Overheard on Facebook

[shadowmoss]

Then why are you touching them if you have no apparent reason to?

Couldn't resist...

[ysette9]

If she doesn't have email, then she's probably technically illiterate in general. Older folks really have a hard time with all this new-fangled technology. It's not just that it's unfamiliar and they don't want to learn --it's that often they can't learn it the way younger people can.

My dad used to be an engineer for the telephone company, and was an early adopter of personal computing at home in the '80s. Nowadays, he can usually muddle through using software that he's familiar with, but as soon as something goes wrong, he's utterly lost. And if he forgets a password? Might as well just close that account, as he'll never figure out how to recover it. New websites and software are completely beyond him.
 
And this is a guy who's still generally competent, able to make reasoned decisions, balance his checkbook (yes, he still does that), etc. It's just that unfamiliar technology places demands on aging brains that are different and harder than everyday offline life.

My father should be hired as a QA tester at a tech company. When faced with a tech problem, he pushes buttons until something happens, and it's not usually something good. He once managed to disable the sound on the TV by getting into some service menu that no one else has ever discovered, and his home laptop is unusable at this point. I used to access it remotely to fix it, but he managed to delete that app, and being 3,000 miles away doesn't help.

Your dad is impressive!  One time I managed to get an error in German on a program.  My boss was pretty amazed that I managed that.  The people who wrote the program were also pretty amazed.  (To be fair though, it was a German program).

That was pretty much me with Windows and associated programs two jobs ago. I am reasonably computer literate but I always managed to find the most obscure errors on my work computer. I figured it was because it knew I was a Mac person at heart and just had to give me the middle finger every now and again. If I had $0.50 for every time the tech support person said “huh, I’ve never seen that before”, well, I would have retired earlier than I did! I’ll never forget the one time my browser randomly started giving my error messages in meaningless Chinese characters...

[dcheesi]

If she doesn't have email, then she's probably technically illiterate in general. Older folks really have a hard time with all this new-fangled technology. It's not just that it's unfamiliar and they don't want to learn --it's that often they can't learn it the way younger people can.

My dad used to be an engineer for the telephone company, and was an early adopter of personal computing at home in the '80s. Nowadays, he can usually muddle through using software that he's familiar with, but as soon as something goes wrong, he's utterly lost. And if he forgets a password? Might as well just close that account, as he'll never figure out how to recover it. New websites and software are completely beyond him.
 
And this is a guy who's still generally competent, able to make reasoned decisions, balance his checkbook (yes, he still does that), etc. It's just that unfamiliar technology places demands on aging brains that are different and harder than everyday offline life.

My father should be hired as a QA tester at a tech company. When faced with a tech problem, he pushes buttons until something happens, and it's not usually something good. He once managed to disable the sound on the TV by getting into some service menu that no one else has ever discovered, and his home laptop is unusable at this point. I used to access it remotely to fix it, but he managed to delete that app, and being 3,000 miles away doesn't help.

Your dad is impressive!  One time I managed to get an error in German on a program.  My boss was pretty amazed that I managed that.  The people who wrote the program were also pretty amazed.  (To be fair though, it was a German program).

That was pretty much me with Windows and associated programs two jobs ago. I am reasonably computer literate but I always managed to find the most obscure errors on my work computer. I figured it was because it knew I was a Mac person at heart and just had to give me the middle finger every now and again. If I had $0.50 for every time the tech support person said “huh, I’ve never seen that before”, well, I would have retired earlier than I did! I’ll never forget the one time my browser randomly started giving my error messages in meaningless Chinese characters...

Now that you all mention it, dad did have a weird one a while back. He started complaining that he couldn't pay bills online because his browser would just disappear. My brother and I both assumed he was just doing something silly and accidentally minimizing or something. But he finally showed me what was happening, and sure enough, his whole browser was crashing/exiting when he'd hit Submit on a payment on his bank's web interface¹. No warning, no error message or crash dialog, just *poof* it's gone.

Of course it also turned out that he was using Micro$oft's Edge browser, so perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised; switching to Chrome fixed the problem completely. But I had to make a desktop shortcut (ugh) with his bank's name on it so he'd remember to use that instead the Edge icon (which he associated with his bank at that point).

¹ and it wasn't even the first time, but rather the second or third time he submitted a payment that it would crash/exit.

[chicagomeg]

This was just posted in our neighborhood chat group. Someone was looking for the contact info of a specific butcher shop so they could host a BBQ for over 100 people. This shop imports premium fresh meat from Australia. Just for fun I looked up the prices online. A meat set that serves 20 was $360. So the cost just for meat for this BBQ would be around $1800.

I started to be very upset that you knew someone hosting a BBQ for 100 people and then saw you're located in China where life has already returned to normal. What a weird world we're living in now!

[MudPuppy]

but isn't it nice to look forward to when we get to that point ourselves? :)

[frugalnacho]

This was just posted in our neighborhood chat group. Someone was looking for the contact info of a specific butcher shop so they could host a BBQ for over 100 people. This shop imports premium fresh meat from Australia. Just for fun I looked up the prices online. A meat set that serves 20 was $360. So the cost just for meat for this BBQ would be around $1800.

What? That's insane.  That's $18/person.  You could buy premium restaurant quality steaks for every single person for much, much, less than that price. 

[joleran]

What? That's insane.  That's $18/person.  You could buy premium restaurant quality steaks for every single person for much, much, less than that price.

