Best posts made by buttercup

@Roz

It is okay. While I don't appreciate and am not a fan of his/her statements. I have thicker skin then to get discouraged, upset, and/or react to the individual. I've been responsible for my share of trolling and have made many social mistakes in my day and will continue to do so. I will make mistakes as a parent and I will do my best to grow and learn. There is nothing some person is going to say that is greater or even a drop in the bucket to the experiences I have had -- not even a little bit of a shit given.

Lots of potential here for great conversation. I'm already considering some adjustments in how I parent and govern this situation. A couple of parents here (and non-parents) described their situations and had valuable insight. It's also nice to see the perspective and broad ranges of similar circumstances that truly highlight the problem as it exists around us.

I wish Carex their best life and happiness through trolling or whatever way they can acquire it.

So at the end of the Season we (my sons and I) did our basketball road trip. Saw the Bucks, Bulls, Pistons, Cavs, and Grizzlies.

We loved it. Had a blast. Thought I would share

I forgive you my child.

So sort of relevant. This is what has come of my family time during this pandemic. My teenage sons included their younger brother and they ended up with a charity. We spent a lot of time doing really amazing things so far.

www.essentialnotpolitical.com

I was sore last night. This was a magical season for a few reasons.

I'm from Phoenix. My father and I bonded over the Suns. We were poor and once he became disabled elementary school ticket specials were given to us every once in a while. We watched the Suns on a small black and white rabbit ears TV on channel 45, He had his first heart attack that led to his quadruple bypass in a triple overtime game when I was 11. I drove him to the hospital. We watched two days later in the bed on that same TV against doctors orders the next Suns game.

I carry the whatever it is that makes me passionate about basketball and the Suns are my heart. My wife coaches. You guys know. I've blabbed about it before.

Saw the last two games of the season the Suns played in San Antonio.

We saw Mavs/Clippers 3, 6 and 7 (live near Dallas and flew to LA). (Whole family vacation had great timing to allow this. My son (On the Spectrum) and I groove to the Suns. It's one of his foci in life. We flew to game 4 of Denver vs. Phx.

In downtown Denver we were waiting on a bus to go to game 4 and four dudes from their expensive loft balcony in a high-rise started shouting things about my weight and my team. We couldn't do anything and were in the open. I yelled up 'Suns in 4!' after about five minutes of being publicly humiliated. He pulled a gun out and started firing. I thought I was dead when I felt the pain in my shoulder. I grabbed my son and ran him towards them to the only cover. Got shot once more, and got over him and prayed that my fat fuck life would be worth something and the bullets wouldn't go through me and spare my boy.

After a moment of smothering and telling him to run I was going to stand and draw fire so he could have full cover. Told him I love him but then felt a sting in my foot. It was a fucking bb gun.

Felony menacing and felony assault charges and in court now on the shooter.

I can't tell you how fucked up I am on that. Massively. Anyway.

We got to the game late in the back of a police car. Ayton saw our sign and fist to chest saluted me (Domin-Ayton with his poster dunk the game prior).

My wife for my birthday took me to game 3 and 4 Suns and Clippers in LA. I had a rough time game 3. Got through it and game 4 was amazing. Ayton saw me (new poster) and my wife and pointed us out in the crowd and did the same fist to chest thing -- . His mom a few rows below us looked up and then we started talking.

We hung out after and talked a lot with her and his baby mamma. Great pictures with them. His mom asked to keep our poster she loved it so much and wanted to take it home.

In advanced scouting I took my son (he wasn't ready for LA being honest I wasn't either) to see Bucks and Hawks Game 6. Got to see the Bucks take the Eastern Conference.

We were going to go to Game 4 if the Suns were in position to sweep. That kept getting pushed back had they won last night my son and I were going to get in the truck and drive to Phoenix.

So bittersweet. Hopefully less bitter with time long-term.

That said I get to take my step-son to see Green Day (also on the spectrum but he has it for music) and then we're going 5 days Lolla later this month. Where Tyler the Creator and many more will be. We bond on hip hop, 90s music, and rap. These are his two favorite bands and artist. His first concerts ever.

It's great to be a dad sometimes. I'll be back on the Suns next year after we size up and go up against Nash and the Nets for more bittersweet heartbreak.

Sort of on topic

Video of me stuck on Youtube speaking to a group of people

So this is me. I was recorded and then this was sent to my bosses by someone in the room. I do a lot of youth counseling, at risk speaking... gang intervention, etc. It's all voluntary but I'm comitted this year to doing it more readily. This is at my work where I'm a director and I've been asked to come to speak to some struggling people. I hire underprivileged and second chance hires as a rule. And so I get involved a lot and speak when asked because I care about the outcomes.

