Octopus Overlords

I created a thread for my issues in the hardware forum. All further posts will be there.

https://octopusoverlords.com/forum/view ... 2#p2840212

Ugh, I caught myself olding. There's a tech thing that I am seriously intimidated by that I need to do. I'm sure a psychologist knows the correct term, but I have this habit of not doing things because I have decided in advance that I can't do them. It's like the elderly and technology: they often can't use it and don't understand it (yes, this is a generalization, see below.*) If you ask them why, it becomes apparent, very quickly, that it isn't because they're incapable of learning it. It's because they've decided, in advance, that technology is something they don't understand. The don't understand it because they've decided they have decided that they don't understand it. They've put up a mental barrier to learning it when it's often amazingly simple and easy to use.

I my own life I've had a few biggies. "I can't repair [house thing] because I don't know how to do repairs/carpentry/use tools." That was a big one. I'd see something that needed done, see that it touched upon carpentry/tools/whatever, and immediately dismiss it as beyond me without ever finding out whether it was. I addressed that particular one earlier this year. I needed something done. I shied away from even considering it because it touched on those topics. I realized that, asked a couple of questions on Reddit, figured out what skills I'd need, watched a video on that, picked up two or three tools and watched a video on how to use them, and... it was easy. Problem solved. Intimidation decreased in regards to those topics - I know I can do it if I need to.

Whenever I catch myself having that attitude I smack myself upside the head, make myself face the fact that it isn't because I'm incapable, but because I've chosen to prevent myself from being capable, and then make myself learn. Sometimes there are still limiting factors (money, space, and lack of local resources), but I do not want to let myself get into the habit of self-sabotage that way.

To be fair, brain physiology does make it harder to learn new skills as you age - neuroplasticity - something you can largely counter by exercising your brain. Keep in good shape, sleep right, get the right nutrients (choline, bitches!) always be trying new things, and always be learning something - a new skill, a new language, etc. When we stop pushing our brains to expand, they lose the ability to expand.

Ive never liked doing a house repair even if I knew how to do it because it wasn't my house then. I didn't want the responsibility if I messed it up. Now I try to fix it myself first. My trouble is even when I know how to do something I lack the tools to actually do it. To buy those tools would cost as much or more than getting it done . So I either dont get it done or let another do it when I can. Its usually a one time thing though so the costs would be stupid to pay for tools.

So Ironically, having moved to a larger screen, I had to go to ease of use and increase the screen size, so fonts aren't so tiny. Unfortunately, along with increasing the font size, everything seems bold. Where's my cane? The sky needs some shaking at.

Some random guy today told me I look like Steven Segal.

Fuck, I really gotta lose some weight.

That made me laugh. If he'd said circa 1995 you'd applauded him

Wow, that seems only one notch down from being complimented you look like Harvey Weinstein.

Well, I used to get "you look like Penn Jillette" but then he lost all that weight so now I've been demoted to Steven Segal.

John Candy is next.

Do you ever look at pictures of the mid east and see green grass and trees and bushes and say "damn. I didn't know they had greenery there".

I saw a photo of Arkansas and there was an office building! I've since been assured it's the only one.

It's called Walmart. I visited it once.

Finally, a weird thing that Daehawk won't eat, if only because it's only available in Canada: KD Flavour Boost!



I saw a streamer on Twitch try all the flavours last night, and she said that she liked all of them. On the other hand, it was a sponsored stream, so she was literally being paid to hype the product...

I would actually try them, but they don't seem to be carried anywhere here for the time being.

Poutine boosted "Kraft Dinner". Do I assume that comes with a LaBatt's, a maple syrup Donut, and Ketchup?

btw I updated my Win7 x64 with all updates. So Im up to date Well as far as Win7 goes. You can rest easy now folks.

Thank goodness, now you can get all the more recent malware and viruses!

Circuit City went out of business!?? Why didn't someone tell me??

Daehawk wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 3:29 pm Circuit City went out of business!?? Why didn't someone tell me??

Daehawk wrote: Wed Jul 04, 2018 2:58 pm Ive seen stores come and go in my own lifetime but stores that have been around a century or at least older than me by a long shot I never thought Id see that happens...Sears, Kmart, Radio Shack, Circuit City and others. Its amazing how short a time the internet and computers changed so much.

My God.....why didn't I tell myself? What have I done....

Just a heads up, I'm hearing that CompUSA may be on shaky ground.

At least Gamestop is still going strong.

I'm going to swing by there after I hit up Chess King for a new piano keyboard tie.

Max Peck wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 1:50 pm Finally, a weird thing that Daehawk won't eat, if only because it's only available in Canada: KD Flavour Boost!

I haven't seen these, though I did see the Cheetos ones in the wild for the first time a couple weeks ago. Up until now I only saw them being sold as imports from the U.S.

And that site sure looks legit, but cotton candy?

I only like cotton candy flavor in cotton candy. Not liked it in anything else such as bubble gum or allergy medicine.

Mid 90s and 85% humidity. The window air conditioner in the bedroom is now leaking into the house.

My central a/c is actually too small for my house and the room a/c units help cool the house down. It actually cost less electricity with the room a/c than without.

Humidity is so high here that even with 2 window ac units going I still get nekkid around 8pm.

