Home Improvement

Niall C.

00:00

@Monso Not an Answer, one of the standard flag types

Monso

Is that a Mod thing?

Niall C.

00:28

They're used when you want a mod to act on a post: meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/24560/…

Two of the links above were new people posting follow-on questions as answers. The other was someone failing to be funny

maple_shaft

00:40

Hey guys... long time no see

haven't been around for a while now because I have been so busy with a pregnant wife and a new job

but I started building the deck I have been talking about since the beginning of this year

just giving out the FYI that I got a few pics to share for PUT, I will try to make it this week and give you guys some updates

new job is really strict about non work related internet usage though... it really sucks. Goes to show that more money usually means a shittier job

wax eagle

@maple_shaft is this a newer new job?

or the same new job?

maple_shaft

01:56

@waxeagle New since May

It is the total package

infuriatingly inept peers, completely clueless bosses, analysts that don't know how to write requirements, out of date technology, no process, gasp...

boring and lack of real challenging problems, and to top it all off

The CIO of said company decided a week after I started that we are no longer going to be pursuing product initiatives and that all IT will now be a cost center to focus on core competencies...

and that all custom software development will cease, everything we produce must be vendor supported

... meanwhile, they completely blew over 8 million dollars on vendor consultants that have accomplished nothing over the span of 2 years

The complete and total incompetence, the hemhorraging of money, and the punishing of the beaten work horses as blame for all of their laughably bad mistakes

when I say toxic work environment, this is it boy

the only thing missing is that people are pleasant and nice, and they pay very well

I don't even want to leave

wax eagle

@maple_shaft lol

maple_shaft

I am so used to being thrown into failing projects, I am beginning to think they are all this way

i stare at my monitor for hours blankly just thinking about how many problems there are and my pitiful attempts to chip away at the boulder... and I come to the conclusion

Whats the point?

I am just banking on things failing and me finally getting to write software again

wax eagle

@maple_shaft if nothing else, bringing home the bacon for that screaming ball of flesh y'all will be bringing home in a few months :)

maple_shaft

real software, not these easy integration packages and ETL

@waxeagle amen brother

and thanks for listening

wax eagle

@maple_shaft I hear yah. I mean I think most of us who do programming want problems to solve...real ones

maple_shaft

02:11

@waxeagle well said

and not only that... problems that CAN be solved

When you are given The Traveling Salesman and told to just take your time and work on it for a couple months... you kind of get depressed

wax eagle

@maple_shaft no problemo. Regardless of my work/life situation I start to feel like shit just about every year in January or February. Just a general dissatisfaction with darn near everything. Doesn't help that I feel under paid and under appreciated...

@maple_shaft blech

maple_shaft

@waxeagle Sounds like seasonal depression

its a real thing, usually caused by vitamin D deficiency

Try getting one of those UV lamps and sit under it for an hour a day in the winter... it might improve your mood... your skin absorbs UV and generates vitamin D

wax eagle

@maple_shaft I know. It's never gotten real bad (partly because I've got a wife who'll kick my ass if I get too far down)

maple_shaft

@waxeagle your wife gives you tough love too?

must be a woman thing

well i g2g to bed

got to be well rested so I don't fall asleep at my desk tomorrow

wax eagle

@maple_shaft lol. hopefully you at least have a sit/stand desk?

maple_shaft

02:19

my chair is extremely comfortable unfortunately

gnight

wax eagle

@maple_shaft gnight. let us know when that baby comes!

Niall C.

Spam: diy.stackexchange.com/a/30213/22

Niall C.

03:42

More spam on the same question: diy.stackexchange.com/a/30215/22

I've protected the question as a band-aid

Monso

14:07

How do I politely tell people that the thing they keep reporting as an issue is that same thing I have to explain every other week to them and is not an problem and they just can't read

Chris Cudmore

You actually can't.

