One of the GNOME developers has suggested that the next major release of Gtk could drop support for the X window system. The Register reports: Emmanuele Bassi opened a discussion last week on the GNOME project's Gitlab instance that asked whether the developers could drop X.11 support in the next release of Gtk. At this point, it is only a suggestion, but if it gets traction, this could significantly accelerate the move to the Wayland display server and the end of X.11.
Don't panic: Gtk 5 is not imminent. Gtk is a well-established toolkit, originally designed for the GIMP bitmap editing program back in 1998. Gtk 4 arrived relatively recently, shortly before the release of GNOME 40 in 2021. GNOME 40 has new user-interface guidelines, and as a part of this, Gtk 4 builds GNOME's Adwaita theme into the toolkit by means of the new libadwaita library, which is breaking the appearance of some existing apps.
Also, to be fair, as we recently covered, the X window system is very old now and isn't seeing major changes, although new releases of parts of it do still happen. This discussion is almost certain to get wildly contentious, and the thread on Gitlab has been closed to further comments for now. If this idea gains traction, one likely outcome might well be a fork of Gtk, just as happened when GNOME 3 came out. [...] A lot of the features of the current version, X.11, are no longer used or relevant to most users. Even so, X.12 is barely even in the planning stages yet.
I’ll start by saying that I have a new, much better job that I look forward to starting in about a week and I am currently exploring my options for filing a complaint or lawsuit against my former employer for sexual harrassment, harrassment, wage claims, and failure to provide COBRA information.
Some items from the comments I wanted to address: many people were concerned about social media and my boss’s ability to monitor my feeds. I had already been off of social media for close to 2 years because he would watch my profiles and get upset if I was posting updates but not responding to his texts, or would ask why I had time to do X activity (that I had posted about on Facebook but not spoken to him about) instead of respond to his non-work related texts over the weekend. He initially pushed very hard for a very long time for me to use a company-owned cell phone but I refused given the privacy concerns that raised. I have been documenting emails, instant messages, phone logs, and text messages related to his behavior for over two years and started keeping a journal of the more egregious events. Unfortunately, he does know where I live because he insisted on picking me up for meetings in my area so we could drive together, but I do already have a security camera system in place. Also, I had mentioned in my letter that his desire for me to travel with him conflicted with an important event in my personal life. I did NOT travel with him and attended my event!
So I had sent my initial letter to you shortly after an incident occurred on a work trip. I had requested that I be able to attend a conference related to recruiting and talent management hosted by SHRM and my CEO agreed and insisted that he attend with me. The conference was amazing in terms of content and takeaways, but uncomfortable and anxiety inducing for me. I had a number of work tasks that I needed to complete in addition to assignments due for two college classes I was enrolled in, and he monopolized every second of time available until the very last day. I told him I wouldn’t be attending the final session in order to recoup that hour to pack and do some work. I got everything done that I needed to and took a Lyft to a 7-11 to get some nicorette before we headed to the airport and he LOST it when I mentioned it. He accused me of stealing from the company, asked me if I had made the purchase with my company card, told me I had been lying to him when I said I needed that time to do things because I was clearly just trying to get away from him, and on and on. I in turn lost MY shit and we had an argument that turned into a yelling match at the airport because he kept trying to talk over me. I was embarrassed and angry and told him that we could talk about this when we’d had time to cool down and I needed some time alone. He tried to block my path, insisting that he wanted to “fight for us” and told me to go to hell when I refused. I was able to get away, and over the next 20 minutes before our plane boarded he texted me between 10 and 12 times. I started applying for jobs and wrote to you the day after we got back.
The intervening time has been even worse than usual and when I submitted my resignation last week he called me 7 times in a row and then sent dozens of texts that varied between convincing me to stay, giving me orders, asking me to find out how much money I owe the company, etc. I served one day of my notice and he called me to tell me my services were no longer needed after we butted heads regarding who would take a portion of my tasks. His wife emailed me asking me to cut up my credit cards and send her photos for proof. That’s the last contact I’ve had.
I’m so relieved to be out of that situation and I appreciate the feedback and reassurance that he was lying about this being normal. Unfortunately I’m dealing with a lot of anger and I’m concerned that my marriage won’t survive the fall out. But I look forward to the future for the first time in a very long time and I have you to thank for the advice that moved me forward!
If you have recently switched to Linux from Windows, the lack of C Drive, D Drive, and such familiar naming conventions may confuse you. But fret not, because once you understand how the Linux directory structure is laid out, all your doubts will be clarified.
