Minor things that bother you

[Scott5114]

If your job history looks like this...

Professional job
Professional job
Selling washing machines
Professional job
Professional job

...I may be a little suspicious.

I like how the default assumption here is that someone would only ever take a job because they are fired up about whatever it is and doing something like take a job for a period of time to keep from getting evicted until they find something better is suspicious behavior.

The assumption that gaps in the work history is suspicious behavior in the first place is exceedingly stupid if you think about it for more than the four seconds that Corporate America is capable of thinking of anything, anyway. It is not as though humans (or other humans they care about) never become injured or ill and might need time not working because of that. Hell, if someone made enough money at their job that they were able to just straight up take a sabbatical and not do jack shit for a few years, why should that matter?

As I alluded to before, the whole thing is easily gamed anyway by just registering an LLC for a hundred bucks and saying you were working for that during the gap. Now I'm company president, Michael!

[Rothman]

I'm not so sure that investigating gaps in work history assumes a negative.  I've interviewed a whole lot of people over the years and questionable circumstances have only come up a couple of times and more of a broader issue overall (e.g., evident that they don't play well with others and can't hold any job, so they have a whole lot of positions and gaps on resume).

[mgk920]

econd, blocking all unknown numbers is problematic when you need to receive a call or text message from an unknown number (specifically, an appliance repairman who's coming to fix the dryer).

Not blocking unknown numbers, but silencing them.

Or the pizza delivery driver who can't find you and doesn't have time to do anything more than leave a quick message and return to the store for the next run.

Mike

[hbelkins]

econd, blocking all unknown numbers is problematic when you need to receive a call or text message from an unknown number (specifically, an appliance repairman who's coming to fix the dryer).

Not blocking unknown numbers, but silencing them.

But the problem with doing that in my case is that, as you noted, it would send unknown calls to voicemail, which is no good when we have a guy coming to repair the dryer and I need to know when he's calling. So I pretty much just have to deal with it for another eight days and then reconsider options once the repair is done (or not, if we decide it makes more sense to replace the machine).

econd, blocking all unknown numbers is problematic when you need to receive a call or text message from an unknown number (specifically, an appliance repairman who's coming to fix the dryer).

Not blocking unknown numbers, but silencing them.

Or the pizza delivery driver who can't find you and doesn't have time to do anything more than leave a quick message and return to the store for the next run.

Mike

I must not be making myself clear.

• Set phone to silence unknown callers
• Unknown caller calls, call is either routed to voicemail or you get a notification that you have an incoming call without it audibly ringing
• Your phone gives you a notification that you missed a call or that you have a voicemail, or both
• You immediately call them back

[JayhawkCO]

econd, blocking all unknown numbers is problematic when you need to receive a call or text message from an unknown number (specifically, an appliance repairman who's coming to fix the dryer).

Not blocking unknown numbers, but silencing them.

But the problem with doing that in my case is that, as you noted, it would send unknown calls to voicemail, which is no good when we have a guy coming to repair the dryer and I need to know when he's calling. So I pretty much just have to deal with it for another eight days and then reconsider options once the repair is done (or not, if we decide it makes more sense to replace the machine).

econd, blocking all unknown numbers is problematic when you need to receive a call or text message from an unknown number (specifically, an appliance repairman who's coming to fix the dryer).

Not blocking unknown numbers, but silencing them.

Or the pizza delivery driver who can't find you and doesn't have time to do anything more than leave a quick message and return to the store for the next run.

Mike

I must not be making myself clear.

• Set phone to silence unknown callers
• Unknown caller calls, call is either routed to voicemail or you get a notification that you have an incoming call without it audibly ringing
• Your phone gives you a notification that you missed a call or that you have a voicemail, or both
• You immediately call them back

But then the unknown caller is no longer looking at their phone so doesn't hear it, so you play phone tag until the sun expands, enveloping the Earth.

[Rothman]

econd, blocking all unknown numbers is problematic when you need to receive a call or text message from an unknown number (specifically, an appliance repairman who's coming to fix the dryer).

Not blocking unknown numbers, but silencing them.

But the problem with doing that in my case is that, as you noted, it would send unknown calls to voicemail, which is no good when we have a guy coming to repair the dryer and I need to know when he's calling. So I pretty much just have to deal with it for another eight days and then reconsider options once the repair is done (or not, if we decide it makes more sense to replace the machine).

econd, blocking all unknown numbers is problematic when you need to receive a call or text message from an unknown number (specifically, an appliance repairman who's coming to fix the dryer).

Not blocking unknown numbers, but silencing them.

Or the pizza delivery driver who can't find you and doesn't have time to do anything more than leave a quick message and return to the store for the next run.

Mike

I must not be making myself clear.

• Set phone to silence unknown callers
• Unknown caller calls, call is either routed to voicemail or you get a notification that you have an incoming call without it audibly ringing
• Your phone gives you a notification that you missed a call or that you have a voicemail, or both
• You immediately call them back

What a pain.

[SEWIGuy]

econd, blocking all unknown numbers is problematic when you need to receive a call or text message from an unknown number (specifically, an appliance repairman who's coming to fix the dryer).

Not blocking unknown numbers, but silencing them.

