Overheard at Work

[gooki]

What's wrong with bare footing it around the office?

[plainjane]

Yesterday I didn't realize until 3pm that I was wearing my shirt backwards.  And then I needed to go to a client meeting, so I wore it backwards there too.

[Rural]

What's wrong with bare footing it around the office?

I do this a fair bit, especially when I'm working at my standing desk because I usually slip off shoes to stand on my anti fatigue mat. Often I'll run down the hall in socks then (not barefoot because sometimes staples in the carpet). But I won't go into the bathroom without shoes (gross), and as I'm a woman of a certain age, this means putting on shoes every hour and a half or so,

[mustachepungoeshere]

What's wrong with bare footing it around the office?

I do in summer.

Not in winter. Cold feet.

[gggggg]

Coworker and friend who is in debt to his eyeballs told me this week he wants to buy the empty house next to his and rent it, he also has been looking at brand new 40k+ sports cars. I tried to warn him (with minimal nagging)...This same friend eats out AT LEAST twice a day and drives long distances to work in his gas guzzler full size V8 pickup. He recently bought his 16 year old daughter (who doesn't work) a brand new vehicle. A couple of times a year he'll realize that he's in over his head with bills, and work crazy hours at our job to cover the debt. I try to set an example, and talk to the coworkers here and there about personal finance, but what can you do in the end, ugh.

[kayvent]

CW: Yeah, I see a lot of retired people in my neighborhood & I don't want that.
Me: (boggling) REALLY?!?!?!

His/he response isn't completely unreasonable. I too have seen many retired people that don't seem to do much and that kind of life doesn't appeal to me. Thankfully I know that those are only some people, many more live much more filling lives upon retirement. Another way I look at it is that after I stop earning money (so technically retired) I plan on keeping my self active. Current plan is to move to South America to become fluent in Spanish and from there I'm may move then to India to become fluent in Hindi.

Think of it this way: other people's choice to stay employed actually makes FIRE easier for us. We're hacking the system, which, to a degree, depends on the majority of participants not hacking the system.
Or just look at it as supply and demand... the less people want FIRE, the cheaper it is for those who do ;)

I am hesitant to conclude on whether it does or does not help. I'll give a toy example on how it may not help you. Say you want to buy a home in your 20's because you know that one way to become FIRE'd early is to reduce your housing expense drastically. If everyone around you is willing to put 0% down on a property and engage in bidding wars, you need a larger downpayment and the people you are buying from are less flexible in price since they paid 0% down ten years ago on a thirty-year mortgage (i.e. the bulk of the principal is outstanding, about 97% if they had a 5% mortgage).

The math at the end (bolded) is not correct--they should have paid about 19% of principal down on a fully amortizing, 30 year loan @ 5% after 10 years, and have 81% remaining (even though the term is 33% over, only 2/3rd left, because of how amortizing loans work).

That aside, your basic point is correct on the whole market rising, in general.

Thanks for the correction. I felt tired while writing so instead of calculating it by hand I used a mortgage calculator from a large Canadian bank to come to that 97% number. A mistake must have been made by me. Perhaps I input a number wrong or read the output wrong.

[Making Cookies]

Yesterday I didn't realize until 3pm that I was wearing my shirt backwards.  And then I needed to go to a client meeting, so I wore it backwards there too.

I've managed to make it an hour or mor at work without realizing my shirt was inside out. This is a casual place most of time. Nobody noticed. Whew! (or nobody told me they noticed)

[mm1970]

Yesterday I didn't realize until 3pm that I was wearing my shirt backwards.  And then I needed to go to a client meeting, so I wore it backwards there too.

I've managed to make it an hour or mor at work without realizing my shirt was inside out. This is a casual place most of time. Nobody noticed. Whew! (or nobody told me they noticed)

Two days ago I made it from 7:30 am to 1 pm before I noticed my shirt was inside out.  And none of my male coworkers noticed either.

[KodeBlue]

the joy of wearing scrub suits. Never inside out, always match.

[kayvent]

Near the end of the workday on a Friday we're talking openly across the office. Boss is telling us that since his wife is expecting their fourth child, they have a new vehicle. And here is where our story unfolds.

