CAUSE EVERY TIME WE TOUCH I GET THIS FEELING

Words cannot express how ready I am for ragweed season to be over.

Also, reminder, if you have allergies and or asthma, we are entering into Peak Weak when ragweed, plant from hell that it is, will be going into peak pollen season, and also viruses are on the rise as flu and the common cold viruses start to emerge.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannecroteau/2019/09/16/its-asthma-peak-week–heres-how-to-get-ready/#41484caf7d0f

Some helpful advice from the above article if you are prone to allergies, have asthma, are immunocompromised or know someone who is:

Take off your shoes and change into indoor clothing when you enter your home

Keep doors and windows closed during peak allergen season

Use an air filter that is certified asthma and allergy-friendly (HEPA works best)

Shower before going to bed

Seriously, that last one? You don’t realize how much pollen you carry with you into your home, and if you don’t shower it goes into your bedsheets, a place that should be a haven for you. (And then you have to wash your bedding more than you really want to and it’s just a whole ordeal.)

I know not all of us have the energy or capability to shower every day, but if you are the spouse, friend or loved one of someone who is immunocompromised in any way, please be aware of what you are bringing into the home during this season. Vulnerable people can die during Peak Weak, it’s like the perfect storm of illness and allergic reaction bullshit. We’re also starting to see early cases of flu, so if you are able to do so, please get vaccinated before the flu season fully hits. You’ll be doing yourself a favor and those around you who rely on herd immunity to not get sick.

Also a reminder to fellow vogmask users! If you’ve had your vogmask in use for over 6 months, now is the time to replace it! Vogmasks are also not ideal for protecting you against cold and flu season, they can help, but given the unwashable nature of the vogmask (due to the filter) they can actually begin to harbor bacteria, so while they are great for pollution and pollen, not so great for flu! If you do need to wear a face mask during winter, swap for something that can be washed/sterilized at high temperatures, or switch to throw-away paper masks which can be worn once and then discarded. Never re-use a paper mask, and always be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after swapping them out.

You can read more about different types of masks and their effectiveness against cold and flu here:

https://www.healthline.com/health/cold-flu/mask#2

Stay safe out there!

I’m going back to bed and hopefully, when I wake up tomorrow I won’t still be one giant hive.

I realise that what’s been going on in Ireland is trending at the moment with the police murder of George Nkencho, and though I normally use tumblr as a ‘destress’ I think it’s really important to explain the situation in Ireland to everyone. Cn: racial violence and murder, paedophilia mention For context, I’m white Irish, but I hope this post can be useful to us/uk centric tumblr.

The African Advocacy Network Ireland called George Nkencho’s killing by police an execution (x) and as an Irish person, it’s difficult to see otherwise. Irish police (gardaí) are almost all unarmed. We call them the garda síochána - literally, the guardians of the peace. I can’t remember the last time I heard of the gardaí killing anyone. When I go abroad to the UK or the rest of Western Europe, I am always incredibly freaked out by the armed police everywhere - and that’s not even as bad as America. So in Ireland, having the armed section of the police go after a mentally ill black man is really not normal. It is already suggesting an act of violence that our police normally are not allowed to commit.

It’s worth noting that whilst our police are not armed, they are still as complicit in state violence as in any other country - ACAB still applies in Ireland on a huge level. Police are complicit in deporting immigrants, in the mistreatment of those arrested, in the mistreatment of sex workers etc., and that should not be ignored. Our police also have a horrendous track record on corruption - our previous government nearly fell because a whistleblower on corruption in the police force was reported by the police as a paedophile and had his life destroyed. (x) The gardaí have a horrendous track record of closing ranks when an accusation is levelled and of doing anything they can to protect their own, and unfortunately Ireland is so small that institutions historically are capable of carrying out huge, cosy corruption. The gardaí are absolutely at the centre of this and this needs to be drawn attention to.

Ireland is more than 92% white, and only 1.3% black. (x) I don’t know a single non-white person in this country who does not feel constantly aware of their difference and constantly excluded. Again, being a small country does not help with this - the smallness of the country exacerbates how difficult it is to exist as a person of colour in Irish society, because everywhere you go there is a very homogenous, white, Catholic, Irish culture. I don’t want to say more on this because I don’t personally have experience of being black in Ireland, but I hope this contributes to your understanding of how clearly racially motivated Nkencho’s shooting was. The coincidence of the armed police (of which there are very few) going after a black man (who are statistically a huge minority) is really too much for me to buy given how endemic racism is in our country.

