Posts made by Sparks

@Alamias said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

You may try going over her head to the management company. Since they are run by the same one, they are not 'loosing' any income, so they may be able to work something out and/or transfer the lease?

I don't see that they'd be losing income anyway. Does the lease even change cost if one person moves out? Because I'd assume not. Sure, the individual residents would need to pay more (because obviously X divided Y ways is smaller than X divided Y-1 ways), but I'd assume the amount actually paid to the landlord per month doesn't change?

@Macha said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

AND she states the other two original lease holders would have to release me, pay a 20.00 requalifying fee and requalify to live here.

This is the one place I can see a semi-rational motive for her behavior: if you were the determining factor in the lease being granted—if without your credit report or whatever, the lease wouldn't have been approved—I can see her panicking a bit over not noticing you hadn't signed. Because if the others can't qualify for the lease on their own, then if you move out she technically shouldn't let them keep renting, at which point she does lose the income.

I still don't think she has a leg to stand on; I can see how she might be able to argue that you should've already moved out if you were no longer a signatory to the lease, but I can't see how she can reasonably argue that you have to stay after having not signed.

I mean, this is weird anyway; a rental contract shouldn't be like an unbreakable adamantium chain. Things happen. People lose their job. People get a different job and need to move. People have sickness or illness in their family and need to leave the state to return home and care for an ailing parent. Etc.

Sure, pretty much every time I rented in the past there was a penalty fee I'd have to pay if I broke the lease early, but it wasn't like the landlord was standing on the edge of a volcano, hands clasped behind their back, cackling in a voice of doom "I OWN YOUR SOUL AND YOU ARE NOW TRAPPED IN MY SERVICE FOR ETERNITY."

I mean, who the heck are you renting from here? Darkseid? Sauron?

Good timing on new things.

At the beginning of last week I got a nice OLED TV for my bedroom, just to have the option to watch things in there if the living room TV was in use (like a housemate watching sportsball when I wanted to watch a movie), or if I was home sick or whatever. Set it up, all very nice, yay, hooked up an Apple TV as well so I have my iTunes library and whatnot.

Friday morning I wrecked my right foot. I have thus been confined to my room for the moment with my foot elevated, inasmuch as if I try to limp around the house with a cane going "ow" repeatedly as I attempt to actually do things, it gives my housemate/best friend a Very Large Sadness seasoned with exasperation. (And also may not be great for my foot, either.)

Having this TV set up here has been very helpful for the whole "not going completely stir-crazy after being largely immobilized for four days" thing.

@Auspice said in The ADD/ADHD Thread (cont'd from Peeves):

I was explaining to someone recently that I sort of have to use my phone at night to be able to sleep. Because if I just lie there... my brain will never shut off. So I have to just queue up a bunch of mindless YouTube videos to keep my mind occupied enough that I can start falling asleep during them.

I usually read before bed on my Kindle, because the phone's back light—even with Night Light/f.lux type stuff—can make me more awake. Reading works better because it still occupies my brain enough to keep it from doing the 'race around the house like a panicked cat' thing, but doesn't have the backlight to keep me awake.

(The downside to this is that sometimes instead of slowly letting fatigue take over, I get really into the book and then it's like 4am and I'm like "well, shit".)

@Kanye-Qwest said in The ADD/ADHD Thread (cont'd from Peeves):

It is life changing. It hasn't really stopped me from having my executive function problems, but that has to be done with CBT, and I know this. What it DOES is give me the ability to focus, and to feel like I am awake and present in my life. You wouldn't usually think "constant sleepiness" is a symptom of ADHD, but man.

Oh my God yes this. I had no idea my chronic feeling of insufficient sleep was a symptom of ADHD until I started this Adderall trial!

I set out my first dose and set an alarm for an hour before I have to be up. I take it, and go back to sleep until an hour later when my second alarm goes off and it's at peak effect in my bloodstream. I can just hop out of bed and start my day, and I don't even NEED coffee, really. It's amazing.

...I should try it that way. I've been taking it just before catching the bus to work.

@Thenomain said in Game of Thrones:

No picture of Starbucks' Westeros branch yet? Shame on y'all.

If you insist, here are stills of the Starbucks cup that was left on the table in that Winterfell celebration scene: https://twitter.com/VRonni3/status/1125340705621037057/

(Had the link handy because I'd shared it in the #got channel on my work Slack this morning.)

So, the first ADHD medication trial I did (mentioned about two weeks ago in this thread) didn't do much for me; the ritalin was a really mixed bag. I was able to focus slightly better, but it gave me a raging headache, so we stopped fairly quickly. I was sort of disappointed and went, "Well, maybe medication won't do much for me after all."

But now I'm trying first adderall—tomorrow's the last day of that test—and then dextroamphetamine. And oh my god this is amazing stuff.

