Basically DVDVR LiveJournal

[Dolfan in NYC]

Back from my cruise of Greece & Croatia.  Lots of fun with the family, but the next to last night, we were all woken at 4:30am or so by a loud "OSCAR OSCAR OSCAR PORT SIDE" announcement.  I knew I'd read about that somewhere and I confirmed what I'd guessed.   "Man overboard."

From what the reports I've seen, and what I heard on the ship, it was an 18 year old from the UK who fell overboard from a high deck on the ship.  Roughly 40m above the water. He was probably drunk and trying to impress a girl and fell off.   Just awful. 

Spent the day at sea, as the ship and Croatian Cost Guard combed the area to try to find him.  Unfortunately, we left after about 18 hours in the area. Very sad way to end the vacation, but nothing could be done. 

 

[Death From Above]

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/founderceo-and-clinical-president-digital-health-company-arrested-100m-adderall-distribution

So a friend I have in LA was getting her anti-anxiety pills through this company and is currently wihout any because, well, the company isn't real anymore. They still took her last payments though of course! This will definitely end in one of those class action suits where a few thousand normal people got their life turned upside down and all they end up with to show for it is some $50 payout or some shit.

[RazorbladeKiss87]

On 8/11/2024 at 1:32 PM, Zimbra said:

As a cat owner and allergy haver I am strongly in favor of hard floors but I will always have carpet in my bedroom because I live in Wisconsin and screw stepping out of bed onto a cold floor.

I keep a pair of slippers right beside the bed so I can slide right in and not worry about this. 

[Cobra Commander]

I'm currently wrecking my YouTube algorithm by listening to Top Dog Law commercials.

"WRONG ANSWER, I ain't looking for Justice, I'm looking for money" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ke-ShqAadA

I'm not gonna act like these ads are unscripted, but the Top Dog Law guy cuts better promos than a bunch of wrestlers.

Also, doing the entire disclaimer in 8x speed really makes you trust them.

“Yall remember Batman, right?”

Edited August 14 by Cobra Commander

[Nice Guy Eddie]

I got a jury duty notice in the mail today. The last time I got a notice was 2018. I ended up not having to serve, but I had to waste a day sitting in the courthouse. I really hope my number doesn't get called the day before. Maybe I can get out of it due to my depression and anxiety disorders.

[Curt McGirt]

I hope so too bud. 

As if life doesn't already have it out for me: I just had an X-ray taken of my foot and I have... drum roll... a bone spur. Right on the heel of my foot. It looks like an upside down shark fin. And because I work for Walmart, I had to apply for time off through a third party. I fucked up trying to do it on my phone but someone actually answered the phone the second time, and she was very nice, but I still have to get my doctor's notice faxed tomorrow when I go to the podiatrist... I think. All of this is very confusing and ridiculous. I had to request off exactly three days or I would get a point on my record. But this is all dependent upon the third party getting their records right or me jumping through the right hoops. Meanwhile I'm sitting here with a doctor's note saying "can't you just accept this?" For fuck's sake. 

Anyway, all complaints aside, have any of you had this problem before? And if so, what have you done to relieve it? I work a high-movement, heavy lifting, high pressure job and if this pain -- to where I could barely walk this morning -- does not subside, I won't be able to do it anymore. 

[Shartnado]

As of last week, me and my wife are now completely debt free, as we took care of final bit of this one thing we still had a bunch of payments on, as far as our apartment is concerned, all in one go.

Now, I hope I get to enjoy this situation for a bit, but life usually has a way of kicking you in the dick as soon as let your guard down, so I try to enjoy it but not get too crazy with the newly found disposable income (in a few months time, anyway).

[Zimbra]

Hell yeah, brother. We've been debt-free-except-for-mortgage for five years now and it whips ass. But even that is sub-3% so I can't really complain.

We're probably going to do a heloc once rates drop so we can make the master bath more accessible and I'm dreading it.

[dogwelder]

Well, shit, I may be a part of the National Public Data hack.  Time to freeze my credit reports.

[Death From Above]

4 hours ago, Shartnado said:

As of last week, me and my wife are now completely debt free, as we took care of final bit of this one thing we still had a bunch of payments on, as far as our apartment is concerned, all in one go.

Now, I hope I get to enjoy this situation for a bit, but life usually has a way of kicking you in the dick as soon as let your guard down, so I try to enjoy it but not get too crazy with the newly found disposable income (in a few months time, anyway).

I was raised by a mom with a very old-fashioned habit with money "if you can't pay for it with cash, don't buy it". Obviously there are places in the modern world this is simply impossible anymore, but really on the whole it's probably still much better financial advice than most of what I hear out there. It's probably saved me a shit ton of problems over the years.

