Alabasata
10mo ago
Father here. Part of my job is to set her up for good partnerships.This requires her to be attentive, attractive, and to have a good social filter.
There will always be a fraction of people who are okay with jerking it to kids. I have no interest in adapting the Fast Bear Rule: making my daughter uglier/less available so pervs find a different girl. She will develop a filter & practice it like any other skill.
If I've done my job right, she won't have to worry about pedos. She just won't see them as legitimate options.
Alabasata
10mo ago
What's your take on Sam O'Nella or Max Miller?
Alabasata
10mo ago
I am not surprised that the author fancied themselves mischievous and fun to be around after that exchange. Certainly no longer a "failed male" as I expect many transwomen often slotted themselves as.
I know I would have found the conversation delicious, were I on the recieving end of it.
Alabasata
11mo ago
Looking for podcast recommendations on neighborhoods. So far the only ones I've found care about infrastructure & city planning (e.g. Strong Towns, Not Just Bikes). Nobody I've found wants to talk about relationships at the neighborhood level.
It makes sense that real estate podcasts won't due to steering laws. But I'm surprised that I haven't found anybody has taken up this topic yet.
Alabasata
11mo ago
I am trying to figure out what the "wrong side of European history" means. In the American sense, it usually means "bad ideas that deserved to be crushed". In the European sense, I'm thinking more "unable to exercise one's advantages", as they were largely playing from the same ideological rulebook.
(I hope I'm wrong about this, and look forward to any effortpost this inspires.)
Alabasata
11mo ago
I disagree with your definition of "woke". It might have been telephoned to that degree, but I operate from a much different vantage. In short, I see woke as "Systems of power have been designed, and they weren't made with your prosperity in mind. Don't fall in the cracks that their laws and loans and research has made. Don't be a victim of The System: stay woke."
A medical example: sodium is painted out to be a much bigger factor than it is in blood pressure studies. But the government & processed food industries stand to make money off of advertising and low-rigor studies, so re-education is low on the priority list. Staying woke means cooking from scratch and adding salt to taste.
Now if you're going to look for grift, you'll find it. There is more bullshit being written every day than you can read. If you want to find something to fight, you're going to. But why would that be good for you?
Alabasata
11mo ago
Other potential answers, since we're brainstorming.
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The talent isn't there. White male actors may be pursuing longer-term roles, not ad spots. The revenue per hour for ads may be only worthwhile if one is modeling/acting as a side gig. Career models/actors may not be interested in bit parts. There may not be room/budget for a Jim Varney these days.
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You are consuming media not meant for 'valuable white men' to consume. 18-30 men are being given mass-market brands to remember when they finally earn real disposable income. After aging out of that demographic, the rules change for which white men to pursue. If you don't have an expensive hobby, you may not be worth targeting.
Alabasata
1yr ago
I was one of the one-term-and-done enlisters, like my forefathers before me. Back in the 00s, we had similar problems with the anthrax vaccine. I think the strangest side effect of that round of shots was a new allergy to eggshells? I'm sure there were probably worse that existed, but this was what my cohort experienced. Most of the people who were most vocal to me about anthrax were also the least fit. I noticed this, got the shots, and kept my opinions to myself.
A 9/11 joiner in my circles literally walked away from retirement due to the Covid vaccine. While I do not agree with his decision, he approached it with an honor that I can respect. He also went through the anthrax bit, so I will eventually need to remind myself of his change in position.
I wish I could give more than anecdotes, but that's all I have to give.
Alabasata
1yr ago
I wasn't reading comics when Dave Sim went over the deep end during his Cerebus run. But I did see Ishida skew his views over the years. And Jon Schaffer go from "historical re-ennactment" metal to 6Jan attender. I guess if you're going to be playing with ideological tropes in your day-to-day work, you're likely to get changed by them.
I - for one - am thankful I never made a career out of being creative. Probably would have been at least as insufferable as these folk.
Alabasata
1yr ago
I bought my house in 2018 and refinanced in 2021. If I were working the same job I was then - today - I could not afford to buy the house I now occupy. Wouldn't even be close to qualifying.
My fellow line workers are in far more precarious financial situations than I am. It is not their fault. If the wage-to-property-value ratios were restored to pre-pandemic levels, I'd be inclined to agree with you. But they are not, so I cannot.
Alabasata
1yr ago
I disagree with the framing of this. Problems abound, for sure. However, the only thing you can reasonably control is your actions. Everybody has a Zone of Action and a Zone of Concern. Many - if not most - people have a Zone of Influence.
The problem you seem to be describing is that your Zone of Concern is far larger than your Zone of Action or Influence. That area is the Donut of Despair. Minimizing your Donut of Despair is a sign of mental stability, and there are three ways to keep it small.
Grill-pilling decreases your Zone of Concern. It increases your Slack, but does not exercise your agency. But what if you were able to increase your Zone of Action or Zone of Influence? If you are also not comfortable with your level of agency, this is likely to be more effective for mental stability than grill-pilling.
News Problems will exist with or without you - for now. What if your agency was large enough that you could create News Problems for other people? How would that change your perception of problems?
Alabasata
1yr ago
Back in the 1970s, they saw sitcoms presenting the Hapless Husband. They listened to "Paradise By The Dashboard Light". They read about Billie Jean King's challenge and David Bowie's trysts. This isn't terribly different from gender roles and non-conformity today. Heck, you could go back to Chaucer's Wife of Bath. How different have things really gotten since then?
