Meaning of jacho

I'm basically here to complain. Does anyone else find it irritating that as a pharmacy tech some agency and hospital entities force you to get this certification? I am a contractor currently working in an inpatient hospital pharmacy. My patient interaction equals zilch, except when I pass them as they're wheeled down the hallway. My staffing agency is trying to get JACHO certified and expressed that now I am required to do this which I find incredibly pointless. In a building crawling with nurses, doctors, and EMTs in what scenario would I be the person administering CPR? Probably >0.01% chance of it being me. And even if it was I would end up screaming for a nurse anyways. Oh and they ONLY accept AHA which means I have to take time out of my personal life to do this because they require online AND in person courses, sold separately of course. I already work full time, do the stupid CE's to maintain certification, plus the mandatory hospital modules, and the Relias modules from my agency. All these requirements are hardly justified by the pay. 🤬🙄 End rant.
How do you feel about this?

Alma and Jane sat outside the main campus building eating lunch when Alma’s boy friend Brad Morrison jogged up. Breaking the peaceful silence he asked loudly “What’s up ladies?” not bothering to wait for a reply he threw an arm around Alma “you guys ready for this weekend?” Alma smiled up at him “I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Brad and Alma were the stereotypical college couple, Brad was tall, strong and the captain of the rugby team. Alma played for the colleges volleyball team and despite her lean athletic build she maintained her curves in all the right places. Alma’s raven black hair contrasted perfectly with Brad’s shoulder length golden mane, Brad stood well over six foot and was broad in the chest while the top of Alma’s head barely reached his shoulder. They were high school sweethearts that had kept the passion going well into college. Jane and Alma had grown up on the same street and became natural best friends. Whereas Alma was a competitive athlete who aggressively pursued a career as a lawyer, Jane was the quiet and the more compassionate one. Jane preferred long distance hikes over sporting events and was working towards a teaching degree. Many people assumed Brad and Jane were siblings as Jane was tall for a girl, had long golden hair a slender build and mesmerizing blue eyes. The trio had been inseparable throughout college, they each shared a love for adventure even if Jane was the more timid of the group. Brad stole some chips from Alma’s plate “how about you Janey? You still coming?” Jane toyed with her food avoiding eye contact “well… Jax kind of mentioned hanging out this weekend”. She trailed off quietly. Jax Coleman and Jane had met the weekend before at a party celebrating Alma’s volleyball team making the regional playoffs. Getting approached by a guy at a party filled with attractive athletes had surprised Jane at first but her and Jax had really hit it off and had been texting daily ever since. Brad laughed “and you will, I invited him along” Jane’s head shot up “you did what?” she asked mortified, they had planned an overnight hike to an abandoned housing development buried deep in the south Connecticut wilderness. Brad held up his hands in pretend defense “woah now, he can share a tent with me while you and Alma get the other one”. He then winked suggestively “unless of course you would prefer it the other way”. Jane blushed deeply, covering her face with her hands she muttered “your tent is fine”. Brad laughed loudly “I gotta bounce, see ya tonight babe”. Once he was out of earshot Jane glared across the table at Alma “were you in on this?” Alma emphatically shook her head “no way, but you know Brad means well. He’s just trying to get you out of your comfort zone”. Jane groaned in frustration “well I wish he wouldn’t. I like my comfort zone, it's comfortable”. Alma laughed “like it or not it sounds like we’ve got a double date”. Early Saturday morning Brad pulled up to Jane and Alma’s apartment in his classic Toyota land cruiser. The girls were already waiting outside with their backpacks. “Ready for a weekend to remember?” Brad yelled out. Jax waved from the passenger seat, Alma and Jane climbed into the back bench after throwing their bags in the rear. Brad turned around in his seat and gave Alma a deep kiss “you look stunning as usual, remind me to walk behind you on the trail up”. Jane rolled her eyes knowing exactly what he meant, the yoga pants and tight tank top Alma was wearing left little to the imagination. Jane had chosen a pair of athletic shorts and a loose fitting T-shirt for the long hike preferring comfort over style. Jax turned and offered his hand to Alma “I’m Jax” she shook his hand “Alma Rodriguez, how’s your morning so far?” Jax flashed a set of perfectly white teeth “it’s a bit earlier than I’m used to but Brad promised me that it'll be worth it”. Jax then looked to Brad “although you never really told me what it is we’re doing”. Brad threw the SUV into gear “oh it’s going to be great, I promise that. Plus I think you’ll find the company to be top notch”. Jane kicked the back of Brad’s seat which only made him laugh “watch the leather Janey, it’s vintage!” “Seriously though” Jax interrupted sparing Jane from further embarrassment “where are we going?” “You agreed to come along on an overnight trip without knowing where we going?” Alma asked in surprise. Jax shrugged “like Brad said, I knew I would be in good company” he shot Jane a smile, she looked down trying to hide her reddening face and the grin that was forcing its way out. “To answer your question, we heading for Rhododendron Heights”. Brad informed him. “Never heard of it” Jax replied. “Most people haven’t” said Alma “that’s why we want go there, tell him the story Brad”. “Sure thing babe, you see the three of us have been hitting up abandoned or historical places for almost a decade now. The more secluded and longer forgotten the better. I first heard about Rhododendron Heights last year, you see back in the seventies a large group of influential business folks got together and bought a few hundred acres of virgin woodland. The plan was to build a secluded and disaster proof community that could survive anything the world might throw at them. But something went wrong, only a handful of houses ever got completed and even those were never occupied”. Nearly bouncing with excitement Jane leaned forward “I heard the houses are like mini mansions and are totally untouched!” Jax looked back at her amused “I take it this place isn’t exactly a tourist attraction”. Brad shook his head “not at all, in fact you can’t even drive there anymore. It’s locked in the middle of private timber lands, but I happen to know where you can cut off a public trail and walk to it. The guy that told me about it said it took him six hours to get there but it was totally worth it”. “Sounds cool, super secluded location. Likely without cell service, it should be quite the weekend”. “Damn straight brother!” Brad whooped then accelerated even faster down the winding mountain road. Two hours later the group pulled up to a public trail head. Brad and Jax shouldered the tents and cookware while Jane and Alma carried the bags of food and other supplies. Brad slapped Alma’s butt “damn girl, you get better looking every time I lay eyes on you!” Jana just rolled her eyes, she was used to Brad and Alma’s being overly affectionate even when in public. Jax looked back to Jane as Alma and Brad confidently strode down the path “should we follow or do they need a moment alone?” he joked. Jane laughed lightly “from the way Alma talks it would be more than a moment, let’s catch up before they get any ideas. I’ve avoided walking in on that sort of thing this long and I’d like to keep it that way”. They stepped up their pace and quickly caught up to the love birds. By noon they had found the turn off, someone had carved a little cross into the base of a tree. The trail from there was nearly non-existent, more than once they had to back track after missing a turn. Finally as it neared six a clock Jane spotted a roofline through the trees “there!” she cried out “look! That’s definitely a house!” tired limbs forgotten they rushed forward, breaking free of the thick undergrowth they found themselves standing on cracked and time worn asphalt. In front of them stood a large three story house that would have been the pride of any 1970’s CEO. Trees and bushes grew up all around it leaving just the third floor peeking out, the concrete driveway had lost it’s battle with heaving roots long ago. The group weaved through the large cottonwood trees that had overtaken the front yard. Brad peeked through a broken living room window “smells gnarly in there” he commented. Vines had covered the floor and we’re climbing the walls, the rooms were fully furnished but time and moisture had taken their toll. Jax hung back as the others pried the front door open, with a mighty heave Brad wrenched it free from the vegetation holding it. “Are you guys sure about this?” Jax asked still looking apprehensive. Jane took him by the hand “come on, it’ll be fun!” Jax relaxed and followed her in. They quickly skipped the first floor attempting to escape the moldy smell. Brad carefully ascended the stair case, each step squelching on the soggy shag carpet. When he reached the top he turned to face those below “its solid up here”. Alma ran up next, Jane felt a twinge of jealousy as she caught Jax stealing a glance at Alma’s curvaceous figure climbing the steps. She followed Alma leaving Jax the last to arrive on the second floor. Unlike the first floor the second was mostly dry and vacant of furniture. They wandered around the empty rooms for a bit. Brad nudged Alma “found the master bedroom babe”. Alma laughed “I’m not doing it on moldy carpet Brad, at least find a bed”. Quickly becoming bored they moved to the third floor, Brad had to kick open a locked door in order for them to get into the stairway. Like the second floor the third was vacant and held only two bedrooms with a large open space between them. Jane walked to the nearest window, she gazed over the tree tops and out to the setting sun. “Should we set up camp?” she asked without turning from the window. “No need” replied Brad “lets pop a couple windows and stay here for the night”. “That’s not a bad idea, it sure beats setting up tents outside” said Alma. The shadows grew longer as the group set up their propane stove and unrolled sleeping bags. Alma and Jane took one room and the boys claimed the other. When they had finished their dinner of dehydrated fruit and fried sausage patties Brad dug a large bottle of dark brown liquid from his