Before I got my cochlear implant, the work-place was rough: simple things that everyone else took for granted, like fundamental communication, was nearly impossible for me. An innocent question about how you're doing could be a major hassle, ending up in embarrassment for me.
True story: at a "division" meeting - I don't recall what level of the organization it was, but it was high up there and there were lots of people in attendance - I'd sat through what seemed like forever, not having a freakin' clue as to what was going on, what we were discussing, etc. I did catch when, near the end of the meeting, the CxO said, "Are there any more questions?" I said, "Yeah, can we leave, now?" I saw him chuckle, slightly, and he wrapped up the meeting after that, but I still cringe thinking about how rude I must have appeared. It certainly wasn't "professional."
Since I got my CI, it's almost like I'm "normal." I may have to ask someone to "Say that again," but I'm able to follow along, for the most part. I don't just sit there like the invisible man, and can participate in meetings, conversations, etc.
If I was a manager of someone with disabilities, having my perspective, I'd definitely go out of my way to find out how we could help them become productive, contributing members.
America was founded on many acts of treason. If the men and women committing these acts of treason, against the king, were caught, they'd have been put to death. Since the rebels won, we Americans consider these treasonous rebels brave heroes and patriots. The Tories - not so much.
Seconded. Given that America has been involved in conflict more often than not, it's not hard to see why many foreign countries don't care much for us.
Personally, I don't hate America, but I see it like Carl Schurz: "My country, right or wrong. If right, to be kept right, if wrong, to be set right." Setting things right means accepting the truth: that America does not always act as a well-behaved world citizen. Like a petulant child, it needs to be held accountable.
Amen. In my book, specialization is for insects. I left a good paying job with See-mans because, for reasons I won't get into, I transitioned to a job where I did one thing, and it wasn't something I enjoyed, found interesting, or could even hack for the one year it would require to transition to a different job. I had much more fun when I was a sys-admin, responsible for everything: never a dull moment.
The ideal that US government is of the people, by the people and for the people is not only dead, but stick a fork in its fucking carcass dead. Behold a brave new future for Americans, where we cast off the burden of being equal in the eyes of the law, and, instead, become serfs of the state, destined to do only as we're told, when we're told - and love it... Comrade! Smile when you lick those boots!
Your last point should factor in equally with your other qualifications: if a woman realizes that she will be an unfit mother, and simply doesn't want to carry the child, why shouldn't that be reason enough? Then there are mothers who can't lay off cigs, booze, drugs, etc, even while pregnant. If such a mother decided she didn't want to run the risk of an ADD baby, she ought to have that choice.
I agree with you, to an extent. I inherited a monstrosity, as well - twice, in fact - and each time it was, "I can fix this so that it's easier to maintain," and the first manager said, "But that means we'll have to test it even more to find any newly introduced bugs." The second said, "Your proposal is too complex; make it the way it was," even though almost no one but me could figure it out in the first place. The second manager, however, was the type of guy who would cut and paste a block 10 ten times, changing a single parameter for each block, rather than just build a loop around the code block. As such, his "It's too complex," was a reflection on his inability to understand abstractions, and we generally fear that which we don't understand. I don't work for that dickhead anymore, and I'm so thankful. Unfortunately, he's still managing a medical device that impacts peoples' lives, and his code is still shit.
Fuck! After pitching hay on my buddy's grand-father's farm, my buddy's sister wasn't amorous at all. In fact, she'd just say, "Eww, get away from me!" Must be them city gals are easier to fool. Or the awesome is strong in you, eldavojohn!
Must've been a different kind of "latch-key," in that neighborhood. My dad worked days; me mum, nights; we were pretty much left to our own devices all day. And there was just about nothing we didn't do. Played all kinds of games in the woods on the hill, drinking water straight from the little stream rather than trudge back to the house. Playing with Matchbox cars in the gravel. Racing bikes in the dirt parking lot down the block. Playing hide-and-seek at night. But the big thing was baseball. If we had a quorum, we played. We'd ride from neighborhood to neighborhood, gloves on our handlebars, looking for people to play.
Yeah, we watched our share of TV, too - reruns of Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeannie, Munsters, Get Smart, etc. - but, if the weather was good enough, we were outside, for the most part.
In that time-frame, "criticizing" was tantamount to being an "America-hating terrorist." The Emperor's clothes weren't just pretty, they were fucking gorgeous!
I just left my employer of nearly six years and, at my exit interview, said that everything was peaches and cream, lying through my teeth the whole time. I figured, yeah, I could vent like hell, but a) it wouldn't do any good - as a huge company, they're not going to change based on my opinion; and b) I might need to go back, someday. I'd rather gargle with a mixture of glass, shards of razor blades, and lye, but never say never. So I was "nice" and said all the "right things," even though I hate lying.
