Cowboy Who?

The burn was originally expected to diminish early Tuesday after Energy Transfer isolated the line so that the residual product "can safely burn itself out." On Tuesday morning, the fire was smaller, but still raging. 

Headlines

• Major flooding just south of Wilmington, NC has been occurring due to Potential Tropical Cyclone 8.
• Additional rain and flooding, in addition to significant marine impacts and coastal impacts on the North Carolina coast are expected in the region through tonight as PTC 8 moves inland.
• Gordon is a depression, but no other systems are noted in the Atlantic or off Africa right now.
• We continue to see signs that the Caribbean will be the next place to watch next week, with potential development continuing to show up as noise in the forecast.

PTC 8 causing a ruckus in North Carolina

The good news is that Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 is running out of time to potentially become a tropical cyclone. The bad news is that it has been causing a lot of mischief in North Carolina since yesterday.

Rain totals have been absurd in some parts of North Carolina, almost doubling forecast expectations for the week. The Wilmington, NC area has been especially hard hit with a bullseye of radar estimated rainfall near 20 inches just south of the city. The highest official total I can find is 15.25″ at Sunny Point, which aligns well with the scale below. There has been severe flooding in portions of Brunswick and New Hanover Counties, in North Carolina.

Recurrence intervals appear to be over 200 to 250 years with this rainfall, making this an exceptional, historic event for this area.

Rain continues, though there may finally be some feeder band movement offshore that indicates a focus may shift out of Brunswick and New Hanover Counties and off to the northeast a bit. Those areas have seen comparably less rainfall.

Winds have been ripping as well, with gusts as high as 67 mph in Wrightsville Beach, 64 mph just south of there on Masonboro Island, and 60 mph in Wilmington. A 77 mph gust at Sunny Point south of Wilmington was taken a bit elevated, at 30 feet, so it may not be especially representative. But anyway, this is why we noted yesterday that whether it is or isn’t a tropical storm (it still isn’t technically) the impacts would be the same.

Not to be outdone, but winds and waves have been solid and high farther up the North Carolina coast with some damage to homes being reported as far north as Rodanthe on the Outer Banks. Beach erosion and ocean overwash is likely to continue into tonight across the North Carolina coast as PTC 8 moves inland. Coastal flooding of 1 to 3 feet is likely as well, with waves of 8 to 12 feet near the coast and to the north of Wrightsville Beach or so. Things will settle tomorrow.

In addition to all this mess, isolated tornadoes are a good bet in parts of eastern North Carolina.

Flood risk will move inland tonight, with totals of anywhere from 3 to 7 inches between the western North Carolina mountains, Charlotte, and into southeast North Carolina away from the coastal deluge. Higher amounts are likely in a few spots, especially near or south and east of Raleigh.

Rains will become more scattered after today and tonight, and conditions will generally improve in North Carolina and the Mid-Atlantic after that.

Gordon downgraded, and no other Atlantic Ocean items to watch

Tropical Storm Gordon was downgraded to a depression, and it will continue to meander in the open ocean for a few days. There is a decent chance that Gordon will make another go at intensification later this week or weekend. Its future keeps it in the open ocean, the first true fish storm of 2024.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic, conditions look quiet over the course of this week, and we do not expect any new systems of note to form. So we can spend most of the rest of the week waxing poetic on…

…The Caribbean

Yes, we continue to see signs that the Caribbean will be an area to watch in a week or so. We’ve started to see operational model runs begin to ramp up activity out of that area, though I strongly advise folks to disregard those one-offs, especially with regard to specifics. What do we know right now?

First off, we know that the overall atmosphere in the western Atlantic and Caribbean is going to become more hospitable to tropical development. After a period of hostile conditions that has basically been continuous since early August, the western Atlantic is going to flip to a more favorable background state for tropical development. In other words, less sinking air and more rising air will at least promote more development opportunities.

So the background state says that we should get moving. Second, we have seen signs in modeling of some type of either gyre scenario over Central America or the western Caribbean or some sort of disturbance that arrives there around early next week. This has been a feature in ensemble modeling for a while now, and it’s beginning to materialize in other modeling too as we get closer. But if you look at the GFS ensemble of sea-level pressures this coming Sunday, you can see a decent signal for low pressure in the northwest Caribbean.

This isn’t a flashing red lights signal but it’s enough for me right now. I’ll be watching this area closely. Exactly what happens from here remains to be seen, but we know that the environment will become increasingly hospitable, and this is some of the warmest water in the basin. It absolutely merits paying attention in the days ahead, whether or not anything ultimately occurs.

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. My boss won’t do anything about my lazy coworker

I’ve worked for 14 years as an individual contributor on a team of six technologists. We split the day-to-day work evenly amongst ourselves, and are all used to having to take on a bit more if someone calls in sick or something along those lines … we all just push through and it gets done.

What is there to be done about a coworker who is clearly not doing their share due to obvious time mismanagement? One of my fellow techs, William, wanders in anywhere from 10-25 minutes late almost every morning (often with a drive-through coffee in his hand). He frequently takes much longer breaks than we are allowed, and I often observe him wasting time chatting with other colleagues and hiding in corners of the office playing on his cell phone. I have kept track, and this often amounts to a couple of hours per day.

