Overheard at Work

[Cheddar Stacker]

The boss became tired of the bitching and he stopped the program.

I worked at a company that for every November (for Thanksgiving) you were given your choice of a free turkey or a $20 gift card.  People who asked for the turkey were complaining the turkeys were too small, so the company just decided to stop the program.

We use this example all the time when discussing our employee benefit programs. When we are considering a change, inevitably someone always says "We can't take away the turkey." This must be a well known example, but it was long before my time in management.

[dragoncar]

Heard yesterday:
"I found a great deal on a new Pathfinder... listed for $63K, got like $5K off! What a deal!"

What!? The Pathfinder starts at $29.5k. How did they find one listed for $63k? I tried ticking every option box on Nissan's online configurator and could only get it up to around $46k...

It must come with a black box. That or the poster either meant to write 36k or the person seriously got hosed.

Do you know that black boxes are actually orange and sometimes red or yellow?

Maybe it has the "rollin coal" package

[frugalnacho]

Heard yesterday:
"I found a great deal on a new Pathfinder... listed for $63K, got like $5K off! What a deal!"

What!? The Pathfinder starts at $29.5k. How did they find one listed for $63k? I tried ticking every option box on Nissan's online configurator and could only get it up to around $46k...

It must come with a black box. That or the poster either meant to write 36k or the person seriously got hosed.

Do you know that black boxes are actually orange and sometimes red or yellow?

Maybe it has the "rollin coal" package

I thought that came standard?

[FunkyStickman]

Heard yesterday:
"I found a great deal on a new Pathfinder... listed for $63K, got like $5K off! What a deal!"

What!? The Pathfinder starts at $29.5k. How did they find one listed for $63k? I tried ticking every option box on Nissan's online configurator and could only get it up to around $46k...

It must come with a black box. That or the poster either meant to write 36k or the person seriously got hosed.

No, the number was right... not sure it was a Pathfinder. They were talking about several "family" vehicles (neither one have kids) and they also mentioned a Chevy Tahoe with leather.. might have been the Tahoe. But HOLY &^#$ $63K for a truck that you only drive in the city??

[fartface]

Spendthrift co-worker was at it again today. First she estimated spending $60 - $70 on Starbucks for a herself and others over several days last week. "That really adds up!" she chirped.

Next, she came in and said lunch had been ordered and was being delivered for her and her boss. Boss didn't want the box lunch so CW asked me if I wanted it.  "OF COURSE I'll take it!" I said. She laughed, patted me on the back and said she knew I'd never turn down free food. Damn right.

Little while later she and the boss come in with Jimmy Johns orders - both refused to eat the free offerings. WTF. She gave her box lunch away to my friend - a fellow mustachian who is always asking me about saving/investing.

Over lunch CW says, "I have so many bills. I'm just gonna pay them all  -don't know how or if I even have enough money - but I'm going to pay them all."

So - in sum - I ate a FREE delicious turkey sandwich on fresh baked roll with a bag of chips, snapple iced tea, and two chocolate chip cookies. So did my mustachian friend. CW thumbed her nose at the free boxed lunch and placed a $15 Jimmy Johns order while fretting over upcoming bills.

[dragoncar]

55 handles in my kitchen.

You might want to get help.

[Cinder]

55 handles in my kitchen.

You might want to get help.

That made me literally laugh out loud and scare my cat!

[gimp]

On the plus side, 55 full handles of liquor means you're almost definitely not an alcoholic.

[Zamboni]

So - in sum - I ate a FREE delicious turkey sandwich on fresh baked roll with a bag of chips, snapple iced tea, and two chocolate chip cookies. So did my mustachian friend. CW thumbed her nose at the free boxed lunch and placed a $15 Jimmy Johns order while fretting over upcoming bills.

Jimmy Johns?  Over a box lunch from . . . anywhere else?  Zamboni truly does not comprehend.

Another "I'm too good for free lunch" story from just this week:
Monday a co-worker (cw1) was at an off-site training session.  Originally they had been told there would be an hour for lunch on their own, but at about 11am the trainer passed out menus from a local restaurant and said a lunch of each person's choice of sandwich or salad was on the house.  When it was time to submit the orders, another co-worker (cw2) announced that she was going to go out on her own instead because "there was nothing vegetarian on that menu."  cw1 reported that he held his tongue only because it was a training session on leading with emotional intelligence.  He thought it would be obnoxious in that setting to call her out by saying "I'm vegetarian also and there were no less than 6 options on that menu.  Did you see the tofu sandwich?  Or the grilled vegetable sandwich?  Or all of the different salads?"  (He did later recite all of those options from memory to me.)

