It has been a long ride

In fact, I started with this company in Dec. 1995, as a contractor. In June 1996 I was signed up as a permanent employee. That makes it 16 years as of June this year.

Bumpy, I think so. Worth it, well for the most part I suppose it was, but for the past 4 - 5 years it's been difficult. And now, with them putting me on a PIP (Performance Improvement Plan) it looks like it could come to an end. And, as I said to the boss about 30 minutes ago, it's fine, let them shaft me. I have enough ammo to go to the CCMA with, and get at the very least 2 weeks for every year served severance pay!

See, although this corporation has multiple processes and procedures in place to prevent us doing business (well, that's how it seems to us salespeople), they also have them in place with regards treatment of employees, as well as what to do if you want to separate someone. They have specific guidelines for everything, like changes in how you are measured / targeted / paid (commissions). What management hope is that the employee is too stupid / lazy to take note of these, make notes of specific events, build personal spreadsheets, and keep all this information for in the event they do try to separate you. In fact, for many of the employees, this is probably true, but then, I am a different animal.

A PIP is usually issued when your performance is below par. No problem with that. It should be issued and explained in the presence of an HR person - this didn't happen. In fact, I was issued my PIP sometime early April, but it is dated way back in November 2011. Seems like Senior management (out of country) instructed local management to issue the PIP, they never did, then had to create a backdated PIP to cover their arses. I immediately sent my manager an email spelling out the fact that when he presented it to me it was the first time I had ever seen it.

Now, most times PIP's are issued in such a way that it is almost impossible for the employee to meet all of the requirements. This gives the company a way to get rid of him/her. did not meet required performance, has been given an opportunity to improve, and failed, so does not meet the minimum requirements for an employee in his/her position!

Great, I have the email trail, I have the proof that last year there was large scale manipulation of the Revenue and GP numbers so as to reduce / minimize my earnings. I have the spreadsheets, and am quite willing to force them to reveal their books to the public to prove me wrong if they want to!

In fact, I think that once I have had a chat with them, they will probably give me 2 weeks per year served severance pay, just for me to go away. i know they don't like "public spats", shy away from any legal issues (i.e. going to court) ans almost every time lose any case they take up with the CCMA!

Either way, I've had my fill. Done the time, now I want to move on. Either I get the job offer from the other company, or I lose this job, and get paid to go. Then I will go work for less money at the other place, and make a pln to make ends meet. What happens after that, will be what has to be.

Salagatle!

From the New York Times on-line:-

Pat Robertson Says Marijuana Use Should be Legal

Of the many roles Pat Robertson has assumed over his five-decade-long career as an evangelical leader — including presidential candidate and provocative voice of the right wing — his newest guise may perhaps surprise his followers the most: marijuana legalization advocate.

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“I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol,” Mr. Robertson said in an interview on Wednesday. “I’ve never used marijuana and I don’t intend to, but it’s just one of those things that I think: this war on drugs just hasn’t succeeded.”

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“I believe in working with the hearts of people, and not locking them up,” he said.
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Mr. Robertson, 81, said that there had been no single event or moment that caused him to embrace legalization. Instead, his conviction that the nation “has gone overboard on this concept of being tough on crime” built up over time, he added.

“It’s completely out of control,” Mr. Robertson said. “Prisons are being overcrowded with juvenile offenders having to do with drugs. And the penalties, the maximums, some of them could get 10 years for possession of a joint of marijuana. It makes no sense at all.”

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He attributed much of the problem of overpopulated jails to a “liberal mindset to have an all-encompassing government.”

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For his part, Mr. Robertson said he was “not encouraging people to use narcotics in any way, shape or form.” But he said he saw little difference between smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol, a longstanding argument from far more liberal — and libertarian-minded — leaders.

“If people can go into a liquor store and buy a bottle of alcohol and drink it at home legally, then why do we say that the use of this other substance is somehow criminal?” he said.

Mr. Franklin, who is a Christian, said Mr. Robertson’s position was actually in line with the Gospel. “If you follow the teaching of Christ, you know that Christ is a compassionate man,” he said. “And he would not condone the imprisoning of people for nonviolent offenses.”

