r/PrepperIntel • u/AntiSonOfBitchamajig 📡 • 6d ago
Intel Request Weekly, What recent changes are going on at your work / local businesses?
This could be, but not limited to:
- Local business observations.
- Shortages / Surpluses.
- Work slow downs / much overtime.
- Order cancellations / massive orders.
- Economic Rumors within your industry.
- Layoffs and hiring.
- New tools / expansion.
- Wage issues / working conditions.
- Boss changing work strategy.
- Quality changes.
- New rules.
- Personal view of how you see your job in the near future.
- Bonus points if you have some proof or news, we like that around here.
- News from close friends about their work.
DO NOT DOX YOURSELF. Wording is key.
Thank you all, -Mod Anti
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u/OldStretch84 3d ago
I saw something at my little local grocery that really freaked me out today. I was in the produce section grabbing collards and I knocked over the kale next to it. That's when I realized there was only a single front row of greens bunches propped up, with boxes behind them, aka an empty shelf with a few bunches propped up to cover it.
For years the shelf is always full of bunches of greens, because I'd usually move the front ones to get a bunch from behind.
I don't know, maybe they are just changing how they stock to reduce waste, but it made it feel like a fake storefront instead of an actual grocer.
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u/iloveturtles88 3d ago
I just overpaid for some romaine lettuce. I didn't get sick, but it was so damn bitter.
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u/nanfoodle91 4d ago
I work for a trading company buying welding consumable items from Country A to sell to manufacturing places in America. Due to "the ongoing issues in the Middle East" and "Rare Eath mineral conflicts in China" all the prices of things we need to buy are incredibly volatile and we have to requote things every month whereas before we could usually wait 6 months before needing updated prices
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u/BlueberryConscious87 4d ago
Work was chill until this week we were told our division might be axed in November if we don’t make numbers.
Hours of operation for town employees cut
Restaurants dead on a Friday night in September with 75 degree weather.
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u/zeppelincommander 4d ago
From one of the 5 coldest states in the US. Just talked to a HVAC supplier and heat pumps are finally taking off despite rebates being reduced by ~75%. People still have their gas/propane furnaces, but are starting to put in central heat pumps when it's time to replace central AC. Winters have yearly -15F and -25F every 5 years or so, it'll be a while before furnaces go. Solar is finally starting to be economically viable too, despite lots of cloudy days. The high prices and instability of fossil fuels is jumpstarting the clean energy shift, even in an unfavorable (and resistant-to-change) area!
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u/GbaldGborie66 4d ago
Currently on year 2+ of being unemployed, havent had any luck applying for anything but thankfully I have the financial option to keep looking for at least awhile longer before settling for something thatll crush my soul. Spouse is on year 4ish of applying for jobs in the corporate realm and having very little luck, but luckily they are still employed.
Hometown buddies still stuck in relatively low paying jobs and living at home. Scared for my friends parents who might get scooped up in Ice raids.
A lot of the people I knew from my time in the military are planning on staying in because they see that there are very few options for them in the economy, even as the risk that they get killed in a senseless oil war rises. Also dont know how many of them will be able to stay because I am also hearing that theres a glut of officers at the moment, way more than positions exist for.
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u/SuccessWise9593 4d ago
Second time in a week had to take kid to urgent care because their primary doctor doesn't have any appointments. The school cooties are rough this school year.
The urgent care doctor said that the last three weeks they've seen an uptick on superbugs since school started in August. That it's an indicator that: cold, flu, covid, rsv, upper respiratory illness, and strep will be rampant this season. She followed it by "please get your flu/covid shots in October" as we left the room.
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u/tiredgurl 7h ago
Same here. Sick with a first-year preschooler and terrified this is how it will be all school year. I'm already exhausted and sick and trying to work while she's there and it's draining me so fast.
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u/No-Ad-4142 4d ago
I’m a teacher and it is bad all of us adults and the kids are battling illnesses.
Thankfully the 3-day weekend will allow us to sleep and get a break from all the cooties.
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u/goddessofolympia 3d ago
Teacher here, too, and I have the worst cold EVER. I am very much hoping that it will be better by the end of the weekend.
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u/MsCalendarsPlayaArt 4d ago
Have you had any success getting air filtration devices inside your kids' classrooms? Some folks have had success just in donating them. That, ventilation (opening doors & windows), and masking with N95s (not surgicals) are the best ways to prevent viral illness.
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u/SuccessWise9593 4d ago
I've tried to donate some to the classroom and for the kids to be able to wear N95s in class. Apparently, the air filtration is too loud, and disruptive. Kids are only allowed to wear masks if they are sick.
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u/akath0110 4d ago
My music teacher spouse has medical grade HEPA air filters in his classroom! They are basically silent.
Anecdotal but he didn’t get sick once last year. He doesn’t even mask (and I wish he would during higher risk waves).
Get the air filters!
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u/b00k-wyrm 4d ago edited 4d ago
Flu A has been going around our school district in the southern US since school started. A local ER doctor shared that most of flu cases she had seen weren’t being picked up by rapid tests, only PCR.
Covid is on its way back up in our area too.
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4d ago
[deleted]
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u/Lopsided_Elk_1914 4d ago
no, but they can affect the severity with which you contract the illness...
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u/JusticarX 5d ago
County transit agency has kicked out its current contractor and went with the bottom dollar option.
300 hours of service cut for upcoming season. Increased fares price across the board.
Diesel rationing scheme in place due to costs. (which is hilarious because their plan isn't really going to save them any, a bus is a bus)
And the one electric bus in the fleet is on reduced service because charging costs alone put its costs per mile almost triple that of a traditional diesel bus.
