This is the thread where I say things and maybe other people say things too

[Godson]

Hospitals are not fun. You can't get a good night's sleep at them, and you never feel like you know what is going on. When can you advocate for yourself, when should you not.

I'm sorry you and your family are having to deal with this.

[FaultyMario]

"In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories."

[MR2 Fan]

I hate how Netflix auto plays everything when you're just trying to browse stuff. I just want to browse in silence and read descriptions and make up my mind without having to frantically scroll through before it starts auto-playing the next thing to interrupt my train of thought.

[dodint]

Concur.

[Jason]

In the middle of preparing for our move, we now find out my girlfriend has stage 3 breast cancer. I have no idea what to expect going forward, cancer sucks.

[Cam]

:(

[FaultyMario]

You may expect to live life, brother.

Because that's what life is, it's joy, anger, sadness, it's the tickles and it's the emptiness. Live it, live it with her, love her.
Make love work for you two within the confines of your humanity; frail and fragile, broken and disfigured as you may feel now, you have known all along of those conditions and it didn't stop you from loving her before, so keep loving her.

Because I love you, bother.

Edit: Check your PMs, mang.

[Godson]

Damn.

I'm here to answer whatever questions I can. If you need a person to yell at or scream at, I'm good for that too.

You guys aren't alone. Jason, I deeply care for you and yours.

[dodint]

In the middle of preparing for our move, we now find out my girlfriend has stage 3 breast cancer. I have no idea what to expect going forward, cancer sucks.

Ohhh, been there. I know you and I have drifted apart a bit over the years but if you have any questions or want to vent to a sympathetic audience let me know.

Also, you or her should reach out to Ash. She had started mentoring young women with breast cancer while still doing her own treatment. It's scary to get it so young.

Bottom line, it's beatable. Just keep your heads up, both of you, don't neglect your own mental health.

[SkylineObsession]

That sucks. :( Make sure she keeps up treatment and gets regular checks. Think the docs screwed up with my Mum (in my opinion, don't know the truth) because either she didn't tell us she still had it after the initial treatment, or they didn't do enough checks and then eventually it was too late, it'd spread too far.

Bit morbid, but that's the best advice i can give - don't let it win!

[Drachen596]

Moms being moved somewhere on Saturday. it's not entirely clear where as they were trying to keep her in the hospital but insurance is saying yeah.. no. she'll likely end up at a rehab/retirement home type facility. She's not in a spot to come home due partly to some issues that would require someone be there basically 24/7 and do something every 6 hours.


In other news, Ex has stated she lost her job where she lives now. I told her she should move back here with all her family and the fact that the job market here is a bit ridiculous with openings.


Edit - Also I wish the best for Jason and his girlfriend. I know cancer treatments have come a long way in the last decade or so and survival rates seem to keep going up. Plus they're always working on new methods of treatment.

[speedpimp]

Sorry Jason.
Joe, I hope she ends up some place where she will receive excellent care.

[21Kid]

Damn. 😔 Sorry to hear all the bad news.

As others have mentioned, I am also available if you need to talk.

I may not have as much experience as others. But, I'm here if you want to talk. I can pass any questions along to Shannon.


I'm thankful that we have such a great community here.

[Jason]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone 👍

It's been scarier for me than I think it probably should be, because I'm cancer ignorant. But we got a consult today and a path forward, and I think we'll be ok. It's just gonna be a tough road.

[Leon]

If you ever want to vent about the journey, your interweb mostly stranger family is here for you.

[Ashie]

I'm sorry to hear about your girlfriend Jason. If there is anything I can do, please reach out. Surround each other with the best support you can find and be prepared for some ugly days. We are all here for you and please lean on us during those tough times. Hugs.

Joe, hope all works out for the best for your mom.

[Kchrpm]

Theeeeeeeeeee fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

[sandydandy]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone 👍

It's been scarier for me than I think it probably should be, because I'm cancer ignorant. But we got a consult today and a path forward, and I think we'll be ok. It's just gonna be a tough road. Oh man. Try to be strong and help her in any way you can. :)

[Yw-slayer]

I hope it all works out well, guys.

[Phil_SS]

Good thoughts directed at the GTXF family.

[Kchrpm]

The last couple of weeks at work have been busy, which kind of helps fight through the weirdness of what happened. I still have flashes of uncomfortableness, but I'm allowing them, analyzing them, and working through them.

[speedpimp]

What kind of discomfort? Physical? Mental?

[Leon]

The last couple of weeks at work have been busy, which kind of helps fight through the weirdness of what happened. I still have flashes of uncomfortableness, but I'm allowing them, analyzing them, and working through them.

Unsure to what is being referred to here. Had a quick trawl back in this thread to June, but didn't see anything from you.

[Kchrpm]

Unsure to what is being referred to here. Had a quick trawl back in this thread to June, but didn't see anything from you.

WLWT Cincinnati: LIVE: 4 dead, including gunman, in shooting at downtown Cincinnati office building.
https://www.wlwt.com/article/gunman-carried-briefcase-of-ammunition-shooting-everyone-he-saw/23026181

[FaultyMario]

was that near your office, or was that [:swallows:] your building?

[Kchrpm]

My company, building across the street, lobby I used to use every day before we were moved to current building in June/July.

I was pulling into my garage entrance as the first police cars arrived behind me.

[Leon]

WLWT Cincinnati: LIVE: 4 dead, including gunman, in shooting at downtown Cincinnati office building.
https://www.wlwt.com/article/gunman-carried-briefcase-of-ammunition-shooting-everyone-he-saw/23026181

Oh shit. Again?!?

[MR2 Fan]

Oh shit. Again?!?

That's just one of the ones big enough for news to cover...we have a mass shooting (3 or more) practically daily in the U.S.

[MR2 Fan]

so last night I sat in my car, at my apartment complex for 30 mins, afraid to get out.

You see, Central Florida has the most lightning of any place in the world, and my apartment building is right under a bunch of big trees and power lines.

There's only been 3 times living here (39+ years) where I've been too afraid to go outside for a few moments and last night was one of them. There was a TON of lightning strikes right near where I live, the ground never stopped rumbling with thunder and it looked like $DIETY had a strobe light fest in the sky.

I should have taken video, but I wasn't in a great spot to record much

[SkylineObsession]

I'd believe that, we were only in Florida for a week last year but there was a thunderstorm (from memory) every afternoon without fail. Whereas where i am we're lucky to get five a year. :(

[MR2 Fan]

I'd believe that, we were only in Florida for a week last year but there was a thunderstorm (from memory) every afternoon without fail. Whereas where i am we're lucky to get five a year. :(

yeah and it mostly happens in the summer months (That's June to September here :P )

[Drachen596]

I'd believe that, we were only in Florida for a week last year but there was a thunderstorm (from memory) every afternoon without fail. Whereas where i am we're lucky to get five a year. :(

Thats just how Florida is in the summer. I remember them being almost precise enough to tell what time it was by them when I lived there.

[Alan P]

I'd believe that, we were only in Florida for a week last year but there was a thunderstorm (from memory) every afternoon without fail. Whereas where i am we're lucky to get five a year. :(

When I was in Florida in October in 1992 it would rain every afternoon without fail. proper torrential rain for about 30 minutes then it would stop as soon as it started and the ground would be dry again within half an hour. As someone coming from Scotland who was used to puddles being around for days in October it was very weird. And warm rain was unusual for me too.

[2ndMoparMan]

Bowsette has run it's course.

[Jason]

Mediport goes in tomorrow, then chemo starts next weekend. Docs don't want to do surgery until they can shrink the tumor away from where it's at currently. Going to be 4 months of chemo for her, then surgery, then radiation. Work has been understanding of my ubreliable upcoming schedule, but I can't help but feel paranoid that I'm going to be fired for said unreliability. Which then makes me feel incredibly selfish considering what the GF is going through.

[dodint]

That's unfortunate. My work allowed me to work from home the month of the worst of it, was very fortunate in that. Her timeline seems about the same as what Ash went through.

[Godson]

The shitty thing is, FMLA does not cover for GF/BF.

If you were married, that would be much different.

[MR2 Fan]

I've started playing online chess against some co-workers. I'm decent at Chess, not great. I've learned that I have trouble focusing on one thing long enough to get great at it.

Also, I know about the King/Rook swap if neither have moved, but I would LOVE if they had a rule for a King/Queen swap if neither previously was moved. There's a lot of strategy I could do with that.

[SportWagon]

That would probably allow a forced win in very short order. IIRC, if you misplace the King and Queen so Kings are opposite Queens, white has a forced win right from the start.

[MR2 Fan]

That would probably allow a forced win in very short order. IIRC, if you misplace the King and Queen so Kings are opposite Queens, white has a forced win right from the start.

other than the pawn, yeah, close enough to it, so that makes sense why it wouldn't be allowed

[sandydandy]

Oh man my wife’s sister got scammed really hard today.

Her husband is in the US on a business trip and somebody called her on her phone pretending to work for the US government, threatening to deport him back to India if she doesn’t give them money. The reason being that he supposedly missed an important document when entering the US. They demanded $21,000 in cash to be deposited into a drop box somewhere.

