Last month, Japan's central bank raised interest rates for the first time in 17 years. That is a really big deal, because it means that one of the spookiest stories in modern economics might finally have an ending.
Back in the 1980s, Japan performed something of an economic miracle. It transformed itself into the number two economy in the world. From Walkmans to Toyotas, the U.S. was awash in Japanese imports. And Japanese companies went on a spending spree. Sony bought up Columbia Pictures. Mitsubishi became the new majority owners of Rockefeller Center.
But in the early 1990s, it all came to a sudden halt. Japan went from being one of the fastest growing countries in the world to one of the slowest. And this economic stagnation went on and on and on. For decades.
On this episode, the unnerving story of Japan's Lost Decades: How did one of the most advanced economies in the world just fall down one day — and not be able to get up? Japan's predicament changed our understanding of what can go wrong in a modern economy. And gave us some new tools to try and deal with it.
This episode was hosted by Jeff Guo. It was produced by Emma Peaslee and engineered by Cena Loffredo. It was edited by Molly Messick. Alex Goldmark is Planet Money's executive producer.
The U.S. labor market continues its hot streak, adding 303,000 jobs last month — more than expected. Many of these jobs will require a four-year degree despite a push among some employers to eliminate these requirements. On today's show, we look at the state of the job market for people without a four-year college degree.
We take stacks and heaps for granted nowadays, but back in the very old days of computing, computers operated without a stack or a heap.
Tell a recent college graduate this, and you may as well tell them that there was a time when you didn’t have instant access to millions of cat videos.
It’s not too hard to imagine computing without dynamic memory allocation. You just have to use fixed-size memory buffers for everything. If you have to operate on variable-sized data, you reserved a fixed-size buffer of some capacity that is large enough to accommodate any data you would reasonably be expected to process, and if somebody asked for more, you just exited the program with a fatal error. If you were really nice, you would provide a compile-time configuration so your clients could adjust the maximum capacity to suit their datasets. And if you were really fancy, you wrote a custom allocator that operated on that fixed-size buffer so people could “allocate” and “free” memory from the buffer.
But operating without a stack? How did you call a function if you didn’t have a stack for the return address or local variables?
Here’s how it worked.
First, the compiler defined a secret global variable for each inbound function parameter, plus another secret global variable for each function to hold the return address. It also defined a secret global variable for each of the function’s local variables.
To generate a function call, the compiler assigned the parameter values to the corresponding secret global variables, assigned the return address to the function’s secret “return address variable”, and then jumped to the start of the function.
The function read its parameters from its secret global variables, and used the pre-defined secret global variables that corresponded to its logically local variables. When the function was finished, it jumped to the address held in the function’s secret “return address variable.”
For example, suppose you had code like this, written in a C-like language:
int add_two_values(int a, int b)
{
int c = a + b;
return c;
}
void sample()
{
int x = add_two_values(31415, 2718);
}
This would be transformed by the compiler into something like this:
int a2v_a;
int a2v_b;
int a2v_c;
void* a2v_retaddr;
int add_two_values()
{
a2v_c = a2v_a + a2v_b;
return_value_register = a2v_c;
goto a2v_retaddr;
}
int sample_x;
void sample()
{
a2v_a = 31415;
a2v_b = 2718;
a2v_retaddr = &resume;
goto add_two_values;
resume:
sample_x = return_value_register;
}
Check it out: We did a function call and return without a stack!
Now, you can optimize the ABI by, say, passing some of these values in registers rather than globals. For example, most processors had a special “link” register and a special instruction “branch with link” that automatically set the link register equal to the address of the instruction after the “branch with link” instruction, And maybe you optimize the calling convention to pass the first two parameters in registers, resulting in this:
int a2v_a;
int a2v_b;
int a2v_c;
void* a2v_retaddr;
int add_two_values()
{
a2v_a = argument_register_1;
a2v_b = argument_register_2;
a2v_retaddr = link_register;
a2v_c = a2v_a + a2v_b;
return_value_register = a2v_c;
goto a2v_retaddr;
}
int sample_x;
void sample()
{
argument_register_1 = 31415;
argument_register_2 = 2718;
branch_with_link add_two_values;
sample_x = return_value_register;
}
There was just one catch: You can’t do recursion.
Recursion doesn’t work because a recursive call would overwrite the return-address variable with the return address of the recursive call, and when the outer call completed, it would jump to the wrong place.
The programming languages of the day solved this problem by simply declaring it illegal: They didn’t support recursion.¹
Bonus chatter: Some compilers were even sneakier and used self-modifying code: The special return-address variable was really the address field of the jump instruction at the end of the function!
