What is the laziest thing you have ever done/seen someone do?

[Roboturner]

here comes the derail on page 3...we had a good run thread...

No derail necessary, just don't know why people seem to think that you're a good person if you feel bad for people who make dumb life decisions.

[sheepstache]

Really my pet peeve is people not returning their grocery carts to the stall or the front of stores. They just leave them in the parking spot next to their car. I think WTF!!! When I backpacked Europe all the carts are connected by chain links and you need to insert a coin to release a cart. When you return the cart you get your coin back. Seems like a simple solution but nobody does it, at least not in the western US. You also had to pay for plastic bags so most people brought their own.

Reminds me of this great tweet:

My father built a little pop-up flag on his mailbox so he would know if the door was opened and he had mail delivered.  Why walk the 50' from the front door (in Florida) if no mail had come that day?  He also hung shirts on the curtain rod in the living room, to save walking all the way to the master bedroom.

But I think that's...kind of what the little flags that come on mailboxes are for. You turn it up so the mail carrier knows you have outgoing mail and in turn he's supposed to raise it if he's left something. I think it's a procedure that got dropped once everybody was getting junk mail pretty much every day.


This whole discussion reminds me of a great essay by Douglas Adams about how most invention is motivated by laziness. His story is how he spend weeks designing a word processing program (before such things were common) to help him format papers and ended up not writing any papers and almost flunked out of college.

[arebelspy]

here comes the derail on page 3...we had a good run thread...

No derail necessary, just don't know why people seem to think that you're a good person if you feel bad for people who make dumb life decisions.

I'm assuming you're asking this genuinely, and you really want to know the answer, so I will answer genuinely.

Having empathy and compassion for others is generally viewed as a positive quality.

They may be making bad decisions, yes, but mightn't you, in the same circumstance?

Or, as the religious put it: There but for the grace of God, go I.

I like this version: There but for causal determinants and random happenstance go I.

Either way, the point is to understand that it's tough for them, however much blame you ascribe to them personally, or not, and compassion is never unwarranted.

Thus, when people can be compassionate even when faced with difficult circumstances (when seeing someone who, on the face of it, seems like they should be degraded) often get a tip of the hat, and our respect, because that can be difficult to give.

Does that make sense?

[serpentstooth]

Also, to prove I haven't changed since childhood. Babytooth sleeps in our room and needs two bottles overnight. Rather than getting out of bed and walking across the apartment to retrieve the bottles at 2 and 5 am, I bought a $20 micro fridge off Craigslist and stuck it on my nightstand. I can now get the baby a bottle without getting out of bed and it's awesome.

LOL! I decided my daughter could jolly well learn to drink room temp formula. So I had powdered formula (pre-measured in an awesome little container). Before going to bed, I'd fill the bottle with the correct amount of water. In the middle of the night, all I would have to do was dump the powder into the bottle, shake it up, and hand it over. (my DD was between 10 and 18 months old at this point so not sure if I would have done it differently for a younger baby. Probably not though LOL!)

My daughter drinks all temperatures of formula, thankfully. I've done mixing up formula on the bedside before, but my vision is poor and I'm clumsy, and I kept accidentally spilling powder.

Now I just need to train the baby to open the fridge herself and I'll really be in business.

I was too lazy and cheap to buy formula, sterilize bottles, remember where they are when leaving house, etc so I nursed tll they were 2 yo. Way easier than bottles IMO.

Nursing seems SO MUCH EASIER. After the first few weeks, your entire contribution to the enterprise is yanking your shirt up. I wish my baby hadn't flunked nursing SO HARD.

[NoraLenderbee]

here comes the derail on page 3...we had a good run thread...

No derail necessary, just don't know why people seem to think that you're a good person if you feel bad for people who make dumb life decisions.

Compassion aside, it's pretty disparaging to refer to a human being as "it," even if you don't think highly of them.

[Roboturner]

here comes the derail on page 3...we had a good run thread...