I suspect you'll see more of the same. People seeking novelty will gravitate to the Gender NonConforming (GNC). People who wish they had more will fight for their side of the fence. People concerned about keeping what they have will play concern troll. Professors will abuse their authority, and schoolmarms will abuse theirs. The cycle will remain unbroken.
Round and round we'll go - until medical tech figures out stuff the smut-writers on Fictionmania.tv have been dreaming about for decades. Now that will be a fun wrinkle.
Alabasata
1yr ago
Alabasata
1yr ago
Your value judgements on manner of death don't make sense. "A strength that is greater than your own" can be interpreted in a great many number of ways.
An adult human is capable of 2 kW from time to time. It's pretty easy to buy sodium lightbulbs that are rated at 1000 Watts. By that logic, it's somehow not-shameful to die to three large grow lights - whether by burning or by a slow increase in heat or some other creative method- but not by one large grow light.
How?
Alabasata
1yr ago
Had my first workplace injury in a very long time. The short version is, I twisted my ankle hard enough to put a hairline fracture in my talus. There are a great many doors this experience opened for me.
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How much it sucks to go through workplace insurance to get medical care. There are 2 open urgent-care facilities within cycling distance. I drove past at least 10 open urgent care units to get to the first one that was in-network. It shouldn't be this hard.
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This is my first week-long vacation at home in years. I've been able to see so much more of my neighborhood. There are a lot of things I could like about it if I were around more often. This is another reminder that I need to figure out how to get into a line of work where I can stay mostly within 5 miles of home. Also a reminder that keeping connections in the neighborhood is still very, very important.
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I've been able to catch up on some house cleaning & repairs. Also created a template spreadsheet for future real estate investing.
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My employer will have me on light duty next week, which could give me the opportunity to actually make connections with the office & sales staff. Hoping to make impressions that I provide value in ways more than the trade they hired me for.
RATING: 7/10, would break my foot again.
Alabasata
1yr ago
Silly question, but have you seen anyone try to use GPT-4 to...create documentation? Maybe it'll write something that's better than what exists. (I'm not in programming, so I wouldn't know the limitations.)
Alabasata
1yr ago
I'd be curious to hear why Captain DeJearnette deserves similar disdain for having a red headstone. Unless both of them simply paid extra for a custom piece.
Alabasata
1yr ago
Friday is my last day as an 811 utility locator. There are a lot of reasons I'm leaving the job behind: contractors abusing the free service, no reasonable opportunities for additonal training or advancement, out-of-touch upper management. I am accepting a position as a engineering locator that is a double-edged sword: I'm effectvely taking a paycut because there's less overtime available.
Thankfully, my budget is at a surplus of $1500/month, so I can currently afford the hit. However, I ought to figure out how to do more valuable things...and I am just at a complete loss on a path forward.
If there is anyone else here who is construction-adjacent and can offer some advice on how to clear six figures within 5 years, I'd love to hear it.
Alabasata
1yr ago
Given Sturgeons's Law, the more art that gets made the more Great Art gets made. But you have to grow the pie & allow for all the art. Even "Photograph".
Alabasata
1yr ago
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair
It is fair to accuse someone of motivated reasoning when they are not financially independent. Coldhearted, maybe, but definitely fair.
Alabasata
1yr ago
The only thing I can say is without curriculum African American history seems too limited for a full year course unless it’s an avenue for crt and other issues.
I remember taking AP Calc 1 in high school many years ago. They also managed to take a semester-long course and stretch it out to a full year.
If teachers can pad out a math course, they can absolutely pad out a humanities course. There's a lot more material to choose from.
Alabasata
1yr ago
Electric - A new 20A circuit dedicated to the microwave, toaster oven, and possibly food prep items (e.g. mixer, food processor). Proper grounding for the existing 15A circuit feeding the overhead lighting, front porch, and ceiling fan. Moving the 50A cable to match the oven's new location. Moving other 15A outlets to match new geometry of kitchen.
Physical - Tearing up 3 layers of tile and replacing with LVP (original floor is pine & not fit to refinish). Opening up the kitchen by replacing an L-shaped wall (blocking view of the front door) with a straight wall. Building a P-shaped peninsula with oven cutout on the top of the P and an extended counter for the leg. Knocking out a window-shaped hole on the opposite side of the peninsula to make a garden window over the sink (for year-round herbs). Moving the refrigerator to a different location on the wall and building a proper 2-cabinet pantry in its place.
Finally, moving the swamp cooler from the new location of the refrigerator to the roof of the house & building ductwork to match.
I'm not gonna be done til around April/May at the rate I'm going. Which is perfect timing for the new swamp cooler to activate.
This sounds like a great time to talk about our panics when dating.
Here's a fun one for you. Have you ever been out for a drive with a woman, limp as a wet noodle, and it is only after she leaves that you get erect? This happened with one woman who I met while hawking meats at a grocery store.
Have you ever had your leg suddenly shake uncontrollably when both your pants are off? This happened with a woman that I used to know back in my freshman year of high school, that I reconnected with in my early 20s.
Have you ever accidentally eaten so much at a date, all your blood rushes up into your stomach - leaving you unable to escalate the rapport? This happened after meeting a woman on a flight home from a job interview.
Guys, I have fucked up so much due to anxiety and inability to predict my own biology. It's kind of a wonder I managed to have kids at all.
If you're failing, at least it means you're trying.
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