my counterpart at work is a total WUSS!

vash · vash's Garage

holy crap...i think i am a crappy public speaker. i lock up, i get flustered, but i always..stop, think, take a breath and i get it out..with some bravado. my project generates alot of interest. we give tours, do presentations. on monday, i asked my counterpart to do the next presentation. he said, "ok, whatever we need".

i assumed he was working on it. he just came up to me right now and said, "what is going on with the presentation tomorrow?"

WTF???!!! he said. "i am not doing any presentation..." what an absolute dcik. now i have to "shoot from the hip" tomorrow. good thing i know the presentation so well.

Dan in Pasadena · Dan in Pasadena's Garage

I'd ride his azz for leaving you in the lurch on this.

I used to have to give monthly "S,R &QA" briefings to NASA years ago when I worked for Rockwell on the Shuttle program. These were older guys with flat tops and short sleeved white shirts - not a lick of sympathy and they'd ride your butt if you mispoke. What I learned was that as you get nervous you tend to speak faster and to think beyond what you were saying because you were moving to fast mentally.

So my strategy was to speak so s l o w l y it felt (in my head) like I was speaking too slow. Inevitably I'd get complimented for such a nicely paced presentation. It gave them time to think about what I was presenting and to inject questions. I (like you) knew the presentations inside out (out of plain fear) so answering seemingly "from the hip" made me look knowledgeable, self assure, cool headed - all of which I was not! It made me a "young turk" and I had a real future as an up and comer in the organization.

legion · 10-09-2008, 02:44 PM

Ugh, I get a lot of that from my team lead.

I had a few defects from a code review I did in May. I fixed the defects...in May. We have a defect tracking tool and the person who reported the defects (my team lead) is supposed to verify they were corrected and close the defects. Well, I get an angry IM from my project manager about three of those defects that are still in a "fixed" status--since May! Now, it wasn't my responsibility to mark them closed--in fact, the tool prevents the person who did the fixing from closing the defects so that there is some level of accountability.

I follow up with my team lead and she said: "Well, I had some questions about those." Why didn't she ask me in May! She never asked me a single question about them! Long story short, she made sure that I was the one who got the blame for the defects being open for five months (even though I fixed them and asked her to verify them and close them five months ago).

It really pisses me off when people won't take responsibility for their (lack of) action. It pisses me off more when they put the blame off on someone else.

juanbenae · juanbenae's Garage

cliff you are the smartest asian i know, you will pull it off.

T$

vash · vash's Garage

WHOA! a couple of hotties in the audience...

id10t · 10-10-2008, 08:49 AM

imagine them all naked...

Of course, with the typical instructor I work with or the typical budding Linux user in my class, that doesn't work out so well...

onewhippedpuppy · 10-10-2008, 10:07 AM

I could find many words that better describe your co-worker than "wuss".

ckissick · 10-10-2008, 11:09 AM

Is the presentation on the Devils Slide bridge? I'd like to see the presentation, since I did the geotech on it. I did a presentation on the tunnel.

vash · vash's Garage

ckissick, you missed it!!!

yup the two hotties were both married, but very nice. i got a job offer, and i am going to join their professional organization. PACE...something something construction engineers... i guess i should look it up. i think the p is for peninsula. good times.

onewhippedpuppy · 10-10-2008, 01:04 PM

Pretty Awesome Construction Engineers.

You're welcome.

vash · vash's Garage

that mothereffer!

believe it or not, the coocksucker did it to me again. today, we have some high-ups from bangladeesh, india coming in. he got specifically assigned to baby sit them. they called arnold (i think) and asked for the tour of our bridges and tunnels. i assumed (still the caste system in india?) some politicians, and some smart assengineers.

my coworker called in sick, and i am designated hitter again...i am gonna kick his ass.

masraum · 10-27-2008, 08:11 AM

Sounds like your co-worker is a real wanker, to put it lightly.

Don't let the thread about pissing off wait-staff give you any ideas on how to tell him what you think.

911pcars · 10-27-2008, 09:56 AM

Vash,
I wouldn't assume the inaction demonstrated by your co-worker and your versatility and job skills go un-noticed by upper management - that is, unless you work for a govt. organization (probably just a stereotype I have about govt.).

Suggest discussing with the "wuss" and describe your future contributions to his slackness. Save the energies one could devote to co-worker retribution to the next company bowling night ("Whoops, sorry there", as you do some practice swings with the 16lb. sphere).

Sherwood

vash · vash's Garage

opps! i had another meeting to attend.

the indian dudes got hosed. my boss is not happy that "wuss" dropped the ball.

dtw · 10-27-2008, 03:30 PM

C'mon Sally! Stick a sock in your pants (no, the FRONT of your pants) and man up! Confront this tool! Say you're mad as hell and you're not gonna take it anymore!

Zeke · 10-27-2008, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vash

opps! i had another meeting to attend.

the indian dudes got hosed. my boss is not happy that "wuss" dropped the ball.

Best thing that could have happened. On the presentation thing, I would have gotten up and laid out the thing very briefly and generally talking about the company and its origins and then said, "To explain this in better detail, I introduce my colleague (what's his name) to continue the presentation in detail."