And I left my scarf on the bus this morning. Oh, misery!
Bit of a milestone today: I rode the home leg of my commute, about 3 miles on Western Ave in sub-zero weather. Everything worked ok and I wasn't cold. Had to pull my balaclava away from near my mouth at stoplights to keep my lenses from fogging, and it was coated with rime by the time I got to the station. I replaced my front wheel overnight because the one I had was clicking; the grease had dried out when the temperature dipped. The replacement has a fatter tire more suitable for winter anyway, in addition to fresh grease.
All of this is the more necessary because the worse the weather, the worse the CTA. I've often experienced long cold waits for overcrowded buses on such days and end up more chilled and late than when I attempt the ride. I suppose there's a limit but I haven't reached it yet; probably the bus would cease operations before I would.
I broke out my serious Winter jacket and gloves for the first time this morning for the walk to work.
But I suppose 23 degrees is considered balmy in Chicago.
I put on my wool underwear. It's not scratchy anymore because technology.
You know, that's really a Minnesota meme. Chicago! Fah!
It wasn't too bad today on my 4 block walk from bus to work. I think the wind had died down compared to when my early cow orkers had commuted. I did wear long underwear of course.
People don't slap each other in Minnesota. The Minnesota meme would be a grandmother in a t-shirt patting someone's head.
It's a nippy 73 in downtown Dubai tonight. Enjoy your weather Midwesterners.
Lot of snow last night and still coming down. Just fine, except we're hosting the baby's other grandparents -- they're from San Diego and haven't been in snow much -- and the baby is thus far refusing to emerge. 8 days over and counting.
It'll stop this afternoon, so tomorrow, they'll get to see the other side of 0F.
It warmed up into the teens here today, so my walk to work was a lot more comfortable than it has been the past few days. The high is forecast to be above 20.
Is the baby sitting out the Trump presidency? We'll see!
Explain to the baby the tax benefits of being born before the end of the year.
Aren't due dates systematically a week early on first pregnancies? They tell you your due date is 40 weeks, but the median occurrence of spontaneous labor is 41? Something like that -- I knew the numbers better back when it was my problem.
You may as well have a spontaneous labor because the baby will kill spontaneity after he or she is born.
I'm flying up to NH on Saturday night to go interview at Snottington, and I expect to freeze my ass off.
One concern is that my wardrobe is built for the tropics. I have been able to scrounge a scarf, a thin sweater and a light coat. That is so not going to be enough.
Don't know if this is usual elsewhere or not, but DFW is forecast for Saturday with a high of 72 and a low of 21.
This will happen in a few hours. The same weather patterns that give us tornadoes give us 25 mph winds from the South shifting to 35 mpg winds from the North, the transition happening across a sharp dry line.
But, well, there is the 72 in mid December.
15: Can you find a wool blanket to make a serape?
Only if you light up a cheroot in the middle of the interview.
Regardless, you should always wear pants to a job interview.
13: according to one small study. Bigger studies find right around 40 days. 41+1 would make me a nervous wreck.
Forty days? I think you need the people study, not the squirrel one.
15: You could probably ask your interviewers if you could borrow a winter coat for the duration. I don't think that's a crazy request?
Maybe I could also bum some smokes and money for a sandwich.
If you bum money for a sandwich, they'll low-ball your salary. Ask for money for an entree plus salad/soup and dessert.
In case 24 was not thought in earnest, I do actually know people from warm places interviewing in cold places who borrowed big winter coats for their multi-day stay. These were academic interviews so it might not be applicable to the larger working world.
I left my real (down, puffy) winter coat and gloves at my Mom's at Thanksgiving (a four hour drive away). I have been getting by with my fall (lightly insulated) leather jacket with a hoody underneath. Today's -7 departure for school dropoff was unsatisfactory. Then I got in a freaking accident (I rear-ended someone at about 2 MPH skidding on black ice) and the other driver had to consult with her husband over the phone about everything (What is my DL#? Where is the insurance card? Do we need to call the police?...) while I stood outside for 15 minutes. That was officially too damn cold.
Also, automotive panels crack far too damn easily at -7.
Will it get cold enough here to necessitate switching from shorts to long pants? Probably not. But we just got an inch or so of snow, which has crippled the metro area for the second time in as many weeks. On the plus side, it brought out the kilt-wearing unicyclist with the Darth Vader mask and the Santa hat and the flame-throwing bagpipes, so we have that going for us.
