
gran rey de los mono |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
What kinda superpowers?
Mine involve shapeshifting away my duds, apparently.
I saw a bit of a comic earlier, where a superhero has captured a villain. The conversation went something like this:
Hero: "How do you keep escaping from jail."Villain: "A friend hooked me up with a forged metahuman registration. That way I get put into superjail. There's a breakout every week or two and I just go along."
Hero: "So what is your power supposed to be."
Villain: "The power to psychically control bears."
Hero: "What? Why?"
Villain: "The only to prove that I can't is to bring over some bears from a zoo and ask me to control them. And that has all sorts of animal rights issues attached. And if I actually could control the bears, they would have to deal with bears."
Hero: "Okay, makes sense. Do you like bears?"
Villain: "Oh, f#+# no! Scared to death of them."
Hero: "Then why choose bears as your power?"
Villain: "This way the government has a vested interest in keeping bears as far away from me as possible."

NobodysHome |
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I swear, kittens learn so young! The FlufferNutter gets special food to keep her weight up -- think feeding an old lady McDonald's every night to get her enough calories, and trying to keep three kittens out of the junk food.
So Fluffy has learned that the FlufferNutter's food tastes better, and cheerfully tries to follow me into the bedroom when I'm feeding her. Today I was trying to put the food out before I brought the FlufferNutter in. She followed me.
The entire conversation:
NobodysHome: You know darned well you don't get this food!
Fluffy: Rubs against my leg.
NH: (more sternly). No. This isn't for you.
Fluffy: Gazes straight into my eyes hopefully.
NH: (even more forcefully still). No!
Fluffy: Does a little bear, standing on her hind paws and reaching towards me hopefully.
Yes, I broke. One of our first two cats ever was "my little bear" and she'd stand on her hind legs to accept treats and get pets. It was unbearable. I had to make a new bowl of food for the Fluffernutter. Damned cuteness manipulator!

gran rey de los mono |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I would like to say that whoever decided that our passwords at work have to be at least 12 characters long can drown in a burning sewer. Do they not realize how often we have to type this f&+#ers in? Like, on an average night, I have to type it in at least 12 to 15 times. I would hate to be 2nd shift, because every check-in you gotta type your password. Plus, about half the paperwork we print out, you gotta type your password. It doesn't even have the little stars or whatever to show how many characters you've typed, so if the computer is being stupid slow (fairly common) you don't know that it didn't register all the keystrokes.
In short, it f#%~ing sucks.

lisamarlene |
5 people marked this as a favorite. |

Hermione is 14 today. I took her out last night after ballet and she got to pick out her first pair of Doc martens. She picked the ones with the embroidered roses on the side. So very on brand. Meanwhile, her favorite cake is red velvet, but I have a tradition of changing the color to fit the theme so since we're doing a Wicked theme this year, I did one layer Elphaba green and one layer Galinda pink.

NobodysHome |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

Gods, Blacky is demonstrating why I never approve of getting male cats. At 10 weeks old he was an absolute sweetheart. Now that he's maturing, the testosterone has kicked in and he's trying to be the dominant creature in the household. He attacks Fluffy and Stripey. Since he's bigger than Stripey, he attacks her 'til she squeals in distress. Fortunately, Fluffy is an amazing big sister and protects her. This morning he tried to attack the FlufferNutter with his claws out. The cuff from me sent him tumbling and he was like, "Holy crap! That guy hits hard!!!"
But he routinely attacks Stripey, Fluffy, the FlufferNutter, and me whenever he gets frustrated with me. Today at the vet we'll be learning just how soon we can remove his equipment.
And the problem is, once you remove a male cat's gear, they become little more than a vibrating meatloaf. Other people love these cuddly warm docile fur buddies. I prefer a cat with personality that charts its own path. With male cats, I get, "Unfixed complete d*** who pees everywhere," or, "Fixed cuddly meatloaf."
I'd prefer a cat, thanks. Which is why I am now adamant I'll never own another male cat.
Ah, well. I'm sure the kids will appreciate Lumpy.

