Overheard at Work

[AgileTurtle]

Who passes up a free red robin lunch with the boss...and then goes out and spends $10 to go to a different restaurant?!?! It boggles my mind!

Depends on how well they like the boss I guess. Before my frugal days I probably would have purchased my own lunch in order to not have to spend my free time with the boss. Now I bring my lunch to work and have a much better boss.

Well i like my boss, but even if I didn't - free red robin lunch!  Maybe i'm just cheap, but I would gladly sit through lunch with a person I disliked for a free lunch like that.

That red robin is(I'm guessing) less than a half mile from my office.  I prefer the bar across the street for burgers and fries.  You have to dodge the day drinkers but pretty good burger the last time I was in there.

You talking about Augies? I went there once, but it was like 10 years ago.  Don't remember the food, but I never bothered to go back (but then again I rarely go to any bars).   Boss man was paying though so it was his choice.  He's got a thing for a few different restaurants, red robin being one of them (he also loves olive garden and pappa vinos).

Augies is clearly an old strip club. The seating in there cracks me up. Have not been there in a long time but their food used to be horrible.

[GuitarStv]

How decent is your tap water? Our tap water is absolutely filthy, and so we got a water cooler a few years ago. I don't mind drinking tap so long as I feel that it is drinkable...

Pretty decent.  It's both wet, and non-toxic.

[MgoSam]

How decent is your tap water? Our tap water is absolutely filthy, and so we got a water cooler a few years ago. I don't mind drinking tap so long as I feel that it is drinkable...

Pretty decent.  It's both wet, and non-toxic.

That's good! I prefer my water to be wet :-)

[cavewoman]

How decent is your tap water? Our tap water is absolutely filthy, and so we got a water cooler a few years ago. I don't mind drinking tap so long as I feel that it is drinkable...

Pretty decent.  It's both wet, and non-toxic.

Haha, 2 things that are pretty important when it comes to water.

I've never had any major health problems and I grew up drinking this water.  Sometimes I'll watch a documentary (Last Call at the Oasis, thanks for the nightmares) and get freaked out, but there is so much in the world to be freaked out by, that I try not to worry.  It doesn't catch on fire, so I count myself lucky for that.
Edit to add:  I'm in corn country, so I'm pretty sure I've got some -cides in me, whatever is sprayed on the crops that washes in to the water.  I've looked it up, and we're tested regularly.  Not that I have much faith in what someone else decides is a "safe" ppm, but we're in that range.  Crap, now I'm worrying again...

God forbid you turn on the tap and it foams...

[greenmimama]

At my Dh's work, his mother, father, brother and sister in law all work there. They are next door neighbors and they drive 4 vehicles into work, everyday.

They also have a little place up on a lake about45min from their houses they also drive 4 to 5 cars up there, including the teenager that now drives.

We just marvel at the sadness.

[GardenFun]

At my Dh's work, his mother, father, brother and sister in law all work there. They are next door neighbors and they drive 4 vehicles into work, everyday.

They also have a little place up on a lake about45min from their houses they also drive 4 to 5 cars up there, including the teenager that now drives.

We just marvel at the sadness.

Wow, just....Wow.

[dragoncar]

We have two taps at work, one is for filtered water and one is regular tap water.  When the filter hasn't been changed for a couple months the water only trickles out of it.  I saw a dude who was very slowly filling his water bottle from the filter, went up and filled my water bottle up from the regular tap and went back to my desk.

Before I left he mentioned how shocking it was that I would drink clean tap water.  With his bottle 1/3 full.

Ha!  I'm more skeeved out by what can grow in a filter I don't have control over (like at work).  I don't know that this is rational, given how little control I have over the tap water system, but that's my psyche.

We have a fridge with an in-door water/ice dispenser.  There is a sign on the freezer door that says "Please do not take ice directly from the tray, use ice dispenser ONLY".  Every morning, this guy opens the freezer and rubs his hands all over the ice as he fills his cup.  What's weird is he only does this in the pre-work time (We're both in the office 15-20 minutes before most).  When everyone else is here, he uses the dispenser.

