Overheard at Work

[2ndTimer]

In Michigan, at least on campus in Ann Arbor, the homeless are more than willing to dig through garbages to find cans. They would break into fraternities to try to collect their cans early Saturday and Sunday morning.

The streets of Iowa City are always covered in cans on game day, because people throw them on the ground for the homeless.

But overall, I think A LOT more cans go into the trash than the homeless are able to grab.  Our homeless population really doesn't extend into the suburbs well.

When we lived in Iowa City there was an old Chinese man who would go around on his bike picking up the cans.  I always figured he was some surgeon's father and she said, "Oh, Dad..." whenever she saw him doing it.  I also assumed that when the first grandchild graduated from high school, he showed up with a big check from years of collecting cans and said, "See, I wasn't crazy."

[MgoSam]

In Michigan, at least on campus in Ann Arbor, the homeless are more than willing to dig through garbages to find cans. They would break into fraternities to try to collect their cans early Saturday and Sunday morning.

The streets of Iowa City are always covered in cans on game day, because people throw them on the ground for the homeless.

But overall, I think A LOT more cans go into the trash than the homeless are able to grab.  Our homeless population really doesn't extend into the suburbs well.

When we lived in Iowa City there was an old Chinese man who would go around on his bike picking up the cans.  I always figured he was some surgeon's father and she said, "Oh, Dad..." whenever she saw him doing it.  I also assumed that when the first grandchild graduated from high school, he showed up with a big check from years of collecting cans and said, "See, I wasn't crazy."

On campus, there was also an old Asian man that would walk around and collect cans on Sat and Sunday morning. Was always polite, and rumor was that he wasn't homeless but would do this on the weekends to help put his kids through school. If that is true, that's just plain awesome and inspiring. The things some parents do to help their kids succeed is amazing.

[LeRainDrop]

Anyway my coworkers and I are all software engineers... make good money... so we're all talking and one CW is complaining about how his insurance is going to drop him if he starts driving for uber... Now i'm confused because usually people at my work are at least fairly responsible or at least make enough money to not be drowning in our low COL area. So i'm wondering why would someone with his skillset want to drive for uber. Apparently they literally need the extra paycheck and cant live without it.

Hey, don't knock driving for uber!  I actually -- half-jokingly -- have mentioned a couple times to a co-worker that I want to drive for uber as a side hustle.  She's made me promise not to do it, for safety reasons.  Truth is I'll never do it -- I really have no need for a side hustle -- but I still think it would be kind of cool!

[babysnowbyrd]

I actually just started driving for Uber, and I'm a small sizes female. I've only done two rides so far. Passengers were great. Made $32. I'm in the middle of moving so I probably won't do much more driving the next little while, but I have to say I'm excited about the possibilities. Plus I own a paid for Prius, so that helps a little more with gas.

[dorothyc]

I actually just started driving for Uber, and I'm a small sizes female. I've only done two rides so far. Passengers were great. Made $32. I'm in the middle of moving so I probably won't do much more driving the next little while, but I have to say I'm excited about the possibilities. Plus I own a paid for Prius, so that helps a little more with gas.

This could go under Mustachian People Problems also, but I can't drive for Uber because I don't own a 4 door car  - New Beetle diesel, but living in LA it would qualify in age, being newer than a 2000. In most cities they require a 2005 or newer.

[Noahjoe]

A coworker just ordered a $100,000 Porsche Cayenne. The worst part? He already owns an Audi S4. He won't be trading that in.

$160,000 worth of cars on about $100,000 salary.

I jokingly asked him if he was using it to haul around the kids (he has none). His response: we bought an SUV (because his girlfriend wanted him to) so they could haul mulch, furniture, and things like that. When I asked incredulously if he thought he'd ever actually put something so dirty into his Porsche, he shrugged sheepishly and said they make liners for the cargo areas so you don't get your seats dirty. All the delivery fees in the world couldn't cost this much.

A PORSCHE SUV FOR HAULING MULCH AND FURNITURE.

[RWD]

A coworker just ordered a $100,000 Porsche Cayenne. The worst part? He already owns an Audi S4. He won't be trading that in.

$160,000 worth of cars on about $100,000 salary.

I jokingly asked him if he was using it to haul around the kids (he has none). His response: we bought an SUV (because his girlfriend wanted him to) so they could haul mulch, furniture, and things like that. When I asked incredulously if he thought he'd ever actually put something so dirty into his Porsche, he shrugged sheepishly and said they make liners for the cargo areas so you don't get your seats dirty. All the delivery fees in the world couldn't cost this much.

A PORSCHE SUV FOR HAULING MULCH AND FURNITURE.

Wow, and the Cayenne starts at ~$59k, so he either picked one of the expensive trims (hopefully the plug-in hybrid) or put on a ton of options. Meanwhile, a new Volkswagen Touareg can be had for ~$45k, which shares the same platform as the Cayenne. Of course, that's still ridiculous, but he spent ridiculous plus $55k for essentially the same thing...

