ArtieShaw

ArtieShaw , 3 months ago

Under cabinet manual jar opener. It's flat and mounts under your cabinet of choice. Easy to use, but also easy to forget it's there! I sometime find myself jar in hand and half-way to wherever my husband is before I remember that I no longer need his skills.

Electric candle lighter. Rechargeable lighter with long neck. Eliminates the need for matches or standard lighters. The noise it makes does scare one of the cats, though. I haven't tried it on campfires yet, but I think that was something the ad said it could do.

ArtieShaw , 3 months ago

Far as I know it's just the one song by Vincent E.L. And it's, uh, not serious. But kinda fun.

Fuck the fire department
Dropping by unannounced just to fry your apartment
If they can't find a fire they’re like "Why don't we start them?"
I'm tired of arson
Fuck the fire department

I cry out in bargaining, eyes to the garden
Begging release from the fire department
I might get a pardon if I do what they ask of me
Act passively
And don't do anything drastically

Clap at their pageantry, bow and scrape
Say it's sour grapes from people out of shape
You're here for our sake
And we're grateful for all you do
You're still gonna burn my house down, aren't you?

I'm out of house, home, and every single possession
Out of the frying pan and into depression
Escaped physical aggression
Into fiscal oppression
Still don't know what they meant by
"Let this be a lesson!"

We're living in an infernocracy
Things are not how we
Think they ought to be
It's a mockery but I ain't laughing
My world's on fire and I'm dying gasping

ArtieShaw , 3 months ago

ES&G (Environmental, Social, & Governance) policies are starting to become a common thing. They seem to have started at large corporations and they, in turn, drive their smaller partners to adopt similar policies. They want to present a face of sustainable and accountable practices, free from corruption, blah blah blah.

I work for a medium to small company and it has become part of my job to ask awkward questions of our vendors. Our corporate customers are pressing us on our practices, and we press our vendors as part of a "sustainable and ethical supply chain". Not all companies are well prepared to answer these questions, but some are. In general, the US lags behind Asia and Europe when it comes to this. At least in my industry. So that's a big caveat.

How do we know they're not lying? One tool is that independent third party auditors can assess a company and gauge its strengths and weaknesses. (Ecovadis is a name I've seen many times during these discussions, but there are others.) These auditors live or die by their reputations, so they have an interest in staying honest.

In the case of these nitrogen vendors (one of which is used by my employer), this is an easy ES&G win. The amount of nitrogen sold to executioners is vanishingly small, whereas we buy it by the tanker. It's definitely on the short list of awkward questions I would ask them.

The term 'greenwashing' will come up. And trust me, because I'm a cynical bitch with a hair-trigger bullshit meter, I've used it myself. But I'm cautiously optimistic that questions like this can move companies in a better direction. Part of that has to do with the look of confusion and horror when I visit vendors in deep red states and start asking questions about labor, safety, and the environmental impact of their operations. They don't want to do waste or emissions remediation, but they also don't want to lose our business. (I'm honestly enjoying this new direction my work is taking.)

ArtieShaw , 3 months ago

For me, it was an accident. I had a degree in a hard science, but realized that academia would drive me mad. My first job was in a relatively small industry and I just kept on with it until I knew the requirements to making a safe and quality product.

The fear of being fired exists, but you have to know when and where to ask those questions. I ask our vendors whether their employees have a right to form a union if they want one, for example. I also know that our plant managers are deeply opposed to our own employees having that option.

Eventually that question is going to come up. It'll probably come from a consultant that we hire to evaluate us. It won't be me unless there's a situation where it would be awkward not to ask about it. For example, if an HR rep is dumb enough to tell us we're perfectly free in that regard, I'd be sorely tempted to ask when that policy changed.

ArtieShaw , 3 months ago

Chicago suburbs. It's sort of an interconnected area, so this takes place over two adjoining towns.

