Lounge random thoughts/stories thread -- CURRENT

[Diabolical]

I don't like going to see doctors. Too many "fun" experiences in the military. Took 'em almost a month to properly diagnose me with mono - they thought it was Hep C. Also, took 5 months to get my knee examined to the point where they found out I have OCD (ortho-condritis dessicans).

In short, don't like going to doctors. Problem: I have a foursome of rashes on my extremeties. Spent most of the last week elevating what the fuck was wrong from contact dermatitis to ringworm to christ I'm dying. Online medical things are a cesspool of death and doom and all natural remedy fantasists.

10 minutes with the dermatologist: Relax, it's hives. No problem. Put this shit on twice a day and take this anti-histamine once a day for a few weeks. Result: Yeah. Feeling better and piece of mind. First reassuring doctor visit I've had in about 15 years.

 

[Diabolical]

The mobile version (m.meincmagazine.com) hasn't gone all wired/awful yet. I am going to take the time to set up an rss reader today though. I quit going to other tech sites because of looks similar to this. Recommendations on a good rss reader? One for desktop, one for iPads?

 

[Diabolical]

sliver7[/url]":3m9q1p0n]

Diabolical[/url]":3m9q1p0n]The mobile version (m.meincmagazine.com) hasn't gone all wired/awful yet. I am going to take the time to set up an rss reader today though. I quit going to other tech sites because of looks similar to this. Recommendations on a good rss reader? One for desktop, one for iPads?

Feedly. Web interface and various other platforms. I switched to it when Google shut down Reader.

thanks sliv. Much appreciated.

 

[Diabolical]

asbath[/url]":rbggg1th]

Diabolical[/url]":rbggg1th]

sliver7[/url]":rbggg1th]

Diabolical[/url]":rbggg1th]The mobile version (m.meincmagazine.com) hasn't gone all wired/awful yet. I am going to take the time to set up an rss reader today though. I quit going to other tech sites because of looks similar to this. Recommendations on a good rss reader? One for desktop, one for iPads?

Feedly. Web interface and various other platforms. I switched to it when Google shut down Reader.

thanks sliv. Much appreciated.

I am always surprised that more people don't know about Feedly. It's great. (though, I prefer gReader on my phone, just a better interface is all).

I've been a holdout on RSS feeds. Then, all of my favorite sites started "improving". Much like Ars just did. So, no more front page for me. This is much better.

 

[Diabolical]

PSA:

Webcast for the Atlas 5 launch starts about nowish (0710 Pacific, 1010 Eastern, 1410Z). Launch is supposed to be at 0730.

Man am I glad I'm not at work today. The ops floor is going to be stuffed with people. Launch and first acquisition always includes a shit ton of people that don't actually fly the damn satellites.

Linky: https://spaceflightnow.com/2016/06/23/av063_journal/
Other Linky: http://www.ulalaunch.com/


Edit:

The ULA ops centers look so much better than the one I work at for the navy. :/

 

[Diabolical]

I've got so much adrenaline in my system right now that my hands are shaking. The crash from this is going to be epic.

Also, fuck my neighbors. All of them. They've been lighting off fireworks at random times for the past three hours. Every time I start to calm down, BOOM cracklecracklecrackle.

Fuck you neighbors. Fuck you PTSD. This goes on much longer, I'm going to work and sleeping on a cot.

 

[Diabolical]

It's going to be in the upper 90's tomorrow because of the Santa Ana winds. I've done the snow thing. I'll take the increased electric bill due to the A/C running all day and the heat, thank you. My parents feel the same way. Central Oregon gets freakish snowfalls every couple of years. They don't like it. So they are doing the snowbird thing and wintering in Mesa. Drove 'em around the Phoenix area in my new ride earlier in the week. Was a good day.

In other news, 5000+ words into a new story/book today! Most writing I've done in a single sitting since climbing onto the wagon last year. I'm ecstatic!

 

[Diabolical]

Z, also something to look at:

You're looking at only a 20 minute drive to the arena from Sun City, and Coyotes tickets are bound to be much cheaper than Wings tickets. Planning on heading over that way in March to visit my folks. It just so happens that the Blues and the Wings are going to be in town at about the same time.

 

[Diabolical]

Friday: 1tb WD 850 evo’s finally drop under $300. Yes please, I’ll take two.

Saturday: Backing up my stuff, oh yeah!

