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

Tinwhistler

Tinwhistler

I found a workaround! Hovering my mouse over the taskbar icon pops up that 'live' preview, which makes the window thing it's got focus and the video can continue to play. Unfortunately, that means I can't move my mouse lol
 
IronBrig4

IronBrig4

Tinwhistler said:
This one is like a 35 minute 'drama' made like a TV show. But it's badly written and badly acted because it's not a TV show. It's a security video that's supposed to be engaging so that I can learn about Spear Phishing, Man in the Middle, etc. so dull.
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When I got a traffic ticket I had to take a drivers safety course. The videos were from the early aughts. It was like watching those cheesy infomercials that insomniacs watch at 4 am. I was almost expecting each simulated crash to begin with, "is this YOU?"
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Bubble181 said:
I realize that there are a lot of people worse off, and this is really is just a whine and all, but still.

My father turned 70 two years ago. Due to declining health, we assumed it would be his last major chance to go on a holiday, so he was getting an all-expenses-paid cruise around the Canary Islands; my brother and SIL and their daughter would go along, we would stay behind for dogs and stuff. because of Covid, the cruise never went through (it was actually cancelled for a sand storm the first time and only later on postponed indefinitely for Covid, but whatever).
Two weeks ago we finally got around to doing the alternative: by now my dad's 72, and he doesn't want to go on a cruise anymore because of his health. So, it became an all-expenses-paid full-family week together in the Ardennes (forests and rock and breweries and castles pretty much). So far, so good. Well, not for my dad, maybe, but you know, not my whine.

So this is a week-long getaway in a fancy vacation house with a sauna and Jacuzzi with the 7+1 of us (father, mother, brother, sister in law, niece, wife, me and my brother's dog). First day there, my brother takes us all out to a Michelin star restaurant with him paying. A few days later, we take everybody out to a fancy Chinese. Both are nice, but obviously there's a difference in price class. No worries, my brother's the CEO of an international company and I'm just an IT support guy; my SIL is a retired millionaire and my wife works in healthcare. He likes to show off his wealth to feel successful, I certainly don't mind accepting a bit. Other expenses (excursions, general shopping, other dinners,...) were either paid by my mother or by my brother. We were asked to make "a fair contribution" for the week - "give what you feel comfortable giving".
We made some back-of-the-napkin calculations and came to about €700-€800 for the both of us - we'd be paying about 1/3 of the house, and all our tickets/entries/whatever. My brother had suggested we pay just 1/4 of the house since we're only 2 out of 8 occupants (he counts his kid and the dog as full people, but w/e).

I've now been nagging my brother for two weeks trying to get an account to deposit our contribution on, and finally he's now responded with "oh, don't bother, forget about it, happy whatever day".

Which...I'm willing to believe from my SIL that it's just good heartedness - heavens know she absolutely doesn't need it and literally doesn't know how much she has, even rounded down to the nearest 50K - and wanting to help family, but from my brother comes off as rubbing my nose in his being the "more successful" son. My brother isn't a bad person, but he kind of has this superiority complex thing going on (he's married to a rich, pretty, blonde, foreign woman, has multiple houses in multiple countries, a daughter, and he's a CEO travelling the country. By many metrics he's waaay more successful than I am....And yet I wouldn't want to trade with him for the world).

Anyway, whether it's well-intended or not, this...was supposed to be a common gift for my father, not just theirs. We still owe them several thousand dollars for a personal loan for our wedding - I'd be perfectly happy to have them wave off €500 or something from that and let us pay our fair share! And I know it's practically the same, but it feels different. It feels like we don't contribute to my dad's big present. But there's no gracious way to keep insisting "no, no, I really want to pay" after being told no.

So now I'm contemplating just giving €500 or so in my father's name to the Ukraine Red Cross, but I dunno. Still not the same.
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I'd say a far more meaningful contribution was you being there with your dad. That's what matters. The rest is just material stuff, and if your brother has more money than brains then go ahead and let him pay. It doesn't take away from the experience you shared with your dad. The gift is the culmination of time spent with family, everyone involved gives to that. Your brother just signs the checks
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
I'm on site at a client and no shit the thermostat is kept at 64 in here and does not adjust.

Trying to stay warm by pretending to go super saiyan
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Correction... the thermostat SAYS 64... but google says it is 62 outside, and it is warmer outside than it is in here. I can barely type my fingers are so cold
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Cheesy1 said:
Thought my phone was 4G compatible. Found out rather rudely today it is not
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sixpackshaker said:
I am pissed that my model of iPhone does not work on 5G. But it tells me when I am getting a 5G signal?
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AT&T told their partners to badge the faster HSPA+ flavor of 3G as "4G" in the UI for marketing reasons, so just because your phone says "4G" in the corner doesn't guarantee it is connecting to the actual 4th generation "LTE" network.
Spoiler alert: They're doing it again with "5Ge," so prepare yourselves for the same kind of heartbreak when everyone starts moving to shut LTE down in eight years or so.

