Ya know…

I’ve been on “X” (The application formerly known as Twitter,) for about two years, this time.

I’ve made plenty of comments. Some snarky, some funny, some very serious. But I’ve not made comments wherein I called someone I’d never interacted with, dumb shit or motherfucker.

The left on the other hand often tends to end their comments on something I might have said with epithets like that. 

I responded to Senator Markwayne Mullin the other day.

Senator Mullin was calling out the hypocrisy of the Democrat members of Congress over the admittedly careless conversation Pete Hegseth and others had on the Signal app.

The Senator correctly pointed out that the Signal App was approved for communications by the Government. He also pointed out that none of the material was necessarily classified and that while “Yes,” the discussion should have perhaps been handled over other channels. The issue was not as “Devastating, or a threat to National Security,” as the media and Democrats have been trying to paint it as.

I took a different position. I directly asked Senator Mullin this;

My question was based in what I remembered from the days when I had a security clearance.

I vaguely remember something about identifying myself if I was included on an email or other communication that was above my clearance level.

At the time it made perfect sense to me. I thought it was based not only in operational security but common decency and politeness, so my compliance was one of those things that came completely naturally.

Perhaps its because of my experience with clearances, my recognition that some classifications were so far beyond me that my knowing anything about certain subjects could get me imprisoned, or just that I was raised right, that the question popped into my head.

The one and only time I was included in something that I was not cleared for and brought it to the attention of the meeting organizer, I was complimented and several weeks later rewarded with a higher clearance.

I’d established that I could be trusted. Even though the higher clearance meant more responsibility, and more training in dealing with the different classification. It was worth it.

So it’s from this perspective that I viewed the situation.

Senator Mullin does almost daily posts where he explains the inner workings of Congress and topics that may be occupying the news cycle. I’ll rarely miss one of his posts because they’re informative and he speaks plainly.

There were a number of comments directed at my question that were about 50/50 positive/negative. But one comment was a one sentence very angry defense of Goldberg that ended with the writer calling me a dumbshit.

I don’t really care, but then I thought about it and wondered why the person was so angry.

I looked at their profile and on many issues, I agreed with their positions. What I didn’t agree with was this person’s frequently calling people that they didn’t agree with, dumbshit, motherfucker, cocksucker, etc…

I’ve got a foul mouth, but I try not to say, “Hey you! Yes you! Yeah, dumbshit! You! You’re a load your mother wishes she’d swallowed.

I might think it. But I’d no more say that, than the man in the moon.

Then I thought about it and decided I’m implementing a new rule.

I’m going to block anyone that speaks to me in a way that I wouldn’t tolerate in a bar. From this perspective, if I’d not speak to you in a bar, or hang out with you in person, there is no incentive whatsoever to put up with you on X.

So, my blocked list grows, not out of fear, or being thin skinned. I simply refuse to be a punching bag for abusive people whether I may agree with them or not.

I value myself too highly to waste time arguing online or to take anyone’s shit.

Treat yourself well, and have a great day.

Well that goofy email turned out to be a real job inquiry.

It was a legitimate job.

When I responded they sent me a little 15 question quiz, which to answer properly would have been at least a 15 page response. 

That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that the further I went into the answers the more I realized they didn’t want just a person to do a job. What they really wanted was a manager or a lead role.

The more I thought about that, the more I remembered why I’d stepped away from management roles. Then I thought about managing people in today’s workforce and everyone’s feelings and pronouns and gender identity and racial identity, how much politics has permeated the business world, and how easily offended people are…

Still further into the quiz, my stomach knotted, the pounding in my ears grew, and after wondering why I was in such a foul mood, it dawned on me the mere thought of being in management again was triggering me.

It’s not that I can’t do lead roles or management. It’s that when I’d stepped away, people were already more interested in all the bullshit distractions than actually doing the job.

Being labeled a manager or lead had become only a title and the manager was nothing more than a fall guy when something didn’t work. But that person had no real authority to control the outcome. 

The role was a placeholder to insulate upper management whose poor decisions could potentially lead to project failure.

I can’t begin to imagine how horrifically screwed up being in one of those roles would be today.

What became crystal clear was that I not only wanted no part of that, but that physically it wouldn’t be healthy.

I made a decision. 

Much as I want and need a job. It is still as true today, as when I exited from management, I choose to be happy, healthy, and want to be able to put the day behind me without worry.

I spent too many years worrying about my job, doing the job well, dealing with problems, (project and personnel related,) missing out on vacations, time with Jerry, and in the end I did all this for very little reward or even recognition.

I sent a polite but direct “Thanks, but no thanks” email. 

I’m breathing easier, and the stress is leaving.

It might not have been the wisest decision, but it was the correct one.

Ahhh, Is it a SCAM or isn’t it a SCAM? That is the question.

I got an email yesterday. It appears to be a response to a job application.

The English is good. 

Had it showed up in my normal inbox, I’d have been giddy. But for some reason it was in my junk mail folder.

Hmmm. Why would that be?

It’s possible that the reason was that all CAPS subject line. That might have tripped the junk filter.

I’d have ignored it except that the rest of the message looks like a standard business email.

Hmmm.

Then, because I’m desperate for a job, and I have nothing better to do, I looked at the routing and header information.

That’s not exactly true, I have better things to do it’s just that those things aren’t things I actually want to do. In other words, I’m procrastinating and engaging in a bit of sophistry with myself as to the importance of determining if this is a real response.

So I looked up the originating domain. It was registered the same day as the email was sent. Well, that’s suspicious but the originating domain could just be a way for the company in question to separate recruiting email from the main corporate email.

