minor inconveniences that are not struggles

[Raist]

My own fault for driving a hybrid

And living in scandinavia.

[brawndolicious]

Hit a deer with my car on Saturday.

There were 3 of those fuckers and I didn't see that last one until it was too late.

I've already had to get new tires and battery for my car this year. Now I have to get a new hood and grill. Fuck.

Hood and grill are probably relatively easy to install. You can buy the parts on rockauto for probably under 200.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Hit a deer with my car on Saturday.

There were 3 of those fuckers and I didn't see that last one until it was too late.

I've already had to get new tires and battery for my car this year. Now I have to get a new hood and grill. Fuck.

Insurance?

[Atramental]

My insurance company already totaled my car because of hail damage.

I’m just going to buy the parts from some online scrap yard.

edit: I’m looking forward to the day where I don’t need to own my own transportation and can just have shit delivered to me via drones and I can go anywhere via fully automated self driving cars.

Car ownership is so overrated but to get anywhere worth a fuck in the United States you have to have one.

[CatsCatsCats]

US infrastructure is shit

[I'm a Puppy!]

Me today. Ya feel me?

[Nabbis]

My own fault for driving a hybrid

And living in scandinavia.

Still snowing btw.

[I'm a Puppy!]

So that drama with the possible employer is finally at an end. The hiring manager and I have built quite a repoire as she knows I've been there and have saved teams for other companies and she trusts me. The hiring manager called and they were like "Hey thanks for the time but the new manager we hired ended up deciding on training up our architect internally, rather than looking outside the company."

I told them "Thanks, I'll talk to you in six months."

They were like "Six months?"

I said, "Yup. I know from what I gleamed in the interviews/discussions we've already had that your department is  in a critical state. You, yourself admit you didn't hire the best candidate to run your team, then you proceed to make the decision that you're going to train up an internal resource, which you've already told me you don't have the internal skills/resources necessary for this. So, you have a leader that you admit isn't your best choice, telling you to make staffing decisions you already said didn't work in the past.  In my experience, you have about six months before the bottom falls out. So we can talk then...IF you still have a job."

She was like "You have no chill Puppy."

"You're not paying me. But I don't charge for the truth.


".....You really think that'll happen?"

"I'm just a guy who's done this for dozens of companies and have seen the same road you've set yourself on. It's not a matter of thinking, it's a matter of knowing the road and where it leads."

[chronovore]

Part of last night and this entire day culminated in having a cute Japanese nurse and a female Japanese Doctor sawing  an instrument in and out of my butt for nearly an hour.  It turns out that, despite all the Japanese adult videos I’ve seen, this is nowhere near as sexy as it has previously seemed.

 I’ve had two of these  procedures before, and the drink they use to flush your system is really unpleasant, as are the expected results. This was the first time I had to drink more then the default amount, which made me unhappy. Previous times the doctor only had to come in and check stool color once, this time they checked five times, which is as fun as it sounds.

Tl;dr:I had a chronoscopy today, and the results were great, but the process was not fun.

[samir]

Colonoscopy

[chronovore]

Colonoscopy

Don't worry, you'll get used to me.

[Nabbis]

Im not entirely sure if i would be more comfortable doing it or getting it done to me. 

[Rufus]

What about doing it to yourself?

[Joe Molotov]

What about doing it to yourself?

That's just another Thursday afternoon.

[Raist]

Newsfeed

[Brehvolution]

@MrsNabokov tweeter account is gone. 

[chronovore]

So that drama with the possible employer is finally at an end. The hiring manager and I have built quite a repoire as she knows I've been there and have saved teams for other companies and she trusts me. The hiring manager called and they were like "Hey thanks for the time but the new manager we hired ended up deciding on training up our architect internally, rather than looking outside the company."

I told them "Thanks, I'll talk to you in six months."

They were like "Six months?"

I said, "Yup. I know from what I gleamed in the interviews/discussions we've already had that your department is  in a critical state. You, yourself admit you didn't hire the best candidate to run your team, then you proceed to make the decision that you're going to train up an internal resource, which you've already told me you don't have the internal skills/resources necessary for this. So, you have a leader that you admit isn't your best choice, telling you to make staffing decisions you already said didn't work in the past.  In my experience, you have about six months before the bottom falls out. So we can talk then...IF you still have a job."

