Notices by Sally Strange (sallystrange@eldritch.cafe), page 12

this is getting a tad ridiculous... y'all know what the USA voting age is right?

@tillshadeisgone that last bit, thank you for putting your finger on it. Because it's part of what rendered the event so viscerally repugnant to me.

Jon Stewart's centrist ass is overrated.

Simply put, the "Rally to Restore Sanity*" was an unforgiveable orgy of ableism and fash-coddling and I cannot forget it. Even if I could, I would refuse to because UGH

*Edit: I misremembered the name, it was called "The Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear" because Stewart and his ilk are so centrist they couldn't decide on what exactly their rally was supposed to satirize. Or whether it was satirical at all.

@shibao ok now I'm jelly. Carry on you unstoppable force 💜

@shibao proud of you for surviving another day /sincere

"Debunking degrowth" or trying to, anyway

"In the degrowth literature, a caricature of the typical economist is presented as believing in unlimited economic growth, and that growth should be pursued regardless of its environmental impact. This is a straw man. It would be a naïve economist who did not recognise that constraints exist. And economists usually limit their projections to a few decades to come, rather than to the infinite future, in which they supposedly believe in unlimited exponential economic growth. Certainly, there are theoretical economic growth models which portray the possibility of exponential growth into the infinite future, but economists have had enough common sense not to assume stylised theoretical models are the be-all-and-end-all when it comes to public policy."

Then why, Mr. Tunny, is it so hard to find an economist who can tell us when the economy should stop growing?

#degrowth #capitalism #Economics

https://www.cis.org.au/publication/debunking-degrowth/

Finally, the moment you've been waiting for:

SALLY'S GUIDE FOR NOOBS TO GETTING AND KEEPING A JOB IN CONSTRUCTION

PART 1 of 4

Focused on USA rules/regulations/culture and aimed particularly at people seen as female or feminine, especially queer kids. Construction was a lifeline for me during a dark time and it could be for you. If you're desperately trying to get out of your parents' house, but don't want to get into college, this could be helpful!

ADVANCE PREPARATION:

First, figure out if it’s really for you. OK, one big skill you should have is an awareness of 3D space, but how can you know if you have that? Well, did you like playing with legos? Are you into fiber arts such as knitting, crochet, or sewing? Those give you some good skills to build on, e.g.: counting to 10, measuring, cutting, comparing sizes, etc. Are you good at stacking dishes? Good at packing a suitcase? Into Tetris? These are all good signs. Also, cleaning is huge on a construction site. The ability to quickly survey a space and prioritize tasks for getting or keeping it organized is super helpful.

On the people skills side: just have good communication and the ability to ask clarifying questions. Working in a male-dominated field can be frustrating because they downplay the value of communication skills, then spend so much time arguing about pointless shit. Cultivate patience and a sense of humor for this.

Another helpful communication tip: learn conversational Spanish. Doesn’t matter where you are, you’re bound to have some coworkers whose first language is Spanish.

Another SUPER helpful thing to learn is the technical lingo! Just being able to identify a lintel or tell the difference between a rafter and a joist, for example, will give you far more credibility than such trivia really deserves. Watching youtube videos of people doing the type of work you're interested in is a good idea, especially if the videos are made somewhat locally to you.

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SALLY'S GUIDE TO CONSTRUCTION FOR NOOBS
PART 2

ADVANCE PREPARATION: The PHYSICAL SIDE OF IT

You may be thinking: Don't you have to be, like, real strong to be a construction worker? The answer is: absolutely not. You’ll find tons of tiny little dudes, fat guys, guys with various disabilities, in construction. The key is to know your own body and be attentive to its cues. If you do martial arts or yoga or dance, or something along those lines, you have a huge advantage: you’re conscious of how long your limbs are. You maybe know how to fall without hurting yourself. You know how to use your own body for leverage. You know how to stretch. Don’t worry about being able to lift HEAVY stuff, the biggest challenge is lifting AWKWARD stuff—sheets of drywall which are 4ft x 8ft and somewhat prone to cracking, for example. If you enjoy thinking about how to move your body, you’re ahead of the game.

ADVANCE PREPARATION: CREDENTIALS AND CERTIFICATIONS

. The nice thing about construction work is that you don’t need a degree and it’s not automatable. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t classes or trainings you can obtain that will help you land a better-paid job. One totally easy recommendation: get your OSHA 10 (for Construction, or for General Industry). If you can, get your OSHA 30. Both classes are available online. OSHA 10 classes should cost somewhere between $100 - $190; OSHA 30 can go anywhere from $175 to $400. Don’t splurge, the courses are all basically the same because OSHA sets the curriculum. Once you get your card, DO NOT LOSE IT! They will charge you way too much to replace it.

If you’re up for it, and you have a vocational/tech school nearby, definitely consider applying and getting an Associate’s degree, or equivalent. You’ll not only gain skills, but also your teachers will definitely be people who are well-connected to the construction business in your region. Another option for getting education prerequisite to working in the trades: your local Union hall. This can be challenging on an interpersonal level, but for trades with certification requirements, such as electricians and HVAC, this can be an excellent way to get a foot into many doors. Unfortunately I was never a unionized construction worker so I have less advice to offer here, but I’m sure there are many others who can.

2/4

SALLY'S GUIDE TO CONSTRUCTION FOR NOOBS PART 3

ONCE YOU HAVE THE JOB:

PUNCTUALITY. The difficulty construction companies have in finding and keeping punctual workers cannot be overstated. If you can show up on time and pay attention, you’re already beating out 80% - 90% of your competition. A great multitude of workplace sins (like forgetting tools or breaking them) will be easily forgiven if you are seen by management as punctual. Also, if you establish yourself as being on time, the company is much more likely to help you obtain transportation to job sites and/or the office. If you can, get a driver’s license, and you might eventually get assigned a truck or van to drive home.

