The RPG Duelling League
Social Forums => General Chat => Topic started by: superaielman on January 03, 2015, 09:13:55 PM
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It's a new year, new topic and all that jazz.
I am off on saturday and doing nothing for once, and it's glorious. Should be off running errands but that takes effort, and fuck that noise.
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New Years Resolutions:
1. New Job
2. Get back to Europe
3. Get to DLC
I like to keep it simple and all. I also resolve to :-* at Ciato as much as possible, which is probably a bad life choice.
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Freezing rain. Fucking state.
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I got to experience that magic myself last month. Nothing like a surprise freezing rain storm out of nowhere!
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It's largely off the roads (the front is warmer than it had been, so getting warmer and turning to regular rain through the day) but having to stress the drive to work every day for weeks on end because this shit can happen any time has long since gotten to me. Fuck Michigan.
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I'm hoping to land a more consistent job myself (even a Long Term Sub job would be nice!) and finally move out of my parent's place this year. not having to spend money on tuition will help granted.
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Another flight, another flight delayed. This is getting ridiculous. Probably gonna have to stay the night in Denver. Stayed in Minny-St. Paul last year and Dallas the year before. I am making a valiant attempt at not being irate but lol.
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Motorcycle rides. I'm getting better. Weirdly, I'm still nervous about the things bikes are supposed to do well -- cornering -- and the reason I got the bike -- filtering. Did my first commute to work during normal commute hours and it went fine. Looking forward to shaving my daily round trip from 1.5 hours to .5 hours. Finally.
Also looking to pick up the violin again. Learning the piano and the guitar was supposed to be a gateway to it, but I say fuckitall, I may as well do the thing itself. Of course, I'm self-teaching until Andrew gets a job and we have notable disposable income again. How many people think I'll develop an RSI before the month is out?
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Mei here with the drama news. My new years resolution was to start getting along with my family and other people, in English to be optimistic. It's...hard to not get furious, given the rage I suffered earlier today. But I'm hangin in there. Might be getting a job soon so that's a plus.
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Dealing with government stuff, which is a pain, but I've moved into a new place and got to experience my first Con ever, so that's a pretty huge plus. Now I just need to get a family doctor and some work before February ends and I'll be all good~
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Kitty seems to be doing remarkably well after anesthetic/neuter op apart from bum shuffling and copious licking of the tail, appetite is ok and wanted to play~
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My first day at work was pretty cool and the shittiest day for France ever.
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Yeah I just saw the news, damn :(
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Very sad news :(
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Yeah. The guys killed were pretty huge, for reference it would be similar to the South Park team being murdered for the same reasons.
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Operation: Try not to smell like I spent two weeks in a smoky bar begins~ Mostly with clothes washing and Fabreeze.
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Happy Meeple Day! May you Meeple for many more years to come!
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One week after starting, my job's pretty cool. I am already talking casually to everybody. I have the nicest bosses. There's not too much pressure right now, I can come at work late and spend some time daydreaming during the day. (I prefer the word "serendipiting") Work itself is very interesting and I'm motivated to improve vastly on what my predecessor was doing.
People at work are overall fairly young. We're playing table tennis after lunch. We've already been to a bar after work. I have more money than I'm used to and I absolutely don't want to save it.
My roommate's also a great guy.
I started with privilege and still got immensely lucky.
I still really miss Love. Fuck.
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Just see the news, Master Xehanort/Big Boss has passed away at the age of 85.
This is some shocking news to start the day with.
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Who? What?
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I think he means this dude:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chikao_%C5%8Ctsuka
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Went shopping on my day off today, then decided to hit the gym.
Weird feeling: going to gym with a bag full of amiibos.
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4:27:12 attained in FFT. Finally, it happened. God awful beginning, but never gave up
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Normally I love business trips, but they've sent me somewhere less than exciting.
When I signed on, they teased me with a trip to England and to Tokyo to visit the offices out there. Those haven't happened, though it's now looking like a solid possibility I'll go to Tokyo in the coming months.
No, they sent me to Madison, WI. I guess I can't complain - we have an office in Philly that I imagine would not be so great to visit at this moment, given the storms, but honestly. Wisconsin? What is there to do here, even?
Also it's cold. My California blood is freezing in the 0*C or less weather. :(
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Sounds like you're building character!
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Got 2 feet plus of snow here. Storm stayed cold, so it's all mercifully fluffy, and our power never went out.
Excavating my car, a guy driving by with a plow cleared out the space between it and the road. Said space occupied by snow 4 feet high packed by street plowing. Faith in humanity +10.
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Just shared a photo on Facebook describing the horrors we're facing here.
(Hint: the roads are clear.)
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(Hint: the roads are clear.)
Are you sure? I mean, you ARE from California, so it's not like anyone expects you to know what weather is.
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I am certain the locals were laughing themselves sick at the group of us tossing around roadside drift.
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After a month of waiting without one, I have a working CD/DVD drive on my computer now. Victory lap is go. (pops in Raiden 2)
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Actual post about a good morning:
First morning staying over at my new bf's place, I wake up first and give him a sleepy morning kiss on the cheek. He stirs slightly, sleepily murmurs, "Wanna play Smash Brothers?", and I just *heart*.
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I'm having a recurring dream about work. Time to really look hard for a new job! Retail hasn't been all bad but yeesh, I'd like a job that isn't so stressful that I literally dream constantly about it.
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I have the flu, or something like it.
I don't think I've ever had the flu. This sucks.
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ew. stop having the flu, ok?
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ew. stop having the flu, ok?
You'll get us all sick.
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I am the worst about being sick, as you can see if you're friends with me on FB. I whine constantly.
Fever broke today so I might go back to work and start complaining about other things again soon!
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Spent a good half of January in a funk from remembering what happened last year(the whole friend ragequitting reality thing). That and attempts to get out from familial entanglements which Jan was supposed to be the deadline for going nowhere. The new deadline is June. I don't expect that will actually stick either.
Finally getting off my ass and starting the process of getting a passport, so that I'll be able to a) go on international trips with Jenna when they send her for business, and b) take off to the great white north to go bother elfiatomagecals. Eventually. Keep saying I'm gonna do that and it keeps never happening(just like everything else I say I'm going to do :V ), but having the passport will certainly make it more doable.
Spent the other half of January playing DnD like nonstop. Jenna had vacation time! We used it for a giant adventure into a blasted hellhole land in the main game I run for her. 20 "PCs", something like 30+ encounters with 3 major boss fights and a puzzle dungeon. Good times. Now I am in levelup hell from all the exp gained on that trip. We had people going from 11th to 16th.
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The measles have made it to the Bay Area. Good thing I've got my MMR.
The scourge is probably going to make its way up to the crunchy granola crazy liberals, though, and then all hell will break loose. Let's hope we can avoid that particular disaster.
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git gud 2 avoid measles, whats your MMR???? 1v1 measles irl #wrexed
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The measles have made it to the Bay Area. Good thing I've got my MMR.
The scourge is probably going to make its way up to the crunchy granola crazy liberals, though, and then all hell will break loose. Let's hope we can avoid that particular disaster.
Hopefully anyone who can not get the vaccinations for legit reasons gets the fuck away for a while. Other than that, anyone who doesn't have a legit (MEDICAL) reason completely deserves anything that comes their way.
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Uh, except isn't it mostly the KIDS of the crazies who are going to be affected most? Yeah I agree that antivaxers are morons but it's kinda unreasonable to go "Well that's what you get." when its the kids of the crazies getting ill.
Not to mention that handful of people who have been vaccinated may still get infected…
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Yeah, it's the kids of the idiots who suffer. If the measles starts going around, EVERYONE is at greater risk, vaccinated or not.
I'm just hoping the anti-vaxxers who aren't already banned from bringing their kids to school will remember what herd immunity means and remove their home-crafted disease vectors from the BART and LinkedIn offices.
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The measles have made it to the Bay Area. Good thing I've got my MMR.
The scourge is probably going to make its way up to the crunchy granola crazy liberals, though, and then all hell will break loose. Let's hope we can avoid that particular disaster.
Hopefully anyone who can not get the vaccinations for legit reasons gets the fuck away for a while. Other than that, anyone who doesn't have a legit (MEDICAL) reason completely deserves anything that comes their way.
ugh
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Yeah if it spreads badly even the vaccinated run a higher risk of getting it (because that is a thing that happens). Terrible with Measles hey because it is more fucked than butts to get it as an adult.
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Playing or thinking nice is literally how we just keep ending up in shitty situations. Sorry, but trying to extend understanding to "insert willful group that has completely chosen to ignore reality" does not get anywhere (See: Gun Nuts, Forced Birthers, Anti-Vaxxers, Climate Change Deniers), and is in fact perenially how our government degrades. The only way that people seem to have a hope of learning is by making their own mistakes, and even then that's still a coin toss. If I could make it so that the parents where the ones who got the disease I would. But these people are making conscience decisions to endanger everyone with zero scientific basis. I see these people all the time; they've made up their minds and have thrown away any lessons that history has to offer.
Anyone who has been vaccinated and still gets infected obviously does not fall into this category. Vaccines don't always take. I didn't realize until now that adults are supposed to get booster shots, but because of herd immunity that has been lost. So we're all in danger. My words may be harsh, but see my first sentence. Be nice-->lose the war on messaging because the other side is more vocal and better organized-->voters don't go for you-->policies get worse.
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But these people are making conscience decisions to endanger everyone with zero scientific basis. I see these people all the time; they've made up their minds and have thrown away any lessons that history has to offer.
The kids aren't making any conscious decisions here, dude. I agree with you but you're being a cunt.
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If that's what it takes to get it into people's heads, I'm okay with that. I've...been engaging more people on this subject than I probably should; it's just frustrating to see even people you actually know spouting this crap without any way to back it up when called on it.
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Actually, even more than that, I'm starting to more realistically think about getting into semi-local politics and become known as a "Liberal Firebrand." (a.k.a. liberal asshole that fights tooth and nail for constituents, but spends lots of time calling people out).
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So at my job, I go to several different preschools. My Tuesday preschool is one of the smaller schools, so I basically have classes in the morning and the late afternoon with a big 2 hour gap in between where the kids get to just basically play around.
To give them more time practicing English and such, the school has me hang out with the kids for this duration (it's quite tiring actually). Lately, I've taken to hanging out with the oldest grade, the five-year-olds, and a lot of them like to draw and color, which suits me just fine. I doodle lots of requests they ask for, but the past few weeks, I've also just drawn a few Smash Bros doodles for them mixed in with the usual requests for various anime, Hello Kitty, and pokemon characters.
This had led to some questions. Since 5-year-olds don't have encyclopedic knowledge of Nintendo like they should, I've had to explain just what a "Palutena" and "Metaknight" and such are. Sometimes it's easy, "Well, she's a Goddess!" "Oooo, she's so pretty, draw her for me, too!"
Sometimes it's harder, "Well, he's like Kirby's rival from space and he wears a mask, but under the mask he looks like a blue Kirby." "What's a Kirby?" "Uhhh... he's kinda like a marshmellow with eyes, and he kicks butt and eats his enemies but he's really cute." "*child cries*"
It's easier with the girls, who just kind of accept whatever fumbling broken Japanese explanation I give them. The boys insist that I explain each character's power level compared to the others. "Well, I suppose in THEORY Palutena as a goddess is stronger than Kirby, but Kirby can still eat her. Stop crying, it's not permanent!" "This is Lucina, she's a female knight with a magic sword... Yes, I suppose she can beat up Palutena because her sword is magic?"
Anyway, I draw them the pictures and they color them. Here's yesterday's batch that I didn't give away.
(http://36.media.tumblr.com/e354e24b3738c7027a4cbdaeced9064e/tumblr_njwsghIaTw1tha0t9o7_1280.jpg)(http://40.media.tumblr.com/2a0f2e41e8cf4fbb91193a0f07bd1568/tumblr_njwsghIaTw1tha0t9o4_1280.jpg)
I'm particularly fond of the girl who gave Lucina her Twilight Sparkle hair.
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Nice. :)
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I like the maskless Meta Knight the most, oddly enough.
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I went to a job interview to be a tutor a couple days ago. I have to prepare an 'enrichment' lesson in science for a 10th grader and tutor a student in math as part of my second job interview. I'm going over old math workbooks and material for the math portion, but I'm trying to think of something that would engage a teenager in science. I was going to do something over climate change, but it's a bit of a depressing topic and I'm not sure how much they would understand the things behind it at all.
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I'm biased, but psychology and neuroscience are interesting ins when it comes to science, with lots of clinical case studies, perceptual illusions, and questionable social sciences kinds of things that can be used to pique interest. I'm not sure if you've taken a 101 class but I can point you towards some interesting stuff if you want.
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Milgram's is always fun if you want to go for social science. Harder science, donno.
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Leonard Nimoy died today. But it's okay, he comes back in the third movie. #blackhumor
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Leonard Nimoy died today. But it's okay, he comes back in the third movie. #blackhumor
Damn it, I've been telling that same joke all day. Here I thought I were an originalitor.
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Eh, it's a pretty obvious joke; only you and I have the balls to actually say it out loud.
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Somewhat ironically, I gather that he was slated to appear in the third Abrahms film but wasn't in good enough health to film his scenes. This time Khan finished him off :(
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Big thunderstorm this monday. Lightning bolt fell in the vicinities. Computer busted. Now researching prices for new laptop.
I honestly don't even care anymore.
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Yuck. Had that happen to a couple TVs, but never a computer.
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Had an old family computer killed that way. Thunderstorms fucking suck.
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Surge protectors are something a lot of people skimp on (especially if you don't live in a storm prone area). I would dis, but I don't have one and I do live in an area like that.
If you can absorb the cost then its just an excuse to upgrade. Going mobile is not the worst decision since you can always unplug it easy as well.
If you can shop around for price, Lenovo stuff is nice and customisable, but has had some serious shitty problems with software (so would nuke the OEM install get a clean Windows version or take the chance to swap to Linux if you aren't going to game). Asus also do nice kit.
Local pricing going to impact more than random internetdude's taste in brands though.
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I'm researching some Asus stuff as of now. Undecided whether I buy the notebook online or at a local live store as of now, though.
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Locally you are dependant on stock and most suppliers have a far greater range than your local vendor will peddle. If you are okay on compromise then getting from a shop is fine, but if you have your heart set on specific build then online is more likely to satisfy.
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RIP Master Wizard :(
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Less than two weeks to go of working retail, then a brief break, then starting a job working as a deputy clerk for a local court. I am so happy to be getting out of retail management, it sucked real bad in spite of working with some amazing people.
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Hello, this is Captain K. Apparently I have either gotten Alzheimers and forgotten my regular password (quite likely) or the virus I just had changed it for me. So I will be on this account unless there is a mod-type person that can help me.
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First, injure a human or, by inaction, allow a human to come to harm.
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Finally got the notebook + proper internet access in this. Updated all I had to, mostly. Now I need a new mouse.
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Captain: Password recovery didn't work?
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I no longer have that email. We been doing this rpgdl thing a long time.
If an admin can pm me the password to that account, that would work.
Here, I'll prove it's me. Dragon Warrior 7 was the best Dragon Quest game.
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He cannot be allowed to live.
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He did, however, cause harm to a human, so definitely not a robot.
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I no longer have that email. We been doing this rpgdl thing a long time.
If an admin can pm me the password to that account, that would work.
Here, I'll prove it's me. Dragon Warrior 7 was the best Dragon Quest game.