She was like "You have no chill Puppy."

"You're not paying me. But I don't charge for the truth.


".....You really think that'll happen?"

"I'm just a guy who's done this for dozens of companies and have seen the same road you've set yourself on. It's not a matter of thinking, it's a matter of knowing the road and where it leads."

I'd just like to take a moment to respect Puppy's ability to cut the bullshit and speak-truth-to-power:

I'm A Puppy

[I'm a Puppy!]

Thanks Chrono. But I still didn't get the job.

[chronovore]

Thanks Chrono. But I still didn't get the job.

Yeah, but in six months…

Plus, maybe it isn't the right job for you.

I went through a lot of this the past couple of years, and it intensified when I admitted that my partnership of the last couple years wasn't going to work and I began actively seek a return to regular employment. I was pretty down at the local big companies taking a pass on me for age/salary reasons but, when the right job came, I was that much more ready and aware.

You've got this, Puppy!

[Purrp Skirrp]

[jorma]

Part of last night and this entire day culminated in having a cute Japanese nurse and a female Japanese Doctor sawing  an instrument in and out of my butt for nearly an hour.  It turns out that, despite all the Japanese adult videos I’ve seen, this is nowhere near as sexy as it has previously seemed.

 I’ve had two of these  procedures before, and the drink they use to flush your system is really unpleasant, as are the expected results. This was the first time I had to drink more then the default amount, which made me unhappy. Previous times the doctor only had to come in and check stool color once, this time they checked five times, which is as fun as it sounds.

Tl;dr:I had a chronoscopy today, and the results were great, but the process was not fun.

Ok so my uh.. chronoscopy.. only lasted for like 5-10 minutes, but i still think i'd rather have an hour of asswork than doing the one where they stick the camera down your throat again. That shit was the stuff of nightmares, and the only reason i pulled through was because of the cheerleading nurse who constantly told me what a good, strong boy i was. She's a hero for doing that all day and still being able to sound sincere.

[Corporal]

Had some downtime with muh daddy yesterday afternoon so we loaded up prime and plugged in some random words to find something to watch.

Scrolled through the listing, dad goes "Hey let's watch that one. Haven't seen that in ages!"

Movie name: When Women Had Tails (Italy, 1970)

Seven orphan cavemen grow up on a little island all by themselves. After a fire burns all the vegetation, they set out to find a new place to live. One day they trap a strange animal, looking very similar to them, only softer and with longer hair.

She, Filli (Senta Berger), is attracted to one of the brothers, Ulli (Giuliano Gemma), and convinces him that a certain kind of playing with each other is far more satisfying than just eating her.

On one hand, the German dub is hilariously campy, there's tits and all sorts of crass humour and situations. Plus, watching this self-proclaimed comedy featuring at least one very barely clothed female with my dad while the sun was still up kinda felt surreal.

On the other... Oh boy, Senta Berger was a right hottie. Still is, judging by her wiki portrait. That she refused to dub her own character in the German version after reviewing the translated script adds another hilarious dimension to this. 


Anyway. So far, so good. Awkward bonding is still bonding. Plus tits and base humour, what more could I possibly desire in life?


Now the minor inconvenience: I was called away right in the middle of the movie. So I couldn't watch the whole thing. I'm now really curious how the causal chain of eating frog->constant croaking->eat mouse to kill frog->feels bad->eat owl to kill mouse->.....? ends. I believe the plan was to eventually eat a tiger at some point. Plus, the net tells me there will be 150 barely clothed women, eventually. I am... tempted. On the other hand, watching this on the bus or train seems like a bad idea. Don't have enough time otherwise. Plus, something tells me that I should try to woo a female of my species, add a bit of atmosphere and alcohol, and watch the movie while snuggling together, for maximum effect. Don't have time for that either. Dammit.

[Fifstar]

Chronoscopy is bad enough, but wait until you go through a urethrocystoscopy. Had that once done on me and unless I get diagnosed with cancer I won't go through that shit again.

Not only is the process among the most humilating medical stuff you can go thorugh as a man, what's even worse is that peeing for the next three days will feel like a stream of 3 inch glass shards is going through your dick. And you will pee a ton, because the pain gets even worse if your piss isn't crystal clear.

[chronovore]

Chronoscopy is bad enough, but wait until you go through a urethrocystoscopy. Had that once done on me and unless I get diagnosed with cancer I won't go through that shit again.

