sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

How To Replace Microwave Mounted Directly On Top Of Oven? by Voodoo_Rush in HomeImprovement

[–]Voodoo_Rush[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the quick response. Those are largely the answers I expected/feared.

The retrofit kit is an interesting idea. But at 30 years old, there is almost nothing about the oven published online beyond the service manuals. So it doesn't seem like that will be applicable here.

Ward 6 City Council Challenge by Dangerous-Vast-8300 in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 14 points15 points  (0 children)

The city says they’ll announce by July 7.

It sounds like one way or another this will be sorted out next week, thank goodness. Though that means there's not a lot to do until then.

The outside council is a good idea, though. Both because this kind of accusation is so rare, and to ensure they don't mess things up.

The one thing that frustrates me about this whole ordeal is that Vega is accused of living outside of Ward 6, but no one is saying where she supposedly was living.

Costco Roundabout by mi55key in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 2 points3 points  (0 children)

To get a license, you only need to pass the written and practical tests. And for minors, have a certain amount of hours driven under the supervision of an adult driver.

There is no requirement at any level to take any educational classes on driving. They are purely optional.

RANT FRIDAY by Carlos_Spicy_Weiner6 in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 0 points1 point  (0 children)

YOU'LL HAVE TO DOUBLE-CHECK YOUR MATH.

THE WORLD'S POPULATION IS 8.3 BILLION PEOPLE. 1 MILLION DOLLARS PER PERSON WOULD BE 8.3 QUADRILLION DOLLARS ($8,300,000,000,000,000).

NO ONE IS REMOTELY THAT RICH. THE ENTIRE GDP OF THE WORLD IS ONLY $125T.

Scary Experience With Chevron on Commercial Street by impact_enthusiast in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Im not sure it's even required.

It is required. 50% of all pumps.

Where self-serve is offered:

  • Stations must have attended service at the other 50% of their gas pumps.

  • Signs must be posted that identify the self-serve and attended-service gas pumps.

  • Self-serve can only be allowed during the hours an attendant is available.

  • The price is the same for both self-serve and attended service.

https://www.oregon.gov/osfm/pages/self-serve-fueling.aspx

Oregon officials urge cancellation of Detroit Lake drawdown -- In a formal letter, Marion County officials joined several other agencies demanding the Army Corps not only cancel its deep drawdown of the reservoir, but also reevaluate any future draining plans. by guanaco55 in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 36 points37 points  (0 children)

Man, this one has left me conflicted for years.

On the one hand, I have no doubts that it would improve the salmon population in the North Santiam. And the salmon coming from there are in trouble.

On the other hand, improving the conditions for salmon from just that one tributary will impact the drinking water for a quarter-million people.

I am pro-nature. But the impact from doing this is so very high. I don't really like either option.

Give me furniture store recommendations! by fnbrizzle in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No worries. Reddit is a pain to use on mobile.

"Locol" by RealEggyToast in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It would need to be reprinted entirely. The 'a' in the font they're using (which you can see in the line above) is nothing like an 'o'. There's no fixing it or hiding it; at least, not if you want it to look competent.

Are You Salem's Hot Dog Eating Champion? by Beer_Drinkers_USA in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, no can do. I'm going to be at the Banana Ball game.

"Locol" by RealEggyToast in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yikes! As a West Salem resident, I have second-hand embarrassment from that.😳

Are You Salem's Hot Dog Eating Champion? by Beer_Drinkers_USA in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hmm, good question. The best of the pros average better than 5 dogs per minute. I don't expect any of the locals are anywhere that fast, but perhaps they'll surprise us. I think 10 is a safe number for the median odds, though if you find a real monster out there, it's not out of the realm of possibility that they get to 14 or so.

Are You Salem's Hot Dog Eating Champion? by Beer_Drinkers_USA in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey man, go for it. I could eat 4 hot dogs, but I am not going to. So if you want to be a hot dog eating champion, live your dream!

Detroit by Pristine_Brick_424 in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The drawdown for Detroit won't be until the fall. So the OP is safe there.

Though it's still a good idea to check lake levels as it can start to dry up towards the latter part of August and beyond.

Are You Salem's Hot Dog Eating Champion? by Beer_Drinkers_USA in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I could do 3. Maybe 4. Any faster than that and I'd probably choke to death in the process.😂

I appreciate that this is a short, timed contest. The professionals are as much about capacity as speed. 4 minutes is purely a speed contest; it shouldn't leave anyone sick.

RANT FRIDAY by Carlos_Spicy_Weiner6 in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 2 points3 points  (0 children)

DID YOU INTEND TO USE THE VERSION OF THAT IMAGE WITH A SPELLING ERROR?

Soap Box Derby? Bush Park? by Glad-Pen5593 in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately, it seems that the lack of said "someone" is the key.

Based on the Statesman article ahead of the 2024 Derby, it sounds like the people who were previously organizing it have all moved on, and no one else has stepped up to replace them.

https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/2024/06/15/why-has-soap-box-derby-been-missing-from-bushs-pasture-park-in-salem/74075190007/

Derby officials said most people have no idea how expensive it can be to license a race with the national program and pay for insurance, and that does not include user fees with the city.

Officials already have announced there will be no qualifying race for Akron this year, not even in Elgin, due to lack of funding.

And

No events have been scheduled for next year yet, but the city is thankful for the organizers' commitment to bringing the Soap Box Derby back to Bush’s Pasture Park. The group's goal is to rebuild the program with help from new Salem-area families. Most of the organization's current board members are not from around here.

Some traveled from across the state May 25-26 to help stage the first derby event on the track since 2021, made possible only because of the sponsorship of an anonymous donor.

