u/dankgureilla

I have an older coworker who I suspect is not even trying at this point. Our manager told them to upload a document and share it with the team. I've taught them many times how to do that. It's literally a 10 second process of dragging and dropping a document to upload. They still ask me to do it for them. I have my own damn work to do and don't want to help them. Our manager assigned something to them during our team meeting. We spent 5 minutes discussing it and I added all the content. Our manager then told them to expand on it and send it to the team the next day. My coworker waited until the next day to send it to me and asked if I had anything to add. I looked at his document and he literally added nothing. It was everything I added during our team meeting. What's even worse is he used Copilot to send me the email. It's filled with emdashes. He couldn't even bother to write a 2 sentence email without Copilot.

I think he's checked out at this point cause he can retire whenever he wants. He's a nice guy and we get along, but I don't want to help him anymore. It's honestly annoying, but I also don't want to throw him under the bus to our manager. What the hell am I supposed to do? We're already short on staff cause HR isn't letting us backfill an analyst position that's been open for 2 years.

SEIU 1000 filed the Unfair Labor Practices with PERB.

What are CAPS, CASE, etc doing?

Spent 9 days on this trip. Never been to the Midwest and thought this would be a cool way to see the country.

1: Flew into Chicago from the bay area and spent 3 nights there doing all the touristy stuff and eating iconic Chicago foods.

2: Boarded AmTrak to Denver and spent 2 nights there as well. 18 hour train ride.

Chilled at the AmTrak Lounge for 2 hours before my train. A nice break and the employees were very helpful as it was my first time riding AmTrak.

Lots of flat farm land riding through the midwest. Crossing the Mississippi river from Illinois to Iowa was pretty cool. It started snowing the early morning before arriving to Denver which made the views even better.

3: Got back onto the train from Denver to Salt Lake City and spent 2 nights there. 15 hour train ride.

This is by far the most scenic portion of the trip. Incredible views of Colorado Rockies with fresh snow. I was worried that if I sat on the wrong side of the train I would miss the best scenery, but IMO it doesn't matter which side of the observation car you sit on. You get incredible scenery from both sides.

4: Last train trip back to the bay area. 15 hour train ride.

I was exhausted at this point, but still lots of incredible scenery. We rode through the Sierra Nevada mountains back in addition to seeing Donner Lake in Truckee.

I booked a roomette for Chicago to Denver and Denver to SLC. It was more than enough room for myself, but I have no idea how 2 adults are supposed to fit in there. Surprisingly got good sleep. Very impressed by the food. The highlight was the flat iron steak. Eating a good steak with beautiful scenery is hard to beat. Next time I would skip lunch though. The burger was very mediocre. Also the attendant during lunch was very off his game. Very forgetful. He forgot our drinks and forget the salad dressing for my tablemate until lunch almost over. The 3 egg omelette at breakfast was surprisingly tasty and very filling. I rather eat that than the burger.

Sat in coach for SLC to California. Leagues better than airplane seats, but still very uncomfortable. Hardly got any sleep. Was only $68 from SLC to California, so still a good deal. By far the worst part of the trip mainly due to having a hard time sleeping. Also, the assistant conductor? (whoever is the person that walks the train) didn't care to enforce rules. One lady was talking loudly on her phone at 1am and multiple people told the employee and he just casually walks by her and tell it take it to the lounge car, but she ignores him and he walks away not caring. I've also read that the SLC AmTrak station was a bit sketchy, but I didn't get that vibe at all. It was fine. Or maybe it's cause I'm used to homeless people since I grew up in large cities with lots of homeless people. It's hard to call it an actual AmTrak station though. Literally a bungalow with seats. Extremely disappointing since my first experience was Chicago Union Station and it's not like SLC is a small rural town. They deserve an actual union station.

Spent 48 hours total on the train. Most of the time was in the observation car just staring out the windows. People were generally courteous. The conductor only mentioned once for people to go back to their seats to give other riders time in the observation car. Also spent lots of time in my room napping or listening to music while watching the scenery. It was cool meeting and talking to people from all walks of life. The AmTrak customer base does skew significantly older though. Lots of retired folks and international travelers. The amusing part is everytime I was seated with older people, they tend to talk about politics. Luckily we had the same political views everytime. I just thought that was funny as I never talk politics or religion with strangers.

All my trains arrived 10 minutes early. I'm honestly shocked, especially for a long distance train where many things could go wrong.

Spent 9 days on this trip. I know that's not a long time for most people, but traveling the US is expensive. Grew up in the Bay Area and been all over the West Coast and East Coast, but never been to the Midwest and thought this would be a cool way to see the country.

1: Flew into Chicago from the bay area and spent 3 nights there.

Did a lot of the tourist stuff like take an architecture boat tour, visit the Sears tower (not worth it. One and done) and stroll around the Chicago riverwalk. My favorite part of Chicago was visiting The Art Institute of Chicago. I'm not an art person at all, but this museum was incredible. Spent 5 hours there and I only left because I was getting tired and hungry. This was probably my favorite activity on the trip. Also ate iconic Chicago foods like deep dish, Italian beef, and the Chicago dog.

