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Mirror-Mirror on the wall, who is the most trustworthy advisor of them all?
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Of course I am naked. How am I supposed to admire my own reflection in its full glory otherwise?
‘Round here, fencing means bobwar.
That's what you wrap around the blunderbuss so you have extra options in case you meet an extra 'ornery crittur", is it?
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Folks, if you inherit a 2017 desktop complete with the most expensive stuff you could buy off the shelf (with the exception of one super cheap and NON MATCHING RGB fan (that wasn't even the same size as the rest which wasn't even PLUGGED IN) at that time that was owned by someone who knew little to nothing about BIOS versions do yourself a favor and just sort all that junk out before leaning on it as your daily driver.
I was having a weird performance issue and fan throttling junk along with FPS DIVES very occasionally so I started to dig a bit deeper than just my initial getting it rolling once Win10 was installed with good enough drivers and found that the BIOS was from that time, 2017, and even the great RAM sticks I had weren't able to operate at their full speed.
Took a day of headaches after failing to EZ Flash the BIOS through the internet completely NUKING the BIOS and Boot functions which required doing a manual USB update and more command prompt work than I wanted to do (thank the gods for YouTube walkthroughs created, of course, by an English speaking Indian) but I'm all set now and things are working even better than I'd have hope to accomplish.
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Well, either I'm in trouble or someone needs to talk to our VP about how to set up skip-level meetings.
This morning I signed in to find a Wednesday, "NobodysHome check-in" meeting scheduled with my VP with no agenda and no additional information. That's usually a, "You're being laid off," meeting.
On the other hand, Global Megacorporation is ruthlessly efficient in layoffs; in my 20-year history here I've never seen a 2-day lead to a layoff. It's pretty much always same-day, with a very rare next-day. Also, every single person on the team is overwhelmed right now and we're the highest-revenue CD department in the company; so layoffs for us would be incredibly unlikely.
I guess I'll find out on Wednesday.
But including, "As part of this year's evaluation cycle you've been chosen to meet with the VP about your concerns" would have been a fantastic addendum to the meeting request.
EDIT: Sure enough, I touched base with my manager and it's a mandate from SVP that this year the VP is supposed to meet with everyone who reports to her. Unfortunately, this mandate has caused widespread panic. Have I mentioned before that communication is important?
This sounds like something my boss would do for fun.
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My boss likes to ambush me with meetings and promotions.
Which is honestly the best way for me, I'm at my best when I have to improvise or I'm under pressure.
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Well, either I'm in trouble or someone needs to talk to our VP about how to set up skip-level meetings.
This morning I signed in to find a Wednesday, "NobodysHome check-in" meeting scheduled with my VP with no agenda and no additional information. That's usually a, "You're being laid off," meeting.
On the other hand, Global Megacorporation is ruthlessly efficient in layoffs; in my 20-year history here I've never seen a 2-day lead to a layoff. It's pretty much always same-day, with a very rare next-day. Also, every single person on the team is overwhelmed right now and we're the highest-revenue CD department in the company; so layoffs for us would be incredibly unlikely.
I guess I'll find out on Wednesday.
But including, "As part of this year's evaluation cycle you've been chosen to meet with the VP about your concerns" would have been a fantastic addendum to the meeting request.
EDIT: Sure enough, I touched base with my manager and it's a mandate from SVP that this year the VP is supposed to meet with everyone who reports to her. Unfortunately, this mandate has caused widespread panic. Have I mentioned before that communication is important?
Do you think your position is strong enough that you could try to delicately point out that your VP to avoid scaring further coworkers?
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...Do you think your position is strong enough that you could try to delicately point out that your VP to avoid scaring further coworkers?
LOL. OMG. That's the very first thing I'm going to say to her.
It's not so much a "strong position" as "everyone knows Nobody speaks Truth to Power", and our current leadership appreciates that. Rare, but I'm in no danger pointing out the issue.
107*F out on the job site today. Spent all day installing plants, then watching them die from the heat.
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... "everyone knows Nobody speaks Truth to Power", ...
Damn hippies punks!
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107*F out on the job site today. Spent all day installing plants, then watching them die from the heat.
