Author Topic: Overheard at Work  (Read 13252676 times)

Just Joe

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20750 on: September 04, 2018, 08:43:58 AM »
Up till the 1970s, the recommendation for TVs was to sit eight times their diagonal size from them. So, eight feet from a 12" TV, and from the 75" TVs I've seen on sale... fifty feet?


Now it's twice the diagonal. We want to be immersed, apparently. One reason we have more shortsighted people...

Not just now.  Wide screens were originally implemented in order to provide an immersive experience by entering your peripheral vision.  Over time, however, it seems like directors have started to put subjects and action near the edges.  Which means you get those people who like to sit all the way in the back so they can see everything, defeating the original purpose of widescreen.

But now, technology is fighting back.  We've got things like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4DX where they are adding projectors to the side walls.

It is not technology fightign back, it is TV sellers trying to get you into buying more TVs. Especially expensive ones.

I mean, just imagine people still using their first HD TV and maybe using it for the next ten years too! What a horror! What a stone to the progress of the economy!!

Bicycles are the same way. Once I renewed my interest in pedaling a few years back I realized that there are types of bikes I never heard of. A gravel bike? Looks like a ten speed road bike with bigger tires. I always thought a mtn bike was for gravel roads.

Primm

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20751 on: September 05, 2018, 02:48:47 AM »
Up till the 1970s, the recommendation for TVs was to sit eight times their diagonal size from them. So, eight feet from a 12" TV, and from the 75" TVs I've seen on sale... fifty feet?


Now it's twice the diagonal. We want to be immersed, apparently. One reason we have more shortsighted people...

Not just now.  Wide screens were originally implemented in order to provide an immersive experience by entering your peripheral vision.  Over time, however, it seems like directors have started to put subjects and action near the edges.  Which means you get those people who like to sit all the way in the back so they can see everything, defeating the original purpose of widescreen.

But now, technology is fighting back.  We've got things like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4DX where they are adding projectors to the side walls.

It is not technology fightign back, it is TV sellers trying to get you into buying more TVs. Especially expensive ones.

I mean, just imagine people still using their first HD TV and maybe using it for the next ten years too! What a horror! What a stone to the progress of the economy!!

Bicycles are the same way. Once I renewed my interest in pedaling a few years back I realized that there are types of bikes I never heard of. A gravel bike? Looks like a ten speed road bike with bigger tires. I always thought a mtn bike was for gravel roads.

Husband has a gravel bike. We thought the same. He has a flat bar road bike, we measured the gap between brakes and the front fork and put in the biggest possible tyres.

Voila, gravel bike! At the cost of a set of tyres. :)

Monocle Money Mouth

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20752 on: September 05, 2018, 03:44:48 AM »
A young co-worker of mine was telling us about all the car modifications he's planning on doing. To a leased car.

I sure hope he’s planning on buying it at the end of the lease.

It sounded like he was just going to turn it in at the end. He was buying bolt on stuff, so he should be able to return it to stock form, but I don’t get why he would risk messing up a car he’ll be turning in after a few years. He’ll also be left with a pile of parts he’ll need to store, sell, or trash.

Is he going for appearance mods or "more poweh"?

It sounded like he had mostly appearance stuff purchased now but wanted to get an exhaust system and intake. Those probably won’t add much power, or be a huge risk for damage to the car. Mostly, he’ll probably just make the car noisier. It still seems silly to sink money into a car you will be turning in at th end of the lease.

Just Joe

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20753 on: September 05, 2018, 07:40:17 AM »
Yep it does.

Kevin S.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20754 on: September 05, 2018, 08:26:57 AM »
A young co-worker of mine was telling us about all the car modifications he's planning on doing. To a leased car.

I sure hope he’s planning on buying it at the end of the lease.

It sounded like he was just going to turn it in at the end. He was buying bolt on stuff, so he should be able to return it to stock form, but I don’t get why he would risk messing up a car he’ll be turning in after a few years. He’ll also be left with a pile of parts he’ll need to store, sell, or trash.

Is he going for appearance mods or "more poweh"?

It sounded like he had mostly appearance stuff purchased now but wanted to get an exhaust system and intake. Those probably won’t add much power, or be a huge risk for damage to the car. Mostly, he’ll probably just make the car noisier. It still seems silly to sink money into a car you will be turning in at th end of the lease.

Not to mention that he will potentially void any warranty on that car from the manufacturer , a modified leased vehicle is a really really bad idea. Tell him to light his money on fire - it might bring more entertainment (possibly even less headaches) than modiFRYing a leased car/truck.

 

KodeBlue

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20755 on: September 05, 2018, 09:29:15 AM »
A young co-worker of mine was telling us about all the car Blighty he's planning on doing. To a leased car.

I hope he's looked over the lease carefully. He may end owing a significant amount when he turns it in if he's made 
modifications. But then again....it's only money.