After the practical value of subroutines was recognized, quite a few processors added a subroutine call instruction that worked by storing the return address at the first word of the subroutine, and beginning execution at the second word of the subroutine. To return from a subroutine, you execute an indirect jump through the subroutine start label. (As I recall, some processors stored the return address at the word before the first instruction of the subroutine.) Here’s what it looked like using a made-up assembly language:
add_two_values:
nop ; return address goes here
add r1 = r1, r2 ; actual subroutine begins here
jmp @add_two_values ; indirect jump to return address
sample:
mov r1 = 31415 ; first parameter
mov r2 = 2718 ; second parameter
bsr add_two_values ; call subroutine
st sample_x = r1 ; save return value
When the CPU executed the bsr branch-to-subroutine instruction, it stored the return address into the first word of add_two_values (overwriting the sacrificial nop) and began execution at the following instruction, the add r1 = r1, r2.
¹ FORTRAN initially didn’t even support subroutines! Those were added in 1958. And support in FORTRAN for recursion didn’t become standard until 1991, and even then, you had to explicitly declare your subroutine as RECURSIVE.
Microsoft Employees Are Hooked on the Company’s Training Videos (WSJ paywall). But really, what I want to call attention to is the video that plays even if you don’t have a subscription: I can tell that the scene was filmed on the fourth floor of Building 41.
Each of the six floors of Building 41 is themed after a stage in the development of computing.
A security vulnerability report came in that went roughly like this:
I have found a permanent denial of service vulnerability in Windows. If you modify this administrative setting (directly via regedit, not via the user interface) to have a specific corrupted value, then when the system boots up, it will use this corrupted value and corrupt the operating system itself, rendering the system unusable. Modifying the setting back to its original value does not repair the problem. The system is permanently corrupted and must be reinstalled. I am requesting a bounty for this report.
This is a fairly cut-and-dried case of “It rather involved being on the other side of this airtight hatchway”: Modifying the setting in question requires administrator privilege, and it’s hardly a surprise that an administrator can render a system inoperable.
Breaking the system by corrupting an administrative setting is just style points. If you are an administrator and want to render a system inoperable, just delete everything in sight, starting with all the files in C:\Windows\System32. Delete anything that isn’t nailed down, and then go get your crowbar (also known as “Take Ownership” privilege) and pry up even the things that are nailed down.¹ No need to get all clever with crafting a corrupted setting.
Now, if the corruption of the setting could be triggered by means that don’t require administrator privileges, then you would have found something. But as it stands, it requires administrator permissions to perform this attack, so you’re starting on the other side of the airtight hatchway.
The finder argued that it is a security flaw that the system doesn’t prevent administrators from corrupting the setting. For example, there are some registry keys in the system that are protected from accidental corruption by making them read-only even to administrators. But these are merely safety measures, not security boundaries. It’s like putting a cover over the emergency shutoff switch in the control room: The cover doesn’t prevent anyone in the control room from pulling the switch. It merely prevents them from pulling the switch accidentally. If somebody with access to the control room really wants to pull the switch or corrupt the registry key, they can do it: They can lift the cover or take ownership of the key and grant themselves full access.
The finder also argued that the system should protect itself from installers that corrupt the setting. But if an installer can corrupt the setting, that means that the installer is running with administrator privileges, so it already can do anything it wants. And that includes removing the corruption protection and rendering the system unusable.
Mind you, preventing administrators or installers from inadvertently corrupting the setting sounds like a reasonable safety measure, and the system already does part of that by showing only non-corrupted options in the administrator user interface. And having the system recognize a corrupted value and stop itself before causing any permanent damage is a reasonable reliability measure, so thanks for pointing out the issue. But it’s not a security issue. You can’t protect against an administrator who intentionally decides to mess up their system.
¹ Another idea is to turn on BitLocker and throw away the BitLocker key. Or go into Advanced Recovery and reformat the system volume!
Summary: We’ll see mostly cloudy skies today with a chance of storms. The risk is higher north of Houston, so please take that into account if you’re chasing the total solar eclipse. Tuesday should be stormy in Houston ahead of a front on Wednesday morning. After that we’re sunny and cooler for a few days.
A bummer of an eclipse, with some storms
A total solar eclipse is the most spectacular astronomical event that most people will experience in their lifetime, and today offered a golden opportunity for people living in Texas. Unfortunately, much of the state will be socked in by clouds, from South Texas through Central Texas along the path of totality. It is possible that some areas of north Texas, particularly north of Interstate 20, will see a break in the clouds during the early afternoon hours to view totality. But even that is no certain thing.
Severe storm outlook for Monday and Monday night. (NOAA)
On top of this there is the potential for severe weather this afternoon and evening in central and northern Texas. This is likely to occur after the eclipse. However, if you’re traveling back to Houston late this afternoon or evening it is possible you will experience some severe weather. The primary threat today is hail, but some tornadoes are also possible. Again, this severe weather is less likely to occur in Houston, but if you’re traveling north of the metro area please be weather aware this afternoon, evening, and tonight.
