Great OoO reply or GREATEST OoO reply?

"Brian, The Life of" (familycar)
07/07/2016 at 17:48 • Filed to: None

Just emailed a colleague and got his Out of office auto reply. He wins everything.

Hi, I’m Troy McClure! You may remember me from such classic Out of Office Messages as “I’m At Outside Lands Watching Metallica” or “Visiting My Family in Florida.” I’m here today to talk to you about Jason Smith, and the email you just sent him.

(Enter Billy, 8 years old, doe-eyed)

Billy: Mr. McClure? Why is Jason not answering any emails right now?

Troy: The answer is simple Billy: Jason is in Utah this week supporting his cousin who is getting married and nowhere near his work email.

Billy: When is he going to be coming back?

Troy: He will be back on Tuesday morning.

Billy: Is he going to reply to the email they just sent?

Troy: If it warrants a response, Billy. If it warrants a response…

(Exit Billy)

That’s all for now. Watch for me in the upcoming Out of Office Message “Going to a Doctor’s appointment that’s definitely not a job interview,” coming this fall!

DISCUSSION (25)

HammerheadFistpunch > Brian, The Life of
07/07/2016 at 17:52

Thats excellent stuff right there!

Cash Rewards > Brian, The Life of
07/07/2016 at 17:57

God, that’s wonderful. Must be one of those perks of the private sector I’ve heard about, because that would not fly where I am

For Sweden > Cash Rewards
07/07/2016 at 18:00

That’s why you use a private email server; all the cool public officials are using it.

Ash78, voting early and often > Brian, The Life of
07/07/2016 at 18:04

Yeah, I'd get a stern reprimand for that. Coworkers and clients don't have time to read something so long and confusing. Comedy. Gold.

Cash Rewards > For Sweden
07/07/2016 at 18:15

It all makes sense now!

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Brian, The Life of
07/07/2016 at 18:18

Hmm, nice timing. “Working from home” one day next week and I won’t even be in the same state! DEFINITELY not a job interview.

Brian, The Life of > Cash Rewards
07/07/2016 at 18:48

Yeah but you get ALL the gummint holidays

Brian, The Life of > Ash78, voting early and often
07/07/2016 at 18:49

Haha, I’m pretty sure he has a different message for external email.

At least I hope he does.

Ash78, voting early and often > Brian, The Life of
07/07/2016 at 18:56

“Believe it or not, I’m not at my desk, but thanks for email anyway. I'm not at work or I'd read what you wrote....where could I be? I'm not heeeeere."

Brian, The Life of > Ash78, voting early and often
07/07/2016 at 19:18

*Greatest American OoO Reply

SeattleHoon > Brian, The Life of
07/07/2016 at 19:21

Stealing this.

Greatest. Ever.

Agrajag > Ash78, voting early and often
07/07/2016 at 21:51

I was singing by the time I got to “or not”.

shop-teacher > Brian, The Life of
07/07/2016 at 22:31

Greatest reply. No doubt.

Ash78, voting early and often > Brian, The Life of
07/08/2016 at 08:33

At first I was like “I wonder if people are old enough to remember Greatest American Hero” but then I was like “Most people aren’t old enough to remember Seinfeld.” :D

Brewman15 > Brian, The Life of
07/08/2016 at 09:27

I feel like 90% of my co-workers would find it hilarious but 10% would ruin it for me.

Brian, The Life of > Ash78, voting early and often
07/08/2016 at 11:39

Yeah well, I’m an early Xer. A very early Xer ;)

Snuze: Needs another Swede > ZHP Sparky, the 5th
07/08/2016 at 11:57

I have had quite a few doctors appointments recently, so every time I bring it up my senior engineer goes “I hope you get the job!”

