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

February 5, 2005 6:30 PM

Natalie dee now has her very own dog. It's too bad she had to " stone-cold quit my job".
posted by JohnR (45 comments total)

Recumbent bike, not recumbant.
posted by fixedgear at 6:34 PM on February 5, 2005

I had a minor toothache, but then I flossed and that seemed to fix it.

Feel free to post that elsewhere too.
posted by HTuttle at 6:35 PM on February 5, 2005

Like, omg.
posted by GooseOnTheLoose at 6:38 PM on February 5, 2005

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....
posted by Parannoyed at 6:43 PM on February 5, 2005

That's not a dog, it's a rat that ran face-first into a wall.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:49 PM on February 5, 2005

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.
posted by squeak at 6:51 PM on February 5, 2005

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?
posted by sour cream at 6:52 PM on February 5, 2005

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.
posted by Shane at 6:57 PM on February 5, 2005

...wtf? Are you drunk?
posted by FunkyHelix at 6:58 PM on February 5, 2005

I don't know, I thought that was pretty dang funny. Way better than the forwards I get at work.
posted by Medieval Maven at 7:00 PM on February 5, 2005

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

WELCOME TO DAIRYLAND!!!!

moooo!
posted by scarabic at 7:01 PM on February 5, 2005

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.
posted by grabbingsand at 7:05 PM on February 5, 2005

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.
posted by Shane at 7:13 PM on February 5, 2005

Natalie: You go girl! Kick that mothafuckin job to tha CURB!
posted by fungible at 7:21 PM on February 5, 2005

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)
posted by PissOnYourParade at 7:37 PM on February 5, 2005

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.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:38 PM on February 5, 2005

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by snsranch at 7:39 PM on February 5, 2005

Charles is ugly. Charles is deformed. Charles is cute. But he has no business being on Metafilter.
posted by snsranch at 7:43 PM on February 5, 2005

Huh.

Reminds me of my phonecenter job.
posted by delmoi at 7:50 PM on February 5, 2005

I thought it amusing, in an Onion-y way. And leave the dog out of it.
posted by carter at 8:01 PM on February 5, 2005

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.
posted by pieoverdone at 8:10 PM on February 5, 2005

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.
posted by jennyb at 8:10 PM on February 5, 2005

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.
posted by littlegreenlights at 8:12 PM on February 5, 2005

"And that's the bottom line, 'cause stone-cold says so."
posted by First Post at 8:25 PM on February 5, 2005

Metafilter: the so-so of the web
posted by Dukebloo at 8:33 PM on February 5, 2005

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.
posted by quam at 8:44 PM on February 5, 2005

That is a cute dog though. : )
posted by SisterHavana at 8:47 PM on February 5, 2005

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.
posted by xammerboy at 9:05 PM on February 5, 2005

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.
posted by subgenius at 9:17 PM on February 5, 2005

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.
posted by frecklefaerie at 9:23 PM on February 5, 2005

i do not mind squirting stuff up my nose (just ask my husband)

Best of the Web. Definitely.
posted by kindall at 9:31 PM on February 5, 2005

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).
posted by killdevil at 10:21 PM on February 5, 2005

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.
posted by jonson at 11:38 PM on February 5, 2005

this is good. (it just took me a second look to realize it)
posted by advil at 12:11 AM on February 6, 2005

For my part, I absolutely love the style.
posted by recursive at 1:36 AM on February 6, 2005

This is good.
posted by Dreama at 3:04 AM on February 6, 2005

I think the post is fine. However, Cleo is not amused and would prefer to take another nap.
posted by SteveInMaine at 3:04 AM on February 6, 2005

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.
posted by mediareport at 6:19 AM on February 6, 2005

Oh, and MeTa, but the consensus seems to be it was a fine thing to post.
posted by mediareport at 6:22 AM on February 6, 2005

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.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 10:35 AM on February 6, 2005

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.
posted by UseyurBrain at 1:46 PM on February 6, 2005

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.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 6:25 PM on February 6, 2005

Anyone think her drawings look a tad bit influenced by the work of somebody else?
posted by kindle at 6:39 PM on February 6, 2005

She reminds me of a cross between Drew...

She should, he's her brother.
posted by agregoli at 8:23 AM on February 7, 2005

That's so neat.
posted by jennyb at 8:31 AM on February 7, 2005