Author Topic: Overheard at Work  (Read 13253189 times)

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15900 on: December 05, 2016, 02:59:04 PM »
I didn't say it, but my thought was, 48 inches is already insanely huge.

Yea TV sizes have gotten ridiculous.  I have a 37" and it's plenty big but people keep telling me I should go bigger.  It's almost easier to just not have a tv at all than hear about how you should get a 'better' one.

I would have bought a used one, but interestingly I found that most ads on Craigslist were asking more than retail. Interesting phenomenon with TV prices always dropping so rapidly....

I've noticed that before too.  I think it's people not wanting to admit to themselves how fast prices have dropped since they bought it and how much money they're now out.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15901 on: December 05, 2016, 03:26:51 PM »
I didn't say it, but my thought was, 48 inches is already insanely huge.

Yea TV sizes have gotten ridiculous.  I have a 37" and it's plenty big but people keep telling me I should go bigger.  It's almost easier to just not have a tv at all than hear about how you should get a 'better' one.

I would have bought a used one, but interestingly I found that most ads on Craigslist were asking more than retail. Interesting phenomenon with TV prices always dropping so rapidly....

I've noticed that before too.  I think it's people not wanting to admit to themselves how fast prices have dropped since they bought it and how much money they're now out.

Last year I received a 19 inch flat screen TV in a gift exchange (the kind where you're constantly trading until you get stuck).  I had no need for a second TV and right after Christmas looked to sell it on Craigslist.  The New Years Day sales undercut the price it was bought for before Christmas and the retail price for that model dropped almost 30% by the time I was able to sell it four months later.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15902 on: December 05, 2016, 06:07:53 PM »
I didn't say it, but my thought was, 48 inches is already insanely huge.

Yea TV sizes have gotten ridiculous.  I have a 37" and it's plenty big but people keep telling me I should go bigger.  It's almost easier to just not have a tv at all than hear about how you should get a 'better' one.

I would have bought a used one, but interestingly I found that most ads on Craigslist were asking more than retail. Interesting phenomenon with TV prices always dropping so rapidly....

I've noticed that before too.  I think it's people not wanting to admit to themselves how fast prices have dropped since they bought it and how much money they're now out.

Last year I received a 19 inch flat screen TV in a gift exchange (the kind where you're constantly trading until you get stuck).  I had no need for a second TV and right after Christmas looked to sell it on Craigslist.  The New Years Day sales undercut the price it was bought for before Christmas and the retail price for that model dropped almost 30% by the time I was able to sell it four months later.

Had a friend try to sell his 2-year-old hot tub for 20% off MSRP.  No takers, shocker.

BetsyS

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15903 on: December 05, 2016, 07:58:22 PM »
My tv lives in the closet and only comes out for movies on the weekends. It really confuses friends the first time they come over for dinner and can't understand it.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15904 on: December 05, 2016, 10:02:58 PM »
Last year I received a 19 inch flat screen TV

You mean a really shitty resolution 19 inch monitor? :)

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15905 on: December 06, 2016, 01:31:36 AM »
I know it's terribly anti-mustachian of me to be buying a brand-spanking-new TV, but this will probably be our family TV for at least a decade. It's replacing an old TV that I've replaced several parts inside already, which will move to our bedroom until it finally dies again. I would have bought a used one, but interestingly I found that most ads on Craigslist were asking more than retail. Interesting phenomenon with TV prices always dropping so rapidly....
This is for electronics in general. The low to mid segment has become so good that it usually is better to just buy one of those (or last years model going on sale) than look for a second hand one. How in the hell are you going to beat a fire tablet at 50 USD? or a new Moto G at 200 USD? Or a new 48 inch flat screen at 300 USD? The biggest savings are done by looking up a good value for money buy and then not updating every year! Buying a Moto G and using it for 4 years at a cheap carrier means very big savings compared to upgrade to the new iphone every two years and never looking for a cheap phone plan and will move your retirement date. Getting that Moto G at 200 USD or 180 USD: not really. It's a 5 USD savings per year over the life of the phone which means your stash could be 125 usd lower when you retire... Last month I was able to lower my call plan from 20 EURO to 15 EURO a month: that's is 60 euro a year or a reduction in stash of 1500 euro and all it took was 1 call of 2 minutes.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15906 on: December 06, 2016, 07:23:09 AM »
Not really an overheard at work story, but I was recently looking into getting a new TV during the sales around Black Friday. I was looking into getting a super-duper huge-ass 48 inch TV. Don't care if it's smart, don't care if it's 4k because I won't sit 3 feet from it, and definitely don't want 3D. The absolute most I was going to pay was $300. I happened to be talking to my boss about it at work and he's like, "why don't you just go all-out and get a 65 inch one?"

