Useless Conversation

[Sir T]

My husband watches Moonshiners.  I mostly stick around while he watches so I can make fun of the absolute idiocy of a few of those guys.  At this point, a large majority of what some of the characters do has to be parody or deliberate, because yeah.

From what I've read of the Duck Dynasty show, what happened is basically that the studio gave them the scenario and what they wanted, and the participants basically improved the scene their own way. So its very Pseudo reality.

As for little old me. I've been having a hell of a month. I decided I desperately need to get out of the house and do something. so I attended a volunteering course for what amounts to deing a facilitator for workshops that are happening al around the area for workshops to teach people to deal with ankiety and other forms of mental health. Well, after days of staying awake about it, I left after an hour and a half as I couldn't handle it. Que suicidal thought and general fun.

Well I decided to give it another try, and I arranged it so it was better with me being away from the table and less people bieng there and so on.Still had a panic attack but I was able to hang on to get the session over just collapse into bed for 2 days afterwards as it took so much out of me. Winning!

[Cyrrex]

My husband watches Moonshiners.  I mostly stick around while he watches so I can make fun of the absolute idiocy of a few of those guys.  At this point, a large majority of what some of the characters do has to be parody or deliberate, because yeah.

Apropos to my earlier conversation - husband has now had successful second open heart surgery on Monday to replace mitral valve which was damaged when he got a blood infection (likely from a cracked tooth and lost portion of filling) over Christmas.  Luckily, none of the infection damaged his artificial aortic valve or the pacemaker leads, so those were left alone.  That was a huge bit of good news.

So in just over two years, he's had - open heart surgery (aortic valve replacement), pericardial effusion (almost 2 liters of fluid removed), pacemaker upgrade/replacement, severe anemia, blood transfusion (3 units worth), left kidney removed (along with it's attendant tumor Bruce), anemia's gone!, blood infection, and open heart surgery (mitral valve replacement).  He better be fucking done for a while now.  OTOH, he's blown through his out-of-pocket deductible for the year already, so yay?

Jee.  Sus.  Christ.  I mean, I have read about most of these things over the years, but seeing a list of it....that's a lot of shit to deal with.

[RhyssaFireheart]

Yeah.  I probably have a lot of pent-up stress that I don't realize because I just deal with it.  What else am I gonna do*?  Luckily our moms have both been huge helps for the major surgery stuffs (my mom comes up while husband's in the hospital and helps with dog and keeping husband company; his mom comes after he's home and keeps company that way) so that I can try keeping a semi-normal work schedule.  Which helps me too, since work keeps my mind off things.


*Besides stress eat.  I'm an emotional eater sometimes and it shows. 

[Sky]

These folks are right up there with sovereign citizens for loose grasp of the law. I can't even.

https://www.syracuse.com/news/2020/02/onondaga-county-library-director-warns-against-first-amendment-auditors.html

[HaemishM]

Fuck those utter dipshits. The best videos they make are the ones where they get tazed at the end.

Sorry about all the medical shit you have to deal with Rhyssa. Hope the hubby is through with the major catatrosphes for a while. And yes, hospital waiting rooms seem lovingly designed by Satan's gay interior designer son.

[NowhereMan]

Yeah.  I probably have a lot of pent-up stress that I don't realize because I just deal with it.  What else am I gonna do*?  Luckily our moms have both been huge helps for the major surgery stuffs (my mom comes up while husband's in the hospital and helps with dog and keeping husband company; his mom comes after he's home and keeps company that way) so that I can try keeping a semi-normal work schedule.  Which helps me too, since work keeps my mind off things.


*Besides stress eat.  I'm an emotional eater sometimes and it shows. 

Wow, I'm suddenly very grateful for the stress in my life because it is a lot fucking less serious.

Vis a vis pandora chat earlier - you know Spotify has a web player and works perfectly well as a browser based player now? I don't think they advertise it for whatever reason Can be found here

[RhyssaFireheart]

Fuck those utter dipshits. The best videos they make are the ones where they get tazed at the end.

Sorry about all the medical shit you have to deal with Rhyssa. Hope the hubby is through with the major catatrosphes for a while. And yes, hospital waiting rooms seem lovingly designed by Satan's gay interior designer son.

More like Satan's retarded cishet son because even if uncomfortable, the waiting rooms would look FABULOUS! if it was designed by a gay man. Did I mention that working in the waiting room on surgery day was pretty much impossible because all the fucking furniture was bolted down?  Couldn't move any of the side tables to use for my laptop and while there was a business area with desk space, the chairs were stools and again, bolted down so you couldn't move them.  WTF?!?

Wow, I'm suddenly very grateful for the stress in my life because it is a lot fucking less serious.

Vis a vis pandora chat earlier - you know Spotify has a web player and works perfectly well as a browser based player now? I don't think they advertise it for whatever reason Can be found here

I did not know this about Spotify!  I'll have to check it out again and see if my adblocker will work on it.  Every once in a blue moon an advert slips through on Pandora but otherwise, no ads.  If Adblock works on Spotify, that would be awesome.  I just know the one time I listened to the Hamilton soundtrack on there I got adverts every other song or so and it really kind of ruined the listening experience.

