Reblogged
PC John Wetzel
Reblogged malbecmusings
Reblogged robindrake13
otters in hats dash cleanse. you're welcome
Reblogged youhideastar
Wait what's a buildings fire evacuation plan if you aren't supposed to use the elevator to get down
You go down the stairwell/fire escape. Is that weird?
But what if you have a walker or a wheelchair??
in america at least, in this situation, there isnt one. either your loved ones or the firemen can get you out using the emergency fire escapes or stairs, or you die
That's fucking horrific, thank you
“fun” little story:
last summer my friend who is an amazingly talented artist and i were in this super tall building, and she’s in a wheelchair and i’m pushing her around the room. it’s an art exhibit and some of her art was chosen to be showcased there and so it’s all fine and dandy until suddenly an alarm starts going off
a FIRE ALARM
everyone starts running for the stairs and my friend just looks at me with this forlorn look on her face
“i can’t go down the stairs”
but i’m a stubborn bitch “i’ll carry you”
“what about my chair? it’s too expensive for me to be able to get another one if i can’t get this one back”
“i’ll carry that too”
and i did. we went to the stairs (by then most people from our floor were gone) and i lifted her up in a fireman’s carry over my shoulder and then lifted her chair up and used the ridiculous amount of adrenaline that was coursing through my veins to make it down approximately 20 half-flights of stairs until we met some people exiting lower floors, one of which who kindly took the chair. I changed positions so i was holding my friend bridal-style which was, somehow, easier and the person who took her wheelchair (with her permission to handle it of course) accompanied me to the ground floor and then out the doors
basically there is no real protocol for people who can’t use the stairs in an emergency. it’s up to the people with them, if anyone, to help them or the person to somehow make it down the stairs alone, unassisted
thank fuck that it was just a faulty alarm system, because if i was unable to carry her down those stairs and the building was on fucking fire???? then i don’t know what would have happened to her, but i don’t think it would have been very good.
it’s fucking ridiculous and ableist to the absolute max.
I use a cane. When I did a day-long fire safety training at my northeast American university (UMass Amherst), I asked that exact same question: “what am I supposed to do if the fire alarm goes off and I’m in my lab on the twelfth floor?”
the fire marshal hemmed and hawed for a while and then said to take the elevator- you’re supposed to leave it free for the fire department to use and they want able-bodied people out fast not waiting for elevators. if the fire alarm has just gone off the building probably hasn’t suffered enough structural damage to make using the elevator dangerous, and modern elevator wells are heavily reinforced. many large and high-trafficked buildings on my campus have fire rated elevators that link in with the fire alarm system so they won’t let you off on a floor with a possible fire.
if the elevator isn’t working, wait in the stairwell and call the fire department to let them know where you are. modern stairwells are also heavily reinforced- it might not be pleasant but modern building code usually requires fire-resistant stairwell doors in office and big residential buildings, also to help firefighters get in and out safely. older buildings’ stairwells may or may not be retrofitted with fire-resistant doors but a stairwell is generally the safest place to wait if you can’t get out.
what happened to your friend was horrible, and i’m very glad you were there to help her out, but you can absolutely use the elevator to evacuate if it’s not shut down. those don’t-use-the-elevator rules are for abled people.
This is GOOD TO KNOW. why do they not tell people this??
Okay, firefighter here. If you are not physically able to use the stairs, and the elevator is NOT compromised, use the elevator. But you MUST be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that the elevator is NOT compromised before you get into it, because there is always the chance that once you get into it, you may not exit it. Power could go out. The elevator may actually BE compromised and you just couldn’t tell from where you were until you were in there, and it suddenly shuts down on you. Something else could happen.
Understand that once you enter the elevator, you could POTENTIALLY be taking your life into your hands there.
It is NOT LIKELY, to be perfectly honest. It’s only in a pretty catastrophic scenario - think the Twin Towers, USA, on September 11th - that the elevators will be compromised and out of service. But there is a NOT ZERO PERCENT CHANCE and you need to understand that and accept it.
