Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[ChpBstrd]

I usually let everyone think that I'm riding the struggle bus.  I'm pretty sure I blew my cover this morning.

I smell a good story, is there a way to tell it but anonymize it?

Not that good.  My parents jokingly asked if I had $1500 that they could borrow to fix something on their house and were kind of shocked when not only did I have it, but that it wasn't that big of a deal.  I've covered a few things for them in the past (large car repair bill while they were 300 miles from home on vacation, for example) but this will be the first time that it's something that won't be immediately paid back.  I'm not that worried about it, because they're my parents and they've done so much to help me.  But, I don't want my brother to find out because he hit me up awhile back for $25k.

Reminds me of when I loaned my parents $1500 at 9% or 10% interest while I was a college student paying my own way with part-time jobs. Their air conditioner went out and they asked me to help them pay for it. It was helpful they taught me to keep a little receipt book for payments and to account for the loan, but if they had those skills why did they need to borrow $1500 from a 19 year old college student?

Were your parents trying to ultimately help you out by paying you that interest and teaching you skills?  Or was that an unintended benefit?

I've considered that it might have been some sort of lesson - though lending money to relatives is always a bad idea. I have no access to their finances to prove they needed the loan, but in general money has always burnt a hole in their pockets. I might have actually been their best option to borrow at the time. Loans were a lot more expensive back then, and 10% was probably a fair rate for an unsecured bank loan.

It also seems like any benefit would be offset by the emotional injury of making a 19 year old fear for their parent's financial well being.

That was actually the good lesson. It made me into a cheap bastard. Teenage rebelliousness via frugality.

[Metalcat]

I usually let everyone think that I'm riding the struggle bus.  I'm pretty sure I blew my cover this morning.

I smell a good story, is there a way to tell it but anonymize it?

Not that good.  My parents jokingly asked if I had $1500 that they could borrow to fix something on their house and were kind of shocked when not only did I have it, but that it wasn't that big of a deal.  I've covered a few things for them in the past (large car repair bill while they were 300 miles from home on vacation, for example) but this will be the first time that it's something that won't be immediately paid back.  I'm not that worried about it, because they're my parents and they've done so much to help me.  But, I don't want my brother to find out because he hit me up awhile back for $25k.

Reminds me of when I loaned my parents $1500 at 9% or 10% interest while I was a college student paying my own way with part-time jobs. Their air conditioner went out and they asked me to help them pay for it. It was helpful they taught me to keep a little receipt book for payments and to account for the loan, but if they had those skills why did they need to borrow $1500 from a 19 year old college student?

Were your parents trying to ultimately help you out by paying you that interest and teaching you skills?  Or was that an unintended benefit?

I've considered that it might have been some sort of lesson - though lending money to relatives is always a bad idea. I have no access to their finances to prove they needed the loan, but in general money has always burnt a hole in their pockets. I might have actually been their best option to borrow at the time. Loans were a lot more expensive back then, and 10% was probably a fair rate for an unsecured bank loan.

It also seems like any benefit would be offset by the emotional injury of making a 19 year old fear for their parent's financial well being.

That was actually the good lesson. It made me into a cheap bastard. Teenage rebelliousness via frugality.

Yeah...I learned to be cheap from stressing about my parents financial dire straights too, it doesn't mean it's an emotionally optimal way to learn that lesson, from a mental health perspective.

[eyesonthehorizon]

… I might have actually been their best option to borrow at the time. Loans were a lot more expensive back then, and 10% was probably a fair rate for an unsecured bank loan.

It also seems like any benefit would be offset by the emotional injury of making a 19 year old fear for their parent's financial well being.

That was actually the good lesson. It made me into a cheap bastard. Teenage rebelliousness via frugality.

Hey, same club!

Mine didn’t pay interest or teach me any of the neat bookkeeping lessons, though.

@Sugaree - there is a world of difference between $1500 once “when you had it” vs $25k ever. If $1500 was a pipe dream to your parents I doubt it would strain credulity that you don’t have $25k to throw around.

