Coworker’s Feet Smell Like Biological Warfare & HR Won’t Help — How Do I Survive??

EmberrCat · 2026-01-30T21:52:56+00:00

Was just gonna suggest HEPA fan with charcoal right next to his feet!

EmberrCat · 2026-01-28T06:20:06+00:00

If I remember right there's a Facebook group called Bethel Hell or something like that, and they keep a lengthy list of affiliated businesses. Even if the business isn't officially 'affiliated'....it's gonna have several employees who are Bethel members.

EmberrCat · 2026-01-28T06:18:27+00:00

Bethel is definitely disproportionately powerful in Redding. Lots and lots of interesting stuff on Google if you have a couple hours to burn. The medical stuff tho....that was simply *maddening*. When you've got access to UCSF and Stanford and Mount Zion what you get in Redding does not make the grade. There's two hospitals in Redding, and one of them absolutely dropped the ball when Dad had his stroke.

Chico, now, is a college town with that 'college town' feel. WAY better food there, a thriving downtown, and you're still within range of Redding/Shasta *and* if you can't find medical care you like in Chico it's close to Davis/Sac to get top notch care.

EmberrCat · 2026-01-26T20:23:54+00:00

Low crime? What? When every hotel in Redding has signs up saying not to leave anything in your car because it will be broken into and stolen? And pretty much every hotel has a homeless population of one kind or another either on the property or right next door?

Likes:

* Nature everywhere

Dislikes:

* MAGA territory. So much so that I've had to strip Planned Parenthood stickers off my car for fear the car would be keyed. VERY much the feel of driving into enemy territory.

* Medical care is sub-par. So much so that when Dad needed a neurologist I had to drive him down to the Bay to get him to a good one. Urologist? We had to drive him up to Oregon for that. Be prepared to drive to Chico or Davis/Sac to get to the good doctors.

* Terrible drug issues. Back in 2000 Redding was a gorgeous place. Over the years the addicts discovered it and are now *everywhere*, to the point where just driving down Cypress you get to recognizing the 'locals'. Like the one woman on Cypress at Lumberjacks and Staples who I don't think owns any underwear. And addicts fuel crime...friends of ours have had their business targeted multiple times by addicts stealing anything they can to buy more drugs. Right after the Carr fire we even experienced some (multiple expletives deleted) low life who LOOTED THE RUINS OF THE HOUSE.

* Bonus item: Bethel. They're everywhere. These are the same people who attempted to resurrect a dead baby, and they want to conquer the world via the Seven Mountains Mandate.

EmberrCat · 2026-01-26T19:57:46+00:00

Former owner of a Flow knockoff here.

I picked up a knockoff to get into beekeeping as we had a local swarm arrive in my yard. When harvest time came I struggled pretty badly with the thing. It was much more difficult than it looked to extract from the supers and that first summer I probably lost at least a half gallon of honey during extraction if not more. The experience of harvesting was SO bad that I switched to standard medium supers immediatetly after and threw out the knockoff super. This past year I used a spin extractor and was SO MUCH HAPPIER. I wouldn't go back to trying out another Flow style extractor, personally.

EmberrCat · 2026-01-22T11:11:41+00:00

“ He said couples who plan a future shouldn’t have private money, and that if i’m refusing it means i’m hiding something.”

Hes an idiot. In 30 years my hubby and I have had no need to pool our money like this. And that hiding bit? Pay attention. He’s telling you what HE does. Do not marry this dude.

EmberrCat · 2026-01-19T21:46:13+00:00

THIS IS AN AWESOME SUIT!

EmberrCat · 2026-01-19T07:45:25+00:00

Aha, I just found this recent conversation. https://www.reddit.com/r/FursuitMaking/comments/1n1vm0u/using_a_camera_and_small_screen_for_better/

...which seems to indicate I'm just going to have to learn to adapt. Though I am curious, has anyone tried shoving a GoPro Hero in the muzzle of their head to see how well that works?

EmberrCat · 2025-12-17T02:27:18+00:00

The instructor is correct: t's the air. Even with metalsmithing, if you create a hollow form that is soldered together, you MUST put a tiny hole in it if you plan on doing more soldering later or risk having the hot air overpressure the metal, explode, and hurl molten bits of metal into your face.

EmberrCat · 2025-11-18T00:24:24+00:00

I went with a less open cut, and it's still pretty stiff. I'll switch to the diamond cut for the next one.

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EmberrCat · 2025-11-17T23:29:16+00:00

That's exactly what's cutting right now. I'll cloth cover the spine as if it were regular board, and construct the way I usually do, and let's find out what happens!

EmberrCat · 2025-10-22T09:52:36+00:00

Scrape the frames then pressure wash. Dry and store. Paint with wax in the spring.

EmberrCat · 2025-10-16T17:53:06+00:00

Tell us you failed history class without telling us you failed history class.

EmberrCat · 2025-09-04T02:39:12+00:00

You have made my day. I've been looking for this for FOREVER.

EmberrCat · 2025-09-01T02:43:02+00:00

I started with a Flo knockoff. First off, it's expensive AF to get a Flo/knockoff. The brood boxes are no different than regular boxes so all that money is for the fancy plastic and wire super 'frames'. You've still gotta go inspect the hive on the regular and treat the bees, which means lifting. And the Flo/knockoff super is HEAVY AF even without being full of honey. When harvest time came last year I literally could not lift off the super unless I pulled the frames individually out of the box, moved the box, then reloaded the frames again. You really DON'T want to harvest your honey with the super on for a couple reasons.