Our supervisor, Thomas, has had many meetings with all six of us in which he clearly lays out his expectations regarding personal chit chat, timeliness, cell phone use, etc. But William doesn’t seem to care. He continues to blatantly disregard expectations, and when called out on it (usually by me, always in a calm, professional manner, referencing the expectations previously laid out by Thomas), his response is to give me the silent treatment, sometimes for days on end, only speaking to me in monosyllables when it’s absolutely necessary. When I bring this up to Thomas (the behaviors I’ve observed, and the subsequent freeze-outs), the only answer I get is something wishy washy along the lines of, “I’m keeping an eye on it.”

I genuinely like my work aside from this, and I care about doing a good job every day and being honest about how I spend my time, so it’s disheartening to see William continually allowed to put in far less effort than the rest of us, with no apparent consequences. What, if anything, can I do? I’d be so grateful for any insight you can provide, even if it’s just a reality check that this is sometimes just the way things are.

This is indeed sometimes just the way things are.

But the reason they’re this way is because your boss sucks. I suppose it’s possible that he’s managing William more actively behind the scenes and you just don’t know about it, but I doubt it given that the problems are continuing, and since Thomas apparently thinks the way to “manage” William is to have group meetings rather than correct William one-on-one. Thomas sounds like a wimp who doesn’t want to address issues with William directly so instead is choosing the weakest possible management approach.

William sucks, but Thomas sucks more.

Related:
my boss sends scolding emails to all of us — and then tells me I shouldn’t take them personally

2. My coworker shared a colleague’s personal info with me

I’m a woman in my 30s working in state government in an upper admin-type role. Our office is great in that we are a strong team and folks enjoy each other’s company, but there isn’t a “we’re family” vibe. We have quite a few men with a common first name, let’s say John.

My coworker Carol is relatively senior in terms of job title, but not my boss. We have a cordial relationship but are not “work friends.” Carol has previously made it clear to the office that it is very important to her that we know when her birthday is and celebrate it.

Last week, I was getting my lunch ready in the kitchen and Carol walked in. We exchange greetings and then she asks me, “So, did we do anything for John?” I’m wracking my brain trying to figure out which John she’s referring to. It can’t be the one who just lost a family member, because his team already organized a condolence card for him, so who could it be?

I must have looked confused, so she clarified, “You know, his dad and the accident. I just thought we should do something.” I told her that I didn’t know what she was talking about, and she said she saw us chatting yesterday, so she thought she’d ask. Now I know which John she’s talking about, but I still have no idea why she thinks I would know about this. John works in a different department, and while we do have a friendly work relationship, we mostly talk about our mutual hobbies and interests, not personal stuff.

I asked another coworker who is usually in the know about these things, and she also had no idea, so I decided to just ask John. I made it clear that this might be a weird question and awkwardly asked if everything was okay with his family. He looked taken aback but explained that yes, his dad was in a bad accident a month ago but is doing very well now. He was gracious about it and I apologized repeatedly and explained that Carol had said something, which he looked annoyed about. He said he’d specifically not told many folks at work because he needed work to be an escape from that stress.

I think that my working relationship with John is still okay, but I’m very annoyed with Carol. If someone shares that sort of thing with you in confidence, you shouldn’t go blabbing it to the rest of the office, let alone a different department! And asking me (admin) if we’ve “done anything” (undertone: “you should do something”) when she (not admin) could very well have organized something herself was annoying.

I don’t know if this is just a different understanding of what a workplace and workplace relationships are, but I don’t expect anyone but (maybe) my closest coworkers to celebrate my birthday or share condolences about a difficult family situation. Am I off-base here? Would appreciate any advice/criticism, either on how I handled the situation or how I could handle future interactions with Carol.

Nah, you’re not off-base. But most of this sounds like it could have simply been miscommunication; if John didn’t make it clear to Carol that he didn’t want the info shared, she may not have realized it. Possibly she should have! But that’s between her and John.

She was wrong to imply you should organize something when you’re not on John’s team, and I’d make a mental note not to share anything with Carol that you don’t want repeated, but otherwise I wouldn’t worry much about any of this.

About your broader question about the way she sees relationships at work versus the way you do: as long as she’s not pressuring other people to do things they don’t want to do (like pushing people to celebrate their own birthdays at work if they don’t want to), I’d mark this all down to people just falling in different places on the spectrum of how they like to connect with colleagues.

3. Getting a degree from a nationally accredited school

I am a 34-year-old single mom who has spent years and over $80k trying to obtain a degree. Unfortunately, I’ve made every possible mistake — transferred schools four times, changed my major multiple times, and dropped out due to financial and life challenges.

Earning a degree is still a bucket list item for me, but with $80k in debt and no degree, the financial burden feels overwhelming. I recently came across an affordable, nonprofit online school called University of the People, where classes cost just $100 each. I could complete a business administration degree, which is exactly what I need for career advancement, and I can definitely afford it.

