Yeah I actually work in a dev team where about half of us picked up programming outside of college. That includes our boss, who’s also the most technically proficient in my opinion. He went through a Microsoft-certified boot camp instead. Some of my uncles are engineers that had college paid for by their company, since they were already shown to be valuable workers without it.

I get the appeal of being able to just look for a candidate’s school instead of doing more heavy-lifting when evaluating a candidate, but the growing over-reliance is to everyone’s detriment. Companies will be missing out on some real talent, and qualified applicants have trouble getting the opportunity to prove themselves.

I am not a lawyer, but consumer protections should generally kick in when an issue is actually evaluated in a court. If you are being charged for things you believe to be unfair, you would need to refuse to pay, then see them in action after the business escalates it. Often, a predatory business will give up when it knows it doesn’t have a case. But it’s pretty hard to work on behalf of a citizen if they ultimately are convinced that they do have an obligation to pay after all.

I agree with the other commenter on the first issue. If you have been paying the amount you were charged, and then hit with surprise retroactive charges, you would have a serious case in small claims. I expect a judge would favor you if it’s as described. $1000 for late fees is exorbitant, especially when the glitch was from their software and not rectified quickly. Unless you’re leaving out relevant details that explains the situation better.

For the second issue, needlessly cumbersome cancellation processes are considered dark patterns and may be illegal in some cases. These cases are being enforced more recently, even against large companies like Amazon. For your pest control case though, if you face pushback when cancelling it’s pretty simple to tell them you won’t be using their services and will refuse to pay. If you already paid, you may be able to issue a chargeback after explaining the situation to your bank. Seeing as how you would be being charged for services not done, I don’t see how the business could contest that after being informed of the cancellation. You would still be on the hook for a (reasonable) cancellation fee, as lost business from a cancelled reservation does represent real damages.

We are a country with a litigious history and we have recognized considerable rights for consumers. Just because you feel powerless doesn’t mean you are.

Of course, and any job will expect some degree of training anyway. But there’s only so much that can be tested for before hiring someone. A degree is just a reference from the university that you meet their standards of mastery at whatever major at whatever level. Some jobs expect you to have one just like some expect you to have references from individuals, but others will have other tests for qualification which may even just be an interview conversation. Apprenticeships are pretty similar; each is an individual or group staking their reputation on vouching for your competency. Even a GED or high school diploma is a reference, just from an organization or a public institution.

There doesn’t seem to be a pattern for whatever name politicians become known by colloquially, except last name is most common. Hillary makes sense to distinguish her from Bill, but I remember people generally using her first and last. Kamala is usually Kamala, but you see Harris too. Trump is Trump, but you’ll see people use his first name at times (like r/TheDonald). Biden is still referred to as Joe occasionally. Bernie was much more common than Sanders. For supreme court justices, it’s usually last name or first and last. I’ve never seen anyone refer to AOC as just Alexandria. Obama is Obama, but I’ve seen Barack in really informal contexts. Nancy Pelosi is first and last. Elizabeth Warren is either first and last or just last.

I was using it almost daily from the start and felt worse for it, so I started dreading taking it and quickly preferred no medication. I eventually finished it off and instead of getting a refill, I switched to something that worked great from the start and was cheaper.

I’m not saying it’s not a good medication, I even recommend it, but if it requires a strict schedule and that much of a miserable buildup just to still be worse than an alternative it’s simply not the right one for me.

I went through a month’s supply of strattera before switching to adderall. I also only took it on “need to be productive” days, which may have been the wrong approach. I was reluctant to take it otherwise because of the side effects. I felt like it did help me focus on tasks, but the benefit was essentially offset by the drowsiness it caused making it something of a wash for my productivity. I work at home so I would end up needing to take a nap most days I took it. Sleeping became very refreshing though, which was a silver lining.

Other symptoms were a pounding head, a decrease in appetite, and an increase in anxious thoughts. None of the symptoms were intense except drowsiness, and all of them mellowed out after a few weeks.

Adderall works a lot better for me now and has fewer side effects. But I’ve seen others in the community really appreciate what straterra has done for them, so it seems to vary a lot from person to person. Despite my disappointment with it, it may be worth trying if stimulants aren’t working well for you. My doctor recommended it initially because it was working well for some of her other patients.

