Author Topic: Overheard at Work 2  (Read 1117023 times)

Miss Piggy

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #600 on: April 17, 2019, 07:27:15 PM »
I bring my lunch to work every day in a plastic grocery sack.

Today my boss said, "Here's solon and his homeless lunch bag!" (Meaning, the kind of lunch bag a homeless person would carry.)

I was reusing empty milk bags for my lunch for a while and got the same type of comment. I am now using a reusable fabric bag I had lying around so nobody comments, but if something in my lunch leaks it more of a pain and I can't just throw out my lunch bag like I did in the past. Peer pressure why did I let it affect me?  Keep using your grocery sack Solon!

Can you line the fabric bag with a milk bag? That way if something leaks you can just throw away the liner bag.

@techwiz - I have to ask: What the heck is a "milk bag"? (I guess it seems obvious, but I've never heard of it.)

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #601 on: April 17, 2019, 08:59:42 PM »
Thank you for asking. The only milk bags I know of are the small freezer bags for nursing mothers who pump.

Dee

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #602 on: April 17, 2019, 09:24:24 PM »
In many parts of Canada, including Ontario, milk is packaged in bags; there's an exterior plastic bag (that's smaller than a plastic grocery bag) and within that bag are 3 plastic pouches of milk, for a total content of 4 litres of milk. You buy a reusuable jug into which you insert one pouch at a time. You can read more about it, and more importantly, get a visual, here: https://www.foodnetwork.ca/shows/great-canadian-cookbook/blog/why-do-canadians-drink-bagged-milk/

Montecarlo

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #603 on: April 17, 2019, 09:41:08 PM »
In many parts of Canada, including Ontario, milk is packaged in bags; there's an exterior plastic bag (that's smaller than a plastic grocery bag) and within that bag are 3 plastic pouches of milk, for a total content of 4 litres of milk. You buy a reusuable jug into which you insert one pouch at a time. You can read more about it, and more importantly, get a visual, here: https://www.foodnetwork.ca/shows/great-canadian-cookbook/blog/why-do-canadians-drink-bagged-milk/

We had milk bladders on my submarine.  They fit into a dispenser, but the nipple was always exposed to room temperature.

I lived in Ottawa for two years and never encountered milk bags or bladders there.  Then again, I may have gone the entire two years without drinking milk.

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #604 on: April 17, 2019, 09:42:03 PM »
Interesting!

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #605 on: April 18, 2019, 12:58:37 AM »
Drink it straight from the cow like a real badass

Gerard

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #606 on: April 18, 2019, 06:05:52 AM »
"milk bag"?

Google "Danny Green" and "milk bag" to see (a) how odd other folks find our milk bags and (b) how apparently invested we are in them as a symbol of Canadian-ness!

jinga nation

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #607 on: April 18, 2019, 07:00:26 AM »
I bring my lunch to work every day in a plastic grocery sack.

Today my boss said, "Here's solon and his homeless lunch bag!" (Meaning, the kind of lunch bag a homeless person would carry.)

Got plenty of people at my work site (govt buildings) who bring food and beverages in "homeless lunch bag". Many of them make over 100k in a MCOL area.
The plastic bag is efficient, tie up your waste in it end of day and chuck it in the huge trashcans or trash bins before you go home. You don't want to leave trash in an uncovered bin here.

We don't have cleaning crews due to the nature and sensitivity of data in the workplace. Each person is responsible for keeping his/her area clean, common areas we all take turns or work together and clean up in <10 mins every other week.

I use a lunch cooler bag, but fuck those uppity people who call a plastic grocery bag a homeless bag.
« Last Edit: April 18, 2019, 11:27:15 AM by jinga nation »

techwiz

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #608 on: April 18, 2019, 03:54:30 PM »
Quote
@techwiz - I have to ask: What the heck is a "milk bag"? (I guess it seems obvious, but I've never heard of it.)



cheapest way to buy milk up here in Canada.  Unless of  course you have your own cow but then the feeding and vet bills really add up.   