Imma

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20756 on: September 06, 2018, 01:51:11 AM »
I should tell my boyfriend this ... He has been nagging for a long time that we need a bigger screen.
Just tell him, "You're not the only one who'd like something bigger." It doesn't have to be true, it should keep him quiet for a bit.

I don't know how my guy does it (he does it all the time) but he just came home with a free, barely used TV. 44 inch, bigger than we'd hoped, value €700 new. Every now and then it suddenly turns itself off. The previous owner got a free replacement because it was faulty and didn't have to return this one. Since he's pretty good at fixing electronics (it's his work) I'm sure he'll figure out a way to fix this. The previous owner wasn't able to turn it on at all and he's already got it to the point where it just turns off every now and then. He thinks he might have to replace a part. We also might have to rearrange all the furniture to house this clown TV.

So, my boyfriend told a coworker the above story, and told him all the specs of the TV.

Coworker's first reply: I didn't know they made TV's like that in such a small size!

I know for a fact that coworker spent a month's worth of wages on a TV last year. Coworker makes around 25-30k before taxes.

Just Joe

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20757 on: September 06, 2018, 09:13:49 AM »
Heck yeah they make really small flat panel TVs - let me show you the one I carry around in my pocket. Its ~5.5"... It does all the streaming services, all the video files via VLC and FM radio.

If I sit on my couch and hold it up in front of my face it is the same size as the 42" TV across the room more or less. ;)

Big TVs are nice and everything but I really want to retire someday. 

Jouer

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20758 on: September 07, 2018, 09:03:50 AM »
Every year for the past several years, my wife and I plan to put about $1000 into our budget for a new TV. But we can never pull the trigger on buying a new one. Ours is a 46 inch but it's the old heavy kind. We bought it used 8 years ago for a couple hundred bucks. The TV kinda sucks but we always end up putting the money towards something else instead. It's just not a huge priority for us.

Davnasty

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20759 on: September 07, 2018, 09:32:29 AM »
Every year for the past several years, my wife and I plan to put about $1000 into our budget for a new TV. But we can never pull the trigger on buying a new one. Ours is a 46 inch but it's the old heavy kind. We bought it used 8 years ago for a couple hundred bucks. The TV kinda sucks but we always end up putting the money towards something else instead. It's just not a huge priority for us.

If it's not a huge priority and you can save the money, great. But just fyi, a good TV won't cost you near that much. ~46" might cost 300-500? If you spend much time watching TV you should also take electric use into consideration. By "heavy kind" I'm assuming CRT? A CRT of that size might use 300W while an LED would be closer to 100W. Very rough estimations there, but worth looking into.

ketchup

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20760 on: September 07, 2018, 11:10:33 AM »
Every year for the past several years, my wife and I plan to put about $1000 into our budget for a new TV. But we can never pull the trigger on buying a new one. Ours is a 46 inch but it's the old heavy kind. We bought it used 8 years ago for a couple hundred bucks. The TV kinda sucks but we always end up putting the money towards something else instead. It's just not a huge priority for us.

If it's not a huge priority and you can save the money, great. But just fyi, a good TV won't cost you near that much. ~46" might cost 300-500? If you spend much time watching TV you should also take electric use into consideration. By "heavy kind" I'm assuming CRT? A CRT of that size might use 300W while an LED would be closer to 100W. Very rough estimations there, but worth looking into.
Ours is a 1080p 43" Sharp with a built-in Roku. It was $229 19 months ago and is all we could ever want.  Might have to plug in a newer streaming box in a year or two if the built in stuff gets unsupported and crappy, but for now it's great.

It's rated at 88W when on which puts it at around $6/year in electricity estimating high (2h/day) use.

TVs have gotten SO much cheaper and better than they were 10-15 years ago.

jinga nation

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20761 on: September 07, 2018, 11:31:06 AM »
Every year for the past several years, my wife and I plan to put about $1000 into our budget for a new TV. But we can never pull the trigger on buying a new one. Ours is a 46 inch but it's the old heavy kind. We bought it used 8 years ago for a couple hundred bucks. The TV kinda sucks but we always end up putting the money towards something else instead. It's just not a huge priority for us.

If it's not a huge priority and you can save the money, great. But just fyi, a good TV won't cost you near that much. ~46" might cost 300-500? If you spend much time watching TV you should also take electric use into consideration. By "heavy kind" I'm assuming CRT? A CRT of that size might use 300W while an LED would be closer to 100W. Very rough estimations there, but worth looking into.

Bought a 37" LCD HDTV in 2007 from side-gig earnings for $750. Average power consumption 210W.
Replaced it in late 2017 with a 55" 4K UHD Roku TV for $650. Average power consumption 64W.
Old TV went to charity.
New TVs are cheaper to buy, cheaper to operate, and larger.
Add a pi-hole to your home network and you won't see adverts in the TV interface.

dcheesi

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20762 on: September 07, 2018, 11:40:47 AM »
Every year for the past several years, my wife and I plan to put about $1000 into our budget for a new TV. But we can never pull the trigger on buying a new one. Ours is a 46 inch but it's the old heavy kind. We bought it used 8 years ago for a couple hundred bucks. The TV kinda sucks but we always end up putting the money towards something else instead. It's just not a huge priority for us.

