Zompist Bboard Again

Posted: **Thu Sep 02, 2021 4:55 pm**

malloc wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 4:19 pm
Linguoboy wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 1:14 pmWhat did your original optometrist say when you called them and told them about the problem?
They said the glasses are under warranty and they can replace the frame for free, but that place is an hour away so I have been hesitant to take that option. It will cost at least ten dollars just for the gas to get there and back.

Well congrats, you found a cheap option to fix your glasses. Go do that.

And don't complain about the gas when by your own admission you wasted that much gas completely uselessly because you didn't think to call ahead.

Now, charitably, it seems no one has really taught you some essential skills about everyday life But you're not stupid; try to take some lessons from all this. There are ways to solve these everyday problems, and you don't have to guess about what they are— your guesses are likely to be wrong. Ask how people do them.

Posted: **Thu Sep 02, 2021 5:24 pm**

Sorry if this whole thing sounds trivial and whiny, but I should note that I have been facing several other problems this week on top of this. The exhaust pipe on my car broke and I had to get it welded back together and will probably need the whole thing replaced at some point. And then I got a surprise medical bill for something from last year. All atop numerous other problems that remain unsolved and perhaps unsolvable.

Posted: **Thu Sep 02, 2021 5:39 pm**

Sometimes, an investment painful at the time can pay off. I think being able to see is probably worth the expense in driving if you can at all spare it.

Posted: **Fri Sep 03, 2021 4:06 am**

malloc wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 5:24 pm Sorry if this whole thing sounds trivial and whiny, but I should note that I have been facing several other problems this week on top of this. The exhaust pipe on my car broke and I had to get it welded back together and will probably need the whole thing replaced at some point. And then I got a surprise medical bill for something from last year. All atop numerous other problems that remain unsolved and perhaps unsolvable.

Well, unfortunately, shit happening is part of life, and part of living is knowing how to deal with it. Nobody is saying these things aren't a nuisance, but often things aren't as intractable as the might seem at first.

Posted: **Fri Sep 03, 2021 9:15 am**

malloc wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 5:24 pmSorry if this whole thing sounds trivial and whiny, but I should note that I have been facing several other problems this week on top of this.

Why? You stated a problem, people told you how to solve that problem, and Zompist pointed out how you could learn from this experience to solve your next problem more easily and more quickly. Did you thank him or the others who gave you suggestions? Did you even acknowledge those suggestions? No--you immediately changed the subject to bring up other more nebulous "problems".

This is a pattern with you. You always, always focus on the negative in any situation. Maybe this is just how your brain works, but that doesn't mean you can't learn how to retrain it. Try it. Try thanking people for their help. Try telling them you'll take their advice next time. Don't bring up new problems in the same breath; focus on the problem you just solved.

Just try it. Type those words and see what happens.

Posted: **Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:44 am**

Sorry for being so negative, and thanks for everyone's advice.

Posted: **Fri Sep 03, 2021 12:35 pm**

That's OK. We hope it proves useful.

Posted: **Fri Sep 03, 2021 4:36 pm**

malloc wrote: ↑Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:44 amSorry for being so negative, and thanks for everyone's advice.

You're welcome.

Hopefully it wasn't too hard for you to make that post and it will be even easier the next time.

Posted: **Sat Sep 04, 2021 5:12 pm**

In the language learning thread:

Linguoboy wrote: ↑Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:18 pm I think the year abroad was crucial for cementing it in my head and I’d like to do study abroad courses for all my other languages, too.

zompist wrote: ↑Sat Sep 04, 2021 4:50 pm Travel helps, but not that much if you don't spend a lot of time with monolinguals.

(I figured my response was better suited for this thread)

Yeah, I was going to do a semester abroad in Japan when I was in college but various things got in the way. I think I'd be about 2-3 times more proficient in the language right now if I'd done that. I've looked for alternative ways to spend some amount of time in the country, but now that I'm out of school the options tend to range from expensive (dedicated language school) to longshot (math PhD at University of Tokyo, where instruction is in English but they literally take one foreign student per semester) to... somewhat undesirable (JET). I mean I'll probably bite one of those bullets eventually because I really want to go to Japan. But ya know, it would be nice to find some other options. Maybe I just haven't looked in the right places.

Posted: **Sat Sep 04, 2021 5:43 pm**

dɮ the phoneme wrote: ↑Sat Sep 04, 2021 5:12 pm
zompist wrote: ↑Sat Sep 04, 2021 4:50 pm Travel helps, but not that much if you don't spend a lot of time with monolinguals.
(I figured my response was better suited for this thread)

Yeah, I was going to do a semester abroad in Japan when I was in college but various things got in the way. I think I'd be about 2-3 times more proficient in the language right now if I'd done that. I've looked for alternative ways to spend some amount of time in the country, [...]

