Octopus Overlords

I bet it's been over two years since I went to Walmart. Part of it is my agoraphobia and mostly just my dislike of Walmart. Wife's TV went out today. Ordered from Amazon rather than go to Walmart.

WalMart (and the likes of the dollar stores) are kinda like the living embodiment of 'dark America' to me - a thin veneer of patriotism over shoddy, inferior goods with no quality control (made in China!).

I've never been in a Walmart.

It's a lot like my Amazon experience, to be honest. When I started shopping there it was one type of company. As time passed, it turned into something else entirely, something unpleasant and not the value or quality it used to be. It got large, and so corporate that customers lost their humanity and became numbers, individuals irrelevant. But it all happened so slowly that I (like many others) never really noticed the change until it got extreme. Frogs in pots. I shopped there because that was where I went to shop. It wasn't a decision, it was inertia. But in the meantime, its competitors pushed themselves to compete with the giant, offering almost as good of a price, but better quality and service. That applies equally to both Walmart and Amazon.

And in each case, the decision to change was like trying to stop a train... but not nearly as much of a hassle at it had seemed like it would be. Why didn't I switch from Walmart to (probably) Kroger before? Two reasons. first, much smaller store. Smaller store = less items = less choice. Or that was what my gut reaction was. But when you slice off 2/3 of Walmart (clothes and housewares), then slice off another half (the Great Value products), it's not bigger. It's got more of the same thing, but less variety. 50 cases of vanilla instead of 10, but only vanilla and nothing else. More space doesn't mean more choice. And yet that gut reaction just kept carrying me along. Second was that I thought Walmart was far, far cheaper than other stores, mostly because when I started shopping there as my primary store, it was true. But the other stores have closed the gap in the last 20 years. Not entirely, but when I did the research and found I was putting up with Walmart for an average of 4% overall savings? Again, though, I'd never realize the dynamic had changed, just like with Amazon's prices and free shipping (which started when other stores charged an arm and a leg for ten-day shipping.)

Unfortunately, Walmart is the only store here in town for most things (all of the others went out of business), so I'll still have to get odds and ends there. But when it comes to grocery shopping where we're going to drive 30 miles to the store regardless, we'll pick somewhere else.

Spent most of the day at my sisters home. Its not high temp out just 83 but you sweat buckets just standing there. Harrison Bay was so pretty I just wanted to jump in.

Blackhawk wrote: Sun Aug 15, 2021 1:58 pmThe 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.

I remember my wife claiming spaghetti was spaghetti. She kept buying their generic because it was under $1.00 until one day I was like "I don't give a shit. I'm spending the whole $1.69 to get the name-brand at a real supermarket." The difference was staggering. She won't go back.

A lot of it is getting people to break the cycle of repetition. If all you eat is garbage, garbage tastes good to you. Give them something good and they might never go back. Since I started working for a Co-op, she's sampled a lot of high-quality things she would never have picked up on her own and now they're staples for her. She can't even eat store-brand sauerkraut anymore after trying fresh stuff that had to be chilled to stay edible.

I'm willing to try most generics. It's hit or miss. I find a lot of Aldi's knock off stuff to be acceptable but then you hit a brick wall with somethings like instant oatmeal or Pop Tarts and suddenly processed crap is not all the same.

I drink soda rarely, so I am quite picky about which ones to drink. None of that mass market corn syrup stuff, its got to be small batch real sugar soda with plenty of flavor. And then it takes me a full evening of gaming to drink it.

Jaymon wrote: Mon Aug 16, 2021 7:33 pmI drink soda rarely, so I am quite picky about which ones to drink. None of that mass market corn syrup stuff, its got to be small batch real sugar soda with plenty of flavor. And then it takes me a full evening of gaming to drink it.

I'm not proud to admit that I drink 2L of diet soda a day, in addition to 1-3L of water. It's "Frannie's Sparkling Love" and is $0.69 per 1L bottle.

The soda I drink is about as clean as anything I've ever had in terms of chemicals, and it's got all the caffeine I like. Comes in 7 flavors - lemon, orange, grapefruit, cherry, vanilla creme, ginger ale, and chocolate. I know I should just be drinking water, but I like the pick-me-up and don't like the jolt caffeine pills give or the flavor of coffee.

Wife accidentally bumps into the corner of a table.

