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.

 

[Thadeus]

I do not use tobacco... except that is when I really get into coding. And since I don't smoke, I have taken to chewing tobacco. The odd part is that I don't chew any other time. I also don't chew if I am not coding. I just recently ended a 6 month coding contract where I chewed every day. I stopped chewing in June when the contract ended. I recently took up an analyst position and haven't chewed yet. I expect that if this role turns into the coding position it was advertised as, I may pick up my odd (and bad) habit again.

~Thadeus

 

[webmigit]

DrJavaJoe Said:

They get that dear in the headlights look.

So... you run over spouses?

(Hehehe... "dear")

But hey look, It look me three and a half months to come up with that... haha.. no I'm just reading through all of people's posts here.

ALFII.com

http://www.alfii.com

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[DrJavaJoe]

Nice catch

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'.

 

[infinitelo]

When im stuck i have the habit of clicking a pen, you know click click click. About a month ago the company purchased new pens.
,non of them have buttons,
and suddenly all my pens dissapeared. I guess i need headphones and recordnig of a pen clicking???



if it is to be it's up to me

 

[LesleyW]

er, you can try it infinitelo, however it doesn't quite have the kinasthetic appeal of **doing** a click.

Have you had complaints against your clicking? Sounds possible that you were driving everyone else nuts, including the person responsible for stationery orders. The concurrent disappearance of your own clickable pens makes this whole incident look highly suspicious!!

 

[Katy44]

Infinitelo you may find that chewing on any the end of any pen you can't click on (whether it's yours or not) will have two effects:

1. It may release tension in a similar way to clicking
2. People will get so fed up of using half bitten pens, they may return your clicky ones to you

 

[Onyxpurr]

Hello, my name is Amy and I too have nervous habits.

I suffer from pen clicking, nail tapping, nail biting, toe tapping, singing aloud, hair twirling, blowing bubble gum bubbles, etc...

I usually buy fancy pens that no one would ever use, so people always return them.

For example, when I used to work for a construction company, I purchased some pretty pink pens. The guys would temporarily borrow them at my desk, but they never took off with them. Go figure?

 

[Sashanan2]

I definitely have a pen clicking problem, myself. Not just clicking, actually; playing with a pen in any way possible, and usually destructive ways. Taking them apart, putting them back together, chewing on the end sometimes, playing with the spring (and launching it across the office an average of 2-3 times a month); the list goes on. Pens wear down in my hands a factor ten faster than they would through normal use.

If no pen is handy, a box of paperclips is just as bad. I think this is pretty much universal as I know many other people who do it, but whenever I have paperclips in reach, I will be playing with them, and destroying them. Usually unfolding them to one string of metal which I try to get as smooth and long as possible, then throwing it away and taking a new one.

Keeping pens and paperclips out of my reach doesn't help much, as I start twisting and pulling out arm hair instead if I don't have anything to play with. Long sleeves work, though.

 

[infinitelo]

I havent done this in a while, but... oragami, not really an anoying habit, but folding little furniture, definatly wierd. (on a slow day a chair, tv set, little guy to sit in front of it)

When I had a private office in my previous life, I taught myself to juggle.
... not a good idea in a cube farm.


if it is to be it's up to me

 

[webmigit]

I take pens apart... nice pens, fairly expensive pens, and then forget how they go back together.

I'm not allowed to touch anyone else's pens anymore.

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[bosk00]

infinitelo

I think we should all take up juggling. Imagine the image of walking through a cube farm and seeing all the balls going up and down.

Alan
Senility at its finest

 

[webmigit]

It'd be interesting to see the some people juggle.. You know there's gotta be a few that would try to juggle things attatched (by cord) to their computers... Speakers, mice, keyboard maybe.

Never underestimate finding somebody stupid enough to do anything.

My customers have been calling saying "The site says I need to change my password, what should I do?"

... Um ... its hard to find a polite response to that.

ALFII.com

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[VBAjedi]

I take pens apart... nice pens, fairly expensive pens, and then forget how they go back together.

Be careful - they will throw you in the pen pen if they can pin that on you!

VBAjedi

 

[shortone]

Juggling - not here, not me. Too tempting to just throw things at some of my co-workers, just to wake them up!

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

 

[Onyxpurr]

It would be a nice change, juggling office equipment as opposed to office politics or everybody's "high priority" projects. Sign me up!!

 

[dragonwell]

Intersting... it seems that the more cerebral our jobs become, the more we need to satisfy a deep urge to be doing something with our hands. Often I've thought about scrapping this whole computer thing and taking up carpentry or pottery.

 

[Tarwn]

Well, here's some more case evidence for you then dragonwell When I think of scrapping computer work my next job I see myself doing is either carpentry or cabinetry

-T

 

[shortone]

I'm an aspiring personal chef myself, so I'll cook you a meal, if you build a bookcase for me. I could use a one for all of my cookbooks .

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

 

[Onyxpurr]

What a wonderful observation dragonwell. I quite often dream of a laborous job. Or quite the opposite...thinker in one of those famous thinktanks!! lol

Sometimes it seems there's not too much thinking going on in those thinktanks though.

"Hmmmm...I've got an observation...eating more fats makes you fatter! Brilliant!!!! Calls the news!

 

[webmigit]

JayD

We should team up... I wash dishes.

I really do... when I'm bored, I go down to a restaurant some family owns and walk in the back and start washing dishes... I don't ask them, they don't ask me, I just do them and walk off when I'm bored with it... Its a fairly physical activity that requires next to nothing for mental effort... I'm thinking about my programming problem while scraping mashed potatoes off a plate.

And you can't beat all the cute waitresses there, and they think its cool, knowing I program, that I'll come down and do that, instead of them having to do it..

Benefits of washing dishes?
. Time to think
. Cute waitresses
. No mental effort
. Cute waitresses
. Killing time
. Cute waitresses

Gotta love it.

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