February 20th, 2008

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:43 am

I have to share a conversation I had a work via IM today. The set up, I just saw a ticket going to billing with the order and billing charge of a corporate internet phone that comes with a cordless handset:

Chris Hoblit [1:21 PM]:
wow, thats an expensive 57iCT
Bill Heinz [1:21 PM]:
ya, they are not cheap
Chris Hoblit [1:22 PM]:
$337.50 , I could buy quite a bit more than a phone...
Bill Heinz [1:22 PM]:
but it has a cordless unit as well! currently the only one like that
Chris Hoblit [1:26 PM]:
do0d, I'd buy a PC and get a soft phone for that
Chris Hoblit [1:26 PM]:
lordy
Chris Hoblit [1:27 PM]:
by comparison, an X-Box is a better deal
Bill Heinz [1:27 PM]:
um......how can you use an xbox to make calls?
Chris Hoblit [1:28 PM]:
get your friends to join the same game you're playin?
Chris Hoblit [1:28 PM]:
and say 'BOOYA!' a lot...
Bill Heinz [1:28 PM]:
alrighty, but not very usefull for running a business though...
Chris Hoblit [1:28 PM]:
HAVE YOU TRIED? didn't think so!

QOTD: A fark article / thread discussed alcohol during work lunch hour. What is your take on the subject?

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:47 am

QOTD:

1. Once, in downtown Tampa, a lot of us techs would go down to Hattricks for lunch on Friday afternoons. Its a (Hockey) sports pub themed place in an old building...great wings.

Once a fella and I were down there and we ordered a couple of beers. Then two of our fellow workers walked in and took a table right next to us while casually slid our beers behind the standing menus to quickly disguise our shame.

When the waitress came to their table to ask them what they wanted to drink they kind of nervously looked our way and then back at each other. We chimed in that they should go ahead and get a beer, heck it was Friday and that we would never say anything to anyone about it. They finally got the nerve and went ahead and ordered their beers, still obviously nervous about the whole thing. The waitress took the order and left the table for the bar.

My friend and I then safely dragged our beers back out in the open, relieved.

2. Also: once at the same place, I met a friend who shared the same lunch hour so we met at Hattricks. We contemplated a drink, should we? Shouldn't we? We eventually decided on not having that drink.

Not even five minutes later, the owner, CEO, and vice president of my company walked in and sat down a few tables away.

HeuristicsInc · Post by **HeuristicsInc** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 1:08 pm

I've occasionally had a beer at a group lunch when I saw that our assistant group supervisor was having one. Only one, though, and if somebody thinks that's going to affect the quality of work, they're silly

-bill

jimtyrrell · Post by **jimtyrrell** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 1:18 pm

Roll Call: Working. Tonight I'm practicing with the trio, getting some drinking songs down.

QotD: I don't drink at the day job. I do find myself on the town for lunch fairly often, and sometimes a beer seems like a good idea, but I don't do it.

I make up for it at the night job, as described above. Actually, when I'm playing a paid solo gig, I don't drink either. Occasionally I'll have a beer or two when I'm playing with a band at a venue where they're all right with it. Like the Seven Barrel Brewery in West Lebanon. You can't have beer on stage, of course, but between sets, a pint of the RIP Stout is simply too good to miss. I do it early though; it's a long ride home.

fluffy · Post by **fluffy** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 2:03 pm

qotd: at Amazon, when I had a good manager, my manager and I would go out for lunch pretty often and have beer or two at said lunch. It helped to take the edge off. I was sad when he quit because then I no longer had carte blanche to potentially violate corporate policy. However, one cool thing at Amazon was that every Friday there was a departmental gathering called "Search Inside The Bottle" (a play on "Search Inside The Book") which I'd go to on occasion, except eventually it got to the point that I couldn't stand most of the people who attended it, and the people who I could stand also stopped attending it because of the same people who irritated me so much.

