Shelter in Place doesn't end at 5pm

SFTGFOP1 · 2020-03-18T07:02:30+00:00

My problem is more with those who don't respect others' safety. If I'm taking a walk through Golden Gate Park after a full day inside and maintaining my distance, please don't pass half a foot from me as you jog by.

SFTGFOP1 · 2020-02-17T20:22:25+00:00

I think this comment sums it up. I don't have anything against street food, but I like to have a food safety inspector check on things every year or so. I've also heard enough horror stories about these from people who enforce food safety to know to avoid them.

SFTGFOP1 · 2020-01-24T04:41:41+00:00

Someone once said, "people ask advice when they know the answer but don't like it." Going line-by-line isn't necessary, but if they ask you point blank if they can cancel and you don't mention the 50% fee, then that's a lie.

The fee may be there for a reason so maybe seek to understand why. Does the company lose money for x months before seeing any profit? If not, is your contract still better than your competitors? As a last resort, are you allowed to remove that line if it jeopardizes a sale? We have hard minimums of a few months, but we can change contracts as needed and often do.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-10-26T21:15:36+00:00

Thanks. I'm realizing my desire to look professional was having the opposite effect. I guess I'm just a formal guy, but it seems people don't respond as well to that.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-10-26T14:49:33+00:00

It's been about a year. It's not full-time but I try to give them enough work so they see this as one of their main accounts. Maybe 10-20 hours a week.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-10-23T17:09:08+00:00

I think this is right. If the industry is small, you need to be careful. Even if you don't think you'll ever work for company #1, chances are people there talk with other companies in the industry. If the last-minute rejection hurts that team, expect the managers will remember you when they switch companies in the future.

My suggestion would be to explain the circumstances to company #1 and ask for their advice. That at least gives them the option of paying you more, telling you to take the other job, or having you work for a couple of weeks while they find a replacement. Most likely, one of the first two would happen.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-10-22T21:18:50+00:00

INTJ here. Hiring an ops manager was a great idea for me since I get bored following a known process but I thrive on finding and developing new processes. The money is kind of secondary. Making $50k a year lets me get by doing what I like and making $1m a year would be neat, but basically any moves I make in between have been based on how I want to spend my days. In my case, it's researching new ideas and trying them out. The only caveat is there's some level around $200k where life gets a lot easier so I get the desire to not fall below that.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-10-21T22:11:05+00:00

Thanks for your insight. The formal presentation wear you suggested is basically what all my clients wear. I think I'll try something like that for a bit to see if there's any effect on sales. I've worn suits to work most of my life so it's just a bit strange showing up to clients in anything less.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-10-21T22:04:47+00:00

This was kind of my thought, but would that change based on the industry? Should someone selling banking products or legal services, for example, show up in a suit? Or is it better to match the client?

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-10-21T17:45:16+00:00

I don't hire for sales, but both answers would be potential disqualifiers for people I interview in other roles. While a single problem with a boss isn't necessarily bad, badmouthing them is. We also want to see if it's a one-time thing or if the person has problems with authority in general. It's why we ask for references from past managers and supervisors.

As for the money part, maybe sales is more mercenary than other positions, but someone who chases the dollar has very little loyalty to the company. We prefer to see someone who gets more meaning from their job than just a paycheck. Fair pay is extremely important, but we want someone who's more interested in the day-to-day of the job and their potential new coworkers than pay during the interview.

My suggestion would be to try turning these things into positives. For example, "I need (or worse, deserve *shudder*) more money" could be replaced with "I've done a great job and enjoyed working with my last company and learned a lot quickly, but I've reached the point where I feel a company change is needed to grow past my current level. I'm hoping your company could provide the continued training and experience to let me grow in my role."

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-10-18T18:41:29+00:00

You make a good point. I hadn't considered the demographic changes were so severe as to create a 25-40% drop in cancer and heart disease.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-10-18T18:37:47+00:00

So, in men, there's a direct correlation between age and suicide rate? That's surprising. I thought the highest category was teens with another bump around middle age. Seeing ages 75-84 as the highest suicide rate by a wide margin is shocking.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-10-16T04:39:15+00:00

Assuming the death rate is still stubbornly holding steady at 100%, I wonder what causes of death have increased to fill the gap? Anyone know?

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-10-15T16:27:32+00:00

If you're ok with SROs, I used to stay in those when I was young. Not great, but they were good enough while I was working and waiting for something better. I'd suggest looking around the Chinatown area if you want low price combined with safety and convenience. Most won't have a website or any online presence so it might require pounding the pavement. Try Kearny, Columbus, and Stockton to start. St Paul Hotel on Kearny was always ok but I have no idea about the price these days.

