ArtieShaw

For chemistry? No.

The most common job track for someone with a BS in chemistry is something on the analytical side. Think: contract lab that processes environmental or pharmaceutical samples. All you really need to know how to do is press some buttons and follow detailed instructions. So - the work is both exacting and boring. And to find this unfun job - you will be in direct competition with every biology major in your region. And there are hoards of them. And the hiring manager will be one of them. If you can score a job, be prepared for the low pay that goes along with a plentiful labor pool, along with the frustrations of working with people that don’t have the ideal frame of reference for talking through problems.

Other options?

In my area, microbiologists are in higher demand, so I think someone might get by with a BS. Standard bio majors seem to have had an idea of becoming naturalists or park rangers after graduation, so many didn’t specialize. They can count birds or frogs and are still acting weird about having to memorize the Krebs Cycle, but aren’t really up to speed on aseptic technique or all that other micro stuff.

Physics? I can’t even imagine.

Engineering is interesting. 30 years ago some people came to my highschool to talk to the “indoor kids.” They were pitching the idea that “the engineers of today are 30-40 something baby boomers who have high paying jobs that they absolutely love! In the next 5-10 years we will be facing a crisis as they all retire early, and GenX could easily be called the Baby Crunch.* There’s no one to replace these engineers who are living the dream! You’re looking at a great opportunity if you study engineering.” A good portion of my class took that advice. Bwah-hah-hah-haa! No one retired early. Great pay + great job = early retirement? No.

No engineering grads that I knew got a decent job because there were no openings and a high number of qualified applicants. Companies did find some cheap engineers, though. The ones I know now (GenX and Millennial) found other careers and swallowed the bitterness.

I’ve heard that something similar happened in the 2010s with law degrees. In the 2000s it seemed like every 30-yo with a crappy job was studying nursing. Point being - if someone is saying that there is a desperate need for workers with Skill X and that they make a great living, it means that companies don’t want to pay current market rate for Skill X. They want you to take out loans to train yourselves for the skill they want at the price they want.

*Demographics. In the US the birthrate fell dramatically in the '60s and '70s. Before Doug Coopland came up with a marketable name for it, GenX was being called a Baby Crunch. Reasons? Birth control. Oil crisis. Vietnam War. Boomers waiting a bit longer to start their families. Reasons.

I could believe that. Alternately, someone knew exactly what they were doing and just let it ride to see how far it would get.

I’ve seen both cases in real life.

Urgh - It’s like when you have 40 legitimate reasons for disliking your own mother and your friend criticizes her for her cooking. “Actually, she has been nothing but kind to YOU, and one of the only good traits is her cooking. STFU bitch”

It’s a weird feeling.

He knows exactly what he’s doing.

I live within a short drive of Springfield and have lived in SW Ohio for almost 20 years. The racism was a culture shock. I expected that sort of thing from the older generations, but hearing Millennials making “furriners eat cats” jokes was jarring. I quickly learned to recalibrate my expectations.

Springfield was an unusually bad place to live 10-15 years ago. Rent and home prices were cheap because no one wanted to live there. I’ve heard it described as “Dayton’s Ugly and Dirty Little Sister” - and that’s saying something. I remember a warehouse fire on the south side that burned for days and no one could figure out who owned it. Or maybe it just collapsed into itself - either way, it was a situation. And it surprised no one.

Local employers have trouble finding people who are able to read and also not burdened with a weird sense of entitlement. The people who have been left behind are legitimately threatened by the idea of folks who can show up on time and follow basic instructions. Add into the mix the weird midwestern thin-skinnedness, and you have a mess of people who just feel like victims and who are ready to blame anyone who doesn’t “fit.” Another midwestern thing.

He knows what he’s doing. And they know what he means.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea - Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.

-Emily Dickenson

It’s not an answer to the problem, but sometime little things can get us through dark places.

I think we’re all a bit perplexed by the situation. That guy looks pretty dead, but that shirt ain’t red.

They look so healthy! My favorite has a similar fur pattern.

We trapped her accidentally when she took shelter from a rainstorm in our garage. We only realized she was there when we heard her cries. About 5 months old, but tiny and infested with fleas. Her whiskers were so short and brittle. I loved her immediately, but looking back on pictures from that time now breaks my heart a little. Her life as a stray was clearly rough.

She was definitely an accidental cat for us, but she took to housecat living standards almost immediately.

She’s still doing well in her old age.

These are really interesting, and I love the idea of hiding creepy easter eggs in walls. I’ve never gone the route of urine and needles for my own projects.

We do have one wall in the basement that revealed a functional light socket with a little pull chain when we removed the drywall for a simple repair. A little weird on its own. I replaced the bulb and added half of a doll head before we closed it back up. It will be fun for someone eventually.

