Grillax

Chill Tech

This is also true:

We end up with every problem. Developer code problems, putting together BBQ grills1, electrical issues, lighting, copiers, doors, staplers, and any complex business task no matter how little it has to do with actual systems — it all winds up in my department eventually. I’ve done a lawyer’s job, an accountant’s job, an engineer’s job, an insurance adjuster’s job, a graphic designer’s job, a developer’s job, a DBA’s job, a lecturer’s job and many many others. And no, I am not talking about making sure their computer works and that they have access to the tools they need. I mean actually doing the work they should be doing 2.

The peril of being the only team that can troubleshoot and reliably solve problems is that you end up as the dumping ground for all problems. And then are hounded ceaselessly about them even if they have nothing to do with you or your department.

It is not fun.

  1. No, I am not making this up.
  2. I absolutely refuse to do this anymore. I’d rather be fired.

IT Stings

Chill Tech

These are indeed the main problems with working in IT. It’s so oddball how everyone expects you know everything about anything that runs on electricity of any kind. I will never understand that. I don’t even assume a tax attorney knows anything about contract law. However, the hoi polloi believes that because I know how Linux works, I can troubleshoot an issue involving some obscure code they wrote in 1998 or fix a coffee machine.

It is completely mystifying.

Fears

Chill Regular-ass Post

Do men ever feel unsafe?

Of course. Men are just not allowed to talk about it as much, and men aren’t believed (or are belittled) when they say they are afraid or something bad actually happens to them.

When I got my ass kicked in middle school, that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was being made fun of for it afterwards, even by teachers, etc. There’s nothing worse as a man than being perceived as weak and an easy target. I think women have a lot of trouble understanding this.

Then I learned how to fight. The hard way.

But men seem fearless to women for these reasons:

1) Showing fear makes it so much worse for you as a man. Makes you into an insta-target for other men and even women. So we don’t.

2) We feel fear and do it anyway.

Women are allowed to express fear. Men are not. Simple as that.

Chill Links

A chief characteristic of our contemporary dating discourse is that we take it—and by extension, ourselves—much, much too seriously. Agreed. One of the reasons I said “yes” to any and every date is to see what sort of crazy shit would transpire.

We must think about the resiliency of an economy before the crisis.

A Tiny Gladiator Uncovered in England Tells of the Reach of Roman Celebrity.

It was back then, in early 2014, that Russians started with contradictory ideas. To people with left-wing ideas, they spread the idea that Ukrainians were somehow Nazis. To people with right-wing ideas, they spread the idea that Ukraine was the forefront of a gay takeover of civilization.

Why Big Oil Doesn’t Mind Big Regulation.

How Democrats Blew It on Inflation.

World’s 1.5C climate target ‘deader than a doornail’, experts say.

It hit me how absurdly dystopian life in the UK has devolved to when my significant other had to have “the talk” with me.

Florida Faces Exodus as Residents Declare Insurance Crisis Final Straw.

Trump’s attack on the enemy within will delight America’s real foes.

Stealth firing or ethical dismissal? Why employers terminate staff for minor offences.

Compulsion

Chill Political Economy

Housing is a terrible investment, by the way. Real returns of around ~2% a year. And no, the recent run-up does not change that much at all. People only perceive it as a good investment as it’s forced savings.

But I don’t need that. I save without being compelled to do so.

We only bought a house when its expected investment “returns” could be in the sharp negative and we’d still financially be ok. That’s not the only time you should buy a house. That is up to you and depends on your risk tolerance and financial status. But you won’t even beat a money market fund with housing unless you get really, really lucky.

Housing as an investment is BS in all sorts of ways.

Bad Boom

Chill Prediction, War

If Russia nuclear strikes Ukraine, would the West really follow up with nuclear counter strikes?

No, that’s not what would occur. NATO and the US would utterly destroy Russia’s military capabilities using conventional means, though. And perhaps even occupy Moscow temporarily.

However, what China would do is another matter. That I don’t have a lot of insight on but I can guarantee it would not be nothing. Most likely it would occupy significant parts of eastern Russia and Siberia, I’d guess. But that I’m less clear on.

Reconfirm

Chill Clowns, Politics

Trump didn’t win just because of white voters. He didn’t win because all the rich people voted for him, he won because the working class shifted toward him. Trump won because an incredibly diverse electorate voted for him.

Yep. Many liberals are now completely lying about this, but it’s true. I saw Heather Cox Richardson just today completely making up false data and using utterly-transparent fabrications to justify why the win was all the fault of straight white men. The reality, though, is that only a few small demographics shifted away from Trump. Every other American group went Trump-ward — including black men, Native Americans and most of all, Latinos.

The liberal deniers of this sound just as clown-ass as the election-denying MAGA types. And will be even less effective. And I say this as someone who believes that Trump 2 will bring about the most disastrous era this country has seen since the Civil War. It’s just that I prefer to deal with the world as it is — uncomfortable facts and all — rather than whip up some absolute nonsense to reinforce my worldview.

You don’t win that way. And you aren’t right, which is even more important to me personally to be completely honest.