I just kind of gawked at him for a minute before I realized my mouth was hanging open. I didn't say it, but my thought was, 48 inches is already insanely huge. The man who dies with the biggest and best toys... still dies. I'd rather enjoy life while I have it.

I know it's terribly anti-mustachian of me to be buying a brand-spanking-new TV, but this will probably be our family TV for at least a decade. It's replacing an old TV that I've replaced several parts inside already, which will move to our bedroom until it finally dies again. I would have bought a used one, but interestingly I found that most ads on Craigslist were asking more than retail. Interesting phenomenon with TV prices always dropping so rapidly....

got a 65in tv LED Samsung 1080p shipped to my house and setup for 80 dollars. reviews have it as the best 1080p TV ever made.  its not about what you spend your money on as much as how you can stretch that dollar for something you're looking for.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15907 on: December 06, 2016, 08:22:16 AM »
Last year I received a 19 inch flat screen TV

You mean a really shitty resolution 19 inch monitor? :)
This is actually what I did with my parents' old TV lol.  The fanciest thing I own is the computer I built a few years ago, and I had two 22' monitors when my Dad asked me if I wanted their old 19' or so bedroom TV.  I told him I didn't need it because I don't have cable and my monitors are nicer anyways, but it was a case of either I take it or they throw it out, so I took it.  I think he was expecting me to get cable if I had an actual TV, but I just use it as a third monitor.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15908 on: December 06, 2016, 08:23:42 AM »
One of my clients today: We are looking for a new house because ours is 7 years old and things are going to start breaking.

Maybe they are like some of the people on YouTube who treat their homes like a circus tent?

MgoSam

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15909 on: December 06, 2016, 08:28:00 AM »
I didn't say it, but my thought was, 48 inches is already insanely huge.

Yea TV sizes have gotten ridiculous.  I have a 37" and it's plenty big but people keep telling me I should go bigger.  It's almost easier to just not have a tv at all than hear about how you should get a 'better' one.

I would have bought a used one, but interestingly I found that most ads on Craigslist were asking more than retail. Interesting phenomenon with TV prices always dropping so rapidly....

I've noticed that before too.  I think it's people not wanting to admit to themselves how fast prices have dropped since they bought it and how much money they're now out.

Last year I received a 19 inch flat screen TV in a gift exchange (the kind where you're constantly trading until you get stuck).  I had no need for a second TV and right after Christmas looked to sell it on Craigslist.  The New Years Day sales undercut the price it was bought for before Christmas and the retail price for that model dropped almost 30% by the time I was able to sell it four months later.

Had a friend try to sell his 2-year-old hot tub for 20% off MSRP.  No takers, shocker.

I'd be impressed if he managed to sell it. He likely got a good ROI if he'd been able to use it for 2 years for only 20% MSRP.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15910 on: December 06, 2016, 09:32:14 AM »
Last year I received a 19 inch flat screen TV

You mean a really shitty resolution 19 inch monitor? :)
This is actually what I did with my parents' old TV lol.  The fanciest thing I own is the computer I built a few years ago, and I had two 22' monitors when my Dad asked me if I wanted their old 19' or so bedroom TV.  I told him I didn't need it because I don't have cable and my monitors are nicer anyways, but it was a case of either I take it or they throw it out, so I took it.  I think he was expecting me to get cable if I had an actual TV, but I just use it as a third monitor.

HA, that's great. A dual or triple screen set up can be really handy. Much better use for a third screen than buying cable, IMHO.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15911 on: December 06, 2016, 10:04:09 AM »
Reminds me of a conversation my dad was having with some friends of his... "mtndad, what is your Retirement Age" (meaning Social Security) "I'm not sure--it should be 66 for all of us, right? But I'm not taking it until they force me, so I really have no clue"

It was met with a lot of... not quite shock, but maybe mild surprise. He is probably retiring in about a year or less, as soon as his company offers him a package which he thinks is coming. I think he could have retired long ago, but he is too conservative for that.

This story makes me sad. My dad has been making 1/4 million+/yr for at least a decade (now 63yrs old). He has been saying for awhile that he wants to retire yet has no hobbies outside of work.

