Disqus - Latest Comments for bripblap

Re: how working overseas helps your career

bripblap — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:01:49 -0000

Thanks, Shawanda. You're right that working at a Big 4 firm gives you a LOT of opportunities to work overseas. I don't know if there's anything wrong with working in London, by the way - it's one of my favorite cities in the world, despite being English-speaking and "not very exotic." It's second only to NYC in my mind for a dizzying amount of cultural attractions and a population drawn from every corner of the globe.

Re: how working overseas helps your career

bripblap — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:59:44 -0000

@Funny about Money: you make a good point - it doesn't even matter exactly when you have an overseas experience. The implication that a lot of employers take away from ANY overseas experience is that you'll have (for lack of a better phrase) an open mind. That's something that's hard to teach.

Re: how to make yourself an expert

bripblap — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:40:00 -0000

@Akemi: I was reading some financial advice when the idea for this post came up - I was remembering how wrong so many "experts" were. It's certainly not limited to finance, though! Thanks, Akemi :)

Re: everyone is special and unique just the way they are

bripblap — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:01:32 -0000

@FourPillars: Wow, good job on the TV - but just think of all the quality programming you've missed. Sit down and watch Dora on your own a few times. It's GREAT. Ugh.

And discipline? What is discipline? Is that getting them to do things they should do instead of what they want to do? I have heard of this "discipline" but it is a strange word to me.

Argh :)

Re: everyone is special and unique just the way they are

bripblap — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:59:16 -0000

@guinness416: Uh, that's not going to make you, uh, the most popular guest. Heh :)

Re: side effects of transparency

bripblap — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:43:03 -0000

@guinness416: After "How to Manage Billions and Billions of Dollars Like Carl Sagan" I'm not sure where I could go with it :)

Re: leaving the northeast, a retrospective

bripblap — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:13:45 -0000

@alicia: Sounds like you had a bad experience, to put it mildly. 3 months seems like a fairly short period of time to have such strong feelings, but I guess different strokes for different folks. I am enjoying the summer-like temps in October, I can say that much. Not going to miss the snow.

Re: linklings, apparently-I-read-a-lot-on-the-internet-this-week edition

bripblap — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:11:22 -0000

@Curmudgeon: That was more or less my point on the taxes - since we're already in a system where you have to accept some unfairness in how it's spent, then it almost follows that it's unfair in the way it's collected.

And the people who don't pay income taxes certainly end up paying in other ways - sales tax, payroll taxes, etc. It would be an interesting experiment to have a one time "everybody pitch in $1000 this year to build a new airport outside New York" assessment and see if that motivated people to complain. You're probably right that it would.

Re: leaving the northeast, a retrospective

bripblap — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 10:47:20 -0000

@misformoney: Well, it's less expensive in NE Florida than other parts, primarily because we don't have the same level of hurricane risk. I'll be able to tell you better after this week because I'll actually be securing it on our new home after getting a few quotes.

Re: why I will not live in the northeast forever

bripblap — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:35:46 -0000

@Smiley - my question exactly :) Seriously, it's just a very, very expensive place to live. If you don't want a 2-3 hour each-way commute, prices are steep. And trust me, a 3 bedroom in Manhattan is shockingly more: $3 mil for a 3-bedroom, 2000 sq feet in a decent neighborhood: http://bit.ly/FSWE0 (and that's not including building fees, taxes, etc.)

Re: leaving the northeast, a retrospective

bripblap — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:47:37 -0000

@remodelingthislife: Thanks (on the header)! It's about a week or two old, I guess... (the pic on the right is from your neck of the woods, actually).

I'll tell you what I plan to do - eventually I'll get the summer home in Maine and the winter home in Florida, and of course the weekend apartments in Manhattan and Miami. Heh :)

Re: leaving the northeast, a retrospective

bripblap — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:16:25 -0000

@plonkee: True, although I'd argue that since we're now living in the 12th biggest US city, we've actually moved UP since we were living in the Jersey burbs - admittedly outside of the nation's largest city, but technically we didn't live there. And yes, we're obviously driving more, although in some ways it's a bit of a wash - I drive more, but Bubelah's driving much less since all of the essential things we need are within about a 5 mile radius. And I doubt we could have reduced our cost of living as substantially having moved to a less-densely populated part of Jersey, which is partially what I'm getting at. It would be an interesting post for someone more analytical than I am - whether the cost of living in the States is more dependent on the location (by state) or the size of the town.

But I'm sure our carbon footprint increased in total. It's not a great thing, but when my current car gives up the ghost I do plan to buy a hybrid for my commuting car, hopefully offsetting at least part of that.

