Holy shit. I've just received a visa invitation to a student forum in Cologne, Germany. Holy shit! I'd applied to the forum in November and was selected out of 3000+ other students from all around the world, which is freaking amazing! The forum in question is World Business Dialogue. This conference's topics include AI and the role of humanity, alternative sources of energy and the future of EU. I get a chance to listen to a whole selection of world experts on said matters. Among the speakers from previous years are several CEOs of German and international companies and banks, politicians (like Michael Bloomberg), journalists and entrepreneurs (like Bill Gates). I knew I was invited before - they've sent me an acceptance letter - but it's the visa invitation that really hit me: "This is real. This is happening". Holy shit. I've been selected to attend an international forum in Germany, and I'm not even that good of a student. Thanks to goobster for guiding me through the process! You've been a great help, buddy, and I appreciate that. Oh boy. I'm excited! There's still the matter of ticket cost as well as accomodation (which is paid for separately and is promising to be a hostel), which might be beyond my reach. I'm keeping in touch with the official counsel of the forum in Russia to try and leverage some sort of a compensation. Hopefully, I won't have to ask my parents for any financial assistance. Ticket costs rise by €20 after the New Year, so getting something before that would be better. And I guess I can starve a bit to scrape some money for accomodation and food, given that the forum is in early March. Hoo boy. I'm going to need a suit and a good pair of shoes for that. Can't look cheap in that kind of a business. Excerpt from the visa invitation: <..> The World Business Dialogue brings together top-tier students and distinguished speakers from various fields of expertise to analyse and discuss impactful topics in today’s economy and society. Over the past 25 years, the World Business Dialogue has grown to become the world’s largest international business convention organised by students. Each year, the Dialogue attracts a wide variety of distinguished speakers, company representatives and students. The participants form a multicultural, cross-generation think tank as the foundation for productive and inspiring discussions. Only through the active participation of elite students like Anton Shumakov can this Dialogue successfully occur.Anton Shumakov was chosen from a highly selective pool of over 3000 international applicants to attend the 20th World Business Dialogue <..> as one of our 300 international delegates. <..> Acceptance to attend the World Business Dialogue is an extraordinary accomplishment which deserves both recognition and support.
Don't starve yourself, but consider this. That fancy burrito dinner you pass up will probably be something you forget about a few years from now. An event like the one you're invited to? That'll stick with you for life.And I guess I can starve a bit to scrape some money for accomodation and food, given that the forum is in early March.
I know, man, and it's been a cheeky remark rather than a serious plan. It's just that I've been eating away my sorrows for the last three weeks or so. My baseline mood has shifted down; I've stepped down a stair. Despite being less prone to fear and more curious than ever on a daily basis, I also feel weaker and sadder than ever on a daily basis. That has to be healed with something. Food helps, even if I don't really like what I eat at this point.