[Fomerly known as something]

My new employer was fishing around for a phone I could use and came up with an iPhone 11. It's several years old, and it's the first iPhone I've ever used.

I've been texting customers and vendors, some bubbles are green and some are blue. I honestly can't remember which color I'm supposed to hate.

Incoming bubbles are all grey on my phone. I didn't even know about the green/blue thing.

I joke that my work provided phone is an “I don’t work right phone”. Because they do things that make the thing with an apple on it not work right.  All my messages are green even to other coworkers.

[ChpBstrd]

I usually let everyone think that I'm riding the struggle bus.  I'm pretty sure I blew my cover this morning.

I smell a good story, is there a way to tell it but anonymize it?

Not that good.  My parents jokingly asked if I had $1500 that they could borrow to fix something on their house and were kind of shocked when not only did I have it, but that it wasn't that big of a deal.  I've covered a few things for them in the past (large car repair bill while they were 300 miles from home on vacation, for example) but this will be the first time that it's something that won't be immediately paid back.  I'm not that worried about it, because they're my parents and they've done so much to help me.  But, I don't want my brother to find out because he hit me up awhile back for $25k.

Reminds me of when I loaned my parents $1500 at 9% or 10% interest while I was a college student paying my own way with part-time jobs. Their air conditioner went out and they asked me to help them pay for it. It was helpful they taught me to keep a little receipt book for payments and to account for the loan, but if they had those skills why did they need to borrow $1500 from a 19 year old college student?

Were your parents trying to ultimately help you out by paying you that interest and teaching you skills?  Or was that an unintended benefit?

I've considered that it might have been some sort of lesson - though lending money to relatives is always a bad idea. I have no access to their finances to prove they needed the loan, but in general money has always burnt a hole in their pockets. I might have actually been their best option to borrow at the time. Loans were a lot more expensive back then, and 10% was probably a fair rate for an unsecured bank loan.

It also seems like any benefit would be offset by the emotional injury of making a 19 year old fear for their parent's financial well being.

That was actually the good lesson. It made me into a cheap bastard. Teenage rebelliousness via frugality.

Yeah...I learned to be cheap from stressing about my parents financial dire straights too, it doesn't mean it's an emotionally optimal way to learn that lesson, from a mental health perspective.

One can spin their parents' financial mistakes in a positive direction though.

I had some teenage anger at the parents about "why can't we have nice things so I can be more popular and confident", which was replaced by 20-something irritation that there will be no old family money because there are things to waste money on. But this was replaced by 30-something respect for what my parents managed to accomplish even though they didn't play the game perfectly right (no one can) and even though they couldn't know what I now know. This in turn was replaced by 40-something vows to apply inter-generational learning and take accountability in these same areas, and to take the lessons of their failures as a gift of treasure, won through suffering.

Probably by my 50's I'll be taking care of my parents and in-laws in some ways, as they did for their own, and thinking about life and the stories we weave in an even more holistic way than could ever be possible for a trust fund baby, trapped as they are in their own parents' shadows. I, on the other hand, feel like the shining star in terms of finance. My parents know it, and are proud to see me doing so much better financially than they have ever done, even if their tears were my teacher.

My thoughts are already trending in these directions, and they get deeper, more satisfying, and more meaningful the more I contemplate them. Not in an arrogant way - more like a "now I understand something" way.

Some would call this a "spiritual" journey but that fuzzy word lacks a universally agreed upon definition. Instead I'll call it a quest to discover one's best self through understanding one's history, through being humbled by life's challenges while yet feeling gratitude for the many intentional and unintentional lessons received from the elders, and by obtaining an intellectual framework which allows for breakthroughs in success across generations.

I suspect key personality-shaping realizations at the core of my identity and process were taught to me through my parents' struggles with money, status, the excitement of impulsive purchases, long-term thought, and balancing the pressures of life and love. They made me less mainstream and inadvertently taught me to question their status quo and the goodness of all the things that are for sale. I would be an unremarkable drone without these thoughts, which are my real inheritance. It was the thoughts that made me a millionaire more so than any hard work I can claim to have done.

