Overheard at Work

[mustachepungoeshere]

Got an email at work. Aon Hewitt says I'm on track to retire in 32 years! I can pay them for the details on how they figured that out. The 32 years is just when I turn 65.

Was sitting in a meeting this morning working out that I can retire in 3years on $24K pa.
I was so bored that I was doing the multiplication long hand while pretending to take notes.

This forum is just full of skills I don't possess...

[forummm]

Got an email at work. Aon Hewitt says I'm on track to retire in 32 years! I can pay them for the details on how they figured that out. The 32 years is just when I turn 65.

Was sitting in a meeting this morning working out that I can retire in 3years on $24K pa.
I was so bored that I was doing the multiplication long hand while pretending to take notes.

This forum is just full of skills I don't possess...

I used to do this all the time in meetings. Sometimes in my head, sometimes on paper. And I'd calculate all kinds of stuff about retiring or cutting expenses--even before I found MMM or ERE.

[mustachepungoeshere]

Observed, rather than overheard at work: waste! Waste everywhere!

We print a lot, but some of us are yet to master the art of selecting a range to print.

This is the scene I observe nearly every goddamn day.

Old Person stands at printer waiting for printing. 48 colour A3 pages dutifully appear. Old Person rifles through stack of murdered trees, finds the three necessary pages, and drops the remaining stack in the bin.

This is the layout of the printing room.
_______________________________________________________________________________
[PRINT ROOM DOOR]   [PAPER RECYCLING BIN]  [PRINTER]  [GENERAL WASTE BIN]             
      ^^^.....<.....<.....<.....<.....<.....<.....<.....<.....*Old Person*   

_______________________________________________________________________________

The paper recycling bin is closest to the door. Old Person has to walk past the paper recyling bin to return to his desk. But no, the needlessly massacred trees go in the general waste bin.

At least once a day I find myself fishing paper out of the bin to re-use or recycle.

There seems to be an attitude of 'it's the company's money, so who cares if we waste it'. Apart from the fact that the company is just doing ok, not great, stop killing trees!

[FLA]

Ten years ago, working in hospital, lunched with friends everyday for years, one single woman bit the bullet and put in for retirement at 67.  Met with retirement specialist.  Starts crying at lunch, because she just found out after working there since graduation, the pension she relied upon would give her $300 a month for life.  "I was counting on that pension."  I felt horrible for her but everyone at the table was shocked, then horrified that this would be their situation. I was younger by decades but did not understand.  Only one other person put money in the 403B. Granted, many were married to a spouse with a better salary /pension.  But IMO counting on anyone else, even a spouse, is foolhardy, divorce is not cheap. Still- we got a yearly statement outlining what you were on track to receive at retirement.  If you're single, 67 and going to get $300 a month, wouldn't that have freaked you out many years earlier and you would've tried to figure out a way to improve the situation?

Flash forward 8 yrs, working for hospice, same parent company. Big meeting with head of benefits.  Defined benefit pension no more, cap on what you had vested. No surprise to anyone reading a newspaper (but have to laugh, after working full time for over 20yrs, mine was worth 30k).  More people in this room had been doing the 403B, at same meeting, it was announced match was being cut in half.  Here we are a roomful of hospice people, lowest paid group in the company's system, you are not in it for the money, you're in it because you love it.  Fine, but choosing to live a life of low pay service, you had best have a plan for taking care of yourself, right? 

A social worker (one would think a position that knows a little about what happens to you in old age if you fail to plan, we saw it every single day) raised her hand and said, "I never even knew we had this pension, thank you for keeping it as long as you could."  This was the STUPIDEST thing I ever heard at work. Until the head of benefits said, "you are so welcome!" Amazingly, we did not give him a standing ovation or start doing the Wave. 

[zolotiyeruki]

I used to do this all the time in meetings. Sometimes in my head, sometimes on paper. And I'd calculate all kinds of stuff about retiring or cutting expenses--even before I found MMM or ERE.

Are you my twin?  I used to do that kind of thing all. the. time. at meetings, I'd get so bored.

[swick]

MOD NOTE: I don't suppose it is possible for you to act like adults? How about this, If you can't moderate yourselves there will be no warnings, you KNOW what is appropriate language for our community and I have no problems issuing bans.

[LennStar]

There seems to be an attitude of 'it's the company's money, so who cares if we waste it'. Apart from the fact that the company is just doing ok, not great, stop killing trees!

The problem is that putting your foot into their face does not cahnge their behavior.
But you could try to hang up one reused picture and write on it
"Do you like children? Children like trees. So leave a few standing."

[Silverado]

On another topic, are people watching the bogleheads discussion on beater driving? Some of that is funny.

Link please?

https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=170262

I'll leave the foam alone, it's just too easy to rile up males and those that want to be one.

[plainjane]

Old Person stands at printer waiting for printing. 48 colour A3 pages dutifully appear. Old Person rifles through stack of murdered trees, finds the three necessary pages, and drops the remaining stack in the bin.

At OldJob you had to enter a project number for each print job.  Colour pages were ~$0.40 each and went directly against the project's profitability.  It was shocking how quickly that changed the habits of people on my team.  I didn't realize how much until I came to NewJob and saw the amount of colour being printed, when the only thing that _was_ colour was the header of the document, and the rest was black text.  At least the default here is double sided (I prefer two-up, but understand that only works with people who have the eyes for it).

