Octopus Overlords

Daughter made it into Bø, Telemark after over 24 hours of travel involving 3 planes and two trains. Last we had heard from her was at 9:30 this morning when she said she was about to pull into Bø, then nothing. I told my wife she was just sleeping off the trip, but we both started to get worried after about 8 hours of non-communication. So we ended up calling up the Student Travel advocate in Norway to make sure she had checked into the college, which of course she had. She was just really tired and recovering from the trip.

I try not to worry. But sometimes, you just can't help it.

Glad to hear that. Parenting makes you old I bet

Also.....

Germany has a new police car..a S550 Mustang

Time to land the helicopter, hentzau. .

hentzau wrote:Daughter made it into Bø, Telemark after over 24 hours of travel involving 3 planes and two trains. Last we had heard from her was at 9:30 this morning when she said she was about to pull into Bø, then nothing. I told my wife she was just sleeping off the trip, but we both started to get worried after about 8 hours of non-communication. So we ended up calling up the Student Travel advocate in Norway to make sure she had checked into the college, which of course she had. She was just really tired and recovering from the trip.

I try not to worry. But sometimes, you just can't help it.

Forget it, man. By now she's got Stockholm syndrome.

Ever had that co-worker that you just cringe every time they join a conversation because they have the habit of taking things from pleasant to uncomfortable/borderline inappropriate in record time? We have one of those on our team. He never crosses the line to an HR violation, but the dude has the remarkable ability to make any discussion instantly awkward.

For example, a bunch of us were shooting the shit yesterday, and one of the guys mentioned that it was his anniversary that night and he didn't have a gift yet. We tried to give some helpful suggestions (local theater, nice restaurants we'd been to recently, favorite jewelry stores, etc.), and Mr. Inappropriate starts in on a very detailed description of the "novelty" hotel where he and his wife spent their last anniversary. Right down to the size of the showers ("They easily fit two people!") and how awesome the sheets feel. It ended up with everyone just walking away with their fingers in their ears going "LALALALALALALAL...I don't way to hear this". That's pretty much a daily occurrence with this dude.

I feel bad for him because he's a nice guy and does really good work, but everyone dreads having to talk to him because they know the discussion is going to go somewhere weird. Ugh.

I might be that guy.

Skinypupy wrote:Ever had that co-worker that you just cringe every time they join a conversation because they have the habit of taking things from pleasant to uncomfortable/borderline inappropriate in record time?

I'd say no, because I'm that guy, but your awkward is specifically about sex and it's been so long, it's a forgotten concept. I am, however, situationally unaware, aloof is the word people prefer. If there was an award for inability to read the room before switching which hoof was in your mouth, I'd be in first place.

coopasonic wrote:I might be that guy.

I am definitely that guy.

Isgrimnur wrote:Time to land the helicopter, hentzau. .

hentzau wrote:

Isgrimnur wrote:Time to land the helicopter, hentzau. .

I heard you have a particular set of skills.

hentzau wrote:

Isgrimnur wrote:Time to land the helicopter, hentzau. .

On a more serious note, one thing that helped both my parents and myself survive college after they left town was scheduling a check-in update.

Left to my own devices, I wouldn't call them until I thought about it. And I never thought about it. I was working 30 hours a week and in school FT. And mom worried. So to meet in the middle, we scheduled it. I would call and talk with them on Sunday nights. The calls could be short and sweet, or last over an hour. There was no set structure, no set topics, etc., but I had an outlet to talk to them and update them on what was going on and even get advice, whether I wanted it or not.

Today, I'm 40, married with a house. I still call my parents (almost) every Sunday night.

Especially with her being 1/4 across the planet, it would benefit both sides of the Atlantic to schedule a regular update call. There's nothing to say that it's the only contact for the week or other time frame, but having something in place to guarantee regular contact would probably help.

We scheduled a weekly call when I was in college, but that was mostly so that we could take advantage of the best times to call to get the best long distance rates.

Isgrimnur wrote:

hentzau wrote:

Isgrimnur wrote:Time to land the helicopter, hentzau. .

On a more serious note, one thing that helped both my parents and myself survive college after they left town was scheduling a check-in update.

Left to my own devices, I wouldn't call them until I thought about it. And I never thought about it. I was working 30 hours a week and in school FT. And mom worried. So to meet in the middle, we scheduled it. I would call and talk with them on Sunday nights. The calls could be short and sweet, or last over an hour. There was no set structure, no set topics, etc., but I had an outlet to talk to them and update them on what was going on and even get advice, whether I wanted it or not.

Today, I'm 40, married with a house. I still call my parents (almost) every Sunday night.

Especially with her being 1/4 across the planet, it would benefit both sides of the Atlantic to schedule a regular update call. There's nothing to say that it's the only contact for the week or other time frame, but having something in place to guarantee regular contact would probably help.

How do you talk on the phone if neither of you has to something they need to say to the other? Phones conversations that don't serve a specific purpose and end make squirm like smoove around an octopus. I swear some people will happily sit in silence on the other end just to see if they can hear how uncomfortable I am.

Do like my Dad did before I yelled at him. Have a checklist just to get it over with.

"You doing ok?"
"Car running all right?"
"You okay for money?"
"Okay, here's your Mom."

ImLawBoy wrote:We scheduled a weekly call when I was in college, but that was mostly so that we could take advantage of the best times to call to get the best long distance rates.

