Update for Everyone VII: Insert Something Philosophical Sounding Here

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

On one hand, I want to put my actual name on this fake resume I'm supposed to be making for English class, but on the other hand I know I should probably put my birth name instead.

[afleitch]

I came out as a socialist.

[Mr. Smith]

I came out as a socialist.

Given that PM score you got there, seems that closet still has some armor.

[Xing]

My fiancee and I are going to start the K1 visa process, and all I can say is that it's a best a hassle, and at worst a living nightmare. The rejection rate of these visas has increased substantially since Trump took office, and while some of that may be because they're catching more fraud, but no doubt many people with legitimate relationships are getting turned down. Why? Because immigration officials are looking for reasons to turn applicants down, and trying to set up traps in the interview process. O top of that, it's taking longer and longer, so two people who are engaged have to spend more time apart. And then there's the cost of it all, which is absolutely absurd, and a ton to ask of people who are at least relatively young.

My fiancee has said that she feels like she's being treated as a criminal, less than human due to the process, since she has to get vaccinations which she got as a kid a second time, she needs to go to enormous effort to provide evidence of her character and intentions, and has heard people who have gone through the process talk about how officials in the interview process have called them liars to their face, even when they were telling the truth. I've also heard some very... unsavory things about what goes on in consulates and some of the orders that they're given, but I can't really speak freely about that or give any specifics.

This is the main reason why my opposition to Trump is personal. I'm not just some snobby wealthy coastal elitist who scoffs at his behavior. His presidency really is affecting the life of my fiancee (and in turn, mine,) and the changes his administration has made to the immigration process, and the impact his rhetoric has had on American consulates could end up preventing me from being with the person I love, unless I decide to actually move out of America.

I have to wonder how many people who support Trump actually realize how he is affecting the lives of immigrants and families of immigrants. I want to believe that some would have second thoughts if they were in my shoes, or walked a mile in the shoes of my fiancee or someone trying to immigrate here legally and do everything right. Slogans like "we need border security", "we can't just let anyone in", and "we need to protect American jobs" may sound nice, but too often they're used by politicians as an excuse for being downright inhumane.

Sorry about the long post, I just had to vent a bit. TL;DR: I may not get to live with my fiancee in this country due to the changes the Trump administration, especially not-serial killer Stephen Miller, has made to the immigration system.

[afleitch]

I came out as a socialist.

Given that PM score you got there, seems that closet still has some armor.

Oh I've not updated that in years. Probably should.

Edit:

Economic score: -7.1
Social score: -8.00

Whoo.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Welcome aboard, comrade!

[Santander]

I love Oscar Munoz. He's doing a great job.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Transmission leak again. It may be my transportation situation, more than anything else, that pushes me to move into a Real Person^TM job. Been driving this barrel of trash around since 2014 and it's caused nothing but trouble.

[pikachu]

Apparently for the winter, Michael Dukakis lives on the same crummy street in Westwood that I do.

[HillGoose]

roll on, there's mountains to climb

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

Bought a dress. Dress was almost too big to fit in my bag. Decided to put on dress to remove stress on backpack. Couldn't figure out which way was up and wound up ruining the dress.

EDIT: The damage was primarily based on the interior, meaning that the dress is still functional. Unfortunately, it's still too small--Can't zip it up and it's crushing my stomach.

[Lord Admirale]

Wow! Thank you Mods! This is the progress we were asking for.

I lived, bitch.

[Lord Admirale]

Anyways, over the past two months, I've shed 15 pounds through more dieting (I don't eat fast food as much as I used to, and if I do, I typically don't eat much for the rest of the day), so I'm down from 210 lbs at Christmas to 195 lbs now. Fairly proud of that, but I'm 15 shy of my summer goal.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

I haven't degenerated nearly this much, but on day four of working from home I am wearing soccer pants and a hoodie, and this worries me.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Wow! Thank you Mods! This is the progress we were asking for.

I lived, bitch.

Welcome back!

[HillGoose]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZytaW5DxRw

I was trying to do that cool spinny trick on the table with the smoke but like the table sucked brah.

[bagelman]

People at my working class job in Portage County were talking about how horrible Trump is and blaming him for people not ordering anything from the business. I was almost fooled into thinking they're not going to vote for him next year. Fortunately, because I am an enlightened member of USElectionAtlas Dot Org, Trump can be safe knowing they are in his column because Ohio is Missouri now.

[Technocracy Timmy]

People at my working class job in Portage County were talking about how horrible Trump is and blaming him for people not ordering anything from the business. I was almost fooled into thinking they're not going to vote for him next year. Fortunately, because I am an enlightened member of USElectionAtlas Dot Org, Trump can be safe knowing they are in his column because Ohio is Missouri now.

Those Trump-Dewine voters will flock to Kamala.

[RussFeingoldWasRobbed]

People at my working class job in Portage County were talking about how horrible Trump is and blaming him for people not ordering anything from the business. I was almost fooled into thinking they're not going to vote for him next year. Fortunately, because I am an enlightened member of USElectionAtlas Dot Org, Trump can be safe knowing they are in his column because Ohio is Missouri now.

Those Trump-Dewine voters will flock to Kamala.

