Octopus Overlords

the spring breeze through the windows is great. makes me wish i had a house. and a yard.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 09, 2020 9:58 am I wonder if our pets who have had a good life know they have a good life?

I think they do. Pets live in the present. They don't undermine their contentment with doubt and unprovoked anxiety.

If you make them consistently happy and comfortable, they have a far better life than most humans do.

Huh. This is a bit surreal

I remember a cartoon a long time ago that showed us evolving into a big butt with a finger coming out of it.
I'm well on my way there.

It looks like 19 days of not physically seeing another person is where I start get a bit antsy. 19 days ago I saw a doctor for about 20 minutes and a med tech and a receptionist. 25 days ago I saw coworkers and made my last stop for groceries. I've has a few light conversations by phone, skype, teams, zoom. And even in complete isolation, I still hate "phones".

My tolerance for what Wife and I call "togetherness shit" is wearing thin, but at least we both still have a lot of work to fill our days. That could change; the Institute is now talking about staying closed for fall term. There's only so much work a university with no students can generate.

the dishwasher in this apartment leaves about half an inch of standing water at the bottom of the appliance after each cycle. water doesn't appear to be dirty and dishes are being cleaned fine. the property manager cleaned the filter and it's still doing this. is this normal?

Probably a clog in the pipe if the filter is clean.

hitbyambulance wrote: ↑Sun Apr 12, 2020 9:50 pm the dishwasher in this apartment leaves about half an inch of standing water at the bottom of the appliance after each cycle. water doesn't appear to be dirty and dishes are being cleaned fine. the property manager cleaned the filter and it's still doing this. is this normal?

There should be water at the top of drain. Otherwise rubber part and seals would dry out but I don't think a half inch is normal.


Stuck float? (Site also suggests drain timer, failing motor, and clogged garbage disposal among other things)

https://simplyhometips.com/dishwasher-not-draining/

Check the Float Assembly

Dishwasher's float assemblyThe float assembly or float switch is located in the bottom of the tub. To access it, remove the bottom dish rack. Your float assembly may have a cover. If it has a cover, it will snap in and out of place. It may also be secured by a screw. Once you have removed the cover, lift the float assembly from its guide tube and let it drop. Try this a few times. It should move freely within the guide tube. If it does not, then see if there is a foreign object restricting it. You can also check the stem, which is part of the assembly, for warping or damage. If it is damaged, the float assembly will have to be replaced. If there is debris in the guide tube then it will need to be cleaned out.

I had to buy a portable dishwasher recently -- the kind you roll over to the sink and plug into the faucet. There were only 3 contenders in the size that I wanted, and the reviews for none of them were encouraging. The dishwasher experts recommended going down one size to access some quality options. Unwilling to give up the capacity, I paid $800 for the least-objectionable one. So far, it works well enough but I don't like it as much as the one that crapped out before it.

In the portable market backwater at least, quality has been going downhill for decades. My first one lasted almost 20 years. The people who sold me my second one LOL'd at that story and softened my expectations, and that one made it 10 years. At that rate, I figure 5 years for the third one.

I finally figured out why the Hanes undies I bought a while back in a multi-pack was so cheap. (it's like half the price)

Turns out, one or two in the six-pack are malformed... And I never noticed until I tried to wear it. Let's just say, the seam is leaned over to one-side, so you can't wear it "centered". WTF...

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Mon Apr 13, 2020 6:47 pm I finally figured out why the Hanes undies I bought a while back in a multi-pack was so cheap. (it's like half the price)

Turns out, one or two in the six-pack are malformed... And I never noticed until I tried to wear it. Let's just say, the seam is leaned over to one-side, so you can't wear it "centered". WTF...

Pics or didn't happen.

I use my Yahoo account so infrequently that my spam folder is empty.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:17 am I use my Yahoo account so infrequently that my spam folder is empty.

I check my Yahoo and Hotmail accounts every week so they know I'm still alive. No spam in Yahoo, but occasional spam in Hotmail.

Rutabaga

Kraken wrote: ↑Mon Apr 13, 2020 12:29 am I had to buy a portable dishwasher recently -- the kind you roll over to the sink and plug into the faucet. There were only 3 contenders in the size that I wanted, and the reviews for none of them were encouraging. The dishwasher experts recommended going down one size to access some quality options. Unwilling to give up the capacity, I paid $800 for the least-objectionable one. So far, it works well enough but I don't like it as much as the one that crapped out before it.

In the portable market backwater at least, quality has been going downhill for decades. My first one lasted almost 20 years. The people who sold me my second one LOL'd at that story and softened my expectations, and that one made it 10 years. At that rate, I figure 5 years for the third one.

