Random randomness

Bakhtosh · Post by **Bakhtosh** » Mon Nov 12, 2012 6:36 pm

Rip wrote:
dbt1949 wrote:Adobe Flash Player,

Please get your shit together. I am tired of updating you every few days. And quit sending me update notices!
And no, I don't want your freaking McAffie (or whatever-in-the hell-it's called) security download! And I never will!

+1

Also could you remember next time that I will choose when to install updates instead of trying to quick click me into selecting update automatically?

Amen!

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Nov 12, 2012 7:13 pm

Kraken wrote:
Kraken wrote:Ordinarily I get out of going to weddings and similar social affairs because I don't have any nice clothes, and that was the excuse that I proffered to avoid this Sunday's nuptials between two people I've never met. But it turned out that the couple is encouraging 1960s costumes.

Crap. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be 1960s-era dress clothes, because I'm wearing my dashiki.
Turns out that there was a costume contest, and I won. The prize is a pair of aviator sunglasses that I can't wear because I need prescription glasses. Guess I'll be giving those away for xmas.

Have your optometrist replace the lenses if you dig the frames. If not, gift away.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:49 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:Trying to catch a nap between morning conference calls, and I get the squirrel version of West Side Story on the roof over my head.

After following up with the office on Friday, they finally got someone over here this morning. They threw up a couple of wood blocks to close the holes. I just went outside and was watching a pissed-off squirrel chirp at me from the roof line.

Now maybe I can get a decent night's sleep without using ear plugs.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Nov 12, 2012 10:41 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:
Kraken wrote:
Kraken wrote:Ordinarily I get out of going to weddings and similar social affairs because I don't have any nice clothes, and that was the excuse that I proffered to avoid this Sunday's nuptials between two people I've never met. But it turned out that the couple is encouraging 1960s costumes.

Crap. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be 1960s-era dress clothes, because I'm wearing my dashiki.
Turns out that there was a costume contest, and I won. The prize is a pair of aviator sunglasses that I can't wear because I need prescription glasses. Guess I'll be giving those away for xmas.
Have your optometrist replace the lenses if you dig the frames. If not, gift away.

That's a good idea. I just got new sunglasses this year, recycling some of my old eyeglass frames because it's hard to find decent round ones nowadays, never mind aviator. What is it with the normals and their little square eyeglasses?

I'll probably need new glasses again in a couple of years, so maybe I will hold onto these frames.

KKBlue · Post by **KKBlue** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 2:36 am

Kraken wrote:Ordinarily I get out of going to weddings and similar social affairs because I don't have any nice clothes...

How did I miss this? You are kidding right? You really don't own one pair of dress slacks and one white shirt? Please don't make me put out a plea to raise money for a big boy outfit

Love how you did win a major award though!

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:54 am

Isgrimnur wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:Trying to catch a nap between morning conference calls, and I get the squirrel version of West Side Story on the roof over my head.
After following up with the office on Friday, they finally got someone over here this morning. They threw up a couple of wood blocks to close the holes. I just went outside and was watching a pissed-off squirrel chirp at me from the roof line.

Now maybe I can get a decent night's sleep without using ear plugs.

Squirrel noises over my head woke me up at 7:30. I just went out and checked the roof line. There's a new hole right next to those new wooden blocks.

Remus West · Post by **Remus West** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:56 am

Isgrimnur wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:Trying to catch a nap between morning conference calls, and I get the squirrel version of West Side Story on the roof over my head.
After following up with the office on Friday, they finally got someone over here this morning. They threw up a couple of wood blocks to close the holes. I just went outside and was watching a pissed-off squirrel chirp at me from the roof line.

Now maybe I can get a decent night's sleep without using ear plugs.
Squirrel noises over my head woke me up at 7:30. I just went out and checked the roof line. There's a new hole right next to those new wooden blocks.

You want rid of the squirrel you are going to need to kill it or live trap it and relocate it hundreds of miles away.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:59 am

Remus West wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:Trying to catch a nap between morning conference calls, and I get the squirrel version of West Side Story on the roof over my head.
After following up with the office on Friday, they finally got someone over here this morning. They threw up a couple of wood blocks to close the holes. I just went outside and was watching a pissed-off squirrel chirp at me from the roof line.

