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dirtyoatmeall · 3 years

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Burnout (Pro!Bakugo x Vet!Reader)

A/N: another sefl indulgent fic, I;ve been having a hard time at work and felt really burnt out today so I wrote this to mke me feel better, not sure how it turned out. I hope you like this.

Pairing: Bakugo x reader- married, female pronouns used for reader I believe.

Word count:~1.5k

Warnings: Cursing

You sigh as you glance at the clock, it was close to 8pm, almost 2 hours since the clinic closed. You reviewed your chart again, trying to remember if there was anything else you noted during the exam. You released the chart and moved the follow up task to the assistants. You took note of how many charts you had left, and switched to look at your tasks. You had been trying to keep up with them, but an emergency had come in and you ended up working through your lunch, a time you usually used to call owners back between bites of your food. You turned to look at your coworker, the closing assistant who instead of leaving when they finished closing, had instead elected to sit in the other office chair, scrolling through her phone.

“Y’know you don’t have to stay, I’m probably gonna be here awhile.” You tried not to sound so exhausted when you spoke, but it was obvious from the look on your face. She just smiled and shook her head, “You know I don’t have anything to do, and this isn’t the best area, I don’t like leaving you by yourself here.” You smiled and nodded once, turning back to your charts, occasionally making small talk about the appointments through-out the day.

It was a tough day. You were the only doctor working, you knew you were going to be short-staffed looking at the schedule but someone ended up calling out, so everyone was always running around, not having a moment of rest. It seemed like the phones were always ringing and every owner had about 50 million questions. Your spay ran long, and you just couldn’t seem to catch your breath. You preformed 3 euthanasia as well. You had cried in the bathroom after each one, as well as after a client yelled at you for 10 minutes on the phone, over prices you didn’t set and circumstances you didn’t have control over. You still tried to maintain the fun atmosphere in the back, trying to keep morale up, you couldn’t tell if it worked.

After another 45 minutes, you closed out your desktop, packing up your bag as your coworker does the same. The two of you leave together and you exchange farewells as you get in your car. You gripped the steering wheel, as you sat in the dark and leaned forward so your forehead rested against the top of the steering wheel. You cried for another 15 minutes before sitting up and taking a deep breath, wiping the tears from your cheeks. You turn on your car and put on some music before pulling out of the clinic parking lot.

It took you only about 20 minutes to get home, checking yourself in the mirror before getting out of the car, making sure you didn’t look like an absolute mess. You had completely forgotten to text your husband you would be late, it wasn’t the first time you had, and most likely wouldn’t be the last. Your shoulders sag as you approach the door, all you wanted was to curl up with your husband and sleep for the next 50 years. You open the door quietly, incase Katsuki was already asleep, and toed off your shoes, dropping your bag unceremoniously on the couch on the way to the kitchen.

You had thought Katuski had just left the light on for you, but you were surprised to find your husband sitting at the dining table, scrolling through his phone, looking up when you enter. “Oh,” you say, pausing in the doorway before walking up to him, “I thought you’d be asleep by now.” He simply stood up to meet you, wrapping his arms your waist and leaning down to place a quick kiss on your lips. You wrap your arms around his neck and pretty much collapse against him, resting your face in the crook of his neck, enjoying the warmth your husband provides. “What kind of asshole doesn’t wait up for his wife?” He says gruffly, actions betraying his tone as he softly rubs your back. “Hard day?” He asks quietly, like he already knows the answer. You nod against his neck and softly curse as you feel hot tears well up. You had thought you had cried everything out earlier, but apparently not.

Katsuki stiffens for half a second, not expecting waterworks as he gently cups the side of your face, bringing you to look at him. You take in his features, the hard lines of his nose, the various scars and freckles that adorn his face, and his crimson eyes, that soften whenever they meet yours, which now held worry in them. This wasn’t the first time you had cried after work, but it usually was out of frustration after going over complicated cases, nothing this bad this unprompted had happened before. You hiccup through the sobs, closing your eyes briefly as he wipes at your tears. His other hand came to cup your other cheek, and your hands grip his wrists loosely. “What happened?” He says gently, before kissing your forehead and leading you toward the bedroom.

You mull over the day, sniffling as you changed from your scrubs into a pair of sleep shorts and one of Katsuki’s shirts. While you changed and began recounting the day, your husband was getting the bed ready, climbing in and opening his arms to you as you clambered after him, curling into his side, sobs growing heavier as you went over the argument you had. “I-I can’t even count how many times I was told I don’t know what I’m doing, that I’m bad at my job, and-“ You grip his shirt tightly in your fist as you take a deep breath. Katsuki didn’t say a word, and you looked up to meet his eyes through your tears. “And what if- what if they’re right?” You lip wobbles as you look away from him for a second before meeting is eyes again, slightly worried at his response. His forehead furrows for a moment as he thinks of what to say.

“Fuck them.” He says simply, and you blink once before snorting and resting your head on his chest. “I’m serious, you went to school for 8 fucking years, working your ass off for this degree just for some extra to tell you that you don’t know what you’re talking about because he didn’t want to fucking pay for it? Nah, that’s not gonna fly. Did you tell your hospital manager?” He questioned and you nodded. “Yeah, one of the girls told her about it while I was crying in the bathroom.” He sighs at your admission, “You cried at work?” You laughed bitterly as you thought of just how much you’ve cried today. “Yeah this is like the 5th time today.” He held you a bit tighter, kissing the crown of your head. “ You need to take a break. You’ve been working non-stop while what’s-her-face is on maternity leave. You’re getting burnt out. I hate watching you destroy yourself like this. You keep giving and giving, soon enough there’s not going to be anymore of you to give.”

You nod at his words, you know they’re true, you’ve been working 10 hour shifts, many of them without a lunch break, way too often lately. You know the statistics, you had mandatory mental health classes in grad school to help you develop coping mechanism and ways to prevent burnout, but it never quite translated properly into the workforce. They always stressed time off, but doctor schedules were made months in advance, and it’s hard to know exactly when you’re going to be feeling this way. “I’ve got a week off coming up soon, if you can get it off too maybe we can go somewhere.” You husband smiles into your hair, squeezing your hip. “I’m one of the top heroes, of course I can get it off. We can go to that seaside town you love so fucking much, maybe we can finally fuck on the beach this time.” You snort, rolling your eyes at his words.

You shift, sitting up slightly, face to face with Katsuki, who had one of his signature smirks on his face. You smile and kiss him gently, cupping his cheek before pulling away. “ I am so lucky to have you Katsuki. I love you so much.” He pulls you back for another kiss before tugging you back down to his side, getting ready to finally commit to sleep. “Of course you are, I’m a fucking catch.” You laugh again and pinch his hip and you settle into him. He retaliates by pinching your ass, kissing your hair as he exhales, listening to you soft breaths. “I love you too, brat.”

#My writing #my hero academia #my hero academy #my hero academia x reader #my hero academia imagine #bakugo #bakugou #bakugou katsuki #bakugou x reader #bakugou x y/n #bnha bakugo katsuki #bakugo kastuki x reader #mha #boku no hero #boku no hero academia #bakugou katuski x reader

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screamingsilence · 3 years

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Ramblings of a Very Lonely Nobody

Cliffsnots - Single Mom battling C-PTSD while taking care of her Mom and 3 kids desperately wanting to buy a home for family, yet crippled by student loan debt that allowed her to get a decent job after horrific divorce from extremely abusive husband who took everything including her ability to cope, form attachment, and relationships with other people - resulting in her continued detachment and self isolation. ((#ouch I wrote this part at the end - after the below - very accurate and well worded but sucks to read.))

I'm used to this. Desperately used to this. Quiet, silence, ringing in my ears. Obviously that was from way too many concerts. Don't get too excited though, I went to those alone. Or with a concert buddy that I met offline. I did this to myself. Years of terrible coping skills followed by years of disconnect and disassociation - have lead to fight or flight skills that should be taught in military combat schools. I could definitely teach young women every person Red Flags of relationships and the do's and dont's. I can also help anyone draft up an excellent escape plan if needed? What I cannot do is form attachments / relationships / connections - to anyone. I cannot develop safe spaces and spiritually healthy interpersonal connections with anyone.

From the inside looking out: everyone is a danger. Every word out of anyone's mouth is a way to hurt, manipulate, gaslight, damage, get the upper foot, belittle, betray, and/or save information to use against me and black mail me. -- Am I a bad person? Nope. Do I do things that are blackmail worthy? Nope.

I go to work, come home, play with my kids, help them with school work, attempt not to throw the 13 year old off a cliff (damn teenage years), cuddle the 11 year old (she's going through a stage where she is afraid of her own shadow - poor thing) and listen to the 8 year old talk, and talk, and talk -- (and talk - and talk - Autism, w/adhd and a day of online school = a lot of talking when I get home).Years of moving around as a child - Military Brat, followed by years of being cheated on, and then an extremely abusive marriage, and a drawn out divorce, and being forced to cooperant with my abuser ... I created a bubble. The bubble was to protect the kids and me. It worked - really well. I tried so hard to do everything to keep us safe. And in return, they have thrived, and I have not.

Aside from my work - which struggles on the social / popularity side. And lets face it - when you are a women in the workforce - you have to have the popular vote to get anywhere. Not just looks, but the popular vote. It really doesn't matter how well you work, how good your work ethic is, you must look good and be really sociable. So that part is a real struggle for me.

So, here I am. 1245 AM, lonely. About to be 33, absolutely NO friends. (Not even exaggerating anymore). I am a divorced, single woman with 3 children. I support my unwell mother, in one of the most expensive cities and once my savings run out out (hopefully I can stretch it another few months) we are looking at homelessness. But because I technically make "too much money" ((still less than 40k)) I don't qualify for anything. The degree of abuse and torture I have endured in my life puts me in a place were any sort of relationship for the sake of the kids / for the sake of owning a home / or a better rental or anything is out of the question. Every time I try to date - I panic. I can feel the strangulation all over again. I had EMDR - It really helped. I was able to function again. I was able to work and take care of my children again. I was able to recall the memory and not full on black out from the panic.

But, I am no closer now than I was back then to being able to be with anyone. And this is 10 years later. But sometimes I do wonder - If i could just suck it up - If i could just gather the courage and strength - or maybe there was a different medication I could be on - I could meet someone and make it to the point where we could be sort of happy and get a home? The kids --- I want to give them so much better than I had. After the divorce I knew I needed to do something to make sure they had a good life. I enrolled in college. But I was so young and didn't have any real role models. I was taken for the fool that I was. As I write this I am 89k in student loan debt. It really wont matter how much money I make. I wont ever be able to pay that back. Each year I do the repayment options and each year the gov't tells me I don't make enough money to pay them back. So they put me in the Income repayment bracket and I pay $0. Rumor has it, If I don't default on that for 30 years - My Loans will go away. So In 30 years I can buy a home. That hurts. So Much.

Make better choices, do better, stupid people get what they deserve, you chose this path, its what you wanted, you get what you deserve. I worked so hard when I was younger. I was so smart. I tried so hard to be everything. I had plans, I had it all mapped out.

When we were younger - I was asked to stop college to help my brother who had been accepted to an amazing University that my parents were having a hard time paying for. I had chosen to go to a local community college and was paying my way and was going to do the transfer program and that transfer program could have been full ride depending on my grades and grants etc. I quit school. I started working. So my parents could send that money to my brothers school. I had dropped out of highschool, gotten my GED and enrolled into college by 17. ((Military brat - credits didn't transfer and the new highschool was trying to consider me a freshmen. I was in college from 17-18. I was not having any of it).

By 18 I was working full time to help keep my brother in College. By 19 I was pregnant. by 20 I was pregnant with #2. By 21 I was married. My life spiraled so fast out of control. It took me years to get the logistics of it back on track. By 26 I had 2 college degrees. A good job field. By 28 I realized Something maybe was broken inside of me. By 29 it was more and more apparent but I was becoming really engaged in my kids and my work life. 30-31 I started to focus on my body and my work and my kids. Enter 32 // Covid / Work / Kids / less physical health. Here we are - 33 right around the corner. Crippling Student Loan debt. Zero Friends. 4 Humans Depending on me. I have a pill case. One of those AM/PM ones. People at work report me for RBF. (That one makes me laugh a little).

I just bared my soul to strangers on Tumblr. Is this not the epitome of lonely?

(Not suicidal)This is probably more cathartic than anything. Maybe?

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tangerinegod · 4 years

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Hello! I am sorry to bother you but I am a senior getting ready for college this year. I am in the US and I wanted to major in the same thing you did, do you have any possible tips for me? I still haven't even looked for colleges that would be best for animation majors so I figured if you were up to giving out any tips/saying any basic ideas if you wanted to/if you had the time to then maybe I'll have a better idea! I apologise for if I sound weird! I'm tried to word it correctly but I can't 😿

hi!! i’m totally down to share my experiences! someone else also had some questions so i’m going to put them all together in this post haha, hopefully this helps! it’ll get pretty long so apologies ahead of time but art school is a lot to think about so i wanna be as helpful as i can around it, its a lot of time and money. I’m gonna put it all under a read more cus it is really really long!

i wanna start off with the fact that I had the privilege of attending school in a financially stable environment, my parents were/are really supportive so w merit scholarship i only came out with around 20-30k in debt and i also had housing support my entire time in school. they were ok with me focusing on academics so i didn’t hold a retail job unless i was out of school like summer/winter break. Ofc though i regularly take commissions/do merch/cons to try and pay for all bills that arent rent cus i did want to be financially independent where it was possible. I also did try and work during the semester but everytime i did my body would deff start to breakdown from the fact that i didnt wanna compromise schoolwork with jobs.. so just read ahead know this experience is from a student who was able to attend focusing only on school work for most of the time!

the biggest thing is knowing art school is not required to become a professional in either freelancing or industry! there are a huuuge amount of online tools and classes these days that provide the exact same education and for cheaper too. i think it depends on what experience you prefer/can handle/want but it’s definitely possible to make art/animation art your living without higher education. the thing that college will for sure give you though is the ability to meet deadlines, work even when you dont want to, and connections with peers+teachers. i think the connections part is invaluable because you’re basically coming out with a network of people you already know and who know you!

also its good to know if you want to attend/can handle art school! it’s a lot of time and energy and students get burned out really fast. the best piece of advice i got before going was ‘if you draw every single day, even if its for only like 5-10 minutes or a doodle for a whole year you should be fine’ consistency is super key because you’re attending school to draw, and you’ll have to create work for stuff you aren’t excited for at some point or another. burnout is extremely real and the only reason i didn’t experience it was probably because i got super into drawing naruto fanart again inbetween sophomore and junior year! it helped give me something to draw seperated from school which is the only thing i was drawing for since i had entered rip. a heads up id also consider myself a workaholic so i fit in ok with the ‘art school’ environment but it is suuper unhealthy. if you are fantastic at managing your schedule then it’s definitely possible to take care of yourself! freshman year i got 8 hours a sleep a night and only pulled all nighters for some second semester finals at the end. sophomore year + up though i ended up prioritizing hw over sleep and like for sure, definitely shortened my life span. there’s another q down below where i’ll go more into detail but ya, be careful w ur work balance!

another tip especially for animation is knowing for a fact what type of animation you’re looking to go into, and what the school is offering. I didn’t think i’d get into art school at the time so i only applied to two places + decided if i didnt get into either id attend community to get credits out of the way while building portfolio. honestly? i did not do a lot of research LOL but like i did end up having the chance to tour and stuff! just know that each school will have a very different curriculum. The main differences are schools that prioritize 3D (cg animation, cg modeling, ect) and 2D/traditional (hand drawn, ‘oldschool’, digital or traditional based) this is a huge difference so make sure you do research for it! in most cases a 2D/traditional program will also offer 3D since it’s at the forefront of the industry animation wise rn. My school taught 2D but like hand drawn on physical paper 2D, frame by frame. while it was a good experience it’s super outdated because digital tools make it way faster + easier! i’d recommend looking for a program that is digital 2D over traditional 2D.

if after your senior year covid is still affecting campuses in the US to keep them shut down i’d recommend attending a community college to get credits and then transferring into school. one of the negatives is paying money for gened classes when ur not there for them; if you can get them out of the way sooner and cheaper there is absolutely no negative + you could graduate earlier or use the extra time for better work or to work a job!

these are all the general tips i think i’d give on like a broad basis of attending or not to think about? let me know if u have more q’s! someone asked q’s im answering below that go more into personal experiences + work culture so heres those:

- how many hours a week do u spend studying, in class, otherwise making art? like how much of ur life does it consume?

