Octopus Overlords

My dog likes to bark when I'm on the phone speaking in numbers some place wants. He can be totally quiet and look asleep until I need to speak something the computer wants...

X223*BARK!*BARK!* "I'm sorry I didn't get that. Please repeat the crap again" ....X2*BARK!*2*BARK!*3x "I'm sorry I didn't get that. Please repeat the crap again" ...Shut up I'm on the phone!*Lays down* ....X22*BARK!* Oh fuck me...."I'm sorry I didn't get that. Please hold for the next available barely English speaking foreigner who will read from a script to you. Your wait time is [FLATVOICE] 20 minutes [/FLATVOICE].

*sigh* Come on boy, lets go to the kitchen and get something to eat.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 3:39 pm*sigh* Come on boy, lets go to the kitchen and get something to eat.

Well there is your problem. You've trained him that when you start saying numbers he gets fed if he makes noise.

Thought. If free pizza is 50% off does that mean you have to pay for half?

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 4:02 pm Thought. If free pizza is 50% off does that mean you have to pay for half?

50% of 0 (free) is 0.

Seems the next season of Doctor Who is starting on New Years day. I am excited.
Also, I really want to see the new War of the Worlds short series from BBC, but no telling when it will come to BBC America

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 4:27 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 03, 2019 4:02 pm Thought. If free pizza is 50% off does that mean you have to pay for half?

50% of 0 (free) is 0.

Even if it's a none pizza with left beef?

I just gave up on The Man in the High Castle about halfway through season 1. It was just too oppressive without ever giving you a breather. Even dark shows generally have a light moment, or a glimmer of hope, or a character you like. This was just too much.

I need to find a new series. Something that isn't too silly, but is fun. Something with a believable story without being plodding. Something that draws you in. Something that has a sense of danger without being too oppressive. 24. Game of Thrones. Penny Dreadful. This is what I want.

Anyone had any hollow french fries lately? Ive gotten them a couple times now at different fast food places. They look like normal fries but when you eat them theres not potato in them. Its just hollow. Bite and they go flat because they are simply filled with air. Dont know if its some new cost savings trick or just bad fries.

Think Ill buy me some steak fries.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Thu Dec 05, 2019 12:16 am Anyone had any hollow french fries lately? Ive gotten them a couple times now at different fast food places. They look like normal fries but when you eat them theres not potato in them. Its just hollow. Bite and they go flat because they are simply filled with air. Dont know if its some new cost savings trick or just bad fries.

Think Ill buy me some steak fries.

Hollow generally means that they're overcooked.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:50 pm I just gave up on The Man in the High Castle about halfway through season 1. It was just too oppressive without ever giving you a breather. Even dark shows generally have a light moment, or a glimmer of hope, or a character you like. This was just too much.

never saw it, but i do recommend the original book!

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:50 pm I just gave up on The Man in the High Castle about halfway through season 1. It was just too oppressive without ever giving you a breather. Even dark shows generally have a light moment, or a glimmer of hope, or a character you like. This was just too much.

I need to find a new series. Something that isn't too silly, but is fun. Something with a believable story without being plodding. Something that draws you in. Something that has a sense of danger without being too oppressive. 24. Game of Thrones. Penny Dreadful. This is what I want.

Do you have access to HBO shows? Watchmen is having a great first season

We canceled HBO as soon as we finished GoT with the kids a few weeks ago. It's a pretty big subscription fee for us right now.

Just remembered something I have to do next year. Get a lug nut. My front right wheel is missing one of the 5. I noticed it early this year but forgot about it. No telling how long its been gone. Also dont have a clue what will fit in that small space. Some kind of chrome lug nut is all I know. I dont even have a lug wrench now. Ill have to go by some mechanic and get it looked at or put on. Im sure that wont cost me more than I can afford..hahahahah.

Lug nut? Shouldn't your car have an emergency jack that will work?

