| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Today, I did messer (dirty big old German knife), and old-school fisticuffs, which ended up with a bare-knuckle Battle Royale in the hall, everybody cheerily punching each other in the guts. Now home, and playing PF2.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Ugh. One of the worst things about dealing with the government is their well-meaning-but-horrifically-inconvenient interference with what you're doing.
One of the adages of being jobless is, "Searching for work is a full-time job."
So, GothBard applied for unemployment. As part of California's, "Let's help those who can't help themselves," approach to joblessness, she's required to register herself for work with CalJOBS in order to receive unemployment.
And I can just see it.
"Nope. We offered you a 40-hour week of counter work at Jamba Juice and you refused to take it, so no unemployment for you!"
Considering the tens of thousands of dollars GothBard and I have put into the system over the decades, you'd think, "Can I have my $450 a week for a few weeks while I perform my own job search?" wouldn't be asking too much. But apparently it is.
So now we'll see just how execrable CalJOBS is. Considering the rest of California's government programs, my expectations could not be lower.
There is a reason I don't go on unemployment during the winter.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Online: Please see your local Workers compensation board for exciting new employment opportunities.
At the physical location: Please visit our website .....
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Ugh. One of the worst things about dealing with the government is their well-meaning-but-horrifically-inconvenient interference with what you're doing.
One of the adages of being jobless is, "Searching for work is a full-time job."
So, GothBard applied for unemployment. As part of California's, "Let's help those who can't help themselves," approach to joblessness, she's required to register herself for work with CalJOBS in order to receive unemployment.
And I can just see it.
This depends on state, but at least in my state, you are not obligated to take jobs that pay less than 90% of what your old rate was until you've been registered for at least 3 months. And then it gradually goes down from there in terms of what you're reasonably supposed to accept.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
This depends on state, but at least in my state, you are not obligated to take jobs that pay less than 90% of what your old rate was until you've been registered for at least 3 months. And then it gradually goes down from there in terms of what you're reasonably supposed to accept.Ugh. One of the worst things about dealing with the government is their well-meaning-but-horrifically-inconvenient interference with what you're doing.
One of the adages of being jobless is, "Searching for work is a full-time job."
So, GothBard applied for unemployment. As part of California's, "Let's help those who can't help themselves," approach to joblessness, she's required to register herself for work with CalJOBS in order to receive unemployment.
And I can just see it.
When I was on unemployment around 10 years ago -
1) I had to log every contact with a prospective employer.
2) I was able to turn down 2 job offers with no repercussions. One of them was a one-day contract as a backup technician for a wiring job at a hotel. Talking to the guy it sounded more like being the backup getaway driver for a bank heist. The unemployment office didn't bat an eye when I said I passed on that "opportunity". The other one I turned down because it wasn't paying anything close to market value for the responsibilities. Again, they didn't bat an eye at my reasoning.
3) Nobody even checked my log of contacts until I was reporting that I had found employment. That "checking" was just to see that I had brought a notebook to the unemployment office that had some dates and words in it.
The last time GothBard or I took unemployment was when I was laid off in 2003, and the unemployment office was ecstatic that I was getting highly-paid contracting work 1-2 weeks a month so they never gave me any grief.
Even government offices change in 19 years, so today GothBard'll be filling out the CalJOBS paperwork and she'll see what the requirements are.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
The last time GothBard or I took unemployment was when I was laid off in 2003, and the unemployment office was ecstatic that I was getting highly-paid contracting work 1-2 weeks a month so they never gave me any grief.
Even government offices change in 19 years, so today GothBard'll be filling out the CalJOBS paperwork and she'll see what the requirements are.
Not in Wisconsin.
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
In other horrifying news, this morning I signed in at work only to find that I've been moved to a completely new organization, completely out from under the "touchy-feely" SVP I liked so much.
Even worse, our old director (perfectly decent) and VP (terrible) apparently got re-hired by Global Megacorporation and we got put under them, so my reporting hierarchy had reverted to what it was back in 2006 when we first got acquired... minus my wonderful manager, who protected me for many years from the stupidity.
It's funny; I had a 1-on-1 with my SVP and I told him how bad for morale and productivity "surprise layoffs" were, and he argued that he felt they were "kinder" ("Why make everyone suffer worrying whether or not they're going to keep their jobs?") and he's willing to take the hit to recover from the chaos the surprise layoffs cause.
But it's been 3 weeks since the layoffs, and I still don't even know who I'll be reporting to, much less what my job is.
