You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Now with 3x more gears...

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I think there are hardcore diminishing returns on our extra luxuries, though. Like, electricity, running water, family vehicle, 1000sf bungalow...those were all giant steps up. Granite counter tops, two sinks in the master bedroom, renovations every 20 years, massaging seats in my car...they don't add a whole lot, but they're expensive.

I believe the bigger issue is most of us don't have the option of working less than a standard five-day week. My family would happily take a 40% pay cut, ditch a car, not fly anywhere for vacation and camp in a tent if it meant we could work three days a week, but those options don't seem to exist. Or even if - as younger people getting started - we could have worked five days a week and then start tapering it back as our financial foundation improves. From what I see out there, it's generally a full-time job or a menial part-time job. There will be exceptions, but there aren't many reasonable/professional employment options for somebody content to make less and work less.

So, you can find yourself in a position of working more and making more money. You can shovel a bunch away for retirement if you want to get out of the workforce ASAP, but while you're in it and working your balls off, you may as well spend any excess on luxuries to make the five-day grind more palatable, which is what it seems like everybody does. Basically, we're trapped in the five-day work week, so we're all trying to make the best of it.

All of that is to say, on an individual level, we don't really have the choice/option to turn productivity gains into more free time.

You can retire at 40-50 or have one spouse stay at home to take advantage of these things. Not as ideal as a 24hr work week but they are options

[btimbit]

Not sure when or why this started being common in the last few years, but if you stop under an overpass when it's hailing, I hate you.

We had a truck late to a call yesterday because they couldn't clear the traffic on deerfoot hiding from the light hail. Selfish pricks. Luckily it wasn't life-threatening

[foshizzle11]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Not sure when or why this started being common in the last few years, but if you stop under an overpass when it's hailing, I hate you.

We had a truck late to a call yesterday because they couldn't clear the traffic on deerfoot hiding from the light hail. Selfish pricks. Luckily it wasn't life-threatening

My sister said the same thing last night with the hail in the north, she was just trying to get home but people were just sitting their blocking traffic. I don't get that, if it isn't hailing that badly, why stop? At least get off the road completely if you need to.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Not sure when or why this started being common in the last few years, but if you stop under an overpass when it's hailing, I hate you.

We had a truck late to a call yesterday because they couldn't clear the traffic on deerfoot hiding from the light hail. Selfish pricks. Luckily it wasn't life-threatening

I think it's PTSD from the June 2020 hail event. I still see cars around my NE neighborhood that got badly beaten up from that. The houses have all been repaired, though.

I hate the stopping though, too.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Sliver

we could work three days a week, but those options don't seem to exist. Or even if - as younger people getting started - we could have worked five days a week and then start tapering it back as our financial foundation improves. From what I see out there, it's generally a full-time job or a menial part-time job. There will be exceptions, but there aren't many reasonable/professional employment options for somebody content to make less and work less.

This is very true. I think for many professional type jobs the "overhead" time spent (meetings, mandatory training, etc) consumes such a high percentage of time that people working part time might not end up doing any actual work.

There are some roles where that is possible (my wife is a professional and works 0.6 FTE) but its rare.

I have my own business (without fixed hours) and try to intentionally work less (which directly results in was earnings) during slow times. Certain times of year I have to work full out (60-70 hours) but I try and catch up on leisure time during slower periods. I'm only working 2 hours today.

[btimbit]

My house got smashed up in the SW last year as well, and I love my vehicles irrationally, but if it's coming down when I'm driving I just take that as the cost of doing business, be happy I have insurance and hope for the best. Can't imagine the thought process behind "well, I'll just stop in an open lane on the busiest road in the city. There we go, that's that solved"

[bizaro86]

I agree with Mr Coffee as well though, that its probably going to be the global elite (ie people who already live in rich countries) that take more leisure time- especially with significant food price inflation coming.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by btimbit

My house got smashed up in the SW last year as well, and I love my vehicles irrationally, but if it's coming down when I'm driving I just take that as the cost of doing business, be happy I have insurance and hope for the best. Can't imagine the thought process behind "well, I'll just stop in an open lane on the busiest road in the city. There we go, that's that solved"

Yeah I dont get that either. Thats when the Cops with their F150s with bushbars should be actually using them to get people out of the way.

