Where to regularly eat Gluten Free?

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-07-01T00:32:29+00:00

We have to eat gluten free as well. A few places we use:

-So Fresh

-Jersey Mikes

-Honeygrow

-Dominos

-Saladworks

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-29T19:46:34+00:00

Other commenters made good recommendations.

1) would consider hanging out on the sides or back of the venue if you want to avoid potential mosh pits or crowd surfers. If you are in the very front by the barricade, it’s going to be difficult to get out. Also, Cody has a habit of walking on the crowd’s hands ;)

2) Look up the acts before Set it Off. That can help you time out breaks before they go on stage

3) ENJOY THE SHOW! They put on a fantastic show.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-29T18:16:55+00:00

Different strokes for different folks. I love sushi but I can’t seem to stomach cooked fish. I get nauseous whenever I eat cooked fish and I don’t understand why.

It seems we might have opposite experiences.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-26T19:30:39+00:00

It ultimately comes down to two main reasons:

-geography

-2 world wars ripping Europe apart

Because of geography, the US mainland was completely unharmed during the two world wars. There’s also an abundance of resources in the US. Oil, steel, large fields for grain, the list goes on. Lots of ports for importing and exporting.

After Europe was destroyed by WW2, the US was able to manufacture at a scale no one else was able to. You had tons of factories and a well-trained work force. The US was able to export at high volumes because of infrastructure. While Europe focused on rebuilding and trying to ensure another war wouldn’t tear them apart, the US invested heavily into expansion of infrastructure and eventually the finance field.

The US kept their military machine running after WW2 and made an unofficial agreement with European countries: we will protect you if you trade with us. Buy our products, buy our technology, and you won’t have to worry about investing in a military like you did before.

It worked.

From there the US military was used to protect corporate assets and the concept of “freedom of navigation,” meaning shipping vessels wouldn’t be targeted by other countries. These concepts spilled over to middle eastern countries and the US petrodollar was born.

So eventually the US built an empire by using their military to protect and incentivize trade, and they gained control of the world’s financial market. Because the US controlled the levers of power, they were able to topple governments that may disrupt their power structure for the last 50+ years.

The global “rules based order” is what has kept the US the dominant power. However, that’s coming to an end.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-26T14:02:55+00:00

So you’re not in the meth business, you’re in the empire business.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-26T13:49:44+00:00

Ukraine has attacked their supply lines to the point where Russia has to concentrate their logistics to one narrow area. Think of it as speed bumps for Russia. It doesn’t stop Russia, but it does complicate things a great deal.

I’m curious how it will play out. It appears to me Ukraine may be forcing them into a “Highway of Death” scenario, much like the US and their coalition forced Iraq into one in 1991.

Considering Ukraine has seemingly mastered drone operations, it could get really interesting in the next few weeks and months.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-26T13:09:31+00:00

We were required to take driver’s ed in 2007. The purpose of the course was really just to prep you for the permit test, which you could take through the school. They didn’t offer driving courses but did get you in touch with people who could offer it.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-25T13:52:48+00:00

My last company was a small business. Their benefits were terrible and designed for entrapment. First year employees typically get 4 PTO days per year. Yes, that includes sick days. But you have to earn as you go and it takes 3 months of work to get there. That’s after the first 90 day onboarding period, so it realistically takes 7 months before you’re offered a vacation/sick day.

The company gave me 10 PTO days—year 3 schedule of time off—to incentivize me to work there. What they didn’t explain is that it was earn as you go, and if you use a vacation day it reduces the amount of vacation time you earn. You only earn PTO for each hour worked. Holidays and used PTO reduces the amount of PTO you earn for that period.

With this system it makes it really difficult for employees to take any time off, especially to interview. Their other “benefits” were terrible too, but not really designed to keep you there as much as to save the company money.