Monday
Houston’s air has plenty of moisture today, and with a disturbed atmosphere overhead we’re going to see some scattered showers and thunderstorms. Skies will be mostly cloudy, so your chances of seeing a partial eclipse here are not great.
In Houston the Moon begins to move in front of the Sun at 12:19 pm, and will reach its maximum coverage at 1:40 pm CT. At that time, in the city, 94 percent of the Sun will be covered by the Moon. The event will end at 3:01 pm. Despite the mostly overcast skies, we may seen enough breaks in the clouds to briefly view the partial eclipse. You must wear eclipse glasses when looking directly at the Sun.
Scattered showers will be most likely in central and southern Houston this morning before lifting north, with the potential for stronger storms in Montgomery County and points north this afternoon and evening. Highs, otherwise, will be near 80 degrees in Houston today with humid air and, at times, gusty southerly winds. Rain chances should be lower tonight before resuming early Tuesday morning.
Tuesday
At this point it appears as though the chance of severe weather in the Houston metro area will be greater on Tuesday, perhaps with an initial round of pre-dawn storms moving in from the southwest, and another system later in the day or overnight. The potential for severe weather will be greatest for areas north of Interstate 10, but all of the area will be at risk for damaging winds, hail, and possibly a tornado. This threat will likely extend into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Severe storm outlook for Tuesday and Tuesday night. (NOAA)
Aside from the potential for thunderstorms, this will be another warm and muggy day, with mostly cloudy skies and highs around 80 degrees. Winds will again be breezy from the southeast. Lows on Tuesday night will likely only drop to around 70 degrees.
Wednesday
Finally, on Wednesday, a decently strong front will surge into the area. I’m not super confident in the details, but this is likely to result in a final line of showers and thunderstorms early on Wednesday, followed by northwesterly winds and much drier air. Skies are likely to begin clearing during the late morning or early afternoon hours on Wednesday. Highs will again reach 80 degrees, but with lower humidity. Lows on Wednesday night should drop into the upper 50s.
Thursday and Friday
These look like a pair of fine, sunny days with highs in the upper 70s to 80 degrees, and ample dry air. Lows will drop into the upper 50s to about 60 degrees. It’s a damn shame we cannot delay the solar eclipse a few days.
Saturday, Sunday, and beyond
The weekend will be a little warmer, and a little more humid, with a fair amount of sunshine and highs in the low 80s. At this point I don’t see much of a signal for rain. Next week looks warmer and muggy, with highs in the mid-80s, or possibly even upper-80s. It’s a sign that, in the not too distant future, we’ll transition from spring into summer.
This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.
A reader writes:
I organized adult weekends (aka, orgies) for several years. The part I enjoyed the most turned out to be the project and event coordination: sourcing locations, keeping the books on payments, communicating with vendors, tracking the budget, managing food, etc.
I’d like to do more of that professionally, but I’m not sure how to talk about it in interviews or put it on a resume. For example, I’m applying for a job that asks to see sample curriculums I’ve developed. My examples have to do with adult topics (think consent education, not like graphic how-tos) that I think would color their perception of my candidacy.
What are your suggestions?
Ooooh. Yeah, that’s tough.
The subject matter is likely to make people uncomfortable, and for a lot of people it’ll raise questions about your judgment in using the experience at all. In a perfect world, it wouldn’t — it’s legitimate experience — but in this one, it will.
You might be able to look at jobs that intersect with the adult industry or are adjacent to it, where the subject matter is less likely to cause those issues.
Another option is to sanitize the material so that it’s not as explicitly sexual, if that’s possible with the materials you have. You’d just need to keep in mind that once you submit it, it’s fair game for questions and you may get asked about the context you were using it in.
But also, if you’re looking for jobs doing project and event coordination, curriculum design probably isn’t going to come up a ton. And it sounds like you have lots of examples of sourcing locations, managing finances, working with vendors, and managing food — all things you can discuss in G-rated terms.
So I’m wondering if you can describe the events simply as social events (for a local “social club”?) — there was food, after all! — without specifying that clothes came off and sex was had. You’d need to think carefully about how to do that so that if you are asked questions about what sort of group it was or the purpose of the events, you’re prepared with language that finesses that … but I think “social group” could plausibly cover it, as long as the group’s name doesn’t make it really, really obvious.
For four minutes and 28 seconds today, the moon will cover the sun in a total eclipse visible across 15 states, with an estimated 44 million living in the path of totality and nearly the rest of the continental U.S. able to see a partial eclipse. What do you think?
Drinking a cup of coffee is how billions of people wake up every morning. But climate change is threatening this popular beverage. Over 60% of the world’s coffee species are at risk of extinction. Scientists are searching for solutions, including hunting for wild, forgotten coffee species that are more resilient to our shifting climate. Find out how the chemistry of coffee can help us brew coffee alternatives, and how coffee grounds can be part of building a sustainable future.
