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[Welu]

In other news I forgot to post earlier and it's very unrelated to my last post so I don't want to edit this into it.

Met with neuro-person to do another autism spectrum assessment thing. Went fine, I guess? I talked to them about my gender a bit because I thought it might be relevant to showing how my brain works or something, plus they're currently the closest thing to a mental health professional I have access to right now. They were really sensitive and gave me some resources which is really neat. It was really affirming to talk to someone where I didn't have to explain the concept of being non-binary to them first.

[Patrick]

In totally other news, Patrick - I have a question (floor's open to anyone else who wants to answer too but Patrick seemed a logical person to ask). I met a couple today who are Albanian refugees. I didn't ask them about it, because it's irrelevant to their maternity care, but I was wondering what they might be refugees from. I know almost nothing about Albania and my understanding is that it's a lot less turbulent now than it was twenty years ago.

An important distinction to make: "Albanian," just like many Balkan eponyms, isn't a term limited to nationality; typical use is to denote ethnicity. And I gotta be honest, they might be getting the word wrong for "immigrant". This is a throwback to the time of Enver Hoxha's dictatorship. Knowing more than your teachers or other authority figures could get you killed, and so asking questions or pointing out mistakes was a definite no-no. If they're from Albania proper, it wouldn't shock me if they were just using the wrong word.

[GarandMarine]

How this morning started. This is how a major board game release kicks off. A couple 40' shipping containers and a lot of dudes moving boxes.

[Barmymoo]

They didn't identify themselves as refugees to me, it was on their paperwork. Of course that could have been a miscommunication somewhere  but I doubt it - we need to know whether people have leave to remain etc. for billing purposes.

[Patrick]

Interesting. Is there a city of origin listed in their paperwork?

[Grognard]

How this morning started. This is how a major board game release kicks off. A couple 40' shipping containers and a lot of dudes moving boxes.

What board game?

Please tell me it is Robotech Tactics!!!

[BeoPuppy]

Ray Lewis fan in tha house!

[GarandMarine]

No it's the new Firefly expansion Groggy.

[Grognard]

?  I didn't even know there was a board game for Firefly ?

Have you played it?  Is it any good? 

[GarandMarine]

I have played it regularly. Just got done playtesting the next expansion pack for work. It's excellent, the fact that we haven't been able to keep a single copy on our shelves over 24 hours is proof of that.

http://www.fireflythegame.com/

[Barmymoo]

Interesting. Is there a city of origin listed in their paperwork?

No, that's not a detail we'd ask for - and I'm unlikely to see them again so it will remain a mystery!

I finished placement today. Passed, thank goodness, with a better grade than last time (not a good grade, but I was fairly happy with it). Now I'm off to my dad's for the weekend, and having my bridesmaid's dress fitted tomorrow. Hopefully I'll catch up on some sleep!

[Patrick]

The reason I ask is because the northeastern part of the country is extremely rough. It's well known for being completely controlled by the mafia, and drug and human trafficking are extremely common. Ever see the movie Taken? The Albanian mafia folks are from there. And the continuity-control folks who worked on that movie did a damn good job pinpointing the dialect and accents, by the way.

Fun fact: Former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, due to his spearheading the pyramid scheme of the early '90s that completely collapsed the Albanian economy, could never travel to his hometown of Tropoja (located in the northeast) because the mafia hated him so much for the fact that the economic collapse forced them into taking such desperate measures as drug and human trafficking. The mafia's numbers and equipment vastly outclass the Albanian military in that region, hence Berisha himself having no control over his own fate there.

[pwhodges]

Currently in Cambodia (Phnom Penh right now).  Internet is too slow to say more.

[pwhodges]

The Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh is the saddest place on Earth.

[Patrick]

I'm shocked. Shocked!