I’m hiring for a mostly entry-level position, a basic administrative job that has been categorized at times as both an administrative assistant or office manager. This position recently became vacant after an employee of one year decided to leave. We knew he was highly overqualified for the position, but he said that he was looking or a role with less responsibility due to family issues, so we hired him. During his employment, he grew increasingly disgruntled and felt that his ideas were ignored. There are many factors that contributed to this, but I can’t help but think that his professional background made it difficult for him to swallow things that he didn’t like.
So here we are, hiring for the position. We have one applicant who seems really great — very smart, capable, and driven by our mission. However, she has many years of team leadership and project management experience. The position we’re looking to fill is a basic receptionist position with little opportunity for expansion. I’m sure she’d be able to manage the duties of the position, but I’m very skeptical that she’d find it fulfilling for longer than a year (if that). I’m also concerned that she would struggle to adopt the supportive role and that we’d see the same issues that we had with the previous person. She wants this position because she wants to work for our organization. She’s given no indication that she’s looking for a job with less responsibility and less hours (this position is both). She’d be a good fit in our culture, but I’m concerned she wouldn’t be a good fit in this position.
Am I letting our past employee influence my decision too much here? Are there questions that we can ask to figure out if she’ll be able to successfully shift to this lower level position?
I answer this question over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here.
First, you need to decide between Creative Mode and Survival Mode. In Creative Mode, you are like a god, the lord and master of all you see, with an infinite number of items and resources at your disposal. Creative Mode is only available for tenured professors. Everybody else has to play in Survival Mode. You will also need to choose a difficulty level. Your options are Peaceful, Easy, Normal, Hard, and Adjunct Professor. Let’s select that last one and see what happens.
Your Character Spawns
Your character could spawn in any biome, but since you selected Adjunct Professor Mode, there is a 90 percent chance you will appear in the bathroom of a Subway restaurant where you are grading essays using a malfunctioning hand dryer as a desk and trying to answer panicky student emails on a nine-year-old iPhone. If you chose to begin with a Bonus Chest, it should be in one of the adjacent bathroom stalls. Look inside to find useful items that will help you on your quest, including more essays to grade, half a meatball sub, and a PhD in the History of Consciousness from UC Santa Cruz.
Building a Shelter
You can build your shelter out of almost any material, but choose something cozy since you’ll be sharing your shelter/house/office/classroom/occasional Airbnb with every other adjunct professor playing in your realm. A well-built shelter will keep the elements and most hostile mobs at bay, but letters from student loan collection agencies will always find you. Don’t bother crafting windows for your shelter, since it must be located underground next to a lava pool, a bottomless chasm, and several broken photocopiers.
Searching for Resources
Start by gathering valuable natural resources such as wood, cobblestone, and coal, all of which can be bartered with villagers for the Chobani yogurt cups that will constitute 90 percent of your diet (the other 10 percent comes from the meatball sub you found in the Subway bathroom, so eat it sparingly). You should also gather sticks and wool to craft the futon that will be your bed, office, and occasional sexual partner. If you encounter gold, diamonds, or anything else even remotely valuable, immediately select SAVE AND QUIT and invest your newfound wealth into minting NFTs of your negative Rate My Professor evaluations.
Crafting Supplies
Combine four wooden planks to create a crafting table. You can use this helpful item to craft pretty much anything, including powerful weapons, armor, and tools. Unfortunately, you can also use it as a desk, and since you have two hundred essays on gender identity in Jane Eyre to grade before tomorrow morning, you’d better get started. The good news is that you don’t need to sleep in Minecraft, so this can be just like one of your real-life workdays. Only stop working if you need to barter for more Chobanis, if a zombie starts trying to eat you, or—worst of all—if a zombie tries to close SpeedGrader before you can save all the comments on those essays.
Encountering Hostile Mobs
Zombies, spiders, and creepers will all try to kill you, but the most dangerous hostile mob you will encounter is the dreaded “hiring committee,” who will not only kill you but also demand that you give them a CV, a cover letter, academic transcripts from undergrad, grad school, and kindergarten, seven letters of reference, a twelve-year research plan, and three thousand dollars (or the equivalent in Chobani yogurt cups) to pay your own way to an on-campus interview.
Fighting the Ender Dragon
To reach the end of the game, you will need to fight the most terrifying, powerful, and remorseless enemy you can imagine. His name is Thad Peterson, and he was granted tenure in 1978 with one conference paper and zero publications on his CV. Despite getting his first tenure-track job because his supervisor was a drinking buddy of the department chair, he now expects all job applicants to have three books (with a fourth under contract) by the time they finish graduate school. He has published one book in forty-five years and made $325,000 last year. Conventional weapons (like peer review) cannot harm him, so your only hope is to say good things about him and pray that he gets offered a job as a university president in another state.
