The little things that piss you off

[kel]

i keep having dreams where i'm stuck on a cliff over the snake river canyon and if i so much as breathe i'm falling to my death.

every. fucking. night.

i realize there's a dream thread, but it doesn't need thought. just terrifying bullshit.

[WorzelG]

Small aspects of driving cause me massive anxiety. Like I had an incident years ago where I rolled backwards nearly into someone when trying to do a hill start and it's made me terrified of doing them ever since and I live somewhere very hilly. The other day I ended up behind a bin lorry on a hill and had to do at least ten hill starts and executed them perfectly but it still makes me anxious every time

[Dra508]

I stayed up way too late drinking red wine. It's the lack of sleep more than anything....

[kel]

"i'm not homophobic, but ... "

[eversonpoe]

my wife and i went in to get our pineapple tattoos (partly inspired by Psych, party inspired by our love of disney world) on saturday. it had taken me a LONG time to get her excited enough and confident enough to go through with it, and i was really looking forward to it.

so, we get to the shop, and my artist is finishing up his previous appointment, so we're just hanging out, and the guy at the front desk is talking to other people in the shop about his relationship(s). he keeps saying AWFUL things about women, repeatedly calling them "bitches", saying he's "boyfriend of the year for listening to the drivel that would come out of their mouths", and just generally being a dick.
then he refers to caitlin jenner as a "tranny" (even typing that word hurt) and i say "NOPE. you do not get to use that word. don't be an asshole." he says "no, it's fine, i have a bunch of friends who are trans." and i say "uh, that makes it so much worse. if you have friends who are trans, you owe it to them to do better."
i was really proud of myself for remaining articulate, not getting TOO upset, and hopefully getting him to realize that wasn't ok. but at that point, my wife had become so uncomfortable that she had decided she couldn't get a tattoo.

now, i totally understand her position. if it was your first time doing something that felt like a really big deal and someone made you feel super uncomfortable, you probably wouldn't go through with it. i know i wouldn't. so i wasn't upset with her. but i am SO MAD at that asshole for ruining the experience for her. thankfully i had something else also scheduled, so she went and hung out at her best friend's house nearby, and i got a different tattoo.

my artist kept repeatedly apologizing, we rescheduled for a different day, and hopefully it will work out. but seriously, people who work in an industry like that should be conscious of NOT alienating their customers (or being jerks in general) so they don't lose business for themselves or their colleagues.

oh, and there were two other guys in there getting tattoos who spoke basically the same way about women. my artist and i kept rolling our eyes and/or cringing at the things they were saying ("oh, my girl is gonna HATE this pinup tattoo! i can't wait to see how pissed she gets at me!") and i just kept being glad that my artist isn't that kind of guy.

ughhhhhhhhh

[Swykk]

Liked for the Psych love. Damn I miss that show.

I'm pissed off/disappointed that despite my best efforts to get where I want to be in life, I'm just not there. I feel like time is running out. I feel like some bad life events are going to drop soon and I will drown in the depression that will follow.

[Dra508]

Just found out I am somehow a cousin of a Fox News talking head. :O It sort of makes sense that I wasn't made aware and it wasn't brought up in my fam. My brother told me that the mere mention this dude's and his dad's name used to make my mom grind her teeth to dust.

[thelastdisciple]

ServiceOntario can suck a bag of dicks.

Also this may be TLDR but it's kind of related to the BS of getting any kind of documentation in this country, this isn't from me but from someone on FB:

via Nick Vandergragt

From an old friend Jeff.

This, apparently, is an actual letter received by the Canadian Passport Office from an irate Newfoundlander attempting to renew his passport.

Dear Sirs,

I'm in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe this. How is it that Bell-Alliant has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a friggin satellite dish from them back in 1977, and yet the Canadian Government is still asking me where I was friggin born and on what date.

For Christ sakes, do you guys do this by hand? My birth date you have on my pension checks, and it is on all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 30 years. It is on my Health card, my driving license, my car insurance, on the last eight damn passports I've had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed off the plane over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms.

Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Mary Anne, my father's name is Robert and I'd be absolutely astounded if that ever changed between now and when I die!!!!!!

I apologize. I'm really pissed off this morning. Between you an' me, I've had enough of this bullshit! You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my bloody address!!!!

What is going on? Do you have a gang of Neanderthal workin' there? Look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I don't want to dig up Yasser Arafat, for shit sakes. I just want to go and park my arse on some sandy beach somewhere. And would someone please tell me why would you give a shit whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days? If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, you'd be the last friggin people I'd want to tell!

Well, I have to go now, 'cause I have to go to the other end of the friggin city to get another copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of $35. Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day??

Nooooooooooooo, that'd be too damn easy and maybe make sense. You'd rather have us running all over the place like chickens with our heads cut off, then have to find some arsehole to confirm that it's really me on the damn picture - you know, the one where we're not allowed to smile?! (bureaucratic friggin' morons.) Hey, do you know why we couldn't smile if we wanted to? Because we're totally pissed off!

Signed,

An Irate Canadian Citizen.

P.S. Remember what I said above about the picture and getting someone to confirm that it's me? Well, my family has been in Newfoundland since 1497 and I've been a Canadian Citizen since 1949. I have served in the military for something over 30 years and have had full security clearances over 25 of those years, enabling me to undertake highly secretive missions all over the world. However, I have to get someone 'important' to verify who I am - you know, someone like my doctor - WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN PAKISTAN.

[allegro]

^^ That is AWESOME!!

[thelastdisciple]

It's so true too! especially this part "You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my bloody address!!!!"

Like, are they for real? They seriously can't figure it out? With ALL the info they have on us already?

Some "big brother" they are... sheesh!

So tired of the redundancies and the "oh we're sorry if you do not have X then you cannot apply for Y" yet in order to get X you need to have Y. It's absolutely mental! It's like what comes first the chicken or the egg? Must have the chicken to get the egg but you need the egg to get the chicken.

*flips table*

[elevenism]

oh whoa jesus, these awful nightmares i just woke up from.
like FUCK, i give up!
give me the fucking tranquilizers.

[aggroculture]

The Hemsworths. A complete waste of time. So many of today's hot dude actors seem like total planks to me. Squares.
Where has mystery/intrigue/vulnerability/weirdness/depth in male actors gone?

/getoffmylawn

[eversonpoe]

so, earlier this month, we had to get our front left tire patched because we somehow ran over a screw on the road, on the way to ikea. no big deal.

yesterday, a low tire pressure warning comes on for the rear right tire, so i fill it back up, it's fine, and then i get the warning again in the evening.

this morning, i make an appointment to bring in the car (my wife works in downtown evanston, where i'm also cat-sitting, and the dealership is just a few blocks away).

on the way driving her to work this morning, on this crazy narrow street (ridge, for any of you who live around here), i run up on to the curb a little bit and completely pop the front right tire.

thank goodness i had my bike in the back of the car and i don't have regular work today, but fuck, what a way to start the week. at least i'm good at changing a tire and i was only three blocks from the dealership.

[eversonpoe]

Went in and re-upped on an STI panel last week, came back all clear, but what I apparently thought was a yeast infection (and treated accordingly) is BV and I had explicit sex plans (feat. me getting dick) for Thursday and am not allowed to do that while treating this. JUST GOT COCKBLOCKED BY OWN BODY. AM ANNOYED. Like sure we'll probably still make out/there are other things that may happen for them but A MILLION EMOJI THUMBS DOWNS

wait, you can't bone when you have BV? i would think that wouldn't be an issue...

hope it gets better soon :(

[telee.kom]

Suits. And weddings. I hate suits. I don't hate weddings, but I hate you need to wear a suit to go to a wedding. Or at least you are expected to. I supposed black pants and formal shirt is too casual?

[eversonpoe]

Suits. And weddings. I hate suits. I don't hate weddings, but I hate you need to wear a suit to go to a wedding. Or at least you are expected to. I supposed black pants and formal shirt is too casual?

they're not too casual as long as the wedding isn't black tie. i like dressing up, personally, but i also get hot and sweaty very quickly, so i have gone to weddings wearing just nice pants, a nice button-up, and a tie, and it hasn't been a problem.

[theruiner]

they're not too casual as long as the wedding isn't black tie. i like dressing up, personally, but i also get hot and sweaty very quickly, so i have gone to weddings wearing just nice pants, a nice button-up, and a tie, and it hasn't been a problem.This is what I've always done, too, and I've never had a problem.

[allegro]

they're not too casual as long as the wedding isn't black tie. i like dressing up, personally, but i also get hot and sweaty very quickly, so i have gone to weddings wearing just nice pants, a nice button-up, and a tie, and it hasn't been a problem.

As long as it isn't totally "formal," this is not a problem. But, this guy is in another country, so I dunno.

G and I have been to weddings here in the Chicago area where guests (guys) showed up IN VAN HALEN T-SHIRTS. One guy wore a white t-shirt with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve like fucking Fonzi on Happy Days, what the fuck. So, you can "wear" whatever you "want" I guess but it may be totally inappropriate and tacky. If you want to be appropriate, consider that wedding party and what THEY are wearing and how uncomfortable THEY ARE and remember that you can remove a suit coat once the ceremony is over or don't even attend the ceremony and just show up for the reception and wear just a dress shirt and tie.

We females have to wear heels and all kinds of uncomfortable shit; a few years ago I learned the blessings of KITTEN HEELS.

[eversonpoe]

my best friend, who is basically my sister, was recently diagnosed as bi-polar. she's been having issues for years and this diagnosis is hopefully going to help her get some treatment. this doesn't piss me off, it makes me very happy.

however...

a different one of my close friends (she was in our wedding party, helped a lot with planning and various other things for our wedding) who hasn't been much of a friend lately (very self-absorbed, CONSTANTLY talks about being sad/not doing anything while posting selfie after selfie at events but never has time to see us) told me she got engaged the other day, but didn't bother texting my wife about it. now this is a big deal for two reasons: 1) my wife and i are not one person, and though of course i told her, it was rude of this friend to not tell her and 2) she has talked A LOT to us about how she was probably never going to get married because, though she and her partner are great together, he has very mixed feelings about the institution of marriage. so we've been kind of feeling very "meh" about her in general.

today, she posted a gigantic thing on facebook, and after reading it i just found myself feeling kind of disgusted.


Yo friends/family/chosen family, I am on the mega struggle bus today/this week/probably for a while with the new meds and this is me asking for help, which i am not good at doing. For those of you who may have missed it, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder last week. I've basically been 98% sedated for the last 7 days (literally unable to do anything but sleep even after three redbulls).
We adjusted my meds today and feeling slightly better/less like a zombie but it is going to be a serious journey as we figure out exactly what combo of pills will work best for me. Whatever love/support you've got is hugely appreciated in the next few weeks.
Things that would help a ton:
* Encouraging texts/messages/snapchats (norine97 om snapchat) (talking on the phone is really hard for me with my anxiety a lot of the time).
* Pictures/videos of adorable animals
* Pics/videos/stories about cool goth stuff and/or ghosts/vampires
* Letters/postcards/pictures (i love artwork from my friends it is my favorite thing) (DM me if you don't have my address)
* Music recs - upbeat music to keep me awake/focused. I am on spotify if you want to share a playlist!
* Books! If you've read a good one and want to rec/loan it to me I'd love that. I'm trying really hard to stay off Netflix because its helping keep me comatose.
* It's hard to get myself to leave the house, but try to make me leave anyways. Sushi and ice cream are things I often use to bribe myself out. Also Pokemon.
* Come visit me. I don't think I can handle a ton of folks at once but having people around helps keep me focused. We can do crafts or pet my cats or dance or whatever.
* Other things I love are fresh flowers, chocolate, vegan ice cream and tea if you wanna visit and cheer me up with something little and fun,
Don't be alarmed if i seem a little out of it or different. Again, finding the right combo takes a while and mostly I am feeling really subdued and chill right now - not necessarily a bad thing in moderation. You may find me less talkative/hyper than usual, which doesn't mean i am not stoked to see you, my brain is just trying to find balance. Thanks for all your love and support always. xo




now, if she had sent that in an e-mail to a select few people or something, it'd be one thing. but she posted that on her facebook (and isntagram) for ANYONE to see, and, to me, it just SCREAMS give me attention. :: cue gigantic eye roll ::

[playwithfire]

So, I'm just commenting on the Facebook thing and not the preceding shitty behavior:

But, I use Facebook like this (and you've seen me use Facebook like this, though I didn't give folks detailed requests for support). If I'm upset about something/feeling really shitty, engaging one on one can be pretty draining and not helpful for me. Particularly when it means I need to go into the specifics of my situation to them/spend time there. It's why, 90% of the time if people message me and go "Do you want to talk." I really, truly won't want to. Also, I tend to be happiest with some isolation in my life. But small amounts of reassurance from a lot of people can be helpful, and giving a lot of people a controlled quantity of information about my situation in one go is also helpful.

But like, in the context of her being avoidant lately of y'all and all the other stuff, totally get how that could be frustrating and not trying to say it's not.

[eversonpoe]

So, I'm just commenting on the Facebook thing and not the preceding shitty behavior:

But, I use Facebook like this (and you've seen me use Facebook like this, though I didn't give folks detailed requests for support). If I'm upset about something/feeling really shitty, engaging one on one can be pretty draining and not helpful for me. Particularly when it means I need to go into the specifics of my situation to them/spend time there. It's why, 90% of the time if people message me and go "Do you want to talk." I really, truly won't want to. Also, I tend to be happiest with some isolation in my life. But small amounts of reassurance from a lot of people can be helpful, and giving a lot of people a controlled quantity of information about my situation in one go is also helpful.

But like, in the context of her being avoidant lately of y'all and all the other stuff, totally get how that could be frustrating and not trying to say it's not.

yeah, i have no problem with using it as a platform to reach out to people in the way that you do, but it really just wholly comes across as an attention-seeking behavior on her part. without more context, it's harder to see, but understand that it's a long history of things painting it that way.

[Sarah K]

That could all be chalked up to her having undiagnosed bipolar diaorser, as well.

[Dra508]

That could all be chalked up to her having undiagnosed bipolar diaorser, as well.
That's what I was thinking eversonpoe. Cut her some slack until she finds an even keel?

[Sarah K]

So I found an apartment that I and my potential roommate both like. The landlord seems chill and is willing to work with us - negotiated rent, and is willing to take extra security since my credit sucks. We checked out the space Sunday and like it. When I emailed him later, he said someone else had offered him even more than he was initially asking. Then this morning he emails me and tells me the other applicant got rejected, and wants to know if we are still interested. I repeat to him that my credit is shit, and I tell him what the negative marks on it are. He thanks me for being honest and says he is willing to work with it, just needs to do the credit/background check on us, which is $100 each. I email roommate giving her all of this information, excited as shit, and now she is being resistant on doing the background check. I told her he just needs to verify what I am telling him and needs to make sure we have no evictions, etc. But now all of a sudden she thinks it feels "shady".

Aaaaaargh. She doesn't have a time crunch like I do. She doesn't have to leave her place, she just wants to. But the clock is ticking for me. This is an awful lot of work and effort on his part of he's only trying to scam us out of $200.

[eversonpoe]

so, earlier this month, we had to get our front left tire patched because we somehow ran over a screw on the road, on the way to ikea. no big deal.

yesterday, a low tire pressure warning comes on for the rear right tire, so i fill it back up, it's fine, and then i get the warning again in the evening.

this morning, i make an appointment to bring in the car (my wife works in downtown evanston, where i'm also cat-sitting, and the dealership is just a few blocks away).

on the way driving her to work this morning, on this crazy narrow street (ridge, for any of you who live around here), i run up on to the curb a little bit and completely pop the front right tire.

thank goodness i had my bike in the back of the car and i don't have regular work today, but fuck, what a way to start the week. at least i'm good at changing a tire and i was only three blocks from the dealership.

so because of this whole debacle on monday, i ended up riding my bike over 12 miles. it was the first time i had ridden in, like...two months? and to de-stress after a long day, we had a couple drinks with dinner that night.

well, i woke up tuesday with terrible congestion that has gotten progressively worse, on top of it, my stomach started hurting yesterday, and today my body decided to add a near-migraine-level headache. as the day has worn on, i have gotten weaker and weaker, to the point that i couldn't even open the door of the car when we got home (i was so messed up when leaving my parents' house that my mom drove me to pick up my wife from work and then my wife drove home; my mom got a ride back home from my dad).

i almost dropped my computer getting it out of my bag because my grip strength is almost completely gone. it's taking me forever to type this because my finger dexterity is depleted. i have no idea what the fuck is going on.

oh, and we don't have insurance until next week when september starts because my wife has only been at her new job since the end of june.

[allegro]

eversonpoe that sounds like you are REALLY dehydrated.

[eversonpoe]

@eversonpoe (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=588) that sounds like you are REALLY dehydrated.

yeah, i think i downed probably...18 glasses of water yesterday in total? i'm feeling a little better today (my strength seems to be back, my head isn't pounding), but i'm still really congested and my stomach is still being wonky. just really need to be ok for tomorrow when we're attending a gala for sarah's work.

