I just accepted an offer for a job selling financial software to large accounting firms. It's what I always dreamed I would do with my life :-) The compensation is killer, I work from home and I get 4 weeks PTO. Not too shabby, plus I get to learn a whole new vertical. That's cool. I had four offers on the table when I chose this one. One was in the payments space as a Division Manager, one was for a Software Company selling ALLL software to banks, one was selling employee benefits and the other was for a company selling Managed Network Services. I also have a quasi offer from a medical device company (I'm down to the last two, not quite an offer.. .yet) selling Orthopedic surgical equipment. The company I chose embraces the challenger selling model that I've been using for years, so that's good. The online reviews of working there all say that they value work/life balance -something everyone says they do, but when you see previous employees disparaging other aspects of the company while celebrating that one, it must be true. There are a lot of people that have been supportive of me during my transition from my current role to this new one. It's not a transition that I would not have made without the "prodding" of my current company. In short, I've been managed out. Thank you to lil for her help with my resume and keeping my spirits up. Thank you to mk for being a good friend during all this, same with b_b and insomniasexx, steve and flagamuffin. -Among others. A big shout-out to kleinbl00 who lets me text and vent to him, while he texts back reasoned responses like, "Don't freak out. Conquer." -That was valuable. I feel like I did conquer, thanks. I learned that there are a lot of opportunities out there for someone with my experience. Some are awful though, so it's important to sift through the chaff and value the good ones. I begin my new journey on Monday, August 17th.
Thanks man. I've done next to nothing for the past few days at the current gig. I have a company car though and I'm generally a fantastic driver. Yesterday though, last week with the car and... BOOM, I crash in to the car in front of me when they slam on their brakes. Minimum damage, no ticket and everyone was fine, but still. Kind of a dick move when you're on your way out. Better the company car than the one I'm about to buy.
Oh god. It's like we were taking senior photos or engagement pictures. We should have kept the creepy horse.
"I have baptized a miniature horse model, but don't know why."
Everything is pain and misery In the hospital. Fucking, again Nothing I do seems to be coming together in a way that I'd like. Stuff is just fucked. Its just fuuuucked There's that one campaign. "It Gets Better." I would like to know when. Now I understand why people drink
I never really cared much for that argument. Like, I don't want thing to get better, I want them to be better. However, I always favored the "Well, things will either get better or they won't; but there's a good enough chance of them getting better that it's worth sticking around for." I only heard that one once, and I like the outlook on it a lot better. There's that one campaign. "It Gets Better."
Sometimes in my life I have not wanted it to get better. Break-ups can do weird things to your head, and thinking that eventually I wouldn't care that much about that person - wasn't what I wanted at the time. Even though it was tearing me up. Then again there have been times where everything has been so bad that the thought, "it will get better," has not been reassuring or even usually enough. It takes a long time, you know. You can be in pain and try to tell yourself, yes, but it'll be better eventually, but sometimes all you care about is that it fucking hurts right now. Tomorrow doesn't matter. Books. Books help.
I feel ya. I hope things get better for you, because emotional pain can sometimes hurt a lot more than physical pain. Like, there's pills that are pretty good at getting rid of physical pain, but the drugs built for emotions are always a "maybe". On top of that, it feels like normal pain doesn't warp your mind like being an emotional wreck does. Really, anything that helps you "get away", without affecting your health, is good. The best thing to do is find something that dulls the pain, because you can turn to it when things go bad and sometimes it's enough to start pulling yourself out of your pit. If books help you, then start reading.Books. Books help.
Hi eightbit! My health is also shit. Again. But this time I have more to do, I have the most wonderful boss ever at my 3 week job who is amazing. Just amazing. She is wonderful. And the preschool services both an upperclass area - and the apartments were newly arrived immigrants live. The kids are adorable. I love them all. The children are taught Swedish sign language so they can communicate faster - they understand really quickly - but their mouths/tounges/etc take a while to get used to the new movements. Their hands learn quicker. So their "handclapping games" use real sign language. They are the best. But it DOES get better. Bit by bit, day by day.
