Random thoughts 1: Just Sayin'

[Takhisis]

I see you are implying that I am cheap.

Oh, come on… you aren't familiar with the meme about women being the root of all evil because they cost work and money, etc. etc.?

 

[warpus]

Call me mercenary if you like, but if everyone agreed to split it evenly (either three ways or five ways), then that's what you should do. If your sister is actually hinting that she wants you to pay 40% or so and they pay the other 60% between the four of them, then perhaps she should say that directly.

That's the thing about indirect human discourse, I am often slow at picking it up and/or even detecting it. In this case I am going to follow your advice and go with what was agreed on, but also try to go a bit out of my way to help out more than I was going to (with the celebrations, anything related, etc.). That way if one of my sisters is upset at me, at least they won't see me slacking and will see the opposite, which would help. And if they're not upset then ah well, I'll just look like a boss to everyone there.

I don't think I ever said you should pay more than your fair share (1/5 if splitting it 5 ways, or 1/3 if splitting it 3 ways). I explained what was customary, but also mentioned that it's often done as a way of avoiding arguments or just including the "other" person for appearances' sake.

See, that I would completely understand! If my brothers in law were not really going in on the gift and it was just for show, so that their names could be in the card we give my dad, then I would be perfectly happy to split everything 3 ways. But that's just not what's happening, both my brothers in law are going to be at this party, and the gift to my dad is going to be presented as a gitt from all 5 of us. We are all probably going to give my dad equal hugs and so on.

I can see the situation playing out a bit differently if this was some co-worker and the husband was just written in as a "well he's my husband so of course the gift is from both of us even though he doesn't really know you" kind of way. That would make sense to me as an easy to determine 3 way split.

I don't think you're cheap, and never said so (sorry if that wasn't clear in my earlier posts)

Sorry no, I didn't mean you. I didn't want to name any names but I that's just the "gist" I seemed to be getting at the time in terms of the general response.

it sounds like your family is really close, and that's nice to hear.

I guess we went through a lot together and there is just a lot of respect for our parents from the 3 of us. They did a lot for us, and my parents are in turn proud of us and glad we're doing well. They sacrificed their lives for this very reason so they're happy everything worked out for everyone. We started at the bottom and now we're here, and we didn't do that by not being close, so being close just makes sense to us. Plus we're European and still think like that, and family is just important and that's that.

Oh, come on… you aren't familiar with the meme about women being the root of all evil because they cost work and money, etc. etc.?

I guess I'm sensitive about being seen as "cheap", TIL

Women can be expensive, but so can men. And all the other genders. And probably dogs and other pets.

 

[bernie14]

Have you considered audio books? Just use earphones. You'll hear the sound of words, but nobody else has to. And if the book isn't that interesting or the voice isn't, it should work fine. I have some cassettes of Arthur C. Clarke reading his own stories. Puts me to sleep every time (his reading voice was a dry monotone).

I have thought about it....i used to love reading, nothing like immersing yourself in a great book, hollywood still falls short of imagination...thing is, I am mildly dyslexic and require a good amount of concentration to read, so I haven't had the time to read in a long time, not that that would matter with an audio book. my wife on the other hand is a little ADD and a bit of a multitasker. she always has the tv on anyways.

There's a story Isaac Asimov told in his autobiography. He always typed his stories on a typewriter, so he was used to hearing that sound for hours a day, every day. But when he had to go to the hospital for some sort of operation (I don't remember what it was), he couldn't sleep. The doctors and nurses couldn't figure out what to do, but Asimov's wife (Janet, his second wife) realized that he probably missed the sound of a typewriter. So she brought an audio tape of someone typing to the hospital, put it in a tape player, and it worked. Asimov was able to sleep.

that’s funny....i think that story has been appropriated by therapists...so a guy walks into a therapist's office and says he can't sleep...after all the questions, etc, turns out he would fall sleep on his side with his hand on the pillow next to his head and had replaced his ticking watch with a digital model... maybe an iwatch the asimov story is better. I don't know who sleeps with their watch on??