Not only is the process among the most humilating medical stuff you can go thorugh as a man, what's even worse is that peeing for the next three days will feel like a stream of 3 inch glass shards is going through your dick. And you will pee a ton, because the pain gets even worse if your piss isn't crystal clear.

 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[bork]

Was just helping someone at work.  While I'm fiddling around on her PC fixing her problem, she asks if I've ever lived anywhere else.  Told her I'd lived in New York and in Japan. 

She then responds with a joke about nazis and follows that up with a highly offensive racist joke about Japanese people.  I just went  on the other end of the line and didn't say anything.  After an awkward silence, she goes "OH COME ON, THAT'S FUNNY!!"

 

[Nabbis]

Well, what's the joke? Could be funny. 

[bork]

Well, what's the joke? Could be funny. 

Knew someone was going to say this. 

I don't remember exactly but it wasn't even funny.    Just making fun of the language. 

[Huff]

Humorless Bork confirmed

[bork]

Humorless Bork confirmed

It was the kind of shit that would get you booed at a roast. And not in a good way.

[Madrun Badrun]

You know who else is humourless?  The Nazis and Japanese.   

[bork]

You know who else is humourless?  The Nazis and Japanese.

  I needed that.

[Raist]

Over about a week I gained an amount of weight that is physically impossible given my caloric intake over that time.

Is it a boy or a girl?

[HardcoreRetro]

Over about a week I gained an amount of weight that is physically impossible given my caloric intake over that time.

Is it a boy or a girl?

Tumour.

#GallowsHumour

[chronovore]

Well, what's the joke? Could be funny. 

Knew someone was going to say this. 

I don't remember exactly but it wasn't even funny.    Just making fun of the language.

Here’s one which got me punched:
 A friend of mine is from the deep South, and was teaching English in Japan at the same time I was. He was making fun of his relatives for their ignorance. He had told me that when he was getting ready to come to Japan, his relatives asked him, “Isn’t that the capital of China?”

 Everyone laughed.

 I said, “That’s particularly hilarious because in the late 1930s, Japan made the same mistake.“

[I'm a Puppy!]

 

[benjipwns]

as long as it's consistently broken you can measure relative to itself!

[CatsCatsCats]

Borderline struggle: there’s a fault in our alarm system at work, and after calling the alarm company the response is basically “yeah lol your system is freaking out, we’ll put it in test until tomorrow so the fire department doesn’t come out, but enjoy listening to that shit until we can MAYBE get someone out to look at it tomorrow”

[chronovore]

Possible entry for struggle thread: I had a fiberscope yesterday. Worst medical procedure of my life. I literally tried to tap out, and the nurse said "We're almost done." Fucker, tapping out does not mean you get to keep going. "Your arm is almost broken, just hang on!" "You're almost choked out, just a moment more!" It means I am FUCKING DONE, I'M DONE.

They told me to breathe through my nose, but I couldn't manage it, so I was trying to breathe AROUND the fucking fiberscope that was choking me and making me convulse like I was mid-puke.

Fuck that fucking noise, if they ever want to do it again, they can knock my ass out.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Have you at your jobs ever had the feeling of being fucked?  So fucked that it's almost liberating?  I feel that right about now

[brawndolicious]

I love that feeling.

Directed at Oliv not Chrono, because I work on a team that had greater than 100% turn over within the last year and I was on a respirator once, respectively.

[Mupepe]

I found out that I had missed out on promotions and opportunities because “mupepe is the only one who does real work on that team.” My stupid ass thought just outperforming would move me along, not make me too valuable to promote. It completely flipped how I viewed the whole merit side of promotions in a corporate environment and learned about people falling upwards.

[shosta]

Wow, that can't really be true, can it? I can imagine decisions to retain people on specific teams because they're critical to the team's function but subpar people getting promoted instead? If there just isn't anyone worth the promotion then don't they just wait until there is?

[brawndolicious]

It's because upper management wants to avoid being criticized for leaving a decent team without a leader, you just appoint whoever you hope doesn't fuck it all up.

To be fair, most mid level managers rarely have any ideas.

[Mupepe]

Wow, that can't really be true, can it? I can imagine decisions to retain people on specific teams because they're critical to the team's function but subpar people getting promoted instead? If there just isn't anyone worth the promotion then don't they just wait until there is?

