Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Mon Dec 10, 2018 10:42 am**

Just paid off my entire credit card balance, despite having maxed it out in the previous weeks. Paid for the $299 for 30 rides on Lyft (that saves me 10-30% on every ride, as most of my rides are right in the 11-14 range), and had to do a root canal and other stuff which cost me $270 in deductibles. Add some prior balance, and my low limit card is maxed. I looked at my bank account, calculated I have plenty of reserve. So I paid it all off.

That new PC I've been dreaming about will probably have to wait until next pay period.

Posted: **Mon Dec 10, 2018 1:38 pm**

Monsignor Michael Meyers goes after the Nuns!

An internal investigation found that over several years, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper and Sister Lana Chang used funds set aside for St. James Catholic School, Monsignor Michael Meyers said in the letter.

Internal Investigator = Jason Vorhees?

Posted: **Mon Dec 10, 2018 6:11 pm**

Had that broken space heater sitting my my floor for 2 years and decided to fix it. After a 1 hour tear down I get the switch out and order a $3 replacement. The company that made it sold them for $16 but only to companies and not consumers or heater owners. Stupidest thing I heard of. So the $3 ebay switch arrived today. Install and reassembly that took over an hour and BAM perfect heater again. I feel good about making something broken that I cant replace work again.

Best of all it was my bathroom heater and it worked on high and blew with a fan. The one we've been using is stuck to low or it shuts off and is radiant. So now warmer bathroom and us!

Posted: **Tue Dec 11, 2018 12:24 pm**

50+ salaried employees watching a 2.5 hour training session on a new timecard system is a colossal waste of resources.

Posted: **Tue Dec 11, 2018 12:31 pm**

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 12:24 pm 50+ salaried employees watching a 2.5 hour training session on a new timecard system is a colossal waste of resources.

Try the waste of resources that was putting thousands of scientists and engineers through three hours of in person, hands on training when we switched from desktops to laptops at my agency!

Posted: **Tue Dec 11, 2018 12:41 pm**

pr0ner wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 12:31 pm
Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 12:24 pm 50+ salaried employees watching a 2.5 hour training session on a new timecard system is a colossal waste of resources.
Try the waste of resources that was putting thousands of scientists and engineers through three hours of in person, hands on training when we switched from desktops to laptops at my agency!

Posted: **Tue Dec 11, 2018 1:18 pm**

Been sleeping awful for a week now. Last night I found a HD burning fireplace video I put on a loop with sounds. I also set my monitor back ground lighting to solid red. I couldn't set it to blink or flicker though. Its a cheap $5 strip from Walmart. But man did it help! I slept the best in a week. I woke up once and was a little off center from seeing and hearing what looks like a fire before going right back to sleep.

Posted: **Tue Dec 11, 2018 1:52 pm**

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 12:41 pm
pr0ner wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 12:31 pm
Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 12:24 pm 50+ salaried employees watching a 2.5 hour training session on a new timecard system is a colossal waste of resources.
Try the waste of resources that was putting thousands of scientists and engineers through three hours of in person, hands on training when we switched from desktops to laptops at my agency!

I think I learned exactly one thing in Windows 7 that day I didn't already know. Otherwise, I was just bored out of my mind.

Posted: **Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:31 pm**

WMATA's X2 bus is probably DC's most notorious bus line, and usually for bad reasons.

Here's what happened on the bus today:

Posted: **Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:36 pm**

Moron parenting.

Posted: **Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:31 pm**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:36 pm Moron parenting.

Hmm...pretty sure you can't use that word. Unless you are gonna double-down and insist it was for intentional effect!

Posted: **Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:46 pm**

If the kid wants to win a Darwin award, who are we to stop him?

Posted: **Tue Dec 11, 2018 11:28 pm**

Z-Corn wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:31 pm
Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:36 pm Moron parenting.
Hmm...pretty sure you can't use that word. Unless you are gonna double-down and insist it was for intentional effect!

That's not really an objectionable word. It's so far removed from its clinical origins that no one (or virtually no one) really correlates it as slur against people with intellectual disabilities. Other words are not there yet.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:33 am**

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 11:28 pm
Z-Corn wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:31 pm
Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:36 pm Moron parenting.
Hmm...pretty sure you can't use that word. Unless you are gonna double-down and insist it was for intentional effect!
That's not really an objectionable word. It's so far removed from its clinical origins that no one (or virtually no one) really correlates it as slur against people with intellectual disabilities. Other words are not there yet.

Do you really think that in the future we won't be able to say a person is stupid because stupid people will find it objectionable?

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:19 am**

Why in the sam hell does the government limit free assistance phones to ONE per family????? My wife has had one for years but as we have aged she has become much worse off recently. To the point where I have to go run errands while she stays in bed. We've been side by side together all the time for 31 years. Now Im forced to run to do errands or pay bills or get food all by myself with her sick or sometimes very sick and we have ONE PHONE. There are ZERO pay phones out there now so most times I cant even check on her or ask her stuff while Im out doing shit alone I never had to do alone before. If I leave the phone for her I am very lucky if a business will allow me to use a phone. If I take it then she has no phone at home. I hurry as fast as I can worried the entire time and speeding putting myself and others in danger.

