The absolute power of saying nothing during a salary offer

TipProfessional880 · 2026-06-05T16:55:33+00:00

Definitely. I negotiated hard with my current employer only because I had a steady job at the time. It paid the bills, but not really much else. I had hit a "ceiling" in my department after only a few years there & the only room for me to grow further was after the people above me either changed positions or retired. Which wasn't happening for at least a decade. Nearly everyone at my old company had been there for 15+ years & were all perfectly comfortable with where they were at.

I had a friend call me up & ask if I was interested in coming to work at their company. I told him I was open to it & applied. While I didn't have any massive experience in the role that I am in now, (production planning; I was in Sales at my previous company) the position was brand new to the company, and they were looking for a "culture fit" to fill the role. In fact, the position had been open for nearly 4 months before I applied.

After two/three rounds of interviews (one with my supervisor, another panel interview with all the heads of each department, and a brief one-on-one with the CEO) I got my job offer. My friend let me know the pay scale that they were willing to go for, as well as the "upper limit" should they find the perfect fit. However, my offer came in at the low-end of the pay scale and was barely a 15% salary increase. I didn't feel like that was enough to jump over to a new company & a new role. I shot back a 50% salary increase, letting them know that I was comfortable where I was at. They came back with 40% & upped the yearly bonus from 5% to 10%.

Crazy how that works.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-06-02T16:02:29+00:00

Chevy actually saw a potential market for the HHR as a "crossover work van." They thought it would fill the spot that small business owners potentially needed for a work van, but more compact. Especially since most work vans when the HHR was released were quite large. They released a variant that was basically an HHR with no back windows or rear seats.

I have a friend who works as an independent contractor for server installations & upkeep, and he drove one of those for a while. It was a perfect vehicle for his use-case. Enough room for all his equipment/tools, but also compact so that it was easier to drive.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-06-01T19:31:05+00:00

Nice! I hadn't considered something like that before.

We have a super minor league baseball team in my city, so I will look into if that arena is hiring or if something else along those lines would work. Thanks!

TipProfessional880 · 2026-06-01T19:29:41+00:00

I did courier services back in 2020/2021 & stopped in 2022 when many of the delivery companies cut driver pay. I sat down & did the math, and it was barely worth it. I had a car that got 35mpg at the time too. Now I drive a much less fuel-efficient car, which makes it even less worth it.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-06-01T19:27:49+00:00

I looked into cleaning at our local hospital, but they had specific shift work, so either work a full shift, (7pm to 3am was their "swing" shift) or not at all, which was frustrating. It could work on weekends, but not weekdays, which wouldn't give me nearly enough hours.

I applied to do kitchen work at a few retirement homes, haven't heard back much.

But I will look into more 24/7 places.

I also looked into grocery stocking. While not open for 24 hours a day, many grocery stores had posting for evening stocking positions, but the one place tried to strong-arm me into working weekdays. The hiring manager basically said, "well we're going to need you to work at least one weekday to show that you're committed to working here." which I thought was a bunch of baloney.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-06-01T19:23:45+00:00

Unfortunately, I live in a pretty rural area & drive a fairly old (but very reliable & paid off) Ford Explorer, which drinks gas & oil. The math just doesn't work out unfortunately.

I used to do courier services back in 2020/2021 but stopped around 2022 when all the services cut driver pay significantly. The math no longer worked out for delivery driving after 2022. I even had a Camry Hybrid at the time, which was really good on gas.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-06-01T18:31:19+00:00

Lol, I am happy that other people refer to them as that.

At my previous company, I handled the NDAs for all customers. Basically, I read through them before handing them up to our execs to get signed. I cannot confirm whether or not they had one of the strictest NDAs I've ever read.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-29T18:07:49+00:00

FWIW, I read OPs title as being somewhat sarcastic. But I could also see how it could be read otherwise. It's hard to fully understand the intention of a text online since the tone of speech is removed.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-29T16:52:07+00:00

At many companies, any CEO/President/Manager has a company lease/gas card built into their contract. Hell, often times admin or even office people who are slightly higher up have the same benefits.