Re: lack of communication, or stupidity?

bripblap — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:05:48 -0000

@Bret: Unfortunately I composed a reply that got crushed in a system lock-up, but Bubelah did manage to sum up my thinking. I'd say that the main thing I'd worry about in your shoes would be two statements you made:

1. "I have thought about putting together a packet."
2. "I'm pretty sure she could learn to pay the bills"

Neither of those statements really sounds very confident. If you have a packet - or even if you have an accountant or trusted family member who has a good understanding of your finances - fine. But if you don't have a packet, your family's at risk. Don't assume charmed lives are guaranteed to continue to be charmed - that's why we all have insurance.

Re: spend less than you earn - the wrong way to think

bripblap — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:04:26 -0000

@Ms. Frugalicious: Thanks so much! I'm planning on reading that book soon, too.

Re: lack of communication, or stupidity?

bripblap — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:12:55 -0000

It's a complete guess, by the way, but everyone seems to think she was older. I would guess - and it's 101% a guess - that she was in her 50s, maybe. She did not sound at all like an old woman, in any sense. Voices can be deceptive, so I wouldn't bet money on it, but I think she was a middle-aged woman in full possession of her faculties.

Re: Reaffirming a Vision

bripblap — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:58:03 -0000

Bret and Patrick - you guys are having a fascinating side conversation here in the comments - thanks! As a bit of an armchair observer myself, like Patrick mentioned, I'm loving the back-and-forth :)

Re: and once again, forced to reflect on that day

bripblap — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 10:12:07 -0000

@alicia: I guess I say "forced" simply because I'd rather not have to think about it at all, and I'd rather it had never happened at all. Someone forced a memory on all of us.

Re: linklings, labor day in Florida edition

bripblap — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:42:09 -0000

@Guinness416: I agree that there's a certain smug satisfaction that permeates a lot of the anti-corporate-jobs blogs that I read, and it seems to be building during the recession. ZH used to be a must-read for me, but recently the tone has shifted a bit too much into the dreamy "we are all going to work on the web" mode. No we aren't. I like the idea of people taking a bit more control over their work lives than some employees do, true. I would like to do more of it, too. But you're dead-on, though - if you replaced "corporate worker" with "bricklayer" it would sound downright awful.

Re: linklings, labor day in Florida edition

bripblap — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:27:00 -0000

@Akemi: Hi! Sounds like a great place, and if you're happy with renting I think it'll be good for you. If you have a great view that's a big part of enjoying a place - nothing like waking up to a view to make the day go better.

I keep a houseslipper called "bug-be-flat" that keeps the bugs under control. But I do try to use the broom and flyswatter to flip "guests" outside when I can... especially the overly-friendly lizards who sneak inside. Time to get reacquainted with nature :)

Re: linklings, labor day in Florida edition

bripblap — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:23:09 -0000

@Bret, @bucksome, @ruth: I hear you, although it's still not clear to me that the "good" house is in a 'worse' neighborhood than the "crappy" house (quote crazy...). It's tough weighing one neighborhood against another when they're largely identical - but I agree with you that when one is overwhelmingly better than the other, it's better to go with the good one.

Re: linklings, labor day in Florida edition

bripblap — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:21:17 -0000

@Weston: Good point, but I just didn't mention the schools since both homes are within the same school district, meaning that's not a factor. We already narrowed our search down to a single district, and haven't even looked at a house outside of that district.

Re: the professional hitman

bripblap — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:33:02 -0000

@GP: Right - we pay attorneys flat fees for real estate transactions,
for example. And the traditional billable hour system is just that -
traditional. It's sortof like the insistence on signatures on paper
contracts: resistance to the more sensible digitial signatures remains
strong. It takes a long time for people to change, even when the need
for change is obvious.

Re: the professional hitman

bripblap — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:32:02 -0000

@Bubelah: I would imagine you could find a few different ways to deal
with it. The easiest way would be to have a penalty for late delivery -
$500 per day, or $5000 per week, or whatever. The client could pay half
up front, half on delivery. Etc. But I'd imagine that if you want to
be successful at all with that business model you'd have to deliver on
time, or else you're not going to be very highly recommended in the
future.

It's really the point about the post, though: if I'm paid hourly, I
don't really care about the deadline myself (except as a reputation
issue) and will actually make MORE if I run over the limit. If I have a
flat fee and know that I'll be LOSING money if I miss the deadline I'm
going to be exceptionally motivated. So it seems like the company would
be better off with a flat fee, too.

Re: linklings, amazement edition

bripblap — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:59:31 -0000

@retiredsyd: I think it's pretty simple - if I had stayed in my small Southern town my whole life, I might have been the next William Faulkner, but I couldn't have been the next Barry Hannah. Faulkner never left his home town, practically, and Hannah went to New York for most of his adult life. Travel makes you different. Not better or worse, just different. Glad we agree! :)

Re: lying in the workplace, part 2

bripblap — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:54:32 -0000

@curmudgeon: I guess my point was that lying itself is a forgivable offense. Lying is forgotten if you have enough ability - hence the rise of so many business and political leaders who have so many skeletons in their closets yet continue to remain leaders in our country.