I was thinking "doesn't the filter slowing down imply that it's actually removing a lot from the water?" and then I read your comment about things "growing" in the filter.  Ew (although I don't think it's more likely than something growing in any other part of the water system).

Anyways.... GuitarStv do you work where I work?  I could be that guy!  Sometimes it takes me a full minute to fill my bottle when the filter slows down, but I still don't use the tap.  However, my reason is more because I like chilled water than filtering.

[Zikoris]

Who passes up a free red robin lunch with the boss...and then goes out and spends $10 to go to a different restaurant?!?! It boggles my mind!

Depends on how well they like the boss I guess. Before my frugal days I probably would have purchased my own lunch in order to not have to spend my free time with the boss. Now I bring my lunch to work and have a much better boss.

Agreed! Two jobs ago, my employer implemented an "employee recognition program" that included, among other thing, a lunch out with your supervisor and team lead on your yearly anniversaries. Thankfully I was right in the middle between my first and second year, and left before I hit two years, but I couldn't stand my team lead and was horrified at the thought of being forced into that.

[zataks]

I was thinking "doesn't the filter slowing down imply that it's actually removing a lot from the water?" and then I read your comment about things "growing" in the filter.  Ew (although I don't think it's more likely than something growing in any other part of the water system).

Anyways.... GuitarStv do you work where I work?  I could be that guy!  Sometimes it takes me a full minute to fill my bottle when the filter slows down, but I still don't use the tap.  However, my reason is more because I like chilled water than filtering.

It IS more likely than anywhere is the water system, actually.  The filter is a choke point for all the different things you're removing from the water; as the filter clogs, more and more of the contaminants build up and will eventually start replicating (depending on what you're removing).  Also, even though flow to you is reduced, you may be having breakthrough of the filter effectively supersaturating what you're drinking with what you're trying to remove.  There is a reason filters are on a replacement schedule.  While much of that schedule is create revenue, no filter should ever be used without replacement, regeneration, or cleaning, depending on the kind of filter.

Credentials: professional drinking water treatment operator

[Miamoo]

From Cinder . . .

It reminds me of people who buy really fancy, new cars, and never drive them because they want them to stay nice....
[/quote]

Oh yeah.  I've known bosses in the past life that did that while making fun of the rest of us driving American made beater bombs.

If it's paid for and it moves - that's all most of us need.

[Goldielocks]

How decent is your tap water? Our tap water is absolutely filthy, and so we got a water cooler a few years ago. I don't mind drinking tap so long as I feel that it is drinkable...

Where do you live? 

[dragoncar]

How decent is your tap water? Our tap water is absolutely filthy, and so we got a water cooler a few years ago. I don't mind drinking tap so long as I feel that it is drinkable...

Where do you live?

Bejing

[fb132]

From Cinder . . .

It reminds me of people who buy really fancy, new cars, and never drive them because they want them to stay nice....

Oh yeah.  I've known bosses in the past life that did that while making fun of the rest of us driving American made beater bombs.

If it's paid for and it moves - that's all most of us need.
[/quote]
People tend to forget that a car is used to move you from point A to point B.

[eyePod]

How decent is your tap water? Our tap water is absolutely filthy, and so we got a water cooler a few years ago. I don't mind drinking tap so long as I feel that it is drinkable...

Where do you live?

Bejing

It's crazy how much we take it for granted here in the US. Work went to a stand still when our filter was blocked. Tap water tastes a little funky (metallic taste) but seriously, the water in other places (like when I visited Thailand) isn't drinkable! You have to use water bottles all the time. We use water bottles here because we've been marketed to so well and have so much excess. Yucko.

[eyePod]

Got one! A guy had a package delivered to work and was talking about how he's surprised they just left it at his desk. Noted that it was very expensive. I'm figuring it's some sort of new lab equipment.

