Octopus Overlords

I can only offer my individual experiences and confirm they worked for us. I don't represent they're a universal solution in any capacity. I know you said you used consequences but you didn't clarify what exactly that meant. With our daughter we'd get into a pattern where I'd ask if she tried the bathroom before some type of activity that would have us out and about without easy use of a bathroom. Usually it would have been have been a trip to the park or a walk around town. I'd ask if she needed to go, she said no, and then 10 minutes into the activity (even playing in the yard) she'd have an "accident". I put it in quotes because it absolutely wasn't an accident but just being lazy. The consequences then were immediately returning home and she'd need a bath. And of course I'd draw that whole process out so it was a 45 minute process, start to finish. And when we were done she'd invariably ask if we were going back to the park or back on our walk, and of course we couldn't -- all that time was spent cleaning up and dealing with the consequences of not trying to go before we left. I think it happened maybe 5 or 6 times over the course of a two week period when finally she connected the dots.

It sucked - no doubt. It worked (for us) because (I think) she finally understood If X, then Y. I don't know if all kids are like that. But when she had to experience the inconvenience and the loss of activity along with the actual accident, it seemed to work. There was never yelling or anything like that, it was more of a "Well, next time let's try to go the bathroom before visiting the park and see if that helps."

So for your example here, sitting in it doesn't seem to be the issue. But loss of TV? I'm betting that'll register.

But overall, I totally sympathize with your wife. There was a period of about 6 months where it was like being a hostage at home with fear of leaving to go anywhere. It was not fun at all and I still remember it quite clearly. /eye twitches.

watched Tough Guys recently. I can't even tell you why. Interesting little docu-thingy about a predecessor to the UFC and MMA competition that started in the 70's.

It's full of docudrama and bullshit, but the core story is interesting on it's own.

2 friends who were Karate instructors decide to start hosting competitions, and eventually start bringing in other arts and random bar room tough guys to see who's the toughest tough guy to tough it out between guys.

It was only 86 minutes. I particularly like how they tried to make the rich mafia boss into a hero. Yeah, no. That kind of behaviour is exactly why they are a cancer on society. I'm glad he helped you guys though.

A fair amount of time is spent with the individual fighters from that day, so you get insight into the thinking behind these guys, which I found interesting. Some of them are still looking for a fight, in their 60's.

I don't have a social circle so much any more. I suppose I have a social distant ellipse, where I get near old friends once a year or so and then the orbit quickly drifts.

I don't know if that will change in retirement. I'm *really* comfortable sitting at home alone and when I don't have motivation to work I step away from the electronics as well so even my virtual social circle, OO, will become more distant. Though that may change after an extended period not working. I've never had more than a month at a stretch of not working since I was like 11 or 12 years old. I'm so ready to find out what it's like to not feel the need to work, by my math 59.5 when I can start collecting IRA and 401k without penalty to get me to 62 and SSI is 150 months away and I have enough savings to cover 50 of those months at sustenance level minus the great unknown of health care costs. I'm getting there. Obsessively, I'm getting there.

To paraphrase some song, if you can't be with your friends, befriend the ones you're with.

I have my old friends (college) but I don't see them that often. So I have a pretty solid group of neighborhood friends that ebbs and flows as people move in and out. Got a good core group of dad's from the kiddo's school but it's tough to get them all together.


I'm constantly amazed when I'm at my local and someone introduces me to an old grade school or high school friend. I think I keep on touch with one person from high school (my BFF). And no one from grade school. Theyre always talking about people from the old Parrish or neighborhood or school. Kind of sad that that kind of stuff is dying now. I've been in the neighborhood 20 some years, a baby compared to the lifers but I'm old school compared to anyone my age.

GreenGoo wrote:watched Tough Guys recently. I can't even tell you why. Interesting little docu-thingy about a predecessor to the UFC and MMA competition that started in the 70's.

Aw man, for a second there I thought you were talking about the Kirk Douglas/Burt Lancaster movie from the mid-80's.

A fun flick about two elderly gangsters being released from prison after 40 years behind bars.

Well, now I feel like quite the asshole.

