How to Silence Your Jabbering Coworker. Youve got problems, Ive got advice. This advice isnt sugar coatedin fact, its sugar free, and may even be a little bitter. Welcome to Tough Love. This week we have a guy who cant get his annoying coworker to stop talking to him about politics during his lunch break. Youve got problems, Ive got advice. This advice isnt sugar coatedin fact, its sugar free, andRead more Read Keep in mind, Im not a therapist or any other kind of health professionaljust a guy whos willing to tell it like it is. Download the free trial version below to get started. Doubleclick the downloaded file to install the software. Whats better than serving gin and tonics at a party Having a whole gin and tonic bar, thats what. A few weeks ago I went to an event for Beefeater in San. I simply want to give you the tools you need to enrich your damn lives. If for whatever reason you dont like my advice, feel free to file a formal complaint here. Download Game Pokemon Gold Cho Pc Matic' title='Download Game Pokemon Gold Cho Pc Matic' />Now then, lets get on with it. Hi Patrick,Ive got this one coworker who just loves to hear himself talk, and for some reason hes chosen me specifically to be the recipient of his blessings. Youve got problems, Ive got advice. This advice isnt sugarcoatedin fact, its sugarfree, and may even be a little bitter. Welcome to Tough Love. Pixelmon, as many of you know, allowed players to basically enjoy a blocky version of Pokmon in Minecraft. You could capture, train, and evolve Pokemon, craft items. In April, we posted a video of Persona 5 running quite poorly on the PC via an emulator. Now, only a few months later, its looking fantastic. He keeps coming up to me during lunch breaks wanting to talk European politics. Im European and interested in politics so with anyone else I would usually welcome this topic however, he isnt actually interested in my opinion at all, he just seems to want to show off how much he knows. I know all of these things, probably better than him. But no matter how often I interjected Yes, I know, he just kept talking at me, getting louder and louder at every interjection, and keeping up a constant string of umms and aahs to make sure I couldnt say anything even when he was picking his next words. I am not very good at communicating when Im uncomfortable in a situation, so I just sit there staring blankly at nothing while he talks in my general direction. The problem is, since hes talking about something I actually find interesting, I do occasionally contribute something to the conversation, which obviously keeps him going. Im pretty sure my other coworkers with whom I get on very well have noticed that I am very uncomfortable when this happens, but since he is usually interested in talking to me specifically, they generally stay out of the conversation cant say I blame them. How do I communicate to this guy that I dont care about his opinions and that I dont want him ruining my lunch breaks Cheers,Going Deaf. Hey Going Deaf The first thing you need to do is stop responding to him. At all. I know its hard because hes talking about something youre actually interested in, but you absolutely cannot respond in any wayeven if you have the best retort ever. If you nod and give an occasional mmm, hell probably keep talking, but if you actually respond with words, hell ramble on til the end of days my friend. You probably do know more than this guy, but that does not matter to him in the slightest. Hes seeking self affirmation by spouting off his own political knowledge and garbage opinions. Its what makes him feel whole, so if that bugs you, theres no way you can interact with him and expect anything less than this ancient form of verbal torture. But not responding wont fix the problem entirely, G Dizzle. Its just to keep from encouraging the bastard. Clearly your colleagues arent going to save you, and frankly, I wouldnt dive on that grenade either. So, to stop it for good, youll need to take action. Here are a few solutions I recommend Stop him before he gets started. When you see him approach, hold your hand up like youre a crossing guard on a hot day and say, I really cant chat today, Im insert plausible excuse here Or, try this alternative thats worked for me I close my eyes, point my finger up, and say, Im sorry, Im trying to focus on something right now. Putting on headphones and acting like youre concentrating on a hot new audiobook or meditating to gong sounds might work as well. Set a time limit for the conversation, verbally. When he approaches, immediately look at your watch or phone, so he can see it, then say, I can chat persons name, but only for five minutes. Whats up Then listen to him without engaging or interrupting. Stop him at the time limit with a line like, Okay, Im going to get back to this now, or Okay, Im going to just zone out and enjoy the rest of my lunch for a bit. Hes more likely to stop because you gave him a reasonable expectation at the beginning of the conversation. He started talking knowing you could only spare five minutes, and thats what he got. Schedule a time outside of work to talk about politics. Say, Hey, Id really like to talk about all this, but I dont really feel comfortable talking about it at work. Maybe we can grab a coffee and discuss it another time Then, heres the kicker, dont follow through. Keep putting it off and rescheduling, while being stern about not discussing it at work. Hopefully, hell take the hint. Leave during your lunch break. Like, go outside and eat your lunch, grab lunch and a margarita at a nearby restaurant, sit in your car with the radio on and your windows open, anything to get away from this guy and save your sanity. Do it enough times and he might finally realize you dont want to talk to him anymore. Who knows Maybe hell latch onto some other poor sap Hopefully one of those solutions works for you, Going Deaf. If not, you have to put on your big boy pants and stand up for your own well being. Tell him straight up that you dont care about his opinions and that you dont want him ruining your lunch breaks