There’s a common scam going around here where someone poses as a CRA agent (Canada Revenue Agency) and demands money. But the cat is out of the bag on that. Hell, we get a call every week from those fuckers and just hang up. This is something new and much more sinister.

Anyway back to the story, she paid them $4,500. They asked for jewelry too, but she didn’t give that. At the drop box there was a huge sticker that read something like “CRA and RCMP do not accept cash deposits here. If someone is telling you to deposit cash here, it is a scam. Call police”.

But she still did it. She fell for the scam.

All the warning signs were there. Bells should’ve been dinging in her head. First of all, nobody can deport her husband back to India, and certainly not from the US. They are full Canadian citizens. Came to this country five years ago. Worst case if there was an issue, they’d send him back to Canada. Secondly, why would any government agency be asking for jewelry? And finally...the fucking sticker on the drop box!!!

Oh, I left out one detail...when they called her it showed her husband’s cell number on the caller ID. That sort of changes things. It’s plausible that because they spoofed his number, she believed he had been detained. They probably told her that. Maybe they threatened to hurt him if she didn’t comply.

Apparently they kept her on the phone for over an hour, instructing her not to hang up (to try to call him or someone else for help) or else face the consequences. What’s worse than the money is they made her fax over all of their immigration documents. So now it’s an identity theft issue as well.

After dropping the money she called her husband who said he was fine. Then she called the police.

Very fucked up.

Gotta hand it to the scamsters. Very well orchestrated. Shit.

BTW, it’s my birthday today (43), and I was getting ready to enjoy a nice relaxing evening, but now we’re going to drive 45 minutes across town to her house to try to console her. Her parents and other siblings are going as well. I’ll find out more tonight.

Great way to spend a birthday.

:|

[sandydandy]

We didn’t end up going. We’ll go tomorrow. I found out that she was being told that he was under investigation. Not directly threatened. Shit man, use your head and recognize this is a scam. These fuckers employed some serious mind control on her. Really sucks.

[Yw-slayer]

The phone # duping is a very important part of it. If it makes you feel better, tons of people fall for this stuff everyday, including in this part of the world. Another common scam here is for someone to call and ask "Hey, do you remember me? Long time no see." and then pretend to be the person whose name you guess. It doesn't work on me as I don't know many (any?) people who would call me and speak Mandarin up-front, or Cantonese in that manner...

[sandydandy]

Yeah for sure. According to the cops this was the 4th incident of the day. 22nd of the month so far. Such insidious bastards. Prey on people’s fears. I heard of a new phone scam where they ask you to confirm your name, and as soon as you say “yes” they use that as consent to whatever nefarious scheme they’re concocting. They record the “yes”.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Wow. Didn’t know they can spoofed #s of people you know...

I think more than 50% of my calls are robo calls or calls from telemarketers. I never pick up unless it’s a # I know. Guess this strategy won’t work out for too long...

Anyway, shouldn’t the phone companies be responsible to at least make sure caller ID is genuine and not spoofed?

Wonder if these assholes can even erase call records so that they can’t be tracked? Anyway, scary...

[Godson]

The problem is the phone companies can't do that with the system in place. I don't remember what the holdup was, but it isn't something which can easily be fixed.

[Drachen596]

Someone hit my parked car tonight. Passenger side front suspension is badly damaged. Rims bent in two places. I think its bent at the hub as well.
The driver was apparently DUI and ended up hitting something else about 8 blocks away triggering the airbags. They were also a wrong way driver.


This street has been 1 way since the 1990's. People still go the wrong way every single day. It pisses me off to no end as well.

[TheBenior]

Every several years, some drunk would hit multiple cars on my parents' block's one way street. It's not even an especially narrow one-way street by Chicago standards.

A couple months back, my district had a call of a drunk hitting 14 cars over the course of half a mile. I'm glad I didn't get that report.

[MR2 Fan]

I'm glad I don't have kids or plan to have kids.

Something I've been seeing recently is these grand, elaborate "gender reveal" things...like seriously, you have 2 choices, it's either a boy or a girl (....later in life they can decide if they want a third choice) but really...is it that big of a deal that you have to make some big event out of it?

[TheBenior]

I dunno man, my wife just made a Facebook post. However, we're not big on spectacle; our wedding consisted of the courthouse ceremony and dinner with some immediate family afterwards.

[MR2 Fan]

If I DID have a kid on the way, I'd probably do some trolling, like "my baby's religion reveal, guess which religion my baby will be!"

[Alan P]

Oh man my wife’s sister got scammed really hard today.

Her husband is in the US on a business trip and somebody called her on her phone pretending to work for the US government, threatening to deport him back to India if she doesn’t give them money. The reason being that he supposedly missed an important document when entering the US. They demanded $21,000 in cash to be deposited into a drop box somewhere.

There’s a common scam going around here where someone poses as a CRA agent (Canada Revenue Agency) and demands money. But the cat is out of the bag on that. Hell, we get a call every week from those fuckers and just hang up. This is something new and much more sinister.

Anyway back to the story, she paid them $4,500. They asked for jewelry too, but she didn’t give that. At the drop box there was a huge sticker that read something like “CRA and RCMP do not accept cash deposits here. If someone is telling you to deposit cash here, it is a scam. Call police”.

But she still did it. She fell for the scam.

All the warning signs were there. Bells should’ve been dinging in her head. First of all, nobody can deport her husband back to India, and certainly not from the US. They are full Canadian citizens. Came to this country five years ago. Worst case if there was an issue, they’d send him back to Canada. Secondly, why would any government agency be asking for jewelry? And finally...the fucking sticker on the drop box!!!

Oh, I left out one detail...when they called her it showed her husband’s cell number on the caller ID. That sort of changes things. It’s plausible that because they spoofed his number, she believed he had been detained. They probably told her that. Maybe they threatened to hurt him if she didn’t comply.

Apparently they kept her on the phone for over an hour, instructing her not to hang up (to try to call him or someone else for help) or else face the consequences. What’s worse than the money is they made her fax over all of their immigration documents. So now it’s an identity theft issue as well.

After dropping the money she called her husband who said he was fine. Then she called the police.

Very fucked up.

Gotta hand it to the scamsters. Very well orchestrated. Shit.

BTW, it’s my birthday today (43), and I was getting ready to enjoy a nice relaxing evening, but now we’re going to drive 45 minutes across town to her house to try to console her. Her parents and other siblings are going as well. I’ll find out more tonight.

Great way to spend a birthday.

:|

Did they manage to stop the transfer? Or find out where the money went? Why on earth would anyone think the government would want CASH?

[sandydandy]

I don't think they stopped it. The perpetrator texted her a barcode that linked the account info. Once she deposited the cash it was transferred, then likely re-transferred over an over again through dummy accounts. That's how this shit works. She was terrified. All she had to do was hang up, but the guy was in her head and nothing anyone said could make her hang up. Apparently my nephew and a couple of others were calling her husband during the time she was on the phone, and people were texting her nonstop that it's a scam, don't send the money.

The power of persuasion is a scary thing. The scam was masterfully done.

[Jason]

[fuck cancer]

So, things went (relatively) smoothly the first couple of days post chemo, but now she has all sorts of crazy side effects... the doctors are just throwing drugs at her all willy nilly, and said side effects are changing/getting worse, and god damn is this frustrating already. I know she has it way worse than me, but being a full time caregiver on top of working full time is damned hard.

Only 4 more months of this (hopefully). Woof.

[/fuck cancer]

[dodint]

Shit.

[Cam]

:(

[sandydandy]

Damn Jason, that’s rough. :( Does she have any family or friends in the area that can help too?

[FaultyMario]

There will be worse days. That's all you need to know for now.

[George]

And better days, too.

Best wishes to you and your lady, Jason.

[Godson]

I am pretty sure my buddy from gradeschool to highschool is losing his fight with colon cancer.

Last year his colon was removed, he had surgery on his left lung a few weeks ago, and Tuesday, he goes in for another surgery on his right lung which was unplanned.


Fuck Cancer.

[Ashie]

Sorry to hear that Jason and Tyler. I know steroids help with some of the side effects, but you can't be on them long term. Hopefully soon they get her dose correct to minimize the effects.

[Leon]

Hopefully they work out what mix of drugs make things more bearable.

I know my mum was on drugs to try to keep the cancer at bay. Then the drugs to deal with the side effects. Then another set of drugs to deal with the second set of side effects.

Took a while to get things to semi stable.

[2ndMoparMan]

I am somewhat conflicted on Sears going into bankrupcy. Worked there for 19 years and there were a lot of good people there at one time. Not so much anymore.

[mk]

I didn't really understand who actually owns what.

Some article said that REIT's can lose their malls.

Is there a rent auction or something like that ahead?

[SportWagon]

I am somewhat conflicted on Sears going into bankrupcy. Worked there for 19 years and there were a lot of good people there at one time. Not so much anymore.Odd. We thought that, by shedding their Canadian presence many months ago, they'd keep the U.S. chain viable.