 

[Takhisis]

I guess I'm sensitive about being seen as "cheap", TIL

Women can be expensive, but so can men. And all the other genders. And probably dogs and other pets.

For the record, mathematical proof.
Girls require time and money. Time is money. So:

Girls = Time × Money​

becomes

Girls = Money²​

and money is the root of all evil

Girls = sqrt (Evil)²​

Then:

Girls = Evil​

QED
-------------------------------
and on a more serious vein, no, I wouldn't call you cheap.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Sorry no, I didn't mean you. I didn't want to name any names but I that's just the "gist" I seemed to be getting at the time in terms of the general response.

Okay.

I guess I'm sensitive about being seen as "cheap", TIL

Women can be expensive, but so can men. And all the other genders. And probably dogs and other pets.

You might want to do a little editing, since you're replying to Takhisis, not me.

But yeah, cats and dogs are expensive; it's the vet bills and food. There's an ad on Kijiji for a pregnant cat, due in 2-3 weeks. If I still lived in my house, I'd probably have taken her (the 3-generation thing didn't just apply to the humans in our family; I had a 3-generation family of cats as well, at one time - and yes, they were eventually all spayed/neutered).

I have thought about it....i used to love reading, nothing like immersing yourself in a great book, hollywood still falls short of imagination...thing is, I am mildly dyslexic and require a good amount of concentration to read, so I haven't had the time to read in a long time, not that that would matter with an audio book. my wife on the other hand is a little ADD and a bit of a multitasker. she always has the tv on anyways.

The idea of using an audio book is that you don't try to concentrate on the words, just listen to the voice. There's a Star Trek audio book I don't think I've ever heard all the way through because I kept falling asleep. I've read the real book, though, and it's quite a page-turner.

that’s funny....i think that story has been appropriated by therapists...so a guy walks into a therapist's office and says he can't sleep...after all the questions, etc, turns out he would fall sleep on his side with his hand on the pillow next to his head and had replaced his ticking watch with a digital model... maybe an iwatch the asimov story is better. I don't know who sleeps with their watch on??

I used to. But I don't wear watches anymore (for some reason the batteries always go dead very quickly when I wear them, so I quit). I keep my alarm clock handy, though, and have a couple of clocks that still do the "tick-tock" sound. It's a relaxing sound. One of them also has a solar-powered birdsong thing; when the clock gets enough light, I hear some muted birdsong every hour. It usually scares visitors the first time they hear it because they have no idea that it's actually part of my Thomas Kinkade clock.

 

[bernie14]

if I started to listen to star trek audio books at night I would never get any sleep.

 

[Takhisis]

Perusing the NYT, I get this offer:

The news and stories that matter to Californians (and anyone else interested in the state), delivered weekday mornings.​

I'm not even in the US!

 

[Gori the Grey]

They've sized you up as an altruistic fellow who wants to keep your sitemates Tim, Hygro (and Owen?) in the know.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

The one I'm referring to is a Deep Space Nine novel, called Fallen Heroes. It's a different kind of story... Quark and Odo have been gone from the station, and when they come back they find everyone dead in rather gruesome ways. The novel jumps back in time to follow each main character, and the reader (listener) can't help yelling at them, "No, don't open that door, if you do, you'll get killed!"... and of course the character opens the door and gets killed. Once Quark and Odo realize they've been shifted forward in time by three days, they try to figure out how to get unshifted and prevent all the deaths from happening.

As I said, I could never stay awake to hear the end of the story, so I bought the book and read it.

 

[Commodore]

Next time you feel the urge to criticize the US for waging pointless and stupid wars, remember this: In 1932, Australia declared war on emus....and lost.

Just sayin'

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Next time you feel the urge to criticize the US for waging pointless and stupid wars, remember this: In 1932, Australia declared war on emus....and lost.

Just sayin'

The silliest war I ever heard of occurred in the Society for Creative Anachronism. The short version of the story is that a King declared war on himself and lost.

