Relating what you do to the Others
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Paul Watson wrote: Surely you have met those "interesting" people who manage to do that all the time. They could be relating the mating ritual of lesser spotted lemurs and yet you find yourself drawn into it and enthralled because they are just so damned enthusiastic and happy as they talk. You might not understand a word, but it just grabs you anyway You put the key here... Paul Watson wrote: Or am I just rather strange and easily interested in all manner of things? ...if there is an interested, intelligent person on the other end, almost any subject can be interesting. The problem is, many people have very little interest in things that don't affect their lives directly. They miss out on a lot :-D
I knew it would end badly when I first met Chris in a Canberra alleyway and he said 'try some - it won't hurt you'..... - Christian Graus on Code Project outages A moment of silence please. A programmer's best friend has passed beyond that great exception in the sky.... - Mark Conger on "The coffee machine has died"
Megan Forbes wrote: The problem is, many people have very little interest in things that don't affect their lives directly. They miss out on a lot God yes! *sigh* I just want to know everything about everything, but I know I cannot and then I dither... ugh dithering sucks. Excuse my lack of eloquence. And I want to slap people who worry about their white picket fences but do not have a glimmer of an opinion on how that white picket fence used to be the matter of a star! Anyone know a tried and tested method of choosing, focusing and sticking to a particular subject? I would be duller but a lot saner :-D
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
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Jack Knife wrote: while also helping her to understand my thoughts and feelings (this is what she was really wanting to know to begin with). This approach has always seemed to work well for me. :-D You had me chuckling with agreement through the whole post. For me though it took Janina literally having to spell it out before I figured out what she was really asking. I felt there was no way I could relate what I done that day so I always just said "Fine, and yours?"* LOL I remember her yelling "Damnit I really want to know Paul! For gods sake open up!" Funny but sad too. :| Jack Knife wrote: It seems that this is something that is very important for women to share with each other, while men just simply do not practice this ritual among themselves We are so much more able to bottle it up and be content with it. Sometimes the bottling though ends up in it all coming out at once and in a terrible state. But most of the time we can frustrate the hell out of women by just smiling, shrugging and being happy with just being happy. I often had to tell Janina that I was just fine, that there really was nothing more to me being fine than just... well just being fine. There was nothing more. Why should there be? Just be content sometimes. Often she would not believe me and try and work up a story as to why I was content, just to satisfy her belief that everything had to be an issue with a resolution that could be explained. :-D None of this stuff comes out until you actually live with someone. * I actually have quite a knack for quickly passing questions back to people. I feel like I am imposing on others when I talk about my day or how I feel or what I think... Strange that. Or maybe others really don't care how I feel/what I did and just want to be asked themselves (bit of truth in that I reckon)
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
I have to agree with you 100%. None of this actually does come out until you have lived with someone for a while. I only wish that I had figured it out a little sooner, because it sure would have smoothed out a lot of the misunderstandings we had early on. :-D
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Megan Forbes wrote: many people have very little interest in things that don't affect their lives directly. They miss out on a lot You said it! I finally found a woman recently, who has a strong curiosity. it's very refreshing, and very attractive I might add. :-D BW "I'm coming with you! I got you fired, it's the least I can do. Well, the least I could do is absolutely nothing, but I'll go you one better and come along!" - Homer J. Simpson
brianwelsch wrote: I finally found a woman recently, who has a strong curiosity. it's very refreshing, and very attractive I might add You see!!! Curiosity, passion, ambition, sheer enthusiasm! That is all I ask! She does not have to cook worth a damn or know anything about darning my socks... just be enthusiastic! PLEASE! Have an opinion! Argue with me all day but don't, for heavens sake, sit there and agree with everything I say just to be agreeable. Be difficult! :-D Shog Brian... where did you find her? Does she have a sister? :rolleyes:
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
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brianwelsch wrote: I finally found a woman recently, who has a strong curiosity. it's very refreshing, and very attractive I might add You see!!! Curiosity, passion, ambition, sheer enthusiasm! That is all I ask! She does not have to cook worth a damn or know anything about darning my socks... just be enthusiastic! PLEASE! Have an opinion! Argue with me all day but don't, for heavens sake, sit there and agree with everything I say just to be agreeable. Be difficult! :-D Shog Brian... where did you find her? Does she have a sister? :rolleyes:
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
Paul Watson wrote: where did you find her? Does she have a sister? :laugh: I used to work with her, just recently started to spend a little time together. Her sister is married. Sorry. BW "I'm coming with you! I got you fired, it's the least I can do. Well, the least I could do is absolutely nothing, but I'll go you one better and come along!" - Homer J. Simpson
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Paul Watson wrote: What do you do when your significant other, or friends outside of IT, ask that terrible question; So what did you do today? "I sit in front of a PC typing random things" It saves time... Here's the thing - at one point, i would tell anyone and everyone what i was working on, what i thought of the computer industry, where i felt we were all headed... At some point, i started boring myself with it, and stopped. I enjoy programming, and talking about programming, but i don't feel the need to do either 24/7.
