Overheard at Work

[Raenia]

After about a year of reading this thread on and off, I've finished and have something to contribute! Something small compared to a lot of these stories, but it goes right along with people not putting in 2 minutes of effort for something...

My company gives you $500 back on your health insurance premiums throughout the year if you do a biometrics screening and take a health survey online. If your spouse is on your plan they can do it for another $500. I got married last month, and moved my new husband to my insurance because my plan is better. I was telling a coworker this morning how I made him take the survey last night, and how my husband is upset about having to get his blood drawn because he hates needles, but I told him he has to for $500. My coworker told me he hasn't done his yet (in the summer the company brings people in to do the biometrics screening so you do it on company time, but my coworker was out of the country). I said there's still time, and it's really easy to stop at a little lab on the way home to do it like I did last year since I was a new employee. His response: I get more than $500 in my paycheck so why should I care?

Thank you for your story. Yhis is the most stupid argument I've heard for saying no to such a large sum.
Being affraid of needles is a better excuse.

I'm terrified of needles, but even I'd suck it up once a year for $500 a pop.  He does realize that the $500 is in addition to his regular paycheck, right?  Baffling.

[MgoSam]

After about a year of reading this thread on and off, I've finished and have something to contribute! Something small compared to a lot of these stories, but it goes right along with people not putting in 2 minutes of effort for something...

My company gives you $500 back on your health insurance premiums throughout the year if you do a biometrics screening and take a health survey online. If your spouse is on your plan they can do it for another $500. I got married last month, and moved my new husband to my insurance because my plan is better. I was telling a coworker this morning how I made him take the survey last night, and how my husband is upset about having to get his blood drawn because he hates needles, but I told him he has to for $500. My coworker told me he hasn't done his yet (in the summer the company brings people in to do the biometrics screening so you do it on company time, but my coworker was out of the country). I said there's still time, and it's really easy to stop at a little lab on the way home to do it like I did last year since I was a new employee. His response: I get more than $500 in my paycheck so why should I care?

Thank you for your story. Yhis is the most stupid argument I've heard for saying no to such a large sum.
Being affraid of needles is a better excuse.

I'm terrified of needles, but even I'd suck it up once a year for $500 a pop.  He does realize that the $500 is in addition to his regular paycheck, right?  Baffling.

Hey now, the coworker could be making utter bank. I mean he is a high powered lawyer that bills at a high enough rate that he's earning more than $500/hour? At that point it would be far better for him to work an extra hour than spending an hour getting tested.

[bebegirl]

My company gives you $500 back on your health insurance premiums throughout the year if you do a biometrics screening and take a health survey online.

Wow! I make sure to show up for biometric screening to receive $150 per person and am very happy about that. But to miss $500 opportunity and do something good for your health is really baffling!

[Fomerly known as something]

I have a co-worker who likes to talk about bitcoins at every available opportunity. He has the most IT certifications in our team, does almost now work, and is the boss's pet. A annoying little cert queen.

Yet he's broke. Underwater on his home. Doesn't pay off his credit cards monthly. SAHM wife is spendypants.

He's always talking about wanting to mine or trade BTC/LTC/ETH. He doesn't realize he doesn't have the money for it. For the seed capital he should save, or use OPM. He doesn't want to use OPM.

He also loves to brag about how he's turned down job offers from Microsoft.

Talk is cheap and doesn't require effort.

For developer roles, I have found absolutely zero correlation between certifications and general competence, to the point where I don't even bother reading the education/certs section of the resume when interviewing someone.

Maybe it's different for network admins or DBAs?

Certs on request (you request the cert, I'll go get it for the job)

He isn't a developer. Just a systems engineer in DoD IT.  Our boss likes to hire people with certs as we can bill the govt more. Most of the work is done competently by guys who don't have certs.

I'm dropping my 2 week notice later today. I get to work from home and only come to my old workplace occasionally to support the customer. Going to a company that doesn't care about certs, just experience. They'll increase pay for every cert I get.