It’s old. I remember detergent commercials from the early '80s that claimed they were the best for "no wax floors "

“Mom, do we have a no wax floor?”

“Have you ever seen me wax the floor!!?”

It was definitely a thing.

About a thousand (metaphorical) years ago, biochemistry and genetics was in still in its fairly early stages. I read articles about deciphering plant genomics and finding a way to make them naturally more resistant to insects and disease by exploiting the native resistance of certain plants. And I was a science nerd who had experienced food insecurity AND ready to head off to college.

“Hell yeah” I thought. “That’s what I want to do with my life’s work. Everyone gets to eat and we don’t need to spray everything with poison to get there.”

What we got was Roundup-Ready corn.

I’m glad I didn’t go into that line of work because I may have tried to burn Monsanto to the ground and come to regret it later in a federal prison.

Even just through personal experience - I drove more than 1200 miles through the US midwest this summer. Corn country.

30 years ago I would have needed to squeegee my windshield at every gas station. This year I think I hit one bug large enough to even notice it.

My yard is mostly clover and similar ground cover, but I think my patch of lawn may be having less of an impact than industrial agriculture.

I’ve always preferred skirts to pants, precisely because they’re less restrictive to movement. I’m not sure why, but the comment was always, “I’m not sure you’d be able to do this while wearing a skirt.” It seems like people who haven’t worn them habitually don’t know how they work.

Worst case: I fall down and you can see my knickers. Well that’s why I wear the knickers. And in nearly a half-century, I can think of maybe 2 times that’s happened. Both times I was sprinting madly to catch a bus and both times were due to my shoes and/or bad decisions.

Field hockey and lacrosse are both traditionally played in kilts.

Some other objections:

Need to don some Tyvek coveralls for work? It’s really no problem with a basic skirt. You just hike it up a bit. Those suits are baggy and everything fits. You also avoid the discomfort of two layers of leg fabric.

Cold weather? Tights are great, as are thigh high socks. And boots. All of these also look cute.

Oh, and packing for vacation? I can pack 3-4 skirts for every pair of jeans. It’s just a simple cloth tube which folds down to nothing.

Wasn’t that 10 years ago? If I remember correctly, one of those companies was partially owned by then Speaker of the House John Boehner. Yeah, that was some bullshit.

I voted against that measure simply due to the blatantly self-serving aspect. It was a fun time when reactionaries and progressives aligned to reject a terrible proposal. Everyone else was just mad that they still needed to drive to Michigan to buy weed.

But last year’s less shitty ballot initiative means that the first recreational dispensaries in Ohio opened up a few months ago. There was some discussion in the statehouse about blocking that referendum, but even the dullest knives came around eventually.

Growing for personal use is also now legal. Of course that won’t stop county sheriffs from raiding your home with an assist by DEA helicopters. It’s “an education.”

https://www.wdtn.com/as-seen-on-2-news/greene-county-sheriff-responds-after-raid-over-alleged-illegal-marijuana-plants/

In 1996, the answer to that question was, “yes - of course.” I did it when I needed to fly 1000 miles on short notice to see my grandfather buried. I think it was the same in 2001 when my gran passed.

I’m honestly not sure what the answer is today. As a frequent and cynical flyer in 2024, I’m not so sure that’s still a policy. A call to customer service might get you a cheap seat, but it’s rare to find a flight that isn’t completely booked. (Algorithms seem to have solved the airlines’ empty seat problem)

Wasn’t Mitt the dude with the lady binders?

If I see gills I’m not touching it.

It’s not for everyone, but Penguin Island by Anatole France features great auks. I read it many years ago and enjoyed it (in a dorky 19th century satire sort of way). Not for everyone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_Island_(novel)

I think you get it from eating turkey.

I remember when this aired in our region. It was always super late night/morning and I had always already taken out my contacts. (My eyesight is horrible and I couldn’t afford both contacts and glasses.) And I had invariably missed the intro and hadn’t yet grokked that “MST3K” and this mystery show were one and the same. I had so many questions.

This was also the era of public access television, which was arguably much, much weirder. Like, “a guy dressed like Elvis eating a massive bowl of mashed potatoes and griping about ghosts and Bill Clinton” weird.

This is so goddamn exhausting.

Thirty years ago I was reading poorly photostatted (sic) fliers at the local record shop explaining the difference between Nazis with red shoelaces and Nazis with yellow shoelaces. It was exhausting then, too. They’re all basic bitch Nazis. Treat them the same way you would treat a potentially harmful arthropod, like a scorpion. You don’t have to be a fucking entomologist to understand this shit.

Shun the Nazi. Leave it alone. Don’t ask for help from Nazis.