[allegro]

yeah, i think i downed probably...18 glasses of water yesterday in total? i'm feeling a little better today (my strength seems to be back, my head isn't pounding), but i'm still really congested and my stomach is still being wonky. just really need to be ok for tomorrow when we're attending a gala for sarah's work.
Keep drinking lots of water, maybe get some Gatoraid or something with electrolytes ...

[eversonpoe]

Keep drinking lots of water, maybe get some Gatoraid or something with electrolytes ...

every time i hear the word electrolytes, i think of this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbxq0IDqD04

[allegro]

every time i hear the word electrolytes, i think of this
Heh, that reminds me of my husband and his friends who used to drink Red Bull and Vodka. So you're, like, WIDE AWAKE DRUNK.

I know that when I had to do that awful PREP for a certain required MEDICAL PROCEDURE that I will not name but everyone eventually has to have it (https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/patient-education/how-prepare-your-colonoscopy-using-miralax) and the PREP is AWFUL, the docs told me to drink clear Gatorade (you have to fast and have nothing but CLEAR stuff for 24 hours which gave me a fucking MIGRAINE for 48 hours). They define "clear" as "you can read a newspaper through it" which means "you are gonna be FUCKING HUNGRY AND WISH YOU WERE DEAD." Ugh, awful; but the risks of not having the procedure is worse.

Anyway, hope you get rehydrated.

[telee.kom]

they're not too casual as long as the wedding isn't black tie. i like dressing up, personally, but i also get hot and sweaty very quickly, so i have gone to weddings wearing just nice pants, a nice button-up, and a tie, and it hasn't been a problem.

I followed your advice and I'm glad I did. It was 30°C and the wedding was outside on direct sunlight so I would probably melted in any kind of suit. Thank you

http://i.imgur.com/urtqaoW.jpg

[Jinsai]

I went along to the first day of the FYF Festival (aka the Fuck Yeah Festival Festival) in LA today, because a good friend had an extra ticket, and I felt saying no would be a shitty thing to do. I just... I think I hate that festival. Every year, no matter how good the lineup is, I walk away feeling pissed off.

But this? I'm sitting there, watching Tame Impala play, and glad that at least one of the rock bands is sounding good... but by that point my back is torture, and my feet hurt, and I'm tired... I'm getting too old for this sort of shit.... and all of the kids are wearing ironic t-shirts and doing way too many drugs and acting like dumbasses... Some silly fucker ran into me at full speed and almost knocked me on my ass... I almost reflexively punched him in the stomach and barely restrained myself...

But the music? Most of the stages sounded terrible. I like Air, but they were so quiet you could barely hear them over the stoney chatter from the audience... I really keep trying to give Grimes a chance and see what people like about her but it just doesn't work for me... the first rapper on the main stage, I forgot his name, but all it sounded like to me was huge 808 bass drum hits with long decay... Oneohtrix Point Never was really good, but by the time I was catching their set I was feeling pretty miserable. To my surprise, Shellac was unlistenable. DIIV sounded cool, but they were playing while I was stuck in the clusterfuck stampede to get into the venue... it took about an hour to actually get in there through the disneyland-line winding bullshit... I left before Kendrick Lamar played, because I just couldn't handle it anymore.

What a drag it is getting old... And now I've got to do this again tomorrow... I've never in my life dreaded going to a concert. I think the only band playing tomorrow that I want to see is Beach House, and I'm not even that big of a fan.

[allegro]

Wait ... SHELLAC sucked???

[elevenism]

so i have a potential problem brewing.
one of the biggest reasons i left Dallas 4 years ago or so was to get away from the ubiquitous liquor stores.
Then they started selling beer here a couple of years ago, but i like generally throw beer up before i can get enough of it in to do much damage.

Well, i just saw a sign like 1.5 miles from our house that says "Liquor Store. Coming Soon!"
It's actually like a metal fucking BARN, but inside they will sell liquor.

If i start drinking the way i did before, i'll be dead in like two years. And i swear to god i walk into liquor stores like on autopilot, not wanting to buy it, not wanting to drink it, knowing the consequences and doing it all the same.

This is going to be a motherfucking test. And this is likely going to push me back into 12 stepping (which i fucking hate, but it kinda works)

[Jinsai]

second time I've had a drunk (or somehow impaired) Uber driver. He kept trying exaggerated appearances that he was being very pro and alert (hands at ten and two... trying to always not speed, but then fucking up and speeding, and when he catches himself he slowwwwwwwws down... at one point to 15 miles below the speed limit), slowing down whenever a car approached until (seemingly) he could tell it wasn't a cop... constantly running into the lane dividers... he's constantly oversteering turns... at one point I tell him to turn right and he turns left...

And I can't even report this guy because I'm not the one who called the Uber. I was the designated driver, so my friend called the Uber. He has to be the one to report him, and I know he won't.

[Volband]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aVna3HohXI

Second hand embarrassment is the worst!

[aggroculture]

And I can't even report this guy because I'm not the one who called the Uber. I was the designated driver, so my friend called the Uber. He has to be the one to report him, and I know he won't.

Please report him/get your friend to. Scum like that need their license taken away.
I had a drunk cab driver in Dublin one night, he drove down a one way street, lucky it was like 3 in the morning and there was no one there. Would have thought of reporting him if I hadn't been returning from ER after a night of excruciating pain.

[telee.kom]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y_gOT-f7bw

[Jinsai]

Please report him/get your friend to. Scum like that need their license taken away.
I had a drunk cab driver in Dublin one night, he drove down a one way street, lucky it was like 3 in the morning and there was no one there. Would have thought of reporting him if I hadn't been returning from ER after a night of excruciating pain.

There's no way this guy is going to do it... even if I asked him to, he's the kind of guy who will say "oh, yeah yeah yeah, I sent an email, all good... no worries..."

in fact, when I told him about it tonight, he laughed.

[eversonpoe]

There's no way this guy is going to do it... even if I asked him to, he's the kind of guy who will say "oh, yeah yeah yeah, I sent an email, all good... no worries..."

in fact, when I told him about it tonight, he laughed.

ask to borrow his phone and just use it to report the guy

[thelastdisciple]

I know i mentioned this before but HOLY FUCK this ServiceOntario shit is driving me crazy.

You could have a driver's license in another Canadian province for 50 years but hey that's not good enough, it has to be an ONTARIO license in order to get a Health Card, that's like for my Mother who was BORN in Ontario and had been a resident there for decades...only to have moved and lived in Alberta for 15 years and decided to come back to Ontario... in order for her to get a health card she has to get a new driver's license but oh wait no no no you can't just get a new license just like that nooooooo you have to get the fancy new marriage certificate because apparently her original one is not good enough so she has to get a NEW marriage certificate to get a NEW driver's license to get a Health Card. UNFUCKINGREAL!

You know if It's not enough to prove who you are with a birth certificate that has your name, date of birth, place of birth, registration number, if it's not enough if you have a driver's license or ID card from another province that has your photo and fucking signature on it, if it's not enough to have a health card from another province then they might as well ask for a lock of hair, a vial of blood and a god damn fucking stool sample because at this point i don't know what the hell else is going to satisfy this people.

[elevenism]

This guy tried to start a fist fight with me, in a store, no less, because i had on a black and white flag t shirt. He was actually SPITTING in my face as he talked.
And i couldn't do anything about it, because i am at the point where if i get in another fight of any kind, i WILL go to prison for at least 2 years (and quite possibly more, up to 10. it could piss the judge off that i lawyered my way out of the first two.) So i just had to take it.

[telee.kom]

What's the problem with black and white flag shirt?

[Volband]

This guy tried to start a fist fight with me, in a store, no less, because i had on a black and white flag t shirt. He was actually SPITTING in my face as he talked.
And i couldn't do anything about it, because i am at the point where if i get in another fight of any kind, i WILL go to prison for at least 2 years (and quite possibly more, up to 10. it could piss the judge off that i lawyered my way out of the first two.) So i just had to take it.
I mean, the most important thing in this story for me is what the f did you do, that you are on the razor's edge? Especially if you live in Texas - I always thought people in Texas just shoot each other if there's a problem, hah!

[elevenism]

What's the problem with black and white flag shirt? i have no clue!

[Khrz]

i have no clue!

If you Google "black and white American flag", you end up in a yahoo answers thread that manages to both confuse you further yet enlighten you to the fact that it is indeed a controversial image. The problem being that nobody seems to agree on the reason why.

[Mantra]

I just assumed it was a dumb patriotism thing. Certain folks are incredibly sensitive and uptight about the flag. They don't like anyone messing with the shape or colors or whatever. You're not supposed to let it touch the ground, and don't ever turn it upside down. I remember reading some right wing forum years ago where they were talking about some concert where Kid Rock wore a flag by cutting a hole in the middle and draping it over himself, and a bunch of people thought that was horribly disrespectful.

There's just a lot of idiots out there where the flag is almost like some sacred religious thing.

[allegro]

I assume it's also due to the whole "America, FUCK YEAH!" shit that Trump is stirring up right now, plus the whole Kaepernick thing has talking heads going apeshit and stirring up the Angry White People with shit like this stupid ass:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq0_nyWVXCI

So any little tiny thing makes drunk hillbillies go nuts. It's not worth elevating your blood pressure, elevenism, you took the high road.

[scotty79]

picked up another 3 points on my licence today, seems like i've been driving the works van at the wrong speed limit, now i'm worried if i've passed any police camera vans lately doing what i thought was the speed limit

[elevenism]

I assume it's also due to the whole "America, FUCK YEAH!" shit that Trump is stirring up right now, plus the whole Kaepernick thing has talking heads going apeshit and stirring up the Angry White People with shit like this stupid ass:
So any little tiny thing makes drunk hillbillies go nuts. It's not worth elevating your blood pressure, @elevenism (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=2475), you took the high road.

But strangely, this guy was a mexican in Cactus, Texas, a town known from here to south america as a haven for illegal immigrants.
I just don't know what in the fuck to think as to why he wanted to fight me.

For me, well, the fucking main thing is that the flag was on the cover of Stankonia by Outkast.
It's also been used as a BLM logo, so there's that.
And finally i think it's a good representation of the dichotomy between our 2 gridlocked "political parties" in this country.

That is what the shirt means to me.

[allegro]

It's just a b/w representation of the flag, and from a graphic arts standpoint it's cheaper to print. It's just a stupid argument. Period.

[elevenism]

Especially if you live in Texas - I always thought people in Texas just shoot each other if there's a problem, hah!

it never ceases to amaze me what people think about texas.

Yes, there are shootings in places like dallas. There are a lot of gangs there, because dallas is the 4th largest metro area in the country after Ny, LA, and Chi-Town. But it's GANG BANGERS. Like Bloods and Crips and Gangster Disciples and Latin Kings and shit. It's not like cowboys and indians lol. :P
Aside from the other massive metro areas like Houston (again, think ANY OTHER MASSIVE METROPOLITAN AREA,) Texas is mostly made up of small towns where shootings are pretty fucking rare.

Texas ranks at number 23 for frequency of murder, so it's average.

We shoot each other here in the same manner that all mexicans wear sombreros and all aussies ride kangaroos and drink fosters and eat at the outback steakhouse :P

[allegro]

because dallas is the 4th largest metro area in the country after Ny, LA, and Chi-Town.
Not to pick nits but I think Houston has replaced Dallas?

Ohhhhh, you're counting Fort Worth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas).

But the gangs in Chicago (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population) don't reside in our suburb of "nap-erville" LOL.

I think he's thinking of this idea that the state of Texas is really pro-2nd Amendment? And he knows you don't live in Dallas (where you avoided the fight)? Dunno, he's from another country, doesn't matter.

[elevenism]

Not to pick nits but I think Houston has replaced Dallas?

Ohhhhh, you're counting Fort Worth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas).
yes, and it makes sense to count fort worth because there is no fucking space between the 30 something towns that make up the area. Literally. At all. (just like i imagine there is no space between la and her suburbs and such.)
Either way, they are both in texas. :P

Now, i have to go use the outhouse and feed the horse and listen to country music in my shack until i fall asleep. Our rooster crows pretty damn early!

[allegro]

Well, but you ain't in Dallas, you're where Jesus lost his shoes, LOL.

i have friends in a Dallas suburb who said they felt an EARTHQUAKE yesterday?

[elevenism]

Well, but you ain't in Dallas, you're where Jesus lost his shoes, LOL.

i have friends in a Dallas suburb who said they felt an EARTHQUAKE yesterday?
i still rep dallas though, till i die. and i'm triple d bred and fed.

But yes, i will admit, people HERE DO actually ride horses and shit. It's just that people think that ALL of texas is like that, and it's frustrating.
I have spent like 80 percent of my life in a place that is way more like LA or Chicago than where i live now. And like i said, the vast majority of texas is peaceful as fuck.

Crazy about the earthquake. It OBVIOUSLY means that Jaysus is coming back, right?

[allegro]

Crazy about the earthquake. It OBVIOUSLY means that Jaysus is coming back, right?
Um ... no.

From here (http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/strong-oklahoma-earthquake-felt-nebraska-texas-n642386):


An increase in magnitude 3.0 or greater earthquakes in Oklahoma has been linked to underground disposal of wastewater from oil and natural gas production. State regulators have asked producers to reduce wastewater disposal volumes in earthquake-prone regions of the state.

[elevenism]

i've been hearing about strange earthquakes in the north texas/ok area for some years.

I assumed it had to do with fracking, but that's just my uneducated guess.

edit: story read allegro , that's fucking nuts

[elevenism]

allegro i actually avoided the fight in a town called Cactus, lol. As in that Cactus (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/08/AR2007020801812.html). This makes the whole thing more bizarre. All i can figure was that this dude was the one dude in cactus who isn't an illegal alien and he was damn proud of that fact.
And it's true that we are pro second amendment. A sensible shotgun is part of a texas home, especially outside the metros. There are a couple here and i've never even fired a gun. I don't get it really. I think it's just that texans like to be fucking obstinate, or ornery, as it were. I mean, there are aspects of that rebel attitude in my personality for sure.

Okay, while i'm at it, THIS fucking town pisses me off. I was at the store a couple of days ago and this kid who worked there said "i don't mean to be nosy, but didn't you used to like shoot dope? becauses i do lawn work and i used to find dope needles behind your house. you live in the jackson house right? you ARE tyler jackson?"

And i was like "NO dude, i never shot dope here, and you never found any goddamn needles!" I HAVE never shot dope here. But this fucker kept insisting. FInally i looked at him all fucked up and told him i used to shoot heroin in dallas to try to scare him. But instead, now he thinks we are friends.

I have tried my damndest to be invisible in this town and i suddenly realized that random motherfuckers know my name, where i live, and that i am/was a junky, and that's just the shit they will straight up say to my face!

[onthewall2983]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHp22IYQveg

This movie is on Hulu, but all the swearing is overdubbed

[aggroculture]

Rodrigo Duterte. Not because he insulted Obama, although that is certainly stupid.
But because he's initiated a bloodbath - 2400 and counting - of people summarily executed - murdered without trial in the streets of the Philipines, and apparently that's OK. It's OK to be a president and tell your people to murder each other in the streets without consequence.

[Jinsai]

Maybe more deserving of a "little things that make you sad," but I'm sitting in a diner, Don't Stop Believing is playing, and the cute little girl is jumping up and down telling her mom how much she loves second grade, "I lovvvvvve second grade!!!"

for some reason it made me feel old in a new way

[sick among the pure]

When I was in the interview for my second job, I was offered a day rate and told "it should average around 10-13 an hour most days, some days will be longer, some shorter"
So... including travel time to tomorrow's job, I'm working a 12 hour day. Worked 10 hours last Thursday. 10 hours Tuesday. That averages me at 7-8 an hour...
At what point do I ask when the shorter days come in to play so that I'm making more than I did over 10 years ago when I worked fast food? Because it's only been a few weeks and I'm already trying to find a job to replace this one...

[Frozen Beach]

I'm still having trouble with my internet randomly dropping connection after months of trying to get it fixed. No technician nor line tech know what the hell is going on. It's at a point where they're going to do a 48 hour monitoring of my line.

[eversonpoe]

I'm still having trouble with my internet randomly dropping connection after months of trying to get it fixed. No technician nor line tech know what the hell is going on. It's at a point where they're going to do a 48 hour monitoring of my line.

cable internet or DSL? combo modem/router or separate modem & router?

[Frozen Beach]

cable internet or DSL? combo modem/router or separate modem & router?
It's AT&T Uverse. Yes, I know AT&T suck. They were the only internet available in my area last year. It's not the router. Everything at my home has been replaced, even wires.
Also worth mentioning, I had AT&T before but had regular DSL. I upgraded because of expense/data cap, but I also had a similar issue back then. I only started calling after I upgraded to Uverse and it got worse.

It usually goes down between 7am - 12pm and 6pm - 10pm. Sometimes it'll go down at other hours though. Some days it's completely fine.

[allegate]

Apple's insistence that they know how we want to browse our music catalog on our IOS devices. WTF is wrong with them.

