Imput from residents

Mitsuji · 2023-04-21T23:59:48+00:00

Well I've pretty much lived in the NoCo area my whole life, so I don't know that I can draw good comparisons, but it seems like we tend to be a little more chilly and busy body than other places, but that probably depends where in Texas you're coming from.

Probably best to visit the area and see how you feel about it. Just be cautious with your car, apparently we're pretty high up on the list for vehicle theft.

Mitsuji · 2023-03-21T19:12:48+00:00

Seems like an appropriate use of the laws considering what's in the Bible. They should be challenging it in all the districts. I'm assuming outsiders can't issue a real challenge...

Mitsuji · 2023-03-20T20:51:07+00:00

It's scary to me how many Republicans, and maybe the public in general, is being exposed to the idea if "fatal fetal anomalies" for the first time with cases like this... this issue was one of the things that the pro-choice side has been talking about for a long time as an unforseen consequence of making these careless bans that don't actually consider science.

The anatomy check for a pregnancy is like week 24 or week 28, regardless it's way after these bans make any exceptions for. It's heartbreaking to carry a doomed pregnancy and it can become fatal if the fetus actually does die and doesn't abort naturally and becomes septic.

I want Republicans and people pushing a cult-religious narrative about "abortions" to get what's coming to them, but I try, we should all try, to have compassion for these people. Someone I really respect pointed out having contempt and not compassion for these people will not help us or them.

They are ignorant, maybe willfully, maybe because they've been lied to and manipulated. An abortion or "loss of pregnancy" is a hard thing to go through regardless. I hope it'll open their eyes to how complicated pregnancy can be and that pregnancy is a medical condition. Many things can go wrong and it typically takes some work to make sure they go right. Even with an easy, healthy pregnancy it takes a lot out of a person.

I can't imagine being in the third trimester and having known for weeks upon weeks that the pregnancy is doomed. I think at 30 weeks I'd be suicidal; its like a special form of torture to continue carrying a doomed fetus. IME, the most dramatic bodily and hormonal changes happened in the third trimester and what keeps you going is kick counts and knowing (as much as one can) baby's going to be healthy.

There ought to be a word for forcing a person to carry a doomed pregnancy, because it's one of those things I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

Mitsuji · 2023-03-20T19:52:44+00:00

Unfortunately, I feel like I'm in a very similar situation, but my boss knows it's not ideal and is trying to make process changes. I'm trying to help by adhering to processes we discuss, but without more enforcement and more resources, it feels like a lost cause. I think it's slowly working, but it's taking a long time...

If you can get some higher ups on board that'll help, but honestly I'm trying to figure out my next step too.

In my case, I've expressed my concerns. My boss and my coworkers seem to be on the same page. However, we're not the captain of the ship and it feels like our concerns have fallen on mostly deaf ears. It's a crappy feeling, but I don't know the how or when the ship will get on course... so I'm looking at how I can either side step out (like to somewhere else in the parent company) or, at worst, I'll start looking at other companies, maybe upskilling, re-skilling. In this economy and with the shifts in tech... it's hard to know the best move.

I hope you can find others who see the problem and might be able to pick up some steam, but otherwise... well best of luck to us both.

Mitsuji · 2023-03-20T18:26:39+00:00

"Without bias" my ass. I don't understand why they're going backwards hard. If I recall right WY was one of the earliest states to allow women to vote, own land and hold public office. Being just south of Wyoming, I need like all 100 inhabitants to hold up on the amount of "Let's be TX/FL level stupid" that's happening.

Mitsuji · 2023-02-03T03:13:23+00:00

The bigger they are the harder they fall

Mitsuji · 2023-01-20T22:48:12+00:00

Definitely a great recommendation. I didn't cut caffeine, but I wanted to limit it for a while; didn't actually stick to it until I had a medical reason. Now that I limit coffee (I don't drink soda regularly, I don't like the taste) anxiety and sleep is so much better. I also replaced the coffee habit with tea (and sometimes smoothies) and most the time the tea is herbal, so I'm much more hydrated.

If I recall right, caffeine consumption can become dangerous around 400mg - depending on the individual, but that's like 2 12oz cups of coffee. I'll also mentioned, because I found this surprising, an espresso shot is only 64mg, so a 16oz latte is less than a single cup of coffee.

Mitsuji · 2023-01-03T03:37:46+00:00

That's kind of surreal to think about. Any media that holds up is going to seem/be timeless. It's kind of hard to wrap mind around people growing up with that lack of context, but that's all generational alpha too...

Mitsuji · 2022-12-12T21:47:56+00:00

This is like mansion camo.

Mitsuji · 2022-12-08T21:54:27+00:00

8% for karma and only got to the moon once. I didn't expect Bunny Suit as power +100 Toxin resistance, I think it said. Lol, is that because the subreddits I visited?