And all these helpful services are linked so though her's is a Safelink phone I cant get a Lifeline one or any others. We need 2 different phones and services so we can stay in touch and its damn important. WTF is wrong with a gov that cant see this?? Im always worried now and Im getting sick from it.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 3:06 am**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:19 am Why in the sam hell does the government limit free assistance phones to ONE per family????? My wife has had one for years but as we have aged she has become much worse off recently. To the point where I have to go run errands while she stays in bed. We've been side by side together all the time for 31 years. Now Im forced to run to do errands or pay bills or get food all by myself with her sick or sometimes very sick and we have ONE PHONE. There are ZERO pay phones out there now so most times I cant even check on her or ask her stuff while Im out doing shit alone I never had to do alone before. If I leave the phone for her I am very lucky if a business will allow me to use a phone. If I take it then she has no phone at home. I hurry as fast as I can worried the entire time and speeding putting myself and others in danger.

And all these helpful services are linked so though her's is a Safelink phone I cant get a Lifeline one or any others. We need 2 different phones and services so we can stay in touch and its damn important. WTF is wrong with a gov that cant see this?? Im always worried now and Im getting sick from it.

https://www.freedompop.com

$10 SIM (or $0.99 if on sale), put it in some old AT&T/TMO network phone, then pay $7 to disable auto top-up. free 200 minutes/500 SMS/200MB of data per month. this is my cel phone plan, and while it's tricky tricky to stay under the 200MB cap, i can do it.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 4:28 am**

Would that work on phones from the late 1990s or early 2000s?

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 6:34 am**

Moat_Man wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:33 am
ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 11:28 pm
Z-Corn wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:31 pm
Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:36 pm Moron parenting.
Hmm...pretty sure you can't use that word. Unless you are gonna double-down and insist it was for intentional effect!
That's not really an objectionable word. It's so far removed from its clinical origins that no one (or virtually no one) really correlates it as slur against people with intellectual disabilities. Other words are not there yet.
Do you really think that in the future we won't be able to say a person is stupid because stupid people will find it objectionable?

My anecdote is admittedly limited, but all my kids' schools and daycares considered that to be a bad word and the kids all think they are not allowed to say it. They call it the s-word which freaked me out a bit until I figured out what they meant.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 10:16 am**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 4:28 am Would that work on phones from the late 1990s or early 2000s?

It *should* if it just uses a regular SIM.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 11:44 am**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:36 pm Moron parenting.

If this were true, then his parents would have really wanted him to actually get inside the bus and ride it properly. You can't get mor'on than that!

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:06 pm**

Would be nice if Walmart or someone sold a cheap phone and about 200 minutes that dont expire. That way Id always have some minutes and a phone.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:21 pm**

Twigby offers 300 min for $9 a month.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:38 pm**

Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) is now a quarter-century old.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:42 pm**

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:21 pm Twigby offers 300 min for $9 a month.

Ill look and see if they roll over and if you're forced into the $9 a month or can buy only when you want.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:49 pm**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:42 pm
Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:21 pm Twigby offers 300 min for $9 a month.
Ill look and see if they roll over and if you're forced into the $9 a month or can buy only when you want.

Nope. If they (or any company) used that business plan, many people would pay one time, stick the phone in a drawer and only 'refill' it once every year or two, and the company would go bankrupt in a year. They can't make phones for $9 every two years.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:52 pm**

Dont need the phone though just a sim. But Im sure you're right. Im also sure Im dirt poor and cant do it.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:22 pm**

stessier wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 6:34 am
Moat_Man wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:33 am
ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 11:28 pm
Z-Corn wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:31 pm
Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:36 pm Moron parenting.
Hmm...pretty sure you can't use that word. Unless you are gonna double-down and insist it was for intentional effect!
That's not really an objectionable word. It's so far removed from its clinical origins that no one (or virtually no one) really correlates it as slur against people with intellectual disabilities. Other words are not there yet.
Do you really think that in the future we won't be able to say a person is stupid because stupid people will find it objectionable?
My anecdote is admittedly limited, but all my kids' schools and daycares considered that to be a bad word and the kids all think they are not allowed to say it. They call it the s-word which freaked me out a bit until I figured out what they meant.

That's stupid... but we do tell our kids it's not a word we use.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:25 pm**

"No, I said you were being stupid... I would never say you were stupid..."

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:35 pm**

The broccoli in my salad just seemed off.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:46 pm**

stessier wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 6:34 am
Moat_Man wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:33 am
ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 11:28 pm
Z-Corn wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 6:31 pm
Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 4:36 pm Moron parenting.
Hmm...pretty sure you can't use that word. Unless you are gonna double-down and insist it was for intentional effect!
That's not really an objectionable word. It's so far removed from its clinical origins that no one (or virtually no one) really correlates it as slur against people with intellectual disabilities. Other words are not there yet.
Do you really think that in the future we won't be able to say a person is stupid because stupid people will find it objectionable?
My anecdote is admittedly limited, but all my kids' schools and daycares considered that to be a bad word and the kids all think they are not allowed to say it. They call it the s-word which freaked me out a bit until I figured out what they meant.