Depends on what it is.  High end Australian Wagyu is not found in stores or in anything but the highest end restaurants, to say nothing of Japanese A5 Wagyu ,which can be $200/lb or more fully trimmed.

[Freedomin5]

This was just posted in our neighborhood chat group. Someone was looking for the contact info of a specific butcher shop so they could host a BBQ for over 100 people. This shop imports premium fresh meat from Australia. Just for fun I looked up the prices online. A meat set that serves 20 was $360. So the cost just for meat for this BBQ would be around $1800.

I started to be very upset that you knew someone hosting a BBQ for 100 people and then saw you're located in China where life has already returned to normal. What a weird world we're living in now!

Actually...you have some right to be upset. Social distancing is still enforced and you are still required to wear masks in public. Also, large social gatherings are still discouraged. So I don’t know how they’re going to have 100 people eating BBQ while maintaining 6 feet distance from everyone else.

[stylesjl]

This was just posted in our neighborhood chat group. Someone was looking for the contact info of a specific butcher shop so they could host a BBQ for over 100 people. This shop imports premium fresh meat from Australia. Just for fun I looked up the prices online. A meat set that serves 20 was $360. So the cost just for meat for this BBQ would be around $1800.

$1800 you say? Perhaps they just got their Stimulus Money...

[Sugaree]

I recently got dragged into a convo about babysitting. There's a mom asking a group what a reasonable price would be for a sitter for 4 kids 5 and under (three age 4, one infant).

Well, mostly the responses were $25-30 an hour, maybe $20.

But she didn't really like that.  So I pointed out that it's FOUR kids UNDER the age of 5.  The # of kids and the age of the kids matter.   Then she and two others went on a HUGE rant about how can ANYONE afford to go out, and that's ridiculous.

It moved on to "well, preschool teachers get $15 / hour for 8 kids under 5!"

I mean, aside from the fact that preschool teachers get benefits AND experienced ones get more than that AND they work close to full time - what are you expecting?  Because my babysitter is/was a preschool teacher.  She's in her 30's.  She's WELL WORTH the extra $ because she plays with the kids and they are asleep in their beds when we get home. 

She needs to make a living too, yes?  And $15 / hour is really peanuts here.  Cleaning ladies make $20+.

(FWIW, I was paying $15-18/hr for 2 kids who were 6 and 12).

I didn't SAY it (but thought about it): Look, you don't like the numbers, don't go out.  You find the unicorn willing to watch your four kids under five, and get them to bed, for $12-15 an hour?  Great, enjoy it.  Otherwise?  Find someone to swap with, or do what we did for 10 years.  Don't go out!  The sitters will tell you what they charge, pay it or stay home.

It's a fair point to say that a part-time babysitting gig is going to be more expensive per hour than a full time childcare job.  It's also highly location dependent.  I keep seeing this post go around FB about how a woman was looking for someone to watch her two kids full-time for ~$100/week.  Most people thought that she was insane or negligent or deserved to lose her kids or whatever.  I live in a super low COLA where full time care in a center can run as low as $95/week/child.  I guarantee that I could find a SAHP willing to take on a couple of extra kids for $100/week. 

[DadJokes]

I recently got dragged into a convo about babysitting. There's a mom asking a group what a reasonable price would be for a sitter for 4 kids 5 and under (three age 4, one infant).

Well, mostly the responses were $25-30 an hour, maybe $20.

But she didn't really like that.  So I pointed out that it's FOUR kids UNDER the age of 5.  The # of kids and the age of the kids matter.   Then she and two others went on a HUGE rant about how can ANYONE afford to go out, and that's ridiculous.

It moved on to "well, preschool teachers get $15 / hour for 8 kids under 5!"

I mean, aside from the fact that preschool teachers get benefits AND experienced ones get more than that AND they work close to full time - what are you expecting?  Because my babysitter is/was a preschool teacher.  She's in her 30's.  She's WELL WORTH the extra $ because she plays with the kids and they are asleep in their beds when we get home. 

She needs to make a living too, yes?  And $15 / hour is really peanuts here.  Cleaning ladies make $20+.

(FWIW, I was paying $15-18/hr for 2 kids who were 6 and 12).

I didn't SAY it (but thought about it): Look, you don't like the numbers, don't go out.  You find the unicorn willing to watch your four kids under five, and get them to bed, for $12-15 an hour?  Great, enjoy it.  Otherwise?  Find someone to swap with, or do what we did for 10 years.  Don't go out!  The sitters will tell you what they charge, pay it or stay home.

It's a fair point to say that a part-time babysitting gig is going to be more expensive per hour than a full time childcare job.  It's also highly location dependent.  I keep seeing this post go around FB about how a woman was looking for someone to watch her two kids full-time for ~$100/week.  Most people thought that she was insane or negligent or deserved to lose her kids or whatever.  I live in a super low COLA where full time care in a center can run as low as $95/week/child.  I guarantee that I could find a SAHP willing to take on a couple of extra kids for $100/week.

When our child was an infant, we paid a SAHM $25/day to keep him during the workday. It felt like an underpayment, but we had to insist, since she wanted to do it for free. Her kids were old enough to be in school, so she was bored.

People like that are out there. It makes childcare a much more reasonable cost.

[ender]

This was just posted in our neighborhood chat group. Someone was looking for the contact info of a specific butcher shop so they could host a BBQ for over 100 people. This shop imports premium fresh meat from Australia. Just for fun I looked up the prices online. A meat set that serves 20 was $360. So the cost just for meat for this BBQ would be around $1800.

