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AFKBRBChocolate

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Yet another refugee who washed up on the shore after the great Reddit disaster of 2023

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AFKBRBChocolate ,

Where I am in SoCal, it’s perfect right now. The lows are in the upper 50s, the highs in the mid 80s. The mornings are cool and a bit overcast, but it burns off to a sunny, warm day. It gets cool enough to open the windows just after sundown, them close them mid morning. Really nice. In a month, highs and lows will increase ten to fifteen degrees, so it will be a bit hot.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Pretty sure it takes place when the restaurant is closed. They learn to do those things, they don’t actually do them for customers. It’s the whole “kids like to pretend” thing.

I don’t support them because of their views and policies they fund, but I prefer reporting to be accurate.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

I don’t have insider information, but there’s just no way labor laws are going to let such little kids do the actual restaurant work.

Doing a quick search, I see this ABC news article on it.

A representative for the company explained to ABC News that this is not a corporate program and assured the restaurant staff are still the ones making any food and the children are not doing any work of a hired team member.

So they aren’t actually working. Again, I’m not a fan of the company, but let’s save our outrage for where it belongs.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Man, e got those here in southern California a few years back. They are so awful! They can breed in tiny amounts of water, like what’s in a cupped leaf on the ground. They don’t just bite at dusk, they do it anytime of the day or night. They aren’t great flyers, so they tend to bite your ankles or lower leg if they can. And their bites are horrendous - super itchy, big welts.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

If/when they get there, the only things that we’ve found that help are fans (because they aren’t strong flyers, you can blow them away) and those mosquito catchers that lure them in with heat, light, and CO2. Actually DEET works well, but we don’t really want to cover ourselves with it everyday.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Oh, the other bad news: they seem good at finding their way into the house, so a lot of the bites we’ve gotten have been inside. Who wants to sit on the couch covered in DEET?

Also, one mosquito will bite multiple times. They really suck (no pun intended).

3 Nixon justices helped end his presidency. Will the 3 Trump appointees force him to stand trial? (apnews.com)

Fifty years ago, three of the justices Richard Nixon appointed to the Supreme Court joined in an 8-0 decision in the Watergate tapes case that effectively ended his presidency, ruling only 16 days after hearing the case. Nixon resigned from office just over two weeks later....

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Nixon appointed Burger and Rehnquist, who were pretty damned conservative, plus Blackmun and Powell who were much less so. Not sure any of them were of the level of the absolute shit we have as some of today’s justices.

AFKBRBChocolate , (edited )

I worked on the space shuttle program, and I found Armageddon almost unwatchable. I mean, those things go up with the big solid rockets and an external tank full of hydrogen and oxygen, all of which get jettisoned during launch, then they come down as a glider. But in the movie they’re landing on asteroids and taking off again, smashing into things and still flying, etc. (remember how Columbia blew up because of a crack in the leading edge of one wing?). Plus the whole premise of it being easier to teach oil drillers how to be astronauts than to teach astronauts how to be oil drillers is a joke. Every astronaut I’ve met has been an amazing capable person - many are test pilots with multiple advanced degrees.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Ha! I hadn’t heard that - I’m glad someone involved called him out on it. I mean, I get that the real answer - to that and all my complaints - is that the movie doesn’t work otherwise, but it’s so annoying.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

That’s super true. What’s worse is that it often turns out to be true of news as well. There have been a few times when I was familiar with events that made the news, and there were always inaccuracies in the articles. It’s made me look at articles on events that I’m not familiar with differently; they probably have the same amount of inaccuracies.

I’m software engineering in aerospace, so a lot of computer and space stuff is ruined, which covers a lot of content.

But everyone should smack their heads about Armageddon.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

I never said that being a driller is trivial. Do you think being an astronaut is trivial? That’s a pretty intensely technical job, which is why the bar for entry is so insanely high. I would put my money on those folks leaning how to drill better than drillers leaning how to be an astronaut.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

A decent sized package of medium quality chocolate.

When did you know a career was either the perfect or the worst match for your personality?

I’m trying to give someone advice on choosing a career that will suit them better than the one they’re in and hate. I wanted to get together a list of good questions for them to ask themselves so they can use the answers to compare options like “do you prefer to work sitting or moving around,” “do you want to not work...

AFKBRBChocolate ,

I end up having similar conversations with college folks (interns mostly). I usually say something along the lines of:

  • If there’s something that you’re so passionate about that you’re going to do it regardless, it’s worth taking a shot at making a living at it. Things like writing, acting, and music are really hard to to make it in, but if it’s really a passion, you might as well give it a go. It’s good to have a Plan B though.
  • If you aren’t super passionate about something, or you don’t have the starving artist mentality or whatever, next is to look at things you’re good at that you don’t hate, especially if there’s room to grow in them. If you’re good at math, for instance, you could consider being an accountant.
  • If you don’t feel like you have any especially marketable skills, then you’re looking for something that’s more broadly available, like retail or whatever. Of you can find something that teaches a skill, that’s a plus.

