Random talk thread: It just keeps happening

[VomKriege]

So I tried to apply at the potential main client of my current employer for a to-be-created position, basically overseeing the quality output of the department I'm in. Seemed like a decent idea, because the need for such a position is an opinion I formed on real assessments and I actually know to whom I had to adress it, plus some other factors I will spare you from that may make this a good moment to suggest tighter supervision.

It's still a long shot, of course, but I least had an answer that the idea might be floated to the person(s) in charge so that's still better than sending spontaneous applications in the void. As I said my job is specialized and narrow, there ain't a lot of other places I can scout and I had no success so far, plus -and that's the most important part- I want out of the freelance life. It has some nice perks but as a person I am definitely not build for that (unlike all of my colleagues), I have some difficulties making the most of the downtime, I don't want to be chasing jobs in my sixties (have seen that first hand, fuck this shit) and I hate the relentless networking it often implies.

Guess we'll see. I need to get down on a few cover letters and more applications.

[jakefromstatefarm]

Oh, while we're on this topic, is there a book I could read or listen to that goes into depth about Middle Eastern history?

I take this to mean history since/immediately before Muhammad. When it comes to what you want out of a general survey: concision, depth, a relatively low number of books -I'm afraid you're going to have to pick two of those three characteristics and commit to them.

On the formative period of Islam, Robert Hoyland's In God's Path is the most recent, readable, and concise representation of where current scholarship is. The first chapter situates the Arabian Peninsula in its 7th century geopolitical context, the last I think just touches on the Abbasid Caliphate, so the book as a whole is concerned with the period between roughly 400-800 CE. It's a great introductory survey, I cannot recommend it enough.

Hugh Kennedy's The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates pairs really well with the above. It's larger in scope (~600-1300) and far more concerned with internal administrative issues faced by the first three major Caliphates. Kennedy is enamored with lineage: there are pages and pages of family trees that help visualize the logic of politicking in early Islam. It's also dry; if style is an issue for you, you might be turned off. There is an absolute wealth of value in those dry pages though, I promise.

I'm worse on modern surveys. Gelvin's The Modern Middle East and William Cleveland's A History of the Modern Middle East seem to be the most popular. These are both literal textbooks, so caveat emptor. Gelvin's is shorter, more conversational in tone and the reviews I've seen glow about it. It's a little pricey but not so much so that it'll break the bank. Cleveland's is dry, but is a longrunner so you know the quality's straight.

[Samson Manhug]

I don't know of any good people's histories of the Middle East, but if you want a good overview of Islam, the Reza Aslan book "No God But God" is a decent read and not too dense.

[Atramental]

Yeah, the era before Islam has me curious as well.

[Madrun Badrun]

middle east was pretty christian during that time, at least in the bigger cities. 

[Atramental]

The Kaaba (the black cube in Mecca) used to have a bunch of idols in it, though.

[Momo]

How are all you bitches?

[Rufus]

Welcome back, Momo-kun.

[Great Rumbler]

ZOMG 

MOMO'S BACK 

#nomomo

[Momo]

I missed you guys 

do we have a bore discord server?

[chronovore]

Kind of. I think Swishercat was passing out invites that expired in 12 hours or something.

[Momo]

Thanks, sounds pretty dead then

Is our MMA thread still active?

[chronovore]

Thanks, sounds pretty dead then

Is our MMA thread still active?

No more or less than it ever has been. The Jon Jones incident and Bork Laser's drug test caused the briefest of spikes.

Oddly, the fitness thread has been active lately, even without The Return of Cormacaroni.

[Bebpo]

So I guess I probably have ADHD to a degree.  At least in my media consumption.  Here's all the stuff I'm currently in the middle of:  Guilty Gear Xrd Rev story mode, Super Robot Wars OGs MD, Virtue's Last Reward, Beyond, Doom 2016, Life is Strange, Project Diva Future Tone, Theatrhythm FF Curtain Call, Rhythm Tengoku Megamix, Mistborn Trilogy Book 2, Marvel Comics pre-Civil War 2006, Nailbiter, Deadly Class, Billy Bat, Gundam Iron Blood Orphans S1, Garo The Animation, Shirobako, Preacher S1, Twelve Monkeys TV S2, Stranger Things, Masters of None, Archer S3, Parks & Recreations S3, Sherlock S2.