Couldn't you have saved time and energy and just thrown them on the sidewalk and watched?
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107*F out on the job site today. Spent all day installing plants, then watching them die from the heat.Couldn't you have saved time and energy and just thrown them on the sidewalk and watched?
Basically. All of our projects this year have been absolutely ass-backwards.
I spent my day tearing out hydrangeas and cutting down a dead tree (I'm literally the only one that has experience cutting down trees).
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I was very proud, the designer was telling us to take it easy today and Crookshanks says "We will, no one has to die on a Monday!".
*sniff* I've been telling her that all year!
107*F out on the job site today. Spent all day installing plants, then watching them die from the heat.
I did that once, I spent an entire week planting 1,200 succulents in various boulder walls during a heat wave. I actually asked my boss if we were going to water them and he said "No the HOA is in charge of that!" "Should we tell someone?" "No,f&%% that!"
107*F out on the job site today. Spent all day installing plants, then watching them die from the heat.I did that once, I spent an entire week planting 1,200 succulents in various boulder walls during a heat wave. I actually asked my boss if we were going to water them and he said "No the HOA is in charge of that!" "Should we tell someone?" "No,f&%% that!"
This one's about 80 trees, plus 1200 1-5 gallon smaller plants, most of which are marked "for moist soil." We're responsible for watering everything, and there's no water on site, so we've got to fill our 1000-gallon water trailer twice per day to cover everything. It takes about 10 man-hours to water the entire thing. And did I mention the job site is 45 minutes away from the shop?
It was only 100*F here today. It almost felt cool. Almost…
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Basically. All of our projects this year have been absolutely ass-backwards.107*F out on the job site today. Spent all day installing plants, then watching them die from the heat.Couldn't you have saved time and energy and just thrown them on the sidewalk and watched?
Aren't asses supposed to be in the back in the first place?
This one's about 80 trees, plus 1200 1-5 gallon smaller plants, most of which are marked "for moist soil." We're responsible for watering everything, and there's no water on site, so we've got to fill our 1000-gallon water trailer twice per day to cover everything. It takes about 10 man-hours to water the entire thing. And did I mention the job site is 45 minutes away from the shop?107*F out on the job site today. Spent all day installing plants, then watching them die from the heat.I did that once, I spent an entire week planting 1,200 succulents in various boulder walls during a heat wave. I actually asked my boss if we were going to water them and he said "No the HOA is in charge of that!" "Should we tell someone?" "No,f&%% that!"
Yeah, that's pretty f*$@ing stupid!
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I have come to the realization that AI is the SpongeBob and Patrick to everyone's Squidward.
Ah, the changing of an era. For the first time in over a year, I believe, both kids are off at school.
Says something that COVID "ended" a couple of years ago, but online stuff is still so popular that it's rare for Impus Minor to go to in-person classes.
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Well, I just received notification from my identity theft monitoring service that my full name, phone number, and social security number were part of the National Public Record breach.
Thank goodness my credit is locked at all three credit reporting agencies and I'm already a member of a credit and identity monitoring service.
But yes, I am unbelievably angry that a company was allowed to gather that information legally. I am of the opinion that every single one of their executives and every member of their IT department should be going to maximum security prison right now...
Ah, the changing of an era. For the first time in over a year, I believe, both kids are off at school.
Says something that COVID "ended" a couple of years ago, but online stuff is still so popular that it's rare for Impus Minor to go to in-person classes.
And here in Poland there were some warnings that we might need to reintroduce wearing masks in near future, depending on the development of current situation...
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This really says a lot about me: When I did my handoff at 8:36 am this morning, it put me two days ahead of schedule.
So I just spent a very pleasant day doing heads-down administrative work, bringing my course design fully up-to-date so for the next revision all the prep work will already have been done. And now I'm clearing my email archives. It was a mountain of busywork that makes future Nobody happy.
ugh. visited my aunt yesterday so we could work on our family history scrapbook project, and she texted me this morning saying she tested positive for Covid . . . .
i woke up a little while ago feeling pretty crummy. mild fever, aches, congestion, . . . . bleargh.
i've kicked it before, and fought it off at least another time or two. it's such an annoyance.
ugh. visited my aunt yesterday so we could work on our family history scrapbook project, and she texted me this morning saying she tested positive for Covid . . . .
i woke up a little while ago feeling pretty crummy. mild fever, aches, congestion, . . . . bleargh.
i've kicked it before, and fought it off at least another time or two. it's such an annoyance.
