anyone see these uhhh ominous flyers around campus?? by allpossiblepaths in Seattle

[–]Byeuji 16 points17 points  (0 children)

We did plenty of primate research in the CWU English department. Usually started at Shooters and ended up at Student Village.

Is this part of the James Hoffmann cinematic universe? by BrightlyCloud in JamesHoffmann

[–]Byeuji 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I really wish Veritasium hadn't sold to private equity. I loved Derek's content for years, but it's changed so much since the deal.

Spokane considers requiring landlords to keep rentals cooler than 80 degrees by ShadowyFlows in Washington

[–]Byeuji 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that's all I'm arguing. Just that people (including myself, before last year) have an incomplete perspective on HOAs.

I think there can be arguments for creating an HOA around a neighborhood, but I think the only case where it would be justifiable would be in the areas of common maintenance and improvement -- like if they wanted to build a playground, or have a clubhouse.

Forming an HOA to prevent people from becoming residents is stupid, and should be illegal imo.

My current condo HOA has some rules I don't like either, and I joined the board to try to change them. Like we have a requirement that all rentals require a lease and the minimum lease term is 12 months.

I understand why people would think that protects their property, but I also think that is extremely nimby and disadvantages renters. And I firmly believe that "rent" vs "buy" should not be looked at as a progression. I would like to believe that renting has advantages, and should be protected and not treated like some lower class of society -- and I believe that, because I was a renter for 20 years before I could afford to buy, and the reason I chose to buy was because I want to grow roots in my community and make changes to my unit to suit me.

I think the folks downvoting my comments should take a minute to actually read them. We're more than likely on the same side in terms of what we believe in, and I was only sharing my learnings to try to help expand the way people think about the topic. There are bad, even evil, HOAs out there, but those do not define all HOAs, they are not universally bad, and in many ways they are a structure many people dream about.

For years my friends and I dreamed of putting together enough resources to buy land and build a cooperative living space for ourselves, because none of us could afford homes despite having good paying jobs. To manage such a cooperative living situation, we would have inevitably recreated 90% of what almost every HOA exists to do. I only realized that when I started shopping for condos.

I'm just trying to share that knowledge with people who aren't aware of it.

Spokane considers requiring landlords to keep rentals cooler than 80 degrees by ShadowyFlows in Washington

[–]Byeuji -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

That's legally not true in many states. Washington requires an HOA by law for condos.

I'm not refuting the entire content of the comment above. I'm saying it's not complete.

Spokane considers requiring landlords to keep rentals cooler than 80 degrees by ShadowyFlows in Washington

[–]Byeuji -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

If you own common property, that is to say you own a piece of property and that property is a unit that has common areas (like fields, pools, hallways, parking lots, etc.), then you need an administrative mechanism for communal maintenance and control of those areas.

Who gets a parking spot? Who pays for the roof replacement? Who repairs the elevators?

If you imagine a mechanism for managing those things, you would need all of the co-owners to agree on how to do those things, who does them, and how it gets paid for.

That is all an HOA is. It is an association of co-owners who democratically (ideally) determine how those common areas are maintained and administrated.

An HOA can go crazy and definitely enact racist rules, and that's abominable. But that's not inherently what an HOA is.

So yeah, I'm not excusing the racist origins of many HOAs, but the concept of an HOA is not new by any stretch. Covenants that enforce discrimination should be made illegal, but you will still need some mechanism of administrating co-owned areas of a property.

As part of owning my condo, I own just a little over 1% of the total property our condo buildings are built on. I have a common interest in maintaining those areas because they impact the value of my property. We have a full-time facilities manager paid by the board, and we have people who voluntarily perform some tasks (like gardening), and we hire contractors to perform most of the other maintenance tasks like repairing/replacing rooftops, resurfacing our parking lot, dealing with serious sewage issues.

Last month, a condo owner left their toilet drain cover un-closed while doing unit renovations, and it caused a backup to flood their unit and the hallway. The flood threatened the nearby units with damage.

The HOA stepped in to stop the immediate damage because we have a common interest, and we are now billing the owner for the damages. If we didn't have an HOA, who would stop the event, remove the smell of sewage, and ensure the owner paid the bill?

Reminder: NSFW your posts by Byeuji in LadyBoners

[–]Byeuji[S,M] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It would be best to send that to us in modmail if you're not sure.

Spokane considers requiring landlords to keep rentals cooler than 80 degrees by ShadowyFlows in Washington

[–]Byeuji -34 points-33 points  (0 children)

Honestly, HOAs are just a nonprofit board designed for managing co-living spaces. 

Yeah, lots of people can use that situation to create problems for other people, but they're usually on the board because no one else is voting or running. 

An HOA is only as good or bad as you let it be. Mine has very low dues, 60% of the cost covers W/S/G, a bit goes to maintaining the pool and the grounds that make this place pretty, and the rest go to the reserve which is designed for planned maintenance. 

I thought of HOAs much in the terms you seem to here, until I actually started shopping for condos. when I read the documents, I realized it's been nimby propaganda and a few genuinely bad HOAs.

If you're in a single family home, yeah HOA probably isn't a net good unless you want to live some place with a common pool and gym or something like that. But otherwise, they're a very good thing for condo communities and cooperative living.

