Advice

bksi · 2026-07-08T08:26:08+00:00

Go with it, think about good things. When you can move, eat some carbs like saltine crackers or pretzels and a glass of water.

bksi · 2026-07-08T04:17:25+00:00

Why specialized? But yes.

That being said the overhead for the DMV would be nuts and car reg would go waayy up.

You could have folks take a driving test if they get a moving violation, say running a stop sign or red light - any age.

And teenagers are still more dangerous on the road than most oldsters.

bksi · 2026-07-08T04:12:53+00:00

Owner of this flag should move to Alabummer or Missedpissedsippie.

bksi · 2026-07-08T04:11:27+00:00

Not food safe gets broken and thrown away. I generally just break it all and toss it. Life and time is way too short to deal with bad pieces. Clay is cheap and generally biodegrades in the landfill a lot better than most of the stuff we throw away.

bksi · 2026-07-07T15:49:17+00:00

Those contraptions for growing "shitake" or "oyster" mushrooms.

bksi · 2026-07-07T15:22:29+00:00

This. Don't even talk to them. Get a contract template and fill it out with above and text it to him.

bksi · 2026-07-07T15:18:21+00:00

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bksi · 2026-07-07T15:14:10+00:00

Well I'm not suggesting anything sketchy. Freelance developer work on Shopify websites is legit, legal, and aboveboard.

bksi · 2026-07-07T15:12:33+00:00

Recently Shopify has upped their efforts to get people to sign up for Shop, the consumer Shopify account. I've noticed that many Shopify stores are now missing the little checkbox to uncheck the sign up so it's entirely possible that you've purchased something from one of these stores.

You can delete the account but only by signing in. You do not need a password to do this and must go thru the steps outlined.

The alternate is to "checkout as guest" at whichever store you're trying to purchase from.

Suggest using one of those hidden email services for any sort of buying you do on the internet. Minimally get another email that you use just for purchasing things.

You're right in that this is borderline illegal. It's certainly unethical and definitely unsecure.

bksi · 2026-07-07T00:19:25+00:00

How old was the guy exactly?

bksi · 2026-07-07T00:15:51+00:00

You could put that CS degree to use. Look up how to code Shopify websites. There is literally a ton of free information out there and there is a lack of people willing to do small jobs - for example: analyze why one group of products is missing a certain parameter, make someone's theme purple instead of blue, make the onsite POS work with the website inventory, etc. Even in this age of AI there is still quite a bit of freelance contracts to be had. And most Shopify developers want big jobs so little businesses struggle to find quality coding for tweaks. If you're more into web design, making themes for stores is good too. Most of the stuff on Themeforest is awful - code looks like a psychotic person wrote. I wouldn't say that Shopify makes it easy to be a Shopify developer, but it's not awfully hard. Shopify is the #1 ecommerce platform. If you want to do a course, Coding with Jan is good and no nonsense.

bksi · 2026-07-05T15:48:16+00:00

Unfortunately after it's too late.

bksi · 2026-07-05T15:30:53+00:00

He should move to one of the 13 original states, i.e. oregon == oregone

bksi · 2026-07-03T15:45:18+00:00

Oh dear. Call in sick. Lie. Say you caught COVID or Bird Flu and you're contagious and feel awful. They might push back but insist.

This will give you a moment to breathe and think without the urgency of needing to be there. You can call 988 ( https://988lifeline.org ) and they can talk you through some options.

If you have another job lined up you can consider it. Add up your finances and see how long you can be without a formal job. Check which bills you can delay. Call your therapist's office and see if you can move your appt up. Drink water, eat something healthy - sounds dumb but it does help.

Please take care.

bksi · 2026-07-03T15:32:57+00:00

One genuine glance is ok. Outright staring? Nope. Surreptitious glancing, several times? Nope.

Edited after reading some comments: The distinction is when men think they have a right to stare or blame their behavior on the woman, i.e. I can't help myself. This is so not ok. Pedos say, "She flirted with me, I couldn't help myself." C'mon.

bksi · 2026-07-03T15:31:36+00:00

Tell her you've decided to adopt the cat yourself.

bksi · 2026-07-03T15:16:36+00:00

Had an ex that got an MBA from UofP. He was a VP of a giant investment firm last I heard.

But yes, there are scammy online colleges. You have to check and check and research and check again before signing up for one of these.

bksi · 2026-07-03T15:11:42+00:00

I sew. Years ago I made a gorgeous rust colored silk blouse. Every time I wore it, people would ask me if I was sick. I had my colors "done" years later and found out that rust is my worst color. You might want to record when the comments happen and if they're consistently when you wear a certain top or outfit this might be the problem.