As for leaving the elevators free for the firefighters, okay, here’s the deal. Unless your nearest fire station is literally right next door? Your first on scene fire truck is NOT likely to be there on scene and needing that elevator before you get to the ground. It takes us TIME to find the address, gear up, and drive to the building. Then we need to hoof it into where the elevators even ARE, so YOU HAVE TIME to use the elevator to get down to the ground floor... BUT ONLY IF THERE’S NOT A RUSH ON THE ELEVATOR! And THAT is WHY we don’t tell people this shit. That’s WHY we tell people to NEVER USE THE ELEVATOR... because every self-entitled asshole will use it because they don’t feel like walking, and then put YOU in danger by delaying the elevator’s arrival to you.
IF, however, the elevator IS compromised, or you just can’t get it to come for you, or whatever, and you either don’t have anyone with you who has the adrenaline fueled BALLS to be able to toss you over their shoulder and hoof it down the stairs with you - because, let’s face it, that is RARE AS FUCK, then HERE IS WHAT YOU DO:
You call 911 and tell the call taker that you are in the building that has a fire alarm going off, and you are not able to evacuate because of a physical disability, and you tell them what floor you are on, and EXACTLY what stairwell you are waiting at. And the very FIRST thing that the firefighters are going to do once they arrive, if it is, indeed, a REAL emergency, and not a false alarm, is come get your ass and bring you down. Whether that means carrying you down the stairs, or whether that means locking out the elevators so that no one else can override them and coming to get you themselves, they WILL come get you FIRST THING if it is a real event. And if it is a false alarm? You will probably be the first person who is not involved with the building to know, because the call-taker is going to stay on the line with you until you are under someone’s care and out of danger, or until the scene has been sorted out as real or false, and you are out of danger that way.
These are pretty standard operations in the fire service throughout the United States. There may be some minor variations based on specific municipalities, but, for the most part, this is pretty typical: LIFE BEFORE PROPERTY. So, as long as SOMEONE knows where you are - hence why you call 911 - Firefighters will come get you. You are NOT alone, and you have NOT been abandoned. I PROMISE. It’s like, our whole reason for doing the shit we do: to save lives and to break shit. Sometimes, we get lucky enough to do both at the same time.
High rise fires suck ass, and I always hated them. But the very FIRST thing I asked anytime we got one was if we had “any entrapments” - which is what we call anyone who could not self-evacuate for ANY reason. We ain’t leaving you behind. And yes, your friend who doesn’t have the stamina to carry you down can stay with you, too. Because I would never ask that of someone, honestly.
Also, just a little FYI... MOST fire alarms are false alarms. Not to make anyone complacent or anything, but, yeah. Most of them are either system malfunctions, someone accidentally hit a pull station, or someone burned popcorn in a break room. So don’t let a fire alarm freak you out until you need it to - by smelling or seeing smoke or flames.
i have had multiple nightmares about this very thing because NOBODY BOTHERS TO ACTUALLY TELL WHEELCHAIR USERS THIS STUFF
I am loving these additions!
If you're disabled, this is worth the time and focusing energy to read through!!!
I was having a dream when I woke up this morning, and it — at least, I’m blaming it — made it hard for me to get out of bed versus pulling the covers up over my head again and sleeping for another two hours.
In it, I was still married to my husband, but it was kind of a “Brady Bunch” situation. Kind of. There were only three kids, all boys — with the names Greg, Peter and Bobby, of course — and the older two were my husband's while the youngest was mine.
Greg basically made himself scarce and wasn’t an issue. Bobby was young enough (a toddler) that he needed a lot of attention. Peter was … difficult.
I finally got him to tell me that he was being mean to Bobby because he felt like he never had any time to himself, that Bobby was always around.
So, one morning before my husband and I had to leave for work, I kept Bobby occupied while Peter had some time to himself.
All good.