No derail necessary, just don't know why people seem to think that you're a good person if you feel bad for people who make dumb life decisions.

I'm assuming you're asking this genuinely, and you really want to know the answer, so I will answer genuinely.

Having empathy and compassion for others is generally viewed as a positive quality.

They may be making bad decisions, yes, but mightn't you, in the same circumstance?

Or, as the religious put it: There but for the grace of God, go I.

I like this version: There but for causal determinants and random happenstance go I.

Either way, the point is to understand that it's tough for them, however much blame you ascribe to them personally, or not, and compassion is never unwarranted.

Thus, when people can be compassionate even when faced with difficult circumstances (when seeing someone who, on the face of it, seems like they should be degraded) often get a tip of the hat, and our respect, because that can be difficult to give.

Does that make sense?

yeah but where people get confused is thinking that every instance of idiocy requires empathy and sympathy, difficult circumstances are "I'm a refugee" not "I can't (sic won't) control my impulses"

That being said, I firmly believe everything loses its luster when thrown around boy-who-cried-wolf style; save your sympathy for the deserving. There is an element of pride in one's self / responsibility in one's actions that, lack of, seem to get a free pass most of the time in the name of compassion.

Lumping everything into the same category bastardizes the meaning and act of generosity/compassion/empathy etc.

Again my opinions on the matter - I don't want to demonize someone feeling compassion for anyone regardless of their circumstance, and in the same light, I don't think its right to demonize those who choose not to feel compassion.

Everyone just do what you do, think what you think, nothing should be compulsory. As long as you're not tipping the fat guy out of his rascal, think what you think, I for one will not feel bad when he keels over from heart disease at the ripe ol' age of 32.

/end devil's advocate/rant

[Roboturner]

here comes the derail on page 3...we had a good run thread...

No derail necessary, just don't know why people seem to think that you're a good person if you feel bad for people who make dumb life decisions.

Compassion aside, it's pretty disparaging to refer to a human being as "it," even if you don't think highly of them.

Personally I only use "it" for babies and am always astounded by the incredulous looks I get from the family after. Imo more efficient than saying he/she.

[I'm a red panda]

Personally I only use "it" for babies and am always astounded by the incredulous looks I get from the family after. Imo more efficient than saying he/she.

If you don't use it for all humans, why would it be appropriate for babies? At what point are people deserving of pronouns to you?

All of those are one syllable words. Where is the efficiency?

[I'm a red panda]

But I think that's...kind of what the little flags that come on mailboxes are for. You turn it up so the mail carrier knows you have outgoing mail and in turn he's supposed to raise it if he's left something. I think it's a procedure that got dropped once everybody was getting junk mail pretty much every day.

I've never heard that a mail carrier was supposed to/used to do that. I thought the idea was to flag them down even if they didn't have something to leave for you that day. 

If you put something in the mailbox and turned it up, how would you know the mail carrier had been by and done the same thing?  The flag would just stay up all day.

We have communal mailboxes now. More efficient for the mail carrier. But now we only check the mail once a week in the winter, too cold. At least we don't have to stop it for two weeks at a time so we can collect it from the post office after the snowplows drop so much ice chunks in front of our box (we lived on a curve) that it isn't possible to clear it and the mail truck can't drive in front of it anymore so they stop delivery.

[Roboturner]

Personally I only use "it" for babies and am always astounded by the incredulous looks I get from the family after. Imo more efficient than saying he/she.

If you don't use it for all humans, why would it be appropriate for babies? At what point are people deserving of pronouns to you?

All of those are one syllable words. Where is the efficiency?

Point being is before a gender is apparent it is more efficient to refer to a baby as "it" than "he or she"

i.e.

"Cute baby, looks like he or she really enjoys the sandbox"

vs

"Cute baby, looks like it really enjoys the sandbox"


EDIT: And even when you think gender is apparent you could be wrong, case and point, when I was a teenager working at the pool I called some little boy with long hair a little girl to his parent and the parent legitimately got upset -  "HE'S a BOY thank you very much!"

