I love my job, I do.

[Tahrey1043]

Ugh, deek, last time i had something that fed me hours like that, I told them exactly where they could stuff it, even though I didn't have anything else lined up. (Well to tell the truth, i had two jobs, but i still walked from the better paid one per hour & more hours one that was f***ing me around and making a lot of schedule pain, keeping the other that was all of 12 hours a week at minimum wage... because they werent being assholes over time..)

And the one before that with such hours, produced a degree, as it was uni.

That's a nasty situation..... only thing that comes close for me is the college course day release from work.
College day runs from 9am prompt to 6.30pm and rarely an early finish, with solid lessons. Already quite a bugger (and it used to be til 9pm!), but even worse, it's in Nottingham, i'm in Birmingham! Worse still, the place where I work is integrated with Brum uni campus... flippin' eck
2 hour train ride either way WHEN THEYRE RUNNING RIGHT ie blue moon, pope cr*pping in the woods (up before 6, unlikely to be in bed before 10 without doing ANYTHING else other than eating takeaway dinner), or chance it on the roads. (The road trip is lovely, clear motorway/dualies at 80-90.. until you get off the M1 at the north end. Then you may as well park on the verge and cycle, or jog, the remaining 5 or so miles into the centre).
And that STILL sounds nothing like it.

Are you being paid well for that bullsh**? (cuz i aint! 10.5k for a 9-5 / 9-6.30... but at least mileage claims beckon.. )

Why dont you ask 'em to pay for overnight accomodation nearer to the place, with appropriate facilities e.g. internet hookup laid on? Would make a lot more sense and companies can be remarkably easy in that respect so long as you don't abuse their hospitality, e.g. get drunk and start playing golf (with 3-irons) up and down the corridors with a couple of hookers.

PS Perk of being in a local pharmacy job - get to razz round in the works Kangoo van - with a total of about 15kg load in it, and that's if its a bulk delivery (and remember, they're stripped out..) and not give a flying toss about the fuzz unless a real live jam sandwich announces it's presence. Being able to do the road's actual top safe speed instead of the posted one, with an excuse? I think so... world's fastest prescription service!
I like to think that's why I received my P45 from them recently, rather than the little incident where half of the new electronica (installed by boots after they bought the place up) broke down soon after I touched it....

[dxg]

Are you being paid well for that bullsh**? (cuz i aint! 10.5k for a 9-5 / 9-6.30... but at least mileage claims beckon.. )

It's really interesting to see everyone assume that I'd be getting paid for all this time --- nope!

My job's interesting. In that, you have a fixed wage - which is ok, but nothing special - but to compensate for this you have absolutely no management control on what you "choose" to do.

Basically, the whole thing's done by deliverables. You must produce the work in the format required and when it's required, but how you choose to do that is entirely up to you. You're responsible for producing your work. If you don't meet the programme or produce work of a high enough standard then it's entirely your problem -- everyone self-manages. You just have to be able to defend what you've done.

This worked really well in years gone by, because I'd have periods of intense workload, followed by slack periods. If I didn't feel like doing anything that day - far enough, just don't come into the office. But now that I'm a bit more senior, the workload is relentless and the expectation that you'll "be around" during normal working hours (in addition to your own working methods) has grown.

Ah well, just venting I suppose.

Deek.