I was basically working on art.... 24/7! since i wasnt working a job at the same time i crammed as many credits as possible into my schedule so on avg i did 18 credit semesters (around 6 classes) art classes go for 6 hours and non art go for 3, so i’d spent around 30-35 hours in class a week! hw wise it varied on the class but combined it would be around 35-50 hours a week... im guessing? on average studio classes would have 8-10 hours of hw, maybe 5 for a light week, and gened classes 5 hours w them all combined. or this was probably how things were before junior year? junior+senior year i had thesis + everything else ontop.. i’d spend around 30-40 hours on thesis a week with other classes ontop of that bc my film was super long cus im a dummy!

- is it hard going to art school n realising that altho u were probably quite talented… so is everyone else? Like. all of a sudden. ur not special and everyone seems as good as u, you know? More generally, how do u deal with comparison?

kinda?? i think instead of the idea of like you vs others it feels more of like a competition at first to be the best. this varies hugely on school culture though; my animation year was really friendly with each other and get along extremely well, so my answer to this is v different than some others who attended different schools. i think that the idea of ‘comparison’ only lasts a portion of the first year because at some point you realize that it’s not a who’s better as much as its a ‘these are my coworkers’ type thing? like healthy competition 100% because we’re all working to improve but i think most of us learned pretty early on that viewing each other as peers going into the same workforce helped a lot. also at some point everyone develops their own style/starts to develop their artistic preferences so there isn’t a way to compare whos 'better’ anymore? i dont think there ever is tbh because style is appealing based off of an individuals preferences. If anything realizing everyone else is also amazing makes you wanna work harder ig? or thats how i felt! it’s inspiring to be surrounded by so many people who create such amazing work.

- is there a lot of workaholic culture? all nighter culture?

100000% there can be a workaholic and all nighter culture. i know people who avoided it and thats honestly fantastic because i fall super easily into that pit. sometimes i’ll pull all nighters on a personal project just because i really want to finish it... i am definitely considered a workaholic all the way through and its not healthy rip... i’d estimate at the worst i was pulling 2-3 all nighters a week and only 4-5 hours of sleep on the nights i didn’t? that was only for one year tho, after that i was like yeah ok this is really bad for my health in the long run LOL so i tried to cut it down to one all nighter a week and around 5-6 hours of sleep the rest of the week! by senior year my decision to cram in full semesters paid off and i was able to consistently get around 7 hours of sleep a night + no all nighters minus finals since my schedule was lighter despite thesis 😭 while there is that culture i don’t think people view it as like a badge of honor or something to be proud of anymore which is good, we mostly view it as a flaw of the art school system and something that needs to be fixed!!

- are you glad u did it? how did u know it was what u wanted?

i am glad i did it! i’m definitely in a limbo right now of if it was worth both my time, money, and my parents money rip but i think with what i got out of it i definitely wouldn’t be as far skill wise or knowledge wise when it comes to the art industry. i would say it was only worth it for be because i had so much support going in though so i was able to focus so much on improving. if i had only been able to put in part of the effort and not make full use of the resources provided i would honestly have a different answer..

i knew it was what i wanted when i realized i really couldn’t see myself pursuing a different profession happily! despite all the bumps and stuff im fully in love with drawing still and feel honored that it’s a field that can provide a living. my second profession choice was to go into culinary school? and third option i think going was into music cus i was also a band kid hehe.

- how do u cope with ur hobby becoming ur job? how do u deal with art going from something u do for fun to something u do on command constantly?

i think seperating work art from personal art is important! in my case im doubling naruto into being personal work so i have something to fall back onto that isn’t work related. its been a hyperfixation for 12+ years? so drawing it at this point is just like personal art imo. some people have hobbies outside of art and only draw for their job! i think after attending classes for so long the idea of hobby turning into job feels extremely natural? also i enjoy doing it so thats a huge plus!

sorry this is SO long but i hope i answered your guys’ questions! if you have more just lmk!

#anon #ask #long post #im so so sorry this is like long as shit #ill literally tell you guys everything though art school should not feel like a mystery esp if ur planning to go into it!#Anonymous

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mostlysignssomeportents · 4 years

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Pluralistic: 24 Mar 2020 (Nebula Awards move online, Make America Well Again stamps, Data is the new toxic waste, Stock Jump, Grandparents Optional Party, Quarantine Book Club, the Party of Death, financial stability vs economic stability, quarantine vs workforce automation, bailouts and moral hazard, MIT's open source ventilator)

Today's links

This year's Nebula Awards will be held online: It's $150, and raising funds to bail out corona-shattered writers.

Make America Well Again stamps: from the artist who brought you the Trump Zero Cents stamp.

Data is the new toxic waste: It never was the "new oil" (my latest podcast).

Stock Jump: A ski-game that lets you play the stock charts of cratered businesses.

Murdering 20% of elderly Americans is bad strategy for the GOP: Terrified old people are the turkeys who vote for plutes' Christmas every four years.

Join me on the Quarantine Book Club: April 1, 3PM Pacific.

The Party of Death: It's a good time to buy exterminism futures.

Financial stability vs economic stability: Debts that can't be paid, won't be paid.

Quarantine reveals the falsity of the automation crisis: Augmentation isn't replacement.

Bailouts and moral hazard: If we never teach big business, it won't ever learn.

MIT's ingenious manual/automatic open source ventilator: Now in FDA testing.

This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019

Colophon: Recent publications, current writing projects, upcoming appearances, current reading

This year's Nebula Awards will be held online (permalink)

This year's Nebula Awards weekend is moving online, thanks to decisive action from SFWA and Mary Robinette Kowal.

https://www.sfwa.org/2020/03/22/announcing-the-transformation-of-the-2020-nebula-conference-and-covid19-relief/

It'll include "panels, solo presentations, conference mentorships, workshops, forums, chats, and virtual room parties (including a dance party hosted by John Scalzi)." Part of the proceeds will go to relief for sf writers who are in covid-related financial distress.

It runs May 29-31, including a livestream of the Nebula Awards banquet. Registration is $150 and comes with a year of access to archived materials and the SFWA Bulletin.

Make America Well Again stamps (permalink)

I bought some of Ben Hannam's Trump No Cents stamps in 2017 and never looked back. I still put 'em on letters.

Now he's got a Make America Well Again stamp, which you can lick (if you dare) and stick for the duration. Remember, USPS is profitable and unsubsidized and Trump's swamp-dwellers want to shut it down and replace it with donors like Fedex and UPS!

Data is the new toxic waste (permalink)

My latest podcast is a reading of "Data – the new oil, or potential for a toxic oil spill?" — a column arguing that data was never "the new oil" – instead, it was always the new toxic waste: "pluripotent, immortal – and impossible to contain."

https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/secure-futures-magazine/data-new-toxic-waste/34184/

Data breaches are inevitable (any data you collect will probably leak; any data you retain will definitely leak) and cumulative (your company's data breach can be combined with each subsequent attack to revictimize your customers).

Identity thieves benefit enormously from cheap storage, and they collect, store and recombine every scrap of leaked data. Merging multiple data sets allows for reidentification of "anonymized" data, and it's impossible to predict which sets will leak in the future.

These nondeterministic harms have so far protected data-collectors from liability, but that can't last. Toxic waste also has nondeterministic harms (we never know which bit of effluent will kill which person), but we still punish firms that leak it.

Waiting until the laws change to purge your data is a bad bet – by then, it may be too late. All the data your company collects and retains represents an unquantifiable, potentially unlimited source of downstream liability.

What's more, you probably aren't doing anything useful with it. The companies that make the most grandiose claims about data analytics are either selling analytics or data (or both). These claims are sales literature, not peer-reviewed citations to empirical research.

Data is cheap to collect and store – if you don't have to pay for the chaos it sows when it leaks. And some day, we will make data-hoarders pay.

Here's the podcast:

https://craphound.com/podcast/2020/03/23/data-the-new-oil-or-potential-for-a-toxic-oil-spill/

Here's the MP3:

https://ia801406.us.archive.org/9/items/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_334/Cory_Doctorow_Podcast_334_-Data-_the_new_oil_or_potential_for_a_toxic_oil_spill.mp3

And here's the link to subscribe to the podcast:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/doctorow_podcast

Stock Jump

Stock Jump (permalink)

Last week, those of us lucky enough to have retirement savings joined the rest of the world, because our 401(k)s all cratered and all the promising stocks (teleconferencing, guillotines) are all way, way overpriced thanks to panic buying by Republican Senators.

But when life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla.

Enter Stock Jump, a ski-jump game whose courses are procedurally generated by the stock charts of shares from around the world.

It's really fun! If you can see through the tears.

http://stockjump.sos.gd/

Murdering 20% of elderly Americans is bad strategy for the GOP (permalink)

A thread by Patrick Nielsen Hayden on Making Light crystallized a thought that literally had me tossing and turning all night, about Trump's decision to risk the lives of ~20% of elderly Americans to goose the stock market.

https://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/016643.html#4402672

The thing I find baffling is how short-term this thinking is.

Not for Trump, of course, who is legendary for his view of life as a game of running across a river hopping from the back of one alligator to another before he can get his leg bitten off.

But for the right-wing establishment, whose whole schtick is "rationality" and "long-term thinking" and "self-control" (think of the gleeful repetition of the discredited Marshmellow Test and the rhetoric about the "poor life choices" that lead to single parenthood, addiction, and inadequate retirement savings or health insurance).

How is it that these self-congratulatory long-game-players can't see that murdering one in five American seniors is a self-limiting move when frightened old white people are the primary source of turkeys who can be counted upon to vote for Christmas every four years?

The right has an antimajoritarian, elitist agenda. Right-wing thought is essentially the belief that some people are destined to rule, and others are destined to be ruled over by their betters, and the world is best when the right people are atop the pyramid. Splits in the right are about who should rule: Dominionists want Christian men in charge; libertarians want bosses in charge, imperialists want America in charge, racists want white people in charge, etc.

Antimajoritarian projects struggle in democracies, for obvious reasons. When your platform is "only 1% of us should be making decisions" it's hard to win 51% of the vote. That's why the right focuses so hard on gerrymandering and voter suppression, and why the otherwise untenable coalitions — finaciers and young-Earth Creationists, say — persist.

But the biggest source of ballots in support of rule by elites is frightened people, especially frightened bigots who think that the elites will promote their interests ahead of the disfavored minorities (think: Dixiecrats).

So murdering 20% of the most reliable source of votes for elite rule is a farcically shortsighted thing to do.

I am terrified of a Biden candidacy not merely because I think his policies are poor, but because I think he is really bad at being a candidate, and will struggle to win.

But Trump murdering 20% of his base might just be enough to make him lose. It may be that while he could murder someone in the middle of 5th Ave and get away with it, he can't sentence 20% of US pensioners to gruesome deaths and get away with it.

I'm not gleeful at this prospect. I am totally aghast. I barely slept last night, waking up dozens of times with this genocide playing out in my imagination.

But I am incredibly surprised. How does the self-declared Party of the Long View not see that this is going to destroy it?

The stock market is circling the drain and obviously this is very distressing for the donor class, but almost no Americans own any significant stocks, because most Americans have NO savings. The idea that rescuing share prices by killing the elderly will get the turkeys out to vote for Christmas is clearly wrong.

For more on antimajoritarianism and the right, read Corey Robin's outstanding book, "The Reactionary Mind."

https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1234117673316782082

Join me on the Quarantine Book Club (permalink)

I'm going participate in a session of the Quarantine Book Club on April 1 at 3PM Pacific, where we're discussing my book Radicalized. Tickets here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/quarantine-book-club-cory-doctorow-tickets-100931360416

If $5 is a burden for you, you can get in free with the code ALLAREWELCOME.

Hope to see you!

The Party of Death (permalink)

In his 2017 book Four Futures, Peter Frase uses science fiction to sketch out four ways our society could go as capitalism ruptures, from communism to exterminism, this being the expression of bosses' fear and dependence on workers.

https://boingboing.net/2017/01/06/four-futures-using-science-fi.html

Frase posits a possible mass-automation event that makes workers superfluous (I'm skeptical of this: climate change guarantees 2-3 centuries of full employment, e.g., relocating every coastal city).

But in light of the Current Situation, he imagines a different form of exterminism.

https://jacobinmag.com/2020/03/coronavirus-economy-public-health-exterminism/

It's not just the GOP's willingness to murder 20% of seniors in the hopes of rescuing the Dow.

Plutes and their bootlickers have been calling for mass-deaths as a preferable alternative since the crisis first manifested, as when Tea Party founder Rick Santelli suggested "Maybe we'd be just better off if we gave it to everybody."

And of course, there was Boris Johnson and Dominick Cummings' plan to infect all of the UK to create "herd immunity." As Cummings said, "if that means some pensioners die, too bad."

Now Trump wants to potentially murder 20% of American seniors to rescue share prices, and the GOP is going along with him.

https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1242444277264740353

The Republicans have become the Party of Death, with establishment figures like Thomas Friedman providing ideological cover (""let many of us get the coronavirus, recover and get back to work").

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/22/opinion/coronavirus-economy.html

Frase: "The ghoulishness of this strategy will become apparent when it is too late, when the hospitals fill and the health care system and the economy both collapse."

"Those in power will be held blameless, and those with wealth will sadly lament the foolishness of the lesser orders."

"Socialists have always insisted that human needs should take precedence over profit, that the stock market is not the economy, and that we need to utterly transform an economy that is immiserating working people and destroying the planet. That message will only become more urgent as our opponents across different parts of the ruling class come to the conclusion — mournfully for some, gleefully for others — that in the contest between loss of profit and loss of life, they choose death."

Financial stability vs economic stability (permalink)

Michael Hudson is a fascinating thinker, an expert in the history of debt and debt-forgiveness. See, e.g., this:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/23/tacocat-vs-dog-prostates/#jubilee

In a new interview, Hudson delves into that history: interest-bearing debt was invented in the third millennium BCE, and quickly kings learned that they had to have periodic debt forgiveness, or compound interest would render all debts unpayable.

https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/debt-and-power-with-michael-hudson/

Greeks and Romans did away with the practice, and so had to live with six centuries of debt-revolts, as ever-larger fractions of their populace ended up in a form of debt slavery.

Greek Democracy was created to allow commoners to serve in government and so vote to cancel debts. Roman emperors conquered Greece and did away with debt-cancellation, creating an increasingly unstable oligarchy.

