People Share The Best ‘You Have No Power Here’ Moment They’ve Ever Witnessed

There’s something really wonderful, thrilling even, when you subvert the expectations of others and remind them of your own power and authority.

Let’s face it – in the working world (and certainly elsewhere) there are people who will attempt to trod all over you. It is ultimately up to you to advocate and assert yourself.

And sometimes it helps to teach those other people a lesson, too. You know… so they don’t act so foolish again.

We heard people share their stories about power differentials after Redditor sormatador asked the online community:

“What was the best ‘you have no power here’ moment you have ever seen?”

“The first time I had dinner…”

“The first time I had dinner at my parents house after I got my own apartment. My dad was giving me grief as usual. Finally, I stood up and said, ‘I don’t live here anymore. I don’t have to put up with you this way any longer. I’m going home.’”

“And walked out. Most liberating moment of my life.” ~ sunshine2632

“I told my ex…”

“I told my ex I was getting remarried. He told me he was going to stop me and put a lien on my house (which I bought with my money six years after the divorce). My son would come home from visitations telling me how his dad was going to stop the wedding and I’d have to pay him all of this money, la di da.”

“Get to court. His attorney goes blah blah blah for what felt like forever. My lawyer (yes, I had to freaking get one) stands up and simply hands the judge the divorce papers showing the disbursement of funds and how my ex isn’t owed anything.”

“Judge looks at ex’s lawyer and basically asks, ‘Did you even ask for this document before filing?’ and dismisses the case.” ~ NeverCallMeFifi

“So my biological grandmother…”

“Not me, but a story my dad used to tell me all the time.”

“So my biological grandmother was very emotionally abusive. She was very controlling and tried to keep people within her sphere of influence. There’s a reason why my grandfather divorced her.”

“In high school my dad had a job washing airplanes at an airport in our area, which he absolutely loved (he’s a huge fan of aircraft in general). He had classes until roughly 10 a.m. and then he’d be off to work until around 10 p.m. (it was what he loved, he didn’t mind long hours being around aircraft all day).”

“But one day he came home a little too late for his mom’s liking. She said she’d take his keys to his motorcycle and that he’d lost privileges to it. The fact of the matter is that he bought the motorcycle himself and he needed it to get to school as well as work.”

“He laughed in her face and she didn’t do anything. She couldn’t do anything.” ~ ITriedMyBestMan

“My boss calling me…”

“My boss calling me at 7 a.m. on a Saturday to ask if I could lay some flooring for a friend of his at nearly half my normal rate. Yeah, hard pass Andy.” ~ CapuccinoBoy

“This is a bit silly…”

“This is a bit silly, but gave me a great feeling of satisfaction.”

“Due to the bad economy and poor money management, my parents have moved into the spare room of the house my husband and I bought a year ago. Things are mostly smooth, tho I’m not the closest to them for several reasons I won’t go into here.”

“The other evening I was out gardening (because it’s hot during the day and we have the luck of having a streetlight right next to our front yard, keeping it pretty well illuminated even after sundown as I mostly garden at night), and I thought I had gotten the hose twisted, as it kept getting stuck.”

“This went on for a bit until I realized that it wasn’t stuck, but being pulled. I looked into the dim area just past the illumination of the street light and spied my father, crouched over and tugging the hose. Well I did the only reasonable thing to do, and I sprayed him.”

“He yelled and ran inside with me chasing. Once he got inside he made a face and goes, ‘You can’t get me now! I’m inside!!’ in that father-to-daughter-don’t-you-make-a-mess tone of voice.”

“I readied my hose, looked him in the eye and said, ‘It’s my house,’ and just let loose with the hose. He was soaked. Worth cleaning up the mess for that moment of true fear in his eyes.” ~ pumpkinspicepiggy

“A couple of days ago…”

“I grew up with my parents having screaming arguments over every little thing (they do love each other – over 50 years of marriage so far testifies to that) and it always upset me.”

