The Water Cooler - 2018-10-30 (page 2 of 2)

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4:00 PM

@avazula I had the same problem. I could have been a musician, actor, author, nuclear physicist, or programmer.

I kinda fell into programming.

@SouthpawHare Remember, you don't have to do just one thing. You can have multiple jobs, part time, if need be

@avazula yep.. I've got some serious horror stories of GP refusal to refer and the resulting consequences but... well they aren't my stories to tell and also probably a bit grim for in here

I remember putting on a lot of weight because of a bad medication. My GP would only focus on my weight gain (while the meds led me in a pretty bad general health) and would tell me how to eat and exercise, whereas she knew for 2 years that I have quite a good hygiene ...

@SouthpawHare yeah, definitely get the book "what color is your parachute" and also "How to stop worrying and start living"

@RichardU Hmm, I hadn't considered that in a while. I've generally found that all jobs that utilize my college education are always full-time.

@RichardU "How to stop worrying.." is great, as is "Been there, Done that - an Aspie's guide to life on Earth"

4:02 PM

@avazula Do you know what they call someone who finishes dead last in medical school"? DOCTOR!

@SouthpawHare I think I recall a past post that is similar to yours, and perhaps has answers it may also help (searching...)

@SouthpawHare "What color is your parachute" helped me greatly.

@RichardU Same here. I initially wanted to draw video games, but family said "y'ain't ever get a job!", I thought about the medicine but family ranted "y'ain't tough enough!", ... I ended up in the engineering school because this is pretty much the only job they'd let me learn without being worried about my future income ...

@avazula yeah, same here. I wanted to be a voice actor (I do over 150 different voices) but my family didn't want that.

@RichardU :(

I think what would describe me best is the sentence "Jack of all trades, master of none"

4:04 PM

My parents are really understanding about all this. They think it's totally reasonable for me to quit jobs I'm unhappy with and try to find one I really enjoy, and they totally believe in my ability to take care of myself, financially and otherwise.

That said, I'm sure they'd like it even more if I could hurry along with finding that "right job" sooner than later

@avazula I've sat there with a friend at their GP's having to explain that said friend (who was sat there in obvious distress) couldn't eat, sleep, was hearing voices and was terrified of certain words. The GP's response was to berate me for being the one to look after them given my own history while refusing to do anything for them himself

I can do Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, Boris Karlov, Peter Lorrie, James Cagney, Cary Grant, Bill Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Kermit the Frog, Yoda, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Yousemite Sam, Christopher Walkin, and a myriad of others

@RichardU I do a really good me impression

@SouthpawHare You're lucky. My parents can't even understand how I'd complain about my job just because they couldn't switch theirs when they were younger

most days anyway

4:05 PM

@motosubatsu ROFLMAO

@motosubatsu That's sad ...

@RichardU hehe.. I can also do five or six lines as Sean Connery - although they are all from his lesser-known movies for some reason

80

Q: Are there any Computer Engineering/Science jobs that don't require programming ALL day

I've recently graduated with a BS in Computer Engineering, and I have been looking for a job. I've had 4 internships in the past; they've been at both government and private sector, both small and large. However, I've found the common factor is that they set you in front of a computer, and expect...

software-industry job-search work-environment work-time job-satisfaction

@motosubatsu That's because you're not mainstream ;)

Google's Doodle today is cool

4:11 PM

Well, I'm off to get lunch

@avazula indeed.. happy to report that said friend did eventually get the help they needed after we went another route - but only after they had experienced another two months of unrelenting hell and suffering while their condition worsened. Two months that could have been easily avoided had the GP not been a useless asshole

fortunately though now they are being looked after by some really good experts and are going great guns on their recovery

@avazula I was non-mainstream before it was cool ;)

@motosubatsu Oh, I'm glad then.

I remember crying the whole day on my last birthday, I just couldn't handle being alive anymore. The next day, I came seeing my physician, asking for help. She just told me I wasn't enough of an emergency since I could still go to work...

@avazula ouch :( feel for you!

@motosubatsu I'm ok. I recovered since :)

Ugh, some teammate changed IPs of something

Without telling in advance

4:22 PM

@avazula that's good to hear :) I'm currently medicated myself.. including being on a clinical trial which my nerdy brain is actually finding rather interesting :)

Meh, we are still testing, but I got scared as hell

@DarkCygnus tar and feather - anything less is going too easy on them

lol, it was among my first thoughts @motosubatsu

aaaand capped

yesterday I Didn't capped as I ended the UCT day with 190 :(

@DarkCygnus haha.. so did I!