There's a part of the book where I mention, in a throwaway sort of line, the Warlizard Gaming Forums. I do this for a few reasons - one, Warlizard is a friend of mine. Two, it's always fun to tweak Reddit's nose a little. Three, it would have been fucking hilarious if Warlizard got my book pinned on him. It didn't survive the edit. It wasn't organic anymore, and it's in a section where the character who mentions it does some unlikeable things. As nobody likes that character, and I needed to make him more relatable, it had to go. It also burns a lot of runtime. I've so far eliminated about 100k words from the book (or, fully double what those NaNoNiNies write in a month) and that whole beat didn't count anymore. But it was more than that. Eighteen months ago, when I first wrote the passage, being a part of that Reddit mess was kinda fun, kind of a part of my identity, kind of something I felt a need to pay lip service to. It's not anymore. Reddit is no longer something I want a piece of. The team running things are the guys who bailed back when it was working, whose ideas led to the catastrophe that's in place now. In the public consciousness, Reddit is now what 4chan would have been if they knew what it was. You bring up /b/ and people always say "but that's not 4chan, there are all these other boards where people talk about stuff" but really, it's /b/. And yeah - there are big swaths of Reddit that aren't teenaged boys hating on black people because it's cool but really, the majority of Reddit is every bit as useless and hateful as the press makes it out to be. I haven't even logged in in a week. Anyway. Felt like sharing. The novel is 2/3rds edited, I'm on the home stretch, and it's going to be a tidy 83k words or so when it's done. Will it be any good? The phrase I used to my mentor was "hackneyed piece of shit" and he disagreed. But then, praise is free. Money talks and nobody has paid me for the current iteration of this chunk of shit yet. Other news - apparently demo has been completed on our space and they've cleared off one of the pole signs, which is big enough that it's grandfathered in to the municipal code. We'll have a sign bigger than two 4x8 sheets of plywood facing a street with somewhere between 40k and 60k cars a day (last traffic count was in 1998). And having been told by Wells Fargo to fuck off about our loan, we're finalizing 4x as much financing as we'll ever need with a medical startup financier that's offering us three full points better than Wells was going to give us on a HELOC. So... this thing is actually going to happen, maybe.
I'm on my way to the Sunset Express: A 35-hour train ride from LA to Seattle. I sure hope Amtrak has WIFI. insomniasexx brought me food in case Amtrak runs out of food. I read some of the reviews. Have to pack. I wish I could easily shoot and upload pics... otherwise it will be a pictureless #tripreport. Wish me luck. At the end, I will ask "Amtrak: What Can Be Learned?"
Do you have a smartphone? There are a couple of apps that upload pictures to the cloud and let you publish them individually or in batches when you desire. Or are you taking pictures with a separate, non-phone camera?
I don't know if this is Pubski material but I didn't want to make a tellhubski post about it. So on Monday a car slammed through the front window at my job. I've made kind of a big deal about being an artist but I work at a frame shop because I like food. Monday I was in the back sorting mat board pieces and I hear a crash and an, "Oh shit!."One of the shop cats comes blasting into the back. I thought there was a car accident in front of the shop because we're on a busy highway and we see a lot of accidents. I was right about the accident but it's in the store. The horn is blaring, the smell of airbag charge is in the air, people are shouting and one of my co workers is about losing his shit trying to dial 911. Some woman lost consciousness, hit an 18 wheeler and drove through the front of the building, knocking out a steel I beam and ~96 square feet of tempered plate glass. Firefighters had to cut her out of the car. You can see in the second picture they cut the whole B pillar out of the vehicle. Last I heard she's in critical condition with a litany of injuries. We cleaned up for about six hours and did a damn good job. The cats normally hang out in the show room. It took until midafternoon for us to find them. The building is huge and they found the most remote (and disgusting) corner to curl up in. They're still not back to sleeping by the door. Wear your seatbelt kids. A history of seizure disorder isn't a barrier to motor vehicle operation in this country.
Jesus. What do you think the end result will be for the business? Is there some form of insurance to cover that? I hope this woman recovers.
It could be good for the business. The insurance company should pay for everything so we should get a fat check for the damage. I'm still a little worried that they're going to make it difficult. And we lost a huge chunk of inventory. But my boss doesn't seem worried. I heard him use the word windfall.
Someone tried to rob the abandoned house my friends were jamming in, someone caught him carting a drum kit and four amps down the driveway into a van. He tried to pose as a govt employee inspecting the house before foreclosure. Well, he didn't get the stuff but he fucked up our spot because the cops came through the house and saw all the weed everywhere and what not:/ Shrooms are crazy fun, by the way. Poker night at the office tonight.. Boutta make the partners wish they never hired me. Stay crazy, Hubski! Edit: Anyone ever drive an old Nissan Pathfinder, Jeep Wrangler, or ~2000 Cherokee? How do they run/maintain?
