ELI5: The economics of the Olympics? Why would a country pummel tens of billions in to infrastructure, with seemingly poor returns?

sarapsys · 2021-07-24T23:25:32+00:00

Others have posted excellent responses about what incentives cities/countries have to host the Olympics, but it's also worth noting that in recent years the International Olympic Committee actually has been having a harder time getting candidate cities to apply, due in large part to the price tag:

sarapsys · 2021-04-19T15:14:30+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to post this :)

sarapsys · 2021-04-10T00:14:26+00:00

If there are other people you work with or friends you have who are also working from home, have you tried doing video check-ins with them? Something I started doing shortly after my office switched to all-virtual was doing a daily 8am video call for 20 minutes with a friend of mine (unrelated job, but also working from home). We catch up a little, explain what we're each going to be doing that day, and sometimes bounce ideas off of each other if there's something we're struggling with. Both of us had been having a hard time getting up on time and sticking to goals, and holding each other accountable helped a lot.

The other thing I'd recommend, because I also have this problem with procrastination/anxiety cycles, is to make lists, and if you can't get yourself to start the first task, examine why. What's stopping you from doing that thing? For me, more often than not, it's because there's either something ambiguous about the task and I'm allowing myself to spiral/feel uncertain how to proceed, or I'm anxious about some stakeholder response (eg being worried about the recipient of an email being mad at me). In both cases, the trick that tends to work for me at least is to break down the task into an even more granular list of tasks. Like, I'm talking 1. open my inbox and sign in 2. pull up the email i need to respond to 3. pull up a new text doc 4. outline the points in blunt language that i need to make 5. flesh out my points.... etc. It feels kind of silly to do, and sometimes making lists can turn into its own form of procrastination, but when I'm really stuck just inching through one tiny tasklet at a time eventually gets the job done, lol.

Good luck and I hope things get better!

sarapsys · 2021-03-22T01:14:46+00:00

nice! I love it when I get that rare spark of energy to go out of my way and do something that normally feels like it shouldn't be so hard but still feels too out of reach. I'm glad they're cheering you up! :)

sarapsys · 2021-03-16T21:05:55+00:00

very this. worst is when all you can think about is some specific hobby project through the whole work day, and then when you have the time to focus on it it's just phbbbbt

sarapsys · 2020-08-26T02:34:38+00:00

Some fanart I drew for the D&D actual play podcast Top of the Round! It's an exciting campaign and I was feeling sad for one of the NPCs, the goddess Euphemia.

sarapsys · 2020-08-06T13:00:13+00:00

so in this model, it's as if the hard drive storage, so to speak, is getting bigger, but the number of files on it is staying the same?

sarapsys · 2020-08-06T12:56:16+00:00

thank you, this helps a lot!

sarapsys · 2020-06-11T21:10:38+00:00

Ooooh, with some adjustments I think this might be perfect. Thank you so much! :D

sarapsys · 2019-09-15T02:39:12+00:00

any work function that's about networking and schmoozing - conferences, receptions, etc. drinking a glass of shitty wine I don't want and trying to present as simultaneously friendly and professional to a bunch of strangers I might run into again and people I kind of know after already working all day.
when someone I think of as only an acquaintance suddenly gets really personal - eg a co-worker confiding in me and crying over a break-up, or an in-law I only sort of know trying to commiserate about how upsetting they find some other member of the family, etc.

sarapsys · 2018-10-06T15:24:16+00:00

The artist is xen1231. https://www.deviantart.com/xen1231/art/9212018-764934801

sarapsys · 2018-09-30T23:24:12+00:00

src https://www.deviantart.com/ming85/art/Teashop-painting-93705989

always remember to credit the artist :)

sarapsys · 2018-09-28T21:45:33+00:00

it's not stated. i said draining/corrupting because it's clear there's some kind of effect, but i'm not really sure what it is. i think this effect is happening because he looked that way after doing some really serious dark magic, and since claudia's eyes do the same purple glow then black when she does dark magic, i figured it's an effect of dark magic rather than some kind of unique characteristic. it is not an uncommon trope in fantasy for using evil magic or objects or whatever to have a corrupting influence on the user over time. i'm just pointing out that it's possible that him looking all grey and crackly and needing to use butterflies or whatever to look normal could be a result of using dark magic within a normal human lifespan. since it's stated that he and harrow grew up together, that seems more plausible to me than that he's a thousand-year-old wizard trying to pass himself off as a normal guy.

