Octopus Overlords

Almost went and got food today. Wife is basically in bed and my back is out and kidney wanting me to die. I almost went and got some food. Almost. Maybe tomorrow. Think she wants to at least ride with me and stay in the car. Just when I got up enough mental energy today the pain stopped me.

Wife was supposed to go for a recheck to the doc today but we dropped that too. Maybe after the holidays. I didn't even realize Christmas Eve is tomorrow.

Another sob story from me so if you're tired of them just pass it by. God knows Im sick to death of them.

Christmas doesn't seem happy any longer. To make it short life has changed and so many have died theres nothing left but us. Used to be presents out into the floor. By that I dont mean money...the presents represent people...family. We had ones to open here with my wife's family. We had presents to take to my moms. Ones to take to my dads. Some to take to cousins or to have them come here. We had big dinners at all places.

Now nothing. There are no presents under the tree. No money of course but no family. Theres just us. Im beyond happy there is us. But we are so sick now days. My wife nearly died. She has been so very sick for the last few weeks. Im sick now for some reason...maybe worry. And Im also in so much pain even when I take quadruple my pain meds or more.

Everyone else is dead. I can tell you the date for each of them. Everyone but us is gone. We lost our close cousin who was like a brother to my wife on Christmas Day last year. We buried him in the cold and the rain after new years.

We have ourselves and our little dog who we love beyond measure. But everything else and everyone else is gone. My sister made the comment "We are the next to go" and its true sadly. We have lived long enough to be that generation. We dont feel like going anywhere. I was supposed to go to the store today and take my wife in for a checkup. We didn't feel like it. We'll try tomorrow.

This is the very first Christmas we haven't gotten something for each other. It scares me too as sick as she has been and I didn't get her anything for this Christmas. She says its ok. But its not. Its really not.

I dread the holidays. I try to make a good face and do happy things. Play some music. Watch something. I sewed up the dog's little plush toy we got him a few months back and he chewed apart. Thats his stocking stuffer. His gift is a bag of treats I grabbed in the store the other day. The day I had to go by myself. Something Ive done maybe 10 times in 31 years.

So many crap thoughts that I dwell on. Im only happy that we're still here and we have a great little dog. Its enough in the big picture. but so much is gone its hard to look forward or enjoy these holidays. Someone or something always died on or around these damn days. I just sit and think of days past.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sun Dec 23, 2018 8:12 pmI just sit and think of days past.

You gotta stop time traveling.

George Harrison wrote:“It's being here now that's important. There's no past and there's no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don't know if there is one.”

Sorry that you're hurting on so many levels. I don't have any words of encouragement because my seasonal depression hits bottom around the solstice and doesn't start to dissipate until we return to Daylight Sane Time in March. I'm not a christian, I don't have kids, I'm not much of a consumer, I don't have any local family, and I don't have any coworkers or friends, so xmas passes me by on every level -- it's something that sweeps up everybody else. I don't cope well with holidays in general and xmas is the Big One.

Objectively, I don't have any major health or money problems to complain about. Tonight Wife massaged and manipulated my left arm, which a flaky elbow has rendered mostly useless over the past few months. Now it feels so much better that I can even carry a beer in my left hand again. Maybe it's worth risking medical treatment.

Once again I see the chiropractor Wednesday.
Altho the CBD seems to lessen the pain and my arthritis hasn't bothered me since I got it.
I'm still not sure if it's working or a placebo.
When I go grocery shopping now I usually use the electric carts. It took me awhile to start using those because it made me feel less manly. Now......fuck it. I've donated my gonads to science.

my seasonal depression hits bottom around the solstice and doesn't start to dissipate until we return to Daylight Sane Time in March.

I cant wait! I hate the short dark days. 5:30 is too early for night.

Have arthritis in my shoulders. Started in my left about 5 years ago. Got a shot in it around 3 years ago I think and its been great. My right has started in on me now.

Our bed is against the wall at top and my side. Foot is covered in a table and tv. So my only way in is to climb in the foot and get in the back. That used to be my wife's side but its much much worse on her to try and get there. So I traded and these days my shoulder will sometimes pop and HURT like shit . I got up to go to the bathroom....another thing that started in my older age a few years ago.....and it popped as I was climbing over her to get out. I yelped out and woke her and almost fell on her.

Have to be VERY careful with her because of the new blood thinner she takes. Any accident or cut inside or out could have her bleed out. I cannot fall on her for sure . Ugh.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 24, 2018 1:22 am I'm still not sure if it's working or a placebo.

What difference does it make if you feel better? The placebo effect tricks your brain into providing real relief. It doesn't mean you're imagining it.

Went to the store with enough cash for a chicken. Sure enough no chickens AT ALL. So a ham then. Nope. Hams were $18. WTF. So ended up with hamburger helper for Christmas. Life.