[eversonpoe]

It's AT&T Uverse. Yes, I know AT&T suck. They were the only internet available in my area last year. It's not the router. Everything at my home has been replaced, even wires.
Also worth mentioning, I had AT&T before but had regular DSL. I upgraded because of expense/data cap, but I also had a similar issue back then. I only started calling after I upgraded to Uverse and it got worse.

It usually goes down between 7am - 12pm and 6pm - 10pm. Sometimes it'll go down at other hours though. Some days it's completely fine.

that's unfortunate. i'm sorry. was gonna try to help you troubleshoot it.


Apple's insistence that they know how we want to browse our music catalog on our IOS devices. WTF is wrong with them.

haven't updated yet, but i will say the new version of iTunes on my computer brought back some features they had gotten rid of a few versions ago, and i'm so glad they brought them back. it looks a little "retro" which is weird, but the functionality is vastly improved.

[eversonpoe]

Apple's insistence that they know how we want to browse our music catalog on our IOS devices. WTF is wrong with them.

ok, yeah, i updated. the new music app on my phone is HORRIBLE. and i hate the new control center setup (two pages? for what!?), especially the separation of airplay audio and airplay mirroring (i'm going to have a LOT of confused customers; i do a/v systems).

i don't understand for the life of me why they changed unlocking your phone from the swipe right that it's been forever to a click a button action...it's so counter-intuitive.

the new stuff in messages is kinda cool, i guess? i think the majority of this update is really nonsensical, though.

[eversonpoe]

realizing that i'm going to need to update my OS on my computer eventually, but that will cause the version of ProTools i'm running AND my m-audio interface to no longer work, which means i'll have to upgrade both of those, which will be around $800-$1000, at which point i should just also buy a god damn new computer.

people think home recording is so easy and inexpensive (and yeah, it is, compared to a studio) but it still costs a lot of money for someone who isn't exactly rolling in it.

[Jinsai]

I just had someone ask me to work for 17 hours straight for 150 bucks.

fuck YOU.

Dude, I charge 100 dollars for rich people, and 40 for people trying to make bills meet. You want me to work for less than minimum wage while I pick up your leavings, you better drug me the fuck up to accept that deal, and unfortunately that ship has sailed

[allegro]

I just had someone ask me to work for 17 hours straight for 150 bucks.

fuck YOU.

Dude, I charge 100 dollars for rich people, and 40 for people trying to make bills meet. You want me to work for less than minimum wage while I pick up your leavings, you better drug me the fuck up to accept that deal, and unfortunately that ship has sailed
That's $8.80 per hour, you can work at Taco Bell for that.

[Jinsai]

That's $8.80 per hour, you can work at Taco Bell for that.

This is the shitty thing about being an audio engineer... a lot of people just assume they can tell you "ah, well, for most of the gig you'll just be sitting there, so you don't get paid for that part"

If I'm there I could be somewhere else. And I hate this part of being a grown up, but I've realized that if you do "favors" like work your ass off for nothing for people that aren't your friends, they see you as an exploitable idiot.

[Rubeninphoenix]

Slow talkers and especially when you have to talk to them on the phone. A few of my coworkers have that slow, monotone voice and for whatever reason, it just gets exacerbated on the phone. I've had to deal with two of them and they were both 10+ minute calls each time, almost put me to sleep.

[Dra508]

Slow talkers and especially when you have to talk to them on the phone. A few of my coworkers have that slow, monotone voice and for whatever reason, it just gets exacerbated on the phone. I've had to deal with two of them and they were both 10+ minute calls each time, almost put me to sleep.

Along that line, coworker who insists on calling you to have you on the phone when they work on the deliverable you asked for in email. Really dude.

[allegro]

This is the shitty thing about being an audio engineer... a lot of people just assume they can tell you "ah, well, for most of the gig you'll just be sitting there, so you don't get paid for that part"

If I'm there I could be somewhere else. And I hate this part of being a grown up, but I've realized that if you do "favors" like work your ass off for nothing for people that aren't your friends, they see you as an exploitable idiot.
Part of being a grown-up is looking at things in terms of hourly wages and time. I was always viewing things from the casual labor exempt salary viewpoint so I was getting screwed until my LABOR UNION MEMBER Husband kept insisting that I stop getting screwed.

YOUR TIME IS VALUABLE. EVERY FUCKING SECOND OF IT. It doesn't matter what they claim is "industry standard." Sitting around IS STILL YOUR TIME. I know BUS DRIVERS who get paid to sit on their asses in between shifts. TIME IS TIME. Anything else is them FUCKING YOU out of your TIME AND MONEY.

PERIOD.

I used to not think this way until G talked me into what we call the "Taco Bell Math." Pay divided by hours = hourly pay = is it the same as Taco Bell pay?

At some point, you have to set a minimum hourly wage for yourself based on your skills and experience and refuse to accept any less.

[elevenism]

That sucks @Jinsai (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=272) .

I used to do like stage monkey gigs for the dallas cowboys halftime shows on thxgiving, or backline for little music festivals, and i did a WHOLE lot of just sitting there. But i got paid for all of it.

Also, my brother and several of my friends have made careers out of it, and it's always like scandalous if a company tries to pull that shit. It's pretty rare in dallas for production companies to not compensate you for all your time.

[Khrz]

A friend of my mom's had a drunken tirade about someone whose son committed suicide, and went on babbling how that mother's pain was worse than mom's, because that one felt guilty for the death of her kid.
He's not a bad guy, that circle of friends has this tendency to do drunk circlejerks like that, typical french intellectuals and it's fun most of the time, everyone's incoherent and arguing to the point of yelling, it's fine. And you know, maybe he's right.
Next time you tell to my mother's face that her pain is lesser than and I'll spit that fucking wine in your eyes, though.

[tony.parente]

3 months ago I was on an Australian deathcore bands Facebook page (a night in Texas). I forgot what it was in response to but I posted some dumb meme in the comments of one of their posts. The replied to me and said "nice meme you four eyed faggot". I fell out of my chair laughing, screencapped the exchange and posted it on my page. Fast forward to yesterday, Facebook removes my screenshot and blocks me for 30 days.


BRUH

http://i.imgur.com/pqfDvyk.jpg

[elevenism]

A friend of my mom's had a drunken tirade about someone whose son committed suicide, and went on babbling how that mother's pain was worse than mom's, because that one felt guilty for the death of her kid.
He's not a bad guy, that circle of friends has this tendency to do drunk circlejerks like that, typical french intellectuals and it's fun most of the time, everyone's incoherent and arguing to the point of yelling, it's fine. And you know, maybe he's right.
Next time you tell to my mother's face that her pain is lesser than and I'll spit that fucking wine in your eyes, though.
Jesus, she said it in your mother's presence? Good lord. Fuck THAT shit! You are a hero for not fucking knocking him out, man.

[Khrz]

Not a hero, just not there when that happened ;)

But yeah, he was musing about the weight of loss out loud I guess, and maybe that even was his drunken, misguided way to try to say that it could be worse (which would equally warrant a massive STFU, I'm just saying that I'm sure he wasn't being a douche, just clueless and oblivious)... But mom was part of the conversation. She's a good egg so she shut her mouth and took the hit, but it did nothing to improve her mood as you can guess.

[allegro]

Not a hero, just not there when that happened ;)

But yeah, he was musing about the weight of loss out loud I guess, and maybe that even was his drunken, misguided way to try to say that it could be worse (which would equally warrant a massive STFU, I'm just saying that I'm sure he wasn't being a douche, just clueless and oblivious)... But mom was part of the conversation. She's a good egg so she shut her mouth and took the hit, but it did nothing to improve her mood as you can guess.
People say stupid shit while drunk, but people don't really grok death or how to handle death around people who have experienced it. Like, my Mom's son died of AIDS and I can't COUNT the number of times my Mom has been asked "was your son gay?" First, why is that important? Second, no, actually, he wasn't gay. But, it completely disregards the fact that my Mom's son IS DEAD. OF AIDS, which is a HORRIBLE death. It's like they want their own children to NOT die of AIDS so they want to make sure it's not possible for their straight kids to die of AIDS. (Guess again.) My Mom said that after she suffered a miscarriage, people ACTUALLY SAID TO HER: "Well, you can have other children" and "you can get a dog." A DOG.

[telee.kom]

I'm pretty sure Eurosport player was made for the sole purpose of spreading misery and pain to anyone who dare to use it. I'm yet to see more unresponsive, laggy, unintuitive, lackluster piece of fucking shit streaming service.

[Sarah K]

3 months ago I was on an Australian deathcore bands Facebook page (a night in Texas). I forgot what it was in response to but I posted some dumb meme in the comments of one of their posts. The replied to me and said "nice meme you four eyed faggot". I fell out of my chair laughing, screencapped the exchange and posted it on my page. Fast forward to yesterday, Facebook removes my screenshot and blocks me for 30 days.


BRUH



Your profile still shows up. What happens if someone messages you?

btw, Cathie wants to know if you guys want to do a haunted house this year.

[tony.parente]

Your profile still shows up. What happens if someone messages you?

btw, Cathie wants to know if you guys want to do a haunted house this year.

I can see everything I just can't like, message, respond, comment, friend request or do literally any interactions.

[Swykk]

When you're on vacation with your friends and you're the only one who can't sleep in. I'm officially old now.

[fillow]

Was supposed to see Rosetta today, but the show was cancelled.
Supposedly, due to low ticket sales.
Which brings me to another thing: people in my city don't fucking go to see good bands (or should I say - bands of many genres, as opposed to sticking to just one). The only ones which always get the clubs full are bullshit metalcore/mdm ones. (Caliban, Chelsea Grin, Enter Shikari... no offense but I hate this shit). Dozens of great bands that I like and that regularly tour nearby are skipping us, and local promoters are telling us that these bands weren't even approached for a show because the attendance will be low. What the fuck is wrong with people?

[eversonpoe]

Was supposed to see Rosetta today, but the show was cancelled.
Supposedly, due to low ticket sales.
Which brings me to another thing: people in my city don't fucking go to see good bands (or should I say - bands of many genres, as opposed to sticking to just one). The only ones which always get the clubs full are bullshit metalcore/mdm ones. (Caliban, Chelsea Grin, Enter Shikari... no offense but I hate this shit). Dozens of great bands that I like and that regularly tour nearby are skipping us, and local promoters are telling us that these bands weren't even approached for a show because the attendance will be low. What the fuck is wrong with people?

oh, that sucks. i've seen them a couple times now and it's always quite an experience. i'm surprised about the low ticket sales, i thought they had a pretty big audience in your neck of the woods.

[allegate]

We have a satellite office that we are responsible for. They keep fucking things up but only enough to be upsetting, not enough for action. They finally screwed up enough to get everyone in a meeting and figure out how to make them take more responsibility. By the end of the meeting I had more duties and they had less. WTF.

My "bridge of support" from my boss is slowing falling down. This is the fourth new duty that I've taken on from others in the past two month. While I know that some of them are due to retirements, I also know that even when those positions are back-filled I'll still have the duties.

https://bplusmovieblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/wreck-it-ralph-377.png?w=590

Not that kind of duty.

[Harry Seaward]

A couple words of advice to any aspiring Chinese food restaurant owners out there:

- If you have a huge "No MSG" sign in your front window, I will actively avoid your restaurant. You might as well say "No Salt" while you're at it, assuming your intention is to devoid your food of any flavor. Don't let dramatic pussies ruin your food with their placebo 'MSG allergies.' If you're going to be a dumbass and ignore my advice, you should also add a "No Wi-Fi" sign so your 'radio wave sensitive' customers don't get too sick. And be sure not to serve any soda with aspartame or city tap water with fluoride. If you're going to bend over to accommodate *one* make-believe health fear fad, you might as well go all in!

- Do not use styrofoam clamshell boxes in place of the classic 'Chinese food' fold-up paper container with the metal handle. Trust me. I'm currently eating pork fried rice out of a fucking styrofoam clamshell and I can assure you without a doubt in the world that this food would taste, at minimum, three times better if I were eating it from a proper goddamn classic Chinese food container, which I assume are a centuries old ancient Chinese tradition for a reason. BONUS SECTION: There is also a legitimate reason for my gripe and it's science. In a styrofoam clamshell, the food is spread out in a thin layer, leaving a TON of surface area allowing the food to get cold way quicker. When the food is in a Chinese food container, it's all mashed together into a cube-ular shape thus very little surface area of the food is making contact with the air when it's opened, meaning the food will stay hotter and fresher much longer.

Basically I'm saying, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

And it's not broke.

[tony.parente]

My old company got bought out 2 years ago.
Last year they laid off 700 people.
2 weeks ago they laid of 70 people.
The director of my department got laid off right after that.
My boss got laid off last week.
There's rumors that they are laying off 30 more people in my department.

For fucks sake.

[allegate]

Well that's just smart businessmen at work.

/s implied

[ldopa]

i'll be waking up to leaf blowers and lawn mowers exactly 15 minutes before my alarm goes off tomorrow. though the silver lining is that it will be the last day i have to do so. tomorrow is the last day i have to double up my shifts. no more flip flop scheduling for this bitch.

[tony.parente]

Well that's just smart businessmen at work.

/s implied
We've got customers who pay $100,000 a month for network connectivity who's entire circuit has been down for 24 hours+ and we haven't even LOOKED at their ticket. This place is a fucking dumpster fire.

[Dra508]

My old company got bought out 2 years ago.
Last year they laid off 700 people.
2 weeks ago they laid of 70 people.
The director of my department got laid off right after that.
My boss got laid off last week.
There's rumors that they are laying off 30 more people in my department.

For fucks sake.
I feel you, survivor guilt sucks.

[tony.parente]

I feel you, survivor guilt sucks.

I don't even really give a shit about survival guilt, I'm worried about getting laid off too. The layoffs were based off performance so the lowest performing people got shown the door, I'm in the top three of about 50 people. Now I'm worried about them getting rid of my entire center since their homebase is in Denver .

[tony.parente]

Just woke up to my paycheck direct deposited with over $800 more than it should. So did everyone else.

Im off work and kind of waiting for a phone call.

edit: anyone hiring?

[miss k bee]

Was on TV this week and I looked terrible. Looked really uncomfortable. I told no one about it so hopefully no one I know saw the program I was on.

[Jinsai]

I don't comment on the content of the people in my social circles who go off on conspiracy rants anymore... it's a bad idea.

But I've been seeing them anyway, and there's a weird trend. They're all slowly and steadily leaning towards blaming a "shadow government" run by insidious Jews. Lots of Zionistic plots to make the world bow down to the Jewish puppet masters...

These same people post rants about how the IS forces are actually American actors, with photoshopped evidence that anyone with a fifteen minute primer in graphic design could tell you is obviously doctored...

I'm now convinced that this whole truther movement is being targeted.... and the well of "harmless conspiracy funtime" is being poisoned by a strategic movement identifying malleable and easily manipulated fools.

[Dra508]

I don't comment on the content of the people in my social circles who go off on conspiracy rants anymore... it's a bad idea.

But I've been seeing them anyway, and there's a weird trend. They're all slowly and steadily leaning towards blaming a "shadow government" run by insidious Jews. Lots of Zionistic plots to make the world bow down to the Jewish puppet masters...

These same people post rants about how the IS forces are actually American actors, with photoshopped evidence that anyone with a fifteen minute primer in graphic design could tell you is obviously doctored...

I'm now convinced that this whole truther movement is being targeted.... and the well of "harmless conspiracy funtime" is being poisoned by a strategic movement identifying malleable and easily manipulated fools.It's frustrating and now understood:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-people-believe-in-conspiracy-theories/


“researchers have found that inducing anxiety or loss of control triggers respondents to see nonexistent patterns and evoke conspiratorial explanations” and that in the real world “there is evidence that disasters (e.g., earthquakes) and other high-stress situations (e.g., job uncertainty) prompt people to concoct, embrace, and repeat conspiracy theories.”

Keep that in mind and pull in some empathy when they are talking cra cra.

I try my best not to roll my eyes - for Facebook - I unfollow them. I made the mistake of re-following one person. They were still on full tilt about Crooked Hilary. :|

[allegate]

https://twitter.com/mishalawless/status/786762745257623554

[aggroculture]

that some movies are not available to rent online, but are being held hostage as part of a promotion for streaming services.
In my view it is lack of easy and fair accessibility that promotes piracy.

[Swykk]

One stereotype that is absolutely true for me is that I'm a dude and very much a big baby when I get sick. This could be due to the fact that I had leukemia as a child and as result of fighting and eventually beating it, my immune system ended up being shoddy at best, but regardless, I'm a whiny grumbly child when I'm sick.
I've got this rotten respiratory coughing thing (possibly allergy infection or bronchitis? I see my doc on Monday) and it is fucking me up. Yesterday morning, after I woke up coughing, I let out this annoyed grumble. My dog stirred, looked at me and then mockingly mimicked it.

[elevenism]

The "primary care physician" who i HAVE TO SEE with the only insurance i can get through the marketplace here is A. a NP and not even an MD and B. a fucking moron and an asshole.

