Sigh.
To cap off this colossally dicked up week, tonight WW got a text from the big cheese at our county Dem Party leadership office (who is an old friend of his mother's from Lions Club) asking if he was available for a phone call. So he said yes, so she called, starts to offer him a job (only part time, but with good pay and chance for advancement), and they chat for a few minutes, and she mentions a mutual friend they both saw in the office on Monday. He has no clue what she's talking about.
It turns out she phoned him by mistake, and the offer was for another man with the same first name.
Ugh, I was getting excited (and a little jealous) of WW! That sucks!
I have an aunt who once called my g'mother, and the two talked for like an hour before one of them finally realized they were strangers who happened to have the same name/relationship. An hour is a long time to not realize, but on the other hand this aunt is among the last to tell tall tales.
Oh, I have a shredder. The file cabinet is meeting the shredder with a vengeance.
And it really is just, "Wow! If I tell these horrible stories then everyone listens to me with rapt attention! How fun!"
Honest cluelessness that talking trash about other people might, just might, hurt those people when you're talking to people who know them.
There's a reason I use FaWtL instead of Facebook for my venting. Other than lisamarlene, no one could pick my mother out of a lineup. No one knows her name. She doesn't visit this site, nor does anyone who knows me other than my kids. And they know all these stories all too well. So I'm fairly confident I am causing her no harm in posting about her here.
In spite of my frequent complaints about my parents, they were good, decent people trying to do the best they could. They had some really wacky ideas about "fairness" and money, but really, is there anyone who doesn't have wacky ideas?
So I can vent about their foibles without identifying them, and it gets it off my chest without outing them.
And yeah, both of my parents did some horrible things. But neither of them acted out of malice. (I can just imagine CrystalSeas right now, "Is that better, or is it worse?")
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Oh, I have a shredder. The file cabinet is meeting the shredder with a vengeance.
And it really is just, "Wow! If I tell these horrible stories then everyone listens to me with rapt attention! How fun!"
Honest cluelessness that talking trash about other people might, just might, hurt those people when you're talking to people who know them.
There's a reason I use FaWtL instead of Facebook for my venting. Other than lisamarlene, no one could pick my mother out of a lineup. No one knows her name. She doesn't visit this site, nor does anyone who knows me other than my kids. And they know all these stories all too well. So I'm fairly confident I am causing her no harm in posting about her here.
In spite of my frequent complaints about my parents, they were good, decent people trying to do the best they could. They had some really wacky ideas about "fairness" and money, but really, is there anyone who doesn't have wacky ideas?
So I can vent about their foibles without identifying them, and it gets it off my chest without outing them.
And yeah, both of my parents did some horrible things. But neither of them acted out of malice. (I can just imagine CrystalSeas right now, "Is that better, or is it worse?")
That's nothing, my family talks s~@% about people, when they're standing 3 feet away. That's why whenever they pan out on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and someone says "You know I'm right here, right,? I can totally hear you!!" It cracks me up so much.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
...aaaaand, we're back in full lockdown starting on Sunday.
I hate people.
Oh yeah. Well, the more the marryier ;)Me? I thought you were marrying Vidmaster7. I'm flattered, but I must decline.But I want my fake internet wedding to be officiated by a man looking like Jesus on top of a skidloader covered in sawblades.My dad could, though he's retired. He officiated our wedding.If we're talking martial arts movies, then Kung-Fu Hustle all the way.if we both weren't married woran...
No but I do love that movie.
Im platonically married to several other people (LARPs happen. RPG stuff happens). So we can defenitely get married.
Can Cap Yesterday oversee the ceremony?
That's going to be a hard no, I don't do public speaking.
Basically, if it involves me standing on a stage with a group of people focused on me I'm not doing it. At all. Ever.
You wont be on a stage, you will be on a skidloader ;)
Also, it could just be me and Gran.
Is this going to turn into 'Seven Brides for Seven Vidmasters'?
Or do we need to start a separate thread for applications to join Woran's he-rem?
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
And yeah, both of my parents did some horrible things. But neither of them acted out of malice. (I can just imagine CrystalSeas right now, "Is that better, or is it worse?")