Wife: "Ow."
11-year-old son: "Are you OK?"
W: "Yes."
[brief pause]
S: "Are you dead?"
W: "Only on the inside."

I have the best family.

hitbyambulance wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 3:46 pm

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.

I know. I even contemplated getting one of those semi-permanent glucose attachment things so I can get a reading any time, as I *hate* pricking myself.

Kasey Chang wrote: Mon Aug 16, 2021 8:47 pm

hitbyambulance wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 3:46 pm

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.

I know. I even contemplated getting one of those semi-permanent glucose attachment things so I can get a reading any time, as I *hate* pricking myself.

I have one of those. It works and is life changing.

Test yourself regularly or get a monitor. It makes a difference in learning your body and getting your A1C under control. If you learn how you feel with high blood sugars, you won’t need to test as often. My kids have been doing it for years as Type 1s.

Something chewed a hole in my arm this afternoon, right over my triceps. I didn't feel it happen and only noticed when it itched a little. When I scratched I discovered a large swollen patch under my skin, about 3" in diameter and 1/4" thick. It's hard and numb and oozing a little clear fluid at the wound site. The wound itself looks like it was chewed, not stabbed -- it's shallow and about 1/4" in diameter. Definitely some kind of toxin at work there. I washed it thoroughly a few hours ago and the swelling is going down now. But dayum, that was dramatic.

Ringworm?

When I get spider bites they are like that. I never feel it until it swells and itches and oozes clear liquid.

Spiders very rarely bite, especially in daylight and outdoors. They just don't attack humans unless they're threatened. It was most likely some kind of fly, because flies are complete assholes. It injected an anesthetic so that I didn't even register it chewing my skin, and that chemical is what my body is walling off. I've still got that weird hard swollen pad under my skin, and it's still mostly numb, but I think it's still shrinking. I hope it will be gone by morning.

It'll be a few days before your arm falls off so live life until then.

Well, it's right where I got my vaccine three months ago, so it's clearly a side effect of that.

Kraken wrote: Mon Aug 16, 2021 10:11 pm Something chewed a hole in my arm this afternoon, right over my triceps. I didn't feel it happen and only noticed when it itched a little. When I scratched I discovered a large swollen patch under my skin, about 3" in diameter and 1/4" thick. It's hard and numb and oozing a little clear fluid at the wound site. The wound itself looks like it was chewed, not stabbed -- it's shallow and about 1/4" in diameter. Definitely some kind of toxin at work there. I washed it thoroughly a few hours ago and the swelling is going down now. But dayum, that was dramatic.

Botfly is my guess.

Zarathud wrote: Mon Aug 16, 2021 9:10 pm Test yourself regularly or get a monitor. It makes a difference in learning your body and getting your A1C under control. If you learn how you feel with high blood sugars, you won’t need to test as often. My kids have been doing it for years as Type 1s.

As I said, I WAS in denial. I've been pricking myself AT LEAST once a day for the past three weeks (July 29th till now). That told me I am high, and consistently high, despite doubling my glyburide intake. But my work at night is a problem too. I work from 7p to 4A, so generally, I have a "lunch" at about 1PM, maybe a snack at about 5P, a "dinner" between 9P and 12A, a "breakfast" at about 5A, then sleep until 1P. My readings are generally in the 250-350 range depending on the exact hour. I know that's high. I've gone to a sort-of keto diet, basically minimize carbs, and it has helped my fatigue during my work times. I need to discuss with my doctor about adjusting my glyburide and metformin dosage.

When I fired up Spotify this morning.



Well, good morning to you as well, my evil subjects!

Mine just says "Good morning Liked Songs".

Sudy wrote: Wed Aug 18, 2021 9:50 am Mine just says "Good morning Liked Songs".

Well, sure. Now you have to fight Skinypupy for the throne of Hell.

Since breaking down and converting to a smart phone, I now get spam texts that I never got when I was SMS only. The only good news is that it's easier to block them. When political season comes around, blocking that spam will be nice, at least. It does make me wonder what it would take unblock people/spammers on my phone.

Anyone else not able to connect to yahoo.com (may be a Chicago area problem).

My wife, at work - asked me if I could (she couldn't) - and it's down for me as well ... but websites like https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ says that it is up...


