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?

The problem with talking to the Taliban is expecting them to negotiate in good faith. It's naïve to assume that they're doing anything other than getting into the best position to strike the first time there's any domestic discord that will tie our hands. You cannot negotiate in good faith with terrorists who are clearly, and sometimes openly, not keeping faith. My argument would be practical, although I personally sympathize with Hurlshot's post. EDIT: as for ShadySands, if we're going to quit the game, quit it. There's simply no good solution to this. I never thought we should invade Afghanistan with the purpose to stay in the first place. Anything other than staying in force will make us look weak. There's no appetite to keep a significant force in the country. What to do? What to do?

I suspect that we come at the issue from wildly different directions, Zora, but fair enough as regards Trumps more dovish positions. However, the larger point is the capriciousness. It's not that it's a great crime to fire people by tweet. It's that it fits right into the perception that the guy is too small and petty for the presidency. Yeah, before today, I might have said that the real problem was having a national security adviser with whom you do not share a vision of foreign affairs. I might have said that having infighting in the administration looks like there's no real direction. Firing Bolton by tweet is the culmination of chaos, and that's where I personally believe Trump is weakest with his conservative base. Certainly that's true for this particular conservative. :points to self: I firmly believe this election will be decided on the edges of a few key states. With the margins as they are at this point, every little bit has an impact. ...And, hate it or not, optics (I know, what a terribly jargonistic word) matter.

It's the capriciousness of it that gets under my skin. Some of us are trying to make a well-reasoned (or at least as well-reasoned as possible) case for his administration. Mapgate was and remains silly crap, but it's not in isolation. So, when he fires Bolton and announces it by tweet, it makes it more difficult to muster up a defense. All the sudden, the ire over something silly gets hit with well deserved ire over utter chaos in terms of an incoherent foreign policy. Yes, his base will support him no matter what, but the people I talk to in real life actually buy into my arguments because they trust me to play if straight down the middle. I can be wrong, but I can't be dishonest. Moreover, I don't *want* to defend Trump for planning secret Taliban meetings at Camp David, then publicly canceling them, and *then* firing his national security advisor by tweet. It's maddening! As an aside, while I sometimes roll my eyes at the hyperbole, I actually agree with Gromnir about the homelessness issue. I've done work at a couple of mobile medical clinics and so I have at least a little bit of understanding of homeless populations. The problem in California is pretty dire, mostly due to well-meaning but stupid policies, but it's California's problem. Why the hell would any small government/states' rights conservative believe the federal government should charge into this issue? The events of today have been particularly dismaying. I'll still support Trump. I honestly don't see any alternative at this point, but I hate the guy. If I didn't know him and met him at a BBQ or something, we'd probably hit it off fine... as long as I didn't accidently make some offhand and innocuous comment that he could construe as criticism. :shaking head in disgust: Okay! Okay! Got that out of my system!

I'll buy it and consider it a forum tax. I play Obsidian about as much as any game and they do give me hours of enjoyment. I didn't get much into the last two titles, but I got tons of hours out of the first Pillars and New Vegas is a masterpiece.

ShadySands, you are as a river unto your people. :big beaming grin:

I didn't use to like straws, but the little lady has me using them. Of course, I'm the one who gets to wash them. Our straws are plastic, but they're reusable and we've had them for years. The foreign policy of this administration can be alarming. I don't always understand it. EDIT: The Bolton thing is bad. Could Trump throw us a bone? ! He f'n undercuts his supporters all the time. At least his less basish supporters.

That's a good question. I assumed it would be available on Steam, but I haven't read much so I don't get spoiled.

The problem with climate change arguments is that they require humanity not to act like humans. The wife and I ran into a friend while we out some time ago. She was eating alone in the restaurant and, even though we were there for our anniversary, we joined her. When the server delivered our water, she asked if we wanted straws. My wife wanted one but I never ask for a straw since it seems to be a big deal to people. Our friend mentioned that she hated having to ask for a straw because she felt guilty and that's why she always had straws in her purse. I said not to worry about it because the impact of straws is negligible. It's the most silly assed hill to fight for. She then spent a few minutes lecturing me about how every little bit helps and I shouldn't feel that way. She wasn't rude and she was so earnest that I didn't even point out the irony that she brought her plastic straws so she wouldn't have to ask for them while I, who think the straw issue is actually counter-productive to the conservatism and responsible stewardship, eschewed the use of a straw altogether. Ban cruise lines? Why not? I don't use them! Ban air conditioning? Why not? I live in a temperate climate! Energy is a prime contributor to green house gasses! Ban needless use of electricity? Why not I don't... play games? …visit a gaming forum on my computer while reading others' posts on my large monitor? ...watch YouTube? Want to head out to a ball game? Electric cars! Wait, how do we manufacture those cars? How do we provide fuel (electricity) to those cars? Well, nuclear power is pretty damned clean, we can use that! "Never!" We talk about defeatist? The measures that might have any meaningful impact (by the climate police's own models!) would lead to more world strife than measures to mitigate the effects of climate change. ...And telling me that I should crumble the economy and global influence and power in my country because that's at least something only so the Chinese can become the world's sole super-power and then just increase their footprint by the whatever margin I lowered mine isn't an answer. If the models are right, defeat isn't the question. It's the inevitability.

FEAR 3 sucks. I'm thinking about pre-ordering Outer Worlds.

Today allegedly will provide some idea as to how the 2020 elections are shaping up. Special election in North Carolina. https://ballotpedia.org/North_Carolina's_3rd_Congressional_District_special_election,_2019 Before I address the 'fear mongering' bashing by fellow 'fear mongers,' let me address Warren. She's probably got the best campaign game of any of the likely Democratic candidates. Her policies are terrible, but, hey, that's the Dem field this election.