Starting Over
Playing Minecraft on Adjunct Professor Mode means you will need to start a new game from scratch every eight to twelve weeks. Your progress will not be saved, because according to the university’s HR department, it does not exist. You might want to consider playing a game that simulates a safer and more stable career, such as auto thief, soldier of fortune, or assassin. However, given the large number of new adjunct professors joining the game each year, the smartest move might be selling your gaming system and funneling the profits into Chobani yogurt stock.
My partner, “Bob,” works in a marketing role (covering everything from social media to events) for a mid-sized, non-corporate, creative company.
One of the company’s owners, “Billy,” is a micromanager and cannot delegate even the most minor task to any of the hundreds of staff. For example, he demands to be informed of details as trivial as when the water cooler is replaced in one of several branches.
When Bob started working there, Billy asked him to send plans for every task and social media post for the first month to ensure he understood the brand voice. He also asked him to copy him into every email. This seems reasonable for a few weeks to ensure a new hire is a good fit, but he demands Bob continue to do this over a year into the role — including copying him into every email! He also asks for similar behavior from other staff.
But the thing is, he never reads emails from anyone! In person, he claims to have reviewed and approved plans for events, promotional materials, etc. But then he suddenly demands extensive changes once these projects are about to go live or external design companies have completed things like event posters. In addition, he regularly changes details in social media posts and then forgets, all of which causes problems for or undermines other projects.
We recently went on holiday for two weeks, and Bob worked 9 am till 9 pm for a week, ensuring all of his duties were covered, posts scheduled, and several events or projects had people covering them. While we were away, Billy suddenly started doing things like demanding to review leaflets for an event and cancelling the print job. Or he wanted to change an event date at the last minute. Billy does this all the time, but without Bob to smooth these things over, things fell apart.
Needless to say, Billy’s behavior makes Bob’s job much more difficult and stressful. Equally, because of these last-minute interferences, Bob can never have events or projects organized in advance; he is constantly reacting to Billy-caused disaster, despite multiple attempts to discuss this or suggest alternative ways of working together.
While we were on holiday and these two minor internal projects fell apart, Billy suddenly hired a former colleague, “Joe,” to work as a consultant to “help organize things around here.”
Billy has a history of abruptly hiring acquaintances or associates like this, and they never work out. For example, he hired a PR guy last year who failed to invite anyone to press events and didn’t know how to use Google Calendar(…). Joe seems to be on the same track.
It seems Joe has only worked for poorly performing “competitors” — same industry but very different niches. He makes bizarre and highly impractical suggestions for working methods or projects, which show he hasn’t researched the company and has little understanding of the entire industry. In meetings, he regularly brings up incredibly basic tasks he completed in former roles as major achievements. On a similar level to saying, “When I worked at X, I found it really increased productivity when I changed from blue pens to black pens.”
So far, he has asked Bob to spend days copying everything from the software and platforms everyone in the company uses (Google Calendar, etc.) to Trello, and suggested simplistic or even out-of-date and incorrect social media strategies. Nevertheless, Billy thinks he is a genius. For example, in a recent meeting, Joe wrote the days of the week on a sheet of paper and said, “What if we posted a picture of (the product we sell) to Instagram on these days.” Billy replied, “This is what I want to see, I love it!”
Bob pushes back and explains that these things are already ongoing or why certain suggestions aren’t appropriate for the company, but is understandably completely demoralized. He feels undermined and miserable, and it’s only been a few weeks.
Bob has successfully worked in this field for almost a decade. His current boss poached him for this role, and by all accounts (his other boss, colleagues, industry partners, job offers!), achievements and metrics, he has been doing a great job. So this move by his boss seems super condescending and insulting.
While Bob isn’t shy and is an excellent communicator, he’s not a loudly outgoing person — he doesn’t shout from the rooftops about his achievements. (He certainly doesn’t brag about changing from blue to black pens!) However, I hear his work calls when he works from home; he speaks confidently and clearly and is a decisive problem solver.
I have repeatedly seen this happen in companies where I have worked or where my friends and family work. I once chickened out of sending an email to you about a similar consultant who caused my company to lose a deal worth millions and then blamed it on a colleague. Consultants come in, have no clue, make inane and inappropriate suggestions, switch everyone to a management system no one uses, undermine or interfere with projects, and then quietly disappear or burn out.
