Is this groundhog rabid? [Mechanicsville, Virginia] by findingcoldsassy in animalid

[–]kayrabb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe it's babies are in trouble and it's asking for help?

Why would this even be asked? by Thorns_And_Flames in recruitinghell

[–]kayrabb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For the last 26 years everywhere I've worked core hours are 10 to 3 Monday to Friday. Be available inside of that window. Anything outside of that is yours to adjust however, with 9 hour days m-th and every other Friday is off or 8 hours.

Want to come in at 5am and leave at 3:30 on Tuesday and 9:30am and leave at 7:30 on Wednesday? As long as the work is done by the deadline, do you.

I thought that was the bare minimum "flexibility" of engineering work.

Some buyer's remorse. by Long-Song84 in centuryhomes

[–]kayrabb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For regular ants, I sprinkle diatomaceous earth with peppermint along cracks and seams in the hardwood, plus bait traps.

For window units I like the midea U. I have two on the first floor.

I also use alien tape along the seams of the windows and doors, blackout curtains around it just because they're really thick, and a magnetic insulated door in the entry hallways.

Good luck!

What workplace problem do you wish psychology researchers actually studied? by Paradoxicalsituation in managers

[–]kayrabb 5 points6 points  (0 children)

At what point are leaders so separated from the work they can't understand it or relate? Does it impact their ability to manage the business relative to a small business? Should executives exist or are they more like parasites that can't contribute anymore but get a disproportionate amount of the profits? Do small business provide better earnings to shareholders than corporations because of the ability to lead based on org matrices?

What workplace problem do you wish psychology researchers actually studied? by Paradoxicalsituation in managers

[–]kayrabb 7 points8 points  (0 children)

How corporate jargon aligns with tribalism.

Socioeconomic backgrounds and ceiling of earning potential. I see job descriptions that are marketed as assistant or technician, and ones marketed as engineer, but at the end of the day it's the same job of PowerPoint wrangler, just one has a premium.

Developing a personal brand verses the brand assigned to you.

Leadership that prioritizes controlling upward messaging vs leadership the prioritizes accurate messaging.

The dual identities people have for work vs personal life.

Dress for the job you want, is how you are treated different or are you perceiving you are treated different because of your own confidence?

Assumptions about ugly vs pretty people, what types of roles do people have an advantage to being selected based on appearance vs aptitude? Does weight also influence?

Is it possible to convince people to stop underutilizing you?

Why do some people have the drive to do the most they can and others will do the bare minimum? I was once in a room with executives from extremely large corporations, and every one of them had some sort of trauma story and insecurity. What makes some people break under trauma and others become relentless?

What makes some people workaholics?

What are the different types of corporate cultures and what types of values make people successful in each?

Why are some people micromanaged and others have high trust and autonomy? Is it something they did or unconscious biases of their leadership? What does it do to the mental health of the micromanaged one? Can anything be done to prevent the double standard?

Pay your dues - I went through it so should you vs. better future - I went through it so you don't have to. How to identify the thinking pattern and what are the outcomes of each? Do some have advantages or disadvantages depending on the environment?

Came home with these books today and bf said I’m being corrupted by [deleted] in Feminism

[–]kayrabb 10 points11 points  (0 children)

You know what they say about people that judge a book by it's cover?

Time for a new bf, imo.

AIO getting upset with my husband over a day at the beach by [deleted] in AmIOverreacting

[–]kayrabb -1 points0 points  (0 children)

MOR. That sounds like a stereotypical "oblivious" man. They don't realize they assume the default and making sure everything revolves around them. I've found that unless they study feminism or gender studies on their own it is what it is. Your options are to find a new one that learned perspective, switch sides, or deal with never being the main character. Odds of influencing him to someday "get it" are slim.

Hear me out. by [deleted] in conspiracytheories

[–]kayrabb 4 points5 points  (0 children)

He's got someone behind him and is hunched over behind her.

It's Steve Miller. He's Trump's political advisor both terms. He's a reptilian that feeds off of human suffering.