Now maybe I can get a decent night's sleep without using ear plugs.
Squirrel noises over my head woke me up at 7:30. I just went out and checked the roof line. There's a new hole right next to those new wooden blocks.
You want rid of the squirrel you are going to need to kill it or live trap it and relocate it hundreds of miles away.

Yes, Boris, I want rid of squirrel...and his pesky moose friend too!

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 12:03 pm

The only problem is that this is all under the control of the apartment complex. If I thought I could get away with a firearms discharge in the heart of Dallas, I'd go pick up a .22 at Academy. And then I'd call maintenance to fix the holes in my roof.

WarPig · Post by **WarPig** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 12:28 pm

Why am I feeling more pressure to provide my family with things I want for Christmas this year? It seems in years past I've felt more urgency to find things for them. This year, I know what everyone else wants and they are practically yelling at me asking for me to fill up an Amazon wish list so they can get me stuff.

Not that I'm complaining.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 12:30 pm

KKBlue wrote:
Kraken wrote:Ordinarily I get out of going to weddings and similar social affairs because I don't have any nice clothes...
How did I miss this? You are kidding right? You really don't own one pair of dress slacks and one white shirt? Please don't make me put out a plea to raise money for a big boy outfit

Love how you did win a major award though!

I have a pair of black Dockers that have only been worn a few times, but the waistband seems to have shrunk over the years, so I only stuff myself into those under duress. My dress shirts from the 1980s are in good condition, but I'm never sure if they're laughably out of style or not. Men's clothes tend to be timeless...up to a point. I know that my 90s-era sport coats don't pass muster anymore.

I haven't had a dress-up job since 1986, so that's when I stopped buying dress-up clothes. If anybody ever has an '80s themed wedding I'm in like Flynn.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 1:32 pm

Kraken wrote: I haven't had a dress-up job since 1986, so that's when I stopped buying dress-up clothes. If anybody ever has an '80s themed wedding I'm in like Flynn.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 2:11 pm

Griefers exist in all games. I joined a Rookie-level online tournament in NHL 13 with my CCG-type team. I get matched up against a player who's embraced pay-to-win that has fielded a team including Gretzky as his starting center and is star packed throughout the line-up.

I'm looking forward to BlOps2 so I can shoot people like this in the face.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 2:28 pm

GreenGoo wrote:
Kraken wrote: I haven't had a dress-up job since 1986, so that's when I stopped buying dress-up clothes. If anybody ever has an '80s themed wedding I'm in like Flynn.

Better yet, In Like Flint.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 2:34 pm

I am informed that if you don't wear underwear then your panties will never be in bunch.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 2:54 pm

I had a meeting yesterday with a guy named Young Whang. You guys would be proud of me, I managed to not giggle when he introduced himself.

WarPig · Post by **WarPig** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:00 pm

LordMortis wrote:I am informed that if you don't wear underwear then your panties will never be in bunch.

Millions of stern-faced Scots in kilts would agree.

Boudreaux · Post by **Boudreaux** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:02 pm

I need to get into a job where in-person meetings are irrelevant so I can work from home every day. Working from home yesterday I was comfortable, energized, productive, and had a great day. Today I'm back in the office, and at 1pm I'm already tired, bored with the same work I was doing yesterday, and ready to get out of here.

There's an important lesson for work productivity here somewhere...

Bakhtosh · Post by **Bakhtosh** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:11 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:The only problem is that this is all under the control of the apartment complex. If I thought I could get away with a firearms discharge in the heart of Dallas, I'd go pick up a .22 at Academy. And then I'd call maintenance to fix the holes in my roof.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... +Air+Rifle" target="_blank

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:11 pm

Boudreaux wrote:I need to get into a job where in-person meetings are irrelevant so I can work from home every day. Working from home yesterday I was comfortable, energized, productive, and had a great day. Today I'm back in the office, and at 1pm I'm already tired, bored with the same work I was doing yesterday, and ready to get out of here.

There's an important lesson for work productivity here somewhere...

Since having been given "an office" back by transformers and records and air compressor, I can blare my music and people have to walk a tremendous amount to talk to me personally. My productivity has probably doubled.

(Though having your boss walk in while "It Takes More Than Fucking Someone You Don't Know To Keep Warm" was playing probably was not my best moment in my "office.")

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:36 pm

Looking at it, taking the required hunter education class, license fees, and equipment cost, I'll just keep hounding maintenance.