At this point in my life, I consider actions "for your own good/because it's the Right Thing by my personal ethos regardless of your actual feelings" worse than active malice. Because it has the same effect as malicious action - the disregarding of the target's wishes and desires - but shines it over with a veneer of respectable appropriateness and moral superiority.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Afternoon all. What did miss?Talks about saving money when not having to commute, which confuse me before I realize that in the USA you generally pay for your own travel expenses.
I’m normally $300/month on train fare and $100/month on parking. And that’s before gas in the car, etc. It can be a lot. Some people can negotiate for sufficient salary to cover these costs, but most cannot.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
My in-laws also have a spreadsheet as to who they have helped financially. The difference is, they aim to balance the scales while they’re alive, instead of in their will. So every once in a while my husband gets a check, and he knows that they must have paid for something for his sisters.
My in-laws also have a spreadsheet as to who they have helped financially. The difference is, they aim to balance the scales while they’re alive, instead of in their will. So every once in a while my husband gets a check, and he knows that they must have paid for something for his sisters.
Interesting. Were they born in the 1930s?
Because my parents' behavior utterly baffles me, but maybe it's a Depression Era thing about being "fair".
'Cause for me, "You can live here until you decide to leave, as long as you're living here I'll pay for everything for you, and you're leaving the house with exactly the same amount of money I gave your brother," is fair.
"Your brother got to go on four high school choir trips but you only got to go on two because of COVID, so here's the $730 we didn't spend on your trips for you," seems like overkill.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I remember my cats throwing up. Nothing gets my attention quite like that sound.
Oh, it's a running joke about Global Megacorporation: All meetings start at least 10 minutes late.I went to a university where that was literally true. If a class was listed in the schedule as an 11 o'clock class, the official start time was 11:10.
So, of course, the entire university ran on that unacknowledged time shift. As did most of the professionals in the town: You were not considered late to a meeting until ten minutes after the official start time.
There is a university concept known as "academician quarter", that basically says that the professor can be up to 15 minutes late for his classes because reasons, and the class should wait at least that much, unless a specific notice was given (like professor is sick, go home, or professor is meeting the rector, please wait more than 15 minutes), though various professors have different expectations about how important they are and how long the class should wait for them.
We lost one of the rats. Nacho. He was one of the ones we adopted from the couple him and burrito to keep snack company. So we know he didn't have the best care before us which could contribute. He was about 2 years old which is average I think for rats. Were not sure how he passed. He seemed healthy one day then the next he didn't run up for treats and we found him on the bottom corner of his cage. The other ones seem to be taking it well. So RIP Nacho. He was good boy.
There's a reason I use FaWtL instead of Facebook for my venting. Other than lisamarlene, no one could pick my mother out of a lineup. No one knows her name. She doesn't visit this site, nor does anyone who knows me other than my kids. And they know all these stories all too well. So I'm fairly confident I am causing her no harm in posting about her here.
Took me two minutes, though I had an advantage of already knowing your name. Learning your mother's maiden name (or maybe a second name, I had not implored that far) took some more time, but the blatant disregard for privacy in USA is staggering, and even without going into voluntarily disclosed information...
And yeah, both of my parents did some horrible things. But neither of them acted out of malice. (I can just imagine CrystalSeas right now, "Is that better, or is it worse?")
Many, many years ago, one of our players noted that our extended gaming group had a lot of parental issues between them. Two three half-orphans whos fathers died when they were young (including one that died on a friend's seventh birthday...), with at least one of them having (probably) somewhat toxic mother in the result of that death, my alcoholic father (and since then he nosedived into various tinfoilhat conspiracy theories getting on my nerves in a novel way), alcoholic and divorced father, recovered alcoholic father, another friend was in conflict with his father, though I don't know the details, toxic overbearing, overcontrolling mother, and so on and so on... Only few of those parents might had qualified as malicious, but the negative impact on us was there.
Crap... Do I want those four worthwhile games for $12 from humble bundle and a lot of crap I won't ever install, or do I want to get Phoenix Point for half price.
Choices, choices, choices...
It might be ages before Pheonix Point goes on a reasonably priced sale again, because it only now reached GoG (not sure when it showed on Steam), and it is a game that should really scratch my love for tactical games.
19+ GB download on its way.
Oh, those bastards...