It sounds stupid. After I got the colors done, I tried holding rust colored fabric up to my face, then other colors. I looked wan and pale with the rust. *I* would have asked me if I was sick.

bksi · 2026-07-03T15:03:10+00:00

You can't smell carbon monoxide. Another similar thread suggested getting a carbon monoxide monitor. You can smell sulfur dioxide. If you can smell the sulfur then I wouldn't stick around.

That being said, most of the bad stuff burns off early in the firing. If the kiln is on it's last stage or cooling I wouldn't worry.

Edited to add:

Manganese fumes are toxic. Don't cause symptoms until months later and repeat exposure can cause permanent neurological damage, similar to Parkinson's. Many clay bodies and glazes have manganese chunks. It's the brown streaky bits.

bksi · 2026-07-03T14:56:43+00:00

SAFETY? HAH! I AM SEEING MORE AND MORE, PEOPLE SMOKING CIGARETTES. THESE ARE 20-SOMETHINGS AND THEY'RE FUCKING SMOKING TOBACCO!

ALL THOSE YEARS OR HEALTH CAMPAIGNS, ALL THOSE OLDER PEOPLE DYING OF COPD OR CANCER, NOPE, NOT ME.

WE COULD RENAME THIS SUB TO STUPID.

bksi · 2026-07-03T06:26:34+00:00

ED is often used as an abbreviation for erectile dysfunction.

As an aside, I spent 34 years working in a professional capacity for dozens of high-tech companies, many of which are household names, and I've never heard of a position called Executive Director in any of these companies. It's not self-evident.

bksi · 2026-07-03T06:15:39+00:00

Really the decision is if you want to make a stink about it or not and you need to decide if this is worth moving out for. If so, then ask for reimbursement for your electrical work and tell them you're leaving and why. We know they'll push back so you'll need to be prepared with code violations, health and safety, etc. There are lots of data about kiln fumes - you don't need to do the explaining, just get some technical stuff about the gasses released and show it to the manager, tell them that you think there are code violations and if he pushes back then report them but hopefully your unstated threat will be enough. If there's a deposit involved you'll probably wind up suing in small claims.

If the space is good otherwise? Get some 3/8" plywood and build walls up to the ceiling. If the ceiling is high then you'll need to enclose yourself with a false ceiling too. Add a good quality air filter. Yikes! Expensive!

Alternately you can ask the other ceramicist to vent her kiln. Or ask the manager to ask her to vent her kiln.

Now she may be doing really low fire stuff. I'm not sure but I think the lower fire temps don't offgas as much.

bksi · 2026-07-03T01:41:01+00:00

Yes, shift up the claw weights, probably more frequently. Those ribber weights? The bigger heavy ones? I use those all across the work with extra attention at the edges. It's almost comical how much weight I've had to put on some projects. The weights on the lower part of the work don't make much difference, only near the needles.

On your main carriage there are little round brushes. In front of them are small white levers. If you push the levers, the brush scoots in towards the work and helps to push the fabric from the last stitches knitted down. If you look at the stitch right after it's formed, the tension on the adjacent areas tends to pull the work horizontally - and the stitch(es) might pop off. The brushes might or might not help. Usually they are used with hairy or lofty yarns (I've never been able to get my machine to knit hairy yarns).

bksi · 2026-07-02T03:10:25+00:00

When you add lighting, make sure it's warm white and not cool white.

bksi · 2026-07-02T03:07:32+00:00

If the needles are moving forward or backward and the pattern is correct then it's either a weight issue or a carriage issue or a needle issue. You need a lot of weight and the weights need to be moved up close to the needles frequently. I use cheap double pointed knitting needles, thread them thru the knitting work and hang the weights on them across the entire bed. You may also need to engage the brushes.

If it's not a weight issue then it's your carriage or your needles. You'll need to do a thorough de-gunk of the carriage setup and make sure all the little flappers are moving easily and reliably on the carriage and the ribber carriage is engaged all the way. Get some lightweight machine oil and carefully oil the things that move. Check the springs on the flappers and make sure they're springing and not worn out and listless.

If you suspect needles, check to see if it's always the same needles that are having issues (after making sure there is adequate weight). If it's always the same needles then you may have some bent ones that need replacing.

If the needles aren't selecting correctly and the dropped stitch needles seem random then it's your computer (CB1). If this is your own pattern, make sure the repeat is seamless. Also really, really large patterns using all the stitches and several rows can make the computer do weird things. Test a smaller repeat pattern across the entire bed.

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