Here we goat again! (May 2023 scapegoat blame thread)

@werehatrack I’ll bite. What surgery, if you don’t mind sharing.

@Trinityscrew @werehatrack That’s how I felt about hip replacement. Took about six months before they had an opening.

@lisaviolet @Trinityscrew @werehatrack And Americans scoff at Canadian/English healthcare?

@lisaviolet @Trinityscrew @werehatrack Six months to get an opening during a hip replacement???!!! You must have some really tough skin, or your surgeon is using a butter knife.

@Felton10 We have cricket wireless and pay $60 a month for two phones. His is basic mine, is “smart”.

A couple of months ago they raised my usage to 10gb a month.

I started with 2gb. I don’t think i’ve ever used 1gb in a month.

@lisaviolet We have never used 2 gb-in fact we always have a carryover to the next month so have more than 2 gb in the bank in case we need it.

@Felton10 @lisaviolet I had a good experience with cricket. If you want/need that much. Cricket is straight up owned by AT&T.

Red Pocket covers them all. I had to switch from GSMA to GSMT because AT&T chose to blacklist my LG V40 Thinq for literally no other reason than it was unlocked. Had all the hardware. Worked fine. They just… Killed it. Because it was unlocked

@Felton10 @unksol One of the reasons we went with Cricket is because they were owned by AT&T, so they’d be using the same network.

We had AT&T before switching and the customer service rep asked me how they could keep me on. I said, laughing, “match what I’m getting from Cricket”.

Obviously, he couldn’t.

@Felton10 @lisaviolet
/youtube cricket noises

@chienfou Yeah, every time I start to get annoyed by missing a light because some idiot couldn’t find the gas pedal, I remind myself that I might be missing the accident, too.

@ybmuG

@chienfou That is for sure (they were lucky part of your post). I was in a 25 car pile up on the highway in the snow and was very lucky. I managed to stop without hitting anything although I was then was hit from behind by a taxi who was hit by a honda civic who was hit by an 18 wheeler. The lot of us were shoved into other cars by the truck. I was in the right place at the right time in that if I had to be in the accident stopping without hitting anyone and having several cars to be accordioned between me and the 18 wheeler meant while my car was totaled I could more or less walk away from it as they absorbed more of the shock from the 18 wheeler than I did.

@chienfou @Kidsandliz @ybmuG 'Tis beyond me how humans can be so stupid. I’ve been driving in both situations of being overtaken by dense fog or whiteout snow, then slow down only to be overtaken and passed by idiots who cannot see as far as their stopping distance. The only time I am at all close to comfortable in this circumstance is when I can actually see the tail lights of the vehicles ahead and know I could stop in time if I had to. Then I’m still praying that there is not an idiot behind me going 10 or more mph faster than we are or even at the posted speed limit (or higher).
You ask why I don’t just stop? Because of two things. One, if you pull over to the shoulder, there is no guarantee you won’t be plowed into by some car from behind AT THEIR DRIVING SPEED and two, if you keep going, at least the closing speed of the car behind is relatively less by whatever your speed is.
What I try to do is to hope we survive long enough to take the first exit we come to and hope it leads to a giant parking lot to sit it out in.

@chienfou @phendrick @ybmuG Once years ago at dusk I hit ice on the highway under a bridge and skidded off the road. I made a quick decision to try to turn back (eg U turn) and face the bridge once I was in the snow on the shoulder. Good thing I did as the some (but not all) of the cars that followed me off the highway on the same patch of black ice plowed into each other on the shoulder (about 8 or 10 of us). I was back close enough to the bridge that that wreck in the shoulder was all further down the road than I was. This was pre-cell phone days so I hitch hiked to the next exit, called a tow truck, he picked me up at the gas station and got rich pulling out a bunch of us, towing off one and radioing his company to come get the rest.

@chienfou similar thing happened to me. Got a GYN appointment that was somehow open two days after calling. Otherwise the wait was to July. And then there happened to be a specialist the next Monday. And the Monday the tests she ordered all had openings that same day. So within four days total I went from finding a mass to learning it was benign.

It was unreasonably lucky.

@Kyeh I had shingles in high school. I remember not being able to comfortably sleep/sit/wear a shirt. Would not recommend. Hope the arm feels better.

@KNmeh7 @Kyeh I had shingles in 5 nerve roots during chemo. Had horrific burning and shooting pain for 6 mo and even my hair or a light breeze touching that skin made it hurt. FYI for everyone reading this - if you get shingles get the antiviral within 3 days, I was late being given it despite having been diagnosed, it is supposed to shorten the length of time you have it and decrease the odds of long term pain. I still have less skin sensation where I had the shingles. Shingles suck!!!