bag. “What do you say we celebrate a successful day of exploring?” Alma whooped excitedly “I knew we were missing something!” Jane held out her mug “not too much, we’ve got a long day tomorrow”. Brad filled her cup to the top “relax Janey it’s mixed rum and coke, yours and Alma’s favorite if I’m not mistaken”. Brad handed Jax a cup then lifted the bottle “to adventure and never getting old!” “Cheers!” called out Jane and Alma in unison Jane sipped her drink as Alma drained hers and Brad chugged straight from the bottle. Smacking his lips Brad turned to Jax “so Jacho old boy are you enjoying yourself?” Jax twirled his half empty drink “yeah I would say so, you guys do things like this a lot?” Brad took another long swig from the bottle “when ever we can, we’ve been to military forts, factories, underground tunnels. We even explored a phycho hospital over night once”. Alma took the bottle of booze and refilled her cup before downing it again. Brad laughed as he grabbed the bottle back “careful babe, you know you’re a lightweight”. She stuck her tongue out at him. “Both of you are lightweights” Jane interjected. “What can I say” laughed Brad “I’m a cheap date!” he topped off Alma's drink before chugging some more of the mixed drink. Alma turned to Jax “Jane never told me what you’re studying at college”. “I’m not actually enrolled at the college, I was a cop for a bit but it turned out my morals didn’t line up with those on the force. I’m kind of between things at the moment”. Brad snorted in disgust “of course the pigs didn’t want a total stud like my man Jax messing up their gig”. He released a drunken burp. Jane yawned “well I’m pretty beat, you can join me when you’re done Alma”. Jane stood and made her way to the empty bedroom, before she entered Brad called out “She’ll join you when she’s done doing me” Brad and Alma then broke into a giggling fit. Jax shot them a disapproving glance, feeling bad for him Jane asked “hey Jax, do you want to talk for a bit?” he gave a quick nod and jumped to his feet, Brad catcalled and yelled a little too loudly “kinda hard to talk with your mouth full of sausage” he gave an exaggerated wink. Alma playfully shoved him “she’s not going get her cherry popped with us a room away”. Jane slammed the door cutting off any further talk her face flushing with embarrassment. she pulled out a battery powered lantern and set it on the floor, with room illuminated she could see Jax looked amused. “Quite the friends you have” he commented. Jane tucked a loose hair behind her ear “yeah they can be a little loose after a couple drinks”. “How did you guys all meet?” He asked. “I lived on the same street as Alma, we just sort of naturally became friends. She’s always been an athlete and she’s hot so it just made sense that her and Brad would end up together, he was our high schools star quarterback”. “What about you? Did you play a lot of sports?” she shook her head “not really, softball until high school then I joined the cross country team with Alma. She wanted the extra cardio, we still go jogging most mornings. What about you, what do you do for fun?” a strange look crossed his face “I think you'll just have to wait and find out”. Jane forced a nervous laugh slightly put off by his reply. Noting the silence Jax commented “I think they either passed out or went to bed”. Jane yawned again “bed does sound nice, that hike kicked my butt”. Jax walked to the door “I guess I’ll see you in the morning then”. Jane gave him a small smile “I’m looking forward to it”. Jax opened the door letting in the all too familiar slick sounds coming from the other room, Jax cursed in disgust and closed the door. They could hear Alma and Brad laughing through the closed door. “I am so sorry” Jane began “I don’t know what has gotten into those two, they aren’t normally quite this bad”. Jax brushed it off “don’t worry about it, Brad’s naked ass isn’t the worse thing I’ve seen”. After a few quiet minutes Alma entered the room, her face red and hair a mess. She avoided eye contact with both Jax and Jane as she made her way to her sleeping bag. Jax gave a slight nod to Jane then ducked out of the room. Going to the opposite room that he and Brad were sharing he climbed into his own sleeping bag. Realizing Alma was too intoxicated to remember getting chewed out Jane decided to wait until morning. She prepared for a good night of restful sleep, Alma was already softly snoring away. Exhausted Jane drifted of to sleep. Late in the night a metallic bang resounded through the house, Alma and Jane both bolted upright. “Did you hear that?” Alma asked, Jane nodded. Then realizing she couldn’t be seen in the near pitch black room she said “definitely”. Jane threw off her sleeping bag and stood. Alma quickly joined her, Jane clicked on a small flashlight then covered it with her hand allowing just a slight red glow to light their way. Alma dug a small key chain can of pepper spray out of her bag, with a nod they moved to the door. Alma opened it slowly, the room appeared empty. Side by side the girls entered the room, Jane uncovered the light and shone it around. She nearly screamed as it revealed a dark figure climbing the staircase, Jax held up a hand shielding his eyes. Jane sighed in relief as she recognized him. Alma spoke up “what the hell is that?” she demanded pointing at Jax’s left hand. Confused he held up the small metal object “a Ruger” he said matter of factly. “Why would you bring a gun hiking?” she asked angrily. Jax was beginning to look annoyed “because we’re hiking over night in the woods, why wouldn’t I bring a gun?” “Just seems mighty suspicious” retorted Alma “what were you doing down there anyways?” “I heard something so I went and checked it out”. “Did you find anything?” Jane asked. He shook his head “place seems as empty as before, I’m guessing an animal came in and then ran out once it realized we were here". Alma stilled eyed him suspiciously “maybe you and your toy should just stay upstairs for the night”. Jax just raised his eyebrows in response. He walked past the girls and back into the room he was sharing with Brad. Lowering the flashlight Jane commented “that was pretty rude Alma”. Alma snorted in disbelief “don’t let your crush distract you Jane, who brings a gun hiking?” Jane shrugged “it’s not completely unheard of, I like the guy. Can you be nice?” Alma relaxed “for you? Sure, and I’m sorry me and Brad got out of hand”. They gave each other a hug before returning to bed. The girls slept deeply through the night waking up at sunrise to the smell of bacon frying. They dressed in a fresh pair of clothes then joined the boys for breakfast. After a high calorie meal of pancakes and bacon they cleaned up their makeshift camp. “Where to today?” Jane asked. Brad shrugged “we’ve got four hours before we should begin heading back. Let’s follow the road and check out some of the other houses”. With everyone in agreement they walked down the stairs, when they got to the main floor Jax pointed to a door next to the kitchen “looks like we never opened that one”. Brad strode over to it and yanked it open, he turned to the group with a wicked grin “it’s a basement”. Alma gleefully clapped her hands “oh let’s check it out!” Jax looked a little unsure so Jane gave him a nudge “don’t worry, if you get scared I’ll hold your hand”. With a smile Jax intertwined his fingers with hers “I might be feeling a little apprehensive already”. Brad pulled out a powerful flashlight before confidently striding down the creaking wooden steps. The basement was bare with exception of a large steel door embedded into the concrete wall. It had a circular handle like you would see on a bank vault. Handing his flashlight to Alma Brad easily spun the wheel unlocking the door, he gave it a pull and it swung open easier than Brad had expected. He lost his grip on it causing the door to slam into the wall with a loud metal on rock clanging sound. “Brad you are one sexy bull of a man” said Alma. Brad flexed his bicep “you know it babe”. Shining his light into the doorway Brad revealed a long concrete tunnel “are we going down there?” Jax asked. “Absolutely bro” answered Brad. He and Alma led the way with Jax and Jane trailing close behind. A hundred feet down the tunnel made a ninety degree turn to the right, Jax instinctively flipped the light switch on the wall. To everyone’s surprise a string of lightbulbs lit up adding weird shadows to the echoing environment. Jane turned off her flashlight “how is there power down here? And what is here exactly?” Brad shrugged “dunno, but I’m not gonna complain about it”. They reached a intersection where they could they could go left or right. To the right they could see another door, to the left was stairs leading down. Brad turned left without hesitation, Jax hung back “are you sure it’s a good idea to keep going down?” Brad frowned “listen bud, don’t kill the vibe. We’ve explored the Seattle Underground, the catacombs, we know what we’re doing”. Jax glanced at the girls, it was clear they agreed with Brad. Jax held up his hands in resignation “alright, I thought it might be cool to split up but by all means lead on”. They descended deeper into the earth, the temperature grew cooler as they continued. The steps leveled out into another hallway, Brad led them through the tunnel making left turns at every intersection. Jax took out his pocket knife and scratched an arrow onto the wall. Jane looked at him questioningly, Jax shrugged “just in case”. Brad shook his head but made no comment. As they delved deeper into the unknown Jax began to notice little things here and there that were off, the lack of spider webs, how smooth and well worn the floor was. After his last rebuke he chose not to bring it up but instead pondered it silently. If it weren’t for the other details he likely wouldn’t have paid enough attention to notice the boot print, it was small. Much smaller than either his or Brad’s feet and the girls were wearing shoes not boots. Clicking on his flashlight he bent over to get a better look, it was faint on the hard packed dirt but still easily distinguishable from his and Brad’s . Jane stopped to see what he was looking at “we aren’t the first ones down here" he commented. Brad looked genuinely excited “dude now that’s more like it! There’s nothing like a mystery to pump up the thrill!” “How old do you think that is?” asked Alma. Jax inspected it a little closer “hard to tell with it being down here but not very old, you can see how the lip has dried but the bottom is still moist. I would say within a day”. The red flags were stacking up making Jax feel cautious, he was already deviating from his original plans for the afternoon more than he liked. Rather than listen to his instincts he followed the others deeper into the tunnels.