It's 32 outside. It was 21 overnight. I'm drinking half-italian, half-french roast O'Houri's. I'm typing on a 104-key CODE. I'm listening to Adham Shaikh over Genelecs. I'M HOME MUTHAFUCKAS It took approximately 3 hours to terminate 18 runs of CAT5 on one end. The rack shows up this afternoon which means I can terminate the other end, install the network and have the phone system up and running. So that's about $5k I managed to save myself. I'm in such a good mood that I'm over the fact that the dentist next door to our unit killed the sump pump again by flushing tampons, thereby filling the crawlspace with sewage. 'cuz see, we now know it was tampons. And as there are only two units that use that sewer line, and as the only people in my unit are middle-aged male contractors, we can say with 100% certainty where the blame lies. And as this is the 2nd time she's killed the sump pump in as many months, perhaps a more long-term solution will present itself to our landlord which will not come out of our triple-net. Fired up Pro Tools for the first time in six months (thenewgreen - you'll be happy to know that "charcoal" was my test project of choice) and got three computers updating just in time for a new Eventide plugin to test. Unfortunately Avid's licensing schema has changed such that I now need them to bless me with another set of licenses but it's not like I'm in a hurry. Simply writing five hard drives to the server for backups feels so... normal. The Swampmonster Stealth is apparently all better now that I shopvac'd the pine needle out from under the seal. It's been in the rain for four days and has yet to develop a lagoon. Not only that but I decided to kludge the headliner back up with a hot melt glue gun. Elegant? hell naw. But it isn't dripping disintegrated foam on me anymore. And in an example of "when it rains, it pours" A WILD 10 GRAND APPEARS. Opened a letter yesterday from my aunt. Enclosed was a cashier's check. Apparently my grandma said "I don't wanna give the grandkids anythang but if you do, it's on you." As the bonds have matured and my father has settled the estate, my aunt saw fit to bestow the grandkids with a little scratch. My first instinct was to set it aside for my kid's private school next year. My wife, however, pointed out that it could easily replace the Swampmonster Stealth. She also met with a client today who mentioned how criminally cheap Leafs are these days. So. steve. rd95. Here's the battle royale: - keep the Swampmonster Stealth, maybe change out the stereo, and throw the money at my kid (option 1) - Buy a Nissan Leaf for ridiculously little money. - Buy an FR-S for not too much more. That was the one useful thing about the LA auto show - it contradicted my firmly-held notion that FR-S have no back seats. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to change out my surround controller. I bought a second one (for CHEEP) to replace the first, which has a leaky cap somewhere that keeps it from firing the first few times. If I can get them both working, I can actually build a viable Atmos 7.2.4 monitoring setup, which will make me the one Atmos house in Seattle, which I might just have to do considering I know the Atmos guy at Dolby.
that's some dark-ass coffee. Love that charcoal taste? I'm super happy for you that you're home. half-italian, half-french roast
So O'Hori's was the coffee that my best friend's mom made, back when I was trying to emancipate myself from my parents at 16 and sleeping in cars and shit. When things were good I got to stay at his place and the smell of O'Hori's half'n'half was the thing that woke me up most mornings. It was also the first coffee I ever had that wasn't Folger's Crystals so it's safe to assume that I imprinted on it. It's not my favorite coffee in the world but it's my "comfort" coffee, particularly as I got three pounds as a gift from the aforementioned best friend's mom.
that is a RIDICULOUS price on that LEAF. If you don't imagine the need to drive further than 100 miles in a day - consider it. If you need more than that - steer clear of the LEAF. I loved having it. I bid adieu in a few days. It really is a great (albeit ugly) commuter. Super fun to drive. Great cargo space. all torque. fun and at that price - i would have bought out mine at the end of the lease... but Nissan is holding out for about 10k. So I went a different direction. EDIT: Welcome home. That was hard-earned time away. I'm glad you're back. Soak it in.
Welcome back to WA! Hope you're looking forward to snow... Once the holidays are over, let me know if you have the time/desire for a beer. I owe you at least one at this point.