At least "a the kilt-wearing unicyclist with the Darth Vader mask and the Santa hat and the flame-throwing bagpipes."
These were academic interviews so it might not be applicable to the larger working world.
Maybe its smart then. This is an academic context and I don't actually know anything about working with academics. I went to Sarah Palin's alma mater, after all, and my masters degree is from a dodgy online program. So higher ed is not a world I particularly understand.
3.
My chief memory of how cold it gets in Chicago in the winter was a whole row of cars that were frozen into their parking spaces up to the axles.
Nothing on Boston, of course, but that's because here we only move the snow, not remove it. We are supposed to get 2F tonight, with 60 mph winds. So, as a friend of mine says: "brisk." We're a blue state and all but seriously?
It is currently -3F in Ottawa; and if I still lived there, I'd probably be thinking, "Eh, it's a bit nippy out, I'd better wear mittens." Meanwhile, here in northeastern NJ, it is currently 16F, and it feels ridiculously, unfairly cold, it feels like an affront to the natural order of things (the temp really did drop quite dramatically overnight, by about 20 degrees F, and is probably going to rise again by about 30 degrees F by Sunday).
I wonder how much our experience/perception of temperature is influenced by our expectations of what the temperature should be?
18 degrees in Baltimore this morning. I think I might need a hat.
47F in London. It has dropped below freezing this month, but only for a few days. It was even warmer earlier this week - almost too hot to cycle in a jacket.
9F/-13C in Pittsburgh. Cold, but it isn't bothering me like it has in recent winters. Not sure why. I guess my winter funk doesn't really kick in until mid-January.
I went to Sarah Palin's alma mater
Did you have a good time at Incomprehensible Succession of Random Colleges Throughout the American West U.?
48F in Sheffield too. Meant to go down a bit next week, but not hit zero this side of Christmas. Three cheers for the gulf stream and the Pennine shadow!
After yesterday's sub-zero ride, today's at 13 felt balmy. Sure enough, the bike rack was more crowded. Those of us who crave Lindberghian levels of vehicular aloneness had better hope for double digit sub-zeroes.
Did you have a good time at Incomprehensible Succession of Random Colleges Throughout the American West U.?
Not really, which is why I went to so many of them. But I graduated from Hawaii Pacific University, and she didn't.
||
OMFG. From a Bumble profile this morning:
My spirit is happiest in third world countries surrounded by dark skin people that don't speak my language. And St. Barth.
I guess it doesn't top the violin, but still.
|>
If you were a sociologist, it would be your job to explain why she's wrong.
a whole row of cars that were frozen into their parking spaces up to the axles.
Last winter this happened to a car on the next block; I think it was a water main issue. A couple other cars were affected, but this one had solid ice through the holes in its allow wheels; there was simply no way to make it move without a massive application of heat. In the event, I think we got a decent thaw 2-3 days later.
9F/-13C in Pittsburgh.
What's amazing about this is that we're forecast to steadily gain temperature from here all the way up to the mid 50s Saturday evening, then steadily drop back to the teens by Monday morning, with rain coinciding almost perfectly with all of the above-freezing hours. It's a 36 hour anomaly after which we return to normal winter temps.
73F at almost 11pm in Dubai. Drinking beers outside my hotel with a nice biew of the Burj Khalifa.
This post is missing someone gloating from coastal Florida.
Things are ok here thanks for asking.
Still no baby, for those of you following along. Tomorrow, maybe?
Maybe it just got freaked out by 2016 and wants to wait it out.
Who could blame her?
The other grandparents are flying home to San Diego tomorrow. We've enjoyed getting to know them, even if their coming here to meet the baby hasn't exactly worked out.
Fucking United Airlines. I showed up for a 1:25 AM flight. Now its delayed by 13 hours. My connecting flight ain't going to happen. I've got a job interview starting tomorrow evening, and all day Monday, and I don't think I'm going to be there for it.
Holy shit, I'm sorry. I hope some kind of miracle happens.
East Coast US flying was so screwed today. I was supposed to go to Boston today. I rebooked to Sunday. The flight I was to take ended up being delayed nearly 5 hours. I'm surprised it wasn't canceled.