I've been having this terrible, terrible pain in my abdomen and i was scared it was pancreatic, so i wanted to get blood work. The first thing the dude did was come in and rudely tell me that i needed to be seeing my "other doctor" who "prescribes all my meds" and that i can't just "come see him for convenience." I was like "ummm dude? do you mean my psychiatrist?"
He was then falling all over himself apologizing. My mother suggested we leave (i was in so much pain that she had to drive me) but i decided to let it slide.

Then, friday, i went for an ulcer test which involves breathing into a bag, and they tried to take my blood again. I told them that they already took my blood and was there for an ulcer test. The lady kept telling me i didn't know what i was talking about and i asked her to please, PLEASE just look at my chart. She finally came and gave me the ulcer test, but no apology or anything this time.

Now, in between those 2 visits, i saw my back dr, who is a brilliant and gifted dr and he examined my abdomen (even though that is not his specialty) and told me he was certain that he knew what was wrong.
He offered a minimaly invasive procedure that promises some relief. I just needed the idiot fucking nurse practicioner to sign a referal. This was just supposed to be a formality.

And the ignorant fucking idiot won't do it! He said "you've never seen me for pain before." I said "dude, that's what i'm doing here. I have terrible pain in my abdomen."

He "doesn't like giving out referals."
But for the insurance to cover me seeing anyone but the NP, meaning for me to see a PHYSICIAN at all, he has to write the goddamn referal.

I am fucking giving up on insurance as it just went up to $500 a month for some reason.

I don't need this fucking idiot in my life or anywhere near me with a needle.

[Khrz]

I don't comment on the content of the people in my social circles who go off on conspiracy rants anymore... it's a bad idea.

You have no idea. A friend of my SiL, the other survivor of their little group during 11/13 made the mistake of contradicting a conspiracy nut about that attack, basically saying "Err, I was there, the people are really dead, the bullets made real holes, and the micro-grenades made real booms". Very stupid thing to do, especially on facebook, the guy started to hunt her down on every social media she was registered to, PMing her, questioning her, being really agressive and trying to find the faults in her account of the events. The guy HAD TO prove she was a shill and a government puppet.
There's is no way to make them think otherwise, and the harder the proof, the angrier they get. They'll go full-on witch-hunt if they have to.

My annoyance is that my psychologist advised me to have tranquilizers prescribed. I somehow wished my problems were still in the realm of things I can deal with by myself, and the idea that I might need meds to shut down the noise inside my head isn't a comforting one. It's only so I can sleep mind you so it's not like it should affect my daily life, it still feels like a defeat somehow.

[elevenism]

sigh.
i learned a LOT from looking into corruption and such that might be catagorized as conspiracy theory.
And there are a lot of strange things in this world. I don't think there's any doubt that there is a bit of an "old boy's network" that has a lot of pull.
And there are things like Bohemian Grove and Skull and Bones.
But i can no longer call myself a conspiracy theorist. It's getting too fucking ridiculous, and the idea that every fucking shooting is a "false flag" makes me SICK.
I learned a LOT, and was often quite entertained by "harmless conspiracy funtime."
But the well IS being poisoned Jinsai . The theories are making less and less sense and the people are angrier and angrier.
Another thing is that when i became a "conspiracy theorist," it was all anti bush conjecture, and a fuckton of it turned out to be true.
But now, 90% of those same theorists and talkshow hosts are xenophobic assholes who think that trump is the answer and that all democrats want to "abolish the right to bear arms."
Nobody has proposed abolishing the right to bear arms. It's so fucking ridiculous.
I will always be skeptical of the news and the government and question everything, and this came from old skool "conspiracy theory."
But part of it is that i am outgrowing it, and part of it is that it has become INSANELY fucking insidious.
Khrz , i have to take psych meds, and a couple of them have tranquilizing effects. one is xanax, and one is a psychotropic sleep med. Don't let it feel like a defeat. These medicines are there if you need them. They are simply tools. You ARE still dealing with your problems by yourself, you are just using an available tool. And you don't have to be on them forever.

[allegro]

I will always be skeptical of the news and the government and question everything, and this came from old skool "conspiracy theory.".
that's funny, because I will always be skeptical of same but it's not due to "conspiracy theories;" it's due to intuition and intelligence and curiosity.

the Internet spoon-feeds "information" and the masses automatically accept it as "truth."

Pre-Internet, you had to go to a library and dig through masses of books and periodicals and a microfiche to find information to determine the facts.

http://amorebeautifulquestion.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Albert-Einstein-Holy-Curiosity.png

[eversonpoe]

Pre-Internet, you had to go to a library and dig through masses of books and periodicals and a microfiche to find information to determine the facts.

and even then, remember that history is always written by the victors of battles, which means that often times, facts are left behind or forgotten.

[Archive_Reports]

and even then, remember that history is always written by the victors of battles, which means that often times, facts are left behind or forgotten.

I'm actually reading Chuck Klosterman's newest book and that's a part of the narrative. Pretty decent read.

[Dra508]

and even then, remember that history is always written by the victors of battles, which means that often times, facts are left behind or forgotten.I had a friend who got a degree in History and refused to believe most history books for this very reason.

[allegro]

and even then, remember that history is always written by the victors of battles, which means that often times, facts are left behind or forgotten.

Which is why I'm pretty dubious about the Bible, what with the translation and so much opinion vs. fact in the New Testament and some of the authors hadn't even MET Jesus Christ.

Which is also why, once you are in college, they teach you how to do good research and gather enough research and then how to sift through that research and know what is good and not-so-good and to always question the validity of your sources.


I had a friend who got a degree in History and refused to believe most history books for this very reason.
Modern college history texts are written by scholars who just kinda re-barf all of the old texts and then just add on new history, but they're grouped into periods because, of course, there is SO MUCH HISTORY. The problem isn't what is in the texts; the problem is WHAT ISN'T.

[allegate]

The "primary care physician" who i HAVE TO SEE with the only insurance i can get through the marketplace here is A. a NP and not even an MD and B. a fucking moron and an asshole.

I've been having this terrible, terrible pain in my abdomen and i was scared it was pancreatic, so i wanted to get blood work. The first thing the dude did was come in and rudely tell me that i needed to be seeing my "other doctor" who "prescribes all my meds" and that i can't just "come see him for convenience." I was like "ummm dude? do you mean my psychiatrist?"
He was then falling all over himself apologizing. My mother suggested we leave (i was in so much pain that she had to drive me) but i decided to let it slide.

Then, friday, i went for an ulcer test which involves breathing into a bag, and they tried to take my blood again. I told them that they already took my blood and was there for an ulcer test. The lady kept telling me i didn't know what i was talking about and i asked her to please, PLEASE just look at my chart. She finally came and gave me the ulcer test, but no apology or anything this time.

Now, in between those 2 visits, i saw my back dr, who is a brilliant and gifted dr and he examined my abdomen (even though that is not his specialty) and told me he was certain that he knew what was wrong.
He offered a minimaly invasive procedure that promises some relief. I just needed the idiot fucking nurse practicioner to sign a referal. This was just supposed to be a formality.

And the ignorant fucking idiot won't do it! He said "you've never seen me for pain before." I said "dude, that's what i'm doing here. I have terrible pain in my abdomen."

He "doesn't like giving out referals."
But for the insurance to cover me seeing anyone but the NP, meaning for me to see a PHYSICIAN at all, he has to write the goddamn referal.

I am fucking giving up on insurance as it just went up to $500 a month for some reason.

I don't need this fucking idiot in my life or anywhere near me with a needle.
There's a guy at work going through something like this and he wants to blame Obamacare for it, not the fact that the insurance companies would rather bleed you dry than pay for anything.

[elevenism]

Thank you for reading this @allegate (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=1739)r .
I'm not blaming Obama.
I think these people are just fucking morons. In my case, i don't even think the request is MAKING it to the insurance company!

Also, can i call you Allegater? :P :P :P

[allegro]

Thank you for reading this @allegate (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=1739)r .
I'm not blaming Obama.
I think these people are just fucking morons. In my case, i don't even think the request is MAKING it to the insurance company!
It's true, it's not. With an HMO, they have "capitation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitation_(healthcare))" -- see "Care (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitation_(healthcare)#Care)."

"there is greater financial reward in prevention of illness than in treatment of the ill. Such plans avert providers from the use of expensive treatment options."

This is what nearly killed my mother when she had an HMO. She had terrible abdominal pain and her primary physician under the HMO refused to authorize tests (because he pocketed any money NOT spent on tests) and told her to take a Tagamet each day. My mom did that but the pain got worse. She ended up in the ER with a perforated colon, had emergency surgery for the removal of several feet of her colon and she ended up on a colostomy bag for over 4 months which, thank God, they were able to remove and they could piece her colon back together. Which all could have been avoided had her primary doc authorized and upper and lower GI to detect my mom's diverticulitis or at least referred her to a gastro specialist.

You really have to fight this guy, elevenism. If he doesn't deal with your pain, you might have to either find another primary under the HMO or you have to contact the office of professional regulations. You need a good working relationship with your doctor and right now it's obvious you aren't going to get that. Hell, I had NO INSURANCE for years when I was young and I just told 'em that and they just charged me less and I paid cash, the fucking insurance industry gets the providers to charge MORE.

Bottom line, though, is that your current doc is not likely to give you a referral to the pain clinic back doc for abdominal pain, that ain't gonna happen. Your primary HMO doc might send you to a GASTRO doc, though. But, if you continue to have this abdominal pain you need to get to an ER. It could be all kinds of serious things that need serious immediate attention.

[elevenism]

Thank you for caring and giving me the advice allegro

I AM going to fight it, hard. I'm going to sternly explain my situation to him again and ask him if he is able to fix it. And if he doesn't give me a referal, i think i will ask my pain doctor who one of his smart friends is around here and see if i can get him as the pcp.

It's sad that i feel so much better in the hands of my pain doctor, who examined me for this almost like on a lark, and thinks he has it figured out.
He is a DOCTOR. He seriousy has gifted hands and an absurd amount of experience.
This NP, on the other hand, fucking TERRIFIES me.

I might do the same allegro , just pau cash, because unless i get the primary doctor switched, we will be paying over 500 a month JUST FOR ME TO SEE THIS INEPT MORON. :(

[allegro]

Thank you for caring and giving me the advice allegro

I AM going to fight it, hard. I'm going to sternly explain my situation to him again and ask him if he is able to fix it. And if he doesn't give me a referal, i think i will ask my pain doctor who one of his smart friends is around here and see if i can get him as the pcp.
Well, an NP is not an MD, first of all. Secondly, I don't think that a back doctor and/or pain specialist should be your first choice as a primary: Your first choice should have a specialty as an Internist (https://www.acponline.org/about-acp/about-internal-medicine). You don't want somebody who "thinks that he figured it out," really. You want somebody who doesn't try to be a jack-of-all-trades; you want somebody who can say "this sounds serious, Tyler, and I am going to send you to this Doctor I know, a gastroenterologist, who can run some tests."

My dentist? She doesn't do root canals; she sends me to an endodontist. She doesn't do oral surgery; she sends me to an oral surgeon. And my primary physician / Internist also specialized in cardiology but if I had some suspicious heart problems she would send me to a cardiologist. When I had pain in my shoulder, she sent me to an orthopaedic surgeon. Some stuff she handled herself, e.g. when I had breathing problems she did some tests, xrays, gave me asthma meds instead of immediately sending me to an ENT doc, but she knows when it's not in her field (this avoids malpractice, too).

Look online or through your HMO materials and you should have a list of available HMO primary docs; then look them up online, Google them, look at their background, look at their ratings.

[allegate]

Thank you for reading this @allegate (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=1739)r .
I'm not blaming Obama.
I think these people are just fucking morons. In my case, i don't even think the request is MAKING it to the insurance company!

Also, can i call you Allegater? :P :P :P
Oh I didn't read that you thought it was Obama's fault. And you can call me al (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULjCSK0oOlI) for all I care.

[elevenism]

Well, an NP is not an MD, first of all. Secondly, I don't think that a back doctor and/or pain specialist should be your first choice as a primary: Your first choice should have a specialty as an Internist (https://www.acponline.org/about-acp/about-internal-medicine). You don't want somebody who "thinks that he figured it out," really. You want somebody who doesn't try to be a jack-of-all-trades; you want somebody who can say "this sounds serious, Tyler, and I am going to send you to this Doctor I know, a gastroenterologist, who can run some tests."

Yes, that sounds fucking great. And i don't want my pain doctor to be my primary, i want to see if he knows someone good, a good MD, who will write me the referal to the pain doctor and the internist.
I hope to god that the insurance company will let me switch.

It feels like i have a knife stuck in my abdomen and it is killing me. I've had bloodwork and nothing has come up. I need to call them now, in fact, to ask about the ulcer test.
The pain doctor thinks that it is a torn muscle and wants to try "trigger point injections." I trust him. He just exudes brilliance.
So i am willing to try what he has in mind.

But my primary care doctor at this point is a fucking NP. He has a little more education than my wife and mother, who both hold nursing degrees. He doesn't know what the fuck he is doing and you can tell. He's the type of guy you'd like to drink a beer with, but not someone you want fucking with your body in any way. That's the vibe i get from him.

And jesus christ, $500 a month to get to see a NURSE who won't write me referals for my pain md, my psych doctor, or a GI doc. This is ridiculous.

[elevenism]

Oh I didn't read that you thought it was Obama's fault. And you can call me al (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULjCSK0oOlI) for all I care.

no, no! i'm not saying it's obama's fault! i suppose i am not making myself clear.

Also, you can be my bodygaurd and i can be your long lost pal, @allegate (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=1739)r

Hints and allegations.... :P

[allegro]

Yes, that sounds fucking great. And i don't want my pain doctor to be my primary, i want to see if he knows someone good, a good MD, who will write me the referal to the pain doctor and the internist.
I hope to god that the insurance company will let me switch.

It feels like i have a knife stuck in my abdomen and it is killing me. I've had bloodwork and nothing has come up. I need to call them now, in fact, to ask about the ulcer test.
The pain doctor thinks that it is a torn muscle and wants to try "trigger point injections." I trust him. He just exudes brilliance.
So i am willing to try what he has in mind.

But my primary care doctor at this point is a fucking NP. He has a little more education than my wife and mother, who both hold nursing degrees. He doesn't know what the fuck he is doing and you can tell. He's the type of guy you'd like to drink a beer with, but not someone you want fucking with your body in any way. That's the vibe i get from him.

And jesus christ, $500 a month to get to see a NURSE who won't write me referals for my pain md, my psych doctor, or a GI doc. This is ridiculous.

Yes, it is ridiculous, an NP should NOT be your primary PHYSICIAN because an NP is not a PHYSICIAN. But I don't think your abdominal pain should be written off as muscular, either, nor do I think people should rely on blood work; look at my mom's case: blood work would NOT have diagnosed a perforated colon!! They're only thinking it's something like appendicitis which is true, that would come up on blood work, but not gall bladder problems or a perf'd colon, or even pancreatic cancer! This is ignoring serious PAIN and that's fucking MALPRACTICE.

Dude, no offense but you shouldn't trust doctors with brilliance; you need to have tests run before you trust anybody. You're not a pincushion. You don't DO anything, you're immobile; how the fuck could you TEAR a muscle? We you doing brickwork lately? Really, you need to have more investigative work done by specialist, like an MRI, before anybody does anything. When it comes to anything invasive, I trust no one

[elevenism]

Yes, it is ridiculous, an NP should NOT be your primary PHYSICIAN because an NP is not a PHYSICIAN. But I don't think your abdominal pain should be written off as muscular, either, nor do I think people should rely on blood work; look at my mom's case: blood work would NOT have diagnosed a perforated colon!! They're only thinking it's something like appendicitis which is true, that would come up on blood work, but not gall bladder problems or a perf'd colon, or even pancreatic cancer! This is ignoring serious PAIN and that's fucking MALPRACTICE.

This is true, and this is the way we see it.
I am lucky that my mother is a fiery person who will raise holy hell with righteous indignation when it comes to things like this.
She can be witty and furious and also pulled a 4.0 becoming an RN.
She is going to help me fix this shit with her perfectly aimed fury.

Edit: and yes, pancreatic cancer :( :( :(

i am fucking terrified. But what if the pain doctor is right? he performed a fairly intense (and painful) examination with his hands and feels that he has isolated the pain to a certain place. He told me that i will be okay and he knows what it is.
And goddamnit, i hope he is right :( :( :( :(

[allegro]

The other problem you are facing is that this guy you like is a pain guy, he just wants to give you pain treatments which bothers me because what if you have some underlying serious condition that he is missing but he's masking the pain by giving you pain meds? What if it's something like cancer, and he's giving you pain meds for what he thinks is a torn muscle by "feeling" something and what if he is feeling something ELSE that isn't what he THINKS it is? This all seems crazy to me. I just don't trust docs, it's all ultimately about them getting $$$$$$.

Yes, my grandfather had abdominal pain and it was pancreatic cancer.

Yes, your mother is a nurse. Listen to your mother.

Get TWO medical opinions, not just from your pain guy.

[elevenism]

thank you allegro .

I will, one way or another, see a GI doctor. You are right, when this is all written/said out loud, it does sound crazy and precarious.