There was a very public and stupid feud that took place between two middle aged men. Some of it played out in real life and some was documented on that now defunct website, Topix. One of them had been close friends with the the police officer who was convicted of killing at least one wife. I think he was also a cop. In any case, he was very vocal in defending Drew and anything the other guy said about the murder trial really seemed to get his goat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drew_Peterson

The other guy claimed to be connected with the Chicago outfit. Or the cop claimed he was. I don't remember.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Outfit

Basically, it was two vaguely mobbed up guys in their 50s engaging in a very public and embarrassing battle of fists and wits in an otherwise unassuming suburb. They would trade insults on Topix, get into slap fights with each other at the local supermarket, and generally just behave like leaded gasoline sniffing idiots. Neither could just walk away from it. Both used their real full names.

ArtieShaw , 3 months ago

Good guess. The golf course isn't doing any irrigation in February.

ArtieShaw , 3 months ago

He was truly a Superb Owl.

@superbowl

ArtieShaw , 3 months ago

$70k USD - 3 bed, 2.5 bath, 1400sq ft., 0.3 acre lot, two stories and a detached garage. The interior needs plenty of non-cosmetic work (e.g. - new flooring)

$75k USD - 2 bed, 1 bath, 800sq ft., 0.15 acre lot; newly redone floors, electric and paint.

After that, there's about 10 more in the 125-150K range.

ArtieShaw , 3 months ago

When mine wants to cuddle, she has learned to place her paws gently against my skin.

Any movement means claws come out.

It's very effective.

ArtieShaw , 3 months ago

It's time to pay the price.

ArtieShaw , 3 months ago

I watched the Gormenghast miniseries on the Space Channel many many years ago and eventually read the books. They were interesting. Not something I'd want to revisit, but definitely weird.

ArtieShaw , 3 months ago

In the US I'd count action by the national guard. We had one of those in 1970, but the kids didn't put up much of a resistance so it wasn't a prolonged battle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings

There may be others, but this springs to mind.

ArtieShaw , 3 months ago

I fly a lot for work and I also do a fair bit of failure point and risk analysis as part of my job, so this is interesting to me in a couple of ways. Airports and airlines honestly do a decent job of checking that the people on the plane are the ones who are supposed to be there. A failure like this is reasonably unusual.

• she got through physical security (baggage and carry-on checks)
• to accomplish that, all she had to do was dodge the ID and boarding pass check.

That seems pretty feasible. If she was dressed vaguely like an employee it might have helped, but that's just speculation. We've all seen the gorilla walk through the ball game - after we were told to look for him - so it's not strictly necessary.

I have a harder time understanding how she could have boarded through the passenger line where they scan the passes.

I also have a slightly harder time understanding how she could have found a plane with open seats. I can view a seat map 12 hours ahead of boarding and see a plane with 10 open seats. When it comes time to board they're completely full. But - part of this is because the airline shuttles regional pilots to their main hub via any available seat and they do it at the last minute. And here's my further speculation: a flight from Nashville to LA is a long haul so this shuttling probably wouldn't come into play. If she checked seat availability in advance, it probably would have been accurate and she could probably help herself to a seat that appeared open.

The final hurdle seems to be the one that caught her. The article doesn't say exactly, but it says that authorities were waiting on the ground. Stewards have a flight manifest that lists every passenger by name and by seat. On rare occasions I've seen them checking the manifest as passengers board - for example, on overbooked flights where they've sold steward seats for take off and landing to passengers and they expect stewards to squat in the aisle. I've also heard anecdotally that if you're acting like a weirdo they'll look up who you are.

tldr: I could (and do!) give zero fucks about who won Sunday's sports match, but can conceive of why it might be news, of of interest, to some people.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

I like some of the names from Puritan New England.

Cutting Moody

Tristram Coffin

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

I like some of the names from Puritan New England.

Cutting Moody

Tristram Coffin

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

What made the difference for me was buying a really nice reusable bag. There's a brand called Flip and Tumble. They'll hold an absurd amount of stuff (something like 35lbs, if I remember correctly) and fold down into something smaller than a tennis ball. I keep two in the bottom of my purse and never need a bag. They are expensive (about $18 US), but I've had mine for almost 15 years.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

This happened during street festivities for lunar new year, so a lot of people are connecting the dots. They don't mention that the car was aggressively trying to drive through a crowd, but it seems like it was trying to make its way through a crowd.

https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/why-did-a-san-francisco-crowd-light-waymos-driverless-vehicle-on-fire/

Multiple witnesses said Waymo’s navigation technology became confused by festivities and fireworks that were lit to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Witness Anirudh Koul said the driverless car “got stuck immediately in front.”