Mrs. Skinypupy took Wonder Twin 1b into the pediatrician this afternoon. Turns out he has a fecal impaction, which is why he keep saying it hurts to poop. He's streaking in his pants because that's the only waste that can make it out around the big obstruction, and he really has no control over it at all. For the next three days, he will be on a regimen of 4 capfuls of Mirilax and two doses of ExLax every day to try and soften up the impacted mass (yeah...that'll be fun). Once his BM's are clear (doc said they should basically look like urine), we then cut the dose in half for the next month, and hopefully it breaks up and moves through by then. I was so horrified by this part of the process that I didn't even ask what the next step would be if this didn't work.

I feel absolutely awful now about doing negative reinforcement on something the poor guy had literally no control over.

Saw that one, if it helps.

Skinypupy wrote: I was so horrified by this part of the process that I didn't even ask what the next step would be if this didn't work.

The logical next step.

I loved the show Sliders back in the 90s. I was looking up snippets on YouTube and saw the one where they actually returned home for 53 seconds. They had to be sure it was home and the next wormhole was 63 seconds away. They read the paper and saw a bunch of crazy stuff like the Cleveland Indians doing well and stuff. Then Mal checked the gate and it didn't squeak so they left!! It was home. The gate had been oiled. Sad ending ep..forehead smashing.

But I was thinking what if they just returned today...or someone from just a couple years ago returned...lol...they'd think they were in an alternate Earth too.

I've thought about starting a Kickstarter to raise money to get back to the prime timeline. There has to be a way. The scientists in my timeline would be able to figure it out.

Late to the potty training advice. How we finally got our son to use the potty.

He LOVED hot wheels and matchbox cars. Went to Wal Mart and spent like 20 bucks on cars. Put them all on a shelf over the toilet still int he brand new packaging and told him if he peed or pooped in the potty he got a car. Potty trained in 2 days. Greedy bugger.

On the fecal compaction thing. Oh my.

Kelric wrote:

Skinypupy wrote:Potty training overly stubborn children might be the most patience-testing activity the world has ever known.

My daughter peed AND pooped her first time on her potty without a diaper yesterday. I imagine it will never be that good again for years.

Two out of three times! The third time I think she was just sitting there for fun, as she had already pooped earlier. Tonight she sat on the toilet, but kept her diaper on. She has no interest in sitting on her potty during the day, just at bed time.

Skinypupy wrote:Mrs. Skinypupy took Wonder Twin 1b into the pediatrician this afternoon. Turns out he has a fecal impaction, which is why he keep saying it hurts to poop............I feel absolutely awful now about doing negative reinforcement on something the poor guy had literally no control over.

I can't even imagine, but don't feel too bad - there is no way you could know and he probably will be past the entire ordeal in a few months and will never remember it. As for him, I had an ear impaction two weeks ago and that was unpleasant. I refuse to think of that happening elsewhere.

Oy. In my rush to help I glossed over the pain issue. Well...that's something. Here's hoping the new information helps.

I suppose at a certain age you could make them clean themselves up and toss the dirty diaper then a bath...every time. Sooner or later they might get tired of it. Point and laugh too maybe

Kraken wrote:

Skinypupy wrote: I was so horrified by this part of the process that I didn't even ask what the next step would be if this didn't work.

The logical next step.

Debating whether or not to click on that link...

Skinypupy wrote:

Kraken wrote:

Skinypupy wrote: I was so horrified by this part of the process that I didn't even ask what the next step would be if this didn't work.

The logical next step.

Debating whether or not to click on that link...

Guaranteed SFW.

went searching in my A/V parts box for an FM wire antenna, and actually found one. now, at long last... my living room receiver has radio reception!!!!!!

(i bought a pair of Infinity IL-40 floor-standing speakers at a yard sale on Sunday for $20 [original MSRP: $999]... to replace the computer speakers i was using before.)

Some bug bit me directly behind my left ear lobe last night.

now, at long last... my living room receiver has radio reception!!!!!!

Theres still free radio?

I kid...sorta. Its not as bad as TV yet but I assume it will be one day sooner than I want it to be.