Bakhtosh · Post by **Bakhtosh** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:52 pm

You only need those things if you get caught. Firing a pellet rifle won't wake someone out of bed or anything. Of course, you'll look like Lee Harvey Oswald standing on your balcony with that Gamo air rifle on your shoulder.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 4:02 pm

I could just go get a tank for my paintball gun. The results would be gooey, one way or another.

Biyobi · Post by **Biyobi** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 4:04 pm

LordMortis wrote:(Though having your boss walk in while "It Takes More Than Fucking Someone You Don't Know To Keep Warm" was playing probably was not my best moment in my "office.")

Performing the air guitar solo in "Risky Business" attire probably didn't help.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 4:06 pm

Biyobi wrote:
LordMortis wrote:(Though having your boss walk in while "It Takes More Than Fucking Someone You Don't Know To Keep Warm" was playing probably was not my best moment in my "office.")
Performing the air guitar solo in "Risky Business" attire probably didn't help.

I haven't dressed down to my underwear and TShirt yet. We'll see what the heat is like this winter and/or the AC is next summer. I don't adjust to hot well, so it could happen but the doors will be closed if it does.

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 4:36 pm

I am not surprised, but I appreciate the company.
http://www.out.com/entertainment/music/ ... lationship" target="_blank

Toe · Post by **Toe** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:01 pm

Top 7 ways testicles are injured as reported by emergency rooms (I think this is on a per-year basis)

1. Bicycles (1,212)
2. Razors, scissors and clippers (1,089)
3. Zippers (951)
4. Bathroom falls and mishaps (818)
5. Basketball (309)
6. Baseball and softball (240)
7. Skiing and snowboarding (182)

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:14 pm

I don't ski or snowboard, so I'm assuming #7 occurs when hitting a tree or something? Cause it seems like you would have to have tremendously bad luck to fall randomly and get that injury.

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:27 pm

stessier wrote:Thanks for the support and horrifying suggestions.

The call was basically to let me know that they don't see a reason to interview me in person again at this point, that they thought I did well during the last one and am in the running for this position, but they got a few extra resumes this time and will be bringing in two or three other people in the next week. Last time it was a quality position, and I really sold them on my desire for it so he was kind of concerned since this was a product engineering position - which is what I'm doing now, albeit with a different product. I had anticipated that, though, and had an answer ready that I think did the trick. I also brought up some recent international travel I did for some customer support which he made note of and was happy to hear.

So now I wait. He hopes to have the other candidates finished by the end of next week. I figure it takes about 3 days to put together an offer package. So if it is a "Yes", I would hope to hear by 11/9. If it is a "No" or I'm the second choice and the other person declines, I figure I'll hear by Thanksgiving. (He also said if it comes down to me and someone and we are really close, they might ask me back for another round of interviews, but I see that as a long shot. They know me pretty well and I would think they would just pick one rather than have me back in again.)

The waiting is the worst part because of the uncertainty involved if I get the job. Our relocation package is a lump sum and we have to sell our house ourselves. I'm in a really small community (15k people) and when I checked with a real estate agent back in May, she mentioned that only 4 houses had sold in our intended listing range in the last 12 months (most people either buy much lower or much higher - we're in the middle no-man's land). We have equity and can sell for a really good price and still do fine because of the relo money, but we still need someone to look and agree that it is a good deal. Ugh.

Well, I haven't heard anything back yet and just finished my yearly review with my supervisor and we talked a bit about the situation. He actually got me pretty riled up and seemed a bit upset that they didn't invite me down for an interview feeling that if I am not chosen, there's no way it was a fair evaluation. Given the time that has elapsed and the timeline I had outlined above, I had pretty much given up hope and already gone through several of the stages of grief. Now he dragged me back to square one.

On the positive side, I had also put in for two positions at corporate headquarters and he told me the hiring managers talked to him because they felt guilty poaching from my supervisor. He told them not to worry about it so I think I'll make the short list there. But that position is taking forever. I applied the first week of September and they still haven't narrowed down the candidate pool to people they want to bring in.

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:28 pm

If you fall down, and your skis come off (and they're designed to do so), they could whack you in pretty much any body part.

Harder to see that happening with a snowboard, but they have statistically lumped them together.

But running into a tree or another skier would also work.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:00 pm

silverjon wrote:If you fall down, and your skis come off (and they're designed to do so), they could whack you in pretty much any body part.

Harder to see that happening with a snowboard, but they have statistically lumped them together.