“A couple of days ago, they popped into my house to visit for a coffee on their way to stay with friends a few miles away. Within minutes, they were yelling at each other.”

“I took great pleasure in telling them that I would not stand for such behaviour in MY house and, if they didn’t lower their voices, they could stand outside until they learned some manners. The meek apologies tasted so sweet. As did the coffee.” ~ Mangosta007

“Bye, Felicia.”

“I once had a boss try to discipline me (three months later I may add) for my behaviour as it was noted I was ‘rude to her’ by several of the group’s CEOs in a board meeting.”

“On the disciplinary forms, you both have to write your version of the events and it goes to HR for an adjudication. She did her part and I casually filled in something to the effect of ‘Manager continually pressured me into deleting files from our client management system prior to a regulatory audit which is against the ethical code of our profession and not aligned with my moral standards, I accept I was short with her but she was trying to force me into performing an illegal activity.’”

“I watched her collect up the paper and the colour drained from her face. I never did hear from HR. She got fired not long after when I casually mentioned to the CEO in a bar if she remembered the encounter and explained why I may have appeared a little frustrated and upset. Bye Felicia.” ~Noknox87

“He drives me home…”

“The guy that I’d gone on a few dates with introduced me to his parents, things went well, or so i thought. He drives me home, we end up talking and drinking a few beers, I didn’t want him on the road with any alcohol in his system, and i enjoyed his company, so we end up hanging out until 3 a.m.”

“His mom starts blowing up his phone demanding that he come home, so he drives himself home to find that he’s been locked out of his house. His mom said that he can sleep outside, he shouldn’t be spending time with someone like me (still don’t know what she meant by that), and that i’m ‘just another stop on the pussy train.’”

“He tells her not to talk about me like that, to which she says ‘When you’re under my roof, I’ll say whatever I want about whoever i want!’ so he picks up his phone, calls me, asks if he can stay at my place for a little while.”

“It’s been seven years, we’re engaged, have a dog, a cat, and a happy life. I also plan on throwing some subtle train themes into the wedding/celebration after the end of the plague.” ~ bootylikepoww

“If the concession counter was slammed…”

“I worked in management at a theatre for a while. If the concession counter was slammed and I was able, I’d leave my post and help them sling popcorn.”

“One night while helping out, a particularly belligerent man started cussing out a 16-year-old girl on a cash register for being too slow, even suggesting she quit since she clearly couldn’t handle pushing buttons or scooping popcorn.”

“It was pretty disgusting and I felt so bad for the girl, I stepped in and told the guy that our employees have the right to refuse service to customers who harass them as part of our anti-harassment/discrimination policy, empathized that the lines were longer than usual, and suggested he should apologize and move on.”

“He was PISSED. Left half his order on the counter and started fuming. Anticipating his next move, I went back to my original post that night – as manager of the customer service kiosk.”

“Oh boy, the look on his face when he saw me. (Didn’t want a refund of his tickets though so I assume he watched the movie, without popcorn.) ~ dendriticbranch

“Fast forward twenty years…”

“I wasn’t good at returning library books when I was a kid. I got lectured by my school librarian about it a lot. Fast forward twenty years and I’m a supervisor at the local public library and my former now-retired school librarian goes there.”

“One day I see her sneaking around the front desk instead of coming back to say hi to me and I immediately figure something’s up. I go up to say hi and she acts exasperated and tells me she was trying to avoid me because she had overdue books.”

“So I put on my reading glasses, pulled them down over my nose, and delivered the same lecture she’d given me countless times about being responsible and turning in books on time.” ~ daecrist

There’s something so empowering about these stories.

It makes you feel good to stand up for yourself, doesn’t it?

Good.

You should remember to do it more often.

This Is How Often Should You Be Shutting down Your Computer

A lot of us are unclear on this, so here are a few tips about how often you should or shouldn’t turn your device off.