If it's not a huge priority and you can save the money, great. But just fyi, a good TV won't cost you near that much. ~46" might cost 300-500? If you spend much time watching TV you should also take electric use into consideration. By "heavy kind" I'm assuming CRT? A CRT of that size might use 300W while an LED would be closer to 100W. Very rough estimations there, but worth looking into.
Ours is a 1080p 43" Sharp with a built-in Roku. It was $229 19 months ago and is all we could ever want.  Might have to plug in a newer streaming box in a year or two if the built in stuff gets unsupported and crappy, but for now it's great.

It's rated at 88W when on which puts it at around $6/year in electricity estimating high (2h/day) use.

TVs have gotten SO much cheaper and better than they were 10-15 years ago.
One would hope that the Roku-branded TVs would have better/longer-term support than your average home-grown "smart TV" interface. Or at least this one hopes so, since I bought a TCL Roku TV a couple of years ago :)

Mesmoiselle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20763 on: September 07, 2018, 12:48:25 PM »
Dissonance that so many fellow mustachians are buying huge TVs....

I bought a compater monitor for $100 with built in speakers 3 years ago. Otherwise the last time I bought a TV was when I was young and dumb nearly a decade ago 40", that I sold for $250 when I moved 7 years ago. And before that...never.

ketchup

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20764 on: September 07, 2018, 12:56:54 PM »
Every year for the past several years, my wife and I plan to put about $1000 into our budget for a new TV. But we can never pull the trigger on buying a new one. Ours is a 46 inch but it's the old heavy kind. We bought it used 8 years ago for a couple hundred bucks. The TV kinda sucks but we always end up putting the money towards something else instead. It's just not a huge priority for us.

If it's not a huge priority and you can save the money, great. But just fyi, a good TV won't cost you near that much. ~46" might cost 300-500? If you spend much time watching TV you should also take electric use into consideration. By "heavy kind" I'm assuming CRT? A CRT of that size might use 300W while an LED would be closer to 100W. Very rough estimations there, but worth looking into.
Ours is a 1080p 43" Sharp with a built-in Roku. It was $229 19 months ago and is all we could ever want.  Might have to plug in a newer streaming box in a year or two if the built in stuff gets unsupported and crappy, but for now it's great.

It's rated at 88W when on which puts it at around $6/year in electricity estimating high (2h/day) use.

TVs have gotten SO much cheaper and better than they were 10-15 years ago.
One would hope that the Roku-branded TVs would have better/longer-term support than your average home-grown "smart TV" interface. Or at least this one hopes so, since I bought a TCL Roku TV a couple of years ago :)
That was my view on it too.  Hopefully it pans out.  If not, plugging in a Roku-style box in two years is hardly the end of the world.  Before this we just watched stuff on a 24" computer monitor.

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20765 on: September 07, 2018, 01:12:34 PM »
Dissonance that so many fellow mustachians are buying huge TVs....

Eh, I don't own a TV, but if I ever buy one again, it'll be larger, and ideally I'll be able to set up surround sound.  I like immersion with my movies *shrug*.  Like the dos equis guy would say, 'I don't always watch TV, but when I do, I don't half-ass it'.  :-)

I'm a red panda

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20766 on: September 07, 2018, 02:23:03 PM »
Dissonance that so many fellow mustachians are buying huge TVs....

I bought a compater monitor for $100 with built in speakers 3 years ago. Otherwise the last time I bought a TV was when I was young and dumb nearly a decade ago 40", that I sold for $250 when I moved 7 years ago. And before that...never.

Why?
Mustachianism is about being conscious where you spend your money. Not spending any at all.

If everyone is buying a large TVs for every room, with delivery dinners, after driving home from work in their gigantic luxury truck, while having seen every new release in a theater (with movie snacks!) then I see some cognitive dissonance.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20767 on: September 07, 2018, 02:43:51 PM »
Dissonance that so many fellow mustachians are buying huge TVs....

I bought a compater monitor for $100 with built in speakers 3 years ago. Otherwise the last time I bought a TV was when I was young and dumb nearly a decade ago 40", that I sold for $250 when I moved 7 years ago. And before that...never.

Why?
Mustachianism is about being conscious where you spend your money. Not spending any at all.

If everyone is buying a large TVs for every room, with delivery dinners, after driving home from work in their gigantic luxury truck, while having seen every new release in a theater (with movie snacks!) then I see some cognitive dissonance.