Performance If you want a daily driver that’s good for handling, it’s really hard to find better than this without getting fancy and expensive. The steering is tight and responsive, the car turns in an intuitive manner, and the wheels/tires really transmit a lot of road feel. It’s an absolute blast to drive on nice, country roads. It’s a bit of a double edged sword, because it’s so responsive and because the suspension is nice and stiff, driving it for more than a few hours can get a bit tiring. This can easily be remedied by taking the recommended 15 minute breaks for every 2 hours of driving. Brakes. The brakes on this car are amazing. ‘Nuff said. The engine is not a high torque engine. It’s not gonna compare to V8s or Turbo 4s and if you want to get any action out of it, you can’t be shy of the higher RPM range. There also really is a torque dip around 4k. For some reason, if you get around 4k you’ll get a lot of engine noise but not a lot of power to the wheels. Some people get around this by installing unequal length headers, a modified catback exhaust, and reflashing the ecu. That sounds like a lot of money, work, and risk. So, uh, I just don’t worry about it myself. Though if you have some free time, check out FR-S/BRZ videos with modified headers and exhaust. They got some great sounds there. This is not a good winter/adverse weather car. It’s light and low to the ground with wide tires. If you get a car that still has the stock Michelin Primacy Hps, I recommend you get rid of them. I use Kumho Ecsta 4x for my three season tires and Bridgestone Blizzaks for my winter tires. No one is going to have the Blizzaks in stock for your wheel size. You’ll have to order them in advance. Keeping this in mind, even with winter tires, winter driving isn’t always the most fun. There have been a few times where I’ve had to have people drive me to work and home because I wasn’t willing to risk the trek in my car. That said, because winter driving in that thing isn’t fun, you’ll be safe as hell about driving in the snow because you’ll quickly realize how extra cautious you have to be. It should be noted that winter tires are tires for safe driving. They’ll suck all of the fun out of driving your car and make you wish for spring real quick. When you put your three seasons back on, your car will seem like a whole new beast again. It’s actually pretty awesome. Also, with winter, the power windows stop working if they get ice on them and get stuck when you first open the car. To fix this, you’ll have to let your windows thaw out completely then roll them all the way down by holding down the window button, keep it down for about five seconds, then roll them all the way back up. If your window button is blinking, that’s when you know they’re stuck. Maintenance PLEASE NOTE: DOUBLE CHECK THE MANUAL ON ALL OF THIS BECAUSE I’M RUNNING ON MEMORY AND HEARSAY HERE. ALWAYS CHECK YOUR MANUAL. ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR MECHANIC. I’M NOT A CAR EXPERT. I AM AN IDIOT. Sorry. Had to put that disclaimer in for any non-KB readers. The car runs on premium gas, but you’ll get an average of about 28-32 mpg depending on how you drive if you don’t stomp the throttle after every red light. Toyota/Subaru recommends 93 octane fuel. People say you can run 91 if that’s all you can get your hands on, but they really want you to run 93. I’ve heard people say that the car will retard its timing and even go into limp mode if you run less than 91 or put bad gas in it, but I wouldn’t risk it myself. If the gas near you has ethanol added (almost everywhere does these days), make sure it’s 10% or less to keep it from damaging the engine and understand that on summer days your fuel pump will play host to a chirping noise that has been lovingly named “crickets” by the 86 community. Mine’s been chirping away since about 3,000 miles with no problem. Pretty sure it’s a none issue. Speaking of noise, there’s not a lot of sound proofing in the car. Enjoy your highway noise. The car has decent speakers though, so if you want to drown it out with music, you’ll be able to do so just fine. I bought my car brand new, but maintenance-wise, this is probably the cheapest car I’ve ever own. Oil changes aren’t expensive, tire rotations, spark plug changes, blah blah blah. All in all, it’s not bad. Definitely cheaper than a BMW or something. If you want to know about any major maintenance issues with the car, this is a good place to look. Wear and tear The clearcoat on my paint is thin and shitty. I have paint swirls and rock chips up the ass. I have tail light condensation (fixed by drilling a few holes to let the water escape). My interior has a few scuffs. I’ve learn to accept the fact that it’s a daily driver and won’t stay perfect forever, so I’m okay with this. When you’re sitting in the driver seat, going down the highway, you won’t be looking at your paint anyway. You’ll be grinning your ass off and being happy you own this thing. Space/Accessibility The backseat is the perfect place to put your coat. I think it can theoretically hold a babyseat. I’m pretty certain if you can get one to fit, you’ll be reluctant to take it out until you have to. I’m sure it’s probably a chore. The back seat isn’t really meant for adults unless you’re desperate and/or they’re short and happen to be missing their legs. The car is low to the ground, so getting in and out takes a little extra effort, but if you do it daily you’ll soon become a pro and not notice. The trunk is like that phone booth from Doctor Who. It looks small on the outside. You can CRAM that mother fucker no problem. I have yet to find myself in a scenario where I’ve said “Oops. Well, looks like this can’t come with us. There’s no more room in the trunk.” As an aside, you’ll enjoy cornering your car. Don’t put loose/breakable stuff in your trunk. Don’t put paper bags of groceries in your trunk. Things will tip, roll around, or otherwise get displaced. If that happens, don’t feel too bad about it. It’s not your fault. It’s the car’s. The car wants to be driven. Unlike the trunk, the glovebox is small as shit. It’s good for your ownerbooks, your insurance and registration, and maybe a pair of sunglasses. The car technically doesn’t come with cupholders. Mine didn’t. It comes with removable cupholders that you put in the center console. The front of the center console has a power jack. Put the cupholders to the back of the console or you’ll cover this power jack up. Visibility Make sure your mirrors are properly adjusted. It does have a pretty decent blind spot on the driver side. It’s not Camaro bad, but it’s not four door Civic good either. You will be visible to everybody from the police to boy racers to bros in pickup trucks. Since you currently drive a stealth, you kind of know what that’s like. BE CAREFUL AROUND 18 WHEELERS AND CONSTRUCTION TRUCKS! I can’t confirm this, but I half suspect around them I’m extra invisible. Seeing as how you ride a motorcycle too, you’re familiar with this feeling. Uh. That’s all I can think of for now. If you have any questions, just shoot them to me. I have to go run some errands, but I’ll get back to you tonight.