[RetiredAt63]

It is not an age thing, so "Old Person" should have been "Oblivious Person" - I have seen "old people" be super conservationist and "young people" be super wasteful.  Please don't assume a behaviour that is due to ignorance is due to age.
Just saying.

Those of us who started learning programming back in the dinosaur era remember feeling very sorry for whoever was running a test program that was advancing the paper after one line of print.  And hoping it wasn't our program. So there may be an age demographic that is super conscious of paper use. (And if you are wondering why we didn't just cancel the print job, I did say dinosaur, and that means main-frame and extremely limited access).

I have seen "Old People" know how to use subscript and superscript when using Word, and "Young People" who didn't have a clue about something so basic (thinking of some Chemistry students I have known).

Observed, rather than overheard at work: waste! Waste everywhere!

We print a lot, but some of us are yet to master the art of selecting a range to print.

This is the scene I observe nearly every goddamn day.

Old Person stands at printer waiting for printing. 48 colour A3 pages dutifully appear. Old Person rifles through stack of murdered trees, finds the three necessary pages, and drops the remaining stack in the bin.

This is the layout of the printing room.
_______________________________________________________________________________
[PRINT ROOM DOOR]   [PAPER RECYCLING BIN]  [PRINTER]  [GENERAL WASTE BIN]             
      ^^^.....<.....<.....<.....<.....<.....<.....<.....<.....*Old Person*   

_______________________________________________________________________________

The paper recycling bin is closest to the door. Old Person has to walk past the paper recyling bin to return to his desk. But no, the needlessly massacred trees go in the general waste bin.

At least once a day I find myself fishing paper out of the bin to re-use or recycle.

There seems to be an attitude of 'it's the company's money, so who cares if we waste it'. Apart from the fact that the company is just doing ok, not great, stop killing trees!

[zephyr911]

Colleague is on the phone - during work hours - trying to renegotiate his car lease, to lower the payments to something he can afford.

He's 59, he and his wife are DINKs.

>.<

OMFG! It hurts to read it!

[infogoon]

A conversation among my coworkers this morning about wills -- we are all in our late 30s, married with kids. The consensus was that there's really no point to having a will, since "at this stage of life, all we have is debt anyway".

[Papa Mustache]

Wait, Joe Average, you were really told that a Prius can tow or this was a joke? When I moved a few years back I tried to get a hitch on my Prius and Toyota was like "oh hell no"... Maybe it just couldn't tow enough weight to be worth it? But I was planning to tow something smaller than a camper!

I can't imagine Toyota would allow you to tow anything with your Prius in the USA. If your car is still under warranty I wouldn't even consider it if you want your warranty to not be voided.

I'd look at the UK Prius owner's group and see what they are allowed to tow and see if you indeed have the same vehicles there and here. For example - the 1st gen CR-Vs like mine are the same in the UK. Alternatively the VW Passat is sold all over the world in name but it is a different car in different regions. In China they get a Passat based on the 1980s design. In Europe they get something different than the USA. Our Passat here in the US is built in Chattanooga and is more bulky.

There are likely retailers who sell trailer hitches for your Prius like eTrailer. (No connection to me but I bought a Curt hitch for my CR-V there years ago).

With nothing else to work with - I'd rate your Prius capable of towing the same weight it is capable of carrying inside (passengers plus cargo). That will likely be some modest amount below 1000 lbs. Plenty of tiny basic utility trailers for sale that weigh a couple hundred pounds and capable of carrying more than your car is capable of towing (trailer weight plus cargo weight). I bought one years ago from the local hardware store that was very handy and durable. Later replaced with with a Brenderup 1205S that I am very happy with.

Be safe!

[mtn]

Wait, Joe Average, you were really told that a Prius can tow or this was a joke? When I moved a few years back I tried to get a hitch on my Prius and Toyota was like "oh hell no"... Maybe it just couldn't tow enough weight to be worth it? But I was planning to tow something smaller than a camper!

I can't imagine Toyota would allow you to tow anything with your Prius in the USA. If your car is still under warranty I wouldn't even consider it if you want your warranty to not be voided.

I'd look at the UK Prius owner's group and see what they are allowed to tow and see if you indeed have the same vehicles there and here. For example - the 1st gen CR-Vs like mine are the same in the UK. Alternatively the VW Passat is sold all over the world in name but it is a different car in different regions. In China they get a Passat based on the 1980s design. In Europe they get something different than the USA. Our Passat here in the US is built in Chattanooga and is more bulky.

There are likely retailers who sell trailer hitches for your Prius like eTrailer. (No connection to me but I bought a Curt hitch for my CR-V there years ago).

With nothing else to work with - I'd rate your Prius capable of towing the same weight it is capable of carrying inside (passengers plus cargo). That will likely be some modest amount below 1000 lbs. Plenty of tiny basic utility trailers for sale that weigh a couple hundred pounds and capable of carrying more than your car is capable of towing (trailer weight plus cargo weight). I bought one years ago from the local hardware store that was very handy and durable. Later replaced with with a Brenderup 1205S that I am very happy with.

Be safe!

The Prius can tow a light load just fine. I'd imagine up to 1000 pounds. Have the trailer loaded correctly, and you won't have any issues.

