The only good thing about these assholes is that it creates common ground for chuckling with like-minded strangers about the fucking moron who looks like he’s talking to himself and is oblivious to how ridiculous he looks. These types were very common at an upscale grocery store where I used to shop when I lived in the neighbourhood, who fancied their time so incredibly valuable that they had to multiplex grocery shopping with business and social activities, said activities usually being conducted at high volume. I actually did some serious investigation into acquiring a portable cell phone jammer and very nearly bought one, for use solely in that one store. They’re not legal, of course, and quite expensive, but neither should it be legal to have lunatics walking around in a public place apparently shrieking to themselves at the top of their lungs.
Uh oh. My secret phone will make noise. Ahh I ain’t worried there’s about 20 phones around here. No one will notice.
At a doctor’s appointment some time within the last year or so, he wanted me to stop at the reception desk on the way out to make another appointment for a few months later. Surly tattooed young lady working the reception desk was on the phone (headset) with someone when I walked up, so I just stood there waiting patiently for the call to end. I heard her mumble something like “Can I help you?” but in the same tone and volume that she was already speaking with, and she didn’t look up to make eye contact, so it wasn’t obvious if she was talking to me or still on her call. Suddenly she snapped “CAN I HELP YOU?” Jeez, nice customer service there, lady! (I love my doctor’s office but they’ve had some real sourpusses working the front desk over the years.)
The first time I saw them (8-10 yrs ago), it was about this time of year, and I couldn’t find them at any Target near me. So, I bought one on eBay at about twice the sticker price. Then, I saw them the next year at the stores. Rats.
Good thing is they’re not pricey.
You “skeptics” may snicker, but Wednesday, October 4 is the real deal. I’ve done all the research.
Tomorrow is when the government, pretending it’s testing a warning system, sends out three one-minute 18 gigahertz pulses through 5G, activating lipid nanoparticles (or graphene oxide) in those of you foolish enough to get the Covid “vaccine” clot shots, releasing “baked-in” pathogens (according to attorney Todd Callender, who is a Legal Expert, these pathogens include Marburg virus, Ebola, Staphylococcus and (wait for it) brewer’s yeast!). End result, you will become zombies tottering through a Bill Gates dystopian hellscape.
I’ll be hunkering down in my Faraday cage, surrounded by protective walls of shungite while the rest of you party on before succumbing to the inevitable. Pleasant…dreams? 
*and if not tomorrow, real soon.
I’m doomed. 
I’m afraid to click on the link, lest it activate something in the COVID vaccines that I foolishly allowed the Deep State to administer. So I have to ask, is there some actual objective to turning us all into zombies tomorrow? Or is the Deep State and Bill Gates just doing it for fun? I figure if I’m gonna be turned into a zombie, I should at least know why!
As stated in that batshit article:
I think our diabolical government wants us in a state of perpetual fear and paranoia.
That’s it. Of course it’s vague. It’s just some kind of nebulous evil. That’s why the federal government mandates that all officials have to grow a mustache long enough to twirl as they leer at people.
First step on the road to depopulation.
I’ve got a very old friend in a bad situation and I can’t tell if it’s entirely the result of his bad decisions or just real hard luck. If it’s the result of bad decisions I think the idea I had of him in my head so many years ago is not the person he is now, which distresses me, because I’m not sure I can be close to this person. I’m beginning to question my idea of him in the past. Was that accurate? Was I blind? Did I think I knew him at the time, but I didn’t really? Did he change?
I used to have feelings for this person, the feelings were somewhat mutual but I’ve been dating/married to Spouse Weasel for yonks so it was never going to happen. I don’t have those feelings anymore. But I’ve always had a deep platonic affection for him. I always felt like I had this kindred spirit in the world, but now I feel like I am an entirely different person from him, because he is becoming a person who won’t take accountability for his mistakes, and it really bothers me.
But if it is just a case of hard luck then it wouldn’t be fair of me to blame him for his adversity. The reality is I don’t live anywhere near him so it’s impossible for me to see with my own two eyes what is happening, I just have to go by what he tells me. If I have any strength as a friend/lover it is loyalty, and I may be loyal to a fault.
Either way I’m feeling pretty helpless to do anything about it. There’s only so many times you can text, “I’m sorry this is happening to you.”
I have found that while bad luck can happen to anyone, recurring bad luck is often (not always!) tied to poor choices and / or psychological issues. Some people, for reasons not necessarily within their conscious control, invite bad luck.
I am never sure how best to react when it’s people’s own psychology that’s at fault. “Get counselling!” is really unhelpful as unsought advice, and so it “stop perceiving as luck the things that you inadvertently set yourself up for.”
I’ve known a couple of people whose recurrent bad luck ended up being due to alcohol abuse, but it wasn’t apparent from outside until it was too late, and even then there was nothing anyone could have done. Tragic.
It’s hard for me because it’s not like I’ve never struggled to get my shit together. I’ve gone through periodic mental collapses throughout my life that thankfully have been pretty scarce since I was about 35. I’d like to think I’ve matured a lot, but even in my twenties I was trying to figure out how I needed to change to make things better. I always assumed the problem was me. And I don’t mean that in the sense of shaming myself for mental illness, but like I’ve said before, no matter how you end up in any situation, whether it’s your fault or someone else who screwed you, the cavalry is not coming to save you. You’ve gotta figure it out.
I don’t think my friend is totally resistant to change. Maybe he needed this sort of rock bottom moment to realize things aren’t working.
Car trouble sucks.
My car won’t start. The guy from AAA who came to give me a jump start told me my battery was bad, but when I took it in to the auto parts store, they said it was fine and had plenty of power. So it must be something harder to diagnose.
Oh, agreed. It took me a long time to figure out that my career was a perfect mirror for my family in all sorts of unhealthy ways, and the epiphany was followed by a pretty dramatic change in luck. Coincidence?
Fortunately, all of my friends and family have avoided victim-blaming me out loud, even though it’s pretty clear to me that, while it wasn’t my fault exactly, part of me was certainly satisfied with a deeply untenable situation.
None of that helps your friend, or you: just empathizing.
It helps. Thank you.
MAJOR problem with my apartment. One damp spot on the carpet yesterday, we just thought one of the cats was guilty of not making it to the box.
Got home today to MULTIPLE WET areas on the living room carpet, maintenance shares my worry that this is coming up from below the floor. This may wind up with a move necessary, when money is very tight. AGH!!!
Holding a good thought for you from afar~🤞🏼
Take it to a differnt brand auto parts for testing. Same thing happened to me and it turned out the battery was indeed bad and the well known auto parts store machinery was either defecgtive or the person didnt know how to use it. Either way it left me stranded.
A multimeter can show a fully charged battery. It needs tested under load.
This is correct, but for clarity, it means that a multimeter can falsely show that a battery is at full voltage, but that battery may be unable to deliver adequate current under load. Another anecdotal fact from personal experience is that automotive lead-acid batteries can sometimes fail prematurely.
Incidentally, for anyone interested, if you shop carefully and read reviews you can pick up a small lithium-ion power pack that has enough power to jump-start even a big V8 engine yet is small enough to (almost) fit in your pocket. I mention reading reviews because some of them are crap, but there are some really good ones out there. They can also serve as USB chargers for phones or tablets during a power failure.