You may find this link entertaining. By specs, your car has more horsepower, weighs less, has more rear room and better gas mileage than what I'm driving right now. It's also taller.
The HP/Torque profiles for those cars are almost mirror opposites. If you get an 86, you'll like how light and crisp the car feels. If you ever start to take it for granted, find a friend with a Buick or a Cadillac or a truck or something and borrow it for a day. When you get back in the 86, you'll appreciate it all over again.
So, thenewgreen commissioned a shirt from me, and I decided to make a Hubski-themed one. Still mid-process, needs buttons and hems. Here is is head-on. Mostly black, subdued, but then... BLAM color everywhere. Collar down. Cuffs closed. placket. Proud of how this one is shaping up, lots of nice details in it - goobster, there are honest-to-god pleats and plackets on this puppy, I'll upload detail pics later. ---- Also Made my sister a dress for her birthday. (There is a picture of me modeling it, but it's a bit early in the day for that...) ----------- Relatedly, my mother, who is a saintly woman, saw me working on this shirt last night, and she literally pulled my father by his shirt to the machine and said "OUR SON CAN MAKE A PLEAT" like it was the most mindblowing thing she had ever seen. My dad has been, uh, not super pleased with my sewing in the past, so it was nice to at least get a "huh, pretty good" from him (even if it was kind of forced). Bottom line: my mom is awesome.
Plackets. Man, excellent work. You really are doing impressive work for someone who is basically entirely self-taught. I saw people in classes with professional equipment, instructors, and tutors, who were completely incapable of figuring out the proper order of operations to make a placket, or yoke, or collar, or whatever. You have every reason to be proud of your work.
Thanks! They're all fabrics from Joann's Fabric, which is an (inter?)national chain with a store near me. They're cotton blends, and the total cost of fabric was about $4 after heavy sales. In the past, I've usually used bedsheets for large amounts of black fabric (mainly because I have about half a dozen plain black sheets already), but TNG deserved some fresh fabric ;) The polka dots were handpainted using this technique, if you're interested. If you a buy a bigger eraser, you can carve them out into stamps and print whatever you want!
Bukowski, Bradbury, Poe... some good reading on that shelf. I'm thrilled to receive the shirt, it looks amazing. mk, check it out.
<3 That's mainly my "things I read in High school" section. This bookcase used to be ordered with Dewey Decimal System - a fact that once got me a job at my college library. However, the library used Library of Congress, which I still have basically memorized (which is hard to prove over the internet, but trust me). Re-organized it in LoC during college, it's now organized "historically" and if there are books that remind me of certain people (if I lent it to them, or vice versa, or if we've talked about it etc), I have them grouped as well. Re-organizing my bookshelf is my go-to procrastination task. Here is my current favorite bookcase section - mushroom box full of important notes from people, then just a fucking birdhouse, then children/YA section (Narnia and Series of Unfortunate Events) ...I like my bookshelf.
