Author Topic: Overheard at Work  (Read 13252796 times)

kpd905

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10100 on: August 24, 2015, 07:35:42 PM »
My bucket list for retirement includes spending a few months at each of a number of lower-paid jobs (fast food, custodial, construction, etc), just for the experience.

You lost me at fast food.  The other two might be tolerable for a short period.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10101 on: August 24, 2015, 07:49:15 PM »
Gtrsteve tried to explain, but follow on quoters clearly missed it.


I didn't miss it. I'm waiting to hear how you balance all the other nutritional needs while getting 800 or fewer calories a day.

Calories are not the only thing the body needs to run.

Yeah, In - Out will cause weight loss, but there are going to be other problems developing.

My complaint was that it isn't always as easy as "don't drink soda, stop going to fast food" when the equation changes. If you had good habits in your 20s, you are screwed later on, because there is nothing to cut.
« Last Edit: August 25, 2015, 08:17:16 AM by iowajes »

MgoSam

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10102 on: August 24, 2015, 08:09:09 PM »
My bucket list for retirement includes spending a few months at each of a number of lower-paid jobs (fast food, custodial, construction, etc), just for the experience.

You lost me at fast food.  The other two might be tolerable for a short period.

I've had good memories working at Burger King, but of course I was a kid at the time. That said, I imagine it would be interesting as an adult to work in fast food.

Seppia

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10103 on: August 24, 2015, 09:43:25 PM »

Gtrsteve tried to explain, but follow on quoters clearly missed it.


I didn't miss it. I'm waiting to hear how you balance all the other nutritional needs while getting 800 or fewer calories a day.

Calories are not the only thing the body needs to run.

Yeah, In - Out will cause weight loss, but there are going to be other problems developing.

I am not a doctor but my dad is. If I recall correctly he told me the average adult needs 1200-1500 calories per day to survive lying in a bed.
800 calories to create a gap seems low honestly.

Just heard this gem: coworker and wife are lazy. They don't want to walk like 5 blocks a couple times a week to some destination in NYC. What do they do? They take Uber of course! According to him, they take about 6 x 2 rides a week, each costing about $8, so like $100/wk ($5,200/yr). To save, his wife is now going to get a membership to CitiBike ($100/month), which will cut their use down to 1-2 times a week ($25/wk), or a total of $2,500/yr ALL BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO WALK 5 BLOCKS!

Sorry to be pedantic but citibike is actually $150 per year in NYC.

Sloeginfizz

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10104 on: August 24, 2015, 10:51:19 PM »
Everything in New York is more expensive I guess. Divvy, the same thing basically, here in Chicago, is $75 a year. I consider it a bargain. Bike is my fastest commute to work, but I don't want to leave my good bike locked up on city streets all day. Even if they can't steal it, jerks bust parts off just for funsies sometimes. I could get a beater bike that I could leave out on the streets I suppose, but even that I wouldn't want to leave outside 24/7. But my building charges a $60 bike storage fee yearly, so it would only save me $15 a year over divvy. The other nice thing about divvy is I can just grab one and go. No looking for my lock. No trying to remember if the batteries in my lights are charged. I take divvy to work most mornings, walk home most evenings.

Taran Wanderer

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10105 on: August 25, 2015, 12:42:57 AM »
Just heard this gem: coworker and wife are lazy. They don't want to walk like 5 blocks a couple times a week to some destination in NYC. What do they do? They take Uber of course! According to him, they take about 6 x 2 rides a week, each costing about $8, so like $100/wk ($5,200/yr). To save, his wife is now going to get a membership to CitiBike ($100/month), which will cut their use down to 1-2 times a week ($25/wk), or a total of $2,500/yr ALL BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO WALK 5 BLOCKS!

Long blocks or short blocks?  How lazy are they really?
« Last Edit: August 25, 2015, 12:45:07 AM by FlatWave »

LennStar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10106 on: August 25, 2015, 03:38:58 AM »
mm1970, I suggest that it isn't worth while continuing this argument. Those of us who have experienced it know what you're talking about. There is no changing the minds of the others. Just let their comments roll off your back.
The old experience against math argument. Its the same with religion. Nobody can proof the existance of any God, but a lot of people still believe. Because they feel better believing it.
That isnt a problem. The problem starts when the believers go round saying someone else has to believe because "experience!"

CmFtns

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10107 on: August 25, 2015, 06:57:27 AM »
I see my story about soda started a multi-page argument about weight gain/loss so let's get off that non-comedic topic and move on to more stories. That's what this thread is about anyway right?

Anyway my coworkers and I are all software engineers... make good money... so we're all talking and one CW is complaining about how his insurance is going to drop him if he starts driving for uber... Now i'm confused because usually people at my work are at least fairly responsible or at least make enough money to not be drowning in our low COL area. So i'm wondering why would someone with his skillset want to drive for uber. Apparently they literally need the extra paycheck and cant live without it.

So I said: "My solution is to not spend so much money"
He said: "HAHA... Well tell my wife that..."

