Close! University admin, though you wouldn’t know we’re striking from the media “overpaid academics” angle…
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All was good for a few days.
I am working on my server mostly because it seems to be the one thing where I have the necessary agency to just DO stuff.
The renovation needs me to decide all kinds of things and I am all out decision-mojo. And it is not like I am actually deciding things. I am more of the “Oh yes, sounds good, do that” nodder and go-between with the true decision maker (the owner of the house who isn’t always easily convinced even of stuff that everyone else thinks is necessary). I am playing Flüsterpost between a bunch of different parties… and watching the project timeline fall apart because everyone seems to be sick or on vacation all the time.
If there was a fast forward button for the next 6-8 months, I’d press it in an instant.
I really want to go back and just fix my email server. It seems so simple in comparison.
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Renovation of the house we chose to buy was all planned in a month, executed in another month or so. So fast. I get that it’s slower when you are living there, but 6-8 months on top of all the time you’ve already spent on it seems a lot.
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Stealing this
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This is not really a renovation it is more what we call “Sanierung”
We are getting
so much stuff
- new tile floors
- new electric installation
- new water installation
- preparation for a new heating system
- new bath room
- new windows (to save energy)
- new stairs
- home automation (my partner’s wish)
- new kitchen (my wish)
- the reconstruction or rather removal of part of the kitchen wall is already finished
- all the walls have to be done (sounds less work than it is for reasons)
Next stage (postponed because our budget was not planned with the current situation of the world in mind and don’t ask, I have spent too much time defending our decisions on this and how we didn’t plan irresponsibly we just couldn’t guess how things would change between our project start … and now)
- new roof
- solar roof
- there is a lot more work outside of the house that we’re post-poning right now.
The house is huge. Far too big for us really. I want the garden though. And I want to enable my father to remain living there). The house has seen almost no renovations or bigger changes in 40 years
Normally, I think around 20 years ago my parents would likely have done some stuff… and they did get a more modern heating system. But my mom got cancer and that subsumed all my parents’ time and energy.
And despite prices rising at the moment it is really difficult to find people to do the work because so many people are now doing their renovations. And there are a lot of interlocking tasks to do here. Installations have to be done before walls. etc etc.
Our planning phase is still not quite over because we spent a year convincing my dad all these things have to be done.
A lot of time is consumed because of the fact that my dad wants to have a say in everything. It’s his house. He built it. He is what we call Denkmalschutz and he still lives in the attached apartment. So we have to work around him which takes a lot of time. The electricians cut off his electricity accidentally the other week. The heating in one of is rooms is currently turned off… and he has not completely moved out of the basement and there are still things of his left in the house…
PS we are not even living in the house. we live 20 minutes by car “down the road”
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At the university I work at, it’s mostly academics I know that are striking. Probably because they are people I know, so kind of self fulfilling.
Anyway, I hope the strikes and work to rule (which is absurd, when industrial action is ‘hey we’re just going to fulfil our contractual obligations’) work out for you and all your fellow strikers!
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Telestrations is named “Flüsterpost Extrem” in German.
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The union where I am is very much in bed with management. When they were trying to persuade me to join, it was all about the counselling services they offered, no mention of trying to get their members better treatment. They were persuaded by the national level to strike once, but didn’t bother to tell their members on site.
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Aside from the roof, exterior walls, frame, and stairs, our entire house was basically stripped and rebuilt, so yes, that is what I meant by renovation.
(House is not huge though, and the architect who built it and sold it to us wasn’t hovering around)
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Sounds great. I wish we could have been anywhere near as fast.
I think our „project“ is made unnecessarily complicated by a variety of factors… if I could do and decide it all over again, I would either not do it at all or do things in a very different way. But there is no do-over and now we just have to push through. It just happens today is a bit more resistance than the last few days.
