eman

You can't fool me - that's not a seal; it's a rocking chair with added audio.

I have watched this no fewer than five times in a row.

Adley will be getting an Oregon Beavers collar coz that's his namesake's school.

Camden get a University of Alabama collar because she originally came from a Jackson, AL shelter. #RollTide

Did I just buy the dogs college-themed collars?

Maybe...

Do they have anything to do with where we live or any of the schools we attended?

Of course not.

Are they appropriate to them?

💯

This has been going on for three days now. I'm fucking over it. On Monday I'm going to see if I can find a phone number - but they initially reached out to me via email, and I just keep replying to them . . .

In short, something I ordered was returned as non-deliverable and the company reached out and said "why non deliverable?"

I replied with "your guess is as good as mine; I've had many successful deliveries from you before."

They said, "hmm, we'll look into it" BUT CONTINUE TO PUT THE ONUS ON ME.

My decision to retire from most social media is backfiring right now, because far too many companies aren't on Bsky, and much as I wanted to laud Kohler yesterday, there's another one I want to put on blast today and MAYBE just MAYBE get better customer service than I can from email.

i am still losing my mind at this

fredericknewspost.com | Frederick County Maryland Daily Newspaper

And MY local paper can be found at www.fredericknewspost.com

An increasing reliance on wire stories. Saturday & Sunday merging into a single edition. No delivery on Federal holidays.

Friends, if I can make one appeal today, it's going to be to PLEASE subscribe to your local paper. They do good work, and the news that REALLY matters is at your level.

Nevermind that I would've had NO insight on the recent municipal elections without the paper. (in the second largest city in Maryland - no really FREDERICK IS THE SECOND LARGEST CITY IN MARYLAND)

And yet, I'm seeing the paper slowly die.

SO, I have been a long-time subscriber to the local paper.

And today I opened it to discover that OUR POLICE FORCE IS GOING TO START USING DRONES - AND ENTERED INTO A MULTIMILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT.

Like none of the DC or B'More media would've covered that.

It also has its own paper (I'll link to it in a bit), and this is where the rant comes in.

Neither Baltimore nor DC give a shit about Frederick - if anything they pay us passing notice when MAJOR news breaks, despite the fact that we're a bedroom community for both (tho increasingly independent)

Uh-oh, another rant incoming . . .

I live in what can be considered an exurb of either Washington, DC or Baltimore (Frederick, MD).

It's actually the second largest city in MD, but somehow still has a small-town feel, and also it's own culture.

But I also realized that first handshake wasn't friendly.

It was a test.

I'm glad I passed.

But I'm crying for her right now. This is so fucking wrong.

We had a pre-brief and I walked through how I tried to couch all the public health in outcomes vs. directives.

Her first question: Do you think he'll shake my hand.

THAT'S when I got it.

That's when I REALLY got it.

And it broke my heart.

I didn't interact with her often, but I still remember the first time I met her and she stuck out her hand, and I thought "damn, how friendly and approachable!"

A few weeks later, I got the job off drafting talking points for a Hill meeting with a Republican Senator.

HHS changed the name of transgender health leader on her official portrait Admiral Rachel Levine was the first transgender person to be confirmed by the Senate to serve in the federal government. Her official portrait at HHS headquarters has been altered.

I was privileged enough to work in Adm. Levine's office on my PMF rotation.

I knew she was trans, but to me that just made her more awesome--I'm serving under someone authentic, determined, and tenacious--isn't that what we want in FedGov?

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

It hasn't gone all the way through yet. Then again, I'm kinda disinclined to let it get to that point given that IT'S A TOILET

AND YES, MY TOILET BOWL HAS LITERALLY CRACKED . . .

(But Kohler's made good on it . . . cuz it's entirely hard to imagine how I coulda done this . . .)

This is a praise . . . not a vent.

Our house is less than two years old.

MY TOILET CRACKED. (I wish I were kidding; I'll put the photo in the thread).

But because it's >1 year I thought I was SOL (no pun intended).

As a last ditch effort, I contacted #Kohler

THEY'RE SHIPPING A NEW TOILET

Doing war crimes the right way

Did anyone think that maybe if she was worried about her health insurance status (which is what T suggested when I first started ranting about this) TO FIND A FUCKING WORK AROUND (my mom's job at least did that when she got the terminal cancer diagnosis).

'Merica, ya'll.

3) She was dialing in even from a quiet corner of the chemo center.

I'm sorry what are we prioritizing here again? Did anyone even stop to think why she felt like she HAD to dial in FROM FUCKING CHEMOTHERAPY - Did anyone even stop to think to tell her SHE CAME GOD-DAMNED FIRST.

But here's the tragedy. Here are the things that came up in the eulogies that her two bosses gave.

1) She was so devoted to the job. She was on Zoom calls until the day before she entered hospice. That really shows the type of person she was.

2) She never complained about the pain. She showed up

Friends, I went to a memorial service for a former coworker today, and I can't stop thinking about it. I was already sad at her passing; she was a lovely person. A devoted aunt, a quite professional who also had a wry sense of humor, and someone who truly deserved better than fate dealt.

Two things.

1) Some puppy isn't a puppy any more?

2) is it normal for a dog's tail to be as long as its legs?

Not to brag, but I'm in the 95th percentile for #Kiva loans this year. (though that I'd have to loan at least $200 more to reach the 96th percentile says something about the 5% above me, and GOOD for them)

That felt good.

Okay, be honest . . . were we lied to by the rescue. Did we actually accidentally adopt a baby seal?