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #609 on: April 18, 2019, 04:18:18 PM »
Drink it straight from the cow like a real badass
I did that once, mostly. I went to an agricultural fair in Paris long ago and one of the displays was a cow that got milked in front of us. I whipped out my empty water bottle and got it filled with milk fresh and warm directly from the source.

It tasted delicious. My gastrointestinal tract was most displeased.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #610 on: April 18, 2019, 04:20:05 PM »
Drink it straight from the cow like a real badass
I did that once, mostly. I went to an agricultural fair in Paris long ago and one of the displays was a cow that got milked in front of us. I whipped out my empty water bottle and got it filled with milk fresh and warm directly from the source.

It tasted delicious. My gastrointestinal tract was most displeased.

You gotta pasture-ize the cow first

DadJokes

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #611 on: April 18, 2019, 07:04:10 PM »
I bring my lunch to work every day in a plastic grocery sack.

Today my boss said, "Here's solon and his homeless lunch bag!" (Meaning, the kind of lunch bag a homeless person would carry.)

I not only carry my lunch in a plastic bag- I use the same plastic bag everyday. I haven’t received any negative comments and don’t think i will. My coworkers and bosses are generally fairly sensible and polite.

roomtempmayo

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #612 on: April 18, 2019, 08:02:54 PM »
I'm really confused about why putting your lunch in a plastic bag is weird.  I usually bring leftovers in a tupperware container that I wrap in a plastic shopping bag in case something leaks.  The alternative would be to use a new ziplock, I guess?  Why would I do that when I already have a perfectly good bag to be reused and kept out of the landfill/ocean/belly of a whale?

Or do you mean that you're putting leftovers directly into an old plastic bag?  I probably wouldn't do that, mostly because I have to imagine a reused shopping bag isn't super sanitary.  Eating last night's spaghetti directly out of a plastic shopping bag from the bodega somehow seems like a bridge too far for me personally.  A food grade milk bag might be different, though.

So tell us more about your bag usage.  I'm leaning toward "not weird," but need to know more.

solon

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #613 on: April 18, 2019, 09:12:15 PM »
I'm really confused about why putting your lunch in a plastic bag is weird.  I usually bring leftovers in a tupperware container that I wrap in a plastic shopping bag in case something leaks.  The alternative would be to use a new ziplock, I guess?  Why would I do that when I already have a perfectly good bag to be reused and kept out of the landfill/ocean/belly of a whale?

Or do you mean that you're putting leftovers directly into an old plastic bag?  I probably wouldn't do that, mostly because I have to imagine a reused shopping bag isn't super sanitary.  Eating last night's spaghetti directly out of a plastic shopping bag from the bodega somehow seems like a bridge too far for me personally.  A food grade milk bag might be different, though.

So tell us more about your bag usage.  I'm leaning toward "not weird," but need to know more.

The alternative to a plastic grocery sack would be a lunch box. The ones I've seen are big - bigger than a 6-pack - and insulated, so they take up a lot of space in the fridge. They're reusable, which is an advantage over a grocery sack. But you'd have to use a lot of grocery sacks to equal the cost of a lunch box.

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #614 on: April 18, 2019, 10:56:10 PM »
  A food grade milk bag might be different, though.

As someone else who uses milk bags,. . . that's exactly it.  It's food grade plastic.  It's not your usual plastic bags.  My grandmother would cut open the tops of the milk bags, wash them out thoroughly, and then use them as freezer bags.  They work quite well (honestly, the plastic is a bit heavier then usual commercial freezer bags which is nice), and if you're worried about freezer burn, a twist tie or elastic seals them up nicely.

So, I'm lucky enough to have never bought a freezer bag/sandwich bag in my life.  It's always been re-used milk bags.  (Thank you, Nani!)

You can wash/reuse the milk bags relatively indefinitely (the only time I don't re-use them is if they've had raw meat or such packed in them, because I'm not sure I'd get that clean enough). 

