Post secrets you know from your previous/current jobs

[Kris]

End of year funds for any part of Gov and Military are down right disgusting...use it or loose it! I wonder how much they could save if they allowed a carry over for funds.

Ah yes...that $10,000 hammer from the GSA catalogue. Spent a pretty (useless and unneeded) penny buying crap at the end of the budget year so that our ship's engineering dept budget wouldn't be cut. Chief would give me a catalogue and say "spend Spartana, spend"! I think they had tanks and aircraft carriers you could buy too :-)!

Wow you budgeted well and only spend 80% of your total budget, guess we gave you too much, so we'll only give you 75% next year.  Spartana there, his group ran out of funds last year, so they must need more.  His department gets your extra 25%.

OMG, so much this.  I am a department head, and I am always quite careful to budget well and to stay below our limit.  Department B is a financial disaster and has been for years.  Result? They get no punishment but a tiny hand slap, and my surplus, as well as the surpluses of other departments, is taken away from us to pay for their deficit.  This has been going on for years, with no end in sight.

[MonkeyJenga]

End of year funds for any part of Gov and Military are down right disgusting...use it or loose it! I wonder how much they could save if they allowed a carry over for funds.

Ah yes...that $10,000 hammer from the GSA catalogue. Spent a pretty (useless and unneeded) penny buying crap at the end of the budget year so that our ship's engineering dept budget wouldn't be cut. Chief would give me a catalogue and say "spend Spartana, spend"! I think they had tanks and aircraft carriers you could buy too :-)!

Wow you budgeted well and only spend 80% of your total budget, guess we gave you too much, so we'll only give you 75% next year.  Spartana there, hisher group ran out of funds last year, so they must need more.  His department gets your extra 25%.

The non-profit version of the $10,000 hammer, in my experience, is the $500 training that didn't get approved back in February.

[mozar]

This isn't a secret, but it still blows peoples minds. The department of defense fails its audit every year. That means that 1 trillion dollars is spent each year and we don't entirely know where its going. They're supposed to be auditable by 2017 but a lot of agencies aren't going to make it.

If you need a government clearance, it doesn't matter how many bad things you've done in your life.  What matters is if you're in any way ashamed of those things.  If you are, you are prime blackmail material.  If you're proud of all previous indiscretions, then no one can hurt you.

I know, right! I have done many bad things, illegal drugs, lying, cheating, my sexual orientation changes on a whim...but I was nervous about talking about the fact that I moved out of one apartment after only three months because I didn't get along with the roommate, and I also had been recently dumped by the only person who could give me a reference for that time period. You would think that I was running an arms dealership with terrorists for those three months from the way they reacted. I had to do several interviews for that time period. They told me I wouldn't get my clearance unless they interviewed that person who dumped me, and of course my ex got the dates wrong because my ex is an idiot. Then the property management company got the dates wrong. This issue held up my clearance for a month. I finally got my clearance, but I didn't wind up getting that job anyway.

[schoopsthecat]

This is a great thread!  I laughed out loud at the grocery store meat problem.

These won't be a surprise to anyone, but large universities genuinely don't care how effective professors are at teaching...at all.  Promotion and tenure processes are based entirely on research and publishing (or the equivalent in your field).

I won't go into aspects of why higher education is so costly, because most of those things are obvious, but one thing I find genuinely surprising is how much more costly building projects are for public universities (at least ours) than they should be.  Our department is trying to fund a new building.  We got several estimates from architects about costs based on the land value and what we needed.  After being reviewed by the school for all the rules they have for everything from how landscaping has to look, what builders we have to use, what kind of bidding process we have to use, and various other agreements that the school had entered into, the cost was 55% above what it would cost for a private company to build the exact same place.

[partgypsy]

This is a great thread!  I laughed out loud at the grocery store meat problem.

These won't be a surprise to anyone, but large universities genuinely don't care how effective professors are at teaching...at all.  Promotion and tenure processes are based entirely on research and publishing (or the equivalent in your field).