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Shog9 Life seems pretty easy when it's from my easy chair And you're burnin up inside and no one cares...
Shog9 wrote: It saves time... But is hardly fulfilling, right? Or is it? Does it even matter to you? Shog9 wrote: but i don't feel the need to do either 24/7. Sure of course not. But when you get home to your beautiful wife, is she satisfied with just "I sit in front of a PC typing random things"?
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
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Jack Knife wrote: while also helping her to understand my thoughts and feelings (this is what she was really wanting to know to begin with). This approach has always seemed to work well for me. :-D You had me chuckling with agreement through the whole post. For me though it took Janina literally having to spell it out before I figured out what she was really asking. I felt there was no way I could relate what I done that day so I always just said "Fine, and yours?"* LOL I remember her yelling "Damnit I really want to know Paul! For gods sake open up!" Funny but sad too. :| Jack Knife wrote: It seems that this is something that is very important for women to share with each other, while men just simply do not practice this ritual among themselves We are so much more able to bottle it up and be content with it. Sometimes the bottling though ends up in it all coming out at once and in a terrible state. But most of the time we can frustrate the hell out of women by just smiling, shrugging and being happy with just being happy. I often had to tell Janina that I was just fine, that there really was nothing more to me being fine than just... well just being fine. There was nothing more. Why should there be? Just be content sometimes. Often she would not believe me and try and work up a story as to why I was content, just to satisfy her belief that everything had to be an issue with a resolution that could be explained. :-D None of this stuff comes out until you actually live with someone. * I actually have quite a knack for quickly passing questions back to people. I feel like I am imposing on others when I talk about my day or how I feel or what I think... Strange that. Or maybe others really don't care how I feel/what I did and just want to be asked themselves (bit of truth in that I reckon)
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
Paul Watson wrote: * I actually have quite a knack for quickly passing questions back to people. I feel like I am imposing on others when I talk about my day or how I feel or what I think... My typical response is "Not bad, and yours?", mostly because people are so used to "fine thanks." Paul Watson wrote: We are so much more able to bottle it up and be content with it. Sometimes the bottling though ends up in it all coming out at once and in a terrible state. But most of the time we can frustrate the hell out of women by just smiling, shrugging and being happy with just being happy. I often had to tell Janina that I was just fine, that there really was nothing more to me being fine than just... well just being fine. There was nothing more. Why should there be? Just be content sometimes. Often she would not believe me and try and work up a story as to why I was content, just to satisfy her belief that everything had to be an issue with a resolution that could be explained. One of The Most True Statements I've read in a long time. :-D :-D "Fine" is a perfectly natural state of being. There is no rhyme or reason to it: you just are. That's why I ramble so much. If you're short and quotable, there's a much greater danger of ending up in a sig. [Christopher Duncan on how to prevent yourself from ending up in a sig]
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Shog9 wrote: It saves time... But is hardly fulfilling, right? Or is it? Does it even matter to you? Shog9 wrote: but i don't feel the need to do either 24/7. Sure of course not. But when you get home to your beautiful wife, is she satisfied with just "I sit in front of a PC typing random things"?
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
Paul Watson wrote: But when you get home to your beautiful wife, is she satisfied with just "I sit in front of a PC typing random things"? :laugh: I'll cross that bridge when i get to it... Paul Watson wrote: Does it even matter to you? Hard to say these days
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Shog9 Life seems pretty easy when it's from my easy chair And you're burnin up inside and no one cares...
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Paul Watson wrote: What do you do when your significant other, or friends outside of IT, ask that terrible question; So what did you do today? "I sit in front of a PC typing random things" It saves time... Here's the thing - at one point, i would tell anyone and everyone what i was working on, what i thought of the computer industry, where i felt we were all headed... At some point, i started boring myself with it, and stopped. I enjoy programming, and talking about programming, but i don't feel the need to do either 24/7.