@Kyeh Yeah, the first shot was rough. If it’s any consolation, my experience was that the second dose was easier. (Here’s hoping!)
A former coworker of mine had shingles - it came on during the stress of his divorce. It did not look like a pleasant experience.

@Kyeh Gotten both the first shot and the new two shot regime was is supposed to be close to 100% effective. Got shingles when I was around 50 on my face no less. And because it effects nerves half my face had it (right down the middle) and the other half didn’t. I must have really looked scary as one time got in the elevator in my office and on the next floor someone got on the elevator, took one look at me and got right off before the door closed.

Being on the face, it could easily have compromised my sight on that side of my face so when my internist saw it he sent me right over to an eye doctor. The eye doctor said if he were the internist he would have sent me straight over the hospital-that how dangerous it can be if it gets into your eyes.

@Felton10 OMG. So scary. I’m glad you emerged without longterm damage!

@Kyeh Nothing in the eyes directly but after the shingles, the nerves in my eyelids bothered me so much that had to have some surgery on them which usually is cosmetic but not in this case. Also solved another issue that my eyelids were so droopy that my range of vision was effected so this help with that also.

@Felton10 Yikes. I’m glad they were able to improve things. And you got an eyelift in the process, so a bonus, I guess!

@Kyeh My wife was jealous-that I was the first one in the family to have plastic surgery. But my wife make up for it several years later. LOL.

@Felton10 Hah!

@lisaviolet You’ve gotten peed on? While you’re sleeping?

@Kyeh Yeah. Actually, next to twice, on once. I didn’t feel it when it happened, but when the bedding was wet.

@lisaviolet That’s horrible!

@Kyeh And again last night. I was reviewing camera footage before midnight. Chloe was draped over me (I’m a side sleeper), front paws over the left of me, body hanging down on the right. She didn’t move at all until she did.

Diapers ordered for Chloe within minutes of seeing it was her.

The frustrating thing is, she’s fine during the day, even when she sleeps on the bed. She’s showing marked health improvement from her first week here (touch wood).

So, diapers it is.

@lisaviolet Ohhh - that makes more sense, I guess. I’m glad she’s still doing better.

@Kyeh She’s gone. She crashed this afternoon.

@lisaviolet I’m so sorry! At least she got good care and love and attention before she died.

@Kyeh Picture taken at the vet’s. She’s been sedated (she bit a tech during this process).

I called at 8:00 to make an appointment for her euthanasia after much discussion of how she was progressing (she wasn’t, she wasn’t even maintaining) for 3:00 pm.

Then she got better, ate, and followed Brian around wanting to be held. At 1:30 I canceled the appointment.

At 3:20, she couldn’t walk, her back legs wouldn’t hold her. I called and made another appointment, luckily they made a spot for her at 4:15.

She’d been here for a month.

The heart wants what the heart wants. The heart wanted her around for a while.

The brain works more with reality and kicks the heart right in the ass.

In other news, I had the best night’s sleep last night in a month. Nooby was back in bed with us, between our pillows. The house is back to how it was pre-Chloe.

But still…damn it.

@lisaviolet I’m sorry; that definitely sounds so sad. She was a lovely little thing.

@Kyeh @lisaviolet That is so incredibly sad. It is so hard to have to make those decisions. I am so sorry.

@Kyeh @lisaviolet I am so sorry. Having made this decision a few times I understand the toll it takes on you. From what I know about you, I am sure you took every precaution to do right by your sweet fur baby and she lived an exceptional life. Big hug

@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 Thank you.

@Kidsandliz Chances are good that your data is recoverable from the drive, though. But a Mac is almost never cheap to fix.

@werehatrack I have apple care but my problem is I need the job file to input in less than a week my job search for unemployment and their website is not phone compatible.

@werehatrack is it actually isn’t a drive per say. It’s the SSD.

@Kidsandliz @werehatrack SSD=solid state DRIVE

Aren’t all you mac people supposed to be backed up in your hacked iCloud?

Kidding aside. What do you mean by their site is not phone compatible? That makes it sound like you have the data but just can’t submit from your phone. That is easy to fix.

You can just download chrome and set it to desktop mode if that’s the issue.

Worst case I guess you could email it to yourself and use a public library.

So the question is data loss vs entry/submission.

@unksol @werehatrack if I had $20 or 30 a month I could back up everything to iCloud (to make it easier for hackers) but I don’t so I back up to a hard drive and only back up photos to iCloud. The unemployment site says it is not phone or tablet compatible. That’s desantas for you. Site isn’t even open 24/7. I don’t have the file I recorded my job search on as that is so recent it isn’t backed up. So I get to do it all over again (make the file) and hope I remember which 10 jobs and don’t accidentally remember one I did earlier. So it is data loss. Friend is letting me use her computer Monday. Will have to change passwords since no access to them (don’t have phone linked due to kid with problems).