[irishbear99]

I've been reading this thread with great amusement for some time now, and finally overheard something today at work that is post-worthy.

Co-worker was talking about her house renovations and how helpful the people at Home Depot were with the design of the new kitchen. They were so helpful, in fact, that they even told her if she spent $300 more, she could get all her kitchen cabinet handles for free! So, they did.

/facepalm

Literally bought cabinet handles from home depot the other day. The most expensive ones were in the $3-5 range. So let's say $5, and roughly 20 cabinet doors (I aimed on the high end compared to our kitchen), and that's $100. She done got hosed.

I had to go count because we're talking about refinishing our cabinets and knew I had a lot.....55 handles in my kitchen. That's in addition to the 7 drawers that don't have handles. So $275 if I went with $5/ea handles and I've seen more expensive ones I like...like the $6/ea ones I saw at Menards today. Luckily for me they won't go with the color we picked out for the cabinets :)

When my husband and I bought our house 3 years ago, we replaced every single cabinet and drawer handle (kitchen + 3 bathrooms) for a grand total of $75. I didn't have the heart to tell her she got hosed. I just nodded and murmured something along the lines of, "How nice."

[Timmmy]

55 handles in my kitchen.

You might want to get help.

I don't see a single handle of anything there.  I thought handle = half gallon?  There's a handle on pretty much all half gallons right?

[Dr. A]

55 handles in my kitchen.

You might want to get help.

I don't see a single handle of anything there.  I thought handle = half gallon?  There's a handle on pretty much all half gallons right?

Right... because the half-gallon bottle has a handle on it:

[merula]

I finally have something! A nearby coworker has had a morning full of gems:

In talking to some new hires: "My dad told me that I should invest in a Roth because the government is raising taxes on interest rates, so you should do that." (She's skipping out on a full match up to 5% because of what Daddy thinks about the gubmint? I suppose the bright side is that she is recommending saving for retirement.)

"My parents are kicking me out at the end of the year, because they say I need to be independent. And my dad says that rent is throwing money away, so I'm looking at a house. Here are the ones I've picked out. I need a nice bathtub, because I love baths, and I need a walkout because [town] doesn't allow grills on decks, so if I don't have a walkout, I'm just going to be grilling in my garage." (We work at an insurance company; how does she not understand potential fire hazards?!)

"I need to get at least a 3 bedroom, so I have space for my dog." (Single woman, early twenties.)

[DeepEllumStache]

"I need to get at least a 3 bedroom, so I have space for my dog." (Single woman, early twenties.)

Dogs need their own room or 2?  I'll have to consult with my dog tonight on this... poor thing has never had his own room, much less 2 rooms.

[rocksinmyhead]

"I need to get at least a 3 bedroom, so I have space for my dog." (Single woman, early twenties.)

Dogs need their own room or 2?  I'll have to consult with my dog tonight on this... poor thing has never had his own room, much less 2 rooms.

yeah, don't tell my dog. he already has his own futon, I don't want him to get any more crazy ideas...

[Lis]

"I need to get at least a 3 bedroom, so I have space for my dog." (Single woman, early twenties.)

Dogs need their own room or 2?  I'll have to consult with my dog tonight on this... poor thing has never had his own room, much less 2 rooms.

yeah, don't tell my dog. he already has his own futon, I don't want him to get any more crazy ideas...

If my parent's allowed it, their dogs would sleep in whatever room they decided to sleep in. Master bedroom? Sure. Office? That's comfy. Living room couch? Plenty of space for two people and two dogs!

My cats on the other hand... let's just say I may be the one paying the rent, but I'm not fooling anyone, it's their apartment. They're graciously allowing me to stay with them.

[Siobhan]

Got another gem this morning.  Context: coworker is heading to Morocco on vacation in a week, last week she was thinking of getting a bigger house because her clothes have filled all FOUR of her closets in her DC townhome....and she constantly worries about being fired because they have ZERO savings, she's pulling in 130k/yr, her husband is a GS 14 so probably in the same area.

CW1: So we looked at the weather and it's been raining a lot in Fez, and I realized I don't have a good rain + coat, I have a raincoat, but it's not super heavy, and I have 2 regular coats I bought for the trip, but I don't have a Rain + coat
Me:  Couldn't you just put your raincoat over your regular coat?
CW1:  *giving me what the fuck face*  Uh no....that would look weird as heck!
Me:  So you are going to go buy a rain resistant heavy coat, in case it rains the week you are there?
CW1:  OH!  I bought it last night, it was on sale for only $140 from 200!!  I got a great deal on it. 
Me:  Didn't you already buy a ton of clothes for this trip?
CW1:  Oh not a ton, I've only spent like 1200 dollars.