[allegate]

no, no! i'm not saying it's obama's fault! i suppose i am not making myself clear.

Also, you can be my bodygaurd and i can be your long lost pal, @allegate (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=1739)r

Hints and allegations.... :PIt anything, I'm not: I certainly don't think that's what you're saying and I apologize for the confusion. I just pointed out an idiot coworker I thought of when reading that.

Yes, that sounds fucking great. And i don't want my pain doctor to be my primary, i want to see if he knows someone good, a good MD, who will write me the referal to the pain doctor and the internist.
I hope to god that the insurance company will let me switch.

It feels like i have a knife stuck in my abdomen and it is killing me. I've had bloodwork and nothing has come up. I need to call them now, in fact, to ask about the ulcer test.
The pain doctor thinks that it is a torn muscle and wants to try "trigger point injections." I trust him. He just exudes brilliance.
So i am willing to try what he has in mind.

But my primary care doctor at this point is a fucking NP. He has a little more education than my wife and mother, who both hold nursing degrees. He doesn't know what the fuck he is doing and you can tell. He's the type of guy you'd like to drink a beer with, but not someone you want fucking with your body in any way. That's the vibe i get from him.

And jesus christ, $500 a month to get to see a NURSE who won't write me referals for my pain md, my psych doctor, or a GI doc. This is ridiculous.
Coming into this as I have just now, I have missed what caused this pain in the first place. Have you had surgery on your abdomen recently?

[elevenism]

No allegate , i had some sort of freak seizure like a little over a year ago. i was in a small bathtubb and crunched my body and it broke my back in six places. so i live with chronc pain now and i'm insanely weak. it tears me apart, honestly. I'm supposed to be the MAN, you know?

The abdominal pain started a few weeks ago.

Someone ran over a cat i had had for ten years, and with terrible adrenaline and unholy anger and grief, i tried to dig a grave for the cat.
This is about the time that the pain started, so i am hoping and thinking that it IS a torn muscle or something.
We are talking about atrophied, weak muscles that i tried to use to put a hole in tough west texas dirt.
I have been totally fucked off since then but didn't mention it to you guys until today.

[allegate]

No @allegate (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=1739) , i had some sort of freak seizure like a little over a year ago. i was in a small bathtubb and crunched my body and it broke my back in six places. so i live with chronc pain now and i'm insanely weak. it tears me apart, honestly. I'm supposed to be the MAN, you know?

The abdominal pain started a few weeks ago.

Someone ran over a cat i had had for ten years, and with terrible adrenaline and unholy anger and grief, i tried to dig a grave for the cat.
This is about the time that the pain started, so i am hoping and thinking that it IS a torn muscle or something.
We are talking about atrophied, weak muscles that i tried to use to put a hole in tough west texas dirt.
I have been totally fucked off since then but didn't mention it to you guys until today.Ah. I ask because my wife had hernia surgery two summers ago and they screwed her abdomen up and is in the same kind of constant pain. She's taking nerve blockers for it, and it helps 75% of the time. The other 25% she can't move and has to be high as a kite just to feel like she's having period cramps.

It's emotionally draining for both of us.

[elevenism]

allegro that story is fucking heart wrienching and terrifying.
Jesus. I was a CNA/PCT for like five years and i saw some awful nurses.
Once, at a like wound care hospital where i was working, this poor woman had a fever of like 104.
I, of course, could not administer medicine. I told the nures and she said "oh. it must be hot in that room."
I was fucking shocked. I filled up gloves with ice and put them under the lady's arms, and brought her fever down. i possibly saved her life,
I SHOULD make myself a cerificate,

So sorry about your mother in law.

It's terrible when you realize that a hospital staff is just a bunch of motherfuckers with regular human failings. It's weird being on the other side. It's terrifying actually.

Goddamn, i need to get this shit looked at. :(

[elevenism]

allegate , btw, both my mother and wife had botched gall bladder surgeries.

this shit really scares me y'all.

i've been crying a little bit, to be honest.

i'm terrified.

[tony.parente]

This Rocky Horror abortion that's on tv right now. Everything but Columbia is fucked.

[tony.parente]

This Rocky Horror abortion that's on tv right now. Everything but Columbia is fucked.
This is so stupid. Everything. How does someone fuck up Sword of Damocles? The song sings itself.

[Dra508]

I can hear snoring in the next hotel room. FML.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jinsai]

I'm breaking down the gear for tonight at the bar for their karaoke system, and I pull my car up to load the last speaker into it.

I see two cop cars stalled in the street and the leftmost driver staring at me. They turn the lights on me and pull in and ask me to lace my fingers behind my back. I'm pushed over the hood of the car while they empty my pockets. I was never read my rights, I was never asked for permission for a search of myself or my vehicle. Furthermore, I was not even in the vehicle when they pulled up, so there's that, and the fact that I wasn't drunk or under the influence of anything.

Guy tries to pull this good-cop routine on me, saying repeatedly that the only thing he doesn't like about me is that I'm a liar, and I need to tell him the truth about where I was coming from and where I'd been. Saying he could smell the alcohol on me (fuck you, you lying fuck). Saying things like "oh, so you're handling the sound here? You a musician? I thought so! What do you play? Ah, I figured you for an axe man!" Fuck you. Stop telling me that you're gonna let me off easy, and that you know I'm the drunk who was swerving all over the road ten miles from here. You can tell I'm not drunk! You even said it while you were trying to get me to confess to a crime I didn't commit! If you smelled alcohol on me it was because I'm in a rowdy bar and people spill drinks. All over me. All the fucking time.

"You want me to believe that I got five calls about a gray Volvo station wagon swerving around on the road, and it wasn't that one you're standing outside of, putting stuff into?" Yes, sir, I want you to fucking believe me, I can prove it, for fuck's sake, I work here.

They take my keys, park my car into a spot, ask me to verify that it's secured, and order me to walk home. Hey dipshits, I live a fucking mile from here. You want to make sure my super-non-drunk ass doesn't drive my car home? Give me a ride down the street, you useless assholes.

The power flaunting and the ego games that motherfucker tried to pinion me with, and the frustration I saw on his face as it dawned on him that I wasn't the guy he was looking for was poor satisfaction, especially with how he handled letting me go. I have good hearing, it's what I do for a living. So I hear you outside the car asshole, whispering to your partner (who is telling you "man, this isn't our guy, it's not him.... I believe him.") and then you whisper back "yeah, but why not practice the routine? I need some practice right? You need to intimidate a bit to get the truth out... some of the time"

crickets. No answer from his partner.

"Ah, sure, we're gonna let him go, let's hassle him so he knows he just can't get away with this shit."

Partner: "What shit?"

"Part of the routine..." then he whispers "like this" and loudly exclaims "Loooooooooks like you're riding deuce tonight bro, sorry, gonna need the back seat for our guest here." And then back to whispering "See him squirm?"

Fuck you officer.

[Swykk]

Not liked because of what happened to you. Liked because you are smarter than them and didn't fall for their bullshit.

[allegate]

See, I don't have the patience nor control over my mouth to not have a much different ending than you did.

Also, how do you walk home if you're not finished working yet?

edit: There's a workstudy in my office who is literally laughing out loud at something she's watching on her phone. And she's got a donkey laugh so every five minutes or so I hear this braying coming from down the hallway.

[elevenism]

See, I don't have the patience nor control over my mouth to not have a much different ending than you did.

Also, how do you walk home if you're not finished working yet?

edit: There's a workstudy in my office who is literally laughing out loud at something she's watching on her phone. And she's got a donkey laugh so every five minutes or so I hear this braying coming from down the hallway.
same with me.
this sounds like some of the situations that wound up with me getting the shit beat out of me and going to jail with a fake paraphernalia charge.

i'm always like "oh, so do you feel like a big man now?"

They frown on that type of shit.

You are a gentleman and a scholar Jinsai

[elevenism]

while i'm here, my mother wants me to drive round trip 180 miles to go get her medicines because "she doesn't feel like it."

We only have one car at this point and i don't have a driver's license so if i get pulled over, i'm getting locked up, probably for some actual time since i've already got arrested for it once, and she won't be able to get her fucking car back. siiiiiiighhh.

[Jinsai]

See, I don't have the patience nor control over my mouth to not have a much different ending than you did.

Also, how do you walk home if you're not finished working yet?

We'd just closed up the bar, and I'd taken the last of the audio equipment outside so they could lock it up. Everyone had just left and I had loaded the last speaker into my car (which was parked and turned off). I was standing next to my car checking a text message I got, and then I look over and there they are. They wanted me to admit to doing something they knew I didn't do. Saying shit like "oh, so you do music? Man, let me tell you... I grew up around a lot of musicians, so I know the way they roll. Music guys like to party, right?" The craziest part was the bit where he said "Hey, I majored in physics in college, so you're not going to be convincing me any time soon that it's possible there's another gray volvo in this area being driven by a white guy with scraggly hair..."

What the fuck does physics have to do with this? Did he mean "I majored in statistics?!!" If he did, he'd understand that it's entirely likely.

[Dryalex12]

I'm breaking down the gear for tonight at the bar for their karaoke system, and I pull my car up to load the last speaker into it.

I see two cop cars stalled in the street and the leftmost driver staring at me. They turn the lights on me and pull in and ask me to lace my fingers behind my back. I'm pushed over the hood of the car while they empty my pockets. I was never read my rights, I was never asked for permission for a search of myself or my vehicle. Furthermore, I was not even in the vehicle when they pulled up, so there's that, and the fact that I wasn't drunk or under the influence of anything.

Guy tries to pull this good-cop routine on me, saying repeatedly that the only thing he doesn't like about me is that I'm a liar, and I need to tell him the truth about where I was coming from and where I'd been. Saying he could smell the alcohol on me (fuck you, you lying fuck). Saying things like "oh, so you're handling the sound here? You a musician? I thought so! What do you play? Ah, I figured you for an axe man!" Fuck you. Stop telling me that you're gonna let me off easy, and that you know I'm the drunk who was swerving all over the road ten miles from here. You can tell I'm not drunk! You even said it while you were trying to get me to confess to a crime I didn't commit! If you smelled alcohol on me it was because I'm in a rowdy bar and people spill drinks. All over me. All the fucking time.

"You want me to believe that I got five calls about a gray Volvo station wagon swerving around on the road, and it wasn't that one you're standing outside of, putting stuff into?" Yes, sir, I want you to fucking believe me, I can prove it, for fuck's sake, I work here.

They take my keys, park my car into a spot, ask me to verify that it's secured, and order me to walk home. Hey dipshits, I live a fucking mile from here. You want to make sure my super-non-drunk ass doesn't drive my car home? Give me a ride down the street, you useless assholes.

The power flaunting and the ego games that motherfucker tried to pinion me with, and the frustration I saw on his face as it dawned on him that I wasn't the guy he was looking for was poor satisfaction, especially with how he handled letting me go. I have good hearing, it's what I do for a living. So I hear you outside the car asshole, whispering to your partner (who is telling you "man, this isn't our guy, it's not him.... I believe him.") and then you whisper back "yeah, but why not practice the routine? I need some practice right? You need to intimidate a bit to get the truth out... some of the time"

crickets. No answer from his partner.

"Ah, sure, we're gonna let him go, let's hassle him so he knows he just can't get away with this shit."

Partner: "What shit?"

"Part of the routine..." then he whispers "like this" and loudly exclaims "Loooooooooks like you're riding deuce tonight bro, sorry, gonna need the back seat for our guest here." And then back to whispering "See him squirm?"

Fuck you officer.

Im glad that shit never (from what ive seen) happens in Oregon

[allegro]

while i'm here, my mother wants me to drive round trip 180 miles to go get her medicines because "she doesn't feel like it."

we only have one car at this point and i don't have a driver's license so if i get pulled over, i'm getting locked up, probably for some actual time since i've already got arrested for it once, and she won't be able to get her fucking car back. Siiiiiiighhh.

don't
do
it

[elevenism]

don't
do
it


i did it. and we got pulled over.
and thank GOD my wife happened to be driving, and thank GOD the cop decided to let us go ahead and drive home.
but now she has a court date. she already has one driving without a license, but she gave her married name so they have not yet put two and two together.
but i bet they will, and in texas, the second one is jail time.

Luckily, she's tough-she'd have to be pretty fucking tuff to put up with me :P
She doesn't really care too much about a couple of months in jail if that's what it comes down to.
And if it's just a ticket, i kinda feel like my mother is sort of obligated to pay it.

Right now we are just thrilled that the cop let us drive home. We were FOURTEEN MILES FROM HOME.
This is Murphy's Law in action, or is it the Grim Law?

[allegro]

i did it. and we got pulled over.
This is Murphy's Law in action, or is it the Grim Law?
Grimm's Law has to do with a vowel shift; this is just your mother being really stupid. Your wife should not be driving because she has seizures, that would prevent her from legally driving in most states. Neither of you have a license. But your mom 'didn't feel like' driving. Tell her to use FedEx or a cab. This is just the stupidest and most irresponsible and selfish shit ever. She should be ashamed of herself.

Meanwhile, my advise to you is still for you and your wife to get working on getting Disability. Then you will not be so dependent on your mother and feel pushed to do this truly stupid shit. smfh.

[Ryan]

don't
do
it


Just Do It

#tds1994

[elevenism]

Grimm's Law has to do with a vowel shift; this is just your mother being really stupid.
i call that shit cruel rather than stupid. i mean i don't feel like i'm in a position to say no.

And i'm not refering to Grimm's law, rather, the Grim law, which was some goofy shit i came up with some months ago.

But yes this whole thing is fucking ridiculous and awful and i'd probably do good to like NOT vent about it here, because i would say too much.
I'm fucking furious, and feel futile.

Actually, more with just the futility. I never ever intended my life to come down to this.

[elevenism]

Oh i'm sure the house will be sold. I will have money and land but i'm sure it will take a hot minute to get it.

I want to try to find some job that i can do. My brother is giving me this car and i want to find some job i can do with a two year degree or something. In the meantime, my wife IS working on SSDI. I need to do the same.
@allegro (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=76) i mean

It's just like, no fucking control over anything, you know? I mean, i am in a situation that a lot of people working their asses off might find enviable, but when you, just you yourself, are more or less powerless, it's very fucking draining.

Oh, and TRUST ME, my mom doesn't want us out. Her worst fear is being alone, and she would then be utterly fucking alone in the middle of nowhere. She reminds me every other fucking day that i promised not to leave.
BUT, she WOULD do it as just some passive agressive bullshit, to be mean and childish.

[elevenism]

@allegro (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=76) perhaps you are right about getting more from SSDI. I just have a hard time admiting/facing that shit.
It all depends on whether or not my back gets any better (which it probably won't, for fuck's sake.)
It always felt like giving in. I mean, my whole life, other people with serious mental health problems have always asked me "so what do you do with YOUR check/why do you work etc." I would never take it, the check i mean.
Goddamn, i don't know where the time went. Just like 6-8 years ago, i was working as a salesman and living in a one room apt with my ex, and NOT getting along with her, and not on ets because we couldn't afford the internet, but i think i was happier getting up at 4:30 to catch the bus to a job i hated because the shit i had was MINE. And i earned it, all of it.
But fuck it, right? I mean, i really am certifiably mental, and i really did break my back, and that's what that shit is there for, right?
It just feels like giving up though.

As far as getting out though, i adore my mother, and i promised her, SWORE to her i would stay here with her until the bitter end or whatever. I just hope it doesn't drive me insane first. Oh, and this is expected of me by the rest of the family (the staying rather than the insanity.)

My brother is the one who works and raises kids and such, and i am the one who takes care of mom. And as fucked off as my back and mind are, she is much more disabled than me, having a plate and screws in her neck and whatnot.

[tony.parente]

My start date at my new employer is being delayed due to not hearing back from one of my employers in regards to employment verification. Even worse since it's a 3rd party doing the background check they won't say what employer they are waiting on. This is annoying as fuck and they started the background check process 2 fucking weeks ago.

[elevenism]

See allegro i knew i shouldn't have started talking because we have taken over the thread, and i knew it would happen.
You know how much i look up to you and i wish we could talk privately from time to time.

[allegro]

See allegro i knew i shouldn't have started talking because we have taken over the thread, and i knew it would happen.
You know how much i look up to you and i wish we could talk privately from time to time.
There's not much more to say about this topic. But what we are saying might be helpful to others in other ways.

[elevenism]

There's not much more to say about this topic. But what we are saying might be helpful to others in other ways.
Quite naturally.
But once you start giving me advice, we often wind up taking up 90% of pages of threads, and i feel bad about it-that's all.

Thank you so much for your advice, as always.

I wish i knew you in real life, except that i think you would bitch slap me on occasion.

[Ryan]

Bottom right gum around wisdom tooth is aching.

[allegate]

At what point do you drop civility at work? There are some people who are constantly saying their job is too hard and when we press them to do it right, somehow my office (mostly me) ends up with more work to accomodate their ineptitude. It's so frustrating having to be "nice" to them and they don't have to be anything back because they know they're over a thousand miles away and there's no way to hold them actually accountable. We get responses that are half-assed with misspellings and formatting erros but it's always, "Oh he'll fix it". I'm getting sick of the shit.