Damned anyway you go apparently - calm down! does it really matter?

[Roboturner]

Kind of strange English doesn't really have a gender-neutral way to refer to people - other than.... wait for it..... "it"

[sheepstache]

But I think that's...kind of what the little flags that come on mailboxes are for. You turn it up so the mail carrier knows you have outgoing mail and in turn he's supposed to raise it if he's left something. I think it's a procedure that got dropped once everybody was getting junk mail pretty much every day.

I've never heard that a mail carrier was supposed to/used to do that. I thought the idea was to flag them down even if they didn't have something to leave for you that day. 

If you put something in the mailbox and turned it up, how would you know the mail carrier had been by and done the same thing?  The flag would just stay up all day.

Yeah, I could be wrong and it could be just for the mail carrier's convenience.  Though now I wonder why the average mail box doesn't have a feature like that for the receiver...

[marty998]

But I think that's...kind of what the little flags that come on mailboxes are for. You turn it up so the mail carrier knows you have outgoing mail and in turn he's supposed to raise it if he's left something. I think it's a procedure that got dropped once everybody was getting junk mail pretty much every day.

I've never heard that a mail carrier was supposed to/used to do that. I thought the idea was to flag them down even if they didn't have something to leave for you that day. 

If you put something in the mailbox and turned it up, how would you know the mail carrier had been by and done the same thing?  The flag would just stay up all day.

Yeah, I could be wrong and it could be just for the mail carrier's convenience.  Though now I wonder why the average mail box doesn't have a feature like that for the receiver...

Because it tells every would-be identity thief out there - "look who's got mail"

[Roboturner]

But I think that's...kind of what the little flags that come on mailboxes are for. You turn it up so the mail carrier knows you have outgoing mail and in turn he's supposed to raise it if he's left something. I think it's a procedure that got dropped once everybody was getting junk mail pretty much every day.

I've never heard that a mail carrier was supposed to/used to do that. I thought the idea was to flag them down even if they didn't have something to leave for you that day. 

If you put something in the mailbox and turned it up, how would you know the mail carrier had been by and done the same thing?  The flag would just stay up all day.

Yeah, I could be wrong and it could be just for the mail carrier's convenience.  Though now I wonder why the average mail box doesn't have a feature like that for the receiver...

Perhaps as to not tip off would-be thieves that there is mail in the box?

[irishbear99]

Kind of strange English doesn't really have a gender-neutral way to refer to people - other than.... wait for it..... "it"

It's unfortunate, because people often revert to "they." Which drives me up a wall because they're using a plural pronoun with a singular subject. I really wish there was a gender neutral pronoun.

Going back to your question, I'm not giving a pass to people who make bad decisions, or even fussing at those who call people out on their bad decisions. The point I was trying to make is that all people deserve to be treated with dignity. Seeing the proverbial "other" as an it instead of as a human being (whether the other is a fat person, or a refugee, or a person who makes poor financial decisions) strips them...and us...of our humanity.

[Cheddar Stacker]

I really wish there was a gender neutral pronoun.

I hereby nominate shimself for your future consideration. Not so much gender nuetral, but at least gender equal. Thoughts?

[runningthroughFIRE]

Kind of strange English doesn't really have a gender-neutral way to refer to people - other than.... wait for it..... "it"

It's unfortunate, because people often revert to "they." Which drives me up a wall because they're using a plural pronoun with a singular subject. I really wish there was a gender neutral pronoun.

Going back to your question, I'm not giving a pass to people who make bad decisions, or even fussing at those who call people out on their bad decisions. The point I was trying to make is that all people deserve to be treated with dignity. Seeing the proverbial "other" as an it instead of as a human being (whether the other is a fat person, or a refugee, or a person who makes poor financial decisions) strips them...and us...of our humanity.

Using 'they' as a singular pronoun is actually very much up for debate.  Wikipedia claims that it's pretty much accepted in informal writing now.

