Threaten Me, Will You?

A week or so ago, YouTube suddenly decided it didn't like my adblocker anymore.

So it began threatening me. At first, they were pretty innocent threats, basically just making me acknowledge that I was using an adblocker before it would play a video.

Then it got serious and told me it would only allow me to watch three more videos before something terrible would happen.

So I did what any other red-blooded American would do: I caved in and turned the adblocker off.

After a week of watching ads, though (and by watching, I mean zoning out when they played and then skipping when allowed) I turned my adblocker back on.

No more ads. No more (as of yet) threatening messages.

Now I know this isn't a free service. But I also know any ad revenue I'd like to see go to the content creators, not necessarily the content host. So if a creator has in-house ads or sponsors, I'm all for that. Just don't make me watch any more commercials for Liberty Mutual or Tmobile, please.

So I should watch the ads. I mean, I used to watch a ton of them when I was a kid. But we got more variety in ads then. And the sun was warmer, and all that old guy stuff. They didn't make us watch commercial after commercial for Liberty Mutual, or force us to listen to the Tmobile Singers butcher songs from Oklahoma.

Can't Vouch for the Veracity, but it's Interesting

UPDATES BELOW.

Stumbled across this on the YouTubes yesterday:

I had hoped he's spend more time on the early history of "the Site" coming here, rather than slipping into the salaciousness surrounding the SL-1 accident. I've read a lot about what happened there, and though this guy criticizes the investigators for not delving into the reasons why this happened -- he admits we'll never know, since the three guys died. Speculation does nothing, particularly this far removed from the event.

He does list his sources in a link below the video, so kudos for that. Helps me feel the accuracy of this doc is better than most, as I've read (and own) some of the material he's citing.

But also included in the "about" on the video: "This videos covers two fairly different periods of history in and around Idaho Falls - there isn't necessarily a direct [sic] link between the two events, but I still wanted to include the entire gamut of a history that I found pretty enthralling. "

Eyeroll.

I did learn something, though. I'd always thought it was Highway 26 they had to put in once the "site" was selected. Turns out it was indeed Highway 20, as is said in the video.

Note the route west of Idaho Falls in this 1948 map shows a road, but marks it as "impassible." And that is true, because even with the road, there are times it's dicey getting through that stretch.

Also, he glosses over a lot of detail. It's helpful to add that the SL-1 was a US Army project. He could also have gone into the "anything goes" of the early Atomic Era, but the accident is the thing that people tend to want to focus on the most.

The comments on YouTube devolve into the "Mormon town, ew gross." To that I say: Whatever. I'm sure the local Mormon snobbery you experienced exists, but I'm also sure you're exaggerating its impact and are just echo chambering the haters rather than seeing it extensively from personal experience. Crossing cultures is a two-way street, and many of those critics seem to forget that.

UPDATES.

Chapter 16 of Susan Stacy's "Proving the Principle," one of the references cited in the linked video, contains this information, concerning the aftermath of the SL-1 accident:

"For low-power critical facilities, including the ones at the [National Reactor Testing Station] NRTS, the [Atomic Energy Commission] AEC ordered that all operating and shut-down procedures be written in detail. Joen Hensheid, supervisor of the ETR Critical Facility, recalled:

The SL-1 accident was a big watershed point. Up until then, our detailed  procedures weren't much, but we were able to get a lot done in a short amount of time. After SL-1, the reactor [I worked with] was shut down, and we had many, many reviews of procedures. Some reactors at the Site went two years before starting up again. There were committees, and everyone was reviewing procedures and developing formalized sign-offs. It turned into a totally new way of doing business with reactors. Procedural documents that originally had been two pages long were expanded into thick books, and all activity became rigidly prescribed . . . those years of committee meetings with no experiments were hard on everyone."

That says a lot. Yes, there was regret that the "go-go" era was over, but there were clearly many lessons learned from SL-1, but it seems the only thing people want to discuss in connection with the accident is the possible love triangle angle, which can't be substantiated. Leaving the soul-searching out does the average YouTube documentarian looking foolish, going after only the salacious or enthralling. Sure, committee meetings are boring. But the result is worth mentioning.

Forget the Fifth of November, Just Remember to SLOW DOWN when You Edit

Letting someone else look at your work is kinda scary.

But gather around and let your teacher tell a true story about how having others evaluate your work can be a benefit to you.

This was me, a few weeks ago. Invisible to management until a mistake was noticed in my work.

Why was the mistake there? Two reasons:

1. I assumed the people I was working with had scrubbed this particular document for errors like this.

2. I did not scrub this particular document myself to detect errors like this.

I'm being vague because I can't discuss the nature of the work, but suffice it to say: Mistakes were made. I did not detect them -- and detecting is part of my job -- and the errors were detected by someone higher up in the chain.

