Fizzzzle

I think that was DT

I've seen people claim that covid is some conspiracy by the liberals to undermine the election, and I'm just like "so you're saying that GERMANY AND ITALY just shut down again for OUR election?!" My girlfriend has a penchant for picking up conspiracy theories (don't spend too much time on facebook, kids). I feel like it's my job to be like "honey, who is paying for this conspiracy, why are they doing it, and what are they gaining from it? .... Nothing? Just a vague "them?" Bill Gates? Why should he give a shit, he's richer than God." My girlfriend doesn't actually believe that, I was just using her as a strawman. Just saying. Asking "who, how, and why?" will often dismantle most conspiracy theories. Like, there are people who still think that 9/11 was an inside job. What is more likely: A) the government covered up a domestic terrorist attack that required thousands upon thousands of people to be in on it, and after almost 20 years NO ONE has talked, or B) it was some religious fanatics that hijacked some planes. And they did talk about it. Immediately. The thing about conspiracies is that, from my experience, most people aren't very good at keeping secrets.

All is as well as it could be, my dude

Early voting numbers are probably skewing Biden... One thing I was thinking about the other day: The Electoral College is fucked, right? The only people that want to keep it in place are Republicans, because that's what helps to keep them in power. However, by keeping it, they're basically giving enough rope to hang themselves with. Texas will eventually turn blue (probably not this election, but the fact that Texas is even becoming a battleground state is telling), and once Texas flips, that's basically a nail in the coffin for the Republican party. Without California, New York, or Texas, they'll never win another presidential race again.

That takes me back.

Yeah I think I'll get it tattooed, just not sure whether it should be above my asshole or above my pubes.

The first step in dealing with depression is realizing you're dealing with it. That allows you to take a step back and separate yourself from what you're feeling. Beyond that, talk to a doctor or deal with it how you want to. I personally deal with it by keeping a regimented schedule where I have a certain amount of time every day to focus on things like hobbies that make me feel better about everything, like playing music. Obviously, everyone is different and will have different remedies (I also suspect that I have ADHD, so being given something to focus on, especially physical, really helps me reel my brain in).

See, there's no federal law that requires companies to pay time and a half on holidays. In all my years working, I have worked at exactly ONE company that paid 1.5x on holidays. You know what company that was? Abercrombie and fucking Fitch. I was 16. I stayed at that job for 3 months, long enough to by an Xbox 360. Since then, no company I have ever worked for or even knew anyone who worked for paid anyone extra for holidays. Maybe cashiers at grocery stores, but they are unionized.

Why didn't I think of that

My girlfriend at the moment is vegan, except for the fact that she'll eat eggs every once in a while. That means that I'm vegan when I'm with her, which is most of the time. When I'm not with her, I don't really give a shit and I still eat meat, but I still think it's good that I eat less. I've gone through many vegetarian spells in my life (never vegan), but it never really stuck. I do honestly think that it's better for the world when we eat less meat. Having someone that I care about be around that won't have sex with me because I ate a cow that day is a powerful motivating factor. But I honestly think it's for the best. We shouldn't eat meat every meal of every day. We don't need to. If everyone in the US even limited their meat consumption to one meal per day, it would do wonders for the environment (a lot of people in developed nations eat meat every meal of every day). Lab grown meat would also be great.

I can't help it, though, I don't have another outlet for this, so you guys are getting the rage dump that I can't put anywhere else. WHAT THE FUCK IS THE POINT OF LABOR DAY. Isn't Labor Day supposed to celebrate the American work force? Why is it, then, that the only people who actually have to fucking work on Labor Day, are fucking laborers? You think Best Buy, Starbucks, Amazon, or any other retailer/service/contracting company are letting anyone (other than management) take that day off? How about construction companies? How is it that the only people who get "Labor Day" off are the people who don't do any actual labor? I have a proposal. Labor Day is the one day where the only people who are legally allowed to work are salaried employees. If you have someone on an hourly wage, they are legally not allowed to work, BUT companies still have to pay them for it. It is a nationally mandated PTO day for waged employees (who, btw, don't get PTO in the vast majority of circumstances). Companies can either shut down for the day because they don't have enough salaried employees to do the work that the waged employees normally do, or the salaried employees can spend a day in the workers' shoes. Either way, most of the country shuts down, and we *actually* get an appreciation for how much the country relies on people that live paycheck to paycheck. Maybe that would cause people to rethink their philosophies. Even the waged people who suddenly have that day off and nothing to do with it because all the bars are closed.

I think the west coast is different in that regard. Long Island has always been densely populated. In the west coast, you have areas that were previously sparsely populated or industrial areas turned into high-density areas. The thing is, I think (at least in Portland and Vancouver BC), the supply has started to outstrip the demand. You have all these buildings going up that can fit thousands of people, but they only want people who make 75k+/year. The thing is - there aren't that many of those people. Again, the example I used of the people who bought the bar I go to all the time - they planned on doing the same thing that everyone else around them did, which is turn the property into a 6 story apartment/condo complex. Only now, none of those buildings are making money. They're all sinking. They're all trying to corner a market that doesn't exist, or at least could not possibly fit the demand.

So, I live on the west coast. Everyone already knows the ridiculousness of bay area housing prices, as well as Seattle. I, however, live in Portland - a lesser known Pacific destination. The rent prices have gone up dramatically over the last 5 years or so. My workplace is in an "up and coming" part of the city where 5-10 story apartment buildings are going up basically every month. The problem? none of them are renting. The buildings are all sitting at like 30-50% occupancy. One of my friends moved into an apartment over there, as the FIRST TENANT, and the building had been there for almost 2 years. The bar closest to my work that I go to almost every night? The property was sold 2 years ago with the intent to demolish the bar, but the people who bought it have already decided that developing the land will lose them money, so they decided to keep the bar there paying rent. At least they'll get something. I live in one of the hottest neighborhoods in town and there's a house 2 blocks away that has been on the market for 6 months now. The market is about to crash. How do you think this will be different from the crash 10 years ago? I feel like the people who were hit most at the time were single home owners who couldn't pay their mortgages. This time, I think the people hit the hardest will be real estate investors. That could really change the dynamic of the whole situation and how the government deals with it.

My work right now has 1859 Mt. Hood strawberry cider. A keg of it costs over $400 (most kegs are like $150-$200 for craft beer if you buy from a distributor). Is it worth that much money? Helllllll no. But boy oh boy, it is d e l i c i o u s. I just built a kegerator though, so I'll be getting weird shit for that for sure.

I'm so hard I'm debating calling in sick to work