[Shartnado]

28 minutes ago, Death From Above said:

I was raised by a mom with a very old-fashioned habit with money "if you can't pay for it with cash, don't buy it". Obviously there are places in the modern world this is simply impossible anymore, but really on the whole it's probably still much better financial advice than most of what I hear out there. It's probably saved me a shit ton of problems over the years.

I learned the same thing from my mom, although partially through seeing how stressful things can get if you do buy stuff you actually can't afford at the time. That has led me to being relatively frugal or at least sensible for most of the time, anyway. So far, it has worked pretty well and it's not like I've felt like I have been deprived of too much during this time.

[RazorbladeKiss87]

On 8/17/2024 at 11:26 PM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I got a jury duty notice in the mail today. The last time I got a notice was 2018. I ended up not having to serve, but I had to waste a day sitting in the courthouse. I really hope my number doesn't get called the day before. Maybe I can get out of it due to my depression and anxiety disorders.

I hope you can get out of it. I thought about you today at Goodwill because I saw this:

https://www.discogs.com/release/1436269-Various-Hey-BrotherCan-You-Spare-Some-Ska

in the CD section. 

My district manager showed up yesterday and asked to talk to me. Told me he really appreciated the work I'm putting in and he was looking at payroll and didn't think I was being paid enough so starting Thursday, I'm getting a $2 pay raise. I started this job in December of last year and have had my pay increase by $6 already. Sadly I'm about topped out unless I become a manager which is not in the cards. Still, I'm making what I'd be making starting at a factory in town and I never have to buy groceries so it's working well. 

[Nice Guy Eddie]

I feel like death warmed over. 

It turns out I have Covid. I'm sure I got it in Atlantic City for mom's birthday. 

Edited August 23 by Nice Guy Eddie

[The Natural]

Idiot here has forgotten to take his dinner time tablets today so I've missed a dose. Today is Friday and tomorrow, Saturday will really fucking suck, possibly Sunday as well. I say this from past experience. Fuck.

Edited August 23 by The Natural

[Robert C]

On 8/2/2024 at 4:56 PM, Robert C said:

My wife and I work (mostly from home) for the same giant tech company.  It’s been an interesting week.

- Monday I meet her on the kitchen after our first round of morning meetings.  She says “never had that happen before”.  She was in a 1:1.  Dude had his camera turned on and porn on his personal pc screen visible behind him. 
- Tuesday I meet her the same way.  She’s been in a meeting with a bunch of ex military Israelis.  They tell her something big is happening Tuesday night.  Guess they were right  

- Wednesday she comes out saying all the VPs are freaking out.  Something bad coming tomorrow.  They were right too.  
- today I’m spending all my free time transferring 20+ years of personal stuff to my home pc, with the expectation that we’re both gonna retire this month.  

Officially submitted both of our retirements yesterday.  Doesn’t take effect till end of September. Could leave now but the extra five weeks work gets us an extra 14 months pay. Feels weird.  I’ve been there 22 years.  She’s been there nearly 24.  
 

[The Natural]

On 8/23/2024 at 4:09 PM, The Natural said:

Idiot here has forgotten to take his dinner time tablets today so I've missed a dose. Today is Friday and tomorrow, Saturday will really fucking suck, possibly Sunday as well. I say this from past experience. Fuck.

Cheers, AxB. Feel terrible.

[The Natural]

On 8/23/2024 at 12:38 AM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I feel like death warmed over. 

It turns out I have Covid. I'm sure I got it in Atlantic City for mom's birthday. 

Get well soon, pal.

[Curt McGirt]

I survived work last night with help from a lot of breaks. It's Saturday on college move-in month though. This is gonna be... something.

[RazorbladeKiss87]

Lord help me, I'm at the age where you find things like the old Tim Conway bit "Dorf" to be funny. 

[Death From Above]

Dorf was always funny. Tim Conway is a straight up comedy assassin.

[twiztor]

i don't post a lot of personal stuff on here. i'm very private in real life and don't like to share, not even with friends and family. 

last summer i really realized i had a drinking problem. i wasn't going hard every night, i wasn't blacking out, but i noticed that i was relying on alcohol to deal with life. As in, most nights i'd have 1-2 drinks casually, and on weekends i would have a drink in hand more than i wouldn't. decided to make a change. took a month off from drinking. it was hard, but do-able. after those 30 days i was going even harder and/or more frequently. Tried to go another 30. didn't make it. all of a sudden, i wasn't drinking casually during the week, i was drinking fairly heavily.  tried to come up with a new plan. tried "don't drink alone". tried "don't drink during the week". tried a couple other 'plans'. none of them took. i can't half-ass this. it's all or nothing.