I know two generations of Pathfinders, three generations of Wranglers and that Cherokee is a piece of shit. Nissans loosen up and get rattly. They also start to get pretty demanding of mechanicals. Nissan never really understood that the transmission should be tougher than the engine and their 2nd gear can be problematic. Don't know about the slushbox. Probably put 20,000 miles on a girlfriend's '99 pathfinder and I gotta say - driving it felt a lot like piloting a Huey gunship. The connection between the wheel and the road just wasn't there and the thing felt like a giant bomber bloating over the road. Wranglers, on the other hand, never tightened up. If you're talking the ones that are jeep-sized as opposed to the ones that are Chevy Suburban-sized, go with a 4-cyl. The 4cyls feel like nimble little mountain goats while the 6cyls feel like big wheezy trucks.
I drove a '94 Cherokee, two door, manual with an I6, and that mf'er was a trusty beast. Went well over 200,000 mi with pretty much no significant problems to speak of. Wasn't exactly an enjoyable ride, but it was built like a brick shithouse. I don't know if they changed significantly after the Daimler 'merger', but it's likely, so perhaps the 2000 would be a piece of shit. I worked for that company briefly, and I would never in a million years buy one of their products. The only Chrysler products I've driven since Fiat has been their overlord were a small Wrangler, and a Grand Cherokee, and both were nice, although I only spent hours with each, so I don't have much to go on. Anyway, they seemed to have improved as a company in the last decade.
Mmm. '94 should be the same as 2000. Perhaps the cherokees I've met have been deviant, because Wiki agrees with you. Dunno. The only Cherokees I've ever encountered were rattly, untrustworthy hunks of garbage. They felt like they'd been assembled with the torque specs set too light and then placed on a vibration table for a couple months. Perhaps it's because the Cherokees I grew up with did a fair amount of off-roading, and they didn't hold up.
Yes, according to the specs, but I suspect not in terms of quality, although I haven't looked. There was a marked shift in attitude after Daimler bought them. One would think that a German company buying you should make the quality go up, but the management all hated their commandants, and took it out on the line guys, who don't do good work when they feel marginalized. I worked there toward the end of when DaimlerChrysler was still a thing, and by that point I'm surprised nobody ever went postal at any of the factories. Everyone had the sense that they were one or two weeks from losing their job, and it showed in the work. Apathy doesn't begin to describe it.'94 should be the same as 2000.
I believe that 100%. It's kind of bizarre to think of a Chrysler line worker building an AMC engine for a Mercedes overlord and have it not come out pear-shaped. I've always found it hilarious that Daimler ran screaming from Chrysler, having lost 36 billion dollars. That's almost, but not quite, as marvelous as Harley Davidson paying $109m for MV Agusta and then selling it back 21 months later for three dollars and ninety eight cents.
What makes it even more funny is that Chrysler is hugely profitable right now, after being a giant piece of shit for the whole time before and during the Daimler mess. This is mainly because the sell Grand Cherokees for $50k and can't keep them on the lot. Under Daimler, the Jefferson North plant, where the Grand Cherokee is manufactured, and the only auto plant still totally in Detroit, was slated for closure. Now they're working 3 shifts, and can't build fast enough. It's a small miracle for the city and its terrible economy, and demonstrates how a toxic relationship (and terrible leadership--I can only hope they've fired most of the upper management in the last few years) can lead to poor results, even when people want the product.
I think wasoxygen has experience with older Cherokee's, right? I recall that when we bought our newer one, you seemed to have history with it. What I like about cherokee's is that even the older body models look similar to the new ones. They are kind of "classic" looking. They never look dated to me. Good luck! We love our newer one.
It's my first day alone in my new city and I've been doing some exploring!! I found a great independent grocery store a couple blocks away from my apartment and I really love it. It's a bit more expensive than your standard chain grocery store, but I don't have a car so it'll be nice to go there for small trips and then go to a larger store every couple weeks. I also found a nice little used bookstore, so I'm calling today a success.