Just curious if anyone else gets nothing from this: https://www.yahoo.com/


(works on my iphone)

Unagi wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 10:49 am Anyone else not able to connect to yahoo.com (may be a Chicago area problem).

My wife, at work - asked me if I could (she couldn't) - and it's down for me as well ... but websites like https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ says that it is up...


Just curious if anyone else gets nothing from this: https://www.yahoo.com/

I have no problems connecting.

Unagi wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 10:49 am Anyone else not able to connect to yahoo.com (may be a Chicago area problem).

My wife, at work - asked me if I could (she couldn't) - and it's down for me as well ... but websites like https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/ says that it is up...


Just curious if anyone else gets nothing from this: https://www.yahoo.com/


(works on my iphone)

I'm in the burbs and am using yahoo.com with no issue today.

It’s odd. I’m in the north suburbs. And she is all the way over in Naperville right now.

I don't know, but why are three of the top seven what I can only assume are "news" stories on Yahoo about celebrities in their bikinis? I feel like I'm reading a tabloid.

Unagi wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 11:08 am It’s odd. I’m in the north suburbs. And she is all the way over in Naperville right now.

And it gets more interesting....


My kid, upstairs, on the same router as me, they are able to connect to yahoo.com without any issues. I still can't, nor my wife - 50 miles away... but it seems like everyone else can? What can even cause that?

Unagi wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 11:24 am

Unagi wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 11:08 am It’s odd. I’m in the north suburbs. And she is all the way over in Naperville right now.

And it gets more interesting....


My kid, upstairs, on the same router as me, they are able to connect to yahoo.com without any issues. I still can't, nor my wife - 50 miles away... but it seems like everyone else can? What can even cause that?

UPDATE:
Now, suddenly it works for me - - no word back from my wife....

/shrug - that was weird.

Please keep us posted if anything changes.

Sudy wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 11:30 am Please keep us posted if anything changes.

Well, I have found that my Microsoft Edge browser connects to yahoo.com just fine... but my Chrome browser doesn't. Problem is only with yahoo.com, and just on that Chrome browser (and apparently my wifes PC at work...)

Anyone have any idea why it would not resolve via Chrome?

Unagi wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 11:44 am

Sudy wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 11:30 am Please keep us posted if anything changes.

Well, I have found that my Microsoft Edge browser connects to yahoo.com just fine... but my Chrome browser doesn't. Problem is only with yahoo.com, and just on that Chrome browser (and apparently my wifes PC at work...)

Anyone have any idea why it would not resolve via Chrome?

That is weird, as Edge and Chrome use the engine (chromium) and would suggest to me Chrome has had tinkering done either intentionally or accidentally.

My eyeglasses came in and I can see again! Of course now I'm used to not wearing them and they feel strange. And they are so thin compared to all my olde pairs.

LordMortis wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 11:50 am That is weird, as Edge and Chrome use the engine (chromium) and would suggest to me Chrome has had tinkering done either intentionally or accidentally.

And now it started to work. I didn't fiddle with anything... the 'cannot connect' page reloaded about 5 minutes later and loaded the webpage. I don't understand enough how these things work these days to understand what would have held it back.

Anyhow.... Thank you - and thank you all for 'reading'.

If it's of any consquence, I have not been able to get a reliable connection to TD Ameritrade today. I haven't tried different browser or machines. I just assume they are overloaded. Maybe there was latency problem with Yahoo that Edge didn't care about but which timed out for Chrome? Also, the one thing I didn't recommend that I should have, was clearing history and cookies. That's always the first helpdesk go to but it is the first helpdesk go to with good reason. If the pages is loading information about routing from cache and that information is no longer any good that can cause a problem until the cache is replaced one way or another.

Unagi wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 11:28 am

Unagi wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 11:24 am

Unagi wrote: Thu Aug 19, 2021 11:08 am It’s odd. I’m in the north suburbs. And she is all the way over in Naperville right now.

And it gets more interesting....


My kid, upstairs, on the same router as me, they are able to connect to yahoo.com without any issues. I still can't, nor my wife - 50 miles away... but it seems like everyone else can? What can even cause that?

UPDATE:
Now, suddenly it works for me - - no word back from my wife....

/shrug - that was weird.

Run cmd and type ipconfig /all

Check the dns settings against the other users who had it working.

Also, ipconfig /flushdns may help too.