[bainidhe_dub]

So I decided to actually stand up for myself a smidge during the staff meeting today, but I think it's probably going to backfire tomorrow. Dumb Coworker decided to go on an initially-related-but-then-less-so tangent/rant while I was in the middle of speaking with a status update on something I have been handling alone, during which I mostly shut down like a fucking robot just waiting for her to finish. When she finally shut up for a second, I said "ANYWAY" and started to give the second part of the update, which she interrupted to get offended that I was ignoring everything she'd just said (I'm forgetting the exact word she used, but it was probably the wrong one anyway). I told her, "I'm going to finish my sentence now, ok?" and started again, and she turned to the boss and was like, "She didn't let me finish mine." Which I did not even acknowledge and started my sentence again so she left the room in a huff because she's an adult like that. And when I finished I said, "aaaand if she comes back then the rest of my afternoon is going to suck." Both the boss and the assistant boss agreed, and apologized because they were going to be leaving me alone in the office with her. Fortunately she had to leave for an inspection at another site so I'm alone for today. But we'll see how tomorrow goes.

In other Dumb Coworker news, apparently some of the tenants think she's an alcoholic. JFC I wish she would just quit and be done with it.

[bainidhe_dub]

Update: She cried a little and seems completely oblivious to the fact that she interrupted me to begin with. Also is offended that we didn't all sit around and listen raptly while she "defended" me on a completely unrelated topic, and instead all told her was completely unrelated and to please stop talking about it.

[Welu]

Whoo for standing up for yourself and not having it go bad (yet but hopefully it won't now it's been brought up again)!

[bainidhe_dub]

Oh and that inspection she left early for? Total fabrication. The engineer asked the people in the office she was supposedly visiting how it went, and they had no idea what he was talking about. Again.

[Barmymoo]

That is surely grounds for firing.

I had a lovely cycle into uni today along a sunny canal towpath and I saw lots of ducklings and goslings, and a dog with a very fluffy tail. I was only in to have some blood taken to see if my hep B vaccines have worked, so I cycled back again and just spent twenty minutes or so taking screen shots of my bank statements for the last three months and carefully blurring out all the transactions except my incoming bursary and student loans, because frankly my letting agents don't have any right to know what I spend my money on (train tickets, food and charity donations, mostly, but it's the principle of the thing). Now I am going to forage for some food and maybe do some work. Today doesn't feel like a real day.

[Patrick]

One of my coworkers is a giant drama queen. After I'd already had a super long day of riding my bike in roughly 100F weather to run errands, I get to work 5 minutes early, and as soon as I walk in the door, she's already bitching at me to hurry up, she's got somewhere she's gotta be. I'm like "Working on it as fast as I can, promise." She's like "I HAVE TO HELP MY MOM GET MY DAD TO THE HOSPITAL" and I'm like "Dude, if it's that much of an emergency, call a fucking ambulance." I didn't even care that there were customers around. She pulls this shit at least once a week and has never once produced a doctor's note saying that her dad's health issues were legit, any of that. And if you're in the doctor's office it takes all of 5 seconds to ask, and maybe 30 seconds for the doctor to produce said note. Needless to say, she left in a huff, and I commiserated with the store manager. He was like "Yeahhhh she was saying how she was going to leave at 4:30 whether you were here or not and I told her 'Like hell!'"

And today I realized how much I love all but 2 of my coworkers, and how lucky I am to get paid to be around them all the time.

[Welu]

I finally found an engagement ring to get my fiance in time for the anniversary of us getting engaged and it doesn't come in his size. I guess I could it get slightly large and resized but that'll add to the time and that's frustrating.

[bainidhe_dub]

That is surely grounds for firing.

One of these days eventually, I'm sure. The boss and assistant boss, and basically everyone who comes into direct contact with her, know what's going on. Unfortunately our company is the kind that doesn't like firing people, and as far as I'm aware she hasn't gotten any formal write-ups (and I'm sure I would have heard). Plus she's been on FMLA for anxiety/depression so they would probably have to tread carefully so she couldn't make a case that she was fired over something that should have been protected.

[Aimless]

Dear blog thread,

Tonight I was sentenced to a night on-call--but my prison has a pretty view:



My favourite colleagues, a little bit of sleep, only a little bit of annoyance and interesting patients. Got lots of paperwork done and now the sun is shining and I am freeeeeeee!!!

[Patrick]

So those of you who've been in the relationship thread, here's a blog post to update you.