2 less hours of driving. No more traffic to deal with. Boy am I going to miss NPR. Wife is freaking out that twice a week we'll both be working together and her brain cannot compute. I told her to relax and assume I'll be in another office, which will be the dining room. Gave her strict rules not to talk to me for 8 hours, no chores/assignments/honey-dos.

EDIT: Gave the boss my 2 week notice. Told him it wasn't about the money, it was a new challenge in a related industry that values my experience and skills. I went to another building to help build a tech shop. In my absence, he accused future-boss of poaching "his guy" and there better be no more.
It's a right-to-work state and at-will employment. We live in a capitalist country. WTF!

Thank you for explaining why our new IT person sucks.  Our old one retired last year and while we computer using idiots often rolled our eyes at him, now we realize what we had.  Our new IT person has made sure their e-mail signature contains their various certificates.  Lets just say it didn't impress us when we saw it to begin with but now at least I understand why the the IT person is a PITA on everything. 

[a286]

After about a year of reading this thread on and off, I've finished and have something to contribute! Something small compared to a lot of these stories, but it goes right along with people not putting in 2 minutes of effort for something...

My company gives you $500 back on your health insurance premiums throughout the year if you do a biometrics screening and take a health survey online. If your spouse is on your plan they can do it for another $500. I got married last month, and moved my new husband to my insurance because my plan is better. I was telling a coworker this morning how I made him take the survey last night, and how my husband is upset about having to get his blood drawn because he hates needles, but I told him he has to for $500. My coworker told me he hasn't done his yet (in the summer the company brings people in to do the biometrics screening so you do it on company time, but my coworker was out of the country). I said there's still time, and it's really easy to stop at a little lab on the way home to do it like I did last year since I was a new employee. His response: I get more than $500 in my paycheck so why should I care?

Thank you for your story. Yhis is the most stupid argument I've heard for saying no to such a large sum.
Being affraid of needles is a better excuse.

I'm terrified of needles, but even I'd suck it up once a year for $500 a pop.  He does realize that the $500 is in addition to his regular paycheck, right?  Baffling.

Hey now, the coworker could be making utter bank. I mean he is a high powered lawyer that bills at a high enough rate that he's earning more than $500/hour? At that point it would be far better for him to work an extra hour than spending an hour getting tested.

If only. This is a half hour time commitment at most. Actually, you can even just do the survey and get $250 of it. (just don't tell my husband that!). We work the same position just on different shifts, similar age and education, he's just been here about 1.5yrs longer, so I can't imagine he makes that much more than me. We work in the quality dept of a manufacturing plant. It works out to $20ish a paycheck, but like I told him, I'm getting every penny out of this place that I can. That reminds me, they pay for a new pair of steel-toes each year and I haven't gotten any yet... think it's time to retire these to yard work/project shoes and get some new ones for work...

[rdaneel0]

This week was a goldmine! We had our office wide benefits meeting, and there were some true gems.

My two favorites, from the head of HR:

"I think you can contribute up to $17,000 a year to your 401(k), that's what it was a few years ago, if anyone needs the current number I can find out, but that's not usually a problem!" (followed by entire room, including execs who make well into six figures, laughing)

"I heard a great tip that each time you get a raise you should increase your 401(k) deduction by 1%! I knew one woman who actually got up to 16%!" (people audibly going "wow!!!")

[Debts_of_Despair]

Found an overpriced, half eaten takeout sandwich with mold on it in the fridge at work.  I threw it out.

[Herbert Derp]

I was in a car with my boss and some co-workers, and the subject of gambling and casinos came up. I said casinos are places where you lose money. My boss sheepishly admitted that she recently lost over $40,000 while gambling, but that nevertheless she considers gambling to be good fun, and that I should try it. I told her that in a casino, the house controls the game, and it is designed for you to lose--I only enjoy playing games where I'm in control of my chances of winning. I don't think she quite understood my point. I suppose it's good for the rest of us that some people are born suckers?

[Imma]

I was in a car with my boss and some co-workers, and the subject of gambling and casinos came up. I said casinos are places where you lose money. My boss sheepishly admitted that she recently lost over $40,000 while gambling, but that nevertheless she considers gambling to be good fun, and that I should try it. I told her that in a casino, the house controls the game, and it is designed for you to lose--I only enjoy playing games where I'm in control of my chances of winning. I don't think she quite understood my point. I suppose it's good for the rest of us that some people are born suckers?

