Random Rants 92 - Not Enough Snerk

[Hygro]

@Synobun im hesitant to even discuss it but your situation sounds like her’s; she is pretty certain she has something called “mast cell activation syndrome”

According to a frozen food company that makes various chicken, rice, egg rolls, spring rolls, etc., I'm supposed to keep a camera on hand every time I microwave my supper in case there's a problem because unless I take a picture of the food before putting it on the plate (it comes in a pouch that has to be vented before microwaving so it doesn't explode and is therefore steamy and opaque when finished), it means I'm lying about there being a problem.

Seriously, who besides social media-obsessed narcissists even take pictures of their food when it's just a run-of-the-mill supper that isn't any kind of special occasion? I get that warpus takes pictures of his food on holidays, but that's because he's on holidays and wants to share as much of his experience as possible. Mary takes pictures of her food because she's justifiably proud of her cooking/baking ability and presentation and wants to share it.

I was just microwaving a bit of chicken to go with some rice because I happen to like that.

Condescending and unreasonable customer service agents are not doing their company any favors. I'll finish what's still in the freezer, but they've lost me for anything new.

Im not disagreeing but with smart phones we live at a time when the default have cameras on hand and for many, the muscle memory to whip them out. Added bonus: sending the photo is easy from the phone.

I find myself struggling to get into new video games over the last few years. I'd say that about the half the games I try, I play for a few hours and lose the energy to continue.

Possibly I'm just playing the wrong games, but the pattern is that I struggle to get into games with unfamiliar or complicated mechanics, which makes me worry I've damaged my brain in some specific way that has rendered me too impatience to tolerate anything but the slightest learning curve. The sensible answer is probably that I've just reached a stage in life were games are brain-candy, a way of unwinding rather than something to sink time into, and that's fine. But it lines up with a broader concern that I've destroyed my attention span through over exposure to the bleep-bloop machines, especially after Covid, and I may have done some sort of irreparable damage.

I should probably throw my phone into the sea and see if that helps.

You sir, need an ambition.

Or this

You're probably bored enough of games that if it's going to be complicated and tedious it needs to be exceptional and something at least a little novel. I almost never make it through an episode of a show anymore. What are they remaking this time, you know? 10 minutes in I'm bored. But everything is sort of like that. People suggest getting a hobby and I cannot for the life of me come up with anything that even sounds potentially amusing.

this sounds like how I felt when I was depressed.

 

[Farm Boy]

Every day an imposition.

 

[Synobun]

@Synobun im hesitant to even discuss it but your situation sounds like her’s; she is pretty certain she has something called “mast cell activation syndrome”

I've considered that, especially since the histamine reactions would match up pretty well, but the internist at the time seemed reluctant to entertain me. That likely doesn't mean much, given no one likes diagnosing it. I'm personally not inherently opposed to the idea, especially since it's frequently comorbid with CFS. The biggest hiccup is getting an official diagnosis for access to different meds. Even now I'm on an OTC antihistamine because I have to go through the song and dance with my doctor every time for a prescription, and even with the OTC I needed a letter from the internist for a pharmacist to let me buy enough to last me for a reasonable amount of time.

 

[Takhisis]

Every day an imposition.

Could we make it a goal to force TF to play at least an hour of civ every day? I'm presuming that he already has fringe necessities such as employment and human company covered.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I'm the same way, the only 'new' games I've played in the last year have been Cyberpunk 2077, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and a little indie strategy game Shadows of Forbidden Gods.
In part I played way too much video games over lockdown, so I've sort of burned myself out, and I've also become quite busy with a medieval reenactment group (SCA) - swordfighting two days of the week, clothing workshop every other week, working on assorted projects for the swordfighting, etc. Even before that I've gotten into building and painting model kits, and it was like "I can spend four hours playing a game this evening, or I can get the superstructure done on this destroyer." And I've increasingly been chosing the latter as I have something to show for what I've been doing.

