• GI Dick (unregistered)

    Memorial Day in the US, and Steve's not an ex-military arsehole shooting up Chuck's house with military-issue assault weapons? TRWTF right there.

  • agbeladem (unregistered)

    TRWTF is that there used to be well-written story on this website.

  • HerrSteinBeisser (unregistered)

    I want Erich Gern stories und schnell yes!

  • (cs)

    A classic Remy-Porter-WTF with (mostly) inane HTML-comments and a cornify-link.

    Didn't expect this on a story "by: Mark Bowytz" - but the original author really was Remy Porter.

  • Cogo the Barbarian (unregistered) in reply to agbeladem
    agbeladem:
    there used to be well-written story on this website.

    I think the principle difference is that nothing in this story is contrived. Exaggerated, perhaps. Contrived? No.

    There's no elaborate effort to work in puns, no superfluous theming, no flowery baroque details, no tortuous effort to work this story in with a series, no attempt to make this event seem like a bigger WTF than something we saw last week.

    Instead we have just a regular guy with a WTF job. Something that we could relate to - something that makes us say "There, but for the grace of God, go I".

    The WTF is left to speak for itself, instead of having cheap, cheesy extraneous stuff piled on top of it.

  • Gnome (unregistered)

    Lawn ornaments are not a problem in embedded systems. You just make sure they are dug in too deep for random asshats to pluck and throw.

  • Rick (unregistered) in reply to Cogo the Barbarian
    Cogo the Barbarian:
    agbeladem:
    there used to be well-written story on this website.

    I think the principle difference is that nothing in this story is contrived. Exaggerated, perhaps. Contrived? No.

    There's no elaborate effort to work in puns, no superfluous theming, no flowery baroque details, no tortuous effort to work this story in with a series, no attempt to make this event seem like a bigger WTF than something we saw last week.

    Instead we have just a regular guy with a WTF job. Something that we could relate to - something that makes us say "There, but for the grace of God, go I".

    The WTF is left to speak for itself, instead of having cheap, cheesy extraneous stuff piled on top of it.

    Thank you - that's exactly what I've felt for a while now, and couldn't put into words. The change in writing styles just sort of crept up on me over the months, until I reached a point where I started reading the comments first, and only reading the story if the first few comments weren't about the poor/exaggerated/bizarre writing.

  • (cs)

    Ah, 2011. Back when we wouldn't have started with the assumption that 50% of this story was made up.

  • noland (unregistered) in reply to no laughing matter
    no laughing matter:
    A classic Remy-Porter-WTF with (mostly) inane HTML-comments and a cornify-link.

    Didn't expect this on a story "by: Mark Bowytz" - but the original author really was Remy Porter.

    Obligatory bookmarklet-link: http://www.masswerk.at/cornifiedLoader

  • John (unregistered)

    I am convinced that I am Paul, I remember this exact thing...

  • Appreciative citizen (unregistered) in reply to GI Dick
    GI Dick:
    Memorial Day in the US, and Steve's not an ex-military arsehole shooting up Chuck's house with military-issue assault weapons? TRWTF right there.

    I really hope that karma doesn't use you as an excuse to allow a foreign nation to invade on our soil. Because those ex-military arseholes would have to defend your sorry arse.

  • Lawn Ornament (unregistered)

    I think I may have consulted for this company.

    Quite seriously.

    At one point I came home to a phone message from the owner screaming about how my employee had moved a Mac from one office to another without permission or authorization. I knew my employee would do no such thing, but asked him what had happened. The wife had asked him to do it, but had never told the husband.

    At that point I decided I had better customers and no employee of mine needed that sort of abuse. I instructed my employee to refuse all calls from them and never went back.

    They owed me at least $1000. I found out later from other sources that the husband and wife had almost certainly been backed by mob money and last I heard they had skipped town.

    I decided I really didn't need my $1K that badly.

  • Arizona Tea Drinker (unregistered) in reply to Appreciative citizen
    Appreciative citizen:
    I really hope that karma doesn't use you as an excuse to allow a foreign nation to invade on our soil. Because those ex-military arseholes would have to defend your sorry arse.
    But I thought those darn Mexicans were already invading our soil one brown person at a time, and appreciative citizens like you wanted our fine troops to do their duty to close dem borders.
  • (cs)

    TRWTF is not taking that expensive PBX software with him in his briefcase, yeah? Particularly after the first time it got dumped. This guy clearly doesn't learn too well from experience.