$1800 you say? Perhaps they just got their Stimulus Money...

in China?

[TheGrimSqueaker]

I recently got dragged into a convo about babysitting. There's a mom asking a group what a reasonable price would be for a sitter for 4 kids 5 and under (three age 4, one infant).

Well, mostly the responses were $25-30 an hour, maybe $20.

But she didn't really like that.  So I pointed out that it's FOUR kids UNDER the age of 5.  The # of kids and the age of the kids matter.   Then she and two others went on a HUGE rant about how can ANYONE afford to go out, and that's ridiculous.

It moved on to "well, preschool teachers get $15 / hour for 8 kids under 5!"

I mean, aside from the fact that preschool teachers get benefits AND experienced ones get more than that AND they work close to full time - what are you expecting?  Because my babysitter is/was a preschool teacher.  She's in her 30's.  She's WELL WORTH the extra $ because she plays with the kids and they are asleep in their beds when we get home. 

She needs to make a living too, yes?  And $15 / hour is really peanuts here.  Cleaning ladies make $20+.

(FWIW, I was paying $15-18/hr for 2 kids who were 6 and 12).

I didn't SAY it (but thought about it): Look, you don't like the numbers, don't go out.  You find the unicorn willing to watch your four kids under five, and get them to bed, for $12-15 an hour?  Great, enjoy it.  Otherwise?  Find someone to swap with, or do what we did for 10 years.  Don't go out!  The sitters will tell you what they charge, pay it or stay home.

It's a fair point to say that a part-time babysitting gig is going to be more expensive per hour than a full time childcare job.  It's also highly location dependent.  I keep seeing this post go around FB about how a woman was looking for someone to watch her two kids full-time for ~$100/week.  Most people thought that she was insane or negligent or deserved to lose her kids or whatever.  I live in a super low COLA where full time care in a center can run as low as $95/week/child.  I guarantee that I could find a SAHP willing to take on a couple of extra kids for $100/week.

When our child was an infant, we paid a SAHM $25/day to keep him during the workday. It felt like an underpayment, but we had to insist, since she wanted to do it for free. Her kids were old enough to be in school, so she was bored.

People like that are out there. It makes childcare a much more reasonable cost.

Indeed, and to get that kind of help and support from another household it's necessary to have a real-life, in-person social network. Sometimes people inherit one by being born into a basically functional extended family and by living close enough to rely on them. Other times people build networks through a neighborhood, a church, a club, a school, or some other place where people can form lasting ties and also get to know each other really well. Building a network like that from scratch requires an investment of time and social capital that many people with young children simply haven't made.

One of the "but-but-but" objections I often hear to peer babysitting is that people don't want to leave their children with "a stranger" or someone not licensed and credentialed, and that they don't have a social network. This is generally because they haven't taken the time to build one. It involves a lot of socializing-- yes, for an introvert that's often "work"-- and a lot of doing favors for other people. It's not necessarily a quid pro quo so much as getting out there and contributing to the community.

[DadJokes]

I recently got dragged into a convo about babysitting. There's a mom asking a group what a reasonable price would be for a sitter for 4 kids 5 and under (three age 4, one infant).

Well, mostly the responses were $25-30 an hour, maybe $20.

But she didn't really like that.  So I pointed out that it's FOUR kids UNDER the age of 5.  The # of kids and the age of the kids matter.   Then she and two others went on a HUGE rant about how can ANYONE afford to go out, and that's ridiculous.

It moved on to "well, preschool teachers get $15 / hour for 8 kids under 5!"

I mean, aside from the fact that preschool teachers get benefits AND experienced ones get more than that AND they work close to full time - what are you expecting?  Because my babysitter is/was a preschool teacher.  She's in her 30's.  She's WELL WORTH the extra $ because she plays with the kids and they are asleep in their beds when we get home. 

She needs to make a living too, yes?  And $15 / hour is really peanuts here.  Cleaning ladies make $20+.

(FWIW, I was paying $15-18/hr for 2 kids who were 6 and 12).

I didn't SAY it (but thought about it): Look, you don't like the numbers, don't go out.  You find the unicorn willing to watch your four kids under five, and get them to bed, for $12-15 an hour?  Great, enjoy it.  Otherwise?  Find someone to swap with, or do what we did for 10 years.  Don't go out!  The sitters will tell you what they charge, pay it or stay home.

It's a fair point to say that a part-time babysitting gig is going to be more expensive per hour than a full time childcare job.  It's also highly location dependent.  I keep seeing this post go around FB about how a woman was looking for someone to watch her two kids full-time for ~$100/week.  Most people thought that she was insane or negligent or deserved to lose her kids or whatever.  I live in a super low COLA where full time care in a center can run as low as $95/week/child.  I guarantee that I could find a SAHP willing to take on a couple of extra kids for $100/week.

When our child was an infant, we paid a SAHM $25/day to keep him during the workday. It felt like an underpayment, but we had to insist, since she wanted to do it for free. Her kids were old enough to be in school, so she was bored.

People like that are out there. It makes childcare a much more reasonable cost.

Indeed, and to get that kind of help and support from another household it's necessary to have a real-life, in-person social network. Sometimes people inherit one by being born into a basically functional extended family and by living close enough to rely on them. Other times people build networks through a neighborhood, a church, a club, a school, or some other place where people can form lasting ties and also get to know each other really well. Building a network like that from scratch requires an investment of time and social capital that many people with young children simply haven't made.

