Random Rants #88: [incoherent screaming]

[aimeeandbeatles]

The first time I got a spam email from myself, I panicked and changed my password. Only afterwards did I realize that it was probably spoofed.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I still don't know why my brother needs all those gift cards.....

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I'm always a bit confused that people would actually believe that the IRS/CRA would accept payment in iTunes gift cards.

 

[MaryKB]

They're terrified and not thinking straight.

 

[Traitorfish]

Resisting the urge to quit my job on the spot. The struggle is, I have enough savings that I could get by for two, probably three months of frugal living, but that would be a pretty stupid decision financially speaking even if the job market wasn't as weak as it is.

To add a "Rave" to this, because in retrospect this was a bit feeling-sorry-for-myself, I am looking for other work. The silver lining is that due to chronic mismanagement of our department, I currently only have about two or three hours of work a day- and I don't mean "real work", I mean any work at all, box-ticking and busy-work fully included- I'm able to do this on company time. So if these bozos are happy to pay me to look for greener pastures, I'm happy to let them.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

They're terrified and not thinking straight.

Most of the targets are seniors and immigrants, or people who aren't yet citizens but are pending. They get threatened with jail, and they panic.

I'm just waiting for the grandparent scam to come my way. If it's a real person from India on the other end of the phone, I plan to have fun with them (unless they call in the middle of my soap, or somesuch; in that case they will get a string of four-letter words and hung up on).

After all, I would have to wonder what Maddy was doing, having kittens with someone even though she's spayed, and why her hypothetical kitten was in an accident/in jail (whichever version the scammers go with).

 

[CKS]

We got a call from the "power company" the other day just to let us know that our power would be cut off in 30 minutes, either because we had requested it or because we hadn't paid the bill. While we knew we hadn't requested it and it is on autopay, I did go check my email to see if they'd sent us something. A couple of times this summer, I've heard a neighbor talking on the phone (in his front yard) to a utility company, trying to turn off someone else's utilities. As far as I know, he hasn't succeeded, but I didn't want to risk being his first win. (They have all been temporarily unoccupied, and he is "trying to save the owners some money.")

 

[Takhisis]

What dialogue tree do you get when confronting this griefer, I mean, neighbour?

 

[Commodore]

I need to win the lottery or something. I can only work a job for about a year at the longest before I get bored with it and look for something else. The only reason I look for another job though is because I have bills to pay. If money weren't a concern, I probably wouldn't work at all and just spend my days hanging out with the family, expanding my gunsmithing knowledge and painting miniatures.

I just feel like this whole "working" thing is a huge waste of my life.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I need to win the lottery or something. I can only work a job for about a year at the longest before I get bored with it and look for something else. The only reason I look for another job though is because I have bills to pay. If money weren't a concern, I probably wouldn't work at all and just spend my days hanging out with the family, expanding my gunsmithing knowledge and painting miniatures.

I just feel like this whole "working" thing is a huge waste of my life.

It sounds like you want to "be your own boss." You mentioned going for house inspection, as a side gig. What would it take in your state to become a gun safety instructor? Or to open a retail shooting range/repair shop/storage facility? One of my uncles has a "day job", but he also does house inspections and carpentry when he feels like it/needs more money. I'd imagine opening a new business with a physical location would take a lot of capital investment, but a lot of retail-building owners are in dire straits right now, and anyone who wants to open a small shop can probably get a lease pretty cheaply. Some people argue that simply having a regular job isn't the best route to financial security these days, and having a balanced workload of multiple things is better (if that's true, I'm screwed - I just have a day job and bunch of hobbies ).

 

[thecrazyscot]

I need to win the lottery or something. I can only work a job for about a year at the longest before I get bored with it and look for something else. The only reason I look for another job though is because I have bills to pay. If money weren't a concern, I probably wouldn't work at all and just spend my days hanging out with the family, expanding my gunsmithing knowledge and painting miniatures.

I just feel like this whole "working" thing is a huge waste of my life.