Scintillae |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |

I would like to say that whoever decided that our passwords at work have to be at least 12 characters long can drown in a burning sewer. Do they not realize how often we have to type this f&%%ers in? Like, on an average night, I have to type it in at least 12 to 15 times. I would hate to be 2nd shift, because every check-in you gotta type your password. Plus, about half the paperwork we print out, you gotta type your password. It doesn't even have the little stars or whatever to show how many characters you've typed, so if the computer is being stupid slow (fairly common) you don't know that it didn't register all the keystrokes.
In short, it f&*!ing sucks.
F*ckP4$$w0rdz! would qualify under most metrics.

NobodysHome |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |

On the other hand, the relationship between Stripey and Fluffy is utterly heart-melting. Fluffy's on antibiotics and so gets special food over lunch. Because Blacky, I have to lock her in our room so she can eat in peace. So I left her there.
About 20 minutes later, Stripey started screaming horrifically. Impus Major and I went rushing to find her. She was at our bedroom door. I opened it. She raced in, found Fluffy, touched noses, started purring, and visibly relaxed. She simply did not want to be away from her adopted sister for that long.
SOoooo sweet!

Purrbarian Brothers |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |

Today, we were captured by Demonic Servitors who had taken on the appearance of the kindly giants who normally give us food and tickles, trapped in cages, despite a truly titanic struggle*, and taken off to the Hellish lair of the Dread Sorcerer VETNA-YARA-YOON, who prodded our tummies and anointed us with foul unguents, no doubt in preparation for sacrificing us to his eldritch, unknowable masters.
Luckily, we escaped**, since our savage spirits and raw-edged blades surrender to none, and emerged rich in treasure and experience, having learned that I (Sneaker) am far too looooooong in the thews and need a bigger cat carrier, and I (Squeaker) have my podge on, and require fewer cat biscuits and/or no more second breakfasts at the neighbours' houses.
* Mild howling and wriggling.
** They got their flea treatment and were taken home immediately afterwards

NobodysHome |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

On the subject of pets, I think this article is a very solid test.
The TL;DR version is that a Delta airlines flight was diverted for 2.5 hours because a dog on board had a medical emergency. There are two basic camps: "Good on them for stopping even to save a dog!", or, "How dare they? It was just a dog! The owner should pay the airline AND all of us for the inconvenience!"
As you could guess, I am strongly in the former camp. We've started flying Delta more and more often because they apparently took all the negative PR flack over the years and actually tried to fix things. Their flights are on time, and in general far more pleasant than most. And articles like this one make me think, "I should fly Delta more."
...except their hub is in SFO instead of OAK, adding an hour each way to the trip to the airport, so it's a heck of a time sink just for a nicer flight.

NobodysHome |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

Today, we were captured by Demonic Servitors who had taken on the appearance of the kindly giants who normally give us food and tickles, trapped in cages, despite a truly titanic struggle*, and taken off to the Hellish lair of the Dread Sorcerer VETNA-YARA-YOON, who prodded our tummies and anointed us with foul unguents, no doubt in preparation for sacrificing us to his eldritch, unknowable masters.
Luckily, we escaped**, since our savage spirits and raw-edged blades surrender to none, and emerged rich in treasure and experience, having learned that I (Sneaker) am far too looooooong in the thews and need a bigger cat carrier, and I (Squeaker) have my podge on, and require fewer cat biscuits and/or no more second breakfasts at the neighbours' houses.
* Mild howling and wriggling.
** They got their flea treatment and were taken home immediately afterwards
I'm taking Blacky and Stripey to the vet today and on the pre-check-in form they asked, "Why are you bringing them in today?"
And my answer was, "I have no idea. YOU made the appointment. I hope YOU know or all we're doing is petting kittens for an hour."
gran rey de los mono |
gran rey de los mono wrote:F*ckP4$$w0rdz! would qualify under most metrics.I would like to say that whoever decided that our passwords at work have to be at least 12 characters long can drown in a burning sewer. Do they not realize how often we have to type this f&%%ers in? Like, on an average night, I have to type it in at least 12 to 15 times. I would hate to be 2nd shift, because every check-in you gotta type your password. Plus, about half the paperwork we print out, you gotta type your password. It doesn't even have the little stars or whatever to show how many characters you've typed, so if the computer is being stupid slow (fairly common) you don't know that it didn't register all the keystrokes.
In short, it f&*!ing sucks.
True, but it is even longer than necessary, making it even more annoying to type. Also, I personally hate replacing letters with numbers or special characters unless I am doing some l33t speak to make fun of someone or something.