I've never had the chance to live abroad. But a trip can be useful, especially if you have Japanese friends. It helped my Portuguese a lot when I spent a couple weeks in Brazil staying with friends.

Posted: **Mon Sep 06, 2021 2:06 pm**

In less world-shaking news, when I sit at my desk, all too often I simply can't find a comfortable position for my feet - no matter what I do with them, sooner or later they start to hurt.

Posted: **Tue Sep 07, 2021 10:00 am**

I just don't want to be in the office today at all. I have a sinus headache and it's making every little thing annoying. All I can think is "If I were at home right now I wouldn't have to wear a mask/wear shoes/walk fifty feet to get some water/listen to anyone else/etc."

Posted: **Tue Sep 07, 2021 10:29 am**

I think remote working should certainly be always on the table for those who find it more conducive to their environmental needs.

Posted: **Tue Sep 07, 2021 10:52 am**

Rounin Ryuuji wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 10:29 amI think remote working should certainly be always on the table for those who find it more conducive to their environmental needs.

I'm working one day a week at home (Fridays). I'm beginning to regret that I didn't apply for more (though ultimately part of the problem is that I need to have a fixed schedule rather than adjusting it according to my day-by-day needs).

Posted: **Tue Sep 07, 2021 11:29 am**

Rounin Ryuuji wrote: ↑Tue Sep 07, 2021 10:29 am I think remote working should certainly be always on the table for those who find it more conducive to their environmental needs.

I agree. I've heard of some managers resistant to it, though. My working theory is that the people who were highly productive are able to be more so at home (generally; circumstances differ), and the people who were less productive before are now less able to walk over to a productive person's desk and ask how to do something for the umpteenth time, leaving the managers having to actually manage their lack of performance more than they used to.

Posted: **Tue Sep 07, 2021 11:37 am**

This also reminds me of a thought that people ought to be paid based both on time and productivity under such circumstances. I'm not entirely sure how I would work out the formula, but something like a base hourly rate (which is liveable) but this increases to an extra 50% per hour after allotted tasks are completed, with the option that one may also take the pay for the scheduled hours after completing all the work, even if it took less time (the opposite — paying only for scheduled hours if it takes more, for whatever reason — being explicitly banned with heavy penalties for even the slightest violation).

Posted: **Thu Sep 09, 2021 6:31 pm**

Winchell Chung, he of Atomic Rockets, is gravely ill and in the hospital.

Posted: **Thu Sep 09, 2021 8:25 pm**

Three consecutive days in the office was all it took to kill the potted tree I'd kept alive all through the hottest part of the summer. I swear that overnight it went from looking fine to utter desiccation. I was holding off for cooler weather before planting it in the yard (for both its sake and mine) and that only just arrived end of last week. Oh well, at least I have others.
Last week a neighbour asked me to "check on" her cat for a few days. I'd done this before when she was out of town (though obvious not for the last 18 months or so.) She leaves plenty of food an water so all I really need to do is keep him company for a while. At least, that's how it used to be. She didn't give me any indication beforehand that she'd changed his routine but apparently she did because after a week of saying nothing at all she just subjected me to the most Midwestern passive-aggressive interrogation about why I didn't follow the new instructions she never gave me. "Did you see my note?" You mean the note that you didn't tell me you wrote? Yeah, I rifled through your entire apartment, found it, read it, and then decided to completely ignore its contents because that's the kind of asshole I am.

Posted: **Fri Sep 10, 2021 10:28 am**

Linguoboy wrote: ↑Thu Sep 09, 2021 8:25 pm
Three consecutive days in the office was all it took to kill the potted tree I'd kept alive all through the hottest part of the summer. I swear that overnight it went from looking fine to utter desiccation. I was holding off for cooler weather before planting it in the yard (for both its sake and mine) and that only just arrived end of last week. Oh well, at least I have others.

Are they running the AC at your work? That would likely result in drier air there than in non-air-conditioned environments.

Posted: **Fri Sep 10, 2021 11:19 am**

What kind of tree was it? I've had some bad luck with a rose mallow (some may know it as "rose of Sharon"; I've actually always called it a "tree hibiscus" because that makes it exactly what it says on the tin), which seem to be particularly given to an unfortunate condition called "transplantation shock" (I repotted it earlier this year because it was looking very sad in the pot in which I bought it, not knowing it was given to any sort of shock — I'm used to thinking of them as very hardy) that made it fail to flower much, and its leaves all fall off. I'm trying to get it to revive, and hope it comes back next year. I hope there might still be some life in yours, too.

Zompist Bboard Again

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