The Vent and Rant Thread

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

NO!! You need the throw the rock!

Like it says in the Bible, there is a time to turn the other cheek, and a time to slay the b@st@rds!



Stitchawl

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

NO!! You need the throw the rock!

Like it says in the Bible, there is a time to turn the other cheek, and a time to slay the b@st@rds!



Stitchawl

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Damnit! You guys are right, everyone thinks I'm a hardass, guess I need to be one

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

The condo next to mine is for rent. You can live like a king in Thailand for less than £9000 a year if you're not a heavy drinker. The only visa requirement is that you have £12,000 in the bank or income for that amount per year. Huge ex-pat community, mostly Brits but we tolerate that, excellent health care at almost no cost, and ya can't beat the food!

More tempting than you know. But I still have young kids at home, and it's probably going to be 8 to 10 years before they finally all move out .

And I'd have to talk wifey into it. Her only experience of living abroad was in South Africa, and as she ended up a virtual prisoner in our home and did not enjoy the experience one bit, she has gone off the idea of living anywhere but the UK. Time does change perspectives, however, so never say never...

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by orlok

More tempting than you know. But I still have young kids at home, and it's probably going to be 8 to 10 years before they finally all move out .

Can't you sell 'em?

And I'd have to talk wifey into it. Her only experience of living abroad was in South Africa, and as she ended up a virtual prisoner in our home and did not enjoy the experience one bit, she has gone off the idea of living anywhere but the UK. Time does change perspectives, however, so never say never...

One of the real joys of retiring here is that almost 85% of the foreigners (and there are a LOT of 'em,) here are also retirees, and from all different countries. Being the tourist center for northern Thailand means there are oodles of places to just hang out and relax, from cafes to golf courses to parks to restaurants, and all of them have a good selection of retired ex-pats relaxing in them, and a slew of Thais hanging around servicing their every need... cheaply. If someone stays inside, it's because they want/need to stay inside, not because they are forced to by externals. There is always someone sitting around just waiting for someone else to sit and chat with/play golf with/play music with/go drinking with/go sightseeing with/ etc., etc. The real problem is finding time to do nothing!


Stitchawl

[wodin]

Originally Posted by orlok

Must admit I too see myself working until I drop. I don't think I'll ever be in a position to retire.

Being the second eldest in my place of employment I'm often asked when I'm going to retire. My answer is always:

Spoiler:

They'll have to cary me out of here feet first!

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by wodin

Being the second eldest in my place of employment I'm often asked when I'm going to retire. My answer is always:

Spoiler:

They'll have to cary me out of here feet first!

That's odd... people were always asking me when I was going to start working...


Stitchawl

[cromag]

... People were always volunteering to carry me out feet first.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by cromag

... People were always volunteering to carry me out feet first.

There's still a level of kindness in it. I'd start worrying when people start planning to drag me out feet first.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

There's still a level of kindness in it. I'd start worrying when people start planning to drag me out feet first.

Hell with that...I worry that my crews are going to THROW me out, ass over teakettle, as they used to say. ;-)

Hitch

[Bilbo1967]

Here's a summary of an e-mail conversation between one of our Programme Managers and me;

PM: We need a team of six to help a client out. We can use the three experienced people already assigned to me and base it in the Midlands.

Me: Should be OK. All the best people for that job are in the Midlands. I can juggle people around a little and extend a few contracts.

An hour or so later...

PM: I've spoken to the client. We've agreed six people, two each in London, Scotland and the North East.

Me: ?????!???????

So now, I need to drive over 200 miles tomorrow to our North East office to sort this mess out. I think it's safe to say that I'm not a happy bunny!

[kindlekitten]

I've had that employer!

[poohbear_nc]

I work for that employer!

My day you ask?

Well, NC, in its infinite quest to extract more taxes faster from more people decided to change the state withholding rules for paychecks -
1. Married people can no longer claim their spouse as an allowance.
2. Parents can only claim children under 17 as dependents for tax allowances.
3. Parents making over $40,000 a year with more than 1 child under 17 can only claim one less than their total number of children.

Fairly straightforward rules you say? There's even little charts to help you subtract 1 from your total number of children. (I'm not joking about this.)

Well, we passed them out today to my company. Pandemonium ensued - with of course me being blamed for inflicting these needlessly draconian rules on the already suffering workforce.
Leading the charge to my office? Why, my boss of course - who hadn't even bothered to read the paper - demanding to know why I was handing these out to everyone - and just how he was supposed to fill it in since he couldn't understand the questions?

Well, since all of his kids are married now, I replied: "Put a zero on line 1, sign it and hand it back to me."
My boss: "How do I know that's the correct answer for that question? I don't want to sign anything that's incorrect."
Me: "All of your kids are over 17. Put a zero on line 1 and sign it."
My boss: "Can you fax or email this to our tax accountants to check my answer?" [They bill at $350/hour minimum]
Me: "We don't need to send it to the accountants. Put a zero on line 1 and sign it."
My boss: "I want to study it a bit more before I sign it."
Me: "Hey look, the catered Christmas lunch is here!"
My boss: "Here, I signed it - YOU fill it in."

Any guesses how long the actual 'conversation' ran? If the lunch hadn't arrived, I'd probably be still saying "Put a zero on line 1."
Later that day, our accounting firm did call me about year end financial preparations and I shared the conversation. We shared a good laugh, and she agreed that she fully expected my boss to call anyway "just to check on my instructions."

[cromag]

But if he had zero kids under 17 and makes over $40,000, can he still subtract one? Can you run that past the accountant?

[kindlekitten]

Because of idiots like that, I've found an app that is a recorder. There are some meetings I no longer go into without it being turned on. And before I get all sorts of, that's illegal! Complaints, it's not. It simply cannot be used as evidence unless all parties have been informed and agree prior to the recording. What it does do very well in fact, is stop a lot of arguments when you are able to say, "really? That's not how I recall it , in fact that's not what the recorded conversation recalls either." 99.99 percent of the time the discussion stops.

[ProfCrash]

I keep a detailed email chain for just that reason