368 replies to this topic

[Malcador]

Kitchen sink got clogged. Plumber got us a look at what 15 years of accumulation looks like inside a pipe.

Also looked at one clip from Jin Roh and now my YouTube suggestions are just either German techno or Nazi themed videos. Hm

Edited by Malcador, 17 July 2017 - 08:27 AM.

[TrueNeutral]

Need a birthday gift idea for a workaholic, emotionally distant dad whose hobbies are complaining about work and watching TV. Thoughts?

[IndiraLightfoot]

Hmm, assuming that you really wish for him to be closer to you, and assuming he's susceptible to any such attempt...

 

1) Give him a "hobby gift" that you know a lot about and/or are into yourself - that way you get to bond a bit more. Sneaky.

2) Give him some social event gift, and include yourself, and try to get him to see more sense. A more direct approach (runs the risk of getting confrontational).

 

However, if he's something of a hopeless case of a workaholic, and almost immune to any warming-up attempts at that:

3) Get a gift that's as far away from his line of work as possible, and that's also not at all like passive TV-watching. Perhaps an old hobby he gave up when he was younger.

4). A tie.

[Gfted1]

Hmm, how about a bitchin' universal remote control? The Logitech Harmony Elite seems nice, but expensive, so you may opt for the little brother model, Logitech Harmony 700?

[Malcador]

Need a birthday gift idea for a workaholic, emotionally distant dad whose hobbies are complaining about work and watching TV. Thoughts?

Office Space DVD

[TrueNeutral]

Hm. Some of those are ideas I can work with (though I'm pretty sure he has the Office Space DVD). Thanks!

[ShadySands]

I was going to say a Fitbit

Is it too late to say Fitbit?

[Raithe]

Still juggling assorted bureaucracy to see what I can do about student loans and tuition fees for the return to university.

But while I'm about that, did have a general conversation with the course leader about getting ready for the course before the semester starts in September.

My somewhat faded skills with the likes of Ada and Cobol are a wee bit un-useful, so I'm focusing on the data science and analysis units more than the hard core advanced programming. But I still need to sit down and get to grips with Python, R, and re-familiarise myself with current SQL.

 

However, the weather has turned muggy, and some authors have released some new books so procrastination is calling quite firmly on this afternoon.

[Calax]

Oh dealing with bureaucracy is a wonderful thing. Especially when it's bright, perky, friendly and completely unhelpful while appearing to be helpful.  "I'll look into this for you and let you know."   Call back - "Oh, I'm afraid you'll have to do x to get into this"    Try to do X, get a different person "Oh no, that won't be possible. What you'll have to do is this..."

Weirdly since working as part of a major corportation, I have become quite adept at chopping my way through the red tape.

 

That said, am currently in the process of setting up a phone interview to take a pay raise as part of my move in a month and a half.

[Hurlshot]

I bought a large storage shed, so tomorrow I get to put it together. The box was massive, they had to forklift it onto my garden trailer. Should give me some more space though, it is 7' by 7' and 8' tall.

[teknoman2]

i almost had an accident with the car yesterday. the new highway is closed for maintenance so for that part all traffic is diverted to the old road that is 1 lane in each direction and full of corners. as one point, as i was coming close to a corner with no visibility, i saw a truck coming from the other side with several cars lined up behind it. the problem was that one of the cars had a very impatient driver who decided to pass everyone in front of him at once and right on top of the blind corner so we ended up playing chicken with neither of us having any room to move to the side. i pushed the brakes hard, the truck driver did the same (along with everyone behind him) and somehow we made just enough room for him to get back to his lane without crashing head on into me. had i been just a bit closer to the corner when i spotted him coming out on my lane, there would be no room to avoid a collision... hell, had i been driving a truck i wouldn't even brake and just ram the idiot

Edited by teknoman2, 19 July 2017 - 09:55 PM.

[Azdeus]

My employer has started using a new system for the trailers we have, called a link, it's a complicated and labour intensive POS that I and every other person that has to deal with it hate. But the company is loving it, they're paying less in taxes for it, they say so they save money. I very much doubt that though since it takes us 5-10 times as long to use it as the dollies and containers we normally use.

 

Not to mention that none of the eastern european drivers now how to really use them so my yard fills upp with truck drivers that doesn't speak a word of english or swedish...

Edited by Azdeus, 20 July 2017 - 01:34 AM.

[Gfted1]

Does an exclamation mark mean the same thing around those parts?

[Azdeus]

Good question, probably means you click your tongue

 

Speaking of links, today we had an incident with one of those hired drivers. He had forgotten to lock the fifth-wheel coupling, so the 'kingpin' was'nt holding on to the wheel. He did'nt bother testing it or anything like that, he just assumed that it would lock on it's own, so he raised the support legs, hooked up power, ABS, air and drove off... for about ten metres before the trailer dropped off, shattering the lights on the link and made my day a living hell.

 

The only way to get the trailer back up was either with a forklift, wich we don't have, or by manually raising the support legs. Guess who drew the short straw?

 

Oh yeah. Me.

 

Good fun!

[Guard Dog]

I've been working up at Moss Island most of the week. Was planning on working from home today to begin collating all the data collected. But I got up this morning and instead of making coffee opted for hair of the dog. The first one led to a second one and now my motivation to be productive (such as it was) is shot.

 

I picked up a bottle of Jack Daniels Red Dog Saloon special edition (it's their 125th anniversary edition). I don't know why I keep trying JD, even the special editions as though I'm going to like them. It's not that JD is bad, it's just not good. It has no taste to speak of. No character. Good whiskey should have a very identifiable and complex taste. Jack Daniels just does not have that. Even the "special editions". I don't know if it's a flaw in their recipe or just what happens with mass produced, blended whiskey. I guess I'm spoiled by drinking single barrel products.

 

Allow me to impart of word of advice to all of you. There are things in life that you may sacrifice quality for price without later regret. But when it comes to computers, firearms, and whiskey get the best you can find even if it costs more. Take that to heart and all the time you've spent reading this post will not have been ill-spent.

 

Now then, I do believe I will have a light breakfast and spend the remainder of the day sitting on my porch listening to the radio and getting rid of the rest of this Jack Daniels crap. Yeah, it may not taste as good as I'd like but it's valur as an anesthetic cannot be debated.

[Gfted1]

Ah, day drinking, I love it. The unfortunate side effect is GD will probably be asleep in that rocking chair by noon.

[Malcador]

Offered a promotion to a complete **** show of a division. Might be better pay (hahahah who am I kidding) but means I get to be exposed to more panic.

Bah.

Edited by Malcador, 21 July 2017 - 11:04 AM.

[Gfted1]

Congrats, Malcador!

[teknoman2]

i laugh so much when somebody in a f2p online game says "get a job" to someone complaining about something he can't afford. the guy saying it is probably someone who has no idea what work is and just has loaded parents.

[Malcador]

Congrats, Malcador!

Pft. Not sure that is warranted Any time a manager says "It's a good opportunity" only hell follows in its wake.