I'll usually watch like 1-2 episodes of a show, or play a game for like 20-60 minutes and then move to another game for 20-60 minutes, I read books 1 chapter every few days, comics 30-60 minutes of comics every couple days.

I never really thought much of it until my last ex said "dude you have ADHD, you just switched between like 2 games, a comic, and a book in a 20 minute span".  I just feel like if I only played/watched/read 1 thing at a time it'd take me forever to get to all this cool stuff in my backlog in all the different formats, so I like starting a bunch of interesting stuff at the same time.  Probably explains why I get bored during slow parts of TV shows and multi-task on my ipad/phone during those sections.

It doesn't effect my work because my line of work is multi-tasking 30-50 cases at the same time constantly switching back and forth doing 15-30 min items, so it's right up my alley.  But yeah, self-examining I probably do have a bit of ADHD.

[Huff]

I mean you don't, but you could prob get Meds if you find the right doc


Adderall fixes everything

[brawndolicious]

I've been thinking about getting a new job even though I've only been at my current company for barely 4 months but today we had a meeting and found out that everyone at this branch is being laid off by the end of September except for the people in processing/receiving (which is like 10 people). For everyone who's been there for a long time and is over 50, that really sucks and I have no idea how they're going to find mid-level positions. They did tell us that they have lots of branches in California for employees to be transferred to but they're all outside the Bay Area and older employees can't uproot as easily. 

For me this is the perfect situation though since I have a very valid reason to give for leaving my old job so soon. There is going to be a severance but I'm not holding out for it to be much considering how new I am and I would rather abandon ship early before starts to get really chaotic.

[Momo]

I need an invite to the discord server 

[Kara]

Gelvin's Middle East histories are solid and quite readable, I read them when I studied under him despite not having to, but in a bastion of WhiteLiberalism.txt like the Bore some of his analyses will undoubtedly ruffle feathers.

e: He's also a miserable New York Mets fan irl, which is super duper funny.

[I'm a Puppy!]

Oracle bought NetSuite.
We're back to the 2000s acquisition wars!

[PlayDat]

Moved to a new town earlier this week.  I've never lived in the suburbs before.  Most of the previous places I lived had decent public transit so I never learned how to drive.  I'm hoping to have a license and car by early next year, but I decided to get into cycling for now. 

This evening I walked 3.5 miles to the nearest bike shop and rode the same distance back home.  It's been more than a year since I last rode a bike and until today I had only ever ridden one-speeds.  I definitely underestimated the challenge of riding a bike for anything besides recreation.  I stopped for a few seconds to catch my breath at least 4 times on the way home.  Totally freaked as I rode down a steep hill (dragged my feet against the ground to slow down instead of just pulling on the brakes ).  Hell, I'm still not even sure when and how to change gears.  Most of the times when I went up, I could feel the whole bike shake.  For some reason it takes way more effort to shift down than up with a Revoshift, regardless of how fast the bike is moving.

One thing I wasn't expecting at all is that my arms hurt way more than my legs.  Both of my thumbs are also in some pain just from gripping the handles.  Much respect to those of you who do this on the regular  .  I have a  lot to learn, but it was still pretty fun.  I haven't been able to afford a gym membership for the past two months so I appreciate the chance to exercise.

[Rufus]

Why? He's going to be nothing but helpful and supportive.

[VomKriege]

Man, don't know if it's due to media coverage but the Rio Olympics are sounding like a total shitshow in the making, worse than usual. Athletes and delegations being robbed, mugged, the housing is so poor that the Australian delegation refused to move in (electrical and plumbing issues), etc...

[brawndolicious]

Man, don't know if it's due to media coverage but the Rio Olympics are sounding like a total shitshow in the making, worse than usual. Athletes and delegations being robbed, mugged, the housing is so poor that the Australian delegation refused to move in (electrical and plumbing issues), etc...

Argentina even called it sabotage.

[Steve Contra]

Someone I've known professionally for 5 years posted a photo of himself in Hawaii with a prosthetic leg and shorts on and a bunch of people were like "WHAT HAPPENED?".  Turns out the dude has been an amputee for 25 years and lots of people had no idea.

[Madrun Badrun]

Now you got to treat him differently you know. 

[Steve Contra]

I'll give him "pity eyes" everytime I see him now.

[Madrun Badrun]

Also open doors for him and ask if how he is doing 10 times a day.  Cripples like that. 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Or is that women?  I get the two confused.

