Last Week (Part I)
How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
If you have anger issues, this one is a great tool (h/t mindyourbusiness)
This week’s book:
Discourses and Selected Writings
Disclaimer: I’m not your Supervisor. These are my opinions after reading through these books a few times.
Epictetus was born a slave around 50 ad. His owner was Epaphroditus, a rich freedman who was once a slave of Nero. Though he was a slave Epictetus was sent to study philosophy under Musonius Rufus.
Epictetus was lame and there are some stories it was caused by his master and others that it was caused by disease.
He was a freedman when all philosophers were banished from Rome in 89 by the Emperor Domitian. He then started his school in Greece, and had many students. He did not leave any writings from his lessons, but one of his students, Flavius Arrian, took notes and wrote the Discourses.
Epictetus did not marry, had no children, and lived to be around 80-85. In retirement, he adopted a child that would have been abandoned and raised him with a woman.
He died sometime around AD 135.
He is my favorite Stoic teacher. I love his bare bones and very straight forward approach.
Following is a paragraph-by-paragraph discussion of one of his lessons. Epictetus’s text appears in bold, my replies are in normal text.
That we ought not to yearn for the things which are not under our control Part II
And man, in addition to being by nature high-minded and capable of despising all the things that are outside the sphere of his moral purpose, possesses also this further quality, that, namely, of not being rooted nor growing in the earth, but of moving now to one place and now to another, at one time under the pressure of certain needs, and at another merely for the sake of the spectacle.
Now it was something of this sort which fell to the lot of Odysseus:
Many the men whose towns he beheld, and he learned of their temper.[2]
And even before his time it was the fortune of Heracles to traverse the entire inhabited world,
Seeing the wanton behavior of men and the lawful,[3]casting forth the one and clearing the world of it, and introducing the other in its place.
Yet how many friends do you suppose he had in Thebes, in Argos, in Athens, and how many new friends he made on his rounds, seeing that he was even in the habit of marrying when he saw fit, and begetting children, and deserting his children, without either groaning or yearning for them, or as though leaving them to be orphans?[4]
It is easy to criticize what everyone around me is doing wrong while I do the same things. I am sure Hercules thought he a a more moral man then the humans he disparaged while he was doing the things Epictetus describes here. I try to look more at myself and not worry about what others are doing but it is easy to get sucked into it sometimes.
5It was because he knew that no human being is an orphan, but all men have ever and constantly the Father, who cares for them. Why, to him it was no mere story which he had heard, that Zeus is father of men, for he always thought of Him as his own father, and called Him so, and in all that he did he looked to Him. Wherefore he had the power to live happily in every place. But it is impossible that happiness, and yearning for what is not present, should ever be united. For happiness must already possess everything that it wants; it must resemble a replete person: he cannot feel thirst or hunger.—Still, Odysseus felt a longing for his wife, and sat upon a rock and wept.[5]—And do you take Homer and his tales as authority for everything? If Odysseus really wept, what else could he have been but miserable? But what good and excellent man is miserable? In all truth the universe is badly managed, if Zeus does not take care of His own citizens, that they be like Him, that is, happy. Nay, it is unlawful and unholy to think of such an alternative, 20but if Odysseus wept and wailed, he was not a good man. Why, what man could be good who does not know who he is? And who knows that, if he has forgotten that the things which come into being are corruptible, and that it is impossible for one human being always to live with another? What then? To reach out for the impossible is slavish and foolish; it is acting like a stranger in the universe, one who is fighting against God with the only weapons at his command, his own judgements.
Being miserable is a decision. Being happy is also a decision. It may be harder for some people because they tend to be more maudlin while for me it was usually easy because in spite of my taciturn nature, I am generally a happy person. When my mom died my brothers and me were all miserable, but made a conscious effort to remember the fun things about her and ignore the problems we had with her and her short comings. I think if we had focused on the negative it would have made life impossible for our step dad since he was truly miserable at the time.
