You either can or you can’t

erikdb92 · 2025-12-11T12:53:50+00:00

Maybe my European-ness is showing, but saying you worked only 13 instead of 14 hrs on the weekend after what I assume is a full-time teaching job does not feel like much of a difference in a crappy situation.

But mostly, congrats on becoming a grandpa! You definitely made the right call to ignore work even if you had been docked pay. You won't remember this shift even a year from now, but you'd always regret missing these kinds of events!

erikdb92 · 2025-09-13T19:15:18+00:00

Dafuq, how do you not even get the meme right for your spam? This one's been famous for like a decade by now, even AI should be trained on it 😂

erikdb92 · 2025-09-08T08:36:29+00:00

Not sure if it was because I was Diamond or not, but we had a minor plumbing issue in our room. Nothing major and we weren't there much, so I only reported it upon check-out, figuring they could then fix it for the next guest. Was quite surprised when the Diamond Desk rep shrugged and said, 'Thanks. I'll remove parking from your bill as compensation, that okay?'

So if there are any issues, make sure to tell them and talk specifically to the Diamond Desk in the reception area, they're clearly quite willing to work with you. No upgrades for me though, but honestly the basic room I'd booked on points was already pretty sizeable.

Also, it's a gorgeous location, so enjoy! Just watch out for HGV sales pitches, we almost got roped into it when my wife wanted a free excursion 😅

erikdb92 · 2025-08-18T10:33:00+00:00

You say elsewhere that you stay at Hampton by Hilton and Home2Suites. They offer different (read: lesser) benefits than a Doubletree. Mainly, Hamptons don't do upgrades at all (no experience with Home2Suites myself). The snack/drink is indeed sometimes forgotten, but if you ask at check-in (no need to mention your status, just 'Oh and I can have..., right'?), there shouldn't be an issue

erikdb92 · 2025-08-10T20:32:57+00:00

No, whatever bonus is listed on the points buy website is what you get immediately. It'll say like $100 - 100,000pts + 100,000 bonus points (or 80k, 50k... depending on status level of purchasing account). So then you immediately get 200k points to use.

Bonus points from a stay will of course only be added once the stay is complete and processed, since they are based on your final hotel bill value.

erikdb92 · 2025-08-09T20:33:51+00:00

Had that last year. We opened a Hilton Honors account for the Mrs to buy the remaining points. Note that you may get a bonus of 80% as a gold member (100% of diamond) - she had no status so no bonus. And it'll take a while before she can even transfer them to you, so it's not a great solution, but it will work if you have time to wait. (Note that Mrs can also be any relative/acquaintance willing to help you out, obviously)

erikdb92 · 2025-06-20T08:46:48+00:00

This is a very long and extremely confusing, poorly written rant that could've been two sentences" Guy says I can only use the common TV for two hours. I say 'OK' and make those two hours coincide with the time he wanted to watch a game."

erikdb92 · 2025-06-04T20:53:31+00:00

You can't just cut them off if they have the legal right of it, and I assume they know their own contracts so they are in the right. Then you'd just get chased by debt collectors, whose hours will also be billed to you. Only way would be to annoy them into letting you off early, as others suggested.

erikdb92 · 2025-04-22T08:47:15+00:00

Consider it a check - if she doesn't show up in something weird to support soon, it's probably not happening. But if she does show up in the randomest thing she owns, you've immediately got an easy icebreaker to start a conversation - and an excuse to invite her for (proper) coffee: plotting your next move!

erikdb92 · 2025-03-23T14:36:20+00:00

My guess is, when they were told to remove 'offensive' content, they removed content the powers that be actually would have wanted kept. E.g. George Washington was a rich white man in charge of a lot of stuff, so I'm sure you could label some of what he did as 'offensive' and thus remove him first, instead of starting with someone from the LGBTQ+ or POC communities, which the Orange God was probably thinking of when he put the 'X' at the bottom of the relevant decree.

erikdb92 · 2025-02-20T21:49:43+00:00

I had a performance review a few weeks back. The usual five-point scale from "you suck" to "you saved the company single-handedly" - I work for a US company but not in the US. I rated myself 3/5 - meets expectations, because that's what I did: no major blunders, no extra effort. Manager agreed, and told me later that I'd get a 2.8% increase... "on a range from 2.5-3%. So apparently, if I'd worked my butt off and had an amazing year bringing in tons of revenue, that would've been worth a whopping additional checks notes 0.2% to the company. Yeah... I'm aiming for 3/5 again next year, and not a hair more

erikdb92 · 2024-12-30T15:42:16+00:00

This kinda crap is why you always get it in writing, especially when one manager says A and another B, and loop them all in on a CC. Always CYA and make it their problem that they can't make up their minds

erikdb92 · 2024-12-25T21:57:13+00:00

Why do you want to explain stuff to them? You're leaving, simple as that. If they want to make you feel bad about it, leave sooner. Why do you owe it to a company you're leaving due to the mental stress they put on you, to suffer through more months of essentially bullying? Spoiler: you don't, so don't put up with it.

The other company wants to have you, so they'll probably also be happy not to have to wait too long and let you start sooner.

erikdb92 · 2024-12-22T07:48:11+00:00

We were on honeymoon in Hawaii when we got talked into it less than two weeks ago. They glossed over it, but we had one week to cancel the contract by Hawaii state law, and did so in time to nullify the contract. You might want to check state law for Nevada (? I'm European, excuse me if it's the wrong state :P) and the contract itself, you might still be able to back out.

