vowedaloha

It starts with across the board tariffs, then an industry goes to him and says this hurts us, so here is a donation to one of your PACs, or we'll buy some of your crypto coin and you give us an exemption. And lo and behold a reason is found to not have a tariff on that product or just for that company.

You state "Getting certs is part of what is required for me to get bigger raises and get promoted and all that jazz." So this is not a required part of your CURRENT position. If you want a better position, you will need to invest in yourself, using some of your own time. Sounds like the employer is already paying for the courses and tests, the rest is now up to you.

Do not go in to your meeting with a bad attitude, you will just piss off your boss. Accept that if you want a promotion and higher pay that you are going to have to give up some personal time to get there. Remember, they've already given you time, and you failed, multiple times from what you wrote, so now it is time for you to hunker down and do it on your own time.

XYZZY, Plough & Y2

(From the Colossal Adventure, played on a multi million $ mainframe, when at uni. Probably in the 5-8 yrs before Doom timeframe)

Underwater Football. https://www.underwaterfootball.com/main.html

Originally started (late 60s) to get SCUBA students more time snorkelling and and getting comfortable with having a mask flood and learning how to clear it.

Subnautica (Do not use any hint/spoiler sites, just enjoy the evolving story) Last stop Deliver us the Moon/Deliver us Mars and to a lesser extent Quantum Break (play in story mode)

Walking, bikes and various forms of public/mass transit are all good, but are still not sufficient in a North American environment.

1. Weather sucks. From ankle deep snow that melts to slush and then freezes to be extremely uneven and slippery makes walking unpleasant to dangerous. As much as my city tries to keep up, there is only so much time and funds to clear snow.
2. Not everyone is fully able bodied. I'll skip the obvious mobility impaired that people can identify by sight, but include those who look fully able, but for various reasons cannot. ie people with middle ear issues who cannot ride a bike due to lack of balance, or a medical issue where they can do a 30-40 minute walk, but takes them hours to recover.
3. Not everything CAN be within a 15-20 minute walk! There are lots on specialty and mom & pop stores that I go to that require longer range transport.
4. If you have kids, and they are involved in extracurricular activities, especially sports, you need a vehicle to get them to and from their destination.
5. Whatever city you live in is different than someone else's. From city design, availability and safety of public transit, environment etc. Should every city aspire to be more friendly to those without a car, sure. But the reality is that most cities have spent the last 50 years being built around a car. Making changes to small pockets to be walk-able is a good start, but the reality is that it will be decades before any major overall change would be feasible. Until then we should also look to minimize the environmental impact of cars and EVs are a good start to that.