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/08/2016 at 12:43

haha, yeah can get weird when you actually have doctors appointments! At one of my previous jobs one of my bosses casually mentioned that I looked really well dressed one day - so I just casually said “oh thanks, just had a job interview this morning”. Wasn’t true, but it was hilarious seeing the look on their face.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > ZHP Sparky, the 5th
07/08/2016 at 12:57

That’s great, I’m sure the look on their faces was priceless.

The funny thing is, I’ve really be thinking about switching jobs and have even put a few resumes out there, so I’m just hoping for/waiting on call backs. It would be nice if it happened soon so I could easily sneak interviews in.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/08/2016 at 13:13

Yeah I’m in the process of going through interviews right now too (moving states). Thankfully my current employer knows - I gave them a heads up, so they’re understanding about me needing to take time/have phone interviews and I’m helping them screen for a replacement.

But before I felt like it was a safe enough point to tell them (wife already got a job, is moving - so it’s happening either way) it was really weird - resumes and applications was the main thing on my mind and I felt like I was disappearing for hours at a time to have phone calls with recruiters, etc....but apparently nobody even noticed lol.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > ZHP Sparky, the 5th
07/08/2016 at 13:53

That’s good, sounds like you’ve got things figured out and it’s good that your employer is being so accommodating.

My boss is going to fall through his own asshole when I leave. I got stuck doing HVAC, which is not the job I was recruited for, and the senior HVAC engineer is a colossal pain in the ass. Nobody in the company likes him, but he can get away with whatever because he’s actually really knowledgeable and it’s hard to find people in the industry with his level of knowledge. So I’m the only person that puts up with him and when I’m gone I don’t know what my boss is going to do. That and we’re in the running for a major contract to be awarded in September, so its going to hurt to lose experienced people if we win that.

I kind of have something semi-lined up. It’s a federal job that I was trying to get right out of college. I was given the verbal confirmation that I had the job, then all their funding fell through during the gov shutdown/sequester back in ‘13. I talked to them again back in April and there’s going to be an opening in November after one of the senior engineers retires, so it’s basically mine.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/08/2016 at 14:39

Hope the federal job works out for you - it’s good to have a contact and show that you’ve shown continued interest in a position, as opposed to being some random dude who just applied because the job was listed (seeing a lot of those in screening for my replacement!).

Sounds like you’re ready to move on from your current company? If they are going to be super screwed without you it might be an opportunity to demand more of them - i.e. i’ll help you with this if you can do X,Y,Z for my career development once the project is over? Or of course if you’re just sick of the guy you’re working for and the other opportunity is a sure shot might as well just move on.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > ZHP Sparky, the 5th
07/08/2016 at 15:37

Thanks! Yeah, its always good to know people in the industry you’re working in. The federal job is a good gig, it wouldn’t be a huge pay raise but it would be much more interesting than doing HVAC. It’s test & evaluation work, and a lot of travel, especially to the Bahamas.

As for the current company, I don’t want to burn any bridges when I go, marine engineering is a relatively small industry and it’s not hard to develop a reputation. And this company seems to take people back that leave on good terms. One of my coworkers was here 9 years, left for 4, and then got bored at that job and called them up and they brought him right back on, and everyone acts like he never left. So that’s also good to have in you back pocket. But based on what I’m doing now, I don’t want to stay. Maybe, if they offered me $100k (they won’t, that would be a massive raise), I might consider it, a little bit. But I just don’t like HVAC, never have, swore to myself before I graduated I’d never do it, and basically got tricked into it. Which is really my whole beef to begin with. I generally like the company and most of my coworkers, I just cant stand HVAC or the one engineer I work for.

Anyways, enough ranting. Best of luck to you on your move and your new job.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Snuze: Needs another Swede
07/08/2016 at 15:51

Thanks, you too. Sounds like you have good options and a decent idea of what you want and don’t want for your future - go make it happen!

luvMeSome142 & some Lincoln! > Ash78, voting early and often
07/12/2016 at 11:33

I’m slow. I didn’t realize what you were doing until your second comment. Now I’ve got that song stuck in my head.