Author Topic: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?  (Read 173992 times)

sol

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8433
  • Age: 47
  • Location: Pacific Northwest
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #100 on: March 20, 2019, 11:19:29 AM »
Petty reasons to pursue FIRE:

- I won't back down
- Spend more time with my American Girl
- Tired of of having to remind my superiors not to do me like that
- No longer want to be concerned with corporate profits that are free fallin'

Then die of a drug overdose?

Steveray7071

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 28
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #101 on: March 20, 2019, 11:31:48 AM »
I really hate being told what to do, where to be, and when to do it.

This!  Perfectly said!

FireAnt

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 334
  • Age: 39
  • Location: Michigan
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #102 on: March 20, 2019, 11:35:16 AM »
I think this is an Italian thing but the endless small talk about food and digestion.  I remember one day my colleagues were having a huge heated discussion about the tastiest brand of tuna fish at the supermarket.  Today, I went into the work kitchen and they were all chatting about which fruits they find "difficult to digest".  These are people younger than me not old people.  TMI and sooo boring.  I'd almost prefer to talk about the weather.

A roommate during an internship in college told me that anybody who has a drop of Italian blood will be focused on food.  This was after a long conversation about what we liked to eat and then finding out my grandmother was Italian.

I can confirm this is true.

Tyson

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3025
  • Age: 52
  • Location: Denver, Colorado
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #103 on: March 20, 2019, 11:46:39 AM »
I hate waking up to an alarm clock.  If I could just sleep to whatever time my body needed I'd be so much happier. 

Rubyvroom

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 368
  • Location: Minnesota
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #104 on: March 20, 2019, 12:00:45 PM »
I will gladly never set foot in places like Ann Taylor's Loft again.

Women's shoes with heels can go back to the depths of hell from which they spawned.

I will never smell burned popcorn over lunchtime again.

Interviews - you are dead to me now. No, how about YOU tell me about a time you solved a problem, you asshole.

jlcnuke

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 931
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #105 on: March 20, 2019, 12:07:51 PM »
Hmm, let's see - sleep when I want, for as long as my body deems necessary is high on the list. An end to commuting and dealing with rush hour is not far from the top of the list of reasons to FIRE as well.

Reasons I haven't seen/didn't notice:
1. Never again having to estimate how long it will take to do something that's never been done before with an unknown scope, but let's make my random guess the official budget proposal anyway, even though I told you it was just a shot in the dark.
2. An end to "go ahead and work these 5 projects simultaneously, but this particular project is the most important one so focus on that..... until next week when I'll ask you why that other one isn't done yet and make it sound like you're incompetent for not realizing I wanted it done first actually... and now it's late and it's all your fault"
3. An end to choosing between being undercompensated because current employers don't increase your pay commensurate with your experience/market value or constantly changing employers (and probably locations) in order to be fairly compensated.

Chranstronaut

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 713
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #106 on: March 20, 2019, 12:17:36 PM »
Petty reasons to pursue FIRE:

- I won't back down
- Spend more time with my American Girl
- Tired of of having to remind my superiors not to do me like that
- No longer want to be concerned with corporate profits that are free fallin'

HEEEEEYYYYY baby!  There ain't no easy way out.  Ya gotta SAAAAAAVE now, and let it...com...pound.

LennStar

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3681
  • Location: Germany
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #107 on: March 20, 2019, 12:27:19 PM »
I think this is an Italian thing but the endless small talk about food and digestion.
Ahaha, this weeks ItchyFeet: http://www.itchyfeetcomic.com/2019/03/change-subject.html

FrugalToque

  • Global Moderator
  • Pencil Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 862
  • Location: Canada
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #108 on: March 20, 2019, 12:30:42 PM »
They had this stupid "no alcohol in the office" rule.
And now there's a don't-be-stoned-at-work policy, too, since cannabis became legal.

dougules

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2899
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #109 on: March 20, 2019, 12:31:12 PM »
I think this is an Italian thing but the endless small talk about food and digestion.  I remember one day my colleagues were having a huge heated discussion about the tastiest brand of tuna fish at the supermarket.  Today, I went into the work kitchen and they were all chatting about which fruits they find "difficult to digest".  These are people younger than me not old people.  TMI and sooo boring.  I'd almost prefer to talk about the weather.

A roommate during an internship in college told me that anybody who has a drop of Italian blood will be focused on food.  This was after a long conversation about what we liked to eat and then finding out my grandmother was Italian.

I can confirm this is true.

You wouldn't want your friends to get the wrong tuna, right?

