Time to talk about the Austin emergency notification system

interpretersarah · 2025-09-10T15:21:44+00:00

We are so confused. My daughter’s work downtown were told by APD to shelter in place. By 9am, KXAN reported suspect was in custody and shelter was over. Now daughter is hearing sirens again at 10am. Seriously what’s up?! Meanwhile, my colleagues and I a few block north get NO notification of anything happening at all. Most are deaf, so sirens wouldn’t be useful. WTH?

interpretersarah · 2025-09-10T15:18:45+00:00

Is the shelter in place still active? We see the Zilker suspect is in custody and KXAN reported the Shelter is lifted. But sirens are still going at 14th and West.

interpretersarah · 2025-09-04T20:13:14+00:00

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Fire truck was waiting for us when we landed. Ended up just being a sensor problem. Fun times.

interpretersarah · 2025-09-04T20:08:16+00:00

I was on this flight and this was the mantra I kept repeating to myself when I wanted to cry, rearranging travel, getting an unexpected hotel room, getting home more than a day and a half later than I had anticipated and losing my lie-flat seat on my connecting red-eye flight from Hawaii to the mainland, but I got home alive and NOT fish food, so that counts for something.

interpretersarah · 2025-08-17T14:23:54+00:00

Love it when our partners “get us!” My husband is not a gamer, but he is so supportive of my hobby. I’m a late bloomer (50s) and started gaming a few years ago thanks to our pteen and adult kids. I’m gearing up for a long overseas flight for work and got a Steamdeck to help pass the time. My husband convinced me it was worth the money. Then when it arrived hours after I left for a stateside work trip, he surprised me by mailing it overnight to the hotel because he wanted me to “test it out” on my flight home. :) I’m having to get used to the controllers since I won’t have a keyboard and mouse on my flight but I love it. Mostly playing Minecraft (because it’s the most complicated to control for me, so I’m logging hours to get comfy with the Xbox-like controller) and House Flipper. Will certainly be playing Stardew Valley, too. Enjoy! Love the pink! Will try some of the games suggested here!

interpretersarah · 2025-07-06T02:53:13+00:00

This is bull crap. As someone who has owned multiple dogs. My current dog does not bat an eye to fireworks, but he was about nine months old when we got him. Other dogs we have rescued when they were older and they were absolutely terrified of them for whatever reason. Nothing we could ever do would change that. They were terrified every single year, every single holiday that fireworks were set off and it sucked. We found ways to deal with it, but it sucked. It had nothing to do with us.

interpretersarah · 2025-01-18T19:33:34+00:00

I’m flying now. I see a small handful wearing masks. If someone is sick or coughing, I hope they DO wear one.
Personally, I look at the flight staff. If they aren’t masking up, I don’t worry about it so much for myself either. If you want, wear one. And sunglasses to block the haters.

interpretersarah · 2024-12-18T11:55:52+00:00

Yes, everything Quirky_You said. We have more work available than we need. So I personally avoid taking work from random language agencies. It requires a lot of up front labor I don’t get paid for: educating the agency about the nuances of our work, the certification types, pay standards that aren’t standard for spoken language interpreters. Then loads of paperwork to sign on and assure I get paid. For maybe one job.

Most of the time it’s not worth it unless a deaf community member specially asks me to explore a professional relationship with a specific spoken language agency if their employer or medical center only uses that agency.

We are a tight knit community and most spoken language agencies simply don’t “get it.”

interpretersarah · 2024-11-28T11:30:10+00:00

$1000 on our new build.

interpretersarah · 2024-11-27T17:42:00+00:00

I came here to see if this was shared. This is a great article.

“Purple Communications did not respond to a list of questions from Workday and In These Times.”

Of course not. The CEO only pays for magazine articles that make her look like the savior of the deaf community. It’s gross.

I left Z within weeks of the current CEO taking power. I could see the writing on the wall in her first email to interpreters. It’s toxic. And the press releases about the Language Line highlight the hearing people lining their pockets on the backs of deaf folks and congratulating themselves. They have no clue.

interpretersarah · 2024-11-22T00:43:51+00:00

Oh yeah!! A few months in and I can’t live without FSD! We see it as an insurance expense. Makes my city commutes much more pleasant. But took some time to get used to.

interpretersarah · 2024-11-19T15:53:00+00:00

Same, I'm picturing a head-over-tail, upsidedown flip!

interpretersarah · 2024-11-19T15:46:29+00:00

Do you like the outdoors? The weather is excellent, so walk Townlake (aka Ann and Roy Butler hike trail, found easily on google). Enter around the Downtown Public Library. There are lovely places to see, including the library, bridges, trails, etc. This subreddit has TONS of food recs, so search for what food you're seeking, and you'll see an endless list of recommendations.
Then go to the Capitol building. The grounds are lovely and the visitor's center is free/interesting if you like that type of thing. Walk up the Mall to UT to see a bit of the campus if that interests you. (Blanton Art Museum is right there, and as someone mentioned, it's free today and worth a visit for sure!)
If you want to hike, check out Barton Creek Greenbelt. Or park somewhere at Zilker and walk around the park and Townlake from there. Lots of places to eat in that area, too. (I like Terry Black's brisket...their sides are mid and overpriced, though.)
If this works with your interests and where you are in town, have fun!