This should be a cautionary tale to us all to invest and to know how to do things other than work one job.

Just wanted to note that my dads point was he didn't need the Social Security, and he won't take it until the government forces him to at age 70. He will be retiring either in a couple months when he's laid off, or if he's not laid off, in about 1.5 years when he hits his original goal.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15912 on: December 06, 2016, 11:18:23 AM »
Reminds me of a conversation my dad was having with some friends of his... "mtndad, what is your Retirement Age" (meaning Social Security) "I'm not sure--it should be 66 for all of us, right? But I'm not taking it until they force me, so I really have no clue"

It was met with a lot of... not quite shock, but maybe mild surprise. He is probably retiring in about a year or less, as soon as his company offers him a package which he thinks is coming. I think he could have retired long ago, but he is too conservative for that.

This story makes me sad. My dad has been making 1/4 million+/yr for at least a decade (now 63yrs old). He has been saying for awhile that he wants to retire yet has no hobbies outside of work.

This should be a cautionary tale to us all to invest and to know how to do things other than work one job.

Just wanted to note that my dads point was he didn't need the Social Security, and he won't take it until the government forces him to at age 70. He will be retiring either in a couple months when he's laid off, or if he's not laid off, in about 1.5 years when he hits his original goal.

Ah, I see your point now and why they were surprised. Thanks, I guess I was so fixated on the age of working that I missed the context. :) Definitely won't be working for that long myself.

MgoSam

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15913 on: December 06, 2016, 11:57:02 AM »
Reminds me of a conversation my dad was having with some friends of his... "mtndad, what is your Retirement Age" (meaning Social Security) "I'm not sure--it should be 66 for all of us, right? But I'm not taking it until they force me, so I really have no clue"

It was met with a lot of... not quite shock, but maybe mild surprise. He is probably retiring in about a year or less, as soon as his company offers him a package which he thinks is coming. I think he could have retired long ago, but he is too conservative for that.

This story makes me sad. My dad has been making 1/4 million+/yr for at least a decade (now 63yrs old). He has been saying for awhile that he wants to retire yet has no hobbies outside of work.

This should be a cautionary tale to us all to invest and to know how to do things other than work one job.

Just wanted to note that my dads point was he didn't need the Social Security, and he won't take it until the government forces him to at age 70. He will be retiring either in a couple months when he's laid off, or if he's not laid off, in about 1.5 years when he hits his original goal.

Ah, I see your point now and why they were surprised. Thanks, I guess I was so fixated on the age of working that I missed the context. :) Definitely won't be working for that long myself.

Yeah this is a concern for my dad as well. He has enough to easily retire but he has no outside hobbies and few real friends.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15914 on: December 06, 2016, 02:22:11 PM »
Last year I received a 19 inch flat screen TV

You mean a really shitty resolution 19 inch monitor? :)

Nope, this was an actual bona fide television, not a computer monitor.  I assume it's the kind people put on their kitchen counter or something like that.  The guy who finally bought it from me does some kind of cable repair service and was going to use it as an in-home test/demo kit.

Chris22

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15915 on: December 06, 2016, 02:37:53 PM »
Last year I received a 19 inch flat screen TV

You mean a really shitty resolution 19 inch monitor? :)

Nope, this was an actual bona fide television, not a computer monitor.  I assume it's the kind people put on their kitchen counter or something like that.  The guy who finally bought it from me does some kind of cable repair service and was going to use it as an in-home test/demo kit.

Yeah, I have a 19" TV in my kitchen.  Have a switch behind it to toggle between the feed from the living room TV or the basement TV.  Mostly use it for watching sports or the news while cooking or cleaning up meals.  My wife got it to use in her dorm room like 12 years ago.  Works great.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15916 on: December 07, 2016, 02:37:06 AM »
Team discussing power bills...

Dude A: I hate paying my power bill; it's usually $500/quarter.

Dude B: Mine's $1500.

Dude A: That seems high...

Dude B: I keep the AC on all the time. It's easier than opening and closing windows.

(For comparison, mine is about $200.)

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15917 on: December 07, 2016, 08:35:28 AM »
Team discussing power bills...

Dude A: I hate paying my power bill; it's usually $500/quarter.

Dude B: Mine's $1500.

Dude A: That seems high...

Dude B: I keep the AC on all the time. It's easier than opening and closing windows.

