Asklemmy

I’m a truck driver.

• You are far safer behind me than in front of me. It can take me over two US football fields (200 yards or roughly 180 meters) to come to a full stop and it takes more distance if my trailer is empty. The average car can stop in half that distance. Most cars turn into tin cans when hit by a rig at 25 mph.
• If you see a number of trucks all moving into the same lane, might consider getting in the same lane, behind us. Odds are pretty good we either saw something in the lane ahead or we heard about something over the CB.
• I can see you playing on your phone while driving. Cops in some states have been known to hitch rides with truck drivers in order to catch distracted drivers.
• Learn zipper merging!

IT - if you have an issue with an application, give us step by step instructions on how we can repeat your issue like we are five years old. We'll get it fixed more quickly that way.

Software Engineer:

Make a junk email for junk signups and accounts, if you can. Don't accept the cookies. If the product you're using is free, the information you enter is what's being sold to someone else.

Ctrl+Shift+T reopens the tab you just accidentally closed.

I work in the magical world of ISPs. If you’re having an internet issue, reboot your router and/or modem before calling in. It may not seem like much to you, but many background processes happen when you do so. This can be useful to troubleshoot where the issue lies. There’s a reason why techs will make you do so when calling in. And yes, they can tell on their end if and when you do so. So don’t bullshit them by saying you already did it if you didn’t.

Concerts, the rooms are always tuned visually and sonically for about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way back on the floor. If you care about audio or visuals this is where you go. If you can’t afford the floor, anywhere in the center will still be a good experience, avoid the sides unless you don’t care about visuals or audio. We literally call those the bone seats, because they have no substance to them.

Tertiary education: university professor.

LPT: Talk to your professor and ask questions!!

I have so many students that don't perform well because they didn't understand some material. I'm seriously getting paid to help you understand it, but I can't present it in a way that works perfectly for every student since they all have their own learning styles. I also wont know if they aren't getting it of no one speaks out.

I want:

• to help
• everyone to learn the material
• to talk about science because I'm a super nerd
• what is and isn't working for you in class
• students to show up to office hours

I don't:

• expect anyone to already know something they haven't learned about
• care if you ask me a million questions
• want you to perform poorly
• want you do go to the field unprepared
• like it when students treat me like they are bothering me
• grade papers that are ridiculously wrong because students didn't try to ask me for help

The vast majority of university professors are obsessed with what they teach, so much so, that they made a career out of talking about it. Asking then about it would make their day. If you go up to one that seems like they're being bothered, then that's the exception. Don't let that one stop you from engaging with all of the others.

Note: This is true for almost all courses. However, there are some courses in certain universities that are considered "weed out classes". These classes, typically taken in the first 2 years, are informally designed to have lower performing students fail before they advance too far into the major and find out later that they don't have what it takes to be successful in the field. The professors of those classes are more commonly not helpful at all. Don't give me shit about it because I didn't design this system nor do I teach those classes.

Corporate IT: I see nearly everything you do on your computer. I can see exactly how long what application is open. If I ask you to restart your computer, you don't, and you somehow get me in front of it, restarting it better not fix it or your next ticket is gonna be low priority no matter what. If you want in with IT, always open a ticket and include as much info as you can clearly convey. Snacks and bribes won't always work with those of us who are very antisocial.

Comstruction:

If you want to build the best building you gotta know every detail about how it’s made, which you can only get close to by hiring competent consultants (i.e.: architects, engineers, etc) Because if you’re not specific about what you want, you can bet your ass you’re getting the cheapest version.

I work in information security.

Don't use biometrics to secure your devices. Biometrics are a convenience feature to make it easier to access your device. Biometrics are NOT security. You can be compelled to unlock your device by having it pointed at your face or your finger forced onto the reader. Don't do it.

Use 2FA/MFA everywhere you can. If it's an option, turn it on.

Use a password manager that generates strong passwords and use a different password for every service you use.

Update, update, update. Allow your devices, OSes, and software/applications to update automatically.

Talk to your parents about safe surfing. Tell them that their bank won't send them an email or text asking them to send personal information. Set a password with your family to identify them if they are in trouble and need help. Tell parents and grandparent not to send you bail money to get you out of jail in Morocco.

Teach your kids that everything they post on the internet is public and permanent. Teach them that if they do something that they think will get them in trouble and someone is blackmailing them that it's better to tell you and ask for help than to give in to the blackmailers.