However, it looks like this school is nationally accredited, rather than regionally accredited. How much are employers going to care that the degree is nationally accredited?

First, for readers who don’t know, regional accreditors generally have much more rigorous standards than national accreditors, and a lot of crappy for-profit schools are nationally accredited because they can’t get regionally accredited.

To your question: It’s less that employers will look up whether a school is regionally or nationally accredited and more that the school itself doesn’t have a strong reputation. (Although it’s at least nonprofit, which is a plus!)

If you just need the degree for box-checking purposes (like if your company won’t promote you beyond a certain level without a degree), it will probably be fine. If you’re hoping it will carry the same weight as a degree from a more traditional school (in terms of academic rigor and general reputation), it won’t. So it really depends on what your reason are for pursuing the degree.

Related:
do employers really care where you went to school?

4. Client said I can’t talk to my coworker

I am a project manager who implements healthcare software with clients around the country.

One client has contracted an internal employee of my company (a coworker of mine) to assist them since two client staff members quit during the first week of the software launching. (I am not surprised given that the client is rude, demanding, and has staff that are not kind to each other.) I met with my coworker one-on-one to see how it was going. I myself have had a rough patch with this client and wanted to make sure that they were not being aggressive and outlandish in their requests.

Well, the client found out I met with my coworker without them there, and they are now saying I cannot meet with her to discuss anything with her without them. I stated that I wanted the coworker to have an opportunity to speak openly about how it was going for her. The client then replied back that if the coworker had questions/concerns, she should bring it up to them.

Was I out of line for checking with the coworker on her experience so far? I wanted to just gather how it was going for her from a project perspective.

It’s completely normal for people within an organization to meet to talk about how work is going, and clients can’t dictate that that not happen (unless it’s confidential work where each person involved in the project needs to be specially cleared, but that doesn’t sound like the case here). The inner workings of your company are none of their business. Are they also going to say her manager can’t check in with her about her work on their project?

Practically speaking, you and your coworker should just not mention future conversations to the client, but this is weird.

5. My employer wants me to pay for a separate phone so they can reach me at night

My employer has recently begun demanding I keep my cell on 24/7 in case they need me to cover reception in an emergency. We do not have emergency matters, just the receptionist might call in sick.

I have declined to keep my phone on so it doesn’t ping me at all hours, which happens because of auto reminders from doctors and texts from family and friends three time zones ahead. I said I would hold a phone from my employer.

My employer is insisting on taking my WFH stipend, or my money, to cover the cost for an excessive phone and plan of their choosing. This is apparently all illegal in my state (California). How do I respond without getting fired and without having to use my funds to pay their bills?

California does indeed have a law that employers must reimburse all business expenses and can’t ask employees to shoulder them. So you could simply say, “We could get in trouble under California law for that, since the state requires employers to cover business expenses, including phones.”

The WFH stipend might complicate this, depending on exactly how that’s structured; it’s possible this could legally fall under the expenses that the stipend should cover (although based on your letter, I’m skeptical that it would; you could check with a lawyer in your state if you want to be sure).

The other option, if you don’t feel like dealing with this, is just to set the number they’d be calling from to emergency bypass so it rings through even if you have Do Not Disturb on. You shouldn’t have to do that (and it will only work if you program in all the possible numbers they might call from), but it’s an option.

Related:
what to do when your employer is breaking the law

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This was actually the 4th time the monolith's creations got eaten by humans.

Today's News:

WEST PALM BEACH, FL—In the wake of the second attempt on Donald Trump’s life in the past three months, sources confirmed Monday that the man who allegedly attempted to shoot the 45th president of the United States, Ryan Wesley Routh, was buying AR-15s nonstop while in custody. “Somehow, despite being detained and under strict police watch, the would-be assassin still managed to purchase several more semiautomatic weapons, as well as hundreds more rounds of ammunition,” said Secret Service agent Jeffrey Walters, who added that just hours after targeting Trump on his golf course with an SKS-style rifle, Routh was in his jail cell ordering, receiving, and signing for dozens of packages filled with military-grade weapons. “We’re in the middle of an interrogation when suddenly, some guy from Bass Pro Shops shows up and hands the suspect a Springfield Armory Saint AR-15, which he immediately takes and fires into the wall. Then, once we take that away, some guy from a local gun show drives up, pops open his trunk, and gives him 10 more.” At press time, Routh reportedly had to be moved to a high-security holding cell after he was spotted using a 3D printer to print off several rifles, silencers, and bump stock patterns he downloaded off the dark web.

The post Trump Assassination Suspect Buying AR-15s Nonstop While In Custody appeared first on The Onion.

The county told a state district court judge that the applications were already mailed out and any ruling would be moot.

Lone Star College-North Harris posted a photo:

Campus Connections Sept 10 & 11

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes:

I’m in a weird situation with a few coworkers, and don’t know what to do.

My desk mate, Beth, is roommates with a coworker, Sally. Sally works in our department, but her office is in a different part of the building.

Sally recently started dating someone and confided in Beth that boyfriend, Jerry, is a convicted pedophile.

