Bitter Thorn's page

"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding."

-Justice Louis Brandeis

So, as I've mentioned, I am quite Lawful by nature, to the point of actually getting permits for all of my construction and whatnot. I even had business licenses for my rental property and for when NobodysWife worked at home.

However, being Lawful by nature, certain things incense and infuriate me beyond all reason, especially mindless bureaucracy.

I think I might have mentioned that Shiro's player moved recently, and during the course of the move, he left his motorcycles out for a single night and they were all stolen. It was obviously an "inside job" by one of the neighbors, but eventually two of the bikes were "recovered" having been totally dismantled, and one was "recovered" fully intact, with someone riding it.

The fully-intact one happened to be Shiro's player's favorite, so he wanted it back.
Shiro's Player: That's great! You got my bike back! Thanks so much!
Insurance Company: Not so fast, sir! We already marked that bike as "totalled" and paid you out for it.
SP: No problem! I'll just give you your money back and you can give me the bike! We're even!
IC: It doesn't work that way, sir. We paid you. You can't give the money back.
SP: Whatever. I'll buy the bike from you. How much do you want for it?
IC: The bike was marked as totalled, sir, we can't legally sell it to you.
SP: So what you're telling me is, *YOU* decided to label the bike as "totalled" before you found it, *YOU* decided to cut me a check, *YOU* decided to notify the DMV, and now *I* can't have my bike back because of your precipitous actions?
IC: Yes, sir.

It's legal stupidity at its worst.

And in case it couldn't get any stupider, Shiro's player, a man of no small means, decided, "Whatever. I'll just buy a new one."
So of course the company no longer makes them in black.

Roadblock after roadblock after roadblock.

When all he wants is his old bike back.

I doubt it's the case case in California, but some states have a fairly simple salvage title process.

Happy birthday Freehold! :)

Belated +1

Dear NASA,

Your Mom thought I was big enough.

-Pluto

*facepalm*

Sooo many safety violations.......

Bitter Thorn wrote:

captain yesterday wrote:

What if I just stuck my finger in an outlet, when I was sleeping.

How!? o_O

Well, some people move around a lot when they're sleeping.

OK, but how does a finger get in the little holes??

Howdy!

Sorry but I'm not even going to try with a 3000+ post backlog.

I hope everyone is doing well.

NobodysHome wrote:

OK, after losing my entire lunch hour to this phenomenon, I thought I'd conduct a second totally-random survey:

At the grocery store, do you self-bag or just stand there?

I ask because I basically just lost my lunch hour in a loooong grocery line, watching people stand there, hands empty, patiently waiting for the checker to finish checking all the items, then stand there, patiently waiting for the checker to bag all the items. Timing the two (did I mention I spent most of my lunch hour in a line... with THREE people ahead of me?), they were about equal. So if people just stepped up and bagged their own groceries, the line would move twice as fast.

Yet in the entire store, I and one other guy were the only ones who self-bagged. Everyone else just waited. And waited. And waited.

What was odd was that I overheard the other self-bagger ask why no employees were bagging, and the checker responded with a mysterious, "Oh, California just passed a law about that."

I hadn't heard of any such ridiculous law, so I was wondering how many self-baggers and how many patient waiters we have?

(Having a kid with you or any other disability automatically qualifies you for the, "Guilt-free patient waiter" line...

I always self bag. Always.

I used to sack groceries in high school back when we used paper bags so I always prefer to bag my own. Sadly the physical layout of manned super wal mart checkouts makes that impossible. :/

What if I just stuck my finger in an outlet, when I was sleeping.

How!? o_O

Rosita the Riveter wrote:

When I was a kid, it was beaten into our heads that you never talk to strangers, much less got into a stranger's car. Plus, the height of internet safety was never meeting strange people from the internet. Now? A program on my phone uses the internet to summon strangers so that I may get into their cars, and this is a completely normal thing.

I wonder what dangerous stuff we're taught to never do today will be typical activities in the future?

Lick the outlet... you know you want to...

Do you want a safety briefing?

Because this is how we get a safety briefing.

;)

Dear automatic flushing toilet... I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I wasn't done yet.

-Anonymous

Bitter Thorn wrote:

Freehold DM wrote:

Bitter Thorn wrote:

11,619 missed posts.

Are you guys slowing down? ;)

I hope everyone is well.

completely manly excited squee

LOL!

Now 3,749 missed posts.

The older I get the faster time flies.

I have been dealing with some family and estate issues, but I will endeavor to be less of a stranger.

rips open shirt

SIGN MY CHEST!

LMAO!

I almost snarfed on my keyboard.

Bitter Thorn wrote:

11,619 missed posts.

Are you guys slowing down? ;)

I hope everyone is well.

completely manly excited squee

LOL!

Now 3,749 missed posts.

The older I get the faster time flies.

I have been dealing with some family and estate issues, but I will endeavor to be less of a stranger.

Bitter Thorn wrote:

Howdy.

I hope everyone is safe and well.

BT! Good to see you about! We've missed you!

Thanks for reaching out!

