Random thoughts 1: Just Sayin'

[Lohrenswald]

What a fulfilling work life you have.

One shouldn't have to try to fool oneself to like terrible people

 

[Gori the Grey]

I'd be surprised if one in ten people has a job that could plausibly be described as "fulfilling". It's capitalism, you're not supposed to enjoy it.

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.

 

[civvver]

I bought my first house at 22 so to say people shouldn't be able to rent until 25 seems very shortsighted.

Also if you hate your neighbors why don't you move? Apartment leases aren't usually that long or are easy enough to get out of.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

So, I started smoking earier this year to deal with all the stress and now I'm trying to quit. I had my last cigarette two days ago and apparently nicotine withdrawal causes both fatigue and insomnia. The crabings and irrititability aren't that bad, but I'm just exhausted. It's worse than all the times I tried giving up caffeine for lent.

 

[Takhisis]

So, I started smoking

*facepalm*

 

[Arakhor]

That would qualify as a rant in itself.

 

[Snerk]

Don't go cold turkey. Taper down with non harmful nicotine products.

 

[Arakhor]

I'm not sure there are such things.

 

[Snerk]

You got your gum and your patches as whatnot. Not really harmful compared to tobacco.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I bought my first house at 22 so to say people shouldn't be able to rent until 25 seems very shortsighted.

Also if you hate your neighbors why don't you move? Apartment leases aren't usually that long or are easy enough to get out of.

Yeah I was thinking that his random thought was begging someone to point out that he should bootstrap himself into a better neighborhood. /s but not /s

But I saw he got approved for a home loan so hopefully he is.

So, I started smoking earier this year to deal with all the stress and now I'm trying to quit. I had my last cigarette two days ago and apparently nicotine withdrawal causes both fatigue and insomnia. The crabings and irrititability aren't that bad, but I'm just exhausted. It's worse than all the times I tried giving up caffeine for lent.

I feel you man. Nicotine is a potent anti depressant so it has a ton of appeal in situations like this. Too bad that cigarettes are so addictive and bad for you.

It's easier to quit now than to drag it out for another year so do it sooner than later.

There's only one part of my life I would go back and change and that's when I started smoking. I say that as I deeply inhale my e-cig.

 

[Ryika]

Turns out I've drifted further to the left. That's... weird. I hope I don't wake up one day and realize that I have feminism.

 

[Takhisis]

Don't go cold turkey. Taper down with non harmful nicotine products.

I'm not sure there are such things.

You got your gum and your patches as whatnot. Not really harmful compared to tobacco.

Well, yes, rubber-cased bullets aren't that harmful compared to lead ones.

Turns out I've drifted further to the left. That's... weird. I hope I don't wake up one day and realize that I have feminism.

Are you experiencing a desire to wear trousers, get a job, or incinerate your underwear? Have you ceased swooning in front of handsome men and offering your services to them as is their natural right? Do you think women should earn the same as men? Do you wish to be accepted for your ideas rather than for your hair? Do you consider a good education is better than good cosmetics? If so, you may have caught the disease.

 

[Ryika]

Have you ceased swooning in front of handsome men and offering your services to them as is their natural right? Do you think women should earn the same as men? Do you wish to be accepted for your ideas rather than for your hair? Do you consider a good education is better than good cosmetics? If so, you may have caught the disease.

Damn, I didn't even know those were symptoms. I guess you're right though, this means... I've got stage 1 feminism.

My desires to say bigoted things against males, preach about patriarchy and create slam poetry or create paintings with my period blood are very low though, so maybe if I just... continue to resit these urges, it won't get worse.

 

[Takhisis]

Don't worry. There's many things you can do. If you play enough videogames any problems go away.

 

[Commodore]

What a fulfilling work life you have.

Hey, I'm just in it for the paycheck. It's what I do with that paycheck that then makes my life fulfilling. To put it simply: I work to live, not live to work.

Also if you hate your neighbors why don't you move?

I am moving. We will be closing on our first house soon.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

When you watch a mighty cloud front shifting, mixing and drifting, while it covers the whole of the horizon and the winds blows like you got a house on the edge of an ocean cliff, wordly matters cease to matter, for a while, and all I feel is the same sense of wonder I get when reading really good fantasy, just that the sense is more real and deeper. It feels almost religious. And then I wonder, what I miss for my civilization cocoon. It seems like the cocoon you can emotionally build yourself, and I think many do. Dampening all the suffering, but also all the meaning.

 

[Ryika]

I've spent the last few days by listening to a Youtuber called Oxford tell me everything there is to know about the individual Vaults in the Fallout Universe. I didn't even notice how much detail the makers of the Series put into these vaults, but each of them has its own story and tells about the often very sinister and cynical experiments that Vault-Tec has conducted on the people in those vaults. A lot of interesting ideas (not all original of course) about the many ways in which segregated communities can be experimented on by their puppet masters, and a really interesting look into the minds and actions of the individuals who are put in the very unique situations.

 

[Snerk]

Well, yes, rubber-cased bullets aren't that harmful compared to lead ones.

Did you just construct a parallell between nicotine gum with rubber cased bullets?

 

[Broken_Erika]

Did you just construct a parallell between nicotine gum with rubber cased bullets?

Nicotine Gum cased Bullets?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Was going to put this in the rants thread, but it's not something I'm really upset about, just a thought I've come to have after some personal experiences:

Renting an apartment or house should be like renting a car: you can't do it until you're at least 25.

