got_quiet

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Challenge 12 - Share a personal win

My biggest win last year was paying off my student loans. It's a morbid thing to say but it's true that that the federal response to COVID was a miraculous windfall for a lot of people who's primary source of misery was their student loans, and I was one of those people. Suspending the interest meant I didn't feel like I was on the edge of homelessness anymore and could start saving up over 1/3 more of my paycheck. And even though we didn't get any permanent forgiveness, the time bought by the interest suspension was literally all I needed to be able to make a single payment when interest returned and wipe the whole thing away. I think I saved at least 20k by being able to do this. I'm in such a better financial position right now that it isn't even funny.

I've been popcorning the recent mess with the Hugos. The Hugos have been on my shitlist ever since a number of the people associated with them showed their asses over the Ao3 win. I may have duked it out with a few of them on File 770 back then and my takeaway in the end was that while I have never cared for awards to begin with, I disregarded the Hugos completely, in particular.

So I haven't spent much time absorbing the details of the current fuckup. There is a write up here outlining some of the many questionable datapoints in the voting, but more amusing to me is that the response by those who ostensibly represent the Hugos is just as dumb and annoying as it was a few years ago. In particular the chair of the Mark Protection Committee whining about how they just can't protect their trademark in any way, they just can't! has got me rolling.

The org is simultaneously so desperate to be respected and obeyed, and so desperate to avoid accountability and be seen as just a bunch of hapless guys who can't do shit. They can't have their cake and eat it too but they are trying real hard.

Anyway my point is I just won a Hugo and everyone else did too. Congratulations!