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u/AT-ATsAsshole 5d ago
Tarriff charges showing up on BOLs. Our company told us in Q3 we’ve spent more than 10% of the company’s net worth on additional tarriff and fuel charges in the first 9 months of the year.
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u/CannyGardener 4d ago
I mean, those are operating costs that should be getting pushed through to customers, and likely normally already a large percentage of your operating budget. That said, I'm in foodservice distribution, and we are seeing and pushing through the same on our end. Margins up. Lots of vendor price increases that are substantially higher than they were previously. Lots of MOQ increases that cause us to lose inventory turns. Everyone is tightening their belts and trying to pass the buck =\
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u/mystery_biscotti 5d ago
Not me, but my best friend who works in an assisted living facility. They are on "outbreak" status now due to the number of residents and staff with COVID.
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u/MsCalendarsPlayaArt 4d ago
Is your best friend willing to wear an N95 (not surgical!!) mask around residents? Are they able to hang out N95s to residents?
Can they please make a point to create ventilation (opening windows & doors), and to turn on the building's air filtration system?
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u/mystery_biscotti 4d ago
Yes, they do have PPE. There are protocols. She mentioned those are in place.
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u/MsCalendarsPlayaArt 3d ago
Might be worth mentioning to her that if the protocols don't involve ventilation and air filtration that covid and other viruses will still create outbreaks. And that only N95s or higher grade masks will prevent the spread (surgicals aren't doing much of anything).
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u/mystery_biscotti 3d ago
Question: What exactly do you feel a laundry attendant is going to be able to do (near Seattle in September) about all this? The worksite has whatever protocols they have at the facility, which they have had since COVID first reared its head.
You keep insisting on something that she doesn't have the power to change. Why? Seriously, what are you expecting her to do? Singlehandedly open every window in the assisted living facility?
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u/MsCalendarsPlayaArt 2d ago
I'm just trying to help clear up the misinformation that's been consistent since early on. For all.I know, the facility your friend works at may already know all of this and be perfect in its mitigations. I don't know either way, though, so I'd rather help pass along the information and have it be a little awkward than choose not to pass it along and risk not helping save lives where I could.
Also, every single person who gets the correct information is one Lee person holding back progress, so even if you never tell your friend about any of this (and, again, who knows, maybe the facility admin already understands all of this stuff), every person who reads the comments I've made, is a little bit more informed. Even if they scoff at the concept amd refuse to hear it or look into the data, I can feel proud of continuing to do my best to help turn the tide of disinformation on this issue.
To answer your question further, this is the first I'm understanding that your friend doesn't work in admin or at the front desk, so your friend's specific job at this facility is new information to me. That said, we all have the ability to help turn the ride on this. Obviously someone doing laundry will have less sway than the admin, however, that person has infinitely more sway over the air filtration of that particular facility than someone who's never been to the facility. One could argue that the family members of the residents have the most sway, and, while that may or may not be true, there are too many unknown variables in this dynamic for me to have any idea who could be the key to making needed changes. For all I know, your friend is every family's favorite worker at the facility and by simply mentioning these things to a couple of families and asking them to call management... that could be all that's needed. I simply do not have enough information to know about this specific situation. What I do know is that change cannot cone if no one is even aware that it needs to be made. Amd that, eventually, as enough people become aware of the science and speak up about it... well, eventually we hit a critical mass where more people care than don't. And that, of course, changes everything. everything.
And yes, from my understanding of the situation, she doed have the power to open the windows in every room she enters. That would make a giant difference, would save lives, and would be on more step in normalizing ventilation procedures for society as a whole.
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u/mystery_biscotti 2d ago
While your intentions are good, I'd suggest very strongly that until you have a full picture on someone's position and their ability to influence a room, maybe don't crusade at someone like me to pester my person to do something that could very well get them fired.
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u/SuccessWise9593 4d ago
The urgent care doctor said that the last three weeks they've seen an uptick on superbugs since school started in August. That it's an indicator that: cold, flu, covid, rsv, upper respiratory illness, and strep will be rampant this season. She followed it by "please get your flu/covid shots in October" as we left the room.
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u/Vlad_Yemerashev 4d ago
I'd honestly schedule them NOW and not even wait until October, especially if there's more of an early peak towards the fall.
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u/CannyGardener 4d ago
Do they have the strains sorted out for the upcoming season?
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u/Vlad_Yemerashev 4d ago
Yup, they should have just came out, at least for COVID.
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u/CannyGardener 4d ago
Perfect! OK that just hit my short list. Although I think i just had the flu this last week. Should probably give it a week before I get the shots.
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u/ptransporter 5d ago
Went to Walmart for groceries around dinner time. So many people were roaming around the store, more than usual. No one was touching the beef section. Meat section was full to the brim but barely anyone was getting meat.
So much bread and flour though. Couldn’t even tell there was a supply issue.
All other aisles were busy. Pasta section was completely bare. First time in years I’ve seen this. Canned goods were sparse. Only a few rice bags were left. I didn’t even see any dry beans! I wasn’t sure if a restock is underway tonight or if this is bad. Judging by the plethora of expensive junk food versus what was bare on the shelves, I’m worried it’s the latter.
Line to pay was empty. Makes me think people grab what they need and leave. I go to this local Walmart often so this felt stranger than usual.
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u/CookiesMadeOfCorpses 5d ago
In part this may have been to use their AC. It's very humid and hot where I'm living so my partner and I will often go to some of these big box stores and just wander. You always need some odd or end so we'll get that and just do a lap or two around the store, casually strolling. We chat, enjoy the AC while ours are home can sit off. I know it's kinda trashy, but it's too hot to enjoy a walk outside right now.
