Relaxed section for discussion and debate that doesn't fit anywhere else. Whether it's advice, how your week is going, a link that's at the back of your mind, or something like that, it can likely go here.
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@alyaza@beehaw.org is MIA currently, but this weekly thread has been so awesome to see and keep going; so I am making what would be her typical post for this week. Alyaza; stay safe friend, I hope everything is okay.
Beeple, how's your mid week going so far??
It's pretty bad. I am a freshly graduated programmer, I am pretty confident with my programming skills but I can't find a job for 5 months now. I'am trying to make my communication skills better tho cuz English is not my first language but yeah.
Edit: just got an invitation for an interview wish me luck!!!
Good luck with the interview!
Even if you aren't going to work there for whatever reason, the first interview is normally what sets things in motion and makes other opportunities start popping up all around you.
I have no idea why it's this way, but it's my personal observation and what most people I know tell me, so based on lots of anecdotal evidence.
Could be worthwhile giving @alyaza@beehaw.org a call if you know her in real life.. It is a bit of a worry honestly based on her last post she hasn't dropped by in 10 days (especially considering her last weekly update).
Not super great. I had a planned surgery this Tuesday that the anesthesiologists cancelled last minute because I had some mild symptoms they weren't comfortable with. Given that this surgery involves two surgeons and a robot it may be some time before it gets rescheduled but I'm currently left in the dark- both of the surgeons regular schedulers are off so they're trying to find someone else to figure it out and they need to use OR time for the other surgeon because the main surgeon is booked into December. I'm a bit worried it's gonna be a rather long wait but I won't know for a bit- they asked to give them until next Monday to sort out a schedule 😔
So I'm gonna need to figure out support again whenever they decide to book me, and probably will need to go back to work for an unknown period of time 🫠
That must be incredibly frustrating, but it's also good to see the anaesthetists take their job so seriously. Hope you don't have to wait too long
On one hand? I've posted a ton of memes that seem to make people happy.
On the other hand? I am desperately alone and failing at everything and can't make myself happy. Can't provide for myself. Can't even sleep.
I'm not doing okay and I don't even have friends to talk to. Things are rough.
One of my loved ones is in hospital (in another town) so I'm really hoping they are okay.
I still feel really shy about posting here, but I'm trying to be more myself on the internet lately. Or in general.
My prayers and sympathy. I also hope your loved one gets better soon and has a good prognosis.
Thank you! And thanks for starting the thread I like these, though I mostly lurk.
Been pretty chill so far!
Playing some baldurs gate 3 and studying for the az-305 test. Looks like the role based tests are going to be open book with access to Microsoft Learn soon.
My girlfriend moved in after a year and a half as well, got lots of organizing and remembering how to live when it’s not just you in the house again. Been almost 3 years since I’ve had someone else around haha. Going wonderfully so far!
Talked with a bunch of current and ex-coworkers about what a shit storm the workplace is. I don't know that I'll ever have enough motivation to leave.
Damn, I've been struggling this week with whether I should leave my PhD program with a master's or keep toughing it out, and this really hit home for me.
That's a real mood, yeah.
I just recently decided to stick with mine. I was having a lot of doubts: feeling like I wasn't making and progress, like I wouldn't actually be able to finish the projects I started, impostor syndrome shit, etc. I'm happy I decided to stick with it. I just cleared some big milestones and I'm in the middle of a nice long vacation now, and I'm feeling excited again about my work.
On the other side of things, I've got a friend who decided to leave his PhD program with a masters a few years ago. He's now heading up product development for a robotics startup, doing quite well for himself.
I don't think there're any wrong answers here. Do what will make you happiest. Maybe you just need a vacation, maybe you're ready to move on. And remember that education is never wasted: even if you decide not to finish out the PhD, you've still learned a lot and that's valuable with or without the piece of paper and title.
Best wishes, friend, whichever way you decide to go ♥
Work is going crazy because 1 project got behind schedule and then another project got behind schedule as a consequence of the first project going off. Waterfall workflows, man.
