Posts made by Ganymede

@misadventure said in RL Anger:

And then there are places that allow people to donate their unused sick time to other employees who may need it to deal with things.

Let me just say the following to vent. It's not a personal thing.

The above policy is not a substitute for ADA compliance, and is a bullshit way for a company to shove the responsibility of making reasonable accommodations onto its employees.

If Sally has Crohn's disease that must be monitored every two months by a doctor and requires her to take half-a-day off, the ADA mandates that such accommodation be given to Sally upon request without penalty. An employer should not be forcing Sally to take sick, vacation, or FMLA leave to do something related to a documented disability. That is literally taking money from Sally's pockets as a penalty for her disability, relative to other people who do not have the same disability. The employer could ask Sally to spend half-a-day's worth of time after work on other days to make up for the appointment, but that's a reasonable accommodation because she would be working the same hours as everyone else.

To me, employers that try to guilt their workers into donating their sick or vacation leave to another employee with a documented disability for which a reasonable accommodation can and should be made are actually defrauding the employees. And they shouldn't stand for it.

@macha

Here are some useful tips.

You'll hear a lot of excuses. "We can't make too many exceptions." "We have to be fair to everyone." And it's all bullshit: fairness is about treating people based on their needs, not the same. And, thankfully, the ADA keeps this in mind.

It's not fair to force a diabetic to stick to the same schedule as people without diabetes, just like it's not fair to force someone without a leg to participate in an ass-kicking contest.

@macha

Keep documenting all of this. Keep a journal.

It will help if you later decide you want to file an action under the ADA.

This is a textbook case. I've seen the pattern.

Basically every situation on MUSHes adapted from tabletop games brought to beautiful glory by gifted writers.

Seriously watch this, it's fucking hilarious.

Also, watch this, because it precedes the part above.

Fun fact: the episode was written by this guy:

@tinuviel said in RL Anger:

Doesn't even need to be a warzone. Apathy is just as harmful to development as outright hostility. Though I doubt I'm saying anything new.

You ain't going to hear me argue with that; I used to be a teacher in a former life.

(Yes, I have a lot of schooling.)

@griatch said in Tomorrow is the Deadline....:

It also doesn't make sense to have a national vote on a work day like many countries have. Either make election day a holiday or move it to the weekend...

Although Americans have an actual day to vote with open polls, most jurisdictions permit some form of absentee balloting or voting. In my jurisdiction, you can actually go to the Board of Elections office and cast your vote early. So, Erection Day is more like Erection Deadline.

@zombiegenesis said in RL Anger:

I'd argue that teachers are kind of responsible for eloquence. Math, science, social studies, reading, and writing. That's what I expect from my school system.

I can't argue against expectations, and I presume that you aren't leaving everything to the school system, but I stand by Tinuviel's statement:

@tinuviel said in RL Anger:

Parents and teachers are a team that should, hopefully, print out a functional and stable human being at the end of the process. We're not simply a factory for turning children into gentlepersons with eloquence and good regard for their neighbour.

In American analogy, parents are the defense and teachers are the offense in football. One is known for winning championships, but the other is important. Being adept at math, science, social studies, reading, and writing makes you neither eloquent nor moral. If a child's home life is a warzone, it won't matter what a teacher does in the classroom.

@mietze said in RL Anger:

I guess I'll have to wait until I can tour the kindergarten class to see how the teacher at our local school (it's pretty small, there's usually only 1 kindergarten class for the neighborhood kids). and withhold judgement until then.

I don't want to seem like I'm backseat parenting, but you could try looking into church-run preschools. They seem to have less kids and more empathy. When my daughter was in the public preschool, she had that teacher problem (this year she has a different teacher, and they seem to get along smashingly). But she always liked her aftercare/daycare program, which was run by a church.

Then again, I live in an affluent suburb in Ohio, so YMMV.

@mietze said in Tomorrow is the Deadline....:

Also putting in a plug--If you are able to donate the time for the actual work plus any training, please please PLEASE consider becoming an elections observer. I have now been a certified elections observer for 2 years in my county, and it is both uplifting personally and very very important. If you cannot do that (usually it's done via the local parties) then please consider getting involved with a group that provides transportation to polling centers (if your community still has those), or who is doing help outside a polling place.