I was thinking: "YEA... TELL YOUR WIFE THAT!"

antarestar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10108 on: August 25, 2015, 07:59:46 AM »
Just heard this gem: coworker and wife are lazy. They don't want to walk like 5 blocks a couple times a week to some destination in NYC. What do they do? They take Uber of course! According to him, they take about 6 x 2 rides a week, each costing about $8, so like $100/wk ($5,200/yr). To save, his wife is now going to get a membership to CitiBike ($100/month), which will cut their use down to 1-2 times a week ($25/wk), or a total of $2,500/yr ALL BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO WALK 5 BLOCKS!

Long blocks or short blocks?  How lazy are they really?

NYC block is 1/10 of a mile. They are ubering 1/2 a mile each time.

Pooperman

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10109 on: August 25, 2015, 08:03:16 AM »
Just heard this gem: coworker and wife are lazy. They don't want to walk like 5 blocks a couple times a week to some destination in NYC. What do they do? They take Uber of course! According to him, they take about 6 x 2 rides a week, each costing about $8, so like $100/wk ($5,200/yr). To save, his wife is now going to get a membership to CitiBike ($100/month), which will cut their use down to 1-2 times a week ($25/wk), or a total of $2,500/yr ALL BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO WALK 5 BLOCKS!

Long blocks or short blocks?  How lazy are they really?

NYC block is 1/10 of a mile. They are ubering 1/2 a mile each time.

And that is pathetic. I walk from WTC to basically the ferry every day. That's about a mile each way (since I have to walk back after work).

druth

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10110 on: August 25, 2015, 08:05:20 AM »
mm1970, I suggest that it isn't worth while continuing this argument. Those of us who have experienced it know what you're talking about. There is no changing the minds of the others. Just let their comments roll off your back.

Agreed, I have strong opinions on this whole discussion but I accept that this is totally not the place to do it.  Can't we go back to making fun of our coworkers?

Lizzy B.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10111 on: August 25, 2015, 08:07:26 AM »
Phew, finally made other to the end (again).  Although since I skipped/skimmed the gun and weight loss discussions, perhaps I only get partial credit.

This isn't too bad compared with many other stories in here, but yesterday while discussing the recent market turmoil a co-worker told me that he doesn't invest because "to get good returns you need to pay for information."  Apparently we're all screwed if we don't get insider tips. Oh dear. I hope this philosophy doesn't keep him from having a 401k since our employer contributes a fixed %age (not a match).

GuitarStv

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10112 on: August 25, 2015, 08:20:43 AM »
Gtrsteve tried to explain, but follow on quoters clearly missed it.


I didn't miss it. I'm waiting to hear how you balance all the other nutritional needs while getting 800 or fewer calories a day.

Calories are not the only thing the body needs to run.

Yeah, In - Out will cause weight loss, but there are going to be other problems developing.

How do you balance nutritional needs while living on 800 calories a day?  That's easy!  It's easy because living on 800 calories a day is absurdly low.  Fix your initial plan.

If you're a completely sedentary male between 31-50 years old, you need about 2200 calories a day.  1800 calories if you're a completely sedentary woman 31-50 years old.  (http://www.webmd.com/diet/estimated-calorie-requirement)

- Rather than crash dieting and trying to cut more than 60% of your daily recommended calories out . . . be sensible and make small changes over a longer period of time.  Rather than cut 1200 calories a day, cut 200.  It might take longer to lose weight, but you won't be putting yourself at risk.
- Alternatively, stop being sedentary.  Being active can substantially increase the number of calories (by more than 30%) needed to maintain your weight.  No need to diet at all.

or

Do both.  Cut say, 200 calories out of your daily intake while getting some exercise.  Over a period of a year, you'll lose a ton of weight without having issues getting enough nutrients and you'll stop being sedentary which tends to have a myriad of beneficial effects.  These beneficial patterns you follow will become ingrained as good habits and will pay off a lifetime of dividends.

Woah, three simple and sensible options that have worked for millions of people!

Alternatively, complain about how your hormones are keeping you weak, fat, and sedentary . . . how you eat a perfect diet and exercise, physics is wrong, and your body can create fat out of nothing.  I don't care what you do personally.  It's only when you try to mislead others with that mindset that I'll object.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10113 on: August 25, 2015, 09:07:20 AM »
You're making a lot of assumptions.
1) I am not sedentary, except when required by a doctor. (Like right now, because I am dropping weight like crazy due to the lovely little parasite in my uterus.)
2) Those calorie counts are absurdly high for someone my height/weight.  Not everyone is a median height.
3) I've never crash dieted. I actually worked with a nutritionalist at the hospital last year, and with an hour of high intensity daily exercise (1 rest day) was on a 1,100 calorie diet. I lost about a pound every 3 weeks on that one; but sadly it wasn't sustainable because the exercise routine sent me back to PT. Without the exercise the hospital recommended 800 calories and weekly monitoring visits. I wasn't willing to do that- I am not obese, I don't need to lose the weight that badly. If I ate 1800 calories, with exercise, I'd be a balloon. But I really appreciate the medical advice, despite you having never seen me.  I am sure you know better than the professionals who have treated me.

