[0:01]
Hello YouTube. Sorry for the lighting.
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My power is off right now. I'm not using
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my Jeep or anything, so I don't have any
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power in here. Just my batteries. I'm
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going off the light that's outside. It's
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still daylight. It's little light up
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here. It's good enough for me. I want to
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talk about something. I want to reflect
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on something. But this is
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um I'm having a revelation right now
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that's not fully formed. So, I'm
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processing and I wanted you to see what
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that looks like for someone like me. It
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won't look pretty. It won't have a
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resolution. It won't even have probably
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won't even be coherent because it's
[0:39]
processing which means it's a process.
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It's not the final product. It's the
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limit of
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space
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before you
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reach you reach coherence with it.
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Before you integrate it, before
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integration happens, this is the process
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of integration.
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And it's something that's cyclical and
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ongoing
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and you'll keep returning to it if
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you're like me until until you integrate
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it. So this is about the park service.
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This is also about my life. I mean it's
[1:12]
all related. It's all
[1:14]
interconnected. So I made a video today
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going through my history as a programmer
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which goes all the way back to when I
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was a child. And I recounted my life. I
[1:26]
recounted all the things that I did in
[1:27]
my life, a lot of them. Um, you know, in
[1:30]
the freelancing world and companies I
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worked for and projects I worked on.
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And there was something I said in that
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video that that stuck with
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me. I talked about how I took ownership
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of of my
[1:47]
projects.
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How it didn't matter what it was. It
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could just be a simple task for, you
[1:53]
know, a freelancing job that maybe I was
[1:55]
only doing for like a day. I took
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ownership of
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it and I was often rewarded for doing
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that. I took ownership of the projects
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that I'd worked on for a decade and
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that's probably why so much
[2:09]
responsibility got got put on
[2:11]
me. That's a whole other um thread for
[2:15]
me to pull on at some point. That's
[2:16]
another thing that I should probably
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process and think about, but that's not
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what this is
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about. It made me realize that I never I
[2:27]
never integrated with an institution.
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I've been a freelancer all of my life.
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I'm nearly half a century old and I
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never held a job like like a normal job
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like like many people do. I was always
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on the outside of
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them, always an independent contractor,
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a
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freelancer. And then the one time I
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tried to integrate with an institution,
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the Oregon State
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Parks, they rejected me viscerally and
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quickly. 3 months in, I was expelled
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from that place. And it all started one
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month after I I started working for
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them. the second park I went to and it
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all started with me taking ownership of
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a
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problem. This is the interesting
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part. It all
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started one very early morning when the
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power went out in the entire park. It
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was pitch black outside and I knew that
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the guests would see me
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as as their point of contact. I took
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ownership of that and I texted the park
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supervisor and I said in the eyes of the
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guests I own this problem and she
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reacted very negatively to that. Her
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immediate response to me was you
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definitely don't own this
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problem. Not a hi good morning sorry the
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power out hey Sam you know just you
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definitely don't own this problem.
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I didn't think I did, you know, but I
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was taking responsibility for uh
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being um being a park host, being a
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volunteer, being new at it, and wanting
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to
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um wanting to do my job well. I was
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taking ownership for my
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role and the perception that the guests
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would have about that role. I needed
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guidance. I needed to know how do I
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handle this situation? It's 6:00 in the
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morning when I sent this text. The
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power's been out for 3 hours. The guests
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are going to start waking up and they're
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going to start knocking on my door. So,
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what do I tell them? Is there anywhere I
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can get information to, you know, know
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why the power is out?
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Um, when it might be back on, what do I
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tell the guests about
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this? She did not react well to that.
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And that is what started everything.
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She never let it go for 2 months. Every
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time there was a situation like when
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they sat me down at the day and bullied
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me for an hour, they returned to that
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incident over and over and over again.
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Always to that original incident. They
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wanted me to be responsible for her
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reaction to
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me. I knew I had done nothing wrong. I
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did what a responsible
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coherent volunteer would do, a new one
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would do. They would reach out to the
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people that, you know, are responsible
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for the situation and and seek guidance.
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She was so dismissive in that text
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message. She didn't even take
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accountability for the power being out.
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She just sent me a link to the power um
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to the to the power company to look at a
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map. you know, it's like there's nothing
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I, you know, she could do. So, she was
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just, you know, okay, the power is out.
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I guess thanks for telling me. That was
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her attitude. That was her genuine
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attitude about it. I never have
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forgotten
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this. And so, this is me processing that
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all of my life, what carried me through
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life was taking ownership of of the
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projects I worked on, of the things that
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I chose to work on, of it's just
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integrity is what it is. me being me
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having integrity and the one time I
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tried to and I was rewarded for this.
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The reviews that I got from my clients
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are are stellar. I talk about that in
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the video. There's a link to those
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reviews. There's 40 of them where
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clients will point that out. Me taking
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ownership is one of the things that they
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were
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praising. And then the one
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time that I take that same work ethic
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into an
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institution, I am treated horribly for
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it for two months and then ejected my
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last week at that
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campground. What does that say about our
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systems, our institutions? Because it
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says nothing about me. It says a lot
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about
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them. It's disgraceful.