It is, which is why I'm so happy we have a national lottery and taxes on legal gambling. The amount of revenue that brings in for both the government is unbelievable and none of the money comes out of my pocket.

[Linea_Norway]

I was in a car with my boss and some co-workers, and the subject of gambling and casinos came up. I said casinos are places where you lose money. My boss sheepishly admitted that she recently lost over $40,000 while gambling, but that nevertheless she considers gambling to be good fun, and that I should try it. I told her that in a casino, the house controls the game, and it is designed for you to lose--I only enjoy playing games where I'm in control of my chances of winning. I don't think she quite understood my point. I suppose it's good for the rest of us that some people are born suckers?

It is, which is why I'm so happy we have a national lottery and taxes on legal gambling. The amount of revenue that brings in for both the government is unbelievable and none of the money comes out of my pocket.

In Norway lottery is state controlled as well. A lot of the reveneu goes to clubs of all sorts. Therefore a lot of society also depends on people spending their money on the lottery. I don't do it either.
DH joins the wine lottery at work sometimes, but only when the odds are extra good, when they have bought some extra bottles. He won a bottle 75% of the times he joined the lottery.

[AMandM]

Not really overheard at work, but ridiculously anti-Mustachian nonetheless.

Today I bought something off Craigslist. The seller offered to deliver it at no charge to me, so I accepted. The used goods were delivered to my door by a uniformed chauffeur in a Benz. I didn't know Legos needed to be transported in such luxury with such care.

I kind of love this. They can afford a uniformed chauffeur and a Benz, but instead of simply throwing the lego away they sell it for someone else to use.

Well, to be honest, I'd probably sell (attempt at least) more stuff on craigslist if I had staff to do the legwork for me.

You're all assuming that the seller was the employer of the chauffeur, rather than the chauffeur selling the stuff that a more wasteful family are chucking out. I love the idea of the Lego sitting in the back of a Benz with a little Lego glass of champagne and a little Lego cigar.

I considered it, but liked the thought of a rich family selling their used lego. After your post I changed my mind.

My preferred reality, in descending order of preference:

3. Driver side-gig

2. Rich family selling. Mom takes photos while dad makes tonight's home made dinner.

1. Lego is FIRE, doing work away travel between different households. Currently doing 6 months with Freedomin5, is considering another 6 months with a Portuguese family next.

Hah! I actually have no idea, but I suspect it was the rich family. It was about $200-300 worth of barely used Lego. And the chauffeur didn't ask for payment. Also, chauffeur didn't speak English, whereas I had been communicating with seller in English.

I picture the chauffeur arriving at work and telling his fellow servants, "Hey guys, better start brushing up your resumes.  The boss is so close to broke that's he's selling stuff second-hand!"

[dragoncar]

I was in a car with my boss and some co-workers, and the subject of gambling and casinos came up. I said casinos are places where you lose money. My boss sheepishly admitted that she recently lost over $40,000 while gambling, but that nevertheless she considers gambling to be good fun, and that I should try it. I told her that in a casino, the house controls the game, and it is designed for you to lose--I only enjoy playing games where I'm in control of my chances of winning. I don't think she quite understood my point. I suppose it's good for the rest of us that some people are born suckers?

Oh yeah, like how I pay you a fraction of the revenue you bring me?*

*thing your boss didn't say to you

[Uturn]

I had this exchange after explaining why index funds are safer than managed funds.

CW:  I don't invest, I like to keep my money risk free
ME:  As in 100% cash?
CW:  No, silly. It's in the bank
ME: Well, you're right.  You are taking a guaranteed 2-3% loss of purchasing power every year, no risk of that going down.   

[londonstache]

I had this exchange after explaining why index funds are safer than managed funds.

CW:  I don't invest, I like to keep my money risk free
ME:  As in 100% cash?
CW:  No, silly. It's in the bank
ME: Well, you're right.  You are taking a guaranteed 2-3% loss of purchasing power every year, no risk of that going down.

