Post secrets you know from your previous/current jobs

[tofuchampion]

On hospital tv shows, a lot of what they show Dr's doing is actually what nurses do. What they show nurses doing, the CNA's do in real life.

Also, that's not what CPR really looks like.

source: I'm a hospital CNA.

Well of course CPR doesn't look like that. I don't think even method actors are down for having their ribs cracked for the sake of the show ;P

No sense of adventure, clearly! Srsly, though, I feel like they could at least try to make it look like they're putting weight/effort into it.

[iwasjustwondering]

At the university I went to, the Business School is the most prestigious of the departments. They decided they wanted a new building and more space. So various other departments were reassigned to different, less desirable locations so that the Business School could tear down their building and build a new one.

My old Economics professor (Economics was not part of the business school) told me that he was assigned to an office in some building he had never heard of, and when he got there, it was full of bees. It was this whole set up where the bees had a glass-walled home and tunnels that led outside. When he asked the bee-department (whatever that was) to move the bees, they said that it wasn't a good time for the bees to be moved. Apparently, the bees had not been reassigned to a different space and their office was considered "open". So now a new space had to be found for the bees - and space was at a premium due to the torn-down building forcing everyone into every nook and cranny.

So he had to share his office with the bees for an entire year before someone finally found them a new home. Plus, people would come in and check on the bees and study them. He said it was clear that the bees were considered the more valuable occupant of the office.

I feel like this is some sort of parable…  :p

Bees *are* more important than professors. 

[Dr. Pepper]

for the flat line(asystole) question, its based on ACLS, no shocks for that. You give drugs, mostly epinephrine 1mg every 3-5 min, and continue CPR, and think about H's and T's (hypothermia,hypoxia.....etc which are the reversible causes for asystole. The other no-shock rhythm is PEA.

Some health care observations:

-even though they(infection control) make a big deal about doctors and nurses washing their hands/universal precautions etc, your co-patients are under no such compulsion when they leave their rooms. So beware of the common areas, there is a reasonable chance another patient with an infection has been there.

-under experienced people tend to minimize bad things (it must be a natural human tendency), if your in the hospital and worried about something listen to that, ask for your doctor, don't let your problem get minimized until it grows into something that is more difficult to correct.

-robotic surgery currently is for the most part is a marketing gimmick, there are some operations which are made easier, specifically removal of the prostate. However for most operations the cost is more, the operative time is longer, and the results are similar. The robot is not less invasive then current laparoscopic techniques. Hospitals fear losing surgical volume to other hospitals which are marketing robotic surgery and jump on the bandwagon.

[Dumb blonde]

A lot of doctors know less than you do about medical stuff.

Thanks for this one, now I don't have to feel guilty for being a smarty-pants anymore. I always Google before entering a doctor's office.

[cripzychiken]

A lot of doctors know less than you do about medical stuff.

Thanks for this one, now I don't have to feel guilty for being a smarty-pants anymore. I always Google before entering a doctor's office.

Google away, but keep your mouth shut and listen.  When you have no idea what you have (basically just symptoms), the doctor knows more than you - 8 years of school, 3+ years of residency and however many years of practice will give you more info than the average person.  The best thing you can do is be honest and tell all of your symptoms and answer the questions truthfully.  Plus, when you come in saying stuff like "Well I saw on WebMD that I have cancer" the doctors then to do whatever they can to get you out, you have already diagnosed yourself and don't want their help, just their agreement.

But, if you feel like they are saying you have just a cold but you think it is something more, ask about it after the doctor tells you what they believe it is.  something like "Well doctor, I was looking around about my symptoms and I felt it felt more of a diagnosis of XXXX, what did I miss that makes it not that?"  See how you are agreeing with the doctor and asking for help making you smarter, that makes them feel better and no attacked by an internet doctor.

Now, the one big exception is when you have a known illness, then yes, you actually know more than the doctor because you have then focused your study on a single area where the doctor needs to know about a ton of stuff.  Once you know what you have, all that previous advice goes out the window.  But always remember, be respectful and work together.

[Stash Engineer]

The 3-letter agencies of the gov't have done a fantastic job of monitoring and preventing an untold number of planned terrorist attacks on American soil.  For every senseless attack or killing, there's probably 50 that were prevented that you never heard about.  I can't divulge much more info, but terrorist organizations have a larger foothold in the continental US than you are aware.

[Spork]

The 3-letter agencies of the gov't have done a fantastic job of monitoring and preventing an untold number of planned terrorist attacks on American soil.  For every senseless attack or killing, there's probably 50 that were prevented that you never heard about.  I can't divulge much more info, but terrorist organizations have a larger foothold in the continental US than you are aware.

I'm skeptical on that -- mostly because it is in their interest to advertise this fact.  In the post-Snowden environment, they've been pressed hard by a number of smart, vocal people to provide evidence that their questionable monitoring tactics are working.

[golden1]

Google away, but keep your mouth shut and listen.  When you have no idea what you have (basically just symptoms), the doctor knows more than you - 8 years of school, 3+ years of residency and however many years of practice will give you more info than the average person.  The best thing you can do is be honest and tell all of your symptoms and answer the questions truthfully.  Plus, when you come in saying stuff like "Well I saw on WebMD that I have cancer" the doctors then to do whatever they can to get you out, you have already diagnosed yourself and don't want their help, just their agreement.

But, if you feel like they are saying you have just a cold but you think it is something more, ask about it after the doctor tells you what they believe it is.  something like "Well doctor, I was looking around about my symptoms and I felt it felt more of a diagnosis of XXXX, what did I miss that makes it not that?"  See how you are agreeing with the doctor and asking for help making you smarter, that makes them feel better and no attacked by an internet doctor.