Ideally, an audience would pick up on the bad-faith side not addressing arguments, engaging in personal attacks, making unjustified claims, etc. and be unimpressed. The interrupting especially should prompt some intervention by a moderator, but usually they don’t have a means of preventing it from happening other than chastising after the fact so it still relies on some degree of human decency.

I’d still call it a debate, just a poor quality one.

For anyone else curious but unfamiliar, this is from “The Second Coming”, a poem by W. B. Yeats written shortly after WWI.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_Coming_(poem)

That’s true, but the information age allows us to be more keenly aware of problems that aren’t just local. Our new ability to be online has contributed to an uptick in mental health issues.

Fortunately, being able to shine a spotlight on problems in the world also puts pressure on us to improve. We do have issues like financial inequality and global warming that have recently gotten worse, but if you look at trends like violent crime, illiteracy, global hunger, extreme poverty, child mortality, or deaths to many longstanding diseases, it is hard not to realize that we’re actually collectively doing a good job of making the world better.

I have a hoarding problem too, so I will share a few tips.

• As others have said, the wiki is really good in this game, and can be launched from the chat. If you’re wondering how useful something is, the wiki page will have a list of aquisition methods so you can verify if you can get another copy later. Also good for clearing out the turn in to npc items, as it tells you where to find them.
• For things that aren’t account/soul bound, I usually just sell them on the trading post if they aren’t immediately useful. If you need it again, just buy one back for a slight premium. I think of it like a storage unit.
• If you don’t want to do the above, look into creating a personal guild just for guild storage. Again, this only works for stuff that isn’t bound and takes some up front work and money, but in terms of cost per slot, it is very efficient.
• Mule characters are a common if cumbersome solution to this. Just create a new character and offload stuff through your bank. Anything you need again later they can send back.
• I would recommend upgrading to 18 slot bags when they seem affordable. Keep in mind you get most of your money back from selling your old bags on the trading post, so don’t worry about settling for something affordable now. There are also some achievements and thing that reward large bags.
• Most vendors have a sell tab with a button to sell all junk. Use this, as there is no other use for those items. Items that mention “this has no value outside of a collection” or similar can also be safely sold to an npc, as they are added to the collection on aquisition. If they are leftovers for renown hearts or similar, just delete them.
• If you have excess for non-ascended crafting components, I would go to the bank and sell off the stack and repeat the next time it gets full. Ascended crafting mats are unfortunately account bound but you can get rid of these with gobblers/converters for a reward if you want to get those.
• If you haven’t already, get familiar with two buttons in your inventory: deposit all materials and compact. The former moves stuff to its dedicated slot in your bank and the latter gets rid of gaps in your bags so new stuff goes to the bottom. The dedicated slot is also accessed for crafting too…
• Rare/yellow gear and below can generally be salvaged (or sold to the trading post) without worry, since they are common enough random drops. There might be some bound gear from your initial character creation, leveling, or achievements that are technically unique, but they are replaceable with much better things anyway. Any unique skins would be granted on salvage/aquisition. Again, you can use the wiki if you want to be sure.

Audiobookbay and smart audiobook player is my setup too. I probably got it from a similar thread. My only annoyance is using audiobookbay’s search can be annoying sometimes, but altogether I love both.

I haven’t been in the workforce all that long but I did experience burnout at my previous job. I sacrificed my mental health so much that I couldn’t concentrate well, meaning I spent longer on work which made me more on edge and things just kept spiraling like that. I had a couple of months to reset with unemployment that did wonders for me.

I found for me the problem wasn’t the work itself but the amount and requirements for it. I am now at a different company doing much of the same tasks but with a less demanding schedule and can work from home. If I can’t focus, I can just walk away and come back to a task instead of feeling like I’m going to explode being trapped in front of work I just cannot pay attention to. And when I am working, I usually have Youtube, an audiobook, music, or a podcast playing to capture overflowing attention. There are still times when it gets bad but it’s uncommon and much more manageable.

I would focus on finding a company that has an emphasis on work-life balance, and is able to retain employees. Flexible schedules and work from home can be dangerous for people with ADHD but I honestly feel like it’s almost necessary. I am not sure I could go back even if it doubled my salary.

If you have Outlook, it will use a popup with a sound before meetings. The default is 15 minutes before and at the the start time, but it should be customizable. It’s very helpful for me.

Yeah it gets much better after the personal story leveling stuff. It’s an eleven year old game, and unfortunately the content that new players see first is the most dated. They originally leaned more into a more generic RPG story that just happens to be set in an mmo. Heart of Thorns is markedly better, and it just improves from there. By the time of Path of Fire, the story, characters, maps, and mechanics all feel interesting and meaningful imo.