Another witness said the car’s presence in the middle of Chinatown’s celebrations triggered frustrations in the crowd. “You could feel the frustration when people were just trying to celebrate,” she told KRON4.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

My cat(s) would never forgive me.

OK - I'm lying. They wouldn't care but my husband would be super offended on their behalf.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

Thanks for digging into this a little further. It seems like small town news stories that get national attention don't always paint a full picture, particularly when there's an obvious moral high ground and an obvious victim or villain. I had several questions, because the story wasn't adding up.

What sort of monster would object to sheltering homeless in a cold snap? The entire city government, including the fire department?

There's an established shelter next door. Why did no one object to that? <thanks for answering this one, btw>

Since when did small towns in northwest Ohio start persecuting churches for no apparent reason? (for anyone out of the US, this population tends to be deep red GOP, very devout churchgoers, etc.)

This isn't the first time there has been a cold spell. It happens at least once a year in January or February. Do the homeless in this tiny town just freeze to death every year?

There's clearly a lot more to the story, but with national coverage like this I'd guess they were able to take in enough donations to cover basic repairs to the property.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

I've been through it many times and expect to see many more. Both as the subject of an acquisition and as an acquiree. You just have to wait and see. If they're not immediately closing you down, there will be a transition period. Months to a year or more. That's where you need to be looking for a new job if that seems like a remotely feasible option.

With regard to your personal decision, do not trust what you're being told. The company wants a smooth transition and that means that the company wants to be the one making the decisions about who is working for them. They can and will lie.

The exception to this is if they ask you to stay on while they close out operations at your site. In that case they've already lowered the hammer, you're on borrowed time anyway, and it doesn't matter to them.

(Also - if you're given this option, consider it carefully before accepting. The folks I know who have done this have described it as a depressing and completely unpleasant experience. They all claimed they wouldn't do it again. If you choose to do so, ask for more money to compensate for the therapy you'll need afterwards. Be bold with your offer because it's a job that very few want to do.)

---

Generally speaking, the first thing that should happen is that the new company will harmonize efficiencies. This means cutting redundant departments, projects, or products. Expect to see a lot of strangers on site who are evaluating this. Non-specialized departments like finance, HR, legal, and support IT will be merged and streamlined. And do not expect that the highest performing department will survive. It's often the cheapest one who does. If the team in Kentucky can do a good enough job, it makes no sense for them to retain a higher paid workforce in DC. I've seen that sort of thing happen. (It's also sometimes a selling point for the company being bought. 🤮)

After that, it just depends on 1) why they bought you and 2) what they thought they were buying. If they find out that part of the acquired company isn't something they want but is valuable enough to re-sell rather than shut down, you may be in for a head-spinning transition between several buyers.

Overall -

The experience is a big shake-up, but I've gone through eight or so unscathed as a mid level employee. It all depends on lots of things outside of your control. It will help if you can accept that these things are beyond your control or beyond your ability to foresee. I can also assure you that there's a good probability that the people in charge won't be making good or sensible decisions.

Expect to see many of your co-workers jump ship, but that's not always a bad thing. Sometimes it's the kick in the ass that people need to make a change. That's often a very good thing.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

Oh - these were the three friends found dead after being missing two days. And the homeowner didn't know that they were in his backyard.

It was strange for sure, particularly as there was no obvious cause of death when they were found. I mean, if three people show up dead together in a backyard, that's going to make the news.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

Same, but I'd probably go with Bree. I'm a bit tall for the Shire. Also, Bree seems a little more lively and they have a thing called 'pints.'

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

I have casually considered attending a UU church near us. They seem very chill based on their website.

I would have to overcome my dislike of meeting new people and being awake and fully clothed before 11:00am on a Sunday. Those are the main challenges for me, personally.