[I'm a red panda]

Hey, don't knock driving for uber!  I actually -- half-jokingly -- have mentioned a couple times to a co-worker that I want to drive for uber as a side hustle.  She's made me promise not to do it, for safety reasons.  Truth is I'll never do it -- I really have no need for a side hustle -- but I still think it would be kind of cool!

My Dad does taxes for a lot of low-income people as a way to volunteer for the community.
He said he has never seen someone actually make money driving for Uber. Sure, someone is out there, but most people only look at "how much they brought in". They ignore the taxes, the wear and tear, and some people even ignore the gas! 

He said he has actually seen it result in debt, because they think "I made $50" and then go spend $50.

Obviously, a mustachian wouldn't do this; but it is kind of sad.

I don't know how typical his sample is of Uber drivers, but obviously it is a bit self selected as "poor with finances" or else they wouldn't be using free tax prep services provided by the city.

[MgoSam]

Hey, don't knock driving for uber!  I actually -- half-jokingly -- have mentioned a couple times to a co-worker that I want to drive for uber as a side hustle.  She's made me promise not to do it, for safety reasons.  Truth is I'll never do it -- I really have no need for a side hustle -- but I still think it would be kind of cool!

My Dad does taxes for a lot of low-income people as a way to volunteer for the community.
He said he has never seen someone actually make money driving for Uber. Sure, someone is out there, but most people only look at "how much they brought in". They ignore the taxes, the wear and tear, and some people even ignore the gas! 

He said he has actually seen it result in debt, because they think "I made $50" and then go spend $50.

Obviously, a mustachian wouldn't do this; but it is kind of sad.

I don't know how typical his sample is of Uber drivers, but obviously it is a bit self selected as "poor with finances" or else they wouldn't be using free tax prep services provided by the city.

The IRS milege rate is, what, like 50 cents a mile? Normally Uber runs me $1/mile, much more if I'm going a short distance (they have a $8-12 minimum ride and I mostly use it for getting heavy things around my neighborhood by SUV). But at $1/mile, once Uber takes their cut, there can't be much left at all. IIRC, the average cab driver in NYC makes 30k for a 12 hour day, 6 days a week.

Yeah, I was considering trying to be a driver with Uber, but didn't think it was worth it. In addition to the low margin (after wear/tear, gas), you also have to consider other start-up expenses like cameras. I didn't think it would be worthwhile to do. Instead of doing this, I may take a part-time job at a tea store near me, mostly because it would be great to meet new people doing that. I know someone that did this when they first moved here because they didn't know anyone and soon made some good friends through it as they shared a common interest in tea.

[HairyUpperLip]

A coworker just ordered a $100,000 Porsche Cayenne. The worst part? He already owns an Audi S4. He won't be trading that in.

$160,000 worth of cars on about $100,000 salary.

I jokingly asked him if he was using it to haul around the kids (he has none). His response: we bought an SUV (because his girlfriend wanted him to) so they could haul mulch, furniture, and things like that. When I asked incredulously if he thought he'd ever actually put something so dirty into his Porsche, he shrugged sheepishly and said they make liners for the cargo areas so you don't get your seats dirty. All the delivery fees in the world couldn't cost this much.

A PORSCHE SUV FOR HAULING MULCH AND FURNITURE.

Wow, and the Cayenne starts at ~$59k, so he either picked one of the expensive trims (hopefully the plug-in hybrid) or put on a ton of options. Meanwhile, a new Volkswagen Touareg can be had for ~$45k, which shares the same platform as the Cayenne. Of course, that's still ridiculous, but he spent ridiculous plus $55k for essentially the same thing...

My Mom has a friend that owns the original style Cayenne and just recently picked up the fully loaded Hybrid version. No clue on price tag. She kept the previous Cayenne.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWMw4vE3J8s

But in all fairness, she's really well off. The husband owns a chain of medical practices and is a doctor himself.

[HairyUpperLip]

Hey, don't knock driving for uber!  I actually -- half-jokingly -- have mentioned a couple times to a co-worker that I want to drive for uber as a side hustle.  She's made me promise not to do it, for safety reasons.  Truth is I'll never do it -- I really have no need for a side hustle -- but I still think it would be kind of cool!

My Dad does taxes for a lot of low-income people as a way to volunteer for the community.
He said he has never seen someone actually make money driving for Uber. Sure, someone is out there, but most people only look at "how much they brought in". They ignore the taxes, the wear and tear, and some people even ignore the gas! 

He said he has actually seen it result in debt, because they think "I made $50" and then go spend $50.

Obviously, a mustachian wouldn't do this; but it is kind of sad.

I don't know how typical his sample is of Uber drivers, but obviously it is a bit self selected as "poor with finances" or else they wouldn't be using free tax prep services provided by the city.

