Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[Siebrie]

Thanks to you, I signed up for this app, and now my MPP is I'm trying to decide how far I'm willing to drive for a pickup. Also the pickup windows are either in the middle of the day or late evening, so will I really want to leave the house at 8/9pm?

Totally makes sense from the business's perspective, they want to wait until after dinner hours to see what's left over. But I'm an early bird who'd rather be getting ready for bed, not getting in the car!

I'm next to a capital city, and the hotels offer their breakfast buffet leftovers at 10am.
IKEA offers their leftover at the end of the day, between 19.40 and 19.50, and you have to bring your own tubs.
The airport restaurants (beyond customs) often offer as well.
I have found that I can use the app both in Belgium as well as in The Netherlands; it's really flexible. I will change the location based on where I'm going that day.

[Raenia]

Thanks to you, I signed up for this app, and now my MPP is I'm trying to decide how far I'm willing to drive for a pickup. Also the pickup windows are either in the middle of the day or late evening, so will I really want to leave the house at 8/9pm?

Totally makes sense from the business's perspective, they want to wait until after dinner hours to see what's left over. But I'm an early bird who'd rather be getting ready for bed, not getting in the car!

I'm next to a capital city, and the hotels offer their breakfast buffet leftovers at 10am.
IKEA offers their leftover at the end of the day, between 19.40 and 19.50, and you have to bring your own tubs.
The airport restaurants (beyond customs) often offer as well.
I have found that I can use the app both in Belgium as well as in The Netherlands; it's really flexible. I will change the location based on where I'm going that day.

That would help, for sure. I'm in the US suburbs, so what I have available is mostly by-the-slice pizza shops (late evening) and bagel shops (midday). Might be able to swing the bagel shops on a late lunch break, or a day I do a half day in office and a half day wfh...

I should send it to my sister, she lives in the city proper and might have more interesting offerings.

[Sugaree]

I recently had a birthday.  My family normally gives me gift cards.  I prefer it that way because I tend to keep a running list of "shit I want but don't want to spend my own money on."  And they are usually things that are more expensive than I'd be comfortable with someone else buying for me.  I now have a couple hundred dollars in BezosCash and there is nothing on my list that I'm really dying to buy.  Mainly because I've already bought everything for my other MMP which is that I have recently been restoring a pool table.  I now know more about pool tables than I ever thought possible.  I'm also getting very close to "would have cost the same thing to buy a new one" territory.  I can say with a good bit of certainty that I will never go to the trouble of refelting a "wood" top table ever again.  I might consider it if I come across a slate-top table for a decent price that was in good shape other than the felt and bumpers. 

[dandarc]

I blew my wordle streak a couple weeks ago because I forgot the word is actually spelled "stash".

[Metalcat]

I blew my wordle streak a couple weeks ago because I forgot the word is actually spelled "stash".

That's hilarious

[Dave1442397]

I recently had a birthday.  My family normally gives me gift cards.  I prefer it that way because I tend to keep a running list of "shit I want but don't want to spend my own money on."  And they are usually things that are more expensive than I'd be comfortable with someone else buying for me.  I now have a couple hundred dollars in BezosCash and there is nothing on my list that I'm really dying to buy.  Mainly because I've already bought everything for my other MMP which is that I have recently been restoring a pool table.  I now know more about pool tables than I ever thought possible.  I'm also getting very close to "would have cost the same thing to buy a new one" territory.  I can say with a good bit of certainty that I will never go to the trouble of refelting a "wood" top table ever again.  I might consider it if I come across a slate-top table for a decent price that was in good shape other than the felt and bumpers.

I gave away the slate top pool table that was in our basement when we bought the house. We bought the house from my in-laws, and my brother-in-law told me the table was there when they bought the house in 1975!

I see a lot of them being given away around here.

[RetiredAt63]

I recently had a birthday.  My family normally gives me gift cards.  I prefer it that way because I tend to keep a running list of "shit I want but don't want to spend my own money on."  And they are usually things that are more expensive than I'd be comfortable with someone else buying for me.  I now have a couple hundred dollars in BezosCash and there is nothing on my list that I'm really dying to buy.  Mainly because I've already bought everything for my other MMP which is that I have recently been restoring a pool table.  I now know more about pool tables than I ever thought possible.  I'm also getting very close to "would have cost the same thing to buy a new one" territory.  I can say with a good bit of certainty that I will never go to the trouble of refelting a "wood" top table ever again.  I might consider it if I come across a slate-top table for a decent price that was in good shape other than the felt and bumpers.

I gave away the slate top pool table that was in our basement when we bought the house. We bought the house from my in-laws, and my brother-in-law told me the table was there when they bought the house in 1975!

I see a lot of them being given away around here.

