I’ve been through it many times and expect to see many more. Both as the subject of an acquisition and as an acquiree. You just have to wait and see. If they’re not immediately closing you down, there will be a transition period. Months to a year or more. That’s where you need to be looking for a new job if that seems like a remotely feasible option.

With regard to your personal decision, do not trust what you’re being told. The company wants a smooth transition and that means that the company wants to be the one making the decisions about who is working for them. They can and will lie.

The exception to this is if they ask you to stay on while they close out operations at your site. In that case they’ve already lowered the hammer, you’re on borrowed time anyway, and it doesn’t matter to them.

(Also - if you’re given this option, consider it carefully before accepting. The folks I know who have done this have described it as a depressing and completely unpleasant experience. They all claimed they wouldn’t do it again. If you choose to do so, ask for more money to compensate for the therapy you’ll need afterwards. Be bold with your offer because it’s a job that very few want to do.)

Generally speaking, the first thing that should happen is that the new company will harmonize efficiencies. This means cutting redundant departments, projects, or products. Expect to see a lot of strangers on site who are evaluating this. Non-specialized departments like finance, HR, legal, and support IT will be merged and streamlined. And do not expect that the highest performing department will survive. It’s often the cheapest one who does. If the team in Kentucky can do a good enough job, it makes no sense for them to retain a higher paid workforce in DC. I’ve seen that sort of thing happen. (It’s also sometimes a selling point for the company being bought. 🤮)

After that, it just depends on 1) why they bought you and 2) what they thought they were buying. If they find out that part of the acquired company isn’t something they want but is valuable enough to re-sell rather than shut down, you may be in for a head-spinning transition between several buyers.

Overall -

The experience is a big shake-up, but I’ve gone through eight or so unscathed as a mid level employee. It all depends on lots of things outside of your control. It will help if you can accept that these things are beyond your control or beyond your ability to foresee. I can also assure you that there’s a good probability that the people in charge won’t be making good or sensible decisions.

Expect to see many of your co-workers jump ship, but that’s not always a bad thing. Sometimes it’s the kick in the ass that people need to make a change. That’s often a very good thing.

Same, but I’d probably go with Bree. I’m a bit tall for the Shire. Also, Bree seems a little more lively and they have a thing called ‘pints.’

I have casually considered attending a UU church near us. They seem very chill based on their website.

I would have to overcome my dislike of meeting new people and being awake and fully clothed before 11:00am on a Sunday. Those are the main challenges for me, personally.

I’m hoping to attend some public events at the a local nature preserve as a way of easing into social events with strangers. They have programs on bird watching, mushroom cultivation, etc… A year’s membership cost $40 and it comes with free parking and free access to their programs. They’re also part of a larger network of nature parks, so benefits include free admission to any of those.

Do you have an unusual or oddly spelled surname?

I do. It’s by marriage, and coworkers sometimes awkwardly ask about it. It won’t be the first question they ask - because that would be weird, but it often comes up if it sort of fits the conversation.

So, it varies by state because everything is a certain degree of a shit-show here. In my state, you show up at the primary election site and you ask for one of two ballots. That’s enough to “register” you as a Dem or Rep. It’s pretty meaningless.

I know of one coworker who voted for Trump in the 2015 primary to “take down the Republican party from the inside.” Great strategy, Steve. I’m guessing that some similar idiocy is what’s being talked about here.

Somewhere I have a notebook with scene-by-scene notes on Mulholland Drive. Time loops, alternate universes, fever dream sequences that may be real, throwbacks, lookalikes, detours into madness and fear, all that. Multiple viewings. Full Deep River Ontario shit. (We actually IRL visited that creepy diner in CA. That experience is not recommended. The breakfast is OK. The turkey sandwich is 1000 times not OK.)

For me, every theory regarding the “WTF is happening” aspect falls apart when the old couple from the taxi come creeping out of the blue metallic lock box. Like, everything sort of hangs together with some fuzzy dream logic for me, but then falls apart in the true gossamer of dream fashion. There’s sometimes a buggy, I guess.

Top 10 of favorite movies.

That’s the sort of horror story that’s going to keep me stabbing my potatoes.

Same here! Last night I was stabbing a couple out of habit and felt like the question needed to be asked.

That was an interesting listen. And sad. I can’t imagine the situation has improved.

Wikipedia mentions that they’ve flipped diplomatic ties with China and Taiwan a couple of times in the past 20 years. Honestly, that seem like a cheap price to pay for some investment.

Oh, but like the radio piece said, “You’ve never heard of it, but once you do it seems to be everywhere.” My grandfather and a couple of his brothers visited (and unsuccessfully tried to stay) in the 1930s. He always described it as a paradise. That was, of course, a long time ago and before the mass destruction. I also wonder if assume I have some unknown Nauruan cousins.

I would fear an eggplant more than a potato. Higher moisture and tougher skin. Not going to take any chances.

Now that’s the exciting outcome from my worst fears.

No. I’ve got a couple in the oven right now because the weather is cold. In warmer times I’ve been using an air fryer.

I’m reasonably local to the area and watched that fiasco play out over the course of several years. I’d wager I have a few more facts than you do.

I’m not a fan of Chappelle’s work in the last 10-12 years, so just throwing that out there.

The housing might appear to have been affordable to anyone not familiar with the region, but it was a basic bitch suburban sprawl neighborhood that would have been sold at market prices. Oh, and those market prices are already 1.5 to 2 times the local average because it was located in Yellow Springs. As a concession to local sensibilities, the developer offered to donate 1-acre of out of that 30-acre corn field to a local charity connected to one of the town’s councilors. That one acre would have been a mix of park land and affordable housing.