She's going to Morocco....for a week....and she already has FOUR closets of clothes and shoes.

[Bob W]

Got another gem this morning.  Context: coworker is heading to Morocco on vacation in a week, last week she was thinking of getting a bigger house because her clothes have filled all FOUR of her closets in her DC townhome....and she constantly worries about being fired because they have ZERO savings, she's pulling in 130k/yr, her husband is a GS 14 so probably in the same area.

CW1: So we looked at the weather and it's been raining a lot in Fez, and I realized I don't have a good rain + coat, I have a raincoat, but it's not super heavy, and I have 2 regular coats I bought for the trip, but I don't have a Rain + coat
Me:  Couldn't you just put your raincoat over your regular coat?
CW1:  *giving me what the fuck face*  Uh no....that would look weird as heck!
Me:  So you are going to go buy a rain resistant heavy coat, in case it rains the week you are there?
CW1:  OH!  I bought it last night, it was on sale for only $140 from 200!!  I got a great deal on it. 
Me:  Didn't you already buy a ton of clothes for this trip?
CW1:  Oh not a ton, I've only spent like 1200 dollars.

She's going to Morocco....for a week....and she already has FOUR closets of clothes and shoes.

The good thing is that her and her hubby can retire at a relatively early age with full retirement benefits and then he can get a job doing the same thing for more pay as a civilian consultant.   

[rocksinmyhead]

Got another gem this morning.  Context: coworker is heading to Morocco on vacation in a week, last week she was thinking of getting a bigger house because her clothes have filled all FOUR of her closets in her DC townhome....and she constantly worries about being fired because they have ZERO savings, she's pulling in 130k/yr, her husband is a GS 14 so probably in the same area.

CW1: So we looked at the weather and it's been raining a lot in Fez, and I realized I don't have a good rain + coat, I have a raincoat, but it's not super heavy, and I have 2 regular coats I bought for the trip, but I don't have a Rain + coat
Me:  Couldn't you just put your raincoat over your regular coat?
CW1:  *giving me what the fuck face*  Uh no....that would look weird as heck!
Me:  So you are going to go buy a rain resistant heavy coat, in case it rains the week you are there?
CW1:  OH!  I bought it last night, it was on sale for only $140 from 200!!  I got a great deal on it. 
Me:  Didn't you already buy a ton of clothes for this trip?
CW1:  Oh not a ton, I've only spent like 1200 dollars.

She's going to Morocco....for a week....and she already has FOUR closets of clothes and shoes.

no joke, it would actively stress me out to have that many clothes. I have too many as it is! there's NO WAY you could actually LIKE and WEAR all of those clothes!!! it almost stresses me out just thinking about it. need to close the browser and get back to work, haha.

[merula]

"I need to get at least a 3 bedroom, so I have space for my dog." (Single woman, early twenties.)

Dogs need their own room or 2?  I'll have to consult with my dog tonight on this... poor thing has never had his own room, much less 2 rooms.

I'm not sure. I'd ask, but I think that'd be awkward. "Hey, so I told the internet that you're dumb, but can you clarify how dumb you are?"

[Timmmy]

"I need to get at least a 3 bedroom, so I have space for my dog." (Single woman, early twenties.)

Dogs need their own room or 2?  I'll have to consult with my dog tonight on this... poor thing has never had his own room, much less 2 rooms.

My HUMAN INFANT AND HUSBAND are going to have fewer rooms than these dogs...

For several years DW and I shared our small 2 bedroom house with a roommate and 3 dogs.  It never really felt cramped.  I'm not even sure I have enough stuff to fill a 3 bedroom house. 

[Goldielocks]

On the plus side, 55 full handles of liquor means you're almost definitely not an alcoholic.

Lol I get it now, never heard that term for liquor.. Here they are called mickey's.

 Counted and we have 48 handles. ( on doors ) Very un mmm but DH has a bad back ( lots of drawers)and my dad built and installed the kitchen.

I did not think it was possible to me more extravagant, though. You know, by real people on this forum.

[Siobhan]

Got another gem this morning.  Context: coworker is heading to Morocco on vacation in a week, last week she was thinking of getting a bigger house because her clothes have filled all FOUR of her closets in her DC townhome....and she constantly worries about being fired because they have ZERO savings, she's pulling in 130k/yr, her husband is a GS 14 so probably in the same area.