  • (cs) in reply to Arizona Tea Drinker
    Arizona Tea Drinker:
    Appreciative citizen:
    I really hope that karma doesn't use you as an excuse to allow a foreign nation to invade on our soil. Because those ex-military arseholes would have to defend your sorry arse.
    But I thought those darn Mexicans were already invading our soil one brown person at a time, and appreciative citizens like you wanted our fine troops to do their duty to close dem borders.

    Are they really brown? Eugh, how horrid!

  • (cs) in reply to Arizona Tea Drinker
    Arizona Tea Drinker:
    But I thought those darn Mexicans were already invading our soil one brown person at a time, and appreciative citizens like you wanted our fine troops to do their duty to close dem borders.
    Not until they've got their maids and gardeners sorted out. Only then do they want the border closed. (This is why so many people close to the border are in favour of closing it; they've got their domestic help arranged nicely and want to keep an advantage over the people further away.)

    Some actual facts may have been mildly distorted in the making of this message.

  • Walking by (unregistered)

    You know what, I'm thinking to stop reading any new stores in TDWTF and instead go and reread old stories, from day 1. I sure don't remember any of them now, so here's an easy way to increase quality of stories I read and solve Eric Gern's problem once and for all.

  • (cs) in reply to Appreciative citizen
    Appreciative citizen:
    I really hope that karma doesn't use you as an excuse to allow a foreign nation to invade on our soil. Because those ex-military arseholes would have to defend your sorry arse.
    Because that totally is a thing that would totally happen.

    And it is totally not the other way around, where the main reason you would be attacked in the first place is because those military arseholes kept shooting up innocent civilians all over the world. The fact that terrorist organisations always seem to hate on the USA instead of, say, Belgium, is a complete and utter coincidence.

    .... I'm baiting, aren't I? :(

  • Up Your Arsenal (unregistered) in reply to FragFrog
    FragFrog:
    the main reason you would be attacked in the first place is because those military arseholes kept shooting up innocent civilians all over the world.
    The military are only following the orders of the Arsehole In Chief. The best thing they could possibly do for their country is refuse to follow orders, but unfortunately the military is full of complete utter arseholes.
  • Tim (unregistered)

    I think a lot of us have been in a place like this. For me it was my first professional full-time job. Small outfit (varied 4-6 people over the time I was there), the owners were married "creatives" - nice enough when they were happy, but revealed for who they were when they made someone fire her own husband. Paranoid types too.

    The day after I handed in my resignation I got a call a little after the nominal starting time (our hours were somewhat flexible, and I'd been there late trying to finish stuff off). They couldn't log into an important machine - turns out they'd changed the password (presumably to prevent me getting into it) and then couldn't get in themselves (maybe they were drunk or high when they changed it). I had to guess what they might have set it to (first guess - an expletive - was correct). Then I went to start work only to discover that they'd removed the hard drive from my computer.

    They still owe me 2 weeks pay for the notice period ...

  • (cs) in reply to Lawn Ornament
    Lawn Ornament:
    I think I may have consulted for this company.

    Quite seriously.

    At one point I came home to a phone message from the owner screaming about how my employee had moved a Mac from one office to another without permission or authorization. I knew my employee would do no such thing, but asked him what had happened. The wife had asked him to do it, but had never told the husband.

    At that point I decided I had better customers and no employee of mine needed that sort of abuse. I instructed my employee to refuse all calls from them and never went back.

    They owed me at least $1000. I found out later from other sources that the husband and wife had almost certainly been backed by mob money and last I heard they had skipped town.

    I decided I really didn't need my $1K that badly.

    Hmmmm. Maybe there was a reason for their paranoia, depending on what Paul did in his spare time.

  • nqdenise (unregistered)

    I swear my husband worked for this company. The only reason I know he didn't write this is because it all went down for him in the early 90's. We were both still in high school.

  • (cs) in reply to FragFrog
    FragFrog:
    The fact that terrorist organisations always seem to hate on the USA instead of, say, Belgium, is a complete and utter coincidence.