At my current place of employment, there's a general understanding that we could drink beer if we wanted to but it's Just Not Done.

drc: In 4 hours I'm getting yet another tooth drilled and filled. It's a bit depressing how I always get cavities no matter how well I take care of my teeth, which leads me to stop caring and get apathetic which of course makes the situation even worse overall. There must be something weird about my saliva or something.

sausage boy · Post by **sausage boy** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:44 pm

Before we moved, we were just across the road from a pub. Most of the production team basically lived there.

Now we are just out of the city, and nowhere near a pub. Its infuriating. We do occassionally break the beers out for the hell of it. We also always drink at the monthly staff meeting... its the only way something like that is bearable.

king_arthur · Post by **king_arthur** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:13 pm

Back when I was at Motorola, I had a bottle of antihistamine tablets in my office, "Sinus Tabs" if I recall correctly. And there were days when it was just so awful that I felt my hay fever coming on ( smiley ) and I'd do a sinus tab or two. Strangely enough, they seemed to become more and more potent the further out of date they got.

As I recall, drinking at lunch (off campus) was permitted, but I didn't go out to lunch often enough to know how widespread it might have been...

Charles (KA)

Märk · Post by **Märk** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:57 pm

qotd: For about 5 years of working for a former employer, he would take the crew out for lunch every day, and buy us lunch and beers. I had to quit working for him, because I feared I was becoming an alcoholic; I could tell what time in relation to lunch time it was, strictly by how much I was craving a beer.

In hindsight... bah! Who fucking cares about becoming an alcoholic? I walked away from free food and beers every day! BLT, do you have a smiley where it's a guy kicking himself?

Paco Del Stinko · Post by **Paco Del Stinko** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 5:26 pm

I never liked a drink during work. Way back in the army days, we'd show up still cocked at 5 in the morning to go running and all that crap. Horrific scene. I did have one of those bosses once that'd give you a beer at the end of a hot day and say "For the ride home" HA!

Post by **Spud** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 6:00 pm

It's all about arranging your day so that the heavy (mental) lifting gets done before lunchtime. After lunch is good for brainstorming, breaking creative logjams, and the like.

In other words, yes. Indeed. Sometimes I forget to eat, though.

SPUD

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 7:44 pm

jimtyrrell wrote:. You can't have beer on stage, of course....

WTF!?!?! Why not? Or more to the point - how can you go onstage without a beer? Or why would you? You are making no sense at all.

My current workplace is a construction site - so alcohol is banned from site and all workers should have zero blood alcohol levels. This has become quite a strict rule on all construction sites and mines etc in recent years. Perfectly sensible for dudes who drive the big dozers and cranes and shit - and in a step towards workplace solidarity, the lazy shiny-arses sitting in the air-conditioned office (like me) agree to the same rules. It's not all bad though. I can come and go as I please - so if I do start shaking too much or the invisible lizards start crawling up my legs again - I can just arrange an afternoon "meeting" somewhere off-site.

My workplace is also quite good at pushing the "team bonding" stuff - which usually means taking us somewhere off-site and giving us piss. We had a lawn bowls afternoon last week. That was fun.

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:02 pm

I couldn't do much after having a drink. Even in the evening if I have anything to do later it'll just make me want to crawl into bed and watch TV. Which isn't a bad thing, necessarily, just that I often need to work at night for a couple hours. I had a beer tonight with dinner watching Planet Earth and listening to Matthan Minster. Then I'll crash after the eclipse is over.

fluffy · Post by **fluffy** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:04 pm

Spud wrote:It's all about arranging your day so that the heavy (mental) lifting gets done before lunchtime. After lunch is good for brainstorming, breaking creative logjams, and the like.

In other words, yes. Indeed. Sometimes I forget to eat, though.

I thought that was on purpose, what with the whole beer and salad diet (where only the salad is optional).

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:34 pm

Here.

Lot's of meetings today. I realize that for some, all day is meetings every day. but it was different for me.

If I can record a song a day for the next three days I'll be back on pace for FAWM

QOTD: I'm a teacher, drinking at lunch is attractive, but frowned upon, even if some of the students do it.

fodroy · Post by **fodroy** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 12:40 am

qotd: I have gone into work a little bit drunk before. I don't advise it. After a few hours you won't feel so great.

