Overheard at Work: The Anti-Antimustachian Edition

[jinga nation]

My wife says real engineers are 24/7. We can't turn it off. I know several others in that category.

If you wake up in the morning and think about engineering, then you are an engineer.

If you wake up in the middle of the night to think about engineering, then you are a REAL engineer.  ;-)  [Not me, my FIL.]

If you use the Collatz conjecture to put yourself to sleep at night, you win all the engineering on the Internet.

Nah, that's math geniuses/genii/genies.

I have frequent dreams of breaking shit, and then fixing shit. It's some random shit that isn't related to my job, but sometimes related to something I'm fixing at home or in my rentals.

I saw a military member driving a '93 Accord Coupe around work. One day, I happened to park next to him and checked out his ride. It was all stock. He asked me if I was looking for anything or needed help.
I told him I used to have a '92 Accord sedan, so seeing a rare stock car, with original paint, was very pleasing and nostalgic. I asked him how much work he did to keep it looking good and running great. He said that he got it a few years back from an old couple's estate, it was their garage queen.
He parks it in a garage every night, and works on it on weekends, replacing door seals and any rubber going bad. Otherwise the car runs great, just needs the usual preventive maintenance. It was under 100,000 miles. The young man said he didn't want to buy new cars and have payments. Plus he has a few rentals in other states where he's been deployed. And he reads JLCollinsNH and the FI subreddit. His plan is to retire fully after his 20 in service and live on rental and investment income.
A man with a plan.

[LennStar]

My wife says real engineers are 24/7. We can't turn it off. I know several others in that category.

If you wake up in the morning and think about engineering, then you are an engineer.

If you wake up in the middle of the night to think about engineering, then you are a REAL engineer.  ;-)  [Not me, my FIL.]

If you use the Collatz conjecture to put yourself to sleep at night, you win all the engineering on the Internet.

Does it count if my computer runs the BOINC project while I sleep?

[Askel]

My wife says real engineers are 24/7. We can't turn it off. I know several others in that category.

Checks out. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/07/michigan-tech-student-drunk-designed-plane-twitter-viral-mark-keith

[Kris]

My wife says real engineers are 24/7. We can't turn it off. I know several others in that category.

This is true of my husband as well. It can honestly be pretty irritating, lol.

[Sibley]

My wife says real engineers are 24/7. We can't turn it off. I know several others in that category.

This is true of my husband as well. It can honestly be pretty irritating, lol.

Not just engineering. And yes, I know I'm annoying to deal with at times, but there are very good reasons why I'm an auditor.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

My wife says real engineers are 24/7. We can't turn it off. I know several others in that category.

If you wake up in the morning and think about engineering, then you are an engineer.

If you wake up in the middle of the night to think about engineering, then you are a REAL engineer.  ;-)  [Not me, my FIL.]

If you use the Collatz conjecture to put yourself to sleep at night, you win all the engineering on the Internet.

Nah, that's math geniuses/genii/genies.

For an actual mathematician, I'm pretty sure it keeps them up at night rather than the opposite. To an engineer, it's an instant soporific because there's nothing to build, take apart, or blow up.

[GreenToTheCore]

My wife says real engineers are 24/7. We can't turn it off. I know several others in that category.

If you wake up in the morning and think about engineering, then you are an engineer.

If you wake up in the middle of the night to think about engineering, then you are a REAL engineer.  ;-)  [Not me, my FIL.]

If you use the Collatz conjecture to put yourself to sleep at night, you win all the engineering on the Internet.

Nah, that's math geniuses/genii/genies.

For an actual mathematician, I'm pretty sure it keeps them up at night rather than the opposite. To an engineer, it's an instant soporific because there's nothing to build, take apart, or blow up.

And this is why y'all are my people, you get me. I've always felt like I don't quiiite fit completely with my engineering crowd.
First degree Mathematics, second Mechanical Eng.

[jinga nation]

Witnessed four uniformed Sergeants telling another one not to buy a new EV SUV, financed, when he has a reliable Japanese SUV that's paid off and less than 5 years old. The senior-most gave me a look, I just smiled and nodded in approval. He smiled back then rolled his eyes and shook his head.