I think I'll talk to my boss and let them know how frustrating this is getting before I spout off and end up being on the wrong end. Especially since one or two of the changes are because he wants to be "Lean" (is it sigma or delta or six...whatever the buzzword is right now) and this is lean to him.

[cashpiles (closed)]

Bear in mind, this is the epitome of hearsay, but apparently Bret Easton Ellis was having dinner with some execs, who in turn know other execs (thus the hearsay) who told him Affleck's "The Batman" script is a mess...but WB doesn't care.

Article. (http://batman-news.com/2016/11/04/ben-affleck-batman-script-mess/)

“And they were just telling me that there are serious problems with the script. And that the executives I was having dinner with were complaining about people who work on the Batman movie. And they just said they went to the studio and they said, ‘Look, the script is … Here’s 30 things that are wrong with it that we can fix.’ And [the executives] said, ‘We don’tr care. We don’t really care. The amount of money we’re going to make globally, I mean 70 percent of our audience is not going to be seeing this in English. And it doesn’t really matter, these things that you’re bringing up about the flaws of the script.’ So I do think global concerns play a big part in how movies, and what movies, are being made, obviously.”

this is the reason most big ticket movies suck in modern times. Execs have realized that movies can make shitloads of money by just APPEARING to be good or APPEARING to look exciting.

There are a series of check boxes and films are reduced to those check box elements.

The reason modern big ticket movies seem to have no soul is because everything outside of those checkboxes is basically ignored. The bare minimums for ensuring a big box office are all that is required. CORPORATIZION. we see it in film and especially pop music. You can also see it in your office at the corporation you work for. Life is being reduced to check boxes and all else is being ignored or deemed unecessary.

We all know the formulas are ripped. And it goes deeper. Elements are ripped. Things become modular with the "skins" changed or swapped.

the other factor at play is laziness. it's simply easier to copy formulas and elements. Originality is hard for some people.

And the conventions of a codified language and routines and habits encourage this kind of "copying" mode of production or action. I postulate that to create more originally, we should create new language, try new things and form new habits.

[jessamineny]

I just want to add music to either my iphone or ipod. Why is it so fucking impossible? Fuck you, apple.

[eversonpoe]

I just want to add music to either my iphone or ipod. Why is it so fucking impossible? Fuck you, apple.

do you manage your music manually or allow it to sync automatically? i've always done things manually and never had an issue. though, sometimes, if you're copying something over and begin to copy something else while the first group of items is still transferring, it interrupts the process and you'll have to delete the temporary files (they'll be grey) from the device, eject the device, and then reconnect and try again.

[Archive_Reports]

http://lambgoat.com/news/27390/Allegaeon-turn-to-crowdfunding-to-keep-band-afloat

This is pathetic. Sometimes you have to face reality and give up on your dreams.

[Khrz]

That's exactly what patronage is though, rather than treating each album/concert as a specific product, you support the artist so that he can actually make art. Just because it hasn't worked that way in the music industry for a while doesn't mean it's anything new, or odd.
Ultimately, it's up to the people to agree with that formula or let them crash. If they manage to go on that way, I don't see what the problem is.

[Archive_Reports]

I didn't say it was anything new and I 100% agree it's up to people whether or not to support the band. However, I think it's sad that they have the balls to ask for money so they can continue to live their dreams of being professional musicians. Plenty of artists create/record/release quality music while still having jobs and not digitally begging. It comes across as entitled as fuck.

[jessamineny]

do you manage your music manually or allow it to sync automatically? i've always done things manually and never had an issue. though, sometimes, if you're copying something over and begin to copy something else while the first group of items is still transferring, it interrupts the process and you'll have to delete the temporary files (they'll be grey) from the device, eject the device, and then reconnect and try again.

Well... I used to always sync automatically. But I had my laptop die, and then I started using my roommate's computer for a while, and then I got a new computer. To complicate matters, I have two apple accounts (because I got frustrated somewhere along the way and decided that was a workaround) and two devices (ipod and iphone). Itunes keeps telling me all my devices are authorized, but neither apple account shows as full when I login. I gave up. I'll buy a new phone and start all over, and just burn CDs for my roadtrip in the meantime. : /

[Jinsai]

I just want to add music to either my iphone or ipod. Why is it so fucking impossible? Fuck you, apple.

iTunes is the worst goddamn music player app I've ever used, and it sucks to say that because it used be great before the bloat. At this point give me something more intuitive... like Winamp.

[elevenism]

Fucking opiates. My fucking life revolves around opiates.
I can't take this shit anymore, y'all.

[allegate]

"Like" by which I mean "I so fucking know what you're talking about". I wish I could have my wife back to where she wasn't either in pain or high.

[Jinsai]

some Trump-supporting asshole on Facebook is trying to argue that canceling your Facebook account because you're sick of all the stupid bullshit people are saying on there is, in some bizarre way, fascist. This is the most idiotic shit ever.

[Jinsai]

and now my family is coming at me, saying that my frustrated rants online are somehow possibly going to be misconstrued as condoning violence... Jesus... I can't believe that anyone would think I'm condoning violence. But hey, thanks... That's just what I need to hear right now... that now is the time to forgo my first amendment rights and not express myself so angrily.

[Swykk]

My family is doing similar things, @Jinsai (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=272). They're not Trump supporters (aside from my grandparents) but they think I'm "overreacting and am letting this get me too worked up" because I am "all doom and gloom" and "don't try to be positive." All inaccurate. I've done a lot to try and combat my anxiety and depression. If something is positive, I easily recognize it as such. Same as when something is negative. I get credit for none of it, though.
My reaction to the election has been justified and I'm firmly entrenched in reality. To me, they aren't upset enough. Is this a fun thing for me? No, obviously not, but I'm 100% right to feel the way I do.

[Harry Seaward]

The treatment of 'criminals' in the United States. Specifically, but not limited to, criminal sentencing.

I'm not sure if this qualifies as more of a 'issue I feel is very important and not discussed nearly enough' than it's a 'little thing that pisses me off,' but I don't know that there's a more fitting thread for it so I'll post it here. I wrote this comment in response to a reddit thread, but the comment is down quite a few posts deep in the reddit thread that already has 1,500 other comments, so nobody will read it.

The context of the post was a comment thread about criminal sentencing. I wrote that criminal sentencing in the United States is extreme and that Americans are bloodthirsty. Another commenter responded with a sarcastic "Wow, I didn't know all Americans felt that way!" and this was my response. I hope at least one or two of you guys can read it. Thanks!



Not all Americans feel this way, but very many do. The other day there was a Facebook post on the local news page about a man that was arrested and accused of sexual assault against a child. Obviously it included his mugshot and his full name, because the media has no tact and regrettably there are no laws in the United States barring such 'reporting.' Every comment on the post was calling for him to be killed in public, chopped into pieces, raped in prison, and every other horrible punishment you could think of.
I posted to remind these people that anybody could be accused of a crime. Even them. I told them that in the eyes of the law he was an innocent man. That, despite these people already finding him guilty in the court of public opinion without knowing any evidence whatsoever, he didn't necessarily deserve to have his life completely ruined so soon.

I was called the most horrible things. They implied that I was almost as bad as the man they seemed to know was evil. I was a despicable defender of child molesters. Keep in mind that I didn't say anything close to implying that the man was innocent. I made no judgement on the man himself. I only told them that being accused of a crime doesn't imply guilt, but that was just as abhorrent as saying a child molester isn't evil.

You can observe your phenomenon yourself. Go read the news/Facebook/Youtube comments on anything regarding an alleged criminal, especially a crime alleged to have been committed against a child or a senior. This behavior is absolutely not limited to violent crimes at all. I've seen it in situations ranging from stealing copper wiring to stealing Halloween candy to using drugs (not selling, using) to most anything you could think of. I mean, there are more people than not who believe consensual incest between two adults should be highly illegal. And as fate would have it, it's illegal in 98% of US states. I believe New Jersey is the only state where is completely legal with no strings attached. Several states apply life imprisonment in some cases. I only use this example as I can't think of many US laws more archaic, cruel and unusual, and wholly inappropriate. I can understand having legal discouragement against incestuous pregnancies, because it puts another nonconsenting human life at (small) risk, but there is no other legitimate reason for the rest of the incredibly overbearing laws. But there are many such laws in the US that are nearly as outrageous when looking at things from an objective point of view, in my opinion.

I know internet comments are not always 100% representative of public opinion at large, but in this case they absolutely are. Lessening the harshness of criminal sentencing is a pretty radical and insanely unpopular idea, even to many self-described progressives. Don't even think about discussing it in regard to violent crimes. I don't think we'll be able to have that discussion as a society for many decades at an absolute minimum. Any attempt to start the conversation will have you immediately painted as 'soft on crime' (especially if you're a politician) or even a criminal yourself.

When it comes to violent crime, especially in the context of the death penalty, the first argument people will often reach for is to question, "Well, what if your family member was a victim of the crime? What if they were killed by a drunk driver?? Wouldn't you want revenge? Wouldn't you want the murderer to suffer??" (I only use drunk driving as a random example, please don't focus too much on that.) But yes, I absolutely would want revenge. It's only natural, when you experience a tragic loss of a person very close to you, to be reduced to only very basic emotions of disorientation, anguish, or hatred. It's understandable. However the part where my opinion diverges from the norm is that I don't believe we should allow the emotions of a victim of crime to set the bar for criminal sentencing. I don't think somebody who just had their car stolen or had their child kidnapped should be the one who decides what happens to the suspect. I think we should approach it from a far more objective perspective. (My favorite Dr. Seuss book.)

People often misinterpret this as me believing citizens shouldn't be disincentivized from committing crimes or held accountable for their actions. This isn't true. I don't think the world should be in constant anarchic chaos, I obviously understand the need for a criminal justice system. I just think we should think less about 'punishing' criminals and more about the fact that, no matter the crime, a criminal is still a human and should be treated as such. I think it's a measure of our society. I think we as a society, and especially the state in terms of things like capital punishment, should take the higher ground and not give in to our basest instincts. Of course I think if a person is a career criminal and a danger to others, they should be kept away from society. But I think life in prison without chance of parole for one crime in very extreme, no matter the crime. I think giving people the chance to redeem themselves is almost always the proper choice. I also think that once you're locked in a cage for an extended period of time, any further harsh treatment is just absolutely unnecessary punishment.

Even those who are 'less' harsh on criminals/criminal sentencing usually take a dim view on prison itself. Most people think the majority of criminals should have nothing in jail/prison other than a concrete bed (if that), a toilet (if that), and the absolute bare minimum of sustenance (...again, if that.) Everything else is generally viewed as gratuitous. Personally I think this treatment is degrading and embarrassing and I think it's shameful to America and its values. I don't see anything wrong with allowing inmates exposure to some basic human comforts. The world won't end if prisons got used to allowing, to list some examples, TV, video games, some privacy (including while bathing,) food that is even the minimum level of appetizing, legitimate protection from abuse and sexual assault, and other treatment that one might consider basic human decency. Other than the aspect of just desiring 'criminals' be punished out of spite, the general argument for what I'm describing is that 'if you treat prison like a day spa, people will commit crimes just to go there. There won't be any incentive to not rape and murder.' Which I think is ridiculous. Discounting the fact that people generally will do good things even if nobody watching, the financial repercussions of 'hard crime' are a pretty big disincentive - but the main fact is that being locked in a cage for years still fucking sucks, even if you're treated like an actual human for the duration.

And don't even get me started on 'solitary confinement'... It's possible to keep somebody away from the general population without subjecting them to the torture of absolute sensory deprivation for a prolonged period of time. Insane.

In my experience, people want blood. People want public executions to return. People want the judicial system not to rehabilitate or to be a preventative measure; they want criminals to be punished. It's really sickening due to the few examples I mentioned above and many more. I believe this is the one aspect of society in which our animalistic nature is not only most exposed, but most encouraged.

[Jinsai]

My family is doing similar things, @Jinsai (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=272). They're not Trump supporters but they think I'm "overreacting and am letting this get me too worked up" because I am "all doom and gloom" and "don't try to be positive."

I'm the lone liberal in my family, so this is doubly frustrating. So here they are trying to get me to "relax my comments online" (meanwhile, they're all celebrating). I've heard them try to sympathize with my anger. Saying stupid shit like "a lot of people are angry right now" and "I didn't really want Trump either, but I just couldn't bring myself to even think of voting for Hillary." I asked my mom how she could bring herself, as a woman, to vote for president "grab em by the pussy" instead of the first woman, and she just says this sorta oscillated "um" sound, and then says "I don't think you realize how much people dislike Hillary Clinton."

Yeah, most of them for completely bullshit reasons. They think her voice is shrill. Something about the way she dresses. Her demeanor is off putting. She's "crooked and corrupt" in mostly vague ways. Oh yeah, and she's a woman. There's a whole contingent of the Trump camp running around calling every man who supported Clinton a "cuck," which is apparently a way to say that they're cuckolds... as if to imply that they are emasculated because they voted for a president with different genitalia than me. Bigots all over are being emboldened. He hasn't even taken office yet, and they're coming out of the woodwork, desperate to cheer him on as he rolls back civil rights and empowers intolerance. We're sailing full speed in the opposite direction of combating climate change. We're handing the power to a petty, mean-spirited, unqualified demagogue... and we did it at a crucial time in history, and we're already standing on the brink of the possibility of a third world war. Forget advancing civil rights, forget reasonable SCOTUS nominations.

[marodi]

Trying to buy that Nintendo Classic Mini console turned out as annoying and frustrating as trying to buy tickets for a show. No, I did not get one; they went sold out right in front of my face.

#firstworldproblems

[Swykk]

Been stress eating for a week now. I need to stop and get back on my workout routine.

[sentient]

Been stress eating for a week now. I need to stop and get back on my workout routine.

Good luck, that has been me for the past month.

[allegate]

Been stress eating for a week now. I need to stop and get back on my workout routine.Yup. The only thing keeping me from going crazy is that my doc said no "fatty foods, no smoking, no drinking, no chocolate" for the next six to eight weeks. The only thing on that list that I do is eat chocolate - usually when I'm stressed - so this week has been tough. And I have seven more weeks of it, and it's the freakin' holidays!

Oh man.

Trying to turn it into a desk workout thing though. We'll see how that works in eight weeks.

[Sarah K]

I have BIG group projects in two of my classes.

You know how everyone fucking hates real life group projects? Lemme tell you about ONLINE group projects. Holy fucking shit. In both of these classes, we are in groups of five. In both projects, only one other person is participating so far. In one of them, there is a member who is way smarter and more thorough than me. So that's great. In the other one, the other participant does not understand the scope of the project at alllll.

[Swykk]

I have BIG group projects in two of my classes.

You know how everyone fucking hates real life group projects? Lemme tell you about ONLINE group projects. Holy fucking shit. In both of these classes, we are in groups of five. In both projects, only one other person is participating so far. In one of them, there is a member who is way smarter and more thorough than me. So that's great. In the other one, the other participant does not understand the scope of the project at alllll.

In group projects, you're either the one doing most of the heavy lifting or you're slacking off. It seems like there's no in between. I admit, when I was in college, I fell into both roles. I'd have the best intentions going in, but best I can figure, when someone else took charge right away it was easier for me to devote that time into another class, as college is a juggling act (or at least I found it to be). When I was spearheading the project, there was more pressure on me to deliver and therefore I'd throw myself into it as much as possible.

[Substance242]

Thinking about selling my car, and the fact it can really happen pisses me off, because I love my car (Swift Sport for 4 years, exactly my style). :-) But each day somebody pisses me off ("70 kmh limit? like I care..." or "yes there will be no room but I will overtake anyway" or "hey, need room? nope" etc.), there is fucking nowhere to park anymore so I use train and bus more nowadays because I can't afford to get angry all the time and I am also not able just accept such things, and what is a car good for when it is standing by the house most of the time anyway? :-( More negatives than positives, so kick you good-bye, car.

And using bike for commuting is suicide here. 40 years of socialism damaged people and with parents teaching children "you have to be a dick because everybody except us are dicks" from generation to generation, I don't know when we will behave like decent people. Btw, it is 27 years today since "velvet revolution" and it looks like people will never ever DO something again. Where's the revolution? Come on people, you're letting me down. :-)

[Sarah K]

So one more whine about the group projects. In one of the classes, the initial step is due tonight(both of these projects last until the end of the semester). I emailed our group every morning this week, trying to get the others to participate. I know the other girl who was helping emailed everyone at least once, too. So yesterday morning I tell them that if nobody is participating by the time I'm off of work, we are just moving forward.

What should have been a couple of hours of work for each of us, if split up properly, turned into me being at work until after 11:00(I get off at 5:00) last night, trying to wrap it up. I posted my half, and the other girl had already posted hers. Cool. LITERALLY 15 minutes after I posted mine, another group member finally appears! They chime in with this:


Hey Guys,
I completely agree with the questions the both of you have chosen and I am all for pushing ahead in the class. However, it is only wednesday and I feel that giving everyone else a decent chance to get involved with this research isn't a bad idea. I apologize for responding mid-week but there is still plenty of time to do the assignment without trying to complete it tonight. What still needs to be answered/ what research still needs to be completed for the questions you all chose?