@Kidsandliz @werehatrack bummer. Data loss is hard to do remotely.

Gdrive should work for something like that even on an iPhone. You just choose what to keep there.

Unemployment sites/processes are horriblely maintained. Especially in certain states. “Unsupported” on a phone though is usually their BS way of saying it might not work/well be frustrating etc etc. Usually that can sort of work. But it is a total disgrace they don’t update them.

@Kidsandliz I usually use opera but if you install chrome. I think apple lets you. The menu should just have a check box to make it show/flag as desktop. That will probably work. Vis-a-vis the non supported on mobile. But it is Florida. So. Cross your fingers and toes

@werehatrack Nope. Data not recoverable. The SSD can’t be removed from the logic board and when the logic board needs replaced, like mine does, you are screwed. Damn stupid to design it that way. I guess they want to force you to buy a zillion bucks of icloud a year.

@unksol Thanks for the suggestions. Believe it or not Apple, since they don’t rent computer, suggested I buy and return one. WTF?? I questioned the guy more than once as that doesn’t seem ethical, and was assured apple says to do that. So I installed my back up on it (missing 25 days and 3 important things) and am good to go. Returning it though as soon as I have done that so I have as little chance as possible of screwing up the “borrowed” one. Mine is due back next Monday.

@Kidsandliz I wouldn’t be surprised cause apple. That would be. Weird. Id be tempted to get them on tape

BLAME AGAIN. They returned it to me yesterday (Friday), they had replaced the logic board and track pad. And guess what. IT STILL DOESN’T WORK RIGHT. This time the screen goes black with vertical white lines, or goes black and when I hit the power button (generally 5 times) most of the time I get back to the screen (usually have to log in again) although apple says when this happens the share screen freezes on their end. So back to apple today at 2:15. I am guessing more than a week this time with no computer since this Saturday and I am not sure anything will go out until Monday. My credit card rolls over next week so I will have to return the “loan” so I don’t have to pay for it before I get my computer back. FUCK!!!

@Kyeh
had to look at that twice to find the shopper in the picture. My first thought was ‘holy crap… that’s an expensive bear!’

@chienfou I asked her if she bought it; of course she didn’t, and she said “did you notice the price?!” But you could probably use it as a piece of furniture!
It could be fun, like you’ve traded places with it and become doll-sized.

@chienfou @Kyeh I feel like that is the size of a small car if woman is to scale. Just… What
/image geo metro 2 door

@chienfou @unksol That’s my sister and she’s 5’2". Here’s another shot of the bears:
I sure couldn’t fit one of them in my car!

@Kyeh @unksol
fun fact… the Metro convertible I had was a 3 cylinder… First time I opened the hood I thought WTF, Where is the other plug lead???

@chienfou @Kyeh the three cyclder is kind of dads baby… I mean I want it because that’s how he handled us to soccer in games in 1998. It’s been in a garage for a long time. I wanted to save it so he could drive it again but. Idk that that’s possible now.

The engine can absolutely be done. But idk about the other bits and bobs

@Kyeh @unksol
ours was the “back up vehicle” that became the primary driver for my son when he turned 15.5 and started to drive. Had to be accompanied so I spent an entire semester riding to class with him at the Jr College 45 minutes away. Would either go shopping in town or pick a shady spot and sleep. He put a ton of miles on that car.
Sent him 3.5 hours south of here to go camping 3-4 days with his 13 y/o cousin when he was 16 and could go on his own. They had a blast (even though it rained torrentially on their campsite one night). They were not too far from my F-I-L’s house if things had gotten really nutso, but they toughed it out. I’m not sure my sister has forgiven me for that one yet!!

@chienfou @Kyeh I’m annoyed I just now noticed image gave me a CHEVY metro not a GEO metro. It gave me the correct color the first time but I wanted the smaller 2 door. Oh well
/image geo metro

@chienfou @Kyeh I’m amazed you got away with letting him drive it. The Geo is also known as the death trap. If you hit anything in it you are going to die. It has no airbags. No crumple zones. No nothing. It’s a tin can. With great gas mileage.

@Kyeh @unksol

As one reviewer noted at the time, the car’s air conditioning was like a safety device, because it took so much power from the engine that the car could barely do the speed limit on the highway. You could pretty much double your side-impact protection by wearing a thick sweatshirt.