Years back it was said that users should never leave computers in idol status or sleep mode because it used up precious battery life, made them overheat, and essentially gave the computer itself a shorter lifespan. With new technology, this is no longer the case. Many computers no longer have fans running constantly and are built to fall into battery saving mode.

There are three “power” states your laptop can perform: Full shut down, sleep mode, or hibernation. Let’s talk about them, shall we?

Photo Credit: Pexels, John Petalcurin

Full-shut down

This means exactly what it says—the computer is turned completely off. To continue operating a healthy and fast device, you should do this weekly. This is especially important if you run a ton of applications or surf the internet. Cashed copies of website attachments and ad blockers clog up your device, and a full shut down clears them out.

Brad Nichols, a technician with technology repair service company Staymobile says, “Those things just have to be reset at some point so they’re not always running. It just builds up over time, and the more you use it, the slower it will get. It resets the computer and gives it a fresh start.”

Sleep Mode

All laptops have this option versus shutting down completely. I think of it as a cat nap for my Mac. In most cases, sleep mode occurs when you leave the laptop opened. When you return, the screen is dark and you can tap a key or wiggle the mouse to wake up. Things are still running in the background, but this can save the headache of booting up our computer, which takes time.

Hibernation

This puts your Mac or PC into a deeper sleep. It will shut down more items on your computer than sleep mode, but some apps will run in the background.  Overall, however, less power is used.

If your still worried about using up too much power, Geek Squad Agent Derek Meister says that if you shut off your computer completely, “You’re talking maybe a dollar’s worth of savings on your electric bill. If you’re worried about cutting down your energy costs, you’re better off unplugging chargers that aren’t in use or turning off a printer until you need it.”

Determining the right method is up to you, as the user. My advice would be to combine these methods depending on how long you step away from your desk. And do give your laptop a rest once a week.

They need it, just like us humans.

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Portland, Oregon is About to Generate Electricity from the City’s Water Pipes

The need for modern societies to move beyond fossil fuels and develop renewable energy alternatives is undeniable. Towards those efforts, city planners of the world should keep an eye on what’s happening in Portland, Oregon.

The city has partnered with a company called Lucid Energy to generate clean electricity for the city by utilizing the water already flowing beneath the city.

Photo Credit: Facebook, Lucid Energy

A section of Portland’s water system was replaced by pipes designed by Lucid Energy that contain four 42″ turbines. As the water flows through the pipes under the city’s streets, the turbines spin and provide energy that is put into the city’s electrical grid.

Lucid Energy says this will be “first project in the U.S. to secure a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for renewable energy produced by in-pipe hydropower in a municipal water pipeline.” One big advantage that this type of energy-generating system has is that it isn’t affected by the weather, like solar and wind power are.

The water must be moved by gravity because the energy required to pump water through pipes would make the energy generated by this technology pointless. In other words, cities with an abundance of hills will be the winners with this technology.

Photo Credt: Good Free Photos

When the project is complete it is supposed to generate power to up to 150 homes. While that might not sound like a lot, it is a great start for what is basically a brand new technology.

Take a look at this video to learn more about the project.

Hopefully, city planners and civic leaders around the country are paying attention to what’s going on in Portland.

The post Portland, Oregon is About to Generate Electricity from the City’s Water Pipes appeared first on UberFacts.

California Was the First State to Make Solar Panels Mandatory on Homes

Starting in 2020, all new single-family homes and multi-family buildings that are three stories or less in California must be constructed with solar panels. California was the first state to pass such a law, which is part of a bigger plan to be free of fossil fuels within 20 years.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Even with the solar panel requirement for homes, that doesn’t mean the end of some natural gas-burning. When the sun goes down, especially during hot months, solar energy won’t be enough to power many homes, so additional sources are needed.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

California is also pushing other energy initiatives. The state is planning on getting half of its power from renewable sources like wind power by 2030. The plan is working so well that officials say that goal may be reached 10 years early, by 2020.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

h/t: Mashable

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