Bottom line: For best compatibility and longest relevancy, make sure your next phone supports both LTE and C-Band 5G (the newest iPhone SE also supports it but is not on that list cuz it was only announced tue* days ago). Expect to spend at least $400 (not counting dealer coupon contract trade-in whatever deals).

--Patrick
*Yes, that was on purpose.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Cheesy1 said:
Thought my phone was 4G compatible. Found out rather rudely today it is not when AT&T shut down my ability to send or receive calls. Now have to shell out ungodly amounts of money for another new phone. :mad:
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The truth is the g's don't mean anything, it's all marketing. There is no definition of what 4G or 5G is so they can say whatever they want
 
Shakey

Shakey

Tress said:
You are incorrect.
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Not really. A carrier can say, and display on their phones, whatever they want. There’s no standard or enforcement of what they can say the Gs are.
Just because there is a definition of what 4G vs 5G is, it doesn’t mean that’s what everyone has to use for it. Which I think is his point.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Tress said:
You are incorrect.
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This is a nice video explaining how radio waves work but none of it seems applicable? 3G, 4G etc are all still just marketing terms. It started as just a way to specify network infrastructure. When AT&T moved from their old edge system (sometimes called 2X) to a new global system, GSM, they called it 3G as it was the third generation of system they were using. Verizon, in establishing their own CDMA system they also called it 3G because they wanted to promote that it was comparable. Later on Verizon would buy the airspace in the US that over the air television once occupied and would use this to create what they called their LTE system, or Long Term Evolution, and decided to shorten this to 4G because, again, marketing ploy, that's a whole extra G that the consumer is going to want, which prompted AT&T to take their upgraded GSM+ system that they already had and were calling 3G (as it was an update to their previous 3G system) and call it 4G, for fear of consumers thinking they were behind.

If your point is that there are differences between cellular networks and technologies, sure, of course there are. LTE, CDMA, GSM etc all have very defined meanings. But 3G/4G/5G do not, and there's a reason they use the g's instead of accurately label what they're talking about, because they don't want consumers to be informed
 
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GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Frank said:
I keep my house around 58 degrees in the winter.
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I bet when you do, though, you are wearing more than khakis and a short sleeve polo.

I, however, was not expecting to need layers, fleece, and a winter coat indoors in a government building in Corpus Christi, Texas.
 
Frank

Frank

GasBandit said:
I bet when you do, though, you are wearing more than khakis and a short sleeve polo.

I, however, was not expecting to need layers, fleece, and a winter coat indoors in a government building in Corpus Christi, Texas.
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Everyone I know complains about how cold my house is when they're here, but they don't pay my gas bill.
 
Shakey

Shakey

I use off peak electric for heat, but have oil for backup. My electric bill has been insane this year. Thankfully we might finally start getting above 30f next week.
 
PatrThom

PatrThom

Our gas bill since Thanksgiving has averaged* over $450 every month (in Winter).
...which is great, because last year's Winter average was over $500/mo. Progress!

--Patrick
*Yes he did the math.
 
sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

GasBandit said:
I was feeling adventurous so on the way back from Corpus Christi I stopped at Bucee's and got some Ghost Pepper beef jerky

I regret much.
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I stopped at a small Bucee's on the way to my niece's 2nd wedding. First one was during COVID. I needed to go #1. On the way out I bought a lunch meat sub, and the young man was rather flirty with me when I checked out. I was more flattered than offended from being flirted with while checking out.
 
blotsfan

blotsfan

I called the plumber yesterday to come today. They said I could pick any 4 hour window so I say 9-1. They call at 7:30 saying they could have someone here in 40 minutes. I tell them thats fine and I rush to get ready. It has been over an hour and they're still not here.
 
Adam

Adam

My mental health has taken a *BEATING* the past two weeks. I've varied from depression, anger, anxiety, overwhelming sadness, it'd be funny if it wasn't so sad at the same time. I know the triggers - I am well-past overloaded, full time school, full time work, full time volunteer, my kids are going through some kind of leap that has made them very difficult to deal with, and my wife who I would think in my rational mind is doing her best, in my sick mind is annoyed/disappointed/done with me. It has left me feeling very stranded and misunderstood with no avenues for discussion. It doesn't help that all of those 'full time things' are incredibly stressful right now, whether it means a high workload, a lot of eyes on a project, finishing a final paper for school, leading a new organization through a difficult time. I just...want to crawl into bed. I have many many people telling me that I need to take a vacation but there is no ideal time to do it, and no ideal way to take it - I can't go anywhere unless it's by myself and my frame of mind isn't in a place where that's a good idea. I am hoping that by the end of this week with my one class coming to a close, that'll alleviate the pressure.

When you find everyone and everything incredibly annoying, I have to be the problem, right??
 
Frank

Frank

Should be a thumbs down emoji because fuck that. Fuck all these greedy shitstain equity real estate holding companies. I get fake hand-written letters from them every week trying to get me to sell my house at such a loss I won't be able to recover from it.
 
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