But my mother mourns because she does not see me.—Yes, but why did she not learn the meaning of these words of the philosophers? And I am not saying that you ought to take no pains to keep her from lamenting, but only that a person ought not to want at all costs what is not his own. Now another’s grief is no concern of mine, but my own grief is. Therefore, I will put an end at all costs to what is my own concern, for it is under my control: and that which is another’s concern I will endeavor to check to the best of my ability, but my effort to do so will not be made at all costs. Otherwise I shall be fighting against God, I shall be setting myself in opposition to Zeus, I shall be arraying myself against Him in regard to His administration of the universe. And the wages of this fighting against God and this disobedience will not be paid by “children’s children,”[6] but by me myself in my own person, by day and by night, as I start up out of dreams and am disturbed, trembling at every message, with my own peace of mind depending upon letters not my own.
While our step dad’s sorrow was deeper than ours, he never felt sorry for himself or tried to make us sad so that he would have company in his misery. Instead we were all able to hang out together and tell stories. Since then I have talked to him every few weeks and now that it’s been almost a year he sounds like his old self. For myself, I came to terms with her death a long time ago and no longer hold any resentment. It was more difficult when I only remembered the bad things and ignored the positives. Thinking that way was a choice and it is much better now that I made a correct choice and let the bitterness go.
The words happy and happen share a root which means something random or uncontrollable. In many languages, the words for lucky and happy are the same.
The idea that people can and should be happy most of the time is a fairly new idea.
I heard a Russian say once that Americans are the only people in the world who expect to be happy.
I once heard Russians described as “a great race of sufferers”.
I suspect there is something impacting their worldview.
Yakov Smirnoff excepted (for obvious reason).
In Russia, they say only idiots and rich people smile in public, and rich people don’t walk the streets.
***
The servant’s smile
In Russian communication, a smile is not a signal of politeness. Russians consider a polite smile as “servant’s smile.” It is considered a demonstration of unwillingness to show one’s true feelings.
***
https://www.56thparallel.com/russian-smile/#:~:text=In%20Russian%20communication,
Russian has 2 words for lying: lozh, which means the same as English, and vranyo, which refers to a lie so obvious there is no need to refute it. Vranyo is a Costanza lie.
***
Vranyo plays an important role in defining the relationship between the Russian people and their state. The best way to understand vranyo is to contrast it with another Russian term, lozh. Both lozh and vranyo translate as “falsehood,” but there is a meaningful distinction. Lozh is a genuine lie: one party says something recognisably false while expecting to be believed. Vranyo, by contrast, describes a story told that both sides know is untrue but nonetheless is responded to as if it were the truth. In Part Four of Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot, General Ardalyon Ivolgin spins Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin a tale claiming to have convinced Napoleon to retreat from Moscow. Myshkin knows the story is false and Ivolgin is likely aware of this fact, yet Ivolgin tells it with a straight face and Mishkin smiles and plays along.
Unlike lozh, vranyo is a two-way street. The vrun (liar) does not expect to be believed, just listened to respectfully. Does Ivolgin himself believe what he’s saying? Yes and no. Though the vrun may initially be aware that their vranyo is a falsehood, they can become convinced by their own lie mid-tirade, a phenomenon Russian scholar Ronald Hingley labels as the “take off.”
***
Yup. Keep in mind that as far as I’m concerned, only close friends and family are entitled to know my true feelings, and then only if I want them to.
“Russian has 2 words for lying: lozh, which means the same as English, and vranyo, which refers to a lie so obvious there is no need to refute it.”
I think TPTB (especially the Democrat wing) were trying to impose a culture of vranyo on the US; ‘Pretend to believe us and act as if we are telling the truth or else.” Not really gaslighting, but related IMO.
I’m not certain the Costanza reference would be the correct usage for vrayno; It sounds like vranyo is used when there is a power imbalance between speaker and listener, rather than bullshit uttered just to seem knowledgeable.
Thanks for the information, now I understand Russian writing a bit better.
happy happy joy joy
“Being miserable is a decision. Being happy is also a decision.”
