For the past few weeks, I’ve pretty much been working closings. It’s not terrible, but it really doesn’t feel like I have much of a life. Prime and I are basically like two ships, passing each other in a harbor. We don’t have an actual dinner anymore; it’s just what we grab on the way home. It also takes me some time to decompress after work, so I don’t actually fall asleep until after midnight. It’s frustrating, to say the least.
Tonight was the usual bit of ridiculousness; we had our lot person call in and I was asked to clock in fifteen minutes early. At least I was able to get out a little earlier than scheduled. One of our people was pulled over to Pharmacy and spent the majority of her shift there; we got lucky and she decided to stay for the rest of her schedule. Normally, when she works Pharmacy, she tries to leave at 1900, because “Pharmacy is closed and she’s done”.
To have that sort of audacity.
At least we weren’t tremendously busy. That’s the good thing. I dread tomorrow; Fridays are almost always insane.
This is A Thing That Exists: Robosen will release a transforming Megatron figure.
No pressure, but if you order early you’ll get a discount and you might just get a figure whose chestplate has been autographed by Frank Welker himself. So yeah, you might want to consider setting aside $800 or so to grab this guy.
Also: if you touch his skidplate, he does NOT like it. Didn’t know Megs was so into consent, considering how he’s tried multiple times to conquer not only this planet but Cybertron as well.
Not only that: when you get Megatron’s attention, he responds by saying, “What’s wrong?” Uh, Megs? You ask me that and I may just spend the next couple of hours trauma dumping on you. Just saying.
“The Next Time I Fall” by Peter Cetera and Amy Grant. Apparently, the fact that Amy Grant did secular music was a bit of a scandal among evangelicals back in the day since she was known for performing religious songs. I honestly had no idea about any of this until years later.
“I hated that dog,” Noem writes, adding that Cricket had proved herself “untrainable”, “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with” and “less than worthless … as a hunting dog”. Noem got her gun, then led Cricket to a gravel pit. “It was not a pleasant job,” she writes, “but it had to be done.”
First off: that dog was fourteen months old, which makes it a puppy. Second of all: hate yourself for not being arsed to–Oh, I don’t know–ACTUALLY GET UP OFF YOUR LAZY ASS AND TRAIN IT. Seriously, I admit that I couldn’t stand my parents’ dogs, but that was because they coddled those animals and refused to train them! When I was alone, I could get the dogs under control, as I wasn’t being undermined by my parents. This wasn’t the fault of the dogs; this was on my parents.
Also: I may have been strict, but I didn’t lay a finger on them. I just didn’t put up with their bullshit.
On top of that: you could have just as easily surrendered that pup to a rescue. If it truly was useless as a field dog, then it could have been rehomed or it could have gone to a rescue so someone else could adopt it. But you didn’t even think of that.
Nope. Instead, you dragged the puppy to a gravel pit and shot it.
“We love animals, but tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm.”
Really? So, that means you’re pro-choice, right? Because tough decisions and all.
Wait, you’re NOT?! You championed a heartbeat bill! But what about those “tough decisions” that a pregnant person may have to make! I guess that “heartbeat” doesn’t matter unless it’s a fetus, does it?
That puppy was a fetus, too. A fetal puppy that had a heartbeat. We see how much you cared about her.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go binge kitten videos because fuck that bitch.
It’s time once again for news and views that you can peruse! It’s time for another Weekly Reader! As always, if you have something you’d like to share, drop a link in the comments!
The Vile Sextortion and Torture Ring Where Kids Target Kids (from Vice News–CW for violence, animal cruelty, child abuse and exploitation): “All of this happened on Discord, the immensely popular chat app, on a server known as “Cultist.” According to Ali, the goal was “to be the most evil.” If that sounds childish, that’s because it was. The abuse consisted of children victimizing other children. The community sustains itself on a cycle of violence in which victims, after sustaining immense abuse and trauma, turn into abusers themselves—often because they see it as the only way to escape their situation.”
There Are Dark Corners of the Internet. Then There’s 764 (from Wired–CW for animal cruelty and child exploitation): “The perpetrators of com’s and 764’s abuse have for years operated behind the masks of usernames and profile pictures. A detailed look at the leadership and core members of this community reveal for the first time crucial details about the steps leading them to systematically victimize children, how the predation network functions, how they have continued to evade ban attempts by major platforms and persist despite ongoing criminal investigations—and how they continue to spread a malicious ethos worldwide.”
MY FAMILY’S SLAVE (from The Atlantic, June 2017): “It confused me: My parents were good to my siblings and me, and we loved them. But they’d be affectionate to us kids one moment and vile to Lola the next. I was 11 or 12 when I began to see Lola’s situation clearly. By then Arthur, eight years my senior, had been seething for a long time. He was the one who introduced the word slave into my understanding of what Lola was. Before he said it I’d thought of her as just an unfortunate member of the household. I hated when my parents yelled at her, but it hadn’t occurred to me that they—and the whole arrangement—could be immoral.”
