Something Random

Howell

Storage? I am Storage!
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Apparently the board freaked out on me. The first post was a preview I think. It seems to have posted as well as given me the preview screen.
 

ddrueding

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Don't feel bad. My last physical was when I started college in 1980.

Then we have something in common, I was born in 1980, and that was the last time a doctor had a good look at me ;)

And without insurance I can't afford checkups anyway.

Ditto. My last doctor wasn't officially my doctor; he was my best friend's dad. He was a doctor, and got me samples of stuff when I was really sick, but he saw me at his house after hours.
 

Mercutio

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Couple weeks ago, some little shithead attacked my car with a BB gun. He broke the windshield and back window, and while the glass guy came and fixed that, he noticed that there were holes in my tailgate and interior trim as well.

Today I went and got an insurance estimate for the body damage. My estimator mentioned in passing that it looked like maybe four BBs did $2300 worth of damage to my car.

Fucking people. Who the hell lets a kid out of the house with a BB gun in a residential neighborhood? What's a BB gun for, even?
 

ddrueding

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I think the better question is; what parent let their kids not understand the consequences of shooting cars with a BB gun?

Sucks about your car, Merc.

I once had some kids unload on my car (while I was driving) with paintball guns. I got out of the car and caught one of the fuckers, and had him squeal about his friends. Then I called their father to let him know what they were up to. He didn't sound apologetic enough, so I pressed charges ;) If dad had taken responsibility for his shit parenting, I would have let it go at that.
 

Bozo

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There are a couple of shithead kids squirting acid on cars near here. This has been going on for months.
When they are caught, I hope they squirt some acid on their genitals and up their ass.

Bozo :joker:
 

ddrueding

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I've been thinking of starting a poll titled "What will destroy civilization first?"

With options such as:

Global warming
Running out of fossil fuels
Nuclear Winter
All the bees dying
Space invaders
Political corruption

I can now add:

Disintegration of moral framework due to bad parenting.


Great, like we needed another one.
 

paugie

Storage is cool
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I wanted to watch Tom Cruise in "The Firm"

Like getting "Shrek" in German, I got this "The Firm" with Gary Oldman. Was about hooliganism in England. But this were "old" hooligans smashing BMW's, slashing faces, breaking bones. Not kids who should know better.

Confirms my belief that my wife is in a better ministry (teaching pre-school) than I (trying to rehabilitate street kids).
 

paugie

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But what kind of BB gun would have enough force to shatter safety automotive glass, and puncture steel sheeting?

The only BB guns I was exposed to were those used in shooting galleries in the backyard fairs of my childhood. And those almost couldn't topple the lead chickens unless you hit it squarely.
 

timwhit

Hairy Aussie
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A pump BB gun or a CO2 gun can fire at several hundred feet per second. Also a pellet gun with a larger projectile can do even more damage.
 

ddrueding

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Some BB guns are certainly more powerful than others.

As a kid, I actually shot another kid with a BB gun intentionally. He knew it was coming, too. It was for a school film, documenting the assassination of someone. I wanted a shot through the scope, including the rifle jumping, and the target going down at just the right time.

Changed the scope so it was ~2 feet high at that distance, gave the target some cardboard under his shirt, and let fly. Good on the first take; which is a good thing, considering the cardboard wasn't thick enough and we had to remove the BB ourselves.

So in the end, I showed a video in school to my classmates of me really shooting someone. I thought it was pretty cool at the time ;)
 

Fushigi

Storage Is My Life
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On this day last year, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) redefined ther term "planet" such that Pluto is no longer considered one. In 1995, Microsoft released Windwos 95. In 1989, Voyager 2 passed Neptune. In 1968, France exploded its first hydrogen bomb, thus becoming the world's fifth nuclear power. In 1960, a world-record low temperature (-88 degrees Celsuis, -127 degrees Fahrenheit) was measured in Vostok, Antarctica. In 1891, Thomas Edison patented the motion picture camera. In 1853, potato chips were first prepared. In 1831, Charles Darwin was asked to travel on the HMS Beagle. In 1456, the printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed. And in 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae in volcanic ash. Happy Birthday Dave Chappelle (1973 ), Reggie Miller and Marlee Matlin (1965 ), Craig Kilborn (1962 ), Cal Ripken, Jr. (1960 ), Steve Guttenberg (1958 ), Anne Archer (1947) and Vince McMahon (1945 ). RIP E.G. Marshall (d. 1998 ), Louis Prima (1978 ) and Pliny the Elder (79 ).