(For comparison, mine is about $200.)
Wow, he's paying $10/day so that he doesn't have to open and close windows!?

Kitsune

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15918 on: December 07, 2016, 08:41:35 AM »
Team discussing power bills...

Dude A: I hate paying my power bill; it's usually $500/quarter.

Dude B: Mine's $1500.

Dude A: That seems high...

Dude B: I keep the AC on all the time. It's easier than opening and closing windows.

(For comparison, mine is about $200.)
Wow, he's paying $10/day so that he doesn't have to open and close windows!?


Dude. DUDE. That's more than I pay for power YEARLY, and I'm including electricity and wood heat for Quebec winters in that number. Like, DUDE. Shape up.

powersuitrecall

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15919 on: December 07, 2016, 10:08:04 AM »
The Christmas present buying orgy had begun around my workplace. 

Most people are reasonable, but there's this one guy ... he's building one kid adult child a $5K desktop computer, and the other is getting a karaoke machine.  He's buying himself a VR headset and some software to go with it.  His wife is getting an iPad with accessories. 

Everything goes on the HELOC, which he manages to keep pinned at around $450K.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15920 on: December 07, 2016, 10:28:01 AM »
I have a follow up to a much earlier post of mine on how people refuse to drink the free coffee provided at work. Some people just prefer paying for starbucks or other brand instead of green mountain I guess.

As a stipulation of the free coffee, my company provides 12 oz cups for use, but really encourages people to buy and use reusable cups (of any size). There are a number of people that don't have reusable cups and I assume feel the 12 oz cups are too small. Note that you can get unlimited refills. These people instead walk to the other side of the cafe, grab a 20oz soft-drink cup, and pay $1.10.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15921 on: December 07, 2016, 11:22:45 AM »
he's building one kid adult child a $5K desktop computer
What in the what?  I'm going pretty balls-to-the-walls with putting together a new desktop PC (that she actually needs for her work) for my GF after Kaby Lake and Z270 drop in January, and it'll wind up being like $2500 at the absolutely most...

powersuitrecall

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15922 on: December 07, 2016, 11:30:31 AM »
he's building one kid adult child a $5K desktop computer
What in the what?  I'm going pretty balls-to-the-walls with putting together a new desktop PC (that she actually needs for her work) for my GF after Kaby Lake and Z270 drop in January, and it'll wind up being like $2500 at the absolutely most...

It's a gaming computer so it needs to be super-duper.  He did the same thing 2-3 years ago - time for an upgrade!

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15923 on: December 07, 2016, 11:35:09 AM »
he's building one kid adult child a $5K desktop computer
What in the what?  I'm going pretty balls-to-the-walls with putting together a new desktop PC (that she actually needs for her work) for my GF after Kaby Lake and Z270 drop in January, and it'll wind up being like $2500 at the absolutely most...

It's a gaming computer so it needs to be super-duper.  He did the same thing 2-3 years ago - time for an upgrade!

Isn't the benefit of building a desktop computer that you can easily upgrade the parts in it, rather than needing to start from scratch?

arebelspy

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15924 on: December 07, 2016, 12:09:05 PM »
And a lot of the expense is monitors, which should still be good.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15925 on: December 07, 2016, 12:10:53 PM »
he's building one kid adult child a $5K desktop computer
What in the what?  I'm going pretty balls-to-the-walls with putting together a new desktop PC (that she actually needs for her work) for my GF after Kaby Lake and Z270 drop in January, and it'll wind up being like $2500 at the absolutely most...

It's a gaming computer so it needs to be super-duper.  He did the same thing 2-3 years ago - time for an upgrade!

Isn't the benefit of building a desktop computer that you can easily upgrade the parts in it, rather than needing to start from scratch?
Here I was, feeling guilty about spending almost $1k on my gaming desktop.  I guess some people just need to view every game out in the highest setting possible, where I don't mind playing in the lowest setting.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15926 on: December 07, 2016, 12:13:06 PM »
The Christmas present buying orgy had begun around my workplace. 

Most people are reasonable, but there's this one guy ... he's building one kid adult child a $5K desktop computer, and the other is getting a karaoke machine.  He's buying himself a VR headset and some software to go with it.  His wife is getting an iPad with accessories. 

Everything goes on the HELOC, which he manages to keep pinned at around $450K.