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Shog9 Life seems pretty easy when it's from my easy chair And you're burnin up inside and no one cares...
Shog9 wrote: "I sit in front of a PC typing random things" "I write programs on the computer." Most people, once they hear those words, their mind just turns off with a "sounds boring" comment. So I just say that I write code. And leave it at that. Most often, (now this just sounds mean), but I don't need to hear all about the nit-picky details of someone else's day, so if I keep it short, they'll do the same. My old gf used to go on and on about her day. Don't get me wrong, I loved her, but she could talk and talk and talk...:( I learnt more about recidivism of sex offenders than I ever thought I would (she was a pysch student). :-D Then again, if one of my friends who *does* understand what I do, then I'm more than happy to go into details if they want. :-D That's why I ramble so much. If you're short and quotable, there's a much greater danger of ending up in a sig. [Christopher Duncan on how to prevent yourself from ending up in a sig]
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Paul Watson wrote: * I actually have quite a knack for quickly passing questions back to people. I feel like I am imposing on others when I talk about my day or how I feel or what I think... My typical response is "Not bad, and yours?", mostly because people are so used to "fine thanks." Paul Watson wrote: We are so much more able to bottle it up and be content with it. Sometimes the bottling though ends up in it all coming out at once and in a terrible state. But most of the time we can frustrate the hell out of women by just smiling, shrugging and being happy with just being happy. I often had to tell Janina that I was just fine, that there really was nothing more to me being fine than just... well just being fine. There was nothing more. Why should there be? Just be content sometimes. Often she would not believe me and try and work up a story as to why I was content, just to satisfy her belief that everything had to be an issue with a resolution that could be explained. One of The Most True Statements I've read in a long time. :-D :-D "Fine" is a perfectly natural state of being. There is no rhyme or reason to it: you just are. That's why I ramble so much. If you're short and quotable, there's a much greater danger of ending up in a sig. [Christopher Duncan on how to prevent yourself from ending up in a sig]
Atlantys wrote: My typical response is "Not bad, and yours?", mostly because people are so used to "fine thanks." So are you like me in having a knack at deflecting the question straight back without really responding? Or are you saying you say "Not bad..." to stop the whole Pavlov auto-response chain? I actually normally am quite enthusiastic when someone asks how I am... I don't go into detail, for fear of imposing, but I often say "Great! And you?" or "Flourishing thanks, and yourself?" I walk a fine line between being a sad person who is only ever "fine" or "not too bad" and imposing. Atlantys wrote: you just are. Sometimes it is just incredibly wonderful to simply exist. There is no possible way to explain it. You just know or you don't.
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
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Shog9 wrote: "I sit in front of a PC typing random things" "I write programs on the computer." Most people, once they hear those words, their mind just turns off with a "sounds boring" comment. So I just say that I write code. And leave it at that. Most often, (now this just sounds mean), but I don't need to hear all about the nit-picky details of someone else's day, so if I keep it short, they'll do the same. My old gf used to go on and on about her day. Don't get me wrong, I loved her, but she could talk and talk and talk...:( I learnt more about recidivism of sex offenders than I ever thought I would (she was a pysch student). :-D Then again, if one of my friends who *does* understand what I do, then I'm more than happy to go into details if they want. :-D That's why I ramble so much. If you're short and quotable, there's a much greater danger of ending up in a sig. [Christopher Duncan on how to prevent yourself from ending up in a sig]
Atlantys wrote: "I write programs on the computer." Most people, once they hear those words, their mind just turns off with a "sounds boring" comment :laugh: So true. They quickly back out of the question for fear of you launching into an amble through your day and career which leaves them bored stiff. Got to love it though when you are at some do and you suddenly find yourself with someone in such a way that you two have to talk to each other, but have no idea what to talk about. Invariably the first words are "So *racks brain to remember persons name* Barbara... oh sorry it's Samantha... what do you do for a living?" One can almost hear the gods groaning in despair. Then again I once tried "What do you think about this whole swinging craze?" just to be different... did not work at all well :rolleyes:
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
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What do you do when your significant other, or friends outside of IT, ask that terrible question; So what did you do today? I could tell if I had a good day at work by whether I was happy with the explanation I gave to Janina about what I had done that day. She did not have to understand a single word, so long as it felt right, if it "justified" the hours spent. Justified not in the sense of bringing money in but in making yourself happy. Some days though I would get home and struggle to explain a single thing I had done that day. Then I knew it had been a bad day. What about those of you who have worked outside of IT before you became one of us. Are other industries easier to justify day in and day out? Also have you ever had the experience of being in the middle of trying to explain what you do to someone and having, for lack of less grandiouse word, an epiphany? You stop mid sentence and the light dawns and you say out loud "What the hell am I actually doing?" Do some of you very strictly keep work thoughts and talk inbetween office hours and "life" outside of office hours? Are you happy with that?