Limeylongears |

*hears talk of veterinarians*
*shivers at memories, attempts to hide under couch*
*looks ridiculous as he is twice the size of the couch, thus can only fit a tiny portion of his beak underneath it*
*still looks adorkably cute*
(yes, that is adorkably, as in adorably dorky)
Why not wear it like a hat?

NobodysHome |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

So, GothBard was trying to make a "cat tier list".
S Tier: Pussywillow, Sekhmet, Calliope
A+/S- Tier: Calypso (my little bear. I'd argue, but GothBard is probably right)
A Tier: The Fluffernutter
B Tier:
C Tier: Sama (Bringer of Death), The Cranky Calico (she was actually a decent cat until her final few years)
D Tier:
F Tier: Pearl. (Two brain cells: "Eat. Hide.")
So, where do our new cats fit in?
Morrigan, aka Stripey: Solid A. Maybe even an S. Has HUGE promise.
Mephisto Q. Meatball the Magnificent, aka Blacky: Most likely a C.
Lenore, aka Fluffy: "I think we need to introduce an SS tier."

Adorable Fuzzball |

So, GothBard was trying to make a "cat tier list".
S Tier: Pussywillow, Sekhmet, Calliope
A+/S- Tier: Calypso (my little bear. I'd argue, but GothBard is probably right)
A Tier: The Fluffernutter
B Tier:
C Tier: Sama (Bringer of Death), The Cranky Calico (she was actually a decent cat until her final few years)
D Tier:
F Tier: Pearl. (Two brain cells: "Eat. Hide.")So, where do our new cats fit in?
Morrigan, aka Stripey: Solid A. Maybe even an S. Has HUGE promise.
Mephisto Q. Meatball the Magnificent, aka Blacky: Most likely a C.
Lenore, aka Fluffy: "I think we need to introduce an SS tier."
The most effective manipulator is up for S+ tier. Top class cat behavior.

NobodysHome |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

I swear, all the memes about infants and baby animals determinedly and forcefully hurtling themselves towards deadly situations were produced by actual pet owners/parents.
The kittens' favorite toys? Any nails, tacks, or other sharp metal objects they find that they can pick up in their mouths and endanger themselves. We caught Blacky chewing happily on a potentially poisonous plant. They have an entire living room dedicated to cat trees and tunnels to produce a 3D playground for them (and they love it), but if it's sharp and potentially deadly, they're attracted to it like magnets.
The other delight is their choice in toys. There are cat toys strewn all over the house. Two of them are of the, "Dangly thing on a stick" variety. So of course they love grabbing the dangly bit and dragging the stick noisily all over the house. This morning I watched in astonishment as Stripey (aka Morrigan, A or S tier) went at a full run through one of the cat doors pulling one such stick behind her and managed (either intentionally or unintentionally) to have the string across her back so the stick flew through the door with her easily.
She's scary-smart and barely tops 3 pounds. She's going to be a monster. I expect many, many dead small critters on our deck once she's allowed outside without human supervision.

NobodysHome |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |


gran rey de los mono |
Regarding the Norman Invasion of England:
"Hey man, if the Normans are controlling England that's very different than if the Northman are controlling England. I mean it's not like the Normans were named after the Northmen or anything."
"That's my other favorite thing about 1066. It's like 'Oh, no! The Viking king of England defeated the Viking king of Norway, but then lost to the Viking king of Normandy. Guess the Vikings are in charge again.'"
S: "You've got the English Vikings, the Danish Vikings, the Norwegian Vikings, or you got the French Vikings."
A: "No no no. You had the boat Vikings, the land Vikings, and the horse Vikings."

Drejk |

I am looking at the reviews of Elden Ring: Nightreign and...
Uh... I see a lot of nice things that I would love to play with, improved movement, class skills, and such, but the fact that the game is not scaled for solo play, and the tight time limit for a run (two days lasting 20 minutes each, and the final boss fight, that leave little time for exploration and actually getting used to game) make me rather reluctant for foreseeable future...
Now I wonder, if NobodysGroup is masochistic enough to give it a try...

