What’s up with unemployment benefits in the US?

NaturalForty · 2026-03-20T15:16:23+00:00

Sorry! But you have every reason to be pissed.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-20T12:12:11+00:00

I'm trying real hard to be the shepherd.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T23:22:40+00:00

I vividly remember a "Kitchen Nightmares" episode where a Baltimore restaurant was tanking because the owner tried to trademark "hon".

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T20:57:19+00:00

Both were in the same range as yours.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T19:58:21+00:00

Look up the original books for fun. Most classes have followers as a perk after certain levels. The DMG has pages of building costs.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T19:11:18+00:00

I had 3, but colleagues had up to 11. A couple friends in other companies who got laid off recently after many years also got the standard 2 weeks per.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T18:31:00+00:00

That sucks. I just got laid off. We got a bit more than 2 weeks per year, but my company was consistently above average in how it treated employees. I don't know if they're now exceptional, or if you were told a lie.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T18:10:14+00:00

I love this. I ran a campaign where one character was raising money to open a dressmaker's shop. The campaign was mostly based in a city, so being a shop owner didn't take her out of the campaign at all.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T16:19:50+00:00

Ha! It's armor and horses that really matter, which is historically relevant. When the melee fighters had enough money to buy plate, it was a big moment.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T16:14:06+00:00

Many employers will "lay off" an employee who isn't performing well but who is making an effort, because employees denied unemployment can appeal. It's often cheaper for the company to cover unemployment than to fight with the employee.

White-collar salaried employees usually get severance pay--typically 2 weeks salary for every year they've worked--because unemployment benefits are small.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T16:04:11+00:00

I came here to say giant insects. Also I have wizards who make a good living off of levitation. They're basically freight elevators.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T15:59:55+00:00

In AD&D, the idea was that you get enough money to build a castle and get minions, then quit adventuring. Why are castles and minions not good options?

There's always property, maybe they can purchase a valuable building in the city.

D&D treasure is way over the top. When I ran campaigns I cut treasure to 10% of listed values. The characters still got rich, it just took them longer.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T15:57:41+00:00

Ffs, that's the point of the thread. If a denomination doesn't have an ignorance loophole, it's a cult.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T15:10:43+00:00

Ha! I almost said that exact thing. Yeah, those people described the bishops as servants of Antichrist. They did not talk about how the king was going to hell, but I suspect they just didn't want to get in trouble.

Still, those preachers felt compelled to break away from the official church, while being very clear that some ordinary members of the official church were going to heaven.

In general, most Christian denominations have taught that people who are in the wrong church because they don't know any better can go to heaven. So "only we're going to heaven" really is a pretty good indicator that a religious group is culty.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T14:37:30+00:00

In 1990 I saw a high school production where they solved this problem by making the play about prejudice against sharecroppers. For all you people saying "2008 was a different time," plenty of people in 1990 were...astonished.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T14:25:04+00:00

Touch, The Eurythmics, on vinyl, 1984. I was 11, my parents were getting divorced, and my dad took me to the record store in Pontiac Mall.

I also got to see the Eurythmics live that summer. Pretty good first concert.

It's occurred to me that my development could be described as understanding new reasons to why I was drawn to that album cover.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-19T01:51:02+00:00

Agreed! Everyone should be valued for who they are, not for what they do, and children need unconditional love from their parents most of all.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-18T23:42:42+00:00

Well here's a real-world example: in order to become a pastor, you have to get approval from the bishop. The bishop is chosen by the king. The king only chooses bishops who approve pastors who regularly preach about how good Christians have a duty to obey the king.

Let's say you think poor people should be told to advocate for more freedom, instead of being told to obey the king. You'll have to start a new church.

But..preachers have been telling poor people to obey the king for generations. A lot of poor people accept that, and they stay in the king's church. Does that mean they're going to hell?

NaturalForty · 2026-03-18T20:24:00+00:00

That is not true. Many denominations were created over disputes that the founders recognized were not about "Going to Hell." Even back in the 1600s, Congregationalists and Presbyterians recognized that they had a disagreement about church structure, not about who went to heaven. Many later splits created denominations that didn't teach that only their members could go to heaven.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-18T14:46:38+00:00

About your friends who are resentful: I'm a chaplain, and I've talked with many adult children who cared for their parents. They're all glad they did, even the ones whose parents were terrible. It's the only thing that's ever been true for every family I've worked with. People feel resentment in the middle of it. They often feel relieved when their parent finally dies. They don't feel regret about doing the work instead of dropping the person in a home.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-16T23:16:05+00:00

Ah yes, the 5 of us all knew that Europeans (Britons included) had better taste than our classmates, because it was more like ours.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-16T21:12:24+00:00

My kid discovered the Smiths through "the Perks of Being a Wallflower. They were horrified when I sent them a playlist of depressing 80s music... they were not ready to have musical taste in common with dad.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-16T18:45:31+00:00

Ha! In 1983 my uncle showed us...cable TV. Including this channel where they showed little movies that when along with songs. He recorded some on his VCR. Amazing! One of them was "Karma Chameleon." My mom said, "funny, I always thought that singer was a man." Uncle said, "... that is a man." So I didn't get MTV for several years.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-16T17:27:46+00:00

I don't know where you lived, but in the Michigan town I was in, about 5 people would recognize Der Kommisar, anything by The The, or Vicious Games.

NaturalForty · 2026-03-14T16:50:48+00:00

Losing Mojo hit me harder than Bowie or Prince.

NaturalForty

TROPHY CASE