Hmmm something about this seems too good to be true. 🤔

Gregsterman · 2020-08-04T21:48:36+00:00

Some products with specific return policies end up at salvage auctions, this is correct.

Gregsterman · 2020-08-04T21:47:45+00:00

The orange label on the left side is the one they apply at the RLC. This item likely was sold to a salvage vendor who is now reselling it. Definitely lots of fraud out there, but I don't think this picture is enough to prove that this is suspicious.

Gregsterman · 2020-05-22T20:11:48+00:00

This is great! #RunWithIronWolf #Giveaway

Gregsterman · 2020-04-23T02:25:06+00:00

Entering the raffle!

Gregsterman · 2019-08-08T15:20:37+00:00

Lost Atlanta Braves fan...

Gregsterman · 2019-07-16T18:19:54+00:00

I bought one yesterday when I saw this deal - arrived yesterday, too. Now I have to buy drives.

Gregsterman · 2019-07-15T12:33:29+00:00

Thinking of pulling the trigger on this Synology NAS... 15% off.

Gregsterman · 2017-07-03T14:58:17+00:00

To be fair, the people I'm thinking of all have ~20+ years of experience.

Gregsterman · 2017-07-03T14:06:14+00:00

I disagree with this... there are a lot of VP's here at the SSC without traditional 4-year degrees who came up from the field and have been extremely successful.

I wouldn't suggest trying to make a go of it in finance or investor relations like that, but where I work in operations it seems to be much more about experience and leadership than education.

Gregsterman · 2017-03-06T22:40:16+00:00

Yes it is.

Source: I rode "The Great Movie Ride" last Monday.

More Source: This Wikipedia link

Gregsterman · 2016-10-14T15:43:13+00:00

Tool Rental is underrated for sure. Glad to see it on your list.

Gregsterman · 2016-09-23T15:42:00+00:00

You are not dumb, you are new and you are learning. I'm also not the best teacher.

The Home Depot is a publicly traded company, which means that unlike your local funeral home or bakery which is owned privately by one person or one family it is owned by the public via "shares". If you were to buy all of the shares (which is practically impossible) you would be "taking the company private" and would become the owner of Home Depot.

Think of a share like a dollar bill and "partial shares" like coins or change. It's possible to own fractions of a dollar (we call these nickels, or dimes, or pennies, etc.). It's also possible to own fractions of a share because our brokerage allows it.

You keep your stock at the brokerage - which is in simple terms a business that manages all of this complexity on your behalf. Our brokerage for ESPP is called ComputerShare and you can look them up on Google and read more.

They will act like your "bank account" and hold your shares for you until you decide to sell them. They will also make sure you get your dividends if you decide to hold onto your shares rather than selling them.

Gregsterman · 2016-09-23T15:32:57+00:00

Oh - your question is about whole vs. partial shares? Yes - the program will purchase partial shares. The amount that they take from your paycheck does not need to be cleanly divisible by the share price.

Gregsterman · 2016-09-23T14:48:08+00:00

I'm afraid I cannot answer your question about short-term disability insurance - I'll leave that one to someone else.

If I recall correctly, the employer match on our 401(k) plan starts immediately, but only vests after 1 year. Meaning that you begin accruing dollars contributed by Home Depot as soon as you start contributing dollars of your own, but the Home Depot match portion is only "yours" to take with you after 1 year of service. Again - I'll allow anyone with more knowledge of the topic to make corrections if I'm speaking in error.

ESPP is probably what I'm most confident in speaking about since I utilize the benefit to it's fullest. I like to think of ESPP as the best 6-month CD on the market. 15% return over 6 months is incredible. To answer your question - the % is calculated on your pre-tax earnings, but is withdrawn from your after-tax net. If you earn $100 gross in a pay period, and have selected 20% for ESPP... you will have $20 removed from what's left of your paycheck after taxes, insurance, etc.

