Captain Corcoran

I'm getting ready to head out to the blood bank to drive around blood product. Fun times! This is a great place. Friendly. I'm glad I stumbled on it. You're a wonderful bunch of folks.

A long time ago, my dad fell and cracked his face open. We thought he was going to die then, which gladly wasn't in the card. I was already in town and flew my wife in because of the emergency. That was years and years ago... 15? 12? a while back. We drove home together, since I had my car. Because the world doesn't care about our personal problems, it happened that we drove back during what was one of the worst wild fires in our history. It was surreal. Like Dante's Inferno. Fires raging on both sides of the freeway, which was briefly open as we drove through and then closed again after we passes, as I recall. *That* looked something akin to your video, Gorth.

I might try Witcher 3. A good friend sings its praises. I played the... first? Second Witcher? Anyhow, I wasn't super impressed, but I'm assured that 3 is the way to go. However... Oh my Lord! Deadfire is better that the first Pillars. I stalled on the White March after a while, but the base Pillars game was great. Deadfire is better. I don't know how much of that is the free DLC or patching, but it's a great game! I regret the time I wasted on Divinity 2 because I'm getting back into crunch time and things like gaming and forums are going to have to be put aside. Well, whatever. Life is all about enjoying what it can offer when it offers it.

I've been thinking about how to respond to this all day. I say this with utmost respect and affection: Gromnir, you're just plain mean. :rueful grin:

I've been procrastinating today and playing a bit of deadfire. So much better now that I'm off the ship. I don't know what it was about the very first part that was off-putting. It's a much better game than Divinity 2, although there were some fun parts in that also. Now, I've convinced Rinco not to be such a putz, but I've still got his coin purse. Ugh.

I called the police to report the incident and he didn't see any dead donkey's around. Turns out, they're pretty sturdy and I wasn't going super fast. I'd like to think the burro lived. I felt terrible about it, but there's an area where the damned herds are getting thick. Geez, it's not like I live out in the boondocks. This is not a rural area, but it's a small canyon corridor between two counties.

A lot of later cars don't have room for a real tire in the trunk. I don't have room in mine, and I don't feel like throwing down the money anyway since I've had need for a spare a handful of times over the past 30 years. Okay, let me detail this since I'm the doofus who started the whole tire thing. About a year ago, I was in the middle of some personal strife. There was a death in the family, my wife was injured in an accident, and I ran into a large herd animal with my car all while in the middle of an accelerated program. After I resolved all those issues, *then* my front driver's side tire developed a flat. That issue was in the side wall, and there was no sparing it. So, I replaced the two front tires but opted, out of cheapness, to wait on the rear two tires. Yeah, probably should have replaced them all, but I got a little over a year's use from the rear two. Now, my tires are expensive. I don't know why. I usually get a discount, but not because I'm pushing for one. Weird things happen. For example, the guy isn't paying attention to me and I end up waiting a couple hours. He realizes I'm going to go somewhere else, starts paying attention to me, being friendly, and knocks down the price. ...Or, a different place makes a mistake and I end up with an upgrade on the tires for the '91 mustang. Tires suck. I hate dealing with this stuff. ...And, as I waste more time with my latest video game (these forums), the dealer called and my car is ready. The shuttle is on the way and I can pick up my car. BTW: did I mention that, after years without accident or mishap, I struck a burro, got the car fixed, and then got into a fender bender that was my fault? Yeah, I was starting to feel a little like Job. I still haven't fixed the body work. I don't want to go through insurance and I don't feel like dropping the 6-8 grand to have it fixed. ...But, lest people think I'm complaining, life. is. good. Looking stupid? Losing money? Dealing with tires? I've seen dark times and these certainly aren't it right now. Calax lost his granddad and his mom's ill. teknoman's dad died. Azdeus' buddy got in a fist fight with a circular saw. They're having a tough time. My biggest worry is that I'm going to have to curtail my Obsidian obsession before it derails my board exam prep. Hint: that's a first world problem, not a real world one.

I tried the beyond meat 8 layer burrito from Del Taco yesterday. Wasn't bad. I don't go out of my way to eat meat substitutes, but I was curious. It wasn't bad and, hey, it's fast food anyway.

That already needed to be done. I just hadn't gotten around to it. Recently went on a trip across the southwest, from California to Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. It was a lot of fun, about 3000 miles, and a few dirt roads. I was going to get the alignment done this month anyway. The nail just gave me a reason to do it now. Today, I'm going to do something I really need to do, start *seriously* studying for various exams and whatnot. Geez, this place is like a bowl of chips. Can't do it a little.

Yeah, the tires on my current car aren't cheap. I don't know why. I've priced them out at various places. I spend a tad more at the dealer, but I don't mind and it's not hugely different. It was a little over 500 for the tires and about 90 for the alignment. Danned dealers!

Yeah, I changed the front tires recently. The rear two had some life in them, so I waited, but I'm having the rear two replaced together. I've always thought you had to replace tires in at least pairs if not quads. It's not too bad. A little less than 700 dollars for two tires and an alignment, which I needed already but hadn't gotten around to having done.

Sorry about your grandparents, Calax. When you're a kid, you worry about what if something happens to your parents. Then, as you get older and your parents age, you realize it's not if but when. Enjoy the time you've got, brother! Also, welcome to the homeowners' club. It's good to hear something good going for you, even if we *are* strangers! As for myself, I was driving my car and the tire pressure light came on. It was handling a bit rougher, but clearly wasn't flat, so I finished the last little bit to my destination and went to my appointment. When I got back out, I grabbed my tire gauge and then went to the tire only to realize that it wasn't *completely* flat, but close enough that I didn't need a gauge. Changed to the spare and drove it to see if I could get the tire patched. No dice. Too big a hole, I suspect. They had to order my tires. Only good news is that I was so irritated with the guy not giving a crap about my custom that I called Costco to go there so he took an interest and lowered the price by a hundred bucks. I know they were busy, but I would have just plopped down the full price if he'd just talked to me in the first place.

I've just starting playing Deadfire again. I took up right where I left off, just onboard ship before the pirates attacked. For some reason, I'm having more fun. It's better than Divinity 2. Sometimes games are like that. I'll play a while and see if it keeps its charm. EDIT: hey, really quick, should I spread skills around or pack arcana or what for a wizard?