Alright. Time to put down the needle and thread and pick up and instrument:
Long day yesterday. Fifteen hours straight of lab work, but finally replicated my results from last year in another model of Alzheimer's. Pretty decent for tissue that was just lying in the freezer ready to be thrown out. When I look at my lab journal, I'm reminded of people's comments on modern art. Without context, it's a bunch of scribbles, but to me, it's dancing and excitement at 11pm after everyone else has gone home. Some heavy hitting research should be hitting the journals / university PR machines later today. My collaborator's lab found a novel treatment that appears to heavily clear amyloid. They've had to be very careful about their wording and the scope of their claims, but doubtless it will either catapult the field forward or breed the next decade of pseudoscience and alt-medicine treaments. The procedure is super simple though, and they had an exhibit set up around the Christmas tree on Sunday during the lab's holiday party. It should be linkable by this afternoon. Should be booking travel info for my first big science conference this week. Will be going to Vienna! I'm told I shouldn't present my own work though as it's too early / too much potential to be scooped. Hopefully I can turn that assessment around between now and then.
post it when it comes out, for sure. I've ridden a few AD hype trains before, they usually crash but it's always a fun ride.Some heavy hitting research should be hitting the journals / university PR machines later today.
After a week of basically no Facebook, I can't go back to it for one reason: Pace. I have realized that checking the Facebook feed habitually kept me in a constantly amped-up state, and if I didn't check it constantly I fell behind, and couldn't catch up. After a week of no newsfeed I am calmer, I have an enormous amount of time available to me suddenly... I can't believe I spent that much time on it before, but maybe I did? Life is better without Facebook. I have logged in a couple of times to check comments on a thread I am participating in, and to see photos of my friends' kids, but no newsfeed for me... it's just a long string of useless garbage. Weird. So this week, Pubski, maybe just a nice tawny Port, to sip quietly in my chair as I watch the Pacific Northwest slip into the most gorgeous winter in memory...
I've been off facebook for several years now and I was actually thinking of going back. So many people use it to stay in touch that it's difficult to keep up with friends who moved away otherwise. Though I did just order a bunch of christmas cards, so that might be a good alternative.
That's why I didn't delete it. I have many friends all over the world who I want to keep in touch with, and FB is just a good tool for peeping into their lives. What I did is change my behavior with FB, so I get more from it. When I log in, I immediately click on my name to jump away from the Feed, and go straight to my profile. This way I can see if anyone has posted to my page or tagged me in anything I should see. Then I type in specific people's names, to go to their profile, and see what is new with them. It's a minor thing, but it gives ME agency and control, and puts me in the driver's seat with my interactions with FB. Rather than just passively scrolling through the Feed, I am actively looking for specific people, which feels much more genuine and "connected" to them. "Hey friend, what have YOU been up to lately?" This way I find is more honest, or something. Intentional. And I do have a big cheat: My wife is always on FB. So if something happens, I know about it through her.
Hey, WanderingEng - remember our deal from last week's Pubski? You said you wanted motivation, so I agreed to put my own flaws on display with something for this week. Here you go- a somewhat off-looking rose...
I do remember, and that looks great! Drawing more is still on my to do list, so I don't have anything to share myself. Your rose looks really good, especially since I remember you saying it had been a while since you'd drawn much.
On Not Taking One's Self Too Seriously I occasionally pick up old journals for perspective. In one of my journals from 1990 I meet a guy who says, You're a candle in the sewer of life. I've been called other things: You're a lifeguard on the ocean of thought. You're tumbleweed blowing through a dream. and of course, to keep things in perspective my ex-husband said: Fuck you. You're an evil person. You ruined my life. Of course later he took it back, regretted everything, and said he had been "bewitched" - but not by me. eeep, got to run pubski. Leaving my beer half-drunk (rather than myself).
thx. What happened to litcat? The link only takes me into a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. Now that I got through my last class until January something, I hope to do more writing and at least populate pubski with, I hope, things that make steve giggle. I wonder if anyone is on IRC talking about the whatevers that they talk about.