The web seems to blame Amazon. At least if you search from that angle.

"Video killed the radio star"

"Amazon killed the department store"

Our most local former Sears store is now an "Urban Behavio[u]r" outlet. With all the over-specified washrooms locked up. First sign of something weird was a few years ago when they closed the iconic cafeteria. A few months before failing they had a big renovation which was ended obviously before it was completed. The old watch repair place became a shadow of its former self, among other things.

The separate hardware and discount outlet sits empty. Strange shadows of the former lettering adorn that and and few other places on the main building. And there's the death of Kenmore and all its warranties.

[Alan P]

Most large out-of-town chain stores did exactly the same thing to individual shops in town centres and main streets across the world.

[2ndMoparMan]

Amazon certinaly did play a part in Sears's downfall, but it was only a small factor, I think. Company's been mismanaged for a long, long time.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Sear was Amazon back then... successful mail order company... grew bigger and bigger and ended up with physical stores.

Amazon is following the same trend with more physical presence..., hopefully not repeating the same mistakes.

[JoshInKC]

Here in KC, sears just fought and won a multi-year battle to keep a store open. The owners of the mall it was in wanted to tear down the building (which was almost entirely empty other than a dmv office), but sears had something like a perpetual lease or full ownership of the space they occupied and wouldn't take the buyout. So the developers tore the rest of the structure down and built a crappy back wall on to the sears.
Since, the owners have put up (yet another) mixed use light commercial/residential development, and sears stands alone and unvisited.

[Jason]

Second treatment has so far gone a little smoother, though increased fatigued... but less other weird side effects, thankfully.

On the down side though, her employer is downgrading healthplans starting Dec 1st, so... that's gonna suck. Thanks America.

[FaultyMario]

Don't forget to leisure because tired.

[mk]

Are you sure it's real?

[21Kid]

Sorry Jason. 😔 Is it going to effect her treatment/recovery?

[Jason]

Just gonna cost more money than is ideal, but that's healthcare here.

[21Kid]

At least she will still get the same treatment.

[MR2 Fan]

Bitcoin can push global warming above 2 C in a couple decades

https://phys.org/news/2018-10-bitcoin-global-couple-decades.html?platform=hootsuite


If only there was a way to get greedy people to lower the temperature somehow

[MR2 Fan]

Augmented Reality has been interesting to me for some time, but I'm starting to see implementations of it, like this:

https://twitter.com/JaimeDonally/status/1057679530368921601


....and I start to wonder if this will cause mental problems where reality starts getting warped a bit, will more people start having issues with it?

[Cam]

Shipped my first major piece of art via USPS. The box was crushed and the piece destroyed. Not impressed with USPS right now.

[Kchrpm]

Yikes, that's terrible.

[Leon]

On my second round of antibiotics in the last couple of months.

I reckon a combination of me not looking after colds very well, and me dating a lady with two little germ factories (children), is gonna kill me.

[dodint]

Shipped my first major piece of art via USPS. The box was crushed and the piece destroyed. Not impressed with USPS right now.

Not the shark I hope. :(

[Cam]

Nah. I shipped the piece before the shark was finished. It was the piece called "N." If you go to my Etsy store, I think you can look at the purchases. I've only sold three pieces so far. :(

[MR2 Fan]

from Twitter:

@syswarren
My thermostat just sent me an alert.
I was worried because that thing only sends alerts if there is a problem... but it was a BLACK FRIDAY NOTIFICATION. ��


https://twitter.com/syswarren/status/1065923024698990592


IOT is already going too far. I don't need an internet connected thermostat or dishwasher or microwave or can opener. Have a thermostat that you can locally change based on time of day and leave it at that...no internet connection.

[Drachen596]

from Twitter:

@syswarren
My thermostat just sent me an alert.
I was worried because that thing only sends alerts if there is a problem... but it was a BLACK FRIDAY NOTIFICATION. ��


https://twitter.com/syswarren/status/1065923024698990592


IOT is already going too far. I don't need an internet connected thermostat or dishwasher or microwave or can opener. Have a thermostat that you can locally change based on time of day and leave it at that...no internet connection.

What about refrigerator with an internal webcam? That way you can see stuff on your phone while grocery shopping. Samsung makes one.

[MR2 Fan]

What about refrigerator with an internal webcam? That way you can see stuff on your phone while grocery shopping. Samsung makes one.

Does it annoy you with black friday deals?

[Leon]

So, bitcoin eh? How's that going ...

[balki]

lost nearly 80% in the last year, but still up 600% from two years ago
some one asked me about it years ago, thought it was a shame; the guy could have made 100x if he had got in then (and out at the right time).

[tigeraid]

Bitcoin continues to mystify me, and I can only hope for the sake of the goddamn planet that governments (or the World Bank?) do something to shut it down, because the amount of power all these assholes are using to process it is going to melt us into puddles of goo.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I dunno, I kinda like the idea of a currency not tied to any governments whatsoever.

The amount of power these central bank assholes hold can be astounding too.

[sandydandy]

Bitcoin is pure hype, nothing behind it or underneath it. At least real currencies have some sort of intrinsic value, tied to the economy of their country.

Can't imagine putting money into something that's purely make believe. Might as well trade Monopoly money.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Overhyped yes, but the basic idea is a good one I think... no need for a central bank or central computer... all transaction records are stored in peer to peer computers... so unless the day comes when all computers failed, bit-coin can always exist. Chances of that happening should be much much lower than US government failing... rendering dollars useless.

Of course gold is probably still the safest currency, but if the day comes when our society regressed globally to a point where computers no longer exist... gold probably won't be all that useful either.

Bitcoin may fall out of fashion like AOL or Yahoo, but I think the block chain concept is here to stay.

[sandydandy]

Gold was around long before computers. It's the ultimate global currency. Silver not so much. I think that was an overhyped bubble a few years ago. Of course, people selling silver will tell you otherwise.

"It's going to $60 in a few months!!!"

[tigeraid]

The amount of power these central bank assholes hold can be astounding too.

FFS I'm talking about actual electrical power. Who cares who controls the money when the planet is on fire?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Power can corrupt.

Electrical power is something more manageable...

I'm more afraid of the former than the latter... that's why I think the Bit-coin concept is a good one though I'm not an investor of it. So I'm helping to save a bit of electrical power. :p

[MR2 Fan]

I recently had some fast food at Burger King that made me feel absolutely disgusting and very sick, I've finally decided to go the cook at home, low carb route as I just turned 40 and need to lose weight before all of it starts to catch up with me further.

I have some co-workers who have seen amazing benefits in a short time with this, and also someone on youtube/twitter I follow, Barnacules has also lost 30 pounds in a very short time (he has to lose 100 pounds for a very important surgery operation)

Anyway, I'm really motivated to do at least simple things at home that are low-carb that I can make....with broccoli, cauliflower, grilled chicken, cheese, salsa, eggs, carrots, and other things. I want to lose 60 pounds and my cravings are already GONE, so it's been relatively easy so far. I have been using some various sauces to mix it up as well.

[SportWagon]

Someone adeptly passed me on the stairs. Not unusual, since I am a very slow stair climber now. But this was someone dressed as the Sir Wilfrid Laurier University "Golden Hawk" team mascot. A little irony followed as at the top of the stairs there is in the terrazzo a six foot circle containing an image of the head of the same emblem. There is a slightly superstitious convention that you should not step on that circle, and so it tends to stand out as more polished than the floor around it.

It occurred to me for some reason that this would be a very inappropriate time to "step on the Hawk". But I veered around it as I always do. I am just a tolerated trespasser just passing through the property on my way to work at the other University up the road.

The young women at the information desk were laughing, perhaps at the sight of the Hawk walking past them and going into the bookstore and interacting with a couple of customers. So I said to them, "yes, it would have been a very inappropriate time for me to have stepped on the Hawk".

And carried on on my way.

Actually, web searches suggest they don't use the "Sir".

[tigeraid]

I recently had some fast food at Burger King that made me feel absolutely disgusting and very sick, I've finally decided to go the cook at home, low carb route as I just turned 40 and need to lose weight before all of it starts to catch up with me further.

I have some co-workers who have seen amazing benefits in a short time with this, and also someone on youtube/twitter I follow, Barnacules has also lost 30 pounds in a very short time (he has to lose 100 pounds for a very important surgery operation)

Anyway, I'm really motivated to do at least simple things at home that are low-carb that I can make....with broccoli, cauliflower, grilled chicken, cheese, salsa, eggs, carrots, and other things. I want to lose 60 pounds and my cravings are already GONE, so it's been relatively easy so far. I have been using some various sauces to mix it up as well.


Happy to hear it. If you have any questions, just ask. There's a fitness thread for it, or in PM. And remember that while keto is a viable way to lose weight, you don't actually HAVE to be super-strict and go into ketosis to lose weight. Just limiting simple carbs and sugar while keeping fibre (read: veggies) high and calories in a reasonable deficit will give you results. With some exercise.