The company is a global enterprise, as such, I could see the logic in keeping the two separate. The newness of the domain registration could have tripped the junk mail filter. It’s possible that said domain’s registration had not propagated to whitelists yet.

Inconclusive.

I looked at the originating email server’s IP address. It’s in Helsinki Finland. Weird!

Also associated with that IP are a number of complaints claiming that a lot of spam / scam email was coming from that particular email server. The most recent  complaint email was 3 years old. It’s possible that the junk mail filter was tripped by this older data and associated black list information.

Still inconclusive. 

Things happen fast in the IT world and 3 years is an eternity. 

The IP address could have been cleaned up, or reallocated, the owner might simply have misconfigured the email server and corrected the problem that was allowing SPAM mail to pass through it.

The Domain is registered in Germany. It could be that they’re using an email server in Finland. Although why not an email server in Berlin or Munich?

Still inconclusive.

This email has an X-Spam score of 12.5. Anything above a 5 is considered spam, that’s probably why the junk mail filter reacted.

However the X-Spam scoring system is based on previous behaviors, complaints, & reliability data. This is why it’s vitally important that email servers be configured properly such that unauthorized users cannot use them to send spam. It’s a pain in the behind to regain your reputation after a billion spam email have been sent through your server.

More conclusive.

The X-Spam system isn’t bad, but it can make mistakes.

Oddly, I can’t find any evidence that I’ve applied to this company. That being said, if they were using a recruiting firm I wouldn’t necessarily have a direct link. The position description in the message looks very much like something I would have applied to.

So, after all of this, it comes down to faith. Not faith in the email itself but faith that my defenses are strong enough to repel an onslaught of spam from some nefarious person or persons, attempting to rip me off.

There is one thing that caught my attention. There is IPv6 data in the email header. That makes me think the email may be legitimate. IPv6 is not something I’d expect to see coming from a spammer. Not that it’s impossible. I just wouldn’t expect to see it coming from a teenager in their mom’s basement.

Well, Hell.

I guess I’ll check my defenses, run another header analysis and respond.

I hate that I’ve been kicked enough that I’m so suspicious. But after a 5 year job search where so many scammers have wasted my time and had me jumping through hoops trying to get my personal data it just makes sense.

Happy time change!

It’s just a single hour. It shouldn’t make that big a difference.

Yet, Seeing that it’s 9 am when the sun and my body are saying it’s 8 am really screws me up.

It’ll take a week or more for me to readjust and let’s not even talk about poor Jesse. 

He’s all about the sun in the sky and doesn’t appreciate his schedule being messed with because I’m obeying some numbers on a clock face.

I’ll spend the next month glancing at the clock and thinking I’m always late, not to mention what this does to my sleep.

I thought we weren’t going to be playing this game anymore. Didn’t California have some legislation pending, didn’t Trump promise to do away with this insanity?

I’m just cranky.

I’ve never been able to get a clear answer. AZ doesn’t swap DST/Normal Time. As of today in CA our time is the same as AZ time.

What is the real time? Did AZ put a stick in the ground one day and set Noon when the stick cast no shadow? Or is the other time that we just left, the real time?

Maybe I’ll put a stick in the ground and check myself!

Have a good day, is it a shorter day or a longer day? I’m so confused!!!

What is up with X and their prices?

I don’t know what’s going on, but X is getting flat out weird. They’ve literally doubled their price in just the past month or so.

I purchased a blue checkmark last year. My intent was to dabble a bit in monetization via putting out a virtual “tip” jar, seeing how that went then moving into subscriptions. 

I wasn’t expecting to make a lot of money, it was more about gaining experience and trust in the backend payment processing services. There are a lot of these services, and many have terrible reviews and/or horror stories about getting payouts. They’re not very highly rated on the customer support side of things either.

I’m thankful that I took advantage of X’s yearly subscription special because when I signed up for “Premium+” it was about $100 for the year.

4 Months later, that membership is $340. I’ve seen 2 price hikes in 4 months. Oh and I wasn’t able to test the subscription stuff where X paid me for content. I’ve dragged my feet on establishing the “tip” jar because their “preferred” payment processor seems like they have a lot more “Horsepower” and expense than I’m looking for.

That being said, it’s probably all a moot point anyway, because I’m not going to be renewing the subscription.

After the first price hike I was questioning renewal. After the second price hike their fate is sealed. Based on their averages there will be 4 more price hikes before my renewal date comes up.

I’m sure that I can’t afford that. As it is, I’m looking for a new web host. My current one has gotten way too expensive and every bit of their sales/support team is offshore.

Do we see a trend here?

Prices increasing, value per dollar decreasing?

X is kind of interesting. Their AI is interesting. But the value for either is not worth the price unless the algorithm allows you a wider audience that is also blue check marked. Without that wider audience making money sharing “pearls of wisdom” is a bust.

It’s funny too, when I signed up, there were always posts about people getting their first contributor check, or folks being excited to begin contributing. 

Pretty much 5 days after I signed up, those happy posts were gone. Now those sort of posts are exceedingly rare.

What’s become more common over the past few weeks has been people posting they’re not renewing their subscription, (monthly, or yearly,) and apologizing to their followers who rely on verified blue check users to remain monetized.

To be honest I’m losing my taste for X and I can’t really say why. 

I’m having far more, (as X puts it,) regretted seconds than un-regretted seconds.

That means the ROI for the subscription is low, and dropping. X increasing prices just drives more people to abandon the blue checkmark.

It’s their business, they can charge whatever they want, but I don’t have to support it.

My blue checkmark will be around until November then I’m going the be just another one of the unverified riff-raff.