I got a vasectomy yesterday. Had a hard time sleeping last night but the pain is pretty bearable today. They said to stay off your feet for 24 hours and better if I could do 48. I'm not good at immobility, had to get up and take a short walk this morning and I feel a good deal better for it. My doctor was an old guy. I asked him how many he had done. "Thousands, my record is 90 in one day." He said it was overseas and part of a family planning drive. They would prep ahead of him and he'd go down the line snipping. He gave me a brief history of the procedure and how it's evolved. Not much blood or swelling.
Probably the best $1000 I ever spent. And I got it from a dude that calls himself "Dr. Snip". Got a fancy little leatherman pocket knife out of the deal, too! (He and I did the math on the number of vasectomies he does, and he's clearing $50k/mo without breaking a sweat.)
58... but who's counting? Naw - but seriously - when you know you're done... and I mean when you know it? How many forms of female permanent sterilization have a history of ZERO side effects? yah... none of them. Vasectomy has like.... almost none... a couple of days of discomfort? way better than... you know... possible death of your partner. I'm not suggesting female sterilization is super hazardous... just saying that no one has died from the vasectomy.
Huh, he was pretty stern about lying down and icing for the 1st 24. Said that the more of it I did the better off I'd be the rest of the week. I'm feeling sore but pretty good now, better by the hour. No way I'm bed resting today, if I stay in one place for an hour my back and knees start killing me. Hardly slept at all last night, very uncomfortable.
Alright, I really really wanted to post this and restrained myself a couple of days ago, but if pubski is going into the gutter I've got to say Jex Blackmore is the best thing about America in 2016.
I was in Atlanta yesterday and have dinners, Forever Labs procedures, physicians and staff to train in Raleigh this week. Our business is expanding in to Plastic Surgeons. We have our first Bay Area doc up and running and people from San Fran are now signing up. Crazy. Exciting. Validating. The market is there, now we need to figure out the most efficient way to access it. We have some ideas in the works. As of Christmas, I should have one phone.
I remember a few months ago when you were talking about this idea you and the gang had that "might get off the ground, here's hoping" ... man, it hasn't been that long. And now I look at these occasional updates and just shake my head. Fucking cool.
It has been, and will continue to be a lot of work. That said, it's a tremendous amount of fun, in no small way because of the group we've assembled. It's nice to spend time with your friends and build something worthwhile. Also, the partners in the market that we work with are all very capable and smart people, which makes it enjoyable. It is important to stop once in a while and take stock of where we are and how quickly we've gotten there. I'm really proud of our business and I'm excited to see how far we can take it. I truly believe that what we are doing is important work and could have a tremendously positive impact on our clients lives. Thanks for following along flag and for the recognition. Where are you at these days?
Had a couple hours this weekend to start my hydroponic Deep Water Culture lettuce raft project. Every year when it gets cold and my garden dies back I get the itch to grow stuff indoors and this year right on schedule in time for the 28degree weather I've got the itch again. This will be the 3rd hydro iteration for me. The first one was a bubbler blueberry plant. The second was a pretty elaborate rain gutter tomato system. This one is going for middle ground 2'x2' lettuce raft under florescent lighting. Ill post pictures once I get the foam cutout and the plugs in. I ran into some issues with the air pump being way too loud and the airstones being more porous than I like (causing the bubbles to be bigger than Id like). Im looking for a better (quieter) air pump and some finer air stones, im thinking woodstones atm but if any of you guys are aquarium geeks and have suggestions im open to them. Tying to keep things simple/cheap this time, using a 1part nutrient solution form General Hydro, and going back to paper PH strips. Its always tempting to buy more gear/tools/stuff but past experience has shown me that a lot of that stuff is unnecessary and just adds cost.