Agreed.  I am always astonished when people talk about how their doctor doesn't listen to them because I have had completely the opposite experience, and I believe it is partially in the way I approached the situation.

I started having extreme itching during pregnancy, especially on the palms of my hands.  At first I thought it was normal pregnancy itching, but It kept getting worse, and I happened upon an article talking about a rare liver condition called obstetric cholestasis that is easily screened using a bile acids test.  At my next appointment, I mentioned to my OB, very respectfully, that I heard of this condition and asked if I could get the test done.  I presented a print out that described what I was talking about.  The doctor read it, and sent me to get the test.  Sure enough, I had the condition, which required me to deliver several weeks early to avoid a high chance of stillbirth. 

I also hear about people having trouble getting services for their special needs kids from the school department.  My kids school has bent over backwards trying to help him and have provided pretty much everything I have asked for, mostly I think because I treat them with respect.  I am always shocked at the negative things I hear people say about teachers in this country. 

[CommonCents]

I also hear about people having trouble getting services for their special needs kids from the school department.  My kids school has bent over backwards trying to help him and have provided pretty much everything I have asked for, mostly I think because I treat them with respect.  I am always shocked at the negative things I hear people say about teachers in this country.

I think this greatly varies by school - and even generally by state, depending on policies.  I wouldn't chalk up the differences solely to a matter of you treating them with respect (and others by extension who aren't getting services, not treating them with respect). 

[StacheInAFlash]

As a physician:
...
# don't listen to TV doctors like Dr. Oz.  Good medical advice is boring and should not attract many viewers.  It's like good investment advice.

This is an absolute gem. I'm going to quote this to somebody at some point.

[Gin1984]

A lot of doctors know less than you do about medical stuff.

Thanks for this one, now I don't have to feel guilty for being a smarty-pants anymore. I always Google before entering a doctor's office.

And google is not make you smarter than your doctor, if you don't understand enough to go through the actual data.

[DoubleDown]

Well, I caught a contractor spitting tobacco into a crawlspace in my kitchen once.  He told me that he cleaned everything up once the work was done.  I'm just glad I didn't see any urine or feces but it wouldn't surprise me.  Ug.

As a builder I have absolutely lost it when dealing with knuckle dragging tobacco chewers on my jobs. You either take you drooling, nasty assed pie hole to a window or door, and spit outside, or GTFO. These guys are disgusting. The worst of the bottom crawlers spit in whatever can they find, then leave the cans all over.

I know a guy who once accidentally picked up and drank from a Styrofoam cup that was being spit into by a tobacco chewer. The chewer had placed his spit cup near the guy's own cup that had Coke or something in it.

[trailrated]

I work for a concrete company and this is not something that we do, but it is something we see commonly with contractors.

They order too much concrete for a job (sometimes double if they are that bad at math). They still have to pay for the concrete coming out but they do not want the home owner (who pays them, who pays us) to realize that they made a mistake. So when they could finish the job with one truck, they only dump out a small amount of concrete and then send the truck away, using a small amount on the next truck to "finish" the job.

[AlwaysBeenASaver]

I know a guy who once accidentally picked up and drank from a Styrofoam cup that was being spit into by a tobacco chewer. The chewer had placed his spit cup near the guy's own cup that had Coke or something in it.

Eww I really didn't want to know about that!

[MishMash]

The 3-letter agencies of the gov't have done a fantastic job of monitoring and preventing an untold number of planned terrorist attacks on American soil.  For every senseless attack or killing, there's probably 50 that were prevented that you never heard about.  I can't divulge much more info, but terrorist organizations have a larger foothold in the continental US than you are aware.

I'm skeptical on that -- mostly because it is in their interest to advertise this fact.  In the post-Snowden environment, they've been pressed hard by a number of smart, vocal people to provide evidence that their questionable monitoring tactics are working.

Except if they spout off their successes it lets the 'bad' guys know what's working and what's not.  Father was TF-1 in NYC back in the day, hubz and I are both in this area of expertise currently.  100 million and ten percent Spork is correct.  The crap the American public doesn't know about, that was stopped ahead of time, would have most folks running in the street tearing their hair out.  There is no point in terrifying the populace on a threat that was stopped.  And count yourself lucky some of the stuff that was stopped didn't actually happen because you don't even want to know about the "contingency" plans in the event of a bio attack that most cities have.

[Insanity]

The 3-letter agencies of the gov't have done a fantastic job of monitoring and preventing an untold number of planned terrorist attacks on American soil.  For every senseless attack or killing, there's probably 50 that were prevented that you never heard about.  I can't divulge much more info, but terrorist organizations have a larger foothold in the continental US than you are aware.

I'm skeptical on that -- mostly because it is in their interest to advertise this fact.  In the post-Snowden environment, they've been pressed hard by a number of smart, vocal people to provide evidence that their questionable monitoring tactics are working.

Except if they spout off their successes it lets the 'bad' guys know what's working and what's not.  Father was TF-1 in NYC back in the day, hubz and I are both in this area of expertise currently.  100 million and ten percent Spork is correct.  The crap the American public doesn't know about, that was stopped ahead of time, would have most folks running in the street tearing their hair out.  There is no point in terrifying the populace on a threat that was stopped.  And count yourself lucky some of the stuff that was stopped didn't actually happen because you don't even want to know about the "contingency" plans in the event of a bio attack that most cities have.

So the question I have to ask....

Could it have been done without mass surveillance?

[Stash Engineer]

The 3-letter agencies of the gov't have done a fantastic job of monitoring and preventing an untold number of planned terrorist attacks on American soil.  For every senseless attack or killing, there's probably 50 that were prevented that you never heard about.  I can't divulge much more info, but terrorist organizations have a larger foothold in the continental US than you are aware.

