Stuff. Not good. Not bad. Just...stuff.

[S.K.o.S.]

On 5/27/2023 at 8:10 AM, Shartnado said:

We did move the chair to a spot that was directly towards the front door, to minimise the possibility of damage

Yes, same with my couch. I learned that one the hard way. (That's also why I charged some amount of money for it rather than just giving it away for free. $40 makes no actual difference to me, but I figure it screens out some people who I'd rather not have showing up at my house.)

[Technico Support]

I gave up on eBay, CL, and Offerup a while back after too much attempted scamming and too many flakes.  But I recently had some stuff to offload and some stuff I needed to buy and, knock on wood, eBay and CL have been decent and painless so far.

I will tell you one good thing about selling on eBay is that your responsibility is over once you have a tracking number and the post office has confirmed you dropped it off.  I sold a $1000 piece of equipment and this jackoff claimed it was never delivered and I "needed to refund him right now."  I sent the tracking info to eBay and, within 15 minutes they told him to kick rocks.

Edited June 3, 2023 by Technico Support

[Curt McGirt]

Christ I had some strange dreams this morning. 

The first one was lucid (a lot of mine are lucid) and involved guess what... wrestling. Apparently I was involved in some indie-fed-went-big (read: AEW) and all of us were screwing around and performing in-jokes inside a Meijer and its gas station, which we were hired to run as well? So people were getting weird on the intercom, driving cars real fast up and down hills, playing practical jokes, I insulted CM Punk to his face which he didn't like, it was real real bizarre. It was also Halloween so there was stuff involving candy and costumes the whole time. I specifically remember multiple times conversing with these characters out loud in my sleep thus waking myself up, then just diving right back into it. 

The second one was me basically creating a polizzioteschi* movie in my head. I'd been watching a '30s mob potboiler before I crashed back out again so that had to be why. The story was there was some crusty-ass dude (not as in the musical subgenre, just kind of sloppy and shodden) who was a cook at a local small university, but had formerly been a cop. The local mafia decided to blackmail the school and when they wouldn't budge they started bombing the place. Jump-cut to mid movie and suddenly I'm teaming up with ANDRE THE FRICKIN' GIANT to smash the mob! There were a lot of hostage negotiation type situations where I just knew the place was gonna get bombed and I'd have to evacuate students and then a bunch of cops in riot gear would be blown to bits. Right before I woke up I think I was writing a suicide note for all of us but it was Andre who was gonna deliver a bomb to the mafia don because hey he didn't have a long time and it would save all the kids. If you could make this movie it would be Rad. As. Fuck. And it was definitely a polizzioteschi because it was definitely set in Italy and so were the characters. The word "carabinieri" even came up! Amusing because the movie from '36 I was watching was the most generic US based stuff ever -- garment retailer in danger from acid getting thrown on clothes steps up after getting bombed. Mine was much better. 

About 90% of the dreams I have that I can remember involve getting lost in a mall or a school or just some large industrial area. It's always some "you can't find your car/way" shit and pretty much sucks every time. I'm sure that can be easily explained. But my lucid ones tend to kick ass.

EDIT: Oh man, I just realized who my crusty chef was the spitting image of -- the legendary Mario Adorf who starred in the notorious The Tin Drum which won the Foreign Language Oscar in '80, along with a shitload of polizzioteschis, the best ones by Fernando di Leo. His flick The Italian Connection is one of the best antihero movies ever. Such a badass in that one...

* Italian cops-and-robbers action thrillers noted for their cynicism and violence

Edited June 3, 2023 by Curt McGirt

[Zimbra]

On 5/25/2023 at 11:51 AM, Zimbra said:

