busybee

I knew things were going to be bad, but I wasn’t expecting just how out-loud bad they’ve been starting on day 1.

Erin in the Morning is a great site to follow. Also What The Fuck Just Happened Today?

I have deactivated my Facebook. Not that I was very active there anyway but it’s clearly not the place for me, per the CEO’s own missive.

I’m flying my pride flag high. Soon I’ll be hosting someone who’s escaping from a deep-red state for a couple weeks, I hope to do more to help my local community.

Everything important in my life feels like it’s either under attack or has become a shouting match.

I hope I can get in a good headspace for working on music. I have a game jam coming up this weekend and a month-long one in February.

Tomorrow I have a small show in VRChat and then I have my appointment with the ENT which will hopefully help me find a solution for my vertigo, and after that I have the first night of choir practice for this season, and I’m holding on to what I can.

I was in a secret relationship with an architect who presented himself in a very Willy Wonka-esque way. He had a great quality of showmanship, and parlayed this into becoming president of the United States of America, with me as his vice president.

Several times I explained to him Willy Wonka’s whole deal, and he kept on pretending to not understand or not see how this applied to him. After explaining specifically Gene Wilder’s take on the character, with the cane and the somersault to tell the audience that he was lying, I came to realize that this one was lying too. I still loved him, but I was suspicious of him.

One evening we were taking a stroll around the White House grounds, when we heard a sound coming from a glass container that we used as a storage facility. I saw a shadowy figure trying to cut small holes in the glass, and the president and I split up to take a look. I managed to subdue the figure; she was an Italian spy, dressed in black and masked. The president ran off for safety while I struggled with her, and when I unmasked her, she turned out to be a chinchilla.

“What were you doing?” I asked the chinchilla.

“I am trying to prevent a president from being the president.”

“Are you trying to murder my husband?!”

“No… back in time. The fifth president. They should not be a thing.”

We had a struggle. I accidentally stepped on one of her paws, causing her to yelp in pain. I felt bad for her, and offered to take her home.

On the way we discussed anarchy, and I admitted that I was only vice president as a point of convenience and distraction, and that I was myself an anarcho-socialist, and I was very interested in her ideas about how to bring down the presidency, and the government as a whole.

For hours we tried to navigate through the Washington DC subway system, and as we talked I became increasingly self-conscious about my vice presidential ID badge hanging around my neck.

Finally we made it to her subway stop, and we agreed to meet up for coffee later.

Back in June of 2022 I was let go from a job in a way where I was eligible for unemployment benefits. I immediately filed an unemployment claim, but the response that it was “pending adjudication” due to a wrinkle in how I was let go. I was told that I needed to continue to submit claims weekly if I was to receive any benefits.

However, I was unable to submit those claims. The website would not allow me to submit a claim because it was “pending adjudication,” and all contacts to the ESD resulted in a message that I should call a phone number. I called that number, and I’d be put on hold for two hours, told that nobody was available to help me, and that I should use the website for my unemployment claims needs.

One week ago the adjudication finally found in my favor, but at this point my benefit period has almost ended and I will still be unable to receive my unemployment benefits. And I am told that I should have been submitting my claims every week during this whole period — which I was unable to do, for the reasons stated.

How is any of this fair? This is a frustrating bureaucratic nightmare that needs to be completely overhauled. Sometimes it feels like the cruelty is the point, and that this system is not in place to benefit the people who need it.

Thank you for your consideration.

(Also sent to my state representatives Emily Alvarado and Joe Fitzgibbon, and senator Joe Nguyen.)