Office etiquette - mouse usage

[StreetScooby 5]

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Holy crap, where do you work!? If the place its that rigid they had better be paying you well into the six figures.

I wouldn't call the place "rigid". I am fortunate to be surrounded by people who take themselves very seriously, and they have earned that. And, they earn that every day. There are no "off days" where I work, ever.

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I've chewed out senior managers in company meetings and not been fired,

I've done that a few times in my life. In retrospect, it's usually easier to find a different job.

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but I was right and they can't fire you for that and have any clout with the workforce.

Yes, they can fire you. But, you are right in that people never look at them the same way, especially if it was known you were right. Again, it's usually easier to find a different job, because you're going to need to, anyway.

I'm trying to avoid that situation right now... Especially considering no money is being lost.

We are all engines of karma

[theonlyski 3]

Iago

But it's been eight years, a steady paycheck, and management does not like me. They take a point+ out of my annual raise every year just to slap me in face.

But, then again, I am right when I go against them and the rest of the workforce recognizes that fact. So, kinda like that Gladiator movie where Caesar can't just kill him in front of the crowd since he has the support of the crowd.

It's pretty hard to get fired here, some of the workforce is proof of that, they drag ass and are habitual work shirkers, but they still make top dollar because they haven't gotten fired and have just eventually gotten enough raises to max them out. They wouldn't survive a technical interview, much less a job at a place that requires them to work.

I have had to, on almost a weekly basis, cover my ass here. Usually it gets me some nasty looks from the people that I have documentation are being the ones slowing progress... Nobody is ever waiting on me. My manager hates at meetings when they ask if there are any questions or comments, when I pipe up... Even to the point of giving me an imaginary counseling (doesn't exist in my records) to try to deter me from doing it again. I don't care, they can fire me if they want, but the truth will be spoken and all of my peers see that.

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

StreetScooby

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If you get him a mouse pad he just might respond by getting you a set of ear plugs. Wink

Now, this is the kind of answer I'm looking for here. What consequences can I expect when I take my upcoming action? Absolutely spot on here. If he did that, I would definitely wear them in such a manner that we both knew the situation. And that would be politically acceptable. +1

Well, if he knows it's annoying you and is continuing to do it to annoy you, then there is a rather drastic step you could take:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=4646453;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[jumpwally 0]

" no one has off days " what kind of place do you work at short of telling us the name of the company,,,,you guys NASA engineers ?

smile, be nice, enjoy life
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[Nataly 38]

StreetScooby

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Try a bit of humour: take it out in front of him and make a huge song and dance about it: "BEHOLD!! I got thee a mouse mat - TA-DA!!!!!

I would literally be fired if I did that, probably that day, most certainly the next day.

Jeesus!! Giving someone a mouse-mat could get you fired?? Doesn't that alone make you want to look for another place to work??? If for no other reason than you might at any point get fired for random shit anyway?

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse."
- Chris Hadfield
« Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. »
- my boss

[Arvoitus 1]

Nataly

***

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Try a bit of humour: take it out in front of him and make a huge song and dance about it: "BEHOLD!! I got thee a mouse mat - TA-DA!!!!!

I would literally be fired if I did that, probably that day, most certainly the next day.

Jeesus!! Giving someone a mouse-mat could get you fired?? Doesn't that alone make you want to look for another place to work??? If for no other reason than you might at any point get fired for random shit anyway?

I don't think its the giving a mouse pad part but rather the 'huge song and dance' part that would get him axed.

Your rights end where my feelings begin.

[Nataly 38]

Nataly

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Try a bit of humour: take it out in front of him and make a huge song and dance about it: "BEHOLD!! I got thee a mouse mat - TA-DA!!!!!

I don't think its the giving a mouse pad part but rather the 'huge song and dance' part that would get him axed.

Perhaps I did not express myself well - I just meant he could present the mat in a light-hearted way... Ie: so it comes across as a friendly gesture, as opposed to a criticism... Let's face it, there is every chance he may still be offended, but presenting it like a kind gesture still strikes me as not such a bad move...

But I don't know the guy... If he is humourless, then yeah... humour may not be the way forward...