One of the "but-but-but" objections I often hear to peer babysitting is that people don't want to leave their children with "a stranger" or someone not licensed and credentialed, and that they don't have a social network. This is generally because they haven't taken the time to build one. It involves a lot of socializing-- yes, for an introvert that's often "work"-- and a lot of doing favors for other people. It's not necessarily a quid pro quo so much as getting out there and contributing to the community.

Agreed.

In our case, it was the mom of a student my wife had taught (she's an elementary school teacher). But she also has a lot of contacts from church and friends of her parents. For me, I'd be limited to asking my coworkers.

[ducky19]

I feel like this thread has strayed from "overheard on Facebook" to "how much a babysitter should cost", but maybe that's just me. I'll attempt to sway the conversation back a little...

Saw a post a week ago from a high school friend (not close) that went into how she went to return her leased BMW to the dealership but they refused to take it back unless she signed a new lease. Nevermind that she is under no obligation to keep the car after the lease is up and the dealer is on the hook for the car. She excitedly dropped two grand for the up front fee and locked in for another two year lease, because... "new car!". Just saw yesterday that same friend lost her job and has "no idea how they are going to survive."

[Jouer]

Overheard on Twitter.

I really wish anyone who described consumables as an investment was required to post a year later about the ROI of said investment. Instagram likes don't count.

The best therapist is the therapist that calls you on your bullshit. The money she's spending on that "investment" also seems misplaced.

If it was for a paid gig, I could see it.  Unclear from the tweet what the purpose of the purchase was.

Same way toner carriages would be an investment if you have a business.

That's what I was thinking, although I am not qualified enough in the hair department to really know.

(It's also possible the thairapist didn't actually say this or mean this.)

I'm willing to bet on a zero percent chance that this interaction actually happened. It was all made up to brag about
1. extensions
2. SXSW

[TheGrimSqueaker]

I feel like this thread has strayed from "overheard on Facebook" to "how much a babysitter should cost", but maybe that's just me. I'll attempt to sway the conversation back a little...

Saw a post a week ago from a high school friend (not close) that went into how she went to return her leased BMW to the dealership but they refused to take it back unless she signed a new lease. Nevermind that she is under no obligation to keep the car after the lease is up and the dealer is on the hook for the car. She excitedly dropped two grand for the up front fee and locked in for another two year lease, because... "new car!". Just saw yesterday that same friend lost her job and has "no idea how they are going to survive."

It's definitely a different kind of social network. When it comes to social capital, how reliable is a social media network in terms of finding labor or help, compared to an in-person network?

[Imma]

I feel like this thread has strayed from "overheard on Facebook" to "how much a babysitter should cost", but maybe that's just me. I'll attempt to sway the conversation back a little...

Saw a post a week ago from a high school friend (not close) that went into how she went to return her leased BMW to the dealership but they refused to take it back unless she signed a new lease. Nevermind that she is under no obligation to keep the car after the lease is up and the dealer is on the hook for the car. She excitedly dropped two grand for the up front fee and locked in for another two year lease, because... "new car!". Just saw yesterday that same friend lost her job and has "no idea how they are going to survive."

It's definitely a different kind of social network. When it comes to social capital, how reliable is a social media network in terms of finding labor or help, compared to an in-person network?

In my city, a Facebook page where people offer help to others during quarantaine is very succesful! It has really connected a lot of people with each other.

I agree about building in-person networks, but it's difficult in my city. Unlike my hometown where people settle down for life or a long period of time, in my urban environment a lot of people are transient. They live here for one year and move away the next. It's hard to build lasting local connections no matter how hard I try. I do keep in touch with people who live all over the world now which is nice but not the same as a local friend.

[shelivesthedream]

I'm having a big problem with building a social network because of people moving. Honestly, everyone I have met and liked where we are now (we moved a year ago) is moving in a year or two (or has moved already!) and we're moving in a little over two years. It's a life goal for me to find somewhere to live and bloody well stay there. But circumstances keep conspiring against us.

[LWYRUP]

I'm guessing that's your age and where you live.  When I was in my twenties and lived near the CBD everyone was moving all the time.  Now in my 30s with a house in the suburbs, I think only one person in the 20 houses near me has moved in the last 4 years.   Moves tend to be to retirement homes.

[shelivesthedream]

It is (29 and 30, living in London), but with two young children this is the time when we most need a close social network in physical proximity and basically can't have one because everyone (includes us) moves all the time and at any rate have the least energy to cultivate one while we are in any given place. It's intensely frustrating.

[Just Joe]

My father should be hired as a QA tester at a tech company. When faced with a tech problem, he pushes buttons until something happens, and it's not usually something good. He once managed to disable the sound on the TV by getting into some service menu that no one else has ever discovered, and his home laptop is unusable at this point. I used to access it remotely to fix it, but he managed to delete that app, and being 3,000 miles away doesn't help.

My in-laws are like that. Everytime I visit I tune up their computer and fix whatever they break. Then we go home. More often than not, they'll break it in some creative way before we return. I ended up installing Mint Linux as a dual boot option so they have something they can use if they render Windows useless.

Funny how Firefox (Linux) is "different" than Firefox (Windows) to some people. The desktop manager is KDE so its very Windows like. Fortunately they never seem to break Linux.