The IRS milege rate is, what, like 50 cents a mile? Normally Uber runs me $1/mile, much more if I'm going a short distance (they have a $8-12 minimum ride and I mostly use it for getting heavy things around my neighborhood by SUV). But at $1/mile, once Uber takes their cut, there can't be much left at all. IIRC, the average cab driver in NYC makes 30k for a 12 hour day, 6 days a week.

While visiting NYC, a cab driver told me that the cabs with golden birds or whatever on top tend to clear $100k. I forget what he said the normal cab drivers get but I don't recall it being 30k.

[jinga nation]

A co-worker, born and raised here in Tampa Bay, Florida, always mentions he hates the beach. (We're blessed with sun and sand, beaches that frequently make the top 10 beach lists.)

He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.

[MgoSam]

He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.

That may be a situation where his family loves the beach and he's just happy to be anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of vacations cause I usually just want to relax and not do much and I can generally just do that with a staycation.

[mtn]

He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.

That may be a situation where his family loves the beach and he's just happy to be anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of vacations cause I usually just want to relax and not do much and I can generally just do that with a staycation.

The problem with a staycation for me is that I have a hard time unplugging. There is a lot of stuff that I could be doing, even if I'm just vegging on the couch, that will annoy me because I *could* be doing it.

If I'm somewhere else, all I can do is have a beer, so I may as well just do that :)

[wenchsenior]

He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.

That may be a situation where his family loves the beach and he's just happy to be anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of vacations cause I usually just want to relax and not do much and I can generally just do that with a staycation.

The problem with a staycation for me is that I have a hard time unplugging. There is a lot of stuff that I could be doing, even if I'm just vegging on the couch, that will annoy me because I *could* be doing it.

If I'm somewhere else, all I can do is have a beer, so I may as well just do that :)

Yup. And it's not just going SOMEWHERE cool, it's going somewhere that your brain in no way associates with working. For example, my husband and I don't think we could really vacation in the Virgin Islands because we've worked there so many years and it's just GO GO GO most of the time. I think I've spent less than a day's worth of total time in the water or or chilling on the beach over ~40 total weeks spent working there over 14 years.

Now, we didn't have that problem on our single visit to the Florida Keys because the species that we work on were not present, and there wasn't very much land that our work-oriented brains felt compelled to "GO SURVEY!!!" though we did mull over work opportunities that could be pursued there.

Hawaii, which has superficially similar amenities, does not trigger this compulsion when we are there. We don't work...don't feel the urge...just zone out. But we've only been there twice. Too many visits and we'll undoubtedly start itching to do some fieldwork and be less able to chill.

[HairyUpperLip]

I was basing it off this:

http://www.quora.com/New-York-City-Taxis/How-much-money-do-NYC-cab-drivers-make-on-average

Cab is kind of a broad term; there are a lot of hired car drivers in NYC, making a lot of different amounts. And at least in Queens, every time I've gotten into a cab (not Uber) at night, I have to fight with the driver to turn the meter on, because they want to drive with the meter off and collect cash, so I assume there's some degree of tax evasion going on as well.

yeah, google told me 30kish too. That's surprising. I'm sure there is a lot of unclaimed cash tips.

[mm1970]

He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.

That may be a situation where his family loves the beach and he's just happy to be anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of vacations cause I usually just want to relax and not do much and I can generally just do that with a staycation.

The problem with a staycation for me is that I have a hard time unplugging. There is a lot of stuff that I could be doing, even if I'm just vegging on the couch, that will annoy me because I *could* be doing it.

If I'm somewhere else, all I can do is have a beer, so I may as well just do that :)

Yup. And it's not just going SOMEWHERE cool, it's going somewhere that your brain in no way associates with working. For example, my husband and I don't think we could really vacation in the Virgin Islands because we've worked there so many years and it's just GO GO GO most of the time. I think I've spent less than a day's worth of total time in the water or or chilling on the beach over ~40 total weeks spent working there over 14 years.

Now, we didn't have that problem on our single visit to the Florida Keys because the species that we work on were not present, and there wasn't very much land that our work-oriented brains felt compelled to "GO SURVEY!!!" though we did mull over work opportunities that could be pursued there.

Hawaii, which has superficially similar amenities, does not trigger this compulsion when we are there. We don't work...don't feel the urge...just zone out. But we've only been there twice. Too many visits and we'll undoubtedly start itching to do some fieldwork and be less able to chill.

I used to totally agree.  And my husband teased me, that as soon as the plane was airborne, he could visibly see my relaxation.

But then I had kids.  We've had several staycations in the last few years (vacationing with a baby / toddler AND another child is stressful), and they were very very nice.

We made sure to do things that we like to do on vacation and not really do any chores.

[MgoSam]

He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.

That may be a situation where his family loves the beach and he's just happy to be anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of vacations cause I usually just want to relax and not do much and I can generally just do that with a staycation.

