Jehosephat's recent activity

  1. Comment on US Republican congressman: Ideas behind Green New Deal 'tantamount to genocide' in ~enviro

    Jehosephat
    Link Parent
    I completely agree that the denial should be the crux of the argument. I just think that even if both parties do agree that the problem exists, one (hypothetically unrealistic) proposal from one...

    I completely agree that the denial should be the crux of the argument. I just think that even if both parties do agree that the problem exists, one (hypothetically unrealistic) proposal from one party does not require the other to somehow 'best' it, in order to say that it is unrealistic. Similar to the burden of proof being on a person making a claim rather than the other to somehow disprove it. To be clear, I'm not making a statement about the original GND statements in the article, but a statement about the futility of the 'what's your plan?' argument in general. It's just not useful.

    1 vote

  2. Comment on Coca-Cola reveals that it produces 3.3M tons of plastic packaging annually in ~enviro

    Jehosephat
    Link Parent
    You hit the nail on the head there, and I don't know that any new material changes it: The things we like about plastic are the same things that make it so harmful to our environment....

    You hit the nail on the head there, and I don't know that any new material changes it: The things we like about plastic are the same things that make it so harmful to our environment. Biodegradability tends to imply less durability by definition.

    1 vote

  3. Comment on US Republican congressman: Ideas behind Green New Deal 'tantamount to genocide' in ~enviro

    Jehosephat
    Link Parent
    Just to play devil's advocate here regarding the 'where's their solution' bit... If someone presented you with a solution (that you think is outlandish) to a problem (that you don't believe...

    Just to play devil's advocate here regarding the 'where's their solution' bit... If someone presented you with a solution (that you think is outlandish) to a problem (that you don't believe exists) you wouldn't feel like that compels you to come up with a 'better' solution. And even if you did, that wouldn't automatically make your solution 'good'.

    Example:
    My solution to global warming is to go lasso a huge asteroid and tow it into low-earth orbit to block out some of the sun's rays.
    You would probably say that's idiotic. So I say 'Oh yeah? what's your great plan?'
    You could propose just about anything and it would be better than my plan, but that doesn't really get us anywhere.

    Don't get me wrong here, I'm not defending the mischaracterizations of GND but I don't get the 'where's their plan' line of thinking.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on All Spotify Premium users now get free Hulu in ~tv

    Jehosephat
    Link Parent
    I've been thinking about doing spotify premium lately, not sure I want (commercial) Hulu enough to pay for it though. How has your experience been?

    I've been thinking about doing spotify premium lately, not sure I want (commercial) Hulu enough to pay for it though. How has your experience been?

    1 vote

  5. Comment on What if child care were as standard as coffee at tech conferences? in ~tech

    Jehosephat
    Link
    A software conference near me is offering it for the first time this year!

    A software conference near me is offering it for the first time this year!

    3 votes

  6. Comment on Running a bakery on Emacs and PostgreSQL in ~comp

    Jehosephat
    Link
    Really cool! I'm a software developer by profession, but it's things like this that really get me going. Finding ways to use code to improve tasks whose tedium or difficulty we just take for granted.

    Really cool! I'm a software developer by profession, but it's things like this that really get me going. Finding ways to use code to improve tasks whose tedium or difficulty we just take for granted.

    2 votes

  7. Comment on Trying to figure out my personal craziness in ~life

    Jehosephat
    Link Parent
    Thank you for your response. It makes a lot of sense to try to break down the logical and emotional components of each possible decision.

    Thank you for your response. It makes a lot of sense to try to break down the logical and emotional components of each possible decision.

    1 vote

  8. Comment on Trying to figure out my personal craziness in ~life

    Jehosephat
    Link
    Happy to answer questions if it helps. Didn't want to make the wall of text even taller...

    Happy to answer questions if it helps. Didn't want to make the wall of text even taller...

    1 vote

  9. Trying to figure out my personal craziness

    ~life Ask (advice)
    I hope this is the appropriate Tilde for this. If no one has any input it will still have helped me to type this out. TL;DR In over my head with marriage, foster care, family, and work. My wife...

    I hope this is the appropriate Tilde for this. If no one has any input it will still have helped me to type this out.

    TL;DR In over my head with marriage, foster care, family, and work.

    My wife and I became foster parents about 1.5 years ago with the intention to not adopt, but to care for children 3 and under while bio parents worked to regain custody or other permanent placements were arranged. Our first placement was two girls (7 mo and 2.5 yrs) despite wanting to do just one kid at a time (especially to start). We had them for 6 weeks and mom got them back. We had another placement (8 mo boy) for about another 6 weeks. There was a considerable lull and we were getting frustrated about not getting any new placements when the girls from our first placement were placed into custody again. So we were able to take them in again (now about 1.2 and 3.5 yrs). FF to now and we've had them for about 6 months.