Anyway, I've been lurking while. Wanted an anonymous environment to preen a bit.

I'm Abbas on Arx.

I am really sad to see Victus go. He was always very fair to me OOCly and ICly. And I was happy he (the player) took over Thrax as he seemed level-headed and fair in all the interactions I have had with him.

I never had an issue with Julea. I felt bad she got banned.

I will not be applying for Victus because I have Abbas in the ultimate position I enjoy my character to be in. Had Victus still been the Warlord I would have totes been all about it. I do not enjoy the resource management side of these games enough to ever try and do anything other than a small portion of that sort of commitment.

I hope the person that takes over Victus plays the character in the same manner. He was such a great character. There is only one individual I would absolutely detest seeing play him. And I would leave my character over it but I doubt staff makes that decision! So I think it's going to be all gravy with whomever takes the bit.

I love this game. It's been really fun and I play a very interesting character there. I hope it gets more active outside of the Monster of the Week stuff. I would encourage people to give it a try.

I have planned for a couple of years to take my eldest son on an NBA road trip that he will remember for the rest of his life and I plan to do it this year. I have saved ten dollars a check for two years and I think I have enough to do it on the cheap.

I am not poor but part of this trip is not to spend a lot. It's about quality time and I set this goal for myself worse comes to worse I could always put a few thousand dollars more on credit cards and do it more expensively but I just worked hard to get out of debt finally in December (40k in two years). When my father was alive we were poor as dirt and my best memories are when we penny pitched and got nosebleed tickets. My sons don't care how we do it. I think living out of a cooler mostly, road tripping, cheap hotels and fellowship is the way to go.

My son is an amazing child. He is on the high functioning side of the autism spectrum (Asperger Syndrome) and struggles socially while excelling intellectually.

I was much the same as a child. One of the outlets I had available was basketball. My father and I were rabid Phoenix Suns fans and as child we bonded over the team. When I was eleven he had his first heart attack which led to a quadruple bypass. We were watching a game one night and he started sweating and throwing up in a small trashcan. The game went into overtime and I could tell something was wrong. We used to listen to the radio broadcast with a delay and watch the games through the small television in the living room. After the game (we won) he looked to me and told me he had a heart attack and that I needed to drive him to the hospital.

The doctor told him that he could not watch basketball anymore and he coded while on the stress test the next morning. He wash rushed through to get a bypass. My father told the doctor to go to hell with his basketball request. I spent the next number of games smuggling in a black and white little rabbit ears television unit and we watched the games at his bedside. He lived twenty-five more years and our love of the Suns are my fondest memories of my father and I. It was everything to us.

From an early age despite living in Texas my eldest son and I watched basketball. We are die-hard Suns fans but we love the NBA in general. One of my sons aspirations was to get good enough in basketball to play for his high school team. We played daily and despite making progress that likely is not going to happen. He helps the 8th grade team as an assistant coach now and while he is okay for a kid his age some of his challenges and awkwardness won't allow him the chance in high school. I would be understating it to say that for my son, basketball, is important and one of his only successful social outlets. He is a brilliant child -- straight A's his whole life and his academic future is amazing. I am so proud of his manners and he is the most amazing son a father could wish for.

I will be picking him up for Spring Break in Louisville on the 3/31 and bringing his little brother (6) and I will pretend like we are making the drive back to Texas. We won't be, I am packing a cooler, and we're going to start our NBA road trip together. Each stop I will tell him I love him and it is time to go home but then it will be on to the next city until it is actually time for Spring Break to be over and I will put him on a plane in Dallas to fly back.

My Request:

I do not know these cities. And while we follow the teams I would like to do something iconic and affordable with the little time I have in each.

If there is something unique about the team to do or a particular food or iconic place I should see that is affordable please let me know. I will be buying the tickets over the next couple weeks (nose bleeds) and budgeting out the trip as hotels, gas, and food will add up. Most of the trip will be packed lunches and I could probably afford one meal in each stop for my sons if I stick to the budget.

Here is our tentative schedule:
*3/31 Pick up in Louisville, drive to Chicago
*4/1 Spend day in Chicago, Chicago v. Wizards
*4/2 Travel to Cleveland (Spend Day there)
*4/3 Cleveland v. Toronto (In Cleveland)
*4/4 Travel to Detroit, Detroit v. 76ers
*4/5 Travel to Indianapolis (Indy v.Warriors)
*4/6 Travel to Memphis (Memphis v. Kings)
*4/7 Travel to Dallas (Eldest son flies home, my youngest and I travel two hours home)

Our time is limited so really looking for must do things. Tips to get affordable tickets as for some of these games I'm going to struggle to afford (like v. Golden State, etc).