Imma

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #615 on: April 19, 2019, 03:32:02 AM »
I'm really confused about why putting your lunch in a plastic bag is weird.  I usually bring leftovers in a tupperware container that I wrap in a plastic shopping bag in case something leaks.  The alternative would be to use a new ziplock, I guess?  Why would I do that when I already have a perfectly good bag to be reused and kept out of the landfill/ocean/belly of a whale?

Or do you mean that you're putting leftovers directly into an old plastic bag?  I probably wouldn't do that, mostly because I have to imagine a reused shopping bag isn't super sanitary.  Eating last night's spaghetti directly out of a plastic shopping bag from the bodega somehow seems like a bridge too far for me personally.  A food grade milk bag might be different, though.

So tell us more about your bag usage.  I'm leaning toward "not weird," but need to know more.

The alternative to a plastic grocery sack would be a lunch box. The ones I've seen are big - bigger than a 6-pack - and insulated, so they take up a lot of space in the fridge. They're reusable, which is an advantage over a grocery sack. But you'd have to use a lot of grocery sacks to equal the cost of a lunch box.

Simple basic lunch boxes aren't a thing there? Everyone I know has one. Reusing bread bags is definitely something I do when I don't want to carry around an empty lunch box, but when there are multiple family members taking lunch to work/school you're bound to run out of bags.

I have owned the same lunch box for 10 years and I'm sure it cost less than €10. It's similar to this one https://www.wehkamp.nl/mepal-take-a-break-lunchbox-midi-16041548/?CC=C23&SC=BTS&KAC=BRT&artikelNummer=233154&MaatCode=0000&BC=GOA&BAC=ALG&cm_mmc_o=7BBTkwCjC-kTwFwwECVyBpAgfkblfbETzplCjCPyBBpfyBFFwkC1AEgtCCjCoxnNNvDS&scid=scplp862331540000&sc_intid=862331540000&gclsrc=aw.ds&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItNno-erb4QIV6LvtCh1cQQRmEAQYASABEgJ5jvD_BwE&NavState=%7B"fi"%3A%7B"p_MRK"%3A%5B"mepal"%5D%7D%7D&PI=001 and roughly the size of a book. It's not insulated but I don't need that. When I eat a hot lunch I heat it in the microwave.

Hula Hoop

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #616 on: April 19, 2019, 03:54:20 AM »
I got a really cute plastic bento box style lunch box at IKEA about 5 years ago for 5 euro.  I use it nearly every day and it's good as you can separate out the various things you bring.  I usually put salad in one half, cheese or ham in another section and something like olives or leftover chicken etc in the other section.  I have crackers, yoghurt, nuts etc at work and I also bring fruit.  If you have IKEA where you live, Solon, I'd recommend this kind of lunch box.

ScreamingHeadGuy

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #617 on: April 19, 2019, 06:15:30 AM »
In many parts of Canada, including Ontario, milk is packaged in bags; there's an exterior plastic bag (that's smaller than a plastic grocery bag) and within that bag are 3 plastic pouches of milk, for a total content of 4 litres of milk. You buy a reusuable jug into which you insert one pouch at a time. You can read more about it, and more importantly, get a visual, here: https://www.foodnetwork.ca/shows/great-canadian-cookbook/blog/why-do-canadians-drink-bagged-milk/
They are available in IA, MN, and WI, too, at the convenience store/gas station/cum-supermarket chain Kwik Trip.  Have been since at least the early 90s.

merula

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #618 on: April 19, 2019, 07:27:58 AM »
They are available in IA, MN, and WI, too, at the convenience store/gas station/cum-supermarket chain Kwik Trip.  Have been since at least the early 90s.

Live in Minnesota, can confirm. Actually, this is a sore spot in my parents' marriage. My mom loves bagged milk because it's cheap, my dad thinks the bags are weird and difficult to use. (They do have the special pitchers, Dad just doesn't like them.)

So Mom will occasionally buy cartons of milk, and then rinse those out to pour bagged milk into. This is also the woman who would put store-brand cereal in brand-name cereal boxes.

Yes, I have trust issues, why do you ask?