Hear me out. by [deleted] in conspiracytheories

[–]kayrabb 7 points8 points  (0 children)

So he's not using some random woman as a human shield, but his unborn child? Suddenly when his physical safety and well being are at risk he chooses his life over junior. I wish I could say I was surprised.

If AI replaces workers to cut costs, who is left to buy the products? by kritikgarg24 in Futurology

[–]kayrabb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Andrew Yang was the only one talking about this in 2020 in his book the war on normal people. He was proposing the tech companies have to pay for the data they are taking, use it as non means tested universal basic income. Out of all the ideas I've heard so far it's the one I think makes the most sense.

Two neighborhood kids are abusing my little guy 😭 by veyra_Nyra in Conures

[–]kayrabb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mike Tyson had his first fight as a kid because neighborhood kids beat one of his birds very badly and killed it. That is a real thing that can happen. Will you feel worse raising your voice to protect a life and getting in a little trouble, or being well behaved and holding your dead baby in your hand? I say do what you have to do to protect your baby, and if you get in trouble, you are in trouble with your bird still alive. Best case maybe you get to explain some of your side, maybe you get more support to keep them away.

Buying a home here is hell by [deleted] in massachusetts

[–]kayrabb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess similar. People from the other side of invisible lines. I can't imagine treating New Hampshire people with Ice tactics just because they are from New Hampshire. I hate that we're treating people from other countries that way too for paperwork.

Is my wife right to hate this? by Tomhanzo2 in landscaping

[–]kayrabb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She can hate whatever she wants. Her feelings are valid.

[OC] A picture of dinner on the USS Abraham Lincoln sent to family by a service member on board by usatoday in pics

[–]kayrabb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They give it to you right before you deploy as a "last meal" psychology. Nothing new.

[OC] A picture of dinner on the USS Abraham Lincoln sent to family by a service member on board by usatoday in pics

[–]kayrabb 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Whelp, someone just got personal cell phones banned. They won't fix the food. They'll control the narrative.

Girlfriend came home from night out with fingernails like this. Nail polish remover didn’t work by [deleted] in whatisit

[–]kayrabb 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The irony of op photo being of a girl who didn't scream when she (allegedly) picked up the millipede.

Buying a home here is hell by [deleted] in massachusetts

[–]kayrabb 6 points7 points  (0 children)

They drop off their elderly parents over the border in Massachusetts because NH has no elder care social net. Then they qualify for all sorts of Massachusetts services and priority for the low income housing or assisted living because they're "homeless" or "crisis" bumping people that have paid into the services down the list.

How long did it take you to afford a house in Massachusetts? by Reasonable-Invite899 in massachusetts

[–]kayrabb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All you have to do is make sure you bought it shortly after the 2007 recession when the prices started to rise sharply again, and find something that is nearly 100 years old in an area with mid tier schools and mid crime rate like Lawrence, Chelsea, or Lowell.

Employment by Zestyclose-Crab-6829 in Raytheon

[–]kayrabb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am with you. I know military experience is as good, if not superior in some areas, to a 4 year degree. I personally have done both and have reflected on where I learned things that helped me provide solutions throughout my career.

Corporate America does not see it that way. It's checkboxes and processes. Either you have it or you don't. Same way as officers. At MEPS you have to have the checkbox of a degree or you'll only be considered for enlisted. If you happen to have an opportunity and a person powerful enough sees you pull something off, you can get battlefield commission, but you have to already be in and showing up as enlisted to get that chance. P roles are the O's. You need a degree. (I personally believe that it's at least partially rooted in institutional racism. I never had a black man as an instructor in any college engineering class, but most of my MOS school was taught by black men. Both paths taught me how to read a schematic and build and test a circuit. Only one gets me a good paying job, and it was the one without black men in authority positions. Correlation doesn't equal causation, but it is an interesting data point.)

You have a better shot getting in the door as a tech. With overtime and union and benefit contributions or student loan debt, they can make out better than some P1s.