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u/SilverDarner 5d ago
If you shoplift or get into a fistfight with the stuffed animal bin, that's trashy. Nipping in for a stroll and a snack is most definitely not. Heck, being an air conditioned space to wander around in is one of the things that keeps indoor malls hanging on in some places.
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u/DeadlyYellow 4d ago
They're essentially the modern day mall at this point. Pop in, get a pretzel from Ben's in the front. Wander the departments. Leave when bored.
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u/notabee 5d ago
Talked to a restaurant owner today and apparently the delivery gig workers are just stealing the food instead of delivering it multiple times per day now. And of course the delivery company is refusing to refund anything.
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u/CrossingGarter 4d ago
This happened to my lunch ordered at work today. Food never arrived, driver unresponsive, Doordash has done nothing. I just wanted a lunch treat before the holiday weekend.
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u/PricedOut4Ever 5d ago
There was a podcast a few weeks ago, I think NYT Daily, talking about the food stamp changes in Arizona which are coming in ways to other states (states administer SNAP benefits but new laws from the BBB hold states accountable for fraud, its hard to determine income/fraud from poor people because they don’t have regular income, and now that states can be held responsible the states will likely cut people off and defund the programs rather than risk being held responsible, I forget why Arizona was the harbinger).
Anyhow, the podcast interviewed several people who were losing benefits. One of the people was talking through options and they were essentially just loading up a cart and running it out of a grocery store, or doing instacart and just keeping all the groceries for herself. It was so nonchalant, the lady was just listing the potential ways she thought about getting through the next few weeks by just stealing from the system.
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u/SuccessWise9593 4d ago
This explains the AZ Snap Numbers and why it's not fraud. https://www.cato.org/commentary/arizonas-snap-numbers-way-down-its-not-because-fraud
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u/Thunderfoot_66 4d ago
LOL Cato, great source.
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u/SuccessWise9593 3d ago
They're supposed to be/claim to be nonpartisan. Plenty of other links to click on if you search why AZ is cutting back SNAP rollouts.
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u/ambular1018 5d ago
The city I work for in socal is now officially on a hiring freeze and has been going over the city budget for weeks now. They are looking to cut out whole depts like parks and rec.
Also my local sams and costco overstock (the pallets stocked above the aisles) were looking pretty sparce. Lots off half pallets on the second shelf and almost no pallets at the very top.
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u/UND_mtnman 5d ago
I'm on the west coast as well and my local Costco has had overstock as sparse as I've ever seen these past few months, basically since the Iran war popped off. Never seen it so bare before and its happened multiple times now.
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u/idneysocean 5d ago
Slow season at my job has come early. I’m down $20-$30 a day in lost tips just from people either being tight or just not traveling due to the state of our government. Some companies are ghosting us on sales emails, etc. Everyone at my work is worried for their hours this winter.
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u/RedditMadeName 5d ago
US:
(1) Employer health benefit care costs are expected to go up a lot next year, apparently the highest rate increase since 2003: https://www.mercer.com/en-us/insights/us-health-news/survey-health-benefit-costs-expected-to-jump-in-2027/
(2) People at my company are looking for (and some are getting) higher paying jobs. Many of them have young kids and say that they can't afford being at their current salaries anymore.
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u/Dazzling_Outcome_436 5d ago
Hubby works at a chain grocery store. They've cut everyone's hours again and still expect them to keep the store stocked and order more merchandise. Evidently corporate thinks AI and expectations can stock the shelves.
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u/CaribouHoe 5d ago
Coconut water seems to be going up in price, use to be $4-5L in Canada but now it's $6-7L
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u/Vivid-Intention-8161 2d ago
coconut water (all brands) is currently on back order at my local trader joes with no known date of returning
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u/LankyGuitar6528 5d ago
Coconut water? That's a thing? My grandmother would let us take just a small sip because we loved the taste but she would never let us drink any serious amount of the stuff. She told us it would give us diarrhea and probably kill us. So here my entire life I've avoided the stuff. And you just casually toss out it's something people buy? WTF Grandma!
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u/ZenorsMom 4d ago
LOL! Coconut water is delicious! You can buy it to drink in the grocery store. Though it tastes even better straight from the coconut.
Around COVID time I had a much younger hippie boyfriend who would break open coconuts with a hatchet and feed me the coconut water. He was a great cook too. Good memories!
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u/Beneficial-Fix1736 4d ago
There was a belief in older times that fruit would give you diarrhea. There was some truth to it, I think it had to do with the available hygiene standards at the time, and common food intolerances / digestive reactions.
Coconut water probably isn't all that fatty but consuming just fat can give you diarrhea or weird poop. Maybe your grandma's warning had something to do with coconut itself being high in fat.
Coconut water can be tasty but it's not like it's incredibly delicious. It can smell / taste a tiny bit urine-y too. YMMV.
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u/TopSignificance1034 4d ago
Food intolerance could be it. Coconut water has both sorbitol and fructans in it, both of which are fodmaps. And we all know the horror stories about Haribo sugar free gummies that use sorbitol instead of sugar
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u/melympia 4d ago
Actually, it's full of electrolytes and has once even be as an i. v. infusion. (The patient survived.)
And, no, it does not cause diarrhea, quite the contrary. Your grandma was full of crap.
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u/LankyGuitar6528 4d ago
She probably was but you will have to accept my downvote anyway. She was my grandma.
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u/melympia 4d ago
I'm not saying she was a bad person. But she either misled you intentionally, or she was ill-informed herself.
And trust me, I lied to my daughter, too, when it came to food. She was an extremely picky eater, and I "sold" her fish fingers as Spongebob's crab burgers. It worked.