The scream is heard by all in the settlement. Some hear it through proximity, others feel the disruption stemming from it’s cause, even more will hear about the scream in stories. Screams tear through the still morning air, evaporating the fog and dew that lie in their path. Screams rip communities apart, forcing those who would normally sleep through disturbance to wake and revel in someone else’s misery.
And as the scream that erupted from Ms. Sallih Haawks roused the tenants of her settlement, the scream’s source forced the residents of New Tulsa to suffer a worse fate. The reason for the scream, an unusual sound to come from the normally timid schoolmarm, was an event that everyone anticipated, but no one expected. Drills, lessons, awareness, all meaningless when left with the grim reality of what an entire town prepared for.
Of course, when children are prepared for the inevitable return of The Skittermen, some details are left obfuscated. Namely that Skittermen don’t communicate through words, but by pointing.
And today, they were pointing west.
But Sallih didn’t know it was west. The sun barely peaking over the horizon. Her movement was quick, and gingerly. She had been sleeping in a different bed that evening, it gets lonely and Henk Jowns will stay as loyal as he needs to be from a distance. Ms. Haawks had her eyes low, to both see her way clearly and to avoid unwanted conversation with the townsfolk.
This wasn’t an everyday occurrence for Sallih, but it wasn’t her first tryst with Henk either. Its a clear run between bunk houses, into her quarters, with at least an hour left before classes begin.
“No chipped teeth.” As the saying on her planet goes.
Which was the first thing that struck her as unusual, the teeth.
Cutting the corner between the bunk house and the commissary, Sallih noticed the unmistakable shape of a lower mandible, a small one, full row of teeth. A child’s no doubt. The teeth catching what little light the clouds granted passage, and reflecting onto the dewy grass. The upper part of the skull was a few feet away, followed by a finger, a tuft of long jet black hair. This trail of viscera leading to an arrowhead of carefully selected and placed human remains. Due West, the townspeople would later acknowledge, perfectly aligned with a compass.
Having only been alive for 24 seasons, Sallih was old enough to know the procedure, but naive towards the brutal reality of the ceremony. Upon reaching pubescence, the townsfolk of New Tulsa hear the details that the nursery rhymes and folk-songs leave out.
Oh Ther’ ain’t no way Ther’ ain’t no way No Ther’ ain’t no way to know When they’ll pop on up And they’ll scoop you up And they’ll tell us where to go
In Earth Year 2069, technology became available that allowed humans to enter into a harmless state of hibernation. The United States, having been forced to move its massive coastal population inward, commissioned dozens of ships to relocate it’s citizens to atmospherically suitable planets. A list was compiled of celestial bodies within a few hundred years journey, that had the building blocks for terraforming.
Of the 35 ships launched, 16 made it to their destinations. Eight of them successfully terraformed, seven were capable of sustaining life. Tulsa Oklahoma’s ship last reported a successful atmospheric redesign, seed bombs were germinating within necessary outputs, and the life support systems showed only a 3% die off rate. But no communication was ever established. New Memphis (or MIII to locals, paying homage to Memphis already being a stolen name) achieved the greatest bounty to extract from their new homeland. And quickly became the galactic capital for humanity’s new home worlds.
In the hundreds of years that the ships took to reach their destinations, and the additional hundreds of years of automated terraforming, Earth had perished. The number of Earthlings left in the entire universe sat comfortably in the 400,000 range.
What the scanners and algorithms failed to predict about New Tulsa’s home planet, was the complex social structures existing meters below the surface. The Skittermen, as the residents quickly learned to call them, could best be described as insectoid, sharing many superficial similarities to cicadas. But the disruption of their atmosphere has caused a resource management issue.
The Skittermen quickly learned that their new neighbors had to be given a little instruction. Human waste and refuse contain valuable minerals and nutrients, they seep into the earth, and allow the subterranean hives to thrive temporarily. But over-saturation of these nutrients disrupts delicate balances in the soil. With the new environmental hurdles from man’s bio-engineering taken into account, the Skittermen must corral the humans to the next patch of suitable land.
Millions of years of divergent evolution, separated by the vast nothing of space. Some communication breakdown is bound to occur. Mankind will never know that this perverse desecration of life is simply one species trying to communicate with another. The Skittermen have no capacity to understand that the denizens of New Tulsa never meant them any harm.
Sallih of course, never knew about any of that. Her great-great grandfather had come across the stars as a boy. He told his children every detail that he could remember from his seven years on Earth (the old country, a playful continuation of an adage that independently sprouted on all of Earth’s colonies.) He was torn to shreds and his body was used to guide their people onto the next patch of land. This was 25 years before her birth, the most recent Skittering.
“Having a family member become a sacred guide is an honor.” Sallih’s mother would remind her during the annual day of remembrance. “And they say it happens so quick you don’t have time to wake up.”
It never made her feel any better. Sallih’s mother never got to meet her great-grandfather. Thus putting another degree of separation between Sallih, and tales of the old world. At this point no one could discern between truth and fables. Light with no fire, talking boxes from across the world, cold metal bent into any structure imaginable.
The cargo bay on USSF TULSA never opened when its inhabitants were woken up. And other than what could be scrapped from the hibernation chambers so many years ago, all infrastructure was created on planet with native resources. The Millennials on board, in their 80s when they entered suspended animation, tried to share as much knowledge as they could. Six generations have passed without any aid from the government of their now dead planet, the citizens of New Tulsa had very little connection to their homeland. Tall tales, legends, an heirloom fire-tending tool fashioned from a broken piece of carbon fiber. This was all that remained of planet Earth.
But those weren’t the remains that Sallih concerned herself with this morning. After the initial screech of horror and sadness, the mental forensics begin. Black hair, small jaw, a child. One of hers? Gena, or Annaheigh perhaps.
The disgust prevents anything in her body from moving save her eyes. Desperate to find cloture by identifying this dismantled corpse. Sallih’s eyes quickly lock with a singular, dark green iris, attached to an eyeball, that is sitting freely in the grass, a few paces further into the arrow.
Black hair, small jaw, green eyes. Its Rochille, not one of her students, but a fixture on the playground and in school functions and productions. A girl with promise, and moxy. A girl that now barely exists, tattered remnants of bone and ligaments directing Sallih towards her inevitable new home.
Rochille was a sweet girl, her mother died in childbirth. Father couldn’t bear the guilt and took his own life three years ago. The townsfolk will call it an accident, but Sallih knew the truth. Henk is the coroner’s apprentice, and he spills all the details to Sallih. There is a small, but noticeable comfort in the idea of their family being reunited.
“Do you think Heaven is like Earth was? Or is it like New Tulsa?” Sallih had asked Henk playfully under the blankets one morning.
“Do you think Heaven is real?” Henk countered.
Christianity is still practiced by a minority of Humans in New Tulsa. Not at Earth levels of popularity, and its transmutated given the separation between its origin point, and where humans have brought it. Sallih was far from devout but began to pray immediately. The tears took a few minutes to arrive, but they made their presence known via heavy sobs and gasps, between the occasional bouts of vomiting. Her curly blonde hair cascading over the thin frame of her shoulders with every convulsion.
Jewne Tillimund, who had been born 77 winters earlier, was the first to answer Sallih’s call into the void. Jewne and her wife domesticated and raised a peculiar species of rodentesque creature, that could be sheered for a substance structurally similar to wool. Rharmins, to the settlers of this land. Proved invaluable for the continued survival of the New Tulsans. Wool, meat, companionship. Depending on the breed this versatile, eight-legged, rat filled many niches.
Jewne approaches Sallih, her feet silent through years of sneaking up on small creatures. She places a hand on the weeping teacher’s back and coos.
“Honey we gotta get up. Scavengers’ll be this way soon, and we’ve all got to pack.”
Sallih looks up at the wizened, kind gaze of a woman who had seen more than she’d care to discuss. Between the tears in her eyes, and the free-flowing mucous leaking onto her vomit caked mouth, she managed to mimic the expression of a smile. Jewne continues.
“One of yours?” Her hand lazily gesturing towards the child’s remains.
Sallih sputters a few consonants before settling on “No.”
“No it was the orphan girl, Rochille. At least shes wi…wit..with..”
“She’s with her family now, correct.” Not one to just watch someone suffer Jewne mercifully completes Sallih’s sentence. “Now take one more minute, breathe through that little button nose of yours, and pull yourself together. Before you end up all over the place like that little girl.”
Sallih, more repulsed by the irreverence to this death than anything a Skitterman could do, shot her ad hoc grief counselor a daggered, judgmental gaze. Jewne, sensing that the joke didn’t land continues.
“Aw honey I’m just trying to keep things light. Today is gonna get worse, best get used to laughing at the gallows.” Jewne begins to shuffle towards her home.
“Like I said baby, one more minute, I’ll get the kettle on.”
Sallih pays her no mind as the elderly figure disappears into the mist. And as one unwanted guest to this tragedy leaves, several more enter. Jacho, Umberto, and Rahlay. Three young men about town who fancy themselves keepers of the peace. Jacho, the leader and current suitor towards Ms. Haawks speaks first.
“What a terrible sight for you to have uncovered here on this morning so dreary, my lady.”
The words slide out of his mouth with the confidence of a fat kid in a pool. Jacho was strong, and he was brave, but he was not bright. He continues.
“And whence all is complete … we shall have a new home, perhaps a home shared by us in holy matrim…”
Before Jacho’s poorly timed proposal can be completed, a voice from the mist interrupts.
“God dammit Jacho Perstinct, you leave that poor teacher alone. She’s seen enough horror today to have to deal with the prospect of listening to your dumb ass talk for the rest of her days, no sir.”
Jewne returns to the bloody scene. Finger waving at the gum-brained gentlemen caller.
“I got a kettle on, she’s gonna have a hot cup, then we’re all gonna get situated. You know what this means, and it don’t mean anything about gettin’ your rocks rolled!”
Her hand, as if she was wiping salt off an invisible table, lets the boys know its time to scram. She shouts one more instruction as they hustle away.
“And get the goddamn mayor!”