Sally’s mom, Kathy, also works in our department, in the same office as Beth and I are in.

We are sure that Kathy does not know this information, as she is friendly with Jerry and has a young tween daughter, Lucy, who is allowed to spend time at the apartment with Sally and Jerry.

Morally, I feel obligated to tell Kathy about Jerry’s conviction, but I don’t want the fallout to affect the workplace. I considered texting a screenshot of his public record to Kathy from a fake phone number. Beth doesn’t want me to — she is concerned that Sally will think she’s behind it because she hasn’t told anyone else, which will cause a blow-up for her, both at work and at home.

What would you suggest to protect the child, while also avoiding as much workplace drama as possible?

Since Sally shared Jerry’s history with Beth, why hasn’t Beth said to her, “Hey, I really think you need to tell your mom since he’s around your sister”?

And if that doesn’t change anything: “I’m not comfortable keeping this from your mom when she has a kid at home. I’d prefer you share it with her yourself, but otherwise I need to tell her.” (Or she could skip the warning and just tell Kathy what she needs to know.)

If Beth isn’t willing to do that, you could use a similar framing with Beth yourself: “I understand you’re worried about Sally being upset and blaming you, but we’re talking about a kid’s safety. I’m not comfortable keeping this from Kathy, knowing she’s allowing him around Lucy.”

And then tell Kathy what you know, and let her know she can confirm it in public records herself.

If Sally chooses to respond to that with drama … well, so be it. That worry can’t trump the risk of a kid getting abused.

Write down the most common intrusive thought that keeps you up at night, but don’t include your name. Then choose a table leader to read each thought aloud and take turns guessing the author.

How old were you when you learned about death? What was your initial reaction?

How do you viscerally experience the feeling of shame in your body—as a wave of heat? As a tingling cold sweat? As a ringing sensation in your ears followed by utter blankness? Share with your elbow partner.

Share the longest period of time you’ve ever wept. Then, as a group, seat yourselves in order from shortest cry to longest cry.

Think of a beloved childhood possession that you lost, and tell your group the story of how you lost it. Did it float off in the ocean? Did a stepparent throw it away, claiming you were too old for such babyish things? Did a distracted caregiver run it over with their car? Choose the saddest story in your small group and be ready to reenact it for the whole group.

When you experience gastrointestinal issues, do you prefer throwing up or shitting as a means of relief? Find a buddy who shares your point of view.

Pull out your phones and take a few minutes to research the core beliefs of your childhood place of worship. Find the wildest claim within this theology and share it with the group, along with how you see this having shaped or stunted your early development.

Help yourself to some M&M’s. Now, for each M&M you took, tell us about a physical flaw you relentlessly obsess over.

Name a place you’d love to travel to but feel pretty sure you’ll never have the chance to visit. Who or what do you think will keep you from getting there?

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? When did you first realize that you would not achieve this dream?

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

A reader writes:

For about half a year now, I’ve had a colleague (let’s call him Dave) who has a few strange quirks. He tends to look for my reaction at a lot of things other people say, and then comment on the way I react. For example: another coworker or my boss makes a joke and I laugh (while others are laughing too) and Dave looks at me, points and says, “Oh, you sure are laughing” or ‘“Look how hard Jane is laughing.” Honestly it makes me very self-conscious about smiling/laughing in the office, even though before that I was really happy/felt lucky that we had such a jovial, fun environment to work in.

He also has some other quirks such as never washing his dishes (to the point we have to put his coffee in a paper cup instead of a glass one, because he will leave dishes to literally rot on his desk) and making mean-spirited jokes about my boss, who is currently going through cancer treatment. (Not that it would be fine if he wasn’t going through cancer treatment, but it just feels like he’s kicking him when he’s down.)

On top of this, Dave recently “came out” as an empath. He explained that it meant that he feels emotions much more deeply than other people do and thus gets overwhelmed easily. He is absent very often due to things such as not having slept well or having a cold, things other people still come in for.

Is there anything I could possibly do to make him stop making these comments without making the office an uncomfortable place to be in? Should I tell my boss or grandboss about these things I’ve noticed? Or should I just let it be? He’s very chatty, so I’ve had to have headphones in almost constantly during work, which in turn makes it harder to quickly communicate with coworkers.

There is also a chance I am just overreacting or don’t understand it. Full disclosure, I am autistic, so I don’t really understand a lot of social norms. Anyhow, thank you.

Ugh, Dave. I think you’re understanding him just fine. He sounds like a garden-variety jerk whose image of himself (as an empath!) doesn’t fit his actual behavior.

I wonder if you can use his “empath” self-image to get him to stop commenting on your reactions to things. For example: “I know you’ve mentioned you’re empathetic and care a lot about people’s feelings, so can I ask you to stop commenting on my laughing or other reactions I have? It makes me self-conscious, which I know you don’t want to do.”

And when he makes a mean-spirited joke about your boss, feel free to let your response illustrate how it’s landing:
* “Ouch, that was mean.”
* “Whoa, that’s not deserved.”
* “Yikes.”

