I also find the “just look how bad the hands are heh heh heh” thing so dumb … it’s going to learn how to draw hands pretty quickly

This is not news. Stop upvoting Twitter spam, it’s not even vaguely interesting.

Absolutely fine to politely ask for a salary range, in my experience. I’ve never found they hide it, but the ranges can be broad.

Blaming young adults and families is unfair. Many institutions need to be held to account for advertising outcomes which don’t materialise for their students.

Unfortunately it seems there are no consequences for the universities, and it’s not hard to make those qualifications seem both alluring and lucrative.

There’s got to be a way to hold them to account for the countless graduates who don’t end up finding industry positions.

I’m probably in an echo chamber. I hope that 2nd application goes well for you.

In my experience, good candidates (including interns/juniors) are still landing the roles. Hiring in tech/design/product is tough because there’s a deluge of applicants who’ve either coasted during the boom, or been sold a lie by an educational institution.

You can spot the ones who apply for 40 jobs a week, and those who’ve used chatGPT a mile off, and they’re usually the worst candidates, with long, bland, unfocused resumes.

LinkedIn is full of my worst ex-colleagues bemoaning the lack of opportunities, like they’re entitled to it.

Please tell me if I’m being unfair. Maybe I should be less cynical.

A shameful culprit IMO was the Kermode and Mayo film review. Two wealthy broadcasters (one extremely wealthy) who left the BBC, created an objectively worse show, half of which immediately went behind a paywall. Then they started voicing atrocious adverts and wingeing that people should pay so they could keep the lights on.

They could easily have experimented with a Patreon, but the arrogance was clear.

The only upside was that I felt no pain in dropping them like a stone, but I do miss the old show and never found a good replacement.

I know what you mean, but it would depend on my current situation. Assuming I’ve had to find another job with short notice (and I’m still in my probation period) it could be a great opportunity to leverage a massive pay increase, then spend the next year planning a proper move.

I wouldn’t list it as separate employment on my CV, unless I knew it was going to be scrutinised, in which case, it’s easily explained and reflects pretty well - they wanted me back.

Coddling has the negative connotation - to consistently overprotect. Occasional spoiling is an entirely different and good thing.

You missed my point. I’m ignoring nothing, I’m suggesting OP seek out men who will be supportive, because they’re not hard to find.

I’m certain I could find studies as proof, but don’t we all already know this to be true?

Plenty of men can deal with this, and plenty of women can’t. It’s not helpful to see this as a gender thing, you’ll only feel more alienated. You might want to seek out some new social connections?

I’ve been though divorce recently and despite being very amicable, it’s caused me to reset - some things broke, but being more emotionally open has been one of the good things. I’m still pretty reserved but a few things are different:

• I care a lot less about conforming to “ideals” or how anyone judges me. That means I no longer feel the fear and second guess everything I say.
• When appropriate, I ask people - especially other men - how they’re doing and gently push for a genuine answer. No one’s reacted negatively to that, so far.
• With my kids, I simply do the opposite to my father. I tell them I love them, I take an interest in them, and I take their feelings seriously. I don’t coddle them, but I want them to feel secure and confident in talking to me. They’re still young, so we’ll see.
• During work 1:1s, I take a genuine interest in people, most will subtly drop hints that they had a bad weekend or are feeling tired or stressed. I used to gloss over that, now I’ll ask about it and say I’m happy to listen. A surprising number will go on to share, with the bonus that it builds trust.
• If someone asks how I am, I won’t lay it all out for them, but I’ll be honest. Most people empathise and tell you they’ve been through similar. It’s never been awkward, and I’ve found out nearly everyone I know is pretty anxious and is going through difficult stuff.

As an aside, I never watched much porn because I found it so cold and alienating. It’s interesting that you found the opposite. Anyway, I’ll stop there and wish you well!

After a couple of bad questions, I’ll either excuse myself, suggest we carry on separately, or (ideally) ask to be sent a list, for me to ignore at my leisure.

Sorry Greg, we’re not here to answer your dumbass questions, or indulge your hypothetical edge cases.

I’m about half way in, and the acting has been patchy - the guys playing Trumbull and Sims are bad, but when contrasted with Tim Robbins and Rebecca Ferguson, they come off a lot worse.

Am I missing something, or would basically any old smartphone work in place of this? I have a Pixel which sits in a cradle and takes care of anything I’d use this for. I guess a physical button or dial might be nice, but I have a volume dial on the car dash.

Seems plainly obvious that it’ll require a sub. It’s a Spotify box.

I love seeing people stand up to these mandates. I flat out ask the purpose for my physical presence, and unless it’s an objectively good reason AND everyone else required will be present, I’m staying away. I’ve too often arrived at an office to sit on a Teams call.

I’m not contributing to traffic pollution and seeing my kids less to satisfy someone’s whim or real estate investment. As far as I’m concerned, that ship has sailed. Virtual whiteboards exist. Welcome to the future.

Same here. WTF do I do with a history degree… Joined a helpdesk because I liked fixing tech, transitioned to web development because that was more fun, spent years enjoying learning and progressing, then moved into UX because that was more rewarding (and less stressful).

I’m glad I gravitated towards IT because it gave me a lot of freedom and choice - and the money was always good.

I’d be careful with the “follow your hobbies” advice, I’ve known a lot of frustrated people who feel they’ve wasted years studying / trying to get a job in video games, acting, that sort of thing. Seems you have to be in the top 1% and have a ton of luck or connections to stand a chance.

I agree, ghosting is necessary in many situations. Am a guy, have reluctantly ghosted both men and women (from a casual friend / professional point of view, rather than romantic) not because I think I’ll be yelled at (or worse) but if the vibe is wrong, it’s self protection - I don’t want to engage with them, full stop.

We don’t play many junior versions, I find my boy outgrew them very quickly - though he still likes Catan Junior.

He likes Mancala, Kingdomino isn’t hard to pick up, and it really helped his maths skills. His favourite is the normal Carcassonne (we don’t play fields, and I give him a 50 point headstart, so it’s still a challenge for me). He loves the Dragon expansion, too.

We play Rhino Hero and other dexterity games, I ordered one for next Christmas called Menara - off a recommendation here (!) - it looks like a coop dexterity tower building game.

As for collaborative games, he loves helping me with some solos, Under Falling Skies, Aerion and Nautilion for example - you can tell a story and get them to help throw the dice.

Not really a game, but story cubes are also a win at bedtime.