But what about the GUARANTEED 0.1% interest? Much better than 7-8% in the stock market!

[Seppia]

Good luck getting that 7-8% in the USA in the next ten to 15 years though.
Would never be all-cash (I have very little cash), but better tune down expectations for the next decade

[M5]

Found an overpriced, half eaten takeout sandwich with mold on it in the fridge at work.  I threw it out.

This seems to be a frequent occurrence at my work. People will go out for lunch, put their leftover pizza, sandwiches, etc in the fridge and forget about them.. for weeks! I tend to get pretty salty when this insanity leaves me no room to store my own lunch for the day. Luckily there are a couple of us who make a habit of purging any uneaten items.

[Maenad]

People have been saying that for the last 5 years. You don't know, I don't know. No one knows what the next decade will bring.

[solon]

Good luck getting that 7-8% in the USA in the next ten to 15 years though.
Would never be all-cash (I have very little cash), but better tune down expectations for the next decade

Wish I had your crystal ball!

[RidetheRain]

Found an overpriced, half eaten takeout sandwich with mold on it in the fridge at work.  I threw it out.

This seems to be a frequent occurrence at my work. People will go out for lunch, put their leftover pizza, sandwiches, etc in the fridge and forget about them.. for weeks! I tend to get pretty salty when this insanity leaves me no room to store my own lunch for the day. Luckily there are a couple of us who make a habit of purging any uneaten items.

My office admin throws out everything on Fridays. She's really serious about it. One person in the office brings a 12pk of soda every Monday and drinks it throughout the week and lets her throw out whatever's left on Fridays. I have a deal that if he brings Diet Coke or Root Beer I get the leftover. It almost makes up for the wasted fridge space.

[Kevin S.]

Good luck getting that 7-8% in the USA in the next ten to 15 years though.
Would never be all-cash (I have very little cash), but better tune down expectations for the next decade

Ok I will play devils advocate here, why do you say /believe these things ?

When should I stock up on ramen, tp, water and ammo ?

[Seppia]

Good luck getting that 7-8% in the USA in the next ten to 15 years though.
Would never be all-cash (I have very little cash), but better tune down expectations for the next decade

Wish I had your crystal ball!

Good luck getting that 7-8% in the USA in the next ten to 15 years though.
Would never be all-cash (I have very little cash), but better tune down expectations for the next decade

Ok I will play devils advocate here, why do you say /believe these things ?

When should I stock up on ramen, tp, water and ammo ?

Please note how I'm not predicting anything short term.
No one knows for sure, but every available valuation indicator out there (cape, simple P/E, p/b, USA valuation gap VS other markets just to name a few) shows a high probability of underperformance for the American stock market, compared to its historical rate.

Pick historical moments of similar valuation, and look forward 10 years to see what happened.

If the answer to this is "no one really knows" then I say yes, but history would suggest a higher chance ( =/ than certitude) of underperformance.
If the answer is "the past is not predictive of the future", then what are you basing expected future returns on?

As to what should you do, the answer I would give, as always, is "nothing" (except to lower your expectations)

[RyanAtTanagra]

Please note how I'm not predicting anything short term.
No one knows for sure, but every available valuation indicator out there (cape, simple P/E, p/b, USA valuation gap VS other markets just to name a few) shows a high probability of underperformance for the American stock market, compared to its historical rate.

Pick historical moments of similar valuation, and look forward 10 years to see what happened.

If the answer to this is "no one really knows" then I say yes, but history would suggest a higher chance ( =/ than certitude) of underperformance.
If the answer is "the past is not predictive of the future", then what are you basing expected future returns on?

As to what should you do, the answer I would give, as always, is "nothing" (except to lower your expectations)

I don't necessarily disagree, but keep in mind American companies are more global than they have been during past periods that you're comparing to.  So saying 'looks bad for US market' doesn't work quite the same.  If there's global growth, American companies benefit from that more than they did in the past.

[Seppia]

GDP and stock market growth have very little in common.

