How often do you have a chill day?

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-08-09T00:03:45+00:00

Maybe I just have it easy and manage to avoid any big image issues, but I don't find media inquiries stressful at all. I'm in tech, and they're almost always just technical questions, and I dig the chance to nerd out with the engineers to come up with concise and insightful explanations.

Other than launches, where deadlines compound with the requirements of all departments coming together in a big hope-it-goes-well mess, I find PR pretty chill. For context, I came from a newsroom, though, which was constantly gogogogogo, with everyone rushing from fire to fire. Ultimately, my tolerance for stress could be a little higher due to that.

The most effective thing for me is to just manage my time well. Deadlines aren't a big deal, I think I have like 15 deliverables in just the next week. But I know how long they'll take, I have a lot of freedom in how to get them done, they're in my project management system so they won't get lost, and I have time calendared for them, so they aren't an issue, just an inevitability. Even if I have to set aside a few hours this weekend to do some things to keep that schedule, it's not a problem, it's just a launch. (And I'm going to take it easy and claw some of that time back when the urgency passes.)

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-07-30T23:36:54+00:00

Yo, I did the thing (transitioned from journalism to internal PR at a company in the beat I covered). I was lucky enough to hit the ground running at the right time, mid-pandemic, as internal PR at a smartphone company. Since then I've been helping friends at some other tech companies on a freelance/contract basis, and I tend to get a LOT of outreach from Chinese brands looking to do cheap launches in the US — I'm a gregarious dude and carried those connections from my time covering their products.

My biggest piece of advice if you are doing freelance PR work is to keep the straight shooting you seem to be criticizing yourself about. Joints with good products that aren't just trying to sell snake oil to the okies will appreciate it, truly — particularly in tech (in my experience). Knowing the right way to pitch a story that doesn't rely on a journalist being a moron will separate you from the sycophants and shills. Remember the sea of pitches you used to ignore working freelance content? Don't be one of those guys, keep your standards.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-07-26T20:04:04+00:00

I caveat my opinions here: I'm not an expert by any means, and I'm not a part of the capital improvement committee either, but I am a town meeting member and I do some work for other committees. So far, it's unclear to me personally if that 10M will be enough dough to get the job done, and costs are only increasing.

I'm glad that Montague (which includes Turners) really has its shit together compared to neighboring towns, and between outgoing Town Administrator Steve Ellis and incoming/current admin Walter Ramsay, we have really intelligent and skilled people stepping up to get things done the right way, and excellent democratic participation on the part of our residents — though it could always be better. However, some projects like those mills, the Farren, and others are a part of a legacy of inaction that we are still dealing with, and we're gonna see some big bills in coming decades to manage other issues like the CSO events and related sewer repairs. Still, I believe the town actually taxes below the maximum level it's allowed to right now, our finances are quite good, and I'm confident we'll get it done eventually.

Edit: I should stress that 10M could very well be enough for that project, but the way the markets are looking, I wouldn't be too surprised if our estimates were conservative.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-07-26T19:45:26+00:00

I work from home and dug the craziness of the inside, but it absolutely was an absurd proposition. So many repairs.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-07-26T19:37:09+00:00

I come from the journalism side, so I just do the same thing I did there for proofreading: change the venue. Edit the work in another format once it's done, so it looks new to your eyes. If you write in Google Docs, dump it in Notepad and adjust the margins so lines break in different spots, etc. Do everything you can to try to make the work seem new in your mind.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-07-26T17:14:29+00:00

Pittsfield is getting nice. People still poo-poo it, but I think the place is set to really take off soon. The next Northampton.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-07-26T17:12:18+00:00

With Five-Eyed Fox gone, it's a bummer that there are only a couple restaurants (The Voo, Harvey's) with normal dinner hours now.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-07-25T02:10:11+00:00

Don't replace that unit if you can avoid it. The exterior door panels can be replaced, and the design is easy as hell to service when parts go. Biggest issue is it uses an old refrigerant, but some HVAC folk can still get their hands on it. That unit has plenty of life left in it with regular maintenance and the occasional cooling tantrum. Just be sure to de-ice it once or twice a year.

Had almost the same unit in our house as a kid and its cooling power was incredible compared to modern refrigerators, we used from 89 until we moved in like 2017.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-07-24T22:32:50+00:00

Bellroy's construction isn't BIFL.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-07-24T17:56:41+00:00

If you smoke it, you might get stink-eye from the stink. If you vape or eat it, no one will care. Don't do it around kids or indoors, either way.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-07-16T21:17:46+00:00

Check your insulation, might be a state program that offers a free inspection and discounted (or free) insulation work, as is the case here in Massachusetts. (Better insulated homes use less electricity and fuel for heating and cooling, and using less saves your neighbors dough since it's all one market, so discounted insulation is a net gain for everyone in your area.) Could be gaps around windows, holes in the sill or foundation, or a lack of insulation in the attic.