That's not far off from where we are today. 90% of debts are held by the richest 10%, and these oligarchs own the political process and refuse to countenance debt-cancellation.

Obama promised to write down mortgages, but instead he bailed out finance, who kicked us all out and bought our houses out from under us, and then rented back to us. Since then, the Fed "has created $4.5 trillion of credit to support prices for real estate."

"The aim has been to make housing more expensive, enabling the banks to collect on their mortgages and not go under. Credit keeps the debt overhead in place, thereby keeping the financial system afloat instead of facing the reality that debt needs to be written down."

Trump's gonna do it again, giving $50b to airlines/Boeing. Since 2008, Boeing has spent $45b on buybacks. Trump's message: "Spend 92-95% of your income to buy your own hares, and the government will print money so you can do it again, because our priority is stock prices."

"Financial stability" is incompatible with "economic stability." Financial stability means never writing down debts so that the bad loans oligarchs made never turn into bad debts. Economic stability requires debt write-downs so that people can be productive.

Obama's bailouts increased big banks' Too Big to Fail status. That's why since 2008, "GDP per 95 percent of the American population is actually shrunk. All the growth in America's GDP has occurred only to the wealthiest 5% of the population."

Today, plutes "hope to use the crisis not to revive the economy, but to just pound it into debt deflation, leaving the debts in place while bailing out the banks and the landlord class."

Here's what "financial stability" looks like: "you have to pay this exponential growth in debt, [and] have less and less to buy goods and services."

Quarantine reveals the falsity of the automation crisis (permalink)

Automation-based unemployment has always been overhyped. Any work that robots take over merely frees up human workers for the 2-300 year project of climate remediation, including relocating every coastal city in the world.

But automation is also vastly overhyped. Take the oft-repeated claim that "truck driver" is the most common job in America, and first in line to be automated. It's just wrong.

First, because the BLS "truck driver" category includes long-haul truckers, delivery drivers, couriers, and dozens of other subprofessions, most of which are far, far away from being automatable.

https://hbr.org/2019/09/automation-isnt-about-to-make-truckers-obsolete

(More importantly, though: the most automatable category is long-haul driver, and an automated long-haul truck in its own dedicated lane is just a shitty train).

The overhyped nature of technological displacement is on perfect display during the pandemic quarantine. As many "low skilled" (which is to say, "low waged") workers withdraw from the workforce, the economy has ground to a halt.

So much so that the right is now prepared to throw 20+% of seniors into the volcano to appease the market gods.

The category error committed by automation-fretters is to confuse "automating a job" with "augmenting a worker."

"We know that robots are great at repetitive work. they can do that forever. What's not so great is anything with a human-centered context, a cultural context." -Julie Carpenter

https://www.wired.com/story/robot-jobs-coronavirus/

Bailouts and moral hazard (permalink)

It's been barely a decade since the USG bailed out big businesses and the fact that we're here again reveals some of the glaring failures in the last bailout. Any new bailout should correct those errors by putting restrictions on bailed-out companies.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/19/gb-whatsapp/#peoples-bailout

There have been some good proposals on these lines, like those from AOC and Stephanie Kelton:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/21/most-dangerous-ghost/#peoples-bailout

(whenever I write about this in public, I'm inundated with angry tweets from sociopaths with "investor" in their bios)

We're running out of time to get this right. DC is so filled with money-hungry lobbyists that they can't practice adequate social distancing, and they're collectively seeking trillions in string-free public money for their paymaster.

https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/rule-number-1-for-government-bailouts-of-companies-make-sure-voters-and-taxpayers-share-in-the-upside

At a minimum, any bailouts should come in exchange for convertible corporate bonds that let the USG take an ownership stake in any business that fails to repay its public debts. That's a minimum, as is a ban on stock buybacks for bailed out companies.

We need very strict limits on lobbying by bailed out firms: "If we are not to finance our own bamboozlement, any company receiving bailouts must be required each month to file full reports on political contributions and lobbying expenditures to candidates and parties."

This goes for dark money contributions, including 527 funds, and corporate/exec contributions to trade associations and other lobbying fronts, think-tanks, and other political influence vehicles.

"Unlike last time, when Hank Paulson, Tim Geithner, and Ben Bernanke failed to give the public a serious share of the upside, the bailed out firms should be compelled to issue convertible bonds to the government."

"Those bonds should make the government the senior creditor to the firm for the value of the principal as long as the debt is unpaid…As firms and the economy recover, the shares can be sold on the open market, yielding a handsome return to the Treasury."

The right likes to harp about "moral hazard" as an excuse for cutting aid, to, say, single mothers ("It only encourages them"). But what about businesses that needed trillions in 2008 and now need trillions more? What lesson are we teaching them?

(Image: Alex Proimos, CC BY)

MIT's ingenious manual/automatic open source ventilator (permalink)

At the end of last week, a crowdsourced design for an open-source hardware ventilator entered testing with the Irish regulator, a week after work began on the project.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/20/pluralistic-20-mar-2020/#oshw-breathing

Now, hot on its heels, an MIT open source hardware ventilator team has submitted its design to the FDA for testing and approval, under the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) authority.

https://e-vent.mit.edu/

It eliminates many possible sources of failure by replacing an electric pump with a manual one, which can, in turn, be operated by a separate, very simple, Arduino-controlled system (which can be readily swapped out for a human hand if it fails).

As Hackaday points out, "Almost as interesting as the device itself is the comments people are leaving about the design."

https://hackaday.com/2020/03/23/mit-ventilator-designed-with-common-manual-resuscitator-submitted-for-fda-testing/

This day in history (permalink)

#15yrsago Record sales up, P2P sales up — RIAA's story doesn't add up https://web.archive.org/web/20050822053404/http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5631698.html

#15yrsago Octopuses dressed up as sea coconuts sneaking on two legs https://www.nature.com/news/2005/050321/full/050321-14.html

#10yrsago Pooh vs Alien: Webcomics realize their full potential at last http://godxiliary.com/alienvspooh/

#10yrsago Airport worker caught photographing screen as female worker passed through naked scanner https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/mar/24/airport-worker-warned-body-scanner

#10yrsago UK record lobby: democracy is a waste of time https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/2010/corporate-lobbyists-no-need-for-democracy

#5yrsago How medical abortion works https://www.ohjoysextoy.com/medical-abortion/

#5yrsago ACLU sues TSA to make it explain junk science "behavioral detection" program https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/nyclu-and-aclu-sue-tsa-records-discredited-behavior-detection-program

#5yrsago Randomized dystopia generator that goes beyond the Bill of Rights https://www.harihareswara.net/dystopia/

#1yrago Man stole $122m from Facebook and Google by sending them random bills, which the companies dutifully paid https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/lithuanian-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-100-million-from-google-facebook/

#1yrago Chelsea Manning is being held in prolonged solitary confinement, a form of torture https://xychelsea.is/?page_id=28

Colophon (permalink)

Today's top sources: Tor.com (https://tor.com), Naked Capitalism (https://nakedcapitalism.com/), Slashdot (https://slashdot.org/).

Currently writing: I'm getting geared up to start work my next novel, "The Lost Cause," a post-GND novel about truth and reconciliation.

Currently reading: Just started Lauren Beukes's forthcoming Afterland: it's Y the Last Man plus plus, and two chapters in, it's amazeballs. Last month, I finished Andrea Bernstein's "American Oligarchs"; it's a magnificent history of the Kushner and Trump families, showing how they cheated, stole and lied their way into power. I'm getting really into Anna Weiner's memoir about tech, "Uncanny Valley." I just loaded Matt Stoller's "Goliath" onto my underwater MP3 player and I'm listening to it as I swim laps.

Latest podcast: Data – the new oil, or potential for a toxic oil spill? https://craphound.com/podcast/2020/03/23/data-the-new-oil-or-potential-for-a-toxic-oil-spill/

Upcoming appearances:

Quarantine Book Club, April 1, 3PM Pacific https://www.eventbrite.com/e/quarantine-book-club-cory-doctorow-tickets-100931360416

Museums and the Web, April 2, 12PM-3PM Pacific https://mw20.museweb.net/

Upcoming books: "Poesy the Monster Slayer" (Jul 2020), a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Pre-order here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627?utm_source=socialmedia&utm_medium=socialpost&utm_term=na-poesycorypreorder&utm_content=na-preorder-buynow&utm_campaign=9781626723627

(we're having a launch for it in Burbank on July 11 at Dark Delicacies and you can get me AND Poesy to sign it and Dark Del will ship it to the monster kids in your life in time for the release date).

"Attack Surface": The third Little Brother book, Oct 20, 2020. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250757531

"Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a new introduction by Edward Snowden: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250774583

#pluralistic

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raph-f · 4 years

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Generation Z: The Future of the Economy

Generation Z, also known as Gen Z, is the demographic cohort of individuals ranging from the mid to late 1990s up to around 2010. This age group primarily consists of teenagers and young adults – students who are close or about to enter the workforce.

I, too, consider myself to be part of this demographic.

One of the most prominent things said throughout articles that were assigned for us to read was that we are stressed. I guess that’s true, especially right now with the pandemic going on. Personally, one of the biggest contributors to my stress are online classes. Having classes at home and in your own room is truly a struggle as there is no separation between your place of work and your place of rest. You get up in the morning, open your laptop, and listen to the conference of your professor for that class; once you’re dismissed, you’re still there, at home and in your room, probably on your bed thinking what to do next as you wait for the next conference.

However, that’s nothing compared to the circumstances that others face. I have friends who were unable to enroll this term due to financial complications, friends whose parents have been laid off from their work, and even friends who’ve had relatives infected by the virus. Along with these come with declining mental health many individuals are experiencing during this lockdown.

It’s a very stressful time for us, indeed.

Furthermore, according to one of the articles, the lockdown will only make it harder for our age group to land a job, and this is especially frustrating for those who have recently graduated. As for those already working, the situation is just as bad, with the International Labour Organization reporting that 16% of Gen Z employees have been laid off from their jobs.

It is clear that this economic crisis is hitting the youth hard – for the younger ones, in their studies, and the older ones, in their source of income.

Along with the discussion of the situations the Gen Z face amid the pandemic are also their political beliefs. The articles report that Gen Z sees societal change as a good thing, being very progressive and liberal in their views – to name a few examples, roughly half of Gen Z are in support of LGBTQ+ rights; they are more in support of interracial marriages; and they believe that the black community experiences a systemic inequality that favors the whites. Personally, I relate to the results of all these examples and all the other statistical findings the article reports. My own political beliefs are very liberal and left-winged. I, myself, am a strong advocate for equal rights and a believer in the #BlackLivesMatter movement. There’s so much inequality in the world, and I believe we must fight for progressive societal change – the kind that accommodates all people from all walks of life.

It’s especially important to note how the political views of those from Gen Z are drastically different from the generations prior to them. From personal experience, it is frustrating when your views do not align with that of your parents’ more traditional ideologies. This is especially a problem, especially when we take into account how our voices are taken into disregard because of our youth and supposed ignorance. For example, the issue of Kakie Pangilinan calling out Ben Tulfo online for his misogynistic tweets, and the latter responding to Kakie by calling her “hija”, demeaning her point simply because she is younger.

According to PEW Research center, Gen Z are more likely to look to the government for solutions rather than the private sector. I personally highly agree with this, especially with the circumstances brought about by the pandemic and the lockdown. In the case of online classes, there is a lot of public clamor online urging movements such as the suspension of online classes and the call for a total academic freeze. However, these are short-term solutions: while I wholeheartedly agree with the suspension of online classes, as I also believe in the #NoStudentLeftBehind movement, we also don’t know how long this pandemic will last and therefore won’t know how long the suspension will need to be. The best we can do is to urge our government to conduct mass testing and medical action in order to return to physical classes as soon as possible.

In regards to the conflicting political views Gen Z has with the older generations, we have to remember that it is us who will inherit this society, and not them. We must shape it in the way we believe is best for all of us. Recently, I just watched an interview with Filipino politician Chel Diokno, and when asked how the youth can demand reform when they are scared to speak up, he replied that courage is contagious: the more of us speak up, the more empowered others will be to speak up as well.

Furthermore, with the lockdown causing increases in suicidal tendencies and cases of self-harm, it is important to address the issue of mental health and recognize its importance, especially in the youth who are most vulnerable to such issues. On a community level, BLAZE2022, our own batch government, recently launched a mental health campaign to help address these very issues, with the goal of raising awareness and helping spread positivity. However, sometimes “feeling good” is not enough and individuals must seek clinical help – and there’s nothing wrong with that.

As for the issue of employment after the lockdown, that is definitely uncertain. With the economy at a decline, it’s likely that many individuals, Gen Z especially, will have difficulty finding work; but as writer John Savage says in the article, the youth are adept in finding what’s wrong with the world and coming up with solutions.

To conclude, my final takeaways from these problems are that 1) we must demand accountability from people in power, especially when those people have the power to make a change; 2) we must always speak up for what we believe in, especially when it’s for the greater good; 3) we must be empathetic to the situation of others’, as even though we all have our own individual problems, not everyone may be taking it as well as we do; and lastly 4) we must believe in ourselves, as we are the future, and although things may be uncertain at present, we can definitely make the future a brighter place.

#COBSHRM #COBSHRM - K37 #Individual Assessment 1

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sarahjart · 4 years

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UNIT EIGHT- GEN Z: First Look: Exploring the Brief

Initial Ideas Based on the Questions in the Brief:

Before I answer the questions from the brief, I want to make it clear that I don't believe that the generation system is a good one to outline life experiences. I don't think that the Gen Z label is well defined enough to answer these questions currently because of how new the generation is, and the fact that most of us have not yet entered the workforce. I also want to make clear that the majority of my answers to the questions are informed opinions.

What does Generation Z have to offer?

Because the generation is current, it is difficult to define. It is very hard to avoid sweeping statements and stereotypes. The following points came up when brainstorming as well as talking to others in my generation. However it is important to view these ideas as somewhat stereotypes, and will not reflect the individuals in the generation. I found talking to my parents helpful because a lot of ideas were highlighted through comparison with previous generations. I think it is also important to remember that what we have to offer isn't always a positive.

Increased Connectivity Gen Z have grown up with the internet. We understand how to use the technology to our advantage, making us the most inter-connected generation yet. We can communicate, share ideas and create content using the internet. However, we are also addicted to social media which has an overall negative effect on mental health. We are increasingly using the internet to consume products through streaming services, paying the artist poorly and never owning the products ourselves.

An Active Concern for the Environment While previous Generations have seen the negative effects on the environment grow. Gen Z are the first to integrate the concerns into their everyday way of life from the get go. Gen Z is the home of vegans, zero waste, minimalism, ditching plastic and actively seeking sustainability.

A New Look at Identity Gen Z have new ideas about identity. We are the generation most concerned about the social constraints and inequalities posed by gender, sexual and racial identity. Under Gen z, gender and sexuality have become fluid with large scale acceptance. Because of the internet, there are now more niche subcultures and social identities than ever before. This has made us the more accepting, ethical generation compared to our fore-bares.

A Window into the Impacts of the Internet on Mental Health. We now live in a society where productivity is key. There is a push for constant positive productivity driven by people posting their progress on social media. Whether it be about their work, social life or fitness goals, life moves at a higher speed then ever before. As a result, Gen Z has terrible mental health, which is quickly snowballing into a crisis caused by stress. However, there are growing movements based on self-care to counter-act this.