[frugledoc]

Also, I had a coworker openly admit that he spends $800/month on weed. (And by the way lives paycheck to paycheck)

Where are you? I work in the industry and sell to a head shop that's run by 2 very smart brothers that smoke A TON and neither of them spend more than $400 a month. Either he's getting ripped off or is doing something else wrong.

Friend of mine smokes way more than $800/month.  I'd estimate closer to $2k, but I don't really want to know, because he's also paycheck to paycheck.  Super high tolerance and desire to be high 24/7 costs a lot.  Wake up, dab, eat 60mg edible, breakfast, dab more, roll a blunt, dab, lunch.  Dab dab dab, another edible, etc etc.  Works from home so this is every day.

What a waste of money! Why dont they just stop? Ive smoked weed just about every day for the last 30 years and I dont find it habit forming at all.

Dude....

[RidetheRain]

Also, I had a coworker openly admit that he spends $800/month on weed. (And by the way lives paycheck to paycheck)

Where are you? I work in the industry and sell to a head shop that's run by 2 very smart brothers that smoke A TON and neither of them spend more than $400 a month. Either he's getting ripped off or is doing something else wrong.

Friend of mine smokes way more than $800/month.  I'd estimate closer to $2k, but I don't really want to know, because he's also paycheck to paycheck.  Super high tolerance and desire to be high 24/7 costs a lot.  Wake up, dab, eat 60mg edible, breakfast, dab more, roll a blunt, dab, lunch.  Dab dab dab, another edible, etc etc.  Works from home so this is every day.

What a waste of money! Why dont they just stop? Ive smoked weed just about every day for the last 30 years and I dont find it habit forming at all.

Dude....

I'm pretty sure I just got high reading that.

[frugalnacho]

hey hey hey, smoke weed every day

[RWD]

Good luck getting that 7-8% in the USA in the next ten to 15 years though.
Would never be all-cash (I have very little cash), but better tune down expectations for the next decade

Lemme guess.....cause Trump is President?

Presidents change over a decade. I assume Seppia was basing the prediction on PE ratios or something. Probably nothing to worry about, though:
http://www.etf.com/sections/index-investor-corner/swedroe-wait-youll-likely-miss-out?nopaging=1

[ixtap]

CW1: Why isn't the AC on?
CW2: Because I want to keep the door open so that people can just walk in.
CW1: That makes sense, but we don't pay electric, just run the AC with the door open.

And with one fell swoop, CW1 (actually owner, but is rarely in this office) just undid a year of me trying to convince CW2 that the door should be closed when heating or cooling the office.

[Davnasty]

CW1: Why isn't the AC on?
CW2: Because I want to keep the door open so that people can just walk in.
CW1: That makes sense, but we don't pay electric, just run the AC with the door open.

And with one fell swoop, CW1 (actually owner, but is rarely in this office) just undid a year of me trying to convince CW2 that the door should be closed when heating or cooling the office.

A couple of people in our office run personal heaters by their desks because the ac gets too cold. I'm pretty sure someone has made a similar comment in the previous 381 pages but still, drives me crazy.

Thank you for fighting the good fight.

[Hula Hoop]

CW has just moved into her company provided freshly painted apartment.

CW: Do you know any good, reasonably priced painters?
me: No, why? didn't the company paint your apartment before you moved in?
CW: yes, it's freshly painted but I just can't stand white walls.  I want to paint the walls different colors.

She's had quotes of around Euro 800 to paint the freshly painted white walls a different color and she's only going to get to enjoy these colored walls for a couple of years.  I just can't even.

[ketchup]

CW1: Why isn't the AC on?
CW2: Because I want to keep the door open so that people can just walk in.
CW1: That makes sense, but we don't pay electric, just run the AC with the door open.

And with one fell swoop, CW1 (actually owner, but is rarely in this office) just undid a year of me trying to convince CW2 that the door should be closed when heating or cooling the office.

A couple of people in our office run personal heaters by their desks because the ac gets too cold. I'm pretty sure someone has made a similar comment in the previous 381 pages but still, drives me crazy.

Thank you for fighting the good fight.