It's good if you can give them away.  I had to have one that came with a house demolished.

[Sugaree]

I recently had a birthday.  My family normally gives me gift cards.  I prefer it that way because I tend to keep a running list of "shit I want but don't want to spend my own money on."  And they are usually things that are more expensive than I'd be comfortable with someone else buying for me.  I now have a couple hundred dollars in BezosCash and there is nothing on my list that I'm really dying to buy.  Mainly because I've already bought everything for my other MMP which is that I have recently been restoring a pool table.  I now know more about pool tables than I ever thought possible.  I'm also getting very close to "would have cost the same thing to buy a new one" territory.  I can say with a good bit of certainty that I will never go to the trouble of refelting a "wood" top table ever again.  I might consider it if I come across a slate-top table for a decent price that was in good shape other than the felt and bumpers.

I gave away the slate top pool table that was in our basement when we bought the house. We bought the house from my in-laws, and my brother-in-law told me the table was there when they bought the house in 1975!

I see a lot of them being given away around here.

It's good if you can give them away.  I had to have one that came with a house demolished.

The hassle of rehoming this one was definitely a factor in the decision to refelt it rather than getting a new one.

[Sibley]

I recently had a birthday.  My family normally gives me gift cards.  I prefer it that way because I tend to keep a running list of "shit I want but don't want to spend my own money on."  And they are usually things that are more expensive than I'd be comfortable with someone else buying for me.  I now have a couple hundred dollars in BezosCash and there is nothing on my list that I'm really dying to buy.  Mainly because I've already bought everything for my other MMP which is that I have recently been restoring a pool table.  I now know more about pool tables than I ever thought possible.  I'm also getting very close to "would have cost the same thing to buy a new one" territory.  I can say with a good bit of certainty that I will never go to the trouble of refelting a "wood" top table ever again.  I might consider it if I come across a slate-top table for a decent price that was in good shape other than the felt and bumpers.

I gave away the slate top pool table that was in our basement when we bought the house. We bought the house from my in-laws, and my brother-in-law told me the table was there when they bought the house in 1975!

I see a lot of them being given away around here.

My parents also gave one away that was in the basement. It was actually really hard to do so. It seems a lot of people are not prepared to dismantle a pool table, carry it upstairs then load it into a vehicle. They did finally get rid of it but it took multiple tries.

[Dave1442397]

I recently had a birthday.  My family normally gives me gift cards.  I prefer it that way because I tend to keep a running list of "shit I want but don't want to spend my own money on."  And they are usually things that are more expensive than I'd be comfortable with someone else buying for me.  I now have a couple hundred dollars in BezosCash and there is nothing on my list that I'm really dying to buy.  Mainly because I've already bought everything for my other MMP which is that I have recently been restoring a pool table.  I now know more about pool tables than I ever thought possible.  I'm also getting very close to "would have cost the same thing to buy a new one" territory.  I can say with a good bit of certainty that I will never go to the trouble of refelting a "wood" top table ever again.  I might consider it if I come across a slate-top table for a decent price that was in good shape other than the felt and bumpers.

I gave away the slate top pool table that was in our basement when we bought the house. We bought the house from my in-laws, and my brother-in-law told me the table was there when they bought the house in 1975!

I see a lot of them being given away around here.

My parents also gave one away that was in the basement. It was actually really hard to do so. It seems a lot of people are not prepared to dismantle a pool table, carry it upstairs then load it into a vehicle. They did finally get rid of it but it took multiple tries.

The people who took mine showed up in a Surburban, so all the pieces fit in there except for the slate top. They hadn't thought about that at all, so I suggested putting it on the roof of the SUV, using a moving blanket to protect the paint and tie-down straps to hold it down. They were only driving a mile or so to their house, so that worked out, and they brought the blanket and straps back right away. But yeah, they really didn't think it through before coming to get it.

[Sugaree]

For what it's worth, I think it turned out pretty good...

Before:


After:

[deborah]

Spectacular!

[Dave1442397]

For what it's worth, I think it turned out pretty good...

It did! Very nice.

[LennStar]

Great work! I wanna play!

[Sugaree]

Great work! I wanna play!

The sad part is that I haven't even played on it yet.  I'm trying to get that room under control and cleared out so that I can have the game room/bar that it was always supposed to be (my late husband was a bit of a hoarder and it's never been used as intended).  This probably falls under "Stupid stuff I'm lusting after" but I really want to go full blown speakeasy with a hidden door and a nice art deco light fixture above the table (I have one that I'm currently working on for above the bar).  Unfortunately, it seems I have expensive tastes when it comes to antiques.  The fixtures that I really like have been running about $5000 with the most expensive being $28k.  That's....not gonna happen. 

[Dicey]

Wow! Great job! Keep surfing CL, FBM, etc. Something suitable it bound to turn up eventually.