I have since re-evaluated my work process with these particular documents and implemented a stragegy to help me detect these errors before the higher-ups have a chance to spot them. It means more work, but it also means infinitely less work and increased trust further in the document review process.

I neglected to check someone else's work properly, and it cost me a weekend of anxiety and two long weeks of work following that to make things right.

So, the lesson here is twofold:

1. When you peer review someone else's work, be sincere in your efforts.

2. When you get feedback, be sincere in accepting that your writing isn't perfect.

Here's a quick lesson on what's called "Levels of Edit," something I'd forgotten as I worked (or didn't work) on the document in question.

Levels of Edit means you read a document more than once -- each time focusing on a particular attribute of writing. That does mean more work on the surface, but it also means your likelihood of catching errors goes up significantly as you go through the various levels.

Here are some typical Levels of Edit to consider:

Spelling/grammar. Just looking to see if there are typos, misused words, awkward sentences and such.

Flow. Are the transitions between ideas okay? Does what your reading make sense, or are there gaps that the writer needs to fill to help you understand better?

Citations/APA. Does the author tell us where each quote or paraphrasing comes from? Are references included, as well as the works cited page?

As usual, Purdue OWL has some pretty helpful suggestions on the levels of edit to consider.

But wait -- won't I save time if I do all this editing at the same time?

Maybe.

Or maybe you'll miss important stuff if you don't take a more methodical approach.

I have more than 25 years of professional writing experience, and yet I still screwed up on something pretty fundamental because I was trying to do all levels of editing at the same time.

My advice to myself now: Slow down. Remember the fundamentals. And avoid future, high-profile screw ups. They're not pretty.

And if Dilbert isn't enough, consider the wisdom of John Kenneth Galbraith, economist and diplomat:

The Green Crabgrass, by O. Henry

It's not as maudlin as O. Henry's "The Last Leaf," but the Green Crabgrass I can view through my study window is what keeps me going as winter threatens its first appearance this week.

The Facebook thread for this features gloomy weather and 19th centrury Russian novelists.

I love O. Henry's story, by the way.

Ammon Pumpkin Walk 2023

It's nice to see it set up at the park.

Even nicer to have all the components out of my garage.

Sorry, Dogs, the Knotholes are Gone

Younger Me might be chagrined to hear this, but I'm at my happiest when I'm building something.

So our neighbors to the north sold their house. Given that they took their big dogs with them, we thought this would be the perfect time to replace the fence along that property line, at least through their backyard.

So that's what I did today.

I had to do some trimming to let this cedar trunk poke through. I'm not sure I did enough of a gap, but we'll see. Had to do the same thing along the bottom as the roots are protruding. You can see in the picture that the tree is so close to the fence I had to secure the slats from this side rather than the other. Not necessarily happy about that, but it is what it is.

The next bit of fence along the sideyard is going to take some work, as I have four posts that have to be replaced because the current posts are leaning heavily toward the north. I'm not sure I'm excited to dig that many postholes this close to winter. It's also hard to think any concrete I pour to hold the posts in place won't freeze rather than cure. So that'll be for next year.

Much to the chagrin of our dogs, this means the knotholes they barked at when the dogs next door were barking are gone. I'm sure they'll still go to that part of the fenceline to bark. Old habits die hard.

What Arguing on Social Media Sounds Like

Prompted by bickering along similar lines over similar arguments in a few Facebook groups I belong to. The arguing does little to persuade, does nothing to convince the other side of the "error" of their ways, and leads to dissonance in what should be a cooperative environment.

Jim Lovell's reaction here is to point out that the arguing will only serve to rile people up, not doing a thing to solve the current problem we all face together: Trying to stay alive.

As a corollary, I thought this was interesting: Substitute "GamerGate" for whatever problem or demon or institution being argued over, and I think the logic displayed here applies.

 

Pumpkin Walk Prep

This is what you do on a Saturday morning/afternoon when you have a Venture Crew looking to participate in a local pumpkin walk.

And yes, that is a weinder dog doing some critical lap testing. I think we passed inspection.

More photos to come later when we actually set things up.

I Love it When Newspapers Record History

UPDATE: I've now been told this is a fake. Which is a shame. But it was still fun to read.

Found this on Facebook today, and it's a treasure.

It's the movie prop that keeps on giving. A lot of work went into it -- for something that was onscreen for about a second (okay about five seconds), in an era where very few people had the option to stop, rewind, and freeze frame.

If you look closely, the copy along with the headline "Ghost Fever Grips New York" is extracted from some dull article on the economy.

Looking at the second headline, "EPA Try to Shut Down Local Ghost Disposal Business," you get treated to an actual article featuring quotes from Walter Peck and others in the film.