LennStar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #619 on: April 19, 2019, 11:36:01 AM »

So Mom will occasionally buy cartons of milk, and then rinse those out to pour bagged milk into. This is also the woman who would put store-brand cereal in brand-name cereal boxes.

It is a well known fact of psychology that wine tastes better when it comes out of an expensive bottle, even if it is the same bottle and you just tell the people it was expensive instead of telling them it was cheap. 

Putting cheap stuff into an expensive box is the fast and way of getting expensive-tasting stuff on your table ;)

FIRE 20/20

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #620 on: April 19, 2019, 03:16:04 PM »
Drink it straight from the cow like a real badass
I did that once, mostly. I went to an agricultural fair in Paris long ago and one of the displays was a cow that got milked in front of us. I whipped out my empty water bottle and got it filled with milk fresh and warm directly from the source.

It tasted delicious. My gastrointestinal tract was most displeased.

You gotta pasture-ize the cow first

Ha!

Just Joe

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #621 on: April 19, 2019, 03:49:27 PM »
I bring my lunch to work every day in a plastic grocery sack.

Today my boss said, "Here's solon and his homeless lunch bag!" (Meaning, the kind of lunch bag a homeless person would carry.)

Hmmmm, I dunno, a plastic bag is kind of sad. I carry my lunch to work in a leather shoulder bag that DW got me for Christmas. My buddy carries his lunch to work in a plastic bag and gives me grief constantly because I wear a "purse." The plastic bag is apparently the masculine option.

So get a flannel lunch bag - duh!   /s

Also, you could sell the car and ride the cow to work...
« Last Edit: April 19, 2019, 03:54:24 PM by Just Joe »

horsepoor

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #622 on: April 20, 2019, 01:48:22 PM »
I bring my lunch to work every day in a plastic grocery sack.

Today my boss said, "Here's solon and his homeless lunch bag!" (Meaning, the kind of lunch bag a homeless person would carry.)

Hmmmm, I dunno, a plastic bag is kind of sad. I carry my lunch to work in a leather shoulder bag that DW got me for Christmas. My buddy carries his lunch to work in a plastic bag and gives me grief constantly because I wear a "purse." The plastic bag is apparently the masculine option.

So get a flannel lunch bag - duh!   /s

Also, you could sell the car and ride the cow to work...

I was thinking canvas seems more manly, so on a whim I Googled Carhartt lunch box, and sure enough:  https://www.carhartt.com/products/carhartt-black-friday-bags-sale/Deluxe-Lunch-Cooler-358100B?selectedAttribute=7000000000000000005_7000000000000000105

I like that at the top it clarifies that this is a unisex lunch box, just in case there are questions.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #623 on: April 20, 2019, 01:55:42 PM »
They are available in IA, MN, and WI, too, at the convenience store/gas station/cum-supermarket chain Kwik Trip.  Have been since at least the early 90s.

Live in Minnesota, can confirm. Actually, this is a sore spot in my parents' marriage. My mom loves bagged milk because it's cheap, my dad thinks the bags are weird and difficult to use. (They do have the special pitchers, Dad just doesn't like them.)

So Mom will occasionally buy cartons of milk, and then rinse those out to pour bagged milk into. This is also the woman who would put store-brand cereal in brand-name cereal boxes.

Yes, I have trust issues, why do you ask?

Are these bags refrigerated?  I know in South America they use the bags, but it's usually ultra-pasteurized and shelf-stable.  Not refrigerated. 

RetiredAt63

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #624 on: April 20, 2019, 03:47:00 PM »
They are available in IA, MN, and WI, too, at the convenience store/gas station/cum-supermarket chain Kwik Trip.  Have been since at least the early 90s.

Live in Minnesota, can confirm. Actually, this is a sore spot in my parents' marriage. My mom loves bagged milk because it's cheap, my dad thinks the bags are weird and difficult to use. (They do have the special pitchers, Dad just doesn't like them.)

So Mom will occasionally buy cartons of milk, and then rinse those out to pour bagged milk into. This is also the woman who would put store-brand cereal in brand-name cereal boxes.