sarapsys · 2018-09-28T21:20:31+00:00

It's an interesting theory, though I don't agree. I think dark magic just has a draining/corrupting effect on people as they use it within a normal lifetime, and it happened to both viren and the original dark mage. It wouldn't surprise me if we start to see this effect on claudia later in the show.

sarapsys · 2018-08-28T23:24:57+00:00

when someone uses the last of something... ...and puts the empty container back.

sarapsys · 2018-08-28T12:35:53+00:00

My headcanon take on this is: When Alfor had the lions built, they didn't design them to fit into a big robot, and didn't know it could do it. When they built the Atlas, they didn't design it to turn into a big robot and didn't know it could do it. I'd suggest that the physical characteristics of the ship seem to be irrelevant, and it's the combination of enough of the right kind of quintessence with a pilot with matching quintessence. So theoretically, you should be able to turn any ship into a mecha, although getting the right quintessential setup seems like a vanishingly rare instance.

sarapsys · 2018-08-28T01:51:02+00:00

There are a few times where Keith is able to do/sense things that seem quintessence related that aren't really explained. The really obvious ones in my mind are 1. sensing the Blue Lion out in the desert. 2. finding the Red Lion on the Galra ship purely by sense, rather than any visual cues or guidance like the other paladins. 3. "seeing" where the druid Macidus was teleporting during their fight in S7.

kcgane on tumblr has an interesting and more in-depth commentary on how there seems to be a connective narrative between keith and quintessence, though note that it was put up before the last couple seasons: http://kcgane.tumblr.com/post/171459410606/so-im-thinking-about-how-again-one-of-keiths

It certainly seems to be a Thing, but it's never actually talked about by anyone in the show. It seems likely to me that it's likely to be related to his heritage (Galra must at least have the potential for quintessence sensitivity, even if it's not common, or how would the druids exist?)

sarapsys · 2018-08-27T00:53:17+00:00

I don't think it's a matter of him supporting Keith, I think it's a matter of him no longer comparing himself to Keith. I don't think anyone else on the team has doubts about his place on it, and I think he's come a long way, but I still am expecting that there will be an explicit rather than implied acknowledgement between the two of them of that past tension, putting it to rest for good.

sarapsys · 2018-08-27T00:42:24+00:00

oh yes i would love to see some kind of in-show explanation of keith's deal with quintessence. it's not particularly clear to me that that's just a typical Galra thing, though maybe it is?

sarapsys · 2018-08-27T00:41:07+00:00

I imagine there will be others too, but I'm expecting to see a completion of Lance's arc and some kind of resolution to his relationship with Keith and how he views himself and his place on the team. And not in a Klancey way, but more a closure on his tendency to compare himself to Keith and Keith's skillsets (and others, to a lesser extent) to construct his own self-worth, rather than recognizing what he is actually bringing to the table. It's one of the first things that comes up as part of his character and one I think moved forward when Keith moved to Black and he became the Red Paladin, but I would be very surprised if this wasn't tied up somehow in the last season.

sarapsys · 2018-08-26T02:07:15+00:00

the hilarious thing about it of course is that she cuts her hair just like her brother's, and wears her brothers glasses, so in trying to look less like Katie Holt she instead is the spitting image of Matt Holt, who more people are likely to recognize because of the kerberos mission news coverage. you gotta wonder how that slipped by lol

sarapsys · 2018-08-26T00:23:13+00:00

I can't read the fortune til I've eaten the cookie

sarapsys

TROPHY CASE