I mean, I can get more insightful commentary about China pressuring Taiwan about independence than I can find here, but come on, do I really want to read that much about the situation? And where else can I find a blog that chronicles the HR shortcomings of an overly-bureaucratic international death-machine-manufacturing corporation? Nowhere but Troy's Thoughts. Also, Troy's Thoughts provides accessible commentary about issues I care about, such as the environment and the economy. And for keeping up to date with my heath, where is there more up-to-date and accurate information than Troy's Thoughts?
The answer is, nowhere else. That's right, though the internet is a big place with thousands of blogs of varying quality, none of those blogs exceeds the ability of Troy's Thoughts to provide me with the information I want when I want it.
When I was notified that I as being considered for a position, I was told that I had 7 days to decide, no more. Yes, a 7 day deadline in late February to decide about a job that wouldn't begin until summer.
As I mentioned before, I knew that if I accepted the job, I'd have to get a physical evaluation and drug test. I did not want to do those because it's inconvenient, I've done it twice before in less than 18 months, and I knew I'd pass it again. I talked to the HR lady and tried to get out of having to do it since I had done it so recently before. She said a lot could have changed in such short a time, which is true, but continuous employees at Lockheed don't have to be re-tested every few months even though just as much can change with them as with me.
I was debating whether to accept the job, but on the 7th day, I accepted, and I was informed that I would have three days in which to complete the physial evaluation and drug test for my summer internship, 2-3 months in advance. Apparently Lockheed's done their research and I could have become a regular drug user in no less than 2-3 months, but no more than 7-8 months.
So, I completed my medical exam, which I actually had to physically deliver to Lockheed, since, you know, mail wouldn't work, not even priority mail, or certified mail, nope, because if the mail carrier gets crushed by a gigantic rolling boulder on their way to deliver mail to Lockheed, then my medical evaluation is ruined by their blood and I have to go get the evaluation done again. But, if I get crushed by a gigantic rolling boulder on the way there, my medical results won't matter anyway.
So, everything was going smoothly, I was informed that I'd have to have a background check done on me, since, well, not only could I have become a drug user in the past few months, I could've also become a felon!
Apparently that went well, and Monday I received a message on my voice mail from the HR lady to call her back to establish a start date. I tried calling her back several times Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I was reluctant to leave a message because I knew that when she returned my message I was likely to be in class. Finally, Wednesday I just decided to leave a message. Later that afternoon, I was informed on my voice mail that my start date will be June 6. She didn't ask my opinion, she just designated a day for me, despite the fact that I am available 3-4 weeks before then.
I've sort of figured out that the hiring department provides a "need" date by which they need their employee and the HR department interprets that as the start date, independent of when the employee actually wants to start.
I called the HR lady back to tell her I was available sooner. Again, she didn't answer, so I left a message. Less than 5 minutes later, she called me and changed the date to May 16 and said the date change shouldn't be a problem.
I'm pretty sure that she screens her calls, since I called her several times over this week and never once did she answer the phone, but each time I left a message, I received a response in less than a couple hours. This isn't this surprising, since this is the HR person who is known in the department in which I used to work for unintentionally delaying an attempted hiring because she set up an automatic delete feature for her e-mail. She had her e-mail set up so that after she deletes a message, her e-mail program automatically deletes any incoming mail with the same subject line as the e-mail just deleted.
So anyway, after all that, now I'm ready to start employment...in two months.
All these obstacles aren't really that significant, but it is frustrating to have to deal with them for the third time. These policies are too inflexible, but Lockheed is able to do it because it's Lockheed. Most people are so happy to be offered a job by Lockheed that they'll do whatever Lockheed asks:
Lockheed: Accept the job offer in 7 daysWhile I'm sure my offer of employment wouldn't have been rescinded if I had completed the drug test in 4 days instead of 3, their hard-line approach to preparing for new employees is frustrating, and ridiculously uniform for all employees, regardless of whether they've worked there before.
Employee: I'll accept it now.
Lockheed: Get a drug test in no more than 3 days
Employee: Sure, whatever you say.