This madness happens where I work.  Breakers kept flipping due to too many space heaters too.  It drives me crazy.  Just keep it somewhere between 45 and 85 and I'm content.

[RidetheRain]

CW has just moved into her company provided freshly painted apartment.

CW: Do you know any good, reasonably priced painters?
me: No, why? didn't the company paint your apartment before you moved in?
CW: yes, it's freshly painted but I just can't stand white walls.  I want to paint the walls different colors.

She's had quotes of around Euro 800 to paint the freshly painted white walls a different color and she's only going to get to enjoy these colored walls for a couple of years.  I just can't even.

That's pretty bad. Although, I rent too which means all white walls all the time so I definitely get the hatred of white walls. I ended up spending quite a lot of money on fabric that I pin to the wall for an accent color. I've had it for a while, but I think it was around 250 USD when I bought it all so about 200 euro? Plus my time and energy of course. I bet she'd get a better quote for just one wall like I did. Might even work out better than fabric (I only did that because I couldn't paint)

[dragoncar]

Found an overpriced, half eaten takeout sandwich with mold on it in the fridge at work.  I threw it out.

This seems to be a frequent occurrence at my work. People will go out for lunch, put their leftover pizza, sandwiches, etc in the fridge and forget about them.. for weeks! I tend to get pretty salty when this insanity leaves me no room to store my own lunch for the day. Luckily there are a couple of us who make a habit of purging any uneaten items.

My office admin throws out everything on Fridays. She's really serious about it. One person in the office brings a 12pk of soda every Monday and drinks it throughout the week and lets her throw out whatever's left on Fridays. I have a deal that if he brings Diet Coke or Root Beer I get the leftover. It almost makes up for the wasted fridge space.

IMO, the best system requires you to put your name and date on the object.  It gets tossed on Friday a week after the date, or if the date is in the future.  If you really want the thing for another week, you can update the date.  This basically ensures that you actively want the thing in the fridge

[Ann]

CW has just moved into her company provided freshly painted apartment.

CW: Do you know any good, reasonably priced painters?
me: No, why? didn't the company paint your apartment before you moved in?
CW: yes, it's freshly painted but I just can't stand white walls.  I want to paint the walls different colors.

She's had quotes of around Euro 800 to paint the freshly painted white walls a different color and she's only going to get to enjoy these colored walls for a couple of years.  I just can't even.

Yeah.  I don't thin the problem is painting the walls when you are only going to live there a few years .. it's why hire painters???  Get paint, brushes/rollers, tape.  You will reuse the brushes later.  It is not that hard, esp if you are just moving in and things are clean and not settled in.  Plus, you don't have to paint the entire room!  Consider an accent wall.

[Seppia]

Exactly!
I painted all my rooms myself, it's not rocket science.

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

Found an overpriced, half eaten takeout sandwich with mold on it in the fridge at work.  I threw it out.

This seems to be a frequent occurrence at my work. People will go out for lunch, put their leftover pizza, sandwiches, etc in the fridge and forget about them.. for weeks! I tend to get pretty salty when this insanity leaves me no room to store my own lunch for the day. Luckily there are a couple of us who make a habit of purging any uneaten items.

My workmates will not use the milk after the best before date. Despite the fact that it smells fine. They actually used to pour it out. The rule now is that I'll take it home. Now I hardly ever pay for milk.....

[firelight]

Also, I had a coworker openly admit that he spends $800/month on weed. (And by the way lives paycheck to paycheck)

Where are you? I work in the industry and sell to a head shop that's run by 2 very smart brothers that smoke A TON and neither of them spend more than $400 a month. Either he's getting ripped off or is doing something else wrong.

Friend of mine smokes way more than $800/month.  I'd estimate closer to $2k, but I don't really want to know, because he's also paycheck to paycheck.  Super high tolerance and desire to be high 24/7 costs a lot.  Wake up, dab, eat 60mg edible, breakfast, dab more, roll a blunt, dab, lunch.  Dab dab dab, another edible, etc etc.  Works from home so this is every day.