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:50 pm I just gave up on The Man in the High Castle about halfway through season 1. It was just too oppressive without ever giving you a breather. Even dark shows generally have a light moment, or a glimmer of hope, or a character you like. This was just too much.

I need to find a new series. Something that isn't too silly, but is fun. Something with a believable story without being plodding. Something that draws you in. Something that has a sense of danger without being too oppressive. 24. Game of Thrones. Penny Dreadful. This is what I want.

Jack Ryan may fit the bill.

That's what I finished just before MitHC. It would have, though.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:50 pm I just gave up on The Man in the High Castle about halfway through season 1. It was just too oppressive without ever giving you a breather. Even dark shows generally have a light moment, or a glimmer of hope, or a character you like. This was just too much.

I need to find a new series. Something that isn't too silly, but is fun. Something with a believable story without being plodding. Something that draws you in. Something that has a sense of danger without being too oppressive. 24. Game of Thrones. Penny Dreadful. This is what I want.

Here's some worthwhile shows you might like on Netflix:

• The Spy (mini-series w/ Sacha Baron Cohen)
• Altered Carbon
• Travelers
• The Blacklist
• Hell on Wheels
• The Last Kingdom
• Narcos

Thanks. I'll check those out. Hell on Wheels and Altered Carbon I've watched.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu Dec 05, 2019 1:40 am We canceled HBO as soon as we finished GoT with the kids a few weeks ago. It's a pretty big subscription fee for us right now.

We dropped HBO right after Chernobyl, but I would definitely like to see Watchmen.

hitbyambulance wrote: ↑Thu Dec 05, 2019 1:00 am

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:50 pm I just gave up on The Man in the High Castle about halfway through season 1. It was just too oppressive without ever giving you a breather. Even dark shows generally have a light moment, or a glimmer of hope, or a character you like. This was just too much.

never saw it, but i do recommend the original book!

The series is really only inspired by the book (which was itself pretty slim, being yet another of PKD's quickie thought-experiments). There's not much in the novel that isn't exhausted by the latter half of the first TV season. Most of the show's important characters aren't even Dick's.

That said, the show's world-making and tone have struck me as very well executed. I've only seen the first two seasons, though.

This is the first xmas season in 14 years that I haven't worked in retail. I was reminded of that yesterday when some stranger left me a voicemail saying he wants to buy a kite but is afraid of the internet. Man, I hated those calls. I'm not ready to actually *like* xmas -- I don't have kids or local family, don't socialize (no coworkers or local friends), am not a Christian, and have never been an enthusiastic consumer. To me, it's just a lot of red-and-green with ritual songs.

Except for a six-year hiatus, I worked in retail all of my adult life, and hated xmas every year. I am trying not to reflexively hate it again this year. So far, so good.

The other week I stopped at a upper end car repair place to get something looked at. They basically quoted the same price my normal mechanic quoted but where he offers a 30 day warranty they said they didn't offer any warranty on it. I was taken aback a little. I said something like "You think your work is that bad?" and he said he didn't know why but due to the repair type the place didn't offer any. Its a family place btw. Weird. I kinda chuckled and drove off.

I don't know how good his claim is but I do know that Disney is no longer always the good guy.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:50 pm I just gave up on The Man in the High Castle about halfway through season 1. It was just too oppressive without ever giving you a breather. Even dark shows generally have a light moment, or a glimmer of hope, or a character you like. This was just too much.

I need to find a new series. Something that isn't too silly, but is fun. Something with a believable story without being plodding. Something that draws you in. Something that has a sense of danger without being too oppressive. 24. Game of Thrones. Penny Dreadful. This is what I want.

Have you seen "The Boys" on Amazon?

Oh yes. Loved that show.

I just had to tell a friend that I would not come by his house and pull his hard drive from his old computer for him. Told him if he couldn't figure it out on his own, to just google "How to remove hard drive" and look at one of 30,000 youtube videos on it. He's probably really pissed at me right now.

Or crying with all the pieces of his HD laying in his lap.