And I didn't have 5 unaccepted answers asked to go accept them all in a spree xD

4:27 PM

@motosubatsu I'm glad if that makes you feel better!

@DarkCygnus I'm running at a 43.33% cap success rate this month

Actually, I have been less engaged this past months

@DarkCygnus excuses, excuses :D I'm actually sat at #2 for the Month/Quarter and I'm like "how the f##k did that happen?"

4:44 PM

meh, still beating you on the yearly rank @motosubatsu *drops mic ...

for a brief moment I was higher than Kilisi, but he got inspired to reach his 100k milestone

That duck of yours has outlasted huh @motosubatsu no MTG cards now?

@DarkCygnus I've grown quite attached to the ol' firequacker for some reason

I might make some sort of seasonal change for Christmas

A Snow duck?

Know what, I am planning to come disguised tomorrow to the Office :0)

@DarkCygnus possibly..I could give the little guy a santa hat or something but that would be pointless once winterbash arrived

@motosubatsu I'm now playing "I wanna be sedated" by the ramones.

@DarkCygnus I capped by 5AM this morning :P

5:00 PM

woot

1 hour later…

6:03 PM

It really comes to something when your Team Lead sends a meeting invite with the title "Catchup on the shitstorm that is <projectname>".

@Snow better take an umbrella with you

It's all going mad. Still, how are things in your part of the world? Has the political situation calmed down?

Fortunately they are much better now... by better I mean "Things are calm because, the reason being people already forgot about the recent corruption situation, and are more worried about anticipated Christmas sales, Halloween, Real Madrid getting beat hard and the upcoming Day of All Saints that is a BIG cultural celebration here"

But yeah, almost no despicable or undesired acts form our lovely Politicians :)

That is good to know, and hopefully things will continue to improve for you.

That's better than nothing, I suppose

6:15 PM

Yeah, I guess... honestly I am also hyped by the Day of All Saints

Is that the one with the skeleton masks?

we have a Traditional dish called "Fiambre" that we eat on this day. Which is some sort of mixture of meats, sausages, olives, palm hearts, but mostly beet (the purple vegetable, don't recall the name completely)

@Snow yep, that one. Although the mask part is more common in Mexico

Fiambre is a traditional Guatemalan dish that is prepared and eaten yearly to celebrate the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) and the All Saints Day (Día de Todos los Santos). It is a salad, served chilled, and may be made up from over 50 ingredients. Fiambre started out from the tradition in Guatemala of taking dead family members their favorite dishes to the cemeteries for the Day of the Dead. As all different families brought food to the celebrations, they became mixed, eventually mixing them together to this all-encompassing salad. Ingredients usually include numerous sausages and cold cuts...

Beetroot. I love that stuff, we normally have it pickled.

The one that makes you pee purple afterwards LOL

fiambre sounds pretty neat, I could eat that!

6:18 PM

Some people do White Fiambre, which is without Beet... but I prefer Red Fiambre

It is actually really nice, and it gets better with time; I ate my last reserve of Fiambre this past June, as you can keep it on the fridge a long time

and it gets more tasy, like if it were fermenting a bit jeje

Any chilli peppers in there?

Yes

each family has it's own "custom" recipe

Damn, it's so hard to translate from Spanish all those funny names of the ingredients

you can also add shrimp

boiled egg

asparagus

I'll stop now otherwise I will get hungry! Haha

user image

ok that makes me laugh

-1

Q: Dr issued open toe shoe

Im under a dr care wearing a orthopedic shoe. Company making me buy closed in orthopedic shoe. I had toe surgery. I’m a cashier. Can they do that?

unprofessional-behavior

Damn, I literally saw those 4 close votes be casted in like 30 seconds

"Folks, don't be too hasty on the Close votes. Give OP some time to edit and improve the post." The purpose of closing a post is to give the OP the time to edit and improve the question.

6:31 PM

yeah but no feedback

just votes

where is the usefulness in the votes then

10 minutes later, negative score, closed post, no feedback....

OP won't be able to improve from that

But leaving an unclear / POB etc. question open for people to post an "answer" before the OP was able to edit / improve it, is helpful?

@DarkCygnus Funny you say that, I just ordered a pizza!

@AnneDaunted Usually, people think that the purpose of closing a question is to close the question.

@AnneDaunted Never did I said that, it's not "don't close it so we can throw in some "answer" before it it shut down"

It's more about being nice to new users

giving them feedback

not just leaving the post open just so we can answer

But it's ok, like you say, it's also possible to edit afterwards, and then reopen...