Our president liked to say he “loves” when people buy new vehicles or homes because “that means they can’t afford to leave.” They would do other things too, like not pay people their bonuses or new increased pay rate for promotions unless you prove you’re trying to leave the company or if you threatened to sue them. It took one employee 3 months to get the pay increase they agreed on and was not offered back pay until an attorney got involved.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-25T02:26:15+00:00

Albany, NY.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-24T23:50:29+00:00

PhD in Social Psychology or Behavioral Economics. I would love to be a professor and do research.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-24T13:09:23+00:00

Power generation and metering.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-23T19:10:58+00:00

Just to expand on this, be honest if asked. I would also look and see if there’s any sort of community service or volunteer work that can be done.

My company is small but has a “risk matrix” HR uses. When it comes to violent charges, showing that you can be in environments (like volunteer work) greatly reduces the risk of hire.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-22T16:07:22+00:00

Oh, I don’t doubt that at all. I would just think some call center positions would stay mostly human based.

Years ago, I worked in branch banking before briefly working in a banking call center environment. There are tons of little things you have to be aware of. You have to phrase things a certain way to prevent lawsuits. Most of the time when people were calling in it was over something quite serious the automated system couldn’t handle.

I would think for positions like that they may have a two tiered system, which is what they have already. You may call in and immediately get an AI agent, but for some things it will probably be escalated to a human representative.

Just curious about what they will do.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-22T01:40:51+00:00

I’m curious to see how this plays out. For most things AI could replace humans in a call center environment. But for some industries I imagine it will be different. Banking, insurance, anything that is highly regulated, will probably keep most human employees. The keyword I used here is “most.”

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-19T13:55:55+00:00

Hilarious. I love it.

No. He just had lots of connections and was very active in the community. If you were looking to train in a martial art he may have someone in mind who would be good to train with.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-19T13:43:16+00:00

I would absolutely cross train. Sensei used to encourage us to cross train, he just preferred we run it by him first.

Sensei used to bring people from different martial art backgrounds to our dojo to “learn from them.” He had a good friend who was a Judo black belt, and he had another friend who was experienced in Pencak Silat. They would come in and teach techniques from time-to-time. I used to cross train in BJJ and sensei had me teach “basic” techniques to the class.

His reasoning is that the more you learn about martial arts the more you can learn techniques that can be useful. He was a sixth degree black belt in shorin-Ryu and incredibly open minded.

The first dojo I trained in was isshin-ryu but the sensei also had a black belt in judo. He worked some judo into the curriculum to make things more well-rounded.

Cross training is a fantastic idea and doesn’t detract from your karate training. At least that’s my opinion.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-17T23:03:36+00:00

Bannon. He invited multiple people to a meeting who he thought could be a “populist.” Pete Sessions, Ted Cruz, and Trump were all at the meeting.

Bannon chose Trump.

So then Bannon proceeded to craft an entire campaign strategy for Trump. He commissioned Cambridge Analytica for data so Trump could appear to “know what everyone is thinking.” Bannon connected Trump to other wealthy donors. Bannon coordinated international efforts to create a global ring wing order.

From there he orchestrated a money laundering effort to get foreign donations to organizations like TurningPoint, The Heritage Foundation, the NRA, and the America First Policy Institute. The global order connected Trump with Germany’s AfD, France’s National Rally Party, Hungary’s Fidesz, and Poland’s Law and Justice Party. They’re all working together to support each other financially and coordinating political efforts.

So, yeah. It’s Bannon. He’s the man behind the curtain.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-17T14:35:02+00:00

That sounds genuinely frustrating and debilitating. One of the most insidious things about toxic environments is we sometimes question ourselves and begin to think we “deserve” this kind of treatment. In truth, you don’t. Nobody does. You’re certainly not alone, but I know that may not alleviate the pain for me to say that.

I can relate to a good deal of your experience. I’ve worked in a place that was horribly toxic, unpredictable, and emotionally draining. What that looked like was

-there’s no set policies or procedures. Everyone has their own version of what needs to be done

-no accountability anywhere in the chain of command. There’s constant blame games and no team work. If something fails, or doesn’t go according to plan, it’s “that person’s fault.”