    No, it's just false. Terror attacks have occurred in many countries.

  • CigarDoug (unregistered) in reply to FragFrog
    FragFrog:
    Appreciative citizen:
    I really hope that karma doesn't use you as an excuse to allow a foreign nation to invade on our soil. Because those ex-military arseholes would have to defend your sorry arse.
    Because that totally is a thing that would totally happen.

    And it is totally not the other way around, where the main reason you would be attacked in the first place is because those military arseholes kept shooting up innocent civilians all over the world. The fact that terrorist organisations always seem to hate on the USA instead of, say, Belgium, is a complete and utter coincidence.

    .... I'm baiting, aren't I? :(

    Belgium, huh?

    Belgian prosecutors treating Brussels shooting as terrorist attack

  • the beholder (unregistered) in reply to levbor
    levbor:
    FragFrog:
    The fact that terrorist organisations always seem to hate on the USA instead of, say, Belgium, is a complete and utter coincidence.

    No, it's just false. Terror attacks have occurred in many countries.

    You didn't prove him wrong. You proved terrorist organizations don't always choose USA and their citizens as their target, but that just may be a matter of convenience as I believe it is. If I hate two individuals but one of them is out of my reach I'll discharge my hatred towards the one target I can reach.

    His assumption is much more likely to be true than yours.

  • Hannes (unregistered) in reply to Up Your Arsenal
    Up Your Arsenal:
    FragFrog:
    the main reason you would be attacked in the first place is because those military arseholes kept shooting up innocent civilians all over the world.
    The military are only following the orders of the Arsehole In Chief.

    Time for Godwin’s law, right? "I was just following orders!" is what the Nazis and their minions said.

  • Valued Service (unregistered) in reply to FragFrog
    FragFrog:
    Appreciative citizen:
    I really hope that karma doesn't use you as an excuse to allow a foreign nation to invade on our soil. Because those ex-military arseholes would have to defend your sorry arse.
    Because that totally is a thing that would totally happen.

    And it is totally not the other way around, where the main reason you would be attacked in the first place is because those military arseholes kept shooting up innocent civilians all over the world. The fact that terrorist organisations always seem to hate on the USA instead of, say, Belgium, is a complete and utter coincidence.

    .... I'm baiting, aren't I? :(

    I don't think they'd get any attention if they attacked Belgium.

    But of course, continue to blame everyone else for your own problems. Because what I get out of that, is that you'd blame America if you had to be defended from a foreign invader.

    Let me guess. You blame America's war on drugs for the extreme violence south of the border. Doesn't explain the violence in Brazil... but I digress.

  • Valued Service (unregistered) in reply to the beholder
    the beholder:
    levbor:
    FragFrog:
    The fact that terrorist organisations always seem to hate on the USA instead of, say, Belgium, is a complete and utter coincidence.

    No, it's just false. Terror attacks have occurred in many countries.

    You didn't prove him wrong. You proved terrorist organizations don't always choose USA and their citizens as their target, but that just may be a matter of convenience as I believe it is. If I hate two individuals but one of them is out of my reach I'll discharge my hatred towards the one target I can reach.

    His assumption is much more likely to be true than yours.

    They don't (and by they I mean a small group of hate-filled idiots who happen to be Muslim) just hate America and especially not because of what we did or did not do. They hate everyone that doesn't want them in power.

    They attack countries relentlessly once they have established a method to do so.

    You're right, close neighbors are more convenient.

    You're right, they'd really like to target us?

    Why? Because we get in the way of their power grab.

    Libya, Syria, and even constant contention between different Muslim sects.

    It's just hate for anything that isn't them.

  • (cs) in reply to Tim
    Tim:
    I think a lot of us have been in a place like this. For me it was my first professional full-time job. Small outfit (varied 4-6 people over the time I was there), the owners were married "creatives" - nice enough when they were happy, but revealed for who they were when they made someone fire her own husband. Paranoid types too.

    The day after I handed in my resignation I got a call a little after the nominal starting time (our hours were somewhat flexible, and I'd been there late trying to finish stuff off). They couldn't log into an important machine - turns out they'd changed the password (presumably to prevent me getting into it) and then couldn't get in themselves (maybe they were drunk or high when they changed it). I had to guess what they might have set it to (first guess - an expletive - was correct). Then I went to start work only to discover that they'd removed the hard drive from my computer.