I suppose I’m here to ask what Bob should do. He knows his boss is a nighmare and he shouldn’t take it personally, but it still sucks because he loves this industry and he positives outweighed the negatives of his boss in this role.
However, I think my main question is, why do bosses always fall for these consultant con artists?
Not every boss does fall for bad consultants — Billy is a particularly bad boss and Joe is a particularly bad consultant. You already know Billy has terrible judgment, so it’s no surprise that he’s bonding with someone who’s terrible too.
But there is a broader pattern of organizations hiring consultants who come in and either (a) offer one-size-fits-all solutions that don’t fit the context they’re supposed to be working in (because they don’t take the time to understand the nuance of the organization’s work) or (b) make the same suggestions that people working there have been making for years. In the latter case, the employer often embraces those ideas when a consultant suggests them, after having ignored the exact same feedback from employees. That happens so often it’s a basically a universally recognized truism about consultants. Some of that is due to companies believing that consultants have special expertise that their employees don’t so their suggestions carry more weight (when it should often be the other way around), and some of it is that often when companies pay an outsider handsomely to examine and solve Issue X, they’re more likely to take what they say seriously.
That doesn’t sound like what’s happening with Billy and Joe though. They just sound like they’re both incompetent, and incompetence attracts incompetence.
Has Bob considered moving on to a job with a less frustrating boss?
Sexual Fitness
Complete Vitality
Time Life Books
1988
Feeling sluggish and want to get back into a high intensity bedroom “workout”? This is the book for you. Grab your partner and bring on the sexy. Exercise and general fitness is essential for a healthy sex life. Getting in shape with your partner has the added benefit of getting those sexy times started.
We also have lots of options in workout gear. Ladies, break out the tights and leotards for a sleek look. Sexy exercise also includes lots of touching, so evidently the expected “workout” attire is a lace camisole.
Basket Books & Art, a new independent bookstore and art gallery, opened quietly at the end of May in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood.
Laura Hughes and Edwin Smalling in front of Basket Books & Art.
Couple and business partners, Laura Hughes and Edwin Smalling are the owners of Basket, and the space is truly a marriage of their shared interests. Ms. Hughes, a writer and scholar of French literature and theory who holds a Ph.D. in French from New York University, grew up in Houston and recently moved back after living elsewhere for many years. Mr. Smalling, who holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Yale University, is a practicing artist.
Basket Books & Art is named after Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas’ poodle, who according to Ms. Hughes and Mr. Smalling, “lived immersed in the art and intellectual avant-garde of their day.” The reference speaks to the couple’s goals for the space. They recently told Glasstire: “Our goal is to offer a unique context in which art and books can co-mingle in exciting ways, opening up alleyways of conversation. We aim to provide a space for creative and intellectual exchange through our inventory and programming, and to offer Houston’s diverse arts and intellectual communities something for the mind, a portal to the world of art, writing, and thought writ large.”
Interior of Basket Books & Art.
Ceramic works by Jessica Ninci, on view at Basket Books & Art in Houston.
The first floor of the building is mostly focused on books, though some walls and tabletops display smaller works. The second floor, which is approximately 700-square-feet, is dedicated exhibition space. Ms. Hughes and Mr. Smalling have said that their intention is to showcase both local and global artists with a curatorial focus on fostering a dialogue between the visual and literary arts. They plan to present five to six exhibitions per year, each lasting about two months.
“HOLLOWS,” featuring work by Brandon Araujo and Ben Peterson at Basket Books & Art.
The inaugural exhibition, HOLLOWS, features work by Brandon Araujo and Ben Peterson and draws on the word “hollow” both as a verb and a noun. A large-scale fresco by Mr. Peterson divides the space, creating a hollow. Other works in the exhibition incorporate depictions of empty space. The exhibition opened May 28 and will run through July.
Basket Books & Art is located at 115 Hyde Park Blvd, Houston, TX 77006.
Bernardo Vallarino, “Distilled Diametric Discourse Tryptic”, 2017, cloth, ink, flag poles and base, 96 x 120 x 20 inches.
For the Fourth of July, Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss recent Texas exhibitions in which artists made work about what it means to be an American.
“The act of taking apart the American flag and reconstructing it is an act of an artist using their First Amendment right…and shows how fortunate we are to be in a country where we can make those kinds of statements.”
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If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here.