An Awareness of Consumerism- both digital and physical. I think that Gen z is more aware of advertising and consumerism than previous generations. Gen Z is more likely to have started a business over social media and so better understand how the internet can work as a commercial tool. Many of my generation seem to be moving away from mindless consumerism and are more aware of how and why they buy things. That being said, I think Gen Z are more about personalised items and buying things to make them seem unique and stand out, especially on social media.

What does Generation Z want?

Based on the above points I think my generation wants the following:

To continue to develop internet technology and social media in order to set up our own platforms to create.

To consume environmentally friendly products and to live a more sustainable lifestyle

To live in a more accepting world, where people are not treated differently for their sexuality, gender or race. This has been a feature of previous generations, but has not been as actively accepted by the majority as it is in Gen Z.

To promote self-care and a slower world. To recognise the down side of social media and too much screen time.

To be more aware of how and why we are buying things, both socially and environmentally.

What is available to Generation Z?

I think the biggest thing about generation Z that stands out from previous generations is that we grew up with the internet. This means that we are able to use it in ways previous generations do not or cannot understand, and have an in depth knowledge of meme culture. The internet opens up the following platforms:

Social Media: A platform to share ideas and post our work without having to go through a gallery.

Google: The ability to find out the answers to almost every conceivable question

YouTube: A platform to broadcast your thoughts and your work, as well as learn from others life experiences

Websites: The ability to set up your own corner of the web to invite in your audience and show your work

Online Shops: The ability to sell your own work without a physical storefront.

Gen Z are also less limited in jobs by gender as previous generations have been, but are worse off financially, with many of us struggling to own their own home.

What should Generation Z receive?

This is a really difficult question. I don't think that any generation is more deserving of things than any other. That being said, I think Generation Z has it the hardest in terms of owning your own property and assets compared to previous generations- we have no help from the government or other forces.

What should Generation Z Give?

I think Gen Z has the power to change things by altering their consumer habits. This way we could give the next generation a healthier world environmentally. I also think that Gen z could give advice about mental health and the internet, as well as to help people in the future to understand how bad the internet can be for you. We could help to eradicate fake news and toxic social media accounts.

SPECIFIC POINTS OF INTEREST SO FAR:

Gen Z's obsession with identity and labels. Consumer culture following suit with the idea of Gen Z's wanting personalised or 'unique' items. Also need for things to be 'relatable'

Gen Z's dependence on technology as both a good and a bad thing. We are dependant of tech in order to connect us and make closer communities, but we also find it difficult to exist in the real world. Gen Z's internet world is big but real world opportunities are small.

Gen Z's convenience based culture. Nobody owns things anymore, everything is borrowed or rented.

How sensitive Gen Z is. Cancel culture and 'special snowflakes'.

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shockingunleashed · 4 years

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Write-Up: Finding Comfy Controllers. Critiques, Evaluation. - Elder Scrolls On-line

Select essentially the most current version quantity (until contraindicated, as we mentioned in an earlier lesson, by the specific needs of a mod in question). Anyway, back to the question of, what did it convey to the desk? Look over that page, read the first few, and then come back later when that you must know extra. Resource packs are nice for altering the look of a world, however to change the conduct of a world, you need to write some Java, or no less than edit some JSON files. So that's all it is advisable to know as to how to install Minecraft mods for Computer. And surf Youtube for Minecraft walkthroughs / Let's Play / Yogscast movies. Close this folder again and click on the Shaderpack you wish to play with. This could be a bit difficult because some sites might host infected information filled with malware and viruses, and you don’t want that.

JoyToKey: free but you can buy a license to support the developer. Library and press enter; then open 'Application Support' and at last 'minecraft'. If you are not sure of how to fix this, we recommend opening a Reside Chat or submitting a help ticket to our modpacks workforce. I've carried out this, and successfully created a trivial mod with it, but it is probably not where you need to begin. Mammoths are certainly one of the most important animals from this mod. One map that requires a resource pack is Mysterious East. Minecraftwiki's Map downloads tutorial. Not all Minecraft mods are created equal, so some may trigger crashes, corrupt save information or make the sport unplayable altogether. To get one of many objects you created in your mod, begin a world in inventive mode, then press 'e', click on on the rightmost tab of your stock, and scroll to the underside; you need to see it on the underside proper. Now to try consuming your meals, press Play, wield the brand new item as above, then switch to survival mode (/gamemode 0), run round until you get hungry (the wine glasses on the lower right of the HUD will begin emptying), then right click and hold. If it complains about hunks of patches not making use of, attempt it once more after installing the stipulations listed on the page linked above (e.g. "sudo apt-get set up wine astyle").

Check the information web page of the mod to make certain. minecraft kitchen of your mod can give you that info. To install it, see MinecraftForge's Installation/Supply page. See my Using Mods web page for semi-detailed instructions for a way to put in a pair fascinating mods on Home windows, Mac, and Linux. Minecraft, choosing the Forge profile; put in mods are at all times active. That is it! Subsequent time you run Minecraft, you will notice the mods that you put in on the Mods menu choice. In the primary Menu click the button Options and then Shaders. Click on the button done and have enjoyable enjoying Minecraft with Shaders. After installing the Minecraft Shaders Mod, open your Minecraft. You've gotten to install the GLSL Shaders Mod first. For the GLSL Shaders Mod you even have to install a number of Shader Packs. MinecraftForge has a lesser-recognized aspect: it offers a mod growth atmosphere, which incorporates a replica of MCP below the hood. Minecraftforge has a very scary tutorial, and wuppygaming has much more.

Observe that and then the essential Gadgets tutorial, and press 'Play' in Eclipse. To get a feel for it, watch the trailer, the official four half beginner's tutorial, a third-party tutorial, and a few pop track parodies based mostly on the game. Be at liberty to send me an email if you dont see it after april 2013! See any of the numerous tutorials for tips on learn how to obtain and run the installer. This used to be laborious, but not too long ago that they had a genius concept: create a easy installer. This is hard, and you may have to help, a minimum of to get began. However obviously, this is just the primary stage of growth for many lifeforms, and many of them have some kind of requirements that have to be met before they are often dropped at life. You absolutely have met totally different sorts of mobs, corresponding to pigs, chickens, horses, cows, bats, mooshrooms, and so forth. However after you have put in this mod, additionally, you will discover other creatures, similar to dinosaurs ! To make issues much more complicated, mods usually have incomplete or non-existent documentation. Remember to vote in the poll below and share your personal favorite things to do down under in the remark part.

If in vanilla, the mod can tell you info like an entity’s health, name, and look, however for blocks, it shows you things like the share till a block is broken and whether or not the block is harvestable or not. Copy the mod .jar file(s) you downloaded to the “mods” folder, found contained in the .minecraft folder. Copy the class files from the mod into the .jar file and exit. Simply install Forge, obtain the mod and replica it into your Mods folder. Head over to guide to installing minecraft mods or try the Minecraft Mod Checklist for a fairly updated record of the most recent mod variations and obtain areas. Once highlighted, drag the recordsdata to the minecraft folder, changing the recordsdata and confirming the action when prompted. Once highlighted, drag the information to the minecraft.jar folder, replacing the files and confirming the motion when prompted. If you utilize Linux, the launcher you want is Minecraft.jar.

#minecraft near me ps4

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popatochisssp · 5 years

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Fur a Good Time, Call... 1/15

Series: Undertale, Horrortale Relationship(s): HT!Sans/Reader Chapter Warnings: animal cruelty, entirely off-screen and non-graphic

You work at an animal shelter. You love all your fuzzy buddies and can't imagine a better job for yourself than looking after cats and dogs all day, even when the work is hard and often gross. What can you say? You've got a lot of love to give!

You're just not quite sure yet how you feel about the new monster who's been helping out these days, and this riddle wrapped up in an enigma is something you just can't resist investigating...

AO3 Link

Prologue - Curiosity

You weren’t quite sure what to make of the new guy.

When your boss had bullied you into using some of your vacation days, you hadn’t been thrilled. You’d protested, actually—you didn’t have anywhere you wanted to go and no social life to speak of, and the animals needed you!

There was always so much to be done at the shelter and you prided yourself as one of their most dedicated full-timers. If there was a dog needing a walk or a cat screaming for some dinner, you were right there with a smile (and some silly baby-talk), ready to take care of it.

Pets were your passion and nothing made you happier than to help out the ones that hadn’t found their forever-homes just yet.

But…maybe you were working a bit too hard. As the shelter manager was quick to point out, you were going on three years without a full day off and no matter how much you loved the work, burnout was a thing that happened to people and not something she wanted to happen to her best worker.

Flattery: your Achilles’ heel.

She insisted on a break, no less than a week, and since you were so worried about the animals, she’d even try to get a couple extra volunteers to keep things covered while you were out.

You caved in and had a frustratingly great week at home doing absolutely nothing and then went back to work where the same amount of nothing had caught fire in your absence.

Everything was totally fine, great even, thanks to the irreproachable work of the newest volunteer your manager had dug up.

“hey. where’d you want these again?”

You turned, jumping just a little when you came face to sternum with the man himself. He was staring down at you from his considerable height, his single brick-red eye large and glowing as he waited for your answer… probably about the three pallets of kibble he had slung over his shoulder.

“Oh! You can just put those over by the dog room, I’ll take it from there.” You smiled at him, hoping you looked friendly. “Thanks for getting them, I can never reach without the step-ladder!”

He just shrugged. “s’cool. i got it.”

And then he was off, moving far quieter than you thought a skeleton of his massive size should be able to.

Then again, it’s not like you knew many skeletons: it was just Sans.

Monsters had come up to the surface only a year ago: creatures of magic emerging from the depths of the earth like out of a fantasy novel, but all too real. Humanity was collectively horrified and demanded an immediate response to their arrival, governments from all over the world snapping into action faster than any bureaucracy had moved in centuries.

And you were so proud of your dumb species for the first time in a long time.

The appalling conditions of the Underground and the hunched and broken bodies of the monsters who emerged from it had triggered a visceral, emotional response in nearly everyone who saw them. In an outpouring of pity and compassion, monsters were quickly granted legal rights, facilitated access to very necessary health care both physical and psychological, and even regular stipends from relief fund donations to help them establish stable lives.

It was true humanitarianism at its finest, people banding together to right a terrible wrong and it warmed your heart to see it happen. There were dissenters, of course, bigots here and there who thought monsters were evil and should’ve died Underground, especially after…what was done to the humans who had fallen down there….

But Queen Undyne, the monster monarch had taken full responsibility for all of those deaths already. Even now, she was serving out her prison sentence for it so it wasn’t as if justice wasn’t being done just because her people weren’t locked up with her.

You may not have known all the details but you didn’t think you needed to and your opinion was one shared by the majority: humans put them down there and humans should make it better. Monsters were owed at least that much.

Even in spite of the government money they were receiving, the grateful monsters who were physically able seemed quite happy to return the kindness given to them, entering the human workforce wherever they could and giving back as productive members of their new society.

That was the category that seemed to best fit Sans.

When you’d first come back to work, he’d been… a little bit of a shock, to say the least. Going to say hi to all the cats you hadn’t seen in days and finding a towering and frankly terrifying death-omen standing silently amongst them had actually really rattled you.

You had frozen, just a little, transfixed by his blazing eye-light and the jagged, gaping hole in his skull that looked positively grisly.

It wasn’t until your manager came in behind you, introducing him to you as the new volunteer that you noticed that the ‘death-omen’ was wearing a fuzzy hoodie and a frankly adorable pair of novelty skull slippers and you realized how rude you’d been.

Things had gotten busy, as they always did—litter boxes to scrub, animals to socialize, families to interview—and you kind of lost track of him, but you did ask around.

“Sans? Nice guy, a little bit of a scatterbrain maybe, but I’ve seen worse,” was the endorsement from a long-time coworker of yours. “I’ve never had to show him something more than twice, so y’know, he’s already better than Michael, god, remember Michael?”

“He kinda creeps me out,” another volunteer told you, “but the animals love him. One time, I saw him carrying around that big Rottweiler in one arm like it was a baby or something and she was totally cool with it.”

“He’s been great so far,” your manager had promised. “I think you two will work really well together.”

Oh, yeah, sure. If he didn’t think you were a total monsterphobic jerk by now.

You’d spent basically every day since you’d been back, in between actual work, trying to talk to Sans. Not to apologize for freezing like a scared deer, the window for that was probably way past, but… you could be better going forward, right? If you were actually nice and showed some manners better than a wild boar’s, you could be friends…right?

Wrong. So wrong.

You discovered quickly that Sans was as much of an enigma as he was deceptively scary. He rarely spoke and when he did, it was quiet and to the point; never anything about himself.

It actually hurt your feelings a little bit at first until you learned that it didn’t seem to be personal. Nobody at the shelter seemed to know anything about Sans: even the big boss maxed out at knowing he just showed up one day asking to be put to work.

If anything, though, learning that just made you all the more determined to befriend him.

Sans was a mystery and the less you realized you knew about him, the more driven you felt to figure him out. Who is this skeleton in comfy clothes who comes in most days and works hard for no money and barely says a word to anyone? You wanted to find out, even as it was proving just as hard as herding cats.

Harder, probably. The cats usually pay pretty good attention if you’re holding something jingly.

But you were getting way too in your own head and there was work to be done, lest you’d made Sans lug all that kibble from the stock room for nothing.

A deafening barrage of barks and whines greeted you from the second you opened the door to the dog room and it brought a smile to your face.

“Oh my god, I know,” you laughed, “I know, I’ve been gone for like an hour, I could’ve been dead!”

Princess, a pit bull mutt and the biggest, whiniest baby you’ve ever seen in your life, certainly seemed to think so. She was the closest to the door and whimpering at you with her paws up against the chain-link of her enclosure, wiggling so hard it rattled.

“Alright, jeez, I’m here now, aren’t I?” She looked right at you and let out a long, low whine that sounded so pathetic you had to laugh again. “You want lunch first? Will that take the sting out of my betrayal?”

A loud bark was your answer from Princess, and from every other dog in the room. They didn’t know a whole lot of human words but anything food-related got picked up real damn quick.

“Okay, shush, then, I’m on it, you all know the drill.”

You headed over to the big bags of kibble propped up against the door jamb, right where Sans had left them, and got to work.

It used to be that you felt a little silly talking to the animals as if they could understand you, even when you and them were the only ones in the room, but those days were long behind you. They understood your tone of voice at least, so you were happy to chat with (or at) your furry wards about whatever popped into your head while you doled out their food.

It was a step up from talking to yourself… which you’d definitely also done. You hadn’t been exaggerating that ‘no social life’ thing, but it’s not like you’d ever felt lonely.

“Well, maybe not never,” you muttered, nudging an eager little bulldog back with your foot to edge into his room and set down one of the bowls you were holding. “But not like…seriously. I see everybody here all the time, plus adopters, and the cats, and you guys. That’s plenty, right?”

You looked down to realize you were being pointedly ignored, a little doggy face planted firmly in his food. “Yeah, you’re plenty. Good talk, Smoochie.”

If you weren’t already pretty sure you were going to end up as a crazy animal person, this might’ve been the moment it hit you.

You didn’t really have time to dwell on that, though, not with the downright chilling screams that suddenly erupted from outside.

Automatically, you found yourself headed for the noise, goosebumps prickling up on your skin from the awful quality of the sound. You just barely remembered to fasten the latch of the cage one-handedly behind you before walking, jogging, running towards the lobby where it seemed to be coming from and what were you going into that it could be heard from so far away in the building?!