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
When I worked at VoIP company and tried to explain what we did, many times the person would ask "but how do you make money?" No one has yet figured out the answer to that one, one reason I don't work there anymore.
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What do you do when your significant other, or friends outside of IT, ask that terrible question; So what did you do today? I could tell if I had a good day at work by whether I was happy with the explanation I gave to Janina about what I had done that day. She did not have to understand a single word, so long as it felt right, if it "justified" the hours spent. Justified not in the sense of bringing money in but in making yourself happy. Some days though I would get home and struggle to explain a single thing I had done that day. Then I knew it had been a bad day. What about those of you who have worked outside of IT before you became one of us. Are other industries easier to justify day in and day out? Also have you ever had the experience of being in the middle of trying to explain what you do to someone and having, for lack of less grandiouse word, an epiphany? You stop mid sentence and the light dawns and you say out loud "What the hell am I actually doing?" Do some of you very strictly keep work thoughts and talk inbetween office hours and "life" outside of office hours? Are you happy with that?
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
Paul Watson wrote: What do you do when your significant other, or friends outside of IT, ask that terrible question; So what did you do today? Surfed the web. Or if my daughter asks me ( which she does every day ), I tell her I made computer programs for other people to use. Paul Watson wrote: Do some of you very strictly keep work thoughts and talk inbetween office hours and "life" outside of office hours? Are you happy with that? No, I work with a friend from church and he and I always talk about work outside of work, and I am always keen to talk programming with a fellow geek. I love my job, if I can get away with talking about it, I will. Christian No offense, but I don't really want to encourage the creation of another VB developer. - Larry Antram 22 Oct 2002 Hey, at least Logo had, at it's inception, a mechanical turtle. VB has always lacked even that... - Shog9 04-09-2002 Again, you can screw up a C/C++ program just as easily as a VB program. OK, maybe not as easily, but it's certainly doable. - Jamie Nordmeyer - 15-Nov-2002
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Except for my few techie friends, and the 3 colleagues in our IT dept, no-one understands what I do. I was trying to explain to my mother the other day. She didn't understand a word I said. So she asked my husband to explain, and he gave an explanation she was entirely satisfied with. Apparently he doesn't understand what I do either - I didn't recognise anything he said as an explanation of my daily work! :rolleyes: I find that as soon as I mention any further detail than working in IT, the majority of people get this curious vacant expression. At first it bothered me, but I soon realised that it is probably boring to them, or they would have taken a similar career route. Paul Watson wrote: Do some of you very strictly keep work thoughts and talk inbetween office hours and "life" outside of office hours? Are you happy with that? I usually continue thinking about stuff I'm working on, well, on and off. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with a solution :-O . I have just learnt not to bore those around me with the details, unless they are programmers too. Then we have a field day, but it's pretty unfair to do this if my husband / their girlfriends / whoever are also around. After all - that's what CP is for isn't it? :-D
I knew it would end badly when I first met Chris in a Canberra alleyway and he said 'try some - it won't hurt you'..... - Christian Graus on Code Project outages A moment of silence please. A programmer's best friend has passed beyond that great exception in the sky.... - Mark Conger on "The coffee machine has died"
Megan Forbes wrote: Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with a solution Cool - I thought that just happened to me. If I'm working on a home project and I'm stuck, Donna doesn't understand why I come to bed, doze off, and then jump up, and run and turn the computer back on.... Christian No offense, but I don't really want to encourage the creation of another VB developer. - Larry Antram 22 Oct 2002 Hey, at least Logo had, at it's inception, a mechanical turtle. VB has always lacked even that... - Shog9 04-09-2002 Again, you can screw up a C/C++ program just as easily as a VB program. OK, maybe not as easily, but it's certainly doable. - Jamie Nordmeyer - 15-Nov-2002
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Atlantys wrote: My typical response is "Not bad, and yours?", mostly because people are so used to "fine thanks." So are you like me in having a knack at deflecting the question straight back without really responding? Or are you saying you say "Not bad..." to stop the whole Pavlov auto-response chain? I actually normally am quite enthusiastic when someone asks how I am... I don't go into detail, for fear of imposing, but I often say "Great! And you?" or "Flourishing thanks, and yourself?" I walk a fine line between being a sad person who is only ever "fine" or "not too bad" and imposing. Atlantys wrote: you just are. Sometimes it is just incredibly wonderful to simply exist. There is no possible way to explain it. You just know or you don't.