Guests:
Christopher Hendon - Assistant Professor of Computational Materials Chemistry, University of Oregon
Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch - Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Monash University, Australia
Aaron Davis - Senior Research Leader of Crops and Global Change, Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew
Today, we will cover the latest detailed eclipse outlook. Also, Dwight Silverman joins us to offer a virtual viewing guide to the eclipse if you’re unable to get to it or if you’re under clouds. There are some cool ways to engage with the event, as you’ll see!
Headlines
Cloud cover likely to obscure the eclipse in much of Texas and portions of western New York or northeast Ohio.
All other areas along the totality path have potential to see the eclipse in some capacity.
Best bets right now are probably Indianapolis, Sherbrooke, Quebec, or Caribou, Maine.
A full eclipse forecast from south to north
We’ll work south to north today to clue everyone in on the latest and greatest cloud forecasts as of this morning.
South Texas/Central Texas
For the Rio Grande Valley and much of south and central Texas, the trouble on Monday will be that all three cloud layers we tend to track will be likely to have clouds. There should be a blanket of high clouds, a healthy blanket of mid-level clouds, and at least scattered low clouds.
A mix of low, middle, and high level clouds will likely spoil the eclipse for the majority of South and Central Texas. (Tomer Burg)
The end result will be that the majority of people in the path have clouds for the eclipse. A select few (impossible to predict where) may, may end up with thin enough high clouds and a break in the mid-level and lower clouds that the eclipse could be visible. But I wouldn’t bank on that. Verdict: Disappointing.
North Texas
The forecast gets more difficult north and east of Austin, which is better news for North Texas. We know that high clouds will be in place. While that will impact eclipse viewing, in the right scenario, it could also make things more dramatic looking.
High clouds are likely and low clouds are a good possibility across North Texas, but there will likely be breaks in several spots that could allow for some dramatic eclipse viewing! (NWS Fort Worth)
The problem in North Texas will be lower clouds. The hope is that some of them will scour out in the late morning. But that’s an impossibility to predict, so you’ll be rolling the dice no matter what tomorrow. Still, your odds here are better than to the south. Verdict: Worth a shot.
Arkansas
While not perfect, Arkansas conditions look pretty decent right now. The southern part of the state will have the same struggles as North Texas, with some low clouds potentially spoiling the view. But as you come northward, the chances of seeing the eclipse with just some high clouds increases.
Conditions improve in Arkansas, especially from Little Rock northeastward. (Tomer Burg)
It’s especially good north and east of Little Rock and west of Memphis. Verdict: Maybe good!
Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky
We’ve got mostly decent conditions expected in this area. High clouds are likely, but low and mid-level clouds are not.
Mostly favorable viewing is expected in the Missouri Bootheel, southern Illinois, and along the Ohio River. There will be patches of clouds around but hopefully not in any one place for too long. (Tomer Burg)
This should allow for a good view in most places, though you may need to maneuver just a little. Verdict: Mostly good!
Indiana and Ohio
Purdue in the national championship game, and minimal clouds for the eclipse? A little something for everyone in Indiana.
Conditions look good here now, with no significant issues expected. Ohio looks a little more mixed. Low level clouds may linger in Northeast Ohio, while high clouds persist elsewhere. Not a total loss, but there are some risks the farther northeast in Ohio you’ll be.
Western Ohio looks great, but conditions get trickier the closer you get to Cleveland or Erie, PA. (Tomer Burg)
Verdict: Great in Indiana & NW Ohio, very mixed in NE Ohio.
New York
Western New York will have some troubles I think, with cloud cover persisting. As you work toward the Tug Hill Plateau and North Country, things will improve.
Western NY may not have optimal conditions, and the eclipse may be obscured in spots. However, the Tug Hill Plateau and North Country/Adirondacks look good. (NWS Buffalo)
You probably want to go as far north and east as possible for the best viewing conditions, or at the least the best odds of them. Verdict: Good toward Lake Champlain, with increasing risks southwest.
Northern New England & Canada
High clouds will probably impact viewing (not enough to obscure it completely though) as you head into the northeast Adirondacks of New York and Burlington, VT.
Conditions will become significantly favorable as you head east of Burlington, VT. (NWS Burlington, VT)
As you head into Quebec and Maine and New Brunswick it looks spectacular. Clear skies win out.
Your winner will be the region between Montreal and Maine, into New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island (Tomer Burg)
We see few risks here, so if you’re setting up shop in Montreal, Sherbrooke, Caribou, or Houlton east into New Brunswick and PEI, you will have prime viewing. Clouds may begin to sneak in for Newfoundland or Labrador. Verdict: Yes, this is the place.
How to view the eclipse if it’s cloudy or you can’t travel
Most people won’t be traveling to see Monday’s eclipse or may be disappoint by clouds, so we turned to Dwight Silverman to show us how technology can come to the rescue if you want to participate.