Gotta rant about my in-laws for second.  My wife is still laid up with a bum leg and I have a family reunion on Canada next month so her sister is flying over from Europe to stay and take care of her while I'm gone.  My dickbag father-in-law also invited himself and my wife's half-brother for a visit at the same time.  He never bothered to talk to either of his daughters about this, he just told his son who then relayed it to my wife.  He then went radio fucking silent on plans for an entire month, not returning any of my wife's calls or texts, saying (again, via his son) that he'll call her when he gets around to it.  This motherfucker is 70 and does nothing but smoke weed and read books all day and can't make a phone call.  Finally last week he calls my wife to tell her the dates he'll be up, and also that he can't afford a place to stay so my wife and her sister have to figure it out for him.  Otherwise he(who, again, is 70 and in extremely bad health) will just sleep on the floor of our condo.  And ALSO that he's going to sell his house and move up to Wisconsin to be closer to us so my wife needs to find him a rental.  I can count on two hands (without needing much of the second one) the number of times he's called my wife in the decade we've been together and now that he needs help he wants to be neighbors.  And the most galling thing is that my wife and her sister are fucking doing what he wants.  My SIL immediately booked him a hotel room and my wife has been talking to apartment brokers for him.  I guess because he's better than their mother who is a legitimate monster.

Anyway,  please contribute to my bail fund when I powerbomb an elderly man off my balcony.

A brief FiL update: he was apparently in our condo for less than 30 minutes before my wife kicked him out for being a dick. Proud of her.

[Log]

40 minutes ago, Zimbra said:

A brief FiL update: he was apparently in our condo for less than 30 minutes before my wife kicked him out for being a dick. Proud of her.

From your account, it definitely seems like the guy is an asshole, but at least he's very efficient in his assholery. He didn't waste a lot of time and got right down to the business of being an asshole.

[Control]

In the last week I’ve:

-Had my contract end
-Signed on to EI 
-Got offered a new, better (but still limited term) contract from my previous employer
-Was offered an interview for a permanent position in a different province
-found out my dad was admitted to the hospital

 

So my stress has being fluctuating wildly.

[JLSigman]

Hey, if you're on the east coast of the US, the air quality absolutely sucks right now because of the Canadian wildfires. Like, even down here in South Carolina we're pushing an orange air quality alert. If you don't have to go out, don't. If you have to go out, get a good mask on.

[Shadow]

2 hours ago, JLSigman said:

Hey, if you're on the east coast of the US, the air quality absolutely sucks right now because of the Canadian wildfires. Like, even down here in South Carolina we're pushing an orange air quality alert. If you don't have to go out, don't. If you have to go out, get a good mask on.

Are we talking about wearing our covid masks or something more specific for smoke?

[JLSigman]

16 minutes ago, Shadow said:

Are we talking about wearing our covid masks or something more specific for smoke?

What I've seen says surgical masks aren't going to cut it, but those were also from people in the northeast where it looks like Mordor. Down here we should be a little better off (altho it's not great) with whatever you'd used for COVID precautions.

[Curt McGirt]

The midwest (I'm in Central IL) isn't doing so hot either, but thankfully not to that extent. 

[Tabe]

10 hours ago, Shadow said:

Are we talking about wearing our covid masks or something more specific for smoke?

You'll need an N95. 

[AxB]

I've been masking up at work this whole time, since 2020. But a few weeks ago, I ran out of my surgicals, and the shop I used to buy them from stopped stocking them. Bought some N95s off the internet, and the straps are way too short. They tear my ears off if I keep them on too long.

[driver]

