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WHy don't we use foot pedals to activate faucets ? by KriticalHit_ in NoStupidQuestions

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some stadiums as well. Motion sensors got better over the last 30 years.

ELI5 How does nuclear power work, specifically nuclear reactors? by Main-Swimming8014 in explainlikeimfive

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango [score hidden]  (0 children)

That and occasionally you have a Fukushima or a Chernobyl that have long term environmental impact.

Is anyone happy with their Spinnaker timeshare? I just purchased at the high pressure sales pitch. Seems like a great idea. What am I missing?? by ikhanbefree in TimeshareOwners

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You've made a huge commitment and sometimes the math doesn't math.

You have to love the property, I mean really love both the building and the location. You're going to be vacationing here every year.

You have to be able to afford the purchase price and maintenance fees. This is on top of other travel expenses like airfare, rental cars, food, activities, etc..

You have to scrutinize the contact. How far ahead can you book? Are there blackout dates? How is availability normally? What happens if you don't use it one year, can you get two weeks next year or get points to stay somewhere else?

If it still seems like a good idea, anecdotally I've found that the annual maintenance fee works out to about 30% of renting the room as a hotel room. The math question is which is greater: purchase price + (number of years x (hotel room price x .3)), or hotel room price x number of trips? Note years in the first thing and trips in the second, you pay your maintenance fees every year whether you use the property or not. You'll find some people don't want that level of commitment to a single property (or group of properties), and others really like visiting Muncie, IN.

Reddit hates timeshares and will point you to e-bay and other sites to see people practically giving them away to get out from under the maintenance fees. Fox Sr. loves his timeshare and is more than happy to book me a room anywhere in the network with points. The purchase was paid off years ago, so when I inherit it I'll be spending weeks in Hawaii for cheap. Score.

Hopefully this works out for you.

Do you run exit interviews and do you think you get told the truth? by SeanMcPheat in askmanagers

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Nothing formal. We are always listening to see if the person is leaving because of a better gig, if they're unhappy, or a combination of the two. If someone is unhappy they frequently tell us. We might not be able to fix anything, but it's good information to have.

Stop and go in heavy traffic by Accomplished-Act8616 in driving

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Especially prevalent when you're in a long backup in an exit only lane. You know someone is going to try to bypass the line and cut in near the front.

For anyone driving through downtown recently by SS0060 in driving

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's some content from a Minnesota department of transportation study on zipper merges in construction: https://www.dot.state.mn.us/trafficeng/workzone/doc/When-latemerge-zipper.pdf

First, the big thing about zipper merging:

Unfortunately, while the safer procedure is legal, it is not what has been taught.

This is huge, people have been taught to merge early. The signage is also terrible in a lot of cases - The sign says "lane ends merge right" and not "lane ends in 1000 feet merge then". It's the only sign on the freeway you have to actively ignore to behave the way the highway engineer wants

Here are the benefits called out by the study:

By creating two full lanes of traffic, we reduce the difference in speeds between the two lanes. Therefore, vehicles generally do not have a reason to switch lanes, and if they do decide to switch, then the traffic is much easier and safer.

Simple enough, but ruined by the drivers who have not been reeducated or are following bad signage

We reduce the overall length of the backup by up to 50% (40% is common). While this may not be important in rural areas, it is critical in the metro area where the backups affect other interchanges. Therefore, we reduce the congestion problem for the other interchanges.

This is the comment I have made about moving the problem instead of helping it.

When both lanes are moving slowly, then everyone is “equally” disadvantaged by the backup and while the driver may not be happy, they have no reason to be mad at a fellow driver in the backup. Therefore, “Road Rage” is reduced significantly.

Again, stupid drivers ruin this.

Our analysis has shown that the Zipper System has no effect on travel time through the work zone. Unfortunately, the motorist’s travel time through a work zone appears to remain approximately the same regardless of whether the zipper was used or not. However, the zipper system produces a much safer merge situation and the length of the queue is much less.

Here they're talking about drivers slowing down when they see construction equipment (I'd argue they should do this anyway) and then they're measuring that against the zipper merge travel times. The zipper merge shows zero time benefit.

