#and if they don't list pay that usually mean minimum wage or not much above that

[killerchickadee]

I'm 40 and I still won't apply to a job that doesn't list pay, because that usually means it's appallingly low.

[ecsta-zi]

My experience with white privilege (and how I found out it was real)

I was 20 years old and had been living in the Bronx for 4 years. I had a GED and seasonal/temp experience in both the restaurant and retail industries (3-4 months each.) So i only had about a year of experience working in retail and about 6 months or so working in restaurant. It seemed as though I was only capable of obtaining temporary jobs. It was frustrating because no matter how hard I worked at these jobs I just never seemed to be good enough to be hired permanently. Both times they simply told me that there were no permanent positions to be filled but my insecurities tell me I wasn't good enough.

When it came time to find a new job my boyfriend's mother referred me to Lisa Employment Agency at 247 West 35th Street New York, N.Y 10001. A job agency where you can only get restaurant jobs. She handed me my money and I was there at 8:45 am on 05/17/17.

When I came in, there was an area for people to wait. It was already filled for being nearly 9 :00 am and per usual I am the only caucasian in the room. Most of the people in the room were black and hispanic men. Some were half asleep, some of them were on their phone and some simply looked stressed. I saw an empty seat on the left side middle row at the end. Ahead there were a few desks. A Hispanic woman to the front left whos name is Sue and another Hispanic woman to the front right. In the back with the big desk there was a Hispanic man by the name of Rene Munoz.

Before my body even touched the seat I was called up by the big man himself (Rene.) I handed him the money and the resume I created myself. He looked at it and said "you don't have a lot of experience but that's ok because you're young." He made a phone call and I had a job interview set up for me to go to immediately. My position was "helper" at the juice bar at Pier 59 Studios. My starting wage was $15/Hr. This was BEFORE the minimum wage was set to $15/hr. If you don't know what Pier 59 Studios it is the LARGEST photography studio in the world. Name any fashion magazine! They've done shoots there. Now I am an obese pale white girl who wore their makeup like it was still 2010. Everyone there was GORGEOUS and the place was boujee as fuck. Even the damn secretary at the front desk was super model gorgeous. I felt out of place. Anyway, when Rene Munoz handed me the card he told me "bring more people like you, you know your kind....your friends."

He basically told me to bring more white people.

Prior to arriving my boyfriend's mother who was friends with sue (lady at the desk to the right who got my boyfriend the job at blake and Todd on 47th street) told me that sue told her that they were looking for more white people and that I would not have a problem getting a job because I'm white. My boyfriend's mother is hispanic as well as my boyfriend.

Since I was 14 I've been in and out of homes, cities, and towns where I was the only white girl. I was use to jokes like that. Like "oh don't worry you're white the cops won't pay you no mind" or the one time my friend said to her mom "don't worry mom she's white we won't get into any trouble." as a joke. I simply thought it was another one of those things.

I didn't actually think she was being deadass!!!

At the time I wasn't going to sit there and run my mouth about how racist that shit was. A bitch needed a job I didn't want to lose MY job opportunity by preaching. I shut my mouth and I went. [ Insert White Privilege Here]

At this agency you pay a fee and they give you three shots to try out different jobs. If i didn't like one they'd give me another.

My first day at Pier 59 studios was my training and I couldn't handle the pressure. There was so much perfection expected of you because you're serving drinks to people who worked in the fashion industry. There was talk about the famous people who came in and out of there, and there were perfect gorgeous people around me and i was a potato. Also apparently there was this very important french woman who worked in the industry having some brunch meeting. I wasn't about catering to people and celebrities in the fashion industry. I didn't show up the second day.

When I try to tell people this story, especially people from my race, they get so mad at me because they're the type of people who don't believe in "white privilege." They say the same thing as any other white person who doesn't get it. "I had a hard life, i was poor, i had no privileges, i had to work hard for everything I have. No that wasn't an example of white privilege it was an example of racism" That one was the most idiotic I've ever heard. But they fail to realize that there are employers out there that would literally take one look at you and one look at the black guy next to you and choose you simply because you're white. They don't understand that these men that were waiting in the waiting area were 10+ years older than me and obviously way more experienced! That they are waiting for jobs to accept them for an INTERVIEW because the employers working with the agency told them theyre not hiring black people and that they aren't hiring people who can't speak perfect english. I mean, it was heavily implied given the fact that only poc are sitting there and i walk out with a job interview in less than 20 minutes and was straight up told to my face to bring more people like me . They overlook the part where I tell them that Rene acknowledged the fact that I had little experience and he still gave me this boujee ass job with high expectations!! Completely missed the fact that the man told me to BRING MY KIND. That the color of my skin meant that I had a long list of employment opportunities because that is what they're looking for.