The fruit thing reminds me of a very serious conversation my dad once had with me about the deleterious effects of peach skin on the digestive system. 

Chranstronaut

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 713
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #110 on: March 20, 2019, 12:33:21 PM »
They had this stupid "no alcohol in the office" rule.
And now there's a don't-be-stoned-at-work policy, too, since cannabis became legal.

It seems a change of country helps.  My Italian headquarters has a beer vending machine.  But they will also berate you about the order you eat your food in, so it's a trade off.

FrugalToque

  • Global Moderator
  • Pencil Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 862
  • Location: Canada
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #111 on: March 20, 2019, 12:35:11 PM »
Petty reasons to pursue FIRE:

- I won't back down
- Spend more time with my American Girl
- Tired of of having to remind my superiors not to do me like that
- No longer want to be concerned with corporate profits that are free fallin'
I need more than just the last dance with Mary Jane?

Polaria

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 241
  • Age: 46
  • Location: Brussels - Belgium
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #112 on: March 20, 2019, 12:46:47 PM »
I am surprised no one has mentioned office radio yet. Having to listen to the radio at work is probably my least favourite part of being employed. I love music but my coworkers always choose the most bland station and there are commercials all the time.

Maybe radio at work is not so common in other countries, depending on the type of work place.
I remember we had radio at work when I lived and worked in the Netherlands.
Here in Norway work radio is not really a thing in places where I worked.
I didn't know that, I guess I should move! ;) I know having the radio on in the office is common in the Netherlands and Belgium. To me it's just noise pollution.

In my company (Belgian business unit of a Dutch group) the radio would fly through a window after a few minutes... I almost blew a fuse once when someone in my vicinity started to play the Harry Potter theme with a manual music box. Open spaces are a special kind of hell.

In Belgium we would probably have to set a working group to decide on which respective days the Flemish-speaking radio and the French-speaking radio should be on :p
« Last Edit: March 20, 2019, 12:52:21 PM by Polaria »

Duchess of Stratosphear

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 343
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #113 on: March 20, 2019, 12:46:54 PM »
I want to be able to travel at any time of the year that I please, not be tied down by the work calendar.

Hula Hoop

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1762
  • Location: Italy
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #114 on: March 20, 2019, 12:54:31 PM »
They had this stupid "no alcohol in the office" rule.
And now there's a don't-be-stoned-at-work policy, too, since cannabis became legal.

It seems a change of country helps.  My Italian headquarters has a beer vending machine.  But they will also berate you about the order you eat your food in, so it's a trade off.

We have beer and wine in the office cafeteria at my workplace here in Italy.  People drink wine pretty regularly with lunch and then go back to work.  It puts me to sleep though.  Anyway alcohol with lunch is totally fine here but cappuccino after 11 am is taboo. 

That's another thing I want to do after FIRE - make myself a big milky coffee after lunch and drink it at home with no one around to berate me.
« Last Edit: March 20, 2019, 12:57:05 PM by Hula Hoop »

Aelias

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 427
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #115 on: March 20, 2019, 01:05:16 PM »
Petty reasons to pursue FIRE:

- I won't back down
- Spend more time with my American Girl
- Tired of of having to remind my superiors not to do me like that
- No longer want to be concerned with corporate profits that are free fallin'

HEEEEEYYYYY baby!  There ain't no easy way out.  Ya gotta SAAAAAAVE now, and let it...com...pound.

That's why we're all running down a dream


Slow&Steady

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 698
  • Location: Midwest
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #116 on: March 20, 2019, 01:18:18 PM »
Normally I try to focus on the positive but I am feeling grumpy today and this seems like a fun game at the moment.

1. So I no longer have to listen to excuses about why people can not travel or work a longer day because they have to pickup or drop off their kid. We explain in detail exactly what is required and yet for some reason they accept the position and suddenly after being hired they remember that they have a kid.....

2. I want a dog but I am a responsible person and realize that with my current position I can not be home to let the dog out or give them the proper attention meanwhile I listen to my co-workers give lame excuses about why they can not work a longer day or travel because they have to let the dog out or feed it or whatever.

3. I am so tired of having to interface and rely on people that do not give a damn, are complacent or just do as little as humanly possible without getting fired.


So I don't have to interface with people that think working late and traveling for work are more important than spending time with my family.  You want 1 long day every few weeks, fine.  You want me to travel out of state every other month, ok.  You ask me to travel 3 hours away for a Friday/Saturday/Sunday "test the equipment" (that can be done remotely) trip after I get home from from a week long trip at 11PM on Thursday, F*** you.