Sunday night: While playing Diablo 3 with my dad:

Windows has experienced a fatal error.

Screen goes black, primary HDD spins up to try to take flight, and I hear the most horrifying noise; click click click click click click click. Primary disk - fail boat of Poseidon Adventure proportions.

Now: New SSD’s installed, about to install the OS. Wish me luck.

Edit: well, the first run didn’t go well. OS install, number 2! After the first big windows update, bios lost both ssd’s. Swapped cables, aaaaand were back! But the OS is corrupted to shit because it nuked itself during the update process. Oh joy!

I hate this. I fucking HATE installing windows. HATE HATE HATE-ITY HATEHATEHATE!!!!

 

[Diabolical]

Thomas Fire is about 9 miles away (I’m in Oxnard). 90,000 acres, reports range from 0% to 5% containment. Smoke and air quality is pretty bad - the wind shifted and pushed most of the smoke back onshore. Eyes are extremely dry, and it smells like a massive campfire everywhere around town.

The good news? Wind is going to shift again tonight, push the smoke back out to sea. Bad news? Those winds are going to be gusting up to hurricane force. What little containment they may have now possibly won’t be there come daylight.

Friend of mine lived in the apartment complex that went up Monday night in Ventura, she’s living with her sister for now. Several of my coworkers live within a few blocks of the fire. A couple of them live down LA way, may not be able to get to work if the Skirball Fire (405) spins up really bad because of the winds overnight.

Shitty.

Edit: and I’m pretty sure some jackass just shot off some fireworks. Fucking morons.

 

[Diabolical]

Fire update:

Fire is out to 115,000 acres. News is reporting 96k, but this site shows the actual current extent of the fire:
https://maps.nwcg.gov/sa/#/%3F/34.3929/-119.122/10

Compare that to the officialy published maps that have it at 96,000... yeah. This thing is only about 3 miles from Carpinteria now. The good news, the wind is blowing the fire and smoke away from me and most of my friends and coworkers. The bad news? Yeah, it's getting bigger, and wind speeds on the peaks are sustaining mid-30 nauts and gusting to over 50 nauts (looking at a, anemometer readout about 6 feet to my right).

Drzzt, thanks for the offer. If things get that bad, I'm taking all of my leave and going to visit my folks in Phoenix.

 

[Diabolical]

101 is currently open both ways, but it was closed for quite some time earlier. The fire is high up on the slopes right now. But considering the Santa Ana winds, that might change.

 

[Diabolical]

Now on day 2 of attempt number 2 to quit smoking. Using help this time - first time was cold turkey, and I don’t have a week to feel miserable. Still sucks, but not nearly as bad.

Also, I have two cracked ribs and a torn left rotator cuff. Because if one shitty thing wasn’t enough.

Also, mad bad heartburn. Pretty sure it’s from these nicotine lozenges I’m using.

 

[Diabolical]

Hope your kitty pulls through. Sounds pretty terrible. Also...

*looks at username (mountain and ski resort)
*looks at name of kitty (capital city of state containing said mountain and resort)
*looks at tribus

Something here is not like the others...

In other news, one week of not smoking in the books. These lozenge things are helping a lot. I’ve also gone from 10 a day the first two days to now struggling to get to six (their plan calls “for at least 9 per day the first six weeks”).

 

[Diabolical]

3 weeks in, starting the fourth week today.

No cigarettes or back sliding. I’m also working out 4-5 times a week for the first time in 10 years. God damn but do I feel good about myself, and just better in general.

Down to 4-5 of these lozenge things a day. According to the paperwork supplied by Nicorrette, I’m supposed to be in the 9/day phase for at least 3 more weeks. I thought the point of quitting smoking, beyond actually stopping the constant inhalation of smoke and carcinogens, was to break the nicotine addiction...

Or was it to pay money to the makers of these products?

Anyway, yay.

 

[Diabolical]

I have jury duty next week. First time I'm actually going to be here for it.

First call - uh, sorry, I'm stationed in Germany.
Second call - I'm in Iraq!
Third Call - I don't live in Oregon anymore.

Fourth time is the charm.

 

[Diabolical]

Currently not going to work tomorrow. Because fires. Also, the internet is back after 28 hours.

 

[Diabolical]

The video of the family driving through the fire is harrowing. I’ve been in some truly terrifying situations over the years, but watching that made my stomach drop.

In other news, still can’t go to work because of the Hill/Woolsey fires. Maybe later today.