I was able to get a prescription just from a family doctor: no referral needed. In fact, it was my first appointment with them since I had moved a few years ago and hadn't needed a doctor since. They went through a questionnaire about how frequently I experienced certain manifestations of symptoms in regular interactions with people, and the score was enough for them to move forward with medication.

From what I have seen, it is typically a much more involved process. If it matters, the prescription was for Straterra, which is not a controlled substance, so that might have meant we needed to go through fewer hoops. My doctor seemed willing to try other medications though. I also went to a smaller practice rather than a big hospital, so maybe that makes it easier to advance things.

I chose to get evaluated in the exact same process as you, even first thinking about the idea after seeing a lot of relatable neurodivergent memes. Over a couple months, I made a list of odd behaviors I seemed to do unusually frequently, and what prompted them. I realized it was very likely more than just unrelated personality quirks that were disrupting my life and making it harder for me to do basic things that others seemed to not struggle with. I also had a decent amount of my list be best explained by autism, but honestly I was more scared of that label and didn't bring it up with my doctor. I wanted to see if ADHD treatment would help with the others first.

So far, the benefit I've had with Straterra has been pretty minor compared to the side effects, but I saw other people saying it took time to adapt to it, and anyway I can try others too. My doctor originally recommended it because it was working for some of her other patients. I'm going to probably finish the supply I have and try something else.

Anyway, that's my ADHD diagnosis story so far. I can answer questions if you think of any.

Congratulations on escaping a bad situation! Stories like this have become all too common, but I think sharing how it gets better does some good. I honestly haven’t given much thought about where I want to spend my golden years, but financial independence is a big goal of mine.

And as for that last part, we’ll have eternity to appreciate the simplicity of death. I wouldn’t be too eager to be done with the world of the living when there’s a lot of cool stuff out there to explore and not much time to do it.

Without knowing more about your life, this kinda sounds like burnout to me. It is very common is tech fields especially. I would recommend trying to dial back on work if it’s killing your soul like this.

I worked at a high-paying dev job right out of college that consumed my life and put me in a very bad place mentally. I could not sustainably output what I needed to, and evetually I got fired. But walking out of the meeting I could not stop smiling from the tremendous relief I felt (this was when Covid was big so I had a mask on fortunately). It was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I was unemployed for a few months afterwards which is probably the happiest I’ve ever been. I didn’t travel or do anything noteworthy besides starting a small passion project. Finances weren’t an issue since I had a lot saved up and low expenses covered by unemployment.

After applying to places in no rush whatsoever and stressing my newfound appreciation for work-life balance in interviews, I ended up getting a job at a nonprofit government-adjacent company with full work-from-home and basically no time tracking. I make less but I can go through things at a pace I can handle and it makes a world of difference.

So if you have felt this way for a while I would recommend taking a break before committing to abandoning civilization. People with tech jobs like us tend to have options so don’t feel like it has to be misery or the wilderness. Because I can promise you there are places that will allow you to live as a human being. And it may just reignite your passion too. If you still feel like it after stepping away for a time, you can always escape society more dramatically later instead.

Also, I don’t want to diagnose you or anything when I don’t even know you but there could be some overlap with depression here when you lose passion for life and just generally become jaded at the world like this. Make sure you are communicating how you feel with people you feel comfortable around. Remember that things can always get better, although it sounds like you have been thinking about how to achieve that plenty already. But if things aren’t getting better, you might need to be the instigator for that change so I wouldn’t be afraid to go for it after exploring easier stuff first. Maybe just give camping a shot while you figure this out.

I didn’t mean for this to get so long, but your post resonated with me a lot I guess!

I’m on it now but will probably try something else when I run out. It helped me concentrate a bit, but the side effects were strong for me. The biggest was drowsiness. It was very hard to keep my eyes open. In some ways it was nice being able to go to sleep easily and having it feel restful. It hurt productivity though. I also made my head feel a bit dizzy and reduced my appetite noticeably. Its effects were basically immediate. I have heard it work really well for others though, so don’t let that discourage you.

Another list I got from a similar post on r/RedditAlternatives. I personally used Slide for reddit, so I’m excited about getting something similar for Lemmy. For now, I got Jerboa from the play store and am enjoying it.

https://lemmy.world/post/465785