There are plenty of ways to watch the eclipse unfold in real time via broadcast and cable TV as well as streaming, with many options tracking the eclipse across the U.S.
If you prefer your TV delivered through more traditional means, both over-the-air and cable news channels will cover it (expect lots of picture-in-picture views as other news is reported). And if you subscribe to a faux-cable package of channels such as Sling TV, YouTube TV, Fubo or Sling, you’ll be able to watch using the usual suspects on those platforms.
But some of the most interesting and science-geeky outlets will be specialty streamers, including the biggest kahuna of them all: NASA, which will have multiple options.
NASA-TV will be all in covering Monday’s solar eclipse on a multitude of platforms, including Apple TV, seen here. (Apple TV)
NASA-TV, the space agency’s classic public channel, will offer coverage through its apps on platforms such as Apple TV, Roku, Hulu, DirecTV, Dish Network, Google Fiber and Amazon Fire TV. If you don’t have the app or channel installed, you can pull it in from your platform’s app store.
Alternatively, there’s NASA’s new streaming initiative NASA+. Try the NASA+ web page, a YouTube channel, as well as NASA app for iOS and Android. (The iOS app will also work on Apple’s new Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, potentially making it appear as though the eclipse is floating right in front of you!)
We’ll begin today with the tropics. Colorado State University released their annual April hurricane season forecast yesterday. It was pretty impressive. They call for 23 named storms, 11 hurricanes, and 5 major hurricanes. This is the most active April forecast that they’ve released. This is another signal ahead of the upcoming season that suggests a very busy summer awaits us. I wrote all about the forecast and what you should take from it over at The Eyewall. Busy forecast don’t always translate into busy forecasts for Houston. However, we encourage you to prepare this season, as you should each season.
Today
We’ve got one more spectacular day with low humidity. We’ll warm from the 50s and low-60s this morning well into the 80s this afternoon. It’ll be warm for sure!
While humidity will remain fairly low today, it will end up being quite warm! (Pivotal Weather)
But the humidity will be tolerable. Lots of sun means ozone production, so, yes air quality will be an issue this morning and late this afternoon.
Weekend
We will trade off a couple degrees tomorrow for higher humidity. We’ll also begin to add back some more clouds. Look for highs in the lower half of the 80s after morning lows in the 60s. Expect similar temperatures on Sunday but with more humidity and a slightly warmer morning.
On Sunday, the cold front that will play a role in the eclipse forecast will approach from the west. It should push through the Brazos Valley, and it may even get as far south and east as Brookshire, Cypress, or The Woodlands. From there, it slams on the brakes and throws things into reverse, moving back to our north and west, reaching back to I-35 by Monday morning. Besides clouds, there will probably be at least a few showers in the area Sunday as this front maneuvers.
Monday & solar eclipse outlook
As far as Monday’s eclipse goes, we don’t have any real positive news to share today unfortunately. Here in Houston, we have maybe a 10 to 15 percent chance that skies will be clear enough for good viewing. Those odds may be even lower for Austin and San Antonio.
The best odds of seeing the eclipse in Texas on Monday may be between Dallas, Paris, and Texarkana. Keep in mind that blue on the map above indicates more clouds. (Pivotal Weather)
If you absolutely want to chase this thing in Texas, your best bets may be Texarkana or Dallas, where there’s currently about a 30 to 40 percent chance that skies will be favorable. Still not great, but better than much of the rest of the state. Do keep in mind that North Texas is highlighted for potential severe thunderstorms on Monday, however. If you are able to road trip, southeast Missouri or southern Illinois look favorable on Monday. If time, money, and logistics are no object, northern New England or New Brunswick and Quebec in Canada are your best bets.
Weather-wise, locally expect plentiful clouds and isolated to scattered showers Monday. A thunderstorm or two will be possible in the afternoon, especially north of Houston. Highs should be in the low-80s with high humidity.
Rest of next week
The pattern is setting up such that Tuesday looks stormy to our north. Expect a few showers or thunderstorms locally, but I don’t think we’re going to see a whole lot around here Monday night and much of Tuesday.
That could change Wednesday. Somewhere in Texas, we’re likely to see a robust area of thunderstorms (what we call an MCS in meteorology, mesoscale convective system). This would probably develop somewhere in the I-35 corridor on Tuesday night and ride southeast across the eastern half of the state and into Louisiana on Wednesday.
Houston is highlighted on Tuesday and Wednesday for severe weather risk by the Storm Prediction Center for potential storms Tuesday night and Wednesday. (NOAA SPC)
We are highlighted under Tuesday’s severe weather risk for this reason (it would most likely be toward Wednesday morning), as well as Wednesday’s risk. It’s a bit too early to pinpoint details or how much rain we might see, but if you have plans Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, keep an eye on this forecast. Things should calm down a good bit and turn much less humid to close out next week.
