This Happened

Post by **Mike** » Sun Aug 14, 2022 10:44 pm

Nope. After the fire, the house is usually empty for a long time. There's still things in there that can be recovered and sold. If nothing else, there's always the metal from pipes and wires and appliances and vehicles and such. And the rationale is that the owners won't even notice what's missing. They'll either forget about it or assume the fire took it.

They are thieves preying on tragedy.

When we pulled up to help, a Sheriff's deputy pulled a U-turn and then followed us up the drive to make sure we weren't looters. He said that the thieves usually forget about a place after a couple weeks, and then they'll stop coming around.

The in-laws set up a trail cam halfway down the drive so they'll get phone alerts when they have visitors. Plus, they're there in the camper or the shop most of the time. Although I bet they finally get tired of camper life after the first freeze, if not sooner.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Aug 15, 2022 10:48 am

They have a constant problem around here with people stripping copper lines and scrap metal, that's for sure. I would be scared to have to confront those people all the time. I guess that's why people have guns for self-defense but still, very scary. Who can guess what people like that are capable of? Would they like to borrow some really freaking scary dogs for a month? We have been working with a trainer to make our dogs somewhat less scary but they are still inherently terrifying critters. Nobody approaches this house. When the big guy barks he sounds like one of those pathfinder demons (anyone would hear the resemblance, obviously).

Post by **Mike** » Mon Aug 15, 2022 11:56 am

They have dogs and guns, but neither are brought to bear. These are opportunists and not violent criminals. If they can get in and out without being seen, awesome. If they can't, then it's not worth trying. The mere presence of a witness is enough deterrence.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Mon Aug 15, 2022 9:07 pm

Mike wrote: ↑Mon Aug 15, 2022 11:56 am They have dogs and guns, but neither are brought to bear. These are opportunists and not violent criminals. If they can get in and out without being seen, awesome. If they can't, then it's not worth trying. The mere presence of a witness is enough deterrence.

Sorry for all that happened. I just now read it. I am glad everyone is ok.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Aug 30, 2022 1:32 pm

Ordered and paid for the four piece chicken and was given a three piece chicken. Worlds will be destroyed.

It should also be illegal to try to cancel someone's appointment because they did not respond to your automatic text message confirming the appointment. And by illegal I mean it should be a felony punishable with prison time. You will not force me to interact with your automatic texter, monsters. Did not ask for it and do not consent.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Aug 31, 2022 9:51 am

I can't believe I forgot to tell this story. One month ago on my way to gen con, I stopped for gas at a Hy-Vee gas station. I was so excited to leave and get to the convention that I forgot to take the nozzle out of my gas tank, and I drove off with it! I could not believe I was so stupid. But do you know what they do about that nowadays? Nothing. The guy came out and put a sign on the machine that said out of order. Then he picked up the nozzle and told me I was fine and went inside. It turns out that they need to have a professional come snap it back on but they're just made to be detachable now. Wow. Snap on. Snap off.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Wed Aug 31, 2022 2:06 pm

Mike wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 9:51 am I can't believe I forgot to tell this story. One month ago on my way to gen con, I stopped for gas at a Hy-Vee gas station. I was so excited to leave and get to the convention that I forgot to take the nozzle out of my gas tank, and I drove off with it! I could not believe I was so stupid. But do you know what they do about that nowadays? Nothing. The guy came out and put a sign on the machine that said out of order. Then he picked up the nozzle and told me I was fine and went inside. It turns out that they need to have a professional come snap it back on but they're just made to be detachable now. Wow. Snap on. Snap off.

Yeah- They're held on by powerful magnets. So they just snap them back on. Gabe says it happens at his store's gas station all the time.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Wed Aug 31, 2022 2:30 pm

The big change I've noticed since returning to driving long distances is these automatic Ezpass lanes where you maintain high speeds and get charged. Good thing: maintains flow of traffic! Bad thing, I almost sped through an old-timey one in Indiana, not noticing it was like 5 MPH and had an arm that I would have destroyed. Wife had to yell "slow down!" Also bad thing: more and more easy to raise fees without notice, although Google has been nice enough to give me the toll rates now. Now I just want it to give a warning if it can tell that I'm going +10MPH the speed limit

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Wed Aug 31, 2022 4:08 pm

I've taken out a toll booth arm on the Indiana toll road. I have the transponder that pays the toll, came up to the gate and the arm was already up and the light was green, so I started to accelerate through it, when the light decides to turn red and the arm slams down on the front pillar of the car by the windshield, breaking the arm off. I went through the Indiana toll road again this weekend when I went back to visit my parents, and noticed going through both ways that the arm was broken off, so apparently either I'm not the only one it's decided to attack, or you're not the only one who has flown through without realizing they need to slow way down.

