Useless Conversation

[Polysorbate80]

"Ineptitude + Chemicals = Fun" 

[Morat20]

Even the smart ones can be dumb.  My dad had so many horror stories about engineers not understanding what happens with chemicals in the real world.

Yeah, there's a big difference between beakers in a lab where someone else handles disposal and railcars full of solvents or whatnot. Half the people I know work with chemicals (yay for Houston's biggest industry), and one's real big on sustainability. Which is basically a mix of complying with the EPA, trying to find uses for/recycle by products, cut down on waste (because waste is expensive to store) and a bunch of general green stuff (low-energy buildings, etc).

The chemical industry, as a whole, is really behind the times on that -- mostly because down here it's led by the oil industry, and they've got an attitude about it. I mean, sure, if you can sell their waste to someone else they're all for it (because fuck yeah, free money) and if you can cut operating costs they're all for it, but the minute they suspect it's because of 'the environment' a ton of dinosaurs dig in their heels.

[apocrypha]

I know of a UK university that has the remains of a dog buried on it's premises that are so radioactive that you can locate it with a hand-held Geiger counter if you know roughly where it is.

The dog was irradiated so heavily as a result of an experimental fuck up (decimal point in the wrong place. The *very* wrong place). and it was decided that it would cause less hassle and get less people in trouble to just quietly bury it on-site rather than go through the proper channels.

So it's not just businesses that play fast & loose with this stuff. 

[Cyrrex]

It is actually human nature to hide or otherwise bury our fuckups.  That larger organizations do it systematically is not at all surprising. 

[Yegolev]

Backups!

because "legal told us we are not required to keep anything beyond 6 months and actually we want you to actively delete all emails and files older than 6 months from the network and your personal computers kthx!"

It was a nightmare trying to figure out what the hell was inside it without opening it, so they'd know how dangerous it was -- all while dealing with the original company (who'd lost the records)

Backups are a little complicated.  They take resources to maintain and can cause trouble.  Even worse, if the IT systems work as they are supposed to, you'll never need them.

Of course, backups are not the same as archives.

Always remember that people are people, same as they have been for thousands and thousands of years.  Every single one of us.

[schild]

I used to think that people who ran businesses were above-average, but I've learned that most of them are just regular old dumbasses.

I believe that if the tech revolution had come 10 years prior, the landscape at the top would be a hell of a lot different. A lot of folks lucksacked during the transition in the 70s and 80s and failed upwards before technology became relevant. Hindsight makes it pretty easy to recognize this, but the vast majority of the last generation is literally too stupid to be kept alive.

This isn't a slight at them, they just aren't and couldn't be prepared for what came in the late 70s, 80s, 90s, and today.

Basically, people over ~50 just need to disappear off the planet. A great evacuation that would save the world.

Edit: That 50 should probably be a 60. I mathed out old people wrong, whatever though, point still stands.

[Ironwood]

 if the IT systems work as they are supposed to, you'll never need them.

You know what you said there, right ?

[Ingmar]

Yeah I dunno about never need them. Probably 90%+ of the restores I've had to do over the years have been user-error caused, not system failures.

[Lantyssa]

Well, if IT worked the way it was supposed to, we'd get rid of the users.

[MisterNoisy]

So my pops doesn't have lung cancer, but he's got a lung infection that has spread to his spine and deteriorated his T6/T7 vertebrae.  Pain chart is a permanent '10' and he spends hours unable to speak coherently as a result.  It's the worst thing I've ever had to endure to watch him unable to speak through his pain and unable to help.

[schild]

That sounds worse than cancer :(

[WayAbvPar]

Ugh sorry to hear that MN.

[Abagadro]

Wow, that's rough. Sorry you and he have to go through that. 

[RhyssaFireheart]

Sorry to hear that, MisterNoisy.  Hope they can figure something out to help manage your dad's pain. :(

[Cyrrex]

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was having back issues, but I didn't want to go into it and steal Chimpy's thunder from his appendix issue.  Well now with MisterNoisy's post about his dad, I figure it is relevant enough to go into.

So yeah, I blew out my back.  Anyone who reads the P90x thread knows that I like to do heavy deadlifting.  Well, it caught up to me, thanks to my stupid ego.  I was preparing for a lift, an attempt at a personal record, and just as I started contracting something exploded in my lower back/ass region.  It felt like someone came up behind me and kicked me.  Took me a second to realize what had happened.

It is just over three weeks later now, and I still spend probably 90% of my day flat on my back.  The first week was just hell on earth.  Had to piss in a bottle, because the toilet was like sitting down on the iron maiden.  I actually had to get checked into the hospital to get on enough pain medication to be able to take my first dump, and let me avoid the details of how unpleasant that was.  Really, the biggest problem initially was getting a morphine dosage that was strong enough to get the pain to a manageable level.  Doctors over here do no like giving out pain medication.  Eventually, I got it up to an acceptable level.  Once I made it to the two week mark the drugs were working well enough that I could start moving around and rehabbing myself a bit.  Going to the bathroom is no longer a problem, and I can stand and walk around pretty well for the most part, but after a few minutes I have to go lay back down again.  I still cannot sit for more than about 30 seconds.  Needless to say, I cannot drive or go to work or anything like that yet.  I am still on about 60mg a day of morphine, down from a max of about 100mg, and have some other nerve medication as well.