I was like them in a sense. I too grew up shit poor, i have a ged, I'm basically white trash and that I never got anywhere bc of my skin color. That day though, reality slapped me so hard I still can't believe that REALLY happened, that it still happens and that it happened right in front of my face.

I didn't do a thing about it. I felt so guilty for awhile and I still do. This isn't that "white guilt" shit or me "apologizing for being white." I know that pisses off white people.

Black and Hispanic people contributed a lot to who I am and where I am right now in my life even at 23 years old. I was raised and mentored by strong black queens who I would do anything for. If it weren't for them I probably wouldn't be alive. I was educated and influenced by black men. If it weren't for them I would still be struggling with reading comprehension, i would've failed english and history. I would've never got my GED. I wouldn't have gone to college. If it weren't for latinas I wouldn't know shit about cooking or cleaning or how to manage money, i wouldn't have a home, and i wouldn't have done anything decent in my life.

All of these people, people of color, who lifted me up off the ground, picked up every piece of my brokenness, and made me whole are the reason why I felt guilty. Not because I am ashamed to be white. But because I am ashamed of the fact that I wouldn't have even been there at that job agency if it weren't for them and that I failed to be an ally all for some boujee ass job I didn't want anyway.

I had to accept the fact that there wasn't much that I could do.

One day I was fucking around on google maps, writing reviews for places I've been to. I decided to look up Lisa Employment Agency and I wrote a review regarding what happened that day. A warning to those who are poc and desperate for a job to not give them their money. That was the best that I could do.

The purpose of me writing this is because people don't understand how real this shit is and that it still happens. White people don't understand that just because YOU yourself have never been in a position where you used your white privilege doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

It does. Its real. And it's fucked up.

******Below I have a photo of the card that Rene gave me. I still have it for some reason. A big chuck of it was cut off but you can still see the name of the man at the agency. You can see where it says Pier, the date is there, and my starting salary. (I cut a piece of it off to scoop up my weed sorry) It is the only proof I have that it happened. The name and number written above my name was the name of the owner or manager at pier 59 studios.******

[seperis]

At the moment the minimum specs you want are:

i5 or up processor, 9th gen or newer (I don't know about AMD, sorry)

Minimum 8GB RAM, see if you can get 16GB included and if it doesn't make sure that you get something with a slot free so that you can *add* RAM later on down the line.

256GB or more storage, don't get something that just has a HDD, get something with an SSD.

Read and save this entire post for everything above like, right now.

Background:  I work in IT as a software tester, I hobby in programming and home automation, and I am also now going back to school for software development and networking and I’ve learned the hard way to make this a budget item I plan for to get the specs I need. I tend to go as high end as I can afford and replace my laptop every two to three years.

Specs:

These above are excellent specs.  I agree with this, with these limited exceptions:

1.) RAM: Computer science major: 16 GB start value if at all possible or make sure that your laptop is upgradable from the get-go and the RAM isn’t soldered in. 

I’d expand this to anyone who is going into data science and probably most engineering; if you take a database class--and that’s usually freshman or sophomore year--it is ten times easier to do your labs and projects on your own laptop, but even the lightest version of Oracle is a resource hog. I took Database Programming this last summer and while it didn’t seem to bother my laptop at all (32 GB RAM, two 500 GB M.2 NVME drives), I monitored resource use just to see what was happening, and whoa.

2.) 256 GB SSD should be your floor and be ready to upgrade to something bigger later. This is especially true in CS, networking, data science, etc: it’s much easier to use your own laptop than have to use the computer lab and many of the programs you’ll use regularly pretty much for your entire career.

Repairs and Upgrades:

If you become the linux person on campus who can fix computers and recover documents that is a source of income on campus that is flexible to your schedule and pays a fuck of a lot better than minimum wage fucking do it, it doesn’t matter if you’re a philosophy major or a CS major learn how to actually use and fix computers in college, not just how to use software installed on the computer. 

I agree with this both in the lucrative sense and the personal; I’ve built all my PCs but my first two and done my own repairs, up to and including repairing and upgrading my entire board including CPU, on both my PCs (now Linux home servers, Pi’s, and NASes) and my laptops.  The only two things I get done professionally are full board diagnostics when my own diagnostics fail as I can’t afford that level of equipment (generally that means my board is either burned out and needs replacement or something very critical is shorting and I need a pro to find out what, how, and what to do about it), and anything that requires soldering because I have a tremor in my right hand and maybe set a board on fire once in the dining room, but whatever, it’s on my To Learn List.