RANT I've noticed an uptick in the number of people at work asking me union/contract questions. Q: "Hey, do you know when I get another year of vacation?" A: You gain a week first year, second year, and then nothing till your eighth year." Q: "Black friday is overtime, right?" A: Your making double time. Plus holiday pay. You've been here 20 years, how do you not know this? Q: "If I don't work the Saturday shift, is Sunday just overtime?" A: It'd be straight time. Central region's supplement works by consecutive days worked, not calendar days. If you skip Sat and then work Sun, you make straight time until Friday, which'd be overtime and then Sat, which'd be doubletime. Q: "Why isn't the union ok with management servicing packages?" A: Because there is a finite amount of work to be done before they send us home. If management does it, they're stealing that work and associated time from unionized employees. NEVER LET MANAGEMENT WORK UNTIL THEY EXHAUST THE LIST OF EMPLOYEES WHO VOLUNTEERED TO DOUBLE SHIFT. I'm really frustrated. I get why I'm getting asked these questions instead of a steward. It's bullshit that the local allows the stewards to be present-but-not-really there. When you first start, you have to do some serious detective work to figure out who the stewards even are, let alone figuring how they can assist you.
I will probably give it a shot at some point. I don't feel like I'm calm enough under pressure to do that job right now, though. When I need a steward that'll get shit done I look for the ones that I know will get angry about the situation, but can still remain measured in their reaction. Right now, I just get angry. I honestly do believe in the union, and I respect the people who are stewards. It isn't that I think that they don't take their jobs seriously, I just think that the culture is shit. Part of the reason I think the culture is shit is because the rank and file is apathetic. 25% of members voted in this past IBT election. Which means local is even more depressed. My interim plan is to try and agitate.
Yes it is bullshit. I'm wondering though if the uptick of people asking questions has to do with It's bullshit that the local allows the stewards to be present-but-not-really there.
To be honest, I'd be OK with that being at least part of the reason. That said, I'm not so sure if that's what it is. Lots of people are worried about National Right To Work, but we've already got that here at the state level. Many part-time workers opt out of paying dues, but the people who draw in big bucks are pretty unified in paying. National Right to Work will hurt an already wounded labor movement, but the local here is already dealing with it on the Kansas side of the state line. It feels less pressing because we've already had a taste of it, and most of us haven't experienced the alternative. Odds are good that The Company is gonna hafta raise their starting wages significantly next contract, regardless of minimum. They've already started giving new hires 'bonuses' for showing up every day of their probation period in my building. Amazon and others are pressuring them into it. Here in KC, Amazon is opening up two facilities that will provide 2000 full time jobs (we are just part time) at a higher starting wage. I wouldn't touch non-union warehouse work with a 10ft pole if I had a choice, but if you are needing to make ends meet and don't care about unions Amazon and loads of others look pretty compelling. Good benefits are only good if you can make rent. The fear of ACA being repealed is also probably muted: the biggest change people remember from recent history is when the insurance switched from The Company managing the plan to the Union running it (and thus Atena to BlueCross). Not when the ACA went into affect. We've had amazing insurance for a really long time, and while there is fear that the union will mismanage it, there isn't fear that the union will use a repeal of the ACA as a reason to drop it. Which isn't to say that some of my coworkers haven't been complaining about Trump. Just not from that view point. People that have been talking about Trump are doing it about the general/racial/military aspects of why he sucks. Should we be worried? God, yes. Even if the union was iron clad, we should be worried out of solidarity with the rest of the country. I just think we are feeling too insulated at the moment to actually do so. Caveat: this following bit assumes people are voting in our elections (i.e. probably not relevant to part-timers and thus my coworkers) Most of the stuff that has happened to hit close to home recently has been blamed on the union leadership (split raises, pension fund in financial trouble, slightly worse health insurance w/ new provider) being too cozy with the company. Politically, I think that those who are awake and worried about the health of the union are looking inwards, not outwards. Hoffa's slate just lost the election in my region, but he stays in charge because he just barely squeaked ahead internationally. He'll probably keep catching that anger until Trump gets in office and actually does something worse.During the presidential race, Trump has spoken favorably of right-wing “right-to-work” laws, which weaken the best job security protections workers have—a union contract—by preventing employers and employees from negotiating an agreement that requires all workers who receive the benefits of a collective bargaining agreement to pay their share of the costs of representing them.