Quote
Alternatively, complain about how your hormones are keeping you weak, fat, and sedentary . . . how you eat a perfect diet and exercise, physics is wrong, and your body can create fat out of nothing.  I don't care what you do personally.  It's only when you try to mislead others with that mindset that I'll object.
I did not say a single one of these things.  I merely said, that if you eat well and exercise regularly in your 20s you are screwed later in life. Because as the equation goes, you have to have less in or more out.  When you were already at a healthy low in and a high out when you are young, adjusting that when you get older is not as simple as stopping with the soda and beer. Because there WAS no soda and beer. You can't just drop bad habits if you didn't have them. And only rarely does your body allow you to exercise MORE as you age.  If you could go and unbreak my neck and remove the spinal cord damage, that would be fabulous. Because it would open up a lot more activity streams that I am no longer able to participate in.  I'd also appreciate if you untore the labrum in my hip, and undid all the tendonitis. Those limit quite a few things as well.

4) This has nothing to do with work.
« Last Edit: August 25, 2015, 09:10:07 AM by iowajes »

HairyUpperLip

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10114 on: August 25, 2015, 09:14:01 AM »
You guys are killing the thread. No foam jokes. This is just getting silly.

Pooperman

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10115 on: August 25, 2015, 09:18:24 AM »
This thread has threadabetes. This can only be cured with some insolent comments about our coworkers!

lifeinhd

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10116 on: August 25, 2015, 09:34:31 AM »
I didn't lose an ounce when I stopped drinking soda. 

Grr.

Neither did I, but then again I never had much to lose.

ducky19

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10117 on: August 25, 2015, 10:56:07 AM »
Just heard this gem: coworker and wife are lazy. They don't want to walk like 5 blocks a couple times a week to some destination in NYC. What do they do? They take Uber of course! According to him, they take about 6 x 2 rides a week, each costing about $8, so like $100/wk ($5,200/yr). To save, his wife is now going to get a membership to CitiBike ($100/month), which will cut their use down to 1-2 times a week ($25/wk), or a total of $2,500/yr ALL BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO WALK 5 BLOCKS!

Long blocks or short blocks?  How lazy are they really?

$25 x 52 weeks is $1300, not $2500 - so even if the CitiBike membership was $100/mo, they are still saving $2700/year.

mm1970

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10118 on: August 25, 2015, 10:57:45 AM »
You're making a lot of assumptions.
1) I am not sedentary, except when required by a doctor. (Like right now, because I am dropping weight like crazy due to the lovely little parasite in my uterus.)
2) Those calorie counts are absurdly high for someone my height/weight.  Not everyone is a median height.
3) I've never crash dieted. I actually worked with a nutritionalist at the hospital last year, and with an hour of high intensity daily exercise (1 rest day) was on a 1,100 calorie diet. I lost about a pound every 3 weeks on that one; but sadly it wasn't sustainable because the exercise routine sent me back to PT. Without the exercise the hospital recommended 800 calories and weekly monitoring visits. I wasn't willing to do that- I am not obese, I don't need to lose the weight that badly. If I ate 1800 calories, with exercise, I'd be a balloon. But I really appreciate the medical advice, despite you having never seen me.  I am sure you know better than the professionals who have treated me.

Quote
Alternatively, complain about how your hormones are keeping you weak, fat, and sedentary . . . how you eat a perfect diet and exercise, physics is wrong, and your body can create fat out of nothing.  I don't care what you do personally.  It's only when you try to mislead others with that mindset that I'll object.
I did not say a single one of these things.  I merely said, that if you eat well and exercise regularly in your 20s you are screwed later in life. Because as the equation goes, you have to have less in or more out.  When you were already at a healthy low in and a high out when you are young, adjusting that when you get older is not as simple as stopping with the soda and beer. Because there WAS no soda and beer. You can't just drop bad habits if you didn't have them. And only rarely does your body allow you to exercise MORE as you age.  If you could go and unbreak my neck and remove the spinal cord damage, that would be fabulous. Because it would open up a lot more activity streams that I am no longer able to participate in.  I'd also appreciate if you untore the labrum in my hip, and undid all the tendonitis. Those limit quite a few things as well.

4) This has nothing to do with work.
I agree, time to go back to making fun of our coworkers!

Seriously, I got nothing.  I work with engineers, most are pretty frugal.  We've had 3 layoffs in 2 years, there aren't many people left.  No raises in 4 years.  Nobody is spending diddly.

Except my officemate who got married and took 2 weeks to go to SE Asia.  That was expensive.  But you only get married once!  (ha)

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10119 on: August 25, 2015, 10:58:49 AM »
Quote
$25 x 52 weeks is $1300, not $2500 - so even if the CitiBike membership was $100/mo, they are still saving $2700/year.

I could save them another $1,000 a year in the first year (and then $1,200 a year after that.)

Buy a $200 bike.


Pooperman

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10120 on: August 25, 2015, 11:00:23 AM »
Just heard this gem: coworker and wife are lazy. They don't want to walk like 5 blocks a couple times a week to some destination in NYC. What do they do? They take Uber of course! According to him, they take about 6 x 2 rides a week, each costing about $8, so like $100/wk ($5,200/yr). To save, his wife is now going to get a membership to CitiBike ($100/month), which will cut their use down to 1-2 times a week ($25/wk), or a total of $2,500/yr ALL BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO WALK 5 BLOCKS!