But it's looking ok. As long as I keep lifting afterwork and vibing out when I'm too tired, I think I'll be ok lol
Thank goodness for flex hours and wfh though. I don't know how I'd survive without being able to take a massive break away from it when it gets to be too much
My brother got COVID, and he infected me as well. Tuesday was a bit shit during the evening, Wednesday was totally shit, the whole day, and today it seems better, but it's still shit nonetheless.
It's often hard to be married to someone with PTSD. I haven't had a very good week. In fact, I've not had a very good year. My nephew committed suicide, my parents aren't doing so well, and I feel like I have no one to talk to. I listen, but I don't really talk. And when I do speak, I feel like people don't understand me. If I show even the slightest vulnerability, I get told I'm playing the victim, so I try to keep a cheerful exterior.
The best things I have are: My discord buddies (really the closest friends I've got, which I know is pathetic), and I actually like my job and see what we do as praxis (though it's been harder and harder not to feel like I'm just doing zombie mode).
There's just a deep and profound sadness inside me, and my emotions are so raw that I just curl up like an armadillo.
The only moments I feel alive are when I'm on my longboard or bicycle. I keep thinking I should try to become closer friends with my longboarding pal because otherwise we probably won't talk much in winter. I also reconnected with a friend who I used to be very close friends with back in high school, so I should work on that friendship, too.
My life is weird right now.
I retired as a roller derby skater in late June, and since then, have just really been enjoying my free time and not committing to anything. It's wonderful. It's also a tad weird.
Of course, with the heat index getting up to 115 here, I haven't been able to do much, so I'm just enjoying my wonderful apartment.
Life's pretty swell.
Worsening 📉
Last week I got my trauma appointment, fast tracked from next year, which was a nice surprise, and the doctor, nurses and staff turned out to be really nice and helpful, more than usual 😀. This week it turned out they've also fast tracked another appointment for a test, called me Monday to go right on Tuesday 😯... which turned out to basically confirm that my left leg is partly MIA, while the right is only slightly better 🤦. The next day I got a notification of another fast tracked appointment, for rehabilitation... and noticed that they've switched it form "normal" to, not just "priority", but "urgent"... which explains the whole fast tracking, and now got me really worried 😟.
I can still walk around, but ever so slower, have to take a seat every few minutes, if I walk for too long I start falling over, can't stay seated for too long without my back killing me, even on painkillers, and my left arm full on wakes me up at night when they wear off. Work is off the table, can barely do anything around the house, going to the nearest pharmacy requires "going uphill both ways" (literally), can't start tackling the other problems like debt, inheritance (more debt, plus taxes, plus family drama), can't really make any plans for the future, and next week I might end up home alone (with cats) without anyone to lend a hand.
On the "bright" side, the brain fog I've had for about a year after last time I got COVID, seems to be slowly lifting, which makes me see everything more clearly... or how many fires I've got to put off 🔥😰🔥
My partner got infected with covid on vacation and now I have it too, so the weekend isn't going to be as fun as I had planned :(. Other than that the week was pretty good tho!
Not too bad, actually!
It's been a while since I've last said that, and I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe I should appreciate the seemingly insignificant things more.
It's summer here, and the sun has shown no mercy for a week now, but we've got A/C in the bedroom and living room so we can actually (mostly) enjoy the hot weather.
I've built a PC from spare parts and set it up in the shade next to the pool. This has been my office this week. I can watch the dogs wander around and sniff things and spend the work breaks scuba diving to depths of up to 150cm (5 feet).
Yesterday it dawned on me that this is probably as close as most people I know will ever get to "living the dream". It's awesome. And I'm feeling a bit guilty for having "made it" when so many of my friends haven't (yet).
Has this really happened to me, of all people?
I've made a breakthrough at work to automate one piece of particularly stupid and repetitive work, and I can't wait to get it through testing and discuss it with the person having to do that work.
The teenage kids have been mostly content and busy, so no unnecessary drama for a while. This alone is a massive improvement of our quality of life.
Now all SO and me need to do is find ways to better defend our free time against work and the kids, and we're pretty much exactly where we've always wanted to be.
Oh, and sleep better.
So many of you are going through difficult times that it's a little hard to say: my week is going awesome.
I'm back at work, which is great because I love teaching.
We've almost finished the work on our house that we'd planned to do this summer.
