I have taken to simply deleting/archiving messages that I haven't responded to in a timely manner. No announcement. It bugs me a little to do that, but it's simply amazing how many of those just go away, never to be heard from again. Clearly, they weren't so incredibly important or were solvable by someone else.

Uh, I've carted two digital SLRs with an assortment of batteries, along with a couple accessory electronics like a Bluetooth GPS tracker, along with a cell phone, through multiple trips hitting 15,000-20,000 feet.

Given the enormous improvements to air coolers and fans in the last several years, is there much reason to look at water cooling anymore?

Sure.

Didn't you just agree with me?

Well, from a practical standpoint that's basically a net-zero. You have a $100,000 asset and a $100,000 debt.

I'm not saying that you have to loudly announce the person is a useless leech. But if a so-called friend can't accept that you don't have the energy or resources to designate to them at that moment, I would question whether that person is actually a friend or is even worth having in your life.

I think it's funny that the last one on the list, clearly labeled as "if all else fails" is to actually be honest about your feelings.

I actually use this as a productivity tip quite often, not just a creative one.

Wow, that guy is an incredibly annoying writer. Am I the only one who is completely put off by people who seem to be unable to emphasize what they say WITHOUT PUTTING IT INTO ALL CAPS?!

If you have old debt that has gone to collections or made a serious mark on your credit, you can always try to negotiate with the creditor to get it wiped off your credit report.

Ah. I guess I was wrong. His comment could have been more smarmy and self-righteous.

"Infact" is not a word.

Good info, thanks. I suspect there's a middle ground - obviously there are temperatures ranges where you probably don't want your house to get extremely cold or extremely hot (and thus possibly taking hours to get back to livable temperature), but do you know how much inefficiency there is in the system kicking on and…

I've always wondered if this is really true.

Nope, that's not the message.

I'm not sure you've ever actually talked or interacted with someone who had serious financial problems. When people get dumped into severe financial straits, in some cases not being able to pay ANY of their bills, it'd be pretty easy to start losing track of who owns a debt.

It would be difficult for this comment to be any more smarmy or self-righteous. Must be hard to see all the little people from up on top of that high horse.

We've got a few good ramblers here at work but one in particular, who is a very nice and smart guy, resists any attempt to correct it. He literally talks through interruptions without skipping a beat - if you try to interrupt, the two of you will just talk together for however long you want, and when you stop, he's…

The day I tell someone, without irony, that I am richly scheduled is the day I accept that I am assimilated in the the Borg of Corporate America, walk out, and move into a shack in the woods.