Overheard at Work

[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.

[ketchup]

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.

I've also run into people keeping their space heaters right next to their computers... I've seen more than a few partially-melted computers that somehow still function.

[Debts_of_Despair]

https://youtu.be/0RpmwqaxrwA

I had been wondering from where they casted the person who likes spoiled milk.  Looks like they even caught them at the office fridge.  Barf!

[DarkandStormy]

Co-worker today shared his plan is to always have a house payment.

He bought his house in 2001 and estimates he has refinanced 4-5 times since then plus a couple of HELOCs.  Said he probably owes $20k more NOW than when he first purchased in 2001.

[MgoSam]

I hope that co-worker also has a plan to remain employed, even after his health has deteriorated.

[LennStar]

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.

For offices and cubicle farms the best and cheapest solution is a feet warmer mat. Because if you feel cold its mostly the feet (cold air down, air there moves around too, surface may be cool). Also that are only 40W not 400W+
No, the best solution is a floor heating. But that is often not possible to add. 

[Sibley]

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.

Biologically, there is a tendency for women to feel colder, and men to feel warmer. There's all sorts of exceptions of course, but there is a biologic difference. There are also cultural expectations for men and women that result in men tending to wear more clothing in the summer than women, and women to wear less clothing in the winter than men.

Then add in that the temperature of the building is typically set to the average comfort level for men, without considering the comfort of women, and you've set up systematic discrimination against women. (We're talking about population wide, not individual people). There was an article about this, if I can find it I'll add.

[SciLearner357]

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.

Biologically, there is a tendency for women to feel colder, and men to feel warmer. There's all sorts of exceptions of course, but there is a biologic difference. There are also cultural expectations for men and women that result in men tending to wear more clothing in the summer than women, and women to wear less clothing in the winter than men.

Then add in that the temperature of the building is typically set to the average comfort level for men, without considering the comfort of women, and you've set up systematic discrimination against women. (We're talking about population wide, not individual people). There was an article about this, if I can find it I'll add.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/science/chilly-at-work-a-decades-old-formula-may-be-to-blame.html?_r=0

[mm1970]

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.

Biologically, there is a tendency for women to feel colder, and men to feel warmer. There's all sorts of exceptions of course, but there is a biologic difference. There are also cultural expectations for men and women that result in men tending to wear more clothing in the summer than women, and women to wear less clothing in the winter than men.

Then add in that the temperature of the building is typically set to the average comfort level for men, without considering the comfort of women, and you've set up systematic discrimination against women. (We're talking about population wide, not individual people). There was an article about this, if I can find it I'll add.

This makes a lot of sense!  I keep a couple of sweaters at work. And this week, it's almost 100 out - so I find myself taking a 10 minute stroll outside to warm up.

Of course at night I get too hot as soon as my husband comes to bed.  He generates heat.

[Debts_of_Despair]

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.

Biologically, there is a tendency for women to feel colder, and men to feel warmer. There's all sorts of exceptions of course, but there is a biologic difference. There are also cultural expectations for men and women that result in men tending to wear more clothing in the summer than women, and women to wear less clothing in the winter than men.

Then add in that the temperature of the building is typically set to the average comfort level for men, without considering the comfort of women, and you've set up systematic discrimination against women. (We're talking about population wide, not individual people). There was an article about this, if I can find it I'll add.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/science/chilly-at-work-a-decades-old-formula-may-be-to-blame.html?_r=0

Even if that is true, and the setpoint was raised, what are men supposed to do?  Strip down to their underwear?

[RyanAtTanagra]

Even if that is true, and the setpoint was raised, what are men supposed to do?  Strip down to their underwear?

Learn to deal with heat?  If 75F instead of 72F can even be considered 'heat'.

[Friar]

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.

Biologically, there is a tendency for women to feel colder, and men to feel warmer. There's all sorts of exceptions of course, but there is a biologic difference. There are also cultural expectations for men and women that result in men tending to wear more clothing in the summer than women, and women to wear less clothing in the winter than men.

