Useless Conversation

[Sky]

Her husband has really bad hives that they are certain stem from gluten, despite the doctor denying this and gluten allergy tests coming back negative.

So now he's on this crazy gluten free kick that the workplace has to deal with.

They both hit 30 years in the retirement system and their last kid just moved out. Hoping they retire soon, at latest when the last kid get out of school in 4 years. They're very expensive stupid smart people who don't do a fraction of the work anyone else does.

Good times.

[Rishathra]

Yeah, I'm with schild on this one.  Not seeing the 'smart' part of the stupid smart equation.

[schild]

Her husband has really bad hives that they are certain stem from gluten, despite the doctor denying this and gluten allergy tests coming back negative.

So now he's on this crazy gluten free kick that the workplace has to deal with.

They both hit 30 years in the retirement system and their last kid just moved out. Hoping they retire soon, at latest when the last kid get out of school in 4 years. They're very expensive stupid smart people who don't do a fraction of the work anyone else does.

Good times.

Right, so just stupid.

[Khaldun]

It's what some people do to avoid the yawning void inside their souls: endlessly find small scapegoats. As long as it's dumb stuff like "I need a standing desk" and "I need a sunlamp", where it's just an object and the price tag is not bad, it's fine. Whatever gets someone through the day. It's when it becomes "I need a different work process and everyone has to do it with me" or "I can't attend the meetings that the rest of you attend because I need another style of meeting" or "I can't work with people who wear white clothing because I'm sensitive to white" and so on--when it starts fucking with other people, blaming other people, etc., then it's not just a stupid bad habit, it's dangerous.

[01101010]

or "I can't work with people who wear white clothing because I'm sensitive to white" and so on--when it starts fucking with other people, blaming other people, etc., then it's not just a stupid bad habit, it's dangerous.

Good luck working at a Honda plant. 

[Ragnoros]

Just realized that as of tomorrow, I will have been registered on f13 for ten years. What a long strange ride it's been.

[schild]

Yea and i need to run the fucking donation drive and stop paying $200 a month.

Man i need an internet connection.

[calapine]

After being sick for a week and than missing work for another week due to anxiety I have some good news finally:

1) My Space Twitter feed reached the astounding number of 500 followers.

2) I am going to write (voluntary contribute, that is) for a German Space news portal (180k visits/month)

Weee!

[Trippy]

Grats!

[Signe]

Nice, Calapine.  Congrats!  I'm glad you're feeling better, too.   

[Soln]

Yay Cal!

[calapine]

Yea and i need to run the fucking donation drive and stop paying $200 a month.

Man i need an internet connection.

200 a month for the server? Damn...

Nice, Calapine.  Congrats!  I'm glad you're feeling better, too.  

Thankies! Me too. It's really up and down. Very annoying, I "achieve" things, job, personal life wise, and then have a down phase that ruins the work again. So frustrating.

[RhyssaFireheart]

Congrats and good luck, Calapine!

[Soln]

I need new news to read. Giving up on major outlets until either I feel better or the US has a major funeral/celebration. What are some tech recommendations?  I check HN, Ars, Verge and ye old /.

[Chimpy]

I don't think you are going to find any news that isn't pretty grim for a while.

[Trippy]

There's http://techmeme.com though politics does creep into it as well.

[schild]

I need new news to read. Giving up on major outlets until either I feel better or the US has a major funeral/celebration. What are some tech recommendations?  I check HN, Ars, Verge and ye old /.

Ask in four years.

[Yegolev]

We are going to Paris and a few small German towns in a week.  My wife is very interested in not looking like an American, which I personally feel is an inaccomplishable task but hey, I'm also interested in not being an annoying tourist if possible.

Anyway, I read this today:
http://thoughtcatalog.com/charlie-shaw/2014/05/35-europeans-answer-whats-a-dead-giveaway-for-americans-in-your-country/

It is rather interesting that a theme seems to be that Americans are happy and have positive attitudes.  I should have no problem being the opposite of a loud ball-cap-wearing friendly can-do person, as long as I actually remember to not smile so much.  But, just for fun, I want to find out other absolute indicators that someone is an American in Europe.

[Sky]

That is actually a bit ignorant about the US. While we are in general more homogenous culturally, there is a difference between 'I'm from CA', 'I'm from TX' and 'I'm from NY'. Also, a lot of those seem to be 'how to spot a douchebag' and maybe not just about Americans...

But I agree with the clapping thing. It weirds me out when people clap for movies or when a plane lands. On the other hand, it weirds me out when people don't clap for a good guitar or horn solo when watching live music.