We have elderly friends who eventually just switched over to using Mint Linux full time and love it. I had them set up with dual boot too. 

[Imma]

I'm guessing that's your age and where you live.  When I was in my twenties and lived near the CBD everyone was moving all the time.  Now in my 30s with a house in the suburbs, I think only one person in the 20 houses near me has moved in the last 4 years.   Moves tend to be to retirement homes.

We are early 30s and have lived in the same street in a quiet residential area for 5 years. Because we are frugal we were quite young when we bought this house and we are still by far the youngest residents. I think at least 2/3 of the people are retired. Young people who aren't mustachian can't afford to buy unless they (or their parents) are really wealthy and in that case they live in a much more fancy area.

It took our neighbours a long time to get used to us (Mr Imma has long hair and we have purple curtains! ) but we're friendly now. We have people that will look after our plants and mail when we're on holiday. But that's different from a real friend.

[LWYRUP]

I'm guessing that's your age and where you live.  When I was in my twenties and lived near the CBD everyone was moving all the time.  Now in my 30s with a house in the suburbs, I think only one person in the 20 houses near me has moved in the last 4 years.   Moves tend to be to retirement homes.

We are early 30s and have lived in the same street in a quiet residential area for 5 years. Because we are frugal we were quite young when we bought this house and we are still by far the youngest residents. I think at least 2/3 of the people are retired. Young people who aren't mustachian can't afford to buy unless they (or their parents) are really wealthy and in that case they live in a much more fancy area.

It took our neighbours a long time to get used to us (Mr Imma has long hair and we have purple curtains! ) but we're friendly now. We have people that will look after our plants and mail when we're on holiday. But that's different from a real friend.

I moved to somewhere known for a relatively tight knit community (relatively rare in USA big cities).  Sometimes that's been good, but we haven't totally embraced or been embraced by the clique.  Which is actually fine in retrospect because I've never really been that type of person anywhere.  But the stability of living in the same place for four years now has allowed us to meet other people relatively close by but in other neighborhoods who are also reasonably settled and that's been very nice. 

Based on my experience, I don't think it's worth it to buy into a specific neighborhood or street or something for the community unless you are literally already part of it and just moving closer.  But living somewhere that is less transient can still be good for building bonds over time.  STLD, I know from past lurking that you are thinking of eventually moving somewhere more rural -- I am guessing once you do that things will feel different. 

[AnnaGrowsAMustache]

I'm guessing that's your age and where you live.  When I was in my twenties and lived near the CBD everyone was moving all the time.  Now in my 30s with a house in the suburbs, I think only one person in the 20 houses near me has moved in the last 4 years.   Moves tend to be to retirement homes.

We are early 30s and have lived in the same street in a quiet residential area for 5 years. Because we are frugal we were quite young when we bought this house and we are still by far the youngest residents. I think at least 2/3 of the people are retired. Young people who aren't mustachian can't afford to buy unless they (or their parents) are really wealthy and in that case they live in a much more fancy area.

It took our neighbours a long time to get used to us (Mr Imma has long hair and we have purple curtains! ) but we're friendly now. We have people that will look after our plants and mail when we're on holiday. But that's different from a real friend.

Neighbour relationships are friendly, not friends. I mean they're friendly enough that you're letting people into your house while you're away to water plants. That sounds ideal to me. I wouldn't really want my neighbours to be closer than that. We help each other out from time to time, and we chat in the street. They're close enough relationships that I could go and talk to them if something was bothering me about the way they ran their household - for instance, I did ask one neighbour if he would consider 9am on a sunday for the start of power tool use, rather than 6am. And I had a neighbour ask me if my friend with the motorbike could please not ride it up my driveway when visiting because it shakes their whole house. How much closer to neighbours would you really want to be?

[chicagomeg]

I'm guessing that's your age and where you live.  When I was in my twenties and lived near the CBD everyone was moving all the time.  Now in my 30s with a house in the suburbs, I think only one person in the 20 houses near me has moved in the last 4 years.   Moves tend to be to retirement homes.

We are early 30s and have lived in the same street in a quiet residential area for 5 years. Because we are frugal we were quite young when we bought this house and we are still by far the youngest residents. I think at least 2/3 of the people are retired. Young people who aren't mustachian can't afford to buy unless they (or their parents) are really wealthy and in that case they live in a much more fancy area.

It took our neighbours a long time to get used to us (Mr Imma has long hair and we have purple curtains! ) but we're friendly now. We have people that will look after our plants and mail when we're on holiday. But that's different from a real friend.

Neighbour relationships are friendly, not friends. I mean they're friendly enough that you're letting people into your house while you're away to water plants. That sounds ideal to me. I wouldn't really want my neighbours to be closer than that. We help each other out from time to time, and we chat in the street. They're close enough relationships that I could go and talk to them if something was bothering me about the way they ran their household - for instance, I did ask one neighbour if he would consider 9am on a sunday for the start of power tool use, rather than 6am. And I had a neighbour ask me if my friend with the motorbike could please not ride it up my driveway when visiting because it shakes their whole house. How much closer to neighbours would you really want to be?

The silver lining of quarantine for us is moving from casual friends who stop by when we have a big party to real friends with the folks across the hall from us. We share a roof deck & have balconies that are 6 feet apart so we can still maintain social distancing and hang out with them. But I would say my caution when making friends with neighbors is extremely high. Some people seem super in the beginning and turn out to be awful in the long run, so I am more guarded when you have no escape from being around someone!