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
Paul Watson wrote: So are you like me in having a knack at deflecting the question straight back without really responding? Or are you saying you say "Not bad..." to stop the whole Pavlov auto-response chain? A bit of both. Instead of the old "hey, hwo you doing?" "fine, you?" "fine" chain of responses which end with a nice pregnant silence, i figure "not bad, and you?" passes the buck over the other person, but I can jump in with "well, actually my day downright terrible" if there's going to be a silence. Sometimes you just get a feeling that other people just doesn't want to talk, so then I can just leave them be (guys) or prod them to me all about the injustices of the world and how blah blah blah (girls) ;P When I do the once-in-a-while "I'm ecstatic, today is the greatest day of my life?" response, it's hilarious the response of people. Some do the "wtf? I don't need to know this", some to the "what drugs are you taking?", but most respond with "why? my day was crap." :-D Doing the unexpected is fun sometimes. Keeps people on their toes. As long as they don't do it to me, then I'm all good. :-D (this :-D is damn cool emoticon! it can mean anything! :-D ) That's why I ramble so much. If you're short and quotable, there's a much greater danger of ending up in a sig. [Christopher Duncan on how to prevent yourself from ending up in a sig]
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Paul Watson wrote: What do you do when your significant other, or friends outside of IT, ask that terrible question; So what did you do today? Surfed the web. Or if my daughter asks me ( which she does every day ), I tell her I made computer programs for other people to use. Paul Watson wrote: Do some of you very strictly keep work thoughts and talk inbetween office hours and "life" outside of office hours? Are you happy with that? No, I work with a friend from church and he and I always talk about work outside of work, and I am always keen to talk programming with a fellow geek. I love my job, if I can get away with talking about it, I will. Christian No offense, but I don't really want to encourage the creation of another VB developer. - Larry Antram 22 Oct 2002 Hey, at least Logo had, at it's inception, a mechanical turtle. VB has always lacked even that... - Shog9 04-09-2002 Again, you can screw up a C/C++ program just as easily as a VB program. OK, maybe not as easily, but it's certainly doable. - Jamie Nordmeyer - 15-Nov-2002
Christian Graus wrote: Or if my daughter asks me ( which she does every day ), I tell her I made computer programs for other people to use :) I used to ask my dad every day what he had been up to. Then I would start asking why until supper time. My mom came to his rescue on most ocassions... I was as annoying when I was young as I am now. Kids can be great like that though. They really mean it when they ask something, not just being polite, filling the silence or trying to get you to ask them the same so that they can launch into some rant that was bottled up (which I the only reason why I ever post on CP, people always give me a chance to rant... ;P.) Got to love their expression when you say something they really don't get. Takes them a few seconds and then they look up at you with big eyes and ask "Why?" :-D Christian Graus wrote: I love my job, if I can get away with talking about it, I will. LOL. Does the missus let you get away with it ever? And does she talk about what she does?