Also, I haven’t seen any “huge” TVs mentioned in this thread.  Like 40-something inches is the smallest that you’ll find commonly these days.  I saw an 80-90 inch tv the other day and yes that was ridiculous.  I don’t agreee with getting the absolute largest you can afford, but there’s nothing wrong with large screens if appropriate for the room

Mesmoiselle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20768 on: September 07, 2018, 05:01:44 PM »
40" is huge to me.

I come to this site to aspire to great Frugality while working towards a version I'm comfortable with. I surprised to see some of these posts, because these conversations look like the same ones held on YNAB where anything is okay so long as you budget for it.

I don't want to make it easier in anyway to watch TV. Different strokes and all that, you guys do you. I can still say this is not what I expect from the site.

Kyle Schuant

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20769 on: September 07, 2018, 05:40:08 PM »
Well here in Australia there are plenty of 24" TVs for sale for about $200. That's about 10 hours' work at our minimum wage. This assumes you're buying new, of course.

So it's not like there aren't choices. Nobody's holding a gun to anyone's head and making them spend a month's wages on a TV.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20770 on: September 07, 2018, 06:18:06 PM »
40" is huge to me.

I come to this site to aspire to great Frugality while working towards a version I'm comfortable with. I surprised to see some of these posts, because these conversations look like the same ones held on YNAB where anything is okay so long as you budget for it.

I don't want to make it easier in anyway to watch TV. Different strokes and all that, you guys do you. I can still say this is not what I expect from the site.

MMM was never about extreme frugality. He was about maximizing the performance of his money.

I have a 55" TV. That's nearly my height (well, diagonally). I'm OK with it.

I also don't "budget" for anything. I just have money. It either gets spent or doesn't.  Most of it doesn't- that's my goal.

marty998

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20771 on: September 07, 2018, 07:51:52 PM »
Dissonance that so many fellow mustachians are buying huge TVs....

I bought a computer monitor for $100 with built in speakers 3 years ago. Otherwise the last time I bought a TV was when I was young and dumb nearly a decade ago 40", that I sold for $250 when I moved 7 years ago. And before that...never.

Why?
Mustachianism is about being conscious where you spend your money. Not spending any at all.

If everyone is buying a large TVs for every room, with delivery dinners, after driving home from work in their gigantic luxury truck, while having seen every new release in a theater (with movie snacks!) then I see some cognitive dissonance.

Sorry I disagree here. I doubt MMM watches any TV at all. TV is about as anti MMM as you can get. You sit on your arse slowly getting fatter, being fed your entertainment while your brain cells die horrible painful deaths absorbing commercials or product placements, subconsciously driving you towards paying for more shit that you don't need.

Not saying I don't watch any TV (mostly news and sport), but I recognise that makes me a bit unmustachian.

Coming here saying "I bought a TV and its kosher because I'm consciously deciding to spend money on it" is not MMM. That's simply basic budgeting for your circumstances.

Mesmoiselle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20772 on: September 07, 2018, 08:06:48 PM »
Well here in Australia there are plenty of 24" TVs for sale for about $200. That's about 10 hours' work at our minimum wage. This assumes you're buying new, of course.

So it's not like there aren't choices. Nobody's holding a gun to anyone's head and making them spend a month's wages on a TV.

Australia min wage is $20/hour? O.o

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20773 on: September 07, 2018, 09:52:23 PM »
I find this discussion about the evils of television is musing considering we are having that conversation via us all staring at our screens, small or otherwise.

sapphail

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20774 on: September 07, 2018, 10:36:57 PM »
Well here in Australia there are plenty of 24" TVs for sale for about $200. That's about 10 hours' work at our minimum wage. This assumes you're buying new, of course.

So it's not like there aren't choices. Nobody's holding a gun to anyone's head and making them spend a month's wages on a TV.

Australia min wage is $20/hour? O.o

That's not as much as it sounds, though. The cost of housing is bonkers in most of the capital cities, and everything else costs more than in the States (yay Australia tax).

Mesmoiselle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20775 on: September 08, 2018, 12:02:00 AM »
I find this discussion about the evils of television is musing considering we are having that conversation via us all staring at our screens, small or otherwise.

I see TV rather differently from a portable  telecommunication device I use primarily for self education and connecting to live people.

Kyle Schuant

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20776 on: September 08, 2018, 12:10:56 AM »
The cost of housing has risen because the cost of everything else has dropped, and household incomes have risen.

The Kangaroo Route, Sydney-London QANTAS flights, in 1947 took 78 hours and cost £585, when the minimum wage was about £10 a week. Now you can do that flight in less than a day and you can get it for $1,100 vs the minimum weekly wage of $700. So we've gone from more than a year's wage to a bit over a week's wage.

In 1977 the average male weekly wage was about $150, and a 24" TV cost $780. Now it's $1,600 (minimum $700) and $200. So we've gone from 6 weeks' wages to a day for a tv.

A roast chicken was $1.80, now it's $8; so minimum wage has gone up 5 times, average wage 10 times, and chicken 4 times. From an hour's work for a chicken to half an hour. It's a similar picture with other foods. So we're spending less on most necessities.