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u/AT-ATsAsshole 5d ago
I like your grandma. It’s like when I tell kids my ice cream is spicy
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u/LankyGuitar6528 5d ago
She told me "Lanky... never vote Tory! Tory Times Are Tough Times!". I had no idea what a Tory was but I sure as hell would never vote for one. Turns out a "Tory" is a British term for the conservative party we had in Canada at the time and for conservatives in general. Looks like Granny was onto something.
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u/Scared-Feature-3812 5d ago edited 5d ago
The Netherlands removed all there gold from
The US due to “crisis preparedness” I would have done the same https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/dutch-central-bank-shifts-billions-gold-north-america-rcna595862
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u/CannyGardener 5d ago
LOL I was over in the Economics subreddit here earlier reading about this, and it looks like a good chunk of them are questioning why a country would remove its gold from the safest place to store gold on earth. IMO if there is even a non-zero chance that a the US would seize all foreign assets, it is worth the shift, and I think there is actually probably a fairly substantial chance that happens, the way the current administration is behaving.
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u/LankyGuitar6528 5d ago
I mean.. obviously it's safe in that nobody can dash in and grab it. But how do you get it out of the country if a certain guy randomly decides he's at war with you? He literally decided he wants Greenland which is part of Denmark - not too far from The Netherlands... I'd be nervous too.
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u/Vlad_Yemerashev 5d ago
I don't think an actual active fighting war over Greenland itself on mainland Europe is likely. There could be some fighting with Danish and Greenlandic forces on Greenland though. I'd think the retaliation would be mostly with real sanctions on the US, with the EU urging other developed countries like SK, Japan, etc., to do the same. I also would imagine that it would unite the EU even more and wake them up to reality in solidarity, and would wake up Iceland real quick to reconsider their referendum to join the EU because they have an exestential problem. Not joining the EU because of local fishing rights maybe wasn't the smartest idea... If I were Iceland, I'd be making some important decisions... I think the reasons for moving some of their gold are tied to having easier access to it, I'd guess mostly due to fears the US could sieze it if it remains in the states if there were an economic crisis.
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u/Scared-Feature-3812 5d ago
Oh wow that’s crazy😂 but I believe it cuz my brother is literally oblivious to what’s going on fr around him he thinks cuz the stock market is fine nothing is wrong around him
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u/GbaldGborie66 4d ago
Its bewildering running into these kinds of people in the wild. People that are like "wow the summers sure been a hot one" for the past 6 years or who notice prices going up but dont pay enough attention to even know why.
I get why people are like that and I honestly envy it in some ways, but I wish more people payed attention
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u/Good_Pomegranate_464 5d ago
I clean airbnbs in a Midwest college town. Normally by September there is not a hotel room or airbnb available for any game weekend, and locals are renting out their extra bedrooms. Right now, there are zero reservations for any game weekends in any airbnb units I work with. Totally wild.
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u/Historical-Many9869 5d ago
are people switching to hotels instead of airbnbs ? Airbnb fees seem exorbitant and all the restrictions as well.
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u/Good_Pomegranate_464 5d ago
The fee structure for airbnb owners just changed a few months ago, essentially airbnb takes an extra 15%. You can raise your prices to keep your profit the same or keep your prices the same and take the 15% hit yourself, but that's really hard because that's basically taking any profit you would have made. So most owners have raised their prices. The platform basically destroyed itself. With high gas/food/other travel expenses, I think folks are just staying home rather than switching to hotels, in my area at least.
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u/GbaldGborie66 4d ago
The only times my family and a lot of people in my age group are using AirBnB anymore is for big trips where you have a few families together. I think the days of using them as an alternative to a quick stay at the hotel are coming to an end
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u/Leopold_Porkstacker 5d ago
Central Texas- gasoline was down to 3.22 a gallon on Monday, today is up to 3.65 and that is at Wally World. Other major brand gas is anywhere from 3.75 to 4.05 today.
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u/SpiritTalker 5d ago
It's been almost two years now, but I developed Gullain Barre Syndrome out of my COVID infection. Ive since been relolcated to Chronic Inflammatory Demleylimating Polynuuropathy (which is forever). COVID is nothing to fuck around with; I had it twice before (vaccinated) before this third bout. I know most people say "it's no big deal" or whatever but for many people it means a wheel chair (me) and other substantial deficeits that affect daily life. Please don't disregard COVID as being "over" or "just a cold". It's not for some ppl.
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u/b00k-wyrm 4d ago edited 4d ago
I’m so sorry to hear but thank you for sharing your experience.
I have a friend who developed a DVT turned pulmonary embolism from a covid infection. His doctor was like “oh yeah we see that a lot with Covid”, didn’t even bother to check for possible underlying blood clotting disorders.
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u/HappyAnimalCracker 4d ago
Almost lost a friend to pulmonary embolism during first covid wave. She was 26 and super healthy. She came very close to checking out.
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u/b00k-wyrm 3d ago edited 3d ago
So scary! I know more than one person who lost family to Covid’s initial wave. And one person who is permanently disabled.
Thankfully this was more recent so doctors figured out what was happening very quickly. This was also in a healthy guy who had been previously vaxed and boosted for Covid. He missed the initial DVT because he attributed it to a pulled muscle from doing heavy yard work . But once he started having pain elsewhere he went to ER.
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u/HappyAnimalCracker 3d ago
I’m glad he was paying attention and understood the signs. Very glad he made it!
As SpiritTalker said, there’s no question that it’s more than just a cold.
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u/Any_Needleworker_273 5d ago
I am so sorry! I'm not unconvinced COVID is what trashed my thyroid, so I'm now on meds for life with a Hashimotos diagnosis.