This is episode 203 of the Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN)! The Nerd auditions a handful of Wii games before landing on a game he just had to show off: Purr Pals! Raise your own digital kitten by feeding it, playing fetch with it, and even facing off against it in table tennis! He also tries out Party Babyz, Billy the Wizard: Rocket Broomstick Racing, Balls of Fury, and Monkey Mischief.
How hard can it really be to decode alien physics and engineering? It’s gotta map to our own physics - I mean, we live in the same universe. We start by noticing that the alien technology seems to use good ol’ fashioned electronics, even if it is insanely complex. We know this because the particle carried by the alien circuitry looks like the electron. We decide this through a process of elimination.
Hosted by Matt O'Dowd Written by Matt O'Dowd Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini, Pedro Osinski, Adriano Leal & Stephanie Faria GFX Visualizations: Ajay Manuel Directed by Andrew Kornhaber Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour Executive Producers: Eric Brown & Andrew Kornhaber Executives in Charge (PBS): Adam Dylewski, Maribel Lopez Director of Programming (PBS): Gabrielle Ewing
Big Bang Supporters Adam Hillier Bryce Fort Peter Barrett David Neumann Charlie Leo Koguan Ahmad Jodeh Alexander Tamas Morgan Hough Amy Hickman Juan Benet Vinnie Falco Fabrice Eap Mark Rosenthal David Nicklas
Quasar Supporters Alex Kern Ethan Cohen Stephen Wilcox Christina Oegren Mark Heising Hank S
Hypernova Supporters william bryan Gregory Forfa Kirk Honour Mark Evans drollere Joe Moreira Marc Armstrong Scott Gorlick Paul Stehr-Green Russell Pope Ben Delo Scott Gray Антон Кочков John R. Slavik Mathew Donal Botkin John Pollock Edmund Fokschaner Joseph Salomone chuck zegar Jordan Young Daniel Muzquiz
Gamma Ray Burst Supporters Harsh Khandhadia Thomas Tarler bsgbryan Sean McCaul Carsten Quinlan Susan Albee Frank Walker Matt Q WhizBangery Avi Yashchin MHL SHS Terje Vold Anatoliy Nagornyy comboy Brett Baker Andre Stechert Ross Bohner Paul Wood Kent Durham jim bartosh Nubble Scott R Calkins The Mad Mechanic Ellis Hall John H. Austin, Jr. Diana S Ben Campbell Faraz Khan Almog Cohen Alex Edwards Ádám Kettinger MD3 Endre Pech Daniel Jennings Cameron Sampson Geoffrey Clarion Darren Duncan Russ Creech Jeremy Reed Eric Webster David Johnston Web Browser Michael Barton Christopher Barron Mr T Andrew Mann Isaac Suttell Devon Rosenthal Oliver Flanagan Bleys Goodson Robert Walter Bruce B Simon Oliphant Mirik Gogri Mark Delagasse Mark Daniel Cohen Nickolas Andrew Freeman Shane Calimlim Tybie Fitzhugh Robert Ilardi Eric Kiebler Craig Stonaha Martin Skans The Art of Sin Graydon Goss Frederic Simon Tonyface John Robinson A G David Neal justahat John Funai Tristan Bradley Jenkins Kyle Hofer Daniel Stříbrný Luaan Cody Thomas Dougherty King Zeckendorff Scott Gossett Dan Warren Patrick Sutton John Griffith Daniel Lyons DFaulk Kevin Warne
With abortion access becoming more limited throughout the US, demand has spiked for emergency contraceptive pills that can help prevent pregnancy up to 72 hours after sex. This week, in an effort to maintain supply, Amazon joined retailers like CVS and Walmart by placing temporary limits on the number of “morning-after pills” that can be purchased.
CNBC reports that Amazon customers will be capped at a maximum purchase of three units each week of emergency contraceptive brands like Plan B, which is the most widely available option. However, if you shop around, you can find “varying quantity limits” for different brands. A generic option like My Choice can still be purchased in higher quantities, up to 30 units at once.
At CVS, temporary limits are no longer in place because demand dipped back down to normal levels. Walmart said that purchase limits can fluctuate with demand in its online stores, but the company has no policy to limit sales of emergency contraceptive pills.
I’m a 23-year-old woman. I work as a teacher, but I have a second job that I work two or three nights a week. It’s a food service job, where most of the staff are 20-25-year-old women.
I am 12 weeks pregnant. I told my boss at the restaurant a few weeks ago because my symptoms were really impacting the quality of my work. The first thing she said after I told her was, “Were you trying to have a baby?” I know that because of my age, most people assume that I don’t want children yet, but my husband and I were, in fact, trying to get pregnant. I was taken aback, but replied that we were trying. My husband and I told our family a weekend or two ago, and many people who now know about the pregnancy have made comments or asked if the pregnancy was planned.
