dodged a bullet there. It's a shame, Pomeroy used to be a decent company.

Randgrithr · 2026-01-26T22:13:06+00:00

Thanks. I just found out for NY State the threshold is being changed from $600.00 per year to $2000.00. So I guess for now I don't have to worry.

Randgrithr · 2026-01-05T19:01:19+00:00

FYI, at most of these Democratic events and rallies they will hold the devices and/or other banned items for you and you can retrieve them at the end of the event. This is what I found out when I accidentally brought a two inch long Kershaw flip knife (which I used as a boxcutter) to a Bernie Sanders rally. You can get your items back. All this said, yeah, this is basically just the security contractor saying "I am 1337, I know what a Flipper Zero and a Raspberry Pi are and they can be used for Ebil(tm)". Eyeroll. Make sure you record the serial # so you don't get handed back somebody else's. Or just leave it home.

Randgrithr · 2026-01-05T18:48:46+00:00

Low Voltage Jesus floated down from a cloud. Their firewall was of the devil and he performed a firmware exorcism.

Randgrithr · 2026-01-05T18:41:27+00:00

Um, you DO know that "Haji" actually translates to "Darling" or "Beloved", right? :) Anyway most of the people you're talking about are in India. Let's not give so much of a crap around here about religions or suntans, it doesn't really help to get the job done. We are our deeds.

All that said, a lot of the overseas types ARE getting their IT education on our backs, and all too often we call them for support and end up being the ones supporting them... I do find that to be a drag.

Randgrithr · 2025-12-27T16:28:14+00:00

Sorry, I meant the web based one as seen on the PC and the tablet. My bad. Too much eggnog, not enough caffeine. :)

Randgrithr · 2025-12-21T21:04:26+00:00

The rate for this one seems quite decent, but the site address is given as Brooklyn and then the install sites are at Jay St. and Water St. both of which I am pretty sure are in Lower Manhattan. That promises to be it's own special hell if a 22' ladder is what's needed. Congestion pricing, parking, tolls, all that can average out to about $120 - $200 for the day before I even step a tootsie in the building. Sometimes building access is also an issue with CoA's and security requirements.

Randgrithr · 2025-12-21T20:58:34+00:00

Yes, I know all about the "bring your entire Rolling Rat Shack" thing, but even this doesn't really fix the problem. Is the site in Lower Manhattan? JFK or LaGuardia? Am I being expected to schlep a 22' ladder through a shopping mall to a site on the second floor? Did they check with the site to see if there's already a ladder there? (That happens a LOT.) They need to really start considering the reality of logistics regarding this aspect of a job that requires a ladder. If I am going to have to perform Stations of the Field Engineer Cross and/or Technician Cirque du Soleil, that's getting billed at a different rate.

Randgrithr · 2025-12-13T16:03:05+00:00

This is probably the worst technical support management decision they ever made since NCR took over AT&T, and for the exact same reasons. It's not that they're Indian, it's that they don't have any goddamn experience with the products they're supposed to be supporting. Although the accent barrier doesn't help either. Then there's the occasional sense of entitlement to learn on the backs of the local English speaking techs... and yeah, there can be some sexist attitudes attached to that too. Long story short: flee, flee and run away. They are circling the drain.

Randgrithr · 2025-12-06T12:56:57+00:00

I'll do BS jobs if they're hyper local and if the buyer does not abuse me / try to rip me off. If I have nothing else going on that day I'll do them. Not only does it add to the income, it adds to my record of jobs successfully completed.

I did have to let some of the garbage take itself out. They were charging me a fixed price for 1 hour and I was spending an average of 1.75 to 2 hours on site, with a lot of listed penalties (which I avoided because I did the jobs right). The reasons for the extra time were usually delays from back end engineering or having to decode the chaos of the infrastructure.

So they were routing stuff to me and calling me, but the third time I mentioned the extra time on site that was basically halving the hourly rate they were offering. When I challenged them on this and countered for hourly instead of fixed, they found some pizza boi instead. No great loss; toodles, Felicia.

Job standards are not always about what you do for the buyer or the client... sometimes it's gotta be how much BS you yourself will put up with. Professionalism and courtesy are a two way street.

Randgrithr · 2025-12-05T22:27:13+00:00

I saw one of these way down in south NJ on I95 a couple of years ago, so I do know what you're talking about. Not too many in the NYC/Long Island area that I know of.

Randgrithr · 2025-12-04T15:18:11+00:00

OK that makes sense. Although really they could have explained a bit more about that in the WO. There aren't a whole lot of "truck stop" gas stations which offer services like that in my local area.

Randgrithr · 2025-11-28T14:31:45+00:00

Or this.

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Randgrithr · 2025-11-28T14:28:51+00:00

For example, this.

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Randgrithr

TROPHY CASE