My Life as an Android

-having a job

-not having a job

-applying for jobs

-the job market

I was on a panel this weekend about logistics for Pride celebrations and was specifically doing the part about accessibility. This is the checklist I use for a site visit beforehand.

This is used to prep two things

a FAQ about the site

a list of things To Do before the event

The FAQ means that anybody on team has access to detailed information about site right away. We usually put the most common information right in the event announcement descriptions, but the less common ones might be a linked page or an "ask for details" if it's a complicated answer or involves something we had to address Day Of.

The To Do list is broken into two things, one, annoy the venue owner to fix and two, day of fixes. For example, the venue we use had a wheelchair ramp that went up to a heavy, manual pull door. Whomp whomp. So close to accessible! So every time I saw people involved in renovations for building, I annoyed them about the "how's that coming, that's gonna have a power assist, right?" and it FINALLY HAPPENED. But meantime, day of, we stationed a volunteer there that opened the door and answered wayfinding questions for people like "how do I get from here to the bathroom?" (there were signs we added as well, but that was the backup)

Sometimes if the site visit reveals too many problems, you should just pick a different venue!

This was set up as a two page, printable list for the event, but here's a GDOC where you can download a copy for yourself and add more things! Or just use it to make a FAQ about sites you're using. I can guarantee I missed some things that might be relevant for your particular disability because I don't know everything to look for. But it covers a lot of the most common things you need to know for a location! the GDOC allows comments if you want to suggest stuff I should look for.

Wheelchair checklist

If it passes on all counts for a wheelchair, it should also be fine for strollers, walkers, rollators, cane users, or crutch users. 

Is there a ramp? If so, where is it? How do you get from this door to other points in the building? Is there signage showing how to do so?

Doors are power assist yes/no.  If not, which direction do they open? Is there enough space for a wheelchair user to open the door and still have the chair on a stable surface? You need a 3’ X 3’ space to be able to turn a wheelchair.

Are all bathrooms accessible or only some? Make sure the sink and hand dryer are also reachable. Is there signage pointing to accessible restrooms?

Are thresholds raised more than a half inch yes/no (no is good)

Are tables or counters at a height accessible to wheelchair users?

How wide are the doorways? Note anything less than 32”. You may need an alternate route to get between spaces if they are smaller. Make sure to measure with the door open, to account for any problems fully opening the door.

Is there an elevator & is there signage pointing to it?

If a stage is in use, is it accessible?

Check outdoor surfaces are level and intact. Note surfaces other than asphalt/concrete. Cobble tends to be very difficult to travel over. If possible, observe when snow has fallen to see which surfaces are regularly cleared or not

Where is the curb cut and does it flood during heavy rain? Is it plowed?

For any temporary structures, find a weight limit. A power chair may weigh 1000 pounds with the user in it!

BATHROOMS

Is a gender neutral or family restroom available? Does directional signage point to it when you enter an area?

Can the door be operated one handed or by someone in a wheelchair?

How high is the sink? Can it be used by a wheelchair user or child?

Where is the changing table and is it clearly labeled where it is?

Is there any seating in the bathroom?

Are menstrual products available?

Is there an emergency pull cord in the bathroom? Make sure the cord is NOT tied to the grab bar and reaches the floor!

TRANSPORTATION

How close is this to a public transit stop? Does the transit run during the event? 

What is the condition of the sidewalk between the transit stop and venue? Check curb cuts and condition of surfaces. Check for obstacles that may make the sidewalk too narrow for a wheelchair. 

Is there signage by the transit stop pointing to your venue?

Is their signage at your venue pointing to the transit stop?

Do curb cuts at the venue have a different textured plate on them?

Where is handicapped parking compared to the entrance you are using? Is there signage by the parking indicating where the entrance is if it is not visible?

If there are multiple entrances to parking, is the one that leads to handicapped parking clearly labeled?

Is there a bike rack?

OTHER CONCERNS

Are there flashing lights some or all of the time?

Are there fluorescent lights? Can they be swapped for a different bulb type?

Is there background noise that makes hearing conversation difficult?