However, the impact the post could have had, and the help/answers received, will be less or equal than if the post were never closed in first place

as it also tends to get negative votes

and get lost in the feed

That is why I am more in favor of editing before closing... sometimes it's impossible to get out of a -2, or -3

@Snow A common misconception.

@AnneDaunted Common enough for people to do it in order to close down "low quality" questions. If people really thought they could be improved, they'd offer some kind of advice about that. But no, we get people just want to get rid of what they feel are bad questions.

6:46 PM

@Snow So it seems that everyone misunderstands / misuses close votes and so people try to resort to not closing questions instead. That doesn't seem to be helpful for anyone.

@AnneDaunted With all due respect, I think you are a bit out of focus

I never said "dont close"

I said, don't close too fast

I said, give feedback to OP

Nope. I'd much prefer to see people leaving VTCs to describe why they're doing that with the intention of getting the OP (or someone else) to improve the question.

^

IMO, the ideal thing is to: Comment asking OP for clarification... wait a bit... if no response is given, cast vote and perhaps comment again.... if OP appears help edit, and remove vote if you casted it already

As of now, it's been 30 minutes and no response nor engagement from OP. At this point it would make more sense to VTC, but not one minute after posting

I think that many issues would be solved if OPs remained engaged about 15 minutes after posting, so they can swiftly clarify

@DarkCygnus Or you sneak in an answer (maybe something like "Yes, they can do that. Find another job." (please note: Don't say "Quit your job" - huge difference)).

In theory, the process goes:
1) question closed, people suggest things to change/fix
2) user quickly does so
3) question gets reopened

but normally it's:
1) question closed
2) crickets
3) days pass
4) OP might respond
5) no one cares

6:51 PM

Theory != practice

lol :(

Or just the people ask the same question on numerous sites and then never bothers to return.

@AnneDaunted After focusing on improvements on answers, I focus on answers.

Focus Priority should be: Help Clarify > Help Answer > Help (the site) by VTC or DVting

@enderland That's the actual problem. So why not try to care, instead of trying to delay close votes?

I don't think we should delay close votes

Me neither

But I think that we should prefer to help and clarify rather than cast votes

It's easier to cast votes

It's harder to comment and politely ask for clarification

brb, going for food

6:57 PM

This should be reopened, it's easily answerable as a simple HR question:

https://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/121802/dr-issued-open-toe-shoe

-1

Q: Dr issued open toe shoe

Im under a dr care wearing a orthopedic shoe. Company making me buy closed in orthopedic shoe. I had toe surgery. I’m a cashier. Can they do that?

unprofessional-behavior

@enderland as a good friend used to say "In theory, theory and practice are the same, in practice, they are not"

@RichardU Does location not matter? Is it the same everywhere on the planet? Or do you know more about the OP than we do?

@RichardU I've said that a before, too ;-)

though I normally say it "In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they often differ"

@AnneDaunted I know everything about everything. That's why I am often referred to as GOD EMPEROR

I made an edit there @RichardU but I'm not convinced it's answerable

without more information

Oh, you are GOD EMPEROR?

7:00 PM

That is why I asked OP for location

So users can give more focused answers

@AnneDaunted Yes, but I'm very benevolent to my subjects

Although they could give more canonical answers

I allow them free will

I edited it I guess

All hail GOD EMPEROR!

7:02 PM

The answer is the same pretty much anywhere. Companies must accommodate, the company could argue that a closed toe shoe, if it meets the requirements, better protects the person from a situation where further injury is likely. (at a cash-register things can be, and are dropped with some frequency)

@enderland given that you are here I want to ask something (though of posting a meta post but :)

workplace.stackexchange.com/posts/121802/revisions lol how did I miss the first part of that question when I edited it

If the company's counter meets medical requirements of local, regional/state, and national laws, then the OP has to deal.

It's reopened.

Now that you are soon to leave, and MM stepped down, that leaves us with -2 mods. In the elections this year we had +2 mods... so basically the election will have no effect on the # of mods. What will happen?

7:04 PM

Sharpen your knives, I guess

@DarkCygnus I suspect the remaining mod team will evaluate whether or not there is need of additional moderator(s) and act accordingly :-)

and if there is need, does that mean there will be new election or candidates picked from the current results?

I would guess at this point it'd be a fully new election

right

thanks for clarifying :)

new election. especially since the third placed candidate is no longer active on the site.

7:06 PM

that was Chris right?

Chris E. Yes.