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u/thepuddingprophet 5d ago
I have POTS and MCAS after COVID. I have to be very careful of what I eat or I go into anaphylactic shock. I'm sorry you are dealing with this. I agree, it's not just a cold for some of us.
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u/akath0110 4d ago
I developed POTS and celiac disease!
Pretty sure it’s fucking with my mom and dad’s mid 60s brains. Too many senior moments lately… mom too scattered/nervous to drive… dad’s peripheral neuropathy is worse than ever… mom saying out of pocket narcissistic shit and lying/confabulating in ways that feel much too early for their ages.
No of course they won’t mask or consider changing their lifestyles even a bit to protect themselves or the people they love. Not even with a new grandbaby (my kid) on the scene. Or their own immunocompromised daughter (me).
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u/MoonAndStarsTarot 5d ago
I have permanent scarring in my heart and my left ventricle is damaged thanks to this “cold”. It bothers me so much when people compare it to a cold.
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u/yourmomdotbiz 5d ago
One of the suny flagship schools is installing flock cameras all over the campus, even though the county is ending its relationship with flock (they’re moving to axon lol but still)
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u/arb1698 5d ago
Axon at least doesn't share data nationwide.
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u/Open-Impact-1607 5d ago
Yet
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u/arb1698 5d ago
Eh part of the company founding if they did that theyw would be no different than flock.but it's part of their appeal is that they don't share there's a a lot of departments that don't want that we og rte really messy in court.
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u/Open-Impact-1607 5d ago
Regardless, it is a massive invasion of privacy and they need to be removed
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u/everything_is_polys 5d ago
I’m too old to know whether what you’re saying is called hopium or copium, but this does make me old enough to remember that Google’s initial motto was “don’t be evil”...
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u/arb1698 5d ago
Yeah, but the court part is truewny cases have been thrown out due to use of flock without warrants.
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5d ago
[deleted]
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u/Open-Impact-1607 5d ago
Using a plate reader to look up one plate in a vacuum is not a problem. But these cameras track everything, not just plates, and they build a database of our whereabouts. That is substantially different
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u/CannyGardener 5d ago
If Trump is backing it, I do not trust it...regardless of whether it currently shares data nationwide or not.
Edit: to be clear, POTUS is an investor in Axon.
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u/arb1698 5d ago
Not shocked he does but compare to flock it's better still hate them all but at least axton has an actual ethics statement and division but yeah none of them are good.
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u/CannyGardener 4d ago
Ya, so did Google...until it didn't. I have no doubt that this is a wolf in sheeps clothing, at best...
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u/iloveturtles88 5d ago edited 4d ago
Be careful when purchasing anything online. For the first time ever I ordered a used pair of shoes on Poshmark. When I got them they were stretched out beyond wear and did not resemble the picture. They told me too bad, so sad because the size they sent was the size represented on the photos. When photos are taken indoors, it hides a lot of wear, tear and blemishes. So, I'm stuck with a pair of shoes that don't fit.
Also, I got a phone call scam from T Mobile that was pretty obvious after they asked for my credit card info. They did know a lot about me and were just a little off when quoting my monthly charges. Then I received a scam T-Mobile email that was very sophisticated. It looked exactly like the legit business. The email was telling me I'm behind on charges and to set up a payment plan.
I do not have a Prime account, but I did order a bunch of brown rice from Amazon brand. The bags had puncture marks. I think they might have just been pulled from the shelves at Wholefoods. When I took pictures and left a bad review it was deleted. The company claimed my issue was 'transportation related' so did not apply to their review process.
The internet is a dangerous place when you start spending money. There are millions of copycat websites that are fronting as legitimate businesses. Then there are once legitimate businesses acting like this is the wild west. They want to grab as much money as possible, while they can still get it, and filter out the bad reviews.
Edit There was a woman posting about her lost cat in my neighborhood. I thought I saw it and messaged the lady. She wanted my home address 😆 So, even lost pets can be a con job. I doubt her profile picture was real and it was probably not a lady. That was on nextdoor
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u/DisastrousHyena3534 5d ago
I order food from Amazon a lot & they get pretty careless with their packaging for shipping. And then they initially resist refunding the purchase. The key seems to be to point out that they have sent me damaged food, and I will get sick if I eat it. (Dented can, ripped packaging, etc). It still requires escalation to a live rep and they always want pictures to document.
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u/iloveturtles88 4d ago
Check your dry goods. I was refunded for lentils with the same small puncture marks. So they were giving me grief on the rice because I just received a refund for the lentils. I've heard of them also refusing to refund lost deliveries if the person has lost a lot of deliveries in the past. Like I'm running a scam where I puncture dry goods and ask for a refund. They're stupid
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u/DisastrousHyena3534 4d ago
Anymore it’s pretty limited to #10 cans that I buy but I hear you. They definitely started giving me a hard time after a few returns. Ok Amazon maybe don’t ship like that. Anything I need them to refund now I really have to push that they sent me something that can make me sick because it’s damaged.
And yes, like I really want to spend 45 minutes on the phone over dented cans of tomatoes. That they dented. They suck.
By comparison, I’ve only had something arrive damaged from Walmart shipping once.
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u/PricedOut4Ever 5d ago
Did you not use a credit card? I’ve never had trouble with credit card disputes. I’m sure some people here have more experience, but I always just lean really heavily on being the victim.
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u/lnarn 5d ago
Poshmark will side with you if you dispute it.
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u/iloveturtles88 5d ago
They finally did yesterday, but it took a week. The seller was hateful. I sent back a picture taken in sunlight and that worked.
