you need to deliver a staff to enthir. what staff? who is enthir? it’s been so long since you were asked to deliver this staff. it remains in your inventory, though you do not remember where you got it. you know exactly where enthir is, though you do not remember his face.
the waterfalls have stopped working. you seem them in the distance, still, unmoving. you can hear the crashing of the water, but it is frozen in place. the locals do not notice.
you open a book. restoration increased to 100. you open another book. enchanting increased to 100. you spend only a few minutes in this library, and leave as an all-powerful being.
you realise that you have only ever heard the same five voices. everyone you meet starts to sound so alike. you have killed many people who screamed in your wife’s voice.
you have never seen a dunmer child. you have never seen any elf child, in fact. the only children here are nords. you soon realise that their faces look exactly alike. even the eyes, you notice. they are wide and afraid.
you have seen many dragons crash straight into mountains. you have seen fewer dragons emerge from the mountains.
you have forgotten the songs of your hometown. the melodies faded from your memory long ago. you try to ask the local bard to play your favourite childhood song. you try so hard. your memories escape you. you have only ever heard five songs. you ask him to play ragnar the red.
I’m going to give you the best piece of Adult Life Is Hard advice I’ve ever learned:
Talk to people when things go to shit.
I don’t just mean get it off your chest, although that’s good. I mean: Something’s wrong with your paycheck/you lost your job/you had unexpected emergency car repairs and now you’re broke so your credit card payment is late. Like, not just 15 days late. We’re talking, shit got crazy and now you’re 90 days late with compounded interest and late fees and the Minimum Payment Due is, like, $390, and you’ve got about $3.90 in your bank account. Call the credit card company.
I know it’s scary. I know you feel like you’re going to get in trouble, like you’re gong to get yelled at or scolded for not having your life together. But the credit card company isn’t your parents; they’re just interested in getting money from you. And you can’t squeeze blood from a stone or money from someone who doesn’t have any. So what you do is you call them. You explain you’re experiencing temporary financial hardships, and you’re currently unable to bring your account up to date, but you don’t want to just let it get worse. Can you maybe talk to someone about a payment plan so you can work something out? Nine times out of ten you’ll be able to negotiate something so that at least it’s not just taking a constant, giant shit on your credit score.
- Can’t pay your power bill? Call the power company.
- Can’t pay your full rent? Talk to your landlord.
- Had to go to the hospital without insurance and have giant medical bills looming in your place? Call the hospital and ask if they have someone who helps people with financial hardships. Many do.
- Got super sick and missed half a semester of class because flu/pneumonia/auto-immune problems/depressive episode? Talk to your professor. If that doesn’t help, talk to your advisor.
You may not be able to fix everything, but you’ll likely be able to make improvements. At the very least, it’s possible that they have a list of people you can contact to help you with things. (Also, don’t be afraid to google things like, “I can’t pay my power bill [state you live in]” because you’d be surprised at what turns up on Google!) But the thing is, people in these positions gain nothing if you fail. There’s no emotional satisfaction for them if your attempts at having your life together completely bite the dust. In fact, they stand to benefit if things work out for you! And chances are, they’ll be completely happy to take $20 a month from you over getting $0 a month from you, your account will be considered current because you’ve talked to them and made an agreement, you won’t get reported to a collections agency, and your credit score won’t completely tank.
Here’s some helpful tips to keep in mind:
1. Be polite. Don’t demand things; request them. Let me tell you about how customer service people hold your life in their hands and how many extra miles they’ll go for someone who is nice to them.
2. Stick to the facts, and keep them minimal unless asked for them. Chances are they’re not really interested in the details. “We had several family emergencies in a row, and now I’m having trouble making the payments” is better than “Well, two months ago my husband wrecked his bike, and then he had a reaction to the muscle relaxer they gave him, and then our dog swallowed a shoestring and we had to take him to the emergency clinic, and just last week MY car broke down, and now my account’s in the negatives and I don’t know how I’m gonna get it back out.” The person you’re talking to is aware shit happens to everyone; they don’t need the details to prove you’re somehow “worthy” of being helped. They may ask you for details at a certain point if they have to fill out any kind of request form, but let them do that.