In 1966 we had under 90,000 university students nationally, compared to under 12 million people. Now we have 1.3 million students and 25 million people. So we've twice as many people but thirteen times as many university students. This also explains why the median wage is now more than twice the minimum wage, rather than 50% more. We're earning more as individuals.

In 1976 a bit under 30% of households were couples without children, and a bit under 50% couples with dependent children; now it's a bit under 40% and 40%. So that's 10% of households with less expenses. Guess what, more dual-income-no-kids professional couples pushes housing prices up.

In the early 1980s just over 40% of women with dependent children did paid work, now 65% of them do. So that's 25% of households with dependent children that can now have a higher income than they would have in the early 1980s. Even single mother families (who will struggle with balancing childcare and timing etc) have basically had the proportion of women doing paid work double in 40 years.


As well, in 1984 the average new home was 160m2 and 30 years later it was 240m2, with the average household size going from 3.0 to 2.5 in the same time. Homes are 50% larger in absolute terms, and doubled in size per person (about 50 to about 100m2 per person).

People are better-educated and thus earning more, more people are employed, more households have two income earners, and most goods and services are proportionally cheaper than they were a generation ago. So people have more cash to spend on housing to outbid others - and they want bigger places. And that's a large part of the reason for the increase in cost of housing: lots of people can afford it, and they want more.

Now, obviously people on minimum wage can rent but not buy housing, and people on pensions of various kinds struggle to even rent housing. But if you have a permanent full-time job in Australia on anything more than minimum wage, you are not really in a position to complain. Of course, the middle class like to complain, but that's another story.
« Last Edit: September 08, 2018, 02:25:35 AM by Kyle Schuant »

LennStar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20777 on: September 09, 2018, 01:25:49 AM »
Sorry I disagree here. I doubt MMM watches any TV at all. TV is about as anti MMM as you can get. You sit on your arse slowly getting fatter, being fed your entertainment while your brain cells die horrible painful deaths absorbing commercials or product placements, subconsciously driving you towards paying for more shit that you don't need.

Not saying I don't watch any TV (mostly news and sport), but I recognise that makes me a bit unmustachian.

Coming here saying "I bought a TV and its kosher because I'm consciously deciding to spend money on it" is not MMM. That's simply basic budgeting for your circumstances.

I think MMM once wrote he didn't watch "normal" TV for month and only sometimes uses netflix.

I only watch "normal" (aka private) TV once a week or so, but state ones far more often (documentations). All in all 4 days a week?
Of course I also play computer games, which are an even greater time waste ;)

Yes, it is about concious choices. What is the best for you, not necessarily the cheapest option. And yes, that can even include butt-sitting mindless consuming once in a while.
If nothing else it tells you how f**** **** most people are who do this every day for several hours  "to relax from my stressy job".

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20778 on: September 09, 2018, 07:04:29 PM »
Prelude: I'm in a somewhat specialized field and am regularly approached by headhunters and acquaintances in other companies to consider jumping ship.

Had this conversation at an industry dinner recently...

Acquaintance: Hey Fin5! I haven't seen you in forever!   
[This is true. I hate these schmooze-fests and only went this time because the food menu looked interesting and it was free]
Acquaintance: Are you still at BigCorp?
Me: Yes.
Acquaintance: Hey, you know, any time you want to consider leaving, just give me a shout. You know, you'll be doing the same thing that you're doing now, have plenty of freedom, but you'll be getting more pay.
Me: [smile, hoping I sound politely interested] Oh really? Okay.
Acquaintance: Yeah, I'm trying to really jazz up the group. I got a fashion director from Gucci to come and furnish our offices, so you know, [fakely modest] it will be a bit more comfortable than where you're at right now. I'm really working hard to make it more relevant to our customers and more up to date.
Me: [inane appropriate comment that I can't remember now]
Acquaintance: So yeah, I really think you should consider this opportunity.
Me: Okay, thanks. It would be full time, right?
Acquaintance: Yeah, just like your current job...you're currently full time, right?
Me: [non-committally] Yeah. Sure. Thanks.

I found it amusing that she thought the biggest selling points were:

1. That I would be working full-time, which in my industry means 50-60 hours per week, including weekends.
2. That I would be impressed by designer offices because that's the best way to spend company money.
3. That more money and prestige is what I am striving for.

Oh, and the food was only mediocre. I did get to connect with another acquaintance who is older and already retired and just doing consulting for fun, so that was nice. Other than that, the entire evening was spent listening to people surreptitiously toot their own horn, talk about how busy and special they were, and compare on-going projects. Very tiresome stuff.

LennStar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20779 on: September 10, 2018, 12:46:58 AM »
Other than that, the entire evening was spent listening to people surreptitiously toot their own horn, talk about how busy and special they were, and compare on-going projects. Very tiresome stuff.

That is only because you had the wrong look on it. Put on your sociologist' goggles!

