OPEN BAR: NO CISNORMATIVE ELVEN PATRIARCHS ALLOWED

[axod]

Man, I kinda wish being white and rich made it impossible to be mentally ill.
I would feel a lot better about most politicians.

Ever since Cain pointed this out, I see it everywhere: there's a key distinction between doing fucked up shit to society at large and actually suffering from a mental illness.

I get that people want to rationalize depravity as some variation on "just a poor, diseased human mind gone haywire—if we could just lovingly nurse their brains back to health, they would be good, upstanding citizens and rainbows would burst forth from everyone's ass". But that's an obfuscating fairy tale that doesn't deal with the actual problem of people with normal brains that choose to do predatory, exploitative shit with full cognizance of how their choices will affect other people. It also furthers an inaccurate stereotype about people with mental illness as malicious. They are no more or less likely to be malicious assholes than the general population.

Dammit.

good point.

I would still feel better if the master race was actually superior.
... Wait, that sounds terribly terribly wrong, let me retrace my logic so I can rephrase that.
Ah, I found the logic error: I removed a double negative that was there for a reason.
What I mean: I don't want a leader that is not better than me.

Interface currently complaining about the width of my thumbs, so I finds this picture instead:

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Things I hate: When people ask me how it's going and then make suggestions that start with "why don't you...". What is that? I didn't ask for advice. You asked for an update. If I knew that was going to be a lead-in to a conversation in which I'm explaining why I don't do the thing you're suggesting, I would have given a curt one-word answer and cut that shit off at the pass.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Also, humoring your inquiry by responding with polite small talk should never turn into an unwanted counseling session. You think you give good advice? Good. Start an advice column.

[axod]

I liked when you said

You want to be a good friend. Are they being a good friend?

Good words that lead to peaceful and clean resolution of conflict.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I liked when you said

You want to be a good friend. Are they being a good friend?

Good words that lead to peaceful and clean resolution of conflict.

Aw, thank you!

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

Things I hate: When people ask me how it's going and then make suggestions that start with "why don't you...". What is that? I didn't ask for advice. You asked for an update. If I knew that was going to be a lead-in to a conversation in which I'm explaining why I don't do the thing you're suggesting, I would have given a curt one-word answer and cut that shit off at the pass.

I offer unsolicited advice more often than I'd like to admit.

In the moment I think I'm being oh so helpful and clever, and then end up apologizing for being a paternalistic fucknut. In my case, I think it stems from a pretentious sense of superiority and a failure to appreciate the unstated complexities of someone's situation.

[Cain]

Also, humoring your inquiry by responding with polite small talk should never turn into an unwanted counseling session. You think you give good advice? Good. Start an advice column.

I DONT NEED YOUR UNSOLICITED CAREER ADVICE, THANKS

[Doktor Howl]

Next week, I go on what will probably be the last Science Gestapo trip, as I will probably be leaving for another company in a few weeks.

I will of course tell the tale here, under the 21C Man series.

[Bruno]

I went to the vocational center to talk to the lady who teaches the web development program yesterday. At one point, I asked her if my Bachelor's degree would still be useful in conjunction with training in web development. She said it definitely would, and then asked me what degree I had. I told her "Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology" She asked me what that was, and I said,"Basically, mechatronics." She looked at me like I was some kind of idiot.

She knew what mechatronics was. They teach it there in another program. People are known to leave directly from that 16 month program into $60K+ jobs, so I understood her confusion. She wanted to know why I didn't just do that. I explained that, while that degree covered a lot of ground, it barely scratched the surface of a lot of subjects. I learned a little bit about a lot of things, but I didn't learn enough about anything to actually, you know, do it. Also, I graduated just as the economy took a dive, and I wasn't able to land a job in anything related. I've just been working on an assembly line for the last 5 years. I really have nothing to put on a resume at this point.

So then she wanted to know why I wanted to take web development, instead of something related to my degree, like the Machine Tool Technology, or Mechatronics program. There's a year long waiting list to get in to the mechatronics program, and I just don't give a fuck about being a machinist, so I brought up the Drafting and Cad program, which she also teaches. She said she thought that was better suited for me than web development.

It's also a 16 month program that is mostly online, but with 4 hours of classes on Thursday nights. In school, I had one class on drafting, one on Autocad(2d), and one on Inventor(3d). This program goes much further in depth than the training I've had, which might possibly, just maybe, be enough for me to actually, you know, do it.