Today, my shithead coworker (referred to as Shithead from now on), who decided to get drunk and cause problems at my other job, decided he would call in sick today. This happened less than one hour before he was supposed to arrive. Not only was the store manager the one to answer the phone, but he had to ask me to stay an hour late. This is another recent strike on Shithead's record, and the billionth attendance-related one he's had. Technically he should have been fired ages ago, but Bossman's super understanding and lenient on top of it.

In related news, not 5 minutes after the phone call came in, I was looking up an item in our inventory system, and there was a page up on the computer that showed a person's qualifications and resume. Bossman came into the office booth for something, and I alt-tabbed back out from the inventory search page into the potential hire's qualifications page and just grinned at him. He didn't get it at first, but about 5 steps out of the booth, I heard him start laughing.

I fucking love my work.

[GarandMarine]

So my dad just drunk texted me from the hockey tourney he's playing in this weekend. He met a dude I went to HS and played football with. The dude remembered me as not being popular but being a good guy, apparently I stepped in when he was getting some crap from the other players, which I vaguely remember. Pops wanted to tell me he was proud of me, and the affect I've had on the people I've met so far in my life.

That was kinda cool.

It's also the most emotional I've ever seen my father be really... outside of maybe dropping me off at the recruiters when I left for boot camp.

In other news I miss the Marine Corps still. I wonder if that particular ache will ever go away.

[Grognard]

I know a WHOLE LOT of Marine Recruiters....

just let me know when. 

[Patrick]

GM has already served as an active-duty Marine and can no longer do so for health reasons. He probably knows more Marine recruiters than you

[Papersatan]

In other news I miss the Marine Corps still. I wonder if that particular ache will ever go away.

Probably not unless you actively work to undo it.

Military training is designed to create a strong ingroup identity. To my knowledge, the exit process does not contain a comparable process of undoing this.

[BeoPuppy]

You favour deprogramming of military personel?

[jwhouk]

In the case of Marines, I'd say it'd be hopeless.

[Patrick]

There are studies out there that state that 'recovery' time, which I believe was unspecified, is unmeasurable. In the other armed services, I believe it was one year of recovery time for each year of service. I am far too lazy to look them up right now, though.

[GarandMarine]

I have the study in one of my files somewhere. Average reintegration times are as follows:

Airforce members are reintegrated on average within 6 months of leaving the service regardless of career length (corporation)
Army/Navy - One year of reintegration time for every one year of service (military branch)
Marine Corps - Never. (Cult)

and ask any Marine, even if you could press a button to reintegrate us, none of us would want to. Who'd want to be a civvie any way? Especially when you can be a gods damned United States Marine instead.

Now Papersatan is both right and wrong, the group identity of belonging is an important part of military training, you need to get along and share some form of common experience with your "team". It lacks depth however and cannot explain the Marine Corp's culture, and it's long term impact on all who join her ranks. You will, in your day to day lives, meet soldiers, sailors and airmen who if they feel like it or you buy them a beer, they will tell you about when they were in the service. A Marine in a similar position will tell you "I am a Marine". It doesn't go away when we take the uniform off, and even for our sister services no amount of "deprogramming" (which isn't a term I'm comfortable with at all) can take it all away for the fact of one simple fact.

Our first duty is too each other, and until I can find a group of civilians made up of individuals who'd take a grenade for me without a second thought I see no value in compromising my values, changing sides or switching teams, to be some unprintable civvie again.

[Grognard]

GM has already served as an active-duty Marine and can no longer do so for health reasons. He probably knows more Marine recruiters than you

considering I'm posting FROM Quantico, and am 2 buildings down from Recruitment Command....
it would be a very close call. 
and yes, I'm familiar with his service.

[Lines]

So I sent a kid home Friday afternoon with a fever and today I sent another home with a fever. I sat with both of them for at least 30 min until their parents picked them up.

I'm doomed.

If I get sick, though, it had better be before next weekend because gods be damned if I'm going to be sick while out of state. And it had better not postpone itself for a month for when I'm on vacation. There will be consequences.

[jwhouk]

Start taking echinacea.