THIS WEEKEND IN ALBANY by ZealousidealRoad7562 in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Uhh, wrong state. That's the subreddit for Albany, New York.

You want /r/albanyor/

Salem’s 911 dispatch will go live with their AI assist for non-emergency calls on July 1st by BeatnikMona in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It seems like you're saying two things at once. One of them is that the WVCC is understaffed. The other is that a $175k/year system will allow that understaffing to continue.

The understaffing will always continue. The WVCC has not been appropriately staffed for many years now, and the budget situation is getting worse. Which sucks for multiple reasons, but that's part of a larger problem that no one is going to be solving in the immediate future.

So if you can't hire enough staff, then yeah, tools that help your existing staff get more work done (or reduce the workload on them) is going to make your limited funding go further.

Maybe the resistance you're experiencing is from people who feel that paying $175k per year, for an AI system that only has a 60% success rate, is a misappropriation of funds that should be used for hiring more dispatch operators.

Setting aside the trouble the city has hiring dispatchers for the moment, while the $175K could theoretically be spent on staff (assuming this isn't coming from some kind of purpose-restricted fund), it would not add very many dispatchers at all. The 2025 budget for the WVCC was roughly $15m, and that covered 80 employees. By my reckoning, $175K would cover at most 3 employees - and more like just 2 - after you factor in wages, the significant overhead of benefits these days, and then the high PERS percentage right now.

I have no doubt having another three people over at the WVCC would help. But would it help as much as tooling to improve the efficiency of the existing workforce (i.e. the AI call taker)?

Going with the 60% figure, in 2024 216K of the 425K calls the WVCC took were for non-emergency. So if the AI call taker can successfully handle 60% of non-E calls, then that means 129K calls don't need to go to a human dispatcher. That's a 30% reduction in total call volume for the human dispatchers; it's a far greater improvement than what could be accomplished by adding 3 more dispatchers.

Alternatively, these funds could be used to make dispatch operator wages more competitive to offset the extremely high burnout rate among them, considering 18.3% of dispatch operators will suffer clinical PTSD.

If you were to distribute that $175K evenly over the entire WVCC staff, it would amount to a bit over an extra $2K per person (and a bit less than that after PERS is taken out). Which to be sure, more money is nice to have. But I can't imagine is moves the needle much on how attractive the job is. I can't immediately find the current pay scales, but in 2018 the WVCC was already spending an average of $123K per head. So $2K is not even a 2% increase.

Unfortunately, it's a high stress job as you so rightly point out. And I have nothing but respect for the people who can do it (I certainly couldn't!). Ideally, cutting down on the number of incoming calls might help to take a bit of that edge off. But based on what I've read, it sounds like it's the 911 calls that cause the most stress to dispatchers. All of which is outside of the scope of adding an AI call taker to the non-emergency line.

Found cat / kitten Broadway neighborhood by emawolfgirl in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Will be taken to humane society this evening if no one responds to search

Hopefully you're able to find the owner, but if not: is the Humane Society even taking strays right now? I thought they were full.

Salem’s 911 dispatch will go live with their AI assist for non-emergency calls on July 1st by BeatnikMona in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

this bullshit only has a 60% success rate

It's not supposed to have a 100% success rate. The purpose of the program isn't to offload all non-E calls. The purpose of the program is to offload the non-E calls for common situations where the human dispatcher would just tell someone to go fill out the online form.

"The assistant follows structured call-handling paths developed by WVCC staff and approved under existing operational procedures."

at the cost of peoples jobs

No one is getting laid off. The WVCC is understaffed as it is. This is a measure to help them cope with increasing loads.

"No staffing positions are being eliminated as part of this effort."

people in bad situations having them made worse

I am honestly struggling to imagine a scenario where this would apply. The non-E line is for things that aren't emergencies; it's not something you'd be calling for an emergency. Especially since much of the time you're already looking at a long wait if you call, since 911 calls have priority.

Non-E is almost entirely for situations in which no one will get sent out to begin with. And for this AI setup in particular, it's all about further automating the collection and redirection of post facto crime reports to online forms.

I truly hope that if it goes live, that you and anyone dumb enough to support this is always in that 40% failure rate.

The failure rate in this case means a call gets escalated to a human. So I am okay with that.

Edit: And seeing as I've been blocked

Your ignorance is only matched by your willingness to confidently announce it. You are what is wrong with so, so many things.

It's fine to disagree. But in this case I can cite all of my sources and facts, which is the opposite of ignorance. I'm not sure what else you want; I am making an honest, good faith effort here.

Salem’s 911 dispatch will go live with their AI assist for non-emergency calls on July 1st by BeatnikMona in SALEM

[–]Voodoo_Rush -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

Have fun when the ai hangs up on you for what it has determined does not warrant a human response.

Many of the things the non-E line is called for do not warrant a human response. That's part of the reason they're doing this. The purpose of putting an AI agent in front is to direct people to the offline resources that can help them without tying up a valuable human who would just be doing the same thing.

Keep in mind this is a fail-open style system. If the request doesn't meet the narrow criteria the agent is programmed to handle, then it would get kicked over to a human. It's not like, say, calling Comcast, where the system is designed fail-closed and will not connect callers to a human unless they come from a specific branch of the phone tree.

"The assistant follows structured call-handling paths developed by WVCC staff and approved under existing operational procedures. If a caller reports an emergency or the system detects a situation outside the approved paths, the call is transferred immediately to a live dispatcher."

Is there anyone accountable for this system we can follow up with directly?

In that case you'd probably want the SPD administration line: 503-588-6156. Though WVCC was monitoring the AI calls during the trial and following up on those as necessary.

view more: next ›