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Should video games always be "fun"?
General | Posted 5 years agoJust a quick warning, this journal is going to discuss spoilers to some games including Spec Ops: the Line and Modern Warfare 2, but probably some others too so just be aware of that going forward.
This is something I've thought about off and on. Several years ago, Roger Ebert made the infamous comment that he didn't believe that video games were art. Of course to say most people who played video games disagreed with him would be an understatement. As I recall, he even went back, apologized, and changed his stance on the matter. One of the things that I thought about when I read about him saying that is that there are a variety of all types of movies, some only meant to entertain, some to make you feel, and others made for very specific purposes and not all movies you watch could be considered "fun" to watch, even disregarding documentaries. Keeping that in mind, I can understand how someone may think that video games ONLY serve the purpose of entertainment, but is that really the only reason we like them?
A lot of noise was raised when CoD: Modern Warfare 2 was released and there was a segment where players took control of an undercover CIA officer who shot up a civilian airport. The game allowed for an option to bypass that part entirely, while some versions left it in but made it so the player couldn't actually shoot anyone until the police responded. Some people praised the choice to have a chapter like that, others condemned it. I think they were going for shock value, which is fine but hollow.
Another game I played that comes to mind much better though is Spec Ops: The Line. It was, by most accounts, a run-of-the-mill shooter as far as game play goes. At least for a while. The game play elements are pretty much reskinned Gears of War as far as the mechanics go. But the thing is, that kind of game play was suitable and good enough for the elements the developers did want to focus on. That particular game was an adaptation of sorts of John Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", which "Apocalypse Now" was also an adaptation of. I also read, interesting enough, someone refer to Spec Ops as "PTSD: the video game", which I don't disagree with.
That game has you play an officer in command of a small squad of Delta Force operators on a recon mission of Dubai, following a series of intense sandstorms that have cut the entire city off from the outside world. U.S. forces had also been sent in to assist in humanitarian aid and evacuations, but one of the units under the command of a general known by the player character personally stayed behind with his unit after the command was given to pull out. The entire reason the team is sent in is because of a distress message sent by General Conrad himself. The U.S. government fears things have gone bad, but the reality is it's a total clusterfuck.
The player character, Captain Walker, takes it upon himself and his team to exceed the parameters of their recon mission and try to contact Conrad. The problem is Conrad's men have gone rogue, seemingly under the General's own orders. Armed locals and CIA paramilitary officers' involvement only makes things more complicated. The "line" that the title refers to comes at about the halfway point, when the only way to their objective is obstructed by an entire company of armored troops. Believing they have no other options, Walker sets up a mortar and launches a strike on the rogue soldiers with White Phosphorus rounds (the player has complete control during this point). It works and all resistance is eliminated. However as the characters make their way through the carnage, they discover the company was holding civilians, including children and the mortar attack killed all of them as well.
From that point in the game forward, Walker begins to suffer both audio and visual hallucinations. At points during the game play, the player is treated to truly hellish visuals where Walker is attacked by the victims of the mortar strike. Immediately after the revelation that he personally murdered a large number of civilians, Walker also comes into direct radio contact with Conrad, who attempts to guide Walker to him to learn what exactly happened. Walker's focus is squarely on finding and confronting Conrad, to the detriment of his and his team's safety and sanity and leads him to causing further destabilization along with the CIA Paramilitary officers. Ultimately, both of his team members are killed. One is ambushed and hung by a mob of enraged civilians, and the other dies making a final stand against a large force or rogue soldiers. When Walker finally makes his way to confront Conrad, he's shocked to discover the General ate his own gun...some time prior to the events of the game.
This leads to the reveal that Walker realization of what he'd done with the mortar strike cause him to snap completely and even disassociate. Something I really like about the game is there are several endings the player can choose. Walker can commit suicide or allow "Conrad" to kill him for the crimes he committed, or he can kill Conrad (so to speak). It still doesn't quite end there, should the player choose to have Walker survive that encounter. An Army SAR team arrive the next day and the player can choose to have Walker surrender peacefully and go with the soldiers, with Conrad telling him "No matter what happens next, don't be too hard on yourself. Even now, after everything you've done, you can still go home. Lucky you."
The second option is for Walker to engage in a shootout with the soldiers and be killed, leaving him as just one more casualty among possibly thousands. The third option allows for Walker to kill the SAR team before getting on the radio and repeating Conrad's words to him earlier "Gentlemen, welcome to Dubai." And with that it ends with Walker becoming the veteran who's been overcome with madness in a place where civilization has completely broken down and has become almost completely inaccessible. I think that's probably the most interesting ending, as it allows for the twist of the protagonist becoming the infamous Kurtz character from Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now.
Is that game fun? Honestly, the game play itself is repetitive until it reaches that part. I thought it was a chore, and I think that may have been intentional. The reason I played it was because of a review of it by Zero Punctuation (he even referenced the game again favorably in his review of The Last of Us 2) where he made the complaints about the game play but said it was worth playing because of that twist at the midpoint and how it drastically changes the rest of the game. It even changes the game play on replays, really. So, again, do I think it's a fun game to play? Yes, I do.
But I really don't know if a game can be made to not be "fun" in some way, even with a heavy message, and also accessible to people. However, I also really know to what extent movies with heavy subject matter are not "fun" to people either. Clearly not in the same way that your regular blockbusters are, but they are usually enjoyable.
Hope you enjoyed the rambling! I was bored and wanted to ramble so...take that for what it's worth XD
This is something I've thought about off and on. Several years ago, Roger Ebert made the infamous comment that he didn't believe that video games were art. Of course to say most people who played video games disagreed with him would be an understatement. As I recall, he even went back, apologized, and changed his stance on the matter. One of the things that I thought about when I read about him saying that is that there are a variety of all types of movies, some only meant to entertain, some to make you feel, and others made for very specific purposes and not all movies you watch could be considered "fun" to watch, even disregarding documentaries. Keeping that in mind, I can understand how someone may think that video games ONLY serve the purpose of entertainment, but is that really the only reason we like them?
A lot of noise was raised when CoD: Modern Warfare 2 was released and there was a segment where players took control of an undercover CIA officer who shot up a civilian airport. The game allowed for an option to bypass that part entirely, while some versions left it in but made it so the player couldn't actually shoot anyone until the police responded. Some people praised the choice to have a chapter like that, others condemned it. I think they were going for shock value, which is fine but hollow.
Another game I played that comes to mind much better though is Spec Ops: The Line. It was, by most accounts, a run-of-the-mill shooter as far as game play goes. At least for a while. The game play elements are pretty much reskinned Gears of War as far as the mechanics go. But the thing is, that kind of game play was suitable and good enough for the elements the developers did want to focus on. That particular game was an adaptation of sorts of John Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", which "Apocalypse Now" was also an adaptation of. I also read, interesting enough, someone refer to Spec Ops as "PTSD: the video game", which I don't disagree with.
That game has you play an officer in command of a small squad of Delta Force operators on a recon mission of Dubai, following a series of intense sandstorms that have cut the entire city off from the outside world. U.S. forces had also been sent in to assist in humanitarian aid and evacuations, but one of the units under the command of a general known by the player character personally stayed behind with his unit after the command was given to pull out. The entire reason the team is sent in is because of a distress message sent by General Conrad himself. The U.S. government fears things have gone bad, but the reality is it's a total clusterfuck.
The player character, Captain Walker, takes it upon himself and his team to exceed the parameters of their recon mission and try to contact Conrad. The problem is Conrad's men have gone rogue, seemingly under the General's own orders. Armed locals and CIA paramilitary officers' involvement only makes things more complicated. The "line" that the title refers to comes at about the halfway point, when the only way to their objective is obstructed by an entire company of armored troops. Believing they have no other options, Walker sets up a mortar and launches a strike on the rogue soldiers with White Phosphorus rounds (the player has complete control during this point). It works and all resistance is eliminated. However as the characters make their way through the carnage, they discover the company was holding civilians, including children and the mortar attack killed all of them as well.
From that point in the game forward, Walker begins to suffer both audio and visual hallucinations. At points during the game play, the player is treated to truly hellish visuals where Walker is attacked by the victims of the mortar strike. Immediately after the revelation that he personally murdered a large number of civilians, Walker also comes into direct radio contact with Conrad, who attempts to guide Walker to him to learn what exactly happened. Walker's focus is squarely on finding and confronting Conrad, to the detriment of his and his team's safety and sanity and leads him to causing further destabilization along with the CIA Paramilitary officers. Ultimately, both of his team members are killed. One is ambushed and hung by a mob of enraged civilians, and the other dies making a final stand against a large force or rogue soldiers. When Walker finally makes his way to confront Conrad, he's shocked to discover the General ate his own gun...some time prior to the events of the game.