From what I’ve seen it is due to difficulty firing people. They suck but not bad enough to fire by building a case with HR. So when a promotion opens up in another group they get rave reviews from their manager to get them the hell out.

[chronovore]

I love that feeling.

Directed at Oliv not Chrono, because I work on a team that had greater than 100% turn over within the last year and I was on a respirator once, respectively.

Why were you on a respirator?

[Corporal]

I was casually looking at getting a cheapo Android TV box for some kodi action and maybe the occasional streaming/youtubing/screen mirroring. Put a random cheap one on clearance in my shopping basket, then skipped happily towards the checkout.

Then, the inescapable thought: Maybe I should do some research to maximise ROI. Off I go, to google!

That was two hours ago. :'(

Instead of a random Chinabox I'm now torn between another on-clearance Chinabox with HDMI in but using an exotic chipset (because why not also record stuff, custom ROMs be damned!), a 75 Euro veritable home recording Frankenstein with PIP support and a HDD slot for good measure that seems to have been haxxored open and closed again a few times too many, and a few recommended but ranging between ancient and kinda overpriced boxes from "known good" brands, as collected from various internet fora.

Oh, and there's also that Raspberry Pi expansion board compatible Banana Pi prototyping board that has everything and the kitchen sink AND THEN SOME, but will take like three hundred years of combined manhours to get anywhere near usable. If I want to avoid that I can get that highly experimental but very enjoyable hackbox from that Korean (?) firm that even has expansion boards for DVB-T/T2/S/etc but costs an arm and a leg...

On top of that, I have learned more about Android DRM subsystems than I ever wanted to know. Fuck Widevine and all related and unrelated tech. And netflix too, for being dicks about HD/VHD content.

Also, GPUs in the mobile space are a pain and a half.

Jeez. I should have just ignored that impulse to be a good, well-informed customer. I would have enjoyed my throwaway sub-30€ gadget. I would have discarded it in blissful ignorance of the "real world" after a few months or possibly years of playing around with it. I would have been happy.

Now I'm sitting here with a brain full of utterly useless knowledge, a browser window riddled with Freaktub tabs, like seven webshops I have never heard of before, and am still helplessly torn whether to get a bumlogic 912 or 905 based whatchamacallit and if so, from which manufacturer and with what loadout/tape-out, and will I need to flash the blue firmware first to upgrade via OTA to the custom libreleck if it's a Y-box or to supercelery's SCSV-7 otherwise, to properly streamline the flux capacitors before I TWERP my magic dingalings to give my fur a lustrous shine and more pleasing smell without impairing my virility... 

Luckily, the deal for the cheapo random chinabox from the beginning has run out, so I can safely not spend 30 (or way more) bucks and just delay this purchase to a later date. A much, MUCH later date.

[brawndolicious]

Corporeal, why not just up and old Windows device as an HTPC at this point?

I love that feeling.

Directed at Oliv not Chrono, because I work on a team that had greater than 100% turn over within the last year and I was on a respirator once, respectively.

Why were you on a respirator?

I had a bit of a collapsed lung after a surgery. Fun time.

[Corporal]

Corporeal, why not just up and old Windows device as an HTPC at this point?

Well, for one, there's cost. A normal HTPC will slurp much more power than a tiny ARM box, and will never be a sub-100€ purchase. Especially with HDMI-in video recording capability. That's just not happening, even considering used/second hand hardware.

Plus, on Windows or Linux you have the choice dilemma from my earlier post, amplified a thousand fold. 

Also, the monthly/weekly/daily driver and update dance which will inevitably randomly break certain features like hardware accelerated video decoding or DD5.1 passthrough or DVB-* reliability or cause Fullscreen UI fuckups or whatever. The average Chinese Android TV box gets like one update after release and that's it, after that the community (if it exists) will start working around bugs. Premium boxes are supported for maybe a year. And most of the features will eventually work reliably, if even only by means of a dedicated app.

I had a bit of a collapsed lung after a surgery. Fun time.

Yikes. That must have sucked.
A relative of mine handled asbestos as a youngster, with the predictable outcome that his lung is fucked five ways to sunday. His accounts of collapsed lungs and other such niceties are the stuff of nightmares. Slowly suffocating while in pain sounds like hell.