Last election was in May, SE doesn't schedule elections in the last 2 months of the year, so it'll be over 6 months.

But. We'll have an internal discussion and evaluate the load/need for new position(s) and communicate as a Meta, giving people plenty of time to prepare.

(or sharpen knives, as appropriate)

@Snow so if y'all have another one, it won't be until next april?

Yeah, I had a few conversations with Chris after that.... event.

Can I nominate Paparazzo?

If there's going to be an election, I just might hang around a bit.

@Magisch New Year, or at least the process starting then. We'll give people time to get the holiday season out of their systems though. We wouldn't want to disadvantage people for having time off.

@RichardU Planning on running again?

7:14 PM

user image

This will be interesting.

@Magisch I would rather engage in do it yourself dentistry than run again.

Besides, why would I want the office as it grants little authority to do anything other than gossip about users behind their backs.

IDrinkandIKnowThings

@RichardU What more power do you want?

@IDrinkandIKnowThings I do not seek power, I only threw my hat in the ring last time as a lark, I figured snow and ChrisE would win, and figured It'd be fun.

It was not.

IDrinkandIKnowThings

@RichardU No I suspect it would not be for me either.

@IDrinkandIKnowThings yeah, try removing your own appendix instead, much less grief.

2 hours later…

9:50 PM

looks like new elections, Monica appears to have gone off the rails, might need to replace her as well

I'm not advocating not closing questions that need closing, I'm advocating reeading the question first and putting a bit of thought into it before VTC

^

10:15 PM

@Kilisi could you clarify "off the rails" please?

I'm going off the rails on a crazy train (8) \m/

@MonicaCellio getting to personally involved in an emotional sense

@Kilisi are you referring to something on this site, the twitterstorm, or something else?

just the twitter stuff which admittedly I've only seen second hand since I'm not on twitter...

it was pretty passionate stuff

It was a pretty major SE screw-up. What you didn't see is that that post was preceded by days of trying to resolve the matter privately.

10:22 PM

@MonicaCellio sure, I know there was lots of background, I deal with major screwups as my main revenue stream

I think "passionate" and "off the rails" are two different things, though certainly there can be overlap. You are, of course, free to hold whatever opinion of me you like; I just wanted to understand what you were basing it on. Thank you for clarifying.

2

@MonicaCellio are you ok? Dealt with the frustration?

@Kilisi we're still waiting for SE to do their part. I think they have good intentions and terrible systems.

cool, well, don't let it get to you ;)

speaking of such storm, didn't know Monica posted on Medium :)

10:25 PM

it was a hurricane... not a storm... hahaha

lol

hopefully it fizzles out just as quickly

hmm

@DarkCygnus not often, if you look at my profile. Mostly I use it to post to the Worldbuilding blog, which I don't do enough of. I have a personal blog on Dreamwidth that I mainly use, but since I know many SE folks use Medium and the image embedding there works well, I went with that.

Not 100% probable given this twitter thing was just the cherry on top of the cake

There been other things... that thing of changing the Beta "graduation" (as there are beta sites that have been beta for 5+ years)

welcome bandwagon

10:28 PM

@DarkCygnus it's all in the perception of an issue however big, I deal with screwups that endanger lives sometimes

top bar, new design of some sites

or have cost lives, which makes it even harder to remain dispassionate

the new COC

I think that it is almost impossible to be completely dispassionate of something

correct, but you can control it, and outwards appearances make a huge difference. I see whole rooms of people tension relax just when I walk in

:O

10:30 PM

before I even start assessng the problem

Do you work in Peace Processes or Conflict Resolution area?

it's part of my problem solving strategy... get everyone focused on solutions instead of recriminations

no, I'm a troubleshooter, very expensive one, I solve problems when everyone else has given up, stopped answering phones, dealines are looming etc,. you call me... 'I'm the last man standing' in the language here.

half my worth is that I'm always calm and focused

I always knew you were a Zen Master

the other half is that I must be lucky, I have a 100% success rate...

Luck is when Preparation meets Opportunity

10:36 PM

yeah, there is a lot to it, I have huge experience and the work suits my way of thinking. I don't think I'm particularly special apart from the mental training

it makes the biggest difference

I just looked up Zen Master... ahaha

Wouldn't get far being one of those, their problem resolution is to deny there is a problem

Could I ask a question about The Workplace question etiquette?

I have an open question, and there are at least a couple of qualifying answers

so I was thinking of leaving the answers all un-ticked... is this good etiquette?