We've been in our current house since 1984; we started off with no automatic dishwasher, since I'm the manual dishwasher of the family . For our 17th anniversary in 1996 my wife secretly bought and had installed a Whirlpool dishwasher. It was great for awhile but it had some issues with running and eventually I went back to manual dishwashing again. For our 34th anniversary we decided to get another dishwasher and went with a Bosch. Very nice, known for being very quiet and using very hot water. Our appliance guy (we have an appliance guy, also an electrician guy and a plumbing guy) told us they are very good units, but hard to work on, so hopefully it will last till our 51st anniversary ten years from now when we can justify getting a new one

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 12:41 am

Kraken wrote: ↑Mon Apr 13, 2020 12:29 am I had to buy a portable dishwasher recently -- the kind you roll over to the sink and plug into the faucet. There were only 3 contenders in the size that I wanted, and the reviews for none of them were encouraging. The dishwasher experts recommended going down one size to access some quality options. Unwilling to give up the capacity, I paid $800 for the least-objectionable one. So far, it works well enough but I don't like it as much as the one that crapped out before it.

In the portable market backwater at least, quality has been going downhill for decades. My first one lasted almost 20 years. The people who sold me my second one LOL'd at that story and softened my expectations, and that one made it 10 years. At that rate, I figure 5 years for the third one.

We've been in our current house since 1984; we started off with no automatic dishwasher, since I'm the manual dishwasher of the family . For our 17th anniversary in 1996 my wife secretly bought and had installed a Whirlpool dishwasher. It was great for awhile but it had some issues with running and eventually I went back to manual dishwashing again. For our 34th anniversary we decided to get another dishwasher and went with a Bosch. Very nice, known for being very quiet and using very hot water. Our appliance guy (we have an appliance guy, also an electrician guy and a plumbing guy) told us they are very good units, but hard to work on, so hopefully it will last till our 51st anniversary ten years from now when we can justify getting a new one

There are a lot more options in the built-in market segment. In portables, there was only GE, Kenmore, and Maytag/Whirlpool. Ordinarily I only have to run it once or twice a week, but now that Wife's home all the time that's up to every 2-3 days.

Frenchman, given a jetfighter backseat ride in March 2019, tried to steady himself during a steep climb, and managed to eject himself because he used the ejection handle.

Wah?

Aussie couple got surprise visit from police when they posted OLD travel photos (from last year) and cops want to bust them for violating shelter-in-place.

Hmmm...

Moat_Man wrote: ↑Mon Apr 13, 2020 11:50 pm

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Mon Apr 13, 2020 6:47 pm I finally figured out why the Hanes undies I bought a while back in a multi-pack was so cheap. (it's like half the price)

Turns out, one or two in the six-pack are malformed... And I never noticed until I tried to wear it. Let's just say, the seam is leaned over to one-side, so you can't wear it "centered". WTF...

Pics or didn't happen.

Note the "back center" seam on the waist band? It's NOT centered.

Don't get your knickers in a twist, it doesn't look that bad.

Would not have picked Kasey to be the first to show us pictures of his underpants here on OO.

Ummm, I was joking.

I say we start taking Kasey at his word, going forward.

let us be thankful he was not in them while taking photos.

A nonny mouse wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 3:16 pm let us be thankful he was not in them while taking photos.

Given the wrinkle pattern, it seems clear he had just ripped them off and was standing there afterwards, camera in hand.

Tornadoes came through again. Thought I would die this time but they blew themselves out. One hit the ground about 30 miles from here and stayed on a bee line for my place. It fell apart about 1/2 mile from me and moved to the other side of the highway. If it was not dark I could have looked out and saw it.

Got a phone call from Publishers Clearing this morning. My wife made me fill out a form for this months ago and I've hated her ever since.
Anyrate the guy on the phone sounds like he has Downs Syndrome or was acting like he did or something. I guess they're trying something new so you won't hang up on them. They don't know me. I gave the guy the same shit I give any spammer and hung up on him.

Ask them about Ed McMahon.

I screen my calls at my desk for a reason. I really don't enjoy dealing with the 20 random vendors per week that think they're worth 30 minutes of my time. I often never call them or reply to emails unless I see something that looks interesting. Leaving me a voice mail that's just your name and number guarantees I'll never call you. Sorry Dave.

Ever since our larger earthquake here a few weeks ago, we've been having a rolling series of smaller aftershocks, typically one or two every day. Had another one this morning that set the entire house rattling, woke up the kids, and completely freaked out the animals.

After living in Salt Lake for nearly 30 years with zero earthquakes, this shit is seriously unsettling.

Paingod wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:32 am I screen my calls at my desk for a reason. I really don't enjoy dealing with the 20 random vendors per week that think they're worth 30 minutes of my time. I often never call them or reply to emails unless I see something that looks interesting. Leaving me a voice mail that's just your name and number guarantees I'll never call you. Sorry Dave.

So...can I forward that to my boss?

He's convinced that a new "cold call" campaign is the best course of action for all us sales monkeys right now, and I couldn't possibly disagree more.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:34 am

Paingod wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:32 am I screen my calls at my desk for a reason. I really don't enjoy dealing with the 20 random vendors per week that think they're worth 30 minutes of my time. I often never call them or reply to emails unless I see something that looks interesting. Leaving me a voice mail that's just your name and number guarantees I'll never call you. Sorry Dave.

So...can I forward that to my boss?