True petty reason is that I hate alarm clocks and dress clothes.

Chranstronaut

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 713
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #117 on: March 20, 2019, 01:21:32 PM »
That's another thing I want to do after FIRE - make myself a big milky coffee after lunch and drink it at home with no one around to berate me.
YOU CAN'T DIGEST MILK THAT LATE IN THE DAYYYYYY

I received this "advice".  I was also advised that I eat salad wrong because I once ate my salad before my entree in the work cafeteria.  Pure travesty.  It's not my fault I need extra fiber to combat the salty seafood and high volume of pasta.

Omy

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1726
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #118 on: March 20, 2019, 01:30:36 PM »
Well it's not really the reason I want to FIRE, but the petty part of me won't mind if my spendy ex finds out that I've retired a decade or two before he is able to. Ex and I had built a sizable nest egg (due to my frugal nature and against his will). We divorced 16 years ago and divided everything in half. While I'm getting ready to ride off into the sunset, he's probably back up to his eyeballs in debt and looking at several expensive years of educating the kids from his third marriage.

Candace

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 582
  • Age: 57
  • Location: Hampton Roads, Virginia
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #119 on: March 20, 2019, 01:51:26 PM »
Already FIRE'd here. I can remember just dreaming for the day when, as someone else upthread said, I didn't have to pretend to give a fuck. Let me tell you, not having to pretend I care about work I found less than meaningful is relative bliss.

Also, if I'm having a gassy afternoon, I don't have to keep walking 80 or so yards to the ladies' room.

Hey, we said petty, right?


Chranstronaut

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 713
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #120 on: March 20, 2019, 02:01:06 PM »
Already FIRE'd here. I can remember just dreaming for the day when, as someone else upthread said, I didn't have to pretend to give a fuck. Let me tell you, not having to pretend I care about work I found less than meaningful is relative bliss.

Also, if I'm having a gassy afternoon, I don't have to keep walking 80 or so yards to the ladies' room.

Hey, we said petty, right?
YES.  This is the pure petty bullshit I am looking for.

My new reasons:
  • The office coffee always tastes burnt, even if I make it fresh and even after we bought a new machine.  How?
  • I can never adjust the office chair pan correctly for my short legs.  I have thought of bringing my beanbag chair from home so I can sit on the floor for part of the day, but I don't even have a full cubicle - just a single divider and the rest is an open office at the main entrance to the suite.

DadJokes

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2360
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #121 on: March 20, 2019, 02:19:34 PM »
Adding another reason in light of events that occurred today:

Being able to eat lunch in peace and not be asked for anything or have to make conversation

FireLane

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1327
  • Age: 41
  • Location: NYC
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #122 on: March 20, 2019, 02:28:24 PM »
Not having to sit at a desk and pretend to be busy on days when I have no real work to do.

Candace

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 582
  • Age: 57
  • Location: Hampton Roads, Virginia
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #123 on: March 20, 2019, 02:28:57 PM »
That's another thing I want to do after FIRE - make myself a big milky coffee after lunch and drink it at home with no one around to berate me.
YOU CAN'T DIGEST MILK THAT LATE IN THE DAYYYYYY

I received this "advice".  I was also advised that I eat salad wrong because I once ate my salad before my entree in the work cafeteria.  Pure travesty.  It's not my fault I need extra fiber to combat the salty seafood and high volume of pasta.
You eat salad wrong? There's a wrong way to eat salad?

I have another petty reason I wanted to FIRE, to share. It was to get away from florescent lighting. Just so depressing.

whitewaterchica

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 66
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #124 on: March 20, 2019, 02:37:07 PM »
Waking to the sun instead of an alarm.

No longer being given extra work without extra pay.

Not having to manage the lump of mashed potatoes who was passed off to me when my manager couldn't manage him. "We see your potential!" yeah, ok.

Not having to live my life in terms of weekends and vacation days. I fully expect to be even busier when I'm fired but with 90% less b.s. filler.

Not having to talk about what I do, "I'm whitewaterchica, the blah de blah here at gobbly gook." I know it's a way of life here in the USA but I cannot stand making small talk about what I do for a living.

No more SMELLY shared work bathrooms. whew!

No more spending 45+ hours per week with people I do not care to know (introverts unite!!).

use2betrix

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2492
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #125 on: March 20, 2019, 02:47:23 PM »
I have to keep reminding myself of the thread title being “petty” reasons to seek FIRE..