[close]

[bork]

Spoke to someone at my former job and found out that they are (or already have) taking all the various teams and combining them into two huge teams, then demoting most of the managers/leads back to analysts.  This is horrible and people are leaving the place in droves now.  So glad I got out when I did.  My new job is .

Fun little extra- Everyone at my new job...worked at my old job at one point or another. 

[I'm a Puppy!]

Checked in with a former client today. The lady in charge of the team can be bright at times but the rest of her team is a group of idiots. So The senior manager under this woman left the company. The manager under that guy (who is an idiot and has a lot of bad blood between himself and my friend) went to my friend said, "I think I should have the senior manager job" My friend got angry, shouted at him and threw him out of her office. Further, she went found someone that everyone knew was dumber than the guy who asked for the job and gave that guy the job to shame this other guy.

On one hand, it seems exceedingly stupid to put someone that is unqualified for a job into a job just to shame someone, not to mention the instant kill of morale in the company.

On the other hand, the fuckery

[bork]

Spoke to someone at my former job and found out that they are (or already have) taking all the various teams and combining them into two huge teams, then demoting most of the managers/leads back to analysts.  This is horrible and people are leaving the place in droves now.  So glad I got out when I did.  My new job is .

Fun little extra- Everyone at my new job...worked at my old job at one point or another. 

Holy shit...the harassing bitch who made my life hell there got demoted today LMAO   Finally.

[I'm a Puppy!]

Undertaking a fresh study on World War 2. And am reminded of just how many failures there were and how long it took for Hitler to come to power. But the dude just kept plugging away and trying again and trying harder. A good reminder to me that sometimes when you fail, maybe it's best you just stop trying.

[Joe Molotov]

I saw a huge-ass bug by the front door of where I work. I didn't know what it was, so I googled "large insect with wings and pincers" and quickly determined that it was a female Dobsonfly. Thanks, Google.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Undertaking a fresh study on World War 2. And am reminded of just how many failures there were and how long it took for Hitler to come to power. But the dude just kept plugging away and trying again and trying harder. A good reminder to me that sometimes when you fail, maybe it's best you just stop trying.

If Hitler existed today, he would be on NeoGAF and DeviantArt instead of being a Nazi.  Just think of all the Hitlers that we're preventing thanks to easy access to porn and the internet.

[Madrun Badrun]

The bore saved me from committing jenna side. 

[Rufus]

Undertaking a fresh study on World War 2. And am reminded of just how many failures there were and how long it took for Hitler to come to power. But the dude just kept plugging away and trying again and trying harder. A good reminder to me that sometimes when you fail, maybe it's best you just stop trying.

If Hitler existed today, he would be on NeoGAF and DeviantArt instead of being a Nazi.  Just think of all the Hitlers that we're preventing thanks to easy access to porn and the internet.

He'd be an Elliot Rodger.

[Mupepe]

I don't get you people.

Fast and Furious 1 and 3 are good.  5 was good.  6 was okay.  2, 4 and 7 are bad.  7 might actually be the worst.  I watched it around the time it came out and I was like "meh".  But it's on right now and it's so fucking bad.  And you're bad if you like it.

[Madrun Badrun]

There are no bad FF movies, just less than great ones.   

[chronovore]

I don't get you people.

Fast and Furious 1 and 3 are good.  5 was good.  6 was okay.  2, 4 and 7 are bad.  7 might actually be the worst.  I watched it around the time it came out and I was like "meh".  But it's on right now and it's so fucking bad.  And you're bad if you like it.

I just think of it as a version of kids playing with Hot Wheels.

[WanderingWind]

Isn't FF7 the one everybody pretends to like cause Walker died making it?

[Mupepe]

I don't get you people.

Fast and Furious 1 and 3 are good.  5 was good.  6 was okay.  2, 4 and 7 are bad.  7 might actually be the worst.  I watched it around the time it came out and I was like "meh".  But it's on right now and it's so fucking bad.  And you're bad if you like it.

I just think of it as a version of kids playing with Hot Wheels.

I saw the earlier ones as that way but 7 pushes the cheesy family shit too far. 

Isn't FF7 the one everybody pretends to like cause Walker died making it?

yeah

So it feels like they went back and rewrote all these awful lines to emphasize his death too.  The only part that was effective was the last scene.  The rest would have made PW vomit his tuna sandwich.

[Mupepe]

There are no bad FF movies, just less than great ones.

