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Archive for ‘With Benefits’

13 results.

352: Signs

by LouM on May 31, 2010 at 12:00 am
Posted In: comics, With Benefits
352: Signs

I thought the billboard might be a bit racy for some of my normal readers, but it’s nothing that you won’t see along many Interstates in the U.S.  Since we’re a bunch of prudes compared to most of the world, I felt that it was perfectly kid-safe.  If you disagree, don’t take your kids to Disney World.

That being said, I just don’t know that this is funny.  I enjoyed the pun when I came up with it in the car, but I don’t think it made a good comic.  Also, the art in this one is terrible.  I even tried to use perspective, though my attempt clearly went off half-cocked.  I’ve been really busy lately, which makes me resent drawing sometimes.  This makes the comic take longer to do than normal and turn out worse, which puts me in an even worse mood and further behind in the daily stuff I have to do.  I’m seriously considering a change in format to break this rut, but I’m not sure what it is I need yet.  I’ll be thinking over the next few days what, if anything, will happen.

After all, it could just be an artist in a rut.  Maybe I’ll snap out and things will return to normal.

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351: Fooling The Workplace

by LouM on May 26, 2010 at 12:00 am
Posted In: comics, With Benefits
351: Fooling The Workplace

I am not happy with the art for this one, which is kind of sad in a way.  This comic closes a month-long story arc, and I hate going out with a whimper.  I’m just not in the right frame of mind this week to do good linework, and that ruins the rest.  I also kind of slacked on the coloring.  I’m really busy at work this week, and I think that’s part of the problem.  As a result, instead of rushing to get another late comic out this week I will not post again until next Monday.  Sorry, guys.  I’d like to get another one in, but I need time to recharge to put out better quality stuff.  Frankly, I’d do this over if I were a professional.  Being as I’m an amateur, and bad enough about posting as it is, I cut my losses (in terms of time) and posted it when it was “good enough”.

That being said, I tried turning up the intensity of the background texture.  I like it better, the rough backgrounds make the foreground things look a bit cleaner and give them more prominence, more depth.  At least, I seem to think so.  As always, comments are encouraged.

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350: Split Ends

by LouM on May 20, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Posted In: comics, With Benefits
350: Split Ends

I’m wrapping up the story line, and there are just a few things left to clean up.  For example: did BigCorp install the can light in her office for dramatic effect?  Some answers will never be given, but rest assured that we’ll wrap up this story soon and start on another, with possibly a brief stopover in one-offville.  As to our main character’s fate?  Stay tuned for the next update.  The punishment shall fit the pre-crime.

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349: Witnesses

by LouM on May 17, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Posted In: comics, With Benefits
349: Witnesses

I really wanted to explore the acronym cult more in these comics, and I wanted to give the executives who are members of the cult a fair shake.  While I think irresponsible fiscal policy driven by unsustainable growth is a major culprit, I certainly wouldn’t want to be the guy responsible for growing less than average.  Shareholders can actually sue you if you don’t run your company into the ground in the pursuit of profits.  It’s crazy!  That’s why I don’t want anything to do with management.  I’m a good soldier, and at the bottom of the ladder is where I’d like to stay.

I also don’t believe that executives enjoy laying off staff, cutting benefits or the like.  I think they sleep well at night on their silken mattresses stuffed with cash, cash that could have been used to pay salaries, but I doubt they really get pleasure from making the lives of their staff harder.  I do wish they would realize that the cost of living marches nigh inexorably upward, and any time they freeze pay, ask us to share more of the costs of insurance or reduce benefits it does indeed come out of our pockets and is in essence a pay cut.  I think if they thought of it that way, they could at least be more honest with us about how the company is doing.  But if nothing else, I’m sure it makes them feel better about doing it to frame it their way.

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348: Savage Steerage

by LouM on May 13, 2010 at 12:00 am
Posted In: comics, With Benefits
348: Savage Steerage

This is one of those cases where people will call or e-mail and ask what jobs my company is sending overseas and if my job is safe.  While I would never consider a job “safe” these days, I would like to remind everyone that this comic is fiction.  My company does not and does not appear to have any inclination toward sending jobs overseas or using shoddy products.  In fact, I’m trying to think of the products we use and for the ones I can source they’re American-made.  So, remember: the comic is fiction, and is not a representation of my life.

I do rip liberally from the lives of me and my friends, of course, and the notion of a buzzword-obsessed cult of executives plotting to keep the economy from totally collapsing while running unsustainable shell games is definitely the kind of thing we would joke about.

You know, if I weren’t reporting the unvarnished truth.

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347: Fondue Thursday

by LouM on May 3, 2010 at 12:00 am
Posted In: comics, With Benefits
347: Fondue Thursday

The thought of a secret and incompetent cabal of people running the government and major corporations makes me laugh.  Then, it makes me cry when I think it’s quite plausible.  The only thing worse than a military-industrial complex is a poorly-run military-industrial complex.

And the thought that these people have pot lucks and evening theme dinners?  They might as well, since they’re clearly spending a lot of time coming up with crazy schemes that manipulate people the way Rube Goldberg graphically manipulated simple machines.

Comic 222: http://www.yawcomic.com/2008/10/26/222/

Comic 223: http://www.yawcomic.com/2008/10/28/223/

Wow, my art has come a long way.

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346: Evil Grin

by LouM on April 29, 2010 at 12:00 am
Posted In: comics, With Benefits
346: Evil Grin

I’ve noticed the walls in office buildings are, as they say, paper-thin.  I imagine it has to do with a cheap, low-grade drywall hung on barely-there metal studs, at least partly.   That, and the plenum above the drop-ceilings generally is not separated between offices.  I guess there’s not much you can do about that, except keep the evil cackling to a minimum.