There was a loud clatter and even more screaming and when you finally made it through the door, you skidded to a halt.

And your heart broke.

The horrible, discordant screaming sound was coming from a dog. The poor thing was skinny, shaking, fur so matted and dingy that it couldn’t even see through it, every worst nightmare you’d ever had from those Sarah McLachlan commercials come to life. It looked like it had knocked over some chairs trying to scrunch itself into a corner and was cowering in a puddle of its own pee. And screeching every time it heard a noise.

You didn’t often see ones this bad, but it didn’t hurt any less when you did.

“Oh, baby, no,” you whispered. “What happened?”

You hadn’t been talking to anyone in particular so it startled you when you got an answer.

“H-he slipped his lead,” you heard and turned to see one of the new volunteers standing beside you, wide-eyed and holding a useless green rope in her hands. “I don’t know… I was just… What do we do?”

Glancing around, you suddenly realized that you were the most senior person in the room. Even with the trickle of onlookers drawn by the noise everybody else was just hesitating at the edges of the lobby, nervous and unsure while the poor animal wailed and shook in front of them.

Right, then. Up to you.

“Go get the vet,” you told the volunteer and took a step forward, reaching out to take the lead from her fingers…

…only to watch a much bigger, paler hand close over the rope instead of your own.

Sans took it, silently ghosting his broad body between you and the girl and heading straight for the dog.

Your jaw nearly dropped. A million thoughts raced through your head at once—where did he come from? What is he doing? Shouldn’t you stop him? He barely has any experience, he’s not even staff!— but when you tried to say something, your throat was too tight and all that came out was…

“Be careful…!”

Sans didn’t even turn. “it’s fine,” he said, just as soft-spoken as he ever was. “s’just a little spooked, that’s all.”

You watched with bated breath as he knelt down, right in front of the scruffy animal. It prompted a fresh bout of screaming that made you flinch, but Sans acted like he didn’t even hear it.

“heya, bud. there’s no need for all’a that, is there?” The dog’s mismatched ears flicked once, but immediately flattened back against his head. Sans kept talking. “it’s good here. we’ll take care of ya. it won’t be like wherever ya came from. nobody here’s gonna hurt’cha.”

It was the most you’d ever heard him say at once and the deep, sonorous quality of his voice was a surprise to you. His tone was slow and even, almost lulling; it was putting you at ease, so to see the poor dog responding the same way, his hackles lowering ever so slightly and his shriek dying into a pitiful little cry shouldn’t have been so shocking.

You were amazed, anyway.

“that’s it, bud. there ya go.” Sans raised the rope, moving it carefully to the dog’s head.

Once he was leashed, it should be a little easier to coax him to the vet’s exam room. He’d get checked out, bathed, shaved, fed, and settled into his own little kennel.

Thank god you were under capacity right now, you’d really lose sleep if you had to turn this one away. As long as he was here, you could help him.

But there you went, getting ahead of yourself again.

The dog panicked at the very last second. He lunged forward, snapping his jaws shut on the closest target—Sans.

Your gasp was loud in the tension-quieted room, chorused by others and even a muffled yelp from the receptionist, everyone alarmed by the sight of Sans’ blue hoodie caught in a semi-feral dog’s muzzle.

You had already taken several steps forward—to do what, you had no idea—when Sans just cinched the rope into a proper lead around the dog’s neck with a triumphant, “gotcha,” as if he hadn’t just had a sharp set of teeth successfully come at him.

You were speechless for several long seconds. Had he…not noticed? Did the dog just graze him? Was he even bleeding? If he was, you’d want to drive him to the hospital just in case, you never knew what a strange dog could be carrying and even if it was shallow, the stomach seemed like a terrible place to get bitten…

And then, the obvious hit you.

The dog had lunged at Sans’ abdomen. The abdomen he didn’t have. Because he was a skeleton.

Oh, god, duh.

Of course Sans was fine, that bite had never come anywhere near him. You wanted to physically facepalm, just a little bit, at your own apparent stupidity but that would hardly be helpful right now.

You managed to take some slight pleasure in knowing you weren’t the only dumb human in the room that’d had the same thought and then tried to forget it. “You okay, Sans?”

“yeah, we’re fine,” he answered easily. The dog may have disagreed, having unlatched himself from Sans’ hoodie and, when that last defensive bid had so totally failed, resigned himself to making heart-wrenching crying noises and continuing to cower. “he’s not happy, but i got ‘im.”

There were sighs of relief all around. You scanned the room, seeing the tension fade and normal activity start to hesitantly resume—and the volunteer girl still standing by the door.

“What are you still…? I said to go get the vet!” you reminded her, maybe a little more sharply than you intended because she squeaked and scurried off.

You immediately felt a little bad about it. Seeing an animal in such bad shape for the first time wasn’t easy and not all newbies had the kind of brass ones Sans did.

Sans, who suddenly turned to look right at you and said your name.

“I…. Me?” You wanted to kick yourself for saying that. There was only one you at the whole damn shelter, but Sans didn’t seem to care.

“yeah, c’mere. he’ll probably chill out a little if he’s got some food, right?”

You were already moving forward again before you fully realized what he meant—the shiny metal bowl of kibble in your hand that you’d apparently run all the way here holding, stars, what had that looked like? But if you were accidentally prepared, you probably shouldn’t criticize yourself too hard.

You knelt down next to Sans, moving carefully but the skittish animal still yelped and scrabbled when he heard you coming. There was a blur of blue and suddenly Sans’ arm was between you and the dog.

“it’s okay, pal,” he soothed. “you’re fine, stay cool, just friends here. you want some food, don’tcha?”

That was your cue. You placed the bowl on the floor and gently slid it over to the dog before pulling your hand back.

The dog whined again, upset and unsure. You couldn’t quite see with Sans’ arm in the way and straightened up to look over it, bracing just one hand against his humerus. The dog was blinded by his own matted fur but he could clearly smell the kibble and his nose found its way to the bowl, sniffing cautiously with his tail tucked between his legs.

You slumped in relief when he took the first hesitant bite, and the ravenous second, third, fourth.

Thank god.

Sans seemed just as pleased, lowering his protective arm and looping the lead around his other hand, shortened for better control. He said your name again and you turned; even kneeling, you still had to look up.

“you should pet him,” he said. “i don’t think he’ll bite again.”

Glancing at the dog, you agreed, but also… “Why me?”

His one red eye met yours, gleaming with earnest sincerity. “you’re good at dogs,” he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Grass is green. Water makes stuff wet. You’re good at dogs.

Feeling unaccountably flattered, you reached out and carefully stroked your fingers along the dog’s back. He flinched at the touch but didn’t stop eating or try to bite again, so you had high hopes for his adoption chances later on.

You kept petting him, crouched on the floor of the shelter lobby next to a gentle giant of a skeleton and watched the dog finish the whole bowl.

“That’s a good boy,” you cooed. “You’re gonna do just fine.”

It felt like you were there for a long time, but eventually you heard footsteps and finally, the vet arrived. He was flanked by a couple of other staff members, bigger guys who you knew had experience with nervous and aggressive dogs.

Sans stood, and you with him, and you watched as he gingerly handed over the leash to one of them and let them coax the dog forward. The vet was already looking him over even as they got the little guy moving and you were relieved not to hear him point out anything that sounded too serious.

Soon they had all filed out to take care of business and it was just you and Sans left there in the lobby. Even the receptionist had fled for a coffee/need-a-breather-right-now break and you didn’t blame her.

“So that was…intense.”

“yeah.”

You turned more fully towards Sans and tried to catch his gaze. “You’re okay, right?” you asked. “Like…really okay?”

He looked at you like you’d said something bizarre. “said i was, didn’t i?”

“Well, people say a lot of things, and that was…a lot, even for somebody who actually gets paid for it. You’re good?”

Sans didn’t look any less bemused. “…yeah.”

He didn’t say anything else for several long moments. His single glowing pupil was cast down away from your face and when you followed it, you saw…

Oh jeez, your hand on his arm, still.

You pulled back immediately, feeling yourself go red and hoping he didn’t notice. “Sorry!” you definitely didn’t squeak. “Sorry, that was…. Oh, no, your hoodie…”

Sans looked down and quickly spotted what you just had— three sizeable holes torn into the bottom of his sweatshirt, right at the hem of the pocket. He picked at it, poking two thick, bony fingers straight through. “huh.”

“He got you pretty good.” You winced a little at the damp tear in the fabric: it was a jagged rip and pretty frayed. “I’m not sure that’s gonna be salvageable. Sorry.”

By the expressions Sans kept fixing on you, you’d have guessed you were the most confusing human on the planet. “what for?”

“The holes? That’s your favorite jacket, isn’t it?” You hesitated, realizing you didn’t actually know that. “Or at least, you wear it all the time. I kinda guessed you just loved that thing.”

“i do. but it’s just a thing. shit happens, y’know.” He shrugged. “’sides, not like anybody got hurt, right?”

“…Right.” Of course. That really was the most important thing.

That, and cleaning up the mess your new little friend had made of the lobby.

You sighed just looking at it but it wasn’t about to fix itself so you dove right in, picking up chairs and moving them to the side while you skirted around the puddle on the floor as best as you could.

“……can i help?”

The gentle inquiry from Sans made you pause. The man got literally snapped at not fifteen minutes ago, at a place where they worked him like a…well, like a dog without even having him on the payroll, and he still wanted to help?

Sans really was something else.

“You could get the mop and bucket for me from the supply closet,” you said lightly, pointedly not making it an order. “And maybe finish feeding the dogs for me? I hadn’t even gotten halfway through when all of this mess happened, I’m sure they’re not too happy about that.”

“yeah, sure.” But Sans seemed just a little nervous all of a sudden, his permanent grin looking more like a grimace while his eye-light darted quickly to one side. “uhhh…which dogs did you already…?”

You smiled. “It was Tina’s turn, but I didn’t pick anything back up. Any cage that doesn’t have a food bowl in it needs one.”

The skeleton’s shoulders slumped in relief. “okay, cool.” That was an easy way to remember what needed doing. He probably wouldn’t have to come back and ask you again like he did some other times. “i’m on it.”

You opened your mouth to thank him, but between one blink and the next he was gone.

Literally. Not even a motion-blur, just gone. You turned to the reception desk to see if anybody else had just seen that, but of course it was still just you there—you and the mop and bucket that had just appeared where Sans had been standing when you’d looked away for no more than two seconds.

“Well,” you announced to no one. “That’s new.”

No one was very appreciative of your dry and pithy wit, you were quite sure.

You grabbed the mop and got to work on the glamorous task of wiping up urine, just one of the many hidden perks of your job—that you really did love, warts and all.

You really weren’t sure what to make of the new guy, but after today you were damn well going to figure it out.

Next Chapter

#fur a good time call #myfic #undertale #horrortale #sans #sans/reader #ht!sans #fanfiction

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brainfoodgp · 5 years

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Spring/2019

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”-Vincent Van Gogh-

Today is Earth Day and spring has finally sprung here in New York. We have been experiencing warmer weather and April showers have been falling steadily, a sign that bodes well for May’s flowers. NY’s Cherry Blossoms are in full eruption and the Tulips and Daffodils are poking their tiny heads out from the earth, reaching for the sun, and ready to explode into a full array of colors. After the cold frigid winter the prospects of spring always brings me such hope and a feeling that anything I set my full attention to can and will come to fruition, as long as my intention is equally powerful.

The winter was no time for hibernation for me, I’ve often admired and envied the bear for its ability to hunker down for the colder months. For me, there just don’t seem to be enough hours of daylight. Which is probably why the conclusion of daylight savings time, for me, is as much a day to be celebrated as Earth Day itself. One more hour of daylight means one more hour I have to get things done! Self-care is one of those items on my list that I am still working hard to achieve and unfortunately it often gets shuffled to the next days, and the next days “to do”list.

I am still working hard on the Brain Food Garden Project cookbook 33 Delicious Recipes for the Brain. Chef Annette Tomei’s recipe collection is shaping up nicely. And the peer community that have already shared their food and garden related stories of recovery with us are divine. They will enhance the powerful message of the project immensely. We are pushing the publication of the book back to 2020 so that I am allowed time to collect more of these gems of lived experience for its pages.

BioCities founder Kate Bakewell and I finally signed our fiscal partnership agreement at the offices of the Urban Justice Center in February and I look forward to sharing more on our new relationship in the coming months. It is an exciting step in the evolution of BFGP’s development. To learn more about BioCities click here.

I am equally excited to share an interview I gave over the winter to Community Access’s C Magazine for their Spring/Summer Issue recently published. To read the new issue click here. Also, I am happy to announce that I have been developing and scheduling guests for the new season of The Candor Report podcast. To be the first to learn of our first guests, our second season series premiere, and to keep up with all the doings of my co host Sharon Simon and me, like our TCR podcast Facebook page by clicking here.

And finally, in May I have been invited to be a panelist at the May 29th PWC Working Peer Summit. This year’s theme is “Envisioning the Future of the Peer Workforce”. To secure a reservation for this year’s summit check out the flyer advertisement at the end of this issue for more information.

Which leads me to the spring issue of the Seeds For Wellness Journal. In my BFGP Feature for this issue I discuss two of the amazing organizations that I am a part of and their missions. The first, the NYC Peer Workforce Coalition (NYC-PWC), and the second is the NYC Trauma Informed Approaches Learning Community (NYC-TIALC), both of which have been keeping me extremely busy over the winter, and appears that they will be doing the same well into spring! You’ll want to check out What I’m Reading this month, the one recovery tool I’ve been utilizing more than any of my others lately is reading...and I’ve been gorging myself on book after book. I am as always sharing some of my favorite resistance articles in Notes from the Resistance. And in Delicious Recipes for the Brain I’m sharing one of my favorite Chicken and Cauliflower recipes that I’ve eaten all winter and trust me when I say it caries beautifully over into spring.

And on this Earth Day promise to yourself that wherever you are right now that when you walk out your door you will look up, out, and around you, and take a minute to appreciate all of the beautiful nature surrounding you. It is the least we can all do to honor our earth on this day and everyday. It may even inspire you to get into a garden, work to prevent food waste, stop using plastic bags and straws or find some other way to make a difference in healing our planet. The Great Mother needs us...all of us.

Now...read on an enjoy!

BFGP Feature:

My Way Of Working To Make The Peer Workforce More Equitable

The quote above that I’ve chosen to illustrate this month’s feature is from a talk I gave recently to a group of peers in the workforce. As I discussed in the Seeds for Wellness Journal Winter/2019 feature “My Thoughts on Avoiding the Status Quo Vortex.” I have been thinking and talking a lot recently about how to advance the peer movement. And what I am consistently hearing from working peers out in the workforce is that they continually feel that their voices go unheard and that they often feel unsafe and abused in their work environment. When I speak to peers in the workforce their concerns often reflects more not on their own conflicts and misery but how the peers they serve, our community, are often treated with little decency or respect by the very agencies tasked with enhancing and making their lives better, and this above all else seems to be what challenges and affects working peers more than anything else. It speaks to the collective and empathetic powers of the Peer Workforce and gets to the heart of why most of us chose to enter the human services field to begin with.