I just bought Pheonix Point taking my PayPal balance just a handful of cents below $12 needed for the Humble Choice this week. Just to be safe, I decided to pause the humble payment for a month to avoid any complications related to the automatic payment bouncing off because of insuficient funds...
Instead of pausing confirmation prompt, Humble Bundle immediately offered me $2 discount on the next payment...
Do they spy on my PayPal balance? Is that just so obviousluy efficient technique?
And yes, those $2 off are enough to cover the difference...
And the Pheonix Point installed!
<.<
>.>
What do you mean by "but you were playing Elex?!"
Oh yeah. Well, the more the marryier ;)Me? I thought you were marrying Vidmaster7. I'm flattered, but I must decline.But I want my fake internet wedding to be officiated by a man looking like Jesus on top of a skidloader covered in sawblades.My dad could, though he's retired. He officiated our wedding.If we're talking martial arts movies, then Kung-Fu Hustle all the way.if we both weren't married woran...
No but I do love that movie.
Im platonically married to several other people (LARPs happen. RPG stuff happens). So we can defenitely get married.
Can Cap Yesterday oversee the ceremony?
That's going to be a hard no, I don't do public speaking.
Basically, if it involves me standing on a stage with a group of people focused on me I'm not doing it. At all. Ever.
You wont be on a stage, you will be on a skidloader ;)
Also, it could just be me and Gran.Is this going to turn into 'Seven Brides for Seven Vidmasters'?
Or do we need to start a separate thread for applications to join Woran's he-rem?
I don't think Vidmaster3 will ever get married to be honest with you.
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Oh yeah. Well, the more the marryier ;)Me? I thought you were marrying Vidmaster7. I'm flattered, but I must decline.But I want my fake internet wedding to be officiated by a man looking like Jesus on top of a skidloader covered in sawblades.My dad could, though he's retired. He officiated our wedding.If we're talking martial arts movies, then Kung-Fu Hustle all the way.if we both weren't married woran...
No but I do love that movie.
Im platonically married to several other people (LARPs happen. RPG stuff happens). So we can defenitely get married.
Can Cap Yesterday oversee the ceremony?
That's going to be a hard no, I don't do public speaking.
Basically, if it involves me standing on a stage with a group of people focused on me I'm not doing it. At all. Ever.
You wont be on a stage, you will be on a skidloader ;)
Also, it could just be me and Gran.Is this going to turn into 'Seven Brides for Seven Vidmasters'?
Or do we need to start a separate thread for applications to join Woran's he-rem?
Women can apply too.
|
|
I’m normally $300/month on train fare and $100/month on parking. And that’s before gas in the car, etc. It can be a lot. Some people can negotiate for sufficient salary to cover these costs, but most cannot.Afternoon all. What did miss?Talks about saving money when not having to commute, which confuse me before I realize that in the USA you generally pay for your own travel expenses.
Unions fixed that for us.
As a general rule, if you travel by public transport, you get everything reimbursed (as long as you can show your travel expenses, but with travel cards its easy, or sometimes you get a travel card from the company so there is even less hassle).If you come by car/bike/foot, you can claim 0,19 cents a kilometer (or at least it used to be that amount a while back. I do not travel by car so I have no idea what the bottom line reimbursement is these days). So yes, you can come by bike and get reimbursed.
As for parking fees, usually there is something in place to get you reimbursed.
|
|
We lost one of the rats. Nacho. He was one of the ones we adopted from the couple him and burrito to keep snack company. So we know he didn't have the best care before us which could contribute. He was about 2 years old which is average I think for rats. Were not sure how he passed. He seemed healthy one day then the next he didn't run up for treats and we found him on the bottom corner of his cage. The other ones seem to be taking it well. So RIP Nacho. He was good boy.
Sorry to hear that Vidmaster.
Was he a male rat? They can develop heart problems real fast. One day they are fine, and then you just find them dead in the cage. At least it means they go quickly....
2 to 3 years is average. 2 is a bit on the short side but if they had a bad start that absolutely impacts their life span. :(
We lost one of the rats. Nacho. He was one of the ones we adopted from the couple him and burrito to keep snack company. So we know he didn't have the best care before us which could contribute. He was about 2 years old which is average I think for rats. Were not sure how he passed. He seemed healthy one day then the next he didn't run up for treats and we found him on the bottom corner of his cage. The other ones seem to be taking it well. So RIP Nacho. He was good boy.Sorry to hear that Vidmaster.