"The future, according to some scientists, will be exactly like the past, only far more expensive."
- John Sladek
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
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Why is it that every time I explain my various depression and anxiety issues to someone, the first thing they say is "You need to get stoned" or "You need to get drunk"; is that the only way people deal with life?
 

Handruin

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It's a coping mechanism for the people who can't take the time to understand you as a person, nor care about a real way to help.

It's no different when two people on the street say "hey what's up", and the reply is usually "nothing". As a non-drinker or drug user, I know a bit about how you feel with those common and typical answers. I think that in society it's such a norm for people to rely (as a crutch) on drinking or drugs to fix their problems that they assume everyone else does too. Rather than put forth effort to find out what's depressing you, they tell you to get drunk or stoned.

I suspect you already know this and just want to passively complain at the simplicity of some people in how they interact with you. In either case, I know what you're saying...you need more people in your life that actually care.
 

Fushigi

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On this day in 1953, Nippon Television broadcasted Japan's first television show, including its first TV advertisement. In 1937, Toyota Motors became an independent company. In 1907, UPS was founded by James E. Casey in Seattle, Washington. In 1898, Caleb Bradham renamed his carbonated soft drink "Pepsi-Cola". In 1884, the first known photograph of a tornado was made. In 1859, a geomagnetic storm caused the Aurora Borealis to shine so brightly that it was seen clearly over parts of USA, Europe and as far afield as Japan. And in 1845, Scientific American magazine published its first issue. Happy Birthday LeAnn Rimes (1982), Jack Black and Jason Priestley (1969), Shania Twain (1965), Jennifer Coolidge (1963), Emma Samms (1960), Scott Hamilton (1958 ), Daniel Stern (1957), Ben Gazzara (1930) and Donald O'Connor (1925).

"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home."
- Ken Olsen, President, Digital Equipment, 1977
 

time

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Why is it that every time I explain my various depression and anxiety issues to someone, the first thing they say is "You need to get stoned" or "You need to get drunk"; is that the only way people deal with life?

Yes.

And/Or, they take it out on others.

I'm with ddrueding - I don't know of a third option ...
 

Howell

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Option #1: Change what depresses you.
Option #2: Cover up what depresses you.

I'm having a hard time coming up with an option #3...

Fundamentally, depression is rooted in a difference between reality and expectation combined with a lack of hope that the difference can be overcome. A third option is "Change your expectations to be closer to reality." I'm not commenting on the feasibility of option #3 but it is a logical possibility.
 

paugie

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Why is it that every time I explain my various depression and anxiety issues to someone, the first thing they say is "You need to get stoned" or "You need to get drunk"; is that the only way people deal with life?
"You need to be hugged"
I humbly propose that a person needs somebody close, somebody to walk with. I am thankful that somehow, SF is a "somebody" for Mercutio. But I am hoping that there will be someone, soon . who can offer some more than cyber companionship.

We have accepted and we cherish you, Merc, in our hearts. I really do hope someone will be able to show you this in a more concrete way.

I really am thankful that you are a friend.
 

Fushigi

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The Simpsons vs Star Trek

On this day in 1998, North Korea reportedly launched Kwangmyongsong, its first satellite. In 1965, the Aero Spacelines Super Guppy Aircraft made its first flight. In 1943, the USS Harmon, the first U.S. Navy ship to be named for an African-American, was commissioned. In 1920, the first news radio program was broadcast in Detroit, Michigan. And in 1897, Thomas Edison patented the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector. Happy Birthday Chris Tucker (1972), Deborah Gibson (1970), Richard Gere (1949), Van Morrison (1945), Frank Robinson (1935), James Coburn (1928 ), Buddy Hackett (1924) and Sir Bernard Lovell (1913). RIP Diana, Princess of Wales (1997), John Ford (1973) and Rocky Marciano (1969).