Today is a very dear and old friend's birthday. For a long time, he, a female friend (FT), and I were extremely close. We called ourselves "the trifecta." Unfortunately, things between FT and me have fallen apart recently. FT repeatedly acted towards me in a way I initially found off-putting and eventually intolerable. Over time I aired my feelings and, ultimately, FT's actions became more intense and my reactions more vocal until finally I unequivocally stated they were not acceptable and I would no longer tolerate them. I felt FT should change her course. I also felt due an apology. In lieu of apology FT has sub-tweeted at me, drawing me into a brief spat during which we both threw middle-school level insults, and which I believe she is now using as justification for her lack of apology or attempt to make amends. That's fine. Me calling FT fat does not negate or justify her behavior, nor does it mean I'm not due an apology for her actions. She may emotionally feel that way or decide to feel that way, but that doesn't mean she's right. It just means she has her excuse to not own up for her actions. Sadly, old friend (OF) has been caught in the middle of all this. I think we both have been rather good about not forcing him to pick sides or in fact sharing much of the conflict in general. But today is his birthday. And he invited me out to the bar where he's celebrating. I respectfully said no. I apologized, but said that if FT and I were in the same place, it wouldn't go well: either I'd ignore her the whole time I was there and she'd have a dramatic emotional drunk breakdown when I left, or I wouldn't ignore her while I was there and there'd be an altercation of some sort. OF understood, agreed with me, and doesn't want me to feel bad nor does he really blame me for my choice. I still feel bad. I still wish I could be there. On the other hand I feel if his birthday celebration is to remain about his birthday and his happiness, it's the right choice not to go. We've talked about privately celebrating together and so on. We'll find a way to commemorate it and the length of our friendship (since high school) together. It doesn't stop me from feeling - badly? negatively? poorly? guilty? though. Hubski, how do you deal with people who are friends with people you aren't? We could get into an ideaological discussion about how, depending on how heinous FT's actions were, he should choose not to be friends with her. But relationships are long and complicated. FT's actions are heinous but there is a nuance to them, and a reason they are directed mostly at me, that is hard to explain and not worth it, to me, to justify or backstory with the whole internet as an audience. So let it be said I do not blame him for continuing to be friends with this person, nor do I think he should not be friends with her, nor do I think "stop being friends with those who are friends with shitty people" is an answer. I have multiple friends who are friends with people I do not like or even cannot stand. It is not my place to say who should be friends with whom. It is not my place to judge another person for those relationships, mostly. I would just like to know how to wrangle situations that arise from such tangled interrelated webs we weave as these. Or at least, some advice. And to not feel so bad or to worry that I've made his birthday more about me and my conflict than him and his happiness.
I don't have an answer that I could trust myself giving with the the meds I'm currently on but, like if everyone was as fucking reasonable as you are being right now I'm pretty sure the Palestinian/Israeli conflict would have ended decades ago, assuming it were ever to start to begin with i mean holy shit, you covered EVERYTHING
I have a group of wonderful friends I adore. Most of us have known each other for over a decade and are extremely close. One girl in the group is a nightmare. She makes snipey, rude comments, both about me and to me. She's judgemental, negative, and her favorite word is "actually" as she injects herself into a conversation to correct someone. Basically, she's the mean girl I promised myself I was done dealing with after high school. And several members of the group adore her. I walk a fine line. I invite her to group things I plan (and she does the same), because I don't want her to feel left out. I try to avoid her or keep to surface conversations. I try to stand up for myself when she crosses the line, but usually I end up snapping at her and feel guilty for not being more patient. She's not close with many people, and I tolerate her because I love the people who care about her. If it ever gets bad enough I can't deal I'll have to do the time split thing you are doing, but I really hope it never comes to that.
Hmm well; work has decided to officially make me what I was unofficially doing for them for some time. Which is handle the shit, violent, unstable and convicted clients looking for compensation through our country's 'insurance' scheme. I'm in two minds about this, I'm glad they let me do what I'm obviously good at; but I don't know how I feel about the fact that they are literally making a new job around me. This sounds great on paper but I wonder where I am supposed to go in a few years time, is there still a linear progression for my career? I asked this when given the news today and they honestly had no answer for me. I wonder if I dug myself a hole by being talented and willing. Taking a lovely lady I met at a party the other week to the local SPCA. Petting the kitties and playing with the puppies is a good first date methinks.
