Re: Problem not bunking off...
Maybe he had presidential aspirations.
An Australian electrician has failed in an effort to regain his job after a judge ruled he hid a work-issued GPS-equipped PDA in a foil snack food bag to avoid being tracked. Mr Tom Colella claimed he was unfairly dismissed from his job as an electrician, after someone ratted him out to the boss for playing golf during working …
I deeply offended two guys that I met who were wearing identical outdoor jackets. After looking at the jacket's logos I asked if it were a car dealership. Apparently these were top of the range golfing apparel. Oops!
Anyway, I once heard golf described as "an abomination" by a comedienne, I agree with her.
Someone I know joined a golf club and after becoming a full member invited me for a drink in the club house. I turned up and called him because he was not waiting outside for me as promised. He said he was just finishing playing a round (although if he'd said playing around that would have been accurate too) and to go inside. I did so and was told off for using the (unmarked) Ladies doorway as opposed to the Men's. The atmosphere whilst having the drink was somewhat destroyed by the other people in the bar. The amount of tasteless clothing in the room was eye-watering and the number of objectionable people was very high. Also there weren't any women as they weren't allowed in this particular bar, only in certain bars, couldn't vote on all resolutions at the AGM.
I haven't ever been back despite the occasional invitation.
I do find that a lot of golf clubs (places not sporting equipment) are doing their damnedest to keep the Victorian era alive and the snobbery at some of them is palpable. I believe most exhibiting this behaviour though are the try-hards and wannabees. The reason for this belief is that I won a night's accommodation and spa treatment for myself and the missus at the Stoke Park Club (think Goldfinger on the 18th or the country club in Layer Cake) and one of the nicest, most polite people I've ever come across was a gentleman in his 60s who was a member who had a conversation with us whilst plenty were wondering who the "non-belongers were" (we were dressed tidily enough and did nothing knowingly to stand out). As we went from the main building to the spa we saw him climbing into his brand spanking new high end Bentley (non-footballer variety) to head home. I guess he wasn't as insecure as some of the others there. I've also noted similar behaviour in more down to earth regions as well where membership of the local course is seen by some as the pinnacle of societal standing.
Seems like they caught him because his access card wasn't used on the jobs he was supposed to be at, and his PDA was at the wrong place or incommunicado. Why didn't he use his card to access his work site, hide his PDA somewhere on site, play golf, then return to pick up his PDA? When he showed up in the morning he could call the office as required.
Unless he needed the card to leave the work site, it would just show him entering at 8am or whatever, and then entering again after his round of golf - maybe around 1pm so he met a friend for lunch and that's when he returned.
Apparently the fact he wasn't ever present on the work site he was supposed to be at wasn't a problem here, or that would have been what's noticed - i.e. "the tasks we assigned to you were never even started, let alone completed". If they decide someone is "working" just because they are on site, what's to stop them from finding a hidden closet and sleeping all day, or bringing a laptop and playing games?
what's to stop them from finding a hidden closet and sleeping all day
Story told by a mate who's been a sparky for many years, mostly on contract work for various large outfits. On one site there was a nice corner in the substation that was warm - but most importantly, impossible for the boss to find you without you hearing him coming first. I forget some of the details, but IIRC there was something about a paging system (aka Tannoy in the same way that vacuum cleaner are often called "hoovers") and being able to hear the announcements and call whoever wanted to speak to them using the phone conveniently located in the room - this was long before phone systems that told anyone the number that was calling !
One day someone got caught out. They answered a page and informed the boss that they were in a certain part of the site - only to have the boss walk in through the door brandishing one of the new fangled cordless phones that were just appearing.
It's a pity I have never seen a snack bag suitable to replace my tinfoil hat, there are some big ones; but they don't do well in the washing machine when I want to clear out the grease (not just from my hair). However, seems reasonable to keep my wallet or purse nice and RF protected.