Monso

14:35

I think it's sad yet awesome most of the best advice I get from you all is "No, you can't"

2

The Evil Greebo

lol

Chris Cudmore

@Monso Let me rephrase your original question: "How can I fix humanity?"

Monso

How can I tell off a co-worker for their incompetence and not get fired

Chris Cudmore

I feel like I'm repeating myself.

The Evil Greebo

@Monso Repeat yourself one more time, and cc their bosses.

Next time, do the same, and cc their bosses bosses, and point out that you've now explained this three times.

Or just stop responding.

Niall C.

14:55

Ask them to explain how question #2 (and #3 and...) is different from question #1 from the previous week

Monso

15:44

I had to reply a while ago to dissolve the situation, next time will be the fifth

Monso

16:15

Next time I'll cc their boss and mine and say "Please refer to the 4th time I explained this" and attach that e-mail

Aaron

17:24

@Monso, I find it helps to be able to understand from their point of view why they keep asking the same question

@Monso in their mind, are they *really asking the same question, or do they think they're asking different questions

ah, @NiallC. beat me to it

Chris Cudmore

17:55

I find this set of questions seems to help them clarify as well: "What do you EXPECT to happen? What is actually happening?"

Aaron

sometimes I feel like I need to pass around a dumbed-down version of how to ask a question

or never ask a question that requires me to ask another question to get more information out of you in order to solve your problem

i.e., 'is device abc reachable?'

if I say 'yes', are you going to ask another question about some aspect of it that you could ask in your first query that would not waste a ACK/NACK/SYN response?

Chris Cudmore

I get a lot of doctors calling. Doctors are special, because they are too important to do anything like troubleshoot basic issues or even explain what's going on. I've started saying "Before I can diagnose your issue, I need a full description of symptoms."

2

wax eagle

@ChrisCudmore engaging them with language they understand is a good idea

Monso

18:40

I have to explain to the same developer that is a high pay grade than me how a queue system works in our CI system. She expects that clicking the Force button should make her stuff work instantly.

The Evil Greebo

@Monso CI -> Continuous integration ?

Monso

Yeah

The Evil Greebo

So she checked in then hit force to try to speed it up?

I'm a .NET/SQL guy, and I find I'm telling the Oracle programmers how to do their ****ing jobs.

Aaron

what is a force button?

The Evil Greebo

force the build to occur

generally not needed for CI builds - used for release builds, at least in my world

Aaron

18:48

ah

I should take the time to figure out version control in general, it's just not a priority when all my stuff is <200 lines of js/php

BMitch

18:58

Welcome to Project Update Thursday

bbl... mudding

Aaron

So they're doing construction work outside to put in sidewalks

and they're replacing the water and sewer mains and laterals at the same time

so apparently for some period of time they're going to 'backfeed' the house water supply via the external spigot (fed from a hydrant further down via above-ground piping) so they can replace the main without interrupting the water supply

so who wants free water ??!!

The Evil Greebo

I'm preparing to install a new linen closet in the hallway next to the bathroom we haven't quite finished renovating yet

i've removed the drywall from one side so I can see the wall framework and figure out the support needed. load bearing wall.

it's only a 30" closet door so I'm thinking 4x4 jack post and 2 2x10's for the header

jack posts (plural)

Chris Cudmore

19:16

I've just paid for the 10th anniversary cruise and flights, so I'm not spending any money on the house. No projects.

wax eagle

@ChrisCudmore speaking of...I should really start stashing some money away for that...

Aaron

chris, what ship/destination?

Chris Cudmore

Celebrity Equinox. 5 days with friends in Barcelona, then cruise to Nice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Dubrovnik, Venice, Kotor Montenegro, Barcelona.

We're preparing ourselves mentally for Rome. Every time I walk by her, I pinch her bum. When she walks by me, she steals my wallet.

2

@waxeagle You're in Atlanta, right?

wax eagle

@ChrisCudmore couple hours NW of there

Chris Cudmore

That makes driving to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami an option. Save on airfare.