[Sugaree]

Wow! Great job! Keep surfing CL, FBM, etc. Something suitable it bound to turn up eventually.

Thanks!  That's the plan right now. I'm going to stalk the thrift stores too.  Some of them have some decent evaluators on staff (and send all of the antiques to a higher-end shop in the nearest big city).  But every once in awhile things slip through as "old" vs. "antique." And I've still got to get the light for the bar finished before the electrician finishes the new wiring harness for it.  Fingers crossed the temp is going to stay high enough and the humidity low enough to get it done this afternoon.  I am so not wanting to drag out dad's blast cabinet again because I didn't get it primed in time. 

[EscapeVelocity2020]

I sold a bitcoin (so that my other 2 are now 'free' and I'll hodl forever), have to sell 1/10th of an inherited IRA which keeps going up in value, and got a promotion with 10% raise and bonus...  and all I can think about is all the friggin taxes I'm going to be paying on all this!  I don't need the money!!!  I've reached ultimate MPP

[Dicey]

I sold a bitcoin (so that my other 2 are now 'free' and I'll hodl forever), have to sell 1/10th of an inherited IRA which keeps going up in value, and got a promotion with 10% raise and bonus...  and all I can think about is all the friggin taxes I'm going to be paying on all this!  I don't need the money!!!  I've reached ultimate MPP

Give some of it away. It feels great!

[ixtap]

DH has informed me he wants another $200k in Roth basis. Even with the MBR that's going to take a few years.

[Sibley]

A very silly MPP today: I, like others on this site, have a spreadsheet. And it has amortization schedules. Keep this in mind.

The car will be paid off in March (very low % so I'm letting it ride), but I have to wait for the calendar to turn, slowly, for the February payment to post, then the statement, and then for March to make the final payment. And all along I look at my spreadsheet and see that I have just 2 payments left. These last 2 lines, just hanging out there, are really bothering me. So untidy. I have the cash. I could easily pay it off today. But damn it, I am not paying early. I'm earning double in interest than I'm paying. This coming week the February payment will post, so I'll only have 1 line sitting there, teasing me.

Update: the car is paid off! so my spreadsheet looks neat and pretty now. Just waiting for all the final paperwork and title to happen.

[crocheted_stache]

My current MPP: I've 'stached enough that Large Financial signed my blue-jeans self up for their White Glove service, and it's bugging me.

Story time. I set out to accomplish a Routine Transaction. It's not so routine for me, but for Large Financial, it's just Tuesday.

WTF 1: their Routine Transaction web form is broken. It won't accept an address in the address field without a nonexistent apartment number. It rejects the hyphens in a reference number I'm trying to include. I've seen better web forms from volunteers in small nonprofits. Then again, we have some pretty sharp volunteers in these parts.

WTF 2: at this point, it's after regular business hours on the east coast. I'm on the west coast, and customer service is open a little longer, so I call. I'm phone shy, and will generally exhaust other options before phoning (struggle with the website some more, bike to the branch across town...). Routine Transaction needs to happen soon, so I call. I convince the phone tree that I actually need a human. This human listens, or pretends to, while I explain WTF 1, which I somehow need to repeat more than once. Then she goes to "look into it," and puts me on hold. Twelve minutes of soft jazz later, I run off the end of their extended business hours, or at least I think that's why their phone system hangs up on me.

WTF 3: Next morning, I try the text chat version of customer service, which is now open. I get put into a queue, put through to a person (or at least the automated "give me a moment to read your question" message with a name attached), put back in the queue, and then dumped out entirely, with the question I filled in, erased. Where the hell is the ubiquitous stupid customer service survey when you need it?

There's an option I've been avoiding up to now, which is the White Glove guy they've been pestering me to call. It was after his hours the night before. I'm pretty sure he's supposed to do advisor stuff, which is not what I want and a far cry from Routine Transaction. I'm still phone shy, per above. But I figure maybe he at least has a direct line to the Routine Transaction department, and it's abundantly clear that Customer Service isn't about to provide any. So I call.

Complete 180. White Glove guy takes care of Routine Transactions routinely, of course, and can do mine right now, on the phone, complete with the impossible hyphens in the reference number. Hey, presto, done, and while we're here, he can even waive the fee. (Aside: "convenience fee" is an oxymoron.)

I try to impress upon him how comically badly it had gone, naively attempting Routine Transaction via the public entrance, but I don't think White Glove guy is interested, which is too bad, because I was that customer first, for a long time.

What has gotten his attention, even before now, is the substantial portion of my 'stache that's at Large Financial, which he'd like to help optimize. It could do with some optimization, but it's accumulated without his help so far. This is not why I called, and I'm at my limit of pretending I'm okay with this phone thing. I will get there, when I get there, and then do things my way.