I'm a philosopher, nothing matters, so stop worrying about it and live your life the way you want to live it.

HVAC: Don’t shut your air vents to give you better heating or cooling in certain rooms/floors. You’re adding pressure to your system and reducing its life. If it’s AC then you’re turning it into a freezer. That’s why doing so freezes the coil, not enough air flow to move the cold air out and keep it from freezing. For heat it literally can overheat the control board frying it since the blower also helps cool the electronics. If you have hot and/or cold rooms (this is normal per floors) ask about adding dampers. Most of the time it’s not possible without major drywall rework and it isn’t cheap. Your builder sucks (basically). A lot of companies won’t quote the work because it can’t be guaranteed. You’re essentially stuck with the crappy design the builder got approved. One potential is minisplits. Again, not cheap per room and not pretty but they will fix your issue.

Brother, Pharmacist:

Just because we called doesn’t mean your prescription is ready. Listen to the message

Just because your doctor said they sent in your prescription… it means nothing. He or she probably asked an assistant to send it or put it in their inbox.

Like 1 in 3 people drove here without a drivers license.

I'm a waitress. It never hurts to say it's your birthday or better yet, anniversary. Birthdays get free dessert most places but anniversaries get free bubbles. It costs me nothing to give it to you.

Just make sure to tip on the pre-discount amount and it's all good.

Software development here. Never, ever, connect your appliances to the internet, and check whether appliances you buy have an offline mode as some are now aggressively forcing users to connect in order to use them.

You can freeze chips/crisps indefinitely. I used to work for Frito Lay. Just thaw them when you get close to snack time. Of course I never do this because I just eat the chips I have at home.

Cybersecurity

If you have anything worthwhile on your PC, you should really buy your own router instead of using the one provided by your ISP.

Self-storage. Try not to start rental during the summer/spring, prices are way higher than winters. If you're storing short term with items that are easily bought new, I would suggest just getting rid of them and buying new. I see a ton of people who store thinking they'll be out in 3 months and end up staying a year and spending way more than the items were ever worth. This is especially true for home renovations, those take up at least 50% more time than you think they will. If you smell something funky throughout a large part of the floor, don't store on that floor. It's most likely caused by mouse issues. Try to store in an elevator access unit instead of ground level. They're usually more secure, tend to not have mouse issues, and end up cleaner because they're lower traffic.

Can't give specifics, but regarding enforcement work: We know who's breaking the rules, but we let them get away to prevent exposing our methods.

Can't imagine this is relevant to a lot of folks here, but corporate event audio visual:

Don't use the audio visual company that's "in house" at a hotel. They're paying nearly 50% commission for the privilege of being there and getting business shunted to them, so only half of what you pay is going to goods or services.

That said, make sure your hotel contract leaves you free to bring in an outside vendor without having to pay too many fees. Cross out any lines related to things like "load in/out liaison," paying for polytak floor covering, or paying some percentage of your outside AV bill to the in house company. It might help to include a proactive clause like "client will not be charged any fees for bringing in our own audio visual partner". Include a line that you won't be required to pay surcharges like "event technical support" which is just a "we're charging you a fee" fee.

You will still have to pay the in-house AV vendor for any power, internet and rigging. For internet, confirm what your rate will be before signing the contract. We see a lot of cases where they'll say "the meeting room wifi is discounted (free) if you use us for AV too, but if you don't it's $20k" (actual number, and could be even higher) Once you sign without negotiating they've got you over a barrel.

If you already have a contract you may be able to mitigate these issues by leaning on your hotel salesperson. Trying to negotiate with the in house AV rep will usually be ineffective (sometimes they're cool). The hotel is the in-house AV vendor's number one customer, so if the hotel says they need to do something, they'll do it. Usually leaning on your hotel salesperson after signing a contract only works if you have some leverage like potential for future business.

HVAC, most maintenance check ups are scams. Very little in residential air conditioner/heat pumps needs any up keep. All the motors are sealed and you're better off not putting gauges on a system unless there's an actual issue.

Change the air filter every three months, and in the spring shut off the outside unit, and hose off the coil fins of any debris trying not to spray anything electrical looking. Wait a couple hours and turn it back on. YouTube probably has videos.

ITT: shit tons of IT people. does anyone on lemmy not work in IT? yikes

Theatre tech. Show up on time. Sometimes shows don't take late comers even with a bought ticket. And it's bothering everyone else, artists included.