"A stepping-stone can be a stumbling block if we can't see it until after we have tripped over it."
- Cullen Hightower
 

ddrueding

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Just curious how many people (besides me) checked the site many times throughout the day, hoping someone else would post something that they could read/contribute to? There was that one thread in the computer forum, but Merc said the only thing I could think of saying.
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
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Well, me.

But as usual for me I have a sticking point in wanting to say things that are not negative and that is mostly what I am thinking about.

I've been avoiding caffeine for the last few months. Last night I had six Red Bull energy drinks (didn't know what they were). I've been up close to two days straight and I'm not even remotely tired. I am thinking that I am going to be paying for that mistake for most of next week.

My ex apparently had a minor stroke a few weeks ago. She has to do physical therapy for her left hand, which doesn't behave quite the way it's supposed to and apparently her balance is a little off. She seems pretty normal to me.

OK, so here is my final amusing anecdote for today: I spent four hours and 18 minutes on the phone yesterday with the world's biggest stoner trying to tell him how to reconfigure a Sonicwall router/firewall/hardware VPN device when he had no internet access.
I really, really, really wanted to reach through the phone and kill him.

This kid is maybe 20 years old and I do work for his dad. His dad is a real estate developer. He's completely fucking useless - kicked out of college, won't get a job of his own... and he wants to live in Arizona and I am pretty sure he sells weed for his actual job.

So his dad says "I'll pay you to do stuff for my company and you can work at my new Arizona Satellite Office!"

So he pays me to set up a Windows Server, Exchange, dual Quad-core Xeon Dell Server, 1TB RAID5... everything ($15,000 server for TWO PEOPLE WHO CAN'T WORK A COMPUTER). He buys the kid and his friend literally the most expensive default configuration for Dell Precision workstations *and* Latitude notebooks, and, because he wants them talking to his offices in Indiana... a Sonicwall Harware VPN.

So I make a a notebook of configuration details and instructions for how to work everything, in case they fuck it up. I'm talking full-color screenshots, photos of the hardware, labels, everything. I put 10 billable hours into just making this binder thing for them.

The first thing this dumb piece of crap does is pull out the Sonicwall, plug it in, and in the process of looking for the on-off switch (a 1/0 rocker like every other thing like that in the WORLD has), he finds the teeny-tiny little reset button and presses THAT.

So, the thing is, the Sonicwall was their pre-configured internet access and now he just fucked that up. Come to find out, the only things he knew how to do on a PC - the ONLY THINGS - were to click on IE and go to Myspace, play Hearts, download AIM or use Limewire.

I had the backed-up Sonicwall config on the server... but there was no way I was going to trust him not to fuck up something trying to deal with that. So I just walked him, blind since I didn't exactly have a Sonicwall handy, through changing everything back.

He was really big on arguing with me on basic tenants of reality, like what color various labeled network cables were or where to find keys on a keyboard. I think I would've had more luck if I had the "horsie" cable and the "puppy" cable because he was having a real hard time with green and blue. Most obnoxious was his apparent habit of closing browser windows - what he would literally do was listen to me try to describe what I wanted him to do, realize he was in IE and then try to get to Myspace, then close the browser window when he got a 404 error, not realizing that the magic box that brings the internet is the magic box that also brings Myspace (I am not entirely sure he was aware that Myspace was part of the Internet, so much as a distinct entity of monotheistic importance to him and his stoner pals). It took me a couple hours to figure that out but he just really, really wanted to get to Myspace. And he'd do hilarious things like put his phone down to go have a smoke without telling me. "4:20. Of course he's not listening right now..."

Anyway, yes, I do believe I was dealing with the dumbest human being on the face of the Earth yesterday, and as far as I am concerned that ought to mean Karmic retribution in the form of either his spontaneous penile necrosis and/or my hooking up with the whole Night Elf Geek Appreciation Estrogen Brigade on Steak and a Blowjob Saturday.
 

ddrueding

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Excellent. Good to see you around, Merc. Red Bull, nasty stuff...especially if you have lost some of your caffeine resistance.