[ev4n]

I've always been a bit uncomfortable with the level of elitism instilled in the armed forces, especially the officer corps.  Note that I'm speaking primarily of the Canadian corps (which I have the most experience with), especially RMC grads.  It's still there at least a bit in the US, but I can't speak authoritatively on it.

The camraderie/initiation stuff I totally get.  And maybe there are military advantages to telling the corps that they're elite, or better in some way.  The human/social impact is something that doesn't quite sit well with me, though I'll concede the problem may lie on my side.

[GarandMarine]

I'm just better'n you. It's okay man.

Depends on what you mean by Elitism. Members of elite forces, the Marines, Army Rangers, Canadian S/F, etc and so forth have an absolute right to be proud of their accomplishments. They've accomplished something few human beings have the mental and physical capacity to accomplish and are rightfully proud of that fact.

Now there IS a sub culture in most military services, particularly amongst Academy educated officers and Naval officers that instills the concept of not just being senior in rank and a leader to the enlisted men and women under your command but their superior, Naval officers for example get treated very differently compared to a blue jacket sailor, better dining facilities and food, that sort of thing, it actually makes Marine officers rather uncomfortable in most cases, even though our dining halls are segregated on some level, there's an officer, NCO and enlisted section, we're all eating the same slop off the same tray, and I got "invited" to lunch with the CO once or twice. (Albeit I was in a special position there because I worked directly for the Operations Chief and OpsO and directly reported to the CO regularly. Didn't hurt that I flew with Colonel Ford regularly in my "real" job.). That type of elitism is caustic and damaging and needs to be stamped out hard.

[ev4n]

How did you know I was thinking of a naval officer? 

[Grognard]

I see plenty of the "WPPA" and "Canoe U" ring knockers around here.
they can be rather fratboy-like when they want to, but they do cover each others' six very much.

Some are AOK people, others are 'my shit don't stink' snobs.

[Patrick]

so my hometown has a commercial now, they're gonna start airing it on NBC during SF Giants games

I WANT TO FUCKING SHOOT MYSELF IN THE HEAD FOR BEING FROM HERE

[cesium133]

Sure that isn't a parody of the "Cleveland Tourism Ad" videos? 

[Papersatan]

Here's Ann Arbor's tourism ad.
There's a curious lack of students.

(the population of Ann Arbor is 113,000.  42,000 of those people are students)

[cesium133]

Okay, I got curious about Norman's video, and looked it up.

I hope y'all are sufficiently traumatized.

(Why'd they put a "Historic U.S. Route 66" image in it? Route 66 never went through Norman.)
edit -- it appears about 2/3 of the images in that video are of Oklahoma City, not Norman.

edit 2 -- Looked to see if there was a promotional video for the town where I grew up. There isn't. It's just as well; these days it's the sort of town that makes Cleveland look good.

edit 3 -- Oh God, the top results on Youtube for a search of that town include a KKK rally and a timelapse video someone made of driving down the highway that leaves town.

[Welu]

Surprisingly enough, my town actually has a promotional video and I nearly pissed myself at the first line just because of the lad's accent.

[Patrick]

Okay, I got curious about Norman's video, and looked it up.

I like how the first word that pops up in the video is "convenient." No it fucking isn't, I live in California, I'd have to go way the fuck out of my way to get to Norman, Oklahoma.

[cesium133]

Heh. I hadn't noticed that. It makes me wonder who they think they're advertizing to.

[Lines]

Start taking echinacea.

I take a multivitamin. Mostly I was being silly, but when I do actually get sick, I get sick at the worst possible time. Like...I got full swing bronchitis ON Christmas while celebrating with family. Or on a plane to/from a vacation (it's happened twice). I mean, I work with little kids, it doesn't matter what I take or how often I wash my hands, I am not in a hazmat suit therefore I will get sick sometimes. Other than being prone to sinus/respiratory illnesses due to allergies and whatnot, I actually have a pretty good immune system.

[Pilchard123]

Here's Ann Arbor's tourism ad.

So it isn't "Hey guys, there's a cancer staging method named after here."? Aww...

[Patrick]

so this was my morning:



helped a girl load all this shit into a van while her 2 coworkers watched. I'd be mad but they gave me $15 for my trouble. can't even trip over that shit.