Long-Distance Phone Rates Survey, August 30, 1990

Isgrimnur wrote:

ImLawBoy wrote:We scheduled a weekly call when I was in college, but that was mostly so that we could take advantage of the best times to call to get the best long distance rates.

Long-Distance Phone Rates Survey, August 30, 1990

I always hated long distance charges. From my first BBS call..oops.....to calling game companies and such. Now days for $20 or less you get it with your tv provider and all you can use free long distance.

Daehawk wrote:Glad to hear that. Parenting makes you old I bet

Also.....

Germany has a new police car..a S550 Mustang

Am I the only person who finds the holding your hand out the window with the red light thingy silly and not all that smart?

Medium, never large, now smaller:

Medium founder and CEO Ev Williams disclosed today in a blog post that his four-and-a-half-year-old company is eliminating 50 jobs and shutting down offices in New York and Washington, D.C. In a philosophical letter to the public, he recounted how his team's ultimate goals had gotten off course thanks to the common monetization model known as advertising.
...
The 44-year-old entrepreneur—who co-founded Twitter in 2007—admitted that the change of plans was still in fluid form as to how Medium would generate revenue going forward while also bucking digital publishing business norms.

ImLawBoy wrote:We scheduled a weekly call when I was in college, but that was mostly so that we could take advantage of the best times to call to get the best long distance rates.

Remember calculating who owed what on the phone bill? Man that was a long time ago. Now things are so cheap they might as well be free.

GreenGoo wrote:

ImLawBoy wrote:We scheduled a weekly call when I was in college, but that was mostly so that we could take advantage of the best times to call to get the best long distance rates.

Remember calculating who owed what on the phone bill? Man that was a long time ago. Now things are so cheap they might as well be free.

I lived in a house with five roommates. For some reason the phone was in my name despite me being the guy who only ever called his parents once a week. The long distance bill typically ran 3-4 pages. One housemate made most of the calls but invariably denied some and wouldn't pay for them until the phone company identified the receiver. Another housemate always paid me on the day the bill was due...in cash, usually a pile of small change. Another one mostly lived with her boyfriend and was never home to pay her bills. One never had enough money to pay her share. One insisted on dividing up the tax proportionately.

Gods, how I dreaded that bill coming every month.

It seems kind of unbelievable to me that Neal and I started dating in a time when we could meet online and chat online, but we still had $200-300 phone bills since we were long distance. Good times!

ALL HAIL THE RETURN OF THE KLF! 23 years!

Smoove_B wrote:ALL HAIL THE RETURN OF THE KLF! 23 years!

What kind of geek are you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdTELokKfCk

Smoove_B wrote:ALL HAIL THE RETURN OF THE KLF! 23 years!

Yes!

LordMortis wrote:What kind of geek are you?

Definitely not a Dr. Who geek. Also, I don't think that was ever on MTV. As someone trapped in Top 40 rural NJ in the 80s and early 90s, MTV was the only place to see anything for me. And the KLF videos were awesome.

Hell yeah! But that period of time was much more about PWEI for me...

Can U Dig It?

Just found out that a database/web-application server my predecessor had setup is configured as RAID-0.

Pyperkub wrote:Just found out that a database/web-application server my predecessor had setup is configured as RAID-0.

Hopefully you didn't discover that when one of the drives failed.

He just wanted the speed of striping and damn the safety?

Welcome to the dystopian future. We've stolen all the electronic bands from the past 20 years.

This doesn't quite fit into the Carrie Fisher thread, so I'll leave it here: Leia Organa: A Critical Obituary.

Representatives raised questions about her objectivity, her use of political killing as a tool of warfare, the possibility that she might have granted Vader immunity from war crimes prosecution, and her indifference to risk, given that she was willing to sacrifice the last known Jedi in multiple operations. Organa was unrepentant.

In Bulgaria, they're partying like it's 1944!

Bulgaria's public radio broadcaster has been banned from playing millions of contemporary songs because of a row over copyright payments.

Since 1 January, state-funded Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) has been filling its airwaves with classical pieces, jazz and traditional folk music instead, the Novinite news agency reports. It's locked in a dispute with the non-profit Musicautor organisation, which manages the rights to work by both local and international artists - 14 million pieces of music in total.

Even the traditional version of the national anthem is off-limits. Listeners tuning in on New Year's Eve instead heard the BNR symphony orchestra and choir's take on the tune, Balkan Insight reports, adding that the copyright row means only music made before 1945 can be played. BNR itself says it cannot play "95% of today's modern music repertoire".

Kate Beaton understands romance:

Kate Beaton is the best.

Max Peck wrote:Kate Beaton is the best.

Remember when I took this of you two?

Unagi wrote:

Max Peck wrote:Kate Beaton is the best.

Remember when I took this of you two?

You are mistaken, sir. I am not nearly so good-looking as that fine gentleman.

Nonetheless, I lurve Kate Beaton's work. She's the only cartoonist who books I've given as presents, to people who don't read cartoons. She's that good.

Just in time for the Trumpocalypse.

Whether it's nuclear warfare or a zombie apocalypse that triggers the end of the world, Vivos Group wants you to be prepared. The California-based company builds and maintains massive fortified shelters where high-net-worth families can buy space and live out Armageddon.

Its new development, Vivos xPoint, is billed as the largest private shelter community on earth. The bunker community houses up to 5,000 people and can withstand a 500,000-pound blast.

Heres my weather. I think its eggnog was spiked. We had an inch of snow today.

Two Brusali down...



One to go.