The Swamp

brian wrote:

Giff wrote:

TT2.0 wrote:how come everybody always wants to meet giff and never me? also..i live 45 minutes away, how come weve never gotten a drink giff? i feel slighted

You may as well live in another state! When the Bobcats make the Sun Belt tourney finals next week, let's watch.

Or better yet, y'all should just go to New Orleans and watch in person.

this plan hinges on a level of winning tht texas state never achieves in anything

So I was listening to the latest Deadspin podcast, and both of the hosts were saying that leaving voicemails is no longer something that should be done. Is this as universally agreed as they seemed to think it is?

What are you supposed to do instead? Just hang up after a few rings if there is no answer? To me that comes off as arrogant--you're basically saying, "I want you to know that I called but am not going to tell you why; you now need to proactively contact me if you want to find out."

Or is the implication here that we've moved to a point where texting should be the primary form of mobile communication in most cases?

Johnny Carwash wrote:So I was listening to the latest Deadspin podcast, and both of the hosts were saying that leaving voicemails is no longer something that should be done. Is this as universally agreed as they seemed to think it is?

What are you supposed to do instead? Just hang up after a few rings if there is no answer? To me that comes off as arrogant--you're basically saying, "I want you to know that I called but am not going to tell you why; you now need to proactively contact me if you want to find out."

Or is the implication here that we've moved to a point where texting should be the primary form of mobile communication in most cases?

It obviously depends on the situation. Like there are many times at work where a phone call is the most efficient way to discuss something, but as far as my social life is concerned, I'm team text. I have no desire to talk on the phone any more. I don't miss it either.

Personal -- I'll call you back or you can text me.

Professional -- Voicemails are vital.

I rarely call anyone outside of work calls. My wife doesn't listen to vms, so I hang up. She'll she that I called, and if I have a message, I'll text. My company has offices all over the country, and a lot of people work from home. At first, I thought it was crazy that people would send an IM asking if they could call instead of just calling. Now, IM has replaced half of my calls to colleagues. Remember when old people lamented the death of handwritten letters? E-mails and phone calls are almost dead.

The Sybian wrote:I rarely call anyone outside of work calls. My wife doesn't listen to vms, so I hang up. She'll she that I called, and if I have a message, I'll text. My company has offices all over the country, and a lot of people work from home. At first, I thought it was crazy that people would send an IM asking if they could call instead of just calling. Now, IM has replaced half of my calls to colleagues. Remember when old people lamented the death of handwritten letters? E-mails and phone calls are almost dead.

This is true. When you work remotely, Slack has replaced 99 percent of my phone conversations. It's so nice. I might use my work phone like twice a week.

I think it depends on the situation. Sometimes, it's faster for me to call someone and tell them what to do than type it out. This is especially the case for folks who don't use technology very well, and I deal with that kind of folk quite often.

Sabo wrote:I think it depends on the situation. Sometimes, it's faster for me to call someone and tell them what to do than type it out. This is especially the case for folks who don't use technology very well, and I deal with that kind of folk quite often.

Or, when you're driving.

Fuck IM at work unless it's a quick question. I have fuckers that try to assign project through IM and I literally ignore them.

so i shouldn't IM you then?

Anyone else ever think about how weird it would be if you were, present day, insane but not aware? Like how weird would my entire house look to someone if I didn't really have a wife and two kids but had just constructed that world in my mind and made purchases and decorating choices around it?

elflaco wrote:so i shouldn't IM you then?

As long as it's "I have expense money to spend, hit me up!" and not "hey, can you pull a list of our 100 biggest clients and then send me a ppt showing the breakdown of their annual invoicing revenue based off midwestern law firms".

Giff wrote:Fuck IM at work unless it's a quick question. I have fuckers that try to assign project through IM and I literally ignore them.

I guess it really varies between company cultures. My company is very IM-focused; I'm assigned work that way all the time and it's no big deal. I actually prefer it. Calls are for things planned in advance, or if you've already started through the IM channel and it's mutually agreed that talking live would work better. Calling someone "cold" is almost never done, and considered kind of a faux pas. Occasionally I encounter that type of person who just has to do everything via call and it's really annoying and awkward.

Not taking a shot at you Giff or anyone else, just an example of how a certain paradigm of communications gets baked in after you've worked in the same environment for an extended period of time.

mister d wrote:Anyone else ever think about how weird it would be if you were, present day, insane but not aware? Like how weird would my entire house look to someone if I didn't really have a wife and two kids but had just constructed that world in my mind and made purchases and decorating choices around it?

