aimeeandbeatles
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I hope I'm not paying for that.
Random Thoughts 9: Attack of the Vapid Posts
- Thread starter hobbsyoyo
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I hope I'm not paying for that.
Exactly. There aren't likely to be wealthy Reformacon donors living in those little places, so they didn't matter.
Actually, back when I was a municipal census taker and was faced with a reluctant interviewee who wanted to know why I was there asking questions, I explained it so that they could see how it would personally benefit them.
Sample conversation after the resident answered the door and I identified myself as a City of Red Deer census taker:
Resident: Why does this matter?
Me: It gives the City information on a variety of things they need to understand to provide the services we need or want. For example, how do you feel about the parking in Red Deer, the pot holes, or snow removal? Do you think the City is doing a good job?
Resident: NO!
Me: Well, you know they're saying it's a budget issue, that they don't have enough money to fix everything right away and that's because the province doesn't give them enough. The way the province determines how much to transfer to the cities is by how many people are counted in the census. Every individual person means the City gets $$$ for that person. So it's important to be counted, as a percentage of the money you bring in to the city coffers is allocated to things like fixing roads, snow removal, building schools, maintaining recreational facilities, and so on.
Resident: Oh, I didn't think of it that way. Okay, what do you need to know?
(rest of interview followed, usually about 6-10 quick questions, depending on what information the city wanted that year)
The times that really made me have a mental
reaction is when people didn't want to give their ages. You'd think I'd asked them for their SIN number (this was in the era before everyone had passwords for everything). Honestly, I forgot most of what people told me about 2 minutes after I left. It's either the really cooperative/helpful people or the obnoxious ones or the reluctant ones or the outright liars who I remember. In one case a man told me to "talk to my wife" (he and the kids were just leaving) and one of the kids immediately piped up with "Mommy's not home." So I told him that it would only take a couple of minutes and save me having to come back later. He was not happy, and hopefully the kid didn't get into trouble...
hobbsyoyo
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An Ode to Billionaire Jerkoffery and the RNG Gods:
I just finished the movie Steve Jobs with Michael Fassbender. I have a lot to say about the movie itself, but something about his life story jumped out at me at the end which made me pause -
At the end of the movie, Steve has a reconciliation with his first daughter. This is the daughter that he denied parenting for years; the daughter who's mother he called a whore in national media - in effect forcing her and her and her mother to live on food stamps while he cruised toward the third comma in his net worth.
What struck me about the scene was how absurdly lucky Steve was. Here, I do not refer to his fantastic wealth. I could write a substantial essay about how he fell into the circumstances which made his success possible rather than earned, but that wasn't what struck me about the scene. I was also unmoved by his sad-sap story of having come 'round to the needs of his daughter and finally been moved to make things right with her after a life of denial. To me, this was all the mythologizing jerkoffery of Steve Jobs sycophants, hoping to capitalize on the life story of a dead man for one last hooray of self-serving cash-ins & silver screen glory.
What struck me was not that he made billions to finally dump on his progeny but the fact that he had a kid in the first place.
I've been poop-posting here for a minute; long enough that I think my whining and moaning about the struggle involved with bootstrapping yourself out of poverty is basically a trope of my posting personality. I have, to the best of my ability, pushed myself to win a little spot of stability in a world defined by the whims of a faceless stock market and the shifting sands of a global economy controlled by feckless asshats like Steve Jobs. I have been phenomenally fortunate that my unique obsession happens to be a lucrative career. From this point forward, I do not think I will ever know the pangs of a hungry belly or feel the bite of a cold night spent unsheltered under the stars.
And yet, at the end of the day, as I lay my ass to rest on a nice mattress in a quiet, peaceful suburb, I do not know what it's like to tuck a child into bed for the night. It's not for lack of trying - I've been at it for going on a goddamn year. I haven't yet consulted with professionals to diagnose the issue but that really is beside the point. For closing on a half-billion years, there is an unbroken lineage that links me from the present to the moment my muck-wrangling ancestors wretched themselves off a coral reef and headed toward dry land. And yet, here I am at the other end of that unbroken chain, unable to conceive despite my best efforts (humblebrag not intended).
I spent the first decade of my adult life scraping by and consciously deferring having offspring on account of my native brokeassness condition. No, 'being smart' about birth control didn't win me any flipping awards - in fact it directly harmed me as my lack of children was the only justification the state of Missouri could come up with for denying my brokeass food stamps while my accounts ran deep into the red. And please, do not think that I lack perspective. I am fully cognizant of the fact that as a high-school-dropout-come-rocket scientist millenial, I am the poster child for a bootstrapping, rag-to-riches example of the success that can come if you only 'apply yourself and do your best'.