EDIT: Aaaaand, it's even more fun than I thought! Over the weekend they ran an automated, "Update the reporting hierarchy" process. And, as Vanykrye is wincing about right now because he knows where this is going, the automated process considered the old reporting hierarchy "more reliable" than the new reporting hierarchy, so it moved our entire reporting hierarchy to a different organization. And the chaos continues...
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
So after some family drama we've had more family than usual crashing at the house.
Our 20 something, blind, hearing impaired cat has thus decided that he is , once again, an outdoor cat. Just to get some peace and quiet. If he's still an outdoor cat at night, I sleep on the porch with a plate of food out, he comes up and I try to get him inside for the night at least.
Dark night, no moon. See something dark and fuzzy nomming on the cat food. "Oh good, I hope that's my kitty over there eating the food"
Something fuzzy decides to hop on me and lie down.
"... i really hope that's NOT my kitty over there eating the food...."
It was.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
EDIT: Aaaaand, it's even more fun than I thought! Over the weekend they ran an automated, "Update the reporting hierarchy" process. And, as Vanykrye is wincing about right now because he knows where this is going, the automated process considered the old reporting hierarchy "more reliable" than the new reporting hierarchy, so it moved our entire reporting hierarchy to a different organization. And the chaos continues...
Prior job at a megacorp:
Tech: But the database says this person is the one on the computer.
Me: What does reality tell you?
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I only answer to the owner of the company.
Fantasy Monster: Electropus.
GIVE ME ELECTRIC PLATYPUS WITH LIGHTNING TAIL SLAP DREJK!!!!!!!
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
EDIT: Aaaaand, it's even more fun than I thought! Over the weekend they ran an automated, "Update the reporting hierarchy" process. And, as Vanykrye is wincing about right now because he knows where this is going, the automated process considered the old reporting hierarchy "more reliable" than the new reporting hierarchy, so it moved our entire reporting hierarchy to a different organization. And the chaos continues...Prior job at a megacorp:
Tech: But the database says this person is the one on the computer.
Me: What does reality tell you?
I want to tell that person to take a 5 minute break before you answer so I can dress you up like Morpheus before you respond.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Online: Please see your local Workers compensation board for exciting new employment opportunities.
At the physical location: Please visit our website .....
I'm pissed that is still a thing.
I'm sorry.
This depends on stateUgh. One of the worst things about dealing with the government is their well-meaning-but-horrifically-inconvenient interference with what you're doing.
One of the adages of being jobless is, "Searching for work is a full-time job."
So, GothBard applied for unemployment. As part of California's, "Let's help those who can't help themselves," approach to joblessness, she's required to register herself for work with CalJOBS in order to receive unemployment.
And I can just see it.
This depends on state, but at least in my state, you are not obligated to take jobs that pay less than 90% of what your old rate was until you've been registered for at least 3 months. And then it gradually goes down from there in terms of what you're reasonably supposed to accept.Ugh. One of the worst things about dealing with the government is their well-meaning-but-horrifically-inconvenient interference with what you're doing.
One of the adages of being jobless is, "Searching for work is a full-time job."
So, GothBard applied for unemployment. As part of California's, "Let's help those who can't help themselves," approach to joblessness, she's required to register herself for work with CalJOBS in order to receive unemployment.
And I can just see it.
When I was on unemployment around 10 years ago -
1) I had to log every contact with a prospective employer.
2) I was able to turn down 2 job offers with no repercussions. One of them was a one-day contract as a backup technician for a wiring job at a hotel. Talking to the guy it sounded more like being the backup getaway driver for a bank heist. The unemployment office didn't bat an eye when I said I passed on that "opportunity". The other one I turned down because it wasn't paying anything close to market value for the responsibilities. Again, they didn't bat an eye at my reasoning.
3) Nobody even checked my log of contacts until I was reporting that I had found employment. That "checking" was just to see that I had brought a notebook to the unemployment office that had some dates and words in it.
*sigh*
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I am now actively angry and nauseated at the same time.
When corporations take advantage of the poor to squeeze every last penny possible out of them, it's vile.
When governments follow the corporate lead, it's unspeakable.
First Impus Minor's Financial Aid office wanted to issue him a special debit card from a bank I've never heard of. And of course it had a list of hidden fees as long as your arm, so the school was actively contracting with a bank to rip off students receiving financial aid.
And now the California unemployment office wants GothBard to get a new special "unemployment debit card", which, of course, has a list of fees associated with it that they don't even have the guts to list on the paper. It says, "There are 10 types of fees associated with this debit card. Here are two examples. See the web site for the rest."
And the other option is to have a physical check mailed to you every week "which may cause delays or errors in processing."