For future reference, kill Tallychu if this is even possible, plaintext passwords should never be stored.
An admin might be able to change the email address on an account, then send a password reset email to that addy, though.
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He did, however, cause harm to a human, so definitely not a robot.
I said harm a human, not crime against humanity.
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Daleks aren't robots you philistines.
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Yes but he might have been a robot impersonating a Dalek.
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Speaking of Daleks, I finally got passes to San Diego Comic Con. For the first time, I can actually go inside the convention instead of loitering around outside wishing I could spend hundreds of dollars in the vendor hall.
Also I hear there are talks and autographs and such? Weird.
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It was nice meeting you, Ashley.
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Tip I have always heard is, if you don't have your heart set on an item, wait until the last day. If they still have stock you will likely get it at a discount.
If you really really really want something though then you should buy it at full price, because odds on other people want it as well...
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I learned my lesson at E3 last year when the jacket I bought went on sale for 50% off the next day. :|
SDCC exclusives are slightly less of a Thing than they have been in the past, but sadly those are still what I -- and All Others -- want. If nothing else, they're good investments since they sell for 2-3x purchase price after the con (assuming that the company didn't say "Exclusive" and mean "you can buy it first but we're totally going to sell it online").
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I just went to the dentist for the first time in ten years and somehow they found nothing wrong with me. Today was a good day.
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Now try the same with a shrink.
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Cid is fine.
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I think this is the first time I have a computer with a non-integrated graphics card. It's a strange feeling.
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<Snow> I CAN SEE FOREVER
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No wonder you thought Silent Hill 2 wasn't that great. Everything had similar draw distances in the past.
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Also, all the textures were rendered like glitched pixel art.
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That must have made porn games very confusing.
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They're usually glitch pixel art to begin with.
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Now try the same with a shrink.
Silly Super, I know exactly what's wrong with me in that regard. There's a queue.
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Summoned up the courage to go in to clean up and toss out an obsolete Fakebook account. Glad to have that done knowing it won't rise up and bite me in the ass down the line. Amazingly, remembered the password despite having not accessed it in years.
Also amusing, shopping for a cosplay wig. One set of search terms generated 20,000 matches. Add "fair trade" to the same keywords and the matches drop to zero. Guess that stuff is made by Chinese slave labor.
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Have you made wigs before? Those things are a bitch. They'd cost a heck of a lot more if people were paid fair wages to do it.
Go go capitalism!
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No I haven't. Curiously, the matches I looked at (before and after narrowing the search terms) all come from China with no representation from other countries. Looked through around 20-30 vendors before I found something that suits my purposes.
Anyhow, while I prefer to support fair trade and organic when I can and remember to, it appears impractical in this instance.
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I have another thing published and for some reason my papers always come out on April 1st. :(
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And hilariously, I had an acceptance for a paper come back on April 1st. The editor at the end of the email even added the phrase, "While the date of this acceptance letter might cause you some concern as to its validity, rest assured, we have accepted your paper".
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Starting new job today, then two days off after. Life is good.
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I wake up today, the first news I see is Star Ocean 5 in development.
My reaction: "NOOOOOO!!!!"
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I would be excited but I'm sure it's for a system I'm not getting.
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Wow, seems like not EVERY DL series is dead yet.
Why the reaction? SO4 wasn't that bad (gameplay wise anyway).
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I enjoyed SO3-4 and thus will probably get SO5 whenever I pick up a system that can play it.
There are... actually quite a lot of upcoming (J)RPGs in the next year or so, now? Bravely Second, Fire Emblem If, Star Ocean 5, Cosmic Star Heroine, Persona 5, Xenoblade Chronicles X? That's an impressive list and I don't even care about the last two!
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Wow, seems like not EVERY DL series is dead yet.
Why the reaction? SO4 wasn't that bad (gameplay wise anyway).
Because Tri-Ace didn't intend to make SO4 originally, and made it only because they were told to. And we know that lead into some uncomfortable results.
Now they are telling us they are eager to make SO5?
Then there is the "we'll base this on SO3 because everyone like it so much!" stance.
So, are Tri-Ace really here to make a new SO game, or are they here because Sqaure-Enix wants a new console RPG on sale?
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I would be excited but I'm sure it's for a system I'm not getting.
Actually, surprisingly...it appears to be PS 3/PS 4.
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Well if the alternative is Tri-Ace making random mobile or Vita games which would never see release outside Japan, then maybe Square Enix and/or Nepro Japan did need to put the boot to their ass and tell them to make something people like me give a shit about.
How you can spin this as bad news is beyond me. At worst you just don't play it. I don't complain when a new Tales game gets announced.
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Well if the alternative is Tri-Ace making random mobile or Vita games which would never see release outside Japan, then maybe Square Enix and/or Nepro Japan did need to put the boot to their ass and tell them to make something people like me give a shit about.
How you can spin this as bad news is beyond me. At worst you just don't play it. I don't complain when a new Tales game gets announced.
I'll consider it bad news the second it becomes a XS Crossover game... which gave me the image of Luther/Shion.
/shudder
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Touche.
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Well if the alternative is Tri-Ace making random mobile or Vita games which would never see release outside Japan, then maybe Square Enix and/or Nepro Japan did need to put the boot to their ass and tell them to make something people like me give a shit about.
How you can spin this as bad news is beyond me. At worst you just don't play it. I don't complain when a new Tales game gets announced.
I'll consider it bad news the second it becomes a XS Crossover game... which gave me the image of Luther/Shion.
/shudder
Why am I not surprised that Super sekritly thinks of XS crossovers
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Well if the alternative is Tri-Ace making random mobile or Vita games which would never see release outside Japan, then maybe Square Enix and/or Nepro Japan did need to put the boot to their ass and tell them to make something people like me give a shit about.
How you can spin this as bad news is beyond me. At worst you just don't play it. I don't complain when a new Tales game gets announced.
Because I fear they are going to retcon the SO chronology?
SO4 is already borderline, and I do not want to see anything worse than that.
Yes, we can always look away and enjoy the memory of the past, but that won't apply if the memory couldn't be left alone.
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I would say that don't let a resurrection of something after a really long time affect how you viewed the original since it really doesn't have any bearing on what they planned or put forth then.
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I would say that don't let a resurrection of something after a really long time affect how you viewed the original since it really doesn't have any bearing on what they planned or put forth then.
This should be referred to as Orson Scott Card's Law.
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I was about to reference FFX, but yes, Orson Scott Card works significantly better. Somehow.
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I would be excited but I'm sure it's for a system I'm not getting.
Actually, surprisingly...it appears to be PS 3/PS 4.
There's a strong likelihood that it'll be PS4 only in the US I'm afraid. Still, I'm willing to give them a chance.
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I still prefer them messing with SO Chronology to Tri-Ace being effectively dead. Seriously, their last major JRPG was like... Resonance of Fate or something, right? I'm still holding out hope for another Valkyrie Profile game from them, particularly if this SO5 thing goes well.
And yeah, looking forward to Disgaea 5 and Tales of Zestiria myself, in addition to Elfboy's list. We also already saw Dragon Quest Heroes in Japan; and Code Name STEAM was quite a fun JRPG, so I think this year is shaping up nicely for JRPGs.
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Well if the alternative is Tri-Ace making random mobile or Vita games which would never see release outside Japan, then maybe Square Enix and/or Nepro Japan did need to put the boot to their ass and tell them to make something people like me give a shit about.
How you can spin this as bad news is beyond me. At worst you just don't play it. I don't complain when a new Tales game gets announced.
Because I fear they are going to retcon the SO chronology?
SO4 is already borderline, and I do not want to see anything worse than that.
Yes, we can always look away and enjoy the memory of the past, but that won't apply if the memory couldn't be left alone.
SO plot was a bad joke from the start (Though it had cool concepts!). As long as the gameplay's decent, the plot doesn't matter. And Is ay that as someone who has no real interest in SO4 or 5. More RPGs are good and all!
Though granted, I tend to prefer strat games and tower defense games as I've gotten older.
E: Desk job means I need to work on my handwriting. Paperwork is hell.
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I don't think there's anything they can do to really ruin SO's continuity because it is all pretty terrible and nonsensical. Even super's idea would at least be hilariously bad instead of earnestly bad.
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Now I kind of want to see some kind of "Star Ocean Tactics: Tower Defenders in Space!" game...
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E: Desk job means I need to work on my handwriting. Paperwork is hell.
After ten years I've moved up from "serial killer writing" to mere chickenscratch. You can do it too!
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Why would you want to?
Also going on a decade of office jobs and never done paperwork. plz database better plz
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Nature of my job means that there will always be a handwritten element, sadly. It drives me bugfuck, I hate handwriting.
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Do you at least get to handwrite documents with binding legal effect? I hand-wrote a settlement agreement once, and it made me feel just a bit like a walking repository of legal badassery.
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Did you draw a little cock monster in the margins?
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Do you at least get to handwrite documents with binding legal effect? I hand-wrote a settlement agreement once, and it made me feel just a bit like a walking repository of legal badassery.
Documents, no. It's mostly just piecemeal writing until I get into court.
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Did you draw a little cock monster in the margins?
I fucking should have.
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Because Tri-Ace didn't intend to make SO4 originally, and made it only because they were told to. And we know that lead into some uncomfortable results.
When you say "uncomfortable results" you mean a character who existed to pander to pedophiles or... something else?
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Now I kind of want to see some kind of "Star Ocean Tactics: Tower Defenders in Space!" game...
Defense grid does have sci-fi elements, play it.
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Did you draw a little cock monster in the margins?
I fucking should have.
When people ask what they are you respond "Just some doodles."
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Just now, I was telling my BF about how a kid got a little too excited and ended up scratching me up and causing some bleeding during work today. :-\
But his response was to cast ホイミ (Healmore) on me. ;D
So cute.
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Sounds like you are fucking nerds.
edit i mean with your dick
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Really every connotation of that sentence is accurate.
edit: just like my dick
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I do edit my posts just like your dick.
Every. Single. Post.
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No wonder everyone likes your posts so much!
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Some posts even get more than one edit in quick succession.
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Saw the Nightwish concert last night. They definitely killed it; best concert of the 3 of theirs that I've seen (and best in general, but I haven't seen that many concerts overall). Super pleased to hear my favorite Ghost Love Score, especially since Floor did an amazing job with both that and Sleeping Sun.
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Sounds awesome! I would have liked to have seen them again with Floor instead of Annette.
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Aww, I bet their Vancouver show was probably better too because they were specifically making a DVD from that (so they were have been extra incentivized to make it perfect. The LA show had a few acoustic issues for the first half).
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My motorcycle's tire has a hole in it. A hole I acquired by running over a nail. Running over a nail on the bridge. On the bridge, halfway home.
Going 75 mph.
At least I didn't crash! But now I need a new tire. And I'm really hoping I didn't fuck up the rim in the process.
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You're a lucky bastard girl, all things considered.
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Assume getting home involved popping a mad wheelie the whole way.
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That would have been damned impressive considering it was my rear tire that bit it.
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I AM EMPLOYED AGAIN. SUCK IT.
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Isn't what what people say to you at the new job Andy?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T1c7GkzRQQ
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Gonna go see the Mountain Goats in two weeks.
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Signed up for classes today finally. They're sufficiently low-end classes that they actually had sub-100 level prereqs, the kind you can waive just by asking more or less but that still requires actually talking to an adviser instead of just buying college off the internets. So since I had to talk to a human anyway, I had them confirm that I could switch which version of my program I was on and, in fact, only need the classes I was signing up for to complete.
So I actually applied to graduate today, pending completion of ongoing classes of course. This was considerably more exciting than I had thought. Only took four years* to get an AAS! But shockingly still kinda hype. Eeeeee.
*Forgetting that I in fact had all general education credits completed prior to entering this program.
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Move in 3 days.
Wedding in a week.
Shit, time flew FAST
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Hey, the first time you get married is pretty fun. Drink it up.
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Family members are currently trapped in their homes due to flooding and a few of my friends have had their homes completely wrecked by the flooding.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3NFjmD8jKPI Here's a video taken a couple of miles from my parents' place.
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Going to Marathon, though not staying entire thing. Playing two games there:
Mega Man 5 at 10 PM Eastern, and Kirby Adventure tomorrow at 8 AM Eastern. Posting here because can't think of any better place to do it, also so there is an accessible link for anyone interested. Posted it in chat as well.
http://www.twitch.tv/mvg_league <- Stream
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zeDEslpqfpjNN68rDUifKlwM9IW-mEwZkuKSC13PPfg/edit#gid=0 <- Schedule if anyone is interested in anything else going on there.
Yeah, should have posted this when it began, apologies, etc. Wish me luck! ...or don't...
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My computer wants me to upgrade to Windows 10 for free.
"We're so sure you're going to hate it that we have to give it away!"
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There is a few reasons well beyond that really... can elaborate if you are interested?
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I have to say, it's -wonderful- having a job where I have set hours and can do things like go out to a con on the weekend without having to plan weeks in advance. I miss my boss and some of my coworkers from retail, but not a hell of a lot else from it.
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It was a fun con, too!
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There is a few reasons well beyond that really... can elaborate if you are interested?
I'll bite.
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Apple has been giving away all the upgrades to their OS for a while and it's reduced the amount of division between version of their platform greatly, which probably has a lot to do with it.
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Rob is right there pretty much for reason behind the free upgrade.
The follow on effects off at is it is much easier and cheaper to support. They had to support XP for over a decade because it was so ubiquitous (for obvious reasons). Reducing the product lifecycle is good enough for Microsoft finacially to lose a year's worth of sales to consumer to existing customer base.
Increasing the initial install base also helps them both in a support front and a marketing front. Even though Win 8.1 wasn't a steaming pile of shit it still coped a ton of flak on the market for its low low low adoption rate (because XP was still in use, 7 was still good and some people thought 8 was okay). Some of that was definitely the short product cycle, but it still hit them pretty rough.
There is bebnefits to them in the enterprise space of consumers take it up quickly as well. The more "everyone " is using a newer OS the easier it is for people to transition in the workplace.
So functionally it is just about install base and support.
Also for what it is worth, reports are that Win 10 is actually pretty okay.
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Also, I doubt upgrading OSes on existing systems constitutes a significant slice of the total revenue Windows generates. Not only does it allow them to cut down on the number of platforms they support with security updates and patches, it doesn't really affect money coming in. MS is cutting expenses without significantly damaging the revenue stream, and it's actually a pretty sharp move on their part. The big concern is if they release another Windows Vista stinker and the user base revolts.
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In Melbourne. Move started.
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So um
My bra was feeling uncomfortable. Figured it was time to go to the store and measure. Get a measuring tape, get my phone out to calculate, "LOL 38D? there's no way." Bear in mind I've been wearing nothing but A and B cup bras my whole life. I owned one 36C once, that I used only when stuffing my bra. I still have a 36A that I slip into when I'm doing laundry.
Anyway, I try the 38D for shits and giggles and...it's actually pretty comfortable. I tell my experience to the girl at the checkout, and she shares a similar story. "It's all about the shape", she says. "It's all about the shape. I'm a DD and nobody knows. I was wearing a B and it wasn't working for me."
So um, I guess I have a D cup o_O
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Nobody expects the D-Cup.
(actually this is I think the third time I've heard a woman say some variation of the stealth D-Cup story)
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There is a moderate correlation between cup and band size, e.g., you can go up a cup and down a band size. As such, it's entirely possible to prefer the cup:band ratio to be more in favor of cup. Fun stuff, underwear.
