Fashionistas you have arrived 3-25-03 - 10-3-03

[Connect_the_Dots]

Originally posted by NotFromHere
Rubies are mined by poor Indoneisians who have to steal in order to make a decent wage. They stand in mud puddles and pick through rocks for the man for a couple of bucks a day.

Sounds like my old firm. What is their billable requirement and how much is their bonus?

[mmm3587]

Originally posted by NotFromHere
Also, if you're going to invest in the electronics, you're absolutely stupid not to invest in the best surge suppressor/line conditioner you can afford. Those people in New York will be sad to find out that when the power comes back on, a lot of their electronics will have blown out. The service departments will be packed with people with dead computers, TV's and stereos from the surge - all which could have been avoided with a $100 (NOT $10) surge protector. NO, I don't work for a surge protector company, but have many many friends in "the business."

Two points: first, I hate it when people characterize consumer goods which depreciate as an "investment." If they're really an investment, they're really, really bad investments. Just admit that you splurged on something you wanted; don't try to characterize it as a wise financial decision.

Second, I don't think that anyone who knows anything about electronics would claim that you don't get additional quality when you go up two, five or ten times in price. But I think that many would say that most people's utility in electronics stops going up enough to justify the additional cost after things get to prices way below what the true nuts will pay for the stuff. The guys I know who have $10,000 amps are among the most fucked-up people out there; they should spend one tenth as much money and time getting the rest of their lives as sorted as their home theaters.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Connect_the_Dots
Not Exactly. He said Bilmore. I am his sock, and you are mine. He makes your strawman arguments look silly on the politics board and I come in for comic relief. Sort of like the three stooges, or Abbot, Costello and Costello's brother from Denver who is trying to make sense of the conversation.

Well give me some pointers so we don't look so silly when we're arguing with ourselves.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by dtb
Tying into my story about Lenny Kravitz (was that just yesterday? damn, this week is going slow...), everyone knows, of course, that [what the hell was her character's name?] is Lenny's mom. What you may not know, however, is that in school, people would ask him if Mr. Willis was his dad (because IRL, Lenny's dad is white -- so naturally, the guy on tv playing his mother's husband must be his dad!). Those kids sure were quick!

Back where I used to live, people would see me, say "hey, you're white!", and then, after a second or two, ask me if I knew Frank Sinatra.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Aloha Mr. Learned Hand
Sheesh. And despite my upper-Midwestern roots, my family is about to be overrun by Texans as my sister is marrying one and joining her SO's motherjumping huge family. He says they're in the oil business for several generations... Is pretty much everybody there in the oil business??

My dad had an obnoxious bumper sticker in the late 70s early 80s that read "If you dont' have an oil well, get one." That was pretty much the mentality back then.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by leagleaze
You can, if you look, see his actual number of posts now. I figured if I have to be lame, he can be lame with me.

You done took my shit out on the street, bitch.

'n without askin'.


(Edited to add: and my bedroom song was the theme song to Eight Is Enough. So there.)

[mmm3587]

Originally posted by Connect_the_Dots
My old firm had a similar rule that you couldn't bill for travel time, unless you were actually working on the plane. Number of times I have followed that rule---ZERO. If the reason I am on that plane is b/c of you, then YOU are paying for it.

I've never had a client who forbids billing for travel time, but I have heard that there are a few my firm has. Why the hell do partners agree to these sorts of restrictions. I think that, if I did not know ahead of time and agree to personally eat the time, I would just bill it and let the billing partner decide. It's not like I'm not getting fucked in this situation; it's hard enough to work on a plane as it is, and I certainly don't have a lot of freedom of mobility. Occasionally, along with all the shitty parts of billing hours, there are some nice parts about it. In almost all other industries, you're not getting a bonus based on something as calculable as hours spent traveling.

What are the implications, Mister Ebola, of having to bill the time to "office?" In my firm, it would mean that it would apply to my minimum hours but not be considered the kind of hours that would be considered when calculating my (hopefully) phat bonus. That's unacceptable. Why the fuck do they think you're on the plane?

On a related note, does anyone have any good information about what's going on in Manhattan right now? I hear that the markets will be operating normally, and I've talked to some people there. But I can't raise a couple of the parties to my closing on landline, cell phone or e-mail, and we're going to need those guys to close this fucker. Somebody was talking about a dawn to dusk curfew. Given normal NY working hours, that only leaves about a four hour overlap of daylight with the workday!

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by ltl/fb
Just because his name is "Mr. Man" does not mean that he's a big stud (in fact, it probably means the opposite). There's no need to be so nice to him.

I figured it was a play on the line from the Blues Brothers.

[leagleaze]

Originally posted by bilmore
You done took my shit out on the street, bitch.

'n without askin'.


(Edited to add: and my bedroom song was the theme song to Eight Is Enough. So there.)

You're shit still says 60000+ posts, so unless you have been incredibly prolific, I don't think I took it on the street all that much

[Fugee]

Originally posted by mmm3587
What are the implications, Mister Ebola, of having to bill the time to "office?" In my firm, it would mean that it would apply to my minimum hours but not be considered the kind of hours that would be considered when calculating my (hopefully) phat bonus. That's unacceptable. Why the fuck do they think you're on the plane?

What I think it means is that Ebola's partner doesn't want to take the hit on his realization rate and would rather have it look as if Ebola didn't work as much. That sucks.

Asking an associate to bill "office" time for being stuck in a plane on client business is BS. I would put it down as client time and let the partner write it off. If the partner can't make the client understand why it should pay that time, then the partner should take the realization rate hit.

I understand why clients don't want to pay for it -- they have to watch expenses -- but lawyers who bill by the hour (rather than by the job) have only their time and experience to sell. If the client is using up time that an attorney could be billing to another client if the attorney wasn't flying on client business, the client should pay.

On the blackout note, I am waiting to hear the tales of adventure from the NYC GAs. I want to hear where you were and what happened. How you got home, what it was like. Etc.

[MisterEbola]

Originally posted by Connect_the_Dots
So what? That is probably the only place that won't totally rape you when you buy a ring b/c the salespeople don't work on commission and their merchandise is not marked up so much.

Do you think that Hasidic guy in the diamond district is going to give you a better deal? Unless it's your brother in law, think again.

My answer to the diamond dilemma was easy - estate pieces.

[blueballs]

Originally posted by bilmore
Back where I used to live, people would see me, say "hey, you're white!", and then, after a second or two, ask me if I knew Frank Sinatra.

France?

[evenodds]

Originally posted by Fugee
On the blackout note, I am waiting to hear the tales of adventure from the NYC GAs. I want to hear where you were and what happened. How you got home, what it was like. Etc.

Since I am incapable of grabbing a picture to post, I direct your attention to the paper of record for a picture of people sleeping on the steps of the post office.

Power is still out in many parts of the city though land lines are working. We still haven't heard from my brother or his SO, so I am afraid they are stuck somewhere on a location.

[Connect_the_Dots]

Originally posted by MisterEbola
My answer to the diamond dilemma was easy - estate pieces.

Yeah, but you have to kill somebody first. I would rather pay retail than risk getting caught. Maybe on something like a house it would be worth it, but for a diamond, maybe not so much.

[MisterEbola]

Originally posted by Connect_the_Dots
Yeah, but you have to kill somebody first. I would rather pay retail than risk getting caught. Maybe on something like a house it would be worth it, but for a diamond, maybe not so much.

No. A lot of jewelry stores will sell items from estates on consignment. The rock I bought was about 40% less than what an equivalent rock was being priced for at the factory stores - Mervis and the like.