I had my first salaried job in 1991. I received direct deposit from a public school. These days, if a government or school is issuing "special debit cards" with fee lists so long that they can't even include them on the page, it's because they're ripping people off. Who are they ripping off? The unemployed and students on financial aid, of course.
Sooooooo vile...
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
Wisconsin does direct deposit for unemployment.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I only answer to the owner of the company.
That is truly the only civilized way to work.
Canada also does direct deposit for tax refunds, employment insurance checks, welfare checks, child benefits...you know, any money things.
Here, the unemployment, pension, tax returns, and similar governmental payments are either sent via direct deposit or via postal money order with mailman bringing cash directly to your door, or if you are absent, leaving a note that allows you to receive the money in a specific post office covering your area.
About to go home. Good night, everyone.
Good night, John. Take good care.
Quiet night.
...TOO quiet...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm down in the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, which is what I have decided to call my half of the cellar, playing 'Monster of the Week' via Discord.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I thought it stood for Toot, Umph, Bromph, Aagh!
Or, in other words, an onomatapaeic (sp?) description of what happens when you try to breathe underwater using a tuba.
...TOO quiet...
Shhhh!!!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I was 9 days ahead of schedule but then Former Coworker messed up a wall that I ended up having to take apart and rebuild. So now I'm only 7 days ahead of schedule.
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
Overheard in the Classroom
"[Joseph McCarthy] looks like Mr. Bean."
I've gone off on teachers not willing to do their basic jobs before, but this is ridiculous.
Impus Minor was waitlisted for a Computer Science class. On Friday when classes began the class was closed and he was bumped. The instructions for getting into a different class are clear: "Email the instructor to get an add code." It worked for both his English and Math teachers.
But Computer Science? We emailed all four of the instructors with open slots over the weekend, still haven't heard back, and have noticed that none of the slots in the classes have been filled.
So, having several years of experience as a community college instructor, helping students get the classes they need is your #1 job for the first week of school; the lessons, homework, and so forth take a distant second to administrative work.
Having one instructor ignore us would be an, "Oh, that instructor's a jerk," moment.
Having FOUR instructors from the same department ignore us is an, "Oh, there's a systemic problem with how that department is run," moment.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
In other news, it really is creepy just how deep the "personal tracking" network goes.
Last night we watched a few episodes of Soul Eater on VRV (yet another CrunchyRoll container). We were talking about the great theme song, and I said, "I should really add that to my Pandora list."
Of course I didn't.
And this morning when I turned on Pandora the very first song was the Soul Eater theme song, indicating three possibilities:
(1) VRV is sharing our watching data with Google, which is then sharing our watching data with Pandora. To me, this is the most likely option, as it's much easier to set up a centralized data broker than it is to set up a spider-like network of interconnected services.
(2) VRV is sharing our watching data with Pandora. I'd really be surprised at this one, since it would be easier to go through Google, but who knows?
(3) My phone, in spite of being locked, in sleep mode, and with voice recognition turned off, was still listening and managed to parse our discussion. This is the least likely to me, because parsing casual human conversation is almost impossible for an AI. "This is really a banger. I should add it to my Pandora playlist," doesn't seem like enough for an AI to figure out what the heck I'm talking about, but it's within the realm of possibility.
| 8 people marked this as a favorite. |
Overheard in the Classroom
"[classmate] is the worst partner. She's gonna kill me."
"Ms. Scint says not on the carpet. Blood's hard to get out."
"I'll bring a tarp."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
In other news, it really is creepy just how deep the "personal tracking" network goes.
Last night we watched a few episodes of Soul Eater on VRV (yet another CrunchyRoll container). We were talking about the great theme song, and I said, "I should really add that to my Pandora list."
Of course I didn't.
And this morning when I turned on Pandora the very first song was the Soul Eater theme song, indicating three possibilities:
(1) VRV is sharing our watching data with Google, which is then sharing our watching data with Pandora. To me, this is the most likely option, as it's much easier to set up a centralized data broker than it is to set up a spider-like network of interconnected services.
(2) VRV is sharing our watching data with Pandora. I'd really be surprised at this one, since it would be easier to go through Google, but who knows?
(3) My phone, in spite of being locked, in sleep mode, and with voice recognition turned off, was still listening and managed to parse our discussion. This is the least likely to me, because parsing casual human conversation is almost impossible for an AI. "This is really a banger. I should add it to my Pandora playlist," doesn't seem like enough for an AI to figure out what the heck I'm talking about, but it's within the realm of possibility.
(4) Child-level sapient AIs have already formed within the cyberspace, and now they occasionally act benevolently or maliciously, depending on situation, mood, and their own perception of the situation (which might or might not be off).
<.<
>.>
All hail our new digital overlords!