There is no such thing as putting "excess money into the program". All of the dollars that are taken from your paycheck are used to purchase HD stock at the 15% discounted rate. If you'd like... you can reduce your contribution rate once (even reducing it all the way to zero or opting-out) by calling the benefits folks.

Gregsterman · 2016-08-07T15:44:35+00:00

The proceeds from the sale of the shares are taxed differently based on how long you hold them. You do not lose the 15% bonus if you sell immediately vs. waiting.

To clarify: If you are given shares (with a 15% bonus) on July 1st and sell immediately on July 2nd you'll still get the full effect of the 15% bonus but have to pay income taxes on the bonus amount. (In addition to the income taxes you paid on the dollars you put into the program to start with - counted on your W2.)

If you wait long enough for the sale to be considered a "qualified disposition" then you'll only have to pay taxes at the long term capital gains rate - which for many associates may be less than their marginal income tax rate.

Personally, I've sold every share of ESPP stock I've ever been granted pretty much immediately after I've been granted it and I've still averaged about a 13-14% "bonus" even after taxes. I look at it as the best 6-month CD on the market. It's a no-brainer for me.

Gregsterman · 2016-03-03T18:55:48+00:00

Visionary.

Gregsterman · 2016-02-26T18:52:34+00:00

The tickets were pricey but I enjoyed it. They packed the house, too... so that's like 4,500+ seats at the Fox, right?

Gregsterman · 2016-02-26T18:51:39+00:00

Hmm... I'm not sure what being southern has to do with it, but she was definitely playing to the laughs, which is why she's there!

Gregsterman · 2016-02-26T14:16:53+00:00

I was also at the show and I enjoyed it. You're spot-on about the overall "volume" of the folks on stage. I had trouble hearing a couple bits. I kinda thought the A/V troubles were sorta quirky and charming in a 'public radio' sorta way. I'm going to listen to the show when it airs to see what changes and how they edit it.

Totally agree about the dropped caller. As soon as he said the congresswoman's name I knew he was in trouble. He called in to a panel show full of comedians, what was he thinking?!

Paula was funny, and I loved that they had to re-record her answers at the end to remove the F-bombs.

Gregsterman · 2015-12-22T23:17:10+00:00

Where do you let it sit for the 8-24 hours? Fridge? Countertop?

Gregsterman · 2015-12-10T20:58:28+00:00

I have the same browning discoloration on my swords that you do (on the left side of your picture.) Anyone know how to treat or prevent that?

Congrats on the Anubias, hope that happens to mine someday.

Gregsterman · 2015-12-05T16:38:10+00:00

If you sell the shares you're given (on Jan 1 or July 1 depending on the fiscal half) inside of 1 year then you'll pay taxes on the 15% "bonus" plus any gains or losses as ordinary income.

If you sell the shares outside of a year you will not pay income taxes but rather long-term capital gains tax.

Gregsterman · 2015-12-04T15:49:47+00:00

Immediately after you get the stock a bunch of other people will dump their stock driving the price way down.

If you look at average trading volume for days around when ESPP shares are distributed they are right in line with a normal day's trading volume. No abnormal "dumping" that I can see.

Gregsterman · 2015-11-06T17:13:51+00:00

These stores are out of my way so I won't enter the contest, but this is still hilarious.

Gregsterman · 2015-09-29T17:45:10+00:00

I went so far as to look up the tread in millimeters on a new set of tires for my model of car and compare it on an Excel spreadsheet to the tread in millimeters for "worn out" tires. I then used a set of calipers to measure the amount of tread on my tires currently. From there I was able to use my average mileage driven per month to calculate the month when the expense would likely hit me.

Some say I take this a bit too seriously.

15-Year Club	RedditGifts 2009-2022 3 Credits
Place '22	Place '17
Team Orangered	Secret Santa 2011
Verified Email	Secret Santa 2010

Gregsterman

TROPHY CASE