I'm proud they're looking out for each other. They're a really good hardworking tech crew who're constantly talking about reducing lunch spend, money saving tips, maximizing TSP contributions, and debt payoff and and investing strategies.

[ChpBstrd]

Witnessed four uniformed Sergeants telling another one not to buy a new EV SUV, financed, when he has a reliable Japanese SUV that's paid off and less than 5 years old. The senior-most gave me a look, I just smiled and nodded in approval. He smiled back then rolled his eyes and shook his head.

I'm proud they're looking out for each other. They're a really good hardworking tech crew who're constantly talking about reducing lunch spend, money saving tips, maximizing TSP contributions, and debt payoff and and investing strategies.

Spendy coworkers could get you killed in the military. Financial distress is one of the key factors the DOJ has identified as leading people to spy against their own country.

[SwordGuy]

Witnessed four uniformed Sergeants telling another one not to buy a new EV SUV, financed, when he has a reliable Japanese SUV that's paid off and less than 5 years old. The senior-most gave me a look, I just smiled and nodded in approval. He smiled back then rolled his eyes and shook his head.

I'm proud they're looking out for each other. They're a really good hardworking tech crew who're constantly talking about reducing lunch spend, money saving tips, maximizing TSP contributions, and debt payoff and and investing strategies.

Spendy coworkers could get you killed in the military. Financial distress is one of the key factors the DOJ has identified as leading people to spy against their own country.

Absolutely true!   

[jinga nation]

Witnessed four uniformed Sergeants telling another one not to buy a new EV SUV, financed, when he has a reliable Japanese SUV that's paid off and less than 5 years old. The senior-most gave me a look, I just smiled and nodded in approval. He smiled back then rolled his eyes and shook his head.

I'm proud they're looking out for each other. They're a really good hardworking tech crew who're constantly talking about reducing lunch spend, money saving tips, maximizing TSP contributions, and debt payoff and and investing strategies.

Spendy coworkers could get you killed in the military. Financial distress is one of the key factors the DOJ has identified as leading people to spy against their own country.

Absolutely true!

Yup! One of the key indicators. I think you meant DoD, not DoJ.

[Fomerly known as something]

Witnessed four uniformed Sergeants telling another one not to buy a new EV SUV, financed, when he has a reliable Japanese SUV that's paid off and less than 5 years old. The senior-most gave me a look, I just smiled and nodded in approval. He smiled back then rolled his eyes and shook his head.

I'm proud they're looking out for each other. They're a really good hardworking tech crew who're constantly talking about reducing lunch spend, money saving tips, maximizing TSP contributions, and debt payoff and and investing strategies.

Spendy coworkers could get you killed in the military. Financial distress is one of the key factors the DOJ has identified as leading people to spy against their own country.

Absolutely true!

Yup! One of the key indicators. I think you meant DoD, not DoJ.

DOJ, DoD is not the boy department which deals with spooky stuff.

[Alfred J Quack]

I have reminded two friends over the years that they can be engineers while at home. One was acting clueless about how their HVAC system worked. The other was struggling with a car troubleshooting situation. These were both quite sharp mechanical engineers,  but seemed like they turned it off at home. Shrug

Some people are good X engineers. Some people are engineers to the very core. MIL has stories of DH doing engineering things at four, including drafting the designs for his Lego builds.

I have been called an honorary engineer and I can generally keep up with him on personal projects, but when it comes to what he does professionally, every one of his managers and most of his colleagues that I have met have used superlatives.

My son is designing things in Minecraft like an auto-sorter. I can see which direction he's going at :D

On topic, I have a co-worker that was a team lead at one of his previous jobs. The IT department which he was the lead of was likely going to be outsourced and my colleague had a talk with the CEO and asked them to give him a severance proposal because he wasn't going to do that job since he didn't believe in the validity of the decision.
Now he's 90k richer, working at my employer and we're very happy with his professional baggage and work ethics.

[By the River]

Occasionally, I talk to a coworker in another department.  She has been here part-time (3 ten hour days per week) for probably 5-6 years.  Back during benefit enrollment in November, I asked if she was taking one of our new options and she replied that she used her husband's insurance because she wasn't eligible for anything as a part-timer.  I mentioned that she needed to check on that as 30 hours/week is enough for our company. 