CW1: So we looked at the weather and it's been raining a lot in Fez, and I realized I don't have a good rain + coat, I have a raincoat, but it's not super heavy, and I have 2 regular coats I bought for the trip, but I don't have a Rain + coat
Me:  Couldn't you just put your raincoat over your regular coat?
CW1:  *giving me what the fuck face*  Uh no....that would look weird as heck!
Me:  So you are going to go buy a rain resistant heavy coat, in case it rains the week you are there?
CW1:  OH!  I bought it last night, it was on sale for only $140 from 200!!  I got a great deal on it. 
Me:  Didn't you already buy a ton of clothes for this trip?
CW1:  Oh not a ton, I've only spent like 1200 dollars.

She's going to Morocco....for a week....and she already has FOUR closets of clothes and shoes.

no joke, it would actively stress me out to have that many clothes. I have too many as it is! there's NO WAY you could actually LIKE and WEAR all of those clothes!!! it almost stresses me out just thinking about it. need to close the browser and get back to work, haha.

Oh she's already told me one of those closets are clothes from when she had a job in fashion, that she knows she will never be able to fit into again due to a massive thyroid problem she developed....she hasn't worn them in ten years but "can't stand to part with them.

[frugalnacho]

Lol, I had no idea what dragoncar meant by that picture. I guess that means I don't drink enough. The alcohol currently in my house is two half bottles of wine used only for cooking and a bottle of brandy used to make my own vanilla extract

Nobody uses that terminology in the states.

[gimp]

that she knows she will never be able to fit into again due to a massive thyroid problem she developed

I'm fat cuz of the beetus! Mah thuroid! Doctors who tell muh tuh lose weight are jus fatshamers!

My fucking favorite. Muh thuroid. "Where's your thyroid?" "Fuck you!"

[Siobhan]

Got another gem this morning.  Context: coworker is heading to Morocco on vacation in a week, last week she was thinking of getting a bigger house because her clothes have filled all FOUR of her closets in her DC townhome....and she constantly worries about being fired because they have ZERO savings, she's pulling in 130k/yr, her husband is a GS 14 so probably in the same area.

CW1: So we looked at the weather and it's been raining a lot in Fez, and I realized I don't have a good rain + coat, I have a raincoat, but it's not super heavy, and I have 2 regular coats I bought for the trip, but I don't have a Rain + coat
Me:  Couldn't you just put your raincoat over your regular coat?
CW1:  *giving me what the fuck face*  Uh no....that would look weird as heck!
Me:  So you are going to go buy a rain resistant heavy coat, in case it rains the week you are there?
CW1:  OH!  I bought it last night, it was on sale for only $140 from 200!!  I got a great deal on it. 
Me:  Didn't you already buy a ton of clothes for this trip?
CW1:  Oh not a ton, I've only spent like 1200 dollars.

She's going to Morocco....for a week....and she already has FOUR closets of clothes and shoes.

no joke, it would actively stress me out to have that many clothes. I have too many as it is! there's NO WAY you could actually LIKE and WEAR all of those clothes!!! it almost stresses me out just thinking about it. need to close the browser and get back to work, haha.

Oh she's already told me one of those closets are clothes from when she had a job in fashion, that she knows she will never be able to fit into again due to a massive thyroid problem she developed....she hasn't worn them in ten years but "can't stand to part with them.

Aaaaaaand she just 1 upped herself.  Her husband called and said that the seal on the fridge is bad and the repair guy wants 200 bucks to fix it...Her response was, wow that's expensive! Especially when a new fridge is only 2k so why put 200 dollars into something that broke?  Followed by "Did you call the repair guy for the washing machine yet?  If not, don't, we'll just replace that when we get the fridge, the new credit card we just got is interest free for 6 months so we can just try and pay it off in that time.

CW2 (who sits next to her and is fairly good with money, not Mustachian, but not super spendy) looked at her when she got off the phone and said, so you are going to forgo a 200 dollar repair, to buy a 2k fridge....AND a new washing machine, are you crazy?!?!  I kept my mouth shut, figured I got the WTF look once today, it was someone elses turn.  I know know why my fellow millenials get a bad rap..

[Ryan started the FIRE]

Long time lurker, first time poster on this particular thread. But I can promise this won't be my last post. My job is literally a gold mine for ridiculousness in the workplace as I do our payroll, insurance, and retirement plan.