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
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Atlantys wrote: "I write programs on the computer." Most people, once they hear those words, their mind just turns off with a "sounds boring" comment :laugh: So true. They quickly back out of the question for fear of you launching into an amble through your day and career which leaves them bored stiff. Got to love it though when you are at some do and you suddenly find yourself with someone in such a way that you two have to talk to each other, but have no idea what to talk about. Invariably the first words are "So *racks brain to remember persons name* Barbara... oh sorry it's Samantha... what do you do for a living?" One can almost hear the gods groaning in despair. Then again I once tried "What do you think about this whole swinging craze?" just to be different... did not work at all well :rolleyes:
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
Paul Watson wrote: Got to love it though when you are at some do and you suddenly find yourself with someone in such a way that you two have to talk to each other, but have no idea what to talk about. Invariably the first words are "So *racks brain to remember persons name* Barbara... oh sorry it's Samantha... what do you do for a living?" One can almost hear the gods groaning in despair. So true... I was having a great conversation about XML and SOAP with a friend of mine while we were at a bar (yes, this is "sad" to admit, I know, techie talk in a public place). And this friend of a friend of ours came up and sat down and started asking us what we're talking about. How do you explain to someone with less than no technical background what we were discussing. Obviously, my friend and I didn't want to continue the conversation with him there, and he had nothing to say to my friend and I, so after a long silence he got up and left, and we continued with the XML/SOAP conversation and getting drunk. Paul Watson wrote: Then again I once tried "What do you think about this whole swinging craze?" Sounds like a good pick up line. At least it's different, eh? *goes out and tries it, comes back with a nice slap-print on the cheek* Nope, didn't work. :-D That's why I ramble so much. If you're short and quotable, there's a much greater danger of ending up in a sig. [Christopher Duncan on how to prevent yourself from ending up in a sig]
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Except for my few techie friends, and the 3 colleagues in our IT dept, no-one understands what I do. I was trying to explain to my mother the other day. She didn't understand a word I said. So she asked my husband to explain, and he gave an explanation she was entirely satisfied with. Apparently he doesn't understand what I do either - I didn't recognise anything he said as an explanation of my daily work! :rolleyes: I find that as soon as I mention any further detail than working in IT, the majority of people get this curious vacant expression. At first it bothered me, but I soon realised that it is probably boring to them, or they would have taken a similar career route. Paul Watson wrote: Do some of you very strictly keep work thoughts and talk inbetween office hours and "life" outside of office hours? Are you happy with that? I usually continue thinking about stuff I'm working on, well, on and off. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with a solution :-O . I have just learnt not to bore those around me with the details, unless they are programmers too. Then we have a field day, but it's pretty unfair to do this if my husband / their girlfriends / whoever are also around. After all - that's what CP is for isn't it? :-D
I knew it would end badly when I first met Chris in a Canberra alleyway and he said 'try some - it won't hurt you'..... - Christian Graus on Code Project outages A moment of silence please. A programmer's best friend has passed beyond that great exception in the sky.... - Mark Conger on "The coffee machine has died"
Megan Forbes wrote: Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with a solution I tend to talk in my sleep when I have something on my mind, good or bad. At first Janina was worried but she eventually got used to it (except the times when I would sit up, grab her and shout "Don't do it! Don't go there!".) The one time she repeated what I had said in my sleep and I laughed so hard. It was all about a checkout procedure for a new website that had been bothering me. But I guess talking shop in your sleep is not quite the same thing as when you are awake... :-O
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
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Paul Watson wrote: So are you like me in having a knack at deflecting the question straight back without really responding? Or are you saying you say "Not bad..." to stop the whole Pavlov auto-response chain? A bit of both. Instead of the old "hey, hwo you doing?" "fine, you?" "fine" chain of responses which end with a nice pregnant silence, i figure "not bad, and you?" passes the buck over the other person, but I can jump in with "well, actually my day downright terrible" if there's going to be a silence. Sometimes you just get a feeling that other people just doesn't want to talk, so then I can just leave them be (guys) or prod them to me all about the injustices of the world and how blah blah blah (girls) ;P When I do the once-in-a-while "I'm ecstatic, today is the greatest day of my life?" response, it's hilarious the response of people. Some do the "wtf? I don't need to know this", some to the "what drugs are you taking?", but most respond with "why? my day was crap." :-D Doing the unexpected is fun sometimes. Keeps people on their toes. As long as they don't do it to me, then I'm all good. :-D (this :-D is damn cool emoticon! it can mean anything! :-D ) That's why I ramble so much. If you're short and quotable, there's a much greater danger of ending up in a sig. [Christopher Duncan on how to prevent yourself from ending up in a sig]
Atlantys wrote: this is damn cool emoticon! it can mean anything! :-D So true. I often have to go back through a post making sure I don't use more than one :-D per three lines, this often involves copious editing... :rolleyes: (I like that one too... :-D ) Atlantys wrote: "why? my day was crap." Bummer man, be nice to be able to give them some of your happiness just to stop them being a drag.