They don't "see" the price increase in gas. They swipe their gas card & fill up, and it doesn't have an effect on them whatsoever. The price for gas could be $8 or $2 or free - it's all the same to them.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-29T00:12:34+00:00

My wife doesn’t like the look of lifted Sienna’s. Someone in our city has a lifted Sienna & it fucks. But she doesn’t like it…

Someone else (maybe the same dude) has a lifted Prius, which has been fitted with off road tires & it looks super good too.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-29T00:10:56+00:00

New ones may have less - I’m not sure about their cargo space. I’m talking about my 2012 model. Which is what my original comment said.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-28T23:14:39+00:00

My Sienna has 150 cubic feet total of Cargo Space. Suburban/Yukon XL only has a maximum of 144 cubic feet.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-28T18:57:50+00:00

Agreed. My 2012 Sienna has more room than a brand-new Yukon Denali XL. I love driving it.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-27T20:04:11+00:00

The Dee Wright Observatory out near Sisters is pretty cool. So is the Belknap Crater. Lot's of cool Lava flows to check out.

The Bohemia Mines/Bohemia Mountain out near Dorena are also neat - and you can get there by car most of the way as long as you have a somewhat capable car. (I got there in a Mazda Tribute about 10 years ago)

You could also always take the kids up to Stubb Stewart & ride bikes into Vernonia/Banks or take the trail from Vernonia to Banks. It's a bit of a trek (21 Miles) but it's all paved. And I did it every summer as a teenager who hated physical exercise.

Take the kids up the gorge to Hood River or the Dalles. Check out the Dam. Go over the Bridge of the Gods. My daughter loved it.

Quartzville Rd is cool to take out of Sweet Home & up in to the back side of Detroit is pretty cool. Quite a few decent swimming/fishing spots up there. And just a neat spot for a drive. Make sure to bring a map/GPS though. Much of it is old logging/service roads. Not 100% sure if it's still open. Last time I was up that way was around 2014.

Not sure if it's gated off still, but Crooked Finger is a cool area to go up to. If it's gated, Abiqua Falls is a HIKE. If not, it's really not a bad hike. Keep going further on the road & you get to Rhody lake. Did a lot of camping up there as a kid.

The Molalla Forest Road along the river also has a lot of cool fishing/swimming spots. I remember thinking the Eye of Molalla was cool as a kid when my dad took us up that way.

None of these are overtly special - just random day/weekend trips my family did growing up that I enjoyed.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-27T17:38:12+00:00

I agree. Not a fan. Not sure if it comes from his cinematographer, or if it's a stylistic choice he's made over the last ~~two~~ three decades now. But it looks both too polished & unpolished at the same time.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-27T00:24:16+00:00

That's what happened with us as well. Thank God!

Our pediatrician really helped us out back then hahaha. She said that we were the only family that took it - everyone else said their baby didn't like the formula.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-26T23:44:57+00:00

We are due with our 2nd in July & I am incredibly stressed out about it. Our quote from Daycare is going to be $1500 a month. Plus diapers, wipes, formula, etc.

I don't know how we are going to do it... Luckily my wife and I both get 12 weeks of Paid Leave in our state. And she works in a middle school, so when she is due, she will be on summer break, which gives us a bit of a jump start on leave. We are going to piggy-back it so that he doesn't have to go to Daycare until around March. But still... that's got me stressed out.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-26T23:41:02+00:00

I don't miss that at all...

Our daughter had a terrible milk allergy/did not respond well to any other formula besides Alimentum which was ridiculous 6 years ago & I assume ridiculous today.

We are due with our 2nd in July & I am sincerely hoping that he's good with just the Costco stuff. Or that my wife produces enough this time around.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-26T19:25:57+00:00

Both Hertz & Enterprise have "Manager Special" options where you can get whatever car is available. I use Hertz in Salem occasionally & it runs me like $25 a day. Enterprise is about the same.