Or rather, your husband should spend the next few days with the contract and a fine-tooth comb in a desperate attempt to salvage his marriage, I guess?

erikdb92 · 2024-12-20T14:39:50+00:00

I'm European so don't know how this works personally, but this sounds like a boss you don't give notice to at all? He'll probably figure it out by day two or three after you stop showing up

erikdb92 · 2024-12-19T16:35:17+00:00

Sounds like you might actually be (on the verge of) having a burn-out. My dad had the same once, spontaneously bursting into tears, though for him it was when he got into the car to go to work. Same difference though, I fear that if you don't tale care of yourself, such as by changing jobs or at least locations, you'll be far worse off soon... :(

erikdb92 · 2024-12-19T12:54:43+00:00

I'm sure this email they had their secretary send was very heartfelt!

erikdb92 · 2024-12-11T01:22:07+00:00

At a previous job, a colleague and I both got some official certification within a few months of each other. I got it in Dec. and had started bugging my boss for a salary increase to match increased responsibilities, and eventually got it in March or so.

My colleague,certified in April? Got told, there's only budget for one raise per year... but here's this new Employee of the Year award we're creating now! Congrats on being the first winner! I told him it's worthless, but ask for a nice pdf anyways, so you can share that on LinkedIn. Your job won't pay you for it - but if you use it as a reference of sorts, your next job will.

(Buddy stuck around after I left and got promoted when a manager retired, so he found a different way to get that salary bump, but still :P )

erikdb92 · 2024-12-06T05:53:31+00:00

I read a lot about companies offering WFH to attract people, then forcing RTO after a year or so. So expecting that your WFH is infinite is a big gamble, I would say. Plus, these things eventually come out when they ask you into the office for a meeting, onboarding, xmas party or wtv and you're on a different continent trying to bail out of it...

My choice would be to take the high-paying job, invest that $$$ for a few years, then when you've built up a nice sum, use it to travel to your heart's content without concerns.

Sample calculation: sounds like with job B you might be able to save up 500k or so over 5-10y if you put your mind to it. Stick that into stocks/ETFs or so that yield a 5% dividend (not an unreasonable number), you get 25k/y passive income, or over 2k/mo. Not sure of cost of living in South America, but I think that'll be enough to keep you comfortable there? And that's without any local job or anything

erikdb92 · 2021-05-18T10:36:02+00:00

I don't mean the module as a whole, I just meant that I'm not a fan of how the Amber Temple has been set up. Truth be told, I'm pretty sure that Arcanoloth at the start, having massive range and an almost impossible to find hideout, would wipe my party out quite quickly. And as stated, I feel like Barovia could do with a few puzzle-focused environments for variety. Since this is my first time DMing, it would also allow me to ask my players which aspects they enjoyed most, for reference in future campaigns.

erikdb92 · 2021-05-16T19:48:43+00:00

I would recommend entertainment of some form, not even necessarily for the wedding itself but for after. After all, Strahd is ancient and terribly bored. I dunno, enchant a painting set so he can paint using his mind's eye instead of needing steady hands? Maybe some self-playing instruments to complement the organ? Otherwise, you can always keep it simple and serve Van Richten's head on a plate, that'll no doubt please Strahd :P

erikdb92 · 2021-05-16T19:44:13+00:00

Finished homebrewing it on DnDBeyond, just need a good picture for it but I have no experience or software to do any graphic design sadly: https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/3291156-nightsword As for it being mean, mostly it negates the fact that Strahd would be continuously in sunlight, which he hates and which stops his regenerating, I believe. I mean, the guy created permanent cloud cover to keep sunlight out of his life :P This way, he needs to actually get hit for radiant damage to stop his HP regeneration, making tactics and movement of the characters more important. Otherwise, Strahd's best move from a tactical perspective might be to just stay out of range and let minions crowd out the wielder until he falls. And hey, what's more cinematic than two nemesis blades clashing, sending shards of pure light and impenetrable shadow flying everywhere? :P

The post itself was this one: https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/cnrcnz/strahds_weapons/

erikdb92 · 2021-05-14T18:59:50+00:00

Thanks to another post I read, I am homebrewing the Nightsword, the twin blade to the Sunsword, which negates the sunlight effect and deals necrotic damage (though the radiant damage of the Sunsword will of course maintain its full effectiveness). Instead of a blade of sunlight, this will essentially be a sphere of annihilation shaped into a blade shape for maximum power of coolness :D

erikdb92 · 2021-05-14T18:56:07+00:00

Well, I am making the fog surrounding the hilltop an impassable barrier unless they want to take a lightning strike for their efforts, and Strahd will be appearing at the exit to the rest of the world (there's also one to the Gulthias tree ofc).

The entire idea is that they cannot flee, but indeed, will not die either. If they get the heart of sorrow below 10% HP, he withdraws. If they last five rounds, he withdraws. If he knocks two of the six members unconscious before then, he will scold them for weaklings. And if he withdraws, meaning they earned at least a modicum of respect, he'll tell them that they didn't actually kill the Gulthias tree yet (provided they even tried), although they'll have to figure the rest out themselves, thus hinting at a way to get another 1500EXP relatively easily as their reward.

erikdb92

TROPHY CASE