Does the whiteboard smell bother anyone? Just curious, I had no idea this was a big thing nowadays. I usually have to sit far from the whiteboard in meetings at work because it gives me a headache and makes me sneeze (yeah, I’m especially sensitive, I know -it’s pretty embarassing most days)

Yeah I remember my mom used to have us do this at the end of the school year - gather up half-used notebooks from our classmates. In August, we’d rip out the used pages and then voila, we’d have notebooks with plenty of pages left.

As someone with asthma, that really sucks. Dry erase fumes set me off almost as bad as cigarette smoke.

Yes! I know I do learn best by writing things down - in high school I would write down important formulas over and over the night before a test in order to memorize them.

Yeah, and many of the folks on Etsy are even willing to clothe the half of us who are size 12 or larger! Everlane and most of the sustainable designers will not (other than Eileen Fisher, who I greatly admire - but sadly her flowy aesthetic is not my thing).

Yeah I was grumpy about the crewneck only options. They do go up to 3X in mens, excuse me “unisex” so I am tempted to get one and cut it flashdance style like every free shirt I’ve ever been issued at a volunteer day.

Yeah, this seemed weird to me too! As a busty woman, no “unisex” shirt has ever looked or felt good on me. The armholes are flappy, and I’m constantly tugging at the neck because it rides up and sort of chokes me.

That’s true! I was just speaking about the mold (because I was amazed when I found out we don’t have better tenant protection for that)

Depends on the state - but here in Maryland, landlords are under no legal obligation to provide buildings free of black mold. I know this sounds unbelievable - but a friend worked in an office with a terrible roof leak and black mold, and the landlord just kept painting over the moldy sheetrock. She talked to a few…

Not just poor, but mentally ill - I’m guessing hoarding. And mentally ill people here are imprisoned at far higher rates than the rest of the population.

In my armchair diagnosis, the mother/grandmother was a hoarder (in addition to the drug and poverty issues). That particular type of mental illness is the mostly likely thing to explain the animals and the pool full of trash. I’m also thinking this because the 4 women all lived with the mom (children of hoarders often…

Doesn’t have to be drugs - mental illness does this too.

I was nodding to your suggestion, thinking that it was pretty brilliant - but thought of an unintended consequence. If people know that CPS is going to cross reference utility records with the address they use for benefits or school, they may avoid registering their kids for school or applying for food stamps for fear…

I think increased communication is always a great idea - it could have found that situation more quickly. Seriously, that kind of tech solution is really exciting.

Due to my mom’s mental illness, my sister and I lived for long periods without heat and/or running water, and were homeless for shorter periods. Our teachers never suspected. (Though I admit it was a bit easier for us to cover up because our problem wasn’t money, it was our mom’s health - so we weren’t as bad off. We…

Well for me, I lucked into reporting to an old-school feminist woman CEO at a small nonprofit. So every few years she calls me into her office and gives me a raise. I was never once successful at negotiating at past jobs, but at this one, I don’t even have to ask. I just do my job, I’m darn good at it, I try my best…

The only time that works is when you have a super feminist boss who has fought her way up through a male-dominated industry, and she thinks you’re awesome. I’d been instrumental in building the organization from start-up, but it had been 4 years with no raise. I really didn’t think I’d get anywhere, so even though I…

I work at a nonprofit building materials reuse center, and the hipsters who buy our old furniture and wrought iron pieces have made it possible to create 40 good jobs with benefits (many to folks who had barriers to employment), and to provide tens of thousands of dollars of free home repair supplies and appliances to…

Yeah, individuals have been doing stripping forever, and sometimes doing it in pretty messy or dangerous ways. However, as the industry is growing, there is increasing professionalism. Some deconstruction companies have now been doing full deconstruction (where they take everything down to the ground and remove it…

Glad you are doing well, and best wishes on the tough job of creating a good childhood for your kids. To give you some encouragement: My parents were both raised in a cult, but got out as young adults. They had been terribly damaged by their experiences, and consequently second-guessed themselves a lot as parents. But…