OT: The Avalounge: It's My Thread You Just Post In It

[henchman21]

Partying on a Tuesday night is not a good idea.

 

[UncleRisto]

Partying on a Tuesday night is not a good idea.

Depends on Wednesday really.

 

[henchman21]

In my case, Wednesday involved a 6:30 meeting where I might have still been drunk...

 

[RockLobster]

In my case, Wednesday involved a 6:30 meeting where I might have still been drunk...

"might have"...not necessarily "definitely was"

 

[henchman21]

"might have"...not necessarily "definitely was"

 

[UncleRisto]

Isn't still being drunk better than a raging hangover though? So, good.

 

[RockLobster]

So which one would be a more accurate portrayal of you this morning, this:

or this:

 

[henchman21]

Last night

Right now

In bold

Isn't still being drunk better than a raging hangover though? So, good.

I'll take it right now. I might be crashing by noon though...

 

[UncleRisto]

I'll take it right now. I might be crashing by noon though...

Well obviously you're going to have to keep it going then. Duh.

 

[ASmileyFace]

Isn't still being drunk better than a raging hangover though? So, good.

Depends on the level of drunk but I'm guess yes in the case of Hench.

Job interview at the local public library in 30 minutes. I'm nervous. Time to get me a real job

 

[UncleRisto]

Library jobs are nice and easy. Good luck.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Question to all of you:

There is no tipping culture in Finland. I have left tip maybe once in my life here and it felt a little awkward. But my question is, how do you Americans (and others too where tipping is a norm) feel about tipping culture? Do you like it or should it be removed?

I mean I'm a valet so I'm very much on board with tipping In all seriousness, I don't have much against it, I think that may be cuz I've grown up in that culture but I think it makes sense somewhat to reward those doing a service for you. Just my $.02

Library jobs are nice and easy. Good luck.

Shhh!

 

[tigervixxxen]

Yeah, I didn't know about the student loan system too well until a friend of mine who has invested his student loans in stocks and investment funds briefed me. I'll be doing the same thing. I calculated that I "win" a few thousand euros (+the interests from investments) if I graduate on time which won't be a problem.

Question to all of you:

There is no tipping culture in Finland. I have left tip maybe once in my life here and it felt a little awkward. But my question is, how do you Americans (and others too where tipping is a norm) feel about tipping culture? Do you like it or should it be removed?

A famous Finnish chef (don't think he uses ketchup to spice his foods) suggested that restaurants shouldn't have to pay double salary for staff who work in Sundays. Instead he suggested bringing tipping culture to Finland (of course, it would be a great thing for him). It didn't bother me when I visited USA, but there were a few times when I definitely felt a waitress wasn't being even close to honest with her words and smile. Does this happen to you guys ever and if it does, does it bother you? I like the fact that it encourages employees to serve customer well, but it went a little overboard a few times.. I wouldn't personally be against it as it would fix some things, but it has problems too IMO.

I wish a tip was for a job well done, an extra something to show you really enjoyed the food or service. But in the US it's seen as you are basically ripping people off if you don't tip. Servers are paid a very low wage with the expectation that they make up the difference in tips. So if you don't tip then you basically are saying that they just waited on you for free. Everyone tips at restaurants because we know this is how they make their money. But then it goes further on things you actually paid good money for, like let's say a tour while on vacation, and the expectation is that you tip there too, which I don't agree with. Then if anyone ever touches your things from a baggage handler then you need to tip them too. I do it if someone is bringing my bags to the room. But things like on a cruise pier there's guys who take your bag and literally just put it on a cart in front of them want a tip. It just never ends. If you get a haircut or service, tip. Even if those services are already very expensive. Are you supposed to tip at Starbucks now, the bank, a grocery store? They are "serving" you too. But people do it because they don't want to be seen as a cheap *******.

 

[Ceremony]

Being drunk in a job interview is good, it helps keep you focused.

Am I focused or did I just reply to multiple posts at once?

 

[UncleRisto]

With the recent NASA news, will someone knowledgeable update me on the "mankind runs out of time" front?

 

[ASmileyFace]

Interview went well.

Just watched Interstellar. Hooooollllyyyy ****. How did I miss this one initially?! What a journey of a movie.

EDIT: NASA news? Just looked it up. Going to be reading into this one considering I just finished Interstellar.

 

[UncleRisto]

Interview went well.

Hope you land it. I've interned at a couple libraries and it's the chillest job one could possibly overeducate himself for.

Just watched Interstellar. Hooooollllyyyy ****. How did I miss this one initially?! What a journey of a movie.

Yeah it was pretty neat. I always think of the Interstellar planets with news like today.

EDIT: NASA news? Just looked it up. Going to be reading into this one considering I just finished Interstellar.

Ha, yeah I thought it was a fun timing.

 

[ASmileyFace]

Hope you land it. I've interned at a couple libraries and it's the chillest job one could possibly overeducate himself for.