I used to tow with my Miata all the time--no problems. Sometime go and pick up the tongue of a boat trailer, with the boat on it. Not a huge boat, but maybe an 18 foot aluminum. Walk it across the yard. Shockingly easy, huh? And you're just one person. A car has a LOT more power. Not recommending to tow an 18 foot boat with a prius, necessarily, but don't be freaked out by a small trailer with 500lbs on it.

[Hall11235]

Just a little quickie:

CW: I like to pick up seasonal retail jobs to make a little extra 'round the holidays.
Me: That's cool! (thinking there was a closet Mustachian here)
CW: But I haven't brought home a paycheck from this place because I spend it all there! I love getting new shoes.
Me: That's one way to do it... *slinks dejectedly back to cubicle to re-calculate total time to FIRE*

[Chris22]

Wait, Joe Average, you were really told that a Prius can tow or this was a joke? When I moved a few years back I tried to get a hitch on my Prius and Toyota was like "oh hell no"... Maybe it just couldn't tow enough weight to be worth it? But I was planning to tow something smaller than a camper!

I can't imagine Toyota would allow you to tow anything with your Prius in the USA. If your car is still under warranty I wouldn't even consider it if you want your warranty to not be voided.

I'd look at the UK Prius owner's group and see what they are allowed to tow and see if you indeed have the same vehicles there and here. For example - the 1st gen CR-Vs like mine are the same in the UK. Alternatively the VW Passat is sold all over the world in name but it is a different car in different regions. In China they get a Passat based on the 1980s design. In Europe they get something different than the USA. Our Passat here in the US is built in Chattanooga and is more bulky.

There are likely retailers who sell trailer hitches for your Prius like eTrailer. (No connection to me but I bought a Curt hitch for my CR-V there years ago).

With nothing else to work with - I'd rate your Prius capable of towing the same weight it is capable of carrying inside (passengers plus cargo). That will likely be some modest amount below 1000 lbs. Plenty of tiny basic utility trailers for sale that weigh a couple hundred pounds and capable of carrying more than your car is capable of towing (trailer weight plus cargo weight). I bought one years ago from the local hardware store that was very handy and durable. Later replaced with with a Brenderup 1205S that I am very happy with.

Be safe!

The Prius can tow a light load just fine. I'd imagine up to 1000 pounds. Have the trailer loaded correctly, and you won't have any issues.

I used to tow with my Miata all the time--no problems. Sometime go and pick up the tongue of a boat trailer, with the boat on it. Not a huge boat, but maybe an 18 foot aluminum. Walk it across the yard. Shockingly easy, huh? And you're just one person. A car has a LOT more power. Not recommending to tow an 18 foot boat with a prius, necessarily, but don't be freaked out by a small trailer with 500lbs on it.

I don't necessarily disagree that a small car can tow ~500lbs, but note that power to move the load is not usually the issue, it's the added STOPPING power required to stop moving the load. 

Personally, I think the real issue with towing with a small car is that people are absolute garbage at estimating weight.  What looks like a small pile of mulch or gravel or rock or wood can weigh a ton, literally.  You need a trailer to tow something relatively light, but bulky, like a couch?  Knock yourself out.  But some of the things like the building supplies MMM claims to tow or haul with his Scion are, frankly, stupid risky. 

[nobodyspecial]

The Prius can tow a light load just fine. I'd imagine up to 1000 pounds. Have the trailer loaded correctly, and you won't have any issues.

The official towing figures for cars seem suspicously low - almost as if they wanted you to buy a truck !

My Subaru forrester 4x4 with a 175hp motor is 1000lbs and so is a Ford Escape 4x4 - I imagine they would both pull more than this.

[Chris22]

The Prius can tow a light load just fine. I'd imagine up to 1000 pounds. Have the trailer loaded correctly, and you won't have any issues.

The official towing figures for cars seem suspicously low - almost as if they wanted you to buy a truck !

My Subaru forrester 4x4 with a 175hp motor is 1000lbs and so is a Ford Escape 4x4 - I imagine they would both pull more than this.

In this day and age of CAFE and mileage-conscious customers (sometimes, anyways), manufacturers have really gotten great at optimizing the structure of their cars to support exactly what they need to and not much more.  Since most people don't tow things with small cars, there's no need to burden the car with the extra reinforced towing attachment points, the additional cooling capability, the larger brakes, the heavier duty suspension, etc, all of which add weight and decrease mileage.  Do you think the average consumer will chose a Honda Civic with a 1000lb towing capacity and 28/34 mpg ratings over a Toyota Corolla with 0 towing capacity and29/36 mpg ratings? 

Let me answer for you: No.

Also understand that while you might think "Oh, I'm just going to tow a small 200lb trailer with 500lbs in it on flat surface streets a few miles" but a carmaker has to think "If we rate this car at 1000lbs, really we need it to withstand 1500lbs towed up a mountain in 115* heat when it has 49,999 miles on it (out of a warrantied 50k) and never had the transmission fluid changed, etc etc etc."

[mtn]

Corolla has a tow rating of 1500lb.

[sheepstache]

Not money related but I just had a conversation with the facilities manager.
FM: It's between 68-72, which is the accepted range.
Me: I know, I've just been getting complaints. They're little kids so they feel the cold more.
FM: They need to wear clothes! They're all wearing shorts!
Me: ...It's summer. It's 90 degrees outside.