This leads to the reveal that Walker realization of what he'd done with the mortar strike cause him to snap completely and even disassociate. Something I really like about the game is there are several endings the player can choose. Walker can commit suicide or allow "Conrad" to kill him for the crimes he committed, or he can kill Conrad (so to speak). It still doesn't quite end there, should the player choose to have Walker survive that encounter. An Army SAR team arrive the next day and the player can choose to have Walker surrender peacefully and go with the soldiers, with Conrad telling him "No matter what happens next, don't be too hard on yourself. Even now, after everything you've done, you can still go home. Lucky you."
The second option is for Walker to engage in a shootout with the soldiers and be killed, leaving him as just one more casualty among possibly thousands. The third option allows for Walker to kill the SAR team before getting on the radio and repeating Conrad's words to him earlier "Gentlemen, welcome to Dubai." And with that it ends with Walker becoming the veteran who's been overcome with madness in a place where civilization has completely broken down and has become almost completely inaccessible. I think that's probably the most interesting ending, as it allows for the twist of the protagonist becoming the infamous Kurtz character from Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now.
Is that game fun? Honestly, the game play itself is repetitive until it reaches that part. I thought it was a chore, and I think that may have been intentional. The reason I played it was because of a review of it by Zero Punctuation (he even referenced the game again favorably in his review of The Last of Us 2) where he made the complaints about the game play but said it was worth playing because of that twist at the midpoint and how it drastically changes the rest of the game. It even changes the game play on replays, really. So, again, do I think it's a fun game to play? Yes, I do.
But I really don't know if a game can be made to not be "fun" in some way, even with a heavy message, and also accessible to people. However, I also really know to what extent movies with heavy subject matter are not "fun" to people either. Clearly not in the same way that your regular blockbusters are, but they are usually enjoyable.
Hope you enjoyed the rambling! I was bored and wanted to ramble so...take that for what it's worth XD
More Tails of Internet Horror
General | Posted 5 years agoOkay so I started talking about Role Play adventures from the old days of yore (back in the late 00's-early 10's so not that long ago) which is full of both amusing stories of shenanigans, as well as cautionary tails about internet fuckwads. I'm going to regale you all with a tale kind of concerning the latter, and it's not really funny unfortunately, but still a vital cautionary tail.
I met someone I role played with briefly along with other friends, including Melkor. We'll call her "Ruby". Ruby was in her early twenties, a couple of years younger than me as I recall. She had a boyfriend who had just graduated high school and was college-bound, so there was a bit of an age difference there, but nothing that was a terrible big deal, also probably not a relevant thing to mention except that the boyfriend's mother was concerned about it.
Melkor was knowledgeable in computers and security and such, so Ruby expressed to him (and also talked with me) about her concerns about her boyfriend going to college and receiving nude photos from her via email. Melkor told her how to do such things more safely and told her what her boyfriend needed to do upon receiving them, if she did send them. Most of his advice went unfortunately unheeded, even the easiest of it. Her boyfriend would leave his email open and logged in on campus, and he let several friends use his laptop with no concern at all.
It didn't take long at all into the semester for Ruby to get an email from someone she didn't know, informing her that they had found and taken her nude photos she sent to her boyfriend. She also had a Facebook account and/or a twitter, I can't remember. The person demanded more photos be sent to that email address or else they would post what they had on the internet. This happened because her boyfriend, despite being told what kind of cesspool university wifis were, couldn't be bothered to log out of his email and let his friends, classmates, and whoever the fuck use his laptop with no restrictions.
Keep in mind, this was early 2010's. She told her parents about the issue and they wanted to call the cops, who wouldn't be able to do anything (not long after, laws and such did start making better headway, but there's still very little police can do about something like that). Melkor was...well, saying he was frustrated is an understatement. He didn't just give Ruby advice on how to avoid something like that, he also gifted her with a premium subscription to Malware Bytes. Unfortunately, that was the last I heard from her. Never saw her online again and she deleted her social media.
Lesson from this particular story: take precautions with internet security, follow them, and make sure your SO follows them as well should you decide to send...potentially compromising things to them. I'll say this: it's not her fault that those photos were stolen. She trusted someone who was either stupid or didn't care. I don't like that stuff like this happens, but it does. All I can say to anyone who trusts someone enough to send nudes/lewds is do everything you can to make sure only the person you want to see them is seeing them.
I met someone I role played with briefly along with other friends, including Melkor. We'll call her "Ruby". Ruby was in her early twenties, a couple of years younger than me as I recall. She had a boyfriend who had just graduated high school and was college-bound, so there was a bit of an age difference there, but nothing that was a terrible big deal, also probably not a relevant thing to mention except that the boyfriend's mother was concerned about it.
Melkor was knowledgeable in computers and security and such, so Ruby expressed to him (and also talked with me) about her concerns about her boyfriend going to college and receiving nude photos from her via email. Melkor told her how to do such things more safely and told her what her boyfriend needed to do upon receiving them, if she did send them. Most of his advice went unfortunately unheeded, even the easiest of it. Her boyfriend would leave his email open and logged in on campus, and he let several friends use his laptop with no concern at all.
It didn't take long at all into the semester for Ruby to get an email from someone she didn't know, informing her that they had found and taken her nude photos she sent to her boyfriend. She also had a Facebook account and/or a twitter, I can't remember. The person demanded more photos be sent to that email address or else they would post what they had on the internet. This happened because her boyfriend, despite being told what kind of cesspool university wifis were, couldn't be bothered to log out of his email and let his friends, classmates, and whoever the fuck use his laptop with no restrictions.
Keep in mind, this was early 2010's. She told her parents about the issue and they wanted to call the cops, who wouldn't be able to do anything (not long after, laws and such did start making better headway, but there's still very little police can do about something like that). Melkor was...well, saying he was frustrated is an understatement. He didn't just give Ruby advice on how to avoid something like that, he also gifted her with a premium subscription to Malware Bytes. Unfortunately, that was the last I heard from her. Never saw her online again and she deleted her social media.
Lesson from this particular story: take precautions with internet security, follow them, and make sure your SO follows them as well should you decide to send...potentially compromising things to them. I'll say this: it's not her fault that those photos were stolen. She trusted someone who was either stupid or didn't care. I don't like that stuff like this happens, but it does. All I can say to anyone who trusts someone enough to send nudes/lewds is do everything you can to make sure only the person you want to see them is seeing them.
Nascar Bans the Confederate Flag
General | Posted 5 years agoWhile some people have criticized the decision, saying that the people running Nascar should "stay in their lane", others have praised the decision as finally making a turn in the right direction. My opinion is if any organization has the right to weigh in on race relations, it's Nascar.
I'm at a Loss
General | Posted 5 years agoBy now, most if not all of you are aware of what's going on in D.C. Federal Police have violently forced protesters out of the capital so that the "Dear Leader" could get his hollow photo op. FBI HRT/SWAT is doing fly-overs in fucking blackhawks. Trump is also supposedly calling in the military. This could be it.
If we do make it to November, I don't know what to tell y'all. I don't like Biden, I think he's got some mental issues that can't be attributed to what people say it is (I forget if he has dyslexia or a stutter), and I believe the accusation of sexual assault (look at the footage that does show how he behaves with women!). However, I think especially in light of recent events, top priority is getting Trump out of office. He has crossed the threshold.
He's wanting to mobilize the military. We don't have any guarantee that they won't heed orders to harm civilians, there are no guarantees that we will even have another election period at this point. Maybe November is the last one. I don't like thinking about this stuff. But we need to take action at the polls.
If we do make it to November, I don't know what to tell y'all. I don't like Biden, I think he's got some mental issues that can't be attributed to what people say it is (I forget if he has dyslexia or a stutter), and I believe the accusation of sexual assault (look at the footage that does show how he behaves with women!). However, I think especially in light of recent events, top priority is getting Trump out of office. He has crossed the threshold.
He's wanting to mobilize the military. We don't have any guarantee that they won't heed orders to harm civilians, there are no guarantees that we will even have another election period at this point. Maybe November is the last one. I don't like thinking about this stuff. But we need to take action at the polls.