Long blocks or short blocks?  How lazy are they really?

$25 x 52 weeks is $1300, not $2500 - so even if the CitiBike membership was $100/mo, they are still saving $2700/year.

$1300 from Uber + $1200 form the CitiBike = $2500. They're spending $2500 a year not to walk half a mile. That's pathetic considering I walk about 3 miles a day to and from work. Even a mile only takes like 20 minutes to walk casually, and that's not bad at all!

MgoSam

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10121 on: August 25, 2015, 11:03:02 AM »
Just heard this gem: coworker and wife are lazy. They don't want to walk like 5 blocks a couple times a week to some destination in NYC. What do they do? They take Uber of course! According to him, they take about 6 x 2 rides a week, each costing about $8, so like $100/wk ($5,200/yr). To save, his wife is now going to get a membership to CitiBike ($100/month), which will cut their use down to 1-2 times a week ($25/wk), or a total of $2,500/yr ALL BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO WALK 5 BLOCKS!

Long blocks or short blocks?  How lazy are they really?

$25 x 52 weeks is $1300, not $2500 - so even if the CitiBike membership was $100/mo, they are still saving $2700/year.

$1300 from Uber + $1200 form the CitiBike = $2500. They're spending $2500 a year not to walk half a mile. That's pathetic considering I walk about 3 miles a day to and from work. Even a mile only takes like 20 minutes to walk casually, and that's not bad at all!

I can understand during winter, but half a mile might do them some good. If they were to do it say once a week, instead of every day, they might find that they actually enjoy the fresh air. Driving won't save them all that much time, as half a mile takes about 10 minutes, driving without traffic might save off a few minutes...but then there's waiting for Uber to come, and stop lights, and traffic, and the like and you might end up taking the exact amount of time.

HairyUpperLip

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10122 on: August 25, 2015, 11:53:45 AM »
I can understand during winter, but half a mile might do them some good.

You can understand that living in Minnesota? When I worked in Iowa I walked about 0.6 miles to and from work. I did it in even in the dead of winter - I just did silly stuff like dressing appropriately.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10123 on: August 25, 2015, 12:17:13 PM »
I can understand during winter, but half a mile might do them some good.

You can understand that living in Minnesota? When I worked in Iowa I walked about 0.6 miles to and from work. I did it in even in the dead of winter - I just did silly stuff like dressing appropriately.

My parking lot is a mile from my building, I get to walk that twice a day.  It has to be below -35 windchill before I make my husband drive me to the office door.  And yeah, I wear ski pants over my office clothing, and keep shoes at work because I wear snow boots.

It seems like the time it takes to wait for the Uber car to pick you up, you'd be done walking. I don't think NYC gets THAT cold for that many days. The biggest problem is that it will be slushy. The Manolo's aren't going to like that.

Pooperman

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10124 on: August 25, 2015, 12:39:41 PM »
I can understand during winter, but half a mile might do them some good.

You can understand that living in Minnesota? When I worked in Iowa I walked about 0.6 miles to and from work. I did it in even in the dead of winter - I just did silly stuff like dressing appropriately.

My parking lot is a mile from my building, I get to walk that twice a day.  It has to be below -35 windchill before I make my husband drive me to the office door.  And yeah, I wear ski pants over my office clothing, and keep shoes at work because I wear snow boots.

It seems like the time it takes to wait for the Uber car to pick you up, you'd be done walking. I don't think NYC gets THAT cold for that many days. The biggest problem is that it will be slushy. The Manolo's aren't going to like that.

NYC hasn't been that cold since the last ice age :/.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10125 on: August 25, 2015, 12:42:52 PM »
$25 x 52 weeks is $1300, not $2500 - so even if the CitiBike membership was $100/mo, they are still wasting $2500/year.
Fixed that.
If I ever get so f'ing lazy and self-absorbed that I feel I'm entitled to forgo $36K (investments+gains) over a decade instead of walking my happy ass five blocks, I hope someone shoots me in the head.
« Last Edit: August 25, 2015, 01:07:59 PM by zephyr911 »

MgoSam

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10126 on: August 25, 2015, 01:03:09 PM »
I can understand during winter, but half a mile might do them some good.

You can understand that living in Minnesota? When I worked in Iowa I walked about 0.6 miles to and from work. I did it in even in the dead of winter - I just did silly stuff like dressing appropriately.

I walk way more than a mile in the dead of winter (fresh air is fresh air), but for someone that doesn't do any walking...starting now in summer might be an easier way. By winter, they may think, 'man, this is so much easier than wasting my money, I'm going to continue walking.'

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10127 on: August 25, 2015, 01:41:51 PM »
Not walking 5 blocks in NYC, regardless of weather is ridiculous.