Yes, I have trust issues, why do you ask?

Are these bags refrigerated?  I know in South America they use the bags, but it's usually ultra-pasteurized and shelf-stable.  Not refrigerated.

No, the ultra-pasteurized comes in cartons.  Bagged milk has to be refrigerated.

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #625 on: April 20, 2019, 09:06:22 PM »
I bring my lunch to work every day in a plastic grocery sack.

Today my boss said, "Here's solon and his homeless lunch bag!" (Meaning, the kind of lunch bag a homeless person would carry.)

Hmmmm, I dunno, a plastic bag is kind of sad. I carry my lunch to work in a leather shoulder bag that DW got me for Christmas. My buddy carries his lunch to work in a plastic bag and gives me grief constantly because I wear a "purse." The plastic bag is apparently the masculine option.

So get a flannel lunch bag - duh!   /s

Also, you could sell the car and ride the cow to work...

I was thinking canvas seems more manly, so on a whim I Googled Carhartt lunch box, and sure enough:  https://www.carhartt.com/products/carhartt-black-friday-bags-sale/Deluxe-Lunch-Cooler-358100B?selectedAttribute=7000000000000000005_7000000000000000105

I like that at the top it clarifies that this is a unisex lunch box, just in case there are questions.
Good thing they clarified because lunch is such a gendered activity.....
~eye roll~

Channel-Z

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #626 on: April 21, 2019, 05:39:15 PM »
I bring my lunch to work every day in a plastic grocery sack.

Today my boss said, "Here's solon and his homeless lunch bag!" (Meaning, the kind of lunch bag a homeless person would carry.)

I do the same thing. I use the sack until it develops a hole, then use the next sack.

BTDretire

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #627 on: April 21, 2019, 09:06:19 PM »
This milk bags thing could have gone a whole different way, but for the good taste of mustachians!

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #628 on: April 21, 2019, 09:35:05 PM »
I bring my lunch to work every day in a plastic grocery sack.

Today my boss said, "Here's solon and his homeless lunch bag!" (Meaning, the kind of lunch bag a homeless person would carry.)

I do the same thing. I use the sack until it develops a hole, then use the next sack.

Put a straw in the sack dear solon dear solon

Enigma

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #629 on: April 22, 2019, 06:51:58 AM »
A couple of weeks ago (Apr 8th) there was a new employee hired at my IT/computer company.  He sits two desks down from me.  His first week was a roller coaster because he had planned baseball games as the coach for his son's team.  The days he worked he made up for missing the times he couldnt work pulling 12 hour days when he could.  Couldn't take the days off financially (I would assume)

This weekend:
New Coworker: What did you do this weekend?
Me: Hung out with my parents & sister-n-law's parents for Easter
New Coworker: I bought a brand new $70,000 RV.
Me: <Confused><Thinking>
New Coworker: <Showing pictures to me and the other coworkers>

Just Joe

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #630 on: April 22, 2019, 07:20:58 AM »
That one has lots of confidence in his future at your company... Perhaps he could have waited six months to see how it likes the company and how the company likes him.

Gremlin

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #631 on: April 22, 2019, 08:43:06 PM »
A couple of weeks ago (Apr 8th) there was a new employee hired at my IT/computer company.  He sits two desks down from me.  His first week was a roller coaster because he had planned baseball games as the coach for his son's team.  The days he worked he made up for missing the times he couldnt work pulling 12 hour days when he could.  Couldn't take the days off financially (I would assume)

This weekend:
New Coworker: What did you do this weekend?
Me: Hung out with my parents & sister-n-law's parents for Easter
New Coworker: I bought a brand new $70,000 RV.
Me: <Confused><Thinking>
New Coworker: <Showing pictures to me and the other coworkers>

Did "New Coworker" announce that it was $70k RV?  Or that he bought a new RV and you happen to know that it was $70k?  'Cos the latter is cringeworthy, but the former is truly ugly.