I won't go into aspects of why higher education is so costly, because most of those things are obvious, but one thing I find genuinely surprising is how much more costly building projects are for public universities (at least ours) than they should be.  Our department is trying to fund a new building.  We got several estimates from architects about costs based on the land value and what we needed.  After being reviewed by the school for all the rules they have for everything from how landscaping has to look, what builders we have to use, what kind of bidding process we have to use, and various other agreements that the school had entered into, the cost was 55% above what it would cost for a private company to build the exact same place.

Working at a large private university, the employees were told how valuable they were but paid relatively low. However there was always enough money to build new important buildings, and whenever a new president, head of something came along, that was the solution to everything, build a new building. There were a few cases where additional space was needed (such as dedicated research space in clinical areas, sleep specialist area) especially when old buildings or areas housing those areas were torn down for new construction. Ironically the new construction wouldn't have any additional space for needed services. It's like they were designed never asking the people who actually worked there, what they needed.  However they always looked much more fancy, with big atriums or lobby areas. We joked that the university had an "edifice complex".

[maryofdoom]

Plain, unprinted cotton T-shirts cost less than a dollar, wholesale. Even fancy tri-blend shirts cost around $3-$4 apiece.

The discrepancies get even bigger when you get into athletic gear and hoodies. For example, I picked up four bamboo/cotton moisture-wicking baselayer shirts for $14 apiece at my last job. They would have cost around $40 apiece in a retail store. The last hoodie I bought was $18 and probably retails for $50.

[ivyhedge]

Leftover samples of your bodily fluids that go into a large medical lab are regarded as fair game for anybody's research project.  Somebody is always coming through and saying something like, "Save me all the amniotic fluids you get with and L/S of X or greater."

The same goes for *most* organs under *many* circumstances postmortem (as evidenced by CNN's story yesterday and picked up ... by just about everyone).

[mm1970]

End of year funds for any part of Gov and Military are down right disgusting...use it or loose it! I wonder how much they could save if they allowed a carry over for funds.

Ah yes...that $10,000 hammer from the GSA catalogue. Spent a pretty (useless and unneeded) penny buying crap at the end of the budget year so that our ship's engineering dept budget wouldn't be cut. Chief would give me a catalogue and say "spend Spartana, spend"! I think they had tanks and aircraft carriers you could buy too :-)!

Wow you budgeted well and only spend 80% of your total budget, guess we gave you too much, so we'll only give you 75% next year.  Spartana there, his group ran out of funds last year, so they must need more.  His department gets your extra 25%.

OMG, so much this.  I am a department head, and I am always quite careful to budget well and to stay below our limit.  Department B is a financial disaster and has been for years.  Result? They get no punishment but a tiny hand slap, and my surplus, as well as the surpluses of other departments, is taken away from us to pay for their deficit.  This has been going on for years, with no end in sight.

Okay yes, I remember this from the old days too. Maddening!

[JustPlainBill]

My car is parked at work (Yankee stadium) all hours of the day and night.  My boss and the owner both think I'm pulling 18 hour days, but I'm really not.

I am guessing you can sleep under the desk hidden from view too! 

You made me laugh - thanks.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Cpa Cat]

Working at a large private university, the employees were told how valuable they were but paid relatively low. However there was always enough money to build new important buildings, and whenever a new president, head of something came along, that was the solution to everything, build a new building. There were a few cases where additional space was needed (such as dedicated research space in clinical areas, sleep specialist area) especially when old buildings or areas housing those areas were torn down for new construction. Ironically the new construction wouldn't have any additional space for needed services. It's like they were designed never asking the people who actually worked there, what they needed.  However they always looked much more fancy, with big atriums or lobby areas. We joked that the university had an "edifice complex".

At the university I went to, the Business School is the most prestigious of the departments. They decided they wanted a new building and more space. So various other departments were reassigned to different, less desirable locations so that the Business School could tear down their building and build a new one.