I saw "The Report"
General | Posted 5 years agoThis movie came out last year and it stars Adam Driver and a number of other A-list actors. It's about the report that was done on the CIA's use of torture/"Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" on detainees during the War on Terror. So I'm going to get this out of the way, as the movie was opening and the names of studios and such were coming up, among them was "VICE studios" and my immediate thought was "Oh boy...". I like movies like this, for the most part. But "Spotlight" this movie is not.
Okay the first big issue I have with this movie is...it's going to sound like I'm being dismissive, I'm really not. I think the fact that this report was written and released was good, we need to know how torture was implemented, what harm it did, why it did harm (not referring to the detainees/terrorists, the harm there is obvious), and why the CIA saw fit to lie to multiple heads of state about its use. Anyways, the first issue I have is that the movie speculates that the CIA felt responsible for not stopping 9/11, so they started using torture to get information to stop further attacks. The movie approaches the subject like it has never been done by the US/CIA before. The Phoenix Program and MK Ultra come to mind immediately. Anyone who is shocked that the CIA would do something like that despite having a history of it should not be in office. That is not meant to be dismissive of the findings of the report, but it's like saying "Trump says weird shit on Twitter." No fucking shit, dude!
The second big issue I have with this is it reeks of bias. Even "13 Hours" managed to stay more apolitical than this movie did. The subject of one Edward Snowden is brought up. As such, the movie REALLY hammers the message that Snowden is a traitor for exposing the information that was being collected by the NSA, instead of running it through proper channels and trusting the government to deal with it. There are a couple of times when the protagonist (I don't know if the RL person ever considered doing this) is tempted to leak the report to other groups like the New York Times because the report's release keeps getting stone walled. He ultimately decides to let it continue through proper channels and his faith is rewarded, pushing the message that if your government is doing something shitty and you have inside information that looks like it will never see the light of day, have faith that the government will publicly acknowledge the most embarrassing screw-ups and the worst betrayals of its people willingly.
So the TL; DR message of this movie is: A bunch of film makers and politicians in their comfy little bubbles are shocked that the CIA, an agency with quite a history of batshit projects (kind of literally) and torture, used torture to get information from terrorists, and that you can trust the Democrats and John McCain to speak out against wrongs committed by your government, no matter what. So don't turn traitor and leak information on how the government actively violates your civil rights.
Okay the first big issue I have with this movie is...it's going to sound like I'm being dismissive, I'm really not. I think the fact that this report was written and released was good, we need to know how torture was implemented, what harm it did, why it did harm (not referring to the detainees/terrorists, the harm there is obvious), and why the CIA saw fit to lie to multiple heads of state about its use. Anyways, the first issue I have is that the movie speculates that the CIA felt responsible for not stopping 9/11, so they started using torture to get information to stop further attacks. The movie approaches the subject like it has never been done by the US/CIA before. The Phoenix Program and MK Ultra come to mind immediately. Anyone who is shocked that the CIA would do something like that despite having a history of it should not be in office. That is not meant to be dismissive of the findings of the report, but it's like saying "Trump says weird shit on Twitter." No fucking shit, dude!
The second big issue I have with this is it reeks of bias. Even "13 Hours" managed to stay more apolitical than this movie did. The subject of one Edward Snowden is brought up. As such, the movie REALLY hammers the message that Snowden is a traitor for exposing the information that was being collected by the NSA, instead of running it through proper channels and trusting the government to deal with it. There are a couple of times when the protagonist (I don't know if the RL person ever considered doing this) is tempted to leak the report to other groups like the New York Times because the report's release keeps getting stone walled. He ultimately decides to let it continue through proper channels and his faith is rewarded, pushing the message that if your government is doing something shitty and you have inside information that looks like it will never see the light of day, have faith that the government will publicly acknowledge the most embarrassing screw-ups and the worst betrayals of its people willingly.
So the TL; DR message of this movie is: A bunch of film makers and politicians in their comfy little bubbles are shocked that the CIA, an agency with quite a history of batshit projects (kind of literally) and torture, used torture to get information from terrorists, and that you can trust the Democrats and John McCain to speak out against wrongs committed by your government, no matter what. So don't turn traitor and leak information on how the government actively violates your civil rights.
Time for Some Real Pandemic Talk
General | Posted 5 years agoI've mostly been making jokes about "the plague" and the "end times", but with how crazy everything is getting with armed protests and such, I really need to get real with all of you about how serious this virus really is. I know it's been said several times, but the last time we had anything like this, anything that got THIS bad was the Spanish Flu which...there are some old people here in this community, but I'm not sure any of them are THAT old. And that particular pandemic was very different because people didn't travel as far or as frequently as we can now. It's pretty bad here with the outbreaks, but it's been MUCH worse in Italy and that's what a lot of people want to avoid.
Getting more personal on the issue, and to try and help give others and idea of how serious this is, I need to tell you about one of my friends. She is in her 30's, not very old at all, but she has a compromised immune system. She caught the virus and had to go to the hospital. While she was there, her breathing got worse and being put on oxygen wasn't helping enough, so they sedated her and put her on a ventilator. She was in the hospital for two weeks and when she was released, she had been put on oxygen. They don't know when or if she'll be able to come off of oxygen, as doctors don't know what the long term and permanent damage caused by COVID-19 is yet. Again, she is in her 30's. All kinds of health conditions compromise your immune system, some worse than others.
That's why people are making such a big deal about social distancing, closing places down, and all of that. My friend was lucky, she was able to 1) Get tested for it, and 2) was able to get the medical care she needed when she was hospitalized. Not everyone who needs it is able to be put on a ventilator or even get tested for it, even now.
I'm pinching pennies, I don't know when I'm going to be able to work again, and I don't know when this shit is going to stop. I'm also not worried about catching the virus myself, as I'm pretty healthy and I don't have any immunity problems. But I'm not the only person in the world and I also have close family members who are at risk of complications from this thing. It is incredibly distressing to see elected officials going on national T.V. and saying that the elderly and immunocompromised should be willing to die "for the economy". I'm also really tired of hearing about how "the cure can't be worse than the disease". If our government had taken precautions when everyone first became aware of this fucking thing, we would have the ability to test people as needed, and we wouldn't be in such a bad situation like we're in now.
This fucking sucks. It does. It really fucking does. I need to save up money, I need to earn more money. I need to move elsewhere and get a better job and get my life going in a better direction. But I am not going to be responsible for getting people fatally ill to do that.
Getting more personal on the issue, and to try and help give others and idea of how serious this is, I need to tell you about one of my friends. She is in her 30's, not very old at all, but she has a compromised immune system. She caught the virus and had to go to the hospital. While she was there, her breathing got worse and being put on oxygen wasn't helping enough, so they sedated her and put her on a ventilator. She was in the hospital for two weeks and when she was released, she had been put on oxygen. They don't know when or if she'll be able to come off of oxygen, as doctors don't know what the long term and permanent damage caused by COVID-19 is yet. Again, she is in her 30's. All kinds of health conditions compromise your immune system, some worse than others.
That's why people are making such a big deal about social distancing, closing places down, and all of that. My friend was lucky, she was able to 1) Get tested for it, and 2) was able to get the medical care she needed when she was hospitalized. Not everyone who needs it is able to be put on a ventilator or even get tested for it, even now.
I'm pinching pennies, I don't know when I'm going to be able to work again, and I don't know when this shit is going to stop. I'm also not worried about catching the virus myself, as I'm pretty healthy and I don't have any immunity problems. But I'm not the only person in the world and I also have close family members who are at risk of complications from this thing. It is incredibly distressing to see elected officials going on national T.V. and saying that the elderly and immunocompromised should be willing to die "for the economy". I'm also really tired of hearing about how "the cure can't be worse than the disease". If our government had taken precautions when everyone first became aware of this fucking thing, we would have the ability to test people as needed, and we wouldn't be in such a bad situation like we're in now.
This fucking sucks. It does. It really fucking does. I need to save up money, I need to earn more money. I need to move elsewhere and get a better job and get my life going in a better direction. But I am not going to be responsible for getting people fatally ill to do that.
It Will Get Worse
General | Posted 5 years agoSo the title is referring to what I'm dealing with personally more than the ongoing situation(s). I haven't said much on the situation because it's a slow brewing one and, well, my sincere thoughts and feelings are "insensitive" to say the least. My brother's girlfriend is a few months along in her pregnancy, everything is going "well" and they're planning a baby shower/gender reveal.
