Comments on: this is charles, he is my very own dog. say hello to charles.

this is charles, he is my very own dog. say hello to charles.

JohnR — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 18:30:03 -0800

Natalie dee now has her very own dog. It's too bad she had to " stone-cold quit my job".

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 18:34:12 -0800

Recumbent bike, not recumbant.

By: HTuttle

HTuttle — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 18:35:30 -0800

I had a minor toothache, but then I flossed and that seemed to fix it. Feel free to post that elsewhere too.

By: GooseOnTheLoose

GooseOnTheLoose — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 18:38:22 -0800

Like, omg.

By: Parannoyed

Parannoyed — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 18:43:18 -0800

Okay, maybe I'm missing the post-modern boat, but how the blue fuck does this fit in with "The best of the web"? just curious....

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 18:49:10 -0800

That's not a dog, it's a rat that ran face-first into a wall.

By: squeak

squeak — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 18:51:11 -0800

I don't understand why this is here either. To poke fun at the blogger for grammar, punctuation, spelling, writing style? Say awwwwe over the pug puppy, criticize her former employer over what seems to be heavy handed monitoring of the work place? Doesn't get "it", someone hope me.

By: sour cream

sour cream — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 18:52:03 -0800

Actually, I thought it was quite interesting reading about that software tracking her every move, so to speak. If what she writes is true and she is in fact more productive than everybody else, then the company made a mistake alienating a productive employee. Also, she writes that they posted everyone's stats or something, so the company knows who is doing how much. Who cares how often she goes to the loo if she still gets her work done?

By: Shane

Shane — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 18:57:15 -0800

Actually, I thought it was quite interesting reading about that software tracking her every move, so to speak. Me too. Absolutely amazing. What a nightmare and an idiotic non-value-added waste of company resources.

By: FunkyHelix

FunkyHelix — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 18:58:13 -0800

...wtf? Are you drunk?

By: Medieval Maven

Medieval Maven — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 19:00:17 -0800

I don't know, I thought that was pretty dang funny. Way better than the forwards I get at work.

By: scarabic

scarabic — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 19:01:29 -0800

Yeah that account was chilling. You can't win by trying to control your workers' every move(ment). WELCOME TO DAIRYLAND!!!! moooo!

By: grabbingsand

grabbingsand — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 19:05:43 -0800

then the real weird shit started going down. she started waking me up at night to ask if she could sleep in my bed. she started subscribing to indian mysticism and leaving food offerings to the coyote gods on the back porch. Just tell me that this is not the best of the freakin' web. I dare you.

By: Shane

Shane — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 19:13:57 -0800

Just tell me that this is not the best of the freakin' web. I dare you. Good stuff, great punchline to that one: i ran across the street, and that was as far as i needed to go.

By: fungible

fungible — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 19:21:33 -0800

Natalie: You go girl! Kick that mothafuckin job to tha CURB!

By: PissOnYourParade

PissOnYourParade — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 19:37:59 -0800

Yeah, I'm in on this post also.. Reading about the potential for employers to track work efficiency is one thing. Hearing a first hand account about how they are doing it is interesting and scary. Did the knee jerker haters read the post and actually find it genuinely uninteresting or did you guys stop at the dog.. (WHICH IS SO CUUUUUUUUUTEEEE)

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 19:38:02 -0800

i've found money and been all like "yoink!" rather than even thinking for a split second... This is so totally about to become my sig at all the forums I haunt.

By: snsranch

snsranch — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 19:39:01 -0800

Ok, so it was a slow day on the blue anyway, but holy fuckin' shit! If this is the "Best of the Web" then I'm throwing a rope over the rafters right now. Good bye cruel world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: snsranch

snsranch — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 19:43:33 -0800

Charles is ugly. Charles is deformed. Charles is cute. But he has no business being on Metafilter.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 19:50:38 -0800

Huh. Reminds me of my phonecenter job.

By: carter

carter — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 20:01:13 -0800

I thought it amusing, in an Onion-y way. And leave the dog out of it.

By: pieoverdone

pieoverdone — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 20:10:52 -0800

I actually worked in a place that had the same type of phone tracking software. We actually did have to put 'bathroom' on the phone if that's where we were. I stone cold quit that job, too. Natalie Dee gave me a badass flashback there.

By: jennyb

jennyb — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 20:10:59 -0800

She reminds me of a cross between Drew (writing style) and Sam of Exploding Dog (drawing style) except she's more personal and she uses a Keeper. I like her and her dog.

By: littlegreenlights

littlegreenlights — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 20:12:29 -0800

Wow. I've been following the dog saga and wondered how Drew had managed to hold out this long. And I definitely think Natalie-Dee is right up there with the best of the web. Come on, people, did you not read Hamster Free in 2003? Congrats, Natalie.

By: First Post

First Post — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 20:25:24 -0800

"And that's the bottom line, 'cause stone-cold says so."

By: Dukebloo

Dukebloo — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 20:33:27 -0800

Metafilter: the so-so of the web

By: quam

quam — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 20:44:45 -0800

I read about employee monitoring at her workplace and then about a colleague... he brings a bottle of water to work everyday, drinks the water, then crams his mouth full of chew and proceeds to spit in the empty bottle. then, when the chew is done, he empties his mouth and starts again I am increasingly interested in learning where she worked. So I may not.