Automakers are spending billions on self-driving technology people are afraid of by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 4 points 18 days ago
What we are referring to here to make clear the point is "level five autonomy". That means you get into the vehicle and tell it where you want to go. Or more likely it already knows where you want to go thru your mobile. The technology then transports you in safety and comfort to your destination and then back again if needs must.
On paper that sounds like an awfully good way to do things. But I too would be afraid if I did not trust the technology. So that fear is justified.
But there is another fear here too. The fear of a "Brave New World".
Think of everything you know about the automotive milieu. A way of life that has existed in a fundamentally unchanged manner since roughly 1913. There were automobiles before 1913, but at that time they were not a mass consumer item. So about 1913. This is far and away about more than technology. It concerns a way of life and thinking that has existed for more than 100 years. Having everything change in less than ten years time is a fearful concept for most people. Even though there is clear precedence for such a change before. I daresay it was at the time even more transformative than what we face today. I helpfully chronicled it for your edification and entertainment. BTW the people of that day were not scared. They thought it was a "bully great" idea. And embraced it wholeheartedly. And considered themselves fantastically modern and technically savvy to boot.
https://www.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/5kjsck/47_of_jobs_will_disappear_in_the_next_25_years/dbor7js/
So back to 2019. Everything you have known about cars and travel and car travel culture is about to utterly and permanently change forever. The internal combustion engine is gone in less than 5 years now. Manual driving is also gone in the same timeframe. I suspect that derived forms of travel such as the motorcycle, will not survive this change either. The method and technology of travel will probably not be "friendly" to the motorcycle. I talked about this once before too.
https://www.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/8r348z/automateddriving_technology_is_starting_to_show/e0o1vy5/
One of the things that people are so fearful of time going forward is a clear understanding now that ARA (AI, robotics and automation) is a very real thing now. And everyone, in USA society anyways, can no longer plead ignorance. But people don't like having the devil they know thrown over for the devil they don't know. And I think that's what most of the "people are afraid" business is mostly about. Even though everybody is now pretty much on the same page when we talk about the impact of ARA, they still have difficulty wrapping their minds around "exponential thinking and exponential technological advance". If there is any doubt, we began to exponentially advance in the year 2015. And in the year 2019 it's just speeding up. You simply cannot compare the difference between the year 1995 and the year 1999. And I'd further add that in the five years following the year 2025 that we will-, well I suspect that the true "technological singularity" will occur around the year 2030. Even Raymond Kurzweil was not able to think exponentially enough to consider we would hit that point before the year 2045. My god, by the year 2045, we can no longer model.
Also, where all do you have to drive to right now. Most folks say they have to drive to work. I'll let a beat go by so you can consider what is coming when it comes to "work" and the next five years. Yes we will still be mostly driving to work five years hence, but less than a year or two from that point humans will increasingly no longer need to go to work. I hope we got some post-scarcity by then.
No more vehicle ownership for about 90% of the population. No more tune-ups. No more car insurance. No more licenses. Or plates. Getting pulled over is going the way of the buggy whip. If you are a fleeing crook, the vehicle will helpfully deliver you to a central location for apprehension. Automotive supplies? Goodbyes. Muscle cars? Why? I am going to imagine that until this current generation dies off or more likely derives into some kind of unfathomable super-intelligence that VR will give us our "driving like a maniac" jones for the time being. But I don't think that will last very long. After a while we are going to think it was a rather silly thing. The newer generations? Totally unaware. They have unimaginable things on their plates.
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Andrew Yang on why universal basic income won't make people lazy - The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate wants to give every American $1,000 a month – but will that disincentivize work? by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 0 points 21 days ago
On the contrary, doing something like that will just make everything cost more. Sort of like how World of Warcraft gaming values like damage, hit points, stats and gear scores inflated to unmanageable levels. They had to crunch because it was getting out of hand. If you give every USA citizen one thousand dollars a month, how long will it take until that one thousand dollars a month becomes the new zero?
I told you the only way this would work is if I'm the only one getting it. Just don't tell anybody.
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Students worldwide skip school to demand tough action on climate change by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 2 points 21 days ago
How come stuff like this never happened when I was in school in 1977? Seriously, I'm not making this up--in the late 70s we were worried that the warm period was coming to an end and global cooling was coming. Especially if you lived in Minnesota like I did. It was not until the 1980s that the truth of global warming was understood.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_cooling
I think mankind would be better served by these students staying in school, learning their STEM-C, and devoting their activism energies to developing technologies that will transcend the need for fossil fuels and acting out.
Here is some other entertaining reminisces in the late 1970s from a futurology perspective.
https://www.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/5fmxg2/top_5_futurist_books/damptnx/
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Long-distance quantum information exchange—success at the nanoscale by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 3 points 21 days ago
Understatement of the century... (so far that is--the century is still young...)
"If spins between non-neighboring qubits can be controllably exchanged, this will allow the realization of networks in which the increased qubit-qubit connectivity translates into a significantly increased computational quantum volume", predicts Kuemmeth.
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Neurodevelopmental Disorder Modeled in Stem Cell-derived Brain Organoids by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 3 points 21 days ago
Imagine this statement from this article--in 2009.
Brain organoids were grown from skin cell biopsies donated by people with neuronal heterotopia, a condition which can lead to intellectual disability and epilepsy. The modeling research was carried out by a group at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry.
I wonder what a related statement will look like in the year 2029...
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No, IBM didn’t just “reverse time” with a quantum computer - Amazing headlines about time machines are a long way off the mark, sadly. by mvea in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682 1 point 22 days ago
First of all the quantum world is not the macro world. We do not even now have a solid understanding of what the physics of the quantum world are. Things like "entanglement" and "superposition" are not logical at our macro level of observation. We only accept it at all because the math works out perfectly. The implications of this kind of thing could lead to some interesting 21st physics I bet.
For example, when considering the phenomenon of "Hawking Radiation". The idea being that in the vacuum of like intergalactic space that so-called "virtual particles" come into existence and instantly annihilate each other thereby popping right out of existence. This effect has given rise to the concept of space as a sort of "foam" of seething carrying on. So like when that sort of thing happens at the event horizon of a black hole one goes in and the other continues in our perceivable universe. Literally something from nothing right? And about them virtual particles--at the quantum realm do things go forward and backward in time at the same time? That is one reason why the quantum world is so utterly alien to our understanding. It follows virtually zero rules of macroscopic physics. And yet it appears to give rise to macroscopic physics.
So I think we can do some things with sub-atomic particles like photons and electrons you can't do with like rocks. For example we can teleport photons and electrons. Moving their information values from point A to point B without traversing physical space. Isn't that so?
While I'm at it. What about things like matteantimatter? Didn't Richard Feynman say something to the effect that at the quantum realm there really is no observable sense of the arrow of time and that the electron and positron could well be traveling in opposing arrows of time. It has until now not been something that is possible to physically observe.
So my question about all this is, have we managed to observe the opposing arrow of time at the quantum level? We may not have reversed time, but we may have successfully observed that reverse time exists in the quantum realm.
Oh and about this statement.
“This is the type of hype that is going to give quantum computing a bad name.”
This scientist knows little more about quantum computing and the quantum realm than I do. We as humans know as much about what constitutes the fine grain reality of the universe as humans of 30,000 years ago knew what electricity was and how you could use it to watch 4K videos on your mobile. How complacent and arrogant we are. I bet some big surprises are coming in the 21st century.
My main hub:
https://www.reddit.com/useizumi3682/comments/8cy6o5/izumi3682_and_the_world_of_tomorrow/
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The Plane Can Fly Itself. Is That Always a Good Thing? - But the recent crashes of Boeing 737 Max 8 jets in Indonesia and Ethiopia have raised questions about the downside of all that automation. by gone_his_own_way in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682 1 point 22 days ago
I don't think the data can yet. We are simply too early into this transition. But as time goes forward if we don't rapidly improve our vehicle autonomy to level 5, then we will get the worst of human inattention and driving experience. I suppose you would still be able to argue that the majority of MVAs were human caused, but that is little comfort if the numbers are still north of even 20,000 killed in the USA a year. The most recent death toll in the USA for human caused MVAs in the year 2017, was 37,000. When I argue for full level 5 driving autonomy, I am envisioning a world of less than 1,000 vehicle AI related deaths. And even then people will still say that it is too high a number.
As far as piloting aircraft, I have been aware that commercial passenger carrying aircraft has been capable of taking off, flying, maneuvering and landing with nearly zero human interaction for several years now, but I feel a lot better when I see my pilots on the flight deck when I board my plane. But what I think is happening now is that a combination of economic corner cutting plus newer aircraft computing technology is bringing a new generation of professional pilots that don't have the real life manual skills of their predecessors of even 20 years back. Like (predecessor) Sullenberger in the article.
I will grudgingly agree with you that the incident rate will decline, but not enough to be societally satisfying. And unfortunately I think we have to continue our incremental pathway, because it is just too complex to unveil whole cloth. Are we in a sense using humans as "guinea pigs" to bring about these technologies in personal transport. Absolutely. But as safely and comfortably as humanly possible. Nevertheless ten years from now is going to be a way different world from that of today.
The world has changed fast before! You might be entertained by this sequence I put together.
https://www.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/5kjsck/47_of_jobs_will_disappear_in_the_next_25_years/dbor7js/
I don't know if this newer aircraft thing is a trend or just a fluke. Only time will tell. Up until now human/automation aircraft control has been a pretty terrific mix.
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The Plane Can Fly Itself. Is That Always a Good Thing? - But the recent crashes of Boeing 737 Max 8 jets in Indonesia and Ethiopia have raised questions about the downside of all that automation. by gone_his_own_way in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682 1 point 22 days ago
I see this as a direct analogue of our current states of autonomy in "self-driving" cars. Right now I think the best we can swing is about a level 3 autonomy. But to me that is just about as dangerous as you can get. You combine the worst worlds of human inattention and time going forward ever decreasing real world manual driving skills and not-quite-there computing AI. To me a level 3 vehicle is far and away more dangerous to society than simply just manually driving.
Even Google, way back in 2013, way before "Waymo", realized that the only correct answer was to develop to level 5 autonomy. So til that day we should just keep on driving manual. This increment business is really just holding us back. And don't worry the computing power needed to achieve that (level 5) is only about 2 years out at this point. "Futurology me" would also add that the computing power of 2 years hence is going to enable a lot of things we may regard as impossible or "magick" today. And the societal consequences of that.
The same with these airplanes. There is still that awful "hand-off" of when to do what. On top of the humans having ever decreasing real world manual piloting skills. Removing humans entirely from the loop would ensure that this kind of miscommunication would not occur.
But here is the rub. It is almost impossible to get from manual to level 5 autonomy without our incremental way of doing things. So anytime that something like these "planes, trains and automobiles" crashes happens I'm afraid that we will have to accept it as a necessary evil to get to the ultimate goal of "no human manual control required".
That's putting a lot of trust in our ARA (AI, robotics and automation) though isn't it? And what happens in ten, twenty years when we forget how to do things like drive, fly and do surgery? Assuming we don't successfully merge the computing with our minds in a human friendly "technological singularity". Which is also on the schedule sooner than later.
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High profile USA congressional representative: automation means "more time enjoying the world we live in" - "We should be excited about automation because of what it could potentially mean." by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 2 points 23 days ago
The chance of a culling is to me, probably about a 3% chance. The chance of scientific immortality through a post-scarcity "human-friendly" technological singularity is about 96%. That missing one percent? That ten years from now looks exactly like today. Virtually no societally significant change.
So be of good cheer! The odds are with the lot of us 99 percenters.
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VW ID all-electric hatchback pre-orders open May 8, production version comes in September by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 1 point 23 days ago
No mention in the article about what level of autonomy, if any, is included or could be added in the future. That matters far more to me than whether it is electric or ICE. But electric is definitely a step in the right direction.
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Autonomy makes a strong case that self-driving cars will change everything by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 2 points 23 days ago
self-driving cars will change everything
No, ARA (AI, robotics and automation) will change everything. Self driving cars are but one little facet.
