[Andorion]

Puck, on 15 January 2018 - 08:21 AM, said:

People standing beside three (!) "Non-smoking area"-signs and... smoking. You fucking dimwits, never mind the fact ALL train stations in Germany are non-smoking areas but nobody ever cares, that's got to be the next level of stupid. And I see it every single day.

Creating non-smoking areas is pretty meaningless unless you enforce the law. Police should actively go after smokers.

[Abyss]

Andorion, on 15 January 2018 - 11:28 AM, said:

Puck, on 15 January 2018 - 08:21 AM, said:

People standing beside three (!) "Non-smoking area"-signs and... smoking. You fucking dimwits, never mind the fact ALL train stations in Germany are non-smoking areas but nobody ever cares, that's got to be the next level of stupid. And I see it every single day.

Creating non-smoking areas is pretty meaningless unless you enforce the law. Police should actively go after smokers.

This is SO disgustingly prevalent near my usual office that in my more cynical moments i've seriously considered starting a website that shows pics of these signs with the sheer maddening the number of people standing under them smoking away.

[EmperorMagus]

Abyss, on 15 January 2018 - 03:35 PM, said:

Andorion, on 15 January 2018 - 11:28 AM, said:

Puck, on 15 January 2018 - 08:21 AM, said:

People standing beside three (!) "Non-smoking area"-signs and... smoking. You fucking dimwits, never mind the fact ALL train stations in Germany are non-smoking areas but nobody ever cares, that's got to be the next level of stupid. And I see it every single day.

Creating non-smoking areas is pretty meaningless unless you enforce the law. Police should actively go after smokers.

This is SO disgustingly prevalent near my usual office that in my more cynical moments i've seriously considered starting a website that shows pics of these signs with the sheer maddening the number of people standing under them smoking away.

In BC it's illegal to smoke within 6 meters of building entrances, windows, and air intakes or within 7 meters of of bus stops. To me, it feels like smokers take these laws as mere suggestions (and weak suggestions at that) at best. Worse than smoking indoors however, are those heavy smokers whose clothes stink worse than a lit cigarette. (I'm allergic to tobacco smoke and don't appreciate the watery eyes and sever coughing every time I ride the elevator with a certain neighbor)

[Abyss]

EmperorMagus, on 15 January 2018 - 04:57 PM, said:

Abyss, on 15 January 2018 - 03:35 PM, said:

Andorion, on 15 January 2018 - 11:28 AM, said:

Puck, on 15 January 2018 - 08:21 AM, said:

People standing beside three (!) "Non-smoking area"-signs and... smoking. You fucking dimwits, never mind the fact ALL train stations in Germany are non-smoking areas but nobody ever cares, that's got to be the next level of stupid. And I see it every single day.

Creating non-smoking areas is pretty meaningless unless you enforce the law. Police should actively go after smokers.

This is SO disgustingly prevalent near my usual office that in my more cynical moments i've seriously considered starting a website that shows pics of these signs with the sheer maddening the number of people standing under them smoking away.

In BC it's illegal to smoke within 6 meters of building entrances, windows, and air intakes or within 7 meters of of bus stops. To me, it feels like smokers take these laws as mere suggestions (and weak suggestions at that) at best. Worse than smoking indoors however, are those heavy smokers whose clothes stink worse than a lit cigarette. (I'm allergic to tobacco smoke and don't appreciate the watery eyes and sever coughing every time I ride the elevator with a certain neighbor)

In Montreal it's practically the normal air there, but Sparks street in Ottawa and outside City Hall in Toronto it gets really bad esp in the Summer.

[Malankazooie]

Damn. Cruising around my normal news websites and I see the singer for The Cranberries has died. She had a unique voice that was easily identifiable from many of the others of the 90s era. Way too soon. R.I.P.

[Puck]

Andorion, on 15 January 2018 - 11:28 AM, said:

Puck, on 15 January 2018 - 08:21 AM, said:

People standing beside three (!) "Non-smoking area"-signs and... smoking. You fucking dimwits, never mind the fact ALL train stations in Germany are non-smoking areas but nobody ever cares, that's got to be the next level of stupid. And I see it every single day.

Creating non-smoking areas is pretty meaningless unless you enforce the law. Police should actively go after smokers.

Police can't do anythig because the law only prohibits smoking inside the train station bulding, on the platform only the house rules of the company which owns all the train stations does so. That said, their security don't do squat about it either, if you even ever see any of them.