I also want fellow Irish people, if you’re reading this, to put pressure on the press. The Irish Times, one of the country’s main news sources, is very clearly coming out in favour of the gardaí here, and it’s not unfeasible to see the country’s elites (the same who fucked us over earlier this year in golfgate x) work with the government to smooth this over. Our government and their allies are a boy’s club, as golfgate proved. If you’re Irish and you’re able to, please go and protest - I can’t because I’m immunocompromised, but I will be writing to the government and to the Irish Times etc. - those of you who are not Irish, protesting embassies (safely) and writing to the press and to Irish government officials would be hugely helpful - please pretend to be Irish when you do this, otherwise they will ignore you. Please do not use template emails when writing to the government as our government filters them out!

Petition: https://www.change.org/p/department-of-justice-justice-for-the-unlawful-killing-of-george-nkencho-justiceforgeorge?recruited_by_id=95429be0-4b41-11eb-a239-2bc7a8cae2dd [please don’t donate to change.org!]

These are Irish organisations that really need your donations! I haven’t explained the other horrific racist apparatuses of the state because this isn’t the post for it, but Ireland has been condemned by the UN for the way it breaches human rights of asylum seekers, so these are all vital (x).

Irish Refugee Council, who support people seeking protection in Ireland

Doras, an independent NGO working to protect the rights of migrants in Ireland

Immigrant Council of Ireland, an independent law centre working to provide assistance to people from a migrant background and protect their rights

Migrants and Ethnic-minorities for Reproductive Justice (MERJ Ireland), an organisation of migrant women of colour actively campaigning for reproductive justice and for all and contributing to feminist discourse in Ireland

Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland, a platform for asylum seekers to seek justice, freedom and dignity for all asylum seeker

Email the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, here: helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie

Thank you for reading - I realise this is a long post. Please do dm me if you want any more info/resources - always happy to help.

when she says she doesn’t send nudes

It is so fucking exhausting fighting your brain every day dude

site that you can type in the definition of a word and get the word

site for when you can only remember part of a word/its definition 

site that gives you words that rhyme with a word

site that gives you synonyms and antonyms

Amazing. This is ten thousand year old water trapped inside of a polished quartz crystal.

(Source: 1•2•3)

Things That Happened On My First Day At Target

-Sold lingerie to an eighty year old woman

-Got a free salted caramel frappacino from the suspectedly gay barista, Parker

-Sold a bra to the mom of a sixteen year old girl who was cringing the entire time

-Had a very engaging conversation with a three year old boy about colors. We both like blue.

-Served an old woman who I thought had an impressive mustache, but it was just nose hair

-Watched her and two other women with her get trapped between two sets of automatic doors because they did not understand how to open them. How they got through the first set, I still do not know.

-Sold fifteen gallons of kitty litter to a soccer mom who refused to break eye contact

-Got a second free starbucks drink. This one was a pumpkin pie one that wasn’t even on the menu. I like this barista man.

-Gave dozens of children stickers. Several of them squealed when they got them. This is the best part of my job.

-Sold an old man $200 of furniture and got him to sign up for a Target credit card. Before he finished the last step, he turned and walked away with his cart without a word.

-He still hadn’t paid. I called him back and he apologized, saying “sorry, sometimes my diabetes makes me do that.” He didn’t finish getting the card.

-A woman came up with $220 of items. After a wad of coupons and a stack of free gift cards from other promotions, her total went down to $55. I want her to teach me. 

-Saw a girl skipping down the aisle in what can only be described as a pink princess fairy wedding dress. She was filled with happiness and if I hadn’t been on the clock I would have taken her. At the very least, I want that outfit for my own.

-Got approached by a large man named Jason. He told me not to steal. I will take this advice to heart. 

-Met a woman referred to only as The Cat Lady. She asked if I wanted her to buy me a keychain from Ross. I told her I had no keys. She nodded solemnly and walked away, whispering their exact location inside Ross, just in case.

-Got called into the HR Head’s office at the end of my shift. I was expecting to be yelled at for some reason. She and another lead showered me in compliments for ten minutes straight, saying a lot of managers had been saying great things about me all day. Not what I expected, but I’ll take it.