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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??
Sallie Mae has been calling me every morning at 8:15 and every afternoon around 2:00. I would be having a better week if they didn't harass me every single day (and yes it is every single day).
I'm slightly annoyed at my kid's new school. My kid is getting ready for school in a Chinese immersion program, which is great, but the new school wants to gently ramp up with half days with parent participation, with only part of the class signed up for specific half-day blocks. This is annoying because parents, you know, have jobs to go to, and taking 3 hours in the middle of the workday to get the kid to school, stay with them for a half day, and bring them home early is pretty inconvenient. Plus the days my kid isn't participating (with other half classes signed up), I've gotta get childcare coverage.
Can't wait until we get to the normal 8:30am start time with regular after school care.
It's been alright I guess. Though, I started catsitting for my old housemate today and she's been overfeeding them to a crazy degree. I basically raised one of the cats, so it's pretty upsetting.
The week was ok. It was a good 3 outa 5.
I'm working on my next video ideas. I've got a couple floating around. It's been fun. Just trying to keep my momentum going.
It's finally going to be cooler in my area this week, and it's going to rain! I can finally study at my schools library without sweating like a pig and getting sunscreen in my eyes because of it.
I recently recieved a bit of offhand news that has made me a lot more relaxed about an important meeting I have at the end of September.
I was speaking with a person I used to work with about a trip he and his fiancé took recently when he caually mentioned out of nowhere that the HR manager at work retired at the end of July. That random little fact sent my mind into a whirlwind for a couple days.
Just over a year ago I had been terminated from my job as an apprentice at a place that builds automation assembly lines. That termination came after I had brought up concerns and frustrations with how the company had begun treating people after covid arrived. I also brought up concerns about workplace culture and how toxic it had become.
I had been terminated approximately 10 months after the monthly employee meeting where I first confronted the GM (General Manager) about how apprentices were being treated poorly and not learning the proper skills. This is important because once people start retiring, there is going to be a huge skill and knowledge gap.
After that monthly meeting, I had a meeting with the fairness committee followed by a meeting with the HR manager with the fairness committee member on "my side." That second meeting was basically me getting belittled and blamed for 3.5 hours.
Unhappy with the results and dealing with my declining mental health, I reached out to the corporate HR manager about the abusive management at my company and this manager made a huge effort to help me. She taught me all my rights as an employee, encouraged me to get help through the corporate employee hotline and when that failed, set up a meeting with me and her boss while beginning an investigation into the abusive environment at my company. Unfortunately before that meeting, my company terminated my employment.
I retained a lawyer and after about a year of some back and forth (things got delayed significantly because my lawyer got covid) I finally submitted my wrongful termination case against my company to the labour board. Up until this point I felt so uncertain and stressed about everything and was really doubting my decisions.
About a month after my submission to the labour board, my company replied back with 16 pages trying to have my case thrown out and attacking my character. They also responded through an outside law firm and not the corporate in-house lawyers. About 1.5 months after my submission, the HR manager retires. I found out she was scheduled to retire in 2024.
Suddenly my mediation meeting with the labour board and my company doesn't seem so intimidating. Corporate refused to legally support my company and the HR manager retires early and is now back home in Central America. A key figure in all of this who conveniently will not be able to attend the labour board meeting.
I have no idea if those two things are related to my case and I may never truly know but it sure is convinient for me. I did leave that company in good standing with corporate so I'm left to believe that corporate has been taking serious action with my company. Action that may have also included updating workflow, security and logistics (costing the GM and management huge money), and cracking down on workplace safety issues (costing the GM and management even more money).
After covid arrived, my dislike of corporations only grew but I think it's pretty humorous to watch corporate turn it's back on my company. It's beautiful in it's own bureaucratic-hellscape kind of way.
My goal at the labour board meeting is going to get my job back and hopefully getting a public apology at the monthly employee meeting while sending a problematic manager to a training course regarding abusive behaviour. After being forced to confront my own mortality through their abusive and negligent behaviour, money means nothing to me. No amount will bring back the dignity this place took from me and the others who work there. I'm hoping my actions are able to throw some power back into the hands of the employees and other workers there as well as bring more awareness to mental health issues.