[MR2 Fan]

Happy to hear it. If you have any questions, just ask. There's a fitness thread for it, or in PM. And remember that while keto is a viable way to lose weight, you don't actually HAVE to be super-strict and go into ketosis to lose weight. Just limiting simple carbs and sugar while keeping fibre (read: veggies) high and calories in a reasonable deficit will give you results. With some exercise.

Yes, in the past 3 weeks I've already lost 9 pounds, so it's going well and I haven't cut all carbs (had wild rice for example). I've been walking a lot more, and plan to step up and do more heavy exercise soon.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I've only done gluten-free and I think I've lost as much weight as I could so far..., but even at 168 lbs, my body fat content is still high... still out of shape! :p

Gym trainer friend of my suggested aerobic exercises that keep my heart rate high for at least 20min for 2~3 times a week.

I tried jogging around the block 3 times last week, but I was unable to keep running slowly for 20min non-stop!!! I managed to keep my heart rate hovering at around 150bpm or so...

Okay, at least I'm trying... hopefully I'll do better this week!

[21Kid]

Careful with the sauces. Some of those are just as bad. With tons of sugar.

[MR2 Fan]

yeah I'm still reading labels of the sauces

[Freude am Fahren]

I keep telling myself I'm going to start eating better, and try to lose 25 or so pounds to get down to where i was from my late teens until about a year or so ago (33 next week). Between the new job, and trying to find a new place to live, eating right has been neglected big time. My only real form of exercise is cycling, and I just got into an accident (see the wheelman thread), so I'm pretty discouraged right now. Hoping I can get back on a new bike after I return from my business trip next week.

I don't have the willpower, or whatever, to go all in on one of these 'miracle' diets, but I want to at least eliminate some of the worst things. I started keep track of calories back in the summer when I realized how much weight I had gained in such a short period of time. It happened because I tried on a suit for my cousins wedding and didn't fit, weighed myself and was shocked. I actually had gotten really good about eating and working out and had gotten in some decent shape around 5-6 years ago, and it all just unraveled when I moved to Miami. The main things I had done were no more soda (even though all I drank was Diet Coke), smaller portions (tried to get 6"/halves instead of footlongs), and no more drive-thru places (other than once every few months anyway). The only real exercise I did was that 100 push-ups challenge a bunch here were doing :lol: And a little cycling, but nowhere near what i do now. It worked well in my late 20's, I'm hoping I can do something similar now. Maybe another factor was that my work shift tended to force me into only one meal a day.

Also, if you are good about that stuff, I've seen some results of the Keto diet, and that shit is intense, but seems to work amazingly, especially when properly paired with a good workout routine.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Yeah, I think sugar and carbs are the main culprit for weight gain.

Keto diet won’t do you wrong. Don’t have to be super strict, just try to keep you main dietary intake to be veggies and meat. Of course be as fresh and natural/organic as you can afford. Avoid processed artificial crap. If you need an occasional splurge of soda, just drink real sugar rather than the artificial diet crap! :p

Seriously, for me, regular coke won’t affect my weight as much as a plate of pasta. Stevia is probably a much better sweetener substitute because at least it is natural...

Artificial/genetically modified stuffs absolutely need to be avoided!

[tigeraid]

I did keto for my initial 100 lb weight loss. But as many nutritional experts point out, using a diet like keto also, just by its nature, limits calories. I used MyFitnessPal religiously (still do) to track my calories, kept it at a REASONABLE deficit (1600 calories), and limited sugar and simple carbs. That's all. Once I hit my goal, I gradually reintroduced normal amounts of "good" carbs: sweet potato, whole-grain breads, that sort of thing. Keto is a valid nutritional plan, but it's still new enough that we don't know what, say, 20 years of ketosis does to a human body. That unknown is what made me a little leery of staying on it. But for losing weight, it's fantastic.

But otherwise, regular exercise, limit sugar, limit simple carbs, eat within a given caloric number, and for fuck's sake eat green vegetables. That's really it.

[MR2 Fan]

I've also avoided diet soda and just drink iced tea (with a tiny amount of splenda), water and whole milk now

[Freude am Fahren]

1600 calorie deficit a day??? That's a lot isn't it? I tried a calorie counting app that set me up for about a 1000 cal/day deficit at its highest weight loss rate.

I guess it depends on your activity. staying 1600 cal under 3000 is easier than 2000.

[dodint]

A 1600 cal deficit puts me around 1100 cal for intake. That's what I was doing in Iraq. About six 200 calorie meals a day. You'll lose weight quick if nothing else.

[tigeraid]

I was 295 lbs, and 1600 calories a day definitely did not starve me. Didn't really feel hungry most days. It only seems like very little because I WAS eating, fuck, like 3500 calories, 4000 some days. Like a fucking hog.

I'm doing a small, lean cut right now for weight training, for example, at about 2000 calories. Maintenance for me is 2400ish. But I'm trying to cut 10 lbs or so, not 100. But that leaves three fix hundred calorie "meals" and five hundred calories left over for snacks. Lots.

1600 calories a day is certainly challenging, especially those first two weeks, but I broke through the addiction and then it was smooth sailing. And as you lose weight, your body naturally adjusts to wanting less calories. And as dodint mentioned, you can break it up into a bunch of small meals to help with cravings, if it's bothering you.

That's me, at my height/weight/age/activity level though. Everyone's a little different, you'll have to tweak as you go.

[MR2 Fan]

Everyone's a little different, you'll have to tweak as you go.

I just wanted to highlight this as it seems this is the issue many people have with diets, etc. Our individual biology can affect how things work and there's never a "one size fits all" solution. Some people can eat junk food all day and not gain weight, those bastards

[Kchrpm]

I'm trying to convince the little market in my office building to have baby carrots, so when I go for an afternoon stroll I can pick something up without tons of sugar or sodium.

[tigeraid]

I just wanted to highlight this as it seems this is the issue many people have with diets, etc. Our individual biology can affect how things work and there's never a "one size fits all" solution. Some people can eat junk food all day and not gain weight, those bastards


Well, just keep in mind that those sorts of people are either a) endurance athletes who burn fuckloads of calories or b) are skinny fat and just think they're healthy. Being 6' tall and relatively skinny looking, but having a flabby gut and love handles is still "out of shape." Though I'd argue it's better than obesity, of course.

[MR2 Fan]

Yeah, not implying they're healthy, just that they don't show it externally.

[Crazed_Insanity]

5'10" at 168lbs I totally look healthy, but my body fat content was like 26%!!! Totally out of shape... Back to the shaming fat people discussion, I'm pretty sure there are people fatter than me who are also healthier than me... or maybe not as 'out of shape' as me... :p Judging by external appearance alone just isn't a good idea.

It's funny, haven't been running at all this week and just when I actually wanted to do some more running, rain comes to SoCal. WTF!?!?!? Where was rain when we're on fire?

BTW, regarding to Keto diet, is that really 'new'?

What did Adam and Eve eat? Or excuse me if you're not religious..., what do cavemen eat?

Bread, pasta, pizza, bowl of rice? Surely they had none of that at the very beginning, right? Survival of the human species surely do not hinge on man-made carbs.

[JoshInKC]

What did Adam and Eve eat? Or excuse me if you're not religious..., what do cavemen eat?

Bread, pasta, pizza, bowl of rice? Surely they had none of that at the very beginning, right? Survival of the human species surely do not hinge on man-made carbs.
Everything. Our ancestors ate pretty much anything they could get their hands on - especially as many carbs as possible. We are obligate omnivores, and throughout prehistory humans had highly localized diets, so characterizing their diets as anything other than that is ridiculous. Anyone who tells you differently is either lying or doesn't know the first thing about prehistory. The major difference in diet is access to sugars - prehistoric peoples (and for most of the historic period) only ingested large amounts of sugars either when local fruit trees were in season or when they had access to honeybee hives. Another difference, and one much more recent is the high gluten content in western diets - but that's really only the last 50 years or so. The final dietary difference is the fact that nearly no-one (compared to prehistory) has crippling vitamin deficiencies or is actively starving right now.

In short, with the exception of excess sugar consumption, our diets now are more healthy now than they have ever been. Its more likely that the combination of sedentism and the lack of infant mortality are the major issues which make us seem unhealthier than in our perceptions of the past.

[Crazed_Insanity]

For sure we’re overdosing on sugar. No argument there. I still think we’re overdoing gluten/carbs as well.

Modern process foods also are poisonous, not to mention genetically modified foods. These are the ‘new’ things we need to minimize.

My opinion is that modern diets are just calorie rich to stuff you up and make you fat, but very nutrient poor, which contributed to humanity’s poor health... of course we no longer have to hunt or physically work hard for a living ain’t helping too! But you can’t be top athlete while eating crap!

Cavemen didn’t farm, so they could only eat wild game and wild veggies. If such diet were really harmful, surely we’d be extincted before becoming farmers.

So I doubt Keto diet with organic farm fresh veggies and meats could cause harm... the only problem is that most can’t afford such diet...

Majority will end up eating junk and contribute to rising health costs.