**** that ****** lie. You cannot beat the RNG gods that govern your life. You and I and Steve Jobs, along with every goddamn cretin that followed our disgusting, pathetic, tiktaalik-like, mud-skipping, sorry-ass excuse of multicellular life that crawled out of the volcanic ash have always been at the mercy of the RNG gods.
I was lucky that I was born into the body that matched my gender. You were lucky to have been born after the black death. Steve Jobs was lucky to have been born at the epicenter of the digital revolution at the moment of climax.
The same random draw that saw fit to make me the privileged ethnic class of my society also saw fit to make me childless.
We can make the most with what we are given but we are not all blessed with the same starting conditions. Let us all try and see the humanity and shared connections in each other and let our decisions be guided with the knowledge that: but for the grace of god, there go I.
My wife does not read these pages but I would like to say to her that if I could give her a child I would. If this was something I could overcome through determination and perseverance, I know that she knows that I would. She knows better than anyone what I can do when I set my mind to it, and yet I cannot give this to her. I only ask that my failings be forgiven at the altar of the same RNG gods that saw fit to give Steve ****** Jobs, the narcissist of narcissists, children of his own.
Anyways, I have a coronial to try and make.
I just finished the movie Steve Jobs with Michael Fassbender. I have a lot to say about the movie itself, but something about his life story jumped out at me at the end which made me pause -
At the end of the movie, Steve has a reconciliation with his first daughter. This is the daughter that he denied parenting for years; the daughter who's mother he called a whore in national media - in effect forcing her and her and her mother to live on food stamps while he cruised toward the third comma in his net worth.
What struck me about the scene was how absurdly lucky Steve was. Here, I do not refer to his fantastic wealth. I could write a substantial essay about how he fell into the circumstances which made his success possible rather than earned, but that wasn't what struck me about the scene. I was also unmoved by his sad-sap story of having come 'round to the needs of his daughter and finally been moved to make things right with her after a life of denial. To me, this was all the mythologizing jerkoffery of Steve Jobs sycophants, hoping to capitalize on the life story of a dead man for one last hooray of self-serving cash-ins & silver screen glory.
What struck me was not that he made billions to finally dump on his progeny but the fact that he had a kid in the first place.
I've been poop-posting here for a minute; long enough that I think my whining and moaning about the struggle involved with bootstrapping yourself out of poverty is basically a trope of my posting personality. I have, to the best of my ability, pushed myself to win a little spot of stability in a world defined by the whims of a faceless stock market and the shifting sands of a global economy controlled by feckless asshats like Steve Jobs. I have been phenomenally fortunate that my unique obsession happens to be a lucrative career. From this point forward, I do not think I will ever know the pangs of a hungry belly or feel the bite of a cold night spent unsheltered under the stars.
And yet, at the end of the day, as I lay my ass to rest on a nice mattress in a quiet, peaceful suburb, I do not know what it's like to tuck a child into bed for the night. It's not for lack of trying - I've been at it for going on a goddamn year. I haven't yet consulted with professionals to diagnose the issue but that really is beside the point. For closing on a half-billion years, there is an unbroken lineage that links me from the present to the moment my muck-wrangling ancestors wretched themselves off a coral reef and headed toward dry land. And yet, here I am at the other end of that unbroken chain, unable to conceive despite my best efforts (humblebrag not intended).
I spent the first decade of my adult life scraping by and consciously deferring having offspring on account of my native brokeassness condition. No, 'being smart' about birth control didn't win me any flipping awards - in fact it directly harmed me as my lack of children was the only justification the state of Missouri could come up with for denying my brokeass food stamps while my accounts ran deep into the red. And please, do not think that I lack perspective. I am fully cognizant of the fact that as a high-school-dropout-come-rocket scientist millenial, I am the poster child for a bootstrapping, rag-to-riches example of the success that can come if you only 'apply yourself and do your best'.
**** that ****** lie. You cannot beat the RNG gods that govern your life. You and I and Steve Jobs, along with every goddamn cretin that followed our disgusting, pathetic, tiktaalik-like, mud-skipping, sorry-ass excuse of multicellular life that crawled out of the volcanic ash have always been at the mercy of the RNG gods.
I was lucky that I was born into the body that matched my gender. You were lucky to have been born after the black death. Steve Jobs was lucky to have been born at the epicenter of the digital revolution at the moment of climax.
The same random draw that saw fit to make me the privileged ethnic class of my society also saw fit to make me childless.
We can make the most with what we are given but we are not all blessed with the same starting conditions. Let us all try and see the humanity and shared connections in each other and let our decisions be guided with the knowledge that: but for the grace of god, there go I.
My wife does not read these pages but I would like to say to her that if I could give her a child I would. If this was something I could overcome through determination and perseverance, I know that she knows that I would. She knows better than anyone what I can do when I set my mind to it, and yet I cannot give this to her. I only ask that my failings be forgiven at the altar of the same RNG gods that saw fit to give Steve ****** Jobs, the narcissist of narcissists, children of his own.