True or not it seems it would be for Bob Hope that on his death bed when asked where he wanted to be buried he replied "surprise me"

From what I understand he only did jokes if his writers wrote it for him.

Kraken wrote: ↑Mon Dec 24, 2018 3:23 am

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 24, 2018 1:22 am I'm still not sure if it's working or a placebo.

What difference does it make if you feel better? The placebo effect tricks your brain into providing real relief. It doesn't mean you're imagining it.

I always tell people that too. If it works who cares? I feel the same way for myself.

Something was off at the store. Their ad listed 10 lb hams at 76 cents a pound. I get there and they are marked $15 - $18 except one ham that was brown and had been there a long time according to the guy working that was $8. I posted a min ago but since then looked at their ad again and the ham weights. Thats some BS. I emailed them.

Still feels like we died a ways back to me.

Was just thinking that Stargate SG-1 should have had a Christmas episode where for some reason Jack has to dress up as Santa and Asgard beam himself int oa home to leave presents and makes sure the kids see him then beam back up/out.

I worked on Christmas Eve, delivered 50 boxes (light day), gets Christmas off, have to work day after Christmas. Don't believe I'm getting NYE off either. *sigh*

My pull stick works, but it's not ideal. My knees are much stronger now, as I can actually get into the vehicle without too much pain. Lock the side doors into open position, then drag and pull, and I'm in. However, I need to remain hunched over, and that's bad for my back. Fortunately I basically go in, move 10-15 boxes, and get back out. Only takes a few minutes. If I have to stay in that position my back would go out for sure.

Mines been out a week now.

Hot turkey sandwiches, bitches!

Without warning, they swapped my van out today for oil change. That means not only I don't have my pull stick, their crappy charger can't even charge my phone (else I would have kept my charger in my bag). I ended up driving to a Best Buy and bought a QC3 charger... for $35.

The lesson being that it’s not your van. Everything of importance should be removed nightly.

'Amazing honour': Edmonton BioWare founders receive Order of Canada

Two Edmonton men are receiving one of Canada's top honours and any fans of video games will likely know their names.

Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, co-founders of the internationally successful video-game software company BioWare, are among the 103 Canadians appointed this year to the Order of Canada.

The recipients were announced Thursday by the office of Gov.-Gen. Julie Payette.

Zeschuk didn't believe it at first when he got the call.

"It was shocking," he told CBC News. "We just try to do great stuff and try and help people and try and work with great people and build things, and to be recognized for that is really an amazing honour."

These days, Zeschuk owns the Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company and the Biera gastropub in Edmonton's Ritchie neighbourhood. Muzyka mentors entrepreneurs in information technology, health-tech and medical innovation industries through his company ThresholdImpact.

Im glad they got it and not Bioware. Since they left its not the same company they started. They always seemed like good guys though. Wish they had stayed and ran Bioware though. The good days are all behind us.

Taking my wife back to the hospital. Foggy and out of town. Pray for us and especially her.Please.

Got a Visa gift card for Christmas. Tried to us it. Declined. Tried to attach it to PayPal instead. Declined. Tried to check it on the company's site. Unable to process. 25 minutes on hold, finally a rep with so thick of an accent that I had to ask him to repeat everything multiple times. The problem? The security code uses a lined 0 that is visually identical to the 8 right next to it. I asked three people. They all saw two 8s. Card is now locked due to too many failed attempts. Why would they use visually identical characters in a security code?

I don't think I've ever had a Visa gift card that didn't have one issue or another.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sat Dec 29, 2018 12:03 pm Got a Visa gift card for Christmas. Tried to us it. Declined. Tried to attach it to PayPal instead. Declined. Tried to check it on the company's site. Unable to process. 25 minutes on hold, finally a rep with so thick of an accent that I had to ask him to repeat everything multiple times. The problem? The security code uses a lined 0 that is visually identical to the 8 right next to it. I asked three people. They all saw two 8s. Card is now locked due to too many failed attempts. Why would they use visually identical characters in a security code?

I don't think I've ever had a Visa gift card that didn't have one issue or another.

That stinks. Are they going to be able to unlock it for you?

Wife in hospital..see this thread. Rushing sorry.

https://www.octopusoverlords.com/forum/ ... =5&t=96371

I believe my neighbors think I am 420. Naughty never-do-well teenagers hanging around. I got LED glow lights on my germinating bonsai trees. My house does glow until 2030. They will be massively disappointed to smoke my product.. MJ will be legal in this state by the end of 2019 so back off!

Our neighbor actually called the cops on us to report we were growing pot.

It was either the lighting from multiple reptile enclosures or perhaps the green neon from my gaming PC. After that I changed our WiFi name to NotAGrowOperation to rub it in a bit.

Now our neighbor is dead.

...from cancer. I mean, I had nothing to do with it.