It’s hard to see that sometimes.
Off Topic, because its where my brain has gotten stuck.
I recently ordered a stack of USB breakout boards (two each of male and female A and C connectors, all pins have an individual pad) and want to use them to build a cable tester which shows me which A which pins are connected, and B pin is connected to where.
Since I have two of each, I’m thinking the connectors will be set up as a ‘source four’ and ‘destination four’ so that current directionality is simpler to handle. (yes, I know I could set it up to be bidirectional, but I want to maximize the number of types of cables I can test)
This would imply two banks of LEDs, a source set and a destination set. The destination set just get tied to ground through a current limiting resistor and have no logic beyond “light up when I get power”. For the source side I’m thinking three switches – “on/off” (global power), “try all/one by one” (where it either tries to power all the LEDs for a general connectivity test or power the logic which tests one pin at a time), and “auto cycle/manual cycle” (where it either lets the 1Hz signal from a 555 timer advance which pin is being powered, or waits for a button press for that).
This would require a 555 timer (I’ve got a stack of them), some resistors and capacitors, a circle of shift registers to move the signal around the pins, some switches, a button, a diode, and an inverter (for debouncing)
On the source side I’m debating whether to have the LEDs light up when I’m merely trying to send power over the line, or only when the circut is good, or if I should have two sets of LEDs – ‘trying to power’ and ‘success’, though with the sheer number of LEDs a fully connected pair of USB-C boards would light up, I might need a dedicated driver to get enough juice to them.
Yes, I am still working on the z80 and its videos, but January’s been busy and when I had the time, I had a head cold so I couldn’t get audio. 🙁
Machines are easier. I’ve got this whole darn device mapped out in my head, no questions of morality or philosophy, just logic solving a problem that isn’t serious.
I was gnashing my teeth over yet ANOTHER rejection letter from a publisher. I was whining to my mom. She said, “Why do you base your goals on decisions someone else has to make?”
That changed my life.
Then, later, unrelated, I realized that happiness is a myth. There are moments of happiness, maybe even joy. But contentedness is/should be the goal.
That’s a really good way to look at it. If you get what you want even though you had no control of the outcome, that’s happiness and it is rare.
Being content means enjoying what you already have or control.
I like to say: don’t cry cuz it’s over, smile cuz it happened.
I don’t do this. Ever. It’s not in my makeup and I’m not going to try to force it.
Mo, gotta disagree with you a little. I don’t see happiness, or misery for that matter, as a myth. I see them both as ephemeral. Our minds generate those feelings about events that we have partial control over, at best. And those events are in the past and unchangeable. So why stew over them?
Thank goodness we don’t live in a constant emotional up-or-down state; I think that’d lead to either insanity or suicide. You’re right though about contentedness. I prefer the term serenity, but comes to the same thing.
I agree that it’s ephemeral. Maybe what I mean is all the motivational posters talking about seeking happiness or not seeking it and letting it find you or whatever. This “choosing to be happy” (subtext: all the time) stuff that I absolutely do not believe in.
About your need for a notary, have you tried your local library? Ours has at least one notary who could be cajoled to make a house call.
I go to the bank normally. However, my mother is bedbound and her signature is the one needing notarized.
Worse than white slavery and the opium trade
While it is not surprising that the governor of the third-largest oil producing state would have a close relationship with fossil fuel producers, records obtained by the Associated Press reveal Burgum’s administration eagerly assisted the industry even as the governor was profiting from the lease of family land to oil companies. And his assistance came at a time when Burgum was leaning on those very connections to build his national profile in the Republican Party.
Now that he’s been confirmed to run the Interior Department, Burgum will have vast control over federal lands, including the issuance of oil and gas leases, as well as a mandate from Trump to extract such resources even though the U.S. is producing record amounts of fossil fuels.
Those ties concern Democrats and environmentalists who say his zeal to expand drilling was “troubling.”
“Are you going to protect our resources, or are you going to ‘drill, baby, drill?’” Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Hawaii Democrat, asked during Burgum’s confirmation hearing this month.