Anyways, a couple of days ago one of our employees came to me asking about the balance on his 401k loan as he wanted to pay the rest of it off. He has asked me about his balance multiple times in the past few months but has always determined that the amount (~$200) was "too much" for him to pay off. Yesterday when he asked the total amount left was ~$100, and I am still not sure whether he decided he would be able to pay that amount off.

To top the whole thing off he isn't paying off his loan to become debt free, but rather to take out another loan to pay for his A/C to get fixed.

[dragoncar]

I work with electrical engineers.  I mentioned that I changed my own car battery and they were incredulous.  For something so ridiculously simple, I was really surprised.  One of them thought it was like 200 volts.  To be fair, these aren't real engineers, they are lawyer engineers.

55 handles in my kitchen.

You might want to get help.


image of not-handles

I don't see a single handle of anything there.  I thought handle = half gallon?  There's a handle on pretty much all half gallons right?

Right... because the half-gallon bottle has a handle on it:
image of handle

Yeah, my google-fu was just too weak to find a picture of 50 actual handles (the ones with handles on them).  But a picture of three handles just doesn't cut it when we are talking about massive amounts of booze.

[galliver]

that she knows she will never be able to fit into again due to a massive thyroid problem she developed

I'm fat cuz of the beetus! Mah thuroid! Doctors who tell muh tuh lose weight are jus fatshamers!

My fucking favorite. Muh thuroid. "Where's your thyroid?" "Fuck you!"

I don't HAVE a thyroid and wear a size 8. Seriously, people. Your thyroid does not feed you cupcakes while you sleep.

Does the fact that some people's cancer goes into remission mean that those who die of it were fighting it wrong? Does the fact that some people's allergies respond to OTC drugs mean that allergy shots are a pointless extravagance? Should people with depression "cheer up" and those with anxiety "stop worrying"?

You know nothing about this woman except that she has a ridiculous amount of clothes to which she is emotionally attached. That doesn't really give you a solid basis to judge the validity of her medical condition. Not to mention, clothes from her modeling career might be a size 0 or 2. She might be a 6 or 8 now. Gained weight doesn't translate to "is fat" or even "is unhealthy"

[jordanread]

that she knows she will never be able to fit into again due to a massive thyroid problem she developed

I'm fat cuz of the beetus! Mah thuroid! Doctors who tell muh tuh lose weight are jus fatshamers!

My fucking favorite. Muh thuroid. "Where's your thyroid?" "Fuck you!"

I don't HAVE a thyroid and wear a size 8. Seriously, people. Your thyroid does not feed you cupcakes while you sleep.

Does the fact that some people's cancer goes into remission mean that those who die of it were fighting it wrong? Does the fact that some people's allergies respond to OTC drugs mean that allergy shots are a pointless extravagance? Should people with depression "cheer up" and those with anxiety "stop worrying"?

You know nothing about this woman except that she has a ridiculous amount of clothes to which she is emotionally attached. That doesn't really give you a solid basis to judge the validity of her medical condition. Not to mention, clothes from her modeling career might be a size 0 or 2. She might be a 6 or 8 now. Gained weight doesn't translate to "is fat" or even "is unhealthy"

I think you may have missed the section you are in.

[rocksinmyhead]

this one is pretty sad. it's actually my boyfriend's coworker but I'll try to remember the details...

his coworker is an older guy (not sure how old... 40s or 50s?), some kind of quality engineer I think. he only recently started at this company. he moved here from St. Louis because he got laid off at his previous job and had been unemployed for a while. he STILL RENTS A HOUSE IN ST. LOUIS FOR HIS WIFE simply because she "doesn't want to move to Tulsa." not because she has an awesome job there... hell I don't even think she has a job. so he also rents a house here for himself. we actually found out about this a while ago, but it has escalated recently and my bf has heard the guy on the phone with his wife trying to negotiate a move.

now today bf emails me the following: "[coworker] was just talking about trying to find a new fridge for the house they rent. by the way, he has been in it for a month and still no fridge. they threw their last one our because it was so dirty that he couldn't get it clean enough with soap and water his wife wanted a new one."

I don't even know what perplexes me more about this... a fridge so dirty you throw it away, or the diet implied by living without a fridge for a month (I don't think this guy is going to the fresh produce market every day)

[galliver]

that she knows she will never be able to fit into again due to a massive thyroid problem she developed

I'm fat cuz of the beetus! Mah thuroid! Doctors who tell muh tuh lose weight are jus fatshamers!

My fucking favorite. Muh thuroid. "Where's your thyroid?" "Fuck you!"