CAPTIVE NO MORE (from the Post and Courier, February 18, 2022): “For almost six years, Edwards had built an insidious trap of financial power, isolation and violence that human traffickers often use to control their victims. Sometimes, the scourge festers in the nation’s murky shadows. Other times, right in plain sight.
Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, Edwards stared at the carpet as Chris said in his statement:
“Today, I feel free.””
Trump was forced to listen silently as potential jurors offered their unvarnished assessments of him (from the Associated Press): “It’s been a dramatic departure for the former president and presumptive 2024 GOP nominee, who is accustomed to spending his days in a cocoon of cheering crowds and constant adulation. Now a criminal defendant, Trump will instead spend the next several weeks subjected to strict rules that strip him of control over everything from what he is permitted to say to the temperature of the room.”
Indiana Now Has a Religious Right to Abortion (from Rewire News Group): “In upholding the injunction, the Indiana Court of Appeals propelled free exercise claims to abortion access. But the decision should not be surprising. The order straightforwardly applies the standard religious exemption test as it has been developed in hundreds of cases brought by conservative Christian law firms; a believer is entitled to a religious exemption from a law that substantially burdens their “sincere religious exercise” unless the state can prove that the burden is the “least restrictive means” of achieving a compelling government interest.”
A similar proportion (44%) said they felt their employees weren’t ready to ‘handle’ AI adoption’, and just over a third (34%) wanted to ban it. However, 45% admitted to using AI tools to do their work for them and, in the report’s words, ‘often passing the work off as their own’.”
Documents found on a North Korean server suggest US studios may have unknowingly outsourced animation work (from CNN): “In addition to drawings for an upcoming season of the Amazon Prime Video show “Invincible,” the files also contain sketches and videos that resemble work for “Iyanu: Child of Wonder,” a superhero series slated to air on Max, the streaming service that, along with CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.
There is no evidence that the studios had any knowledge their proprietary work was on a North Korean server.”
The world dumps 2,000 truckloads of plastic into the ocean each day. Here’s where a lot of it ends up (from CNN): “Indonesia is one of several Southeast Asia nations that have tightened their rules for plastic waste imports as they try to prevent becoming plastic dumping grounds for countries like China, the US and EU nations. Indonesia will only allow shipments of products that are fully recyclable, but its neighbor to the north, Thailand, has gone further: It is banning all incoming plastic waste shipments starting in 2025.”
In Mexico, 19 feral cats can officially roam the presidential palace fur-ever (from NBC News): ““The cats are now a symbol of the National Palace. Just as we understand this world, I wouldn’t understand the National Palace without the presence of these cats,” said Adriana Castillo Román, general director of the National Palace and Cultural Heritage Conservancy. “We have to make sure the cats are taken care of.””
“Patients would come 9 or 10 times”: What we can learn from the first time abortion was banned (from Salon): “Abortion was so popular, in fact, that it became the source of wealth for one of the richest women in the country at the time, Ann Trow Lohman, who was better-known by her advertising moniker, Madame Restell. Over decades of running an abortion empire from her home in New York City, Madame Restell was able to amass a massive fortune and so much fame that “Restellism” became the Victorian-era term for terminating an unwanted pregnancy. But then, as now, she faced deeply misogynist opposition by those appalled at a woman who helps other women control their bodies. Madame Restell died in 1878 by suicide, after being hounded legally by the self-appointed guardian of American sexual morality, Anthony Comstock.”
The Parents Who Regret Having Children (from Time): “Most of the time—whether I hear it in passing, quickly, from a stranger at a literary event, or late at night from a beloved friend—this kind of revelation arises from a place of anguish. Some of these parents talk about feeling utterly alone, like villains past all imagining. Several have noted that, afraid of being judged, they decline to be candid with their own therapists. If asked what I think, I reply that, from what I’m hearing, they’re not alone. Not at all. I hope it helps; I’m told, at times, it does. It’s a physic to which I’ve devoted my life: asked why I write, I often respond that books, words have provided vital fellowship during spells of harsh isolation, when I thought that solitude and its attendant, life-torquing evils—shame, guilt, the pain of exile—might kill me.”
That’s all for this week but don’t worry! I’ll be back again with more articles that may just tickle your fancy! Until then, have a great rest of your week and happy reading!
Been spending a lot of time on Violet hitting the Meganium den and earning Herba Mystica; they respawn once a day. No, you can’t catch another Meganium, as it’s only one per save file, but you can claim the rewards more than once. I’ve also been hitting the Blissey Raids for Tera Shards; Psychic is now completely maxed out, and Fairy isn’t too far behind. Most of the others are in the 500 to 600 range.
I haven’t been hatching as many Eggs lately, but that’s fine. Shiny hunting takes time. The current runs with the Tera Raid Battles have kept my anxiety to a dull roar. It’s still there, just not as noticeable.
But we’re nearing the end of the month. I’m expecting the anxiety to start creeping back. Currently, I only have a couple of weeks where I feel normal, then things start to fall apart.
I blame the hormones. Because this feels exactly like the side effects of the tamoxifen. The only thing I’m not dealing with is the hot flashes.
Welcome to the other side. I can’t say that I enjoy it. It’s going to be a long couple of years.
Iacon East 