Yeah, our whole experience with COVID was, "Not as bad as the flu, but lasts three times as long and saps your energy like you wouldn't believe for the entire time."
Not a fan.
On the bright side, COVID has a 48+-hour incubation period, so if you did get it from your aunt, that's not what you're feeling right now.
Oh, wait. That makes it even worse, doesn't it?
. . . . damnable chromebook. just reloaded the page and scrapped my post.
i'm not retyping it.
my aunt has some health issues that might make her less resistant to any sort of infection, so that might have accelerated her incubation period. but she tested, and i quote, "very positive" this morning.
but this screwball virus has perplexed the entire world since its arrival on the stage. hits some folks fast and hard, others with a slow burn of "yuck". we're four years past its novelty, and still we can't find a concise, unified body of doctrine about treatment, quarantine, and exceptional prevention practices.
[insert tin-foil hat rant here]
bottom line: i'm fighting something tougher than a generic cold. Covid's the only thing on the radar, no matter which direction it got here.
This morning I was working at my computer at 4:15 and got to listen to the neighbor's infant start crying at around 4:30, and continue almost unabated from 4:30-6:30 am.
Leading me to the bizarre, unnatural advice U.S. parents get from their pediatricians:
(1) "Let your baby cry." I've never understood this one. What other creature in nature ignores its babies' pleas? But every pediatrician or advice nurse will tell you the same thing. "Crying is natural. You shouldn't adjust your schedule for your baby. Just let them cry and they'll tire themselves out and go back to sleep."
I do ponder the long-term psychological impact of early "abandonment". Is it better for them? Worse for them? Who knows?
(2) "Never co-sleep with your baby". OK. I understand this one. Babies have died from their parents rolling over on them. But they sell co-sleeper cribs that attach to your bed and that you can't roll into. Or, if you've had a lifetime of sleeping with cats (who WILL claw the heck out of you if you try to roll onto them), you just don't do that.
Once again, I think the kids would grow up happier and healthier with co-sleeping, AND cry less, but my entire experience is from a sample of 2.
It just seems fundamentally unnatural to me that our neighbors are following the U.S. pediatrician-recommended path: Put the baby in another room and leave it there completely alone for the entire evening to train it to live by your schedule.
I don't approve because it seems so cruel, but I'd welcome any arguments that prove that it's better for the child.
Uh-oh...
New Castlevania collection hit the steam...
Hmmmmm...
Dawn Of Sorrow, Portrait Of Ruin, and Order Of Ecclesia?
Me want!
80 degrees. "heat wave". funniest thing i've heard all day. :D
definitely a broiler for the Bay, but i probably won't see temperatures like that for daily highs until . . . maybe late September?
i have no idea why that has been the recommendation for so long. it flies in the face of common sense and even the most rigorous implications of a physicalist/materialist worldview.
but i think your use of the term "abandonment" is quite on-point.
Sometimes I'm disappointed that interesting news stories are such minor non-issues that they'll disappear long before the truth comes out.
From my point of view, one of the stories is immensely more believable than the other. And yet I'm enough of a scientist/skeptic to think, "Just because this is the better story doesn't make it the true story."
For my own curiosity, I'd love to actually see the video evidence and hear how the whole thing pans out.
Unfortunately, in our 24-hour news cycle with such a minor incident, people have already drawn their conclusions, it's no longer interesting, and I'm sure I'll never see any follow-up as to what actually happened.
And I'm honestly curious.
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As a final note before I actually get back to it (I'm still a day ahead and suddenly today I'm feeling lazy so my claim that this is "final" may be unjustified), the unannounced VP meeting is even more ridiculous than originally thought.
She's giving us our raises.
So she unintentionally panicked dozens of people so that she could personally tell each person about their raises (or lack thereof).