IIRC it had one (steering wheel) airbag…

@chienfou lol I see the Google result you saw. I really didn’t think the driver had one considering what it is but I guess they snuck one in. Still surprised your wife let him

@chienfou @Kyeh @unksol IIRC, the Geo/Chevy Metro was a re-badged Suzuki. My ex-wife bought a used Metro for our daughter for $500. She drove it for a couple of years without incident. If nothing else, it forced her to learn to drive a stick.
I always referred to it as the “Gooey”. My reasoning was thus: if geoduck (clam) is pronounced “gooeyduck”, then a Geo must be “Gooey”.
Always kind of irritated my teenage daughter.

@chienfou @Kyeh @unksol Anyone else remember the Geo commercials featuring distinguished science fiction author Harlan Ellison promoting Geo as “The Cars Of The Future” ?

@chienfou @Kyeh @macromeh it’s 100% a suzuki engine. Probably some body/other minor differences? Not sure. Had a habit of burning valves so usually a valve/ring job could take care of it. Also good it’s a non-interference engine.

Technically you don’t even have to take it out of the car to rebuild it… Although since it can basically be picked up there’s not usually a reason to do it that way. I do think it could be taken apart in half a day, parts take home and checked/prepped, and then reassembled in another half a day.

@chienfou @Kyeh @macromeh @unksol Can confirm that the three-banger was an easy build. I could pull the engine without using a hoist, by taking the head off first and then lifting out the short block after unbolting it from the mounts and the bell housing. Those old Metros actually have quite a following now, and it’s rare to see one in good shape that’s fetching under $5k if it’s for sale at all.

@chienfou @macromeh @unksol @werehatrack It’s a nice-looking car, at least.

@chienfou @Kyeh @unksol @werehatrack I think the key take away may be:
“it’s rare to see one in good shape”

@chienfou @Kyeh @macromeh @werehatrack the body on Dad’s is in good shape, but i haven’t gotten under it. Can’t be that bad though since it’s been in a (unconditioned) garage since 1998. I want to say it’s a 90 or 93. classic bright red. Paints not even that bad since not much sun fade.

Just kinda a cluster cause he didn’t remember to ask me if I wanted it until I was walking out the door on Thanksgiving. And I was like sure I’ve got room in the garage. By which I MEANT it’d be safe/they were selling the house where it had been and I’d figure out what to do. He’s like well I don’t want it to just sit like I left it/id like to get to drive it again/see someone drive it.

Been 20 years since I looked at the rebuild process on it plus brake fluid is hygroscopic. Rubber tubing. Sat coolant. Gas. Etc etc. Just caught me off guard.

Texted him a week or two later after figuring it out that I thought I could literally pull the engine apart if we had it in a garage there in a day, take the parts, then put it back together. I’m sure I could have done it in a driveway too. Was thinking id just fix it for him, but he never answered. Probably just forgot. I was just going to talk to him at Christmas but wasn’t safe to drive to pick them up… he’s been sick felt like a weird thing to ask about. Then it was COLD.

Sat with him a while a couple weeks ago… He didn’t really say much. On hospice/pain meds weren’t working so much. Should have just told him on Thanksgiving I’d get it here and fix it. I definitely could have made the time to go through the whole thing by now. Hindsight’s a bitch.

Definitely not for sale if I have a say/Mom asked if wanted it. Obviously. Helped him work on the cars since I could hand tools and freak out about grease.lol

Sorry. Processing emotions/what’s in the back of your head is weird.

@chienfou regarding the airbag. Also this is the correct red two door hatchback.

https://www.carthrottle.com/post/wvej557/

"But back to the Metro. The first generation was offered in three and five-door hatchback models as well as a 4-door notchback sedan that was only sold in Canada. In 1990, a convertible was available but was phased out after 1993. Metros came in three trim levels: XFi, Base or LSi. The XFi’s engine has less horsepower than the base and LSi and achieved startling gas mileage 53 MPG (city) 58 MPG (highway). All of the Metros at this time had three cylinder engines with a 5-speed manual or 3-speed automatic transmission. The convertible is also the only first-generation Metro to offer an airbag. "

Idk why but I give it weirdly satisfying that it’s a first gen with no air bag. Pretty sure it’s also an xfi

@Richrichie I’m not sure you got the memo on the goat thread visavis blame. But I guess that’s an unblame for… satisfaction? Lol. No harm no fowl

/image bird

@Felton10 ! Did you pick a stuffed bear while you were there?
https://meh.com/forum/topics/here-we-goat-again-may-2023-scapegoat-blame-thread#6455b74ce8effe30a22ced64

@Kyeh I’ve seen similar large bears like that there before-although not that color and not that pricey. Probably go to Costco every two weeks and buy couple days worth of dinner meals there (today fresh salmon, flank streak and their famous cooked roasters.) Also belong to BJs and Sam’s but Costco is my favorite.