--
In other news, San Diego Comic Con is this week! Finally I actually get to go inside. I've been browsing the, you know, actual con stuff like the panels, and so much of what I want to see overlaps with other things I want to see. Argh.
At least the weather's going to be in the ~70s instead of the ~80s? Now to avoid the One Direction fans for the stupid One Direction concert that someone, for some reason, scheduled for Friday of SDCC weekend. Also Conan O'Brien doing his show in town for a week because he hates nerds or something.
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There is a moderate correlation between cup and band size, e.g., you can go up a cup and down a band size. As such, it's entirely possible to prefer the cup:band ratio to be more in favor of cup. Fun stuff, underwear.
Oh I'm very aware of that correlation. But that's not what's going on here. It's not like I went from a 38B to a 34D, which would be kind-of the same size. I went from a 38B to a 38D. When I measured my band it was definitely 38.
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Fell asleep at 6:30 yesterday, slept all the way to my alarm. This job is enjoyable and I'm learning a lot, but it's taking more out of me than my previous jobs (Which were far more physical).
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I've got it sooooooo hard guys
Sorry to hear you're struggling.
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My only real struggle in life is dealing with (yet) another trenchant comment by a jealous lesser intellect, work just keeps me hopping.
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People still make fun of me ;-;
Hm. Sounds like you need to be more direct with these jackasses.
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My only real struggle in life is dealing with (yet) another trenchant comment by a jealous lesser intellect, work just keeps me hopping.
Aw don't sell yourself short supes. When it comes to lesser intellects, you're simply the best there is.
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In this topic: Folks complainin' about folks complainin' about life in the 'complain about life' topic.
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My only real struggle in life is dealing with (yet) another trenchant comment by a jealous lesser intellect, work just keeps me hopping.
Aw don't sell yourself short supes. When it comes to lesser intellects, you're simply the best there is.
God damn man that is an Oscar Wilde quality burn right there.
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My only real struggle in life is dealing with (yet) another trenchant comment by a jealous lesser intellect, work just keeps me hopping.
Aw don't sell yourself short supes. When it comes to lesser intellects, you're simply the best there is.
God damn man that is an Oscar Wilde quality burn right there.
Or just Caddyshack level... "Don't sell yourself short, Judge. You're a tremendous slouch."
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I liked ComicCon. I think I'll do it again next year. I just need to find some way to mainline caffeine and get a hotel room near the con hall...
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You can buy Caffeine to make your own pills/mix it in stuff.
The second thing is impossible.
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I am about to lose it and I haven't decided whether DLC will help with that or drive me over the edge.
Guess we'll find out next week!
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Ashley we both work in the city now and haven't even had lunch yet
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Looks like I'm going to move to Seattle next year? Dust in the wind baby.
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I am about to lose it and I haven't decided whether DLC will help with that or drive me over the edge.
Guess we'll find out next week!
Might I recommend developing an addiction? That's what I fall back to when I lose it, and it seems to be working for me so far.
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Oh damn, Laggy, I forgot you were up here now! Where in the city are you?
---
Seattle is awesome. That is all.
---
I'm not taking my favorite addiction-possible pill anymore, sadly, and I don't like alcohol. Hm.
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Turns out DLC didn't make me crazy. It also didn't make me not crazy. I did only have one massive breakdown (in private) during the con, so that's nice!
Unfortunately it feels like I am on the edge of that every day now. :I
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So snafu then.
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I'm not taking my favorite addiction-possible pill anymore, sadly, and I don't like alcohol. Hm.
I prescribe tea and vidjagames.
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2 hours of Shadow Hearts was quite distracting yesterday.
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Shadow Hearts is always a good time! I should play that again. It's been years.
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Turns out DLC didn't make me crazy. It also didn't make me not crazy. I did only have one massive breakdown (in private) during the con, so that's nice!
Unfortunately it feels like I am on the edge of that every day now. :I
Oh shit I was so busy being an ass I forgot I have like some legit advice. This is going to make me sound like the worst type of yuppie human garbage but whatever.
Have you ever considered taking up mindfulness meditation? I started doing it around January and my ability to deal with stressful situations and not be in crisis mode almost all the goddamn time has improved a lot since then.
There's a really good app I use called Headspace (http://www.headspace.com), that has guided meditation sessions lasting anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. I highly recommend it. A large part of it is developing mental tricks to help you step back, catch a breather, and not let yourself get swept up and overwhelmed when things get crazy.
The first 10 sessions are free, and if you're interested once you've completed that I have a coupon for three free months sitting around unused. Let me know if you're interested in that.
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Did you forget I live in the Bay Area? We invented yuppie. (Or nimby. Either way.)
Mindfulness is something I've had to learn through CBT because for some reason the doctors won't let you have meds unless you talk to someone for at least a little while. I've never (really) tried meditation. I will take a look! Thank you.
I hope it helps with paranoia because that shit isn't fun. Then again, neither is crushing depression. Or true mania. (That's a lie - it's only not fun after the fact, and for everyone else at all stages.)
Waking up to an earthquake that knocked a few things over did not calm that down in the least. I'm lucky it happened just before I was going to get up anyway. That much adrenaline does not let you go back to sleep easily.
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For both of you, try meditation about an hour and a half before you go to bed.
I never got much anxiety calming from meditation when I was experimenting with it, but what I did find is, if I did it close enough to when I was going to turn in for the night, I would lucid dream.
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I should follow all the "sleep hygiene" rules (e.g., no blue-light screens for an hour before bed, lower temperature, etc.) too. So much should.
I know I'm feeling more paranoid when I have more "spider dreams." That means I'm dreaming but it looks exactly like it did when I fell asleep, except now something -- often a spider, hence the name -- coming right for my face. Lately it has been formless black things. I jump out of bed and curse, which Andrew is so familiar with he just says from downstairs in between crazy clicks for LoL, "It was a dream, go back to bed."
Does it count as hallucinations if it looks like real life but is a dream?
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I get those as a side effect of having narcolepsy, but they never jump directly at me.
But yeah, sleep/wake hallucinations are their own thing, distinct from waking ones. Ever have a study done?
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What kind of study? I could probably find one at Stanford, they always seem to be running them.
I tried one for specific diagnosis I already have, but they told me I wasn't sick enough to be interesting. The other I tried involved a lot of blood. Mostly I remember fainting because the nurse sucked at getting the port in.
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Which current diagnosis? (Can be PMed if not common knowledge. Can also be answered with "None of your beeswax")
I meant a Sleep study, though. Hook you up to a bunch of monitors and watch what your body does when you try to sleep.
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Image insertion test. As I don't know how to add images into posts as of yet.
Well, that kind of worked. How do I add an image from my computer into the post though?
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You host the image on an uploader site and link it between the [img] html tags.
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Moving has happened. We are now homeowners and residents of sunny(unfortunately, but we have AC so we'll deal) San Leandro.
Living with the in-laws is no longer a thing that is happening.
Exhausted from moving hell right now though.
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Moving has happened. We are now homeowners and residents of sunny(unfortunately, but we have AC so we'll deal) San Leandro.
Living with the in-laws is no longer a thing that is happening.
Exhausted from moving hell right now though.
Congrats!
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First real typhoon. I now understand why everyone freaks out when there's even a possibility of one blowing through the city. Shit was intense. Would still be nice if the administrators in this town took other natural disasters as seriously (the flood back in June was worse in terms of damage), but whatever.
Minor rain damage to my roof but otherwise all clear. Surprised my bike didn't blow away.
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Great news all around, Gate, Zenny. You both survived living with an ongoing destructive force blowing a bunch of air at you.
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Great news all around, Gate, Zenny. You both survived living with an ongoing destructive force blowing a bunch of air at you.
I did not mean to set that up but I am glad that I did.
Also yes congrats on moving out from the inlaws, Gate. Also, homeownership! You have land. Congratulations.
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Typhoons can be seriously fucking scary, glad you came through in one piece man.
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It ended up pretty tame in Nagoya. Just dumped a bunch of water on us all day and made the trains run slow. Inconvenient!
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VSM: I lol'd.
I believe the quote goes something like "three moves equals one fire." So much stuff we can't find that we KNOW we packed. Like, the power cord for one of the monitors(why wasn't it with the monitor!?), the HDMI cables for the PS3(WHY WASN'T IT WITH THE PS3!?) and, of all things, the shelves to our small black bookcase. How *shelves* get lost, I will never know. That one I blame on the movers since they handled all the furniture type things. Oh well, we'll make due.
The neighborhood is...well, odd. It's run down and in disrepair, but not sketchy, if that makes any sense. Starting the process of checking out the local food offerings. Bunch of taquerias in throwing distance, as well as some mexican bakeries/grocery stores and even an ice cream parlor...all of which have exactly 0 english on the menus. That's how hispanic the neighborhood is. Still, the food we've tried has all been acceptable or better so far, which is nice. Best place so far has been this cruddy looking hole in the wall burger place with a sign proclaiming it to be "Best Burgers". The sign may be partially broken(about half the letters no longer light up), but it's not joking. Best burgers I've had on this coast outside of The Counter.
Still, even with the house being a giant mess of boxes, getting to know a new area and generally being in that post-move exhaustion...stress levels down like 80%. Whee~
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Had my wisdom teeth removed, which I guess is a weird thing to do for someone nearing his 30s. I think they were in for a while, but it is only now hurting. They were growing in 90 degrees, which was a bummer. The pain was really killer, with a toothache but what was worse was this pounding headache on the same side (lower left) for a few weeks. It was a 12 day wait from my consultation to the actual surgery, which sucked, but they're out now. It was really debilitating and killing my sleep schedule, so I hope that I'll be back to work and feeling myself again. Tooth pain is weirdly outsized when it comes to pain receptors compared to other parts of the body, and learning that firsthand really sucked.
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It's weird, but not too uncommon, my late Grandfather had his out in his sixties? maybe even 70s. They become a problem when they become a problem.
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Gourry": I had mine out last year and I'm older than you are. The novicane didn't work so I felt way too much of the process. It -still- was a relief to get them out.
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Mine was just an IV anesthetic. I didn't make me feel particularly out of it, but they did their job during the surgery. I actually was a little disappointed that they didn't have the amnesic effect on me, but maybe that's a good thing in the long run. I'm on painkillers now and those aren't making me too loopy either. I had never had anesthesia before so there was a little bit of anxiety as to how it would affect me but nothing major. I'm just glad to have them out, although my jaw now feels kind of sore.
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Avoid Imperial shrimp.
I reacted badly to the anesthesia and was really sick for a week. About four days in, I thought I was good to go to a movie with friends. We stopped for Chinese on the way. Someone ordered Imperial shrimp.
Water and Jell-o look gross on the way out, too.
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I got one side out a couple years ago, since mine came in alright but a cavity necessitated one side being taken out. Got the IV night-night zonk out juice, so I blinked and it was over with no complications. Lived off those liquid meal replacement drinks for a couple days. Was able to stop using the painkillers I was prescribed after like, 3 and back to eating normally in 4-5.
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Woke up today and the first thing I thought was "god damn I need painkillers." It should get better but if not, welcome to a new and exciting chapter of my life as an addict!
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Woke up today and the first thing I thought was "god damn I need painkillers." It should get better but if not, welcome to a new and exciting chapter of my life as an addict!
Pound into your head NOW that you don't need painkillers. You KNOW this shit is addictive and IT IS BAD FOR YOU SO YOU SHOULDN'T GET WRAPPED UP IN IT.
That's at least how I've kept myself off of MMOs and cigarettes (and Cocaine! Kinda!) despite... well, it's not like I don't wear my problems on my sleeve.
It may not help, but it's worth a shot.
If you do get addicted maybe we can get t-shirts??!??
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Man, knowing it's bad for me was one of the perks that got me into cigarettes in the first place.
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Mostly kidding, but the pain was really bad this morning.
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Man, knowing it's bad for me was one of the perks that got me into cigarettes in the first place.
Yeah it really goes one way or the other with no rhyme or reason for it
Mostly kidding, but the pain was really bad this morning.
if you can still make jokes you're not on enough opiates
EDIT: maybe thinking of "if you can still go to the bathroom you're not on enough opiates"
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The painpills you get from the dentist are garbage and aren't worth the 5 dollar copay. Percoets did absolutely nothing.
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Eh? Percocet? My dentist prescribed me Vicodin. Granted, #Florida.
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I have begun the dance with recruiters again, having shaken off the absolute worst interview I've ever had bar none. I now remember how much looking for jobs sucks. I am glad I currently have a job so I can be amused by it rather than terrified.
One of the recruiters I'm speaking to on the phone sounds absolutely stoned out of his mind. He does have a fair number of contacts, though, and runs (and has run) his own international agency, so he must be doing something right.
One of the recruiters I met with today is easily distracted. We spent about 20 minutes of our hour talking about motorcycles and planes. I drank $9 tea. It tasted like regular boxed tea.
Also I started reading Infinite Jest.
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Eh? Percocet? My dentist prescribed me Vicodin. Granted, #Florida.
Vicodins don't do anything besides keep me awake. My metabolism's always been screwy, even codeine as a kid would keep me up all night.
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Eh? Percocet? My dentist prescribed me Vicodin. Granted, #Florida.
Vicodins don't do anything besides keep me awake. My metabolism's always been screwy, even codeine as a kid would keep me up all night.
And I suppose Sodium Pentothol would make you recite poetry...
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Hush that up man. Aiel poetry is the song that ends the world, don't be tellin' everyone how to make it.
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puppy
(http://i.imgur.com/1OSOtF9l.jpg)
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Good puppy. <3
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Puppy! :D
--
In less fun news, I managed to injure myself. I have been so good at not injuring myself for most of my life, despite many stupid things that should have resulted in at least a good maiming. I broke my collar bone when I was 14. I've done soccer, ultimate frisbee, and fencing. I used to be able to run 5Ks. I am strong, even now.
But that's the thing, see. "Even now." I weigh the most I ever have and I haven't been doing exercise-like things since last year.
So I joined a gym. It's very close to my place, like a 3 minute walk, so it seems like a really good deal and an excellent way for me to overcome my aversion to wasting 30 minutes getting to and returning from the gym. To sweeten the deal they even threw in 1 hour of personal training! I went to that personal training yesterday. It was half evaluation, half exercise. So after the evaluation and expected chiding for the state of my life, we headed up to the weight room.
"25 jumping jacks to warm up!"
Okay, jumping jacks are easy. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eigh -POP.
Doc today said I most likely just strained a ligament and it should be fine with the good old RICE method for the next 1-2 weeks. "Avoid stairs," he says. Hahahah. You cannot even enter or leave my apartment without a flight of stairs. I can't get to the bedroom or bathroom without going upstairs. So it looks like I'm going to be on the 2 weeks side of the equation.
So yeah. I injured myself doing jumping jacks. Let this be a lesson not to become a fatass, or that if you do you just become comfortable with it because exercise will kill you.
--
Also, I cut my hair short, bleached it, and dyed it bright purple. That was before the injury so I can also conclude dyeing hair causes knee failure.
-
Got a facebook message from my parents this morning before work that my Dad has colon cancer. I do not know how to process this so I don't think I'm going to.
I hope the work day goes by fast.
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I am probably not doing anything this weekend if you want me to swear at you and talk about our dicks.
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Late, since I didn't see the topic around, but I'm always around on Skype/Steam if you ever want to shoot the shit, man.
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The good from this weekend: Start of NFL season, getting to play with niece, hanging with Pyro.