Boss: The <Major Maxivan Brand Name> drives quite nicely. I now have three vehicles now. The Civic is the one we'll be getting rid off.
CW: Wait! What did you just say?
Boss: I'm going to sell the Civic.
CW: A Civic?
Boss: Yes???
CW: CW2 the entirety of two weeks ago was enthralled in the process of finding and buying a used Civic. And you had one all along!?

In Boss's defence, he has a private office and didn't hear any of CW2's quest the other week. Hilarious nonetheless.

[hollow]

I was listening to a webinar on Thrift Savings Plan (similar 401k) loans and withdrawals.  I was hoping they would talk about how they hope to expand the limited withdrawal options for TSP. They did not.

CW: Let's say I take a loan, retire, and can't pay it back within the 90-day window.  Can I make a new payment plan?

Why on earth would you retire if you're in such dire financial straits?

The answer is no you can't. It becomes a taxable distribution after 90 days. So you'd have to pay taxes with money you (apparently) don't have.

[With This Herring]

Yesterday I didn't realize until 3pm that I was wearing my shirt backwards.  And then I needed to go to a client meeting, so I wore it backwards there too.

I've managed to make it an hour or mor at work without realizing my shirt was inside out. This is a casual place most of time. Nobody noticed. Whew! (or nobody told me they noticed)

Two days ago I made it from 7:30 am to 1 pm before I noticed my shirt was inside out.  And none of my male coworkers noticed either.

There was a brief period during my high school years when shirts with exposed seams were fashionable for teenage girls.  I had a very difficult time telling whether the shirts were inside out or not.

[Primm]

WTF.  Do you guys not arrange your shoes in pairs, one next to the other?

A little presumptuous to assume we all have 2 feet.

True story: as a wet-behind-the-ears student nurse many years ago I spent about 15 minutes hunting for the 2nd slipper of a patient so she could go for a walk, while she and her below-knee-amputated left leg chuckled at me from in the bed.

[TomTX]

Here's one from my old job:

Coworker:   Do you think $50 is too much to pay for a t-shirt?
Me:  Um, probably.   Who's it for?
Her:   My ten-year-old niece.
Me:  Yikes!   Is the shirt really cool-looking?
Her:  Not really - it's plain white.
Me:   In that case, yes, $50 is way too much.
Her:  But it's from The Gap!
Me:   I still think that's a really expensive shirt for a ten-year-old.
Her:   (Flouncing away) Ohhh, what do YOU know?

www.jiffyshirts.com

I think I got this from the forums here, years ago.  It's my go-to place for my boys (husband and boys 10 and 4)

How good are the quality for men's undershirts (both black and white one)? I've been meaning to get some black undershirts but haven't pulled the trigger and some (translation, nearly all) of my white undershirts are starting to show wear and tear.

Hm. I don't know.  Thus far I've purchased the Gildan cotton shirts for my husband and boys.  I have purchased the solid colors for outerwear, not the undershirts.  And they fit just fine.  But we aren't looking for fitted, we are looking for just regular shirts.  My husband is tall, (and long waisted), and the XL's are fine as long as he doesn't put them in the dryer.  (Or they will shrink to be too short).

We got a bunch of Gildan shirts for my wife for $2 each (new) on clearance. Thin, but they have been durable - and they dry quickly.

I recently splurged and got myself 2 high tech moisture wicking tshirts in really pretty colors for a bit under $4 each (after coupon.)

[Greenway52]

I also have two pair of work shoes, one black, one dark brown, and yeah, they're all but identical (AE Park Avenue and Fifth Avenue) so if you try to get dressed in the dark it's easy to end up with a mismatched pair or the wrong pair from what you intended to wear.

See, this is exactly why you should only have one pair of shoes. Mo shoes mo problems!

[Greenway52]

Not exactly on topic of overheard at work, but still hilarious nonetheless (and I couldn't find another topic to fit this in), I was called by CIBC (my bank), offering me Imperial Service. I didn't apply to it, but apparently it's a service where they assign to me a Financial Advisor supposedly to help me prepare for my financial goals (but in reality, it's more to sell me CIBC products).