I went and bit somebody directly behind his left ear lobe last night.

dbt1949 wrote:I went and bit somebody directly behind his left ear lobe last night.

Now they're going to live forever.

Daehawk wrote:

now, at long last... my living room receiver has radio reception!!!!!!

Theres still free radio?

I'd assume. I got rid of my last radio a few years ago in favor of Pandora and later, Spotify. The broadcast radio around here gave me one top-40 station, one southern rock station, a couple of country stations, and a variety of static-laden gospel stations, most of which would quit working if it was cloudy out.

Yay! The appraisal came in on Mom's house today! $260,000! Basically, because l insisted on painting and repairing the house, it sold for 40K than it would have otherwise.
Yay me!

Daehawk wrote:

now, at long last... my living room receiver has radio reception!!!!!!

Theres still free radio?

I kid...sorta. Its not as bad as TV yet but I assume it will be one day sooner than I want it to be.

you know that if you put a UHF antenna on your TV, you can probably pick up a bunch of channels and sub-channels. i get about 34 at my location.

there are about six decent FM radio stations in Seattle, which is far more than in most other areas of the country. (jazz, college/freeform radio, an eclectic/multi-genre that's mostly indie rock [the world-famous KEXP], a high school station that plays EDM all day, and two classical - all are public radio.)

Default wrote:Yay! The appraisal came in on Mom's house today! $260,000! Basically, because l insisted on painting and repairing the house, it sold for 40K than it would have otherwise.
Yay me!

Awesome!

Maybe but never wanted to waste money trying. Where we live is a big hill behind us. We never got anything but NBC clear here. I used a home made UHF to watch Star Trek TNG back in the day through a ton of fuzz.. Nothing else came in.

Daehawk wrote:Maybe but never wanted to waste money trying. Where we live is a big hill behind us. We never got anything but NBC clear here. I used a home made UHF to watch Star Trek TNG back in the day. Nothing else came in.

an antenna is all of $6 or even less on fleaBay. you can use an old antenna from decades ago and it'll work. if the signal's strong enough, you can even bend a paperclip into an "L" shape and stick it in the coax hole - that'll get some channels.

Oh Thank God, they found Paul Revere's Outhouse. This is going to be huge. All we need is one sample and we can clone our own Revolutionary Rider!

Number One if by land, poo if by sea.

I had a dream last night that I was in a relationship with one of the Kardashian or Jenner girls. I have no idea which one. I mostly remember trying to convince myself that she was the normal ones and hated the attention seeking sisters as much as I do. I was actually losing self respect in a dream.

Isgrimnur wrote:Liam Neeson retires from action movies

Liam Neeson Says He’s ‘Unretired’ From Action Movies at the ‘Mark Felt’ Premiere

When asked about the recent news that he was retiring from action movies, Neeson laughingly said, “It’s not true, look at me! You’re talking in the past tense. I’m going to be doing action movies until they bury me in the ground. I’m unretired.”

Isgrimnur wrote:Number One if by land, poo if by sea.

Edit: Man, you better not be a bot.

hepcat wrote:

Isgrimnur wrote:Number One if by land, poo if by sea.

Edit: Man, you better not be a bot.

That's a concern that has been haunting us for years. I've probably spent 100+ hours with him and I am still not sure. Of course he may very well wonder the same of me.

If I'm a bot, I need someone to take a look at this emotion chip. I'm pretty sure it's faulty.

I am now getting email from the post office with pictures of mail that I will be receiving soon.

I am not entirely sure if this is cool or not.

I am strangely okay with the Post Office becoming a glorified secure document scanning & emailing facility that sends me emails of the crap I'd otherwise throw away. We don't pay a single bill by physical check anymore. Sure, I'd lose the ability to send Hallmark cards and would have to use eCards, but that's a small price to cut back so much waste.

I can't figure out why this is even a thing and l work for them.

I'd hate to photograph ANY packages coming out of Jersey.

They could contain part of Jimmy Hoffa.

Default wrote:I can't figure out why this is even a thing and l work for them.

mail theft is a huge thing in my neighborhood

also the USPS is scanning every. single. item of mail anyways (and has been for some time), so now they're just emailing copies to you for free.