I'm skeptical on that -- mostly because it is in their interest to advertise this fact.  In the post-Snowden environment, they've been pressed hard by a number of smart, vocal people to provide evidence that their questionable monitoring tactics are working.

It's actually not in their interest to advertise this.  They don't want the general public to know what questionable tactics were used because of the number of smart, vocal people that would crucify that organization and its leadership - regardless of the outcome or utility of said tactics.  It would also be quite alarming to the general public if they knew the true extent to which we are targeted.  We (American general public) couldn't stomach the full disclosure of either.

[Stash Engineer]

The 3-letter agencies of the gov't have done a fantastic job of monitoring and preventing an untold number of planned terrorist attacks on American soil.  For every senseless attack or killing, there's probably 50 that were prevented that you never heard about.  I can't divulge much more info, but terrorist organizations have a larger foothold in the continental US than you are aware.

I'm skeptical on that -- mostly because it is in their interest to advertise this fact.  In the post-Snowden environment, they've been pressed hard by a number of smart, vocal people to provide evidence that their questionable monitoring tactics are working.

Except if they spout off their successes it lets the 'bad' guys know what's working and what's not.  Father was TF-1 in NYC back in the day, hubz and I are both in this area of expertise currently.  100 million and ten percent Spork is correct.  The crap the American public doesn't know about, that was stopped ahead of time, would have most folks running in the street tearing their hair out.  There is no point in terrifying the populace on a threat that was stopped.  And count yourself lucky some of the stuff that was stopped didn't actually happen because you don't even want to know about the "contingency" plans in the event of a bio attack that most cities have.

So the question I have to ask....

Could it have been done without mass surveillance?

Actually, no.  Unfortunately, mass surveillance is quite critical for tracking the movement of persons of interest.  The fact is that mass surveillance creates such a huge amount of data, its mostly ignored except for the pre-determined pieces that raise flags. 

[Spork]

The 3-letter agencies of the gov't have done a fantastic job of monitoring and preventing an untold number of planned terrorist attacks on American soil.  For every senseless attack or killing, there's probably 50 that were prevented that you never heard about.  I can't divulge much more info, but terrorist organizations have a larger foothold in the continental US than you are aware.

I'm skeptical on that -- mostly because it is in their interest to advertise this fact.  In the post-Snowden environment, they've been pressed hard by a number of smart, vocal people to provide evidence that their questionable monitoring tactics are working.

Except if they spout off their successes it lets the 'bad' guys know what's working and what's not.  Father was TF-1 in NYC back in the day, hubz and I are both in this area of expertise currently.  100 million and ten percent Spork is correct.  The crap the American public doesn't know about, that was stopped ahead of time, would have most folks running in the street tearing their hair out.  There is no point in terrifying the populace on a threat that was stopped.  And count yourself lucky some of the stuff that was stopped didn't actually happen because you don't even want to know about the "contingency" plans in the event of a bio attack that most cities have.

So the question I have to ask....

Could it have been done without mass surveillance?

Actually, no.  Unfortunately, mass surveillance is quite critical for tracking the movement of persons of interest.  The fact is that mass surveillance creates such a huge amount of data, its mostly ignored except for the pre-determined pieces that raise flags.

Any argument that uses the whole "end justifies the means" thing is a really bad argument, IMO.

[BlueHouse]

I also hear about people having trouble getting services for their special needs kids from the school department.  My kids school has bent over backwards trying to help him and have provided pretty much everything I have asked for, mostly I think because I treat them with respect.  I am always shocked at the negative things I hear people say about teachers in this country.

I think this greatly varies by school - and even generally by state, depending on policies.  I wouldn't chalk up the differences solely to a matter of you treating them with respect (and others by extension who aren't getting services, not treating them with respect).

s
Same with doctors. I treat them all With respect and some are absolutely on board with listening to my concerns and others want to give me a one word diagnoses before even hearing all of my symptoms.  Just like other people, some are great consultative problem solvers and others just want to think they are gods. Those are the ones who seem not to be keeping up with their reading, so if you share with them some advice from Dr Google, they shut down.

[GuitarStv]

The 3-letter agencies of the gov't have done a fantastic job of monitoring and preventing an untold number of planned terrorist attacks on American soil.  For every senseless attack or killing, there's probably 50 that were prevented that you never heard about.  I can't divulge much more info, but terrorist organizations have a larger foothold in the continental US than you are aware.

I'm skeptical on that -- mostly because it is in their interest to advertise this fact.  In the post-Snowden environment, they've been pressed hard by a number of smart, vocal people to provide evidence that their questionable monitoring tactics are working.

Except if they spout off their successes it lets the 'bad' guys know what's working and what's not.  Father was TF-1 in NYC back in the day, hubz and I are both in this area of expertise currently.  100 million and ten percent Spork is correct.  The crap the American public doesn't know about, that was stopped ahead of time, would have most folks running in the street tearing their hair out.  There is no point in terrifying the populace on a threat that was stopped.  And count yourself lucky some of the stuff that was stopped didn't actually happen because you don't even want to know about the "contingency" plans in the event of a bio attack that most cities have.

So the question I have to ask....

Could it have been done without mass surveillance?

Actually, no.  Unfortunately, mass surveillance is quite critical for tracking the movement of persons of interest.  The fact is that mass surveillance creates such a huge amount of data, its mostly ignored except for the pre-determined pieces that raise flags.

Any argument that uses the whole "end justifies the means" thing is a really bad argument, IMO.

Much worse than that.