I will try to be less of a stranger.

Howdy.

I hope everyone is safe and well.

11,619 missed posts.

Are you guys slowing down? ;)

I hope everyone is well.

12,652 missed posts.

damn

I hope everyone is well.

I hope y'all are doing well.

7756 missed posts, wow, I've been gone for a bit.

I've been a bit busy with life and such, but Dad is still hanging in there, and the family is generally healthy.

I'm currently in College Station for a few more days.

I hope everyone is well. Take care!

Sorry it took me as long as it did. I hope things continue to improve.

I'm out for about a month.

Y'all take care and stay safe. :)

aeglos wrote:

the boy managed t.o stand while holding himself at the backside of the couch, and heeven pulled himself up,

wohoooo, mobility ! :-D
it will not make live easier for us parents, I guess :-/

Baby gates

Baby gates everywhere

Baby gates are not my friend when I have been drinking.

We are good now. GW RULZ! :)

You mean crank it up to 11?

Anyone? Anyone?

:)

Taverhold has joined the Free Highlanders. :)

Once again Freehold and I are on opposite ends. Alchemist is one of my favorites, and the newer classes - especially Magus, Arcanist, and Inquisitor - are something I think the game has needed for a long time.

I am fond of the inquisitor.

My 2 CP as a total noob to MMORPGs.

Of course alpha has bugs that are being worked out, but that doesn't bother me much because this feels like the free sample to me. I paid to get in to beta, and these characters are getting wiped so I don't feel very bad when I screw up and waste XP on dumb stuff or the game glitches something in my inventory out of existence. It's irksome, but as far as I am concerned it's like getting free food while the cook perfects their food.

I know beta won't be perfect or complete, but I would rather GW hammer out the major flaws during the "free samples" phase.

My 2 CP. :)

Got teleported to Pheonix pass and lost last few hours traing again :D Also the mad wolf from TK has moved up there :D

I really hate that wolf......a lot.

It's in Phoenix Pass too. :(

Company leaders may want to check the Nation with ... thread.

Late monster is late.

I like it!

Gedichtewicht of Brighthaven wrote:

From the latest release notes:

The Skeleton, Cultist and Elite Cultist Slayer Achievements now in the Divine category instead of the Adventure category.

Yup, snuck that into the build yesterday, in part because of this thread. Crowdforging FTW!

Awesome!

Is there any hope of having some kind of healing achievements chain?
If I am soloing I try to get divine achievements by finishing stuff off with my orisons, but I do a decent amount of healing in party, and it's a little frustrating that I don't get anything for it achievement wise.

Thanks!

My daughter had her fourth baby last night. Mom and son are doing great!

Virgil

Tin Foil Yamakah wrote:

Freehold DM wrote:

So.

Idiot opened up his driver's side door while I was riding by. Took it in the right arm. Knocked me off the bike. Got up slowly checking myself for injuries- I'm bruised but otherwise unharmed. Idiot tried to touch me to see if I was okay, I told him to not attempt to make physical contact with me at this time. He then tried to lecture me about how I should be riding opposite traffic and I got in his face about how that would get me either killed or in jail/ticket. He didn't seem convinced so I got MORE in his face about it and he backed off. Right arm is sore as hell, left pinky finger(no idea how that got injured) is swollen. I guess I failed the reflex save but made the fort save....

Still. Going to punch every driver I see for about 24 hours.

F#$+ing Clowns, I hope you tore his door up

I am resilient, not invulnerable.

You're not Luke Cage?

Victory is mine!!!!!

Thank you Ryan and Bonnie!!!

The regional pack looks a little better.

Why is the Alliance Pack more costly?

Alliance Pack $20

* A number of consumables and Tier 1 items themed to a nation or group from Golarion's lore
* You will be able to select the nation or group of your Alliance before use
* One per character
* May be purchased multiple times per account

versus

Regional Trait Pack $15

* One of your characters will gain a background related to one of the regions of Golarion
* Your character's background will be visible to other players
* Includes Tier 1 items reflecting your character's regional background
* You will be able to select the Region before use
* One per character
* May be purchased multiple times per account

I am willing to donate and push forward. PM me, please.

Ambrosia Slaad wrote:

David M Mallon wrote:

I'm so g%~+&#n tired and lonely right now, I don't even know what to do. Everyone I know is leaving town or getting married and having kids. Meanwhile, here I am, creeping up on 30 and still doing the same s#!@ I was doing 10 years ago, minus having a job. This is so f%@!ed.

34 is creeping up on me this December, but I remember...** spoiler omitted **...

For me reaching 30 wasn't anything special. But I lived so long in a sort of limbo of no-life for quite a long time.

30 ish was a period of soul crushing, heart ripping loss for me, but 17 years in hindsight and more brutal losses later I still have some joy in my life from my amazing daughter and son in law and 3 (soon to be 4) grand kids. The road has been hard and bitter, but we hope to deliver my grandson this week. I have made awful mistakes, but I have also made a real difference in the lives of friends and family and community.