Looks like I may be only miss today's portion of the interview, and the only problem with tomorrow's portion will be my total exhaustion after a late arrival and little sleep.
I take it you've called them to explain the situation. If they don't try to accommodate you a little, you probably don't want to work for them.
What 58 said. They should reschedule you to something that's not awful. Like, give you the day of arrival to relax, then start the following day.
United causing you to miss a job interview is worse than United leaving you stuck in Nebraska for an extra 36 hours.
For this reason one should always elect, when facing a choice between flying United from Nebraska and flying United to an interview, to fly United from Nebraska.
Yes, they are accommodating about missing the thing this evening. But tomorrow is a day-long series of meeting different people. Not easy to reschedule. Also it wouldn't be consistent with my philosophy of interviewing, which involves demonstrating that you are the kind of person that overcomes whatever obstacles get in the way.
Meanwhile, I'm back at the airport.
You know who else was famous for overcoming obstacles at the airport?
I need to develop a philosophy of interviewing before dream job interview Tuesday I think.
Also it wouldn't be consistent with my philosophy of interviewing, which involves demonstrating that you are the kind of person that overcomes whatever obstacles get in the way.
Spike prepares to re-enact Planes, Trains, and Automobiles . . .
Seriously, that sounds incredibly infuriating.
I need to develop a philosophy of interviewing
Show up.
Not obviously hung over.
Wear (womens' equivalent of) a suit.
Refrain from physical violence, if possible.
Wear (womens' equivalent of) a suit.
The FBI won't like that.
I feel like at a certain level of experience everyone's smart and can do the work so it feels silly to insist I'm smart and can do the work, and I should just show that I'm pleasant, but I'm not that pleasant.
Have you considered paying the airline to strand your competitors?
66: Treat every interview like you are Ahab attacking Moby Dick. The interview merely a mask over the face of God. Strike through the mask!
Assume that prior to every interview you've been told that they will hire the person who does the best Werner Herzog impression while answering questions.
73 is way too close to my actual interview persona, which is a lot of me asking "why are you really asking that?"
My connecting flight to Manchester was cancelled, because of course it was. Now I'm going to Hartford, which means 90 minutes less sleep for me tonight. Breakfast with the selection committee is going to be fun.
Looks like Enterprise Car Rental at the Hartford Airport is closed on Sundays, because of course it is.
Break a leg or stab an ex plus a waiter.
re: 70
You'd think, but after years of interviewing developers, project managers and the like,* I find that the hardest bit is deciding which of the people who isn't good enough I should have hired, rather than differentiating between a pool of people, all of whom could do the job.
* academic IT, so underpaid relative to private sector, so a much higher percentage of nutters and incompetents.**
** I've moved to the private sector, so less of an issue now.
"I had no idea Zsa Zsa Gabor is still alive," is the kind of thing I could have easily said until today.
Huh, I thought she was dead too. Maybe that was Ava who was dead.
Her sisters have been dead for twenty years.
At her age, Zsa Zsa probably didn't have it in her to flee from the Nazis again.
Rumor has it the roads are icy. This is going to be fun.
How long has it been since you drove on ice?
Maybe don't comment on your phone while driving? Good luck.
Uh, four years? Also I'll be driving on the opposite side of the road than I usually do. Just to make it interesting.
I do have a plan to bail in Western Mass if things are too ugly.
Wear (womens' equivalent of) a suit.
The FBI won't like that.
Hillary Clinton is Buffalo Bill!
I made it. 2:18 AM and stupid tired. This place they are putting me up in is pretty damn fancy.
Good luck with the interview, Spike!
Yes, good luck Spike. Glad you got there.
Remember that your greatest weakness is honesty!
And your chief weapons are fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, and near fanatical devotion to the Pope!
Thanks guys. It went well. The building where I'd work reminds me of Hogwarts.
Because there's a secret passage that goes to a bar?
Exciting, yay, way to interview! Unfogged interview week! My suit is wrinkled I'm wondering if I could go with a nice jorterall instead.
Shoot, my jorteralls are wrinkled too. I should probably cancel.
Courteralls.
A jillion people separately sent me the NYker article about the revenge porn lawyer like "you should go work for her," I guess I read as someone really concerned about revenge porn?
I couldn't really read past the part where she wore 5 inch heels to court.
It's even harder when the court has a grass surface.