My friend visited NYC with her sister who insisted on getting cabs everywhere. Couldn't walk more than a couple blocks and no way she'd use the subway (like it was 1980 NYC or something). It drove my friend nuts! She's the type to run 15km in central park.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10128 on: August 25, 2015, 02:25:40 PM »
Just heard this gem: coworker and wife are lazy. They don't want to walk like 5 blocks a couple times a week to some destination in NYC. What do they do? They take Uber of course! According to him, they take about 6 x 2 rides a week, each costing about $8, so like $100/wk ($5,200/yr). To save, his wife is now going to get a membership to CitiBike ($100/month), which will cut their use down to 1-2 times a week ($25/wk), or a total of $2,500/yr ALL BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO WALK 5 BLOCKS!

Long blocks or short blocks?  How lazy are they really?

$25 x 52 weeks is $1300, not $2500 - so even if the CitiBike membership was $100/mo, they are still saving $2700/year.

$1300 from Uber + $1200 form the CitiBike = $2500. They're spending $2500 a year not to walk half a mile. That's pathetic considering I walk about 3 miles a day to and from work. Even a mile only takes like 20 minutes to walk casually, and that's not bad at all!

Isn't a Citibike membership $150/year? I'm pretty sure there's only a surcharge if a ride is longer than 45 minutes, which should more than cover 5 blocks. Even long blocks. Even if you are as clumsy ("Oh, there's a method of stopping a bike that does not involve wiping out? Tell me more!") as I am.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10129 on: August 25, 2015, 02:29:33 PM »
$150 a year sounds a lot more reasonable.

Now- I've seen the Citibike stands in New York, but are they really so often that you wouldn't have to walk a block to pick up the bike, and a block to drop it off; in which case you've walked almost half of the distance the bike has to cover anyway!

bb11

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10130 on: August 25, 2015, 03:05:00 PM »
Just heard this gem: coworker and wife are lazy. They don't want to walk like 5 blocks a couple times a week to some destination in NYC. What do they do? They take Uber of course! According to him, they take about 6 x 2 rides a week, each costing about $8, so like $100/wk ($5,200/yr). To save, his wife is now going to get a membership to CitiBike ($100/month), which will cut their use down to 1-2 times a week ($25/wk), or a total of $2,500/yr ALL BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO WALK 5 BLOCKS!

Long blocks or short blocks?  How lazy are they really?

$25 x 52 weeks is $1300, not $2500 - so even if the CitiBike membership was $100/mo, they are still saving $2700/year.

$1300 from Uber + $1200 form the CitiBike = $2500. They're spending $2500 a year not to walk half a mile. That's pathetic considering I walk about 3 miles a day to and from work. Even a mile only takes like 20 minutes to walk casually, and that's not bad at all!

Citibike is only $149 a year mate. Pretty good deal actually.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10131 on: August 25, 2015, 03:18:27 PM »

In Michigan, at least on campus in Ann Arbor, the homeless are more than willing to dig through garbages to find cans. They would break into fraternities to try to collect their cans early Saturday and Sunday morning.

The streets of Iowa City are always covered in cans on game day, because people throw them on the ground for the homeless.

But overall, I think A LOT more cans go into the trash than the homeless are able to grab.  Our homeless population really doesn't extend into the suburbs well.

When we lived in Iowa City there was an old Chinese man who would go around on his bike picking up the cans.  I always figured he was some surgeon's father and she said, "Oh, Dad..." whenever she saw him doing it.  I also assumed that when the first grandchild graduated from high school, he showed up with a big check from years of collecting cans and said, "See, I wasn't crazy."

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10132 on: August 25, 2015, 03:23:29 PM »

In Michigan, at least on campus in Ann Arbor, the homeless are more than willing to dig through garbages to find cans. They would break into fraternities to try to collect their cans early Saturday and Sunday morning.

The streets of Iowa City are always covered in cans on game day, because people throw them on the ground for the homeless.

But overall, I think A LOT more cans go into the trash than the homeless are able to grab.  Our homeless population really doesn't extend into the suburbs well.

When we lived in Iowa City there was an old Chinese man who would go around on his bike picking up the cans.  I always figured he was some surgeon's father and she said, "Oh, Dad..." whenever she saw him doing it.  I also assumed that when the first grandchild graduated from high school, he showed up with a big check from years of collecting cans and said, "See, I wasn't crazy."

On campus, there was also an old Asian man that would walk around and collect cans on Sat and Sunday morning. Was always polite, and rumor was that he wasn't homeless but would do this on the weekends to help put his kids through school. If that is true, that's just plain awesome and inspiring. The things some parents do to help their kids succeed is amazing.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10133 on: August 25, 2015, 11:29:06 PM »
Anyway my coworkers and I are all software engineers... make good money... so we're all talking and one CW is complaining about how his insurance is going to drop him if he starts driving for uber... Now i'm confused because usually people at my work are at least fairly responsible or at least make enough money to not be drowning in our low COL area. So i'm wondering why would someone with his skillset want to drive for uber. Apparently they literally need the extra paycheck and cant live without it.

Hey, don't knock driving for uber!  I actually -- half-jokingly -- have mentioned a couple times to a co-worker that I want to drive for uber as a side hustle.  She's made me promise not to do it, for safety reasons.  Truth is I'll never do it -- I really have no need for a side hustle -- but I still think it would be kind of cool!