[archnemesis]

The Christian ladies at my open preschool are the nicest people even though they believe in any nonsense they stumble upon. Keeping my mouth shut when they discuss homeopathy, chemtrails, global conspiracies, herbal remedies, numerology, anti-vaccine conspiracies and telepathy requires an ungodly amount of restraint.

[Brehvolution]

They already believe is a space god. It's not all that surprising that they believe in other strange shit as well. 

[I'm a Puppy!]

I found out that I had missed out on promotions and opportunities because “mupepe is the only one who does real work on that team.” My stupid ass thought just outperforming would move me along, not make me too valuable to promote. It completely flipped how I viewed the whole merit side of promotions in a corporate environment and learned about people falling upwards.

Yeah, my prior employer did that. One of those "If we promote him we'll lose him in this capacity."
I left them and got the promotion at another company....and heaven knows I'm miserable now.

[Mupepe]

I found out that I had missed out on promotions and opportunities because “mupepe is the only one who does real work on that team.” My stupid ass thought just outperforming would move me along, not make me too valuable to promote. It completely flipped how I viewed the whole merit side of promotions in a corporate environment and learned about people falling upwards.

Yeah, my prior employer did that. One of those "If we promote him we'll lose him in this capacity."
I left them and got the promotion at another company....and heaven knows I'm miserable now.

I ended up getting the promotion I was after but I just realized I was never going to get it if I didn't ask for it and put the pressure on them.  Not to rub in your misery, but my career has been sooooooo much better ever since especially since it taught me that I actually had leverage. 

[I'm a Puppy!]

I found out that I had missed out on promotions and opportunities because “mupepe is the only one who does real work on that team.” My stupid ass thought just outperforming would move me along, not make me too valuable to promote. It completely flipped how I viewed the whole merit side of promotions in a corporate environment and learned about people falling upwards.

Yeah, my prior employer did that. One of those "If we promote him we'll lose him in this capacity."
I left them and got the promotion at another company....and heaven knows I'm miserable now.

I ended up getting the promotion I was after but I just realized I was never going to get it if I didn't ask for it and put the pressure on them.  Not to rub in your misery, but my career has been sooooooo much better ever since especially since it taught me that I actually had leverage.

Oh totally. But for me I'm just at a point where I see what people at the next level of my progression do and I'm like

I climbed near to the top of shit mountain and found it was....well, shit. Don't really see the point in going higher.

[shosta]

"Hello Shostakovich

I was hoping to get you back for a second interview.  You were dropped from the application process because we were unable to contact you by phone.

I thought I would drop you a note and let you know if you changed your phone number .  Then please reapply and contact me at the store.

We are still seeking [GO-GO BOYS].  We would love to have you back for a second interview.

Thank you for your interest previously shown in working at [VEGAS YOUNG AND HOT].

Have a great day!"

 

This first interview was like a month ago. I changed my number last week! Serves me right.

[chronovore]

"Hello Shostakovich

I was hoping to get you back for a second interview.  You were dropped from the application process because we were unable to contact you by phone.

I thought I would drop you a note and let you know if you changed your phone number .  Then please reapply and contact me at the store.

We are still seeking [GO-GO BOYS].  We would love to have you back for a second interview.

Thank you for your interest previously shown in working at [VEGAS YOUNG AND HOT].

Have a great day!"

 

This first interview was like a month ago. I changed my number last week! Serves me right.

Seriously, that's weird. Are you certain you weren't self-sabotaging?

Also, get a Google Voice number and let it follow you wherever you go. Super convenient.

[shosta]

Actually, I changed my number by accident because I'm distinguished mentally-challenged.

[brawndolicious]

Can you still do that thing where you buy a phone number you had once on Google voice for like $20 bucks or something?

Knowing Shostakovich (how did autocorrect know that?) it's probably somebody delighted to find that they found somebody who's able to actually jump into a project.

[shosta]

The greatest composer of the 20th century naturally has a place in any spell checking dictionary.

[Madrun Badrun]

ICESTORM but with less Christina Ricci giving blow jobs while wearing a Nixon mask.

[studyguy]

I swear to god if my new boss throws another responsibility my way without an increase in pay I'ma bounce.
I was already looking for another job but now that they told this other dude to kick rocks and started up a new production project, I'm doing double duty and it's tiring. Fuck this noise.