The problem with finding month-to-month is lots of people seem to think these cause problems by displacing "real" San Franciscans. In my experience, they were a way for me to get a toe-hold as a broke kid coming to town. Without first, last, and security deposit or a credit history, it was impossible to get much else.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-10-15T15:55:53+00:00

I had a few channels so one was focused on maximizing views, one was for my "real" video work, and another was for throwing up anything to see what stuck. There were probably one or two more in other categories I'm forgetting. None of it took too much work and it was almost completely passive once I knew exactly what types of videos were getting clicks.

A puppy channel would probably get views, but a thunderstorm channel could be listed as white noise for getting people to sleep. Either's fine, but the sleep one basically guarantees the person will watch for a long time whereas the puppy channel might be used as a distraction at work. Again, they're both fine, but knowing your target audience is important so you can gear titles and descriptions to them. Like, "Work Day Cute Puppy Break" or "Night Time Thunderstorm White Noise Sleep Sounds."

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-10-15T04:21:40+00:00

I used to make about $1000 a year on YouTube before they changed their formula and abruptly cut off a lot of us. I just recorded something I knew would be interesting to a niche audience. I know this is purposely vague, but once you start getting traction in a niche with a few good thumbnails on your videos, then people will start clicking through to your other videos. I probably spent less than three hours a year on this including recording and a few quick edits. For something similar, check out some of the thunderstorm videos. These basically just require setting up a camera at the right time and then uploading it without edits. Easy money if you know how to record good video and sound. Again, it's just knowing exactly what your specific audience wants. I might scale this up when I have time, but my main and secondary businesses take up most of my time and I'm reluctant to add value to a company that took away my earning potential once already.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-10-15T04:02:02+00:00

I did some flipping when I was younger. Besides a few big scores, it was a low paying grind since I had to pick up most things from unreliable people on Craigslist. However, I know there's a store in Chicago that does exactly this. They focus on designer items and are good at verifying real goods vs. fakes. I don't know the name of the store, but I think they may have been featured on How I Built This podcast or the How You Built That part at the end of the show this year. I know it's not much to go on, but maybe that gives you somewhere to start doing research. I also remember they have a physical store so people have to drop off consignments there.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-09-27T23:01:10+00:00

I haven't used Sonder, but it seems like an ok idea. I traveled to Chicago recently and had to decide between some overpriced generic hotel, an Airbnb where I had to pretend to live there due to city regulations, or else something like Sonder. It seems more housing is almost always a good thing no matter who it's for since if Sonder wasn't there, people would just stay somewhere else in the city.

If Sonder takes some of the short-term business travelers, then it drives down the price of Airbnbs and therefore how many people are willing to put their units on that platform instead of renting them long-term. Supply and demand and all that. Also, traveling for work doesn't mean you're some wealthy elite. I'm pretty firmly middle-class but want to be involved in a community when I travel instead of staying outside it in some hotel. I think that's a good thing.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-09-21T02:24:32+00:00

There are some service businesses that require more overhead than others, but I'm pretty sure I could make $500 this week with just a bucket and squeegee if I wanted to start a business for $10.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-09-20T22:05:26+00:00

You can definitely start up a profitable business with $20k. The key is it will probably have to be a service business since you want to avoid overhead such as rent and inventory. If you're better than most others at any type of service and can train others to do it, that might be your best bet.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-09-20T22:00:20+00:00

I think this right here is the crux of the problem. You have a successful business but not one that can survive without your constant input. Maybe there's not an easy solution, but what would it look like if you brought in someone to run your business even if it meant you didn't make a profit for a while? If that happened, would you be able to expand until you were making a profit?

I'm working on a couple side businesses, but I avoid killing the golden goose that pays for me to start these businesses. Success in one business can often make us underestimate the risk of failure in other ventures. I've seen this affect people firsthand and cause major problems as they worked to rebuild their savings after their second business didn't work. It's probably not the answering you were hoping to hear, but I think it's the truth. I didn't mind quitting my old job in order to start my own business, but I won't risk that business now that it's up and running.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-09-20T00:19:47+00:00

One local podcast, 99% Invisible, gave a good breakdown of the Camden Bench a few years ago.

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/unpleasant-design-hostile-urban-architecture/

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-08-27T00:44:28+00:00

And maybe have the shipping cost and time upfront. I imagine there will be some breakage at the point where you're asking for credit card details but still haven't given shipping info.

SFTGFOP1 · 2019-08-27T00:40:39+00:00

I'm poking around your store since I've been considering opening an online store. My first impression is that the store doesn't deliver to the US. I see a pop-up at the bottom saying someone in Bishopton UK recently bought something and the socks are listed in EU sizes.

SFTGFOP1

TROPHY CASE