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Post by LariTheLoud on May 1, 2014 12:55:32 GMT
GREETINGS! I followed kbmatthews here, intrigued by a new forum with all the old favorites. For those who don't know me, Hi! I'm Lari! I'm from the way southern farmland part of New Jersey (the 'garden' part of the garden state, as I like to say), and I love gardening, old house projects, cooking, baking, kitties, nerdy things, designer label shoes, and high-end makeup. Pleased to make your acquaintance again! Edit to Add: I'm 27, and following a quarter-life crisis I decided to leave a job with the federal government and now work various jack-of-all-trades odd jobs as they come my way, including but not limited to technical writing and small events catering for under-the-table cash. I spend much of my day-to-day life cleaning and organizing the home, coming up with new projects to do, photographing home, garden, and food with my DSLR, and volunteering with my local church, homeless shelters, and assisted living homes. I also regularly attend yoga classes, and I'm a bit of a fitness nut!
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Post by mrsbaine on May 1, 2014 13:04:29 GMT
You're from Jersey?? Me too! But Central. By the shore.
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Post by sydbristow on May 1, 2014 13:07:16 GMT
Hey there! So glad to see you here!!
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Post by quixotic on May 1, 2014 13:08:53 GMT
Glad to see you Lari!
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Post by LariTheLoud on May 1, 2014 13:11:50 GMT
Central Jersey, mrsbaine? That's awesome! You're probably not all thaaaat far from me... at least, not as far as North Jersey would be. I love the shore. Ocean City and Cape May were my childhood! Though I took my engagement photos several years ago at Long Beach Island. Glad to see everyone else here, too!
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Post by calamityjane on May 1, 2014 13:14:45 GMT
HI lari!!!!!!
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Post by LariTheLoud on May 1, 2014 13:16:51 GMT
HI CJ!!!
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Post by thesupergirl on May 1, 2014 14:30:59 GMT
Hi glad to have you here!!!!!
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Post by brennabombshell on May 1, 2014 14:52:05 GMT
Woooo! Lari! Glad you're here too!
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Post by shinymagpie on May 1, 2014 14:53:45 GMT
Welcome Lari! Glad to have another gardener here.
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Urbie
Beauty Lover
Posts: 54
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Post by Urbie on May 1, 2014 15:00:24 GMT
Hi Lari!
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Post by LariTheLoud on May 1, 2014 15:34:19 GMT
Hi supergirl, Brenna, Urbie, and Shiny! Shiny.... I do have a question for you: Do you just like chicken pictures, or are you really into chickens because this might be weird but I really really really want to get backyard chickens (a flock of three) in the next few years. YAY CHICKENS.
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Post by flounce on May 1, 2014 15:38:14 GMT
haha I totally followed you and kbmatthews here. Plus, I just ordered that magnificent rainbow MJ palette as a last hurrah before my No Buy and I will be needing your assistance in navigating these terrifyingly colorful new waters.
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Post by myxducky on May 1, 2014 15:42:58 GMT
welcome, Lari
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Post by shinymagpie on May 1, 2014 15:44:40 GMT
I love chickens. I can't have a coop in my current house but want one in the future. Several friends have large coops. One friend has a forty foot coop in his yard and over a dozen chickens. Another friend only has three but her coop is so pretty we call it Coop Mahal. There will definitely be chickens in my future.
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Post by LariTheLoud on May 1, 2014 16:30:54 GMT
flounce - I will be happy to assist! Bright colors are my lifeblood! myxducky - THANK YOU DUCKY! @shiny - Let us foray into the world of backyard chicken coops together. I really love Gold Lace Wyandottes! And silver!
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Post by catbelly on May 1, 2014 16:43:47 GMT
Hi Lari! Formerly DiVWA here. What fed agency did you used to work for? Years ago, I worked for DoD.
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Post by LariTheLoud on May 1, 2014 16:46:07 GMT
Hi catbella/DiVWA! I worked for the DoC, Census Bureau, as a Survey Statistician with the Education Finance and Special Statistics branch. I was only there for two years because I decided the work wasn't for me... And I also chose to move back home to New Jersey because my mother was undergoing a very serious spinal fusion surgery. I took it as a sign that my family needed me near home!
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Post by catbelly on May 1, 2014 16:56:27 GMT
I'm not sure I'm replying to your latest reply to me (haven't figured things out) but your job at Census sounded like it was pretty complicated! I did okay in statistics when I was in business school but not enough to make a career out of it. You're right that sometimes things happen like this that show that you need to be elsewhere.
Edit to add: it's just awful working for some of these fed agencies. Morale is so low and in some of the agencies, there's a lot of deadwood. Each agency is different but that's been my experience/observation.
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Post by LariTheLoud on May 1, 2014 17:15:20 GMT
That was exactly my experience. Everyone was just... there to ride it through the status quo. I met people who were there because it was comfortable, secure, and gave them good money and benefits. I met people who enjoyed it because they didn't have to actually work that hard and spent the majority of their day wasting time on youtube, forums, chatting around, emails (our tax dollars at work?). And then I met several who were honest and hard-working and they were looking for more of a vigorous challenge, but overall, they ended up not being a good fit for government work. One of my closest friends from my census days was really cool, very smart, amazingly talented, and he was working on the side to break into the beer brewing business. (I hope he makes it someday.) There were also those who were downright vicious and stepped one everyone else just to get to higher places, and the workplace was really lacking in mutual respect. There was gossip everywhere, and I'm pretty sure I heard shouting arguments between my boss and her project managers on a daily basis.
My job wasn't nearly as complex as it sounds, though they were trying to introduce more complex systems and analytical processes. I basically solicited and compiled teacher salary data from each state education agency, but the problem was, the quality of the data was absolute and utter crap and I spent most of my time attempting to fix and adjust for extreme outliers and clearly 'wrong' data (like a teacher earning millions from the state in a calendar year... yeah, right).
Work within the Census Bureau varied widely, though. I hear that there are extremely different experiences depending on which branch you worked for, and your boss definitely made a huge, huge, huge difference!
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