Well, he shows a few people and they all get excited. "It's in a blue box." says the guy... he says it like that should explain it. I think, "Man, they must have gotten some awesome new pH meter or something. I guess he is just excited that he finally got his own one!"


Then I got a lot of looks. It wasn't a pH meter. I saw the box and realized it must be jewelry, but the color of the box meant nothing to me. It's a gift from Tiffany's. His wife's push present...

There were at least 2 other guys here that didn't know that a blue box = Tiffany's though. So that made me feel a little better.

[solon]

Got one! A guy had a package delivered to work and was talking about how he's surprised they just left it at his desk. Noted that it was very expensive. I'm figuring it's some sort of new lab equipment.

Well, he shows a few people and they all get excited. "It's in a blue box." says the guy... he says it like that should explain it. I think, "Man, they must have gotten some awesome new pH meter or something. I guess he is just excited that he finally got his own one!"


Then I got a lot of looks. It wasn't a pH meter. I saw the box and realized it must be jewelry, but the color of the box meant nothing to me. It's a gift from Tiffany's. His wife's push present...

There were at least 2 other guys here that didn't know that a blue box = Tiffany's though. So that made me feel a little better.

There are two things I don't understand about this.

1 - The wife bought the husband a push present?
2 - The wife bought the husband something from Tiffany's?

[Primm]

I assumed the husband bought it and had it sent to work so the wife wouldn't get it first...?

[Pooperman]

Got one! A guy had a package delivered to work and was talking about how he's surprised they just left it at his desk. Noted that it was very expensive. I'm figuring it's some sort of new lab equipment.

Well, he shows a few people and they all get excited. "It's in a blue box." says the guy... he says it like that should explain it. I think, "Man, they must have gotten some awesome new pH meter or something. I guess he is just excited that he finally got his own one!"


Then I got a lot of looks. It wasn't a pH meter. I saw the box and realized it must be jewelry, but the color of the box meant nothing to me. It's a gift from Tiffany's. His wife's push present...

There were at least 2 other guys here that didn't know that a blue box = Tiffany's though. So that made me feel a little better.

There are two things I don't understand about this.

1 - The wife bought the husband a push present?
2 - The wife bought the husband something from Tiffany's?

Assume he meant that the co-worker bought it and had it shipped to the office so as to give it to the wife as a surprise.

[solon]

I assumed the husband bought it and had it sent to work so the wife wouldn't get it first...?

Oh, that makes sense now.

[chicagomeg]

OMG I HATE push presents. The baby IS the fucking present you morons. Gross!!!

[eyePod]

I assumed the husband bought it and had it sent to work so the wife wouldn't get it first...?

Exactly. Was actually a good idea. I'm glad everyone is focused on the fact that I'm a bad storyteller instead of the fact that I had no clue what a blue box was supposed to signify!

[solon]

I assumed the husband bought it and had it sent to work so the wife wouldn't get it first...?

Exactly. Was actually a good idea. I'm glad everyone is focused on the fact that I'm a bad storyteller instead of the fact that I had no clue what a blue box was supposed to signify!

Well... now that you mention it...

[RMD]

OMG I HATE push presents. The baby IS the fucking present you morons. Gross!!!

Yes.  Quite literally the fucking present... :D

[fantabulous]

I assumed the husband bought it and had it sent to work so the wife wouldn't get it first...?

Exactly. Was actually a good idea. I'm glad everyone is focused on the fact that I'm a bad storyteller instead of the fact that I had no clue what a blue box was supposed to signify!

If it makes you feel better, I had no idea what the blue box was supposed to signify either, aside from being a blue box.

[chicagomeg]

OMG I HATE push presents. The baby IS the fucking present you morons. Gross!!!

Yes.  Quite literally the fucking present... :D

Ahh!!! Puns!!

[galliver]

I assumed the husband bought it and had it sent to work so the wife wouldn't get it first...?