"BUT MUH 2012"
Lol
Seriously though, while I don't think Portage will get much redder, I think it will vote R in 2020.

[JA]

Tonight, I've finally been able to accept and admit to myself what I've somewhat known for a while and have been told that I have by those living with this condition and those educated on it. I have PTSD. It's gotten better over time, but it hasn't gone away. All that has really happened is that I've been pretty well removed from my worst "triggers" and able to exist without too much intense stress. Now that I've gotten a new job, one that's in retail, fast-paced, and heavily customer service oriented, I've noticed my old symptoms reappearing and making life very difficult for me.

I have constant brain fog, which is sometimes so bad that it completely ruins my short term memory. For example, two days ago I was labeling documents for a customer, turned my focus to something else for a moment, then returned and asked them who labeled that document. They looked at me with shock and said, "you just did that." Things like that are common for me at work now. My hearing is also awful when I'm like that, I can hardly retain any information, I constantly catch myself holding my breath, and I feel like I'm on some kind of autopilot that I'm not controlling when it gets particularly bad (like when a customer is being awful, especially yelling, which is a major trigger for me).

I hate that my mind's like this and I know that I need counseling and medication, which I'll hopefully be able to receive now that I finally have insurance (despite me fighting having to go to a doctor - especially a counselor). It kind of feels good to accept it and my experiences over the years make more sense in light of this revelation. But, where to go from here, especially with the limitations it places on me (even if only temporarily)...

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Tonight, I've finally been able to accept and admit to myself what I've somewhat known for a while and have been told that I have by those living with this condition and those educated on it. I have PTSD. It's gotten better over time, but it hasn't gone away. All that has really happened is that I've been pretty well removed from my worst "triggers" and able to exist without too much intense stress. Now that I've gotten a new job, one that's in retail, fast-paced, and heavily customer service oriented, I've noticed my old symptoms reappearing and making life very difficult for me.

I have constant brain fog, which is sometimes so bad that it completely ruins my short term memory. For example, two days ago I was labeling documents for a customer, turned my focus to something else for a moment, then returned and asked them who labeled that document. They looked at me with shock and said, "you just did that." Things like that are common for me at work now. My hearing is also awful when I'm like that, I can hardly retain any information, I constantly catch myself holding my breath, and I feel like I'm on some kind of autopilot that I'm not controlling when it gets particularly bad (like when a customer is being awful, especially yelling, which is a major trigger for me).

I hate that my mind's like this and I know that I need counseling and medication, which I'll hopefully be able to receive now that I finally have insurance (despite me fighting having to go to a doctor - especially a counselor). It kind of feels good to accept it and my experiences over the years make more sense in light of this revelation. But, where to go from here, especially with the limitations it places on me (even if only temporarily)...

Are you a combat vet or something?

[JA]

Tonight, I've finally been able to accept and admit to myself what I've somewhat known for a while and have been told that I have by those living with this condition and those educated on it. I have PTSD. It's gotten better over time, but it hasn't gone away. All that has really happened is that I've been pretty well removed from my worst "triggers" and able to exist without too much intense stress. Now that I've gotten a new job, one that's in retail, fast-paced, and heavily customer service oriented, I've noticed my old symptoms reappearing and making life very difficult for me.

I have constant brain fog, which is sometimes so bad that it completely ruins my short term memory. For example, two days ago I was labeling documents for a customer, turned my focus to something else for a moment, then returned and asked them who labeled that document. They looked at me with shock and said, "you just did that." Things like that are common for me at work now. My hearing is also awful when I'm like that, I can hardly retain any information, I constantly catch myself holding my breath, and I feel like I'm on some kind of autopilot that I'm not controlling when it gets particularly bad (like when a customer is being awful, especially yelling, which is a major trigger for me).

I hate that my mind's like this and I know that I need counseling and medication, which I'll hopefully be able to receive now that I finally have insurance (despite me fighting having to go to a doctor - especially a counselor). It kind of feels good to accept it and my experiences over the years make more sense in light of this revelation. But, where to go from here, especially with the limitations it places on me (even if only temporarily)...

Are you a combat vet or something?

No. PTSD is most commonly associated with combat veterans, but it can occur from any single or series of traumatic events and how your mind reacts to it. For me, it stems from having an abusive, alcoholic father. But, I imagine the constant instability and poverty; a chronically depressed and borderline suicidal mother; and, presumably, a weaker ability to handle the stress of that situation than many others might have contributed to that as well.

[Virginiá]

Missed almost a full week of work due to the flu but finally getting better

Hopefully my capitalist overlords will have mercy on me

[Mr. Smith]

Passport renewal is a b*&ch.

But the alternative was to go the DMV and get one of those REAL-ID ones, and given that I literally got my renewed license just a week or two before, I'm just not so inclined.

[lfromnj]

People at my working class job in Portage County were talking about how horrible Trump is and blaming him for people not ordering anything from the business. I was almost fooled into thinking they're not going to vote for him next year. Fortunately, because I am an enlightened member of USElectionAtlas Dot Org, Trump can be safe knowing they are in his column because Ohio is Missouri now.

Those Trump-Dewine voters will flock to Kamala.

but they voted for Brown over Jim "Fitzgerald with a license" Renacci.