Except … when I went to leave for work, instead of walking out the front door, climbing in my car and pulling out of the driveway, I walked out the back door and walked for about 15 minutes through this kind of wilderness area. (Honestly, it was kind of a mix between "The hills are alive with the sound of music" wide-open fields and "Alice in Wonderland" peculiarities.) There were some trees, but it was largely a plush blanket of grass. Regular lawn grass (versus prairie grasses), but tall, thick and unmowed. And there were large mushrooms dotting the area, not large enough to dwarf me, but large enough to mess up the under-carriage of a car. With thick stems but even broader, flat heads.
(There was a moment somewhere in the dream involving a lizard on the window ledge of the bathroom. I went to open the window one night — it was dark out — because the weather was nice. And this lizard was just … there. Chilling on the window ledge. Except it was more the size of an iguana than the tiny lizards you see roaming Florida. That was the moment I realized we were living in Florida, because this house was kind of a mash-up of various houses in which I’ve lived and didn’t quite look like my house in Florida. That said, the outdoors didn’t look like what was my part of Florida, either. I recall saying, “Huh, the lizards have gotten a lot bigger since the last time we lived here.” Anyway.)
When I returned from the walk, I was thinking, OK, well, I’ll only be a few minutes late for work. Except, instead of going to work, I decided to do something else. I ended up essentially taking an entire morning off work. Not deliberately — though I certainly didn’t feel bad about it — but simply by avoiding the fact that I was supposed to be there. Like, it’s OK, I’ll only be a few minutes late; it’s OK, I can make up an hour before the pay period is up; it’s OK, if I have to, I’ll take a vacation day.
I just could not bring myself to care that I wasn’t at work like I was supposed to be. And, honestly, that is my mindset these days. I’m still going to work when I'm supposed to be at work. And doing more and more work while I'm there. But — if it weren’t for the whole money thing — it wouldn’t bother me a bit not to go.
Reblogged burning-up-ao3
dude no... please tell me you didn't... a cookie??? you gave the mouse a fucking cookie? fuccckkkkkk dude now he's gonna want a glass of milk, and after that? ugh don't even get me started -_-
Reblogged greencarnations
Sophia, the Boston woman from 1875 who haunts a lamp I got at Brimfield: what is a stay at home girlfriend, if you please?
me: well, it's a woman who's financially supported by the man she's dating, and she lives with him and usually keeps house and cooks for him
her: and they're not married?
me: well, no; hence "girlfriend" rather than "wife." I know that may alarm y-
her: oh calm down I know about Kept Women. he has no legal tie to her, though? she has no sort of standing with him in the eyes of the law? only his word that he'll follow through?
me: yes
her: and remind me again- you don't have to be financially dependent on a man anymore, right? there are more than like three careers open to women that will let you support yourself at a decent level now? and society isn't pressuring you 24/7 to get married and stop working outside the home?
me: yes
her: so these women. CHOOSE to be dependent on a man. who could leave them at any moment without legal consequence. because they don't like their jobs. the jobs, while imperfect, that let them live on their own, answerable to no-one
me: yes
her: that had better be some absolutely amazing jewelry they can pawn off if he leaves them, then
me: it's usually not
her: THERE'S NOT EVEN SECURITY JEWELRY?!
me: oh by the way they blame feminism for "having to work"
her:
her: I became fully dependent on my in-laws who hated me, after my husband died two years into our marriage, because I was a 23-year-old orphan with no marketable skills in any avenue besides Running A Household and the only men left unmarried in my social circle were widowers thirty years my senior. I also couldn't establish lines of credit as a widow because the merchants said my husband dying so soon meant that I didn't have stable enough income. and that was entirely legal
me: yeah
her: I'm going to go slam some doors please do not bother me
Stop giving men the ability to ruin your life 2k25
Not the point of this post but I'm endlessly amused that Tumblr has rediscovered ghosts as a cultural metaphor for confronting the horrors of the present through the lens of the past in meme format. The essays I could write-
Reblogged writingfanficsfan
Reblogged youhideastar
FTH 2025 Donation Totals
Friends, this has been an extraordinary year for the auction. We know how and why this happened: like in early 2017, everyone is scared and upset and looking for a way to do something meaningful.