Then add in that the temperature of the building is typically set to the average comfort level for men, without considering the comfort of women, and you've set up systematic discrimination against women. (We're talking about population wide, not individual people). There was an article about this, if I can find it I'll add.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/science/chilly-at-work-a-decades-old-formula-may-be-to-blame.html?_r=0

Even if that is true, and the setpoint was raised, what are men supposed to do?  Strip down to their underwear?

It's a good question. I'm male, naturally quite warm, and even with my shirt sleeves rolled up I feel our office is too stuffy.

I suppose the proper solution would be to turn the heat up and allow us to not have to wear shirts and smart trousers. If I could rock around in shorts I'd happily do so.

On the topic of women's wearing fewer clothes than men, I remember reading the clothing rules on our company intranet.

"Men: smart trousers and shirt" "Women: ..."

Literally no guidance for women. I hardly think that's fair and equal!

[RyanAtTanagra]

Biologically, there is a tendency for women to feel colder, and men to feel warmer. There's all sorts of exceptions of course, but there is a biologic difference. There are also cultural expectations for men and women that result in men tending to wear more clothing in the summer than women, and women to wear less clothing in the winter than men.

More than gender I've found that size of the person has more of an effect on how hot/cold someone gets.  Even in myself.  I gained 20 lbs over the past couple years (on purpose) and am cold way less often than I used to be.  My larger family members are perpetually hot, regardless of gender, and the ones that weren't always large also didn't used to run hot.  So I would say if you're cold all the time, gain some weight, and if you're hot, lose some :-)

[Debts_of_Despair]

Even if that is true, and the setpoint was raised, what are men supposed to do?  Strip down to their underwear?

Learn to deal with heat?  If 75F instead of 72F can even be considered 'heat'.

Not possible to tell your body to shut off its sweat glands.

[Debts_of_Despair]

Biologically, there is a tendency for women to feel colder, and men to feel warmer. There's all sorts of exceptions of course, but there is a biologic difference. There are also cultural expectations for men and women that result in men tending to wear more clothing in the summer than women, and women to wear less clothing in the winter than men.

More than gender I've found that size of the person has more of an effect on how hot/cold someone gets.  Even in myself.  I gained 20 lbs over the past couple years (on purpose) and am cold way less often than I used to be.  My larger family members are perpetually hot, regardless of gender, and the ones that weren't always large also didn't used to run hot.  So I would say if you're cold all the time, gain some weight, and if you're hot, lose some :-)

Can't say I agree with that.  I'm in the best shape of my adult life, exercise rigorously 4+ times per week and find that I sweat more easily than I ever have.  On the contrary, I often hear overweight people complain that they are cold, probably due to poor circulation.

[RidetheRain]

Even if that is true, and the setpoint was raised, what are men supposed to do?  Strip down to their underwear?

Learn to deal with heat?  If 75F instead of 72F can even be considered 'heat'.

Not possible to tell your body to shut off its sweat glands.

I'd be perfectly happy with 72F. The problem is that lots of workplaces (my own included) set the temp between 65-68F. I wear a sweater every single day without a problem, but my hands get so cold that they get stiff and painful. I feel like a general shift warmer wouldn't be that much to ask.

Although, I should point out that I don't sit near a window. The window people are always complaining it's hot while I'm freezing in the middle of an open floor plan.

[RyanAtTanagra]

Even if that is true, and the setpoint was raised, what are men supposed to do?  Strip down to their underwear?

Learn to deal with heat?  If 75F instead of 72F can even be considered 'heat'.

Not possible to tell your body to shut off its sweat glands.

No but it can toughen up and adapt.  MMM and ERE have posts on this exact subject :-)

[kayvent]

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.

This is a bit sexist. Women don’t have as many options as men in professional outfit choices to have warm attire. Added to that women tend to physically be smaller and that their cloths tend to be thinner, it becomes really unfair to women. Google “AC is sexist” for further insight.

[turketron]

This is a bit sexist. Women don’t have as many options as men in professional outfit choices to have warm attire. Added to that women tend to physically be smaller and that their cloths tend to be thinner, it becomes really unfair to women. Google “AC is sexist” for further insight.

I didn't mention anything about gender or dress codes, so that certainly wasn't my intention. I work in a casual office where both men & women wear roughly the same thing- typically shorts & t-shirts in summer and jeans & hoodies in winter.

