The day just thinking about and waiting for the sh---y week ahead.
24 replies (most recent on top)
At least you're honest about it. Most people try to dress it up as "ergonomics" or "sticking it to management." You're openly talking about taking company supplies because they're there. Sharpies, paper, dry-erase markers, chair wheels—none of that belongs to employees just because it's within arm's reach. If someone spent years complaining about corporate greed and then jokes about making a "To Steal" list, that's a level of self-awareness usually found in a black hole.
@d3 I've been thinking... If my dream of being the next great American author doesn't materialize, I might join you on your quest to be an IBM executive. Why should I keep doing this petty theft when I can score $millions?
@d3 But what about office supplies like Sharpies, pencils, and reams of paper? And office chair wheels? And time to write my novel? Will IBM give me $600 for those? Besides, I like to steal. Like those dry erase markers. I discovered a motherlode of them last week and now they're on my "To Steal" list. I don't even have a dry erase board. LOL
@d3 as a real IBMer, do you know how much IBM bureaucracy and red tape you have to cut through to get even $50 in office equipment ?
Asking for something does not mean it comes to you in the next week or even next month, even if your manager approves - try 6 months from now, if you're lucky and get through all approvals.
@cv Any real IBMer knows that you get $600/yr to put towards office equipment. No need to steal it.
@cw go ahead, make someone's day !
@cs it is what it is. And you can't do anything but whine here in this forum. If you got to blame anyone you should blame the cost cutting, layoffs and poor management at IBM. If IBM management was ready, willing and able to secure things with better processes at their sites , they could have done so already. But they are shutting things down and making the move to India. And if their products were more functional instead of the Indian made garbage which they market and sell as Premium products, they might not make the front page with lawsuits from former IBM employees about their failed products and hacking on IBM owned sites. And then maybe you might be able to advance a better argument than the pathetic whining of yours. Two wrongs don't make it right but it's the road IBM management have chosen to go down, starting with your good friend, Mr. Dead Gerbil. BTW, Mr. Dead Gerbil took a severance package of $189 million (cash and perks) when he left IBM in 2002. That was a huge sum, and many might say it was an obscenely huge severance package. It was one of the largest severance packages for the past decades, but folks like you might say it wasn't enough since he saved the company. He didn't just do that, he just laid the groundwork for more US layoffs, executive pillaging and excessive bonuses like we see with Sam, Gin 'n Tonic and Arvind.
Since you talk so much about discipline, how come you don't mention BCG's when IBM executives steal and pillage resources from the company on company time ? Complaints and reports made to IBM's so called Speak Up channels go nowhere. That's why Bob Moffat got away with passing on IBM secrets and Sam Palmisano was blissfully ignorant of what he was doing. It's why Gin 'N Tonic Rometty stayed on longer in the chair than she should have, even when losing money hand over fist during her tenure as IBM CEO and Chairwoman. Why did everyone keep their mouths shut at that time ? Because she was a woman CEO ? And why does Arvind Krispy Kreme lie about producing a Quantum Chip in 5 year or less ? It will never happen. He continues to hang on a CEO and Chairman when he should have retired a year or 2 ago. Who is propping the crook up in the chair ? You have nothing but hypocrisy and pretense on taking the high road. I assume you are a manager since you seem to gone through a drastic change in personality from the old crooked troll who talked about hate, vitriol, bile and spleens.
Let's see much the IBM share price rises or falls on a bright Monday morning, shall we ?
LOL.
So we've gone from "bring your own chair and swap it" to "take all the chair wheels too"? At some point this stops being a workplace discussion and starts sounding like a plan to strip office furniture for parts. If someone genuinely needs ergonomic equipment, there are proper channels. Bragging about spending company time removing chair wheels and taking company property isn't sticking it to management—it's just advertising behavior that would get most employees written up or fired
@cs And on a personal note, this is why I love working at IBM so much. It's the perfect blend of the manual and the mental: stealing company things and writing my novel on company time. Just like my alma mater MIT's motto: Mens et Manus ("Mind and Hand").
