Green means go (to the doctor)

Nov. 10th, 2025 10:53 am
christopher575: Photo by Ed Cook (Default)
[personal profile] christopher575
Sometime during the week before last, maybe starting wednesday 10/29 but definitely no later than Thursday 10/30, I had what felt like an ingrown fingernail on my left index finger. I hadn't recently cut my nails, nor had I recently injured my finger in any other way, so it was a bit strange. I figured that, no matter what happened, I'd at least be able to bring it up to my doctor on Monday 11/3 because my annual exam was that day. But it kept getting worse, with no relief in sight.

ExpandCut for nasty pictures and gory details... )

The unscoped no-cooperation clause

Nov. 9th, 2025 11:00 pm
flwyd: (farts sign - Norway)
[personal profile] flwyd
I signed my Google separation agreement today. I'd been sitting on it because one clause seemed a little weird, but I wasn't able to find any discussion of it. Most of the agreement is set up to limit future legal risk to Google based on my employment there, in exchange for paying me a bunch of money. For example, it says I won't sue them for workplace harassment or unfair labor practices I might have experienced there. But the no cooperation clause doesn't seem to be limited to just events related to my employment:
11. No Cooperation. Other than in connection with filing a charge or participating in any investigation or proceeding conducted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, or other comparable federal, state, or local agency, or under a valid subpoena or court order to do so, or otherwise as permitted by applicable law, you will not counsel or assist any attorneys or their clients in the presentation or prosecution of any disputes, differences, grievances, claims, charges, or complaints by any third party against the Company, Alphabet Inc. or any Released Party. For attorneys, nothing in this Section (No Cooperation) will restrict or limit your right to practice law or represent future clients, as described in the state bar rules of professional conduct of the state in which you are licensed to practice law (“the Rules”); provided, however, that you must honor all of your other continuing ethical obligations to the Company and the Released Parties under the Rules, including as to client confidentiality and privilege. Notwithstanding the foregoing, consistent with applicable law, nothing in this Agreement prevents you from disclosing the facts or circumstances underlying your claim or action for sexual assault, sexual harassment, workplace harassment or discrimination, the failure to prevent workplace harassment or discrimination, or retaliation for reporting or opposing harassment or discrimination.

This stands in contrast to the cooperation clause, which follows next and is specifically tied to topics "that relate to matters within your knowledge or responsibility during your employment with the Company."
12. Cooperation with the Company. You agree to cooperate with the Company regarding any pending or subsequently filed internal investigations, litigation, claims, or other disputes or legal proceedings involving the Company that relate to matters within your knowledge or responsibility during your employment with the Company. Without limiting the foregoing, you agree: (a) to meet with the Company’s representatives, its counsel, or other designees at reasonable times and places; (b) to provide truthful testimony to any court, agency, or other adjudicatory body; and (c) to provide the Company with notice of contact by any adverse party or such adverse party’s representative except as may be required by law. The Company will reimburse you for your time at a reasonable hourly rate and other reasonable expenses in connection with the cooperation described in this Section.

To my non-attorney reading, the no cooperation clause attempts to prohibit me from assisting an attorney with a lawsuit regarding facts which occur far in the future from now. For example, if ten years from now I work at Acme Inc and am involved in a contract dispute regarding business conducted between Acme and Google it seems surprisingly restrictive to claim I can't work with Acme's lawyers on a lawsuit against Google just because I took an exit package from Google a decade before the matter in dispute arose.

Since this bug in the contract is hypothetical—I don't have any particular plans to get involved in a lawsuit against Google—it's not worth six figures to me not to sign the agreement, or to go track down an employment lawyer to explain why the paragraph doesn't work the way I'm reading it. If the issue comes up, I'll let the attorney who wants my input figure out what it means.
siderea: (Default)
[personal profile] siderea
YES YES YES.

SciShow did a collab with Tom Lum and ESOTERICA and delivered a deep dive into the history of the relationship of chemistry and alchemy and the politicization of the distinction between the two: "In Defense of Alchemy" (2025 Oct 17).

I cannot tell you how much I loved this and what a happy surprise this was. It ties into a whole bunch of other things I passionately want to tell you about that have to do with epistemology, science, and politics (and early music) but I didn't expect to be able to tie chemistry/alchemy in to it because I had neither the chops nor the time to do so. But now, some one else has done this valuable work and tied it all up with a bow for me. I'm thrilled.

Please enjoy: 45 transfiguring minutes about the history of alchemy and chemistry and what you were probably told about it and how it is wrong.

siderea: (Default)
[personal profile] siderea
I have been dealing with some health stuff. I recently got a somewhat heavy medical diagnosis. It's nothing life-threatening, and of yet I have only had the mildest of symptoms, and seem to be responding well to treatment, but it's a bummer. My new specialist seems to be fantastic, so that's good.

Meanwhile, I have also finally started having a medical problem I've been anticipating ever since my back went wonky three years ago: my wrists have finally started crapping out. Because I cannot tolerate sitting for long, I have been using my laptop on a rig that holds it over me on my bed. But this means I haven't been using my ergonomic keyboard because it's not compatible with this rig. I'm honestly surprised it's taken this long for my wrists to burst into flames again, but HTML and other coding has always been harder on my arms than simple text, and the research and writing I've been doing on Latin American geopolitics has been a lot of that. And while I can use dictation for text*, it's useless for HTML or anything that involves a lot of cut-and-paste. Consequently, I've gotten really behind on all my writing, both here and my clinical notes.

So I ordered a NocFree split wireless keyboard in hopes that it will be gentler on my arms. It arrived last night, and I have been relearning how to touch type, only with my arms at my side and absolutely not being able to see the keyboard.

You would not believe how long it took me to type this, but it's all slowly coming back. Also, I feel the need to share: I'm doing this in emacs. Which feels like a bit of a high wire act, because errors involving meta keys could, I dunno, reformat my hard drive or crash the electrical grid.

Here's hoping I get the hang of this before I break the backspace key from overuse or accidentally launch a preemptive nuclear strike on Russia.

* If, you know, I don't too dearly value my sanity.

SNAP [curr ev, US]

Nov. 6th, 2025 03:12 am
siderea: (Default)
[personal profile] siderea
Americans, as I hope you know, on Nov 1st, the Federal government, being shut down, did not transmit the money to the states to pay for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aka SNAP, aka "Food Stamps". In many states, SNAP money is supposed to hit recipients' EBT cards on the first of the month. It didn't. There is in the SNAP budget funds to cover emergencies, but Trump said he would not release it; lawsuits ensued, and as of right now, partial payments are going to be or have been made.

I commend the following video to you. It's longish - 26 minutes – but worth your time.

2025 Nov 1: Hank Green [[profile] hankschannel on YT]: "This Shutdown is Different"

Hank Green, of vlogbrothers fame, invites Jeannie Hunter, Tennessee regional director of the Society of St. Andrew (aka EndHunger.org), on to his personal chanenel explain how the US's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, aka SNAP, aka "Food Stamps", actually works.

Hunter turns out to be a great interview subject and the resultant conversation was fascinating. I highly recommend it - not just to understand what's at stake in the goverment shutdown, but for your own simple enjoyment of learning how things actually work, and also so you can more eloquently advocate for this system.