By the way, I tried to contact the toll road authorities about the broken arm, since I didn't want them thinking I fled the scene of an accident or anything like that. Never heard a peep from them.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Aug 31, 2022 4:36 pm

poorpete wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 2:30 pm Now I just want it to give a warning if it can tell that I'm going +10MPH the speed limit

Not exactly it... Google Maps has a speedometer that is disabled by default, but you can turn it on in Maps' navigation settings. Supposedly, the speedometer changes color when speeding.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Wed Aug 31, 2022 7:08 pm

the color of the speed is shown in red when you speed....not that I would know

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Wed Aug 31, 2022 7:09 pm

Mike wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 9:51 am I can't believe I forgot to tell this story. One month ago on my way to gen con,....

Tell us all about Gen-Con!!!!! Please!!!

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Aug 31, 2022 7:53 pm

My car beeps angrily at me any time I drive with purpose and vigor or wear dark sunglasses that hide my eyeballs, and it attempts to slam on the brakes any time it encounters a brick mailbox on a curved road (i.e. daily), but it doesn't care about speeding.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Thu Sep 08, 2022 2:20 pm

A quote from one my students (written on the back of a quiz): "Stop dick riding the rules u bald fuck. My airpods did nothing 2 u. Stay yo ass quiet and away."

I would teach for free!

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Thu Sep 08, 2022 2:47 pm

Akiva wrote: ↑Thu Sep 08, 2022 2:20 pm A quote from one my students (written on the back of a quiz): "Stop dick riding the rules u bald fuck. My airpods did nothing 2 u. Stay yo ass quiet and away."

I would teach for free!

I am angered more than I should be by reading that...

I would probably do something like alter his grade based on the mistakes they made such as this:

Stop dick(missing hyphen, should be dick-riding -5 pts) riding the rules u (you, not u...again -5 pts) bald fuck. My airpods did nothing 2 u( to you -10 pts). Stay yo (your -5 pts) ass quiet and away.

I would show the score on the front of the page in red and then show the -25 points for spelling/grammar.

Then I would get fired probably.

Perhaps you need to tap into your own inner demon and enjoy toying with your food.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Tue Sep 13, 2022 4:41 pm

Another birthday funeral....My mother's birthday(84y.o.) and my uncle's(89y.o.) funeral on the other side of the state. I was the only family from my side that went.

At least the time in the car by myself was nice, but I am always anxious when I am driving somewhere new.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Wed Sep 21, 2022 9:23 am

First actual lockdown of my career. It was over after about 10 minutes.

zen · Post by **zen** » Wed Sep 21, 2022 9:27 am

This profile from an artist on Webtoons has given me a new goal in life:

I think I'm about one barrel of coffee and a trenchcoat short of the goal at the moment...

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Wed Sep 21, 2022 10:25 am

Akiva wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 9:23 am First actual lockdown of my career. It was over after about 10 minutes.

Turns out that it was a drill--they wanted a more "authentic" reaction, so they didn't tell us until after it was over.

zen · Post by **zen** » Wed Sep 21, 2022 11:04 am

Akiva wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 10:25 am
Akiva wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 9:23 am First actual lockdown of my career. It was over after about 10 minutes.
Turns out that it was a drill--they wanted a more "authentic" reaction, so they didn't tell us until after it was over.

Hmmm... On the fence about whether that's an effective way to judge preparedness or a dick move? I suppose both is not out of the question...

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Wed Sep 21, 2022 11:11 am

Goodness, were counsellors on hand to handle the affects of their stunt? Or is the goal to make it rote in people's minds, like fire drills.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Wed Sep 21, 2022 12:21 pm

poorpete wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 11:11 am Goodness, were counsellors on hand to handle the affects of their stunt? Or is the goal to make it rote in people's minds, like fire drills.