WASHINGTON—Marking a sudden inflection point amid flagging approval ratings, President Joe Biden surged in the polls Monday after convincing terrified voters he was causing the total solar eclipse. “I am sure you will make the wise choice to join me, the immense and all-powerful Mover of the Sun and Moon, in my…
KERRVILLE, TX—Exasperated with the view from the place they were standing to observe the astronomical event, local spectators complained Monday that really tall guy Matt Everett was blocking everyone’s view of the total solar eclipse. “Goddammit, this thing only lasts a few minutes—can’t he at least sit down?” said…
This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager.
It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…
1. Does my manager want to match outfits with me?
I know this is almost definitely a joke, but it’s a reoccurring and oddly specific one.
I’ve been at my current office job for about a year and a half. When I was a few months in, I wore a red plaid dress and thought nothing of it, until the next day when my boss (who I hadn’t seen the day I wore the dress) told me she was also wearing red plaid and joked we matched. At the time I thought nothing of it, but every few weeks or months similar things happen. One day I wore what I thought was a plain black and white striped cardigan, and my boss immediately said she had to have one, and asked where and when I bought it and how much it cost. It seemed like a lot of details for a joke, then she mentioned matching again.
She’s made a few more comments and then today I was wearing a green skirt and an autumn orange shirt, and she said she loved those colors and needed to start wearing them again soon. I said something like, “I hope you’re not talking about matching again” and she started saying how funny it would be if we did match, and I said, “If you start copying my outfits, I’m going to start wearing crop tops.” My boss laughed for a good while and I left. I don’t think I’m in trouble as we work in a casual small office and joking is a quite common. I’ve also been told I’m funny and friendly, and I kept my tone friendly as I said it, so I think it was fine.
But all the comments about matching are starting to bother me and I don’t know what to do. I’m turning 30 this year and my boss is about the same age as my mother. The only explanation I can think of for this is that this is my first office job and my taste in clothes is very girly and vintage, so sometimes I’ve asked my boss if certain outfits are OK to wear to work. My boss has approved of all my outfits — again, we’re very casual — so maybe this is just her way of saying what I’m wearing to work is fine? Also, I don’t usually wear heels or make up to work or do my hair, but today when she made the comment I was wearing make up. Is she trying to tell me to dress more fancy or is she just trying to be funny? What, if anything, should I say the next time she brings up matching outfits?
You are reading way too much into it. Your boss is just joking around and maybe likes your fashion sense. You’ve talked with her about clothes before, so she might figure you have a camaraderie on the topic or that it’s a shared interest. It’s very unlikely that she actually wants to wearing matching clothes; she’s just being friendly. (It’s also not uncommon for people, usually women, in an office to joke about accidentally matching. She may have just latched on to this as a point of connection.)
2. How can I tell the new owner of my company how crucial I am?
I work in an office of a family-operated business with less than 10 employees. I am the only one not related to the family. I love my job and am really good at it. I am involved in or manage all aspects of it. The owner has decided to sell the business and I am the only one that has been asked to move to the new business.
I recently met with the person who will be buying the business and, while they are in the same field, they have less experience than me. It was very apparent that I would have to train them on multiple aspects of the business, including products and systems. To say I am concerned is an understatement. While I thought it was a meet and greet, they used it more as a new employee interview. It became apparent to me while speaking that they did not understand the extent that I run the business day to day and the work that I do. To be frank, if I didn’t move to the new business, I don’t think it would stay afloat. Though comments they made, it became apparent they were trying to justify my wage.
I guess my questions is how to navigate this big change and make sure that I am not coming across as arrogant or demanding but also make sure that they know that my wage and hours are really not negotiable and that while I have no interest in purchasing the business from the owner, I basically run it. Any insights or advice would be helpful.
It makes sense that they treated the meeting more as an interview than a meet and greet; most people in their shoes would want to assess the person in your position before they start working with you. But it’s reasonable for you to assess them right back and figure out if you want to work for them and whatever their vision is for your position. If you’re getting vibes that they might be skeptical of your pay, hours, or role, that’s something you should try to explicitly hash out now — unless you’re willing to just take it as it comes after the ownership change, even you turn out to be really unaligned. (To that point: are you sure you want to stay on?)
Meanwhile, can you talk to the current owner and ask what conversations they’ve had about you, and how much the new owner has been told about what you do? They’re better positioned than you are to explain that you’re crucial — and if they don’t think the business would stay afloat without you, they should tell the incoming owner that. But it would also be smart for you to prepare a detailed description of what you handle and the amount of time involved in each piece. In other words, don’t tell the new owner that you’re crucial — show it.
3. I got in trouble for a text I sent to a coworker/friend outside of work
I was venting to a coworker who I thought was a friend and said that sometimes my other coworker made me want to high five her in the face. She took a screenshot and sent it to our manager. Can my employer write me up for something I said in text to a friend while I was off the clock and off job premises?