Even though I don't really want it, I'm terrible at saying "No" and since its a free service anyways, I just went ahead with our introductory phone call. We were discussing retirement when he said "With my help you can retire comfortably by 65. And some people want to retire early - even as early as 55 or 60!".

Good thing I was on the phone and not meeting him in person, as I couldn't stop laughing.

I didn't tell him my FIRE plans (plus I'm much more interested in FI than RE anyways). But the crazy thing is he knew my income (since my pay deposits to the bank), he knew my spending was about $700/month, and he knew I was investing like crazy. But still earliest I could retire (with his help too, mind you!) was at 55!

[kayvent]

Not exactly on topic of overheard at work, but still hilarious nonetheless (and I couldn't find another topic to fit this in), I was called by CIBC (my bank), offering me Imperial Service. I didn't apply to it, but apparently it's a service where they assign to me a Financial Advisor supposedly to help me prepare for my financial goals (but in reality, it's more to sell me CIBC products).

Even though I don't really want it, I'm terrible at saying "No" and since its a free service anyways, I just went ahead with our introductory phone call. We were discussing retirement when he said "With my help you can retire comfortably by 65. And some people want to retire early - even as early as 55 or 60!".

Good thing I was on the phone and not meeting him in person, as I couldn't stop laughing.

I didn't tell him my FIRE plans (plus I'm much more interested in FI than RE anyways). But the crazy thing is he knew my income (since my pay deposits to the bank), he knew my spending was about $700/month, and he knew I was investing like crazy. But still earliest I could retire (with his help too, mind you!) was at 55!

I'm putting 40% on him reading from a script, 40% thinking you are only saving to spend it (ex. house, boat, etc...), 19% that he is just wasting time talking to you since he gets paid regardless, and 1% that he was trolling you.

[FireZoneBlitz]

I received a promotion at work about a year ago. This year two of the people I manage bought new cars and both spent around 60-70k.

One of my other employees: wow did you see the new cars?

Me: Yes they are really nice.

Emp: So are you going to get a REALLY nice new car now?

Me: Why?  My Honda is 6 years old and only has 84k miles..

Emp:  Well you must be making more than them so you should be able to afford it

I just changed the subject.

[Making Cookies]

"You've had your car a long time. How many miles on it?"

300K

"Wow. Are you going to replace it soon?"

Nope.

"What are you going to do if it breaks? Its inevitable."

We'll fix it.

"???"

(of course we'll fix it unless the cost of repairs are ridiculous. I do my own wrenching most of the time. I don't worry about Blue Book value. I look at how long I can avoid a car payment within reason. A new car payment might be $400/month. So if I had to spend $500 on it - and it'll last several more years then I'm way ahead.

Other folks I've known use a different yard stick. The car is worth $1500 and the repair is $500 - ditch it and buy something new/newer.

[MgoSam]

Other folks I've known use a different yard stick. The car is worth $1500 and the repair is $500 - ditch it and buy something new/newer.

Yeah, I still don't understand that type of reasoning. It's one thing if you can buy a perfectly acceptable car for $1500, then it might be worthwhile, but otherwise I know my car and if it will be driveable for a while with a $500 repair, then I'm going to repair it.

[Kitsune]

Other folks I've known use a different yard stick. The car is worth $1500 and the repair is $500 - ditch it and buy something new/newer.

Yeah, I still don't understand that type of reasoning. It's one thing if you can buy a perfectly acceptable car for $1500, then it might be worthwhile, but otherwise I know my car and if it will be driveable for a while with a $500 repair, then I'm going to repair it.

Yeah, this. After 100k km, we've just had to make the first repairs on our Honda Fit (changing the break pads and an issue with the transmission) - cost 1k, and we're good to go for at least another year of uber-reliable gas-efficient car.

My colleagues are all "omg, repairs, time to get a new car!!" Like, whut. What I just put in this car would be equal to 2 months of their car payments. I'll make the repairs and then pocket the extra 10 months worth of car payments, yeah?

[Chris22]

Not exactly on topic of overheard at work, but still hilarious nonetheless (and I couldn't find another topic to fit this in), I was called by CIBC (my bank), offering me Imperial Service. I didn't apply to it, but apparently it's a service where they assign to me a Financial Advisor supposedly to help me prepare for my financial goals (but in reality, it's more to sell me CIBC products).