For what it’s worth, “empath” is generally used to mean someone who has a higher degree of sensitivity to the emotions of others. It doesn’t mean “colds and lack of sleep are harder on me than they are on other people.” It also doesn’t mean “I feel my own emotions much more deeply than other people do.” If anything, it sounds like Dave might be the opposite of an empath.

After analyzing the skulls and brain tissue of nine people buried in a mid-17th-century Italian hospital’s crypt, researchers at the University of Milan found that two had most likely used cocaine, offering the earliest evidence of cocaine use in Europe. What do you think?

The post Study Finds Europeans Used Cocaine Earlier Than Once Thought appeared first on The Onion.

WASHINGTON—Removing his aviators and crouching down to take a better look, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg reportedly examined a set of tire tracks Mondays and confirmed, with a swipe of his finger across the asphalt, that they were still fresh. “Still warm, too,” said the former South Bend, IN mayor, dabbing his finger onto his tongue to confirm his suspicions that the car responsible for the swirl of skid marks in a D.C. intersection couldn’t have gotten very far. “It was a sedan, four doors, carrying two—no, three—adult males and headed southwest in a hurry. Boys, charge up the e-bikes. We’ve got a car full of irresponsible drivers to catch. No one does donuts in my jurisdiction and gets away with it.” At press time, Buttigieg was seen cursing the sky with his fists after the tire tracks ended abruptly at the edge of a cliff.

The post ‘Still Fresh,’ Says Crouching Pete Buttigieg Swiping Finger Across Tire Tracks On Street appeared first on The Onion.

PHOENIX—Appealing to his base with a new line of attack against immigrants, former President Donald Trump took to the campaign trail Monday to warn that those in the country illegally were taking all the good vanity plates. “Every day, people come up to me to tell me they can’t get the very clever, personalized license plate they want because it has been stolen away by someone who came here from Mexico or Venezuela,” said Trump, who claimed without evidence that Americans visiting their local DMVs were unable to secure top-tier plates, including ones that read “DOGLOVR,” “HOT ROD,” and “CHILLIN,” because they had already been assigned to vehicles driven by immigrants. “These illegal drivers are taking all the best initials, the plays on words, the ones using the number ‘2’ to mean the word ‘to.’ And it’s so sad. I talked to a man, he had tears in his eyes, he said, ‘Mr. President, my wife has a jeep. I wanted to get her a plate that said JEEPERS. They said no, no JEEPERS, no JEEPER5, not even J33P3RS. It was taken by some Mexican family for their sedan.’ It wasn’t even a jeep—isn’t that terrible, folks?” Trump went on to speculate that if Kamala Harris was elected, she would make it illegal for Americans to register plates that use repeated consecutive letters to imitate vernacular pronunciations such as “DUUUUDE” and “GURRRRL.”

The post Trump Warns Immigrants Taking All The Good Vanity Plates appeared first on The Onion.

The post Report: Trump Defiantly Pumped Fist For 20 Minutes After Assassination Attempt Searching For Camera appeared first on The Onion.

In brief: With high pressure asserting control over our region’s weather, the forecast period looks mostly hot, and mostly sunny, for the foreseeable future. At some point we’re going to start getting some fronts and a more fall-like pattern, but we are not going to reach that point this week.

Highs and lows

We are now in mid-September, a time when historically the Texas coast is most vulnerable to large and powerful hurricanes. The first line of defense for our region in August and September from hurricanes is high pressure. This makes for hot and sunny conditions over land, but also establishes an atmospheric pattern that steers storms away.

For the next week or 10 days, we’re going to see a fairly dominant high pressure system over the Texas coast. That may not be what you want to see weather wise in Houston, as it will mean hot and sunny days and an absence of fronts to cool us down. However, it will also keep any low-pressure systems at bay. In short, at a time when we would normally be most concerned about hurricanes and Texas, we can breathe easy for now.

Monday

We’ll see a mix of clouds and sunshine this morning before clearing skies this afternoon. Expect high temperatures generally in the mid-90s, with light northerly winds. As for rain chances, they’re not zero, but they’re less than 10 percent. So close enough. Lows tonight will drop into the mid-70s.

Tuesday through Friday

As mentioned above, with high pressure in place do not expect much change in our day to day weather. Highs, generally, will be in the low- to mid-90s with mostly sunny skies. Low temperatures will fall into the mid-70s. Winds all week look to be fairly light, in the vicinity of 5 to 10 mph. In terms of rain chances, they’re not exactly zero. But they’re not much above 10 percent each day. Most parts of our region are unlikely to see any accumulation this week.

Saturday, Sunday, and beyond

At this point the overall pattern appears unlikely to change much this weekend, or even into the early part of next week. Highs, generally, should remain in the low-90s, with mostly sunny skies, and low rain chances through the weekend at least, if not beyond.

Tropic

The tropics are decidedly not quiet, but for our purposes in Texas they’re not of any concern. The only thing I’m watching is the potential for some development in the western Caribbean Sea about eight to 10 days from now. There’s no evidence this will track toward Texas, but it’s the only development likely near the Gulf of Mexico in the near term. If you want to know what’s happening across the Atlantic basin, be sure and check out The Eyewall.

