opinion | Piss and Moan

Objectify

Posted on September 10, 2020 by backuphill

What exactly does this mean if the power is created by showing more and more skin?
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Gonna wade into a social hot topic. A social double standard. Gonna stomp on some toes. Ruffle some feathers. Set the internet on fire.

Let’s be real for a moment.

Women say they don’t want to be “objectified” and yet they do it to themselves.

That’s an obviously broad statement. There are a lot of connotations in uttering it. But, I can’t help but wonder if what is said isn’t what is actually meant when it comes right down to it. Motivations play a big factor in it, I think.

Social media has caused me to wonder what’s true and what isn’t.

Based on what I see, being objectified brings attention, exposure, clicks, follows, etc. How does that happen?

Skin.

Show more skin.

If you are a female and want to be popular online, the less clothing and more skin you show translates to all kinds of the things mentioned above, plus music deals, modeling contracts, sponsorships, acting deals, etc.

Is it right? Absolutely not.

Are they perpetuating objectification? Of course.

Teenagers dancing in skimpy clothing. Women in short skirts, cleavage falling out all over the place, barely there bathing suits…it all attracts attention, which is exactly why it is being done.

Sure, the argument has been made that “they dress for themselves” and “it helps them feel confident about themselves” and “men shouldn’t see them as objects but as people.”

If that were really the case, would it be necessary to post a video of dance moves with very little clothing on? Couldn’t the same dance moves be made in a regular fitting t-shirt and jeans? Couldn’t the song be sung in a hoody and sweatpants? Couldn’t it just be done with less skin?

Quick test here: Do the exact same thing in two different videos – one fully clothed and one will very little on. Let’s just say it is a short Tik Tok video. Which one gets more views? Clicks? Shares? Likes?

Exactly. Point demonstrated. Skin and sex sells. Nevermind the fact that there are parents out there fully exploiting the fact that their daughters are all over the internet with next to nothing on (and encouraging it).

So, am I off my rocker here? I am seeing this differently than I should? Did I miss something? Maybe I’m wrong. After all, I am just a dumb man.

Stacked up

Posted on September 9, 2020 by backuphill

The work is stacking up and there is no sight to get it all done. Not any time soon.

More and more things are being added but nothing is being taken away. There is no time to focus on anything, so projects that would help clients aren’t getting done. Instead, dealing with “immediate needs” is eating up all our time.

I am not sure how I will be able to dig myself out of the backlog of work. My projects have been pushed and pushed and pushed.

Anyone else find it hard to go to (in whatever form that looks like) work when they are constantly feeling behind?

Earache

Posted on September 4, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Perhaps the ear aches because I am tired of hearing stupid people, stupid media, stupid social media, stupid celebrities, stupid athletes, etc.

Perhaps it’s just because I need to see an ear doctor because my right ear hurts when I chew.

Perhaps I’ll use a hammer and an awl to fix the problem once and for all.

Or, go to a doctor.

Kinda of irritating though.

State of affairs

Posted on September 3, 2020 by backuphill

Just sitting here feeling the same as Mr. Bean. There have been a lot of these kinds of days lately.

Society.

News.

Family.

Government.

Politics.

Work.

Life.

Fly it high, Mr. Bean. Fly it high.

Unknown

Posted on September 2, 2020 by backuphill

People at work are angry with you. Well, not really angry so much as irritated because you didn’t do a part of what you were supposed to.

I just learned that I was supposed to do part of a software configuration in the new software for a school district that just converted. It’s not a life or death issue and, yes, it is inconvenient but it isn’t something that keeps the district from doing what it is supposed to do.

The only problem is that I didn’t know I was supposed to do it.

The process is still pretty new and there are no manuals from the software company that says “Do this in this order to set up the software for district use after conversion…” so we are kind of feeling our way through the process. Stuff gets missed or falls through the cracks since we don’t know completely what needs to be done.

There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.
– Donald Rumsfeld

So why the heck are you irritated with me if I didn’t know I was responsible? And why the heck are you irritated with me if I didn’t know what the heck I was supposed to do if I didn’t know I was supposed to do it?

Now that I know, I am aware of it and can take care of the next time, but for now:

BITE ME.

Cravings

Posted on September 1, 2020 by backuphill

How do they work? Why do they work? Eh, forget that. I don’t really care. Well, mostly not really.

So, normally my cravings are the pretty standard fare – pizza, ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, popcorn, hamburgers, chips, etc. All stuff that is great when it is in your mouth, but not so much for your health. Ya’ll feel me here, right?

Anyway, I was at Costco the other day and I walked into the cooler area where they keep the veggies and fruits. It is a place that gets visited on a typical grocery trip to Costco so it wasn’t any new or special. I am familiar with the layout and what is typically in there.