While my wife was finishing graduate school I was stuck working some of the most unfulfilling and soul-sucking jobs. The worst was working at a call center in their retention department. I eventually moved up to QA, but was still at that blasted call center for 2 years of my life. After that I moved to an extraordinarily boring admin job at a school, but at least I didn't go to work every day with a sick feeling in my stomach as I braced myself for getting abused for 8 hours. When she graduated and got a job, I took some time off to figure out what to pursue for my career (and I am so grateful I was able to do that because of her), because I realized that I had to figure it out otherwise I was going to go nuts...I just couldn't keep working those same jobs, which by that point were the only jobs I had any work experience in. It's quite a vicious cycle.

I worked at a bookstore part-time for a bit as I looked around, until I finally found a GIS certificate program which would take a year. Why not? I love maps, cartography, and working with data, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Ended up really enjoying it and moved into a masters program for it. My current company hired me on a few years ago, and while I find there are definitely times I am pretty bored and projects which are infuriating, on the whole I still enjoy the day-to-day of actually working with and mapping data, and I think I will be pretty content continuing to do so for as long as I can. I'm very much a creature of habit, though. As long as I enjoy the core of my job, I don't mind continuing to do it, because I figure cycles of boredom and frustration and whatever are inevitable at any job (I just got put back on a never-ending project of frustration for the next couple of months, but eh). And because it is GIS, despite being digital the results are very tangible. This map was a mess? Now it's not. This database was difficult to use? Now it's not. Plus, I work from home, so I get to see my daughters throughout the day, which is wonderful.

I hope you find something you don't mind doing, that makes you feel like you've contributed something, and that allows you to spend a lot of time with your family.

 

[Sarin]

Our government is losing it with flu masks. Unless they're actual surgical masks, they're more a statement, "I'm taking this seriously, so do me a favor and keep your distance", rather than preventative measures on their own. But most people here use various washable cloth masks, scarves and other such things. While I'm all in favor of mandating masks in areas with high potential for transmission like public transport, what government now mandates is just absurd. For example, in restaurants, one can sit at the table and eat with mask off, but gotta put it on while going to the toilet. The way it's written, masks are even mandatory in shared hallways of apartment buildings.

 

[Commodore]

What would it take in your state to become a gun safety instructor

The concealed carry course plus an additional one week instructor course. It's hard to make money that way though since all the big gun stores/ranges pretty much dominate the gun training market, which means I'd just end up working for one of them if I wanted to make money.

You mentioned going for house inspection, as a side gig

I scrapped that idea. I think I could do the job itself fine, but being an independent home inspector means being able to sell yourself to real estate agents so they recommend you. I've never been much of a salesman, so my only option, again, would be to go work for someone else.

Or to open a retail shooting range/repair shop/storage facility

A lot of money and a Federal Firearms License. Neither of which I have. And considering some of the statements I've made online, I don't think I could ever get an FFL, since apparently they dig real deep into your life and will deny you at the slightest inkling of anything they don't like in your background. Which makes sense since having an FFL not only allows you to transfer firearms, but allows you to legally manufacture them as well, including firearms that the general public can't have like machine guns and "destructive devices" like grenade launchers.

I've considered using what's left of my GI Bill to go to SDI, which is a gunsmithing school. The problem with that though is getting your FFL is required to attend since the coursework involves modifying firearms in ways that are illegal without an FFL. And seeing as I believe I can't get one, attending that school might not be an option.

 

[JohannaK]

So you already got the no. What do you lose by actually trying to get it?

 

[Commodore]

So you already got the no. What do you lose by actually trying to get it?

I lose $200. You have to pay that to apply for the FFL and it doesn't get refunded if you are denied.

 

[Kyriakos]

I am beyond fed up with the weather. It is supposed to be Autumn. 30C degrees is horribly wrong.

 

[JohannaK]

Where I'm from, Autumn starts with the equinox, in about ~10 days.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I am beyond fed up with the weather. It is supposed to be Autumn. 30C degrees is horribly wrong.

I'm on the East Coast, but I read that a part of Los Angeles hit 120 F / 49 C last weekend, where the typical September high temp is about 85 F / 29 C. I remember a while back a woman who'd moved from the East Coast to L.A. was disappointed to find that it wasn't "Summer all the time" there, as she'd been led to believe. I imagine she's rethinking her life choices now.

 

[EgonSpengler]

RIP Diana Rigg.

Spoiler :

 

[Kyriakos]

RIP Diana Rigg.

Spoiler :