The bad: 950 dollar car repair bill. The technical term for the Jeep's brakes was 'fucked', so I had too get em fixed.
The ugly: Realizing that I left my Bujold books back in Fairfax. Whoops!
Also holy crap Zenny, that's rough.
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I miss you guys.
Also I wake up to the sound of porcelain this morning. I go and see my cats have destroyed something. So as im walking to see what it is they broke, I step in something squishy.
And then the smell hit me.
One had left a nice pile of shit on the rug. The whole gob of poo is literally sticking to my foot.
They both creep around the corner, fistbump each other and scamper off.
I've been set up!
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Sorry to hear Zenny.
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I miss you guys.
Also I wake up to the sound of porcelain this morning. I go and see my cats have destroyed something. So as im walking to see what it is they broke, I step in something squishy.
And then the smell hit me.
One had left a nice pile of shit on the rug. The whole gob of poo is literally sticking to my foot.
They both creep around the corner, fistbump each other and scamper off.
I've been set up!
If your boxes are clean, get them to the vet. Cats almost never shit in the open unless there's a problem.
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I miss you guys.
Also I wake up to the sound of porcelain this morning. I go and see my cats have destroyed something. So as im walking to see what it is they broke, I step in something squishy.
And then the smell hit me.
One had left a nice pile of shit on the rug. The whole gob of poo is literally sticking to my foot.
They both creep around the corner, fistbump each other and scamper off.
I've been set up!
If your boxes are clean, get them to the vet. Cats almost never shit in the open unless there's a problem.
Cats will shit and piss in places they know you'll hate if they're upset with you. So if anything has changed at home, even the smallest of things, they might just hate you and want you to suffer. If there's been no changes then hell yeah go see a vet they might be shitting from pain.
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I miss you guys.
Also I wake up to the sound of porcelain this morning. I go and see my cats have destroyed something. So as im walking to see what it is they broke, I step in something squishy.
And then the smell hit me.
One had left a nice pile of shit on the rug. The whole gob of poo is literally sticking to my foot.
They both creep around the corner, fistbump each other and scamper off.
I've been set up!
If your boxes are clean, get them to the vet. Cats almost never shit in the open unless there's a problem.
Cats will shit and piss in places they know you'll hate if they're upset with you. So if anything has changed at home, even the smallest of things, they might just hate you and want you to suffer. If there's been no changes then hell yeah go see a vet they might be shitting from pain.
This basically. I'd err on taking them to the vet anyway personally, since if they were mad or upset they'd usually find something that is symbolically yours, like your clothes or a work bag, and ruin that. Shitting in the middle of the floor sounds like an issue for the vet.
---
Thanks for the concern people. After this weekend I've settled on cautious optimism since we don't even know how early it was caught, survival chances, etc., and wont know until after the biopsy and perhaps after surgery. The not knowing is the worst part, really. But in light of not knowing anything me and the rest of the family are trying to just keep keepin on until we know more.
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Final Fantasy Like The Deserts Miss The Autobattle - New dungeon update, boys and girls! Seemingly, we'll have Vivi and Refia Memory Crystals this time around. Basically, for all you people who missed Vivi's MC all the way back in May, now you get to unlock his RMs.
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This is no longer a game. FFRK is now Snow's life.
Thanks for the concern people. After this weekend I've settled on cautious optimism since we don't even know how early it was caught, survival chances, etc., and wont know until after the biopsy and perhaps after surgery. The not knowing is the worst part, really. But in light of not knowing anything me and the rest of the family are trying to just keep keepin on until we know more.
I've been there with a parent having cancer, and the initial uncertainty fucking sucks because no one knows what to do or they can do about it. If you want to talk it over, feel free to send a PM.
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This is no longer a game. FFRK is now Snow's life.
I posted here by accident, but considering I'm on vacation and the only trip I took is already over, this isn't far from the truth enough for me to change posts.
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CONTAINMENT WORKS
This is a shitty reddit joke that I doubt anyone else gives a fuck about/knows but it has to be made
Edit - Also no one is lamenting the real tragedy here.
Super fixed his breaks.
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CONTAINMENT WORKS
I did a laff.
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CONTAINMENT WORKS
This is a shitty reddit joke that I doubt anyone else gives a fuck about/knows but it has to be made
I feel slightly validated.
(Also, my condolences and best regards to Zenny. Hopefully things work out for your dad and your family, man.)
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So like I haven't had the energy to work out since getting the news about my dad and I can already feel my muscle gains deteriorating. This is the greatest tragedy about the whole thing. Ha ha ha ha ha. ha. Ha.
Bad news, we won't really know anything re: chances and stages and dice rolls except real life until Saturday US time. Good news, the surgeon seemed optimistic and thought he may be able to get it all in one go. I am clinging onto this news like a motherfucker.
I can see how people can lose themselves in their work. The best parts of my day have become teaching classes, even when it fucking sucks and everything goes wrong, because at least I'm focusing on anything else.
I let him read one of my short stories I wrote back in college the other day while drunk. I've never let anyone read them. Too personal, too much of myself invested in it. I would have been remiss if he hadn't gotten the chance to read one before he died.
Burning Man Japan starts in two days. I leave tomorrow. Was, and I guess still am really looking forward to this. I have a feeling I'm going to fucking wind up in some drunken hippy prayer circle crying like a bitch around strangers. Maybe it will be good for me.
Y'know honestly I thought I'd end up taking this out on you stupid assholes in IRC by screaming about things that didn't matter like I usually do when I'm in a bad mood. The fact that I'm not is the weirdest thing about this.
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Growing up does weird things to us.
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Zenny is a show-er not a grower. Different circumstances, different responses.
Work is a good coping mechanism sometimes. It lets you be normal and forces you to be social in most jobs.
Enjoy Burning Mang. Cry like and moan all you want. It just better be my name on your lips if it isn't gonna be anything else.
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Hey Zenny. Our family had a cancer situation this year and thankfully everything worked out fine. Hoping everything gets sorted out over there too.
Stay well.
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So since I finished graduate school I had been mostly poking around in the non-existent job market here (especially non-existent after the oil crash). I signed up to work for a tutoring company in April and it's generally been pretty shitty, with a boss who is utterly incompetent and completely disregards any sort of basic sensibility. First, I was hired and immediately not scheduled for three weeks, even though I was told he had 12 hours a week of work for me (I have never worked 12 hours in my entire time there). When I go to work I never know exactly when I will be working. For example, he sprang on me yesterday that he was tacking an extra hour onto my work, which I hadn't planned for. Great. Work has also been really inconsistent, and sometimes I will be called in to work for one hour! It cost me like half my pay to bus there and back. And he loves to blame things that are his fault on me, like letting students go on too long when I wasn't told how long students are scheduled for. The job is also about an hour of transit away. After my graduate school experience being godawful, I was starting to feel my faith in humanity, and specifically bosses, was pretty much into the negatives.
With that in mind, I decided to look for a job that would not directly conflict with the job I had, because I want the reference from the tutoring center for my teaching application even though it is pretty bad, so I applied to some retail stuff to mostly work mornings. After a few months I ended up getting hired at a Starbucks as primarily a morning worker. I really didn't know what to expect, but it's been so great so far. My boss is really nice and accommodating (and is even a geek girl), and all of my coworkers are super chill and friendly. It's largely situated in a neighborhood filled with old people, who are largely nice and enjoy interacting with young people. Also... so much free coffee.
I have been balancing the multiple jobs pretty well, although the days I work at both jobs can be pretty difficult. But yesterday, at my tutoring job, I was confronted by my boss, who said a parent had called and complained that his daughter didn't get all the answers right on her homework and that he wasn't impressed. Of course, at the tutoring center I have three students at once for an hour or so, so you allocate relatively smaller amounts of time to every student, so you can't really thoroughly check everyone's homework, and that essentially my job is to outline how to get to the right answer, not to do a student's homework. Which of course my boss is aware of. The format just doesn't work that well for a student who needs a lots of attention.
At this point I start to wonder if the job is really worth it, especially since I have a second job to fall back on. The extra income is obviously really nice, but the commute is really long and the job isn't very enjoyable (and doesn't pay so well that I would feel horrible quitting).
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I'd just settle for what you feel is best for your overall well-being. I honestly can't imagine you staying very long on that tutoring job if the conditions are that abysmal.
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At this point I start to wonder if the job is really worth it, especially since I have a second job to fall back on. The extra income is obviously really nice, but the commute is really long and the job isn't very enjoyable (and doesn't pay so well that I would feel horrible quitting).
Unless you have a really strong economic incentive to stay, leave. Take it from someone who knows a little something about horrible bosses: it's not worth the brain damage. It took me a long while after my last job to unpack the stress and negativity of it. Even though it was clear as day to me while I was there that it was a bad situation, it took not being in it anymore to fully appreciate how bad it was for me.
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Have you finished Lord of the Potters or whatever that fantasy crap you nerds like reading is called? Bus time = book time yo
also what jim said
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So since I finished graduate school I had been mostly poking around in the non-existent job market here (especially non-existent after the oil crash). I signed up to work for a tutoring company in April and it's generally been pretty shitty, with a boss who is utterly incompetent and completely disregards any sort of basic sensibility. First, I was hired and immediately not scheduled for three weeks, even though I was told he had 12 hours a week of work for me (I have never worked 12 hours in my entire time there). When I go to work I never know exactly when I will be working. For example, he sprang on me yesterday that he was tacking an extra hour onto my work, which I hadn't planned for. Great. Work has also been really inconsistent, and sometimes I will be called in to work for one hour! It cost me like half my pay to bus there and back. And he loves to blame things that are his fault on me, like letting students go on too long when I wasn't told how long students are scheduled for. The job is also about an hour of transit away. After my graduate school experience being godawful, I was starting to feel my faith in humanity, and specifically bosses, was pretty much into the negatives.
With that in mind, I decided to look for a job that would not directly conflict with the job I had, because I want the reference from the tutoring center for my teaching application even though it is pretty bad, so I applied to some retail stuff to mostly work mornings. After a few months I ended up getting hired at a Starbucks as primarily a morning worker. I really didn't know what to expect, but it's been so great so far. My boss is really nice and accommodating (and is even a geek girl), and all of my coworkers are super chill and friendly. It's largely situated in a neighborhood filled with old people, who are largely nice and enjoy interacting with young people. Also... so much free coffee.
I have been balancing the multiple jobs pretty well, although the days I work at both jobs can be pretty difficult. But yesterday, at my tutoring job, I was confronted by my boss, who said a parent had called and complained that his daughter didn't get all the answers right on her homework and that he wasn't impressed. Of course, at the tutoring center I have three students at once for an hour or so, so you allocate relatively smaller amounts of time to every student, so you can't really thoroughly check everyone's homework, and that essentially my job is to outline how to get to the right answer, not to do a student's homework. Which of course my boss is aware of. The format just doesn't work that well for a student who needs a lots of attention.
At this point I start to wonder if the job is really worth it, especially since I have a second job to fall back on. The extra income is obviously really nice, but the commute is really long and the job isn't very enjoyable (and doesn't pay so well that I would feel horrible quitting).
Quit. Quit now. Unless it is financially impractical for you to do so, please quit. The benefits to your resume for staying in a toxic environment do not outweigh the benefits, particularly if you are only getting a few hours a week.
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Got good news before Burning Japan, no metastasis and the surgeon thinks he can get it all in one. Surgery is happening as this post goes up. Hoping everything goes well and I'm not too hungover at work tomorrow.
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So since I finished graduate school I had been mostly poking around in the non-existent job market here (especially non-existent after the oil crash). I signed up to work for a tutoring company in April and it's generally been pretty shitty, with a boss who is utterly incompetent and completely disregards any sort of basic sensibility. First, I was hired and immediately not scheduled for three weeks, even though I was told he had 12 hours a week of work for me (I have never worked 12 hours in my entire time there). When I go to work I never know exactly when I will be working. For example, he sprang on me yesterday that he was tacking an extra hour onto my work, which I hadn't planned for. Great. Work has also been really inconsistent, and sometimes I will be called in to work for one hour! It cost me like half my pay to bus there and back. And he loves to blame things that are his fault on me, like letting students go on too long when I wasn't told how long students are scheduled for. The job is also about an hour of transit away. After my graduate school experience being godawful, I was starting to feel my faith in humanity, and specifically bosses, was pretty much into the negatives.
With that in mind, I decided to look for a job that would not directly conflict with the job I had, because I want the reference from the tutoring center for my teaching application even though it is pretty bad, so I applied to some retail stuff to mostly work mornings. After a few months I ended up getting hired at a Starbucks as primarily a morning worker. I really didn't know what to expect, but it's been so great so far. My boss is really nice and accommodating (and is even a geek girl), and all of my coworkers are super chill and friendly. It's largely situated in a neighborhood filled with old people, who are largely nice and enjoy interacting with young people. Also... so much free coffee.
I have been balancing the multiple jobs pretty well, although the days I work at both jobs can be pretty difficult. But yesterday, at my tutoring job, I was confronted by my boss, who said a parent had called and complained that his daughter didn't get all the answers right on her homework and that he wasn't impressed. Of course, at the tutoring center I have three students at once for an hour or so, so you allocate relatively smaller amounts of time to every student, so you can't really thoroughly check everyone's homework, and that essentially my job is to outline how to get to the right answer, not to do a student's homework. Which of course my boss is aware of. The format just doesn't work that well for a student who needs a lots of attention.
At this point I start to wonder if the job is really worth it, especially since I have a second job to fall back on. The extra income is obviously really nice, but the commute is really long and the job isn't very enjoyable (and doesn't pay so well that I would feel horrible quitting).
thank you for making me feel better about not doing grad school
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So since I finished graduate school I had been mostly poking around in the non-existent job market here (especially non-existent after the oil crash). I signed up to work for a tutoring company in April and it's generally been pretty shitty, with a boss who is utterly incompetent and completely disregards any sort of basic sensibility. First, I was hired and immediately not scheduled for three weeks, even though I was told he had 12 hours a week of work for me (I have never worked 12 hours in my entire time there). When I go to work I never know exactly when I will be working. For example, he sprang on me yesterday that he was tacking an extra hour onto my work, which I hadn't planned for. Great. Work has also been really inconsistent, and sometimes I will be called in to work for one hour! It cost me like half my pay to bus there and back. And he loves to blame things that are his fault on me, like letting students go on too long when I wasn't told how long students are scheduled for. The job is also about an hour of transit away. After my graduate school experience being godawful, I was starting to feel my faith in humanity, and specifically bosses, was pretty much into the negatives.
With that in mind, I decided to look for a job that would not directly conflict with the job I had, because I want the reference from the tutoring center for my teaching application even though it is pretty bad, so I applied to some retail stuff to mostly work mornings. After a few months I ended up getting hired at a Starbucks as primarily a morning worker. I really didn't know what to expect, but it's been so great so far. My boss is really nice and accommodating (and is even a geek girl), and all of my coworkers are super chill and friendly. It's largely situated in a neighborhood filled with old people, who are largely nice and enjoy interacting with young people. Also... so much free coffee.
I have been balancing the multiple jobs pretty well, although the days I work at both jobs can be pretty difficult. But yesterday, at my tutoring job, I was confronted by my boss, who said a parent had called and complained that his daughter didn't get all the answers right on her homework and that he wasn't impressed. Of course, at the tutoring center I have three students at once for an hour or so, so you allocate relatively smaller amounts of time to every student, so you can't really thoroughly check everyone's homework, and that essentially my job is to outline how to get to the right answer, not to do a student's homework. Which of course my boss is aware of. The format just doesn't work that well for a student who needs a lots of attention.