[Sir T]

Sadly, that's to protect the staff from patients using them as a weapon.

[Sky]

The guy I complain about at work is in the dominant cult of martyrdom. There was some muttering with his wife about his cough and seeing a doctor last week, he finally did leave early. Then she started up with a death rattle and didn't go home (she's also in the cult, I don't think she's ever called in sick).

So now I have the flu, despite getting the darn shot. Fiancee got it two days later, despite a different shot.

If you get sick, call in. If your workplace doesn't support that fully, find a new place to work. We just get branded as the slackers and the side eye for taking the full time the doctor recommends. I'll never understand it. Two martyrs not accomplishing anything at work and decimating the work force vs two cautious people who keep everyone healthier and work at full productivity. Hell, I'd be working at home on a few things if the cult wasn't ascendent. Fuck them.

[Hawkbit]

Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.

My current office is a small group. If one of us so much as coughs, it’s “get the fuck out and don’t come back until you’re 100% we aren’t getting it”. They also provide copious amounts of PTO so it helps justify making folks leave. It’s the way it should be everywhere.

Feel better man, to you and the missus both.

[Surlyboi]

The guy I complain about at work is in the dominant cult of martyrdom. There was some muttering with his wife about his cough and seeing a doctor last week, he finally did leave early. Then she started up with a death rattle and didn't go home (she's also in the cult, I don't think she's ever called in sick).

So now I have the flu, despite getting the darn shot. Fiancee got it two days later, despite a different shot.

If you get sick, call in. If your workplace doesn't support that fully, find a new place to work. We just get branded as the slackers and the side eye for taking the full time the doctor recommends. I'll never understand it. Two martyrs not accomplishing anything at work and decimating the work force vs two cautious people who keep everyone healthier and work at full productivity. Hell, I'd be working at home on a few things if the cult wasn't ascendent. Fuck them.

This year's flu was a bitch. I never get sick like that and it took me out for a week. The missus got got a week later and she's even healthier than I am. Have my squad was out for three to four days at least too.

[01101010]

This year's flu was a bitch. I never get sick like that and it took me out for a week. The missus got got a week later and she's even healthier than I am. Have my squad was out for three to four days at least too.

Another year of a double wave only this one is way worse than last year and in the opposite direction strangely. Flu B strain hit early this year and now we are in an A strain wave. A is always more severe so having it hit later is awful.

[Johny Cee]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIII!!!!!   I HAD A SOVEREIGN CITIZEN COME IN TO MY OFFICE TO ASK ABOUT SETTING UP A FOREIGN TRUST OR A BULLSHIT "98 NUMBER" OR SOME FUCKING NONSENSE.   AIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!

I was really confused because it was a young black woman, and I thought sov-citizen nonsense trended more cranky white libertarian but while googling around discovered:

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/highfrequency/2016/10/27/those-who-miss-trust-the-true-purpose-of-the-98-number-and-private-status

[SurfD]

These folks are right up there with sovereign citizens for loose grasp of the law. I can't even.

https://www.syracuse.com/news/2020/02/onondaga-county-library-director-warns-against-first-amendment-auditors.html

Hopefully they try that shit in the wrong place and end up Involuntary 2nd amendment auditors as well.

[Khaldun]

Really feeling low after a pointless work thing that I really have tried to get people to think better about to absolutely no end.

[Yegolev]

When influence fails, know when to walk away.

[Sir T]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIII!!!!!   I HAD A SOVEREIGN CITIZEN COME IN TO MY OFFICE TO ASK ABOUT SETTING UP A FOREIGN TRUST OR A BULLSHIT "98 NUMBER" OR SOME FUCKING NONSENSE.   AIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!

I was really confused because it was a young black woman, and I thought sov-citizen nonsense trended more cranky white libertarian but while googling around discovered:

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/highfrequency/2016/10/27/those-who-miss-trust-the-true-purpose-of-the-98-number-and-private-status

Soprry to shock you, but sovruns are no respector of Race. Our Black brothers and sisters have their own special breed of sovrun called Moors. https://www.quatloos.com/Q-Forum/viewtopic.php?t=12090

[NowhereMan]

Yeah, it's kind of fascinating how the white supremacist history of that insanity got, ahem, whitewashed and repackaged among black rights groups who think they've found some way to navigate the incomprehensible world of white power structures. That said I can see how coming from a network that emphasises how your ancestors were treated as property who could be bought and sold, the idea that the government treats people in a legal framework as corporations, etc. isn't ridiculous.

Of course you'd assume that they'd also figure saying the right kind of legal incantation doesn't automatically mean the people without power can't just grab you, shoot you or whatever the fuck they want. Everyone knows that requires being white and rich.

