Whine like a baby, now with 500% more drama!

[GasBandit]

Did you have an office contest every year to see who was most worthy of it?

--Patrick

Oh no, back then they were too subversive and edgy to be acknowledged by upper management, who still at the time had actual motivational posters on their walls.


Now I have a whine to post. Stupid frickin Angry Birds is glitchy as hell on my nexus 7. At first I just thought it was a dirty screen or finger or some such, and after eliminating those possibilities I was afraid something was wrong with my nexus 7's touch screen, but installing a free multitouch tester app and "simulating" the motions of playing angry birds in it reveals that the nexus touch controls are crisp and buttery even with 6 fingers touching at once... so it's got to be Angry Birds itself. Often the birds will launch when I haven't released the sling, or a "ghost touch" will register in midair firing off a yellow or black bird prematurely, screwing up my attempt. It doesn't happen in any other game or app. Oh how the mighty have fallen. Now I have to find something else to play while I poop at work. Grumble grumble.

 

[Gared]

I've been sick all weekend, and have been sleeping even worse than normal. But I finally figured out why I have so much trouble sleeping - environmental noise and ambient light. I grew up in the middle of nowhere in a house with very few electronics. When the sun went down, it got dark, and when we turned the TV and computer off, it got quiet. Now I live in a noisy-ass suburb, in an apartment with really thin walls, filled with electronics that never shut up, with blinds that don't actually block out all of the light, and incredibly noisy neighbors/police helicopters/military jets (we live on one of the primary approach vectors for JBLM)/freight planes (we also live on one of the primary approach vectors for Boeing Field)/gangbangers/cop cars and fire vehicles/etc. It's never actually quiet here. And half of the electronics we have aren't quiet even when they're powered down, thanks to the standby mode replacing off, unless they're physically disconnected from power.

I think I'm going to go invest in half a dozen more power strips, so I can actually turn things off from now on, and some black fabric for my wife to make curtains, so we can actually make it dark.

 

[Azurephoenix]

I've been sick all weekend, and have been sleeping even worse than normal. But I finally figured out why I have so much trouble sleeping - environmental noise and ambient light. I grew up in the middle of nowhere in a house with very few electronics. When the sun went down, it got dark, and when we turned the TV and computer off, it got quiet. Now I live in a noisy-ass suburb, in an apartment with really thin walls, filled with electronics that never shut up, with blinds that don't actually block out all of the light, and incredibly noisy neighbors/police helicopters/military jets (we live on one of the primary approach vectors for JBLM)/freight planes (we also live on one of the primary approach vectors for Boeing Field)/gangbangers/cop cars and fire vehicles/etc. It's never actually quiet here. And half of the electronics we have aren't quiet even when they're powered down, thanks to the standby mode replacing off, unless they're physically disconnected from power.

I think I'm going to go invest in half a dozen more power strips, so I can actually turn things off from now on, and some black fabric for my wife to make curtains, so we can actually make it dark.

Blackout cellular shades are your friend (I use them to make the bedroom pitch black at night).

Amusingly... I can't fall asleep in pure silence. If it's too quiet my brain starts getting all wacky and will not settle down and go to sleep.

 

[GasBandit]

Blackout cellular shades are your friend (I use them to make the bedroom pitch black at night).

Amusingly... I can't fall asleep in pure silence. If it's too quiet my brain starts getting all wacky and will not settle down and go to sleep.

Ditto, kinda, but for reasons of tinnitus instead of "wacky brain."

 

[Gared]

Ditto, kinda, but for reasons of tinnitus instead of "wacky brain."

Yeah, I used to sleep with a very low volume stereo, to give me something to break up the silences. Now I sleep with a not-so-low-volume stereo, to give me something to cover all the non silence.

 

[Gusto]

I listen to a podcast every night. Plug my iPod into the dock I got for Christmas in 2011 (before this it was just headphones), set the volume at like 10/50, and set the sleep timer for half an hour.

 

[sixpackshaker]

Yeah, I used to sleep with a very low volume stereo, to give me something to break up the silences. Now I sleep with a not-so-low-volume stereo, to give me something to cover all the non silence.