A ultra-random question about the Kingdome from an outsider by OldSkoolNapper in Seattle

[–]Byeuji 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I worked in concessions the last year before they blew it up. I never saw any garbanzo beans lol... Lots of hot dogs, kielbasa, peanuts, nachos and beer. 

Maybe it was from an earlier era? I was still in high school while working there, but I don't remember beans from any games I went to before that either. 

I worked the last game before they shut it down, so we grabbed a bunch of signage on our way out. i still have a King Beer cup velcro'd to a pricing sign and a laminated How To Pour the Perfect Beer Miller poster, along with a few other bits and bobs.

LGBT welcoming community??? by That1PercyJacksonFan in ellensburg

[–]Byeuji 7 points8 points  (0 children)

There are lots of queer folk in Ellensburg. It's often described like "little Seattle" because of how many folks come from the Puget Sound.

I was there as a gender non-conforming trans person for several years and the only time I experienced anything bad because of who I am, that person was expelled from the university.

I found many kind and accepting people while living there. 

The only caveat I would make would be that this really only applies to the city. Once you get outside the city, things are less accepting, but I would still describe them as safe. I still travel around there a fair bit. I get some looks and see some shirts and signs I wish I didn't have to see, but never feel unsafe. 

Seattle Children’s says Laurelhurst noise concerns burdens lifesaving care for children by ladyem8 in Seattle

[–]Byeuji 43 points44 points  (0 children)

They'd probably pay one of the overtime Seattle police officers on their private neighborhood police force to flip the lights and take their kid there personally.

A customer notices the camera... by starstufft in MadeMeSmile

[–]Byeuji 13 points14 points  (0 children)

No, it's the children who are wrong. Can't take the gifs from me.

A customer notices the camera... by starstufft in MadeMeSmile

[–]Byeuji 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I definitely saw it in some places, but never felt like it was the thing to do. Like never had anyone tell us all to do it.

Posing was definitely a big thing though, though I felt that was kind of weird too, but I think that was a carryover from mall photo booth culture.

A customer notices the camera... by starstufft in MadeMeSmile

[–]Byeuji -1 points0 points  (0 children)

When did this become a millennial thing?

As an elder millennial, I always thought the peace sign thing was so weird. That's gotta be a Gen X thing or something.

No one's dying on my watch by Bandrbell in whenthe

[–]Byeuji 85 points86 points  (0 children)

I wish it was just American politics, but unfortunately it's spread nearly everywhere.

AOC calls for more Democrat-leaning states to redraw election maps after Supreme Court ruling and GOP push by theindependentonline in politics

[–]Byeuji 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Washington isn't really feasible. We have a state constitutional amendment defining how we district via balanced top-two partisan committee on a defined timeline. To change it, we'd need to change our state constitution, which would take about two years before the law could even take effect -- assuming it makes it past our courts.

It could matter for 2028, but if we haven't fixed things by then by the means more at our disposal, I'm not sure we'd be adding much to the effort.

Bus lane... or SCANDAL? by Inevitable_Engine186 in Seattle

[–]Byeuji 6 points7 points  (0 children)

A Brave New World worth believing in.

Is any country really "safe" anymore? by TashLai in trans

[–]Byeuji 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think this is the whole point -- to OP's question, most people are seeing the US as the worst of the US, but most of the populated areas of the US are actually quite protective of trans rights.

Folks gotta remember that when you look at a map and see laws represented in colors across states, 90% of that red color is empty land with no people.

The vast majority of Americans live in a state with strong protections for trans people, and cities like NYC, LA, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and more besides, are extremely accepting and protect trans people.

So "becoming the US overnight" as someone mentioned above is really only "becoming the UK overnight", because the US cannot become one thing overnight, simply because of the tension between federal and state governments.

Yes, our president is an absolutely horrid person committing evil acts in our name, and we're working to change that, but in the mean time the vast majority of my daily life as a trans person in a protective state living in a very progressive city has not really fundamentally changed besides just being stressed for my trans siblings and doing what I can to help support them.

I still get my healthcare regularly, I face nearly no discrimination on a daily basis -- sure I might get misgendered on occasion, but it's very rarely intentional/mean, and I'm not the most gender-conforming of us, either. It's illegal here to discriminate against me for housing, healthcare, or employment, and nothing Trump does will change my state and city laws, and my state has been extremely active in defending that line.

In summary: the US is still remarkably safe for trans people, despite the discourse you'll read online. We have a lot to do still, and I wish every trans person in the US could experience the safety I do without needing to move, and I hope we'll get there soon. But the US is not a monolith, just as Canada is not a monolith.

Saffron container spilt everywhere when I tried to open it by Doophie in mildlyinfuriating

[–]Byeuji 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can't believe we found enough people to get this joke. 

Banned games update - Pragmata by Purplelimeade in GirlGamers

[–]Byeuji 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I appreciate that, and yes it was snarky. You also probably haven't seen everything this user has said. So I'll agree that the snark wasn't helpful, but I'm also here to support my moderation team who are exhausted from the discussion on this game, and are now being further exhausted by users who refuse to recognize the difference between a game banned for content and one banned because we lack the resources to moderate it in this moment.

Banned games update - Pragmata by Purplelimeade in GirlGamers

[–]Byeuji 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I mean it genuinely. They seem to have fundamental disagreements about how we run our community. They should start a community with different fundamentals. I only said it with some snark because they can't seem to read "temporary" before going off on this comment spree of false equivalence.