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345: By The Book

by LouM on April 26, 2010 at 12:00 am
Posted In: comics, With Benefits
345: By The Book

I have two comics that are already up to color, and I have another to complete for Thursday.  Lots of stuff is going on this week at work, and there’s projects around the home lying in pieces.  I’m not proud of the work I did on this comic today, but I’m proud that I was able to shoehorn an update in to the time I had.  It’s a real lesson in time-management, and accepting imperfection.  I can see lots of things I’d like to fix, but if I had fixed them I would have had to skip an update.  It’s a weird feeling, being happy with something with which I’m not happy.

My workplace is fortunately not so oppressive, though I do wonder about dress codes.  I have some theories, which I may explore in the upcoming strips (depending on how my scripting and timing works out).  I have often wondered what it would be like to work for an employer who cares only about the amount and quality of work you accomplish, and not whether or not your shirt has buttons.  Well, that and the fact that you’re wearing a shirt of sorts.  Gotta cover the naughty bits to avoid legal action.

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344: Taking a Guilt Trip

by LouM on April 21, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Posted In: comics, With Benefits
344: Taking a Guilt Trip

I’ll admit it, I kinda phoned this one in.  I really did try hard to make something you guys would enjoy, but I had a limited amount of time to work and thought you would prefer a so-so strip to none at all.  I will need to color this later, maybe this weekend.  I know that has been a recurring theme in my posts lately, but roof and food come first.  If someone has a six-figure nine-to-five job with my name on it, perhaps things will change.  Hint hint.

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343: Women’s Lefts

by LouM on April 18, 2010 at 12:00 am
Posted In: comics, With Benefits
343: Women’s Lefts

Notice the paranormal detective Mary is in the first three panels.  I really like drawing that character, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to squeeze her in.  I rushed to get ahead of myself tonight, so instead of getting this comic colored I set myself up for the next comic.  I will come back and fill in the color as soon as possible, but I will be crazy-busy over the next few weeks and I’m trying my best to at least post updates.

That being said, would y’all prefer for me to post more comics, or post at the same rate but go through and color them?  I can probably hack out three or possibly even four black and white comics a week, but I definitely can’t do more than two colors (and even that’s stretching it lately).  Let me know what’s better: color or more comics.

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342: Ignoring the Wheel

by LouM on April 15, 2010 at 12:00 am
Posted In: comics, With Benefits
342: Ignoring the Wheel

This isn’t based on my work experience at all.  A more accurate portrayal would be someone from HR telling my boss:

“No.”

I imagine there’s a reason they spell out time off in schedules based on pay grade and such, but it normalizes the entire population.  There’s no more Bell curve, no more star employees.  Every employee is the same, they get the same benefits, they’re equally valuable.  That’s kind of depressing.  Corporate America thinks you are simply a cog: a commodity part that is identical to every other and is easily replaceable.

Also, it seems like “we never had it before” is a terrible excuse to give to not move forward.  I will explore this theme a bit more in the next comic.  The schedule for the rest of the month will be regrettably “bumpy”, as things are crazy-busy around here.  Crazy-busy.  Do the kids still say that?  Some kids used to, back when I was a young man and we kept dinosaurs as domesticated pets.  Back when we grew trilobites instead of Sea Monkeys, and let me tell you, our trilobites could kick your Sea Monkeys’ asses.

Where was I?  Oh, yes.  I’m keeping crazy-busy with work and such, and the schedule may be bumpy for the next few weeks.  Sorry, guys, I wish this were my day job (or even one of my night jobs) but roof and food are priorities.

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341: Research

by LouM on April 11, 2010 at 12:00 am
Posted In: comics, With Benefits
341: Research
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340: Vacation Daze

by LouM on April 7, 2010 at 12:00 am
Posted In: comics, With Benefits
340: Vacation Daze

I could rant for quite a while about how corporations in the U.S. have rearranged families, and how two weeks of vacation time is just enough to spend time with both sides of a family.  I could keep going on about how the value of benefits in the U.S. has consistently decreased over the decades, and all the while corporations are patting themselves on the back for controlling costs and continuing to provide “greater cost-conscious employee programs”.

Fortunately, it’s not one of those nights.  Also, I currently live near my family and actually get to use some of my vacation time for vacation.  Some of it, at least.  I also feel weird writing these workplace strips as it is.  Since we’re in the middle of something that feels like a crushing recession to the average Joe, I feel like these stories aren’t really in touch with the current state of the U.S. (which is where I live and where I base my comic).  I don’t want to go in to that in the comic, though, because I want it to be an escape from all that.  I don’t want you to come to the comic and be reminded of how bad things are out there.  Honestly, then I wouldn’t have much to separate me from, say, CNN.com.  Well, that and the lack of celebrity gossip on my site.

This upcoming story, to me, is more about the general attitude of corporations in the U.S. towards their employees and how it has changed in the past six decades.  I’ll see how it comes across to y’all, since I have to keep things very streamlined for the medium.  Suffice it to say, this is not based on my real-life experience with vacation time but is more a piece of social commentary.  It is my opinion that corporations despise their employees and would see them all fired if it weren’t for the fact that someone has to do the actual work that keeps a company afloat.

I’d also like to point out that it was a lot more fun to crack jokes at Canada’s expense when the Canadian dollar was well below the U.S. dollar.  Now that we’re roughly at parity, and for a while were on the down side, I kind of feel that in some ways the U.S. has earned a spot as the Newfoundland of Canadian jokes.

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