Lockheed: Run around and cluck like a chicken
Employee: Certainly, would you like me to peck also?
Lockheed: No, I'm sorry, you cannot peck, only cluck, and you must cluck at least 20 times.
China unveiled a law yesterday authorizing an attack if Taiwan moves toward formal independence, increasing pressure on the self-ruled island while warning other countries not to interfere. The United States said Beijing should reconsider.So, while it would be good for Taiwan and the rest of the world if Taiwan gained its independence, it would seem that there is basically no possible way that this will happen. Situations in which a country refuses to grant independence to one of its parts are actually rather common and almost always create a disadvantageous relationship for both parties.
For example, Chechnya wants independence but Russia has fought a protracted and deadly war with them to prevent it. Also, the Basque Country in Spain wants independence, and a terrorist organization has been killing people in Spain for years in a fruitless attempt to get independence.
So, Spain has to spend money preventing terrorist attacks and Spanish citizens have to die because the government won't let the Basque Country be sovereign. Wars like this don't end, though. Spain may prevent a thousand terrorist attacks, but the Basque Country isn't going to give up, and eventually one is going to succeed. Fights for independence are only won by those seeking independence, those denying it can never win, they can only delay the inevitable. I just don't understand the refusal of so many countries to let parts of them secede, especially considering the cost of preventing independence, not just monetarily, but also in lives.
I can somewhat understand Abraham Lincoln's desire to "preserve the union", since a very large chunk of the United States had seceded, but Chechnya, the Basque Country, and Thailand are not as important to their respective countries as was the South to the United States.
Does anyone have any insight into this issue? It seems to me that China, Russia, and Spain are fighting unnecessary, wasteful, and destructive battles, perhaps mostly for pride.
Yhä uusien identiteettien ja nukkemallien kuvittelu on ilmeisen suosittua ajanvietettä myös leluteollisuuden ulkopuolella. Mattelin virallisten Barbie-narratiivien ohella www-sivuilla nukelle tuotetaan ja jaetaan mitä moninaisempia alter egoja alkoholisti- ja narkomaani-Barbieista eksoottisiin tanssijoihin, Xena- sekä "lasikatto-Barbieen" (mukana yrityksen hallituksen kokoushuone, tusina identtistä miespuolista hallituksen jäsentä sekä kahvinkeitin).I have no idea what this means, so after a bit of searching, I found a Finnish translator online that was able to translate small parts of this and hint at what the sentence might actually say:
Continually renovating identity and nukkemallien imagination is visibly popular amusement also leluteollisuuden outside. Asia formally Barbarian narratiivien with www - by nukelle tuotetaan and jaetaan what moninaisempia alter egoja alcoholic - and narkomaani Barbieista eksoottisiin tanssijoihin Xena - and lasikatto Barbieen " ( along yrityksen hallituksen kokoushuone , dozen identity male hallituksen analyzing and kahvinkeitin ).Here is the citation at the bottom of the page (the only URL still available is the last one):
(66) Barbielle on kuviteltu vaihtoehtoisia identiteettejä mm. seuraavilla www-sivuilla: http://www.ucs.usl.edu/~wef0302/barbie.html, http://members.aol.com/cyberyort/humor/lists/02.html, http://incolor.inetnebr.com/kramsey/classic/barbie.htm, http://www.rit.edu/~tpw4968/WhatToDo/wtd6_03.html http://www.mit.edu:8001/activities/voodoo/is764/barbie.htmlThe sentence that precedes the list of websites was translated as:
Barbielle is mythical interchangeably identity mm. seuraavilla www - by :So, interestingly, my site was cited in a Finnish report some time ago, as an example of Barbie humor, presumably. Perhaps in the future I'll find out about more reports in different languages that have cited various pages of mine.
Sudan's government and the militia it supports persist in committing atrocities in the Darfur region despite repeated promises to end brutal abuses and killings, the U.S. State Department says.It's pretty obvious that nations like this simply cannot be trusted and to give these nations any credibility with anything they say is foolish. If the UN has any reason for still existing, it will address this issue forcefully, but I fear that nothing will continue to happen.