Just as I stated in my feature story in the winter issue. There is no one right or wrong path in navigating these pitfalls that the medical model continues to put in our path. However, I am able, like I did in that issue, to share with you one of the ways I have combated toxic work environments and that I have utilized to empower myself as I have worked in these diminishing environments. I will also say that having worked for two such organizations, one a housing program, and the other a program run by a city government agency, that the lessons they have taught have helped me immensely in avoiding such abusive behavior in the crafting of the model and mission I’m building for Brain Food Garden Project. I say this, simply to share, that I truly believe every unsettling event in life is a possible tool for learning. And if one chooses to look at it that way, traumatic events may be used as a powerful source for enlightenment.

Getting involved in committee work, learning communities, and other organizations outside of the medical model structure has become one of my greatest sources for resistance. Being in a room full of other peers, sharing our stories, and believing in a better system of care than we currently have available for each other, and working hard to build a system that amplifies our voices instead of constantly trying to silence us has literally transformed my neural pathways. I have been able to clearly envision for myself what a world might look like where government agencies had to answer to us instead of the other way around. A world where peers hold agencies, hospitals, and government officials accountable for their poor decisions that affects our lives and our health. A world where that old horrible saying that people use without even knowing how disrespectful it is “The lunatics are running the asylum”, actually comes true, becomes a statement of empowerment, and bites them all in the ass. My envisioning of the “asylum” and taking it over has never looked so good!

Getting involved. I can’t speak enough to its healing and powerful vibrations! I’d like to share with you two of the organizations I am currently working with. I’ve mentioned IDHA in this journal before. If you’d like more information on their incredible work and mission click here. For this issue I would like to focus on the NYC Peer Workforce Coalition (NYC-PWC), and the NYC Trauma Informed Approaches Learning Community (NYC-TIALC). Maybe you will get inspired by the work we are doing and join us at an upcoming meeting.

NYC-Peer Workforce Coalition

The NYC-PWC’s mission is committed to advancing the work of peer supporters employed in diverse behavior health settings. We are trained professionals who are dedicated to improving our work environments, breaking down stigma, and advancing the peer support workforce. We are guided by the principles of mutual support, empowerment, and the ongoing advancement of our workforce.

Currently, the NYC-PWC is working to secure our 501c3 status. We have several sub committees including Professional Development that works to assist and empower those looking for work. The NYC-PWC participates in conferences to expand our message within our community including recently sponsoring the Job Fair at last December’s Substance Use Mental Health Peer Conference.

I am currently chair of the ad hoc committee working to create the NYC-PWC By Laws and have recently been nominated for the Executive Committee position of Community Outreach Coordinator which, if elected, in addition to reaching out to our workforce to expand PWC membership will also work to create partnerships with other organizations that share like minded goals for our community and aligns with our mission. As Community Outreach Coordinator starting in 2020 I would also be responsible for chairing the planning committee for the PWC’s yearly NYC Working Peer Summit that takes place every May.

The NYC-PWC has so many exciting goals for our future. A perfect introduction to learn more about our work would be to attend this year’s NYC Working Peer Summit on Wednesday, May 29th. This year’s theme is “Envisioning the Future of the Peer Workforce” the objective of this year’s summit panel is to promote a unique vision of what our workforce might look like in the future. The panel discussion showcases two peers that have created their own organizations (I will be one of the panelists discussing Brain Food Garden Project), a man that has created an organization that provides resources to peers with a desire to create their own peer lead organizations and businesses, and a peer that through a paper he wrote while becoming a social worker himself, hopes to de stigmatize the idea of those in clinical settings from self disclosure. It is going to be an exciting conversation and a great evening!

To Learn more about the summit and to learn how to make a reservation to attend check out the advertisement at the end of this issue. And click here to go to their website.

NYC-Trauma Informed Approaches Learning Community

The NYC-TIALC’s mission is to learn about trauma and its informed approaches, to advocate for the creation of trauma informed environments, to use these approaches in behavioral health as well as substance use communities, and to build public awareness through community education and advocacy.

We do this by building public awareness through community education and information dissemination. We work with policy makers, recipients and providers of mental health services, and the community at large, as no segment of the population is immune to trauma.

The NYC-TIALC are currently working with NY Assemblywoman Solange on drafting a NYS declaration for a Trauma Informed Approaches Awareness Day. We have convened a conference call with stakeholders state wide to discuss ways to advance NYS in becoming a trauma informed state. And I recently completed the creation of a briefing book on behalf of the learning community that compiles trauma-informed data from the federal government and states all across the country creating trauma Informed approaches for their communities. The briefing book is currently being edited and will be delivered to stakeholders by the end of May. I also created and currently administer the NYC-TIALC’s Facebook presence. The NYC-TIALC is a small but wonderful community and we would love to have more peers join us! So much more is coming in 2019 for the NYC-TIALC and I am proud to be a member of this amazing group of peers. If you would like to learn more about the learning community or attend one of our meetings held the first Monday of each month join our Facebook page by clicking here.

Brain Food Garden Project keeps me very busy. However, being a part of organizations that compliment the work I’m doing only makes me more connected. And I love being with like minded people working together to make our community stronger.

What I’m Reading:

I love reading books that inspire me and feed my soul in some way. These past few months I’ve been attending so many meetings that subway time has been reading time. It also helps my anxiety on overcrowded rides and channels that energy into something more positive. I’ve been consuming about a book a week and it truly brings me great joy! So with that being said, picking just one book for this issue was next to impossible, so I’ll be sharing two. One that was a brand new read, and that I use as a wellness tool every morning when I first wake up. And the second a re-read that I’ve used in my work and have read many times, with an even more exciting reason behind picking it up again to read recently.

First, The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life’s Direction and Purpose by Oprah. Does the queen of Super Soul Sunday really even need to add the Winfrey? It is the second companion book to that wonderful show. And like the first book The Wisdom Of Sundays it sits on my bedside table for me to randomly select a passage to read at the start of each day. Like daily affirmations it lifts me up and gets me out of bed on even my worst mornings. And with extraordinary passages like, “I have a number of different callings. and I think it’s possible to be called away from things I have been called to in the past. There are goodbyes as well as hellos in our callings. Because a calling doesn’t have to be for a lifetime.” One of the many delicious quotes, this one for example by Barbara Brown Taylor that keeps me inspired all day, is there any wonder why this new book sings to me just as much as the first one?

I am excited to announce that the author of my second book selection Fran Sorin will be Sharon Simon’s and my guest on the second episode of the new season of The Candor Report podcast kicking off in June. A beat up copy of Fran’s book Digging Deep: Unearthing Your Creative Roots Through Gardening came into my life during my second hospitalization for manic depression. The Metropolitan Community Hospital where I was hospitalized had a library of donated books that patients were allowed to visit and borrow. At the time I had been in the psych ward for about four months and I was getting better. I was starting to lay out my plan for creating Brain Food Garden Project when I found Fran’s beautiful book, and the two days in which it took me to read it, I believed it to be a sign from the universe that the seeds of my idea for BFGP were destined to grow into something powerful. As I reread it recently, I was astonished by how many peer principles the book encapsulates that I absorbed in school and that today are the roadmap for my life and life’s work. I bought my own copy after getting out of the hospital and years later would use many of the books exercises in my first peer garden that I created for an affordable housing program in Queens. I’m looking so forward to interviewing one of my personal sheroes and having a conversation with her about her transformational work.

Notes From The Resistance:

If you are anything like me you’ve had to limit your news intake. Some days I don’t even recognize this country I call home. However, that hasn’t kept me from staying informed and reading through the Mueller Report just to fully understand how Russia interfered with our elections and just what role the authoritarian fascist vulgarian played in it. It is so important for all of us as Americans to be informed that this report is number 1 on my Resistance list for the spring issue.

1. Americans are getting our first look at the Mueller Report give it a read here

2. The fascist regime is making sure that all the progress we made ensuring our kids were eating healthier in schools is being demolished. However, we aren’t going to take it read here

3. A NJ Congressman wants the world to know that right wing extremism is one of the greatest threats to America read here

4. The USDA continues to weaken under the fascist regime. Hormel lawsuit reveals some scary facts read here

5. Let’s end on a positive shall we...the 2020 Democratic hopefuls seem to be taking agricultural issues seriously read here

Delicious Recipes for the Brain:

Chicken with Cauliflower and Apples

Ingredients:

bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 pounds total)

1/2 head green cabbage (about 1/2 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

4 sprigs thyme

1 head cauliflower (2 pounds), cut into medium florets

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Coarse salt and ground pepper

2 apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Place chicken, cabbage, thyme, and half the cauliflower on a rimmed baking sheet and place remaining cauliflower on another sheet. Drizzle each with 1 tablespoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Place sheet with chicken on top rack and cauliflower on bottom. Cook until cauliflower is tender, 20 minutes, stirring twice.

 Remove both sheets from oven. Let sheet of cauliflower cool, then transfer cauliflower to an airtight container and reserve for Pasta with Cauliflower and Collards. Add apples to sheet with chicken and remaining cauliflower and return to oven. Cook until chicken is cooked through and apples are tender, about 20 minutes, stirring twice. Serve immediately.

This Year’s NYC- Peer Workforce Coalition’s annual Working Peer Summit is scheduled for Wednesday, May 29, 2019 from 6-8 pm. This year’s theme is: “Envisioning the Future of the Peer Workforce”. There will be resource tables with job opportunities, a Q & A with peer innovators, raffle items, and dinner will be served! To make your reservation to attend email. [email protected] Attn: Willie Flora Gaines or call 347-396-7194 and leave a message. Mention Brain Food Garden Project when you book your reservation!

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tifarobles · 5 years

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The Pressures of Being a Millennial (and a Parent)

I’ll admit, I am not an expert on the topics I’d like to explore today. However, it’s important to me to explore some thoughts with you about what it feels like as a parent in today’s society as someone who just turned 30. I will be speaking mostly from my anecdotal experience and personal theories. I will not link to anything and encourage you to do your own Googling if you have questions about the “facts” I claim.

Let’s start by exploring some of the negative stereotypes associated with being a millennial.

Millennials are thought to be narcissistic and some studies have backed this up. I blame two things for this stereotype - the highly competitive job market and the demand of having a social media presence. We are pushed to have confidence in order to succeed in interviews and often given the advice to fake it until you make it. If you are too confident, you are considered cocky and full of yourself. Not confident enough and people don’t think you have what it takes to make it in the cutthroat corporate world.

Why is the job market more competitive? Lots of reasons. To simply name a few - there is a higher average level of education, a higher age of retirement, more job switching between places of employment, and more women in the workforce. This competition drives a lot of stress into every aspect of our lives, from our career choice to what level of unhappiness is acceptable at a place of work (including being overworked, underpaid, yelled at, sexually harassed and dealing with racist, sexist, or homophobic attitudes).

Women, in particular, grow up with the pressures to look a certain way based on distorted versions of reality in magazines, on commercials, and in pornography. We are given the option to work very hard and spend lots of money to try to reach this unattainable ideal of what a powerful woman looks like in order to exude confidence or we can choose the non-conformity route and deal with the consequences of that. Either way, people will take your appearance into their consideration of how they view you, judge you, and determine how they guestimate your self-esteem level and worth.

Diving deeper into what I’m referring to with the social media demand, social media is always on. Unlike the days before the internet existed, there is no off time. People are always online. Everyone you are connected with in life views your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, etc to see how you are doing. There is a certain expectation now in our culture to utilize these tools for social communication. This has added a lot of benefits to society, but it’s also exhausting to keep up with. If someone is any sort of a public figure or community leader, this becomes a full-time job on top of your full-time job. Being a parent becomes a third full-time job! In many careers, you have to interact with these forums. In almost every career, you have to at the very least engage with computers and emails on a daily basis.

There is a level of technological involvement with everything we do that didn’t exist before and this technology is now the place where the vast majority of social interactions take place as well. Most millennials are always connected online, through work, hobbies, talking to friends, playing games, reading, shopping, and more. This is a major change for humans and is changing society in ways I’m sure we haven’t even begun to understand. Yet millennials are judged for the use of this new technology when there is no real education surrounding the potential disadvantages of constant screen time. Instead, we are rewarded for being connected longer and more often.

As a parent, how do I ensure my child is tech-savvy while also not overexposed to screens? How do I ensure he knows how to engage in meaningful face-to-face interactions if all of his interests end up being related to television, video games, social media, and computers? How do I teach him that his self-worth isn’t reliant on how many likes he gets or followers he has? I have concerns that the next generation (or even ours, honestly) engage exponentially more online than offline and what effect this has on real emotional connections and emotional intelligence. At the same time, I want Xander to experience movies, TV shows, video games and know how to communicate well over text, emails, blogs, social media, etc.

As far as the stereotype related to millennials feeling “special” I actually think this is related to our generation being more aware that all humans have basic human rights and the easiest way to fight for this is through your own experience. Yes, I believe I deserve the right of choice when it comes to my own health and family planning. Yes, I believe that birth control should be accessed for free. Yes, I believe every human has the right to enter our country for safety reasons. Yes, I believe every human has the right to free health care and education. Do these beliefs make me seem entitled because I think I’m a special snowflake?

I’m not sure how to raise Xander to be the “right” level of confidence that people feel our generations’ parents failed at. I’m hoping that his natural charm will help, but I also hope people don’t view him poorly for his good looks assuming he didn’t have to work for anything. I want him to have good self-esteem, but I don’t want him to feel superior to others. I think I can strike this balance, but I also feel like society is working against these goals with contradictory messages.

In the workplace, it’s said that millennials have an increased importance of work-life balance. This is viewed as us wanting to be spoiled. I’d like to point out that this is likely related to a few different factors - the need for two-income households, the competitiveness in the job market, the average wage to the cost of living ratio, and the ability to always work when you are home on off hours.

Related to this, there is also a desire for direct feedback from employers more than in previous generations and this creates a false stereotype that we need more hand-holding than older generations. Nowadays, most people do not stay in one job for their entire career. The majority of my friends switch jobs every 2-3 years, and not always by choice. This is a huge change. Your job could be taken away from you at any given minute through no fault of your own. Entire teams get axed all the time, wages for contractor roles have dropped in the last 5 years, and stability isn’t a word I think many 30 years olds feel like they have in their career. On top of this, housing prices and rent costs have skyrocketed during the years since I graduated college in 2011. Having some established feedback channel helps to determine if you are safe in your current job.

I could get into the statistics of layoffs, unemployment rates, average wage by age compared to cost of living, etc, but that could go on for a long time and would require a great deal of research and probably lead to some debates. This is not the point of this post...

Turning to the point of my post. As a parent, this is incredibly stressful. The option to have a stay-at-home parent is now considered a luxury. This used to be the norm. I’m not saying that women should be forced to stay at home with their kids, not at all. I just wish there was the option of choice for families to decide what is best for them, whether that be daycare and two full-time parents, a stay-at-home dad, a nanny, or something else. Being a stay-at-home parent nowadays essentially means that one parent has to make the average salary of two people or that you will have to learn to completely change your budgeting style, not just to account for the cost of raising a child, but for basic everyday things. I will say that the recommendation of spending 30% of your paycheck on housing is no longer realistic. Millennials now spend up to 45% of their income on housing before they are 30 (there’s a link for that one!). Add a kid to the equation and both parents pretty much have to work unless one makes bank. This adds an additional cost of childcare in addition to less time with family and potentially an overall more stressful home environment.