Go fuck yourself.

[Dra508]

So one more whine about the group projects. In one of the classes, the initial step is due tonight(both of these projects last until the end of the semester). I emailed our group every morning this week, trying to get the others to participate. I know the other girl who was helping emailed everyone at least once, too. So yesterday morning I tell them that if nobody is participating by the time I'm off of work, we are just moving forward.

What should have been a couple of hours of work for each of us, if split up properly, turned into me being at work until after 11:00(I get off at 5:00) last night, trying to wrap it up. I posted my half, and the other girl had already posted hers. Cool. LITERALLY 15 minutes after I posted mine, another group member finally appears! They chime in with this:



Go fuck yourself.So, it's not due tonight? ;)

[Mantra]

Just found out that What.cd was taken down. FUCK. Now where am i supposed to get music? How do most people even listen to music these days? So fucking annoying.

[eversonpoe]

Just found out that What.cd was taken down. FUCK. Now where am i supposed to get music? How do most people even listen to music these days? So fucking annoying.

i've been so sad since kickass got taken down. it seems like it's back up but every iteration wants you to sign up for a "free account" and i'm like...i don't trust this AT ALL.

[eversonpoe]

Ryan are you just facepalming me out of spite now?

[Ryan]

Giving back what I get bro.

[Deepvoid]

First snowstorm happening live. It's probably gonna take me over 1h30 to go to work instead of the usual 35 minutes. Fuck.

[Mantra]

God I fucking hate Black Friday.

[millionmilesaway]

Called my parents to wish them a happy thanksgiving and learned that my mom fell down and hurt her hand, and being my mother she didn't tell anyone for almost a week until my brother dragged her to the hospital since the bruising was so severe her hand looked almost black. Turns out she had fractured all 4 metacarpals in her palm and the bones are so weak they cant repair them with surgery. I wish she could take better care of herself

[allegro]

Called my parents to wish them a happy thanksgiving and learned that my mom fell down and hurt her hand, and being my mother she didn't tell anyone for almost a week until my brother dragged her to the hospital since the bruising was so severe her hand looked almost black. Turns out she had fractured all 4 metacarpals in her palm and the bones are so weak they cant repair them with surgery. I wish she could take better care of herself

This has happened to my mother at least 4 times in the last year; she has hurt her thumb on her hand so badly twice that she has permanent damage. The last time, about a month ago, she got up during the night to use the bathroom and tripped over a shoe and we are pretty sure she was knocked unconscious because she broke the mirror on her closet doors and she had a black eye. During a recent annual physical with her primary physician, he discussed her falls with her and advised that she now requires the use of a cane all the time. She didn't like this news at all, but this is why these falls happen (aging, lack of balance, abnormal gait, etc.). More than 33% of seniors die due to injuries after a fall. None are intentional, of course. We got her two really cool canes, one is purple paisley, one has a cool built-in LED flashlight. She HATES the idea of looking "old" but she hates the idea of falling and dying even more. Her doctor says "aging sucks, but dying from a fall sucks even more." The age where balance becomes worrisome is earlier than I realized: 55.

[millionmilesaway]

She just turned 64, chain smoker all her life and cant walk more than 100 feet without getting winded. The smoking is now causing signs of dementia and she refuses to listen to any medical advice from anyone. I cant stand being home anymore because I hate to see what she is doing to herself. Not to mention the fact that there is no longer a home to go back to, thanks to one of her forgotten cigarettes

[allegro]

She just turned 64, chain smoker all her life and cant walk more than 100 feet without getting winded. The smoking is now causing signs of dementia and she refuses to listen to any medical advice from anyone. I cant stand being home anymore because I hate to see what she is doing to herself. Not to mention the fact that there is no longer a home to go back to, thanks to one of her forgotten cigarettes
I hear ya. My dad (who lived in Detroit and chain-smoked his way to 4th stage COPD and congestive heart failure and dementia until he passed away this past March) refused to listen to anyone. My mom moved here to Chicago to be closer to us after her husband (my stepdad) passed away and she is better at listening to advise, but she FORGETS to do stuff most of the time. Her friend on the floor below her in the condo building has neurological issues that cause balance problems and she is supposed to use a cane and she isn't supposed to drive, she's fallen and broken ribs and teeth. But, she won't use the cane and she still drives. Wtf. Sorry, but if my doc tells me something, I DO IT.

Sad, the fire was due to her cigarettes? :( So sorry to hear that.

[millionmilesaway]

We thought the house fire would be the wakeup call she needed but it just seemed to make it worse. I guess for Christmas I should get her a snazzy light up cane like your mom has

[Sarah K]

When irrelevant people try to take credit for your accomplishments or progress. Personal, professional, educational, etc.

[elevenism]

my brother, i fucking love him. But he does this thing where any music that isn't HIS favorite is TERRIBLE, to the point where he will get up and walk out of the room and throw a little fit if you turn it on. Eminem, any NIN after TDS (he was once a huge NIN fan,) Radiohead, Rolling Stones, etc.
I called him out. I said "I finally get it. You are doing this little thing where you try to be ironic by saying you hate what everyone else likes."
He got so fucking mad. I think i was right.

But yeah, and he also goes on these fucking rants about how other people should live. It's frustrating. He goes on and on about how my mom should move to fucking denver and do this and do that. And i tell him "Bro. Mom has been like this for 20 years and she's damn near 60. She is not going to change. She will be like this for another 20 years and then die. Get that shit through your head."

Anyway i loved having them all here for thanksgiving, but little bro wore me out a bit.

[Mantra]

^How old is he?

[Ryan]

Sun burn on neck and shoulders area can suck the fuck out of my nuts.

[fillow]

Where'd you got a sunburn in November?
edit: d'oh

[Sarah K]

My roommate and I pay $3,000 in monthly rent. Our building just got done being completely renovated in March. Last night, as we were sitting at the table, our ceiling started dripping on us. There were two more bubbles forming before I went to bed last night. One of them had popped this morning, and the other one was still growing. Supposedly they are going to come look at it this morning. But it took them two months to fix my window(and it isn't even "fixed", they just replaced the glass), and this will be a MAJOR fix.

Ugh. :(

[eversonpoe]

My roommate and I pay $3,000 in monthly rent. Our building just got done being completely renovated in March. Last night, as we were sitting at the table, our ceiling started dripping on us. There were two more bubbles forming before I went to bed last night. One of them had popped this morning, and the other one was still growing. Supposedly they are going to come look at it this morning. But it took them two months to fix my window(and it isn't even "fixed", they just replaced the glass), and this will be a MAJOR fix.

Ugh. :(

$3,000 each or collectively? either way, jeezy creezy, new york.

[Sarah K]

Our total rent is 3k!

[eversonpoe]

Our total rent is 3k!

yeesh, that's still a lot. my wife and i pay $1,250 a month for a 1,200 sq ft, third floor walkup (top floor) and it's about the most we can afford. i don't know how you're putting yourself through school and affording that place but i hope that they fix your shit.

speaking of shit that needs fixing, my landlord was supposed to do a brief "safety" walkthrough today and i really hope that she'll fix the crumbling skylight frame that's been threatening to collapse on us in the front stairwell of the building.
also hope she'll consider replacing our teeny tiny fridge with a normal-sized one since she re-did the cabinets in the kitchen earlier this year and there's actually room for a normal-sized fridge, now.

[allegro]

yeesh, that's still a lot. my wife and i pay $1,250 a month for a 1,200 sq ft, third floor walkup
I do hope you realize that's really cheap by Chicago standards, though. Downtown Chicago apartments are averaging $2.50 per square foot so that would be $3,000 / month for your apartment. Your area (I think you are in Lincoln Square?) is more like $1 to $1.50 per square foot.

Leaking roof, yikes, that can grow to be a GIANT leak really fast once the snow starts.

[Sarah K]

Yeah... I paid $645 for a gigantic three floor loft in a converted church before I moved out here! I loved that apartment so much.

It seems as though it is pretty difficult to find a room for less than $1,000/month anywhere around where I am right now. I can walk to work, so my transportation costs are limited. And I basically never do anything fun ever... But I figure it is a year of sacrifice that will hopefully be worth it in the long term. I'm doing a payment plan and just paying as I go. I recently found out that they don't let you put winter term classes on the payment plan, and the tuition for it has to be paid upfront. So, I'm not even going to be able to go home for the holidays, which is a bummer. My trip money had to transform into tuition money.

The roof thing is so dumb. Though NYC is SUPER tenant friendly. So if they are slow and dumb about it, we at least have options, it sounds like.

[cashpiles (closed)]

pigeon shit. this pigeon (or random pigeons taking turns) spends each night sheltered in the corner of my balcony off the floor on this metal "shelf" that runs across one length of the balcony. I hear it cooing in a not unpleasant way... it's almost attractive... anyways each night it drops more Christmas gifts on the ledge and on the floor beneath it. It's disgusting. I was procrastinating on the situation because I hadn't decided how to prevent the pigeons from sleeping on the ledge. Finally I decided on a strip of pigeon spikes. But part of me felt a bit bad about potentially causing harm to the pigeons.... so I delayed further. Then, one morning in the washroom, I was struck with inspiration: I have some short pieces of lumber, maybe half an inch or a 3/4 of an inch thick. I saw in my mind that I could somehow glue the pieces of wood to the ledge at an angle, thereby removing any firm foothold the pigeons could potentially have on the ledge.

This morning I did it: one edge of each piece of wood was filed down at an angle and then Elmer-glued to the ledge and wall it hangs on. Then, on the wood, with a purple marker I wrote: PIGEON BLOCKER.

I'll let you know if it works.

[Swykk]

Goddamn snowblower wouldn't start. Primed several times. It starts up then stops immediately. So I had to shovel which let me tell you, my neuropathy just LOVES. We are supposed to get 6-10 more inches before midnight. If I can't get it to start and have to shovel 2-3 more times, I'm going to be pretty badly damaged. Arms are already twitchy. Fuck. Hopefully it'll start. Had just about a full tank of year old gas in it.
I know nothing about these things :(

[allegro]

Goddamn snowblower wouldn't start. Primed several times. It starts up then stops immediately. So I had to shovel which let me tell you, my neuropathy just LOVES. We are supposed to get 6-10 more inches before midnight. If I can't get it to start and have to shovel 2-3 more times, I'm going to be pretty badly damaged. Arms are already twitchy. Fuck. Hopefully it'll start. Had just about a full tank of year old gas in it.
I know nothing about these things :(

It's probably the old gas. It doesn't work well in a two-stroke snowblower. You're SUPPOSED to burn all of it out at the end of the season. With your condition, I would say if you can afford around $60 to $75 DO NOT try to do this yourself and go online to plowing companies (usually landscaping companies that are off during the winter) and see if they'll do it, they may add you on after they've plowed the drives of their other customers. This happened to us once when our snow blower threw a belt and we had a HUGE snowstorm and I had BRUISING on my arm from shoveling; a plowing company fit us in. After that, we had our snowblower tuned up before each season. NOW I pay a plowing service all the time since Gs not home so much due to swing shifts and I ain't doing this shit. You'll probably need to syphon out that gas and get some carb cleaner

[Louie_Cypher]

mr plow mr. plow, that name is mr. plow, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyi67AJhB74
-louie

[fillow]

Motion triggered faucets. Motherfuckers just refuse giving me any water.

[Khrz]

That's because you're a vampire.

[Pillfred]

So my buddy just managed to shit on my day and my roommates day single-handedly because he was in a bad mood, over a fucking video game essentially. He's the type who biggest strength and weakness is his single minded approach to things. When you're trying to get shit done it's nice but for abstract reasoning not so much. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't wildly veer off into all sorts of random real life things, that outside of a form of paranoia have no grounds in the initial conversation. That and my big to feels like it's freezing half the time now.


Motion triggered faucets. Motherfuckers just refuse giving me any water.
I've become so used to them from work, i cook and most of the places recently have them in the bathrooms, that i've gotten so used to them that i now find myself waving my hands under faucets thinking "whynowater" when in reality i didn't turn it on to begin with.

Edit:2 Also it would seem i have lost the ability to condense my erratic thoughts into something resembling a coherent statement.

tldr: probably your best option honestly.

[allegate]

Motion triggered faucets. Motherfuckers just refuse giving me any water.Do you work for Veridian Dynamics?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_msb7eQA-RFY/S0EAfFX_O4I/AAAAAAAABsk/AgUU6ap1nqE/s1600/better-off-ted-racial-sensitivity-lem-can-use-the-water-fountain.jpg

[Baphomette]

People suddenly fapping over Vanity Fair. They're assholes who edit too heavily and don't stand behind their writers when they're attacked (http://flavorwire.com/94515/lynn-hirschberg-mia-courtney-love-bad-interviews).

[Dra508]

People suddenly fapping over Vanity Fair. They're assholes who edit too heavily and don't stand behind their writers when they're attacked (http://flavorwire.com/94515/lynn-hirschberg-mia-courtney-love-bad-interviews).
Today, it sounded to me like Trump and that Carter dude have some history about tiny hands. He'll be poking him for the next 4 years.
http://www.npr.org/2016/12/15/505692944/trump-lashes-out-at-vanity-fair-one-day-after-it-lambastes-his-restaurant

[Rubeninphoenix]

Motion triggered faucets. Motherfuckers just refuse giving me any water.Oh god yes. Worse yet, are the ones that you often have in food processing plants where you have to step on a small pump before you get any water. The other day, I was at a plant that had this configuration in the bathroom and I looked like a dummy for a few seconds because I was just waving my hand beneath the faucet until I looked down and saw the foot pump.

[Mantra]

Ironic ringtones.

[Sarah K]

Ironic ringtones.

I will take that even further and say ANY ringtones. TURN THAT SHIT TO VIBRATE WHILE IN PUBLIC.

But I cringe especially hard when anyone over the age of 18 or so has their ringtone set to a song.

[Dra508]

I will take that even further and say ANY ringtones. TURN THAT SHIT TO VIBRATE WHILE IN PUBLIC.

But I cringe especially hard when anyone over the age of 18 or so has their ringtone set to a song.

Yes, song ringtones are so 2000's. Says the woman who sold the gear that monetized that shit for the wireless carriers. [emoji23]

As for vibrate versus sound, I carry a purse. I don't walk around with my phone in my hand or in a pocket so vibrate doesn't always work for me. Hanging out with friends, eating out- vibrate and in the bag. I like to think I live in the present.

[Mantra]

This morning at work, some guy's phone started blasting that really bombastic techno theme from the Mortal Kombat movie. He seemed super amused with himself and kept glancing around the room, looking to see if anyone else was going to smirk about it with him, but everyone mostly just ignored him.

The other day some kid's phone started blasting Never Gonna Give You Up.

Like...why do people think this is funny? What year is this? PLEASE STOP, PLEAAAASSE UGGGGHHHH

[eversonpoe]

I will take that even further and say ANY ringtones. TURN THAT SHIT TO VIBRATE WHILE IN PUBLIC.

But I cringe especially hard when anyone over the age of 18 or so has their ringtone set to a song.


This morning at work, some guy's phone started blasting that really bombastic techno theme from the Mortal Kombat movie. He seemed super amused with himself and kept glancing around the room, looking to see if anyone else was going to smirk about it with him, but everyone mostly just ignored him.

The other day some kid's phone started blasting Never Gonna Give You Up.

Like...why do people think this is funny? What year is this? PLEASE STOP, PLEAAAASSE UGGGGHHHH

my phone call tone is "paradise circuis" by massive attack because it's subtle but really easy for me to hear, and my text message tone is "desert ghost" by these arms are snakes, because, again, it's subtle but really easy to hear. both are totally inoffensive to others so if they happen to go on for a bit, no one wants to murder me.

[Lew]

ugh. my sister is starting her yearly "i dare you to say merry christmas. i am saying merry christmas. nobody can stop me from saying merry christmas" horseshit.
grow up. nobody gives a tinkers damn whether you say "merry christmas" or "happy holidays" or "fucking shanananana", just don't be a goof. how hard is this concept to grasp?
also dear sister: political correctness was not started by immigrants. also also, you are a 3rd generation immigrant. fucking deal with it already. also also also stop moaning about foreigners bringing weapons into "your" city if you are going to flip your fucking wig at being reminded that is precisely how OUR fucking immigrant relatives got their start on this continent.
holy flaming fruit covered fuckness.
ugh.

[Dra508]

ugh. my sister is starting her yearly "i dare you to say merry christmas. i am saying merry christmas. nobody can stop me from saying merry christmas" horseshit.
grow up. nobody gives a tinkers damn whether you say "merry christmas" or "happy holidays" or "fucking shanananana", just don't be a goof. how hard is this concept to grasp?
also dear sister: political correctness was not started by immigrants. also also, you are a 3rd generation immigrant. fucking deal with it already. also also also stop moaning about foreigners bringing weapons into "your" city if you are going to flip your fucking wig at being reminded that is precisely how OUR fucking immigrant relatives got their start on this continent.
holy flaming fruit covered fuckness.
ugh.