"Stupid" is generally restricted among the super young in the interest of teaching kids to be nice and to not call each other stupid. Whenever I say something is stupid, one of the twins is certain to tell me that that is not a very nice word. I'm not at all sure what Moat_Man was getting at in his post, as any relevance to the discussion that Z-Corn and I were having (which relates back to another post in R&P about various "letter words" that really should be left in the dust bin as they are extremely hurtful to people) is lost on me.

Unagi wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:25 pm "No, I said you were being stupid... I would never say you were stupid..."

Ah, yes. The famed defense to "Please keep the personal attacks out of things."

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:54 pm**

Trent Steel wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:35 pm The broccoli in my salad just seemed off.

When you were picking it from the trash and putting it on your plate, did you notice anything strange about it?

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:04 pm**

Trent Steel wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:35 pm The broccoli in my salad just seemed off.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 2:14 pm**

coopasonic wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:22 pm That's stupid... but we do tell our kids it's not a word we use.

Ditto. My kids are not allowed to belittle each other's intelligence. My wife on the other hand seems to feel it's completely acceptable for her to do it.

So there's that.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:27 pm**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 4:28 am Would that work on phones from the late 1990s or early 2000s?

requires SIM-unlocked phone running Android 4.0+ or iOS 7.0+.

but this is important: any phone from late 90s to early 00s - keep in mind the batteries will be shot and functional replacements will likely be impossible to come by - is pretty much guaranteed to not operate on current networks. 1G is gone (and analog data is completely kaput), 2G is mostly defunct (completely gone on AT&T) and limited to very small areas and use cases, and 3G will be shut down completely in a few years.

i've been through this a few times - my parents were happily using their analog Nokia phones until AT&T shut down the analog network in 2007, and their 2G flip phones until AT&T deactivated their 2G network a few years ago. they're on Samsung Notes (8 and 9) now, but my dad was still using a 3G flip phone up to last year.

read this article:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/362222/why-w ... -in-the-us

but, if you are serious on going down this route, i can try to dig around and see if i have an old Android phone on KitKat that could be sent to you.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:59 pm**

I didn't think about the batteries. Also I have no education on the 1g 2g stuff. All I know is higher is the latest better stuff.

The only thing I know about Android is my old Fire 7 is supposed to use it but Google Play or whatever wont see it so its not true Android. And I dont know KitKat other than a candy bar. I just dont do or know phones. Until now Ive been proud that I dont own a phone or have a smart phone.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 6:00 pm**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:06 pm Would be nice if Walmart or someone sold a cheap phone and about 200 minutes that dont expire. That way Id always have some minutes and a phone.

Tello - prepaid credit doesn't expire as long as you make at least 1 call or send 1 text every 90 days. Uses Sprint network, you do need a compatible GSM phone.
Lycamobile - you get a SIM card from them, load it with prepaid balance, and it doesn't expire as long as you make 1 call in 90 days. Uses T-Mobile network.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 6:12 pm**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:59 pm The only thing I know about Android is my old Fire 7 is supposed to use it but Google Play or whatever wont see it so its not true Android.

actually it is 'pure' Android (since Android is open source) - it just doesn't have the Google App Suite (which is an add-on package).

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 5:59 pm And I dont know KitKat other than a candy bar.

http://socialcompare.com/en/comparison/ ... comparison

anyhow, offer still stands. i found a Pantech Burst (Android device that has been rooted to OS 4.4) in my old electronics bin, but the battery doesn't seem to charge anymore. replacements are about $3-5 on eBay

i have a pile of Blackberries and a few feature phones, but those won't work. (not even the Blackberry Z10, which is supposed to be Android compatible)

so what about getting a government-assist landline? or is it an either/or situation?

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 9:22 pm**

Android OS releases are named for sweets.
The Kindle Fire uses a version of Android customized by Amazon to, as you said, limit apps to their store.
You've got the Gs bit down. 1G/2G is gone, 3G is almost gone, 4G is current, 5G is just around the corner.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 9:25 pm**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 12, 2018 12:06 pm Would be nice if Walmart or someone sold a cheap phone and about 200 minutes that dont expire. That way Id always have some minutes and a phone.

You can get unlimited talk and text + 1GB 4G LTE data from Unreal Mobile for only $10/month.

And you can buy an unlocked Nokia 6.1 phone from Amazon for <$200 (i.e. The Wirecutter's currently-recommended budget Android phone). While that's likely still a significant outlay when you have a limited income, you could probably swing it if you were able steer the funds you'd normally spend on gaming towards the cost of a decent phone.

Posted: **Wed Dec 12, 2018 10:11 pm**

I haven't bought a game other than a $1-$5 game in many years. I have a huge backlist. It took all year to keep the $20 Ill put into the Steam Wishmas. But damnit Im doing that because its fun and nice and its the time of year

Ive offered twice though to drop myself out but the wife wont hear of it because she knows I love it so much.

Octopus Overlords

Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness

Re: Random randomness