"general restraint"? Fuck that: geeks are, by and large, pussies. The stereotype, the cliche, is the nerd being pushed around by the brainless jocks. In the movies, sure, they might get revenge, but most of us, as smart as we are, realize that the odds of getting away with a crime are not in our favor. Instead, we come up with fantasies, or play D&D, or video games, where size, strength, cunning and skill are, largely, artificial.
It would be "general restraint" if we had the balls to begin with.
Perhaps, just to be safe, we should incarcerate everyone. And then, if someone "plans" to do something sinister - even if they have no means to carry out such a plan - well, they're already in jail, so, problem solved!
I think his point was more the mere mention of something that might be criminal leading to police action. We all talk shit: your "wasted" might not be the same as mine. The question is: Do we want the police trashing our house every time we embellish a story, or talk about a hypothetical?
You can get to the Orient by going west, too. It just takes a little longer. Technically, since we're on a sphere, you can go north and south, by various degrees, as well.
Maybe in some western and some Asian civilizations this would be true. But in some civilizations in the Americas, particularly the Haudenosaunee, women were not only not property of anyone, they held equal rights, were the only ones able to own property, and Clan Mothers decided which men would go off and do their bidding.
Start with enthusiastic people. Then, don't kill their enthusiasm with corporate BS.
Keep an open mind - good ideas sometimes come from really whacked out places.
Don't make criticism personal.
Understand that shit happens. Schedules are almost never correct in the first place, nor written in stone: people will not die if you don't ship by whenever.
Keep things challenging and interesting. Who wants to work on a dead-end project in a dead-end company?
Foster an "egalitarian" mindset. Sure, you'll have "alpha dogs" in any office, but people should be free to offer ideas and question others on an equal basis. An idea should stand on its merit, not on the person who's suggesting it.
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Can we "opt out" of these inspections, or do we risk the $10,000 fine?
There's no fucking way I'm drinking that after they've put whatever in it. Can I at least make them buy me a new drink? Probably not.
Followed by an arrest for "destruction or tampering with evidence," I wonder...
Before I got my cochlear implant, the work-place was rough: simple things that everyone else took for granted, like fundamental communication, was nearly impossible for me. An innocent question about how you're doing could be a major hassle, ending up in embarrassment for me.
True story: at a "division" meeting - I don't recall what level of the organization it was, but it was high up there and there were lots of people in attendance - I'd sat through what seemed like forever, not having a freakin' clue as to what was going on, what we were discussing, etc. I did catch when, near the end of the meeting, the CxO said, "Are there any more questions?" I said, "Yeah, can we leave, now?" I saw him chuckle, slightly, and he wrapped up the meeting after that, but I still cringe thinking about how rude I must have appeared. It certainly wasn't "professional."
Since I got my CI, it's almost like I'm "normal." I may have to ask someone to "Say that again," but I'm able to follow along, for the most part. I don't just sit there like the invisible man, and can participate in meetings, conversations, etc.
If I was a manager of someone with disabilities, having my perspective, I'd definitely go out of my way to find out how we could help them become productive, contributing members.
Meh. The only good syrup at IHOP is the butternut stuff. Is it real? Is it syrup? Who effin cares - it's delicious!
America was founded on many acts of treason. If the men and women committing these acts of treason, against the king, were caught, they'd have been put to death. Since the rebels won, we Americans consider these treasonous rebels brave heroes and patriots. The Tories - not so much.
Treason is in the eye of the beholder.
Yeah, I was going to say that it's so freakin' awesome that it's 2012, and we're so further advanced than they were in the Dark Ages.
Don't forget the riots over some team losing - or winning! - a game, like soccer, hockey, basketball.
There's the problem: you're "wishing" it away. Maybe you should pray for it, instead. Then it'll be gone fo' sho'.
Seconded. Given that America has been involved in conflict more often than not, it's not hard to see why many foreign countries don't care much for us.
See: http://americanhistory.about.com/library/timelines/bltimelineuswars.htm
Personally, I don't hate America, but I see it like Carl Schurz: "My country, right or wrong. If right, to be kept right, if wrong, to be set right." Setting things right means accepting the truth: that America does not always act as a well-behaved world citizen. Like a petulant child, it needs to be held accountable.
Amen. In my book, specialization is for insects. I left a good paying job with See-mans because, for reasons I won't get into, I transitioned to a job where I did one thing, and it wasn't something I enjoyed, found interesting, or could even hack for the one year it would require to transition to a different job. I had much more fun when I was a sys-admin, responsible for everything: never a dull moment.
