Oddtail @oddtail@meow.social

So, hey, I'm a translator. And I'm pretty much *always* looking for more work.

I translate to and from Polish.

Not the most in-demand language in the English-speaking world, but if you need a translation done or know someone who does, hit me up.

I'm good at what I do, I have low rates, and I can work pretty damn fast if that's what you need.

I am also pretty versatile, I've translated everything from literature to marketing to technical stuff.

#introductions

Might as well do this.

Hi! I'm a leftist, furry nerd from Poland, 32 y.o.

I'm shy/socially inept, but always vaguely hope to talk/befriend new people, esp. online (so talk to me about whatever). Both online and IRL, I default to treating everyone as a friend unless given a reason not to.

I'm a cis guy (pronouns he/him), but if you're a furry - I'm vastly more comfortable and less prone to anxiety if you assume I'm a woman (she/her) and if we interact as such online.

Heck, I sometimes wonder if that's a thing. A person being cis, with a pretty firm gender identity at that, but interacting as the opposite gender in some spaces for comfort's sake.

I'm pretty sure I don't recall knowing anyone doing that. I even wonder if that's OK to do. I mean, I don't think it harms anyone, nor do I think anyone cares, but I do worry that I'm doing something vaguely awful.

Maybe that's why I default to being a dude on Masto as well. Dunno.

Back when I had more online interaction with furries, I occasionally defaulted to a female fursona online. Didn't focus on it, but it put me in a better headspace for some reason (even tho I'm a cis guy IRL).

That was my original plan here on Masto (see pinned Toot), but somehow I failed to get in that headspace? Partly b/c I Toot as, well, myself.

But I do kinda wish I could switch gears to female when here. Not sure how. Not even sure WHY I want that.

Watched a Youtube video on AI, and once again I'm forced to conclude that there's one serious problem with the Turing Test.

Often, it's not a test of how smart the AI is. It's a test of how much of a fuckin' moron the person participating in the test is.

Seriously, when people think a barely coherent chatbot is a person, it says MUCH more about them than about the chatbot.

I watched "Train to Busan" and I absolutely loved every moment of it.

After the "Kingdom" series, it's the second Korean zombie story that I really enjoyed, despite usually being bored by those.

Starting to think I don't hate zombie movies. I just hate cookie-cutter, formulaic ones that ain't about anything other than cheap thrills.

"Train to Busan" is definitely not one of those. It's thrilling, scary and suspenseful, but it works because it's about the characters in it, not the zombies.

For the record: 3 * minimum wage amounts to less than 1600 euro per month (and that's BEFORE taxes). Or less than 1800 USD per month.

Even in Poland, that's really not a lot of money. And again - *all* Razem MPs agreed to give up what they earn in excess of the amount, it's non-optional, and what causes they give money to will be fully transparent.

It's a symbollic gesture without much impact, but it's one of the ways they show it's about the politics, not about the money.

And three times the minimum wage in Poland really isn't that much, even given the cost of living here.

I'm glad I had a hand in voting one of their MPs into the parliament, y'know. Hope they don't disappoint (this is the first time Razem entered nation-scale politics successfully, they're a rather new party).

I normally don't mention politics in Poland, b/c why'd you give a shit if you don't live here.

But here's a small detail I wanna share.

The Polish parliament has a coalition of 3 left-ish parties, one of which, Razem ("Together") is the most genuinely left one (as opposed to left-leaning liberal).

One way they show commitment is, as agreed during the party convention, every Razem MP will earn only 3 times the national minimum wage. The rest goes to entirely to charity.

Hey.

To anyone LGBT+ who reads this - I want you to know if I'm in a position to help out, I'll help out. Even if it's just by listening, or boosting a Toot, or educating myself when you catch me being ignorant on something that impacts you.

I don't do nearly enough, but if you're in trouble or suffering or need help or even an ear, I'm here. And I'll be happy to help in any small way I can.

What I'm saying is, you're not alone and don't be afraid to talk to me even if we're strangers.

Which is not to say that I don't see ppl my age and younger jizzing their pants at the idea of the Holy Free Market.

But here, it makes *some* sense (if you squint). In Poland, anything "socialist" was treated with hostility because USSR, which fucked Poland in the ass continuously for a good 40 years, coopted the term & narrative for authoritarian reasons.

Whereas Americans were never f'ed in the A by the dick of Communism, so I guess they understand leftist ideas aren't that scary.

My point being, based on what I've read and heard from older people, it used to be pretty obvious for a worker that socialist parties were acting on their behalf and to their benefit. You didn't have to be a radical to understand that labour unions were there to represent you. And so on.

Modern, say, factory workers often vote for people who espouse the virtues of capitalism while systematically dismantling every safety net - financial, medical, or other.

I mean, what gives?

I find it fascinating that younger ppl understand the inherent flaws of capitalism more readily.

One, Boomers and their counterparts in other countries grew up in pre-Reagan, pre-Thatcher era. They benefitted from systems that while not anti-capitalism, were all about regulating and limiting its excesses.

Two, the working poor in their late 40s and beyond - it's not like they've a lot of time left in their careers to prove they've been temporarily embarrassed millionaires all along.

People react to what they react to. I get it.

But theoretically, if I wanted a reaction from people (which I do sometimes seek, because I'm a ball of insecurities and also my ape brain craves attention, because it's part of the human condition), my only safe-ish bet is to fart out a Toot that's minimum mental effort, but cynically exploits a likely "fuck yes" reaction to an uncontroversial sentiment.

Can't be helped, I guess.

It's frustrating that when I write one of those "here's how much one billion is, billionaires bad" comparison that an idiot child could write, people notice, boost and favourite, but when I write about stuff that I care about in some respect or I found witty or entertainindly stupid or otherwise consider meaningful (as Toots go), the reaction is muted to none often.

I know most of what I write isn't important or smart, but "capitalism bad" is hardly a hot take here.

Also, both the char limit and the fact there are only four poll options? Annoying.

Let's say someone asks you how to do something. How do you typically phrase your answer? Example irrelevant, but let's say the question is "How do I unlock a door?"

(it's a general question that also applies to more complex, step-by-step instructions, but poll answers have a length limit, so.)

"toxic masculinity" is such an unwieldy phrase.

Why not shorten it to "musclelinity"?

Hey, remember when selling armor for your horse in a video game as DLC was considered ridiculous and unacceptable?

When nickel-and-diming players for minor shit was a rare exception, not the norm that the public is increasingly apathetic towards?

Good times.

It annoys the Hell out of me that adults use words that make them sound like they're frickin' six. Concidentally (?), a lot of those words are food-related.

"tummy", "yummy", "veggies", are you fuckin' serious with those?

I'm not a native speaker, so maybe those are perfectly cromulent words to use, but the vibe I get is you're essentially baby-talking. I see it surprisingly often on the Internet, especially (but by no means exclusively) from older women.