My old Economics professor (Economics was not part of the business school) told me that he was assigned to an office in some building he had never heard of, and when he got there, it was full of bees. It was this whole set up where the bees had a glass-walled home and tunnels that led outside. When he asked the bee-department (whatever that was) to move the bees, they said that it wasn't a good time for the bees to be moved. Apparently, the bees had not been reassigned to a different space and their office was considered "open". So now a new space had to be found for the bees - and space was at a premium due to the torn-down building forcing everyone into every nook and cranny.

So he had to share his office with the bees for an entire year before someone finally found them a new home. Plus, people would come in and check on the bees and study them. He said it was clear that the bees were considered the more valuable occupant of the office.

[forummm]

Working at a large private university, the employees were told how valuable they were but paid relatively low. However there was always enough money to build new important buildings, and whenever a new president, head of something came along, that was the solution to everything, build a new building. There were a few cases where additional space was needed (such as dedicated research space in clinical areas, sleep specialist area) especially when old buildings or areas housing those areas were torn down for new construction. Ironically the new construction wouldn't have any additional space for needed services. It's like they were designed never asking the people who actually worked there, what they needed.  However they always looked much more fancy, with big atriums or lobby areas. We joked that the university had an "edifice complex".

At the university I went to, the Business School is the most prestigious of the departments. They decided they wanted a new building and more space. So various other departments were reassigned to different, less desirable locations so that the Business School could tear down their building and build a new one.

My old Economics professor (Economics was not part of the business school) told me that he was assigned to an office in some building he had never heard of, and when he got there, it was full of bees. It was this whole set up where the bees had a glass-walled home and tunnels that led outside. When he asked the bee-department (whatever that was) to move the bees, they said that it wasn't a good time for the bees to be moved. Apparently, the bees had not been reassigned to a different space and their office was considered "open". So now a new space had to be found for the bees - and space was at a premium due to the torn-down building forcing everyone into every nook and cranny.

So he had to share his office with the bees for an entire year before someone finally found them a new home. Plus, people would come in and check on the bees and study them. He said it was clear that the bees were considered the more valuable occupant of the office.

It seems like the bees would have been right at home moving into the new Buzyness School building.

[golden1]

A lot of "science" in private industry is essentially manipulation and interpretation of data to reflect what the manager of your department wants to report to his manager.   

[thisperson]

This may be somewhat common knowledge, but I will share anyway.

Private universities do not give out many full scholarships (even to needy students). Instead, they give 50% scholarships to wealthy families (they know people are wealthy because of the FASFA). Then, they are still getting half the revenue. No one pays full price at a private university. The scholarship amount is just a game.

Sorry, but none of that is true. Lots of people pay full price at private universities. Take a look at the data: https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/Default.aspx
Look up an institution, and check out the section called "Student Financial Aid" under "Institutional Profile." As an example, 39% of students at Dartmouth received no financial aid.

I also disagree that private universities "do not give out many full scholarships (even to needy students)" but I guess that depends on how you're choosing to define "many." How about this: "20% of our parents have total incomes less than $65,000 and are not expected to contribute." https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/how-aid-works

I'm not sure where you're getting the wealthy families get a 50% discount thing from. Or why you think wealthy families are identified based on the FAFSA. Truly wealthy families don't even complete the FAFSA because they are not applying for need-based financial aid.

[Kris]

At the university I went to, the Business School is the most prestigious of the departments. They decided they wanted a new building and more space. So various other departments were reassigned to different, less desirable locations so that the Business School could tear down their building and build a new one.

My old Economics professor (Economics was not part of the business school) told me that he was assigned to an office in some building he had never heard of, and when he got there, it was full of bees. It was this whole set up where the bees had a glass-walled home and tunnels that led outside. When he asked the bee-department (whatever that was) to move the bees, they said that it wasn't a good time for the bees to be moved. Apparently, the bees had not been reassigned to a different space and their office was considered "open". So now a new space had to be found for the bees - and space was at a premium due to the torn-down building forcing everyone into every nook and cranny.