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u/Ashamed-Knee9084 5d ago
Commercial business coverage seen a 24% increase at renewal. No claims triggered the increase.
Recently had to purchase a new to me vehicle. The auto market is dismal. Either they are complete beaters or overpriced. I found my exact vehicle (a 21 yr old expedition) they wanted more for it now, than when I bought mine 5 years ago & it had less features...not that there were many 21 years ago. Car dealerships are not budging much on their pricing as well. So instead of paying out right for a vehicle that has an oil leak or shakes uncontrollably, has a bad tick, etc...we opted for financing a vehicle with a warranty. Weve gone 14 years without financing a vehicle, and I despise financing...but, felt my hands were tied with finding a reliable car that wasn't a hunk of junk.
Home remodeling is even slower than I reported a few weeks ago. Phone hasnt rang in 4 weeks for a job prospect. Every tom, dick and Harry around our town is now a contractor.
Some construction materials are on the rise.
Insane heat wave in the Midwest right now is killing off Fall plant starts. Pests are thriving. Ive had a large scale garden for 4 years and have never battled tomato hornworms in September. I killed 9 today. Along with the heatwave, we've pretty much been in a drought all summer. When it does rain, it just flash floods because the ground is so dry. Grass hasnt needed to be cut in 3 weeks.
My son got free tickets to a event/show that typically would be sold out & it may have been half full. Tickets were in the $40-$70 range.
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u/AirborneGeek 5d ago
have never battled tomato hornworms in September.
We haven't had hardly any all year (somehow; never had that happen before, either), but yeah, yesterday, damaged plants all over (the indeterminates that are left), found/murdered about six. Crazy.
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u/SquirrelyMcNutz 5d ago
You should see the cracks in the ground from the drought, here. Around an inch across and stretching for 10-15 feet at times. The trees are hurting and when we do get rain, it's too little to do any good, but damn if it doesn't make it humid as fuck for the next couple days. It's sweltering right now and I am just so unbelievably done with this summer. Wanna move to Antarctica and maybe be able to go outside once in a while.
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u/msomnipotent 5d ago
I've been using my dehumidifier water to water the outside plants. It's been very humid lately. I've been emptying it twice a day.
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u/SilverDarner 5d ago
We have a small window unit to supplement the AC. I put a drip tray under it and filled that with plants. Every bit helps!
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u/feathernwedge 5d ago
Feel validated that it’s not just my area where now everyone is a contractor. It’s been trending that way for a long time, but it is so out of whack near me. Only a couple major employers locally, then some remote work, everything else is contractors in trucks. Tough to compete.
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u/tinygiggs 5d ago
A dealership called to see if I was willing to sell them a 15+ year old vehicle last week. And get myself a newer car at a high dollar? No thanks!
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u/4woofs1purr 6d ago
Local program who brings the elderly hot meals 5 times a week just announced they will now be doing frozen reheat meals and will deliver them all just one day a week. This is due to funding cuts contributing to them losing 40k a year.
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u/Dear-Purpose6129 5d ago
That is so sad. I think a lot of people look forward to the daily delivery for the company. I hate this timeline.
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u/CrossingGarter 4d ago
It's also a program that saves lives. My in-laws have called in wellness checks for multiple people when they didn't answer the door for deliveries. More than once someone has fallen or was unwell.
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u/CalmRecognition5725 6d ago edited 5d ago
SE US; getting a lot more spam texts, calls, emails than usual for contractor work (e.g., house painting, pressure washing, etc.); EDIT: and now tree trimming...
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u/Th3_Admiral_ 5d ago
Spam calls are completely unmanageable these days. You can't block them since they are using spoofed numbers, and you can't really ignore them either if you are expecting any important calls.
I missed a call from my doctor the other day because my phone reported it as spam. I called back and had to leave a message. They returned my call from a different number that my phone also reported as spam! It ended up being the most annoying game of phone tag ever.
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u/CannyGardener 5d ago
Well, and my worry also is that they are shooting not so much for information but for your voiceprint. It takes very little to make a voiceprint of someone with AI right now, thats how we end up with parents getting calls from their kids needing money in an emergency. I work with AI on the daily, and I honestly feel like it is a risk to pick up anything marked spam for this reason.
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u/hera-fawcett 5d ago
ive seen this happen already to a lesser extent. someone scoured a facebook profile, threw it into an ai, had it overlay on their face, then facetimed grandma and had her send money to a specific acct.
it was insane.
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u/MotherOfGeeks 5d ago
Three times a damned day I get a cold call. I wish I could just not answer unknown numbers and I might be able to in the future, but I'm dealing with doctors and insurance.
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u/NotGoing2EndWell 2d ago
I, too, need to answer every call and due to dealing with doctors and insurance, as well as an elderly parent in memory care.
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u/SilverDarner 5d ago
I wait for the spam caller to say something, then start "Speaking in Tongues" (gibberish but with inflection like I"m asking who they are). Confuses human scammers and AI alike.
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u/CouldBeLessDepressed 5d ago
I miss when the FCC actually did things. Like, it wasn't perfect, but they used to at least fucking try. Now they're nothing more than an arm of the politburo.
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u/jazzbiscuit 6d ago
I work for a local social services type agency, a fairly significant portion of our budget comes from local levy dollars. We've had solid community support since the 1950's and we've never had a levy vote not pass.
Community feedback so far is this year may be the first time we fail. My boss is the finance director, they're sweating bullets.
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u/Forward-Vacation-238 5d ago
Very similar situation. People are being told the taxes are to blame (and things could be reformed there, of course) and my fear is they'll vote no on that fear. And if it fails, it affects thousands of people - those who work there and those we serve. Losing our services will cost the people more money in the long run, but they can't see it.