The singular they is the use of this pronoun as a gender-neutral singular rather than as a plural pronoun. The correctness of this usage is disputed.[1][2] The Oxford Dictionaries have an article on the usage, saying that it dates back to the 16th century. [...]

[Gray Matter]

Using 'they' as a singular pronoun is actually very much up for debate.  Wikipedia claims that it's pretty much accepted in informal writing now.

The singular they is the use of this pronoun as a gender-neutral singular rather than as a plural pronoun. The correctness of this usage is disputed.[1][2] The Oxford Dictionaries have an article on the usage, saying that it dates back to the 16th century. [...]

And acceptance in formal writing is fast (slow?) on its heels, I believe.  In my old job in the financial services, this would have been considered a grammatical error, end of conversation.  But now I've moved to the non-profit world and have been engaged in a number of really rich gender-identity conversations, and "they" seems to be the preferred pronoun when one does not identify squarely as a "he" or a "she," and even when one does but gender/biology is irrelevant to the topic at hand. 

And, like irishbear99 pointed out, "it" is perceived as dehumanizing and I will not use it, so even though I hear my English-teacher mother's voice in my head every time I encounter it, I am OK with with using "they" as a singular pronoun.  Because honoring people and their identities is far more important than sticking to on-their-way-to-being-outdated grammar rules.  Language is ever evolving, always has been and always will, I imagine.

[cjottawa]

[trailrated]

I saw someone a few posts up that was too lazy to start a new thread so they just commandeered this one ;)

[jexy103]

In an effort to get this thread back on topic, I submit this somewhat lame example.

A co-worker was leaving for a new job a few months ago, and he was training me to take over his duties. He copy/pasted *everything*! It could be two digits and the guy copy/pasted it. Not a bad thing if it saves time or increases accuracy, which is true for a lot of what we do, but I watched him take 3-4 tries to highlight the full/correct text before he could copy/paste two digits. He wasn't an excellent typer, but he wasn't a hunt-and-peck typer either, it would have been much faster to type "15" than to watch him struggle to highlight the right portion of the text. The worst part? He would copy/paste typos and errors because it was "easier" than actually typing it correctly. Now I'm the one cleaning up the errors he copy/pasted. ::SMH::

Also, we didn't formalized it into an acronym (COL), but my husband and I do the same thing. We look at the other person and say "I have a cat" and we both know it's completely taboo to disturb the spoiled little thing. :-)

[AlanStache]

In an effort to get this thread back on topic, I submit this somewhat lame example.

A co-worker was leaving for a new job a few months ago, and he was training me to take over his duties. He copy/pasted *everything*! It could be two digits and the guy copy/pasted it. Not a bad thing if it saves time or increases accuracy, which is true for a lot of what we do, but I watched him take 3-4 tries to highlight the full/correct text before he could copy/paste two digits. He wasn't an excellent typer, but he wasn't a hunt-and-peck typer either, it would have been much faster to type "15" than to watch him struggle to highlight the right portion of the text. The worst part? He would copy/paste typos and errors because it was "easier" than actually typing it correctly. Now I'm the one cleaning up the errors he copy/pasted. ::SMH::

Also, we didn't formalized it into an acronym (COL), but my husband and I do the same thing. We look at the other person and say "I have a cat" and we both know it's completely taboo to disturb the spoiled little thing. :-)

Related to this and general laziness/efficiency if you dont know what a "macro" is and work with text data read this link
http://www.cathrinewilhelmsen.net/2013/10/27/notepad-macros-a-basic-example/  In general Notepad++ is awesome and always open both at work and home.  I think you can do something similar in Excel/etc but I try to never to 'real work' in spreadsheets. 

[JordanOfGilead]

In an effort to get this thread back on topic, I submit this somewhat lame example.

