A story that might had shared before - many-many years ago, when my grandparents had still lived here, so before I was five, possibly before my birth even - my grandmother was called to a local militia department by name but the officer that requested her presence was surprised to see woman near retirement age. My grandmother thought she was called because her son-my uncle illegally fled communist Poland years earlier and settled in Western Germany. There was a prostitute living in our district with the same name and surname, but obviously much younger than my grandmother.So, did you ever get an explanation as to why the local militia officer was bringing in a prostitute?
And I heard that story thirteen or fourteen years after the grandma's death so she couldn't give more details.
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The fourth wall has been built! And no, no one has broken the fourth wall. I used a string line so there is no need to.
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Paladin, or good (k)night, to you too, John!
I assure you, none of this happens.
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I always assumed New York burger joints are more like this , because SNL would not lie to me.
Of course, this was filmed when I was about four, so things may have changed a bit since then.)
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I always assumed New York burger joints are more like this , because SNL would not lie to me.
Of course, this was filmed when I was about four, so things may have changed a bit since then.)
It is exactly like this.
What a guest just asked me: "I'm going to go get my coffee cup from my truck, bring it in here, and fill it up. What do you think about that?"
What I said: "Sounds good."
What I thought: "I don't give a f+&# about you, your truck, or your coffee cup."
Was he trying to be polite? I mean, most places still won't allow you to use your own mug again yet. Even here in Texas.
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Was he trying to be polite? I mean, most places still won't allow you to use your own mug again yet. Even here in Texas.What a guest just asked me: "I'm going to go get my coffee cup from my truck, bring it in here, and fill it up. What do you think about that?"
What I said: "Sounds good."
What I thought: "I don't give a f+&# about you, your truck, or your coffee cup."
He was being a jerk. About so many things.
Well Spock that guy.
Was he trying to be polite? I mean, most places still won't allow you to use your own mug again yet. Even here in Texas.What a guest just asked me: "I'm going to go get my coffee cup from my truck, bring it in here, and fill it up. What do you think about that?"
What I said: "Sounds good."
What I thought: "I don't give a f+&# about you, your truck, or your coffee cup."
I have seen people get booted from eating areas(not sure about the hotel itself) for bringing in their own coffee cups and such. I will say that I have seen this kinda slow down as more and more people have been attempting to use the coffee cups that they purchased not far from the hotel at the convention. Still, it has happened.
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Political, but it tickled me:
Paraphrased from The Independent: "Why do all the election-deniers who won their races now believe the election process is fair?"
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And an update on the jury duty thing: Never attribute to malevolence that which you can attribute to incompetence.
The courts implemented a new system that pulls in data from the IRS. GothBard's data got mangled during the import process.
I'm a certified Informatica implementer. I know something about data migration. The fact that they managed to mangle data on a live implementation?
Heads need to roll.
EDIT: So yes, mistakes happen. However, this process had an auto-deduplication feature that identified GothBard's old and new records, and deleted the old record without bothering to check with a human.
"Hey, neither the names nor birthdates match," is a "flag for human intervention" event. Period.
So either it was flagged and the human mindlessly performed the wrong merge (head roll), or the migration specialist didn't set such a situation up for flagging (head roll).
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You seem to have mighty high expectations for the quality of the work that is performed by government officials and systems when nearly all positions filled on the federal, state, and local level are almost universally done by way of unqualified silver spoon types who marketed their way into office installing their own friends, family, and donors (cough*bribery*cough) into positions of power who then go onto hire/promote whoever is willing to work the most hours for the least pay.
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You seem to have mighty high expectations for the quality of the work that is performed by government officials and systems when nearly all positions filled on the federal, state, and local level are almost universally done by way of unqualified silver spoon types who marketed their way into office installing their own friends, family, and donors (cough*bribery*cough) into positions of power who then go onto hire/promote whoever is willing to work the most hours for the least pay.
Just call me an optimist.
A cranky optimist.
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'Craptimist' is probably not the portmanteau word we want in this instance...
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More seriously, I've worked with government contracting teams, and it's far more, "Middle management types so filled with self-importance that they can't let a day go by without ordering a change to something because it'll make things 'better'."
There was a great example in Oracle's infamous battle with the state of Oregon. Notice that even this blog places the blame squarely at Oracle's feet.
I heard about some of the people at Oracle who worked on this. Yes, the salespeople were overpromising scumbags, but that's pretty much in the soul of every salesperson. Much worse was the state of Oregon changing the requirements on an almost-weekly basis. Instead of saying, "Hey, Oracle! Build this," the state kept getting involved and changing things. Which drove up the bill. Which the state didn't want to pay. Which resulted in a lot of ridiculous acrimony.