Brian wrote: Tue Aug 10, 2021 3:14 pm Some random guy today told me I look like Steven Segal.

Fuck, I really gotta lose some weight.

And NEVER touch crypto.

Sudy wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 7:48 pm And that site sure looks legit, but cotton candy?

The site is completely legit. It is run by Kraft Canada.

The thing that gets me about the cotton candy is the color more than any assumption that it tastes horrible (spoiler: if you think KD tastes fine, then the cotton candy KD probably won't taste all that bad either). But the visual on the website makes it look like a big ol' bowl of unicorn droppings. That's partly due to the fact they make it sparkly on the website, but the color is still a flourescent pink that I just don't need in my life.

Someone I know in New Brunswick found some of the flavour boosts in a local store and mailed them to a Twitch streamer we both follow, so it will be interesting to see what an American who isn't being paid by Kraft and who doesn't normally eat KD will make of the flavours. IIRC, one of the ones sent was the cotton candy, so that will be doubly interesting to watch.

My last visit to the eye doctor for awhile. Finally ordered me another pair of glasses.
It'll be nice to see clearly for a change.

$5.99

Does Blanche blush when she heats up?

Not for $5.99.

Went to the store this morning. Was half way back before I realized I wasn't wearing glasses. Until my new ones come in I guess I'm just as well off not wearing any.

I was in a state of denial for a year and basically stopped pricking my fingers to check glucose levels. I just started again last week. Turns out my diabetes had gotten worse during my unemployed year. Not catastrophically worse, but 250-350 pts level (normal should be about 120) even though I *thought* I was watching my diet and minimizing carbs. I also had trouble staying fully alert for my night-shift. So I started changing my diet, limiting myself to minimal carbs (maybe a spoon or two of rice), and mostly meat and vegetables, and avoiding energy drinks altogether, even the low-cal ones, and sticking to coffee (which we apparently get for free). AND I am doubling my glyburide dose as a test. It seems to be working, at least partially. I don't feel tired until I am about 6th or 7th hour into my 8 hour shift. I'll try minor modifications and see if I can do it consistently.

Kasey Chang wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 2:04 pm I was in a state of denial for a year and basically stopped pricking my fingers to check glucose levels.

don't get into that state again. it'll kill you, eventually.

Alright, we're done. As of today, my family and I have officially retired Walmart.

For years, Walmart was the only way I could get by. There was a point at which I was down to less than $20 a week for food, and Walmart was the only place I could manage with that. Later I had enough to eat, but having any flexibility in the budget required doing everything the cheapest way possible. Now? We're still broke, but we're broke with a little bit of wiggle room, and we've figured out that increasing our grocery budget by about 5% is enough to move on from Walmart.

Why now?

The local store is awful. First, the shelves are always bare. There's no rush going on, but the shelves still looked like spring 2020 (and they have for the past six weeks.) It isn't the 'panic buy' products either - staples, household supplies, etc. It's all over the store, in every section. The other stores in the area - even the other Walmart in town (on the far end - too far to do regular shopping there) don't have this problem. Only the one. Second, the checkout lines. They open two. Always two. Other Walmarts have multiple lanes open, but this one? Two. There are often people lined up back into the clothing section - on slow days. I've gone in there some weeks, gotten the grocery shopping done in 30 minutes, and then stood in line for 25. Next, the way the place is run sucks. It's always dirty. They were the last to put in COVID precautions and the first to remove them (again, beating other Walmarts considerably.) It is just a pain in the ass to shop at this particular location.

The second is that Walmart itself has gotten worse and worse. Their meat is infamously low quality. Their vegetables aren't much better. When they carry a particular brand, they only carry the one or two top selling varieties - and that's it. If it isn't a national bestseller, you won't be able to find it. Hope you like American, jack, and colby cheese! The other thing that's gotten steadily worse is Great Value, their store brand. I'm not afraid of generics, but Great Value is an exception. It's quality is often noticeably lower than other brands. A lot of it is just plain awful. And yet they've pushed it and pushed it to the point that most sections are 2/3 Great Value and 1/3 for all other brands combined. That means that if you don't want their terrible store brand, 2/3 of their selection is simply gone. And given that Walmart is the lowest priced store, you get a lot of the People of Walmart packed in there. Rude, loud, obnoxious, smelly (far too often literally.) And when I reported employees wearing confederate flag masks, they hand-waved it.

It's a terrible shopping experience, a terrible selection, and terrible quality. All to save 5%.

So, Walmart - buh-bye. I won't miss you.

Now I just need to decide between Meier and Kroger.

Sounds like here but its Dollar General. Well except for the lack of cashiers. Walmart here may have 1 possibly 2 people working as a cashier but their lines are always PACKED. The damn store must have 30 empty cashier lines. And they added MORE self checkouts instead.

But here the problem with stock stores are DG. They used to be great. Some still are. The newer ones. But all the rest have bare shelves all the time. ALL the time. And the stuff we bought for years and years is never restaocked. Its just a empty experience in more ways than one.

If one store is a disaster and the other isn’t, then the problem is store management. When I worked in high school at a warehouse grocery store, I found out our store was sent the managers who failed elsewhere. Our store had the worst metrics so the turnover didn’t matter.