I pity those whose parents were perfect enough that they get no epiphanies about the traps of life. They are like orphans.

Being my parents' friendly banker at the age of 19 was actually confidence inspiring, even if this was purely my framing of the situation. If the whole thing was a setup, it worked in ways only a parental and financial genius could have anticipated.

[Taran Wanderer]

My new employer was fishing around for a phone I could use and came up with an iPhone 11. It's several years old, and it's the first iPhone I've ever used.

I've been texting customers and vendors, some bubbles are green and some are blue. I honestly can't remember which color I'm supposed to hate.

Blue is iMessages from another iPhone.  Green is text messages from a Samsung or other device or from an iPhone that can’t for some reason send iMessages.  But I’m not sure why you’re supposed to hate one or the other.

[Sugaree]

… I might have actually been their best option to borrow at the time. Loans were a lot more expensive back then, and 10% was probably a fair rate for an unsecured bank loan.

It also seems like any benefit would be offset by the emotional injury of making a 19 year old fear for their parent's financial well being.

That was actually the good lesson. It made me into a cheap bastard. Teenage rebelliousness via frugality.

Hey, same club!

Mine didn’t pay interest or teach me any of the neat bookkeeping lessons, though.

@Sugaree - there is a world of difference between $1500 once “when you had it” vs $25k ever. If $1500 was a pipe dream to your parents I doubt it would strain credulity that you don’t have $25k to throw around.

I know there's a difference.  I really don't want to get into the habit of lending family money.  It gets messy.  When my brother asked, he probably thought that I had it.  Unfortunately for him, I had just moved a large chunk of cash into I-bonds and it was still locked up so I didn't really have access to it.  He is the manager at my local credit union and while he can't directly access my account information, I am under no impression that he doesn't actually have a pretty good idea of what's in there.  Though most of my "extra" cash is in my HYSA these days. 

Which reminds me, I need to sell those bonds and pick up the new ones with the higher fixed rate.

[Metalcat]

My new employer was fishing around for a phone I could use and came up with an iPhone 11. It's several years old, and it's the first iPhone I've ever used.

I've been texting customers and vendors, some bubbles are green and some are blue. I honestly can't remember which color I'm supposed to hate.

Blue is iMessages from another iPhone.  Green is text messages from a Samsung or other device or from an iPhone that can’t for some reason send iMessages.  But I’m not sure why you’re supposed to hate one or the other.

Someone above said it actually impacts the functionality of texting, so it has to be more than the text message being a different colour, no??

I'm so curious and so confused, but also don't care enough to try and figure it out on my own.

[getsorted]

Someone above said it actually impacts the functionality of texting, so it has to be more than the text message being a different colour, no??

I'm so curious and so confused, but also don't care enough to try and figure it out on my own.

If you're in a mixed group of Android and iPhone users, "liking" or reacting to messages doesn't work. Instead of seeing the little heart or laugh on a message, it will push another text that says "So-and-so reacted to a message." You don't even know which message it is, or what reaction it was. It gets obnoxious in a big group chat where lots of people are reacting, because you'll get five or six messages that say nothing but "John Doe reacted to a message." "JimBob reacted to a message." "Bunny reacted to a message." You also can't use the swipe reply feature, where you can show exactly which message in a thread you are replying to.

It sounds like nothing at all, but if you are using texting for social purposes, you do feel the absence.

[Metalcat]

Someone above said it actually impacts the functionality of texting, so it has to be more than the text message being a different colour, no??

I'm so curious and so confused, but also don't care enough to try and figure it out on my own.

If you're in a mixed group of Android and iPhone users, "liking" or reacting to messages doesn't work. Instead of seeing the little heart or laugh on a message, it will push another text that says "So-and-so reacted to a message." You don't even know which message it is, or what reaction it was. It gets obnoxious in a big group chat where lots of people are reacting, because you'll get five or six messages that say nothing but "John Doe reacted to a message." "JimBob reacted to a message." "Bunny reacted to a message." You also can't use the swipe reply feature, where you can show exactly which message in a thread you are replying to.

It sounds like nothing at all, but if you are using texting for social purposes, you do feel the absence.