And to think, I probably wouldn't have gone down this path if it weren't for the head fairness committee member telling me that I should just suck it up. That I should just wait for all these problematic people to retire. He told me I couldn't change anything. His attempt to de-escalate the situation by demotivating me may have backfired slightly.
Fighting, and losing, against a breakdown at 5AM. I am so tired. Tired of being alone. Of pretending to be happy hoping it sticks. Of feeling useless. Of being unable to leave the apartment. Just of fucking everything.
Time for another 3 hours of sleep before I wake up screaming from another nightmare.
I dunno how much longer I can fucking do this.
#Check in with your fucking friends.
Meh. Could be better, but it's not all that terrible.
Tired as usual, but that's normal and not going to change, so it's not super relevant anymore.
Women's World Cup was a welcome distraction, but now I have to find something else that I can occupy myself with. Maybe I should just watch the NWSL. I just find American accents weird when it comes to football commentary.
Most of the other leagues only kick off sometime next month. Difficult to find official streams/broadcasters where I live, but I've at least found some (kind of surprised that NWSL is just straight up free on the official site for everyone living outside the US and Canada).
Not interested in video games. Maybe when Starfield's out I'll have something to do in that medium, but nothing right now is grabbing me and I'm honestly bored of gaming in general.
It's been a good week! My work schedule was adjusted to be a bit less crazy for me, and something I can handle a bit more - which I am certainly grateful for (we're a small team, so schedule changes impacts everyone otherwise I would've requested it a while ago). Additionally, my new medication for my mental health seems to be having some positive impact - its also causing a few side effects but I'll bring those up at my next appointment, and I'm sure we can make adjustments to curtail those a bit.
Finally, I saw my hematologist the other day, and my iron levels are finally in the green thankfully! At the beginning of the year, after having a check up with my doctor they ran their standard labs - I got a call the next day from him saying that I needed to immediately go to the ER for an emergency transfusion (my iron levels were so low, that standing up for even 10 minutes would cause me to be on the verge of fainting), so I'm definitely happy to hit that milestone, now it'll just be a matter of maintaining it.
So all around improvements around my work life, my mental health, and my physical health - its been a long time since I had such major wins under my belt so its a strange feeling. In a way, I'm still waiting for "the other shoe to drop" because that is how its been in the past. I'm hopeful though, and even that is something I'll gladly take! There are still plenty of things to work on, but that will always be the case, so I'm patting myself on the back this weekend and will be trying to relax a bit.
It's been a good but intense week so far. Back to work with a 3 day intensive python course, which was interesting (and a long time coming, I have asked for training for 3 years now). Looking forward to putting it into use now I understand the basics.
Otherwise not a lot to write home about. Looking into new choirs prior to the new term starting, in one already but quit the second one I was in as the music wasn't to my taste.
Pretty decent, finally started my ADHD medication so I'm mostly waiting for that to start taking effect, it'll probably take a good month or so which sucks because I am so fucking tired of waiting but I don't have much other option.
Ended a brief romantic relationship. Had a lot of fun, but it wasn't tenable for many reasons, and had already stayed in it too long. Went smoothly but my ex is now acting as if nothing has changed. Retaining a friendship would be nice, though I cannot be close with this person, but will have to be actively distant if it turns out that they're hoping we're actually still a thing.
Otherwise bruised all over & aching joints from trying to change the battery of a smoke detector on a very high ceiling in a very tiny bedroom. No, I didn't fall from a height (or at all) just shoving furniture & ladders around. In the end had to hire someone to come and do it for me, as just don't have sufficient core & hand strength to balance & stretch high with both hands. Inability to do something so basic has me feeling very vulnerable about the future... taking up pilates or whatever would help build strength, and this feeling ought to be motivating, but paralysed with despondence instead.