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It shows how weak they are because it's
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really about
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accountability. They didn't want to take
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accountability
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for uh the situation. I mean, yeah,
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there was nothing they could do, but
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they could make sure that their
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volunteers were well informed. This was
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another thing I offered them, you know,
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as a programmer. You know, I could
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create a system for you where all of the
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volunteers could just log into a website
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and see what's going on. So, we're not
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all texting you at the same time to find
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out so that we're all on the same page.
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I think that they were um they were
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threatened by that as well. I don't know
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why. I truly don't know why because that
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just seems like a logical thing to do.
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But when I talk to AI about this, I
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mean, it
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just repeatedly tells me that this is
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how institutions are. They are not
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looking for someone like me. They are
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looking
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for control. They
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want they want a volunteer who doesn't
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take
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responsibility
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who they can easily control. Like I it's
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like like they want us
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to be incompetent. I don't understand
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it. This is AI always goes to this
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though and it's just repeated and I'm
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still kind of kind of sitting with that
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trying to understand it because I have
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always looked at institutions from the
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outside. I was never inside of one until
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then and I can't reject what AI is
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saying because I experienced it
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viscerally.
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So this is what I'm processing tonight.
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This video is so long I have to pull all
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my power out so I can get my internet
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working to upload it. I was trying to
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make a really short one that was like a
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minute long so I could easily upload it,
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but that didn't
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work. I don't know how to talk that way,
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I guess. So, I'm set my power
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up. Um, but that gives me a chance to
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talk about some further thoughts.
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So, yeah, give me a
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minute. All
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right. So, it's not that they want you
[9:22]
to be incompetent. I think I misspoke
[9:25]
that. It's more that they want you to be
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compliant. and taking ownership the way
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that I
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did for some reason is a threat to them
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because it's a hierarchy and I guess I'm
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not responsible. You know, the power
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goes out and the guests get upset. I'm
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not responsible for that. I just have to
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let the guests abuse me. That's kind of
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the expectation. It truly is. Um and I
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actually know that now from from work,
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you know, from volunteering there for
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the time that I did. This is genuinely
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how they think. I even remember sitting
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down the first time of the day you serio
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them after um we supposedly let the
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matter go where she told me that she
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viewed
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um she viewed volunteers and rangers as
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a family as equals and I looked at her
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and I just knew that was I I
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knew it was And then for the
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next two months, she would repeat this
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line more than once. And you could tell
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every time, okay, this is such a script
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that she's just sharing right now, you
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know, and she knows that I know. You you
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can just tell that she knows I know
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because she keeps returning to it, you
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know. She she wants me to believe this.
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And I feel like the fact that I I
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refused to just play along, that I
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didn't go along with the script and say,
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"Oh, yeah, of course you do." was part
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of the reason why she never really gave
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me a second chance. But, you know, I'm
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not performative. I'm not going to I'm
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not gonna So, and the reason I couldn't
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is because I don't believe that. I don't
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see rangers and
[10:56]
um volunteers as equals. So, how does
[10:59]
she possibly think this? It was just
[11:01]
such nonsense. Like, there was no way.
[11:03]
Like, I could not buy into that myself.
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So, it just didn't make any sense to me.
[11:08]
Looking for my keys so I can get my Jeep
[11:10]
going. What did I do with them?
[11:14]
This place is very clean and organized.
[11:16]
I'm so happy about that. I got to leave
[11:18]
in the morning tomorrow. I did not hear
[11:21]
back from the Forest Service yet. I um
[11:24]
had to do some fingerprinting as part of
[11:28]
their background check process and I
[11:30]
think that that just hasn't come back
[11:31]
yet. I was supposed to come back within
[11:32]
48 hours. It's been over 72
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now. Hoping I hear from her in the
[11:38]
morning because if I don't then I'm
[11:40]
really in trouble because I have nowhere
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to go still. Well, you know, I'm trying
[11:44]
very hard to get things together. I
[11:47]
mean, hopefully you guys see that. I
[11:48]
mean, there's a reason I'm making videos
[11:50]
about my work life and trying to build
[11:52]
out my programming history and all that.
[11:54]
And also trying to get a volunteer job
[11:56]
with an, you know, a different agency
[11:57]
because I need stable housing so that I
[12:00]
can look for work in town. I'm going to
[12:02]
be 40 miles away from here.
[12:05]
So, you know, and I don't have a lot of
[12:07]
gas. And the gas I do have powers the
[12:09]
things in my
[12:10]
RV. And so, I can't, you know, go 40
[12:13]
miles down there and start looking for
[12:14]
work until I'm actually there. And so,
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it's just, you know, my life is so
[12:18]
complicated. Um, I'm just going to say
[12:21]
this once. There are links in my
[12:23]
description for um donating and it would
[12:26]
help me a lot because I literally have
[12:27]
nothing right now and you know it would
[12:30]
just help immensely especially if
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tomorrow I don't hear from her in time
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and I have to find a campground for the
[12:37]
weekend you know to give her more time
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because that's all this is. I don't have
[12:40]
a criminal history. There's no reason
[12:42]
why that um background check shouldn't
[12:45]
you know should be a pro it's not going
[12:46]
to be a problem for me. I'm just stuck
[12:48]
waiting on it.