I compare it to them blind men in India that encounter an elephant for the first time. One fellow says, "This feels like a level 5 autonomy E-SDV. Another says, "This feels like "Thispersondoesnotexist.com". Yet another says this feels like inevitable technological unemployment. The last fellow says, You are all wrong, this feels like backflipping, door delivering robotics!
But they are all feeling the exact same ARA (AI, robotics and automation) "elephant". That elephant is our computing speed, big data capacity and novel forms of computing derived AI dedicated architectures that have only existed since roughly 2015. And about ten years from now that elephant will be the size of the Earth.
And that is what we will define as the "technological singularity". Hopefully "human-friendly".
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Physicists reverse time using quantum computer by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 1 point 23 days ago
Lots of coverage.
https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqOQgKIjNDQklTSURvSmMzUnZjbmt0TXpZd1NoTUtFUWkzNE9yYWpZQU1FUW50aEZBTVh0VktLQUFQAQ?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen
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High profile USA congressional representative: automation means "more time enjoying the world we live in" - "We should be excited about automation because of what it could potentially mean." by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 1 point 23 days ago
Modified viruses on autonomous AI drones the size of gnats sent out by the 1% in EMP hardened bunkers or "sanctuary" geo-locations like New Zealand, will find you. There is nowhere on Earth to run. It's either post scarcity or 90% of humanity is culled.
https://www.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/8sa5cy/my_commentary_about_this_article_serving_the_2/
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High profile USA congressional representative: automation means "more time enjoying the world we live in" - "We should be excited about automation because of what it could potentially mean." by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 2 points 23 days ago
I call it the "culling". And I think it is only about ten years away. Actually it is more of a knife edge in the next ten years. If we can successfully get "post-scarcity" up and running. But bear in mind also that by the year 2029 we shall be extremely close to the genuine "technological singularity". There may be new innovations and technologies that are by then in existence that make the year 2019 look more like the year 1719.
Two things that are essential for "post-scarcity" are nuclear fusion power and/or necessary conversion threshold of solar and the ARA (AI, robotics and automation) can do everything that human minds and labor used to do up 'til now.
But I put it like this once if you are interested.
https://www.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/8sa5cy/my_commentary_about_this_article_serving_the_2/
https://www.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/6ajuhf/there_is_a_solution_to_our_broken_economy_besides/dhf9if8/
https://www.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/8ebo3k/the_humanist_left_must_challenge_the_rise_of/dxtwm1g/?context=0
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High profile USA congressional representative: automation means "more time enjoying the world we live in" - "We should be excited about automation because of what it could potentially mean." by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 1 point 23 days ago
But no work at all sounds absolutely horrible.
Speak for yourself. I've been a working stiff for 40 years. Sure lots of humans enjoy their chosen "careers". I found me a path of least resistance vocation. It doesn't pay the greatest, but it keeps food on my table and my WoW account current.
I would conservatively imagine that about 90 percent of humanity is a working stiff like me. We work because we have zero choice in the matter. Well, you could choose to be homeless and starve I suppose.
What is depressing to me is that one of the reasons that you were retired, like it or not, at age 65 back in the 20th century was that you often had to retire about age 65. Your physical body was beginning to fail on too many levels. But nowadays them retirement benefits seem to climbing closer to age 70 and by 70 you are being close to being worked to death. You think somebody works at Walmart at age 72 because they think it's an enjoyable and fruitful career? Well, maybe them "greeters". They always seem pretty genuinely happy to me for 80 year olds.
My main hub:
https://www.reddit.com/useizumi3682/comments/8cy6o5/izumi3682_and_the_world_of_tomorrow/
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Careful how you treat today's AI: it might take revenge in the future by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 4 points 23 days ago
That's why I'm ultimate polite to miss Siri and always say "please" and "thank you" even if that particular AI does not always understand my spoken question like "Who was Ernst Kaltenbrunner" which Siri usually understands as "Call Ted Burner" on multiple attempts.
That's because I know better than to shit where I eat.
Google gets everything perfect, usually on the first shot. I often forget to use "please" and "thank you" with microphone Google. D'oh!! D:
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How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Science - The latest AI algorithms are probing the evolution of galaxies, calculating quantum wave functions, discovering new chemical compounds and more. Is there anything that scientists do that can’t be automated? by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 1 point 24 days ago
That's too simplistic. CNN/GANs produce models of varying levels of "confidence". Higher confidence is statistically by human perception, by that I mean our definition of scientific empiricism, more likely to be "always" rather than "sometimes". This method of computing will ever improve time going forward. And at a faster rate too.
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How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Science - The latest AI algorithms are probing the evolution of galaxies, calculating quantum wave functions, discovering new chemical compounds and more. Is there anything that scientists do that can’t be automated? by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 2 points 24 days ago
Even when we cut through all the media misrepresentation of things, it almost does not matter. I don't think it is a bubble we are in. Rather everyone else is in a bubble of quotidian news cycle drudgery. And have no idea what is about to unfold. I think it is no coincidence that about the year 2011, I became aware of the concept of the technological singularity. It did not take me long to realize that despite all the posturing and bickering of today that history paints a very clear and consistent pattern of how humanity proceeds. Reddit "futurology" is no coincidence either. It is clearly a reflection of what is going on now. Try to imagine what "futurology" would have been like in say, 1990, if the "world wide web" (1989-but not for me yet in 1990) and "Reddit" existed then. It would be about science fiction books, movies and television. Futurology now exists because it is necessary for it to exist.
I put it like this once.
https://www.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/4k8q2b/is_the_singularity_a_religious_doctrine_23_apr_16/d3d0g44/
I also believe that most humans don't actually appreciate what is actually going on here. Ray Kurzweil opened my eyes and he is dead on right.
https://www.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/6zu9yo/in_the_age_of_ai_we_shouldnt_measure_success/dmy1qed/
Here is my main hub if you want to take the red pill--its a bit of a rabbit hole lol!
https://www.reddit.com/useizumi3682/comments/8cy6o5/izumi3682_and_the_world_of_tomorrow/
Thank you for your kind remarks mr ex!
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Artificial Intelligence Creates Memorizing (sic) Art With Humans. But Who Gets The Credit? by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 1 point 24 days ago
I think somebody at Huffpo is letting the AI do some of the editor's work...
But as far as art and AI is concerned. Humans may launch or be the catalyst, but I prophesy the computing AI will take over this arena of creativity almost in its entirety in about ten years. That is, if humans have not successfully merged our minds with our computing and AI. Then there is always the possibility we won't care or even be able to "resonate" with "art" any longer. Darn you unfathomable intelligence!
Me and art and AI.
https://www.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/7obqv8/truly_creative_ai_is_just_around_the_corner_heres/ds8rzp5/
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Alabama judge allows man to sue clinic on behalf of aborted fetus by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 1 point 25 days ago
I don't think you can have it both ways. When for example a woman is pregnant and is killed in a homicide. The person who committed the crime is tried for two murders. The woman and her unborn child. I'm not sure if the law distinguishes between embryo and fetus. It could have something to with "viability" I suppose.
If this boyfriend had murdered this woman who was pregnant. He would have been tried for two deaths, but if he argues that both he and the unborn child had rights, he is dismissed. Well until this latest case. I'm sure the decision will be reversed in a higher court.
But like what I said, it looks like society is trying to have it both ways.
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How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Science - The latest AI algorithms are probing the evolution of galaxies, calculating quantum wave functions, discovering new chemical compounds and more. Is there anything that scientists do that can’t be automated? by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 2 points 25 days ago
This is going to evolve and do more at an ever increasingly speedier rate. The computing "AI" will eventually begin to build upon "its" foundations in the same way that human accumulated knowledge built upon its foundations. The difference is, it took humans about 600 years to build upon its science foundations. AI will take about um, ten years to build upon its. That could be described as being "recursive", but that is only in science, the true craziness is in the very way the computing AI itself will build upon its own learning. Why do you think everybody is pretty sure there is gonna be a "technological singularity" in less than 20 years.
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Cancer Patients Are Getting Robotic Surgery. There’s No Evidence It’s Better. by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 2 points 25 days ago
Nevertheless all signs point to humans being simply removed from the robotic surgery loop entirely. Probably within the next ten years. Just imagine what our ARA (AI, robotics and automation) will look like in a mere five years, little less ten years from today.
What we are seeing today is a phenomenon that humanity has never in recorded history experienced before. We are witnesses to ARA taking over from humans. Taking over everything.
Here is a more in depth discussion about that if you like.
https://www.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/4k8q2b/is_the_singularity_a_religious_doctrine_23_apr_16/d3d0g44/
And here are the changes that are coming and why it is so crazy off the chain this time around.
https://www.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/740gb6/5_myths_about_artificial_intelligence_ai_you_must/
Oh! Here is a cute little news tidbit article from just the other day. Extrapolate that five years into the future...
https://www.reddit.com/Futurology/comments/aspabx/the_pediatric_ai_that_outperformed_junior_doctors/
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'It's like painting with atoms'... Watch how boffins form armies of simple micron-sized bots from a silicon wafer - And they may be injected into your body one day by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 3 points 25 days ago
As far as that "injecting into the body" business--remember that big flap about 2014, about that Israeli scientist, Ido Bachelet? He was gonna do that on a human cancer patient was not expected to live until "June". But then suddenly he fell off the radar. And not too much longer it was revealed he had become an employee of Pfizer.
So I wonder what became of all that, and why Pfizer wanted him so bad.
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'Hi, A.I.': Exploring Our Relationship With Robots by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 1 point 25 days ago
Here is the video. The English subtitles sort of lagged for me, but you can just watch the imagery and easily extrapolate what these various forms of robotics will look like in the next five to ten years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha66rHCu4cs
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Cancer Patients Are Getting Robotic Surgery. There’s No Evidence It’s Better. by izumi3682 in Futurology
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[–]izumi3682[S] 7 points 25 days ago
The title is misleading. The humans are still running these devices. And really to me this smacks of subtle luddism. I didn't just post this as a strawman for me, I posted it because this is the way that our society thinks. And why we have to change the way we think. About a lot of things.
The robotic devices are being cleverly utilized for "off-label" surgeries by clever humans that in their professional opinion is a manner that is superior to manual surgery. This is an interesting phenomenon. Humans are quick on the uptake that this form of robotic surgery is massively more efficient and efficacious than manual surgery. So despite the manufacturer stating that this or that particular surgery is not approved, the human surgeons are going ahead and doing it anyways, because they know the truth of it already. BTW, wouldn't doing something like this just totally make JACHO ( Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) freak? I mean they freak if we eat at our desk, in a totally non-patient access area. I would think any surgeon who did such a thing would be instantly removed if discovered. But maybe, there is a kind of "wink-wink" thing going on as the technology irresistibly spreads throughout the entire surgical profession.
Watch this space over the next five years. What really is astonishing and unsettling to me is that there is clearly intention to remove the human surgeon from the loop. And the computing AI is definitely collecting actionable data.
I think the current less than optimal outcomes are a result of humans not being proficient enough just yet.
https://thomasjhenrylaw.com/blog/dangerous-drugs-devices/freak-accidents-increase-in-da-vinci-robot-surgery/
The above article was written by the way, by lawyers, but that doesn't make the article any less factual.
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Hi Everyone! My name is Combokeh, and I am a recruiter with an established staffing company which specializes in New Grad Travel therapy placements. I've had some public and private conversations with other OT, PT, SLP redditors, so I thought I would compile all my writing into a dynamic guide for finding work out of college, or pursuing travel as a new direction in your career!
Of course, I am a representative of my staffing company, so there is something of an inherent conflict of interest here, but I think everyone will see that I am doing this as a Pro Bono service to the Reddit therapy community. Naturally I'm going to plug myself and my company a couple times, but only because I believe in myself as a qualified recruiter, and my company as an institution committed to making great things happen for a subset of the population so devoted to care of their fellow human, that they dedicated their career to it!
If after reading this you feel you would like some more info or would like to speak in a more professional manor (email, phone), please don't hesitate to shoot me a PM, or comment with suggestions of more things I could elaborate on.
Quick disclaimer - I originally wrote this for the OT subreddit. All of the info here translates between disciplines just fine, however, most staffing companies are't a good resource for getting your CFY. We primarily work with SLPs after getting their Cs
To begin, I will list some benefits to travel therapy in response to the question:
"Do you suggest traveling as a new grad or sticking with permanent staffing/recruiting companies?"