And yeah, at the end of the day, Oracle signed a contract that they'd deliver xxx and they failed to deliver xxx so they ended up having to pay a small portion of the overall fiasco. But from the engineers on the ground, it was a constant game of, "Oh, today, we're changing this."
And from my experience with other companies working government contracts, that's pretty much business as usual when working for the government. Which is why all government projects end up over time, over budget, and shoddy work.
A private company will say, "Build this," the implementer will build it, and as changes come up they'll discuss it. When the government says, "Build this," the contractor knows they're in for a decade-long gravy train as the government changes the goalposts every time a manager gets an itch to "do something".
[Redacted for politics]
FHTAGN I need to get out of this country.
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I had a rain day today so of course I decided to trip the same teleportation trap a second time in Elden Ring, because maybe this time it's actually treasure (it was not).
However I made enough progress in the ghost wizard town to open some gate somewhere that had been sealed shut. Which got the ghost wizards are riled up. So I ended up hiding in the bushes at the point of grace on the edge of town hoping it all sorts itself out.
More seriously, I've worked with government contracting teams, and it's far more, "Middle management types so filled with self-importance that they can't let a day go by without ordering a change to something because it'll make things 'better'."
There was a great example in Oracle's infamous battle with the state of Oregon. Notice that even this blog places the blame squarely at Oracle's feet.
I heard about some of the people at Oracle who worked on this. Yes, the salespeople were overpromising scumbags, but that's pretty much in the soul of every salesperson. Much worse was the state of Oregon changing the requirements on an almost-weekly basis. Instead of saying, "Hey, Oracle! Build this," the state kept getting involved and changing things. Which drove up the bill. Which the state didn't want to pay. Which resulted in a lot of ridiculous acrimony.
And yeah, at the end of the day, Oracle signed a contract that they'd deliver xxx and they failed to deliver xxx so they ended up having to pay a small portion of the overall fiasco. But from the engineers on the ground, it was a constant game of, "Oh, today, we're changing this."
And from my experience with other companies working government contracts, that's pretty much business as usual when working for the government. Which is why all government projects end up over time, over budget, and shoddy work.
A private company will say, "Build this," the implementer will build it, and as changes come up they'll discuss it. When the government says, "Build this," the contractor knows they're in for a decade-long gravy train as the government changes the goalposts every time a manager gets an itch to "do something".
overpromising scumbags should get no more of a free pass than the people who signed a poorly worded agreement, or the people who made the project more work than it needed to be.
Dirty hands all around.
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I wanted to wait until I could get some pictures posted, but that looks like it'll be in the far-off future. Plus, I got to bed around 12:50 am and woke up at 5:03 am, and I adhere to the, "Don't post important stuff on under 5 hours' sleep" paradigm.
The concert was awesome. As expected, Shiro and I had a nice standing spot at a railing about 25' (8m fer you furriners) from the band. GothBard and Impus Major were on the rail, where band members were literally reaching out and handing things to audience members. GothBard got an amazing picture of Yannis mugging for her.
The incredibly gratifying thing about the concert was how obviously happy we (the audience) made the performers. We were looking at Floor frickin' Jansen. She plays to 75,000+ without batting an eye. Yet watching us dance in the tiny theater (holds 2300 max), her grin grew wider and wider, and by about 2/3 of the way into the concert when the spontaneous mosh pit broke out she was positively giddy with glee, skipping and dancing and grinning like she was having the most fun ever.
I've watched over a dozen live performances by Floor on YouTube. I've never seen her beaming that broadly on any of them.
Best moment of the concert: Floor and Troy sang an utterly beautiful acoustical duet while the rest of the band was resting. The crowd went nuts. Floor responded, "Thank you so much! I love you!"
And an audience member yelled out, "No! Thank YOU! That was an amazing variation! We love YOU!"
Floor quite nearly lost her composure. In a venue less than 1/10th the size of the ones they play in Europe.
It was awesome.
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As an aside, it's really gratifying going to live shows again because of the sheer bliss expressed by the performers. We saw Halestorm and Evanescence a month or two ago, and both Lizzie Hale and Amy Lee couldn't stop smiling and expressing their sheer joy at being in front of live audiences again.
I know "big" performers have an incredible need to be in front of people, but it's not just an "ego" thing -- it really is a happiness thing for them.
I wanted to wait until I could get some pictures posted, but that looks like it'll be in the far-off future. Plus, I got to bed around 12:50 am and woke up at 5:03 am, and I adhere to the, "Don't post important stuff on under 5 hours' sleep" paradigm.