Became a big fan almost 20 years ago when I bought a 42 inch plazma flat screen TV there for 4k.
It was a no name brand and it broke after 3 years and the co wanted 1k if I wanted to ship it back and they would repair it. Called Costco to see if they would do anything for me and they said they would take it back. Even sent a truck and some men to pack it up and take it away-refunded me the whole 4k (not their policy anymore). Who would not love that?

@Felton10 I’ve seen large stuffies but never THAT large. Yes, I like Costco too. That’s remarkable about TV, though … sent a truck, wow!

@Felton10 If Discount Tire exists in your neighborhood, being at their door with a flat or a slow-leaker when they open in the morning might get it fixed in 15 minutes for free. It does not matter if the tire isn’t one they sold. If it’s within repairable limits, i.e. the puncture is not in the shoulder of the tread, the tire is not over the age limit, and the tread is not worn out, they’ll fix at no charge. If it’s a l;eak due to a TPS that needs to have the O-rings replaced, that’s not free. If the tire is over a certain age (I think it’s 5 years, but don’t quote me) they may decline to fix it, but I’m not sure about that.

@werehatrack I was jotting down the names of tire places near where I live but then a thought hit me of calling Costco. Was able to make an appt-grabbed a hot dog and coke for lunch for 1.50 while I waited.
After they pulled the car around, filled my gas tank for about 35 cents less than regular gas stations were charging and then parked and went in and did my regular shopping. Only downside was the $ 168 I spent at Costco that day although any visit where I can walk out with less than a $ 200 bill is a win in my book. Thanks for the information anyway.

@tinamarie1974 Congratulations!
So you’ve had to go into the office since the pandemic shutdown ended, until now?
I bet Charliedoggo is thrilled!

@Kyeh actually I havent. I go in 3-5 times a year for vendor meetings or to see IT for computer issues, etc. So since 2020 Ive had an empty office with my stuff in it, but no me! The company is starting to kick folks out of offices (prime real estate) if they are not on-site 60% of the time or more.

So I chatted with my boss and made my remote status official.

I held off on investing in good office equipment because the company has tried a few times to make everyone come back. Although it has failed miserably, I was assuming Murphys Law assuming the moment I dropped $$ I would be forced back

And, yes, Charlie is thrilled that Iwill be WFH for the foreseeable future

@tinamarie1974 Unfortunately you do not qualify for the home office deduction.

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the home office deduction through 2025 for employees who “receive a paycheck or a W-2 exclusively from an employer,” according to the IRS. If you receive a Federal W-2 form from your employer then it doesn’t matter if you work from home 100% of the time, 50% of the time or not at all – you can’t deduct work expenses to reduce your taxable income.

@Felton10 @tinamarie1974 Bummer!!!

@Felton10 That stinks, but thanks you very much much sir! I appreciate the feedback

Now why the heck couldn’t the 5 or 6 IRS employees tell me that

@Felton10 apparently I should not type while on the phone. Those typos are worse than usual!

Blaming the goat!!!

@Felton10 @tinamarie1974 if it makes you feel better I’ve worked from home since 2010. Literally the entire time I’ve worked for this company, and it was never really worth it to bother, even when the standard deduction was lower and i itemized.

Obviously that would depend on your housing cost/percentage of the house dedicated to the office, etc etc. I’m sure higher cost/smaller homes in a city suberb changes the math a good bit.

@tinamarie1974 @unksol You can compute the amount of space used either on square footage or number of room in the house.

@Felton10 @tinamarie1974 did not remember the room rule. I think it worked out to <10% for me either way. Then technically you have it dedicated. Which there was other stuff in there. Including personal computer equipment/shared resources. I could have moved it all but. Meh.

Then even if you’re spending 2K a month, which I’m not. 10% of that for a year is only 2400 and if in a 24% bracket that saves you less than$600. Doubling the standard deduction wiped out that 2400 cause I used to get to ~8-10K.

I’m sure if you’re in say, an expensive 2 bedroom condo/smaller home the math changes a whole lot both because of the cost and the dedicated percentage. Never mind if you go over the standard deduction normally.

Isnt it fun how politicians play games with us?

@tinamarie1974 @unksol I always played it straight re the dedicated use as I always had Walter’s cage in my office so I never took the home office deduction.

@Felton10 @tinamarie1974 yea I figured that just gets you looked at and just not worth it for a few bucks.