Exactly. Was actually a good idea. I'm glad everyone is focused on the fact that I'm a bad storyteller instead of the fact that I had no clue what a blue box was supposed to signify!

If it makes you feel better, I had no idea what the blue box was supposed to signify either, aside from being a blue box.

Time And Relative Dimension In Space?

[k-vette]

This one is truly awful....   

A coworker told me of a friend with awful money habits.  He never paid his credit cards (ever) and destroyed his credit history.  Apparently some girl that he only knew for a day wanted mac and cheese.  So he drove to the nearest gas station and bought some.  (I thought this was the bad part, but it didnt stop there.)  He used his debit card to buy said noodles and overdrew his account.  He was aware of the overdraft.  Some time later the coworker asks his friend if he ever got that resolved.   He hadn't...  Worried about the overdraft he calls the bank.  It has been so long that his fees added up to ..... (insert drum roll here) ....  $1,500.

I didn't even know they had mac and cheese at the gas station.

[franklin w. dixon]

Got one! A guy had a package delivered to work and was talking about how he's surprised they just left it at his desk. Noted that it was very expensive. I'm figuring it's some sort of new lab equipment.

Well, he shows a few people and they all get excited. "It's in a blue box." says the guy... he says it like that should explain it. I think, "Man, they must have gotten some awesome new pH meter or something. I guess he is just excited that he finally got his own one!"


Then I got a lot of looks. It wasn't a pH meter. I saw the box and realized it must be jewelry, but the color of the box meant nothing to me. It's a gift from Tiffany's. His wife's push present...

There were at least 2 other guys here that didn't know that a blue box = Tiffany's though. So that made me feel a little better.

Oh my, this reminds me of a really funny story...

So my main man and all around cool dude brother in law appears to be very rich from... well I'm not sure what exactly. He owned, in whole or part, some kind of vocational training company that supplied computer programmers to international companies in China. He's since sold that, although it seems like he's still involved with it in certain ways, and now "buys houses and sells houses." To the limited extent I've been around him and his family/business associates I feel a lot like the wife from Goodfellas because they all just sort of roll from restaurant to massage place to restaurant, chain smoking and getting shitfaced and talking about "clean money" and how hard it is to get and how important it is etc. I also say that he appears to be rich because while he always carries around massive amounts of cash (like 10 grand) and buys ridiculous things like illegal ivory sculptures of elephants and antique samurai swords and a bottle of CHINA'S FIRST WINE vintage 1978, at the same time he's always borrowing or "borrowing" money from their parents "for business" and he keeps trying to get me to take out weird and probably illegal loans with him and stuff like that so the actual state of his finances is permanently opaque.

Anyway the relevant thing is that when we got married he and their parents came over here for the wedding and to like, travel and buy stuff and what have you. But I drive a crummy old 4-cyl 2002 Nissan Frontier and so whenever we went places it'd be like, me and my brother up front, my wife in the jump seat, and then him and their parents in the bed sitting on a pile of blankets (it does have a cap). Since he constantly wanted to go to like, weird luxury stores I'd never heard of and outlet malls and things like that we were always rattling along to wherever and piling in and out like the freaking Beverly hillbillies, including when we went to the Tiffanys, which had a dang gated parking lot. In the beautiful Chevy Chase Tiffanys he actually bought us both wedding rings, and then also bought a bunch of other stuff to idk, bribe officials back home or whatever, and literally, literally maxed out his credit card after ten grand, and then pulled out his giganto wad of 100s and bought some more stuff with that.

Another place we went in similar fashion was the Range Rover dealership, where we all got out of my car that's worth like 3000 dollars US, and he walked all around with the bro dad salesman looking at every car and going "Wa! So cheap! So small money!" He had a scheme where he was gonna have me buy a car here and drive it around for a while and then send it to China "used" to evade taxes but mysteriously those 90,000 dollars haven't shown up yet, and that was 3+ years ago. I'm sure he'll come through any day now!!

