Working Girl's Guide #13: Grounded planes and freshly-waxed backs

Flights are grounded and my closet organization has absolutely taken off. The public library is brat, short sleeve sweaters are brat, I’m (still) singing in place of confrontation (also brat??).

Let’s get into it.

Grounded Flights

You probably heard about — or were directly affected by — the failed update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike that led to outages across airports worldwide. Here are the facts, in case you’ve been nodding along every time it comes up in Zoom meetings (like I was). TL;DR: CrowdStrike’s software is used by airlines around the world. United uses it to help calculate aircraft weight and check in customers: both pretty crucial for getting flights off the ground. According to CrowdStrike, the software went down due to a defect — not a cyberattack or security breach.

A.I. Fail #1,000,000

Another week, another corporate A.I. fail. Target employees reportedly hate the new “Help AI” tool implemented by corporate to coach employees and provide on-the-job suggestions. Its advice has been unhelpful at best (telling an employee to handle a rude customer by staying calm), and at worst, dangerous: it reportedly instructed an employee to confront a hypothetical active shooter with a baseball bat.

Sam Altman’s Universal Basic Income Pilot

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who’s been a universal basic income proponent for years, backed a $60 million study in which 3,000 people with an income under $28,000 were given either $1,000 a month or $50 a month — no strings — for three years. It’s now wrapping up: the study found that people who received an extra $1,000 went to the doctor more, and spent a little over $300 more per month on rent, food, and transit — but that stress and food insecurity weren’t affected in the long-term.

Last weekend was Hawaii and this past weekend was closet organization. Both equally dope? My closet might not look that different to you, but let me tell you it’s night and day for me! I cleared out 9 completely full bags of clothes (weird because there’s still 0 space in my closet), and I’m now trying to figure out where to donate them. And how to curb my online shopping addiction. Any tips?

Short sleeve sweaters have me in a chokehold, which is why I’ve found no less than six great options, all linked below! The white jeans/short sleeve sweater combo = hot mom en route to visit her divorce lawyer, and I am 100% here for it.

I’m sorry, has anyone else been absolutely sleeping on public libraries? Free digital books? Check. Some of them have free embroidery machines where you can literally customize anything you want if you have a single iota of creative talent which I do not but some of you probably do?? If you’re looking for a way to read more (audiobooks count!), or do something with friends that does not require advanced reservations and a cancellation fee if/when plans inevitably change, let me recommend a library card. Is it giving elementary school nerd? Absolutely. But if it’s enriching my life without costing me anything or requiring advanced planning, then I am 100% here for it.

Just in time for the rest of those summer weddings on your dockets, Ross and I share our failproof framework for speech writing, plus everything you should avoid if you’re not trying to get booed off the stage of physically removed from the venue. We also talk milestones (I hit 1 million followers on Instagram!) and celebrations (one of us waxed our back, not gonna say who). Listen here!

Thanks for reading!