During a Sunday in  April my dad fell and went to the ER. The doc prescribed Norco for pain and sent him home. The facility he lives in followed the prescription to a tee. On Tuesday evening I received a call that my dad had fell while walking down the hall and that he didn't want to go to the ER. On Wednesday I received a call saying he had fallen again, and again refused to go to the ER. I told the person calling me that if he fell again(since I am his power of attorney) he was going to the ER, whether he wanted to go or not. The next day(Thursday) I called him about 8am and asked him if he was trying to purposefully hurt himself. He said he wasn't. I took him at his word and told him I loved him. A little after noon that same day I received a call from where he lives telling me that his girl friend had found him unresponsive and that he had been showing signs of a stroke. I was a hundred miles away and the worst was running through my mind. I had five stops to go until I was back in town. I placed a call to work to give them a heads up. 
By the time I got to my last stop three hours had passed. I received a call from the doctor who attended to him in the ER. She told me that they had given him a dose of Narcan and it hadn't worked and that they had given him a second dose. We talked for a few minutes and I thanked her for her help. I finally ended my day and headed straight for urgent care because I had an MF of a sinus infection. I did that and while sitting at the pharmacy(Walgreens, Granger, IN, shout out to ya) I got a call from him. He was awake and alert, but remembered Jack Shit about our conversation earlier that day(or from Tuesday onwards to be exact). I went and saw him in the ICU on Friday morning and he was awake and alert and scheduled for an MRI or two. The results came back as inconclusive, but that they wanted him to go to a short term skilled nursing facility. On Sunday evening he was transferred by ambulance and I met them there.
The first thing that struck me about the nursing home was an odd moth balls smell. They got him settled into his room and transferred him to another room the following Saturday because his original roomie had discharged and that the new one constantly screamed. The next day he called me to let me know that he had fallen out of bed when he had reached for his walker. I headed directly to the facility and while one the way I received a call from a nurse to let me know that he had fell. When I got there I met the nurse who had called and hugged my dad and found out that the day before he had fell while in the shower(but no one had called to inform me). He made great strides in his therapy and was finally able to get released. His biggest complaint about his month stay at the home was that his TV didn't work. They finally fixed it the Sunday before he went home. That was a few weeks ago. He has been back to his apartment for over a month now and the only time he has had a fall incident was two weeks ago while getting his feet tangled up in his walker while in the bathroom.
In the middle of all of that in early May my mom had her right knee replaced. She went home that evening and the next morning she was going to the bathroom and fell and broke her right fibia(directly above the knee). The year before she had her left knee replaced, and because the left knee had been bad for so long she had compensated by putting more weight on her right leg. Before they set the broken leg they had to redo the surgery for the knee. The following Saturday she was transferred to a Skilled Nursing Facility. I met the ambulance there. The first thing I noticed when I entered the building was no weird smells. They got her situated in her room and when she asked if they had a bedside commode, they said no and they'd have to order one, she asked if she could transfer to another facility. I rolled my eyes and headed for the nearest Walgreen's and bought the bedside commode and promptly took it back. The next day she called and asked for ear plugs because where she stays plays non-stop Big Band music. I took care of what she needed and went on about my day.
She has been there about a month and was finally able to start rehab this week while still wearing her knee immobilizer. She is motivated to get the immobilizer off and dive head first into her rehab.
Having both parents in rehab/nursing homes at the same time is a bit much. I have dealt with this the best way I know how. Sorry if this comes off as whiny, but I just needed to vent a bit.

[Kang]

I decided to further cut down on posting pictures except in the Puroresu threads and the Comic book image or whatever it is thread.

I will also post more of the citation and the source/link of where I'm getting the western news from. Except for good sites with terrible spyware like PWInsider, it has to be just summarized.

[Cobra Commander]

as someone who doesn't do any Reddit moderating, the Reddit blackout saga is sorta interesting peoplewatching (not sure if there's a better place to post about this)

right now, there's 4200 subreddits that are private, a number that's dropping gradually partly due to admins threatening to replace mods and the such

and in some of the communities, the mods open up, and get blasted from all sides... like the NBA subreddit being down during the NBA finals.. also, if there's a split opinion about some topic, and the people who support one side start leaving, then the support of that site on the site will go down

two things probably hold true about internet things and we occasionally forget them

1) unless you're on Facebook, your social media bubble likely isn't as important as you think it is. Twitter acts this way when they punch above their weight due to reporters being all over Twitter. Reddit acts like this in a few ways during the blackout (there's a reason why "We Did It Reddit" is an enduring sarcastic phrase on that site)

2) all the internet stuff you post is actually gonna disappear one day. Unless you have physical copies of your stuff, it's not all gonna stay up forever. How many incarnations of this board no longer exist in any form? aside from error or a site owner just taking it all down, sites don't disappear instantly, but they can become irrelevant and people can go do other things

As for the actual blackout... well, it turns out that if you're moderating and not getting paid for it, your leverage really only goes so far. Which is nicer than the person who typed that this whole thing seemed like hall monitors acting like they owned the school. Ideally the Reddit mods should seem kinda invisible unless you're being a jackass. It doesn't always work like that which probably limits some of their appeal in an Admins vs Mods battle on that site

Edited June 18, 2023 by Cobra Commander

[Octopus]

In the ER overnight for lil Octopus’s breathing. He had a cold that lead to croup that lead to something like Stridor. Poor guy is having a tough time today.