Yes. You were talking to a coworker (friend or not) about another coworker and you said, basically, that you wanted to slap her in the face. It doesn’t matter that it was outside of work hours or off work premises; things you say to and about coworkers are fair game for your employer to take action on if they consider it a problem for your workplace.
That said, writing you up is silly. Your manager should have just talked to you, said it’s not acceptable to talk about colleagues that way, and asked what’s going on that was behind it.
4. I don’t know whether I’m going on a trip or not
I’m trying to figure out whether to follow up on an exciting work opportunity that was hinted at and then just sort of … dropped.
In the last six months, I began a new role that I absolutely love and have gotten great feedback about my work and abilities. I feel that I’m proving myself, and when my boss suggested that the organization might like to send me on a trip to provide logistical/operational support for an upcoming event with an exciting international partner, it was validating! However, that conversation was a month ago and I have heard nothing since. One part of me wants to ask whether our shop is still in need of my help and whether I should plan my tasks and meetings around this (soon approaching) event or not. Another part of me thinks that it would be gauche and presumptuous for me, a brand-new and low-ranked employee, to follow up about participating in a glamorous international work trip. I’m still trying to establish myself as a reliable, effective, and grounded team member, so should I ask, or should I just assume that it was not a serious suggestion, and leave it alone?
It’s not gauche or presumptuous to ask about it. They mentioned it! It’s reasonable to go back to your boss now and say, “You’d mentioned last month that you might want to send me to X for Y purpose. Since the event is getting closer, I wanted to check back with you and see what you’re thinking about it.”
5. My doctor won’t sign off on an accommodation
I have chronic neck pain that I have never solved. Sitting or standing at a desk is the worst thing for it, and I have considered changing careers because of it (but this hasn’t been financially possible). My MRI shows arthritis and bulging discs, but I know some people have those and feel no or less pain (or probably more, for some). I manage it with a combination of yoga, physical therapy, muscle relaxers/painkillers and frequent medical massage. I’m probably in pain eight days out of 10. Recently I’ve decided to be more proactive and sought an accommodation from my company, who is a large employer known for being good about this. An HR person immediately set up a meeting and gave me the paperwork for my doctor to sign. Yay! Right?
Except … my doctor won’t sign it, writing me back to say she’s “not sure this qualifies.” And now I feel foolish in front of my boss, who knew I was seeking this accommodation. The accommodation is to work 1-2 days in office instead of 3+ (being able to take breaks to lie down/stretch helps me). I already have an ergonomic setup at home and at my office, so that won’t help.
I feel that the root of the problem is that I appear fit and healthy, and I’m youngish. But it’s a very real problem that often has me in tears by the end of the day. What should I do, other than changing careers or trying to find a new doctor, I guess? Am I being unreasonable in requesting this accommodation? I know a lot of people have neck pain. Is that why it isn’t seen as a condition to accommodate? I’m just so frustrated.
Your doctor’s role isn’t to say whether your condition qualifies for accommodation under the law; her role is to say what you need to perform your job safely and comfortably. If she believes that’s less in-office work, it’s appropriate for her to say that.
But is she telling you that she doesn’t believe less in-office work is necessary? I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s dealing with a lot of patients seeking her sign-off on work-from-home accommodations in cases where she doesn’t actually think it’s necessary, and that might be what’s going on here. In that case, you could have a conversation with her to try to better understand her perspective and share yours (specifically, the relief you’ve found from being able to lie down and stretch throughout the day). If you’ve otherwise found her to be a caring and responsive doctor, that conversation is worth having. But if she’s not taking your pain seriously, you’re better off finding someone who will.
In an attack on President Biden for declaring a national Trans Visibility Day, Donald Trump announced during a speech that Election Day would be called Christian Visibility day, saying that Christians will “turn out in numbers that nobody has ever seen before.” What do you think?
WASHINGTON—Responding to fallout from the Israeli military’s killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza, President Biden made an address Thursday asserting that Israel had an obligation not to harm his reelection chances. “Let me be clear: Israel is bound by international law not to engage in any…
MIERES, SPAIN—Claiming they had received credible reports of the Michelin-starred chef’s connections to Hamas, Israel reportedly ordered a strike on World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés’ boyhood home Thursday. “Today, the Israeli military carried out a strike on the remote Spanish town of Mieres in order to…
NEW YORK—Calling it an “unprecedented window” into one of the world’s most creative minds, Sotheby’s announced Friday that it was auctioning off the napkin on which Jeffrey Epstein first jotted down the idea for pedophilia. “In 1985, Jeffrey Epstein was sitting at a bar in Palm Beach and, in a stroke of pure genius,…
COLUMBIA, MO—A darkness falling upon the corridor as they sat on the couch enjoying a movie, residents of a local three-bedroom apartment reportedly cowered in terror Friday as a roommate’s hookup lumbered toward the bathroom. According to sources, a monstrous groan was heard from behind a closed bedroom door,…
GLENCOE, IL—Noting that she must be some kind of genius to get such amazing results, students told reporters Friday that their pregnant sex ed teacher must really know her stuff. “I’m not saying our other sex ed teachers weren’t good, but Mrs. Collins is clearly in a league of her own to be six months pregnant,” said…
WASHINGTON—Shedding new light on the nation’s astonishing athletic abilities, the Pew Research Center released a new study Friday finding that the majority of Americans could jump the parking meter if their bum knees weren’t acting up. “According to our research, an astonishing 76% of Americans could clear that meter…
The MTA has demanded $750,000 a year from the organization that runs the New York City Marathon to make up for lost toll revenue from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, which is closed for runners on the day of the race. What do you think?