JonPorobil · Post by **JonPorobil** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 12:52 am

I'm still a full-time student for a little while longer...

But two of my professors in smaller classes have invited the students over to their homes for one class, and served beer and/or wine. The first time it was a dinner-and-discussion type thing, and the beverages were accompanying the meal, so everyone had one drink. The second time it was just after lunch, and I was a little surprised to see a six-pack on the table (especially since there were ten of us!). I didn't partake that time, but a few others did.

Kenyon's always been kind of weird like that.

Billy's Little Trip · Post by **Billy's Little Trip** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:10 am

Märk wrote:BLT, do you have a smiley where it's a guy kicking himself?

I don't think so, but we're having a sale on these >>

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:16 am

Generic wrote:I'm still a full-time student for a little while longer...

But two of my professors in smaller classes have invited the students over to their homes for one class, and served beer and/or wine. The first time it was a dinner-and-discussion type thing, and the beverages were accompanying the meal, so everyone had one drink. The second time it was just after lunch, and I was a little surprised to see a six-pack on the table (especially since there were ten of us!). I didn't partake that time, but a few others did.

Kenyon's always been kind of weird like that.

aaaahhhhh...student days! It is hard to remember a day I was actually sober. That was the life.

Though your story does remind me of one slightly disturbing incident when I went to a party at my French Professor's house (though I studied engineering for my first degree, I was able to do French as an elective subject which was an easy way to get a High Distinction and increase my overall average, and more importantly, hang out with art student chicks). Anyway - as the night wore on, I guess he decided that all the students were sufficiently pissed so he says "Hey!!! who wants to get in the jacuzzi?" - upon which he promptly stripped naked in the lounge room and cranked up the hot tub. Now, while random acts of nudity were generally expected at most student parties - it was fairly unusual for the middle-aged academic staff to get involved. I mean he wasn't even French (you expect that sort of thing from them) - he was English!

Billy's Little Trip · Post by **Billy's Little Trip** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:22 am

QOTD: I don't have a problem with anyone having a drink with lunch, but I personally don't like to drink in the middle of the work day. But that's only because I do a lot of running around and meeting with people. But when the day is done,

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 7:38 am

fodroy wrote:qotd: I have gone into work a little bit drunk before. I don't advise it. After a few hours you won't feel so great.

When I worked in restaurants/bars it was generally an hour or two before closing before the drinking would start.

ALTHOUGH, once..I had to be at work at 6pm and I stopped over at a friends house at 4pm beforehand. He offered me a quart. I was reluctant but everybody was having a good time and I figured ONE quart wouldn't be a problem and I had two hours. WELL, I finished that quart, then someone passed around a jay (this was a LONG time ago, I don't smoke these days) and then my girlfriend at the time needed help finishing HER quart.

6pm rolls around and not only am I late for work I'm 'pretty good'. Luckily my job at the time wasn't prudish about this... and I 'acted' as sober as I possibly could. BUT three hours later with no continuance, I felt TERRIBLE. Headache, tired... I almost asked if I could buy a beer... but decided that the job wasn't THAT cool about it.

I repeated this once at another job, I saw a friend at a bar and he 'needed help with his pitcher. Just don't do it folks. Its NEVER worth it. Wait 'till the near the end of your shift. Then its GREAT!

EmbersOfAutumn · Post by **EmbersOfAutumn** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:41 am

QotD:

Every now and then, I'll put a little St. Brendan's Irish Cream (whiskey-based creamer) in my coffee before coming to work.

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:37 am

EmbersOfAutumn wrote:QotD:

Every now and then, I'll put a little St. Brendan's Irish Cream (whiskey-based creamer) in my coffee before coming to work.

When I worked brunches at a place called Smith's Olde Bar in Atlanta, I would mix Bailey's and Vodka in with my coffee and get the day started right. (It was a very short shift from 10:30am to 2:30pm and it was just a three person operation AND we had it down.) My boss just went behind the bar and made himself a frickin' margarita and placed it in the ice table.