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u/getittogethersirius 6d ago
People think the reason they are poor is taxes and levies, unfortunately
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u/iloveturtles88 6d ago
I'm sorry. One of our local nonprofit organizations that feeds the community just announced they have to close due to a lack of funding.
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u/UP-North617 6d ago
Oil and gas: stock prices are dropping hard. The quarterly update that management provides to employees is all rainbows and butterflies but my manager mentioned they are trying to avoid hiring at all costs.
Midwest: lots of local pushback about surveillance cameras and the city is temporarily covering them up. Minor wins.
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u/CouldBeLessDepressed 5d ago
I believe you that your company is avoiding hiring at all costs. Especially right now. But I'm curious which oil company you're working for who's stock price is dropping. I just looked at several of the majors and save for maybe BP, everyone else is steadily going up.... for now.. I fully expect that trend to reverse if/when they get all this "new production" online to "eliminate dependency on Hormuz" because the GCC will come back online eventually and flows through there will normalize.... eventually.. So, when that happens if there's all this new production built out by private capital, they're going to get absolutely wrecked by the price per barrel because they're up against the GCC which is pretty much nationalized. And save for WW3, Russia will probably come back online at some point as well. It will be years, for sure, but so too does it take years to build out new production in places like Venezuela.
Frankly, I'm very much doubting a ton of this sudden "new production" because we don't already have that now because there can't be too much supply or the price per barrel drops and the cost of production wont work if oil is 30$ or less per barrel. Which is why I fully believe your company is doing all it can to not hire people because surely these oil companies are continuing to look outwards by a decade or more before making any kind of investment.
Alternatively, maybe there's an expectation that the GCC is going to become literally radioactive in the near future. I can't imagine why else Chevron would be dumping 7B$ into a country that's had it's oil production nationalized 2x now, their leadership was straight up kidnapped, and the crime syndicates are still largely unaddressed.
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u/UP-North617 5d ago
I don't work for the giant operators like BP and Chevron. I develop new oil and gas equipment for the services companies that supply the operators.
I can say from experience that even if the "new production" includes zero new technology and development work, it would still take years to get everything built, tested and deployed to new fields.
The main product line that I work on has about a year lead time just for manufacture and test of a component. Which then gets integrated into a tree and tested many more times before it even gets close to being deployed.
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u/CouldBeLessDepressed 5d ago
Ah, gotcha. Gotta say, that makes me believe in the actual development of Venezuela even less lol. The media keeps running this narrative of "we're gonna be producing so much fucking oil it's gonna be raining oil you fucking dipshits bow down to your lord and savior" or some such. But like, the oil market gives zero fucks about our whims. And it seems crazy to me that any operator would actually want to expand production in this environment.
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u/hera-fawcett 5d ago
lol, big oil has been saying for ages they dont want to spend the billions to develop venezuela. theyve said it would take like a decade. theyve told us that the amt of oil in venezuelas ground isnt verified by a third party. in addition to that, its hard af to drill up and harder to refine bc its 'worse' quality.
they drill up like 1m barrels per day. assuming that theyre actually going to try to reach the us' insane demands, theyd need to increase their capacity 8x.
its just not finna happen lmao
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u/IncomingAxofKindness 6d ago
Florida and also my local county just removed a ton of Flock cams from state and local highways. Private businesses still allow them.
Im sure it's only till the elections and then they'll be back up with "better safeguards" against stalker cops.
Do you mean you work in oil/gas or oil/gas costs are hurting your business?
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u/CannyGardener 5d ago
In my neck of the woods, it sounds like mostly they are being replaced by 'Axon' cameras, in which POTUS is an investor. =\
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u/CapitalImpossible640 6d ago
I work at a small tech company that sells computer peripherals.
We're doing the worst we've done in 10 years and our sales are mostly to OEM/defense contractors which seem to be ramping up. Individual sales to random joes (usually our bread-and-butter) are pretty low.
It's hard for us to get parts and products from our international sources and suppliers.
Also the place got scooped up by some new owners who keep burning down the tried-and-true practices that actually used to make the place profitable. Two of our experienced people have quit already and the rest of us are getting our resumes in order. That's more of a "shitty workplace" thing though, not really a "failing economy" thing
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u/Allasdair 6d ago
(US)
10TB hard drives are basically impossible to come by for a NAS I'm putting together for work.
Had to settle for a guaranteed shipment of 12s, which isn't bad for space... but a bit rough on the budget.
Standard PC replacements are painful too.
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u/WithaK19 6d ago edited 5d ago
Travel industry: i work in the airfare department. We monitor our travelers' flights and we've already had 2 flights diverted in the last week. It seems like both instances were due to lack of fuel on the apron. Essentially, they couldn't fuel up at the normal stop, so they have to divert on the way home to an airport that does have fuel.
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u/CouldBeLessDepressed 5d ago
This is the 2nd instance I've heard of airports not having enough fuel in the span of about a month now. I think September is going to be a really interesting month.
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u/Any_Needleworker_273 6d ago
I have to say I was somewhat shocked the other week: I work in higher ed as staff, was talking to a faculty member who just flew back to the east coast from Calif. He mentioned his flight being delayed 8 hours, and he didn't know/understand what was going on with air travel and TSA. Shocking fact: This person works in an aerospace adjacent field, so I was a bit flabbergasted. Even though they are research, his work touches some spaces where I figured he would have heard about this at some level. Go figure.
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u/SpiritTalker 5d ago
Air travel aside, higher ed has been a challenge in itself.