There were a mix of proposals at different times, but many of the “affordable” solutions were clearly untenable. The example I gave was the final form. All were shitty.

I also remember that this corn field was offered for sale at around 1.5 million shortly after Chapelle purchased his adjoining property, but years before serious talk of development. It was a grift/extortion from the moment he moved there.

For context, Chappelle’s house on 5 acres cost $750,000. That same house would probably have been half of that if it were anywhere else in the region. Affordable housing in that town is the topic of intense discussion, but nothing has looked even remotely as dodgey as that particular proposal.

So, random Chapelle Fact: For the past couple of years Dave Chapelle has had a 24/7 police presence on his property. I assume he’s hired them off-duty, but they sit in a county sheriff’s car near his front gate. I assume someone made a credible threat to him for some reason, but don’t know full details.

Timing-wise, the police presence started close to the whole “Dave opposed affordable housing in his neighborhood” story - which was repeated enough times to make it into the popular consciousness, but also pretty much untrue.

My low stakes conspiracy theory is that this advertising campaign (the original one) is what’s responsible for people thinking that pouring vinegar onto baking soda is a legitimate way to clean things.

Baking soda + water = good cleaner! It’s a mild abrasive and slightly alkaline.
Vinegar on its own = good cleaner! It’s a mild acid.

Baking soda + vinegar = bubbles, salt water, and an excess of either your mild acid or your baking soda. Any cleaning is going to be in spite of the reaction, not because of it.

But now because of Big Bubble here, generations of Americans have been conditioned to think that bubbles have some sort of cleaning power. Damn bubbles.

Sorry for the late response - I just got back from travelling to meet that side of the family. But unfortunately, I don’t remember the lyrics. She introduced it a long time ago and she stopped being MC of Christmas a few years back. We didn’t get to enjoy it this year.

I just made this up on the spot, but it was in this spirit

Oh God above, sweet lord of mine
How much you love your children.
Oh God above, sweet lord of mine
How much you love your children.

You sacrificed, your one true son
to save us earthbound sinners here…

--and so on –

Rejoice, repent! We praise your name…

Off the top of my head:

• That little triangle embossed on your plastic container says it has been / can be recycled.
  https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled
  https://www.earthday.org/plastic-recycling-is-a-lie/

-Anything involving babies and incubators is immediately suspect. (Or babies and bayonets, for that matter).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nayirah_testimony

-And this one is pure conspiracy, and I know it’s not what you asked for… but it’s ridiculous and 'tis the season. My mother in law is convinced that the lyrics to “Oh Christmas Tree” (O Tannenbaum) were changed by people who wanted to erase the true and original lyrics. By who? Big Tree financiers? Communists who are stealing Christmas and replacing it with trees?

Anyway…

The original lyrics, according to this conspiracy, praise God and never mention trees at all. It’s completely ridiculous and always ends with the whole family singing along with the “true lyrics” from a badly photocopied paper that she hands out. I hope this doesn’t come up again this year because it really makes me want to fight. Which would make me the bad person, because who initiates fights on Christmas? The next couple of days are going to be tough.

No - they’ve already got pants. Nice and sturdy ones. Bit jealous.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/qarlinngua-nunavut-arctic-bay-hidden-sea-arch-1.4515601

/r/ancientcoins

Interesting mix of people, most of whom were chill. Always something new to discover. And they were pretty open to discussing the elephant in the room: much of everyone’s collection had been looted at some point. The only notable exception to that was an AMA by a Jr. Sales Person from Harlan Berk. He got roasted.

The rest of this is just me ranting about coins.

Coins are a relatively new invention. The first recognizable coins were made in Lydia (modern day Turkey) around 600BCE. For perspective, Egypt’s Old and New Kingdoms did not have standardized, metallic currency. (which is a shame - considering Egypt’s art, their currency probably would have looked awesome).

Greek coinage emphasized art and sometimes local trade items. For example, if your city was famous for its horses your coins would probably feature horses.

Celtic coins often looked like their artists were eating every mushroom they could get their hands on.

Roman coins emphasized political power, and had a lasting impact on the rest of coinage in the west. For example, they standardized putting the Leader’s head on the obverse, and an uplifting design on the reverse. Sometimes they’d put the Emperor’s wife on the front, which is always fun. (Curiously, Canadians that I’ve talked to about this are obstinate that the Queen is on the back and that the Bluenose/Loon/Beaver/whatever is on the front.)

Of course China had its own monetary progression. Ant Nose Money and Spade Money, for example, preceded the round coin with square hole that has been prevalent for the past 1200-ish years. India produced some really cool square coins. Japan minted one and two “Bu” coins that were rectangular during the 1800s - and although that’s stretching the definition of ancient, I think they’re cool.

So yeah, I miss being subscribed to COIN FACTS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sources_for_the_historicity_of_Jesus

A google of “historicity of Jesus” will turn up some results. The wiki link is one of at least three very similar wiki articles on the topic.

tl/dr - it’s generally accepted that Jesus was a historical person but all that can be confirmed from written accounts is 1) he was baptized and 2) he was crucified.

Of course people can and do question the independent contemporary Jewish (Josephus) or Roman (Tacitus and Pliny) sources, but they seem to be in the minority. Even the less shady version of Josephus’s passage suggests that he was talking about a person who existed.

I don’t have anything to add since I’m not Christian - merely surrounded by Christians. I’ve done a fair bit of reading trying to figure out what’s going on with all that.