Although, for the Caribbean, I'd prefer a resort. Cruises are better for European cities.

Round trip to Barcelona cost almost as much as the cruise.

wax eagle

19:24

@ChrisCudmore it does...though not sure if we'd fly or drive. If we take the kids we're definitely driving. But if it's for an anniversary I'm stowing the kids somewhere

10th my parents might actually be in the country...

Chris Cudmore

How old are the kids?

wax eagle

@ChrisCudmore currently 4 and 1

Chris Cudmore

Yeah, wait until they're both old enough to hang out in a kids club and go Disney.

wax eagle

adjoining rooms are another possiblity, and would have actually been cheaper this past cruise.

@ChrisCudmore our oldest had a blast at the kids events this past time, after he got over his initial hangups

the youngest was still stroller bound

BMitch

19:37

@TheEvilGreebo if it's worth doing, it's worth way over-doing

3

The Evil Greebo

You think it's overkill?

BMitch

For 30", yeah. Nail your 2x4 jack into your king every 8" and you have something close to the load bearing of a 4x4

Monso

I replace my mower blade and mowed my yard until I ran out of gas, that was my accomplishment this week.

For next week, I'll fix the mower!

Gas won't prime now

The Evil Greebo

@BMitch I suppose. But I like the idea of overdoing it.

Chris Cudmore

My mower died on me.

BMitch

19:41

@TheEvilGreebo And 2 2x10's in your header is a lot, I think we did 2x12 for a double window, but otherwise I'm guessing we had a lot of 2x8's or even 2x6's with a small spacer in the middle. I'd have to pull out my old building plans to know for sure.

@ChrisCudmore VTC, OT, migrate to gardening. :)

Chris Cudmore

Took the air filter off, and saw that the fuel pump spring had fallen off. 2 minute fix.

@BMitch Actually, it should go to mechanics.

The Evil Greebo

@ChrisCudmore Second VTC, OT, --> Gardening

Monso

Blame @ChrisCudmore based on my comment instead of me.

Chris Cudmore

@Monso They're probably still worried about scaring you off.

BMitch

mud mud mud

Monso

19:44

Oh, I really don't care

BMitch

@ChrisCudmore exactly, we've tried scaring you off, hasn't worked yet

2

the worse the drywalling job, the bigger the mudding job, so my drywalling job was really bad.

Oh dear lord, someone is using a paperclip as a dryer heating element patch:

0

A: My dryer heating element broke in two: Can I just wrap the ends together?

I personally just did this yesterday. I took a strong steel paper clip with needle nose pliers and wrapped tightly around the coils two back on each side and it works just fine. I have ordered a new part should be here next week but should i discontinue use or just use it till the new one gets h...

I wish we could tag answers darwin-award-candidate

The Evil Greebo

@BMitch HOW did you do that

BMitch

How did I do what? Did I do that?

Chris Cudmore

make the tag appear.

The Evil Greebo

[tag]

hmm

BMitch

19:49

Ah [tag:tag-name-here]

Chris Cudmore

some-genius

The Evil Greebo

ok

@BMitch How about just: dumb-futher-mucker

Chris Cudmore

murder-room

BMitch

you-fool youtube.com/watch?v=T3djXcx2ewQ

Monso

20:17

everyone-else-made-one

Chris Cudmore

And the tag we really need: stfuagbtw

wax eagle

@ChrisCudmore and go build that wall?

BMitch

20:33

well, it's summer, so I'm guessing "Start the fire up and go bring the watermelon" but I've been wrong before.

Monso

20:52

The dryer heating answer was actually a question

BMitch

21:45

Thanks for joining us for this week's PUT

Project Update Thursday - 2013/08/01

3 hours ago, 2 hours 46 minutes total – 69 messages, 6 users, 5 stars

Bookmarked 6 secs ago by BMitch

Project Update Thursday - 2013/08/01

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