But, I’ll tell ya what, for some reason the GIANT box of big green grapes caught my attention and I had to buy them. I had this sudden craving for grapes. The unusual part is that I don’t normally buy them. The box is too big. They don’t all get eaten before they go bad. I am not really even that especially fond of grapes. Sure they’re good, but they aren’t anything I would go out of the way for, say like I would for pizza or a burger.

I shelled out the money and brought them home.

I have eaten almost the entire box myself, over the course of just under a week. Say what???? I have never done that before! Why the sudden craving for grapes?

Anyone have some insight on cravings? What do you crave, and do you know why?

Ulterior

Posted on August 31, 2020 by backuphill

Hey, wait a second…

Did you see this over the weekend?

CDC has updated, changed, fixed, (whatever!) the number related to deaths from of Covid.

As we all suspected from the beginning, co-morbidity factors (or other underlying conditions) were actually the true cause of death and not really Covid. In other words, Covid played a small part in the mortality rate but was not the sole factor in a large percentage (94%) of deaths.

So, why is it, again, that we are all in lockdown from this thing? Why is that the media is pushing the fear and doom? Why is that a large portion of our population is cowering in fear after having swallowed the story hook, line, and sinker?

Ever ask why there is so much misinformation about all this stuff?

Ever ask who benefits from all the misinformation about all this stuff?

Think, people, think!

It’s time to do your own thinking. Stop following the party line (whichever one you are in) and think for yourselves. Stop listening to the media. Go to the source whenever possible. When not possible, use media from different (all) points of view. Develop your own picture of what is going on and then think critically about it.

Ask questions. Ask hard questions.

Don’t take anything at face value. There is always more to it than what you see on the surface.

Always.

Categories and Tags

Posted on August 28, 2020 by backuphill

Blogging and all this stuff. I realize this is gonna be a first world problem, but it seems like a pretty easy fix and it’s hard to believe WordPress hasn’t already done it.

There is a process you go through to help drive traffic to your by using Categories and Tags. Then people who look for those specific topics are alerted, to some degree, that there is a blog post related to it. In the “old” version of getting ready to publish your blog out to the interwebs and make it public, you could select these things and it would tell you how many of each you were using on your blog.

As far as I can tell, this “new block editor” version of WordPress doesn’t do that. I have no quick way of telling how many Categories or Tags I’ve used unless I constantly scroll back and forth to count them.

This seems like a basic and easy fix to implement. Like seriously.

The picture above shows the Categories and Tags tabs. As of right now, I have Categories attached to this very blog I am writing, but you won’t know it until it is expanded.

So, why hasn’t it been set up that when the Categories or Tags is collapsed that it shows how many are under each tab without having to expand it? It could show up, right on the tab next to the tab title (like the image below – highlight added for emphasis).

So, when both the Categories and Tags tabs are collapsed, there is an easy way to see how many of each are being used.

Simple!

Too much to ask? Am I knit-picking? Am I easily irritated? (wait, don’t answer that…)

Or is this a function that they just didn’t think about? I find that hard to believe. I can’t believe they haven’t had feedback on this yet.

What do you all think? Did WordPress miss the boat on this feature?

Accountablity

Posted on August 27, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by bongkarn thanyakij on Pexels.com

What are your thoughts about holding someone accountable?

Situation: Someone tells you that they will do something (or have something done, like a service) but it will involve several people for it to be seen through to completion. As the agreed upon service is unfolding, it is clear that its going to get screwed up because there are multiple people involved with several different parts to coordinate to make it happen.

What do you do at this point?

Deal with the individual parts and let it play out, hoping it is done correctly.
Go straight to the person who set the whole thing in motion and make sure they are coordinating the various pieces so the outcome is successful.
Let it all go to crap and then hope it can clean it up after.

Being a planner, I think you know which way I would go here. But, I really want to know…what do you think is the best way to approach this?

Do you let the person who promised something hold on to that accountability, or do you take it on yourself?

Take out

Posted on August 26, 2020 by backuphill

Frustrating.

Everything is take out. For lunch I want a burger. Not a big deal, I can do that fairly easily.

Frustrating part is many local places would like you to order ahead and do it online. Many of them have added this service to accommodate for the continuously stupid mandates from the state.

So, you go to order online and then the website doesn’t let you customize your order. You can only just order. If I want to add bacon? Tough. If I want to remove the tomato? SOL. But I can tell you what time I want to pick it up and you’ll have it ready for me. Helpful, but not really if I can’t order it the way I like it or want it.

As such, I am left with calling in the order – which is inconvenient for me and for them, as they are already likely busy with the lunch crowd.

I am sure there are websites out there that are better at this than some. And it really isn’t the restaurant’s fault as they probably had to scramble to get something up and running. BUT, with technology today, there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to submit an order with customized menu items the way you want it.

Just simply isn’t good.