[1967mama]

@Sheepstache, Did you happen to see this article on a/c use in offices?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/frigid-offices-freezing-women-oblivious-men-an-air-conditioning-investigation/2015/07/23/bdd1b4b4-30ae-11e5-97ae-30a30cca95d7_story.html

[sheepstache]

@Sheepstache, Did you happen to see this article on a/c use in offices?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/frigid-offices-freezing-women-oblivious-men-an-air-conditioning-investigation/2015/07/23/bdd1b4b4-30ae-11e5-97ae-30a30cca95d7_story.html

Ah yes the facilities manager was a dude wearing long pants and a long-sleeved dress shirt with undershirt. What I never understand is why, if the temperature is set to dude level and dudes like it cold, the building temperature is so comfy warm in the winter? It's like people are just trying to use the temperature system as much as possible, more to assuage some anxiety that they won't be able to control the temperature than to be comfortable. Can't control the economy, can't control mortality, can't control your mother-in-law, but, hey, it's between 68 and 72 :)

Reminds me of a random snippet from somewhere:
As a rule, man is a fool
When it's hot he wants it cool.
When it's cool he wants it hot,
Always wanting what is not.

[GuitarStv]

I think from now on, I will refer to groups of people as "males" instead. Just to really piss off anyone who gets annoyed by gendered pronouns. "Hey you males, how's it going?"

I was the boss of an all male crew and wonder how they would feel if I called them all ladies - "Alright ladies, this is what we are doing today". Yeah, that's what I should have done. Not insulting at all to them.

OK really not picking a fight but just wanted to post to follow this thread as I finally got around to reading some of it. Took me a couple of years though :-)!

My judo instructor addressed the predominantly male class as 'ladies' each night.  I don't think anyone was offended to be honest.

[Threshkin]

It is not an age thing, so "Old Person" should have been "Oblivious Person" - I have seen "old people" be super conservationist and "young people" be super wasteful.  Please don't assume a behaviour that is due to ignorance is due to age.
Just saying.

+1  Wastefulness is NOT a function of age.

[gimp]

I think from now on, I will refer to groups of people as "males" instead. Just to really piss off anyone who gets annoyed by gendered pronouns. "Hey you males, how's it going?"

I was the boss of an all male crew and wonder how they would feel if I called them all ladies - "Alright ladies, this is what we are doing today". Yeah, that's what I should have done. Not insulting at all to them.

OK really not picking a fight but just wanted to post to follow this thread as I finally got around to reading some of it. Took me a couple of years though :-)!

My judo instructor addressed the predominantly male class as 'ladies' each night.  I don't think anyone was offended to be honest.

If a man gets offended by being addressed in a group as "ladies," he can grow a thicker skin or fuck off.
MOD NOTE: This topic has pretty much exhausted itself and i'm tired of getting reports. Time to drop it folks.
The reverse also applies.

[mustachepungoeshere]

It is not an age thing, so "Old Person" should have been "Oblivious Person" - I have seen "old people" be super conservationist and "young people" be super wasteful.  Please don't assume a behaviour that is due to ignorance is due to age.
Just saying.

Those of us who started learning programming back in the dinosaur era remember feeling very sorry for whoever was running a test program that was advancing the paper after one line of print.  And hoping it wasn't our program. So there may be an age demographic that is super conscious of paper use. (And if you are wondering why we didn't just cancel the print job, I did say dinosaur, and that means main-frame and extremely limited access).

I have seen "Old People" know how to use subscript and superscript when using Word, and "Young People" who didn't have a clue about something so basic (thinking of some Chemistry students I have known).

Observed, rather than overheard at work: waste! Waste everywhere!

We print a lot, but some of us are yet to master the art of selecting a range to print.

This is the scene I observe nearly every goddamn day.

Old Person stands at printer waiting for printing. 48 colour A3 pages dutifully appear. Old Person rifles through stack of murdered trees, finds the three necessary pages, and drops the remaining stack in the bin.

This is the layout of the printing room.
_______________________________________________________________________________
[PRINT ROOM DOOR]   [PAPER RECYCLING BIN]  [PRINTER]  [GENERAL WASTE BIN]             
      ^^^.....<.....<.....<.....<.....<.....<.....<.....<.....*Old Person*   

_______________________________________________________________________________

The paper recycling bin is closest to the door. Old Person has to walk past the paper recyling bin to return to his desk. But no, the needlessly massacred trees go in the general waste bin.

At least once a day I find myself fishing paper out of the bin to re-use or recycle.

There seems to be an attitude of 'it's the company's money, so who cares if we waste it'. Apart from the fact that the company is just doing ok, not great, stop killing trees!

Sorry, I certainly didn't mean to imply that age is the problem here or that all older people are wasteful and incapable of learning something new, just that the main perpetrator in my office is in his 70s.

[RetiredAt63]

But you connected them - this is why "Oblivious Person" (or CW) is the more appropriate label.  Your CW may be operating out of habit, and not thinking about the end result.  We all operate out of habit, it saves wear and tear on the brain for when we actually need to think about something.  Plus habits can be good, if we always put something (the car keys?) in the same place, we know where they are.

And just as a general comment, not aimed at mustachepungoeshere, how we label people/things does often reflect our thinking, or shape it, so it is worth while thinking about labels.  I read it as lumping old people into a category, when the behaviour was not necessarily age-related.