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10134 on: August 26, 2015, 02:36:16 AM »
I actually just started driving for Uber, and I'm a small sizes female. I've only done two rides so far. Passengers were great. Made $32. I'm in the middle of moving so I probably won't do much more driving the next little while, but I have to say I'm excited about the possibilities. Plus I own a paid for Prius, so that helps a little more with gas.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10135 on: August 26, 2015, 10:31:53 AM »
I actually just started driving for Uber, and I'm a small sizes female. I've only done two rides so far. Passengers were great. Made $32. I'm in the middle of moving so I probably won't do much more driving the next little while, but I have to say I'm excited about the possibilities. Plus I own a paid for Prius, so that helps a little more with gas.

This could go under Mustachian People Problems also, but I can't drive for Uber because I don't own a 4 door car  - New Beetle diesel, but living in LA it would qualify in age, being newer than a 2000. In most cities they require a 2005 or newer.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10136 on: August 26, 2015, 10:34:58 AM »
A coworker just ordered a $100,000 Porsche Cayenne. The worst part? He already owns an Audi S4. He won't be trading that in.

$160,000 worth of cars on about $100,000 salary.

I jokingly asked him if he was using it to haul around the kids (he has none). His response: we bought an SUV (because his girlfriend wanted him to) so they could haul mulch, furniture, and things like that. When I asked incredulously if he thought he'd ever actually put something so dirty into his Porsche, he shrugged sheepishly and said they make liners for the cargo areas so you don't get your seats dirty. All the delivery fees in the world couldn't cost this much.

A PORSCHE SUV FOR HAULING MULCH AND FURNITURE.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10137 on: August 26, 2015, 10:56:01 AM »
A coworker just ordered a $100,000 Porsche Cayenne. The worst part? He already owns an Audi S4. He won't be trading that in.

$160,000 worth of cars on about $100,000 salary.

I jokingly asked him if he was using it to haul around the kids (he has none). His response: we bought an SUV (because his girlfriend wanted him to) so they could haul mulch, furniture, and things like that. When I asked incredulously if he thought he'd ever actually put something so dirty into his Porsche, he shrugged sheepishly and said they make liners for the cargo areas so you don't get your seats dirty. All the delivery fees in the world couldn't cost this much.

A PORSCHE SUV FOR HAULING MULCH AND FURNITURE.

Wow, and the Cayenne starts at ~$59k, so he either picked one of the expensive trims (hopefully the plug-in hybrid) or put on a ton of options. Meanwhile, a new Volkswagen Touareg can be had for ~$45k, which shares the same platform as the Cayenne. Of course, that's still ridiculous, but he spent ridiculous plus $55k for essentially the same thing...

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10138 on: August 26, 2015, 11:34:15 AM »

Hey, don't knock driving for uber!  I actually -- half-jokingly -- have mentioned a couple times to a co-worker that I want to drive for uber as a side hustle.  She's made me promise not to do it, for safety reasons.  Truth is I'll never do it -- I really have no need for a side hustle -- but I still think it would be kind of cool!

My Dad does taxes for a lot of low-income people as a way to volunteer for the community.
He said he has never seen someone actually make money driving for Uber. Sure, someone is out there, but most people only look at "how much they brought in". They ignore the taxes, the wear and tear, and some people even ignore the gas! 

He said he has actually seen it result in debt, because they think "I made $50" and then go spend $50.

Obviously, a mustachian wouldn't do this; but it is kind of sad.

I don't know how typical his sample is of Uber drivers, but obviously it is a bit self selected as "poor with finances" or else they wouldn't be using free tax prep services provided by the city.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10139 on: August 26, 2015, 12:26:32 PM »

Hey, don't knock driving for uber!  I actually -- half-jokingly -- have mentioned a couple times to a co-worker that I want to drive for uber as a side hustle.  She's made me promise not to do it, for safety reasons.  Truth is I'll never do it -- I really have no need for a side hustle -- but I still think it would be kind of cool!

My Dad does taxes for a lot of low-income people as a way to volunteer for the community.
He said he has never seen someone actually make money driving for Uber. Sure, someone is out there, but most people only look at "how much they brought in". They ignore the taxes, the wear and tear, and some people even ignore the gas! 

He said he has actually seen it result in debt, because they think "I made $50" and then go spend $50.

Obviously, a mustachian wouldn't do this; but it is kind of sad.

I don't know how typical his sample is of Uber drivers, but obviously it is a bit self selected as "poor with finances" or else they wouldn't be using free tax prep services provided by the city.

The IRS milege rate is, what, like 50 cents a mile? Normally Uber runs me $1/mile, much more if I'm going a short distance (they have a $8-12 minimum ride and I mostly use it for getting heavy things around my neighborhood by SUV). But at $1/mile, once Uber takes their cut, there can't be much left at all. IIRC, the average cab driver in NYC makes 30k for a 12 hour day, 6 days a week.