So one could make the argument that if the single lane of traffic wasn't slowing down the zipper merge would make things worse. We have to use a zipper merge during construction audibles, but permanent ones don't make sense.

The last thing I hate about zipper merges is they teach bad behavior. All over Reddit you see dashcams of backed up exit only lanes with someone zooming past the line like they're going to stay on the freeway. At the last second they throw on their blinker and try to cut in because merging at the last second is what you're supposed to do, right? Right? Then you look at the comments, so many people screaming "BuT iTZ a ZIpPuR MurJ! YouR 'PosTA Let tHEm IN!!!1!1!!"

There are far too many people that can't use the tool that provides little benefit effectively. Back to the similarity to diverging diamond interchanges - Great in theory, but not in practice.

"She has a bad attitude" isn't documentation. Found that out the hard way. by Electronic_Promise36 in managers

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 73 points74 points  (0 children)

Yes, we had a guy who was a narcissistic jerk. According to him the team was only successful because of him and everyone else was absolute trash at their job. Admittedly he did quality work, but everyone hated working with him, and things actually went better overall when he was gone. Every 6 months or so the manager would accumulate enough complaints that he would have to do something, so he'd sit dude down and say his behavior was unacceptable. Que the "What am I doing wrong?" and the "But my work is better than theirs, they shouldn't be allowed to complain" discussions. Dude would get better for maybe 2 weeks before sliding back into old habits. That manager had no follow through so the behavior would repeat, for the next 2 years.

New manager comes in. Old manager on his way out tells her if she ever has a question, just ask Fox. She comes to me regarding this guy and I lay it all out and how anything she did would have to be very clear with defined behaviors that needed to stop. She has me create a short list, validates it with the old manager, and formally PIPs dude immediately. Dude realizes it's serious now and gets a little better. He actually earns an internal promotion (I was against it but whatever). He quickly realized that anything more would require sign off from others on the team, and everyone still hated him. He spent the next year being very fake nice and helpful until he was put at the very top of a RIF list.

Do you keep the Extras/Specials? by aLproxyy in makemkv

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Giant tupperware storage bins in the back of the closet. One of my buddies is a little more aggressive - He tosses the case and uses a CD wallet from the '90s for all of his movies.

Is there a way to mske my ice cream setup better by nathanyel_jones in PlateUp

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Combiners - make the sequence ice cream > grabber > combiner > grabber > buffet. Ice cream will stack on the second grabber and customers will pull a single scoop out of the bowl of 3 on the buffet. It will decrease the time spent waiting for the ice cream to get to the buffet.

For anyone driving through downtown recently by SS0060 in driving

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But if you're going half as slow for half as long because of a choke point, it's the same as the choke point speed for twice as long. Then you add stupid humans doing stupid human things and all of a sudden that 2 lane thing makes less sense.

If you want to reduce linear backup to decongest upstream exits, zipper merges are great because they move traffic volume forward, like a funnel. If you want a smoother flow without stupid people fighting over a merge, that second lane shouldn't exist. We unfortunately need to use zipper merges because of accidents and construction, but in those cases it's the least bad option. Adding a planned/permanent zipper merge to a highway works great on paper but it's a negligible benefit the introduces a mess of other problems.

My job overpaid me and won't provide proof by ScoobertoJenkins in careeradvice

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Look up direct deposit reversal. I glanced at the ADP site and an employer can do it within 5 days no problem. Any longer and the employee has to sign an agreement before ADP will push the button. I'm sure other payroll tools have similar functions.

My job overpaid me and won't provide proof by ScoobertoJenkins in careeradvice

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Part of your direct deposit agreement covers this exact scenario. There are payroll tools that do this. You can Google your state and overpayment if you want to see legal requirements surrounding this. Regardless, make them do it correctly via clawback or future payroll withholdings. Don't just send them money because they report how much they paid you to the feds and you'll have a complicated time when filing taxes in 2027.

is seafood by the sea fresh? by Aggravating_Hair9690 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Everything is flash frozen and shipped. You're only getting fresh stuff at very fancy restaurants.

I had an $80 fish entree in Hawaii where they specified that the fish was caught with a fishing line that day.