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So, I'm hopeful, but even, you know,
[12:54]
even if she comes through, I really
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could use some money because I I need
[12:57]
money for fuel to to look for work in
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town. I need groceries. Um I I truly
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don't know what I you know, I've asked
[13:05]
my my ex-client who I still do work with
[13:07]
every once in a while off for money and
[13:09]
he just doesn't have it. And that was
[13:11]
really that's always my last my last
[13:14]
recourse. So I guess asking on YouTube
[13:19]
like I don't know some kind of lemming.
[13:21]
I don't know what orb should I use for
[13:23]
that. That's probably my last thread of
[13:26]
hope. So it never really results in
[13:29]
anything but every once in a while
[13:30]
somebody does send me 20 bucks and I
[13:32]
really do appreciate it. So if you could
[13:33]
be that person this time I would really
[13:35]
appreciate it. So anyways,
[13:40]
um I'm just
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processing the implications
[13:46]
of the contradiction of, you know, you
[13:49]
would think that they would want you to
[13:51]
have integrity and
[13:54]
to take ownership of your role and to
[13:56]
try to contribute in meaningful ways,
[13:58]
but they don't want that in
[13:59]
institutions. And this is not something
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I could really have known because my
[14:03]
entire life I was on the outside of
[14:05]
them. So, so
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I'm I'm that's what I'm processing
[14:11]
especially because my hope is to
[14:13]
integrate with another institution,
[14:15]
right? So, and I'm going to handle that
[14:16]
very differently than I did the first
[14:18]
time. I still want to have integrity. I
[14:21]
still want to, you know, live my ethics
[14:23]
and be myself. And that's a complicated
[14:28]
thing for me to navigate now because I
[14:29]
truly don't know like where do you like
[14:33]
you can only at least for me how I
[14:35]
learn. I learn in real time. I'm always
[14:38]
adapting. I'm always learning. And so
[14:40]
for those two months I was at that park.
[14:42]
That's exactly what I did. Like I
[14:44]
learned from that interaction with her.
[14:46]
I adapted but she didn't let it go. So
[14:50]
nothing ever got resolved. It was always
[14:52]
constant escalation on their side. and I
[14:54]
was always navigating their
[14:56]
escalations. And so, you know, and I'm
[14:58]
trying to learn. I'm trying to adapt.
[15:00]
And I just don't want another situation
[15:02]
like
[15:03]
that. But, um, ultimately, you know, it
[15:07]
is going to be freelance work. I've done
[15:08]
it all of my life. There's no reason why
[15:10]
I can't return to that. I'm doing
[15:12]
everything in my power to get that going
[15:14]
as quickly and as smoothly as possible.
[15:16]
and I'll make plenty of money, which
[15:18]
will uh fund my life and my explorations
[15:22]
and my YouTube channel cuz you guys will
[15:24]
get to witness all of the exploring I do
[15:26]
of the coast. I still need to get up to
[15:28]
the Columbia River. You know, I've only
[15:30]
made it halfway up the coast and this
[15:31]
summer I would love to take a trip back
[15:33]
to Kentucky. There's some work I' I'd
[15:35]
like to see my mom. There's some work
[15:36]
I'd like to do to my teeth there with my
[15:38]
dentist. And um there's work I want to
[15:41]
do in my RV. I want to completely redo
[15:43]
my side, get the slide fixed, and redo
[15:45]
the um just the way that it is cuz my
[15:47]
bed is not long enough for me. That's
[15:49]
one thing I've been complaining about
[15:51]
for a year. Um I just want to tear out
[15:53]
that wardrobe there, this wardrobe here.
[15:57]
Um let me see if I can get a good angle
[15:59]
on it. This this wardrobe here, so that
[16:01]
this bed is longer. And then I want to
[16:03]
take this space here, my office area. I
[16:07]
really should have just flipped the
[16:08]
camera. um redo that into a real office
[16:11]
and just get rid of the wardrobe and
[16:13]
I'll still keep the slide in even after
[16:15]
I fix it, but it will seal better and
[16:18]
it'll, you know, be warmer in here and
[16:19]
stuff. But, um, so I want to do all of
[16:23]
that and there's some upgrades I want to
[16:25]
make. I want to get solar again. I want
[16:27]
to upgrade the alternator on my Jeep. I
[16:29]
want to get my inverter installed into
[16:31]
that. I want to upgrade the batteries in
[16:33]
my RV, get lithium ones, and get an
[16:34]
inverter for that so that my plugs work
[16:36]
when it's on battery
[16:38]
power. There's all kinds of plans I
[16:41]
have. And this is a transitional period
[16:43]
for me.
[16:45]
And people in my audience who truly care
[16:48]
about me and my life and my channel, I
[16:50]
really hope will try to contribute
[16:53]
cuz this is just a phase. It will end
[16:56]
and things will get better. I guess I'll
[16:58]
end it there. I just um just wanted to
[17:01]
reflect on some things.