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So, the ................... sections are where I deleted parts of the document. You can go read it in it's entirety online.
What I got from this was the following:-
a) Some people will do anything to get votes!
b) This clown equated the use of dagga with drinking alcohol - where is the connection?
c) Overpopulated jails are because of a decline in the respect of the countries laws by it's citizens!

So, why stop at dagga? Why not legalise all of the "chemical drugs" currently doing the rounds? What makes them different? In fact, why not decriminalise traffic violations? Who should say what speed I can drive at? And why do I need all my lights working, and tread on my tyres? Hey, who decides the legal age for sexual consent? And, if my witchdoctor says that raping babies will cure my AIDS, why shouldn't I be allowed to do so? (OK - it's a bit over the top, but you get the idea!)

The bible says "An eye for an eye" - right? So, if someone knocks down my son on his bike / drives into my wife in her car, and there is a death because of the incident, why can I not go after the person responsible, and take him out? Come on - make up your mind!

You want to legalise dagga, but not the word in the Bible? (OK - I know that it should be read in context, and I am not doing so right now, but I just want to get an opinion across).

Overall, I don't care one way or another if they decide to legalise dagga, other than I know I could make a small fortune growing the shit (no pun intended) on my mates farm. Problem is, once it's legal, the market price will plummet, and everyone will grow their own dope (no - it's not a reference to a midget Irishman).

Then we will have to find "new" strains of the stuff - maybe graft it to a grape vine / peach tree / orange tree to grow flavoured variations.....

Ah well, needed to get that off my chest.

Salagatle!

Abandoned for 2 weeks, starving dogs in Indonesia eat owner

I don't really subscribe to posting stuff directly from the online press (except photos), but this deserves the exposure! Revenge of the dogs!

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Seven dogs starved of food and water for two weeks are suspected of eating their Indonesian owner after he returned to his hometown in Manado from a holiday, local media reported Tuesday.
A neighbourhood guard was curious when he saw luggage lined up at the front of Andre Lumboga's house, days after the 50-year old arrived back home. He approached the house, smelled something foul and called the police, according to a report.
"His skull was found in the kitchen, and his body was found in the front of his house," Eriyana, a local police chief in Batam, an island off Sumatra, told VIVAnews website.
Lumboga arrived home last Wednesday, but his body was just discovered Monday.
"We suspect that the dogs were hungry, so they attacked Andre, because they had not been fed for 14 days," he said. Police also found bones of two other dogs, believed to have also been eaten by the hungry canines.
Lumboga was from northern Sulawesi island, a predominantly Christian area, where the local spicy diet is famous in Indonesia for including dogs, bats and forest rats.

Salagatle!

Didn't make the print.....

For some reason, my comment which I left at this News article   didn't get posted. I'm kind of pissed off about that. But then, maybe they didn't like what I had to say - do they ever?

Salagatle!

Remember my post

With a link to:- READ THIS SHIT!  - It was a news article about my employer, and how the CEO's over the past 20 years have brought it "back to life?
And remember the comments posted beneath the article?

Well I just got an SMS from a mate, and reader, in Oz, to say "All the comments are gone! Deleted! Big Brother strikes again!"

i went to check, yup, all gone! And new comments asking if the editor, who had the comments removed, will then also remove the misleading article.

Suffice to say, there has bee "Interference" of public opinion, and to me this says that the publishers of the relevant magazine / paper, cannot be trusted to be reporting in the interest of the man in the street / investors!!!

So, I registered as a member on the site, and posted this:-

So, we can assume that the management of CNN Money have been forced into deleting all of the comments that were posted here. We can therefore further assume that any articles posted here will not be to the benefit of, or in the interest of their readers / investors, as the "Truth" can be deleted....

Now we know - we will watch. As for the real story, those of us who know, know, and will post our opinions on websites that honor our right to comment!
My "Nom-de-Plume" is "Salagatle, so you all can't miss it!

Salagatle!