Was he a male rat? They can develop heart problems real fast. One day they are fine, and then you just find them dead in the cage. At least it means they go quickly....
2 to 3 years is average. 2 is a bit on the short side but if they had a bad start that absolutely impacts their life span. :(
Yeah he was a male rat. The first owners who had him for about a year I could tell when we picked him up didn't really know how to properly care for them. He was real skittish and shy when we got him. We managed to get him a bit more playful and less shy though. He was one of the albinos his left eye was already glazed over when we got him which S.O. said isn't uncommon for the white rats.
There's a reason I use FaWtL instead of Facebook for my venting. Other than lisamarlene, no one could pick my mother out of a lineup. No one knows her name. She doesn't visit this site, nor does anyone who knows me other than my kids. And they know all these stories all too well. So I'm fairly confident I am causing her no harm in posting about her here.Took me two minutes, though I had an advantage of already knowing your name. Learning your mother's maiden name (or maybe a second name, I had not implored that far) took some more time, but the blatant disregard for privacy in USA is staggering, and even without going into voluntarily disclosed information...
Interesting. I'm curious where you found it. Because when I play around with Google I find that with nothing more than my name and city you can get my old address and phone number, but when I've tried to find family members and so forth I don't get far without having to get through a paywall. Once you're willing to pay for information, you can get ANYTHING.
And I'd argue my point still stands: Without my name you don't get very far. With my name you have her name, but since she hasn't updated her online contact information in years, I'm skeptical any address that comes up for her is even in the correct state.
There is a university concept known as "academician quarter", that basically says that the professor can be up to 15 minutes late for his classes because reasons,
We had that too: with some informal twists on waiting for teaching fellows (5 minutes) and some fuzzy guidelines about untenured professors and/or associate/assistant professors.
Minute social strata are as much a thing in academia as they are in high society.
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
...aaaaand, we're back in full lockdown starting on Sunday.
I hate people.
I wish they'd lock down DFW. But, I swear, it would lead to anarchy or civil war. People here are so mind-bogglingly stupid.
I wish they'd lock down DFW. But, I swear, it would lead to anarchy or civil war. People here are so mind-bogglingly stupid....aaaaand, we're back in full lockdown starting on Sunday.
I hate people.
Honestly, while the first lockdown got California's numbers down, it was appalling in the sheer number of people who ignored it. About a week in we got some fresh groceries for Shiro. (Cancer in the lungs = Can't risk exposure AT ALL.) We carefully sterilized them, then used the, "Delivering groceries to someone who cannot go outside," exemption to drive them down and drop them off for him. It was mainly to get out of the house, and we were still so uncertain of the virulence of COVID-19 that we didn't come within sight of Shiro (we used gloves to drop the groceries on the porch, then backed up 25' to his sidewalk and talked to him through his screen door from there).
And that week, during the second full week of lockdown, the freeways were about 40% full. During a total, "You should not be outside unless the business you are conducting is vital," lockdown.
This time, with hospitals filling up and Thankpocalypse bearing down on us, the L.A. county sheriff's department went ahead and announced that no, they wouldn't even be enforcing any kind of lockdown.
It's one of my lifelong complaints: Someone in a position of authority says, "Hey, everyone! If you'd accept this moderate inconvenience we'll all be better off in just 6 weeks!" It's a reasonable request.
60% of the population obeys and helps.
40% of the population ignores the rules and spreads the plague like wildfire.
As I tell Impus Major every morning, "Good morning, Impus Major! Welcome to day 264 of our 42-day lockdown!"
And yes, we lost Rivoli because of that 40%. They made it through the first wave, and would have been fine up through September, but that's when the first loan ran out and they gave up. Which was already 6 months into a 6-week lockdown.