Broadly, there’s a passion, there’s a career, and there’s a job. There’s nothing wrong with any of those, but people tend to be happiest in that order. I personally wasn’t super passionate about anything, but liked computers, got a CS degree, ended up as a software engineer at a rocket company, and now manage the software organization there. There were other things I enjoyed, but I figured programming was the most marketable, and that’s worked out for me.

What people tend to like or hate the most about where they work are the people and/or the boss, and that can be good or bad pretty much anywhere. Good to watch out for red and green flags when you’re looking.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

I should have mentioned what you just did: your passion doesn’t have to be your job.

Tangentially, as I get closer to retirement, one of the things I hear from retirees is that they planned on doing a lot more of their hobby when they retired, but found that the hobby felt more like a job when they tried to do it all day. So sometimes it’s better that you keep something you enjoy as something that you can just do when you want.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

And you’d have to ask what makes it a good police vehicle. An electric vehicle probably makes Sense, but I’m not sure there’s anything else about it that does. Certainly not the price tag.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

You might have misunderstood, but I was saying the fact that it’s an EV is the only part that makes sense for a police cruiser (assuming they have enough to rotate them out while charging it can schedule that for breaks). Nothing else about the cyber truck makes sense.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Guy looks like he’s 15.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Yeah, I get that, and I for sure am. On the other hand, I have college interns and new grads every spring, and this guy looks younger than any of them.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

I wonder if that pic was from then or from now.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

From what I’ve read, we routinely arrest people for drug charges who turn out to be longtime addicts and who have “legally” purchased guns. It happens all the damned time, there are rarely any significant repercussions, and nothing about this stands out about this case except who the guy’s father is. And I’m not saying he shouldn’t be held accountable for a crime, in just taking accepting to your “if it were anyone else” line.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

I’m just waiting for the first republican to criticize Biden for not caring about his son enough to pardon him.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Ugh, my poor wife; I’ve had a number of bad experiences because I’m so fundamentally stubborn. In the dream, I won’t be able to do something, and I’ll work and work at it, and sometimes succeed in real life. It’s been as simple and benign as not being able to see in a dream and struggling to open my eyes until I finally do, and I wake up. But I’ve managed to yell with a mouth that didn’t completely work, so my wife woke up to what sounds like a yelling, mournful ghost. I’ve managed to fight and punched my wife. I’ve managed to run, and kicked her. In all these cases, in the dream, I’ve had to really struggle to do the thing before I succeed and wake myself up.

Sleep paralysis turns out to be a good thing.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Headline seems a little sensational in that the article never says they’re using body bags (the bags we put dead bodies into) it says watertight blue immersion bags have become standard equipment. So they’re bags, and they’re made for a body, but it’s not clear that they’re the same kind of bag.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

It makes perfect sense and doesn’t disturb or surprise me, I’m just objecting to the fact that that the only place that phrase is used is in the headline. The people quoted, and even the author, don’t call them that.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Well, not so much apparently. It turns out he never had a valid driver’s license, and admitted that he knew that to the cop who pulled him over.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Update from today. He never had a valid driver’s license. My wife just played me the whole session from today. Some interesting items:

  • His suspension wasn’t lifted, not because of a clerical error, but because he didn’t pay it.
  • The suspension was irrelevant anyway because he never had a driver’s license. With the suspension, if he had gone in and taken the test to get a license, it would have immediately been suspended and he couldn’t drive, but that’s moot because he didn’t have a license.
  • When the cops pulled him over, they asked if he had a license and he said no.
  • It turns out that he has a warrant out for his arrest for a driving violation in another county, so they took him to jail.

All the crap he said about being innocent was just lies.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

All at once?

AFKBRBChocolate ,

I’m not an expert, but it’s a very complex global system with moisture in the atmosphere sometimes falling as rain/snow, collecting in rivers and lakes, going into ground water/aquifers, flowing into the oceans, and sometimes just staying as moist air. If one area isn’t getting it’s usual rainfall, quite often another area is getting more, but it can also be that the moisture is just in other parts of that complex system. A lot is driven by high- and low-pressure systems, air temperature, water temperature, etc.

In my area of southern California, we’ve had some major, extended droughts. But the rising temperature of the Pacific has caused the air to hold more moisture, and we’ve also had some “atmospheric river” storms that drop insane amounts of rain. So even though we get an average of 13 inches of rain a year, we got more than 13 inches in just February, and we’re up to almost 31 inches for the season. It wouldn’t be surprising if we didn’t get anymore until late in the year though.

Some of that rain went into snowpack, some into reservoirs, some into ground water, but we’re close to the coast and all of it will go back to the ocean. Did we get rain that would normally have gone elsewhere, or was it rain that wouldn’t normally have formed? I think it’s likely hard to say, but maybe there are meteorologists or others who know more reading this.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

It’s actually pretty interesting. Here’s a guide someone in NC did for others in their court system to understand SovCits when they come up in the system. It’s interesting reading and makes a lot of these posts make sense (well, a kind of sense).