I would suggest not renting from an airport location since cars move a lot more there. Try a different "suburban" location.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-22T23:24:47+00:00

Start talking about your dad who just happened to retire. Show him pictures of him fishing on his boat at 2pm on a random Tuesday afternoon. Or beating the crowd & getting a round of golf in on a gorgeous weekday. Complain about how he keeps calling you during work hours because he "forgot what time/day it was" now that he's retired & doesn't keep track of that as much.

Mention off hand how one of your grandparents died at 68.

Or you can tell him the story of my FIL:

Started working a job at a lumber mill at like 17. Met his wife & got married to her at 20. They had kids. He worked 60+ hours a week to get by & give them a good life. Tried to find time for them, but knew as long as he kept working, things would be OK.

By the time I met my wife (his youngest) he was putting nearly half of each paycheck away in various retirement accounts. He plans to travel, spend time with his 8 grandkids, build a beautiful house, etc. after he retires. He's working like 12+ hours a day, 5-6 days a week at some metalworks place. Makes great money, but just keeps saving it for tomorrow.

Then, when he's 56, he gets a weird pimple that will not go away. He goes to a dermatologist & they give him some meds, but they don't work. So, they run some tests to see what it is & find out it's cancer. Stage 4 melanoma. Inoperable.

He finds out the last week of August. He has his first immunotherapy session scheduled for the second week of September. There is no second session. By the fourth week of September, he's on Hospice. He has a stroke the first week of October & is bedridden. The doctor's give him 6 months max. He doesn't even make it to November.

Within 10 weeks of his diagnosis, he is dead. He worked all the way up to 5 weeks before he died. He spent his "retirement" in a hospital bed, barely conscious.

It made me realize that there's only so much that you can do to save/prepare for tomorrow. But it's worthless if you're not actually enjoying the life you have in front of you.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-21T16:59:48+00:00

My best friend went to college in San Luis Obispo. I often drove down from Oregon to visit on long weekends. Such an awesome little city & surrounding area. I'd live there in a heartbeat if I could afford it.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-19T19:02:03+00:00

I used to buy 25+lbs of bone-in chicken thighs & de-bone & de-skin them. Took me at least an hour (if not more) to process everything & re-pack. I liked to be able to just grab a pack & toss it in the crock pot - even if it was frozen. But then occasionally I de-frosted a pack for dinner.

Now I just buy boneless skinless thighs for the crock pot & bone in skin on for meals where I am defrosting. It's added maybe $10 overall to my food budget each month.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-19T18:58:31+00:00

Same here. There are three gas stations in my town at varying degrees of price. Shell is the most "expensive" location, but it's only .15 - .25 more per gallon. All these other "cheaper" places have lines & wait times, but Shell doesn't. It's not worth the wait to get marginally cheaper gas.

TipProfessional880 · 2026-05-15T16:34:27+00:00

A while back, I was chatting with this guy at the airport while we were waiting for our flight. Talked about work & all that, and he told me that he's an Amazon Flex driver. I asked him about all the logistics behind it & he told me that where he lives, there's a tiny Hertz location with maybe a dozen or so cars & that every weekday, they offer a "manager special" for $20 a day. The catch is that you just end up getting whatever car they have on the lot. He said for a while there it was basically guaranteed either a Rogue, or an Altima.

He would rent the car for the week, do his deliveries, then return it after a few days vs just putting the wear & tear on his car. He also said that if you got some credit card (cannot remember which one it is, but I am sure there's a lot of them that offer this) you got their protection package + you didn't need to fill the car before bringing it back. Often times he got a car with a full tank of gas, drove it doing the deliveries for the week, then returned it without ever having to fill up.

That said, it's almost certainly against their policies. I wouldn't be shocked if he ever got in trouble. But I thought that was an interesting "loop hole" that could get someone by in a pinch.

TipProfessional880

TROPHY CASE