The first day I was taking the adderall, even on a minimal dose, I was able to sit in a 1.5 hour long meeting and actually focus for most of it; yeah, my brain still drifted off on some side track prompted by a random comment twice, but that's way better than the like... 12 times it would've normally been unless I was digging my fingernails into the palm of my hand under the table or one of my other coping mechanisms. Instead, I just sat there and listened and my brain stayed on track. And then I was able to go and start a task that I'd been putting off for like 3 weeks.

(And again, that was on one-third of a full dose. Full dose, I think my brain probably wouldn't even have wandered those two times!)

The downside is that the 5-hour adderall pills only work for me for 3 hours at a time. And the difference between those first three and the last two is stark. Plus, I get a kind of unpleasant headache for the last three hours.

Luckily, there's a very likely explanation for this: adderall is a mixture of dextroamphetamine (which hits quickly) and levoamphetamine (which takes longer to release). So the first three hours is usually the dextroamphetamine, the last 2-3 hours is usually the levoamphetamine. The fact that only the first three hours are effective (and that I have a headache for the last three hours) is a pretty common sign that dextroamphetamine works well for my ADHD, while levoamphetamine is a thing that is Not For Me. So starting on Wednesday, I'm dose-testing just plain dex, and we'll see how that goes.

At any rate, the reason I post this is that if you are ADHD—even if you think you have 'sufficient' coping mechanisms to function in daily life—if you are offered to do medication dosage trials, I really suggest that you do it. Because, yes, I had sufficient coping mechanisms to function as an adult (and a senior engineer), so I could've just kept going. But now I've seen how brains are actually supposed to work, where I can just... pick a thing and start it, much less do so without ending up thinking about three other things along the way, and it's amazing.

(Though I'm told the euphoric feeling of "holy shit I can actually do things what is even happening" superpowers does eventually fade, even as the productivity and focus remains.)

Okay, since we're talking about book 1/season 1 here, I'll stay outside of spoiler tags as well.

@Arkandel said in Game of Thrones:

Ned was an excellent liar. In fact he kicked ass with it - he had a secret which he kept from everyone for many years, including his own wife, and in fact he used his immaculate reputation as a way to perpetulate that lie; no one questioned how this honorable man had a bastard with some random chick because why would he lie about it? Duuuh.

Yes, and (at least in the books) it's made quite clear through his internal dialogue that it's the only lie he's ever told (even if, in the books, we've never had true confirmation about what that lie was), and that he only lied because he swore an oath to do so. And that the conflict between "I must not break my oath" and "I am perpetrating an immense lie" was eating him up inside in many ways.

As for choosing his people over his honor at the end, I agree 100%. However, I think what you seem to be saying is an example of what Ned always was, I see it as Ned making a choice to be something different. He agonizes a lot about whether to make a false confession. And the moment when he decides to do so—making the choice that maybe his honor didn't matter compared to the good of his people and family—seemed like a turning point to me. Yes, that decision cost him his life, but it (mostly) spared his people; I view it as when he stopped being an example (this paragon of honor and truth) to his people, and made a choice as their leader.

In the end, I think we're looking at the same events and interpreting them differently. But, hey, that's part of the fun of fiction!

A spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler DIS-COURSE DIS-COURSE (to the tune of the "Badger Badger" song).

***=next verse, same as the first...***

@Dreampipe YES. THAT. shakes TV

@mietze said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

@Sparks does your insurance allow for a PT eval or massage?

I do not know, but I suspect it does not; despite working at an engineering firm with an international presence, my insurance coverage is absolutely abysmal. (If you have the option, avoid United Healthcare like the plague.)

FINALLY got the X-ray results and doctor's assessment after I posted my annoyance; no sign of fracture or dislocation, huzzah! Though apparently I do have a lot of little calcium nodules spread throughout my foot, which I've decided is a thing for future-me to handle at some other time which is not now.

Anyway, based on the X-ray results and the pre-x-ray exam, it's likely I have a whooooole lot of fairly major deep tissue damage around the ankle and joints, but no damage to bones.

So, yay, no cast! Boo, probably-taking-many-weeks-to-heal and still being ridiculously painful...

@Pandora said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

@Sparks Is it sprained, dislocated, or fractured? Did you trip on a defect?

They still haven't given me my x-ray results! It's been like 36 hours! No one seems to know where they went! I am, to put it mildly, Not Thrilled. So right now I just know that it hurts a lot and I still can't put weight on it. It isn't as discolored as I'd expect for a break, though, so... I dunno.

glares at phone, as though willpower alone could make information arrive

@friarzen said in Space Games and Travel Time? Why? Why Not?:

Huh, I'm surprised to realize how good a setting like Stargate Universe is for this. A single "giant" ship as "game/grid hub" that moves through different star-systems-of-the-week, shuttles for any space-sim minigames wanted, and stargates for instant travel whenever the plot needs it.