You should be able to make a case for linear progression. Handling difficult clients shows good managerial skills. Also yes petting cute animals is a great date, first or otherwise.
ok but make sure she hasn't had any traumatic farm animal experiences (full disclosure: a goat ate my shoelaces at a petting zoo once in the first grade)
all i'm saying is that i would be very upset if there was a surprise petting zoo visit. ungulates and i do not necessarily get along. i've been to the Middle East 2x now and have successfully avoided riding camels. i'm going again this winter and i might not get so lucky
Things are moving very fast in my life right now. Very, very fast. And I started a music blog but I think everyone already knows that.
Today was something, I guess. Woke up at a bright and early 7:30 am to make a dermatologist appointment, grabbed some breakfast, and headed over there. I know it's important to visit the doctor every now and then, but I hate it. There's always this weird smell in the office, but not a scent. It doesn't smell like clean, but sterile. It's the same as metal surgical tools. Cold. Calculated. To me, it's the smell of fear. It was there when they had to hold me down to stick a swab in the back of my throat. It was there when the optician burned my eyes with some vile chemicals. It was there when I or loved ones were in pain. No matter what building or type of office I go to, that same scent is there. it's a reminder that there's no emotion in these places. Everything is quantized so it can be logically evaluated and compared to numbers. It's just this feeling of being inside of a machine; you're in this cold, metallic box awaiting for your fate to be calculated. After some paper work, a friendly nurse leads me back to a little neutral-colored room. I'm met by a puke green chair in the corner, a puke green bed as a center piece, and a light gray counter and cabinets that seem to fade into the rest of the room. The room looks like the designer put in in Photoshop, then dragged the saturation slider all the way down. The only thing that stuck out to me was the red box hanging on the wall with a collection of needles in it and a giant "BIOHAZARD" sign plastered on its midsection. The nurse asked me a few generic questions, like "What are you here for?" and "Is this your first time here?" She haphazardly scribbled a few words down on her notepad, told me that the doctor would be here in a few minutes, and left to see her next patient. I had the joy of sitting in that small room, looking at the bland decor that surrounded me. I could have read one of the few magazines that seem to be the same outdated ones as every medical facility, but there was something calming about the serenity of my surroundings. Eventually, the doctor came in, exchanged a few pleasantries, and asked me a couple questions. She put her hands on the sides of my face and swiveled it around, giving a few "mhm"s as evaluated the damage. She tipped down my collar and peeked at my chest, then lifted up the back of my shirt with her cold, rubber hands, taking a good look at the blemishes that collected on my body. Without doing much more, she asked me what I was doing before, then immediately started writing down a perscription on a piece of paper. I knew it, I was going to be put on some kind of drug. She talked about the medication a bit, said that a nurse would be by for a blood sample, then left. A few minutes later, the same nurse that led me in came back in. She walked back to the room and opened the wall to grab a bright orange band and a strange looking needle. She asked me which arm I preferred, I replied that I didn't care, then she grabbed my right arm and started looking around. I guess it wasn't satisfactory for her, so she asked for my left and started looking around my elbow crease for a little blue line. She complimented me on my cleanliness, because, in her words, most guys that come in don't smell too great. Eventually, she found what she was looking for, and grabbed a needle from the metallic, wheeled table at the side. She tied the band around the top of my arm, pinched me with the needle, then slowly unraveled the ribbon. When the needle left my skin, a feeling of illness took over my body. It was like she sucked the life out of me when that blood went into the vial. She told me to lie down and left for a glass of water. As I was sipping the water, we went over some paperwork, and she assured me that I would feel better soon, and I could go when I started feeling better. Eventually, reality came back to me, so I got up to leave. I got into the hallway, and my mother started filling out some paper work. As we were standing there, I started getting weak. My vision started blacking out. My ears started ringing. I quickly whispered "I'm going to sit down" and rushed to the closest chair. I felt like all of my blood was taken out, I was hung upside down, then someone started filling me back up through my feet. My heart was racing. I was sweating as if I just ran a marathon. My breathing was short and quick. I felt like I wasn't going to leave that chair alive. A nurse noticed, and left to get me more water and a snack. As I tried to collect my senses, my mom fanned me and told me that I was going to be fine. The nurse came back with a wet paper towel, a drink, and some crackers. "Put this on your head." The next few moments were pure agony. I wasn't in any pain - I just felt like my life left my body. All my strength and liveliness just voided itself from me as I sat there begging for the sweet embrace of death. I pleaded, "When is this going to end?" Luckily, a few minutes later, the sickness drained from me. I was reunited with my soul, and had the strength to leave. Now, I'm just sitting here on my computer and feeling a bit scared. There's a book and countless labels on the drugs warning me about all of the possible side effects. They really like to emphasize the whole depression part of the equation. It tells me to stop taking them if I feel worthless, want to die, or have erratic sleep patterns. The thing is, I already have that; so how am I supposed to tell what is just me and what is the medicine? I probably shouldn't be on it, but it's no big deal for me. I've been fighting my demons for years - another 6 months is a cake walk for me. Besides, I'll come out the other end feeling a lot better about myself. Maybe that will be enough.