[RidetheRain]

This is a bit sexist. Women don’t have as many options as men in professional outfit choices to have warm attire. Added to that women tend to physically be smaller and that their cloths tend to be thinner, it becomes really unfair to women. Google “AC is sexist” for further insight.

I didn't mention anything about gender or dress codes, so that certainly wasn't my intention. I work in a casual office where both men & women wear roughly the same thing- typically shorts & t-shirts in summer and jeans & hoodies in winter.

In a casual work environment, I definitely agree with you. When you get into the business casual range it does become harder. Grab a random men's and women's shirt for work and the men's will be notably thicker. I shop specifically for work shirts that can be worn with an undershirt (harder than you would think!) so that I can have that extra layer.

[zolotiyeruki]

Even if that is true, and the setpoint was raised, what are men supposed to do?  Strip down to their underwear?

Learn to deal with heat?  If 75F instead of 72F can even be considered 'heat'.

Not possible to tell your body to shut off its sweat glands.

I'd be perfectly happy with 72F. The problem is that lots of workplaces (my own included) set the temp between 65-68F. I wear a sweater every single day without a problem, but my hands get so cold that they get stiff and painful.

I used to work in Houston.  The office was really cold, so I put in a request to have the temperature checked.  The maintenance guys came out and measured it with a fancy gizmo, and came up with 62 F.  They said "yeah, that's normal.  We try to keep it at 62-64 degrees."

I kept our thermostat at home at 75F at least.  I could have acclimated to either, but it was really tough to switch between the two twice per day.

[Fomerly known as something]

Yup I don't mind wearing a sweeter, but when I have to break out gloves to work on my computer that's when I complain.

[JLee]

Co-worker today shared his plan is to always have a house payment.

He bought his house in 2001 and estimates he has refinanced 4-5 times since then plus a couple of HELOCs.  Said he probably owes $20k more NOW than when he first purchased in 2001.

That's not the worst plan ever, assuming all of the proceeds were properly invested.

...somehow, I find that unlikely.

[remizidae]

This is a bit sexist. Women don’t have as many options as men in professional outfit choices to have warm attire. Added to that women tend to physically be smaller and that their cloths tend to be thinner, it becomes really unfair to women. Google “AC is sexist” for further insight.

I didn't mention anything about gender or dress codes, so that certainly wasn't my intention. I work in a casual office where both men & women wear roughly the same thing- typically shorts & t-shirts in summer and jeans & hoodies in winter.

In a casual work environment, I definitely agree with you. When you get into the business casual range it does become harder. Grab a random men's and women's shirt for work and the men's will be notably thicker. I shop specifically for work shirts that can be worn with an undershirt (harder than you would think!) so that I can have that extra layer.

I agree. Women's shirts are made from lighter fabric and expose more arm and neck. No tie. Skirts are generally cooler than pants. Even women's shoes and socks expose more of the feet than men's. Of course, no one is *forcing* women to wear these clothes, but society exercises a strong influence over what we wear.

[Zikoris]

Meh. As a woman, I'd rather need to throw on a cardigan than have all my male colleagues sweat it out in suits. I've never had trouble finding clothing warm enough to work comfortably in an office. I'm pretty sure they sell pants, sweaters, tights, blazers, turtlenecks, and knee-high socks everywhere.

[Goldielocks]

Meh. As a woman, I'd rather need to throw on a cardigan than have all my male colleagues sweat it out in suits. I've never had trouble finding clothing warm enough to work comfortably in an office. I'm pretty sure they sell pants, sweaters, tights, blazers, turtlenecks, and knee-high socks everywhere.

I will concur... The issue is the breeze / wind, really.  Whether that is the draft the occurs when you open the office door, or the AC vent over your head.

[Inaya]

Meh. As a woman, I'd rather need to throw on a cardigan than have all my male colleagues sweat it out in suits. I've never had trouble finding clothing warm enough to work comfortably in an office. I'm pretty sure they sell pants, sweaters, tights, blazers, turtlenecks, and knee-high socks everywhere.

For the most part I agree, but when I've got on a long-sleeved shirt, a cardigan, and a blanket and still have cold hands, it might be a bit on the chilly side.