[Imma]

I'm guessing that's your age and where you live.  When I was in my twenties and lived near the CBD everyone was moving all the time.  Now in my 30s with a house in the suburbs, I think only one person in the 20 houses near me has moved in the last 4 years.   Moves tend to be to retirement homes.

We are early 30s and have lived in the same street in a quiet residential area for 5 years. Because we are frugal we were quite young when we bought this house and we are still by far the youngest residents. I think at least 2/3 of the people are retired. Young people who aren't mustachian can't afford to buy unless they (or their parents) are really wealthy and in that case they live in a much more fancy area.

It took our neighbours a long time to get used to us (Mr Imma has long hair and we have purple curtains! ) but we're friendly now. We have people that will look after our plants and mail when we're on holiday. But that's different from a real friend.

Neighbour relationships are friendly, not friends. I mean they're friendly enough that you're letting people into your house while you're away to water plants. That sounds ideal to me. I wouldn't really want my neighbours to be closer than that. We help each other out from time to time, and we chat in the street. They're close enough relationships that I could go and talk to them if something was bothering me about the way they ran their household - for instance, I did ask one neighbour if he would consider 9am on a sunday for the start of power tool use, rather than 6am. And I had a neighbour ask me if my friend with the motorbike could please not ride it up my driveway when visiting because it shakes their whole house. How much closer to neighbours would you really want to be?

While I do think you should be careful about getting too close to a literal neighbour, I think having friends in the same neighbourhood is ideal. It means you can spontaneously get together for a cup of tea or a walk or under different circumstances, a meal. A very good friend temporarily lived 3 streets away from us a few years ago and it was great. I loved that she would spontaneously ring my doorbell on a Saturday afternoon. It's great to have friends in other cities as well, but you can't have a spontaneous activity. You need to plan ahead and make a day trip out of it. I really miss spontaneous social contact.

We don't drive, and it looks like public transit is vital sector-jobs only for the forseeable future. I am expecting this to last for a long time, at least over the summer. That means the only friends we can physically meet with until then are friends who live within walking of biking distance - so, in our neighbourhood. Mr Imma has a few friends in this city but we don't really like their partners, so we don't usually meet up with them as a couple but we will likely start doing that this summer.

[Just Joe]

The easiest money I ever made was babysitting. There weren't enough girls old enough to baby sit in our area so here I was - a boy for hire babysitting. It was the 80s... I also washed cars, took care of dogs and cats while people vacationed, mowed grass, raked leaves, and did other chores.

My only rule was the kiddo had to be potty trained. Mom was a phone call away if anything went sideways. Nothing ever did.

One trio of 3-4 year olds played (several couples went out together, shared the sitter fee), got a snack at a certain hour of the evening, and were easy. In bed at a certain hour. All I had to do was stay awake and watch TV after that. Parents home after midnight. I could bicycle myself home in the dark.

The little girl next door that I sat with several times was at an age when every thing was funny. I could say "Door knob!" and she'd laugh herself silly. We played board games, shared snacks, she showed me all her dolls and dollhouse stuff and was easy to hang out with.

[Just Joe]

I sometimes feel like Newton Pulsifer from Good Omens. Despite being fairly knowledgeable with technology (I actually work in info systems audit), devices inexplicably go to shit when I touch them for no apparent reason.

My mother would do that only my car. I'd offer to drive her to the grocery store and as soon as she would sit down in the car it would develop some random issue. No wonder she preferred to drive herself. Better chance of not walking home. Admittedly my car was a POS of the highest order. Learned alot of things constantly working on that car.

[partgypsy]

As far as computers I have had a history of making computers break or them do weird things. To the point a fellow grad student would yell at me if I got too close to his computer. I also could not wear a watch; within a year the watch would stop and if it was opened up it would be all corroded (and no I wasn't wearing them in the shower). Anyways I finally read an article that I think explained what it is: I walked everywhere, more than the usual person. I probably was building up static electricity that was affecting electronic devices. I don't walk as much now so not as big of a problem.

Unfortunately I have developed the similar reputation at my new workplace, where things stop working on my computer. I thought I was just unlucky, but I think we figured out at least part of the problem. I'm one of the older people in the department, and because they didn't know how to classify me, originally gave me (electronic security) credentials for a provider aka doctor in order to allow me to do the things I needed for  my job, when I'm in research with a different job title. When more people came in they gave people with my job classification a different set of credentials and as time went on those old credentials started conflicting with newer credentials and or rules, making various parts of my computer programs not work (dealing with encryption) or access to specialized programs in the medical records. It's been a huge pain in the ass. At least 3 people have worked on it up the line. Most of it has been corrected but not all (they were able to finally get rid of the conflicting credentials but some things still not working) and no one knows why. They have suggested I bring my laptop back in, do a full wipe and re install everything to see if that helps, so that is the back up plan.   

[SwordGuy]

... I also could not wear a watch; within a year the watch would stop and if it was opened up it would be all corroded (and no I wasn't wearing them in the shower). Anyways I finally read an article that I think explained what it is: I walked everywhere, more than the usual person. I probably was building up static electricity that was affecting electronic devices. I don't walk as much now so not as big of a problem.

Wristwatches wouldn't keep time for me.   I set mine on the dresser and for 3 days it kept perfect time.   I picked it up and the second hand stopped, then went backwards for over 20 seconds.   Didn't wear a watch for years after that, it was too spooky.   When I did they still didn't keep time.