A co-worker was leaving for a new job a few months ago, and he was training me to take over his duties. He copy/pasted *everything*! It could be two digits and the guy copy/pasted it. Not a bad thing if it saves time or increases accuracy, which is true for a lot of what we do, but I watched him take 3-4 tries to highlight the full/correct text before he could copy/paste two digits. He wasn't an excellent typer, but he wasn't a hunt-and-peck typer either, it would have been much faster to type "15" than to watch him struggle to highlight the right portion of the text. The worst part? He would copy/paste typos and errors because it was "easier" than actually typing it correctly. Now I'm the one cleaning up the errors he copy/pasted. ::SMH::

Also, we didn't formalized it into an acronym (COL), but my husband and I do the same thing. We look at the other person and say "I have a cat" and we both know it's completely taboo to disturb the spoiled little thing. :-)

Related to this and general laziness/efficiency if you dont know what a "macro" is and work with text data read this link
http://www.cathrinewilhelmsen.net/2013/10/27/notepad-macros-a-basic-example/  In general Notepad++ is awesome and always open both at work and home.  I think you can do something similar in Excel/etc but I try to never to 'real work' in spreadsheets.

When I was a teenager I used macros to cheat at the MMO runescape. I would run a macro account on my laptop while using the family desktop to play my main account normally, keeping an eye on the macro to make sure it didn't do anything funky that would get me reported to the admins.

[cjottawa]

Ooo! Not sure if it's been posted in this thread yet (because it seems like it would have been!) but I spotted this recently:

https://www.jitbit.com/alexblog/249-now-thats-what-i-call-a-hacker/

Programmer writes a script for any task that takes more than 90 seconds... including hacking the coffee machine to brew him a latte via script. O.o

[sstants]

I was feeling sick one night and was lying in bed reading (this is my lame excuse for my laziness). I wanted to know what was going on in the football game so I facetimed the boyfriend out in the living room and had him show me the TV. Technology is awesome/awful at the same time!

[Jack]

EDIT: And even when you think gender is apparent you could be wrong, case and point, when I was a teenager working at the pool I called some little boy with long hair a little girl to his parent and the parent legitimately got upset -  "HE'S a BOY thank you very much!"

"Don't get mad at me; you're the one who gave him a girl's haircut!"

Kind of strange English doesn't really have a gender-neutral way to refer to people - other than.... wait for it..... "it"

Actually, it does: traditionally, the correct pronoun for unknown gender is "he." It really pisses off feminists, though.

Ooo! Not sure if it's been posted in this thread yet (because it seems like it would have been!) but I spotted this recently:

https://www.jitbit.com/alexblog/249-now-thats-what-i-call-a-hacker/

Programmer writes a script for any task that takes more than 90 seconds... including hacking the coffee machine to brew him a latte via script. O.o

First of all, that's one of the more awesome and hilarious things I've read lately.

Second, computer programming is the laziest profession ever. One of the reasons I decided to become one is that I hate having to do anything twice.

[Squirrel away]

I was giving my dogs their worm medicine wrapped in some cream cheese and a bit of cheese fell onto the floor and I got them to lick it up so I didn't have to go and get a cloth.:0

[Roboturner]

I was giving my dogs their worm medicine wrapped in some cream cheese and a bit of cheese fell onto the floor and I got them to lick it up so I didn't have to go and get a cloth.:0

lazy? you mean the reason you have a dog, right?

[irishbear99]

I was giving my dogs their worm medicine wrapped in some cream cheese and a bit of cheese fell onto the floor and I got them to lick it up so I didn't have to go and get a cloth.:0

lazy? you mean the reason you have a dog, right?

+1

The other night I was comfy on the couch, except that my feet were cold. I didn't want to get up to adjust the thermostat, so I called the dog up on the couch to lay on my feet to warm them.

[HipGnosis]

Although I live in a small house, the master bedroom and the bathroom are about as far apart as they can be. And the laundry room is right next to the bathroom.
I put a cloths rack (on wheels, but I don't move it) and a couple lightweight utility bins in the laundry room.
I hang my primary cloths for the current season; cold, nice, warm on the rack when I take them out of the dryer.   Underwear goes in the bins. Non-current season cloths go to the bedroom closet.
When I go to take a shower, I stand at the laundry room door, remove my cloths and toss them into the appropriate of 3 cloths baskets -- sorted for washing.
After a shower, I step into the laundry room and dress.