Yup. My original contract for this school year was that my class was all essential worker kids, and even if everything else got locked down, we would remain on campus. (There's one classroom like this at each level.) But things are so bad here that this plan got thrown out the window, and parents with EW enrollment agreements are *pissed*. Mostly it's the attitude that, if you're wearing a mask, you can do everything else normally. And the attitude that masks are for fear-mongers and people who hate 'murrica. Because Texas.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Yup. My original contract for this school year was that my class was all essential worker kids, and even if everything else got locked down, we would remain on campus. (There's one classroom like this at each level.) But things are so bad here that this plan got thrown out the window, and parents with EW enrollment agreements are *pissed*. Mostly it's the attitude that, if you're wearing a mask, you can do everything else normally. And the attitude that masks are for fear-mongers and people who hate 'murrica. Because Texas.
Just PLEASE don't get me started on parents right now.
Large-scale experiments in foreign countries, educational research, and personal experience from teaching have all led me to the same exact conclusion: Homework does very little to improve a student's learning, and does very much to destroy a student's enjoyment of learning.
Yet in fact of empirical, concrete evidence that homework is overall harmful, parents nationwide demand more more MORE because good schools assign more homework, right?
Impus Minor had eighteen one-hour homework assignments this week. And he's in only 5 classes. Three of those assignments were for choir. Our choir director never used to assign homework because what kind of homework is there for choir? But parents complained, and she had to start assigning and grading homework because of the parents.
And now parents are driving the whole school reopening thing. In Albany, the pre-schoolers started back in school on November 1, in spite of the virus raging on. This week, an employee had a long social interaction with a COVID-positive co-worker, then went to every pre-school class to check on the kids.
Presumably she didn't have physical contact with the co-worker and disinfected herself before interacting with the kids so it'll all be fine, but we're playing around with a disease that's still killing nearly 1% of the people who get it, that's extremely contagious, and where a staggering percentage of our population is still adamantly opposed to even rudimentary precautions.
Yeah, a lot of Midwestern power moms already feel like they know more than the teachers so "learning pods" are quite popular.
Also private schools are popular because they don't have to follow local public health guidelines, thanks to our supreme court.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Speaking of homework, I'm watching a 45-minute physics video for Impus Minor where he's supposed to answer questions on Newton's Laws of Motion. As usual, he can answer all of the physics questions, but then there are questions such as, "What example did Dr. Hewitt give of the Second Law?" just to force students to prove that they spent 45 minutes watching a physics lecture. On top of the 3 hours of lectures he already gets a week from his physics teacher. On duplicate content.
The one thing that staggers me about the video? I took physics at U.C. Berkeley in the mid-1980s. This lecture would be absolutely, 100% at home there, with NO changes. The props are the same. The physicist's poor sartorial splendor is the same.
Physics lectures haven't changed in 35+ years.
Yeah, a lot of Midwestern power moms already feel like they know more than the teachers so "learning pods" are quite popular.
I'll never forget the time I brought wrong answers to school because my mom was too proud to admit she wasn't the teacher and demanded I do things her way. Ugh.
Speaking of homework, I'm watching a 45-minute physics video for Impus Minor where he's supposed to answer questions on Newton's Laws of Motion. As usual, he can answer all of the physics questions, but then there are questions such as, "What example did Dr. Hewitt give of the Second Law?" just to force students to prove that they spent 45 minutes watching a physics lecture. On top of the 3 hours of lectures he already gets a week from his physics teacher. On duplicate content.
The one thing that staggers me about the video? I took physics at U.C. Berkeley in the mid-1980s. This lecture would be absolutely, 100% at home there, with NO changes. The props are the same. The physicist's poor sartorial splendor is the same.
Physics lectures haven't changed in 35+ years.
that has to be frustrating.
that has to be frustrating.Speaking of homework, I'm watching a 45-minute physics video for Impus Minor where he's supposed to answer questions on Newton's Laws of Motion. As usual, he can answer all of the physics questions, but then there are questions such as, "What example did Dr. Hewitt give of the Second Law?" just to force students to prove that they spent 45 minutes watching a physics lecture. On top of the 3 hours of lectures he already gets a week from his physics teacher. On duplicate content.
The one thing that staggers me about the video? I took physics at U.C. Berkeley in the mid-1980s. This lecture would be absolutely, 100% at home there, with NO changes. The props are the same. The physicist's poor sartorial splendor is the same.
Physics lectures haven't changed in 35+ years.
