Batya33 Posted December 17, 2023 Share Posted December 17, 2023 3 hours ago, dias said: Are you saying I am self absorbed? Hahaha. 😀 Not more than the next person. Yes I do ask questions and actually hear what people say. I was one of the chatty ones there. I know how to socialize notably at work. However when you have nothing in common you rarely start hanging out with someone outside of this sort of mandatory events, you have a nice discussion and that's it. I might never see most of them again as we work remotely. It is difficult finding people at my age that we can have fun and laugh. I have pinged the girls from my previous job a thousand times to go out and have fun but since I left the company it is always "yes we will let you know ". It is what it is. No no not at ALL. I just think it’s fun and interesting to learn about other people. I’ve had long friendships with people where we were at entirely different stages of life. A 10 plus year friendship with a woman I met while serving on a jury - 20 years older than me and a widowed mom and I was single at the time. We saw each other in person regularly. I had many married parent friends in my 20s and 30s. Took some flexibility on my part. It’s just - fun and interesting for me and I totally get if it’s not for you ! 2 Link to comment
Jibralta Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 On 12/14/2023 at 6:24 AM, dias said: This show would have been so cancelled nowadays 🤣 That was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid. 1 Link to comment
Jibralta Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 On 12/15/2023 at 3:20 AM, dias said: I learned for example that while I am getting 55K as a permanent employee the contractors ask for 95K. Not bad. I'm not sure how it works there, but over here the gap isn't as big as it looks. There are a couple of hidden costs that create that seeming pay disparity. One is the fringe benefits, like insurance, retirement plan, vacation/sick time, etc. Full time, 'payrolled' employees don't see the cost of these in their gross take-home wages, because employers typically pay these directly. When you sit down and do the math, it adds another $15 - $20K to our salaries. Maybe more--I haven't looked in a while. Another reason for the gap is taxes, which I learned the hard way. You have to manage your own withholdings as an independent contractor, and your taxes are significantly higher due to 'self-employment' tax. So, it's not all free and clear profit for the independent contractor. But good research and planning can definitely lower the costs. Link to comment
Jibralta Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 23 hours ago, Batya33 said: No no not at ALL. I just think it’s fun and interesting to learn about other people. I’ve had long friendships with people where we were at entirely different stages of life. A 10 plus year friendship with a woman I met while serving on a jury - 20 years older than me and a widowed mom and I was single at the time. We saw each other in person regularly. I had many married parent friends in my 20s and 30s. Took some flexibility on my part. It’s just - fun and interesting for me and I totally get if it’s not for you ! It is nice to get to know different people, and to have them in your life. 1 Link to comment
dias Posted December 19, 2023 Author Share Posted December 19, 2023 On 12/18/2023 at 3:29 PM, Jibralta said: There are a couple of hidden costs that create that seeming pay disparity. When you sit down and do the math, it adds another $15 - $20K to our salaries. Maybe more--I haven't looked in a while. True true! But again if you do the math you can still make more (net income). 55+20=75 so if you ask 90-95 as a contractor it is still 15-20K difference which is not a negligible amount. Plus, you can add some purchases as expenses I think. Of course there are no paid holidays, once the contract is done after a few months you need to have already found another project/company etc etc. You have to weigh the pros and the cons. I believe it is worth it depending on the stage you are in your life. Link to comment
dias Posted December 22, 2023 Author Share Posted December 22, 2023 How is it possible to love exercising that much? Link to comment
Jibralta Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 20 hours ago, dias said: How is it possible to love exercising that much? More than you? 1 1 Link to comment
Batya33 Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 20 hours ago, dias said: How is it possible to love exercising that much? I love the multiple benefits and rewards if it to me personally. Sometimes I love the actual exercising. Lately it’s been extremely challenging because when we travel I tend to feel stiffer in my muscles in the morning so it’s not something to love. But still love all the personal rewards and benefits. Link to comment
dias Posted December 24, 2023 Author Share Posted December 24, 2023 20 hours ago, Jibralta said: More than you? It was a rhetorical question! I was referring to anyone who loves working out as much as me! I really don't know how my life would be if I couldn't do any sort of exercise. Link to comment
dias Posted December 24, 2023 Author Share Posted December 24, 2023 On a different note, last week I went to the bar I go after work sometimes. I saw the hot brunette, she was sitting with a couple of guys. Dunno if one of them was her boyfriend or they were just colleagues (she was working on her laptop). I got some furtive glances so she recognized my presence but I didn't see any sign she wanted to talk and I didn't want to go there willy-nilly with her (most likely) colleagues around. So nothing there. I asked a gal from the dance school for a coffee. She is young but quite bold for her age. She initiated conversations some times, I did yesterday, I thought not to ask her out right there on the spot so I pinged her on FB. She replied she is with her family on the countryside which is expected but no mention of when she is coming back or if she would like to go for a coffee. ***? No matter what I do I can't even get a date lately, someone jinxed me lol Ah what can you do... 1 Link to comment
Batya33 Posted December 24, 2023 Share Posted December 24, 2023 22 minutes ago, dias said: It was a rhetorical question! I was referring to anyone who loves working out as much as me! I really don't know how my life would be if I couldn't do any sort of exercise. Same ! We’ve been traveling 8 days and stayed in 7 hotels. One of the first things I do is check out the gym to make sure it suits my needs for the morning workout. And ask if it’s 24/7 etc. 1 Link to comment