Efficiency is laziness applied with reason.

[arebelspy]

Ooo! Not sure if it's been posted in this thread yet (because it seems like it would have been!) but I spotted this recently:

https://www.jitbit.com/alexblog/249-now-thats-what-i-call-a-hacker/

Programmer writes a script for any task that takes more than 90 seconds... including hacking the coffee machine to brew him a latte via script. O.o

Very relevant XKCD: Is it worth automating?

[AlanStache]

Ooo! Not sure if it's been posted in this thread yet (because it seems like it would have been!) but I spotted this recently:

https://www.jitbit.com/alexblog/249-now-thats-what-i-call-a-hacker/

Programmer writes a script for any task that takes more than 90 seconds... including hacking the coffee machine to brew him a latte via script. O.o

Very relevant XKCD: Is it worth automating?

But: https://xkcd.com/1319/
and: https://xkcd.com/1579/  :-)

[Venturing]

I've left the clock in my car unchanged after daylight savings, and left it so long that it was finally correct again after daylight savings ended.

I do this too. Only problem is when some 'helpful' person decided to correct it. I mean, I know that my clock is fast by ten minutes for half the year and slow by 50 minutes for the other half. It works perfectly well that way!

[nazar]

My DH had to apply a decal to the commercial vehicle he drives.  The vehicle was due for a wash, but instead of doing that task followed by the decal application, he washes just the spot where the decal will go and applied it.  His rationale?  "I had to put the decal on today.  I didn't have to wash the vehicle today."

[cjottawa]

My DH had to apply a decal to the commercial vehicle he drives.  The vehicle was due for a wash, but instead of doing that task followed by the decal application, he washes just the spot where the decal will go and applied it.  His rationale?  "I had to put the decal on today.  I didn't have to wash the vehicle today."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW68goC4_es

[Rubic]

I finally thought of something especially lazy that I could contribute to this thread.  Shameful?  Brilliant?  You decide.

When I was living in an especially cheap-o apartment with no washer/dryer hookups, I hated the time and expense of driving to the laundromat each week.  I found I could easily wash most of my clothes in a plastic tub and hang dry -- a particularly mustachian approach -- but this would not do for basic underwear which requires hot temps, bleach, etc.

I started buying Fruit of the Looms on sale and eventually owned enough fresh pairs that I could avoid taking them to the laundromat for up to 3 months at a time.  At the laundromat, washing 3 months worth of underwear doesn't take much longer than a couple weeks' worth.

[saving_dutchman]

I finally thought of something especially lazy that I could contribute to this thread.  Shameful?  Brilliant?  You decide.

When I was living in an especially cheap-o apartment with no washer/dryer hookups, I hated the time and expense of driving to the laundromat each week.  I found I could easily wash most of my clothes in a plastic tub and hang dry -- a particularly mustachian approach -- but this would not do for basic underwear which requires hot temps, bleach, etc.

I started buying Fruit of the Looms on sale and eventually owned enough fresh pairs that I could avoid taking them to the laundromat for up to 3 months at a time.  At the laundromat, washing 3 months worth of underwear doesn't take much longer than a couple weeks' worth.

An excellent example of efficient laziness.
There is the initial investment is required to obtain ~100 pairs of underwear but it will take forever to wear them out since you are wearing them only 4 times a year.

I bought 20 pairs of new socks last year because I didn't have any clean ones left. There is no need to match pairs since they all match (sort of).

[golfreak12]

I prefer the term efficient. I am very efficient.

Once, as i pulled into the driveway after coming home from work, i rolled down my window, grabbed the handle of the big garbage can (big ones with wheels, provided by waste company) and proceed to drive down my driveway as it rolled beside my car. A passerby honked and gave me a thumbs up. One of the proudest lazy moments in my life. I couldnt be bothered to walk a 100ft round trip to retrieve the garbage can.

