[-] MoonMelon@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 days ago

When my sibling first started teaching high school, decades ago, none of the public schools were hiring because of America's perpetual budget crisis in public education (tons of vacancies, but zero openings). The only option was a Yeshiva. We're not Jewish, or even religious, but the rabbis didn't care. Every other private school was Christian, and they all required every employee to sign a "loyalty oath" affirming all kinds of shit that would otherwise be illegal but somehow isn't because of their status as a "religious institute".

So this has been happening for a long time. It all worked out though and fortunately my sibling never had to subject themselves to such a place.

[-] MoonMelon@lemmy.ml 49 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

It's the Trolley Problem. Many people finding themselves in that problem would say, "Of course I flip the switch, one person is less than five people".

But if you take a step back it's reasonable to ask, "WHY did I suddenly find myself in this Trolley Problem? Trolleys don't spring into existence fully formed like Athena springing from Zeus' forehead. They are designed and built, piece by piece. The switch was setup by the agency of someone. People were kidnapped and tied down by force. I was placed here on purpose."

So given that realization it's also reasonable when told you must choose to say, "Why? You designed this system. You tied the people down. You could have done it differently and instead deliberately did THIS. I had nothing to do with it and I refuse the premise that I must participate in your fucked up game. No matter what happens the blood is on your hands and I refuse to share in your guilt."

That's the essential argument. There's the realpolitik decision to do "less harm", but you can also reject the fucked up premise.

[-] MoonMelon@lemmy.ml 26 points 2 weeks ago

Toxic megacolon. Sounds like a metal band.

[-] MoonMelon@lemmy.ml 30 points 1 month ago

At AAA studios you can pour your heart and craft into creating something beautiful along with hundreds of other wonderful colleagues, for years, only to have it ruined by management who literally doesn't give af. Not only do they not play games, or even like games, they are proud of this fact in a sort of, "sell me this pen" type of way. These people always existed but the "financialization" of the industry means they are everywhere now. Even one of these people in the wrong place can be poison, and they are everywhere. This mutated organelle has made the entire studio system too neoplastic to perform its primary function.

It's like training for years as a chef, slaving away in a hot kitchen for the big opening, then having the owner (who hasn't cooked in decades) insist you serve your food in the toilet because "hey it's porcelain, it's the same as fine china". Then when the restaurant bombs you get fired and he gets a huge bonus because he's a genius cost cutter and you couldn't sell his vision. Nobody cares that you made the best bisque of your life when its served in a toilet. How many times can that happen before you say, "fuck it"?

Well for me it was ten years. Not laid off, but just couldn't take it anymore. I could probably get another job with my resume, but I just can't bring myself to apply again. Through a little planning and extremely good luck I'm not really under any pressure. Makes me feel like a fool because a lot of people work worse jobs, but then I remember how sad and angry I was all the time. When I look at job postings those feelings return. The problem is I still like it and want to do it. I feel forced out because I care about making good stuff instead of just "line go up". I would take a huge pay cut to work on a team that had the "magic" again.

[-] MoonMelon@lemmy.ml 20 points 3 months ago

When things are great, even small things like a cup of coffee with a friend or a quiet morning, take a minute to say to yourself, "this is really great." Say it out loud. Years later you will realize those moments are as good as it gets, and if you don't mark them they just disappear. Bad moments stick around in your head regardless, but the good ones need to be memorialized.

[-] MoonMelon@lemmy.ml 22 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Repair forum version:

  • Here are the exact bolts you need to loosen:
  • After that make sure you note this gasket:
  • The replacement part is very hard to find but they carry it here: <404>
  • You'll find the torque spec here:

Bonus points if the only schematic you can find is a 256 resolution jpg on pinterest that leads to a wordpress site were a bot only posts random schematics to farm pinterest engagement.

[-] MoonMelon@lemmy.ml 32 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Anecdotal, but I grew up in the heyday of malls and my local mall was one of the largest, and is now one of the most famous dead malls. The mall was in decline when Amazon was still in its infancy, mostly still selling books. Buying clothes online was considered lunacy at the time because there was no fitting rooms to try things on. Still, vacancy was on the rise in the mall and once a few violent crimes started happening inside that was all she wrote. "Big Box" stores like Walmart became more of a draw than driving all the way to the mall.

I think the reasons for the death of the mall are more complex, just like the death of the department store. There were lots of weird tax incentives, both for developers, and for (mostly white) residents fleeing the urban core during the 90s. Those were not sustainable. Malls themselves were a bit of a private equity shell game which couldn't last. The story of dead malls is more about capitalism and land use policy than just Amazon.

I'll never forget Forest Fair Mall in those first years though. It's 1.5 MILLION square feet, and it was absolutely packed, especially during Christmas. Humongous fountains, sand sculptures, live music... every single spot of its airfield-like parking lot was full. The only thing today that I think comes close, if younger people want the experience, is the main concourse of a top ten airport.

[-] MoonMelon@lemmy.ml 19 points 4 months ago

Every time I've gone to a beautiful place, (Kauai/Virgin Islands/Moab etc) I've run into former insurance salesman types who just said fuck it, and stayed, and now live in an old school bus and fix outboards or whatever. Often it was precipitated by a big life event like a divorce or a child leaving the nest but sometimes they just bounced. I get it.

[-] MoonMelon@lemmy.ml 54 points 4 months ago

Wait, it's all just Arthurian legend? πŸŒπŸ‘¨β€πŸš€πŸ”«πŸ‘¨β€πŸš€

[-] MoonMelon@lemmy.ml 29 points 4 months ago

Years ago I was on a flight where you couldn't turn this screen off. You could turn off the programming, but the screen still glowed. I discovered that if you take an advertisement from the back pocket and fold it, it can be inserted perfectly into the cracks around the screen and block it completely. Use the ads to block the ads.

[-] MoonMelon@lemmy.ml 76 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Happens to some SE Asians in North America too, because the edible straw mushroom from SE Asia resembles one here called "death cap". Amanita phalloides. What's fucked up is right before it kills you your symptoms actually improve, so people get discharged from the hospital and think they are going to be ok. I forage mushrooms but I stay away from white gilled mushrooms completely.

[-] MoonMelon@lemmy.ml 35 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

This is similar to the feeling I got a few days ago when I finally got to use the shopping cart wheel unlocker that's been in the back of my mind since watching the Defcon talk about it. Instead of the misconfigured and disabled cart being a giant roadblock in the store I was able to take it and use it normally. Feels good.

https://www.begaydocrime.com/carts

WARNING: DO NOT PLAY SOUNDS ON THIS PAGE THROUGH HEADPHONES

view more: next β€Ί

MoonMelon

joined 10 months ago