Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@bimmy-lee I've heard about this creaking issue a few times now, but never experienced it myself. I have 4 sets of joycons, two I have modded and two stock and never had any issues with any of them. Not the creaking or the drift issue. I must just be kinda lucky in those regards.

@Tyranexx Yeah, I suppose the use of it, or rather: the sense of it will either escape some people, or will simply not suit them. I'm not one of those people. It has been here for as long as I have been consciously aware of the passing of time and seasons, so I just don't know any better. I do know that before the seventies, it also wasn't in use over here, so it is a measure they put in place right before I came over here.

I forgot to mention that I also prefer the impact it has on nights staying dark longer. I suppose it's different living outside a city, where it's almost always darker at night anyway, but over here, the difference is significant. And the reverse is also true: because of the clock going forward in summer, the nights stay lighter for longer, which perfectly suits sitting in the garden, enjoying the setting sun for an hour longer...

@Anti-Matter While I understand why you would want to mention this, complaints should normally be reported by using the contact form. The Chit-Chat thread isn't really the place to tell on other people or to complain about other users. There's a direct contact page at the bottom, or better yet: there's the "report" user button, next to a user's name.

But having said that, good to see that @Eel has taken care of it for you. Nobody likes a bully or in this case, an anti-social a*hole...

@bimmy-lee I can imagine, or actually: I couldn't even begin to imagine what that would be like, because besides playing war games when I was in the army, I never really experienced a real war time/combat situation, luckily.

My grandparents also had some war stories and/or experiences. I believe I have already mentioned once that my grandpa was doing forced labor in a factory for the Germans, and my grandmother had to hide under a staircase, with my mother, who was only 1 year old, when they dropped bombs or grenades or something. I don't remember the exact details anymore, because like your father in law, they didn't really like talking about it, so I only ever heard these stories once, and a VERY long time ago, and now they're all gone, so I only vaguely remember what they told me.

But maybe that's actually a good thing...

And yes, I am most definitely a lefty. I also adapt the goofy stance on a snowboard...

Printers can go burn eternally in some forgotten hole just outside the boundaries of Office Space. Ugh. That's literally been over half of my evening up to this point. Might be time for a new one....

@bimmy-lee Agreed. We aren't insanely far along yet; the weeds aren't plentiful yet, but they're showing up like everything else. I suspect I'll be mowing in a couple of weeks if the weather forecast is anything to go by.

@ThanosReXXX My main issue with it has to do with mornings, though springing forward (though it's brief) has made it quite dark when I get up, at least for the short-term. It all evens out later, but still...the fact that it's still quite dark when my alarm squawks makes it harder than it already is.

Conversely, in the winter I feel, due to my work schedule, I get to enjoy very little to no daylight. This isn't as bad if I can get out of the office during lunch, but unfortunately, due to the weather or my schedule for the day, this isn't always a possibility.

(Sorry if some of this is a repeat; I haven't had the best evening and am mentally fried.)

@bimmy-lee well, the other take is Ali "converted" to his new faith with remarkably convenient timing to have religious objections to being drafted. Elvis, he wasn't. Funny choice if so, though.

The draft worked for ww2 because generally most people wanted to help, even if they didn't know it themselves. There was a sense is unity in common, important cause when you got in with guys who were all itching to be there, and half the guys had family or ancestry involved and destroyed by the enemies... It was somewhat personal for everyone. Nam had a bunch of guys that didn't want to be there, replacing other guys that didn't want to be there, serving with guys that didn't want to be there all to fight for a small place they'd never heard of, couldn't locate on a map, and had no personal connection to, fighting alongside a local populace that didn't actually want to be fighting and didn't really care much who won. Of course the whole thing was a proxy war with the Soviets for sphere of influence, but the idiot bureaucrats never really made anyone aware of that probably for fear of making it a clear aggression against USSR. Probably if, at the time, the troops understood they were fighting the "reds" there may have been a big morale shift and personal stake involved.

But drafts generally are useless, and even the military hate then. What volunteer soldier actually wants to be in the fox hole with someone that doesn't want to be there? And who wants to try commanding them? That's just asking for trouble.

They fight like every splatfest team ever.

@Tyranexx I love dst. I loathe the dark time of year. Life ends the first week of November. It returns around February. Then the clocks change to dst and I'm already dreading that were getting closer to the November change and the dark time again. Night travel should be restricted to essential travel only. It's inhuman to force people into that daily.

@Tyranexx Not to worry, I can relate to wanting to let off some steam or not being in the best of moods, as I haven't been either of late, as you know. So I'd be the last person to take any of that personally or be annoyed by people possibly repeating themselves...