I don't HAVE a thyroid and wear a size 8. Seriously, people. Your thyroid does not feed you cupcakes while you sleep.

Does the fact that some people's cancer goes into remission mean that those who die of it were fighting it wrong? Does the fact that some people's allergies respond to OTC drugs mean that allergy shots are a pointless extravagance? Should people with depression "cheer up" and those with anxiety "stop worrying"?

You know nothing about this woman except that she has a ridiculous amount of clothes to which she is emotionally attached. That doesn't really give you a solid basis to judge the validity of her medical condition. Not to mention, clothes from her modeling career might be a size 0 or 2. She might be a 6 or 8 now. Gained weight doesn't translate to "is fat" or even "is unhealthy"

I know this woman is convinced she will not be able to fit into her clothes due to a "massive thyroid problem." Your thyroid does not magically make all your clothes cease to fit, especially if your condition is known and being treated.

Thyroid disease, even total thyroid death does not cause significant long-term weight gain, which I have been told by numerous endocrinologists, including Ivy League faculty, who have treated me over the years. It especially does not once it's diagnosed and treated with synthetic hormones that are identical to the stuff your own body produces. My last endocrinologist says the largest thyroid non-diet related weight gain she's ever witnessed was 20 pounds, which is fairly easily lost once your condition is under control. I've asked about this repeatedly because people have expressed shock that I am not obese when they find out I have had a thyroid condition since childhood. Your thyroid dying does not magically cause your body to start violating the laws of thermodynamics. Where did you go to medical school? Because every doctor I've talked to who specializes in the condition says the opposite.

My college roommate had thyroid cancer and had it removed our junior year. She gained weight afterwards while figuring out dosage and last I saw her (5 years later) hadn't lost all of it yet. Maybe it wasn't a direct effect, but rather the way the illness affected her life and habits, but something changed. Fortunately, she's doing fine.  My own doctor(s) have tested my thyroid hormone in diagnosing and monitoring my PCOS, as they initially thought it could be responsible for the weight gain. Obviously there is some established connection there. Now, I don't know either if this woman's condition is real or faked, but I'm not going to ridicule her when I have literally zero knowledge of her medical situation and how much control she actually has over what her body is doing. I don't think that's correct.

I think you may have missed the section you are in.

There's nothing "Antimustachian" about being sick.

[jinga nation]

I work with electrical engineers.  I mentioned that I changed my own car battery and they were incredulous.  For something so ridiculously simple, I was really surprised.  One of them thought it was like 200 volts.  To be fair, these aren't real engineers, they are lawyer engineers.

Lawyer engineers (patent lawyers) couldn't pass the lab courses without copying/cheating in Engineering Skool. They couldn't design and build a simple circuit, not even from a textbook.

/Foam

[galliver]

that she knows she will never be able to fit into again due to a massive thyroid problem she developed

I'm fat cuz of the beetus! Mah thuroid! Doctors who tell muh tuh lose weight are jus fatshamers!

My fucking favorite. Muh thuroid. "Where's your thyroid?" "Fuck you!"

I don't HAVE a thyroid and wear a size 8. Seriously, people. Your thyroid does not feed you cupcakes while you sleep.

Does the fact that some people's cancer goes into remission mean that those who die of it were fighting it wrong? Does the fact that some people's allergies respond to OTC drugs mean that allergy shots are a pointless extravagance? Should people with depression "cheer up" and those with anxiety "stop worrying"?

You know nothing about this woman except that she has a ridiculous amount of clothes to which she is emotionally attached. That doesn't really give you a solid basis to judge the validity of her medical condition. Not to mention, clothes from her modeling career might be a size 0 or 2. She might be a 6 or 8 now. Gained weight doesn't translate to "is fat" or even "is unhealthy"

I know this woman is convinced she will not be able to fit into her clothes due to a "massive thyroid problem." Your thyroid does not magically make all your clothes cease to fit, especially if your condition is known and being treated.

Thyroid disease, even total thyroid death does not cause significant long-term weight gain, which I have been told by numerous endocrinologists, including Ivy League faculty, who have treated me over the years. It especially does not once it's diagnosed and treated with synthetic hormones that are identical to the stuff your own body produces. My last endocrinologist says the largest thyroid non-diet related weight gain she's ever witnessed was 20 pounds, which is fairly easily lost once your condition is under control. I've asked about this repeatedly because people have expressed shock that I am not obese when they find out I have had a thyroid condition since childhood. Your thyroid dying does not magically cause your body to start violating the laws of thermodynamics. Where did you go to medical school? Because every doctor I've talked to who specializes in the condition says the opposite.

