Odd Habits 2

[Onyxpurr]

Do you have any odd habits while working and how do you overcome them?

For instance, I mumble to myself when I code. I am pretty much oblivious to everything too. So now when I code, I out on some headphones. This lets everyone know that I'm working and to wait a second before interrupting, or think twice before interrupting. It also doesn't make me look like a psycho because at least I'm mouthing the words to a song rather than mumbling like Raymond (Rainman).


I just find it interesting because it seems most of the really intense programmers I know mumble as well.

 

[PTina]

I was recently moved to Finance from IT (to be closer to my users I'm told). Now my new neighbour keeps asking me if I'm talking to her, apparently she's not used to someone talking/arguing with the computers while working.

Now we work out a system whereby she ignores me unless I distinctly call her name.

 

[lespaul]

you mean we're not suppose to talk to them? Then how do they know what we want them to do?



Leslie

 

[shortone]

[purple]PTina,
Used to have that problem, too - one of the chatterboxes next to me (with whom I avoid all eye contact, or I'll lose 1 hour of my life listening to her yammer...) used to answer me whenever I'd start coding out loud. Not sure how you'd answer "If Not IsNull(DistCode), etc.," but she managed to say "What?" a lot, until I told her that I was talking to God (actually, a lot of times I AM - sometimes you get REALLY stuck on something and just need a little extra help.....LOL). That put an end to THAT. Thankfully, the other two are too far away and too engrossed in their own conversations to notice when I'm working out loud.

As for answering the cellie in the ladies' room - I was in there once and found myself answering one of my co-workers, who I thought was talking to me, but was actually on the phone (yes, just like the joke). Once I realized that she wasn't talking to me, I shut up (I already feel weird talking to others in the restroom as it is, I'm definitely NOT bringing my cell in with me - echoes too much...).

This thread keeps me laughing....[/purple]



JayeD
"I'm sure of two things: there IS a God, and I'm NOT Him!" - R. Williams

 

[webmigit]

I read code allowed and listen to Christian Music... better than country which talks about depressing stuff or rap that talks about killing people.

Also.. I stand up without realizing it while typing, have to keep moving..

My worst habit is.. and no offense intended.. is coming to tek-tips.. When I get stuck on a problem that I know I can get on my own, I come here for a minute, answer a few questions, get distracted, stay here to long, and have to code like heck to make up for it.

And then there's syntax... I have to capitalize all tags and lowercase all attribute names.. and I have to indent things perfectly..

Which most will tell you indenting one or two spaces or a tab (which is too much for me) makes code so much easier to read.

ALFII.com

http://www.alfii.com

---------------------
If this post answered or helped to answer your question, please reply with such so that forum members with a similar question will know to use this advice.

 

[entaroadun]

Having a solid coding style is a good habit, not a bad one.

I answer the phone in the restroom all the time. I've even initiated calls at the urinal, which completely freaks out a colleague who is a germ-o-phobe. I figure, in this day and age, when we are all so busy, we need to multitask as much as possible to get everything accomplished. I'm not being rude or disgusting; I'm being efficient.

I also pace when I code. Over particularly difficult algorithms, I practically compose standing up. I also practice kung fu, and when I'm particular stressed, I take out my sacks of steel ball bearings and strike them, toughening the bone structure of my hands. It's loud and I drive my neighbors crazy.

If the above don't work, I take out my Rubik's cube and mutter at it while I try to solve it. Surprisingly, my boss doesn't realize that I am actually deeply engrossed in my work when I do this.

 

[EdwardMartinIII]

Sometimes I'll drum with my fingers. Usually the theme to Futurama these days.

Sometimes I'll draw tiny violent cartoons on my scratchpad -- just monsters and stuff, with giant teeth.

Sometimes I'll add to a large dry-erase mosaic on my dry-erase board.

When thinking extra-hard on a programming issue, I'll take off my glasses, spin away from the computer and eventually cover my desk with lots of pages of scribbly, all various bits of planning and dataflow diagrams.

When I shake out my keyboard, I realize that most of the scrum is caught under the keys's concavity. But I stil shake it out.

I wouldn't mind a phone that barked. Preferably different breeds for different callers.

And sometimes, I doze. Because sometimes, I'd rather watch someone else play video golf for hours than stare at these screens even a minute longer. They're THAT boring.

Cheers,


Edward

"Cut a hole in the door. Hang a flap. Criminy, why didn't I think of this earlier?!" -- inventor of the cat door

 

[lespaul]

My boss's phone barks, it's kinda weird!

leslie

 

[PeaveyPhones]

Since the coolest man on the planet, Sean Connery, mutters to himself as Cptn Ramius in The Hunt for Red October, it's obviously ok and in fact a habit to be encouraged.
*In a desparate attempt at coolness Richard finds himself muttering as he types this*

I answer the phone in the bathroom. Not much goin' on in there anyway.

