AFK BRB Chocolate

The BBC and Reuters have both gone way, way downhill in recent years, but the concept is reasonably valid. AP and NPR are still good. Aljazeera is actually pretty decent for US news, though I’m not sure if that’s true for US news related to the middle east.

No, some whoppers end up with the inside not all whipped and crunchy, but a little chewy. They’re great.

Are you taking about those weird chewy ones? Because those are my favorites.

No one gives someone “a bunch” of gift cards - it seems like you’re racing to validate your dislike of them. And I’m going to feel weird if my sister invites me to get a massage with her, though I appreciated it when she gave me a prepaid one years ago.

Here’s another example. My brother barely makes ends meet, but he loves Starbucks. Of I give him $100 cash, is not going to move the needle for his cost of living, but it’s going to go to bills. Of I give him $100 on a Starbucks card, he’s going to treat himself a bunch of times to something he loves but can’t really afford.

The other thing about it is that cash usually gets interpreted as “I put no thought into what to get you,” while a gift card at least says you had something in mind.

I’m not at all bothered by “swear words,” and I’ll use them occasionally (mostly when I think it’s funny), but it’s somewhat rare. I just don’t find it very necessary most of the time. I can usually make my point just find without, but sometimes the emphasis seems right out, again, it seems funnier.

I block the really prolific meme ones, anything with content mostly posted by bots, and the gay male stuff. I also block the prolific bots themselves.

Yeah, true, there’s an increased risk, and I’m not as good about it as I should be.

Older guy here, went bald in my 20s. Let me say this: while going bald or becoming bald sucks ass, being bald is fine. I had lots of thick hair, and when it started going away and I didn’t look like me in the mirror anymore. I figured women would find me less attractive.

What I learned is that it takes a while for your self image to catch up to your reflection in the mirror. One of the shitty things for most people about going bald is that it happens over a long time, and when you’re used to one level of baldness, it gets worse. But eventually it levels out.

There are women who aren’t attracted to bald guys (and that’s fine, attraction is subjective), but it turns out there are women who are especially attracted to bald guys, and that the vast majority of women don’t care. Doing things like having a comb-over or wearing a toupee are often a turnoff, but I think it’s as much because of the associated lack of confidence than the look itself.

I can sincerely say that I wouldn’t want my hair back today. The look suits me and it’s easier to deal with.

Chocolate

There are a lot of shades that people call purple

I like that some people are so confident in their incorrect understanding of something that they’ll downvote the correct answer.

What you said is correct.

You would think this is true, but it isn’t.

It’s the nature of people, but I think you’re going to find it in some jobs/industries more than others. I work for an aerospace company, and they regular tell people they shouldn’t be discussing things like politics and religion at work. We’re not allowed to wear shirts or put up things that are political or divisive. Stuff like that doesn’t eliminate the drama, but it helps. Also, engineers don’t tend to be overly dramatic types.

When I was young I roadied for a friend’s band, and so was hanging around a lot of musicians and artists, and the amount of drama was kind of insane.

When I was young, my mind was super visual. People would talk, and there would be a stream of pictures and videos in my mind. Then I got really into reading and writing and, over the years, my mine got much less visual. I still can visualize things, but it’s not the way my mind really works. It’s closer to an audio book, but isn’t really sound, either.

Funny, I came here to make the exact same analogy. I totally agree - a mature kid and an immature adult have a lot of overlap.

I never said that being a driller is trivial. Do you think being an astronaut is trivial? That’s a pretty intensely technical job, which is why the bar for entry is so insanely high. I would put my money on those folks leaning how to drill better than drillers leaning how to be an astronaut.

Where I am in SoCal, it’s perfect right now. The lows are in the upper 50s, the highs in the mid 80s. The mornings are cool and a bit overcast, but it burns off to a sunny, warm day. It gets cool enough to open the windows just after sundown, them close them mid morning. Really nice. In a month, highs and lows will increase ten to fifteen degrees, so it will be a bit hot.

That’s super true. What’s worse is that it often turns out to be true of news as well. There have been a few times when I was familiar with events that made the news, and there were always inaccuracies in the articles. It’s made me look at articles on events that I’m not familiar with differently; they probably have the same amount of inaccuracies.

I’m software engineering in aerospace, so a lot of computer and space stuff is ruined, which covers a lot of content.

But everyone should smack their heads about Armageddon.

Ha! I hadn’t heard that - I’m glad someone involved called him out on it. I mean, I get that the real answer - to that and all my complaints - is that the movie doesn’t work otherwise, but it’s so annoying.

I worked on the space shuttle program, and I found Armageddon almost unwatchable. I mean, those things go up with the big solid rockets and an external tank full of hydrogen and oxygen, all of which get jettisoned during launch, then they come down as a glider. But in the movie they’re landing on asteroids and taking off again, smashing into things and still flying, etc. (remember how Columbia blew up because of a crack in the leading edge of one wing?). Plus the whole premise of it being easier to teach oil drillers how to be astronauts than to teach astronauts how to be oil drillers is a joke. Every astronaut I’ve met has been an amazing capable person - many are test pilots with multiple advanced degrees.