I feel like we need to start a thread where people discuss their “actual” problems at work. Some people act like these are real problems, and it just makes me feel like the work issues I stress about are so so much worse lol.

dodojojo

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 806
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #126 on: March 20, 2019, 03:09:28 PM »
So I don't seethe at conferences that my manager invites me to attend when I have not been at all involved in the project (by his intention) and I'm made to feel like an intern, only there to run stupid errands for him/others. And I have to hear him use "I" in every single achievement statement by our team in his presentation.

Guess what I was doing today?

Mike in NH

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 81
  • Age: 43
  • Location: NH...Obviously
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #127 on: March 20, 2019, 03:45:10 PM »
Email distribution lists that are only relevant to your job 2% of the time, so you're stuck sifting through the other 98%.

And the ridiculous reply all chains where some poor soul accidentally emails 20k+ people on a distribution list in the company and morons keep replying all to "remove me". We had one that generated at least 100 of those responses.

@DeepEllumStache our megacorp suffers from the same situation. I had a bright idea that we could save a lot of costs on performance management and HR by instituting a rule that anyone after the first 5 people to reply all should just get fired each time this happens. I can't believe I work with people who are getting paid a decent wage to be that stupid.


TexasRunner

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 926
  • Age: 32
  • Location: Somewhere in Tejas
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #128 on: March 20, 2019, 04:06:09 PM »
Also, when standing behind me as I demonstrated something on my computer screen, I'd notice them staring at the top of my head when I glanced back.

Maybe they were checking their own hairline in the reflection.....?

PlainsWalker

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 101
  • Age: 39
  • Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #129 on: March 20, 2019, 04:10:34 PM »
So I can simplify down to having just one place I sit and browse the internet.

cats

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1232
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #130 on: March 20, 2019, 04:19:23 PM »
I want to quit work before it affects my appearance too much - wrinkles, extra pounds, gray hair.

this

Me also.  We periodically have people who retire but spend 2-3 months "vacationing out" and then come back for retirement cake.  They always look better when they come back.

Aside from that, I'm looking forward to being caught up on sleep.  I do have some more "noble" aspirations like spending time volunteering or having more time with my son, but right now, sleeping and finally having the mental energy needed to focus on losing 10 lbs are the most appealing things.

middo

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Stuck in Melbourne still. Dreaming of WA
  • Learning.
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #131 on: March 20, 2019, 04:24:20 PM »
Not having to wear work clothes and a lanyard ever again.  Every time I take the stupid lanyard off I feel a lightness come over me. 

Little Aussie Battler

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 230
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #132 on: March 20, 2019, 04:25:17 PM »
I don't like being stuck behind slow people on stairs / escalators.  It's ok to be slow, just move out of the bloody way!

Lady SA

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 556
  • Age: 32
  • Location: Midwest
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #133 on: March 20, 2019, 05:23:59 PM »
1. being forced to wake up at a certain time. I am perpetually crabby from having my natural sleep cycles interrupted!
2. avoid the hectic rush in the mornings as I groggily get up 10 mins before I have to be out the door. What I wouldn't give to just wake up when I want (see #1) and get to have a nice slow start to ease me into the day. Drink some tea, read a chapter of a book, take a shower. Then finally feel ready to face the day.
3. I'm pretty susceptible to stress and get sore legs (I unknowingly tense my calf muscles when stressed) and rosacea flares (a bright, BRIGHT red face flush). I HATE this and get really embarrassed when I flush like that. Removing the trigger will make my face look nicer more often :)
4. I'm an athlete, and honestly the work day really interferes with how often I want to train and do activities or cross-training. I would be much faster/stronger and win more often if I could concentrate solely on building my athletic skills and helping my body perform better.

BuildingFrugalHabits

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 250
  • Location: Great Plains
  • Living the dream
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #134 on: March 20, 2019, 05:24:12 PM »
Cleaning staff vacuuming my cube like clockwork during normal business hours, especially if I'm on the phone. 

iluvzbeach

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1578
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #135 on: March 20, 2019, 05:57:26 PM »
Time-tracking