It's an "Ends justify the means, but we can't show you the ends.  Sure it's in our best interest to lie about it, but we won't . . .  just take our word for it.  All those times we lied about the means to you before you discovered the truth . . . don't worry about that either."

[wtjbatman]

From a former job:
Mid grade gasoline (89 octane) is the worst value. Use either regular or premium. Typically, premium has double the deposit fighting detergent additive compared to regular, and mid grade has the same as detergent additive as regular. So with mid grade, all you get for the extra money is a lousy two octane.

Does double detergent really help?  1x detergent isn't good enough?

I save money on my gas detergent by only paying for 87 octane gas and then throwing in some Tide pods.


*Dramatic reenactment

Woah, does this really work? Because I always worry about the cheapo gas station gas (do you want to use you 10 cent per gallon reward today?) in my car.

Yep! And there's something even better. You know that nasty gasoline smell? Well that's not a problem with my vehicle! When I start up my car, all I smell is the fresh scent of "ocean breeze".

[humbleMouse]

I spent 10 years in the restaurant industry and what happens in fine dining restaurant kitchens is even worse that what Kitchen Confidential portrays. 

DH's current job causes him to see a lot of fast food kitchens.  Surprisingly he reports that McDonald's are the cleanest fast food kitchens.  Jack in the Box and Pizza Hut are the worst.  Rodents, bugs, mold in the walk-ins and moldy dish racks are common.

I spent years working in an extremely "high-end" fine dining restaurant and the place was disgusting.  It's a bit ironic, the more fine-dining a place is the more work goes into presenting the food, which means less time for whoever is making the food.  That means corners need to get cut somewhere....

Also, the place was dirty as hell, giant fake plants that looked like shit, imported furniture that had been broken so many times, but the thing is is that you can't see any of this because the lights are so dim.  Anytime you are in a dimly lit restaurant, the place is probably covered in slime but you just can't notice it. 

[MishMash]

You would all actually be quite amazed at the extent the government goes to to try and AVOID mass surveillance of US citizens. You hear of things like Snowden etc, you don't hear about the extremes most of the other organizations go to to avoid getting in US citizens business.  And again, so much data is collected on foreign targets that you are bound to gather information on people you don't need.  This stuff isn't even looked at unless the aggregater triggers on key points.

A lot of data that is collected is actually put out there by us...US citizens.  How much of our lives are online? How often do we not read the ELA's and Terms of Service of something we use (a lot, and a lot of companies sell your information on the open market)  I can name at least three US companies that have large markets exploiting big data issues by continuously mining public sites for information, tweets, FB posts, online comment forums etc and bringing context and analytics to that information.  And as I've said in spirited conversation with a good friend and large supporter of the EFF, where was the public outrage that we have now when the Patriot Act was first implemented...oh...that's right, while there was some (and I am personally not a fan of it in the least), a lot of people were more concerned on getting "revenge" on the "enemy" then they were with their own personal freedoms.

[cripzychiken]

From a former job:
Mid grade gasoline (89 octane) is the worst value. Use either regular or premium. Typically, premium has double the deposit fighting detergent additive compared to regular, and mid grade has the same as detergent additive as regular. So with mid grade, all you get for the extra money is a lousy two octane.

Does double detergent really help?  1x detergent isn't good enough?

I save money on my gas detergent by only paying for 87 octane gas and then throwing in some Tide pods.


*Dramatic reenactment

Woah, does this really work? Because I always worry about the cheapo gas station gas (do you want to use you 10 cent per gallon reward today?) in my car.

Yep! And there's something even better. You know that nasty gasoline smell? Well that's not a problem with my vehicle! When I start up my car, all I smell is the fresh scent of "ocean breeze".

That's you mistake... April Rain is soo much better :)

[DeepEllumStache]

From college days of working in retail -

My department store figured it was cheaper accepting a certain rate of theft than aggressively fighting it. Because if your loss prevention yells, "stop thief!" and it turns out they made a mistake and the person didn't take anything (or they did but have a really great lawyer), then it's slander. If your loss prevention touches the person? Then it's assault.

Finding torn off tags in a dressing rooms was a common occurrence.

Speaking of dressing rooms...  those were disgusting. We found dirty diapers, used pads, and food wrappers back there (thankfully not at the same time). Other than clearing out clothes, throwing out trash, and the once a day vacuuming, we didn't clean them.

In the costume jewelry department, the stuff in the display cases typically wasn't any nicer than the stuff on the racks. The lighting in the cases made it seem so, but when we sold a piece from there we'd just be pulling one of the pieces off the rack to fill that spot in.

[Bajadoc]

A lot of doctors know less than you do about medical stuff.

Thanks for this one, now I don't have to feel guilty for being a smarty-pants anymore. I always Google before entering a doctor's office.

Google away, but keep your mouth shut and listen.  When you have no idea what you have (basically just symptoms), the doctor knows more than you - 8 years of school, 3+ years of residency and however many years of practice will give you more info than the average person.  The best thing you can do is be honest and tell all of your symptoms and answer the questions truthfully.  Plus, when you come in saying stuff like "Well I saw on WebMD that I have cancer" the doctors then to do whatever they can to get you out, you have already diagnosed yourself and don't want their help, just their agreement.

But, if you feel like they are saying you have just a cold but you think it is something more, ask about it after the doctor tells you what they believe it is.  something like "Well doctor, I was looking around about my symptoms and I felt it felt more of a diagnosis of XXXX, what did I miss that makes it not that?"  See how you are agreeing with the doctor and asking for help making you smarter, that makes them feel better and no attacked by an internet doctor.

Now, the one big exception is when you have a known illness, then yes, you actually know more than the doctor because you have then focused your study on a single area where the doctor needs to know about a ton of stuff.  Once you know what you have, all that previous advice goes out the window.  But always remember, be respectful and work together.

