Never try to out-stubborn a cat.

Stay up late thinking about the character

Be haunted by the memory of the character

Wonder if you'll ever finish that fic you started (x 20)

Reread your old fic and ask if you'll ever write anything again

Be tormented by visions of a made-up guy (gn)

I am currently on holiday again - apologies for the delayed replies to messages - but wanted to say that a badge-making press and accessories is one of the MOST effective ways I’ve ever found to entertain a pack of children aged 3-13.

Another cute activity for multiple ages is air-dry “velvet” clay - the foam kind that quickly dries into very lightweight products. Very easy cleanup and very low commitment, with an interesting sensory feel.

It’s usually associated with very childish outputs, but with a little support (toothpicks and tin foil) you can make more sophisticated forms, which inspire the teens to compete on a higher level - and in the finished products, give the little ones some extra toys to play with.

They don’t have to be TOO sophisticated to be charming and pleasant…

Especially if you add some accessories - here, a simple saddle and foxy hunter…

Little stories can then be told with the products.

Which ends up giving the other adults time to recharge, makes some memories and adds more toys to the repertoire.

And if you’re the guiding adult, it can be moderately stimulating too! Unlike other kid’s crafts that dry your brain out with boredom.

Personal challenges here involved

Very small equine sculpture

Limbs limited in scope by composure around broken shards of toothpick

Willing young helpers

No reference photos / sketching

Short turnaround

No tools

Additional accessories to increase play value

Poses you don’t get in most horse sculptures - there is currently no extant Breyer in the “landing a jump” pose and, I had actually hoped to render one; this little guy serves as a sketch!

Lunch Grinding is a manipulative erosion of worker rights both in and out of the workplace. It bypasses legal and contractual standards through informal social pressures which the bosses cannot be held directly accountable for.

Lunch Grinding is named after one of the most common examples. It begins by asking a few employees to skip lunch in order to finish a project. Workers who are already insecure about their position due to economic anxiety will see this as an opportunity to prove they are a good employee. Those who refuse to do so may receive blame for failing to finish the project on time.

The issue becomes compounded when the bosses begin to purposefully schedule less time to complete the same projects. A distinct class begins to appear ignoring their contractual right to a lunch break - who become hostile to those who refuse to work during lunch for being “lazy” or “the reason we didn’t finish on time.”

At this point the management no longer needs to influence anyone directly to work through lunch break, simply by keeping up the sense of constantly being a little late for the project they have ensured the lunch-grinders will apply pressure to their peers who aren’t working through breaks.

As workplace hostility increases towards the “unproductive” members who are expressing their formal right to a break - they will be replaced with new individuals who may not even realize they have the right to a lunch break because working through the hour has become normalized by their peers.

Thus formal written standards from contracts and legal code become functionally non-existent. After which a new standard will be identified by management for erosion some examples include:

+Accepting uncertain hours. +Working off-the-clock. +Staying “On-Call” at all times. +Finishing projects / responding to emails at home. +Never using time off or sick leave.