We’re all helpless victims of Big Carbon Slavery.
“Protect our resources” – meaning, refuse to utilize our resources and thereby weakening the nation.
One of my core values:
https://despair.com/products/indifference?_pos=1&_sid=a70f63592&_ss=r
Indifference
It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile, but it doesn’t take any to just sit there with a dumb look on your face.
I’m watching the new Press Secretary do a press conference.
1) She is good at this.
2) The press room is now open, and they have over 1000 applications for a seat. Today they have someone from a podcast in the room. I love this.
So far not one single “We’ll circle back to that” or “I’m not answering that”. Curious.
Tuned in briefly, and I agree – she’s good! It’s most of the reporters I can’t stand to listen to. 🤦♀️ Bringing in some fresh “new media” types might really help. It’s hard to imagine how it could get worse unless they let in a bunch of TikTok “influencers.”
https://www.youtube.com/live/CvfYIXBJ1I8
This is great.
Hmmm… who wants to be the Glibs press core?
Shouldn’t it be Evan?
1) CPRM talking as the Hat and Hair voice ala Triumph the insult comic dog.
2) Dem titties SNP tinfoil hat type to ask the same question over and over again
3) Any of us to ask questions about spending, no matter the answer respond with “FU cut spending”
Send in Sugarfree. The West Wing will collectively shudder at the imagery he conjures up.
Then, later, unrelated, I realized that happiness is a myth. There are moments of happiness, maybe even joy. But contentedness is/should be the goal.
“And they all lived happily ever after” is a giant pernicious lie.
I made the foolish error long ago of saying the best we should probably hope for is happy beginnings. That didn’t go over too well. She was not impressed.
Moments of Happiness
I have a plan of attack on Cunty Aunt Susie. However, I’m trying not to be smug because I just KNOW something’s going to come up that I don’t know how to deal with, and I need to know how stupid people think to start trying to guess what she might do.
What I DO know is that she will a) calmly deny ever having objected to sell the house (she’s already done this) and b) make excuses as to why she can’t put the house up for sale now. I have a trump card, however. What the lawyer told me yesterday is that with a motion to partition, the court will not make a good faith effort to appraise the house and sell it like normal people. They’ll sell it on the courthouse steps. Unless she puts it on the market post haste, I am perfectly willing to let it go for pennies on the dollar. I told my mom this, and while she’s annoyed that it’s come to this, she’s willing to let it go like that (which means she’s pretty mad at Susie). I’m pretty sure financebro lay clergyman intermediary will know I’m not bluffing and that I mean to break that bitch over my knee like a dry twig, and will advise Susie accordingly.
Now. How stupid is Cunty Aunt Susie and what will she do with THAT just to avoid bending to my will? I don’t know.
Call my Pyrrhus.
Oh, I have every confidence that CAS will weep and wail that you’re putting her out on the street. If forced to answer that, my immediate inclination would be to sweetly say, “I’m sure your kids would be happy to help you out by giving you a place to stay for a while, or maybe even permanently!” 😇
And also, of course, “That’s not my problem.”
My goal is to drive her back to California with her tail between her legs with a social security check that can barely buy a 4-pound bag of sugar at Aldi.
“I really don’t care
MargaretSusie”Oh, and she’s already used that line to compassionate church members. “They’re trying to throw two little old ladies out of their homes in the middle of winter! waaaaahhhhh” That was her first go-to immediately after Bro1 politely asked her how to go about liquidating Mom’s portion of the property’s value.
“She wants me homeless and eating cat food.”
For legal reasons this should not be taken as a suggestion, but…it’s much easier to bend someone to your will after you’ve beaten the absolute dogshit out of them.
If you mean physically, I fully expect her to slap me, and then I will have her arrested and charged with assault. There is no way I’m touching her.
If you mean emotionally/psychologically, I’m doing my best, but she’s always been closed off to me so I don’t know what weapons would work the best.