AFKBRBChocolate ,

It’s very cool. The race was between a climate scientist and a software engineer, both women. The climate scientist was much more liberal and won by a huge margin. Really good news all around, I’m jealous.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

This is great news. Mexico has been enjoying some increasingly progressive policies that are very popular. The more progressing candidate won by a huge margin.

If only they could get the drug cartel situation sorted out, but that’s no easy deal.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

“Neoliberalism” is one of those terms that’s starting to lose meaning because different people use it to mean different things. I’m not an expert on her, but from what I’ve read, her views seem pretty vanilla progressive to me. Here’s what Wikipedia says about them:

Social issues

Sheinbaum has openly identified herself as a feminist, aligning her beliefs and actions with the principles of gender equality and women’s rights.[73] She advocates for the legalization of abortion, aligning her stance with broader movements aimed at promoting reproductive rights and autonomy for women.[74] During her leadership in Mexico City, Sheinbaum championed LGBT rights by implementing a gender-neutral policy for school uniforms.[75] In 2022, she became the first Head of Government of Mexico City to attend the city’s pride march.[76] Economy

Sheinbaum has criticized the neoliberal economic policies of past presidents of Mexico, arguing that they have contributed to inequality in the country.[77] She has promised to expand welfare under her presidency[78] and intends to continue programs started by Obrador, such as universal pension.[79] Climate

Sheinbaum has a background in environmental policy, having served as environment secretary for Mexico City and worked on the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). [80] She has both spoken in favor of clean energy and praised Mexico’s largest oil company.[72]

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Wow, where did that come from? I said I feel that word is losing meaning, not that you used it incorrectly. Instead of discussing what neoliberalism is/isn’t, I just posted a reference to her main ideals, which I thought would be more helpful. Not sure why you’re responding with claws out.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

I understand she’s the one using it, that doesn’t change the fact that, in my opinion, it’s not a good word for communication because different people been different things by it. For purposes of this discussion, I thought it would be better to avoid it. It’s like “conservative;” by itself it’s almost useless because people mean so many things by it.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

There was an unprecedented amount of rain earlier in the year, I bet there is a ton of dry fuel now. Scary.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

What area is this for? Where I am in southern California, the season normal to date would be about 13 inches, and we’re sitting at about 30. It’s been a lot more than normal. We had two or three atmospheric river storms this year.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

You make it sound like there is no way to verify stuff he says. Like he was just in an interview saying he never said “Lock her up!” - that other people chanted it but he never said it. There are lots of videos of him saying it, so it’s a verifiable lie. Of course the media should be able to call him on it.

Just because it doesn’t fit your narrative, doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Again. This happened before. Here’s a similar article from 2016 - not sure it’s the most recent example.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

There’s nothing saying he can’t pardon himself, but a president can only pardon for federal crimes.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Well, you’re right, but you’re missing the fact that Republicans work hard to make and keep these conditions, because their base is made up of the most disaffected people. They block healthcare reform, they block student debt relief, they block first time home buyer assistance - they block all the social programs that would ease these problems. Then they try to dismantle the government entities that work to help these things; did you notice how many of Trump’s appointees were vocally against the organizations he put them in charge of? Republicans want the government not to work so that they can say “See, it doesn’t work, we need smaller government,” and then they can get rid of the regulations and taxes that reduce the (already obscene) profits that corporations make.

So yes, you’re right, but it’s working as intended for the right.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

I know it won’t happen, but what would happen if Trump dropped out after formally becoming the Republican candidate?

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Okay, interesting, thank you. What a shit show that would be in either case.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Not the first time they’ve done this, but good to see the results replicated. It sure looks like genetics plays more of a part than diet.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

I think there are some downvote bots here like there was on Reddit. Not sure what the point is, but I’ve seen some communities where every post starts at negative 1, and others where every comment seems to get a downvote. Not sure what the reasoning is. I think some people just hate the idea of other people being happy.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

There was someone in a thread here once who said when he was young he had severe depression and anger issues, and said he used to do stuff like that. He said it literally was that he was so unhappy that he hated seeing other people happy. He was embarrassed about it now, but couldn’t see past it at the time.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

I never like this particular comparison because there are so many people in the world who have nothing, or nothing but debt. Is hard to tell from it how much is the wealth of the top or the poverty of the bottom. It would almost be better to compare to the next group down, or to an average or something.

Maybe a graph with one block being the richest person, and then groups of the next n richest people, however many it takes to equal the richest. And then keep doing that, so there’s more and more blocks to equal the richest. I bet it ramps up really fast.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

I completely agree. I asked what argument there was that he shouldn’t, not that he wouldn’t.

AFKBRBChocolate ,

Paraphrasing, “We choose to send Trump to prison, not because it is easy, but because it is hard.”

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