I just dropped thirty large on my  husband for new bike lights that go on your spokes.  We bike in the dark 2x a week.  (That's obv 30 bucks)

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15927 on: December 07, 2016, 12:15:53 PM »
he's building one kid adult child a $5K desktop computer
What in the what?  I'm going pretty balls-to-the-walls with putting together a new desktop PC (that she actually needs for her work) for my GF after Kaby Lake and Z270 drop in January, and it'll wind up being like $2500 at the absolutely most...
I am waiting for the Zen. Using it for the gaming machine (already got an RX470, more then fast enough for me). And for donating computing power to BOINC. Thats my rationalisation for the splurge ^^ Wont get more expensive then 1000€ all together I hope.

I have seen someone using several older blade servers as a heating. He has to heat with electricity anyway, so he figured he could use the things his firm no longer needs to heat the room and make some money out of it through Cryptocurrencies.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15928 on: December 07, 2016, 12:18:40 PM »
The other night I had a dream about how a coworker did something ridiculous and I was excited because it meant that I could finally share something on this thread. Then I woke up and realized it was all a dream. I work for a government contractor and apparently all of us nerdy engineers are reasonable with our money, so no crazy stories.

I'm living vicariously through you guys; don't let me down!

arebelspy

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15929 on: December 07, 2016, 12:26:09 PM »
The other night I had a dream about how a coworker did something ridiculous and I was excited because it meant that I could finally share something on this thread.

That is excellent.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15930 on: December 07, 2016, 12:28:28 PM »
The Christmas present buying orgy had begun around my workplace. 

Most people are reasonable, but there's this one guy ... he's building one kid adult child a $5K desktop computer, and the other is getting a karaoke machine.  He's buying himself a VR headset and some software to go with it.  His wife is getting an iPad with accessories. 

Everything goes on the HELOC, which he manages to keep pinned at around $450K.

I just dropped thirty large on my  husband for new bike lights that go on your spokes.  We bike in the dark 2x a week.  (That's obv 30 bucks)

Haha. I love the frame of reference.

ketchup

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15931 on: December 07, 2016, 01:28:23 PM »
he's building one kid adult child a $5K desktop computer
What in the what?  I'm going pretty balls-to-the-walls with putting together a new desktop PC (that she actually needs for her work) for my GF after Kaby Lake and Z270 drop in January, and it'll wind up being like $2500 at the absolutely most...

It's a gaming computer so it needs to be super-duper.  He did the same thing 2-3 years ago - time for an upgrade!
Ugh, throw a closer-to-top-of-the-line graphics card in what I have penciled out, and it's a "super-duper gaming computer" too.  But 99% isn't good enough for some people...

And what I'll be "repealing and replacing" is six years old, with a few upgrades along the way (and for anyone that's not a gamer or photo/video professional still way more muscle than is necessary).

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15932 on: December 07, 2016, 01:29:02 PM »
I have a follow up to a much earlier post of mine on how people refuse to drink the free coffee provided at work. Some people just prefer paying for starbucks or other brand instead of green mountain I guess.

The building where I work has a Tim Hortons in the lobby. With apologies to my Canadian friends, the coffee at Tim Hortons is hot garbage. And yet every morning there's still a line fifteen or twenty people deep of employees who all have free coffee available in their offices. I don't get it.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15933 on: December 07, 2016, 03:55:15 PM »
Team discussing power bills...

Dude A: I hate paying my power bill; it's usually $500/quarter.

Dude B: Mine's $1500.

Dude A: That seems high...

Dude B: I keep the AC on all the time. It's easier than opening and closing windows.

(For comparison, mine is about $200.)
Wow, he's paying $10/day so that he doesn't have to open and close windows!?

I open and close my windows so often (ok once per day) that I start to worry about wear and tear.  How much will opening and closing my windows every day decrease the life of my windows vs. always closed?  10 years vs 20?

kayvent

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15934 on: December 07, 2016, 07:51:53 PM »
he's building one kid adult child a $5K desktop computer
What in the what?  I'm going pretty balls-to-the-walls with putting together a new desktop PC (that she actually needs for her work) for my GF after Kaby Lake and Z270 drop in January, and it'll wind up being like $2500 at the absolutely most...

It's a gaming computer so it needs to be super-duper.  He did the same thing 2-3 years ago - time for an upgrade!

Isn't the benefit of building a desktop computer that you can easily upgrade the parts in it, rather than needing to start from scratch?