I am a problem solver. It is what i do.

You are my freakin hero.

[Dicey]

When I was in outside sales, most companies wanted call reports, which everyone hated with a passion. Seriously, we were outside reps because we didn't like anyone breathing down our necks. We were all sure that no one ever read the damned call reports, but some bean counter just checked the mail and reported the non-compliants. One of the guys made up a set of six weeks worth of reports. He copied them and henceforth mailed off a "new" set every Friday afternoon. You would not believe how the company held him up to the spotlight for his model habits. Fortunately, he was a great guy who really was an awesome salesperson and wildly efficient. He was always willing to share his ideas, which is why no one ever ratted him out for sending the same set of reports in a six week rotation. And yes, they named him Salesman of the Year. Go Wes, wherever you are, and thanks for your help.

BTW, yes, this was back in the early part of the century. Nowadays, everything's electronic. When they shoved an iPad into my hands that could see my every move, including in my own damn house 24/7, I gave it back and FIRE'd. I'm sure if Wes hasn't done the same by now, he's figured out a new way to circumvent this  system too.

[cjottawa]

...

I bought 20 pairs of new socks last year because I didn't have any clean ones left. There is no need to match pairs since they all match (sort of).

Are you my (sock) twin?

I have 20 pairs of identical, black work socks.

Never a "missing sock," no sorting, no pairing: just dump the whole pile in the "sock box." (I have a box for socks...oh my, that rhymes)

[hernandz]

I have two remotes for the television in the bedroom, because DH usually falls asleep with a remote in his left hand and I sleep on the right side of the bed.

[One Noisy Cat]

     I have a clock radio that belonged to my father. The clock is fast and I don't have the instruction manual so rather than fumble to adjust the time (especially when the clocks change every six months) I let it go.  Right now it is 31 minutes fast. Never need it for the exact time.
    At one USCG station I was at, we had 6-8 people at the BEQ (bachelor's enlisted quarters) which was 500 feet from the station (married housing was 4 miles away). About two-thirds would drive their cars (all young, fit men)to work and back. Made sense on days when you worked on your car since the station had a number of tools but how often do you change oil?

[saving_dutchman]

...

I bought 20 pairs of new socks last year because I didn't have any clean ones left. There is no need to match pairs since they all match (sort of).

Are you my (sock) twin?

I have 20 pairs of identical, black work socks.

Never a "missing sock," no sorting, no pairing: just dump the whole pile in the "sock box." (I have a box for socks...oh my, that rhymes)

Great minds think alike :)

I'm definitely getting a sock box in the near future. Right now I have a sock shelf.

Have you ever found a clean sock with a hole in it and then decided it's wasteful to throw it out while it's clean?

[steviesterno]

...

I bought 20 pairs of new socks last year because I didn't have any clean ones left. There is no need to match pairs since they all match (sort of).

Are you my (sock) twin?

I have 20 pairs of identical, black work socks.

Never a "missing sock," no sorting, no pairing: just dump the whole pile in the "sock box." (I have a box for socks...oh my, that rhymes)

Great minds think alike :)

I'm definitely getting a sock box in the near future. Right now I have a sock shelf.

Have you ever found a clean sock with a hole in it and then decided it's wasteful to throw it out while it's clean?

I do this, too! one of the easiest "life hacks" or just easy things I've done, buy a bulk pile of dress socks and a bulk pile of work out socks. if you do wash and come up short, just throw it in the drawer or back in the hamper. next week you will lose another and be even or find another and be even. I might have to buy a bigger pile, I like that soxbox plan

[JordanOfGilead]

...

I bought 20 pairs of new socks last year because I didn't have any clean ones left. There is no need to match pairs since they all match (sort of).

Are you my (sock) twin?

I have 20 pairs of identical, black work socks.

Never a "missing sock," no sorting, no pairing: just dump the whole pile in the "sock box." (I have a box for socks...oh my, that rhymes)

Great minds think alike :)

I'm definitely getting a sock box in the near future. Right now I have a sock shelf.