No, he wants to destroy it. He asked me if I had a degausser lying around.

Yes its called a hammer in the USA.

No, that's dehammer.

hentzau wrote: ↑Fri Dec 06, 2019 4:38 pm I just had to tell a friend that I would not come by his house and pull his hard drive from his old computer for him. Told him if he couldn't figure it out on his own, to just google "How to remove hard drive" and look at one of 30,000 youtube videos on it. He's probably really pissed at me right now. to bring his PC to my house with pizza and beer and I'd see what could be done to remove the hard drive.

FTFY

Seriously. You could have given him the old Rocket Raccoon treatment. "You want me to remove a hard drive? I'll need a six pack of beer, a pizza and that guy's leg."

December 7th has arrived again. Remember.

My parents anniversary.

Sometimes I impress myself. That's a monkey bread muffin, a raspberry, bacon, and icing. Kids can't ask for a better breakfast than that!



Kids said the way the icing pooled at the bottom made it look like I'd beheaded the reindeer and it was bleeding out. Merry Christmas!

(All I see above is a circle with a minus sign. I can make one of those.)

College Board. The organization responsible for administering the SAT test.

My eldest is a senior this year, so it is time for his SATs. I registered with collegeboard.org several months ago for the December 7th test date. I paid the $80, which is (to us, at least) a great deal of money. When I did, the site said that the testing center would be determined later. Five days ago I went to print out his ticket and it still listed the testing center as 'see below', with nothing below. I called them to ask where the testing center was. The person I talked to was incomprehensible. I don't mean that they had an accent, I mean that I honestly couldn't tell if they were speaking English. I had to ask them to repeat every question three or four times. Some I know I answered wrong, because I couldn't tell what they were asking. After ten minutes, I was put on hold and transferred. The second representative was similar, and kept saying something about 'accommodations', but I still don't know what. They transferred me again. On hold for 15 minutes, they hung up.

I called back. I talked to one person, got transferred, and was hung up on again.

Finally, the third time, I was put in contact with the right people and got the five-second answer.

College Board emailed me to remind me of the date he was registered. They texted me to remind me. I double checked everything on his admission ticket to make sure it was all correct. I spoke to the teacher who was administering the test. Everything was in place. My son prepared heavily, every day, and was extremely stressed about it. Being autistic, this has a big impact on him, and the past week has been terrible for him. Still, he was ready for his test today. He went in, presented his ticket, showed his ID... and they didn't have him in the system. They showed him as registered, but the College Board forgot to enter him into the actual test computer. He wasn't allowed to take the test. He was upset, the teacher at his school is pissed, and we're pissed. We're not sure if we can get the date changed or our money back, even though it was their mistake. And I'm looking at more time with their 'support' to find the answer. A five second, easy answer took me an hour. This? I don't even want to think about it.

And it seems that this is normal for the organization. The BBB shows them at one star. They're famous for bad support, high prices, compromised security, refusing to answer complaints, losing test scores, and have had multiple class action lawsuits filed against them.

And there are no alternatives. This isn't some contracted company, this is the official non-profit set up by the colleges to administer these tests, which are essentially mandatory. It's shameful.

And, since they don't seem fazed by complaints, and because there doesn't seem to be any oversight over them, there is nothing that parents can do. They're at the mercy of this organizaiton.

Kraken wrote: ↑Sat Dec 07, 2019 11:33 am (All I see above is a circle with a minus sign. I can make one of those.)

Hmmm, I thought I had figured out how to share photos. Guess I just have to provide links instead.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fLt8Emexdiw8xZjg8

stessier wrote: ↑Sat Dec 07, 2019 12:25 pm

Kraken wrote: ↑Sat Dec 07, 2019 11:33 am (All I see above is a circle with a minus sign. I can make one of those.)

Hmmm, I thought I had figured out how to share photos. Guess I just have to provide links instead.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fLt8Emexdiw8xZjg8

It worked fine for me. Kraken probably has some security feature blocking it.