I lost my passport while in the United Kingdom and had no other identifying documentation with me. The US embassy had me fill out a ~10 question sheet of paper and then "checked me out". 30 minutes later they said I was "good" and would have a new passport delivered to me in 48 hours.
UK/US relations are pretty good. I'm sure this situation could have been a lot worse in more unfriendly countries but I'm still shocked this solution was even possible.
I'm all for the legalization of cannabis/gambling/alcohol/prostitution/etc. but I do believe that advertising for these industries are a net negative for society. We're all used to alcohol advertising by now but it's objectively just as bad as the rest.
'We're all used to alcohol advertising' - I can not stand to see alcohol advertising in certain places where I know it should be trivial to block it - like ads in google news..
There are some regulations or standard applied to alcohol ads though right? And not allowed for in content / showing people drink it TV shows as well?
I am for free speech.. so I hate to say ban ads.. but I can see 'no sexy models pushing alcohol / gamblin' - perhaps they should be words only and no imagery allowed.. still want optout option for google news and similar.. nice if can be opted out at an ip level - seeing those ads on chromecast and other devices, meh!
I think most advertising is a net negative for society. I'm all for legalizing the things you mentioned, but every one of them needs to be heavily regulated and a part of that should mean limits on ads along with where/when those products can be bought and enjoyed.
A layoff should be a last resort, sever the arm to save the body type situation.
When projects don't pan out you first try to reallocate those people to more profitable areas. Also use this time to reflect on why these project didn't pan out, learn from those who worked on it and try to avoid making the same mistake in the future.
With bad performers, you put them on a performance improvement plan (pip).
General other cleanup is vague, but in most cases there's a more pragmatic approach.
Again, sometimes things are so bad you have to resort to worse options. We're in a recession, stocks are going to dip, just focus on the fundamentals and it'll be over before you know it. Instead execs are burning their culture and moral for a temporary boost.
I've read similar anecdotes for a decade now. That has really pushed me towards the FIRE movement and kept me there for a while. Only recently have I realized that my position towards my career (don't get attached or financially dependent, you can be laid off tomorrow, aspiring for days of no more work) has had a really negative effect on my life.
I've been in a perpetual state of waiting for the future of no work. I spend plenty of time living in the moment but at the highest level my current life plan has been "wait" or "rest and vest". Life has been materially better in every single way but I couldn't shake this unhappiness of "waiting". I also felt very similar to OP.
It wasn't until I recently turned down a much better job offer at Amazon and watched Stutz that has made a profound impact for me. Turning down a financially better job at Amazon (to put my sanity and happiness above money) really helped me realize I genuinely have the job I want. Watching Stutz made me aware of the 3 aspects of reality no one can avoid (Pain, Uncertainty and Work). In my mind FIRE was going to solve all 3 aspects for me.
I write all of this only to say I agree with you. But for others who find themselves overcompensating by overlooking/hating work that can be just as big of a mistake. Except for this mental shift my life has been mostly the same for the past 5 years, but the past 6 months have been significantly happier.
If you (or anyone else) are interested in getting into embedded email me at my username @ gmail. We're currently looking for a couple. Coming from Java/Python is a plus
I almost never turn on my camera unless I'm hosting a status meeting (and I don't expect other too). Most of my 'video' calls are with one or two other people debugging something and sharing my screen. When compiling and running stuff my pc is already struggling, no reason to bog it down more with someone's face.
The only people that seem to care about people turning on their camera are those who's job is to communicate with people all day long. I get it, but at the same time stop trying to change others behavior to make you happy.
It's a lot like those who hate work from home because they no longer have a social life. Don't make ME commute to work and fake 9+ hours of work so YOU can have a social life
UK/US relations are pretty good. I'm sure this situation could have been a lot worse in more unfriendly countries but I'm still shocked this solution was even possible.