So I do something I've done with other salescritters occasionally, which is to say something that's completely outside of their script.

"I'm not really looking to optimize this right now. I don't need this money to do more, because my and DH's burn rate together in [HCOLA] is around $30,000 per year." (We're FI but OMY and our holdings at Large Financial, which he was looking at when I said this, would only have underscored the point.)

The White Glove guy's head exploded. How on Earth could we possibly do that?! Where do you live?

I didn't use the word "mustache," but I gave him the very short synopsis. Paid off house, two bicycles, one lonely econobox car, lunch boxes, and using those sweaters our grannies made us.

Optimize that, I dare you. Also, please, for the love of Pete, get somebody to fix that damned form.

[ToTheMoon]

So I do something I've done with other salescritters occasionally, which is to say something that's completely outside of their script.

"I'm not really looking to optimize this right now. I don't need this money to do more, because my and DH's burn rate together in [HCOLA] is around $30,000 per year." (We're FI but OMY and our holdings at Large Financial, which he was looking at when I said this, would only have underscored the point.)

The White Glove guy's head exploded. How on Earth could we possibly do that?! Where do you live?

I didn't use the word "mustache," but I gave him the very short synopsis. Paid off house, two bicycles, one lonely econobox car, lunch boxes, and using those sweaters our grannies made us.

Optimize that, I dare you. Also, please, for the love of Pete, get somebody to fix that damned form.

This is the best thing I have read all day - thank you!

[LennStar]

That was quite funny!
I can tell you why the volunteers have better forms. They are interested and they probably know someone with a really "strange" name, like my collegue who has 10 words in there and one is the name for friends and one is the name for people that are not his friends but both are not his family name...

And then there is the guy who made the form exactly like big hat financial guy asked, and that was probably "We have this database from the 80s, make the so that it will definitely work, so add some checks in there". And that can't work. A personal name and a family name always has 3 letters? Ask Mrs. Ai Li about that. There is always a street name? Never been to a village with 3 houses I guess. And so on.

[Dollar Slice]

There is always a street name? Never been to a village with 3 houses I guess.

I was amazed when I ran into an online form that wouldn't let me enter an address on Broadway. No, ALL addresses have to have something like "Elm Street" or "Maple Avenue". Not just a single word "Broadway." I finally just entered "Broad Way." But surely it's one of the most famous streets in the world, plus a very common one; and you didn't think to code for it?

Another favorite was a government website where you reserved some kind of parking passes, and it had day, month, year, and a drop-down for CE/BCE in case you needed a parking permit for precisely four thousand years ago on Tuesday.

[eyesonthehorizon]

... Another favorite was a government website where you reserved some kind of parking passes, and it had day, month, year, and a drop-down for CE/BCE in case you needed a parking permit for precisely four thousand years ago on Tuesday.
[/quote]

Wow. That’s new even to me.

The sucky part of forms which put guardrails up against correct formatting they didn’t anticipate is they do prevent multiple consequential errors for every person they inconvenience. The regulatory requirements errors create aren’t worth customer convenience on that minority scale. The backend systems usually don’t have those guardrails (though the service personnel on the phone may not use the true backend system.)

That said I’m always surprised when a salescritter knows how to use the internal systems. Most are there to be a personable face & know about the things they’re there to sell. Of course, they could just be delegating.

It also seems like bad business to alienate lower-asset clients of unknown wealth, but then it’s not about what you have there presently, it’s the assumption that they likely (statistically) only have a fraction of your money & presumed future income. Someone with $XXXk probably has $X,XXXk outside, or more, plus friends & family in similar circumstances. Even knowing why, the preferential treatment of bigger fish still grosses me out.

[Dicey]

A very silly MPP today: I, like others on this site, have a spreadsheet. And it has amortization schedules. Keep this in mind.

The car will be paid off in March (very low % so I'm letting it ride), but I have to wait for the calendar to turn, slowly, for the February payment to post, then the statement, and then for March to make the final payment. And all along I look at my spreadsheet and see that I have just 2 payments left. These last 2 lines, just hanging out there, are really bothering me. So untidy. I have the cash. I could easily pay it off today. But damn it, I am not paying early. I'm earning double in interest than I'm paying. This coming week the February payment will post, so I'll only have 1 line sitting there, teasing me.

Update: the car is paid off! so my spreadsheet looks neat and pretty now. Just waiting for all the final paperwork and title to happen.

Congratulations!  Outstanding self-control! Delayed gratification for the win!

[Dicey]

Re: "White Glove": We bank with Chase. We also flip houses occasionally, so we keep large cash reserves until we need them. Every damn time we interacted with them, they pushed their investment "services". They also called, sent letters, etc. Every time we'd convinced the branch manager to leave us alone, a new one would take their place.