That's what we say to justify the purchase and the extra bells and whistles ("it's to make it future proof, I swear."). I follow tech influencers and I work as a software developer around people who have built PCs (myself included) but very rarely do I hear of someone actually upgrading their PC. Often it is a completely new system. Even a new monitor isn't unheard of.

This isn't to say that upgrades don't happen but that it is rare given the rhetoric. I've personally upgraded a custom PC twice; adding SSDs and a new GPU. As comparison, my raw amount on pre-built systems is higher. I upgraded my mid-2011 Mac Mini twice to give it extra ram and a ssd. My fabulous Dell Desktop XPS 8910, a  beautiful, compact, pristine computer, was upgraded with an SSD and GPU.

I have moved to suggesting pre-built systems instead of custom built ones; at least in Canada and the UK they aren't much more expensive and are worth the small premium because of the added support if a component is DOA. And as I've found, many pre-built systems are surprisingly upgradable when a future need arises.

(Full disclosure: I work for a subsidiary of Dell Technologies)
« Last Edit: December 07, 2016, 07:55:54 PM by kayvent »

gimp

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15935 on: December 07, 2016, 09:44:04 PM »
Alright, anti-mustachian shit: I've been running up my electric bill by using my computer to batch process graphics... for like the past month, nonstop. Literally wrote a little batch thing to process a massive list.

Cost me an extra $10 or so per month.

On the plus side, it's cold as hell - that's $10 worth of electrical heat in my apartment, I suppose.

gimp

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15936 on: December 07, 2016, 09:53:39 PM »
I built a three thousand dollar workstation in 2014.

Intel gave me a free 4960x, which retails around $1000. I spent the other $2000 out of pocket on a system to match: ~$250 for the mobo, ~$100 for the case, ~$100 for cooling, ~$300 for the GPU, ~$300 for the power supply, ~$200 for a super high quality SSD, ~$200 for three hard drives, ~$50 for a media player, ~$200 for 32 gigs (4x8) DDR3 at a decent clock rate, and a 4K TV as a monitor, and taxes for it all.

(That's the computer crunching graphics.)

Given Intel's advancements in single-threaded performance over the past three or so years being fairly low, and my work there, I do assume they'll continue at around ~5% single-threaded perf year on year. They'll continue quite a large amount of power savings year on year. And they'll continue a lot of multi-core perf and graphics perf every year, in servers and client respectively.

Given that 1) I don't really care about having more than six cores (twelve threads), 2) single-threaded perf won't be rising too quickly, 3) power isn't terribly relevant for a workstation like mine, and 4) on-die graphics being irrelevant for both workstations and the server market (my CPU is a gimped xeon) - I fully expect to keep this computer with only mild changes for eight, maybe even as much as ten years. It's been two, and there hasn't been much to make my computer and slower than it used to be. Linux tends to get faster every new release anyways.

Of course, I do really use the full performance of the machine.

Speaking of resource-intensive programs - there are no games out, not even AAA titles, that really expect $3k worth of compute hardware, let alone $5k. $5k a few years ago is an amazing machine today, hardly worse in gaming performance than a $5k machine today. I guess I can see how to spend $5k on a gaming machine, but I have no idea what kind of hare-brained ass-backwards computer-spec-masturbating cretin thinks you need to upgrade such a system on any sort of regular basis.

That said, see if you can buy his old computer for cheap. I mean, it's crap now, right? See if you can buy it for a thousand bucks.

Paul der Krake

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15937 on: December 07, 2016, 10:07:31 PM »
Yeah man but can you like watch netflix on it?

druth

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15938 on: December 08, 2016, 12:13:58 AM »
Isn't the benefit of building a desktop computer that you can easily upgrade the parts in it, rather than needing to start from scratch?
That's what we say to justify the purchase and the extra bells and whistles ("it's to make it future proof, I swear."). I follow tech influencers and I work as a software developer around people who have built PCs (myself included) but very rarely do I hear of someone actually upgrading their PC. Often it is a completely new system. Even a new monitor isn't unheard of.

My boyfriend is a dev and he definitely upgrades instead of buys new, but that being said I don't think it's any cheaper.  Every month there is a new part that 'needs' to be replaced and it seems like they all cost at least $300

Linea_Norway

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15939 on: December 08, 2016, 01:19:06 AM »
I just dropped thirty large on my  husband for new bike lights that go on your spokes.  We bike in the dark 2x a week.  (That's obv 30 bucks)

When I was a child we had lights powered by our spokes on all bicycles.
I once read that a police officer tried to give a fine to a cyclist for not having his light on. The cyclist was standing still at a red traffic light. The cyclist had to explain the "old fashioned" lighting system. The police officer was obviously very young.