[Primm]

I assumed the husband bought it and had it sent to work so the wife wouldn't get it first...?

Exactly. Was actually a good idea. I'm glad everyone is focused on the fact that I'm a bad storyteller instead of the fact that I had no clue what a blue box was supposed to signify!

Again, an assumption of mine, but are you male? I guessed yes, and probably 75% of my male friends wouldn't have a clue what a "blue box" meant.

[Elderwood17]

This one is truly awful....   

A coworker told me of a friend with awful money habits.  He never paid his credit cards (ever) and destroyed his credit history.  Apparently some girl that he only knew for a day wanted mac and cheese.  So he drove to the nearest gas station and bought some.  (I thought this was the bad part, but it didnt stop there.)  He used his debit card to buy said noodles and overdrew his account.  He was aware of the overdraft.  Some time later the coworker asks his friend if he ever got that resolved.   He hadn't...  Worried about the overdraft he calls the bank.  It has been so long that his fees added up to ..... (insert drum roll here) ....  $1,500.

I didn't even know they had mac and cheese at the gas station.

I wouldn't have thought that was possible.  I have never had any bank fees but would assume they would shut down your accounts before you could rack up that many fees!

[otherbarry]

This one is truly awful....   

A coworker told me of a friend with awful money habits.  He never paid his credit cards (ever) and destroyed his credit history.  Apparently some girl that he only knew for a day wanted mac and cheese.  So he drove to the nearest gas station and bought some.  (I thought this was the bad part, but it didnt stop there.)  He used his debit card to buy said noodles and overdrew his account.  He was aware of the overdraft.  Some time later the coworker asks his friend if he ever got that resolved.   He hadn't...  Worried about the overdraft he calls the bank.  It has been so long that his fees added up to ..... (insert drum roll here) ....  $1,500.

I didn't even know they had mac and cheese at the gas station.

$1500 gas station mac n cheese, now that's fancy.

[Señora Savings]

Can't say I agree with you.  His odds of winning increased infinitely.

You're entitled to that opinion or any other that you like, but nobody arguing your side in this whole thread has been able to point to a single valid mathematical concept that supports the notion. The only place where infinity is somewhat relevant is limits, and there's no limit being taken or considered here. We're not considering the odds of winning with one ticket against the odds of winning with smaller and smaller fractions of a single ticket, we're considering the odds of winning with one ticket against the odds of winning with zero tickets. There's no limit.

Let's look at the increase in chance of winning when you double the number of tickets you buy.  Originally you had x change of winning, now you have 2x chance of winning.  Using percent of change, your increase in chance of winning is

(2x-x)/x=1 or a 100% increase in your chance is winning.

If the ratio of old tickets to new tickets is 1:n, your increase in chance of winning is

(nx-x)/x=n-1 increase in chance of winning.

We want a ration of old ticket to new tickets of 0:1, or the limit of 1:n as n->infinity.  Here I am using the fact the lim(n->infinity) of 1/n=0=0/1.

That means that our increase in chance of winning is

lim(n->infinity) of n-1, which is infinity.

Another way to think about it; you increased your chance of winning by buying a ticket, how much did it increase by?  Clearly any real number is too small.  One piece of the concept of infinity is that there is no biggest number, for every number you can think of, I can make up one bigger, therefor if our percent of increase is bigger than any real number we can say it is infinity.

Overheard at work: I wish I was as rich as Jane Doe, she's flying her daughter to three One Direction concerns while they're in the US.

In response to blue box stuff, I'm a woman with a jewelry making hobby and I didn't what a blue box was.  I think that it may be a pretty exclusive group.

[Argyle]

I'm female and I didn't know what a blue box meant till I read this thread.  I would argue that not knowing what a blue box means may be a promising sign of a non-extravagant lifestyle.

[NoraLenderbee]

Tiffany uses a particular shade of blue. I've seen it, but I've never heard the generic term "blue box" used  for it.

[flamingo25]

Also a woman and I have never heard the term "blue box."