dias Posted December 25, 2023 Author Share Posted December 25, 2023 Bro is like the cool uncle who always brings gifts from his travels. This time he brought some gifts from China. He loves travelling but he also has to travel a lot for his work. He usually brings those stickers you put on the fridge from every country he visits. They cover the whole fridge lol. I am really happy he is here for a week, it's always nice to see him. Also, I miss talking to people of his caliber sometimes, they think so strategically and so long term it feels strange to me that I can't even plan for a year hahahaha. He received one of the most prominent science awards in the US very recently, so proud of him. Another good thing, I booked a flight to Madrid in a couple of weeks. I will work remotely from Spain. I am thinking about visiting France, Monaco and Italy after that but that would mean I would have to lose 2-3 dance lessons and I don't really want to. First because I like it and second because on Saturday that we had the performance there was a point where I had to solo dance in front of 70-80 people and I froze for a bit. I improvised some steps but it wasn't the same. I got really really really angry with myself. At least the choreography went relatively well. There is a bigger stage performance in the summer with more than 200+ people and I would like to try that as well. For this though I can't miss lessons. It takes dedication really when you want to truly improve even on an amateur level. So I am thinking about staying a week in Spain and lose only one lesson. I will lose 2 more lessons in March due to visiting bro in the US. I don't want to lose more, consistency is the key as always. What surprises me the most is that I found something I like enough to not want to miss lessons. Interesting. It does not happen often especially at my age. Certainly I didn't expect this to be dancing. Go figure! 2 Link to comment
mylolita Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 The break dance part where to professional male dancer just slides on in and takes over had me!!!! Thought you might be interested! 🕺! x 1 Link to comment
dias Posted December 28, 2023 Author Share Posted December 28, 2023 I watched all the episodes on the plane to the US. I am waiting for the final episodes of season 5. It's a shame Kevin Costner decided to stop. They say Matthew McConaughey will continue the story playing a different character. Let's see. Kelly Reilly plays the part perfectly. For a British she managed to immerse in this role quite fast! Link to comment
dias Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 Now that's a cool redhead Link to comment
dias Posted January 1 Author Share Posted January 1 I was browsing some of my old landscape photos.... I forgot about this photo taken in Norwich. It was a magnificent sunset that day. It's like a picture taken from a fairy tale. 1 1 Link to comment
dias Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 I was supposed to be on a date with a woman I matched on an app. As I said, I don't really take apps seriously but this time it was a 40 years old woman who is the head of HR at a big company so I thought she must be legit (I checked LinkedIn). We texted a lot the past few days, voice messages too. Half Greek half British, I thought the 50% would make her a bit less fickle. Bullsh*t. She messaged me today 3 hours before the date saying she will be there at 7pm but she might be able to come a bit earlier. I replied I would be there around 6:45 anyway. She said great see you there. Then 1 hour before the date while I was on the way she pinged me she does not feel well. It would be acceptable if she was a 20 years old girl. At 40 hmmm. And they say the key is not to get disappointed. I have low expectations from people to get disappointed. I do get tired with people though. If it continues like this, it seems I will spend the rest of my life with strippers. 1 Link to comment
Batya33 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I mean it happens -people get sick - did she say she'd reach out to reschedule? Link to comment
dias Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 2 hours ago, Batya33 said: I mean it happens -people get sick Certainly they don't get sick suddenly one hour before a date while 3 hours before the date they are doing fine. I am flying to Spain this weekend for a week. We agreed to reschedule it once I am back. I believe she said it for the sake of it, I don't think it's going to happen. I don't want to meet her now anyway. I am not chasing a flaky average looking 40 years old woman. Jeez. Link to comment
Batya33 Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 4 hours ago, dias said: Certainly they don't get sick suddenly one hour before a date while 3 hours before the date they are doing fine. I am flying to Spain this weekend for a week. We agreed to reschedule it once I am back. I believe she said it for the sake of it, I don't think it's going to happen. I don't want to meet her now anyway. I am not chasing a flaky average looking 40 years old woman. Jeez. Yes if she's -gasp- 40 and only average looking I agree lol. I have gotten sick that soon and suddenly- sometimes it's been a female problem, sudden onset of food poisoning or similar, etc. Don't chase anyone - she should reach out to reschedule. Link to comment
Jaunty Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 6 hours ago, dias said: It would be acceptable if she was a 20 years old girl. At 40 hmmm. ??? How's that? I mean, sick is sick, isn't it? Link to comment
boltnrun Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 When I was in my 40s my periods were just awful. I would go from doing just fine to "tsunami" in the space of an hour or two. And I couldn't leave home during a "tsunami". Are you attracted to her or were you going to go just to have something to do? 1 Link to comment
dias Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 5 hours ago, Batya33 said: I have gotten sick that soon and suddenly- sometimes it's been a female problem, sudden onset of food poisoning or similar, etc. It wasn't a female problem. Initially she mentioned she had fever and her eyes tore a little bit. Then when I said it's fine and we cancelled the date she said she was feeling great all day but only her eyes are tearing. I was like what happened to the fever lol. She might reach out, who knows, we will see. Link to comment
dias Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 5 hours ago, Jaunty said: ??? How's that? I mean, sick is sick, isn't it? Getting sick last minute on a date you have scheduled 5 days ago? Hmm, it does not seem plausible. Well because it isn't. Yeah, there might be a 1% chance she was telling the truth, I personally like to go with the 99%. It's not the first time people flake it won't be the last. I have lived the story before, I just didn't expect people to be so fickle at this age. I guess I was wrong. We live we learn 🙂 Link to comment
dias Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 5 hours ago, boltnrun said: Are you attracted to her or were you going to go just to have something to do? How am I supposed to know since I have not met her face to face. The conversations were good in general, I liked her voice too. Her pics didn't really excite me but you never know, there might be chemistry in real life. It would have been just a normal date like any other date, I am not looking for my future wife before I even meet people. Link to comment
Recommended Posts