EmperorMagus, on 15 January 2018 - 04:57 PM, said:

Abyss, on 15 January 2018 - 03:35 PM, said:

Andorion, on 15 January 2018 - 11:28 AM, said:

Puck, on 15 January 2018 - 08:21 AM, said:

People standing beside three (!) "Non-smoking area"-signs and... smoking. You fucking dimwits, never mind the fact ALL train stations in Germany are non-smoking areas but nobody ever cares, that's got to be the next level of stupid. And I see it every single day.

Creating non-smoking areas is pretty meaningless unless you enforce the law. Police should actively go after smokers.

This is SO disgustingly prevalent near my usual office that in my more cynical moments i've seriously considered starting a website that shows pics of these signs with the sheer maddening the number of people standing under them smoking away.

In BC it's illegal to smoke within 6 meters of building entrances, windows, and air intakes or within 7 meters of of bus stops. To me, it feels like smokers take these laws as mere suggestions (and weak suggestions at that) at best. Worse than smoking indoors however, are those heavy smokers whose clothes stink worse than a lit cigarette. (I'm allergic to tobacco smoke and don't appreciate the watery eyes and sever coughing every time I ride the elevator with a certain neighbor)

At least you've got the law on your side there. Here it's allowed to smoke at bus stops Also, same, I'm allergic to the smoke and risk asthma attacks every time I breathe too much of it, which is what makes me so angry. I mean, the bigger train stations often have designated smoking areas here. Just fucking go there, you freaking idiot. But no, oftentimes it feels like the smokers have smoke-cured their own brains inside their skulls.

Malankazooie, on 15 January 2018 - 07:40 PM, said:

Damn. Cruising around my normal news websites and I see the singer for The Cranberries has died. She had a unique voice that was easily identifiable from many of the others of the 90s era. Way too soon. R.I.P.

I used to love the Cranberries when I was a teenager.

This post has been edited by Puck: 15 January 2018 - 08:12 PM

[worry]

Agree with you guys about the smokers, though I don't live in an urban area (or have a heavily trafficked downtown) so fortunately don't have to deal with it too often. It sucks whenever I'm anywhere like that though.

Re: The Cranberries, yah it's a shock and a loss. They may not have been making any really good new music, but the first two albums are great and they had a smattering of good tunes since. And O'Riordan's voice really was singular (which becomes more obvious if you've ever heard someone try to karaoke a Cranberries song).

[Tsundoku]

Back to work tomorrow. That went way too quickly.

Shit.

[Puck]

The first pollen are on the fly already. I swear they do that earlier every year... Used to start in April, last year it happened at the end of February, now we're only halfway into January... And I was wondering why I'm sniffing my nose all the time since yesterday.

[Morgoth]

Puck, on 16 January 2018 - 10:46 AM, said:

The first pollen are on the fly already. I swear they do that earlier every year... Used to start in April, last year it happened at the end of February, now we're only halfway into January... And I was wondering why I'm sniffing my nose all the time since yesterday.

maybe you're just allergic to the cocaine.

[Andorion]

Puck, on 16 January 2018 - 10:46 AM, said:

The first pollen are on the fly already. I swear they do that earlier every year... Used to start in April, last year it happened at the end of February, now we're only halfway into January... And I was wondering why I'm sniffing my nose all the time since yesterday.

Its not that time of year here yet.

To be honest though, I hate November more. Winter is different here. Its the flowering season for a whole range of plants, and thus November is pollen saturated.

[LadyMTL]

Had my annual evaluation yesterday, and while I thought I had improved, apparently I've gotten worse. Like...so much worse that it's apparently a miracle that I can even remember how to inhale and exhale.

I'm really discouraged, not only because I truly did think that my work had been getting better, but because this is the first I heard that it really wasn't. I mean, if an employee makes a mistake or does something in a file that you think isn't the correct thing to do, why wait until their yearly evaluation to tell them? Why not tell them right away so they can correct their mistake? I have no problem with being told "hey, you did A in this file but I think B would have been better...be careful if it happens again, ok?" but if no-one says anything, how am I supposed to know?

My boss says that she can tell that I'm lacking confidence but then puts on my evaluation that she's losing confidence in my work...that is supposed to help boost it? Then I think about the fact that I have to work at least 22-25 more years before I can retire and why am I working for a company that thinks I suck, and so on and so forth. And it's only freaking Tuesday.

[Gust Hubb]

Credit scores make no sense to me. Seems like bullshit.

[Abyss]

Gust Hubb, on 16 January 2018 - 05:33 PM, said:

Credit scores make no sense to me. Seems like bullshit.