Even though I don't really want it, I'm terrible at saying "No" and since its a free service anyways, I just went ahead with our introductory phone call. We were discussing retirement when he said "With my help you can retire comfortably by 65. And some people want to retire early - even as early as 55 or 60!".

Good thing I was on the phone and not meeting him in person, as I couldn't stop laughing.

I didn't tell him my FIRE plans (plus I'm much more interested in FI than RE anyways). But the crazy thing is he knew my income (since my pay deposits to the bank), he knew my spending was about $700/month, and he knew I was investing like crazy. But still earliest I could retire (with his help too, mind you!) was at 55!

I'm putting 40% on him reading from a script, 40% thinking you are only saving to spend it (ex. house, boat, etc...), 19% that he is just wasting time talking to you since he gets paid regardless, and 1% that he was trolling you.

98% that he doesn't know or have access to your income and spending patterns beyond what you told him in the call.  Not like everyone who works at the bank can pull up anyone's account and just peruse. 

[mm1970]

Other folks I've known use a different yard stick. The car is worth $1500 and the repair is $500 - ditch it and buy something new/newer.

Yeah, I still don't understand that type of reasoning. It's one thing if you can buy a perfectly acceptable car for $1500, then it might be worthwhile, but otherwise I know my car and if it will be driveable for a while with a $500 repair, then I'm going to repair it.

Yeah, this. After 100k km, we've just had to make the first repairs on our Honda Fit (changing the break pads and an issue with the transmission) - cost 1k, and we're good to go for at least another year of uber-reliable gas-efficient car.

My colleagues are all "omg, repairs, time to get a new car!!" Like, whut. What I just put in this car would be equal to 2 months of their car payments. I'll make the repairs and then pocket the extra 10 months worth of car payments, yeah?

For the second time, a coworker noticed (and laughed at) my hubcaps. 

I've got a 10 year old car, we've lost some hubcaps.  We've replaced all 4 with cheapos.  Well, a month ago spouse was driving it and heard a funny noise.  One fell off, somewhere on the highway. Looks and realizes that there are two missing.

Can't find replacements that are the same (at this point, we've gone through 6 already...the original 4, and two of the second set).

Only finds one set in a store locally that is cheap and the right size.  So he moves the old two to the passenger side and the new two to the driver's side, and keeps the spares in the shed.

Coworker "WTF is up with your wheels?"  I give him the saga.  "Why don't you put the matching set on??"  Um, cuz I don't care?

[arebelspy]

What do you even need them for in the first place?

[Greenway52]

Not exactly on topic of overheard at work, but still hilarious nonetheless (and I couldn't find another topic to fit this in), I was called by CIBC (my bank), offering me Imperial Service. I didn't apply to it, but apparently it's a service where they assign to me a Financial Advisor supposedly to help me prepare for my financial goals (but in reality, it's more to sell me CIBC products).

Even though I don't really want it, I'm terrible at saying "No" and since its a free service anyways, I just went ahead with our introductory phone call. We were discussing retirement when he said "With my help you can retire comfortably by 65. And some people want to retire early - even as early as 55 or 60!".

Good thing I was on the phone and not meeting him in person, as I couldn't stop laughing.

I didn't tell him my FIRE plans (plus I'm much more interested in FI than RE anyways). But the crazy thing is he knew my income (since my pay deposits to the bank), he knew my spending was about $700/month, and he knew I was investing like crazy. But still earliest I could retire (with his help too, mind you!) was at 55!

I'm putting 40% on him reading from a script, 40% thinking you are only saving to spend it (ex. house, boat, etc...), 19% that he is just wasting time talking to you since he gets paid regardless, and 1% that he was trolling you.

98% that he doesn't know or have access to your income and spending patterns beyond what you told him in the call.  Not like everyone who works at the bank can pull up anyone's account and just peruse.

@kayvent: Yeah, I think you're right about the percentages. I'm hoping the 1% trolling is the case, but I doubt it.