3. Ask questions. “Is there anything we can do about X?” “Would it be possible to move my payment date to Y day instead so it’s not coming out of the same paycheck as my rent?” The answer may be “no.” That’s not a failure on your part. But a good customer service person may have an alternate solution.
Anyway! I hope that helps! Don’t just assume the answer is “no” before you’ve even begun. There is more help out there than you ever imagined.
You sweep a portion of the floor, wincing every time the broom slams into the dustpan with the dull thunk of plastic. It’s finally clean. You blink. Dust and trash coat the ground. Nobody has walked past you. Nobody is even in this part of the store.
You refilled the ketchup dispenser two days ago. It was a fresh bag. It held so much ketchup. It looked like it was filled with blood, and lolled about like a head atop a broken neck when you lifted it. A customer approaches you. “You’re out of ketchup,” they say. You’re always out of ketchup.
Someone says the machine is out of lemonade. You just put in a new cartridge this morning. You go to check the machine. The maintenance screen tells you the cartridge is full. You check the selection again. The grey icon of missing lemonade bores into your eyes. You do not have lemonade.
“Can I just get a cheeseburger?” the customer asks. They didn’t even look at the menu. They blink when you ask them what kind. There are no different kinds of cheeseburger. There is only the cheeseburger. You point to the menu behind you, and all the different options flicker onscreen. The customer stares. “Can I just get a cheeseburger?”
Nobody has entered the bathroom since the last time you cleaned it, but you have to check every half hour. Toilet paper and paper towels litter the floor. The toilet seat is propped up and smeared with something unidentifiable. Hair and crumbs stick to the sides of the wet sink. The mirror is streaked with water stains, already long dry. There’s a puddle beneath the soap dispenser. Nobody has entered the bathroom.
The customer slots their card in too early. You can only watch in horror as the chip reader struggles to understand. It hasn’t prompted the customer yet. Desperately, it blinks at them, begging them to remove their card. They don’t remove their card. They stare at you expectantly, waiting to hear that the transaction has been approved.
“I ordered fries with this,” the customer says when you set their tray down. You remember asking if they wanted the combo. They adamantly insisted that they only wanted the burger. You ask if they’re sure. Their brows furrow, and you flinch. “I know I ordered fries with this,” they snarl. Nervously, you check their meal ticket. The fries that you know you didn’t punch in stare at you in bold black print.
You’re out of cups up front. You’re always out of cups up front. You go to the back room. There are so many cups. The back room is never out of cups. You take a stack, then two to be safe. You restock the cups. Half an hour later, you’re out of cups up front.
You check the condiment station. Ketchup and mustard are smeared everywhere. Someone has spilled their soda. Little paper cups are strewn about the counter. Why did they take so many paper cups? Why didn’t they put back the ones they didn’t use? You don’t know. You put them away yourself. You are always the one to put them away.
You go to collect the trays. None of them are stacked right. The customers have created a crooked pile. You nudge it with one finger. They all fall into place with a series of clanks and clicks. They interlock perfectly. Another customer sets their tray atop the pile before you can pick it up. It’s crooked.
The restaurant is empty. You cannot remember when your last customer was. Your manager says they will have to send one of you home. You watch your coworker count their drawer with a blank expression. They go out the door, and you watch them vanish out of the corner of your eye. You blink. Ten customers are in line, all demanding service.
It has been thirty minutes. You come back to the counter to end your break. The timer says it has only been twenty-nine minutes. You stare. Five minutes tick by as you wait to end your break. The timer says it has only been twenty-nine minutes. “The last minute is always the longest,” your coworker jokes from beside you. How long has it only been twenty-nine minutes? You do not know.
Every night there is a scratching at your doorbut you haven’t had a cat since you lived with your parents. But this is your
parent’s house. Where are your parents? The scratching continues.
