Random randomness

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 6:25 pm

I mean, you can already get Coors, no?

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 7:23 pm

If threatened, yes.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 7:34 pm

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 6:25 pm I mean, you can already get Coors, no?

Recently my Eng 101 class somehow developed into a discussion of product placement. All the 18/19-year-olds in the room could point to examples from modern TV and movies (plus music, interestingly).

I was trying to think of the earliest example of product placement I knew. Aside from 1940/50s radio and TV sponsorship messages, I think the first "subtle" placement I can remember is Smokey and the Bandit's promotion of Coors beer.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 7:37 pm

Didn't even see the Pontiac Trans - Am in front of your nose did ya

Its like the Navy recruitments they got from the first Top Gun film.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Oct 19, 2022 8:02 pm

Holman wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 7:34 pm
Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Wed Oct 19, 2022 6:25 pm I mean, you can already get Coors, no?
Recently my Eng 101 class somehow developed into a discussion of product placement. All the 18/19-year-olds in the room could point to examples from modern TV and movies (plus music, interestingly).

I was trying to think of the earliest example of product placement I knew.

Triumph of the Will?

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 7:06 am

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 9:34 am

Oh, that's just brilliant.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 4:20 pm

Half my mouse is is missing and Im looking all over for it.

Well sort of. Its the bottom plastic plate of my mouse.. Its a Logitech one that covers the weights and such...it was barely held on by magnetics. It was there the other day when I cleaned it Im sure. But I happened to turn my mouse over and when I saw its innards I was shocked...wheres the damn plate lol. Strange to see its bones or guts and not the smooth plate there lol.

Heres a pic of the poor little guy's underside.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 4:34 pm

OMG I found it. Thought it was lost in the black hole of nothingness that floats around this one room. It was in the window sill among the wires of the PC and power strips. WHOA!. Now my mouse feels weird lol. Wonder how long its been missing hahaha...no wonder my fps gaming changed...my mouse was missing parts. hahahahhaa oh man.

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 5:56 pm

was finally inspired to try to see if i could get the DVD laser on this Sony DVD player working again (it hasn't really worked since i got it for free some decade+ back - have been using it as an audio CD player, but it now locks up while playing some CDs, even). i ran through the secret diagnostics menu to try the laser lens re-alignment, but it failed on most attempts (single layer DVD is about 50% failure rate, and CD and dual layer DVD always fail). then i took the cover off and cleaned the laser lens with alcohol. now _some_ DVDs actually play, but most others still fail to load with a "C:13:00" error. this piece of electronic garbage is _also_ headed to eWaste. you can see the stellar reviews it has earned: http://www.audioreview.com/product/home ... s560d.html

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Fri Oct 21, 2022 11:19 am

How many experience points did Jesus have?

I laughed.

Spoiler:

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Fri Oct 21, 2022 4:00 pm

stessier wrote: ↑Fri Oct 21, 2022 11:19 am How many experience points did Jesus have?

The Old Dieties & Demigods assigned class levels to all manner of gods and heroes. I be willing to bet that someone wrote up a Biblical chapter even though they knew they couldn't run with it.

[Edit:] Deities!!!

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Fri Oct 21, 2022 4:29 pm

Holman wrote: ↑Fri Oct 21, 2022 4:00 pm
stessier wrote: ↑Fri Oct 21, 2022 11:19 am How many experience points did Jesus have?
The Old Dieties & Demigods assigned class levels to all manner of gods and heroes. I be willing to bet that someone wrote up a Biblical chapter even though they knew they couldn't run with it.

I swear there was a Dragon Magazine that touched on this.
I specifically recall Satan being hashed out, cause his speed was listed as ‘whatever is necessary’ .

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Oct 21, 2022 4:37 pm

stessier wrote: ↑Fri Oct 21, 2022 11:19 am How many experience points did Jesus have?

I don't think he played honestly.

