It’s a public servants thing–the public wants to know what they’re paying for, so public servant salary records are public.

Various websites compile this information from the various state and federal sources. It’s wicked easy to find information on, say, every public servant with the title “librarian” in Fake County, Kentucky.

Knowing their full name, you can look up their home ownership records in the county real estate or tax databases and ta-da, you know where they live. You also know if they work part-time at a different public library, so that’s convenient for stalking purposes.

Edit: not that I think it’s a good thing. It’s creepy as all get out. If we have to post salaries, I’d much rather they be anonymized like on Glassdoor.

Edit2: and these lists do get used for political ickiness. There’s an anti-union group that mails out helpful tips on how to save money–leave your union. They even provide a “I want to leave” postcard addressed to your union leadership for you to sign, pre-filled-in with your info.

I’m a librarian. I also work with members of the public, some of whom do not share my understanding of reality. My information is still public because I’m a government employee.

That’s a fair guess. I see her socialize with the other dog folk in the neighborhood, and that is mostly generic white. There are minority dog folk in the neighborhood, but none who I read as black. (I’ve not asked and it’s not my place to be certain about anyone’s background without being told)

My (white) neighbor told me Juneteenth was an insult to black people and that if she was black she’d be pissed about it. She also says that George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are much more deserving of a federal holiday. (They came up because I think my office traded president’s day for Juneteenth)

I do like my older Amazon Paperwhite, but I’m bookmarking this thread for when/if it no longer functions.

I’ve got it in airplane mode and don’t intend to reintroduce it to the Internet. I can load books from USB just fine and have no need for the Amazon ebook ecosystem.

Cake is a quick bread, which might not count as bread for the purposes of sandwiches.

Further study is required. OP, how was your lunch cake?

I own a 3d printer and haven’t had a 2d printer since childhood. I do have a personal laser printer at the office and it’s awesome.

My mom would always fuss that I’d drip water on the floor after a shower. After one such fussing, my dad took the time to actually give me advice on how to towel off properly, so as not to drip. (LPT: start from the top, work your way down)

Anyways, he was the more patient parent and would try and help you succeed.

Like “you sweet, summer child” except less obviously condescending?

Sometimes discoloration of water is just it being full of air. My HOA’s backup water well is like that. It’s been tested and is fine to drink, but it’s incredibly cloudy until it’s sat for a few minutes.

Also, if you’re on well water get it tested. Even if it was fine when you moved in, things change. Maybe the new farm down the road’s fertilizer is leaking in to the ground water. You won’t know unless someone tests.

The water at my office smells like chlorine. It’s dreadful. I wouldn’t even use it to make coffee, I fill up a nalgene at home and bring that in. My home water is well water and tastes a tad high iron, just the way I like it. (HOA regularly tests the water and it’s always within legal limits, yay.)

I’m also on Sharkey. It’s just more fun that Mastodon. Also feels a touch more queer, in a wonderful way.

Same. Feeling pretty good about using Anubis instead of Cloudflare for our dinky systems.

Sometimes social connections are hard to figure out, especially if you don’t have experience making connections or positive examples to follow.

I suggested visiting the local library and seeing if there’s any meetups. Do you have other suggestions?

I don’t know your insurance, location, or financial situation, so the following might be totally irrelevant.

If you have a primary care doctor/physician, they should be able to get you antidepressants. You don’t need a specialist. You might even be able to have a telehealth visit, instead of going in-person.

I hope things smooth out for you. BTW, my therapist says carbs are good for short-term stress. Ice cream and chocolates help.

Also, maybe look into if your local library has any meetups? Mine does a regular knitting/crochet circle (if you just show up, you’ll probably find friendly folks happy to teach you to make a dish cloth), book club, grown-up crafts a couple times a month. Might be good to get out of the house and meet some friendly faces.

Yes, but that was generally because stories don’t always fit nicely on a page. I’ve seen plenty of old-timey newspapers and laid out a few modern ones. It’s all about what fits on the page.

Old newspapers also didn’t have ads breaking up the articles. None of this “ad between every paragraph” bullshit for the ancestors!

I try to only get gas at one specific local gas station that doesn’t do ads.

•Internet stranger hugs• for the third one. I already have all boxes checked, but I’m hoping to avoid adding a second dog’s ashes for a few more years. My pup already surprisingly old and hasn’t died yet, so, if that trend continues, he should live forever.

I wonder if I can get Facebook to give me some of that sweet, sweet cash for the inconvenience of telling them to bugger off…