Steeze

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1205
  • Age: 36
  • Location: NYC Area of Earth
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #136 on: March 20, 2019, 06:47:04 PM »
Alarm clocks
Skipping coffee because I’m late
Being late
Skipping breakfast
Skipping lunch
Skipping dinner
Staying late
Going early
Pissed off clients
Pissed off client’s client’s clients that get my cell#
Clerks
Forms
New forms that don’t need to exist
Being told when to be somewhere
Job sites in the winter
Overnight inspections
Weekend inspections
Night and weekend texts from clients
Holiday party speeches
They way my neck hurts
Not snowboarding
Not skateboard
Not camping
The subway during rush hour
The heat breaking in the winter at the office
The A/c breaking at the office
Cleaning the office toilet because no one else will
Having no control of my time
Not remembering what I did last year or the year before
Not having a dog
Not having a garden
Fixing other people’s problems

CHASING OTHER PEOPLE’S DREAMS

sol

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8433
  • Age: 47
  • Location: Pacific Northwest
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #137 on: March 20, 2019, 07:21:04 PM »
Yea, I highly recommend retirement to all of you peeps.  Just reading this thread is stressing me out, reminding me of what my old life was like.  It genuinely does get better, I promise.

I too used to make lists of the things I hated.  The reasons I needed to quit, the injustices and idiocy and the repetitive bullshit work that didn't need to exist, but in retrospect that was just me wallowing in self-pity.  Looking back on it now, that version of me feels angry and cruel.  There's just no reason to live like that.

Maybe a more helpful exercise is to identify the things that you think you will miss about your job, the good things, and then make a plan for how to preserve as much of that as possible after you retire.

Tris Prior

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3012
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #138 on: March 20, 2019, 08:10:16 PM »
I don't want to have to leave the house when the weather's horrible unless I choose to.

I don't want to spend the entire summer - which is fleeting where I live - freezing my ass off because the office AC is running at absurd levels.

And I want to be able to stop forcing my body to adhere to a schedule that it does not want.

fuzzy math

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1726
  • Age: 42
  • Location: PNW
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #139 on: March 20, 2019, 08:31:22 PM »
They closed the nearest lunch room on my side of the building and I don't always have time to walk to the other side of the building (medical field, take a break when you have 4 minutes or forever forgo the option). So sometimes I eat in the chairs in the locker room (everyone does). The chairs face the door to the bathroom with 2 toilet stalls and some of the more depraved or "innocent" people go in there and take a shit without closing the door to the room. WHY!??? Are you too embarrassed for people to see you close the door because they will know you might shit? So instead you're gonna shit with the door open WHILE I'M EATING and hope no one notices?

I hate carrying a pager. I hate that it means I can't drink a lot of water or any liquid without worrying that I'll be trapped at work unable to use a restroom, or eat food that's going to upset my guts without having to worry about how it could impact my entire night and following day. If I want to rip up my intestines eating mung bean Asian glass noodles, I should have that freedom.

My scrubs come individually in a plastic sleeves now. So every day I throw away 3 sleeves. A little part of me dies counting the number of bags that I will have utilized before I fire.


Aegishjalmur

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 293
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #140 on: March 20, 2019, 09:10:38 PM »
Better dreams-

Before I FIRE'd I would have dreams about work and bore myself awake, then lie in bed unable to get back to sleep before having to go to work and do what I was just dreaming about doing.... Blech....

TartanTallulah

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 592
  • Location: The Middle of Scenic Nowhere
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #141 on: March 20, 2019, 09:37:52 PM »
Never having to be in the same room as that colleague who repeats the last few words of everything they say then looks around for a reaction while going, "Hmm, hmm, hmm?"

ItsALongStory

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 528
  • Location: Somewhere in Europe
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #142 on: March 21, 2019, 12:04:15 AM »
I hope to retire at 44 so I don't have to hear my wife brag about how she returned at 45. It's more of a competitive thing than jealousy of course. She was retired when we met.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk


ItsALongStory

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 528
  • Location: Somewhere in Europe
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #143 on: March 21, 2019, 12:09:13 AM »
Email distribution lists that are only relevant to your job 2% of the time, so you're stuck sifting through the other 98%.

And the ridiculous reply all chains where some poor soul accidentally emails 20k+ people on a distribution list in the company and morons keep replying all to "remove me". We had one that generated at least 100 of those responses.

@DeepEllumStache our megacorp suffers from the same situation. I had a bright idea that we could save a lot of costs on performance management and HR by instituting a rule that anyone after the first 5 people to reply all should just get fired each time this happens. I can't believe I work with people who are getting paid a decent wage to be that stupid.
We must work at the same place. I love the 'ignore' feature in Outlook for these scenarios. Also use it for happy birthday string that aren't restricted from reply all.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk


aGracefulStomp

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 108
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #144 on: March 21, 2019, 02:22:51 AM »
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"


I will never ask about anyones weekend ever, nor answer a question about my weekend, when I FIRE.