About 10 years ago I bought a cheap rubber-covered one and that seemed to do the trick.  Except it was so bulky I couldn't stand to wear it, and now I don't need one.   Cellphones handle it.

My grandfather had the same problem wearing watches.

Weird, eh?

[Shinplaster]

... I also could not wear a watch; within a year the watch would stop and if it was opened up it would be all corroded (and no I wasn't wearing them in the shower). Anyways I finally read an article that I think explained what it is: I walked everywhere, more than the usual person. I probably was building up static electricity that was affecting electronic devices. I don't walk as much now so not as big of a problem.

Wristwatches wouldn't keep time for me.   I set mine on the dresser and for 3 days it kept perfect time.   I picked it up and the second hand stopped, then went backwards for over 20 seconds.   Didn't wear a watch for years after that, it was too spooky.   When I did they still didn't keep time.

About 10 years ago I bought a cheap rubber-covered one and that seemed to do the trick.  Except it was so bulky I couldn't stand to wear it, and now I don't need one.   Cellphones handle it.

My grandfather had the same problem wearing watches.

Weird, eh?

My Mom is a watch killer too.  Takes her a few months on average though.   Doesn't matter how expensive it is, or inexpensive.  Some die after a week, some after a month, but none have lasted more that 6 months.   Repairs on the expensive ones have been attempted, but never successfully.  She started saving the dead ones just for fun - when she got rid of her pile last year, it looked like an entire watch store's inventory.   (She's 90, so there were a lot!).    I will tell her other people are like that too - she thought she was the only one that couldn't wear a watch.   

[Dicey]

...Now that you all mention it, dad did have a weird one a while back. He started complaining that he couldn't pay bills online because his browser would just disappear. My brother and I both assumed he was just doing something silly and accidentally minimizing or something. But he finally showed me what was happening, and sure enough, his whole browser was crashing/exiting when he'd hit Submit on a payment on his bank's web interface¹. No warning, no error message or crash dialog, just *poof* it's gone.

Of course it also turned out that he was using Micro$oft's Edge browser, so perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised; switching to Chrome fixed the problem completely. But I had to make a desktop shortcut (ugh) with his bank's name on it so he'd remember to use that instead the Edge icon (which he associated with his bank at that point).

¹ and it wasn't even the first time, but rather the second or third time he submitted a payment that it would crash/exit.

Just saw this. I have an account at a bank other than my own, for a specific civic purpose. Sometimes it's active, but typically it's not. In the off periods, when I have to log on, I always forget that I can't use Chrome. For this particular bank, I can only use Edge. Drives me nuts.

[Wrenchturner]

You are all clearly haunted.

[partgypsy]

So in case other people have the watch problem, my experiences. I would buy the semi cheap analog watches with batteries, metal back (oftentimes timex). When I was wearing watches I ended up going to this kiosk because they changed batteries and they had 2? 5? year warranties on their watches. the watch would stop working, I would bring it in for a battery change, but it still wouldn't work with a new battery, and so I would get a free watch.  Sometimes when they opened the watch the entire inside would be corroded. Maybe because they weren't the owners they seemed more amused by all this than anything, and sometimes have the other person look at the inside of the watch. At some point I became lazy and so when a watch stopped working sometimes I would go to "canteen", and buy a watch (usually timex), Since they didn't have the same warranty soon ended up with a drawer full of non working watches.
This is the weird thing; my problem with watches got better. After I got got pregnant and had kids, my problems with watches and computers practically disappeared. And my sister got me a very expensive watch (Citizen eco drive) and I had no problems with that watch whatsoever (I had it for 3 years but then misplaced it).  I don't wear watches anymore but feel if I did I would probably be fine.
My guesses are static electricity (I would often give people bad shocks), body chemistry, cheap watches or a combination of the three. I do have at least 1 case where a watch which did not work for me, gave it to someone and they wore it with no problems.  Solutions: get a watch that comes with a warranty so that you can simply replace watch as needed, buy a watch that does not need a battery. I also suspect watches with non-metal back may work better (my brother suggested I get this very built up rugged watch with rubber strap to help the situation, but it was too big for me).

[markbike528CBX]

The "touch a watch and it stops" reminds me of a sci-fi story**.

Under a crater on the moon, there is a installation where consumer and other tech is tested.

The test is conducted by "abnotech" persons who, a the high end of the scale can cause, mostly by their presence alone, malfunctions not previously seen in that tech.
These are not doofuses or technophobes, just persons with the unfortunate talent to cause malfunctions.  Their testing is required to get a "UL / TUV" style listing.

Their life-support is run remotely 10Km away.  They also test nanotech, leading to the isolated testing facility

** Steven L. Burns, "Down Under Billy Crater" pg 216 Analog January 1995.


 

[dragoncar]

The "touch a watch and it stops" reminds me of a sci-fi story**.

Under a crater on the moon, there is a installation where consumer and other tech is tested.

The test is conducted by "abnotech" persons who, a the high end of the scale can cause, mostly by their presence alone, malfunctions not previously seen in that tech.
These are not doofuses or technophobes, just persons with the unfortunate talent to cause malfunctions.  Their testing is required to get a "UL / TUV" style listing.

