no need to be anybody but oneself

It’s always interesting to pick up specialized, esoteric terminology from experienced scientists and engineers.  The language you hear on the job is very different than what you learned in lecture halls!

For example, in school, you might learn how to calculate that 4.6 GHz radio waves have a wavelength of 6.51 centimeters.  On the job, the RF engineer will tell you that once you get to wavelengths much below 10 cm, radio tends to “wiggle through” unexpected gaps and “leak everywhere,” where it becomes a “huge pain in the ass.”

In school, you might learn that many metals will reflect neutron radiation.  On the job, the plasma physicist will tell you that neutrons tend to “rattle around” inside steel coaxial cables and use them as channels to fly out into the building, where they will “ruin your day” and “piss off the nuclear safety people” if you don’t shield them right.

In school, you might learn that tungsten is an extremely dense material that makes for very good thermal shielding in extreme environments, but it can be challenging to machine.  On the job, the mechanical engineer will tell you that working with tungsten is “the fucking worst” and if they have to build “an entire god damn wall of shielding tiles” out of it, they will “seriously pitch a fit.”

Illustration of S T U D Y B L R S 📚😉

Did the 2020 that you predicted back in 2016 look like 197 thousand Americans dead of a virus that your leader deliberately downplayed the severity of for months? Did it look like your entire eastern coast in flames, the air across half the country unbreathable, the skies a hazy orange from the smoke and the glow of the fires, and your president saying "climate change has nothing to do with this"? Did it look like over two thousand missing children, who were taken from their parents by "the authorities" and then lost by those same authorities? Two thousand children in the care of a government agency have gone missing, and has your bossman even commented on it, or has he just continued extolling the dangers of immigrants?

Did the 2020 you imagined look like months of civil unrest, because police murdered yet another black man, and instead of condemning the act, your leader said "the answer to this problem is worse police violence, and to beat the protestors into submission."

Like, fuck me. Do you not see how bad it already is? This is what's happened under Trump in four years, and some of you are really out there going "hm yeah but Biden has weak policies tho." Would Biden take a global pandemic seriously? I suspect he would. Would Biden be open to working to stop climate change? He's already said loads about what he'll do to combat climate change. Would Biden completely fail to address the fact that women are being forcibly sterilised in ICE and children are being assaulted and going missing? I would be really surprised if he did nothing about that. Would Biden react to public outrage over cops murdering a civilian by sending in the national guard to attack peaceful protesters, assault journalists, permanently blind innocent civilians, and pepperspray children in the face? I really doubt it.

But Trump has done all that shit; is still actively doing all that shit, right at this very fucking moment. And some of you won't vote for Biden because you're not really a fan of his????

Me, a trans man on the danger list for ovarian cancer and is going to get them removed in the distant or near future:

“you need ovaries to be a wombyn!!!”

transman: guess who got that shit removed I’m a Real Boy™ now

“nO not like that you still have a uterus that makes you female!!!”

ciswoman who’s had a complete hysterectomy: guess i’m not a woman then

“tHAT”S NOT WHAT I MEANT if you have a vagina/vulva you’re female!!!”

transwoman who’s had bottom surgery: oooh i’ve got one of those does that mean i’m a Real Girl™ now??”

“NO YOU DON’T HAVE OVARIES OR A UTERUS”

literally everyone except terfs: *squints*

actually looking forward to things and having enough energy to do everything you want to do 

the fresh feeling after cleaning everything and throwing away things that were piling up since forever, including mentally

realising that you haven’t thought about someone for three days straight when you’ve been sad about them for a long time

making a new friend who genuinely likes talking to you after feeling like you don’t belong anywhere or you’re better off alone

making more time for people that really matter to you and actually love you unconditionally instead of endlessly wondering why some people left you or didn’t reciprocate

not placing your entire sense of worth on someone else because you feel happy and whole by yourself 

an outward change in appearance, almost a kind of glow because you’re radiating warmth and strength from inside

good grades, making huge improvements and achieving whatever goals you have in mind

feeling calmer and not relying on external validation because you see your own worth, trust yourself fully and can accept imperfection, laugh at your own embarrassing moments, encourage yourself when you’re down and quickly forgive your own mistakes 

gaining enough respect for yourself to treat yourself gently and not tolerating anyone who treats you badly

realising that you feel lighter inside and nothing is as much as a chore as it used to be

feeling yourself become less unaffected by small things that used to ruin your day

realising that you can make any changes in your life if you stopped discouraging yourself so much