On the night of Easter Sunday, burglars entered the vault of a facility in San Fernando Valley where cash for businesses across the region is stored, bypassing the alarms and making off with an estimated $30 million in cash. What do you think?
It’s the Democrats. The 2044 election is fast approaching, and we need your support now more than ever. It is the most important election of our lifetimes.
We know it feels like we’re always saying that this presidential election is the most important election of our lifetimes. But we wouldn’t be saying that if it wasn’t true each and every time. Especially this time.
As you’ll recall, the 2024 election was the most important election of our lifetimes, just as the 2020 election had been the most important election of our lifetimes. It was only through tireless grassroots organizing that Joe Biden prevailed. The grave threat posed to our democracy by Donald Trump was (narrowly) defeated, and America was wrested from the jaws of authoritarianism.
At least, for four more years.
Nowadays, it seems quaint to wonder whether an octogenarian is fit for office like we did back then. At ninety-eight years old, Donald Trump is as spry as ever. His speeches are completely unintelligible now, but he can still yell at the top of his lungs. And for Republicans, that’s the only barometer of fitness for office. This is why he’s continued to be the Republican nominee for president in every election since 2016, even during his ten-year-long prison sentence in the ’30s.
That’s why the 2044 election is the most important election of our lifetimes. Because, for the seventh time, Democrats must defeat Donald Trump in order to save our nation.
Each of the seven times Trump has run for president, it’s been close. Who could forget the 2028 election coming down to three hundred votes in Wisconsin? Or the e-ballot controversy during the Brazilpox pandemic of 2032? Or the days leading up to the 2036 election, where it seemed all but certain Trump would prevail until Taylor Kelce dropped that surprise album, Democracy (Taylor’s Version)?
Democrats have managed to hold on to the presidency for a record twenty-four years, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of dedicated volunteers such as yourself. Only through your unwavering determination have Democrats managed to keep the country okay, but not great, but also not catastrophically bad either.
With Biden’s reelection, Democrats staved off totalitarian rule and kept the country on the path of being tacitly democratic, unequal, but only somewhat discriminatory. Which, you have to admit, is better than living in the totalitarian, extremely unequal, and rampantly discriminatory nation that Republicans want.
President Harris carried on Biden’s remarkable legacy of making modest social progress in some areas while losing ground in others. This was an impressive achievement compared to the complete erosion of the social safety net and civil rights that would have happened had Trump been elected.
And, in the 2030s, President Newsom did an admirable job of keeping the country only slightly worse off than it was before. No president in the modern era has been more effective at ensuring America’s decline remained gradual rather than completely and utterly apocalyptic.
Now, after a nail-biter in 2040, President Buttigieg faces a tough reelection bid.
Yes, there are glimmers of hope. The nation’s demographics are shifting. Conservative Sun Belt states are losing population now that the West and Deep South regularly see high temps in the 120s. A decisive separatist victory at the Battle of Miami saw an end to the Florida War of Independence, and the peace treaty signed between President Buttigieg and Emperor DeSantis means one less red state to worry about. Plus, Texas voted 48.3 percent Democrat in the last election, so 2044 could be when the state finally flips. That said, it will take every dollar, every phone call, and every vote to ensure President Buttigieg defeats Donald Trump. Otherwise, it’s lights out, America.
We know it’s exhausting for people like you to have to save the country over and over and over again every four years. We know you’re mentally wiped out from the constant looming threat of state-sponsored violence and dissolution of personal freedoms that would come with a second Trump presidency. We know you’d rather be watching season 56 of The Bachelor.
But we need you to give it your all and help us win this election, just like we needed you in 2040, and 2036, and 2032, and 2028, and 2024. We’re pretty sure this is the last time Trump will run, so this election looks to be the final “most important election of our lifetimes.” Once we beat him, we promise we’ll all be able to relax a bit and finally get off those SSRIs we’ve been taking since November 9, 2016.
Unless, of course, a younger, more charismatic strongman comes along. Then all bets are off.