Their life-support is run remotely 10Km away.  They also test nanotech, leading to the isolated testing facility

** Steven L. Burns, "Down Under Billy Crater" pg 216 Analog January 1995.

Reminds me of the Dresden Files series of books in which magic causes technology to break.  So if you do that... YER A WIZARD

[partgypsy]

The "touch a watch and it stops" reminds me of a sci-fi story**.

Under a crater on the moon, there is a installation where consumer and other tech is tested.

The test is conducted by "abnotech" persons who, a the high end of the scale can cause, mostly by their presence alone, malfunctions not previously seen in that tech.
These are not doofuses or technophobes, just persons with the unfortunate talent to cause malfunctions.  Their testing is required to get a "UL / TUV" style listing.

Their life-support is run remotely 10Km away.  They also test nanotech, leading to the isolated testing facility

** Steven L. Burns, "Down Under Billy Crater" pg 216 Analog January 1995.

Reminds me of the Dresden Files series of books in which magic causes technology to break.  So if you do that... YER A WIZARD

But if anyone reads Diane Wynne Jones, you know this world has no magic (12b).

[Sibley]

The "touch a watch and it stops" reminds me of a sci-fi story**.

Under a crater on the moon, there is a installation where consumer and other tech is tested.

The test is conducted by "abnotech" persons who, a the high end of the scale can cause, mostly by their presence alone, malfunctions not previously seen in that tech.
These are not doofuses or technophobes, just persons with the unfortunate talent to cause malfunctions.  Their testing is required to get a "UL / TUV" style listing.

Their life-support is run remotely 10Km away.  They also test nanotech, leading to the isolated testing facility

** Steven L. Burns, "Down Under Billy Crater" pg 216 Analog January 1995.

Reminds me of the Dresden Files series of books in which magic causes technology to break.  So if you do that... YER A WIZARD

But if anyone reads Diane Wynne Jones, you know this world has no magic (12b).

I love her books :)

Now I have to go re-read them.... Luckily, I have a bunch on the shelf.

[Feivel2000]

I guess this is also the place for twitter?
https://mobile.twitter.com/MattBellassai/status/1262793469527044096

been making coffee at home instead of getting starbucks for two months which according to economists should’ve made me a billionaire by now so what is happening

And thousands of replies.

[shelivesthedream]

I guess this is also the place for twitter?
https://mobile.twitter.com/MattBellassai/status/1262793469527044096

been making coffee at home instead of getting starbucks for two months which according to economists should’ve made me a billionaire by now so what is happening

And thousands of replies.

Maybe if I figure out how to make and sell avocado coffee, I could make enough money to buy a house.

Also, does anyone else wonder if it's time to start Overheard on Facebook 2?

[solon]

I guess this is also the place for twitter?
https://mobile.twitter.com/MattBellassai/status/1262793469527044096

been making coffee at home instead of getting starbucks for two months which according to economists should’ve made me a billionaire by now so what is happening

And thousands of replies.

Tweets like this, and all its comments, make me weep. Are all people literal idiots?

[dragoncar]

I guess this is also the place for twitter?
https://mobile.twitter.com/MattBellassai/status/1262793469527044096

been making coffee at home instead of getting starbucks for two months which according to economists should’ve made me a billionaire by now so what is happening

And thousands of replies.

Tweets like this, and all its comments, make me weep. Are all people literal idiots?

Should not have read that

“I stopped eating cake but I’m still fat... what gives???”

[MudPuppy]

Are they not being facetious?

[merula]

Are they not being facetious?

They are, but most of the people posting this are swinging too far in the other direction. Their point is "See? It was always BS that you couldn't get ahead just by making coffee at home and not eating out."

So they're kinda idiots in that the advice was never "you can get ahead by making small changes for a few months", but they're not actually believing they should be billionaires right now.

[Freedomin5]

Saw this post recently on a community group:

Does anyone know where I can get Coldstone Creamery ice cream?! It’s an emergency!

Lots of people chimed in that Coldstone has left China and suggested buying very expensive brands at the local high end grocery store. The response was:

No, it MUST be Coldstone Creamery or something similar. My kids are absolutely demanding Coldstone Creamery.

So then lots of people suggested other high end ice cream shops in town...all the way at the other end of town. One shop was at least a hour away. Average price for a small cup of ice cream? Usd $6.

[bluebelle]

Does anyone know where I can get Coldstone Creamery ice cream?! It’s an emergency!

an ice cream emergency.....that's a new one.

damn it, now I want ice cream....... :-)

[ixtap]

Does anyone know where I can get Coldstone Creamery ice cream?! It’s an emergency!

an ice cream emergency.....that's a new one.

damn it, now I want ice cream....... :-)

My husband thinks I bought ice cream while I was out making a purchase for him. Please don't tell him he has it backwards.

[economista]

Does anyone know where I can get Coldstone Creamery ice cream?! It’s an emergency!

an ice cream emergency.....that's a new one.

damn it, now I want ice cream....... :-)

Have you ever been pregnant? Because I think there are likely times that could be considered ice cream emergencies....

[bluebelle]

Does anyone know where I can get Coldstone Creamery ice cream?! It’s an emergency!

an ice cream emergency.....that's a new one.

damn it, now I want ice cream....... :-)

Have you ever been pregnant? Because I think there are likely times that could be considered ice cream emergencies....

I have not.....I hadn't thought of that case....but the OP was calling it an emergency to get it for her kids.

and it was a light hearted poke at what someone was calling an emergency.....just like when someone 'needs' the newest iPhone.....