 

[Diabolical]

Yeah, we're going to spend 2 weeks in Scotland, starting with the Marathon, then getting out of Edinburugh. Really looking forward to it!

Edinburgh is my 2nd favorite city in Europe. Absolutely love it. Spend some time there.

So.... what’s the favorite? I’m wondering if it’s the same as mine...

 

[Diabolical]

Yeah, we're going to spend 2 weeks in Scotland, starting with the Marathon, then getting out of Edinburugh. Really looking forward to it!

Edinburgh is my 2nd favorite city in Europe. Absolutely love it. Spend some time there.

So.... what’s the favorite? I’m wondering if it’s the same as mine...

Prague.

Excellent choice. I agree. Creepy, but I agree.

Edit:
Also, I'm fairly certain I perforated my left ear drum last night (water, finger wiggle, bad idea... yeah...). Will be trying to go see my doc tomorrow about it.

 

[Diabolical]

I've been a huge fan of Pair of Thieves crew socks for awhile. Mine today are dark red/blue with little triforces on them and other expressions of fractal geometry.

 

[Diabolical]

I'm apparently Lithuanian.

You know what? I AM! And a mixture of pretty much the entirety of western Europe. But there is definitely some Lithuanian in there three generations back, when they immigrated to the US.

 

[Diabolical]

So, I've saved a monumental amount of money since I quit some very bad habits. So, to reward myself, I just picked up one of these: https://www.imovr.com/lander-standing-desk.html


I've been on the fence for a while, finally pulled the trigger today. Certainly an upgrade from this $30 folding table home depot special I bought 3 years ago.

 

[Diabolical]

My desk arrives in 7 days. I am very excited!

 

[Diabolical]

So, a co-worker left. I had to rummage through their desk for some files. Instead of the files I need, I found a moving box full of vases. Not even good vases, just the standard glass ones used for floral deliveries. And I started wondering what goes through someone's mind in keeping that kind of shit.

One day, I'll have time to look through all of them and fondly recall the reason someone sent me flowers.

One day, glass will be worth more than gold.

One day, I'll use them in my second career as a world-renown builder of glass walls using cheap vases.

One day, I'll take them home and besplendor my home with them.

When the box is full, HE will come and whisk me away from all this drudgery.

I don't know. It's just one of those things that make me go "why on earth would you keep this kind of shit at your desk and not the actual files you're supposed to have?"

It's a trap! It's been my experience that most people are oddly compelled to put their hands in odd, out of place vases. Then WHAMMO! their hands get stuck. But a box full of vases? Diabolical! That's possibly some double fisted imprisonment possibilities right there.

HOOS! PLEASE TYPE SOMETHING COHERENT TO ENSURE YOU DON'T HAVE VASES STUCK ON YOUR HANDS!

You rang?

(emphasis mine).

 

[Diabolical]

On my way to work tonight (in the rain), I got passed by an SUV doing about 15 over the speed limit. In SoCal, where a little bit of rain turns most drivers into quivering masses of terrified baloon animal.

So this guy passes me, goes through a red light, hits a patch of water, kareens out of control into the grass median, pops out the other side and hits another SUV stopped in the other lane.

One with lights on it. And Highway Patrol written on it. The cop was not pleased. I turned right and took another route to work.

Edit: Moments like that make me wish I had a dash cam so I could share the video with the world.

 

[Diabolical]

Granted, it's not all about bad drivers in this case. Since it rains so infrequently in San Diego there is a lot of oil deposited on the roadways. Once those roads initially get wet the oil floats and makes everything slick. However this phenomenon is made much worse by heavy traffic patterns and drivers who, like pointed out above, aren't accustomed to driving in the rain or otherwise drive like idiots.

In general, I would agree. But it has been raining for 4 days now. The oil slickness has gone. This guy drove into a small pond in the middle of the road and hydroplaned right into silliness.

 

[Diabolical]

Got to wondering what it's like to travel somewhere that's 40-50 deg Celsius/100-120 deg Fahrenheit warmer than the starting point. Freaky.

Once I was stationed at Kadena AB in Japan, was 80F when I got on the plane to Fairbanks, AK and was 14F when I got off the plane that night... I didn't bring a jacket in my carry on. Just my uniform

Also a few years ago I was in Sicily. That morning I hiked Mount Etna, made it to about 10,500ft ASL (ty Frennzy) in January. It was about 10-15F at the top, then we went down to snorkle at Isola Bella in the Med later that day when it was easily in the 80's. It was pretty weird going from a beanie cap and multiple layers to a swim suit.

