h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ed, where I want to go (back to) has it's own Bee Controversy-

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/05/13/bc-bee-quarantine-lifted-reax.html

Effers, the new house inspections system isn't all that hard to follow, I've done it before with renovations and additions. Mostly it's just common sense.

As to the CPP and my current company pension plan, I'm aware of the amount I could get in 5 years and what I can get now. If I opt in now I would have to have a small income (which I could manage, but I would like to reduce that dependency). It all could be moot now, anyway- they are now saying they need me but not as much as a full time job.

As to the Japanese garbage heap of the Pacific, there are lots of Cassandras out there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT6ZCxzW8K4

At first I was intrigued by her Margaret Thatcher-like
seriousness and dramatic speaking style. But after a
while I was so overloaded with her doomsday message I
started seeing her as Dr Strangelove's girlfriend.


BTW, RE: CPP, get out your calculator. For most people
you have to live past 79 to gain any advantage from the
increased benefits of delaying it until 65. Would you
rather have a 750 ml bottle of free rum at age 60 or
a full litre at 79? It's a classic case of a bird in
the hand being worth two in the bush. Especially if
there is a liquor ban in the nursing home.


~jwf~

Well, it has begun. The other department I mentioned now has massive lay-offs on the way due to technology. I have been given an ultimatum to which I have replied that it's business as usual until told otherwise. The first of what I expect to be an avalanche of critiques of my work was delivered by email yesterday. The union I am in is being deluged by petty disagreements.

As far as I can tell, they want a very young workforce and a very weak union, if one at all. It saddens me that a number of managers who once were friends are bunkering down with the attitude that 'at least I still have a job'.

For some reason this http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkdjyx_end-of-the-line-travelling-wilburys_music came to mind in response to your situation and it makes me feel happy.

Thank you anhaga that made me feel happy as well

zoomer I was going to say get your arse to that cabin by the ocean zoomer...but...but...oh go on...get yourself to that cabin by the ocean.

Serious hug for you mate.

Me too, thank you both,

I'll just wait now....

The person in question is on holidays right now, two weeks of lots of work and friendly people to work with. What a difference, I have decided to just do my job and stick it out- it would appear to be strictly personal, which makes little sense. It could be pressure from higher up but that makes even less sense.

I have contacted two other employers and they seem willing to provide 16 hours each a week for me with the posibility of increasing that in the future. The wages are not great but with pension, etc. it is eminently doable. The problem is I have been here a long time and I like the people I work with, as well as the variety. This weekend alone I am recording a voice over in a forest, shooting a lottery ticket being destroyed, working in the studio on what should be a rainy day and going to sea with a flotilla of boats filled with disadvantaged children. See what I mean?

Anyway, this week has been a joy and a pleasure to work, much like a few years ago.

Wish me luck!

I'm being suspended without pay for a week, all for a technical fault and being late over a month ago. My favourite part of my six page reply to the half page discipline letter is this:

'Based on the “instances” which have been used to issue this suspension, it is readily apparent that in any future situation where equipment might be at fault, or an error in judgment might occur, there does not appear to be any hope for resolving the problem in a conventional manner. It is not difficult to step over the line, if the lines are not visible.'

Wish me luck, but this will give me time to tile my bathroom.

Damn. Sounds like a pretty harsh way for them to deal
with 'technical' issues.

We used to have a cameraman at Global who killed a camera
(usually by leaving it standing on sticks in the wind)
about once a month. Not just the camera but all the footage
was lost a couple of times. A whole days shoot ruined and
lost. As the producer I was pretty frustrated a couple of
times but he was never disciplined that I knew of. The techies
only took on-location direction from producers. They were under
the authority of the Technical Dept manager for all other issues
and I was never even asked for my observations of how these
incidents happened.

He is now a news-reporter at CBC Hfx.
I guess they call them videographers these days - the old
days of three man crews supporting a producer and a reporter
are but a distant memory. They prefer to have one man with
his own camera do all their field reporting and I guess he
has learned by now how long it is safe to leave a camera
standing in assorted weather conditions while he does his
straight to camera reports. Or CBC has plenty to spare.
In my days CCDs were worth 70 to 100 grand a piece.