It is not an age thing, so "Old Person" should have been "Oblivious Person" - I have seen "old people" be super conservationist and "young people" be super wasteful.  Please don't assume a behaviour that is due to ignorance is due to age.
Just saying.

Sorry, I certainly didn't mean to imply that age is the problem here or that all older people are wasteful and incapable of learning something new, just that the main perpetrator in my office is in his 70s.

[mustachepungoeshere]

But you connected them - this is why "Oblivious Person" (or CW) is the more appropriate label.  Your CW may be operating out of habit, and not thinking about the end result.  We all operate out of habit, it saves wear and tear on the brain for when we actually need to think about something.  Plus habits can be good, if we always put something (the car keys?) in the same place, we know where they are.

And just as a general comment, not aimed at mustachepungoeshere, how we label people/things does often reflect our thinking, or shape it, so it is worth while thinking about labels.  I read it as lumping old people into a category, when the behaviour was not necessarily age-related.

It is not an age thing, so "Old Person" should have been "Oblivious Person" - I have seen "old people" be super conservationist and "young people" be super wasteful.  Please don't assume a behaviour that is due to ignorance is due to age.
Just saying.

Sorry, I certainly didn't mean to imply that age is the problem here or that all older people are wasteful and incapable of learning something new, just that the main perpetrator in my office is in his 70s.

This is a forum about early retirement. I'm talking about a co-worker in his 70s doing half the work of any of his colleagues, who sits in meetings and looks for any opportunity to interrupt with a long-winded story about the people he knew and the places he went, and who falls asleep at his desk at 3pm every day, but who is here because he can't afford to retire.

His behaviour is age-related. He's old, he's tired, and he doesn't want to be here. When taught new software or new processes, he states he 'won't bother' using it.

I appreciate that this industry that has evolved so quickly around him that it bears precious little resemblance to the one he started out in more than 50 years ago, but sentimentality isn't enough.

For the record, I also work with driven, passionate older colleagues, and slackarse twenty-somethings.

[Megma]

The Prius can tow a light load just fine. I'd imagine up to 1000 pounds. Have the trailer loaded correctly, and you won't have any issues.

The official towing figures for cars seem suspicously low - almost as if they wanted you to buy a truck !

My Subaru forrester 4x4 with a 175hp motor is 1000lbs and so is a Ford Escape 4x4 - I imagine they would both pull more than this.

In this day and age of CAFE and mileage-conscious customers (sometimes, anyways), manufacturers have really gotten great at optimizing the structure of their cars to support exactly what they need to and not much more.  Since most people don't tow things with small cars, there's no need to burden the car with the extra reinforced towing attachment points, the additional cooling capability, the larger brakes, the heavier duty suspension, etc, all of which add weight and decrease mileage.  Do you think the average consumer will chose a Honda Civic with a 1000lb towing capacity and 28/34 mpg ratings over a Toyota Corolla with 0 towing capacity and29/36 mpg ratings? 

Let me answer for you: No.

Also understand that while you might think "Oh, I'm just going to tow a small 200lb trailer with 500lbs in it on flat surface streets a few miles" but a carmaker has to think "If we rate this car at 1000lbs, really we need it to withstand 1500lbs towed up a mountain in 115* heat when it has 49,999 miles on it (out of a warrantied 50k) and never had the transmission fluid changed, etc etc etc."

Good info. Really I don't need/plan to tow with my Prius, it only came up once a couple years ago when my bf and I were moving from state to state. We both have small cars, me a Prius and him Corolla. Mtm, they also said the Corolla could not tow but perhaps this is because neither car could tow anything close to what we needed, I assume a full u-haul trailer would be more than 1000 lbs....

We had to rent a truck but we ended up needing the space anyway!

[Seppia]

A few days ago I had a really disheartening conversation with one of the guys on my team.
He is in his mid 40s and makes an above average salary.
Chatting with HR I discovered he wasn't contributing to his 401k, never had.
Our company matches 3%
I gave him a call and tried to insist he should contribute, at the very minimum to get the company match free money.
He responded he will "start in August" as right now his living expenses do not allow that.
He drives a huge German made suv.
I was almost in tears for him.

[skunkfunk]

I think from now on, I will refer to groups of people as "males" instead. Just to really piss off anyone who gets annoyed by gendered pronouns. "Hey you males, how's it going?"

I was the boss of an all male crew and wonder how they would feel if I called them all ladies - "Alright ladies, this is what we are doing today". Yeah, that's what I should have done. Not insulting at all to them.

OK really not picking a fight but just wanted to post to follow this thread as I finally got around to reading some of it. Took me a couple of years though :-)!

My judo instructor addressed the predominantly male class as 'ladies' each night.  I don't think anyone was offended to be honest.

If a man gets offended by being addressed in a group as "ladies," he can grow a thicker skin or fuck off.
MOD NOTE: This topic has pretty much exhausted itself and i'm tired of getting reports. Time to drop it folks.
The reverse also applies.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought we could say bad words around here?

[Adventine]

It isn't about the bad words. It's about how some posters keep bringing up divisive off-topic debates, even after several warnings.

Stop spoiling the best thread on this forum! Let's get back to making fun of people at the office!