Recent polls show support for former President Donald Trump is falling among women voters. Here are some of the strategies Trump and his campaign staff are using to try to win women back before November.

Promising to declutter their rights: Women will embrace the opportunity to simplify their lives by having fewer choices.
Providing empowering female representation: To show his commitment to women’s issues, Trump has used recent rallies to showcase his powerful female allies, including Sen. Katie Britt of Alaska, a cardboard cutout of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, and Mrs. Met.
Seven minutes in heaven with Eric Trump: To give America’s heartthrob his first kiss, the Trump campaign is giving a special opportunity to women who have had Eric’s photo taped inside their locker for decades.
Stickers: Women love stickers.
Texting them photos of them sleeping: He knows how to show he cares.
Recording Taylor Swift’s Reputation: While Trump may not have quite the same vocal range as the artist, at least his version of “Getaway Car” isn’t owned by Scooter Braun.
Mandatory IVF:  Every woman deserves the opportunity to become a baby factory.
Keeping J.D. Vance in Washington: A Trump-Vance win is four years of knowing the freak’s location at all times.
Terry, the Talking Tampon: Women whose brains have been poisoned by the liberal media might not want to listen to Donald Trump, but they’ll definitely listen to Terry, the Talking Tampon. 
Seductively brushing back hair to reveal bullet scar: No one can resist a bad boy. 
Sugar cubes: Campaign officials have announced plans to get skittish women voters to approach them by calmly holding out sugar cubes in their flattened palms. 
Internalized misogyny: Not tapping into this abundant resource would only be foolish.

The post How Trump Is Appealing To Women Voters appeared first on The Onion.

5-Day Uncertainty Track last updated Mon, 16 Sep 2024 12:00:20 GMT


Wind Speed Probabilities last updated Mon, 16 Sep 2024 09:29:06 GMT

New comic!
Today's News:

The cube's constant and unremarked-upon presence is a comfort to us all in these trying times.

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. Can I tell my coworker to stop scrolling on her phone in meetings?

I’m writing to ask how to handle a coworker who is constantly texting in meetings — virtual, in-person, the works. She doesn’t try to hide her phone and is often scrolling in plain view while other teammates are talking, and it’s incredibly frustrating and disrespectful. She is a mom, and I’ve worked with plenty of parents who want to be on call for their kids or with daycare and are on their phones more than I am, but it’s gotten to the point where it’s most meetings and she just appears to be clicking around on whatever sites suit her fancy. There must be a line, right?

I want to give her some feedback collegially, even a “hey, we all text in meetings sometimes but you may want to make it more subtle!” tone, but I also want to convey that it’s pretty rude to openly tune out of meetings and into her phone at will. Our “supervisor” is the de facto head of our small nonprofit and does very little team management, and doesn’t have the best relationship with this coworker, so I don’t totally trust her to deliver the feedback and we don’t have an HR department at the moment so if it’s going to come from someone, it’s likely me. Any thoughts?

If you want to give you feedback primarily because you find it rude, I wouldn’t. It’s not your place as a peer, and your manager apparently doesn’t feel strongly enough about it to say anything herself. If you wanted to frame it more as “just a heads-up, Jane won’t say anything until she’s really fed up but you’re likely to hear at some point that you’re on your phone too much in meetings,” I’d advise you differently … but that doesn’t sound like the situation.

That said, if you’re ever the one running the meeting, you would have the standing to call it out in that particular meeting — as in, “Jane, do you need a minute to handle that? I want to make sure we’re all engaged in this topic.”

Otherwise, though, you’ve got to let it go. You’re right that it’s rude if this is a small meeting. It’s just not yours to handle.

2. Coworker ices out women who reject him romantically

We have a male coworker, Kevin, who has asked out almost every woman (myself included) in our workplace. When he is rejected, he ices them out and refuses to acknowledge their existence at work. This is makes all the women uncomfortable, and is overall just very immature and unprofessional of him.

I reported Kevin to HR and got several other women to come forward as well. HR gave him a reminder of workplace expectations, but won’t do anything more because by ignoring us, he is technically not harassing us anymore. I want him gone so that this doesn’t happen to anyone else. I have already seen him sitting and talking with the new female hires. Is there anything I can do to protect my unsuspecting female coworkers?

Your HR sucks. Kevin is “technically not harassing” you anymore? Harassment isn’t just unwelcome advances; it’s also penalizing people for rejecting those advances. Kevin is in the penalizing phase now, and it’s ridiculous that your HR refuses to acknowledge that. If he’s refusing to interact with you in normal, professional ways — and especially if it’s interfering with your ability to do your job — that falls under the harassment umbrella. Maybe a group of you could have a lawyer point that out to your company.

As for what you can say to new, unsuspecting colleagues, you can tell them up-front what to expect. For example: “Just a heads-up, Kevin is friendly to every female new hire, then asks them out. If he’s rejected, he ices them out and refuses to acknowledge their existence after that. Several of us have gone to HR about it, with no change. It’s been very uncomfortable for some of us and we wish someone had warned us.” This is how women have navigated workplaces that refuse to handle creepy men for eons, and unfortunately your workplace doesn’t sound like it will be an exception.