This is wholly dependent on the needs of the therapist. The company I work with specializes in New Grad travel and permanent positions, so we offer both of the options you are describing. I think there are some great benefits to travel as a new grad, as long as the candidate is flexible and realistic. Some of them are listed as follows:

• "Try it before you buy it" - travel contracts are only 3 months and have a 2 week cancellation policy, so there is very little commitment to a particular facility for the traveler. If the therapist were to go with a permanent placement for their first job, they're kind of stuck with it, because they are obliged to stay in the position for 1-2 years before quitting for the purposes of resume and contact building. This means that the door for travel is pretty much closed once the new grad accepts a perm position.
  
• A (good) recruiter is an advocate for the traveler. New grads in perm placements are often given unrealistic standards, supervising positions, or otherwise taken advantage of. They have very little recourse in this case, because burning a bridge with their first professional reference could follow them for years. In the case of travel, the facility doesn't want to lose us as a staffing resource, so we have some pull in negotiating on your behalf. And if the facility stays unrealistic, we put in notice and move on, because we can submit to the major vendors with references from your CIs rather than the facility you worked at for a month right out of school (as well as having us backing you - being Joint Commission accredited helps).
  
• Pay - this is huge, You could easily double your salary with travel. For example, I had an OT in PA who was about to accept a salaried position at $52k/year, convinced her to move to TX and put her on contract making about $110k/year. Obviously there are a lot of factors at play here, and it's an extreme example, but it illustrates an important point.
  
• Mentorship - To be honest, I don't know of any other companies who offer this, so I'm going to take a moment to plug myself here (at the risk of making this whole thing seem like some kind of marketing stunt - it isn't). Our company has a couple dozen therapists of all disciplines who have volunteered to mentor the incoming new grads. They are all therapists who traveled with us straight out of college, and truly believe in the advantages of travel therapy, so they offer their time to give guidance in ethics, treatment, and to share their travel experiences. There are 5 scheduled phone appointments throughout each of your assignments for the first 18 months, and you can also schedule an impromptu appointment.
  
• Tuition reimbursement - this is how it usually works - The therapist doesn't get free money per se, but they do net a greater takehome at the end of the year. Basically ~$1/hour is taken out of your paycheck and placed in a tax-free bank account (similar to an IRA for you finance/econ people out there - I'm one of them). This account is dispersed, tax free, at the end of your 4th and 8th assignment, and equals $2500 each disbursement, to total $5000.
  
• Unlimited CEUs - Most travel companies have something like this. We contract with an online school to help you complete any CEUs, free of charge.
  

Considering all these things, I strongly urge new grads to try Travel therapy. I mean this on a personal level, not trying to sell people our company or anything. If they hate it, they have only wasted 1-3 months of their time. Worth the risk? I think so. All I can say, is if you have been to any job fairs and have seen a travel company there, it was probably us ;). Shoot me a PM if you want to chat some more, and if you want to have a more formal conversation, ask for my email.

The following is in a question/answer format:

How much do you see OT wages change throughout the country? For example, is it worth taking a job which pays less, but due to cost of living equates to a higher salary?