@PunkUnicorn Re: asking a question in here: of course you can, while the chat might run off on tangents, this remains the main chat for the site.

thank you! any guidance or opinions welcome.. :p

As for not accepting an answer: SE etiquette, across all sites, suggests that you accept the single answer you personally found to be the most useful.

I see ok, I do have my personal favourite

It isn't the most popular, or the most complete

but it stands out in my heart, and is at least a good contender for top 3 best that actually answers the question

ok cool, thanks

10:47 PM

Perfect choice then. See this as well:

949

Q: How does accepting an answer work?

How does accepting an answer work? When should I do it? Why can't I accept my own answers right away? Which answer should I accept? For more information, see "What should I do when someone answers my question?" in the Help Center. Return to FAQ index

support faq answers accepted-answer self-answer

Great! thanks a million

Note that accepting an answer is not mandatory, but it is encouraged.

etiquette will prevail then, thanks for this

Optionally you could add a comment explaining why you chose it, but that's not necessary either. And since comments are meant to be temporary, I'd only do it if qualifying your choice would add some value (like saying why it was the most helpful to you or for your situation).

Times may change but standards must remain. :)

And you're quite welcome.

you could tick them all if they're helpful, and accept the one that works best for your articular situation

10:49 PM

ticking more than one adds a new dimension to the dilema

my brains exploding... please wait

That opens new possibilities, that might suit the question more

You can always upvote things @PunkUnicorn

I felt like upvoting anyone brave enough to weigh in with an answer already

don't overthink it, the important thing is you got some assistance

this is all great advice

keeping it simple then, I think I might have been right first time, and go with my heart

@PunkUnicorn basic protocol would be: If the post is useful, upvote. If it's bad, not remotely useful, downvote... after a while, accept the answer that you think is best.

10:51 PM

but I've got lots to think about for he future

fair point about upvoting

DarkCygnus' advice is indeed the standard operating procedure. Upvotes are free so by all means drop them on every post that is useful.

I think this time, for this question, I did find all the questions really useful.. but some actually addressed the objective question more than others

sorry all the answers really useful

> by all means drop them on every post

got it

:D

Hehe. :)

@PunkUnicorn Interesting conundrum, but upvotes are binary and unqualified: either you give one or you don't. And in this system it's recommended to upvote useful posts, even if Answer A is 3 times better than answer B.

That said you should weigh effort as well so if Answer B is a partial rehash of A and was posted much later, you might not upvote it since it doesn't contribute anything new or valuable.

^ yes another valid point

10:56 PM

I've upvoted answers which were not even close to the highest vote too

And then of course you can start talking about the bounty concept which adds its own slice of mathematical hell to the proceedings.

56

A: How can I prepare for getting hit by a bus?

If you’re working as a contractor, I would say that this is 100% on your employer. Tell them that accomplishing the goals they have set for you means that other things that you think should be considered goals aren’t being done; ask them if they want to adjust your goals. They may well tell you t...

well that's a lot higher now. But it was a lot lower when I accepted it (the top voted answers are way higher still though)

Ah you're talking about accepting an answer way out of the top5? Yeah, that's probably rarer than it should be but it's not wholly uncommon. @PunkUnicorn This would be one case where leaving a comment to explain why you accepted an answer that far down the list would be helpful.

great, thanks!

I've got a feeling I should leave my question till it's settled down a bit first though

I'll probably choose one but explain the answers here, imho, are not actually mutually exclusive; the range what makes it.

But I'll use proper English though promise!

I also like to accept an answer earlier when it's on the Hot Network Questions list like yours because it gives that answer better visibility

11:03 PM

I could push my fav. but.. well, actually I;m very impressed with how objective it's been, and what I've learnt

Who knows, might get a new answer popping up yet. They do seem to get better and better the later they are (in my limited experience)

11:16 PM

Up to certain point that is

When users start repeating and the post has to be protected

It's only better up to a certain point, eventually users start repeating things

lol

:-)

Several people can close the question though, is that right?

I'm too new, so far the community has driven the thread. I'm counting on the community on doing the right thing and closing the question if it's right

It takes 5 close votes

and if closed, 5 reopen votes can reopen it

11:25 PM

I really have no idea of timescales, I usually read 5 year old questions

Ah ok thanks

Sounds like it looks after itself

That's great for me; I'm smart enough to be really really lazy

If I can help it .... ;)

If I got hooked, you too:

Laura Branigan - Self Control.mp4

OMG

This is Top Meme material

user image

can't stop laughing

11:41 PM

promoted to cashn't customer

v funny

promoted to customer lol

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Oct '1830

The Water Cooler

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