3. Coworker’s constant sniffling is driving me mad

This is a fairly low-stakes question, but I have a migraine today and my capacity for dealing with it is extra low.

My coworker never stops sniffling. It’s constant, like every few seconds. She’s been here a little over a year, and it’s never stopped. I’ve offered her tissues, but she said she doesn’t need them. She claims it’s because it’s so cold in the office, but even now, when it’s not cold and she’s in short sleeves with an unused blanket sitting on the back of her chair, she’s sniffling every couple of seconds.

I usually put in headphones and listen to music, but there are times, like today, when it’s otherwise quiet in the office and I’d just prefer not to listen to music. I also have to answer phones, so I have to keep the music low.

I’m not sure if my annoyance with this is exacerbated by how frustrating she is in other ways, but I genuinely think this would be driving me crazy anyway.

Am I allowed to ask her to figure out a cure for her non-stop sniffling? Is that even possible? Once in the past I literally chose to take half a day off because I couldn’t deal with it, and I’m close to reaching that breaking point again today.

It’s very unlikely that she’s sniffling for the hell of it. Assume if there was an easy cure she would have already found it, and this is just a health condition (like chronic allergies) that she’s stuck dealing with.

That doesn’t really solve it for you, I realize, but it’s likely as unsolvable for her as it for you. And  sometimes reframing it in your head to assume that — instead of internally screaming “WHY DON’T YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT?” — can make it more bearable.

4. Wording when communicating expectations to an employee

Someone recently said to me that when you are communicating expectations to an employee, you should phrase it as, “Company Name needs you to…” or “Company Name expects you to…” rather than “I need you to…” or “I expect you to…” because it “softens the message.” What do you think?

That’s an extremely weird formulation and would be out of sync with the culture in most American workplaces. I also can’t see how it softens the message! It does the opposite; it makes the message sound much stiffer and more formal.

For that matter, I wouldn’t use “I expect you to” in most situations either. “We need you to,” “I need you to,” “Could you,” “Would you,” and “I’d like you to” are more typical.

5. How do I explain why I’m looking for a new job when I love my current one?

How do I explain why I’m looking for a new job when I love the one I have?

I work on a great team for a troubled company. I’ve been here nine years, but in the last few years we’ve had multiple layoffs and haven’t had raises and I don’t see that changing next year.

I’ve stayed this long because the job itself is good, the frozen salary is still okay for now, and my colleagues are great. But the financial writing is on the wall, and I’m thinking of trying to get ahead of trouble by finding a new job now.

None of the plausible lies are really applicable to me — I’m not seeking advancement, a different type of role, a different size team, a new industry, or anything like that. I just want to do what I do for a company that’s not going to crash and burn or lay me off in a year.

Should I just politely fib and cite some defining characteristic of the company I’m interviewing with as something I’m looking forward to? I’m a terrible liar.

It’s fine to say, “I love what I do, but the company has had some financial struggles and I’m looking for something more stable.” Then immediately follow that up with what interested you about the job you’re applying for (so it’s not just “I ned to get out” but also includes an expression of interest in the new job specifically).

ABC13 Houston KTRK viewers are asking me if the Disney station is getting a new set. It appears the anchors have been in a temporary part of the studio for the last week or so.Missing is the giant video wall in favor of a smaller monitor behind the anchors.Never having seen the studio in person, it appears the anchors are only using parts of the larger set at the moment, which might hint at a

Fall is underway and art spaces across East Texas have begun to debut their new exhibitions. From Wichita Falls to Beaumont, read about shows that have recently opened or that will be opening soon.

Last month, the Tyler Museum of Art opened Forward Facing: A Look at Contemporary Portraiture featuring Texas-based artists Raul Rene Gonzalez, Guadalupe Hernandez, Delita Martin, and Yasuyo Maruyama. Though portraiture has been a significant genre throughout art history, these four artists each bring their own unique take on the form. 

San Antonio-based Raul Rene Gonzalez’s work addresses the balance between work and family, highlighting artists who are caregivers. Houston-based Guadalupe Hernandez also focuses on family and labor but uses a paper-cutting technique inspired by the tradition of papel picado. Delita Martin, who is based in Huffman, focuses on the representation of Black women. Yasuyo Maruyama, in Wichita Falls, creates more straightforward portraits that walk a line between photorealism and soft, ethereal depictions. 

Forward Facing: A Look at Contemporary Portraiture will be on view through December 1, 2024.

Also in August, the Museum of East Texas opened an exhibition featuring 146 paintings by 48 artists. The Stafford Collection showcases works from the private collection of Lufkinite Harry Stafford and family. The collection spans centuries and various subject matters. Some artists included in the exhibition are Frank Moss Bennett, Ricardo López Cabrera, Nancy Glazier, Andrew Orr, and Jie-Wie Zhou. 

The Stafford Collection is on view through October 18, 2024.