Some doctors are brilliant and some know nothing. You, the patient, are ultimately responsible for your health. Use all resources available. Yes, of coarse, always be respectful.

[AlanStache]

The 3-letter agencies of the gov't have done a fantastic job of monitoring and preventing an untold number of planned terrorist attacks on American soil.  For every senseless attack or killing, there's probably 50 that were prevented that you never heard about.  I can't divulge much more info, but terrorist organizations have a larger foothold in the continental US than you are aware.

I'm skeptical on that -- mostly because it is in their interest to advertise this fact.  In the post-Snowden environment, they've been pressed hard by a number of smart, vocal people to provide evidence that their questionable monitoring tactics are working.

Between the published incompetence of the TSA, how much damage one guy with a legal AR15 or blow torch could do on his own in the country (power stations/transition lines/water pumping plants/etc), that guy that tried to use unaltered fertilizer with sparklers as a bomb and a non-public incident with a guy recently trying to go to flight school to just learn how to fly under cruise conditions in a commercial aircraft our adversaries seem to be stupidly incompetent or not interested in attacking.  Fine, yes there is probably much going on that we dont know about but really, we have so many vulnerabilities that have not been attacked it is hard to see the bad guys as a threat.

[dragoncar]

I work for a concrete company and this is not something that we do, but it is something we see commonly with contractors.

They order too much concrete for a job (sometimes double if they are that bad at math). They still have to pay for the concrete coming out but they do not want the home owner (who pays them, who pays us) to realize that they made a mistake. So when they could finish the job with one truck, they only dump out a small amount of concrete and then send the truck away, using a small amount on the next truck to "finish" the job.

I don't even understand this

[Spork]

You would all actually be quite amazed at the extent the government goes to to try and AVOID mass surveillance of US citizens. You hear of things like Snowden etc, you don't hear about the extremes most of the other organizations go to to avoid getting in US citizens business.  And again, so much data is collected on foreign targets that you are bound to gather information on people you don't need.  This stuff isn't even looked at unless the aggregater triggers on key points.

I've actually had quite a bit of first hand experience here.  I'll use a bit of the cop out that's already been used and say I really can't talk about it.  But there is a metric crapton of indiscriminate mass surveillance going on that I've seen for > 15 years.   

[CommonCents]

I work for a concrete company and this is not something that we do, but it is something we see commonly with contractors.

They order too much concrete for a job (sometimes double if they are that bad at math). They still have to pay for the concrete coming out but they do not want the home owner (who pays them, who pays us) to realize that they made a mistake. So when they could finish the job with one truck, they only dump out a small amount of concrete and then send the truck away, using a small amount on the next truck to "finish" the job.

I don't even understand this

I think it's that people pay twice what they should for concrete sometimes bc their contractor screwed up and the contractor then plays the shell game with the truck of concrete so people don't notice and demand money off.  But that's my best guess.

[trailrated]

I work for a concrete company and this is not something that we do, but it is something we see commonly with contractors.

They order too much concrete for a job (sometimes double if they are that bad at math). They still have to pay for the concrete coming out but they do not want the home owner (who pays them, who pays us) to realize that they made a mistake. So when they could finish the job with one truck, they only dump out a small amount of concrete and then send the truck away, using a small amount on the next truck to "finish" the job.

I don't even understand this

I think it's that people pay twice what they should for concrete sometimes bc their contractor screwed up and the contractor then plays the shell game with the truck of concrete so people don't notice and demand money off.  But that's my best guess.

Spot on, sorry if that was confusing.

1. Contractor orders 30 yards of concrete (10 on each truck)
2. Contractor realizes he will finish with 20 yards but 30 yards has already been shipped.
3. Contractor pours out 10 yards from the first truck, pours out 5 yards from the second truck and sends it away (so the homeowner thinks they still need more) pours out 5 yards from the third truck.
4. Three trucks carrying 30 yards only poured out 20 yards
5. Contractor collects money from homeowner to pay us. Homeowner doesn't realize they just covered the contractors $1,400 mistake.

[EricL]

The 3-letter agencies of the gov't have done a fantastic job of monitoring and preventing an untold number of planned terrorist attacks on American soil.  For every senseless attack or killing, there's probably 50 that were prevented that you never heard about.  I can't divulge much more info, but terrorist organizations have a larger foothold in the continental US than you are aware.

I'm skeptical on that -- mostly because it is in their interest to advertise this fact.  In the post-Snowden environment, they've been pressed hard by a number of smart, vocal people to provide evidence that their questionable monitoring tactics are working.

Except if they spout off their successes it lets the 'bad' guys know what's working and what's not.  Father was TF-1 in NYC back in the day, hubz and I are both in this area of expertise currently.  100 million and ten percent Spork is correct.  The crap the American public doesn't know about, that was stopped ahead of time, would have most folks running in the street tearing their hair out.  There is no point in terrifying the populace on a threat that was stopped.  And count yourself lucky some of the stuff that was stopped didn't actually happen because you don't even want to know about the "contingency" plans in the event of a bio attack that most cities have.

So the question I have to ask....

Could it have been done without mass surveillance?

Actually, no.  Unfortunately, mass surveillance is quite critical for tracking the movement of persons of interest.  The fact is that mass surveillance creates such a huge amount of data, its mostly ignored except for the pre-determined pieces that raise flags.

Any argument that uses the whole "end justifies the means" thing is a really bad argument, IMO.

Much worse than that.

It's an "Ends justify the means, but we can't show you the ends.  Sure it's in our best interest to lie about it, but we won't . . .  just take our word for it.  All those times we lied about the means to you before you discovered the truth . . . don't worry about that either."