All of that is marred by the fact that about a week after they told my family, they had a really bad fight and he needed me to come with him and help him get his shit because he couldn't deal with her. I took the opportunity to remind him that she has lied to him about being pregnant before, she clearly got pregnant on purpose because he tried to break up with her before and he's a stupid cunt, and that he should get a paternity test, because she raises the kind of red flags that knocking herself up with somebody else kid and saying it's his is easily within her capability. Of course he didn't go through with the break up then, but I took the opportunity to tell him "This is the last time I am helping. With any of it. I have told you my concerns, I've told you several times, mom's told you several times, every body has told you things are very wrong. I'm not supporting any of it."
It legit hurts me how excited my parents are about them having a baby. I mean I get the part about having the baby, but where this WILL end up. And I tried to tell them, especially my mom, before this Code Red happened that it would end fucking ugly. Worse than his ex-wife, worse than anything they have seen up close. I've made my thoughts clear that I'm not getting any kind of emotional attachment to this fucking thing because it will be turned into a weapon to hurt all of us. So now I'm having to plan ahead for how to help my parents when all the court cases are done and my brother is left with either supervised visitation only with his kid(s) or no custodial or visitation rights at all and they can't see that grandbaby no more. My mom is still hurting from losing her mom, my grandma, in 2018 and it's filled a need for "good news", but I feel like I'm the only fucking sane cunt here with ANY fucking foresight into how bad this is going to get.
My mom sounds like an abuse victim! She's gone from saying the girlfriend is an awful person FOR my brother (because of how he acts and how they act around each other) to saying "She's not that bad and she's gotten a lot better." Because, no she has not gotten better. She knew we were all in favor of him breaking up with her, so come Christmas she started kissing LOTS of ass. But I'll have to deal with it some how. I plan on being out of her before the fucking thing is born.
All of that is marred by the fact that about a week after they told my family, they had a really bad fight and he needed me to come with him and help him get his shit because he couldn't deal with her. I took the opportunity to remind him that she has lied to him about being pregnant before, she clearly got pregnant on purpose because he tried to break up with her before and he's a stupid cunt, and that he should get a paternity test, because she raises the kind of red flags that knocking herself up with somebody else kid and saying it's his is easily within her capability. Of course he didn't go through with the break up then, but I took the opportunity to tell him "This is the last time I am helping. With any of it. I have told you my concerns, I've told you several times, mom's told you several times, every body has told you things are very wrong. I'm not supporting any of it."
It legit hurts me how excited my parents are about them having a baby. I mean I get the part about having the baby, but where this WILL end up. And I tried to tell them, especially my mom, before this Code Red happened that it would end fucking ugly. Worse than his ex-wife, worse than anything they have seen up close. I've made my thoughts clear that I'm not getting any kind of emotional attachment to this fucking thing because it will be turned into a weapon to hurt all of us. So now I'm having to plan ahead for how to help my parents when all the court cases are done and my brother is left with either supervised visitation only with his kid(s) or no custodial or visitation rights at all and they can't see that grandbaby no more. My mom is still hurting from losing her mom, my grandma, in 2018 and it's filled a need for "good news", but I feel like I'm the only fucking sane cunt here with ANY fucking foresight into how bad this is going to get.
My mom sounds like an abuse victim! She's gone from saying the girlfriend is an awful person FOR my brother (because of how he acts and how they act around each other) to saying "She's not that bad and she's gotten a lot better." Because, no she has not gotten better. She knew we were all in favor of him breaking up with her, so come Christmas she started kissing LOTS of ass. But I'll have to deal with it some how. I plan on being out of her before the fucking thing is born.
Toilet Paper is More Valuable Than Oil
General | Posted 5 years ago100% dead ass serious. Most of you are aware of this stuff, I know. This is outstanding information. I don't know what to do with it, other than continue to be confused at life. Which is my default. I'm going to start drinking.
Descent Into Madness
General | Posted 5 years agoI fear I have exacerbated something that I shouldn't have. This journal is going to hold a humorous tone, as it should, but I'm also really pretty serious with my concerns. I found out my dad had watched a recent horror movie called Midsommer. It's on my watch list, but I haven't gotten around to it. He enjoyed it because of its similarity to the original "Wicker Man" movie from the 70's. I asked him if he'd ever heard of "Hereditary", he said no, but became intrigued, inquired about it online, and watched it. The movie was clearly a ride for him, and I think he wants to watch more. He then asked me "Have you heard of this movie called Antichrist?"
"Oh jesus christ dad...uhm...okay man, spoilers be damned...go online and read the synopsis to that movie before you watch it. There's stuff in that movie that...really bothers people." I try not to tell people "Don't watch that!" but good god! PACE YOURSELF!! I'm trying to think of something a couple of notches higher on the "happy" scale in the fucked up horror/thriller movie thing to steer him away from mind-altering films XD
"Oh jesus christ dad...uhm...okay man, spoilers be damned...go online and read the synopsis to that movie before you watch it. There's stuff in that movie that...really bothers people." I try not to tell people "Don't watch that!" but good god! PACE YOURSELF!! I'm trying to think of something a couple of notches higher on the "happy" scale in the fucked up horror/thriller movie thing to steer him away from mind-altering films XD
So Aside from the Plague
General | Posted 5 years agoYeah this is a really, really bad year. Rather, I should say it's a very dangerous year. Tornado season is upon us and it is an active one this year. Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas have been hit by major tornadoes already. The AL/MS tornado had indications of a strong tornado, but it luckily didn't really hit much and was rated EF1. Before that, one hit the Nashville area of Tennessee and it caused damage rated as high-end EF3-EF4 strength. Then just the other day, one hit Jonesboro, AR that was clearly very strong and looks like it did EF3 level damage. Fortunately, that last one so far doesn't seem to have caused any fatalities. So yeah, those of you living in that neck of the woods, do be VERY careful.
An Eventful Night Update
General | Posted 5 years agoSo late last night, I learned that my area got hit by three tornadoes, probably four. Luckily they were all very short-lived and weak tornadoes (two were rated EF-0, one was EF-1, and one couldn't be confirmed to have even actually touched the ground so was classified as "Straight-line Winds"). I HATE night time tornadoes more than anything. I've worked my way up to not being outright terrified or panicky during severe weather, but I do still take it seriously enough. Always take it seriously!
An Eventful Night
General | Posted 6 years agoJust had a tornado warning here. I was with my folks when it went down, went to the interior room, safest one we might have here. Pulled out my phone and told it via voice command to play "End of the World" by R.E.M. Many a head was shook at me. Guys I think I'm starting to lose my mind.
I got my fucking money back!
General | Posted 6 years agoI am going to have me a good old time writing reviews anywhere and everywhere about Newegg. I had to get with Paypal and my bank to get the charge on my card charged back. I feel like an elephant got off my god damn chest. To reiterate, Newegg's response to EVERYTHING I asked them was summed up as "We got your money and shipped the items. We don't care anymore."
I did some research and I found an overwhelming number of negative reviews for Newegg describing similar problems. It's a shame, they used to be reputable.
I did some research and I found an overwhelming number of negative reviews for Newegg describing similar problems. It's a shame, they used to be reputable.
RuneStone open for commissions
General | Posted 6 years agoMore info here: https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9432718/
I've commissioned a lot of work from her that I'm very pleased with! Examples include the following:
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/35092853/ (most recent)
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/29489457/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/23985585/
I've commissioned a lot of work from her that I'm very pleased with! Examples include the following:
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/35092853/ (most recent)
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/29489457/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/23985585/
I REALLY Don't Like 2020
General | Posted 6 years agoI'm going to level with all of you, I don't think I'm going to have good news for a while. Family drama is afoot. What has been feared and dreaded has happened: my dumb fuck brother got his sperm bank pregnant. Some of you may recall that he broke up with her back in November. He was warned that she would do something like this (and we all know she got pregnant on purpose). Despite knowing the nature of this, both my parents are happy and excited. It brings me no joy to point out how bad things are likely going to get. Even worse is last week, dumbass called me and asked me to help him get his car back from her because they were breaking up again. I humored him and went with him. They made up and all was well, but when he dropped me off I looked at him and said "This is the last time I'm helping with any of this. I'm also not going to watch this shit happen with you again, I've told you my concerns and they've been ignored so it's all on you."
Meanwhile the cat's come out of the bag and my sister-in-law is raising all kinds of hell. I don't disagree with her that the baby mama is poison, but the way she's carrying on about it is it's all about her. It's driving everybody crazy.