The problem with a staycation for me is that I have a hard time unplugging. There is a lot of stuff that I could be doing, even if I'm just vegging on the couch, that will annoy me because I *could* be doing it.

If I'm somewhere else, all I can do is have a beer, so I may as well just do that :)

Yup. And it's not just going SOMEWHERE cool, it's going somewhere that your brain in no way associates with working. For example, my husband and I don't think we could really vacation in the Virgin Islands because we've worked there so many years and it's just GO GO GO most of the time. I think I've spent less than a day's worth of total time in the water or or chilling on the beach over ~40 total weeks spent working there over 14 years.

Now, we didn't have that problem on our single visit to the Florida Keys because the species that we work on were not present, and there wasn't very much land that our work-oriented brains felt compelled to "GO SURVEY!!!" though we did mull over work opportunities that could be pursued there.

Hawaii, which has superficially similar amenities, does not trigger this compulsion when we are there. We don't work...don't feel the urge...just zone out. But we've only been there twice. Too many visits and we'll undoubtedly start itching to do some fieldwork and be less able to chill.

I used to totally agree.  And my husband teased me, that as soon as the plane was airborne, he could visibly see my relaxation.

But then I had kids.  We've had several staycations in the last few years (vacationing with a baby / toddler AND another child is stressful), and they were very very nice.

We made sure to do things that we like to do on vacation and not really do any chores.

That's a good point. Earlier this year, I took my first vacation in a few years (normally just take a day off every once in a while to refresh). I was coming back from business in Chicago and stayed at a hotel in WI that is owned by a family friend. The room would otherwise be vacant, so I got a suite for free. Only problem is that there is nothing to do in that town, and after a day I just checked out and came back home. Instead, I didn't tell anyone from work that I was back in town, and just enjoyed the rest of my 'vacation.'

[zephyr911]

My Dad does taxes for a lot of low-income people as a way to volunteer for the community.
He said he has never seen someone actually make money driving for Uber. Sure, someone is out there, but most people only look at "how much they brought in". They ignore the taxes, the wear and tear, and some people even ignore the gas! 

He said he has actually seen it result in debt, because they think "I made $50" and then go spend $50.

Obviously, a mustachian wouldn't do this; but it is kind of sad.

I don't know how typical his sample is of Uber drivers, but obviously it is a bit self selected as "poor with finances" or else they wouldn't be using free tax prep services provided by the city.

I've thought about doing it with my EV as a FIRE job. Cost per mile is lower, but it'd really be more of an awareness/outreach thing for fun. Any profit would just be ICE-ing on the cake (pardon the pun).

[lifeinhd]

Coworker just walked in and announced that she bought a new car. Her old Ford Expedition was starting to have problems (to the tune of $600) she obviously the best option was to buy a new Ford Explorer! She said "it's really nice switching to a smaller car," and she's excited about the excellent 18/25 MPG!

[Merrie]

He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.

That may be a situation where his family loves the beach and he's just happy to be anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of vacations cause I usually just want to relax and not do much and I can generally just do that with a staycation.

The problem with a staycation for me is that I have a hard time unplugging. There is a lot of stuff that I could be doing, even if I'm just vegging on the couch, that will annoy me because I *could* be doing it.

If I'm somewhere else, all I can do is have a beer, so I may as well just do that :)

Yup. And it's not just going SOMEWHERE cool, it's going somewhere that your brain in no way associates with working. For example, my husband and I don't think we could really vacation in the Virgin Islands because we've worked there so many years and it's just GO GO GO most of the time. I think I've spent less than a day's worth of total time in the water or or chilling on the beach over ~40 total weeks spent working there over 14 years.

Now, we didn't have that problem on our single visit to the Florida Keys because the species that we work on were not present, and there wasn't very much land that our work-oriented brains felt compelled to "GO SURVEY!!!" though we did mull over work opportunities that could be pursued there.

Hawaii, which has superficially similar amenities, does not trigger this compulsion when we are there. We don't work...don't feel the urge...just zone out. But we've only been there twice. Too many visits and we'll undoubtedly start itching to do some fieldwork and be less able to chill.

I used to totally agree.  And my husband teased me, that as soon as the plane was airborne, he could visibly see my relaxation.

But then I had kids.  We've had several staycations in the last few years (vacationing with a baby / toddler AND another child is stressful), and they were very very nice.

We made sure to do things that we like to do on vacation and not really do any chores.

Same. Traveling with two kids, 4 and 1.5, is not my idea of fun. I'm just reaching the end of my staycation. I got to relax some, get some stuff done around the house, cook some interesting meals, spend time with the kids and my husband, and later today my mom is watching the kids so my husband and I can go out to lunch.

My next vacation is at Christmas. We'll drive up to visit my husband's family. Once we're there it'll be nice to have someone else entertain the kids, but I'm not looking forward to the 9+ hour drive with them.