    They still owe me 2 weeks pay for the notice period ...

    Was the expletive "B**gium"?

  • TenshiNo (unregistered) in reply to Cogo the Barbarian
    Cogo the Barbarian:
    agbeladem:
    there used to be well-written story on this website.

    I think the principle difference is that nothing in this story is contrived. Exaggerated, perhaps. Contrived? No.

    There's no elaborate effort to work in puns, no superfluous theming, no flowery baroque details, no tortuous effort to work this story in with a series, no attempt to make this event seem like a bigger WTF than something we saw last week.

    Instead we have just a regular guy with a WTF job. Something that we could relate to - something that makes us say "There, but for the grace of God, go I".

    The WTF is left to speak for itself, instead of having cheap, cheesy extraneous stuff piled on top of it.

    Agreed. I liked this story.

  • (cs) in reply to Matt Westwood
    Matt Westwood:
    TRWTF is not taking that expensive PBX software with him in his briefcase, yeah? Particularly after the first time it got dumped. This guy clearly doesn't learn too well from experience.

    Also smart move would be to keep it locked in a cupboard.

  • foxyshadis (unregistered) in reply to Matt Westwood
    Matt Westwood:
    TRWTF is not taking that expensive PBX software with him in his briefcase, yeah? Particularly after the first time it got dumped. This guy clearly doesn't learn too well from experience.
    And what, get charges pressed against him for stealing software? These are unstable people, willing to repeatedly pay for their own mistakes, so let them.
  • cornified? um...no. (unregistered) in reply to dkf

    [quote user="dkf"][quote user="Arizona Tea Drinker"]But I thought those darn Mexicans were already invading our soil one brown person at a time, and appreciative citizens like you wanted our fine troops to do their duty to close dem borders.[/quote]Not until they've got their maids and gardeners sorted out. Only then do they want the border closed. (This is why so many people close to the border are in favour of closing it; they've got their domestic help arranged nicely and want to keep an advantage over the people further away.)

    It's funny how liberal nerds are the most closed-minded and racist. The human mind is a complex thing. I wonder if we'll ever understand it?

  • LawrenceW (unregistered)

    I'm the original poster. Unfortunately the story wasn't embellished much. The reality was, in some cases, worse. A week before the 1st copy of the pbx software was discarded (actually it was robocalling software) one of the employees was fired for stealing software because he took something on which which he was working home with him. He was, of course, trying to avoid it being thrown away and said as much when they fired him. It made taking my stuff with me very unattractive.

    Sally actually agreed to leave the software alone then sometime when I was out of the office threw it away in her zeal to have all of our desks clean.

    One weekend when the boss and I were working on a special project (special to him, that is) we moved two terminals from a couple of desks to where we needed them. You should have heard the tantrum that Sally threw when she saw that. I explained that (1) we would put them back before Monday and (2) one of the terminals wasn't even connected before we moved it but she really didn't care. Stupid!

    I turned in my office key the evening of the day I called in my notice and made both Sally and her assistant sign a paper acknowledging that I had turned in the key so that they couldn't claim I kept it. Even so the boss called me a week after his trantrum at my home asking for the key. He even accused me of making copies!

    It really was a pity. The job was fun and I learned a lot but the idiots running it made it impossible to stay.

  • Reductio Ad Ridiculousum (unregistered)

    Well, this is a switch. The story was ok, but half the comments sucked.

  • (cs) in reply to Cogo the Barbarian
    Cogo the Barbarian:
    agbeladem:
    there used to be well-written story on this website.
    I think the principle difference is that nothing in this story is contrived. Exaggerated, perhaps. Contrived? No.

    There's no elaborate effort to work in puns, no superfluous theming, no flowery baroque details, no tortuous effort to work this story in with a series, no attempt to make this event seem like a bigger WTF than something we saw last week.

    Instead we have just a regular guy with a WTF job. Something that we could relate to - something that makes us say "There, but for the grace of God, go I".

    The WTF is left to speak for itself, instead of having cheap, cheesy extraneous stuff piled on top of it.

    Amen

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