Couple of years ago, we "spent" all the money* and now, blessedly, we have crickets. Interestingly our NW is higher than ever.

* Don't worry, we bought another property, which is exactly what the money was earmarked for.

[eyesonthehorizon]

Re: "White Glove": We bank with Chase. We also flip houses occasionally, so we keep large cash reserves until we need them. Every damn time we interacted with them, they pushed their investment "services". They also called, sent letters, etc. Every time we'd convinced the branch manager to leave us alone, a new one would take their place.

Couple of years ago, we "spent" all the money* and now, blessedly, we have crickets. Interestingly our NW is higher than ever.

* Don't worry, we bought another property, which is exactly what the money was earmarked for.

If you tell them to put you on the company’s do not call list for sales (different from calls about account activity) they have to honor that. You can usually do the same for mailers & emails. I’d expect they rotate salescritters among customers once in a while when deals do not manifest, in case someone else’s approach might work.

I’m forever adopting @crocheted_stache ’s use of “salescritters.”

[NorthernIkigai]

The CE/BCE thing is amazing! The second best thing in this category I’ve heard is when Spain, where people typically have and use two last names, had the rotating presidency in the EU and a whole bunch of online forms required you to fill out two last names. Leading people to fill out names such as Jane Smith Donthaveoneyouidiots.

[crocheted_stache]

Re: "White Glove": We bank with Chase. We also flip houses occasionally, so we keep large cash reserves until we need them. Every damn time we interacted with them, they pushed their investment "services". They also called, sent letters, etc. Every time we'd convinced the branch manager to leave us alone, a new one would take their place.

Couple of years ago, we "spent" all the money* and now, blessedly, we have crickets. Interestingly our NW is higher than ever.

* Don't worry, we bought another property, which is exactly what the money was earmarked for.

I'm not with Chase, but it doesn't matter. Most of the big ones have some variation on the theme, just with different superlatives in their titles.

If you tell them to put you on the company’s do not call list for sales (different from calls about account activity) they have to honor that. You can usually do the same for mailers & emails. I’d expect they rotate salescritters among customers once in a while when deals do not manifest, in case someone else’s approach might work.

I’m forever adopting @crocheted_stache ’s use of “salescritters.”

Have at! I don't think I invented it.

White Glove guy only phoned me once. The rest has been automatic email ("Call your personal White Glove guy and strategize with us!") and White Glove guy's name, title, and phone number right there beside my account overview page, where it's been for at least the past five years. Given that his job is to go through high-NW people's accounts and portfolios, looking for things to do, I'm just as glad there hasn't been a White Glove guy-of-the-month.

From what I can tell, he's good at what he does. I just never signed up, and it's not what I want.

I've said some other things to salescritters over the years.
To anyone who is quizzing me about why I want to cancel a service or subscription in hopes of reeling me back in with a discount/upgrade: "Sure, please cancel it, and then I'd be happy to tell you why."

To cable and satellite TV sales: "Nobody watches TV/We don't have a TV." (It was more impressive before streaming was so prevalent.)

To the exterminators who occasionally knock on the door, offering to get rid of spiders for me: "You leave my spiders alone. They do a much better job than you do, and they work for free." This is basically true, too. Spiders don't bother me, and they're the most effective thing I've found for getting rid of the moths that sometimes get into my flour.

To the tech support scammers who used to phone me frequently: "My computer? Which computer? We have several. [Ask stupid questions and go around in circles for a bit.] What Windows computer? We run Linux." My favorite such time-waster is an older AI called LennyBot, who is a doddering old man, who blathers on incoherently about his daughters and can't hear too well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXf_oA9KT_M

My favorite ever story of saying something off-script to a salescritter was something I read ages ago. Someone was trying to sell some kind of septic tank enzymes. Protagonist decided this product is at best unnecessary and replied, "No need. I have swamp gizzards."

[crocheted_stache]

It also seems like bad business to alienate lower-asset clients of unknown wealth, but then it’s not about what you have there presently, it’s the assumption that they likely (statistically) only have a fraction of your money & presumed future income. Someone with $XXXk probably has $X,XXXk outside, or more, plus friends & family in similar circumstances. Even knowing why, the preferential treatment of bigger fish still grosses me out.

This. Twenty-something years ago, I had an account with Large Financial, and it had some low multiple of the then ~$4000 annual IRA contribution limit, because I'd only just started contributing. Because I had under $25k in assets, they charged an annual account fee. I actually moved that account away from them, only to end up back there for other reasons since.

Also, I now qualify as a "big fish," but I foolishly thought that contacting their just-plain customer service would get me somewhere. Instead, it got me a good look at how they apparently still disregard the just-starting-outs. If it were as portable as my starting IRA, I'd "optimize" today's account by first taking it elsewhere, too.