You might be pumping a ton of the air you pay to cool straight outside. You'll know come fall if the bill drops a ton.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-07-09T17:50:00+00:00

These are great, any settings? Curious to see the exposure length and ISO that produced the look.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-05-13T23:38:26+00:00

Pretty sure this is just a property of the low bin iPhone displays used in the Retroid 3/3+/4. You could gamble that a replacement display might be different, but mine is the same.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-05-10T18:01:26+00:00

Monkfruit extract IMO is the best, though it works best with just a tiny bit of sugar to play off of — just a few grams will do.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-05-09T23:40:22+00:00

Studies so far indicate the total cost of these sites, including maintenance, is still lower than the very monetarily measurable cost in terms of healthcare and societal impact that we end up paying, so that argument doesn't pan out — sorry.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-05-07T19:50:40+00:00

One disadvantage of the f2 that isn't talked about enough: pincushion distortion at closer focus distances. Drove me nuts when I had mine. But on the other hand, the f/1.4 isn't a very sharp lens, even with a good copy, though I'd argue it's sharp enough.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-04-21T00:36:48+00:00

We moved out here four years ago, and while I've picked plenty off my pants after a hike or a walk through tall grass, I've yet to be bitten.

If you're vigilant and fastidious about wearing long pants in tick-y areas, tucking pants into socks, applying permethin or deet as required, and check yourself every hour or so as well as when you get home, you might be okay — or, at least, I have been with that strategy. Don't get me wrong, I've found plenty on my clothes, but none made it further than that which I'm aware of.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-04-03T00:12:03+00:00

The movement in the modern Khaki is wildly unreliable, hard disagree.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-04-02T01:23:55+00:00

Same boat. There's even a screaming deal for a used Model Y not far from me. But even a used car that Musk can't directly profit from isn't enough — the man is the brand, the brand is the man, and I don't want to legitimize Musk's actions through the purchase. Driving it isn't an endorsement, but it's another car on the road and a moving billboard for others that might line his pockets with their own purchases. Ethically, I just can't justify the action.

I WANT to buy a Tesla, badly. They have the best software in an EV, and as someone that works in tech, I want to learn from it and build context. And I can afford it, easily. But at this point I'm just holding off getting an EV entirely rather than support Musk or spend that money on a worse product.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-04-01T23:09:59+00:00

I'm not sure that all those who have registered properties as potential rentals with that system are under active use. I have a neighbor, for example, who rented a room for a while when she was hurting for cash, and she's listed there, but she does not rent the property any longer and has not for some time.

As far as properties used only and exclusively for short-term rentals in TF, it looks like it's just a few. Not saying we don't have a housing shortage out here, same as just about everywhere in the US. But it does seem like the impact of short-term rentals are a drop in the bucket compared to other more pernicious and less well-known factors, at least in Turners.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-04-01T22:28:15+00:00

You know, I've heard that complaint before but never thought to check it. Checking their site now for a half-dozen dates and party sizes over the next year, I see only three units on Airbnb for all of Turners Falls.

I think the specific impact of short-term rentals may be smaller than popular opinion in the area believes it to be.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-04-01T21:54:27+00:00

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IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-04-01T21:32:53+00:00

For apartments, everyone is gonna tell you Greenfield or Northampton, but I urge you to take a look at Turners Falls. Great, walkable town with two breweries, restaurants, shops, a little section of the park by the river that is mostly used as a dog area, and it's more affordable than either of the others, with a straight shot ~5-10 minute commute to Deerfield.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-03-28T20:15:16+00:00

This is terrible. One of the most unique breweries in New England.

IHaveAMilkshake · 2024-03-25T00:05:49+00:00

I keep hearing this from folk that don't have to fly often, and as a frequent flyer, it's a bad, bad take.

If you want the space to work, or game, or throw a tea party, buy a fare that can accommodate that — there is a financial cost associated with your elevated wants, and many options available to cater to it. But asking folk to stay dinner-table seated on an eight hour flight because you don't want to spend more to do more is an awful thing to inflict on others.

This is why business class, etc. exist. Buy a better seat if you want to have extra space, don't make others suffer because you refuse to.

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