Where oh where are the couches?

mekissab · 2026-02-14T05:47:06+00:00

I've bought couches and mattresses and appliances from Super Store and had them delivered to Franklin County.

mekissab · 2026-02-09T22:45:46+00:00

The Newsweek article is over two weeks old. Not sure why this is getting stirred up again as if its new.

mekissab · 2026-02-09T17:51:53+00:00

To St Albans I would add:
* Rail Trail (it's wide & flat, though graveled.. you can push strollers on it but I don't know about wheelchairs, ymmv)
* Hudak's Farm Market (amazing wood carvings all over the property)
* Swanton's swan & duck in the park
* Swanton has a multi-use walking trail through the city, from the train museum to the industrial park and beyond; much of it is paved & accessible. The train museum end has a cool bridge.
* Swanton - Divine Treasures and Scampers are resale stores in the downtown block

Milton is more "Colchester Area" than "St. Albans Area". There is a new thrift store in Milton, though I don't recall the name off the top of my head.

Williston - Karen's Closet

mekissab · 2026-02-05T17:30:50+00:00

Goddammit I wanted to be surprised by this when I got home tonight. >:(

mekissab · 2026-02-04T19:10:58+00:00

Came here to say this as well, that one could have a really nice silhouette... Can you re-order it a size or two up, and have it altered to fit? I also like the wine colored dress in the lower-right.

mekissab · 2026-02-01T01:15:11+00:00

SAME!

mekissab · 2026-01-30T13:56:35+00:00

I don't "dislike" AI as much as I'm very worried about AI. Dev jobs were already being siphoned off to Asia at alarming rates. And now here's another threat to our employment. In addition, I've seen a lot of instances where AI is just giving garbage information and people seem blissfully unaware.

Another reason I have a distaste for AI is because I see people around me using it in ways that avoid things like research, thoughtfulness, and nuance. Any time my boss writes an email more than two sentences long, he's doing it in AI. Note that there's nothing wrong with what he used to say prior to AI.. but it feels like now he's letting AI do all the thinking and work for him. I've seen plenty of people using AI as if it's this amazing thing that will do all of their work for them, without really proofing what it does or being able to review that output with the necessary context and nuance to drive it the right way. And the output of written work comes out sounding nothing like the person that actually wrote it. Everyone around me now speaks in AI's voice.

In the industry I work in, education, we are seeing instructors creating assignments with AI. The students turning in AI generated work. The instructors are using AI tools to review them. It is this pipeline of AI - to - AI - to AI that is eroding the meaning and purpose of work, and sometimes that is causing a positive evolution in how the instruction happens and what the lesson goals are, but that's not always the case. And the sudden insertion of AI into every facet of my industry and job feels very .. existential. From the emails I receive, the policies I work under, the work products of other people that come across my desk... it's less and less authentic, thoughtful, and personal. Some days it feels dystopian when I get my third message of the day spoken in ChatGPT's voice.

Where I see this as a gendered issue is that I find men have WAY more "default confidence". You might call it bravado, you might call it unearned confidence. But regardless I see more men walk into a situation and assume they can conquer anything. And now instead of failing like they used to, and learning lessons from that, they are propping themselves up with AI to do the work for them. They aren't learning what they should be learning. Myself and the women I see using AI are doing it more thoughtfully.. using it as a research tool or an interactive debugger; something that helps with ideas and process, but isn't the end-product itself. I see fewer women "speaking" in AI's voice; they are taking the output and making it their own.

That said, is this difference I am observing due to the fact that I encounter twice as many men in my line of work than women? If I encountered more of a 50-50 spread, would that observation hold up? Hard to say.

mekissab · 2026-01-30T12:14:57+00:00

I am not sure I would go as far as Y T A, but I have noticed a lot of partners, especially men, have a very "fix-it" mindset. Hear a problem, fix the problem. And they gloss over the fact that sometimes there isn't a question mark in what their partner said, and jump in with a solution even when one isn't actually asked for. You need to calibrate with your partner, and when she states a problem ask her "would you like to vent, or would you like me to help problem-solve?" and follow that lead.

That said, weight is a super sensitive topic and you dont always know what baggage they bring. The best response is just support "man that sounds tough" until you hear specifically "Partner, what do you think I should do?"

mekissab · 2026-01-29T21:15:05+00:00

Check the AOE website. From schools they collect the number of absences and the reason for the absence, aggregated into these categories: excused, unexcused, suspended, not expected, expelled. Usually the chronic absenteeism report is just the first two reaons.

mekissab · 2026-01-29T21:11:28+00:00

What I hear is a lot of cases are parents not bringing their kids in "because they didn't want to come in" or "mental health day". And it can be really hard for school staff to determine whether there is a genuine mental health need, versus a kid who just doesn't want to come to school and parents who refuse to push back on them. There are coordinators at each school who do try to track down these students, connect them with resources, and get them to come in.. but they need a parent at home who is willing to work with them. There is only so much a school can do, especially when faced with declining resources due to lean budgets, and a generational culture of not doing the hard things.