No, that is definitely annoying enough to have an impact. That's a lot more than just messages being a different colour. Thank you for explaining it to me.

[glacio09]

Someone above said it actually impacts the functionality of texting, so it has to be more than the text message being a different colour, no??

I'm so curious and so confused, but also don't care enough to try and figure it out on my own.

If you're in a mixed group of Android and iPhone users, "liking" or reacting to messages doesn't work. Instead of seeing the little heart or laugh on a message, it will push another text that says "So-and-so reacted to a message." You don't even know which message it is, or what reaction it was. It gets obnoxious in a big group chat where lots of people are reacting, because you'll get five or six messages that say nothing but "John Doe reacted to a message." "JimBob reacted to a message." "Bunny reacted to a message." You also can't use the swipe reply feature, where you can show exactly which message in a thread you are replying to.

It sounds like nothing at all, but if you are using texting for social purposes, you do feel the absence.

No, that is definitely annoying enough to have an impact. That's a lot more than just messages being a different colour. Thank you for explaining it to me.

In my experience videos also don't come through clearly. My brother will send me video of his kids from his iphone and it will be a tiny square with terrible quality. He started a Whats App group called "Android Users Suck" to send stuff to me. I don't have a massive interest in seeing most of them, but if it annoys my baby brother this much, I will happily play the dutiful Auntie always demanding more.

[ixtap]

Someone above said it actually impacts the functionality of texting, so it has to be more than the text message being a different colour, no??

I'm so curious and so confused, but also don't care enough to try and figure it out on my own.

If you're in a mixed group of Android and iPhone users, "liking" or reacting to messages doesn't work. Instead of seeing the little heart or laugh on a message, it will push another text that says "So-and-so reacted to a message." You don't even know which message it is, or what reaction it was. It gets obnoxious in a big group chat where lots of people are reacting, because you'll get five or six messages that say nothing but "John Doe reacted to a message." "JimBob reacted to a message." "Bunny reacted to a message." You also can't use the swipe reply feature, where you can show exactly which message in a thread you are replying to.

It sounds like nothing at all, but if you are using texting for social purposes, you do feel the absence.

That's funny, because what shows up on my Android is "Jane emojied '<full message>'", which is pretty annoying, as well.

[solon]

These all sound like good reasons to exclude Apple users, not Android users.

[getsorted]

In my experience videos also don't come through clearly.

I *think* that can be fixed in the settings, but I also have this problem with my ex-husband (an iPhone user). He'll send me videos of our kid when he is with him, and they are so grainy that I can't even tell what's happening. Then I have to ask him to please resend from WhatsApp.

Another problem is not being able to use FaceTime. My son doesn't have a phone yet, and his friends sometimes want to FaceTime him. We can't do it unless they send a link, which none of them know how to do.

I also had someone tell me, "WhatsApp is only for drug dealers and cheaters." My brother's girlfriend told him that even having WhatsApp was a "red flag." Which I find extremely funny, because the only people who regularly contact me on WhatsApp are my immediate family members.

[RWD]

These all sound like good reasons to exclude Apple users, not Android users.

^^^^

[Metalcat]

These all sound like good reasons to exclude Apple users, not Android users.

I guess they're gambling on the network effects of apple culture. Whole families tend to be apple families, groups will be apple groups, so if apple makes it hard on that network to connect with an android user, that puts pressure on any new spouse/friend/coworker to an established apple group to comply with the pressure upon their next phone purchase.

So if any existing "apple pod" can convert even one android user, that's a huge payoff to the gamble of making the iPhone less functional than the android.

It's a whacky gamble that's either a beneficial outcome of shitty programming, or a fairly brilliant and bold example of social engineering. Knowing apple as well as I don't, I honestly have no idea which is more likely.

[Luke Warm]

My new employer was fishing around for a phone I could use and came up with an iPhone 11. It's several years old, and it's the first iPhone I've ever used.

I've been texting customers and vendors, some bubbles are green and some are blue. I honestly can't remember which color I'm supposed to hate.

Incoming bubbles are all grey on my phone. I didn't even know about the green/blue thing.