You should know your computer inside and out.  Within twenty four hours of getting a new laptop, I take it apart down to the base while taking pictures of each step. My excuse is generally to upgrade my hard drive immediately because Dell hard drives are shit. 

The real reason I do it immediately is that the first time you take apart anything, it should be when there is nothing wrong, you have nothing else to do, and you’re calm and therefore have all the time in the world to just be curious, go ungodly slow, lose screws, forget to reconnect something, and wonder wtf they were thinking during the design stage as you track down each component to find out what ungodly place they put it this time. 

The absolute worst time to first explore terra laptop innards is when something goes wrong; you will most likely break something very important and need either a pro to fix it or worst case, a new laptop. 

Ideally, the first time you have to crack your case you have already done it so often you’ve memorized the steps and know where everything is.  You should still have the manual open and available and youtube up on a screen near you (phone, tablet, other PC, whatever).

Ideally you should be able to do the following yourself:

1.) upgrade/replace your laptop battery, hard drive, and RAM at very minimum. 

RAM and hard drive are generally gimmes in most laptops; some models you don’t even have to open the case but just open a single panel on the bottom for access to those.  Batteries are getting weirder to get to--why they’re burying it inside the case is anyone’s guess--but are stupid easy to replace.

2.) optional but recommended: upgrade/replace your keyboard, touchpad, wireless card, and cmos (bios battery).

Keyboards wear out/break/get sticky shit in them/etcand so do touchpads.  Wireless card problems aren’t actually very likely and neither is needing to replace the CMOS in under four years, but it could happen.

These generally require opening the case (and all those incredibly stupid tiny fucking screws) and meeting your board face to face.  Read your manual even if you’ve done this before, watch youtube (or have it on standby), and move slowly but with confidence.

3.) Very, very optional: upgrade/replace your screen**.

(This assumes the components listed in one and two (excluding battery) were not soldered onto the board; don’t buy a laptop where RAM, hard drive, or wireless card are soldered on, please.  Check for that when buying.)

These comprise about 95% of the upgrades/repairs the average laptop will ever need.

If you’re laptop exists, there is or will be very shortly a youtube of someone doing a full breakdown and rebuild; watch and learn.  Within three months, someone will post a full end to end repair/upgrade of literally every component in a given laptop. You are not alone.

Laptop Screen Replacement:

** So this one I debated putting here and decided to go for it, but please read this again if you’re considering doing it.

I’ve done lid disassembly and even screen replacements a few times on my laptops--17″ 4K touchscreen, even--and it’s not hard.  Generally, it requires a near-full to full breakdown depending on the model, removing the hinges, and disassembling the lid, but that’s just a matter of being careful and methodical. 

Replacing a screen isn’t hard, no, but it requires you be extremely patient and very, very, very precise due to the multitude of stupidly thin wires that must be threaded just so through incredibly tiny, stupidly narrow grooves in the lid and hinge so a.) the connector(s) reach the webcam, b.) the connector(s) reach the board and c.) you don’t accidentally sever a wire when putting it back together and hint: you do it wrong, that will definitely happen.  Some models are easier or harder than others; it depends on model, screen type, and your options (webcam, touchscreen, resolution, etc) how complicated this will get.

My nightmare was a Dell Alienware 17R2 with a 4K touchscreen.  The breakdown, lid disassembly, and removing the old screen took me maybe ten minutes. I took a pictures of each step when I started the lid disassembly so I had a very clear visual reference of exactly what it should look like and had my manual and youtube ready.  When I’d gotten my laptop, I’d done a partial lid disassembly just in case one day I needed to do this, so I was perfectly comfortable during the process. I was fine up to the second I installed the new screen in the lid.

Setting all those ridiculously thin fucking wires down in their tiny fucking grooves in the right fucking order took an hour and a half to get right and some even my kit’s tweezers couldn’t manage and I was using my goddamn fingernails to slot the assholes into place.  It took me about three tries to get everything into position on the lid at least marginally correctly, threaded through the hinge, and connected to the board, and it almost matched the Before Picture.  I was genuinely shocked when the screen came on when I finally powered up and the webcam worked. Go me, I guess.

Since then, I try and do a full lid disassembly including screen at least once with each laptop I get just to lower my stress level.  I also really really really try to avoid even the vague possibility of circumstances occurring that could cause my screen to be damaged.  And I like taking my computers apart; that’s my idea of a fun Saturday night.

I would have left this off the list of things to do at home except screen replacement can be a minimum of $100 (not including the price of the part) and can go up to $500 or more.  It is very doable, but doing it doubles as a home psychology experiment on yourself on how you perform very precise tasks involving very tiny and thin items under a great deal of stress, so. 

