Useless Conversation

[01101010]

So my undergrad, CWRU, just sent me a text saying they are opening 2 different donation streams in order to help the university and its students cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Uhhh... no. Can't say I am shocked, but fuck right off asking for money in these times.

[Rasix]

I think the alumni begging industry at UofA gave up on me. They tried a high pressure sales technique over the phone on me and that shit makes me really uncomfortable and furious at the same time.

Doesn't help that my old graduate school program has basically resorted to only recruiting foreign Chinese students because of the enormous fees they can extort from them. It's kind of shameless and gross.

[RhyssaFireheart]

One downside to the tv being on during work hours...the ASPCA needs to fucking stop with the sad animals commercials.

I've always hated those, but they're spamming them on a variety of channels in high rotation.

Bonus stop: companies advertising how much they're thinking about us.

The ASPCA ads make me sad and furious at the same time.  Just.. ugh.

All the companies with the "We're in this together!' crap adverts though... if we were all in it together you wouldn't be creating a shitty commercial which probably ends up putting people at risk while they are making it.  Idiots.

I'm mostly glad I'm upstairs and the husband does his TV watching downstairs where I can barely hear the TV unless I'm trying.  Because listening to Cuomo-Pritzker-Trump updates every day is getting fucking tiresome.  The Trump watch is mostly for the amusement factor of "WTF is he going to say today?"

[Sky]

Weird lockdown things, vol 57.

Of course, I'm up through all the wee hours now as my old nocturnal clock re-asserts itself. Around 4 am (prime burgle time, after the late nighters and before the early risers), I notice a car pass the house. I'm near the end of a dead-end street. I get up and look, it's not the neighbors (the next door ones are nocturnal, the rest are early risers). It's just sitting at the end of the street and I can hear muffled voices, but I can only see the front corner of the car.

I figure it's likely garage raiders or something, as unemployment is massive here right now. So I call into the police department to report it. The duty officer says he'll send someone over to check it out, and then laughs.

It was a cop car (I was hearing their radio).

I laughed, thanked him and told him they could sit there for as long as they'd like, whenever they want!

[Reg]

Hmm. This is not quite the hippy dippy behaviour I'd normally expect.

[schild]

Weird lockdown things, vol 57.

Of course, I'm up through all the wee hours now as my old nocturnal clock re-asserts itself. Around 4 am (prime burgle time, after the late nighters and before the early risers), I notice a car pass the house. I'm near the end of a dead-end street. I get up and look, it's not the neighbors (the next door ones are nocturnal, the rest are early risers). It's just sitting at the end of the street and I can hear muffled voices, but I can only see the front corner of the car.

I figure it's likely garage raiders or something, as unemployment is massive here right now. So I call into the police department to report it. The duty officer says he'll send someone over to check it out, and then laughs.

It was a cop car (I was hearing their radio).

I laughed, thanked him and told him they could sit there for as long as they'd like, whenever they want!

acab

[01101010]

Work has decided I should learn how to work ARCGIS 10.6 so it was installed on my machine. Spent yesterday and today trying to make sense of it and watching a bunch of tutorials. TIL...
1) people giving tutorials seem to assume you are already a user with a basic knowledge of what the fuck is going on.
2) there are no tutorials for dummies with zero knowledge...good luck noob!
3) the simplest things like linking data to the mapping tables has a bunch of unspoken rules that you only learn after you pound your head on the desk a few times and change each aspect one at a time
4) some things never change

But at least I did get the COVID positive results from our main testing clinic mapped to a zipcode map. No clue how I did it... but it's there. Writing it up is going to be a bitch though.

[Sky]

acab

Try the alternative.

[Samwise]

acab

Try the alternative.

...abac?

[Chimpy]

Work has decided I should learn how to work ARCGIS 10.6 so it was installed on my machine. Spent yesterday and today trying to make sense of it and watching a bunch of tutorials. TIL...
1) people giving tutorials seem to assume you are already a user with a basic knowledge of what the fuck is going on.
2) there are no tutorials for dummies with zero knowledge...good luck noob!
3) the simplest things like linking data to the mapping tables has a bunch of unspoken rules that you only learn after you pound your head on the desk a few times and change each aspect one at a time
4) some things never change

But at least I did get the COVID positive results from our main testing clinic mapped to a zipcode map. No clue how I did it... but it's there. Writing it up is going to be a bitch though.

ESRI software is garbage when it comes to usability on every level. From end user to system administrators trying to figure out how to get the god damn thing to work.

And it is really expensive.

But ArcGIS became the defacto standard for mapping applications so they have everyone by the balls.

[schild]

acab

Try the alternative.

i did, PG county was fine thanks

[MisterNoisy]

ACAB?

[rattran]

All Cops Are Bastards. 1312

[Rasix]

Apparently, I'm a jerk for playing "beating" as the first word in Scrabble.

I thought it was funny. I don't think I'll be allowed to play Scrabble anymore.