So he had to share his office with the bees for an entire year before someone finally found them a new home. Plus, people would come in and check on the bees and study them. He said it was clear that the bees were considered the more valuable occupant of the office.

I feel like this is some sort of parable…  :p

[Kitsune]

Based on my current job, and on the last 2 jobs...

If you think a supplier is being particularly avoidant about discussing the details about what they agreed to give you, and seem particularly eager to re-negotiate the contract, it's because they've lost the copy of the original contract and have no idea how much they're supposed to give you. As such, they'll give you whatever you ask for as long as it sounds reasonable because they can't admit that they don't know what you're owed.

And yes, publicly-owned multinationals losing their copy of a multi-million dollar contract is actually a thing that happens. More than once.

[MrsStubble]

Infrastructure is so vulnerable, and terrorism is so easy, that I'm amazed we still have a functional civilization.

To add to that... international and national banking is so full of black market money and fraud being perpetrated by our own governments that if you removed the fraud/money-laundering from the system, all the governments would collapse.   


From my husband from his high school days:

Never buy loose candy at movie theaters, especially the mixed kind (chocolate covered nuts, raisins, etc all in one bin.)  You don't want to know where that has been before you get to it.

[dragoncar]

Infrastructure is so vulnerable, and terrorism is so easy, that I'm amazed we still have a functional civilization.

This is very true and to me this statement means "people are basically good."

I agree.. On the other hand:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/06/fbi-baffled-over-wave-of-nighttime-fiber-optic-cable-vandalism/
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/05/22/50-million-gallons-of-water-lost-in-attack-on-inflatable-dam-drought-emergency-just-got-far-worse-for-alameda/

Odds are the room you are sitting in was literally coated in urine and/or feces at some point during the construction process.

What.  Some of you need to elaborate instead of just being vague.  Like the chili guy and the returning food to the kitchen guy.

As to beavis and butthead, I guess it's good that older immigrants have replaced teenagers at most of the fast food stores around here.

Just not going there.

Are there a lot of juicy secrets in the semiconductor industry?

They are all under NDA.  Anyways, here's one:

http://www.wired.com/2011/04/gallery-silicon-art/

[forummm]

In addition to the onetime presence urine and feces, there is probably a lot of trash hidden inside the walls of your house and office. McDonalds bags, coffee cups, construction debris, cigarette butts, etc. It's cheaper and easier than a dumpster.

[Insanity]

In addition to the onetime presence urine and feces, there is probably a lot of trash hidden inside the walls of your house and office. McDonalds bags, coffee cups, construction debris, cigarette butts, etc. It's cheaper and easier than a dumpster.

The house I grew up in my parents bought as a new construction.  The closer in the downstairs bedroom had a cut out under the steps.  I used it as a hiding spot when I wanted to keep away from everyone.

There were beer cans and other trash.  I never cleaned it out.  My brother wasn't old enough to want to drink and my parents would have just thrown it out :).

[Insanity]

I could say it is a secret, but it isn't.  Most large companies only care about complying with regulations regarding data protection.  They don't actually care about the data.

Go ahead, show me that shocked face!

[Rural]

In addition to the onetime presence urine and feces, there is probably a lot of trash hidden inside the walls of your house and office. McDonalds bags, coffee cups, construction debris, cigarette butts, etc. It's cheaper and easier than a dumpster.

Not my house, there isn't. DIY for the win again.


Though I can probably match the urine and feces ounce for ounce with cat barf, all of it post-occupancy.


Derail: why does my iPad know how to spell piss but not urine?

[trailrated]

NEVER EVER EVER ORDER DRAFT BEER FROM A DIVE BAR.

I used to manage a promotions team for MillerCoors and went along with the distributor reps who were giving a person who just purchased a dive bar a training on how to use their draft system. They discovered that the previous owner did not refrigerate the kegs properly, and had forged the cleaning logs for the lines to each keg.