/Looks at meticulously organized closet. Ooooohhhhhhh, yeah.

Johnny Carwash wrote:

Giff wrote:Fuck IM at work unless it's a quick question. I have fuckers that try to assign project through IM and I literally ignore them.

I guess it really varies between company cultures. My company is very IM-focused; I'm assigned work that way all the time and it's no big deal. I actually prefer it. Calls are for things planned in advance, or if you've already started through the IM channel and it's mutually agreed that talking live would work better. Calling someone "cold" is almost never done, and considered kind of a faux pas. Occasionally I encounter that type of person who just has to do everything via call and it's really annoying and awkward.

Not taking a shot at you Giff or anyone else, just an example of how a certain paradigm of communications gets baked in after you've worked in the same environment for an extended period of time.

I think we have a good balance. Bigger projects need to be assigned to me via our ticketing system which is tracked in our asset management system, etc. So basically there's a paper trail. Requests like "hey, can you reset permissions for user XYZ" I usually get through IM and that doesn't bother me.

I'll have to listen to the Deadcast to get context, but I'm not opposed to getting voicemails personally or at work. My work phone has voicemail, but I have no idea how to set it up. And of course if I missed a call I'll have emails and IMs that would make up for it.

On my cell phone, i hate seeing the voicemail icon, so i check them for the sole purpose of making that go away.

And i think I'm the only person in America who doesn't use SMS texting. I save $20 a month just by having that option removed entirely. People are fucking dumbfounded by it. It's a habit i picked up in Europe since SMS texts there are limited. I use my unlimited data via various apps to message people. Plus I remember reading that SMS texts are going to be used like robo-calls at some point, so I'm ahead of the curve.

Johnny Carwash wrote:

Giff wrote:Fuck IM at work unless it's a quick question. I have fuckers that try to assign project through IM and I literally ignore them.

I guess it really varies between company cultures. My company is very IM-focused; I'm assigned work that way all the time and it's no big deal. I actually prefer it. Calls are for things planned in advance, or if you've already started through the IM channel and it's mutually agreed that talking live would work better. Calling someone "cold" is almost never done, and considered kind of a faux pas. Occasionally I encounter that type of person who just has to do everything via call and it's really annoying and awkward.

Not taking a shot at you Giff or anyone else, just an example of how a certain paradigm of communications gets baked in after you've worked in the same environment for an extended period of time.

yeah.. even in same company.. big enough place there's certainly clash of cultures.. i've spent the last hr on a call (just listening, passive -- new role, listening to vp sales and cs getting beaten up due to failures on the team i'm taking over q2) sending IMs to the team leads .. as well as texting the boss on what we need to deal w now.. so yeah.. depends.

Giff wrote:

elflaco wrote:so i shouldn't IM you then?

As long as it's "I have expense money to spend, hit me up!" and not "hey, can you pull a list of our 100 biggest clients and then send me a ppt showing the breakdown of their annual invoicing revenue based off midwestern law firms".

heads up then.. i'll be in Houston on the 11th, leaving the 12th... the 2nd wed of every month i'm due there.. usually will be mon-wed. and i do have T&E budget.

elflaco wrote:

Giff wrote:

elflaco wrote:so i shouldn't IM you then?

As long as it's "I have expense money to spend, hit me up!" and not "hey, can you pull a list of our 100 biggest clients and then send me a ppt showing the breakdown of their annual invoicing revenue based off midwestern law firms".

heads up then.. i'll be in Houston on the 11th, leaving the 12th... the 2nd wed of every month i'm due there.. usually will be mon-wed. and i do have T&E budget.

I should be down for an afterwork drink on the 11th. I'm going to a concert in town, so I may not drive back to Katy.

Totally had a dream last night where I had one of my molars falling out but still attached by a long root, and Giff showed up to yank it out of my mouth. So thanks Giff, and I am NOT OK.

(I have no doubt this is because I was talking to my buddy who was getting a root canal yesterday at the same time I was reading the Giff drama on FB. Weird how the brain interprets that huh?)

BSF21 wrote:Totally had a dream last night where I had one of my molars falling out but still attached by a long root, and Giff showed up to yank it out of my mouth. So thanks Giff, and I am NOT OK.

