cobysev

I served in the US military for 20 years, from 2002-2022. At least twice that I can recall, they didn’t pass a budget in time and we were told that we wouldn’t be paid until it was resolved, but to keep working like normal and we’d eventually get paid. Both times it was a very short time before it was resolved and we did eventually get paid again. I think the longest time was about two or three weeks.

For members who used USAA for a bank (a company exclusively for military members and their families), the bank automatically deposited our paychecks in our account on time, because they said they knew the US government was good for it. Anyone who used another bank just had to wait for the government to actually pay us.

If you know anything about military members (especially young service members), a decent amount of them live paycheck to paycheck, not because they have to, but because they’re irresponsible with their money. The military pays you well, while also providing food and housing allowances on top of your pay, so your necessities are covered and your base pay is basically pocket money to spend as you like. As such, a lot of service members go out and spend that money and end up with very little in their savings.

So when a government shutdown hits like this, suddenly that safety net of a monthly housing allowance is gone and service members need to pull their own spending money to pay for rent and utilities. Which can be hard to scrounge up last-minute for some.

I was always very fiscally responsible during my service, but most of the people I worked with would go out partying and drinking every week (some every night!) and would be struggling for cash by the next paycheck. Which came bi-monthly for us; we were paid on the 1st and 15th of every month. So there was always a lot of stress and anxiety when the government announced a shutdown.

Agreed. I live on 6 acres of land out in the forested countryside. There are untouched, natural fields and forests all around me. There are literally 40 acres of natural preserve right next to my property, where no development of any kind is allowed to happen.

I like having a clean, mowed patch of land in the middle of it all. When I go adventuring in the forest, I always come home covered in ticks, mosquito bites, and sticky plant pods. It’s nice to not experience that just walking through my own backyard.

Not to mention, natural habitats invite snakes, mice, rabbits, possums, skunks, etc. into my home. I currently have field mice living in my garage and I can’t keep them away because the forest grows right up to my garage. I keep having to bring my cars to the shop because mice and squirrels keep building nests in them and chewing through cables.

I also have moles tearing up my backyard in the un-mown field out back. Maintaining a patch of lawn helps to keep them away from my house and makes my life more comfortable here.

People who fantasize about natural gardens instead of mowed lawns live in the cities or suburbs. If you actually live in the countryside, it’s much nicer to have a freshly mowed lawn around the house, to keep the wilderness at bay.

Otherwise, nature will just swallow up your home. I actually need to cut down a tree behind my garage because it’s gonna crack through the foundation of the garage if it gets any bigger. And I need to re-side my garage as well, because vines and other plants have started working their way into the siding. That’s probably how the mice keep getting in.

It’s a multi-year project for me to cut back the wilderness trying to encroach on my home, and it’s a very expensive lesson to learn. I’d much rather just mow a chunk of land around my home and call it a day.

It seems like we didn’t vote for this guy and he cheated his way to winning the election. He made suspicious comments about Elon Musk and how he helped with the election, mentioning something about how he’s really good with that technology. Which Musk also mentioned, claiming that Trump would never have been elected without him.

Then there’s an active lawsuit going on where several counties in New York state found that absolutely no one voted for Kamala Harris in their location during the election, despite having large groups of Democrat residents. Their electronic voting machines received patches right before voting started, which is highly suspicious. That’s being investigated right now.

It appears that the election was likely stolen and we have a president who was never elected. This is how fascist takeovers start, and unless people organize against the government, they’re just going to keep enabling this downfall of our country.

I care, because what he says and does can drastically affect our lives in a bad way. It’s important to be aware of what’s happening. Ignoring him just gives him free reign to be an awful person without restriction.

Honestly, it’s why most of our government is allowing someone like Trump to do whatever he wants. Because who’s gonna stop them? Who’s going to enforce the rule of law?

Most people just prefer to avoid political BS, so they complain about the way things are, then go back to their lives a few days later and no justice is actually performed. No accountability.

Most of the time, I feel like the #StopMuskSpam campaigns on social media are just teaching us to ignore him so he can get away with more evil acts.

And the fact that he’s supposedly leaving politics feels like he’s just tired of being in the spotlight and is trying to move back to the shadows so he can continue harming us without criticism.

Don’t ignore him; stay in touch with everything he’s doing so you’re informed and can respond appropriately. And that goes for all political figures in control of our lives.

Why are there so many articles that drop the second Y from his name? It’s Zelenskyy. I haven’t seen an article on Lemmy in the past couple weeks that spelled his name right.