The thing that really gets me down is the futility of my job. I am a public servant, so i don’t have to worry about being exploited by the rich in the same way. I work decent hours and have good benefits. However, a lot of the work i do seems aimless and poorly thought out. Many of my projects get cancelled after months of work due to changing priorities. When i get home, i tend to ruminate over the pointlessness of it all. If i sit there and really think about how i am spending my life, i get really down. Video games and hobbies occupy my mind to the exclusion of bad thoughts.

Hi! With the OED, it has been like that at least since I started university in 2007. However, lots of public libraries have subscriptions. I just go to my library website, login, and follow the link to the OED. There are many other reference tools that are also included in my library card. Libraries rule!

Edit: you can check merriam-webster for free, I think

Different child field? This is like my first two read-throughs of a new paper in my own specialization!