They are supposed to do this regularly but the person demonstrating the cleaning procedure told me maybe 10% of independent small bars adhere to this. He then proceeded to clean the lines with the proper solution and I gagged when I saw what came out of it.

He told me the beer will have an off taste almost like a buttery stale popcorn when the lines have not been cleaned properly. I pretty much stick to bottled beer now.

Also so many of the "craft" beer companies are owned by the major players: Blue Moon = MillerCoors, Shock Top = Budweiser

[mtn]

NEVER EVER EVER ORDER DRAFT BEER FROM A DIVE BAR.

I used to manage a promotions team for MillerCoors and went along with the distributor reps who were giving a person who just purchased a dive bar a training on how to use their draft system. They discovered that the previous owner did not refrigerate the kegs properly, and had forged the cleaning logs for the lines to each keg.

They are supposed to do this regularly but the person demonstrating the cleaning procedure told me maybe 10% of independent small bars adhere to this. He then proceeded to clean the lines with the proper solution and I gagged when I saw what came out of it.

He told me the beer will have an off taste almost like a buttery stale popcorn when the lines have not been cleaned properly. I pretty much stick to bottled beer now.

Also so many of the "craft" beer companies are owned by the major players: Blue Moon = MillerCoors, Shock Top = Budweiser

There was a college bar we used to go to that I always ordered bottled beer because the draught beer tasted horrible. Just disgusting.

This was the same bar that if you ordered Bud Light, Miller Lite, Coors Lite, or any other Lite American Lager you were getting Natty Lite. Handle might have said differently, but it was Natty light underneath.

[mm1970]

Never get the chili at Wendy's.

+1 to all the government waste comments.  I just experienced my first fiscal year end "buy everything!" rush at a state university.  It would be comical if it wasn't so sad.  Oh, but we only had enough money for a 3% raise because we're struggling so much for money, right?  Right...

I'm finding that issue being involved in the school PTA.

All this fundraising, because the funding from the state isn't enough (yet we've added how many administrators to the district??)
We are paid per student per day they show up.

Much of our costs are repeating costs that you can't get grants for.  You can get grants for the garden, or computers.  But you can't get a grant for the guy who sets up all the computers and gets the school ready for the new tests.

You can't get a grant for teacher stipends so they can buy supplies.

Good luck getting grants for busses to get kids to the field trips.

[Daley]

Derail: why does my iPad know how to spell piss but not urine?

Clearly, your iPad has a urine-poor dictionary.

[halfshellmeijin]

Plain, unprinted cotton T-shirts cost less than a dollar, wholesale. Even fancy tri-blend shirts cost around $3-$4 apiece.

The discrepancies get even bigger when you get into athletic gear and hoodies. For example, I picked up four bamboo/cotton moisture-wicking baselayer shirts for $14 apiece at my last job. They would have cost around $40 apiece in a retail store. The last hoodie I bought was $18 and probably retails for $50.

This is because clothing is how many retailers make up for theft. They get away with it because people are willing to spend more on clothes. This is why retailers also have large sales on clothes constantly. 40% off or bogo half off. At my store for instance, we sell things for 29.99 but only paid 12.77 for it. (Just looked up a random item).

[dragoncar]

What's the advantage of draft anyways?  I tend to order it instead of a bottle, even at the same price.  Not sure why... I just assumed it was fresher or something?

[mozar]

In addition to the onetime presence urine and feces, there is probably a lot of trash hidden inside the walls of your house and office. McDonalds bags, coffee cups, construction debris, cigarette butts, etc. It's cheaper and easier than a dumpster.

My house is part of my co-op that was built in the 1930's. My neighbor was telling me that when she was renovating she pulled out all kinds of trash from the 1930's. Kinda cool!

[forummm]

Derail: why does my iPad know how to spell piss but not urine?

You can add it to your dictionary. So turns out urine luck.

