@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

GuerillaGrue

@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io

Transperson. She/Her preferred, They/Them fine.

I do art stuff, and music stuff, and writing stuff. I love video and tabletop games, and hope to some day incorporate that into Something That Makes It Big.

Very Political.

Photo: cartoon image of woman, blonde curly hair, broad toothy smile, three quarters turned to face right.

KOFI:
https://ko-fi.com/guerillagrue

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

GuerillaGrue, to random
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

Continuing on from a comment I made on another thread, the things I think it's necessary to consider for minimum viable life in the US for the average person:

--Rent
--Transportation (which, for most folks, will necessitate a car payment every month)
--Communication services (cell+internet, given most jobs require one or both to even apply)
--Electricity, Water
--Minimum 3 USD in food/day
--Hygiene needs (clothing, soap, etc.)
--Savings/luxuries/recreation

So, now we got our items, let's math!

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

Average rent in the US us about 1800 USD/month for a 900 square foot residence.

The average car payment, before gas and/or upkeep? About 575 for a used car.

Assuming a cheap prepaid cell plan and not including the phone, about 45/month for comms.

Let's say you don't use AC and conserve water, no gas. About 200/month on utilities.

3 USD/day for food is about 90 a month.

Clothes/soap/etc. is about 40/month.

Reasonable savings/luxuries/recreation, let's say 100. For rainy day expenses.

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

Doubling the cost of the phone (since both residents would need their own phones,) that works out to about 2900/month (2895 actually.)

For a two-person household.

For a single individual, that's a bit over 2000 USD (2023 and change.)

Assuming a full 40 hour work week, 15 USD/hour will net you 2400/month before taxes.

Okay, that don't sound too bad, right? I mean, the single person's scraping, but two people together got it good according to that, right? Right?

Sure. Let's look at that.

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

There are adjustments that can be made in assumptions on this, but they mostly cancel each other out: a more urban lifestyle can help alleviate some of these costs (transportation, notably, possibly even communications,) but often at the expense of large increases to the other values, like rent.

And again, this is a single-vehicle household, but assumes two working adults. Obvious issue there.

And where's the cost of gas or upkeep for the car? Home repairs? Medical insurance or emergencies?

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

Nowhere, that's where.

Average work commute is a little over 20 minutes in the US. The average vehicle's MPG? About 24. If we assume that equates to about 10 miles each direction of travel, every day, for ONE job -- let's assume our model household works the same shift, at the same place, and makes no other trips -- that's about 400 miles a month.

Average gas price right now? About 3.60 for the cheap stuff, assuming non-flex.

That's another 60/month.

Cars have lots of other upkeep, too.

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

Now, HERE'S where it gets fun!

Those taxes we ignored earlier when looking at all of this?

Average monthly taxes on income in the US is around 28 percent.

But, hey, for simplicity's sake, we'll say it's 25, just so we cut a nice even quarter out of our starting 2400/month per individual. Sure, they'll probably get MOST of that back end-of-year on returns . . . .

But suddenly, our theoretical super-average single person only has 1800/month, and over 2k in expenditures.

Woof.

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

Our couple's down to 3600 a month after taxes, too. Still above our theoretical line, by a good margin, sure, but now let's stop putting things at minimums.

Say you wanted something other than buttered bread, rice, and water to eat every day, and want to eat three meals out of it. Suddenly, that 90 in groceries? yeah, that's more like 400, if you're frugal and don't eat out much if at all.

You want HOME internet? That's another 30+, depending on where you are, and screw anyone living rural.

GuerillaGrue, to random
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

Just a reminder for folks:

The game is supposed to be fun for everyone.

If someone doesn't like sexual content in their games, don't force them to RP sexual content.

If someone prefers combat to RP, try to give them chances to shine.

If someone has triggers, work with them.

If someone needs a few moments to process something or think... let them have them.

The DM is not the villain. The players are not your enemy.

When it stops being fun, it stops being a game.

Let it stay a game.

GuerillaGrue, to random
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

And if anyone's curious about why my recent posts are -- and will be for a while -- about inane 1980s/early 90s PC game experiences rather than the current plight of being LGBT in borderline-fascist America....

Quite frankly, it's simply because I don't have the spoons to manage that right now.

It might not be , but games are one of my small comforts in a world full of assholes wanting to see me dead in the closet. Hopefully they're something a few other folks can find solace in too.