I love the personal touch. But I'll suggest to her that maybe, "Annual check-in" would have saved a LOT of people a LOT of grief.
Well, I got a call from my mother at an ungodly hour of the morning, which is never good news. It's catastrophic news. My maternal uncle got hit by a drunk driver on his way to work and died.
I swear every time somebody dies, I get woken up horrifically early in the morning. When grandma died, my dad woke me up. When my dad died, my sister woke me up. Now this. Is this just gonna be a thing?
Well, I got a call from my mother at an ungodly hour of the morning, which is never good news. It's catastrophic news. My maternal uncle got hit by a drunk driver on his way to work and died.
I swear every time somebody dies, I get woken up horrifically early in the morning. When grandma died, my dad woke me up. When my dad died, my sister woke me up. Now this. Is this just gonna be a thing?
I'm so very sorry to hear that. On the bright side, he didn't die on April Fool's Day.
I was 14, I took the call, and I spent most of the day trying to convince my family that my maternal grandmother had actually died, and I wasn't trying to prank them.
Well, I got a call from my mother at an ungodly hour of the morning, which is never good news. It's catastrophic news. My maternal uncle got hit by a drunk driver on his way to work and died.
I swear every time somebody dies, I get woken up horrifically early in the morning. When grandma died, my dad woke me up. When my dad died, my sister woke me up. Now this. Is this just gonna be a thing?
*Hugs*...and...no. As common as the late night/early morning horrible call is, the unfortunate answer is that it can and does get worse. Just trust me on that.
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** spoiler omitted **
It strikes me that my mother didn't say anything about the drunk driver who killed my uncle, even whether they're alive. And I think maybe I want it to stay like that? Like, yea I think drunk drivers and drivers who kill need to face serious consequences, but I also think all our justice system does is inflict pain for pain's sake without ever solving the underlying problem, and this happened in Texas, where the justice is particularly harsh if you do get convicted, but where this sort of crime is taken less seriously. So either the culprit gets off without meaningful punishment, or the punishment is meaningless cruelty that accomplishes nothing. Assuming they even survived the crash.
Do I really want to know which of the three options it ends up being? What good does that do me? And there's that inborn "I want revenge" instinct, and maybe the best way to manage that is to say I don't want to know who did this, or what gets done to them, because it's pretty hard to maintain that rage at a hypothetical person I know nothing about?
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It strikes me that my mother didn't say anything about the drunk driver who killed my uncle, even whether they're alive. And I think maybe I want it to stay like that? Like, yea I think drunk drivers and drivers who kill need to face serious consequences, but I also think all our justice system does is inflict pain for pain's sake without ever solving the underlying problem, and this happened in Texas, where the justice is particularly harsh if you do get convicted, but where this sort of crime is taken less seriously. So either the culprit gets off without meaningful punishment, or the punishment is meaningless cruelty that accomplishes nothing. Assuming they even survived the crash.
Do I really want to know which of the three options it ends up being? What good does that do me? And there's that inborn "I want revenge" instinct, and maybe the best way to manage that is to say I don't want to know who did this, or what gets done to them, because it's pretty hard to maintain that rage at a hypothetical person I know nothing about?
Psychologically, I think you understand that you're taking the healthiest-possible approach. As long as this person and their fate remain completely anonymous, you pretty much have to let it go because you can't remain bitter and angry at an amorphous cloud for eternity.
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On a complete side note, have I mentioned lately how much I love my kids?
Impus Minor needs 4 classes to graduate, but as a part-time student he only got into two of them. We messed up his schedule and he missed the first session of the debate class he needs but where he's on the waitlist. I thought he was hosed. But he went in today with the slim hope of possibly getting in an apology and a chance of getting in...
...and the assignment had been, "Prepare a speech introducing yourself to the class."
Impus Minor ad-libbed a speech about himself with no prep time and no guidance other than seeing what the other students were doing. The instructor added him immediately.
my sympathies, Rosita.
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@Limeylongears and NobodysHome: if you guys like, we can discuss more about Fighting Fantasy. :-)
LOL. I know absolutely nothing whatsoever about it. But considering I'm doing my best to collect Final Fantasy I-XIV so I can play them in full in order once I retire, I totally understand wanting to see full rereleases of classic games.