Anyways, I have a coronial to try and make.
Synobun
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You went out of your way to specifically cite the unbroken line of ancestry... but is there a reason why your child has to be of genetic similarity to you and your wife?
I hope that question doesn't come across as judgemental. I'm obviously not in a position to have a Wise and Sage Opinion(tm) about it. But it's clearly something eating away at you, and I guess I sort of wonder why something you want so much (a child to raise with your wife) has to be achieved under very specific circumstances. If it's "just a thing," that's fine. I mean, most of humanity shares the requirement. But at the same time, to me, as a distant observer with no experience in the matter, it seems like much of the hurt would go away if you were open to a different way of starting a family.
I hope that question doesn't come across as judgemental. I'm obviously not in a position to have a Wise and Sage Opinion(tm) about it. But it's clearly something eating away at you, and I guess I sort of wonder why something you want so much (a child to raise with your wife) has to be achieved under very specific circumstances. If it's "just a thing," that's fine. I mean, most of humanity shares the requirement. But at the same time, to me, as a distant observer with no experience in the matter, it seems like much of the hurt would go away if you were open to a different way of starting a family.
@hobbsyoyo go find out why you are having difficulty having children. It is always one or both of you. 
There is no reason to delay.
There is no reason to delay.
Wait, what? You're offering to take on the huge financial, emotional and social burden of taking care of somebody for at least a couple of decades -with the not-insignificant leftover link after they move out for university- and you have to pay more on top of it?
I second this. Partly because if there is a problem, you'll find out what it is and you may be able to do something about it, and partly because if there isn't a problem, chances of pregnancy go up after a hysterosalpingogram.
Our insurance covered figuring out all the reasons why we might not be getting pregnant (which turned out to be more than the obvious two-women problem), but it wasn't supposed to cover treatment. (It did with my second pregnancy, though, which saved us about $3000, 12 years ago.)
Anyway, I feel for you, and I hope things work out.
aimeeandbeatles
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Adoption is a profitable business in some countries, and so is surrogate motherhood. There was a recent news feature here about surrogates being pressured to carry another baby sooner than they should after giving birth to a previous baby.
Synobun
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hobbsyoyo
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Money and crappy insurance is the reason to delay.@hobbsyoyo go find out why you are having difficulty having children. It is always one or both of you.
I believe @Farm Boy mentioned it costs in the 10's of thousands of dollars.
Timsup2nothin
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I'll let one smiley answer for me:
Apparently the smiley has cracked under the pressure. You will have to answer for yourself.
aimeeandbeatles
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CBC keeps glitching out and showing blank headlines
I guess it's a good thing that Peter Mansbridge retired and the younger anchors took over. I'd rather listen to Ian Hanomansing as he's always calm and not prone to speculation or giggly nonsense like Rosemary Barton.CBC keeps glitching out and showing blank headlines
As for the website, I have no clue what's going on with them anymore. The articles that should be open for comment aren't, yet they kept the native blockade articles open when they don't usually allow comments on anything indigenous-related. Finally I contacted one of the journalists and asked point-blank if CBC thought that they'd have a harder time moderating posts by disabled people (regarding the AISH changes) than posts by people angry with the indigenous rail/port/government building blockades.
And there's some really nasty stuff being said on some of the pages and on FB.
aimeeandbeatles
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Sometimes, for fanfic purposes, I end up googling things that make me wonder if any writer has ever ended up on a watchlist for doing research.
I heard some lectures from a professor at an institute, which deals with secondary metabolites. While that includes antibiotics, it also includes various biochemical warfare agents.
In one of his presentations he showed us a picture how a warhead works, given that some of the chemicals work in a similar way.
His next sentence was that he was for sure on every watchlist.
Could be funny.
One of the other professors later hired an Iranian PhD student, to work on some theoretical simulations. He got mail from the federal police about what she's not allowed to work on.
Still somewhat funny ^^.
The institutes themselves are probably anyways on a watchlist, so shouldn't make any difference.
EDIT: Also this one:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/01/new-york-police-terrorism-pressure-cooker
Might tell you something about privacy.
In one of his presentations he showed us a picture how a warhead works, given that some of the chemicals work in a similar way.
His next sentence was that he was for sure on every watchlist.
Could be funny.
One of the other professors later hired an Iranian PhD student, to work on some theoretical simulations. He got mail from the federal police about what she's not allowed to work on.
Still somewhat funny ^^.
The institutes themselves are probably anyways on a watchlist, so shouldn't make any difference.
EDIT: Also this one:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/01/new-york-police-terrorism-pressure-cooker
Might tell you something about privacy.
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