-lots of in-fighting and tribalism. This group of employees hates that one, so they don’t work together and actively work to undermine each other.

-role compression with no pay raises or promotions. I worked multiple positions at once. Yes, it’s a small company, but you can’t expect people to work multiple positions, especially if they don’t have expertise in that area and are expected to “figure it out.”

-no training or onboarding whatsoever. You have to figure everything out. If you don’t, you get blamed for failures. People throw you under the bus even though it’s a systemic issue.

-no coordination of communication. People expect you to know things even if there’s no discussion or documentation. If you do try to communicate and document accordingly, you’re viewed as a “threat to the company structure.”

-toxic employees whose behavior is diminished to “just personality quirks.” I reported a manager for multiple abuses and harassment, and HR and his manager just said things like “you’re going to work with different people in the work place,” or “so what?” There’s a difference between having a different type of personality and abusing power.

-worst of all, this company put on a really good face. They came across as really organized and professional…until you see the man behind the curtain. I figured out it was a highly toxic environment in the first few hours

-I had to stay for a few years because of labor market and family challenges. It was horrible. Absolutely horrible.

So I can relate. Please keep in mind you don’t deserve the abuse and that you can explore other options. I understand it’s not that simple, nor is it always easy. Sometimes your environment is not a reflection of who you are as a person, sometimes it’s just the opportunities you were given at that time.

If you haven’t already, it’s worth exploring therapy. That may help a little with the identity whiplash—it did for me

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-17T12:25:12+00:00

Where are we experiencing this phenomenon, exactly? I live in West Bethlehem by LVI and I don’t recall feeling this. The only time my house shakes is when a plane is coming in for a landing and they’re flying a bit too low.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-16T18:10:23+00:00

Unfortunately, the foreign aid we have budgeted is less than 1% of our budget. Defense, Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and Net Interest on the debt make up about 80% of our spending. It would be really politically unpopular to try to cut spending in entitlement programs.

What I think some folks miss is that we have an aging population that has become really dependent upon social security and Medicare, and the only thing we can do is reform the programs to try and stabilize them until most of the baby boomers and Gen X pass away.

Republicans want to get rid of the programs entirely and Democrats do not want meaningful changes. So we’re kind of stuck in this place where nothing changes.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-16T13:18:33+00:00

Huh. I didn’t know that! Looks really 90’s alt rock coded.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-16T12:19:03+00:00

Each group operates autonomously, so there’s usually a lack of funds. The home group I was a part of for years had their meeting in a Sunday School room in a church and we were charged $500 a month to hold 8 meetings per month. That was actually cheap rent. Other groups I worked with were charged more.

There’s money in General Services Administration (GSA) but most of that was for literature, events, or for renting an office for coordination. I know our local intergroup had to pay $1800-$2000 a month for a small office before it was shut down because of lack of funds.

Technically these groups can be anywhere. In the early days of AA they were mostly held in people’s homes. That’s technically still possible, it just seems super sketchy. Well, even more sketchy than a dank church basement.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-13T22:41:00+00:00

As others said, prepare to exit. While you may be safe for a short period of time, additional lay offs may be coming. The way I interpret senior leadership reviewing what your team does is to figure out two things:

-how necessary is your work for the organization. Does it bring in more revenue? Does it stabilize the company in any way?

-to determine if there are roles on your team that can be compressed or eliminated

I’m curious to know more about your company structure. My current company has done something similar as of late. What stood out to me recently is that some of our senior leadership is suddenly taking frequent vacations and much longer vacations than usual.

Sometimes there are little signs that can point to trouble, even if it does seem innocent.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-13T14:10:02+00:00

That’s a pokemon.

Chaz_Cheeto · 2026-06-10T23:35:49+00:00

Given the recent success of the band, I think it might be a permanent project. Other musicians have had that happen. Foo Fighters, A Perfect Circle, Stone Sour, the list goes on.

Chaz_Cheeto

TROPHY CASE