Pence has been an opponent of minimum wage increases, prevailing wages and even the right of local governments to offer more generous wages or benefits than those provided by the state.
Late last night I was clicking the "Random" link at the bottom of Hubski to see what's been written before. It's full of interesting discussions, people who I've never met but wish were still here so I could converse with them, and people who I have met but haven't been here in a while. I kind of want to shoot them all PMs and say "Hey. Come back to Hubski. I'd love to talk to you." I found a thread posted by lil where people showed off their bookshelves. Hubski is full of some well read people. That's actually pretty awesome to see. There are a ton of chores to do today. Laundry and vacuuming and bills to pay. Ignoring them would be nice for today, but probably disastrous for tomorrow. Procrastination is a siren's song that is forever in my ear. It's a pretty catchy tune.
Yet it is walking against the sound that moves the winds that yields you the results and the satisfaction. Just like Forever Labs' main page says: "Your ideal donor is your younger self".Procrastination is a siren's song that is forever in my ear. It's a pretty catchy tune.
Job hunt is going well. I'm hopeful that after the holidays I will have a few in-person interviews waiting for me, but I'm still applying to stuff (not banking on those in-person interviews). My dream would be to find work at a university in any real capacity. I would love to be able to go for a masters a little later on in life. I'm slowly cutting beef, and dairy from my diet. I still eat chicken and fish (some pork in there as well), and I don't know if I will ever completely become vegetarian. The beef thing is more of a ideological thing for me, but the dairy is simply because I find myself becoming increasingly intolerant of dairy products. I realized that a lot of my stomach problems were stemming from overly processed foods, and dairy products. As I've cut them from my diet I've noticed how much better my GI tract has been. Hopefully as time goes one without that stuff in my system I will begin to feel better and better.
I'm looking to make my way into politics somehow. If I end up in elected office that's cool, but I'm far more interested in the behind-the-scenes aspect of state/federal politics. It's either politics or a career in academics. Politics is hard field to get into, and requires borderline slave labor to get into it. Right now I'm looking to cut down my student loans, and gain some general experience administratively. I've thought of being a professor later on in life, but that's just something I've thought about off-hand.
Nothing nearly as exciting as what's already been posted here. Birthday's coming up, no plans. I don't really want plans for it, kind of just want to stay in and watch a movie or something. Moving up into the next age bracket demographic wise, which means maybe I'll be out of that weird age of "just out of college but not old enough to be taken quite seriously enough". Sore. Really sore, got a blister on a recovering blister but the good news is that it's substantially smaller so I think things are improving. Can still run on it, for sure, and was able to pull out 5.3 miles last night. Hoping for a good 3-4 tonight but...we'll see. Goals...goals for 2017 are coming together...maybe that should be it's own #askhubski post.
My desire to go on a 2-week choir trip to Colombia: 7/10. My desire not to take out an additional loan of fucking $4k: 8/10. Sigh. I'm definitely going to Freiburg still though. Even though it'll be a $5k loan. -- I've been getting annoyed at a lot of things recently. Side effect of being depressed. Doesn't feel good. But the semester's almost over-- I have a paper due Friday, one due Tuesday, and then two exams (neither of which should be that bad) and I'm done. And then I go home and immediately get all 4 wisdom teeth removed. -- Considering changing my courses next semester to take ENGL 322, Shakespeare. It's taught by the same prof as 321, Shakespeare, but with different plays. Also, I don't think I ever told this story on here: I asked the professor to sign me in to take 321 at the beginning of the year, and she agreed, but what I didn't realize was that the course is normally restricted to juniors and seniors, and what she didn't realize was that I'm a sophomore. But I got in the class anyway, and it looks like I'll be pulling at least an A- and possibly taking 322 still as a sophomore. lol
Day 4 of some sort of mysterious plague. Send biscuits.