I don't know.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Wed Sep 21, 2022 12:22 pm

zen wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 11:04 am
Akiva wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 10:25 am
Akiva wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 9:23 am First actual lockdown of my career. It was over after about 10 minutes.
Turns out that it was a drill--they wanted a more "authentic" reaction, so they didn't tell us until after it was over.
Hmmm... On the fence about whether that's an effective way to judge preparedness or a dick move? I suppose both is not out of the question...

I'm going with "dick move."

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Sep 21, 2022 8:46 pm

WTFFFFFF!

I had to gather myself and listen to Shakira before I could even comment properly here. Before I begin applying my mind flaying powers to these people I would like to know if you undergo lockdowns as a general policy matter when there are things going on in the vicinity of the school but not in the school itself?
In other words, if the police were tracking someone down a few blocks away would they lock the school down?
Or does doing a lockdown imply that something really bad is happening in your school?

I'm not saying it's okay either way from your perspective - I would be enraged at the idiocy of whoever decided this no matter what and they should be out of a job. However, it's a question of the mind flaying powers being employed too casually.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Oct 03, 2022 4:49 pm

Them: please do this thing that sounds absolutely horrible and will take up all of your time.

Me: would love to help but I have no such time to give, sorry.

Them: but we really need you to do it. We would like you to believe that you are the best person for the job even as you must understand you are the only person that we can find who could even be guilted into doing it.

Me: that sounds bad? I feel like you're just asking me to do something terrible from which I will suffer not because you like me or think I can help you but because you're desperate and will be in trouble if you cannot come up with a warm body.

Them: not at all! You wildly overestimate how difficult and time consuming this thing we need you to do is, even though nobody else would consider doing it because it is incredibly time-consuming and pointless and frustrating.

Me: I feel like you want me to volunteer for a brain transplant as the recipient and I don't think I'm interested! I swear to you I am really busy and must refuse!

Them: we hear what you're saying and we interpret your refusal as consent. Thank you for volunteering!

Me: fuck. I don't feel comfortable doing what I would have to do to get out of this. By being timid and polite I will now be crushed under the wheel of Doom.

Them: haha, yes, now it's time to do the thing and it turns out we completely lied and it's about 10 times worse than anything you could have possibly imagined and by the way we're really pissed and judgy that you aren't getting the things done even though you were very crystal clear that you did not have enough time to do them and we should have found someone else. But anyway please hurry your ass up and get it done!

This story has repeated itself about a half dozen times in my current moment in life. I am enjoying the full fruit of this particular story in so many ways.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Tue Oct 04, 2022 10:38 pm

Phoebe wrote: ↑Mon Oct 03, 2022 4:49 pm Them: please do this thing that sounds absolutely horrible and will take up all of your time.

Me: would love to help but I have no such time to give, sorry.

Them: but we really need you to do it. We would like you to believe that you are the best person for the job even as you must understand you are the only person that we can find who could even be guilted into doing it.

Me: that sounds bad? I feel like you're just asking me to do something terrible from which I will suffer not because you like me or think I can help you but because you're desperate and will be in trouble if you cannot come up with a warm body.

Them: not at all! You wildly overestimate how difficult and time consuming this thing we need you to do is, even though nobody else would consider doing it because it is incredibly time-consuming and pointless and frustrating.

Me: I feel like you want me to volunteer for a brain transplant as the recipient and I don't think I'm interested! I swear to you I am really busy and must refuse!

Them: we hear what you're saying and we interpret your refusal as consent. Thank you for volunteering!

Me: fuck. I don't feel comfortable doing what I would have to do to get out of this. By being timid and polite I will now be crushed under the wheel of Doom.

Them: haha, yes, now it's time to do the thing and it turns out we completely lied and it's about 10 times worse than anything you could have possibly imagined and by the way we're really pissed and judgy that you aren't getting the things done even though you were very crystal clear that you did not have enough time to do them and we should have found someone else. But anyway please hurry your ass up and get it done!

This story has repeated itself about a half dozen times in my current moment in life. I am enjoying the full fruit of this particular story in so many ways.

wow. What happens if you do the thing so poorly that it fails?

I have a keen sense of bad-project-avoidance. I see trouble coming and make sure I do not volunteer.

I watch my co-workers volunteer for "the new thing" and feed off their misery because there are many of us and I am not the dumbest of the pack.

Eventually the problem gets passed around to me and I either make it into a retirement project or I use the opportunity to find problems with no solutions.