I have actually raised my rates on clients who are a particular PITA. Not the ones that have difficult problems, but the ones that make things more difficult than they have to be.

I actually had a pretty nice week. My birthday was on Wednesday, which I usually don't celebrate in any particularly impressive way. But on this Wednesday, a friend (who forgot it was my birthday) proposed to his GF of 5-ish years, planning a surprise party afterwards. In Sacramento. So we book a room at the Bed and Breakfast where he is hosting the party. Nice time, including one of the other people at the party walking into the wrong room and walking in on two (apparently unattractive) people going at it. She was quite traumatized by this, and the butt of many jokes for the rest of the night.
 

Chewy509

Wotty wot wot.
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My birthday was on Wednesday, which I usually don't celebrate in any particularly impressive way.
Happy Birthday! (Mine was a couple of weeks ago).

Merc, I know the feeling. At the company I work for, we use a system called "Log Me in Rescue" for remote access to client PCs. It's based a web service, that uses ActiveX, which creates a remote connection. Great for getting through firewalls (it creates a tunnel through a HTTPS connection).

To create the remote connection, all the client has to do, is open IE, and goto http://www.logmenin123.com, enter a 6 digit PIN (which we give them over the phone), hit the connect button, and then run to start the ActiveX control. Done. I literately spent a good 15 minutes trying to get someone to type in the web address, explaining where to type, and then going over the address about 7 times before they got it correct... (the first time, she typed into the "Search" field, and not the address bar)!

And stay away from red Bull, especially mixed with Vodka... Nasty stuff that.

News from me today, went and saw "Bourne Ultimatum". It was on par with the first two. I enjoyed it.

Ooh, and I have a new avatar.
 

Bozo

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Just curious how many people (besides me) checked the site many times throughout the day, hoping someone else would post something that they could read/contribute to? There was that one thread in the computer forum, but Merc said the only thing I could think of saying.

I check the site at least 10-12 times a day.

Bozo :joker:
 

Bozo

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Oh, and I have to work through the holiday weekend here in the US. Boring....I can't do much as the entire facility is running.

I'll be checking for post....a lot. It seems the 'net goes dead on holiday weekends.

Bozo :joker:
 

time

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Another classic post from Merc. Immensely enjoyable - the more so because we can relate to it all too well ...
 

time

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On a more sombre note, Stroke is one of the nastiest afflictions there is. It entails a loss of humanity. I've seen the effects first-hand in my family, including the loss of my father.

Hopefully, your ex has a concrete idea what caused it (eg. blood disorder). Otherwise, it will most likely recur.
 

ddrueding

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"At lest 10-12 times a day" is probably what I would say as well, though I suspect the number is much, much higher. It's the first thing I do when I get up and the last before I go to bed. I check as soon as I get back from somewhere (like, the fridge) and before I leave for somewhere (like, the bathroom). There was no internet at my BnB, that was torture.
 

paugie

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2X a day for me.

It's funny nowadays that here in the Philippines, I get to hear the term "mild stroke". Which I can understand to mean a stroke that one survives and one which allows you to be up and about with little or no apparent debilitating effects within 2 weeks. But in my heart, I disagree. I think there is no such thing as a "mild stroke"

I'm 53 now. I take a 50mg tablet to control my blood pressure every day. I exercise a bit. I can't seem to control my penchant for sweet drinks though I think I'm borderline diabetic (I dread going to the doctor to find out the real score). My maternal grandfather was a diabetic and he died due to sickness complicated by diabetes. My patenal grandmother, too had diabetes. My father died when he was 64 due to a stroke. My mother also died of a stroke, her second. The first one, she survived for 10 years, though her right side was weaker.
 

Bozo

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Paugie: you might want to add an 80mg aspirin to your daily medicine intake. I have had two heart attacks and every doctor insist I take an aspirin everyday. They don't agree on much else, but the do agree on the aspirin. Check with your doctor first.

Bozo :joker:
 
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