At this point I start to wonder if the job is really worth it, especially since I have a second job to fall back on. The extra income is obviously really nice, but the commute is really long and the job isn't very enjoyable (and doesn't pay so well that I would feel horrible quitting).
thank you for making me feel better about not doing grad school
:(
I'm actually enjoying grad school but probably won't enjoy the job market afterwards.
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I would generally not recommend it to anyone unless they genuinely love the subject (of course, I thought I did until I did graduate school). Of course, one of the limiting factors for me in terms of job hunting is that I'm not really interested in moving and I know if I moved things would be much better.
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Quit now. Life's too short to work at a job you detest.
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Got good news before Burning Japan, no metastasis and the surgeon thinks he can get it all in one. Surgery is happening as this post goes up. Hoping everything goes well and I'm not too hungover at work tomorrow.
Glad to hear it. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
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Definitely! Sending my best wishes to your dad and your family.
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I have recently moved into a new apartment and am finally living on my own. Turning a 1 hour commute into 10-15 minutes a day makes a huge difference in, well, everything. On top of just adding that much more time to the day, the effects it has on me psychologically cannot be emphasized enough. Knowing I only have to drive 15 minutes to get home instead of an hour? Well suddenly working later an extra hour doesn't seem so bad, nor do I have worry about beating traffic since it's mostly local roads home.
So yeah, life is looking good at the moment!
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Got good news before Burning Japan, no metastasis and the surgeon thinks he can get it all in one. Surgery is happening as this post goes up. Hoping everything goes well and I'm not too hungover at work tomorrow.
That's good news, Zenny. Hope everything goes well with your dad as well.
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So in Japan, I've been living in a pretty small little apartment that has been pretty great for just me, but after a year and a half, I'm noticing the limitations such a small space has for social endeavors.
But that's all changing, as I found a place that's twice the size and cheaper AND closer to the city center. Score! Party in Nagoya, guys!
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I have recently moved into a new apartment and am finally living on my own. Turning a 1 hour commute into 10-15 minutes a day makes a huge difference in, well, everything. On top of just adding that much more time to the day, the effects it has on me psychologically cannot be emphasized enough. Knowing I only have to drive 15 minutes to get home instead of an hour? Well suddenly working later an extra hour doesn't seem so bad, nor do I have worry about beating traffic since it's mostly local roads home.
So yeah, life is looking good at the moment!
Congrats! That makes such a huge difference.
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So I've had a headache that has lasted for about six weeks now. It came at the same time as the toothache pain and so I thought the wisdom teeth was a part of the problem, but the headache has persisted past the surgery. I saw my surgeon and they say that the sites are healing and that it's not that, so I saw a doctor and it has been a lot of back and forth with me waiting around to be seen. It could be a sinus thing, but I've been taking antibiotics for that and they're not helping, and I had a CT scan done and nothing structural is going on, eliminating something scary like brain cancer (phew). I'm seeing a neurologist next week and it's kind of weird because I don't know what this could be. They've brought up allergies but I've never had a rough time with them and the CT didn't find any issues with the sinuses. It may also be some kind of vascular thing. I'm not sure what they're going to find, but it's been really rough trying to work or do almost anything that requires concentrating while you have a headache that lasts this long. It's not even necessarily that painful, but the bad thing is that it's always there and will not abate. I've been taking ibuprofen but taking that for this long cannot be good for you.
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TODAY I LEARNED:
It is possible to plug in and turn on an appliance and electrocute your feet through the floor.
TOMORROW I WILL LEARN:
The advantages of having a friend who is a certified electrician that will work on your house in exchange for food and watching his kids.
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Turns out it's just wired stupid and I can fix it myself with the breaker switched off. Also, I didn't shock my foot so much as I shocked my ENTIRE BODY and GROUNDED it out my foot, so that's cool, I guess. In the sense that I didn't die.
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JFC VSM don't kill yourself.
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Did you get superpowers? I'm told that these kinds of events usually lead to superpowers. You should test if you can fly or stop moving cars or something.
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Stop trying to get VSM killed, dammit.
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I'm going to Tokyo for a week in mid-October.
I am strangely nonplussed by this. On the one hand, I found out about this before my probationary period was over. Guess that means they're not firing me? On the other hand, I literally got the email about that trip during a phone call interview with a recruiter. Plus there's the whole hating everyone here thing going on.
So I'm not that excited for the trip despite how cool it is to get to go to Japan for the first time on the company dime. Maybe when it gets closer.
Finding this out necessitated finding my passport. I didn't. I was incredibly lucky that "passport day" (when they let anyone come into a passport agency and apply) was Saturday. Turns out expedite with a pick-up means you can apply on Saturday and pick up Tuesday afternoon. Who knew government could be so speedy?
Unfortunately, I am stuck with a godawful photo for the next ten years. My hair is still purple (more pink now) and my brown roots are growing out. Oh well.
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I stand for "acknowledge whatever emotions are there without judgement."
Spending 40-50 hours a week with people I don't like for 6 months or more is too high a price for a week somewhere cool, all expenses paid. Just my thoughts. Being in a similar situation would suck out any enthusiasm I might have.
For something totally unrelated, I have several cosplay ideas yet for now, I don't feel called to act on any of them.
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I'm going to Tokyo for a week in mid-October.
So I'm not that excited for the trip despite how cool it is to get to go to Japan for the first time on the company dime. Maybe when it gets closer.
Hey! I'll be in Tokyo myself during the weekend of the 10th/11th/12th (it's a holiday). Does that coincide with your trip?
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My grandmother is (mostly likely) dying.
Yesterday, my brother sent me a message saying that she choked and almost died and her heart stopped four times yesterday. She's been in the hospital for eight weeks over a surgery that the recovery time was supposed to be about three. About two weeks in, she choked on something and her lungs haven't really been working right since.
As I'm sure a great deal of you know, my relationship with my grandmother is very complicated and it's hard to say exactly how I am feeling right now. I've been mostly thinking about all the happy times we spent together, which makes me pretty damn depressed. I have to go to work in an hour, so I'm just going to try to swallow all my sadness for a while, but we'll see.
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My grandmother is (mostly likely) dying.
Yesterday, my brother sent me a message saying that she choked and almost died and her heart stopped four times yesterday. She's been in the hospital for eight weeks over a surgery that the recovery time was supposed to be about three. About two weeks in, she choked on something and her lungs haven't really been working right since.
As I'm sure a great deal of you know, my relationship with my grandmother is very complicated and it's hard to say exactly how I am feeling right now. I've been mostly thinking about all the happy times we spent together, which makes me pretty damn depressed. I have to go to work in an hour, so I'm just going to try to swallow all my sadness for a while, but we'll see.
Sorry to hear it. Throwing yourself into work is a nice distraction at least.
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Yes, good or bad there was a relationship there that looks like it is going to change somehow. Deal with your response however you can, whatever works is the right way of processing those emotions.
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Damn haven't read this in ages. Sorry for all of you. Gourry any update?
In about 15 days I'll be getting my 7th apartment in 3 years. This lack of stability in housing is cool. I throw away /give all my stuff and have less and less items to move around everytime, and it feels better every time. I was the opposite about 3 years ago.
I'm already totally in love with one of my future roommates. This will be weird.
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I'm going to Tokyo for a week in mid-October.
So I'm not that excited for the trip despite how cool it is to get to go to Japan for the first time on the company dime. Maybe when it gets closer.
Hey! I'll be in Tokyo myself during the weekend of the 10th/11th/12th (it's a holiday). Does that coincide with your trip?
Alas, no. 17-25.
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Sorry to hear, Ciato. Complicated situation, complicated feelings. Ditto Grefter.
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Yeah, so I went to the neurologist and nothing structurally is wrong. I got prescribed some antidepressants (uh) that apparently are a common treatment for recurring tension headaches. It's a little frustrating because it seems to be treating a symptom and not the cause but no one really knows what the cause is. I'm generally a pretty happy person but this medication comes with mood swings (which I have not had so far), sleeping problems (the doctor told me to take it an hour before going to sleep, but I had insomnia for like five hours after taking it so I am just reacting differently to it), and one of the side effects is headaches! It hasn't really helped with the headaches and it's fucked up my sleep schedule so that is great. It's supposed to take about a week to start working but I'm a bit worried about any side effects, especially ones affecting behavior.
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Do you wear glasses? Consider getting your eyes/glasses checked. Vision being off just a little bit, but not too much, will cause strain and headaches.
Is your base doctor an MD or DO? a DO can give you an adjustment like a Chiropractor. If you've got a misaligned disk in your neck, that could also cause tension headaches.
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Now you know why you have headaches though. It is your meds bro.
Work is stupid in new interesting ways every day.
Also had another discussion with people I have known for ages that act confused at first when I casually mention struggling a bit with depression. Weird because it was in reference to a list of common signs of depression and it is like... Yes that is literally a check list of things you see me do and say every week. Things I forget are apparently secrets because I broadcast them every day...
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jesus Gourry, hope it's temporary
I feel slightly worse about all the things I did when I played Big Pharma
Gref, don't forget that friends are living with their own mountains of problems and don't think about friends that much
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Fen those people you killed for profit in Big Pharma are just data. Toby Fox is getting to you.
So far, this medication doesn't do anything for the headaches I already have but it has slightly decreased the frequency of them (I don't have a particularly strong one now for instance). On Monday, I had probably the worst headache I've ever had in my life, so I probably need to supplement this with ibuprofen or something when it gets that bad. I may look into a chiropractor or a massage (which I usually hate getting). I had my eyes checked two years ago with no change in prescription (which is weird because I am looking a a screen for most of the day in grad school). It may be worth getting checked again.
I've started taking the medication about five hours before going to bed, but it is not a particularly restful sleep. My brother, who is a doctor, says that it may take 2 weeks for it to be effective. I've had no moodswings, which is good.
Maybe I'll have to placebo effect my way into feeling better. I've always wondered whether knowledge of the placebo effect lowers the efficacy of the placebo effect.
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Greetings everyone!
So I popped in once about 2 years ago, said hey, and promptly disappeared. Such was life, courtesy of the U.S. Air Force...let's see if I can do better this time!
A quick recap of the last...oh...seven or so years (I think I popped smoke around the summer of '08? Time flies.):
Graduated law school in May '08 and took the bar that July. In that time period, I was conditionally accepted in the U.S. Air Force JAG Corps (pending bar results and a medical exam). After taking the bar is about when I disappeared and moved back to Illinois to wait out the inprocessing. Bar results came out in Oct '08 (I passed, yay) and the Air Force was able to schedule my physical exam in...Feburary '09. Took the physical, then went back to the waiting game. Started doing construction work in March '09 to keep from going insane, and in June finally recieved word that my Officer Training date would be in August.
Attended Commissioned Officer Training in August...in central Alabama :( (it was...sad...really, mostly a "here's how you wear your uniform and salute and not look like a clown" for lawyers and docs). First assignment was to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio. Got to Ohio in September, then went back to Alabama for lawyer-specific training until December. I spent the next two years living near Dayton, Ohio. Most of the legal work I did involved addressing government ethics, client services and legal assistance (e.g. wills and powers of attorney for military members along with legal advice regarding areas like divorce or consumer affairs), and military personnel law (stuff like discharges for bad behavior). Also got to try a few criminal cases (a coke user, a pot brownie eater, and some white-collar fraud). During this time I also pretty much stopped with the video games and picked up board games instead; let's face it, board games look more awesome on a shelf!
Around June of '11, my supervisor gave me the "good" news that she had two really great opportunies, and I could choose one. I could either spend a year in Afghanistan doing government contract work, or I could spend a year in Afghanistan doing general legal practice work (and if I choose neither, I was still hot to deploy and would go to Afghanistan anyways and without any input into the office I'd end up in). I chose the government contract option (turned out to be the perfect choice, I'd later find out!). I spent the next 6 months training up, capped by a two week expeditionary course at Fort Dix-MacGuire, New Jersey...in early January :(
I started my deployment to United States Force-Afghanistan in late January '12. Since mine was a year-long billet (most were 6 months), my duties evolved from contracts and fiscal law to...just about everything, since I had the continuity. All said, I got to spend time in Doha, Qatar; Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan; and Kabul, Afghanistan (twice!). Oh, and a two week paid vacation to Australia courtesy of the Army (awesome!) for spending a year in the suck. In about December '12, I found out I wouldn't be returning to Ohio; rather, I was being assigned to Ramstein Air Base, Germany as a "reward" for deploying.
Finished up my time in the Middle East, returned to the states for two weeks to outprocess, then flew to Germany in Feb '13. Ramstein is anything but a reward. Living in Europe was fantastic, but the workload is crushing (take 18 year olds away from home for the first time, who are legally allowed to drink copious amounts of cheap wine and beer, and you have a recipe for disaster). Legal work there started with doing discharges, and later working as the General Law division chief when our GS-14 senior civilian attorney quit. At least I had the chance to visit parts of Germany, France, Austria, Hungary, Poland, and the U.K.!
Ended up deciding to separate from the Air Force in the later summer of '14. I had been holding out for a chance at being selected to go back to school for an LLM in International Law, but they decided to instead give that school slot to someone who never deployed, had never been overseas, and had never worked with another government agency (let alone a foreign agency). That was all the incentive I had to get out. Finished out my service in October. For one last hurrah, I stayed in Europe and went to Athens, Greece in November and ran the 'original' Athens Marathon (from Marathon to Athens).
From December '14 until about May '15 was spent doing the job search (grad school courtesy the G.I. Bill was also on the table, if the job search had failed). Initially, I had good prospects for a GS-14 attorney position with the Federal Transit Authority in Chicago, IL, but that didn't pan out when they indicated they wanted the attorney to also have environmental litigation experience (would have been nice to have known that before they called me in for the second-round interview!). In May, I went to our family vacation home in Door County, WI to work as the night manager for a local hotel. Finally, in June the U.S. Army called about a position at White Sands Missile Range, NM I had applied to in February and interviewed for in May. The position I applied to was for client services, but they also had an unexpected opening for a contracts attorney position they needed to fill and I had the requisite contracts experience for it (yay for that time doing contracts in Afghanistan!). I accepted that job offer and was given a start date of 13 July 2015.
So, in July I moved to Las Cruces (back to my old stomping grounds of NM!) and started a GS-13 (roughly equivalent to a senior associate attorney or junior partner position at a law firm) contracts attorney position. Did some house hunting and just closed on a nice home that was intended to be a vacation home, but was never actually used. Perfect. So here I am today.
That should about catch me up on 7 years of absenteeism!
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That sounds really awesome. Glad you got a pretty good law job and that you have enjoyed things.
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That is a whole lot of suck, and I'm really sorry things have been going so poorly for y'all. :( (Well, except InfinityDragon. Congrats!)
I suppose things have actually been happening in my life, too.
Around the start of September I was scheduled to fill in for my boss after a bunch of hostile takeover shit and crazy OT hours and new stores and a metric shitload of new hires left the management deciding they wanted to have their yearly conference early... because reasons...
While there, there was a mandatory dance, wherein they hired a bunch of professional dancers to encourage people to dance. While dancing, one of them kicked her right in the back of her leg, and fully ruptured her achilles tendon. She continued to walk around as per normal for the next 36 hours and wait until she was back home before going to the hospital, and... well... let's just say she showed up briefly once to make the new September schedule and hasn't been back in the store since. As such, my 1-week pseudo-manager status went to until-further-notice Acting Manager status, and I've been running the store since the start of September.