She checked with HR and started a 401K deduction and now gets the company match plus took one of our other benefits that was lower priced.  Yesterday, she came into my office asking about investments and savings. I sent her some information from the money guy show and the link to rich, broke or dead plus a couple of other sites.   

I hate that she missed out on a few years of company match due to not understanding levels of part-time work.   

[NorthernIkigai]

My glass must be half full today, because I love the fact that you helped her, and that she took your advice and seems to be grabbing it by both horns!

[farmecologist]

My wife says real engineers are 24/7. We can't turn it off. I know several others in that category.

This is true of my husband as well. It can honestly be pretty irritating, lol.

I must not be a "real engineer" then...haha.   I have absolutely no problem turning it off.   Maybe because I'm pretty jaded after a long career in a megacorp!

[kina]

It is vastly entertaining at family gatherings (highly peppered with engineers) to mention that 'x' is not working properly (like a recliner not un-reclining) and watch all the engineers gather around 'x' to fix it.

[ChpBstrd]

It is vastly entertaining at family gatherings (highly peppered with engineers) to mention that 'x' is not working properly (like a recliner not un-reclining) and watch all the engineers gather around 'x' to fix it.

Then the mechanic slips in to fix it while they start drawing.

[RetiredAt63]

It is vastly entertaining at family gatherings (highly peppered with engineers) to mention that 'x' is not working properly (like a recliner not un-reclining) and watch all the engineers gather around 'x' to fix it.

Then the mechanic slips in to fix it while they start drawing.

Or the person with the analytical mind.  I fixed something once by seeing how something worked, except it didn't.  Tightened one screw and it worked.  The person who used it all the time had no idea of what to do.   ;-)

[markbike528CBX]

It is vastly entertaining at family gatherings (highly peppered with engineers) to mention that 'x' is not working properly (like a recliner not un-reclining) and watch all the engineers gather around 'x' to fix it.

Then the mechanic slips in to fix it while they start drawing.

Or the person with the analytical mind.  I fixed something once by seeing how something worked, except it didn't.  Tightened one screw and it worked.  The person who used it all the time had no idea of what to do.   ;-)

Friends of one of my housemates were working on a car that wouldn’t start.
The had the steering wheel column covers off, as the key wouldn’t turn the ON switch.
I asked if they had tried WD-40.  Got quizzical and dismissive looks, as these were engineering students who had been struggling with their car for over an hour.
WD-40 straw in the key slot, one good squirt and told them to try that.
Got quizzical and dismissive looks, as these were engineering students who had been struggling with their car for over an hour.
Key in, turn and instant startup.
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. — Clarke
edit after verifying Clarke quote

[Alfred J Quack]

It is vastly entertaining at family gatherings (highly peppered with engineers) to mention that 'x' is not working properly (like a recliner not un-reclining) and watch all the engineers gather around 'x' to fix it.

Then the mechanic slips in to fix it while they start drawing.

Sounds like a "how many engineers does it take to..." in there somewhere.

[Dicey]

It is vastly entertaining at family gatherings (highly peppered with engineers) to mention that 'x' is not working properly (like a recliner not un-reclining) and watch all the engineers gather around 'x' to fix it.

Then the mechanic slips in to fix it while they start drawing.

Lol, in my husband's business, the saying goes the engineers design it, then the trades figure out a way to make it function.

[dragoncar]

It is vastly entertaining at family gatherings (highly peppered with engineers) to mention that 'x' is not working properly (like a recliner not un-reclining) and watch all the engineers gather around 'x' to fix it.

Then the mechanic slips in to fix it while they start drawing.

Lol, in my husband's business, the saying goes the engineers design it, then the trades figure out a way to make it function.

LOL that's so funny.  I guess they should fire the engineers then as they are useless!  Hey, I'm a business consultant now

[Dicey]

It is vastly entertaining at family gatherings (highly peppered with engineers) to mention that 'x' is not working properly (like a recliner not un-reclining) and watch all the engineers gather around 'x' to fix it.

Then the mechanic slips in to fix it while they start drawing.