It’s awkward for me to hear these comments, especially from people who aren’t family or close friends. In my opinion, asking if my husband and I were trying for a baby is too personal for coworkers and bosses to ask. I’m planning to let my coworkers know soon, and I definitely think that I will continue hearing these comments.
Am I being overly sensitive? How do I respond to these sorts of weird/personal questions at work in a way that shuts them down politely?
Aggggh! No, you are not being overly sensitive. It’s no one’s business whether you were trying to get pregnant or not, and it’s especially inappropriate for anyone at work to ask you that.
There is a thing when you’re young where your peers will still be in the mode of “pregnancy is to be avoided, not sought” and so they will assume “oh no, what are you going to do?” is what’s called for, not congratulations — or at least will be uncertain about which of those would be appropriate. (And this stage can last longer than you might think!) That’s probably what’s happening here, although it doesn’t make it any less awkward.
You can ward off some of it by explicitly framing the news as positive when you share it with people — like by beginning with, “I have some happy news!”
But if anyone still asks if it was planned, some options:
* “We’re really excited.”
* “Wow, that’s personal!”
* “What a question!”
* “That feels like a very personal question.”
* “Did you really just ask me that?”
* “‘I’m going to pretend you didn’t just ask that.”
Or a combination of them — “Wow, that’s personal! We’re really excited.”
Good morning. A tropical low pressure system is nearing the South Texas coast this morning, and should begin to move inland today. As a result, beginning tonight and on Friday, much of the Houston metro area is likely to see moderate to heavy rainfall. But the biggest threat should come in our coastal counties: Matagorda, Brazoria, Galveston, Chambers, and Orange. Therefore, for these areas we are issuing a Stage 1 flood alert on our Flood Scale.
Broadly speaking, we expect 4 to 6 inches of rain for coastal areas, which is a lot for two days, but since these areas have been so dry the totals should be manageable. However, some model data indicates the potential for coastal areas to see larger bullseyes of rain with this tropical air mass, and we are monitoring this closely. Suffice it to say that we may need to increase the flood alert later today to Stage 2, but do not feel confident in doing so now. (These bullseyes could also very well miss offshore). We plan to update you later today as we know more.
Approximate area of Stage 1 Flood Alert. (Google Maps/Space City Weather)
The remainder of the metro area should see more moderate totals of rainfall over the next two days, generally 1 to 4 inches, with amounts decreasing the further inland you go. We do not expect to need to issue any flood alerts for these areas, but again we are watching closely.
Thursday
We have seen some coastal showers develop prior to sunrise and push inland, but this activity will probably wane later this morning. Additional scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible this afternoon, but none of these are likely to be too organized. Therefore we think today should be business-as-normal for most people, and most activities. Look for highs in the upper 80s with mostly cloudy skies. The threat of heavy rain from the tropical system probably will not arrive until at least midnight along the coast, and a bit later than than that for inland areas.
Friday
Right now we think Friday will yield the most hazardous weather in terms of heavy rainfall. The key question, as we’ve been saying for a couple of days, is where the tropical low ultimately moves and brings its excessive moisture. We could find ourselves in a situation where the heaviest rain remains largely offshore, or we could find ourselves in a situation where Galveston Island receives 10 inches. What we can say for certain is that there is the potential for very heavy rainfall on Friday for coastal counties, with lesser chances as one moves into Harris County, and lesser chances still further inland. The potential for heavy rainfall should exit coastal areas on Friday afternoon or evening, and move north as the system is also moving to the north or northwest.
NOAA rain accumulation forecast for now through Saturday morning. (Weather Bell).
Saturday
The potential for widespread, moderate to heavy rainfall will linger on Friday night into Saturday morning as the tropical low starts to move away from the area, but we should start to see skies clearing out during the afternoon hours, allowing highs to reach about 90 degrees.
Sunday and Monday
The remainder of the weekend should see mostly sunny skies, with highs in the low- to mid-90s. There is a slight chance of rain both days, but I would only put it at 10 to 15 percent. Therefore, there should be no weather concerns for the Fourth of July holiday.
Next week
Houston’s weather will fall back into a hot and sunny pattern for most of the rest of next week, with highs probably in the mid-90s, or thereabouts. It will be a little warm for early July, but not excessively so.
We will post an update on the potential for flooding on Thursday afternoon or evening.
