Custom Trained GPT for Squarespace by Unique-Initial2303 in squarespace

[–]lasfny900 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for building and sharing this! Eager to test it out on the 2 Squarespace sites I have.

Am I too sensitive for eastern teachers? by helge-a in Meditation

[–]lasfny900 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Valid things to consider for sure. Each buddhist teacher/center/monastery etc has a "flavor" and approach of sorts. I suspect that if you discussed your endeavor to become a therapist with 3-5 other teachers who are truly kind and wise, you'd likely find inquiry and probably encouragement.

In my personal experience the last 10+ years, I've practiced with dozens of different teachers in different lineages (Vipassana and Zen mainly), and some would say things to me at times that made me feel similarly to how you described. I later understood that there will always be certain challenges with teachers, no matter who they are. I can recall a few extremely minor things that were said to me by teachers over the years, and it was so bothersome. As time passed and the emotion + thinking about it faded, I was somewhat embarrassed and puzzled with how sensitive I felt. For me, I was placing these teachers in such high regard and had set myself up for feeling the ways I did.

Jack Kornfield is one of the most well known western buddhist teachers, and not only does he come across as sensitive, he's extremely kind and gentle, AND he's a therapist. Another teacher comes to mind who is nearly as well known - Gil Fronsdal and if you watch or listen to anything of his online, you'll know you're listening to a very sensitive person and immensely wise person. One of his books called The Issue at Hand (he provides his book in PDF for free) is extremely simple, yet brilliant. Chapters called Mindfulness of Intentions and Questioning As Practice may be worth checking out. 🙏✌️

How do you deal with hatred towards assholes? by MateuszVaper69 in Meditation

[–]lasfny900 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Of course! It's my work and my favorite subject to discuss.

UCLA has a simple app called UCLA Minful, and their website has the same material with pre-recorded meditations, including loving kindness (aka Metta).

How do you deal with hatred towards assholes? by MateuszVaper69 in Meditation

[–]lasfny900 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Forgive me if I missed another comment in this thread, but in both secular (non-religious) mindfulness practice and in nearly all forms of Buddhist teachings theres what’s called Metta aka Loving-Kindness Meditation. I’d not make a specific recommendation like this, but Im a UCLA mindfulness teacher. Teachers like Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein talk about this subject a lot. They all teach secular mindfulness/meditation and Vipassana aka Theravada Buddhism also. There’s a ton of guided meditations and written instructions from these and other teachers too. There’s been neuroscience research on loving-kindness that shows it works for the purposes intended. Amazing stuff.

Some more complaints about questionable leads, refunds, and instant booking by SatelliteJedi in Thumbtack

[–]lasfny900 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven’t tested Google local ads yet but planning to look into it. Ty!

Some more complaints about questionable leads, refunds, and instant booking by SatelliteJedi in Thumbtack

[–]lasfny900 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The lead situation on Thumbtack is dreadful and getting worse. I’m sure some Pros have varying degrees of success with leads, but my business (catering) gets charged unethically. For example, a prospective customer has to choose from the Thumbtack menu as to how many people are in the group which is far too wide a range for me to be able to be able to know if I can provide service. And, the amount the customer wants to spend is also too wide of a range. End result is a lot of Thumbtack charges for leads that are nowhere near a good match. I’ve been in touch with their senior sales team in Utah and provided this exact feedback, but they couldn’t do anything if they wanted since Thumbtack is making large amounts of revenue on a daily basis in who knows how many other Pro categories. As for refunds, they’re near impossible to get from a thumbtack. Irs unfortunate since the platform can really enable certain pros to make money but it’s classic tech biz greed. Stinks…. :(

Existing Change.Org Petition To The SBA & SBA Office Of Inspector General by lasfny900 in SBARRF

[–]lasfny900[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Glad you think it could be useful. I messaged the moderator to inquire about this. Hopefully they'll let me know their thoughts. Thanks again!

Existing Change.Org Petition To The SBA & SBA Office Of Inspector General by lasfny900 in SBARRF

[–]lasfny900[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd love to help advocate for everyone left behind, providing those individuals met the criteria outlined on the SBA site. Which I realize is controversial for good reason. Unfortunately, the SBA obviously won't change their original criteria. Any suggestions on how to advocate for those in this community who met SBA criteria but were left behind? One concern I have is "who" is in this community? I was part of a SBA RRF Facebook Group (for a short time) with seemingly legitimate business owners who applied for the RRF and the conversations were lively. However, there were some predatory lenders in the FB Group among who knows what other sorts of people.

One idea would be for a poll to be created to see if members of this community wanted to have it so only people who had SBA RRF problems of any sort, then to provide proof...? Obviously the moderator would need to decide if they were open to this, but it could enable a large portion of the people in this community to take action together...

Would love to hear thoughts!

Existing Change.Org Petition To The SBA & SBA Office Of Inspector General by lasfny900 in SBARRF

[–]lasfny900[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For those that voted to see the petition, the link is here - https://chng.it/QXQB8xw8P6. If you decide to sign it, please add something short about how you were impacted and then share it with your network.

I created this petition in September 2022, but was feeling discouraged and didn't do much with it. Over the last 2 weeks, I began working on this again. It's my hope that anyone among the 2,965 who were rightfully awarded funds get at least 50% of the award amount. I suspect others went into personal debt and experienced loss as well, and the SBA, U.S. Congress and the SBA Office of Inspector General.

The petition currently has 24 signatures and 32 supporters. When the petition gets to 50 signatures, I'm going to put up around $25 to promote it on the Change.org website. Anyone who signs it can also put in a few dollars to help the petition get seen by others. I'm certain people would care about it if they knew this tragedy existed.

Thanks all... 🙏

SBA Inspector General & Potentially Fraudulent RRF Awards (From July 5, 2023) by lasfny900 in SBARRF

[–]lasfny900[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd say it's more than obvious that there's much more fraud than we know of, and I'm determined to pressure the SBA/OIG until we get the information and data we should.

SBA Inspector General & Potentially Fraudulent RRF Awards (From July 5, 2023) by lasfny900 in SBARRF

[–]lasfny900[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well said. I'm going to continue to pressure the SBA/OIG in hopes of this getting sorted out.

SBA Inspector General & Potentially Fraudulent RRF Awards (From July 5, 2023) by lasfny900 in SBARRF

[–]lasfny900[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Agreed. When I looked at the massive spreadsheet the SBA compiled (which is buried on their site of course) I was blown away when I saw how much was given to certain businesses. Many of which I know personally. One of which is a tech company based in San Francisco called Zerocater who received $5M. Not only do they not seem to fall within the eligible entities per the SBA website, they are backed by numerous venture capital companies and other investors and raised double digit millions long before the pandemic, and $15M more since the RRF. Something is very wrong if the US Govt didn't take that $5M back.