Mothers, in particular, have it incredibly difficult. We are expected to be the emotional support structure of our home, one of the income providers, the person who ensures everyone is fed, dressed, and cleaned, we are expected to keep our house clean, the laundry put away, the dishes not stacked up in the sink, ensuring we have our own self-care and time with friends scheduled, all while maintaining a strong (but not too strong) attitude at work. We are expected to be sensitive to our children, yet thick-skinned at work. We are expected to be willing and able to listen to customers and coworkers complain, but not be able to complain ourselves or we will be seen as nagging. If we have bold opinions, we will be viewed as someone who overexaggerates or overreacts. If we are quiet, we are thought to not have ideas. We get talked over in meetings, are told we are too loud when we talk over others and are viewed as someone to walk on eggshells around if we call out this sexist behavior.

At work alone, there is a lot to deal with. At home, there is a great sense of responsibility. At the end of the day, I care more about being a good mom than any of these other things. Being a working mom I felt like I was constantly at war with myself over what to prioritize between my own health, my son’s happiness, being there for my husband, and my ability to give 100% at work. At a certain point, my sanity broke under the pressures. I had to stop working to figure out how to balance properly. Stopping working led to a slew of other issues in our house financially. The work I did take up took up time I’d normally be sleeping, so that is still something I’m learning to fit into my days.

Yet, I am afraid to even write about these feelings. What if a potential employer reads this post and thinks I can’t handle the job they want me to do?

I don’t have an answer on how to solve this problem. I just think this problem, much like mental health, needs to be discussed, largely because the two go hand in hand. I just hope that by the time my son is starting a family (or choosing not to), that these pressures won’t be as great. I hope that whatever his choice is it is his choice because it is what he wants, not because he feels like he can’t have a family and a career. I hope he doesn’t have to spend half of his paycheck on putting a roof over his head. I hope he doesn’t get laid off from multiple jobs in a span of 5 years due to reorgs, job descriptions suddenly changing, and companies going out of business like Mike and I have faced. I hope he isn’t constantly job searching in case the worst is to happen or because he wants to find a job that will actually pay the bills and have a little that can go into savings.

I hope that by the time he is our age there won’t still be a war over who can use what bathroom. I hope there won’t be children being gassed because they need a safer place to live. I hope there won’t be a war on women’s bodies that includes taking away their choice and taking away their ability to protect their own bodies from an unwanted pregnancy. I hope his future generation includes the importance of understanding consent and excludes blaming victims.

Part of the human condition is that we will never get everything right. There will probably always be war. There will probably always be people that use other people in terrible ways. I just hope that things can get easier than they are now. At least we now have working toilets, lighting, central heating, air conditioning, the ability to travel around the world, and many other huge benefits from our technological evolution. At least slavery is illegal and women are allowed to vote. I just hope that the future has a better outlook for equality for all, and that is very related to the economy. As they say, the rich keep getting richer and the poor get poorer. I’m afraid the middle class is vanishing and marginalized groups will be the ones to suffer the most.

Xander, I will do all I can to prepare you for this world and to help you be ready to impact the needed change. At the same time, I’ll try to keep the house reasonably clean, healthy and delicious food on the table, stylish clothes on your back, and find time to play with you and give you snuggles every day that I can.

#parenting #liberal #millennials

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newstfionline · 6 years

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Gen Z Is Coming to Your Office

By Janet Adamy, WSJ, Sept. 6, 2018

Sean McKeon was 11 years old when the 2008 financial crisis shot anxiety through his life in Hudson, Ohio. He remembers his father coming home stressed after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over the bank where he worked. A teacher asked classmates if their parents cut back that Christmas. They all said yes.

That unsettling time shaped the job plans he hatched in high school. “I needed to work really hard and find a career that’s recession-proof,” says Mr. McKeon, now 21. He set his sights on a Big Four accounting firm. He interned at EY in Cleveland and will become an auditor there after graduating from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, next year.

About 17 million members of Generation Z are now adults and starting to enter the U.S. workforce, and employers haven’t seen a generation like this since the Great Depression. They came of age during recessions, financial crises, war, terror threats, school shootings and under the constant glare of technology and social media. The broad result is a scarred generation, cautious and hardened by economic and social turbulence.

Gen Z totals about 67 million, including those born roughly beginning in 1997 up until a few years ago. Its members are more eager to get rich than the past three generations but are less interested in owning their own businesses, according to surveys. As teenagers many postponed risk-taking rites of passage such as sex, drinking and getting driver’s licenses. Now they are eschewing student debt, having seen prior generations drive it to records, and trying to forge careers that can withstand economic crisis.

Early signs suggest Gen Z workers are more competitive and pragmatic, but also more anxious and reserved, than millennials, the generation of 72 million born from 1981 to 1996, according to executives, managers, generational consultants and multidecade studies of young people. Gen Zers are also the most racially diverse generation in American history: Almost half are a race other than non-Hispanic white.

With the generation of baby boomers retiring and unemployment at historic lows, Gen Z is filling immense gaps in the workforce. Employers, plagued by worker shortages, are trying to adapt.

LinkedIn Corp. and Intuit Inc. have eased requirements that certain hires hold bachelor’s degrees to reach young adults who couldn’t afford college. At campus recruiting events, EY is raffling off computer tablets because competition for top talent is intense.

Companies are reworking training so it replicates YouTube-style videos that appeal to Gen Z workers reared on smartphones.

“They learn new information much more quickly than their predecessors,” says Ray Blanchette, CEO of Ruby Tuesday Inc., which introduced phone videos to teach young workers to grill burgers and slow-cook ribs. Growing up immersed in mobile technology also means “it’s not natural or comfortable for them necessarily to interact one-on-one,” he says.

Demographers see parallels with the Silent Generation, a parsimonious batch born between 1928 and 1945 that carried the economic scars of the Great Depression and World War II into adulthood while reaping the rewards of a booming postwar economy in the 1950s and 1960s. Gen Z is setting out in the workplace at one of the most opportune times in decades, with an unemployment rate of 4%.

“They’re more like children of the 1930s, if children of the 1930s had learned to think, learn and communicate while attached to hand-held supercomputers,” says Bruce Tulgan, a management consultant at RainmakerThinking in Whitneyville, Conn.

Gen Z’s attitudes about work reflect a craving for financial security. The share of college freshmen nationwide who prioritize becoming well off rose to around 82% when Gen Z began entering college a few years ago, according to the University of California, Los Angeles. That is the highest level since the school began surveying the subject in 1966. The lowest point was 36% in 1970.

The oldest Gen Zers also are more interested in making work a central part of their lives and are more willing to work overtime than most millennials, according to the University of Michigan’s annual survey of teens.

“They have a stronger work ethic,” says Jean Twenge, a San Diego State University psychology professor whose book “iGen” analyzes the group. “They’re really scared that they’re not going to get the good job that everybody says they need to make it.”

Just 30% of 12th-graders wanted to be self-employed in 2016, according to the Michigan survey, which has measured teen attitudes and behaviors since the mid-1970s. That is a lower rate than baby boomers, Gen X, the group born between 1965 and 1980, and most millennials when they were high-school seniors. Gen Z’s name follows Gen X and Gen Y, an early moniker for the millennial generation.

College Works Painting, which hires about 1,600 college students a year to run small painting businesses across the country, is having difficulty hiring branch managers because few applicants have entrepreneurial skills, says Matt Stewart, the Irvine, Calif., company’s co-founder.

“Your risk is failure, and I do think people are more afraid of failure than they used to be,” he says.

A few years ago Mr. Stewart noticed that Gen Z hires behaved differently than their predecessors. When the company launched a project to support branch managers, millennials excitedly teamed up and worked together. Gen Z workers wanted individual recognition and extra pay. The company introduced bonuses of up to $3,000 to encourage them to participate.

After seeing their millennial predecessors drown in student debt, Gen Z is trying to avoid that fate. The share of freshmen who used loans to pay for college peaked in 2009 at 53% and has declined almost every year since, falling to 47% in 2016, according to the UCLA survey.

Denise Villa, chief executive of the Center for Generational Kinetics in Austin, says focus groups show some Gen Z members are choosing less-expensive, lower-status colleges to lessen debt loads. Federal Reserve Bank of New York data show that nationwide, overall student loan balances have grown at an average annual rate of 6% in the past four years, down sharply from a 16% annual growth rate in the previous decade.

Lana Demelo, a 20-year-old in San Jose, Calif., saw her older sister take on debt when she became the first person in their family to attend college. “I just watched her go through all those pressures and I felt like me personally, I didn’t want to go through them,” says Ms. Demelo. She enrolled in Year Up, a work training program that places low-income high-school graduates in internships, got hired as a project coordinator at LinkedIn and attends De Anza College in Cupertino part-time.

Gen Z is literally sober. Data from the Michigan survey and federal statistics show they were less likely to have tried alcohol, gotten their driver’s licenses, had sex or gone out regularly without their parents than teens of the previous two or three generations, Ms. Twenge, the San Diego State professor, found.

They grew up trusting adults, and Gen Z employees want managers who will step in to help them handle uncomfortable situations like conflicts with co-workers and provide granular feedback, says Mr. Tulgan, the management consultant.

When Mr. Tulgan’s company surveyed thousands of Gen Z members about what mattered most to them at work, he heard repeatedly that they wanted a “safe environment.” He is advising clients to create small work teams so managers have time to nurture them.

“I was in no rush to get a driver’s license,” says Joshua Berja, a 21-year-old San Francisco resident who waited until he turned 18 to get one. He lives with his parents to save money, runs errands for his mother and picks his father up from work.

Gen Z is reporting higher levels of anxiety and depression as teens and young adults than previous generations. About one in eight college freshmen felt depressed frequently in 2016, the highest level since UCLA began tracking it more than three decades ago.

That is one reason EY three years ago launched a program originally called “are u ok?”--now called “We Care”--a companywide mental health program that includes a hotline for struggling workers.

Mr. Stewart, of College Works Painting, says he wasn’t aware of any depressed employees 15 years ago but now deals frequently with workers battling mental-health issues. He says he has two workers with bipolar disorder that the company wants to promote but can’t “because they’ll disappear for a week at a time on the down cycle.”

Smartphones may be partly to blame. Much of Gen Z’s socializing takes place via text messages and social media platforms--a shift that has eroded natural interactions and allowed bullying to play out in front of wider audiences.

In the small town of Conneaut Lake, Penn., Corrina Del Greco and her friends joined Snapchat and Instagram in middle school. Ms. Del Greco, 19, checked them every hour and fended off requests for prurient photos from boys. She shut down her social media accounts after deciding they “had a little too much power over my self-esteem,” she said.

That has helped her focus on studying at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., to become a software engineer, a career she sees as recession-proof. When the last downturn hit, she remembers cutting back on gas and eating out because her parents’ music-lesson business softened.

“I learned a lot about the value of money,” she says. “I’ve always wanted to have a very secure lifestyle, secure income.”

She says the negative experience with social media made her want a professional LinkedIn page, and she took a seminar at college to learn how to do that.

The flip side of being digital natives is that Gen Z is even more adept with technology than millennials. Natasha Stough, Americas campus recruiting director at EY in Chicago, was wowed by a young hire who created a bot to answer questions on the company’s Facebook careers page.

To lure more Gen Z workers, EY rolled out video technology that allows job candidates to record answers to interview questions and submit them electronically.

Getting employees comfortable with face-to-face interactions takes work, Ms. Stough says. “We do have to coach our interns, ‘If you’re sitting five seats away from the client and they’re around the corner, go talk to them.’”

Mr. McKeon, the Ohio student, sees a silver lining growing up during tumultuous times. He used money from his grandfather and jobs at McDonald’s and a house painting company to build a stock portfolio now worth about $5,000. He took school more seriously knowing that “the world’s gotten a lot more competitive.”

“With any hardship that people endure in life, they either get stronger or it paralyzes them,” Mr. McKeon says. “These hardships have offered a great opportunity for us to get stronger.”

#Generation Z #workplace and Generation Z

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dxmedstudent · 6 years

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Your last post hit really close to home. I left Medicine this year. It wasn’t an easy choice. I am a really proud (and a bit stubborn, to be honest) person and it took me a while to accept that it wasn’t a complete failure, that it was just putting for once (how it should be) my mental and physical health first. I learnt a lot and I don’t regret it, but I wish that 18 years old me had someone painting her a realistic view of what my life would have been during all these years.

Hi anon, Thank you for your message. I’m so, so sorry about what you’ve been through. You deserved better, and I hope you’re doing something now that makes you truly happy. You deserve it.

It’s absolutely not failure to put yourself first. People deserve to be happy, and whilst in the grand scheme of things I don’t want everyone to jump ship and leave me in medicine by myself, on an individual level I absolutely support people doing what they think is best for themselves, even if that means leaving. It takes so much strength to admit to yourself that the profession you loved and spent almost a decade preparing for, is not good for you and isn’t making you happy, even though you worked so hard for so long to get there. Even though you made so many sacrifices. Even though so many people supported you through the journey, and wanted you to be a doctor. Even though we all survive by making medicine part of our identity. The people who leave medicine are absolutely the strongest out of all of us, and I will not tolerate anything unkind being said about them. People don’t have the right to look down on those who leave. I don’t think it’s fair when people say “you knew what you were getting into”; yes, as a 17 year old I knew here would be night shifts, dying people, and exams, but no amount of work experience prepares you for the reality, and people who don’t face any of the above absolutely cannot judge those who do. I had a pretty good idea of what medicine would entail as a teenager, and as a med student,and guess what? It still surprises me with horrendousness every once in a while. That’s not because I’m badly informed about being a doctor, it’s because it’s a job with the scope for sheer awfulness and stress on a scale few can imagine. I also don’t think it’s fair when people reply to our complaints or experiences with “If you don’t like it, then leave”. Well, yes, we could all leave, but then you’d be left with empty hospitals? In the longterm, a field which fails to retain its workforce needs to evaluate what is forcing people out, and address those problems. This isn’t about finding ways to force unhappy workers to stay; it’s absolutely about making medicine something people would want to stay in. And I can tell you with the increasing pressure the NHS is under, our lives are absolutely made harder and more stressful. I don’t even believe it’s about people necessarily being ‘wrong’ for medicine. Whilst some people do manage to get through med school before they realise they just weren’t cut out to be doctors (perhaps it was to please their parents, perhaps they changed, and perhaps it wasn’t what they expected), lots of people are pretty good at doctoring, and still burn out and leave. So many enter it with a desire to do good, with the right skills and the right motivations for the job. I’ve met so many good doctors who have thought about quitting medicine, picked non-clinical specialties or left medicine altogether to save their sanity. And it wasn’t because they weren’t good at dealing with patients, or were unrealistic about medicine, but because the particular working conditions they were facing made them miserable. I’ve always said that I’ve been lucky, and I’ve always held that many of us, if not all of us, are a couple of nasty placements away from leaving clinical medicine. Because being in a placement where you feel unsupported, pressured, bullied or an anonymous cog in a massive sytem that does not value you is horrible. And too many of us face that, not just in one bad rotation, but in multiple jobs. We absolutely do deserve better.

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the-sappho-of-lesbos · 2 years

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You've mentioned once that you got asked (at the clinic? Not sure) what you do all the day if you don't work etc. Are you often asked that? And what do yot respond? (I'm currently not working because of mental health issues and that question always makes me feel uncomfortable, especially when peers ask that)

Oh man I get asked it ALL the time. Sometimes it’s asked in kinder ways other times you can just tell how like borderline disgusted they are over it. It’s wild.