Speaking of tools, you’ll need some of your own. A basic set of tools useful in almost any trade: a measuring tape. A pry bar. A hammer. A knife/scissors. A tool belt. If you can, break them in a bit beforehand. Bonus points if they’re actually well-used and have paint splatters on them already. Do not buy from Harbor Freight, that’s a rip-off.

3/4

SALLY'S GUIDE TO CONSTRUCTION FOR NOOBS PART 4

KEEPING THE JOB

Read everything they give to you. Yes, it’s annoying, but if you do, you’ll have so many advantages over other employees who never read shit. Read the company policy: you’ll learn what you need to do to get sick leave or family leave, among other things.

Read the safety manual and you’ll learn precisely what equipment they’re obligated by law to provide to you: at a minimum, that should include safety gloves, safety glasses, a hard hat, and maybe a respirator or dust mask, depending on the work. Some companies also have a program to help employees afford good quality steel-toed shoes, which can easily run to $150 or more.

Read the safety data sheets and you’ll know if they’re trying to screw you on safety equipment (they're trying to screw you on safety equipment). Read your state and federal labor laws and you’ll learn how long you have to report abuse, neglect, and retaliation, and to whom you should report it. Just knowing these things lowers the odds you’ll need to use the knowledge.

SAFETY FIRST! They will say it, but they will expect YOU to be the one to put your safety first. Their profits will always come first to them, and they will ruin your health if you let them. Listen to your body and stick up for yourself. If you're in constant pain, something is not right.

Look after your body! Use every single item of safety equipment they provide. Stretch before/during/after work, whatever works for you. If you're lucky, your company already sets aside time for stuff like that. Make time on your weekend for a stretching and light exercise. Stretching is so important. Buy kneepads AND WEAR THEM. Don't be like me!

Realize that when you’re doing physical labor, your caloric needs increase. Don’t beat yourself up for eating some fast food from time to time, but try to keep your diet on the healthy side. A sturdy cooler for sammies and water is an excellent investment. Stay hydrated!!

4/4

This concludes my guide. I hope it gives you and your friends some ideas for getting yourself some independence! Ask me anything. Love you all!

I've been thinking about doing a little explainer/how-to for youngsters especially, on how to get into the construction business, and how to protect your health while you're in it. (Because those fuckers will ruin your body for $15/hour if you let them.)

There's a few things to discuss, and this is just me brainstorming.

This could be a game-changer for a queer kid in a conservative family who doesn't want to go to college.

Construction companies are DESPERATE for new workers. Some of them are even raising wages (others are hiring cut-rate subcontractors, but that's another story). It's one of the few areas where automation can't take your job for quite a while and you don't need a degree.

The trick is getting in the door and making them think you're going to fit into the culture there. The main thing for getting in the door is showing up and having some tools. Which tools, and how to get them, and how to use them--that's a big topic of conversation.

Not gonna lie: as a woman, I know I lost out on roughly 50% of opportunities compared to a similarly situated man. But it still saved my life when I was in a really dark place.

So yeah, stay tuned for that.

Edit: Also, if you can think of questions a total noob might have about becoming a construction worker, please tell me!

#Construction #jobs

@Pagan_Animist Me neither tbh. I still think it's probably an easy choice: filtered tap water is better than water bottled in plastic for a multitude of reasons. Far more feasible to create non-polluting (or less polluting anyway) filters than it is to switch the entire godforsaken bottled water industry to something besides plastic. It's an industry that really should not exist.

"Bottled water contains 100 times more plastic nanoparticles than previously thought:

Researchers cut their bottled water use after shocking discovery of a quarter of a million tiny plastic pieces per litre.

The average litre of bottled water has nearly a quarter of a million pieces of microplastics and tiny, invisible nanoplastics, new research has found."

Adding to the problem: water filters can also introduce plastics to water.

#Environment #Pollution #Plastics #PlasticPollution #NanoPlastics

https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/01/09/bottled-water-contains-100-times-more-plastic-nanoparticles-than-previously-thought

@lanodan @shrugdealer 💀💀💀

@shrugdealer outside orgies are problematic though. There's insects, weather...

57% of y'all are ooooollllllldddd

My fellow Americans:

If you're genuinely interested in increasing voter turnout, there are a few things you can do:

-volunteer to register new voters
-volunteer with a local candidate you like to do phone banking, or door knocking, or signature gathering
-pressure your Democratic representatives to adopt policies that will actually attract the interest of the 1/3 of eligible voters who never vote (there's a long list of policies supported by at least 60% of Americans but which have been disdained by both parties for decades. Marijuana legalization is just one example)
-vote in Democratic primaries for candidates who support such policies

That's pretty much it. Yelling at politically astute leftists about their correct assessment of the extremely bleak situation is going to have either zero effect or negative effect.

This conversation happens at least once per day on here.

Lefty: Voting is not enough. We must be prepared to do more than vote, because the Democratic Party are not interested in saving anyone from fascism.

Liberal: But you must vote! Trump and Biden are not the same!

Lefty: Ya, I said voting is not ENOUGH, not that I'm against it, although--

Liberal: This is Russian propaganda. Stop doing voter suppression, you fascist! I bet you're soooo privileged!

----

If you're a liberal who doesn't harangue leftists this way, congrats. Go tell your pals to stop shooting the messenger, please.

Cornell, but specifically CALS, are fucking HUGE in this region btw. This could be a biggish deal.