shalafi

For those that missed the original post, I quit my IT career for a part-time job at Lowe's, for 1/4 the pay. Can't afford the low pay ATM, but I think my wife and I can muddle though until I go full-time, get promoted, whatever. I want to thank ALL of you who encouraged me! Cannot say how much more sane you all made me feel.

First thing our trainer did was give me a 10% discount card and program it. "Are you married?" Made another account for my wife. No lie, first thing we did.

I worked closely with HR on my last two jobs to build and improve our onboarding process. Lowe's made me feel amateur. Let's just say it was about as slick as such a complex legal and logistical process can be. (Yes, there's far more than most people see or think about.)

The person that got us going did the job I've done in my last two roles, got new people on the right foot. Yes, even working IT, I was the first person they met and got settled with. She did pretty damned well. Got stuck watching a recorded onboarding meeting, loathed the presenter. Ever known one of those women who are all smiling teeth, while frowning at the same time, and totally fake? "Oh my gosh! What GREAT input!" Fuck me. I started first and the other 3 guys finished first because they skipped some video. Cheating bastards. :)

LOL, they had the exact rig I built for one company. Some flavor of Debian, locked in kiosk mode, Firefox, on a crappy PC. Perfect for onboarding, training and as a time clock.

They seem pretty cool. The CEO was nice to listen to, seems a solid leader. Black guy, and they talked about DEI initiatives a good deal, doubt they're backing out, I'm sold. The store manager chatted with us for 30-minutes. Hell, my last CEO was an excellent leader, with half the staff, and he didn't take 30 to talk to 4 low-paid beginners.

The main thread I picked up, from my interview, to the CEO talk, to the manager, was that you can move up fast if you come in, do a good job and take care of customers. Well hell, that's what I'm best at. Everyone I've met in leadership started on the floor for shit pay, CEO as well.

Turns out my direct super is the British dude that's helped me before, love that guy! Be sweating my ass off in the outdoor area soon enough, the position I asked for, but I think having that man on my side will get me through.

So, be honest, am I fooling myself here? This ain't my first rodeo and I got very positive vibes, but it's a monster retailer so there's that.

EDIT: Forgot some of the meat of the story. Time and attendance policy seems lenient enough, though I'm not used to even thinking about it. PTO is crap compared to what I'm used to, which taking about every Friday off. Can't say about health, 401K, all that, but they offer it to part timers. Not great, more than I expected, who knows. All in all, no threatening crap like I expected for $15/hr. "You toe the line or you're fired!", kinda bullshit. Turnover is a metric they take seriously, and call out management on it. I'll drill into it more tomorrow when training is more 1-on-1.

First off, homemade napalm is in no way illegal, nor does it explode. You've watched too many Vietnam movies. What it does do is burn. Forever. More on campfires to come.

Put a couple of fingers of unleaded in a pickle (wide mouthed) jar, stuff waste Styrofoam in it. You can jam the contents of a 40" TV packaging in a quart jar.

That's it, that easy. Keep cramming the foam in until you get a taffy consistency. Too much and it's too hard to dig out with a stick. Too little and it slips off your stick.

I keep a jar at my campsite and one in the house for starting our little fire pit. A golf ball chunk will start soaking wet kindling.

PRO TIP: Spread the goo on a cookie pan, 1.4" thick, let it dry in the summer sun, cut into little pieces with scissors, put it in a little plastic box (that you had saved already, right?). Now you can pack it out with no mess, no smell!

Never goes bad, as far as I know, can't be too dry.

As of now, ICE is only going after known criminal targets, not going door-to-door raiding for suspected illegals. That comes later.

A dozen officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement gathered before dawn Monday in a Maryland parking lot, then fanned out to the Washington suburbs to find their targets: someone wanted in El Salvador for homicide, a person convicted of armed robbery, a migrant found guilty of possessing child sexual abuse material and another with drug and gun convictions. All were in the country illegally.

It's a little fucking alarming the government knew about such people and hadn't acted already. Anyone know more than I?

Under Trump, officers can now arrest people without legal status if they run across them while looking for migrants targeted for removal. Under Joe Biden, such “collateral arrests” were banned.

So for now, I'm fine with this, not so much the collateral business. Sounds like ICE has authority to act beyond their immediate remit. Surely there's no room for abuse? However, the "collaterals" in this case were due for arrest or deportation.

Of those “collaterals,” one had an aggravated theft conviction. Another had already been deported once, and two others had final orders of removal.

Problem being, they'll run out of legit targets before the electorate runs out of hate. The percentage of criminal illegals (heh, you know what I mean) is tiny. The one's I've known keep their heads down, don't want to risk deportation. Hell, my wife's a legal immigrant and she's terrified of crossing the law.