@Tyranexx PCLOADLETTER

Someone tell me a joke. Dad jokes and bad puns more than welcome. I'm bored. Don't just stop at one, hit me with you're best. I've got 3 more hours to burn before I can leave today...

@NEStalgia Billy Pilgrim is that you? “So it goes” I guess.

@NEStalgia It's a shame that human beings don't have a hibernate function. That would make winter more bearable IMO.

I dislike driving at night, but that's mainly because of suicidal wildlife. Unfortunately, some animals like deer are quite plentiful at certain times of the year....

@ThanosReXXX Tbh I let off most of the steam before I got to the actual replies in the previous post; I'm just tired as heck after a long day. XD I'm trying to print, sign, and scan an important document back into cyberspace. The printer is old and is refusing to read the new black ink cartridge correctly. I was able to bypass that by sticking to just the color cartridge, but now, presumably due to the ink change, it isn't wanting to scan the image back in properly....

It's been a fun evening. I'll see if I can/am allowed to accomplish what I need to at work tomorrow.

@Tyranexx Yes! Invent that! Do it!!

There's also the problem that you can't see where you're going at all, as the entire line of cars going the other direction is pointing high intensity lights directly into your retinas. I don't know how most people do it. My eyes close automatically and even if they don't it's a pure whitewash the entire way. Any speed over 4mph is suicidal. Everyone else flies at 60. No idea how they can see a thing. I sure can't. There's a reason cops carry bright flashlights. To temporarily disable people. Headlights are 50x brighter. I really don't get the physics, but it's pure cruelty.

It happened again.

I didn't know there was a Pocky and Rocky game for the GBA until today.
Is it any good in comparison with the SNES titles?

@NEStalgia Oh boy, headlights. THOSE are fun, particularly when someone forgets to kill their brights. I also dislike LED lights on newer models. Nothing like some nice, healthy retina burn while you're simultaneously trying to pilot a metallic, plastic beast....

@Tyranexx I'd say about half the cars have their high beams on and the other half has all the LEDs/HID lights. The blue glare! Worse the fancy ones have wrap-around lights for wide angle shining, or pivoting lights that turn the direction their wheel tilts. Hooray for them, they can afford the best and to have the brightest light wherever they go. OTOH everyone behind me will take about 4 hours to get home because I'll be crawling and jamming the breaks about 30 times a minute, every time a car passes...which is non-stop. EVERY DAY. Plus virtually everyone has SUVs/pickup trucks. Which means their headlights are mounted high. Exactly at about eye level for me. What brilliant government officials allowed headlights to all be mounted different heights? It should have been one fixed standard height, EXACTLY 1.5ft off the ground and not an inch difference.

But what I don't understand at all is nobody else seems affectd by it. They just cruise around at full speed like it's not a problem. How are their eyes even OPEN!? It just makes no sense to me. I don't understand how it's physically possible.

@Heavyarms55 - I think your experience is much closer to normal/average than mine. If there was a defect with a large number, Nintendo would have to recall. It’s like some joy con factory somewhere had a bad shift/day/week in both production and QC. I was immediately dubious of my original cons, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt because I thought my gamepad for the WiiU also felt cheap and would break, but I used it as my sole controller for that entire generation, and it held up.

It took a year for the drift to appear, and then almost another year of occasional cleaning with canned air before that stopped working, and they became unusable. I’ll send them in for repair, and hopefully it’s all water under the bridge. I’ve never had a problem with a Nintendo controller, and I always planned on a second set of joy con. If my originals are repaired or replaced at no charge; it’s just a small blip in an otherwise strong run I’ve had with Nintendo in the quality department.

@ThanosReXXX - Yeah, real combat would be terrifying. No amount of training could possibly enact the same bodily response to real combat where your life is actually in danger. You just have to do it and hope you don’t drop into a fetal position. Have we discussed being fellow lefties? It’s hard out here for us. Most people don’t understand.

@Tyranexx - I don’t have to mow at my place, but I’ll probably mix the gallon of gas I got this winter for my snow blower and put it in my leaf blower this weekend and start blowing around the rest of the leaves and sticks I didn’t get last fall. I haven’t been out to poop scoop after my dog in a while either, so I’ll be paying a price for that soon as well.

