Are you superstitious at work?

[Fred Weiss]

I have a superstition (among many) that when I'm running an Edge print, if I put any foil cartridges away before the job is totally printed I will get a misprint. I know it's ridiculous but it's a fact and 9 out of 10 times if I am so presumptuous as to do so, I will get a misprint.

What are some of yours?

 

[Malkin]

If I have room to make extras prints (edge or solvent) but I choose not to, I will get misprints.

I therefore have a large stack of extra "sample" prints.

 

[JR's]

if I shut the plotter of before I am dun weeding I will mes up a letter.

JR

 

[James Burke]

I rub the invoice between my hands (like a magic lamp) in hopes that a certain customer will pay on time.

Not really...but it kinda sounded good, didn't it?

But I DO unplug my plotter from the wall outlet EVERY time I'm done with it...and do the same for the computer (at the end of every day). In the land of "dirty electrical power" (brownouts, etc...) and lightning strikes I don't feel like coughing up $10K to replace this stuff.

 

[round man]

I genuflect (make the sign of the cross) whenever I step on the first rung of the ladder when doing high work(over six stories).

 

[Jillbeans]

I never put away my vinyl until everything is successfully weeded and masked.
If going out on an install, and I have the extra material, I will either cut an extra set or just bring the material.
Everything will go fine then.
But if I only take what I need, I know damn well I will screw up a letter, usually while the customer watches.
I always carry a small tape measure in my purse because I am paranoid about not having one, and if I don't have one that's the time I really needed it and substituted a dollar bill (if I had one) to measure something.
There are a few items in my painting kit that I probably haven't used in over 10 years, but if I didn't leave them in there I'd need them.
I also have some pounce patterns nearly 25 years old.
Not sure is it's superstition or Murphy's Law.
Love....Jill

 

[MikePro]

i never rush a job, that involves a straight edge and knife, just to get done by 4pm buzzer.... i'll stay til 5 or 6 if I have to.

3 trips to the E.R. in my career as a sign guy... all 3 resulted from cutting down printed wallpaper or vinyl and using a straight edge with no guard. I rush, knife bites into side straight edge, and my mindless rushed cutting motion pulls right through.
still got all my digits, but I have scarred index fingers and a triangular left thumb.

oya, that also results in another superstition... it doesn't hurt UNTIL I look at it

 

[jdigital]

I try not to print during a full moon. Seems every full moon causes electrical problems

 

[mark in tx]

I don't mention certain customers by name if I don't want to deal with them that day.

Crazy, but it works.

 

[Gino]

I know if I talk to people, I'm gonna be taking a lota chit for the rest of the day, so I try to limit my talking..... to ANYONE.

I guess my biggest superstition is.... rewarding myself for a good day's work. That's why I drink so much....​

 

[petesign]

If we have a salesperson scheduled to come by and meet with us about anything, that's ALWAYS the day all of the nutjobs come out of the woodwork and into the shop.

 

[Slamdunkpro]

If I'm trying to close on a Friday I'll be swamped on Wednesday with rush jobs.

 

[Tim Aucoin]

A couple of things....

- I absolutely have to have my Diet Pepsi BEFORE I start any work. I think any coffee junkies will understand this one! (I don't drink coffee, so I need to get my caffeine somewhere!)

- The radio must be on ALL DAY. The music calms me and turns a foul mood into a good one!

- My Olfa knife must be in my pocket. If I reach for it and don't find it, everything stops until I do find it! I've run into issues at the airport a couple times because of this habit!

 

[gabagoo]

I have some superstitions with the Edge as well. If I turn the printer off before I cut the job, then something can go wrong.

Before going home at night, I make sure all the chairs at the 3 work stations are all neatly under the desks and not swung around or pulled away....not sure what will happen if they are noit, but I am taking no chances.

Now on a different thought, and it is somewhat the same topic. Many times I have found that while installing or laminating or even weeding, if things continually keep screwing up and I feel really aggrevated (you know those days when anything and everything can and do go wrong). I stop after it keeps happening and I start thinking about the job and what I am supposed to be doing, and I swear I have found many times I am doing it wrong or on the wrong material or the wrong laminate.
It is weird as though my inner conscienceor some angelic being is trying to warn me to stop before I get to far and really get pissed

 

[WhiskeyDreamer]

I don't mention certain customers by name if I don't want to deal with them that day.

Crazy, but it works.

the boss and i have an ongoing challenge with this...i get a three day weekend every other week....and those friday's before, i start rattling off all the customers i know he doesn't want to have to talk to....then i come in tuesday to get "the glare"....

My Olfa knife must be in my pocket. If I reach for it and don't find it, everything stops until I do find it! I've run into issues at the airport a couple times because of this habit!

when my aunt was still alive, if she lost (i mean, misplaced ;P) a brush, squeegee, knife and most often her cigarettes, we'd look for a few minutes, then we'd count...strangely enough, before we'd reach ten, those damn cigarettes would pop outta nowhere.....i still do the counting now, and i swear she helps me find stuff when i can't (she died 7 years ago and i still work at the shop)

if i have a customer that's pretty much made it clear they aren't following through on the order, and have been a real PITA, i won't take their clip board off the wall.....because then they'll definitely come in and i'll have to deal with them....

 

[eye4clr]

considering that superstitions are born from trying to control something we don't understand, I think we all have at at least a few in the shop.

 

[Sticky Signs]

Not sure if they're superstitions but -
- Don't touch my knife. if you do, you better not loose it. I love my knife - not sure why. I was pretty bummed out when I was lettering a boat and my favorite knife fell in the water.
- If something goes wrong at the beginning of a job, I will most likely have problems all the way through. I call them "the possessed job" and have considered hiring a priest to perform an exorcism.
- This has happened several times in the last couple months. I think about a client I haven't heard from in a while and within a day or two, they call me and place an order. I like this one.

 

[Billct2]

If I throw out a scrap of material, the next day a job will come in that it would have been perfect for.

 

[petesign]

Not sure if they're superstitions but -

- If something goes wrong at the beginning of a job, I will most likely have problems all the way through. I call them "the possessed job" and have considered hiring a priest to perform an exorcism.

Funny thing about those possessed jobs, they bring bad luck on everything else in the shop until the customer comes and picks it up.

 

[oldgoatroper]

A couple of things....

- The radio must be on ALL DAY. The music calms me and turns a foul mood into a good one!

Well, Tim... the only radio station in Calgary (or Alberta) that might be called "calming" is probably CKUA, no?


As for me -- no superstitions... everything that goes wrong is just my fault -- according to my boss.....