TonyStark, to random
@TonyStark@progressivecafe.social avatar

Republicans should be nervous if this is happening in places like Texas. Sure, Paxton’s extra corrupt and it’s been ignored by the Texas legislature for too long, but accountability is what matters. And those who enabled him won’t be forgotten.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton impeached, suspended from duties |
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/27/ken-paxton-impeached-texas-attorney-general/

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

@raddude12 @AliceMarshall @TonyStark @stacey_campbell Depending on what metric you look at, he didn't win that one either.

feditips, to random
@feditips@mstdn.social avatar

Did you know you can use an animated GIF as your profile picture or profile header? As long as it's under 2 megabytes you can upload it just like any other profile image.

GIFs may or may not play automatically for you, depending on your settings. You can set this by logging in through your server's website and going to Settings > Auto-play Animated GIFs

⚠️ Do not use rapidly flashing GIFs as these can be dangerous for people with certain neurological conditions such as photosensitive epilepsy.

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

@feditips If anyone wants to use this GIF I made of Tom Selleck as Waluigi, go ahead.

Tom Selleck/Magnum P.I. re-drawn with a Waluigi moustache and hat, animated to turn toward the camera from the right.

GuerillaGrue, to fediverse
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

So who here loves cheesy ?

Tonight I introduced my roomie to "The Core," a movie that tends to get lambasted for its awful science (which, I mean, fair,) but is - in my opinion - a legitimately half-decent disaster flick, with some really good character writing and a FAR better cast than it had any right to have.

Aaron Eckhart? Stanley Tucci? Come on!

And it's free to watch on YouTube, which is awesome.

What are some "bad" movies you folks love despite their reps, and why?

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

@maegul Event Horizon is so FUN! Not gonna lie, I'm actually a fan of most of Paul WS Anderson's films (yes, including the Resident Evil movies.) Sure, they're not the best written things in the world, generally, but damn do they tend to have style!

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

@SarahOestreich @maegul There are times when, as you called them, schlocky sci fi/disaster movies are just what the couch ordered. They tended to be blockbusters for a reason.

Deep Impact definitely belongs there too, for sure!

AbandonedAmerica, to random
@AbandonedAmerica@mastodon.social avatar

After not great experiences with my two previous publishers and receiving scammy contracts from publishers who wanted to print my next book, I've sort of let the prospect of doing another book of my work idle for 7-ish years. I'm starting to think self-publishing is the way to go. Began researching that today and boy is it a bewilderingly vast subject. The distribution end alone is really complex and the resources out there are mostly a means of selling services. Wish me luck! 😬

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

@AbandonedAmerica
If you've got a good enough personal media reach, Smashwords might be able to help you out a lot.

Their formatting options are limited if you want to take full advantage of their reach, but they'll distribute your book to like a dozen different digital platforms and let you manage it all from one account, so.

Also, better return than Kindle gives on a per-book basis.

BlackAzizAnansi, to random
@BlackAzizAnansi@mas.to avatar

This is your average social media user after listening to Mastodon nerds explaining the benefits of picking a server and the fediverse.

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

@bynkii @BlackAzizAnansi Dunno how I lucked into it, but when Mastodon got recommended to me I just googled it and jumped on the first recommended server, which happened to be hackyderm for whatever reason.

Seems to have worked out well for me so far?

Honestly, it's not complicated.

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

@bynkii @BlackAzizAnansi Can't argue, actually.

Computers? Make sense to me. Tabletop games? Make sense to me.

Put me behind the wheel of a car I haven't driven before and it'll take me 10 minutes to figure out how to turn on the wipers.

rbreich, to random
@rbreich@masto.ai avatar

Federal minimum wage in:

2009: $7.25
2010: $7.25
2011: $7.25
2012: $7.25
2013: $7.25
2014: $7.25
2015: $7.25
2016: $7.25
2017: $7.25
2018: $7.25
2019: $7.25
2020: $7.25
2021: $7.25
2022: $7.25

The result: It's now worth 41% less today than it was in 1968.

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

@rbreich I was looking up dollar values the other day for comparison on prices of things, with a target date of 1964.

1 USD in '64 was roughly equivalent to 10 today. The federal minimum wage was 1.15. So, roughly 11-11.50 nowadays.

So, purely in inflationary terms, yes: legal minimum wage is barely over half what it was in 1964 now.

esther, to random

“As soon as you stop communicating you’ve lost” says the white cis guy who never had to face an adversary who intentionally meant serious harm.

You can’t negotiate with someone whose goal it is to hurt you because there’s nothing you can offer them that isn’t your suffering.

GuerillaGrue,
@GuerillaGrue@hachyderm.io avatar

@esther Another big problem with this is that more often than not, the people who say it are talking about situations where communication never began.

Getting yelled at by someone who isn't listening to you when you try to explain the truth isn't "communicating." It's attempting to, for one participant, but communication requires a willingness on the part of all participants.

Reps like to bandy about blocks and stuff as victories, but the truth is they never tried to play fair to start with.

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