[forummm]

A few days ago I had a really disheartening conversation with one of the guys on my team.
He is in his mid 40s and makes an above average salary.
Chatting with HR I discovered he wasn't contributing to his 401k, never had.
Our company matches 3%
I gave him a call and tried to insist he should contribute, at the very minimum to get the company match free money.
He responded he will "start in August" as right now his living expenses do not allow that.
He drives a huge German made suv.
I was almost in tears for him.

And the 3% would be tax free (non-FICA). It'd only be like a 2% hit to his take home. He wouldn't even notice it.

[Seppia]

I tried trust me.
I even did the rough math for him, like "do you realize that $100 of your gross are $70 in your pocket at most, but would be $200 in the 401k? You'd give up 70$ per paycheck and get 200$ in exchange, it's a magic tool that triples your money"
Didn't work.

[cripzychiken]

So I was talking to a CW who is (or I guess now appears to be) relatively good with money.  So we were talking about how another CW just bought his 3rd rental house and then he let's this barb out.

CW:  Oh, I don't think I could do that, I already have 5 mortgages.
Me: ... 5?!?!?! ... 5?!?!?! How do you have 5 houses?
CW: Well, there's our house, husban'ds 1st house, wife's first house, wife's mother's house and husband's parents.  SO yeah, we pay 5 mortgages a month.  It's not that bad.
Me: Oh, so you have 4 rentals with 2 to family, so that's not so bad, but yeah, I could see how another would be hard to manage
CW: Well only 1 rental.  We aren't actually on the parent's mortgage, we just pay it, same for wife's mom.  Wife's first house is only a 2/1 apartment, so we never felt it was worth the hassle to fill it since husband's 1st house (3/2) is filled, but it's a negative cash flow.
Me: .... why?... what? ... how? ... (weird confused look)
CW: Yeah.
Me: So, since you've been paying the parent's mortgage for 10+ yrs, you at least are going to be willed the parents' house when they pass (they are in their 90's)?
CW: No, it will be split between all 5 kids, and we've never talked with wife's mom, but we assume the same.  It's their house not ours, so we don't have a say in it.
Me: Oh, look there a meeting I have to get to before my mind blows up.

[skunkfunk]

So I was talking to a CW who is (or I guess now appears to be) relatively good with money.  So we were talking about how another CW just bought his 3rd rental house and then he let's this barb out.

CW:  Oh, I don't think I could do that, I already have 5 mortgages.
Me: ... 5?!?!?! ... 5?!?!?! How do you have 5 houses?
CW: Well, there's our house, husban'ds 1st house, wife's first house, wife's mother's house and husband's parents.  SO yeah, we pay 5 mortgages a month.  It's not that bad.
Me: Oh, so you have 4 rentals with 2 to family, so that's not so bad, but yeah, I could see how another would be hard to manage
CW: Well only 1 rental.  We aren't actually on the parent's mortgage, we just pay it, same for wife's mom.  Wife's first house is only a 2/1 apartment, so we never felt it was worth the hassle to fill it since husband's 1st house (3/2) is filled, but it's a negative cash flow.
Me: .... why?... what? ... how? ... (weird confused look)
CW: Yeah.
Me: So, since you've been paying the parent's mortgage for 10+ yrs, you at least are going to be willed the parents' house when they pass (they are in their 90's)?
CW: No, it will be split between all 5 kids, and we've never talked with wife's mom, but we assume the same.  It's their house not ours, so we don't have a say in it.
Me: Oh, look there a meeting I have to get to before my mind blows up.

what in the hell?? I'm speechless. I think you win the thread, I can't remember anything else that made me want to just give up.

Any chance you have the slightest clue why they own the apartment and the rental? It sounds too bad to be real, is he/she/can't-tell-from-story shitting you for sympathy?

[cripzychiken]

So I was talking to a CW who is (or I guess now appears to be) relatively good with money.  So we were talking about how another CW just bought his 3rd rental house and then he let's this barb out.

CW:  Oh, I don't think I could do that, I already have 5 mortgages.
Me: ... 5?!?!?! ... 5?!?!?! How do you have 5 houses?
CW: Well, there's our house, husban'ds 1st house, wife's first house, wife's mother's house and husband's parents.  SO yeah, we pay 5 mortgages a month.  It's not that bad.
Me: Oh, so you have 4 rentals with 2 to family, so that's not so bad, but yeah, I could see how another would be hard to manage
CW: Well only 1 rental.  We aren't actually on the parent's mortgage, we just pay it, same for wife's mom.  Wife's first house is only a 2/1 apartment, so we never felt it was worth the hassle to fill it since husband's 1st house (3/2) is filled, but it's a negative cash flow.
Me: .... why?... what? ... how? ... (weird confused look)
CW: Yeah.
Me: So, since you've been paying the parent's mortgage for 10+ yrs, you at least are going to be willed the parents' house when they pass (they are in their 90's)?
CW: No, it will be split between all 5 kids, and we've never talked with wife's mom, but we assume the same.  It's their house not ours, so we don't have a say in it.
Me: Oh, look there a meeting I have to get to before my mind blows up.

what in the hell?? I'm speechless. I think you win the thread, I can't remember anything else that made me want to just give up.

Any chance you have the slightest clue why they own the apartment and the rental? It sounds too bad to be real, is he/she/can't-tell-from-story shitting you for sympathy?