They have finally decided to get a temporary manager to fill the role, effective next week, but I'm going to get proper training on how to be an Assistant Manager since my store is almost guaranteed to earn enough before the end of the year to get one, and I am (unless something really weird happens) first in line to fill the position! So I am likely to be an official Assistant Store Manager by my birthday in February! Which is exciting!
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ID: grats on having a job and a house. While you were gone I graduated law school (class of 2012) passed the bar (NY and MA) had a job for a year with a horrifically unprofessional solo practitioner in Long Island, then started working for a federal tax credit syndicator in Boston, learning from lawyers who actually know what they are doing. Anyway I truly appreciated your words of encouragement back when I was about to enter law school - coincidentally about the last time you were on the boards - so I thought I'd let you know I made it.
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Mom's moving back to my hometown next year. I'll be living entirely on my own for the first time in my life.
I don't know what the hell to say.
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My response is, you're in you're late 20s and you still lived with your mom?
The independence will be nice. Enjoy it.
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NotMiki: Good work getting through law school and the bar exams. Unfortunately bad bosses are everywhere...they just happen to be worse when in an already higher-stress occupation (I am firmly convinced that my boss for the last 6 months of my tour to Afghanistan suffered from disassociative identity disorder and had damage to his temporal lobe, leaving only the ability to swear and speak in tongues). What type of tax work do you get to work on? Purely personal income tax, or do you get to dabble in partnership and corporate tax areas as well? I loved tax law...probably because it was almost entirely rules driven and not patchwork random judicial opinions.
Seconding the "independence is nice" for Snow. Just make sure you learn some life skills (like....laundry!) first! I say that half jokingly: after seeing countless people away from home for the first time living in a clueless manner, you can no longer assume people just know basic skills like laundering their clothes, or taking trash out of the home into a trash bin. Yeah. You don't want to be that guy.
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Hey dude, glad you are still doing well. Welcome back.
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I loved tax law...probably because it was almost entirely rules driven and not patchwork random judicial opinions.
But don't you want to be on the cutting edge of civil law?!?!!?! (I work in a clerk's office now, sooo.) I remember you loathed tort in law school, so not surprised you have that opinion now.
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My response is, you're in you're late 20s and you still lived with your mom?
The independence will be nice. Enjoy it.
Since graduation, sharing bills and supporting her in household economy since I entered the workforce. Also caring for her to a degree as well. it's just sorta weird.
Also, housekeeping basics aren't a problem, college taught me enough. I haven't been living in my parents' basement, after all.
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What type of tax work do you get to work on? Purely personal income tax, or do you get to dabble in partnership and corporate tax areas as well? I loved tax law...probably because it was almost entirely rules driven and not patchwork random judicial opinions.
Partnership tax, but I'm still a total dunce at it. What I mostly do is commercial real estate work - drafting operating agreements, doing due diligence on construction contracts, loan agreements, title and survey, etc.
Also, regrettably, our area of tax is quite ambiguous at the moment. Federal historic rehabilitation tax credits, which are our main business, are mostly about shoehorning deals into a safe harbor the IRS came up with last year (following a court case that nearly killed the industry). It is...well, it's nice that mostly we grapple with the meaning of a single revenue procedure, but that procedure is not a masterpiece of careful drafting, so we're dealing with a lot of uncertainty. The whole federal rehabilitation tax credit industry is.
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My response is, you're in you're late 20s and you still lived with your mom?
The independence will be nice. Enjoy it.
Since graduation, sharing bills and supporting her in household economy since I entered the workforce. Also caring for her to a degree as well. it's just sorta weird.
Also, housekeeping basics aren't a problem, college taught me enough. I haven't been living in my parents' basement, after all.
Isn't this much more common in Brazil, anyhow? I know it is for a lot of South America.
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It is pretty common, especially in arrangements like mine. In practice, mom's closer to a roommate than anything else. I pay half the bills at home and help her with chores. Her moving means a tighter budget, but that I can manage.
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Yeah, from what I understand, America is fucking weird for kicking its kids out at 18 in a lot of cases, and much of South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia think we're crazy and mean spirited, which, culturally, we are!
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I don't think there's that much kicking out. Most kids -want- to leave at 18. I certainly wanted to. I mean, my parents and I have a great relationship, but I wanted to get my own place as soon as I was able. Didn't happen until 20, but still.
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I didn't move out until I was 25. Granted, waiting until I'd paid off my car and student loan was probably the responsible decision.
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I'd say that there's a definite stigma about living with your parents after high school in the States, which I get the impression isn't really a thing in some places. So while it's actually rare for folks to kick their kids out, there's a general sense that they should and those who don't are being too soft on them, despite this being the majority (and only growing what with there being fewer and fewer middle class-type jobs since the late 80s or so.)
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True, it's very much a cultural thing. The majority of Japanese college students and even 20-something adults I know live with their parents. I asked this one girl why she was still living with her parents at 27, and her response was basically, "Why wouldn't I be?"
This is one thing I'm pretty sure Americans get right though, although yes it is the much more expensive lifestyle if you don't have roommates. But I'd much rather live with friends than I would with parents? I mean, depending on the friends.
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Western Europe is similar to America about this. I startef living on my own at 17.
In France we have a pretty well known movie called Tanguy about a guy who still lives with his parents at 27 , perfectly happy, and his parents finding him incredibly obnoxious and wanting him out, but feeling ashamed about the whole thing. It's great.
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True, it's very much a cultural thing. The majority of Japanese college students and even 20-something adults I know live with their parents. I asked this one girl why she was still living with her parents at 27, and her response was basically, "Why wouldn't I be?"
This is one thing I'm pretty sure Americans get right though, although yes it is the much more expensive lifestyle if you don't have roommates. But I'd much rather live with friends than I would with parents? I mean, depending on the friends.
I think we got it right to a degree. It's good because being away from your parents makes it a lot easier to actually become a functioning adult. It's causes a more global failure in that it can be incredibly wasteful and you lose a lot of benefits of community living (because you don't live with friends by the time that community living tends to reap the best rewards). I suspect that dwindling resources in the future could prompt a change in U.S. culture at some point in the future.
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Phone goes off. Look at the caller ID and assume it's that telemarketing machine that been repeatedly stalking me. Activate kill mode.
Turns out it's someone I know and consider a friend. Oh #^$#&!. This will be messy to clean up. Will start with apologizing and go from there.
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I think we got it right to a degree. It's good because being away from your parents makes it a lot easier to actually become a functioning adult. It's causes a more global failure in that it can be incredibly wasteful and you lose a lot of benefits of community living (because you don't live with friends by the time that community living tends to reap the best rewards). I suspect that dwindling resources in the future could prompt a change in U.S. culture at some point in the future.
More or less 100% my own sentiments/predictions, give-or-take. If you CAN move out, that's great. Forcing yourself when you probably can't is a great way to live in debt forever.
~~~~
SPEAKING of debt forever, I won the major part of my Unemployment appeal, and, I'm PRETTY sure I'm going to get about four thousand dollars in the near future. (How many times have I said that during this process?)
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Wait what? You've been in an unemployment lawsuit?
EDIT: Blow all 4K on FFRK pulls. Show Magetastic who is boss
EDIT: Or was it Magic Fanatic? Pretend I said the correct person with the same goddamn name.
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4k would equal uh 139 11-pulls. Which does put in perspective how overpriced they are. Dear god, FFRK is so evil.
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Yup. I'll be honest, I was tempted to do one paid 11-pull from the SSB fest a few weeks ago. Then I saw that it was 3000 yen and reaffirmed my vow that those fuckers won't get any of my money even though I've grown quite fond of the game (in spite of its evil, evil predatory practices)
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[size=10000000000000000pt]. . .[/size]
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Grown Ups 2 cost 80 millions to make.
4k is only 1/20 000ths of that, so you can definitely afford to throw 4k on FFRK guys
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True, it's very much a cultural thing. The majority of Japanese college students and even 20-something adults I know live with their parents. I asked this one girl why she was still living with her parents at 27, and her response was basically, "Why wouldn't I be?"
This is one thing I'm pretty sure Americans get right though, although yes it is the much more expensive lifestyle if you don't have roommates. But I'd much rather live with friends than I would with parents? I mean, depending on the friends.
I think we got it right to a degree. It's good because being away from your parents makes it a lot easier to actually become a functioning adult. It's causes a more global failure in that it can be incredibly wasteful and you lose a lot of benefits of community living (because you don't live with friends by the time that community living tends to reap the best rewards). I suspect that dwindling resources in the future could prompt a change in U.S. culture at some point in the future.
We're starting to see a trend of continuing to live with ones parents at this point simply because not doing so in a lot of areas is becoming increasingly stupid simply due to rent costs. It is just way more intelligent to tank living at home for a few years, save a substantial amount of money as a result, and then be able to put that towards an actual home instead of renting for the rest of your damn life.
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I'm cool with people who live with their parents for a long time, but if at 20 you decide to not be independant just to save money to buy a house later, you are way too uncool to be my friend, you dork
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Wait what? You've been in an unemployment lawsuit?
EDIT: Blow all 4K on FFRK pulls. Show Magetastic who is boss
EDIT: Or was it Magic Fanatic? Pretend I said the correct person with the same goddamn name.
Well, I've been mostly talking about it in chats and not on the boards. But yeah.
SO. An update on VSM's life, because I haven't actually been HERE for like, several years:
I got a job working at an office assisting people with medicaid. I worked through a temp agency. (I also own my own house. MIND BLOWN, right?)
Anyhow, during this time, and, honestly, during the last 15 years or so, I've just been unreasonably tired, nodding off, and so on. At my job, I found myself falling asleep during calls with people I was assisting. Oddly, it didn't actually affect my performance that much, but if you're falling asleep while talking to someone on the phone, something is up. I went to the HR department and requested.... well, whatever my options were. Time off, less hours, specific days off, etc.... while dealing with the issue, because I figured something had to be up with my health. I was told by the company it was OK. Two hours later, my temp agency got involved and shit-canned me. The temp agency rep told me I could collect unemployment while I worked on the medical issue.
So suddenly I'm out of work, but I have some money saved up, so no biggie. I go to the doctor's appointments and discover I have:
1)A significant Vitamin D deficiency.
2)Very mild sleep apnea (more accurately, Hypopnea)
3)Narcolepsy.
So yeah. Uh, three valid medical reasons for being exhausted. Which is good. I report it to my temp agency who are pretty OK with it. "Oh, it's good you found that". They never talked to me again.
Because I work for a temp agency, Unemployment is really weird. I was told I was working on a medical issue during my time not working, so I filed it as a medical leave of absence. But apparently it wasn't. Which is good, because apparently, that makes you invalid for unemployment.
Between my original accidental mis-filing and a few other things that cropped up, I've been trying to collect unemployment since May. I finally went in in person (for the third time) and lucked out by getting someone competent (and the manager) who told me exactly what I need to do to properly protest all the issues that cropped up in unemployment. I followed directions to the T.
......suddenly! my old employer (the temp agency), the ones who literally forced me to leave the job I was trying to keep claimed that I voluntarily left my employment, when no, they arbitrarily severed my contract and also told me to file for unemployment. So now THAT'S holding up my money.
Unfortunately, when I posted last, I was a bit too optimistic. I just got a thing verifying what WOULD happen IF I were found in the right in my case. It didn't actually resolve my case like it heavily indicated. Now, I get to wait an indeterminate amount of time to receive in the mail a letter either telling me to go to court in person, or giving me a date for an over-the-phone hearing.
I'm owed a total of 4,320 dollars. I've reported diligently every week (more or less) since I was unemployed. Even though I missed a couple, I've reported over 20 weeks, and I'm eligible for 20 weeks. So.
Assuming I win my appeal, which I guess has progressed to some sort of court hearing, I'll get that money in a lump sum. Currently, I'm trying to talk to my attorney to see if I can maybe get MORE than the OWED amount since 1)My old employer lied and falsely stated that I quit when I didn't
and 2)I can prove that I suffered monetary loss simply by not having the expected income that my unemployment checks would have given me.
and hey, 3, for good measure) I have SEVERAL medical conditions that were causing the problem that I initially asked for time off to get tested for, including one lifelong condition that requires regular medication.
I'm fucking destroyed financially. I'm tapped out. I have about 85 cents right now and overdue bills and while I know my parents will help me out, I still hate that I have to ask for it, because really, this should have been settled like 6 months ago.
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[size=10000000000000000pt]. . .[/size]
now slap my face as hard as you can and tell me i'm bad
EDIT: Wow that sucks shit, VSM. Good luck with it getting resolved.
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Thanks. What I think the worst part is, is that if I had the dollars, I could immediately pay all my bills, all the other shit that's been an issue, and survive the winter if I couldn't get a job (at this point I'm biting the bullet and applying to shitty min-wage jobs just so I have something in the meantime. When I thought I'd actually, you know, get the money lawfully owed me, I was holding out for another decentish paying office job, since a low-paying job that isn't full hours would literally pay me less than unemployment while disqualifying me for it.
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The facilitator/translator helping run these meetings is like what would happen if Laggy and super had a child.
That is all.
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So he owns beyond belief?
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I'm sure he is beyond belief. :)
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I basically picture a guy that plays a lot of mahjong and Final Fantasy Tactics and somehow finds a way to injure himself consistently while doing it.
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So, in things I never expected to do in my life, I helped my Dad purchase $20,000 of gold today.
I'm not sure what reality is doing.
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Does your dad think there's an imminent government collapse?
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Does your dad think there's an imminent government collapse?
Ish? It's been a weird day or two of talking to him. He's been reading stuff like "The Death of Money" and "Currency Wars."
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My household goods finally arrived the other day after being in storage for a year (3 years for one shipment). Surprisingly, there was little damage. The movers, however, apparently did not know how a cam works, so they just ripped my desk apart rather than loosen the cams...so new desk is needed sometime in the future (I have enough screws and brackets to make the desk work for the time being). Also, they somehow managed to keep track of about 2/3s the nuts and washers needed for my dining room table, but decided to toss the rest. Yay for a trip to Lowe's sometime this weekend.
...and now I'll be spending the next few weeks putting crap away...probably will end up tossing/donating a huge chunk of my random stuff I haven't seen, or needed, for years now.
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I am leaving Japan later tonight. I have not accomplished very much, really, but I'm okay with that. It's more fun with other people.
Also next time I think I will make sure I remember some basic Japanese. I made this way harder on myself than necessary.
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Such bad timing on the trip too.
If you'd come a week later, or two weeks earlier, I could have come to visit you and helped you around.
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Does your dad think there's an imminent government collapse?
I've been expecting the potential for a major systematic economic collapse for a while myself.
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On the way home a skinny young Japanese guy jus bent over at the waist right in front of me. If this is what every day of your life is like DJ, I would find it it incredibly awkward.
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Well, it depends on the context, but yeah, that's certainly a large part of my daily life...
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Does your dad think there's an imminent government collapse?
I've been expecting the potential for a major systematic economic collapse for a while myself.
I know how to reload my own bullets and preserve food, what have you been doing to get ready?
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Learning how to stop my heart by sheer force of will.
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ok JoJo.
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TODAY I LEARNED:
None of my windows or doors were properly sealed for weather. So after sealing some obvious stuff, buying more caulk and taking a break to read about caulking (and discovering, OK, some of that stuff I can leave UN sealed, or rather, SHOULD), I've determined I probably know why my heating bill is so fucking insane.
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Um yeah.