One of our best high school friends was a foreign exchange student from New Zelaland. He left after graduation, and while we all keep in touch via social media, none of our core group of friends had seen him in over 25 years. He decided to bring his whole family to the states over the holidays, so about a dozen of us had a last minute, impromptu reunion in Denver last night. Four of us literally booked plane tickets and hotel rooms Friday night in order to get there on Saturday. Had an absolutely wonderful time catching up over far too many beers.

Towards the end of the night, we all wanted to get some pictures together. Of the twelve of us, six people had to completely opt out of being in any pictures because if their significant others found out they spent a night hanging out with old high school friends of the opposite sex, there would have been hell to pay.

This struck me as odd and more than a little bit sad. These are all folks who have been married 10+ years, but there was so little trust that they couldn’t risk being seen with a group of friends.

Or maybe that’s the norm, and I’m just incredibly fortunate to have a wife who is totally cool with that sort of thing, I dunno.

I know what you mean. My wife and I both have friends with insanely jealous spouses who constantly fight over the most trivial things usually brought on by mistrust or misunderstanding.

We just can't understand how people like that can be happy in their relationships. Constant fighting, deception, and jealousy is no way to live with somebody but they all insist that they are happy and love their spouses.

Well, if they say so I guess then I'm... happy?... for them but I couldn't live like that.

For some people, being alone is worse than being in an unhealthy relationship so they just deal with whatever strict requirements their spouses or SOs put on them.

It is sad. You have to have trust in your SO.

Brian wrote: ↑Sun Dec 30, 2018 12:59 pm
We just can't understand how people like that can be happy in their relationships. Constant fighting, deception, and jealousy is no way to live with somebody but they all insist that they are happy and love their spouses.

Well, if they say so I guess then I'm... happy?... for them but I couldn't live like that.

One of my friends that was there last night, I’ve known for 30 years. Hung out all through HS, were roommates for 3 years in college, were best man at each other’s weddings, and still see each other once or twice a year. I actually introduced him to his wife in college, and they’ve been married nearly 20 years. He literally got up and walked out of the bar last night when we were taking pictures so there would be no possible chance he snuck into a shot.

In all the time I’ve known her, she’s always gone completely mental if he ever speaks to any woman he knew before they met. For some reason, she thinks it’s “wildly inappropriate” that he would still keep in contact with female friends and that he has no business ever talking with or hanging out with them. It’s not even like these are ex-girlfriends...they’re just girls we hung out with in school.

Finally asked him last night, “what the hell is it that she thinks is going to happen?” That he - an average, balding, overweight dude just like the rest of us - is going to up and run off with an old high school friend and start a new life together because they had a conversation?

It’s all so completely irrational and utterly baffling to me.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Sun Dec 30, 2018 1:29 pm
Finally asked him last night, “what the hell is it that she thinks is going to happen?” That he - an average, balding, overweight dude just like the rest of us - is going to up and run off with an old high school friend and start a new life together because they had a conversation?

This happens more than you'd think.

At the same time, that's not reason to be distrustful of your spouse.

Nothing like getting a horrible cold New Year's Eve, then spending the next two days on cold medicine and watching Hulu and Netflix. My first day of the new year is a sick day at work.

I was hoping to "work" from home if the roads froze, but no such luck.

Brian wrote: ↑Sat Dec 29, 2018 10:33 pmNow our neighbor is dead.

When we moved into our house, the guy who originally owned the lot and broke it up for sale was the first person to visit. A self-important old bastard who introduced himself by telling us we shouldn't believe anything everyone else on the road had to say about him. We already knew, though, from before the sale. He had made it his life's mission to terrorize the previous property owners by crappily maintaining the easement against their wishes. Bad plowing, shoddy grading, zealous over-trimming.

The current owner had the desire and equipment to do it all himself, but this old turd would ruin his work. The courts wouldn't stop him, saying he wasn't hurting anything and was working "to make the property better for his son" who owned the next lot down the easement - and his son's deed allowed him to maintain the easement as needed. After a decade of torment, the family moved and sold the place to us when the housing market had pretty much hit rock-bottom in the area. Knowing all this, I didn't invest much into fighting him, except to attempt to file a police claim for property damage after his first bad road grading, and they laughed at me.

The year after we moved in, his son died of cancer - and two years later he died. It's been nice to not have to worry about him ripping up bushes and ruining work we pay contractors to perform correctly. I was fully prepared to outlive him and enjoy the property once he was gone, and it didn't take long to happen. I wouldn't go out of my way to tap-dance on his grave, but I certainly don't miss him.

Kids tell me they want to get a snake. They want to keep it at my house.

dbt1949 wrote:Kids tell me they want to get a snake. They want to keep it at my house.

Then it's not really their snake but your snake and who's to judge if you decide to let said snake roam free at a respectable distance from your home.

$iljanus wrote: ↑Sun Jan 06, 2019 8:04 pm Then it's not really their snake but your snake and who's to judge if you decide to let said snake roam free at a respectable distance from your home.

That must be what happened to the Everglades.