[Khaldun]

Anybody here use Roll20? I'm toying with using it to teach one of the abruptly online classes I have to teach soon. Could I buy modules and then have students create one-time free accounts and join a session for about an hour?

[Mandella]

Anybody here use Roll20? I'm toying with using it to teach one of the abruptly online classes I have to teach soon. Could I buy modules and then have students create one-time free accounts and join a session for about an hour?

I use Roll20 all the time, and you don't even have to do that. You don't even have to have a paid account to host a "game." No modules needed, just sign up and host away. No time limit. Your storage is limited for the free tier, but if you are just hosting classes that probably won't even be a problem.

Are you planning to use its built in video, or just going to go audio only? Video *might* need a paid subscription for the host, but I don't actually think so.

[Sky]

A local 'marijuana activist' is holding a legalization rally for 4/20. In the most stoner move possible, he's holding it on....

4/19

 

Read it in the paper last night and I'm still chuckling about it (I've known the guy forever, bought my second guitar from him back in the early 80s, it's a very him thing to get wrong)

[Khaldun]

I'm actually interested in the content--it's for a week where we're looking at how games adapt historical material. Originally they were going to play RDR2 on campus but that's not happening. I'm just thinking also that they're gonna get real sick of Zoom in mid-April.

[Mandella]

I'm actually interested in the content--it's for a week where we're looking at how games adapt historical material. Originally they were going to play RDR2 on campus but that's not happening. I'm just thinking also that they're gonna get real sick of Zoom in mid-April.

That sounds very cool, actually. Not sure about the historical choices you have in the Marketplace, but only the gamemaster has to buy whatever game you choose -- all your players can get away with not buying a thing. And you can of course import maps and such from non-Marketplace content, but that can be a lot of work and prep.

I don't know what the maximum number of players at once can be though, but I know it's more than six.

[Khaldun]

There's a game that simulates how languages die--it's more like a linguistics game but it has a kind of historical content.

And then there's a superhero system with a module where you smack around some Nazis.

[Fraeg]

Anybody here use Roll20? I'm toying with using it to teach one of the abruptly online classes I have to teach soon. Could I buy modules and then have students create one-time free accounts and join a session for about an hour?

been diving into that my girlfriends 13 year old son's D&D group is now using google hangout to play during social distancing.  It is very very cool, but probably way more involved than these kids want to dive into.  Good luck with it I don't think I have the resolved/focus to do the deep dive to really figure it out. 

[Hawkbit]

https://twitter.com/DeionNBCMT/status/1242910540105576450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

So fucking funny.

[Mandella]

https://twitter.com/DeionNBCMT/status/1242910540105576450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

So fucking funny.

He will live long with that attitude, no joke.

[Hawkbit]

Quarantine drunk making migas, can’t go wrong.

[Khaldun]

One thing I'm fucking happy with is that I've been cooking my soul out for my peeps AND using leftovers with military precision. Our food waste has gone to near zero--I have my dehydrator out, I have a precise freezer schedule, etc.

It's alllllmost prepper porn only I'm prepping like it would a six week feast before everyone died of radioactivity or something.

[Sky]

I was just saying to the fiancee how much better we're eating, and how nice it is to have plenty of dinner options without having to go out. I've been a daily fresh shopper for my adult life, but I can see the benefit of the way my parents shopped!

[Rasix]

Apparently it pays to know doctors if you want to get actual non-covid medical treatment before June. I owe a friend a large amount of tech support once this all blows over. This whole deal really drives home how privileged some of us are fortunate enough to be.

[Sky]

And now I'll be drinking well. Was commiserating with the neighbor about needing to make a beer run, since I shop at 7am and you can't buy beer until 8am in this county (it used to be a lot stricter when I was a kid, even). She turned me on to a place where I can get a decent variety of domestic and imports, so my dunkel/hef/abbey stock is brimming now. Also got another 12 of the seasonal bock from Genesee, my favorite bock beer that is also nicely priced at cheap beer prices and also regional.

Bonus is the beer store is closer than any supermarket (until they build the new one around the corner, but still...nice to have quality selection so close to home!)

[Trippy]

Despite my never liking any kind of fizzy water drinks like Seltzer water, I have found that White Claw is my new dinner drink of choice.

I understand now why some people like the stuff. You can't really taste the alcohol but you still get a nice buzz from it.

Also, I hope they continue to allow alcohol purchases with food takeout/delivery after this is all over.

[schild]

Despite my never liking any kind of fizzy water drinks like Seltzer water, I have found that White Claw is my new dinner drink of choice.

I understand now why some people like the stuff. You can't really taste the alcohol but you still get a nice buzz from it.

Also, I hope they continue to allow alcohol purchases with food takeout/delivery after this is all over.

just like ubi, you can't put lightning back in the bottle

if people get a taste, that's the ballgame

[Sky]

One downside to the tv being on during work hours...the ASPCA needs to fucking stop with the sad animals commercials.

I've always hated those, but they're spamming them on a variety of channels in high rotation.

Bonus stop: companies advertising how much they're thinking about us.