I think blue is from another iPhone and green is from not an iPhone.

[LennStar]

These all sound like good reasons to exclude Apple users, not Android users.

For a thinking person who recognizes why Apple does this. But Apple users like to be M in the SM play. Don't dare a word against the misstress! You have to be locked in and like it!

So yes, I am totally in the "that's not a bug, it's a (coercioin) feature" field.

[SwordGuy]

Re: color, etc, of phone text messages.

[eyesonthehorizon]

…When my brother asked, he probably thought that I had it.  Unfortunately for him, I had just moved a large chunk of cash into I-bonds and it was still locked up so I didn't really have access to it.  He is the manager at my local credit union and while he can't directly access my account information, I am under no impression that he doesn't actually have a pretty good idea of what's in there.  …

Oh, this is the context I was missing. The difference in magnitude is so stark that I couldn’t see a reason why having the smaller sum would lead him to think you had the larger. I hope he won’t push. The “relatives who just don’t get it” thread is always booming for a reason.

[NorthernIkigai]

I also had someone tell me, "WhatsApp is only for drug dealers and cheaters." My brother's girlfriend told him that even having WhatsApp was a "red flag." Which I find extremely funny, because the only people who regularly contact me on WhatsApp are my immediate family members.

Hmm, then I should probably figure out in which of these two groups my primary school aged child is, and in which my 90+ years old friend is… But I should maybe for once be happy that my 70+ years old dad still hasn’t figured out how to reply anything other than “OK” to WhatsApp messages.

[PMG]

Eh. That view on WhatsApp might be a pretty narrow, white, United States, middle class view. In my (albeit limited) experience as soon as you step a little outside those bounds WhatsApp use is much more prevalent. 

My extended family switched to WhatsApp, which is great, because that’s where many of my international friends communicate, but I really miss the easy translation features on viber.

[getsorted]

Eh. That view on WhatsApp might be a pretty narrow, white, United States, middle class view. In my (albeit limited) experience as soon as you step a little outside those bounds WhatsApp use is much more prevalent. 

My extended family switched to WhatsApp, which is great, because that’s where many of my international friends communicate, but I really miss the easy translation features on viber.

Agreed. It was much more common to use when I lived in the UK. Mums groups, work, school, friends -- it was all on WhatsApp. My American family really only use it because it was the best messaging option to communicate with me during those years! One brother told me I am literally the only person he messages on WhatsApp.

[Sibley]

Eh. That view on WhatsApp might be a pretty narrow, white, United States, middle class view. In my (albeit limited) experience as soon as you step a little outside those bounds WhatsApp use is much more prevalent. 

My extended family switched to WhatsApp, which is great, because that’s where many of my international friends communicate, but I really miss the easy translation features on viber.

Agreed. It was much more common to use when I lived in the UK. Mums groups, work, school, friends -- it was all on WhatsApp. My American family really only use it because it was the best messaging option to communicate with me during those years! One brother told me I am literally the only person he messages on WhatsApp.

I used WhatsApp for a family trip to the UK. Not before or since. I really liked it, and we were sending text, pictures, videos, calling and video calling through it. Very versatile. Once I got home though, yep, it's not in use.

[Adventine]

When I was still in a long distance relationship with my ex-boyfriend, now husband, (literally on opposite sides of the world), we used WhatsApp because regular SMS simply wouldn't work. We live together now in the US but we still primarily use WhatsApp.

I use a competing app (Viber) service to keep in touch with family and friends who are all in different countries. They can use whatever phone they want, iPhone, Android, hell they can even use the Viber desktop app on their PCs.

Limiting oneself to fellow iMessage users seems backwards and provincial to me.

[Dicey]

…When my brother asked, he probably thought that I had it.  Unfortunately for him, I had just moved a large chunk of cash into I-bonds and it was still locked up so I didn't really have access to it.  He is the manager at my local credit union and while he can't directly access my account information, I am under no impression that he doesn't actually have a pretty good idea of what's in there.  …

Oh, this is the context I was missing. The difference in magnitude is so stark that I couldn’t see a reason why having the smaller sum would lead him to think you had the larger. I hope he won’t push. The “relatives who just don’t get it” thread is always booming for a reason.