But I get to take this afternoon off (mostly) from work because I can (…) and I‘ll take a walk with a podcast outside in the cold and recharge a little 
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I have almost finished this essay. I orginally titled it “Emotional and Psychological Violence in Sula: A Mediocre White Man’s Opinion on One of the Greatest American Authors of All Time, Who is Black, Part 207,752 for the month of November 2022.”
My partner did not think it was funny, and I have been reduced to a boring title as a result. Ah, academia… I know it’s not for me, that was never in question (I don’t have the patience, nor the drive, nor the finances). But gosh is it ever stodgy sometimes.
My partner’s argument is that I’m taking up space by drawing attention to the fact that I’m white and commenting on Toni Morrison’s superb book. Maybe? I don’t know. That wasn’t the intention, certainly… but boring title it is.
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Re: Marx’s customer
Oh boy.
Two business thoughts: 1) Does the store management know which games you say are awful? Prolly get them off the shelves.
- When someone doesn’t know / doesn’t care, it’s best to figure out which games have the highest margins. By all means, serve the customer first. But if you can’t, serve the store!
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Yes. Yes they do. Tragically, most of the awful games are also really popular (Monopoly is still a yearly best seller. Never lower than 10th on the list. I do not understand it, but I accept it). Several we “have” to stock regardless of the fact I don’t like them (for example, the Traders & Barbarians and Explorers & Pirates expansions for Catan… they were unplayable trash when I played them 20-ish years ago, but some people seem to like them, but we need them anyway because some people are completionists).
Stuff like the Dark Souls board game, or Etherfields, both of which I would rather be lit on fire than play again, still sell at a consistent pace. And I’m okay with that! I think they’re awful, but I explain to customers that ask the reasons I hate them and some of them buy them anyways. I can’t say they’re wrong.
From the Oink line: Troika, Tomatomato, and Zogan are all awful. Flotsam Fight is fine, albeit a little math-heavy for me, but fine. Nine-Tile Panic is too easy. But they still sell occasionally (not at the rate of Deep Sea Adventure, Fake Artist, or Scout, which sell like they’re laced with illicit substances), and they take up no space in overstock, so I don’t mind.
I do mind having 56 copies of “Camel Up Off-Season” because it takes up two entire rows in the overstock and we’ve sold 4 copies since it released last year. But the boss took a gamble because Camel Up wasn’t available, and it hasn’t paid off. That happens.
The store operates on an almost-flat 26-30% margin for all board games. A few are slightly higher (Top Gun is at 3200%, but only because we sell it at $7.99 and I’m not sure it’s worth that… the boss bought them at $0.25 a pop, to give you an idea of how “good” it is) and a few are slightly lower, but otherwise it’s 6 of 1, a half-dozen of another. And the boss encourages me to direct customers away from games they won’t enjoy (or that I suspect they won’t enjoy, I suppose). Which is good, because I hate trying to convince people to buy anything. I don’t want to tell you that you “need” to buy this or that. I want to give you an honest opinion, as best I can, and without any pressure on either of us.
I occasionally say “I do work at a game store, though, so I recommend buying one of everything. It’s the only way to be sure” (and then do a fake laugh like “ma-ha-ha-ha” so they know I’m kidding). Usually gets a chuckle.
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But he’s Canadian!
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Which is part of America!
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I think I can account for this. We see Monopoly as just one of a whole lot of games. They see it as the thing they did with their elder relatives and can now do with their younger ones, and that connection is a positive in itself; another game wouldn’t give that, and they don’t have experience of games that are actually enjoyable.
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Plus there are all the themed versions now. So not only is it that game they played with their elders, but it is also a game themed after something the recipient likes! Sure win, right?
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I would love to hear that argument tried against those who are anti-immigrant here! “So what if people from Mexico want to come here. They’re already Americans!” 
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My folks posted me a COVID care package last week.
Unfortunately there were mail strikes on the 24th and 25th. Presumably there is now a backlog as it still hasn’t arrived. Now I see there are mail strikes for the next two days as well.
Adding insult to injury, I’m also waiting for a coffee delivery.
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