In the end it is better for them to let me work efficiently on profitable things than to drag me into their little "Hobbit parties" about "the new thing"

Sometimes I am the Littlest Penguin:

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sun Oct 16, 2022 8:35 am

I uttered only one word after rising from the bed earlier: "kraken". I said this the one time during the process of releasing dogs. My Google assistant on the phone then opened and asked how it could help me. I am afraid to try this experiment again.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Thu Oct 20, 2022 8:59 am

Earthquake drill. Weird.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Wed Nov 02, 2022 11:05 am

Not sure what the fucking point of any of this is.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Wed Nov 02, 2022 4:33 pm

got my 4th covid shot (2nd booster) Pfizer omicron....it sucks...

They should call it "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT COVID"

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Thu Nov 03, 2022 7:21 am

One of my students died overnight.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Thu Nov 03, 2022 9:17 am

Sorry about that.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Thu Nov 03, 2022 5:25 pm

Akiva wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 7:21 am One of my students died overnight.

Oh no, I am sorry. How are you coping?

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Thu Nov 03, 2022 7:01 pm

Mando wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 5:25 pm
Akiva wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 7:21 am One of my students died overnight.
Oh no, I am sorry. How are you coping?

I’m okay. I wasn't close to her, but it’s still rough.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Thu Nov 10, 2022 12:10 pm

We had a small fire here today--just returned to my trailer after being outside for over an hour.

I heard that it was a kid starting a fire in a bathroom, but I don't know for sure.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Fri Nov 11, 2022 11:58 am

So scary, those portable type classrooms are not safe places in a fire! Long anxiety fueled discussion has been omitted for your reading ease.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Fri Nov 11, 2022 2:20 pm

Thankfully it was no big deal. But it massively screwed up the day--I ended up keeping the same kids for about 4 hours.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Mon Nov 14, 2022 5:06 pm

Finished a trial today and it went great! Everything we wanted to do, we did. Left nothing on the table. Made zero mistakes. Presented the best case we could with the facts. Overpreparation leads to perfect execution. Judge will decide in a month. A good day.

I love trial.

Post by **Mike** » Mon Nov 14, 2022 6:07 pm

Kyle wrote: ↑Mon Nov 14, 2022 5:06 pm Finished a trial today and it went great! Everything we wanted to do, we did. Left nothing on the table. Made zero mistakes. Presented the best case we could with the facts. Overpreparation leads to perfect execution. Judge will decide in a month. A good day.

I love trial.

Whoo! That's fantastic. [voice="Clinton"]I feel your joy.[/voice]

Post by **Mike** » Mon Nov 14, 2022 6:11 pm

This happened a few weeks ago, which still qualifies as This Happened...

My oldest got engaged. He is getting married next July. We couldn't be happier for him. His fiancee was a history teacher and just changed schools to become a guidance counselor. We adore her. And the two of them make each other very happy. This is good.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Tue Nov 15, 2022 5:59 am

Mike wrote: ↑Mon Nov 14, 2022 6:11 pm This happened a few weeks ago, which still qualifies as This Happened...

My oldest got engaged. He is getting married next July. We couldn't be happier for him. His fiancee was a history teacher and just changed schools to become a guidance counselor. We adore her. And the two of them make each other very happy. This is good.

Whoo! That's fantastic. [voice="Clinton"]I feel your goy.[/voice]

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 2:26 pm

We've been on shelter in place orders for about 45 minutes. Not sure why.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 2:50 pm

Akiva wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 2:26 pm We've been on shelter in place orders for about 45 minutes. Not sure why.

Hope all is well and everyone is safe!

zen · Post by **zen** » Sat Nov 19, 2022 3:18 pm

Well, a few weeks ago, my daughter twisted her ankle when she stopped by a store on the way to work. This happened to be the day after she FINALLY got her driver's license, so she was feeling good about herself and going into the store on the way to work to get some necessities and adulting and all that... she didn't think it was that bad, went to work (she's a teacher at a day care) and struggled through the morning, mostly on her feet. It hurt, but it wasn't too bad. She drove home for lunch, was in the process of making herself lunch, and while going down the short steps into the pantry room where our main refrigerator is, her ankle gave out... she fell... and hit her head on the stainless-steel refrigerator.