Might result in better work/life balance if you can wall it off though. But they are use to hearing me talk to cats in meetings so

@Felton10 @tinamarie1974 @unksol During the pandemic WFH I always considered it a great improvement to any work meeting if pets showed up. I once got my cat to stand in for me in a Zoom meeting:

@Felton10 @Kyeh @unksol I love that! @charliedoggo has made more than one appearance. I introduce him as my Head of Security

@CharlieDoggo @Felton10 @tinamarie1974 @unksol That’s a great title for him!

@Felton10 @tinamarie1974 @unksol
By the way, @CharlieDoggo, did you see who won the Westminster Dog Show? I thought he looked kind of like you - except you’re better looking, even if you don’t have a fancy pedigree!

@Felton10 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 usually my comments are a little less complementary because I’m trying to write SQL/do something in prod to answer a question and I either can’t see the screen or reach the keyboard/stay on the home keys with the things in the way. There’s a lot of involuntary “would you stop it!”. “Move!” Followed occasionally by a confused “oh sorry response” if there is someone new/I’m off mute. Lol. Our team is as least used to it.

Sometimes I say less kind things when they are breaking things… Let’s just say I often check the mute button

@Felton10 @tinamarie1974 @unksol Maybe you need to put in a wall with a door? Or even one of those kind of accordion walls that public buildings sometimes have?

@Felton10 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 lol. I don’t need a door. At least there. I mean one should be put in but it would be open. You’ve seen the desk bed. There’s a rotating cast of 10 in there. Plus the cat tree. Offices should have pets. Stress relief

By “a wall” I mean if you are literally able to dedicate the space to work. As in I’m in this space so I’m at work. And when I leave it I’m off work. Set hours. May be better for mental health.

When your office is in your house it can get a little different. Especially if you’re in there cause doing other stuff and your work computer dings… Well I’m here. I should probably see what that is. There can be some work creep

I know they get more out of me with WFH. And I personally don’t want to go to an office even if there was one available. It would probably be an hour long commute to go sit in a cube with no one I work with who are states away. Just dumb. I know more social people miss going to “the office” though so. Mixed bag

@Felton10 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol
Yeah…
Once during a WFH meeting, my dog decided to vomit on the carpet in my office, forcing me to announce that I was going temporarily offline to address a “Dog Emergency”.
Another time I had a “Cattle Emergency” when I spotted the neighbor’s escaped cows walking across the lawn, headed for our garden.
Whadaya gonna do?

@Felton10 @Kyeh @macromeh @tinamarie1974 technically you could ignore cause both wound have happed without you there.

But if your home and can interrupt you don’t have to clean up

@Felton10 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol My S.O. has long been full-time remote (with backup local workplace access in case of Comcasstery), and early in the pandemic, we had a litter of kittens underfoot. They quickly became The Interns for purposes of meetings. Eventually we created an actual home office for him in the storeroom, where the cats are not allowed.

@Felton10 @Kyeh @unksol same for me, currently my laptop is on the kitchen table. Any ding and I go check it out. I work in Intl business so my co workers are spread around the world. I can get calls any time!

@Felton10 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 yeah. I get texts any time if there is a system issue but I’m salary so. Late night emergencies happen. Someone will call though if it’s an emergency.

I just have an L desk off craiglist and a desk chair from… I forget where I bought the last one. Staples or officemax maybe.

If you are going to be sitting at a desk for 8 hours it’s probably worth trying out some chairs/spending some money there.

You might be able to actually order through your company purchasing program if they will approve it. But again never worth it to bother for me.

You can disable Windows notifications during certain times so you’re not driven to answer
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/turn-off-notifications-in-windows-during-certain-times-81ed1b25-809b-741d-549c-7696474d15d3

@Felton10 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol When I was teaching online students got used to cat tails and heads going in and out of view. I’d dump the one on the floor over and over to no avail.

@Felton10 @Kidsandliz @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 since we are OG work from home there is no video. Most have our cameras closed or taped over like a sane person lol. Occasionally an exec or account lead may have theirs on. Since I talk to myself and the cats they are a little bit used to it especially since there’s often one who wakes up and decides to get in the way… And pushing is like petting. Usually I have to just pick them up and put them in the bed a couple times

@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol Obviously I spent a lot of time sitting at my desk in front of my computer. Been buying chairs at staples and those bonded leather chairs are crap-even the last one I bought with a Temper pedic cushion. Finally decided I needed get one with a real leather seating area and waited until Good Friday-a year and a half ago to buy one and it is still going strong.

@Felton10 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 I’m still on the bonded “leather” chairs. One lasted almost a decade although was pretty worn out. And 7 or 8 years in the base plate welds just broke when I was leaning back and I went over backwards flailing lol. That part was replaceable and I should lose some weight anyway so. Meh. New ones been going a couple years and still looks fine.

