Octopus Overlords

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:17 pm His body might also just make more cholesterol than he needs; that's totally a thing and not at all related to diet. Take those meds, my dude.

well, key-word being 'also'.

Seems to run in the family. Dad had it too.

in January i took over a local bookclub on meetup.com that was languishing under pandemic lockdown and i managed to revitalize it - within three meetings, we're now at 30 RSVPs for next week's online event, which is what it was for in-person attendance last Feburary (before gathering restrictions went into effect). ofc only about 1/2 to 1/3 of the RSVPs _actually_ show up, but i'm just fine with around a 15-person attendance - any more than that makes discussions much more difficult. i do feel this is just going to keep on getting more popular...

as it is, the members have almost completely cycled out - over half of the RSVPs are now outside the city, located further out in the state, or even out-of-state completely (those are now at least a third of the total) - these people can not attend when we go back to in-person events, so i've been thinking of keeping the online portion when that happens so they can attend virtually.

hitbyambulance wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 6:04 pm as it is, the members have almost completely cycled out - over half of the RSVPs are now outside the city, located further out in the state, or even out-of-state completely (those are now at least a third of the total) - these people can not attend when we go back to in-person events, so i've been thinking of keeping the online portion when that happens so they can attend virtually.

This might be a lasting legacy of the pandemic. While Zoom can be very annoying, people are also realizing that it's possible to have interesting conversations without the travel time involved in getting there and back.

Holman wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:08 pmThis might be a lasting legacy of the pandemic. While Zoom can be very annoying, people are also realizing that it's possible to have interesting conversations without the travel time involved in getting there and back.

I'm part of two public boards and both have repeatedly said we're never meeting in face again. I think they were joking at first, but now I'm not so sure. It's easier to hold the meetings online, have them fully recorded and allow the public to call in. No need to cancel because of weather and super easy to attend.

I feel like I've wasted the last year.

Man built a pretend video rental store in his basement as a pandemic project

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 2:52 pm I feel like I've wasted the last year.

Man built a pretend video rental store in his basement as a pandemic project

Next thing you know, all your assets would be embezzled from you and you'd be living in a motel in Schitt's Creek.

since i'm a contractor at my current job, i was given an older surplus laptop. i just looked it up (Lenovo ThinkPad T460s) and it's now half a decade old. the right speaker is malfunctioning for some reason - all audio through it is highly distorted - so i have to mute it in the sound control panel in order to understand anyone on calls (or plug in external speakers/headphones). the batteries (it's a dual-battery model) were originally rated for seven and a half hours of life, and it now lasts for about one. the only hubs we have are USB-C ones, and i need to use an adapter for that (and the adapter is not very reliable). also the "B" key on the keyboard seems to hang when pressed sometimes (it's one of the weird shaped keys, due to the presence of the nub just above it).

i've put in a request to IT for an upgrade, we'll see if i can get it.

It never ceases to amuse me that laptops just seem to disintegrate after 5 years. Even if it never leaves the desk it's on, it just falls apart.

By amuse I mean irritate.

I've had to replace the internal speakers on my T460s twice in the past 6 months. It's like they just dry rot.

I just use external speakers now since the rest of the laptop is OK for what I do with it.

Fucking damnit. Doesn't matter what you spend to fix some thing it will be some other part that fails. Decided I want to save money by having my own tomatoes this year. So I get a spark plug for the 41 year old tiller. I used it in 2008 last. It wont pull gas from the tank. But it will start if I remove the plug and toss some gas in it. Of course I cant troubleshoot that because the damn pull rope broke. Yipee. Another expense plus gotta tear that part down. Fun fun I tell ya. Fuck you world. You POS.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 6:29 pm Of course I cant troubleshoot that because the damn pull rope broke. Yipee. Another expense plus gotta tear that part down. Fun fun I tell ya. Fuck you world. You POS.

Electric Tiller for $96.

Tilling your soil is the worst thing you can do for its health. Look up the no-till farming method and start feeding your soil. Your soil will feed your plants.

Seems I have a carb rebuild in my future..again.

I'd advise cutting your grass first; that's likely going to tucker you out.

Grass hasn't grown yet thankfully. Im not sure my mower will work this year. It was in bad shape last year. Oh well cant afford another one and cant afford to have it done so not going to worry about it.

Drive over to my house and I'll give you one.