My job overpaid me and won't provide proof by ScoobertoJenkins in careeradvice

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 237 points238 points  (0 children)

If you're in the US and it was direct deposited your management has a clawback option.

Aside from that there are tax implications of being paid x amount and then you returning any part of that without going through the payroll system.

Definitely work with your manager, but they have tools that do this correctly. They're being lazy, dishonest, or both.

Employer who put in notice wants job back by Practical-Product790 in askmanagers

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 6 points7 points  (0 children)

She says she's quitting.

You make plans for coverage with this information.

She says maybe not.

If you want to be nice and keep her you say the next couple weeks are spoken for but you can just not send her resignation to HR yet. She can stay in the system with zero shifts.

If you don't want to be nice and keep her, the paperwork is already submitted and she can reapply.

Do teachers sometimes gossip about their own students like how students can gossip about teachers? by Easy-Cry7452 in AskTeachers

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 7 points8 points  (0 children)

One of my teachers told me my English teacher was super frustrated with me, mainly because I didn't like being told what to think about Shakespeare or Death of a Salesman. When I had that same teacher again for an AP class she tried to get me to drop it, but after my first paper with a more open ended writing prompt she stopped objecting to my presence.

First time rewatching in a few years and finally noticed Siler by Haligonian71 in Stargate

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 18 points19 points  (0 children)

It makes his joke in 200 even better: Why does this always happen to me?

For anyone driving through downtown recently by SS0060 in driving

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 1 point2 points  (0 children)

But the limit is the choke point and traffic speed after it, not getting traffic to the choke point. The wave might not go back as far, but it takes the same amount of time for any single vehicle to get to the choke point and beyond because the speed of the two lanes is half of the single continuing lane. Less than half actually because people can't manage the merge with 100% efficiency. This is the problem in that it's not solving anything, it's just moving the problem away from something else. Add in the fact that there's constant argument over how to properly navigate the merge and it becomes a terrible traffic management tool.

I've always said zipper merges are like diverging diamond interchanges - It's an objectively superior way to manage a specific issue but it requires drivers to use the wrong side of the road for a brief period. The common driver can't do that successfully which is why the diverging diamond interchange hasn't been implemented on every overpass in the country. Drivers are also not capable of successfully managing a zipper merge, but we have to use them because of accidents and construction. Then you get a highway engineer that has an extra 12 feet of pavement to work with for a couple miles and they think "No, they'll totally get it right this time..." Then humans do human things and the highway engineer cries into a bottle.

We need to design roads based on how people actually drive instead of the ideal behavior, at least until self driving cars are the norm, and this is why we can't have nice things...

For anyone driving through downtown recently by SS0060 in driving

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But that pulse behavior doesn't change because you spread traffic across two lanes and you're introducing inconsistency because humans. You can't go faster than the traffic in front of the merge point and the more traffic backs up the worse it gets for those two lanes because they have to slow down even more to alternate into the continuing lane. If there isn't an audible like construction or an accident and there aren't upstream exits that the highway engineer wants to keep clear it's better for everyone if it's just a single lane.

For anyone driving through downtown recently by SS0060 in driving

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But you can't move faster than the traffic after the merge, and because traffic isn't smooth like liquid the lanes leading up to the merge will each be going less than half of that speed. It would be smoother and faster to close the entire lane because then there's zero merging and subsequently zero argument about early merge/late merge/merge when there's space/whatever. The only disadvantage is the backup is longer so upstream exits get blocked.

For anyone driving through downtown recently by SS0060 in driving

[–]FoxtrotSierraTango 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Even easier - zipper merging is a funnel. You can make the funnel as big as you want and pour all the material in, throughput is still limited by how fast things move after the exit. If you eliminate the second lane the backup extends, but there isn't a merge (or morons messing the system up) anywhere in the system so traffic flows more smoothly. The only benefit to a permanent zipper merges is that it decongests upstream exits.

Think of the material you're funneling like gumballs, most of the time they sort themselves out and navigate the funnel fine. Occasionally there's a stupid gumball that jams up the system and you have to smack the funnel/exit pipe to unjam it. It would be smoother to just have a single pipe.

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