The issue is far to valuable to Trump and the GOP to ever slow this train. That's when the concentration camps really get rolling.

Thoughts? Seems the going opinion is that MAGA wants slave labor. But how does that actually work? Think on the turn-around time. They can't just pick someone up and plop them back into the fields the next day. Meantime, this will crash the economy once it really gets in gear. They have to know this.

Been saying for years, if the GOP really wants to end illegal immigration, start knocking doors at employers. My wife supervised an all illegal cleaning crew at a hotel. Yes, all illegal. FFS, they worked through an employment agency! Maybe they came illegal, still aren't documented, but get a pass as long as they're working and working towards a green card? That sounds great, but I suspect that ain't what's happening.

We all know that's the solution, if they really want a solution. So why is no one calling them out? You, me, Democratic politicians, all should be screaming this hypocrisy to the heavens. Threatening business owner's is the only way I can think of to kill this. They'll STFU quick, I saw that in Florida.

Sometimes we use the other bathroom, same deal. I never find the lid down, she never finds it up.

I feel like this is some magic that should never be talked about openly, like we agreed without speech and discussing it would break something. Lived with many women, this has never happened.

I'm just being weird, aren't I? I love her for it in any case.

EDIT: I wasn't clear. I'm talking about the seat. We're gross and don't put the lid down when we flush. Yes, I'm aware that tosses bacteria around, don't care. Unless one of us ends up with a compromised immune system, it's not a big deal. And we pretty much never fall ill.

That's an 80s Eastern Bloc (Hungary or Yugoslavia?) military greatcoat. Warmest thing I own. Must admit, that outfit screams for my reproduction black-powder rifle. "Hang on guys! My powder's wet!"

If you can't cosplay a communist without being called a rebel, you might be a redneck.

Been gunsmithing on a crappy Hatfield single-shot tonight, listening to Paul in the background. I learned damned near everything I know about guns from Gun Dad.

Applied during COVID (2020), had to call in and provide more information. Aight. Waited on hold for hours and hours, over and over again, gave up. In the meantime, Florida said, "You legal to own? You good to conceal carry." Aight.

Got a license in the mail today. Very legit looking. Holographic pic under/on-top of the state seal, top quality, etc. My pic looks like Rob Zombie, not sure where it's from, but it's clearly me.

The hell just happened?!

EDIT: Compared my pic to my DL, not even close. Maybe I sent a selfie 4-years ago? Maybe, can't remember?

This guy is named and is legit: https://www.fdacs.gov/About-Us/Meet-Commissioner-Simpson

If I can conceal carry as-is, WTF does this do for me? State reciprocity? Make me more legit if I have to fuck with cops? Asking the next pig I see.

EDIT: Just learned that my town got the record for Florida: 10", 2.5" more than Pensacola next door.

Up front and center: I was appalled when I first learned the term "tradwife", made me ill, still does. The word is mainly used by childish men who want a hot, submissive, mommy wife, while not understanding that they have responsibilities.

I say "sorta" tradwife because she has a job, but otherwise I think she fits the bill.

She does almost all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. I do a bit because I always have and sometimes want it my way. (I'm better at laundry dammit!) Her reaction falls between offended, like I'm taking her job or saying she didn't do it well, and ecstatic, "because no man has done this for me!"

She's mostly submissive, lets me make the decisions. If she does put her foot down, yeah, she fucking means it, that thing is going to go that way. Rare, and a bit uncomfortable for me, probably means I fucked up.

She's always pretty, made up and stylishly dressed. Always. After being together 2 years, I still stare at her every day, always something new.

She's Filipino and I'm American. This is normal for her, weird for adult me, but... I was raised by my Silent Gen grandparents, Beaver Cleaver style. Go watch a 50's sitcom, that was my childhood in the 70s.

There's much to be said about such an arrangement. My parents had zero arguments because they each filled various roles, never ever stepped on one another's feet. It was never dad's turn to do the dishes, never mom's turn to mow the yard. Dad made the money, mom scrimped and saved and shopped. Dad helped me with my math homework (he was an engineer), mom helped me with English (the one thing she excelled at). Maybe most important, neither questioned the results of one another's work. They had their jobs to do and it wasn't any of their damned business how the other did theirs. (I'm sure they talked when I wasn't around, but not much, at least some would have leaked.)

Obviously traditional gender roles can be swapped, mixed up, dealer's choice. But for a child, or an adult, it's damned nice to know who is doing what, no questions asked, stable situation for everyone involved. Say what you will, but imagine a childhood with no parental strife.

Now, come tell me how wrong I am. :)