Tinks

Based on the article it appears they’re targeting naturalized citizens, but as someone who was born in Germany because my dad was in the Army, this is still concerning. Here I was just thinking I only had to fear for my permanent resident husband… I really hate this timeline.

I work in procurement and the last week and a half at work has been hell. Buying anything that contains RAM, Hard drives or GPUs right now is a circus. Pricing changing after orders placed, 6+ month lead times, insanely expensive pricing and any other problem you can imagine. It’s not just a problem for consumers, but businesses that need hardware refreshes, startups that are trying to launch, and replacements for defective units are all just really hard to get right now. I know this will pass eventually, but it’s a tough time to be in procurement for IT hardware.

My younger brother and I never really got along. My parents, but especially my mother, always treated him as if he could do no wrong. If we were both being loud, I got yelled at because I was the older sibling and should know better, if he broke something, I got yelled at because “why weren’t you watching him”, and just on and on. He knew he could get away with anything with them and used it as a weapon, purposely getting me in trouble. I have nothing but resentment for him. As an adult he’s almost 38, still lives with my parents, has never had a full time job, has never had a license or a car (he’s afraid to drive), and is effectively a leech on them. Over the years my parents have run into financial troubles a few times and my husband and I have bailed them out, all while watching my useless brother continue to be a drain.

And the worst part? My mom constantly lectures me about not having a better relationship with my brother. She doesn’t seem to understand the damage she did, and thinks blood is more important. I love her so I just nod along and try not to argue with her about it. After my parents pass I doubt I will have any contact with him. I expect him to be homeless and on the streets eventually, and honestly I don’t have any sympathy for him. He could be using his time right now to make a life, but instead he’s playing video games and shit-posting.

I wish I had a sibling relationship like I see some of my friends and family have. I LOVE my sister in law, and I wish she lived closer. My brother and I are just never going to get along though. We might have gotten past it if he’d ever moved out and became a real adult, but at this point it’s too late and I just don’t care.

Public holidays are not mandatory time off let alone paid in the US. Many employers that give paid time off do include at least some holidays, but which ones and how many is variable between employers. Some will give every federal holiday and others will be only the really big ones like Christmas, thanksgiving, independence day, etc.

One of the most exciting things about the job I currently have is that I get around 15 holiday days a year off, in addition to my normal vacation time. It’s a rarity. My last two jobs only had 7 holiday days - that stretch from New years day to Memorial day (end of May) was always brutal.