The old ones do not understand technology. Good.
Your elderly aunt manages to mute the static hum of her television to ask you
what an emoji is. They won’t survive.
Your local pizza place has taken to delivering
square pizzas. The owner says you get more pizza for your money that way. There
are no toppings on your pizza. He says you get even more pizza that way.
You don’t own a car. Nobody owns a car. The streets
are alive with the movement of thousands of human bodies, walking. Nobody has
anywhere to go. A hand grabs your ankle but you keep walking. Everyone keeps
walking.
Universities around the world have been closing.
Nobody goes in or out. Your clothes smell of coffee and burning paper and you
don’t know why. It doesn’t wash out.
Your phone buzzes. It’s a group chat. You ignore
it. Your phone keeps buzzing until it’s all you can hear a cacophony of hissing
and vibrating and growling. You look at the screen and realise you don’t
recognise any of the names on it. You try to pick your phone up but it’s so hot
it burns your fingers and you drop it. The phone shatters. The fragments keep
buzzing.
You work day and night. Day and night. They say
you’re one of the lucky ones, to be working. You’ve never known anything but
work. Managers come and go. You work day and night.
There are ATMs everywhere but you don’t know
what any of them do. All the banks have closed, but sometimes you think
you can hear screaming from your local branch. You take your money to the man
on the corner by your apartment who keeps your cash in his mouth. When you need
change you go to him and he spits coins at you.
You go to the library to do research and find
all the shelves empty. You can’t find any librarians but you hear howling from
the back of the library. There are no books here.
You can’t just tell people to ‘get a VPN (Virtual Private Network)’. Buying a VPN is like buying a house. It’s very very important. Having no VPN or having a ‘wrong’ one can seriously damage your life. Especially for Americans because their privacy laws are garbage. I am going to try explain why you should get a VPN but bare with me, I am from Germany and my English is far from perfect.
Let’s start with a simple test. Click this link here: https://whatismyipaddress.com/ It will tell your IP adres, your ISP (internet service provider), and your location. The location might not be very accurate, but then again, it’s just a simple website. Imagine what the government can do!
So basically, everyone can find out where you live. But there is more danger. Your ISP. Your ISP logs your every move online and they are required to keep it in case the government wants access to it (or if a 3rd party wants to buy your data (yikes). They have everything. What websites you visit. How long you stay on a website. What you download. Your search terms. European laws are more subtle on this but if you are from the US you are #@*#&, especially because Trump doesn’t support the open internet. It’s scary but maybe in the future you can’t get a job because the recruiter knows your searched on ‘how to deal with depression’ or anythings else that’s supposed to be private because it’s your f*cking right. Or you get a $100k fine because you pirated a movie 15 years ago. You need a VPN. You’re dumb for not using one. but what does a VPN do?
A VPN encrypts all your data so if it were be intercepted no one can ‘crack the code’ and damage your privacy.
Usually being online goes like this (simplified): Your computer —-> ISP (—–> keeps data —–> sells it)
But with a VPN it goes like: Your computer —–> VPN (encrypts data)—–> ISP (ISP can’t see shit)
Furthermore, a VPN hides your IP address and location by giving you another IP address located in Spain for example (you can often choose from a list and change as many times as you want).
Now that you know why you should get a VPN and what is does it is important to educate yourself because people often choose the wrong VPN. VPN providers are also businesses and have to obey the law. If you choose a VPN provider located in the US then you are throwing your money away because the laws in the US shits on your privacy. If the US gov wants the provider to give all their logs they have to obey. The ISP still can’t see what you are doing online and sell your data but the US gov can interfere with your VPN provider so NEVER CHOOSE A PROVIDER LOCATED IN THE US.
I just wanted to make that very clear so my followers don’t buy false security.
