![[DD] Boards & Chat](https://www.dailydiapers.com/board/uploads/monthly_2021_11/DDweb-02.png.0c06f38ea7c6e581d61ce22dffdea106.png)
Story and Art Forum
Story and Art Forum
Subforums
-
- 4.8k
- posts
-
- 26.8k
- posts
-
- 1.3k
- posts
-
- 108
- posts
-
- 765
- posts
3,573 topics in this forum
-
- 30 replies
- 35.5k views
-
- 68 replies
- 46.2k views
-
- 14 replies
- 15.5k views
-
- 17 replies
- 23.8k views
-
- 31 replies
- 23k views
-
- 8 replies
- 2.7k views
-
- 5 replies
- 1.8k views
-
- 156 replies
- 43.4k views
-
- 12 replies
- 2.3k views
-
- 31 replies
- 3k views
-
- 23 replies
- 2.8k views
-
- 99 replies
- 6.5k views
-
- 120 replies
- 22.7k views
-
- 114 replies
- 19.7k views
-
- 320 replies
- 63.4k views
-
- 1 reply
- 302 views
-
- 14 replies
- 1.8k views
-
- 173 replies
- 53.9k views
-
AARDVARK, PLATYPUS, AND TWINKLETOES: ATTORNEYS AT LAW, SCENE 35: CINDY CARLSON, DORM RAIDER 1 2 3 4 17
- 416 replies
- 58.9k views
-
- 16 replies
- 4.1k views
-
Baby Suzy the Super Soaker Now At 35/36/37/38 - Big Kids Having Kids, or Is It The Littlest Little In The World? Congratulations… its both! (or from Teen Baby to Adult Baby to Mother of a Baby) 1 2 3 4
- 95 replies
- 8.2k views
-
- 6 replies
- 1.2k views
-
- 1.1k replies
- 230.3k views
-
- 112 replies
- 63.2k views
-
- 23 replies
- 13.3k views
-
-
-
Posts
-
-
Very well written and what an understanding mom! After residing in Calif on the coast most of a couple years some time back, I understand exactly what June Gloom is and this author depicts it perfectly, bringing back old memory's to me -
CHAPTER 3: COMPETITION Two weeks had passed, and Aino had survived. Sort of. She had been working as a data analyst from the very first day, in between intensive onboarding meetings. Aino quickly learned the basics of the company's products, numbers, operating procedures, and systems. During her first weeks, she didn't make any major breakthroughs, but she performed well on all the tasks assigned to her. Mikko was an encouraging and fun colleague, whose rhythm Aino had quickly internalized. Mikko talked a lot in the mornings, but fell almost completely silent after lunch. In the afternoons, he would become more active again, but it was no longer a flood of words. Kalle the cactus remained silent as ever. Aino liked Mikko; his presence was more battery-charging than energy-draining. They had already developed the beginnings of a shared sense of humor. During the first few days, Aino instinctively looked for clues in the man's demeanor as to whether he had noticed her diaper on the first day in the break room. Nothing indicating that ever emerged, and as the days went by, Aino had begun to believe that her diaper use had remained a secret from everyone else. That was good, very good. Aino had learned from the uncomfortable close call and was now much more careful with her spare diapers. No more transparent bags in her purse. Additionally, she had made it to the bathroom on time, with one exception; on the second Tuesday, she had wet her diaper during a prolonged IT orientation. She had survived that too. A wet diaper didn't feel as embarrassing under her skirt as Aino had feared, and the change went smoothly in the peaceful restroom facilities after the meeting. The world outside work, however, was exhausting. Every colleague encountered in the hallway felt like a potential social trap; smiling faces looked like masks. Going to the break room required a couple of minutes of mental preparation each time; Aino had lunch either with Mikko or alone. Aino had learned that a colleague's friendly "How are you?" wasn't really a question – it was just noise to fill the silence. Aino had learned to smile at others, even though it felt like it twisted her face. She had learned to nod at the right points in conversations, even though her thoughts were already far away, somewhere in the depths of the data. Today was Aino's twelfth workday. It was a special day; Aino would be attending her first management team meeting. The meeting room was enormous. Dark walls, a long table, twelve chairs. The air conditioning hummed steadily, and the fluorescent lights flickered at their familiar, irritating frequency. Aino clutched her bag in her lap and tried to focus on breathing. She sat at the near end of the table, close to the door, far from the monitors. Elisa arrived two minutes late and sat down opposite Aino. Her black jacket was perfectly pressed, her long hair flowed freely, but her expression was extremely tight and controlled. Aino couldn't read her. She tried, but couldn't. Juhani sat at the other end of the table, in the very largest chair. He was sober today; Aino could see it immediately. The man's eyes were clearer than before, and his hands weren't shaking. However, Aino noticed how Juhani kept glancing at his watch, his fingers tapping nervously on the tabletop. The man was waiting