Related: in the same year, my deadbeat sister asked for $500. I said no. Full sentence. Couple of months later, my brother needed $250,000 to close on a house, because the lender had screwed up their paperwork and it fell apart on closing day. I moved the money into his account the same day. A week later he moved the same amount back to my account. Thank goodness we use the same bank.

The $500 to my sister would have vanished into thin air, and thus would have been a far riskier move.

[Tass]

If you're in a mixed group of Android and iPhone users, "liking" or reacting to messages doesn't work. Instead of seeing the little heart or laugh on a message, it will push another text that says "So-and-so reacted to a message." You don't even know which message it is, or what reaction it was. It gets obnoxious in a big group chat where lots of people are reacting, because you'll get five or six messages that say nothing but "John Doe reacted to a message." "JimBob reacted to a message." "Bunny reacted to a message." You also can't use the swipe reply feature, where you can show exactly which message in a thread you are replying to.

It sounds like nothing at all, but if you are using texting for social purposes, you do feel the absence.

This has been fixed for me--recent Android versions have been updated to correctly interpret and send the reactions, and to do so seamlessly regardless of the type of phone on the other end.

Read receipts and typing indicators still don't work cross-platform, though I personally don't care.

The degraded photo and video quality is the biggest issue for me, and fixing it requires buy-in from Apple. iPhone-to-iPhone texting uses iMessage instead of SMS, and Android-to-Android texting generally uses RCS (a newer standard) for photos and videos. Apple has historically refused to update to that standard, because enforcing poor Apple-to-Android texting quality keeps people in their walled garden.

This is not conjecture; their executives have baldly admitted to this motivation: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tim-cook-says-buy-mom-210347694.html

I believe Apple recently agreed--after years of pressure--to update to RCS texting this year. I am hoping that it will actually just become a text bubble color difference after that.

[GuitarStv]

My MPP is that I have never sent a text message so have no idea what you people are talking about in this thread.

[LennStar]

I don't think that has anything to do with mustachianism though.

[Morning Glory]

Can everyone over age 18 just agree not to "react" to text messages with little hearts or whatever?  Also read receipts come off as passive aggressive and need to go. There, problem solved.

[getsorted]

@getsorted reacted to @LennStar 's message. 

[solon]

@getsorted reacted to @LennStar 's message.

😊💖👍👌💖‼

[HipGnosis]

Can everyone over age 18 just agree not to "react" to text messages with little hearts or whatever?  Also read receipts come off as passive aggressive and need to go. There, problem solved.

Umm... no.
My GF and I are both seniors.   Half of our texts are kisses, hearts, hugs & winks.    It saves a lot of tapping (and she misspells quite often and her phone auto-corrects to things that seldom make sense).

[ixtap]

Can everyone over age 18 just agree not to "react" to text messages with little hearts or whatever?  Also read receipts come off as passive aggressive and need to go. There, problem solved.

Umm... no.
My GF and I are both seniors.   Half of our texts are kisses, hearts, hugs & winks.    It saves a lot of tapping (and she misspells quite often and her phone auto-corrects to things that seldom make sense).

I am 50, Mom is 80. We love exchanging emojis.

[sonofsven]

Can everyone over age 18 just agree not to "react" to text messages with little hearts or whatever?  Also read receipts come off as passive aggressive and need to go. There, problem solved.

I like to try to communicate via text but  limit myself to only sending Schitts Creek gifs as reactions.

Also, I'm old and team android (because: cheap). What's a read receipt?

[getsorted]

Can everyone over age 18 just agree not to "react" to text messages with little hearts or whatever?  Also read receipts come off as passive aggressive and need to go. There, problem solved.

I like to try to communicate via text but  limit myself to only sending Schitts Creek gifs as reactions.

Also, I'm old and team android (because: cheap). What's a read receipt?

Android has read receipts with other Android users. There's tiny little text under your message that says "read," or some other indicator. Mine has a blue check mark in a white box for when the text is delivered, that turns to a white check mark in a blue circle when the text is read.