The negative thread is still down so I posted here?

[The Natural]

4 hours ago, Octopus said:

In the ER overnight for lil Octopus’s breathing. He had a cold that lead to croup that lead to something like Stridor. Poor guy is having a tough time today.

The negative thread is still down so I posted here?

Oh, shit. Virtual hugs, David to you and y'all xxx.

[The Natural]

On 4/3/2023 at 6:18 PM, The Natural said:

At the start of the year, I wanted it to be a year of change. As you know I have Cerebral Palsy and suffer with mental health issues particularly depression. It's been an eventful three months. January 2023, I found out Dr. Jundi was leaving as she's pregnant. I'm really happy for her but thought fuck having spoke to her every month since October 2019. Dr. Jundi has really tried to help me, she's the one who came up with Trazodone. My Wellbeing College has burnt my ass badly two times with Ben and Rebecca so wasn't going to give them a third outing but I've really hit it off with Deborah, my counsellor.

We sorted Mum's belongings out in February. I now wear her leather bracelet with the blessing of Dad/Laura which I've wanted to for years. I found two jumpers made by Mum for her Dad, my Grandad who was like a second Dad to me. I now wear, a relief as I got rid of the jumpers Mum made me, a decision I bitterly regret.

I joined the gym as part of the BEEP scheme, first time in a gym for 15 years. I had to have my induction away from where I live because of my BEEP contact, Megan who I really didn't like. Megan has since left, I now have Ellie who is much better. I have to balance things out though because my body with CP works four times harder compared to someone doing the same without. Having done my induction, I can now go to the one 15 minutes away from where I live.

Adam who is like a brother to me paid a surprise visit on the 5th of March for my birthday the next day. On the 5th of March we went with my Dad to see Creed III, then the pub watching in disbelief at Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United followed by a Shimla Spice curry. Curry is my favourite food and nowhere does it better. The next day was my birthday started with a full English before Aje headed back. Batman was well represented in presents as you'd expect. AEW Revolution 2023 was the 5th of March in the USA but 1am UK time so that was cool alongside the NJPW 51st Anniversary Show, and WWE RAW. Mother's Day was a week later. I usually self-harm on my Birthday and Mother's Day as both events trigger me...but I beat the urge. For the first time since losing Mum 9 years ago. I didn't want to shit the bed stopping myself on my Birthday but doing it a week later undoing that good work. Meant a lot hearing my Dad/Laura/Dr. Jundi/Aje/Alyson/Deborah say how proud of me they were.

I went to see Scream VI with my Sister, Laura's first time at the cinema in 18 years as she has right bad anxiety. Enjoyed the film but more the company for those reasons. It's a day I'll long remember.

Last Tuesday was most moving as it's the last time I'll see Dr. Jundi as she goes on maternity leave next week. I'm really going to miss her for the reasons in the opening paragraph to this post. I got choked up when she's said how very proud she is of me as she's seen me at my highest and lowest ebb. Had a cry when I arrived home. Wednesday will be the last time I talk to her for a year.

For making such progress this year, I treated myself to a Shimla Spice curry on the 31st of March. It's pricey there compared to where else you could have gone and I don't have much brass but thought fuck it.

Let's see what the next quarter brings. Thank you for the support I get here. Really does mean a lot. Love, Paul xxx.

So I made a post about the first quarter of 2023 as it came to an end so here's the second.

Started going to the gym again for the first time in 15 years in February. I started Swimming again for the first time in 25 years and that's something I didn't see myself ever doing again. Been using floats till I get my confidence up. I tried Yoga for the first time ever and it wasn't for me. I lost track of all these positions and last 15 minutes you lie down in the dark to be one with nature. Felt a right muppet. Contrast that to Pilates. I like how the instructor who is a right character goes through each level, 1-4 twice and you choose. I go fortnightly. The Pilates class sell out quick but touch wood I usually get in. I can now go to the gym closest to where I live which makes a big difference having had my induction there instead of going to the other gym further away needing two buses. I then got a emergency doctors appointment sending me up to surgery the next day. The healing process takes a while with this operation needing it packed daily then alternate days as it has to heal from the inside out. Can't swim until then.