This is hard to give a concise answer to, but it ultimately has a pretty common sense answer. TX and CA (places with huge demand), and places no one wants to live (the Dakotas, for example) all pay very well. However, up in the Northeast, they are typically on the low end of the pay scale. In addition to that, the market is so flooded with therapists up there, you'll likely have 10 more experienced resumes on top of yours for each assignment I submit you to. As a new grad, I would strongly recommend doing your first assignment or two in TX (very easy license, tons of jobs, great pay), while completing licenses in more desirable locations (CA OR WA IL NY FL for example), and keeping TX as a plan B at least.

Do you recommend any company, other than your own, over another?

Recommending companies is hard, there are a lot of them. The most important thing is to go with an established, tier-one company who is willing to work with New Grads. Besides us, I honestly don't know of any companies who specialize in New Grads, but I would try asking companies at job fairs specifically about their New Grad program (if they have one), their standing with JACHO, and if they have tier-one standing with the major vendors. At the very least, they will see that you know what you're talking about!

I have been talking to recruiters and want a mixed setting, either in a hospital where I can work on developing a variety of skills, or a mix between pediatrics and adults/older adults. Is this setting criteria setting my self up to be disappointed? For example, I will never find such a place? Are there companies that you know of, which specialize in what I desire?

"Is this setting criteria setting my self up to be disappointed?" Probably. But it's totally possible in TX, however not common, so it would be a matter of staffing you in SNF or Home Health (it's not as bad as you think!) and being ready to put notice in at that assignment and moving out to the Acute job in a weekend. No companies I know of specialize in this, there are too few of these jobs available for them to stay in business.

The task of finding a decent job, with mentorship in a city/state where I can pay off student loans and support myself is daunting, what are some tips to make the recruitment process easier?

Stick with one recruiter and tell them that! It may seem counter-intuitive, but having a sense of loyalty will make your recruiter work twice as hard for you. This far outweighs the benefit of any jobs you might be missing out on by not going with multiple recruiters, because with major companies the contracts available are pretty much the same, with the exception of a small contract here and there. It also resonates with most people's business ethics to actually have that sense of loyalty and friendship! Also consider that you have to get credentialed with each of these recruiting firms. It gets very overwhelming very quickly when you have 100 pages of paperwork to complete instead of 20, in addition to getting TB tests, MMR, Licenses, CPR cert, etc etc. Speaking of TB, get a 2-step!!! They are pretty much the new industry standard.

I talked to a recruiter that said relocation/tuition assistance is a thing of the past with employers, is that the case?

"relocation/tuition assistance is a thing of the past " - I touched on this earlier, but that is half right. If I have some room in my margin, then I will give a BOC - basically a tax-free bonus on your first paycheck. This money is coming from my company, not the facility. Usually around $500.

I am super flexible with relocating, as long as it is paid for by the company, what are some states where the demand for OT drives up the salary, but at the same time provides a low cost of living for loan repayment?

Texas Texas Texas. lol. Other than that, the Dakotas. Seriously, don't overlook those. Amazing pay, AMAZING facilities (Oil money doesn't lie), and cheap cheap cost of living. Some places will interview you pending a license. If you want something with some more culture but higher costs of living, work on OR CA WA.

Does your company specialize in any particular setting?

Not officially, but the majority of the needs nationwide are in SNFs, this you will see with any company. I have a really cool home health position active in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio though, strongly recommend that one.

If you skipped down here without reading, no TL;DR for you!! If you made it down here by reading the above post, congrats! You just read the Don Quixote + Atlas Shrugged + Infinite Jest of travel therapy. :)
Again, please comment your thoughts, or message me if I could be a helpful resource to you!

Hi Everyone! My name is Combokeh, and I am a recruiter with an established staffing company which specializes in New Grad Travel therapy placements. I've had some public and private conversations with other OT, PT, SLP redditors, so I thought I would compile all my writing into a dynamic guide for finding work out of college, or pursuing travel as a new direction in your career!
Of course, I am a representative of my staffing company, so there is something of an inherent conflict of interest here, but I think everyone will see that I am doing this as a Pro Bono service to the Reddit therapy community. Naturally I'm going to plug myself and my company a couple times, but only because I believe in myself as a qualified recruiter, and my company as an institution committed to making great things happen for a subset of the population so devoted to care of their fellow human, that they dedicated their career to it!
If after reading this you feel you would like some more info or would like to speak in a more professional manor (email, phone), please don't hesitate to shoot me a PM, or comment with suggestions of more things I could elaborate on.
To begin, I will list some benefits to travel therapy in response to the question:
"Do you suggest traveling as a new grad or sticking with permanent staffing/recruiting companies?"

This is wholly dependent on the needs of the therapist. The company I work with specializes in New Grad travel and permanent positions, so we offer both of the options you are describing. I think there are some great benefits to travel as a new grad, as long as the candidate is flexible and realistic. Some of them are listed as follows:

• "Try it before you buy it" - travel contracts are only 3 months and have a 2 week cancellation policy, so there is very little commitment to a particular facility for the traveler. If the therapist were to go with a permanent placement for their first job, they're kind of stuck with it, because they are obliged to stay in the position for 1-2 years before quitting for the purposes of resume and contact building. This means that the door for travel is pretty much closed once the new grad accepts a perm position.
  
• A (good) recruiter is an advocate for the traveler. New grads in perm placements are often given unrealistic standards, supervising positions, or otherwise taken advantage of. They have very little recourse in this case, because burning a bridge with their first professional reference could follow them for years. In the case of travel, the facility doesn't want to lose us as a staffing resource, so we have some pull in negotiating on your behalf. And if the facility stays unrealistic, we put in notice and move on, because we can submit to the major vendors with references from your CIs rather than the facility you worked at for a month right out of school (as well as having us backing you - being Joint Commission accredited helps).
  
• Pay - this is huge, You could easily double your salary with travel. For example, I had an OT in PA who was about to accept a salaried position at $52k/year, convinced her to move to TX and put her on contract making about $110k/year. Obviously there are a lot of factors at play here, and it's an extreme example, but it illustrates an important point.
  
• Mentorship - To be honest, I don't know of any other companies who offer this, so I'm going to take a moment to plug myself here (at the risk of making this whole thing seem like some kind of marketing stunt - it isn't). Our company has a couple dozen therapists of all disciplines who have volunteered to mentor the incoming new grads. They are all therapists who traveled with us straight out of college, and truly believe in the advantages of travel therapy, so they offer their time to give guidance in ethics, treatment, and to share their travel experiences. There are 5 scheduled phone appointments throughout each of your assignments for the first 18 months, and you can also schedule an impromptu appointment.
  
• Tuition reimbursement - this is how it usually works - The therapist doesn't get free money per se, but they do net a greater takehome at the end of the year. Basically ~$1/hour of your taxable income is taken out of your paycheck and placed in a tax-free bank account (similar to an IRA for you finance/econ people out there - I'm one of them). This account is dispersed, tax free, at the end of your 4th and 8th assignment, and equals $2500 each disbursement, to total $5000.
  
• Unlimited CEUs - Most travel companies have something like this. We contract with an online school to help you complete any CEUs, free of charge.
  

Considering all these things, I strongly urge new grads to try Travel therapy. I mean this on a personal level, not trying to sell people our company or anything. If they hate it, they have only wasted 1-3 months of their time. Worth the risk? I think so. All I can say, is if you have been to any job fairs and have seen a travel company there, it was probably us ;). Shoot me a PM if you want to chat some more, and if you want to have a more formal conversation, ask for my email.

The following is in a question/answer format:

How much do you see OT wages change throughout the country? For example, is it worth taking a job which pays less, but due to cost of living equates to a higher salary?

This is hard to give a concise answer to, but it ultimately has a pretty common sense answer. TX and CA (places with huge demand), and places no one wants to live (the Dakotas, for example) all pay very well. However, up in the Northeast, they are typically on the low end of the pay scale. In addition to that, the market is so flooded with therapists up there, you'll likely have 10 more experienced resumes on top of yours for each assignment I submit you to. As a new grad, I would strongly recommend doing your first assignment or two in TX (very easy license, tons of jobs, great pay), while completing licenses in more desirable locations (CA OR WA IL NY FL for example), and keeping TX as a plan B at least.

Do you recommend any company, other than your own, over another?

Recommending companies is hard, there are a lot of them. The most important thing is to go with an established, tier-one company who is willing to work with New Grads. Besides us, I honestly don't know of any companies who specialize in New Grads, but I would try asking companies at job fairs specifically about their New Grad program (if they have one), their standing with JACHO, and if they have tier-one standing with the major vendors. At the very least, they will see that you know what you're talking about!

I have been talking to recruiters and want a mixed setting, either in a hospital where I can work on developing a variety of skills, or a mix between pediatrics and adults/older adults. Is this setting criteria setting my self up to be disappointed? For example, I will never find such a place? Are there companies that you know of, which specialize in what I desire?

"Is this setting criteria setting my self up to be disappointed?" Probably. But it's totally possible in TX, however not common, so it would be a matter of staffing you in SNF or Home Health (it's not as bad as you think!) and being ready to put notice in at that assignment and moving out to the Acute job in a weekend. No companies I know of specialize in this, there are too few of these jobs available for them to stay in business.

The task of finding a decent job, with mentorship in a city/state where I can pay off student loans and support myself is daunting, what are some tips to make the recruitment process easier?

