Get Your Grump on Thursdays - Was (What's chapping my @ss today?)

[Tom]

Pushups time... and subject for tomorrow. 10 degrees, snowing, I'm working from home... look up to see a guy ride his bike out from the apartments behind my house and head off. That made me break into a big smile.

[boxerboxer]

Moving is a pain in my balls.

Also, it drives me nuts when people claim to love coffee so much but then frame it in terms of a caffeine addiction.

[Brandon White]

Overslept 2 days in a row for riding. Who wants to get out of bed at 5 AM when it is 45* outside, inside has basically no insulation (except in the attic), the heat is not on, and you have stone floors? Not me.

I have an 11:58PM flight tonight with a 1 year old and a 6 year old and I'm not returning for a month and I can't ride bikes where I'm going. That's going to be my weekly grump for a month - be prepared.

[Corso]

Another Thursday rolls by, and my daughter is still in the hospital. Getting better though, and her team of 30 doctors are trying hard to get her home this weekend, so she can show up for her Hockey teams’ Senior night. She’s a senior captain.

Related gripe: My wife and I have been trading off duties staying with our daughter. Yesterday, as I went to leave hospital, I noticed traffic surrounding the parking garage, and every street around Hospital not moving. Talked to Traffic cop, who tole me it’s taking 1 hour plus just to get out of the mulit-floor garage, traffic is locked up solid and ambulances are having trouble coming in, and leaving. No cabs could get through either, so many people were lining up the streets.

Textbook gridlock.

Being parked near the entrance, I figured I needed to give it a shot. Went to pay, and Garage validated my parking for 6 more hours, didn’t charge me for a 24 stay, as they felt bad about the gridlock. Got in car, got in line and waited 30 minutes to move 4 car lengths. I let a women pull out (Miss, are you sure you want to do this?), took her spot and went back to hang with my daughter.

5 HOURS LATTER, traffic was moving (slowly) and I left. As I left, I asked a traffic cop “WTF happened”?

He said between the snow removal, the T being half shut down, and “Disney on Ice” playing at the Boston Garden (a few blocks away from Mass General, a major Boston hospital), the city was paralyzed. he also said hospital folks had to hand carry people from ambulances blocks away who couldn’t reach the facility. Rescue vehicles and police could not get near the hospital.

Disney "Frozen” on ice shuts down a portion of Boston for hours?

Yeah, Boston should host the olympics, we can’t even handle a frekn mickey mouse on skates show...

[Tom]

OK, this is it from me for today, I hope. My old favorite, Instant Messaging. If you send me "Hi." followed by "GM" and then don't send anything more after I don't respond, I guess your issue really didn't need instant response now did it? You need something addressed right now tell me what the hell it is and don't make me stop what I'm doing to dance and kiss. Instant Messaging apparently exists for people who are too lazy and stupid to figure out what needs to be done now and what needs to be addressed in a thought out email.

Mental note: no more coffee today.

[mainemike]

My mooring ball sank or broke off, which is a huge pain in the ass and an additional expense this Spring.

[monadnocky]

The use of the term "cognitive dissonance." It's the new "ironic." Stop using it to describe every little aspect of human behavior that doesn't make sense to you.

It doesn't mean what you think it does.

[Matthew Strongin]

Just got back from the doctor. Turns out my bronchitis is gone. Now it's a sinus infection. I've basically hit for the cycle with a cold, the flu, bronchitis and a sinus infection over the last 5 weeks. And now I'm looking at another couple weeks of forced rest and medication.

[monadnocky]

OH OH and one more thing.

"The exception proves the rule." Stop. Saying. That. Because it really doesn't mean what you think it does.*

*in older vernacular, to "prove" something was to "test" something (akin to %alcohol and "proof.") As such, "to prove the rule" means to "test the rule to its limits, but the rule is still valid."

[dashDustin]

I don't enjoy my job. At all. Like, no part about it brings me joy or satisfaction.

[seanile]

I don't enjoy my job. At all. Like, no part about it brings me joy or satisfaction.

ayup. this one. and im frequently being taken to campus recruiting and interviewing functions because im such a model employee...
it's tough telling someone why they should love a job i hate.

[BSUdude]

Revit crashes.

[Shinomaster]

I just got a sweet new camera (Olympus XZ-2) on amazon for $217. (mega deal) but it arrived with fingerprints on the viewfinder!! WTF Amazon..said it was NEW!

[Shinomaster]

Oh, and my knee which got hyper-extend in December of 2013, which felt awesome in late summer is now feeling terrible again! WTF knee!

[FSonicSmith]

The use of the term "cognitive dissonance." It's the new "ironic." Stop using it to describe every little aspect of human behavior that doesn't make sense to you.

It doesn't mean what you think it does.

That aint nuthin compared to the use of the word "narrative" these days in contexts that having zero to do with any narrative.

[nrs5000]

It's looking like the higher tier of law schools doesn't want me, which leaves me wondering about going at all-- I don't want to be some unemployed sap with a law degree from a middling school in three and a half years, even if I didn't pay for it.

Is it too pathetic to start a career advice thread? I appreciate the collective wisdom of successful older guys here but it seems a little rudderless.

A lot of good advice here. Feel free to PM me if the perspective of a California attorney would be helpful. The last 6 years in the legal job market have been really tough for people coming out of non-top schools, for a number of reasons.

[Matthew Strongin]

That aint nuthin compared to the use of the word "narrative" these days in contexts that having zero to do with any narrative.

We get "journey" a lot at work...they mean "process."

[David Tollefson]

We get "journey" a lot at work...they mean "process."

Every time I hear that, I have to fight the urge to break out, ala Steve Perry, into "Just a small town girl..."

My grump, it rained today. Silver lining is that, even though it was wet and kinda cold (yeah yeah, Washington cold at 46 degrees), I was still almost 1mph faster on my off-road ride than the same kind of ride just a month ago.

[Dallas Tex]

I don't enjoy my job. At all. Like, no part about it brings me joy or satisfaction.

Hence the term "work".

If you enjoyed it, it would be called 'fun' and they wouldn't pay you to do it.

[Dallas Tex]

Is it too pathetic to start a career advice thread? I appreciate the collective wisdom of successful older guys here but it seems a little rudderless.

I have had a wide and varied background that includes consulting, big 4 accounting, and bicycle building.

Currently there are way too many lawyers and accountants, etc. Unless you plan on being recognized as outstanding within your specialty you may not earn what you'd think.

Ask yourself why do you want to be a lawyer. If the answer includes income or wealth, don't do it.

Take that money you'd spend on law school and open a business. I was just talking to the guy that owns the dry cleaners near my house. He says he bought it as a failing business for next to nothing. He had zero industry experience. Eight years later he takes home about 200k annually. Not even including the perks like his business pays for his car, gas, auto insurance, and 100% of his health insurance and expenses.