at the beginning of this year, made an extremely serious effort to quit. it was the hardest thing i've ever done. no physical withdrawls, but it was breaking me mentally. i was consumed by a desire to drink. had a few more stumbles, but made it over the hump. Hit 44 days, then had a celebratory beer with my wife due to an accomplishment on her part. Then i binged for a week straight. I felt awful mentally. Definitely the whole "i'm not mad, just disappointed" vibe in myself. dumped my bottle down the drain. Threw away my Captain Morgan t-shirt. 

today is day 50. Six months ago, that felt like an impossible accomplishment. Now? i feel good. i still get the itch, but the magnetic pull doesn't feel as strong. i'm still concerned about being out with friends/family and them offering me a drink, but right now i'm getting by with just responding that i'm on a "dry run" at the moment. Haven't gotten any pushback, thankfully. I'm taking this one milestone at a time. Looking forward to 2 months/60 days. But i feel super good about 50 days and wanted to share it with somebody. Much love.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

@twiztor

Congratulations. Every day clean is an accomplishmemt and should be recognized. That must take some serious strength on your part, to kick without detox or rehab. I wish I had that kind of strength. Unfortunately, I jones for Mr. White more than not. I did a three week stint in rehab. I've tried NA. I've done outpatient therapy. I've done one on one therapy. The only thing keeping me clean for an extended period is a lack of money. I think it may have been Denis Leary who said, "Cocaine is God's way of saying you make too much money.". If your family or friends are any kind of support system, you shouldn't have to explain why you're not drinking. Just saying you don't want to should be sufficient. I'm starting to ramble, so I'll just close by congratulating you once again. 

Edited August 25 by Nice Guy Eddie

[RazorbladeKiss87]

Twiztor, congratulations man. Like Eddie said, the people who truly care about you will never push back on you for not indulging. 

Eddie, I feel you. If you ever need to talk, hit me up. 

That goes for anyone here.

[The Natural]

On 8/25/2024 at 3:30 AM, twiztor said:

i don't post a lot of personal stuff on here. i'm very private in real life and don't like to share, not even with friends and family. 

last summer i really realized i had a drinking problem. i wasn't going hard every night, i wasn't blacking out, but i noticed that i was relying on alcohol to deal with life. As in, most nights i'd have 1-2 drinks casually, and on weekends i would have a drink in hand more than i wouldn't. decided to make a change. took a month off from drinking. it was hard, but do-able. after those 30 days i was going even harder and/or more frequently. Tried to go another 30. didn't make it. all of a sudden, i wasn't drinking casually during the week, i was drinking fairly heavily.  tried to come up with a new plan. tried "don't drink alone". tried "don't drink during the week". tried a couple other 'plans'. none of them took. i can't half-ass this. it's all or nothing.

at the beginning of this year, made an extremely serious effort to quit. it was the hardest thing i've ever done. no physical withdrawls, but it was breaking me mentally. i was consumed by a desire to drink. had a few more stumbles, but made it over the hump. Hit 44 days, then had a celebratory beer with my wife due to an accomplishment on her part. Then i binged for a week straight. I felt awful mentally. Definitely the whole "i'm not mad, just disappointed" vibe in myself. dumped my bottle down the drain. Threw away my Captain Morgan t-shirt. 

today is day 50. Six months ago, that felt like an impossible accomplishment. Now? i feel good. i still get the itch, but the magnetic pull doesn't feel as strong. i'm still concerned about being out with friends/family and them offering me a drink, but right now i'm getting by with just responding that i'm on a "dry run" at the moment. Haven't gotten any pushback, thankfully. I'm taking this one milestone at a time. Looking forward to 2 months/60 days. But i feel super good about 50 days and wanted to share it with somebody. Much love.

Well done, mate.

On 8/25/2024 at 3:54 AM, Nice Guy Eddie said:

@twiztor

Congratulations. Every day clean is an accomplishmemt and should be recognized. That must take some serious strength on your part, to kick without detox or rehab. I wish I had that kind of strength. Unfortunately, I jones for Mr. White more than not. I did a three week stint in rehab. I've tried NA. I've done outpatient therapy. I've done one on one therapy. The only thing keeping me clean for an extended period is a lack of money. I think it may have been Denis Leary who said, "Cocaine is God's way of saying you make too much money.". If your family or friends are any kind of support system, you shouldn't have to explain why you're not drinking. Just saying you don't want to should be sufficient. I'm starting to ramble, so I'll just close by congratulating you once again. 

Well said. Here for you, mate and that goes for anyone. My inbox her is always open.

[The Natural]

My cousin is gay, I found out she's having a baby with her long time partner last night. What a pleasant surprise!