Bloody good for you! I’m always amazed by some corporate Americans’ blind , sycophantic loyalty to their companies. It’s an attitude that seems so dated when compared to Europe. I mean, I’m all for hard work but to only get two weeks a year and then pride yourself on not taking them is just weird!
It took me a while to understand it, but what was (and still is, to a certain extent) behind that was healthcare. Roughly 165 million people (60.4% of Americans under age 65) have health coverage through an employer-sponsored plan.
Up until the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), if you changed or lost your job, your new health care company had the write to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. I honestly think that much of that loyalty is fear of losing healthcare, and being one step away from medical bankruptcy.
Exactly what we have here would be the consequences:
- Almost 2X per‑person spending
- Almost 2X healthcare as % of GDP
- Almost 2X inpatient/outpatient costs
- Almost 3X prescription drug costs
- Almost 4X administrative overhead
The U.S. spends substantially more on every front—services, drugs, overhead—though it delivers no commensurate health advantage. It has worse health outcomes—lower life expectancy, higher infant/maternal mortality, more preventable deaths.
As kids, we would slowly lick the chocolate off (melting it with the heat of our tongue), so we'd be left with yummy orange centre. Absolute heaven!
You should Google the UK court case, where they struggled to determine whether Jaffa Cakes are cakes or biscuits (which are taxed differently). It is craziness like that, that I get nostalgic for. 😊
It never ceases to amaze me, US corporate culture. Toxic. Your approach left me glad for you, but I understand it couldn't have been easy facing the uncertainty. Happy you chose yourself.
It's all me. I use Descript (relatively expensive, but so worth it) to record the audio just on my MacBook with the built-in mic. If I flub a line, I just repeat it and keep going, and the sofwater helps you take them out later. It also allows you to take out any long pauses, and then clean up the sounf quality. The other thing that is nice about Descript is that it transcribes your audio into text, and then you can cut and paste and move sections around, byt doing that with the text.
Once I've got a cleaned up audio file, I download that and import it into Audacity (a free open source program). I have a template with the music at the start and end of each piece (I have different music for Holding On posts), and it is basically a multi-track recording / editing app, which lets me sync the narration and music as I want it. I also do some additional post--processing to clean up background noise, etc.
If you'd like, I can step you through it via Zoom or something.
What runs through so much of this, I think, is the abuse of power. The rules themselves might seem fair—even benign—but people hungry for control will twist them, hide behind them, and weaponize them to serve their own ends. Especially when they’re scared of losing that power.
Bloody good for you! I’m always amazed by some corporate Americans’ blind , sycophantic loyalty to their companies. It’s an attitude that seems so dated when compared to Europe. I mean, I’m all for hard work but to only get two weeks a year and then pride yourself on not taking them is just weird!
It took me a while to understand it, but what was (and still is, to a certain extent) behind that was healthcare. Roughly 165 million people (60.4% of Americans under age 65) have health coverage through an employer-sponsored plan.
Up until the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), if you changed or lost your job, your new health care company had the write to deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. I honestly think that much of that loyalty is fear of losing healthcare, and being one step away from medical bankruptcy.
Oh my God. That’s shocking. The NHS here is hanging by a thread and people are too dumb to realise the consequences if we lose it.
Exactly what we have here would be the consequences:
- Almost 2X per‑person spending
- Almost 2X healthcare as % of GDP
- Almost 2X inpatient/outpatient costs
- Almost 3X prescription drug costs
- Almost 4X administrative overhead
The U.S. spends substantially more on every front—services, drugs, overhead—though it delivers no commensurate health advantage. It has worse health outcomes—lower life expectancy, higher infant/maternal mortality, more preventable deaths.
Sunday as Day One.” Might just be the most depressing thing ever
It’s just wrong, isn’t it?
Like we’re being shamed for enjoying the weekend—
“That’s enough of the relaxing and recharging… time to climb back onto the hamster wheel and get it spinning at full speed!”
We need Europe to retake the world
We need to marshall our supplies for such an endeavor. I'll supply the tea and Jaffa Cakes.
I'm now taking a contemplative moment as I fully embrace just how wonderful Jaffa Cakes, and that Aldi has a German version 'that is the bomb!' 😁
Well, you know I had to Google Jaffa Cake, and not gonna lie, I kind of like the idea. Now I’m hungry.
As kids, we would slowly lick the chocolate off (melting it with the heat of our tongue), so we'd be left with yummy orange centre. Absolute heaven!
You should Google the UK court case, where they struggled to determine whether Jaffa Cakes are cakes or biscuits (which are taxed differently). It is craziness like that, that I get nostalgic for. 😊
Okay, so tell me—where in an American supermarket can I get authentic ones? Like what brand
It never ceases to amaze me, US corporate culture. Toxic. Your approach left me glad for you, but I understand it couldn't have been easy facing the uncertainty. Happy you chose yourself.
It's all me. I use Descript (relatively expensive, but so worth it) to record the audio just on my MacBook with the built-in mic. If I flub a line, I just repeat it and keep going, and the sofwater helps you take them out later. It also allows you to take out any long pauses, and then clean up the sounf quality. The other thing that is nice about Descript is that it transcribes your audio into text, and then you can cut and paste and move sections around, byt doing that with the text.
Once I've got a cleaned up audio file, I download that and import it into Audacity (a free open source program). I have a template with the music at the start and end of each piece (I have different music for Holding On posts), and it is basically a multi-track recording / editing app, which lets me sync the narration and music as I want it. I also do some additional post--processing to clean up background noise, etc.
If you'd like, I can step you through it via Zoom or something.
Thanks, Jen.
What runs through so much of this, I think, is the abuse of power. The rules themselves might seem fair—even benign—but people hungry for control will twist them, hide behind them, and weaponize them to serve their own ends. Especially when they’re scared of losing that power.
I’ve been meaning to ask, how did you make your audio? Do you read it yourself, or is there an app that help you convert ?
Changing the calendar to start on Monday—honestly might be the most underrated act of rebellion.