What type of flooring is in this venue? Hard or soft surface?

Are there sudden, intermittent loud noises?

Is food present here?  Does the food contain any common allergens?

Are there any strong non-food scents associated with the venue?

Are non-service animals allowed or present?

Is alcohol served?

Are drugs of any type present?

Is there seating for anyone over 250lbs?

Is there secluded seating away from noise or general line of sight?

Is there a sharps container anywhere on site? Is there signage pointing to it?

Is there an AED on site? Where is it? Is there signage pointing to it?

Is there a first aid kit on site? Where is it? Is there signage pointing to it?

More about what some of these items MEAN, why they're here, and some of the solutions for common issues.

Kilroy Was Here!

He’s engraved in stone in the National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC – back in a small alcove where very few people have seen it. For the WWII generation, this will bring back memories. For younger folks, it’s a bit of trivia that is an intrinsic part of American history and legend.

Anyone born between 1913 to about 1950, is very familiar with Kilroy. No one knew why he was so well known….but everybody seemed to get into it. It was the fad of its time!

          At the National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC

So who was Kilroy?

In 1946 the American Transit Association, through its radio program, “Speak to America,” sponsored a nationwide contest to find the real Kilroy….now a larger-than-life legend of just-ended World War II….offering a prize of a real trolley car to the person who could prove himself to be the genuine article.

Almost 40 men stepped forward to make that claim, but only James Kilroy from Halifax, Massachusetts, had credible and verifiable evidence of his identity.

“Kilroy” was a 46-year old shipyard worker during World War II (1941-1945) who worked as a quality assurance checker at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts (a major shipbuilder for the United States Navy for a century until the 1980s).  

His job was to go around and check on the number of rivets completed. (Rivets held ships together before the advent of modern welding techniques.) Riveters were on piece work wages….so they got paid by the rivet. He would count a block of rivets and put a check mark in semi-waxed lumber chalk (similar to crayon), so the rivets wouldn’t be counted more than once.

                                     A warship hull with rivets

When Kilroy went off duty, the riveters would surreptitiously erase the mark. Later, an off-shift inspector would come through and count the rivets a second time, resulting in double pay for the riveters!

One day Kilroy’s boss called him into his office. The foreman was upset about unusually high wages being “earned” by riveters, and asked him to investigate. It was then he realized what had been going on. 

The tight spaces he had to crawl in to check the rivets didn’t lend themselves to lugging around a paint can and brush, so Kilroy decided to stick with the waxy chalk. He continued to put his check mark on each job he inspected, but added ”KILROY WAS HERE!“ in king-sized letters next to the check….and eventually added the sketch of the guy with the long nose peering over the fence….and that became part of the Kilroy message.

   Kilroy’s original shipyard inspection “trademark” during World War II

Once he did that, the riveters stopped trying to wipe away his marks.

Ordinarily the rivets and chalk marks would have been covered up with paint. With World War II on in full swing, however, ships were leaving the Quincy Yard so fast that there wasn’t time to paint them. As a result, Kilroy’s inspection “trademark” was seen by thousands of servicemen who boarded the troopships the yard produced.

His message apparently rang a bell with the servicemen, because they picked it up and spread it all over the European and the Pacific war zones.

Before war’s end, “Kilroy” had been here, there, and everywhere on the long hauls to Berlin and Tokyo. 

To the troops outbound in those ships, however, he was a complete mystery; all they knew for sure was that someone named Kilroy had “been there first.” As a joke, U.S. servicemen began placing the graffiti wherever they landed, claiming it was already there when they arrived.

As World War II wore on, the legend grew. Underwater demolition teams routinely sneaked ashore on Japanese-held islands in the Pacific to map the terrain for coming invasions by U.S. troops (and thus, presumably, were the first GI’s there). On one occasion, however, they reported seeing enemy troops painting over the Kilroy logo!

Kilroy became the U.S. super-GI who had always “already been” wherever GIs went. It became a challenge to place the logo in the most unlikely places imaginable. (It is said to now be atop Mt. Everest, the Statue of Liberty, the underside of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and even scrawled in the dust on the moon by the American astronauts who walked there between 1969 and 1972.