I was accidentally rude to a close friend of mine. My social group has some pretty sarcastic people - myself included. Of course, it's never intentional, and this was more of a misunderstanding. She is pretty angry though, so much so I don't feel the magnitude of her anger really matches what was said, and I'm wondering what else is going on. There was also a massive hailstorm and I'm going to the spa today, but those are not nearly as important as hurting someone you care about!
Was walking through Allston when a hail storm hit, then got surprise dumped and saw George Church walking on the street on my way home
I miss Allston. And Boston in general. Sorry to hear you got dumped. You handling it okay? I'd feel way better after seeing George Church...
I'm nervous of my little '93 Honda Civic Hatchback making it through this upcoming winter while living in Colorado. Does anyone have any experience living up there or any similarly high altitude, feet-of-snow-in-the-winter locales? Are new tires worth it? I have blankets, an ice scraper, a jack, a spare tire, and jumper cables. Anything else I should have? A little part of me is afraid of getting stuck in a blizzard. On the flip side, a group of us that did AmeriCorps together in 2014 are doing a big reunion, maybe 20 or so people will fly out to meet up, and we picked as our central place... Denver! Which will be a hop, skip, and a jump for me.
Grew up in the Mountain West, 3,000 feet higher than Denver. Have cousins who have lived in Boulder for the past 20 years. They are pussies when it comes to snow. THING 1: TIRE CHAINS. Get some. You will need two because they only go on the drive wheels. Learn to put them on when it isn't fucking freezing. Get the ones that are easiest to put on because if you don't know chains, you will wrap them around the axle and that's an unpleasant afternoon. THING 2: First big snow, find yourself an empty parking lot and drive like a jackass in it. Talking donuts, powerslides, the whole nine yards. You are doing this to remind yourself, every season, what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh and how much it doesn't have in common with dry conditions. You are discovering that you can't brake worth a shit, that if you turn too tight the car will just go where physics tells it to, and that the gas must be eased on and off if you want to go anywhere. THING 3: In major metropolitan areas, the problem is never the weather, it's those other jackasses who have no idea what to do about the weather. There's nothing in your life that can't wait an hour or two for you to get home, unless the storm is coming and the jackasses are filling the freeways. If your commute is full of a million morons on good days, on bad days it's full of a million morons who have forgotten how to drive in snow (they never do Thing 2). Plan accordingly. New tires? Well, if you've got a garage you can buy a spare set of rims and put some snow tires on them, then swap out for the season. Or you can just get that done at the shop. All-seasons are definitely better than three-seasons 'cuz that fourth season really means "traction on ice." You're not going to get stuck in a blizzard. If it freaks you out that much, though, pick up some flares, a chemical hand-warmer or two and a half-dozen powerbars to keep in your trunk. Not that the flares will actually accomplish anything, but they make you feel prepared. And if you do need to start a fire (you won't), highway flares make that shit pretty simple.
Grew up in Snowy Newfoundland, then snowy northern Ontario. The only thing I can't speak to is tire chains (possibly illegal here, they demo the roads), but all of the other advice is what I give to everyone else - ESPECIALLY Thing 2 and snow tires.
Oh yeah. Tire chains are hell on roads. Thing is, though, over about 30mph they're hell on cars, too. Makes for a short-lived problem. In Washington, though? Studs are legal. November 1 to March 1. And you want to see the destructive force of an automotive vehicle on an asphalt road, give a major metropolitan area tire studs. parts of I-5 look like a dirt road, all crowned in the middle with two furrows on either side... Kinda wild that you can't rock tire chains in f'n Canada.
Really, good snow tires and ensuring your city spends enough money on snow plows and sand is best. Sand, because after a certain point salt no longer lowers the freezing point enough for it to be useful as a melting agent. In northern Ontario I lived in a city with several large mines. The ore transport trucks, combined with the occasional day above freezing destroyed the main roads in the city badly enough without tire chains, or studs. By the end of winter, the main roads are a total disaster and the city spends the rest of the year in construction mode trying to repair them The whole freeze-thaw effect, allowing liquid water to get into cracks in the road then expanding when it freezes, along with the heaving of the ground as it freezes, just completely destroys everything.
Puget sound has crowned roads so that runoff hits the gutters and doesn't stand. It means that when the roads do freeze, getting a little bit off to the side means you're in the gutter. It also almost never snows, emphasis on "almost." I believe the city of Seattle occasionally has four snow plows. What has happened twice in my memory is we had a ridiculous snowstorm and no snowplows, so the city council gets outraged and demands Seattle buys snowplows. Then it doesn't snow and the city council gets outraged and demands that Seattle sells these giant waste-of-money snowplows. The ironic part is there's this guy that basically arbitrages Seattle's stupidity. At least twice he's bought the snowplows at auction, stored them in a warehouse, then sold them back to Seattle at about 1000% profit within 18-24 months.
When I was going to University in NE Ohio, the city I lived in had maybe 4 snow plows - and it snows there EVERY YEAR, ALL THE TIME. I've never had so many snow days in my life. I never had a day off from snowfall in high school - just the occasional day that it was "too cold to go outside" so school was cancelled and we went sliding outside instead. I lived on a deeply suburban street in northern Ontario, and it often took the snow plow an extra day to get to us because they were busy with main roads. As a result, you just go used to driving in half a foot of snow. edit: the roads are sort of crowned in Ontario as well, but I don't think that the drainage system works as well - we just get lots of water on the road. Not hydroplaning bad, but big puddles, pedestrians beware bad.
We had 58" of snow in one evening once back when I was in 4th grade. They cancelled that day. Then two months later, we had 40" of snow but fuckin' hell we were not canceling again so we had to make it in for a 2-hour delay, and then went home 2 hours early because the snow was coming down some more. That was a school district that was not extending the school year.
Oh man, occasionally we'd have "Ice Days", where the roads were bad enough that the school bus companies weren't running, but you still had to go to school (total dumb bullshit, but that's another story). I'd get a ride in with my mom on her way to work anyways, so I'd get to school, there's be like 50 students and a bunch of teachers being all like "why are you heeeeere? go home kid, i wanna go home too." Looking back, that was probably one of my first realizations that my teachers were human, and just like me.
Do tire chains stay on all winter? And how do you know which pair of chains are easier to put on than others? I will certainly try your THING 2. I think I have a very healthy respect for snow and snow's effect on driving conditions, but it's always one thing to hypothetically understand and another to viscerally understand. And hopefully, as for THING 3, I'm considering working at a ski resort that will provide cheap housing and public transportation just because of the security in knowing that I won't have to rely on my car day in and day out.
Tire chains come off as soon as you see pavement. They also don't go faster than 30-40mph. They are to get you through snow and nothing else. You know which chains are easier to put on because it says on the box. Last thing: AWD helps you go faster in shitty conditions. It does nothing to make you stop faster. God speed.
Grab some kitty litter, or gravel in case you get stuck and need better traction. And some water and a little food also a first-aid kit just in case. Otherwise, a good car prep list.
Slightly less mountainous, but Wisconsin gets a fair bit of snow. Having good tires is definitely helpful. If you can swing it, snow tires are even better, but there's cost and storage of extra tires that can be a problem. If you're worried about getting stuck, an oldie but a goodie is tell someone where you're going, what route you're taking and when you expect to get there. That way if you get stuck along the way people will know you're missing and where to look for you. When the weather is bad, keep your gas tank more full. I've seen suggestions of not letting it get below 1/2. That way if you get stuck you can run the engine to keep warm.
After I reached out to a Colgate upperclassman with a question, he remarked offhandedly, "You're an interesting one, [galen]. You've caught the attention of the upperclassmen. We'll see in the fall whether that's a good thing." I don't know how to feel about this! What does it all mean…?