(I have no doubt this is because I was talking to my buddy who was getting a root canal yesterday at the same time I was reading the Giff drama on FB. Weird how the brain interprets that huh?)

Oh I am not OK either. I HATE teeth. My daughter has lost one tooth and another is loose and I can't even think about it without getting goosebumps. I shook my head violently as I was reading this.

Glad I'm not the only one. One has been "wiggly" for over a month now and its the worst.

I'm just happy Harps is pretty respectful of it instead of making a big deal about it.

Giff wrote:I'm just happy Harps is pretty respectful of it instead of making a big deal about it.

And we're out.

brian wrote: This is true. When you work remotely, Slack has replaced 99 percent of my phone conversations. It's so nice. I might use my work phone like twice a week.

I don't work remotely, but Slack has become the preferred way to contact people, especially when I'm trying to communicate something like "I made some changes, refresh your web browser" to a bunch of people.

I don't even know what my work phone number is. I think its rang 3 times in the almost 3 1/2 years I've been there.

You know life is going swimmingly when you decide to work on a Friday evening/night because you have nothing better to do.

Sabo wrote:You know life is going swimmingly when you decide to work on a Friday evening/night because you have nothing better to do.

Dude.

A_B wrote:

Sabo wrote:You know life is going swimmingly when you decide to work on a Friday evening/night because you have nothing better to do.

Dude.

To be fair, I have to work this weekend, so I'm just trying to work ahead so I don't have to do as much tomorrow.

But yeah, I know.

Working Sunday and still right now too!

I bitched about my shoes until I met a man who had no shoes.

Financially, I'm just fine, but I'm going fucking nuts not having a job. I told my wife I'm considering being a Walmart greeter just to get out of the house.

sancarlos wrote:I bitched about my shoes until I met a man who had no shoes.

Financially, I'm just fine, but I'm going fucking nuts not having a job. I told my wife I'm considering being a Walmart greeter just to get out of the house.

When I'm done with the military, I'm using my GI Bill to go to school and being a Costco ID checker part time.

After 20 years of military service I want a job with the least responsibility possible. Like Kevin Space in American Beauty, but 38 years old.

I don't think you need a degree for that.

Johnnie wrote:

sancarlos wrote:I bitched about my shoes until I met a man who had no shoes.

Financially, I'm just fine, but I'm going fucking nuts not having a job. I told my wife I'm considering being a Walmart greeter just to get out of the house.

When I'm done with the military, I'm using my GI Bill to go to school and being a Costco ID checker part time.

After 20 years of military service I want a job with the least responsibility possible. Like Kevin Space in American Beauty, but 38 years old.

I assume this plan includes banging a high school girl.

mister d wrote:I don't think you need a degree for that.

I already have a degree anyway. But the post 9/11 GI Bill pays me money while I'm going to college for free. It's a true Xzibit meme.

Yo dog, I heard you like getting money for college. So we're giving you money for college while paying you money for college.

So my buddy in Jupiter, FL texted me that Darren "Dutch" Daulton was asking him at the pub if he could help him score an 8 ball.

Now, my buddy in years gone by would've likely obliged him. Hell, if the moments right, he may have helped him, but he wasn't feeling it. So he said "Nope, sorry."

Later in the evening Dutch told him that he had just bought a few Adderall pills, and was wondering if it'd be OK if he crushed them for snorting.

He turned to him and said..."Just take two tops, and call it a night."

I don't know why but I believe him, yo.

If you are a parent to a foster kid, you can't cut the kid's hair until you have full custody.


I got epi-pen'd on Wednesday. I've been doing immunotherapy because I'm allergic to New Mexico and reacted kinda badly to my second shot under my once a month maintenance shot. I couldn't do the shot myself because stabbing myself isn't something I could do. I did well afterward, but man that was weird.


Kombucha is the most disgusting drink ever.

Johnnie wrote:If you are a parent to a foster kid, you can't cut the kid's hair until you have full custody.

I actually knew this one.

sancarlos wrote:I bitched about my shoes until I met a man who had no shoes.

Financially, I'm just fine, but I'm going fucking nuts not having a job. I told my wife I'm considering being a Walmart greeter just to get out of the house.

You should see if any of the taprooms/breweries around you need help. Great way to get out of the house and earn a little coin.

Johnnie wrote:

Kombucha is the most disgusting drink ever.

I actually knew this one!

Now just waiting on an epi-pen bro (or sis) to complete the trifecta.