I’ll admit I bought my L desk on Craigslist in 2010 for like $150. It’s still fine but it’s MDF.

But I’m just cheap even when I don’t have to be. Nothing wrong with wanting a nicer home office. I wouldn’t say no to two side by side portrait monitors which let’s you see more code side by side. Some people like having a convertible standing desk. I’m sure aesthetics can help for some people when your in there 8 hours a day. I’m more of an efficiency person.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol Bought a Z-line L shaped glass desk at Staples that is still going strong 20 plus years later. Just bought a 34 inch monitor which is still in the box. Upgrading from a 31.8 inch one which my son tells me will be able to open 2 programs side by side. Need that when doing ones years tax return and have to look at a previous years. Would be great if I didn’t have to close the one I’m currently working on to look at the old one.

@Felton10 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 @unksol I got a 15.6 inch portable monitor earlier this month.

I can use it with my laptop or my PC. With the way things are set up, I don’t have a lot of extra room, so it’s nice. I like it when I need to copy and paste tracking numbers onto invoices.

@Kyeh @lisaviolet @tinamarie1974 @unksol I think my first flat screen monitor 25 years ago was a 15.6 size. LOL

@Felton10 @Kyeh @tinamarie1974 I’ve had a 27 inch 2560x1440 for a couple years which is plenty for me to do side by side or tile. But eyesight/size font varies. I can keep it pretty small for now lol.

I push email/chat to the laptop screen. I would say a good monitor/keyboard/mouse are critical but I just share them with my “gaming” PC which I don’t really use/hasn’t had a new CPU/board since I built it in 2010. Which you know 13 years ago. They don’t even make a wired Logitech wave anymore. I thought I lost a key once and was… Displeased.

Functioning on just a laptop would not be good for my productivity. But since I just use the same stuff.

Still maybe an ordering department. I know people who used ours for doing stations etc. I’ve only used it to get the developer instead of the BA laptop cause. Kinda need it if you want me to do my job instead of watch the wheels spin

@Felton10 @Kyeh @lisaviolet @tinamarie1974 oh this is my first flat screen. Yes it’s a CRT. A flat screen CRT. I believe from a staples black Friday. Or one of the “Offices”. That was part of my first build in ~2002. I believe and unlockable athlon xp Barton. Why is it still here? I… Don’t know. It was nice?

@Kyeh @lisaviolet @tinamarie1974 @unksol My first computer in the early 1980s was an IBM PC with two floppy drives and a 10 Megabyte hard drive which cost $ 4,000-thought I had gone to heaven with the hard drive.

Had the good fortune (also in the 80’s) to lock our son in the basement with an newly purchased Apple IIc and the Sierra online game “The Black Cauldron” which required no typing or being able to read which given his ADHD was just perfect for him. Fast forward 40 odd years, he is now the lead computer tech in the executive offices for one of the top 5 defense contractors in the nation, makes more than I ever did when was working full time and embarrasses me to keep my computer hardware and software up to data (except for Lotus 123 which I will never give up and luckily still works on Windows 10).

@Felton10 @Kyeh @lisaviolet @tinamarie1974 @unksol My first computer was a 128K Mac. My other two choices (educational pricing) were the PC Junior and an Apple 2e. Hands down the Mac for ease of use.

@Felton10 @Kidsandliz @Kyeh @lisaviolet @tinamarie1974 @unksol My first was a Commodore 64 mostly used for games. Later I got a 386 top of the line. Really splurged and bought a desk and chair at the same time. Friend and I were planning to start a business teaching and tech support for computers. We did some but never really got going. I did learn and work with skills I still use now so it was a good investment.

@Felton10 @Kidsandliz @Kyeh @speediedelivery @tinamarie1974 @unksol

My first computer was a Vendex. It was a few years after I got married and I used it for the company business.

@Felton10 I still miss Quattro Pro. Friend got me started with it and I never got comfortable with Lotus.

@Kidsandliz @Kyeh @lisaviolet @speediedelivery @tinamarie1974 @unksol I remember the time I went shopping with my son at Comp USA for a computer and planning to buy him one with a 486 processor. The Pentiums had just come out and were priced several hundred dollars more than the 486s. The salesperson was trying the convince me to buy a Pentium as it was faster and would be functional longer so I bought it for him.

I thought this was the end of civilization as I heard him bragging to his friends about his new computer just as he might have done as if he had gotten a fancy new bike.

Was slightly embarrassing that my son had a faster computer for his games than I had for my business.