[Dicknose]

More highly processed food (often removing fibre or other good stuff) and lots of added sugar.
We also have a lot more people doing sedentary work and even the last 20 years we probably do less walking and more driving.
I do worry for the current generation of kids, their diets are reflecting the poor diets of their parents and they are getting a lot less activity than before. Walking/riding to school has virtually disappeared here. Outside play has greatly reduced.
Its probably just continuing a drift that started with their parents, but the more its "crap in, less exercise" the worse its going to be for the next generation.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I never paid much attention on diets before, but having cats around altered our attitude regarding diets.

We used to feed our cat dry cat food. It's cheap and easy, but sure enough, when he's about 10 years old, he became diabetic. So we switch to wet can food. It actually reversed his problem and we no longer had to give him any more insulin shots!

Yeah, sure domesticated cats are probably no longer hunting or exercising more than wild cats, but diets can still make a huge difference. Corn meal just are not something lions and tigers would eat! Even cat can foods... a lot of them contain 'gravy', another word for 'gluten' and crappy by-products. Can food is better than dry food, but still not as good as their most ideal diet.

So wife is feeding our cats raw food(meat) now.

Immediate difference that can be noted is the smell of their poop. Dry food = giant amount of super stinky poop. Can food resulted in improvements in smell and less quantity also. Raw food resulted in almost no smell and least volume of poop too.

I think this could be applicable for humans too. Quality of your poop can be very indicative of how healthy your diet really is... :p

We're all very 'domesticated' now, so we absolutely need to eat healthier diets whenever possible.

[speedpimp]

I'm a hell of a lot happier now and in way better shape(round is a shape, isn't it?) than when I started this six years ago.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Started what? Keto diet?

[MR2 Fan]

the biggest takeaway from this low carb stuff so far is that cutting all of the sugars and high carb foods, my cravings and desire to eat have declined incredibly. I rarely feel the urge to just eat all the time like I used to.

Before, if I was at work and my lunch time got pushed back, etc. I'd get very irritated, or need to get a snack, but now I don't even think about it.

[mk]

Don't you guys eat protein?

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, I remember that when I went that way. Especially when I cut out soda. I really wanted it for like a few weeks, then the cravings just went away. Like I even kinda thought it sounded nasty. Then I had one or two (probably mixed drinks while out), and the cravings came back big time.

[speedpimp]

Started what? Keto diet?

No formal scientific name other than "Half The Man I Used To Be".

[speedpimp]

A local man was in dire need of a kidney transplant, another local man donated his kidney. The man, Bruce Ulrickson, who donated his kidney is the salesman at the company I work for. Good on Bruce. Story (https://www.leaderpub.com/2018/11/29/mishawaka-man-donates-kidney-to-brandywine-high-school-teacher/).

[tigeraid]

Don't you guys eat protein?

We do. I eat 180g of it a day, in fact. What we're all talking about here is removing simple carbs and sugars, not protein.

[Crazed_Insanity]

No formal scientific name other than "Half The Man I Used To Be".
You also said you’re happier, so the low carb diet improves mood as well?

I’m not a sufferer of depression, so I didn’t notice mood differences, but I am suffering less joint pains.

Anyway, with so many with depression/suicides, I wonder if it’s mostly diet related...

[speedpimp]

If you want to put a name to it it would be called "The No Alcohol, No Pop, Cut Your Intake In Half and Walk Three Miles A Night Diet" and then follow that up with the "Really Physical Job And Don't Eat" program.

[speedpimp]

And by being happier it doesn't mean I was depressed. It just means I am happier that I can get around a hell of a lot easier than I used to. Not getting winded after walking 100 ft does wonders for you.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Oh okay. That’s cool. Happy for you too! :p

Seriously, reducing intake and increasing exercise is always a good idea!

[mk]

We do. I eat 180g of it a day, in fact. What we're all talking about here is removing simple carbs and sugars, not protein.

I got an impression that having anything but sugar foam is an operation.

Here eating is generally more expensive so doing your own stuff is a norm and also gives more variations than fast foods.

Diluted protein smoothie could be one hunger preventer.
Though, no idea how to make it tasty.

How are take away and fast food generally connected, is it only few if you like to keep it fast?

[tigeraid]

I got an impression that having anything but sugar foam is an operation.

Here eating is generally more expensive so doing your own stuff is a norm and also gives more variations than fast foods.

Diluted protein smoothie could be one hunger preventer.
Though, no idea how to make it tasty.

How are take away and fast food generally connected, is it only few if you like to keep it fast?


Sorry, it was Finland, was it? So fish is big game there, is it not? No better source of protein and Omega 3 than fish. Tuna's a regular food for me.

Take-out and fast food, the problem is more that they're heavily processed and full of sodium. And more importantly, their ratios are all off for healthy eating... A typical fast food burger might have a 4oz burger patty, which is maybe 18g of protein, but then it has a big fat pretzel bun or kaiser that's MORE calories than the meat between it, and is basically just eating sugar. Then add to the fact that most of their foods are deep-fried.

Occasional fast food is fine, but even then, you have to pick very carefully. Chicken sandwiches instead of beef in most cases will be more protein, lower calories and generally "better". But I mean, who wants to go to a drive-thru and NOT order fries?



Cooking for yourself immediately makes eating healthy WAY, WAY easier.

[Crazed_Insanity]

There's also the GMO issue.

Cows raised with genetically modified corn were used to make the burgers.
French fries fried in corn oil made out of the same genetically modified cheap corn...
Big cup of soda filled with corn syrup again made out of the same cheap corn...

Yeah, they're cheap and yummy, but eating such diet's regularly will not only get you fat and unhealthy, who knows what long term repercussions can be by eating so much of these unnatural corn...

Wife makes her own lattes regularly so we buy organic milk... we also get organic free range eggs too..., but I don't think we can afford to buy grass fed organic beef regularly... only once in a while... anyway, just everything in moderation and be thankful that we're not starving I guess!

[Drachen596]

I was an hour early for work Sunday.

I had been covering the guy on back half of the weeks hours. The first alarm I have set went off to wake me up and I guess I assumed it was the main one. Just got ready and went. Didn't realize I was early until I was through the gate at work.

Stopped and verified overtime wasn't canceled then said see ya in an hour as I left. Came home grabbed the ham from the fridge and took it and other stuff to my sister. Visited with her and mom for about an hour.

[speedpimp]

We started selling romaine again this past Monday. On Wednesday(my shortest route/day of the week) I wore myself out explaining to people why they were paying $50+ for a case of Iceberg lettuce(24 naked heads, if you want it wrapped add $15/case). Because of the Romaine shortage everyone was substituting Iceberg or any other lettuce they could get their hands on. This caused existing stocks on iceberg to dwindle, which drove up the price. Explaining supply & demand at every stop can really try your patience. My next to last stop of the day was probably my most favorite because while he wanted to know why he was paying $57.95 for Iceberg and $58.95 for Green Leaf Lettuce, he had no concept of what romaine lettuce was and had no idea of the e. coli scare. My most infuriating stop of the day was at a Jimmy Johns. They balked at paying $39/cs(which was $13-15 cheaper than other customers) because their area manager has a deal worked out with Meijer(a regional chain) to buy Iceberg for $20/cs.
As I was leaving that customer, but before I walked out the door, I called my people to let them know about the problem. By the time I got back four hours later the info hadn't made it the twenty feet from the desk of the person I had spoken to to the owner of the company. When I told the owner about what had happened he said he hoped they reordered from us because then he'd charge them $60/cs for their Iceberg.
I am definitely in favor of regulations concerning food safety. This shit is a nightmare waiting to happen and if it keeps happening it will do nothing but kill off the small companies, like the one I work for.

[Crazed_Insanity]

What a crazy mess for sure...

But I didn’t know that your customers have no clue how much they’ll pay for your goods until you show up at their doors? Or they’re just taking it out on you?

You’re just delivering, right? Why do you have to talk to them about pricing? Would that be like me complaining to UPS/mailman that Amazon is ripping me off with their pricing?

[speedpimp]

Billy/i, I work for a produce wholesaler. The prices fluctuate by the week. And while they are complaining about the prices, I am just giving them a heads up on the situation/making conversation.
Whenever there is a problem with (insert fruit or vegetable here) the market will react accordingly and our suppliers raise their prices, which means we raise our prices, and then our customers might/might not raise their prices.
Crazy thing is that romaine is now the cheapest lettuce on the market. It is also being labeled to show where it was grown and when it was harvested.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I can’t imagine how this romaine lettuce incidence sccrewed everyone... I recalled several restaurants stop serving salads, probably due to the hiked pricing..., but that scared me to stop eating salads all together as well...

Anyway, should be safe to have salads now I guess...

Hope the romaine lettuce growers learned their lessons.

[Drachen596]

Kroger here stripped all their prepackaged salad and lettuce section.

They had a bunch of spinach and some iceberg. That was it for about a week. They still had their store made salads since they only used Iceberg anyway.

[mk]

So fish is big game there, is it not?

No idea.