I thought people were easier to ben when they’re on quaaludes?
Easy there, Cosby.
I respect your choices (but would happily loan you my sock full of D-cell batteries if you should need it…)
Let me tell you. If I thought I wouldn’t go to jail, I would.
If you think about it as a state of abstract ethereal perfection, it makes perfect sense
But DEI defenders say that policies that seek to foster diversity and inclusion within organizations aren’t in conflict with those that seek to reward the most talented or hardest-working employees.
“DEI enhances merit by saying, ‘How do we find the best people for the job or make sure we are promoting the best people?'” David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at NYU School of Law, told CBS MoneyWatch. “And that means thinking about barriers and biases that might be getting in the way of considering the full talent pool.”
In defining DEI, Glasgow described “diversity” as a commitment to diversifying personnel within an institution so that U.S. workplaces better represent the population at large. “It’s about engaging in effective outreach to places that might be overlooked and making sure hiring and promotion systems aren’t screening out women or people of color from being considered,” he said.
Meanwhile, when designed and implemented effectively, DEI programs are not discriminatory, according to Jessica Fulton, vice president of Policy at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a nonprofit that aims to improve African-Americans’ socioeconomic status.
If pigs had wings, they’d be eagles.
Paul McCartney had Wings and he wasn’t an Eagle.
appalling
but in a good way
Just like every other lefty idea, it’s the thought that counts, and not what happens in real life when that idea is implemented.
But they still wouldn’t taste as good. Nothing beats a good grilled bald eagle with a mustard based sauce on the fourth.
That definition doesn’t bother me too much. The problem comes when they need to show the results of the outreach and they are criticized for having too many of the wrong kind which then leads to de facto quotas and lowered standards for certain groups.
Steps to hiring the best staff possible:
If the most qualified applicant is white, hire them.
If the most qualified applicant is black hire them.
If the most qualified applicant is gay hire them.
If the most qualified applicant is straight hire them.
If the most qualified applicant has a disability that does not impact their ability to do the job hire them.
Repeat for each job opening. If someone suggests quotas, or suggests hiring the ‘almost as qualified’ person to add diversity, fire that someone.
Now. How stupid is Cunty Aunt Susie and what will she do with THAT just to avoid bending to my will? I don’t know.
What are the chances she can get a stalking horse buyer to snag it for cheap and let her stay? is she (or brother financedudebro) that devious?
This is a concern because her children wanted to buy it for about half price. But the Motion for Partition has been filed. My lawyer says, “…the absolute minimum that the home can be sold for is the county’s appraised, NOT assessed, value.”
her children wanted to buy it for about half price
Great! There is no problem here, they can buy your Mom’s half for half the total value, works out perfectly, they want to pay half, and lo and behold they only need to buy half so it works!
Well, see, that’s what we EXPECTED to happen when we asked Susie how to liquidate Mom’s portion. There were about 3 ways she could do it without having to sell. Having her kids pony up the cash was one of them. She immediately jumped to I’M NOT SELLING MY HOUSE. THIS IS MY HOUSE.
Discussion of happiness: The expectation of never being happy has, in the same way as slavery, become obsolete due to technology. Sadly technology advances more rapidly than social progress. We are still covered with the dust and soot of the cave despite our ability to produce surplus for the entirety of the human race. We just cant seem to shake the notion that servitude and privation are the natural state of things.
Listening to Gabbard’s hearing from yesterday, good God the in bad faith grandstanding by our illustrious senators makes my skin crawl. I’d rather wallow naked in a pig pen than go to a luncheon with most of them. What a dysfunctional travesty.
Bennett whining about Snowden as a traitor and not the IC that was/is breaking both the actual law and long held principles of Americanism. Fucking turd would have shot himself last night if he had any sense of personal honor or integrity.
Funny that they condemn G’s supposed coddling of authoritarians. When the “traitor’s” basis of being called such is the revelation of lawbreaking and unconstitutional actions that I’d call treason who are the authoritarians exactly?
