Lots of Feelings and Words, Little Overlap

I didn't have enough sites to suck at keeping up with so I needed a tumblr too. I do everything too early, or too late. All out of "normal" life order anyway.

[stealingpotatoes]

i hauve a cold

[stealingpotatoes]

[stealingpotatoes]

[catchymemes]

[atlinmerrick]

(Will never not reblog this beauty. What genius.)

[dduane]

Same. :)

[pariztexas-deactivated20210721]

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) dir. George Miller

[apardonablemonomania-deactivate]

[randobambo]

[iguanamouth]

[unicornempire]

I. Love this. 

Love it.

Oh my god

yes.

[defilerwyrm]

This is it, I found it, the funniest post on this entire godsforsaken website

[chambergambit]

I will never get over how brilliant this comic is. The artist could have just drawn a single image in response, but instead we have this masterpiece. The world doesn’t deserve @iguanamouth.

[yesterdaysprint]

The Washington Post, Washington DC, June 11, 1916

[alexithymia42]

[raggedy-spaceman]

Neil behind the camera all day tomorrow

[neil-gaiman]

Neil not being part of the Good Omens junket or the cast and crew and press screening because he's WGA and we are on strike.

But I'm so proud of our cast and our crew and everything they've made.

[heartmis]

THIRD WHEELING™ OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH (2022-)

[skopostheorie]

This meme is inescapable on French insta so I'm posting it here for all to enjoy

[memewhore]

[qwertyu858]

They really awake his bloodlust, uh

[decolonize-western-siberia]

The virgin pit bull vs the chad Great Pyrenees

[teaboot]

Listen. I grew up with these dogs. Im a cat person, no shame, but Great Pyrenees are hands down my most trusted domestic animal and are hardcore as fuck.

When I was a kid, between six and fifteen, one of our Pyrenees would escort me, off-leash, between my grandmother's house and mine. I'd just have to call him, and he'd show up and walk me there, placing himself between me and anything he considered threatening- Cranky farm animals, holes in the ground, bodies of water, etc.

That same dog found a (unfortunately deceased) lamb my grandfather had buried a few hours earlier, dug it up, realized it was cold and not breathing, and carefully carried it to our barn, where he covered it neck-deep in straw and tried to cuddle it warm again to bring it back to life.

One of our older dogs, at about sixteen years old (keep in mind, this breed tends to average out at about 12 years max) had arthritis in his hips, a bad back, and a respiratory issue, was fucking ancient and essentially palliative, but would still go stock-still out of nowhere, let out one subtle "boof", and then set out at an awkward-yet-speedy bunny-hop sprint at the slightest whiff of a cougar, bear, or wolf. Like, grampa would jump fences. Gentle geriatric giant would kick up to 7k to protect the family, never mind the three other, much younger dogs already on the case.

When I was a baby, like a literal in-diapers infant, he would lay on the ground and let me dress him up as a wizard and crawl all over him with zero complaint.

His nephew was 100lbs and often alarmed visitors who mistook him for a bear, yet never so much as bumped into a person in his life and feared only string and kittens.

a Great Pyrenees is not Balto. A Great Pyrenees is Robert McCall, John Wick, and John McClain wrapped in Marry Poppins and a snuggly Mr. Rogers wool sweater.

They are not only the best dog, but I would argue that they are also the MOST dog.

I will die by this

[cassandrasimplex]

Today in Now I Have a Yard, Should I Get a Dog:

[alexithymia42]

[cryptidcola]

Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary has a livestream now and it’s making my life infinitely better by the second.

EDIT: they have a second camera outside!

[astrocyte-deactivated20171202]

cashier: sorry for your wait. we’re short-staffed today

millennial: oh that’s ok no worries :)

 baby boomer:

[tnerdbean]

But listen that’s the thing. 

We are short staffed almost 97% of the time at my retail job. Because corporate has figured out you can overwork 4 people at minimum wage instead of paying for the 8 people you should probably have to be on the clock.  