More importantly, it's a way to get really agitated that somebody has seen your text but hasn't answered it ("left on read").

[Morning Glory]

Can everyone over age 18 just agree not to "react" to text messages with little hearts or whatever?  Also read receipts come off as passive aggressive and need to go. There, problem solved.

I like to try to communicate via text but  limit myself to only sending Schitts Creek gifs as reactions.

Also, I'm old and team android (because: cheap). What's a read receipt?

I've only seen them in Outlook. If you send an email to a group you can see which people opened it. Seems obnoxious to do in a non-work context.

[ChpBstrd]

Can everyone over age 18 just agree not to "react" to text messages with little hearts or whatever?  Also read receipts come off as passive aggressive and need to go. There, problem solved.

I like to try to communicate via text but  limit myself to only sending Schitts Creek gifs as reactions.

Also, I'm old and team android (because: cheap). What's a read receipt?

I've only seen them in Outlook. If you send an email to a group you can see which people opened it. Seems obnoxious to do in a non-work context.

And also obnoxious to do in a work context. Nothing says "I'm going to blame you for everything and get you fired" like the read receipt.

[Miss Piggy]

This has been fixed for me--recent Android versions have been updated to correctly interpret and send the reactions, and to do so seamlessly regardless of the type of phone on the other end.

Interesting. @Tass what does this look like for you now? I'm looking at a text string with Apple users on my Android phone. I'm seeing one response that the same as the old version: Laughed at "Blah blah blah..."  And I'm seeing a different response right below that one from someone else: :( (Actual angry face emoji) to "Blah blah blah..."

The actual angry face emoji is new. But the change I would really hope for is that the angry face just shows WITH the original text bubble. Not as a whole new text reaction as usual.

[sonofsven]

Can everyone over age 18 just agree not to "react" to text messages with little hearts or whatever?  Also read receipts come off as passive aggressive and need to go. There, problem solved.

I like to try to communicate via text but  limit myself to only sending Schitts Creek gifs as reactions.

Also, I'm old and team android (because: cheap). What's a read receipt?

I've only seen them in Outlook. If you send an email to a group you can see which people opened it. Seems obnoxious to do in a non-work context.

That's pretty much what I figured, thanks.
I'm not in a field where I send a ton of emails so my knowledge of contemporary work culture is lacking. I'm the person included in the group chat that never says anything but "ok", or, preferably, 👍.

[Dollar Slice]

I am 50, Mom is 80. We love exchanging emojis.

My mom has a pretty bad tremor that makes it harder to type, so sometimes she will just use Emojis to communicate a thought. Like last night I told her my friend had the flu and couldn't come to a classical concert with me and she sent back 👎🎼🎹🎻. I know her well enough to interpret accurately.

[Tass]

This has been fixed for me--recent Android versions have been updated to correctly interpret and send the reactions, and to do so seamlessly regardless of the type of phone on the other end.

Interesting. @Tass what does this look like for you now? I'm looking at a text string with Apple users on my Android phone. I'm seeing one response that the same as the old version: Laughed at "Blah blah blah..."  And I'm seeing a different response right below that one from someone else: :( (Actual angry face emoji) to "Blah blah blah..."

The actual angry face emoji is new. But the change I would really hope for is that the angry face just shows WITH the original text bubble. Not as a whole new text reaction as usual.

That is exactly what it looks like for me.

Ftr, on Android you can turn off read receipts (both sending and receiving them) in your settings. That's the beauty of a customizable OS.

I've never seen them integrated in outlook; I sometimes get spammy emails that include a notification that the sender requested a read receipt, but I always deny sending one.

[NorCal]

I use Tiller to track my finances in a spreadsheet. 

I have more accounts than their net-worth template can handle without semi-recurring modification.  The template uses complex enough formulas to make it more than a minor inconvenience.

I make efforts to minimize the number of accounts I have, but I still have a brokerage account, IRA, ROTH IRA, Wife's IRA, Wife's ROTH IRA, HSA, 401k, old 401k ($0 balance, but showing for historical purposes), and a few real estate investments.  My wife is starting a new job, which means a new 401k, and something else to break. 