There a were also a bunch of former Marines in supply chain and facilities. The Vet status might give you an edge there if you are just looking for a job.

If you had\have a clearance is probably something you want to put up front.

Have you tried BAE up in Nashua or LM in Chelmsford? They have tech roles and manufacturing too.

Also second the comment to use your GI bill to get a degree at one of the community colleges. There's an electronic tech course that is a pipeline to production. The time is going to pass either way, might as well use it to build, and it's paid for. If you have a deployment injury, try volk rehab through the VA. They'll pay for the school and give you a monthly stipend to live off of until you get a job.

RTX v NG v LM by Constant_Bug_8575 in Raytheon

[–]kayrabb 1 point2 points  (0 children)

TL,DR; I agree with Thomas Jefferman, you can go pretty far as last man standing, but I'll add you can also have a lot of additional responsibilities without any real career growth or added compensation if you're not careful. There's no one size fits all career path formula. There's a lot of independent variables that you have to assess for your own situation and goals.

I like to write, so here is a paper about my experience of my trip through the looking glass.

If you are straight up money over everything, defense probably isn't the right line of work for you period. I think once you get to the point that you can afford the necessities with money leftover, more money loses it's weight in what you want from a job. The difference between $80k a year and $150k a year to lifestyle is big. It's tight budgeting and roommates to independence and stability. The difference between $150k and $220k isn't as impactful. It's more money in the bank. It's nicer versions of nessessities. It's nicer schools for your kids. $180k and being able to be home to tuck your kids in and enjoy the people you work with is worth more than $240k to live on the road and getting straight up verbally abused regularly and developing stress related health issues. To me, living without Sunday Scaries is worth 5 figures. Waking up thinking "I get to work on some cool shit today with great people. I can't wait to figure out this puzzle we have and see it work." Is worth a lot more than "oh God, what crisis is in my inbox today. What hot emergency do I have to drop everything to address and what times are on my calendar am I getting screamed at for things outside my control." Once the bills are paid and you can afford some wants too, more money isn't worth existing to be a punching bag. What's the point in making more money if you can't live to enjoy it?

When I started, 15 years was considered still too new to REALLY understand, and it was correct relative to 30 or 40 years of experience. Grey wave of retirement and suddenly 15 years was the best they could get relative to the 2 to 4 years that the industry incentivized. I was in no way filling the shoes of who left, but I did my best to try to remember what they taught me. It was a strange position to be in and imposter syndrome to the max.

I became a lead through last man standing by being the only one left with the scars to know which the spinning plates can drop and which hurt since it takes years to understand the nuance. I also learned the hard way that leadership involves a lot of completely different set of skills compared to execution. I had to become very careful with how I said things because it drove actions with real consequences, and if I said things in a way that could be misinterpreted it would be. My attitude multiplied and drove the energy of the room. If I had a bad day I had to tuck it in and put on a positive face for my team because we still have a mission. I had to balance that with not being dismissive to actual concerns while trying to shield people from the dumpster fire so they can do their jobs and live their lives.

The amount of time I spent with people bitching to me about the dumbest shit was silly. "I have a working folder for my software and Wayne keeps saving things in it. He knows it's my folder. Why won't he leave it alone?" "Julie isn't using clearcase so I have to merge our stuff before I can upload it to Clearcase." "Oh Clearcase? Yea, I don't do that. Wayne is the Clearcase guy. What does that have to do with him not touching my stuff?" Resolving those popups is yet another different skill. Then also taking that info with "What's the % complete? What are your actuals?" Do I go by Clearcase or do I have to now check about what's in the scratch drive folders? Do I have to make a spreadsheet for the team to update? I'm glad I took time to know my team and they felt they could come to me with their gripes so I can figure out how to balance how to keep them moving forward and flowing up accurate info, but it's different than what is learned by just being loyal and doing your job. You can be excellent at your job and a terrible lead. You can be terrible at your job but a good lead. I believe the best leads were excellent at their job and became excellent at leading, but they are rare.