@Felton10 And then the first Pentiums had that FPU lookup table omission bug…

@werehatrack Like I know what that was?

@Felton10 @werehatrack Funny thing is, that problem helped make Intel a household word. I worked there at the time. Even though it was one of the biggest tech companies, most average people didn’t know much about it. But then the Pentium bug was in the news for months. Soon after, Intel started running TV ads (ba-ba-ba-bum!) and then everyone knew about the company and their products. And, boom! (I lost track of how many times the stock split before the tech crash following Y2K).

@Felton10 have I mentioned I hate US tax code/laws?

It’s easy if you do it straight. If you don’t it’s just weird. It’s like it’s written to be abused. I wonder how that happens.

@Felton10 @unksol It’s only worth abusing if you have lots of money. Otherwise, there’s nothing to gain. Those what got the bucks will always find a way to not only keep theirs, but make you pay for stuff for them.

@Felton10 @werehatrack it certainly seems like it. There’s some small behavioral adjustments like for energy efficiency that I’ll take advantage of when they actually are finalized it I can. But…

There’s definitely not a certain political party fighting to cancel funding for the IRS to let them check the rich people who can’t do normal tax returns. That’s not a thing happening

@Felton10 @unksol @werehatrack
Oh, NO, definitely not.

@ircon96 Awww. Thanks for that; makes me feel a little better about this :

@Kyeh Oh, dang!! I’d blame the big goat for that.

@ircon96
Yes, I do - blame, @KNmeh7!

@ircon96 @KNmeh7 @Kyeh I blame @KNmeh7 too. I apparently did the same thing 6 days ago (my excuse is the computer problems I am still having that I blamed for above) although your streak was longer than mine. As you can see forgetting to click, or forgetting to be logged in when I click is my best skill. I seem to practice it a lot (I was only up to 80ish something when I screwed up).

@Felton10 She really is a cutie! And quirks are what make life interesting, amirite?

@Felton10 @ircon96
I love her purple eye shadow.

@Felton10 @Kyeh I didn’t even notice that until i just zoomed in! Typical of any glamorous woman, she doesn’t start the day without putting her “face” on!

@Felton10 @ircon96

@Kidsandliz That report was almost a week ago. Everything OK and you still tooling around?

@phendrick Light has not come back on. So far anyway. Was told it can’t be fixed without the light back on. Leaving tomorrow for the trip home. Fingers crossed!! There are some pretty rural areas on that trip.

@Kidsandliz
Also, do you have access to an OBD II code reader? That might be able to pick up a trouble indicator without the trouble light being on. Probably depends on the car’s configuration of its sensors.

@phendrick I don’t have one. I had the codes read and it said that solenoid but 2 mechanics (the one who read it and mine when I told them over the phone the code) said more than one thing can give that code.

Update, Charlie seems to be doing ok on his pain meds. He is not putting full weight in his foot, but he is getting around ok!!

@tinamarie1974

Thank you @ybmuG and Yekop! I have been sleeping a lot today and mom is crabby when I lick or nibble on my hurt paw. I have gotten extra treats though, so that is good!

@tinamarie1974 @charliedoggo
Oh, I only just saw this - I’m sorry!
I hope you heel heal fast!

Thank you @Kyeh! I love hugs and I have been asking mom for a lot of belly rubs since last night! I still wont let her touch my paw though, it is too sore!!

@CharlieDoggo
Poor thing! How did it happen?!

@tinamarie1974 Here’s something to amuse you
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cr9zFJLrQpT/?igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg==

@Kyeh @tinamarie1974 A similar video was recently a finalist on America’s Funniest Videos. Won something like $20K.
(Unfortunately, this trick does not work on my deaf dog. However, he does get excited if you put your fingers up to your mouth - that is the sign for eat. )

@macromeh @tinamarie1974 I’m glad to hear a pet video won big for a change. So many of the winners are annoyingly stupid!
I love the way this dog is dragging his blankets around with him. Such a cute face, too.

Hi @Kyeh, I dont kno. I went outside for a break, laid in the sun for a bit too! When I came in my foot hurt sooooo bad. I could barely stand on it!

It is so much better today. Mom still has me on extra cheezeballs with crunchy centers. I think the cheeze helps! The crunchy part tastes weird tho.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thank you for checking on me frien!

@CharlieDoggo @Kyeh
Wonder if you might have stepped on a bumbledy bee or some such??

@CharlieDoggo @chienfou
Or a spider?

@CharlieDoggo @chienfou @Kyeh honestly that is my wonder as well. He seems to be better

@CharlieDoggo @chienfou @tinamarie1974
Oh good!

@CharlieDoggo @Kyeh @tinamarie1974
Yeah…