Lol, in my husband's business, the saying goes the engineers design it, then the trades figure out a way to make it function.

LOL that's so funny.  I guess they should fire the engineers then as they are useless!  Hey, I'm a business consultant now

Hey, @dragoncar, how are you doing?

[dragoncar]

It is vastly entertaining at family gatherings (highly peppered with engineers) to mention that 'x' is not working properly (like a recliner not un-reclining) and watch all the engineers gather around 'x' to fix it.

Then the mechanic slips in to fix it while they start drawing.

Lol, in my husband's business, the saying goes the engineers design it, then the trades figure out a way to make it function.

LOL that's so funny.  I guess they should fire the engineers then as they are useless!  Hey, I'm a business consultant now

Hey, @dragoncar, how are you doing?

Haha I’m doing well how are you?  I’m never going to make it to 10k posts but maybe we can catch up a bit in various threads.  I’ll see you over in DPOYM

[crocheted_stache]

Younger (20-something) coworker reports that he is maxing out his 401k, even if he doesn't entirely know why, and so far has managed to resist getting a car.

I did make the case for responsible credit card use over debit card the other day. That seemed to be news to him, or at least he had over-internalized the thing about how credit cards get people into trouble.

[Askel]

Younger co-worker just cashed out his 401k for a downpayment on a house. 

Which maybe isn't the absolute worst thing. 

But now I'm wondering if maybe the kids are just trolling me. 

"Hey, the old man likes cars. Go tell him you bought a Raptor with 84 month financing at 14.25%!" 

<my eyes bug out of my head, smoke comes out my ears, and my bowtie does the little propeller thing which is weird because I don't remember putting on a bowtie>

[Agatha Thrifty]

Younger co-worker just cashed out his 401k for a downpayment on a house. 

Which maybe isn't the absolute worst thing. 

Add the 10% early withdrawal penalty to a large chunk of change in probably the 22% tax bracket at least, sounds pretty awful to me!  Do they know they're losing a third of that money to taxes?

[Askel]

I didn't press for details. It's possible he may have only taken a loan against it. 

But still, this is a dude who bought a brand new car to drive to work everyday despite living only 6 blocks away.  He had somehow become obsessed with the idea that rent is somehow throwing money away.  So he bought a house several miles away, just off the peak of our local housing market. 

Oh well. at least now that car commute is somehow justified. 

[Sugaree]

My team lead is currently on the phone discussing the benefits of a 529 and the new ability to roll it over into a Roth IRA for your kid.  And he's actually got most of the details right.

[Fomerly known as something]

To the new  hire, 5% is ok to start out but work at upping it with raises to max it out.  Younger coworker, I thought it was kind of stupid but old hair bag is right.

[crocheted_stache]

While I was traveling in Europe, I made a side trip to catch up with a coworker from a previous job. He always lived there. I knew him from his then-annual visits to the US headquarters where I worked, which was unfortunately a car commute for me. We have both moved on from the company where we were coworkers.

I kind of had a sense of this from back then and from the little we've kept up since (we both share few personal details to major social media sites), so I was delighted and not very surprised when he turned up on his bicycle at the nice restaurant he suggested. After dinner, we walked to his home nearby and saw his entire fleet of bicycles. Most of them are older than me and feature various homegrown additions and creative repairs. His daily bike commute is a medium-ambitious distance with some elevation gain.

[Siebrie]

We have a new colleague, a young man of around 30. He has been telling us how he has just been remodelling his garden shed to a wfh office, and how his tomatoes are coming along. He'll fit right in with our team :)

[jinga nation]

On a work trip to Colorado, over beers and dinner, a co-worker, who's one of the team leads, introduced me to his young engineer that he's training to replace him in a couple of years, as he wants to go part-time once he turns 55. One of the guys on my team says, hey that's funny, JingaNation has that same goal to reach in another 8-10 years. (My boss knows that's my target and he's cool with it, we have a friendly competition going.)

We end up talking early retirement. Then, one of the scrum masters says she's into that too. She wants to retire early and travel when her pilot husband (who's older) retires, in the next 10 years.