If it means I get one less phone call right now, absolutely. I can say that it seems like every salesperson out there is redoubling "contact" efforts, or maybe it's just that there's so little other noise in my inbox to drown them out.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:34 am He's convinced that a new "cold call" campaign is the best course of action for all us sales monkeys right now, and I couldn't possibly disagree more.

I have NEVER bought from a cold call and I hope I never will. There's nothing more annoying than a salesperson who leaves an endless string of unanswered voicemails.

I've got a salesperson after me right now. I'm interested in a product at work. They have an on-premise version and a cloud-hosted version. Pricing is on the website for on-prem but not for the cloud version. I sent an email to their generic sales email address asking for pricing and deliberately removed my phone number from my signature. So far the only response is a message from a sales person asking for a number so we can "discuss the options". I responded asking again for pricing and so far it's been crickets.

No. Fuck you. Either give me the pricing so I can make an informed decision or lose the sale to another, more cooperative vendor.



Sorry. Sales people make me irrationally angry.

Exodor wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 11:16 amEither give me the pricing so I can make an informed decision or lose the sale to another, more cooperative vendor.

C'mon, man. Be reasonable. He doesn't know how much to charge you without first figuring out how much you'd be willing to pay.

Exodor wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 11:16 am

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:34 am He's convinced that a new "cold call" campaign is the best course of action for all us sales monkeys right now, and I couldn't possibly disagree more.

I have NEVER bought from a cold call and I hope I never will. There's nothing more annoying than a salesperson who leaves an endless string of unanswered voicemails.

I've got a salesperson after me right now. I'm interested in a product at work. They have an on-premise version and a cloud-hosted version. Pricing is on the website for on-prem but not for the cloud version. I sent an email to their generic sales email address asking for pricing and deliberately removed my phone number from my signature. So far the only response is a message from a sales person asking for a number so we can "discuss the options". I responded asking again for pricing and so far it's been crickets.

No. Fuck you. Either give me the pricing so I can make an informed decision or lose the sale to another, more cooperative vendor.

Sorry. Sales people make me irrationally angry.

Heh. I've spent weeks of my career sitting through endless sales training of techniques and tools to try and get around this exact barrier. I agree with you that most salespeople suck and only care about the $$ they can squeeze out of the customer. I approach my sales very differently, with the paradigm that the most important thing is ensuring we meet the client's need. In my experience, that almost always leads to solid revenue in the end. I've been burned by this a few times, but have mostly developed great lasting relationships because my clients know I'm straight with them and get them exactly what they need.

In defense of us sales folks, throwing pricing at clients who refuse to provide even the slightest detail can lead to a world of hurt...for both us and the client.

- "You said this implementation would cost X!"
- "No I didn't. I said the base cost was X, with a bunch of customization that could make it cost anywhere from M-Z, based on what you actually want. If we could have had literally a 5 minute phone call so I could ask a few questions and fully understand your request, we could have clarified that and saved us both a shitload of time and effort."

As a wise man once said, "this job would be great if it wasn't for the fucking customers"

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 11:39 am In defense of us sales folks, throwing pricing at clients who refuse to provide even the slightest detail can lead to a world of hurt...for both us and the client.

- "You said this implementation would cost X!"
- "No I didn't. I said the base cost was X, with a bunch of customization that could make it cost anywhere from M-Z, based on what you actually want. If we could have had literally a 5 minute phone call so I could ask a few questions and fully understand your request, we could have clarified that and saved us both a shitload of time and effort."

Understandable but it's a fairly simple product with a per-user cost. I know the number of seats I need I just don't know how much the cloud product costs per-seat compared to the on-prem product.

I know the reason they want to talk to me is to try to upsell me to the more pricey product that includes a bunch of features I don't want and won't use.

Oh I forgot I did get one other response from the sales person trying to sell me a totally unrelated product.

A nonny mouse wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2020 3:16 pm let us be thankful he was not in them while taking photos.

Haha, good one. But how will you fully appreciate the twistiness of this malformed undie if I weren't wearing it?

Okay, all kidding aside, that's now being used as a rag. I ain't gonna wear that again.

Exodor wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 11:47 am

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 11:39 am In defense of us sales folks, throwing pricing at clients who refuse to provide even the slightest detail can lead to a world of hurt...for both us and the client.

- "You said this implementation would cost X!"
- "No I didn't. I said the base cost was X, with a bunch of customization that could make it cost anywhere from M-Z, based on what you actually want. If we could have had literally a 5 minute phone call so I could ask a few questions and fully understand your request, we could have clarified that and saved us both a shitload of time and effort."

Understandable but it's a fairly simple product with a per-user cost. I know the number of seats I need I just don't know how much the cloud product costs per-seat compared to the on-prem product.

I know the reason they want to talk to me is to try to upsell me to the more pricey product that includes a bunch of features I don't want and won't use.

Oh I forgot I did get one other response from the sales person trying to sell me a totally unrelated product.

Ew, yeah that's shitty behavior.

When filling in passwords on my pc I always get little dots instead of the alpha/numerical digits.
Is there an easy way for me to see the numbers and letters instead?