for something, perhaps lunch with its accompanying beverage. The other executives – the COO, the CFO, Elisa, Marjatta, and the CIO – sat in their places, preparing for their own presentations and waiting. Juhani opened the meeting five minutes late, Marjatta began taking notes, and soon an enthusiastic murmur filled the modern conference room. Elisa stood up decisively as soon as the agenda reached the marketing department's status update. "I want to present the data from our new advertising algorithm," she began, her voice both controlled and enthusiastic. "We have developed an algorithm with our partner that optimizes ad impressions in real time. With it, we can target ads more effectively, increase sales, and reduce advertising costs." Elisa clicked her mouse, and graphs, charts, and figures appeared on the screen. Aino stared at them just like all the other meeting participants, but her brain was clicking away on its own frequency. Someone was tapping a pen against the table, and sunlight streaming in from the high windows dazzled Aino's eyes. Despite this, Aino managed to focus her attention on the charts, which were beautiful, colorful, and convincing. Aino had no way of verifying the accuracy of the numbers from anywhere, but at least they didn't seem to contradict each other. However, there was something in the arrow diagram describing the algorithm's operational logic that, in her opinion, required clarification. "The algorithm builds user profiles in real time," Elisa began, a serene smile on her face. "It combines browsing history, search behavior, and previous purchase events into a dynamic model that predicts the likelihood of the next purchase. This allows us to target ads precisely when the user is at their highest purchase readiness. During the test period, we achieved a 23 percent increase in conversions and a 15 percent decrease in advertising costs." The executives nodded approvingly. Marjatta smiled; the CFO took notes. Aino stared at one particular chart, stroking her chin with her fingers. The structure of the algorithm unfolded before her like a map. She saw how the data flowed, how it branched into different paths, how it encountered decision points. And then she saw it – the thing that had felt instinctively wrong from the start: the point where the algorithm treated all users the same way. The competitors' sites. The algorithm didn't differentiate them in any way. It offered the same ads to visitors on competitors' sites as it did to everyone else. But Aino knew this wasn't the best possible approach. She raised her gaze straight ahead. "Elisa," Aino heard herself say. Everyone turned to look at her. Elisa's gaze sharpened. "Yes?" Elisa said. Her voice was friendly, but Aino could see her jaw tighten. "The algorithm," Aino began, pointing at the diagram. "It treats visitors on competitors' sites the same way as everyone else. It shows them the same ads." Aino took a breath, taking her time calmly. "We have such high-quality customer data that we could offer visitors on competitors' sites ads for exactly those products where we have a cheaper or higher-quality alternative compared to that competitor. If we show them the same ads as everyone else, we give them no particular reason to choose us. Some of the ads are essentially wasted." The room fell silent for a moment. Elisa stared at Aino. Her eyes were like ice, but Aino saw a flash behind them – rage, confusion, perhaps something else. "Aino," Elisa replied with exaggerated slowness. "We have been testing this algorithm for two months. It has worked very well." "It has clearly worked well," Aino replied, nodding conciliatorily, "but it could work even better. Look at this." Aino stood up and walked to the other end of the room, to the large screen. She had already forgotten that everyone was watching her. Aino picked up the pointer and directed it at the figure she wanted to highlight. "This segment – users who have visited competitors' sites – their conversion rate has increased significantly less than others'. We could potentially increase conversions in this segment if we targeted the ads more effectively." The room remained quiet until Juhani suddenly burst into uncontrollable, slightly phlegmy laughter. "LOOK AT THAT!" the man exclaimed admiringly. "The mathematician! She sees things! Excellent!" Juhani pounded his fists on the table so hard that the coffee cups rattled. Then he glanced at his watch, quickly bit his lower lip, and let his hands fall back into his lap. Elisa said nothing. Her face was perfectly calm, but Aino noticed the tension in the small muscles of her face and neck. "Good," Elisa finally replied in an even voice. "Aino, you will build your own version of the algorithm. You have one week." Aino stared at her. "One week? But—" "One week," Elisa repeated calmly. Her smile was sharp as a knife. "Let's see which