[Metalcat]

Can everyone over age 18 just agree not to "react" to text messages with little hearts or whatever?  Also read receipts come off as passive aggressive and need to go. There, problem solved.

Umm... no.
My GF and I are both seniors.   Half of our texts are kisses, hearts, hugs & winks.    It saves a lot of tapping (and she misspells quite often and her phone auto-corrects to things that seldom make sense).

I am 50, Mom is 80. We love exchanging emojis.

My DH is 50 and texts primarily in emojis. I literally never used them until we got together.

[Miss Piggy]

This has been fixed for me--recent Android versions have been updated to correctly interpret and send the reactions, and to do so seamlessly regardless of the type of phone on the other end.

Interesting. @Tass what does this look like for you now? I'm looking at a text string with Apple users on my Android phone. I'm seeing one response that the same as the old version: Laughed at "Blah blah blah..."  And I'm seeing a different response right below that one from someone else: :( (Actual angry face emoji) to "Blah blah blah..."

The actual angry face emoji is new. But the change I would really hope for is that the angry face just shows WITH the original text bubble. Not as a whole new text reaction as usual.

That is exactly what it looks like for me.

hhhmmm...I hope I start seeing the same thing soon.

[Loren Ver]

My latest MPP: I seem to have crossed an asset threshold with vanguard and they suddenly become way more aggressive advertising their financial advise services. Or maybe they’ve just drifted off course since we lost Jack…

I don't think it is a threshold, they are hitting me up too, and they have less of my money than anyone else.  Even less now that I closed my dividend accounts.  Speaking of that....

My MMP, my dividend accounts were paying dividends at the last possible minute every year (as well as quarterly throughout the year).  This is really inefficient when trying to keep on the low end of MAGI for ACA, so at the end of 2023, I finally gave them the ax.  This helped clean up my spreadsheet, two less lines to track year over year, and less stress trying to predict how much income will appear at the end of each year that is 100% towards MAGI. 

This also means less BOO HOO small violin from DH as he would listen to my laments about it. 

Loren

My REIT is also last minute for taxes and it is a real pain.  Last year I had to refile, they were so late.

I've had to amend my taxes, though it was two years ago I believe.  Lament!
I'll share my small violin serenade with you. :)

[BlueHouse]

I like to try to communicate via text but  limit myself to only sending Schitts Creek gifs as reactions.

Challenge Accepted!
https://images.app.goo.gl/nrEfShMU9cgmWxAo6

[NoVa]

Can everyone over age 18 just agree not to "react" to text messages with little hearts or whatever?  Also read receipts come off as passive aggressive and need to go. There, problem solved.

I like to try to communicate via text but  limit myself to only sending Schitts Creek gifs as reactions.

Also, I'm old and team android (because: cheap). What's a read receipt?

I've only seen them in Outlook. If you send an email to a group you can see which people opened it. Seems obnoxious to do in a non-work context.

And also obnoxious to do in a work context. Nothing says "I'm going to blame you for everything and get you fired" like the read receipt.

Back when I was working I always declined to send a read receipt. No one ever asked me why or questioned me about whether I had received the email. I think some (most?) people do it out of habit.

[nouveauRiche]

Ugh.

I just logged into a 401k from an old job and realized how big the fees were.  They're charging me about 20x more than TIAA is on a similarly sized account.

Right now I'm a squirrel that has 401Ks stashed like nuts. Thankfully, none of the others are ripping me off quite like this.  Still, I should really get serious about rolling them over into an IRA.

I had that MPP a few years ago - several small 401k accounts scattered across different companies.  I did finally roll them all into a Vanguard IRA.  It was a hassle and took a long time (always does when they are giving you your money) but it's so nice to have everything in one place.  10/10 would recommend.

[Taran Wanderer]

Back when I was working I always declined to send a read receipt. No one ever asked me why or questioned me about whether I had received the email. I think some (most?) people do it out of habit.

👍👍👍