Baby boomers grew up with stores that were adequately staffed, with workers who most likely had weeks of training for their jobs as opposed to the 1-2 shadow shift training we get now. Also those workers most likely were able to be full time if they wanted. Now retail, except for management positions, is mostly made up of part time workers, because you don’t have to give them benefits. So you have a workforce of perpetually underpaid, overwhelmed, undertrained people trying to do their best all while dealing with an entire generation of people who refuse to acknowledge that the system has changed and the average retail worker has NO control over that change and is being taken advantage of.

Like we got our customer surveys back, and almost every single one mentioned that they couldn’t find someone to help them or we needed more people on register because it was TOO SLOW, but what did management tell us instead of scheduling more people? We need to be quicker on register and call for backup if necessary. Which makes no sense because we can’t call for backup THAT ISN’T THERE.

[guiltyfandoms]

Y'all my parents haven’t worked retail since the 70s and they absolutely never believe me about the things that happen at work. I explain the schedule for next week gets hung up on the Friday before and they scoff and go “well when i worked at X they had it a month up your manager is just lazy.” No mom, its company policy to only do “two weeks” in advance. They won’t give you a full month’s scheduling in advance cause it let’s you plan for a world outside of work. Or about the hours, workload or anything. They just assume its an individual’s failing instead of corporate mandate. Or, if they do believe me (that its company policy) they call it ridiculous and point out some survey that argues its Good Business to do (insert decent thing here).As if they think the higher ups don’t know this and are simply ignorant of Good Business Practices. They don’t understand that retail has completely shifted from caring about its employees to squeezing out every penny now instead of investing it for later.

Cause that isn’t how it was when they worked and they just can’t seem to see otherwise.

[nightworldlove]

   I think there should be a ‘bring-your-parent-to-work-day’ instead of ‘bring-your-kid-to-work-day’, it would shock so many parents and would probably make them finally realize how much retail indeed has changed in the US.

[poutine-existentielle]

when i first got hired as a cashier, my manager who had been doing that since she was like 17 in 1975 told me that back in The Days, when you were hired as a cashier in a grocery store it was a) a well paid job & you could get full time work easily b) a respected career choice c) the store closed at 6pm and was closed on Sundays so the hours were a lot more pleasant d) they made you go to cashier school for 2 weeks, which was basically a fake grocery store and you just learned the trade completely before even meeting a customer now its like : you get like 20 hours a week, bullshit shifts like 3:45 to 10:15, a 20 minutes training before being thrown to the wolves, customers tell you you deserve your shitty lowlife job as soon as you don’t thoroughly kiss their ass

[millennialsargueback]

The millennial experience is tied to growing income inequality and the indentured servitude of student loan debt

[theherothechampiontheinquisitor]

My first day of work for Family Dollar was March 1st 2009. I worked 4-9pm. This is my very first job I ever had in my entire life. Never worked a cash register or anything. All my knowledge came from watching people ring me up in the 19 years of my life. At 4:05 I was alone on register for the rest of the night with a solid flow of customers. I NEVER GOT ANY TRAINING OTHER THAN THOSE 5 MINUTES OF PUSH THIS BUTTON AND GOOD LUCK.

[sensitive-inferno]

It’s gotten worse since I officially left retail in 2001. As an older teen who only lived 5 minutes away and was no longer in school, I was scheduled a lot of open to close days. They could trust me with the key to open, and they could trust me to balance the registers and shit after we closed. I was NEVER compensated as a key holder or as someone who was basically doing managerial shit. Now, kids are only given a few hours a week, and the minimum wage hasn’t been raised in how long? When I worked at the community college bookstore from 1999 - 2000, I distinctly remember making $6.50 per hour. And the minimum wage is, what, $7.25 now? It’s bullshit. Then again, even office jobs around here barely pay more than $12 per hour to start, and you have to have a bachelor’s and somehow also 5 years of experience.

[woodelf68]

I definitely remember as a kid that all the lines at the grocery store would have a cashier manning them. Now there’s maybe two lines open and all the rest empty.