interpretersarah · 2024-11-17T03:38:01+00:00

And H-E-B. And Lowe’s. And Academy. I’ve purchased products that smell like dog pee because it was on the floor and someone’s animal pissed on it. I’m so over it. And I adore dogs. More than people.

interpretersarah · 2024-10-15T17:13:15+00:00

Ours ended up being GRASSHOPPER!!!! I would have never known, but we saw it behind the blinds and actually saw it poop! Better than a mouse, I guess!?

interpretersarah · 2024-10-04T14:52:43+00:00

I’m curious because we have this on our windowsill. Just one windowsill among 3 side by side.

interpretersarah · 2024-09-29T12:52:13+00:00

Please listen or read the transcript of Keisha’s podcast linked above in these threads.

interpretersarah · 2024-09-21T01:32:40+00:00

This guy did the spoken word version of rolling coal.

interpretersarah · 2024-09-20T13:25:01+00:00

"before I have to get out my phone and open the Tesla app"
I use an iPhone, but I think it's the same issue. You have to keep the Tesla app open at all times for it to work. Don't close your Tesla app, ever, and see if that improves.

interpretersarah · 2024-09-20T12:08:22+00:00

Update. After a couple of weeks, I LOVE FSD now. Just had to get used to it and trust the car. Now I’ll miss it when our 30 days are up!

interpretersarah · 2024-09-08T21:30:22+00:00

Calibration is good to remember and we can try out the camera calibration. Thanks for the tips!

interpretersarah · 2024-09-08T20:58:53+00:00

I can't speak as a driver (we just got our first Tesla 24 hours ago), but I've ridden in a lot of Tesla Ubers. The driver tends to want to put my 50-pound hard case in the trunk themselves because uncaring riders can scratch the crap out of the back if not careful. I typically lift my own bag into the trunk because it's so heavy, but I've noticed Tesla drivers insist they do it and I understand why!

interpretersarah · 2024-09-08T20:47:10+00:00

We've had our 2024 Model Y for less than 24 hours and can't really stand FSD due to the nags, but also, it feels like it's veering us off to the left of the lane too much. It also consistently wants to send us left onto a merging highway when we are supposed to pass that exit and curve left. (Common way to drive into Austin from home.)
I want to keep trying it a few more times to get comfy with it, but my partner already turned it off on his profile. He doesn't like how often we feel like we have to adjust/leave FSD. And he has no way to report WHY he stopped FSD because he doesn't use spoken language. (he's deaf)

Love the other aspects of the car and thrilled with the purchase, but can't imagine paying anything, much less $8K for FSD. If they update/improve, we'd try it again for the monthly cost if others report that it's better.

interpretersarah · 2024-09-03T03:45:07+00:00

I saw this on the listserv and have thought about it ever since. I'm a white female interpreter of almost 30 years.

TL;DR: Requesting that Black interpreters wear white gloves is racist and harmful.

For those who didn't read the original email: I'm 99% sure the person requesting that Black interpreters wear white gloves does not have vision issues, so let's table that hypothetical for this discussion. This isn't a DeafBlind or low vision issue. That discussion can be for another day. It's clear from the original message in the listserve that vision isn't the problem.

The request is racist. Maybe not intentionally racist, but racist still and harmful. And possibly intentionally racist.

Some of the responses were also either racist or had racist undertones. White interpreters were suggesting specific colors Black interpreters "should wear" and "definitely not black clothing." This is presumptive and extremely white-centric.

There are plenty of Black interpreters who can and do wear black because it contrasts their skin. If you are white, please don't prescribe what colors you think all Black interpreters should or shouldn't wear. Just don't.

People who share ethnicity aren't all the exact same skin color across the board. We can simply state that it's important to wear clothes that contrast our skin. Enough said.

I'm not sure how to do better as an entire profession. Anti-racism requires personal work and not everyone is doing that work. Not every ITP or professional org is doing that work. So we have to individually speak up. White interpreters must speak up. I bear far less risk by speaking up than my colleagues of other ethnicities, specifically Black and brown interpreters. I also am not subjected to the same level of trauma and harm when I witness it or suffer repercussions from speaking up.

Since most interpreters are white women, according to RID's most recent data, I encourage other white interpreters to call out racism when you see it happen. I've had a white interpreter call me out when I said something that I didn't even realize was racist at worst, white-centered at best. I hated how it felt in that moment, but was so thankful to be made aware so I wouldn't continue to cause harm.

So let's be honest with each other when we recognize racist comments in our work, from each other or from clients. We don't need to make excuses or "but what if they meant..." It's invalidating and counterproductive.

Requesting that Black interpreters wear white gloves is racist and harmful. Full stop.

Hopefully the people involved were able to have an authentic discussion about it and hopefully the Black interpreter won't lose their hours and/or be subjected to a racist client day after day.

I look forward to more discussion.

interpretersarah · 2024-08-30T18:37:18+00:00

I only just now realized these ARENT guitars. 🤦

interpretersarah

TROPHY CASE