DANG! Esp as you're in CA where weed is legal. I don't know what prices are like in SF but I imagine they are cheaper than in states where pot is illegal. That is a good point that the more you smoke the higher your tolerance gets.

$24k/yr habit.  sounds like insourcing could save this guy a lot.

My coworker grows his own weed....yes! We are in CA

[JLee]

Good luck getting that 7-8% in the USA in the next ten to 15 years though.
Would never be all-cash (I have very little cash), but better tune down expectations for the next decade

People have been saying that for years. We'll see.

[Dave1442397]

CW1: Why isn't the AC on?
CW2: Because I want to keep the door open so that people can just walk in.
CW1: That makes sense, but we don't pay electric, just run the AC with the door open.

And with one fell swoop, CW1 (actually owner, but is rarely in this office) just undid a year of me trying to convince CW2 that the door should be closed when heating or cooling the office.

A couple of people in our office run personal heaters by their desks because the ac gets too cold. I'm pretty sure someone has made a similar comment in the previous 381 pages but still, drives me crazy.

Thank you for fighting the good fight.

This madness happens where I work.  Breakers kept flipping due to too many space heaters too.  It drives me crazy.  Just keep it somewhere between 45 and 85 and I'm content.

I've done the space heater thing at two office buildings over the years. I can't function when I'm at the point where my fingers are stiffening because of the cold. There was one office that was so cold I used to take breaks and go to my car, where I'd sit with the windows rolled up on a 95F day for fifteen minutes just to get warm again.

A friend who owns a commercial HVAC company told me that most of the issues in heating and cooling office spaces have been resolved in other countries, particularly Japan. Apparently it's almost impossible to change the way things are done here in the US, so we'll be stuck with inefficient HVAC for the foreseeable future.

[Debts_of_Despair]

Found an overpriced, half eaten takeout sandwich with mold on it in the fridge at work.  I threw it out.

This seems to be a frequent occurrence at my work. People will go out for lunch, put their leftover pizza, sandwiches, etc in the fridge and forget about them.. for weeks! I tend to get pretty salty when this insanity leaves me no room to store my own lunch for the day. Luckily there are a couple of us who make a habit of purging any uneaten items.

My workmates will not use the milk after the best before date. Despite the fact that it smells fine. They actually used to pour it out. The rule now is that I'll take it home. Now I hardly ever pay for milk.....

Not gonna lie, that's kinda gross!

[marielle]

Found an overpriced, half eaten takeout sandwich with mold on it in the fridge at work.  I threw it out.

This seems to be a frequent occurrence at my work. People will go out for lunch, put their leftover pizza, sandwiches, etc in the fridge and forget about them.. for weeks! I tend to get pretty salty when this insanity leaves me no room to store my own lunch for the day. Luckily there are a couple of us who make a habit of purging any uneaten items.

My workmates will not use the milk after the best before date. Despite the fact that it smells fine. They actually used to pour it out. The rule now is that I'll take it home. Now I hardly ever pay for milk.....

Not gonna lie, that's kinda gross!

How is that gross? I could argue that the milk itself is the gross part (pus and other kinds of fun stuff in it)...

[Debts_of_Despair]

Borderline expired milk that may not have been stored properly (too warm), may have been drunk straight from the carton, had the carton touched by others (I've watched by co-workers "wash" their hands after using the toilet) and spent time in the work fridge with all of the other expired items.  That is seriously gross that one would take it home and drink it.

[Playing with Fire UK]

If you'd drink it at work, I don't see why you wouldn't drink it at home. [Not disagreeing that work milk can be gross]

[MrMoogle]

Found an overpriced, half eaten takeout sandwich with mold on it in the fridge at work.  I threw it out.

This seems to be a frequent occurrence at my work. People will go out for lunch, put their leftover pizza, sandwiches, etc in the fridge and forget about them.. for weeks! I tend to get pretty salty when this insanity leaves me no room to store my own lunch for the day. Luckily there are a couple of us who make a habit of purging any uneaten items.

My office admin throws out everything on Fridays. She's really serious about it. One person in the office brings a 12pk of soda every Monday and drinks it throughout the week and lets her throw out whatever's left on Fridays. I have a deal that if he brings Diet Coke or Root Beer I get the leftover. It almost makes up for the wasted fridge space.

