Oh, speaking of scifi, I read another article (which I cant find now, unfortunately) about space walks: astronauts can’t just climb into a space suit and exit the space station, because that would cause decompression sickness. They have to undergo about 24 hours of preparation, then spend time in a decompression chamber once they re-enter the station. I can’t find the article I read atm, but here’s one from space.com that talks about it:

About 24 hours before the spacewalk, astronauts undergo decompression, the same procedure divers follow when returning from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the water. Inside the space station, air is pressurized to the same degree as it is on Earth at sea level: 14.7 pounds per square inch, or 1 atmosphere.

But inside a spacesuit it’s 4.3 psi, according to NASA, which is about the same pressure experienced at 30,000 feet (9,000 meters) above Earth. Experiencing a rapid drop in pressure from 14.7 to 4.3 psi causes nitrogen bubbles to form in the bloodstream and get stuck, blocking blood flow — a condition known as “the bends” or decompression sickness. To avoid the condition, astronauts camp out the night before in a closet-sized airlock while wearing their space suit so their bodies have time to adjust to the change in pressure.

Source: Spacewalks: How they work and major milestones

e: Sandra Bullock would have died of decompression sickness pretty quickly.

If the Cheneys of all people can jump ship, there’s hope.

I swear that spite and hatred must fuel longevity somehow. Kissinger made it to 99.

Pre-game coverage just started on ABC (I’m streaming it now).

He brings up Afghanistan?

She brings up his own admission that it was his own doing:

speaking at a rally on 26 June [2021, he] even stated that he “started the process” and claimed Biden “couldn’t stop it” if he “wanted to”.

Aw, now I wish I hadn’t broken out the grater. Who will carry this ring to Mordor now?

Yes, this. Ore-Ida.

I got fed up with this shit and left. That should prove I’m human.

I’m not sure there’s a correct answer to that, because the answer is technically yes, I think I’ve been inappropriate sometimes but also yes, I’ve been been told to stop sharing by several peers as an adult in several different settings, but not by anywhere near the number of peers I had.

Logically, it doesn’t make any sense to let a tiny percent outweigh the majority. It doesn’t feel nice, though.

e: tried to clarify

deleted by creator

Thank you, that helps.

or it’s some stupid power play thing where they think you’re trying to challenge their status.

Although if it’s that, I’ll never figure it out. I can’t even begin to relate to that enough to identify it.

It’s worth trying, even if you think you’ll end up cancelling anyhow. The last time I had to deal with them, they dropped my monthly bill from $150 to $80 for their highest speed broadband, and now I get roughly 1gb download speed for $80/mo. (eta in case it’s not clear: that wasn’t based on hypothetical sale prices; I’d been paying $150/mo out of pocket for half the speed; I now pay $80/mo for double the speed I had been getting.)

Your results will probably vary – I have 25 years of uninterrupted customer loyalty to leverage. (eta: not like I have a choice where I live, it’s them or dial-up, but their international agents don’t know that lol).

🤞

e: also if you follow this blueprint, let us know if it works. I didn’t come up with this pattern, but it did work for me.

There’s kind of a cheat code.

First, always call, don’t bother with chat. The first prompt you get, say ‘agent’. Don’t say anything else, and keep saying that until you get a live person (it should only take 1-3 times in the menu.

Once you have a person, threaten to cancel your service. You have to mean it (I always mean it if I’ve got to this point). They will escalate you to the customer retention team and they will listen.

e: oh, and also be nice, but firm. Angry tirades never work, but exasperated friendliness does.

And when are they appropriate or inappropriate?

This is my big problem. In a group where people are telling stories about themselves, when it’s my turn, my stories are inappropriate somehow. In 50+ years, I still haven’t figured out what I say that’s wrong,

I’ve spent ages analysing my stories compared to others and I can’t figure out the difference, and no one will tell me. Is it the content (seems comparable) or how I tell it?

It seems better to just say ‘pass’ in those situations and stop engaging.

Omg I want to print this out and staple it to my chest. I’ve been accused so many times of being a ‘one-upper’ when I’m just doing my best to relate to people.

I also need a label like sandpaper has – I’m like 60 grit abrasive.

Oh god, I’m doing it again, aren’t I?

Neat. I cancelled Hulu a few months ago, and this doesn’t make me regret my decision. I like some Disney content, but they’re corporate vultures and, based on their practices, they don’t deserve any loyalty.

And Comcast, of course, can fuck themselves to death. I wish this wasn’t an amicable takeover and Comcast would lose badly, but that’s just my murderous mouse fanfic.

Shit serves a purpose. You need it to live. It’s so important, after you’ve had an operation they make sure you can do it before they let you go home.

Ted Cruz serves no such purpose. He’s literally less useful than shit.

Grandpa Munster looks happy and has open, welcoming eyes. Meanwhile the actual social vampire looks like Munster after a week-long coke bender.

Nothing about him looks happy or welcoming. He looks like the guy who assures me he’s the carpool for Sunday school so it’s totally cool he’ll pick up my kids but lol no. I’ll take half a day off instead.

Lol. What a dumbass.

Uh, what? Have you owned a Mac in the last 30 years?

That’s not how it works. I’ve had two macs in the last 20 years, and more than a dozen Windows machines. I had to reformat the Windows PCs every year or so for various reasons until they became obsolete after like 5 years, but my macs have worked for 10 years each with no issues, and always upgraded to the latest OS easily and always for free. Both my macs lasted 10+ years of heavy use (my current one is 5+ years and still young).

Every time a Windows update came out it was an ordeal and I dreaded it; with each update I’d start looking at the cost of replacing the whole machine in case it bricks and it’s just not worth fixing things. Mac updates are barely a blip in my workflow.

Adobe projects that can’t be accessed on a workstation not running Monterrey or whatever

This makes zero sense. The Adobe suite runs much better on OSX than Windows by orders of magnitude, even on outdated and non-updated OS. There’s a reason most designers and professional VXers have always preferred Mac. (eta: also, rereading, this makes even less sense because Adobe projects don’t care about your OS when opening; just the version of Adobe itself. You can easily open projects made on a whole different OS: Windows/OSX, any recentish version with no problem. Even files made in CS6/OSX can be opened in the latest cloud app on Windows easily. You’re either mistaken here or being deliberately dishonest for some reason.)

I’ve been in IT/software development and VX design for a few decades and I’m really wondering how this is an ordeal for you. It makes no sense to me. My 3000 dollar laptop has outlasted 5 1000 dollar windows machines. You get what you pay for.

e: some words were cut

Also, in my few decades in the industry, the sales and marketing staff always ran Windows, but the design staff usually worked on Mac. That speaks for itself.