[rosexknight]

I remember being the only person to run ALL of the front one day, meaning customer service AND checkout. Because the place I used to work only schedule two people now instead of three. Not only did our satisfaction rates plummet when we made that shift, but if someone called out and we couldn’t find anyone to come in (and let’s face it you usually don’t…) we’re screwed. But it’s whatever I’ve done this song and dance before so I’m doing my thing taking care of the line and working two registers and apologizing profusely because “UM WHERE IS YOUR HELP THIS IS RIDICULOUS???” and it’s going as smooth as it can except I keep having to put the phone on hold and it’s the same number. So I’m putting the phone on hold but the lady keeps hanging up and calling back and about the third time I can’t even say hello before I get a “DO NOT put me on hold again I need to talk to someone!” I tell her firmly that I’m the only one up front and if she holds I’ll get to her in a bit. So I put her on hold again and finally get the line down and get back to the phone. She’s still there and after apologizing for the wait, thanking her for her patients (which she doesn’t have) and calling over another customer to ring out while I talk to her she demands a manager. Now, the manager is dealing with something else so I explain he’s with someone and ask what she needs. She tells me that it’s OBVIOUSLY because she was put on hold. I say “I apologize ma'am, as I said I’m the only one working customer service and checkout because we had someone call out.” “Well the management needs to get you HELP!” “They’ve done all they can ma'am no one was available to come in. What was it you needed today?” “I need to talk to the manager they need to MAKE someone come in this is ridiculous.” That was at a retail electronic store. She was wondering if we had any of a specific TV in stock in the end and was treating it with the same urgency as the CANCER PATIENTS at my current job treat stuff when they call. People cannot fathom how hellish retail is and honestly I’m glad I was able to get out.

[horreurscopes]

a few fun octopus facts:

their arms are similar to our tongues in that their muscle fibers are  oriented in three different directions 

octopuses are disconcertingly strong (anecdotal evidence says that a 15 inch wide octopus was as strong as the scientist handling it)

on that note that same scientist said that when her octopuses escaped she would have to run behind them, “like cats” (paraphrased from sy montgomery’s the soul of an octopus)

aquariums have “octopus enriching programs” so they don’t get bored and fuck shit up in their tanks

they are crazy smart like. really. really fucking smart 

but we can’t compare their intelligence to ours because our evolution branched from the same common ancestor so long ago we cannot comprehend how they think

it’s believed that their intelligence evolved when they lost their shell, and had to adapt to predict how countless of different prey and predators would act, how to avoid them, distract them, lure them or trick them 

they visualize how other creatures are going to act, which means they have have awareness that others are individuals which is a type of consciousness but i can’t remember what it’s called right now 

like, they use tools 

they have distinct personalities 

aquarium octopuses are socialized from a very young age and even though in the wild they are solitary creatures they become extremely friendly with enough human exposure

sometimes they dislike people for no apparent reason and will shoot water at them

they have three hearts 

each of their arms has a tiny brain that controls movement and sensory input on its own i shit you not

they are color blind and yet they can camouflage their color and nobody knows how 

they can change the color and texture of their skin faster than human eyes can keep up with it

great pacific octopuses are white when they are peaceful, and red when they’re excited 

aquarium octopus have escaped their tanks and slithered down pipes into the ocean 

escaped their tanks to eat the fish in other tanks 

escaped their tanks to go fight other octopuses cuz they were bored

octopus fight club

learned how to take photographs

cost thousands of dollars by flooding new floors

they can feel, taste, and smell with their suckers and all of their skin

they enjoy tasting their food by slowly moving it through their suckers instead of shoving it in their beaks

they can rewrite their rna. no, really

the only reason why they haven’t evolved to take over as the next dominant race is because they’re doing pretty well  in the ocean so there’s no need for them to adapt further 

there’s a ton more but i’m so overwhelmed by love i can’ think of any at the moment i’m going to cry

read the soul of an octopus by sy mongomery no she didn’t pay me i just love octopuses so much 

[tikkunolamorgtfo]

Full offence, but if you’re in law enforcement and you shoot into a car with a four year-old child sitting in the backseat because you “feared for your life,” then you’re not only a fucking failure as a police officer, but you’re also a pile of shit human being who isn’t worth the piece of paper your birth certificate is printed on.