Next, the conversation shifts entirely to passive investing and index funds. One of the new young engineers is skeptical that he's sitting amidst a bunch of 2 comma club members, he believes in crypto and NFT etc (kid grew up in the "Kansas" area of Colorado). Gave him a couple of titles from the Bogleheads recommended reading list to start with, and some are available as audiobooks.

Today, he asked me for more info to read, so I let him loose on the Bogleheads wiki. And he said the other new guy and new gal in the next cubes are interested too.

Bizarre yet awesome. Going back there in January, so more conversations are probably going to happen.

[ChpBstrd]

@jinga nation maybe I'm a cynic, but I wonder if all this renewed interest in FIRE via index funds has something to do with the S&P500's total return year-to-date being 23.66%.
https://www.slickcharts.com/sp500/returns

Next correction, please watch to see if their interest in greater-fool-theory gambling returns.

[NorthernIkigai]

On a work trip to Colorado, over beers and dinner, a co-worker, who's one of the team leads, introduced me to his young engineer that he's training to replace him in a couple of years, as he wants to go part-time once he turns 55. One of the guys on my team says, hey that's funny, JingaNation has that same goal to reach in another 8-10 years. (My boss knows that's my target and he's cool with it, we have a friendly competition going.)

We end up talking early retirement. Then, one of the scrum masters says she's into that too. She wants to retire early and travel when her pilot husband (who's older) retires, in the next 10 years.

Next, the conversation shifts entirely to passive investing and index funds. One of the new young engineers is skeptical that he's sitting amidst a bunch of 2 comma club members, he believes in crypto and NFT etc (kid grew up in the "Kansas" area of Colorado). Gave him a couple of titles from the Bogleheads recommended reading list to start with, and some are available as audiobooks.

Today, he asked me for more info to read, so I let him loose on the Bogleheads wiki. And he said the other new guy and new gal in the next cubes are interested too.

Bizarre yet awesome. Going back there in January, so more conversations are probably going to happen.

It looks like there will be a high employee turnover the coming years at your employer. But in a good way!

[jinga nation]

@jinga nation maybe I'm a cynic, but I wonder if all this renewed interest in FIRE via index funds has something to do with the S&P500's total return year-to-date being 23.66%.
https://www.slickcharts.com/sp500/returns

Next correction, please watch to see if their interest in greater-fool-theory gambling returns.

The ones who have been investing in index funds have been doing it for many years, couple of decades at least, and started their investments in 401(k) plans couple of decades back, all put in enough for employer match, and most are maxing out. Then branched to brokerage accounts too.
We talked corrections, such as during COVID-19 pandemic, and no one pulled out. Some of them added more to their portfolio, "because OG Warren B said so". Most of us in that conversation group are in mid-40s to mid-50s, and then four are under 28. And we're going to have more new and younger employees joining the team.

It turns out that many folks at this location are fiscally responsible and conservative. There might be cabal of Mustachians lurking there...
But every one is a winner in a market going up, so as you said... all eyes and ears in a correction.

[Freedomin5]

I showed a few coworkers how to calculate their net worth, and at least two of them told me today that they were much further along than they realized. Both spouses are working and were saving the majority of their incomes. Now they're going to relax and only save and invest one full income (i.e. 50% savings rate instead of 70%).

[partgypsy]

At work will be going to 3 different retirement parties. I'm in federal and they are all younger than traditional retirement age. In general my Coworkers are all not very spendy, and fiscal conservatives types. The couple exceptions are those with nice homes or had renovated their homes. I actually feel a little discouraged/behind compared to most my coworkers.

[Fomerly known as something]

At work will be going to 3 different retirement parties. I'm in federal and they are all younger than traditional retirement age. In general my Coworkers are all not very spendy, and fiscal conservatives types. The couple exceptions are those with nice homes or had renovated their homes. I actually feel a little discouraged/behind compared to most my coworkers.

Regular Feds going before 62 or SCEs?

[partgypsy]

Regular feds. Two are full on retiring, one my age but as was in military has 30 years, other has 20? Years. And at least 2 other moving to university side 100% (retiring VA side only). And one that is retiring from dept but is younger than me who is very active and successsful work wise...So there is some story but I don't know what it is.