Look at this interesting bunhc of homo sapiens! How they all try to get to the top of the group's pecking order! And here, nice example of virtue signalling!
Hm.. okay, maybe still tiring, but a lot more fun!

Linea_Norway

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20780 on: September 10, 2018, 06:45:23 AM »
My company if forcing us, under the age of 53, to go over in another pension fund. We are currently in the government fund with a guaranteed payout for the rest of life, but will next year get a fund that we need to build up ourselves with a payout of we we put in. It came as a surprise for us that we wouldn't have a choice. We will get individual advise somewhere during next year.

I came to talk about this with my supervisor during lunch. She mentioned that she hadn't saved any other form of pension, beside the standard one. She was really nervous about what the change would bring. She said she had read that paying down your mortgage was the best investment you could make. I confirmed that it was a very safe investment, but that it was a much better investment when the interest was at 8%, like it was 15 years ago when I still had a mortgage. Now the interest is at 2,5%. I don't think she is paying down her mortgage faster than the standard payment each month.
I tried to comfort her a bit by saying that when her children have grown up, they will have a lot of money left, compared to what she spends today. This is the most expensive period in her life. She mentioned that she had started to put money in a stock fund. That was the amount she had earlier paid for after-school childcare. I asked if she had put it in a low cost index fund, but she didn't know that. Her husband works at a bank, so let's hope he has seen the light.

mm1970

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20781 on: September 10, 2018, 03:07:32 PM »
Dissonance that so many fellow mustachians are buying huge TVs....

I bought a compater monitor for $100 with built in speakers 3 years ago. Otherwise the last time I bought a TV was when I was young and dumb nearly a decade ago 40", that I sold for $250 when I moved 7 years ago. And before that...never.
What is huge?

I was going to get my husband a good sized flat screen 9 years ago for father's day.  Then, one of our cars was totaled in an accident.  Back then, the TV was about $3000 from Costco.  In June, coworkers asked me about the TV.  I said "uh, we got a new car in March.  No TV."  Kept on with the old big CRT TV.  I don't remember how long we waited before replacing it, but it was when the cost for a 37" had come down to less than $800.  Basically, the old TV couldn't hook up to many things.

Quote
I find this discussion about the evils of television is musing considering we are having that conversation via us all staring at our screens, small or otherwise.

That was my thought too.  Honestly, I don't really give a crap if MMM watches TV or not.  Like anything, yes you can have too much of a good/bad thing.

TV taught me how to cook.  Saturday mornings back when the food network showed cooking shows.
TV is how I do some of my workouts - most of them when my husband is traveling.  I get to watch Tony, or Autumn, or Vytas show me how to lift, squat, or do yoga.  And I get to do it  on a screen that my 48-year old eyes can see, in a space that's large enough for me to do it (in other words, not trying to stare at a computer screen).
TV allows a weekly snuggle-fest on movie night.

We got rid of cable years ago.  That doesn't mean I don't enjoy documentaries, movies, odd British TV shows and cooking shows from time to time.
« Last Edit: September 10, 2018, 03:13:36 PM by mm1970 »

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20782 on: September 10, 2018, 03:33:23 PM »
I find this discussion about the evils of television is musing considering we are having that conversation via us all staring at our screens, small or otherwise.

What about those of us who are blind?

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20783 on: September 10, 2018, 10:02:10 PM »
I find this discussion about the evils of television is musing considering we are having that conversation via us all staring at our screens, small or otherwise.

What about those of us who are blind?
You got me there. Do those folks get a “get out of jail free” card?

Paul der Krake

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20784 on: September 10, 2018, 10:08:31 PM »
I find this discussion about the evils of television is musing considering we are having that conversation via us all staring at our screens, small or otherwise.

What about those of us who are blind?
You got me there. Do those folks get a “get out of jail free” card?
Ever notice how there are never any blind criminals in the news?

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20785 on: September 10, 2018, 10:37:19 PM »
I find this discussion about the evils of television is musing considering we are having that conversation via us all staring at our screens, small or otherwise.

What about those of us who are blind?
You got me there. Do those folks get a “get out of jail free” card?
Ever notice how there are never any blind criminals in the news?

Ever notice how liberals only believe in free speech when
« Last Edit: September 10, 2018, 10:46:31 PM by dragoncar »

LennStar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20786 on: September 11, 2018, 01:50:00 AM »
I find this discussion about the evils of television is musing considering we are having that conversation via us all staring at our screens, small or otherwise.

What about those of us who are blind?
You got me there. Do those folks get a “get out of jail free” card?
Ever notice how there are never any blind criminals in the news?

Ever notice how liberals only believe in free speech when
Ever notive how alt-right always say businesses can do business with whomever they want, but when they decide to not do business with Alex Jones...

Humans are so subjective!

ixtap

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20787 on: September 11, 2018, 06:35:00 AM »
I find this discussion about the evils of television is musing considering we are having that conversation via us all staring at our screens, small or otherwise.