[RWD]

Coworker just walked in and announced that she bought a new car. Her old Ford Expedition was starting to have problems (to the tune of $600) she obviously the best option was to buy a new Ford Explorer! She said "it's really nice switching to a smaller car," and she's excited about the excellent 18/25 MPG!

Wait, which one gets 18/25? I'm seeing 17/24 mpg for the FWD model, a little worse for the AWD model...

I guess my Subaru Legacy GT, a turbocharged AWD beast that goes 0-60 mph in under 6 seconds, gets excellent fuel economy too...

[Civex]

Completely overheard at work, no way I could have entered this conversation without coming off as a jerk. Coworker A mentions how, "Hubby and son went to pick up a new boat yesterday, " and , "how it's so pretty." etc. Now the other coworkers tried to give a half hearted congratulations, half hearted because she is constantly talking about how broke her family is. She is the primary income earner (making ~<30k/year) supporting her husband and two adult sons.

Coworker B goes, "how can you afford that?" and Coworker A replies, " Oh, the bank has great rates for boats right now." Silence. She then goes on to talk about how they decided they might not sell their other boat until next year because it's not a great time to sell.

This would't be so terrible, if a week a ago she wasn't telling me how her shoes are shot, but she can't afford new ones right now.

When you stand all day, shoes>>>>new boat for husband.

[I'm a red panda]

But the bank doesn't have good rates for shoes right now.


(That's so sad, btw.)

[Kitsunegari]

But the bank doesn't have good rates for shoes right now.

Thank you for this, I laughed loudly at work!

[The Guru]

Completely overheard at work, no way I could have entered this conversation without coming off as a jerk. Coworker A mentions how, "Hubby and son went to pick up a new boat yesterday, " and , "how it's so pretty." etc. Now the other coworkers tried to give a half hearted congratulations, half hearted because she is constantly talking about how broke her family is. She is the primary income earner (making ~<30k/year) supporting her husband and two adult sons.

Coworker B goes, "how can you afford that?" and Coworker A replies, " Oh, the bank has great rates for boats right now." Silence. She then goes on to talk about how they decided they might not sell their other boat until next year because it's not a great time to sell.

This would't be so terrible, if a week a ago she wasn't telling me how her shoes are shot, but she can't afford new ones right now.

When you stand all day, shoes>>>>new boat for husband.

Yes but she probably doesn't wear shoes when she's on the boat. So it's a win/win!

[gimp]

My next vacation is at Christmas. We'll drive up to visit my husband's family. Once we're there it'll be nice to have someone else entertain the kids, but I'm not looking forward to the 9+ hour drive with them.

Night drive, baby! Load 'em in the car at 9 pm mostly asleep, drive until 6am, carry them to a bed.

Make sure you get yourself some sleep during the day before you go, and grab snacks, gum, coke, and conversation if you're not used to long distance night driving.

[mm1970]

My next vacation is at Christmas. We'll drive up to visit my husband's family. Once we're there it'll be nice to have someone else entertain the kids, but I'm not looking forward to the 9+ hour drive with them.

Our next one is Thanksgiving.  Kids are 9 and 3, so it's getting better, but 9 year old gets carsick.  I'm a little tired of ONLY staycations.

So we will give him dramamine.

It's an 8 hour drive in no traffic, but we have to skirt LA, so it's probably more like 10.  I suspect as we get closer, we will opt to drive part way and spend the night in at least one direction, if not both.

[I'm a red panda]

My next vacation is at Christmas. We'll drive up to visit my husband's family. Once we're there it'll be nice to have someone else entertain the kids, but I'm not looking forward to the 9+ hour drive with them.

Night drive, baby! Load 'em in the car at 9 pm mostly asleep, drive until 6am, carry them to a bed.

Make sure you get yourself some sleep during the day before you go, and grab snacks, gum, coke, and conversation if you're not used to long distance night driving.

I just cannot do night driving. It isn't a safe option for me.
I'm suspecting that adding a kiddo the 17-hour drive we do 2-3x a year to Texas is going to have to be split into two parts.  But my SIL did it with her kids (a 3 year old and 6 year old) without a hotel, so maybe it is doable.

[gimp]

Aww, lame. Night driving is fantastic. Recent went from San Jose to Seattle, leaving at 8 PM. I can understand why it's hard though - I guess you get sleepy, eh?

[Goldielocks]

My next vacation is at Christmas. We'll drive up to visit my husband's family. Once we're there it'll be nice to have someone else entertain the kids, but I'm not looking forward to the 9+ hour drive with them.

Night drive, baby! Load 'em in the car at 9 pm mostly asleep, drive until 6am, carry them to a bed.

Make sure you get yourself some sleep during the day before you go, and grab snacks, gum, coke, and conversation if you're not used to long distance night driving.