[crocheted_stache]

There is always a street name? Never been to a village with 3 houses I guess.

I was amazed when I ran into an online form that wouldn't let me enter an address on Broadway. No, ALL addresses have to have something like "Elm Street" or "Maple Avenue". Not just a single word "Broadway." I finally just entered "Broad Way." But surely it's one of the most famous streets in the world, plus a very common one; and you didn't think to code for it?

Another favorite was a government website where you reserved some kind of parking passes, and it had day, month, year, and a drop-down for CE/BCE in case you needed a parking permit for precisely four thousand years ago on Tuesday.

Assuming they were inexpensive, I'd have been tempted to order a parking pass for March 15, 2024 BCE and see what happened. If they sent it, I might have to see what happened when I complained that the parking pass expired before it was issued.

All those who like this sort of thing might be amused to search for any of the lists of "falsehoods programmers believe about addresses." DH just found such a list, and observed that, "all addresses have an apartment number" was not on it. DH grew up in a small town, not far from villages of only 3 houses, where the village has a name and the dirt road doesn't.

[lemanfan]

All those who like this sort of thing might be amused to search for any of the lists of "falsehoods programmers believe about addresses." DH just found such a list, and observed that, "all addresses have an apartment number" was not on it. DH grew up in a small town, not far from villages of only 3 houses, where the village has a name and the dirt road doesn't.

Here in Sweden, one of the main chain of supermarkets / grocery stores had a little problem recently. Their new point of sale systems and credit cards readers couldn't handle that February had 29 days...  Many programmers  laughed.  :)

[SwordGuy]

All those who like this sort of thing might be amused to search for any of the lists of "falsehoods programmers believe about addresses." DH just found such a list, and observed that, "all addresses have an apartment number" was not on it. DH grew up in a small town, not far from villages of only 3 houses, where the village has a name and the dirt road doesn't.

Here in Sweden, one of the main chain of supermarkets / grocery stores had a little problem recently. Their new point of sale systems and credit cards readers couldn't handle that February had 29 days...  Many programmers  laughed.  :)

This is professional malfeasance.   The programmers responsible should be fired and/or sued for losses incurred.

[GuitarStv]

All those who like this sort of thing might be amused to search for any of the lists of "falsehoods programmers believe about addresses." DH just found such a list, and observed that, "all addresses have an apartment number" was not on it. DH grew up in a small town, not far from villages of only 3 houses, where the village has a name and the dirt road doesn't.

Here in Sweden, one of the main chain of supermarkets / grocery stores had a little problem recently. Their new point of sale systems and credit cards readers couldn't handle that February had 29 days...  Many programmers  laughed.  :)

This is professional malfeasance.   The programmers responsible should be fired and/or sued for losses incurred.

Read the requirements document the programmers were handed first.  In the past I've pushed long and hard for sensible changes to absolutely stupid specifications only to fail . . . and then have the problem I saw early on turn out to be a huge cost for the company later.

[SwordGuy]

All those who like this sort of thing might be amused to search for any of the lists of "falsehoods programmers believe about addresses." DH just found such a list, and observed that, "all addresses have an apartment number" was not on it. DH grew up in a small town, not far from villages of only 3 houses, where the village has a name and the dirt road doesn't.

Here in Sweden, one of the main chain of supermarkets / grocery stores had a little problem recently. Their new point of sale systems and credit cards readers couldn't handle that February had 29 days...  Many programmers  laughed.  :)

This is professional malfeasance.   The programmers responsible should be fired and/or sued for losses incurred.

Read the requirements document the programmers were handed first.  In the past I've pushed long and hard for sensible changes to absolutely stupid specifications only to fail . . . and then have the problem I saw early on turn out to be a huge cost for the company later.

An absolutely fair point from a legal point of view.

Then again, I have hand-delivered signed letters to 2-star generals and the equivalent Special Executive Service detailing things they needed to know, because they weren't being told by underlings.   I've done the same kind of thing to VPs in commercial firms.   Professional ethics are important.

[Alfred J Quack]

I sold a bitcoin (so that my other 2 are now 'free' and I'll hodl forever), have to sell 1/10th of an inherited IRA which keeps going up in value, and got a promotion with 10% raise and bonus...  and all I can think about is all the friggin taxes I'm going to be paying on all this!  I don't need the money!!!  I've reached ultimate MPP

I got a promotion too with a ~10% raise (due to the large difference in pay scales) and after that I got another 10% because of the union negotiated increase for all pay scales.
The funny part is, I've got less responsibilities, more time to invest in polishing my tech skills (really diving deep) and a lot of satisfaction from my business interactions because appearently I'm doing what my other teammates don't.