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Uh oh... Warren Buffet just pulled out of Apple and Bank of America BIG TIME, J-Pow is moving toward an interest rate cut, employment predictions are all being reevaluated/updated now that we have a better idea about just HOW many job listings are fake/ghost jobs, the RV and Boat markets/prices are crashing, and recent estimates on the housing market are showing really poor signs with nearly 45% of homes selling at a significant loss because nobody is buying, pretty much all of these coming on the heels of one another and being developments since this July.
I hope nobody here is heavily invested in the stock market right about now, and if you are... you might just want to look into those sweet sweet 5.5% treasury notes instead because it looks like things are going to get rocky and QUICK once the fed pulls the trigger and the temporary morale boost fades.
Uh oh... Warren Buffet just pulled out of Apple and Bank of America BIG TIME, J-Pow is moving toward an interest rate cut, employment predictions are all being reevaluated/updated now that we have a better idea about just HOW many job listings are fake/ghost jobs, the RV and Boat markets/prices are crashing, and recent estimates on the housing market are showing really poor signs with nearly 45% of homes selling at a significant loss because nobody is buying, pretty much all of these coming on the heels of one another and being developments since this July.
I hope nobody here is heavily invested in the stock market right about now, and if you are... you might just want to look into those sweet sweet 5.5% treasury notes instead because it looks like things are going to get rocky and QUICK once the fed pulls the trigger and the temporary morale boost fades.
As long as Margaritaville is okay we'll be fine.
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Can we make "no fear mongering without sources" a rule.
No offense to The Metric System but I cam do without the stock market panicking and fear mongering here.
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Sure, I can do a few sources while I'm killing a bit of time.
WB unloads X-billions in Bank of America Stock
WB dumps Apple 13% ownership stake of Apple
J-Pow moving for a Sept interest rate update
A quick and dirty explanation of how rate cuts have accompanied fed confirmation of an existing downward trend/crash and evidence they occur shortly before a recession is publicly acknowledged and acting as a signal to the market this is already the case.
The housing market is in serious trouble as despite prices continuing to inch up there and mortgage rates decline (a bit) there isn't translating to more actual sales/closing on homes.
What seems to be going on rhymes HEAVILY with the last two recession cycles on just about every beat with the exception being that the fed is communicating LESS confidence in the market than they did in 01, 08, or 20. It's not doomerism, it's just looking at market trends in general. The AI trend is still REALLY strong but that is also a problem too because NVIDIA is, by itself, taking up way too much of the value in nearly EVERY mutual fund that props up most portfolios, retirements, and pensions because while they ARE doing gangbusters selling the shovels to tech that is doing the digging they are just about the ONLY company that is doing that well and even with that they're only barely keeping the market afloat. Even a slight NVIDIA correction down to somewhat sane levels would represent a massive loss for nearly every investor on the market.
Sure, I can do a few sources while I'm killing a bit of time.
WB unloads X-billions in Bank of America Stock
WB dumps Apple 13% ownership stake of Apple
J-Pow moving for a Sept interest rate update
A quick and dirty explanation of how rate cuts have accompanied fed confirmation of an existing downward trend/crash and evidence they occur shortly before a recession is publicly acknowledged and acting as a signal to the market this is already the case.
The housing market is in serious trouble as despite prices continuing to inch up there and mortgage rates decline (a bit) there isn't translating to more actual sales/closing on homes.
What seems to be going on rhymes HEAVILY with the last two recession cycles on just about every beat with the exception being that the fed is communicating LESS confidence in the market than they did in 01, 08, or 20. It's not doomerism, it's just looking at market trends in general. The AI trend is still REALLY strong but that is also a problem too because NVIDIA is, by itself, taking up way too much of the value in nearly EVERY mutual fund that props up most portfolios, retirements, and pensions because while they ARE doing gangbusters selling the shovels to tech that is doing the digging they are just about the ONLY company that is doing that well and even with that they're only barely keeping the market afloat. Even a slight NVIDIA...
To be clear I don't want this kind of stuff clogging up FaWtL. Keep it to yourself.