Now, a little back story... She has some neurological issues that she's been seeing doctors for that they haven't figured out that are probably related to Hashimoto's Syndrome (autoimmune disease of the Thyroid). She tends to have periods of double-vision. During one of these periods earlier this year, she was getting a skillet out of the cupboard and hit herself on the head with it because she couldn't judge the distance because of her double vision and gave herself a concussion. So she was pretty sure when she hit her head again, hard enough to make the contents of the fridge rattle, she was probably concussed again.

My son took her to convenient care and they diagnosed her with, strangely enough, POST concussive syndrome... (The doctors we've seen since then have all agreed that the staff that day dropped some balls... they should have sent her to the ER for imaging.) She had already called work and they were fine with her taking some time off.

Three days later, she was having massive headaches, dizziness, etc.. and went back to see the doctor. They said that she definitely had a concussion and should be monitored, set up an appointment with the concussion specialists, which didn't happen until YESTERDAY, and told her to follow up with her primary. When she followed up with her primary he gave her permission to return to work half time, but she started having worse headaches after that and he took her off work indefinitely.

This is where the story twists...

A friend of hers came to visit to make her feel better about being taken off work indefinitely. The friend's mother had COVID, but she'd been testing daily and had tested negative for a week since her mother tested positive and had no symptoms. They played some board games, bitched about life, etc... Some alcohol was involved, but not too much since her friend had to drive home and my daughter's head isn't exactly right.

When her friend got home that night they felt feverish and took another test... it was positive...

Just lovely!

A few days later, my son, who has asthma and is generally the first person to catch anything, tested positive. He was told to go into convenient care to get a professional test and the doctor there put him on a fairly aggressive course of steroids to protect his lungs, including a prescription for a nebulizer, just in case. That was a week ago Friday.

Last night, I tested positive.

My daughter, who spent the most time with the person who brought the thing into the house and I think might have shared a drink with her at one point, though it might have been a "This is horrible, you take it!" from her to them, so she may not have drunk after them... has tested negative and, though she had some symptoms earlier in the week that we thought might be COVID, she doesn't anymore and continues to test negative.

I just feel feverish, have sore muscles, a bit of a sore throat, and a "proto-cough"... you know that feeling that you might cough if you breath too deeply so your body starts breathing more shallowly automatically and you feel "short of breath" but not really "short of breath" in the way you do if it's an asthma thing? (I have illness induced asthma so I should probably use my inhaler or something, but it just doesn't seem that bad...) I also have very little appetite...

The strangest thing is that I feel like I slept far better than usual last night. Given that I have a history of bad sleep, I find it strange that I sleep better when my body is ill... but thinking back, I think it is probably the case historically.

Meanwhile, my daughter is still dealing with post concussion syndrome, but now doesn't have anyone in the house that can go with her if it gets bad enough that she needs to go in to the doctor!

Hopefully my son will test negative soon and be over the worst of it.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Sun Nov 20, 2022 4:05 am

Ugh, sorry about all that! Hope everyone gets better soon!

zen · Post by **zen** » Mon Nov 21, 2022 8:34 pm

I called my doctor's office today and talked to his nurse. She said she'd consult the doctor about what he wanted and called me back to tell me he had prescribed the oral medication (Paxlovid or whatever it's called) and wanted to make sure I had someone else to go get it for me, since I'm on isolation. This is the major difference between the healthcare chain that I go to and the one that my son goes to (which is the one my wife works for...) Mine is still following the isolation protocol. They believed me when I reported self test results and didn't want me to come in and take other tests. The other chain tells you to come in to take an official test and see a doctor now at convenient care. They don't treat you any differently than any other convenient care patients, so you are in the waiting room with them, though everyone has masks. Still, it's not the best concept.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Nov 23, 2022 12:18 pm

I hope the paxlovid has worked!

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Wed Nov 23, 2022 12:42 pm

Me too, latest data has 90% less chance of being hospitalized. estimated rebound rate is 20%. Good luck!

https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/16/health/p ... index.html

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Dec 06, 2022 7:59 am

Rice Krispies have changed their formula. I wasn't sure if we just got certain unlucky boxes but now we have a new box and it's the same weird new formulation of the crispies. What is this world coming to.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Wed Dec 07, 2022 4:03 pm

3/4 of us caught the flu a week after our shots. I'm starting to turn the corner I think but still have an occasional fever

Just found out a friend's mother was murdered by her brother and she found the body. Screw 2022.