I'm kind of flabbergasted with the amount left over at the end of the month, so I doubled my input on the index fund and am still left with ~3k euro. I guess I'm going to spend some time to get my HAM license...

[Sugaree]

Wow! Great job! Keep surfing CL, FBM, etc. Something suitable it bound to turn up eventually.

You were right!  I found a beautiful 1920s slip shade chandelier on FB marketplace for about 1/4 of the price of any of the others I've seen online.  If I'd had a place to put them, I'd have picked up the wall sconces that she too. 

[Alternatepriorities]

There is always a street name? Never been to a village with 3 houses I guess.

I was amazed when I ran into an online form that wouldn't let me enter an address on Broadway. No, ALL addresses have to have something like "Elm Street" or "Maple Avenue". Not just a single word "Broadway." I finally just entered "Broad Way." But surely it's one of the most famous streets in the world, plus a very common one; and you didn't think to code for it?

Another favorite was a government website where you reserved some kind of parking passes, and it had day, month, year, and a drop-down for CE/BCE in case you needed a parking permit for precisely four thousand years ago on Tuesday.

Growing up in rural Alaska the lack of a real address was a minor inconvenience. We had street names, but there were no house numbers and everyone had a PO box. Locally you could just say "Street name, first left". We making an order over the phone you could either ask the seller to use the postal service or explain how other shipping companies like FedEx and UPS had agreements to include their packages with USPS. They would enter something like "street name, PO BOX #" and it would arrive eventually. The the internet came along and trying to convince the shipping systems the package will actually reach you has been a crap shoot ever since... Some companies it's no problem, some you can enter a pseudo address for, and some just won't ship to Alaska at all. In some villages packages from FedEx and UPS just get shipped to the airport and then they call you. More than once I had to call customer service to convince them that sending a package to my made up address would indeed work. Sometimes a few stories about -60 temps or bears in town are required to bribe them into trying it...

Sometime in the early 2000s as part of the "terrorism fight" the federal government added a requirement for banking that people provide their physical address to open accounts. The US postal service must have some kind of database of real addresses because making one up using your street and PO box doesn't work. The only solution I'm aware of is to use the physical address of the post office (which is in the system) for the town you live in and treat the PO box number like and apt number. And I thought my friends apartment in Seoul was small...

[glacio09]

I've mentioned on this forum that I have a pretty sweet rental set up going. It's a symbiotic relationship where she is elderly and doesn't have to renovate or even do much maintenance, but she doesn't raise the rent. Well we got a phone call yesterday from her lawyer about getting an appraisal for her estate. Heart rate goes immediately threw the roof. Turns out it's just her getting her will in order, but still. There may be some big changes coming and I'm freaking out. Financially we're fine and actually (why this is an MPP) we have the cash to either rent or buy just about anywhere, but it's difficult figuring out what would be the "best" answer. Coasting along with status quo is so much easier...

[crocheted_stache]

I sold a bitcoin (so that my other 2 are now 'free' and I'll hodl forever), have to sell 1/10th of an inherited IRA which keeps going up in value, and got a promotion with 10% raise and bonus...  and all I can think about is all the friggin taxes I'm going to be paying on all this!  I don't need the money!!!  I've reached ultimate MPP

I got a promotion too with a ~10% raise (due to the large difference in pay scales) and after that I got another 10% because of the union negotiated increase for all pay scales.
The funny part is, I've got less responsibilities, more time to invest in polishing my tech skills (really diving deep) and a lot of satisfaction from my business interactions because appearently I'm doing what my other teammates don't.

I'm kind of flabbergasted with the amount left over at the end of the month, so I doubled my input on the index fund and am still left with ~3k euro. I guess I'm going to spend some time to get my HAM license...

DH just got a pretty nice bonus and a stock grant amounting to about an extra year's salary, vesting over three years. We're FI and then some already, and not RE mainly because it's tough to leave with the fire hose still gushing, and his employer just cranked it up. Time to top up the DAF, I guess.

Regarding A. Quack's promotion, I believe many more companies should have a technical track, where senior people get to do their thing really well and maybe teach or guide those with less experience, without managing people or spending every business hour in meetings if that's not their thing. I'm glad if the new version of your gig is going well for you.

[Taran Wanderer]

I was trying to create the at my previous employer. I got zero traction from HR. In fact, they wouldn’t even have a conversation about it. Shoot, they wouldn’t even take the time to list our various technical training programs on a PowerPoint slide. It gives me serious doubts about the ability of our business leaders to manage companies and that actually do technical things. How can you effectively advance the state of the art in whatever (engineering, manufacturing, construction, healthcare) if you don’t have the first clue about the actual activity being managed?

