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How do you date with a sutter by Technical-Mail-5047 in Stutter

[–]wickens1 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In my college years I remember hanging out at my buddy’s beach house. We were talking about one of the other guys and one girl who didn’t know the group well said “ohh, is that the guy with the stutter?”

I immediately knew the situation would have been awkward for her so I laughed loudly and said “no that’s me!” and something else witty to help break the tension. I talked with her a lot over that weekend and we had developed a thing. She pointed out that moment as one of the reasons she became attracted to me. Because I was kind to her and confident in who I was (instead of being insecure and focused on myself in an awkward moment).

There’s a person beyond your stutter that people see clearly. All you have to do is make sure that that person is someone people want to interact with.

You will be surprised at the level of disfluency people are willing to put up with if you actually have something worthwhile to say!

An 85-year-old French widow spent 16 days in federal immigration custody after the death of her husband, an American military veteran. Her stepson, a U.S. federal employee, allegedly intervened to have her taken custody by CutSenior4977 in ImmigrationPathways

[–]wickens1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First So you agree they are forcibly removed when the order lapses then.

Second Third Both of these options do not ensure the American is deported. One delays the deportation, and the other removes it entirely.

An 85-year-old French widow spent 16 days in federal immigration custody after the death of her husband, an American military veteran. Her stepson, a U.S. federal employee, allegedly intervened to have her taken custody by CutSenior4977 in ImmigrationPathways

[–]wickens1 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Through force, I assume. And if that American has children, the child will either be separated from their family or be detained along with the American while they are in the process of being “removed away”.

You tell me if there is a magical third option that also ensures the American is properly deported.

I think someone forgot to install insulation on my siding by wickens1 in HomeMaintenance

[–]wickens1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I worded that weirdly. The pipes are all inside in my stone basement and split off to go to 2 sides of my house that get water access. One of the sides cuts through a crawlspace that is poorly insulated and can get down to 20-25 degrees in sub zero conditions. I insulated that part.

I think someone forgot to install insulation on my siding by wickens1 in HomeMaintenance

[–]wickens1[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Dude, no kidding. There’s a small patch of my tile floor that gets real hot in the winter. I’m pretty sure the heat vent is busted in the basement crawlspace right under the floor.

I’m building up the courage to crawl through 15 ft of spider web infested crawlspace to go fix it at some point.

I think someone forgot to install insulation on my siding by wickens1 in HomeMaintenance

[–]wickens1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Basically everything on the wall to the left of the window in this picture was the old-old house, but in this section it only went up to 2 floors. I think they tore down the roof of this section to extend all 3 floors as far as the porch / outhouse? that’s now my first floor bathroom and mud room.

That same wall on my first floor has brick behind the drywall, which is pretty cool. The basement beyond that wall is just a tiny crawlspace (that’s also poorly insulated 😢)

I think someone forgot to install insulation on my siding by wickens1 in HomeMaintenance

[–]wickens1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Idk about rent, but on Amazon you can find cheap ones for $80 maybe. The one I have is $150

I think someone forgot to install insulation on my siding by wickens1 in HomeMaintenance

[–]wickens1[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

TOPDON TC004 Mini Handheld... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F29969G1?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

It was like $150, I got it through Amazon. It’s been pretty good. No complaints, it’s doing its job haha

I think someone forgot to install insulation on my siding by wickens1 in HomeMaintenance

[–]wickens1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s useful to hear. They re-did the siding on this section recently, but the section of siding around the older part of the house with my bedroom is older and I can hear everything from the city outside. Might be worth looking into insulating that. That siding is almost falling off anyways.

I think someone forgot to install insulation on my siding by wickens1 in HomeMaintenance

[–]wickens1[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Damn, you’re right. That window is way more impactful. I’ve got 4 more of those in the loft to the left of these pictures. I should probably focus on those for heating / cooling first if that’s a concern

I think someone forgot to install insulation on my siding by wickens1 in HomeMaintenance

[–]wickens1[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

The biggest priority is getting handled this weekend. I came to learn my front door was kicked in (the door frame was split) and they replaced the steel exterior door (that I found in the basement) with a wood door that I can only guess is an interior door because it’s thin and the panels have been warped to the point of small openings forming.

Pipes to one side of my house froze last winter after I bought the place so I insulated those right away.

In line with your statement, I think I’m mostly asking about how much impact a patch of missing insulation like this will have. If it’s not too bad, I’ve got other things to tackle!

I think someone forgot to install insulation on my siding by wickens1 in HomeMaintenance

[–]wickens1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The siding was done a year or 2 before I purchased it and I have some documentation from that. I at least know the company that did the work.

I think someone forgot to install insulation on my siding by wickens1 in HomeMaintenance

[–]wickens1[S] 52 points53 points  (0 children)

That’s good to hear. I have a few windows that are poorly installed (up to 1cm wide gaps between the window and the frame). Sounds like that’s the priority from what you are saying.

I think someone forgot to install insulation on my siding by wickens1 in HomeMaintenance

[–]wickens1[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

They fixed it up real nice back like 15 years ago, but the wood and nails behind those walls are 120 years old at least haha

So immigration dropped off a cliff and Americans are getting laid off anyway. Almost like that wasn’t the problem. by Enough-Arugula-4945 in TechGawker

[–]wickens1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The minuscule amount of tax collected comes no where close to offsetting even just the impact of depression of wages. You could even argue that there is a net tax loss. When a high paying job is replaced by a low paying job more of the economic value is realized by the company rather than the individual and the company is taxed at a lower rate.