He was on a pacifist playthrough, with zero kills when he finished. He should have engaged in a lot of grinding, but there are discrepancies. He did the 'get food for the villager' quest some 5,000 times, but if you check, he only actually went and got the quest items once, then just turned it in over and over. The real insight, though, comes with the realization that Real Life is locked in Hardcore/Ironman mode, and he was reported to have respawned at least once. I'd guess that he had someone put in cheat codes for him (his dad supposedly has Admin status.)

Too bad that was before Twitch. Someone should have caught a replay of that stuff and gotten him banned.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Fri Oct 21, 2022 4:58 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Fri Oct 21, 2022 4:37 pm
stessier wrote: ↑Fri Oct 21, 2022 11:19 am How many experience points did Jesus have?
I don't think he played honestly.

He was on a pacifist playthrough, with zero kills when he finished. He should have engaged in a lot of grinding, but there are discrepancies. He did the 'get food for the villager' quest some 5,000 times, but if you check, he only actually went and got the quest items once, then just turned it in over and over. The real insight, though, comes with the realization that Real Life is locked in Hardcore/Ironman mode, and he was reported to have respawned at least once. I'd guess that he had someone put in cheat codes for him (his dad supposedly has Admin status.)

Too bad that was before Twitch. Someone should have caught a replay of that stuff and gotten him banned.

Yeah, but this was a campaign that handed out XP left and right for dialogue choices.

Probably got a huge bonus for defeating the Final Boss very early in the campaign using Wisdom checks alone.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Fri Oct 21, 2022 5:08 pm

I heard he just sat at an experience well in a God Mode exploit by using a / command and the admins just looked the other way.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Oct 21, 2022 5:25 pm

What’s the DC of killing a fig tree through spoken words?

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Fri Oct 21, 2022 5:55 pm

He even admitted to activating God Mode.

And was griefed only once.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Fri Oct 21, 2022 6:28 pm

Party members eventually coming to control an entire world empire is the kind of bloat that makes a Monty Haul campaign look restrained.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Fri Oct 21, 2022 8:04 pm

Unagi wrote: ↑Fri Oct 21, 2022 4:29 pm
Holman wrote: ↑Fri Oct 21, 2022 4:00 pm
stessier wrote: ↑Fri Oct 21, 2022 11:19 am How many experience points did Jesus have?
The Old Dieties & Demigods assigned class levels to all manner of gods and heroes. I be willing to bet that someone wrote up a Biblical chapter even though they knew they couldn't run with it.
I swear there was a Dragon Magazine that touched on this.
I specifically recall Satan being hashed out, cause his speed was listed as ‘whatever is necessary’ .

The Dragon #28, The Politics of Hell

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Oct 24, 2022 2:14 pm

I've added 17 vacation days to my calendar between now and the end of the year. We also have 4 holidays in that time. I still need to schedule 4 more vacation days, as they are use it or lose it. The challenge of taking 21 days off in the space of 45 days. I really need to learn to spread my time off out a bit better.

It would actually be easy to take Mondays off, but I ended signing up to do interviews on Mondays as it's the most convenient day to fit those in for the exact same reason it's easy to take them off. Dammit.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:00 pm

I was talking to students today about how previous century's grim cautionary folktales became today's Disneyfied fairy tales. Most of the traditional stories collected by Brothers Grimm and others were pretty creepy, but they were later sanitized into happy endings as children's entertainment.

Our modern equivalent of those original scary stories are urban legends about various ways people (especially kids) suffer harm from strangers, rule-breaking, drugs, etc. (The "babysitter got high and baked the baby" story is nothing but the witch from Hansel & Gretel.)

In 200 years, will there be nostalgic Halloween stories about how a kid bit into their candy and found a diamond (instead of a razor blade or Fentanyl, etc)?

MHS · Post by **MHS** » Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:18 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Mon Oct 24, 2022 2:14 pm I've added 17 vacation days to my calendar between now and the end of the year. We also have 4 holidays in that time. I still need to schedule 4 more vacation days, as they are use it or lose it. The challenge of taking 21 days off in the space of 45 days. I really need to learn to spread my time off out a bit better.

It would actually be easy to take Mondays off, but I ended signing up to do interviews on Mondays as it's the most convenient day to fit those in for the exact same reason it's easy to take them off. Dammit.