The concert was awesome. As expected, Shiro and I had a nice standing spot at a railing about 25' (8m fer you furriners) from the band. GothBard and Impus Major were on the rail, where band members were literally reaching out and handing things to audience members. GothBard got an amazing picture of Yannis mugging for her.
The incredibly gratifying thing about the concert was how obviously happy we (the audience) made the performers. We were looking at Floor frickin' Jansen. She plays to 75,000+ without batting an eye. Yet watching us dance in the tiny theater (holds 2300 max), her grin grew wider and wider, and by about 2/3 of the way into the concert when the spontaneous mosh pit broke out she was positively giddy with glee, skipping and dancing and grinning like she was having the most fun ever.
I've watched over a dozen live performances by Floor on YouTube. I've never seen her beaming that broadly on any of them.
Best moment of the concert: Floor and Troy sang an utterly beautiful acoustical duet while the rest of the band was resting. The crowd went nuts. Floor responded, "Thank you so much! I love you!"
And an audience member yelled out, "No! Thank YOU! That was an amazing variation! We love YOU!"
Floor quite nearly lost her composure. In a venue less than 1/10th the size of the ones they play in Europe.It was awesome.
Sounds fun.
No idea who any of those people are though.
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*SIGH*. Visiting the corner stores these days is an exercise in frustration and sadness.
I 100% understand the quality reduction in the produce section; the old owner was obsessive about heading out to San Francisco at 3:30 am every morning to get the best possible produce for his store. You can't expect the new owners to be that dedicated, but you're still sad that your produce isn't as good.
I somewhat understand changing up the inventory; maybe the old owner had a soft spot for keeping items that didn't sell all that well on the shelves. But it's striking that the new owners managed to set up an entire aisle of cookies and crackers I'm not interested in. The cheese section has been devastated. And I can no longer count on popping over to the corner store for an urgent bottle of mirin or mango chutney.
But what's baffling is their utterly incompetent inventory management. They were out of apple juice of any kind for 2+ weeks, because they didn't understand the difference between juice and cider so they didn't order any. They were out of Cheerios until I recommended they stock it because they're unfamiliar with American tastes in breakfast cereals. And this week was a classic example of my "new" experience at the market:
Monday: Dinner: Fish Tacos
Requirements from store: Tortillas, taco shells, romaine lettuce, Mexican cheese blend.
Store was sold out of: Taco shells, Mexican cheese blend
I made do with soft shell tacos and grating and mixing my own cheese.
Thursday: Dinner: Chili Dogs
Requirements from store: Hebrew National hot dogs
Store was sold out of: Hebrew National hot dogs
And it's that way every single time I go there. I'll have 8-10 items on my shopping list, and the store will be sold out of at least 3 of those items. If I tell the owner he says, "Oh, thanks! I'll order more of those," but it doesn't seem like he pays any attention at all to his shelves until a customer complains.
It's not a good way to run a store, and if I have to go to Androniways anyway every time the corner store isn't carrying something I need that day, then why am I going to the corner store at all?
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Favorite quote describing me.
"Friday Yesterday gives zero f!&%s!" - Firefighter Curt helping me install steps.
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*SIGH*. Visiting the corner stores these days is an exercise in frustration and sadness.
I 100% understand the quality reduction in the produce section; the old owner was obsessive about heading out to San Francisco at 3:30 am every morning to get the best possible produce for his store. You can't expect the new owners to be that dedicated, but you're still sad that your produce isn't as good.
I somewhat understand changing up the inventory; maybe the old owner had a soft spot for keeping items that didn't sell all that well on the shelves. But it's striking that the new owners managed to set up an entire aisle of cookies and crackers I'm not interested in. The cheese section has been devastated. And I can no longer count on popping over to the corner store for an urgent bottle of mirin or mango chutney.
But what's baffling is their utterly incompetent inventory management. They were out of apple juice of any kind for 2+ weeks, because they didn't understand the difference between juice and cider so they didn't order any. They were out of Cheerios until I recommended they stock it because they're unfamiliar with American tastes in breakfast cereals. And this week was a classic example of my "new" experience at the market:
Monday: Dinner: Fish Tacos
Requirements from store: Tortillas, taco shells, romaine lettuce, Mexican cheese blend.
Store was sold out of: Taco shells, Mexican cheese blend
I made do with soft shell tacos and grating and mixing my own cheese.Thursday: Dinner: Chili Dogs
Requirements from store: Hebrew National hot dogs
Store was sold out of: Hebrew National hot dogsAnd it's that way every single time I go there. I'll have 8-10 items on my shopping list, and the store will be sold out of at least 3 of those items. If I tell the owner he says, "Oh, thanks! I'll order more of those," but it doesn't seem like he pays any attention at all to his shelves until a customer complains.