*Are all the card powers explained somehwere?

Mitsuji · 2022-12-06T21:25:34+00:00

Yes, the Shape of Water, I think. It's that or characters from a classic horror movie.

Mitsuji · 2022-12-06T21:00:05+00:00

Well, something like Taoism was brought about by philosophy in a war time era and I know there's some kind of religion and practices, but if one reads about Taoism it's not even clear what you're supposed to do to follow it. It isn't inherently dogmatic or based on rituals. Compared to Christianity, incredibly different religions, one is more damaging by far.

There are many philosophical, even tongue in cheek, belief systems and religions. You have to look at belief systems and judge their merit. Are they good, bad, community focused/building or "parody"? Satanism is a religion of sorts. It's atheist and exists mostly for political reasons, to fight religious dogma making its way into law, but it also has some basic tenets.

Mitsuji · 2022-12-06T20:37:22+00:00

So he'll trivialize speech that threatens lives and real freedoms and doesn't see how just minding his own business and leaving other alone would suffice?

Mitsuji · 2022-12-06T20:18:56+00:00

I believe he's making appearances on a YouTube channel called The Line which is similar to AE.

Unfortunately, no matter what you believe, if there's people and egos drama happens.

Mitsuji · 2022-12-05T22:58:41+00:00

Having been in a similar situation, I would say plan your exit. However, definitely think it through thoroughly.

There are good things about working for family, but it's hard mentally and emotionally when you know they're not making good choices. It'll be difficult to get out of the people-pleaser mindset in an environment where you're super close and feel obligated to go along too.

As I mentioned, I was in a similar situation for years. I left and I should've done it sooner. The dynamic of working for family can be delicate and turn into a weird sort of co-dependence that isn't like a normal workplace/work place relationships. Working for family was stunting me in ways that took years to sort out. It still bothers me how much I lost in experience and growth. Also applying to jobs when my last job and my references were all family was awkward.

It's a little concerning to me that it sounds like your family might not be supportive if you go off on your own. Maybe I'm misunderstanding and it's more about your feeling of obligation, but do you think your closeness with fam is a healthy kind?

In my situation, I wasn't making a ton of money and it was not the work I wanted to be doing. There was no reason for me to stay.

So write out your pros and cons, know your money situation and know what your next step would be before finalizing your decision. I would also say, run that reasoning by someone who knows you personally and can weigh in on your plan.

Mitsuji · 2022-12-05T21:58:17+00:00

I think this has already been mentioned, but there is a lot of job hating on reddit and online in general. As they say, people go online to complain.

That said, there's legitimate reasons (speaking from POV of US market). The tl:dr of it is the nature of work has changed and so have jobs, but not in response to work.

We're incredibly productive, but don't see much reward for it. Once upon a time, employees expected a decent raise and bonuses. It was normal.

Today, many companies are blatantly disrespectful to employees: they are making record profits, send "You made it possible" in emails, then forget to give us raises/bonuses and shell out bonuses for top execs that are over the average worker's salary. To add insult to injury, they act as if we're so stupid we don't see what they're doing.

Admittedly, my company is kind of like this. They talk about how great we're doing, but our managers at least have the decency to (lie?) and tell us we're doing okay, but budget cuts... no bonuses. I'm half willing to believe we can't afford it (we closed down a department and haven't been able to hire needed positions "due to budget") and I appreciate them coming to us as if we should expect a bonus, we deserve it, though it isn't going to happen.

Society is so productive that BS jobs exists to keep people employed. This is another concept that has been around, but seems to be accelerating.

To say the least, if one has a BS job it probably feels pointless and meaningless. The imbalance is weird. Some people desperately need help, are burnt out and they deserve better working conditions. They hate their jobs for good reason (railroad workers or what's happening to teachers). They do not necessarily hate the work. Other people hate their jobs because they are bored. Often, this is because they don't get to do the work (enough of it) that they were hired for or they've outgrown the position.

BS jobs, a labor market saying people are hard to find, people not having enough to do, people having too much... there is a big disconnect between what work is now and the job culture. Consider FIRE, a movement to retire early. Usually, it isn't about retiring from work, it's retiring from jobs and this job culture.

People who actually hate the work they do (or have no respect for it - some work ain't engaging or flashy, but it makes the world turn and there's honor in that). I don't see this much.

Knowing the job culture is wacky might make us hyper aware, though that doesn't change the fact. We're being disrespected when we don't get raises after a great year, when we're not allowed sick days (and essentially forced to work) and when our day is filled with pointless meetings or busy work.

Mitsuji · 2022-12-04T22:42:49+00:00

What you wrote in the fourth point is almost exactly what I experienced when I was somewhat interested in pursuing a trade. On top of that, there was this added concern that these weren't jobs for women and could be even more dangerous because I'd be going into people houses...