Have you ever found a clean sock with a hole in it and then decided it's wasteful to throw it out while it's clean?

I do this, too! one of the easiest "life hacks" or just easy things I've done, buy a bulk pile of dress socks and a bulk pile of work out socks. if you do wash and come up short, just throw it in the drawer or back in the hamper. next week you will lose another and be even or find another and be even. I might have to buy a bigger pile, I like that soxbox plan

I've found that a huge benefit to buying socks in bulk is that when one has a hole, you don't have to throw away a pair. You can just throw away the one sock.

[saving_dutchman]

.....

I've found that a huge benefit to buying socks in bulk is that when one has a hole, you don't have to throw away a pair. You can just throw away the one sock.

I have been doing this for years without even thinking about it.

I absolutely love how we are talking about the efficiency of a simple thing as socks.

[reader2580]

I also buy the same socks in quantity so I don't have to deal with matching up pairs and such.  I just grab two socks and go.  My last purchase was a 10 pair pack of socks from Sam's Club.  They are made in the USA as a bonus.  If a sock gets a hole or is otherwise unusable I throw that sock away.  Once I get down three or four pair I buy new socks and donate the remaining good ones to Goodwill or other charity.  I suppose a true mustachian would not give away any socks and just keep them all in rotation until they were unusable.

I never thought of this as being lazy.

[paddedhat]

I was giving my dogs their worm medicine wrapped in some cream cheese and a bit of cheese fell onto the floor and I got them to lick it up so I didn't have to go and get a cloth.:0

I train all my dogs to understand that once they are sitting at my feet, after being told to come, a tap of my foot means that there is a "treat" located right in front of my shoe.  Ice cubes, food bits, little plops of yogurt, all good.  They reliably and surgically clean the scene of the accident. It's only right, for all the care, feeding and love they get, they at least should pretend to be productive and useful.

[Roboturner]

I also buy the same socks in quantity so I don't have to deal with matching up pairs and such.  I just grab two socks and go.  My last purchase was a 10 pair pack of socks from Sam's Club.  They are made in the USA as a bonus.  If a sock gets a hole or is otherwise unusable I throw that sock away.  Once I get down three or four pair I buy new socks and donate the remaining good ones to Goodwill or other charity.  I suppose a true mustachian would not give away any socks and just keep them all in rotation until they were unusable.

I never thought of this as being lazy.

Goodwill now takes trashed clothing/shoes and will recycle the cloth, save your holey socks for the donation bin as well!

[Dollar Slice]

One of the guys made up a set of six weeks worth of reports. He copied them and henceforth mailed off a "new" set every Friday afternoon. You would not believe how the company held him up to the spotlight for his model habits. Fortunately, he was a great guy who really was an awesome salesperson and wildly efficient. He was always willing to share his ideas, which is why no one ever ratted him out for sending the same set of reports in a six week rotation. And yes, they named him Salesman of the Year.

This reminds me of AP Bio in high school. My best friend and I were lab partners, it was the end of senior year, and we were seriously burned out (especially with this particular teacher who seemed to really dislike us). The school had kind of screwed up the scheduling and the AP Bio labs were scheduled after school instead of during the day - meaning you couldn't take the school bus home, etc. Pain in the butt. Also, the teacher was always scheduling, canceling, and rescheduling based on her personal whims, so it was hard to arrange for rides in advance (this was pre-cell-phone days back in the 90s).

So in the end we had this fruit fly lab where we had to breed and count them or something along those lines to learn something about genetics. But somehow (presumably because of irregular care/feeding schedules) our flies had all died partway through the experiment. We knew this teacher would not give us a good grade based on this, so we decided to just invent the numbers. But we were so burned out that we didn't even really try. "OK, three digit number" "Um... 1..2..3" "Another" "3...2...1" "One more" "Sigh. 2...2...2." "OK... add them up, and... 666? Really?? She's going to notice." "Who cares. Fuck it."

It was our best grade we got on a lab the whole year...