I've taken the time to calm down and go back and ask more questions.

Both of the 1st houses were bought pre-bubble and they are underwater on them.  I know the plan is to sell, but they are waiting until they won't have to pay to get out of the mortgage.  Also found out the 2/1 apartment is downtown so would rent out super quick and for more than the 3/2 house in the burbs.  But since it's less rooms, it's obviously not worth the effort.  Apparently he never thought of paying a management company to do everything for him - he'd rather pay the mortgage without help, then have someone else manage the property. 

AS for the parent's house, they just feel that it is their responsibility to pay for both of their parent's houses (his and hers) but couldn't answer why the rest of the kids don't/won't help the parents (one is youngest of 4, other is middle of 5, plus 7 of the 9 siblings live in town, most have good jobs)

I'm just lost for words.

[jinga nation]

I tried trust me.
I even did the rough math for him, like "do you realize that $100 of your gross are $70 in your pocket at most, but would be $200 in the 401k? You'd give up 70$ per paycheck and get 200$ in exchange, it's a magic tool that triples your money"
Didn't work.

Non-mustachians don't get non-card, non-Vegas magic. They don't trust magic that increases money in the wallet. But they are happy to fall for consumer magic that makes one buy shit they don't need.

[jinga nation]

GS-13 in my office whining about his pay... he always has some issue. He is retired from the military, did his 20+ years, gets a pension. So he whines about his 2nd paycheck at least once a month. This is a man who is a drama queen, annoys my contractor boss constantly, does absolutely nothing and doesn't contribute to a positive work environment, and drives 150 miles round trip for 4 10-hour work days.

[mtn]

So I was talking to a CW who is (or I guess now appears to be) relatively good with money.  So we were talking about how another CW just bought his 3rd rental house and then he let's this barb out.

CW:  Oh, I don't think I could do that, I already have 5 mortgages.
Me: ... 5?!?!?! ... 5?!?!?! How do you have 5 houses?
CW: Well, there's our house, husban'ds 1st house, wife's first house, wife's mother's house and husband's parents.  SO yeah, we pay 5 mortgages a month.  It's not that bad.
Me: Oh, so you have 4 rentals with 2 to family, so that's not so bad, but yeah, I could see how another would be hard to manage
CW: Well only 1 rental.  We aren't actually on the parent's mortgage, we just pay it, same for wife's mom.  Wife's first house is only a 2/1 apartment, so we never felt it was worth the hassle to fill it since husband's 1st house (3/2) is filled, but it's a negative cash flow.
Me: .... why?... what? ... how? ... (weird confused look)
CW: Yeah.
Me: So, since you've been paying the parent's mortgage for 10+ yrs, you at least are going to be willed the parents' house when they pass (they are in their 90's)?
CW: No, it will be split between all 5 kids, and we've never talked with wife's mom, but we assume the same.  It's their house not ours, so we don't have a say in it.
Me: Oh, look there a meeting I have to get to before my mind blows up.

what in the hell?? I'm speechless. I think you win the thread, I can't remember anything else that made me want to just give up.

Any chance you have the slightest clue why they own the apartment and the rental? It sounds too bad to be real, is he/she/can't-tell-from-story shitting you for sympathy?

I've taken the time to calm down and go back and ask more questions.

Both of the 1st houses were bought pre-bubble and they are underwater on them.  I know the plan is to sell, but they are waiting until they won't have to pay to get out of the mortgage.  Also found out the 2/1 apartment is downtown so would rent out super quick and for more than the 3/2 house in the burbs.  But since it's less rooms, it's obviously not worth the effort.  Apparently he never thought of paying a management company to do everything for him - he'd rather pay the mortgage without help, then have someone else manage the property. 

AS for the parent's house, they just feel that it is their responsibility to pay for both of their parent's houses (his and hers) but couldn't answer why the rest of the kids don't/won't help the parents (one is youngest of 4, other is middle of 5, plus 7 of the 9 siblings live in town, most have good jobs)

I'm just lost for words.

Tell him you'll manage it and pay him $500 a month for the privelage to do so.

[Pooperman]

It isn't about the bad words. It's about how some posters keep bringing up divisive off-topic debates, even after several warnings.

Stop spoiling the best thread on this forum! Let's get back to making fun of people at the office!

Oops sorry. My bad. Didn't see mods warning until much later. Will stay OT and enjoy everyone's trials and tribulations about working life from the comfort of my ER arm chair. It does help to keep me on the straight and narrow MMM path when I hear terrible work stories because I don't want to have to deal with that stuff again.

My boss... Those two words should be enough to scare you straight!

[auntie_betty]

Got an email at work. Aon Hewitt says I'm on track to retire in 32 years! I can pay them for the details on how they figured that out. The 32 years is just when I turn 65.

Was sitting in a meeting this morning working out that I can retire in 3years on $24K pa.
I was so bored that I was doing the multiplication long hand while pretending to take notes.

I started to do that instead of working out how much staff wages were being wasted on yet another pointless meeting with all 5 directors present.
One of the few things I miss now I'm FIRE :)

Not overheard at work as I'm FIRE, but neighbour who's just spent thousands flying family from UK to Mexico (1st class) for a holiday  'because they can afford it'
Same neighbour just spent £30k on their lounge 'because they can afford it'
Same neighbour told me how she'd love to retire early but can't see it happening any time soon.......