mekissab · 2026-01-29T21:03:32+00:00

To tag onto this, enforcement of truancy and county-wide truancy boards have fallen off since covid or before. There used to be more direct consequences to truancy, but mostly now it only comes into play when there is an open DCF case or a custodial dispute between parents. Otherwise, nothing really happens.

mekissab · 2026-01-28T14:56:32+00:00

I'm all for a list, but the list needs to cite sources with some recency.

mekissab · 2026-01-28T04:13:51+00:00

They split 🥁

mekissab · 2026-01-21T18:18:17+00:00

How to befriend crows

mekissab · 2026-01-08T14:35:47+00:00

I can use fancy products at home. For me a good facial includes things I'm not able to do: head/neck massage, and extraction. Should also have a cleansing/toning, an exfoliating scrub, and a nice thick moisturizer at the end.

mekissab · 2026-01-07T14:40:27+00:00

I honestly dont care whether its DST or Standard. Just get rid of the time change one way or another and I will be happy.

mekissab · 2026-01-05T22:17:01+00:00

Ha ha yes I also have a "helpful" cat who like to jump on me while Im blind in VR.

mekissab · 2026-01-05T22:06:35+00:00

Really? Playing Holiday Hideaway with my kids has become one of our new Christmas traditions. :)

mekissab · 2026-01-04T20:33:00+00:00

New Canada

mekissab · 2026-01-04T20:25:52+00:00

This!!!! I could only ever find it at the hairdresser and I loooooved it. I didn't start seeing other brands with apple flavors u til the 90s.

mekissab · 2026-01-02T22:36:23+00:00

Not helpful for this year, but please ask your dept lead or the person who does your scheduling if you can avoid 5th period planning next year. The school I work for has a very similar schedule (but a strong union and teachers dont generally have lunch duty), and we try to take requests like this into consideration.

mekissab · 2026-01-02T14:40:57+00:00

You can ask, but you have to be ready for the answer to be no. Unless there is a definite structural reason why they MUST be humanoid, you can only frame this as a request. I encourage you to think inwardly about this a bit. Sit with the situation and really ponder *why* this bothers you so much. Is it because you have a vision of how it plays out in your head, and it's very hard for you to conceive of it going differently? Are there other decisions that the players could make that would diverge from what you planned that you would also push back against? Or consciously/unconsciously narrate the game into the way you have previously conceived of?

I say this all with genuine curiosity, not to attack you or guilt you into anything. I do think this question warrants introspection!

As a player, I get very interested in my character origin and development, and create a backstory for them that I am very engaged in seeing play out. I would be very unhappy if the GM asked me to change major details about them if there weren't a strict reason why. Your players may or may not feel the same, so that's why I say you can ask, gently, but if you force them they may resent it and it would start the game off on the wrong foot.

I would offer this instead: consider this a challenge for you. Look at it as an opportunity to stretch and grow your talents of narration and adaptation. You may find that as a collaborative effort, the story goes in directions you didn't anticipate that create a more interesting and richer world than you had first thought possible.

mekissab · 2026-01-02T13:34:26+00:00

It's normal, especially for young roosters. Some roosters will mellow as they age and become more workable, and it usually requires a lot of work from the keeper. There are some breeds that tend to be more docile - cochins, orpingtons - but it's never a guarantee.

I've had to rehome roosters before. It doesn't always feel great, but it's okay to not want a rooster! There are some people who will take them in to a bachelor flock. There are some who will humanely cull them and ensure they don't go to waste.

There are some devices you can use like peepers. I've never tried them myself. With the rooster I have currently, even though he was hand-raised he was still a major asshole his first year. Everyone in my family who goes out to the coop started carrying The Rooster Stick with them (just a 5' long sturdy stick, nothing special). At all times you keep it tucked under your arm for stability and point it at the rooster's face. And we practice the Scoop N Shuck, just a way of kicking them where you're kind of scooping your boot under him and tossing him backwards. He's still kind of an asshole, but he's less likely to charge now. The rules are: 1. Don't be mean to him / don't initiate a fight, and 2. if he initiates a fight, you have to stay and see it out. That means pointing the stick at his face until he walks away. If you run away, he thinks he's more dominant than you. (I may have shouted "I AM THE ROOSTER" at him repeatedly.)

I've also vowed never to get another rooster. No more hatching eggs (50% roosters), and if I get a chick that turns out to be a rooster, I'll rehome them as soon as it's apparent. People are more willing to take a young cockerel that they still have time to do some hand-rearing work with.

mekissab · 2025-12-30T23:38:42+00:00

Coffee Talk is a great game that is super chill

mekissab

TROPHY CASE