And don't get me started again on push presents. Ugh!!!!

[arebelspy]

I knew what the blue box was as soon as you said it.

I wouldn't have remembered the color off the top of my head (for some reason I always think pink), but I knew it right away.

It's a thing (not for my wife, luckily, she knows but wouldn't be happy getting one, she says - and I agree - that paying a premium for a box is a waste of money).

[skyrefuge]

I'm glad everyone is focused on the fact that I'm a bad storyteller instead of the fact that I had no clue what a blue box was supposed to signify!

Never fear, even if you didn't recognize the blue box, you can still feel some antimustachian shame for knowing what a "push present" is!  I've literally never heard that term in my life, though I have inferred the meaning since y'all seem to know all about them. Weird, because I'm usually not that ignorant about well-known antimustachian behaviors.

[larmando]

I assumed the husband bought it and had it sent to work so the wife wouldn't get it first...?

Exactly. Was actually a good idea. I'm glad everyone is focused on the fact that I'm a bad storyteller instead of the fact that I had no clue what a blue box was supposed to signify!

If it makes you feel better, I had no idea what the blue box was supposed to signify either, aside from being a blue box.

To be fair it's not blue, it's clearly turquoise. :) If I think "blue" I think of a different color altogether. 

[UnleashHell]

Blue box?

[fantabulous]

Blue box?

What a shitty present.

[GuitarStv]

Our blue box goes out every other week with the recycling in it.

[lakemom]

OMG I HATE push presents. The baby IS the fucking present you morons. Gross!!!

+1  And I've got 6 kids...never got jewelry at their births although dh surprised me with a Mother's ring a few years ago with all their birthstones in it.

[Elderwood17]

I admit I had never heard of a push present before; fortunately my DW and mother of our four squids hadn't either!

[tmac]

Blue box?

What a shitty present.

I'm reading this on my small phone and got all excited because I thought it was a Tardis. Best present ever!

[whiskeyjack]

I'm reading this on my small phone and got all excited because I thought it was a Tardis. Best present ever!

I thought so too.   Here's the only blue box I want:

[tccoastguard]

Blue box?

What a shitty present.

It is technically a "push" present.

[greenmimama]

I think the idea behind a push present is sweet, getting something for your wife to say thank you, most all of the pregnancy happens to and in her body.

I would think a lovely bouquet of flowers that are her favorite, or her favorite dessert brought to the hospital, something sweet that says you were thinking about her and you appreciate her efforts and sacrifice. It's the dumbasses that have to outdo each other that keep getting a present bigger and bigger, soon it will be a new Caddy or something else equally stupid and unnecessary.

It really bugs me in general when a husband or wife "gets a present" and really it's just a new payment plan in the form of a shiny newer car? that doesn't make any sense.

[ender]

I think the idea behind a push present is sweet, getting something for your wife to say thank you, most all of the pregnancy happens to and in her body.

I suspect a large percentage if not majority of women would be more than content if their husband cooked/cleaned up or more proactively handled whatever the wife's "household responsibilities" were.

I wonder how often a new baby results in a meaningful shift in responsibilities at home?

[GardenFun]

I think the idea behind a push present is sweet, getting something for your wife to say thank you, most all of the pregnancy happens to and in her body.

I suspect a large percentage if not majority of women would be more than content if their husband cooked/cleaned up or more proactively handled whatever the wife's "household responsibilities" were.

I wonder how often a new baby results in a meaningful shift in responsibilities at home?

Upon waking up at night for the 3rd time to feed Junior, I would take poopy diaper changes, making dinner, vacuuming - literally any household task - 1000x over diamond jewelry during that first year for each kid. 

Seriously, how good does jewelry really look when you haven't washed your hair for two days and are wearing sweatpants??? 

[resy]

I assumed the husband bought it and had it sent to work so the wife wouldn't get it first...?

Oh, that makes sense now.

oh man, that made my morning lol thanks :)