My college roommate had thyroid cancer and had it removed our junior year. She gained weight afterwards while figuring out dosage and last I saw her (5 years later) hadn't lost all of it yet. Maybe it wasn't a direct effect, but rather the way the illness affected her life and habits, but something changed. Fortunately, she's doing fine.  My own doctor(s) have tested my thyroid hormone in diagnosing and monitoring my PCOS, as they initially thought it could be responsible for the weight gain. Obviously there is some established connection there. Now, I don't know either if this woman's condition is real or faked, but I'm not going to ridicule her when I have literally zero knowledge of her medical situation and how much control she actually has over what her body is doing. I don't think that's correct.

Basically, I'm not questioning your knowledge of thyroid conditions; obviously you know a lot more about them.  But your argument wasn't "I'm familiar with thyroid function and what she's claiming is scientifically incorrect" it was "My similar condition didn't affect me this way so it can't possibly have affected her this way." And I have a problem with that argument being perpetuated because everyone's body works differently.

[dragoncar]

I work with electrical engineers.  I mentioned that I changed my own car battery and they were incredulous.  For something so ridiculously simple, I was really surprised.  One of them thought it was like 200 volts.  To be fair, these aren't real engineers, they are lawyer engineers.

Lawyer engineers (patent lawyers) couldn't pass the lab courses without copying/cheating in Engineering Skool. They couldn't design and build a simple circuit, not even from a textbook.

/Foam

LOL, I'm actually one of them -- I definitely didn't need to cheat in school, and each of my coworkers did significant stints in industry, so I seriously doubt your claim.  You can't hold down a circuit design job at Intel without being able to design and build a simple circuit.  Nevertheless, I guess none of them were ever adventurous enough to look up car batteries -- I meant that going into law showed a lack of interest in all things electrical rather than ineptitude.

[gimp]

LOL, I'm actually one of them -- I definitely didn't need to cheat in school, and each of my coworkers did significant stints in industry, so I seriously doubt your claim.  You can't hold down a circuit design job at Intel without being able to design and build a simple circuit.  Nevertheless, I guess none of them were ever adventurous enough to look up car batteries -- I meant that going into law showed a lack of interest in all things electrical rather than ineptitude.

Which site? I know quite a few intel folks (since I used to work there, at various sites) who have the cash to buy nice cars but have absolutely no idea how they work inside.

[dragoncar]

LOL, I'm actually one of them -- I definitely didn't need to cheat in school, and each of my coworkers did significant stints in industry, so I seriously doubt your claim.  You can't hold down a circuit design job at Intel without being able to design and build a simple circuit.  Nevertheless, I guess none of them were ever adventurous enough to look up car batteries -- I meant that going into law showed a lack of interest in all things electrical rather than ineptitude.

Which site? I know quite a few intel folks (since I used to work there, at various sites) who have the cash to buy nice cars but have absolutely no idea how they work inside.

I think it was in south bay somewhere... I'm talking about a coworker, not outing myself :-P  We all worked a big-name tech companies, though.

[gimp]

Sure, south bay is SC. I gotcha.

Yeah, it's a bit funny that an EE doesn't know a car battery voltage.

Funny story: my friend (EE/CE) sold his bike to a roommate (EE/CE) who didn't take care of it as instructed, and the battery ran flat. Jumped it with a car. Yep, jumped a bike battery with a car. No google, no research, just straight up connected the two. Hilarious.

[dragoncar]

Sure, south bay is SC. I gotcha.

Yeah, it's a bit funny that an EE doesn't know a car battery voltage.

Funny story: my friend (EE/CE) sold his bike to a roommate (EE/CE) who didn't take care of it as instructed, and the battery ran flat. Jumped it with a car. Yep, jumped a bike battery with a car. No google, no research, just straight up connected the two. Hilarious.

I thought you were in the bay area (you know, the SF bay area) so you'd know what I'm talking about.

Uhh.... I also jumped a scooter from a car once without research.  Oops.

edit: or was this an ebike at 48 VDC?  Using a lower voltage than spec shouldn't hurt anything

[johnintaiwan]

Co-worker told me about a guy in China that spent 100k on iphones to propose and was turned down. I told her that I think gifts like that are crazy. She told me that her dad always forgets their anniversary so he has to buy her a big gift. a luxury car one year, and rv the next.

[gimp]

Yep, SC is santa clara, I sat in SC12. That's, like, the north south bay. I guess. Not South Carolina...