[2ndTimer]

Leftover samples of your bodily fluids that go into a large medical lab are regarded as fair game for anybody's research project.  Somebody is always coming through and saying something like, "Save me all the amniotic fluids you get with and L/S of X or greater."

The same goes for *most* organs under *many* circumstances postmortem (as evidenced by CNN's story yesterday and picked up ... by just about everyone).

Yeah, a pathologist once showed up at Grand Rounds with a particularly interesting pancreas in a bucket.

[Jack]

Infrastructure is so vulnerable, and terrorism is so easy, that I'm amazed we still have a functional civilization.

This is very true and to me this statement means "people are basically good."

I agree.. On the other hand:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/06/fbi-baffled-over-wave-of-nighttime-fiber-optic-cable-vandalism/
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/05/22/50-million-gallons-of-water-lost-in-attack-on-inflatable-dam-drought-emergency-just-got-far-worse-for-alameda/

Odds are the room you are sitting in was literally coated in urine and/or feces at some point during the construction process.

What.  Some of you need to elaborate instead of just being vague.  Like the chili guy and the returning food to the kitchen guy.

As to beavis and butthead, I guess it's good that older immigrants have replaced teenagers at most of the fast food stores around here.

That is not necessarily a good thing. My first job was at a Blimpie franchise run by an Indian guy. I was instructed to mix the tuna salad by hand. Literally by hand, without gloves. (I washed my hands, of course, but still...) I didn't know any better at the time, but in retrospect it was surely a health code violation.

[MonkeyJenga]

Odds are the room you are sitting in was literally coated in urine and/or feces at some point during the construction process.

What.  Some of you need to elaborate instead of just being vague.  Like the chili guy and the returning food to the kitchen guy.

"Coated in urine and feces" is pretty damn specific to me.

[Debts_of_Despair]

Never get the chili at Wendy's.

https://youtu.be/MbVDQKcxg00?t=9m43s

Better yet, don't eat at Wendy's period.

[dragoncar]

Odds are the room you are sitting in was literally coated in urine and/or feces at some point during the construction process.

What.  Some of you need to elaborate instead of just being vague.  Like the chili guy and the returning food to the kitchen guy.

"Coated in urine and feces" is pretty damn specific to me.

Yeah, but... how?  It's not believable.  You want me to believe construction workers smeared a fine layer of feces over studs before drywalling?

[Rezdent]

Odds are the room you are sitting in was literally coated in urine and/or feces at some point during the construction process.

What.  Some of you need to elaborate instead of just being vague.  Like the chili guy and the returning food to the kitchen guy.

"Coated in urine and feces" is pretty damn specific to me.

Yeah, but... how?  It's not believable.  You want me to believe construction workers smeared a fine layer of feces over studs before drywalling?

Well, I caught a contractor spitting tobacco into a crawlspace in my kitchen once.  He told me that he cleaned everything up once the work was done.  I'm just glad I didn't see any urine or feces but it wouldn't surprise me.  Ug.

[bacchi]

In addition to the onetime presence urine and feces, there is probably a lot of trash hidden inside the walls of your house and office. McDonalds bags, coffee cups, construction debris, cigarette butts, etc. It's cheaper and easier than a dumpster.

My house is part of my co-op that was built in the 1930's. My neighbor was telling me that when she was renovating she pulled out all kinds of trash from the 1930's. Kinda cool!

I've intentionally placed that day's newspaper in a wall that's going up, figuring it'd be cool for someone to discover decades in the future.

As for urine and feces, I can see peeing in a corner. Feces, though? Like a worker is going to take a shit in a wall cavity? I'm skeptical.

[paddedhat]

Well, I caught a contractor spitting tobacco into a crawlspace in my kitchen once.  He told me that he cleaned everything up once the work was done.  I'm just glad I didn't see any urine or feces but it wouldn't surprise me.  Ug.

As a builder I have absolutely lost it when dealing with knuckle dragging tobacco chewers on my jobs. You either take you drooling, nasty assed pie hole to a window or door, and spit outside, or GTFO. These guys are disgusting. The worst of the bottom crawlers spit in whatever can they find, then leave the cans all over. 