@NEStalgia - Ali converted his faith in the early 60s. His last fight as Cassius Clay was against Liston in 64, but he never legally changed his name. He died, legally, as Cassius Clay. His family and team called him by his new name prior to that fight though. I’m totally with you on the draft, especially when you mention the volunteer trained soldier fighting alongside someone who didn’t want to be there. You can’t make someone become a warrior. You’re right about the truth and reasoning of our presence making a difference as well. When one side isn’t sure what they’re fighting for, and the other side is fighting against a homeland invasion, it’s a very lopsided advantage in fighting spirit.

@NEStalgia Stare at the outer lane marker on your passenger side until the pass. That’s why not everyone is bothered. 😜

@NEStalgia Yep, I just focus on an area of the lane I CAN see. TBH I don't drive in insanely high traffic areas too often, at night anyway. The blindness usually lasts for just a few seconds. But dang...talk about retina burn.

I do drive a car (one that sits higher due to where I used to live) and SUVs/vans/trucks are quite common here. I've adapted...mostly. XD

@bimmy-lee Do you pay an individual or lawn service to mow your grass? I've considered doing that, but there isn't really a good place for one to haul their equipment. They'd need a push mower at one point anyway as some of my backyard is quite steep in one spot. Too, part of the reason I put up with mowing is because I DO need the exercise. XD It doesn't do wonders for my spring allergies. I'm not sure if I'm allergic to tree pollen or the grass itself.

No poop scooping here, and I'm usually not too bothered by leaves unless they've really piled up in a few places....I do tend to leave them near my chain link fence for awhile though; that puts off having to take care of pain in the rear weeds in those spots.

You and @ThanosReXXX are both lefties? 8D I feel understood!

@Tyranexx @bimmy-lee luckily I’m able to run over all the poop with the riding mower, then drive over to a spigot and power wash the deck and wheels. I think I need to dethatch this year.

All you lefties remind me of the Dilbert comic gag for Elbonia. There was a civil war raging between lefties and righties. They mostly flung mud at each side, though that affected their economy since mud was their only export.

@Tyranexx Ooh... don't get me started on printer issues... I can definitely relate to your frustration in that regard, so I hope you'll come out of it relatively unscathed. Best of luck.

On a side note: you're a lefty as WELL?? Yay, our club finally has a girl!

@bimmy-lee No, I don't think we've discussed being fellow lefties, so whatever's on your mind, fire away.
As for combat: I completely agree. There's no amount of preparing that'll ever make you 100% ready for that. Professionals are trained to keep it together to enough of an extent that they can function and perform their assigned tasks, but the effects, or rather: after-effects are going to be there nonetheless. We've seen that happening across the decades, from so many war veterans.

And training also never has that "real world" vibe, if you understand what I'm trying to say. You always know in the back of your mind, that no matter how real the training or simulation, it's still only a practice run, and you're not in any risk of dying. I still remember some pranksters in my period of service simply juggling practice grenades with blanks in them like they were baby fireworks, instead of throwing them away as instructed.

@bimmy-lee Not to mention, Vietnam was a particular mess in that, on the surface we went there, at least, to help a country that asked for help holding back a Communist invasion/civil war (signing up to fight a foreign civil war, on its own would be demoralizing...it makes you a mercenary, not a soldier...but of course....Soviet proxy war....) Even if the soldiers there didn't understand they were there to fight "the russkies" while pretending they weren't to avoid nuclear exchange, they could have been bolstered by knowing they were fighting along side people desperate to save their home FROM the "reds." But the South Vietnamese didn't actually want help, and didn't really want to fight the war. Our gung-ho officials were so eager to take any opportunity to bloody some USSR nose and keep the sphere of influence in check with a big texas-sized slice of freedom pie, they didn't bother finding out much about S. Vietnamese government....the initial request for help was genuine. But their government system was a fickle one that changed constantly in random directions as tradition. Right after we got there they had an election with a different government with a different agenda that didn't actually care about the "reds", their agenda was reunification of population even if it meant just surrendering immediately and accepting communist rule to unite the country again. So we got there and it was basically "oh, thanks but no thanks, we don't want to fight anymore." The US pretty much dug in and said "screw it, we already spent a billion dollars and got here to fight some commies and that's what we're going to do!" So we tried to fight a war alone to help a country that no longer wanted help after initially requesting help. And then we drafted accountants and pocket protectors to go fight behind enemy lines in a Soviet proxy war the country we were "defending" didn't actually want to win very much. Losing was a blow in the cold war. It enhanced to soviet sphere in the region, enhanced their freedom of coordination with China, and put Japan, S Korea, Philippines, and Hawaii at greater risk. But if throwing "Kenny from legal" in a foxhole with a box of grenades and a napalm flame thrower is your only hope at stopping "the red menace", then you're in pretty bad shape to begin with.