There is still more danger! Who says your VPN provider isn’t selling your data? You need to check their logging policy. Do they keep logs? If yes, what for? For how long do they keep them? Tip: Choose a provider who doesn’t keep logs
More about law The US is part of the Five Eyes program (the worst):
The Five Eyes, often abbreviated as FVEY, is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. These countries are bound by the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation in signals intelligence (source)
There is also a Nine Eyes (bit better) and Fourteen Eyes Program (better). You don’t want a VPN provider who is located in one the Five Eyes countries. If you had to choose go for a provider located in a country that’s part of the Fourteen Eyes Program or even better, go for a country that isn’t part of any program!
I know this is a shitty explanation and please pardon my english but now it’s time to do your own research. Take your privacy seriously. Maybe WWIII breaks out and you get killed for liking the ‘wrong’ FB-page.
Make sure that your future VPN provider both has green boxes for Privacy Jurisdiction and Privacy Logging.
I recommend ovpn.se and trust.zone. ovpn is located in Sweden so they are part of the 14 Eyes Program and they keep minimal logs. Their business ethics, however, are alright.
Trustzone is located in the Seychelles. No country can interfere and their privacy jurisdiction is the best you can get. The US want your data but needs to get it from Trustzone? The Seychelles will simply give them the finger and wave them goodbye. However, this makes this provider very appealing for people who torrent and criminals because they keep no logs (and that is how it shoud be) Also, there are almost no marketing efforts so this provider is one the cheapest)
Also, often providers such as ExpressVPN are being called ‘The Best’ on websites about VPNs but know that this is just marketing which also makes those provider more expensive (and they too shit on your privacy)
This must be the worst article you have ever read but please, please take your privacy very seriously.
I am also with Trustzone but I think you forgot to explain one of it’s most important features. It protects you when you are using someone else’s Wi-Fi. If you are at Starbucks and you use their Wi-Fi your privacy is at risk. Anyone with ill intentions could steal your information. Especially if you are using an unsecured Wi-Fi hotspot. With a VPN your data gets encrypted so no one can steal it.
Wait, what’s going, on? Did trump destroy internet privacy with a bill or something? Where’s the news? Oh wait, why am I getting visions of Alex Jones and selling water purifiers?
He hasn’t yet but he says he wants to. And if he is serious about it it would be really easy to do. Since all our data is already recorded, as the person above explained.
Trump wants more surveillance of Muslim Americans. This in a country where internet privacy is already close to non-existent.
To all my friends in the US, please read this entire post. Making everyone aware of VPNs is going to be my mission. Your privacy matters. Please reblog this post.
Don’t tell me you just wanted to scroll past this. Stop looking at pictures of cats for a moment, okay? Don’t you realize how important this is? This is dangerous! ‘America, the best FREE country in the world’ my ass.
With this new law your ISP can sell your Internet history which could include passwords, usernames, religion, credit card numbers, race and much more to the highest bidder. So here is what I want you to do.
You are going to read the whole thing and before you think ’this is so important. Let me reblog this real quick and go back to admiring cats again-’ NO! Don’t reblog this. Take action first. Then reblog. Sign up for a free trial! Trust.Zone offers one (here). Yes. It might be difficult to set up a VPN for some people. But is that going to stop you from protecting yourself and your family? 30 minutes. 30 minutes is all that it takes. 5 if you know how to install software. The problem with some of you is that you see ‘difficult’ as something negative. I want you to see difficult differently. I need you to push through this stuff. You are going to protect yourself. There is nothing negative about that.
VPNs are fun and costsaving too! A VPN bypasses geographical restrictions so you can access websites you normally can’t or you could start Netflix’s one month free trial over and over again- forever. And it’s legal! (unless you use it to buy weapons etc.,)
Don’t tell yourself that you are too tired and that you will do this tomorrow. Because that isn’t going to happen and you know it. You have to do this right now. You only have to click on it.
Don’t let this/shit/life just happen to you. Take yourself seriously. Get a VPN.
Privacy is not a privilege, it’s a fundamental human right
Ok sorry that it’s so freaking long and also sorry for the language, but this is extremely important. Please reblog!