It wasn't the voltage that did him in, it was the current. Oops.

Interestingly, using a lower voltage than spec may well hurt things, depending on factors. It might cause the battery to deplete itself, since basically the dead battery is now trying to charge the fully alive one - and with nice fat terminals and jumper cables, it might do so at a speed similar to shorting things. It might also cause all sorts of crazy undervoltage conditions, where elements protect against overvoltage, but various pathways won't turn on at a lower voltage but current will still flow. It's weird, but it can definitely happen.

[dragoncar]

Yep, SC is santa clara, I sat in SC12. That's, like, the north south bay. I guess. Not South Carolina...

It wasn't the voltage that did him in, it was the current. Oops.

Interestingly, using a lower voltage than spec may well hurt things, depending on factors. It might cause the battery to deplete itself, since basically the dead battery is now trying to charge the fully alive one - and with nice fat terminals and jumper cables, it might do so at a speed similar to shorting things. It might also cause all sorts of crazy undervoltage conditions, where elements protect against overvoltage, but various pathways won't turn on at a lower voltage but current will still flow. It's weird, but it can definitely happen.

Being from the East Bay, I call anything "down there" "south bay," including much of the peninsula.  Which is a stupid name for west bay, anyways (especially since nobody calls SF, Pacifica, Half Moon Bay, etc, "peninsula" even though they are both very much on the peninsula).

I had some really crappy set of jumper cables, so they probably couldn't handle a damaging amount of current.

[gimp]

It really doesn't help that the bay is... diagonal. Oh well. We all know how it works.

[dragoncar]

It really doesn't help that the bay is... diagonal. Oh well. We all know how it works.

Yeah, caught me in the middle of an edit, but I honestly had no idea how it worked as a child.

[Silverado]

CW: my advisor is worth the 1% a year I pay him ( and have paid for about nine years so far)
Me: uh-huh
CW: everyone cant be wrong, there are 200 others from corp X who use him to manage their pension payout.
Me: uh, take a look at these data points...

Didn't feel like engaging with a comment like "so, assuming you all have similar balances, he is making twice what you have as a balance every single year? So he has going on how much more than you now after nine years?"

[auntie_betty]

Not overheard, but read at work, London's Evening Standard yesterday had an article on bedding (who knew you could get 1,000 thread counts?). Article ended .....' a new set of sheets annually is the gold standard '.

Oops. If that's the gold standard I'm probably tin. Or plastic.

[Dr. A]

Not overheard, but read at work, London's Evening Standard yesterday had an article on bedding (who knew you could get 1,000 thread counts?). Article ended .....' a new set of sheets annually is the gold standard '.

Oops. If that's the gold standard I'm probably tin. Or plastic.

Tin isn't cheap... it's not gold expensive, but those would still be pretty fancy sheets.

[rocksinmyhead]

It really doesn't help that the bay is... diagonal. Oh well. We all know how it works.

Yeah, caught me in the middle of an edit, but I honestly had no idea how it worked as a child.

geography is so funny. in the Twin Cities there's a suburb called West St. Paul, but it's actually south of St. Paul (although there's also a South St. Paul, southeast of West St. Paul), because west of St. Paul would be... Minneapolis.

[Zaga]

Not overheard, but read at work, London's Evening Standard yesterday had an article on bedding (who knew you could get 1,000 thread counts?). Article ended .....' a new set of sheets annually is the gold standard '.

Oops. If that's the gold standard I'm probably tin. Or plastic.

Really?  That sounds crazy expensive!  I only buy new sheets when there is a hole in the old set.  Heck, the last time I only bought the fitted sheet because the flat sheet was still just fine!  I think that was a few years ago.

[skunkfunk]

It really doesn't help that the bay is... diagonal. Oh well. We all know how it works.

Yeah, caught me in the middle of an edit, but I honestly had no idea how it worked as a child.

geography is so funny. in the Twin Cities there's a suburb called West St. Paul, but it's actually south of St. Paul (although there's also a South St. Paul, southeast of West St. Paul), because west of St. Paul would be... Minneapolis.

Being from the eastern suburbs, I really hate that whole thing. Now, as a resident of St. Paul, my bigger pet peeve is somewhat more insane: within the city of St. Paul, there is a neighborhood called "the West Side". This is the SOUTHEAST side. I actually live on the western side of the city, and I have no way of describing where I live. Most people don't know the actual neighborhood names (Union Park represent!), so I'm typically stuck with "Near [college]" or "about equidistant from the two downtowns", depending on how familiar the asker is with MSP geography.