@Dave: It sucks, but I'm glad I made the trip. I'd love to sit and drink and BS someday.

Cr500cricket wrote:

First post from my new laptop. Happy birthday to me! :)

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

+1

My party spent thirty minutes arguing about what to do with a defeated Behemoth that they couldn't wish dead. One party member wanted to keep it and try to train it, since she could communicate with animals and magical beasts. One wanted to offer it as a gift to one of the fey queens in exchange for something. And one just wanted to get rid of it, and ended up plane shifting it to The World's Shadow while the others debated.

If it makes you feel any better the FR group I DM for utterly annihilated the high level party of daemon fey assassins I threw at them in Arabel. It was a complete route.

Bitter Thorn wrote:

Kitsune Aou wrote:

Well, where I'm at, these are the storms we get. This example was taken less than an hour ago.

Cool.

When you get a single storm with thunder, lightning, wind, rain, hail, red dust that sticks to everything wet or dry, *and* it might last only 10 minutes, then you know you're in Arizona.

Yup, AZ and WY get some serious wind.

It would make getting the class achievements so much easier if you could see what feats you had / qualified for already on the achievement itself.

This!

Orthos wrote:

Drejk wrote:

Haven't we had that discussion about Firefly, Fox, and owning before? Or is that my deja vu kicking in again?

This cycle of comments repeats every three months or so.

that is why this is the thread that never ends.

Now I have THAT song in my head.

*poof* You're an offer.

Seriously though, do you have a price range?

Bitter Thorn wrote:

Tin Foil Yamakah wrote:

Freehold DM wrote:

Lost our bed due to bedbugs a while back. Trying to save up for a new bed. And living room set. Sigh.

That sucks. I just shelled out 2K for a new mattress...not bed frame just a mattress.

2K!? O_o

Does it fly?

I wish, then I could ditch this ratty ass carpet 8>)

Actually that is the price of memory foam, I also got 2 pillows and a couple sets of sheets. They had a mattress at this place retailing for 15K.

This is one of the things about getting old. I remember when I could change my own oil for $10, buy a battery for $20, and a set of new tires for $100.

Of course I'm also old enough to remember when gas and smokes were less than a buck.

Freehold DM wrote:

Lost our bed due to bedbugs a while back. Trying to save up for a new bed. And living room set. Sigh.

That sucks. I just shelled out 2K for a new mattress...not bed frame just a mattress.

2K!? O_o

Does it fly?

I thought I felt a draft. O_o

Bitter Thorn wrote:

Freehold DM wrote:

Alignment in general has come under fire as alignment-light mmo games have increased in popularity and class abilities are seen as party resources- if the party needs the paladins abilities in a situation that the paladin wouldn't enter as a character, that's tough nuggies: the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the individual.

I'm running into issues with complaints about rogues in my kingmaker game along with complaints about finesse weapons and rapiers specifically, the idea of a single class having so many skills and being able to do so much damage through what some see as clever rule exploits is causing some friction. People seem to either want the rogue more or less powerful-noone is happy with the way things are currently.

Note that this is only my experience and opinion.

Healers and Ranger are my personal favorites, but I love me some rogue too just the way they are. My only complaint with healer types is the lack of skill points. I really like having a broad range of skills. Traits or class dipping let me diversify my skills, but I find it all but impossible to improve them with a cleric's skill points. I really liked the 3.5 cloistered cleric.

I sympathize. I'm a skill point junkie. But most of the high-skill-point classes don't interest me - I'm not a rogue fan at all, not too big on rangers, don't like typical monks (though I'm having fun with Zen Archer), etc. etc. etc.

My favored classes tend to be front-line beaters with unique abilities (barbarian, paladin, bloodrager, Tome of Battle-style maneuver users, etc.), half-casters (inquisitor, magus, bard - these are the sorts of things that'll probably be the closest I get to playing a skill monkey), and full spont-casters (oracle, sorcerer, arcanist).

I am really really looking forward to the opportunity to play an arcanist though. INT-based spont casting, yes please.

The inquisitor has really grown on me. Diane had an inquisitor of Milani in Serpent Skull who was basically a freedom fighter and back up healer, and she was AWESOME!

My son in law did an unbreakable fighter/inquisitor of Pharasma for RotRL that was very cool also.

Police Officer Caught On Video Calling Michael Brown Protesters 'F***ing Animals'

Nihimon wrote:

and I wasn't about to dig through 88 aliases and 20-some-odd thousand posts ..

KC? 88 aliases? You're slacking, kid.

Patrick, I sent you a PM.

Orthos wrote:

Just one little speedbump left between me and new apartment, it looks like. I finally tracked down the right phone number and contacted the people I owe that final bill to. For some bizarre reason they don't take payments over the phone. So I'm waiting for a reply to my email. They said within 24 hours - you've got til lunch, guys.

Good news is, if I can straighten it all out this week, everything at the credit bureaus updates their info around the 15th of the month, so I'll be all ready to swing down to the apartment next week, re-apply, and things should fly through smoothly.

Good luck! I'll be happy for you when this is all behind you.

+1