Learn Linux:

God yes.  Also, SO MUCH FUN.

I am soon going to have to laptop hunt as my MacBook nears death and a friend recommended the framework laptop. Curious if you (or anyone else!) has an opinion on it?

The concept sounds good to me but I am not computer savvy and don't know if it's one of those "only sounds good on paper" situations

I like the theory of the framework but I'm skeptical of it in practice?

Basically it seems like a pretty decent idea for making upgrading easier however it doesn't actually seem that much easier than cracking open a basic PC and. Uh.

Okay. So my computer has a new generation processor (i always forget if I've got 10th or 11; it's 11, I just checked), came with 8GB RAM, and a 256GB SSD and a Pro Window's license. I happened to order it when shortages were worse, so it cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $850 after tax.

This is the framework laptop that you can pre-order now:

I upgraded the RAM immediately, tossing in an extra 16GB for about $90; if I'd wanted to make that 40GB total instead of 24GB total it would have cost about $150. When I was throwing that in, I happened to see that there's a slot for a second SSD, so if I wanted to I could throw in a 1TB Western Digital, which costs about $115. There's usually about a $100 difference in price when you jump up a processor model, so if I wanted an i7 instead of the i5 off the shelf that probably would have bumped the base price up by $200-300, but if I was configuring something the price probably would have gone up about $150. Upgrading from a home edition to a pro license is $95 direct from the Microsoft website.

So, let's say that I think the base-model framework is unimpressive and I want to add a 1TB SSD for $115, go to 32GB RAM for $150 (at the high end), splurge on a better processor for $150, and go with a Pro license on my OS. That would probably jack the price up quite a bit, right? $150 plus $150 plus $115 plus $95 - that's five hundred and ten dollars more, on top of an entry price that was already two hundred over what I paid after taxes. That takes your $1050 computer all the way up to $1560.

But, of course, Framework isn't using off the shelf parts, they're using modules that you can easily pop in with no effort or training.

Which is why a Framework computer that's only marginally better than my "meh" lenovo isn't $1560, it's $2050.

That does come with 4 USB-C expansion packs (my computer has 2 USB-C, 2 USB-A, 1 HDMI, 1 SD Card Slot) but you've got to pay extra ($39) for the Ethernet port.

I don't know. I just don't know.

I like the idea of an extremely customizable computer, but from where I'm sitting the Framework doesn't actually look all that customizable and it only seems easy to work on compared to Macbooks and 2-in-1s. Pretty much any HP, Lenovo, or Dell laptop that is a *laptop* and not an ultrabook or touchscreen is going to be only slightly harder to repair than a framework.

Like, it's great that you're able to say 'I don't want 4 USB-C ports, I want to change some of those to these these other options' and can swap out for an ethernet port or an extra terabyte of storage but *only* having 4 ports seems like it's maybe not enough? And the swappable modules are actually a pretty limited selection?

But here's the other thing: Part of right to repair is setting standards that work across devices that mean that multiple parts are compatible with multiple computers - at the moment the guts of the framework (RAM, storage, processor, etc.) seem pretty much like the guts of any other computer, so what you're paying all this extra money for is external ports, at which point you might as well get a USB hub or an adapter.

Seriously. The expansion modules essentially say "plug this in so you don't have to worry about an adapter" in their descriptions.

Framework makes a big deal about how all the parts are replaceable with one screwdriver, but all the parts on my computer are replacable with one screwdriver and an old credit card to pop the tabs out. You can buy a spudger for five bucks if you're feeling fancy.

Also I don't super know how I feel about the expected lifespan of these devices. It doesn't really get talked about anywhere on the site but. Like. Part of the OTHER reason that people like right to repair is that they want their shit to last longer. This does not particularly seem like it's going to be a long-lived device. It seems to be pretty similar to most other similarly-sized laptops only the company will directly sell you hinges and bezels if something cracks. That is, admittedly, easier than trying to get a bezel for a six-year-old Dell, or something, but hinge and bezel replacements aren't that common and are still pretty user-manageable (unless you're looking at an ultrabook or a convertible or a touchscreen).

Honestly I think you'd probably be better off getting a middle-of-the-road Dell and paying for one of their ridiculously long warranties, or something like that. That way you'd get a similar caliber of computer but if something broke it would be the manufacturer's problem, not yours. (I'm naming dell specifically here because dell specifically has the longest and most comprehensive service plans and actually do a decent job of service stuff; Lenovo and HP are both kind of crap for that and every other manufacturer is REALLY crap for that)

It just seems like a lot of money to pay for something that isn't all that spectacular in terms of customization or ease of repair.