I’m sorry you are also fighting hard against your own mental health problems. I know that must be so hard and draining for you :( But you should definitely feel proud for prioritising your health 💕

I honestly respond in different ways depending on my mood and depending on how the question was asked. On some really snarky days I’ve just been like “I don’t do anything ever :)” just smiling at them. Sometimes I come up with excuses like “oh I used to do this or that but my health got bad so I’ve taken a break”. If I feel comfortable with the person I tend to explain that my mental illnesses are so debilitating that I struggle to leave the house most days and I’m in so many services it’s almost like a part time job at this point. And other times I guess I’m just honest. I’ll tell them I’m not physically capable of working at the moment or studying but it’s a goal of mine to get the point where I can do something. Even just working like 5 hours a week is a huge dream for me.

I feel like there isn’t really a right or wrong way to answer this question and you can do whatever you want or feel most comfortable with. I definitely feel your pain though when it comes to peers asking that question. I’m definitely a lot better at answering it when it’s coming from a service of some kind. I don’t really know how to answer it when peers do. I normally just kind of shrug. But I’ve also just flat out avoided situations where I thought it might be asked because the question itself can often make me feel pretty crap. Like no family friend, I’m not working, no I’m not studying, no I haven’t learnt how to drive, no I’m not seeing anyone. It’s really hard having all this “shortcomings” shoved back in my face. Because we definitely live in a society where that’s where a lot of acceptance and worth comes from. Which really sucks.

And I’m genuinely so sorry you have to go through that as well. I know nothing I say can really take away that pain but I am sorry. It’s really hard.

And I definitely have trouble believing this myself so it might sound hypocritical but it’s definitely true. There is so much more to you then work or study. So much value and love and worth. You are worth so much just as you are. I know mental health issues can make you feel pretty bad or hopeless or useless but it isn’t true. And you deserve to have yourself and those around see that. And I really wish that for you with my whole heart. I hope are in a place where people can love you and see you for all the wonder things you have to offer and if you don’t see it for yourself now I hope with all my heart you get there one day. Because you are worth it. And if work is something you really want to do I hope you can heal enough and get the support you need to enter the workforce and do something that makes you happy - but just remember even if that day doesn’t come you are still worth so much and there are things you can contribute to either others or yourself too.

I really hope you have a beautiful and happy day and that something lovely happens to you! 💕💕💕💕💕

#asks #anon #answered

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xdreamer45x · 6 years

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so last night I had a really weird dream that had Bendy in it, then my trash ass started concocting an au loosely based on it while driving to school this morning lmao

under a read more cuz this got hella long lol

basically what happened in one part of my dream was that I was facing off against Bendy in some sort of boss fight with two random dudes who I guess were my friends?? and also I wasn’t actually myself but someone else?? aNYWAY what really stood out to me in that section was that instead of being all inky, Bendy was all floofy instead (he looked like a sheepdog with all that fur in his eyes XD), and somehow I ended up convincing him to smooch me and he stopped attacking us lmao

I really loved the idea of a floofy Bendy and smooching the monster boi in my dream was pretty fun, so my brain started cooking up an au while I was heading to school, but since I don’t like doing self-insert stuff, I swapped out myself for Nomi cuz Nomi is best girl XD

I don’t have too much thought out cuz I kinda sorta wanna wait to see how Chapter 5 wraps everything up before fully planning everything out?? Mainly because I don’t know at what point in time to set my idea lol; I have something thought up, but it’s subject to change as more lore surfaces :P

So on to the idea, it kind of ended up turning into a rc9gn/batim mashup since I decided to include First Ninja as Nomi’s dad, seeing as the events of the game take place after a span of 30 years and I didn’t want Nomi to be all old and stuff since she’s a normal human in this au XD

Satoru (aka First Ninja, idk if he should have a more American-sounding name for this au lmao), was one of the animators who worked at Joey Drew Studios, but later left the company due to the unsafe conditions presented by the installation of the ink machine. Nomi is his daughter, who still lives at home helping around the house and such, seeing as she has no husband and doesn’t make enough money to live on her own. She is also an artist, but works freelance at home and passes her work off as a man’s so that she’ll get more jobs/be paid more for them (since I'm assuming the events that happen in-game take place during the 60's, (rubber hose animation being popular in the 30's + 30 year timeskip) so there'd be more sexism towards women in the workforce). Nomi grew up watching Bendy cartoons and had always aspired to someday work at the studio and animate her own cartoons with the little devil darlin’ she adored so much.

One day, Satoru is feeling nostalgic and decides to take Nomi, now an adult woman in her late 20′s/early 30′s, down to the old studio for a visit, unaware of the horrible nightmare brewing inside. They enter the abandoned studio, around the time Henry is already deep within the depths of the building uncovering the mysteries of the studio’s hellish state. The two of them quickly realize something is wrong and set out to investigate on their own, none the wiser to Henry’s presence/recent exploits. They fight off ink monsters still lingering inside while proceeding with their investigation.

The two of them end up getting separated for a time from the decrepit building’s unstable structures falling apart around them. Nomi wanders around while looking for a way to regroup with her father, and ends up discovering a section of Bendy-Land that was meant to be some sort of bizarre petting zoo for creatures resembling the cartoon characters. Joey had only managed to have one creature created, a creature that was meant to be a fluffy and adorable little Bendy for kids to play with, but the experiment had quickly gone sideways and the Bendy creature ended up much bigger and scarier-looking than planned (basically just picture ink Bendy a little more filled out and animal-like, and also floofy XP). Nomi discovers the Bendy creature wandering the petting zoo area, the poor thing with ink-matted fur having survived this whole time solely off of cans of bacon soup that seem to be littering the entire studio. The Bendy creature spots Nomi, seeing her as a threat since everything else in the studio has done nothing but attack him. Having no weapons to protect herself with after accidentally breaking an axe earlier, Nomi arms herself with a can of bacon soup that she finds laying around. After a brief struggle, Nomi somehow ends up befriending the Bendy creature, who becomes curious about her since she isn’t an ink monster like the others.

Nomi finds out that the Bendy creature fully understands what she says to him, but he himself can’t communicate back in human language; his growls/purrs/breathing/etc. sound much like ink Bendy’s and is how he verbally communicates, along with an extensive use of body language/non-verbal cues. During their short period of bonding, Nomi promises to bring the Bendy creature with her upon escaping the studio, wanting to give him a proper bath and take care of him, to nurse him back to better health after living in such horrid conditions for so long. The Bendy creature approves of the offer and allies himself with Nomi, following her around and helping to protect her from the dangers of the studio.

The pair at one point end up encountering ink Bendy and engage in an all-out brawl with him since Nomi refuses to hide. Ink Bendy goes after Nomi first, whose stubborn streak and fiery personality makes her ready to fight back, especially after having picked up a gent pipe earlier. She manages to hold her own for a bit until ink Bendy knocks the pipe away from her and overwhelms her, to which the Bendy creature lunges in and starts fighting ink Bendy himself. The fight turns into a back-and-forth kind of brawl where ink Bendy continuously knocks one of them back before the other rushes back in. Nomi fights hard, weaponizing whatever she can along with swinging her fists for a good, old-fashioned beatdown, doing surprisingly well with the Bendy creature’s aid, but it still isn’t enough to subdue ink Bendy. It isn’t until Satoru finds them and rushes in with his own weapon does ink Bendy retreat, not wanting to deal with a 3-on-1 fight. Satoru nearly attacks the Bendy creature as well until Nomi convinces him that he’s on their side.

How they end up escaping the studio is still up in the air, seeing as there currently isn’t Chapter 5 to refer to, so idk if they should encounter Henry at all or end up slipping out on their own while Henry continues to deal with his own shit XD

The Bendy creature is brought home with Nomi and her dad, and after a recovery period of getting him thoroughly cleaned and properly cared for (although he keeps the sheepdog bangs over his eyes cuz his eyes are actually pretty terrifying to look at…also they’re very light-sensitive, he needs that little bit of shade XD), he quickly settles in to home life with them. He greatly enjoys getting to eat things that aren’t bacon soup, and quickly develops a habit of sleeping on Nomi’s bed with her every night (yep, on, not in, he just flops down on top of her comforter and cuddles up XD). He’s the best darn guard monster and an epic snuggler XP He also quickly develops a basic understanding of and how to execute affectionate human gestures like hugging, hand-holding, and kissing (although he looks rather goofy whenever he puckers his lips to give a kiss XD). Things are fluffy and cute and there’s a whole bunch of silly shenanigans with Nomi and her floofy monster boyfriend lmao XP

aaaand that’s all I got so far! :P

#bendy and the ink machine #batim #rc9gn #human!nomicon #nomicon #first ninja

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tamsythepansy · 6 years

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VOY: “Workforce”, the transest Star Trek episode ever

So. There’s a two-part episode of Star Trek: Voyager (“Workforce”) in which the crew all find themselves living out new lives as vaguely Fordist industrial workers on a planet called Quarra, all memory of their real lives having been artificially suppressed.

Imagine my surprise when, rewatching it years later, the bogus diagnosis they’re given as their memories start to resurface is...

...which also happens to be exactly what my partners have been reminding me for the last two months (bless them). I giggled.

Lo and behold, it happens to Tuvok as well:

Now, I get that it was the turn of the millennium and this hadn’t really entered the lexicon yet, but... this is just the tip of the iceberg. Watch along with me and see how it all plays out:

Tuvok, of course, is the first to experience memories of his real life breaking through the facade, has a panic attack, and is hospitalized:

Well, if this isn’t relatable to multitudes of trans and non-binary Star Trek fans, I don’t know what is. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Of course, the ‘treatment’ for Dysphoria Syndrome involves suppressing the offending memory engrams, so the patient can peacefully return to being a cog in the cisheteronormative machine Quarran power distribution facility (read what you will into that). As the expert on Dysphoria Syndrome himself later puts it:

Sounds like an allegory for LGBTQ conversion therapy to me, I mean, what?

Anyway, Seven realizes that Tuvok might be on to something, and heads to the mental health clinic to get a gender assessment investigate:

Stepping into the realm of the purely serious for a moment, I *have* sort of read Seven’s character arc as a plausible trans allegory, and it’s pretty compelling: having her true identity suppressed at an early age, and finally being forced to confront it in adulthood; processing layers upon layers of trauma just to function as an individual; being rehabilitated by a circle of strong, compassionate women, each with their own identity issues (plus the medical wizardry, overeager cisheteronormative life coaching, and starry-eyed / vaguely inappropriate crushing of The Doctor, I guess, so yeah); struggling to reclaim her human (/feminine) sense of self even while the effects of her Borg (/patriarchal) upbringing have thoroughly warped her thoughts (even as they continue to give her superhuman resilience and insight). I’m sure there’s even a comparison to be drawn to transfeminine desirability politics — Seven is continually presented both as an extremely conventionally attractive human *and* as a mysterious cyborg whose embodiment and manner communicates an often-threatening sense of Otherness — but I’ll leave that for a future discourse. I’m honestly spitballing a bit with all of this, but to see it so explicitly referenced, intentionally or not, is quite something.

So, Seven asks the obvious question, and it turns out that, while being trans is undoubtedly a Real Thing, the specifics are... inconclusive:

Let’s take a moment to celebrate the fact that we’re finally starting to see gender doctors who actually understand us in all our nuance, because...

...we already know this is bad news. (Paging Dr. Harry Benjamin.)

Anyway, the compassionate gender doctor goes to the conversion therapy doctor to see what’s up, because clearly something over at the power plant is turning people trans:

One important takeaway from this story is “never walk away and leave your work computer unlocked”:

I get it, though! On a planet ostensibly without Tumblr or OKCupid, trans community is just really, really hard to find. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The compassionate gender doctor soon notices a pattern:

...mm hmm, it all started when a genderqueer person sneezed in the employee locker room, and somehow the conversion therapy doctor wound up with his hands full as everybody in the office came down with a bad case of The Trans.

Finally, the compassionate gender doctor is determined to be just a little bit too sympathetic to these gender deviants, and the now-canonically trans but still awesome at passing Seven of Nine comes to the rescue:

As if this weren’t trans enough...

...check out the subplot featuring Jaffen, a co-worker with whom Captain Janeway has an adorable but bittersweet whirlwind relationship. Though Jaffen presents as male and uses he/him pronouns, THIS TOTALLY HAPPENS, and its implications are never made clear:

Though this is set up as the punchline of a “your father” joke, Jaffen isn’t just fucking around here. Tuvok knows what’s up, and proceeds to Vulcan-splain the joke right back to him:

Which begs the question, how do Norvalians procreate, anyway? Are they clones, like the Vorta? Do they deposit their genetic material into pods, like the J’naii? Do they pick up ready-made offspring, like the Kobali? Whatever the intent is, it has serious implications for whatever kind of relationship he and Janeway would have (like, it’s not on the cisheteronormative trajectory of sex and babies, at the very least). So, bear with me for a moment, because this is my honest-to-goodness fan theory:

(okay, I admit I just had that image lying around, and this seemed like as good a moment as any to use it.)

What if Norvalians reproduce parthenogenetically, leaving the entire need for a biological “father” out of the equation?

This could mean one of two things: as with terrestrial Komodo dragons (I think), parthenogenesis happens but binary sexual reproduction is still an option (which honestly doesn’t seem like the most likely explanation, given the way Jaffen and Tuvok both frame it), *or*, as with terrestrial whiptail lizards, parthenogenesis is the default, and male (i.e., sperm-producing) offspring are extremely rare and/or usually infertile.

So yeah, okay, they reproduce parthenogenetically, Jaffen is a rare male and is probably infertile, and therefore the Jaffen/Janeway relationship is more about companionship and cooperation than sex and babies. I’m fine with that, and I actually find it quite heartwarming.

But, with that in mind, do we need to assume that Jaffen is male, whatever that means for his species? After all, whiptail lizards engage in female/female courtship behaviour, which somehow makes them more fecund — and remember, it’s the Delta Quadrant; we’ve seen enough weird sex shit by Season 7 (cf. “Elogium”, “Favorite Son”, “The Disease”, “Ashes to Ashes”, off the top of my head) that we can reasonably conclude that all bets are off.

My interpretation? Jaffen is an honest, gallant, leather-waistcoat-rocking, he/him pronoun-using, parthenogenetic Space Butch. Maybe I’ve spent too much time on Sapphic Star Trek Tumblr, or have finally disappeared up my own genderqueer ass, but I’m convinced it’s the simplest explanation that’s congruent with the facts.

[I just spent a bunch of time trying to find the “Captain Janeway is a closet lesbian, change my mind” meme, but no dice.]

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far, it’s time for me to deliver on the non-binary trans lesbian Star Trek shitposting that I’m usually all about. Having been closeted for a long time, I know a thing or two about relationships that seem straight on the surface but are actually hella queer under the hood, so to speak. Just look at these two u-hauling it on the third date (it’s adorable!):

This also seems really gay for some reason:

And, at the end of the day, he’s a good ally:

Watch the whole episode for the obligatory Sad Lesbian Ending.

The icing on this three-tiered Tholian gay wedding cake

...yup.

[Thanks to Em for subtly egging me on (ha) and Bry for putting up with me procrastinating all night. Love you both.]

#star trek shitposting #genderqueer shitposting #original content #original commentary #very long post #cw conversion therapy #cw dysphoria #non-binary lesbian #trans stuff #ember #discourse long and prosper #this got really unintentionally serious #cw transphobia #cw transmisogyny #cw sex mention #cw reproduction #tamsytalk

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