Enigma

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #632 on: April 23, 2019, 09:32:31 AM »
Did "New Coworker" announce that it was $70k RV?  Or that he bought a new RV and you happen to know that it was $70k?  'Cos the latter is cringeworthy, but the former is truly ugly.

The new coworker announced that it was a $70k RV and stated it was the cheapest that the dealership offered.

TVRodriguez

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #633 on: April 23, 2019, 11:34:16 AM »
A couple of weeks ago (Apr 8th) there was a new employee hired at my IT/computer company.  He sits two desks down from me.  His first week was a roller coaster because he had planned baseball games as the coach for his son's team.  The days he worked he made up for missing the times he couldnt work pulling 12 hour days when he could.  Couldn't take the days off financially (I would assume)


See, I would assume that as a new employee he wanted not to slack off on his first week, while still keeping the promise he had made to his son and the rest of the team.

talltexan

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #634 on: April 24, 2019, 09:50:52 AM »
Co-worker told me she met a financial advisor. He suggested she take a loan against her 401(K), and invest it in making hard money loans to real estate developers in a metro area about 100 miles west of us. I told her to run away.

Kashmani

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #635 on: April 24, 2019, 11:10:43 AM »
Quote
@techwiz - I have to ask: What the heck is a "milk bag"? (I guess it seems obvious, but I've never heard of it.)



cheapest way to buy milk up here in Canada.  Unless of  course you have your own cow but then the feeding and vet bills really add up.

Man, I miss living in Ontario. When I had a child in diapers (we used washable cloth diapers), I would never leave the house without an array of cut-open milk bags in which to store the wet diapers. Perfect size.

Although admittedly on my first day in Ontario I had a very confused look on my face when I asked the supermarket clerk what people put the milk in. After a very conspicuous eye-roll, he pointed to a plastic jug just like the one above.

Xlar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #636 on: April 24, 2019, 02:24:22 PM »
Co-worker told me she met a financial advisor. He suggested she take a loan against her 401(K), and invest it in making hard money loans to real estate developers in a metro area about 100 miles west of us. I told her to run away.

Wow! That is horrifyingly bad advice!

mavendrill

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #637 on: April 25, 2019, 09:38:06 AM »
One of my co-workers (about 50 years old) is about to buy a home. He just emigrated here and is correctly renting a home. The and his wife have money from selling their previous home. So far, so good.

He talked to a bank to get a preapproval for a mortgage, which is something you need here to make an offer on a home. The bank was presenting him the option of the flexi-mortgage. This is just an amount of credit that the bank gives you, based on the value of your home and you need to pay it back on a certain date, e.g. after 30 years. You need to pay a monthly interest, but you can decide not to pay that fee for several months as often as you like. As long as you pay it in the end with all the extra interest. You can also take out a big sum when the mortgage is partly paid down, to buy a car or a new kitchen, and just use the same mortgage. The mortgage has a higher interest rate than a traditional mortgage.
My co-worker thinks this sounds as a good alternative. He likes to be able to not pay the monthly interest for some months and then catch up later when he receives a lump sum out of a savings fund.

From me he just wanted to know whether this was something safe to bet on. I have heard a sincere financial expert speaking about this type of mortgage, who said it was a good alternative for people who are financially responsible, something my co-worker says he is.

I really had to keep my mouth shut for the rest of my thoughts. I would not get a mortgage with higher interest than necessary. I would also not choose to not pay the monthly fee for some months, because that means paying extra interest later. I really had to keep in mind that for my co-worker, it might be a good alternative, even though it means he won't be paying down his mortgage any time soon.

The good thing is that the bank has pre-qualified him for a mortgage that is twice as high as he asked for and he is not planning to get such a high mortgage. Good for him.
Reading this I felt like you were both bobbling an active hand grenade.  So many dangerous decisions available.  Hopefully it works out great.

letsdoit

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #638 on: April 25, 2019, 10:09:19 AM »
Co-worker told me she met a financial advisor. He suggested she take a loan against her 401(K), and invest it in making hard money loans to real estate developers in a metro area about 100 miles west of us. I told her to run away.

