theredhead77

On the topic of books, some of you may find this hard-to-find book sub-forum to be a good time :) https://forums.primetimer.com/forum/56-books/

This is an issue in the States, too. Live in a rural area? Good luck finding a doctor or hospital. If the hospital isn't making a profit they are being closed. This means hospitals in rural and poor areas are being closed. They closed a major trauma center in Atlanta with next to no notice because it wasn't making money. I was lucky that I had some great doctors that were a part of the University system. My rheumatologist was part of the university hospital system and they changed their billing to go from just the doctor co-pay (standard) to a co-pay plus hospital charges, even though literally nothing changed in the care they were providing. I live just outside of Las Vegas now and healthcare here is pretty bad. I need to find a GP, a GYN, and a rheumatologist. I speak English and have what is considered really good insurance. But it has been difficult to find doctors. I may have to find doctors in CA and go see them when I go drive (woot!) to visit my parents every 6-8 weeks.

PSA: Bed Bath & Beyond is going out of business. Coupons will be accepted until Wednesday. As someone who loves BB&B, I am super bummed about this. Liquidation "sales" suck. Prices get jacked up before going on "sale".

As I said, he was really good at his job. IMO he is just a super friendly person and *I* know he was in no way hitting on me. Unfortunately, the friend I was with hasn't developed the skill that friendliness and banter ≠ equal being hit on. I tip more when I'm not being hit on because I know it's fake. I'm more likely to return to the bar and sit with the bartender that is just friendly without manipulating people with flirting.

No. I also don't see being friendly as flirting nor do I see "flirting" as anything more than someone being friendly. Last week I was out with a friend who was convinced the bartender was hitting on me because he was... really good at his job. He was super friendly and funny but 110% not hitting on me. Being able to tell the difference between someone flirting because they are interested, or just being super friendly and their behavior comes across as flirting because we. as a culture, have determined that being nice = being interested, is a great 'street smart' skill to have. The best thing about Cracker Barrel is the Dr. Pepper cotton candy in their "General Store".

So it was bothering me that you couldn't find all 3 seasons on Paramount + in Canada. I did a quick search and found this https://www.ctv.ca/shows/star-trek-picard and also that it may be on Crave. It looks like all episodes are available on CTV. I hope one of these helps you. I loved the finale.

I also start at 20% with a mental minimum of $5. On a $15 bill, I'll leave $20. I can certainly afford to leave the extra few dollars. Service has to be "talk to the manager abysmal" and obviously the server's fault for me to leave any less. I've worked food service and my bar for that level of "bad" is so high I literally can't recall the last time somewhere was that bad. I tip 20% on take-out from a sit-down restaurant. Someone, usually a server, is prepping that meal to go and my meal ends up counting towards their shitty server wages and the assumption they received a tip for it. I don't tip at fast food places like McDonald's or Del Taco. I'll throw a buck into the tip jar at Chipotle and other 'fast casual' places like my favorite poke place. I always tip when I find myself in a Baskin Robbins as a way to pay it forward for all those who tipped when I was working at a Baskin Robbins back in the 90s and 00s. I always ask the cashiers or line people if they get to keep their tips or if management ends up keeping them. It's unfortunate but a pretty big problem where the service workers never see the tips left on a credit card. It's less common that cash tips are kept but it's worth asking before tipping.

I loved this send-off so much. My only complaint is no Wesley. No mention of him, no nothing. I also didn't see a new Ready Room but maybe I missed that it will be released on Saturday like last week. Add me to the group that thinks the photo of Beverly and Picard was just a happy photo. I love that they found a real photo of Gates and Patrick to use instead of digitally creating one. Didn't the Queen say something about evolution? Perhaps Borg 2.0 doesn't require the hardware.

I was sending out a custom cover letter with my application for years. On platforms that only allowed for one file upload, I'd send my resume and cover letter as a single PDF. I encountered a few recruiters who befriended me along the way and they all shared that these days cover letters are rarely read. After spending quite a bit of time on various recruiting and job forums on Reddit I realized that in my industry, they were pretty futile. In the end, I don't think having a cover letter helped, it certainly didn't get me more interviews and I started sending out applications without them. I can say that not once was my cover letter mentioned or referenced during a phone screen or interview. In fact, the position that I finally accepted an offer for didn't have a cover letter. This was my third time around, so I can't say for sure that a cover letter sent with a previous application tipped the scales. I think the previous connection with the recruiter made the difference.

That sounds like your box needs to be replaced. It has been my experience in the states they're trying to force people to their streaming service but I always tell them no, I want it independent because if my internet goes out I don't want to lose TV, too.

Weird! I'm not familiar with access through Amazon. Can you log in via Paramount+ (either on a computer or via the app) to identify if the other seasons are available? I hope you get it figured out!

To be fair, if the minimum wage hadn't been so slow growing for so long and been corrected with several sharp increases (in only a handful of states) the impact on everything else would have been slow, too. It's a shame that minimum wage is no longer the minimum wage needed to live (and housing is being gobbled up by corporations), and instead, it's a mere pittance that people who don't struggle to get by think these jobs are worth. Unless we're in the middle of a pandemic, then these jobs are "heroes" and extra money is thrown at them for a period of time. But once things settled down that extra money is gone and they're back to being just "unskilled labor who should do something else to get ahead" If I have to pay a bit more at a restaurant so the people at the restaurant can afford to live, that's fine.