Yeah, I was considering trying to be a driver with Uber, but didn't think it was worth it. In addition to the low margin (after wear/tear, gas), you also have to consider other start-up expenses like cameras. I didn't think it would be worthwhile to do. Instead of doing this, I may take a part-time job at a tea store near me, mostly because it would be great to meet new people doing that. I know someone that did this when they first moved here because they didn't know anyone and soon made some good friends through it as they shared a common interest in tea.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10140 on: August 26, 2015, 01:00:36 PM »
A coworker just ordered a $100,000 Porsche Cayenne. The worst part? He already owns an Audi S4. He won't be trading that in.

$160,000 worth of cars on about $100,000 salary.

I jokingly asked him if he was using it to haul around the kids (he has none). His response: we bought an SUV (because his girlfriend wanted him to) so they could haul mulch, furniture, and things like that. When I asked incredulously if he thought he'd ever actually put something so dirty into his Porsche, he shrugged sheepishly and said they make liners for the cargo areas so you don't get your seats dirty. All the delivery fees in the world couldn't cost this much.

A PORSCHE SUV FOR HAULING MULCH AND FURNITURE.

Wow, and the Cayenne starts at ~$59k, so he either picked one of the expensive trims (hopefully the plug-in hybrid) or put on a ton of options. Meanwhile, a new Volkswagen Touareg can be had for ~$45k, which shares the same platform as the Cayenne. Of course, that's still ridiculous, but he spent ridiculous plus $55k for essentially the same thing...

My Mom has a friend that owns the original style Cayenne and just recently picked up the fully loaded Hybrid version. No clue on price tag. She kept the previous Cayenne.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWMw4vE3J8s

But in all fairness, she's really well off. The husband owns a chain of medical practices and is a doctor himself.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10141 on: August 26, 2015, 01:33:13 PM »

Hey, don't knock driving for uber!  I actually -- half-jokingly -- have mentioned a couple times to a co-worker that I want to drive for uber as a side hustle.  She's made me promise not to do it, for safety reasons.  Truth is I'll never do it -- I really have no need for a side hustle -- but I still think it would be kind of cool!

My Dad does taxes for a lot of low-income people as a way to volunteer for the community.
He said he has never seen someone actually make money driving for Uber. Sure, someone is out there, but most people only look at "how much they brought in". They ignore the taxes, the wear and tear, and some people even ignore the gas! 

He said he has actually seen it result in debt, because they think "I made $50" and then go spend $50.

Obviously, a mustachian wouldn't do this; but it is kind of sad.

I don't know how typical his sample is of Uber drivers, but obviously it is a bit self selected as "poor with finances" or else they wouldn't be using free tax prep services provided by the city.

The IRS milege rate is, what, like 50 cents a mile? Normally Uber runs me $1/mile, much more if I'm going a short distance (they have a $8-12 minimum ride and I mostly use it for getting heavy things around my neighborhood by SUV). But at $1/mile, once Uber takes their cut, there can't be much left at all. IIRC, the average cab driver in NYC makes 30k for a 12 hour day, 6 days a week.

While visiting NYC, a cab driver told me that the cabs with golden birds or whatever on top tend to clear $100k. I forget what he said the normal cab drivers get but I don't recall it being 30k.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10142 on: August 26, 2015, 02:43:05 PM »
A co-worker, born and raised here in Tampa Bay, Florida, always mentions he hates the beach. (We're blessed with sun and sand, beaches that frequently make the top 10 beach lists.)

He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.


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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10143 on: August 26, 2015, 03:11:49 PM »
He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.

That may be a situation where his family loves the beach and he's just happy to be anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of vacations cause I usually just want to relax and not do much and I can generally just do that with a staycation.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10144 on: August 26, 2015, 03:28:14 PM »
He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.

That may be a situation where his family loves the beach and he's just happy to be anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of vacations cause I usually just want to relax and not do much and I can generally just do that with a staycation.

The problem with a staycation for me is that I have a hard time unplugging. There is a lot of stuff that I could be doing, even if I'm just vegging on the couch, that will annoy me because I *could* be doing it.

If I'm somewhere else, all I can do is have a beer, so I may as well just do that :)

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10145 on: August 26, 2015, 05:55:31 PM »
He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.

That may be a situation where his family loves the beach and he's just happy to be anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of vacations cause I usually just want to relax and not do much and I can generally just do that with a staycation.

The problem with a staycation for me is that I have a hard time unplugging. There is a lot of stuff that I could be doing, even if I'm just vegging on the couch, that will annoy me because I *could* be doing it.

If I'm somewhere else, all I can do is have a beer, so I may as well just do that :)

Yup. And it's not just going SOMEWHERE cool, it's going somewhere that your brain in no way associates with working. For example, my husband and I don't think we could really vacation in the Virgin Islands because we've worked there so many years and it's just GO GO GO most of the time. I think I've spent less than a day's worth of total time in the water or or chilling on the beach over ~40 total weeks spent working there over 14 years.

Now, we didn't have that problem on our single visit to the Florida Keys because the species that we work on were not present, and there wasn't very much land that our work-oriented brains felt compelled to "GO SURVEY!!!" though we did mull over work opportunities that could be pursued there.