It means you're apparently in a fucking Harry Potter movie. My mouth is actually wide open reading that. I. I actually don't believe you. To believe you means that I have to accept that people like this exist. Was he wearing a blazer? Did he look like - or was his name - Nathan Prescott? Did he at any point say that "[his] father would be hearing about this"?? Holy shit, your Life is Actually Strange^TM
What even he just messaged me "So tell me [galen]. What are you about? What spark light in the eyes of [MY FULL NAME WTF]?" He's definitely fucking with me. Or one of those people that's so awkward they pretend to be in a 1940s British school for boys. E: Well, we continued talking and he actually gave me some pretty sage advice. So that's cool.
Still living that busy life :) The overnight camp I used to go to as a kid and where I worked for 2 years has started again. My boyfriend is the director so I'm going again this weekend to spend time in the woods, drinking and stuff. I love it there! School year is approaching so we have to start organizing the welcoming BBQ for students in the electronic commerce program. I'm in charge of the social media of the comite so I'm more aware of all the web news lately than before. Hubski has been great because when something happens, every tech site writes about it but I rather post good quality writeups on the page.
I'm wrapping up the final week in my Research Position at my university for the summer, and it's been interesting. I thought I would like it a lot more better than I did, but my entire summer ended up being pretty boring. My 21st birthday is this Friday. Back in the early spring, I had the option of accepting this research position or going to Colombia to perform with my University's marching band. I chose the research position, as a result I won't have anyone to celebrate my 21st with. That wouldn't be so bad, if I had enjoyed my position this summer in the slightest, as opposed to being bored like what ended up happening. I thought it would be better to build my experience and CV if I did the research instead of enjoying myself with the Band in Colombia, but now I'm really regretting that decision. Especially with the whole birthday thing, which would have happened during the Colombia Trip. On the bright side, only two more days of this left. And Band camp starts in 10 days so that's a plus too.
I started my new position this week - Services Education Coordinator. I moved my desk and finished up the work for my old position and now I'm just kind of sitting on my hands wondering what goals they're going to set for me. I did find out that the other ed coordinator is a huge video game nerd, so now we're making a sphere grid a la FFX to map out career progressions and available courses, which is super neat. My carburetor came for the CT90, but the throttle cable got lost in the mail. The cable was $10 and I don't really think it's worth the time it would take to argue a claim for it, so I'm just ordering a new one. I still need to clean the gas tank and get a deep well socket for the plug. I did managed to get a lot of rust off the chrome and take off a lot of parts and pieces off the frame so I could really clean it. I did have a question: the tank has what I assume are fuel stains on it. I tried the same method I used for the rust on chrome (tin foil and salt water) but with no luck. I'm wondering if anyone (kleinbl00?) has suggestions for tackling gas stains or if I'll have to just repaint the whole thing. Oh, we're also looking for wedding photographers, if anyone in the triangle knows someone.
Well... Where do I start. The premier of my first real big actual show is soon. It is an amataur production but the otehr actors are frickin' amazing. I get to play to very cool roles - one of them Queen Kristina. As a 12/13 year old. It is a ton of fun. And I get to use my knowledge in French. It is quite limited - but it is fun to use it none-the-less. I get to have a deus ex christina moment when I solve a very big conflict for the townspeople. By bying some fabric. Woop, woop! It is also a play with a lot of bacround acting so I get to sit around and talk as my charachter with people in the play who talk as their charachter. So thats fun. I've also got strep throat, tons of infected small cuts, and all my joints hate me. Which is less fun.
I have a crazy amount of work to do, a major security audit (my own, I hold myself to a pretty high standard) and on top of that I have a major trip incoming that I am not even at the "gee, what should I pack" phase. We are starting to lose Saturn and the outreach for the summer is coming up with more stuff to look at as we hype up the Lunar Eclipse at the end of September. And Windows 10 is the straw that may make me go full Linux. I sort of wish I could go full Ubuntu at work, but that would be a gong show as my user base is not very tech/computer/electronic savvy. Life is fun when you have 10,000 things going on all at once.
The ads in the OS bother me. This is why I am bailing on Ubuntu as a desktop OS. Your operating system should have a bare minimum footprint so that it has fewer vectors to attack and sneak in. This is why you do NOT use IE to surf the web; you want an abstraction layer of code between the internet and your machine if possible. Today we had a user get a virus from an infected ad network. So I'm still in that mindset of securing OS's. Had a chat about the EFF's new Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin, and Ghostery with people as well.