Reay

Ain’t no party like a beige.party party

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When I first joined Mastodon in 2019, it was via a server — an instance, as it’s called — named mastodon.social. In part, joining that particular instance was from being a bit overwhelmed with trying to wrap my head around what an “instance” even meant, having only been exposed up to that point to social … Read more

Never rush

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I’ve been unusually stressed on a few fronts recently, and it showed over a couple of days at work when I made some… not great decisions. Not terrible, but certainly reflecting that I wasn’t on the ball. I took full responsibility for it, as I do, and came around to being a bit self-deprecating with … Read more

The trickiness of effective email addresses

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I have a weird name. For those outside my family and group of friends who haven’t known me forever, the first one is pronounced “Ray” and the family name rhymes with “Yes person” (in fact, that’ll just help you pronounce it the way it would be in its native Denmark, and other Nordic countries). But … Read more

What I learned from my first union strike

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Our union settled with the company 15 days after we went on strike. I’ve finished my first full week of being back at work and making money again, which I’d much rather do than striking.Some takeaways of what I learned or were underscored for me, being on strike for the first time: Being on the … Read more

What I read this month

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A better month for reading, to be sure. Sadly, many starts and stops included, but I’ll take those any day over not getting a shot at reading enough at all, as in too many other months. ReadStarter Villain – John ScalziGreen Arrow, Vol. 1: The Death & Life of Oliver Queen – Writer: Benjamin Percy, … Read more

On a dumb argument

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Everyone has their opinions. And everyone has counterpoints to certain topics of discussion. That is of course a given. But here’s a hot tip: If you’re going to share those, first make sure they at least convey what you’re trying to say and don’t inadvertently make you look bad. I recently mentioned that my union … Read more

Thoughts on working my first picket line

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For those out of town or who otherwise wouldn’t be in the know or affected by it, employees at the LCBO — the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the one place in the province where you can still buy your own liquor — have gone on strike for the first time in its long history. … Read more

Three strikes against privatizing the LCBO

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I’ve worked for the LCBO for just over two years. This upcoming strike deadline is the first I’ve ever looked at being personally involved in, as LCBO workers are automatically enrolled in their local chapter of OPSEU (Ontario Public Service Employees Union). And unfortunately, what I’ve found from this side of things is just more … Read more

What I read this month

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Despite it being a pretty crazy busy month, I read more in June than I have for a while. Mind you, much of that was started and stopped. But in some cases I read well into the books before finally dropping them, so hey, that’s still reading.It’s not satisfying reading, but it’s still reading.Beggars can’t … Read more

Let people read during lulls on the job

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I’ve been working two part-time jobs for the last couple of years, and both underscored something to me I hadn’t encountered much previously: Companies don’t like their staff to casually read when they’re on the clock. And I sincerely don’t understand why. I think… I think?… that it’s what’s believed to be the optics of … Read more