It's not a good way to run a store, and if I have to go to Androniways...
It happens. Watched it happen to Brooklyn/Manhattan to a MUCH lesser extent. It happens man, and it sucks.
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an urgent bottle of mirin or mango chutney.
While I don't disagree with your overall point, I will submit that there is no such thing as "an urgent bottle of mirin or mango chutney".
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Beast in Black posted about the concert on their Instagram account...
...and if you zoom in on the picture there in the front row on the right you can see GothBard (in the mask) and Impus Major (in the leather and black cowboy hat), just to the left of the Guy in Blue.
Yep. That's how close they were.
EDIT: Oh, and apparently the guy just to the left of me and Shiro recorded Ghost Love Score at the concert, because that's about the view we had.
Hello, everyone.
Good evening, John!
an urgent bottle of mirin or mango chutney.While I don't disagree with your overall point, I will submit that there is no such thing as "an urgent bottle of mirin or mango chutney".
You only say that because they're too fast for you to see.
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an urgent bottle of mirin or mango chutney.While I don't disagree with your overall point, I will submit that there is no such thing as "an urgent bottle of mirin or mango chutney".
Says a man who's never had my lamb curry.
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Gotta give props where props are due: Impus Minor is now officially a registered voter, and will be voting in the California primaries.
By my recollection, I filled out the form on Saturday the 7th, mailed it in on Sunday the 8th, and Impus Minor just got his voting packet on the 19th.
Full voter registration in under 2 weeks. I am impressed.
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Gotta give props where props are due: Impus Minor is now officially a registered voter, and will be voting in the California primaries.
By my recollection, I filled out the form on Saturday the 7th, mailed it in on Sunday the 8th, and Impus Minor just got his voting packet on the 19th.
Full voter registration in under 2 weeks. I am impressed.
Get that young man another beverage and snack of his choice on me.
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Says a man who's never had my lamb curry.an urgent bottle of mirin or mango chutney.While I don't disagree with your overall point, I will submit that there is no such thing as "an urgent bottle of mirin or mango chutney".
I am most likely the only person here mentally seeing this exchange as a Catherine Tate sketch, but it would be brilliant.
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Says a man who's never had my lamb curry.an urgent bottle of mirin or mango chutney.While I don't disagree with your overall point, I will submit that there is no such thing as "an urgent bottle of mirin or mango chutney".
You DON'T make your own chutney?!! That'll never get you to the MasterChef finale!
Y'know, if it weren't such an obvious Smurfstorm, I'd feel like Crunchyroll was trying to rip me off:
- In November of 2020 they told me they were merging with VRV, so I needed a VRV subscription. I went ahead and followed their instructions
- This month we couldn't get past episode 130 of the dubbed One Piece (possibly the only anime series in history where the dub is better than the sub, but then you find out that the writer himself hand-picked all the American voice actors, so it suddenly makes sense), so I subscribed to Funimation
- I started getting news of Funimation merging with Crunchyroll and found that Crunchyroll has an independent site again and I thought, "Wait a minute! Why am I paying for this VRV thing?"
And the history is very, very stupid.
That's not clever businesspeople trying to bilk consumers out of every last penny; that's small-time shops stabbing each other in the back repeatedly over licensing fees, leaving consumers lost, dizzy, and frustrated.
Fortunately, I'm in a position where I really don't care. I'll pay the extra $8/month to keep both memberships until they figure out what the heck they're doing. But wow... what a mess!
EDIT: YESSS! Smurfette! The only hot Smurf!
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Y'know, if it weren't such an obvious Smurfstorm, I'd feel like Crunchyroll was trying to rip me off:
- In November of 2020 they told me they were merging with VRV, so I needed a VRV subscription. I went ahead and followed their instructions
- This month we couldn't get past episode 130 of the dubbed One Piece (possibly the only anime series in history where the dub is better than the sub, but then you find out that the writer himself hand-picked all the American voice actors, so it suddenly makes sense), so I subscribed to Funimation
- I started getting news of Funimation merging with Crunchyroll and found that Crunchyroll has an independent site again and I thought, "Wait a minute! Why am I paying for this VRV thing?"And the history is very, very stupid.
That's not clever businesspeople trying to bilk consumers out of every last penny; that's small-time shops stabbing each other in the back repeatedly over licensing fees, leaving consumers lost, dizzy, and frustrated.
Fortunately, I'm in a position where I really don't care. I'll pay the extra $8/month to keep both memberships until they figure out what the heck they're doing. But wow... what a mess!
EDIT: YESSS! Smurfette! The only hot Smurf!
I kinda liked Handy Smurf.