@Chris22: Oh, he knew how much I make. He even referenced the company I work for. And when I asked how he knew the company, he said that he can see the transactions on my account. I get paid bi-weekly. So when he sees that on a bi-weekly basis the same company deposits the same amount into my account, it's pretty easy to assume that's the company I work for. If he can see the money coming in, he can see the money going out. But somehow he couldn't put two and two together and figure out I don't need to wait until 55 to retire. Or like kayvent said, he probably thinks I'm just saving up to buy something.

[Greenway52]

What do you even need them for in the first place?

I don't need him. But he called me while I was at work. Initially I wanted to refuse, but just to end the conversation quicker so that I can get back to work, I agreed to the half an hour phone call later. It's free so there's no harm. I'm kind of glad that I had the call with him though ... not because I learned anything, but because of all the funny moments during that call. Besides the retirement issue I mentioned before, we also talked about investments. The conversation went something like this:

Financial Advisor: So how much do you currently pay in fees for your index funds?
Me: The MER of my index fund is 0.05%
Financial Advisor & Me: [laughs awkwardly]
Me [thinking to myself]: Yeah, you're not going to get a better deal for me than that.

As a side note, the ultra low cost ETFs are relatively new in Canada, unlike in the States. Until Vanguard came to Canada, BlackRock for instance was charging about 0.15% for it's MER on broad market ETFs. So a lot of Canadian FAs aren't used to hearing about MERs of 0.05%.

[nnls]

Friend at work just complained about having an electricity bill of over $500 (for a two month period) when I mentioned that hers was literally more than 10x mine ($47 for the same period) she countered with "but yes, you are single, we have two people in the house so of course we use more"

[TexasStash]

Friend at work just complained about having an electricity bill of over $500 (for a two month period) when I mentioned that hers was literally more than 10x mine ($47 for the same period) she countered with "but yes, you are single, we have two people in the house so of course we use more"

Math is hard.

[gimp]

What do you even need them for in the first place?

Yeah... hubcaps are mostly there because old steelies looked like shit; if you're cool with them looking like shit, then there's not a lot of need for hubcaps. Technically it kinda slightly helps keep shit out of your brakes and salt out of your wheel, but not much.

I really prefer the look of pretty much all newer car wheels - they visible side is single-piece with just a center cap over the axle nut; lug nuts poke through between spokes. No more hubcaps.

[Making Cookies]

Yeah, I prefer the cop car steelies. Axle cap, maybe a stainless beauty ring. Maybe chrome lug nuts. Lasts forever.

[mrcheese]

Friend at work just complained about having an electricity bill of over $500 (for a two month period) when I mentioned that hers was literally more than 10x mine ($47 for the same period) she countered with "but yes, you are single, we have two people in the house so of course we use more"

Math is hard.

I had a friend call me just recently to have a whine about how broke they are (make over 100k) and how they just had a car accident (at-fault) and their beloved beat up old ute has been written off. This vehicle was only worth about 2k on a good day, even after they spent over 3k on it last year getting a new motor put in it (by a proper mechanic) and they have been spending ~2.5k every year having it comprehensively insured. It was a >20 year old garden variety hilux...

Third party property damage insurance (for if you ever are in an at-fault accident) can be had here for well under $300 per year - I know because that's what I pay.

[kayvent]

Friend at work just complained about having an electricity bill of over $500 (for a two month period) when I mentioned that hers was literally more than 10x mine ($47 for the same period) she countered with "but yes, you are single, we have two people in the house so of course we use more"

Math is hard.

I guess they need 10 lights on when they are in the same room?

[GuitarStv]

Friend at work just complained about having an electricity bill of over $500 (for a two month period) when I mentioned that hers was literally more than 10x mine ($47 for the same period) she countered with "but yes, you are single, we have two people in the house so of course we use more"

Math is hard.

I guess they need 10 lights on when they are in the same room?

THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!

[Making Cookies]

Maybe they like to air condition the room while the patio doors are open?

[TexasRunner]

So its kinda sad but kinda funny...

Two years ago my coworker had one pit bull.  He moved about a year ago into a country house (out of the city) and decided to start a goat farm (another hilarious story for another time).  He buys a female pit bull for 300$ to breed with the male to make pups to "protect the goats"...  He can't keep his original pit bull in the same fence as the goats or it will kill them (duh).