[Spork]

In addition to the onetime presence urine and feces, there is probably a lot of trash hidden inside the walls of your house and office. McDonalds bags, coffee cups, construction debris, cigarette butts, etc. It's cheaper and easier than a dumpster.

We had an obsessive guy walking around cleaning all that stuff up as it happened.  (Me.)  It's funny.  The cleaner it is, the cleaner they treat it.  If there is crap everywhere, then what's a McDonald's wrapper or two?  If it's neat, your trash makes you look like a dick.

On the other side of it, I've found 3 signatures and one "Bob is hungover today" written in attics and on the backside of drywall.  I think those are gems.

[forummm]

Never get the chili at Wendy's.

https://youtu.be/MbVDQKcxg00?t=9m43s

Better yet, don't eat at Wendy's period.

I actually thought the chili was a smart idea. They could turn their cosmetically undesirable products and reuse them instead of just wasting them in the trash. It's actually mustachian. And not a health hazard. Still, Wendy's is my least favorite fast food franchise.

[singh02]

As a physician:

1. I realize a lot of us are seen as pill pushers.  But in reality that's what the majority of you that come to the office want.  Diet, exercise, and time can treat most medical conditions.  Yet your blood pressure is still high so we will recommend you take a pill.  On a similar note all my fat patients (well mostly the women patients) all work out longer and with more intensity than me.  That's what they tell me when i'm taking a history anyway.

2. You know in the movies when someone gets shot and they have to remove the bullet?  In reality
 you don't have to remove the bullet.  Surgeons will if it's there of course.  But it's not absolutely necessary.
3. The dirtiest place we all find in the operating room is the belly button.
4. You know when you flat line?  You don't shock that heart rhythm in real life.
5. Scrubs is the most accurate medical show. 
6.  A medical student graduates at an average of 160k IN educational debt.  My loans range from 6.7 to 8% interest currently.  I dont understand why the rate to buy a house is nearly half that of buying a medical education.
7.  The flu shot doesn't make you sick for the most part.  The virus that's in the vaccine is dead.  It may give you mild upper respiratory symptoms (achyness, mild cough, temperature of less than 100) if your sensitive.  If you are at a high risk of getting the flu howver you should take the vaccine and then go home and take some Tylenol and or motrin/aleve.
# when we prescribe medication we never look at the price of it.  Medical billing is really complicated and we have whole depts dedicated to it.  We barely have enough time to stay up to date in our specialties so we don't spend much time learning the billing.  Tip: take in the walmart $4 dollar drug list with you as that contains many essential medications ask if there is a generic version of the drug that is suitable for you.
#In medical school we all download the free epocrates app which gives us advice on medical dosing.  I've heard it's free because they sell our information to drug companies (ie how many times we look up a drug.  So for example, if a drug rep gives am information lunch or dinner session on a new drug, in the following months they can monitor how many times we look up that drug information on epocrates.  If the numbers start getting lower they will entice us with stuff (free samples, another nice lunch or dinner explaining the benefits of the drug).  I've always found it amazing how easy the time of a doctor can be bought by a steak dinner. 
#we almost always buy generic medications.  You should too.
# don't listen to TV doctors like Dr. Oz.  Good medical advice is boring and should not attract many viewers.  It's like good investment advice.
# doctors have on average 10 years less to invest than the average public with a bachelor's degree (we finish our training early 30s). 
#please don't read an article on your symptoms and then come to our office and try to dictate care.  This goes for patients who work in the health care setting as well (even physicians of other specialties although they're rarely a problem because the know how vast medical knowledge is and how much thrre is to learn).  There is a process of how things are done as proving good health care is a team effort.  If you feel you are the special flower who has it all figured out, please realize you are deviating from the standard (and usually most common treatment which has has success with prior parients).  Proceed at your own risk.

[Dicey]

Great post, singh02! Thank you.