Try a fan or a white-noise machine. sound of the ocean roar can be helpful hiding the distracting sounds.

I can sleep anywhere. I'm surprised that I've not fallen asleep driving.

 

[Adam]

Sounds like you need a habit forming sleeping aid of some kind.

 

[Frank]

Ditto, kinda, but for reasons of tinnitus instead of "wacky brain."

Me too, that's why I always have at least a fan in the room but normally I do what Gusto does and I just listen to a podcast.

 

[WasabiPoptart]

Amusingly... I can't fall asleep in pure silence. If it's too quiet my brain starts getting all wacky and will not settle down and go to sleep.

I can fall asleep, but I can't stay asleep in total silence. I've gotten so used to hearing noise during the night, whether it's crickets and "peepers" or traffic and emergency vehicles, that when I don't have it I wake up constantly during the night thinking that something is wrong. I can't leave on music or tv because I get interested in it and want to listen. I have an app on my phone that plays different kinds of white noise and nature sounds. You can mix them, too. I have one mix I made that sounds like breezy rain with crickets and frogs that knocks me right out.

 

[Gusto]

Me too, that's why I always have at least a fan in the room but normally I do what Gusto does and I just listen to a podcast.

And knowing our podcast proclivities, it's likely (and kinda romantic!) that we listened to the same podcast at the same time.

 

[Gared]

Sounds like you need a habit forming sleeping aid of some kind.

Yeah... I considered picking up alcoholism, but it interferes with my diabetes.

 

[Emrys]

I can't sleep if I can't hear my doomweasels snoring. Nothing helps me relax and sleep like that sound.\

Oh, look, I made a post about doomweasels. I bet that shocked everyone here.

 

[PatrThom]

If you absolutely can't get enough relief with curtains, you could try adding a canopy bed to the mix.
It could be something fancy or it could be like what we have, which is just shower curtain rods mounted to the ceiling, but having a second layer of sound-/light-absorbing fabric could do a lot to cut down on distractions (not to mention keep it warmer in Winter).

--Patrick

 

[Reverent-one]

I can't sleep if I can't hear my doomweasels snoring. Nothing helps me relax and sleep like that sound.\

Oh, look, I made a post about doomweasels. I bet that shocked everyone here.

I know it shocked me.

 

[Yoshimickster]

Got a damn bump in my lip, and I never know where the medication is. Fuck.

 

[Gared]

Found the major contributor to the household noise issue last night. There was a computer - which wasn't attached to anything except the power strip (literally, no keyboard, no mouse, no monitor, no internet connection, nothing), that's 8.5 years old that was running in the master bedroom. We unplugged it last night and the reduction in noise was heavenly. Apparently my wife kept it plugged in because she thought that it might be necessary to make the wireless router work, even though she kept asking me if it was necessary, and I kept telling her it wasn't. She could never remember when she actually got around to unplugging it, so she just left it plugged in. I had no idea that a single desktop PC could create that much noise and I shudder to think what the fan's going to look like when I actually pull the tower out from under that desk.

 

[Ravenpoe]

I'll I need to fall asleep at night is to put on a movie I've really wanted to see.

 

[GasBandit]

Found the major contributor to the household noise issue last night. There was a computer - which wasn't attached to anything except the power strip (literally, no keyboard, no mouse, no monitor, no internet connection, nothing), that's 8.5 years old that was running in the master bedroom. We unplugged it last night and the reduction in noise was heavenly. Apparently my wife kept it plugged in because she thought that it might be necessary to make the wireless router work, even though she kept asking me if it was necessary, and I kept telling her it wasn't. She could never remember when she actually got around to unplugging it, so she just left it plugged in. I had no idea that a single desktop PC could create that much noise and I shudder to think what the fan's going to look like when I actually pull the tower out from under that desk.

Oh, that's going to be pure horror. *shudder*

 

[Gared]

I'm sure. Thankfully, there's nothing on that machine that I actually need, and it's so outdated that even the parts wouldn't do me any good in any of my new machines, so I don't really need to worry about taking it apart.