I am so thankful my company doesn't cap PTO. I have no idea how I'd possibly use the time I earn. I went down to 0 PTO hours 4 years ago when I had my kidney transplant, but now I'm currently at 558 hours for my PTO balance. Having been here 17 years, I earn it at a rate I can't possibly burn fast enough. I'll be happy to get the payout if I eventually quit, but I'll be pissed at myself if the company ever gets bought out and I don't get paid for it.

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:25 pm

I'm at zero PTO for the remainder of the year and we still have our Mexico trip coming up.

A nearly two week gap where I was switching contract clients resulted in my burning a lot of PTO (that or don't get paid for that time) followed by a bout of Covid and a couple of other minor emergencies of one type or another put me down to zero.

I was hoping to transfer to a new job which, ironically, doesn't even offer any PTO but pays at double what I'm making now but they have been dragging their feet on that one. I really need to follow up on that because I know the position is still open (It's with the same company I'm contracted at now but under a different contractor company)

Fardaza · Post by **Fardaza** » Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:00 pm

coopasonic wrote: ↑Mon Oct 24, 2022 2:14 pm I've added 17 vacation days to my calendar between now and the end of the year. We also have 4 holidays in that time. I still need to schedule 4 more vacation days, as they are use it or lose it. The challenge of taking 21 days off in the space of 45 days. I really need to learn to spread my time off out a bit better.

It would actually be easy to take Mondays off, but I ended signing up to do interviews on Mondays as it's the most convenient day to fit those in for the exact same reason it's easy to take them off. Dammit.

Is that why you're going to Dallas for BGGcon?

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:16 pm

I mean, he kinda lives here.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:25 pm

Fardaza wrote: ↑Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:00 pm
coopasonic wrote: ↑Mon Oct 24, 2022 2:14 pm I've added 17 vacation days to my calendar between now and the end of the year. We also have 4 holidays in that time. I still need to schedule 4 more vacation days, as they are use it or lose it. The challenge of taking 21 days off in the space of 45 days. I really need to learn to spread my time off out a bit better.

It would actually be easy to take Mondays off, but I ended signing up to do interviews on Mondays as it's the most convenient day to fit those in for the exact same reason it's easy to take them off. Dammit.
Is that why you're going to Dallas for BGGcon?

As Isgrimnur alluded, it is a 32 mile drive and 28 of that is one highway. I am going because I miss playing and learning new board games. It is a convenient excuse to take time off though, not that I need an excuse, really.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:28 pm

MHS wrote: ↑Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:18 pm
coopasonic wrote: ↑Mon Oct 24, 2022 2:14 pm I've added 17 vacation days to my calendar between now and the end of the year. We also have 4 holidays in that time. I still need to schedule 4 more vacation days, as they are use it or lose it. The challenge of taking 21 days off in the space of 45 days. I really need to learn to spread my time off out a bit better.

It would actually be easy to take Mondays off, but I ended signing up to do interviews on Mondays as it's the most convenient day to fit those in for the exact same reason it's easy to take them off. Dammit.
I am so thankful my company doesn't cap PTO. I have no idea how I'd possibly use the time I earn. I went down to 0 PTO hours 4 years ago when I had my kidney transplant, but now I'm currently at 558 hours for my PTO balance. Having been here 17 years, I earn it at a rate I can't possibly burn fast enough. I'll be happy to get the payout if I eventually quit, but I'll be pissed at myself if the company ever gets bought out and I don't get paid for it.

My wife is in a similar position having been at the same hospital for 23 years, except hers *is* capped, but she only works 3 days a week so she really doesn't need time off, like ever. Once in a while she has to cash in her PTO at like 80% to avoid hitting the cap.

At my employer, after 5 years you go from 3 weeks to 4 weeks per year and that's it. No further increases but it doesn't really matter to me because vacations are a foreign concept.

Fardaza · Post by **Fardaza** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 10:36 am

I hadn't noticed the "Dallas-ish" location.

It's only a 12 hour drive for me.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 10:43 am

The light rail can take you from the airport to a block away.