Like, not only did Jeronimo Yanez literally murder Philando Castile in coldblood for no good reason other than “I think Black people are scary,” but he also put his well-being (which wasn’t even under threat in the fucking first place) above that of a preschooler. He decided in that moment, based on nothing but a racist pre-judgment, that his life was worth more than that of a little four-year-old girl, and in a world with any justice he would have been locked up for that reason right along with a manslaughter conviction. 

The jury for this case basically just looked this poor, absolutely traumatised little girl in the eye and said “We think you are disposable.” Obviously, they thought the same of Philando Castile. 

There is no non-Black person in this country who should not be wallowing in shame right now; our depravity is a scourge. 

[refinery29]

Watch: In a powerful Congresional speech, Sandra Bland’s mother called people who think they’re woke “the walking dead” because of how little we still know

The speech included a rousing call to action before the newly formed Congressional Caucus On Black Women & Girls. And her words were incredibly resonant, even if you think you know the whole story.

Gifs: Josh Begley

WATCH THE VIDEO

[ihatethatchick]

fucking hell, plz share this

[anothersavedsoul]

My heart hurts for these victims and this mother.

[profeminist]

Here are 15 things your city can do right now to better promote justice in policing

30+ Resources to Help White Americans Learn About Race and Racism

[yesterdaysprint]

The Washington Post, Washington DC, January 19, 1913

[aiweirdness]

Neural networks can name guinea pigs

Neural networks are a type of computer program that mimic the way human brains learn. Unlike traditional computer programming in which a programmer invents rules for the program to follow, neural networks have an amazing ability to intuit their own rules about datasets simply by examining them.

Given a dataset with enough examples, a neural network can learn the sounds and letter combinations that make a band sound metal, or a tune sound Irish, or a creature sound like a Pokemon.

Then yesterday, I got an email from the Portland Guinea Pig Rescue. “Have you ever trained a neural network to generate guinea pig names?”

No, I hadn’t. In fact, I was fairly certain that this particular feat had not yet been tried in the history of machine learning research. Intrigued, I asked why.

It turns out that the Portland Guinea Pig Rescue often takes in many unnamed guinea pigs at once when they encounter hoarding situations, or sometimes they decide to rename a guinea pig to increase its chance of being adopted. They wanted to know if, given a list of typical guinea pig names (”Snickers”, “Pumpkin”, “Ginger”, “Rascal”, etc), a neural network could learn to generate more names. Yes, I said. Given a list.

The next day, I had a list. The Portland Guinea Pig Rescue gave me the list of every guinea pig they had ever rescued, the names of their own pet guinea pigs, and all the guinea pig names they could find online.

And that same day, I had an answer. Yes, despite having no concept of what these furry round rodents actually are, a neural network is indeed uncannily good at naming them.

I give you: the first guinea pigs named by neural network, currently up for adoption at the Portland Guinea Pig Rescue:

And:

And:

Careful blog readers may notice that Buzzberry is actually an 80s action figure, while Fleury White and Stargoon are both paint colors. Portland Guinea Pig Rescue admitted that they liked some of the other neural network names as well. “I did just threaten one of our rowdy fosters with Stoomy Brown if he didn’t start behaving himself.” 

They also named this guinea pig Princess Pow, one of my favorite action figure names:

I leave you with a list of guinea pig names invented by neural network, some pretty darn good:

Fufbey Spackles Atter Pie Dab Pugger P Snifket Fuzzable Fabsy Dilrus Gooper Rockass Bless Hanger Dan Nuzzy Spockers Mumkle Splanky Fubby Dandan

and some not so much:

Me Madly Mean Pot Mucky Fusty Fleshy Trickles Butty Brlomy Moonyhen Boooy Bho8otteeddeeceul

Remember, as soon as some of these very adoptable guinea pigs get their forever homes, the Portland Guinea Pig Rescue will be able to take in more guinea pigs and give them fabulous names.

[naamahdarling]

SNIFKET

[lukia26]

“Butty Brlomy”