Meanwhile the cat's come out of the bag and my sister-in-law is raising all kinds of hell. I don't disagree with her that the baby mama is poison, but the way she's carrying on about it is it's all about her. It's driving everybody crazy.
Funny Shit!
General | Posted 6 years agoOkay so since I have vented upon you, oh poor, wretched souls, about the rage that was my former job, I now feel obliged to deliver unto you at least one amusing tale (for the time being) of my time there. These will not be in chronological order. In fact, this one's a little more recent.
Some months ago, we got an idiot kid working there who just...was worthless. I ain't talking "first time working, ever" worthless, I mean "This kid's fucking lucky he weren't born in no shithole, third world nation where they'd cut him up and use him for fertilizer because he's not useful for anything else!" worthless. He did not care. In fact, a lot of people preferred being short-staffed to having him present. I wound up going off on him at least a couple of times by this point. And I got written up both times. It was also about this time that I learned write-ups had no consequences. As long as I didn't do anything overtly illegal anyways.
Among the things this idiot fucker has done is played on his phone. While the oven got backed up. During a rush. Oh I've also seen (and reported him) for sticking his fingers in the pizzas coming out of the oven. I also saw him get sauce on his hand, lick it off, then continue handling the fucking food. I started telling everyone I knew not to eat there after that.
Now, I can't remember what I caught him doing this particular day, but I do remember pausing to check and make sure there weren't customers currently in the lobby (especially kids), then I looked at him and said "Taylor you know you're not supposed to do that! If I catch you doing that shit again, I will throw you in the fucking oven then start greeting customers by telling them 'Welcome to Auschwitz Pizza'!" My manager probably didn't write me up because 1) When you laugh at something like that, you kind of lose moral high ground, and 2) She probably let it go since there weren't customers in the place, but her response was a satisfying "Holy shit, Connor!"
I also confided in a coworker that I wanted to solve Taylor's problem the same way his mother should have solved it years ago, with a wire coat hanger.
Some months ago, we got an idiot kid working there who just...was worthless. I ain't talking "first time working, ever" worthless, I mean "This kid's fucking lucky he weren't born in no shithole, third world nation where they'd cut him up and use him for fertilizer because he's not useful for anything else!" worthless. He did not care. In fact, a lot of people preferred being short-staffed to having him present. I wound up going off on him at least a couple of times by this point. And I got written up both times. It was also about this time that I learned write-ups had no consequences. As long as I didn't do anything overtly illegal anyways.
Among the things this idiot fucker has done is played on his phone. While the oven got backed up. During a rush. Oh I've also seen (and reported him) for sticking his fingers in the pizzas coming out of the oven. I also saw him get sauce on his hand, lick it off, then continue handling the fucking food. I started telling everyone I knew not to eat there after that.
Now, I can't remember what I caught him doing this particular day, but I do remember pausing to check and make sure there weren't customers currently in the lobby (especially kids), then I looked at him and said "Taylor you know you're not supposed to do that! If I catch you doing that shit again, I will throw you in the fucking oven then start greeting customers by telling them 'Welcome to Auschwitz Pizza'!" My manager probably didn't write me up because 1) When you laugh at something like that, you kind of lose moral high ground, and 2) She probably let it go since there weren't customers in the place, but her response was a satisfying "Holy shit, Connor!"
I also confided in a coworker that I wanted to solve Taylor's problem the same way his mother should have solved it years ago, with a wire coat hanger.
An Update
General | Posted 6 years agoNow that the annual DDoS attack seems to have subsided, it's time I give all of you a more thorough update. I HATE 2020 with a passion that I have never hated any year with, even the infamous 2016. Any time I have received news this year (mind you, we're less than two months in which has me both hopeful and legit terrified) it's been bad news. Along with my issues with Newegg and Paypal, which I've kept you all fairly up-to-date with, I also lost my job. I'm not being picky in my pursuit of more work. The details concerning that are this: I worked for Domino's as a delivery driver. In early February, they decided to implement a policy that fixed a problem that wasn't a problem and it tied the hands of the delivery drivers in our attempts to do our jobs effectively.
They passed this new policy with NO prior notice, no meetings, no discussion. Driver don't make as much taking deliveries. When we get stiffed (and keep this in mind any time you order pizza to be delivered), we're pretty much paying out of our pocket to deliver to you. When things are good, they're great. But when we get several stiffs in a row, managers try to tell us "It's the nature of the job dude" but there's also the issue of "We're paying out of pocket to deliver to some of these people and when they never tip, it's frustrating and some of these cunts live in BFE and we have to include vehicle maintenance in our consideration." I've had tire issues from working this job, I've had to change my oil more frequently, I've had to pay a lot more in gas than if I was just driving to and from. When the pay is good, it's great. When it's not though, I'm pretty much paying to work.
There is a hitch to all this: Inside tips. A lot of customers will tip when they order carry-out, even though they know they don't have to. This is also great because it gives the insiders (people who actually make the pizzas and such) a chance to receive tips as well. I have tried not to be a dick in regards to that, but there are times when we are absolutely slammed with carry-out orders and the insiders can't help all the customers themselves. So drivers has to help out with that.
The new policy that was put in place made it so drivers could not receive ANY tips inside. Period. It was all pooled and divided among the inside staff. That annoyed me bad enough as it is because the attitude of the policy makes it sound like we're stealing tips. We're not. Drivers are not trained to make the food. We're trained in almost everything else and there is a lot of overlap in training, but beyond prep and Quality Assurance, making the food is not priority training. Despite that though, often times driver will learn how to make things on their own initiative (I did this as well). I'm sure many of you can see the issues coming up already, but it gets worse.
The way we were informed was almost in passing, like "Hey, we got new pizza cutters so just throw the old ones away." No, we got told that we couldn't accept tips at the counter anymore and if we did receive them anyway, we had to give that money up to be put in the safe (we're ALL personally responsible for any money we touch, so passing that off to somebody else's care is a major risk). I asked for clarification and what I heard was sketchy as fuck. So I refused to help customers at the counter PERIOD. I got chewed out for that. So I responded that I've had issues with getting shorted in the past for stuff that wasn't my fault and I'm not agreeing to a new policy that takes money that I'm responsible for out of my hands.
There was an argument over the issue and I had a decision to make. To give a little more background on the problems at that location, we have a GM who's been fucking with peoples' work times (drivers have to "clock out" on delivery, so that we can gauge delivery times) to make overall store times look better, sometimes at our detriment (we also make less when we're out on delivery). I brought this issue up and that stopped, at least with me. I had an incident where I requested time off, got it approved, then got scheduled to work some of that time even though I would be out of the fucking state. LUCKILY the cunt had switched to pen and paper requests so I had documentation. I sent her a photo of the approved request when she tried to make an issue of it and she tried to accuse me of forging it, but everyone knew (including her) she had no evidence of that. Tellingly, she changed up request methods after that...and wouldn't keep to anything consistent. There were a lot more problems that I don't have the time to go into detail about here.
So the issue was this fight over not being allowed tips inside the store and drivers having to surrender money that we were responsible for to another person (which, again, could result in us having money stolen from us with impunity), it was just another big fight among other fights over unethical practices. I told the GM "Alright, cash me out. I'm done." the look on her face was outstanding. I've been one of the few workers who's been consistent and has powered through all the other bullshit. In the couple of weeks since my departure, they've lost three other people (including the assistant manager) and it was at a point where losing ONE person would be devastating to times and such. This GM was completely unwilling to compromise at all, any kind of "compromise" she made ensured a loophole for her. I had to call in sick several times just to get the days off that I needed (I have a situation where I need to go out of town frequently to help my brother and/or grandpa and I need two consecutive days off to manage that). She would also change people's schedules without advance notice or asking them if they were able to do so. As such, write-ups were a joke. Nobody took write-ups seriously because she overstepped her boundaries so much that if she acted on write-ups and treated them like she was supposed to, everyone would have been fired for stuff that was her fault.
So yeah, my work skill is kind of bottom-of-the-barrel right now. I'm working on getting away from customer service, but I can tolerate anything for at least a few months. And let me tell the rest of you something, those of you who don't believe that you can get any better than customer service. Workers like you (and me) are a dime a dozen. So are the employers that would hire you. When an employer becomes abusive, you just remember they do NOT have a monopoly on treating you like shit. You can go to any one of a dozen other corporate entities and getting treated as bad, but maybe better (or worse), and get paid the same minimum wage bullshit. Seriously, people, don't put up with it! Also try looking around and seeing what you really could get into as far as work. It is surprising what a HS Diploma or GED can get you into.