I see TV rather differently from a portable  telecommunication device I use primarily for self education and connecting to live people.

The only thing we have done with the TV since we bought it a few weeks ago is watch documentaries on YouTube.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20788 on: September 11, 2018, 08:09:27 AM »
Sorry I disagree here. I doubt MMM watches any TV at all. TV is about as anti MMM as you can get. You sit on your arse slowly getting fatter, being fed your entertainment while your brain cells die horrible painful deaths absorbing commercials or product placements, subconsciously driving you towards paying for more shit that you don't need.

Not saying I don't watch any TV (mostly news and sport), but I recognise that makes me a bit unmustachian.

Coming here saying "I bought a TV and its kosher because I'm consciously deciding to spend money on it" is not MMM. That's simply basic budgeting for your circumstances.

I think MMM once wrote he didn't watch "normal" TV for month and only sometimes uses netflix.

I only watch "normal" (aka private) TV once a week or so, but state ones far more often (documentations). All in all 4 days a week?
Of course I also play computer games, which are an even greater time waste ;)

Yes, it is about concious choices. What is the best for you, not necessarily the cheapest option. And yes, that can even include butt-sitting mindless consuming once in a while.
If nothing else it tells you how f**** **** most people are who do this every day for several hours  "to relax from my stressy job".

What the heck is "normal" TV? Why is Netflix okay to watch, but whatever "normal" TV is isn't? (I've never understood why Netflix seems to get a pass, both as a pay subscription service and as a time-suck of television. It's the same thing as TV.)
You define "normal" tv as private- what does that mean?  What is private TV? Does that mean paid? Isn't netflix private?

We only have access to public channels (CBS, NBC, ABC, a few others)- is that not normal TV?

With my toddler, I rarely watch TV anymore. Our TVs are mostly used to play video games on.  Mostly because I haven't gotten into any shows in years. Maybe I'm just getting old, but it all seems like crap. That includes Netflix- we don't subscribe to it, but occasionally friends login at our house so we see what is available.  I do still have a lot of older DVDs I like to watch, but we don't want it on around our toddler.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20789 on: September 11, 2018, 08:16:32 AM »
Ever notive how alt-right always say businesses can do business with whomever they want, but when they decide to not do business with Alex Jones...
I think those on the other side would counter by pointing out Masterpiece Cake Shop, and that Twitter has an outsized, nearly monopolistic, marketshare, and claims to be (trying to be) politically neutral.

Aaaaanyway, let's get back to making fun of our spendypants colleagues!

Just Joe

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20790 on: September 11, 2018, 08:43:24 AM »
Sort of "at work". Saw a contractor/service pickup truck this morn. On the sides his logo and phone number. On the back bumper: "How's my driving? 1-800-Eat-S***.

No asterisks on the bumpersticker of course. Doesn't seem like a great way to attract business. A sizeable portion of the population here are very religious here and take offense at all sort of things. Maybe that is the contractor's filter mechanism for avoiding those folks.

Nuther story: At work this morn. IT support says coworker's year old printer isn't supported by Win10. Our department needs to replace it. Yet right there on the brand's support page there are 64-bit Win10 printer drivers. Hmmm... Not my money but is my budget and don't want to spend it willy nilly.   

Nicholas Carter

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20791 on: September 11, 2018, 09:23:26 AM »
What the heck is "normal" TV? Why is Netflix okay to watch, but whatever "normal" TV is isn't? (I've never understood why Netflix seems to get a pass, both as a pay subscription service and as a time-suck of television. It's the same thing as TV.)
"Normal" TV is "TV with advertisements on it.". The appeal of Netflix over TV is that Netflix does not show advertisements between programs, advertising represents a temptation away from Mustachian living, QED Netflix is better than TV.
Also, because there is no additional charge for staying logged in at multiple addresses, savvy Netflix users find someone already paying for Netflix, and get permission to watch shows while their friend is at work/asleep. 

jinga nation

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20792 on: September 11, 2018, 11:45:47 AM »
What the heck is "normal" TV? Why is Netflix okay to watch, but whatever "normal" TV is isn't? (I've never understood why Netflix seems to get a pass, both as a pay subscription service and as a time-suck of television. It's the same thing as TV.)
"Normal" TV is "TV with advertisements on it.". The appeal of Netflix over TV is that Netflix does not show advertisements between programs, advertising represents a temptation away from Mustachian living, QED Netflix is better than TV.
Also, because there is no additional charge for staying logged in at multiple addresses, savvy Netflix users find someone already paying for Netflix, and get permission to watch shows while their friend is at work/asleep.
Netflix testing to become normal and mainstream: https://bgr.com/2018/08/22/opt-out-of-netflix-ads-experiment/

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20793 on: September 11, 2018, 01:32:57 PM »
What the heck is "normal" TV? Why is Netflix okay to watch, but whatever "normal" TV is isn't? (I've never understood why Netflix seems to get a pass, both as a pay subscription service and as a time-suck of television. It's the same thing as TV.)