Hawaii, which has superficially similar amenities, does not trigger this compulsion when we are there. We don't work...don't feel the urge...just zone out. But we've only been there twice. Too many visits and we'll undoubtedly start itching to do some fieldwork and be less able to chill.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10146 on: August 27, 2015, 08:32:16 AM »

I was basing it off this:

http://www.quora.com/New-York-City-Taxis/How-much-money-do-NYC-cab-drivers-make-on-average

Cab is kind of a broad term; there are a lot of hired car drivers in NYC, making a lot of different amounts. And at least in Queens, every time I've gotten into a cab (not Uber) at night, I have to fight with the driver to turn the meter on, because they want to drive with the meter off and collect cash, so I assume there's some degree of tax evasion going on as well.

yeah, google told me 30kish too. That's surprising. I'm sure there is a lot of unclaimed cash tips.


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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10147 on: August 27, 2015, 09:52:55 AM »
He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.

That may be a situation where his family loves the beach and he's just happy to be anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of vacations cause I usually just want to relax and not do much and I can generally just do that with a staycation.

The problem with a staycation for me is that I have a hard time unplugging. There is a lot of stuff that I could be doing, even if I'm just vegging on the couch, that will annoy me because I *could* be doing it.

If I'm somewhere else, all I can do is have a beer, so I may as well just do that :)

Yup. And it's not just going SOMEWHERE cool, it's going somewhere that your brain in no way associates with working. For example, my husband and I don't think we could really vacation in the Virgin Islands because we've worked there so many years and it's just GO GO GO most of the time. I think I've spent less than a day's worth of total time in the water or or chilling on the beach over ~40 total weeks spent working there over 14 years.

Now, we didn't have that problem on our single visit to the Florida Keys because the species that we work on were not present, and there wasn't very much land that our work-oriented brains felt compelled to "GO SURVEY!!!" though we did mull over work opportunities that could be pursued there.

Hawaii, which has superficially similar amenities, does not trigger this compulsion when we are there. We don't work...don't feel the urge...just zone out. But we've only been there twice. Too many visits and we'll undoubtedly start itching to do some fieldwork and be less able to chill.
I used to totally agree.  And my husband teased me, that as soon as the plane was airborne, he could visibly see my relaxation.

But then I had kids.  We've had several staycations in the last few years (vacationing with a baby / toddler AND another child is stressful), and they were very very nice.

We made sure to do things that we like to do on vacation and not really do any chores.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10148 on: August 27, 2015, 10:03:36 AM »
He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.

That may be a situation where his family loves the beach and he's just happy to be anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of vacations cause I usually just want to relax and not do much and I can generally just do that with a staycation.

The problem with a staycation for me is that I have a hard time unplugging. There is a lot of stuff that I could be doing, even if I'm just vegging on the couch, that will annoy me because I *could* be doing it.

If I'm somewhere else, all I can do is have a beer, so I may as well just do that :)

Yup. And it's not just going SOMEWHERE cool, it's going somewhere that your brain in no way associates with working. For example, my husband and I don't think we could really vacation in the Virgin Islands because we've worked there so many years and it's just GO GO GO most of the time. I think I've spent less than a day's worth of total time in the water or or chilling on the beach over ~40 total weeks spent working there over 14 years.

Now, we didn't have that problem on our single visit to the Florida Keys because the species that we work on were not present, and there wasn't very much land that our work-oriented brains felt compelled to "GO SURVEY!!!" though we did mull over work opportunities that could be pursued there.

Hawaii, which has superficially similar amenities, does not trigger this compulsion when we are there. We don't work...don't feel the urge...just zone out. But we've only been there twice. Too many visits and we'll undoubtedly start itching to do some fieldwork and be less able to chill.
I used to totally agree.  And my husband teased me, that as soon as the plane was airborne, he could visibly see my relaxation.

But then I had kids.  We've had several staycations in the last few years (vacationing with a baby / toddler AND another child is stressful), and they were very very nice.

We made sure to do things that we like to do on vacation and not really do any chores.

That's a good point. Earlier this year, I took my first vacation in a few years (normally just take a day off every once in a while to refresh). I was coming back from business in Chicago and stayed at a hotel in WI that is owned by a family friend. The room would otherwise be vacant, so I got a suite for free. Only problem is that there is nothing to do in that town, and after a day I just checked out and came back home. Instead, I didn't tell anyone from work that I was back in town, and just enjoyed the rest of my 'vacation.'

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #10149 on: August 27, 2015, 02:25:12 PM »
My Dad does taxes for a lot of low-income people as a way to volunteer for the community.
He said he has never seen someone actually make money driving for Uber. Sure, someone is out there, but most people only look at "how much they brought in". They ignore the taxes, the wear and tear, and some people even ignore the gas! 

He said he has actually seen it result in debt, because they think "I made $50" and then go spend $50.

Obviously, a mustachian wouldn't do this; but it is kind of sad.

I don't know how typical his sample is of Uber drivers, but obviously it is a bit self selected as "poor with finances" or else they wouldn't be using free tax prep services provided by the city.
I've thought about doing it with my EV as a FIRE job. Cost per mile is lower, but it'd really be more of an awareness/outreach thing for fun. Any profit would just be ICE-ing on the cake (pardon the pun).