Oh, the worst is the math teacher. To "help" students "prepare" for his tests, he gives them a list of sample problems to go over.
This time it was "only" 130 problems, most of which are 3-4 part problems.
HOW does giving a student a list of 400 different problems help them prepare for a test in any way, shape or form?
It's like an English teacher saying, "I know you have a vocabulary test on Monday, so please study the letters A and B in the dictionary by then."
The kids wanted to watch a film last night, so we watched one. It had:
*Toads!
*Conventionally attractive blonde scientists!
*Humorous ethnics!
*Small children's bowel movements!
*Whiteperson wedding dancing to BTS!
*Emotionally constipated firefighters ripping their shirts off urglurglurguhuh.
Some of us liked it.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Oh look, white stuff is falling from the sky...
It Begins.
that has to be frustrating.Speaking of homework, I'm watching a 45-minute physics video for Impus Minor where he's supposed to answer questions on Newton's Laws of Motion. As usual, he can answer all of the physics questions, but then there are questions such as, "What example did Dr. Hewitt give of the Second Law?" just to force students to prove that they spent 45 minutes watching a physics lecture. On top of the 3 hours of lectures he already gets a week from his physics teacher. On duplicate content.
The one thing that staggers me about the video? I took physics at U.C. Berkeley in the mid-1980s. This lecture would be absolutely, 100% at home there, with NO changes. The props are the same. The physicist's poor sartorial splendor is the same.
Physics lectures haven't changed in 35+ years.
Oh, the worst is the math teacher. To "help" students "prepare" for his tests, he gives them a list of sample problems to go over.
This time it was "only" 130 problems, most of which are 3-4 part problems.
HOW does giving a student a list of 400 different problems help them prepare for a test in any way, shape or form?
It's like an English teacher saying, "I know you have a vocabulary test on Monday, so please study the letters A and B in the dictionary by then."
indeed. Math teachers remain evil.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Oh look, white stuff is falling from the sky...
It Begins.
AAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Not here, yet. Besides that one day.
Personally I hope it holds off for another couple of weeks.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
indeed. Math teachers remain evil.
It's snarky, nasty, political, and has exceptions for the many dedicated math teachers I've met personally, but in broad strokes, math teachers aren't people who can do math, at least around here. Here are three jobs I qualify for right now and could get apply for at any company in the area with a Ph.D. in math:
(a) $85,000 to work 2470 hours a year with an administration that treats you like dirt, students who treat you like the devil, no overtime, no vacation during the school year, and no "real" sick time during the school year. (I was required to find my own substitute any time I wanted to call in sick.)
(b) $135,000 to work 1800 hours a year with a manager who respects you and co-workers who treat you with awe, plus infinite sick leave, but no overtime
(c) $180,000 to work 2000 hours a year with a manager who sets clear expectations, a team who works with you to get things done, and plenty of overtime.
Unless you're really into self-sacrifice and you have a major martyr complex, you're not going to choose option (a). So people "end up" as math teachers rather than wanting to be math teachers, and the students pay the price.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
indeed. Math teachers remain evil.It's snarky, nasty, political, and has exceptions for the many dedicated math teachers I've met personally, but in broad strokes, math teachers aren't people who can do math, at least around here. Here are three jobs I qualify for right now and could
getapply for at any company in the area with a Ph.D. in math:(a) $85,000 to work 2470 hours a year with an administration that treats you like dirt, students who treat you like the devil, no overtime, no vacation during the school year, and no "real" sick time during the school year. (I was required to find my own substitute any time I wanted to call in sick.)
(b) $135,000 to work 1800 hours a year with a manager who respects you and co-workers who treat you with awe, plus infinite sick leave, but no overtime
(c) $180,000 to work 2000 hours a year with a manager who sets clear expectations, a team who works with you to get things done, and plenty of overtime.
Unless you're really into self-sacrifice and you have a major martyr complex, you're not going to choose option (a). So people "end up" as math teachers rather than wanting to be math teachers, and the students pay the price.
Which is why the best math teacher I had in high school was already semi-retired, had his comfortable life on the edge of a golf course in the middle of nowhere, and took no crap because he didn't care about job or financial security. He was funny, effective, and smart. Similar personality to Shiro, if Shiro were a closeted hillbilly bear.