anymore. I guess you can say it nicer, though, if you want. Something like, Im sorry, I dont want to discuss this stuff with you anymore. Id appreciate it if you kept these things to yourself. Or I really need my personal time during my lunch breaks, so Id really appreciate it if youd let me do my own thing. It will be uncomfortable, sorry. But whats worseOne awkward, uncomfortable confrontation, or a lifetime of listening to his bullshit Save yourself. A good conversation is all about the back and forth both parties listening and responding. IfRead more Read. Quickies. Because I just dont have the time or patience for all of you. Miss Patience asks Hi Patrick, I am 2. My relationships are ending due to this. Please advise me. Hey MP First, let me say that your virginity is yours. If you dont want to lose it, you dont have toever. These people ending relationships with you because youre not ready arent right for you. You need someone who understands your feelings and is willing to wait. Just make sure you tell them that when things start to get serious so they dont feel like youre holding out on them for other reasons. That said, theres a difference between not feeling ready and just being afraid of the process itself. If its the latter, learn about sex and arm yourself with some knowledge. Our resident sexpert yup, I went there, Vanessa Marin, has covered the topic of losing your virginity as an adult very well. But if youre not ready, MP, youre not ready. Dont rush something just because some jerks are mad you wont put out. Not all of us lose our virginities at age 1. Camry. If youre still a virginRead more Read. Thats it for this week, but I still have plenty of blunt, honest advice bottled up inside. Tell me, whats troubling you Is work getting you down Are you having problems with a friend or a coworker Is your love life going through a rough patch Do you just feel lost in life, like you have no direction Tell me, and maybe I can help. I probably wont make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but sometimes what you need is some tough love. Ask away in the comments below, or email me at the address you see at the bottom of the page please include ADVICE in the subject line. Or tweet at me with Tough. Love Til next time, figure things out for yourself. Have a DIY Gin Tonic Bar at Your Next Party. Whats better than serving gin and tonics at a party Having a whole gin and tonic bar, thats what. A few weeks ago I went to an event for Beefeater in San Francisco. They had your traditional bar there, with a bartender mixing up fancy cocktails. There was also a DIY Gin Tonic bar. You could ask the bartender for just a glass with ice and gin in it, and then use the assortment of tonic waters and accouterments on the table to build your own. The idea was so fun I started doing it whenever I had friends over and it was a big hit. Theres something fun about mixing your own drinks, at least in my opinion. We all want to pretend were masters at cocktails, but truth be told most of us have pretty much no idea what were doing. A gin tonic bar is a pretty low key attempt at an open bar. Even for those that have never had a G T before, its a tough one to really screw up. For the most part, you can put whatever you want on the bar as options, and almost any concoction your guests come up with will be drinkable. As someone who always becomes the default bartender in my group of friends, I really liked not being in charge of everyones drinks for once, and everyone in attendance seemed to really like experimenting on their own. Heres what you need to build your own Get a few bottles of gin. Different gins will have different flavors. It can be fun to experiment with different options. Some of my favorites include The Botanist, Aviator, and Bulldog. Get a few tonic water options. Just like the gin, tonic water will add different flavors to your G T. I love Fever Trees Tonic water. Other good options include Q and Fentimans. If youre feeling particularly adventurous you can also make your own. Cut up fruit and veggies and put them on a plate. In general, grapefruit, cucumbers, lime and oranges go well with gin and tonics. Ive seen people use more adventurous fruits like strawberries, watermelon, peaches and blueberries as well. Grab at least three or four options from your local grocery and cut them up, displaying them on a plate for guests. Offer a few spices. Cs Go Cracked All Skins In Minecraft. I really love muddling a bit of basil in the bottom of a glass and pairing that with grapefruit for a G T. Fresh basil and rosemary can both be great options to have on hand. Cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, juniper berries, and cardamon can also be big hits. Think about what flavors you like in a G T and then pick things that will enhance that. You can lay these out in their respective containers, or put them in small bowls. Set everything up on a side table I use a long, short bookshelf near my dining room table. Youll want to lay out everything I listed above, and then put some small glasses and a bucket of ice as well as something to scoop it out on the table as well. Small glasses are key here. That means your guests can make a few drinks over the course of the night, and nobody gets carried away and uses half a bottle of gin to make something horrible. For guests that dont know what theyre doing, Id suggest starting with a basic 1 1 recipe one ounce of gin to every one ounce of tonic water, thats easy enough to eyeball, and then telling them to select just one or two ingredients from the table to enhance it. Light drinkers can double the amount of tonic. Its VERY hard to go wrong with just adding a few of the fruits although Im sure someone can do it. Spices should be used sparingly, but those are pretty difficult to screw up as well as long as youre limiting your selection to just a small amount of one. As the night progresses, youll be surprised what awesome creations your guests come up with, and theyll definitely be talking about it much more than they would if you labored over their drinks all night.