If the venue has a bar, stay for a drink. Like everyone else, artists (and techs) love to have a drink after a hard day at the office.

Report dev/data analysis/data engineering: if you think data or a report is wrong tell us exactly what information is wrong, exactly what report/code you ran, exactly what filters you selected, and exactly what you are using to compare that information. Second thing: no we can't just ”make the data different", we pull the data in the database. If it is "wrong" it is upstream of us, we need to find the root issue.

I work at a gas station—take note of your damn pump number.

From when I worked in IT:

-In your ticket, do not give a vague description and a time you want the problem fixed and then expect anything to get fixed. Often times we very much need to work with you directly to understand your problem thoroughly to investigate and fix it thoroughly.

-If you have some weird problem, it might be just as weird to us when we first look at it. We are not omniscient. What we are good at is researching possible fixes, applying them, and measuring the effect they have in actually solving your problem.

-If we didn't install it, don't expect we know anything about it. You might really like to install and use Fusion 360 over AutoCAD or something, but that doesn't mean I know where Fusion 360 is storing its configurations, or that I have a phone number to call to get support from that company as a vendor, or that I have ever troubleshot this application.

-If you're really nice to us, we might be able to offer you suggestions for problems on personal computers, but sorry, we cant usually touch it, especially if we are outsourced IT. The moment we touch your personal computer it opens us to a shitload of liabilities and it could lose me my job.

-We understand very much that typically the only time you're talking to us is when you're mad because some shit is preventing you from working, but we don't want that either so don't be mad at us about it, we would prefer you never had to put in a ticket for anything except configuration change requests.

-Pay attention to our recommendations. If we say you have to have your laptop on at a certain time of day weekly for updates, we aren't just asking for our benefit, we're asking this because if you ignore it, eventually when you power on your laptop, windows is going to force all those updates to push at once and suddenly you'll be without your computer when you're supposed to be doing an important presentation because its going to take 4 hours for a years worth of updates to apply. We have little control over this.

I do concrete work. Every video you see of someone or something walking into super wet concrete it really doesn't matter. That's a 5 minute fix. Cars going into it though you have to figure out how to get the car out.

Tech. Everyone felt overwhelmed when they started, like they'd never be able to catch up, like they were in over their head. It's not just you. We all went through it.

Tax Accountant in U.S.

You don’t need a CPA (and I say this AS a CPA). Don’t get me wrong, if a CPA’s primary experience is in tax, they will do just fine. But you don’t NEED one. Even if your tax situation is complex. An Enrolled Agent (or EA) goes through a rigorous testing process and is run by the IRS. A CPA also goes through a rigorous testing process but it’s 4 parts and only one is tax. An EA exam is 3 parts and it’s ALL tax. So if your tax situation IS complex I recommend one or the other…but an EA is highly qualified and often times less expensive.

All that said… neither is necessary but make sure your tax preparer is at least certified and either is required to take annual continuing education or does so regardless. Tax laws change all the time. EAs and CPAs have CPE requirements…so if ur preparer isn’t one of those, make sure they’re still learning the new stuff. All a person needs to file another persons tax return is a number called a PTIN and literally anyone can pay a fee and get one.

And if you can handle filing yourself (which the vast majority can easily do, and I would rather they do so because why throw your money away if you don’t have to) the IRS is expanding their guided free file program for 2024 to the whole United States (it was in limited testing for 2023) and many states are expected to sign on so you can get fed and state taxes filed for free. IRS.gov has more info on all that.

Tech, specifically AI automation. My LPT is that most services are just using GPT4 in some capacity. Automated workflows are not plug and play, credentials expire, variables change, limits are exceeded, etc. Rather than pay a random company to build and maintain something for you, you can save a shit ton by just hiring someone in-house who knows Zapier or Make and having them build the workflow you need.

IT: Rebooting a device is sometimes the only legit troubleshoot step.

But we decide when this is truly the last trump card.

IT

Scripting menial tasks isn't that hard. You can learn basic shit pretty easy. It's a nice little dopamine hit when you get even something small that works. Make your computer work for you, not against you.

Also, Excel. If you have to use Excel at all in your job, learn the basics of formulas, formatting, and tables. It will take you maybe a day, and your excel shit will look 100x nicer, and work 100x better than whatever the fuck you are doing now.