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse."
- Chris Hadfield
« Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. »
- my boss

[StreetScooby 5]

Ok, this is a hard working "lower level" guy. He's trying, and it's frightening to me that he's actually picked up on my discomfort, as I've been trying to hide it within reason. When he gets going, he does what he does, and this guy helps move real money, all day every day. Definite high-potential person in the organization. I'm going to let this slide, a bit, as it's not worth pissing him off. Got a mouse pad today, and it's in my drawer. I'm in long before he shows up. Just need to time his arrival, and be sure that I'm not at my desk when he shows up. He will most certainly know where it came from, and I expect he will probably start using it. And, he will never forget where it came from.

We are all engines of karma

[oldwomanc6 38]

Don't do it anonymously. He is going to know where it came from, and it is a very passive-aggressive thing to do.

Do you think you won't piss him off if you stick it on his desk before he gets there? You are fooling yourself if you think this.

Either deal with it face to face (many different ways to do this), or SIUCC. You can't have it both ways.

lisa
WSCR 594
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[Nataly 38]

oldwomanc6

Don't do it anonymously. He is going to know where it came from, and it is a very passive-aggressive thing to do.

Do you think you won't piss him off if you stick it on his desk before he gets there? You are fooling yourself if you think this.

Either deal with it face to face (many different ways to do this), or SIUCC. You can't have it both ways.

I agree. Seems to me you are over-thinking this one... Talk to him and give him the mat!! The guy is not a mind-reader (and neither are you!), so he may not even be aware that you are quietly fuming in your corner... Passive aggression rarely solves anything (ie: getting up and walking away, giving him dirty looks, sighing loudly so he can hear, sneaking a mat on his desk...). These are all just the childish behaviours of someone who is not an effective communicator. People around you cannot know why you are upset, they can just guess... And a lot of people won't even bother trying to guess - they will just assume you are a weird guy, behaving in weird way. Have a discussion with the guy. Like an adult.

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse."
- Chris Hadfield
« Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. »
- my boss

[Andy9o8 0]

Nataly

***Don't do it anonymously. He is going to know where it came from, and it is a very passive-aggressive thing to do.

Do you think you won't piss him off if you stick it on his desk before he gets there? You are fooling yourself if you think this.

Either deal with it face to face (many different ways to do this), or SIUCC. You can't have it both ways.

I agree. Seems to me you are over-thinking this one... Talk to him and give him the mat!! The guy is not a mind-reader (and neither are you!), so he may not even be aware that you are quietly fuming in your corner... Passive aggression rarely solves anything (ie: getting up and walking away, giving him dirty looks, sighing loudly so he can hear, sneaking a mat on his desk...). These are all just the childish behaviours of someone who is not an effective communicator. People around you cannot know why you are upset, they can just guess... And a lot of people won't even bother trying to guess - they will just assume you are a weird guy, behaving in weird way. Have a discussion with the guy. Like an adult.

I'll add my agreement to this, too. If you're sure he's already sensed your discomfort - you probably sigh or something w/o realizing it - then he'll know it's you; and yes, he's likely to view the feigned anonymity as passive-aggression (or even a conspiracy!). Kind of like leaving a stick of deodorant on the desk of the guy with B.O. - may very well breed more underlying hostility than the detriment of the original problem.

Especially if he smiles at you.
"Keep your friends close; keep your enemies closer." - Josef Stalin

[Squeak 17]

I can't believe this is a serious thread

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[Andy9o8 0]

Squeak

I can't believe this is a serious thread

I'm sick of all the cat threads. We needed a mouse thread.

[StreetScooby 5]

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Do you think you won't piss him off if you stick it on his desk before he gets there? You are fooling yourself if you think this.

You are absolutely correct. He knows already, and it genuinely frightens me that he's that aware of my feelings on this. It's also reflective of his up and coming stature. I genuinely think he's trying to be sensitive to it, but it's probably something he has been doing for over a decade now.

I am not going to do this anonymously. This guy could likely be the type to keep a bad-list, and 10 years from now he is definitely going to be in a place where he can act against his bad-list, just for the fun of it. In no way can I afford to be on someone's bad-list at this point in my life, much less 10 years from now when I well into my 60s. I will definitely still need a job then.

He was there late today, and I almost casually went down and asked him if he was using a mechanical mouse. While I was debating that, he left. And, right now I'm thankful I didn't take any action.

Know where I can find a good set of noise cancelling headphones? He's off his desk quite a bit. When he comes back, he's moving, and it shows. Think I'm going to have to deal with this one some other way...

