Goodbye, prepress

[David]

there is always "boss" issues...

always

[Farabomb]

Agreed 100%.

The one here thinks he's a dictator and in a way he's right.

He should open a history book and see how well dictators have fared throughout history.

[David]

off with his head!

[Joe]

Said 'goodbye' to prepress in January. Now doing straight up programming, application development and data processing for a company that prints and manufactures plastic cards (hotel keys, RFID cards, gift cards, etc.)

Use InDesign on a daily basis to prepare data proofs, but that's about as close to prepress as I get.

Absolutely in love with the work ... although it's far, far away from any prepress I ever did (including all the VDP I've done over the past six years), it seems like a very natural progression.

Good for you man.

I'm dying to get the hell out of this place. I'd be ok with prepress at another place but here is just plain miserable. I had a "vacation" last week and as I was leaving I was told there may be a job you'll have to work on.... then a email a few hours later about another possible job. Totally ruined my vacation.

Now the boss is going away for 2 days at the end of the week and I have to cover. I get no backup here at all but I have to cover everyone else's ass. Think I'll spend those 2 days putting down all my issues with this place and have him read it when he gets back.

Anyone hiring next week?

I would call him about every two hours on his 2 days away just to ask him stupid shit.

[Farabomb]

The problem is when you drop down to other's level's they end up beating you on experience alone.

I'll just stick to being a better human being.

The note I'm writing is up to 2 pages now. I may have to upload it here for some edits.

[David]

just mark it final.jpeg.final_rev4, and we'll get right on it.

press is waiting...

[Joe]

The problem is when you drop down to other's level's they end up beating you on experience alone.

I'll just stick to being a better human being.

The note I'm writing is up to 2 pages now. I may have to upload it here for some edits.

While I agree that is the preferred method...when it becomes obvious that isn't working, and in your case I think it is, you sometimes have to stoop to heir level and sling some poop back at them.

[Tracy]

I'm having dictator issues :laugh:

would you take a step back in your job, just to get out of where you are at?

[Joe]

Not here. I'm happy here. But I have twice before when the place I was at sucked.

[DigiCorn]

I once had an issue with some co-workers. It was a thermal printing shop. Prepress was me, and 4 women - we were all about the same age at that time. One of the girls had a giant bag of fortune cookies on her desk. I would come back from lunch and find fortunes taped to my monitor like, "You will find happiness in a new career," etc. We were our own internal proofing department, and they kept track of mistakes based on your initials where you'd sign off for typesetting and initials where you'd sign off for proofing. They'd forge my initials on some of the mistake jobs, and I still had the highest accuracy percentage.

Then one day in the paper I saw an ad for our company looking for a prepress position. I went to the owner and asked him about it, and he said one of the girls was being promoted, but I called bullshit and showed him all the evidence I collected about the harassment. He told me to go home (with pay) and come back the next day for a meeting. I came in the next day and he hadn't yet met with anyone. I told him that was bullshit (one of the girls was dating his son - the same one who was being promoted), and I didn't want to work there anymore. He agreed it was bullshit and immediately called a meeting.

We all sat in a room and discussed the issues. After a few minutes it became clear they were ganging up on me and telling a lot of lies, so i got up, said, if you're going to act like a bunch of bitches and not tell the truth, then I don't want to work here anymore; you can find someone else to replace me, and I walked out. The owner called me at home a bunch of times and begged me to come back. This went on for a few weeks, and finally he just said he didn't blame me, and paid me for like 2 months salary; I think he was afraid of being sued.

Later I found out two of the other girls got fired, but of course not the one his son was dating.

The place I worked before here I quit and walked out three or four times, but each time they called and begged me to come back, and also bought a bunch of new equipment and software to make things better. That place still sucked and had shitty owners who treated all the employees pretty crappy. This place I work now is the best place I've ever worked, and my complaints about it are really paltry - I mean my biggest rants are that people here try to help me and fuck up because they don't what they're doing... but at least they're trying to help me, you know? Not like where people feign ignorance or throw you under a bus. I mean, I do have a sausage, and he only gets in the mix because the boss gets super impatient with stuff sometimes, but in reality he tries. My only other rants are with customers, or the daily idiots who walk in here thinking it's Capitol Barricade.

[Possum]

If I were to walk out, they'd talk me back, too, but just so they'd have more time to find a replacement at their leisure. It can be risky when they know you're willing to walk.

One proofreader we had would miss stuff (I forgot to tell you the customer wanted this), then she would catch it after I'd fixed stuff and sent up another proof, THEN she would mark it wrong on the first proof like I'd neglected to fix everything. I felt like scanning every proof that got sent back for corrections. Only way I'd be able to prove it.

[DigiCorn]

If I walked out here, they'd probably just replace me with the new guy... but they'd struggle. A lot.

Once you get entrenched in a shop, sometimes there's certain customers or jobs you just learn what to do, and it's assumed they get taken care of each submission. It's unspoken, and expected. You can't really teach or train for that stuff - you just have to know/see it when it comes in.

Each time I take days off for vacation or whatnot, I'm always told upon return how much I'm missed because this, that or the other slipped through the cracks.

[Possum]

It's like that song, "Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone."

[born2print]

THEN she would mark it wrong on the first proof like I'd neglected to fix everything.

F-that. I have killed for less.

[Farabomb]

I know I'm replaceable, everyone is. When I left last time he realized how much I do around here.

Sadly it didn't last long. I am very unhappy here. I dread every day I come in. It wouldn't be as bad if I didn't work for family. I'd be able to walk out and tell them to fuck off a lot more easily.