IMO, the best system requires you to put your name and date on the object.  It gets tossed on Friday a week after the date, or if the date is in the future.  If you really want the thing for another week, you can update the date.  This basically ensures that you actively want the thing in the fridge

The best system is to work with adults who are responsible. 

My room has 20 people in it, and we have a mini-fridge.  If a few people leave stuff in there, it fills up quickly, that it forces us to resolve it immediately, but there's rarely a problem.  I think we end up having a fridge cleanout every ~3 months, just so we can clean it.

[A Definite Beta Guy]

Found an overpriced, half eaten takeout sandwich with mold on it in the fridge at work.  I threw it out.

This seems to be a frequent occurrence at my work. People will go out for lunch, put their leftover pizza, sandwiches, etc in the fridge and forget about them.. for weeks! I tend to get pretty salty when this insanity leaves me no room to store my own lunch for the day. Luckily there are a couple of us who make a habit of purging any uneaten items.

My office admin throws out everything on Fridays. She's really serious about it. One person in the office brings a 12pk of soda every Monday and drinks it throughout the week and lets her throw out whatever's left on Fridays. I have a deal that if he brings Diet Coke or Root Beer I get the leftover. It almost makes up for the wasted fridge space.

IMO, the best system requires you to put your name and date on the object.  It gets tossed on Friday a week after the date, or if the date is in the future.  If you really want the thing for another week, you can update the date.  This basically ensures that you actively want the thing in the fridge

The best system is to work with adults who are responsible. 

My room has 20 people in it, and we have a mini-fridge.  If a few people leave stuff in there, it fills up quickly, that it forces us to resolve it immediately, but there's rarely a problem.  I think we end up having a fridge cleanout every ~3 months, just so we can clean it.

Our work fridge is emptied of everything and cleaned every 2 weeks, whether it needs it or not. It's pretty nice, actually! It's basically never dirty.

[markbike528CBX]

RE: food/fridge at work.

The best system I've seen is a initial/date on the containers.   Anyone can feel free to ditch stuff >3 days old (except condiments).

[infogoon]

This madness happens where I work.  Breakers kept flipping due to too many space heaters too.  It drives me crazy.  Just keep it somewhere between 45 and 85 and I'm content.

A friend of mine's company kept issuing warnings about space heaters, which the residents of the cubicle farm laughed at and ignored. Until the day the old wiring in the cubicle walls finally caught fire under the load.

[RyanAtTanagra]

This madness happens where I work.  Breakers kept flipping due to too many space heaters too.  It drives me crazy.  Just keep it somewhere between 45 and 85 and I'm content.

A friend of mine's company kept issuing warnings about space heaters, which the residents of the cubicle farm laughed at and ignored. Until the day the old wiring in the cubicle walls finally caught fire under the load.

I blame the cubicle people less than facilities.  If you're keeping a building so cold that some people have to use space heaters, turn down the A/C!

[ketchup]

This madness happens where I work.  Breakers kept flipping due to too many space heaters too.  It drives me crazy.  Just keep it somewhere between 45 and 85 and I'm content.

A friend of mine's company kept issuing warnings about space heaters, which the residents of the cubicle farm laughed at and ignored. Until the day the old wiring in the cubicle walls finally caught fire under the load.

I blame the cubicle people less than facilities.  If you're keeping a building so cold that some people have to use space heaters, turn down the A/C!

In my case, the HVAC system in our rather-old-and-hodgepodge building is a clusterfuck, so often there's a 10F variance in temperature between certain areas/rooms (and the focus of the HVAC system has to be on lab space that needs to stay 20-25C to be compliant).  But rather than just dealing with it, people flip out and overcompensate.

[turketron]

As someone who nearly always runs warm, I may be a bit biased, but I feel like an office should be on the cold side - you can always put on a sweater when you're cold, but there's only so much clothing you can remove (unless you have a very tolerant workplace...) when you're hot. Space heaters are a whole separate issue due to the fire hazard and potential to overload circuits.