We are all engines of karma

[StreetScooby 5]

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Passive aggression rarely solves anything (ie: getting up and walking away, giving him dirty looks, sighing loudly so he can hear, sneaking a mat on his desk...).

Agreed. I also am _not_ doing anything like you describe. I did get up and walk around to find where the noise is coming from. Being deaf in one ear, I can't determine sound direction, so it takes a bit of effort on my part to see where a noise is coming from. Didn't think I was that blatant about it, but apparently that did show.

We are all engines of karma

[StreetScooby 5]

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Unimpressed Especially if he smiles at you. Wink

No, even worse. He won't make eye contact with me. Everyone else on his desk does. It is very noticeable, and I'm trying to rectify that situation.

We are all engines of karma

[StreetScooby 5]

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I can't believe this is a serious threadUnimpressed

LOL..., and you're right.

We are all engines of karma

[StreetScooby 5]

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In reply to:
Unimpressed Especially if he smiles at you. Wink

No, even worse. He won't make eye contact with me. Everyone else on his desk does. It is very noticeable, and I'm trying to rectify that situation.

I've got +10 years of experience/age on this guy. He may not know how to deal with this, and is thus avoiding eye contact. I'm definitely going to keep this easy. This is not worth any social discomfort on anyone's part. I doubt he's trying to play hard ass here.

We are all engines of karma

[adagen 0]

A mouse with a light sensor in the base can be sensitive to the surface it's used on, and desk surfaces are often a problem. It can feel like the mouse is 'sticking' because its behaviour is erratic. combine a clumsy-handed user and a sticky mouse and you end up with a lot of frustrated thumping and shaking.

The answer can be as simple as a sheet of white paper, and that can be better than a patterned mouse mat.

You could try colluding with a few other colleagues. Go round everyone and tell them about the sticky optical mouse problem,and how someone told you about the white paper trick. Ask them to test out for you whether white paper makes the mouse more controllable. Include the mouse thumper and all the people around him. Get your co-conspirators to comment how effective the trick is and ask Thumper what he thinks.

If you have team meetings, that could be an opportunity to introduce the white paper trick.

Anne

[JohnMitchell 14]

Trackball, anyone?

My first workstation was an FAA radar scope with a trackball. Spent almost 30 years using one up to 8 hours a day. I have one for my home computer too. Love 'em.

And no pad required.

[ryoder 1,384]

JohnMitchell

Trackball, anyone?

My first workstation was an FAA radar scope with a trackball. Spent almost 30 years using one up to 8 hours a day. I have one for my home computer too. Love 'em.

And no pad required.

The first pointing device I ever used was a trackball on a CAT scan machine, (at the hospital where I worked before college). First time I used a mouse, I couldn't believe how clunky it was. Why would anyone want to spend all day moving their arm all over the desk, instead of just using their fingertips???

Likewise, I have only trackballs at home.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[Andy9o8 0]

StreetScooby

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Unimpressed Especially if he smiles at you. Wink

No, even worse. He won't make eye contact with me. Everyone else on his desk does. It is very noticeable, and I'm trying to rectify that situation.

Sounds like you're fooked. Only one thing to do now.
Just try to make it look like an accident.

[StreetScooby 5]

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Sounds like you're fooked. Only one thing to do now.
Just try to make it look like an accident.

No, not at all. I have 10+ years on him, and I really don't think he's comfortable looking me in the eye, yet. I talk with people in his group during the day. He's the "junior" guy.

This will pass. I may have to live with a clacky mouse banger in my area, until I get a reasonable opportunity to bring it up with him, or buy a noise cancelling head set. He's not powerful, yet, but he is on his way.

We are all engines of karma

[ControlFreak 0]

Maybe it's a mouse sensitivity/acceleration issue?
If he's "ratcheting" because he's moved the mouse as far as he can and the cursor hasn't got to where he want's it to be, the surface or dirty balls issue isn't going to matter.

Alcohol never really solved any problems. But then again, neither did milk.

[StreetScooby 5]

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If he's "ratcheting" because he's moved the mouse as far as he can and the cursor hasn't got to where he want's it to be, the surface or dirty balls issue isn't going to matter.

This guy's desk is spotless. He's an intense guy, who works hard, and simply isn't aware of how hard he's getting on his mouse. A mouse pad would go a long way in eliminated the banging sound. I have one for him, just have to wait for the right situation to give it to him.

We are all engines of karma