[Fraeg]

Work has decided I should learn how to work ARCGIS 10.6 so it was installed on my machine. Spent yesterday and today trying to make sense of it and watching a bunch of tutorials. TIL...
1) people giving tutorials seem to assume you are already a user with a basic knowledge of what the fuck is going on.
2) there are no tutorials for dummies with zero knowledge...good luck noob!
3) the simplest things like linking data to the mapping tables has a bunch of unspoken rules that you only learn after you pound your head on the desk a few times and change each aspect one at a time
4) some things never change

But at least I did get the COVID positive results from our main testing clinic mapped to a zipcode map. No clue how I did it... but it's there. Writing it up is going to be a bitch though.

Just a few things (Arc user since command line Arc/Info)

1) the community forums can be a good source, I am guessing you have poked around there
2) yeah starting with zero knowledge without some in person class time would be brutal
3)  Just a note: I have no idea how your organizations licensing agreements work, but is ArcGIS Pro an option?  I am a bit insulated from your average ESRI user, but my impression is that things are all migrating to ArcGIS Pro similar to how 20ish years ago everything migrated from Arc/Info to ArcMap/catalog etc.  Our organization has actually been encouraging newbies to just start with ArcGIS Pro as that is where we as an org are all headed.   

If ArcGIS Pro is an option you might have better luck there because it is very new and there is a lot of energy being spent getting people up to speed with the new paradigm. 

Good luck!

[Chimpy]

You used "new paradigm."

In relation to an ESRI product.

HERE BE DRAGONS

[01101010]

Just a few things (Arc user since command line Arc/Info)

1) the community forums can be a good source, I am guessing you have poked around there
2) yeah starting with zero knowledge without some in person class time would be brutal
3)  Just a note: I have no idea how your organizations licensing agreements work, but is ArcGIS Pro an option?  I am a bit insulated from your average ESRI user, but my impression is that things are all migrating to ArcGIS Pro similar to how 20ish years ago everything migrated from Arc/Info to ArcMap/catalog etc.  Our organization has actually been encouraging newbies to just start with ArcGIS Pro as that is where we as an org are all headed.   

If ArcGIS Pro is an option you might have better luck there because it is very new and there is a lot of energy being spent getting people up to speed with the new paradigm. 

Good luck!

Oh I been to the forums... they have been a fairly decent resource.

I can ask about Pro. I work for a University so all our available software comes from a central hub that doles out the licenses. I have no clue if Pro is an option and didn't know enough to ask about it first. Hell, I wasn't even suppose to be using it - got pushed into it because the point person got literally buried under CDC documents pertaining to shifting our Flu surveillance materials to COVID. So thanks for the advice... I'll ask.

[Fraeg]

You used "new paradigm."

In relation to an ESRI product.

HERE BE DRAGONS

that got a much needed laugh from me!

[Fraeg]

Just a few things (Arc user since command line Arc/Info)

1) the community forums can be a good source, I am guessing you have poked around there
2) yeah starting with zero knowledge without some in person class time would be brutal
3)  Just a note: I have no idea how your organizations licensing agreements work, but is ArcGIS Pro an option?  I am a bit insulated from your average ESRI user, but my impression is that things are all migrating to ArcGIS Pro similar to how 20ish years ago everything migrated from Arc/Info to ArcMap/catalog etc.  Our organization has actually been encouraging newbies to just start with ArcGIS Pro as that is where we as an org are all headed.   

If ArcGIS Pro is an option you might have better luck there because it is very new and there is a lot of energy being spent getting people up to speed with the new paradigm. 

Good luck!

Oh I been to the forums... they have been a fairly decent resource.

I can ask about Pro. I work for a University so all our available software comes from a central hub that doles out the licenses. I have no clue if Pro is an option and didn't know enough to ask about it first. Hell, I wasn't even suppose to be using it - got pushed into it because the point person got literally buried under CDC documents pertaining to shifting our Flu surveillance materials to COVID. So thanks for the advice... I'll ask.

Warning wall of text.  I reached out to one of our GIS coordinators and asked her what she does for her new hires with zero experience with GIS and she sent the following. Hope this helps:


As for access to the ESRI Academy is that something you can get through work?  If you need the actual links to those classes I can do that but won't be able to do that until tomorrow.

[01101010]

I hate this time of the year... April was ok weather wise... I could deal with the occasional cold snap. But here it is a week in May and it is feeling like late November, cold and raw out for the next 3 days here.

That said, I been WFH and staying at home since the ides of March and feel like I have completely missed out on Spring this year.

[Rasix]

Uggg. It's been a solid week of 100+ weather. At least this week it looks like we're going to get spared with only low nineties. Of course, that likely means high winds, tons of blooming desert plants (yay pollen count), and the possibility of rain that is actually quite warm. 

And snakes.

[Teleku]

It's been 100+ in Myanmar since the start of March, almost every single day.  Quite your bitching Covidland person!   

[Rasix]

You really pick the best deployments. Yikes. I bet it's humid there too.

<insert Facebook fueled genocide joke here>

[schild]

nope, don't regret moving to austin

our heat doesn't really hit til june and ends hard at the end of the summer, and our nights aren't a microwave

[Mandella]

For the first time in years we're having an actual Spring in Georgia. Moderate weather and downright chilly at night.