I'm not particularly impressed with the massive, stovepiped US intelligence bureaucracies. Yes, I've met some great Intel guys. But for every one of those I've met ten clowns more interested in mistaking things as threats, inflating threats, and inadvertently manufacturing threats.  And none of them were any better at discerning what was actually there from what they expected to see than anyone else I've ever met. 

[dragoncar]

I work for a concrete company and this is not something that we do, but it is something we see commonly with contractors.

They order too much concrete for a job (sometimes double if they are that bad at math). They still have to pay for the concrete coming out but they do not want the home owner (who pays them, who pays us) to realize that they made a mistake. So when they could finish the job with one truck, they only dump out a small amount of concrete and then send the truck away, using a small amount on the next truck to "finish" the job.

I don't even understand this

I think it's that people pay twice what they should for concrete sometimes bc their contractor screwed up and the contractor then plays the shell game with the truck of concrete so people don't notice and demand money off.  But that's my best guess.

Spot on, sorry if that was confusing.

1. Contractor orders 30 yards of concrete (10 on each truck)
2. Contractor realizes he will finish with 20 yards but 30 yards has already been shipped.
3. Contractor pours out 10 yards from the first truck, pours out 5 yards from the second truck and sends it away (so the homeowner thinks they still need more) pours out 5 yards from the third truck.
4. Three trucks carrying 30 yards only poured out 20 yards
5. Contractor collects money from homeowner to pay us. Homeowner doesn't realize they just covered the contractors $1,400 mistake.

Why not just send the third truck to a different location?

[mtn]

I work for a concrete company and this is not something that we do, but it is something we see commonly with contractors.

They order too much concrete for a job (sometimes double if they are that bad at math). They still have to pay for the concrete coming out but they do not want the home owner (who pays them, who pays us) to realize that they made a mistake. So when they could finish the job with one truck, they only dump out a small amount of concrete and then send the truck away, using a small amount on the next truck to "finish" the job.

I don't even understand this

I think it's that people pay twice what they should for concrete sometimes bc their contractor screwed up and the contractor then plays the shell game with the truck of concrete so people don't notice and demand money off.  But that's my best guess.

Spot on, sorry if that was confusing.

1. Contractor orders 30 yards of concrete (10 on each truck)
2. Contractor realizes he will finish with 20 yards but 30 yards has already been shipped.
3. Contractor pours out 10 yards from the first truck, pours out 5 yards from the second truck and sends it away (so the homeowner thinks they still need more) pours out 5 yards from the third truck.
4. Three trucks carrying 30 yards only poured out 20 yards
5. Contractor collects money from homeowner to pay us. Homeowner doesn't realize they just covered the contractors $1,400 mistake.

Why not just send the third truck to a different location?

Because then the customer sees they only used 2 trucks and asks for money back.

[trailrated]

I work for a concrete company and this is not something that we do, but it is something we see commonly with contractors.

They order too much concrete for a job (sometimes double if they are that bad at math). They still have to pay for the concrete coming out but they do not want the home owner (who pays them, who pays us) to realize that they made a mistake. So when they could finish the job with one truck, they only dump out a small amount of concrete and then send the truck away, using a small amount on the next truck to "finish" the job.

I don't even understand this

I think it's that people pay twice what they should for concrete sometimes bc their contractor screwed up and the contractor then plays the shell game with the truck of concrete so people don't notice and demand money off.  But that's my best guess.

Spot on, sorry if that was confusing.

1. Contractor orders 30 yards of concrete (10 on each truck)
2. Contractor realizes he will finish with 20 yards but 30 yards has already been shipped.
3. Contractor pours out 10 yards from the first truck, pours out 5 yards from the second truck and sends it away (so the homeowner thinks they still need more) pours out 5 yards from the third truck.
4. Three trucks carrying 30 yards only poured out 20 yards
5. Contractor collects money from homeowner to pay us. Homeowner doesn't realize they just covered the contractors $1,400 mistake.

Why not just send the third truck to a different location?

Two main reasons:
1) If concrete is in the truck too long it gets "hot" and begins to set, it will not be the same quality. (imagine ordering a pizza expecting it to be fresh, and then you are handed one that has been sitting on the counter for an hour before you ordered)
2) Different types of jobs call for different strengths and mixes, there is no guarantee the other jobs on the schedule will have the same strength specifications, color, chemical additives, or rock size to facilitate the type of pump they are using if they are using one.

[dragoncar]

I work for a concrete company and this is not something that we do, but it is something we see commonly with contractors.

They order too much concrete for a job (sometimes double if they are that bad at math). They still have to pay for the concrete coming out but they do not want the home owner (who pays them, who pays us) to realize that they made a mistake. So when they could finish the job with one truck, they only dump out a small amount of concrete and then send the truck away, using a small amount on the next truck to "finish" the job.

I don't even understand this

I think it's that people pay twice what they should for concrete sometimes bc their contractor screwed up and the contractor then plays the shell game with the truck of concrete so people don't notice and demand money off.  But that's my best guess.

Spot on, sorry if that was confusing.

1. Contractor orders 30 yards of concrete (10 on each truck)
2. Contractor realizes he will finish with 20 yards but 30 yards has already been shipped.
3. Contractor pours out 10 yards from the first truck, pours out 5 yards from the second truck and sends it away (so the homeowner thinks they still need more) pours out 5 yards from the third truck.
4. Three trucks carrying 30 yards only poured out 20 yards
5. Contractor collects money from homeowner to pay us. Homeowner doesn't realize they just covered the contractors $1,400 mistake.

Why not just send the third truck to a different location?

