If the Supreme Court won’t issue a verdict, maybe, just maybe, the people who produce our food will.

It is most certainly the lizard people. They are the worst by far.

Wait, this has a name!? It’s better with the coffee creamers that usually come next to the vending machine. Also better if you use Dr. Pepper. Tastes like an ice cream float.

Yes, I do, because we are many and we persevere.

Here we are celebrating Labor Day, the day that celebrates workers rights - overtime pay for working over 40 hours, limiting children from having to work in factories, weekends and time off.

It was a hard fight from serfdom to poor factory conditions to now. We stand on the shoulders of giants.

There’s a growing wisdom gap coming in America. The people who are already well versed in company practices and culture are going to use AI to complete the tasks that they would have otherwise given to assistants and junior resources.

The junior resources are going to struggle to find jobs because they are lacking in the KSAs that schools simply cannot provide training for. And that means when us Gen Xers and later Millenials retire there could be a major gap where we have few people with that inherent knowledge to replace us. And where there’s no work and no hope, you get something akin to what is starting to occur in China right now…or revolt.

My hope is that schools will be rethought and there will be a lot more focus on getting an internship early and for the long term. Something more like apprenticeships, which the blue collar workforce maintained, but it’s something we’ll likely need to bring back to white collar jobs.

This isn’t to say that schools should diminish a well rounded education. I think it’s extremely important for students to take electives outside of their focus for a multitude of reasons, one being that it helps students realize the importance of how others contribute to society.

Apprenticeships can help to fill the knowledge gap, but the white collars that are in the jobs now will also need to be retrained and made comfortable to work with a large influx of apprentices to make this approach a success.

These are the useless kind of you should know facts that I need in my life.

Could hot dogs serve the same purpose in a pinch?

If history serves me correctly, his first name is Uncle and if you follow him everything will be alright.

I would expect about a quarter of any national population to be conservative, perhaps even deeply conservative. There will always be people who appeal to some fantasy of the past or who take comfort in the magical thinking of nationalism and religion, particularly in times of stress.

I think it is important to acknowledge that progress is an uphill march that takes time and constant dedication. To progress, you must appeal to the remaining 75% enough to get them to vote.

This is challenging but it could be one of those excellent opportunities for you to learn and grow as a person and a professional. As a lawyer, you probably already understand that personal relationships and references are essential to this line of work, especially if you plan to move up to senior or partner.

Moreover, you seem to have some animosity towards her ways of working. You’ll need to work past that. Perhaps she had reasons that she arrived late, like a child at home and lack of childcare. Maybe an agreement with her boss due to work/life. As a lawyer you likely understand already that you really don’t know someone and what they’re dealing with until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.

So here’s how I’d handle it:

1. Prime the pump. Do you have client references that you could leverage? Could they start asking about you to your former boss?
2. Do you have senior members that you worked for that would be willing to have a chat about you to her to check her sentiment?
3. Crank the starter. Would you be willing to meet up with her professionally outside of work, coffee, drinks. To catchup, test the waters, play the game. During the meeting I wouldn’t outright talk to her about this new position, you want to make her feel comfortable with you again first. When you anticipate the timing is right, have a discussion about what her perceptions were, what went wrong and feedback on how you could improve. Listen, acknowledge, try not to push back on the little things, let ‘em slide. Certainly don’t be a pushover if it’s something that confronts your values or ethics. Actively seek her feedback here. You want her to recognize that, although you two had your challenges in the past, that you respect her as the senior professional that she is. Thank her for her time and offer to buy the coffee.
4. Shift into drive. Once you’ve at least partially mended the relationship (it may take a few meetings, you decide) and know where she’s coming from, that’s when you can matter of factly ask what she would need to consider being a colleague again. See how she responds, that will give you your answer and her requirements. If she’s somewhat decent judge of character, she’ll have understood your motives by now and knows the game y’all are playing.

Personal anecdote, last year I had someone dead-ass quit on me with no notice. He was smart, qualified, decent worker, had military experience which I appreciate. He reached out via email a month ago and said he was struggling with PTSD at the time, was trying to hold on, and underwent some therapy over the last 6 months. He asked if I’d consider hiring him again. Like lawyers, it’s damn hard to get decently qualified people in my line of work and it takes years to ramp them up to processes and procedures. I wasn’t willing to hire him back, because I can’t trust someone that flat out quits like that on me. But you know what I did? I sent him a list of contacts of people I know at sister agencies and said I’d be a reference for him if he wants to get back in the line of work. I think most people in this world generally do want others to be successful, we don’t like to see people suffer. I also think we as individuals get in our own heads a lot more than what serves us. So take the opportunity, see where it takes you. You miss all the shots…etc etc.

Zappa has entered the chat.

Wanna sound super cool with just a few simple licks? Pick up a bass. I liken it to skiing. It’s easy to get passable on it, but takes years and years of experience to actually be an expert.

I’m assuming you already know about the Illinois district that’s shaped like a U?

Oh look, if it’s not the consequences of my own actions. Rest assured they’ll do it again next time too, because the GOP has now sufficiently bribed them.

Middle aged folks are using cocaine for emails and productivity, teenagers are using it as a life coach.

It will shed locks everywhere too.

Durham, NC still has one. Guy sells fruit flavored helados and some of the old classics.

Turns of lack of oxygen to your brain and violent head trauma is a good way to enforce your conservative views.

The great evil has arrived. But where is our Leeloo Dallas Multipass?

I’m much more a fan of the PBS/NPR underwriting model. Tell me who deliberately funds the show or video.

When the advertisement is so divorced from the show, is not relevant to the conversation or is not relevant to me, then the andvertisers are wasting their money.

If you show me the same ad over and over again, I am actually more likely to NOT buy that branded product or service because I’ve become so annoyed and numb from the ad taking what little time I have on this planet that I will actively boycott it.

However, I do have a nice space mug from PBS, a plot of land on Mars, the moon and Scotland, and a t-shirt for the Truth podcast to prove that I will spend money when the advertising is relevant to the content I’m consuming. So if you want the ad to work, invest your dollars directly into the content and providers I care about.

But for the love of everything, do not think for a moment that your contribution gives you license to control their messaging or content.

Mostly vendors. Often on-prem versions customized for their sensitive work and the versions are 30+ years now.

They very much go by the mantra “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” If you’re lucky enough to get one of those contracts, you’re on a gravy train, but brace yourself because you can expect to get a lot of complaints about how outdated and crap your system is. That and a whole lot of time dedicated to training and documentation.

You’ll also get the occasional person’s personal monument to themselves. “Joe’s been doing that GIS stuff for 30 years.” Whew those can doozies.