I love watching big blockbuster action movies in the theater. I'm still kicking myself for not going to see Maverick multiple times on the big screen. I look forward to seeing Fast X in the theater on opening night. I've seen every Fast movie in the theater, opening weekend, except for the one that came out during COVID. I was too afraid to go. In hindsight, it would have been fine, with the spread-out seats, people not talking, yelling, or laughing, etc... I get myself a bucket of popcorn, load it up with the delicious butter oil, kick back and be entertained for a few hours. I always bring in my own water and chocolate but nothing replaces movie popcorn. Yum.

I don't think George and Brenda are going to have an affair. I 100% think they may have attempted to hook up that night but in the end, regardless of the heart attack, I don't think George would have gone through with it. Love Georgie and Baby Cece, and I 100% love that Georgie broke up with his girlfriend over the comments she made about him being "one of those dads". I hope the adult version of that character grew into a woman who realizes her version of what she was hoping Georgie would be like equates to being a terrible father. I'm along for whatever ride the writes bring us on for this story. I just hope it's not a tragic ending for Cece and Mandy. Also, love Sheldon and Missy bonding over 90210. He can be a caring and loving (in his own way) big brother when he chooses to be. Missy deserved her grounding but man, missing 90210 was rough! If you didn't record it you were SOL. As Young Sheldon goes on we're seeing more and more evidence that he is an unreliable narrator. Sure, he may have an eidetic memory but his memories do fade and cloud over time. The amount of drinking we've seen George do, combined with the family dynamics could be remembered by an adult the way adult Sheldon remembers his childhood. The affair could be so many things that don't end up being an affair. I know I mentioned it elsewhere, but it's possible George and Mary split up but not divorce and Sheldon walks in on George and his girlfriend, not his affair partner. Given Sheldon's love of contracts, in his mind that's cheating.

You've mentioned this a few times. I gently encourage you to change your mindset about not being a customer service person. Every job has an element of customer service. Internal customers (people you work with, people asking you for things, hiring managers you are recruiting for, etc...) and external customers (people paying your company for a service, people who apply at your company you are screening for positions, etc...). Internal customers can be much, much harder to navigate as you have to form lasting, positive, and productive relationships with them. Candidates are also tough. Those who have been on the hunt for years with hundreds of applications submitted (like I was) may be extra jaded and tired of the process. Some may even take it out on you. Sure, that's not great for them and you can report that as part of the process and have them blacklisted, but how you react to their reaction will reflect on you.

FWIW, many "blue collar" jobs, such as welding and plumbing bring in $100k plus. There is a massive shortage of incoming welders. As the old guard retires we are going to be in a world of hurt. A welder fresh out of trade school will bring in a living wage out of the gate with minimal to no student debt. Shit, if I could weld I would have looked into switching to welding as my second career. Alas, I can't. My former job sent me to a welding training program for part of our "Day in the Life" program. It's so hard and I am so uncoordinated. I'm not suggesting you become a welder, C9, just sharing information in case anyone reading is looking at a career shift, or has a child that is about to graduate and doesn't know what to do

Dylan. Or, if we want to grow the universe further: Teal'c. Good point.

I'd be down for that universe expansion.

I found the "next next gen" (the Borg targets) to be highly competent which tracks for being a trained officer. They don't know everything when compared to Picard and Riker, that all comes with decades of experience. Of course they were "useless" once they were assimilated. Seeing all the ships in formation and hearing "We are Borg" was unsettling. I don't see a scenario where "our crew" doesn't save the day but things look pretty bleak right now.

In Still Just a Geek he said he was approached to play a "delightfully evil" version of himself. I loved him on TBBT, too. His "Space Dad" and he calls Gates his "Space Mom". The whole crew rallied around adult Wil. Frankly, after learning what he went through, I'm surprised he made it to adulthood alive, and without a substance abuse problem. Therapy (that he is very vocal about sharing) works. I really hope Wesley shows up in the last episode. I don't remember the Traveler storyline but if this next episode is truly, truly, the ending for TNG I want him there.

If you're not reading the anointed version I highly recommend you pause and pick up that version. Completely missed that you're already reading that version Wil (and Wesley) were one of my first childhood crushes. I started watching TNG because of Wesley and that show created a deep bond with my dad. I'm so grateful Wil grew into a great human and shares his mental health journey including his adult retrospect on TNG, behind the scenes about how directors and others treated him. Adult me is so happy for adult Wil making peace with his past and finding his "found family" in the crew. The Ready Room for this episode made me cry. On to the show: I don't mind the show bringing us new characters. I like the character of Jack well enough and am invested in seeing what happens with the Borg Fleet and the Queen. Watching the crew realize the under-25 crew was about to be assimilated, and the background overlay of other ships being taken over was horrifying. I'm really looking forward to next week.

He's also a DJ. So I assume he's going to be performing as a smokin' hot DJ. ETA: This isn't the first year he's performed at Coachella (thanks, Google!). He also performed in 2019.

Until my house lions develop the ability to drive I'm the only one who shops and I've never experienced anyone commenting on items in my cart nor have I noticed people peering into my cart.

A massive and wildly popular music and arts festival is held in the Coachella Valley in CA. It's widely mocked because of the influx of influencers and celebs but for the thousands of people who like this sort of thing, it's a mecca. https://coachella.com/