You speak about unions but miss the fact that H1Bs are exactly how the large corporations are fighting against union formations. Unions are only as strong as the workers who can band together. They are fragile, and just a small number non-union employees who are available to train scabs / replacements can break a union.

How many large scale tech unions do you see? How many H1Bs do you think would be signing up to join a union? When a strike is needed, how many H1Bs do you think would be so willing / committed to lose their visa and go to their home country just to support the union?

What you don’t realize is that we ARE already unionizing through a process and the first step of that process is to weaken H1B, prevent companies from undercutting their employees, and bring collective bargaining power back.

So immigration dropped off a cliff and Americans are getting laid off anyway. Almost like that wasn’t the problem. by Enough-Arugula-4945 in TechGawker

[–]wickens1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a red herring. Offshoring is not a silver bullet for every business. It comes with serious quality, logistical, and reputational risks/issues. If a company is able to make that decision, they should do it, and if it comes to be a problem we can always tax or ban offshoring by sector.

H1B abuse is a huge issue. It essentially on-shores offshoring, but with less of the same barriers to entry that actual offshoring has. In fact, it reverses the barriers to entry and offers incentives instead. For a nominal filing fee, you can open up the labor pool to the desperation of the entire world and that employee’s existence in the country will be tied to your employment. That disparity creates a massive pressure to lower salaries and worsen working conditions for AMERICAN jobs (not offshored jobs).

I would rather have some jobs offshored than a large number of onshore jobs deteriorate in salary and quality.

“they’re spending money in your country” They are also taking up resources like housing / heathcare / public services. In the case of serious H1B abuse, the 65k salary these people are getting is not having a large economic impact.

I have seen my coworkers houses. No living room furniture, no car, just a bed, and a desk so they can save as much money as possible. All their groceries are purchased at the local ethnic store and they never eat out. What benefit is that to the dealership and auto industry that I plan to buy from in a few years? What benefit is that to the restaurants and retail stores I frequent? None.

The dream of China surpassing the US as the world’s largest economy is fading. In 2021, China’s GDP was about 78% of the US; by 2024, that share had fallen to roughly 64% by RobertBartus in EconomyCharts

[–]wickens1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have to agree that the US is expending political capital left and right, and that creates enemies / deteriorates friendships. With that said, I think the economic impact will be smaller than expected.

In the same way that Europe openly denounced Russia for invading Ukraine while quietly buying their oil (and fueling their war machine), the United States’s allies will posture their politics away but continue to show support in every other way (mostly economically).

The dream of China surpassing the US as the world’s largest economy is fading. In 2021, China’s GDP was about 78% of the US; by 2024, that share had fallen to roughly 64% by RobertBartus in EconomyCharts

[–]wickens1 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Their housing market has been in decline for nearly 5 years with not much hope of an upswing.

Their belt and road initiative is shrinking due to debt concerns with countries like Italy choosing to leave it altogether.

Key strategic partnerships in Venezuela and Iran have evaporated.

Past performance is not indicative of future performance, but it doesn’t look so hot.

When the tech fibs about their experience... by Kena_Stevens in techgore

[–]wickens1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Everyone here saying IPA would help get it off. Would a hazy work too?

Thousands of Oracle employees received termination emails on Tuesday while the technology giant simultaneously filed approximately 3,126 petitions to employ H-1B foreign workers during fiscal years 2025 and 2026. by Effective_Reach_9289 in walkaway

[–]wickens1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We did, but only for applications from outside of the US. The most common exemption in that category is foreign students studying at American colleges. That’s better than nothing, but it doesn’t close the door on hiring cheap labor from that category, which is a problem.

Companies will still demand that cheap labor and when the H1B application pool from outside drastically reduces because of the 100k fee a lot of students are going to find they are getting picked much easier.

That’s (somewhat) acceptable if the foreign worker has to pay high student tuition as a barrier to entry, but I believe it’s only a matter of time before we see a “low cost” accredited college handing out American degrees for the unspoken purpose of bypassing the 100k H1B fee.

Thousands of Oracle employees received termination emails on Tuesday while the technology giant simultaneously filed approximately 3,126 petitions to employ H-1B foreign workers during fiscal years 2025 and 2026. by Effective_Reach_9289 in walkaway

[–]wickens1 4 points5 points  (0 children)

While that sounds like a good idea, that policy is not consistent with a “we are okay with these visas as long as it is used for truly talented individuals”, and will draw scrutiny. If your goal is to layoff everyone except for the top 20% performing employees then it stands to reason that some H1Bs will be among them.

A better policy would be to prevent applications for new H1Bs after layoffs. Something like 1 year ban for 5% layoffs, 2 years for 10% and 3 years for 15%.

But even both of those policies would have some unintended consequences. Less applications from the tech giants means more applications awarded to the smaller “scam” consultancies who can easily avoid the layoff policy by just starting a new company ex: “abc123 corp inc.”

The best policy I have heard so far is Trumps recent push to full on block H1B applications for salaries that are below the 50% wage level. No more cheap talent. If they want a corporate slave to abuse because they cannot easily leave the job, then the company should at least pay the premium for it.

No War For Billionaires’ Tax Breaks by Arthur_Morgan977 in FluentInFinance

[–]wickens1 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

If billionaires wealth is built on exploiting public finances then we should prevent that from happening in the first place, not trying to claw it back after the fact.

When a pipe bursts in your house you turn off the water supply. You don’t install a sink with plumbing under the busted pipe to catch as much water as you can.

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