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comment by goobster
goobster  ·  1641 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: June 3, 2020

My wife bought our house years before she met me. Her first roommate still lives with us. He's a black man in his late 50's now. He works in one of the cafes in one of Amazon's buildings downtown. He also suffers from a disease called CIPD that affects his immune system, and requires monthly blood infusions to keep it from getting worse. (It doesn't ever get better.)

For two months now, he has been home, and our little quaranteam of 3 work very hard to keep us safe. We do it for him, and for my parents who are in their 70's and 80's... and are people I would really like to hug again some day.

Despite the Amazon building he is in being almost entirely unoccupied, his company has asked him to return to work 2 days a week.

His CIPD keeps him from driving, so he has to take the bus - well, THREE buses - to get to work, and then the same thing coming back.

To keep him safe(r), my wife and I are driving him in to work.

...

Now, the Seattle Police Department is rioting, and doing so every single night. We have curfews from 9:PM to 5:AM every day, through the weekend.

Because a black man, like my housemate, was murdered by a cop. While three other cops watched it happen over 9 minutes.

Yesterday I had to rush INTO the downtown area, to pick him up, because Amazon Security decided to close the buildings ahead of the impending nightly police riot, and kicked everyone out of the building. So I had to drive INTO the riot zone, to pick up my immunocompromised, black, male, housemate, and get him home safely.

He has to keep this job. The CIPD has destroyed his fine motor function, so he isn't capable of performing a lot of jobs. And the health insurance from this job pays for his monthly infusions, which are something like $5k a piece.

...

I've gotten good at painting my nails.

I was chewing my nails down to bloody nubs, from the stress of every-fucking-thing. So I started painting my nails, so I wouldn't chew them. It worked.

People ask me why I'm stressing. They laugh and smile at my blue fingernails. I smile back.

...

But I can't spend all this time on Hubski; I gotta get back to work.

I've got 4 government contract bids I am working on right now for work (oh yeah... still working full time, from home) that are all due next week, and would normally take me a week EACH to get done "right".

Man. This timeline. It's stressing me out.

But my new office chair arrives sometime today. So there's that.

And the new washer/dryer arrive tomorrow.

And my new bass amp will be here this weekend.

(... can you tell that I have replaced biting my nails with some 'retail therapy'...?)

I don't even know what's going on any more.





steve  ·  1639 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    But my new office chair arrives sometime today.

Have you used this model before? it's only got 22 reviews, and I am nervous about buying things I wear or sit in for long periods of time without a test drive.

    can you tell that I have replaced biting my nails with some 'retail therapy'

You're not alone on that one friend.

goobster  ·  1639 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Short version: HOLYCRAP THIS CHAIR IS AMAZING!!

Slight diversion: The chair was due to arrive on Tuesday. It was "On the truck; out for delivery".

Then it was back in the warehouse.

Then it was "on the truck; out for delivery" again, on Wednesday.

Finally, on Thursday, at 8:PM, it arrived.

And my only thought throughout all of this waiting and all the updates was, "Holy shit that driver has a massive workload on his back."

I mean.... it's a CHAIR. It ain't medical supplies, or food, or anything even slightly important. So waiting an extra day or two for delivery was fine. My only thought was of the driver, who left the depot in the morning with a full truck, and wasn't able to deliver everything in it for TWO DAYS.

That dude is working HARD, man. Much respect.

Chair Review

I bought the chair sight unseen because of the recommendation from my boss, who got his 5 years ago, still loves it, and says it is still like new. (He is seriously anal about stuff. Does ridiculous amounts of research on things. And when all his analysis and research produces a good result, is happy to share the info. I've learned to trust him when he says something is good.)

My butt was annoyed with the dilapidated Ikea chair I'd been sitting on since... well... I got it from a garage sale maybe 5-7 years ago...? I have no idea where it came from. It was here, it was a chair, and I sat on it.

The Bungee Chair is seriously surprising. And, as summer should be arriving any moment now (...looks out the window at 50 degrees, overcast, and slight dampness...) this chair has the added benefit of immense breathability. That will be really nice when it is hot.

And when its cold, I can simply throw a Pendleton blanket over it, sit on that, and get all the bungie goodness while also being warm.

Today will be my first full work day in the new chair, and I am sensing great things for my butt and back. :-)

steve  ·  1632 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I appreciate the review so much. This home office thing is tricky. I find myself standing much of the day... but doing so with bad posture. I'm hoping to set up a sitting desk next, and a good chair is monumentally important to a crappy back.

am_Unition  ·  1641 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    People ask me why I'm stressing.

Since like early march, if someone hit me with a "why are you so stressed?" there would be a 0% chance I could stop myself from immediately saying "because you're a fucking idiot".

goobster  ·  1641 days ago  ·  link  ·  

... and I guarantee the person asking that question is likely not even wearing a mask ... and standing too close ... and licked the door handle, or sneezed on the produce section ...

Bleh.

am_Unition  ·  1641 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Exactly!

The next thing to say to them (do NOT break eye contact) is "release the murder hornets" while beckoning furiously to absolutely no one behind you