Wow! That is horrifyingly bad advice!

WTF?  i always ask ppl if they act as a fiduciary

SwordGuy

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #639 on: April 25, 2019, 02:33:55 PM »
Co-worker told me she met a financial advisor. He suggested she take a loan against her 401(K), and invest it in making hard money loans to real estate developers in a metro area about 100 miles west of us. I told her to run away.

Wow! That is horrifyingly bad advice!

WTF?  i always ask ppl if they act as a fiduciary

I would suggest that you get it in writing that they are acting on your behalf as a fiduciary.   If they won't do that, run.   If they don't know what you're talking about, run.

And, honestly, probably best to just run anyway.   Plenty of good advice available elsewhere.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #640 on: April 25, 2019, 05:52:12 PM »
Co-worker told me she met a financial advisor. He suggested she take a loan against her 401(K), and invest it in making hard money loans to real estate developers in a metro area about 100 miles west of us. I told her to run away.

Wow! That is horrifyingly bad advice!

WTF?  i always ask ppl if they act as a fiduciary

I would suggest that you get it in writing that they are acting on your behalf as a fiduciary.   If they won't do that, run.   If they don't know what you're talking about, run.

And, honestly, probably best to just run anyway.   Plenty of good advice available elsewhere.

If you want some non fiduciary advice, start here: https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/top-is-in/

Montecarlo

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #641 on: April 25, 2019, 06:17:01 PM »
I would suggest that you get it in writing that they are acting on your behalf as a fiduciary.   If they won't do that, run.   If they don't know what you're talking about, run.

And, honestly, probably best to just run anyway.   Plenty of good advice available elsewhere.

I talked with a financial adviser that charged 2% fees who said they were a fiduciary.  Not saying they aren't, it wasn't like they steered people into high commission funds or anything.  The products they had were reasonable.  But just the fact of charging 2% seems unfiduciary like.

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #642 on: April 25, 2019, 08:02:27 PM »
“Unfiduciary like” is mild.
“Highway robbery” is more accurate.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #643 on: April 25, 2019, 10:43:34 PM »
I would suggest that you get it in writing that they are acting on your behalf as a fiduciary.   If they won't do that, run.   If they don't know what you're talking about, run.

And, honestly, probably best to just run anyway.   Plenty of good advice available elsewhere.

I talked with a financial adviser that charged 2% fees who said they were a fiduciary.  Not saying they aren't, it wasn't like they steered people into high commission funds or anything.  The products they had were reasonable.  But just the fact of charging 2% seems unfiduciary like.

If these are upfront management fees and not hidden fund fees, there’s nothing unfiduciarylike about it. Advisors need to make money, so better full disclosure how you make it instead of simply steering people towards shady products.  Anyone who doesn’t feel they are worth the fee can easily avoid signing up

dude

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #644 on: April 26, 2019, 12:17:51 PM »
I would suggest that you get it in writing that they are acting on your behalf as a fiduciary.   If they won't do that, run.   If they don't know what you're talking about, run.

And, honestly, probably best to just run anyway.   Plenty of good advice available elsewhere.

I talked with a financial adviser that charged 2% fees who said they were a fiduciary.  Not saying they aren't, it wasn't like they steered people into high commission funds or anything.  The products they had were reasonable.  But just the fact of charging 2% seems unfiduciary like.

If these are upfront management fees and not hidden fund fees, there’s nothing unfiduciarylike about it. Advisors need to make money, so better full disclosure how you make it instead of simply steering people towards shady products.  Anyone who doesn’t feel they are worth the fee can easily avoid signing up

I don't know about that -- a 2% drag on one's portfolio is very hard to overcome, and no advisor, fiduciary or not, is going to beat the market by 2% with any consistency, if at all. I get your point, but 2% is a red flag. Better to find a fee-only fiduciary that charges set rates for various services.

tralfamadorian

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #645 on: April 26, 2019, 12:36:04 PM »
Co-worker told me she met a financial advisor. He suggested she take a loan against her 401(K), and invest it in making hard money loans to real estate developers in a metro area about 100 miles west of us. I told her to run away.