I've really gelled with Deborah, my counsellor from My Wellbeing College. I wasn't going to try a third time there as Ben and Rebecca badly let me down especially Rebecca. I see Deborah once a week face to face and she kindly hasn't counted telephone calls. You normally have 12 sessions but she's given me 18. I was really moved when she said she'd give me 6 extra sessions. I have 4 left.

I usually self-harm on my Birthday/Mother's Day in March, June for Mum's Anniversary and December is Mum's birthday/Christmas time as these events especially trigger me. For the first time since losing Mum 9 years ago, I beat the urge on my Birthday/Mother's Day. The hardest date is the Anniversary which is tomorrow, the 26th of June. I don't want to undo the hard work put in by me and those who have helped me in 2023. If I don't self-harm, does that mean I love my Mum any less or more by not doing what I've done every year since losing Mum, the 26th of June 2014?

It's been lovely hearing Dr. Gupta who I've known since a young boy saying how well I've done, keep it up. Dr. Eldridge who has as well saying similar. Likewise Deborah and my neurologist Dr. Stoppard all this week. Yep four appointments.

I've seen old school friends including some I haven't seen since those school days either in Mathew and by chance Martin on Friday as I went up to the bar when I was there with Alyson, David and Alison.

I'm doing good with the Trazodone, the counselling and the exercise. In doing though it's a balancing act with my body working four times harder doing the same thing as someone without. I do feel the pressure of keeping this going and not letting people down, especially my Mum/Dad/Sister. Thanks for the support here xxx.

Edited June 25, 2023 by The Natural

[The Natural]

Happy Independence Day xxx.

[Shartnado]

2 hours ago, The Natural said:

Happy Independence Day xxx.

It December already?!? How F'n long did I sleep?

[The Natural]

Swam Tuesday, arrived early for Pilates today so rowed with Billie in the Gym beforehand. My 5th Pilates class. One of my best Pilates sessions. The instructor, Marvin praised my increased flexibility. I'm the only male student. Made a quip which made everyone laugh as we were doing Spider-Man type poses and said "So that what it feels like to be Spider-Man". Bobbed into a shop afterwards where my friend Claire works and managed to see her for a brief chat and hug. Me and Claire went to every school together and we both have in common losing our Mum's much too soon. it's a bugger to book as it's so popular. You book online seven days before when it goes up at 00:01 Thursday morning. By 02:00 today, it was booked up for next week.

[Death From Above]

The truth, man. Get off my ass about what shitty platform I'm forced to use to communicate with others.

[Curt McGirt]

On 6/10/2023 at 4:28 PM, driver said:

The next day he called me to let me know that he had fallen out of bed when he had reached for his walker. I headed directly to the facility and while one the way I received a call from a nurse to let me know that he had fell. When I got there I met the nurse who had called and hugged my dad and found out that the day before he had fell while in the shower(but no one had called to inform me).

There was no "FALL RISK" procedure? When I went into the ER they strapped a label on my arm written with that and strapped what basically looked like a bomb vest to my chest, hooked to a machine that would go off whenever I even sat on the side of the bed and nurses would come sprinting in to check on me. I had to have assistance to go to the bathroom. I didn't shit for three days and pissed in a glorified bucket the entire time. Good food, though, surprisingly. 

I've got a lot to put in this thread but I just can't do it right now. It's rough stuff. 

[Curt McGirt]

Fuck it. I'm gonna do it. In spoilers for trigger warning Re: sexual assault. 

Spoiler

My best friend, who I've known for 20 years, decided to try and fuck around on his long-term girlfriend who he's known since they were in school back in Alabama. He was with another lady who was a complete sociopath. We all three lived together. I witnessed her physically assault him -- he opened the door and punched him right in the face once, another time she threw a hammer (small one, but still). Punched me too once for some reason I forget. She stole from the band they were in and was a perpetual liar. They finally broke up and she moved back to Indy. Then she accused him of rape on Facebook. Forcing her to blow him, bad stuff. 

Nobody believed her because she was so crazy. The whole crew. Band ended up breaking up anyway. Guitarist moved to the East Coast and ended up marrying a really nice woman and having a kid with her and had his own problems (liquor and coke) and they broke up. It's a continual problem, but that's a side note. 