Stick with one recruiter and tell them that! It may seem counter-intuitive, but having a sense of loyalty will make your recruiter work twice as hard for you. This far outweighs the benefit of any jobs you might be missing out on by not going with multiple recruiters, because with major companies the contracts available are pretty much the same, with the exception of a small contract here and there. It also resonates with most people's business ethics to actually have that sense of loyalty and friendship! Also consider that you have to get credentialed with each of these recruiting firms. It gets very overwhelming very quickly when you have 100 pages of paperwork to complete instead of 20, in addition to getting TB tests, MMR, Licenses, CPR cert, etc etc. Speaking of TB, get a 2-step!!! They are pretty much the new industry standard.

I talked to a recruiter that said relocation/tuition assistance is a thing of the past with employers, is that the case?

"relocation/tuition assistance is a thing of the past " - I touched on this earlier, but that is half right. If I have some room in my margin, then I will give a BOC - basically a tax-free bonus on your first paycheck. This money is coming from my company, not the facility. Usually around $500.

I am super flexible with relocating, as long as it is paid for by the company, what are some states where the demand for OT drives up the salary, but at the same time provides a low cost of living for loan repayment?

Texas Texas Texas. lol. Other than that, the Dakotas. Seriously, don't overlook those. Amazing pay, AMAZING facilities (Oil money doesn't lie), and cheap cheap cost of living. Some places will interview you pending a license. If you want something with some more culture but higher costs of living, work on OR CA WA.

Does your company specialize in any particular setting?

Not officially, but the majority of the needs nationwide are in SNFs, this you will see with any company. I have a really cool home health position active in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio though, strongly recommend that one.

If you skipped down here without reading, no TL;DR for you!! If you made it down here by reading the above post, congrats! You just read the Don Quixote + Atlas Shrugged + Infinite Jest of travel therapy. :)
Again, please comment your thoughts, or message me if I could be a helpful resource to you!

Hi Everyone! My name is Combokeh, and I am a recruiter with an established staffing company which specializes in New Grad Travel therapy placements. I've had some public and private conversations with other OT, PT, SLP redditors, so I thought I would compile all my writing into a dynamic guide for finding work out of college, or pursuing travel as a new direction in your career!
Of course, I am a representative of my staffing company, so there is something of an inherent conflict of interest here, but I think everyone will see that I am doing this as a Pro Bono service to the Reddit therapy community. Naturally I'm going to plug myself and my company a couple times, but only because I believe in myself as a qualified recruiter, and my company as an institution committed to making great things happen for a subset of the population so devoted to care of their fellow human, that they dedicated their career to it!
If after reading this you feel you would like some more info or would like to speak in a more professional manor (email, phone), please don't hesitate to shoot me a PM, or comment with suggestions of more things I could elaborate on.
To begin, I will list some benefits to travel therapy in response to the question:
"Do you suggest traveling as a new grad or sticking with permanent staffing/recruiting companies?"

This is wholly dependent on the needs of the therapist. The company I work with specializes in New Grad travel and permanent positions, so we offer both of the options you are describing. I think there are some great benefits to travel as a new grad, as long as the candidate is flexible and realistic. Some of them are listed as follows:

• "Try it before you buy it" - travel contracts are only 3 months and have a 2 week cancellation policy, so there is very little commitment to a particular facility for the traveler. If the therapist were to go with a permanent placement for their first job, they're kind of stuck with it, because they are obliged to stay in the position for 1-2 years before quitting for the purposes of resume and contact building. This means that the door for travel is pretty much closed once the new grad accepts a perm position.
  
• A (good) recruiter is an advocate for the traveler. New grads in perm placements are often given unrealistic standards, supervising positions, or otherwise taken advantage of. They have very little recourse in this case, because burning a bridge with their first professional reference could follow them for years. In the case of travel, the facility doesn't want to lose us as a staffing resource, so we have some pull in negotiating on your behalf. And if the facility stays unrealistic, we put in notice and move on, because we can submit to the major vendors with references from your CIs rather than the facility you worked at for a month right out of school (as well as having us backing you - being Joint Commission accredited helps).
  
• Pay - this is huge, You could easily double your salary with travel. For example, I had an OT in PA who was about to accept a salaried position at $52k/year, convinced her to move to TX and put her on contract making about $110k/year. Obviously there are a lot of factors at play here, and it's an extreme example, but it illustrates an important point.
  
• Mentorship - To be honest, I don't know of any other companies who offer this, so I'm going to take a moment to plug myself here (at the risk of making this whole thing seem like some kind of marketing stunt - it isn't). Our company has a couple dozen therapists of all disciplines who have volunteered to mentor the incoming new grads. They are all therapists who traveled with us straight out of college, and truly believe in the advantages of travel therapy, so they offer their time to give guidance in ethics, treatment, and to share their travel experiences. There are 5 scheduled phone appointments throughout each of your assignments for the first 18 months, and you can also schedule an impromptu appointment.
  
• Tuition reimbursement - this is how it usually works - The therapist doesn't get free money per se, but they do net a greater takehome at the end of the year. Basically ~$1/hour is taken out of your paycheck and placed in a tax-free bank account (similar to an IRA for you finance/econ people out there - I'm one of them). This account is dispersed, tax free, at the end of your 4th and 8th assignment, and equals $2500 each disbursement, to total $5000.
  
• Unlimited CEUs - Most travel companies have something like this. We contract with an online school to help you complete any CEUs, free of charge.
  

Considering all these things, I strongly urge new grads to try Travel therapy. I mean this on a personal level, not trying to sell people our company or anything. If they hate it, they have only wasted 1-3 months of their time. Worth the risk? I think so. All I can say, is if you have been to any job fairs and have seen a travel company there, it was probably us ;). Shoot me a PM if you want to chat some more, and if you want to have a more formal conversation, ask for my email.

The following is in a question/answer format:

How much do you see OT wages change throughout the country? For example, is it worth taking a job which pays less, but due to cost of living equates to a higher salary?

This is hard to give a concise answer to, but it ultimately has a pretty common sense answer. TX and CA (places with huge demand), and places no one wants to live (the Dakotas, for example) all pay very well. However, up in the Northeast, they are typically on the low end of the pay scale. In addition to that, the market is so flooded with therapists up there, you'll likely have 10 more experienced resumes on top of yours for each assignment I submit you to. As a new grad, I would strongly recommend doing your first assignment or two in TX (very easy license, tons of jobs, great pay), while completing licenses in more desirable locations (CA OR WA IL NY FL for example), and keeping TX as a plan B at least.

Do you recommend any company, other than your own, over another?

Recommending companies is hard, there are a lot of them. The most important thing is to go with an established, tier-one company who is willing to work with New Grads. Besides us, I honestly don't know of any companies who specialize in New Grads, but I would try asking companies at job fairs specifically about their New Grad program (if they have one), their standing with JACHO, and if they have tier-one standing with the major vendors. At the very least, they will see that you know what you're talking about!

I have been talking to recruiters and want a mixed setting, either in a hospital where I can work on developing a variety of skills, or a mix between pediatrics and adults/older adults. Is this setting criteria setting my self up to be disappointed? For example, I will never find such a place? Are there companies that you know of, which specialize in what I desire?

"Is this setting criteria setting my self up to be disappointed?" Probably. But it's totally possible in TX, however not common, so it would be a matter of staffing you in SNF or Home Health (it's not as bad as you think!) and being ready to put notice in at that assignment and moving out to the Acute job in a weekend. No companies I know of specialize in this, there are too few of these jobs available for them to stay in business.

The task of finding a decent job, with mentorship in a city/state where I can pay off student loans and support myself is daunting, what are some tips to make the recruitment process easier?

Stick with one recruiter and tell them that! It may seem counter-intuitive, but having a sense of loyalty will make your recruiter work twice as hard for you. This far outweighs the benefit of any jobs you might be missing out on by not going with multiple recruiters, because with major companies the contracts available are pretty much the same, with the exception of a small contract here and there. It also resonates with most people's business ethics to actually have that sense of loyalty and friendship! Also consider that you have to get credentialed with each of these recruiting firms. It gets very overwhelming very quickly when you have 100 pages of paperwork to complete instead of 20, in addition to getting TB tests, MMR, Licenses, CPR cert, etc etc. Speaking of TB, get a 2-step!!! They are pretty much the new industry standard.

I talked to a recruiter that said relocation/tuition assistance is a thing of the past with employers, is that the case?

"relocation/tuition assistance is a thing of the past " - I touched on this earlier, but that is half right. If I have some room in my margin, then I will give a BOC - basically a tax-free bonus on your first paycheck. This money is coming from my company, not the facility. Usually around $500.

I am super flexible with relocating, as long as it is paid for by the company, what are some states where the demand for OT drives up the salary, but at the same time provides a low cost of living for loan repayment?

Texas Texas Texas. lol. Other than that, the Dakotas. Seriously, don't overlook those. Amazing pay, AMAZING facilities (Oil money doesn't lie), and cheap cheap cost of living. Some places will interview you pending a license. If you want something with some more culture but higher costs of living, work on OR CA WA.

Does your company specialize in any particular setting?

Not officially, but the majority of the needs nationwide are in SNFs, this you will see with any company. I have a really cool home health position active in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio though, strongly recommend that one.

If you skipped down here without reading, no TL;DR for you!! If you made it down here by reading the above post, congrats! You just read the Don Quixote + Atlas Shrugged + Infinite Jest of travel therapy. :)
Again, please comment your thoughts, or message me if I could be a helpful resource to you!