I'm hoping to attend some public events at the a local nature preserve as a way of easing into social events with strangers. They have programs on bird watching, mushroom cultivation, etc... A year's membership cost $40 and it comes with free parking and free access to their programs. They're also part of a larger network of nature parks, so benefits include free admission to any of those.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

On the other hand, it's a really bad idea to be locked into a single source for your raw materials. It sounds like Tran was trying to mitigate that risk in a fairly reasonable way. If he can buy and sell from other farmers, there's a buffer if the OG farm can't deliver. And he could also continue to use the OG farm as primary supplier, while selling off excess chilis to other producers.

All of this is why supply contracts and backup supply chain plans exist. Risk mitigation is normal. Like they said near the end of the article, businesses sometimes need to have an adult in the room.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

Oddly enough, there's an established homeless shelter right next door to this church. Based on their sign and name, they're also faith based. Were they full? Did they turn some people away for reasons of their own?

I'm just very curious to hear more.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

They would need at least 30 kilometrics of unobtanium and completely bypass the impact of the global flange shaft shortage. Possible if they source solely from Malaysia, but 9 months minimum.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

If it came down to figuring out the three dodecahedrons or using the communal sponge on a stick, I'd take the risk with the dodecahedrons.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

Perfection.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

No, they don't cause damage on their own. Birds get a windfall of big nutritious bugs. Humans might be a little creeped out.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

Why would a Milwaukee county DA be enforcing zoning laws in Bryan, Ohio?

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

Do you have an unusual or oddly spelled surname?

I do. It's by marriage, and coworkers sometimes awkwardly ask about it. It won't be the first question they ask - because that would be weird, but it often comes up if it sort of fits the conversation.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

There was a televised special about this guy, and it's wild from start to finish. He comes across as a weird mix of clever and dumb, charming and disgusting. Mostly the latter and the latter, but I have the benefit of knowing about him beforehand. His victims didn't.

If I remember correctly, it was his absurdist need to fake (and publicize!) his own death that led people in the US to him. He literally reached out to multiple news orgs in his home state to say that he was 100% dead, even though no one had asked. I guess the moral is that if you're going to dangle something that weird in front of reporters, expect them to follow up.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

So, it varies by state because everything is a certain degree of a shit-show here. In my state, you show up at the primary election site and you ask for one of two ballots. That's enough to "register" you as a Dem or Rep. It's pretty meaningless.

I know of one coworker who voted for Trump in the 2015 primary to "take down the Republican party from the inside." Great strategy, Steve. I'm guessing that some similar idiocy is what's being talked about here.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

Somewhere I have a notebook with scene-by-scene notes on Mulholland Drive. Time loops, alternate universes, fever dream sequences that may be real, throwbacks, lookalikes, detours into madness and fear, all that. Multiple viewings. Full Deep River Ontario shit. (We actually IRL visited that creepy diner in CA. That experience is not recommended. The breakfast is OK. The turkey sandwich is 1000 times not OK.)

For me, every theory regarding the "WTF is happening" aspect falls apart when the old couple from the taxi come creeping out of the blue metallic lock box. Like, everything sort of hangs together with some fuzzy dream logic for me, but then falls apart in the true gossamer of dream fashion. There's sometimes a buggy, I guess.

Top 10 of favorite movies.

ArtieShaw , 4 months ago

That was an interesting listen. And sad. I can't imagine the situation has improved.

Wikipedia mentions that they've flipped diplomatic ties with China and Taiwan a couple of times in the past 20 years. Honestly, that seem like a cheap price to pay for some investment.

Oh, but like the radio piece said, "You've never heard of it, but once you do it seems to be everywhere." My grandfather and a couple of his brothers visited (and unsuccessfully tried to stay) in the 1930s. He always described it as a paradise. That was, of course, a long time ago and before the mass destruction. I also wonder if assume I have some unknown Nauruan cousins.

ArtieShaw OP , 5 months ago

No. I've got a couple in the oven right now because the weather is cold. In warmer times I've been using an air fryer.

ArtieShaw OP , 5 months ago

Interesting! That's kind of what I was thinking as a realistic outcome.

ArtieShaw OP , 4 months ago

Now that's the exciting outcome from my worst fears.