I’m not sure I’d give it a pass, but try to remember how the television became the “boob tube”.  Some people just turn on the TV and plop on the couch and watch whatever BS comes on.  People still do, and if you ever visit a household like that you see how toxic it is to have a TV playing in the background 24/7.

Netflix, at least, is intentional.  You have to pick a show.  When it ends, the next episode might automatically play, but it’s not like you start watching one episode of Seinfeld and then keep watching Maury povich just because it was up next

russianswinga

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20794 on: September 11, 2018, 03:14:07 PM »
Purchased an OLED TV this month to replace our aging plasma. Note: we do not have "TV", we use amazon prime, youtube, rutube, and other streaming services for entertainment, as well as gaming.

Plasma - 58", bought in 2007 for $1800 at Costco. Kept through all this time. Worked great, but consumed about 700W. Lasted 11 years and over 15,000 hours, and I still managed to sell it for $100.

OLED - 65", bought in 2018, 2017 model year, was a store example w/ about 600 hours on the clock. Retail on one of these in a box is still $2500, we bought ours for $1500 and Fry's Electronics even threw in a 2-year warranty. I had a SlickDeals alert for any 65" OLED units being sold anywhere in the continental US for less than $2000, and got notified when Fry's was doing its display model blowout.
We bought OLED for its literally perfect blacks and perfect 180 degree viewing angle. TV supports 4K and HDR footage, which looks absolutely glorious. Photos of side viewing angles attached.
Here's hoping it will last us another 10+ years.

- Sidenote - a 65" TV in a small-ish living room in a frugal townhouse condo looks HUGE and really fills the volume. So it's all about perspective. We were specifically going for large TV in a small space.

Paul der Krake

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20795 on: September 11, 2018, 03:45:57 PM »
I’m not sure I’d give it a pass, but try to remember how the television became the “boob tube”.  Some people just turn on the TV and plop on the couch and watch whatever BS comes on.  People still do, and if you ever visit a household like that you see how toxic it is to have a TV playing in the background 24/7.
Yep definitely still happens. In my experience these people are usually massive slobs too.

Prairie Stash

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20796 on: September 11, 2018, 05:03:52 PM »

What the heck is "normal" TV? Why is Netflix okay to watch, but whatever "normal" TV is isn't? (I've never understood why Netflix seems to get a pass, both as a pay subscription service and as a time-suck of television. It's the same thing as TV.)
Normal TV is OTA and is free. Most people can't understand the concept of Free TV. They default to Cable as normal because they have never gone without paying to watch TV. 


OTA - Free (normal)
Cable - what most people consider Normal

If you start with the assumption that paying for TV is normal, NetFlix seems like a great deal. I imagine there are lots of people on this forum who have never gone without paying for TV, cable, amazon prime, netflix or even internet streaming (don't pretend wifi is free).

I pay for Netflix every month. It's a luxury that I indulge in alongside my bunny ear TV. When I was young I didn't have NetFlix (same 2 channels for OTA that I have today) and spent more time outside.

Steeze

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20797 on: September 11, 2018, 08:13:14 PM »
I have no cable, no netflix, nothing, just a digital antenna for OTA. I have a 55" TV i bought a few years ago that I turn on about 10 hrs a year. At the time I was using it for xbox, but i do not use that anymore either. Just sits on the shelf and collects dust.

Growing up my family had the TV on all day long. Before I woke up until after I went to sleep. TV in every bedroom. We watched an INSANE amount of TV, hours and hours a day. On top of that I was a serious video game addict for a long time. When I was in college I lived in a house with no TV for a year and it was life changing. A couple years later I was watching the Superbowl with a bunch of people and having so many people in one room staring mindlessly at the TV not communicating with each other for long periods of time really freaked me out. Haven't watched TV since really - the brain washing aspect of it is too much for me. Luckily my wife does not watch TV or movies either.

Finally on a low/no media & no social media lifestyle. I do read the news feed on google, read MMM forums, and BiggerPockets forums daily. Otherwise it is just getting info 2nd hand from people at work.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20798 on: September 12, 2018, 01:29:23 AM »
My employer has made an app that you can install on your mobile phone. The job offers mobile phones, which are heavily taxed. I have a 4 year old private mobile phone that is now so old, that it doesn't get supported by those apps. Fine for me, I don't need these apps, because I don't want to read work e-mail at home on my phone. But according to one of the managers in my department, I should wish for a new phone for Christmas, so I can install those apps. No way.

runbikerun

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20799 on: September 12, 2018, 02:27:33 AM »
There's something remarkably obnoxious about hinting that you should spend your own money to make it easier for your employer to reach you outside of working hours. I've just started a new role with my employer that requires that I be reachable when not in the office, but they handed me a phone and a laptop on day one.