The first few paragraphs:

Citing unsafe practices and potential toxic accumulation, the Environmental Protection Agency shut down a small ghost-entrapment operation in downtown Manhattan today, and had four of the business spectral entertainment specialists arrested in the process.

According to EPA agent Walter Peck, employees of the company – located in an old fire station in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York – had repeatedly refused to grant him access to their storage facility, which posed a health hazard to the surrounding community.

“The facility in question unlawfully used public utilities for the purpose of non-sanctioned waste-handling and was in direct violation of the Environmental Protection Act,” Peck said.

“Additionally, the company powered several unlicensed portable nuclear accelerators that were flagrantly discharged within mere feet of citizens.”

It goes on to quote Consolidated Edison technician Brian Holmes, so this guy has a name:

There's also this little gem, which has a guess that isn't far off from their actual box office of $282 million.

This really is the gift that keeps on giving.

And lest you think they left anything out, behold the story's final paragraph:

At press time, representatives from the firm were meeting with New York Mayor Lenny Cloch to discuss the growing spectral plague, despite fierce protests from Agent Peck. The talks have reportedly not proceeded beyond an animated debate over whether or not Peck has a p****.
 

Doubt Your Doubts

I did not want to go to church Sunday.

Thought it out: Fake sick and such, have a low-key day.

But I went to church.

A prayer in my heart, because I needed help. Nothing major, just stress over work (which resolved itself as a damp squib on Monday, as the work stress typically does, but that doesn't mean I can't spend my weekends in exquisite agony).

Easier to go to church than not to go to church, to be sure. Fewer questions and such.

But glad I went to church. Fast and testimony meeting, and a member bore his testimony of the gospel but not of the church -- or at least this ward -- and left, carrying his son. "Church isn't giving me what I need," he said. But rattled off that people have been checking in with him and his family.

What does he need that the church isn't giving him? He didn't say.

And there I sat, not wanting particularly to be there.

But I felt it differently. So many people there willing to shake my hand, say hello, help me be involved. So many people who care.

Was it the same with the other? I don't know. But I"m not generally outgoing. I'm introverted. Still, I felt welcome and wanted. I don't know what the problems are, but clearly there are problems.

But how do we sort them out?

Going to church is half the battle. Or at least part of it. I don't know his story, but I know mine.

I thought about things, after his testimony. The more I thought, the more I felt the spirit saying this is where I need to be, though maybe I don't understand all the reasons why.

Keep going. Doubt your doubts. Don't blame others, or seek that beam. Look for the mote, which is what I'm doing.

It's not easy. But it's worth doing.

Stop Claiming, Start Explaining

Help me understand something here.

I've seen a few posts similar to this one, with random people who are spiritualists or spiritualist-adjacent promising people financial blessings, or a new house, or a new car, or a new whatever, simply by "Claim[ing] it now."

They contain the typical "Get-rich-by-wishing-it" tropes of photoshooped piles of money, bros with watches, even more photoshooped money, and the like.

Here's what I don't understand: Many of them, like this one, features ramen noodles, specifically this chicken ramen packet.

Why, I ask.

I've asked that on a few of the posts (do not recommend; your feed becomes flooded with similar posts) and no one has answered the question. They're too busy "claiming it," or so it seems.

I'm used to culture leaving me behind, but there are times the culture needs to pause for a moment and explain itself.

Tell Me You're Overthinking Sneaker Marketing Without Telling Me You're Overthinking Sneaker Marketing

From the Facebook(!) and I have to wonder why:

I mean, I know sneakers are a highly-competetive market. So doing something to make your own brand stand out is essential.

But clearly, I am not the demographic for these particular shoes. I'm not in the New Balance demographic either, but that's the direction I'm trending. It doesn't seem to matter to them that their ad spread preferences include "50+ Gen Xers who've seen this kind of crap "edgy" marketing their whole lives and are so damn weary of it they only look at it to pick it apart for its humor value," but I guess they know best how to spend their online advertizing dollar.

Their "storyline," for the curious.

A few snips, in case it's memory-holed:

And it goes on like this. AI-generated twaddle that, as far as I can tell, isn't even skeaner-adjacent, let alone sneaker-relevant.

But it doesn't have to make sense; it's marketing. It's supposed to appeal to the bad boy who thinks writing stories about demons and reading stories about demons make them unique and edgy, when all it really means that if they buy these sneakers, it's like they bought any other kind of sneakers, and very likely overpaid for them.

And I'm pretty sure the sock shown in the upper left-hand corner says "Kill all fascists," because that's also storyline adjacent, if only sneaker-adjacent because it's printed on a sock.

Continue thinking you're expressing your individuality by walking in unison in branded, mass-marketed sneakers that tell stories hokey enough the could be produced by sellers of supplements and anatomy enhancers. Because if you buy these sneakers, you're cool-adjacent.