ArtieShaw OP , 4 months ago

I would fear an eggplant more than a potato. Higher moisture and tougher skin. Not going to take any chances.

ArtieShaw OP , 4 months ago

Same here! Last night I was stabbing a couple out of habit and felt like the question needed to be asked.

ArtieShaw OP , 4 months ago

That's the sort of horror story that's going to keep me stabbing my potatoes.

ArtieShaw , 5 months ago

Thank you.

I don't have the patience or tact to offer thoughtful and gentle explanations (as you did) when it's "pointed out" that many people from the region could be considered Semitic.

It's very much the sort of argument my clever nephew might make. He's a smart kid, but he hasn't gotten to the point where he can understand that a clever fact is not necessarily in any way relevant to a complex problem. And certainly not a devastating argument that can simply stop everyone in their mad mutual desire for destruction.

"Well, shit. We were all Semites the whole time????"

In any case, thanks.

ArtieShaw , 5 months ago

Off the top of my head:

• That little triangle embossed on your plastic container says it has been / can be recycled.
  https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled
  https://www.earthday.org/plastic-recycling-is-a-lie/

-Anything involving babies and incubators is immediately suspect. (Or babies and bayonets, for that matter).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayirah_testimony

-And this one is pure conspiracy, and I know it's not what you asked for... but it's ridiculous and 'tis the season. My mother in law is convinced that the lyrics to "Oh Christmas Tree" (O Tannenbaum) were changed by people who wanted to erase the true and original lyrics. By who? Big Tree financiers? Communists who are stealing Christmas and replacing it with trees?

Anyway...

The original lyrics, according to this conspiracy, praise God and never mention trees at all. It's completely ridiculous and always ends with the whole family singing along with the "true lyrics" from a badly photocopied paper that she hands out. I hope this doesn't come up again this year because it really makes me want to fight. Which would make me the bad person, because who initiates fights on Christmas? The next couple of days are going to be tough.

ArtieShaw , 5 months ago

Sorry for the late response - I just got back from travelling to meet that side of the family. But unfortunately, I don't remember the lyrics. She introduced it a long time ago and she stopped being MC of Christmas a few years back. We didn't get to enjoy it this year.

I just made this up on the spot, but it was in this spirit

Oh God above, sweet lord of mine
How much you love your children.
Oh God above, sweet lord of mine
How much you love your children.

You sacrificed, your one true son
to save us earthbound sinners here...

--and so on --

Rejoice, repent! We praise your name...

ArtieShaw , 5 months ago

I liked him in News Radio, but I would also have said the same about Andy Dick. Come to think of it, both of them played idiot savant characters so maybe it was just the genius casting in that show.

He was also perfectly cast in Fear Factor. It was like something he was born to do.

ArtieShaw , 5 months ago

It's funny how small towns offer a sense of security, even if it isn't really warranted.

We moved to a small town about 15 years ago. It was right after a fairly brutal murder of a local teen. And it was just a few years after the murder of a local man by his roommate. That one didn't get as much coverage, but he murdered him with an ashtray in a fit of anger. Locals were still happy to tell us that no one locks their doors.

Since then, we've had two double murders, a SWAT situation where four neighboring police forces came to town to help local police kill the guy barricaded inside his home, and a sad story of a young man who went missing in December and was found murdered the next spring. There was also the time a local man randomly attacked two out-of-town women with a baseball bat and was stabbed with a screwdriver by a neighbor. And I feel like I'm forgetting one more.

Even after all of that, police had to call everyone in town and tell them to lock their damn doors after a rash of burglaries. The thieves were just walking around trying doors at random and being very successful.

Granted - my town is unlike the one in the article because it seems like the attacks in Nebraska were both random. That would be unnerving. What I do find funny (in the WTF sense) is that every time my town has another murder, double murder, or riot, the people seem to forget all the ones that came before. For a town of 3000 people our per capita murder rate must be pretty high, but everyone feels totally safe.

ArtieShaw , 5 months ago

No - they've already got pants. Nice and sturdy ones. Bit jealous.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/qarlinngua-nunavut-arctic-bay-hidden-sea-arch-1.4515601