2: Boarded the AmTrak to Denver and spent 2 nights there as well. 18 hour train ride.

Lots of flat farm land riding through the midwest. Crossing the Mississippi river from Illinois to Iowa via train was pretty cool.

Denver was really cool as well. Beautiful downtown. Parking sucks though. Was planning to drive to boulder to hike, but it started snowing the night I was on the train to Denver so I had to change plans. The upside is the snow provided spectacular views from the train. Spent day 1 checking out the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. More gear towards kid IMO, but still lots of really cool stuff like their bug exhibit and dinosaur collection and you could even see people working on the dinosaurs in the lab. Was able to hike on day 2 in Roxborough state park. Beautiful views with the snow, but it made the trails a bit muddy. The only iconic Colorado food I ate was Colorado Green Chili.

3: Got back onto the train from Denver to Salt Lake City and spent 2 nights there. 15 hour train ride.

This is by far the most scenic portion of the trip. The train spends hours climbing the Colorado Rockies and you get incredible views in the observation car which has floor to ceiling windows on both sides.

Salt Lake City was fun, but I think it was my least favorite part of the trip. Spent most of my time here hiking, checking out the Natural History Museum of Utah, and walking around the state Capitol. The state capitol was surprisingly very fun. So much history in there about the founding of Utah, the American revolution, and SLC pioneers. SLC has incredible views since the city is at the base of the mountains. Ate the iconic Utah pastrami burger and really enjoyed it.

I just felt very out of place as a POC as SLC was VERY white, but overall still good experience. Their AmTrak station sucks though. Literally a bungalow with seats. Not a "real" station like Chicago and Denver that has plenty to do inside the station.

4: Last train trip back to the bay area. 15 hour train ride.

I was exhausted at this point, but still lots of incredible scenery. We rode through the Sierra Nevada mountains back in addition to seeing Donner Lake in Truckee.

I booked a private room (roomette) for Chicago to Denver and Denver to SLC. These should technically fit 2 people, but it's gonna real cramped in there. It was more than enough room for myself. Surprisingly got good sleep. The two seats pull out and turn into a bed. Booking a private room also includes meals. Like actual meals made by an on board chef in the kitchen. Not the microwave crap you get on planes. The food was really good. The highlight was the flat iron steak. Eating a good steak with beautiful scenery is hard to beat.

Sat in coach for SLC to California. It's like an airplane seat, but much larger, the seat reclines much further, and there a leg rest. Still very uncomfortable though. Hardly got any sleep. Was only $68 from SLC to California, so still a good deal and better than airplane seats.

Spent 48 hours total on the train. Most of the time was in the observation car just staring out the windows. Also spent lots of time in my room napping or listening to music while watching the scenery. At meal times you also sit with strangers. It was cool meeting and talking to people from all walks of life. The AmTrak customer base does skew significantly older though. Lots of retired folks and international travelers.

If you enjoy leisure traveling I think long distance AmTrak is a great option.

Grew up in the Bay Area, been to the East Coast a few times so lots of Asians in those areas. Traveled out of country many times (not Asia) so it makes sense there won't be many Asians there.

I just got back from Salt Lake City and the lack of racial diversity surprised me. It's VERY white there. I went to a coffee shop that was packed with customers. Literally all white people other than myself and 1 other Asian customer. I didn't see any other POC. When I went to eat ramen it was the same thing. Packed with 90% White customers.

Nobody was mean to me on my trip, but It's just an odd feeling. I think it's the first time I've ever felt out of place due to being AA. Still had a good time though. Anybody else experienced this?

Weird question, but bear with me. I grew up in the Bay Area and spent lots of time in SoCal, so I had phenomenal Asian food all my life. I'm visiting Salt Lake City soon and doing research on where to eat. I asked for recommendations and said I didn't want to eat Asian food there since it's going to be disappointing cause I'm used to some of the best Asian food in CA. Apparently I ruffled some feathers and people from SLC were saying their Asian food and Mexican food can rival CA. I suspect those folks aren't even Asian and have no idea what they're talking about. It's basic population demographics. There just aren't many Asians in SLC so the Asian food scene there isn't as developed as CA or NY.

Anybody move from places like CA or NY to a place with much less Asians? How does the food compare?

Looking to get some very nice tea for my parents who have been daily tea drinkers for decades. I'm looking for the kind of tea that you wouldn't spend on for yourself, but a very nice treat if received as a gift. The equivalent in coffee would be geisha beans. Does such a thing exist for tea?

I don't know what they drink. Their tea comes in green cannisters all in Chinese and my parents simply refer to the teas in numbers such as 103. I have no idea what kind of tea that is. A few years ago their friend also brought back a bunch of sticky rice tea from china and they loved that. Is there any place that sells "premium" tea?