[Carolina on My Mind]

Here’s a good one:  happened last year but it’s seared into my memory.

Speaker is a divorced woman who apparently splits custody of the kid with her ex.  She is complaining to her friend that the school district won’t add a bus stop near her house, so when she has the kid she has to drive him over to her ex-husband’s house in the morning so that he can catch the school bus there.  She’s pretty outraged that the school district won’t accommodate a kid who splits his time between two households.  I’m listening to this conversation and thinking, I don’t know how these things work, but that’s gotta be hard on the kid as well as the mom, and maybe the school district ought to be more accommodating?

Then she says, “It doesn’t make any sense that they can’t add another stop.  I mean, we’re only a block apart!”  Yes, you read that right:  she lives a block away from her ex-husband and is driving her son that one block to catch the bus.  And she’s outraged that the school district is inconveniencing her so.  OMG.

[gimp]

Please tell me you live somewhere super rural, where a block is like three miles...

[Travis]

GS-13 in my office whining about his pay... he always has some issue. He is retired from the military, did his 20+ years, gets a pension. So he whines about his 2nd paycheck at least once a month. This is a man who is a drama queen, annoys my contractor boss constantly, does absolutely nothing and doesn't contribute to a positive work environment, and drives 150 miles round trip for 4 10-hour work days.

I've known quite a few like that. What did he retire at?

On the flip side I worked with a prior-enlisted guy who will soon retire as an O-4 (human resources).  His plan after retirement is to get a job as a GS-6 in the same personnel office to stay busy rather than because he needs the money.  I think secretly he's also doing it to make a statement to the type of GS-retiree you referenced.

[sheepstache]

I think from now on, I will refer to groups of people as "males" instead. Just to really piss off anyone who gets annoyed by gendered pronouns. "Hey you males, how's it going?"

I was the boss of an all male crew and wonder how they would feel if I called them all ladies - "Alright ladies, this is what we are doing today". Yeah, that's what I should have done. Not insulting at all to them.

OK really not picking a fight but just wanted to post to follow this thread as I finally got around to reading some of it. Took me a couple of years though :-)!

My judo instructor addressed the predominantly male class as 'ladies' each night.  I don't think anyone was offended to be honest.

If a man gets offended by being addressed in a group as "ladies," he can grow a thicker skin or fuck off.
MOD NOTE: This topic has pretty much exhausted itself and i'm tired of getting reports. Time to drop it folks.
The reverse also applies.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought we could say bad words around here?

You can say bad words but you have to have a discussion, you can't just hurl insults at people. This is the MMM forum, not the youtube comments section fer chrissakes.

[Carolina on My Mind]

Please tell me you live somewhere super rural, where a block is like three miles...

Nope, this was in Washington, DC.  (Of course, given the way some people organize their lives, she might live in West Virginia or Pennsylvania for all I know . . . .) 

[RWD]

Got an email at work. Aon Hewitt says I'm on track to retire in 32 years! I can pay them for the details on how they figured that out. The 32 years is just when I turn 65.

Was sitting in a meeting this morning working out that I can retire in 3years on $24K pa.
I was so bored that I was doing the multiplication long hand while pretending to take notes.

I started to do that instead of working out how much staff wages were being wasted on yet another pointless meeting with all 5 directors present.
One of the few things I miss now I'm FIRE :)

Not overheard at work as I'm FIRE, but neighbour who's just spent thousands flying family from UK to Mexico (1st class) for a holiday  'because they can afford it'
Same neighbour just spent £30k on their lounge 'because they can afford it'
Same neighbour told me how she'd love to retire early but can't see it happening any time soon.......

I guess they can't afford retirement...

[Adventine]

--- Quote from: spartana on Today at 05:19:22 AM ---
--- Quote from: Adventine on Today at 03:55:48 AM ---It isn't about the bad words. It's about how some posters keep bringing up divisive off-topic debates, even after several warnings.

Stop spoiling the best thread on this forum! Let's get back to making fun of people at the office!

--- End quote ---
Oops sorry. My bad. Didn't see mods warning until much later. Will stay OT and enjoy everyone's trials and tribulations about working life from the comfort of my ER arm chair. It does help to keep me on the straight and narrow MMM path when I hear terrible work stories because I don't want to have to deal with that stuff again.

--- End quote ---

No worries, you're one of the more levelheaded posters on the forum :) I just really want to get back on topic!

Overheard at my office building lobby (not my actual office):

Two office workers, both thirtysomething men, were discussing emergency funds. Guy A was giving sensible advice to Guy B ("You should definitely have at least 6 months worth of expenses saved. You need to calculate how much you spend in a month to get to that figure") but B was unimpressed: "If I run out of money, I'll just move in with my parents. I'll have as much as I want to eat." (paraphrased)

I could only shake my head sadly as they walked away.

[ducky19]

I was walking past a coworker's desk who drives a Dodge Ram Crew Cab 55 miles each way five days a week and noticed he's looking at trucks on the local dealer's website.

Me: Are you getting a new truck?
CW: Just looking to see how much the bigger crew cab is. (drives solo, mind you)
Me: What year is your truck?
CW: 2014, but they've got some really good deals and I'm tired of the grandkid's feet kicking my seat.
Me: Have you thought of putting him on the other side?
CW: *silence*