Also definitely definitely want to leave some room for air flow in to your room otherwise you will die in summer.
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I can open my windows. The stupid window BOX wasn't put in right.
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After over 8 years in a row of being bitchy with Halloween, I broke the pattern and greeted it with enthusiasm this year.
Vagueness is intentional. I'm likely to share details in a less public setting.
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After over 8 years in a row of being bitchy with Halloween, I broke the pattern and greeted it with enthusiasm this year.
Vagueness is intentional. I'm likely to share details in a less public setting.
Didn't ask, don't care.
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Guys, a thing happened today.
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sex
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Stop stealing my jokes.
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Stop stealing my jokes.
He's told you multiple times how to get him to stop.
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So, I don't see a lot of the impact of my job. In part because working in public schools seems to by default have you see a lot of students fall through the cracks, in part because once students graduate I never hear from them again, and in part because in the JET program you're but a very miniscule piece of the enormous bureaucratic structure that is the Japanese public education system.
But today, I got a text message from one of my former students telling me he made it into a student exchange program with a secondary school in Australia. Damn proud of that kid. To be perfectly honest he probably would be a success regardless of who his teachers are, but it regardless it is damn good to hear about one of my former kids succeeding.
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Everytime I hear one of these stories I want to write letters to my worst former teachers to tell them they were terrible and why.
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Everytime I hear one of these stories I want to write letters to my worst former teachers to tell them they were terrible and why.
Hahaha you honestly should. Either they're still young and insecure enough that it may make them re-evaluate their methodology (or quit), so it's a win, or if it is far too late in their careers that doing so would never alter the way they teach and have an impact on future kids who have to put up with their shit, you'll at the very least get to be a vindictive shithead, so it is like a win.
Sometimes being a vindictive shithead is all you can really hope for.
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Everytime I hear one of these stories I want to write letters to my worst former teachers to tell them they were terrible and why.
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So my dad just died. We saw it coming, he's been sick for years(I've prolly posted about it before). I'm...alright? Feeling guilty about not feeling worse, I guess. A bit numb, but otherwise okay. I guess when I got on the plane to come up here on tuesday I kinda expected it to happen while I was visiting. He was waiting to see me again, since we haven't seen eachother in years.
May not be around for awhile, though. Dunno what is gonna be done about services/family gatherings/etc, may have to extend my stay out here, and getting internet time is dicey.
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Very sorry to hear it, Gate. You have my condolences.
Don't worry about whether you're feeling what you should be feeling. People have different ways of processing grief. Your feelings will sort themselves out in due time.
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Yeah never let other people's approach to grief impact yours. The right way to handle it is whatever works for you.
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Rough stuff, man. I wish you and your family the best.
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Geez, that's rough Gate. Condolences and all, take care.
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Man that sucks, Gate. Sorry to hear it. Don't worry too much how you're "supposed" to feel. You'll feel how you feel and there's not really a right answer to grief.
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Thanks all.
Yeah, there's some disconnect between me and his wife especially(not my mother, they divorced when I was like...5), about...well, about mementos. Things like stuff I sent him when I was a kid that were super important to him...don't mean anything to me. I was too young to remember it now. And even if I did, I'm not one to get hung up on physical mementos to remind me of a person. But I guess my lack of enthusiasm about that stuff makes it seem like I don't care or something. Which isn't true at all.
I could pretend it's important to me, but...that's not how I do things. And you know, that's not how my dad did things either. And there are things that are important to me. His cookbook, the one he wrote, filled with recipes of his own creation and ones he gathered from years of travelling and trading recipes with fantastic cooks? That matters. I will think of him when I cook those meals, or when I share the book with others(which is something he wanted people to do). If the expense of getting them out to CA isn't too much, his Forgotten Realms book collection. It's an interest we actually shared, a world and characters we both care about.
But a handprint I sent him when I was 6? Some old school pictures of myself? They were important to him, but they mean nothing to me. And someone else's emotional attachment to a thing alone doesn't spark some kind of connection with me unless I have another reason to care about it too. It's the common threads that matter to me. He cooked, I cook, when I use his cookbook it means something. He read, I read, when I read one of the books he's had for years and loved it means something.
I wanted to have that handprint(the thing she was most upset I didn't want) to my mother instead. I know she's the one who actually framed it and put the little poem on the paper and sent it to him. To her, that would be a keepsake of my childhood AND a memento of my father. To me...it's a piece of paper. She about flipped her lid(note: I did not ask HER to send that. I asked my aunt who is here, and she's the one who let it slip to my dad's widow that I was wanting that sent to my mother).
I tried to explain my reasoning here, which...well, my aunt understood thankfully. But my stepmother is the grieving widow right now, and me not feeling the way she expected and wanted me to feel was...very clearly hurtful to her. Which I don't want to or mean to be. But I'm not going to lie about my feelings either.
Hopefully this makes some kind of sense. I'm not sure if I'm actually clearheaded right now or just think that I am. Didn't sleep well last night for obvious reasons.
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It makes perfect sense, and good on you for cutting the woman a lot of slack for how she's treating you, which is admittedly really bad. She's in an awful place right now.
Of course you don't care about those kind of mementos. They're his memories of you, not the other way around. Who has their own childhood handprint? Your dad had stuff that reminded him of you because he loved you, and you want stuff that reminds you of your dad because you loved him. You can't really take back a memento.
So yeah, everything you say makes sense. Maybe you're clearheaded and maybe not. Maybe it's both. Vent all you need and know that whatever else you may need, we're here for you and in your corner.
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Makes sense to me, Gate. I'm sensing someone upset because you follow what's true to you rather than her scripts. Kudos to you for approaching the situation with compassion.
VSM has already stated anything else I'd say on the matter so I'll skip repeating it.
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Personally, I'm just impressed everything you write is still so well-worded despite the conflicting emotions. I was pretty moved by what you just wrote. Perhaps this is a good time to try writing some prose? Might help you work through it all, too.
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Hahahahaha. Thanks man. My ability to actually give physical descriptions of things(my biggest weakness as a writer imo) gets even worse when I'm like this though. Tried it before.
Anyway, back home for...a couple weeksish, then off to family gathering for thanksgiving and to scatter the ashes in the colorado mountains like he wanted. At least I'm not cooking the meal this year, one of my aunts deals with her own stress by basically taking over and organizing everything, and I'm perfectly willing to just let her.
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I don't remember if there are any Chicago people here but if so, does anyone have any food recommendations? I'm going to a conference that's around the Magnificent Mile.
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My grandma passed away this morning. I'm headed back home on Friday for the funeral.
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Good luck and be well <3
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I don't remember if there are any Chicago people here but if so, does anyone have any food recommendations? I'm going to a conference that's around the Magnificent Mile.
There aren't, oddly. However, I've visited a few times, and I have a couple of foodie friends who have visited MORE. If you'd like, I could ask them for a recommendation.
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Condolences, Ciato. Hope the healing goes well.
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I don't remember if there are any Chicago people here but if so, does anyone have any food recommendations? I'm going to a conference that's around the Magnificent Mile.
Portillo's Hot Dogs was great. Was surprised how awesome the place was. If you're a beer guy, Miller's Pub is also worth a stop. It's by the Art Museum at the Palmer House hotel. The French dip is also super good there, even if you're not into beer.
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My friend recommends one of the Giordano's if you are offended by the phrase "Pizza Pie" and would rather eat a Pizza Cake.
Or a place called Wildfire if you don't mind pricey.
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Condolences, Ciato. Hope the healing goes well.
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I don't remember if there are any Chicago people here but if so, does anyone have any food recommendations? I'm going to a conference that's around the Magnificent Mile.
Portillo's Hot Dogs was great. Was surprised how awesome the place was. If you're a beer guy, Miller's Pub is also worth a stop. It's by the Art Museum at the Palmer House hotel. The French dip is also super good there, even if you're not into beer.
I've been to Chicago once and had Portillo's and it was great. Well worth the hype.
There are a billion Chicago style pizza places it seems like. Giordano's is one I've heard of, as well as Lou Malnatti's. I'm also hitting up Chinatown for sure.
Looked up Miller's pub and approve of the beer list, so that'll be on the list.
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Chinatown is good times. Any of the spots there are pretty good. Had lunch at an appropriately dive-y place and it was everything I hoped for.
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@ hugs @ Ciatos
:(
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Thanks for the Miller's Pub recommendation, soppy. I had that sandwich and it was pretty fucking great.
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Today my boyfriend brought me a souvenir from Universal Studios Japan. It was a pair of Spiderman sexy underwear. For anyone that was with me at DLCon Florida, the day I have long awaited has finally come!
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Thanks for the Miller's Pub recommendation, soppy. I had that sandwich and it was pretty fucking great.
More important, what beer did you get? They get all of Goose Island and the rest of the Midwest's hard to get regional beers.
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I had the Goose Island Matilda and a Chimay Red, both were excellent.
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Chimay is a Belgian trappist, the Red is their Dubbel. An excellent choice.
Goose Island Matilda. Nice, still haven't had that one. When I went it was March, so they had The Muddy, their Imperial Stout.
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Goose Island Hype
yessssss
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Goose Island Hype
yessssss
Goose Island's mass-market stuff is rancid. However, their seasonal and regional stuff is up to their previous craft-beer excellence.
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(http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140117030008/walkingdead/images/2/21/Haters_Gonna_Hate.gif)
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Just finished my first full week as the manager of my own store. Really happy and proud to have worked my way up to being a full Store Manager already. :)
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Congrats!
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Computer dead, sigh. That is on top of my cracked tooth and car issues.
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Condolences and congratulations in quick succession. :( :) I hope in any case that things get better.
--
This is nothing new for those of you who've talked to me over the past decade but I hate my job. I forget who I've ranted to about the "disciplinary issues" that have made me double down on hating this one; I can elaborate if anyone cares. I've certainly ranted about it enough to Andrew.
I lasted a year and a half on this one! After the stupid worst interview ever I experienced during DLC, I'm interviewing again, though this time of year is slow for hiring. I have 2 in active conversation and if neither of those pans out I'm sure I'll be waiting until the new year.
--
I turned 30 a couple weeks ago. I haven't much cared about birthdays and ages up to now, but this one has been really difficult for me.
Not unrelated: close friends have begun reproducing. People I went to high school with have been having kids since they graduated, but people in my circle tend to do things a little later. (I am betting choice of location has a lot to do with this. The early bloomers left California or stayed in the tiny, middle of nowhere, dead area our high school was in.) My best friend since elementary school just had hers. I found out last week that one of the people I game with every weekend -- also 30 -- is expecting her first kid. She and her husband are also buying a house within the next year.
My small family, and Andrew's small family, means that there are very few big events. His only sibling is a lesbian, mine is a failure to launch. Most of our grandparents passed over 10 years ago. So... No deaths, no births; no weddings, divorces, moves, job changes. Friends' lives changing in a big way is hard to handle.
--
Between job nonsense, turning 30, and friends doing "I'm a real adult now" things it's been a bumpy couple of months.
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So I was at home and away from decent Internet for about a week. Had my "Day in court" or more accurately, "twenty minutes on phone with the court"
My testimony matched that of my ex-employer, and they told the judge that they terminated my contract. That's not the same as a quit, yeah? Like, that's them admitting that they canned me and I can get my fucking unemployment finally? Because you know what'd be a nice Christmas present? Four and a half thousand dollars.
Otherwise, Thanksgiving was probably the nicest holiday I've had with the family in years. Aside from CURRENT money woes which if I don't get my (earned) UIA money, then I'm in a mild race-with-the-clock before my (probable) new job kicks in before everything goes to hell.
Assuming I either get my money or employment starts before everything goes to hell, things are looking seriously up.
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Best of luck, VSM.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zNdw4DaUM8
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Root canal saturday.
Then a dance Gavin dance concert later on the day.
Then going to the bucs game sunday.
Followed by a Christmas party afterwards.
Hope I can manage!
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I can only hope your day is full of wacky hijinks and that someday you can make an Adam Sandler movie out of it.
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Group presentations in my blowoff class. The kid with the neckbeard who always wears the same shirt depending on what day of the week it is has a minor freakout because the guy who put together the presentation "didn't stick to the script!" whatever that means. So he goes and stands facing a corner for a bit until he, I don't know, calms down?
This is the same class as the one with Fat Guy, whose legend Zenny is familiar with, but Neckbeard Kid is not Fat Guy.
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Group presentations in my blowoff class. The kid with the neckbeard who always wears the same shirt depending on what day of the week it is has a minor freakout because the guy who put together the presentation "didn't stick to the script!" whatever that means. So he goes and stands facing a corner for a bit until he, I don't know, calms down?
This is the same class as the one with Fat Guy, whose legend Zenny is familiar with, but Neckbeard Kid is not Fat Guy.
Oh, undergraduate Freshman courses.
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Did you do your presentation by yourself?
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Did you do your presentation by yourself?
Essentially, yes. Mandatory group projects in undergrad classes that aren't part of a program are an absurd proposition.
e: I should make it clear I was not working with Neckbeard Kid
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My small family, and Andrew's small family, means that there are very few big events. His only sibling is a lesbian, mine is a failure to launch. Most of our grandparents passed over 10 years ago. So... No deaths, no births; no weddings, divorces, moves, job changes. Friends' lives changing in a big way is hard to handle.
Yeah, friends' lives do impact yours. I hope the bumps smooth out quickly.
I most certainly don't need to say that everyone's life moves at different paces. But since I just typed that, I want to reiterate that the big 30 is also generally awesome for women: sexual prime, more career experiences, hopefully friend circles with more maturity, etc. Next year will be thirty-onederful. Here's to finding your peace in your newest decade. :]
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I spent the couple of years leading up to 30 kinda dreading it, since I'd be 30 and still in school. Then I turned 30 and it was kinda meh. Then I turned 30 and one day and I wondered what the big fuss had been. In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.
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I forgot to post this, but Ash took me to see KAMELOT (and Dragonforce I guess) in San Jose over the weekend before she left.
It is pretty much everything a metal concert was expected to be. Defeaning music, some moshing (though not much, small venue), lotta crowd surfing, and such. Piled pretty close to the front of the stage (like three mashed bodies away from it) so I may have touched Sean Tibbetts. Crowd was mostly great. Like, everyone was super friendly, hyper excited, and such. Though seriously, if you want to crowd surf, don't be like, the 10th person to do it. That shit is tiring and gets harder and harder to not drop someone >_>
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30 is just as disappointing as 28 and 29, 31 is much the same.
The worst of it is the day before it because you know it is dumb but your brain still regrets all the things that never happened because your brain is stupid. At least mine was. Busy busy busy.
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As I recall, the days immediately following my 30th birthday were indeed filled with regret, but a concrete "I regret not starting my 30-page term paper earlier" kind of regret, not a generalized ennui sort.
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Well that's probably because you are the correct amount of chemically unbalanced.
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I bought another gun when I turned 30, but that's because I figure that by the time I'm 40 the entire system will have collapsed and I want to make sure people will Witness Me
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I'm holding onto the fantasy of sexy30s as I turn 28 this Saturday.
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8-) Just got back from a vacation to Maui. I had a great time, even if it mostly just involved hanging out on the beach, reading about Hawaiian history, and eating lots of pineapple and coconut. The weather has been absolutely horrible in Vancouver so it's been a bit of a shock to the system to come back to, but that's life.
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"even if?"