 

[PatrThom]

I don't really need to worry about taking it apart.

...but you're going to anyway, right? And you're going to post pics?

--Patrick

 

[Gared]

...but you're going to anyway, right? And you're going to post pics?

--Patrick

... mayyybee...

 

[sixpackshaker]

I wished I took pics from my days at Best Buy.

One computer was to filthy that you could not tell the different cables apart.

Another swarmed with tiny roaches.

a fried shrimp

pet fur coated with black tar from cigarette smoke. I went home after that one. I sinuses slammed shut after that shit wafted up to my face.

But one hardware store where I did a network install had a computer so dirty that the CD tray did not have a hole in it. It was just level with dirt when it slid out.

 

[Gared]

I wished I took pics from my days at Best Buy.

One computer was to filthy that you could not tell the different cables apart.

Another swarmed with tiny roaches.

a fried shrimp

pet fur coated with black tar from cigarette smoke. I went home after that one. I sinuses slammed shut after that shit wafted up to my face.

But one hardware store where I did a network install had a computer so dirty that the CD tray did not have a hole in it. It was just level with dirt when it slid out.

Those are all bad... and I'm sure that this one will be packed with cat hair (though no tar). But that last one... how do you even? I just... man... that's horrific.

 

[sixpackshaker]

I had to install Windows 98 on that dust machine with floppies because even after cleaning the CD tray it would not work... That is a buttload of Pop-Tarting.

 

[PatrThom]

Ooo, I've done that. Upgraded DOS to Win95 via floppies. Even at 1.7MB/floppy it still took a while.

--Patrick

 

[WasabiPoptart]

a buttload of Pop-Tarting.

Oh my...

 

[Gared]

Just got home. Think I'll pull that computer out and see just how bad it is, with photo documentation. For science! Or, you know, morbid curiosity.

https://www.halforums.com/threads/f...er-left-on-3-5-yrs-heres-a-look-inside.28775/

 

[Yoshimickster]

Well, my mom's phone screen-cracked some how yesterday. Freakin' thing was expensive too.

 

[fade]

Drove off with my favorite travel mug on the bumper. Wonder where it landed.

 

[jwhouk]

Oh, is THAT what is sitting outside in our parking lot?

 

[ThatNickGuy]

I started talking to this absolutely AMAZING girl on OkCupid recently. I mean, absolutely, breathtakingly amazing. Gorgeous, smart, lots of things in common. Clear mutual interest in each other.

....except she lives in Boston.

Sometimes, on a whim, I'll see who my matches are from anywhere rather than locally. And sometimes, I'll message the odd girl just to pay them a compliment that I think they're fantastic and it's a damn shame about the distance. Not looking for anything from it, aside from paying them a compliment.

But her response was...somehow different. She seemed just as frustrated as I was because of the distance. Now, we're talking about being pen pals or something, at the very least.

But it's just.....GOD DAMMIT.

 

[jwhouk]

What, a six to six-and-a-half hour distance isn't worth it for love? (Even if part of that involves a border crossing...)

 

[Gilgamesh]

I started talking to this absolutely AMAZING girl on OkCupid recently. I mean, absolutely, breathtakingly amazing. Gorgeous, smart, lots of things in common. Clear mutual interest in each other.

....except she lives in Boston.

Sometimes, on a whim, I'll see who my matches are from anywhere rather than locally. And sometimes, I'll message the odd girl just to pay them a compliment that I think they're fantastic and it's a damn shame about the distance. Not looking for anything from it, aside from paying them a compliment.

But her response was...somehow different. She seemed just as frustrated as I was because of the distance. Now, we're talking about being pen pals or something, at the very least.

But it's just.....GOD DAMMIT.

My wife lived three hours away when we met online. Didn't stop us (I'm sure it's much further for you, just sayin)

 

[Tress]

My wife lived three hours away when we met online. Didn't stop us (I'm sure it's much further for you, just sayin)

One of my best friends met his wife online, and initially she was about 12 hours away. It's not necessarily easy, but it can work.