ANYWAY. Best friend starts a new band. No bass player. I suggest a gal that I've known since she was in another band we used to play with in our band back in the day. She'd been through two relationships that she openly admitted, online, that she was abused -- photos of injuries, screencaps of horrible written shit. She'd been through the wringer. But I suggested her for the band. She was great, everything was working good, but my friend ended up infatuated with her. He basically ran out on his girlfriend and started sleeping at her house, hanging out, she took him in as a gesture of good will. She's autistic and on meds but seems like she's fine to me. 

One night she wakes up and he's got his hand down her pants. 

She obviously objected to this. The next time she goes to band practice I don't think anything is said, the second one there's one of those "I quit/you're fired" deals. She still has the bass pedal I owned and I had to go to her house and pick it up. She reveals the whole thing to me. I'm torn up, because me, my best friend (20 years, lived together, everything), and the drummer from that band and two other close friends are talking every single day on a group text -- and obviously, because my friend was abused. 

I went radio silent. No talking, no texts, no nothing. The drummer, who is a funeral director/mortician, whatever, moved to Chicago and even texted me and told me he changed his number, I didn't say anything back to him. I stayed in contact with the woman however, and she even showed up at my house with another friend of ours who was ALSO abused by her partner who was ALSO in a band with me in the past, and who split town whenever HE was outed for his abuse. They brought over a beautiful spread of veggies, fruit, charcuterie, etc. -- they're both in food service. I was so drink-sick that I could only eat some watermelon and strawberries but we talked and I showed off the house, they talked to my parents who I live with (still, unfortunately), and we had a fine time besides hashing out shit about the obvious. 

So, one of the friends that was on the group text, who we've all known for ages and who said about the other person (pronouns) who came to my house when her accusations came out (his specific words) "She's just another lying bitch", ended up standing in for bass for the band! It's like they closed ranks. He ends up hitting me up on his solo text for some reason and I tell him about all this shit and he's like "I'm gonna confront him about this", saying he didn't know if dude was even back with his girlfriend (which he was, he went running back immediately)... and I haven't heard a word back from him. And the girlfriend, who I was also good friends with? She knew he was staying with this gal and her brother and his friend threatened to kill him. If I said a word, they'd come up from 'Bama and break his fucking legs. Oh, and I'm still on the group chat. They never kicked me off and I get messages every day of them talking to each other.

Why does this keep happening to me? Why are musicians such fucking creeps? I've got another friend who drummed for another band I was in who split town TOO when he got Me Too'd! We all used to hang out at a punk venue/living space called Thee Death Tower and I was told by the person that came over that I was the only person she didn't feel threatened by that showed up there at all. 

On top of that, my drinking problem has gotten the worse it's had in ages. I live on vodka. I decided to go to rehab and they put me on a waiting list. I go to a therapist and she's so stupid she doesn't even think alcoholism is a disease (she's 65 and doesn't even watch the news, I have to tell her what's going on). My psychiatrist (psychologist?) is an old man too who refused to proscribe me anything for my depression until I got sober, so I just lie to him now, and we have a five minute conversation every three months just so I keep getting the pills. I went on leave from my job because of the rehab thing and now I'm getting jerked around from them and my hospital too. 

It's just fucked. Anyway, thanks for listening. 

 

[driver]

7 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

There was no "FALL RISK" procedure? When I went into the ER they strapped a label on my arm written with that and strapped what basically looked like a bomb vest to my chest, hooked to a machine that would go off whenever I even sat on the side of the bed and nurses would come sprinting in to check on me. I had to have assistance to go to the bathroom. I didn't shit for three days and pissed in a glorified bucket the entire time. Good food, though, surprisingly. 

I've got a lot to put in this thread but I just can't do it right now. It's rough stuff. 

He had the "Fall Risk" card attached to everything. There was no safety vest or the machine you speak of. Since he was released from the rehab facility and back in his own apartment he has gotten used to his rollator(and there is a sign that says "SLOW DOWN!" taped to the front of it. That was put there by the staff at the rehab facility.) and he hasn't had any falls or issues with his balance.