Average last year was 14kg.
Imports(10kg) up 14% and local wild number one(0,61kg) as vendace.

Domestics down to 4 from 6 and imports up to 10 from 6 kilos in last 15 years.

I guess I'm below average there.
And eating a known cow for now is propably below average also.

[MR2 Fan]

I hate lettuce as a rule, so it was nice to see others ditching lettuce recently

[speedpimp]

Today a case of Romaine is $24.95 and a case of Iceberg is $62.95.

[Crazed_Insanity]

I wonder how places like souplantation or sweet tomatoes are able to stay in business during these crazy times...

We used to eat there once a week because our daughter loves their Mac and cheese..., but we haven’t been there since the fiasco.

[FaultyMario]

Yearly plans!
Quarterly evaluations!
Econ 101!

[mk]

About the known cow, just in case.

We had a drought last summer, some lost all their crops.
So hay prices were expected to rise too much and dairy farmers had to cut some throats.

Later on the sun has been generally elsewhere.

[MR2 Fan]

Apparently I've been in the dark about some Christmas traditions until recently. I didn't know what these are:

-Advent Calendar
-Christmas Cracker
-White Elephant
-Elf on a Shelf

but I do know what they are now, after reading about them. Am I the only one?

[George]

I know about all of those except the Christmas Cracker.

Is that another nickname for jolly old Saint Nick? :lol:

People without young kids might not know about Elf on a Shelf. It's a little elf who sits on a shelf in your house watching the kids to make sure they're being good. He reports directly to Santa Claus, so you'd better watch out; you'd better not cry, and so forth.

[dodint]

Yeah, Christmas Cracker is new to me. Hope it's better than a Soggy Cracker.

[speedpimp]

Only thing I know about Advent Calendars is that you can get one filled with whiskey.

[Kchrpm]

And if you're on a radio show that doesn't broadcast on weekends, and ends before Christmas, you have to make up for all the lost days.

[Dicknose]

cracker - as in two people pull on it and it goes bang?
Also known as bon-bon

Wow - they are an essential part of xmas, where else do you get a crappy paper crown, plastic trinket and some dad jokes?

[MR2 Fan]

Yeah, that's not really a thing here, but I did get one from my boss today, so I guess some people are familiar with it.

[speedpimp]

And if you're on a radio show that doesn't broadcast on weekends, and ends before Christmas, you have to make up for all the lost days.

Just replay an older show and most people wouldn't know the difference.

[JoshInKC]

Yeah, Christmas Crackers are a UK/AUS/NZ(?) thing mostly. I'm familiar with them through decades of watching/reading British media, but they do seem to be appearing in the US a lot more over the past few years. I'm not sure if they're big in canada.

Elf on a shelf confused the hell out of me when I was first exposed to it a couple of years ago- I'd never heard of such a thing and then suddenly it was EVERYWHERE. Turns out it comes from a book/toy company about 10 years ago and had the hell marketed out of it as a new tradition.

[MR2 Fan]

What's up with this Gatwick Airport drone situation? A few drones have shuttered the airport for over 24 hours and 110,000 passengers were affected. It seems the airport has re-opened, but there's conspiracy theories abound (yawn).

I knew drones would start causing more problems, they need to be more regulated

[tigeraid]

A lot of people seem to be calling for outright bans on drones. I kind of understand it, but on the other hand, drones have almost single-handedly revolutionized documentary and sports film-making, so it would kind of suck if stuff like Parts Unknown or movies like Alex Honnold's Free Solo just stopped being made because no one can get the footage anymore.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Police just need SWAT drones that can shoot down or capture or jam other drones. I thought we have such technology already... can't believe authorities couldn't deal with unauthorized drones for that long...

[speedpimp]

Outlaw drones and only queen bees will have them.

[Freude am Fahren]

I was just talking to a friend getting ready for a ski/snowboard trip coming up. He has a drone and mentions how most, if not all, mountains ban them, and they are illegal, or at least highly regulated in all of Breckenridge. Makes sense when you think about it. Nearly every 15-40yo on the slopes has a go-pro, and most are affluent and love filming themselves. Could you imagine all the drones there would be at ski resorts if they allowed them.

There's also the problem of altitude. I don't think a Mavic Pro is supposed to operate at 10,000ft+.

[Yw-slayer]

On a related topic, I hate receiving those stupid snowboarding/skiing selfies. Hey idiots, if you're all wearing helmets and goggles (and especially if you're wearing a scarf) it could be anyone there.

[Cam]

Outlaw drones and only queen bees will have them.
:lol:

[sandydandy]

This is long.

Got a first world problem that I need help with.

Got an uncle that spams me every morning through WhatsApp, with motivational quotes and a blog detailing the goings on of his life, and I wish he would stop. I told him several months ago that I preferred not to receive them anymore, and he complied and stopped. But this week he’s started again. I know the logical answer would be to tell him to fuck off, but there’s a complication in the story, that I will mention below.

So here’s how it all started. I met this uncle back in 2006. He’s not even my uncle, he’s my cousin’s uncle from the UK, but the word ‘uncle’ is used very loosely in my culture to describe any elder person of your mom or dad’s generation. In 2006 he came here to attend my cousin’s wedding. I was 31 at the time and he was probably in his mid-40’s. We got along great. He was cool and everyone liked him.

After the wedding he got all of our contact info, phone numbers and email addresses, for the purpose of keeping in touch. As we found out in the not too distant future, he liked to keep in touch a little too much.

Within weeks he began spamming - bombarding actually - everyone’s emails with endless motivational quotes, virtually every day. Copy/paste shit, and it got annoying real fast. This went on for a good three months. I think somebody must’ve said something to him, because he abruptly stopped. Mercifully.

Fast-forward ten years. Spring of 2017 he started texting a good morning message once a week. I didn’t think any ill of it, in fact I thought it was kind of cool. It was a nice gesture every Friday morning, so I would reciprocate. After a while, once a week became twice a week, then it became every other morning, and then literally every morning. Then he wouldn’t reply when I would say it back, or engage him in conversation. I mentioned it to my cousin, and he said he also got the morning greetings. I was a little shocked because I actually thought I was the only one. :lol: Turns out he’d been mass spamming a lot of people via WhatsApp. He would even make snide comments about people (in North America especially) not responding to his daily greetings.

Then in the next few months it got worse. Not only the throw away good mornings, but those dreaded motivational quotes started again! I went from responding once a week to once a month and then once every three months. Eventually I stopped responding completely.

At some point he asked everyone to let him know if they would like to stop receiving them. In a reverse onus type way, to make you look like the asshole. I stayed silent. Kept receiving his daily drivel. Then earlier this year he announced the introduction of a daily blog, which he would send along with the quotes. This time he asked the proper way if anyone wanted to opt in. I was silent, indicating my lack of interest. Then after a few days, the blog started. Even though I didn’t opt in, he sent them to me anyway. That was the final straw. I told him I wanted to opt out of receiving further quotes/blogs. He said okay and stopped. This was back in July.

Now three days ago he started again. At first I thought maybe he sent it in error, but then he did it again the next morning, and now this morning as well.

I am now debating if I should remind him that I already ‘unsubscribed’ from his shit, or if I should just block him outright on WhatsApp.

Oh, complication...he’s a cancer patient. He had it even back in 2006. Some type of blood cancer or something. Plus he had leukemia, but I think he overcame that. But the cancer has been plaguing him for a long time. It went away and then came back again. That reason alone makes me hesitant to aggressively rebuff him. I feel bad for him and what he’s had to go through, but at the same time I think he uses it to emotionally blackmail people.

He’s gotten so annoying. What do I do?

[Cam]

I do not believe it is outside the realm of reason to politely ask him to stop again. He seems to respond to it. Good luck.

[Crazed_Insanity]

It’s obvious you need to just block him. He’d never know anyway. Stop torturing yourself.

[tigeraid]

Eeeeeh yeah I'd block him. It sounds like he doesn't actually talk a whole lot to people, so he might not even notice.

[sandydandy]

Thanks for your opinions. I followed Cam’s advice and told him straight up. He didn’t have any issue with it. Hopefully he honors it.

I found out from my cousin that he is cancer free again. So there’s no risk of breaking his spirit or anything.

He’s a good guy in person, but just damn annoying via the electronic/digital ether.

[MR2 Fan]

quick follow up on my low carb dieting. I wasn't going to go straight to Keto, but I got to the point where I had the Keto flu...pretty bad, was really dizzy for a few days even though I did drink lots of water, had more sodium etc. so I backed off of it as it was going to affect my work, etc.

It's also a bad time to start a new change right before the holidays, but I do have better meal plans and I'm going to add more exercise to it soon.

Edit: and yes, I did get checked out by a doctor to ensure there was nothing else more serious going on

[Crazed_Insanity]

Take it easy man!

I guess I’m not going to try Keto for now... still trying to stick to my gluten free diet... I occasionally cheat though... with a bite of bread or pasta here and there...

Anyway, reduction of gluten for sure helped me feel better and kept my weight down... not sure I’d continue any kind of diet if it induces flu like symptoms...