NobodysHome |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |

NobodysHome wrote:** spoiler omitted **** spoiler omitted **

NobodysHome |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

I am looking at the reviews of Elden Ring: Nightreign and...
Uh... I see a lot of nice things that I would love to play with, improved movement, class skills, and such, but the fact that the game is not scaled for solo play, and the tight time limit for a run (two days lasting 20 minutes each, and the final boss fight, that leave little time for exploration and actually getting used to game) make me rather reluctant for foreseeable future...
Now I wonder, if NobodysGroup is masochistic enough to give it a try...
So, when a game asks, "Are you hardcore enough to beat our game?", our answer is an immediate, "Nope," and we take our money elsewhere.
Right now we're thoroughly enjoying Solasta, which answers the question, "What if Baldur's Gate skipped all those convoluted plotlines and personal relationships and just focused on implementing 5e rules well with a straightforward AP from level 1-20."
So, it's simplistic and linear and the relationships are paper-thin. But it's a 5e campaign the three of us can play together without an eccentric GM trying to "make things more interesting" for us by changing all the rules.

NobodysHome |
4 people marked this as a favorite. |

Speaking of S-class kittens...
...you know all those videos that show crows sledding on snowy rooftops and how it's proof of their intelligence?
GothBard and Impus Major were cleaning up from Impus Minor's game and leaned the whiteboard against the table. Stripey tried to scramble up it and slid back down. So she tried again. And immediately got the hang of it, jumping up to the table, jumping onto the whiteboard, and sliding down over and over again. Fluffy heard her and came to investigate, and soon the two of them were getting into wrestling matches at the top of the board, tipping themselves over onto the board, and then sliding down paw in paw.
Take that, crows!

gran rey de los mono |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Karl Marx wrote about Communism because he didn't want to get a job. This inspired Lenin, who took it to Russia. The Russians said the Communism must spread, so they invaded Afghanistan. Osama Bin Laden didn't like this, so he founded Al Qaeda to fight back. The US backed Al Qaeda in order to blunt the spread of Communism. After the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan, Bin Laden then turned on the West, specifically the US. Dick Cheney convinced George W Bush to ignore the CIA, and thus 9/11 happened. Gerard Way sees 9/11, says 'That sucks' and writes some songs for his newly formed band, My Chemical Romance. Those songs then inspire Stephanie Meyer to write a bunch of books about vampires and werewolves. Then E.L. James reads the Twilight books and says 'You know what this series needs? Fewer vampires and more BDSM' and writes 50 Shades of Grey. Thus, Karl Marx is responsible for 50 Shades."

Drejk |

Drejk wrote:Elections.
Grumble, fumble, bumble...
People are dying to vote!
No, seriously, apparently there were at least two incidents when people came to vote and died - 97 old lady and 84 year old man. In the first case, she fainted before she received her voting card.
In this (second) round of presidential elections, we have one casualty so far (and over two more hours to go) - a 75 year old fainted while voting and died on the way to hospital.

NobodysHome |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

Drejk wrote:In this (second) round of presidential elections, we have one casualty so far (and over two more hours to go) - a 75 year old fainted while voting and died on the way to hospital.Drejk wrote:Elections.
Grumble, fumble, bumble...
People are dying to vote!
No, seriously, apparently there were at least two incidents when people came to vote and died - 97 old lady and 84 year old man. In the first case, she fainted before she received her voting card.
That's some voter dedication, there...
Speaking of getting old, once you're in your 50s or 60s you're likely to suffer from a posterior vitreous detachment (PVD), where your retina slowly pulls itself away from the gel that fills your eyeball. As long as it happens slowly and doesn't tear the retina, it's just an annoyance...
...*but*, if you're like me, and you spend all day every day doing physical labor, it can get really annoying.
I just emptied the studio shed onto the lawn. Stood up. Saw a sea of floaters saying, "Stop all physical activity NOW".
So my kitchen and lawn are going to be full of crap for DAYS, because it's not just, "Stop working for a few hours to let it fix itself," it's, "Give it at least a week."
I'll see whether I can get the kids to throw stuff back in the shed.
*SIGH*.
The only good part about getting old is that it beats the alternative.