Thanks I hope I get it too. It would be a real good gig.

Yeah it was pretty neat. I always think of the Interstellar planets with news like today.

Ha, yeah I thought it was a fun timing.

Crazy cool coincidence. Really gives some context for my imagination to grasp these new potentially habitable planets. I'm going to spend the rest of my day reading about all this stuff. It's been a while since I've let myself get enveloped in a sci-fi world.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Library jobs are nice and easy. Good luck.

Thanks I hope I get it too. It would be a real good gig.

Are you just gonna be the librarian there?

 

[ASmileyFace]

Are you just gonna be the librarian there?

Job title is technically Assistant Library Technician. On top of the normal day to day library work (books and stuff) I'd be responsible for helping with the libraries computers and computer systems. Like assisting patrons research topics with our online research tools and finding and requesting books that we have a shared lone system with other libraries.

From how the described the job, my degree would actually be useful. I spent a lot of time in the library researching projects both online and physical.

 

[The Abusement Park]

Job title is technically Assistant Library Technician. On top of the normal day to day library work (books and stuff) I'd be responsible for helping with the libraries computers and computer systems. Like assisting patrons research topics with our online research tools and finding and requesting books that we have a shared lone system with other libraries.

From how the described the job, my degree would actually be useful. I spent a lot of time in the library researching projects both online and physical.

Oh that sounds like it could be pretty cool actually.

 

[henchman21]

Hoping this works out ASF!

 

[dahrougem2]

If I may continue this just a little further...

How do you invest your money? And where do you put your cash?

Even if you put your cash in the average bank, it earns some interest (albeit a very low amount in today's world). Do you find safe places to put money, where interest isn't applied?

And do stock dividends count as interest? I'm wondering if you can go the stock market route, but find stocks that don't have dividends.

As I said earlier, I had no idea. I do a lot of investing and home buying and such. I find this really interesting.

Well, it's quite difficult in North America. Very easy in the Middle East because interest is forbidden there so the stocks/real estate/etc investments are easy to make. Whereas here, you've got to be very, very shrewd in your business moves.

Any stock that accumulates interest or were founded using interest (i.e. company started by taking out a loan, paid interest and is now profitable) is forbidden. Which is, like, 95% of the stocks out there in North America. So it's very tricky to invest in stocks.

As far as real estate goes, you simply have to have a lot of money. Here in Edmonton the wealthiest Muslims, at least that I know, are doctors/dentists/optometrists who have no only made a lot of money over their careers but have outright purchased homes without mortgages and began to rent them out to people. That, and they purchase residential buildings/plazas and make their money that way. There is one specific man who started out a bakery on his own with no interest involved, grew to be the most popular bakery in North Edmonton, and accumulated so much wealth that he bought the entire strip. Now, on top of his bakery he owns the plaza where 7 other businesses call home, and he did it all interest-free.

It's a very, very tough route to go though especially nowadays. It's why I personally want to move to the Middle East some day. Just fits my preferred style of living more than North America.

As far as banks go, I have all my money in a bank. I've got a chequing and a savings account (insert Kevin Hart joke), but when I opened it I specifically asked the bank to remove all interest accrued from my savings account. So I don't generate any interest whatsoever with any of my accounts.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Interesting you say you'd prefer to move. Did you grow up in NA? Have you spent a lot of time in the Middle East? I think it would be tough just depending on NA is what you are used to. But you feel it's easier to build something (wealth, business) in the Middle East?

 

[dahrougem2]

Interesting you say you'd prefer to move. Did you grow up in NA? Have you spent a lot of time in the Middle East? I think it would be tough just depending on NA is what you are used to. But you feel it's easier to build something (wealth, business) in the Middle East?

Born and raised in Edmonton. I've been to Lebanon twice: once in 1999 (don't remember it), and then again in 2012, and I hated it. But that's because my parents are from a small town in Lebanon, and it's not developed whatsoever. The couple days I spent in Beirut, though, were great. Extremely developed.

That's about it for my travels to the Middle East, but just the vibe I get from speaking to people who have travelled there or live there now just gets me excited to move there. Personally, I'd probably choose one of Saudi Arabia, Dubai, UAE, or Qatar as a place to live. The 4 most developed Middle Eastern states. I'm a big city guy, I need modernization. It's why for my honeymoon my wife and I decided on New York City.

It would be easier for me to personally build my wealth in the Middle East based on my beliefs. I'd have easier access to purchasing homes and getting into the real estate business while having a lot less risk (and, admittedly, a lot less reward) when it comes to stocks. I simply don't have the luxury of either of those in North America.

Who knows, maybe it'll happen some day. I know a few years ago Edmonton tried to introduce "Sharia Mortgages" (I hate that they called it that, just puts a negative stigma on Islam), and one bank actually did introduce it but it wasn't marketed heavily enough so not enough people knew about it. There are rumours of some banks trying to bring it back, but as of now they're just rumours.