 

[Arakhor]

Next time you feel the urge to criticize the US for waging pointless and stupid wars, remember this: In 1932, Australia declared war on emus....and lost.

What about the War for Jenkins' Ear? Besides, stupid people doing stupid things doesn't absolve other stupid people of their failings.

 

[Traitorfish]

The silliest war I ever heard of occurred in the Society for Creative Anachronism. The short version of the story is that a King declared war on himself and lost.

In fairness, kings have historically carried out coups against themselves, and it was going to get out of hand and sooner or later.

 

[Takhisis]

And anyway if he won he also lost, right?

 

[Traitorfish]

"The king is dead, long live the king"?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

In the case of the SCA (remember, that's a medieval re-creation society; it's a couple of months older than Star Trek, and it's gone international), what happened is this:

Back in the day (over 30 years ago) there were far fewer SCA Kingdoms than there are now. The U.S. kingdoms included Kingdom of the West, Calontir, Ansteorra, Middle, East, and Meridies (that I can remember). For reference, the Kingdom of An Tir included Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alberta, and the Territories (we claimed the North Pole as well - we got Santa Claus!). Nowadays the Canadian portion of An Tir is its own Kingdom - Avacal.

Anyway, about the war... The way it works as far as kings (or queens) go, twice a year each kingdom holds a Crown Tournament and the heavy fighter (those who fight with sword, shield and armor) who wins is crowned King (or Queen; these are equal-opportunity Middle Ages in which women are allowed to become Queen by right of arms if they win) and they get to rule the kingdom until the next tournament.

In the fairly-early days of the Society, the King of the Middle decided to declare war on the King of the East. The scribes did up a declaration of war on parchment, using very nice calligraphy, and the declaration was duly presented to the King of the East.

Then real life happened, and the 20th century man whose persona had been King of the MIddle found out he was being transferred to a city located in the Kingom of the East. He moved there, found the local SCA group to join, and decided to enter the lists again when that kingdom's Crown Tournament came along. He ended up winning.

So at some point he came across that old parchment with the war declaration - it didn't specify names, only that the Kingdom of the Middle declared war on the Kingdom of the East. And since the war hadn't happened, he got to thinking about it - why not hold the war? Find a campground or field big enough for a large-scale war with a series of other tournaments and competitions (for the people more into the arts rather than fighting), contact the King of the MIddle, and have a weekend of fun...

So they did, and the Kingdom of the East lost. Therefore it's said that the King of the Middle declared war on himself and lost. And the war they had eventually became known as Pennsic and it's one of the major events of the year - to which people of pretty much every U.S.-based kingdom go, and probably some of the eastern Canadian branches. It's a long trip for the Western Canadian branches and the international ones; I suppose some have made the trip.

 

[Commodore]

Besides, stupid people doing stupid things doesn't absolve other stupid people of their failings.

That was just the lead-in to the rest of the joke. I wasn't seriously suggesting a failed war against a bird in Australia absolves the US of all criticism.

 

[Mouthwash]

Why do SJWs now refer to black people as 'Black?' I realize they're trying to redefine black identity in some way, but I don't get what they're aiming for.

 

[Arakhor]

For one, you'd get further by not instantly assuming that the only reason to do that is because they're an SJW, whatever you're expecting that to mean.

For another, if you mean stressing the capital B in 'black', the only place that I have come across it was in Nichelle Nichols' autobiography, Beyond Uhura, and quite frankly, that's her business as a very famous lady 'of colour', so to speak.

 

[Mouthwash]

For one, you'd get further by not instantly assuming that the only reason to do that is because they're an SJW, whatever you're expecting that to mean.

For another, if you mean stressing the capital B in 'black', the only place that I have come across it was in Nichelle Nichols' autobiography, Beyond Uhura, and quite frankly, that's her business as a very famous lady 'of colour', so to speak.

So you haven't seen it, but you feel it's safe to assume that I'm being too judgmental.