Until one wants to borrow money.

[Silencer]

Gust Hubb, on 16 January 2018 - 05:33 PM, said:

Credit scores make no sense to me. Seems like bullshit.

I read credit reports as part of my job and I can tell you: they make no sense.

It's also compounded by the fact that 99% of the general population have absolutely no idea what goes on your credit report, what impact it has, or what people look at when assessing your credit report.

And even though I see a dozen of them daily, there are still a bunch of hidden metrics behind the scenes that ultimately determine the score which I'm not aware of; and another bunch of metrics on our end (bank) that make our reaction to the specific score inconsistent.

[Puck]

Andorion, on 16 January 2018 - 11:57 AM, said:

Puck, on 16 January 2018 - 10:46 AM, said:

The first pollen are on the fly already. I swear they do that earlier every year... Used to start in April, last year it happened at the end of February, now we're only halfway into January... And I was wondering why I'm sniffing my nose all the time since yesterday.

Its not that time of year here yet.

To be honest though, I hate November more. Winter is different here. Its the flowering season for a whole range of plants, and thus November is pollen saturated.

Figured it'd be a different time of the year for you due to the different climate. That said, it shouldn't be pollen season here yet either. It used to start in April or maaaybe March. Now it's January and stuff's in the air It did snow some today, I hope that's enough to buy some pollen-free time.

Messing with my groove is how expensive the Cambridge English Proficiency exams are. Hrmph.

This post has been edited by Puck: 16 January 2018 - 11:03 PM

[EmperorMagus]

Puck, on 16 January 2018 - 11:02 PM, said:

Messing with my groove is how expensive the Cambridge English Proficiency exams are. Hrmph.

I cannot fathom why Cambridge needs 300$ to administer a 4 hour exam. It's not like the questions are special or anything.

The best part about it is, IELTS results expire in 2 years so a lot of the time people have to take it again.

[Gust Hubb]

Silencer, on 16 January 2018 - 10:21 PM, said:

Gust Hubb, on 16 January 2018 - 05:33 PM, said:

Credit scores make no sense to me. Seems like bullshit.

I read credit reports as part of my job and I can tell you: they make no sense.

It's also compounded by the fact that 99% of the general population have absolutely no idea what goes on your credit report, what impact it has, or what people look at when assessing your credit report.

And even though I see a dozen of them daily, there are still a bunch of hidden metrics behind the scenes that ultimately determine the score which I'm not aware of; and another bunch of metrics on our end (bank) that make our reaction to the specific score inconsistent.

That actually is reassuring. Thanks. No clue why mine is held lower, but whatevs. Not in the market for a house, car, etc.

[Silencer]

Gust Hubb, on 16 January 2018 - 11:47 PM, said:

Silencer, on 16 January 2018 - 10:21 PM, said:

Gust Hubb, on 16 January 2018 - 05:33 PM, said:

Credit scores make no sense to me. Seems like bullshit.

I read credit reports as part of my job and I can tell you: they make no sense.

It's also compounded by the fact that 99% of the general population have absolutely no idea what goes on your credit report, what impact it has, or what people look at when assessing your credit report.

And even though I see a dozen of them daily, there are still a bunch of hidden metrics behind the scenes that ultimately determine the score which I'm not aware of; and another bunch of metrics on our end (bank) that make our reaction to the specific score inconsistent.

That actually is reassuring. Thanks. No clue why mine is held lower, but whatevs. Not in the market for a house, car, etc.

If your score is low (esp. Below 500) then what you might want to do is request a copy of the full credit report. It will show all the things that are recorded there and should also note some of the contributing factors to the score.

Often there might be incorrect entries, or duplicate entries, or data that was supposed to be cleared that is still there. Sometimes it is even someone else's report. You want to get that stuff cleared up earlier than later as getting it fixed can take some time and effort that you don't want to have to deal with when trying to buy a house. We're pretty good about keeping things correct over here in Australia but I believe it's genuinely horrifying in the US how much stuff is incorrect.

(Not sure about the US but over here getting a paper copy of your report from, say Equifax, is free and can be done online with some basic ID.)

[Lady Bliss]

I worked for experian for several years, and you are entitled to a free credit report once a year.

Factors that will affect your credit are:
1) paying on time
2) keeping credit card balances below 30%
3) a diversified use of credit such as a mix of credit cards and installment loans
4) no derogatory remarks or collections on your report
6) less than 2 hard credit inquiries within 2 years

And after that is just time for your score to bake in. They want to see at least 24 months without any derogatory remarks.