All temperatures in fahrenheit.
Biggest: 70 degrees in San Antonio, -25 when I landed in Anchorage.
Worst: About 95 with 90% humidity (with no clouds!) in Dakar to low 30's and dry as fuck in Rammstein.
Wierdest: 25 degrees and snowing in Redmond, OR to 85 and sandstorming in Baghdad.

Best: 35 Degrees and lightly snowing at a golf course just north of Redmond, OR to 60 degrees and sunny for barbequing in my backyard just south of Redmond, OR. Distance between the two points? About 20 miles. It was snowing on us on the 17th and 18th hole, and I fired up the BBQ about 30 minutes after finishing the back 9. The weather in central OR is fucking wierd. Like asking an 8-ball if the forecast is true or not.

 

[Diabolical]

Pfffft.

Snow days didn't happen. Alaskan towns have many, many snow plows. Best you could hope for was a two hour delay becuase temperatures were below -25 F. Because diesel engines have problems start when it is that cold.


Now there is a bus barn. Where the busses are heated. Poor kids.

 

[Diabolical]

Looks like I'm addicted to The Expanse now.

I started reading the books after seeing a few episodes of s1. Love it. Can't wait until (Netflix?) releases S4.

Amazon. IIRC it's this month that everything up to the new season debuts on Prime Video.

Also, new book coming soon (March 26, hopefully)!

And season 1 and 2 are on Prime now, 3 will be on Feb 8.

 

[Diabolical]

Power was out for 8+ hours today. Parts of Ventura County were washed out with 4+ inches of rain in the last 24 hours.

I get to do some food replacement shopping. Oh. Boy.

 

[Diabolical]

Just got back from Alita: Battle Angel. I'm not sure what I think of it yet.

 

[Diabolical]

I think that is where I'm at too. It was visually amazing. I like the premise and the setting. I even like Alita as a main character.
But I don't think it worked very well as a MOVIE.

I wonder what people that read the original manga feel about it.

 

[Diabolical]

I really hope that it does well enough to be able to finish out the original manga's arc. At the very least I want to see Alita take the fight on to the next stage that's being foreshadowed.

This is where I'm at. I'd like to see it continued, even if I'm conflicted about the film.

 

[Diabolical]

1 year of non-smoking! Haven't had a craving in many, many months.

 

[Diabolical]

Really getting into Hockey recently, doesn't hurt that being from Tampa Bay warrants me being a fan of the best team in the league.

me in 2002:

Spoiler

Me today:

I'm right there with you. Embrace the rebuild. I think Ken Holland might be on his way out, why he's getting so many picks for the next few years. In short, .

 

[Diabolical]

I am somewhat biased, as the Wild are my third team:

He pushed the pad when he "shot" the puck. He kept moving forward, so that wasn't it. But he pushed the pad with his stick when he scored. Goal should not have counted.

Rule 69.3:

Contact Inside the Goal Crease - If an attacking player initiates contact with a goalkeeper, incidental or otherwise, while the goalkeeper is in his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.

I'm with Stalock on this one. But, league reviewed it an called it good. Nothing you can say about it then.

 

[Diabolical]

I am both proud and disgusted with myself.
Proud: I talked myself down from the 1TB iPad to the 512 gig iPad to the 256 gig iPad. Yay for not spending money I don't need to!
Disgust: My old iPad has a slightly wonky volume up button, and I used this to justify buying a new one. Everything else is just excuses (It's 3+ years old! I'm giving it to my little brother who doesn't really have a discretionary income!)

In other news, the new iPad is the same size screen with tiny bezels. Also, no 3.5mm headphone jack, so I had to buy the USB-C dongle. Also, USB-C cables for my chargers.

Disgust I tell you! DISGUST!

 

[Diabolical]

I’m buying new hats. It’s been awhile. A pair of Rocket City Trash Panda hats, a pair of Twins hats, a new LA Kings hat (even though they are garbage), and a pair of Red Wings hats (also pretty garbage, but Jimmy, AA, and Larks have been playing really well as of late).

Old hats get retired and put on the wall.

 

[Diabolical]

Attempting to cut soda, for the most part, out of my diet. With tea. And flavored mineral water (Arrowhead, La Croix, etc.).

So far, so good. Been a week and a half.