I've been in this situation before...

Denis · April 10, 2014, 08:27:25 AM

http://laughingsquid.com/the-expert-a-hilarious-sketch-about-the-pain-of-being-the-only-engineer-in-a-business-meeting/

uwe · April 10, 2014, 10:25:26 AM

So have I. Quite often, actually. And I'm always the engineer.

chromium · April 10, 2014, 11:07:10 AM

Livin' the dream here as well!

Highlander · April 10, 2014, 12:19:21 PM

Hurts too much to watch it ...

Basvarken · April 10, 2014, 12:20:09 PM

Oh yes. Many times.
Last time was when we had to design and build a corporate website for a client. They wanted it to be "hyper modern" and use HTML5. And at the same time they wanted it to be compatible for Internet Explorer 5... Haha, what a bunch of jokers.

westen44 · April 10, 2014, 02:27:20 PM

The engineer's attitude reminds me of this quote (which I think is by Josef Jirecek.)

We, the unwilling, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much for so long with so little, that we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Highlander · April 11, 2014, 12:16:03 AM

I'm run by a team of people that are based in a city that could be fitted about eight times inside the main London ring-road and have a view that it's only "that far" and/or "that long to get to" on the (google) map ...

I had a scheduled two hour drive to a site recently and there was major flooding on part of the route that had gridlocked a major chunk of the WSW corridor, so being the efficient fool that I am I let the office know that I'd have to divert and try and find an alternate route north...

Ten minutes later, I get the boss's boss on the phone, in raised tones, steaming at me that "you will NOT refuse to go to a job ...!", and I just see red ... I talk back and talk him down and in no uncertain terms state clearly and loudly that I did no such thing ("Ken, there's no need to raise you voice), that I had been doing the courteous thing ("Ken, I'm busy right now") letting them know that I'd be delayed, that I was still on route after making my fifth diversion (I'll have to come back to you"), that I was deeply upset that such a thing had been said ("I've got to go, Ken) ...

A'hole ... the whole shower of them, but while it pays the bills it will tide me over until I shift north ...

Should send them to the stores for a long weight, or maybe a tin of hot-sparks ...

westen44 · April 11, 2014, 03:10:31 AM

When I worked in Chattanooga for a year, my boss once sent me out to run an errand. I got into the mother of all traffic jams. Possibly the worst one I've ever been in. Certainly close to that. What should have taken a few minutes ended up taking four hours. He knew it was real. It was even on the front page the next day how bad that traffic jam was. Still, he was aghast at it all--that I had taken so long when he preferred that I be working. He knew it wasn't my fault, yet it was obvious that a part of him was blaming me anyway. Definitely, the stingiest person I've ever been around. His daughter (quite a pretty Deadhead,) could even barely stand to be around him because of his greed.

uwe · April 11, 2014, 06:16:07 AM

Best quote from a litigator in such a situation: "I'm not the good news fairey."

Highlander · April 11, 2014, 06:15:46 PM

Quote from: uwe on April 11, 2014, 06:16:07 AM
"I'm not the good news ~~fairey~~ fairy."

Fairey made aircraft ...

One of their rather archaic designs was responsible for assisting in quite a noteworthy battle ... stuffed the rudder, iirc ...

The "Stringbag" was not the good news Fairey either ...

Rob · April 11, 2014, 07:20:32 PM

Stringbags are never good news

uwe · April 14, 2014, 10:06:02 AM

Stupid biplane got lucky ...

Unchivalrous attack it was too - poor, helpless unsinkable state of the art battleship couldn't lower its AA guns low enough to hit it.

But look how well German quality building (no breaking apart like with that cheap Titanic steel) has held up all these years ... She will be there for hundreds of more years as at her location and in her depth [some 600 miles west of Brest at a depth of 4.790 meters (15.700 feet)] further damage and decay have almost come to a halt.

Turrets are gone as they were only held by their own weight. The Bismarck capsized initially when sinking, lost its turrets which just dropped off and rolled over again to land on the bottom of the ocean with the underside of its hull. Miracle that it didn't break apart then and there because the force with which she hit sea bottom was akin to a train crashing into a mountain.

Highlander · April 14, 2014, 02:14:17 PM

The obsolete "Stringbags" were all a bit Thunderbird Six in reality; Titanic was the result of arrogance and built to a price, whereas Bismarck was built to be the best she could be, but skimming the ocean was an Achilles Heal ...

And keeping to the Thunderbird's motif, best not mention the Hood ...

uwe · April 15, 2014, 08:21:20 AM

Poor Hood didn't stand a chance against the Bismarck - they were a generation apart as regards technology and the Hood wasn't even a battleship, but a battle cruiser. There was no way she could have won a duel against the German ship.