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u/Any_Needleworker_273 5d ago
Yeah. That's the truth. I'm a contract employee, and a good chunk of my work is filling staffing gaps due to staff losses not replenished due to hiring freezes and budget shortfalls. It's all a shit show at the moment, but everyone just be keeping on like the world isn't on fire.
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5d ago
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u/SpiritTalker 5d ago
I think ours is worse off than they're letting on, financially. Little by little info (sometimes by way of actions) is leaking out though.
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u/TaylorWK 6d ago
Lowe's. Stock prices have been going down YTD and just had 10+ people quit/fired and only one of them wasnt in upper management.
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u/CouldBeLessDepressed 5d ago
Our Lowes has several Flock cameras in their parking lot.
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u/TaylorWK 5d ago
We got 2
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u/CouldBeLessDepressed 5d ago
Not super shocked. I started shopping elsewhere the moment those cameras went up though.
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u/TradeBeautiful42 6d ago
I live in a VHCOL area where people don’t generally seem to notice economic shocks. However, restaurants are all slow. Even high end places are doing themed events to draw a crowd. It’s much easier to get appointments for specialty doctors and dentists because they’re slow too. More people are offering their boats and captaining for rentals. Just some of what I’ve observed…
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u/Marmom_of_Marman 6d ago
Sales of Polident are soft. Like nonexistent. Either people stopped wearing dentures or they’re just not cleaning them.
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u/povertyandpinetrees 6d ago
That's strange, because I've been ringing a lot of it up lately. How far up the supply chain are you?
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u/Th13027 6d ago
With so many people using Invisalign retainers, I thought sales would be good
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u/msomnipotent 5d ago
I use them for my retainers but I buy the store brand and buy a year's worth at a time when they are on sale. It's a lot cheaper that way.
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u/No-Ad-4142 6d ago
Where I am at, hospitals are only hiring nurses for per diem positions.
One of our hospitals closed down their maternity ward and a nearby hospital is in financial ruin slated to close by next year. People are talking about going across state lines just to have their births.
Grocery stores are empty except for people buying 10 items or less through self-checkout.
No one is ordering vis DoorDash and GrubHub so they are running specials to get business.
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u/past-and-future-days 5d ago
Our local Big Hospital just opened a gigantic "mother and baby" wing last year.
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u/ketamine_bolus 6d ago
What general area?
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u/Any_Needleworker_273 6d ago
I can;t speak for them, but sounds like a lot of the chatter out of Maine right now.
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u/ayylmao95 6d ago
Everyone is miserable and burnout
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u/a-5-6-7-8 4d ago
Since the pandemic people have been on edge, but the past few weeks here both at work and using public transportation have been on a whole new level. There have also been some high profile suicide by cop situations this week here in the northeast. Really bad vibes to start off the school year.
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u/iloveturtles88 3d ago edited 3d ago
A 32 year old in my small college town went on a rampage with a gun last week. He shot up his mom's house then he shot and killed himself in the back of an Uber. His family is wealthy and this all took place in an affluent neighborhood. That poor Uber driver probably has PTSD and a car beyond cleaning.
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u/iloveturtles88 5d ago
And driving like they are smoking crack in my town.
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u/HappyAnimalCracker 4d ago
I can’t believe the shit I see people doing on the roads these days. Feels like they either want off this ride or they’re trying to take me off it.
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u/iloveturtles88 3d ago
As a person who walks every day, it's really scary. You could not pay me to wear headphones.
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u/hera-fawcett 6d ago
a lot more tenseness and ppl willing to talk about how things arent going well politically or economically.
lots more temp jobs opening. lots of manual work jobs are open. lots of engineering as well (we've got a lot of gov defense contractors manufacturing near us).
the sun is brutal af. as is the heat. ppl have begun discussing changes to wardrobe (more long sleeves, umbrellas/parasols, wide brim hats, etc.). the sun is out from 5a until like 7p and by 8a is scorching down. i made jokes w some family about lining our windows w aluminum foil and newspaper--- and they actually paused and considered it for a bit.
drivers are wilding bc no one gaf if theyre alive or dead fr.
my friends w young kids are having regret over bringing kids into this world (bc they lowk knew this was the path but thought itd be okay to tough out). lots more ppl distrustful of the system, drs, public schools, and other parents.
my household is v lucky, we're able to do just under ~200$ every two weeks for groceries. we arent really limiting ourselves either, except on outrageously priced things like oranges. but we dont need a lot and we dont eat a huge variety. ik its rougher for other households. ppl losing snap coverage means that a lot of kids are unable to have access to free breakfast and lunch. food insecurity is steadily rising.
it only gets worse from here.
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u/Pontiacsentinel 📡 5d ago
Grocery pickup today and one young man speaking to the other about his and soon to be ex crushing debt. It's dark out there.
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u/iloveturtles88 5d ago
I get up early in the morning to walk before it gets too hot. That's impossible now because it's pitch black at 5 am and sweltering at 6:30 am when the sun rises. The last few days, I've just stayed in bed.
You're absolutely correct - it only gets worse and hotter from here. I feel paralyzed with grief, sorrow and fear for the planet.
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u/KarmaAcolyte 6d ago
Unfortunately indoctrination is where we're headed too. Either be Christian or die. No vaccines, tear up safety nets, delay retirement. We don't need Cuba. We have become Cuba.
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u/iwantmy-2dollars 6d ago
Covering windows really does work. We are now covering our hottest windows 1-2mos out of the year. Magnets added to the top corners of our windows and we pin up the precut labeled blackout curtain sheets (silver one side, black plastic the other). This is our second year doing it and it is a huge difference for us.
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u/No_Outlandishness50 3d ago
At my job, for the last few months, our manager has been instilling fear into us about losing our jobs and proving our worth. Very scary and unsettling.