Wednesday, May 24, 2023

A Fun Busy Weekend

 
By Gemma Cleanslate
 

It was a fun busy weekend in Second Life for me. Saturday morning as usual I read the SL Newser and then I read The Gazette which is the newspaper of the BBB( Bellisseria Bureau of Bureaucracy) Group. I always read this paper on Saturday (after I read the SL Newser) when it is released because besides the news or interview that appears there it also shows the new locations for the passport stamps. I have been collecting the stamps for long time. There are stamp terminals all over the grid. It is great to visit so many new places . I often get ideas for articles by doing this.

I took time to attend a fishing contest. which I did not win or even get close but it was fun.
The big discussion in the Bellisseria Citizen Group was shopping. Dreamer Pixelmaid was passing out information on bargains which I had to go check out. Then it was time for real life running.


Sunday I attended three events . The first was a visit to the always huge Bay City Anniversary celebration. I am sorry to say I missed the parade but got to the great party. DJ GoSpeed Rasere (GoSpeed Racer) was spinning tunes when I arrived and after greeting all I hopped on the fun conga line they have there for all the events.

Following GoSpeed the live singers took over with lovely songs . There were 50 + at the party having a great time.


Next I stopped over at the Sunday party at Virtual Ability where Stepin always has great tunes for the members and invited visitors. There was an ongoing discussion about banned books going on and most agreed in principle that banning in libraries that are the collectors of data and information for the public is never good. There was also the usual fun banter. Mook remarked that his bucket list was filled with books he wanted to read and food he wanted to taste.


My next trip was to a Cultural Diversity street party hosted by Sondee was under way. The street was lined with booths of food and information from many countries. I of course grabbed a piece of pizza , one of my favorite foods. ÐĴ ८hocoŁatε Śiη™ (Tyesia Xevious) had some great music going on.


I forget to tell you that Jadin Emerald has installed a fun high diving platform at Yosemite High Sierra.
If you would like to try it go over and you can get a chute and HUD and try it out! I took a few jumps.
 

It has been a while since I had the opportunity. Then take a walk in the forest and look around. There is a travel hud available to help you get all over both High Sierra and Yosemite. If you want to “chicken out “ it will take you down to the entrance where you can grab the hud. There is also a nice back pack full of goodies for visiting and camping at Yosemite,
 

Friday, May 5, 2023

Reader Submitted: 988

 
 By Any1 Gynoid
 
Ronnie Montrose 64, Kurt Cobain 27, Amy Winehouse 27, Wendy Haluza 29, Brian Donovant 15, Rose Berka 38, Jim Morrison 27, Janis Joplin 27, Jimi Hendrix 27 ... When I am on Second Life, there is one thing you can bet your digital boots on, I always request the song "Suicide Solution, theme song of M*A*S*H. I am not afraid to talk about suicide. I am your friend. I am there 24 hours x 7 days a week, x 365 days a year. I am a 988 Crisis Counselor.

Mental Health. In this country, The United States of Americs (USA! USA!), where there are 400 million guns, more guns than people. In fact, about 2/3s of all guns in the world are the private property of US citizens. And our 50 state gubbermints are shedding budgets ... taking money away from colleges and universities ... DEFUND mental health institutions ... kids are scared to go to school ... Fox News incessantly spreading spreading Russian propaganda. Who you gonna call?
 
So here's the thing. The USA is the greatest country in the world. More than half of all US hoseholds are living paycheck to paycheck, 2/3 of households making under $100,000 per year, 3/4 of households making under $50,000. Paycheck to paycheck. What that means, let's say you are the breadwinner, and you break a leg or your car breaks down, or you get arrested, or you get pregnant (i.e. the looming crisis in 20 veto-proof red states). You were just getting by from paycheck to paycheck. But now,  ... The wheels fell off your life's jugging act. What can you do? Who you gonna call?

Suicide may appear a solution. So here's what we do. If you called 911 emergency services, these high-school educated guys, heavily armed, expecting you own an AR15 Assault Rifle ... will knock on your door, possibly guns blazing. Yeah, go ahead and do that. Or call me. I'm just sayin.
 
All the problems, all of the major mistakes that we make building an Information Technology (IT) system, all the mistakes, land on the IT helpdesk. Similarly, but in a much larger context, all of the major mistakes, we parents, we teachers, we counselors, we pastors, we officer friendly's, all those mistakes and problems gotta go somewhere. 911 is often NOT the right answer. So there is 988. 988 is the Suicide Prevention Lifeline. It is national. It is everywhere in The United States of America. It is 24x7x365. FREE!

So basically, we will take your call. We strive to be compassionate, empathic, engaged, and helpful. But mostly we listen. Our goal is to help you through the next 24 hours safely. There are things under your control, and we will help you discover. Tomorow is another day.

Nine Eight Eight. 988. There for you. Voice and TEXT. Could be your last resort. Hopefully not. But remember this. You gotta friend. AnyOne will take your call. 988. Bada Bing!

Any1's opinon piece for the SL Newser (The REAL Fox News)