He cost Global at least 6 cameras and as many ruined shoots
in the year I was there - mostly on commercial shoots where
he'd simply wander off to get a snack or drink or chat with
the talent or the clients. He once let a light rack fall on a brand
new car in a showroom. As producer I took the heat from the
client on that one and from management when we lost the account.

He once unplugged all the fridges and freezers at a winery
retail outlet because of their background hum and white noise
while shooting a high end spot for their selection of cheeses,
gourmet deli meats and expensive wines. And the next day we
got a call from the winery owner asking if Global was going
to pay for the losses. I don't know how all that was resolved
in the end but he was not fired in the next few months I was
there. Naturally my jaw dropped when I saw he was doing news
stand-ups on CBC a year or so later. And he's still there.

You have my deep sympathy and full understanding of what seems
to be a personal attack on you and your skills. It does appear
that life is often not fair. But experience tells me that when
obstacles get in our way it is just 'God' trying to send us in
new directions.


~jwf~

Thanks ~jwf~

I'm afraid I'm enjoying my exile entirely too much, spending time on renovations and long walks while things dry. Today and tomorrow I have no toilet so I'm becoming great friends with the Filipino family down the block that run a 16 hour a day gas station.

I have yet to destroy a camera and only once have I lost footage (due to a camera processing problem). The trick with fridge noise is to put your car keys in the fridge when you shut it off. Works every time.

And btw, you should read the three quotes on my PS. They've been there for many years now and are just as relevant today as when I first posted them.

I am laid off (as of Oct 18)- I can still 'bump' (which I will probably do) which will rid me of the awful management situation which presently exists, (hopefully).

Call it "Early Retirement". That way it's your decision.

It's official, I am retired. Two days after the retirement date I had a gig, payment is in the mail as they say and I had a blast! The party is next Friday and a week after that is another gig for four days.

I think I could get to like this.

Next comes finding that little place by the sea......

Glad to hear you're adjusting to the new way of life.
Enjoy!

~jwf~

PS: Can't leave it at that without a cautionary word
about the potential evils of having lots of spare time
for networking in the freelance biz. It's a lot of fun and
you'll meet all sorts of new people but some of them
are posers and frauds and most of them drink too much
and have a taste for other addictive stimulants.
Just saying...

Stay cool.

Thanks for the advice but I went through this from 1990 to 96 so most of the people I am dealing with I have dealt with before. Interesting really since some of the Producers and Directors are still Producers and Directors while some PAs and cable pullers are now Producers. I know who to trust and most of them are survivors. In this economy I figure I can get buy with 2 to 3 days a month so this year is taken care of already. One day was for a semi-religious organisation and the rest are partly government funded, both quite reliable for payment as I have found in the past.

Freudian slip showing...

'get BY'

That's what I call a Jungian girdle not a Freudian slip.
Same sorta thing, just less sexy.

BTW: Saw a new Nature of Things about Wolves in Wood Buffalo
National Park. Amazing camera work - I know some helicopters
were involved but how long the lenses must have been to get
some of the long following close-ups of running and hunting!

Choppers are big scary noisy things and some of the shots
were long hovering close-ups of pack interactions where the
wolves and buffalo seemed completely unaware of any cameras.

They musta been using small remote controlled drones as well
as balloon mounts. It was incredible. Rock steady follow cams
over 20km chases across broken tundra, open water, woods...

~jwf~

~jwf~
The technological changes in the industry you describe (drone camera platforms that hover, can be operated from a distance at high speeds and with image stabilisation) are part of the technological change that allowed be to be redundant. Only the current high cost of replacing an operator with a camera jib with an automated rig keeps me in pocket change today.
Not bad pocket change at that, I cashed my first freelance cheque on Wednesday with another in the mail and a gig next Saturday (Lingerie Football, can you believe it?).

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/Abbotsford+lingerie+football+team+hopes+fans+beyond+uniforms+Saturday+kick/7135384/story.html#axzz2BvrcZAqW

Ha!