But here's the problem, Web Developer jobs are growing at a rate of about 20% (2012-2022, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Statewide, there are 3-4 times as many job openings as there are applicants (according to the state's job statistics, but you know what they say about statistics) CAD jobs, on the other hand are growing at only about 2% (also BLS), and there are slightly more people looking for those jobs than there are jobs.

Basically, if I do the Web Development program, In 12 months I'll be a shitty candidate in a booming industry, and if I take the Drafting & CAD program, in 16 months, I'll be a fairly well qualified candidate in a stagnant and overcrowded industry.

So... yeah.


tl;dr:

[Zenpatista]

Things I hate: When people ask me how it's going and then make suggestions that start with "why don't you...". What is that? I didn't ask for advice. You asked for an update. If I knew that was going to be a lead-in to a conversation in which I'm explaining why I don't do the thing you're suggesting, I would have given a curt one-word answer and cut that shit off at the pass.

I offer unsolicited advice more often than I'd like to admit.

In the moment I think I'm being oh so helpful and clever, and then end up apologizing for being a paternalistic fucknut. In my case, I think it stems from a pretentious sense of superiority and a failure to appreciate the unstated complexities of someone's situation.

I do that although I try not to. My wife has had a rough time weening me off it when we first started dating. I still catch myself doing it. Apparently, I'm a creature of habit. My response starts, "What you gotta do is.....". Fortunately, that phrase has become an intro to a household joke.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Also, humoring your inquiry by responding with polite small talk should never turn into an unwanted counseling session. You think you give good advice? Good. Start an advice column.

I DONT NEED YOUR UNSOLICITED CAREER ADVICE, THANKS

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Next week, I go on what will probably be the last Science Gestapo trip, as I will probably be leaving for another company in a few weeks.

I will of course tell the tale here, under the 21C Man series.

Congratulations (?)

[Cain]

tl;dr:

Have you considered a career in the lucrative field of "Making Shit Up About Muslims"?  It's a huge market, with great potential for growth.  All you need is to be utterly shameless, and the rest will follow.

[Doktor Howl]

Next week, I go on what will probably be the last Science Gestapo trip, as I will probably be leaving for another company in a few weeks.

I will of course tell the tale here, under the 21C Man series.

Congratulations (?)

It's one of those times when you congratulate the pilot of a fighter for managing to eject in one piece.

"Congratulations for making the best of a bad situtuation."

Jenn, on the other hand, is thrilled.  I won't be out of town 8-10 days a month.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Things I hate: When people ask me how it's going and then make suggestions that start with "why don't you...". What is that? I didn't ask for advice. You asked for an update. If I knew that was going to be a lead-in to a conversation in which I'm explaining why I don't do the thing you're suggesting, I would have given a curt one-word answer and cut that shit off at the pass.

I offer unsolicited advice more often than I'd like to admit.

In the moment I think I'm being oh so helpful and clever, and then end up apologizing for being a paternalistic fucknut. In my case, I think it stems from a pretentious sense of superiority and a failure to appreciate the unstated complexities of someone's situation.

I do that although I try not to. My wife has had a rough time weening me off it when we first started dating. I still catch myself doing it. Apparently, I'm a creature of habit. My response starts, "What you gotta do is.....". Fortunately, that phrase has become an intro to a household joke.

I think maybe some people complain because they want advice and don't know how to ask for it. However, the worst is when I not only am not looking for advice, but also don't even want to be having the conversation in the first place because it's a waste of time and I have other things to do. I don't want to explain to some jackass whose life is not in any way affected by my decisions why, for example, I have chosen to schedule my term with most of my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That's a long, boring explanation that you don't care about and I don't want to talk about anyway, so before you ask why I "don't just" something something, consider that it's probably because of fucking reasons and shut up.

I'm especially amused by how many people with zero relevant background seem to think they should give me advice on school. I have gotten some really good advice from people who totally knew what they were talking about, but I also get the most random complete shit advice from people who have zero clue. Yesterday someone suggested that I go into materials chemistry. Because, what the fuck, why not just drop my major that I love and start the fuck over in a field I'm not interested in? Sure. Makes sense. It's almost as amusing as getting parenting advice from someone who's first kid isn't two yet.