Wow! That is horrifyingly bad advice!

+1mil

Holy shit! I think this is the worst financial advise I've ever heard from a professional.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #646 on: April 26, 2019, 12:59:55 PM »
I would suggest that you get it in writing that they are acting on your behalf as a fiduciary.   If they won't do that, run.   If they don't know what you're talking about, run.

And, honestly, probably best to just run anyway.   Plenty of good advice available elsewhere.

I talked with a financial adviser that charged 2% fees who said they were a fiduciary.  Not saying they aren't, it wasn't like they steered people into high commission funds or anything.  The products they had were reasonable.  But just the fact of charging 2% seems unfiduciary like.

If these are upfront management fees and not hidden fund fees, there’s nothing unfiduciarylike about it. Advisors need to make money, so better full disclosure how you make it instead of simply steering people towards shady products.  Anyone who doesn’t feel they are worth the fee can easily avoid signing up

I don't know about that -- a 2% drag on one's portfolio is very hard to overcome, and no advisor, fiduciary or not, is going to beat the market by 2% with any consistency, if at all. I get your point, but 2% is a red flag. Better to find a fee-only fiduciary that charges set rates for various services.

It’s not an offer I would take up, but being a fiduciary is about loyalty, not raw profits.  There is a class of clients who would probably pay 2% for the right level of service (something beyond VTSAX, possibly with access to private equity).  Consider that you might pay 10% of rents to someone to manage your real estate holdings.  At the 2% rule that works out to be around 2% of your holdings.

For 2% I’d expect more “wealth management” than “financial advice”
« Last Edit: April 26, 2019, 01:22:39 PM by dragoncar »

Playing with Fire UK

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #647 on: April 26, 2019, 02:13:35 PM »
For 2% I’d expect more “wealth management” than “financial advice”

For 2% I'd expect the Philosopher's Stone and Fountain of Youth.

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #648 on: April 26, 2019, 03:54:58 PM »
Finally got one to share.

I gave my boss a ride home from a group lunch this afternoon. He recently purchased a new construction townhome close to work. Some snooping on Zillow indicates it likely is in the $1.4-1.8M range. Expensive, but fairly average for our area. On the car ride over he talked about his second house in China (he came over for work a couple of years ago). His first house in China is apparently rented and he didn't mention what it is worth, but the second house, which sits empty, is worth 15M RMB. At current exchange rates that is about $2.3M US, though the figure he used in our conversation was $3M. Regardless, the point is the same. He has a multi-million dollar asset that sits unoccupied most of the time except for when his mother-in-law wants to visit the city where it is located on occasion.

I half-jokingly suggested he could sell the second house and retire tomorrow. He said he would be bored.

The up side is that I shared this with a coworker who expressed the opinion that he isn't going to work a day more than he has to, and that our boss is a case of failure of imagination.

jinga nation

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #649 on: April 29, 2019, 07:10:35 AM »
Finally got one to share.

I gave my boss a ride home from a group lunch this afternoon. He recently purchased a new construction townhome close to work. Some snooping on Zillow indicates it likely is in the $1.4-1.8M range. Expensive, but fairly average for our area. On the car ride over he talked about his second house in China (he came over for work a couple of years ago). His first house in China is apparently rented and he didn't mention what it is worth, but the second house, which sits empty, is worth 15M RMB. At current exchange rates that is about $2.3M US, though the figure he used in our conversation was $3M. Regardless, the point is the same. He has a multi-million dollar asset that sits unoccupied most of the time except for when his mother-in-law wants to visit the city where it is located on occasion.

I half-jokingly suggested he could sell the second house and retire tomorrow. He said he would be bored.

The up side is that I shared this with a coworker who expressed the opinion that he isn't going to work a day more than he has to, and that our boss is a case of failure of imagination.

If he's comparing to his peers with a very high $$$ reference point, he's "poor". So he needs to exist in the rat race.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!