God bless you (see what I did there?)

I love my brothers, but one has gone full tilt political on Facebook. I'd love to unfollow him, but I think he's notice.

[aggroculture]

Flakey people.
Cancelling the day of without saying sorry or even giving an explanation? And we're supposed to be friends? GTFOH.

[Lew]

God bless you (see what I did there?)

I love my brothers, but one has gone full tilt political on Facebook. I'd love to unfollow him, but I think he's notice.

rofl!!
i saw, i see, i (have) seen ;p
i had to unfollow her (not unfriend though...i'd like to make it through christmas without a rerun of our good old fist fighting days).
actually, i had to leave facebook, period. though i like to pretend that my latter years are bringing patience to me, the reality is that my patience has done brilliantly since i left facebook..i popped back on last week and 24 hours later shut it down again. just not worth it, especially because it is mostly for creeping folk with anyway (yep. for me it is for creeping...wait, spying? curiousity satisfying? what word encapsulates this action without the nastiness of 'creeping'. anyone?)
happy friday, dra. happy of happiest fridays, as a matter of fact.

fwiw: i love my sister, but i think she is demented in ways. this is balanced out by the fact that she loves me and thinks i am demented. actually my two older sisters call me "sweden". (they meant switzerland, but in the heat of screaming at me lost their geographical point...which made me laugh like a loon...which left me being called sweden. they all think i was secretly adopted or the love child of a mail man. could be...)

[allegro]

This morning at work, some guy's phone started blasting that really bombastic techno theme from the Mortal Kombat movie. He seemed super amused with himself and kept glancing around the room, looking to see if anyone else was going to smirk about it with him, but everyone mostly just ignored him.

The other day some kid's phone started blasting Never Gonna Give You Up.

Like...why do people think this is funny? What year is this? PLEASE STOP, PLEAAAASSE UGGGGHHHH

We had a repair guy in our house this past summer, a warranty guy for a new set of French doors in back; a kinda stereotypical repair guy with a huge gut and giant ass crack sticking out of his pants? And his ringtone was the intro to Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song." LOUD, too. And his phone rang, like, 800 fucking times while he was here. Now, every time I hear this, I get that visual.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEGuHdKn0Lc

[Lew]

We had a repair guy in our house this past summer, a warranty guy for a new set of French doors in back; a kinda stereotypical repair guy with a huge gut and giant ass crack sticking out of his pants? And his ringtone was the intro to Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song." LOUD, too. And his phone rang, like, 800 fucking times while he was here. Now, every time I hear this, I get that visual.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEGuHdKn0Lc

could
be my latent ocd tendencies, but that sounds hilarious and awesome.
beats hearing 21 pilots "heathens" 800 times, fo shizzle. (favoured song of 9 year old...followed by offsprings "you're gonna go far kid" on a 10 hour youtube loop. ffs. lololol)

[allegro]

could
be my latent ocd tendencies, but that sounds hilarious and awesome.
beats hearing 21 pilots "heathens" 800 times, fo shizzle. (favoured song of 9 year old...followed by offsprings "you're gonna go far kid" on a 10 hour youtube loop. ffs. lololol)

LOL, our regular Mr. Fixit and General Construction and Painting guy, Derrick, (we all call him "Macgyver"), is around maybe early-50s, has a bluetooth thing in his ear and answers it by yelling "ANSWER," and his phone rings a bunch, too (mostly the owner of the company, Mike, calling him) and HIS ringtone?

THIS!! hahahahahahaha


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkXHsK4AQPs

[Khrz]

I will take that even further and say ANY ringtones. TURN THAT SHIT TO VIBRATE WHILE IN PUBLIC.

But I cringe especially hard when anyone over the age of 18 or so has their ringtone set to a song.

This. I'm so fucking embarrassed whenever my phone starts (seldomely) ringing in public. Even a simple notification (it's the sonic "ring" noise, so it's short and clear) makes me grab my phone and mute the fuck out of it.
To me it's as cringy as realising I've been walking around with my fly open, "damn, sorry about that people, TMI, TMI, I know..."

[Lew]

LOL, our regular Mr. Fixit and General Construction and Painting guy, Derrick, (we all call him "Macgyver"), is around maybe early-50s, has a bluetooth thing in his ear and answers it by yelling "ANSWER," and his phone rings a bunch, too (mostly the owner of the company, Mike, calling him) and HIS ringtone?

THIS!! hahahahahahaha


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkXHsK4AQPs

the
ANSWER thing kills me..we have a neighbour who has a nice strong newfie accent...and when he has had one too many beverages i like to get him to ask his phone to find stuff on the internet....ahahahahaha...what the phone hears is hilarious...him yelling louder at the phone, thus making the phone understand him even less, is awesome...
my sister uses voice commands and to dial me has to say "ch-ee-ah" because her english accented program hears and says "tia" as "chia". lol.
i find the vocal operated software stuff full of comedic gold.

[elevenism]

allegro if the Immigrant Song association is permanent, you should sue.

[Demogorgon]

my fridge died. cons: it's the middle of winter here in Ohio and the roads are continuously shit and having to rent a truck to pick up a fridge, along with trying to get the old fridge out of the house and hope somebody hauls it away, is kind of hell.

pros: it's the middle of winter here in Ohio, so in temporary place of said fridge, I can fill my camping cooler with ice from outside to keep my frozen/fresh foods mostly good til I can get a proper replacement.

[cashpiles (closed)]

Air Canada has to be the worst motherfuckin airline in the world. somehow there's no fuel to refuel the airplane at the destination so we have to go back to the departure airport and to fuel up extra. We fuckin drove around in circles on the airstrip for like 20 minutes waiting to take off. also this airline is such a rip off. 1200 dollars to fly across my own country (roundtrip).

[Dra508]

Air Canada has to be the worst motherfuckin airline in the world. somehow there's no fuel to refuel the airplane at the destination so we have to go back to the departure airport and to fuel up extra. We fuckin drove around in circles on the airstrip for like 20 minutes waiting to take off. also this airline is such a rip off. 1200 dollars to fly across my own country (roundtrip).

That's pretty awful. A co-worker was telling me they'll never fly El-Al. Basically said "fuck those pilots". How do labor protest in the pilots union? Call in sick ? Nawww, fly slower across the Atlantic.

[cashpiles (closed)]

That's pretty awful. A co-worker was telling me they'll never fly El-Al. Basically said "fuck those pilots". How do labor protest in the pilots union? Call in sick ? Nawww, fly slower across the Atlantic.
holy fuck.... still like to kill the pilots though (after landing).

they moved into a new plane. it's also not moving. karma for all my fake nin news

[Lew]

my niece did the "kylie jenner lip challenge".
she ended up with a ring shaped bruise.
i really wish i could un-know the 'challenge' and the fact that my precious niece partook of it.
ugh.
(but lol at that bruising. she looks like she has a mauvish coloured flesh mustache.)

[mfte]

Good going MTV. 300 likes to 20,000 dislikes.
Poorly planned guilt piece from the corporate hivemind isn't making many friends.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Oa8Vt_qLhk

[Jinsai]

god I have been so fucked with lately... and things have not been well for me. From almost dying and winding up in a hospital, watching someone on a gurney next to me die and watch the light fade out of his eyes, sitting there crying, hysterically being taken way restrained in an ambulance trying to scratch an itch on my fucking face that won't go away... to being left outside in the cold strapped to a gurney in the freezing cold only wearing my boxers and a paper thin hospital gurney for what felt like forever.... to curling up in a corner and just asking for a blanket to cover myself and be left alone, to come back into the hell that sent me there...to have some savvy shrewd desperate people rile up my hopes that my life might take a dramatic turn for the better, to just run into the same disappointing illusion.

I feel like I have hit the realization that my desperate appeals to my abilities and intelligence are grossly overstated in order to just keep justifying one foot marching in front of the other. I don't want to live a solipsistic and meaningless life, and it hurts a bit to consider that I am going to regardless.

[Swykk]

I wish I had better words for you @Jinsai (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=272) but you're right, that is seemingly the reality of things.

What does having intelligence mean in Trump's nation? It means horror. But I can't fathom sticking my head in the sand either.

[allegro]

I got a FRACTION of the number of Christmas cards I normally receive each year. Many people in my neighborhood who usually go all-out with Christmas decorations outside have dark houses this year. It's like a dark cloud is hovering. People don't feel hopeful. I want to bake everybody some cookies. Really, we have been through many dark times, before. I was alive (although VERY young) when our President was murdered, then RFK, then MLK. We will get through this. Don't give up hope.

See what Michelle Obama told Oprah about hope, here.
(https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2016/dec/20/michelle-obama-oprah-interview-video)
Jinsai, solipsism is highly overrated. :) Hang in there. Look outward and maybe think outside-the-box for some real changes in 2017.

[allegate]

god I have been so fucked with lately... and things have not been well for me. From almost dying and winding up in a hospital, watching someone on a gurney next to me die and watch the light fade out of his eyes, sitting there crying, hysterically being taken way restrained in an ambulance trying to scratch an itch on my fucking face that won't go away... to being left outside in the cold strapped to a gurney in the freezing cold only wearing my boxers and a paper thin hospital gurney for what felt like forever.... to curling up in a corner and just asking for a blanket to cover myself and be left alone, to come back into the hell that sent me there...to have some savvy shrewd desperate people rile up my hopes that my life might take a dramatic turn for the better, to just run into the same disappointing illusion.

I feel like I have hit the realization that my desperate appeals to my abilities and intelligence are grossly overstated in order to just keep justifying one foot marching in front of the other. I don't want to live a solipsistic and meaningless life, and it hurts a bit to consider that I am going to regardless.
What do you mean here? Because I've been going off on something like this for a month now and I been wondering if it was my "mid-life crisis" or something. Looking at my life and wondering, as I approach 40, if I could/should have done something different with it. I have options ahead of me but which one will serve me and - more importantly - my family better?

And the big one: Why bother? There are few people who care about me enough to notice if I'm gone and nothing I do matters to anyone other than my bosses and I don't bring anything to the table that someone else couldn't. Which sound darker than it is - I'm not going anywhere - but it is something that is hard to think about.
I got a FRACTION of the number of Christmas cards I normally receive each year. Many people in my neighborhood who usually go all-out with Christmas decorations outside have dark houses this year. It's like a dark cloud is hovering. People don't feel hopeful. I want to bake everybody some cookies. Really, we have been through many dark times, before. I was alive (although VERY young) when our President was murdered, then RFK, then MLK. We will get through this. Don't give up hope.

@Jinsai (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/member.php?u=272) , solipsism is highly overrated. :) Hang in there. Look outward and maybe think outside-the-box for some real changes in 2017.

I run the charity drive here at work and we're not even hitting 5% of what we did last year. It took three tries to get more than one other volunteer helper and even then none of the helpers have, well, helped. It's hard to run something like this by yourself and maybe part of that's why it's not raising a lot of money?

[Jinsai]

yeah... I mean, if I could choose to just cancel Christmas this year, I would totally say "fuck it" and be the Grinch.

[Alex of scotland]

Actual Christmas shopping. Fuck you. Fuck you in the ass with broken bottles.

[playwithfire]

nevermind

[tony.parente]

Buying new release music off NIN.com

I wish there was a third party option so I know there wouldn't be any issues listening on release day without jumping through 1000 hoops. I don't know how they manage to fuck up LITERALLY every single release since ghosts for me. Every.single.one I've had to pirate to listen to it on release day sans the slip, and that one I spend 2 weeks emailing them trying to get them to actually mail the physical copy.

Every release.

Every single time.

Why is it so 100% consistently difficult?

I spend $120 on 2 releases and have to get my music illegally because they fuck up EVERY. TIME.

[Alex of scotland]

Buying new release music off NIN.com

I wish there was a third party option so I know there wouldn't be any issues listening on release day without jumping through 1000 hoops. I don't know how they manage to fuck up LITERALLY every single release since ghosts for me. Every.single.one I've had to pirate to listen to it on release day sans the slip, and that one I spend 2 weeks emailing them trying to get them to actually mail the physical copy.

Every release.

Every single time.

Why is it so 100% consistently difficult?

I spend $120 on 2 releases and have to get my music illegally because they fuck up EVERY. TIME.

Do you remember when the Spiral changed ownership, and someone from the Shania Twain fan club posted to warn everyone how shit it would become?......... Just me?

I know it doesn't really compare , but still. Its a memory.

[allegro]

Do you remember when the Spiral changed ownership, and someone from the Shania Twain fan club posted to warn everyone how shit it would become?......... Just me?

I know it doesn't really compare , but still. Its a memory.

HAHAHAHA YEAH I REMEMBER THAT!!!!

And then some people bitched and then you-know-who came in here and said fuck you, I'll give you your money back!

I get mine through iTunes, no fuss, no muss, took me a half-a-second, BAM, music was on my computer and it cost, like, $5.99.

[Alex of scotland]

Yeah, I was never a member. But I didn't see rehearsals once because of it.... Then the infamous ETS shirt signing happened. He couldn't resist.

[Jinsai]

God bless you (see what I did there?)

I love my brothers, but one has gone full tilt political on Facebook. I'd love to unfollow him, but I think he's notice.

He could only know that you sadly unfollowed him if he logged into your account and looked at his profiled...

Lately I'm just getting direct - I don't need that shit in my life. I used to have a "I don't block anyone, I'll hear you out" attitude, but after I got into a row with a Trump supporter who refused to even clarify what the fuck it was he was even talking about anymore, and instead wanted me to wade through his barrage of posts to find his "point" I just said "fuck it." Everything is better without some people chattering away mindlessly.

But really... everyone who posts those "I DARE you to say Merry Christmas" gets a super bright and merry "Happy Winter Solstice, and let us not forget the true meaning of it all and remember to hail Satan during this festive time" greeting.

On topic: My family is BLASTING the Xmas music this year... and it's making me realize how much I just HATE so much of this music.

Fuck Jingle Bells. Nobody should ever be this happy. Ever.

Fuck On the Whatever Day of Christmas My True Love FUCKING blah blah blah. Why do people give such a heraldic fuck about five gold rings?

Fuck Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The song always sounded like strange pro-nazi code language for some reason. Rudolf, rhymes with Adolf? Reindeer is suspiciously close to Reichdeer, and just because my computer says that isn't really a word doesn't mean I need to believe it.

Also, Santa Baby has the most transparently euphemistic lyrics to the point where it gets really uncomfortable... "Santa baaaaaaaby, hurry up and come down my chimney tonight?"

Also, "Baby it's Cold Outside" is basically the festive rapey holiday version of Blurred Lines.

I need to watch or listen to some antidote to this stuff like Gremlins or Silent Night, Deadly Night pt 2

[playwithfire]

Yeah, maybe it was working retail or something, I don't know, but I'm generally not a huge fan of Christmas. Yule makes me happy. Christmas... eh. I don't know if working in retail for 4 years (Starbucks, SO MUCH CHRISTMAS) burnt me out or what, but I really don't get into it. If it was like... allowed to be special and we didn't get oversaturated to all hell and back with it, maybe, but it just doesn't feel like something I connect with. I wonder if I'll ever come back around to it.

I remember this dude I saw in college hated Christmas music and college me was like "Who hates Christmas music?" and here I am, here we are.

[eversonpoe]

normally my OCD (yes, actual OCD) requires me to read every single new post in every thread in which i've posted/regularly visit on this board, but with how much people have been posting in the last few days and not making it on here between wednesday morning and friday morning, i had to skip a bunch of stuff and it almost gave me a panic attack. i could literally feel my chest clenching and my heart speeding up abnormally when i hit the "last" button, and then i almost threw up, which would have been really bad right before the day i had at work yesterday. i seem to be handling it ok but i also keep being tempted to go back and read every single post i missed. i just literally don't have the time.

[marodi]

My poor Delphine has an aural hematoma in her right ear and the earliest I can go to the vet is Wednesday.

[kel]

"buffalo plaid".

i was supposed to get married tonight.

[Pillfred]

I need to watch or listen to some antidote to this stuff like Gremlins or Silent Night, Deadly Night pt 2

Die Hard, Yippie Ki-Yay mothefucker.

[Jinsai]

I'm making things festive today. I just needed an avenue to vent for a moment there. I just want a stress free, peaceful pleasant day with my family and I hope my little nephew is happy.

[sick among the pure]

I got a remote shutter release for my camera today... only to find out it's compatible with the Canon D60, not the 60D. So I have to buy an adaptor cable and wait for that to show up.
Just a little thing that pissed me off, because I was so excited to use it and get some nice long exposure shots.

[perch]

Just found out all ETS-related emails have been going into Spam folder and there I was moaning about password reset system being broken. Ugh!
I take it back.

[Substance242]

Regarding this fucking year, two versions of the same from The Oatmeal:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BOYvEACDwvc/?taken-by=theoatmeal
https://www.instagram.com/p/BOdAnFsjGuh/?taken-by=theoatmeal
and one a bit older: https://www.instagram.com/p/BGlAWt8IQ6c/?taken-by=theoatmeal