My wife was insisting I wear a tie to the interview, but she was totally wrong and I was right to not wear a tie. She doesn't understand that tech people read ties as a sign of weakness.
My suit was totally wrinkled, though.
I don't like ties, but I'm thinking of starting to wear one from time to time so people don't think of me as just a programmer. I could go the other way and dress as a statistician but that seems suboptimal because I don't have a Ph.D. or a shirt with that big of a gravy stain.
So jorteralls, 5 inch heels, tie. I'm gonna ace this.
I don't like ties, but I'm thinking of starting to wear one from time to time so people don't think of me as just a programmer.
Makes sense. In my case, I'm trying to get a job with more programming than the one I currently have. So ties are right out.
I sort of suck as a programmer, but sucking as a programmer seems to pay better than my other skills.
Nvm I had time to iron my suit I'll save the jorteralls for my confirmation hearing in 20 years.
Also wish me luck, you all want me to have a great job so you get smug Clytie not whiny Clytie.
Good luck, Clytie!
I'll even offer an inspiring anecdote that I've probably told here before. I had a morning job interview, my first formal job interview in a long time, so I was way out of practice in tying my tie, and I couldn't make it look right, and so after dozens of attempts finally gave up, and wound up leaving a little late, and then I couldn't find a parking place and drove around in circles until I found a parking lot that charged me a ridiculous amount for parking in downtown Columbus and so I found myself going into the interview looking ridiculous with a suit and no time and about 10 minutes late. And sinceI figured there was no way I was getting the job, I was completely relaxed during the whole extended inquisition. And now I'm nearing my 20th anniversary at this place. That's the tragic twist to what seemed like it was going to be a happy story.
The people in the next office are rolling a dreidel and one guy is shouting "gimel, gimel, gimel".
120: Is gambling legal in Pennsylvania?
Every time an on-ramp hits the parkway.
123 is true. Especially fun if you drive an underpowered car.
But yes, slots, table games, and horse racing (on-site betting only) are all legal. General sports betting isn't (although there are websites that try to subvert it which I don't think the law have caught up to), so we don't have the UK-style corner betting houses.
As for people betting informally (which is what you actually asked), uh, probably not, but I've never seen it enforced.
I thought there was off-track betting. There used to be a Ladbrooks in Westmoreland County (in the shitty mall they blew up and replaced with a WalMart).
It's not like Nebraska, where you can play Keno in many bars.
Since this is the job-related thread, I'd like to express dumbfoundedness at a work brouhaha I've fallen into. Work hired a guy who is same level as me in terms of reporting. He reports to my boss. He was supposed to take over a lot of admin work from me. Turns out he's really incompetent, but worse, he can't stand me. Last Friday, we had an interaction that, well, let's just say it didn't go well, and he ended up having a panic attack afterwards, doing to the clinic because he thought he was having a heart attack, trash talked me to an entire department, and then complained to HR!
The precipitating interaction? He is supposed to do an inventory of hazardous materials, something I did last year. I was telling him some details about storage areas, and he interrupted me mid-sentence to complete my thought. Incorrectly. I was so surprised and put off (even thought he has been interrupting or talking over me for weeks and weeks) that I said, kind of stunned, "You just interrupted me in the middle of my sentence." He said, "Oh, it's no big deal." I summoned my most neutral tone and said, "When you interrupt me, it makes me feel like my input is neither wanted nor needed." He said, "It's just a few words!" I repeated myself and walked away before he could say anything else. I cannot roll my eyes hard enough at the fact that this sent him spiraling into chaos. My boss has referred us to HR for mediation.
I am tempted to show up at HR with a bunch of printouts of nasty e-mails he's sent that fit the same pattern of crazy escalation.
Obviously taking advantage of peoples' weaknesses is wrong and you certainly shouldn't see if you can trigger a few more panic attacks until he leaves you alone or quits.
My boss referred to him as "emotionally fragile" in our discussion. Apparently his version of events is identical except that i spoke in a nasty tone of voice. Boss was like ?!?
Seriously, IM(not first person)E, one panic attack can lead to more. Boss is separating us and cancelling meetings where we might interact until we can get through HR.
This guy is NOT young, early 50s, roughly similar experience in terms of years to me, although in industry via promotions.
The problem with incompetent people is they don't usually want to quit because being competent is what makes it easier to find other jobs.