Good luck! Hope you’ll feel better soon!

[Leon]

Friend of mine has dropped over a duration, 20kg on Keto. The downside is, she seems to get every illness known to humankind, on a regular basis (which she didn't seem to previously).

I don't know if it's specific to her, or related to the very dramatic change in eating regime.

[Yw-slayer]

Keto works, but it is useful to take certain supplements and wear more clothing. Maybe she is sensitive to some of the stuff she's eating.

[mk]

was really dizzy for a few days

Start early thursday the latest.
You should be pretty ok again around tuesday.

But anyway,
spring is inevitable.
Darkness is fading and daytime bangs over 5h in notime.

[tigeraid]

It's normal. I didn't get the flu symptoms when I started but I did have pretty bad constipation, and headaches. They went away like a light switch after 7 days. I'm sure everyone's a little different.

Just remember, keep an eye on calories too. Keto is an excellent way to restrict calories while still getting sufficient nutrients, but it's still possible to overeat on healthy fats. Especially if you love nut butters. Fucking nut butters.

[drew]

Start early thursday the latest.
You should be pretty ok again around tuesday.

But anyway,
spring is inevitable.
Darkness is fading and daytime bangs over 5h in notime.


I still can't tell if this is a translation-gone-awry, or a mashup of various song lyrics. Either way :up:

[2ndMoparMan]

I know I can't be the only one when eating either Skittles original(before they changed line to green apple...bleh) or Mike and Ike's that eats them color coordinated. Eat all of the red, all of the orange, etc, and save either lemon or lime for last.

[dodint]

Yeah.

Jelly Bellys are the worst, tho. Like 40 different flavors in an assorted bag. It becomes work.

[Drachen596]

Yep. Skittles, Mike & Ikes, mini swedish fish, starburst. separate them by flavor/color.

Confused the heck out of some people who thought that I was separating M&Ms by color when I was eating skittles one day though.

[MR2 Fan]

LONG but interesting read:

"I Was A Cable Guy. I Saw The Worst Of America."

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cable-tech-dick-cheney-sex-dungeon_us_5c0ea571e4b06484c9fd4c21

[tigeraid]

LONG but interesting read:

"I Was A Cable Guy. I Saw The Worst Of America."

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cable-tech-dick-cheney-sex-dungeon_us_5c0ea571e4b06484c9fd4c21


As a former cable tech support guy who dispatched these techs: wow. Turns out they feel many of the same pains.

[speedpimp]

Read that article last night. Definitely a great read. Ivan had me laughing my ass off.

[FaultyMario]

We have one or two Politics threads, a couple of Aesthetics threads, then there's one that may be considered Pathetic discussion... but, do we have an Ethics thread?

[Leon]

There's no place for ethics on the internet

;)

[FaultyMario]

Boom!

[dodint]

Make one. I am sitting for my ethics exam in April and can use the study.

[George]

A new thread in the Pit Stop?! :eek:

[dodint]

Ask Keith if it's okay first. ;)

[Kchrpm]

I'll allow it.

[MR2 Fan]

CES 2019...........scares me. There's SO MANY IOT (internet of things) devices they're trying to shove down our throats and it's getting really annoying.

No, we don't need internet connected toothbrushes, or toilets, or toasters. They are making things too complicated and also not secure.

I don't mind devices with more high-tech features, but having everything on the cloud is overkill.

[FaultyMario]

Corporate Big Brother is watching you. And your pennies.

[Cam]

Maximum Overdrive in the making.

[Freude am Fahren]

Also, apparently Ring's (Amazon's) Ukrainian RD team, in order to improve their AI, just looked at EVERYTHING that ALL of their cameras see with user info.


In 2016, Ring moved some of its R&D operations to Ukraine as a cost-saving move. According to The Intercept’s sources, that team had “unfettered access to a folder on Amazon’s S3 cloud storage service that contained every video created by every Ring camera around the world.” That group was also privy to a database that would allow anyone with access the ability to conduct a simple search to find videos linked to any Ring owner. At this time, the video files were unencrypted due to the “sense that encryption would make the company less valuable” expressed by leadership at the company.

At the same time the Ukraine team was allowed this access, Ring “executives and engineers” in the U.S. were allowed “unfiltered, round-the-clock live feeds from some customer cameras” even if that access was completely unnecessary for their work.

[Sad, little man]

Ooo, look, my threads are still topping the proverbial charts. Why don't I care about this forum anymore? I don't know. There was some sort of loss of relevance. Moving on...

[Crazed_Insanity]

Relevance? Not sure..., I have observed a loss of diversity perhaps... and looks like we're about to lose another... nice knowing ya!

Anyway, whatever happens to this community, it'll always have a special place in my heart! :)

[Dicknose]

IoT - funny you mention toaster. Back in the mid 90s the people behind the QNX operating system saw this IoT coming and thought they were in a great place to capitalise on it. They had an OS that was small enough to fit on a floppy and have an application. Their example was a toaster. It did a graphic of bread turning into toast. Very silly little example, but the idea was that the OS was tiny and that this could fit in a ROM and give you a smart device.
Unfortunately they were way too far ahead of the curve, things like a raspberry pi didnt happen till many years later.

So yes these guys back in the mid 90s thought you might have a connected smart toaster (running arcnet, token ring is more real-time reliable than ethernet hub, switches were way expensive back then!)
More than 20 years later and the IoT is still coming

[MR2 Fan]

It's rare that I see so much insane backlash against an ad...Gillette posts an ad against toxic masculinity which, while being a bit preachy, seems ok to me....but people have gone crazy attacking it (possibly ironically)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koPmuEyP3a0

I wasn't offended by it, because it wasn't speaking about me, but seemingly lots of men think it's speaking to them.

I will say that people are pretty tired of politics in general and having an ad like this is probably not the best timing when we're inundated with political talk. I keep hearing the term "virtue signaling"....I didn't even know what it was until I looked it up.

So the Gillette video had a ton more dislikes and bad comments, however it was also publicized by people who don't like the message like Ben Shapiro, so....meh. I'm just tired of people piling on and going crazy with things...without taking a more level-headed stance on things...of course, those people wouldn't be commenting as much.

Extreme opinions get lots of attention....mostly because you never hear people yelling I HAVE NO STRONG OPINION ON THE ISSUE!! I CAN SEE BOTH SIDES!! EVERYTHING IN MODERATION DAMMIT!!!!

[Dicknose]

Saw it - liked it. The downside is its for a product, but I thought it was good. Wasnt blaming anyone, just saying its ok to speak up and let other guys know if they are falling short.

I struggle to see how this could be such an issue. Its an ad by men, for men and seems to be valid and useful.

[TheBenior]

I thought it was preachy, which I generally find annoying in an advertisement. It didn't make me any more or less likely to buy any Gillette products, but I'm hoping it leads to some good comedy like that Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad.

3175

[Cam]

Looks like that advertising campaign worked better than expected. :lol:

[FaultyMario]

I generally find [preachy] annoying in an advertisement.

From what I've read there's been a shift in how consumers value the products they buy and how they go about making their choices. There also seems to be an imperative message parallel to the "Just do it/enjoy Coca-Cola/buy our product" paradigm that we older TV audiences grew used to. With that said, I don't think publicists have it figured it out just yet, but Somesuch -the agency behind the Gillette ad- seem to be doing well with their style of artsy, low-testosterone, big name mini-films (http://somesuch.co/work/commercials/).

My opinion is that this was Gillette's "Welcome to Marlboro country" groundbreaker, which places the choice to decide what that country means on each consumer.

[Kchrpm]

Gillette sent me a free razor (a Mach 3, IIRC) when I turned 18, I was told at the time that they had a some kind of deal where they got the info from the Selective Service registrations. If it's still that widespread, then they are perhaps welcoming most American men into adulthood. If they only did it for a short period of time, then guys around my age (as mostly featured in the commercial) maybe feel differently about the brand than others.

I'm obviously not offended by the commercial, but I wouldn't be surprised if Trump reacts to it, and that his reaction was part of some internal strategist's goal, after the positive results that Nike saw from supporting Colin Kaepernick.

[Crazed_Insanity]

My guess would be that it’s the feminists found it offensive rather than Trump or white nationalists...

Why should men be better? Are you trying to be better than women? How dare you!!!

Or perhaps white nationalists really do want to teach their sons to bully and sexually assault others because that’s what a superior race/gender should do? I don’t know.

Anyway, identity politics sucks..., no matter how you look at it. Even when you take up the identity of liberal or conservative... you end up prejudging and hating your opposing group after a while.

Personally I think it’s a nice commercial.

[Jason]

I actually just cancelled Dollar Shave Club because they continue to advertise and support Sean Hannity, so I find this Gillette commercial to be refreshing.

[Godson]

This is the first I have watched it.


A-fucking-plus

[drew]

Life.

Life has a funny way of creeping up on you. You wake up, work, come home, do the normal shit everybody does. Then get a phone call that one of your best friends passed away 3 days after a carotid artery surgery.