But running into a tree or another skier would also work.

Yeah, I have hundreds of hours on a snowboard and I don't see any risk of testicular damage. Broken noses and wrists are expected, but the balls are safe. Actually it takes a pretty spectacularly dumbass move to break your nose while snowboarding (

).

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:05 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:The only problem is that this is all under the control of the apartment complex. If I thought I could get away with a firearms discharge in the heart of Dallas, I'd go pick up a .22 at Academy. And then I'd call maintenance to fix the holes in my roof.

22 short rifle rounds are nearly silent.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:22 pm

ImLawBoy wrote:
GreenGoo wrote:
Kraken wrote: I haven't had a dress-up job since 1986, so that's when I stopped buying dress-up clothes. If anybody ever has an '80s themed wedding I'm in like Flynn.
Better yet, In Like Flint.

No, no, no...

In like Flint

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:23 pm

Flynt. Joke no work without correct spelling.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:25 pm

Toe wrote:Top 7 ways testicles are injured as reported by emergency rooms (I think this is on a per-year basis)

1. Bicycles (1,212)
2. Razors, scissors and clippers (1,089)
3. Zippers (951)
4. Bathroom falls and mishaps (818)
5. Basketball (309)
6. Baseball and softball (240)
7. Skiing and snowboarding (182)

8. Pissed off spouse (181)

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Nov 14, 2012 9:50 am

Things I don't understand. My retirement claims to be at 5.47% rate of return so far this year. Between company personal contributions, I've put in $9,300 this year. And yet my entire portfolio has grown by about $6. Retirement Investment logic is puppies. According to LordMortis math, my rate of return so far this year is lower than -2%. I completely don't understand how accounting voodoo can take a slow bleeding off of money and try and present it to me as if it's making the rate of money as I'm paying interest on my mortgage.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:37 pm

Bakhtosh wrote:
Rip wrote:
dbt1949 wrote:Adobe Flash Player,

Please get your shit together. I am tired of updating you every few days. And quit sending me update notices!
And no, I don't want your freaking McAffie (or whatever-in-the hell-it's called) security download! And I never will!

+1

Also could you remember next time that I will choose when to install updates instead of trying to quick click me into selecting update automatically?
Amen!

AMD Catalyst installer is on my list. I do want to keep my drivers current, but my god they make a huge deal out of installing them with the Catalyst Control Center pretty close to monthly.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:12 pm

So my sister was in town yesterday and we talked for quite awhile. She works for the State of California, in the courts department. Her department has been "pushing" people to retire the last couple years, mainly because of the budget crunch.

She mentioned that the state offers $20,000 retirement packages to people who they would like to "retire" whose positions will not be filled by their retirement.

Of course the obvious question was if they don't need to refill the position why did they need anyone doing that job in the first place. She says the work is just absorbed into everyone else's work load.

You have to wonder any positions like that exist in the state government.

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:25 pm

Speaking from my own experience, the work of unfilled positions might be intended to be "absorbed" into the workload of remaining staff, but just like a sponge can only soak up so much water, it depends on their existing level of work saturation. If they're already at capacity, money might be saved by eliminating positions, but it means that the level of service will suffer accordingly.

Not all gov't employees are slackers, as much as people might like to think so.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:27 pm

Scuzz wrote:You have to wonder any positions like that exist in the state government.

Whoa, wait a minute.

This happens in every place of business, and it depends on a large number of factors. Your economy has grown several consecutive years in a row, yet unemployment has barely moved. How do you explain layoffs in the private sector? It sure as hell isn't directly related to worker productivity, although of course that's a factor.

What usually happens is a number of things. Work gets put on the shoulders of others. Work gets cancelled. Work gets done, just much more slowly since it has to be done in sequence rather than in parallel. Non-critical (but important) work gets ignored.

I don't even get my back up as much as some in terms of government service criticism, as a lot of it is true. It just annoys me when people take such a simplistic view of things and assume government = lazy workers doing nothing incompetently. I work with a contractor who has this very mindset, and when pressed on it admits that's not always the case where he works, it's just EVERYWHERE ELSE that has this problem. He is literally in the midst of those lazy government workers, sees how hard a lot of them work, sees the good work they do, and still thinks government = incompetency. Of course he has a vested interest in that viewpoint but still, it's a complete disconnect with reality.

I assume your sister is an exception, since she didn't get laid off. Lay offs are always merit based.