[forummm]

4. You know when you flat line?  You don't shock that heart rhythm in real life.
6.  A medical student graduates at an average of 160k IN educational debt.  My loans range from 6.7 to 8% interest currently.  I dont understand why the rate to buy a house is nearly half that of buying a medical education.

4) What do you do?
6) They can repossess your house. They can't take back the education and sell it to pay the debt.

[nobodyspecial]

Wow you budgeted well and only spend 80% of your total budget, guess we gave you too much, so we'll only give you 75% next year.  Spartana there, his group ran out of funds last year, so they must need more.  His department gets your extra 25%.

Our research group once semi-seriously looked at buying gold to re-sell in the next financial year. Used gold in the coating machine so it shouldn't ring alarm bells.
Instead we did what all university research groups do and bought lab equipment for other groups - they reciprocate - and the auditors can't tell the difference between an HP1234 and an HP4321

[Papa bear]

Big expensive accounting firms will take you and your company's tax returns and ship them off to India to be prepped for pennies on the dollar.   

And here's a scary one closer to home:  I had interviewed dozens of potential employees (staffing/temp agency) who retired early to real estate, day trading, "I got a windfall and quit" types, etc. who after 15+ years came back looking for a job.  They couldn't get an AP clerk role paying 14/hour and had to settle for data entry or call center.  No one would hire them after such a long break.

I hope we're all a bit smarter here, right????


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[nobodyspecial]

I hope we're all a bit smarter here, right????

Yep, if i suddenly retired from a big expensive accounting firm I would have saved enough money not to have to come back ;-)

[mustachianteacher]

Middle school teacher here.

A student's grade has almost ZERO correlation to their actual or perceived intelligence or ability in the subject -- it's all a matter of showing up and turning in work. (Not that that's a bad thing, per se. That's how many jobs are too!)

Be wary of teachers who work kids relentlessly and have zillions of assignments. They're probably prioritizing a silent classroom where kids work quietly and independently all period. That's not necessarily a bad thing now and then, but if that's all the kids ever do, it is. You may also want to question whether those zillions of assignments are actually being graded thoughtfully by the teacher.

Be wary of teachers with lots of fancy degrees, certifications, and accolades. You don't need a PhD to be a great teachers, and at my school, the crappiest teachers have the most degrees and certificates. (We collectively threw our hands up when the very worst teacher at our school became Nationally Board certified. PLEASE. It made me lose all faith in that program as a marker of quality teaching.)

[dragoncar]

Never get the chili at Wendy's.

https://youtu.be/MbVDQKcxg00?t=9m43s

Better yet, don't eat at Wendy's period.

I actually thought the chili was a smart idea. They could turn their cosmetically undesirable products and reuse them instead of just wasting them in the trash. It's actually mustachian. And not a health hazard. Still, Wendy's is my least favorite fast food franchise.

I love Wendy's chili (or used to), and agree it's not a health hazard as long as the employees follow the rules.  But I got sick twice from Wendy's chili (not hospital-level, but stay home on the toilet level) and swore off since then.  I assume the location didn't heat it up fast enough, maintain proper temperature, or trash it properly after expiration.

Edit: What's wrong w/ that video?  It's quite awesome.

[NV Teacher]

Educational policy is almost never decided by people with actual experience as educators.

Boy you are right about this one.

[mozar]

and the auditors can't tell the difference between an HP1234 and an HP4321

I'm an auditor and this is true. We also don't really care. My train of thought: the organization says they bought a big bulky thing that costs 5k. I see a big bulky thing. Checkmark!

[Unique User]

I spent 10 years in the restaurant industry and what happens in fine dining restaurant kitchens is even worse that what Kitchen Confidential portrays. 

DH's current job causes him to see a lot of fast food kitchens.  Surprisingly he reports that McDonald's are the cleanest fast food kitchens.  Jack in the Box and Pizza Hut are the worst.  Rodents, bugs, mold in the walk-ins and moldy dish racks are common.