That being said, you have to be willing to step outside your comfort zone. And do keep in mind that "comfortable" does not mean enjoyable. It just means you're used to it. You're numb to it. That's okay too, but don't expect it to get better just because you can tolerate it. Make it better some how. That's what I decided to do.
But yeah, 2020 is fucking with me in a pretty bad way. I'm going to keep pushing though.
They passed this new policy with NO prior notice, no meetings, no discussion. Driver don't make as much taking deliveries. When we get stiffed (and keep this in mind any time you order pizza to be delivered), we're pretty much paying out of our pocket to deliver to you. When things are good, they're great. But when we get several stiffs in a row, managers try to tell us "It's the nature of the job dude" but there's also the issue of "We're paying out of pocket to deliver to some of these people and when they never tip, it's frustrating and some of these cunts live in BFE and we have to include vehicle maintenance in our consideration." I've had tire issues from working this job, I've had to change my oil more frequently, I've had to pay a lot more in gas than if I was just driving to and from. When the pay is good, it's great. When it's not though, I'm pretty much paying to work.
There is a hitch to all this: Inside tips. A lot of customers will tip when they order carry-out, even though they know they don't have to. This is also great because it gives the insiders (people who actually make the pizzas and such) a chance to receive tips as well. I have tried not to be a dick in regards to that, but there are times when we are absolutely slammed with carry-out orders and the insiders can't help all the customers themselves. So drivers has to help out with that.
The new policy that was put in place made it so drivers could not receive ANY tips inside. Period. It was all pooled and divided among the inside staff. That annoyed me bad enough as it is because the attitude of the policy makes it sound like we're stealing tips. We're not. Drivers are not trained to make the food. We're trained in almost everything else and there is a lot of overlap in training, but beyond prep and Quality Assurance, making the food is not priority training. Despite that though, often times driver will learn how to make things on their own initiative (I did this as well). I'm sure many of you can see the issues coming up already, but it gets worse.
The way we were informed was almost in passing, like "Hey, we got new pizza cutters so just throw the old ones away." No, we got told that we couldn't accept tips at the counter anymore and if we did receive them anyway, we had to give that money up to be put in the safe (we're ALL personally responsible for any money we touch, so passing that off to somebody else's care is a major risk). I asked for clarification and what I heard was sketchy as fuck. So I refused to help customers at the counter PERIOD. I got chewed out for that. So I responded that I've had issues with getting shorted in the past for stuff that wasn't my fault and I'm not agreeing to a new policy that takes money that I'm responsible for out of my hands.
There was an argument over the issue and I had a decision to make. To give a little more background on the problems at that location, we have a GM who's been fucking with peoples' work times (drivers have to "clock out" on delivery, so that we can gauge delivery times) to make overall store times look better, sometimes at our detriment (we also make less when we're out on delivery). I brought this issue up and that stopped, at least with me. I had an incident where I requested time off, got it approved, then got scheduled to work some of that time even though I would be out of the fucking state. LUCKILY the cunt had switched to pen and paper requests so I had documentation. I sent her a photo of the approved request when she tried to make an issue of it and she tried to accuse me of forging it, but everyone knew (including her) she had no evidence of that. Tellingly, she changed up request methods after that...and wouldn't keep to anything consistent. There were a lot more problems that I don't have the time to go into detail about here.
So the issue was this fight over not being allowed tips inside the store and drivers having to surrender money that we were responsible for to another person (which, again, could result in us having money stolen from us with impunity), it was just another big fight among other fights over unethical practices. I told the GM "Alright, cash me out. I'm done." the look on her face was outstanding. I've been one of the few workers who's been consistent and has powered through all the other bullshit. In the couple of weeks since my departure, they've lost three other people (including the assistant manager) and it was at a point where losing ONE person would be devastating to times and such. This GM was completely unwilling to compromise at all, any kind of "compromise" she made ensured a loophole for her. I had to call in sick several times just to get the days off that I needed (I have a situation where I need to go out of town frequently to help my brother and/or grandpa and I need two consecutive days off to manage that). She would also change people's schedules without advance notice or asking them if they were able to do so. As such, write-ups were a joke. Nobody took write-ups seriously because she overstepped her boundaries so much that if she acted on write-ups and treated them like she was supposed to, everyone would have been fired for stuff that was her fault.
So yeah, my work skill is kind of bottom-of-the-barrel right now. I'm working on getting away from customer service, but I can tolerate anything for at least a few months. And let me tell the rest of you something, those of you who don't believe that you can get any better than customer service. Workers like you (and me) are a dime a dozen. So are the employers that would hire you. When an employer becomes abusive, you just remember they do NOT have a monopoly on treating you like shit. You can go to any one of a dozen other corporate entities and getting treated as bad, but maybe better (or worse), and get paid the same minimum wage bullshit. Seriously, people, don't put up with it! Also try looking around and seeing what you really could get into as far as work. It is surprising what a HS Diploma or GED can get you into.
That being said, you have to be willing to step outside your comfort zone. And do keep in mind that "comfortable" does not mean enjoyable. It just means you're used to it. You're numb to it. That's okay too, but don't expect it to get better just because you can tolerate it. Make it better some how. That's what I decided to do.
But yeah, 2020 is fucking with me in a pretty bad way. I'm going to keep pushing though.
I Hate Being This Way!
General | Posted 6 years agoSo more than two weeks ago now, I posted a journal detailing my problems with Newegg following an order being delivered to the incorrect address. Eventually I figured out that I needed to talk with UPS about the matter and things have been slow going. Unfortunately there were a lot of moving parts with this whole mess including myself, Newegg, UPS, and PayPal (who I use for a lot of my online transactions). Fast forward to today, I still don't have any progress so I called UPS and talked to a supervisor there. We went over everything that's occurred so far, then he asks me "Have you talked to the shipper about this problem?" I told him yes and I told him what they have told me. He said "That's unusual, because they have grounds to make a lost package claim. You need to contact them and ask them to do that." I told him I would, but I really didn't want to because of how unhelpful they've been. But I went ahead and did it.
The phone conversation with Newegg did not start off well. I relayed the information that UPS gave me about receiving the change of address, but failing to update it (in other words, UPS admitted that the address change didn't go through to their couriers for whatever reason), and that they told me I needed to contact them to make a lost package claim. They put me on hold and when they came back they told me there wasn't anything they could do. I said "No, there is. I just told you what you need to do." to which the representative told me "They told me they won't do it." I requested to be transferred to a supervisor. When I finally got off hold and got to talk to one, he tried to tell me the same damn thing I have been told the past 5+ times that I spoke with them.
I try not to be a nasty person. I have worked in customer service, and I know people who have worked in customer service. It's not pleasant dealing with unhappy people and I try to maintain the position that everyone is doing the best they can but they're berated and yelled at by way too many people and that you catch more flies with honey and all of that. Usually it works. It did not this time. This time, I had to get the nastiest I have ever been with customer service. I yelled and I swore at them. They put the fucking claim through. I got an email with all the information.
I should receive an update in about 7-8 business days. I hate that I had to talk that way to someone to get something done.
The phone conversation with Newegg did not start off well. I relayed the information that UPS gave me about receiving the change of address, but failing to update it (in other words, UPS admitted that the address change didn't go through to their couriers for whatever reason), and that they told me I needed to contact them to make a lost package claim. They put me on hold and when they came back they told me there wasn't anything they could do. I said "No, there is. I just told you what you need to do." to which the representative told me "They told me they won't do it." I requested to be transferred to a supervisor. When I finally got off hold and got to talk to one, he tried to tell me the same damn thing I have been told the past 5+ times that I spoke with them.
I try not to be a nasty person. I have worked in customer service, and I know people who have worked in customer service. It's not pleasant dealing with unhappy people and I try to maintain the position that everyone is doing the best they can but they're berated and yelled at by way too many people and that you catch more flies with honey and all of that. Usually it works. It did not this time. This time, I had to get the nastiest I have ever been with customer service. I yelled and I swore at them. They put the fucking claim through. I got an email with all the information.
I should receive an update in about 7-8 business days. I hate that I had to talk that way to someone to get something done.