algorithm produces better results. Yours or mine." Competition. An open, publicly declared competition. Aino felt the familiar tingle in her stomach. She would accept the challenge. "Fine," Aino replied. "My algorithm will be ready for testing in a week." Juhani clapped his hands unevenly: "EXCELLENT! Competition! Innovation! This is what we need!" He stood up a little too quickly and nearly fell into his chair. "I'm going to lunch now. Or rather... to meet a certain... person. Carry on." The CEO walked out with nervous steps, and Aino saw him pull his phone from the inside pocket of his suit jacket already at the door. Or perhaps it wasn't a phone. The meeting continued for another ten minutes or so, but Aino no longer paid attention to the agenda. She was thinking about the algorithm, formulas, numbers. And Elisa. The afternoon began to turn toward an autumn evening. The office gradually emptied. Mikko left at half past four, as was his habit. He wished Aino a pleasant rest of the evening, reminded her of the importance of recovery, and forbade her from watering Kalle the cactus. Aino nodded and said nothing. Mikko's dragging footsteps echoed in the hallway for a moment, then the outer door opened and the elevator let out a faint beep from the stairwell. By six, the last employees had left, and Aino was alone in the office for the first time. She sat at her computer, fingers on the keyboard, eyes fixed on the screen. Improving the algorithm wasn't as easy as she had initially thought. There were challenges in both the operational logic and the coding, but Aino didn't give up. She wanted to make big strides right on the first day of the challenge. Aino had been working continuously for hours. Her back was aching, her eyes were burning, but she couldn't stop. Not now, when the solution was so close. Aino considered going home to continue working, but the bus ride would interrupt her good flow state. The empty office would be her home tonight. Aino rotated her head a couple of times, reached toward her bag, and quickly pulled out her pacifier, which she immediately placed in her lap, shielded by the desktop. The sweet pacifier hung from a pacifier chain decorated with pink beads and small diamonds. Aino first looked at her pacifier, then at the slightly open door. The office was completely empty except for Aino, and the office door made such a loud noise when opened that it couldn't possibly go unheard. It was about twenty steps from the door to Aino's office, and there was no line of sight from the lobby to her room. She would easily have time to hide the pacifier before anyone could see it. Aino hesitated for a moment longer, but finally put the pacifier in her mouth and began to suck on it carefully and rhythmically. It didn't take long before her brain calmed down and her shoulders relaxed. Aino continued working with the pacifier in her mouth; it quickly began to feel completely normal. The numbers and snippets of code no longer danced in the young data analyst's mind but settled into neat rows and matrices in her consciousness. The solution was one step closer as the fog had cleared from the landscape. Aino sucked on the pacifier and wrote code. The world was simple when she could be little. No need to mask, no need to perform, no need to be afraid. She could just be. Elisa walked quietly along the dim corridor. She had come to the office to retrieve a USB stick she had left on her desk. There was material on it that she would need for the next morning's meeting on the other side of town. But instead of the main entrance, she had used the small back door, which led to the office through a messy storage room. It was an entrance that almost no one used, and some employees didn't even know it existed. It wasn't a very convenient route to the office; the parking lot was on the other side, as was the nearest bus stop. However, Elisa had taken a dip in a nearby pond on the same trip and thus arrived at the office from an unusual direction. The corridors were dark, only the green emergency exit signs glowing. Light, however, streamed from the interior window of one room. Aino was still working. Elisa stopped for a moment and blinked. On the other side of the glass pane, Aino was leaning back in her chair, intently sucking on a pink pacifier while her fingers moved across the keyboard. Elisa didn't understand what she was seeing. A data analyst sucking on a pacifier, building an algorithm that would have taken most analysts weeks. Code flashed across the screen, but at its keyboard sat a woman who looked more like a child than an expert. Elisa had never seen anything like it. -
Thank you. I'm slowly finding inspiration. -
I for one, really enjoy stories where the wife is the controlling one in the relationship. In this case, she is also the realistic one so the story hits close to home as well, very realistic!
-