They breed and he gets three puppies.  Six months ago, the male gets out and kills a goat- one missed day of work and one bullet later that dog is put down.  Yesterday, the "puppies" (now thirty pounds or more) get out and kill another goat.  He is now pondering how to get rid of all four remaining pit bulls without putting them all down...

Total cost:  1 day of work (130$+/-), 2 Goats (150$), 1 Female Pit Bull (300$), Goat feed for two goats he never sold (60$ +/-), 680$ in vet fees and shots...  1320$ for an 'investment' that ALL of us in this shared office told him was a bad idea and wouldn't work.

[By the River]

When I first graduated college, I worked for the electric company and found out that people would complain to me, a low-level FNG, about their electricity bills.  I then rented an apartment which had utilities provided.  Most of my neighbors would have the sliding glass doors open with AC on full-blast and I never had to hear about the cost of electricity.   

[onlykelsey]

So its kinda sad but kinda funny...

Two years ago my coworker had one pit bull.  He moved about a year ago into a country house (out of the city) and decided to start a goat farm (another hilarious story for another time).  He buys a female pit bull for 300$ to breed with the male to make pups to "protect the goats"...  He can't keep his original pit bull in the same fence as the goats or it will kill them (duh).

They breed and he gets three puppies.  Six months ago, the male gets out and kills a goat- one missed day of work and one bullet later that dog is put down.  Yesterday, the "puppies" (now thirty pounds or more) get out and kill another goat.  He is now pondering how to get rid of all four remaining pit bulls without putting them all down...

Total cost:  1 day of work (130$+/-), 2 Goats (150$), 1 Female Pit Bull (300$), Goat feed for two goats he never sold (60$ +/-), 680$ in vet fees and shots...  1320$ for an 'investment' that ALL of us in this shared office told him was a bad idea and wouldn't work.

Ooof.  What did he want the pit bull to protect the goats from?

I have a giant airedale that was bred to protect sheep from coyotes and to dissuade mountain lions, but he's got a good 10 inches on pit bulls.

[mm1970]

What do you even need them for in the first place?

heck if I know...hold back the rusting of the wheels?

[TexasRunner]

Ooof.  What did he want the pit bull to protect the goats from?

I have a giant airedale that was bred to protect sheep from coyotes and to dissuade mountain lions, but he's got a good 10 inches on pit bulls.

Coyotes.  We all told him to get a donkey (which would have been 400$ TOPS) and he said he didn't have the funds...  But he bought a 300$ dog.

[Psychstache]

So its kinda sad but kinda funny...

Two years ago my coworker had one pit bull.  He moved about a year ago into a country house (out of the city) and decided to start a goat farm (another hilarious story for another time).  He buys a female pit bull for 300$ to breed with the male to make pups to "protect the goats"...  He can't keep his original pit bull in the same fence as the goats or it will kill them (duh).

They breed and he gets three puppies.  Six months ago, the male gets out and kills a goat- one missed day of work and one bullet later that dog is put down.  Yesterday, the "puppies" (now thirty pounds or more) get out and kill another goat.  He is now pondering how to get rid of all four remaining pit bulls without putting them all down...

Total cost:  1 day of work (130$+/-), 2 Goats (150$), 1 Female Pit Bull (300$), Goat feed for two goats he never sold (60$ +/-), 680$ in vet fees and shots...  1320$ for an 'investment' that ALL of us in this shared office told him was a bad idea and wouldn't work.

Ooof.  What did he want the pit bull to protect the goats from?

I have a giant airedale that was bred to protect sheep from coyotes and to dissuade mountain lions, but he's got a good 10 inches on pit bulls.

Gaurd llamas are where it's at. No mountain lion or bobcat is gonna mess with your goats while the guard Llama is on duty.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[onlykelsey]

Ooof.  What did he want the pit bull to protect the goats from?

I have a giant airedale that was bred to protect sheep from coyotes and to dissuade mountain lions, but he's got a good 10 inches on pit bulls.

Coyotes.  We all told him to get a donkey (which would have been 400$ TOPS) and he said he didn't have the funds...  But he bought a 300$ dog.

Donkeys are badass.  They don't patrol the edges like guard dogs, but they will mess you up if you get close.  I guess you also probably have to expect higher vet bills, etc.