"Dont mind me....just playing a little 'Vehicular Tetris.'"

[btimbit]

I really wish the cops would make a priority of ticketing anyone that does that ####.

But sadly, also, if the weather is bad enough for people to be stopping on deerfoot, then CPS is quite busy

[Wormius]

Not that it’s the reason for people on Deerfoot to stop beneath underpasses, but wasn’t there significant pooling at sections a couple of years ago that were impassable? I have also had a few occasions where my wipers were barely keeping up with rainfall.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by calf

No way. You don't get paid for how long it takes you to do something. You get paid (and rewarded) for finding ways to do it faster and better. The key is to keep finding new things to do with your ingenuity so you don't automate yourself out of a job

Originally Posted by Cappy

The question is who decided that material gains outweighed more free time.

Most of European nations have high levels of free time - but this was a path chosen before productivity gains from tech advances.

The vast majority of jobs in NA will not allow you to take more time. Most jobs cannot be part-time or .8 time

Employers may either expand and find more work to fill your day, or reduce the number of employees to match the work volume.

[DoubleF]

People stupid to their own detriment. Like self destruction level of detriment.

"What the heck, you need to charge more for your services. Like 30-40% more because of what happened during the pandemic for price spikes, increase in travel costs/gas etc."

"Oh... I don't know if I can or I should..."

"Dude, look at your financials. You're basically paying people to work for them in an industry that has a major shortage of workers. The amount after COGS isn't even enough to cover additional expenses, let alone pay yourself a wage. You barely got by in previous years using the same rates, but in these coming years, you'll have to adjust your rate. You can't just keep borrowing against your company to make ends meet. You need to increase your rates to match market rates."

"I've been working for so many decades and I'm so old, I don't want to change how I do things."

"You're just increasing your fee to something reasonable. You don't have to make the 30-40% jump right off the bat, but you should probably at least do 20-35% by the end of the month, otherwise, based on these trends due to rising costs of doing business and inflation you're staring down the barrel of bankruptcy within a few years."

*More excuses to change nothing*

/facepalm.

And yeah, this guy isn't working 20 hour weeks. He's easily pulling 30-60 hour weeks regularly.

[Sr. Mints]

How does a company charge your credit card without having even given it to them?

In this case, I bought movie tickets for the wrong night because Cineplex's app is garbage, brought them into the theatre for an exchange--which they did-- then a duplicate charge showed up on my credit card statement.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

How does a company charge your credit card without having even given it to them?

In this case, I bought movie tickets for the wrong night because Cineplex's app is garbage, brought them into the theatre for an exchange--which they did-- then a duplicate charge showed up on my credit card statement.

Maybe they did a refund and rebill. The refund usually takes a few business days to show up.

[RichieRich]

Damn hyper noisy super speedy fly zooming around the bedroom.
Hope it’s gone by bedtime.
How are they so noisy?

[81MC]

Originally Posted by RichieRich

Damn hyper noisy super speedy fly zooming around the bedroom.
Hope it’s gone by bedtime.
How are they so noisy?

I take the Walter White approach. Ain’t nobody sleeping til that thing is dead.

[81MC]

Way over the top, artificially excessively loud types who have to let everyone in a 3 block radius know just how good a time they’re having. Settle down for #### sakes.

[Sliver]

Hate those fataing guys.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by 81MC

Way over the top, artificially excessively loud types who have to let everyone in a 3 block radius know just how good a time they’re having. Settle down for #### sakes.

They increase during Stampede too.

[djsFlames]

Mice, voles, all the small ground habitating ####ers that get into places just to soil themselves, chew on stuff and die there.