What I have is a bulge in my L5.  It is pressing on my nerves to such a degree as to cause all the pain, and also a bit of numbness in certain spots on my left leg and in my rear end and pelvic region in general.  It also has an effect on the functioning of certain muscles, including whichever muscles control the loosening of your bladder.  It isn't so much that I have been pissing myself, rather that I had to concentrate really hard to actually let it flow.  That part getting much better.  The strangest thing is that my calf muscles seem only to be halfway connected to my nervous system.  When I am walking, they are only barely engaged at all.  When I concentrate, I can just barely flex them enough to stand on my tiptoes, but it takes a supreme effort.  Before the injury, my calves were one of the strongest muscles in my body, and now I can barely flex them at all.  It is so odd.  It sort of gives you an appreciation for what paralyzed people must feel, that lack of contact between nerve and muscles.

Anyway, things are now a bit on the upswing.  I am cutting down slowly on the drugs, and am able to move more and more.  I also have a SHITLOAD of time I can use for watching TV, movies and just general laying around playing video games.

MisterNoisy - sorry to hear about what your dad is going through.  I can relate to a degree.  I can't imagine what being at a permanent 10 must be like.  Just being there for a couple minutes at a time was terrible enough for me.  Here's hoping they can find him some good drugs.

[Chimpy]

Ugh, sorry to hear about your dad MrN, I don't think I ever even got to a 10 on pain when I was in the hospital for my appendix, having a few spikes of 8-9 was bad enough. Hope they figure out what they can do to clear up the infection and lower the pain.

[MisterNoisy]

Thanks for the kind words.

Sorry to hear about your situation, Cyrrex - I can't even imagine having that sort of pain and not really being able to mitigate it.  :(

Chimpy - I remember my brother dealing with his appendix, though we caught it literally right before it ruptured - glad to hear that you're past it now, though.  :)

[Lantyssa]

Today is full of .

Hope everything gets better for you all ASAP.

[Reg]

Seriously. You all and your dads need to get well fast.

[Signe]

Everyone is falling apart.  Stop it immediately.  So sorry about your dad, MisterNoisy.  Hope it gets better for him.  If I had a magic wand, I would make you all healthy and unbreakable if there were enough charges left after the Lamborghini Aventador and Frye boots.

[Morat20]

Damn, sorry to hear about your back Cyrrex. And about your dad, Noisy. :(

Here's wishing they'd get that nano-machine magic medicine shit up and running, instead of lurking around the edges of sci-fi.

[Pennilenko]

This board is starting to show its age. All we need now is for Schild to start making snarky grumpy posts about things that only old people are bothered by...

[schild]

This board is starting to show its age. All we need now is for Schild to start making snarky grumpy posts about things that only old people are bothered by...

In the last 5 years, I've thrown out my back twice and had a cyst. I've also see-sawed on my weight from 180 to 308 to 215 to 240 to 185 to ~250. I've began and quit smoking since f13 started as well. I've moved across the country and then halfway back across. I got married. In two years, someone born when f13 started will be getting Bar/Bat Mitvah'd if they're of the chosen people. I was a college student when we started, my last full time job (working for someone else, i.e. old, horrible people) had "Director" in the title.

I'd say we're all fucking old here.

[schild]

To change the topic:
Can someone here explain to me why Furries, *kin (TUMBLRITES), etc are allowed to be clumped into LGBT and why Q is sometimes added to that set of letters.

LGBT was just becoming a "thing" when I went to college, I know it existed prior, but it wasn't steeped in the bullshit that it is today. I understand the LGBT community is built on acceptance, tolerance, etc, but the contrived bullshit that is being shoved into it is, well, let's call it aggravating. I don't care either way, but I'd like to gain some kind of understanding as to why something reasonable is becoming a farce.

Edit: I'm not looking for a political opinion, I'm just looking for an explanation. A sort of origin story of furries aligning themselves with LGBT if you will.

[Brofellos]

As a gnomekin that shares headspace with my favorite Naruto character I am offended.

[Merusk]

To change the topic:
Can someone here explain to me why Furries, *kin (TUMBLRITES), etc are allowed to be clumped into LGBT and why Q is sometimes added to that set of letters.

LGBT was just becoming a "thing" when I went to college, I know it existed prior, but it wasn't steeped in the bullshit that it is today. I understand the LGBT community is built on acceptance, tolerance, etc, but the contrived bullshit that is being shoved into it is, well, let's call it aggravating. I don't care either way, but I'd like to gain some kind of understanding as to why something reasonable is becoming a farce.