    We never really intended to have more than one child and for quite this long and we're struggling. My wife has always had a little less ability to weather stressful situations like this and these last 2-3 weeks I'm carrying a lot of weight. In the meantime, bio mom has gotten pregnant and there's not another hearing regarding custody for another 9 months. We fully expect that she will not be able to take them back at that time (or really realistically ever). What should probably happen would be that the county could place the kids into permanent custody (basically getting them adopted). However, from what we've heard from other foster families, temporary custody could drag on for years.

    So, our main dilemma is this. We are not equipped (as a couple) to care for these kids for years. With the likely prospect of no change in custody in the near future, it feels like the best thing for these kids would be to get them into the care of someone looking to do this long-term, perhaps to eventually adopt. That being said, we absolutely love them and it feels like some kind of betrayal to force them to make yet another transition. On the other hand, with our limitations, it seems like that is inevitable anyway. Do we try to make that happen sooner?

    Some other data points:
    Our fostering license expires in October (about a month after the hearing is scheduled) and we don't intend to continue fostering (at least for a while, and definitely not with our current agency).
    We don't have many family members close by to give us a hand with the kids, making us feel isolated and making it hard to get breaks from the kids. Our agency has not been very helpful with lining up respite care, but we're trying to be more aggressive about that now.
    I've got things pretty well lined up to retire in about 5 years. My company is also just now kicking off a major project of a similar time frame and I'm in a good position to really make a mark before moving on. It will probably require some serious time commitments and effort to do it the way I want to.

    Thanks for listening.

    12 votes

  10. Comment on OneWeb set to launch first satellites in quest to provide global internet coverage from space in ~space

    Jehosephat
    Link
    Looking forward to seeing the implementation of this and the Starlink network and seeing how reliable they are.

    Looking forward to seeing the implementation of this and the Starlink network and seeing how reliable they are.

    2 votes

  11. Comment on "I just tried Google's brand new augmented reality Maps on a one mile walk through San Francisco, and I miss it already" in ~tech

    Jehosephat
    Link
    Anyone been invited to the alpha? I'm a local guide (although not super active), but this is the first I've heard about this.

    Anyone been invited to the alpha? I'm a local guide (although not super active), but this is the first I've heard about this.

    1 vote

  12. Comment on Wood desktop finishing question in ~hobbies

    Jehosephat
    Link Parent
    Thanks for the additional tips. I am not in a rush so I think I'll take the time to get the extra coats of poly done.

    Thanks for the additional tips. I am not in a rush so I think I'll take the time to get the extra coats of poly done.

    1 vote

  13. Comment on Wood desktop finishing question in ~hobbies

    Jehosephat
    Link Parent
    Awesome, thank you for the tips!

    Awesome, thank you for the tips!

    1 vote

  14. Comment on Russia to disconnect from the internet as part of a planned cyberwar test in ~tech

    Jehosephat
    Link Parent
    Ha, makes sense! Thanks for checking it out.

    Ha, makes sense! Thanks for checking it out.

    2 votes

  15. Comment on Russia to disconnect from the internet as part of a planned cyberwar test in ~tech

    Jehosephat
    Link Parent
    What is a night auditor?

    What is a night auditor?

    4 votes

  16. Wood desktop finishing question

    ~hobbies Ask (advice)
    I built a basic panel out of some boards left over from another project. I'd like to use this as a desktop surface just laid on top of some filing cabinets. I'm wondering what the best way to...

    I built a basic panel out of some boards left over from another project. I'd like to use this as a desktop surface just laid on top of some filing cabinets. I'm wondering what the best way to finish this would be? I don't think I want to paint and I'm ok with some light staining but I don't have any experience with sealing or whatever I would want to do to help preserve the surface. It would have typical office items on it (keyboard, mouse, monitor, paper, pens, etc.).

    9 votes

  17. Comment on Eating breakfast is not a good weight loss strategy, scientists confirm in ~food

    Jehosephat
    Link
    It's interesting too because of the relationship to intermittent fasting and potential benefits there too. For me, doing an IF regimen ultimately boils down to me skipping breakfast and not eating...

    It's interesting too because of the relationship to intermittent fasting and potential benefits there too. For me, doing an IF regimen ultimately boils down to me skipping breakfast and not eating after a certain time at night.

    5 votes