[Yegolev]

Yes, of course it's mostly a "spot the idiot" article but that's why it is fun.  Great excuse to tell stories of that awful tourist you saw insult the Duchess of York so that her monocle popped out into her toad-in-the-hole.

[MrHat]

We are going to Paris and a few small German towns in a week.  My wife is very interested in not looking like an American, which I personally feel is an inaccomplishable task but hey, I'm also interested in not being an annoying tourist if possible.

Anyway, I read this today:
http://thoughtcatalog.com/charlie-shaw/2014/05/35-europeans-answer-whats-a-dead-giveaway-for-americans-in-your-country/

It is rather interesting that a theme seems to be that Americans are happy and have positive attitudes.  I should have no problem being the opposite of a loud ball-cap-wearing friendly can-do person, as long as I actually remember to not smile so much.  But, just for fun, I want to find out other absolute indicators that someone is an American in Europe.

I found it's always better to answer "where are you from?" with a nearby major city rather than a country.  The US is too large and too different regionally and you would be surprised at how attitudes shift when you say you're from New York or Houston or Los Angeles.

[Chimpy]

Don't wear bright white sneakers. That screams American tourist (though that is probably not as big of an issue in winter).

The thing I found useful was, if you are saying thank you to someone in a restaurant/shop/etc, trying to say it in the local language. Also, the biggest way to spot an American is to see them pay a bill in a bar/restaurant and leave what would be a standard tip in the States. Most places elsewhere actually pay people a real wage instead of making them rely on tips.

[Nebu]

I had a German roommate in medical school.  When we traveled to Europe, his advice was "the more you look like a Canadian, the better".  I always liked that advice.  I'll definitely use it during the Trump-era.

[Reg]

Nebu's right. Americans disguising themselves as Canadians with a Canadian flag badge on their jacket is a grand old tradition and it usually works.

[Ironwood]

Yes, of course it's mostly a "spot the idiot" article but that's why it is fun.  Great excuse to tell stories of that awful tourist you saw insult the Duchess of York so that her monocle popped out into her toad-in-the-hole.

Yeah, you should lead with that line.


11,8,6,5,3.

Yup.

Be aware, I'm not sure that this is necessarily a BAD thing, but it's certainly a thing.

[Paelos]

Nebu's right. Americans disguising themselves as Canadians with a Canadian flag badge on their jacket is a grand old tradition and it usually works.

Nah go full Squidbilly and wear a hat that says Booty Hunter on it with a big Eagle on the front of your shirt.

[Yegolev]

I do not have any idea how to look Canadian.  Based on Trailer Park Boys, they look like us.

[Trippy]

Just add 'eh' to the end of all your sentences.

[Nebu]

You guys are great at making me regret my posts.   

[Reg]

I do not have any idea how to look Canadian.  Based on Trailer Park Boys, they look like us.

Canadian flag patch on your jacket or backpack. A lot of Canadians wear them because we don't want people thinking we're Americans either.

[Teleku]

Clapping over really inane stuff…Clapping at the end of the plane journey, the bus journey, the end of a film — stop fucking clapping.

Ok, this one is horse shit.  Everybody in at least Eastern Europe god damn claps, loudly, when the plane lands.  It drives me up the fucking wall.  I've never seen that on the 50+ flights I've taken in the US, and every American who's ever come to visit me has been weirded out by it as well.  As a matter of fact, its always a great relief to me when I fly back to America and nobody is clapping anymore on the planes.

Edit:  And the way to look like a Canadian is to just say you're Canadian.  Nobody in the whole wide world can tell us apart.

[Paelos]

Never seen people clap on a flight in my life except for birthdays, engagements, or anniversaries. I fly mostly domestic USA.

[IainC]

If you fly shitty budget airlines where half the seats are filled with hen parties or people off to popular holiday spots, then it happens about 100% of the time.

[Sky]

My knowledge of Canada (ignoring actual knowledge, as I live relatively close to the border, know many Canadians including my art teacher and have been to Toronto and Ottawa many times) is from SCTV and Rush.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04u58ifxmRA

[Ironwood]

Never seen people clap on a flight in my life.

Nor I.  Usually people are too busy jumping out of seats early, even though they're told not to, to open luggage racks and make right fucking cunts of themselves to other passengers.  The fucking Amorphous crowd of fucking sheep.

Then they stand there.  Just stand there.  Looking Fucking Stupid for another half an hour till the fucking doors open, the poor cunts.  And then you see the real fucking dimbulbs standing at the conveyor waiting for luggage for 2 fucking hours, despite the fact that they chivvied YOU out of a fucking comfy seat so they could fucking stand, the fat fucking stupid bastards.

I'd clap if they fucking died.