The ideal that US government is of the people, by the people and for the people is not only dead, but stick a fork in its fucking carcass dead. Behold a brave new future for Americans, where we cast off the burden of being equal in the eyes of the law, and, instead, become serfs of the state, destined to do only as we're told, when we're told - and love it... Comrade! Smile when you lick those boots!
Your last point should factor in equally with your other qualifications: if a woman realizes that she will be an unfit mother, and simply doesn't want to carry the child, why shouldn't that be reason enough? Then there are mothers who can't lay off cigs, booze, drugs, etc, even while pregnant. If such a mother decided she didn't want to run the risk of an ADD baby, she ought to have that choice.
I agree with you, to an extent. I inherited a monstrosity, as well - twice, in fact - and each time it was, "I can fix this so that it's easier to maintain," and the first manager said, "But that means we'll have to test it even more to find any newly introduced bugs." The second said, "Your proposal is too complex; make it the way it was," even though almost no one but me could figure it out in the first place. The second manager, however, was the type of guy who would cut and paste a block 10 ten times, changing a single parameter for each block, rather than just build a loop around the code block. As such, his "It's too complex," was a reflection on his inability to understand abstractions, and we generally fear that which we don't understand. I don't work for that dickhead anymore, and I'm so thankful. Unfortunately, he's still managing a medical device that impacts peoples' lives, and his code is still shit.
Exactly. Witness Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Keith Olbermann, etc, and their followers, to varying degrees of rabidity.
Fuck! After pitching hay on my buddy's grand-father's farm, my buddy's sister wasn't amorous at all. In fact, she'd just say, "Eww, get away from me!" Must be them city gals are easier to fool. Or the awesome is strong in you, eldavojohn!
Must've been a different kind of "latch-key," in that neighborhood. My dad worked days; me mum, nights; we were pretty much left to our own devices all day. And there was just about nothing we didn't do. Played all kinds of games in the woods on the hill, drinking water straight from the little stream rather than trudge back to the house. Playing with Matchbox cars in the gravel. Racing bikes in the dirt parking lot down the block. Playing hide-and-seek at night. But the big thing was baseball. If we had a quorum, we played. We'd ride from neighborhood to neighborhood, gloves on our handlebars, looking for people to play.
Yeah, we watched our share of TV, too - reruns of Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeannie, Munsters, Get Smart, etc. - but, if the weather was good enough, we were outside, for the most part.
In that time-frame, "criticizing" was tantamount to being an "America-hating terrorist." The Emperor's clothes weren't just pretty, they were fucking gorgeous!
I just left my employer of nearly six years and, at my exit interview, said that everything was peaches and cream, lying through my teeth the whole time. I figured, yeah, I could vent like hell, but a) it wouldn't do any good - as a huge company, they're not going to change based on my opinion; and b) I might need to go back, someday. I'd rather gargle with a mixture of glass, shards of razor blades, and lye, but never say never. So I was "nice" and said all the "right things," even though I hate lying.
"general restraint"? Fuck that: geeks are, by and large, pussies. The stereotype, the cliche, is the nerd being pushed around by the brainless jocks. In the movies, sure, they might get revenge, but most of us, as smart as we are, realize that the odds of getting away with a crime are not in our favor. Instead, we come up with fantasies, or play D&D, or video games, where size, strength, cunning and skill are, largely, artificial.
It would be "general restraint" if we had the balls to begin with.
Perhaps, just to be safe, we should incarcerate everyone. And then, if someone "plans" to do something sinister - even if they have no means to carry out such a plan - well, they're already in jail, so, problem solved!
I think his point was more the mere mention of something that might be criminal leading to police action. We all talk shit: your "wasted" might not be the same as mine. The question is: Do we want the police trashing our house every time we embellish a story, or talk about a hypothetical?
In all seriousness, can't you install Windows or Linux on a MacBook Air?
You can get to the Orient by going west, too. It just takes a little longer. Technically, since we're on a sphere, you can go north and south, by various degrees, as well.
Maybe in some western and some Asian civilizations this would be true. But in some civilizations in the Americas, particularly the Haudenosaunee, women were not only not property of anyone, they held equal rights, were the only ones able to own property, and Clan Mothers decided which men would go off and do their bidding.
Start with enthusiastic people. Then, don't kill their enthusiasm with corporate BS.
Keep an open mind - good ideas sometimes come from really whacked out places.
Don't make criticism personal.
Understand that shit happens. Schedules are almost never correct in the first place, nor written in stone: people will not die if you don't ship by whenever.
Keep things challenging and interesting. Who wants to work on a dead-end project in a dead-end company?
Foster an "egalitarian" mindset. Sure, you'll have "alpha dogs" in any office, but people should be free to offer ideas and question others on an equal basis. An idea should stand on its merit, not on the person who's suggesting it.