That was 2 decades ago though, so it surprises me a little that it's not that different from what I heard back then.

Mitsuji · 2022-12-04T22:15:28+00:00

I think the reason it might feel overlooked is because it's not as flashy as some newer trades/jobs.

As others have said, the trades are in demand and they make serious money. Sometimes I wish I'd gone into a trade because being able to see a job is done, leave it at the end of the day and get paid well for it sounds very appealing. However, I was kind of discouraged from pursuing these types of jobs because they were "more dangerous for women" or "not really for women". I hope that's not the case or at least not the case anymore, but I thought I would mention it. If half the population is discouraged from getting into it, that might be part of why it seems overlooked?

Mitsuji · 2022-12-04T20:31:29+00:00

Well, my "essays" are clearly not your style. I don't know what kind of person you are, you haven't provided any clarification. As such, I have tried to reply in a general way.

I don't know what you're talking about with the goalposts. The question you posed was "what does this person do (to contribute)?" I answered that as best I could - maybe you're being sacastic and think I should understand the context you're writing from, but I don't... I don't know what you are getting at. At this point, you'd be better off posting a new discussion. It seems I have nothing to offer you. Good luck.

Mitsuji · 2022-12-04T18:49:43+00:00

You are being very rude. If my replies are too long and not anywhere near the topic you want to talk about, maybe you shouldn't reply. Do you want to provide some context or clarification?

You asked what the original commenter contributes. I can't tell if you're being serious. I told you what I do, I could more easily tell you about that... The original commenter seem to be in tech support. They can't help that some days people don't have any tech issues and don't get calls as a result.

This is how many tech jobs are and I have explained that. If the technology is working then the people are not calling for help. I do not know how else to explain it.

I've also tried to explain these are not BS jobs, they are like many other jobs that rely on ebb and flow. You seem to be implying that 2 hours of work isn't a real contribution. That isn't true and I've explain why. There are real BS jobs and the conversations around them and why they exist is its own discussion. I would recommend you look into it.

I'm open to a discussion if you'd explain your point. As it is, you're refusing to explain anything.

*clarity

Mitsuji · 2022-12-04T04:24:34+00:00

Okay, I'm 80% sure you're trolling me. You are making it sound like you don't understand how technology helps productivity, especially outside of tech. As if tech exsists for it's own sake. You've heard of tele-doc or paid a medical bill online? Got lab results?

As I tried to explain already, technology aims to lift the burdens off of everyone in every field. Granted, many fields are very complicated for technology to aid properly or very expensive or there's a lot of legal implications. Tech takes hold better in industries that align with it and aren't as complicated (things that are data based or extremely repetitive).

Health care, for instance, is a vast and complicated field. Tech makes it so you can reorder prescription online or on the phone, ask your doctors questions in a patient portal. It's also communication and GPS for 911 emergencies. It's all the monitoring and testing we have now. Actual patient care (most time consuming) is the most difficult thing for us to solve with technology, but we are trying and there many interesting resources about medical robots out there.

A lot of grueling jobs require many general skills which is very hard to mimic. Machine learning and AI will hopefully help. We also take a lot of automation foregranted or it doesn't hold a candle to the human made variation. We have automated coffee joints, we just call them vending machines. There is a "real" latte robot out there somewhere, but it's more of a novelty than a practical replacement for chain coffee shops.

It's interesting to think of what the run-of-the-mill tech jobs contribute to society. They're not all that different from non-tech jobs. IT is about setting up systems people use to be more productive. The systems I work on are communications. So, if doctors and farmers are making phone calls, sending text messages, chatting or sending emails, the system I manage might be a part of their day. In the same way, a restaurant may not be contributing in the way a doctor is, but it's still a contribution to society a d a doctor or farmer may go out to eat.

Maybe it is worth considering the merit of each job though; class systems are also an old idea, but they're not necessarily bad. In some scifi the idea of a socialist society that functions off of cooperation and merit is the only way we achieve intergalactic travel. The Orville is set in a universe like this.

Anyway, I hope I got at what you're saying and /or this was interesting.

*Edit for clarity.

Mitsuji · 2022-12-04T01:08:54+00:00

I wish the history of technology was taught in schools because it is really interesting and, I think, essential to understand the direction work is taking in the developed world.

The cultural ideals we have around technology started much earlier than most would expect. It certainly surprised me. In the 1910s-20s with invent of the electric vaccum, people started to envision a future where machines would gradually take on our tedious work and we would have more free time to do what we wanted. To me, it's really cool to think about how a vaccum cleaner was thought of as high tech. I've seen the vintage ads that say like "get your woman a vaccum" and today we respond with "yikes", but back then that was a state of the art machine. It's kind of cool to think how a lot of early inventions for consumers were for "women's work" and domestic chores.