The press says the hearings show that Gabbard is weak and the nomination is in jeopardy.
They also said Harris was going to win.
^^ this
It’s their only play since majority are in the bag with being in opposition. Present to the people it’s a terrible choice…she gets confirmed and they have stories to run on how terrible she is even if not.
Greenwald doesn’t think she’s going to get out it. Hopefully he’s wrong.
Speaking of “sold on the courthouse steps”
I left a envelope from the county lying unopened on the kitchen counter for a few weeks. Because that’s how I roll. And I kinda thought it was the one saying, “this is not a bill”. Haha, joke’s on me; it was the property tax bill, and it’s late. Whatever. Then I get a couple more envelopes, one of which is from the sheriff, saying they’re going to seize the decidedly non-palatial doublewide and auction it off for the taxes. I guess they don’t fuck around down here. But then it occurred to me; that might not be the worst outcome. If some asshole buys it at tax auction, he will then be responsible for dragging it out of here. I could come out ahead on this deal.
But… too many uncontrolled variables in that scenario, so I paid the ransom. But now it has occurred to me that it might be possible to check the records and find out if there is somebody who might buy it from me instead of the sheriff.
OT: A Moral Quandary
I often scoff at ads that beg me for $19.99 a month to help the homeless teenager crisis that plagues the streets of urban America because I think the scope of the problem is largely overblown. I especially scoff at said ads when they feature a pretty young woman. My thought being: “A pretty young woman always has a place to sleep. The question is what she’s willing to do for room and board.” A horrible thing to think but it’s true far more often than not. My other thought was that in all my life I’ve never seen such a creature out in the wild(And I’ve lived in many a shitty neighborhood and still continue to do so to this day.)These ads are manipulative bullshit. But this morning I saw this scenario playing out in real life.
As was parking near the entrance to the local gas station to pick up smokes and coffee I saw a small, huddled mass of a person curled up near the entrance. I, as usual, walked by without a second glance. After grabbing said items I was returning to my car to hear pitiful, hopeless crying from that person. It was obvious this was coming from a kid. I cautiously approached this kid and offered them my coffee. A girl, probably around 12-14, lifted her head with tears streaming down her face, accepted the coffee and wished me a good day. Heart stricken, I gave her the rest of the change in my pocket and wished her well.
Point being: Should I have done more? I’m off work today. I ain’t got shit to do. Should I have asked why she was in this situation? Offered to let her use my phone to call someone to take her in? Called a patrol car to check on her and get her story? Asked she needed a ride to the nearest women’s shelter? I don’t know. What I do know is that A: The area I live in is infested with weirdy-beardy homeless drug addicts who could do horrible things to that girl if she’s in a truly vulnerable state. And B: There was no chance in Hell I was about to invite a underage girl into my car or house without police knowledge/supervision while they sort this mess out…
And yet, I feel guilty. What should I have done? It’s been bugging me all damn day.
… Maybe I’ll repost in the afternoon links…
Don’t beat yourself up, you can’t save the whole world man.
I honestly don’t know.
Me neither. That’s a tough one.
Of your potential actions, I’d say asked about her situation as a threshold step before doing any of the others. If it has been bugging you all day, go back and see if she is still there, maybe taking a female friend or acquaintance to chaperone/put her at ease?
A possible variation – research some local resources that seem trustworthy, jot down some phone numbers, THEN go back and see if she’s still there and if so, call one or more of them to see if someone can come check on her. I’d be inclined to keep an eye on her until someone shows up but not necessarily approach her again unless she starts to leave or an untrustworthy-looking person approaches her.
You know what? Fuck it. This was nearly eight hours ago but I’ll go check. It’s literally a minute drive away. I doubt she’s there at this point but if I saw her face on the local news’ missing persons feed it would kill me(the area just had a story about three missing teen girls on the local news less than a week ago). I’ll check back in a bit…
Yeah, she’s gone.
You could still contact a local service agency that deals with homeless/runaway youth and report what you saw and where she was last seen.