[9-Volt]

THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!

I LOL'ed

[cerat0n1a]

Gaurd llamas are where it's at. No mountain lion or bobcat is gonna mess with your goats while the guard Llama is on duty.

No dangerous wild animals here in Britain, but I've seen a few places using llamas/alpacas to guard sheep, chickens and/or goats from dogs.

[Threshkin]

Maybe they like to air condition the room while the patio doors are open?

My neighbor is very nice overall but they like to keep their house COLD.  68 is their normal setting during the summer.  When they are gone on vacation for a week or more they turn the thermostat all the way up to 70.  The AC is running almost constantly, even late into the evening when it is cool outside.

They told me they do this because their house is "like and igloo cooler"  If it heats up it is difficult to cool back down so they just keep it cold all the time.  I mentioned that I rarely use the AC, only turning it on when the house gets over 84.  They just shook their heads.

At least they do keep their doors, windows and blinds closed.

[jinga nation]

No dangerous wild animals here in Britain, but I've seen a few places using llamas/alpacas to guard sheep, chickens and/or goats from dogs.

<OT>
Bollocks, mate. You've got chavs and asbos. And there's more gang-bangers in some of yer cities. Technically those are urban wild animals.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Scally
</OT>

[mtn]

Maybe they like to air condition the room while the patio doors are open?

My neighbor is very nice overall but they like to keep their house COLD.  68 is their normal setting during the summer.  When they are gone on vacation for a week or more they turn the thermostat all the way up to 70.  The AC is running almost constantly, even late into the evening when it is cool outside.

They told me they do this because their house is "like and igloo cooler"  If it heats up it is difficult to cool back down so they just keep it cold all the time.  I mentioned that I rarely use the AC, only turning it on when the house gets over 84.  They just shook their heads.

At least they do keep their doors, windows and blinds closed.

Horribly innefficient/undersized AC, or horrible insulation? I did live in a place that we had to tape the edges of the windows AND put cardboard with reflective paper in them, and run the AC at full blast 24/7 so that the upstairs would be in the high 70's by midnight. That one was insane. We didn't care that much since the landlord was paying utilities, but it still was annoying. And trying to tell him that a new AC unit (hell, even just a couple of window units in the bedrooms) would save him money in the long run was useless.

Also the only place I've lived that I had to use the heat as early as October--but at least the furnace was sufficient.

[Making Cookies]

What do you even need them for in the first place?

heck if I know...hold back the rusting of the wheels?

Just another trim item that the car company can use to separate the basic cars from the fancy cars. Really became a big deal in the 40s and 50s. Remember that in the mid-30 people still had spoke wheels on some of the cars and a tiny little hubcap to keep the mud off of the lugnuts and hopefully out of the wheel bearings (there is a cap there but sometimes they come loose). See 1935 Ford Cabriolet for example.

[Making Cookies]

Donkeys are badass.  They don't patrol the edges like guard dogs, but they will mess you up if you get close.  I guess you also probably have to expect higher vet bills, etc.

And they live longer than a dog.

[Chris22]

Maybe they like to air condition the room while the patio doors are open?

My neighbor is very nice overall but they like to keep their house COLD.  68 is their normal setting during the summer.  When they are gone on vacation for a week or more they turn the thermostat all the way up to 70.  The AC is running almost constantly, even late into the evening when it is cool outside.

They told me they do this because their house is "like and igloo cooler"  If it heats up it is difficult to cool back down so they just keep it cold all the time.  I mentioned that I rarely use the AC, only turning it on when the house gets over 84.  They just shook their heads.

At least they do keep their doors, windows and blinds closed.

I keep my house at a temp that would give MMMers fits.  68-70 all year around.  Bump up to 75 if we go away.  I have a small house and a highly efficient brand new HVAC system.  My July electric bill was $124.  Whoopty shit.  If it was $400 I'd do something different.  For $124 I'm keeping it exactly as I like it. 

[RetiredAt63]

Donkeys are badass.  They don't patrol the edges like guard dogs, but they will mess you up if you get close.  I guess you also probably have to expect higher vet bills, etc.

And they live longer than a dog.

And you can compost their manure for the garden.