Return to Monkey Island is a return to the legendary series published by Devolver Digital with the help of the original series creators Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman. While this is great in its own right, several people took issue with the upcoming game's stylized HD 2D look for the game, rather than 3D models or retro pixels.
It seems like some of those people was taking things a little bit too far since Ron Gilbert has made a public post on his blog stating that he will stop talking about the upcoming game. This decision was made following tons of unrelenting abuse from 'fans' of the series. Guybrush Threepwood actor Dominic Armato showed his disdain toward this sector of the community in a tweet:
(And those were the ones that he *didn't* moderate.)
The issue, once again, was with the game's graphical art style. The game's stylized HD visuals have definitely become a point of contention among some fans. Gilbert initially defended the art style in his blog, stating that the game had "a team of incredible artists, animators, sound designers, programmers, and testers all pouring their souls into this game and it’s beautiful to see, play, and listen to". This statement ultimately ended with him saying that while it may not be the style everyone would roll with, it's the style he wants.
He further defended this very principle during the blog post that preceded the comment shutdown by stating that:
It's an amazing game and everyone on the team is very proud of it. Play it or don't play it but don't ruin it for everyone else. I won't be posting any more about the game. The joy of sharing has been driven from me.
My partner and his four-year-old daughter just moved into my place and, while I already struggled with working from home, it has become increasingly difficult almost on the brink of impossibility. She’s a high-energy kid, and I’m a low-energy adult. She isn’t in any kind of preschool or daycare since my boyfriend and I both work part-time and we can easily set our hours to work around each other’s. So she’s home all the time, and in typical four-year-old fashion, insists on having everyone possible play with her. I can’t go five minutes without an interruption or three so I don’t even try and I’ve fallen really far behind on my paperwork.
To top it off, I have diagnosed ADHD and my partner and I are also absolutely positive that he and his daughter are undiagnosed ADHD. This makes it really hard for us to get anything done, especially something as soul-sucking as paperwork (ew). I’ve had a very minimal amount of success doing this admin work in coffeeshops, but that environment isn’t really much better as far as distractions go and I don’t want to pay $6 for a drink I won’t really enjoy at a place I don’t really like. So, any advice?
Your only real options are that (a) you and your partner find a way to keep his daughter out of your work space or (b) you can’t be in the same house while you’re working. It sounds like the only way to pull off (a) is if you’re able to use a physical barrier, such as a locking door (and I imagine if you could do that, you already would have) or if your partner can commit to keeping her away from you during your work hours, even if that means taking her out of the house for a large part of the day.
Where is your partner while his daughter is interrupting you? Is he not taking your need for quiet seriously and doing the other things that this childcare plan depends on? If so, that’s the crux of the problem. This plan only works if he’s 100% committed to protecting your space while you’re working.
If he can’t do that for some reason (even for reasons that aren’t his fault, like if this kiddo is just uncontainable), then it sounds like you really can’t share the house while you’re working — either you need a separate workspace somewhere else or she needs child care somewhere else.
2. My husband was bullied by the office jerk at a company dinner
My company went on a multi-day work retreat with spouses and children. It’s a small company (20 people) operating as a “family.” I’m the only person in HR and I pay the bills for the company. At an employee/spouse dinner with plenty of adult beverages, the loudmouth office bully started bullying my husband, making jokes about penises and size, sort of suggesting my husband wanted the bully’s own penis. It was uncomfortable and my husband and I ended up leaving the dinner early. My husband and this guy have never hit it off, but this was over the top. No one said anything to the bully at the table, although I heard later that the boss kicked him under the table and told him to knock it off. Later, the boss’s wife texted me to see if we were okay.
My husband and the boss’s wife are also partners in a side business. The office bully is relatively new to the company, although many of the employees have known him for years, including me, when he was one of our vendors. He is a very loud and obnoxious guy who thinks he is hilarious, and he is also a “rainmaker” for the company. Later in the evening, we ran into the boss’s wife, and my husband vented at her and ended up saying too much about how he felt about several people at the company. What is awkward is we are also sizable clients of the company as well. Its a bit toxic! If my husband hadn’t said anything to the boss’s wife, it would have been better! The next day, he regretted saying anything.
The next day, the others who were at the table were kind to us and acted like nothing happened, including the bully. Our office has a sort of mantra, “If you have a problem with someone, speak to them directly instead of others.” My question is: Do I speak to the office bully about this or let it go? I feel it make make things worse in the future if I say something. Also, I’m questioning whether or not I even need to work here at all.
