Useless Conversation

[Salamok]

6 months ago I adjusted my cube desk to standing height and had them buy me a drafting chair.  A desk with a motor to adjust it's height seems a bit like bringing the mountain to Mohammed to me.

[schild]

I'd agree except a decent desk is already $200-$400 and this one was $400, not counting all the other shit you buy when you buy a new desk (chair/mat, etc). Delivery is the real killer on shit like this. they should've distributed via Amazon. Morons.

[Xanthippe]

Heh, even without auto download it's still on the phone but just not physically there.  It's in the cloud.     One day I'll be motivated enough to remove it.

My problems are so first worldy.  We're to the point where we're ready to start building our new house and... non-committal job "offer" resurfaces for my wife.  "Hey, we still want to hire you, we just don't have any money for it.  Why don't you stick around and wait a while longer?"  

That's a terrible "offer." Why don't they just come out and say "We might want to hire you at some point in the future that we cannot yet see, so we don't want you to commit to anything else because maybe we might want to hire you and won't be able to afford you if you have anything better to do?"

[Samwise]

Just got a call on my cell phone from someone from "Windows Corporation" (sic) trying to help me fix some "computer errors" by installing a remote desktop client on my system.

Long story short, I strung 3 different scammers in an Indian call center along for about half an hour while all my coworkers in earshot laughed their asses off.

[WayAbvPar]

Just got a call on my cell phone from someone from "Windows Corporation" (sic) trying to help me fix some "computer errors" by installing a remote desktop client on my system.

Long story short, I strung 3 different scammers in an Indian call center along for about half an hour while all my coworkers in earshot laughed their asses off.

If I am not currently engaged,  I love doing this. My favorite trick is to ask a lot of questions, then find a reason to set the phone down for a minute. And then not pick it back up again.

[Samwise]

My favorite part was when they asked me for my login name and I carefully enunciated random letters and numbers for about three minutes.  Then started over when they asked if I was sure I was looking at the right part of the screen.

I also had some fun with stuff like "M as in Mancy?" and "is that I as in Indiana or I as in Illinois?"

[WayAbvPar]

Did you throw a couple 'niners' in there?

[Rasix]

Should have run the "meow" game on him. 

[MisterNoisy]

Dunno how many iPhone 6/6+ users there are here, but the latest iOS update kills cell service and TouchID on the new handsets, so I'd hold off for now:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/24/apples-ios-8-0-1-update-says-healthkit-apps-can-now-come-to-the-app-store

[Yegolev]

I didn't realize until my wife told me that Buster Bluth lost his hand to a loose seal.

[Maven]

It really sucks to write an academic paper in isolation. My teacher held up my work as an example of excellent writing to the class, but it was a critique, not the 4 page cited essay I'm witing now where I make some kind of case. Those powers of critique are now levied upon myself.

Meh.

[Hawkbit]

So have have three classes left to graduate.  I'm taking two now, stats and my advanced JavaScript.  My final project/capstone class is in the Winter. 

I'm really disappointed that this stats class is taking 2/3 of my study time when my major is Web Development.  I should be spending the majority of time in say, you know, my fucking major.  But no, I have to spend my time pushing shit into my brain that I'll only retain 1/4 after the next 12 weeks. 

I'm not discounting the importance of statistics, but there's a fundamental problem when the class in my major can't be worked on as much as I want because of weed-out courses.  My software/web development classes have been awesome, otherwise the process of getting a degree has been an expensive exercise in bullshit. 

[Lantyssa]

Yeah, college sucks like that.  My second degree was a lot better in that regard, since it was soon enough after my first that I didn't need to retake any of the core classes.  Even then I had a few math classes that really weren't necessary except to say I have a Minor in it.

[schild]

So have have three classes left to graduate.  I'm taking two now, stats and my advanced JavaScript.  My final project/capstone class is in the Winter. 

I'm really disappointed that this stats class is taking 2/3 of my study time when my major is Web Development.  I should be spending the majority of time in say, you know, my fucking major.  But no, I have to spend my time pushing shit into my brain that I'll only retain 1/4 after the next 12 weeks. 

I'm not discounting the importance of statistics, but there's a fundamental problem when the class in my major can't be worked on as much as I want because of weed-out courses.  My software/web development classes have been awesome, otherwise the process of getting a degree has been an expensive exercise in bullshit. 

Core math is the precise reason I ended up with a BFA instead of a BS. Simply did not want to take it. There were also language barrier reasons, but mostly core math can blow me.

[Miasma]

I don't know why but I really hated statistics, I liked calculus and linear algebra but got very depressed when doing statistics.