@cs Well after I take my new chair I'll need a supply of chair wheels too, so I'll be spending some company time removing and taking every chair wheel I can. No one needs to be rolling around at meetings anyway.
That's not an ergonomic accommodation—that's swapping personal property for company property without approval. If an employee needs a different chair for medical or ergonomic reasons, the proper solution is to go through IBM's workplace accommodations or facilities process, not quietly wheel company assets out the door. Encouraging people to take company equipment home without authorization isn't helping employees; it's encouraging conduct that could get someone disciplined or terminated
Calling Mr. Gerstner a thief ignores what IBM looked like when he arrived in 1993. IBM was losing billions, analysts were openly discussing breaking the company apart, and many thought its best days were behind it. Mr. Gerstner made difficult and often unpopular decisions, but he stabilized the business, preserved IBM as an integrated company, restored profitability, and laid the groundwork for decades of success in services and enterprise technology. You don't have to agree with every decision he made, but claiming he "looted" IBM is not supported by the company's performance under his leadership. The fact that IBM is still here today as a major technology company is part of Mr. Gerstner's legacy. History will remember him as the CEO who pulled IBM back from the brink, not the caricature you're describing
@b0 bring in your old decrepit chair from home and swap it out with the one in the office if it's the same color etc. Use the Ergonomics excuse as it's one that IBM has to follow, even if the losers in IBM management don't like it, because it's yet another expense they don't want to pay for. What do you expect from the cheap ba----ds at IBM ? But they don't want to be sued for giving you carpal tunnel syndrome either.
Just let Security know when you wheel the old one in and let them know doing the swap the same day. Saw a few people doing this at my site a while back and taking their swapped chairs home. LOL.
Yup, a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
@av That's a good idea. What I'm thinking of doing is just carrying it out and telling security it was in the garbage. I have a broken chair at home it might work for. I'm so happy I get to use my mind working at IBM.
@aj - Put the base of the chair in the big recycle bin then wait for the day when the waste management truck arrives for scheduled pickup. Security will be taking it out in the morning. You will have a pretty good window of opportunity before the truck shows up.
Sunday Scarries!
@ah My, My, you do need Professional help. And soon.
Dead Gerbil was a thief and a wastrel at RJR Nabisco before he came to IBM. He bullied people into thinking he knew what he was doing...he didn't. And he robbed the IBM Company blind. Millions of dollars left with Dead Gerbil when he left the company. You call it saving the company. That's why Dead Gerbil is pushing up the daisies...in he-l. Yes, he saved the company by looting it and the looting continued after he left. IBM was big in those days, so he could steal and raid with ease and there was money all over the place. You can't do that any more. It's getting smaller and smaller as business dries up - IBM's only business will be mainframes until it's death knell is rung. All the AI and Quantum stuff is small potatoes, as other companies are more nimble and get ahead with the technology.
I use Sundays to plan my week. This week I'm taking my plundering to the next level. One of the sites I work/write at has some really nice ergonomic conference room chairs. I want one for home. Obviously I can't just walk out with it. But I took a looksy last week and I think I can disassemble one with my multi-tool. Then I'd take it out piece by piece and reassemble it at home. I have a large food delivery backpack that should fit most parts. And there's an unused closet at the IBM office where I can stash the remaining parts until I get them. The base will be the hard part. Not sure yet how I'll get that past security.
Get this thru that thick skull of yours
Mr Gerstner saved IBM. All the experts wanted to break up IBM. He said no. And thankfully he said no
People like you b1tch and complain about Arvind but he doesn't even know where you are.
And Mr Gerstner accomplished more in 1 year than you did in your entire life
Nobody, The point is that you are not being forced to work for IBM. If IBM is so horrible. UPDATE YOUR BLEEPIN RESUME
@a1 who asked for your azz wipe opinion ?
Who died and made you God ?
Agreed, I don’t feel any enthusiasm starting my work week at IBM.
I have to make 6 colored presentations for intellectually impaired executives.
I feel embarrassed when, witnessing these fools spew all the nonsense i put in these presentations.
Find another job if you hate IBM. Nobody is forcing your sorry azz to stay