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
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Christian Graus wrote: Or if my daughter asks me ( which she does every day ), I tell her I made computer programs for other people to use :) I used to ask my dad every day what he had been up to. Then I would start asking why until supper time. My mom came to his rescue on most ocassions... I was as annoying when I was young as I am now. Kids can be great like that though. They really mean it when they ask something, not just being polite, filling the silence or trying to get you to ask them the same so that they can launch into some rant that was bottled up (which I the only reason why I ever post on CP, people always give me a chance to rant... ;P.) Got to love their expression when you say something they really don't get. Takes them a few seconds and then they look up at you with big eyes and ask "Why?" :-D Christian Graus wrote: I love my job, if I can get away with talking about it, I will. LOL. Does the missus let you get away with it ever? And does she talk about what she does?
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
Paul Watson wrote: My mom came to his rescue on most ocassions... Donna just stands back. Hannah asks 'why' constantly. But she does not have a good enough grasp of what I do to ask that. I think she thinks I just surf the web. Come to think of it..... Paul Watson wrote: Kids can be great like that though. They really mean it when they ask something Yes, with Hannah it's a ritual. The first time she goes to the toilet after I get home, she says, 'daddy, come and tell me about your day'. Paul Watson wrote: Does the missus let you get away with it ever? And does she talk about what she does? No, we rarely get beyond 'how was your day ?'. But sometimes I am excited enough to tell her anyhow, as I was when I got asked onto an ASP.NET project, then moved from it to create an ASP.NET project in two days ( a simple one to prove we could quickly do a site that ran off a Java web service, whatever they call those things ). Christian No offense, but I don't really want to encourage the creation of another VB developer. - Larry Antram 22 Oct 2002 Hey, at least Logo had, at it's inception, a mechanical turtle. VB has always lacked even that... - Shog9 04-09-2002 Again, you can screw up a C/C++ program just as easily as a VB program. OK, maybe not as easily, but it's certainly doable. - Jamie Nordmeyer - 15-Nov-2002
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What do you do when your significant other, or friends outside of IT, ask that terrible question; So what did you do today? I could tell if I had a good day at work by whether I was happy with the explanation I gave to Janina about what I had done that day. She did not have to understand a single word, so long as it felt right, if it "justified" the hours spent. Justified not in the sense of bringing money in but in making yourself happy. Some days though I would get home and struggle to explain a single thing I had done that day. Then I knew it had been a bad day. What about those of you who have worked outside of IT before you became one of us. Are other industries easier to justify day in and day out? Also have you ever had the experience of being in the middle of trying to explain what you do to someone and having, for lack of less grandiouse word, an epiphany? You stop mid sentence and the light dawns and you say out loud "What the hell am I actually doing?" Do some of you very strictly keep work thoughts and talk inbetween office hours and "life" outside of office hours? Are you happy with that?
Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South AfricaColin Davies wrote: ...can you imagine a John Simmons stalker !
In my early days as a programmer, when I just started out on my job, I used to talk a lot about it. But people used to get bored a lot or didn't quite get it, so I gave it up, and just started saying that I am a programmer, in response to the "So what do you do for a living?" question. But even today it is not much different. A typical conversation from my earlier days: They: So what do you do for a living? I: I am a programmer. They: A what? I: I write software for computers that other people use. Like Word. They: Uh huh. So can you work on Office then? I: Uh, yes. They: Can you send emails? I: Yes. They: Internet? (They typically didn't know what you "did" with the internet, so this used to be a one word question. Sometimes it used to be "Can you internet?" :rolleyes: ) I: Yeah that too. They: Good! And how much do they pay you? I: 30k/month. They: 30k!!! My friend knows Office and email and internet and DOS and FoxPro <> and they only pay him 3k! Can you please get my friend a job in your company? I: Uh, I do a different kind of job. You see, I make thing like Office and other software. They: So you made Office? I: No, you see, Office was made by some other people. I have made a different software. If you are a subscriber of <> you use it to connect yourself to the internet. I was one of those who made it and currently we are working on a newer version. <> They: But you said you know Office. I: I lied about my profession. Actually I work as a desk clerk in the same company. My job is to add up all the entries in a column and write the totals at the bottom. They: Uh huh. After this they used to move on, staring me up and down, as if I was the moron. But these days I have become more understanding, and try to be more patient with people. After all, I am as clueless when they talk about beams and columns in their civil engineer's job for example. I now try to water it down according to the level of unerstanding and interest of the other person.
Regards,Rohit Sinha