Earlier this month the Texarkana Regional Arts & Humanities Council (TRAHC) opened Juan de Dios Mora: Y A Darle Gas. Having grown up in Laredo, the San Antonio-based printmaker makes work about the economic, social, and cultural issues of life on the border. 

A statement on the TRAHC website explained, “Using a surrealistic approach, Mora portrays characters interacting with customized devices and vehicles that are created to facilitate the daily life, duties, responsibilities, obligations, and entertaining events of the operators. Though ramshackle, decked out, or shabby in appearance, the structure of each device shows the ingenuity and capability of the characters and their will to survive. Mora’s intention is to make a social comment on a culture that frequently has to rely on their surroundings to survive.”

Juan De Dios Mora: Y A Darle Gas will be on view through November 16, 2024.

Also this month, the Wichita Falls Museum of Art (WFMA) opened Birds in Art 2023, an exhibition that debuted at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin last year. The annual show brings together contemporary interpretations of birds and related subject matter. Throughout the fall, WFMA will host events around the exhibition, including an evening of talks, a mosaic website, and story time in the galleries. 

Birds in Art 2023 will be on view through December 7, 2024

Later this month the Martin Museum of Art in Waco will debut William Downs: Truth in Body, a solo exhibition by an Atlanta-based artist. 

In a statement, Mr. Downs said, “I want my work to speak the truth. With this, I find pleasure in admiring and studying human behavior. Drawing while traveling, from everyday life, and from dreams, keeping a visual record of the interactions I observe between others and within my own psychology. By using the figure as a foundation, I build bodies and landscapes with lines and layering of lines.”

William Downs: Truth in Body will be on view from September 17, ,through December 22, 2024. An opening reception will be held on Tuesday, September 17, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

In October, the Art Museum of Southeast Texas will present Harry Ahysen: Devices for Study, the first posthumous retrospective of the artist’s work. Born in Port Arthur, Mr. Ahysen spent most of his life in Texas. He served as a professor at Sam Houston State University and was named the State Artist of Texas in 1980. The exhibition will feature landscapes and seascapes from private collections and institutions across Texas. 

Harry Ahysen: Devices for Study will be on view from October 5, through December 8, 2024. An opening reception will be held on Friday, October 11, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The post Fall Exhibitions Across East Texas appeared first on Glasstire.

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Works great with the broader SMBC clown canon.

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CALGARY – WestJet has finally embraced its reputation as one of Canada’s most reviled airlines with the debut of its new company slogan: “Air Canada, but somehow worse.” The slogan was initially decried as false advertising, as regulators asserted it is literally impossible to be worse than Air Canada. However, a thorough investigation by thousands […]

The post WestJet debuts new slogan: “Air Canada, but somehow worse.” appeared first on The Beaverton.

MOSCOW—Explaining that Russia’s patience on the matter had finally reached a breaking point, officials in Moscow confirmed Friday they had expelled six British diplomats who would not shut up about Doctor Who. “London must realize that their diplomats’ incessant jabbering about Time Lord physiology and whether Daleks or Cybermen are stronger can only go on so long before it requires a response,” a Kremlin spokesperson said via state media, adding with visible annoyance that whenever Russian officials had tried to discuss serious diplomatic issues with the six self-described Whovians, they would invariably steer the conversation back around to whether the worst Doctor had been Paul McGann or Colin Baker. “Even when we tried dosing them with nerve agent to get a little peace and quiet, these dorks would just keep on speculating about whether one TARDIS could canonically materialize inside of another TARDIS. With their expulsion, our message to the West is unequivocal: We do not care who the Doctor is. We do not care who the Master is. We absolutely do not care about whatever the fuck that big skin creature is. And so long as the Kremlin stands, we will never watch your dumb little TV show for children.” At press time, Moscow suggested that they would potentially readmit the diplomats if they got into some real sci-fi like Battlestar Galactica.

The post Moscow Expels 6 British Diplomats Who Would Not Shut Up About ‘Doctor Who’ appeared first on The Onion.

The percentage of Black students in Harvard University’s freshman class dropped by more than a fifth following a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that barred colleges from using race as a factor in admissions. What do you think?

The post Black Enrollment At Harvard Drops After Affirmative Action Barred appeared first on The Onion.

FOSTORIA, OH—Claiming such accounts chilled him to the very bone, Ohio resident Danny Gleisner, 53, told reporters Friday that he felt deeply disturbed by reports of Haitian immigrants in the state eating vegetables. “All this I’m hearing about Haitians chopping up and eating produce just doesn’t sit right with me,” said Gleisner, explaining that while he’d never actually seen a migrant eat a cabbage or head of lettuce himself, just the thought of it made his stomach turn. “I’ve heard stories of illegals stealing tomatoes right out of people’s yards. Carrots aren’t food, plain and simple. You’d have to be an animal to chomp down on leafy greens of any kind, let alone the ones rich in fiber.” Gleisner added that if immigrants wanted to pursue a healthy lifestyle through a well-rounded diet, they could go the hell back to wherever they came from.

The post Ohioan Disturbed By Reports Of Haitians Eating Vegetables appeared first on The Onion.

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You ever feel bad for cartoon character graves, which just have first names and no dates?

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