I’ll do that, GT. I’d hate to think that my fear of having my
perfectly natural, middle-aged, paternalistic impulse to help a child being misconstrued as something sorted stopping me from doing something halfway decent in my life once in awhile.
A good friend of mine always stops for folks on the side of the road who are in need. One of his sayings is “there’s nothing stopping you from turning around when you realize you should’ve done more.”
I wish I was better at that than I am. There are homeless care packages sitting in my garage, but I always forget to bring them along when I go to Walmart (there are some destitute folks who panhandle there). Nothing is stopping me from returning 5 minutes later with the pack, but I never do.
The modern quandary of a male with a conscience and an abundance of empathy.
You must recognize that this situation can go sideways in so many, many ways.
You risk everything by helping this poor soul.
And yet, it is soul-crushing to turn and walk away.
You risk everything by helping this poor soul.
Bullshit.
Brennan is going to wish Biden granted him a pardon.
The context here is with respect to Ratcliffe, the new CIA Director and his Senate confirmation hearing.
Is Hildawg in the clear?
Plausible deniability. She can always say “Aw shucks I got fooled!”
But it sounds like this is proof Brennan was acting against the what the evidence was showing.
PC question: My gaming PC is currently FUBAR due to a recent WIN11 update. When ever a game is running, every 3-5 seconds a new process runs and pulls the CPU usage way up and slows or lags gameplay.
Any ideas? I updated around 1/28/25
Can you rollback the update?
Lol
https://x.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1885374808075989092
https://x.com/DOGE/status/1885420298138247458
Not huge numbers but I’m happy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmD08Na5VKI
Only $1B?
Cut more!
It’s almost enough for a Harris (losing) campaign!
Hey hey, it’s a billion dollars now. If they keep it up we’ll be talking some real money.
@Sean didn’t you hear? they actually spent two and a half.
Really? I must have missed that.
Yikes.
It’s the opposite of what *could* have been happening.
Solid start, IMO.
Part vent, mixed with my own stoic issues. I interviewed with a vet today and can decide to start next week, but I don’t think it’s a great idea. One, it’s a shitty job, with cleaning and bathing being primary duties in the kennel. Two, it’s only $14/hr. That’s all well and good, cuz having a regular schedule and actual semi-social encounters is far more important, and I don’t mind getting dirty. (I *am* dirty.) There’d be some training possibilities. Biggest problem is being active around the animals, particularly for picking ’em up, etc. My hips are both still ‘fine’ but they feel over-worked. Sleeping is tricky. They’re supposed to last “10-15” years, and I got ’em 13 and 11 years ago. So, I’m kinda pushing the envelope. When and how my hips have to be re-replaced, I will be in a profoundly depressed place and none of it will be pretty. I shouldn’t be doing *any* lifting. They do have a receptionist open, or I can be part-involved in that. I’m glad I typed this out. I can’t/won’t ignore my right hip’s kinda tightness.
So I called Vocational Rehab Services to see how they can help. I couldn’t get a hold of ’em but they know about me. Add it up, and I’m thinking a therapy session is warranted, and those folk can possibly also help with the work stuff. Anyone have any experience with county voca rehab stuff? It holds promise, especially in Carmel, a Land of Affluent White-Guilt. I haven’t been able to find a good job really, one that may have lasting upshot, but any employment is good. My lack of contacts here is concerning. Walmart or Kroger, especially away from people, is very much not a bad idea.
I don’t believe I am juggling all this terribly well. Hopefully, I can talk to vocational folk next week and they can help get me on track. Shall see. Hrm.
I want to say one or two of my kids got help writing their resume, and with their job search, but that was it. Currently the youngest is babysitting while she goes to college online, the middle one does kitchen work at a restaurant, and the oldest, who just moved home, is just beginning to look for a job here. I’m already not very encouraged, I asked her of all the jobs she had, which one she like best, and she chose the one where she had to do the least work.
I’m sorry OBE lost his job.
https://x.com/davidevans442/status/1885379439711625533