Two main reasons:
1) If concrete is in the truck too long it gets "hot" and begins to set, it will not be the same quality. (imagine ordering a pizza expecting it to be fresh, and then you are handed one that has been sitting on the counter for an hour before you ordered)
2) Different types of jobs call for different strengths and mixes, there is no guarantee the other jobs on the schedule will have the same strength specifications, color, chemical additives, or rock size to facilitate the type of pump they are using if they are using one.

This will all still be an issue with concrete left in the second truck, right?

Because then the customer sees they only used 2 trucks and asks for money back.

Won't the customer see they only used half the load of the second truck? 

[mtn]

Won't the customer see they only used half the load of the second truck?

How? Not a clear container, and unless you're there watching them the entire time, it would be extremely easy to pull the wool over most consumers eyes.

[trailrated]

Won't the customer see they only used half the load of the second truck?

How? Not a clear container, and unless you're there watching them the entire time, it would be extremely easy to pull the wool over most consumers eyes.

Correct, all they have to do is reverse the barrel. 99% of people wouldn't notice.

[trailrated]

Two main reasons:
1) If concrete is in the truck too long it gets "hot" and begins to set, it will not be the same quality. (imagine ordering a pizza expecting it to be fresh, and then you are handed one that has been sitting on the counter for an hour before you ordered)
2) Different types of jobs call for different strengths and mixes, there is no guarantee the other jobs on the schedule will have the same strength specifications, color, chemical additives, or rock size to facilitate the type of pump they are using if they are using one.

This will all still be an issue with concrete left in the second truck, right?

This would be an issue with sending the third truck somewhere else if they used the first two full trucks and did not need anymore and tried to convince us to not charge them for the third truck that has already been loaded. So instead of dealing with it on our end by sending old concrete to someone else, we charge them for everything they ordered and we already loaded.

[Vwjedi76]

Previous job:

Worked at a doctors office. If the doctor didn't like you, or you were an annoying patient, he would make a hand signal which then triggered the nurse to come in and state that "doctor so and so was on the line and it was an emergency" so our doc could get out of your exam room immediately.  Not a super big deal, but when a patient consultation was $600 I felt he should have given them more than 2 minutes.  2 minutes is pushing it. It may have been more like 90 seconds.

[Mr Dumpster Stache]

Rescue workers DO make fun of you - really really bad crass fun of you - they even make up songs a bout you. So make sure and wear clean undies like your mama always told you to in case of an accident.

I once had an EMT tell me to my face, "This is our third accident today and no injuries. This is getting really boring."

[klystomane]

I worked in retail automotive sales for 15 years. Ask me anything. The secrets are mostly out now due to the internet consumer sights though. I can help you buy your next vehicle better than the internet can and save you lots of money if you'd like

Truecar is a scam, right?

[paddedhat]

I work for a concrete company and this is not something that we do, but it is something we see commonly with contractors.

They order too much concrete for a job (sometimes double if they are that bad at math). They still have to pay for the concrete coming out but they do not want the home owner (who pays them, who pays us) to realize that they made a mistake. So when they could finish the job with one truck, they only dump out a small amount of concrete and then send the truck away, using a small amount on the next truck to "finish" the job.

I don't even understand this

I think it's that people pay twice what they should for concrete sometimes bc their contractor screwed up and the contractor then plays the shell game with the truck of concrete so people don't notice and demand money off.  But that's my best guess.

Spot on, sorry if that was confusing.

1. Contractor orders 30 yards of concrete (10 on each truck)
2. Contractor realizes he will finish with 20 yards but 30 yards has already been shipped.
3. Contractor pours out 10 yards from the first truck, pours out 5 yards from the second truck and sends it away (so the homeowner thinks they still need more) pours out 5 yards from the third truck.
4. Three trucks carrying 30 yards only poured out 20 yards
5. Contractor collects money from homeowner to pay us. Homeowner doesn't realize they just covered the contractors $1,400 mistake.

I've done the math on dozens of pours. I never ran short, typically ended up with everything from "whew, we got lucky, there's nothing but a few rocks rolling in the barrel" to Wasting a 1/4 yard. If you deliver to anybody who over-orders by 50%, they are a total F'ing moron. They shouldn't be in the trade, and their customer is either too naïve, or stupid, to know better.

Drivers are not immune to being total idiots either. I once got a drivers attention, walked over to a soaking wet area , WAY off the edge of the road, and said, "See this spot? DO NOT get near it. We pulled a stump out of here, the size of  VW bug, and it's nothing but jello now".  Half an hour later, the driver drops both rears of a full loaded, front discharge mixer right into the same hole, and then says, "you have to call a wrecker". I laughed and asked him to repeat what I told him. In my area, heavy recover wreckers get $3k+ for a pull like that.

[trailrated]

I work for a concrete company and this is not something that we do, but it is something we see commonly with contractors.

They order too much concrete for a job (sometimes double if they are that bad at math). They still have to pay for the concrete coming out but they do not want the home owner (who pays them, who pays us) to realize that they made a mistake. So when they could finish the job with one truck, they only dump out a small amount of concrete and then send the truck away, using a small amount on the next truck to "finish" the job.

I don't even understand this

I think it's that people pay twice what they should for concrete sometimes bc their contractor screwed up and the contractor then plays the shell game with the truck of concrete so people don't notice and demand money off.  But that's my best guess.

Spot on, sorry if that was confusing.

1. Contractor orders 30 yards of concrete (10 on each truck)
2. Contractor realizes he will finish with 20 yards but 30 yards has already been shipped.
3. Contractor pours out 10 yards from the first truck, pours out 5 yards from the second truck and sends it away (so the homeowner thinks they still need more) pours out 5 yards from the third truck.
4. Three trucks carrying 30 yards only poured out 20 yards
5. Contractor collects money from homeowner to pay us. Homeowner doesn't realize they just covered the contractors $1,400 mistake.