127: Oh, maybe I'm behind the times. I only play blackjack and slots. I did a search for "ladbrokes near pittsburgh" and it took me to a "The Meadows" branded building in Harmar, so maybe there is limited off-track betting. Kinda neat that Google apparently treats that as a generified trademark.
129: The printouts sound like a good idea, but I would keep them in reserve unless for some reason HR takes his side.
Go Clytie! What about mean-old-dance-teacher with 5 inch heels? In my imagination that's a can't-lose look. My imagination has little interview experience.
Am I summarizing the situation wrong if I say it sounds like your polite objection to his being rude to you threw him into a panic attack? He sounds like a real piece of work.
Endorse 133.2 - sounds like boss is on side but might as well document just in case.
Incompetent, rude, emotionally fragile...is he white? If so, he might consider running for President.
Trick him into putting the nitric acid next to the drum of ether and when either OSHA fines you or the lab blows up he'll get fired.
Crushed it (in 3 inch heels though), including the wretched hypothetical. Just first round and don't want to get ahead of myself but pretty sure the future of civil rights is in my lovely soft hands.
Also endorse 133.2. As a former union rep., my advice is that you can never have too much documentation.
Or I might not get any of these jobs and just go back to a firm and do a bunch of pro bono immigration direct service. That might even be more useful. But less badass-sounding.
Usually easier to fire someone within probation period (ours is 6 months) so useful to make sure things don't drag out if it might run past that.
Or maybe a doting patron will fund my goat farm dream, anything could happen.
129. Wow. And this isn't the first time with this new hire. He has form with the emails. I hope HR sees he's a bad fit. I hope your boss is clear to them. Also 133.2 is spot on.
129.last I was tempted to say "do it" until I saw 131.1 What are odds of him showing up to your place of work armed and very disgruntled?
133.2 is wise.
Great going Clytie! Fingers crossed.
129: If the situation gets out of hand you might be able to kill him with a stripper-gram.
Does he have a twitter account? Trolling might pay dividends.
'Tis the season for entertaining out-of-office emails:
I'm traveling and will not be monitoring this inbox until Tuesday January 3rd.
If urgent, I can be reached at interrupt.my.vacation@-redacted-.com.
Off topic:
So there's apparently a Blade Runner sequel coming out next year. I suppose I'll have to go see it, since I've watched the original more times than I can count.
It must be strange for Harrison Ford to be reprising all of these roles from early in his career. At this point, I think it's only fitting that the last role he ever plays should be an aged version of that guy he played in American Graffiti.
Is Edward James Olmos in it? Or Sean Young?
As far as I can tell, Ford is the only actor from the original who's reprising his role in the sequel. The younger blade runner is Ryan Gosling.
I guess the biostats meme works for him.
In these troubled times, the hero we deserve is the president from Air Force One.
You guys are so cheering! 136 is a perfect summary, but it leaves out that he followed up the panic attack by lodging a complaint with HR! I am amused trying to imagine how he explained it. "And then I interrupted her and she asked me not to, in this nasty tone! And then walked away!"
SP, yeah, he's already not compliant on some things he was supposed to be handling, luckily recordkeeping, not actual safety. Boss and head of safety are aware and keeping an eye on it. Trial is 60 days and we're beyond that (ugh), but I think unless he does something to warrant his salary, he won't last too much longer. Boss commented that he's not even as useful as a tech. The rationale for hiring him was complicated. I am hoping for his sake that they decide before he buys a house and moves his wife and four children here.
Re:e-mails, yes, I wouldn't really show up at HR with a pile of them at the outset, but many, many interactions with him seem to escalate out of control rapidly, maybe 40%, for reasons that are opaque to me. I resorted to mostly using e-mail so there is a clear record. Some have been real doozies. A co-recipient commented after receiving one, "That was a very aggressive tone. Directed at you?" Yep, it sure was.
md20/400, yes, this is not the first time, although this was a more extreme version in that he is maybe not getting satisfaction from me or my boss so is taking it elsewhere, where his concerns might be taken more seriously. He has apparently been complaining to my boss that I am mean to him for all but two weeks he has been here.
147: That is a small concern to me, honestly, but after discussing it with the boss, we think it's unlikely. The site is very well-secured for other reasons.
Glad it went well, Clytie. I hope you get to save the world. It needs all the help it can get.