It also made me the killjoy at the casino with my friends.  Never managed to convince one of them that just because the board shows black has come up six times in a row at the roulette wheel that there is still only a fifty-fifty chance of red coming next, that it isn't 'due'.

[HaemishM]

when my major is Web Development.

Dear God, why? Was your life so devoid of clueless fucksticks telling you things like "make my logo bigger" or "why does my web page not print out the same way it looks on screen?"

[Paelos]

It's sad how many people I work with that have no idea what to do with their lives if they retire. And they have no plans to retire. And if I name a number, they admit they don't like the idea of having nothing to do with their lives. They just want to work because they don't know anything else.

They've had kids, they've instilled their entire lives into those kids, and they lack an identity beyond "Jake's Dad." They have no hobbies, and can't name anything they'd like to do if they quit. It's fucking sad. It's like this large swath of professional desk-jockey America completely forgot how to have a life outside of what they do at the office so they can take care of their family. And these aren't people grinding for the daily dollar or the wolf is at the door. These are 6-figure professionals who legitimately want to be carried out of their offices because the fear of stopping is real.

[Rasix]

That's kind of like my in-laws.  They seriously have no hobbies and both retired early.  What is the father-in-law doing? Consulting, of course.  Mother-in-law does nothing.  They sit around watching news and financial programming. They're so boring.  But at least they did retire. 

My career goal since day one is to not work. I suppose I could do that right away, but that might upset the family.  

[Merusk]

I'm going to work until I'm dead.

I won't have a career, but I'll have a job.  I have a career to pay off school debit and put my kids through school.  Unlike my parents, my expenditures will be their school so they don't have to take it on rather than bigger homes and cars and living beyond their means. Then I can move to some menial job that pays me enough for medical and the taxes on my non-mortgaged properties.

I don't blame my parents, it's what their generation did because things were supposed to be better for us than they are. I'm just not going to make their mistakes and instead assume a bleak, dystopian future where I'll be housing my kids until they're 30.

[Samwise]

My career goal since day one is to not work.

This.

I have so many hobbies that I don't have enough time for that even if I didn't have to work, I wouldn't have enough time in the day to do everything I'm interested in.  I can't even imagine just having NOTHING to do.

[Paelos]

My career goal since day one is to not work.

This.

I have so many hobbies that I don't have enough time for that even if I didn't have to work, I wouldn't have enough time in the day to do everything I'm interested in.  I can't even imagine just having NOTHING to do.

I'm the same way. I have church, bowling, gaming, golf, season tickets to the Braves and Dawgs, travel, cooking, blogging, writing, blah blah blah. If I got the money to quit today, I'd most likely focus my time on a volunteer organization, get some press passes for my sports blog, and go to games.

The idea of being an accountant forever and ever because I don't know anything else is ridiculous.

[RhyssaFireheart]

Because so many people think of having kids as the be-all and end-all of existence.  So they can't imagine not doing something that doesn't involve the kids somehow.

I don't have a huge amount of hobbies, but if I were to win the lottery tomorrow, I'd have no problem filling my time up with something to do.  I'd definitely go splurge on more art supplies, that's a fact.  And if/when I ever retire, then more art supplies it is! 

I'd definitely need something to do outside the house though, even if just volunteering at the local animal shelter.  I've spent extended periods of time at home with no place to go; I can't imagine doing that as my retirement, too.

[Paelos]

I'm glad I'm changing jobs, because there is one guy at the office whose kid is now almost done with high school. Pretty much every story he tells revolves around this kid. He's just a normal dude who bulked up and plays football. He's not going on scholarship, he's undersized, and he's on a team that loses. But yet, every fucking story is a 15 minute diatribe on this kid's high school team ball.

When the kid finally leaves, I'm not sure what will happen to these people. So much of their lives revolve around having the kids that they may lose it when they leave.

[Hawkbit]

when my major is Web Development.

Dear God, why? Was your life so devoid of clueless fucksticks telling you things like "make my logo bigger" or "why does my web page not print out the same way it looks on screen?"

Pretty much.   

Actually, I'm more focused on the middleware and mid-stack development, like business logic, MVC/API and data models.  So far I've been able to stay away from the "art" side of web development, but still get the UX stuff a bit.  More and more over the past year I do BI work at my job, working on SQL queries to build specifically targeted segments of our userbase, then market the fucking shit out of them. 

We're a .NET shop though and I really prefer smaller organization.  In fact, I really like Rails a lot and want to end up working with a Ruby shop at some point in the next year or two. 

[Cheddar]

It's sad how many people I work with that have no idea what to do with their lives if they retire. And they have no plans to retire. And if I name a number, they admit they don't like the idea of having nothing to do with their lives. They just want to work because they don't know anything else.