I've done the math on dozens of pours. I never ran short, typically ended up with everything from "whew, we got lucky, there's nothing but a few rocks rolling in the barrel" to Wasting a 1/4 yard. If you deliver to anybody who over-orders by 50%, they are a total F'ing moron. They shouldn't be in the trade, and their customer is either too naïve, or stupid, to know better.

Drivers are not immune to being total idiots either. I once got a drivers attention, walked over to a soaking wet area , WAY off the edge of the road, and said, "See this spot? DO NOT get near it. We pulled a stump out of here, the size of  VW bug, and it's nothing but jello now".  Half an hour later, the driver drops both rears of a full loaded, front discharge mixer right into the same hole, and then says, "you have to call a wrecker". I laughed and asked him to repeat what I told him. In my area, heavy recover wreckers get $3k+ for a pull like that.

Wish everyone in the business was as competent as you. Could not agree more we deal with our fair share of dumb fucks. Someone the other day was trying to get a better price and asked me if the mix would be cheaper if it didn't have any sand in it, my head almost exploded.  Worst so far though was the person that thought they could pour a driveway with a 2 sack sand slurry "because it was cheaper" than the mix I recommended.

[paddedhat]

I work for a concrete company and this is not something that we do, but it is something we see commonly with contractors.

They order too much concrete for a job (sometimes double if they are that bad at math). They still have to pay for the concrete coming out but they do not want the home owner (who pays them, who pays us) to realize that they made a mistake. So when they could finish the job with one truck, they only dump out a small amount of concrete and then send the truck away, using a small amount on the next truck to "finish" the job.

I don't even understand this

I think it's that people pay twice what they should for concrete sometimes bc their contractor screwed up and the contractor then plays the shell game with the truck of concrete so people don't notice and demand money off.  But that's my best guess.

Spot on, sorry if that was confusing.

1. Contractor orders 30 yards of concrete (10 on each truck)
2. Contractor realizes he will finish with 20 yards but 30 yards has already been shipped.
3. Contractor pours out 10 yards from the first truck, pours out 5 yards from the second truck and sends it away (so the homeowner thinks they still need more) pours out 5 yards from the third truck.
4. Three trucks carrying 30 yards only poured out 20 yards
5. Contractor collects money from homeowner to pay us. Homeowner doesn't realize they just covered the contractors $1,400 mistake.

I've done the math on dozens of pours. I never ran short, typically ended up with everything from "whew, we got lucky, there's nothing but a few rocks rolling in the barrel" to Wasting a 1/4 yard. If you deliver to anybody who over-orders by 50%, they are a total F'ing moron. They shouldn't be in the trade, and their customer is either too naïve, or stupid, to know better.

Drivers are not immune to being total idiots either. I once got a drivers attention, walked over to a soaking wet area , WAY off the edge of the road, and said, "See this spot? DO NOT get near it. We pulled a stump out of here, the size of  VW bug, and it's nothing but jello now".  Half an hour later, the driver drops both rears of a full loaded, front discharge mixer right into the same hole, and then says, "you have to call a wrecker". I laughed and asked him to repeat what I told him. In my area, heavy recover wreckers get $3k+ for a pull like that.

Wish everyone in the business was as competent as you. Could not agree more we deal with our fair share of dumb fucks. Someone the other day was trying to get a better price and asked me if the mix would be cheaper if it didn't have any sand in it, my head almost exploded.  Worst so far though was the person that thought they could pour a driveway with a 2 sack sand slurry "because it was cheaper" than the mix I recommended.

The sad part is that I certainly wasn't bragging about anything. It takes a tape measure, a $2 calculator, and half a brain to get to the point that you are dead on, and add another half yard to CYA. But as you well know, even that is asking too much, in many cases.

[mozar]

you don't even want to know about the "contingency" plans in the event of a bio attack that most cities have.

stay in your home and wait to die?

[nazar]

School districts do not always hire the best candidates.  I was told in an "interview" that preference is given to district alumni and those who meet their demographic requirements, but if I was willing to sub there might be an opportunity in the future in the next year or two.  Then they listed the only candidates in my graduating class that they would be able to formally interview/hire.  It was mostly a list of C students, including a couple that had serious deficiencies in their subject area.   You would think that subject knowledge would be of some importance, but apparently not.  That was an eye opener!

[aschmidt2930]

Most "thought leadership" pieces are written by PR people.

This.  C-level people rarely write what their name is on.  It's typically a PR Manager or external agency.

[paddedhat]

School districts do not always hire the best candidates.  I was told in an "interview" that preference is given to district alumni and those who meet their demographic requirements, but if I was willing to sub there might be an opportunity in the future in the next year or two.  Then they listed the only candidates in my graduating class that they would be able to formally interview/hire.  It was mostly a list of C students, including a couple that had serious deficiencies in their subject area.   You would think that subject knowledge would be of some importance, but apparently not.  That was an eye opener!

When my wife started her teaching career, in her district, you got an administrator's position it you were male, and had a deep Italian lineage. First year teachers were hired primarily based on how hot looking they were. Doesn't matter if you were a great teacher, and busted your ass on the sub list for a few years, if you were up against somebody who did justice to 4" stilettos, and a low cut party dress, you were going to be subbing for another year. In the district we currently live in, you haven't got a chance in hell if you weren't born and raised here. You could be a local with a totally mediocre resume, up against an out of towner with 4.0 GPA, Ivy league sheepskin, and a stellar resume, and you got the job. They would dismiss the best candidate as, " some nose in the air, city type, who would just leave in a year anyway".