#they talk for once

[nonpracticingintellectual]

:O an actual post from me! I wanted to give my (fully unwarranted and outsider) opinion on the response to the Ohio derailment. Of course, this is all from the experience and perspective of a hazmat technician who hasn't dealt with large scale environmental disasters like this.

Yes, it's scary. Yes, it's dangerous. Norfolk railroad didn't have the *best* response they could've, but in a real life situation nothing ever goes to plan. The one thing they did right is immediate notification of the EPA.

Now, on to current events. Vinyl chloride is an incredibly dangerous chemical, with the only good form of long distance transportation being by train. I cannot state anything about the status of the safety mechanisms on the rail car, however in a derailment it usually doesn't matter as the car gets punctured anyway. Safety wise, the TLV (Threshold Limit Value) is the acceptable value for continual exposure to a worker over an eight hour period is 1 ppm (part per million). A part per million can be equated to a single drop in 10 gallons of water, this is a very low TLV. OSHA also lists their own values, called PEL (permissible exposure limit), which is 1 ppm for vinyl chloride. Of course, these values are weighted for a chemical worker who is exposed 5 days a week for 8 hours a day. During an environmental disaster the short term exposure levels may be set higher based on recovery needs and other factors (such as being outside in an open area). Most of the other chemicals are toxic only with skin contact, however they are miscible in water.

I know there's a lot of worry about the water supply. The inlets and outlets of all water treatment plants, water inflows, etc are constantly monitored (on average a reading is taken every 2 seconds, 24/7/365, with automated systems to shutdown inflows if certain chemical concentrations are exceeded). These chemicals will most likely flow downstream and join the multitude of other chemicals dissolved in the water from leaking ship tanks, shipyards, military sites, etc. I don't forsee any long-term effects to the water supply after the initial bloom passes downstream.

The soil does need to be removed and remediated, and I believe the EPA is investigating why Norfolk's cleanup contractor didn't do that. The EPA is on your side frens, their number one priority is to keep you safe. They are one of the few alphabet soup agencies that has no ulterior motives.

In short, yes this is scary. I understand those who don't want to return, I would be cautious as well. But this isn't the end of the world, the town isn't going to be destroyed. Within a few months the area should be completely back to normal. Modern chemical monitoring equipment is fantastic and allows for blanket networks of monitoring equipment that can detect chemicals down to parts per billion (1 drop of water in 10,000 gallons of water, the average swimming pool) and smaller.

Drink bottled water, reduce time outside, and monitor your physical health. You can worry yourself sick, literally, the brain is an incredible organ, and the placebo effect works incredibly well. The mayor himself lives two blocks away from the accident, this is going to get solved properly.

If you have any questions feel free to send an ask, I love talking about chemical safety and protecting the environment.

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[haunted-xander]

If you skip a meal Senshi will materialize next to you w/ food at the ready

[scurvyboy]

and he may ask himself "well, how did i get here?"

[inkskinned]

i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".

it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.

do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.

but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.

do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).

you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.

walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.

no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.

do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."

you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.

there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.

i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.

he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."

[borgevino]

the allergy i am seeing grow up around small talk in any form is troubling to me. do you know how to make friends with people in your physical environment? it typically starts with small talk. do you want to live in community? small talk. do you want to have the type of relationship with your neighbors where you can run over and borrow a battery for your smoke detector when it starts beeping at 10pm? small talk!! do you want leeway from your coworkers when you fuck up something small? you gotta be able to build a relationship and that's small talk, baybeee.

"but i don't need friends and i don't care about community!" okay, lone ranger, what about the people in your community who need you? "but i have social anxiety!" me too, bud! we simply must soldier on. making up lists of questions to ask people helps. and people are predisposed to be generous, i've found. even if you make some kind of mistake, what is this but the natural give and take of human interaction? nobody is perfect.

you were not put on this earth to live by yourself and then die. you need people and people need you. treat those around you with curiosity and generousness of spirit and you will gain so much goodwill in return.

[spiribia]

once you hit adulthood a day will come when you’re suddenly like VEGETABLES 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 and it never goes away

[fox-mulder-gets-pegged]

I just wanna say bc I KNOW you're somewhere on tumblr, to the teenage girl who attended Take Your Kid To Work Day at an office building in Ontario, Canada circa 2013 and had a conversation with a middle aged woman in which you showed her your Black Veil Brides fanart and fanfics and ship content and told her about different fanfic tropes including a/b/o verse bc she happened to know who Panic! at The Disco and Fallout Boy were and thus you felt the need to show her your bandblr ship art, that was my fucking mother and I had to clarify all that to her including looking my mother in the eye and trying to explain a/b/o verse without sounding like a lunatic.

It's been 10 years and I still regularly sent evil energies in your direction. Since you'd be probably two years younger than me and thus legally an adult now, please know if this post reaches you it's on sight.

[smokeys-house]

If tumblr shuts down you can find me in living in a shotgun shack. If tumblr shuts down you can find me in another part of the world. If tumblr shuts down you can find me behind the wheel of a large automobile. If tumblr shuts down you can find me in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife. It tumblr shuts down I'll send myself an ask that says "how did I get here?"

[akanemnon]

I don't like this place. It's turning everyone edgy and sad.

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[hinamie]

spiraling

[ghosted-jazz]

I am not immune to this car salesman fairy and his traumaised iPad kid

[ghostbsuter]

"You're an ancient." Zatanna breaths out, watching as Phantom's hair grew into a startling black, tiny stars being born and the comets flying.

"I am."

Breaking from her shock, she shakes her head. "You show mercy. Not many gods of their home do so."

Phantom agrees with her. "Not many of these gods have been born human before."

[turtleblogatlast]

Leo learns something about himself 🏳️‍⚧️

Based roughly on this old post.

Bonus:

[Leo is taking the fact that he was born biologically female simultaneously very well and also not so well but overall he’s mostly coping with the fact that it was Draxum that just essentially gave him the turtle equivalent of ‘The Talk’.]

[chloesimaginationthings]

Michael still has beef with Ennard in FNAF…

[oilith]

Don't laugh at people or mock people who are "childish". People are allowed to like things that are considered "childish". Toys, kids cartoons, anything like that can be a valuable source of comfort for the people who like them. It's important to have things in life that make you happy, and without them it gets miserable. Wether that thing is stuffed animals or cooking or writing lyrics, what's important is that others don't ridicule and belittle them for it. There shouldn't be such judgement for the things that make people happy.