I write things down on little pieces of paper that I cut from scrap paper myself so as not to spend the money on post-it-notes. Then I transfer EVERYTHING to my task list in Outlook.

I listen to talk radio all day. This alone can cause much muttering.

Richard


The unexamined life is not worth living; Socrates

 

[RileyCat]

Headphones, peace and quiet, and don't answer if I ask questions -- I'm talking to myself. If I'm asking a question directly to a person, I will address the question as such. Otherwise, leave me to my work.

My biggest pet-peeve is when somebody's standing over my shoulder and telling me there's an easier way to do whatever task I'm working on. Okay, I don't mean completing work but just little mundane tasks that we have to do throughout each day. You know the ones.

 

[PeaveyPhones]

More on muttering.
I think I saw the second coolest guy in the world, Mel Gibson, muttering to himself in either Braveheart or the Patriot. Muttering must be good. I'm gonna go mutter now.

Richard

The unexamined life is not worth living; Socrates

 

[Blorf]

My habbit / fetish.

When I come up with a neat coding solution, I pick the person in the office least likely to care, and convince them that I need to talk to them. I take them outside to the smoking area, and explain it to them over and over again until I am convinced that I am speaking in a language they can never understand, then I send them on their way. All while smoking a marlboro.

This allows me to smoke freely, each time with a different person, making other people think I am actually somebody.

ChaZ

Ascii dumb question, get a dumb Ansi

 

[DrJavaJoe]

Been there, but not intentionally. There are times when I try to share how neat the code just written is to someone, and I go on and on until I realize that they have no idea what I'm talking about or even what language I'm speaking. They get that dear in the headlights look.

"Two strings walk into a bar. The first string says to the bartender: 'Bartender, I'll have a beer. u.5n$x5t?*&4ru!2[sACC~ErJ'. The second string says: 'Pardon my friend, he isn't NULL terminated'."

 

[Ragnarox]

I do much of the same as been talked about muttering to self/computer, eating, drinking caffiene, listening to music (Country, Oldies and Rock need to get Wierd Al so if anyone knows where I can get his whole collection?) etc. Luckily I am completely cut off from everyone in my own little corner....

Need to get the Garfield poster that says "My own little corner of the institution" with Garfield in a straightjacket....

The worst thing I do though is walk around the office muttering to myself why using hand gestures. Because I am really not watching where I am going but instead seeing lines of code people have learned to move outta my way. Can't say how many times I have almost walked into someone while doing that.

Brian

 

[Onyxpurr]

lol, I'm walking into objects all the time, including walls, because I'm so lost in thought. Usually I get the greeting, "Heeellllloooo..." and a quizical look from the greeter.

I try not to foist my code on others here. I try to explain and then usually end up saying, "Oops, never mind, What I really meant is yeah, I can do it." <grin>

 

[VBAjedi]

Speaking of desk location - I'm a VBA & PHP programmer, but because I am the only programmer in the company, and my boss is the corporate controller, I sit in the very center of the accounting department. What the?!?

Talk about some odd habits - those in the cubicles around me have their fair share! There's the person who is always complaining that the office is either "freezing" or "stuffy", the person that only talks about reasons to come to work late (or go home early, or just skip work altogether), and the person who constantly talks about food. And the list goes on. . .

VBAjedi

 

[chiph]

Speaking of other people's habits:

I used to work at a firm where one of the people had a PHD -- stood for "Personal Hygene Deficit". They loved poppy-seed bagels, and their desk was covered with the little seeds. They would occasionally show up wearing a new shirt -- that still had the little plastic link on it from the pricetag. I won't get into their bathing habits...

Chip H.


____________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please read FAQ222-2244 first

 

[Krickles]

My sad habit is making appointments with myself. Our calendars are public, and my company is meeting obsessed, so I make up long meetings (2-3 hours) with myself in my office. Sometimes I’ll even claim a conference room or the training room.

When I started doing this I didn't think it would work...how wrong I was. Now I meet with myself all the time and actually get things done.

What a crazy world in corporate America!


Krickles | 1.6180

 

[Blorf]

The number you have dialed has been changed. The new number is Three.

Please make a note of it.

Ascii dumb question, get a dumb Ansi

 

[shortone]

chiph,
At least YOUR "PHD" has NEW shirts! Have one here - the other IT person here besides myself - same shirt everyday. We notice the NEW stains on them - "Gee, Quark, you had spaghetti last night?". Bathing habits? I won't get into them, either, because HE doesn't! Gas masks, anyone?



JayeD
&quot;I'm sure of two things: there IS a God, and I'm NOT Him!&quot; - R. Williams

 

[ANFPS26]

I worked with a guy who wanted to be called "P.L.", but privately we called him "P.U."--for the same reason.

Jim