I've Come to a Decision
General | Posted 6 years agoThis will impact quite possibly none of you! However, this has just occurred to me and I think it's a good way to manage things on my end. My inbox is...overwhelming here on FA, as far as journals and submissions go. It doesn't take long at all for my inbox to reach over 1,000 submissions and I don't like hitting that "nuke" button for fear of missing a work of art that I might really enjoy. For a while I've been trying to figure out how to lessen that number so it's not so overwhelming, but have mostly just unwatched people who are just...idle. As it happens though, there are a few artists I watch here who almost exclusively do YCHs of varying types. I think I can live without an inbox flooded with those, barring artists who I'm particularly close to. As of now, I'm limiting it to artists who the majority of their submissions consist of YCHs, anyone who does it routinely but also includes a lot of actual commissions, personal art, etc. will be exempt.
Again, this will most likely impact nobody here, watching me or otherwise.
Again, this will most likely impact nobody here, watching me or otherwise.
Newegg is Shit
General | Posted 6 years agoI have been very quiet on the issue, save for a handful of people (only one or two of them are active here), and the path to getting this resolved has taken a lot longer than it should have. In fact it's still not actually resolved, but I am confident that it is going to happen now that I've talked to and clarified all information with the various people I've needed to. I hope this serves as a cautionary tail as well! No, in all seriousness this has been one of the most stressful things I've ever had to handle.
My desktop has started misbehaving. Identifying the cause of the issue has been difficult, but I think it's both software and hardware related. Bottom line is my shit is out of date and the stuff I need to replace necessitates replacing parts that are otherwise fine (new motherboard is needed to replace my obsolete CPU, for example) so I did some budgeting and looking and I decided to go ahead and just build a whole new computer. I ordered a number of parts from Amazon, but there were some that I either just couldn't find on Amazon or it was only available through a third party, which I try to avoid entirely. So I went to Newegg and ordered nearly $600 of stuff.
Where things got messy was the checkout procedure. I have gotten to where I use PayPal for a lot of transactions, since they save my billing and shipping info, it's all there in one place. If you have ever ordered anything from an online store and used PayPal, you will note that it automatically fills out all the shipping info because of what you put on their website. Unfortunately Newegg overrode that info with a different address they had on file and shipped it there. I realized this error and managed to catch it and bring it to the attention of their customer service department, who then sent a change of address/destination to UPS. Unfortunately, while UPS did receive the message, their drivers were not updated with the information and it was still sent to the wrong address.
I contacted Newegg about the issue, then I contacted UPS. UPS made an attempt to retrieve the package, but had no luck (and it seems whoever was at the address didn't return it on their own initiative either). With that information becoming apparent, I asked Newegg one question: "Okay, what happens next?" this was when the frustration and fury kicked into high gear. The guy I talked to on the phone was very adamant that there wasn't anything else they could do. I told them that the money I paid for those parts wasn't an amount I could just shrug off. That's money that I need. They weren't willing to help me in ANY way, and how they talked to me damn near drove me batshit...we will revisit this.
With Newegg being cunts, I contacted UPS customer service and I summarized the situation to them...to which they responded "Okay, we will start an investigation on our end. If we are unable to retrieve the package after X amount of attempts, we will refund the cost to you." After my experience with the cunts, I had actually kind of forgotten what decent customer service was like. I asked the person to clarify exactly what that meant, specifically asking if I would be repayed the cost of the items I ordered. They said yes.
With that weight off of me, and my mind unburdened, it clicked...Newegg sucked so bad with this entire ordeal because their responses ALL amounted to "We will try", "we can try", "this is not a guarantee", and "there isn't anything we can do past this point". Their entire procedure for this mess was to outline what they couldn't do, which got infuriating because I caught them talking in circles multiple times and was able to get them in a corner, which then seemed to get things moving forward slowly. Had they told me outright "We can't push this issue any further from our end, you need to contact UPS and check with them on what your options are going forward.", you know...pointing me in some direction other than saying "Well that sure sucks! Sorry!" THAT would have been helpful and gotten this sorted out quicker!
I'm beginning to suspect Newegg might have had some legal issues where they've had to change their customer service procedures to emphasize on how they couldn't "guarantee" anything. Whatever their hangup is, I couldn't give a fuck anymore. When this whole thing is resolved I am going to call Newegg again, speak to a supervisor and tell them that I will shove shards (plural) of broken glass up my dickhole before I do business with them again. Don't buy anything from them, their customer service sucks nasty, sweaty, hobo taint.
My desktop has started misbehaving. Identifying the cause of the issue has been difficult, but I think it's both software and hardware related. Bottom line is my shit is out of date and the stuff I need to replace necessitates replacing parts that are otherwise fine (new motherboard is needed to replace my obsolete CPU, for example) so I did some budgeting and looking and I decided to go ahead and just build a whole new computer. I ordered a number of parts from Amazon, but there were some that I either just couldn't find on Amazon or it was only available through a third party, which I try to avoid entirely. So I went to Newegg and ordered nearly $600 of stuff.
Where things got messy was the checkout procedure. I have gotten to where I use PayPal for a lot of transactions, since they save my billing and shipping info, it's all there in one place. If you have ever ordered anything from an online store and used PayPal, you will note that it automatically fills out all the shipping info because of what you put on their website. Unfortunately Newegg overrode that info with a different address they had on file and shipped it there. I realized this error and managed to catch it and bring it to the attention of their customer service department, who then sent a change of address/destination to UPS. Unfortunately, while UPS did receive the message, their drivers were not updated with the information and it was still sent to the wrong address.
I contacted Newegg about the issue, then I contacted UPS. UPS made an attempt to retrieve the package, but had no luck (and it seems whoever was at the address didn't return it on their own initiative either). With that information becoming apparent, I asked Newegg one question: "Okay, what happens next?" this was when the frustration and fury kicked into high gear. The guy I talked to on the phone was very adamant that there wasn't anything else they could do. I told them that the money I paid for those parts wasn't an amount I could just shrug off. That's money that I need. They weren't willing to help me in ANY way, and how they talked to me damn near drove me batshit...we will revisit this.
With Newegg being cunts, I contacted UPS customer service and I summarized the situation to them...to which they responded "Okay, we will start an investigation on our end. If we are unable to retrieve the package after X amount of attempts, we will refund the cost to you." After my experience with the cunts, I had actually kind of forgotten what decent customer service was like. I asked the person to clarify exactly what that meant, specifically asking if I would be repayed the cost of the items I ordered. They said yes.
With that weight off of me, and my mind unburdened, it clicked...Newegg sucked so bad with this entire ordeal because their responses ALL amounted to "We will try", "we can try", "this is not a guarantee", and "there isn't anything we can do past this point". Their entire procedure for this mess was to outline what they couldn't do, which got infuriating because I caught them talking in circles multiple times and was able to get them in a corner, which then seemed to get things moving forward slowly. Had they told me outright "We can't push this issue any further from our end, you need to contact UPS and check with them on what your options are going forward.", you know...pointing me in some direction other than saying "Well that sure sucks! Sorry!" THAT would have been helpful and gotten this sorted out quicker!
I'm beginning to suspect Newegg might have had some legal issues where they've had to change their customer service procedures to emphasize on how they couldn't "guarantee" anything. Whatever their hangup is, I couldn't give a fuck anymore. When this whole thing is resolved I am going to call Newegg again, speak to a supervisor and tell them that I will shove shards (plural) of broken glass up my dickhole before I do business with them again. Don't buy anything from them, their customer service sucks nasty, sweaty, hobo taint.
Obligatory Journal on New Layout
General | Posted 6 years agoSo...this is different. I can't really say I don't like it though, it's just different. Not a huge fan of change, but it can't be helped. I'm going to sit on this and see how it grows on me.
Edit: Okay might have to do something about the journal header and footer.
Edit: Okay might have to do something about the journal header and footer.
Shenanigans of Christmas Past
General | Posted 6 years agoYou know, I could angst about my current job situation or the drama that is having family over for the holidays, but even I get exhausted from bitching and whining and complaining. So I wanted to talk about something more fun, that being my history with Santa Claus. Okay so a quick heads up, if anyone reading this doesn't know...Santa is not real. Also if you do believe in Santa, why are you on this website, nevermind my profile? You are on the naughty list and Krampus is coming for you!
I know a couple of people who...well they don't obsess on it, but they are pretty salty about the deception that is (or was) Santa Claus. It's certainly understandable and I don't blame anyone who considers it outright wrong. When I found out, I think I was 10 years old. I'm pretty sure I was 10. I think the big difference between me and how a lot of people found out was...when I started getting skeptical, I asked my parents outright. They have done and said a lot of things I don't agree with, but I do appreciate them telling me the truth. However there's always been a bit more to that whole thing that made me see it as something more fun than anything even (or maybe especially for) my parents.