By: SisterHavana

SisterHavana — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 20:47:25 -0800

That is a cute dog though. : )

By: xammerboy

xammerboy — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 21:05:10 -0800

I don't know - to me the post is about life versus work and how technology is sometimes now making the balance harder. I work at home and have to use software that tracks when I am on and off. I am sometimes think - geez, can't I just take a break? Ironically, when I am physically at work people are always taking coffee breaks and hardly ever at their cubes. The more freedom one gives their workers, the more gets done, and the happier all are all around.

By: subgenius

subgenius — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 21:17:45 -0800

the moral of the story is, NEVER EVER EVER go on a blind date, unless the dude does not have an accent. even then, make sure you drive, so you can make a quick getaway. The Youth of America could learn from her. Oh yes.

By: frecklefaerie

frecklefaerie — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 21:23:12 -0800

I totally appreciate this link. The drawings I'm finding utterly hilarious, (particularly Grand Theft Uno) and this entry: i have worked on the bottom-most rungs of the sex industry twice. I'm really into these bjournal blickies these days.

By: kindall

kindall — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 21:31:34 -0800

i do not mind squirting stuff up my nose (just ask my husband) Best of the Web. Definitely.

By: killdevil

killdevil — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 22:21:31 -0800

Some of the older entries in Natalie's journal are an entertaining read. I like her - she reminds me of a real-life Jim Anchower or Jean Teasdale (Onion columnists for those few who are unaware).

By: jonson

jonson — Sat, 05 Feb 2005 23:38:48 -0800

This post rocks. It rocked enough if it had just been a link to the pug photos, but it rocked even more with the creepy firing anecdote, and it got better with every link on nataliedee.com that I clicked. People who missed the boat on this one, fair enough, to each their own. But for my two cents, this was awesome, thanks JohnR. Also, crash, why be hatin'? I know you loves you some pug.

By: advil

advil — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 00:11:31 -0800

this is good. (it just took me a second look to realize it)

By: recursive

recursive — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 01:36:48 -0800

For my part, I absolutely love the style.

By: Dreama

Dreama — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 03:04:09 -0800

This is good.

By: SteveInMaine

SteveInMaine — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 03:04:57 -0800

I think the post is fine. However, Cleo is not amused and would prefer to take another nap.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 06:19:31 -0800

The site is definitely among the freaking best of the Web; it's hilariously deadpan. You folks who jumped to the conclusion that it was a lame personal site really need to check yourselves. Although, JohnR, you should have figured a more interesting way to present such a cool find, if you really liked the site.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 06:22:52 -0800

Oh, and MeTa, but the consensus seems to be it was a fine thing to post.

By: [insert clever name here]

[insert clever name here] — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 10:35:39 -0800

Reading about the potential for employers to track work efficiency is one thing. Hearing a first hand account about how they are doing it is interesting and scary. So naive. As delmoi pointed out, its a phone center thing. After being unemployed for nearly two years, with no real job prospects (thank you internet bubble for bursting) I took a job as a customer service rep at a cable company (who shall remain nameless but rhymes with crime foreigner fable and is the second largest cable company in the US). We had to log our every move as well. Trips to the bathroom, meetings, lunch, breaks, etc . . . and what we were doing while working; on calls, wrapping up calls and leaving notes. And yes, good employees get fired because the numbers don't really correlate with how productive an employee is. I saw it happen, and I personally had it happen. As an example, we were supposed to stall customers and leave notes while we were still talking to them. I realized this was silly an inconvenient to the customers, so I started leaving notes between calls. The number of calls I took went up because I wasn't trying to type and stall at the same time, but I got the third degree because my unavailable time had gone up above what was acceptable. And I saw many good coworkers fired because they took too long in the bathroom (one, a pregnant girl who had to pee all the time). But what was much worse was the number of BAD employees that kept their jobs because they didn't give a shit about doing a good job, but kept their stats in line. Of course, I only lasted there a few months before I quit, and I only stayed there that long because I was REALLY broke. I now work at a pet store barely scratching a living but they could care less if I'm 1, 2, 5, 10 minutes late or have to occasionally pee. And I will never ever work at another job that monitors my potty habits.

By: UseyurBrain

UseyurBrain — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 13:46:14 -0800

Call centers are evil. The people who staff them are seen only as parts of a machine. In my current job I design the measurements for all the call centers in my corporation. Management has become more and more draconian in how they deal with these people and always seem upset when they don't act like robots. Of course, many of us started in the call centers ourselves and didn't have to work under these conditions, but that doesn't seem to matter. I always advocate for hiring good people, paying them well, trust them and only use intrusive tools when the trust is in question. The last time I said that in a meeting a manager got red in the face and said something to the effect that even our top performers had to be watched because there was 'left over efficiency' that could be put back into the company. I shivered. No one noticed.

By: bitter-girl.com

bitter-girl.com — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 18:25:15 -0800

Drew's sister Natalie is consistently hilarious; I usually read their respective comics back to back every day. It's funniest when they're partners in crime...like the time they set up an old mattress in an alley and charged for "mattress rides." And if you've been following her comics at all, you'd know she REALLY wanted that damn dog.

By: kindle

kindle — Sun, 06 Feb 2005 18:39:42 -0800

Anyone think her drawings look a tad bit influenced by the work of somebody else?

By: agregoli

agregoli — Mon, 07 Feb 2005 08:23:18 -0800

She reminds me of a cross between Drew... She should, he's her brother.

By: jennyb

jennyb — Mon, 07 Feb 2005 08:31:38 -0800

That's so neat.