Or become a member of your local preferred party's central committee.

Or, you know, just do something, anything.

@goblin said in Tomorrow is the Deadline....:

The fact you have to register to do something that is your full right has me so entirely baffled. Why is it like that? (Honest question, no sarcasm here.)

In my state, you remain registered if you vote regularly. You are only "un-registered" if you don't vote for a certain period of time.

@mietze said in RL Anger:

But honestly I think my trust has been irrevocably broken at this point with this school. And that teacher. They can give me nothing positive to say about my child.

This summer, at the end of preschool, my daughter's teacher concluded that she was on the autistic spectrum, and recommended that she go to see a developmental pediatrician. This was supported by the preschool's psychologist. I live in a fairly affluent suburb.

We got a referral to a development pediatrician who found that, while my daughter has a speech delay, she was far ahead of other markers in things like growth and cognition. We took her to a speech therapist who concurred that my daughter needed some assistance with understanding social cues, but that she was bright, lively, intelligent, and a very quick learner.

I have never sat down with my daughter to write or draw. One day, three months after preschool ended and at a family dinner at a local restaurant, she draws a rose and then writes, in perfect block letters: "THE ROSE IS RED AND GREEN." And that little girl won't shut the hell up sometimes, I swear, but she can quite capably read things she's never seen before, like the subtitles in the movie "Alpha."

Fuck preschool teachers sometimes.

From all indicators -- granted, I have but a B.A. in psychology -- she appears to have hyperlexia. She remains in the 90th percentile for height and weight. She makes friends with all of the "special" children in her preschool class now (we decided to keep her in preschool for an extra year because we could, and it's probably better for her). And my parents, who care for her often, can confirm with certainty that she's a lot smarter, nicer, sweeter, and more talented than I was when I was her age.

Fuck you too, Mom and Dad.

Anyhow, my point is this: don't be discouraged by bad teachers. Your boy is having fun? I say, let him have fun. He'll learn as he will, when he will. Teachers, unfortunately, can only evaluate based on the tests they do on the day they do them, so if your kid is smart enough to have his own mind, he'll probably test poorly and you'll get an earful.

Far be it for me to point out that shitty teachers often get shitty results from great kids.

@aria

I concur.

Please, for the love of everything holy, register and vote if you can.

@kanye-qwest

Trigger warning:

@tyche said in RL Anger:

Are there other topics, besides economics or constitutional law, that you want to invoke argumentum ad verecundiam on?

On those two topics, I'm more than capable of smashing any argument you may have.

On others, I can just use logic, reason, and empathy to demonstrate your absence of authority.

@tyche

Kavanaugh has a pitiful litigation record. His testimony at his hearing prior to his diatribe on partisanship reveals this. And Thomas vastly expanded the power of agencies in his decision in Chevron.

You really have no idea what you are talking about, even as a conservative. You really ought to consider sitting the fuck down and not challenging me of all people on constitutional jurisprudence.

@lithium said in Requiem 2e Bloodlines:

Please tell me you are still working on this?

No. My team and I sort of petered out.

If they are on-board still, though -- they know who they are -- we can begin anew. Or we can start afresh?

@zombiegenesis said in Good TV:

I avoided Solo for the longest time after The Last Jedi turned me off of all things Star Wars related and, I have to say, I actually enjoyed it. It wan't the best movie I've ever seen but it rekindled my passion for Star Wars. Even if just a little bit. And for that I'm thankful.

Solo is under-rated. If you watch it as a heist movie, as opposed to a space opera movie, it is pretty fucking sweet.

Similarly, Rogue One is an excellent war movie.

@sunny

How I feel about your mom's approach:

@insomnia said in General Video Game Thread:

Yeah I knew which you meant. My point still applies about Christmas though!

But my partner is going away this weekend.

And Odyssey comes very highly rated.

I have a super big motherfucking problem, bitches, why y'all dancing?

@kanye-qwest said in RL things I love:

Isn't it great?? I don't regret mine, either. It cleans so easy, and not having to drown things in oil is so nice

What's a scanpan?