UKMustache

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15940 on: December 08, 2016, 02:03:46 AM »
I was in a meeting with someone that makes roughly twice my salary and is about 15 years older than me (I'm 27).

The conversation turned to interest rates.  I said I'd just had a letter that the interest on my emergency fund is being reduced, which sucks. 

He said it doesn't affect him because he has no savings.

That kinda killed the conversation.
« Last Edit: December 08, 2016, 02:05:24 AM by UKMustache »

mustachepungoeshere

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15941 on: December 08, 2016, 02:13:44 AM »
I was in a meeting with someone that makes roughly twice my salary and is about 15 years older than me (I'm 27).

The conversation turned to interest rates.  I said I'd just had a letter that the interest on my emergency fund is being reduced, which sucks. 

He said it doesn't affect him because he has no savings.

That kinda killed the conversation.

... always look on the bright side of life?

UKMustache

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15942 on: December 08, 2016, 02:55:54 AM »
I was in a meeting with someone that makes roughly twice my salary and is about 15 years older than me (I'm 27).

The conversation turned to interest rates.  I said I'd just had a letter that the interest on my emergency fund is being reduced, which sucks. 

He said it doesn't affect him because he has no savings.

That kinda killed the conversation.

... always look on the bright side of life?

dee doop...dee doop...dee doop, dee doop, dee doop!

jinga nation

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15943 on: December 08, 2016, 06:15:05 AM »
I was in a meeting with someone that makes roughly twice my salary and is about 15 years older than me (I'm 27).

The conversation turned to interest rates.  I said I'd just had a letter that the interest on my emergency fund is being reduced, which sucks. 

He said it doesn't affect him because he has no savings.

That kinda killed the conversation.

... always look on the bright side of life?

dee doop...dee doop...dee doop, dee doop, dee doop!
Somehow I read that as "de poop, de poop.... "
Oy vey!

jinga nation

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15944 on: December 08, 2016, 06:24:47 AM »
Isn't the benefit of building a desktop computer that you can easily upgrade the parts in it, rather than needing to start from scratch?
That's what we say to justify the purchase and the extra bells and whistles ("it's to make it future proof, I swear."). I follow tech influencers and I work as a software developer around people who have built PCs (myself included) but very rarely do I hear of someone actually upgrading their PC. Often it is a completely new system. Even a new monitor isn't unheard of.

My boyfriend is a dev and he definitely upgrades instead of buys new, but that being said I don't think it's any cheaper.  Every month there is a new part that 'needs' to be replaced and it seems like they all cost at least $300
If my employer was paying for the upgrades, I'd be loving it. Or if I was self-employed and could expense it, if that upgrade has clear benefits. But out of my pocket, ain't no way.

I built a 'god box' in 2011 with an i7-2600k (once the prices dropped), 16 GB RAM, SSDs, ATI Radeon mid-high GFX card, two 24" monitors etc. Now it's my wife's work-from-home PC and I use it very occasionally, mostly Adobe Lightroom. I haven't seen a single performance issue that would need an upgrade. Sometimes I wonder why I built it, I'm not into PC/Console gaming; I think it was my co-workers encouraging me to build a machine, and everything was bought on sale from Newegg/Amazon. I must have spent about $1200 on it. I won't be buying another PC, I'll be upgrading this mid-tower.

ender

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15945 on: December 08, 2016, 06:29:01 AM »
The other night I had a dream about how a coworker did something ridiculous and I was excited because it meant that I could finally share something on this thread. Then I woke up and realized it was all a dream. I work for a government contractor and apparently all of us nerdy engineers are reasonable with our money, so no crazy stories.

I'm living vicariously through you guys; don't let me down!

I actually wonder about my coworkers, none of them seem too outrageous (well except the guy who bought $10k worth of brand new furniture via financing after buying a house). But he paid that off pretty quickly, so it's less dramatic.

And at least two of them are MMM minded, too, so a good percentage of us are saving quite a bit.. and bringing lunches every most days in spite of a heavily subsidized lunch.