And—just like in 2017, and every year since—hundreds of us have stepped up to support our most vulnerable neighbors and the organizations working to protect them.
Except this year, we did it on a scale we've never done before.
Last year, our donation total was an incredible $67,776.28
This year's donation total...
are you ready for it....
(you're not ready for it. we weren't.)
This year's donation total is:
Wally Dion, born 1976, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Fabric Star Quilts.
Wally (Walter) Dion is a Canadian artist of Saulteaux ancestry living and working in Upstate New York. Working in a number of media including painting, drawing and sculpture.
Wally explains:
"The first fabric star quilt was made as part of a 2022 residency at Wanuskewin Park. It was my way of reflecting upon prairie tall grass and the reintroduction of bison into the Great Plaines. I wanted to make several transparent quilts and superimpose them; one in front another... a quilt for the microbiome, another for the bison, their manure & hooves, another for the summer fires that scorch the ground and a final quilt for the sweetgrass braid.
I was considering how all of these things worked together for thousands of years to create what is known as the 'prairie tall grass ecosystem'. A vast and fertile expanse of land stretching from the foothills of Alberta to the banks of the Mississippi. I wanted to highlight the invisibility of systems when everything is working well, as it should be.
I started with the green quilt because it is the colour of the sweet grass braid that is exchanged in ceremony and relationship building. I considered the nature and tradition of quilting; impoverished craftspeople using tiny scraps of fabric. I considered the act of offering fabric and adherence to tradition. I thought of a thousand tiny prayers and how that might look; invisible acts of respect and adherence to protocols spanning decades. My thoughts travelled across the land, imagining the trees and rocks collecting these prayers like a bush of cloth, or an etched boulders."
Reblogged pinetreelady
"June" by Hazel McNab. Linocut. Artist based in Cornwall, England. Artist's words: "One of my favourite things about living where I do, in Cornwall and working for myself is, if it's a lovely afternoon, sometimes, I can just go out and enjoy it. Especially June when it's still fairly quiet and you get a cove to yourself. Monday was looking gorgeous so I went for a swim. Walking into the clear water I loved the shapes of the seaweed rocks under the surface and the light patterns on the water."
Reblogged bendingsignpost
I remember how fucking massive this video was 20 years ago when YouTube was in its infancy so it’s cool to read trivia about it. For anyone old enough to remember, it’s definitely giving VH1’s Pop-Up Video.
Reblogged cumberbatchedandproud
naprasno
If you are silent about your pain they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it - Zora Neale Hurston
This is one of those posts where I feel like I'm doing others and myself a disservice by not sharing. I wish someone had shown me this a long time ago.
Maybe I'd be having to do less work to break out of this shell, now.
...All of the above.
Tell your truth, and don't be afraid to have it be heard... because this is not a dress rehearsal.
mochagabu-deactivated20231118
It's difficult when you've spent years being a "good person", a "exceptional one" and the first time you complain, people left you. Even some of the ones who say they loved you. But once the fake people leave you, the trustful ones will be able to enter.
Reblogged youhideastar
The Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River superimposed on a map of Europe
…OH.
I googled it once and the only reason why the Great Lakes aren’t called inland seas is because they are entirely freshwater, not salt.
By any other metric they’d be seas. Superior especially (the big one in the upper left) behaves like a small ocean, and has claimed at least 250 ships and over 1000 people. Gordon Lightfoot wrote a frankly chilling song about her that I’ll include here:
Lake Michigan has never fully frozen. Leading to some absolutely terrifying images
Layers of ice created, shattered, and built up like this.
Hey, here’s a picture of that lighthouse in 2015, when we had a polar vortex
I love the Great Lakes, you know how all boats look like shit, like just rusty hulks, you don’t get that on the Great Lakes because it’s fresh water, like the shipwrecks are incredibly well preserved
Source: reddit.com