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So I've had a toothache for a week and I went to the dentist and they immediately told me to go to oral surgery because the wisdom teeth I had removed impacted another molar which was basically a giant cavity. I went in for the quickest tooth extraction of all time. It literally took like 20 seconds. They asked what music I wanted to listen to and I said Janelle Monae, and they got to the first riff of Q.U.E.E.N. before it was over. I'm annoyed that the surgeons, who had seen my xrays and must have seen that cavity, didn't tell me about it or else I would have had it all removed during the wisdom tooth removal. Hopefully this was the cause of those chronic headaches I was getting and now that it's removed it will be fine. We'll see. I'll placebo effect the shit out of it at any rate.
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The end is nigh! I am almost ready to start complaining about a new job.
Offer in hand for one, wrapping up interviews with another. Either way, I'm 99% sure I'll be somewhere new early next year. The relief I feel is palpable.
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The end is nigh! I am almost ready to start complaining about a new job.
Offer in hand for one, wrapping up interviews with another. Either way, I'm 99% sure I'll be somewhere new early next year. The relief I feel is palpable.
Awesome!
p.s. I would like you to compare and contrast this statement with your comments re: adulthood. You're so there.
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The end is nigh! I am almost ready to start complaining about a new job.
Offer in hand for one, wrapping up interviews with another. Either way, I'm 99% sure I'll be somewhere new early next year. The relief I feel is palpable.
Awesome!
p.s. I would like you to compare and contrast this statement with your comments re: adulthood. You're so there.
this.
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The end is nigh! I am almost ready to start complaining about a new job.
Offer in hand for one, wrapping up interviews with another. Either way, I'm 99% sure I'll be somewhere new early next year. The relief I feel is palpable.
Awesome!
p.s. I would like you to compare and contrast this statement with your comments re: adulthood. You're so there.
this.
(http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/en.futurama/images/3/37/Single_Female_Lawyer.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090628204545)
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I've spent a couple of years after a very hard breakup trying to transition from being the biggest nerd in hiding to become some way more desirable cool human. It has been an interesting experience.
The basic ideas were: Getting a cool job, more closer better friends, more social activites (= drinking), roommates, more books/concerts/movies, one weekly sport activity, one weekly artsy hipster douchebag activity.
Notes:
- Talking in general has become much easier and more interesting, I had just never lvld that skill up as a kid
- I almost never feel alienated now, except at the club, incidentally fuck (most) clubs
- I have gone from full hermit mode to somebody who doesn't even like being alone for one evening / week
- I feel like I have lost a charming intangible part of me that's just almost gone now except when I make those weird observations/tangents no one else would make
- Indoor climbing is awesome
- The need to play terrible NES RPGs sometimes resurfaces
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- The need to play terrible NES RPGs sometimes resurfaces
I was worried for a minute there.
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Congrats, Fenrir. It's a nice change to make, feeling like you're capable of navigating socialization situations.
Also, clubs are terrible unless you go with the express purpose of ignoring everyone around you and dancing like your father never let you. I do wish there were venues for Jackass Dancing that didn't involve everything else that comes along with clubbing though.
Incidentally I am on like the opposite swing on Fenrir's pendulum after spending my first few years on JET doing the same. But now I basically never go out anymore, like once or twice a month, and when I do I find myself wishing I had just stayed in and recharged. I think a large part of this is just being fed up with where I'm living and in need of moving onto the next phase of my life.
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I'll third the fuck clubbing vote.
And I'm making the same mistakes with the same person I did three years ago myself, because I am a complete idiot who does not learn.
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The end is nigh! I am almost ready to start complaining about a new job.
Offer in hand for one, wrapping up interviews with another. Either way, I'm 99% sure I'll be somewhere new early next year. The relief I feel is palpable.
Awesome!
p.s. I would like you to compare and contrast this statement with your comments re: adulthood. You're so there.
Yes. Grats, Ashley.
I'm getting old. I've been shuffling through doctors for routine check-ups at an alarming pace. At least, the blood and hormone tests all had pretty stellar results.
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Congrats, Fenrir. It's a nice change to make, feeling like you're capable of navigating socialization situations.
Also, clubs are terrible unless you go with the express purpose of ignoring everyone around you and dancing like your father never let you. I do wish there were venues for Jackass Dancing that didn't involve everything else that comes along with clubbing though.
Incidentally I am on like the opposite swing on Fenrir's pendulum after spending my first few years on JET doing the same. But now I basically never go out anymore, like once or twice a month, and when I do I find myself wishing I had just stayed in and recharged. I think a large part of this is just being fed up with where I'm living and in need of moving onto the next phase of my life.
I agree but since clubs almost alwayd have terrible music, concerts are better for that.
I always hate that time during parties when everybody wants to go to the club
So why don't you go out anymore? Is that social alination almost every european/american feels from living in Japan catching up with you?
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Congrats, Fenrir. It's a nice change to make, feeling like you're capable of navigating socialization situations.
Also, clubs are terrible unless you go with the express purpose of ignoring everyone around you and dancing like your father never let you. I do wish there were venues for Jackass Dancing that didn't involve everything else that comes along with clubbing though.
Incidentally I am on like the opposite swing on Fenrir's pendulum after spending my first few years on JET doing the same. But now I basically never go out anymore, like once or twice a month, and when I do I find myself wishing I had just stayed in and recharged. I think a large part of this is just being fed up with where I'm living and in need of moving onto the next phase of my life.
I agree but since clubs almost alwayd have terrible music, concerts are better for that.
I always hate that time during parties when everybody wants to go to the club
True that. Concerts are amazing for that, though I dunno. The vibe's different. Concerts and music festivals are all about the music, while I feel like whatever enjoyment I get from clubbing comes not from the music but from dancing. Music and dancing are integral parts of both but have different weights depending on the venue, if that makes sense.
So why don't you go out anymore? Is that social alination almost every european/american feels from living in Japan catching up with you?
The short of it is basically that. The long of it, ... this is going to sound terrible but I'm pretty much done interacting with modern Japanese culture for now. There are brief, wonderful, beautiful glimpses of humanity, usually with people who feel alienated from their own culture to begin with, when I'm talking with coworkers or other young people while out on the town where I'll have a conversation where it's just two people talking about whatever like we're human beings, but the vast majority of the time when speaking to Japanese people it feels like I'm talking to someone going through a list of Bioware dialogue options.
"Oh, it's cold, isn't it.
>How do you say that in English?
>Which is colder, Japan or [insert country here, but they probably assume you're from America anyway]?
>Yeah Japan really gets cold around this time of year.
>Please don't catch a cold."
"Hello. Where are you from?
>Why did you come to Japan?
>How long will you be in Japan?
>Oh, you speak Japanese very well!
>Oh, you use chopsticks very well!
>Do you want a Japanese girlfriend?
>Please teach me English."
All of these are conversations I've had in real life. Half are conversations I've had this week, and none of them were the first time having them. There's only so many times I can be the NPC in their asinine dialogue tree before I just give up on interacting with them altogether. It would be one thing if it was just my coworkers running me through these gauntlets, but even after developing conversational competence in their language the brief (but very, very glorious and refreshing) times I can engage with people off of the beaten path of these dialogue options are so few and far inbetween that I've resigned myself to biding my time until I can briefly go home to visit my family then move on (probably to Poland, then potentially Germany? My prospects for living in new cultures is actually really exciting!... to inject some positivity into a very negative rant)
Of course, there's small talk in every language and culture, and I can't really articulate why the sort of smalltalk in Japan bothers me even more than it does in the US, and I think a large part of that is just cultural fatigue. I've spent too much time in this place and I'm losing the pleasure I used to have in small joys and finding it replaced with biting cynicism.
I wondered, briefly, if I was just tuning out socially altogether, but the last two times I went home I was more social than I ever was before I left, so there's definitely something going on with my relationship to this culture. I need to leave, so I can come back and love it again (or at least, leverage my competency in the language to sell my labor and not feel terrible about it).
But, yeah, you're basically right. It's social alienation that every capital-W Western person feels after living here for too long. Which in itself is a good growing experience for reasons I'm too drunk to articulate at the moment, mostly regarding how it feels to be part of a minority group when in the US I've only ever been part of the majority group. But yeah. That whole thing is why.
EDIT: PS Congrats Ashley on the new job, hopefully you hate it less (or it has a higher salary).
P.P.S. Super what are these mistakes with people I've never heard of before. Tell me your gossip, and also your dreams.
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I bought a new computer about a month ago. Already it can barely watch videos because it is constantly about to crash it seems, and the left side of the keyboard keeps not working. I filed a return form on November 29th but all I've received is an email saying that someone will call me at some point. How helpful.
This is the second time in a row that I have opted to get a more expensive but more functional (?) computer and it has been dogshit terrible. I might just pick up a Mac laptop instead if this return actually works and they don't try to foist another computer on me instead.
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You say
I've spent a couple of years after a very hard breakup trying to transition from being the biggest nerd in hiding to become some way more desirable cool human. It has been an interesting experience.
The basic ideas were: Getting a cool job, more closer better friends, more social activites (= drinking), roommates, more books/concerts/movies, one weekly sport activity, one weekly artsy hipster douchebag activity.
I hear
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CQ1bz4YUcAAkyR9.png)
Please tell me you have a "cool dude" t-shirt
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I'll third the fuck clubbing vote.
And I'm making the same mistakes with the same person I did three years ago myself, because I am a complete idiot who does not learn.
You learn enough to know you're making mistakes but not enough to stop making them.
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You learn enough to know you're making mistakes but not enough to stop making them.
The chemicals in your brain would really, really like you to make babies, and they're not about to let your common sense, good judgment, or long-term health get in the way of that.
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You say
I've spent a couple of years after a very hard breakup trying to transition from being the biggest nerd in hiding to become some way more desirable cool human. It has been an interesting experience.
The basic ideas were: Getting a cool job, more closer better friends, more social activites (= drinking), roommates, more books/concerts/movies, one weekly sport activity, one weekly artsy hipster douchebag activity.
I hear
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CQ1bz4YUcAAkyR9.png)
Please tell me you have a "cool dude" t-shirt
I don't know what Fenrir looks like but this is always what I imagined.
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I know what Fenrir looks like (he posted pictures), but that is also pretty much how it works in my head.
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Of course, there's small talk in every language and culture, and I can't really articulate why the sort of smalltalk in Japan bothers me even more than it does in the US, and I think a large part of that is just cultural fatigue. I've spent too much time in this place and I'm losing the pleasure I used to have in small joys and finding it replaced with biting cynicism.
I think part of it is that you're never not going to be an outsider, so you're stuck at the small talk level for... basically ever.
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I'll third the fuck clubbing vote.
And I'm making the same mistakes with the same person I did three years ago myself, because I am a complete idiot who does not learn.
You learn enough to know you're making mistakes but not enough to stop making them.
I've never let something being a bad idea stop me from charging after it at top speed and wondering why it blows up in my face afterward.
Zenny: At some point.
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@Zenny: Leaving and coming back was basically the best idea ever. A fresh start in Japan with all the knowledge I'd gleaned from the first time around was fucking amazing and I'm on my second year here and there seems to be no signs of cultural fatigue. It helps that I'm in a much bigger city where I have easy access to other outsiders whenever I -do- feel the need for capital-W Western interaction.
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Yeah, I can imagine. I have plenty of western interaction myself, thank god, it keeps me sane. But i imagine living in a large city would help my desire to interact with Japanese folks again simply by virtue of them being more metropolitan and exposed to the outside world. Regardless of if I come back long term or not, though, it's time to go. TBH it was time to go months ago, but contracts and all.
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New job is get~! I begin February 1, so I have some time to relish the knowledge that I'm leaving but don't yet have to tell anyone. There's no way in hell I'm making that announcement right before a week of of paid vacation.
So definitely feeling the adult thing. New job is head of the marketing department at a small mobile game company that is a branch of a very successful Japanese mobile game company. Focus on that "head of the marketing department" part because the other part has been throwing people for a loop: the games are otome.
I am really, really, really relieved to be leaving the noxious environment that has become my existence with SEGA, but naturally there is also a little bit of regret/sadness because it isn't all bad and I am going to miss a lot of the people.
My turn to become the center of others' "oh my god my boss is the worst" stories.
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Congrats on the job and the fancy new title. But more importantly, congrats on the few weeks of knowing you're free but not having to tell anyone yet.
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I admit I felt howdoyoudofellowkids.gif-ish for a while but I got better.
I got third place at a Crokinole tournament yesterday. Crokinole is some Canadian game that I bet none of you know about. My gift in life, my special talent is being good at Crokinole, a game I started playing this year.
There is a high chance that the only reason it got played at all here is its potentially salacious name in French
Yeah Zenny it's not you, everybody goes through it
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I'm gonna say, DL is not the place I expected to randomly hear Crokinole brought up.
You have our own board? I hear most people try the game and then almost immediately get their own board.
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Congrats on the new job.
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One of my roommates does have his own board. If he didn't I'd definitely have gotten one by now yeah.
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If Ruby Rose dressed up as Cloud Strife or Irvine Kinneas, I would leave my man. Not like I haven't done something similar before.
H a p p y Holid a a a a y s s s s RPGDL.
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H a p p y H o l i d a y s
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WHY DO YOU HATE CHRISTMAS
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Personally, I blame my job for that.
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WHY DO YOU HATE CHRISTMAS
Zenny, babe, stop being a communist.
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WHY DO YOU HATE CHRISTMAS
Zenny, babe, stop being a communist.
:(
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WHY DO YOU HATE CHRISTMAS
Zenny, babe, stop being a communist.
:-[
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Desktop has been slowly biting the bullet since moving to Japan, and I'm afraid it's on its last legs. Every time I restart, there's about a 3/4ths chance that the boot up will lock up somewhere in the process. Sometimes after I've already booted up, sometimes mid-booting up Windows, sometimes before the booting process even begins. Siiiiiiigh. Even better, when I do succeed, there's a pretty high chance that everything will be jerky and take forever. Since getting back from partying over New Year's, I've had, like, one clean boot that's working like it should.
I'm doing some standard things now to try to get things running more smoothly (registry cleaning, malware/virus scans), but I have a sneaking suspicion it has more to do with the fact that my motherboard was likely damaged in shipping the machine to Japan and there's not a whole lot I can do. In fact, I'm a little surprised this hasn't happened sooner, given I've had similar (though less pronounced) issues with crashing and whatnot since the move. Fortunately most of my important files all have a backup on an external, though I'm tempted to buy another external to make another set of backups in case something happens to that one.
Maaaan I just need it to last 7-8 more months and then it can die. Actually, if it died right around then, then I wouldn't have to ship it back to the US. That'd be nice.
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Well. I upgraded to Windows 10 finally and that fixed most of my problems.
Conspiracy Theory states that "They" broke my computer on purpose so I wouldn't use Windows 7 anymore. Whatever, now it doesn't take ages to boot up my computer at least.
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Win 10 just has nicer boot times in my experience (3 or so so far).
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It's a bit more than that. I no longer have the 30+ second lockup after plugging in a USB device, programs that took ~5 minutes to boot up now no longer do so, and windows explorer (fuckin Windows Explorer, mang) now no longer takes ~3 minutes(!!) to load the files of a folder I just opened up.
It's legitimately a bit frustrating how many problems upgrading solved, though I know logically something had probably fucked up and I would have had to just do a fresh install of the OS if the upgrade hadn't been available.
Regardless, I'm no longer afraid that I'd have to replace my machine before moving back to the US o' Trumpistan, so I got that going for me. Which is nice.
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didnt u no it's actually short for Windows 10 times better
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Happy incept day Roy Batty!