Just wait'll they convince you to attend Ithra and get some of the basic courses under your belt - introductory heraldry, calligraphy, and dancing, for instance. They're fun, and can enhance your regular life if you want to. For instance, if you want to go to the expense, you can actually have your heraldic device officially registered in the mundane world, and I found numerous uses for calligraphy. I can't make heads nor tails of modern dancing, but the medieval sort is fun. I remember at the first Principality-level tournament I attended, the final two contestants had to wait while the marshals sorted something out. They got bored waiting, so they started dancing - in full armor.

You never know when an Ithra course will turn into a hobby or actually save a plan from going south. I remember one feast where we'd intended that I'd run the menus off on my printer but the printer ran out of ink. I wasn't able to run to the store for a new cartridge, so I got out my pen and ink, a stack of paper, and wrote them out by hand.

Calligraphy is useful for another reason. One thing I noticed is that people who have taken calligraphy courses tend to have neater handwriting than people who haven't. Calligraphy forces you to be extremely aware of what you're doing, because you have to hold the pen at precisely the right angles to make the letters. It's good exercise for the hands and fingers.

Bonus thing about the SCA: Most people in that organization are also into SF/F and gaming. Thus I learned both the original boardgame version of Civilization (long before the computer game was thought of) and also Civ I and II.

Another fun fact: There was a tremendous crossover in the early days of the SCA between Star Trek and SF/F authors. One of the "Save Star Trek" rallies was attended by Bjo Trimble's SCA group - in medieval costume.

 

[Samson]

Well, I suppose so, but then I'd also need a wireless keyboard and mouse!

Or just a longer wire

 

[Synobun]

Did all the work I had to do in one frantic day instead of spread out calmly over the week. I will learn nothing from this.

 

[MaryKB]

I am miserable.

 

[Takhisis]

*Sigh* What's happened?

 

[Birdjaguar]

I am miserable.

Oh my. How sad.

 

[MaryKB]

*Sigh* What's happened?

I thought I had things set up that this would all be easier. I'm not sleeping, my husband is working too much, and I feel sick all the time.

 

[Snerk]

That's doesn't sound very pleasant at all. No sleep will really mess you up on all fronts.

 

[Birdjaguar]

This being your second, you know it will get better. Get help where you can. Juggling three naps can be a challenge.

 

[Takhisis]

I thought I had things set up that this would all be easier. I'm not sleeping, my husband is working too much, and I feel sick all the time.

Points 1 and 3 seem related. Point 2, well, it's mostly a matter of timing, but if hubby was going to get a uni degree it was going to happen.

 

[Samson]

Millions receive wrong amount of pensions for decades

The errors, which are understood to have been known about since the 1990s, have not been made public until now. In 2002, it was decided by DWP officials that it would be too complicated to fix the problem, and a solution has still not been found. Official analysis published last month suggests 23% of pensioners were underpaid, while 17% were overpaid. The vast majority of errors worth one or two pence per week.​

I work(ed) for the taxpayer handling big science datasets, and I would not accept a single error. While my dataset may not have been as big or as complex as this, I bet the high energy physics datasets are orders of magnitude bigger, and if the pension rules are more complex than those rules we are doing something wrong. Also I bet they were paid more than scientists for the work.

And then of course there is that every government presumably since Major has known about this and hidden it. How can democracy work when the voters cannot hold the politicians accountable?

 

[Arakhor]

Accountability is for chumps, it would seem.

 

[Traitorfish]

The important thing to remember is that Western institutions are losing credibility because Putin is buying targeted ads on Facebook, and for no other reason.

 

[Birdjaguar]

analysis published last month suggests 23% of pensioners were underpaid, while 17% were overpaid.

Clearly the equitable solution is for those overpaid to give their overpayments to those who were underpaid. Easy fix!

 

[Farm Boy]

The important thing to remember is that Western institutions are losing credibility because Putin is buying targeted ads on Facebook, and for no other reason.

Putler: "I'm helping!"

 

[Takhisis]

The important thing to remember is that Western institutions are losing credibility because Putin is buying targeted ads on Facebook, and for no other reason.

A little from column A, a little from column B, actually…