Since some kids are literally kicked out of the house the day after they turn 18 or graduate from high school (whichever comes first), where do you suggest they go, if they can't rent an apartment for another 7 years?

So people below 25 should be homeless?

Apparently...

No, it should be like renting a car. If you are under 25 you can't do it, but someone over 25 can do it for you. So if you want to rent and you are under 25, you would have to have your parents rent it for you or have a roommate that's at least 25.

EDIT: Or, you know, just live with your parents until you are 25. Plus, most people who go to college are there until they are around 23 or 24 anyway, so they can just live in the dorm.

"Live with your parents".

What planet are you living on? SOME students could do this, sure. But some other parents want the kid out the door the next day after their 18th birthday, with the expectation that said kid will have found both a job and and an apartment by nightfall. I guess that used to be possible back in the '50s or '60s, but unless some improbable situation comes along like getting discovered in a soda shop or hamburger joint (which is basically how Tricia Helfer - BSG fans should recognize that name - was discovered and was offered a modeling contract at age 17), that's not going to happen nowadays.

In my case I lived with my grandparents while attending college. But when it came time when most people started seriously asking if I was ever going to move out of their home, my grandparents were at the stage in their lives when they needed my dad and me to stay and help take care of them. My dad took over the things my grandfather used to do, and I took care of the things my grandmother was no longer able to do.

As for "just live in the dorm"... you realize that not every post-secondary institution has enough dorm space for every student, right? Or that dorm living is even appropriate for some students? Here in Red Deer there are family suites (for the students who have children; yes, there's a day care at the college, and it's associated with the Early Childhood Education department), handicapped-accessible rooms, and so forth. Since I was just a 55-minute bus ride from home to college, why should I have spent the $$$$$ on a dorm? About the only advantage there would have been would be no more dark and freezing bus commutes in the dead of winter, but I used that for extra sleep time.

Vincour]And if you don't have parents? If you can't go to college? Sounds like you're suggesting a superbly privileged rule set here.

It comes as quite a shock to some people that others might not have parents (or at least willing parents) who are willing to pay tuition and books at least, and they think the kid must qualify for at least something.

I've had pencil-pushing (later key-punching) bureaucrats telling me that I MUST have family to do this/that/the other thing for me, or I MUST have a group of friends who would help me pack up and move on a couple of day's notice.

Well, EXCUSE-ME! No, the reason I don't have a family to do this/that/the other thing is because they're dead. No, I am not required to have a group of friends willing to do the same this/that/the other, because when a person becomes chronically ill and unable to do everything one did for other people, it's amazing how fast you find out who the real friends were.

You ignored the roommate part. What's so hard about putting an ad on Craigslist for a roommate that's at least 25 years old? Sure it would seem weird now, but if the law said only people who were at least 25 could rent, then such an ad wouldn't seem weird at all.

So you're advocating an 18-year-old, fresh out of high school and the family home, to advertise on a list known for attracting criminals and psychos for a roommate?

I'm a hell of a lot older than 25, and even I wouldn't advertise for a roommate! I'm having enough trouble trying to find a suitable kitten who wouldn't cost an arm and a leg in upfront vet bills, is of the right age, is healthy, and isn't hostile to other cats.

This hypothetical of yours is a recipe for exploitation, unless you also put in a law that all 25-year-olds undergo a mandatory psychiatric examination and criminal background check to make sure they're suitable as potential roommates for younger adults.

Well, maybe if 18 and 19 year olds could learn how to be responsible tenants, people like me wouldn't hate living near them so much. I mean, is it really too much to ask for them to not be loud at night (and by "at night" I'm talking 1am, not something more reasonable like 9pm) and to not sell drugs out of your apartment to pay your rent? If you are going to do that, do it at some random street corner far away from where my family lives so I don't have to worry about your degenerate "customers" and what they might try to do to get money for your "product".

So you don't like noisy neighbors either? Weren't you the one telling me to either learn to put up with it, or move? Does your city not have cops you can call, both for the noise and the drug-dealing?

"But not all young people are like that" I hear you say? Agreed. In fact, a majority of them are probably very decent people. But like most things in life, it's the minority of irresponsible jerks who ruin things for everyone else. To go back to my car renting analogy: I'd say the majority of drivers under the age of 25 are probably pretty responsible and safe drivers as well. However, because of a small minority of young drivers that aren't responsible, car rental companies won't rent to anyone under 25. They say it's because if insurance reasons, which is accurate, but what do you think those insurance reasons are? It's the popular perception, created by a small minority of irresponsible young people, that young people are reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous.

Since I've never rented a car, I have no idea what the process is. Do they just make sure you have a valid licence and are 25 years old, or do they check your driving history? Seems more reasonable to refuse to rent to the 40-year-old with numerous speeding/parking tickets and accidents, rather than to the 20-year-old (who has presumably been driving for the previous 4 years) with a clean driving record.

As an aside: the incident that prompted this line of thought was a SWAT team raid on my young neighbors to bust up their little drug selling operation. The police may or may not have been tipped off anonymously by a CFC member whose username may or may not be associated with a naval rank or outdated line of personal computers.

You do realize that people age 26 and older are also engaged in this sort of criminal behavior, right?

I saw a guy at the train today who looked extremely similar to vladimir putin

I saw a day player on my soap opera a couple of days ago who looks extremely similar to @Kyriakos. Made me do a double-take, actually.

Kyriakos, are you moonlighting as a Hollywood day player?