I just cannot do night driving. It isn't a safe option for me.
I'm suspecting that adding a kiddo the 17-hour drive we do 2-3x a year to Texas is going to have to be split into two parts.  But my SIL did it with her kids (a 3 year old and 6 year old) without a hotel, so maybe it is doable.

If you have two drivers, one very long day beats two long days in a row with kids. No one can stand getting into the car on day two. Whine whine.

[RidinTheAsama]

My next vacation is at Christmas. We'll drive up to visit my husband's family. Once we're there it'll be nice to have someone else entertain the kids, but I'm not looking forward to the 9+ hour drive with them.

Night drive, baby! Load 'em in the car at 9 pm mostly asleep, drive until 6am, carry them to a bed.

Make sure you get yourself some sleep during the day before you go, and grab snacks, gum, coke, and conversation if you're not used to long distance night driving.

+1 on this!
Ours was shorter... about 5 hours to visit family at their off-the-grid cottage - Left at 9pm, 2.5 yr old and 0.5 yr old kids slept the whole way and transferred over to the beds taht were waiting for us with minimal fuss.

Snacks and a couple good conversations got us through without much trouble.

[I'm a red panda]

Aww, lame. Night driving is fantastic. Recent went from San Jose to Seattle, leaving at 8 PM. I can understand why it's hard though - I guess you get sleepy, eh?

Sleepy, yes, that is a big problem. I am just not a night person and adjusting my schedule to stay up one is really tough. But I also have a harder time seeing at night as all the lights get halos. And if we hit a city it can be terrifying due to the after bar traffic.

We usually plan to leave at 4:00-5:00 a.m., so that we get to our destination around 9:00-10:00 p.m.  When we used to leave later and get there between 11 and 2, the interstate getting into the city (this trip is always to Austin...) was so crazy we thought we would die; and of course, by that time we were exhausted by a long day.  The people on the road at 0'dark thirty in the morning seem to be less drunk, or at least less insane.

I have heard a lot of people pack up and drive overnight though- so it clearly works well for some people.

[gimp]

I guess everyone driving with blue fuckin' LED lights on lifted trucks ain't helping your poor night vision, eh?

I am usually a lot less worried about 2 drunks on the road than 200 non-drunks, but then, I've not driven into Austin at midnight. Even NYC and chicago and boston and SF and ... etc ... were quite pleasant around those hours, though, so maybe Austin is a special breed of crazy. I wouldn't be surprised.

[I'm a red panda]

Yeah, in the middle of nowhere areas where there are only going to be a few people on the roads, tired truckers is probably more of a problem than drunks.
But cities from 12-2 am, the roads are still packed.
New York City driving stresses me out because of all the honking, but it doesn't move too fast, so at least no one is barreling down the shoulder going 90 mph...

I imagine if we were night drivers we would figure out a way to avoid hitting too many cities at busy times; we already have to do that during the day drive (we have it timed to only hit OKC during traffic). 

[Jakejake]

Night driving didn't use to scare me so much until I had my own run in with a 2am lunatic. I'm ging down the highway minding my own business, and up out of the shoulder to my right, a car appears, passes me half in and out of the shoulder, floors it, and does a U-turn head on into me - while I was carrying a carload of students back from a spring trip. Up ahead I could see a bunch of cars pulled over - I think the driver was making a sport of it, hiding in the ditch and crashing into people over and over, making their own demolition derby.

[Merrie]

We did the night drive the last time, when our daughter was 18 months old. Left at 6 pm and got in around 2-3 in the morning. It worked fairly well, and we plan to do it again, but I don't think it'll be as easy to re-settle 2 kids after a stop as 1. Still it's better than the alternative of trying to keep active kids strapped into car seats all day.

A big bonus for staying with my husband's parents or having them stay with us is that MIL is an early bird and so *she* gets up with our kids easily and we can sleep in! So being a little sleep-deprived is a fixable state.

[mm1970]

Aww, lame. Night driving is fantastic. Recent went from San Jose to Seattle, leaving at 8 PM. I can understand why it's hard though - I guess you get sleepy, eh?

Sleepy, yes, that is a big problem. I am just not a night person and adjusting my schedule to stay up one is really tough. But I also have a harder time seeing at night as all the lights get halos. And if we hit a city it can be terrifying due to the after bar traffic.

We usually plan to leave at 4:00-5:00 a.m., so that we get to our destination around 9:00-10:00 p.m.  When we used to leave later and get there between 11 and 2, the interstate getting into the city (this trip is always to Austin...) was so crazy we thought we would die; and of course, by that time we were exhausted by a long day.  The people on the road at 0'dark thirty in the morning seem to be less drunk, or at least less insane.

I have heard a lot of people pack up and drive overnight though- so it clearly works well for some people.

I'm pretty much the same way with the night vision, and the sleepiness.

We came back from summer and with delays and weather on the planes, ended up leaving LAX in our car (for a 2 hour drive) at 3 am.  We'd been awake for 23 hours at that point.