I actually had a MUSH I put together—and then never opened—based around Stargate Command. There were little 'soundstages' for any given planet, which would each be linked to a gate address, and the gate could then be dialed to re-link the gate exit in the game room to that particular little set of rooms.

The idea was that all the 'downtime' RP was at the SGC, so everyone was in one place. There would be a 'season-long' arc overseen by staff, but a lot of the actual meat would be individual offworld missions run as PRPs. You'd get together an SG team, dial the gate, poof to whatever little set the PRP runner needed, they'd run things for you there, and then you'd dial home and go back to the SGC.

When I had no other staffers, though, I decided I was not up to running a game solo and put it aside. Years later, I considered using the same MUSH codebase for an SG:A game instead of SGC, but didn't end up doing so.

Several years ago, I ended up playing on a Mass Effect game which had a similar setup; the playerbase were a mercenary crew based on Omega (a former mining station turned sort of lawless outpost). All the downtime and day-to-day RP happened on Omega, and then staff or a player would run a 'mission' that the mercs would be hired for, and a team would be put together, leave Omega, do stuff, and come back. (And a lot of the staff-run missions tied together into a given metaplot arc, while the PRPs were usually more standalone.) So even though there was a whole galaxy that the mercs could end up taking jobs in, everyone would still be together at 'home base' as it were.

I think if you're doing a game with a huge multi-planet scope, something like that makes more sense to do if you want the playerbase to actually have any cohesion and excuse to all interact with each other.

Messing up an ankle severely.

This morning on the way to work I managed to sprain, dislocate, and/or fracture my right ankle and foot (according to the doctor). I then proceeded to finish walking to the office, which was both a mistake, and only possible because I was wearing boots rather than sneakers and so had ankle support. By the time I left work I could barely stand and my foot does not fit properly in my boot.

I am now at the hospital waiting for x-rays. Whee.

@surreality — I'm sorry life's not going well for you; the situation sounds horrible.

As for the 'bring on the mockery', though? I definitely don't always agree with you in discussions on here, but I wouldn't think anyone would mock you over RL misfortunes or a lack of income. Sure, people on MSB verbally spar and talk trash with each other—and mock each other over game-related things—but despite how you doubtless feel at the moment, I don't think anyone here wishes actual physical harm or financial misfortune on their fellow posters or would take glee in it.

(At least I sure as heck hope not; if people are wishing that level of RL harm on each other over pretendy fun-times internet game discussions, I'm genuinely concerned about people's priorities.)

There's lots of other things I could try to say here, but you've asked not to be showered in sympathy, and I can understand that; sometimes receiving sympathy only makes everything feel worse. And even when they are a comfort, words very rarely change anything substantial about a situation like this.

I will instead just say that this is yet another example of how unbelievably sucktastic it is that our country is in a place where not only do many people live close to the edge financially, but where even people who have enough to be comfortable can lose that cushion—and sometimes everything else—with one unlucky medical bill. It is fundamentally wrong that people routinely need to set up GoFundMe's to make medical bills, or keep a beloved pet alive after an injury; our safety net should not have to be "the kindness of internet strangers".

I hope things do work out for you. That treatment for the dental situation is successful. That the financial situation ends up being at least partially alleviated, by whatever means—even if it ends up being the aforementioned kindness of internet strangers through a GoFundMe or something—and life can go on. That eventually this can all be a horrible story that fades to an anecdote you can share with people someday, down the road. I know things often don't work out that way for people, but I can still hope.

And when you're ready to come back I'm sure people will still be here, prepared to argue vehemently over the merits and flaws of different approaches to pretendy fun-time internet games. Because as weird and loud and combative as corners of this place often are, it is still a community, and it'll be waiting when you return.

(Well, short of the server melting, a nuclear winter that takes down the internet, alien invasion, or something similar.)

@SabotKick72 said in Dead Celebrities 2019:

Peter Mayhew - Chewbacca, 73

sad Wookie noises

Well, I never needed to sleep again anyway...

@Arkandel said in Space Games and Travel Time? Why? Why Not?:

I guess I was never into sci-fi for roleplaying purposes although I read a lot of it and I certainly enjoy science fiction movies and shows.

The sole exception to that is playing Force users because lightsabers.

pops up like prairie dog

Did someone say lightsabers???

ADHD medication.

I'm only on the first day of dosage testing, and my dose is still super-minimal, but I can feel my brain shifting gears. I was able to (mostly) focus in an hour and a half long meeting this morning; I did drift twice when a chance comment set my brain a-wandering into unrelated things for like 5-6 minutes, but I didn't have to dig my fingernails into the palm of my hand to stay focused!

And then I actually cleaned and organized my desk!

(Sadly, I can already feel it fading a bit, and I don't get to take another dose for two and a half hours...)

But just... holy shit! Is this what brains are supposed to be like?? Because even this little taste of partial baseline human functionality is amazing!

Welp.