I love when home remedy/treatment articles list "lose some weight". Sure... just let me get my scalpel. I'm not googling how to reduce ankle swelling six months for now, I'm trying to solve it now.

Had a tailgater today. So I slowed down even more.

Still waiting on the stimulus check.

Was waiting on a property tax refund due to discount Im supposed to get. Instead Ive spent days collecting and filling out extra papers to send them so they have enough info.

Waiting on energy bill voucher to go in. Its 2 months late. I had to steal from my property tax for next year to pay last month. No idea what Ill do this time if the voucher or stimulus doesn't arrive fast. Its a damn winter help credit...not gonna be winter soon!

Got a bill from my doctor in the mail for my visit last week. Im not supposed to be charged anything. Sigh.

The fun of life never ends. Wish life would go away.

Math jokes, geeze.

Well...an equation at least.

Remember tomorrow night (Saturday) to SPRING FORWARD! SPRING FORWARD! in time.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Mar 13, 2021 12:22 am Remember tomorrow night (Saturday) to SPRING FORWARD! SPRING FORWARD! in time.

I decided to do it a day early. Greetings from an hour in your future.

Whats the lotto numbers?

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Mar 13, 2021 12:54 am Whats the lotto numbers?

They're all coming up 420 tonight.

Last year I was sitting here at the pc when I heard a tremendous metal on metal BANG! I looked up to see a pickup back up then punch it and take off. The guy had taken out my neighbor across the streets mailbox. BAM! It was in pieces all over.

Just now I heard another BAM and a LOT of metal on metal sounds. I look out the window to see a car bent to hell on the right side and the right wheel's tire hanging off it and the rim scraping the road as it was trying to get away. They finally gave up and a blonde woman gets out. Turns out she took out my other neighbors mailbox on my left side. Its gone and theres mud from the ditch everywhere. She couldn't escape. Got a little past my house and gave up. Now she is walking back up there. Probably to say I wasn't trying to leave. She would have if her car had not been broken.

The end of this whole covid thing can't come soon enough. Isolation is resulting in some rather traumatic incidents. Last week I apparently had one too many in the evening and woke up the next morning to find a copy of Postman in my Amazon streaming library.

hepcat wrote: ↑Fri Mar 12, 2021 9:45 pm Well...an equation at least.

It’s seemed futile, to me.

Now theres 2 motorcycle cops, a fire truck, a fire rescue truck and ambulance and something else out there. I have no doubt she would not have stopped if her car had been ok. They probably wont even speak to me.

hepcat wrote: ↑Sat Mar 13, 2021 11:38 am The end of this whole covid thing can't come soon enough. Isolation is resulting in some rather traumatic incidents. Last week I apparently had one too many in the evening and woke up the next morning to find a copy of Postman in my Amazon streaming library.

Could have been Waterworld. Then again I like Waterworld and have seen it a few times.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Mar 13, 2021 11:28 am Last year I was sitting here at the pc when I heard a tremendous metal on metal BANG! I looked up to see a pickup back up then punch it and take off. The guy had taken out my neighbor across the streets mailbox. BAM! It was in pieces all over.

Just now I heard another BAM and a LOT of metal on metal sounds. I look out the window to see a car bent to hell on the right side and the right wheel's tire hanging off it and the rim scraping the road as it was trying to get away. They finally gave up and a blonde woman gets out. Turns out she took out my other neighbors mailbox on my left side. Its gone and theres mud from the ditch everywhere. She couldn't escape. Got a little past my house and gave up. Now she is walking back up there. Probably to say I wasn't trying to leave. She would have if her car had not been broken.

“To lose one mailbox may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness.” -- Oscar Wilde, sort of

I'm wondering if perhaps the mailboxes are somehow at fault.

From the marks she ran off the road and hit the mail box and went down their ditch a ways then popped out of it and about 10 feet later re entered the ditch then popped out again about 2 feet from my power pole. I saw her drive past my house and stop, get out, and look at her busted car. She then got back in and drove another 30 feet or so. Looked to me like she was trying to leave but her car was too busted.

Man this place is dead on the weekends. Its as if you all go out partying.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Mar 13, 2021 3:40 pm Man this place is dead on the weekends. Its as if you all go out partying.

The weekends are prime mailbox ramming hours.

I think a lot of people socialize at work during working hours.

Yeah, they all have lives. Those of us who don't can form a club if you like.

I never had the opportunity to post during working hours before working from home this past year. Unfortunately, working hours for me are overnight.