We drove one hour and then stopped at a hotel.

75% of my friends/ acquaintances said "you were only an hour from home, you coulda made it!"

$170 for a hotel beats dying with my husband 2 children in a fiery crash, thanks!

[Travis]

We got new neighbours about 3 weeks ago. Seem like a nice family. Their lot is the same size as our (50' X 100') he's out on his FREAKING RIDING  MOWER cutting the lawn right now. I can't believe this.

Talking to my boss a few days ago I heard something similar. He mentioned that he just rented out his house in another state, but left his lawn mower in the garage.  He asked a friend to sell it for him and split the proceeds.  He then said his friend would be coming by with a couple hundred dollars for him the next time he's in town.  What lawn mower gets sold used for $400?!  Even if I misheard him and the total sale was $200, that's still a massive mower.  I don't know how big his house was, but I know him enough that he's not the type to live on a ranch.

[LeRainDrop]

I'd just like to say that tonight in my work emails, I encountered a situation in which I felt using the word "complainypants" would be a perfect fit.  And so I wrote it, added that word to my work mail dictionary, and sent it off.  So much fun!

[Hedge_87]

We got new neighbours about 3 weeks ago. Seem like a nice family. Their lot is the same size as our (50' X 100') he's out on his FREAKING RIDING  MOWER cutting the lawn right now. I can't believe this.

Talking to my boss a few days ago I heard something similar. He mentioned that he just rented out his house in another state, but left his lawn mower in the garage.  He asked a friend to sell it for him and split the proceeds.  He then said his friend would be coming by with a couple hundred dollars for him the next time he's in town.  What lawn mower gets sold used for $400?!  Even if I misheard him and the total sale was $200, that's still a massive mower.  I don't know how big his house was, but I know him enough that he's not the type to live on a ranch.

Our yard is 140x150 and people can't believe that I push mow it. Everybody thinks I need a hustler (around $3k  for the base model).

My counter points are
It only takes a little over an hour to mow.
It's a decent amount of low impact exercise and I could stand to loose a little jiggle
It's strangely therapeutic.
$3k is a ridiculous amount of money to pay to sit on my ass and avoid the very simple task of walking.
$3k is more than I paid for my pickup
I'm NOT paying $3k for a fing lawnmower.
My yard is only 140x150 minus house, garage, driveway, and garden beds.
I don't live on five acres where having a gigantic lawnmower could be "justified"
I don't want to have to store a lawnmower almost a big as a car in my already crammed garage/gym/workshop

After I go through all of them points I still get told I'm either a tight ass or crazy.... I give up.

[I'm a red panda]

Our yard is about 12,000 square feet (quarter of an acre- the lot is a third of an acre).
We are the ONLY people in the neighborhood who don't ride to mow.

That makes ZERO sense to me.
And the thing with the riding mowers, is most people still use a push mower to get around the garden beds, so you still need to own one of those too!


Also- apparently no one owns a weed whacker. People spend tons of time and money keeping their yards green and weed free (ours is currently brownish with a few weeds) and they don't edge. WTF?

[kimmarg]

He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.

That may be a situation where his family loves the beach and he's just happy to be anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of vacations cause I usually just want to relax and not do much and I can generally just do that with a staycation.

The problem with a staycation for me is that I have a hard time unplugging. There is a lot of stuff that I could be doing, even if I'm just vegging on the couch, that will annoy me because I *could* be doing it.

If I'm somewhere else, all I can do is have a beer, so I may as well just do that :)

Yup. And it's not just going SOMEWHERE cool, it's going somewhere that your brain in no way associates with working. For example, my husband and I don't think we could really vacation in the Virgin Islands because we've worked there so many years and it's just GO GO GO most of the time. I think I've spent less than a day's worth of total time in the water or or chilling on the beach over ~40 total weeks spent working there over 14 years.

Now, we didn't have that problem on our single visit to the Florida Keys because the species that we work on were not present, and there wasn't very much land that our work-oriented brains felt compelled to "GO SURVEY!!!" though we did mull over work opportunities that could be pursued there.

Hawaii, which has superficially similar amenities, does not trigger this compulsion when we are there. We don't work...don't feel the urge...just zone out. But we've only been there twice. Too many visits and we'll undoubtedly start itching to do some fieldwork and be less able to chill.

Since SWMBO and I both work in traffic, we find ourselves taking photos of traffic devices and signage, vehicles and occupants, and discussing the merits/challenges of the traffic network just about everywhere we go. Not having to solve the problems is our vacation. Coming home with the ideas and observations makes us more open.

I recommend you vacation in Salt Lake City and drive through the intersection at Bangeter and 3900S.... I can't totally explain it but it's very cool. The left turn lane instead of being in middle crosses behind the other traffic before the intersection which has the net result of cutting 1/3 of the time out of hey he light cycle (since you no longer  need a left turn light).