Still can't process it. Known the guy for 30+ years, from age 13 til our early 30s, always did (stupid) shit. 2 weeks before his 47th birthday.


On a lighter note, titanium is the sharpest metal known to man.

[Jason]

♥️

[FaultyMario]

Life.

Hugs, man.

[Godson]

:'(

[MR2 Fan]

:(

[dodint]

Shit. :(

[Crazed_Insanity]

Sigh..., yeah, we're entering a period of life where we'll see more and more people around us drop dead.

Hug them all before you can't hug them no more!

[JoeW]

Anyone remember “spook” from the old forum? Wonder what happened to him.

[dodint]

heh

[George]

Haven't thought about him in years, but yes, I remember spook. If I remember correctly, he wrote in all lower-case letters like a modern-day e e cummings.

[Leon]

Erik or Eric something? Gosh, that's going back a way.

[JoeW]

Yeah his name was Eric but I was wondering if anyone knew him.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Not me personally, only onlinally.

[George]

Drew, I’m sorry to hear about your friend. I didn’t see that earlier. It’s starting to be that time of life, sadly.

[FaultyMario]

How did Cher put it?, "growing old, fuck that shit"?

[George]

Today's earworm:

:sing: Do you believe in life after love?



:lol:

[Phil_SS]

heh

QFT

And sorry to hear of your friend Drew. [hugs]

[sandydandy]

Sorry to hear, drew. I can totally relate. Lost one of my best buddies last year to cirrhosis. Knew him for 25 years.

It’ll be a long time before it truly sinks in for you. Just take it one day at a time. You’ll start to feel better.

[speedpimp]

Eric(spook) has devoted his life to Isis.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Are you serious?

[dodint]

Eric(spook) has devoted his life to Isis.

With any luck he will suddenly quit and undercut their infrastructure in the process.

[Freude am Fahren]

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/archer/images/f/fd/ISIS_Logo.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20110421211523

[JoeW]

I’m guessing there is ongoing joke I missed from long ago.

[Cam]

You're not the only one that's missing the joke, Joe. :?

[dodint]

ISIS is from Archer, if that's it.

The undercutting infrastructure reference goes way back. When he had his meltdown he logged into the admin panel and deleted all of his posts at once. The way the board was structured at the time relied on the posts to be there for the threads to stay in order. When all the posts were gone it rendered much of the forum unreadable.

[Cam]

I vaguely remember that now.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, Archer, they changed it when the other Isis showed up.

But, um, he didn't actually join them, right?

[Crazed_Insanity]

Admins must be under a lot of pressure, wonder why we’ve had multiple meltdowns over the years... take it easy admins! :p

[JoeW]

Gotcha. My memory fades...

[21Kid]

With any luck he will suddenly quit and undercut their infrastructure in the process.Hah!


Looks like that advertising campaign worked better than expected. :lol:
Yup.

[George]

Ordering a pizza from a restaurant I'd never been to before brings up an unimportant, "first-world problem" type of question:

Why don't some restaurants put their entire menus online?

In the case of pizza restaurants, before I order, I want to see:

- the kinds of crust they have (thin, deep-dish, etc.)

- sizes (diameters, not the number of pieces it is sliced into!)

- all the toppings they offer for create-your-own pizzas

- a list of what toppings are on their specialty pizzas (not just some catchy name such as Hawaiian or Spicy Italian or Vegetarian Delight)

- the price of everything!

Instead, they want you to choose a store first on their website. Okay, maybe different locations sell different things. I can choose a store without getting too annoyed.

Now show me the menu!

Nope.

Before it will show me anything, it wants to know whether I want it delivered or if I want to pick it up. Then it wants my name, address, phone number, etc. BEFORE it will show me the menu. And even then, you don't get the whole menu, but rather sequential choices that could possibly eliminate future options.

And then, when I arrive to pick up the pizza(s) and request a take-out menu for future reference, they claim not to have any.

Other than saving the cost of printing paper menus, how is this good business?

SHOW ME THE MENU!

/rant

[SkylineObsession]

Yeah screw that. Anything that requires my personal details just so i can browse usually can go bleep itself, and i press the back or close button.

[speedpimp]

With any luck he will suddenly quit and undercut their infrastructure in the process.

Heh.


Isis(as in the Egyptian goddess/Saturday morning show) is the name of Eric's dog.

[JoshInKC]

Oooh, that reminds me! You might be able to answer a burning question that I've had since this summer, George.
So my team & I are in Golden, CO. And looking for someplace to eat - we see a place with a sign that says "Colorado- Style Pizza!!!"
We ended up at a very nice brewery, but the idea of colorado style pizza has bothered me ever since. What could it mean? Chiles? Pot? Strappy sandals?

[Godson]

God damnit Josh, now you have me thinking that.

[JoeW]

We were going to name our dog Isis a few years ago because of the show until we realized it was a budding terror organization as well. Settled on Chia instead...because furry looking pet.

[George]

As a kid, I used to watch a TV show on Saturday mornings called Isis...or now I see it was called The Secrets Of Isis.

Wow, it sure looks cheesy today. :lol:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdBRLV6PGro

[George]

Oooh, that reminds me! You might be able to answer a burning question that I've had since this summer, George.
So my team & I are in Golden, CO. And looking for someplace to eat - we see a place with a sign that says "Colorado- Style Pizza!!!"
We ended up at a very nice brewery, but the idea of colorado style pizza has bothered me ever since. What could it mean? Chiles? Pot? Strappy sandals?

Green chile instead of tomato sauce, topped with cannabis edibles, and served with Coors beer if you're in Golden. :D

No, the real answer is Colorado-style pizza is what a local restaurant chain called Beau Jo's calls their pies. Their original location is in a little mountainside town called Idaho Springs that isn't far up I-70 once you leave Golden. It's the kind of place hungry skiiers stop to eat on the way back to town.

I imagine other restaurants use that term as well, especially in touristy areas like Golden.

https://www.beaujos.com


https://youtu.be/oyw-peAgM7A

[JoshInKC]

That was exactly the restaurant! I just couldn't remember the name. Thank-you! I think we were driving through Arvada.

[tigeraid]

How do you guys deal with an eight hour shift in a workplace with absolutely horrific music? I think I might kill myself if I have to listen to one more disco tune or shitty 70s romance song. Everyone I work with is ancient and thinks "The Rolling Stones are too damn heavy." :mad::mad::mad::mad:

[MR2 Fan]

How do you guys deal with an eight hour shift in a workplace with absolutely horrific music? I think I might kill myself if I have to listen to one more disco tune or shitty 70s romance song. Everyone I work with is ancient and thinks "The Rolling Stones are too damn heavy." :mad::mad::mad::mad:

It was difficult when I worked in an office like that. The other issue is that the radio stations that were "all classic rock" or "all 80's" still found a way to play the same dozen songs 3-4 times a day. :smh:

Oh and the pop station playing the same Kelly Clarkson song over and over when she was first popular....I can't stand her.

[dodint]

When I worked at RadioShack we had a DVD we were ordered to play, we got a new one each month. It had commercials and music, etc. Looped about once an hour. Pretty horrific by the third day of the month.

On Sunday mornings I would turn that shit off and put F1 races on.

[FaultyMario]

How do you guys deal with an eight hour shift in a workplace with absolutely horrific music? I think I might kill myself if I have to listen to one more disco tune or shitty 70s romance song. Everyone I work with is ancient and thinks "The Rolling Stones are too damn heavy." :mad::mad::mad::mad:

In Cubeworld everyone has earphones.

[tigeraid]

Oh how I wish I could put earphones in.

[Dicknose]

Who is Kelly Clarkson?

[MR2 Fan]

Who is Kelly Clarkson?

some vapid weirdo who won a reality show singing competition

[George]

The guy in the office next to mine streams internet radio most days through speakers on his desk. It's classic rock and fairly repetitive, but what really kills me are the 1-877-KARS FOR KIDS jingles that play about three or four times per hour. I am not exaggerating about the frequency. I don't know what station he has on, but it's part of "I Heart Radio".

It was the same on classicdeepcuts.com, a station I really liked because they play more obscure classic rock - a lot of the same bands and familiar music but just not Hotel California and Sweet Home Alabama and Bohemian Rhapsody over and over, all day long. But those commercials ruined it for me.

And, like Alvin And The Chipmunks and some children's TV shows, I swear they have EQ'd the sound for maximum treble so it's really piercing to the ear. Sometimes his music is so quiet I can't hear anything until that damn commercial comes on for the tenth time that morning.

Do yourself a favor and DO NOT look up the many variations of the same song they sing in every ad. If you don't know it already, spare yourself a horrendous earworm that will never go away once it has been heard.

Here's one for tigeraid's colleagues:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyK1bZZ7E-s

[JoeW]

I am officially tired of hearing people pronounce the word “jewelry” as jew-leree.

And people who don’t pronounce the letter T in the middle of words. “button” becomes buh-in.

Sorry for interrupting, this has been plaguing me for years and I had to get it off my chest.

I feel better now...

[sandydandy]

What about “Wennsday”?