[BicycleB]

I was trying to create the at my previous employer. I got zero traction from HR. In fact, they wouldn’t even have a conversation about it. Shoot, they wouldn’t even take the time to list our various technical training programs on a PowerPoint slide. It gives me serious doubts about the ability of our business leaders to manage companies and that actually do technical things. How can you effectively advance the state of the art in whatever (engineering, manufacturing, construction, healthcare) if you don’t have the first clue about the actual activity being managed?

My MPP is I know all the answers* but no one listens because I don't work anywhere, being retired and all.

Sounds like Boeing as described by Matt Stoller at BIG: https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-nationalization-of-boeing-begins

In other words, of course management should listen to the workers / technical staff who care about product and have expertise - but sometimes momentum and monopoly allow incompetent management without subject matter expertise to fester for decades before a company finally crashes (pun intended). Hence my broad solution is better antitrust enforcement to produce more competition.

I do have odd ideas about fun.

*hahaha

[Alfred J Quack]

[snip for conciseness] but sometimes momentum and monopoly allow incompetent management without subject matter expertise to fester for decades before a company finally crashes (pun intended).

I work in semi-government, a non-profit for social housing to house low income families. There's a bunch of politics going on that I don't care for, at all, and a former co-worker was fed up with it as well.
Said co-worker was fed up enough that he moved employer working for a city. He was saying that he was happy to now have a manager with vision (our previous manager has as much insight as a goldfish). Now it's about 4 months later and he came and dropped by for coffee. I wasn't there by from my coworkers I understood that the politics is a lot worse.

I heard that a lot more recently, grass may seem greener on the other side of the fence but in the end - it didn't even matter ;)

[crocheted_stache]

I'm reading a personal finance book, both to support an author I like and to know if it's appropriate to recommend to others who are less mustachian or just not as far along on figuring out the money thing. It's written in a light-hearted, conversational tone.

I just got to the part about "Okay! Ready to figure out how much debt is costing you? This might be tough, but it's really important."* And my silent reading voice is screaming inside, "Zero! Nothing to see here."** I'm done with debt for good, unless a very good deal pays for itself by lowering overall costs or hassle.

*I'm paraphrasing. It's in quotation marks because there are no such things as paraphrase marks.
**Okay, I owe a couple bucks in library fines at the moment. They charge no interest, they're not stopping me from checking out books, and the money doesn't even go to the library. I'll pay when next I'm at the circulation desk, but I usually use the self-check machine.

[NorCal]

I'm reading a personal finance book, both to support an author I like and to know if it's appropriate to recommend to others who are less mustachian or just not as far along on figuring out the money thing. It's written in a light-hearted, conversational tone.

I just got to the part about "Okay! Ready to figure out how much debt is costing you? This might be tough, but it's really important."* And my silent reading voice is screaming inside, "Zero! Nothing to see here."** I'm done with debt for good, unless a very good deal pays for itself by lowering overall costs or hassle.

*I'm paraphrasing. It's in quotation marks because there are no such things as paraphrase marks.
**Okay, I owe a couple bucks in library fines at the moment. They charge no interest, they're not stopping me from checking out books, and the money doesn't even go to the library. I'll pay when next I'm at the circulation desk, but I usually use the self-check machine.

I had a similar but slightly different revelation the other day.  I'm anti-debt to the point of irrationality.  But I was admitting in an online forum that leasing a car might make sense in the EV world, as the underlying technology is changing quite a bit in the period of a lease.  The "buy for 10+ years" argument isn't as clear cut.

For context, I have an MBA with an emphasis in finance.  I've worked in corporate finance for 15+ years, and some of that was in the consumer finance industry.  I feel like financial calculations are something I have a handle on at this point. 

They started talking in auto lease language.  Residual values, implied interest rates, buyout costs, etc.  It was completely greek to me.  I couldn't make heads or tails of whether these leases were a good deal or not.  Just the idea of a fixed monthly payment sounded so dumb that I lost the willingness to even do the math on it.

I guess a debt-free life is habit forming. 

[Alternatepriorities]

I’ve long had a habit of keeping a couple pairs of nicer jeans and a couple pairs that are just a little rough for polite company that I do the dirty work in…. I only ever bought jeans for the first task and then I repurposed them for the second once they were a bit worn. My mpp: since retiring I go through work jeans faster than I wear out the nice jeans… yesterday I destroyed the last pair of work jeans that I had and i have no nice jeans rough enough to demote. DW found some at a thrift store today, but they are all much to nice for changing oil, welding, and cutting firewood in!

[Taran Wanderer]

Sounds like it’s time for some Carhartts!

[Metalcat]

Sounds like it’s time for some Carhartts!

Those would be more durable, but much more expensive than thrift store jeans, even relative to the amount of wear they could take, depending on conditions.