Madmarcus · Post by **Madmarcus** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 11:00 am

I'm going to make fruitcake later this afternoon. It's not the same recipe as I used 8 years ago when I killed the holiday recipe thread by posting it!

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 11:07 am

Haven't had a real good fruit cake since my family all passed away. Wasn't that hard dense gummy crap you find in stores. Was light and fluffy with real fruit. Sigh.

gilraen · Post by **gilraen** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 11:07 am

Now I'm gonna have to find that old thread and look up the recipe...

Madmarcus · Post by **Madmarcus** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 12:28 pm

https://www.octopusoverlords.com/forum/ ... e#p2174643

My current fruitcake isn't that different although it adds crystalized ginger. Mostly it is a smaller recipe so it isn't quite as much of a workout. Still a darker cake full of spices, dried fruit, and alcohol (bourbon this year as I attempt to finish some bottles before we move). It looks like I might also make a slightly lighter fruitcake in addition but I haven't settled on that recipe yet.

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 12:31 pm

I mean I know that some people like fruitcake, but do you need to talk about it in public?

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 12:38 pm

MHS wrote: ↑Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:18 pm
coopasonic wrote: ↑Mon Oct 24, 2022 2:14 pm I've added 17 vacation days to my calendar between now and the end of the year. We also have 4 holidays in that time. I still need to schedule 4 more vacation days, as they are use it or lose it. The challenge of taking 21 days off in the space of 45 days. I really need to learn to spread my time off out a bit better.

It would actually be easy to take Mondays off, but I ended signing up to do interviews on Mondays as it's the most convenient day to fit those in for the exact same reason it's easy to take them off. Dammit.
I am so thankful my company doesn't cap PTO. I have no idea how I'd possibly use the time I earn. I went down to 0 PTO hours 4 years ago when I had my kidney transplant, but now I'm currently at 558 hours for my PTO balance. Having been here 17 years, I earn it at a rate I can't possibly burn fast enough. I'll be happy to get the payout if I eventually quit, but I'll be pissed at myself if the company ever gets bought out and I don't get paid for it.

I've finally maxed out the annual leave I can carry over each year (sick leave builds forever so I have 150 days of it), so I am grateful for the fact that I'm forced to take ~5 weeks off every year.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 3:33 pm

My workplace used to allow unlimited carry-over of vacation time. They finally figured out that it cost them a lot more when people saved up an entire career's worth of vacation and cashed it out at retirement, so they changed the policy to implement a cap. I had to take two one-month vacations that year in order to get under the limit.

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 3:51 pm

Max Peck wrote: ↑Tue Oct 25, 2022 3:33 pm My workplace used to allow unlimited carry-over of vacation time. They finally figured out that it cost them a lot more when people saved up an entire career's worth of vacation and cashed it out at retirement, so they changed the policy to implement a cap. I had to take two one-month vacations that year in order to get under the limit.

The government would never implement that, but I know there are loads of people at my agency who would never take a day off for their entire career simply to get that fat paycheck at the end of it if that were a possibility.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 3:56 pm

pr0ner wrote: ↑Tue Oct 25, 2022 3:51 pm The government would never implement that, but I know there are loads of people at my agency who would never take a day off for their entire career simply to get that fat paycheck at the end of it if that were a possibility.

...NJ public sector did it for years. Until there were waves of town managers, police chiefs and fire chiefs that retired and cashed out with checks for $100K+ in unused PTO. Now it's explicitly banned, but it was a relatively recent (last 15 years?) change.

As a contractor with no vacation, holiday or sick time, I'm getting a real kick out of this discussion overall.

MHS · Post by **MHS** » Tue Oct 25, 2022 4:05 pm

Technically, I think my company caps at 5 weeks but they've never enforced it and I know they've paid out 14-20 weeks for 2 of my previous coworkers. So if they tried to not pay it if I ever quit, I'd have serious negotiating power to force them to. I'd be fine if they paid it out gradually as if I was still working but on vacation, which they did with the last guy who quit with double-digit weeks on the books. My only question in that circumstance would be, do I keep earning PTO while using it up? I would assume so, legally.