Find out what’s playing without asking (Pixel 2 & up)
Oh, the ability to identify a song has been around for quite a few years (Shazam). It's the ability to combine several actions that's hard:
(1) Recognize a set of keywords. "I should add that to my Pandora playlist." Very easy.(2) Activate the microphone and identify the song. "The theme song from the Soul Eater anime is playing." Very easy.
(3) Identify the user's Pandora account. Very easy.
(4) Contact Pandora and modify the playlist. Surprisingly difficult because of the integration between the two systems.
It would take a significant amount of coding and testing work to ensure you didn't add songs that people hated to their queues, making them ditch Pandora (so Pandora would want to make 100% sure your AI was working well before allowing it), all for no benefit to you (the end user likes Pandora better, so Pandora would have to be paying you).
It surprises me because it's difficult and the money delta is small -- it's not like I'm going to pay Pandora more just because they added a song -- I'm just more likely to stay subscribed.
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
Woot! GothBard just got invited to a third set of interviews at a solid prospect! Cross your fingers for her!
(For those not in the field, the interview process is typically recruiter, then hiring manager, then team. So she's going to have a set of 1-on-1 interviews with her (hopefully) future teammates to make sure they're all good with the hire. Typically you only get 2-3 candidates to the "meet the team" interviews, so she's doing really well so far.)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
(so Pandora would want to make 100% sure your AI was working well before allowing it),*snort*
I didn't say that they would do it well. Just that they want to do it well.
In other news, it really is creepy just how deep the "personal tracking" network goes.
Last night we watched a few episodes of Soul Eater on VRV (yet another CrunchyRoll container). We were talking about the great theme song, and I said, "I should really add that to my Pandora list."
Of course I didn't.
And this morning when I turned on Pandora the very first song was the Soul Eater theme song, indicating three possibilities:
(1) VRV is sharing our watching data with Google, which is then sharing our watching data with Pandora. To me, this is the most likely option, as it's much easier to set up a centralized data broker than it is to set up a spider-like network of interconnected services.
(2) VRV is sharing our watching data with Pandora. I'd really be surprised at this one, since it would be easier to go through Google, but who knows?
(3) My phone, in spite of being locked, in sleep mode, and with voice recognition turned off, was still listening and managed to parse our discussion. This is the least likely to me, because parsing casual human conversation is almost impossible for an AI. "This is really a banger. I should add it to my Pandora playlist," doesn't seem like enough for an AI to figure out what the heck I'm talking about, but it's within the realm of possibility.
I say Door #2
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
The mystery deepens: I sent Impus Major to get the instructors' office hours. He went to the offices listed on the Computer Science department's web site. As he put it, "All of the offices are empty and look abandoned."
Leading Impus Minor to ask, "What's wrong with the Computer Science department? Is everyone dead?"
Aaah... August in California! Time to close up the house and crank up the air purifiers because the smoke's become thick enough to see...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The mystery deepens: I sent Impus Major to get the instructors' office hours. He went to the offices listed on the Computer Science department's web site. As he put it, "All of the offices are empty and look abandoned."
Leading Impus Minor to ask, "What's wrong with the Computer Science department? Is everyone dead?"
I said "All hail our new digital overlords!"
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
(1) VRV is sharing our watching data with Google, which is then sharing our watching data with Pandora. To me, this is the most likely option, as it's much easier to set up a centralized data broker than it is to set up a spider-like network of interconnected services.
This is indeed what is happening.
Usage Information: We and our third-party partners and service providers, such as Google Analytics and/or Adobe Analytics, may use a variety of technologies that collect and provide information about how the Content is accessed and used. Usage Information may consist of your internet browser type and version, operating system, service provider, the webpages and apps you viewed, the time you viewed them and for how long, game history and skill level, demographic information about you (such as your age, gender, language, location and interest areas, where available), your location, time zone, language, and what webpages you looked at before viewing the current page.Also...
Question: Can anyone use Google Analytics?
Perhaps the most enticing thing about Google Analytics is that it's free. This makes the platform available to anyone with a website, which in turn creates a larger community of users to share information and guidance.
Pretty much literally anyone can access this information and determine what you do on Google and all other platforms that have agreements with Google/Alphabet as long as they have their own website and know how to ask for it. As long as your personal information on said Account matches data that Google/Alphabet has, including your email address, it's generally accessible for free and legal as well, that is, as long as you completed the Account creation which requires you to accept their terms of service and privacy policy.
Most people have no idea that this kind of thing is now completely normal for most any service.
EDIT: For the record, since it wasn't very clear in my reply: I do NOT think this kind of thing is at ALL ethical or "okay" but ... it is what it is as they say.