But the problem with doing that in my case is that, as you noted, it would send unknown calls to voicemail, which is no good when we have a guy coming to repair the dryer and I need to know when he's calling. So I pretty much just have to deal with it for another eight days and then reconsider options once the repair is done (or not, if we decide it makes more sense to replace the machine).

econd, blocking all unknown numbers is problematic when you need to receive a call or text message from an unknown number (specifically, an appliance repairman who's coming to fix the dryer).

Not blocking unknown numbers, but silencing them.

Or the pizza delivery driver who can't find you and doesn't have time to do anything more than leave a quick message and return to the store for the next run.

Mike

I must not be making myself clear.

• Set phone to silence unknown callers
• Unknown caller calls, call is either routed to voicemail or you get a notification that you have an incoming call without it audibly ringing
• Your phone gives you a notification that you missed a call or that you have a voicemail, or both
• You immediately call them back

That seems like a lot of work.  Since I live outside the area code of my phone number, I only answer unknown calls from numbers from the area code where I live. Otherwise I just silence them as they come in. And if its a spam number, I immediately block it.

[1995hoo]

I can see how on a routine day-to-day basis the method hbelkins is describing might work. In the particular circumstance I have next week, when a repairman is coming to fix the dryer (it's not heating), I don't want to risk missing his call and then not noticing the notification, especially if he's calling because he missed a turn or similar. (That's happened before; one guy once had misspelled the name of the street and called because his sat-nav couldn't find it.)

The bigger nuisance, as I see it, is with text messages from systems that use SMS for two-factor authentication. Kicking all of those to the unknown box is a mild nuisance.

[SEWIGuy]

How many spam calls do people get? Its usually one or two a week for me. Pretty easy to silence and block.

Now spam texts? Those are becoming more of a problem. I usually immediately do the "Delete and Report Junk" feature with those.

[1995hoo]

How many spam calls do people get? Its usually one or two a week for me. Pretty easy to silence and block.

Now spam texts? Those are becoming more of a problem. I usually immediately do the "Delete and Report Junk" feature with those.

My grumbling about political spam text messages was what started that subthread.

[JayhawkCO]

How many spam calls do people get? Its usually one or two a week for me. Pretty easy to silence and block.

Now spam texts? Those are becoming more of a problem. I usually immediately do the "Delete and Report Junk" feature with those.

I average probably 5-6 per day.

[mgk920]

Political calls and messages are my only real problem.  It's just that time again.

Mike

[Rothman]

I initally read SEWIGuy's post asking how many sperm cells to people get.  I do have an appointment to finally get glasses.

My office phone gets spammed frequently.  At least 6.  Messages, at least a few.

My personal phone, maybe once a quarter.

[D-Dey65]

There's a Commie Party? I've never seen them advertise or campaign or hear anyone talk about them.

There are actually lots of them. CPUSA isn't the only one in the US. There's also the Worker's World Party, "Progressive  Labor" Party, Revolutionary Communist Party, Communist Worker's Party, and quite a few others I'm forgetting.

[Bruce]

My Google Pixel has a feature that screens calls and transcribes what is said instead of automatically picking up. It mops up telemarketers and other crap with ease and allows through real humans with real reasons to call me.

[Rothman]

Driving through Wilmington, VT, which is right on VT 9.  It's been rare that it hasn't been annoying, thanks to City people descending upon this little tourist trap and thinking it's somehow quaint.

[ZLoth]

My Google Pixel has a feature that screens calls and transcribes what is said instead of automatically picking up. It mops up telemarketers and other crap with ease and allows through real humans with real reasons to call me.

Both my mother and I have Pixel 6 Pros, and that is a well-appreciated feature. I do tell people that I do screen my calls and to leave a VM if necessary. My Pixel 6 Pro is about to be replaced with a Pixel 9 Pro, so I'm getting a slightly smaller phone.

Funny part is that the Pixel 9 phone starts shipping on August 22nd while the Pixel 9 Pro starts shipping on September 4th. I did order a case, and it arrived yesterday.

[vdeane]

The way sub-topics of a thread tend to die off when the mods split the posts off into their own thread.  Sure, it doesn't always happen, but very often it does.

[hbelkins]

My Google Pixel has a feature that screens calls and transcribes what is said instead of automatically picking up. It mops up telemarketers and other crap with ease and allows through real humans with real reasons to call me.

My iPhones (13 for work and SE 2020 for personal use) both do the same thing on iOS 17.

[kernals12]

The way California inserts Cal into the names of various government agencies to make puns; Caltrans, MediCal, CalPERS, CalSTRS. It's just tacky.

[Max Rockatansky]

I take it you aren't a CalOSH fan then?

[ZLoth]

As opposed to TexDOT and MassDOT?

[Big John]

Calrog 

[formulanone]

Any and all discussion about everything will now solely be discussed in its proclaimed and most august styled titles hirtherto and hitherfro, without any shortening (vegetable or otherwise), abbreviating, nor by acronyms, for simplicity in discussion is considered unforgiven and tasteless towards our elected officials and any sworn offices they may hold, whether in public or private shelter, from this day and forevermore.

[J N Winkler]

"Caltrans" is a public-facing acronym anyway--"CT" (as in the logo that has the "c" chewing on the left end of the crossbar of "t") is often used internally.