[babysnowbyrd]

Lol. They do this in Utah a lot. I used to be annoyed by it, but then I realized I spend a lot less time waiting for my turn than before. Its also a lot safer.

[MgoSam]

He's on a beach vacation in Cozumel for 10 days. Earlier this month, he took his family to Ft. Lauderdale for a beach vacation. I asked him what he does since he claims he HATES the beach. Response: I chill in the room or at the pool bar, but I don't drink.

That may be a situation where his family loves the beach and he's just happy to be anywhere. I'm not a huge fan of vacations cause I usually just want to relax and not do much and I can generally just do that with a staycation.

The problem with a staycation for me is that I have a hard time unplugging. There is a lot of stuff that I could be doing, even if I'm just vegging on the couch, that will annoy me because I *could* be doing it.

If I'm somewhere else, all I can do is have a beer, so I may as well just do that :)

Yup. And it's not just going SOMEWHERE cool, it's going somewhere that your brain in no way associates with working. For example, my husband and I don't think we could really vacation in the Virgin Islands because we've worked there so many years and it's just GO GO GO most of the time. I think I've spent less than a day's worth of total time in the water or or chilling on the beach over ~40 total weeks spent working there over 14 years.

Now, we didn't have that problem on our single visit to the Florida Keys because the species that we work on were not present, and there wasn't very much land that our work-oriented brains felt compelled to "GO SURVEY!!!" though we did mull over work opportunities that could be pursued there.

Hawaii, which has superficially similar amenities, does not trigger this compulsion when we are there. We don't work...don't feel the urge...just zone out. But we've only been there twice. Too many visits and we'll undoubtedly start itching to do some fieldwork and be less able to chill.

Since SWMBO and I both work in traffic, we find ourselves taking photos of traffic devices and signage, vehicles and occupants, and discussing the merits/challenges of the traffic network just about everywhere we go. Not having to solve the problems is our vacation. Coming home with the ideas and observations makes us more open.

I recommend you vacation in Salt Lake City and drive through the intersection at Bangeter and 3900S.... I can't totally explain it but it's very cool. The left turn lane instead of being in middle crosses behind the other traffic before the intersection which has the net result of cutting 1/3 of the time out of hey he light cycle (since you no longer  need a left turn light).

I love the concept, in Michigan they call it the "Michigan left."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_left#Applicable_traffic_studies

[Travis]

Our yard is about 12,000 square feet (quarter of an acre- the lot is a third of an acre).
We are the ONLY people in the neighborhood who don't ride to mow.

That makes ZERO sense to me.
And the thing with the riding mowers, is most people still use a push mower to get around the garden beds, so you still need to own one of those too!


Also- apparently no one owns a weed whacker. People spend tons of time and money keeping their yards green and weed free (ours is currently brownish with a few weeds) and they don't edge. WTF?

My front and back yard combined is just under 500 square feet.  I push mow it without too much trouble (though its slight slope forces me to back up and remow a few sections).  The hardest part is that the back lawn is separated from rocks by a metal border and slightly raised which leaves a strip that is almost impossible to push mow.  I've found the solution to be to hand my 5 year old a pair of scissors and point out the height I want.  I use hedge sheers around the water main, tree, and other corners.  He bugs me all week about when we can mow the lawn again.

[zephyr911]

Whelp... We packed the trailer yesterday and just hooked it up. Planning on leaving in about 8 hours. Arriving after noon.

I find about 5 hours of dark-driving gets me enough distance that the kids are OK for the remaining drive. We'll stop around 09:00 for breakfast and a stretch, then carry on.

Why aren't you sharing this in Share Your Badassity?
(I did shit like that when I was 20 or so... I probably could now if I didn't stay so tired. Reasons why FIRE matters)

[Tigerpine]

Not at work, but a commercial I overheard on the radio...and then later saw on TV.

"Credit cards maxed out?  We'll cut you a check for $10,000!"

This is for a Kia dealer in the area.  Guess what you'd have to use the $10,000 for!
I can't believe this is an actual ad out there.  It's just so irresponsible.

[plainjane]

Seen on the back of a "Money Saver magazine" in the work kitchen:

Mortgage Approved (Bad Credit? No Credit? Approved on Equity, not Credit!)
2nd mortgages from 6.99%
[there is a grid for borrowing 20k, 30k, 40k & 50k and the monthly payment associated with each]
Payments are principal & interest, fully open, based on an interest rate of 6.99% on a 46 year amortization.

46 years

[Joggernot]

Not at work, but a commercial I overheard on the radio...and then later saw on TV.

"Credit cards maxed out?  We'll cut you a check for $10,000!"

This is for a Kia dealer in the area.  Guess what you'd have to use the $10,000 for!
I can't believe this is an actual ad out there.  It's just so irresponsible.

Our car dealers no longer give a price for most cars.  They give the monthly 2-year lease cost only.  At least that ensures lots of cars for me to buy when the time comes.