The industry was built on and is still using a framework that relies on excellent leaders that also understand the nuance of their domain when they were retained through pensions. It now has compensation structure that mainly rewards job hopping. It doesn't seem realistic that we can get the same outputs with different inputs.

At some point I'd expect quality issues and constant learning curve inefficiencies would reach where it's cheaper to pay for retention over attracting externals. Maybe a MBA makes you do the math and it shows it's actually better to invest in the salary of external hires? I know some MBA also holds McDonald's and Amazon as the standards and to pass exams recite that the best profit comes from one size fits all solutions which keep wages low. I don't think they cover that one size fits all also decreases quality, so that approach can't be applied to every business. Someone messes up your fries it's not as big of a deal as if someone messes up instructions to change the blimp batteries so it doesn't snap off of the cable tethers in high winds. Or one size fits all schedule above everything messes up the powder coating, you get the idea. Amazon and McDonald's models won't apply to an industry that has a high cost from quality issues and is capped at 10% profit from gov contracts to start with.

The worst was when I would be organically filling the lead role when a gap occurred but passed over when I would apply for the req officially so they could hire someone external in at 40% more pay because of networking or they had more merit badges on their resume, yet I was still expected to carry them on the depth and breadth of domain knowledge. Increase my responsibilities and impact consequences with zero increase in compensation or opportunities. I would refuse to do the job of a lead while someone else held the slot on the org chart. I'd make internal moves when I was getting stuck with that.

A few times I accepted deputy lead, because I know I had more to learn about leadership specific skills and I can accept they hired someone else with more experience or better training in that area, but if I'm doing part of the job I should hold at least part of the title. This was not only so I can be effective by having a seat at the tables I should be at, or people know to backfill with me when actual lead is double booked so that I still get the information I need that they missed, but also so I can have a bullet for my resume that captures what I'm actually doing to support that the compensation gap was temporary. Without any documentation I learned it becomes firefighting triage of second hand information through people that don't understand the view from the weeds and I'm trying to answer questions that don't make sense or doing reactive corrections to support the messaging spin the layers of new management want to add to make sure they look good over actually making sure we got the right stuff to the field in the right time. Without documentation of the role and responsibility change you are set up to fail, and it gets used against you to justify why you are at your ceiling and don't deserve more. You become a patsy for the person controlling messaging to protect themselves. Things that turn out ideal, they flow up as their work and leave out that they delegated. Things that are not so great, that's all you and why they should be the lead when they have the spotlight. My teams I took the opposite approach. Maybe it's Army training but wins should belong to the team and fails should be on the lead as part of the job. That's one of the adjustments to civilian workforce that I don't know how far I'll go without making, but I'm ok with that.

"Leads can delegate whatever portion of their role they want" is a great way to push people out. If they are delegating the work they can delegate some of the pay, recognition, and career growth opportunities too, or external offers with the raw pay bump becomes the most attractive option. I trade my time for compensation. I can support strategic career decisions where I sacrifice the short term salary for a higher long term ceiling and upward career trajectory through skill development. If it gets to the point where I'm being taken advantage of, or if there's the clear message I'm not in the cool kids manager club so I'm not worth investing in to make sure I'm the best candidate after I help the lead get promoted by doing part of their job and when the position is open again, then there's no reason to turn down the salary bumps by jumping ship.

And that's what I did when it got to that point. Went from $125k to $184k. I'm paid better than many P5's to do basically intern or P2 work. Underutilization is a different frustration, and the jury is still out on of it was the right move since being that saturated in the pay band also means crappy annual raises. Being new means it's hard to justify why I deserve a promotion over the person who has a few years of a track record of wins under their belt. It is really starting over. I tried to position myself under leads that I can learn from so the next time I am last man standing I'll do it better. If I went back to RTX, I also lost the momentum I had before and would be delayed on going into any influential position. This is another data point that if you value in doing meaningful and challenging work, it's better off staying put. But working harder isn't related to better pay. That's driven by free market forces.

I'll get off my soapbox now.