9 to 5...is there such thing?

[Knight165]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

i am in the same boat with Knight165 and have to admit, once you get used to the schedule there is NO WAY IN HELL i could go back to working every day of the week. we work 2 days a week and technically are on working 48 hour weeks because we work 24 hour shifts as well. we go from 7 am to 7 am...

Right!
......I actually feel bad for civilians for most of the year....but then 1 or two things snap you back to reality.....either leaving a little note for the family on Christmas morning on your way into the firehouse(pretty bad if you've got little kids....we always try and cover the guys with young ones...and they'll do the same for the new guys as the lads and lasses get older)....or I'll be getting on the Class A's for a funeral(worse) and I'll see the look on my wifes face and feel terrible for making her live her life in worry each time I go to work. I barely give it a thought when I'm hopping out the door.....very happy to go to work because it really is a great place to be...the guys are great and as crazy as it sounds.....there is nothing like going to a good job(that goes well) to amp up your zest factor....and I forget that SHE is thinking of each and every time I go.

M.K.
Knight165

[faster]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

I am in a similar situation as well. We do managed communication services (mainly business-class VOIP; hosted and on-premise) and if I'm not doing installations then I basically just monitor the current clientele and take care of support. When things are working well I'm usually telecommuting and playing Mario Kart Wii by 2pm.

Of course I like being busy with installations since that means more $. Even though we are still a small company with a long way to go, and I make less than all of my boys, I still wouldn't trade my position for anything. I'm confident our business will be successful and I'm going to keep this ridiculously great schedule for the rest of my life.

i was busier when i first got to my job, 5 years ago. small company with a crap network design. i scrapped most everything and built it with the mindset that it could be monitored fully remotely, that users didn't save anything specific on their machines (so they could be swapped in case of emergency), and that in case of a server going down, they would be able to be up anywhere from minutes to a couple hours at most.

it took some work to get to that point, but it's paid off as we're very stable now. as is my job.... i think

[KG]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

I too work in the Help Desk field and it can be really stressful. The thing is, you're only dealing with problems and when people have issues, no matter how big or small, they make them see way more serious that what they are.

Some days everything can be going great and then the next second something happens and all hell breaks loose.

[ehh]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

The thing is, you're only dealing with problems and when people have issues, no matter how big or small, they make them see way more serious that what they are.

Truer words have never been spoken. Hell I just got finished doing an installation at a new client (small place, less than 10 employees) and I was literally in the place for less than 5 minutes, hadn't touched a piece of their network, and this girl comes walking up to me all bitchy saying that she can't print and she wants to know what I did.

All she knew was that they were getting a new private network, new VOIP phone system, etc so the second something went wrong (again, before I had even began the installation, I was still talking w. the owner when this happened) she assumed the worst, copped an attitude with me and started flipping out because she needed to print a contract "ASAP".

[p_rushing]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

I'm a consultant and most of the IT support guys I deal with don’t work a lot or don’t know what they are doing. I frequently have to tell them what to do or how to do it. Usually you can’t get a hold of them after 5 or 6 PM. Most of the people are from India and don’t have the knowledge that their resume says, they’ve taking a training class so that means they now know it or they lack any problem solving skills.

I've worked some crazy hours some times. A couple of months ago I worked a few weeks from 9 or 10 AM until 2 or 4 AM Monday through Thursday. I don't get paid more because of salaried, but usually I'll get a week or 2 off and get to bill that time as if I was working. Most of the time I work 9AM - 7PM Monday - Thursday and as little as possible on Friday.

[colkilla]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

Right!
......I actually feel bad for civilians for most of the year....but then 1 or two things snap you back to reality.....either leaving a little note for the family on Christmas morning on your way into the firehouse(pretty bad if you've got little kids....we always try and cover the guys with young ones...and they'll do the same for the new guys as the lads and lasses get older)....or I'll be getting on the Class A's for a funeral(worse) and I'll see the look on my wifes face and feel terrible for making her live her life in worry each time I go to work. I barely give it a thought when I'm hopping out the door.....very happy to go to work because it really is a great place to be...the guys are great and as crazy as it sounds.....there is nothing like going to a good job(that goes well) to amp up your zest factor....and I forget that SHE is thinking of each and every time I go.

M.K.
Knight165

have yet to need the class a uni for a funeral man, there have been 4 down here since i started on the job and i really cannot bring myself to go. everybody says "man, you need to go to experience it and get stuff out of your system", but i just can't do it. never been to a funeral in my 30 years on the planet and the next one i plan to go to will be my last (my own). the holiday thing is a bit of a bear sometimes, as i do have little guys at home. for christmas i do have a nice setup tho, a dude i went thru the academy with is jewish, and he hooks me up with a worksub whenever my shift falls on xmas day. on a side note bro you stay safe in the field!

[SuperFreak84]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

I work in minor league baseball. During the season (April - early September) you can kiss your personal life goodbye. During a home stand it's to the stadium by 10 AM, exit the stadium around 12 or 1 AM, repeat the next day.

This past week we had a 7 game home stand starting on Monday. For the weekend we had a doubleheader on Fri followed by a Boy Scout sleepover at the stadium that night (we had to sleep in the office), a day/night doubleheader on Sat (Noon Game & 7 PM game). The 7 PM game had an hour and a half rain delay so we left the stadium around 2 AM only to turn around and arrive back at the stadium at 10 AM on Sunday for a 2 PM game. The entire 7 game home stand we calculated we "worked" 104 hours in a week.
While the team is out of town we have events such as cage fighting, high school games, and concerts which take up my nights after working 10-5 weekday office hours on off days. A 10-5 day by itself feels like a day off to us.

All of those hours, and my "salary" averages out to around $3 an hour with a small ($150-$300) commission check a month.

But then again how many people can say their office is at a baseball stadium and they get to watch baseball and hang out with the players as a part of their job?

That being said, after this season I am more than likely getting out of working in sports. The hours are insanely long, the pay is crap (at least at this level), and I'm married so I need to have a personal life.

[Scottdau]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

Don't know, I work 8am-3pm. Mon-Fri.

[youvalss]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

Don't know, I work 8am-3pm. Mon-Fri.

What do you do (and how where do I sign to do it)?

[The GIGGAS]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

What do you do (and how where do I sign to do it)?

He teaches in a jail, IIRC.

[youvalss]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

He teaches in a jail, IIRC.

Good enough...

[CMH]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

Michael Jackson would not be pleased.

[ddtrane]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

I mean, does it really exist? Does anyone have this kind of a job where they always go home at 5pm sharp? And go out for lunch at exactly 12pm or something like that? It seems like science fiction to me...

Those jobs still exist, but I haven't had one in over 20 years when I worked for the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City, MO.

Now I work 3 days on/3 days off the whole year. 15 days of the month and a 154 days a year even if it kills me. What do I do? I work for the Railroad industry and my job is 100% travel. I love what I do, the only negative is that I've worked every holiday at least 10 times and I've missed several weekends and family events. But I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. Oh yea, the pay is great.

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

Those 9-5 (or somewhere in that range) jobs are still out there. My hours are close to that. I feel sorry for the all the IT folks that have to work 60+ hours a week. At my Office, if I work Overtime, it's my decision.

If you folks are working a crazy amount of hours, I'm surprised you guys haven't approached HR about it. Any company that is good to work for, will promote a healthy work/life balance.

[youvalss]

Re: 9 to 5...is there such thing?

Does anyone here work at a city/public library?