I'm sure the virus is loving it.

 

[calapine]

Get it? 

[Cyrrex]

I assume it exists in the same frequency range as Poland Ball, so, uh, no.

[Hawkbit]

Fucking Seattle. We hired a tree service to take down three trees and trim a few others. Two of the trees were affecting the sewer line, causing nearly $1000/year in cleanout fees, not to mention the basement being flooded with shit twice a year. The other tree was planted too close to the house and has destroyed our sidewalk. I was getting worried it was going to affect the foundation, so it had to go.

First, I had to make my case to the arborist as to why I needed the trees down. Then I had a 20 minute call with a city arborist to make my case with them. He told me he would approve the permit because of our expenses, but we have to replant new trees in the fall. Fine, I can plant in a different area and pick trees that are less invasive. He also warned me about community blowback for cutting down the trees.

Well no fucking joke, the arborists on site have been stopped at least five times by people walking by and my neighbors asking and complaining about the tree removal. I'm guessing after they leave people will start bugging us about it, too.

[Sky]

That's a good thing, despite the hassles. Around here, most people buy a house and immediately remove all the trees and do not replant. And the old mayor cut the budget and fired the arborist.

I've replanted the few I've taken from rot, and all mu neighbors bitched about my replants. I replaced one maple with a spruce because a neighbor was bitching about the helicopter seeds...she bitches about pinecones now. So when I took down my big shade maple, I told her I was planting another big shade maple because at least one of us can be happy.

In the twelve years I've been on my block, more than half the trees have been removed. Most of them were very mature trees, in the hundred year plus range (this was non-farmable land between the city and farms, had a ton of old trees when they began building it out in the 50s). One of the things that drew me to the neighborhood was that it was basically a little forest nook.

All that said, people who don't realize that sometimes trees need to go are fucking stupid. And sewer/septic issues are the easiest reason to cut a tree down. I've been in a running battle over an oak in my fenceline that is techncially on my property. Cut it down years ago and it got really ugly, so now it's shooting out suckers that are 15' high and need to be cut down, but I don't want to get shot, either. My lawyer threw up his hands and told me good luck, he's fighting the same fight with his neighbor.

[Salamok]

Well no fucking joke, the arborists on site have been stopped at least five times by people walking by and my neighbors asking and complaining about the tree removal. I'm guessing after they leave people will start bugging us about it, too.

Put a large sign in your yard done up in purple comic sans explaining your case and telling em you really don't want to hear from the public on the issue.

"If your basement was flooded with shitsewage on a regular basis you would cut these trees down too!  Thank you for your concern and don't worry we will be planting new trees soon.  Thanks ~ The Management"

[Khaldun]

I took down a huge pine when we bought a house some years ago--it was old, dropping big branches, and it was right over the sandbox in the backyard back when my daughter was young enough to use it. It was also kind of ugly. No sadness about that.

I was sad that the guy we sold the house to took down the big ash in the front yard that was a very distinctive tree--but the fact is that its roots were threatening to grow into the pipe out to the main sewage line, so I might have had to do it too. The other one that made me sad here where we rent was when I had to tell the owner about a huge beautiful poplar that was clearly rotting--if that had come down on the house, it would have killed us all and made matchsticks of the whole structure. They brought out an arborist and yeah, it was gonna die and fall very soon, so they cut it down, took a whole day because it was 140 feet high and close to both our house and the house next door.

It's why we lose power most years when there's a big thunderstorm--too many people ignoring too many old, sick trees until the day comes that a big wind and rain knocks one over on a power line.

[Polysorbate80]

.

[Rasix]

Yeah, when we built I got to tell the builder to remove every mesquite. He wouldn't do it for the adjacent properties under development (because he's a cheap ass), but I don't have to deal with their horrible root systems, unpredictable growth, and amount of debris they drop all over the place.

Builder was enough of an ass about this that he wouldn't, as a courtesy, remove one tree from the side of the shared driveway that two of the houses use since technically one house owned one side and the other owned the opposite side. The driveway is barely a single lane.   I should have doused that damn tree in RoundUp during construction.

[Sky]

In my limited legal experience, just ring it and have it taken down when it dies off. If it's on/close to the property line, it's basically the wild west. If the neighbors lose their minds about it, offer to replant with a more appropriate planting (may be a shrub or something).

Note this did not help my oak situation, but it did reveal they have no real legal recourse. I may get shot when I go to remove the nightmare they've let grow up in its place. Boggles my mind they were so petty about it they never entertained my offer to go to the local garden/tree place and let them pick a better option with me and the advice of a professional...and pay for the whole thing.

I like those guys, but they are stubborn to the point of stupid sometimes.

[Hammond]

I recently bought a house and I have a few trees that are going to have to come out. I have 2 fairly large Pine trees that a power pole with a transformer is next to. Around here the Power Companies will typically remove those trees at no charge. I have a few other trees that the previous owner planted that I am thinking of removing mostly because they are going to end up being to large for the locations he planted them in.