In 1945, as World War II was ending, an outhouse was built for the exclusive use of Allied leaders Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill at the Potsdam Conference. It’s first occupant was Stalin, who emerged and asked his aide (in Russian), “Who is Kilroy?”

To help prove his authenticity in 1946, James Kilroy brought along officials from the shipyard and some of the riveters. He won the trolley car….which he attached to the Kilroy home and used to provide living quarters for six of the family’s nine children….thereby solving what had become an acute housing crisis for the Kilroys.

                     The new addition to the Kilroy family home.

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And the tradition continues into the 21st century…

In 2011 outside the now-late-Osama Bin Laden’s hideaway house in Abbottabad, Pakistan….shortly after the al-Qaida-terrorist was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs. 

>>Note: The Kilroy graffiti on the southwest wall of the Bin Laden compound pictured above was real (not digitally altered with Microsoft Paint, as postulated by some). The entire compound was leveled in 2012 for redevelopment by a Pakistani company as an amusement park….and to avoid it becoming a shrine to Bin Laden’s nefarious memory.

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A personal note….

My Dad’s trademark signature on cards, letters and notes to my sisters and I for the first 50 or so years of our lives (until we lost him to cancer) was to add the image of “Kilroy” at the end. We kids never ceased to get a thrill out of this….even as we evolved into adulthood. 

To this day, the “Kilroy” image brings back a vivid image of my awesome Dad into my head….and my heart!

Dad: This one’s for you!

Tenna art by @9Aaaalt29 on twt

And it pissed me off so badly that I spent the ENTIRE WORK DAY today compiling evidence from every project my team has ever done for her, pulling past emails she’d sent us, putting together an entire case proving that she had been the problem all along. That she got projects mixed up, that she’d made requests that were nonsensical, literally everything you could possibly imagine. Screenshots of emails, reports we’d submitted, EVERYTHING.

This woman in particular has been terrorizing my team for years, her name is almost a slur in my office, I had simply had ENOUGH of her.

I put all of this evidence together and sent it to all of my bosses at 4:30pm. Then I took a long break to eat a sweet treat and drink some tea.

After my break, my bosses all called in an emergency meeting with me and they said they read my report and fucking loved it. And I sat on a teams call with my boss’ boss as she wrote my nemesis the scathing email I had always fantasized about sending, using the evidence I’d compiled, and hit send.

in 1999, an italian named giancarlo pasquini released a europop song under the alias dave rogers called Deja Vu. this song was picked up as the theme song for the above anime. it in turn became a meme, a shorthand for drifting and Cool Moves as a concept.

in 1983, air canada flight 143, a full sized 767, ran out of fuel halfway to edmonton, alberta. this is not something you want to have happen to a huge airplane. the flight chose to try and make an emergency landing at a nearby decomissioned airforce base (as they were falling fast and could not make it to a proper airport), where they ran into a second problem: they were falling out of the sky at 500 feet per mile, but reached gimli (the base in question) while still too high to safely land. normally a plane would just do a big loop-de-loop to lose altitude, but they had maybe three minutes of airtime left before they hit the ground: not enough time to make any kind of circle. the pilot, therefore, decided to execute a side slip to lose speed and altitude. this is Not a move you want to do with a massive 767, because airplanes are not built for that and if you screw it up that plane is hitting the ground at a high speed at a weird angle and breaking into a million pieces. nevertheless, the captain tried it... and succeeded. the plane landed perfectly, and there were no major injuries! (a couple of people did get minor injuries when evacuating the plane after.) he did it so well, in fact, that the plane was refueled, flown out of gimli a couple days later, and continued to fly for another 20 years with the nickname "Gimli Glider."

what is a side-slip, you ask?

it's drifting.

the guy goddamn drifted his 767.

in 2008, the tv show Mayday: Air Disaster featured the gimli glider with full reenactments as an episode on season five of their show.

and so, in conclusion, the thing i have been giggling to myself about all weekend: