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RTDNTOTO šŸ» Random Thoughts Deserving No Thread Of Their Own 20 (2025)

Planit said:
The ornament display at Hallmark is out. :cursing:
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That's good to know since I've been looking to add more Labor Day ornaments to my Festivus pole. ~6 weeks seems reasonable.

Also...what are you doing in a Hallmark store? First, one still exists near you? Second, are you a Greatest Generation grandmother?

o_O
 
Planit said:
The ornament display at Hallmark is out. :cursing:
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The new ones are always released in July.

This yearsā€™ Star Wars ornaments are heavy with Mando and Grogu, certainly in anticipation of the upcoming movie in May. Also, I am going to the local store tomorrow to pick up the crispy Vader mask left behind on Endor, definitely a ā€œmust haveā€ addition to my Zombie Nativity display.

 
AIB Hallmark ornaments

These just don't scream Christmas
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www.ornamentmall.com

QXI8445-2025 Discovery Shark Week

www.ornamentmall.com

www.ornamentmall.com

QXE3542-2025 Star Wars The Force Awakens 10th Anniversary Da

www.ornamentmall.com
 
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One of my cousins has been putting up a Star Wars-themed Christmas tree for many years now - if anyone has issues with that, I'll give you his contact info - he's a retired Army paratrooper with six combat tours to his credit...I'll just sit back with some popcorn and see how that goes for you. :popcorn:
 
jumbach said:
This is my patented Incredibly Simple Method to let household members know if I am busy or not in the home office.

Pretty self explanatory. I usually keep the door closed to block out noise and keep birds out (or in, as is the case now). This way people can know if they interrupt me without interrupting me.

Green: yes, come in.

Yellow: sort of busy in flow work, but come in if you really need to. ā€œI canā€™t find somethingā€ is not a necessity.

Red: donā€™t come in for anything short of ā€œfire, flood, or blood.ā€ In meeting or call.
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This would not work at my house. No matter what the color is, my wife and our oldest daughter will hover off to the side of the door while leaning across the door to stare at me until I acknowledge them and then be all demure and be like, "Oh I just have one question but don't want to bother you if you're busy..." but staring at me like that is infinitely more bothersome than just coming in and asking a question!

Our youngest daughter will just barge right in and have a seat on the couch behind me while I work. She'll be quiet and just want to hang out in the room with me. That gets on my nerves a lot less than what my wife and other daughter do.

JNA said:
View attachment 64877
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I feel seen!
 
One of our County Commissioners--the one I am closest to--announced he will not be running for re-election next year. That means no incumbent. Thinking about throwing my hat in . . . Having been on the Planning Commission, and familiar with administration and issues of the county, I have a shot. Haven't decided yet.

Jim
 
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I can't remember if I posted something here or if the site was down but....

My son asked me about a job posting at The Very Big Company where I work. As it turns out, it was with a manager that's under the same director I am. So he applied. I happened to mention it to a colleague and a senior manger who I know pretty well overheard so we chatted a bit. A couple hours later one of the managers under him sent me an email saying the my son should apply to Job Req Number xyz also. So he did.

That second job yielded an interview right away. They talked a couple weeks ago and he's waiting to hear. On the first job he applied to, he interviewed yesterday. And while all this is going on, another manager I know said he looked up my son's resume and if neither of those jobs come through, he will have an opening in a month or two, and my son has exactly the skill set he's looking for. If he were to take that job, he'd be sitting two rows down from me in the cube farm.

So maybe he'll be working at VeryBigCo. with me soon.
 
jumbach said:
One of our County Commissioners--the one I am closest to--announced he will not be running for re-election next year. That means no incumbent. Thinking about throwing my hat in . . . Having been on the Planning Commission, and familiar with administration and issues of the county, I have a shot. Hanen't decided yet.

Jim
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Do it...we need more local electeds that understand and respect the plight and intricacies of regulatory professions...especially land use.
 
jumbach said:
One of our County Commissioners--the one I am closest to--announced he will not be running for re-election next year. That means no incumbent. Thinking about throwing my hat in . . . Having been on the Planning Commission, and familiar with administration and issues of the county, I have a shot. Hanen't decided yet.

Jim
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mendelman said:
Do it...we need more local electeds that understand and respect the plight and intricacies of regulatory professions...especially land use.
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I agree! More planners need to be in elected positions.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
This would not work at my house. No matter what the color is, my wife and our oldest daughter will hover off to the side of the door while leaning across the door to stare at me until I acknowledge them and then be all demure and be like, "Oh I just have one question but don't want to bother you if you're busy..." but staring at me like that is infinitely more bothersome than just coming in and asking a question!

Our youngest daughter will just barge right in and have a seat on the couch behind me while I work. She'll be quiet and just want to hang out in the room with me. That gets on my nerves a lot less than what my wife and other daughter do.



I feel seen!
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Well, as it turns out, Wifey saw this and couldn't resist. Visible from across the room! No need to walk all the way to the door, only to see a red light.

It also has flashing red and flashing yellow, but I don't know what those modes would mean, nor do I want to make it too complicated.

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michaelskis said:
I agree! More planners need to be in elected positions
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I do have some time to decide, as the primary wouldn't be until June. (I'd have to decide for sure by December though to get campaign paperwork in.) A lot depends on whether such a position would be compatible/conflicting with whatever employment I have at the time.

Here's a flashback to 2000, when I was a 24-year-old kid who ran a respectable campaign and didn't finish last, against two strong incumbents:
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A
WSU MUP Student said:
I had to register a new account online for something and it had a huge list of security questions for password retrieval and one of them was "Where were you when you learned about 9/11?" That's a first!
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A lot of people signing up for things were nothing but an egg that day. :-O
 
Doohickie said:
I can't remember if I posted something here or if the site was down but....

My son asked me about a job posting at The Very Big Company where I work. As it turns out, it was with a manager that's under the same director I am. So he applied. I happened to mention it to a colleague and a senior manger who I know pretty well overheard so we chatted a bit. A couple hours later one of the managers under him sent me an email saying the my son should apply to Job Req Number xyz also. So he did.

That second job yielded an interview right away. They talked a couple weeks ago and he's waiting to hear. On the first job he applied to, he interviewed yesterday. And while all this is going on, another manager I know said he looked up my son's resume and if neither of those jobs come through, he will have an opening in a month or two, and my son has exactly the skill set he's looking for. If he were to take that job, he'd be sitting two rows down from me in the cube farm.

So maybe he'll be working at VeryBigCo. with me soon.
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I worked a couple of summers at the fiber optic cable plant where my father worked. It was only temporary but it was cool to see how much they respected my father, as he was the go to when the engineers needed a machine operator's prospective on an issue.
 
A reporter from a major Virginia-based national newspaper wants to interview me regarding the city layoffs. I said I'd give my own personal situation and how I'm coping, but I cannot and will not talk about anything else at the city. It'll be 100% classy on my end.

Not sure why that particular paper would care about this story, but they do. We do have a "local" paper owned by the same chain that owns the national newspaper here in town, though. Or, for that matter, how they tracked me down, as the city did not release names. Not that it's a secret since my layoff is all over my Facebook and LinkedIn.


Jim
 
Our teenager is volunteering as a counselor student director at a drama camp this week and next. There are about 15 kids in the camp and most are in 5th and 6th grade. She's only there from 8:00 a.m. to noon but those kids must be wearing her out. She never takes naps but has come home and taken one so far every day this week.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
Our teenager is volunteering as a counselor student director at a drama camp this week and next. There are about 15 kids in the camp and most are in 5th and 6th grade. She's only there from 8:00 a.m. to noon but those kids must be wearing her out. She never takes naps but has come home and taken one so far every day this week.
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My (soon to be) Sophomore son is beat during Summer Marching Band camp. Has to be there at 1p and it goes to 9p...then he rides his bike home (which is only ~.25 miles, so...)
 
MD Planner said:
That's helpful. If I were you I'd research the crap out of similar type transitions. If your 38% is accurate I'd say something like "in instances like this, increases generally range from 20-40%. I wouldn't use the exact 38% because it might come across as an expectation. But you can use that range as context to frame the 7% as low.

You should also emphasize your institutional knowledge as a steadying influence during the change. You can assure that disruption will be minimal in regard to operations. Your tone is everything. You can't look threatening or entitled. You can say how you want to keep contributing and think that it's fair that your compensation is reflective of your value and long-term commitment. You can mention how long it takes to train someone and how that might be disruptive to productivity and most importantly, patient care. Another thing you can do to show that you're a "team player" is to offer a tiered increase; say 15% now and another 10-15% in 6 months based on certain benchmarks that you all come up with together. If it gets to that point, get it in writing!

Those are my quick thoughts. Good luck!
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I countered with 18% increase (the cap of their pay scale) and they came back with a 10% increase.

Do I push for more?
 
dandy_warhol said:
I countered with 18% increase (the cap of their pay scale) and they came back with a 10% increase.

Do I push for more?
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Personally, I'd take the 10% and be happy. While it's not a lot, it does show that they are willing to listen and work with you, which will come in handy at the next evaluation time, and the time after that, etc.

Yes, you aren't going to get what you could have gotten in the States. But remember, you're not in the States.
 
I am getting fiber internet installed today. The tech is suppose to be at my house sometime between 8 am to 12 pm today. We are 36 minutes into the time period. What's the guesses?
 
mendelman said:
My (soon to be) Sophomore son is beat during Summer Marching Band camp. Has to be there at 1p and it goes to 9p...then he rides his bike home (which is only ~.25 miles, so...)
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Our soon to be sophomore loves band camp but also dreads it. They start at 7:00 a.m. in a failed attempt to beat the heat since they are outside in the sun until like 4:00 p.m. Last year they only went inside for a bit once for a couple hours to avoid an afternoon rainstorm. Thankfully, they do keep the athletic field concession stand open for them and they have an unlimited supply of cold water and sports drink (generic Gatorade maybe?). Then they have evening activities organized by the drum majors and section leaders each night until like 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. She had a blast at band camp last year but was definitely dragging a couple days in.

The school is a bit less than a half mile from our house and generally I'd make her walk home or ride a bike but it was so hot last year that I took pity on her and picked her up after camp each day so that she could actually rest a bit before the evening activities.
 
SlaveToTheGrind said:
Tsunami time?
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Is that anything like Martini time?

jumbach said:
Iā€™ve been hard at work spiffing up my LinkedIn. Can yā€™all look at it and give me an A-F grade through a recruiterā€™s eyes? Please be brutally honest.

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I know nothing about this linked in thing, but it says you're an interesting person, but why would I want to higher you. What skill set are you aiming to promote that I can use?

Also missing a word in the sentence.
When I am not hard at work, or reading, writing, or researching, I am out exploring Nevada's great outdoors.
 
I'
DVD said:
Is that anything like Martini time?


I know nothing about this linked in thing, but it says you're an interesting person, but why would I want to higher you. What skill set are you aiming to promote that I can use?

Also missing a word in the sentence.
When I am not hard at work, or reading, writing, or researching, I am out exploring Nevada's great outdoors.
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l'll fix that right now.

kms said:
I'd consider adding the complete title of Two Babies in a Suitcase.
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I probably should, since the title, like most of my titles, doesn't really make sense without the subtitle.
 
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