Edit: I'm not looking for a political opinion, I'm just looking for an explanation. A sort of origin story of furries aligning themselves with LGBT if you will.

We discussed this in the LGBT thread in Politics a while back if you want the full discussion. The TL:DR version is, "Because the LGBT community is the only one that can cover the "Q" and everyone looks at otherkin as a bit of a joke."

Q being Queer (non-conforming to any sexual stereotype) or Questioning (unsure what the hell you are.)
http://community.pflag.org/abouttheq

TBH Queer just seems like you're confused because we've accepted all these other labels and you don't want to fall in to one of those. (A straight guy attracted to a Trans woman is still a straight guy, but the anecdote on that page would have you think "omg I'm queer.")

Questioning I'll just leave alone because I'm not a psychatrist so my pop-psy eval would be ripped apart 

[Ingmar]

In my experience furries et. al. are generally not included in there.

[schild]

To change the topic:
Can someone here explain to me why Furries, *kin (TUMBLRITES), etc are allowed to be clumped into LGBT and why Q is sometimes added to that set of letters.

LGBT was just becoming a "thing" when I went to college, I know it existed prior, but it wasn't steeped in the bullshit that it is today. I understand the LGBT community is built on acceptance, tolerance, etc, but the contrived bullshit that is being shoved into it is, well, let's call it aggravating. I don't care either way, but I'd like to gain some kind of understanding as to why something reasonable is becoming a farce.

Edit: I'm not looking for a political opinion, I'm just looking for an explanation. A sort of origin story of furries aligning themselves with LGBT if you will.

We discussed this in the LGBT thread in Politics a while back if you want the full discussion. The TL:DR version is, "Because the LGBT community is the only one that can cover the "Q" and everyone looks at otherkin as a bit of a joke."

Q being Queer (non-conforming to any sexual stereotype) or Questioning (unsure what the hell you are.)
http://community.pflag.org/abouttheq

That's a load of horseshit and doesn't really do much for establishing the history of it. Relevant part from that page yanked:

Queer as their term of identification than LGBT people ten years ago and that those who choose to identify in this way actually benefit from not choosing a specific label. Today the choice to not identify using a more specific label is a way for all who are different to bond together and create a movement of full acceptance within a society that wants to box them in, understand them in concrete terms, and then choose how to relate to them. Not choosing a specific label is kind of like saying, “Why does it matter how I’m different, when I’m different, or why I’m different? Just let there be a place in this society for difference- of any sort- and accept me any way that I am or am not. Accept me as queer.” - See more at: http://community.pflag.org/abouttheq#sthash.6WHIYnSO.dpuf

So, I went to read Wikipedia, which at least always has sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT

Read the variant section. Immediately regretted asking the question.

QUILTBAGs indeed. Carry on with the useless conversation.

Some background: The only reason I brought this up is because someone was posting some pictures about Gaymer (some LGBT gamer con thing) and one of the booths was about, I don't know Furrycon and the proliferation of that bullshit.

Edit: Continued here - http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=12736.msg1301242#msg1301242 - won't post about it in this thread anymore.

[Selby]

In my experience furries et. al. are generally not included in there.

I've never been associated with or known any LGBT groups that truly include "otherkin\furries" in any serious medium solely because of that status.  If they happen to be LGBT AND "other" then they tend to get grouped in.  As it is, LGBT groups do not go out of their way to bring the furries into the fold...

Just MY experience obviously...

[Yegolev]

if the IT systems work as they are supposed to, you'll never need them.

You know what you said there, right ?

I probably said something slightly off from what I meant, which is a thing I seem to do.  I just now can't think of a situation where I'd need to restore a backup unless the systems broke or the user broke.  Hmm, moving things around maybe?  You can use a backup to steal someone's data.  Might use it to restore a test system to some original state.

Well, if IT worked the way it was supposed to, we'd get rid of the users.

I suppose so, but who would pay for all this shit?

[Ironwood]

You basically said 'If Pigs could Fly, I wouldn't need to pay air fares.'

 

[Lantyssa]

Let me have my fantasy. 

[MrHat]

After our community gate nearly crushed a car over the weekend, the neighbors got together and we bent the gate back in shape instead of paying a 'gate repair' place $2500 for a super minor welding job.

Also, I realized that the guy that replaced the faulty circuit board for the gate last year didn't set the pressure right.  Yes, for the last 8 months we've been using a compactor as a gate.  Good Christ.

Fixed that shit right away.

Its shocking we only had this one incident this year.  That shit is dangerous.

[Yegolev]

You basically said 'If Pigs could Fly, I wouldn't need to pay air fares.'

 

Ah right.  As a Pig Mechanic, I'm fine with them being land-based.

Or something.  There's a analogy in there somewhere.  Probably to do with The Cloud and/or Automation.

[Engels]

After our community gate nearly crushed a car over the weekend

Its shocking we only had this one incident this year.  That shit is dangerous.

I think I have found the epitome of first world problems on f13; when the gate on a gated community doesn't work.