And today I visited a gay sauna for the second time, starting to explore my bisexuality with my (straight) significant other's blessings.
What do you teach btw?
I teach computer science, mainly programing languages and algorithms.
I’m going through a rough patch with my partner. I’m feeling really guilty about it, but they need time.
Not horrible, in general. The saga of the CPAP continues. Some nights I sleep well, some nights I don't. I suppose I'm sort of getting used to it? Last night was not good so that's colouring everything.
I saw a doctor who agreed to start me on post-menopausal HRT, as I have a family history of severe osteoporosis. I can think of about fifty other reasons I want to be on HRT, so I'm delighted.
My adult son and I made up from the huge fight we had last week, and I was able to come out of my room. The gist of the fight is that I need my adult kids to adult more than they do. I'm tired of managing the household. I know that in our location neither kid has the option of moving out (there's a severe housing crisis and even if you find a place, rents are crazy expensive). I can live with that, but I can't live with them doing nothing and leaving all the household chores to me like I'm the maid.
Well...the good news is I submitted my letter of resignation for my job, which I am thrilled about. I'll have better pay and flexibility and work for a company that has more than adequate staffing and support.
The bad news is my boss is trying to do EVERYTHING she can to get me not to leave. I told her no 6 different ways to no avail. She doesn't respect boundaries. My supervisor that left a year and a half ago said it took her three times to leave. I had a meeting with boss yesterday and felt so manipulated it was disgusting. I also have to give a month's notice so it's going to be a long 3 weeks. I'm hoping that once I sign a contract at my new job (hopefully tomorrow), that will get my boss to let it go.
Apologized to a new friend over email, and as soon as I saw she wanted to call in her reply I got her on the phone and we talked things through.
Also I broke a nail and now my thumb looks like a baby's thumb and it creeps me out.
It's really nice to have friends who are willing to talk things through. So many problems can be overcome by good communication.
Aaaaaa. I started Estradiol Valerate injections Wednesday and I'm every emotion at once. My first time giving myself a dose went better than anticipated, being terrified of needles and such. Scared for the future, if I can financially maintain the cost of the medication and if the fascist state government here leaves medicare coverage for my needs alone. I'm also debating whether or not to give up writing for some time. I'm not very productive due to depression and brain fog. Idk.
Hope everyone gets through the week safe and sound.
Average week except for blood test results. The doc said I start taking care of my health now, or risk heart attack at 40 among other health complications. I need to do some more tests and see other specialities... start taking caring of stuff I haven't for years.
I really need to move my ass. Both figuratively and literally.
Eh, not bad I guess. I'm laid off for a few days (can't pave in the rain) so I'll have to collect a week of unemployment, but on the other hand it gives me time to get some things done around the apartment and see some friends that live nearby.
Other than that, trying to play Armored Core VI without getting frustrated with the difficulty, and eagerly awaiting Starfield's early release on Labor Day weekend.
I haven't eaten in 2 days because of having my wisdom teeth out.
And I bought some red scrubs to use as pajamas; they're incredibly comfy.
A bit stressful, but I'm doing okay. I'm in the middle of moving right now. Got all my stuff out so now I'm just cleaning. I've got until September 1st so I feel like I'm in a good place!
i love getting a full month to move. absolutely the way to go if u can afford it.
I forgot about this thread because of how busy the week has been. It feels like this week has been a month. I had to guide eight new students around campus while keeping up with the new changes in a tight schedule. They were a chaotic bunch, but fortunately pretty responsible. I felt sorry for some others because their mentees were troublemakers or just dramatic.
I'm never doing this again lol. It's a nice experience to have once, but I don't like how I get a random group of people that are possibly good or bad. Yesterday I was recuperating from the madness. Today, I think I'll need to face some issues I put aside for this job. But man, I'm so sleepy.
It's been a slog with the weather being 105+F outside and 90-95F inside where I have to work. But it's over now. Got a weekend to rest and hide inside playing video games. I feel sorry for my neglected garden but it's been so hot I just can't give it the attention it needs.
Bonkers. Had to take a sick day to take care of my mental health
So I have this and next week last shifts and my mood can be expressed by this song.
Next month I will start in small brewery (3 people) and I hope that it will be much better job than that I am leaving.