That last part is your answer — this sounds incredibly dysfunctional, starting from the first sentence of your letter! A company that thinks it can operate like “family” is a huge problem, particularly when you’re in HR (because that means you can’t do your job effectively and you’ll be the face of a lot of the dysfunction). Throw in an environment where an employee sexually harasses your spouse and no one speaks up and you (as HR!) are struggling to know if/how you can address it, and that apparently goes for bullying too, and you’re a client of the business that employs you (a sizable one!), and your spouse and the boss’s spouse have a side business going … Any one of these things on its own would be enough to make me urge you to get out, but with all of them combined this is a massive cesspool of dysfunction!
Someone — you as HR or the bully’s boss — should indeed have a serious conversation with him about harassment and appropriate behavior, but there are much deeper problems to face here.
3. Does my company not care about retaining me?
I joined my current company about a year and a half ago. I was really excited because the company has a clear work/life balance policy compared to many of my previous companies as well as a really strong mission. But shortly after I was hired, the company had a reorganization and my role responsibilities were essentially split between myself and another person on my team. Unfortunately, I got the responsibilities that focused on something that was not my strength or core experience, but my skills were transferable.
I gave the role about a year to see if I could grow into it. But I just can’t. I actually honestly hate it.
I’ve applied and networked throughout the company. For two jobs I applied for, I was passed over for either another internal candidate and an external candidate. And for another role, I was told that I was too junior (young was some subtext in that conversation which admittedly is not the first time I’ve heard that in my career). FYI, my manager is aware of my predicament and supportive that I find a new role in the company—and has even advocated for me!
I’m starting to get the feeling that the company doesn’t want to retain me despite having a large retention initiative. Because of the last quarter of rejections, I’m also incredibly self conscious and worried it’s getting around that I’m young, under-qualified, too junior or whatever. Is it time to take the gamble on work/life balance and apply at other places?
Well, you’ve only been there a year and a half, which is not a long time, especially if these are promotions that you’re applying for. So I think it’s premature to assume that the company doesn’t want to retain you, particularly when your manager is advocating for you. But it wouldn’t hurt to look outside the company as well. You don’t need to accept any job that’s offered to you if you don’t think it compares favorably to your current situation, but if you’re itching to move out of your current job, it makes sense not to limit your options.
4. Dress code expectations for training classes
I’ve just landed an job with lots of training for chartered accountancy that I definitely thought I was underqualified for. It’s my first professional job. The training is block-release at a nearby college (note: UK college, not a university). I’ve already tangled myself in dress code formality expectations; I showed up in a three-piece suit with pocket square and all for an interview where it turned out nobody in the office was even wearing a tie. At my old job, I wore hoodies and steel-toes to work. The new job is much more corporate office-job-y, a jeans-free environment, but not quite as dressy as I’d previously thought. I’m not sure what the dress expectations are for the training at the new job.
The training will be alongside two other people from the same company in the same role, but nobody more senior would be present. I’ve walked past this college a couple times and it seems to have a lot of artsy people with interesting dress sense. There will probably be students on the course who aren’t sponsored by an employer. Do I stick with clothes appropriate for my new office (“jacket but no tie” vibes) or work-appropriate in general, or do I treat this like dressing for university, i.e. “nobody cares”?
Go with business casual on your first day of training (for example, khakis and a top that’s not a t-shirt) and then adjust based on what you see. On a college campus it’s highly likely that you can move toward the “nobody cares” end of the spectrum, but business casual is a reasonable place to start. (Keep in mind that “nobody cares” for you as an adult professional with colleagues there will be different than “nobody cares” for college students; you should not, for example, wear pajama pants to the training, even if students on campus attend class that way.)
5. Employer will only provide salary info to applicants in Colorado and NYC
I just came across a job post that I found outrageous/offensive. The employer is saying that they will only provide salary information about the job to people in Colorado or NYC. Unless I’m misunderstanding, it seems like they are saying that they will only provide salary information is absolutely required by law to do so (as in Colorado and NYC), even though it creates an administrative burden for them, rather than just posting the salary range for everyone. I know a lot of companies don’t post a salary range, which is always a mark against an employer, but I think in some cases it’s ineptitude on the part of the HR team or hiring manager. There is something about the brazenness of “we know this is information people want access to but we’re only going to share if it’s the law” that I find particularly offensive. This is a job I might otherwise be interested in, but I’m not applying now!
It’s become increasingly common! There are even some companies advertising jobs as open to applicants anywhere in the U.S. except Colorado to avoid providing salary info. It’s ridiculous and it tells you a lot about how those companies operate in regard to transparency and salary equity.