Playing with Fire UK

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15946 on: December 08, 2016, 06:41:53 AM »
I was in a meeting with someone that makes roughly twice my salary and is about 15 years older than me (I'm 27).
The conversation turned to interest rates.  I said I'd just had a letter that the interest on my emergency fund is being reduced, which sucks. 
He said it doesn't affect him because he has no savings.
That kinda killed the conversation.
... always look on the bright side of life?

Like maybe the colleague also has no borrowing?

Digital Dogma

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15947 on: December 08, 2016, 12:46:48 PM »
he's building one kid adult child a $5K desktop computer
What in the what?  I'm going pretty balls-to-the-walls with putting together a new desktop PC (that she actually needs for her work) for my GF after Kaby Lake and Z270 drop in January, and it'll wind up being like $2500 at the absolutely most...

It's a gaming computer so it needs to be super-duper.  He did the same thing 2-3 years ago - time for an upgrade!

Isn't the benefit of building a desktop computer that you can easily upgrade the parts in it, rather than needing to start from scratch?

Yes, BUT...

When you start to get into the 3-4 year age range with any high end computer, the parts supply can get a bit funky. I have a 2011 socket type motherboard with an i7 in it, the motherboard can take an "extreme" processor (6 cores instead of 4, larger caches), but those chips are still 700-1000$ even after all this time. Once you get into the super high end, you'll pay, oooh you'll pay.

If you want the newest hardware to work flawlessly at the highest possible speeds out of some of the newer graphics cards and memory, you generally end up having to upgrade the motherboard, which means upgrades to the CPU, RAM, and most likely the hard drive.

I'm looking at getting a 144hz Gsync monitor at some point, but to utilize the low response time I'll need to upgrade the GPU, so the whole thing will cost 2X what I want for just the monitor upgrade. I've delayed that purchase, perhaps indefinitely. I can totally see how its possible to go over-board spending 2k on monitor + graphics card, another 1k on a CPU, 1k on motherboard/case/memory/HD, and 1k for some company to put it together and ship it to you.

shelivesthedream

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15948 on: December 08, 2016, 12:49:25 PM »
I just dropped thirty large on my  husband for new bike lights that go on your spokes.  We bike in the dark 2x a week.  (That's obv 30 bucks)

When I was a child we had lights powered by our spokes on all bicycles.
I once read that a police officer tried to give a fine to a cyclist for not having his light on. The cyclist was standing still at a red traffic light. The cyclist had to explain the "old fashioned" lighting system. The police officer was obviously very young.

I think what you mean is using a dynamo to power normal back and front lights, whereas I think mm1970 meant something like this: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7w8vI_Z3QDE/maxresdefault.jpg I had dynamo lights on my old bike and I ended up buying a second battery-powered set because having the lights go out at traffic lights felt very unsafe. Just because I'm stationary doesn't mean I'm magically more visible to cars, and people don't always stop when and where they should!

MgoSam

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #15949 on: December 08, 2016, 01:18:34 PM »
he's building one kid adult child a $5K desktop computer
What in the what?  I'm going pretty balls-to-the-walls with putting together a new desktop PC (that she actually needs for her work) for my GF after Kaby Lake and Z270 drop in January, and it'll wind up being like $2500 at the absolutely most...

It's a gaming computer so it needs to be super-duper.  He did the same thing 2-3 years ago - time for an upgrade!

Isn't the benefit of building a desktop computer that you can easily upgrade the parts in it, rather than needing to start from scratch?

Yes, BUT...

When you start to get into the 3-4 year age range with any high end computer, the parts supply can get a bit funky. I have a 2011 socket type motherboard with an i7 in it, the motherboard can take an "extreme" processor (6 cores instead of 4, larger caches), but those chips are still 700-1000$ even after all this time. Once you get into the super high end, you'll pay, oooh you'll pay.

If you want the newest hardware to work flawlessly at the highest possible speeds out of some of the newer graphics cards and memory, you generally end up having to upgrade the motherboard, which means upgrades to the CPU, RAM, and most likely the hard drive.

I'm looking at getting a 144hz Gsync monitor at some point, but to utilize the low response time I'll need to upgrade the GPU, so the whole thing will cost 2X what I want for just the monitor upgrade. I've delayed that purchase, perhaps indefinitely. I can totally see how its possible to go over-board spending 2k on monitor + graphics card, another 1k on a CPU, 1k on motherboard/case/memory/HD, and 1k for some company to put it together and ship it to you.

Fair enough, I know very little about computers or gaming.