I once made a character on Shang to see as a bet if someone could get banned from the game. This was years ago. In fact, someone here once posted about that character years after the fact and I was like o.O and thought about confessing the bit as me.

This character was vile. He'd go around in public and was a nazi. He had a dog named Shitler. I did god awful things and didn't get a single warning to a few astonished surprised peers, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get banned.

In this process I was vile and people were forced to be around it in public and I feel bad years later. At the time I didn't see that for sure.

I did get someone from staff TSing with me though because they found it attractive. That's when I quit... guess you can't get a banhammer there.

...

Pretty much every one of my characters and interactions for the first five years in the hobby. #2.

So what's the worst thing you've done in your character history?

@apos

That is pretty fair to say. A couple of the people to their credit when they learned I was also Tovell actually were like wow and were awesome OOC from that point forward. There is a spectrum of behavior I'm sure. Being the antagonist you are a little exposed to being hypersensitive about things I suppose, too.

@kanye-qwest

Their board? Their rules? Isn't that what is preached on Arx deeming content? Is skirting around a locked thread to complain ban worthy?

Heading to Vegas with my boys the 6th, 7th, amd 8th for Summer League. Mostly there to watch the the Suns after Ayton and Bridges. Can't beat 35 bucks for a whole day of games.

@royal This is the best one yet I think. Just because. Well, yeah... me too.

I think you got the common thread for many of us ghosting jerks.

Spoilers

***=***

@Ganymede thank you. Just choosing to spend the time giving and helping. We see it as an opportunity to grow as individuals. We had some amazing conversations with our children and community. We do five deliveries a week now for neighbors out of this for individuals that are homebound and we are sanitizing and dropping off basic goods. We had planned on a three game basketball road trip but decided to spend that money on this. We live in a poor ethnically black rural area where only one cell tower provides any coverage on one carrier. And I have really good and caring sons. I know it seems cheesy probably but just proud.

@Saulot One episode away from completing season 2. Love it.

@bear_necessities

It is a good will deal so all the contracts and contractors he employs carry over.

The owner is nearing 80 at 77 and has lived twenty years longer then he should have. He will be blocky to make it to 80. He struggles to manage the business. He can’t travel anymore. He is very wealthy too. He started the business twenty years ago with two vans and has no debt with the company. All fifty vans he paid cash for as the business grew.

His children are wildly successful (rich) and don’t want the business. I showed interest four years ago. I helped him with hurricane responses and gave him ideas to grow his business he loved but admits he can’t be execute. He struggles to manage the employees in this environment. He can’t travel anymore and it hinders him as he has vehicles in several cities. His wife has cancer and he wants to more than anything wants what he loves to grow and continue. He like my ideas about the future of the business and how it can help wheelchair bound people and he knows I plan to use the business t launch something that has the potential to change lives (and would have made his life better) for people with mobility disabilities.

He called me and offered the business for the asset value. He told me he just wants the business to survive him and continue to help people as he has. He knows my charitable works (a lot) and I help in an organization he belongs to as well in a charity.

The bank got his finances and their business VP got the executive board to sign off on approval from their internal valuation. They have all the taxes, interims, and clear asset list.

Part of the SBA requirements are that I pay (5k) for a third party valuation which will wrap up soon. I already have the commitment letter from the bank.

I have friends who are investors and have offers from them to invest further after they reviewed the business. They targeted the business as being worth about 2.4. The bank pegged it at 2.6 in their valuation. Once this comes back and if it is above 1.5 we will schedule closing. Pretty high confidence it’s going through based on conversations with the third party.

Excited. Nervous.

I haven't kept up with the debate here.

I will note as someone married to a teacher and high school basketball coach in the state of Texas...

It sucks since Covid.

My family (my spouse, myself, and my three children) are now just through our second time through Covid because masks are not enforced. And through this the lives of our family and those around us for the sake of in school attendance and sports have been impacted.

Can my spouse quit? Yes. When the contract is up (teachers are contract workers and should they break contract they are banned here from teaching for a few years) someone who is passionate about coaching and teaching IT will likely quit because they've been hospitalized twice this pandemic for the sake of the kids. It's not right.

I think we would feel differently if the school took precautions and Texas gave a shit. They don't. Fuck them kids. But more so fuck their parents.

All about no in school education absent mandates.

@greenflashlight

I'm trying to put into words what is wrong with it. A lot.

When the gang of colorful speeder Vespa riders became apart of the series I was done as done could be.

They killed off the only kinda/sorta part of the series I kinda/sorta liked already.