the_itsb (she/her)

fka u/the_itsb, aka the_itsb@beehaw.org, the_itsb@midwest.social, the_itsb@lemmy.world, the_itsb@sh.itjust.works 41f artsy ADHD married to 42m machine whisperer, teen son trans & also ADHD. We do outdoor equipment & small engine repair at our home just outside Athens, OH.

  • 0 Posts
  • 17 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 11th, 2023

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  • Am I the only person who keeps meeting medical professionals and support staff who don’t realize that insurance is unhelpful in some situations? The only insurance with premiums my family can afford has deductibles and co-pays/etc so high that we only ever paid premiums when we had it, we literally never once were able to also afford to go get care. Once the mandate dropped and we didn’t have to pay premiums anymore, we could use that money to self-pay our appointments.

    Sure, yes, if I get cancer or my husband is hit by a truck, we are fucked. But also, if we go bankrupt paying for insurance we can’t afford to use, I’m gonna be pretty fucked for that cancer anyway because I can’t afford the co-pays etc. Idk what part of “I can’t afford to pay premiums and co-pays until I potentially reach a $1.5k out of pocket maximum,” is so hard to understand.

    I helped host a local protest to raise awareness about Single-Payer (anybody else remember SPAN, the Single-Payer Action Network?) back in 2004, and holy fucking shit that was almost 20 years ago.





  • and being even mildly educated is a problem for our dipshit ideology

    For real though. I went to church multiple times a week from around age 8 until my late teens, I went to the private Christian school run by our church from grades 8 through 11, I was thoroughly indoctrinated - but it all started falling apart in my early teens, when the pastor told me that animals don’t have souls. How can you have pets and love them and not be absolutely certain that they have souls?!? And if he’s wrong about something so obvious and basic, what else is he wrong about??

    Turns out - everything 😂

    It really doesn’t take much education or life experience to start questioning it all.



  • the_itsb (she/her)@beehaw.orgtoTechnology@lemmy.mlKevin Mitnick has died.
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    1 year ago

    What a lovingly written, beautiful obituary. If you’re reading this and didn’t click through yet, some highlights to help nudge you:

    Kevin David Mitnick, 59, died peacefully on Sunday, July 16, 2023, after valiantly battling pancreatic cancer for more than a year. Kevin is survived by his beloved wife, Kimberley Mitnick, who remained by his side throughout their 14-month ordeal. Kimberley is pregnant with their first child. Kevin was ecstatic about this new chapter in his and Kimberley’s life together, which has now been sadly cut short.

    Kevin attracted attention and support from unlikely sources. The bus driver who saw young Kevin memorize the bus schedules, punch cards and punch tool systems so he could ride the buses all day for free testified as a character witness for Kevin during his federal trial. The federal prosecutor offered his testimony that Kevin never tried to take one dime from any of his “victims.” The probation officer assigned to monitor Kevin after prison gave Kevin permission to write his first book on a laptop when he was not yet supposed to have access to computers. Shawn Nunley, the star witness in the FBI’s case against Kevin, became so disillusioned with the government’s treatment of Kevin that he contacted Kevin’s defense team, helped garner Kevin’s release, and became one of Kevin’s dearest friends. Kevin had an irresistible way of converting foes to friends and keeping them as friends forever.

    Kevin was a gentleman: well-mannered and respectful, astoundingly generous with those he loved. He had a unique and unforgettable laugh - a delightful, loud, booming one - which he unleashed unexpectedly and often, frequently accompanied by a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He saw the funny side of his compulsive perfectionism and work ethic, and enjoyed laughing at his own expense - a rare quality among the best of us.

    He had so much living left to do. And we know, with broken hearts, that there will never ever be anyone like him again. We will miss him for the rest of our days, hear his voice in our minds, and look forward to reconnecting with him in whatever version of the ‘beyond’ we each believe in. To imagine that Kev could be there to greet us, likely playing a prank, or inviting us to share an extraordinary meal and conversation, will be heaven indeed. We are each so deeply grateful for the time we had with this truly great man.

    We celebrate that a part of Kevin will live on with the upcoming birth of his and Kimberley’s child. We can only hope that the child knows, as he or she grows, that around the world, the many friends of his father will be holding them in their hearts.

    I can’t imagine the loss and devastation his pregnant widow feels, but I’m so glad that she and their child will be surrounded by so many people who dearly loved him.

    Kevin had an irresistible way of converting foes to friends and keeping them as friends forever.

    Truly - what a loss to the entirety of humanity. What a gem of a human.




  • Image text: Announcement

    1!Open Alpha!! RBlind - A community on Lemmy, brought to you by the moderators of the /r/blind subreddit.com

    Submitted 11 hours ago by user DHamlin Music (flair: Bilateral Optic Neuropathy)

    Since the news broke regarding the forthcoming changes to reddit’s API and the ippact that will have on the third party apps and tools many of us rely upon the mods here at r/blind have been working on an accessible option for those who either cannot or will not be staying on reddit. As talk of alternatives like mastodon, lemmy, and the like have increased we decided that it would be best to reveal what we have been working on, hence this post. Several days ago we shared this with those of you on our Discord server and have been asking for feedback.

    This project is by no means finished or polished, and is currently operating on development backend code and a beta UI to allow for access to still unreleased features that our community needs such as up/down votes displaying state changes, and nested comments, read this as there are and will be bugs and outstanding accessibility problems. However, the advantage of this platform is we control the servers, the UI, and can fix accessibility concerns ourselves instead of relying on a for profit company or the generosity of app developers to do it for us, not that the latter is unappreciated.

    So please be understanding of the above and we hope those of you who decide to join and see what we have done so far for all of us, and please report problems as you find them.

    https://rblind.com/





  • That was my answer for why I wanted to join, too! And I answered the “what will you contribute?” one pretty simply too, with the same things I try to bring to any conversation: my knowledge and empathy wherever they can be helpful.

    I took the questions as the same kind of very basic filtering that my husband does for his tractor enthusiast Facebook group; he’s not looking for essays, he just wants to know people will actually read (and follow!) the rules and not be jerks.