(Image removed from quote.)

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

At some point I was convinced I like this.  I don't have the balls to go back and watch it now though.

[fistfulofmetal]

The Fast and the Furious is dated but still fun. Good character development and action.

2 Fast 2 Furious is legitimately awful. I recently rewatched it and could barely make it through. It's boring as fuck and Paul Walker is unbearable.

Tokyo Drift is cheesy and fun but they clearly had no idea where this series needed to go (until the end). I like the location and aesthetic.

Fast and Furious is a good return for all the characters but it's mostly average. The climatic chase sequence in the tunnels is kinda crummy.

Fast 5. This is where things get great. Some of the best ensemble action in modern cinema

Fast 6. I actually like this more than 5. They outdid themselves with the finale.

Fast 7 is basically more of the same. It's not better than last two but it's not bad.

[Momo]

There are no bad FF movies, just less than great ones.

(Image removed from quote.)

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

At some point I was convinced I like this.  I don't have the balls to go back and watch it now though.

I didnt hate spirits within, it has almost fuck all to do with FF but it's a pretty okay CGI film

[bork]

I don't get you people.

Fast and Furious 1 and 3 are good.  5 was good.  6 was okay.  2, 4 and 7 are bad.  7 might actually be the worst.  I watched it around the time it came out and I was like "meh".  But it's on right now and it's so fucking bad.  And you're bad if you like it.

FF1 is still fun for the ridiculous cheese it oozes.  FF2 is LOL and FF3 might as well be Fast And Furious in name only. It's dumb.  FF4 is meh.  FF5 is the best, followed by FF6.  FF7 is OK-- It sucks what happened to Paul Walker, but they should have just stopped production and started it over with a new story.  It feels unfinished...because it is.

It feels like they really found their footing with Fast 5, changing it from STREET RACIN' AND NOS!!!!!!!!!!!!11 to an ensemble heist movie.  Worked much better.

[Madrun Badrun]

You guys are all bad people.

[Great Rumbler]

I can't even with people who don't like FF5-7.

[Mupepe]

I don't have friends.  I have family

[Madrun Badrun]

I'm gonna stomp really hard and drop a car park on you, Mups. 

[Mupepe]

I told your brother the same thing.

[Momo]

In some other world XXX became a franchise instead of fast and the furious, in that world instead of getting  need for speed underground, we all got ridiculous coats and geared up to the gills

[Momo]

I wish Vin would do more Riddick movies instead

[Joe Molotov]

I don't have friends.  I have family

Keep telling people you don't like FF7, and even yo mama ain't gonna stick around.

[Mupepe]

I don't have friends.  I have family

Keep telling people you don't like FF7, and even yo mama ain't gonna stick around.

No matter where you are, whether it's a quarter mile away, or half way across the world. You'll always be with me, and you'll always be my brother.

[Madrun Badrun]

re watching simpsons.  The episode where homer decides to get fat to be on disabilities, 300 pounds was enough to be considered disabled.  Times sure have changed. 

[brawndolicious]

I'm thinking about getting a smartphone.

Should I go iOS or Android?

Just depends on what you want to do with it. Android is the typical pick I'd give for a guy like you but they're both great right now.

There are some android models that have problems apparently and the next iPhone is supposed to be announced in like a month or two.

[Steve Contra]

The waitress serving me at my usual breakfast spot put down my waffle this morning and asked if I wanted ketchup or hotsauce with it.  She realized how dumb she sounded as she said it and just walked away with her head down.

[Madrun Badrun]

should have said ketchup.  How impolite of you.

[VomKriege]

Store got robbed today. Like an idiot, I tried to stop them. Guns are terrifying. Glad my ass ain't die.

Glad you're OK.

[Bebpo]

So I went to a concert and for some reason the concert started at a midnight instead of like 8pm.  This was because the venue had double booked two concerts or something I think because there was one before it at 8pm on the same stage.

Outside of Festivals, I can't remember ever being at a show until 2am, but, hey it's Friday night.  Was a great way to start the weekend.  I'd been working until about 10:15pm so it was a fun transition to go out and start fucking dancing!

Store got robbed today. Like an idiot, I tried to stop them. Guns are terrifying. Glad my ass ain't die.

holy shit.  Wtf, glad you are alive.  Jesus, don't do that shit. 

[Momo]

I dont feel like running anymore, it sucks as exercise, fucks my legs and it feels like it takes way too long