One year...I must have been 4 or 5, no older than that for sure, I came into the living room on Christmas morning and in the ashes and soot in the fire place, I saw two distinct boot prints where Santa had come down the chimney. Obviously my dad had made those by putting his work boots in the fire place, but that was still pretty amazing for my little brain to behold.
Another amusing incident happened some years later when I was helping my mom bake cookies (as much as I could be of help anyways). And I guess they were pretty good because we always made enough for me and my brothers and parents to have some too, but always left out a plate for Santa. Well Dad kept getting more from the plate. And there weren't very many left at all. I was nervous, with it being Christmas Eve and all, so I left a letter for Santa telling him that I was sorry about there being so few cookies for him, but my dad kept eating them. The next morning I found a letter from the jolly man himself that pretty much said not to worry about it and that Mrs. Claus thinks he eats too many cookies anyways.
In hindsight, I've never really felt cheated. I think my parents (especially my dad) might've had more fun with the whole thing than any of us ever did.
I know a couple of people who...well they don't obsess on it, but they are pretty salty about the deception that is (or was) Santa Claus. It's certainly understandable and I don't blame anyone who considers it outright wrong. When I found out, I think I was 10 years old. I'm pretty sure I was 10. I think the big difference between me and how a lot of people found out was...when I started getting skeptical, I asked my parents outright. They have done and said a lot of things I don't agree with, but I do appreciate them telling me the truth. However there's always been a bit more to that whole thing that made me see it as something more fun than anything even (or maybe especially for) my parents.
One year...I must have been 4 or 5, no older than that for sure, I came into the living room on Christmas morning and in the ashes and soot in the fire place, I saw two distinct boot prints where Santa had come down the chimney. Obviously my dad had made those by putting his work boots in the fire place, but that was still pretty amazing for my little brain to behold.
Another amusing incident happened some years later when I was helping my mom bake cookies (as much as I could be of help anyways). And I guess they were pretty good because we always made enough for me and my brothers and parents to have some too, but always left out a plate for Santa. Well Dad kept getting more from the plate. And there weren't very many left at all. I was nervous, with it being Christmas Eve and all, so I left a letter for Santa telling him that I was sorry about there being so few cookies for him, but my dad kept eating them. The next morning I found a letter from the jolly man himself that pretty much said not to worry about it and that Mrs. Claus thinks he eats too many cookies anyways.
In hindsight, I've never really felt cheated. I think my parents (especially my dad) might've had more fun with the whole thing than any of us ever did.
2019 in Review
General | Posted 6 years agoTime to piss on the ashes of this year. It's not Christmas, but I'm in the mood so let's get to it.
2019 was...better in a lot of ways than previous years, but that's a really, REALLY low bar...I mean so low you have to dig for it. A lot of things have been left up in the air and will probably be as such for the foreseeable future. It's been a pretty bad year too, honestly. The workplace has steadily gotten much worse, I've honestly and sincerely now consider myself estranged from most of my extended family. I had a facebook profile, which I had for close friends who I had no other ways of maintaining contact, and family. I decided it wasn't worth keeping my account active after I found out my uncle, aunt, and cousins were in the same town as me (talking pretty small town here, actually more like three micro towns very close together), I had reached out to one of my cousins, who I considered myself close to up till that point, and told him several times where I was living, invited him over, got told "I'm pretty busy right now, but talk to me about it again in a couple of weeks." But that...yeah that event seemed to make it pretty clear that I could just go fuck myself. So I got rid of my facebook account, since there's no need to have it. It was actually very liberating.
My idiot brother is still an idiot, though he seems to be trying to make improvements, including breaking up with the ho. That said, she's still got her cunty little claws in him to some degree and it's because he's too stupid to tell her "no". On the plus side, if he gets back together with her, I have zero reason to not be an asshole.
In more recent developments, one of my other aunts had her second stroke in as many years earlier this week. I've noticed this time of the year often heralds bad news, so I'm honestly ready to write off the Christmas holiday entirely and start ignoring it. I wasn't even able to get my family a decent christmas list (which they only got because they kept bugging me for it) and part of that is most of the things I legit want/need aren't things they'd be able to afford, so...not much of a point. Maybe my feelings will change by next year, but I'm not sure. I'm going to plan on skipping the holiday entirely.
2019 was...better in a lot of ways than previous years, but that's a really, REALLY low bar...I mean so low you have to dig for it. A lot of things have been left up in the air and will probably be as such for the foreseeable future. It's been a pretty bad year too, honestly. The workplace has steadily gotten much worse, I've honestly and sincerely now consider myself estranged from most of my extended family. I had a facebook profile, which I had for close friends who I had no other ways of maintaining contact, and family. I decided it wasn't worth keeping my account active after I found out my uncle, aunt, and cousins were in the same town as me (talking pretty small town here, actually more like three micro towns very close together), I had reached out to one of my cousins, who I considered myself close to up till that point, and told him several times where I was living, invited him over, got told "I'm pretty busy right now, but talk to me about it again in a couple of weeks." But that...yeah that event seemed to make it pretty clear that I could just go fuck myself. So I got rid of my facebook account, since there's no need to have it. It was actually very liberating.
My idiot brother is still an idiot, though he seems to be trying to make improvements, including breaking up with the ho. That said, she's still got her cunty little claws in him to some degree and it's because he's too stupid to tell her "no". On the plus side, if he gets back together with her, I have zero reason to not be an asshole.
In more recent developments, one of my other aunts had her second stroke in as many years earlier this week. I've noticed this time of the year often heralds bad news, so I'm honestly ready to write off the Christmas holiday entirely and start ignoring it. I wasn't even able to get my family a decent christmas list (which they only got because they kept bugging me for it) and part of that is most of the things I legit want/need aren't things they'd be able to afford, so...not much of a point. Maybe my feelings will change by next year, but I'm not sure. I'm going to plan on skipping the holiday entirely.
Update on the Update on the Update
General | Posted 6 years agoOn some long reflection and after having to deal with some confrontations at work, I have decided that it's time to find employment elsewhere. I wanted to hang in there until I was able to take advantage of an opportunity elsewhere and get out of customer service for good, but as many of you have noticed and pointed out, this workplace is getting to be pretty toxic and it's time to move on. I have talked with other people with experience in this business and people outside of it. Everyone is telling me that, not only is it time to get out, but I need to do so as quickly as possible (meaning don't bother giving my two weeks', just start ASAP at the new job). Part of me feels really bad about the whole thing because I've been noticing that after a year or so of working at a place, I start getting tired of it and I'll start looking for greener pastures. Part of me thinks it's the "Honeymoon" phase wearing off and that I'm in a rut that I just need to work through, but I've also gotten to where I know better than to ignore advice from people more knowledgeable and/or experienced than me, regardless of age, and...like I said, everyone's saying I need to get out.
I will keep you all updated as things progress. It might be a bumpy transition, but it will happen somehow.
I will keep you all updated as things progress. It might be a bumpy transition, but it will happen somehow.
The Mandalorian
General | Posted 6 years agoYes I'ma talk about this shit so bail out now if you're sick and tired of it! Actually I'm only going to talk about one episode in particular, with minimal MAJOR plot spoilers. This only concerns one side character who isn't really uhmm...relevant. Also it's more an observation on problems with characters that you aren't meant to like.
So when you write a character that you intend for people to dislike, you have to walk a very careful line, especially if that character has a lot of screen time or scenes in whatever you're reading. If you do your job in writing an unlikable character too well, then every moment we spend with them is just...tedious. Without going into spoilers, with the way this character in this episode is played, you can tell right away that he's either irredeemably stupid or he's remarkably desperate. The latter can make for some interesting story-telling, but you have to develop the character at least a little bit. If you don't give proper development, it becomes apparent that the former is what the intention was, even if that's not true, and nobody likes a character who's an idiot (lovable fools withstanding, but that also includes character development).
So when you write a character that you intend for people to dislike, you have to walk a very careful line, especially if that character has a lot of screen time or scenes in whatever you're reading. If you do your job in writing an unlikable character too well, then every moment we spend with them is just...tedious. Without going into spoilers, with the way this character in this episode is played, you can tell right away that he's either irredeemably stupid or he's remarkably desperate. The latter can make for some interesting story-telling, but you have to develop the character at least a little bit. If you don't give proper development, it becomes apparent that the former is what the intention was, even if that's not true, and nobody likes a character who's an idiot (lovable fools withstanding, but that also includes character development).