They've had kids, they've instilled their entire lives into those kids, and they lack an identity beyond "Jake's Dad." They have no hobbies, and can't name anything they'd like to do if they quit. It's fucking sad. It's like this large swath of professional desk-jockey America completely forgot how to have a life outside of what they do at the office so they can take care of their family. And these aren't people grinding for the daily dollar or the wolf is at the door. These are 6-figure professionals who legitimately want to be carried out of their offices because the fear of stopping is real.

It is a strange output of generation X.  Not an expert, but we have a strange desire to prepare for retirement but are hyper focused on work.

[Yegolev]

Work sucks.  I can't wait to not do it, even thought my job right now is really awesome.

[Signe]

When I retire, I'm gonna get a job!

[Lantyssa]

I'm definitely ready for retirement.  Just need enough to pay off the house and make sure I can survive while enjoying the rest of my life.

[Nebu]

I have 4 years left to pay off my student loans then I can take my dream job in the fast food industry.

[Paelos]

What spawned the thought was a conversation I had with a guy who's a financial planner. His entire job is helping people invest money for retirement or large financial goals.

Yet, when I pressed him on his plan, he doesn't have one. He says the exact same stuff I hear from people who are working in their 70s, and then eventually have to be forced out because they can't compete. They then die within a few years because they can't function, or they are deathly afraid of dying right after they quit. They always talk about fearing "Having no purpose when I wake up in the morning."

Dude's like 42. His job is helping people retire, and planning their finances. Yet he has no plan. He has a wife and kids, and spends as much time as he can at his kid's stuff. Yet, I don't get the sense he has hobbies outside his family. This would be the first question I ever asked a financial planner. What's your retirement plan? What's your magic number where you quit. If they tell me they have no plans to ever retire, thanks. I'm finding somebody else.

[HaemishM]

I could quit today and have shit to do for the next five years without ever purchasing a new game in that time period. Hell, I probably have enough ideas for novels, screenplays and short stories that I could work 8 hours a day for at least the next year and still not get them all down. I go to my job because I need to eat and pay for what I consider my real life. This is a good job but I could turn my back on it in an instant with the only regret being leaving my immediate supervisor in the lurch, and that only because I've been great friends with him for the last 20-something years outside of work. A job? That shit isn't my life and I wouldn't ever want it to be.

[Nebu]

A job? That shit isn't my life and I wouldn't ever want it to be.

That's the mantra I've had to adopt the last 5 years of my life.  In academics, it's like a religion in that 'you are your research'.  I had to really take a step back and realize just how much of my life I had lost to the pursuit of getting my name on papers/patents and other academic shit.  The culture, like that in corporate America, is one of giving your identity over to the work.  It's fucked up and tough brainwashing to get rid of. 

[Sky]

I could retire today and live to a hundred and still not do everything I want to. Painting, writing, composing, performing, traveling, ye gods. My mind boggles at how empty some people are.

On the other hand, I also mostly love my job because I get to help people most of the day, and the immediate feedback is nice. Also, I've learned to not be bothered by irate patrons (actually it's humorous to me these days). I just hate getting up in the morning and the sheer block of time devoted to it each week. I'm pretty sure when I retire I'll be working here part-time or volunteering, it's nice to be a productive and helpful member of the community.

Speaking of dream job in fast food, Nebu, I've had thoughts of ditching it all and just moving to Europe and working shit jobs to pay for the necessities while spending most of my time immersing myself in various local musical cultures.

[Paelos]

The culture, like that in corporate America, is one of giving your identity over to the work.  It's fucked up and tough brainwashing to get rid of.  

It's one of the reasons I'm getting out of tax. It demands that you become an expert in an impossible amount of minutia, and have it ready at a moment's notice. You aren't Joe, you are Joe the tax professional. When asked to describe ourselves, often the first details are about family or work. Neither of those are a true individual identity. Being a father of three, while accurate, says nothing about who you are really. There are billions of fathers. There were billions before that. Being a tax accountant doesn't either. It says what you do at work.

I think part of what we've lost is ability to prioritize our identity as individuals. We don't begin with our beliefs, our gifts, our thoughts, our social lives, or what makes us unique when asked to describe ourselves. It's just rattling off a series of family and work stats first.

[RhyssaFireheart]

Someone posted in a community I'm part of about a class she was taking.  The instructor asked everyone to introduce themselves and to list three things about themselves, however, they could not mention their job, spouse or children at all.  The three things had to be about them only.  Apparently one woman had serious difficulties listing three things about herself that wasn't "my husband is.." or "my kids do..." and she got pissed off when called on it. 

That blew my mind, because how hard is it to say simple stuff like "I enjoy seafood" or "I like to watch bad reality TV" when asked to list something about yourself?