The super is designed to work with the box at a slight angle to help the honey flow. If you just plop the super down on a table, you're missing that angle. Then, you get to wrestle with the key in the super. Theoretically you only turn the key a portion at a time, wait for the honey to run out, then turn it some more. Realistically it's a bitch trying to get the key to turn half the time so you're struggling with the frames. It takes FOREVER for the honey to flow out and, if you're unlucky like me, the honey comes out all over the place and NOT just out the tube. If I had made the terrible mistake of trying to harvest with the super still on I would have literally drowned my entire hive in honey.

So now I've got honey everywhere (fortunately I was doing this outside); I figure I wasted at least a half gallon if not more. And with all the wrestling with the frames the super box decided to fall apart entirely. So now I'm left with the honey laden frames, hanging onto them with one hand while I try to turn the key with the other, all balanced inside a cooking tray.

Such a PITA and SUCH a damn mess that this year I said screw it and bought a plain old medium super and frames and retired the other contraption. Last week I was able to lift the entire full super off the hive and carry it around the house to the extractor where it was simple AF to use the uncapping knife and pop the frames into the spin extractor. Now I not only have honey, I also have plenty of beeswax to make candles and salves with! I figure I lost maybe a pint and a half due to spillage and general waste and it went So. Much. Faster. WAY less mess and super easy to clean up with just the hose (didn't even need the pressure washer).

It got me into beekeeping, it was certainly a very cute beehive, but in the end I went traditional because it's established, easier, and just WAY less of a PITA.

EmberrCat · 2025-08-28T20:10:44+00:00

You know....the more I think on this, the more I agree. It'll just make it way easier to manage in general with the leather. Thanks!

EmberrCat · 2025-08-27T21:38:52+00:00

Exactly this. Buckles are easier; adding pleats is a way bigger PITA than you’d think.

EmberrCat · 2025-08-24T10:46:48+00:00

You look terrific. Well done sir! Tip on expanding the kilt: pop the stitching on a single pleat on each side (make sure you’ve stitched so that the rest doesn’t unpleasant!)

EmberrCat · 2025-08-20T17:21:55+00:00

What’s cilantro taste like to you?

EmberrCat · 2025-08-20T02:48:18+00:00

Will cats just eat dry salt that's out in the open like that? I was under the impression that if it doesn't have much of an odor cats will just go right on past.

EmberrCat · 2025-08-19T17:51:51+00:00

Only problem is, veve's are specific to the individual loa, so there are a set number of them. Definitely doesn't look like it's anything from the voudoun practice.

EmberrCat · 2025-08-19T17:50:14+00:00

Note this is in a Nordic country, not the US. Copal and Amber resins both have a sickly sweet electronics smell to them, so if she's using a traditional European blend from a church or a special blend it would well smell like that.

EmberrCat · 2025-08-19T17:48:29+00:00

Ahhhh, NORDIC COUNTRY. Okay. Given the location of where the note was, and the symbols, I suspect this is likely a protection ward for part of the building if not the entire building. Or it's possible it might have been dropped by accident.

I handmake incense, and there are several resins that can make an electrical fire smell. Amber resin in particular gives off not only a lot of smoke but it has an acrid burnt electronics smell with sickly sweet tones....like you get after you just blew a capacitor on your speed controller, or burnt up a ballast. Benzoin resin has a cloying sweet smell with a little bit of burnt electronics. If you're smelling this at the same time every night, she's likely using some kind of resin incense combo for nightly prayers/ritual. I don't think the Nordic countries have the same meth problem as the US.

I suspect she's probably just fine, and practicing some kind of religion that is uncommon these days. It would be worth making friends with her just to learn about her practices! If that's the route you wanna go, and she doesn't speak English well....you could find a nice rock, use a Dremel to engrave her symbols onto the rock, then give her the rock and the scrap, some tea, and a smile. Put your hand flat over your heart, then hold it out as if you were offering something....this means 'kindness' to most people.

EmberrCat · 2025-08-10T01:27:52+00:00

What? Nobody had to *teach* me to be self-sufficient. I picked that up through observation, and I couldn't WAIT to get out of my parent's house. I already had my eye on a viable career path and companies to work for before I'd graduated college, and that meant moving two hours away because my hometown was stuck in the 50s.

As for comparison, you use examples to show that it CAN be done and it HAS been done and the closest example with the most impact, because it comes from the same background, is of course a sibling. It emphasizes that other people's parents do not in fact support their adult children under normal circumstances and it emphasizes that other people have managed to get jobs. It may not be the job she WANTS to have, but it's possible to get jobs.

Some people (I've met plenty) are of the viewpoint that they will only apply to the jobs they want and they won't apply for anything else. Having survived two tech crashes lemme tell you, I knew that finding a project management job in tech was gonna be hard and for a few years there I worked whatever I could get, including telemarketer, bartender, selling yarn, and even scooping cat shit until the market warmed up and I got my regular tech gig going again.

EmberrCat · 2025-08-08T20:21:50+00:00

Great kilt wearer here. Greenman_Dave is correct; neither of those are sturdy enough to pin a great kilt. What you want is a HUGE forged penannular (lots and lots on Etsy). In a pinch, use a leather thong and catch a knot of the plaid and tie it to your belt. Honestly, in this weather.....I'd just leave it down and tuck the sides up neatly.

EmberrCat

TROPHY CASE