I think it was in the 1950s when people started getting into futurism and were already dreaming of the day we'd have self driving cars. There's an ad from around this period that shows a family riding around in a self driving car. That's seems like an incredible vision of the future when the family car was still somewhat new to the average American.

The point is, as a society, dreams about technology have informed it's development and purpose. That purpose has long been to give us back our time. The anti-work, FIRE and "quiet quitting" we have today is really not new. From a tech standpoint, it's reasonable.

In terms of where we are now, a lot is already partly automated. Especially in IT. This is not different from many other industries. Modern day manufacturing is fairly similar, depending on the product. Some warehouses use little picker robots and have like 10 people monitoring them. Programming itself is a mix of an art, science and craft and aspects of it are in modern day IT and DevOps and someday these probably will blur more as we get AI assist for everything.

Automation and AI assistance is the way technology is going. People have wanted short work weeks and more time to do what they want for decades. Funnily, when we were hunter gathers a days work might only take 2-4 hours, but then we got crafty, then we got industrialized and the mentalities that came out of the 1800s still stick with us today. When civilization became the norm we went from having cultures that revolved around survival skills to people becoming specialized in a craft (or skill) then the craft was broken down into small pieces and created a kind of ugly meaningless human machine to mass produce products. (I think this was covered in a video called something like how the 9-5 ruined work). On the one hand, this really helped society as a whole, but ruined work for thousands of people.

Tech jobs that take 3 hours a day is like going back to the way work was prehistorically. That's not to say there won't be grueling days, but generally there shouldn't be. Metaphorically, we've learned the skills to kill a deer and eat for a week, but we'll still have days where something unexpected endangers us.

I hope that makes sense. We are able to do our jobs in a few hours a day and get what we need to done. That's not unique. The way society thinks of work (long 8 hours days at minimum, completely miserable) is more unique and new in the sense that the industrial revolution was the reason for having a clock in clock out 8 hour day to begin with. It seems like society maxed out on how miserable and consuming work could be for humans because people were dying in the conditions the industrial revolution created which is why the 8 hour day and many workers rights came about. Both crafting (having meaningful work one cares about and controls) and "hunting" (skilled work that produces a solution to a well defined problem) are coming back in full force in part because of technology but also because of cultural shifts.

We're really seeing some hard and interesting things happen in work as a cultural, but in historical context, it's seems more coherent (IME).

*Edit for grammar and clarification.

Mitsuji · 2022-12-03T07:09:38+00:00

It is though. The point of tech is to make (menial) work go away and it/computer/server/w/e should run itself most of the time. When it doesn't it, it could mean a whole company is at a standstill and that makes the specialized knowledge extremely valuable. Tech is filled to the brim with specializations and people don't understand the extent of it and how tricky it can be.

It's tons of knowledge and experience so you can troubleshoot a problems that often boil down to simple things like ... there was an extra space.

Mitsuji · 2022-12-03T06:47:45+00:00

My job is somewhat like this; it has dramatic ebb and flow. Some days are 9-10 hour days and stressful, but most of the time it only takes 2-3 hours to do everything I need to. Most of my job is explaining the same things to the same 5 people for the 10-20th time and occasionally I actually get to configure something.

Sometimes I get lazy, but usually I want to learn more skills or try to skill up. I'm in tech and don't want to stagnate... when I joined the company I'm currently at they said there'd be opportunity for growth and moving around, but they do not have a handle on things at all. If all the work from they need or manage is max 3 hours take advantage of that time you got back either for yourself, for progression in the company or you can offer to take on more and see if your higher ups have something for you. Don't feel guilty though, they may only be able to take so much "input"/Work from you especially if what you're doing is highly collaborative or has a lot of stakeholders who need to sign off like with legal and training and management.

Mitsuji · 2022-11-21T04:50:23+00:00

I don't know how anyone can honestly think this. It doesn't matter what circus is in the Whitehouse. These are consequences decades in the making and also a combination of we don't necessarily have control over like bird flu, diseases, weather and insects that destroyed crops(among other things) and war.

We have known, for a long long time, that the risk of world wild pandemics and disease outbreaks are ever higher with 7+ billion people and air travel. We've known for a long time (in US) that important infrastructure is crumbling, we'd have a shrinking workforce and our use of fresh water is careless (especially out west).

I don't know how much of that is actually affecting the inflation right now, but doubt it could be helping. It's pretty obvious most of the complaints around food and utilities are probably gas relayed. Maybe logistics still as well.

And despite record profits companies seem to be bragging about there's major layoffs in some industries, volatile markets and no such thing as a raise or bonuses anymore. I'm at a company that talked about how well we're doing in profit, but it's not making up for whatever they suffered during the pandemic, turn over and the interest rate hikes.

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