+1 for weekend interrogations. It's nobody's business to ask what I do in the weekend. If I have something to tell, I will do so by myself.

In my experience, anyone asking about my weekend really just wants to talk about theirs.  If I have something interesting to say, I will respond, but otherwise, a "Nothing much, what about you?" lets them get it out of their system while I listen with half an ear and make mhmm noises.

Absolutely agree, which is why it's so inanely mind deafening. No one gives a shit. Everyone's asking because they have too. No one cares about the answer. No one really enjoys answering the question.

It's just a constant reminder that yet another week has passed and we're all still here, staring at computers from the morning till evening, week in ... and week out.
« Last Edit: March 21, 2019, 02:24:46 AM by aGracefulStomp »

Imma

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3193
  • Location: Europe
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #145 on: March 21, 2019, 03:38:11 AM »
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"
Friday: "Are you up to anything fun this weekend?"
Monday: "How was your weekend?"


I will never ask about anyones weekend ever, nor answer a question about my weekend, when I FIRE.

+1 for weekend interrogations. It's nobody's business to ask what I do in the weekend. If I have something to tell, I will do so by myself.

In my experience, anyone asking about my weekend really just wants to talk about theirs.  If I have something interesting to say, I will respond, but otherwise, a "Nothing much, what about you?" lets them get it out of their system while I listen with half an ear and make mhmm noises.

Absolutely agree, which is why it's so inanely mind deafening. No one gives a shit. Everyone's asking because they have too. No one cares about the answer. No one really enjoys answering the question.

It's just a constant reminder that yet another week has passed and we're all still here, staring at computers from the morning till evening, week in ... and week out.

I have a coworker who really seems to want to know what I do outside of work and will keep asking. I'm always struggling to five politically correct answers, because I know saying I went to a punk or black metal show is not the smartest thing to do.

Another thing that's really annoying is politics. We had provincial elections yesterday and most of my coworkers have voted for a party I truly dispise (their campaign slogan was 'no more immigration, no more climate madness' ) and several coworkers have tried to find out who I voted for. I don't talk about politics at work as a matter of principle. They wouldn't ask me directly because it would be rude, but from my mustachian behaviour they've figured out that I probably vote for one of the green parties so they just start bashing the national party leaders to see if they can get a reaction out of me.

Yes, they guessed right, no, they won't get any reaction out of me, no, I don't care about what you think about the national leadership because this is a provincial election.

ender

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7402
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #146 on: March 21, 2019, 05:32:19 AM »
This thread has made me realize how good of a job I actually have.

... though I'm still going to be quite happy to not have it eventually :-)

Mississippi Mudstache

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2170
  • Age: 40
  • Location: Danielsville, GA
    • A Riving Home - Ramblings of a Recusant Woodworker
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #147 on: March 21, 2019, 06:06:06 AM »
This thread has made me realize how good of a job I actually have.

... though I'm still going to be quite happy to not have it eventually :-)

Yup. My reasons for FIRE mostly just involve personal freedom, not escaping a toxic or annoying work environment. That said, this is my fifth job in the ten years since graduating from college, and it's the first workplace I can actually say that about....And I still want to FIRE.

Philociraptor

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1131
  • Age: 34
  • Location: NTX
  • Eat. Sleep. Invest. Repeat.
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #148 on: March 21, 2019, 06:18:19 AM »
The office coffee always tastes burnt, even if I make it fresh and even after we bought a new machine.  How?

Does it have a warmer pan you can't turn off? Or that always seems to be left on so that when the pot is empty the last bit crusts to the bottom and it gets all smokey?

Mississippi Mudstache

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2170
  • Age: 40
  • Location: Danielsville, GA
    • A Riving Home - Ramblings of a Recusant Woodworker
Re: What is your most petty reason for seeking FIRE?
« Reply #149 on: March 21, 2019, 06:30:06 AM »
The office coffee always tastes burnt, even if I make it fresh and even after we bought a new machine.  How?

Does it have a warmer pan you can't turn off? Or that always seems to be left on so that when the pot is empty the last bit crusts to the bottom and it gets all smokey?

Two jobs ago, we had the same problem. But it was the coffee, not the coffee maker. A fresh batch in a freshly-cleaned pot tasted just as burnt as a pot that had been sitting for three hours. Strangely, the coffee was Maxwell House - which I usually find inoffensive, if not particularly appealing - but apparently this was a special blend of over-roasted beans specially priced for the discriminating, cost-conscious megacorp.